by Jim Spencer
‘What you thinking about?’ Cordell asked him. He hadn’t even realised he had reached the bunker. That was fast.
‘Just about leaving things behind,’ he replied.
‘Oh, that’s understandable. First time is always hard. Now, I do have to remind you that the air composition outside is a little different, so you may feel dizzy for a few minutes, but your body will get used to it eventually. Just give it time.’
‘I will. You’ve been a great help.’
‘And you’re very brave, considering you’ve never fought anyone before.’
‘I did!’
‘When, in kindergarten?’
‘Actually it was high school,’ he laughed.
‘Well that’s not good enough is it. We’ll have to teach you.’
There’s the general, Arion thought to himself. He half shrugged at this suggestion, figuring it was only a matter of time.
‘Shouldn’t shrug, makes the others think you’re unsure.’
‘I’m not though.’
‘Yes, I know that, but they don’t.’
‘Good point,’ and with that he stood in front of his fleet to address them for the first time.
*
‘Er, morning marines,’ he began rather sheepishly. When no one responded, the Field Marshall intervened.
‘You heard the man.’
There was a small murmur from the cadets, most seemed somewhat irritated that they were being addressed by a new person. He decided to go with the honest approach,
‘Ok, I’m new to this. I’ve never gone out there and I’ve never really known any soldiers. But we’ve all been chosen for this dangerous mission,’ some people sneered, ‘and for this I need your help as much as you need my expertise.’
There was silence for a moment as the soldiers considered whether to laugh at him, or take what he said seriously. Getting somewhat annoyed, he decided to do something outlandish. He threw a radio receiver at the one who had sneered at him. Hitting him straight in the face, he instantly began cursing and wailing in pain at the sudden impact. Then, as he got up,
‘You shouldn’t have been laughing at me then.’ Arion spoke, feeling somewhat brave and foolish at the same time. Cordell had raised eyebrows and was looking in Arion’s direction, wondering what his end game was.
‘You fucking dickhead!’
‘Don’t swear at me, mate,’ he answered back. He let out a few more curses towards Arion who listened to them with a bored expression on his face, though deep down he was shaking. When he had finished, he continued, ‘do you want me to heal that?’ he asked him.
‘Why you got a first aid kit, you fucking wanker?’
‘No, I have something else. Stand here please.’
When he simply glared at him, Cordell intervened,
‘I think I know what he’s trying. Just stand there.’ When he didn’t move, Cordell simply screamed, ‘Captain’ which was enough to make him move.
‘Stand still please,’ he told him as he lay his two instruments in front of him. This was as good an avenue as any, he thought to himself. As the captain stood there, shaking from anger, Arion programmed the GOD particle to heal and let it run its course. After the elapsed thirty seconds and shocked expression on the remaining cadets, or so he thought, the soldiers wound was healed. It was as if he never had a scar.
He felt his head and then asked everyone around him if the mark was still there, staggering like a child asking whether someone had marked them with a pen or not. Laughing at this, he began to put the equipment back in the bag. One of the soldiers asked,
‘What you fucking laughing at?’ getting somewhat annoyed now, Arion responded before Cordell could step in,
‘You’re joking, right? I smacked a radio into his head, causing a concussion and I healed it without giving him first aid or taking him to the hospital. I simply pressed a button.’
‘So?’ the soldier asked, defiantly.
‘Oh, it’s like that is it. Ok then, you give me a second and I’ll just set my little apparatus to kill instead. Since you’re so willing, you want to stand here and demonstrate for everyone.’
He stood confused, but with a challenging face, like a bully daring a small child to hit him. O I’ll hit you dickface, Arion thought to himself.
‘Now that you have a demonstration, I’ll give you the two-year-old explanation’ Arion began. At this, Cordell smirked but didn’t respond, ‘two years ago, we discovered a small particle that was placed between every atom on the planet. Since we never knew of this before, or of its properties, we called it the GOD, yes GOD particle. What I have been doing, is finding a way to move this particle to manoeuvre and change things, thus helping us to cure diseases without the need of having to operate. Of course, I accidentally discovered that I can influence this particle to end life within its vicinity. Literally, wherever I point it, I press the button with my formula, which only I know and boom, you’re dead.’
There was utter silence as this was slowly taken in. One of the soldiers finally spoke,
‘So, this is a product to heal and kill.’
‘Yes.’
‘And you called it the GOD particle.’
