ENDGAME (The Dead Planet Series Book 3)

by Drew Avera

  Endgame

  Book Three of The Dead Planet Series

  Drew Avera

  All Rights Reserved by Drew Alexander Avera 2016

  www.drewavera.wordpress.com

  Prologue

  I watched my sister Kara during the launch from Earth. There were two conflicting emotions in her bright green eyes: love and loss. It was an unusual thing to witness firsthand; she was her own person, but she was also a bit of a loner. I guess I had something to do with that. Or at least my recruitment into The Agency had. It seemed like a different life now, looking back. Perhaps that time belonged to someone else and I was just remembering it like something you envision from a storybook and formulate false memories of. If the gauntlet on my wrist was any indication, then the life was indeed mine, warts and all.

  A single tear rolled down Kara's cheek and I watched it fall to the deck below while Laurel held my hand tightly in her own. We were in a different world than the one we knew on Mars, but here we were returning home with what we hoped was good news. Our stealth-like operation had been a relative success. We had our casualties, but luckily no loss of life. Ben seemed to be on the mend and now all we had to do was take the data we retrieved back to Mars and begin the rebuilding effort. It seemed pretty simple, but there were so many questions we needed to answer. Why weren't they responding to our transmissions? Is there something wrong with our communications system, or theirs? Were they even still alive? Panic punched me in the gut when I thought about that last question. There were millions of lives at stake and I didn't want to be the one to let them down. I felt that weight on my shoulders, whether it belonged there or not. I was responsible one way or the other. It was burden I didn't take lightly.

  Still, even with an entire different life on Mars, there was something about Earth that called out to me. There was the simplicity of it, even with its flaws, that made me feel more at peace. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, other than to say it felt like home. Some of the people native to Earth were a large part of that feeling. Harris had won Kara's heart, and he eventually grew on me, too, and earned my respect. I was pretty sure that was what lured Kara to him. Both of them take on more than they should have to bear alone. It was a noble character flaw, if ever there was one. It was nice knowing that I could call him a friend. I trusted him; and, given how things went with Thom, it was hard for me to trust anyone.

  "Are you all right?" I asked Kara, without meaning to. I was thinking the question out loud, which happened to me a lot lately. There was no need to bring up something to upset her, but it was too late now.

  She lowered her head with a quivering smile floating somewhere between happiness and the cusp of sadness. "He loves me," she said. Her words caused Laurel's grip on my hand to tighten and that didn't go unnoticed. I nuzzled my thumb over her delicate skin to show her I recognized her gesture. If I appreciated anything in my life since leaving Mars, it was having Laurel back in my life. Her brown hair fell down her back and her blue eyes were mesmerizing. I could easily get lost in her stare. It was something I rather enjoyed in our private time. The staring and longing culminated into something so much more.

  "How do you feel about him?" Laurel asked the question before I could even think of the words to voice it myself. She was far better at the emotional stuff than I was. Especially with how damaged my mind was with the programming from The Agency. Having your mind messed with to make you void of compassion was like a death in and of itself. Never mind the fact you came out something less than human, but capable of killing another human being without batting an eye.

  Honestly, the killing part was easy; it was the memories The Agency didn't want me to keep that broke me in the end. It was knowing how they had tried destroying my family. My mother died under mysterious circumstances, my father was killed in the street, and then there was the hit put on Kara. Finally, enough had been enough. It was in that moment I found myself, but in doing so I had to endure the pain of my mental warfare with the programming. Some episodes almost drove me to drive a stake through my head. It wasn't something I would not have been able to get through, if not for Kara and Laurel. They saved me more than they would ever know. I really had come a long way in such a short time. Instances of stumbling because of the programming were fewer and farther between. I was probably as close to normal as I would ever be.

  And now here we sat. Three would-be heroes trying to save our home with targets on our backs in two worlds. I would say it couldn't get any better than this, but I'd be lying. There was still the looming doubt of whether we could save Mars.

  "I think I love him too," Kara finally said. She looked me in the eye, looking for something, but I didn't know what.

  "I think you two would be great together," Laurel chimed in. "I could see it in the way you interacted with him. I know Serus saw it too." Laurel nudged me with her elbow. That was my cue to say something; I knew it from experience.

  "Um, yeah, I did." I sounded like an idiot. I could do better than that. "Harris really seems to be a good man, Kara. I think he has your best interest at heart. That's something to build a relationship on." There, that wasn't so bad, albeit a bit too romantic for my taste. Kara just looked at me and smiled as if something funny happened I wasn't aware of. A stifled laugh from Laurel clued me in that a joke was lost on me. "What?" I asked.

  "You are so awkward, talking about your sister with a guy. That's what," Laurel said, before bringing her lips to mine. I smiled after she pulled away, with the scent of strawberries lingering from her lips. It was my favorite fragrance and she knew it. I loved that about her.

  "I guess I am," I said; slightly embarrassed. What they didn't understand was that it really was awkward to talk about these things. I felt a responsibility to protect her, since our father was no longer with us. Knowing what the right thing to do or say was hard.

