by Hodden, TE
His flight pack roared.
Catherine ducked into cover, behind one of the servers.
Barney folded a shield out of his suit, and braced, as crossbow bolts shatter the window, and exploded against the shield. He rushed forwards and met the Nightmare as it crashed into the room. He slammed his shield in its face, and blasted it in the gut with his sonic shotgun.
The Nightmare staggered back against the wall.
Barney flexed his armour, replacing the shotgun with a stun-pulse gun. He fired over and over, staggering the Nightmare, but never knocking him off his feet. “Rock! You have to fight this man! You have to¬”
Catherine looked up at Barney.
The Nightmare adjusted the dial on his crossbow. “Rock Harris isn’t here. He gave himself to us, of his own free will, body and soul.” He loaded an inferno bolt into the breach. “I only needed one of those.”
Catherine ducked out of cover, and grabbed Nightmares hand, squeezing the control for the flight pack. “Yeah. Rock was smarter than you.”
The flight pack roared, as the Nightmare flew up, and smashed through the false ceiling and into the armour reinforcement.
“Run?” Barney suggested.
“You think?” Catherine shouted, already bolting out through the office.
“Up or down?” Barney demanded, folding a grappling line from his wrist.
They crashed into the stairwell.
“Down,” Catherine decided.
“You trust me?” Barney asked.
Catherine put her arms around him. “It’s a bit late for that question.”
She held him tight as they jumped off the stairs, into the open well, all the way down to the ground floor. He fired a grapple line, and it anchored onto the underside of a landing, spooling out the cable to slow their drop.
They landed on the ground floor with a jolt, and ran for the fire exit, out into the alley behind the building. Catherine glanced out to the main road. There was a whole lot of commotion in the street, around Flintlock’s body. They turned the other way, and hurried through the maze of narrow streets.
Barney looked around. “I can’t see him.”
“Yeah,” Catherine muttered. “Harris was always good at that.”
“And so is this guy.” Barney groaned. “That looked like Harris, but there was nothing of him there. Nothing!”
They rounded the corner to the street where their compact Kei car was parked.
Elois Croft, or rather the Echo, was sat on the hood, wearing a bright smile, and holding a tuning fork like device. “Hi.”
There was a whine of engines, as the Nightmare dropped from the sky, behind them, his crossbow already drawn.
Barney shoved Catherine aside as a crossbow bolt whistled past her head. He whole arm folded into a blaster, that unleashed an energy ray. The ray hit the Nightmare in the chest, and smashed him into the side of a van so hard the door of the van buckled inwards, and window shattered.
Barney turned, and faced the Echo.
Catherine charged at Nightmare, slamming her body into him, and driving an elbow into his face. She grabbed his crossbow and twisted it back against his face. He drove a fist into her chest, so hard the world went out of focus, and lost its colour. She hit the floor, and he kicked her, sending her flying across the street. She bounced off a bin.
Elois dodged a blast from the ray gun, leaping from the car with astonishing speed. She knocked Barney,s gun aside, and head butted him so hard the visor on his suit cracked, Another headbutt dropped him to his knees.
He fired another blast. Elois dodged it, and the ray exploded a parked car.
Catherine lay on the floor, gasping with pain, struggling to move.
The Nightmare stood over her, and loaded an inferno bolt to the breach of his crossbow.
Barney hopped to his feet, reconfigured his arm to a pulse gun, and blasted Elois in the chest. He grabbed her arm, and threw her over his shoulder, slamming her to the floor in a wrestler’s hold. “Hey!”
The Nightmare stepped on Catherine to pin her down, and turned to stare at Barney.
“Let her go,” Barney said.
Nightmare took aim at Barney with the crossbow.
“Drop it!” Barney ordered.
“Or?” Nightmare asked.
Elois tapped the tuning fork on the floor.
The sound hit Catherine like an anvil dropping on her head. It was as sharp as a steam whistle and louder than anything on Earth.
Barney screamed. His back arched, and his head twisted. His suit peeled open, twisting away from him, writhing like a serpent, and squealing in alarm.
