Rubicon

by Gareth Worthington

  “Can’t you guys try manipulating the security again?” Catherine pleaded, pacing the cell.

  “It’s hard to manipulate others who are bonded. You have to convince them, and we’re running out of time,” KJ said.

  K’awin padded around KJ, nudging his ankles with her snout, her little face tortured with worry.

  KJ dropped to his haunches and held K’awin’s pear shaped head in his hands, forcing her to make eye contact with him. “It’ll be okay. I’ll be fine. I trust Nikolaj. But you must block me out of your mind for now, right? I don’t want you to feel this.”

  A pained warble escaped K’awin’s tiny mouth.

  KJ stood again. “That goes for the rest of you. Shut me out of your heads.”

  Merry and Lex huddled together, Kiska and Kroshka wrapped around them. Leo and Igor sat, cross legged, their eyes closed in mediation. Jin and Xue adopted similar poses.

  “So, are we gonna do this or what?” KJ said, bouncing on the spot like a cage fighter waiting for the bell to ring.

  “Wait!” Catherine yelped.

  “What?” said KJ and Nikolaj together.

  Catherine stepped to KJ and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t die.”

  For a moment, words evaded him. Her mismatched eyes were fixed on his, as if staring into his soul. She may not have been Stratum, but right then it felt like she knew him better than anyone. A feeling he wasn’t sure with what to do. So, he just winked. “You’re gonna owe me more than tha—ughhh!” KJ collapsed to the ground.

  Sharpened flint protruded from his shirt, right where his liver would be. The shirt began to stain red. He clasped at the wound and curled into a ball in the dirt. “Mother fucker,” he wheezed. “We were meant to argue first... make... make it look like a fight.”

  “Shit, sorry,” Nikolaj said his hands trembling. “I just did it.”

  “Fuuuuuck,” KJ moaned loudly, screwing his eyes shut. “Okay, we gotta pull it out now. It’s gotta bleed ...”

  Nikolaj knelt next to KJ. “Sorry, Junior.” He yanked the shiv from KJ’s torso.

  KJ yelped long and loud.

  Then, the blood came. It flowed from the gaping wound, drenched his t-shirt and pooled in the dirt. KJ’s normally tan complexion drained to chalk white and the iridescence in his eyes faded. K’awin trilled and collapsed next to her companion, clawing at her own midriff.

  “No, no.” KJ hacked, blood dribbling from his lips. “K’awin, you... you were supposed... to disconnect.”

  KJ felt hands on him—Catherine’s hands. She pressed down, elbow locked, trying to stem the flow, but blood seeped between her fingers.

  “It’s too deep,” she cried. “He won’t heal before he bleeds out. Shit, shit, shit. C’mon.”

  “What the hell is going on?” came a young man’s voice.

  Through bleary eyes and much pain, KJ could make out the form of two guards at the cage gate.

  “He’s dying!” Catherine screamed. “You have to take him to... to... to whatever hospital you have!”

  “We’re not taking him anywhere!” one of the guards said.

  “Then you’re fucking idiots!” Catherine shouted back. “Do you know who this is? It’s Kelly Junior Graham, first child of the Stratum. You think your boss is going to want him dead? If that were the case, he’d be fucking dead already! But you can bet your dumb ass, if you let him die here, you’ll be lined up against a wall and shot in the head.”

  KJ couldn’t quite make out what happened next. Through agony and fatigue he could only see shapes and shadows. There were peeps, perhaps a code being punched in, then a clunk. The gate maybe. Two shadows entered, carrying... guns, they were guns. One came closer to him, mumbling something. Then two much larger shadows that could only have belonged to the monk brothers loomed. There was a scuffle, scratching and kicking, followed by gurgling sounds and then nothing.

  “C’mon, we gotta move,” Nikolaj said.

  “It’s too deep,” Catherine repeated. “He’ll bleed out.”

  “We have to move,” Lex said.

  “It’s our only chance,” Merry finished.

  “Let me tie him off first!” Catherine cried.

  KJ was hoisted to a sitting position and he felt something wrap around his midriff at least once then suddenly tighten exactly where he’d been stabbed. A fresh spike of pain ripped through him, the world once again darkening.

