Moon Base One: Tyr4nt: A Prequel Story

by Patrick Rivers

  “PULL OVER!” a voice shouted at them from a loudspeaker.

  Zeek’s hand went to the shifter and his hand hovered above the red button.

  He looked over and Joey’s eyes were as hard as steel. “Do it,” Joey said in a soft voice.

  “Alright everyone, hold onto your asses.” He heard the click of safety belts and said, “Three…two…one!”

  The car jumped to life and took on a speed that seemed to make reality itself blur. Green flames shot out of the back of the car. Ash and Amber were groaning. Zeek looked in the rearview mirror and saw Ash’s eyes darting back and forth.

  In a quavering voice, she said, “Too fast, too fast.”

  “I’m gonna throw up,” Amber added.

  Joey pointed to the right. “The highway now!”

  Zeek strained against the steering wheel pulling it to the right, cords popping out on his neck. The car veered onto the on-ramp, sparks flying off the passenger side as they scraped the cement wall.

  “Watch the paint!” Joey shouted with a wince as if it had been part of his body that ricocheted off the wall.

  They were an unstoppable mass of speed careening down the highway, the cop lights a vague spot in his mirror.

  “Go for it,” Joey said.

  Zeek mashed down the accelerator and began weaving in and out of the little traffic that was in front of them. Sweat was dripping down his face now from the exertion of steering the hover car which was traveling at supersonic speed. He felt like he was flying a small jet rather than driving a Kumai at this point.

  Now it was the women’s turn to say, “No, no, no!”

  Joey pushed himself up with effort and turned around, the police car was a distant memory. “Whooo,” Joey shouted and slammed his hand on the dash. He slapped Zeek’s shoulder. “You did it!”

  “Yay,” Amber moaned unenthusiastically. “Now slow down.”

  Zeek pushed a blue button on the steering wheel, and the speedometer regained its ability to gauge their speed as the car returned to normal speed.

  Joey glared at him.

  “What? I added that recently after our race…it switched back to the regular engine,” Zeek said with a smile. Joey was not amused.

  They were dancing in Joey’s living room and passing around a loader of Blue Drillamine, pressing it into each other’s neck to administer it to their blood streams. Zeek had his hand on Ash’s hip when she turned around and started to grind herself into his crotch.

  “Ow, ow!” Joey shouted over the music.

  They passed a bong to each other as they sat on the couch the water bubbling away as the smoke passed through.

  Ash took a sip of beer and said, “I love this song, who is this?”

  Joey coughed and passed the bong to Amber. “It’s the new Vatelli…I think it’s called retro or something.”

  “The bongos are interesting,” Amber said, then adopted a cat-like grin. “I think someone owes someone some sugar.”

  “Haha, kiss him!” Joey added eagerly.

  Zeek was sitting cross-legged on the carpet next to Ash, his face took on a scarlet color and his eyes began to study the brown carpet. “What are we in high school?” he asked.

  “Don’t be shy,” Ash said and pounced on him, she took his face in her hands and pressed her soft lips to his. She took his hand and placed it on her breast. Zeek was lost in the ecstasy of the moment. His heart pounded a thousand miles an hour. He felt her tongue in his mouth now.

  “Damn,” Amber said, mouth slightly open in a smile.

  “Wow,” Joey added.

  The doorbell rang and everyone’s head turned. Joey got up and turned down the stereo.

  “Put up the bong,” he whispered; turning around to the door he shouted, “Who is it?”

  “It’s me! Open up!” the muffled voice said.

  Joey opened the door and a black man with muscular arms walked through the door.

  “Dennis!” Amber exclaimed as she shot up from the couch to give him a hug. Zeek felt a knot form in his stomach but couldn’t say why. He shot a glance at Joey, who was crossing and uncrossing his arms.

  “I’ve been calling you for an hour,” Dennis said to Amber as the smile slid off her face. She rushed over to her purse on the coffee table and picked it up. Taking out her phone she said, “I’m sorry, I guess I put it on vibrate and the music—we have been having such a great time. Zeek went to MIT and he raced this guy on our way home and the cops came. It was crazy!”