Nightmare seemed unmoved by the sound. He took a careful aim at Barney’s exposed face, and pulled the trigger.
Barney’s life was stolen in an instant. The body that remained, dropped to the floor.
Elois hopped to her feet.
Nightmare shifted his aim, to Catherine.
Catherine set her jaw and stared back at him. “Murderer.”
“Yes,” Nightmare agreed, taking the slack from the trigger.
“Wait,” Elois purred, walking over with a swagger in her step. “Don’t take the fun out of it.” She crouched and blew on her tuning fork. “I want to hear her scream.”
Elois tapped the tuning fork to Catherine’s side. It felt like being run over by a freight train. It hammered all her bones at once, and burned through her nerves.
Catherine grabbed the fork, and jammed it into the crossbow.
The inferno bolt exploded in a fountain of liquid flame.
Nightmare and Echo screamed and recoiled away.
Catherine clawed her way to her feet, and ran for her life.
00101
They lay Charlie on the sun lounger.
He was sweating, fever hot, and shivering, his eyes wide without seeing, blood caking between his nose and lips. His breathing was shallow and ragged.
Matthew gently eased Melisa away. “Give them space to work.”
Melisa reluctantly let him go and stepped away. Anguish burned in her chest.
Padmaja sat on the railings, with a catalogue for an electronics store, making a shopping list of ingredients for her invention.
Summers crouched by Charlie, and ran her staff over his head. The sphere on the staff glowed. She sighed. “Oh no!” A spectral image of Charlie’s brain shimmered around the sphere. The splinters left from the needles were picked out in red. “They’re growing, taking root…”
Mathew winced. “Like the fungus.”
Padmaja studied the image. “There’s an alchemical element. Magic. They must have detected him, and… That’s what the signal we saw was. They triggered this.”
Melisa’s throat was raw. Her heartbeat running too fast, and too cold. “But you can help him? You can build something to…”
Padmaja shook her head. “I’m sorry. The roots are too fine, and go too deep.”
“But…” Melisa clutched her head. “You said… you said…”
“Sorry,” Padmaja said. “I was wrong.”
Summers nodded. “We’ll make him as comfortable as we can, and slow the spread, but…”
Melisa shook her head. “No. He was here before. If he connects to the magic…”
Summers looked at her. “I don’t think he can. I think it grows when he tries.”
Melisa put her face in her hands. “We didn’t know. After it all happened, we ran here, and there was one thing after another, and…” She shook her head. “How long?”
Padmaja and Summers stared at each other.
Summers cleared her throat. “Well, he’s not Martian, so… the Choir isn’t sure, but…”
Matthew put a hand on Melisa’s shoulder. “How long?”
“Days,” Padmaja said. “Three. Maybe four.” She gave the others a look. “I’ll do what I can for him, but somebody has to be in Paris.”
Melisa’s temper frayed to nothing. “For what? Our one chance was Elois. And even if she’s there, he can’t help h
er.”
“Elois,” Padmaja said, evenly, “isn’t our only problem. What we learned today is that somebody else has control over the satellite system, and I can’t access it. I’m pretty sure the satellites aren’t what Allistaire is selling them as to the world. They have something else onboard. If we want to stop it, we need to know what we are dealing with, and where the system is really controlled. To know that, we need a Master Control Console, and the only place we will find that…”
Melisa nodded. “Is handcuffed to the President’s wrist.”
Bethany held up her hands. “We can worry about that, when Charlie is comfortable. Matthew, help he carry him to a cabin. Do we have the medical kit from the Manta?”
Melisa reached out for Charlie’s mind. “Please. Don’t do this to me again.”
00110
The Thrall woman fed Allisatiare another fresh strawberry, then climbed off his lap, kissing his cheek. “It is time.”
“Time?” Allistaire asked.
He was in the palatial decks of the cargo ship, lounging in a deep comfortable chair, by one of the fountains, full of exotic fish and tropical plants. Some of the other beautiful young Thralls were playing music and singing in harmony close by.
