by James Walker
“Keep going,” Pierson shouted. “Into the subway station, quick!”
The rebels descended the stairs into the station. Seeing Celeste struggling with the steps, Cena came forward and lent the augment her shoulder. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Cena let Celeste stand on her own and strode past the unmanned ticket booth, then leapt onto the tracks, being careful to avoid stepping on the rails.
“We're walking on the tracks?” one of the soldiers exclaimed. “That seems safe.”
“It's fine,” Cena replied. “I'll bet the subways aren't even running. Even if they are, we'll hear them coming in plenty of time to get out of the way.”
“Saris' Eyes,” the soldier spat. “The fun never stops in Hongpan.”
The rebels filed onto the tracks and followed Cena down the tunnel. Despite their fears, no subways came down the tracks to challenge their advance. After following the tunnel for some distance, Cena led them into a side passage that connected with a maze of maintenance corridors. In one nondescript passage, she uncovered a concealed entrance that led even deeper into the earth.
Upon descending into the Undercity, Cena's sense of direction grew less certain. They spent hours wandering through old caverns and abandoned warrens with nothing to light the way but their flashlights. Gradually, the tension of battle frenzy gave way to the quiet, nagging fear of losing their way within the immense darkness, not knowing who else dwelt within the ancient labyrinth. Celeste stumbled and fell numerous times; yet, helped along by the others, she was able to keep pace with the group despite her grievous injuries.
Finally, after a monotonous eternity of wandering through the depths, they reached environs that were more familiar to Cena, and she grew more confident in her lead once again. Discarded trash with P.S.A. markings suggested that the Agency had occupied this part of the Undercity following the battle where they had defeated the Greenwings cell and taken Astral prisoner. The distant echo of human voices added further evidence that this section of the Undercity had become occupied. Cena steered her comrades in a wide berth around this region, taking a roundabout path to the Undercity's westernmost exit, located outside the bounds of the surface city.
At last, they reached an unpowered airlock connected to a manual crank. Pierson came forward to operate the crank, opening the first gate with a slow grinding of metal. They repeated the process for the second gate and emerged into a slimy cave that sloped sharply upward.
The rebels climbed out of the cave and finally emerged on the side of a hill overlooking an expanse of green fields. On the horizon, the tiny orb of the sun sank behind the earth just as Saris' gigantic countenance also descended to kiss the ground. For a brief instant the sun, caught in the crack between Saris and the horizon, flared with a stunning brilliance that flooded the sky with light, illuminating the clouds with sparkling radiance. Then the brief moment ended and the first stars of nighttime began to peek through the deepening heavens.
“I can't believe it.” Vic stumbled into the fresh air, caressed by a breeze that whisked across the fields. “We made it out alive.”
FINAL MESSAGE: VIC ~ TO BANISH THE DARKNESS
64
A rugged transport VTOL flew over the clearing in the forest outside Light's Edge, rustling the foliage with the wash from its thrusters. Once it set down in the middle of the clearing, Amos and Esther climbed inside together with the surviving members of the Turncoats exosuit squadron, save for Celeste. Astral came last, disguised in a secretary's uniform and wearing a holographic projector that hid her third eye from view. Once everyone was loaded into the transport, it took off and flew over the town, then the reflective surface of Inverted Sound, aiming for a gap in the mountains on the far side of the water.
“It's a shame Celeste couldn't come with us,” said Cena, who was seated opposite from Vic.
“She'll need a lot of time to recuperate,” Esther said. “Her augmentations kept her alive. A normal human never would have survived such severe injuries. But those same augmentations also prevent me from giving her standard regeneration treatment. She'll have to recover the long, hard way; and even then, I'm afraid her physical abilities will be permanently impaired. I'm strongly considering having her declared unfit for combat.”
Cena dropped her gaze. “That's tough.”
“It might be for the best,” Vic said. “The Union made her do terrible things. But now, her final actions as a soldier were those of a hero. Maybe that will help her find peace.”
