CHAPTER 1: THAT SINKING FEELING
"New York, New York," Fletcher announced as he crested the hill ahead of them. Gustave lumbered up to his side, Xipa peering out at the vista beyond from atop his shoulder.
They had crossed the residential band, and before them were the city limits, towers of white carbcrete that rose high into the sky. The streets here were flooded, the decorative lakes and rivers overflowing their bounds, making it look like the entire block was slowly sinking into a murky ocean. The formerly pristine facades of the buildings had been stained by the rise and fall of the water level over the decades, clinging aquatic plants that had been temporarily exposed to the air by the tide making them look like they were covered in red fur. Some of the structures were listing, their foundations eroded by water damage, a few of them leaning against their neighbors like they had been pushed over by a giant hand. Few of the windows that she could see were still intact, plants that had taken root inside them breaking through in search of sunlight, entire trees sprouting from the lower floors in places. Their seeds must have been carried there on the wind.
"I think we can make it through," Bluejay said, peering through the scope of his rifle to get a closer look. "I don't think it's deeper than two or three feet, and it gets shallower."
"The city is supposed to be level," Xipa added. "This entire area must be slowly sinking. There are underground sewers and maintenance tunnels that have probably been flooded for all this time, which would have eroded the foundations. It's like the legs have been cut out from under it."
"Think it's safe?" Fletcher asked. "I don't really fancy falling into a sinkhole or having a building collapse on me."
"There's no way to be sure," she replied. "Besides, what choice do we have?"
"Alright, let's just get it over with," Fletcher sighed as he set off down the hill.
There was no choice but to wade into the water here, the Earth'nay sinking up to his chest, pushing through the plants that floated on its surface. They had red, disk-shaped leaves, their white flowers blooming in clusters. Xipa remembered a time when they had cultivated these flowers in the lakes purely for aesthetic purposes, and now those same plants were growing over the submerged roads.
Ruza fared a little better, the water only rising to his waist, while Xipa was glad to be riding Gustave. Bluejay buzzed off into the air, soaring over their heads, heading for the nearest vantage point. He perched atop an old street light that was draped with red vines, his rifle in hand as he surveyed the route ahead of them.
"If we find survivors here, what should we do about
him
?" Xipa asked as she nodded in the insect's direction.
"That's a big
if
," Fletcher replied, holding his rifle aloft as he waded through another patch of weeds. "Hopefully, he looks different enough from the native Bugs that they wouldn't just shoot him on sight. That's what I'd do in their position, though."
"At the time of the invasion, my people had no idea that there was other intelligent life in the Galaxy," Xipa continued. "Our scientists and philosophers concluded that it was a certainty, of course, but we had never encountered another spacefaring species before that terrible day. We come to their rescue with a team of five species, only one of which is familiar, and another that they know to be hostile. They would not know what to make of an Earth'nay, a Krell'nay, or a Borealan."
"I guess we'll just let you do the talking," Fletcher replied.
"You will have no choice, as they will not speak English," she chided.
"Hey, Bug boy," Fletcher said into his helmet radio. "The Ensi says any survivors might be a bit trigger-happy, so try to keep a low profile, alright? We don't want to lose our eye in the sky."
They carried on through the water, making their way deeper into the city. Up close, the damage to the buildings seemed even more severe. The ground floors had been flooded, shoals of tiny fish swimming in and out of the broken windows, colonies of mushrooms filling the damp interiors wherever there was a surface to take root on. They passed by a scooter charging station whose glass awning rose only a meter above the water, a pair of abandoned scooters still anchored to it. There was scarcely a surface that the local plant life hadn't strived to reclaim, the walls carpeted in weeds at the waterline, red vines draped over everything that they could reach.
"Looks like someone came through here with a giant can of red silly-string," Fletcher muttered, the reference lost on Xipa.
"Movement, to the left," Ruza growled. He shouldered his rifle, Fletcher doing the same, the Earth'nay stumbling in the deep water. Xipa heard a splash from inside one of the nearby buildings, raising her XMR, digging her claws into Gustave's poncho for purchase as he turned in the direction of the sound.
There was a disturbance in the water, a ripple spreading across its surface as something wound its way through it, vanishing beneath the surface with a flurry of its furry tail.
"What the fuck is that?" Fletcher exclaimed, glancing down at the water as though he expected the thing to go for his legs.
"Relax," Xipa said, lowering her weapon. "It's just a native animal. They usually live by the shores of rivers and prey on fish."
"Thing looked like the ugliest otter I've ever seen," he grumbled, keeping one eye on the water as they continued on their way. "Do they bite?"
"Not unless you make them feel threatened," Xipa replied, enjoying his discomfort.
"Fucking bullshit," he muttered to himself, flinching away as a water weed brushed his thigh.
There was a buzzing sound as Bluejay returned to sit on a window ledge just above them, rustling the leaves of a nearby shrub that had made the opening its home.
"Not seeing anything so far," he announced. "No Bug patrols, no natives, just a few birds nesting in the windows. Doesn't smell like anyone's been here in a long time."
"The signal is emanating from the city center," Xipa said, checking the display on her wrist. "There's some distance to walk yet, but it shouldn't take us more than a day to get there."
"Unless we encounter obstacles," Fletcher warned. "This place is falling apart."
"These cities all have a similar layout," Xipa explained. "If we encounter any blocked roads, I'll be able to lead us around them."
"I did spot a collapsed building up ahead that's blocking the street," Bluejay added, gesturing down the flooded road ahead of them. "There are alleys and side roads, though. Shouldn't be too hard to get through."
***
They continued down the street as far as they could go, the water gradually getting shallower until it was only deep enough to reach Fletcher's knees. The first obstacle that they encountered was a row of abandoned vehicles of the same variety that they had come across on the forest road, maybe thirty deep. It looked like those at the front had been destroyed by plasma fire, and those behind had crashed into them in their bid to escape the carnage. Their chassis were covered in moss and weeds now, the silt that had built up on the asphalt slowly burying them. The blockage had acted as a kind of dam, capturing a great deal of floating debris like fallen twigs and decaying plant matter.
This helped reinforce Xipa's earlier suspicion that this city had been attacked later than her own, and that some measure of evacuation had at least been attempted, despite its obvious lack of success. Just like before, there were no bodies in spite of the obvious battle damage. The insects had probably cleared out every last piece of
usable biomatter
after the initial attack had concluded.
Fletcher took point, climbing up onto the roof of one of the forward vehicles, his boots slipping on the corroded metal. Ruza followed after him, choosing his footing carefully, the old cars creaking under his weight. For once, Gustave's size was more of a hindrance than a benefit, the reptile sizing up the blockade of vehicles. Xipa hopped off his shoulder, leaping deftly from car to car, turning to watch as he began to clamber over them. He was heavy enough to crush some of the smaller vehicles, his thick hide and his bony scutes protecting him from any jagged metal.
It took them a few minutes to make their way down the line, eventually arriving at the road again, the water here a little shallower than on the other side. They waited for Gustave to stumble his way over, then Xipa returned to her perch, the team setting off again.
After a few more blocks, they came upon the collapsed building that Bluejay had seen from the air. The structure was listing to the left, leaning against the adjacent building on the other side of the street, fallen debris piled up beneath it. The road had collapsed near its foundations, opening up a cavernous sinkhole that exposed the utility tunnels and sewers below street level. The water cascaded over its jagged edges, pouring down to join the quick flow of an underground river below. From the broken windows of the building spilled red vines that made it look like it was bleeding, while clusters of mushrooms grew in its shadow, making the piles of rubble their home.
