Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “Who are you?” said Vik.

  “Who do you think?” said Victor.

  Vik recognized the voice all too well. The same rasping, exquisite voice. However, it was a little frailer than he remembered. Vik felt it was a test. Perhaps they were playing a game with him as he had hinted in the voice message that the person could be Victor.

  “Nice impersonation,” said Vik. “Kudos on the perfume too.”

  “It’s me, Jay,” said Victor.

  Vik couldn’t see anything. He could feel the sweat on his forehead. He had goosebumps. The thought that, either a ghost or the devil was only a couple of feet away, had made him go weak at the knees.

  Suddenly, the spotlight aimed at the stage turned on for a second, as if a bolt of lightning had hit the warehouse, before turning off. Vik felt he was hallucinating when he saw the person in front of him. The person looked like Victor, although slightly older with deep wrinkles and a few more scars on the face. He gasped when it was dark again.

  “It can’t be you,” said Vik. “You died…”

  “In that fire?” said Victor. “I had an exit plan. Surely, you can’t be that naïve.”

  “It’s a trick,” mumbled Vik. “It has to be.”

  “It’s really not,” said Victor. “You just saw my face few seconds ago. You recognize my voice too. I remember you told me once that they could find a thousand impersonators for someone’s voice, but there are always two things that can’t be forged. You remember what that was, Jay?”

  “The confidence and the pause,” murmured Vik.

  “Yes,” said Victor. “So, am I an impersonator? What is the brain behind that flesh telling you?”

  Vik didn’t say anything. He lowered his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. Victor knew him better than everybody. He was his perfect adversary.

  “You killed them,” said Vik.

  “You’d have to be specific,” said Victor.

  “Everyone,” said Vik. “You used the wrong card.”

  “Did I?” said Victor. “I don’t think so. I’ve never been sure of it. I used the right one.”

  “But everyone died,” said Vik.

  Victor snapped his fingers. A few seconds later, the lights were turned on, including the big spotlight aimed at Vik’s face.

  “That’s what they DO,” said Victor, yelling as he was about to finish the sentence.

  Vik had indeed seen the devil again. As he gazed his eyes upon Victor’s face, he knew it wasn’t a trick. It was him.

  “Where’s Katie?” said Vik as he gathered himself.

  Victor was wearing an earpiece. Clay was on the other end. He informed Victor that Sarah had arrived at the compound, and they were heading towards the warehouse. Victor knew he had to change his line of questioning. He couldn’t let Sarah hear about Katie. He had to convince Sarah that Vik was a duplicitous liar who was mocking the memories of Sarah and Katie every time he mentioned their name. Either that or Vik had lost his sense of reality.

  “Katie? She’s dead,” said Victor. “What you saw was an Apollo. You know what Apollos are, don’t you? I learnt that Olivia had told you about them before she passed away.”

  “You’re lying. Katie is alive,” said Vik.

  “Yeah, she’s alive, but only as a shadow. A memory I created to lure you out, and it worked. Apollos aren’t real people. They’re an image of them at a point in time. After that, they make their own decisions. Olivia wasn’t that good. And for that, she died, screaming,” said Victor.

  “Don’t take her name from your filthy mouth,” said Vik.

  Sarah had entered the secret room behind the two way glass. Clay informed Victor. Vik had given Victor the perfect setup to channel Sarah’s jealousy into rage.

  “Olivia was a bitch who deserved to die,” said Victor. “You don’t know half of the things she did. Or perhaps you did know, but chose to ignore.”

  “Olivia didn’t deserve to die, no more than Sarah and Katie,” said Vik. “I loved her just like I loved Sarah and Katie. You wouldn’t know that.”

  Sarah closed her fist in a moment of fury. The man she once loved had compared her and her daughter’s love and compassion to a woman who didn’t believe in either. For Sarah, Olivia was a parasite that fed off the love in Jay’s heart until he had none left. But it wasn’t what hurt her. Jay didn’t stop her; it was what she couldn’t forgive. Tears filled her eyes. That was it. Whatever remote affection that Sarah had in his heart for Jay, turned into ashes that very moment. Sarah’s face turned red in anger.

