Cataclysm Epoch

by Paul Heingarten

  “Of course.”

  “Now you're truly ready to lead, Ana.”

  What?

  The other figure turned, and I saw my face. But the eyes weren’t mine. They were icy and soulless. My entire being clenched so tight a gasp escaped my lips, and grew into a scream.

  “No!”

  I was back in 2014, and near where I first arrived. Drenched in sweat, my heart pounded in my throat. I looked around. Several of the people stared at me, including Louie.

  “Rough dream?” he asked.

  I nodded and shook my head.

  “Sure you’re fine, sugah? Got some food from the Mission if you want.” Louie held up a tray toward me. I was just too bewildered for any kind of rations.

  “Thanks, I’m OK.” I slid back and eased my thoughts as best I could and tried for peaceful sleep. Dawn came soon. I had a job to do and needed focus.

  #

  All of my attempts at the data sources with the P-LAD failed. Their technology was too ancient. I figured Xander must’ve had friends somewhere. I just hoped whoever I asked wasn’t from Lebabolis in disguise.

  The day after my arrival, I wandered roads in the dark hours. I watched vehicles and people passing while I stuck to the side of the large paths. Better I avoided vehicles for now, since that would’ve made me more noticeable pretty quick.

  After a few twists and turns down quieter paths I came up to a large one. A large gap divided the two rows of buildings, with trees in the middle. Several signs lined up in front of the buildings I walked next to. Up ahead, a few people entered and exited this one location. The glowing signs in front of the building read “Checkpoint Charlie's”. As I headed toward the door, I pondered if it was a waypoint system. Checkpoints?

  The blare of conversations and music greeted me when I entered the checkpoint. A few people were inside, some at tables, others in a row along one side. It looked a little like our food halls. A large man stood against the wall and eyed me as I approached. “Drink?” He huffed.

  I looked at the others as I took a seat. I lowered my shoulders to the bar and leaned toward him. “So, are you Charlie?”

  He wrinkled his brow. “Huh? No, I'm Jimmy. Getcha drink?”

  “No, thanks. I was wondering if you could help me though.”

  Jimmy scratched his bald head, his brow furrowed. Then he broke into a smile, but I didn’t think I wanted to know the thought behind it. “Maybe.”

  My hands kneaded a bit. “I'm looking for somebody.”

  Someone yelled at the other end. Jimmy craned his head over for a second, then back to me. “Boyfriend?”

  “No.”

  He studied me for another moment. “Girlfriend?”

  “No, no.” I checked to see if anyone else was listening before I leaned in. “You know a Xander Lee?”

  He narrowed his eyes in response and shook his head. “Naah, never heard’a no Xander.” He grabbed a rag and wiped the counter. After a few seconds he added, “Sure you don't want no drink?”

  “Yeah. Look, I really need to find 'em. Any suggestions?”

  He folded the rag back and shrugged. “Google?”

  “What's Google?”

  He stared at me. “Ya never heard of Google? Where you from?” He shook his head and slipped away to the other end of the counter with a snort. His belly smashed up against the ledge as he tended to other people alongside it. He laughed at something someone said. He peered back in my direction and chuckled.

  Maybe if I canvassed the city, however long that took. Or if I locked in on a beacon from the Lebabolis group, if they were stupid enough and left theirs on.

  Maybe, but even that was a long shot.

  I could’ve tried another Verge location. But how long would it be before I found one, with no gear for location.

  If I checked whatever enforcement agency existed around here, the heat on me would be raised. No way I needed that kind of attention.

  Or maybe Louie knew another way.

  “Hey, honey.”

  I jumped in my seat to see Jimmy right in front of me again. He watched me with a half smile. “Why dontcha try the library? They can help with dat.”

  Chapter 13 (Ana)

  A fter I asked a few more questions and gave into Jimmy's insistence that I have a drink of water, I got what I hoped were directions to this library place. I rode my vehicle there the next day. A musky smell greeted me when I entered the building. My nose twitched at the pungent air, and I coughed a little. The place reminded me of the Encampments at first. A large desk stood in the center with rows of shelves that lined the walls. Several tables were scattered around. People’s murmurs floated by from different points in the room. They were all about, a few at tables, others walking along the large shelves and gazing at the books.

