Primal Link 2 Read online

  It had been a hard day, and it was difficult to keep my eyes open when all there was to do was stare off into the night. "I shall walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing." It's one of the general orders that dictate every Marine’s behavior. I'd recited it for the last twenty minutes while standing guard duty, hoping it would keep me awake. That hope was dashed as my knees gave out and I almost fell.

  That was too close. It was the fourth or fifth time in the last hour that I’d almost fallen over while standing. All the other times, I felt myself listing to one side or the other, and woke up in time to catch myself. Reciting general orders wasn't doing the trick. Instead, I let my mind wander to recent events.

  The machines, the inhabitants of this world, were amazing. If not for one simple fact, our mission here would be completely different. As awe-inspiring as the machine animals were, the thought of them sent a chill down my spine. Every one of them that we encountered had been hell-bent on putting an end to us. Those thoughts led my mind to the only place it could go next.

  Cade was a member of the SEAL team that discovered this planet long before we arrived. He was an acquaintance, maybe not a friend, but someone I had known for a long time. He, along with the other SEALs in his unit, merged themselves with these machine animals to become human-machine hybrids. Those SEAL hybrids made it their mission to end us. Not a good time to be one of the good guys.

  If not for…

  "You okay, man?"

  I nearly jumped out of my skin at the unexpected sound from behind. Spinning around, I raised my rifle ready to defend myself and my Marines.

  "Wow," Lance Corporal Kopf said as he jumped back and raised his arms. "It's only me, man. No need to give me any unnecessary holes."

  I lowered my weapon and shook my head to clear away some of the sleep fog. "I'm sorry, Kopf. I'm exhausted, and I guess I wasn't paying attention."

  Kopf smiled and chuckled nervously as he ran a hand through his hair. "Been a rough couple of days. Good thing for you it’s my turn to take watch, so why don't you get some rest?"

  "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," I replied.

  The sight of my cot brought a smile to my face. They weren't the most comfortable beds, but right now it looked like pure heaven. Our cots were spaced out enough that there was plenty of room to set my gear down side-by-side with the gear of the Marine sleeping next to me. Once everything was stowed, except for my rifle, I prepared to lie down and fall into slumber’s sweet embrace.

  That was before my eyes caught sight of Jones, who was on a cot next to mine. She slept on her side facing me with her eyes closed and a shallow smile on her cute face. She looked so peaceful that I stood and stared, hoping that some of that calm would infect me before I tried going to sleep. I lowered myself to the cot.

  The last couple of nights resembled something closer to a performance at the Neo-Vegas acrobatics show, in which I tossed and turned as nightmarish images plagued my dreams. The lack of rest made each day a grueling slog that felt more dreamlike than real.

  It brought another question. After what we'd been through, and all we'd seen, how could Jones sleep so peacefully? Whatever her secret, if I could figure it out, I would bottle it and earn a nice retirement fund.

  In the short time I had known her, I saw many different facets of the amazing woman. She was strong, and a fighter, but she was so much more than that. For some reason, she liked me enough to agree to a date, and to follow me into the craziest and most potentially lethal situations. Through it all, she was there by my side and ready to stand and fight whenever I asked.

  What kind of dreams allowed her to smile? The dreams that I remembered were gruesome affairs that left me wishing I never went to sleep. I saw the deaths of Marines and twisted sailors turned into half-mechanical abominations. Worse still, my dreams ended with the deaths of Standish, Jones, and Kopf on more than one occasion.

  Seeing my friends die night after night gave me new insight into the relationships we shared. The stoic and stalwart Standish had become something of a mentor to me. Kopf positioned himself as the plucky comic relief in our little melodrama. And Jones was…hopefully something more than a fellow Marine and friend.

  A shuffling noise sounded right next to my cot. I turned to see Kopf kneeling next to me and looking around conspiratorially. Had I been asleep, the noise and sudden appearance of the man might have startled me.

  “You awake, Corporal?” Kopf asked while turning to meet my eyes. He returned to looking around after the last word.

  "I am, but not for long. Why aren’t you at your post?"

  Kopf turned his gaze to me with a sheepish grin. "There's something I've been meaning to ask. Seeing as it’s so quiet, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity. Is that okay?" After speaking he looked around again.

  “I guess, as long as you make it quick.”

  "When do you think we’re getting off this rock?"

  His eyes bored into me as he waited for my answer. It took a moment to rack my brain in my sleep-deprived state for an answer. While there was no definitive time and date set, our mission here was almost complete. "Well, we have three more people to account for. Once we know the fate of those Marines, we should be clear to leave. The only problem I can see right now is that there's still a lot of ground to cover. We don't know what happened to them, or which direction they went. So, I guess the answer is, the faster we find them, the faster we get out of Dodge."

  "Did you just say, ‘get out of Dodge?’" Kopf’s left eyebrow rose.

  "I did. So what?" I felt the heat of embarrassment rise in my cheeks as I spoke.

  "Didn’t that stop being a saying, like, a thousand years ago? Is Dodge still a town or did that place get swallowed up by the Kansas City megalopolis?" Kopf asked.

