Symphony of Descension Read online

  Symphony of Descension

  Echo Effect book 2

  Robert D. Armstrong

  ECHO EFFECT is a work of fiction. None of the characters nor events represent the likeness of actual events or persons.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  © 2017 Robert D. Armstrong

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Seven years later…

  “What does it want?” Lucas said, eyes wide, standing in front of a mass of burning debris. Two dozen ex-SEALs and Marines stood on both sides of him. Their laser and plasma weapons were aimed at the middle of the hangar bay, deep inside Lucas’ remote research facility in New Mexico.

  “Uh, we’re not sure, sir,” Garza replied.

  Lucas stepped forward with his pistol trained on the floating object bobbing up and down. It was a black mass about four meters tall, an oval cocoon with metallic tentacle-like extremities covering its entirety. The black tentacles slithered about the object Lucas glared over his shoulder. “I might have lied when I recruited you, Garza. This might not be a gravy gig after all.”

  “Yeah, ninth day on the job.” She peered through the smoke with her scoped P19 heavy plasma rifle, gritting her teeth.

  “Ahem, so, no demands? No dialogue?” Lucas scanned his troops.

  “Nothing, sir,” a grizzled man with a prosthetic left arm spoke up. Lucas shifted his eyes back at the object.

  A red electric spark erupted from the top of it. Lucas took a step back. “Whoa!” he yelled. Behind the object several of Lucas’ reverse engineering projects were in flames. Millions of dollars in research, gone forever.

  “Rrr-uhhh. S-Stand by… I am all…nearly…nearly…completed my understanding of the primitive languages on this planet…there. You’re using, English, American,” the garbled voice started like a train’s horn, echoing off the wall as it cleared into an electronic monotone voice that was easily understandable.

  Lucas gulped, closing his eyes and reopening them. He tilted his head, raising his eyebrows. “I think you’re in the wrong place. M-maybe there’s some confusion here?” Behind Lucas’ formation of Marines and SEALs was a group of scientists and engineers huddled behind a stack of cargo bins, petrified in fear.

  “I can assure you, I’m not confused in the slightest,” the voice erupted from the mass. It sounded deeper this time, more like a male voice with an electronic wheeze every other word.

  “Then what do you want?” Lucas asked.

  “You call it—M0541. A ship crashed here some time ago, and the relic was on board. We thought it was destroyed until it emitted a signal recently. Give me the device, immediately.” Several electric sparks discharged from the object. They seemed to feed off one another, intensifying to create a red aura of energy around the entity.

  “Give me the device immediately,” it repeated with authority.

  Lucas backed away slowly. He stared at a Marine on his right. His left eye twitched as he nodded. “We’re ready, sir, just make the call,” the Marine mouthed.

  “I don’t have what you’re looking for, not anymore,” Lucas snapped back toward the intruder.

  “My instruments detected the signal from this exact location. I find it interesting how I can pinpoint this planet out of billions, yet the regional location is somehow, incorrect. Not to mention, you have other sections of the wreckage here. You are either ignorant to its whereabouts or you are being deceptive.”

  “I’ve already told you, it’s gone. It was taken months ago. I can’t help you, and I will not lay down while you put innocent lives at risk,” Lucas said.

  Right then, two tall doors opened on each side of the object, revealing two blue orbs within the shadow. Loud clanking footsteps were heard as two lumbering, mechanized bipedal robots exited each door. They were black in color and near twenty feet tall. Embedded in the upper torso was a cockpit-like capsule with a pilot inside.

  The robots’ arms were six-foot long plasma rifles. A glowing blue hue strobed from the barrel of each weapon as they drew down on the foreigner. They angled their line of sight so not to engage in a crossfire with Lucas or each other.

  The tentacles around the object slowly unraveled from bottom to top, revealing the inside of the object.

  “Hostility?” the creature asked. Oddly, the body shape was humanoid, mostly cybernetic with jagged metals that were fused over a gray membrane. The arms and legs were disproportionally long compared to humans.

  Attached to its back were four tentacles. The appearance of these extremities was mechanized, but they moved in a biological manner. Like a set of King Cobras, they swayed back and forth in preparation of a strike. The length of each appeared varied as they retracted and protracted, creating a spurting liquid sound, like a geyser erupting. The diameter of each tentacle was roughly the size of a large grapefruit.

  The head was bizarre. It was somewhat human in shape and size, but more of an elongated oval. The head and face seemed covered in some type of ash-colored tar, like a mold of clay.

  An ominous vacancy was persistent throughout the face, like a warped mannequin, with no details of the eyes, mouth, or nose to speak of. Surrounding the head was a crown of three metallic, antenna-like rods that curved toward the back of the head and each other. The device seemed anchored by an assortment of clamps and screws that were drilled into the skull.

  “The craft that exploded above your planet, that was our doing, and I see you’ve successfully engineered a portion of its technology. Unfortunately for you, these weapons aren’t new to me. I’ve fought against them for centuries, far before your species knew of gunpowder. I say to you this, give me the device or I’ll tear through this entire installation until I find it.”

