I stood in front of the administration building. It was hemlight steel dyed a soft hue of white with red trim. It towered above the dwellings by easily a quarter of a kilometer. Every village, no matter how small, had such a building to remind the residents that they were subjects of the Republic. Some would also use the word servants, or even slaves. But there were worse things than slavery.
I walked past the buildings and took only cursory glances into their interiors. The city had been vacated in a hurry. Meals were still on tables and clothes were hanging on ropes attached to trees. If not for the feeling of emptiness, it might have had a certain charm to it.
The administration building doors were open and I made my way up the steps and went inside. The interior was white Feminolian marble with vivid frescos on the walls and ceiling. Several lifts surrounded the main lobby leading to the floors above. I went to one and stepped on.
“Top floor,” I said. The doors slid closed and I began to rise. The top floor is where I would be if I were him.
A few moments later the lift’s doors opened and I quickly glanced down both sides of the hallway before stepping off. I readied my rifle and powered it up, the low hum comforting me as it charged itself. I stood in the center of the hallway and took in the scent: smoke, and lots of it. It was coming from the north up the hall. I headed that way.
I rounded the corner, my back to the wall to give him a narrower target. I held the rifle in front of me as it vibrated in my hands, letting me know it was fully charged and ready to fire. The smell of smoke was strong enough now that I knew a flame was near. As I continued down the hall, I could hear it, the slow crackle of fire. I made my way to the end and looked into what had once been the executive office of the leading bureaucrat stationed in this village. Hovering over a fire in the center of the room, the glass windows revealing the perfect blue of summer outside, was a man.
He wore no shirt and had smears of blood and heavens know what else over his body. He wore heavy boots that had been stained and caked with mud and there was a knife strapped to his right ankle. Around his throat was a necklace. I thought perhaps they were ornaments of some sort, or stones, but as I stepped closer I could see they were human eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said, warming his hands in the fire though the temperature was boiling hot. “I saw you in my visions. The one that would kill me.”
“You never know, clone. You could end up killing me.”
“No, that’s not my destiny. It won’t stop me from trying. But I won’t succeed.” He looked to me and had the clear, white eyes of an albino. “Your destiny is not to die here.”
I aimed the rifle at his head. “You’ve killed a lot of people, Captain. It’s time to go back with me.”
He laughed softly, sadly. “I’m not going back. I can’t survive in a cage.”
“My orders are to bring you back alive voluntarily, or in pieces if you refuse.”
“Brave little Calista playing solider.”
I paused. “How do you know my name?”
“There’s a whole universe out there with secrets to reveal and you were sent here just to kill little old me.”
“You deserve to die, but my orders are not to kill you.”
“There’s a sniper waiting by the pick-up point on the far side of that hill,” he said, pointing out the window. “He’s going to take me out with a headshot from behind while we wait for transport.”
“That’s not true.”
“I’ve seen him too. He waits for me with sweat dripping in his eyes. He hasn’t killed before, I think. It’s an odd thing to kill someone. You take everything from them, even their memories. You wipe them from existence and even wipe their futures clean. Is there power greater than that? Am I not a God when I kill?”
“The people you killed were innocent—”
“Innocent? Is that some sort of joke? I freed them. I gave them their freedom, something they hadn’t had or even dreamed of having for generations. They were slaves and happy in their slavery.”
“Your orders were to come here and train the military, Captain. Not kill civilians.”
“In war, there are no civilians.” He pulled out his knife.
I pulled the trigger. Before the gun fired, faster than I could see, the captain flung the knife blade-first and it jammed in the barrel of my weapon. I flung the weapon away from me just as it imploded and cadium shots flooded the room like a spray of green water. I was hit everywhere and felt the burn running from my face down the right side of my body. I glanced up and saw the cadium boiling holes through the captain’s flesh, but he didn’t budge. A grin came over his face as he leapt in the air and brought out another blade that had been hidden on him, sending the tip barreling down toward my face.
I spun to my feet and leapt to the wall, pushing off and flipping over him as the knife narrowly missed my back and slammed into the floor. I reached for my own blade and brought it out.
The captain saw the blade and said, “Plasma blade? I haven’t seen one of those outside of a museum. They’re outlawed you know.”
“I know.”
“Where’d you get it from?”
“Afraid you won’t live long enough to find out.”
The plasma energy lit the hemlight steel edge of the sword and I lifted it above my head and swung down toward the captain. A stream of energy shot toward him and he ducked and spun out of the way as it tore into the wall. I flung another and another and another bolt of energy from the blade at him, all missing. As I lifted the sword for another blow the captain flung a desk chair at me and I sliced down with the blade, shattering it like glass. On the other side was the captain’s boot and it bashed into my face and sent me flying back.
He leapt into the air and came crashing down with an elbow to my forehead before coming up with a knee that caught me on the chin. He grabbed the hilt of the sword and spun away, ripping it out of my hands.
