Cataclysm Epoch

by Paul Heingarten

  A na and I sat with Baudricort in the bunker at Encampment 3. He had the disheveled look of an eccentric college professor. He gazed at me through a mop of tussled hair. “So you're Nelson Forrester,” he said, his fingers steepled.

  “Last I heard,” I said.

  His expression didn't change. It appeared humor hadn't survived into the future either. I should have written that part in.

  “I understand you're ready to help us.”

  I eyed Ana. “You could say that. Ana gave me a look at MODOSNet. She said you want to shut it down.”

  Baudricort sent Ana a quick glare, then tapped a few controls on a terminal at his desk before he looked back to me. “MODOSNet drives Lebabolis. If we can cripple or shut it off, it’s a start to ending their control. It's their census, how they track people, and most important, the primary way their citizens get information.”

  “Information?”

  “News, production statuses. It's part of keeping them quiet, giving them little pieces of information about how things are going.” He gestured with his hands as he spoke. “Keep their minds on their work and how lovely it is to be a citizen. When people have something to do and their minds are occupied with whatever distraction possible, they can be controlled.”

  Ana rolled her eyes at Baudricort's sprawling description.

  “Where you come in,” he said, “is that you're the face of what people have believed for over a century now. All this production, creation, work, has been under the idea that this system, this country, this Lebabolis, was preordained. It's the grand nation mentioned in your book. And the nation that wins the war you described.”

  “Does that include Cataclysm?” I asked.

  He managed a small chortle. “You mustn’t listen to every fairy tale you hear out there.”

  I crossed my arms. “But if everything I've written ends up coming true, and this great nation is Lebabolis and it so far has happened like I wrote, why are you even bothering? Why not run for the hills?”

  His eyes darkened. “That won't matter. If they finish what they started, there won't be any of us they can't get to.”

  “How do you know this?”

  He sat back, his brow furrowed. “Because I'm the architect of MODOSNet. It was supposed to be about restoring the food supply, and a sense of order too. Like their Product system, allow the natural abilities of people to develop and improve over generations while the world rebuilt itself.”

  “But they changed along the way?”

  He nodded. “MODOSNet was only supposed to be a temporary solution to the problem, but it soon became the backbone to everything. And now, if they can perfect these Link implants—”

  I stopped him. “Link implants?”

  “Yeah. Like the Link devices, only they are wired directly to the brain. The Radomet were an early version of this experiment. If it worked, citizens would be fed suggestions all day and night. They'd have complete control of everyone and could order them to do whatever at anytime, anywhere.”

  “Did they set it up?”

  “No, not yet. When I left I took everything I had been working on and data on what they were planning for real. It's kept safe, and only I and one other person know where it is.”

  “What are they planning?”

  He looked at Ana for a moment. “That Product System of theirs? Total lie. Well, it isn't for the order they claim. They're building an army. Using Worker Products to assemble gear and supplies for them. It's about the Warrior Products. The others, once they serve their purpose, will be destroyed. Only a few Intellectual Products and the Coursons will remain, with the Warrior Products as their force.”

  “And this army is for the Omegans?”

  Baudricort eyed Ana again, then folded his arms back behind his head. “That’s right. The last time they attacked, Lebabolis almost fell.” His voice stumbled when he added, “If it weren’t for the small Cataclysm, they would’ve overrun everything.”

  “And the Radomet is part of that army?” I asked.

  “They see anyone who can’t use a weapon as a liability. They’re afraid they won’t be able to stop the Omegans again this time, so they’re filling the ranks until more Warrior Products are old enough to replace them. Once that's complete, the Warrior and Intellectual Products will cut the rest off and move out.”

  “Cut the rest off?”

  “Yeah, as in eliminate. Worker Products. They have this belief in the upper echelon of Lebabolis that only the strong deserve to go on. But they're riding the backs of the weak to get there. As soon as they can, they harvest what Valentium they can and set out to destroy the Omegans.”

