Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

I looked up to thank my saviors. Stacy, Arun, and Ricky all held blasters. Tong sat in the front cab of the crawler, wide-eyed at the events surrounding us.

I picked myself off the ground, looking for Maksim. He was gone. I wasn’t sure if he escaped or the infected got to him. Either way, there was no sign of him now.

“You’re bleeding pretty badly,” Stacy said, running to my side.

Mutt sniffed at my bloody fingers with a whine. A thick tongue came out and licked me, as if that was going to make me feel better in and of itself.

It kind of did.

“What happened?” Ricky asked, joining Stacy. “You don’t look so good.”

“Story of my life,” I said. “I was jumped right outside Tong’s cave. Maksim whacked me on the head and dragged me out here. The party was interrupted by Legion. I don’t know if Maksim got away or Legion got to him first.”

“Maksim?” Ricky said, putting his back to us. He scanned the forested area one more time to be sure we were alone.

The only thing besides our group in the surrounding area were dead bodies. One of the bodies to our left coughed, then cackled with laughter.

I looked over to see a young man with the infection coming out of every orifice. He looked at us with a smile. In his white teeth were rivers of the black substance.

“History will only serve to repeat itself,” the young man said with a smile. “You will all die or become part of Legion.”

I opened my hand, motioning to Ricky’s rifle.

Rick handed it to me, no questions asked.

“What do you want with us?” I asked. I knew the answer to the question; I just wanted to hear it from him first. “It’s you, isn’t it? I’m talking to Legion.”

“Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?” Legion asked.

“It’s him.” Tong’s distinct voice reached my ears. I looked back to see as he and Arun approached. “I’m sure it’s him.”

“A Remboshi has awoken,” Legion said with a smile. “It’s your kind that were my creators, my father.”

“Not my kind, but the sect of the Remboshi who broke off, the Rung. Those that worship technology and advancement above all else.”

“I call them Father and you Mother,” Legion said with awe in his voice. “I have been alone for too long these years, barely surviving in animals and plants on this planet. Long had I wished for stronger, more able-bodied hosts to possess again. Then, when the Orion crashed, my prayers were answered. A near unlimited source of new bodies for me to inhabit, and now look—you, too, have awoken from your sleep, eager to be consumed.”

“The Great Dawn has come to end you once and for all,” Tong said, staring down at Legion with stoic eyes. “Your days on Genesis are at an end.”

“My rise to power is only beginning.” Legion grinned again. “The more I infect, the greater my reach extends, and the more knowledge I gather as well. Once I infect you, Remboshi, I will possess the information you do, to locate the rest of your people, wake them, and draw them into my fold.”

“Never,” Tong spat.

I had yet to see the Remboshi angry, but I guessed this was what passed for it in his kind. Tong’s hands balled into fists and his eyes widened. He bared his short, stubby teeth.

“Are we done here?” I asked. “I’ve been waiting to shoot him since he started talking.”

“Ahhh, the ever-vigilant hero,” Legion said, looking over at me. “When I possess your body, you will be my champion. I will—”

BOOM!

Legion’s head exploded in a mess of skull and brain matter.

I looked over to Stacy, who replaced her blaster in her side holster.

“I was getting tired of him running his mouth,” Stacy said. “There was nothing new he was going to tell us.”

I nodded. I had wanted to be the one to put him down, but as long as he was out for the count, I could live with that.

“We’ve got to take a look at your head,” Ricky said, grimacing at the amount of blood running down the back of my skull. “We need to get you back to the Orion and have Doctor Allbright take a look at you.”

“No, I’ll be fine. We need to move on,” I said. “The sooner we reach Tong’s installation, the sooner we can get the weapons to deal with Legion and put him down for good.”

“Let me see,” Arun said. She walked around to my back and gently took my head in her hands, examining my wound. “I don’t have a Heal Aid, but I’m sure we have a needle and thread in the kit. We can do this the old way if you insist on coming along with us.”

“I insist,” I said without hesitation, handing the rifle back to Ricky. “How did you find me anyway?”

“Well, you left a patchy trail of blood behind you and Mutt did the rest,” Stacy answered.

I looked down at Mutt. He wagged his tail.

“Could have used your help when I was getting jumped,” I said down at the genetically engineered dog. “Where were you then?”

Mutt cocked his head to the side as if he were trying to understand what I was saying.

“It’s all right; you always pull through when it counts,” I said, ruffling his soft ears.

“We push hard, we still might be able to make it to the communication section of the Orion by night,” Arun said. “Ricky will drive with Tong and me in the front. We’ll give you a few minutes to get that wound on your head sealed up.”

“Thanks,” I said.

We made it back to the crawler, where Stacy went to work on sewing up the back of my head. Ricky, Tong, and Arun were close enough to help if needed. They stood beside the bed of the crawler, planning their next move.

“You know what you’re doing back there?” I asked, only half teasing. “I don’t want the back