by G J Ogden
“I know it sounds unbelievable,” said Maria, rubbing the back of her neck, “and there is more. But it’s complicated to explain, and right now, there are children in danger.”
“I see,” Gaia replied, and then turned her attention back to her patient. “Ethan, I’m going to inject you with some medicine that will prevent infection and accelerate healing. It will make you feel a little unwell for a time, but nothing worse than a mild headache and temperature, plus some drowsiness.”
“It’s okay, these injectors and I are already well acquainted,” said Ethan, unable to hide his lack of enthusiasm for the procedure that was to follow.
“Is that so?” said Gaia, and then she glanced back at Maria. “I presume that this knowledge is part of the ‘more’ that you still need to tell us?”
Maria nodded, “Yes. As I mentioned, it’s complicated…”
Gaia’s eyebrows lifted, but then she returned her attention to Ethan and pressed the injector to his neck; the capsule liquefied into Ethan’s blood stream accompanied by a sharp whistle of air. She removed the injector and placed it back in the case as Ethan rubbed his neck. She then picked out another device that Ethan hadn’t seen before. “This will bandage your wounds and allow them to heal more rapidly,” she said, showing the device to Ethan. “It will also ease any discomfort.”
“Okay, well that one is new to me,” said Ethan, “but what the hell, go ahead, thank you!”
Gaia chuckled and activated the device, which hummed softly. She then traced the lines of Ethan’s wounds, holding it just above the skin. When Gaia lifted the instrument away, Ethan saw that it had left behind a flexible web-like covering over the cuts, which all immediately felt better.
“I don’t mean to come across as distrustful, Maria Salus,” Gaia said as she repeated the procedure on Ethan’s other wounds, “but a few hours ago, we didn’t know that anyone from GPS or the UEC had survived in space or on the moon, and we considered the eight of us to be the last people alive. Or at least the only ones that are not genetically corrupted.”
“I realize it’s a lot to take in,” said Maria. She felt a dark sense of irony that the task of explaining an unbelievable story to a group of strangers again fell to her, except that this time she was fighting to save the very people she once sought to annihilate. “But there isn’t time to give you a full record of everything that has happened. We need to move quickly.”
Gaia finished treating Ethan, deactivated the device and replaced it in the case. She then removed another device, which looked similar to an injector module, but without a capsule attached to the top, and placed it in her pocket, before closing the case and clicking the latches shut. Ethan was about to ask Gaia what the device was for, but she spoke first. “Feel better?”
Ethan flexed his arms and rotated his shoulders and the strange web-like material moved and flexed with him. “Yes, much better, thank you,” he said, pulling the silver coat back up. “Good as new, in fact. Thank you.”
Gaia smiled and tipped her head, acknowledging Ethan’s gratitude.
“Why the urgency?” The question came from Jun, the psychologist. She was leaning over the back of a large red chair and observing Maria with narrowed eyes. “I realize the importance of getting these survivors away from the surface radiation, but I sense something more to this than merely a need for sanctuary.”
“They are coming to finish the job,” said Ethan, standing up and facing the group. “The mad UEC general who destroyed the space station has brought his soldiers to the planet’s surface to retrieve the defectors – or traitors as he sees them – who fled. The war is not quite over, I’m afraid.”
Maria looked stunned, as did the group of scientists.
“I’m sorry, Maria,” Ethan said, “but one thing I’ve learned is that honesty is essential to developing trust. And also that you always take far too long to get to the point.”
Maria straightened like an arrow and pressed her hands to her hips, mouth agape and lost for words. Ethan thought that in different circumstances, she would have probably punched him on the nose, but he used her temporary paralysis to continue his statement.
“It’s like this...” he said, addressing Gaia directly. “Five years ago, Maria came to the planet from the moon base to find a planetsider – someone with a natural immunity to this radiation you all talk about. She said it was to help save her people, but she was lying; they actually needed me to recover a warship, which they intended to use to destroy GPS.”
