The giant blue eye blinked. The black water spun into a massive, violent whirlpool."Hold on!" Sergeant Miller screamed.The boats did not fall into the giant mouth. The rushing water pulled them sideways. A massive wave picked up the heavy metal skiffs and threw them hard into the dark rock wall. But it was not a solid wall. It was a crack in the stone. The boats crashed into a tight, jagged tunnel. The water rushed through the narrow gap like a wild, angry river. The thick metal sides of the boats scraped against the sharp black rocks. SCREEECH! Bright orange sparks flew into the dark air."We are in The Narrows!" Billy cried. He grabbed the metal railing so he would not fall out. "The water is moving too fast! I cannot steer!"Commander Oliver stood at the front of the shaking boat. He did not fall. His heavy boots locked onto the metal floor. The dark magic in his black metal arm kept him perfectly balanced. He looked at the tight, rocky tunnel. The ceiling was only ten feet a

The giant Mother Serpent opened her mouth. The bright green acid glowed like a dying star in her throat. The heat burned Oliver’s face.The perfect clone stood on the high rock, smiling. "You have nothing left, Oliver. Die."Oliver did not speak. His cold gray eye stared at the monster. His mind processed the terrible truth of the cavern. Millions of baby serpents were waking up in the water. The Mother Serpent was massive. If his squad stayed and fought, they would run out of bullets in three minutes. They would run out of strength in four. A war of attrition was a guaranteed defeat.Oliver did not fight battles he could not win. He changed the rules.He listened. The alien black coin in his chest pulsed deeply. The dark magic flooded his brain with screaming whispers. But Oliver ignored the fear in the voices. He focused purely on the sound. He focused on the exact vibration of the whispers. It was a high, ringing tone that made the water around the boat ripple."Billy," Oliver comm

The purple sword came down. It moved as fast as lightning. Commander Oliver did not have a gun. He did not have a shield. He only had his cold, perfect mind. He threw his body to the right. The dark magical sword missed his neck by a single inch. It slammed into the black ice. Sharp, frozen shards flew into the air, cutting Oliver’s cheek. He did not blink. He rolled across the slippery floor and pushed himself up onto one knee. The perfect clone laughed. It pulled the purple sword out of the ice. "You are just delaying the end, Oliver," the clone smiled smoothly. "You are tired. Your human muscles are failing. Look down."Oliver looked through the thick, clear black ice. Deep under the frozen surface, the dark water was moving. Hundreds of giant shadows swirled in the depths. The remaining river serpents were swimming upward. The clone had called the rest of the swarm. They were coming to break the ice and finish the hunt. "My pets are hungry," the clone whispered. "You survive

The giant rocks fell from the high ceiling. They crashed into the black ice. The entire cavern shook violently. Commander Oliver stood perfectly still. He did not look at the falling rocks. He looked at the heavy blue plasma cannon pointed directly at his chest. Captain Jax held the gun. Tears washed through the dirt on Jax's face. His hands shook. "The Traveler Council ordered me to kill you, Commander," Jax cried. "They said the dark magic took your mind. They said you are a monster now."Oliver’s gray human eye and his burning red Wraithborn eye stared at the broken soldier. He did not calculate variables out loud. He did not speak in math. He only used pure, cold logic. "If you pull that trigger, Captain," Oliver stated calmly, "the plasma blast will ignite the thick sulfur dust falling from the ceiling. The air will catch fire. We will both burn to ash."Jax hesitated. His finger trembled on the trigger. He looked at Oliver’s terrifying face. The pitch-black alien metal covere

The broken glass hit the stone floor with a sharp clack. Commander Oliver opened his black metal hand. The pieces of the crushed computer tablet fell into the dirt. He did not look angry. He did not look sad. Billy the hacker fell to his knees. He stared at the broken plastic. "Boss," Billy whispered. "You just hung up on the Prime Councilor. You hung up on Earth."General Vega gripped her sniper rifle. Her face was pale. "Commander! The Grand Fleet is waiting in space! If they think you are a monster, they will fire the orbital lasers. They will burn this entire planet into glass!"Oliver turned to face his squad. His human gray eye was cold. His Wraithborn red eye burned in the dark. "The Traveler Council operates on fear," Oliver stated cleanly. "Fear makes them slow. It will take them exactly three hours to align the orbital lasers. We have three hours to secure a shield.""A shield against lasers from space?" Sergeant Miller asked. "Nothing can stop those guns!""Math can stop