by Gentry Race
Nathan thought hard and tried to imagine his favorite weapon, just as he’d done with Richter as kids. He tried to focus his thoughts on memories of something he’d encountered, but it was impossible to dream up something new. How could one imagine something they’d never seen before?
“Switch,” Hastings called out, “go ahead and increase his Æther feed.”
He couldn’t help his thoughts running to old squadron situations on distant worlds where he’d once led teams. Back then, they’d had some badass stolen guns. His hand became heavy, and he was in awe of the two RC-P90s that now protruded from his forearms. He studied their construction that mirrored those of his youthful days.
“Damn hell, this is awesome,” Nathan said, smiling.
“Nice one,” Hastings said, voxelizing a Type 91 Kai MANPAD rocket launcher. “But you gotta come with the big heat if you want to survive in here.”
Vix lengthened the familiar dual long blades from her forearms, taking a defensive stance as she held them together, ready for the showering of sparks to fly. Nathan saw the absence of fear in her eyes, and that comforted him, knowing she was ready for battle testing.
Beightol didn’t hesitate to voxelize two large tank cannons on his deltoid armor that he called the Breachers. He motioned for Fery to join him, and she became giddy when she climbed onto his broad shoulders. Something strange happened as she sat down and locked her legs around his thick neck. The material of their suits fused together, and they were now one.
“Uh, is that normal?” Nathan asked Hastings.
“The Voxel suits can combine if you’re in ‘tune’ with the other. Beightol and Fery… have a special relationship,” Hastings said. “You don’t truly know someone until you fight them.”
“Or fuck ‘em,” Tang said.
Nathan waited for Tang to get out of earshot. “In tune, eh? When do we combine?”
Hastings rolled her eyes, brushing off his awkward advance.
“What? I’m kidding,” Nathan said.
He couldn’t fathom the possibilities and was over the moon seeing Fery’s harpoon-like ranged weapon build up and link to Beightol’s Breachers. Nothing short of amazing.
“Alright, Psychonautz, spread out!” Tang yelled.
“Hold up,” Nathan interrupted. “We move as a team. Column file formation. I want Tang, Vix, and Hastings up front, forming a box, then Mishmash and Switch in the back. We leapfrog our way in.”
“Mishmash?” Fery asked in a suddenly interested voice.
“Yeah, you two, double trouble. We’ll be behind them,” Nathan said.
Fery cocked her head down, looking at the brooding Beightol. “Double your freshness, double your fun?”
Beightol’s head bobbed offbeat. “Double fresh, double good, Double Mint Gum.”
“Jesus, help me,” Nathan said, not getting the old reference.
“Okay, listen up. I’ve earned my right to lead a squad, and now you all need to learn what it takes to be a team and trust me. Follow my lead and I’ll show you what it means to be a soldier.”
The team looked skeptical but eventually fell into line.
“You da man, Boss,” Tang said, his face dripping with sarcasm and annoyance.
Nathan ignored him and pressed forward, weapons held high, scanning the trees while keeping one eye on the spacing of his team. There was nothing like when a squadron was in sync with each other, an extension of his command.
Nathan imagined what the bugs would look like and wondered if his “bad” eye would be able to discern their fast presence despite what Switch said.
A screeching sound echoed from the direction of the compound. The team kept their pace, not appearing to be bothered by the hideous noise. Nathan looked back at Switch and saw the glowing light reflecting a soft green onto his face as he fixated on the screen. He was like Richter and probably wanted to be in a virtual world rather than a real one.
The compound was closer now. The air was filled with the smell of bug funk and what was more than likely Tang’s ass after he hadn’t showered for three days. Nathan held his breath as they walked, allowing only occasional soft puffs through his mouth.
“It stinks out here,” Tang said.
“The hybrid bugs emit a stench when they’re fearful,” Switch said.
“That’s nice,” Fery said.
A ripple in the air caught Nathan’s attention, and he swung his RC-P90s to two o’clock while trailing the movement.
