Children of the Miracle

by Daniel Weisbeck

  Right hand, right knee. Left hand, left knee. Right hand, right knee. Left hand, left knee. Mercy repeated the mantra in her head over and over again as she crawled forward.

  Hours passed. But for Mercy, in the complete black of the tunnel, time was lost. The journey felt never-ending, and their progress slow. Impatience replaced her fear of dying. A massive root was no longer a snake. Loose dirt falling on her head no longer a catastrophic cave-in. And a crawling beetle over her hand was no longer an infestation about to eat her alive. Tiredness became her new enemy.

  Mercy’s mind began to drift. She thought of the foetus in her body, growing, becoming something like Jillet, something that could be treated as a pet by others. She couldn’t stand the thought of it. Her stomach turned, and her eyes grew wet.

  Suddenly, the line ahead of her abruptly stopped. Everyone piled into the person in front of them. Jillet went quiet. A muffled conversation took place near the front of the tunnel. Fresh air brushed past Mercy, and a palpable excitement started everyone moving again. Right hand, right knee. Left hand, left knee.

  Slowly the breeze became a constant draft, and silhouettes and shadows ushered in first light. Mercy’s face filled with relief. And her heart nearly burst with joy when she saw the exit, a single shaft of light burned onto the mud floor of the tunnel.

  Jillet slowly disappeared up the hole. Mercy hurried into a sitting position. Her hands sunk into the loose dirt edge, and she pulled and heaved her body up and out of the earth with great pleasure and relief. She collapsed on the ground, face to the sun, breathing the fresh air with rapture.

  Someone was talking. Voices slowly came to Mercy. She followed the sounds with her eyes. All of the fugitives were back together again and gathered in a small group.

  Pulling herself to standing, Mercy looked towards the mountains. They were very near the foothills, but not as far along as they were supposed to be. Something must have gone wrong. She shook her hair, sending clumps of dirt spinning outward, and brushed in vain at her blackened clothing. Giving up, she walked over to join the others.

  ‘They’ve released the wolves,’ Amadeus told Michael.

  ‘The air and ground troops are behind them as well,’ confirmed Athena sombrely.

  Izzard, the scorpion-man, spoke anxiously, ‘But sending soldiers off the base could expose the military?’

  ‘So now we know what’s at stake and how far the government will go to get Doctor Mercy back,’ replied Michael.

  A sudden blood-thirsty howl wailed from the direction of the forest. The wolf soldiers were on scent, alerting the military troops to battle. They were close.

  ‘We’re not going to make it to the caves unless some of us stay here and fight,’ announced Michael and pointed to the fugitive wolves standing before him. ‘Shamba and Sheena, go into the forest and try to slow them down.’ Michael turned and addressed the leopard-woman and the scorpion-man, ‘Nila and Izzard, you take Jillet and Doctor Mercy to the mountain cave and hurry. The rest of us will hold the line. Manny, quickly, build a trench. We’ll lay low and wait.’

  An organised commotion ensued.

  ‘Come on!’ waved Nila to Mercy and began to run up the foothills. Jillet took to the air as Mercy, terrified, started running. Izzard followed.

  The mountains were further away than Mercy realised. After twenty minutes of sprinting, she was out of breath.

  ‘Wait. Please wait. I need two minutes,’ Mercy pleaded, bent over with hands on her knees.

  Nila stopped and turned. ‘We can’t wait. We have to keep moving.’

  ‘I know, but I just need two…’ Mercy broke off at the distant sounds of howling.

  Down the valley, the band of wolf soldiers were now in sight and running directly at Michael and the fugitives, entrenched behind a new dirt barricade. Clouds of avian soldiers suddenly appeared on the skyline, followed by the loud hum of hundreds of drones. All at once, lasers lit up the sky as gunfire erupted from both sides.

  Nila yelled at Mercy, ‘Quick! They’ll be here in minutes.’

  Mercy spun round, adrenaline racing through her veins, and something else…anger. She screamed, pushing herself forward, her heart beating wildly.

