Captives

TWENTY-SIX

When X and Rhino finally made it back to the Metal Islands, the sun had risen over a scene of destruction. They motored through the field of floating debris. Patches of fuel burned on the surface. A neck and torso in a life vest floated amid the wreckage.

“Take over for me,” X said. Ceding the pilot’s seat to Rhino, he stood for a better view of the warship his people had commandeered.

Smaller Cazador vessels surrounded the ship like ants around a beetle. Soldiers climbed net ladders, and others moved freely across the deck. The Hell Divers had lost the ship.

“Shit,” X muttered. Squinting into the sun, he could make out what looked like a massive shell floating in the water, surrounded by inflated red rafts.

It wasn’t here before.

“Is that a sky ship?” Rhino asked.

X slumped against the windscreen. His heart sank at the thought that this was the Hive, but as they drew closer, he saw that it was Deliverance.

“Hurry this tin pot up!” X shouted.

Was he already too late to help his friends?

His heart thumped at the prospect that his friends and his dog were already dead. He twisted to look at the Cazador lieutenant.

“We gotta move!”

Rhino pushed the throttle lever, nearly making X take a pratfall. He moved back to the bow, trying to get a sense of what the hell was happening.

Deliverance and the warship had caused plenty of damage before they were disabled. Smoke billowed from the top of the capitol tower, and the walls and dwellings on one of the oil rigs burned. Boats moved away from the structure, some of them carrying construction equipment, including a small crane.

It looked like the rig he blew up when he first arrived here. Then he remembered that the Cazadores were working to restore it, which explained the cranes, but he didn’t recall seeing the prisonlike cages.

The breeze whipped his hair as he turned away and scanned the water. Most of the fighting seemed to have died down, but he could still hear sporadic gunfire. The action seemed to be moving to Deliverance as more boats sped away from the capitol tower, toward the downed airship.

“Where is el Pulpo?” he yelled to Rhino.

“Look for the shiniest speedboat with twin exhaust stacks! Two skulls on the windshield.”

X scanned the vessels. His eyes burned, his stomach growled, and his whole body hurt, but he was used to fighting under these conditions. It just made him a meaner foe.

Rhino steered the craft toward the naval warship and the Cazador boats.

“What are you doing?” X yelled back.

“Getting us some weapons.

X settled back down in the bow. They were hurting and half naked and had nothing but a broken oar to use in a fight.

Not in the best position to fight an army of barbarians.

Rhino steered them toward a speedboat bobbing in the water on the margins of the battle. X reached out and grabbed the side and then climbed up onto the vessel. His boots slopped into pooled blood and crunched down on spent brass.

Three Cazadores lay sprawled on the deck and across one of the seats. Another man was slumped over the wheel, the windshield shattered by the same bullets that went through his chest.

X pushed him out of the way.

Rhino climbed into the better, faster boat and began scavenging for weapons and gear. In a few minutes, they had full Cazador armor, two rifles, two pistols, and three cutlasses.

“Get back,” X said.

Rhino moved away, and X used a cutlass to break out the remaining shards of the windshield. Then he started the engine, grabbed the wheel, and pushed the throttle down.

The boat sped away from the battle scene. If any of X’s people were still alive on the warship, they were in enemy hands now. The only way to end this was to kill el Pulpo.

Only then would this war end.

And X had a feeling he knew where the octopus king was heading.

He gunned the engine toward the downed airship. The bow thumped over waves as it picked up speed.

“Hand me those binos,” X said.

He trained the glasses on the docks at the capitol tower. One was burned down to the pilings, but the others had survived, and people were moving out along them, boarding boats unscathed by the fires.

He zoomed in on what looked like militia soldiers.

How was that possible?

And then it hit him: Katrina had deployed the militia.

A few of the figures—maybe three among a group of twenty—wore Hell Diver armor. The Cazadores weren’t far behind. Some rappelled off the side of the building; others were on the docks, firing guns and throwing spears at the departing boats.

“There!” Rhino shouted. He pointed at a long, sleek boat with shiny black paint, and the image of a purple octopus painted on the hull. Amidships, a glass windshield surrounded the single cabin and several seats. It bobbed in the water next to the airship, its stacks belching smoke into the air, and ropes hanging loose off the chromed windshield posts capped with human skulls.

X zoomed in on passengers climbing out of broken portholes to the flat top of the airship. A group huddled at the top, but Cazadores were also climbing up the ship’s hull.

He wasn’t sure what they would do to his people, but it couldn’t be good.

He gave the boat more throttle, and it accelerated, thumping over sheets of burned plastic in the sheen of oil covering the surface. He checked his weapons: a rifle with a full magazine, a revolver with four bullets, and the sword.

