Accursed

by Patrick F. Johnson

She watched as a remote raised itself from the panel directly in front of Berthantine and started toward the door. It was red.

  * * *

  Filn was giving Frank plenty of space as he followed him toward the control area.

  “I do believe she's gone quite mad,” Filn was saying. “I was elated to see another Sessik at first, but then I started noticing the peculiarities.”

  “Oh yeah?” Frank asked. “Like what?” He stopped short and was surveying the construction, searching for a weak spot.

  “Those Centurions bore a striking resemblance to Brogue Suercey.”

  “Yup. Bertha has a thing for Brogue. He turned her down.”

  “Remarkable!” Filn exclaimed.

  “Why remarkable?” Frank asked.

  “She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I can't imagine anyone turning her down.”

  Frank shrugged. He knew why she was rejected but it wasn't his place to say.

  “And I do believe she was having sexual relations with the Centurions as well.”

  Frank paused and looked at him. But it all made sense. He turned back to continue his inspection when the door opened slightly. A single red orb floated out before the door closed behind it.

  “You've made a mess of my ship, Monster.” Despite the words, her voice was very sweet.

  “No, Bertha. You made a mess of your ship.” Frank allowed his irreverence to shine. “You've made a mess of everything.”

  “You are a spirited one, aren't you? You probably think you've won something here.”

  “I've won this ship. I am claiming it for Gladosanthos.”

  She laughed before continuing, “I like you. Join me. With my Centurions all dead, I need a powerful ally to help me control the galaxy.”

  “And in your bedchamber as well?” Filn asked with a smile.

  But it didn't faze Berthantine. “Perhaps. I'd like to see why Gladosanthos is so fond of this animal.” She had the remote project an image of herself. “As you can see, I have far more to offer than Gladosanthos.”

  “Okay,” Frank started. He looked at the image and decided to ignore the beauty before him. “This is starting to get weird. Look, Bertha...”

  “Do not call me that again!”

  “But Bertha, my favorite color is blue. The only thing I want from you is your head.”

  “I've dealt with far too much arrogance as of late,” Berthantine said, her tone growing cold. “Your implant is running at the same frequency as ours. And as my Centurion's. I developed a means to deactivate them in case my creations went rogue. I'm about to disable yours right now.”

  Frank smiled.

  “Why are you smiling?” she asked. “Surely you realize it will kill you.”

  “Everything dies.”

  “Indeed,” she replied. “Filn, I'm sorry but I will be writing my own history.” She paused. “And you, Frank Ford, will forever be known as The Accursed.”

  An odd pressure formed in the back of Frank's skull. He turned to look at Filn. The red Sessik's expression went blank before he fell to the ground. Dizziness came quickly and Frank fought to remain standing. It soon passed but the pressure was still there. He looked back to the orb as it floated closer.

  “Your eyes are a lovely shade of blue, Monster. It is also my favorite color.”

  Frank tried to find the words but could only smile.

  “Now, if you would please tell me, how are you still alive?”

  Before he could reply, the orb struck him hard in the face. He swayed but didn't fall. The second blow put him on his back. He felt the blood flowing down his face and realized the bridge of his nose was broken open. He stayed down to wait for it to heal. But the healing never came. The pain was as close to unbearable as any he remembered. His vision blurred, he felt around for his sword but was unable to find it. After blinking several times, he made out the remote hovering above him. It wasn't moving and she'd stopped talking.

  * * *

  “Shit!” Constanthos said out loud from where she was sitting. She opened a channel to everyone at once. “Frank is injured and not healing. Be ready.”

  34.

  Frank was forcing himself to stand, all the while preparing himself for the orb to strike once again. He saw where his sword landed but was interrupted before he could walk to retrieve it.

  “I seem to have ruined your face,” Berthantine said with her sweet voice.

  Frank spun around and nearly lost his balance. She was standing in the open doorway with two sentry automechs on either side of her. He reached into a pouch and pulled a shuriken. She saw it and pressed a spot on a data pad. One sentry started forward. Blades extended from its extremities and started spinning. The gyroscopic motion caused the whole machine to rotate as it advanced. Frank let the shuriken fly.

  Berthantine cried out in pain and dropped the data pad as she looked over the damage. The star buried itself in her upper chest just below her right shoulder.

  “How could you do this to me?” she screamed as she doubled over in pain. She forced herself to stand and noticed the sentry swaying off course. Spreading her wings, she commanded, “Kneel!”

  Frank's face was completely covered in blood but his smile showed. “I don't kneel.”

  She cried out again as her body was trying to push the shuriken back out. “How can you resist my Reverence? Your implant is...”

  “I'm still the Monster,” Frank said as he drew another star. “The implant had nothing to do with that.” He blinked hard. “I missed last time. I was aiming for your head.” He raised his arm to let it fly but lost his balance and fell flat on his back. He started laughing again.