  I’d never seen so many books in one place except the few from the caches. I wondered who had made them, and if it had been the same person or not.

  One worker led me through the library to a room and handed me a large book, much bigger than the Xander book. As I sat at a table with it, the worker hovered nearby.

  My fingers slid across the coarse paper. So this was how they searched for things. The pages crinkled as I turned ‘em, and more of the musty smell greeted me as I flipped through the tome. The book was a directory of names and locations, housing quarters, I guessed. As I got to the “L” section, my stomach tightened.

  I leaned in close while my finger scanned the lines of names. Nothing. I tried again; zip. I checked the pages before and after, no luck still. My heart sank a bit.

  “Is this the complete city directory?” I asked the worker and patted the pages.

  “Well, it's a few years old, but it’s the newest we’ve got.” She shrugged and eyed it, then me.

  I gazed at the book and turned a few pages. “He's not here.”

  “Who?”

  I whispered, “Xander Lee.”

  She cocked her head, but nothing in her eyes gave any hint of recognition. “I'm sorry, never heard of them.” She flipped the pages back to the beginning. “Could you have the wrong name?”

  I gritted my teeth. How much should I say? I was in this far already.

  “No.” I thought back to Jimmy's suggestion. “Do you have a Google?”

  She replied with a nervous giggle but caught herself and straightened up. “I'm sorry, you mean, you want to try Google?”

  “Yes, would Google know?”

  “Uh, y-yes. Probably so. You can sign up for a computer; I’ll need your card for that.”

  I stared at her. “My what?”

  “Your card, you know, library card?” She smiled.

  “Oh, I don't seem to have one.”

  “Ahh, well we need some other identification. Driver's license?”

  “Afraid I don't have any.” My fists clenched in my pockets.

  “Oh,” she said as she closed the book. “Forgot it?”

  “Yeah, well. Something like that.”

  She nodded. “Well, come back when you do, and I'll set you up.” She smiled and took the book in her arms. My gut tightened into a ball of soreness, and I felt my heartbeat leap into my throat. I’ve got to get to him.

  As she turned, I grasped her shoulder. Either she was that jittery or my hold was a little too hard, but the book slipped out her arm and made a loud echoey thud against the floor.

  She looked from the book back to me, her eyes wider. “Y-yes?”

  Two people at a nearby table now looked our way. I smiled at the worker, my voice still low. “I'm sorry, I really need to find this person. Is there anything else you can do?”

  “Um, ma'am? I'm sorry, but without proper ID I can't grant you computer access. You're welcome to stay and browse, but we have rules. Now if you'll excuse me.” She brushed past me and darted off. She passed by a man at another table. He also looked my way. His eyes squinted a bit at me, then he returned to his work. My gut tightened when I recognized those deep brown eyes. They were the same ones that st
ared back at me from the screen in that meeting room with Baudricort.

  As I approached him, a rattling sound came from the table. He grabbed a small device and held it to his ear and talked for a few seconds, then picked up the items spread out on the table, packed ‘em up and left the building.

  I followed him with my eyes as he hurried out.

  Found you, Xander Lee.

  Chapter 14 (Ana)

  I watched Xander as he left the building and got into his vehicle. I took a sig of the car with the P-LAD and thought more about what would’ve convinced him when I got the chance. I yanked his book out, flipped through a few pages.

  What if I mention Varrick to him? I bet he has kids of his own. Saving a sick child would convince him, right?

  Back on my P-LAD, I thought more about his reactions and how I would’ve handled ‘em. He wouldn’t believe it's real. I shouldn't blame him. I dunno; I'd feel different in his place.

  A few others left the library building and stood outside near me, so I slid the P-LAD out of view. Vehicles passed by in the darkness, their lights casting quick flashes of brightness on the area.

  I was about to get up when a booming voice wafted out to my side. “Never a cab when you need one.”