  Sarah stormed out and went towards the door to the warehouse. Clay ran after her and stopped her.

  “Move,” said Sarah.

  “Wait for your turn,” said Clay. “Trust your father.”

  “I’m tired of waiting,” said Sarah.

  “If you step through that door, you’d regret it,” said Clay. “Trust me.”

  Sarah thought about it and turned around. She went back into the room and saw through the glass as her father riled her ex-husband.

  “You always loved picking up strays,” said Victor. “Now, let’s go back to the past. You know where we left off.”

  “Fuck you,” said Vik.

  Victor grinned. “There it is. The anger. The fire in you that made you one of the most powerful men on the planet. And the planet paid for it, didn’t it?”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Vik.

  “No, you just manipulated the people into believing that. Clifford. Sarah. Anthony. Olivia. Katie. Me. Everyone that cared about you,” said Victor.

  Vik chuckled. “You? Cared about me? You couldn’t even care about your own daughter. You left her broken and shallow.”

  “Is that what you want? Credit for saving Sarah Daulton from a life of misery and disappointment?” said Victor.

  “No!” said Vik. “God, you’re doing it again. Manipulating everything around you, to fit your agenda.”

  Vik grimaced in pain. It was more mental than physical, though his body had almost given up.

  “I learnt from the best,” said Victor.

  Vik went down on his knees, almost as if he had surrendered to the devil, as the guard on top of the balcony let go of the chains a little. Vik’s hands were raised, his head was lowered as he attempted to look through the floor at Hell. The thought of seeing Katie was the only thing that keeping him sane. Victor had crushed that dream with a hammer.

  Victor bent down and whispered to Vik, “You want to spend the rest of your life on your knees, or you want to finish what we started, before we had an unfortunate hiccup?”

  Sarah couldn’t hear what Victor whispered to Vik. The last five minutes had been a rollercoaster of emotions. Hundreds of images and videos of the aftermath of 1/1 played in her mind as Victor took Vik on a journey of their shared past. The fact that Vik called her broken and shallow made Sarah’s blood boil.

  “Shut up!” said Vik as he head-butted Victor.

  Victor fell backwards, and the guards stepped forward to help him. Victor raised his left hand, and the guards stopped immediately and went back to their positions. Vik stood up and tried to step forward. Immediately, the chains almost shrank as Vik’s feet again left the floor. Vik was pulled up half a meter above the ground as he was suspended in mid-air, looking like a canon. The steep angle made sure that Vik could make eye contact with Victor, who had stood up.

  Victor dusted off his black coat.

  “You shouldn’t try to fight it, Jay,” said Victor. “I got all the time in the world. No matter how hard you try, I’ll always be a step ahead of you.”

  “What do you want?” yelled Vik.

  “I want Jay, not Vik,” said Victor. “So, I want you to kill Vik. Then we’ll talk.”

  Victor turned around and started walking towards the door.

  “Wait,” said Vik.

  Victor stopped.

  “Don’t you want to hear my answer?” said Vik.

  Victor turned around, with a huge smile on his
face. As Vik was about to utter a word, Victor’s phone rang. He checked the phone. It was Maia.

  “Hold that thought,” said Victor.

  He picked up the phone. “What?”

  He listened to Maia patiently for the next few seconds. Vik saw Victor’s face go blank. He could read the fear on his face and smell the anxiety oozing out of his body.

  Vik let out a small laugh. Victor looked at him.

  “Something wrong?” asked Vik.

  Victor disconnected the call.

  “Did you do this?” asked Victor.

  “Do what? I’ve hanging here since eternity,” said Vik. “What happened? Someone broke your toy?”

  “I’ll ask you one more time,” said Victor, with a hint of rage on his face. “Was it you?”

  “In your own words, since I’m responsible for every terrible act done on this planet, I’ll take the blame for this one too,” said Vik as he smiled.