  "They still say it in the Western remakes," I replied. "Maybe if you spent a little more time watching those instead of all those damn horror movies, you wouldn’t be so freaked out all the time."

  "And maybe if those old shows and remakes were more than a bunch of high-and-mighty gun-toting hypocrites, I would." Kopf rocked back on his heels. "You know why I like horror movies so much?"

  "You get off on being scared?"

  "No man, that's not it at all,” he replied indignantly. “If you think that's all horror is about, you're missing the point."

  I propped myself up on my elbow since I figured there was no way I would get to sleep anytime soon. "Okay, let's hear it," I said in an exasperated tone.

  "I thought you’d never ask." Kopf smiled and leaned forward, getting a lot closer than he had previously. "It's like this, see. Horror movies—and probably books, although it’s stupid that people read those when they can watch the movie. Screw that noise. Anyway, the whole point is to explore the human condition."

  There was a moment of silence as I waited for Kopf to continue, but all he did was sit there and grin at me like he’d dropped a huge revelation on my shoulders. "And?" I asked with uncertainty.

  Kopf sighed, and his shoulders drooped. "Fine. I'll explain a little more. What you do is take people—ordinary, weird, rich, whatever. The type doesn’t matter as much as what you want to learn about them. So, you take these people and you put them in the most ridiculously screwed up situation you can come up with, and you see how they react. Now here’s the beauty of it. You might want to write this down."

  Kopf paused, and I realized that he was serious about me writing it down. "I'm not going to write this down."

  “Whatever,” he replied. “Anyway, it’s what people do not to the monsters, but to each other. That's where the secret sauce lies. You figure out how different people react under all these different stimuli, and you learn what they’re made of."

  Kopf beamed at me as if he had taught me how to transmute lead into gold. I almost felt like an ass for having to be the one to burst his bubble. Almost being the operative word here.
"Aren't those movies written by a person or group of people?"

  Kopf shrugged, "Sure, but all movies are. What's your point?"

  "My point is that these precious reactions you're so interested in. They all stem from the imagination of the writers. So how is this an accurate depiction of the way people behave?"

  Kopf’s mouth opened as if to speak, but no sound came out. After a moment of gaping mouth silence, Kopf shrugged and closed his mouth.

  "Now if you told me these movies were actually documentaries and people were really being placed in these screwed up situations, then I think you’d be correct," I said. "But it's all fiction. Conjecture. Talk to me when you find something real. For now," I paused to look down at my watch. "Why don't you get back over there to the door and do your job so I can go to sleep?" It wasn't a question.

  Kopf sighed as he stood up. He walked away, and I settled back down into my sleeping bag. My eyes ready for sleep to claim me, but his dumbass theory kept bouncing around in my head. For five minutes I lay there wanting to sleep, but unable to.

  I'm not sure how much time passed. All I knew for sure was that sleep wouldn’t come. But something else did.

  3

  Goshawk

  The odd sensation wouldn’t let me sleep. It almost felt like a tug without any actual pulling. What the feeling possessed was direction, which made it all the more perplexing.

  I’d given up on sleep after an hour of getting nowhere, so I dressed in my uniform and armor and headed for the exit. Seeing Kopf standing in my path with his head moving from side to side made me pause.

  I wanted to think the man found a place to crash until his watch was over. He had fought by my side and I felt I could trust him, but seeing Kopf do what needed to be done without question gave me the confidence to feel like I truly trusted him. The thought caused a stir of warm feelings in my belly, as if something large had nuzzled against me. It was Aspen letting me know that she felt the same way without having to say anything.

  "All quiet?"

  Kopf jumped and spun while letting out a high-pitched squeal. His hands were halfway to his rifle when he realized the sound came from me. His eyes went from round saucers to their more normal shape as he relaxed and straightened. "Shit, Corporal, you almost scared me to death."

  “Sorry about that. It wasn't my intention to scare you. But hey, think of it as a little test of the human condition tailor-made for you.” I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing.

  "That is so not funny, Corporal," Kopf deadpanned. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

  I scratched the back of my head while I took a second to consider what I would tell him. "I tried, but for some reason all I could do was stare at the ceiling. I thought a walk might help me get back in the mood for some rest. Everything's been quiet lately, so I figured it wouldn't hurt as long as I stay close.”

  "I don't know," Kopf said. "It only takes a second for the shit storm to hit the fan after the calm. I'd hate for you to be caught out in the rain."

  "That makes two of us. Especially if it's a shit storm." We both got a chuckle out of that.

  "I guess I can't stop you. My orders are to keep stuff out, but no one said anything about keeping anyone in. Stay safe, Corporal."

  "I will, Kopf," I said as I passed him on my way out.

  The cool night air felt refreshing against my skin. It made me wish I hadn't donned my armor, which trapped my body heat inside. While I was willing to take the risk of going outside, I wasn't going to be stupid about it. So, as I gingerly descended the stairs, the weight of my armor pressed down on me and my rifle slapped against my back.

  I made it two steps before a sound from behind caught my attention. “Hey, there,” Jones said. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

  I turned to see her walking toward me. “I couldn’t sleep, and thought some fresh air would do me good.”