  The solid ground of the valley gave way to pebbles and stone shingles as they reached the base of the mountain range, making it impossible for Mercy to keep balance. Nila, dropping onto all four paws, bounced across the uneven surface with a speed and grace no human could ever achieve. Mercy gave everything she had to try and keep up.

  In the valley, the first wave of drones raced past the avian soldiers. The deadly missles crashed into the earth barricade protecting Michael and his army. Dirt and rocks exploded and spewed in all directions on impact.

  Manny lurched backwards. A fountain of blood shot out of his forehead. He lay still on his spongy back, eyes wide open, no longer breathing.

  ‘Go! I’ll hold the front,’ screamed Amadeus to Michael. ‘They will get to her if you don’t go now.’

  ‘You’ll never make it,’ Michael hollered back.

  Amadeus grabbed Michael’s arm and squeezed it tight. ‘For Tommy.’

  ‘For Tommy,’ Michael called out and spread his black wings wide. ‘Take care, my friend. I’ll see you again.’ His voice drifted away as he flew towards Mercy.

  The second wave of drones had arrived. Amadeus grabbed a small egg-shaped weapon from his belt and threw it high. An electromagnetic pulse erupted from the device, causing the drones to drop to the earth, undetonated and unresponsive.

  The military soldiers breached the barrier. The fugitives were losing. Amadeus jumped up from behind the barricade and threw himself into the fight. A wolf launched at his throat, tearing his flesh. He swung his right arm at the hybrid and ripped the creature nearly in half. Two more jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

  There was only one end; he had known that from the beginning. As blood poured from his open throat, Tommy looked back at him in his mind’s eye. Amadeus had loved; he had known what he was never designed to know, and that was miracle enough if he were destined to die today.

  Snarling, Amadeus let out one last booming roar and fought off the wolf soldiers, one by one, crushing their skulls and tearing their limbs before collapsing on his back. The sky overhead was blue. He took a long breath in and with one final breath out, whispered, ‘Tommy.’

  Mercy screamed as her ankle twisted on a loose rock and her hip slammed into a large stone. The sudden bolt of pain and the impossible angle of her ankle told her she wouldn’t be running anymore.

  ‘Go, follow Nila,’ screamed Mercy to Jillet, who hovered overhead.

  Instead, Jillet landed, unmoved by her insistence. Mercy pulled the young girl behind her, protecting her from the coming army. Nila turned and started running back towards Mercy but was too far ahead to help. Two of the avian soldiers were on top of them, hovering in the sky. Izzard, close by, glanced at Mercy’s ankle and then down at the valley where two wolf soldiers were nearly on them. He took a position of defence, Mercy to his back.

  Izzard was the first to shoot at the airborne avian soldiers. They seemed hesitant, held fire. He realised they wanted Mercy alive and tucked in closer. Within seconds the first of the wolf soldiers scrambled up the rocky slope, lunging at Izzard. He struck the dog square in between the eyes with his scorpion tail. The soldier slumped to the ground, paralysed by poison.

  One of the avian soldiers took advantage of the distraction and swooped in for Mercy. Izzard anticipated the bird’s attack and shot. The bird-man screamed, and spun to the ground, landing hard.

  A second wolf soldier came at Izzard, dodging his tail, and pounced. Izzard’s gun was knocked out of his hand and into a stone crevasse, making retrieval impossible.

  Mercy realised the moment was upon them. They had lost the fight. An avian soldier flew so close to her that the air beneath his wings
brushed her face. Suddenly, she heard a loud thump! The soldier shot out of the sky, dropped to the ground and skidded into a lump of feathers and flesh, his neck bent hard left. She looked up to find Michael’s face staring back at her.

  ‘I’ve got you,’ he called out, sinking his talons into her and swooping her off the ground.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The cave was sunless but not dark. Otherworldly inhabitants lit the damp cavern like a full moon night. The cold blaze of bioluminescent plankton, glow-worms, and fungi shimmered blue and green against crystal white walls.

  Chase sat on a stone bench, face down, staring blankly at his feet. Joan stood over his back, regenerating healthy flesh where bird claws had pierced his skin. He barely moved…pain was the last thing on his mind.