  “That’ll have to hold,” Nikolaj said. “He’ll heal... he has to heal...”

  Lifted from the ground, KJ’s arms were slung over two sets of powerful shoulders. They must have belonged to Leo and Igor. KJ’s stomach roiled with pain, his insides feeling as if they may split open and empty his gizzards over his boots. From the corner of his eye, he spied Nikolaj scoop up K’awin and push to the front.

  Under a purple sky, he was dragged left and right. Merry and Lex took the vanguard, searching for a path. Slinking from shadow to shadow, hiding behind small dwellings and concealed from the moon’s bright eye, KJ realized they were headed out of the compound.

  “No ...” KJ wheezed.

  The troop halted.

  “No what?” Nikolaj asked, still holding K’awin, searching for reinforcements.

  “We have... to find... Svetlana.” KJ managed.

  “Not a chance,” Nikolaj fired back, now very much focused on KJ. “There’s no way we’ll find her. You’re in no condition and we’re outnumbered. We have to leave before those guards wake up. Time to go.”

  “No, she... needs us,” KJ slurred.

  “You don’t get to make the call this time,” Nikolaj said. “We’re leaving.” He turned, checked for danger, and headed for the shadow of the next building.

  KJ gave up providing what little help he was giving the monk brothers and dropped his weight completely. It was enough to take them by surprise and allow him to slip from their grip. He tumbled into the mud and laid there panting.

  Svetlana clasped at her stomach. The pain was excruciating. Scrunched into a ball in her bunk, she cried out. White hot and sharp, it felt as if she’d been run through with a newly forged sabre. For a moment she lay there in the fetal position, gently rocking back and forth. The pain spread from her middle, creeping into her chest, neck, and finally her brain. Here it took hold, stabbing at her. Each invisible wound seemed to cut slices in the veil over her consciousness.

  “KJ,” Svetlana said aloud.

  Ribka, curled up next to her, wailed.

  Nyalku stepped to her bed. “Svetlana, are you okay?”

  She didn’t reply.

  Nyalku touched her arm, and she instinctively recoiled.

  “Woah, what the hell is going on?” Nyalku said.

  “I... I don’t know... KJ, he’s hurt. Badly. He needs help.”

  “KJ? The prisoner? Are you insane?” Nyalku said and grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Get the fuck off me!” Svetlana wrenched free, climbed off the bed, and shoved him in the chest.

  The other Phalanx bunkmates stirred in their cots, propping themselves up on elbows to watch the commotion.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Nyalku said, taking a defensive stance.

  “I... I need to see the Doyen ...”

  Nyalku snorted. “You see Mother first. You know that.”

  “I don’t have to. The Doyen talks with me. Listens. I... I have to see him. I have to make sense ...”

  “You need to go to Mother. She can help you. The Doyen won’t be in charge much longer. His ways are too slow. Mother will lead us to glory!”

  Svetlana pressed her teeth together. “Mother will lead us to glory? What does that even mean? She’s going to overthrow him?”

  “We must put our trust in her,” Nyalku said reaching out for her.

  She glanced at the welts on Nyalku’s neck. Puncture wounds. “It’s real, isn’t it? Her cocktail. To control us.”

  “It doesn’t control, it sets us free. I can see clearly the wisdom in her words. Her plan surpass
es the Doyen’s.”

  “Surpasses? Do you even know what the Doyen was trying to achieve?” Svetlana snorted. “This is all bullshit. I’m leaving.”

  “You’re coming with me, to see Mother.”

  “Make me.”

  Nyalku’s fist came at her jaw, but Svetlana rolled backward off her bunk and into a standing position on the other side. Her Phalanx brother attacked again, using the mattress as a spring board to launch a flying roundhouse kick. Again, Svetlana ducked the strike. He was predictable, his fight pattern always the same. Unable to shield his mind well, he thought too much about his moves—he might as well have telegraphed his strategy.

