Modified Horizon

by Ran Vant

  **

  Franklin peeked out from the closet. Stern had been angry at Franklin, thrown him in the closet, and told him if he emerged before Stern said he could, he would get a demerit. Franklin had heard the pops of the slinger, the bodies fall to the ground, and the words that followed from a stranger's voice. He waited just long enough that he thought it would be safe to crack open the door. It hadn't been quite long enough for safety; Franklin saw the man with the long gray locks of hair leave the back rooms and exit the corridor.

  Franklin sunk back into the darkness of the closet and waited. He listened intently and then waited a few moments longer, and decided the coast was clear. He peeked out again and saw the bodies of Stern and Krantz. The sight spurred him to action. It only took Franklin a second to reach the intruder alarm and he pulled it, waiting to once again collapse into an unconscious pile and hoping to inflict the same upon the man with the gray hair who had killed his friends, and who now hunted Maren and Jack. The shielded quick reaction force would then converge on the area and take care of the intruder.

  Franklin stared at the pulled alarm lever and waited. And waited. But nothing happened. He ran over to the other wall and tried the intercom. It too was dead.

  Franklin hit the wall and uncharacteristically swore aloud. He turned quickly and ran half way out the door before stopping and running back into the room. Franklin heaved and rolled over Sergeant Stern's body, allowing him to pull out the rail gun. Thus armed, Franklin ran out the door once more.

  **

  Franklin threw the door open, rail gun at the shoulder ready for action.

  Jack looked up startled, paper files in hand, burn barrel in front of his desk, ventilator at full blast. Jack threw the files he had been holding into the burning barrel as electric arcs crackled. “How did you find out?” Jack asked.

  “Rosie Krantz and Gildur Stern are dead!” Franklin yelled. “Are you okay?”

  “What? Krantz and Stern?” Jack had at first thought that somehow someone had discovered that he was destroying the files on Maren, that they planned to flee, and he would be arrested... but Franklin didn't seem the least concerned with the burning papers and ventilation fans moving at full speed.

  Franklin was obviously agitated, eyes wide open, nervously scanning the room, the rail gun still at the shoulder. “They were murdered. A man with long gray hair killed Sergeant Stern and Krantz,” he said quickly. “Marched right in and shot them dead. Then said he would be coming for you and Maren.”

  Franklin went back out to the hall to check in both directions, before stepping back inside and shutting the door. “The alarms and intercoms don't work, either. And nobody but us is left in this part of the complex!”

  “Relax, Franklin. Who was it that killed-”

  “I don't know!” Franklin yelled. “All I know is that he just killed Stern and Krantz and he's coming for you and Maren next!”

  “Can you describe him?”

  “Just the gray hair. A middle aged guy in blue pants, a black shirt, and long gray hair. That's all I could see.”

  “Franklin, you go find Red. Tell him what happened.” Jack threw the rest of the box of papers into the fire and picked up his sidearm. All the paper at once might burn down the office, but that didn’t matter anymore. “I'm going to find Maren.”

  Franklin was already noticeably calmer. Jack had given him an order and knew what to do. After opening the door cautiously, he scanned both ways before disappearing into the corridors, rail gun still at the ready.

  105.

  Broken Silence

  “Kill it,” Gabriella said, raising her gauntleted fist at Michael.

  “No!” Rex hoarsely commanded. “He is Michael. Do not kill him,” Rex rasped.

  “We don't know what the first one did to Rex,” Gabriella said. “Who’s to say that what cooked Magritte didn’t also affect Rex’s mind?”

  “Gabriella, don't you know me?” Michael said.

  “How could I know you? I have no idea if you are who you say you are, and if you are, what they might have done to you.”

  “We must listen to Rex,” Dante said.

  “That weapon that attacked the organic brain might have infected Rex,” Gabriella said, gauntleted fist still aimed at Michael. “Rex and Magritte are linked. What affects one affects the other. We can't trust Rex anymore.”

