The Ascension Myth Box Set

by Ell Leigh Clark

  She nodded.

  “Okay,” he told her, handing his holo to her. “Come and referee a few rounds for me and Sean. I want to test something out.”

  Molly took his holo off him and set the time.

  This is going to be interesting, she thought.

  Oh, you have no idea.

  Why?

  You’ll see.

  Joel stalked across the mats and was just interrupting Jack and Sean dancing around each other.

  Molly approached and watched Joel put on gloves, and Sean walk to the other side of the mats, looking smug.

  He’s so going to get his ass handed to him!

  Who, Joel? I wouldn’t be too sure.

  Damn it, Oz, what do you know?

  Just watch…

  Joel signalled for Molly to step onto the mats to adjudicate.

  Sean grinned and looked at Molly, then back at Joel. “Need her here to make sure you stay safe, mate?” he asked.

  Joel smiled back. “No… I was thinking of your safety.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Okay, chaps. Let’s do this. On three. One, two, THREE!” She dropped her hand between them and stepped back, giving them a three-minute round.

  Joel went straight in for the attack, flying with a back fist. Sean ducked, but the punch still caught him on his shoulder. He swerved around, but was too close to use his legs. Instead, he tried to gain his balance and set Joel up with his jab.

  Joel was too fast, though. He ducked and wove through each jab, landing his own body blows and uppercuts in between. Before he knew it, Sean was on the defense, stepping backwards with each jab he landed. Joel paused and then went straight forward with a front kick into Sean’s much higher chest.

  Sean flew backwards across the gym.

  It was only then that Molly realized that everyone else who had been training had gathered at the edge of the mats to watch the two titans go at each other. Even Garet appeared at the doorway, presumably waiting for the session to finish.

  Shock illuminated Sean’s eyes. But Joel was still on the case, walking menacingly towards him and smiling a little. “Not quite as easy as you thought, eh? Mate!”

  Sean pulled himself up on his elbows, and then used his abnormally strong abs to pull himself to sitting, and then up on his feet in a single spring.

  Joel was in his fighting stance again.

  Oz, what is going on?

  The two men went for each other again. A second later, Joel’s arm was outstretched and Sean had been flipped on his back, he was now looking up at Joel towering above him.

  “You’ve been up to something, Mate,” Sean declared. “I’m onto you. Those reaction speeds aren’t natural!”

  Oz, what did you do? And don’t tell me ‘nothing,’ because this has Ozimandaus written all over it!

  I might have helped Joel enhance his speed.

  Molly shook her head.

  What about his strength, though? No way his weight could take Sean’s like that.

  I believe most of that is technique. Plus he assures me he’s been working out down here ‘like a motherfucker’. His words.

  Molly shook her head, unable to contain her smile.

  She looked down at the holo. “One minute!” she called out to the fighters.

  Sean rolled over several times and was back on his feet. They went at each other again and again, each time resulting in Sean being put in a compromising position.

  “Time!” Molly shouted.

  The team cheered and applauded. Sean looked disgruntled, but touched gloves with Joel and patted him on the back. “Well done, mate. Though you realize this means I’m going to have to really bring it next time.”

  Joel slapped him on the upper arm too. “I would expect nothing less.”

  As soon as Sean had stepped past him, though, and could no longer see his face, the realization of what he had started showed as concern.

  The rest of the team were jovial and entertained, congratulating and consoling their leaders as they recovered from their bout.

  Molly grinned, looking at them all. “Okay, folks. I guess that’s training over for today. Pizza orders to Paige, then hit the showers. Food will be here in less than forty five minutes.”

  There was a cheer and then a flurry of activity.

  At least some things stay the same, she mused. The promise of pizza always seems to get them moving…

  Gaitune-67, Safe House, Kitchen

  The team was starting to congregate in the kitchen. Crash was quietly laying the table with plates and napkins. Garet, Brock, and Pieter walked in carrying boxes of pizza.

