Marie takes in a sharp breath, and squeezes Vernon’s hand as she watches the feed from the virtual tournament being broadcast across the ship. She is seated next to Vernon in his dive chair, and her heart races as the fight takes place. Maldone is seated on the other side of Vernon.
“So I take it you aren’t really on this ship?” Marie asks Maldone with heat behind her words.
“Very astute of you, and yes I am not onboard physically. Though you could say that with technology now-a-days, along with the help of the HaLO Virtual Network, who needs to be somewhere physically to experience anything.”
Vernon tries to open his eyes but everything is bright, and a persistent ringing sound fills his ears. He makes an effort to see if everything is still there, and isn’t surprised when he can’t find a spot on his body that isn’t screaming in agony. His eyes crack open into slits, make out a figure walking over to him – knowing that it’s Big John – but he still can’t make it out. He lays his head back down and thinks about losing. There isn’t much riding on this fight that he needs to really push himself this much for. He could figure something out with Maldone, or just try to brush off the extremely wealthy and powerful businessman. He didn’t care about his title as the first winner of the high school MMA Tournament, and what this might do to his reputation. He could use his light, but just isn’t sure this is the right place to even use his ace in the hole. That, or if it would even work in this virtual space. Using it might expose him to the people his parents are worried about, but he will have to worry about that later. His HaLO should have recorded him using it before, but that doesn’t mean anything. Tyler and Rajini both didn’t have a clue as to where it came from or how powerful it really is, and they had access to that data just as much as this program did.
Vernon takes a deep breath. He doesn’t want to lose, it may be pride talking – but he doesn’t want to lose. He focuses inward, at the center of his chest, like opening a door. He feels the light flowing out and over his body.
His vision returns.
Big John finally smiles, as he stands over Vernon, and extends out his hand again. Vernon can feel him gathering energy into his hand, and balls up his fist by his side. He had never really tried to throw it before, but it’s now or never. A bluish white light covers his fist, and starts to flow up his arms. He takes another deep breath, and redoubles his focus on keeping the light in a ball. It stops midway up his forearm, and begins to slowly flow back onto his fist.
Marie shifts uncomfortably in her seat, as she sees the light. The last time she had seen Vernon use it was four years ago, and it brought back bad memories. She looks over to Maldone, who seems very pleased.
He says, “Looks like your husband is going to actually take this seriously. For a moment there I thought he was going to allow himself to lose.”
“Then you don’t know him like I do, Mr. Maldone.”
Vernon throws his fist toward Big John, imagining the light leaving his fist, and hitting Big John. The light fires off his hand like a bullet, connecting with Big John’s face, laying him out on the ground – with a snap of breaking bones – ending the match.
Vernon’s avatar gets reset, and Amber steps down off the platform next to the white throne. Maldone’s voice fills the coliseum as he introduces Amber, and wishes her luck with the match. Her expression is almost blank, as if she wasn’t really all there.
Amber says in monotone to Vernon, “You unique. Hope brother watching.”
Vernon gets a creepy chill that runs down his whole body as the words leave her mouth. She sounded almost robotic to him. With his magic unrestricted this time by the Johns technique, he shouldn’t have any trouble with robotically voiced woman, and closes his eyes to try and relax. He can hear the countdown begin, and opens his eyes.
Amber tilts her head slightly, lips twitching open to show her polished white teeth. “I want see light again.” She says softly.
The match starts with Amber casting a spell on herself. Vernon isn’t sure what to expect, but the few spells he had seen cast that way were never good on the receiving end. She is standing about thirty yards away, so he charges his boots so he can clear the distance and hopefully end the match quickly. As he takes in a breath, she closes the distance before he can react, grabbing his face.
She says, “No, I want see light.”
Then throws him across the coliseum floor.
Vernon flies across seventy yards of sand covered floor, flipping end over end, to pass through three feet of concrete and slams into the virtual space’s edge. He lays there in the rubble, trying to make sense of what just happened. Wiggling his toes and fingers he checks to see if he can still move. His whole body is throbbing, but the training he went through is paying off it seems. He slowly stands, and gets an eye on where Amber is. She hadn’t moved since she threw him. He walks out back onto the coliseum floor, and the crowd erupts into cheers. He doesn’t dare to look around, and thinks about what his next move should be. Another spell lights up beneath Amber, and she vanishes. Vernon frantically looks around for her, but she is nowhere to be seen.
“The light, show me.” Amber’s voice whispers into his ears.
Vernon’s eyes go wide, and he becomes as stiff as a board, not moving or even breathing.
“Sorry, brother says be polite. Please show light.”
Vernon turns to face Amber. She is inches away from him, and her eyes are the same distant shade of brown. He can feel his pulse in his ears, and the heat in his face, as she stares at him.
“Ok. I can show it to you, but you may lose when I do.” His voice comes out weak.
“Thank you.” She says followed by another flash of light, vanishing again.