  “If we can’t trust Rex, then whom can we trust?” Talongrip asked.

  “The Ancients,” Michael said as he knelt next to Rex, a blue aura growing brighter around him.

  “What are you doing?” Gabriella asked.

  The blue aura around Michael grew brighter. “Ensuring that you listen to me. I'm close enough to the brain, if you kill me, the nova device will destroy it and the fortress.”

  “I knew you could not be trusted!”

  “If I could not be trusted, I would have already nova'd, and Fortress Magritte would already be crashing to the ground. No, I did this because I am Michael Lightbringer, Guardian of the West. And I must tell the Ancients what I have learned, what I have seen.”

  “Don’t believe him,” Gabriella commanded.

  “What choice do we have?” Dante said as Lightbringer's nova device burned bright blue.

  “Listen to me,” Rex managed. “Come closer, Michael.”

  Michael leaned in close. A drop of blood began to run down Rex's cheek from the corner of his eye.

  Rex lifted up one hand and placed it at Michael's temple. He tried to lift the other arm, but couldn't. “Help me, Michael, with my other hand.”

  Michael saw him struggle with his arm again and then helped Rex lift it.

  “To the other side,” Rex said. Michael raised the hand to the other side of his head. The drop of blood hung on the edge of Rex's jaw...

  Michael felt a warm buzz in his mind. And then he saw a man walk up to him. It was not a man he had seen before, but there was something familiar about his face, something that reminded him of himself in the mirror. And at once Michael knew that after all of these years, after all of his service, he finally knelt before an Ancient.

  “Michael,” he began, “you do not need to tell me anything. I have seen it all.”

  “Then why have you remained silent? And why have you not stopped this destruction?” Michael questioned.

  “Few could comprehend. And I have not stopped it because I am the one who planned it.”

  106.

  A Visit

  Franklin's lungs burned. It was a long way through the tunnels from Doctor Psycho's quarters to the hidden command bunker of Colonel Red.

  “Hello, Franklin,” Red said without turning around. There would have been alarms if Franklin's visit was about something important. Plus, there was a battle unfolding that demanded his attention. Red had back-up systems in place to make sure he couldn't be surprised. The face scanner told him a few minutes ago that Franklin was on his way, and Red had no concerns whatsoever about the loyalty of Franklin. The face scanner did not tell him, however, about the panic painted across Franklin's face. So Red didn't give his complete attention until Franklin was midway through the details.

  “And he said specifically he was going after Maren?” Red asked.

  “Yes, and Jack. He said he was going after Maren and Jack.”

  “Describe him to me again,” Red said and he spun his chair to the surveillance monitors.

  “Gray hair, middle aged man, thin I guess... I only saw him for a moment.”

  “That may be enough,” Red said. Sure enough, the surveillance cameras, just like the internal intercoms and alarms, were disabled. But not the historical archives. Red brought up a picture from long ago and displayed it on the monitor.

  “Yes!” Franklin said. “That's him!”

  “Greylox. It had to be. And there is only one person who could have helped him shut these systems down,” Red opened his desk drawer and took out a short barreled auto-shotgun. “Come on Franklin, we're going to pay Blue a little visit.”

>   107.

  Warning Signs

  Jack ran through the corridors. He had to get to Maren before the assassin or he had to find a way to inform her of the danger. The first few times that he passed alarm systems, he ripped off the covers and pulled the handle or pushed the stun button hopefully, but to no avail. After the fourth one in a row didn't work, he gave up and ran faster.

  The fact that the assassin had managed to disable the communications in the tunnels and kill Stern and Krantz almost without detection meant the assassin knew what he was doing. The assassin had access, or more worryingly, was already part of the Organization.

  Jack began to wonder. Had he inadvertently triggered some alarm mechanism while digging around in Doctor Psycho's files? Had someone else broken into his own office and looked at the reams of paper he had collected? Had someone bugged their quarters and overheard his conversation with Maren? How did they find out about her? Why now? There were no answers for Jack, and there never would be.

