Pilgrim One_Prominence

by Christopher R. Marrs

  “There really isn’t any need for much; all is being provided. The clothes are recyclable, so they don’t want you bringing anything that wouldn’t work in the system. Due to weight and space restrictions, you really couldn’t bring much in the way of mementos anyway. And the cinc is backed up and stored on each vessel, so your p-tab is all that you need. Some of the famous art pieces, rocks and dirt from some of the Ancients holy sites, water from the Wer, and a few other items are being brought along, but that’s pretty much it. Our history, knowledge, technology, and ourselves are making the journey,” Jegit said as he turned back to the front.

  Narmer was searching through his residence in his mind trying to think of what he needed with him, but couldn’t come up with anything of real importance. He had already purged a lot of his belongings when had to move to the public residence. He had vids and pics of his parents, places he’d been, his research files, all on, or accessible via, his p-tab. “I guess I’m ready too then.”

  The drivers lowered the interior lights and began to move out of the small plaza and onto the main thoroughfare. And Narmer saw that it was full. Vehicles of all types were now traveling in the same direction. To the northern entrance of the bay, opposite of Deides home. But now there were people walking; carrying cases, and boxes, and bags of clothing and personal items. These were obviously not Selected people. These were the ones hoping for that last chance selection on the next rise. “There is much more traffic now than before our Joining,” he said to Deides as he turned to his left and nuzzled her cheek.

  She was staring out the polypanes at the traffic, a glint in her eye. “This is truly an event. I don’t know what I’d be doing right now if things hadn’t worked out. I thought that I’d be over there.” she said as she pointed left out the ‘pane towards her place, “watching all of this from afar, or at some grand Farewell event. But now that I’m here, I’m thinking that I would have made arrangements to be at the launchport like these people are trying to do. This is so tragic.”

  Jegit turned in his seat, legs in the aisle so that he could almost face them, “This is the beginning of the End. Not in the two and a half cycles that are scheduled until the actual End, but this is the end of our people. Over the next twentysets, most of that which is us will be destroyed from within. This the calm before the storm. Come the next midset, when the final shuttles leave for Nunet, all the Ancients horrors will be released. Things that you could not imagine that people could do, will happen. And even worse. In the future, historians will speak of our heroism and our dignity as a people as we faced the End. They will speak of those Selected to continue our race and their feats that made it possible, and they will speak of those that were left behind and how they faced this time with honor and sacrifice. We, however, will see, and know, the reality. There is nothing dignified or honorable about this. But it has to be, we must survive as a people.”

  The transport came to a sudden halt, almost ramming the lead transport in front of them. Looking out the ‘panes, they could see people walking in amongst the traffic. Slowly the transport started moving again, tucked in close behind the lead transport now. The convoy of transports began inching to the right side of the thoroughfare looking for an exit.

  “As we had planned on, this thoroughfare is jammed with vehicles and pedestrians. We have alternate routes mapped out, just for this occurrence” Jegit told them, “this was expected.”

  As they made their way on to a side road, they picked up speed but heading at a right angle to where they needed to go. Narmer was looking out the right side, back to the center of the city and he noticed that there were orange and yellow lights sprinkled amongst the city lights.

  “Fires,” Jegit stated, “it has begun. We will head up this road until we reach the Home Guard base on the north side of the city. Then we’ll join the last Guard convoy to the launchport. They are the rearguard, the last of the selected Guard that will defend the launch.”

  They traveled almost a full chirp watching as more fires began, most still towards the city, but a few starting to appear nearer to them.

  Narmer looked out at the chaos that was building, “I know how they feel. I was one of them a few short rises ago. The feelings of being forgotten or tossed aside were always there. I wanted to stand in the street and yell to everyone that I mattered! That we mattered! There was a deep despair in being left behind. And it’s a feeling that many have, but it is not a shared feeling. There is humiliation. No one wants to share that humiliation.”