  Lucas panned left to right. He had no hand to play. He sighed, glancing at the wounded behind him. “You’ve already injured two of my men.”

  “Please, reconsider any thoughts of hostility. Contemplate the technological leap to travel lightyears to reach your planet. Your men will recover from their wounds, mild burns and fractures are survivable injuries according to human medical documentation. I was fired upon, and I simply moved the primates out of the way so I could conduct my search adequately. I can assure you, if you cooperate, no one else will be—”

  Lucas shook his head side to side, “Fire!” he yelled. A barrage of plasma and laser fire directed toward the creature as its red electric aura deflected it. The hangar bay lit up like a fireworks display.

  “This is unfortunate,” the creature’s voice was muted as each burst of energy impacted its red electric shield, creating a static sound. The being see
med displeased by the aggression, dipping its head briefly.

  “This will no doubt be a taxing experience for both parties,” the creature said.

  One of Lucas’ mechanized robots charged forward, penetrating the shield, smashing the foreigner with the tip of its gun in the chest. The force blasted the creature back, but its tentacles wrapped around the robot like elastic bands, slingshotting it back into the mech. The metal on metal collision sounded like a head-on car crash, echoing off the walls. During impact, a U-shaped airbag deployed from behind the pilot’s head rest, encasing his head to prevent injury.

  “Hold your fire! You’ll hit the mech pilot!” Lucas yelled. Red electricity surged through the creature’s tentacles as they snaked around the robot’s arms and legs, paralyzing it. The robotics winced under strain as the pilot 360’ed the flight stick, prying for any degree of control. The creature smashed its face against the cockpit glass as the pilot removed his hands from the controls.

  “Don’t eject!” Lucas yelled.

  The other mech cautiously crept forward to aid his paralyzed comrade, but the tangle of tentacles directed the powerless mech’s plasma cannons toward its ally, stopping him in place. “Take another step, and we’ll test your new guns against a softer target, shall we?” it asked.

  “Don’t move, pilot!” Lucas directed.

  “Excellent choice,” the creature said, snatching its intertwined tentacles toward itself, ripping the robot into hundreds of pieces of scorched debris while staring into the glass at the pilot. As the robot fell apart, the creature cradled the cockpit capsule like a newborn child with its tentacles, rocking it back and forth as the pilot panicked inside. “Isn’t this the way you treat your young? As incomprehensible as I am, I think until our transaction is completed, maybe you should alter your perception of me to something more…comfortable, maybe that of a parent and helpless newborn? Yes. Perhaps this could ease your anxiety and promote cooperation,” it said.

  Lucas dropped his pistol and fell to one knee.

  Chapter Two

  Sixteen hours later

  The shovel scraped the sidewalk lightly, scooping the snow and ice away. It was the middle of winter in Minnesota, the day after a record March blizzard. Keith stood up tall, stretching his back while wiping the sweat from his brow before it froze. “Ah, alright, that’s the last of it.” He pulled his coat tight before trudging through the snow back to his yard.

  “Keith. Oh. Keith, thank you for doing that, dear. George hasn’t felt good all week.” An elderly woman smiled through the crack of the door. The strength in her voice had faded, but the conviction in her tone was unwavering. However small Keith’s deed was, it was held in high regard, it seemed.

  “No problem, Mrs. Collier. If the mail runs later, I’ll grab it for you, too.” Keith waved. She paused without a word, staring at him.

  “I’ll watch for him,” he said. Her stare became intense, emotional as her frail hand shook holding the door.

  “I know you’ve been back home for a while, Keith, but we’re so glad to have you here. We love you like a son.”

  “Thank you. I love you too, Mrs. Collier. Thank you so much. Please, get back inside before you catch a cold.” He grinned. She nodded and shut the door as he turned toward home. He stared out in the flat white scenery down the road where his biological parents lived. He wasn’t welcome there. Not anymore, anyway.

  His father had grown ill and was bedridden. Keith wasn’t allowed to visit or even told the reason for the sickness. Keith’s path was wildly different from the rest of his family. They couldn’t relate being in a strict religious community. As the years passed, they saw Keith more of an outsider, a worldly man who put science over God.

  Keith stepped back to his front door, taking a gander at the massive heap of snow on the roof of his modest two-bedroom home. “Dammit, hope the roof doesn’t cave in. Repair guy said the beams needed replacing three months ago,” he mumbled.

  Keith shut the door, stamping his boots on the mat several times. “Mia, I’m back.” He peeled off his coat.

  “Great, but shoes off, mister,” Mia said from down the hall.

  “I was just about to.” He grinned. Straight down the hall, a silhouette appeared, stepping toward him. A female with long thick hair, wearing a light blue nightgown.

  “Guess who just called?” Mia asked, coming into view of the candlelight by the door. She was a petite, middle-aged woman with dark hair and eyes.

