by J. N. Chaney
“The temperature inside the core is increasing, Captain,” said Athena. “By my estimates, you have twelve and a half minutes before the heat inside that room begins to melt your suits.”
“I didn’t ask you for a time limit. I asked you what to do,” I snapped.
“Unknown,” she replied. “I have no information on that facility. All I can do is—” She paused. “Captain, there appears to be another problem.”
“What the hell is it now?” I asked.
“It’s the city, sir,” answered Sigmond.
“What about it?” asked Bolin. In all the commotion, I’d forgotten that the entire team could hear us.
“We are detecting destabilization in the lower compartments. Ground sensors show all materials beneath this structure are—”
“You mean, the Factory?” asked Alphonse.
“Yes,” answered Sigmond.
“Is it the core?” asked Dressler. “Check thermal sensors. Look for any correlation between the rising temperature and the rate of degradation.”
“Analyzing,” said Athena.
I wanted to ask Dressler what she meant by all of that, but the fear in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. If we didn’t get this settled, things were going to get messy.
“Analysis complete,” said Athena. “Correlation confirmed. The reactor is increasing its energy beyond the confines of the facility. To accommodate this function, additional mass is being reallocated.”
“Reallocated?” asked Alphonse. “By whom?”
“Unknown,” said Athena. “The rate of consumption implies purpose, rather than chaos. It is holding at a linear, progressive rate of decay.”
Dressler’s eyes widened, and she slowly looked down at the orb in the corner. It was no longer emitting gas. “That’s why they came here,” she muttered. “They must have known about the reactor—known how to activate this process.”
“What is it?” I asked. “What do you think is going on here?”
“The Celestial,” she said, glancing up at me. “It did all of this.” She paused. “But, why would the Eternals place a self-destruct switch inside the reactor? Why have it consume the city?”
“Those aren’t the questions we need to be asking,” said Alphonse.
“I know, I know,” she said, nodding.
“ten minutes remaining, Captain,” informed Athena.
“We don’t have time for this,” I told everyone.
“Agreed,” said Alphonse. “We should evacuate immediately.”
I peered down the hall, towards Bolin and his team. They were more visible than before, now that the air had partially cleared. “Siggy, check the city and see if the fog has thinned yet. Start sending orders to evacuate.”
“87% of the gas has dissolved, sir, but the areas closest to this building are still too dense to openly traverse,” he replied.
“Start with everyone else. We’ll figure out the rest in a minute,” I ordered.
“Understood, sir.”
“Did he just say we’re evacuating?” asked Felix. “As in, the entire city?”
“Deploying all strike ships,” informed Athena. “Setting rally points for evacuation and relocation.”
“You heard the captain,” said Bolin. “Get to the dorms and start searching for stragglers!”
* * *
I had to admit, of all the shit I’d tried to see coming, I never expected this.
Verdun was eating itself from the inside, getting ready for something.
I couldn’t really say. Whatever it was, Dressler believed it was part of the next phase in the terraforming process. I didn’t know about her, but I couldn’t see how any of this was beneficial to the planet. What good did it do to destroy an entire city?
That fusion reactor was going to expand, and it would take the rest of us along with it if we didn’t get ourselves clear.
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye as our people continued evacuating the dorms and nearby buildings. We had every last strike ship on the landing pad filled to max capacity in no time, which meant we’d have to wait for the rest to arrive from Titan before continuing.
The reactor’s heat indicated that the chamber inside the factory was officially off limits. Unless someone found a way to turn it off from the outside, there was nothing more we could do.
The quakes were growing more frequent as time passed, almost like they were counting down to something. I knew better than to focus on that, choosing instead to cast my attention on the colonists and the evacuation.
“Siggy, how far away are those ships?” I asked.
“Incoming now, sir,” he replied. “Two minutes.”
“We’d better have that long,” I muttered.
“My estimates place total collapse in approximately thirteen minutes,” informed Athena. “That gives us eleven minutes, once the ships arrive.”
“Oh, good,” I said. “Eleven minutes is plenty of time to carefully load a few hundred frantic people and get them out of range of whatever this is.”
“Captain!” shouted Dressler, jogging up from the building where my office was located.
Or had been, since it was about to be destroyed.
Several others followed behind her, including Abigail, Alphonse, Karin, and Leif.
“Yeah?” I asked.
Dressler came to a halt in front of me, having jogged most of the way. “Mr. Solesdar has something to share. I suspect you’ll want to hear it.”
I looked at Leif. “What is it?”
The Eternal appeared concerned, but considering the current state of the city, I wasn’t exactly surprised. “Captain, is it true there’s a Celestial ship on the planet?”
I glanced at Dressler. “You told him about the ship?”
“Of course, I did,” she said.
I wanted to sigh but swallowed the feeling. “Yeah, Leif. There’s a ship.” I pulled out my pad and brought up the video from the drone footage, showing the broken, gray ship in the middle of a valley. “Right here. Do you recognize it?”