“Remember our deal!” Rhino shouted.

“Don’t worry, I remember!”

They were closing the gap between the airship and their bow when X saw dorsal fins cutting through the water on the port side. Rhino raised his rifle to fire, but X put his hand on the barrel.

“Those are not sharks,” X said.

Rhino stared at gray creatures looping through the surface. A dozen dolphins were swimming next to the boat. One of them jumped out of the water and splashed back down.

They weren’t the only spectators. A barge and several boats moved away from the oil rigs, carrying Cazador civilians wanting to see the battle firsthand now that both the airship and the warship were dead in the water.

“The sky people!” Rhino said, pointing to the flat rooftop. Several officers in white were on their knees, and a group of engineers in red suits and other civilians were clustered in groups.

Armored Cazador soldiers surrounded them, pointing spears at their backs. El Pulpo was also there, standing with a double-bitted axe in his hand. He pointed at the boats from the capitol tower that were starting to arrive. Militia soldiers, Hell Divers, and civilians jumped down onto the rafts.

This was it, the final battle for the Metal Islands, and the Hell Divers were outnumbered a hundred to one.

X slowed and came alongside the long speedboat with the octopus logo. A dolphin poked its head above the surface, gazing at him the way an old friend might. It was as if the creature knew he was a friend and wanted to wish him well in the fight against the monsters that ate its species.

Rhino jumped out of the boat.

“Come on!” he yelled.

X looked away from the dolphin and followed Rhino up the side of the airship, using a rope for support. At the top of Deliverance, the right flank of Cazador soldiers moved away from the prisoners to face the onslaught of militia and Hell Divers.

X climbed quickly, his wet bare feet slipping on the airship’s curved hull. Portholes provided windows inside, but he didn’t check for any people looking out. Screams sounded above, and when he finally summited the airship, he saw why.

El Pulpo brought a double-bitted axe down on Bronson White, splitting his head and spraying the deck with blood. Ensign Dave Connor was already dead from multiple stab wounds.

The bastard was killing the crew one by one.

“No!” Ada yelled.

Layla held the crying girl in her arms.

Other prisoners were here, too, including Magnolia and a woman X recognized from the banquet room. Both were in bad shape, their faces battered and swollen.

But where was Miles?

The Cazador soldiers looking in his direction started to step away from the group when they saw X and Rhino. One of them, not wearing a helmet, smiled a jagged grin.

“Sofia!” Rhino shouted.

The girl with Magnolia looked up.

The king turned, his axe dripping with blood. He moved away from the prisoners, dragging Miles on a leash. The dog wagged his tail, and his eyes brightened at the sight of his master. X almost shouted his furry friend’s name.

“El Pulpo!” Rhino yelled, beating his chest once, then twice.

El Pulpo heaved the axe up over his shoulder and walked away from the prisoners. He grinned, but the ugly smile vanished when Rhino raised a sword and leveled it at the octopus logo on his chest armor.

It didn’t take El Pulpo long to realize that his lieutenant hadn’t returned to help kill the sky people. He had come to kill his king.

The raised sword wasn’t a show of respect. It was a challenge.

X handed Rhino his sword. “You’re going to need two,” he said.

El Pulpo snorted, realization apparently setting in. Then he lifted his axe and turned it on Miles.

“NO!” X shouted.

Before the Cazador king could bring it down on the dog, someone burst through the cordon of soldiers and slammed into el Pulpo so hard, he fell down.

The man was wearing Hell Diver armor but no helmet. Long hair, pulled into a ponytail, hung to his shoulders.

X couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Michael, and he had a robotic arm.

El Pulpo screamed from the deck, giving his soldiers orders. They all fanned out, but the Hell Diver wasn’t alone. His small team and the militia soldiers and Hive civilians had taken down the soldiers on the other side of the ship and were making their way up to the top.

X pulled his pistol out and ran to join the fight, with Rhino by his side. Michael managed to get on top of el Pulpo and slugged him in the face, but the massive Cazador king slipped a hand around Michael’s neck and lifted him into the air like a sack of potatoes.

X lost track of them in the scrum of armored bodies and prisoners. He fired point-blank against a Cazador’s skull, then swung the pistol into the next man’s nose, smashing it. He followed up with a bullet to the chest as the guy went down on his knees.

A break in the chaos gave X a glimpse at Michael and el Pulpo. The octopus king still held Michael in the air in one hand. He used the other to smash him in the brow, opening a cut over his eye. He dropped Michael to the ground and went for his axe.