  “With relatively too few Selected, I wanted to believe that the rest of us are all in this together. That we decided to face our fate and that which makes us a great people will live on.”

  “However, as much as I wanted that, what I was sure of, was the darkness. That selfish, ancient worm that is within the hearts of people. It is always there. The End will be dark and horrible if one sticks around. Society allows us to dress up and make ourselves respectable, but strip off the veneer of law, civility, and charity, and it is always still there.”

  “But my fate has been altered; now I have hope. But it begins to taste sour in my mouth as I watch out the polypanes. To see that despair, that anguish, that hopelessness in the flesh. I can feel it as well.”

  “We’ve been living with this nasp blade hanging above us for so long, but now to know that its descent is imminent upon our necks is beyond comprehension.”

  “Now I feel that because of this new fate, that I must become worthy of this gift. Somehow, I don’t know how, but I must find a way.”

  “I think that you are letting this affect you a bit too much,” Deides snipped, “you and I both got lucky. Nothing more than that. No reason to dwell on it. But we must take advantage of it.”

  Narmer turned to try to look her in the eyes, but it was too dark in the transport. He thought that he could sense her staring back at him. Narmer’s attention was redirected by the appearance of bright lights and fencing. “This must be the place,” he thought out loud.

  “Indeed, it is,” said Jegit, “and just in time, looks like we are being waved into line as we approach.”

  The transports came to stop, but only for a few nauks, and then they were in the convoy headed to the launchport. The entered onto the main launchport thoroughfare and immediately ran into traffic. More of the same, vehicles of all types and people walking along with. The convoy made good time for the first half-chirp, then it began to bog down and then stop. Jegit had been at the front of their transport and came back and sat.

  “You may want to darken your ‘panes, this is where it gets ugly,” he said.

  Narmer looked at Deides, and slid his hand into hers, “I want to see it, see it all. It is the least I can do for them; I can’t hide from this.” She pulled her hand out and turned to look out the other ‘pane.

  The convoy began to move, slowly. As their transport was three-quarters towards the rear, it took a while to see the effects. Then they started seeing the carnage. Vehicles were pushed to the sides, leaving a continuous mangled wreck that acted as a barrier left and right that allowed them to pass. People were climbing out of the mess and standing on the wrecks waving, yelling, and cursing them. Then they started pelting the convoy with whatever they could find.

  Before Narmer could ask Jegit, he explained, “The convoy is fronted by heavy armor with large blades to clear the stopped vehicles. They are trying their best to move them sideways as opposed to smashing them. Not necessarily for the occupants’ benefit, but to ease our passage through, rather than push, the mass in front of us. It appears to be working. There you see, we are in sight of the launchport main gate, but it is still a long trek at this stage.” Then the first bullet hit the ‘pane.

  Narmer ducked, covering Deides, but Jegit just stared out it, squashed up and embedded in the ‘pane.

  Jegit started looking around out the ‘panes, “The Council decreed personal firearms to be confiscated just for this reason. Although the public announcement talked about mai
ntaining peace during the last rises of the End. It would appear that the Guard was not entirely successful, although this is not surprising. These transports should withstand anything that the citizenry has at hand. The worry is that former Guardsmen or their associates will have more available to them. Let’s hope that is not the case for the next little bit.”

  And then the transport behind them exploded.

  Narmer sat wide-eyed, staring at the dying blossoms of fire. Then the metallic rain began to beat on the top of the transport as well as the ground. He noticed that Jegit was talking rather calmly via a vidcon on his p-tab. In the darkened transport, he was able to discern that everyone else was either engaged on their p-tabs or scanning out the polypanes and reporting what they observed. He was a little perplexed at how eagerly Deides was looking out as well.

  Jegit finished his vidcon and turned to Narmer, “I’ve reported in the direction of the attack. Sit tight; this is going to be a little exciting in few nauks.”