  Shit, Zeek thought.

  Dennis scowled at Zeek, who dropped his gaze. “Party’s over. Let’s go.” He grabbed Amber by the wrist.

  “Wait,” Amber said and looked at Ash. “You comin’?”

  “I think I’m gonna stay. Zeek can give me a ride. We know he’s an excellent driver,” she replied with a wink.

  “Okay, girl, you be careful and call me if you need me.”

  “You sure, Ash?” Dennis said, flapping his hands around.

  She nodded. “I’ll be fine, thank you, Dennis.”

  Dennis practically dragged Amber out of the front door.

  Joey plopped down on the couch and retrieved the bong from under the coffee table.

  “Whew,” he said. “That guy sure knows how to ruin a good time. He’s a nice guy and all…”

  “You know he’s ex-military, right?” Ash said. “That’s why he acts like that. Thinks we’re a bad influence on Amber.”

  Joey laughed, passing Zeek the bong. “He’s probably right about that.”

  Ash tucked her hair behind her ear and asked Zeek where his room was and if he could show her.

  Joey made a faux yawn and stretched his arms. “Well, I’m gonna call it a night, leave you two love birds.” He winked at Zeek and made for the stairs.

  “Wanna show me your room?” Ash said with a shy smile.

  Zeek felt like he might have a brain aneurysm, this was the first time he’d even kissed another woman besides Lisa in years. “Well, Dorothy, shall we go find the wizard?”

  “Sure, Cowardly Lion,” she answered as she stood up.

  Ch. 7: Morning After

  Zeek sipped from a coffee mug as Joey came into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.

  “Where’s Ash?” he asked, rummaging through the fridge.

  “Took her back to her place not too long ago. There’s coffee in the pot.”

  “You dog you,” Joey said with a smile. “How was it? She’s smart as a whip, she’s perfect for you!”

  “She’s pretty amazing, fearless and beautiful. We had a great time, but—”

  Joey groaned loudly. “If you mention Lisa, I’m gonna throw myself out the third-floor window.”

  “But,” Zeek continued. “She’s no Lisa, there’s just something special about Lisa, like she knew what I was thinking.”

  “Jesus, dude. All I ever heard from Lisa was nagging. She had a chain wrapped so tight around your balls they were gonna explode. Ash is a fun person; she’s not going to try and play mommy with you. I wish you could see how awesome she is and forget Lisa.” Joey shook his head. “If anything, you’ll be the one trying to rein her back in.”

  Zeek set down his mug. “What do you mean?”

  Joey sighed and sat in a chair next to him. “Look, Ash is great, and you need a good rebound to get yourself back to normal, but at the same time, I want you to be really careful with her.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “She’s mixed up with some serious people. Dangerous people.”

  Zeek raised his eyebrows. “And you’re just telling me this now? Is it that Nos guy? She’s been talking about how he could be a good supplier for Drillamine and that I could make some real credits. She said once we win the tournament, we could use the money to invest in it. After I pay you back of course for the sponsorship, but with the remaining money…”

  Joey held up his hands. “You know I don’t care about being paid back and I know you’re going to make good on it. So what I’m about to say has nothing
to do with that. Listen to me, do not get involved with these people, with Nos. You get involved with them, there’s nothing I can do, man, it’ll be out of my hands.”

  Zeek frowned, and the question came to his lips. “Who does Nos work for?”

  “You’re a brilliant guy, Zeek. Way ahead of the curve, but you’re not very street smart. Nos is Cordoné’s lieutenant.”

  “Cordoné?”

  “Yes, the Cordoné. Big-time, break-your-legs, kill-you-if-you-don’t-get-him-his-money Cordoné. He runs the Italian mafia here. He’s the head honcho, he’s got control of Boston, New York, New Jersey. Pretty much running the entire northeastern part of the country. I don’t know what she’s been telling you about Nos, but whatever you do, don’t get involved with him. Things will not end well for you.”