  As he rounded one of the many corners in the twisting and turning underground corridors, he saw a woman he recognized from one of the research labs.

  She looked at Jack as he ran with his side arm drawn, and the concern on her face was obvious.

  “There is an intruder!” Jack said. “I need you to grab your weapon and come with me.”

  “Sir, we aren't authorized to have weapons.”

  “Well, go find an officer to open a weapons locker and follow as soon as you can! The intruder is male, he's got long gray hair, blue pants, black shirt. He's killing people! That's all I've got, now go, sound the alarm!” Even if the assassin was part of the NHA, he couldn't get away with openly killing NHA soldiers if the rest of the foot soldiers knew about it, no matter what high connections the assassin might have.

  Before the woman could turn to do as she was ordered, Jack was already off running again.

  108.

  Walls and Doorways

  Red entered the room and found Colonel Blue in one of the intelligence nodes. She looked up from the screens to see the stern bald head of Red. And he didn't look happy.

  “Red, I didn't expect you to be here at this critical hour,” she said, pretending to only pay half-attention to him as she monitored reports coming in on the assaults across the entire sector.

  “I need you to turn the systems back on immediately.”

  “Red, I haven't turned any systems off,” she said, staring too intently at the screens and not looking up again. “What are you talking about?”

  “The internal coms, the alarms, the surveillance tapes... you know exactly what I am talking about,” Red said, auto-shotgun at the hip, but nevertheless pointed firmly in her direction. It would be close enough if it came to that.

  Blue shook her head and finally spun away from the monitors to focus on Colonel Red. “The stress of the operation must have gotten to you-” she began.

  “Blue, don't try to tell me I'm not thinking clearly. You may have shut down most of the internal systems, but you didn't manage to shut down all of the surveillance cameras down here,” Red lied. “I have a few extra cameras, not linked to the rest. And so I have images of you and another man. You and I both know who that man is. His name is Greylox.”

  The bluff about the cameras and the images worked. Red could tell by the look on her face that he had guessed correctly.

  “Plus,” Red went on, “you haven't bothered to ask why I am pointing an auto-shotgun at you.”

  She merely stared back at Red for a moment, not saying a word.

  “Well, Blue, would you please turn on the systems?” Red said. “Time is short.”

  “I'm not talking with you as long as you have that shotgun pointed at me, like an enemy.” She sat there in silence.

  “Very well, I'll lower my weapon,” Red relaxed his arm, and the barrel glided towards the floor. It was already too late for Red to get to Maren before Greylox, but perhaps not too late to warn her and send closer NHA personnel into the area. He didn't have time to argue; he needed the systems back on. But he also had no desire to kill Blue if he didn't have to do so. “Now, please turn the systems back on.”

  “Soon, we will have won,” Blue said. “The gens' armies will be destroyed. The threat will then come from ourselves. You know this as well as I do. Doctor Psycho's projects must be wiped clean. Things must be dismantled before they are used for the wrong purposes.”

  “And by 'dismantle' you mean killing people?” Red scoffed. “I never thought you would walk down the path toward Fanatic.”

  “I've always sworn to protect natural humans and Greylox has helped me-”

  “Don’t be a fool! Greylox doesn't work for you; you work for Greylox. He doesn't care about truds, he just wants to keep things like they are forever. He's eliminating key people and trying to destroy our ability to-”

  Blue interrupted him calmly. “Once the gens are gone, it will just be us truds again, and we can’t let any gen technology threaten us. Those who have gotten too close must be cleansed.”

  “Like the Doctor? Was he one of the people who had to be cleansed, who you had murdered?”

  “His services were appreciated, but the good Doctor alone could create some of the modology technologies, and while he might not have voluntarily done so, there are other elements, as you know, that could have forced him to do so.”