  Victor fumed. Vik laughed even harder. He laughed like a maniac, a monster who had won. Victor left the room as Vik laughed incessantly.

  Chapter 38: Impetus

  A scholar once said a person’s life could be measured by the number of times they felt they had lost a battle they should’ve won, vis-à-vis the number of times they won a battle they were on the verge of losing. If the difference between the two is positive, life could be termed as unfair and arduous. If the difference was negative, life could be termed as fair and fulfilling. However, if the difference was zero, life could be said as boring and immaterial.

  Victor’s life had just turned from boring to unfair.

  Clay and Sarah met him in the corridor as he slammed the door behind him. “What happened?”

  “Not here. Where’s the conference room?” said Victor.

  “Come with me,” said Clay.

  Clay walked ahead, as Sarah and Victor followed him.

  “What happened?” whispered Sarah.

  Victor didn’t say anything. A thousand voices were rambling in his head. They entered the conference room. Victor told Clay to connect to Yolk. Clay was confused, but he switched on to the terminal and connected to Yolk.

  “Dad, what’s wrong?” asked Sarah.

  A guy answered the video call. On seeing Victor on his screen, he immediately called out Maia’s name.

  “How did this happen?” yelled Victor as Maia came forward.

  “Marie is trying to stop it,” said Maia, albeit a little scared.

  “How long?” asked Victor.

  “We’re still trying to...” said Maia.

  “How long?” shouted Victor. Sarah shook in her sandals. She couldn’t possibly contemplate how Maia didn’t blink. Perhaps she was still in shock, Sarah thought.

  “2 hours,” said Maia. “The first impact will be in less than 2 hours.”

  Victor sat up from his chair in frustration. “DAMN IT!”

  “What is happening?” said Sarah.

  “Begin evacuation!” said Victor. “Follow Protocol AR241 to justify priority. Mobilize the ground force.”

  Maia nodded and went off the screen. The call soon disconnected.

  “Sir, what’s wrong?” asked Clay.

  “We’re about to be crushed by our own weapon,” said Victor.

  “Stop speaking in riddles for once in your life,” said Sarah.

  “You know about our moon?” said Victor.

  “I thought you didn’t have its control,” said Sarah.

  “Apparently, we did. But now we don’t,” said Victor.

  “What’s going on?” asked Clay.

  “Our moon in the lower orbit, has changed directions and has fallen out of its orbit,” said Victor. “It has begun its descent.”

  “How?” asked Clay.

  “Someone overrode its controls and activated the thrusters towards a coordinate on Earth. Ours. It’s headed this way,” said Victor. “In approximately 2 hours, it’s going to take out Sierra.”

  Clay was stunned. Sarah’s eyes popped out in fear.

  “Can’t we do something?” asked Clay.

  “Marie is trying to gain access again. Soon, it wouldn’t matter, as it gains speed, and becomes unresponsive. The central node isn’t responding either. Eventually, the moon would split into pieces while going out of formation as it crosses the Kármán line. They expect over a hundred fireballs to hit the surface based on the dimensions, while others should hopefully burn up in the air,” said Victor.

  “How big?” asked Sarah.

  “They don’t know how many satellite clusters will break formation. But if I recall correctly, Josh had made a similar projection a few years ago while running a hypothetical simulation. It estimated hundreds of core parts weighing over 10-20 tons were likely to stay in formation in case the thrusters were activated in a particular sequence,” said Victor. “Sierra won’t survive.”

  “Oh no,” said Sarah.

  “I should go,” said Clay.

  “I need you here,” said Victor.

  “I don’t care about him,” said Clay.

  Victor grabbed Clay by his throat and slammed him against the wall. “I’ll tell you who you need to care about or not. You work for me. I’ve got you on a leash. Don’t make me strangle you with it.”

  Clay saw a side of Victor that he had only heard about. Victor could’ve easily choked him to death. Clay felt numbness in his neck when Victor let go.

