by William Oday
“Why?” Martinez asked.
“How should I know? Did I build this place? Alright, let’s slow down and stay alert. There’s a tricky bit coming up. A section of rusted steps that will take you out if you’re not careful. Only step where I step. Got it?”
“Copy that,” I replied. I didn’t mention that my boots were twice as big as his. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem.
Crypto began stepping with measured care.
Martinez followed, placing her feet exactly where his had just left.
At least, I assumed that was the case because it required all of my attention and focus to do the same with her footsteps.
Right. Left. Right. Left.
One step after the other.
The physical and mental exertion were taking a toll. My head swam with numb emptiness. A wave of dizziness swept over me and I teetered to the side.
Toward the inside edge of the spiral staircase.
Toward the oblivion that awaited with open arms.
I lurched away from the edge and hit the next step up with the toe of my boot. I swung my arms around to regain my balance, but over compensated and my balance shifted toward the edge.
Beyond the edge.
Beyond the point of recovery.
That was all it took.
A cascading series of failures that would end in tragedy.
Each mistake individually not a problem. But together, one after the other, each compounding the problem, the end result was inevitable.
I fell to the side and yelled as my arms wheeled through empty air.
“Scout!” Martinez shouted as she reached for my hand.
Our fingers touched, the skin sliding in opposite directions, and then the contact broke.
And I tumbled into darkness.
The whistling wind.
The rush of speed.
The clenching in my gut.
The spinning, end over end.
Ended almost as fast as it began.
My shoulder slammed into a stair.
A shockwave whipped through my neck and spine.
The descent jerked to a stop, the coil of thick rope crushing my chest as it arrested my fall.
I lay like a rag doll, pain coursing through my limbs. Electric shocks straight from a high voltage socket.
“Don’t move!” Martinez’s voice echoed from above.
My legs swung back and forth. A pendulum suspended by the rope around my torso and caught on a step a few feet above.
I reached for the nearest step.
The stair holding the rope screeched as the metal twisted and bent.
The rope slid toward the edge.
Inches away.
I timed my swinging and lunged for the nearest step.
The metal above creaked and groaned and the stair broke loose.
The instant of weightlessness as I dropped.
And the agony of torn muscle as my shoulders took the weight of the fall.
My fingers scraped across the rough treads.
Coming loose.
I was too weak to hold on.
I never let go.
I never quit.
But you can fight to the end and still end up dead.
I closed my eyes as my fingers slowly uncurled and the strength faded.
And again I fell.
“Got you!” Martinez shouted as her hands locked around my wrist. She hauled me over and I rolled onto the steps below her.
She was beside me an instant later. My head in her lap.
Crypto stood above us both, shining his flashlight down. His eyes wide with surprise.
He was the surprised one?
I laughed but it cut short from the pain.
Martinez stroked my cheek. “You do not have permission to die on me, sir.”
“Sorry, Corporal.”
The edges of her tight lips dipped into a frown. “Crypto, get the light over here.”
He moved closer.
“Scout, your drain tube,” Martinez said.
“What?” I asked. Considering the ebb and flow of agony sweeping through my body, the drain tube was the least of my worries.
“It doesn’t look good. It’s infected. There’s puss oozing out. We need to get you medical attention. Dr. Tanaka would know what to do.”
“No way,” Crypto said. “If we go to the Infirmary level, we may as well lock ourselves up. We need to stick with the mission. If we succeed with that, we can go anywhere we want.”
Martinez looked up at him with anger flashing in her eyes. “And what if he doesn’t make it that far?”
CHOICES:
1. Continue with the mission.
2. Abort the mission to get medical attention.
The group chose #2 and this is what happened next…
43
I shifted position to relieve the ache in my ribs from resting against the hard metal step. There wasn’t enough room to lay down which meant I’d been uncomfortably draped across several stairs for the last hour. It would’ve been better to rest on one of the flat landings at the entrances to each of the levels, but getting to one was the problem.
The hour rest had helped and now I was getting antsy laying around waiting for Martinez to return.
Where was she?
With or without Dr. Tanaka, she should’ve been back by now.
Crypto lay along the length of a single step with his head resting on the inside edge. His wild bush of hair hung out into the emptiness beyond. He held his arms up and the flashlight tucked into the crook of his arm shone on his hands, casting shadows onto the underside of the steps above. “Now this is a woman in the blossom of her bloom,” he said as he twisted his fingers together.
I looked up at the resulting shadow and saw a convincing silhouette of a woman with a curtain of long hair and curvaceous hips and bosom.
“Now this is us getting hot and heavy.”
The shadow shifted and a woman appeared on her back with her legs held up by a diminutive figure. Her legs squirmed as Crypto’s shadow self kissed her thighs and lower.
“And now this is us making sweet love.”
The silhouettes shifted to show the woman riding the smaller figure. She bounced up and down and her breasts moved with convincing motion.
“And now this is nine months later.”