  His gaze was a mix of dread and regret. I felt sorry for him, with that trapped look on his face.

  “But how can I stop this? What can one person do?”

  “One prophet,” he corrected. “I want you to make messages for the Link. You're very recognizable as the Prophet Xander. Identify the true nation you mentioned as the Action. Then you ask people to join us. I want to get all the Workers we can to come with us, and anyone else who can be convinced. The more we get to safety, the better.”

  “Will that work?”

  “You'd be recognized as the true Xander. That name came from your mind, no one can fake that, not even me. Lebabolis will do what they can - do their utmost to stop this. But if we keep trying, I think we can sway people. And soon, a few becomes many.”

  Ana clasped her hands. “And then we cut the head off the snake. Destroy MODOSNet. Right?”

  Baudricort flinched a bit at Ana's remark and shot her a look. “Of course.”

  The room was silent for a moment. I asked, “So once I do this, I'm going home?”

  He checked a few screens on his desk and said, “We'll do our best. You're their prime target now so getting you there safe won’t be easy.”

  “Leave that to me,” Ana said.

  Chapter 29 (Ana)

  I strolled out of the meeting room and took a walk around the perimeter of Encampment 3. I thought about Baudricort's reaction to destroying MODOSNet and smirked. As bad as it was and how much it controlled, it was still his baby.

  I traded waves with the sentries. The only sound in the distance was the wind as it rustled trees and kicked up a little dust.

  My comm unit beeped to life with Treg's ID.

  “Hey, how goes it?” I asked.

  “Eventful. We scored more Valentium.”

  “How much?”

  “Enough for one or two Encampments. It's something.”

  “Yeah. About time for another supply raid too.”

  “Right, gonna head your way. Should by be there morning. So what's doing with the honcho?”

  I slid down next to a Landcrawler and leaned against one of the tires. I spied the admin building and scanned around the rest of the area. “He’s gonna work on those Xander Link messages with Nelson.”

  “Still don't think this'll work?”

  I watched the few people who walked about. A few had weapons, others made adjustments to vehicles. “I don’t know. It’ll take more than a few messages to save those people.”

  “It's a start. Have faith.”

  “Yeah, well. Sooner we get going the better.”

  He said nothing for a minute.

  “You OK, Treg?”

  “Yeah, yeah, fine.”

  “Any of our group with ya?”

  “Just Norg right now. Kado is running another convoy raid in one of the sectors.”

  I swiped at my face as a gust of wind blew dirt over me. “Yeah, Otto is around. Once they get those messages done, we’ll make a run for the Verge again.”

  “Oh wow.”

  “Yeah, well. I can't blame this guy for wanting to get home.” I dug my heels into the ground and watched the little divots my boots carved. “I'm still ready whenever, you know.”

  “I know. Hope I'm there when ya go for him.”

  I traced my finger over the screen. “That'd be good.”

  Nel
son stepped outside and looked around.

  “Lemme go, Treg. Looks like they’re ready for showtime.”

  “Check. Stay safe. Out.”

  Nelson caught my eye as I approached.

  “So?” I asked.

  “He wants me to make three messages, should be ready to go in a day.” He nodded with a slight smile.

  “Then you get to leave this joy behind, right?”

  “Hope so, no offense.”

  I smirked. “Hey, it's OK. I've wanted to get away from these assholes for awhile myself.”

  He closed in a bit and whispered, “He also told me about the spots to try for the Verge.”

  “Just 'told you'? What about maps and coordinates?”

  “He's loading them up for us.”

  A few soldiers came near us and adjusted the beacon antenna.

  “This'll get pretty hairy, you know. Wherever it is. And I hope you know, we might have to try more than once.”

  He watched me with the same expression he had back in the library. “I know.”