He had been left to wait in worse places.
The crowd fell silent, and stared at him, as one. The smile on the Thrall woman’s face changed.
“Now, Allistaire,” the Thralls said in unison. “I am not accustomed to being kept waiting.”
Allistaire hopped to his feet. “Of course, my Lord.”
The Thrall nodded, with her own smile, the others went back to their music.
Allistaire scrubbed at his cheek with his sleeve. “Well, that takes the fun out the kiss.”
The Thrall lead him to a stairway. Nightmare and Echo were hurrying down from the top deck. They stared at him.
“Ah!” He smiled at the pair. “Ready for the trip to Paris?”
Nightmare snorted and walked ahead.
Echo chuckled. “I am.”
Allistaire nodded. “It is a beautiful city.”
Echo shrugged. “What is left of the Honour Guard will be pretty mad, and will probably try to kill us. It will be fun.”
Allistaire’s smile did not falter, but on the inside, his heart shattered. “Oh. Good.”
They descended the stairs, into the Nexus Room.
The walls of the room were lined with server stacks. Misrule was sat at a glass desk, staring at a bank of computer monitors.
Zero Vector was at the far end of the room, in a frosted glass cylinder, suspended in a sickly green slime, much of her head covered by a cybernetic headpiece that bound her mind directly to the computer.
Allistaire glanced at the screens, they were tracking the movements of the satellites, and plotting their attacks.
Misrule gave him a warning smile, a cold, dangerous smile. “Have all suitable preparations been made?”
Allistaire bowed his head. “The changes to the Paris venue took some negotiations, but they were achievable. As for the home front, some states were more reluctant than others, to implement the civic drills, however, the schools themselves have been very supportive. Two hours before you hit the button, the schools of America will be taking part in drill, and the vast majority of my country’s children, and other selected individuals will be in the Millennium bunkers.”
Misrule rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. Well my brothers, how went the hunt?”
The Nightmare bowed his head. “I slew the tomb-robber and the fool in the stolen Osprey armour. The woman who once held the spear escaped.”
“The Scarlet Knight lives?” Misrule raised a finger. “That… is interesting. That is why this planet has potential. And my son?”
Echo shook her head. “He was not there. They saw our equipment.”
Misrule considered this. “Did they deduce what we plan?”
“No.” Echo looked around the screens. “Although we must assume that they will.”
Misrule smiled. “It will be too late. By the time they do, the world will be under new management. Besides, our friend here has struck a blow against them. She detected a spy watching our satellites, and spiked their system. If they were a conventional intelligence outfit, their equipment is now burned out. If they were the Honour Guard, then… well… the Yeoman has been removed from the table.” He pursed his lips. “A most unsatisfying way to do it, but this one was more like a rat in the woodwork than a lion in the jungle.”
Echo smiled. “And they will be there at Paris?”
Misrule nodded. “They saw the signals. They will want the Master Control Unit.” He pointed a finger at the Nightmare. “My son is a complication I do not wish to suffer in the final hours of this game. End him.”
Echo bristled. “You promised him to me.”
Misrule rounded on her. “The time for sport is over. Am I understood?”
Echo took a step back. “My Lord. My brother.”
“This world,” Misrule snapped, “will fall. The Necrex will rise.” He turned away. “Nothing shall be allowed to stop it.”
00111
Catherine hopped out of the Manta, and tapped the control on her pocket computer. The Manta closed its ramp, and landed in the Loch, sinking quickly beneath the surface of the peat rich waters. Catherine huddled in her coat, from the rain, and hurried to the tunnel.
The wrist Nightmare had broken was bound in a plastic honeycomb cast. The painkillers were making her thoughts fuzzy around the edges.
She groped in the darkness for the right brick. The sigil glowed, and the rockface opened.
Catherine stepped into the warm summer’s evening. Fireflies and luminous moths fluttered between the wildflowers. Catherine limped on.
Summers was on the deck, near the gangway. She looked up as Catherine approached, and they stood for a moment, staring at each other.
Summer’s face fell. “They didn’t make it, did they?”