  ‘How is this possible?’ he asked Joan. ‘How could they do this without the public or Senate catching on?’

  ‘It wasn’t hard. The Senate doesn’t fund the operation. The Prime does that alone. It slipped under the radar of most,’ answered Joan, moving the medical wand from his left shoulder to his right as she applied stem cell lubricant to his open wound. ‘Hold still,’ she commanded as he twitched under the pressure of her hand.

  ‘You said most – slipped under the radar of most. Who else knows?’

  ‘A handful of Senators. Just enough so the Prime can continue.’

  ‘And you?’ Chase pointed out accusingly.

  ‘Yes, and me. I’ve been the liaison between the Prime and Doctor Brutus.’

  The constant hum of the medical regenerator vibrated off the cave walls.

  ‘And the mutation?’

  ‘I don’t know what Brutus is up to, but whatever they are working on, it all started to fall apart when an infected hybrid with the mutated virus escaped into the Belt. Afraid the new strain would spread, and not having a cure, the Prime panicked. She had to find a way to reveal the mutation to the Senate Health and Security Committee.

  ‘I put together the scientific team who would “discover” the mutation. The rest you know.’

  Chase pulled away from Joan. ‘This all happened right in front of me. You lied to me about everything,’ he accused her sounding more and more exasperated.

  ‘Maybe, yes. But as soon as the Prime brought me into the plan, like you, I felt betrayed. It’s not right what they are doing with the new hybrids. I started working with a group of soldiers on the base who wanted to get out and needed my help. The fugitives are the ones who helped us today and have Mercy.’

  There was a reflective silence. Chase was connecting the dots.

  ‘That’s how the mutation got out of the base,’ he said in a scarcely audible voice. ‘You did it.’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied softly. Her guilt was palpable. ‘Some of the fugitives were already tagged for termination. One of them had been infected with the virus as part of Brutus’ research, but we didn’t know. We broke him out of solitary confinement at the same time as the others.’

  ‘The mutation is out? And they have Mercy…’ His voice trailed off in a panic.

  ‘Don’t worry; she’s safe from the virus. I’ve tested the remaining fugitives. The infected soldier died before he could join the others. He knew all along, and he self-isolated once out in the Belt.’

  ‘But it can infect animals! Who knows what he came in contact with?’

  ‘All the more reason we need you and Mercy working on a cure.’

  ‘What do you plan to do with Mercy?’

  ‘Brutus wants Mercy working on the base, helping him find a vaccine. Having her kidnapped was for her safety.’

  ‘But her research is based on uncovering the existing immunity gene, not a cure. How will it help him?’

  ‘We believe Brutus has bred a hybrid that is immune to the mutation, but he doesn’t understand how it’s fighting the disease. He thinks Mercy’s research might unravel the subject’s immune response and provide a cure.’

  Anger crossed Chase’s face. ‘And you want the vaccine first. So instead of Brutus using her, you are.’

  Joan sat forward, unaffected by his accusation. ‘Not without her consent. She knows everything you know and wants to help.’

  ‘Damn you, Joan! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We’ve known each other since school. I thought we trusted each other.’

  ‘I’m telling you now,’ challenged Joan. ‘So, the real question Chase…what will you do?’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Nila came to a stop on a cliff’s edge and stood upright. ‘Over there, Michael!’ she called out, pointing west.

  He saw it. Wings pressed back like arrows; he dove straight at the thin sliver of an opening cut into the mountainside, almost entirely hidden by thick overhanging vines. Mercy reached up and held Michael’s legs tight, bracing for the collision. Eyes shut; she instinctively curled her body into a ball.

  Smack! They crashed through the vines and tumbled to the ground, awkwardly rolling over each other to an uncomfortable stop.

  Mercy cried out in pain, holding her swollen ankle. Nila was already inside, waiting. Jillet floated to a landing next to Michael, who stood at the entrance. The sky was clear; nobody had followed them. With a shimmer of his body, Michael shook the dirt from the cave floor off his wings. He turned his attention to the back of the cave, black and deep. Cold air pressed against them, pushing its way out.