  Narmer could hear something. The buzzing of cutting tools. Then he saw dark shapes fly low over the transports and out into the darkness. Suddenly, there were high-intensity flashes out past the buildings lining the thoroughfare. As Narmer raised his hand to his eyes to shield them from the light, the transports were hit by the sound and the shock of the explosions. The transport rocked a bit, and Narmer grabbed onto his seat.

  “Everyone stay down,” Jegit instructed, “hopefully the Air Guard has taken care of those that attacked us. Pray that whoever is shooting at us doesn’t have any more military grade weaponry. The front two remaining transports are going to take on the passengers of the two transports trapped behind the wreckage, so squeeze tight, we’ll be mashing people in here.”

  Narmer peeked over the back of his seat to see how this was going to work. “I see movement,” he said quietly, “on the ride side of the wrecked transport.”

  Jegit clapped his hand on Narmer’s shoulder, “Good eye Narmer. But look farther right and also left, we are awaiting the follow-up attack. They stopped the convoy here for a reason.”

  Instantly, Narmer noticed that weapons fire began pouring off the top of the traffic wreckage on the right side.

  “Tikt! They are going to be cut to pieces by that rapid-fire enfilade, “Jegit exclaimed, “we’ve got to get some help back here.”

  The buzzing sound returned, and the traffic wreckage was suddenly wrapped in the fury of light, sound, and pressure of too close explosions. Narmer slumped to the floor, covering his head. Again, the sound of metallic rain on the roof. And then, quiet.

  There was a commotion coming from the front of the transport.

  “Everyone get close, we have company,” Jegit commanded, “we have some wounded in the group getting on. Give them as much space as needed!”

  Narmer heard them first, then came the metallic smell of blood as bodies rushed by him towards the back of the transport. Someone landed on the floor in the aisle next to his seat. He was almost at eye level with them. He could hear the sound of gurgling in the person’s breathing. He noticed that it was a young woman. She had a sucking wound in her chest. The healer with her grabbed Narmer’s hand and put it on the bandage over the chest wound.

  “Hold that there! Tightly!” the healer ordered, “I’ve pumped her full of regrowth cultures and pain relief. Not much more that I can do, and there are more to attend to.”

  “Call out for help if you need it,” he said as he moved on to the next casualty.

  Narmer sat there, staring at the woman. The ragged rise and fall of her chest. The gurgle that was escaping both her wound and her mouth. He was reminded of a hatmet that had been speared through its gullet while his research group had been trying to tag it. The same wet spluttering. And then it stopped. He looked up towards Deides, afraid to know the answer. Deides just shook her head.

  “We are going to start up moving again, get yourself settled in,“ Jegit informed the group as he handed Narmer a wetsheet to clean himself up.

  As Narmer climbed back up into his seat, the transport began to move. In quick succession, the convoy sped up a little, and everyone turned to the back to watch the burning wreckage recede as they moved on. Now, however, the wreckage barrier that had been fairly stable and secure was now random piles of twisted metal and plastics, with people moving back onto the roadbed. The convoy was leaving a wake of walkers behind it.

  The convoy slowed and then stopped. Jegit got up and moved to the front to talk to the driver. The people on foot caught up to the transport and began banging on it. Throwing debris at it. Then they began to rock it, side to side, in an attempt to overturn it. Narmer’s eyes were wide with shock he put his arms around Deides who was staring with interest at the activity outside.

  Jegit returned, “I’ve been in contact with the commander of the convoy. They are moving some large vehicles that were set up as an obstacle as an additional protection layer prior to reaching the main gate of the launchport. Once that’s cleared, it should be a quick ride to the gates.”

  “If we make it that long,” Narmer grumbled.

  There were footsteps on the roof of the transport. And then weapons fire. Narmer tried to push Deides further down in the seat, but she resisted as she wanted to watch. Narmer was a little taken aback by her response, but was then was also drawn to look outside. People began to fall in the road.

  Jegit got closer to the rear, “Guardsmen up top,” he said.