Catherine shook her head. “I didn’t want to believe Harris was one of them, but…”
Summers looked at her wrist. “It’s broken?”
“I’ll live,” Catherine promised, hugging Summers. “Do we have any pain killers?”
Summers gave her a sad look.
Catherine felt her stomach tie in knots. “What happened?”
*
Charlie was sitting up in bed, trying to sip water from a glass, with trembling fingers. He was soaked in sweat, gaunt, and his eyes were sickly.
Melisa was sat beside him. “Maybe you should just lay back and… I dunno… we could watch a film, or…”
He smiled. “I need to think.”
Melisa shook her head. “Is this how you want to spend your last few days?”
He shrugged. “No, but… I can’t shift the feeling that everything is falling into place, and nobody has more than a few days left, at least, not unless we do something, and…” He reached into the air, and looked frustrated. “There was something. I almost had it…”
Catherine crouched by him. “Hey.”
He gave her a sad smile. “I’m letting you all down again.”
She shook her head. “Charlie. You aren’t. I’m… so proud of my kids.” She stared at Melisa. “I’ve never been so great at showing it. But I always was.”
Melisa nodded. “Cathy. Please. Give him an order.”
Catherine sighed. “I have very bad news. Flintlock and Barney are…” She swallowed. “They didn’t make it. I’m sorry. It was… It was Harris, but it wasn’t him. He carried himself differently, spoke differently, he said he was…”
“Nightmare,” Charlie said.
Catherine nodded. “Charlie, I need you to think for me. Please. Concentrate…”
Melisa looked aghast. “Cathy. No. Let him¬”
“Schism ways!” Catherine said. “They were mapping Schism ways. It’s tied to the satellites, and to the President, and… I don’t know how. I don’t know what we are facing.”
Charlie laughed. “Oh God… she was right.”
Melisa looked at him. “Who?”
“Robin. The dead Yeoman who helped me and Gran…” He laughed. “She said they could use the Extinction stone to make the world smell of death, but…” He rubbed his head. “A phased energy gun on a satellite isn’t enough death to do that. Not enough to draw them through.”
“Oh!” Melisa looked worried. “Padmaja thinks there is something else on those satellites.”
Charlie tried to stand, and stumbled.
Melisa caught him. “See? You idiot? Can you just…” She put her head on his shoulder. “Don’t do this. Don’t make it happen quicker. I don’t want to…”
He stroked her hair. “Believe me, I am going to fight for every second I can. And… If there’s still a world out there to spend those seconds with you in, so much the better.” He ran a finger through his hair. “You know, if it all goes…wrong, you will be safe here. Sealed off from anything that happens out there.”
Melisa gritted her teeth. “Yeah, well, I can’t let that happen either, so…” She looked defeated. “At least let me help you walk!”
*
What was left of the Honour Guard gathered in the First-Class lounge.
Padmaja got a projector working, and displayed the diagram of the satellites. She waved a laser pointer at the diagram. “This is what worries me. The secondary power supply.”
Matthew cocked his head. “Is that not sensible for a satellite?”
Catherine looked at the diagram. “It’s so much bigger than the primary battery, and… it has all that heat shielding.”
Summers cocked her head. “What else could be in there? Another weapons system?”
Charlie put up his hand.
Padmaja looked his way. “Charlie?”
“Does…” He rubbed his head. “Does anybody know how the Legion knew that the guy with the information about…Ugh… the thing in New Jersey? Dangerous? Killer viruses?”
“Blackwell?” Catherine asked.
“Charlie…” Matthew said, with exaggerated patience. “Are you getting… confused?”
“No.” Charlie gestured at the diagram. “The Legion knew there was somebody on that jet it shot down, with details of the Blackwell place? How? Because he was told. Misrule probably pretended to be one of the Legion Cults or something, to lure it here, and hoped it would use the poisons at the site.” He looked worried. “They work by the rules of magic. If they release it themselves, it doesn’t have value, but if the President chooses, of…” He trailed off. “If somebody else…”
