X pulled the short spear from his shoulder and ran to meet the other two Sirens, which barreled into Luke. Wendig went down a moment later, unable to move in time to avoid the fleet-footed predators.
Adrenaline rushed through X at the sight of another group of Sirens pulling their way over the rocks to his left. Long limbs covered in leathery, wrinkled skin hit the ground at a dead run. Ropy muscles glistened with water.
They had come from the ocean, flanking the Barracudas.
So much for a decoy, X thought.
Maybe the Cazadores weren’t the hunters after all.
He thrust his spear through the gut of one of the beasts straddling Wendig and pulled it out with a strand of intestine hooked on the serrated edge. The beast gripped the wound as Wendig pushed the screeching creature into the dirt. He then pulled out his handgun, twisting to fire at the beast clawing Luke’s armor a few feet away.
Dust rose around the warriors in the chaos, but through it, X glimpsed a dropped full-length spear and picked it up. He pivoted to face a pack of six female beasts, and for a moment he considered abandoning these men to fend for themselves. They were his enemy as much as the monsters were.
But where would he go? If he fled and was captured, he would be killed for desertion, and the thought of being stranded out here again filled him with enough dread to keep him in the fight.
An ethereal wail made him look up at a massive male beast flanking from the sky. More Sirens flapped away from the city to storm the hill, heading for Rhino and the other men, who had already moved down onto the other side.
At the hilltop, X went to work with the spear, stabbing, slicing, and swinging the sharp blade at the cadaverous-looking flesh. Blood streamed from the gashes as he inflicted mortal wounds.
A human scream followed the alien cries of pain, and X saw Luke squirming under the weight of another Siren. The beast impaled his eye with a talon and twisted it as the Cazador wailed in agony.
The beast retracted the claw from the bleeding socket. Wendig turned and fired three shots that punched neat holes into its eyeless skull.
It slumped onto Luke’s limp body.
X moved to Wendig’s side as the man reloaded. Holding up his spear, he prepared to jab at the team of Sirens surrounding them. Saliva dripped from open maws, the beasts tilting their heads as they seemed to study their prey.
They moved in all at once to overrun the two men.
A wave of fire suddenly blasted through the air, slamming into three of the beasts. Flames coated their flesh, and they dropped to the ground, flopping and howling.
X thrust the longer spear into the eyeless face of a fourth beast, which had avoided the fire. The blade caught it in the side of the head, puncturing skull and brain.
The whine of an automatic weapon came over the electronic cries, blowing limbs off the other two beasts.
X yanked his blade free and backed away as Rhino, Fuego, Ricardo, and Whale traversed the hill. They easily dispatched the remaining Sirens that had flanked them, and then turned their attention to the fliers.
Rhino jabbed his flame-tipped spear into a swooping beast, and it caught fire. He pulled the spear out and sliced off a wing with the next stroke.
The creature crashed in flames.
Whale let the Minigun hang from its strap and pulled the axe from the loops on his backpack. He brought it down on another beast, splitting its head like a round of wood.
He laughed as he moved on to the next beast, lobbing off an arm and then a leg before opening the chest cavity with the third swing. Reaching down, he pulled out a handful of viscera and held it dripping in the air.
The other men cheered, but X just looked on in amazement. Some carcasses still burned, the flesh sizzling as it melted off the bones.
Rhino pierced the heart of a Siren crawling away and then knelt beside Luke. He put a finger between the gap in his helmet and neck armor, feeling for a pulse. Then he stood and gestured for the other men to gather around.
They bowed their heads as Rhino spoke several words in Spanish. Then they pounded their chests and stripped Luke of his weapons. Whale tossed the fistful of Siren guts at X’s feet.
“Cómelo,” he said. “Te pondrá pelo en los testículos.”
The other men laughed.
“What did he say?” X asked Rhino.
“He said, ‘Eat this. It will put hair on your balls.’”
“You’re a seriously sick fuck,” X replied. He used the breather to check his HUD while the other soldiers gathered their weapons. His suit hadn’t been compromised, but his old injuries were aching again, and he felt fresh blood inside his boot.
“So you want to let me in on the real mission now?” X asked Rhino, who was already walking away from their fallen comrade and the gore-spattered ground.
“You will see soon enough,” Rhino said. “Now, keep moving, and maybe you will earn a spot on the Barracudas.”
Wendig walked past X, but this time, instead of pushing X to the ground, he clapped him on the shoulder, then hurried after the others.
TWELVE
Magnolia sat with the other wives in the gardens. The platform jutted from the capitol tower, providing a view of the ocean, and plenty of sun.
She folded her arms across her see-through blouse. Never in her life had she dressed in anything so seductive and downright silly. A floppy straw hat shielded her fair skin from the baking afternoon sun, and she made sure she was directly under the canopy of a tamarind tree. The other women lounged about, some of them dipping their legs in the limpid pool.
Flowers bloomed around the edges of the sparkling water. In the grove of fruit trees just beyond, servants picked oranges into wicker baskets.
For several minutes, she watched them work, wondering what their lives were like here on the Metal Islands. Every morning, the workers would come from other oil rigs like those she had seen on her ride to the main tower, from which el Pulpo ruled his domain.
One thing was certain: the servants did not live like his wives. The wives lived like royalty, lying on folded chairs on the deck, drinking goblets full of the berry drinks they called wine.
Another servant brought pieces of sweet candy and plates of berries. He made his way over to Magnolia, offering her some, but she grabbed a glass of water instead and thanked him with a smile.
But for the soldiers standing guard, one might think this was an old-world resort where tourists came to vacation, and the man was just a worker.
But he wasn’t a worker; he was a slave.
The man gave Magnolia a toothless smile and moved over to Inge, who greedily snatched a handful of candy without a single word or gesture of thanks. Sofia kindly accepted a glass of wine. She also took a hand towel and dabbed her forehead. Then she lifted her sun hat and looked at Magnolia.
“You will get used to the brightness,” she said. “I was born in a bunker and didn’t see the sun until I was brought here.”
She grabbed a bottle off the table and tossed it to Magnolia.
“Put this on. It will help protect you from the sun.”
The other women were already slathered with the ointment or whatever it was. Magnolia declined the bottle and stayed in the shade.
It felt like a betrayal. Why should she be enjoying the sunshine and a cold drink while X was out there fighting and Rodger and Miles were in chains?
She was in this position merely because she was beautiful in the eyes of the Cazador king. Her looks had never gotten her anywhere on the Hive except into trouble. But in this society, a woman’s looks seemed to be prized above all else.