Infected: Homeworld Trilogy, #3

By Holly Hook

Tess and Matt have reached the final part of their journey. All that remains is taking down the Great Council and stopping the Grounders once and for all. But after a horrible revelation that's shattered everything, Tess isn't sure if it's even moral to continue on the mission - and she isn't sure who she even is anymore.

But when the full horror of the Grounders' plan for humanity is revealed to Tess and Matt, they will have no choice but to continue the war and risk their lives to bring down the Great Council. Also, Tess learns that her mother was hiding a secret about the Grounders, a secret that could decide the fate of Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Holly Hook
• Release date: Apr 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386233466

Holly Hook

Holly Hook is the author of the five-book Destroyers Series, which is the prequel to the Deathwind Trilogy. She began writing at a very young age and published her first book for Kindle, Tempest, in September of 2011. Since then, Tempest (#1 Destroyers Series) has seen thousands of downloads and four sequels. The Deathwind Trilogy is a spin-off of the Destroyers Series, with three books planned.The author is currently working on the Timeless Trilogy, another YA fantasy series with a hint of science fiction, and has written a few short stories. She grew up with a fascination with natural disasters and weather, especially storms. She enjoys writing stories with a strong female lead and exploring concepts that have never been done before. Reading teen fiction and young adult books is another one of her biggest interests. She lives in Michigan with her two cats and an assortment of other pets.If you would like to subscribe to her mailing list for a free book, be sure to check out her blog at www.hollyannehook.wordpress.com and hit the big "subscribe" button or just go to the sign up page here: http://wordpress.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8696a40cb388cfc9f1421d292&id=2e2b7ac94dOther Titles By Holly Hook Include:Tempest (#1 Destroyers Series)Inferno (#2 Destroyers Series)Outbreak (#3 Destroyers Series)Frostbite (#4 Destroyers Series)Ancient (#5 Destroyers Series)The Destroyers Omnibus (All Five Books in One Bundle)Torn (#2 Deathwind Trilogy) Available Now2:20 (#1 Timeless Trilogy) Coming Soon in April of 201511:39 (#2 Timeless Trilogy) Coming Soon in April of 2015After These Messages (A Young Adult Comedy)Walls (A Teen Paranormal Short Story)Going Home (A Science Fiction Short Story)The Youngest Prince (A Short Story in the anthology Out of the Green)

Book preview

Infected

Homeworld Trilogy Book 3

By Holly Hook

Copyright 2017 Holly Hook

Chapter One

It was a struggle not to let my face thump to the control panel of the tripod as soon as I sat down, but I managed. First, we had a mission to march to the Great Council, stop the Grounders from killing all the people who remained on Earth and reunite with my parents. Second, Matt was sitting in the pilot's seat next to me, and I had already made a fool of myself by passing out in the theater. Third, I still needed to hold it together as an Earther should, even if the Grounders had just dropped the bomb that humans (and all other normal life) had evolved from Martian microbes that landed on the planet billions of years ago.

What was I even thinking about the whole Earther thing for? How could I even be one, in the light of what the Grounders had told me? If we evolved from these alien microbes, and the Grounders had evolved on Earth before we even got here, didn't that make us--

And the fact that I was about to help pilot a tripod--

I took a breath. I wouldn't think of it.

Ready? Matt asked. Look, I know it's hard to think about, and it's creepy.

I leaned back in my seat. Matt could read my mind. We were a lot more alike than different, and we felt the same way about this new, scary origin of life story. The orange button and lever that controlled the heat ray glowed in the semi-dark of the cabin, while the landscape stretched out far below. I eyed the hatch in the floor that would extend a ladder and let me climb down if I needed. Maybe I still could do that.

Matt had lied to me, after all. He had broken the one thing I loved him for--his honesty. He had done something my parents would have done, and now that the shock from the revelation was wearing off and we were safe for the moment (maybe) I had time to let some anger boil to the surface. You didn't tell me the truth.

I know I didn't, Matt said, cranking the lever forward to move our killing machine. Thump, thump. Each step shook the cabin, even if its feet hit the ground forty meters below. I knew what it looked like to anyone down in the red weeds, observing. To them, a giant, metal jellyfish with three tentacles roamed across the surface of the Earth, searching for victims.

We had to kill Grounders to save ourselves. All life wanted to keep living, whether it was from Earth or Mars. It was nature. We were just following that law--right?

How do we get to the Great Council from here? I asked. It beat thinking of these disturbing things.

Matt slowed, but I grabbed onto my seat. I hated the way the tripod moved. Outside, the yellowish smog hung low, full of the methane and ammonia that the Grounders liked. It was an atmosphere similar to the one of early Earth, the one they had evolved in. The red landscape stretched out, covered in scarlet vegetation that had hidden very deep underground for the past few billion years. We were crushing it underneath the walker's circular feet.