The group was utterly captivated, and Maria remained in stupefied silence.
Ethan continued, “But though she lied to me and manipulated me...” Maria again tried to speak, but no words came out “...she eventually turned against the UEC, stopping their plan to destroy GPS, and helping me to escape and return planetside. And for the five years since that day, she has worked to end the war peacefully, until a UEC soldier, resentful of her actions, seized control, killed his own commander, and destroyed the GPS space station, forcing Maria back to the planet with a small group of survivors. This general has now pursued them to the planet to kill Maria, because she’s a traitor and he hates her.”
Ethan took a deep breath and let it out, and then flexed his arms and shoulders again, feeling much stronger already. Whatever was in the stripy capsule that Gaia had injected certainly had a kick to it. He looked at Maria and said, “Did I miss anything out?”
“I... well... I mean... I’m not...” Maria stuttered, red faced and with her hands still pressed firmly to her hips.
Gaia laughed, which was so unexpected that Maria once again fell silent. “Well, I was expecting there to be more to the story, but I have to admit, I did not expect quite so much, or for it to be delivered in quite such style!” Gaia looked to the others, but they all seemed to be as stunned as Maria. “Well, Ethan the planetsider, thank you for your candor. It seems we have work to do.” She turned to the others. “Unless any of you object, of course?”
The group all looked to one another blankly, and then Yuna spoke, “Well, it beats our usual routine. It’s about time we had some excitement around here!”
“Zoie and I will get things ready here, and power up a section of the city so that the survivors have somewhere to rest,” Neils added, more somberly.
“Thank you,” said Ethan. “Thank you all for your trust.”
“Well, you look like a trustworthy young man,” said Gaia, sincerely, “but I do have a condition; a favor to ask of you.”
Ethan rubbed his neck and shoulders; the pain was almost gone. “Name it.”
“If it is true that you were born on the surface and possess a natural immunity, I’d like to get together with Watson and Henrik and study your blood and your genetic make-up,” Gaia said, excitedly. “We have been studying the genetic deformation for decades, picking up on the research our predecessors began, long ago. We have made significant progress, but to have a DNA sample from someone who is naturally immune... well, it could provide the breakthrough we’ve been looking for.”
“What do you mean by a breakthrough?” said Maria, now standing with her arms tightly folded around her chest, and avoiding looking at Ethan.
“It means that perhaps we can find a way to replicate the same immunity in others, not born here,” said Gaia. “A way to protect people from the radiation, and perhaps even reverse its effects in the early stages, before the genetic corruption becomes permanent.”
Maria thought about this, “We’ve already tried to do that; on the UEC base, I mean. But we could never find a formula that worked. The best we could do was create an inhibitor that works for short periods, but becomes ineffective and causes severe side-effects with prolonged use.”
“No offense, Maria,” Yuna cut in, “but it seems like your colleagues on the moon base were more concerned with destruction than healing.”
“Hey, I’m not the enemy here!” said Maria spikily, feeling like a cornered animal.
Ethan immediately stepped forward, �
��I can vouch for that,” he said firmly. “I wouldn’t be here without her, and neither would any of the survivors. They would all be dead now, if not for Sal.”
“Do not be concerned, Ethan,” said Gaia, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Yuna means no disrespect. She only speaks a hard truth; one that we now must also face up to. No-one is an angel in what is left of this broken world. I am sure you have both had to make hard choices to survive.”
Ethan took Gaia’s hand and smiled, and then he turned to look at Maria, her livid hazel eyes still burning.
Maria knew this look; she’d seen it before, years ago in Ethan’s home when she had executed her deception and convinced Ethan to return with her to the UEC base. The words he had spoken then were, ‘Tell me what you want me to do.’ But it wasn’t his words, rather the look in his eyes that told Maria what she needed to know; that he was committed. As he looked at her now, she could see the same commitment, the same certainty, but this time the cause she had led him on was true. She felt embarrassed for letting her own feelings dominate; for letting her ego get in the way.