  Svetlana parried and blocked, using as little energy as possible, all the while waiting for Nyalku to tire. It didn’t take long. He paused for a breath. Svetlana took the advantage, signaling with her mind the intent to deliver a kick to his ribcage. Nyalku took the bait, dropping his arm to catch her ankle. At the last second Svetlana twisted her leg to deliver a powerful pressing kick to his face. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose as her foot made contact. His neck torqued back, and his feet left the ground. He hit the deck with a thud. Taking no chances Svetlana sprinted for the door, Ribka in tow. In the distance an alarm sounded.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, you two knuckle draggers can’t hold him up?” Catherine spat.

  KJ didn’t see the monk brothers react. Instead, they clasped KJ by the arms, hoisted him up, reaffirmed their grip, and began walking again. KJ wanted to stay, to fight, to find Svetlana. His plan had gone awry. He’d been so sure he’d heal quickly, but he’d lost so much blood. He was being dragged away and there was nothing he could do about it.

  They stopped for a moment to take stock of the situation. KJ could make out Nikolaj up front, holding K’awin. Nikolaj nodded and the troop trotted out. The moon must have been covered by a cloud, making it seem darker—and safer—than it was, because as soon as they stepped from the shadow, a cone of bright white moonlight shone down on them.

  “Hey!” came a shout from across the courtyard.

  “Fuck,” Catherine said. “Run!”

  KJ was thrown over Leo’s shoulder. He flopped and flailed like a rag doll as the monk bounded across the stonework. Unable to see, KJ could only make out shouting, and the occasional sound of knuckles or boots contacting flesh. He hoped his friends were winning.

  More running. They must have made it through that encounter.

  Suddenly the monk stopped, shoulders heaving with his labored breathing.

  “Put him down,” came a female voice.

  KJ was released to the mud. He looked up to see three guards, a woman and two men, all in field armor and headgear, like the cell guards. There would be no mind manipulation here.

  “Now on your knees,” the female soldier said leveling a rifle at them.

  His friends complied.

  “Fuck it all to hell,” Catherine said.

  “He’s hurt,” Lex said.

  “Badly,” Merry finished.

  No one seemed to care.

  “We have escaped prisoners here,” said a male guard, speaking into a hand-held radio. “All seem to be accounted for. One injury. May need medical assistance. Copy.”

  “Copy that”, came the reply.

  “I’m sorry, KJ,” Nikolaj said.

  KJ could only wheeze, a vignette of darkness obscuring his vision. He’d pass out soon for sure.

  “I’ll take them,” came a new female voice.

  KJ lifted his heavy head to see Svetlana march up to the soldiers, her face stern.

  “You can’t take them all, Svetlana,” the first woman said.

  “No, but I can take you, Alyona,” Svetlana fired back.

  Before Alyona could reply, Svetlana had struck her in the face. There was a blur of activity—a flurry of punches, elbows and kicks. Ribka bounded from the dark and into the fray. Several shots were fired off, but always seemed to miss their target. Both Igor and Leo joined the fracas, until eventually the three guards lay unconscious on the ground.

  Catherine leaped forward. “What’s this bullshit? What the fuck is going on?”

  Svetlana took a step back. “Get out of my face, I’m here to help.”

  “Why should we believe you?” Catherine yelled.

  KJ crawled forward and tried to clamber to his knees but failed miserably.

  Svetlana stared at each one of KJ’s friends. “You have to trust me. Read my mind, I’m not lying.”

  KJ used what little energy he had to probe Svetlana’s consciousness. She wasn’t lying. She remembered.

  Nikolaj climbed to his feet. “What now? We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Svetlana shook her head. “Leaving won’t help you. Follow me.”

  KJ was once again unceremoniously dragged from the ground. The troop scurried from shadow to shadow, through a small set of double doors that sat at the foot of one of the great temples, then down into a long corridor underground. One more uncomfortable drop down a makeshift ladder and KJ was eventually dumped, back against a wall, on a dusty floor littered with small metallic orbs.

  “We’ll be safe here for a minute. No one comes down here except me. But you all need to block your minds. No telepathy,” Svetlana said.

  “We need to help KJ,” Merry said, her hand on his shoulder.

  “He’s still bleeding,” Lex finished.

  “I brought a med kit,” Svetlana said, yanking a small bag from her utility belt. She emptied the contents onto KJ’s lap.