Vernon slowly looks around the arena. He finds her a few yards away behind him again, staring intently. He shivers. With the creepy way she talks, and her vacant stare, he wants to end this quickly. If he uses his light he may be able to track her long enough to hit her, so he doesn’t really have anything to lose, other than this match. Bringing forth the light around himself was simple enough, but knowing how to use it this time was going to be the challenge. Amber was amazingly fast, and Vernon was at a loss on how to deal with it. A flash of a spell appears around her, and she vanishes.
Vernon, on intuition, turns to where his back was and tries to block. Her fist hits as he crosses his arms over his face. He skids backward a few yards, and she recoils from the attack – taking a step backward. Her head turns to look behind her, and Vernon takes the chance to counter. He opens his right palm and lunges at her with a chopping motion. The light extends out a few inches beyond Vernon’s fingers forming a point. Amber catches his wrist, wincing as she does. Vernon presses harder, taking her down to one knee. She locks eyes with him, and he can see the joy in her face.
“You, strong.”
Vernon is unnerved by the emotion, and can feel his light dimming. He focuses some of what he has to his left hand.
He says, “Thanks,” and he releases the light, like a bullet at her face.
Her body soars across the coliseum, bursting into flames. Vernon’s jaw drops, as abnormally long molten arms dart out from the flaming mass, bringing it to a halt. The mass falls to the ground and bubbles back into a humanoid form. Shoulder length hair dances atop her head like flame on a candle, with her body pulsing in molten goo, glowing between bright orange and dull yellow.
Vernon lets out a sigh, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re a fire elemental.”
A second set of smaller molten arms come out from her sides as four red diamond shaped eyes open where her face would be, all focusing on Vernon. He was already running low on energy, and with her transforming, he isn’t sure if he will be able to pull this one out. The longer set of arms stretch out toward Vernon. As they fly at him, he can see the sand turning to glass under them. He gathers all the bluish white light he has left into a single pin point within his right palm. He extends it out toward Amber, and fires it.
The
arms continue to fly past Vernon as they lose their shape, with a flash of molten heat, his skin burns and his breath leaves his body. The shot had pierced through the molten carapace, hitting Amber in the shoulder, disrupting her spell. Vernon falls to his knees, breathing heavily, trying to remember this is only a virtual space – but his body feels like mush and brain is worn out. Using the light had always taken it out of him, and his training with Rajini was meant to test his limits. In four years he had nearly doubled what he was able to do, plus he didn't pass-out anymore after using it. In a real fight, it was still too dangerous to use, unless as a last resort.
Amber falls to her knees with a smile across her face as her head falls limply to the ground. Vernon then appears next to the white throne, avatar reset, and standing. He takes a deep breath, but still feels fatigued. Maldone stands up from his throne and congratulates Vernon as the victor, along with the finalists for making it to face the champion. The crowd is a mixture of cheers and boos. Vernon disconnects from the virtual space, and Marie is standing over him, smiling.
“Good job babe!”
“Thanks, but I am worn out. Let’s not do anything else too taxing today, alright.”
“Alright, but we are still going around the ship, there are parts of it we haven’t seen yet.” Marie’s face sets into a tiny frown.
Vernon smiles, “That sounds like a plan to me.”
Maldone takes a few steps over the couple, “Congratulations Mr. Douglas, that was quite the show you put on there at the end.”
Vernon’s heart starts beating fast again. He hadn’t thought it might be a bad idea to show off his abilities in front of Maldone.
“Yea, thanks. It was a special energy rune I use.” He lies.
“Energy rune you say, well you will have to show that to me some time Mr. Douglas, because it is absolutely enthralling.”
Vernon knows this is going to come back to bite him in the ass later, so he tries to change the subject. “So, about my payment?”
“Ah, yes, already transferred to your account. No need to worry, I am a man of my word.”
Marie chimes in, “Now if you don’t mind Mr. Maldone, we are going to get back to our honeymoon.”
“Of course, and I hope the rest of your trip is enjoyable.” Maldone bows his head, and walks out of the Dive Bar.
Vernon pulls up his wallet on the overlay, and sees the funds already available to him.
“Hey Marie, look at this.”
He swipes the screen to face her, and her lips start to part with amazement filling her eyes.
“It’s actually there. I thought he was just going to mess with us.” She says.
“That will solve a few problems for a while, now won’t it. Let’s get back to just us on this honeymoon.”
28
Light creeps into the bedroom through the curtains, with Vargas’ arm over his face – still awake from the night before – thinking about what happened yesterday. Davon Maldone had to come and get them out of Aspiration’s Jail. He and Amber were tasered by the cities automated prevention system, and left to die at the hands of three killers. By some stroke of luck the person, or entity, that was about to purchase stolen merchandise stepped in and flexed his own muscle. It was only to show who was in charge and not for their sake.
He looks over to Amber, still asleep, and he’s glad she was able to rest. Today would be some work for her. Maldone wanted to be compensated for his time, and naturally already had a form of payment in mind. He had already secured another champion for his tournament, but wanted one more ace in the hole. Amber was that ace. She was now participating in his tournament for a million credits to whoever won. If she won, it would all go back to Maldone, which would be the payment, or if she could throw it to the champion. That would be even better.