“I'm curious to know what's up with our little Syneger,” Tinubu nodded at Astral. “What's with the getup? Are you assigning her to the staff section, Colonel?”
“I thought it would be safer for Astral to accompany us, rather than leaving her behind at the base,” Amos replied. “As for her appearance, I think we'd better keep her true identity a secret for now.”
Tinubu looked searchingly at Amos. “Seems kind of sneaky. What need is there to hide her from our own allies?”
Amos' expression grew dark. “From SLIC's perspective, Astral's primary value lies in being under our custody and not in the hands of the Therans. Beyond that, her powers are at great risk of being abused—even by our own allies, if they had the opportunity. There's a lot to lose by being too free with her secrets.”
“That's a pretty harsh indictment of our fellow resistance members,” Tinubu said.
“Would you still think so,” Amos replied, “if I told you that General Demir will be presiding over this conference?”
A flicker of disquiet showed in Tinubu's eyes.
“General Demir will probably use this meeting to take command of all operations on the continent,” Amos went on. “That's the main reason why I've chosen not to disclose Astral's identity.”
Tinubu sighed. “If only we hadn't lost General Childers.”
“And Colonel Artega,” Esther added.
“We've lost a lot of good men in this brutal war,” Amos said. “I just hope it's not all in vain.”
Although Vic offered no comment on the situation, his comrades' unease tainted his own thoughts with anxiety. Over the past month, his world had been turned upside down and his life had been put in jeopardy on numerous occasions. Somehow, he had managed to survive several battles against superior Theran forces, and he had even neutralized the carrier of a Messenger syndrome pandemic. Yet even to this moment, he had acted primarily out of survival, as well as a desire to learn more about Astral and the alien entity that communicated through her. His suspicions of the rebellion's motives had taken a back seat to a succession of crises, but now Amos' words brought all that unease back. Was he now to be caught up in the intrigues of the resistance as they plotted to exploit the weakened Theran presence?
Vic glanced at Astral, who was staring at the light glistening off the waves beneath them, seemingly oblivious to her situation. If only, Vic thought, she could share some of that obliviousness with him.
*
After an hour of travel, the transport reached another coast and entered a region more arid than the verdant hills and forests it had left behind. A land of brown dust spread out below, broken up by stony ridges and outcroppings. Finally, the transport reached a canyon flanked by old metal buildings and filled with crisscrossing pipes, all that remained of a settlement from before Chalice's atmosphere had been rendered breathable.
The transport descended into the canyon, weaving its way perilously through the web of pipes that joined one cliff to the other. Halfway down, the transport set down on a landing pad that jutted from the side of the cliff. The passengers filed out of the transport and stood in front of an old airlock that provided access to a warren of tunnels inside the canyon wall. Both of the airlock's gates had been left open, and a series of lights connected to a portable generator illuminated the corridor beyond. Clouds of dust danced within the feeble light emitted by the electric lanterns.
“Not the most welcoming accommodations,” Cena observed.
They entered the structure and encountered a gro
up of guards who verified their identities, then followed the guards' directions to a chamber farther inside. Their destination was an old storage chamber that had been converted into a briefing room, with several rows of chairs assembled in front of a large screen. Senior officers from numerous SLIC cells conversed in front of the screen while many of the chairs were already occupied with junior officers and enlisted troops. Amos went to join the other senior officers while the rest of the group found free seats.
“That must be General Demir,” whispered Cena, who took the seat next to Vic's.
Vic followed her gaze to the highest-ranked officer in the room. The general was a small man with a thin mustache, a rigid face that looked like it had been chiseled out of stone, and eyes that seemed to look through everyone. His physical stature was unimpressive, but there was an intensity about him that gave him a commanding presence.
“He looks like a man who means business,” Vic observed.
Cena looked unimpressed. “I kind of thought there'd be more of him.”
“Maybe we should be glad there isn't,” Vic replied.
Cena chuckled. “Don't let him hear you saying that.”