  Victor twitched his face a couple of times as he tried to compose himself. He had been informed that Sierra had less than 2 hours to go. Everything that he had worked for, in the last three years, was coming to an end.

  Sarah sat back on the chair in shock.

  “It’s about to rain fire,” said Victor. “Again!”

  **********************************************

  Joey joined Emma and Kate at the 23rd street after parking the truck at the precinct. Emma was still dejected by the events that had transpired early morning. She knew it was in their best interest to let Vik handle the things on his own, but she felt guilty. She couldn’t fathom a reason why Vik would willingly abandon everyone, or leave without telling her. The thought of being abandoned by Vik had hurt more deeply than she would’ve cared to admit. Kate and Emma were redirecting the supply trucks that were hauling debris and material from the site. Apart from a fleet of construction vehicles, the area also saw hundreds of automobiles visiting the site for business purposes. Most of them were scouting for potential homes or business office locations for their clients.

  The site had also become a tourist destination. People from nearby counties visited every day to see the crater. The imaginations ran wild. Some believed it was shaped like a moon, some saw it as the mouth of a volcano, while some believed a UFO had landed here. It made the work of Morrow’s finest extremely hard. Dust storms created by the wheels of the vehicles and occasional winds, didn’t help either.

  Kate saw Emma was upset, working a hundred feet away. She told Joey to take her place while she went to talk to Emma.

  “Hey, you alright?” asked Kate as she approached Emma from the left.

  “Yeah,” said Emma, while blowing a whistle loudly to unease the jam that had been caused at the site’s entrance.

  “Joey’s got it. Come, walk with me,” said Kate.

  “I’m alright,” said Emma.

  Kate grabbed her hand, trying to pull her away from the spot. Emma angrily snapped at Kate, pulling away from her hand.

  “Let me go!” snapped Emma.

  Kate was slightly taken aback. Emma returned to her spot and resumed her duty. Kate saw it as a cry for help. She again approached Emma but didn’t say a word. Low speed winds were blowing in the area, blinding Emma, who wore sunglasses to see through the dust. Kate didn’t have one on her, but she kept looking into the storm, as she tried to help Emma. The congestion was increasing as it was a good day to go out. The weather was pleasant. The sky was clear, and the temperature was on a colder side.

  It took hundreds of whistles and han
d waves from Emma and Kate, but they managed to control their side of the road after fifteen minutes. Joey was also assisting down the road, answering questions posed by fascinated tourists.

  After a few minutes, Emma settled down, brushing her auburn hair stuck on her face and looked at Kate. The dust storm had also settled a bit, and the traffic was almost back to normal.

  “Do you think we’ll see him again?” asked Emma, out of the blue.

  Kate looked at her and said, “I don’t know.”

  “He told me last time. If he finds her, he’ll go someplace far away. Or he’ll die trying. How can I live without knowing which one is it?” said Emma.

  “Maybe it’s better that way,” said Kate. “I wouldn’t be able to live if I did something to take her away from him. Again.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” said Emma. “It’s not like he cared anyway. He saw us as a burden most of the time when he was not manipulating us for his own gains.”

  “That won’t work,” said Kate as she glanced at Emma’s face.

  “What won’t work?” asked Emma.

  “Hating him,” said Kate. “I tried hating him too. I thought it would clear my conscience a little or lift the burden off my shoulders. But I realized I was wrong.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” said Emma as she walked away.

  Kate followed her.

  “I don’t want things to end this way. I won’t be able to live knowing that I could’ve seen it through. His story didn’t have to end in a tragedy. I can’t stay here,” said Emma, pacing down the dusty road.

  Joey came towards them. Eric had also climbed out of the crater after overseeing the operations. He had been having headaches of his own, though he didn’t tell anyone about it. There was a distant voice popping up at unexpected times, in his head. Something or someone was calling him, but he didn’t know. He felt it was an overreaction to his recent drinking binges.

  They all grouped at a spot near the crater.

  “What’s up?” asked Joey.

  “I’m going,” said Emma. “To Sierra.”

  “Not this again,” said Joey.