  “Tell you what. Since you’ve got a little time, and you’re already curious about this place, how about you join me and Treg on a supply raid tomorrow? We can have you back by the time Baudricort’s ready.”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  Chapter 30 (Nelson)

  T he next morning we boarded one of their Hell Hawks and flew close to the border of Lebabolis. I sat in the rear with Ana and the others while Treg piloted the ship. The craft lurched and swayed at times, while the whine of turbine engines revved up during the flight.

  Ana chatted with the others on the trip. Their bond was obvious, a smaller group within the larger Action.

  Once we landed, we trekked through overgrown bush and some broken trails for another half hour until we ended up on a hill that overlooked a winding road. According to Treg, the Action made supply raids like this every so often.

  I wanted a visual clue of the sun, but all I got was an overcast sky. Somehow I felt like if I saw the sun, things would’ve been more normal.

  Ana gazed toward the road through a pair of binoculars. The air was a bit hazy, almost like a fog that tried to keep from being burned off. Off a few feet from me, Norg, Zengus and Treg checked their weapons.

  Ana turned to me. “This road is one of the few anymore that lead around the area. Lebabolis uses it to run supplies to their Sectors. We're near the border between Sectors 3 and 4.”

  “They don't secure it?” I asked.

  Ana smiled. “It’s too damn big. They can't be everywhere.”

  “But they'll be packing heat when they do come.” Norg grunted.

  I looked over at Norg while he worked at his weapon. I turned back to Ana. “When's their next run?”

  “We know it happens on the first Saturday of the month, which is today, and usually around this time of day.”

  “So you take what you need?” I asked.

  “Correct.”

  Ana talked like this was home landscaping, not a raid of a supply convoy guarded by armed soldiers.

  They all held out their weapons and checked them over. All that firepower made me feel a little naked being unarmed. I watched Ana with her weapon. “So you've done this before, right? Anything ever go wrong?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Sometimes. Baudricort helped us pinpoint better areas to stake out. Still, we sometimes get cornered and lose a few. But there’s no time for growing food when you’re always on the run, so it’s worth the risk to not have more people starving than already are.”

  “So how do we do this?”

  “Let's get everyone together. Hey Treg, over here!”

  After we gathered in a circle, Treg began the run down. “Zengus, set up low near the road. No matter what, you disable the first truck. Don't blow its wheels off like last time, just make sure it can't run anymore.”

  Zengus said, “Well, now you tell me.”

  Treg eyed us for a second. “Ana, you and Norg with me. Weapons at the ready, fan out and zap anyone who comes out shooting. Head and chest shots, nobody walks away.”

  Ana turned to me. “You better wait here, Nelson. These can get rough. Sit quiet until I call you.”

  “That's fine,” I said.

  I crouched behind a tree and watched as they made their way down to the road. Zengus ran out in a line straight in front of me, towards the bottom of the hill. Once he stopped, he blended in like a chameleon. Had I not known where he was headed, I would’ve missed him altogether.

  Ana, Treg and Norg spread out toward my left, a little higher up on the hill. Everything was silent except for the occasional rustle of branches. Not even birds. I scanned the road for any sign of a vehicle. Nothing.

  Then a low hum started, and two trucks appeared on the road soon afterward. Treg gestured to the group by the road and directed them all, as described.

  I saw Zengus a little better now. He held up a long slender gun to his shoulder and pointed it down the road towards the direction of the trucks.

  The trucks reached the bend to the straightaway near us. As they finished the turn, Zengus fired a rocket. Its roar echoed on the wind, and it slammed into the first truck with a loud bang. The truck shook with the impact, and smoke poured out the front. Treg yelled, and the rest charged down the hill and fired short bursts at the convoy.

  Two men fell out of the cab of the first truck. One looked rather dazed by the explosion and struggled to his feet, a weapon clutched in his hands. The other was more able and crouched behind the bumper, where he returned fire on Treg’s group.

  More people exited the rear truck. Ana ducked between the two vehicles and fired at the soldiers to the rear. Treg advanced towards the group in the rear, while Zengus pulled up another weapon and blasted at the two in the front.

