Ghosts of the Vale

by Paul Grover

  She shivered. Tears froze on her cheeks. The air came alive with static. She smelt ozone. The gun slipped from her numb fingers. Ice formed on its barrel.

  Footsteps echoed in the chamber. Zenia walked toward her, her outline glowing white. Tendrils of energy enveloped her and ice formed in the surrounding air. Alex followed. His face covered with a dusting of frost.

  “Step aside,” Zenia said.

  Mira remained in place. “Alex,” Zenia said. “Remove Mira Thorn. Time is short.”

  Alex ran to Mira and slipped his arm under hers. He pulled her close.

  Mira struggled; confusion clouded her mind. She rested her head against Alex’s chest and watched as Zenia held her hands out, palms upward.

  “Be still,” Zenia said.

  “It’ll be okay, Mira,” Alex whispered. His voice was calm. Her breathing settled as she rested her head on his chest.

  Streams of energy snaked from above them and swirled around Zenia. Blue light flashed from her finger tips and surrounded Tish. The air fizzed and popped. Zenia’s form became ill defined so bright was the light surrounding her; Mira blinked, the after image lingering on her retina. Tish trembled. Her eyes opened and her back arched; she gasped and screamed.

  “Mira!”

  “Tish…” Mira pulled away from Alex.

  “Wait,” Zenia said. “The process far from complete; it is delicate and I may fail.”

  The entry wounds shrunk and closed. Two flattened shells were expelled and fell to the floor with a soft metallic ping. Tish coughed.

  “It hurts…” she cried.

  “The pain will pass as the wounds heal,” Zenia said.

  Zenia existed only as energy, her body a blue outline against the darkness.

  “Regeneration is almost complete. There will be no lasting effects. She will live.”

  “Will you die?” Tish whispered.

  “I will cease. There is no place for me in this world. I am neither Pharn nor Human.”

  “Don’t go; there must be another way…” Tish whispered. “Don’t die for me… I am no one.”

  “The three of you are important. Your people need you; I am a relic from a past to be forgotten. You are the future. You will prevail; you will do what the Pharn could not.

  “Your decision was not flawed; it was human. The collective has been post physical for so long, they have forgotten what it is to feel. They have forgotten what it is to love.”

  The light faded. Faint wisps of vapour rose from Zenia’s body.

  Mira shivered. An empty silence filled the chamber. It lasted for a few seconds yet seemed to stretch to eternity.

  Zenia’s face paled, became ashen grey. Her skin cracked, and her flesh turned to silver dust as she crumbled to nothing. Her empty clothing landed in a heap on the floor.

  “I won’t forget you,” Tish whispered.

  Mira helped Tish sit up. Her shirt was covered in blood; the deck beneath her was slick with it.

  Mira held her, unable to speak.

  Alex knelt beside her. He put one arm around her, the other around Tish.

  “Seeing as Thorny is… a little overcome, talk to me Tish. How do you feel?”

  “Tired, sore. I’m okay. I’m cold, Mr Alex. Being shot sucks.”

  “What did I miss?” Tish asked.

  The stress fell from Alex’s face.

  “Not much. Legion set this whole thing up. He used us to force Thorny to release the Blackened. The Pharn arrived, declined to help and left the galaxy. Now it’s down to us to save humanity on our own. Just an average day for Team Thorn.”

  Tish laughed; what it lacked in strength it made up for in personality. Mira cried harder.

  She touched Mira’s cheek. “I’m back. I’m not going anywhere; so get your shit together Thorn. If you’re going to lead this thing, you need to cut out the tears; they’re not a good quality in a leader. Now help me up.”

  Mira sniffed and did as Tish asked.

  “Tish, take your shirt off.” Mira removed her jacket and gave it to her. “Keep warm.”

  A tremor ran through the ground. The room shook violently. Mira and Tish lost their footing and staggered into Alex.

  “This place is coming apart. We should go,” Alex said.

  “Tish, can you walk?”

  “I’ll bloody run all the way back to Mizarma… which way?”

  A door opened in the far wall.