I'm not sure, Matt said. I'm trying to figure out the directional thing right now. Calvin said that there was a lake between this place and Landin, but I'm not sure which direction we have to walk in. We're about halfway there.

I thought of the city that housed the Grounder headquarters. It was densely packed, and a mining town that had sprung up over a century and turned into a government center. I had never been there. The place sat up against a mountain range, protecting it from attacks from that direction, and the dense buildings and streets protected the headquarters from the other direction. A large lake sat on one side, according to Calvin, and Matt and I were supposed to cross it in this thing.

We need to figure it out, I said, sounding rude. The Grounders are going to come after us for what we did.

There aren't too many of them left in the spaceport, Matt said. I'm glad.

That's because we killed a few dozen of them, I said, shuddering.

Grounders were only trying to take back their world.

Matt and I had killed a lot of them with heat rays, black vapor and by simple crushing. I had done it in rage. Matt hadn't done as much of the killing as I had, thinking that I was doing my part to save Earth.

In reality, I was endangering it.

Tess, Matt said. We're doing the right thing. He picked up speed again, and I caught a view of the large, sprawling complex that housed the spaceport and the Solar System Museum below. The roof contained legions of trapdoors, probably to allow ships to go in and out, and armies of radio towers, sensors, and other odd devices. I even spotted the monorail tracks snaking through the red vegetation. I remembered that Landin wasn't in that direction.

Are we? I asked.

We are, Matt said, not sounding sure. It didn't make me comfortable, but Matt tended to do that. It had become familiar by now. We're just defending ourselves. You saw what the Grounders did to those people back there.

The memory of them attaching new Grounders to the backs of peoples' necks rose again, and I froze with the flashback. I had known one of the victims, and now he was just a puppet, controlled by a disgusting blob on his neck. The only crime Toni had done was learning the truth about the government.

The familiar anger rose inside of me. No one deserves that, I said.

Exactly, Matt said. The Grounders did okay underground. If they could just go back there, things would be fine. It's not like they enjoy the sunlight. He gestured to the gross smog hanging overhead.

But fair is fair, I said, mocking the Great Council guy's voice. I made quotes with my fingers.

That's black and white thinking for you, Matt said. The Grounders won't want to work out a deal to share Earth. They're the real natives, so it's done. Sadness crept over his words and spread through the cabin. We don't have a choice but to be violent. Crap. I think we have to go the other way. There's the transport tube. He stopped the walker, and I lurched forward in my seat.

I think you're right, I said, trying to switch my thoughts to saving Mom and Dad. There was no telling what the Grounders had done to them. I knew that they wouldn't give away the information about the invasion to the Grounders. Mom wouldn't, that was for sure. She was too strong. I also knew that the chances of them getting Grounders attached to their necks also wasn't high. When that happened, a person's memories got erased. Grounders couldn't extract information from puppets. I had to hold out some hope.

Matt turned the tripod around with ease, away from the half-crushed transport tube and the crater that plunged into the Earth. The skill was something I couldn't grasp. I was still the designated shooter. I wished it were the other way around.

It must be Luis the Murderer's blood. He had also attacked and killed Grounders. Once, I had been proud of him, but one stupid movie changed everything.

Okay, he said. We have to go in this direction, away from the tube. I wish we could see more than a kilometer or two in this smog.

We have the Grounders to thank for that, I said. Didn't your father say that he's calling for reinforcements? It was odd to think of the Mars Identity people, who hadn't wanted anything to do with taking Earth back (because they knew the truth about our real origin and were proud of it) working with us now. Looming death brought everyone together.

We plowed forward, leaving the spaceport behind, and only the crimson landscape stretched ahead, forming shallow hills that might have once been plains and farm fields.

Then we should notice more cylinders landing soon, I said. Should we wait for more reinforcements to arrive before we charge into the city?

Maybe, Matt said. But we might not have a lot of time before they release their germ.

My grandfather had died from an unknown virus, and I feared that was the one.

That's what I'm afraid of, I said.

And, Matt said, they could release the germ whenever they want. If we get too close, we die. If I were the Grounders, I would threaten to release it into the air to keep us away.

I lowered my pollution mask and sniffed. The air inside the cabin was clean and filtered. It might not get inside this thing, I said. This keeps the pollution out. It's how Marv survived getting dropped into the black vapor.

You have a point, Matt said.

But we don't know how this virus spreads. If my grandfather had it, he obviously didn't infect anyone else. My mother was at his bedside when he passed, and she didn't get sick.

Matt shrugged as we took another giant step. We need to take no chances with this.