  “You have no idea who Greylox really is, do you? Who he ultimately works for? What he plans to-”

  In an instant, the gun slid out from her sleeve and directly into her palm. She had the drop on Red, the barrel of her gun pointed directly at Red's head. “Felix, if you so much as raise that barrel an inch, you're a dead man. Drop it.”

  He released the auto-shotgun, and it clanked onto the floor.

  “I don't believe you,” Blue said. “Greylox is helping me. He understands that modology and those who understand it must be cleansed.”

  “I suppose you exempt yourself from the cleansing,” Red said sarcastically.

  Blue smiled. “Goodbye, Red. I've had enough of justifying myself to you.”

  A shot echoed out.

  And Blue fell off her chair to the ground, dead.

  “Thanks, Franklin,” Red said loudly, “though you could have pulled the trigger a little sooner. I was getting nervous.”

  Franklin stepped into the doorway from the hallway with a red circle around his right eye. He had held the scope so tightly to his eye socket that it had left an impression. Franklin rubbed his right eye with his left hand, almost as if had just awoken from a short nap, with the railgun still in his right. “I couldn't get the scope to stop focusing three walls over instead of only through one wall,” Franklin said apologetically.

  “You could have simply stepped into the doorway and avoided the fancy see-through-the-walls scope.”

  “Huh. Didn't think of that,” Franklin said.

  Colonel Red stepped over Blue's body to the monitors and reactivated the internal systems. “I'm sending anyone in the area to Maren and Jack. Let's just hope they get to Maren and Jack before Greylox.” He flipped one more electronic switch, sending the message through the air to anyone who could hear it, and hoping that one in particular would get it in time.

  109.

  Last Run

  Greylox cautiously walked through the hallways, ballistic slinger tucked into his belt, shirt loosely hanging over it. She was down here, somewhere. He had seen exactly where her quarters were located on the plan view of the facility, but the architecture drawings had not been entirely accurate. Such things were to be expected in a covert facility dug out haphazardly over generations. Nevertheless, he was close, and he knew it. Blue had told him the room number, and judging by the numbers he walked by, he was almost there.

  She was the most dangerous of them all, but Maren probably didn't even realize it. Eve hadn't given any indication that Maren knew what she really was. To be sure, Greylox wasn't certain what Maren was either, but the evidence was strong. Strong eno
ugh to justify his actions, anyway.

  And then he was there. The number above the room was the right one. He continued walking down the hallway, looking both ways for anyone in the vicinity, before doubling back to the door. Greylox pulled out the slinger and gently tried the handle. It was locked. He took one step back from the door, lifted his leg, and kicked at where the handle met the door jam. The door flung open, and Greylox stepped inside, gun held in a double grip at eye level.

  He visually scanned the room. Clothes and objects lay strewn about the room. A duffel-bag lay half-filled on the bed. It looked like either the room had been ransacked, or that someone was planning to leave in a hurry. He checked the closet and the bathroom, but the girl was not there. Had she escaped?

  Greylox went back to the bed and the duffel-bag. Maybe there would be a clue. He turned the duffel upside down, and shook out the contents. Clothes, a few functional objects... nothing personal. Not a picture, not a book, not a diary. The only thing that made Greylox certain it was indeed her room and her bag was the NHA identification card.

  He could wait there for her, but what if she had already left? And there were others to eliminate, so he tucked his slinger into his waistband, pulled the shirt over, and stepped towards the door.

  In the hallway, he slowly pulled the door shut behind him, but due to the forced entry, the door merely creaked open again.

  Bam! A shot rang out, blood spattered up to his cheek, and Greylox fell back into the room. Greylox grunted and looked at where the metal flechettes had torn apart his left deltoid. It was a bad wound, bad enough he might bleed out, he realized. He grabbed one of the shirts strewn about the room and did the best he could with one arm to tie it around the left shoulder tightly. It wasn't a very good job, but it was the best he could do in the circumstances. That taken care of, he picked up the slinger again. If whoever shot him came through that door, Greylox would shoot him dead.