by Adam Matlow
“Normally he would be able to yes, but the destruction of my ship will have scrambled everything electronic for miles. Even his technology is not immune to the effect. He’ll probably start his search with New Hope though, he knows it’s the most likely place we’ll go.”
They continued for several minutes, the enormity of everything Marcus had seen and heard running through his mind. He took Vana’s arm and stopped. She turned to face him, her face covered in the dust that lay thickly over everything.
“I need to know. Do you think you can pull it off?” asked Marcus.
Vana remained silent for a few seconds. She tilted her head back and looked him squarely in the eye.
“I can do it. I can put it out of action, nothing else matters.”
“And after that? Are you going home? I mean, can you even get back home if you manage to take this thing out?”
“I’d like to thinks so. But who knows? Nothing has gone to plan since the moment I arrived here. I’m only thinking of the here and now, and I’ll deal with that if or when the need arises. That’s why I’m doing this alone. I can’t ask anyone else to risk themselves for my ill-fated mission.”
“When you go, I’m coming with you,” said Marcus quickly.
Vana shook her head and waved a hand dismissively.
“I won’t put you in any more danger. You have already done far too much for me.”
“You’re not putting me in danger. I’m putting me in danger. After everything we’ve been through, and everything you have told me I won’t let you do this on your own.”
“But this is not your fight. I brought this upon you.”
“Of course it’s our fight! His people tried to wipe us out. They made it our fight. Besides, if they are not stopped they will continue to do this to other races, correct?”
Vana crouched and run her hands through a patch of wilting grass. “Almost certainly.”
“I can’t sit by the wayside knowing they will continue to destroy whole races, not when we have a chance to stop them. And I think you will find many people here, when given the facts, would agree with me.”
“You would risk your lives to protect people you do not know, or may never meet, but why?”
“It’s in our own best interest, but that’s probably not the only reason. We like to have a cause. Something to believe in that’s bigger than ourselves. And what could be bigger than this? But the biggest reason is probably, at times, us humans can be monumentally stupid. But you’d be surprised how often that’s worked out for us in the past.”
The frown on Vana’s face melted into a wide smile. Her eyes came alive and sparkled in the dying light of the day.
“What?” asked Marcus.
“It’s nothing. Just-- it’s refreshing to be around people who aren’t afraid to face the future.”
“I didn’t say we weren’t afraid, but at this point, we don’t have much of a future left. So, if we’re going to go down, then we’ll go down fighting.”
“But there’s so little hope for all of us. How can anyone go on knowing that?”
“That’s what can bring out the best in us. There’s no such thing as a hopeless cause, not so long as there’s one person who will stand up against it. Hope is infectious and very difficult to ignore.”
Vana stared blankly at Marcus.
“What?” he asked after a few moments.
“Nothing, I-- you got me thinking that’s all. I didn’t expect to hear something like that, from you.”
“Yeah, I know, but don’t worry. It won’t be long before I say something ridiculous to make up for it. Come on, let’s get moving. I’m starting to freeze.”
◆◆◆
An hour later they found themselves approaching the chain link fences surrounding New Hope.
“Do you think we will be able to get in unnoticed?” asked Vana.
“No problem. There are a few ways in and out of New Hope that are still unguarded. I use them to sneak out past the checkpoints and when I want to sneak something back inside I don’t want the guards to confiscate.”
“Contraband?”
“Something like that,” Marcus said grinning. “Besides, we’re not walking in the front door with all this gear from your ship. We have to assume they will be on the lookout for us.”
They walked along the perimeter for a few minutes before Marcus stopped and knelt. He ran his fingers through the dust in the ground, finally finding the metal latch he knew to be there. He pulled on it and it opened to reveal an entrance to a shallow trench running under the wall.
“They built the wall right over this drainage ditch,” said Marcus. “It’s a bit of a tight squeeze, but you can crawl through this, right to the other side. I’ll go first to make sure the coast is clear.”
Marcus dropped into the ditch and removed his backpack. He lay flat on his back and pushed himself under the wall. The tunnel was only around thirty feet long, but he had to traverse the whole length on his back, with his nose scraping the top of the tunnel, in complete darkness. In truth, Marcus hated small spaces, and this terrified him every time he had to do it. He had put on a show of bravado in front of Vana, he convinced himself it was for her benefit, but in reality, it was for his.
He had to stop several times in the short tunnel to steady his breathing and fight the panic rising in his chest. His biggest fear was the same as all claustrophobics; that he would become trapped, or the ceiling would cave in, or the air would suddenly somehow run out. He tried not to think about that, especially when he was only halfway through. He pushed on until he felt his head touch the far wall. He must be at the far end, he thought. Normally in the daytime you would be able to see light streaming in through the gaps in the metal cover at this end, but as it was night he had to rely on touch to find it and push it open.
After a few seconds of fumbling, he found the cover and pushed it up slightly. He twisted his head to have a look around, and after making sure there was nobody around, slid the cover off. He let out a sigh of relief. The tunnel came out in a small enclosed area, three sides of which were old industrial buildings, no longer in use.