  “Want company?”

  Her offer was tempting, but I had to figure out what this feeling was, and I didn’t know how to explain it to her, yet. “Nah, I think I need some alone time to sort my thoughts.”

  For the briefest moment, her expression was hurt, but it passed, and she smiled. “Then maybe,” she wrapped her arms around my neck while speaking. “A quick kiss so you don’t go off thinking alone is the way to be?”

  “No,” I replied, feeling a little worried. “That’s not—” Jones cut me off by pressing her lips to mine.

  It was a small kiss that lasted only a moment, but it made my head spin. “I won’t forget.”

  She laughed. “I should hope not. I’d hate to have to kick your ass. Go on, get your alone time, then come back and get some rest.”

  I stood there watching her walk away and didn’t move until she was out of sight. Never had a woman planted such a chaste kiss on me yet made me feel like it meant the world to her. It certainly had to me.

  The pull, or sensation, came from my left. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell how close it was. I hoped that I would soon discover the source without having to go too far.

  As I neared the edge of the building, I felt a shift. It was almost like my awareness was a needle floating in water and the sensation was magnetic north pulling the arrow to point around the corner. I had already come that far, so I continued to follow it toward its origin after checking to make sure the way was clear. I started to feel a little better as the intensity of the feeling grew with each step I took. If I was right, then whatever this was, was only a couple of steps ahead.

  In the blink of an eye, the world changed. Night was day, cool was warm, and the empty street was a bustle of activity. I spun around to go back, but stopped before I took a step. A basketball-sized shimmer in the air that held a touch of darkness faded from view. Then there was only the well-lit street.

  The buildings and streets shone with golden brilliance. A moment before, the stone structures had a dull gray sheen. Now, the cracks, holes, and missing sections of walls were gone. Inlays of red, blue, and green gemstones adorned the buildings and glimmered in the sunlight. If not for one other thing, I could've stood there staring at the architecture. The only thing that kept me from staying rooted in place and enjoying the view was the large number of people moving back and forth on the street. They weren’t the ones I was used to, however. I was certain this was the species that had bonded with the native animals long ago. I didn't know for sure since all the images of Aspen's bonded I had seen were of him clad in armor.

  “You are correct,” Aspen said in my mind. "These are my former bonded’s people."

  Every one of the individuals I saw looked so much like humans. There were a few differences that stood out, but the basic structure was there. Two legs, standing upright, two arms, and one head. Most of them stood at my height or just under, but they all seemed a little slimmer than would be healthy for humans.

  One of the biggest differences was their facial structure. They had no nose. That part of their face was flat and smooth. The distance from the eyes to their mouth was about the same as a human's would be. Their eyes were set a little wider apart, and were larger than normal. While I saw most of the usual eye colors, brown, green, and hazel, every person had flecks of gold in their irises. Their ears were slightly smaller, more rounded, and symmetrical from top to bottom as well as sticking out farther from the head. To top it off, they had two holes above their eyes and under the brow ridge close to the center of their face. I figured that had to be what passed for noses.

  There was another stark difference between them and humans. Skin color. Like Homo sapiens, they had a range of colors. Unlike humans, their colors weren’t earth tones, but more like their pigment was drawn from a rainbow. There were people with yellows, reds, blues, and greens.

  Another more subtle difference was those I thought of as female were slighter in build compared to the males. The men had wider shoulders, were generally taller, and had thicker limbs. What I didn’t see on the females were the mounds of breasts. Instead, I saw what looked like well-defi
ned chests on both men and women. I thought maybe the women's breasts would swell after giving birth for the purposes of breast-feeding, then shrank back down once those glands were no longer needed. Like what happened to my childhood dog when she gave birth to a litter of pups. To be honest, I had no idea what I was talking about, but I wanted to learn more.

  “Do you see this?” Aspen asked me.

  I stepped to the side as a man walked right at me. He didn't seem to see me as he passed by and I looked him dead in the eyes. There was no reaction from him. When I turned to see where he went, another man ran into me. I shrieked, but the man didn’t notice as he passed through me. As I kept my eyes on the man, I responded to Aspen. "We’re doing a lot more than seeing."

  "How do you mean?"

  "I can feel this, too." As I continued to speak out loud, I watched people pass as if I wasn't there. "Not the people, but I can feel the wind against my skin. It’s warm and dry. There’s a faint hint of some sort of roasted meat traveling along the breeze. That woman talking smells like a sweet perfume. It’s nothing like when I was in your memory with you there. That was all visual stimuli and your voice. Now," a nervous laugh escaped my lips. "It’s as if we’re really here."

  "I am unable to manifest as I could in my memories. This is different. Ray, you need to be careful until we figure out what this is and how to get back."

  "What?" I looked around frantically for something to take me back to where my Marines were. "You mean to tell me you don't know where we are, or how to return?"

  "Where is easy. I believe the question is when.”

  I turned and looked at the wall behind me, then stepped closer and ran my hand over the smooth stone. "I think I see what you mean. This place looks a lot like when I was with you in your mind. You think we could have traveled back to that time?"

  "No. Everything looks newer than when I lived here. I believe we have gone back farther.”