Vic noticed a handful of attendees looking curiously at Astral, who was seated on his other side opposite from Cena. Even with her third eye hidden, Astral's small stature and ghostly features made her stand out. But her unusual appearance was not enough to hold their interest for long, and they soon returned to their conversations.
“I wonder if it was really a good idea to bring her with us,” Cena whispered.
“Keeping her at the base would have been problematic too. She needs kind of a lot of supervision.” Vic glanced at Astral and added, “No offense. Just that, so much of the world is still new to you, so...”
Astral returned Vic's look with a large, uncomprehending stare. He sighed and said, “Never mind. Just make sure to be quiet once the meeting starts, OK?”
One last cell leader and his entourage came in after the Aqualungs. The leader joined the other senior officers at the front while his subordinates found their seats. Then all of the senior officers except General Demir stood off to the side while the latter called the meeting to order.
“Time to get started,” Demir said. He spoke Forth with a slight accent, but his speech was crisp, almost hurried in its cadence. “Recent events have caused the Theran presence on Chalice to become severely weakened. This is our best opportunity for a strike using the combined strength of all available cells. First, let us go over the latest intelligence provided to us by Orochi.
“As you all know, a T.U. Spacy officer by the name of Falsrain recently attempted a coup. Spacy High Command sent a flotilla of three vessels to counter him, but he managed to destroy them all. Although this represents only a small fraction of the total power of Spacy's Sarisan fleet, their remaining vessels are so heavily committed to maintaining order in other parts of the system that this gives us a large window of opportunity to seize control of Chalice before they can muster another response.”
“What about the commodore's own vessel?” Amos asked. “The Onyx Down?”
“Whereabouts unknown,” Demir said. “But as it is highly likely that the entire crew was infected with Messenger syndrome, I wouldn't consider it a threat. If they aren't dead already, they will be soon.”
He continued, “Although it turns out that Falsrain was some kind of carrier for Messenger syndrome, a daring assault by Aqualung eliminated the threat and succeeded in containing the pandemic. However, the spread of the disease caused heavy casualties in Hongpan and Port Osgow before it was contained. The port is currently closed off and the capital is in chaos, with the thin remnants of the garrison struggling to maintain order under a state of martial law. Reinforcements have been brought in to bolster the devastated garrison, but even so, their defenses are weaker now than they have ever been before. Additionally, the nearby Spacy base, Fort Spriggan, is incapable of providing support since it was obliterated by the Onyx Down as part of Falsrain's coup.
“In other words,” Demir's voice rose in pitch, “Chalice is ripe for the picking. This is the time to strike. With a combined assault on the capital, we can easily overwhelm the few remaining defenders, seize control of the governor's palace and the parliament, and install a new government. If we can also seize Port Osgow, then we can gain control of the air and destroy any army that tries to rise against us. My friends, freedom and independence are ours for the taking!”
The room erupted in cheers. Vic looked around in surprise. The general's speech certainly seemed to have stirred the hearts of most of the attendees.
“But first,” Demir shouted, quieting the cheers, “we have some housecleaning to do. During his inaugural broadcast, Commodore Falsrain shared some rather interesting information. Namely, the true identity of Major Pierson Cutter, actually Admiral Andre Maximillian, the infamous Pirate Hunter and murderer of thousands of our comrades. Before we can push forward with our final bid for independence, we must cut this tumor free of our body, lest it metastasize and poison us all. Guards, bring the traitor forward!”
The room erupted into an uproar as several guards came forward, forced Pierson to his feet, and dragged him to the front of the room. Pierson managed to break free and punched one of the guards in the face, but was immediately struck in the back with the butt of another guard's rifle. As he staggered from the blow, the guards managed to wrestle his arms behind his back and slap a pair of manacles on his wrists.
Everyone in the Turncoats squadron jumped to their feet. Cena took a step forward, fire burning in her eyes and one fist poised to smash the first face that came within range. Vic grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back just as the guards turned their weapons on them.
