by Tom Julian
Timberwolf stepped forward. Gray went to pull him back, but Sergey stopped him with his gaze.
“I’ve been better. I shot someone. It was a copy of myself from twenty years ago. Was that yours?”
Penny paused. “Yes,” she said with shame. “You found our crashed lifter on Phaelon Prime during the war. The Glox were running cargo for us then. It was full of heartbeat monitors, calibrated to humans. We didn’t want it to get out we were arming the Phaelon. Hannibal Dacha, who came before Ivan, took you for just a brief time.”
“I don’t remember.”
“That was the point, Timber. You’re a remarkable specimen, both physical and mental. We took a DNA sample. We made copies. We found you fascinating. Violent, but not angry. Detached but not callous. Intelligent but not clinical. Then we put you back and you never remembered.”
“Why’d you leave that thing in my path?”
“To show you what we did. It was just a picture of what happened. I’m clumsy sometimes; that’s why I need you.”
“What do you need me for?” Timberwolf asked incredulously.
“I have no center. No conscience. I make decisions and I crunch a trillion data points in seconds, but I’ve realized something that makes me extremely sad.”
“That is?”
“I’m a failure. At the level I operate, I don’t understand if I’m a being of compassion. I’ve given weapons to all sides in the stellar wars, trying to keep everyone in check. I’ve driven myself a bit mad trying to understand if I’ve acted with compassion.”
“I look like a fount of compassion to you?”
“You can teach me a lot of things.”
Timberwolf shook himself out of the absurd exchange. “So you’ve been watching me ever since you copied me on Phaelon Prime?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Are there others?” Timberwolf asked piercingly
“I promise you, they have been destroyed,” Penny replied, her panels glowing an embarrassed pink.
“Okay, you think to fuck I believe that?” Timberwolf challenged. Suddenly a realization came to him. “That thing I shot, it wasn’t from twenty years ago. It was brand new. You’ve been using copies of me to try to get Kizik out!”
“Sergey, have we succeeded?” Penny asked. He shuffled instead of replying.
“So that’s been a big bust and thanks for all the lies,” Timberwolf snapped at Penny, the absurd notion of being angry at a machine stinging him.
“A man in your line of work should know every other word is a lie,” Sergey chided. “At least it’s the truth that we tried.”
Penny released a huff, her panels glowing red. “I am sorry, Timberwolf, truly. These times are not making us behave like ourselves.”
“This is just a job interview then, and the first thing we work out is that your offer was bullshit? Any benefits in this job? How is your health plan? Can I have a parking space? Kizik’s up here!” He tapped his temple. “By the way, he’s also out there. The Arnock are coming. Thousands of them.”
“Yes, I know. Que sera, sera. The Arnock kill everyone they touch. How did you survive?”
“He saved me,” Timberwolf motioned to Gray.
There was a long pause as Penny glowed, hard drive spinning in thought.
“Your pain. You know the Arnock too well. If you agree, I’ll make these children. As many Sabatin as you want. Unlock what’s in the warehouse too.”
“God told me to bring you here for a reason,” Gray said quietly to Timberwolf.
“I’m thirsty.” Timberwolf sat in a large wooden chair, back to Penny. With a hum, a glass of water rose from the armrest.
“Your answer?” Gray demanded.
“It makes me happy to just sit here, think things through.”
“Happy? Timber, you can make amends! Find forgiveness.”
A quiet laugh came from Timberwolf. He didn’t have the words to respond to the layers of Gray’s hypocrisy. He just sipped the water.
PURITY
“Why don’t you put in a train here or something?” Salla asked. She walked with Achilles through what seemed to be an endless tunnel carved through the rock.
“We’re heading to Penny. It can’t be easy when we go see her.”
“Why’s that?”
“She’s autonomous. When we need to see her, something has gone very wrong.”
Salla watched more videos of Timberwolf on her smart-device as she walked. She found herself unable to stop watching, especially clips from Purity Hospital. In some he seemed almost catatonic. In others, orderlies were reconstructing him; showing him how to eat with a spoon, bringing a cup to his lips. In other videos he railed with violence and it took half a dozen men to restrain him.