The way out was over a chain linked fence and was covered in large piles of debris, broken bits of machinery and other junk, piled so high you couldn’t see over it. It was how the tunnel had remained a secret to almost everyone for all this time.
He quietly called across to Vana, letting her know it was safe. She was through in a matter of seconds, climbing out of the trench with what looked like almost no effort at all. She handed him the backpack, which he slung over one shoulder.
“Cosy,” she said. “I thought you said it was a tight squeeze?”
Marcus looked at her small frame. “Perhaps not for you.”
“So, what’s the plan?” asked Vana.
“We need to get to the lab underneath Doc’s workshop, from what he told me it should be fully kitted out with equipment and tools. Hopefully it will have everything we need to build this portal.”
“What if Davon has the lab under surveillance?”
“I don’t think he will. There’s no way Davon could know Doc had any involvement with the militia. Hell, even I didn’t know, and I have been working with him for years. We shouldn’t take any chances though.”
They climbed over the pile of junk and found themselves in an alleyway running between two buildings. They carefully weaved their way between the abandoned structures making their way towards the centre of New Hope, where Doc’s lab was. The streets were deserted. Unusually so. Even at this time of night you could expect to see or hear people.
“Something’s not right,” Marcus said in a hushed tone. His voice echoed eerily along the empty alleyways.” He raised a hand and cocked his head, listening for the familiar sounds of the settlement. “Nothing,” he said after a few seconds.
“What about over there?” Vana pointed to a building close by, light flickered through a window, behind a thin curtain.
“Let’s check it
out,” said Marcus. They jogged over to the house. The door wasn’t locked, and Marcus pushed it open, a loud creak coming from its strained hinges. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Dishes and plates lay scattered around, some still loaded with food. Several chairs in the room were overturned and lay on the floor.
“It’s like they got up and left in the middle of the meal,” said Marcus. “Nobody wastes food around here. Whatever happened must have been pretty bad.” A search of the rest of the house revealed nothing, except more evidence of the occupant’s sudden disappearance. A quick check of other nearby houses revealed much the same.
“I don’t like the look of this,” said Marcus. “Let’s get to the workshop and find this bunker of Doc’s. He might know whats going on here.”
They made their way to the centre of town, and to the building Doc used. After making sure they were not walking into a trap, they dashed across and quickly found their way in through a side entrance. Marcus slid the door closed behind them, cringing as it squeaked along the metal rollers.
A single light at the far end of the building provided the only illumination. Long, ominous shadows stretched out before them. The usual disarray of partly constructed machinery and workbenches covered in handwritten notes littered the warehouse. Nothing appeared out of place. Vana picked up one of the pieces of paper from a desk and studied it.
“Don’t tell me you learned to read as well?” asked Marcus, knowing full well what the answer would be. Vana cocked her head and smiled.
“He very nearly got this right,” she said after a few more seconds, “I’m impressed.”
She handed the paper to Marcus, who squinted in the half-light to read it. Mathematical formulas and strange Greek looking symbols covered the page. He didn’t understand a word of it.
“Oh yeah, I see now. I’m-- gonna check some stuff over here.” He dropped the paper and wandered over to another desk.
Vana walked to the other end of the building, closely examining several items along the way.
“Any luck?” Marcus half-whispered, his voice echoing around the deserted structure.
“No,” replied Vana, “but I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“If this bunker exists there must be a way to get into it. Look for a panel or a switch or something like that. It could be hidden, or disguised as something else.”
Marcus found a flashlight on one of the desks and switched it on. He ran the beam over the floor trying to find anything resembling a panel or entrance of any kind. After a few minutes of searching a glint caught his eye, caused by faint scratches in the metallic floor. The scratches formed a neat line. Using his fingers, he followed the lines and traced out a square about a meter wide.
“What do you think to this?” asked Marcus as he ran his hands over the grooves on the floor.
“Something heavy has slid across here and made these marks. It could be the entrance we’re looking for.”
“Any idea how we get it open? There’s no button that I can see, and you wouldn’t be able to get anything in there to prise it open.”
“I think maybe a more direct approach will be best here,” said Vana. She walked over to a nearby workbench and selected a large rubber mallet from the collection of tools that littered its surface.
“I’m not sure how that’s going to help.”
Vana gave a mischievous grin and raised the mallet above her head, before striking the floor where the grooves were with some considerable force. The noise reverberated around the room and made Marcus jump.
“Whoa! What are you doing?!” he cried in a hushed voice. “Half of new hope probably heard that!”
“Just trying to get someone’s attention.”
“Yeah well, you definitely got mine.”
Marcus whispered into one of the cracks in the floor. “Doc, can you hear me? It’s me, Marcus. If you’re in there open up.” There was no reply. “Come on Doc. I brought someone to see you, and I have a bag full of goodies for you to play with.” After a few seconds a muffled response came from underneath the panel.
“Who’s there with you.”
“Doc, thank god you’re there. I’ve got Vana with me. Come on, open up before someone catches us out here.”
After a moment of silence Doc replied. “Okay, stand back.”