I ran my hand over my shirt, where my Earther patch should be. Nothing. The Grounders had cut it off, and rightfully so. The smooth fabric felt somehow empty as I now did inside. Of course, I wasn't an Earther. I was something else entirely. I couldn't bear to tell Mom and Dad what I had learned if I even saw them again.

We marched forward.

Chapter Two

Matt and I didn't get very far before we saw the crater where one of the cylinders had landed.

I spotted it first because Matt was busy eyeing the terrain ahead, searching for any sign of Landin--or, I should say--the lake we'd have to cross to get there. Having encountered a couple of pulse cannons before, I kept my gaze on the ground, which was why I saw the crater right before we stepped into it.

Stop! I shouted.

Matt did, and the entire tripod lurched. We stood almost directly above the giant pit, and the cylinder that rested in the middle at an angle shone with the faint light of the evening. Movement caught my eye. I had to stand and press my face up to the glass to look down, but after my eyes adjusted and I managed to figure out how not to make my breath fog things up, I spotted one of the mining robots in the crater, busy crawling along the edges. It stopped every few seconds as if it were drilling.

This cylinder had been here for a while, and the occupants had already gotten their machines to work.

Whoa, Matt said. I'm glad you spotted that. It's a good thing there are two of us.

I don't know if anyone's down there, I said. Four cylinders had landed. Well, four known to us. Ours first of all, and then Marv's and Celeste's. The one that Matt's father had arrived in still rested right outside the monorail station and the solar system museum.

This capsule might be either Marv's or Celeste's. I was willing to bet Celeste's as this was relatively close to the river where she had nearly burned and crushed us. In fact, I had seen the river in the distance several times today, when the smog wasn't quite as thick.

Matt stared down at the cylinder with longing. I knew what he was thinking.

We might be able to talk to Fiona, I said. I don't see anyone around here who's going to bother us. We know that Marv and Celeste are with your father. Even though it was getting dark, I could only see the red vegetation as it spread out and nothing else.

One of the scouts had made it out here with a tracking capsule and planted it away from civilization. It would take a brave person to risk getting lost in this expanse of weeds. I hoped that the scout hadn't died of starvation out here. There were no points of reference.

We might, Matt said, scrambling out of his chair.

He undid the hatch, throwing all caution to the wind. Then again, no one was out here. The Grounders hadn't sent any helicopters to track us, probably because of 1.) the Grounders hated heights and avoided them at all costs and 2.) the Enforcers, who piloted them, now knew what the Great Council and the Task Force were. We were safe on that front, and the Grounders wouldn't even want to roll a pulse cannon through the thick weeds. These underground plants were doing us some good. Sure, they absorbed sound and made it hard to hear anyone who was approaching, but they provided a barrier.

I just hoped that any germs wouldn't make it out here. The Grounders could have released them already. They were supposed to kill in minutes, at least inside the enclosed space they had meant to execute Leader Kassam and me inside. Had Grandpa died within minutes? He must have taken longer if Mom had time to reach his bedside.

We'd have to take the chance.

Matt watched as the ladder descended with a metallic squeal and sank to the weeds below. The whole tripod shuddered. I grabbed onto the wall and steadied myself. Matt scrambled down the ladder. Come on, he said. We don't have to worry about Celeste this time or Calvin, for that matter.

Calvin was long dead, thanks to his arrogance. I climbed down after Matt and slipped the pollution mask back over my face, knowing that it looked stupid with a design of the galaxy on the front. But I could breathe without gagging, which was a relief. Earth's atmosphere still had enough oxygen to sustain us. I wondered how much longer that would last. The Grounders still needed bodies to function on the surface, so it must not be quite what they needed yet.

After we reached the ground, I straightened up inside the red weeds, trying not to panic. The last time Matt and I had done this we had nearly gotten burned to death. But there was no water out here, and the fire Celeste had started hadn't reached this area. I took two steps before sinking my feet into the dirt, and I realized that I stood at the edge of the crater where the cylinder had crash-landed.

It looks like Celeste didn't start the farming nanobots, Matt said, looking down into the chasm. I only see the mining one. I wonder how the ones back in the park are doing.

I thought of the nanobots marching back to the crater we had left in Woking Park, the ones that were supposed to help spread our plants again over the planet.

Or were they our weeds? The Grounders must view green plants the same way we looked at these red ones--as alien, displacing off the life that had evolved here first.

I shook my head, chasing the thought away. You're right, I said. Celeste wouldn't have started the farming bots. She's Mars Identity. She came here to help stop us.

She's a radical, Matt reminded me. You think my dad sided with the Grounders? He didn't. The radicals are so into the Mars origin story that they live and breathe it every day of their lives. It must be nice, being able to cope by doing that. I sensed some jealousy in Matt's voice.

As you said, they like to feel special, I said. "Let's get down there and see if we can talk to Fiona on the radio. We'll get an idea