  A glowing phosphoresce in the walls beckoned them to the door and into a passage beyond. A transport pod waited at the end of a snaking corridor

  “Someone is helping us,” Alex said.

  Mira wondered if it were Zenia’s essence aiding their escape. Maybe the Pharn had a change of heart or perhaps the consciousness of the node itself. Whoever it was, she was grateful.

  Alex helped Tish into the pod. She was paler than usual, weakened from blood loss. The skin around her mouth and eyes had a blue tint.

  The structure lurched again. Mira struggled to keep herself on her feet.

  “Come on, Mira!” Alex shouted.

  She staggered and fell into the tube. The aperture closed and with a hiss of compressed air the capsule sped through the tunnel.

  “Manson, brought us here in this pod,” Alex said. “I hope it will take us back.”

  Mira sat next to Tish. Her face was ashen and bruised. She lay against Mira, gripping her arm.

  The capsule was a cylinder of the same black material as the rest of the Mothernode. Mira leant into the increasing g-force as the pod sped through the tunnel. It had no windows, but coloured shapes danced across the wall. They reminded her of the advertising boards hung in transport tubes on stations. Unlike adverts with their perfect families enjoying the Core Systems lifestyle, these were abstract shapes and random characters.

  Alex sat alone at the far end of the capsule, his head in his hands.

  “Alex, are you okay?”

  He looked tired. His face was bruised and his lower lip swollen. He managed to raise his fleet-brat smile.

  “Yeah, this has been an intense day.”

  “You got that right,” Tish said. She was trying hard to be herself, but her eyes told a different story.

  Tish put her hand to Mira’s face. “I love you Thorn. I didn’t want to leave you alone. I guess I owe Zenia. I’m sorry I was such a bitch to her.”

  “Tish the universe needs you. The Pharn refused to save you, but Zenia stepped up. I am in her debt as much as you are.”

  “It was the wrong choice, Mira,” Tish whispered. “I am one person, they will kill millions.”

  Mira stroked Tish’s hair.

  “If I am to save millions I need to start with one.”

  Tish rested her head against Mira. She closed her eyes.

  The journey took a few minutes. As the capsule slowed it rocked on its axis. Mira stood and helped Tish to her feet.

  “I’m okay, Mira. I feel stronger.”

  “Good because we have to move it.”

  They ran into the city. Mira did not recognise the location; every part of the city looked the same. Her chest throbbed with every footfall. Occasionally a stabbing pain would run the length of her body.

  “That way,” Alex said.

  “You sure?” Mira asked.

  “Yeah, look at the direction of the lighting strip. We entered directly under it. Come on Thorny. Trust me, I was an adventure scout.”

  “Why does that not surprise me?” Mira replied.

  Alex grinned.

  “And the drone is still active. It’s feeding a route to my wrist computer,” he confessed.

  Mira put an arm around Tish, supporting her weight. Tish protested, but Mira stood firm.

  “It’s three clicks from here,” Alex said, breaking into a jog.

  The ground was shaking continuously. Dead Servitors lay everywhere. The condition of some showed they had fallen from the towers.

  Alex led them into the central boulevard. Mira recognised it as the place where they had
met Rosa. They ran on toward the forest of swaying fronds.

  She rounded the corner and broke free of the streets. The forest lay ahead, it moved erratically. The fronds vibrated, the shaking motion growing ever stronger. Their colour had changed to dry grey. With a sound like thunder the first one split apart, fracturing into shards that tumbled to the ground where it shattered into dust. Mira threw Tish to the ground. A rumble echoed around them as the forest destroyed itself. The fronds were falling as if part of a controlled demolition process.

  Maybe that’s what is happening? The place is coming apart; the shell must open to release those trapped inside.

  The noise abated, no echo bounced from the towers. A flat silence blanketed the city. Where the forest of semi-organic roots had been, there was only a mound of grey dust.

  Alex stood and brushed the thick coating of powdered debris from his clothes. He offered his hand to Mira. She let him pull her to her feet and helped Tish upright.

  “That was… like nothing I have ever seen,” Alex said.