  Turbulence jostled the transport, which drove our conversation back towards our mission. "What do you think Pontiff White is up to?" Kara asked.

  I really hadn't given it much thought, but she posed a great question. What does the puppet leader of a world without its most powerful people do in the wake of such chaos? The Syndicate left Mars knowing that the world was going to end; and the worst part was the people left behind knew the end was coming and were powerless to stop it. Could he even bring a world on the brink of destruction together before all hell broke loose? "I hope he's holding everything together," I said. "We need to go home to a world not hell-bent on destroying itself. I have to admit I am a bit excited to see what a world without The Syndicate's influence could be like. Well, excited with a side of anxious.”

  "I think, if anyone can do it, he can," Kara replied. She wiped the residue of tears from under eyes and was back to her usual smiling self. Her emerald green eyes were piercing in the light of the cargo bay, and she reminded me of our mother. Between both of our parents, who passed within a year of one another, my mother was the harder for me to remember. I liked things to remind me of her even though the memories hurt.

  My father, who was killed by a policeman, was easier to remember. The horrific scene of witnessing the murder was ingrained in my mind and would be until I drew my last breath. It was strange how the brain latched onto some things. I may never remember them the way they would want me to, but I was thankful to have something about my past to hold onto. That's what I gained most from our time on Earth and meeting Harris. I found something to be thankful for. I found hope in a life full of tragedy. And like Harris, I was starting to ponder whether or not God existed. If so, then we really needed a miracle if we were going to save our home. I just hoped we weren't too late.

  Chapter 1

&n
bsp; The descent wasn't as rocky as when we entered Earth's atmosphere. I didn't know if it was because of the difference in atmospheric pressure or maybe it was due to the gravitational pull; smaller planet meant smaller gravitational force. I was no scientist, but I still thought about these things from time to time.

  The crew station provided a great vantage point as we approached for landing. The larger cities were easy to make out, especially Archea, which was the capital. The city looked like a bed of nails with all of the high-rise buildings comprising the corporations run by The Syndicate. I was a bit surprised to see them still standing after the bombshell of the ruse to allow everyone to remain and die was revealed. I had imagined chaos and destruction in the wake of such news.

  As we got closer to our landing zone, I could see a large crowd of pedestrians standing outside of the Pontiff's Palace. The central courtyard was packed and there were people out in the streets. It was a spectacle I had not seen in many years. "I wonder what's going on down there," I said as Laurel stepped next to me. Together we looked down and pondered what would draw such a crowd. Did Pontiff White die? Are the people taking over the city? Did they find a way to save the atmosphere on their own? I had so many questions without a single clue to help answer them.

  "I don't know. Captain, how close can we land to the central courtyard?" Laurel asked.

  He brought up a grid map on his holographic display and ran his finger along it to adjust the scale. There were several illuminated dots that I surmised to represent the people below. "It will be a tight fit, but I think we can land her on the street just outside the courtyard. Hopefully, the people down there will get out of the way," he said with a sarcastic grin. I had come to learn a lot about Captain Fillon over the past several months. The most important thing is that he has a serious demeanor often undermined by a crude sense of humor. It took some getting used to.

  The next several minutes were a bit uncomfortable from the turbulence of our descent. I held myself upright using one of the support beams, watching the ground appear closer and closer. I felt as if I were falling. In order to mitigate the sensation, I looked out over the sea and watched the water crest as waves raced towards the shore to break upon the rust-looking sand along the coast.

  "We will have touchdown in two minutes. You may want to hold onto something while the transport works to stabilize itself," Captain Fillon said as he paced from station to station. His crewmen were in charge of navigation and flying the craft, but Captain Fillon looked over their shoulders to double-check the parameters and ensure we would land safely. I imagined this was a highly stressful part of his job; we were one bad decision away from death.

  When the transport touched down, it did so with a rather jarring hit. I wondered if the street below was damaged, but the thought was quickly forgotten when the captain spoke.

  "We're good to go. Take Kara to Pontiff White along with as many of my men as you need to help you get through."

  I nodded my head and ran from the cabin towards the stateroom we had occupied on both legs of our voyage. Kara had stayed in the room to ensure she had everything needed to save precious time when it came to disseminating the information we needed to save the atmosphere. Time wasn't on our side, based on the calculations Kara had made previously, and the fact that communications were apparently down across the planet made things even more imminent. We needed to get this information to the right people sooner rather than later. We just hoped it wasn't too late already.

  I opened the door and found Kara sitting in a chair with her arms wrapped around the envelope full of documents and schematics we brought back from Earth. Her knuckles were white as she gripped it in her hands and her eyes were closed tight.

  "Are you all right?" I asked. It took her a few moments to respond.

  "I'm scared to see what the world is like now, Serus. And I'm more afraid of the fact we might be too late." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she revealed her fears to me.

  I shared those same fears, but now was the time to be strong. We had a lot on the line, but at the same time we had a lot to hope for. "Kara, I know you're afraid, but now is the time to act. We're home and Captain Fillon's men are going to help us get to Pontiff White so we can do what's needed to save our home," I said.