  “Hmmm. Mrs. Collier?” He grinned.

  “Yep.”

  “What’d she say?” he asked.

  “She didn’t say much, just reminding me again of how sweet a man you are.” Mia flashed a full smile, wrapping her arms around his neck and pecking Keith on the lips.

  Keith met Mia three years back at the local high school while he was a substitute teacher for a month. She taught history and was an avid reader of the Greco-Roman eras. The conversations started in the cafeteria, and the relationship bloomed from there.

  “She’s suspicious you might leave me. Maybe you’ll find a man who doesn’t contend with the seasonal blizzards.”

  “Uh-huh. I might. You know how I like my beaches. Hey, what did that repair guy say, the one who was over here about the roof a few months back? You guys were in the attic? It was creaking like crazy before you came in,” she asked.

  “That’s right roof, you better not creak in my presence!” Keith shouted, glancing upward.

  She chuckled. “Humor won’t distract me. What’d he say?”

  He sighed. “he said it would need replacing.”

  “When?”

  “After this winter.” Keith kicked off his boots.

  “Sounds like it’s on its last leg.”

  “I’m going up to handle it. There’s so much weight on it, that’s the problem,” he said, reaching outside to grab the shovel, then heading up the stairs. The house was built in the early 2050s, nearly thirty years old now. Keith spent much of his savings from Solarsystems to give it a modern touch. It retained a cozy feel about it. Highlighted by antiques from the previous century, the style was a mix of both Keith and Mia’s. She romanticized things of the past while Keith, he moved forward the best he could.

  The study was the conversation piece. In front of the window an antique typewriter sat on an old Amish, black walnut desk, opposite a modern holographic computer. The home had real hardwood floors, thick base board moldings, a real fireplace, and higher than normal ten-foot ceilings. For security, Keith installed an advanced holographic security system that projected live images of motion to their phones or wrist watches.

  “Need any help?” she asked.

  “Nah, I’m okay, thank you.” He opened the spare bedroom door, closing it behind him. The room had been primed for painting. The furniture was covered while the ceilings and floors were taped off, but never finished. He panned around. “Haven’t been up here in a while, maybe that’s the problem,” he said, glancing over a box of files with a white sheet over it. Through the sheet, he saw the Solarsystems’ corporate logo. He snapped his head away and sighed loudly, turning toward the window with the shovel in hand.

  He opened the window and a chill jet of air rushed into the room. He glanced back, making sure he remembered to shut the door. Keith then stepped out on the small balcony and began pecking at the layer of ice and snow with his shovel. “This stuff is thick,” he said, whaling away at it.

  All at once, the underlying sheet of ice buckled, causing a chain reaction that rushed down the steep, sloped roof. The suburban avalanche forced him to duck inside the window as the snow and ice blanketed the side of the house, then crashed into the back yard.

  “Keith! You okay up there?” Mia shouted from downstairs.

  “Yeah. Yeah! I’m good! Just, uh, came down a bit quicker than I expected,” he said.

  The door flung open as Mia entered. “Sounded like part of the roof fell in!” She smirked.

  “Now, I have to get the other side,” he s
aid, snapping his attention toward a distant rumble from the west.

  “What is that?”

  “Military choppers.” He dipped his head, bracing his arm against the wall. He stepped to the other window, panning into the distance. From here, he could see two black helicopters flying low, one gunship with a plasma cannon and the other a transport.

  Mia tiptoed over his shoulder. “They’re flying pretty low, headed this way.”

  “Looks that way, doesn’t it?” Keith opened the window and grabbed his shovel.

  “Hunny, no, really, they’re coming right at us,” she said.

  Keith reared back the shovel, but it was blown out of his hands by the chopper. “Damnit,” he said. The blades shook the house as the chopper lowered right beside them, the vibration caused the sheet of ice to tremor. Keith shot inside and shut the window, watching the ice cascade down in front of him.

  “That’s one way to do it!” he yelled, cupping his ears.

  “Do you know them? Why are they here?” Mia yelled over the blades as they landed in Keith’s backyard.

  “They didn’t come all the way out here for nothing.” He headed down the steps, exiting his sliding glass backdoor as the chopper blades dissipated. Twelve soldiers jumped off the transport, trudging through the snow in all directions to set up a perimeter. The gunship circled the neighborhood. Keith glanced over to his left at the Collier’s residence as George peeked through the blinds at the commotion. “It’s okay, Mr. Collier.” Keith smiled and waved.

  Mr. Collier didn’t seem convinced.

  Keith watch on as Lucas stepped off the chopper, wearing a long black overcoat with edgy dark shades. Underneath, he wore a black double-breasted suit with a navy blue tie. He took a good look at his surroundings and drew in a great breath before stepping toward Keith.

  Garza stepped off last. She’d traded her Marine camo for business casual. For today, at least. She held an expensive looking leather briefcase with both hands. She leaned in toward Lucas, narrowing her eyes at Keith, “he’s waiting sir.”