HAWK

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: INVADER (2/5)

The crew had seated themselves in a circle on the floor with the golden alien that was Astrid in the centre. Worm was perched on the back of her fallen suit, her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands in a grumpy expression.

'It happened without warning,' Astrid said. 'I was working on my virus when I detected movement inside the alien's container. It had found a way to reanimate.'

'How the hell did it manage that?' Mack asked.

'It would seem its body is able to absorb energy from cosmic rays. In space, without Xeo's atmosphere to act as a shield, the strength of cosmic radiation is much greater. The alien was apparently able to amass enough energy since we departed Xeo to completely reanimate.'

Sudds shook his head. 'I really hate gold-skins.'

'Once it had freed itself, I had no choice but to transmit a primitive version of my virus. I knew it was only a matter of time before the alien escaped the ship and killed you, and my best chance of stopping it was to take control of it. Unfortunately, it managed to get the ship's doors open before my virus had fully uploaded.'

'Wait,' Pari said. 'So was it you we were fighting or the alien?'

'Both of us, in a way, but mostly the alien to begin with. As the fight progressed, I managed to take more control - enough to at least stop it from killing you - but I was unable to stop it from hurting you entirely.'

'We fought a Kikoan alien and survived,' Mack said. 'I think that's a pretty good result.'

'It was almost much worse.'

'But it wasn't,' Kas said. 'Don't be so hard on yourself, Astrid. You did great.'

Astrid nodded her thanks.

'So does this mean your virus is ready?' Sudds asked.

'Not quite,' Astrid replied, 'but it is a promising development. Even with an unrefined version of my virus, I was able to take control of the alien within three minutes. As we predicted, it has never been subjected to a viral attack and was poorly prepared to combat one. Now that I have this body, I'm confident I will be able to cultivate a much stronger virus in a shorter--'

Astrid suddenly threw her head back and looked up at the ceiling.

'Astrid?' Kas said, but Astrid didn't move. She was a statue. The group jumped to their feet and backed away from Astrid like she was a live bomb.

'What's she doing?' Pari asked.

'We should get weapons,' Sudds suggested.

'There are none left,' Mack said.

'Well we can't just stand here! What if she--'

Astrid suddenly came back to life and lowered her gaze. There was a sudden urgency in her stance as she looked around at the crew.

'We have to stop,' she said. 'We have to stop the mission.'

'Why?' Kas asked. 'What happened?'

'I saw the IRIS.'

'What do you mean, you saw the IRIS?' Sudds asked.

'It was as though I was standing inside a room and looking at it through a large oval window. This must be how the Intelligence communicates. My body is some kind of antenna capable of receiving federal transmissions. I am part of a neural network.'

'Why did you say we have to stop the mission?' Kas prompted.

'There were ships. I estimate as many as ten-thousand ships were in formation around the IRIS. It was like they were guarding it.'

'What kind of ships?'

'X1 fighters.'

The entire group gulped.

'How sure can you be that this was real and not some kind of false vision?' Mack asked.

'I don't. But if we continue flying towards the IRIS without a new plan of action, our efforts will be for nothing. Even in the F-88, I cannot outmanoeuvre ten-thousand X1 fighters. I will be destroyed before I make it within a thousand miles.'

Captain Mack lowered himself to his knees and shook his head. He looked like he wanted to cry. 'Why can't we just get a break? What the hell are we supposed to do now?'

'We should keep going,' Kas replied. 'We'll just have to try and think of a plan on the way.'

'You think you can find a way to sneak past ten-thousand X1's?' Pari asked.

Kas didn't reply.

'What if we created a diversion?' Astrid proposed. 'If we can divert attention away from the IRIS, I may stand a chance of making it through undetected.'

'It would have to be a hell of a big diversion,' Mack replied.

'Yes. It would.'

'So do you have one in mind?'

'I have an idea... but I don't think you're going to like it.'

'Why? What is it?'

Astrid told them, and she was quite right. They didn't like it one bit.