  She sat there and finally nodded her head. "You're right," she said before standing up. "As long as we have breath we have a reason to fight."

  "That's the Kara I know," I said.

  She cut me a smile and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her tightly as she spoke. “Thank you for believing in me."

  I held her tighter. "You started it," I replied. "Now let's go."

  I took her hand and led her through the transport to the cargo bay, where about twenty of Captain Fillon's men were standing. "The captain said to make a way for you and Kara to get to Pontiff White," one of the men said. "Our plan is to surround you and push our way though. Are you ready?"

  I looked down at Kara and she nodded her head. "Yes, we're ready," I said.

  "Good," he turned to address one of the other men. "Open the cargo bay door and take your positions. As soon as the door touches the ground we run. Understood?"

  The men all answered at the same time. "Yes, sir!"

  "Let's do this," he said. The bay door opened and for the first time in about a year I saw sunlight through the lens of Mars' atmosphere. It was dim compared to how it was seen on Earth, but it still had a blinding effect as the light peered through the opening in the transport. "Now!" the man called out and as one unit we began jogging out of the transport. The sound of boots striking against a steel deck echoed around us and soon we fell into step with one another in an unspoken cadence. Each foot seemed to sound different as it struck the ground. I watched as the men before us pushed their way through the crowd of pedestrians. There was a chorus of men yelling for the people to move out of the way, each call accompanied by some dimwit being forcibly shoved out of the way. I felt bad at first, but then I thought about our mission. Saving lives was more important than whether or not we offended someone.

  It took us only a few minutes to fight through the crowd and come to an empty spot in the courtyard. It appeared that Pontiff White was scheduled to make a speech, but he wasn't standing at the podium. Instead, I found him being tended to several yards behind it. I ran over to see what was the matter and was shocked to see the man deathly pale and struggling to breath.

  "What happened?" I asked.

  The sound of my voice jarred him and he opened his eyes. "Serus? Am I already dead and seeing ghosts from my past?" Pontiff White spoke with a weak voice.

  "He appears to have had a heart attack or possibly a stroke. The doctor was called and we are just waiting for him to arrive," a woman whom I didn't recognize said.

  I looked around and could see how difficult it would be for emergency personnel to get through such a crowd. "There's no way with this many people gathered in the central courtyard. We need to clear these people out," I said.

  I thought the woman wasn't listening as she was tending to Pontiff White, but she soon looked at me with tears in her eyes. "What can we do?"

  I didn't know. Somehow, we needed to clear a path without causing a stampede of people. Suddenly a thought came to mind. We were able to force our way through, which meant there was enough room in the area to separate the people and provide a path for emergency personnel. I jumped at the idea.

  "Excuse me," I said to the crewman who had led the charge out of the transport. "Pontiff White is in need of medical care and we need to make a path for people to get through to help him. Can you and your men help by making a path through this crowd?" I asked.

  He turned around and looked at what he had to work with. "No problem. Men let's make a path through the crowd so an ambulance or other medical unit can fit through here. Start here and go towards the southern exit, that's closer to the hospital," the man said. His men immediately got to work and made a path in short order, continuing to stand n
earby to keep the crowd from filling in that open space.

  "Thank you so much," I said. "I never caught your name."

  He looked at me and smiled. "My name is Eriq," he said as we shook hands.

  "Serus," Kara called my name.

  I looked over to see what she wanted and could see Pontiff White was having a seizure. I ran over to be by his side. "Is there anything we can do for him?" I asked.

  "Just try to hold him as still as possible," Kara said. I wrapped my arms around him and tried to steady his body to protect him from accidentally hurting himself. I noticed Eriq grab Pontiff White's legs to do the same and together we held him for several moments until the shaking stopped. I released my grip on him and couldn't even feel him breath. "Is he dead?" I asked.

  Both Kara and the other woman looked at me with sad eyes, but neither answered my question.

  Chapter 2

  The sound of blaring sirens filled my ears before I saw the reflection of the flashing lights off the stained glass windows of the Pontiff's palace. The central courtyard was a loud mass of people, but the sirens all but drowned out the sound of the groaning crowd. I almost felt as if I was looking on from above, almost out of my body and watching the medical crew work to save Pontiff White's life.

  I didn't fully understand what was happening; I was so disconnected from it. "Serus," I heard Kara say. I looked at her. I was overwhelmed. "Serus!"

  "What?" I asked.

  "Are you all right?" she asked, her green eyes digging into me with concern.

  I looked back and watched as they moved Pontiff White onto a gurney and load him into the ambulance. "Yes, why?"

  She stood in front of me with her arms crossed and concern stretched across her face. "You're crying," she said.

  I hadn't realized it at the time, but I lifted my hand up to my face and felt hot tears as they streamed down my cheeks. "I don't know. I haven't felt this kind of emotion since our father was killed," I said. It was as close to the truth as I knew it to be.