The silhouettes shifted again and the woman walked in place. Her hands supporting a large protruding belly.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m long gone by then.” He broke out into wild cackling laughter. The vast stairwell swallowed the sound as it bounced away.
I shook my head with silent resignation. If I’d known about this performance, I would’ve insisted he go with Martinez. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to toss him over the edge and be done with it.
“How did you get so good doing shadow puppets?” I asked.
“Lots of opportunities for practice as a kid. When you’re constantly having to hide in dark places to escape torment and abuse, you get creative to keep your mind busy. To not go…”
His voice trailed off.
“But shadow puppets weren’t the only way I passed the time. Being a virile boy with an inquisitive mind and a lot of free time on my hands, I—”
“Never mind. Sorry I asked. Can we not talk until Martinez gets back?” I asked, already knowing the answer since I’d asked ten times in the past hour.
“I’m bored here, Scout.”
“How about silently count to a billion?”
“Boring.” He started into a new shadow puppet performance. This one even more salacious than the last.
I pinched my eyes shut and tried to imagine I was somewhere else. Anywhere that didn’t have Crypto nearby.
“You’re wrong, by the way,” he said.
“About what?”
“About Martinez.”
“Oh, you think so?”
“I know so. She’s into me. I can feel it.”
Whatever. I’d alrea
dy tried to put a damper on his amorous feelings. From what I could see, Martinez couldn’t stand him and would’ve been even more happy than me to be rid of him.
Maybe that felt like interest to some people.
Metal clanged from somewhere above and Crypto clicked off the light.
We lay in the inky darkness, listening to the echo of footsteps from above. A dim light winked in and out as whoever carried it descended the spiral staircase.
I eased the rifle into the crook of my shoulder, pointing up and across at the stairs above us. If it was anybody but Martinez, they were going to get a nasty surprise.
The dim light stopped several revolutions above us.
I couldn’t make out who it was.
I raised my aim, feeling it settle on the target. My finger rested gently along the side, ready for action.
“Scout?” Martinez’s whispered voice echoed down.
A slow exhale of relief as I lowered the weapon. “Yeah, we’re down here.”
Crypto clicked on his light and Martinez arrived with Dr. Tanaka in tow.
His face contorted with concern as he saw me. “Scout, what have you done to yourself?” He rushed down the last steps, a satchel swinging in one hand. He knelt beside me, already digging through the open bag. “More light, please.”
Crypto and Martinez obliged.
He pulled out a syringe and a tiny bottle. “Roll up your sleeve.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“Antibiotics,” he said as he filled the syringe. He glanced at the drain tube and grimaced. “Your wound is infected. And I hope I don’t have to tell you that can be extremely dangerous.”
He depressed the plunger until a tiny squirt shot out the tip of the needle. “You don’t trust me?”
“Sorry, it’s hard to know who to trust.”
He almost looked hurt. “Well, you can choose to trust me or take your chances with that infection.”
I rolled up my sleeve and watched as he jabbed the needle into my arm and injected the medicine.
“That should be enough to deal with the infection.” He pulled out a water bottle with a spigot on the end. “The area around the tube needs to be cleaned and dressed.”
I clenched my teeth and balled up my fists, preparing for what was coming. “Okay.”
He went to work while I gritted my way through the pain. He finally finished and nodded. “There. That’s as much as I can do here. But you really need to be recovering in a hospital bed.”
“Sorry, doc. That’s not an option.”
“So I gathered.”
Crypto sat down next to us, his head prominently entering the space. “What now? We can’t wheel you through Systems on a gurney.”
“Well, we can’t take him to the Infirmary level either,” Martinez said. “It’s crawling with Grays. I got lucky avoiding a couple of patrols and getting out with the good doctor.”
Crypto snapped his fingers. “How about we leave him here while you and I proceed with the mission?”
“What if we get captured or killed?” Martinez said. “I’m not leaving him here alone and without protection.”
“Well, I can’t go to Systems by myself!” Crypto said. “You may have noticed that I stand out like a sore thumb! And by more than my dashing hair, striking face and tailored clothes!”
“You should go, Martinez,” I said. “I’ll be fine here.”
She crossed her arms and threw me an evil look. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, sir.”
I almost laughed out loud. It was shocking how much disrespect could be layered onto a word whose purpose communicated respect.
Martinez wasn’t going to be persuaded.
That much was clear.
“Great!” Crypto said. “So we’re dead in the water.”
Doctor Tanaka coughed and raised his hand like this was grade school and he wanted to be called on.
We turned to him.
“I have an idea that might work.”
44
It was too late to turn back, but this was officially a terrible idea.
For a number of reasons. Not the least of which was because I couldn’t breathe inside the fluorescent green biohazard suit. Without the attached unit to recirculate air, the air inside got warm in no time and was getting hotter by the minute.
The recirculation units had been too cumbersome for Doctor Tanaka to retrieve, so we each made do with leaving a few of the seals slightly open. That allowed some fresh air in but didn’t help much with the stifling temperature.
