He could smell the Omull’s dry, papery smell. He was reminded of when his father had found a hornet’s nest under the eaves of their house once. That strange smell that he could never quite classify. The Omull gave it off in waves.
It’s real, Jace, Gehenna assured him. You know it is. Just accept everything on its face for now and question later.
All right. Now really isn’t the time for talking! Jace agreed.
All of this had taken a fraction of a second to communicate between them. Later, Sami would tell him that he fluidly rose up and fired without any hesitation. His conversation with Gehenna had occurred so quickly that it hadn’t slowed him down at all.
Jace fired dead center at the Omull’s head. It jerked back at the last moment but the laser blast still sliced off its bottom jaw. Black and green liquid poured from the wound. The blood caused the old linoleum floor to blacken and smoke as if acid had been poured down upon it. The Omull’s head whipped around and droplets of that acidic blood flew through the air. Considering what that blood had done to the floor, he didn’t want to find out what it did to bare skin. And it appeared he was right to worry.
Move, Jace! Gehenna shouted.
And, for a moment, he thought he saw a holographic grid overlay of orange lines showing him where the blood would and wouldn’t land. Some of it was going to hit Sami in the face. Again, Sami would tell him that he seemed to shoot and move without any hesitation as if he and the Omull had choreographed the whole thing and practiced it endlessly.
He twisted and grabbed Sami around the waist before throwing them both backwards into a section of the grid where no blood would land. He spun them in mid air so that they both landed beside each other instead of one on top of the other. He twisted around--laser gun outstretched--and fired off two more blasts in quick succession.
The first shot hit the Omull’s body, vaporizing a chunk of its carapace, while the second shot penetrated its chin, blowing the top of its head off. The creature remained upright for a moment before collapsing, knocking over one of the shelves containing the chips. There was a sizzling sound as the plastic bags melted and the chips were cooked in acid. A foul smell rose up as well. A noxious chemical stink that had Jace’s head starting to ache again.
The pool of blood from the Omull’s body was spreading towards his and Sami’s feet. He jerked his feet up towards his body and stood up, dragging Sami with him. Not that she needed much help as she was scrambling to get up as well.
“Jace.” The way she said his name--full of awe and shock--had him turning to look down at her. “How did you do that? Have you been… training to fight alien invaders?”
She gave out a laugh that wasn’t quite a laugh. Her eyes said that she truly wondered at the answer.
“I… AH!”
Jace nearly dropped the laser gun as a sharp pain like a railroad spike drove through his skull. He brought both of his hands up to his temples as he hunched forward. The pain was horrible. The auras flared until everything from Sami to a can of nuts on a shell had a different colored aura. He staggered and collapsed against a shelf containing the jars of salsa. He swept dozens of them onto the floor in his desperate bid to keep upright. Jars shattered and painted his legs with tomatoes, onions and jalapenos.
“JACE!” Sami cried as she caught him just as he was going to slide to the floor.
Gehenna! What’s going on? Why is this happening? Jace asked through the stabs of pain.
It was like his normal migraine, but turned up to 11.
The buzz and snap over their connection was worse as Gehenna said apologetically, Jace, it’s because our connection isn’t complete and we’re talking. You need to find me and we need to finish what we started.
Find you?! Where are you--ah, God?!
Jace clutched at his head as his tinnitus turned into a high-pitched whine. It felt like someone was drilling into his head.
You’re reacting to the Khul’s presence as well, Gehenna stated through the hiss and pop. I can try and block some of that out. There was a pause and then she asked, Did that help?
The pain retreated to a dull, angry throb around the back of his skull. The high-pitched whine was now muted. Jace was able to lower his hands from his ears and stand up on his own though he was shaky. Sami continued holding onto him tightly just in case he toppled over.
That helped a ton, Gehenna. The pain’s just a dull roar now, he told her.
It will go away once we complete our connection, Gehenna assured him.
For a moment, Jace thought of the dream he’d had just that morning about her and his fears that maybe the Precursors--and they were real too!--wanted to assimilate humans and were the real villains, not the Khul. But after seeing the Khul, that idea seemed downright dumb. Or, at least, it was clear that the Khul were definite villains. Whether Gehenna and the Precursors were was not determined yet.
Jace, I know that this is confusing and you must have many questions, Gehenna began again.
But now is not the time for questions? Jace grinned and winced as it hurt to do that.
There was a chuckle from the AI. Now, you’re getting it. She paused and added, You’ve only seen a little of what the Khul will do to humanity. Even if I or the Altaeth had bad intentions to assimilate you in order to stop them, would that be so terrible? I assure you that we are not going to harm you. But the Khul… they will. And not just you.
Jace frowned. That was a point. A lot of points actually. He looked out of the broken window. The Khul and the soldiers were all gone. He didn’t hear any screams anymore from the Naruto-runners. Hopefully, some of them had gotten away.
A few did. But others will not be so lucky, Gehenna told him.