“Michael!” X shouted.

The disoriented diver staggered to his feet and put his fists up like an old-world boxer. He threw a wobbly punch with his robotic hand, which only drew a laugh from el Pulpo. He easily moved away from the blow and grabbed Michael by the ponytail.

He brought the axe up in his other hand and swung downward, only to have the blade deflected by Michael’s robotic arm. The two men separated, and Michael threw an uppercut that knocked several of el Pulpo’s teeth out and sent him stumbling backward.

Attaboy! X thought.

Again the crowd blocked X’s view. He ducked under a spear and shot his last bullet into the belly of the man wielding it. Then he unslung his rifle and smashed the butt into the helmet of a Cazador soldier with his back turned.

The man dropped, providing X a window through the fighting. Michael was on his feet again, and so was el Pulpo.

X smashed another Cazador in the side of the head, then jumped over a downed militiaman. The Cazador king drew a long knife from a sheath on his belt. He thrust it at Michael, who moved out of the way only to catch a glancing blow in the back of the head from a Cazador’s hammer.

Michael sank to his knees.

“Tin!” Layla shouted. She tried to make her way over but went down in the melee.

The man with the hammer lifted it high to bring it down on Michael’s head, but X darted over and swung the rifle butt, unhinging his jaw. Then he turned the other end on the man and shot him in the chest.

Bringing the muzzle around, he pointed it at el Pulpo, ready to finally end this. But before he could pull the trigger, another titan of a man grabbed the king.

X lowered the rifle, remembering his promise to Rhino. He moved over to Michael while the two behemoths went at it.

“You okay, kid?” X asked.

Michael held a hand to his bleeding scalp. “X… You came…”

As X helped Michael to his feet, he heard a bark. He looked for his furry best friend in the chaos but didn’t see him. He watched Rhino throw his king to the deck. He brought an elbow down on el Pulpo’s face, then went to work with his fists, pounding him over and over.

Blood splattered the deck and teeth rolled out. The octopus king twitched several times and then went limp as Rhino finally stopped the onslaught. He remained on top of his former master, chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping down his battered face.

X’s and Rhino’s eyes met, and the two men exchanged a nod of respect.

A flash of fur bounded over several corpses to reach X.

“Miles!” X shouted. He bent down to unfasten the collar with the inverted spikes and was rewarded by a wet tongue slapping his face. But X didn’t have time to celebrate the reunion.

A guttural scream came from Rhino, who gripped the hilt of a knife that el Pulpo had jammed into his gut.

The sneaky bastard had played dead.

El Pulpo pushed the big man, and Rhino slumped on his side, eyes still locked on X. They exchanged another nod—weaker this time, but confirmation enough that it was now on X to kill the king of the Metal Islands.

X waved Miles back. “Stay, boy. I’ve got one last thing to do.”

The dog barked as X waded through a group of militia soldiers battling Cazador soldiers. He pushed several soldiers out of the way before he saw their leader.

Just ahead, Cole Mintel raised the double-bitted axe that el Pulpo had dropped. His muscular, tattooed forearms flexed as he swung it and split open the back of a Cazador warrior.

X reached out, and Cole tossed him the axe. He caught it in the air and gripped the shaft in his callused hands. A militiaman aimed a revolver at el Pulpo and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

The Cazador king grinned and grabbed the man by the head, turning him toward X. It was Monk, the bearded old guard who used to stand outside the armory. He tried to scream, but nothing came out as el Pulpo twisted his head and jerked it sideways, snapping his neck.

“Hey, pendejo!” X yelled. He ran forward with the axe raised.

El Pulpo grabbed Monk’s revolver and turned the barrel on X.

This time, it fired.

A crack sounded, and a dark blur slammed into el Pulpo’s side. X looked down at his chest, expecting to see a bleeding hole, but the bullet must have hit the axe head.

The Immortal had again been spared from death.

Growling, snarling sounds snapped him back to reality.

Miles had el Pulpo by the neck, tearing at his flesh. The dog pulled out a strand of gristle and bit it off.

“Miles, back!” X shouted.

The dog pulled another strip of flesh away.

El Pulpo looked up at X, a flash of fear in his eye as X brought the axe down, splitting in two the octopus engraving on the chest plate. He left the axe lodged there and backed away.

The fighting died down around them until only gurgling and gasping sounds could be heard. El Pulpo lay on his back, his muscular arms out by his sides, the axe in his chest rising and sinking as he struggled for air.

The soldiers on both sides paused, lowering their weapons as the rising sun beat down on the bloodstained rooftop.