  The shuriken had fallen away from her chest and the wound was closing as she picked the data pad from the ground. “Why are you still laughing? You will be shredded!”

  “I didn't come alone,” he replied as his vision was starting to go dark. “Everything dies,” he said before he lost consciousness.

  Berthantine began to panic and turned to retreat into the control area but the door slammed shut. Pressing several places on the data pad only to find it dead, she froze in place. She expected her own sentries to come for her. But as she gathered the courage to turn around, she found the red remote hovering directly in front of her.

  “I've isolated the frequency of your implant,” Constanthos said in an even tone, her voice coming from the orb.

  A moment later Berthantine was dead.

  * * *

  The Main Ship had docked with Berthantine's ship shortly before Phildan brought the boat in. The door slid open and everyone rushed out. Across the way, the door nearest the loba tree was open. It was an odd sensation for everyone, especially Phildan, to have their familiarity with the space interrupted by this corridor into the unknown. They stopped short of the doorway and peered inside.

  “Where is everyone?” Damon asked. He looked down at Phildan who was pounding away at a data pad.

  “They're inside,” Phildan replied before darting into the corridor. Damon followed behind and the Nakamuras struggled to keep the pace.

  They emerged in the vast space of Berthantine's garden.

  “Holy shit,” Damon exclaimed when he noticed the dead Centurions. He looked up in time to see everyone coming toward him. “What happened?” He asked.

  “He is stable,” Constanthos replied as she slowed to join them. Gladys glanced up but didn't speak as she walked beside the gurney that carried Frank. Cindy stayed the course on the other side. The Stewarts stopped as Miyako turned to fall in behind the gurney.

  “If Frank is in stasis,” Phildan started. But he didn't continue. He only looked up at Constanthos with a puzzled look.

  “Berthantine figured out a way to disable wellness implants,” Constanthos explained. “I wasn't fast enough to stop her.” Tears were streaming down her face.

  “He is alive,” Phildan said. “That certainly is something. I have many questions but they can wait.” He looked around at the garden and tried to i
gnore the bloody mess. He was trying to understand everything but didn't feel too worried about Frank. He was in the care of Gladys after all.

  “Young lady,” Dorothy said as she walked forward. “I don't know much about any of this but from what my husband says, it's pretty hard to keep up with Frank.” She placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of Constanthos. “Like he said, Frank is alive.”

  Constanthos found herself unable to speak. She gently pulled away and sat down on the nearest bench.

  “Take your time, Connie,” Raymond said. “We'll be over at the tree.” His was a kind tone. She nodded and Raymond led his wife and daughter away.

  Damon and Hiro followed Phildan as he made his way toward the control area. The human men were stunned by the appearance of Berthantine. Death did nothing to diminish her beauty. Phildan didn't seem to notice and instead picked up the data pad she had dropped. He looked up at his friends and was puzzled by their expressions.

  “You've seen Sessiks before,” he said.

  “She is not unlike a certain fallen angel,” Hiro said and elbowed Damon.

  Damon let out a chuckle. “You got that right. Bitch had these big fuckers doing all kinds of stupid shit.” He looked over at Phildan. “What can we do to help?”

  “I'll see about getting the system unlocked. I don't think there's any rush at this point. Get some rest, maybe?”

  * * *

  “How the fuck?” Pock asked as they came toward the door to the lab.

  “There will be explanations later,” Gladys said as they passed. She was very upset but her tone wasn't impolite.

  Pock settled himself back down. He'd been told that Nuun was now under the protection of the Rhoshe family so he'd been guarding the only Nuunian around.

  “Careful with the stasis field,” Gladys said as the door closed behind them.

  “I'm afraid I don't know what that means,” Miyako admitted.

  “You're going to want to clean the wound, but too much time will make your hands go numb.” Gladys opened a compartment and produced some odd cloths.

  “Understood,” Miyako replied as she accepted the cloths and set out to clean the blood from Frank's face. “Should we move Nera?”

  Gladys glanced over at the Nuunian. “She is fine for now. I can run tests where he is.” She picked up a data pad from its cradle and pressed a few spots. An automech came forward with her instruments. She picked one and held it up above the stasis field. It hovered there when she let go and continued to press more spots. Not satisfied, she grabbed another instrument and repeated the process, but this time to the side. Her expression spoke volumes.

  “It's bad, isn't it?” Miyako asked.

  “The implant burnt out the surrounding brain tissue when it went down. He is unable to heal at all. He would bleed out from that wound if not in stasis.”

  “How do we fix it?” Miyako asked.

  “The solution will take some time.” Gladys looked down at him and her heart sank. “I robbed him of his humanity.”

  * * *

  “Calm yourself, Phillip,” Stan said. “They've been through a lot and they don't need to deal with your anxiety.”