“I’m sorry for my reaction,” Maria said, allowing the tension in her body to soften. “And you are right; I am certainly no angel. I’ve done things that I regret and that I’m ashamed of, but then the lines were blurry and both sides were not blameless. Now, things are different; now there is a clear enemy, and he’s here on this planet. He must be stopped.”
“When you cannot see the whole map, sometimes what looks like the right path can lead in the wrong direction,” Gaia replied, looking down at the cold metal flooring. “We have allowed ourselves to stay hidden away from this world, believing it to be dead, and without hope. Perhaps we did not try hard enough to see beyond our presumptions.” She looked up, her eyes flicking between Ethan and Maria, and her mouth making the suggestion of a smile. “But in the most tragic of circumstances, you have created a chance for a new beginning. So now it is our turn to step out of the shadows and ensure that this light is allowed to burn brighter and spread.”
“Step one,” said Ethan, holding out his arm to Gaia, and rolling up his sleeve, “is to see if you geniuses can figure out a way to stop the Maddening.”
Gaia removed the device she’d concealed in her pocket earlier on. “I knew you had seen me hide this,” she said with a mischievousness grin. “I removed it just in case; I did not want to presume.” She held Ethan’s arm tightly and pressed the device into his skin, just above the fold of the elbow. Ethan watched as the empty capsule filled with his blood. It wasn’t painful, but the sight of blood being sucked from his body was more unsettling that he had anticipated.
“I don’t recall you being so squeamish...” said Maria, relishing the opportunity to get one back on him. Ethan looked over at her smug face and deftly raised his eyebrows.
Gaia clicked off the device and pulled it away, causing Ethan to look back just as a thin blob of a yellow-colored liquid hissed out of another nozzle, covering the mark left behind. Ethan felt no discomfort and there was no bleeding, but the yellow blob reminded him of mucus, and he scrunched up his nose while looking at it.
“That is merely a little chemical bandage of sorts,” Gaia said, answering the question that Ethan had not voiced out loud. “Nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried...” said Ethan, still grimacing slightly as he gingerly pulled his sleeve down to cover the yellow splodge. Maria laughed, and Gaia joined in.
“We’ll get things ready in the city, and lower the bridge across to the main entrance,” said Zoie, bringing their attention back to the matter at hand. Gaia nodded and then Zoie and Niels left the room.
“All of the survivors will still need to go through decontamination,” said Henrik.
“How long with that take?” asked Ethan, remembering the awkwardness of their earlier situation. “There are a lot of us.”
“The main entrance has a larger decontamination area, with eight individual pods,” Henrik replied, “It was built a long time ago, but quickly fell out of use after the effects of the genetic deformation were understood.”
“Yes, our predecessors stopped venturing outside once they realized what was out there waiting for them,” said Yuna, smiling. “Eight pods isn’t many, so it will take a few hours to get everyone inside.”
“All we need now are people to decontaminate!” said Gaia, the brightness and melody of her voice filling the room.
“Well then, we had better get going!” said Ethan, matching Gaia’s high spirits. He turned and began taking purposeful strides back towards the door through which they had entered earlier. He made it about half-way there before stopping and realizing his error. He turned around, meekly. “I... don’t suppose you have some proper clothes?”
Everyone laughed, including Maria, and Ethan found it hard to resist joining in.
Then Yuna said, “Come with me, planetsider.”
Chapter 23
Maria watched as another organized group of survivors started their ascent up the side of the mountain towards the hidden entrance to the subterranean complex. An hour had already passed since she and Ethan had made it back to their camp, and started the process of transferring people inside.
“How many is that now?” Maria asked Aster. She was now dressed in the same olive green overalls that the scientists had been wearing.
“Just under half, I think,” said Aster, looking at the information on his PVSM.
Maria shook her head, and looked around anxiously, as if expecting General Kurren to appear from behind a tree at any moment. The operation was taking longer than she’d expected, and every time a group broke cover and headed up the mountain, they risked being spotted by Kurren’s drones. Aster, sensing Maria’s agitation and disappointment, decided to add some clarification.