  Out the corner of my eye I noticed a figure leaned over the back of the bench to my right. A man in a dark suit. Our eyes met, and he offered a smile.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  I could've easily ignored him and left. My quota for speaking with people was way over any reasonable limit. Something stopped me, though. It was better I stayed put right then. If I ran, that would’ve drawn more attention, or he could’ve chased me. If I jumped back into my vehicle and he was anybody I needed to worry about, it would’ve made tracking me even easier.

  Much of his face blended into the evening light. I offered a “Guess so” and made room on the bench for him to sit.

  I pulled my hat down lower and peeked at him and watched the vehicles more.

  He ruffled his shirt a bit and sighed. “The heat in this city is insane. Even at night, it's like a stew around here.”

  I shook my top a bit and enjoyed the brief coolness from that. While I agreed, I remained silent. I hoped he was just an oddball out at night, lonely for a friend, like Jimmy at the checkpoint place. I did my best to become invisible to him.

  “My name's Jesse. What's yours?” he asked.

  I shook his hand. An agitated sigh escaped me.

  “Joan.”

  “Hi, Joan, what do you do?” His body turned toward me, his arm snaked along the back of the seat in my direction.

  “Sightseeing.”

  He glanced behind us. “In the library?”

  “Oh, I was... I'm waiting for a friend.”

  “Oh, is that right?” His eyes peered into me, a little too deep.

  I swallowed, but the lump that formed in my throat was still there. “Yeah.” I looked back toward the road. A few vehicles passed us. This conversation went on too long already.

  He stretched a bit. “Too bad you weren't a little earlier, could’ve seen Jazz Fest a few weeks back.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, well, I should be going. We were supposed to meet but something must have happened.”

  I stood up and felt his gaze on me as I walked to the sidewalk. He said, “Well, you know, I can help you reach your friend or at least stay with you while you wait.”

  He approached me and added, “It's not safe to be alone at night.”

  The little crowd from a few minutes ago had thinned out. It felt more and more like I was being sized up. I balled my left hand into a fist. He was bigger than me but if I dropped him to his knees long enough, I could get the hell away.

  He eyed my tensed arm and quickly showed his hands, a conciliatory smile on his face. “Oh no, please don't misunderstand. I know what this must look like, but I'm harmless, believe me.”

  Yeah, sure.

  He pulled out a card and waved it at me. “I'm sorry, I know we just met. I'm in the hospitality business, and it's my nature. Here, look at my card. Would I give you this if I was trying to pull something?”

  When I reached for the card, I noticed it on his wrist.

  No one else would have thought twice about it. It would’ve been another piece of jewelry to ‘em.

  But I knew better.

  It was a Verge tether.

  #

  “Suppose I should walk it,” I said as I turned up the street.

  He grabbed my arm tight and pulled me back so we were face to face. A deep soreness flared in my arm and I felt throbbing where he held me. His eyes had darkened with a sinister recognition. My gut tightened and my mind raced. What to do, next move, Ana? Come on, think.

  “Not so fast, Deviant.” He got up, my arm still firmly in his grasp.

  I started to shake. “W-who?”

  He cocked his head with contempt. “Give it up, it's over.”

  I wriggled under his grasp, but it was pointless. No one was around us anymore, and whoever rode past on the road must have thought we were two lovers in a fight. Or, they were too busy to have noticed anything?

  “Who are you?” I asked as I struggled under his grip.

  He scowled a bit. “Shut up.” He grinned at my efforts under his grasp. “Not that it really matters to you at this point, but you can call me Azrael.”

  I wasn’t familiar with him, but according to Baudricort, he suspected Lebabolis had sent Brenn Havens. He was one of the, excuse me, goons who worked under Charista and the Security Police. These guys lived for moments like this – Deviants like me in their custody who they had their way with. Whatever they did when they caught Deviants lasted awhile, so I had heard. Sometimes it was Realignment, but I’d always heard there were other types of torture too. Guess they felt the quick and clean kills were too boring.

  “How'd you find me?” I asked.