“I can see them.”
“Bullshit,” Switch called out.
Looking down the barrel of his scope, he saw the rippling of movement just outside the compound, and he counted the ripple to forty.
“We’ve got about forty bugs encircling the compound ten feet from the wall, and each one is stationed evenly apart. Let’s spread out and—”
“We’re too fast, too furious!” Fery screamed out as she and Beightol broke formation and charged toward the compound, crashing through the thick jungle trees. “Here comes the Beightol, bitch!”
The aliens uncloaked themselves when they heard the cry and responded with an onslaught of fire and fury.
“What the hell are they doing?” Nathan yelled out, hitting the ground for cover.
“What the hell are they saying?” Switch said, shaking his head.
Vix voxelized her blades horizontally just in time to take on the rapid fire that ricocheted off the strong metal. Her feet dug into the ground from the force.
“I can’t believe they abandoned us,” Switch said, bug-eyed and mouth agape.
Tang and Hastings were now in ditches a few feet apart from Nathan. Hastings voxelized a set of rockets that launched from her back. Tang propped up his arm and voxelized a large grenade cannon that lobbed smoke-trailing orbs. Nathan watched Fery and Beightol fire round after round from her ranged weapon and his tank shoulder cannons, missing every bug. A swift blow from the butt of a large rifle wielded by the enemy knocked them on their asses. The creature stood twice Beightol’s height and was visible to the naked eye. Colored with a tinge of yellow, it was holding a gun over the fallen ‘nauts.
The leader came out to play, and Nathan realized that this could work to their advantage.
“Switch, you said they were prideful, right?” Nathan asked.
“Extremely.”
Nathan was quiet for a moment as he searched his thoughts for a plan. And then it him. “Switch, route my voice into the audio channel of the world. Make it boom.”
“On it.”
“What you are going to do?” Hastings asked.
“I’m going to surrender,” Nathan said plainly.
“What?” she asked, obvious shock in both her expression and her voice.
Nathan’s voice echoed over the sky as he said, “Leader of Spillgoy, I am the Squadron Commander.”
The whizzing bullets stopped, and the leader perked up, transferring his attention from the helpless mishmash of Beightol and Fery. “Of course, you are. You slimy humans have no honor in battle.”
Nathan ducked down.
“New plan. I’ll surrender and challenge the leader to a fight. If he takes as much pride in being a soldier as Switch says the bugs do, that could buy us time.”
“Time for what, One-Eye?” Tang asked.
“For you three to circle behind them and attack from the flank.”
Tang smiled at Hastings despite his hesitation and distaste for the plan.
“What about you?” Hastings asked Nathan.
Tang was perplexed by her concern. “Forget it, I’ll do it. Besides, you want someone who can win.”
Nathan remembered how disrespectful Tang had been in the past, in the time loop. Since Hastings wasn’t showing enough strength to stand up to him, someone had to.
“I want you off my battlefield,” Nathan said, sternly. Tang’s eyes were on fire, and Nathan remembered that look of irritation and hatred from before.
“Your battlefield?”
Tang jumped at Nathan
’s throat, gripping with all his might.
“I’m gonna kill you, you son of a bitch.”
Nathan remembered his training, reaching under Tang’s hold and effectively breaking his grip. Tang stood there, his gaze fixed on something ethereal—not the fight—something Nathan hadn’t seen before.
“I got something I’ve been dreaming up for you, One-Eye,” Tang said, walking to Switch and kicking the computer that extended from his chest. He then voxelized a large hand cannon, grey and black in color, and different from his usual grenade launcher.
“Stop! What are you doing, Tang?” Hastings yelled out.
Nathan ducked and rolled just as Tang pulled the trigger. A blast hit the tree behind them, and goops of grey matter drizzled down the trunk to the dusty ground. Nathan watched a chain reaction as the voxels were destroyed, sinking to the Disaster Room floor and even eating through that.