“It took longer than we expected to organize them into groups,” said Aster, “and the slog up that mountain isn’t easy for small legs that are not used to climbing, or higher gravity.”
“It’s okay, Lieutenant, no need to explain,” Maria replied, rubbing her temples. “You’re doing great. Let’s just keep going as fast as we can.”
Aster nodded and started back towards the rally point to get the next group ready to move, when his PVSM bleeped. A second later, Maria’s more basic unit also sounded an alert. Aster stopped to check it, but Maria was ahead of him.
“It’s a sentry,” said Maria, feeling her senses heighten. “I can’t get a solid reading, but it’s close and moving at ground level. It might have detected the transports.”
Maria drew her sidearm and Aster followed suit. Both loaded their weapons and started to visually scan the surroundings, trying to spot the intruder.
“There!” said Aster, pointing with the barrel of his sidearm. Maria followed the line of the barrel and saw the sentry, hovering just beyond where the transports had been huddled together under camouflage, with half of the survivors still hiding inside.
“It’s going for the survivors!” Aster cried out. A wave a panic suddenly rose inside him and he fired his weapon, but the round just ricocheted off the sentry’s spherical armor with a chime that rang out in the open air like a bell. The sentry halted and spun around to face its attacker.
“Aster, take cover!” shouted Maria, but the young Lieutenant held his ground and hurriedly fired twice more, again with the same result. The sentry accelerated towards him and Aster lost his nerve, turned and ran. Maria fired, hitting the target, but again the sentry appeared undamaged; their small sidearms simply didn’t have the power to penetrate the thick armor plating. The sentry unleashed a beam of bright blue energy, which narrowly missed Aster as he dove behind a cluster of rocks. The energy of the blast smashed open a boulder like an egg and showered Aster with sharp splinters of rock. Maria fired again, hoping for a lucky shot, or at least to draw the sentry away from Aster, but the orb rushed past, bashing into her arm and knocking her flat on her back, before levelling its weapons at Aster, who was prone and helpless on the
ground. He threw up his hands to protect himself, and the sentry reared violently to the side. It recovered and then it was rocked again, sparks flying from a heavy dent to its armor. It was struck again and this time it fell, losing power. Aster scrambled backwards and saw Ethan standing over the black metal orb, pummeling it with a heavy wooden staff; sparks and crackles of blue energy rippled around its metal skeleton with each blow. After two more powerful strikes, Ethan stopped, and rested on the staff, breathing heavily. The sentry fizzed and smoked at his feet.
“Sometimes…” he began, catching his breath, “...you just have to do it the old-fashioned way.”
Aster climbed to his feet and stared down at the broken device, his breath almost as labored as Ethan’s. He put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “I like your way very much. Thank you.”
Ethan acknowledged Aster and then shifted his weight off the staff so he could use it to poke at the broken sentry. He prodded and tapped at it several times, as if it were maddened and he was checking to make sure it was dead. “I’ve seen one of these before,” said Ethan. “Back then it saved my skin, but something tells me this one isn’t friendly.”
Maria appeared beside Ethan, brushing dusty soil off her new overalls. “No, this is the definition of bad news,” she said. “It means that Kurren almost certainly knows where we are.”
“But not where we’re going,” added Ethan, with a slight lifting of his eyebrows.
“Right…” said Maria, and then she slapped him on the back. “We’ll make an officer of you yet, Ethan.”
“I’m not available, I’m afraid,” said Ethan smiling. “Once a ranger, always a ranger.”
Maria smiled back and then turned to Aster, “We need to get everyone up the side of the mountain. Forget the groups, just send all the remaining survivors up at once, and have them wait inside the cave. The tunnel entrance is so well hidden that I highly doubt Kurren will be able to find it, even if he discovers this camp.”
“Agreed,” said Aster. “How long do you think it will be before Kurren makes it here?”