  He laughed. “You steal our tech and bastardize it, and think we can't find you? How naive.” He glanced around for any onlookers, then led me down along the vehicle path.

  “Your tech sucks,” I said. “Otherwise, you'd have Xander by now.”

  He stopped short and glared. “How do you know we don't already?” His glare faded to a grin.

  “Because you'd have killed me already. Guess you don’t have all the answers, you and Miss Queen Charista.”

  His voice raised to a grow. “Shut up.” He pulled me down into an alley. The air got thick with a heavy stench, so much I almost gagged. Azrael grunted while he dragged me further. He shoved me against a metal container with one hand and grabbed a comm unit from his jacket pocket. “Deviant apprehended, proceed with neutralization?”

  The reply came a few moments later. “Affirmative. Contact again when complete and meet at rendezvous point. Out.”

  The alley was empty. A vehicle passed by several hundred yards away. We were next to another path for vehicles; too bad none used it at that moment. I craved for any distraction possible.

  My eyes scanned the ground for anything useful. Twisted pieces of something that cast a slight shimmer in the dim light. Some other kind of trash; I had no idea what it was. “So what're you going to do, kill me and Xander?”

  “You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?” He sneered back.

  My feet skidded across the ground through piles of trash. “You don’t want to kill him. Not with the Omegans and Cataclysm, you need all the help you can get, don’t be stu-“

  “We’re well aware of all that. Charista just wants to clear the field first.”

  He grabbed both my elbows and spun me around. My dagger sailed a few feet away, and made a loud clanging noise on the street. “Mmmhm, believe I do. Nice try, by the way. Think that would work on a security police?”

  “It had crossed my mind.”

  He lifted me up a bit. My feet dangled, my gut tightened.

  Focus, Ana.

  Remember what you learned.

  What Treg taught you.

  Find a way.
Keep him talking, off centered. Don't let the bastard direct the situation.

  I stared at the dagger, only visible in the minimal light because I had seen where it landed. It was still too far.

  He grabbed both arms now. “You never learned your place. None of you did. You're a Worker Product, and a mediocre one at that. How you tricked anyone into thinking you were any kind of warrior, I'll never know. Your little insurrection will soon be over.”

  My breath hitched a bit from the pain. “Well, there is a big difference between me and you.”

  “Oh, of that I’m certain.” He chuckled.

  “No, you don't understand. You fight because you're required. And, it's how you earn respect. The only way you earn respect. I fight for myself, my family, and people who refuse to be slaves. People who’ll smash Lebabolis into dust one day.”

  His eyes widened with a crazed look. “You have no idea who you’re up against. Besides, I could rip your arms out right now and watch you bleed out for the enjoyment.”

  His grip tightened. My biceps flared with a deep ache, and my heart thumped into my throat with a rapid throb. My mind raced over what options I had in this situation, but more and more the pain took precedence.

  A loud squawk blared and shook us both out of our focus. It echoed over and over in the alley, followed by lights. A vehicle moved fast toward us. If it wasn’t for the lights and screech of the alarm, I wouldn’t have heard the engine at all; Landcrawlers were never that silent.

  The vehicle shone white lights with blue and red flashing ones, they washed over the buildings like brilliant temporary paint. Azrael glanced in their direction, and I drove my knees into his midsection.

  Lucky for me, he was without a Lebabolis body suit or I'd have only smashed my knees. But no, I connected, and it knocked him back a bit, his grip on me broke and I landed in a crouch on the ground. As he staggered and wheezed, I dove toward the knife.

  As I heard the familiar sound of an activated pulse weapon, the knife handle was flush against my palm. I launched the knife deep into his forehead. His eyes opened and glazed over. His arms went limp, and he dropped his pulse rifle as the large vehicle neared. It slowed, and I saw two people inside. They stared with their mouths wide open, and looked at Azrael's limp body and me. One grabbed some kind of device and spoke into it. The vehicle drove past down the alley, the alarm squawked more as it turned the corner. I saw the name 'Ambulance' emblazoned on the back. Whoever it was, I was in for it now. Spotted as I had killed someone.