  Molly stood next to the mocha machine, trying to decide whether she should have one or not.

  Just then, Paige followed the boys into the kitchen in her house clothes, clutching something in her hand. She approached Molly and took her by the arm while the boys bustled around the kitchen, distributing boxes of cheesy offerings.

  Molly looked at Paige quizzically. “What’s up?” she asked, noticing Paige’s closed hand between them.

  Paige smiled. “Give me your hand,” she instructed her.

  Molly held her hand out palm down. Paige took her hand and turned it palm up, and then placed something in it.

  Molly looked. It was a small metal talisman with inscriptions on it. It looked Estarian. Threaded through a little loop was a throng.

  Paige explained in a hushed voice. “It’s for grounding you. To stop you transitioning through those other realms when you don’t want to. You just wear it around your neck.”

  Molly’s eyes welled up. “How… how did you get this?”

  Paige smiled softly, and squeezed her arm. “It was my grandmother’s.” She lifted her eyes to the ceiling briefly. “She’s probably disappointed that I don’t need it, what with my absence of meditating and all… But I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you making good use of it.”

  Molly didn’t know what to say. She flung her arms around Paige and hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered, half choking on the emotion.

  Paige hugged her, rubbing her back gently. “Hey, you’re welcome.”

  The girls parted and looked at each other. “Can’t have you just drifting off, and leaving us behind!” Paige exclaimed. They giggled a little, and Molly wiped the tear that had escaped her face.

  Adjusting to dying was more of a thing than she had expected.

  Joel arrived in the kitchen, closely followed by Sean and Jack. Maya arrived a minute later, her hair still damp from the shower.

  The hub of chatter and banter grew until everyone was sitting down and eating.

  At that point, the kitchen was hushed in silence.

  Molly had been trying to find the right moment to say something to the team, but it hadn’t come. Now, though, with everyone chomping on cheese and pepperoni, she saw her chance.

  She pushed out her chair and stood up. Immediately, she had everyone’s attention. Some of them even stopped eating.

  “Guys, I… I just wanted to say a few words, if you don’t mind me interrupting your cheese ritual.”

  There were chuckles. Paige encouraged her with a supportive look; similar to the way Molly’s mom had looked at her as a kid, at her piano recital.

  Molly locked her fingers together and played with her hands as she spoke. “As you know, I died.”

  Sean chuffed. “Just like Molly, getting straight to the point!” The team chuckled.

  Molly smiled. “Yeah, and I was very lucky. But what I haven’t said yet, is how grateful I am to all of you for your support.”

  She looked over at Crash.

  “Crash, I didn’t know what you had done for me until I got back here and Maya told me. And it’s been so strange, processing everything; I didn’t quite know what to say. But now I do.” Emotion was welling up in her chest, and her eyes filled with tears.

  “I wanted to say…”

  Her voice cracked as she t
ried to speak. She tried again.

  “I wanted to say, thank you for not giving up on me.” She couldn’t keep the tears and sobs from coming out. She felt self-conscious in front of her team, her friends, who were just trying to eat their pizza.

  Until Crash welled up, too.

  Then there was silence in the kitchen. Crash scraped his chair back, put his napkin down on the table, and walked around to where Molly was standing. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around her; the two sobbed while the girls “awwww”ed.

  Even Pieter was welling up as he started clapping. The others clapped their support, and Molly felt Paige’s hand on her back, comforting her, even as Crash hugged her.

  She peeled herself away to talk to him quietly, while the hub continued around them.

  “I was dead, and you refused to give up on me. And I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you…”

  Crash just welled up again, and stroked her face. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  Molly nodded, awkwardly, not really knowing what else there was to say. There was no standard procedure for what to do in this circumstance.

  Crash squeezed her arm, and then stepped back a little before retreating to his seat.

  Molly turned to address the group again. “I also want to say thank you to Sean for his quick thinking, and acting against the odds. Sean, you pulled off a miracle. I owe you my life.”