  More people fell, but the rest scrambled back away from the convoy. Frightened people were staring at them from the wreckage and massed behind them shouting and trying to throw things far enough to reach them, but they all fell short. The convoy sat in place for another quarter-chirp before it began to move again.

  “Unbelievable,” is all Narmer could say as he kept his eyes off of the woman on the floor next to him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The convoy moved through the gates of the launchport without incident as Guardsmen manned the perimeter and the gates. No one else was being allowed near the gates. The traffic obstacle had been replaced and would be the checkpoint to allow those newly selected in the Final Selection to enter, only on foot.

  Their remaining two transports were directed towards the main buildings, and the rest of the Guard moved to their positions on the perimeter.

  The transports stopped in front of the main entrance of the launchport.

  As the transport doors opened, someone barked, “Stay put, let’s get the wounded off first!” People began to slowly work their way back through the transport, moving the wounded, and the bodies. Two Guardsmen picked up the woman and moved her towards the front. Narmer caught site of the blood that had trailed down her arms and was now clumped cold on her. He closed his eyes to block out that image.

  “OK, our turn, let’s make this quick,” Jegit said as he began to move to the front.

  While the two transports emptied of passengers, Jegit was busy organizing them into groups next to the transports. Once the groups were organized, they started unloading the cargo areas underneath. Narmer and Deides were standing a little off by themselves, trying to stay out of the way. They were also trying to figure out what was going on.

  “These are your friends,” Narmer said as he stared at Deides, “what are they up to?”

  “I only really knew them through Woodam, I was under the impression that they were talented, well-off people, but there wasn’t an actual need for their talents on Prominence. I kind of thought that they were working angles to get a Crescent, or would be boarding Vanguard. After the murder of Woodam, Jegit came to see me. He told me pretty much everything that you’ve heard. I really don’t know much more than that. Other than there is obviously more to Jegit than we know.”

  “I’ve been operating with zero knowledge these past few rises. I have had very interesting things happen to me, none of which I could have ever imagined. And it seems like that is going to continue for a bit longer” he said with a wry smile reaching for her, “bu
t now I have you to share this with, so I’m ready for it.”

  She smirked as she pulled herself away, “Yes, it should be an interesting time for all of us.”

  The first explosion hit the perimeter fencing far left of the main gate. There was an immediate, overwhelming response from the Guard, all directed at the source. By the time Narmer and Deides started to react, Jegit was already running up to them.

  “Follow me, and keep up!” he commanded as he ran past. They obeyed and ran to catch up with him. The rest of the Gifted passengers, loaded with gear, were right behind them as they ran into the main entrance of the launchport launch buildings.

  Narmer had seen the interior of the launch buildings via news vids and documentaries, but he’d never actually visited a launchport before. So, he saw the expected large, spartan expanses, but he was amazed at how big it was inside, and he slowed to take it all in, Deides was doing the same.

  There were servicing and processing facilities around the perimeter, with the main area occupied by two shuttles. The shuttles were a flattened cone shape, laying on one of the flat sides, with propulsion nacelles embedded in the wide end of the cone. There was a rounded blister in the middle of the flat top side, and access panels along the thinner edges. Each shuttle was sitting in a cradle that in turn was sitting on a set of large tracks that led through a set of huge closed doors to the outside.

  Jegit yelled at them to get moving, so Narmer grabbed Deides’ hand and rushed over to him. “There are crew packs along that wall,” Jegit said pointing to the wall to his left, “grab one of the green ones and get your flight suit on. It is pretty self-explanatory, but ask if you have questions. I am sorry that we will have to postpone the planned Departure Gathering, but we seem to have some party crashers on the way.” He turned to instruct some others, so Deides grabbed Narmer and directed him towards the packs.

  Narmer grabbed the top of the pack, which was imprinted with instructions. “We are supposed to strip down and put on the garments in order as instructed,” he informed Deides.