  “Everything here is like nothing I have ever seen.” Tish mumbled.

  “We should go,” Mira said, leading them into the cavern. She assumed, no strike that, she hoped it was the right one. They gradually picked up the pace. Tish groaned. Her breathing was shallow.

  “Keep going…” Tish whispered through blue lips.

  Alex led them into the tunnel. It seemed smaller than it had when they entered. Mira fought to suppress a smile when they came across Rosa’s pod.

  “Wait up,” she said.

  “Mira! We have to go,” Alex said. The ground shook to underline his point.

  “Give me two minutes.”

  Mira climbed into the pod and rummaged around the stores. A medical kit in a green bag was buried beneath a pile of survival equipment. She tore it open and removed a blood plasma pack and a tube of SteriGel.

  Mira went to Tish, rolled up her sleeve and cleaned an area of her forearm.

  “When I put this in it will sting like fuck, so brace yourself.”

  “I love it when you talk dirty,” Tish whispered.

  Mira found a vein and pushed in the needle. She opened the tap on the plasma bag and started the micro pump.

  “Tish, put the bag in your pocket, it will help.”

  Tish did as instructed and they turned back toward the safety of the ship. Alex moved them along as quickly as he could.

  A roaring, tearing sound echoed through the tunnel; debris fell from the roof. Mira dodged around rubble and halted. The ground ended as giant split opened in the floor of the tunnel. There was no way of crossing.

  “Fuck! Fuck!” Mira screamed. She balled her hands and pummelled them into her forehead. “Game fucking over!”

  “Mira, get a grip!” Tish whispered. “I’m getting better but I’m not in the mood for your moods.”

  Mira calmed herself. She needed her meds. Her thought process was running out of control, a roller coaster of the worst-case scenarios running through her mind. She had not envisaged this one.

  “Okay…. okay.”

  The crevasse narrowed as it descended, but there were no obvious crossing points.

  “What gear have we got?” Mira asked.

  “The clothes on our back and not much else,” Alex replied.

  Mira gathered her thoughts and considered the tools at their disposal.

  “The pod! It should be equipped with a tether line and a grapple kit.”

  “I’ll go,” Alex replied. “Good thinking…”

  He ran off.

  Mira glanced at Tish.

  “What’s that look for?” Tish asked. Her tone was good natured, and colour was returning to her face. Even her voice was stronger.

  “I would have stayed here, with you. I wouldn’t have left you alone.”

  “You’re an idiot, Thorn… I know you would. It would have been dumb. I would have done the same.”

  Before Mira could reply Alex returned. His hair was matted with sweat.

  Alex hefted the grapple and moved to the edge of the crevasse. He raised the launcher and took aim. Another tremor ran through a tunnel. Alex stepped back as the ground crumbled. When he steadied himself he lifted the launcher for a second time and pointed it at the far wall. He lined up the laser sight and fired the grapple. It bounced harmlessly off.

  “Keep calm, Alex. Try again,” Mira said. Her ribs ached with every breath and fatigue was extracting its price. She was relying on willpower alone and guessed it was the same for the others.

  He raised the launcher and fired again. This time it made contact and burrowed into the wall.

  Before she could comment Mira was knocked off her feet by a substantial shock wave. She stayed down, waiting for it to pass. When she stood, Tish was kneeling, hauling herself to her feet.

  Mira ran to the edge. Alex Kite dangled beneath her, his legs desperately trying to connect with the wall.

  “Alex, grab on. Tish, help me.”

  She grabbed Alex’s arm. His weight pulled her forward. She bit down hard to suppress the scream as Alex’s weight combined with her own to press her damaged ribs into the ground.

  Alex stared up, fixing her with his steel-grey eyes. She could read his thoughts from the expression his face. In his position she would think the same. It was standard Navy doctrine, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the individual.

  “Alex, don’t you dare!”

  Mira tightened her grip.

  “Mira, let go. Don’t let yourself be dragged over with me!”

  “Hold on, I will not lose you. Hold on for me Alex. No one dies today.”

  “Mira…”

  Alex’s weight was dragging her toward the edge. Tish tried to pull them back. The three of them rested in a state of equilibrium.

