Read Online Extinction by Kyle West - Free Book Online

the deck, but not much else.
    “Clear,” Ashton said into his radio.
    “Are you at the bridge yet?” Jonas asked.
    “In a minute,” Ashton said. “About to start it up.”
    “Hurry. The Emperor wants to get moving.”
    We exited the cargo bay and headed for the bridge. Anna took the copilot’s seat while Ashton took the pilot’s.
    “Code?” Ashton asked.
    “3-1-5-8,” Jonas said.
    Ashton keyed in the code on the LCD. Slowly, the ship rumbled to life. Its hull and deck vibrated as the fusion drive, dormant for thirty years, worked itself online.
    “Thank God it works,” Ashton said. “Fuel levels full. Switching to inter-ship comm.”
    “Copy that,” Jonas said.
    Anna flicked a few buttons. “Should be connected.”
    “Jonas?” Ashton asked. “You hear me?”
    Jonas’s voice now came from the dash.
    “Loud and clear.”
    “Following your lead.”
    “Copy that.”
    Orion lifted from the hangar, its thrusters glowing blue. Ashton waited a few seconds before following. I strapped myself to the jump seat at the back of the bridge, behind both Ashton and Anna. The ship swerved as it rose. The hangar fell away as we lifted into the red sky above.
    Before us spread a panorama of pink and purple mountains. Red mist shrouded the jagged peaks, and pink xenofungus extended as far as the eye could see. Swarms of birds flew in cyclones above the xenofungal floor. In the far distance, a massive Xenolith rose from the fungus, much larger than any I’d ever seen. More such Xenoliths dotted the horizon. We were deep into the Great Blight. The xenolife here would be more massive and exotic – and probably dangerous.
    “Perseus...” It was Augustus’s voice. “We have just received word from Los Angeles. The Reapers are shelling my camp.”
    We looked at each other. It was time to make good on our side of the bargain, but Makara and the others still needed airlifting out of Oasis, if they were still there.
    “Augustus,” Ashton said. “We...have something to take care of, first. It won’t take long.”
    “What?”
    “We’ll...be back to help soon. It has to do with our friends.”
    “Your friends?” The dash was silent for a moment. “You mean...Samuel?”
    “We didn’t want to say anything. But they are alive. We know, because the cargo bay of Gilgamesh was empty. There was a Recon stored there, so we know they got out. We think they’re in Oasis, and Oasis is under attack. We have to save them.”
    It took a while for Augustus to react to these words. I could only imagine his shock.
    “I...can hardly believe that, Ashton. Even if it’s true...how do you know they are there?”
    Ashton looked at me. “I think we might have a lead. Don’t ask me to explain. It should only take thirty minutes extra.”
    “Thirty minutes?” Augustus asked. “Do you know how many of my men could die in that time?”
    “This is important,” Ashton said. “And it’s not something we can argue about. It’s something we must do.”
    Augustus said something in Spanish, likely a curse.
    “I went through all this trouble to provide you with a spaceship, and this is how you repay me?”
    “It won’t be long for us to pick them up,” I said. “If we wait, they’re going to die, and we can’t let that happen. We don’t have time, especially if they have flyers. Your men can hold on that long.”
    Augustus was silent for a long moment.
    “I don’t like this, but I see I have no option. You have your extra thirty minutes, but after that, you must help me with the Reapers.”
    “Agreed,” Ashton said. “We won’t be long.”
    We sped west over the Great Blight.
    ***
    W e stayed high in altitude at first, but once we were halfway over Arizona, Ashton lowered the ship in preparation for descent into Oasis. Once we broke through the layer of thick, red clouds, we saw a fraction of what we’d be up against.
    The entire fungus-ridden ground boiled with wave after wave of crawlers, all speeding east in a blur.