“Um, General.” Amos started to take a step forward. “Isn't this a little—”
“We're not quite finished,” Demir exclaimed. “According to the report I received, Captain Ekwueme Tinubu allowed the traitor Maximillian to take command during the operation to eliminate Falsrain, in violation of direct orders. Such conduct is unacceptable. Place the captain under arrest as well.”
The guards came forward to restrain Tinubu who, realizing the futility of fighting back, offered no resistance. Cena tried to lunge for the guards and once again had to be held back by Vic, who could barely contain the thrashing of her wiry frame.
“This is outrageous,” Esther exclaimed.
“What the hell is this?” Cena shouted. “We saved Chalice from the threat of a global pandemic, and this is the thanks we get?”
“This is the thanks that traitors and insubordinates get,” Demir replied. “As for the rest of you—indeed, you are heroes, and you shall be treated as such. Particularly Vic Shown, the man who dealt the killing blow to Falsrain. Now that Major Cutter's true identity has been revealed, he is nothing but a liability. But the man who killed Falsrain will make a fitting replacement as our new hero. With him to serve as our standard bearer, many will flock to our cause.”
Demir extended a hand to the Turncoats. “Step forward, Vic Shown. Let everyone see the face of the hero who saved Chalice.”
Vic's grip on Cena slackened, which allowed her to break away. She turned around and looked expectantly at him, along with Esther and all the rest of the attendees. Vic returned the sea of stares with bewilderment.
“Don't fight them, Vic,” Esther whispered. “There's nothing to be gained by it here.”
Vic's gaze fell on Astral. She no longer seemed oblivious or benignly curious; rather, she was looking up at him in alarm. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, then made his way out of the aisle and came forward to join General Demir at the front of the room. Demir seized his shoulder in an iron grip and thrust his other hand in the air.
“A cheer,” he shouted. “A cheer for the savior of Chalice!”
At Demir's command, the room broke out in cheers. A bitter taste crept into Vic's mouth in response to the applause. Perhaps under different circumstances he wou
ld have been content to be lauded as a hero, but this display made his stomach turn.
The cheering seemed to go on forever, like some kind of cacophonous nightmare. When at last the noise began to die down, Vic came to a decision and mustered his courage to carry it through.
“General,” he said, his voice cutting through the dying applause, “if you regard me as a hero, would you listen to something I have to say?”
Demir turned his calculating eyes on Vic. “What is it, Corporal?”
“Is it necessary to arrest Major Cutter and Captain Tinubu?” Vic asked. “Major Cutter's actions have greatly advanced the rebellion's cause. Surely when you measure his accomplishments against the offense of keeping his identity a secret, his deeds carry the greater weight.”
Demir's grip on Vic's shoulder tightened. “My boy, it's not merely a matter of hiding his identity. As the Pirate Hunter, he crushed countless uprisings and killed thousands of our comrades. Surely when you measure that against his accomplishments, his crimes carry the greater weight. Obviously so infamous an enemy commander cannot be trusted.”
“But he's spent years dealing crushing defeats to the Theran Union and strengthening the rebellion's cause,” Vic objected. “A Theran agent would never go so far. The only conclusion is that he's had a genuine change of heart.”
“He is Theran born and bred,” Demir spat. “They cannot be trusted. They are all filthy parasites who grow bloated from feeding on the blood of the colonies. One does not cooperate with a parasite. One tears it free from one's flesh and grinds it into the earth.”
Vic tensed. He did not know why he was pushing his luck so far. Perhaps he was simply so disgusted with the corruption of the world that he no longer cared what happened. Whatever the reason, he uttered his next words fully aware of their gravity.
“And if I said I'm Theran-born, too?” he said evenly. “What then?”
Demir shoved Vic back, his eyes narrowed into deadly slits. “Are you so eager to join him?” he hissed. “You could have the prestige and honor of a hero of the new order, but you would rather be loyal to your Theran roots? It seems your squadron is rife with traitors.”