  Alex loosened his grip. She tightened her own. He gazed up at her. Acceptance of his fate etched on to his face.

  “Alex no… we need you… I need you.”

  The throbbing of star drive reached Mira’s ears. It grew in intensity, becoming an ear destroying a roar of noise.

  Second Chance emerged from the docking corridor. Her hull appeared huge in the confined space. One of her sensor dishes clipped the ceiling and was torn off, presumably incinerated in her wake.

  The ship flew to an impossible hover above them.

  “How…?” Mira whispered. “Rosa! Bloody hell, she’s good.”

  The lower hatch slid open. Rich Barnes descended on a line quickly reaching Alex and hooking him to his harness. He tugged the line twice and lifted Alex into the ship. He tipped Mira a salute.

  Mira rolled onto her back and lay panting. The Second Chance backed up and sank lower, the bow hatch opened and the ramp descended. Mira scrambled to her feet. Rosa stared out from behind the viewport; her eyes were fixed dead ahead as she fought to keep the ship stable in the confined space.

  Mira shoved Tish forward, following her aboard. She took a final look through the closing hatch. The chasm opened to swallow the ground they had been standing on.

  “Both of you report to Monica, right now. Rich make sure they do… thank you,” Mira said.

  She ran forward to the flight deck.

  “Impressive flying,” Mira said. She clambered into the copilot’s seat and clipped on a headset.

  “Thank you. We can’t back up. I didn’t think of that,” Rosa said.

  “Go forward. The chamber opens, you can flip us through a 360 with a 2G burn.”

  “The forest?” Rosa asked.

  “Gone,” Mira replied, wincing as she fastened her restraints.

  She opened the internal channel.

  “Everyone, strap in. We are in gravity and we are going for a hard burn. It will be rough.”

  Rosa pushed the throttle forward and the ship broke free of the tunnel and climbed above the city. The empty metropolis spread out before the viewport. The city was more open than it appeared on the ground and reached out toward each horizon, the fringes lost in haze. The S
pire rose in the centre. It was crumbling and breaking apart. The ship vibrated and bumped its way through the increasingly turbulent atmosphere.

  “Hold on,” Rosa said as she rolled the ship, pulling back on the yoke and applying more power to the sublights. Mira was rammed into the side of her seat. Pain flared through her chest. The adrenalin in her system was unable to hide the broken ribs any longer. The increasing thrust gravity forced the air from her, rendering speech impossible. Her world went momentarily dark.

  “You still with me copilot?” Rosa asked. Mira groaned, consciousness returning as the weight lifted. She did not understand how Rosa was functioning; she was pencil thin, her face gaunt, her eyes tired. She fought the ship with the strength and skill of a long-term spacer.

  The world spun as the ship returned to a normal attitude. The lateral g-forces subsided, leaving only the extra weight of hard acceleration. Rosa pitched the ship down and headed for the tunnel.

  Mira turned her attention to her panels.

  “Reactor is within limits. All systems nominal,” Mira reported. “I’ll not plot a jump yet. I want to see what is happening out here.”

  The ship entered the tunnel network. Rosa pulled back on the throttles.

  “I’m picking up inbound vessels behind us,” Mira said.

  “You are a Navy pilot?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You should take control.”

  The haunted expression lingered on Rosa’s delicate features. She needed this more than Mira.

  “You have it covered. I’ll navigate for you. Keep the balls to the wall and just worry about what’s out front. If you think you’re going too fast, go faster.”

  “Doesn’t sound like Navy doctrine.”

  “It’s not,” Mira replied with a smile. “It’s mine.”

  Rosa walled the throttle and dropped low. Mira gripped the handle above her seat as the ship pitched and rolled through the tunnel network.

  “Starboard turn in 300 metres, followed by hard port and ascend,” Mira said, reading the forward radar. The walls flew past at an incalculable rate. Mira focused on her display lest vertigo take hold.

  A shock ran through the hull.

  “What was that?” Rosa asked.

  “Just clipped the deck, don’t worry. It’s fine.”