He stared at the screen, slack-jawed. “I…this is…”
“Spit it out, Leif,” I told him. “We don’t have a lot of time right now. Either tell me what’s going on or get out of the way.”
“Y-yes! That’s a Celestial ship,” he blurted out.
“That right? You don’t sound confident about your answer, Leif.”
“I-I’m sorry, sir, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen one of them in this state.”
“What state?” I asked.
“Destroyed,” he answered.
Abigail and I exchanged a quick look. She stood behind him, holding a bag on her shoulder. “You mean, you’ve never shot down one of their ships before?” she asked him.
He glanced back at her. “I’m afraid not,” he admitted. “Their shields have always been far too strong, but—” He paused, studying the video again. “—this appears to be a scout. I’ve only seen images of them a handful of times. They’re nearly impossible to track.”
“Sounds like my kind of ship,” I muttered.
At that moment, I caught sight of several objects breaking through the distant clouds. Strike ships, I guessed, just in time to get us the hell out of here.
“Captain, whatever problems you’ve been experiencing, I believe this is the cause,” said Leif, handing the pad back to me.
“There’s more to it,” said Alphonse. “The signal from this ship is being sent directly to the core. We need to know why they’re—”
“We don’t have time for this,” I broke in. “All of you get your asses to a ship and head to the rally point. Understood? We’ll figure the rest out later.”
“Yes, Captain,” acknowledged Alphonse, not bothering to argue.
“Let’s go,” said Dressler, motioning for Leif to follow.
The ships touched down around the city, going to the most populated areas first. Sigmond and Athena ran through our roster, ticking off every person as they boarde
d the ships, ensuring we had them all.
Abigail and I waited near the square, helping anyone who needed it. The quakes continued to grow even more frequent, and time was running out.
I looked around the square as two more ships lifted off, each one packed with survivors. “How many more people are we missing, Siggy?”
“Four colonists are unaccounted for, sir,” said the Cognitive. “Scanning the city now for bio-signatures.”
The city shook again, and a distant building collapsed in on itself. A cloud of dust exploded from the rubble like a bomb, causing the ground to shake even more. The sight gave me pause. Knowing your home was about to disappear was one thing. Actually seeing it happen was another.
At that moment, someone yelled from one of the dorms—the newly cleared building where many of the Eternals had gone to live. Three of them—two women and a man—were hurrying through the doors.
“Over here!” I shouted, waving them in our direction.
The man appeared to be limping, the two women carrying his arms. Abigail and I ran across the square to meet them, just beside one of the gardens. “Let us help,” said Abigail, taking the man’s arm from one of the women, who was also struggling to carry her bag.
“Thank you!” she exclaimed.
“What happened?” I asked.
“P-part of the ceiling fell,” said the man, breathing heavily. Beads of sweat ran along his cheeks and neck, his face red with pain. “It crushed my foot.”
The second girl pointed to the building behind them. “I heard a scream inside as we were leaving. I think someone is still in there.”
“Where?” I asked.
“I don’t know. The second or third floor, maybe,” she replied.
“Scan complete, sir. Location verified. I am detecting one lifeform on the second level, fourth room,” informed Sigmond.
Abigail’s eyes snapped to me. “Jace, we don’t have time. We have to go.”
We’d already lost a dozen or more people to the gas, not to mention the attack on the Alpha site. I couldn’t stand for another. “How much time, Siggy?”
“Six minutes, sir,” he answered.
I took a quick breath, then looked at Abigail. “Be right back.”
“Jace, don’t!” she snapped.
But I was already running.
The ground shook as I reached the outside stairs, nearly knocking me to my feet. I grabbed hold of the door and held on, swinging it open as the quake settled and I regained my balance.
Inside, pieces of ceiling tiles had broken free and littered the corridor. “Keep me updated on that timer, Siggy!” I ordered as I made my way to the nearby staircase.
The second floor was in worse shape than the first. Part of the hall had fallen in on itself, water dripping from the level above. I paused a moment to listen but heard nothing.
“Is anyone here!” I yelled. “Say something if you’re still alive!”
The ground shook, and I placed both my hands against each wall. “Not exactly the answer I was looking for,” I muttered. “Siggy, which room is it?”
“Fourth room down, sir,” said Sigmond.
Two more doors to go. Almost there.
I stepped over an open case full of clothes, right outside door number three. The fourth one was still closed because nothing could ever be easy.
“Think you can open this, pal?” I asked.
“Attempting security override,” said Sigmond.
The blinking red light on the wall pad changed to yellow, indicating network activity. Despite the failing infrastructure, at least we still had access to the system.
The light switched to green, and the door cracked open a few centimeters. “In you go, sir,” said the Cognitive.
“Better than nothing,” I said, slipping my fingers through the small opening. I wedged my foot and pulled back, snarling as I heaved the door open.
It crunched its way into the wall, probably off the rail.
I stuck my head inside the apartment. “Anyone here?!”
Glass crunched beneath me as soon as I stepped through the opening. The entire room looked like it had been through a cyclone. The windows had shattered, the ceiling had caved in the back half, blocking off the bedroom, and the kitchen floor was littered with utensils, pans, and broken plates.
