Rebels

by Richard Alonzo

  * * * *

  It was bitterly cold outside as he plodded slowly across the loading yard picking his way through the wreckage. No one paid him any attention, why should they, as far as they were concerned he was a dead man walking. He could feel the cold biting at his extremities already. Thankfully, in keeping with regulations, he was wearing a thermal jumpsuit that provided limited protection in the event of a suit failure, but it wouldn't protect him for long. They’d already forgotten about him by the time he reached the outskirts of the facility. He ducked behind a pile of rubble that was all that remained of the perimeter wall and looked at the small item that Tracy had secretly pressed into his hand. Until then he hadn’t realised that she was a fellow traveller in the ‘Brethren’ and hoped that she hadn’t exposed herself by helping him. Still he doubted that fool Jasper had noticed what she did or for that matter was even aware of the Brethren’s existence, but their time was coming and soon they would all pay.

  That wasn’t important right now he was no good to Brethren dead. He looked again at the small package in the palm of his hand. It was a single use, ultra-compact, emergency fabricator. He'd no idea now she’d acquired it, maybe the Brethren had infiltrated the Angel-1 facility itself. He activated it and as he did so began stripping off the inert and lifeless Malstrom armour that was weighing him down and cast it aside along with his useless sidearm. By the time he’d finished symbolically casting off his old life, a lightweight envirosuit and plasma pistol was waiting for him. His teeth were chattering and frost was beginning to form on his face as he slipped into the suit. He lay motionless his body slowly thawing out as the suit did its work. After a few minutes he sat up stripped his old armour and weapon of spare power cells and magazines, activated the suits dynamic camouflage mode and began following the heading Tracy had set for him.

  “The Brethren will provide.” he muttered as he set out across the frozen wastes.