  ‘Joan?’ Michael asked Nila.

  ‘They are waiting.’ Nila pointed down the cave.

  ‘Ambassador Joan?’ questioned Mercy in a shocked voice.

  ‘As I said, you’d know who my contact was soon enough,’ revealed Michael.

  ‘That’s how you knew about me and the report.’ Mercy interrupted herself. ‘Chase? Is he with her?’

  ‘Yes.’ His answer almost dismissive, his thoughts elsewhere. ‘We need to keep moving. We don’t have much time.’

  The cave tunnel was black as a moonless night except for the glow of Nila’s torch. She led them through the labyrinth of stone corridors by scent. Jillet followed, keeping ahead of Michael, who was carrying Mercy in his arms. After walking for nearly twenty minutes, the cave started to lighten, and their pace picked up. Mercy thought she heard the echo of a conversation. The voices grew louder as they moved towards the light.

  ‘Chase?’ Mercy cried out.

  ‘Mercy!’ came the reply and sounds of running.

  Chase nearly slammed into Michael as he careened around the corner. His eyes fell immediately on Mercy, and his face lit with relief.

  Mercy released Michael’s neck and fell into Chase’s arms, pressing her head close to his wildly beating heart. Drawing a deep breath, she lifted her face to look at him. His hollow eyes were weary but smiling tenderly.

  ‘I thought I’d never see you again,’ she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

  ‘We’re safe now,’ he replied, pressing his lips against hers.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  A new plan was forming.

  Michael and Joan had pulled up a holographic blueprint of the military facility. They were deep in conversation about alternative routes into the base. Mercy’s ankle healed under the care of Joan but remained tender. A sudden slight twinge of pain pulled her focus out of the conversation. Looking around, she couldn’t help but feel the cave was only half full; Athena, Amadeus, Manny and so many more were painfully absent. They had given their lives to save hers, and now she had an unpaid debt, an obligation to do anything she could to get the cure.

  Her thoughts wandered to her unborn child – a further unnecessary complication Mercy had to resolve. And she thought of Chase, permanently at her side since their reunion. She wanted to tell him about the pregnancy, but the words never came.

  Chase pressed her arm and caught her eye. ‘Where are you?’ he interrupted in a soft voice, falling below the current of more important c
onversations surrounding them.

  ‘Nowhere.’ She smiled gently, guilt clutching at her heart.

  He reached out and held her hand. The flesh of his padded palm warmed hers.

  ‘There is no choice. Mercy and Chase need to go back to the city.’ Joan said with decision.

  Suddenly back in the conversation, Mercy snapped, ‘What? I’m not going back. We have to get into the base to find the immune hybrid.’

  ‘Joan is right,’ Michael agreed. ‘We don’t have enough backup. Even if we get in, we’ll never get out.’

  ‘Going back to the city is our only chance,’ Joan explained. ‘Right now, the Prime thinks Mercy is here against her will. I’ll tell her the fugitives found out about Mercy’s relationship with Chase after they kidnapped her. They contacted Chase knowing he had direct access to the Prime, and offered an exchange: Mercy for military prisoners.’ The idea seemed more plausible as she spoke it out loud.

  ‘And how will that help?’ Chase questioned, unconvinced. ‘If we go back, how do we access the military base? And what about Mercy’s safety?’

  ‘There is nothing to hide anymore. You both know about the base so you can plead with the Prime to continue working on the mutation at its source. Convince her you’re allies. Then we’re in the facility.’

  ‘It could work.’ Michael sounded more optimistic. ‘But, you’ll need to win a battle to escape, and you’ll need a prisoner as proof…you need to capture the leader of the fugitives.’

  Joan shot him a horrified stare. ‘No, Michael.’

  ‘There is no other way. You know it. I need to confess to validate the story.’

  ‘They’ll incinerate you!’ Joan protested.

  ‘It’s a risk we have to take. I still have contacts on the inside who will help me.’

  Mercy stood up, her ankle feeling stronger.