It took X a moment to realize that the Cazador warriors and his people weren’t looking at the fallen leader. They were looking at the sky.

A shadow passed over Deliverance, and a violent wind pressed down on the survivors. X looked up at the beetle shape descending from the heavens. An ancient speaker system on the bottom of the Hive blared a message audible over the whirring fans.

“Surrender or lose everything! We have bombs that will level your homes, sink your ships, and take the lives of everyone you hold dear!”

X felt Miles rub against his leg, and he patted the dog on the head, smiling as the message switched to Spanish from the Hive’s databases.

“¡El rey está muerto!” someone yelled.

The Cazador soldiers all shifted their gaze to the king.

One by one, they laid down their rifles, spears, knives, and cutlasses.

“Grab their weapons!” shouted Cole Mintel.

Sergeant Sloan and her remaining soldiers went to work. X watched in shock. Only thirty-odd people were still standing on Deliverance’s bloody rooftop, and most of them were injured.

So this was what war looked like…

It was over now. Finally. But what happened next was anyone’s guess. There were thousands of Cazador civilians, at least four hundred people on the Hive, and some probably hiding inside Deliverance.

X didn’t have time to think about the future. Voices besieged him from all directions, and there were Cazadores to round up.

“Eevi!” shouted Alexander. He limped over to his wife, who had climbed the ladder up onto the airship’s roof. More people followed her, including Rodger Mintel. Joining him was a group of filthy construction workers, all slaves who, apparently, had fought for their freedom. It explained the burning oil rig X had seen on the way in.

“Dad?” Rodger said. “Dad, is that you?”

Cole Mintel dropped the armload of weapons he was carrying. He brought up a hand to get the sun out of his eyes.

“Rodge?” he said. “Rodger, is that you?”

“Dad!”

They both ran to embrace.

X took a moment to bend down and hug his dog.

“I missed you, buddy,” he said. “Missed you so much.”

Miles licked his face and then followed him over to Rhino, who sat beside Sofia on the deck, with the knife still in his side. The massive warrior carefully got down on one knee and bowed his head as X approached.

“What are you doing?” X asked.

Looking around him, he saw all the Cazador soldiers going down on one knee. And not because the militia soldiers had guns pointed at them.

“El rey Javier,” Rhino said. “The Immortal.”

X shook his head. “I’m no king.”

“You killed el Pulpo,” Rhino said.

Michael limped over with Layla. “Guess that means you’re in charge now,” he said.

Layla wiped away a tear and looked out over the water. “I wish Katrina were here to see this.”

X followed her gaze to the warship, realization setting in. He couldn’t believe it, but then he could. Katrina had always been a fighter, and in the end, she had given everything.

“She sacrificed herself for us,” Eevi said. “Gave me a chance to escape.”

“She was the greatest of us,” Layla said.

Michael slapped X on the shoulder and then looked up at the Hive.

“He doesn’t really have bombs, does he?” X asked.

“Actually, Samson does have bombs,” Michael said. “It was the contingency plan. The final order Katrina made before we started the attack, just in case this happened,” he said, with a sweeping gesture that encompassed both Deliverance and the USS Zion.

Magnolia had worked her way over to Rodger and Cole.

“Good to see you, kid,” X said. He gave Mags a gentle hug, then held her at arm’s length. “You’ve looked better.”

“You, too,” she said, cracking a half smile.

“More scars, more stories.”

Her smile broadened. “The life of a Hell Diver.”

“I have the biggest scar of all,” Rodger said, pulling up his shirt to reveal the wicked gash on his chest, then turning around to show where the blade went in.

The divers chuckled for a second before lapsing into silence.

“So what do we do now?” Magnolia asked, eyes on X.

All the divers looked to him.

He drew a breath of salt air and looked out over the ocean, where Cazador vessels floated and people watched from the oil rigs. Men, women, children. Grimy, needy, fearful people looking back at him.

He didn’t see enemies this time. He saw people like those on the airship. His experience on his mission with the Barracudas had taught him that even enemy soldiers could change. Rhino and Wendig had proven it to him on his journey.

Finally, he looked at the warship where Katrina had given her life. His heart broke for her, but this was what she had always wanted for her people.

He saluted.

“Thank you, Katrina,” he said. “For being the captain our people needed.”

Janga’s prophecy had ended up being more than a fairy tale. A man had led them to a home on the water, but he couldn’t have done it without Katrina. Her bravery and sacrifice helped capture the Metal Islands from the Cazador king.

X turned back to Michael and clapped him on his robotic arm. He wasn’t sure what would happen from here, or what the future held, but he knew that as long as there were Hell Divers, humanity would find a way to survive.