Vargas didn’t like the idea of rigging the fights, but knew that was one of the goals the Johns had been hired to setup. Even if they were beaten to it. He looks at the palm of his hand, closing and opening his fist slowly.
He thinks. I’m not going to lose anyone else. Not again. Not ever.
“But she already knows everything, I can’t hide it from her.”
You don’t have to, let her be backup, you can be out in front. If there is any danger, it would be only you.
Vargas shakes his head. “Even I need help from time to time.”
I can’t lose her.
“No I can’t.”
He rolls over on his side, facing her. Blond hair everywhere, with a wet spot on her pillow next to her mouth. She is sleeping peacefully, as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I won’t put her into another situation like I did yesterday. Ever.”
It might not be enough, but it’s better than what ‘she’ had.
A message is sent to Vargas, from Charles. He opens it: I have something to tell you, find me in the meeting room where we last spoke in fifteen minutes.
This was unexpected, but welcome. He didn’t have any other leads, and this just might be one. He carefully gets out of bed, trying not to wake Amber.
I can figure all this Amber business later, I guess.
“Yea, I guess. I just really wish I could have gotten the chance to introduce her to mom. She would have liked her.”
Yea, she would have.
He gathers his clothes, and leaves the room. It didn’t take him but a few minutes to reach the turn down the hallway where the meeting room was. It was right off the main promenade in the center of the ship. There is an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, like someone is watching him. He looks around, trying to find someone casually or purposefully watching. A man in the jewelry shop looks up at him, but he goes back to talking to a customer inside the store.
A woman sitting down at the drink shop to the left of the jewelry store is looking at him longingly. Could she really be watching him or is it his imagination. He turns the other direction, and there is man waving at her, and she waves back. Vargas shakes his head. With what happened yesterday, with the Johns on the cruise ship, knowing what he looks like. He feels understandably jumpy, but tries to remain calm.
The hallway was clear of people, and he can see the open door from where he stood. Walking slowly to the door, he peers into the room, and sees Charles in the same seat at the back of the room. The man is slumped over face in his hands, crying. It was a deep sobbing cry, where his whole body was convulsing with each moan.
Vargas steps into the room, and Charles stops sobbing with a few sniffs.
“Everything alright?” Vargas asks.
He shakes his head, looking down at the table, “No. Everything is not alright.”
“Tell me about it Charles.”
“I was the one who hired the Johns to kill Miku Fidona.”
Vargas’ fingers twitch on his hand, wanting to activate his gunlet, but he hesitates. His was the voice in the cabin that day, they bumped into him on the way out of the Dive Bar. He should have tried to connect the two but didn’t.
“Why?”
Charles laughs, “Why!? Why, it was because of that bastard Davon Maldone, that’s why!” His breathing gets heavy, and laughs between words. “I was supposed to be the head of his security, ME. Not that rundown fighter. You would not believe what I had to do to get where I am.”
“So you hire out someone to kill her, why not prove you’re better?”
“You don’t understand, once Maldone has made a decision you don’t get to just voice your opinion. He made his choice, and the only way to undo it would be to remove her. Now there is this whole thing with the Johns and not having a buyer for the stolen HaLO. They’re going to kill me if they don’t get paid.”
“And if you go to Maldone, you’ll be killed for stealing from him.”
“Exactly. Once he gets his HaLO I stole back from him, my life is all but forfeit.”
“So why do you think I wouldn’t just turn you in right now to Maldone, I am working for him at the moment?”
“Becau
se. You’re a Paladin, I knew the whole time. Maldone wants results, and only hires those who will get them.”
“Then hand over HaLO to me, you didn’t kill Miku anyway. If you do that, I wait till your gone and tell Maldone I found out you did it later. It will let you get a small head start.”
“How will I know that you will live up to your part of the bargain?”
“You don’t. This is the only offer that I’m giving you, or I’ll just go to Maldone right now. I’m pretty sure all I have to do is send him a message and he will have Phillips here before we can blink.”
Charles flinches at the mention of Phillips. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Good, hand over the HaLO.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the HaLO bracelet, placing it on the table.
“Slide it over to me.”
He nods, and does so. Vargas grabs it in his hand, and looks at it for a moment. He had never seen a HaLO that wasn’t attached to someone. It was thicker than his, and didn’t seem to have the connections that would latch to a person. On one side there was etched: P.I.L.O.T.. There was also a latch that wasn’t normally there, on any other HaLO he had ever seen before.
“Is this everything that you stole?”
He nods.
“How’d you do it?”
“I knew they were bringing in a special item for Maldone. Since I know everyone in security. I just asked them to let me take it down for them, and they did. I swapped out the contents for a disintegration rune I had been working on, and set a timer. From there it was all very simple, just wait it out.”
“Simple until I started poking around, and then the Johns started putting pressure on you.”
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 36