“This grey goo has been in my mind for a while now,” Tang said and aimed the cannon at Nathan. “Just been waiting for the right use.”
Vix kick-flipped across the two, her body blurring with motion. She was trying to protect Nathan from Tang’s gun, and she didn’t stop, landing with two feet firmly planted. She quickly brought a kick down on Tang’s neck and he dropped to the ground.
The room grew red as Switch stopped the simulation and the trees receded back into the floor. In what seemed like slow motion, the dirt dissipated to reveal the cold grey paneling of the Disaster Room.
They had failed the test.
12
The room Nathan sat in was a deep blue, reminding him of the tail end of dusk where he’d grown up in Colorado. There was no red streaking the clouds, but he did notice small dots perforated all over the dome-shaped ceiling that resembled small stars. After the failed voxelation, Hastings had requested his presence in what they called the Stellar Dome.
Nathan had no idea what would happen next. He had failed to show what the team could be, but perhaps these crazies were too crazy to lead. Who the hell runs into a battle screaming war cries? Nathan felt like he was back in grade school and had been put in the Special Ed class.
A door opened, allowing in a small amount of light before closing again. Hastings was now inside.
“Will he be all right?” Nathan hesitantly asked, trying not to show concern for a man who had tried to kill him.
“Yeah, sorry for that." Hastings looked at him, nodding. "I'm not sure what Tang was gonna do. His serotonin levels must be depleted.”
“Is that a thing for him? Creating psycho weapons?” Nathan asked.
"Anyone can," Hastings said. "That's what’s so powerful about this technology."
"So what kind of brain-holes did you have to fill? I remember being led under your command, and you seemed fine."
Hastings chuckled. "That was from my time with you, our days on Ætheria."
"Right," Nathan said, feeling somewhat responsible. “Here’s that equivalent exchange thing again. What did you have removed?"
He watched her search for answers as if shuffling through hazy thoughts that she wished weren't there. "Should’ve had memories taken out instead."
Nathan knew which memories she would have had removed. Losing her mother to a cancerous death hadn’t been easy, but these things were what made people who they were. They were what made up a person’s entire psyche, the good and the bad. Without those memories, he wouldn't know that in one timeline, he and Hastings had been together. But he tried to suppress that thought, remembering he was here now.
"Listen," Nathan said, "I'm sorry about your mom."
"I'm sorry about Richter," she replied.
A sense of closure fell upon them both.
"What other kinds of things have you guys been dreaming up around here that I should know about?" Nathan asked, trying to lighten the subject.
Hastings was hesitant but then raised her hand and collapsed it within her wrist, leaving just a nub of the suit
"What the… ?"
“Dimension-collapsing is in the works."
"Now that’s impressive," he said with a nod.
"Nathan, these suits are powerful and capable of tapping into our vast imagination, but we must learn to control our thoughts,” Hastings said
“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. "You can tell that to Tang."
“I know,” she said, her mind contemplating many things. Her eyes moved to Nathan, showing regret. “He has a temper. It’s something we’re working on.”
Nathan recognized the uncertainty in her voice. “Something you guys are both working on? Or just you?”
She raised her arms, cutting him off. “I asked you here to show you what we’re up against, not to discuss my personal life."
"Right. So, how do you think the sim went? Me? I loved it when the crazy duo ran head first into enemy lines," he said sarcastically.
"Don’t let the failure of the voxelization sim discourage you," she said. “They only lack the light to show the way.”
“I hope that’s the case. You know I’m good for the job, even if it seems one-sided,” Nathan said, never looking away from her hazel eyes, which she tried to ignore. "But what the hell are we training for? We can't even leave this place for like a year."
“Let me show you," she said, magnifying into the center of the Milky Way. "This Stellar Dome allows us to see the breadth of the galaxy at our leisure. It’s filled with many things we don’t understand yet.”
A super-massive black hole was in the center, ripping through the fabric of space, and yet at the same time, spiraling out arms of dust and gas in which the Earth’s solar system was safely nestled.