  He stared at the items. “A staple gun and a syringe? You shouldn’t have ...”

  “Always the damn joker,” Catherine said.

  Svetlana grabbed up the staple gun, prepped it and held it near his wound. “Hold his shirt up,” she said.

  Merry and Lex grabbed either side of his top and lifted to reveal the large open wound in his stomach.

  “This is gonna hurt,” Svetlana said, then pinched the wound and fired the first staple.

  KJ yelped in pain, then covered his mouth to muffle the sound. It was like being stabbed all over again. “Fuck, how many of those?” KJ asked.

  Svetlana eyed his wound. “Six.”

  “Jesus, fu—”

  Another staple was stamped into the slash.

  KJ screamed through his fingers.

  “Why are we here?” Nikolaj demanded. “You said leaving wouldn’t matter.”

  Svetlana put another staple in KJ and without looking up said: “You’re safer here, everyone else is going to die.”

  “I’m sorry, you want to repeat that?” Catherine snapped, her Irish lilt becoming stronger with her stress level. “I couldn’t quite make it out over his screaming.”

  Svetlana turned to the reporter. “Everyone else will die, only we and a few others will survive. Mostly those who are part of the Nine Veils. We are all in places like this, high in the mountains, self-sufficient. We’re the only ones who’ll survive it.”

  “Survive what?” Nikolaj asked. “The nuclear stations going critical?”

  Svetlana pulled the trigger, delivering another painful staple. “No, the asteroid.”

  “Asteroid?” KJ said through gnashed teeth and screwed up eyes.

  Svetlana sighed. “The stations, the assassinations were just meant to put the world on high alert, force the governments to initiate an ‘end of days’ protocol they’d designed. Something called Project Swiss Mountain. A proportion of the world’s population could be saved inside. Certain scientists, doctors, lawyers, whatever, would be moved in first. He has control of the project too.”

  “I don’t get it,” Catherine said. “Why would the Nine Veils want to save people?”

  “The Doyen wanted to start again, with those loyal to the Huahuqui as leaders, and the world’s top minds at his disposal. Everyone else is collateral damage. He said it was the universe’s will.”

  “Hang on,” Nikolaj interjected. “Who the hell is the Doyen? And NASA has detection systems for near Earth objects. T
hey would have seen this.”

  Svetlana delivered the final two staples, causing KJ to cry out. “The Doyen is the leader of the Nine Veils. And you’re right. Sentry did pick up the asteroid. The Doyen hijacked NASAs systems and made it say everything was okay. In fact, he turned NASAs own deflection program against them. He engineered the asteroid to ensure it hit us.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Catherine said, slumping to the ground. “When? How big is it?”

  “It’ll kill most life on earth,” Svetlana said flatly.

  KJ stopped pawing at his wound and looked up. “How long?”

  Svetlana shook her head. “I don’t know. Soon, I guess. We began ramping up operations in the last few weeks. He wouldn’t wait all this time just to rush it now.”

  “Can they stop it?” Nikolaj said. “NASA, I mean.”

  “I have no idea,” Svetlana replied, inspecting her handiwork. “I don’t even think they know they’ve been compromised. That’s why it’s safer here.”

  “If it’s safer here, why the rescue?” Catherine asked.

  “Because the Doyen wants to save those bonded to the Huahuqui, but I think Mother wants to end us all.”

  “Victoria you mean,” Catherine said.

  Svetlana nodded. “However bad you think the Doyen is, she’s worse. He has... rules. A code handed down by the Nine Veils over millennia. She doesn’t.”

  “We have to overthrow them both,” Nikolaj said.

  Svetlana raised her gaze to meet Nikolaj’s. “We just need to get to the Doyen. He will explain everything to you. You will see that this is all the universe’s plan. But Mother ...”

  “Are you insane?” Catherine snapped. “He sounds just as crazy as she does. We need to stop whatever they are both doing. Do you not see that? He stole you and the others here from their homes and made an army that would rule after he helps an asteroid destroy the world. That’s the very fucking definition of insane.”

  Svetlana hesitated, the words seemingly unable to flow freely “The universe... it was already going to happen ...”