  “I'm good, sir.” Phillip was staring at Phildan who either didn't notice or didn't care. “I'm still new to spaceships.”

  The door slid open and they were greeted by Gladys and Cindy initially. Constanthos and the Stewarts were waiting behind them.

  “It is so good to see you all well,” Stan said as he was engulfed in an Ezilak embrace. Cindy released him so he could give a much more gentle hug to Gladys.

  “I hope you enjoyed Texas,” Gladys said.

  “The Lesters are lovely people,” Stan replied. “How's our boy?”

  “We have been mapping his new DNA,” Gladys replied. “We put him in the tank”

  “The tank?” Stan asked.

  “It is a chamber that lets organic tissue grow.” Gladys turned her body to shift the focus on the others. “I would like to introduce the Stewarts. This is Raymond, Dorothy, and Chloe.”

  “Mr. President,” Raymond said as he extended his hand.

  “Mr. Stewart, this whole week has been crazy but I have been looking forward to meeting you.”

  “I can say the same,” Raymond replied.

  Stan paused. “I know that sounded like a politician talking, but I mean it. I've been trying to wrap my head around what you did for your daughter. I cannot fathom it and I am beyond impressed.”

  “Thank you.” Raymond stood proud and wrapped his arm around his wife. Chloe stood next to them, trying to figure it out.

  “They will obviously need to reenter society on Earth,” Gladys said. “We were hoping you could help with that.”

  “Of course,” Stan replied. “I will arrange that right away.”

  “Thank you,” Gladys replied as she gestured for Stan and Phillip to follow her. “As you know, the guys have been sent back to the surface. I trust they haven't been mistreated.”

  “Colonel Taylor assured me they are fine,” Stan replied.

  “Frank trusts him,” Gladys said. She smiled and nodded and the Stewarts broke away. Pointing to the benches she said, “The Rhoshe have sworn protection to Nuun.” Stan looked over to see Pock standing near a very unhappy looking Nera Bunto.

  “Is she okay?” Stan asked.

  “Physically, yes. But she is upset about everything.”

  “That fits everything I know about her,” Stan replied.

  “We took my brother to Avope,” Gladys continued. “That is another moon orbiting the same gas giant as my former home. It is where the main Sessik shipyard is located and Brogue had parked his there.”

  “It was obviously a quick trip,” Stan said.

  “Our part was. But Brogue insisted on undertaking a mission that is very important to the two of us. Berthantine founded a new Sessik world and we sent him there.”

  “I see,” Stan replied as they entered the lab. “Everyone keeps asking about the black ship. I figured it was a friend of yours but I never know what to say.”

  “That was the former assassin, Jard Dundarsheef. He formed a bond with Frank and was happy to help. I offered him a position as Custodian of Hitakkita and he accepted.”

  “You do so much. All of you.” Stan looked around. “If there is anything you ever need from me, just ask.”

  “Thank you, Stan.” Gladys glanced between Constanthos and Cindy before gesturing to the tank. “He is there.”

  Stan looked in at Frank. The fluid was thick and made it hard to see him. Phillip craned his neck to try to see as well but was disappointed.

  “This has been a crazy week,” Stan started as he still stared into the tank. “Bankston is already out before he even got started. Elizabeth Lewis is now president since he didn't have time to have a new cabinet confirmed.”

  “She seems nice,” Gladys said.

  Stan smiled but never looked away from the tank. “She is. But more than that, she is clean. She is solid. I could probably say her appointment was the only good thing I ever did.”

  “You've done plenty of good, Stan,” Gladys replied. “The Li set up a system and you fell victim to it. Cindy helped you see it as you probably didn't even realize.”

  “I'm not making excuses, Gladys.”

  “I know and I respect that. But if you only knew what they did to Mertia.”

  Stan looked at her and smiled. “You have done more for me than I deserve. As I've told Phillip here, I intend to live out the rest of my years in service to my people to try my best to help fix all the wrongs. And when I say my people, I mean all of humanity.”

  “I appreciate your sentiment more than you know, Stan.” She gestured for Constanthos to come forward. “I had intended for Connie to be the Custodian. The Mingrein invasion forced me to find another, as she wasn't ready. But she is now. I present to you, the Custodian of Earth.”

  “Only until Frank is well,” Constanthos added.

  Stan nodded. “Yes. I like
this. I mean, I feel good about this.” He looked at Connie and smiled. “You have been doing such a good job already.”

  Constanthos thought over her decision once again. She was now human for the most part but emotions were still new. Everything she thought she knew came from the memories of Gladys, but what she felt came from her short time with Frank.

  “I might need some help too,” she said.

  “If it's anything I can help with, just ask.”

  “Proper identification,” Constanthos replied. “From now on, I wish to be known as Constance Ford.”