  Zeek went very still. “Well, fuck. Why didn’t you tell me this before? Why didn’t she tell me?” He thought back to their conversation the night before. “I sort of told her that hooking up with Nos as a connect was a good idea. Fuck, I didn’t know!”

  Joey pulled back his lips around his teeth in a grimace. “You gotta call that off. Send her a message right now saying you changed your mind about it.”

  “Okay, okay,” Zeek said and took out his phone, typing fast.

  “Now…let me tell you about this fucked-up dream I had last night. So I’m like running around the city and everyone’s chasing me. Everyone wants me, men, women, like, they’ve been dosed with love potion or something. And guess what?”

  “Uh-huh,” Zeek said as he continued to type.

  “They were all trying to get my piss! Like, telling me to piss in a glass so they could drink it.”

  Zeek looked up from his phone and squinted his eyes. “Something’s wrong with you.”

  “Somehow I get away and get back here and you’re here.” Joey plowed ahead. “And we’re trying to figure out what’s goin’ on, so we both drink some to see what happens. And guess what happens?”

  Zeek shook his head, still typing on his phone. “Ash said no problem and if I change my mind, the offer still stands. Now I’m telling her about your dream.”

  “So it turns out I can pee Blue Drillamine, like, really high potency shit. Isn’t that crazy?”

  “Yeah…crazy…” Zeek sent a final text and his phone beeped a moment later. “Ash says, ‘Definitely something wrong with you.’”

  They both burst into laughter, Joey pounding his fist on the table.

  Ch. 8: Tournament

  The DJ booth on the balcony above them was covered in a white-spot light. A man was holding a microphone. “And now that we have all the registered participants in the building. Welcome to Sydney’s Underground hacking tournament!”

  Everyone around Zeek cheered, and he felt Ash take his hand. He looked over at her as the announcer said, “Just remember the only rule is that there are no rules!” She winked at him, and he rolled his eyes. “The game is simple,” the announcer went on. “You’ll be in VR and have to solve coding puzzles till you get to the top of the mountain. Whoever gets to the top first wins!” The shouting was loud in Zeek’s ear from the stranger next to him.

  Zeek shifted his weight and plucked at the blue spandex suit he was wearing. “Do we really have to wear these things?” he asked Ash in a whisper.

  “Yes, they’re VR suits, they help keep your vitals stable and the fabric keeps your body from overheating. Plus,” she ran a hand down the length of her sleeve, “there’s these neat yellow stripes! I like it, I feel like a superhero.”

  “You look like a superhero; it’s doing good things for you.” He looked down at his crotch where the spandex was bulging out. “Me on the other hand…”

  Ash laughed and flicked at his bulge. “Whoa, hey!” he said, laughing himself. “This guy sure does love the sound of his own voice. I think we get it…let’s just get this over with so I can get out of this suit. It’s strangling me to death via testicles.”

  “Just be glad you don’t have to wear a bra.” She stuck out her tongue at him. He wrapped

  his arm around her waist and she kissed his cheek. “For luck.”

  “And with that said, let’s begin! If every player will report to their VR consoles,” the announcer said.

  “Thank God,” Zeek muttered.

  Zeek slipped on his VR gloves and equipment and stepped inside a white capsule with a black-fabric seat inside. One of the people working the tournament with a plastic name tag hanging from his neck closed the door of the capsule. “Feels like a coffin in here,” he said to himself.

  “You ready?” the guy outside the capsule shouted through the dark glass.

  Zeek gave him a thumbs up and called back, “Ready!” flipping down his visor.

  He materialized in a virtual world that said, “Welcome Team Persephone!”

  The sound of crashing waves on rocks behind him, and the screech of something large above him rang in his ears. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked up. Large wings blocked out the sun for a moment before the glare returned.

  As he looked up, he studied the mountain, there was smoke coming from its peak. Spinning in a three-sixty the sun caught the clear blue ocean all around him; he stomped lightly on the hard surface of the almond-colored rock under his feet. His eyes climbed the mountain again noting its onyx color.

  “Something’s not right here,” Ash said beside him.

  Zeek plucked at the blue spandex at his chest. “Yeah, we’re still in these lame-ass suits.”