“Gravity is hiding more than what we can see,” Hastings said, lowering herself onto both knees.
He followed suit. “Well, what’s it hiding?”
“The Voxel suits use the Æther that we hack from the seed to manifest whatever our psyche can dream up," Hastings clarified. "We don't know its full potentiality yet. A possible Level Three."
"Where does it come from?" He asked.
She raised her arms, now showing the entire galaxy on a holomap. A highlighted trajectory course lit up and traced its way toward Alpha Draconis. Nathan immediately recognized the constellation.
"We must train to get out of here," Hastings said, "and then go there."
Tang lay in his bed. His head was mush, and his body felt like it had gotten into a fight with tequila, and the tequila had won. He sat up, shaking off the pain. A bottle of booze sat opposite him, halfway gone, and he realized that he must have hit the bottle hard after the sim. Maybe it was booze that had kicked his ass, but then he remembered who hit him. Regret immediately flooded his mind, but he would never apologize. Vix was a bitch, and he saw her for her true colors.
A light rapping at the door startled him from his drunken thoughts. He slid off the bed, pulling up his falling trousers. Through the porthole, he could recognize the rainbow hair of Fery. Her long pink dress flowed past her knees but sported two high slits that ran up the sides of her thighs.
Tang opened the door and gestured for her to come in quickly. He leaned his head out, checking for any movement, and closed the brig door. Fery sat on his bed with her arms crossed in disappointment and a pout on her pretty face.
"Well, she had Vix hit you pretty hard."
Tang was silent. He cracked open the rest of the bottle, letting the harsh liquid burn down his throat and ignoring the embarrassing comment.
"You know, it's pointless for you to be with her any more," Fery continued.
"Shut your mouth," Tang said. "You don't know what we're about."
She was quiet, but her piercing eyes led him to believe this wasn’t the real reason she was there. She reached into her bra, pulling out a small vile of white liquid. "Time to supplement."
He smiled. Since their metabolisms were regulated in the Voxel suits, the alcohol effects he felt would pass in minutes, not hours. If they wanted something stronger, they had to go to the source, the go
od stuff. He never had no shit like what Fery had.
He’d met Fery a few months back while making a routine trip to the Reform Facility to visit Hastings. Tang always had a soft spot for a redhead, but in Fery's case, he included blue, green, and yellow into the mix.
"Is our agreement still on?" Fery asked, crossing one leg over the other.
Tang's mind was cloudy as he tried to remember what the hell she was talking about, but the moment of forgetfulness passed and he remembered helping her break out of the HOLE. He’d been frequenting the Tripple T to meet up with her and get a quick lay all supposedly with no strings attached. Now she wanted his help to get Beightol out of there, clean. All that for a lay? He should have known better than to get involved with a girl like Fery. She was great in bed but not worth the psycho drama baggage that came along with it.
"Right," Tang said. "So, you couldn't live without your big daddy?"
"I was fine for a while, but then I started to miss him," Fery said. "Thank god Nathan, a real man, showed up."
"Nathan won't be here for much longer," he said, raising his voice.
"Oh yeah? Are you gonna show him who's boss? Or let Hastings do that for you?"
Tang lunged at her. His grip tightened around her neck and he slammed her onto the bed. Her eyes swelled with pain and she smiled in excitement. Tang felt sort of ill when he realized she was aroused by his violence.
"That's right, big boy. Just like when you used to fuck me outside the bar," she said.
Tang let her go and went back to the bottle that comforted him. Fery lay there, still sprawled on the bed. "We need a plan other than just finding a way. We want these suits, and we need the trackers disabled."
"Bitch, you are crazy," Tang fired back, taking a drink.
She smiled and made her way to the edge of the bed, morphing into a sexier, more kitten-like demeanor. "Baby, you know I love yo' mama."
Tang was amused by the urban inner-city impersonation she was trying on. Even though Fery was a loose cannon, he liked her sickness, and he had never been done by a woman like the way she did. She was pure toxicity.