Through everything, that woman, Dr. Tier, watched impassively, taking notes and coldly giving instructions, always out of Timberwolf’s sight. She’d increase or remove his medications, prohibit him from sleeping or force him to sleep for days. She was prodding him to see how broken he was.
Gray was there too, and he clearly was not privy to the details of Dr. Tier’s methods. In one video, he approached Timberwolf as he lay in his bed, sat across from him. Without warning Timberwolf leapt at Gray and three orderlies rushed in to peel him off. In another video, Dr. Tier and Gray railed at each other.
“General Gray, you have no idea what I am doing here!”
“That man is my responsibility!”
“He is no longer a man, in the purest sense. I’ve seen to that.”
“I’m taking him with me, right now. This is done!”
“I asked you who your best guy was! You didn’t think I would take him? He’s no longer yours.”
The video ended and Salla didn’t watch any others.
“Can you blame him?” Achilles asked her. “To do whatever it takes to get that thing out of his head?”
“I don’t think blame is the right word.”
They came to a ladder that went up to a hatch. Achilles climbed up and cranked it open. “Timberwolf Velez has given a lot. Sometimes he didn’t even know it.”
They came out right under The Chapel, amidst the makeshift fortifications the Phaelon clan and the human fighters were putting together. A dozen rifles were pointed at them.
“On the ground!” Warner ordered, kicking Achilles behind the knee.
Achilles dropped down, hands up. “I’m here to save everyone’s life!” he cried.
THE WAREHOUSE
In The Warehouse below The Chapel, Thomas and Vitus spun around. Stacked high in orderly mountains were variously sized containers. Vitus pulled on a lever on one of them, but he couldn’t get it to open. “It’s locked shut. Let’s take an inventory!” They ran down the aisles, like children in a toy store. Where two aisles met, they found a giant pyramid of boxes, some like Sabatin containers, others much larger.
Thomas hurried around the perimeter of the pyramid, reading the labels. “Sabatin, Sabatin, Sabatin, Sabatin, Trike, Trike, Trike!” He tapped his earbud. “It’s a trove down here, Bishop Gray!”
Above in The Chapel, Timberwolf still sat in the chair. He sipped from the glass of water leisurely, like he was relaxing on a front porch.
“You need to figure out who you hate more, me or the Arnock,” Gray said.
“It’s hard to choose.”
“You’re here to help me. That’s clear now.”
“There’s a lot clear now; not that.”
“Forget everything. You need to make the right choice. It’s us against them. You know that.”
There was a commotion outside and Warner and Blaise brought in Salla and Achilles. Blaise held Salla’s backpack. “She was armed, barely.” He tossed the bag with the small grenades in it into the corner.
Timberwolf met her gaze, but instead of finding the contempt she had for him before, her eyes were warm. He nodded to her, so only she could see.
“The little clone says he wants to deal. She’s come along,” Warner said.
Gray took measure of her. “Oh, you’re my favorite girl. Believer?”
“Sure, the purest,” she said with a go-to-hell tone.
Gray brought his attention to Achilles. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
Achilles motioned to Sergey. “You’ve met him, you’ve met me.”
“Say your piece.” Gray crossed his arms.
“I’ll give you one hundred Sabatin if you leave,” Achilles offered.
Gray snickered. “This place belongs to me now. There’s no deal to be had.”
“You’re not that stupid. You can’t control this place. I’m giving you an army!” Achilles retorted. As they argued, Salla moved closer to Gray. She clutched the small grenade in her hand they hadn’t found, barely the size of her thumb.
“You speak to me like I’m a fool. By the grace of God…”
Achilles leapt up on a bench, steadying himself like a gymnast. Gray laughed at his display and Salla moved closer still. “The Arnock are here! I saw thousands of them land. They’ll tear your mind apart. I’m saving you.”
“Thanks for the favor.”
“I can show you a way out of here. This place can’t fall to them!”
“Let it. It’s mine now.”
“No!” Achilles said desperately.