  “No, seriously. Something’s wrong, it’s not supposed to look like this.”

  Zeek nodded gravely. “That’s no mountain,” he said, pointing.

  “It’s not?”

  “We’re on a volcanic island, that’s a volcano. And that,” he pointed to the sky where the screeching was coming from. “I don’t know what the fuck that is, but I don’t want to find out.”

  “WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM! HAHAHAHAH!” a voice thundered from the sky.

  “Yep, something’s definitely not right here,” Zeek said and started to type on a translucent screen to the right of his face with one hand. “‘Welcome to your Doom.’ I get it now,” he mused.

  “What?” she asked, shifting her weight and staring up at the monstrous volcano.

  “Mt. Doom…that thing is Mt. Doom from The Lord of the Rings. I think your friend Tyr4nt has hacked the server.”

  She balled her hands into fists and reached up and started typing on a screen as well. “How is that even possible? I’m sending a message to the admins.”

  “Won’t do any good,” Zeek said and took his hand away from the screen.

  “Shit! ‘Access denied.’ He’s locked them out…”

  White plastoid armor spread over their bodies like that of the military police, and a blaster pistol appeared in their hands. She looked over at Zeek who had a lazy smile on his face. “How did you?” she asked.

  “I hacked the server, just evening the odds.” He pointed to a cave. “Shall we?”

  Ash’s white teeth shined in the bright sunlight. “Genius!” she shouted before taking off running toward the cave.

  “Wait,” Zeek called after her, but she was too far away. He followed after her muttering, “So much for a game plan.”

  Ash was standing right outside the mouth of the cave. “There’s some kind of invisible barrier.” Zeek heard her say as he walked up and put a hand on the barrier.

  “First test, okay.” He scanned the opening trying to figure out the mechanism creating the barrier. “I don’t see anything…”

  “This isn’t part of the tournament. This is Tyr4nt’s handy work.” She dropped her hands that were pressed against the air and turned to him. “You’re up, MIT. How do we get through?”

  “We do what we do best, hack our way through.” Zeek tapped on the screen in front of him. “Yep, OK, I see now.” The typing went on for some time. “This is intricate work, but I think I’ve… There we go!”

  Ash’s hand went through the
invisible wall and she was on the other side.

  They entered the cave and coughed and wiped at their eyes which started to water. “You hear that?” she asked.

  “Sounds like…screaming?” A shiver ran through Zeek. “Good thing we can’t die IRL from this place, right?” he asked with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

  “You can’t die, but you can end up with what they call mind wipe. It’s rare, but it happens. The player’s senses become so overwhelmed and the shock from it burns up your neuroconnection to the VR turning you into a vegetable. You’re still alive but nobody’s home.”

  “Sounds fun…they didn’t mention that in that symposium of an introduction we just spent half our lives sitting through.”

  “It’s rare, and there are supposed to be safeguards in place for that sorta thing, but with Tyr4nt running the server…” she trailed off, and they slowly made their way forward, blaster pistols held at their sides.

  The rock beneath their feet turned into an incline, they took the path cautiously upward. Ash stopped. “What was that?” she asked.

  Zeek started to say something when a man in a blue spandex suit came barreling out of a side tunnel screaming. His body was covered in crimson flames. Ash shot a couple of blaster bolts into the man’s torso. She jumped out of the way as the burning man collapsed and rolled down the hill to the bottom where he lay smoldering.

  “Why did you shoot him?” Zeek asked, helping her to her feet.

  “He scared me! It doesn’t matter anyway, this is king of the hill, or mountain, the less of them, the better for us.” She dusted off her clothes and Zeek laughed.

  The trek continued as the incline grew steeper, their blaster pistols pointing ahead now, ready to fire. Soon they were enveloped in a sea of darkness. Zeek couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. He tapped on the helmet of his armor; a luminous yellow light bathed the brown stone ahead of them.

  The incline was becoming almost vertical at this point, they were using their hands to take hold of jutting rocks to pull their bodies up. If it gets much steeper, we’re going to need a rope because we’ll be rock climbing, he thought.