The panel lifted and slid out, tracing the scratch marks on the floor exactly. Marcus caught sight of a ladder that led into the darkness below. As he got ready to climb down, the barrel of a shotgun appeared from the opening and was thrust into his face.
“Slowly, let me see you properly,” came the unmistakable deep voice of Doc.
Marcus moved carefully to the hatch, his hands raised by his side to show he wasn’t holding any weapons. Vana stood slightly behind Marcus, and also had her hands raised.
“It’s only us, we’re alone.”
The weapon retreated into the darkness to be replaced by the face of Doc.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “Get down here before we all get caught.”
Vana descended the ladder first, followed closely by Marcus. When they had reached the bottom, Doc clicked something in his pocket, which caused the panel above to close itself.
They were in a narrow stone corridor, lit by several lights mounted into the ceilings.
“What is this place?” asked Marcus,
“It’s an old bomb shelter. It’s quite extensive. Why do you think I was so keen to have my workshop in the building above? But we can talk more about it later, let’s get back to my lab.”
They walked through several intersections, past doors labelled power and water treatment and a few others whose labels had worn away over the years. Lights above them flickered on an off automatically as they passed. Finally, they pushed their way through a large set of double doors and into a brightly lit laboratory.
“This area used to be for storage, but I repurposed it as a lab,” said Doc.
Workbenches were scattered around and were covered in paperwork and devices in varying states of disassembly. He directed them over to the centre of the room, to a large unkempt desk. There were several chairs nearby, which like the workbenches had piles of junk on them. Doc grabbed the chairs and swept the contents onto the floor with his hand.
“Please, sit down. I want to know everything that has happened since you left for Jericho,” said Doc.
“Hold up a minute, first I think we need to know what is going on here? Where is everyone? It’s a ghost town out there, we didn’t see a single person on our way through.”
Doc leaned back in his chair and looked at the drab grey ceiling, collecting his thoughts.
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” he replied after a short time. “I’m not sure if I would believe it, had I not seen it with my own eyes.”
“Seen what?” pressed Marcus.
“People, just, vanishing. Into thin air. I can’t explain it.”
Marcus looked over at Vana, who seemed to be waiting to hear more before she offered any insight or explanation.
“There was this… well, I suppose you could call it a wave. A wave of energy that passed through town. Anybody who touched it simply... vanished. I saw the wave coming and managed to get underground before it hit. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Could it be a new type of weapon?” asked Marcus
“That was my first thought yes, but it seemed very selective. If it is a weapon I would have expected it to damage or destroy other things in its path. But it only seemed to target people. And that’s not all, it left other organic things, plant life, animals and such completely untouched. I’m at a complete loss as to what is going on.”
Doc sat forward in his chair, addressing Marcus. “I’m glad to see you are safe. I didn’t dare venture outside again, as I had no idea if the wave had any residual side effects, or indeed if it will return.”
“When did all this happen?” asked Marcus, rubbing his forehead.
“Yesterday. Soon afterwards there was an event. A huge spike in gamma radiation, and some seismic activity. Being stuck down here I couldn’t tell for sure, but it had all the hallmarks of a nuclear detonation.”
“I think you’ll find that was us, Doc,” Marcus looked at Vana and gave her a knowing look.
“My god! How? Why? What on Earth is going on?”
“What on Earth indeed,” said Marcus. “I think it’s time we filled you in on a few of the details.”
Marcus and Vana spent the better part of an hour going over everything that had happened to them after Marcus had left for Jericho. About how they found each other and escaped under the nose of the Legion. Making their way to the crash site, and discovering it was the wreckage of a crashed alien ship. About who Vana and Davon really were, and about how they had destroyed the ship to prevent it falling into Davon’s hands.
Doc listened in silence as they recounted the tale. When they had finished, he looked at them, his eyes wide and brimming with questions.
“Quite amazing. Unbelievable almost,” said Doc, rubbing his temples and scrunching his eyes. He took a few deep breaths and looked at Marcus and Vana, who were waiting for the inevitable onslaught of questions.
“Okay. I have many, many, questions,” said Doc, “and I have no idea where to start.”
“Well I’m glad you believed us,” said Marcus.
“Of course I believe you Marcus, you’d never be able to invent a story like that.”
“Well, thanks-- I think. I’m not sure if I would believe it myself if I hadn’t have lived through it.”
A door creaked open behind Marcus and he turned in the direction the noise had come from.
“You didn’t tell me you had company Doc,” said Marcus as he reached to his belt for a weapon, before remembering he’d lost it in the fight with Davon
Amara stepped out from the doorway and Marcus leapt from his chair. He grabbed Vana and ushered her behind him as he backed towards a doorway behind them.
“Stay back,” he warned Amara. It was an empty threat, he was unarmed and trapped in an underground bunker. He retraced the path back to the exit in his mind and wondered if he and Vana could make it there before Amara caught up to them. But then there was Doc. He’d never be able to outrun her. Amara moved closer to Doc, and stood behind him, her wide eyes peeking out from behind his shoulder. Why wasn’t Doc making a move? Had he been coerced into helping them? Had they walked into a trap?