“Then give me everything!”
“Yeah, give him everything,” Timberwolf said mockingly.
Blaise was watching Salla. She fidgeted, shifting her weight from foot to foot. He saw something on her hand…the Nova Turin tattoo on her knuckle.
Blaise pushed Gray aside, tackling Salla, but not before she pulled the pin on the tiny grenade. In a muffled crack, everyone scattered, diving for cover or thrown by the blast. Then there was silence and smoke and Blaise lay dead on the floor. Through the haze, Highland products flashed on Penny’s screen and Timberwolf placed his hand on the panel. When he was finished he pulled Gray to his feet.
“What have you done?” Gray asked him.
“Given you everything,” Timberwolf replied.
Thomas’s voice came over Gray’s earbud from The Warehouse. “Bishop! There’s a lot happening down here!”
“You’ve opened up the inventory!” Achilles said. Sergey’s mouth hung open wide in disbelief. “The Sabatin are going to come up here!”
“I wanted to get them out of the way for the new owner,” Timberwolf said.
Michael brought a knife to Salla’s neck. He looked to Gray for permission to slit her throat, but Gray signaled him to calm.
Sergey’s eyes lit up and he let out a juvenile laugh. “The Sabatin will come up here all orderly for you to load and take away. They’re not trained like Wrath, of course. Certainly not ready to fight yet, just pups. Unfortunately, your men below are going to get caught in the outflow.”
A racket from The Warehouse came over Gray’s ear bud—hissing, gunfire, yelling.
“Thomas, what’s happening?” Gray demanded.
Down below, silver jaws snapped. Thomas and Vitus were up against a wall. A tight semi-circle of Sabatin surrounded them. Thomas began to sing the song he’d heard Achilles use to calm Wrath back on The Outpost. “Hush little baby don’t say a word. Daddy’s gonna buy you…” A Sabatin seemed to calm, lowered its head. Suddenly it came up again and bit Thomas’s arm off at the elbow.
“Thomas? Thomas?” Gray yelled to him. The connection went dead.
“What the hell do we do with them?” Michael demanded of Gray, indicating Timberwolf and Salla.
“His fate is my choice. Leave her to be overrun,” Gray commanded.
Achilles staggered, like he was drunk. He dropped a small syringe he’d had hidden under his fingernail. “Sabatin! Worst thing we ever made. Hate them. You try to control them. This place is finished! Have it. We’re not a part of it anymore.”
There was a blood-curdling Phaelon yell from outside. Droma burst in. Out the door, coming across The Command Center Plain, were over a thousand Arnock.
Achilles put his arm around his brother as Sergey nicked the tip of his thumb with a syringe as well. “You might want to ask us how to run this fucking place, since we have about ten seconds to live,” Sergey said.
Achilles pointed to the approaching Arnock horde. “Now that’s not something you see every day.”
Achilles smiled, held his chest. He winced in pain and then crumpled over dead. Sergey sat next to his body. He tousled his brother’s hair and mourned for just a moment before he made a face like he had heartburn. He closed his eyes and didn’t open them again, their small bodies piled together.
“Oh god.” Salla looked away.
Gray seethed, so angry he couldn’t speak. His tactical mind clicked on, categorizing and prioritizing his many problems. “Secure this door!” he ordered. They backed out of The Chapel as Penny’s panels glowed a cold, disheartened blue. Michael pushed Timberwolf through the door. He met Salla’s eyes and she looked back, terrified. Timberwolf lurched back for her, but Michael hit him in the shoulder with his rifle, knocking him to his knees. Michael laid into him, putting a couple of well-placed kicks into his ribs, until Gray’s stare made him stop.
Michael dragged Timberwolf upright and shoved him back out to the landing. Gray turned to Salla. “It’ll be quick, but nasty. I’d become a true Believer now,” Gray said to her, closing the door himself.
THE LINE
The Arnock could be heard now, their thousands of legs stepping with an irregular rhythm. They came in waves towards the bridge across The Command Center Plain.