He held it up, admiring the soft blue glow of the blade, and then lifted it and attempted to fling a bolt of energy. The plasma current ran lengthwise up and then down the blade and shot back into his hands. He flew against the wall and I flipped over the fallen sword and came up with it held high, slicing down through his skull and chest and out his ribs. The top portion of his body slid from the bottom portion as blood flowed over the carpets, turning them black.
I switched off the sword, and walked out of the office.
2
The small transport ship picked me up on schedule and the pilot was smiling. He unbuckled and came to help me into my seat as he saw the blood that was seeping from the crack in my skull where the captain’s elbow had fractured it.
“Where’s Captain Lusty?”
“He didn’t make it.”
“We’ll get you to a hospital. There’s a city nearby about two SGH’s away. Hang tight.”
The transport ship lifted off the ground and we jerked forward through the sky. The landscape of lush greens and yellows held little attraction for me. Nature held no fascination for me and in fact made me uncomfortable. The cities, dense and neon bright, were where I thrived.
The pilot chatted and kept checking on me to make sure I was still conscious. Within two SGH’s we had landed on a docking pad just outside the Yunis City Hospital.
“We’re ready to go,” he said from up front as he began to unbuckle.
I ripped off my restraints and flew to the front, my blade drawn. It cut through the seat and the pilot’s chest and into the controls, causing a crackling of electrical current before fire erupted. I withdrew the blade and carved through the controls and they exploded in flame. I hurried off the ship. As I stood on the pad, I watched it burn.
My orders were clear: no witnesses. Even the sniper on the hill the captain had referred to would be killed on the transport ship we would both board.
An alarm went off somewhere and I hurried to the edge of the docking pad. We were easily two hundred floors up. Another docking pad was about ten
floors below and I jumped. I felt the break in my ankles and heard the crunch as I collapsed onto my back. I forced myself up, hobbling, and made my way to the lift leading to the street below.
The fire crew was on their way up and their lift passed mine as I got to the bottom floor and limped out of the docking station, agony shooting through my legs. The street was packed with people going about their daily business. Yunis City was the third largest city on the planet and had a reputation as being a city full of strangers. It was a place, as every planet had, to get lost.
I walked down the street but only got a few paces before the pain in my ankles made me stop. I started again and had to stop and lean against a public transport station sign for a few moments before pushing on. By the time I reached the intersection I was dripping sweat and the pain had gone up my legs into my back. My injuries were more severe than I’d thought. I might have injured my spinal column as well. I wouldn’t make the rendezvous point in time and they would leave me here.
A hovercar stopped next to me at the intersection. It hung a couple of meters above the ground. The driver was young and listening to music, his head bobbing with the melody. I glanced around. Plenty of people. But in a large city no one noticed each other.
In one final push of strength I leapt onto the ship and ripped open the passenger entryway. I collapsed into the seat, the pain almost making me black-out.
“Fly,” I said.
“What—”
My hand caught his throat on either side of the Adam’s Apple and squeezed. The breath left him instantly and he tried to reach up with one arm and I pinned it down.
“Fly, or I’ll kill you and throw you out before flying it myself.”
He nodded.
The flight was slow but steadily we made progress, just fast enough that we wouldn’t attract the attention of any authorities. Law enforcement in Yunis consisted of the Republic’s administrative authorities. They were a planetary-wide agency that was technically a branch of the military. They also handled intelligence gathering and acted, in many ways, like parliament’s personal secret police.
“Where we going?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
I caught a view of myself in the reflection of another ship and even from a distance I could see that I had lost all color in my face. The pain was now rising through my spine and I knew several vertebrae had been crushed. The throbbing in my head was working its way down my neck. I felt hot and faint.
“Go to the restaurant in the west side quadrant nearest to the sewage treatment plant.”
“Redelo’s?”
“Yes.”
“You … um, you hungry?”
“Just fly.”
We flew in silence a long time. He was navigating the streets well but was too cautious in his flying and I guessed he had just been licensed.
“You fly too slow.”
“It’s my dad’s hovercar. If it got even a scratch on it I’d be dead.”
“I’m not interested in your ship.”
He looked to me. “You don’t look so good. Do you want to go to a hospital?”
“No, I’m fine. Just get me to the restaurant.”
The streets were narrow and filled with shops and crowded tenements and government buildings. People filled the sidewalks, walking in the shadows of the massive buildings that tore into the sky.
“So where you from?” he asked.
“Just fly.”
“Sorry. I’m nervous, you know.”
“You don’t need to be nervous, nothing’s going to happen to you.”
We neared a toll station. The ship came to a stop and I touched the hilt of the plasma blade. But the boy just paid the fare and we continued.
Before long we were in front of a rundown building with a sign out indicating dinner was now being served. Absently, I tapped the blade. My strength was nearly gone. I turned and looked at the boy. He was young, much younger than I initially thought. I climbed out of the passenger entryway. I fell to my knees. The boy landed the ship and ran over. He helped me to my feet.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. “Take me over there.”