“Where are they, Siggy? Give me a clue,” I told him.
“To your left, three meters,” said Sigmond.
“If anyone’s in here, say something,” I said, trying to ease my way to where Sigmond had indicated.
I reached the place where the ceiling had caved in, briefly wondering if this person might be unconscious and buried beneath it.
That was until I saw another closed door, standing beside the wreckage.
“In there?” I asked.
“Accessing,” said Sigmond.
I beat my fist on the door but received no response. Whoever was inside, they weren’t talking, and I feared the worst.
The wall pad blinked green, opening all the way this time, revealing a small tiled room with a wet floor.
The sink was broken in half, the pipe busted as it continued spraying water into the air. A body lay in it, hand atop the fallen section, and red lines of blood flowed in the current as it swam into the nearby drain.
It was a young girl, not much older than Lex. I knelt beside her, boots splashing in the two centimeters of water, and turned her on her backside.
Her chest was moving. Good, she was alive. Just unconscious. “Must have fallen during one of the quakes,” I said, looking at the broken sink beside her, streaks of blood on the edge.
I felt around her white hair, pulling my fingers up from the back of her head. Sure enough, there was blood. A lot of it, too.
It was probably a bad idea to move her in this condition, but I didn’t have a choice, and the clock was running out.
With one arm under hers and another supporting her knees, I hoisted the girl up from the water. She was soaking wet, making it harder to get a firm grip.
Back on my feet, I sidestepped out of the bathroom and into the main area, watching her head as I moved.
Another quake rocked the dorm, and I leaned against the nearest wall to steady myself. I couldn’t drop her. Not in this condition.
The shaking continued, and I caught sight of the tower outside the nearby window as it suddenly collapsed.
“Four minutes, sir,” informed Sigmond.
I took a heavy breath and started moving. I stepped on the glass, a piece of it digging into my boot and staying there.
Another quake as I entered the hall. The gaps were shortening between them. Just a few seconds. Better hurry.
Dust swirled over my head and shoulders as I reached the stairwell.
Take a breath. Easy now. Watch the walls.
Another quake.
Somewhere above me, there was the echoing screech of metal against metal. This building wouldn’t last more than another minute. I needed to—
A light fixture tore from the ceiling, falling in the middle of the hall beneath me, sparks scattering into the air. I hurried down the stairs to see it still attached to a long, thick cable in the middle of the floor.
“Okay, then,” I said between breaths.
I eased my way around the fixture, staying careful not to touch it. I didn’t know if it could electrocute me, but I could do without finding out.
After squeezing around the light, I braced for another tremor. This time, the breaking noise from above grew even louder.
“Two minutes, sir,” informed Sigmond.
The exit was just ahead, left side, middle of the hall. I just had to keep moving forward.
The girl shifted in my arms. She moaned in a soft voice, clenching her eyes as she slowly came around.
I didn’t stop moving. “Easy,” I said, picking up my speed. “Easy, easy.”
“P-Papa…?” The girl cracked her eyes and blinked. She stared up at me. “W-where are we…?”
“Q
uiet now,” I said, and a loud, heavy crash roared from above us. “Everything’s fine, kid. Everything’s good.”
She looked up at me with the same blue eyes that Lex had, and I could feel her begin to shake in my arms. “Who are you?” she asked, blinking repeatedly. “You don’t sound like my Papa. W-why can’t I see?”
Tears filled her frightened eyes. She was breathing quickly, and it wouldn’t be long before the panic set in.
“It’s okay. You just have some dust in your eyes,” I told her, not knowing what else to say. “Everything’s gonna be alright. Trust me. We’re just gonna go for a walk. You can do that, right?”
A tearing, shattering crack echoed far behind us as another quake let loose through the city. Another fixture snapped free of its place inside the stairwell. My eyes flashed back to see it crash, sending sparks in every direction.
The girl flinched, darting her confused eyes all around us. “W-what was that?!” she screamed.
“Stay still. Just try to relax, kid. I’ve got you,” I said, trying to sound calm. “What’s your name?”
“E-Elise,” said the girl.
“I’m Jace,” I said. “Just a little bit longer and we’ll be out of this mess.”
I started moving again, holding her close.
We’d barely gone more than a few steps when another tremor hit, and this one stronger than the others. The quake tore through the city, sending a shockwave beneath my feet and into the building, strong enough that I knew our time had come.
Part of the ceiling came tumbling down on the far side of the hall, collapsing into the floor, bringing a stream of water with it. There was another loud and thunderous sound behind us, above, and all around.
This was it.
The girl sensed what I saw, and she threw her arms around my neck, pressing her cheek into me.
I ran, knowing that another tremor could very well be the last. As we neared the exit, I slammed my boot into the door to throw it open, slowing for only a second.
But it was in that moment the ground shook again, and it felt like we were falling in two directions at once. I pushed my back against the left side of the archway, propping my leg against the right, all while trying to hold the girl steady in my arms. The world shifted, the metal bending beside us as the ground itself came undone.