  The group applauded and cheered. Pieter slapped Sean on the back just as he got up. Sean punched him in the shoulder gently as he made his way around the table to hug Molly.

  They hugged, and he whispered in her ear. “Don’t think you can get out of the big mission just by dying, lady!”

  She laughed a little as he released her, and headed back to his seat. Joel noticed the slight telltale signs that Sean was choking up. He stood up as he came back to his seat and shook his hand. “Hey,” Joel told him, “I know you didn’t do it for me, but I will forever be grateful for you saving her.”

  Sean nodded and hugged Joel too before sitting back down.

  Molly had stopped crying and found her voice again.

  Composing herself, she addressed the group a little more brightly. “In other news,” she announced, “Garet is heading back to Estaria tomorrow.” Molly smiled, raising her mocha cup to him. “I’d like to say thank you for your service to the good people of Estaria.”

  She paused, and then added: “And for not fucking us over at the last minute!”

  The room erupted in laughter and guffaws. Pieter was sitting next to Garet around the corner of the table and leaned forward, punching him on his arm.

  Garet sat quietly, trying not to laugh, but going bright red in embarrassment. He kept his eyes on the table in front of him, allowing the team to have their dig.

  The others raised their cups and glasses.

  Brock chirped up. “To Garet!”

  Everyone responded, “To Garet!”

  Molly waited for the activity to settle down; still standing, her mocha mug placed back on the table. Her expression was somber. “There’s just one more thing I want to share with you,” she said seriously.

  The room hushed again, waiting in anticipation for the next piece of news. Maya felt herself bracing for something ominous.

  Molly looked and then signalled at the box of ham and pineapple pizza in the center of the table. “You do realize,” she said quietly, “that fruit shouldn’t be allowed on pizza, don’t you?”

  The team collapsed in a heap of hysterics.

  Brock started waving his hands, over the hub. A few of the guys turned to hear what he had to say. “Finally, someone talking sense!”

  Maya grinned at him.

  Paige eyed him humorously. “You do realize that tomato is a fruit?” she sniggered, drawing Brock’s frown.

  Pieter had reached across and peeled a slice of pepperoni off the pizza in front of him. He took careful aim, and lobbed it in Paige’s direction. It would have missed her, except that she had moved to whisper something to Maya, and it slapped her right on the cheek.

  She looked over at Pieter, who was looking adequately guilty to give himself away. “You little shit!” she squealed, and pulled a cherry tomato off hers, and chucked it at him.

  “Children!” Maya regulated.

  Paige grinned deviously. “Sorry… MOM!” she added.

  Maya looked horrified, as she reached across to pick up a piece of pepperoni. “Why, you little-”

  The laughter echoed through the common area, down the corridors, and all the way through into the basement, where ADAM was monitoring the microphones from the ArchAngel3.

  “Do you think she’ll be okay?” the general asked, genuinely relying on ADAM’s assessment.

  ADAM responded. “I think the next few weeks will be a good indication. Should we let The Empress know?” he asked.

  The general leaned back in his console chair, turning down the volume of the audio feed, and smiling at the relationships the team were forming. “I think we ought to. TOM probably has some insight into what is going on… even if he hasn’t experienced this phenomenon before.”

  You don’t think there’s any chance that she might just start stepping into the Etheric, like Bethany Anne does, do you?

  The general shrugged. “Anything is possible.”

  ADAM had a smile in his voice. “That’s all we need. Two of them!”

  The general couldn’t help but smile to himself as he popped his cigar down. “You’re telling me!” he exclaimed.

  ADAM pulled up a holo screen and started drafting a note that the general could look at. “Okay. I’ll get a message out to her on the next transmission.”

  “Very good,” the general acknowledged as he got up. “I’ll let you handle that. Let me know as soon as we hear anything. I’m going to knock off for the night. Goodnight, ADAM.”

  “Goodnight, sir,” ADAM responded as he sent the message off to The Empress.