We walked to the building next door. It was vacant and the door was unlocked. I turned to the stairs since I knew the lift wasn’t working and he continued to help me. My arm was around his neck as I couldn’t put any weight on my legs any more. We got to the top floor and I saw the stairs leading up to the roof. I pulled away and turned to him.
“Get out of here, and forget you ever saw me.”
“I can stay and help if you want.”
I grabbed his collar and brought him near me. My vision was blurred at the edges and I felt dizzy.
“Listen to me very carefully: if you tell anyone about me or where you dropped me off, you will be dead.”
“Who else would kill me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said ‘I will be dead’ but didn’t say that you would kill me. There must be others with you that would kill me. Who do you work for?”
I took in a deep breath and felt the tightening in my lungs. “Smart boy. But I’m serious. Don’t ever mention me to anyone. No one. If you do, you put their life at risk too. Now go.”
I watched him walk to the stairs and glance back. He looked at me a short while and then turned and went down the stairs.
When he turned his back, I unsheathed my blade, flung a bolt of energy, and his head burst like a small fruit.
I began heading to the roof.
Each step was more painful than the last. I got halfway up the stairs when I fell and slid back a few steps. I lay there, wondering whether I could make it, then I grabbed the banister and pulled myself up. I used my arms to crawl up the stairwell and made it to the door leading to the roof. I pushed it open and a ship was waiting for me. I attempted to stand or get on all fours but couldn’t, so I crawled to it and commanded the ship to open. An opening appeared and metallic steps unfolded in front of me.
I crawled into the ship and set it on automatic pilot back to the command ship. Then my vision blacked and I lost consciousness.
3
I woke up in a bed with light blue sheets. The room was dark but the stars shone through the ship’s massive floor-to-ceiling viewports. I felt a tugging on my leg and looked down to see a med-bot busy at work repairing the damage. He used an electromagnetic pulse to re-set the bone and then massaged the ankle, knee and spine with small bursts of electrical energy to set the healing pathways, the meridians, straight. I lay back and let him finish.
When the med-bot was done he injected me with synthisone—a healing agent mined on a planet not far from here—before hovering above the bed and scanning my body from top to bottom for any other injuries. When it was satisfied there were none, it turned and left out the door which slid open before closing again.
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
There was suddenly the soft sound of the door alert letting me know someone wanted to enter.
“Come in.”
The doors slid open and Colonel Jorge Amaru stood there, his hands behind his back as if he were facing a firing squad. Never once had I seen him relax and it was rumored that he had only smiled once in his life: when a new cadet had slipped on some ice and broken his back.
He walked over and examined my legs before sitting down on the edge of the bed. It was the first time I had seen him relax. He looked out the viewports.
“You get so wrapped up in things up here,” he said, “that you forget how beautiful the stars really are.” He looked down to me. “That was good work, Lieutenant Story. It couldn’t have been an easy assignment. I want to ask you something: that pilot, did you hesitate before you killed him?”
“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
“That’s what I was ordered to do. When we sign with the fleet everyone knows their life is forfeit. Even if he would’ve known, he shouldn’t have resisted. For the good of the mission.”
I couldn’t see it, but I had no doubt my eyes went wide. “Sir….”
“No need to respond. I’m glad you did it. Compassion is a wasted emotion. How can you lead people if you can’t do what’s necessary to get the job done?” He exhaled. “You’ve been selected for something very special, Calista. It’s something that most in the People’s Republic, much less the People’s Armed Forces, don’t know about. Unfortunately, I can’t even tell you what it is until you accept. Do you have any family?”
“No, sir.”
“No one at all?”
“No, sir. My parents abandoned me to an orphanage on Earth with no documentation. I don’t know if I have any siblings.”
“Well, I was going to say you would never be able to see your family again but I guess that’s not an issue.”
“Can you tell me anything about the assignment?”
“You will be at the cutting edge of the militaristic and scientific frontiers, Lieutenant. The forefront of clone affairs. You will have a top-secret clearance and know things about what’s going on in the galaxy that you have never dreamed. You’ll travel to places you didn’t even know we could travel to and do things you didn’t think possible. But there’s a price: your life, even more so than now, is ours. Only a small percentage of the people chosen for this survive their first month. If you live a year, you have made it.” He rubbed his hands together. “A war is coming, Calista. Between men and clones. I know it. I can … feel it. You will be giving us permission to turn you into even more of a weapon than you are now. After that, your life will never be the same. But I need to know now if you accept.”
I glanced out the ports to the stars. I didn’t see any beauty; I saw unmined planets and secret moons filled with enemies of the Republic that I loved. I saw ships smuggling prohibited contraband and politicians accepting bribes and selling our futures for a few measly units.
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