  In a little while, Zengus took out the two at the front. He ran to the back, where Treg and the others stood. Before long there was one left, on his knees as Treg watched him with a rifle.

  Ana called out, “Nelson! You can come down now.”

  I met Ana as she looked through the back of the first truck. It was full of crates. Many were marked with different types of food. A few had “Transmissible” stamped on them.

  “This is good,” Ana said. “Enough for several weeks, even a month or two on rations. The other Encampments can also use this stuff.”

  “What's the transmissible stuff?” I asked.

  Her eyes flitted between the cases and me. “We can't stay too long, never know if Radomet will do a sector scan.”

  We climbed off the truck and met Norg and Zengus. “Good job team.” Ana smiled. “How's the other vehicle looking?”

  “Food and tech,” Norg answered.

  “Nice. Still drivable?”

  “We didn't touch it, should be fine,” Zengus replied.

  “Where's Treg?”

  “He has someone from the other truck still alive.”

  “Really? I thought we weren’t taking prisoners.”

  Zengus shrugged.

  I followed Ana as she crept to the back of the rear truck. When we got closer, I saw Treg, his rifle pointed at the chest of a man on the ground. Treg's body tensed. The man’s body shook with each breath, a wild look in his eyes.

  “Treg, you OK?” Ana asked.

  “Ana, ya gotta see this.”

  Treg handed her a square shaped object, almost like a computer tablet, only the items on the display floated above it, like holographs.

  She studied it for a few minutes and looked back at Treg a few times, as if she hadn’t believed what she saw. “How did they get this?”

  “No clue. Baudricort’s super tight lipped about stuff, and I thought we'd gotten the moles already.”

  “Guess not.”

  Ana clenched the tablet. Her jawbone slid back and forth as her gaze narrowed. She tossed the tablet down, swung her rifle around, and pointed it at the strange man's neck. “What’s all this about Cataclysm? What do you know about it?”

&nbs
p; The man's haggard breaths gave way to a defiant hoarse chuckle. “Stupid Deviants. You can’t hide much longer.”

  “Tell me now. This is your last chance.” Ana nudged the gun into his neck.

  The man sneered, and his chuckles degraded to coughs as he added, “No chance. Just like your sweet little brother.”

  The taunt in his words lingered over the air like smoke from a long extinguished fire. Ana’s scowl deepened, and her knuckles whitened. Treg let out a gasp at the barb, and before he could stop her, she fired three shots into the man's neck and head. His body jerked and slumped down while blood spurted out. My stomach tensed, and a gasp escaped my lips.

  Ana swiveled to me, her eyes wide. “Nelson, back by the truck!”

  I met Zengus and Norg as they unloaded crates from the front truck. Ana and Treg came up a few moments later. Treg glanced at me for a moment and said, “OK, let's get everything we can loaded from this truck to the rear one. And make it quick, don't want Radomet putting our asses in a sling.”

  Ana waved me over to the crates in the front truck. I wondered what the Transmissible ones were. She had looked at me a little odd when I asked. We loaded most of the food that fit onto the rear truck. I reached for one of the Transmissible ones and Ana waved me back. “Better let us take that.”

  Once Ana and Treg loaded the Transmissible boxes on the back of the rear truck, we climbed in. Treg took the wheel, Ana sat on the passenger side, and I was in the middle. Zengus and Norg rode in the back. Treg drove for awhile until the hills flattened back to level ground. A dirt trail soon appeared and forked off from the road to the right. Treg took it, and soon we arrived at Encampment 9.

  #

  The moment we arrived at the Encampment, people gathered around the vehicle. Ana and company unloaded supplies like they were Christmas presents for the destitute. The crowd elbowed each other to grasp for any tidbit they could until all was gone.

  “We need to talk.” I grabbed Ana's arm while the others continued the charity spree.

  “This isn’t a good time.”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  Her eyes narrowed at me, then she nodded and we grabbed chairs in a storage area. “OK, what?”