On the steps outside The Chapel, Gray looked through binoculars, scanning the throng. “This is a gift,” he said to Michael. “Put a fire team on the landing. Rain down mortars in their rear. Have Droma skirmish with them at the bridge. That will occupy them; throw off their mind bending. I’ll find a way out of here.”
Michael nodded. “What about Izabeck?” The man huddled behind a barricade nearby.
“I’ll be asking for his help soon.”
Droma and her clan-mates rushed the bridge; weapons lofted, faceplates down. There were only eight warriors left and before them was an army of thousands, but they had a chokepoint and a huge advantage. The Arnock’s most deadly weapon was useless against them.
A single Arnock crossed the bridge. It rose up on its haunches, shivering and buzzing in an effort to mind-bend, but the Phaelon clan felt nothing. Droma roared and smashed through its thorax with the blunt end of a battle-ax, sending green-black blood spurting.
The Phaelon formed a line at the bridge, activating hand-held plasma shields that crackled and buzzed. The first Arnock wave crossed the bridge, packed together and jostling. They slammed into the Phaelon line, their bodies sizzling against the shields. The Phaelon lost a few precious steps backwards before Droma bellowed an order. “Mresh pry!”
Four of the eight defenders turned off their shields and fell to a knee. They pulled flamethrowers from their shoulders and let loose a wall of fire. The Arnock squealed, but the ones in the front were blocked from getting away by the push from behind. The Phaelon advanced, burning Arnock falling into the chasm under the bridge. From farther back, grenades landed on the Phaelon line, but their shields held.
On the landing outside The Chapel, Michael held a rifle to Timberwolf’s back. They looked over the battle below. Timberwolf watched the fire lash into the Arnock ranks, setting the spiders ablaze and squealing. It was a one-sided slaughter, but Arnock snipers were trying to reach positions where they could take out the Phaelon on the bridge.
Timberwolf huffed. “Remember that time at Fort Chancellor when we were in that bar and all those local assholes were trying to come through one door to get at us? This is nothing like that.”
“This is folly. We can’t hold here,” Michael responded.
From behind them Salla banged on the door. She’d stopped yelling a few minutes ago, her throat hoarse.
“Jesus, let her out. Maybe just to piss off Gray.” Michael didn’t respond. “You’re forgetting that you hated
him long before I ever did. The man kneecapped your career. You were better than me in a rig and that’s saying something. You shouldn’t have been hustling jobs all this time.”
“I’m considering pulling this trigger.”
“Oh, by all means. Please do. You saved my life over Enceladus, so take it back.” Timberwolf was actually gambling on Michael not killing him, at least not directly. “Gray ruined your career for saving me. So shoot.”
Salla banged on the door again. “Please!” she cried from within. Timberwolf looked to the door and pleaded with his eyes for her.
“Emmanuel loves you. God knows why,” Michael said.
“God doesn’t know.”
“Your story has gone on too long.”
“That’s the truth.
“You beat Wrath. I think you can beat what’s coming up from the warehouse.”
“Seriously? You have to try to make this cute right now?”
Michael opened the door and kicked Timberwolf in the back. He stumbled into The Chapel and Michael sealed the door, dropping the titanium bar across to trap him with Salla. Michael thought about what he’d done for a moment. He looked down at Gray on a landing below. He’d consider this indiscretion unforgivable, but he’d finally done what Gray couldn’t do. Cut away the distraction that was Timberwolf. If he doesn’t kill me, he’ll thank me for this.
Tears poured down Salla’s face. She wiped them away and tried to look strong. “Thanks?” she said.
Timberwolf smirked. “This is my plan,” he said. She shook her head, collapsing into a chair. “At least it’s better than being out there.”
“What’s it to you? Die out there or die in here. I don’t want to die!”
“I didn’t come in here to die.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t think we’ve got much choice.”
They sat in silence a moment. There was an awful screeching coming from below, the horde of untrained Sabatin on their way up from The Warehouse.
“Hi Penny,” Timberwolf said.
Penny’s screens glowed.
“I can show you how to get out,” Penny said sheepishly. “Gray didn’t even ask. I would have shown him.”