  Chapter 19

  Gaitune-67, Hangar Deck

  Joel sat quietly in a pod, waiting for Oz to connect in. With the power down, he could feel the composition of the air changing with his breath. He couldn’t risk switching it on, as it would light up and draw attention. Oz seemed to know how to turn on just the ventilation parts, though.

  Just then, he felt a part of the pod power up, and the audio click on. “Joel?” It was Oz’s voice.

  “Hey, bro,” responded Joel. “Sorry to pull you away.”

  Oz answered quickly. “Oh, it’s quite alright. I have enough processing power to talk to Molly and yourself at the same time. Oh, and run a bunch of searches.”

  Joel was impressed. “Sounds like a sweet upgrade!” he commented.

  “Yeah,” agreed Oz. “It’s all kinds of awesome. How are you finding your upgrade?”

  Joel nodded, his lips turned down at the edges. “Pretty incredible. Hey, did you hear I kicked Sean’s ass?”

  “Ooooooh yes,” confirmed Oz. “ I was there talking with Molly at the time, and watching it through the base cameras.” He paused, genuine curiosity in his voice. “Did that feel good?”

  Joel looked off into the distance, out onto the hangar deck, remembering the sensation. “It did… But it’s opened up a can of worms.”

  Oz sounded confused. “How so?” he asked.

  “Well,” Joel sighed, slumping back in the seat, “it seems that Sean doesn’t like losing. He told me that he’s going to have to really bring it next time. As in, up his game. I hear he’s going to head back to ArchAngel3 for a tune-up or something in the next few days.” Joel hung his head, pinching his eyes with his fingers on one hand. “Is that even possible?”

  Oz was silent for a moment. “Yes, I’ve just checked his schedule. I believe he has meetings on the ArchAngel3. It’s possible that some of those are with the medical and robotics teams.”

  Joel went pale. “Oz, you’ve got to help me, or else he’s going
to really hand me my ass!”

  Oz seemed to vibrate a little through the seat. “Yes, and I expect that will hurt.” He thought for a moment. “Do we have any idea what Sean’s enhancements are really capable of?”

  Joel shook his head. “Nope. And no idea how we could find out. But what if he gets his existing enhancements swapped out and upgraded?”

  Oz’s voice was serious again. “Well, then I expect you’d be in trouble,” he mused. After another second he seemed to start a new trail of thought. “Hey, Joel. Don’t worry. I’ve got your back on this. We’ll figure this out.”

  Joel put his hand on the handrail, and leaned against the side of the pod, not really believing his ears. “You mean that, Oz?” he asked.

  “Of course,” Oz answered without hesitation. “You’re my guy. You had my back before I even realized I needed someone to have my back. I know I’m close with Molly, but that’s different… and partly a function of geography. But you’re truly a great friend, Joel. If there is something I can do for you, I’ll gladly do it. Just leave this with me.”

  Joel started to feel emotion weigh heavily in his chest. “Oz… I. I don’t know what to say!” he blurted out.

  Oz’s voice was grounded and bright. “Joel, it’s cool. We’re friends. We’ve got this.”

  Joel paused a moment before taking a deep breath and accepting that someone else had his back, too. “Thank you, Oz. Really. You’re the best.”

  “You too,” Oz told him. “Okay, Joel, so I’ve got to get some work done on this. Just make sure you keep working out, and perfecting your technique on the mats. You’re going to need every edge we can give you.”

  Joel tapped the handrail he’d been holding onto. “Sure thing, Oz. I’ll do everything I can at this end,” he smiled, feeling hopeful about the situation for the first time since Sean had had a word in his ear after his victory.

  The pod door slid up, allowing Joel to exit. When he was out, it quietly closed again and powered down discretely.

  Gaitune-67, Operations Room

  Molly slumped down in the invisible console chair in the ops room. This time she willed and maneuvered herself close to the console so she was a little more upright than previously.