And all that was before taking into account the full-face respiration masks that we wore inside the suits. The chemical filter cartridges further restricted breathing. Between the two, every breath was like sucking air out of an empty balloon.
Another reason was because while the rest I’d been forced to take had helped, I was now exhausted by the subsequent ascent to the Systems level.
We stood in an abandoned store room filled with old computer parts and gear. Cobwebs drifted in the corners as our movement wafted the air around. A thick layer of dust coated every surface. Everywhere except for our footsteps leading back to the wall panel that covered the forgotten entrance to the stairwell.
I considered covering them, but it looked like no one had been in this room for decades. The chance that someone would suddenly decide to visit and spot the tracks was remote. I started scuffing away the area around the tracks. Better safe than sorry.
Besides, Crypto and Martinez were still arguing and I didn’t feel like getting involved. With our departure apparently delayed, I unzipped the suit visor and lifted the respiration mask. Air flowed into my lungs with welcome ease.
“For the last time, I’m not doing it,” Crypto said. “It’s demeaning!”
“We don’t have time for this!” Martinez said. She turned and kicked a nearby desk.
“Why can’t I have one of the green suits? Everybody gets one but me.”
I stuck to sweeping away the evidence of the tracks, keeping a sideward eye on them in case it came to blows.
Martinez crossed her arms over her chest and the plastic fabric crinkled. “You know why! They don’t exist in your size. Besides, you know it would draw too much attention.”
“I’ll get in the duffle bag then. Doc, give me the bag,” Crypto said as he reached for the large bag the doctor had brought the suits in.
Doctor Tanaka didn’t hand it over. “That won’t work. They’ll check any bag or container we have. I agree with Martinez’s idea. It is the only way to get through security.”
I didn’t know how much longer I could sweep an already swept clear floor, but I’d give it a few more minutes.
“Scout, you’re with me on this, right?” Crypto said.
“Umm, I think Martinez is right. As ridiculous as it sounds, I can’t think of a better way to get you into the mainframe core. As an alternative, maybe you could stay back and tell Martinez or me what to do when we get there?”
Crypto rolled his eyes. “That would be like trying to teach quantum physics to a chicken.”
Martinez motioned for Crypto. “Let’s go already!”
Crypto brushed his fingers through his perpetually windswept hair and shook his head with resignation. “Fine. But if any of you ever tell another soul, I’ll have you tortured and killed.” His eyes were as cold as liquid nitrogen.
He stomped over to Martinez like a child after being grounded.
She lifted him, rotated him sideways, and then stuffed him into the opening in the torso of her suit.
Belly to belly, he wrapped his arms around her waist as she held him up. Looking past her hip, he caught my eye. “I’m talking painful torture and death if a single word slips.”
I swallowed a laugh and walked over to help out. Martinez and I got him secured in place with discarded cables lying around and then got her bulky green suit zipped up.
Doctor Tanaka and I took a few steps back to appraise our work.
She did look like
a pregnant woman, more or less. Lumpy, to be sure. But the loose fitting suit helped mask some of the stranger contours.
“Can you walk?” Tanaka asked.
She took a few steps. “Yeah, well enough,” and then yelped. “Oww!” She smacked her large belly. Rather, the small man parading as her large belly. “Bite me again and I’ll stick a pen in your kidney!”
A muffled voice came from inside the suit. “I’m trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
“Well make it without using your teeth!”
“Can I use my hands?”
Martinez smacked her belly again. “If those hands touch something they shouldn’t, I’ll remove them from your body!”
A muffled sigh. “The fetus is ready to go.”
“Stay quiet,” Martinez said. “Fetuses don’t talk.” She put her respiration mask on and zipped the suit up over her head.
I took a slow deep breath and did the same. After, I glanced back with longing at the spot where we’d hidden our rifles behind an old server cabinet. Going in unarmed had my nerves prickling.
Or maybe it was the cocktail of antibiotics the doctor had injected into me.
“Everyone ready?” I asked.
Tanaka nodded.
Martinez did the same.
A sniffing sound and then a muffled voice spoke from inside her suit. “Marty, when was the last time you bathed?”
45
Doctor Tanaka led the way as we approached the security check point to the mainframe servers that were the brain of the complex. He looked every bit the part in the play we were performing.
Martinez and me on the other hand?
Not so much.
I focused on breathing and walking. Walking in a straight line without veering too far to one side or the other. That was usually an easy thing to do.
It wasn’t easy right now.
Every step carried with it the possibility of catastrophic calamity.
The normally balanced scale inside my head drifted back and forth with every shift of weight and tentative step. I thought I was doing reasonably well. But I could’ve been swaying like a drunk on a three-day bender for all I knew.
Two Grays stood at attention at the checkpoint. One on each side of the glass door. Battle rifles held at the ready across their chests. A sign etched in the glass read CORE SYSTEMS. A security badge reader beside the door. Beyond was another nondescript hallway with closed doors lining the sides. The Grays leveled a hard look our way as we approached.