‘No, not called it the GOD particle, it IS the GOD particle. I’ve just discovered how to influence it.’
‘Bullshit!’ Replied the same soldier who had challenged him.
‘Well, step right up then, since you’re so willing and I’ll kill you in front of everyone. Oh, with a click of a button,’ he said that last part with a trained afterthought. He murmured something under his breath.
‘I’m sorry what?’ Arion asked, though he knew what he had said. When he didn’t respond, he simply said,
‘You shouldn’t call people limpdick’ and after a pause, ‘Moving on’
Silently, he put the apparatus back into its pack and stood up. The others were still waiting, as if he had anything else to say,
‘Well go on then, on your way. Let’s get ready to move,’ he told them, taking away any pretence. They began to move, with more respect towards Arion and packed their bags. They had many different types of vehicles. There was a towing truck, which would be used for initial transport, and they had to load in jet scooters, made from the same gas used to propel the fliers. However, the wings were positioned to the side and there were no propellers to allow them to hover above the ground. Although in theory, if driven fast enough, you could lift off.
There was also one last item, a flyer. This was one of the first things Arion had designed a while back. A jet engine flyer designed to be flat packed for easy storage. That was a real headache to make it work, but in the end, he did, which was greatly satisfying. Although it was somewhat jarring now seeing it in person. The tow truck they were in was housed with living quarters as well. Since there were not any roads, size didn’t matter. Overall, the truck looked more like an industrial house on wheels, measuring roughly 200 metres in size and that was only the depth.
‘Big machine eh?’ Arion spoke, trying to strike a conversation with Cordell.
‘Yeah, big speech as well. You know the guy you threatened, he won’t forget very easily’
‘I know. I’d rather he remember something like that’
‘You’re one brave guy’ he commented.
They were silent for a few minutes as they watched the cadets getting the gear in.
‘Could you really kill one of us with that formula?’ Cordell finally asked.
‘Yes, I could.’ the colonel shuddered.
‘That’s a very dangerous weapon. I must admit, I had my doubts.’
‘Oh, there’s one more thing.’
‘Yeah?’
‘He was the first human I had used the machine on.’
He was silent for a moment as he contemplated this. Eventually he said,
‘I’d hate to be your enemy.’
‘Well, I had to do something to win them over.’
‘I know, the army can be a harsh place for people who aren’t r
eady for it.’
‘Oh, these idiots don’t scare me. Besides, you’ve not met my family.’
The Marshall laughed at this,
‘You know what, Arion. I’m curious to meet your family now.’
They both laughed at this as the soldiers made their final arrangements and loaded everything into the vessel.
*
All his back-ups were with him and he had shut down his computer. These were the instructions that Tali had left him, just in case things went beyond his power.
‘You know I hate politics, but I can’t stop it sometimes,’ he would always say. He had just told Tali of this when they made their way inside the truck. The confines were fairly small, but this was the initial driving chamber. They all sat down as the major carriage made its way forward. There were twelve seats. The remaining soldier was driving, so Arion was given his seat, or so he was told. He was sat in a desolate area of the vehicle with Cordell. The captain near him stared maliciously, as expected. Arion simply shrugged and looked away which seemed to aggravate him more. He smiled to himself as he knew the captain would try to make things difficult for him.
In all honesty, he had seen worse than him, which was one of the reasons he lived alone with his father. It was easier that way than being in hostile territory all the time. As the vehicle began to move forward, the major construct door opened to show the world outside. It opened to its full length and even then, the truck was a mere millimetre from each edge. The driver was very good however, as he didn’t panic and kept a straight course until he was clear of the gate.
They then rode downwards towards what looked like a tunnel. He had never seen this before. Cordell answered his unspoken question.
‘We sometimes send troops in the evening to check the perimeter. There is a small opening which we just went through that leads to a big underground entrance. Something we built about thirty years ago. None of the creatures have ever discovered it.’
‘How come?’ Arion asked.
‘It’s camouflaged,’ he replied.
‘Does it have any other security measures in it?’
‘Unfortunately, no. I keep asking but our budget is stretched, or so I’m told,’ he left it at that as they entered the major gate. It was lit with fluorescent lights which gave an unusual gloom upon proceedings. Once the door opened, he saw a jungle ahead. They drove across carefully, again with a space of a millimetre each way.
‘Careful here,’ he heard Cordell say as the driver seemed nervous.
‘What’s up?’ Arion asked.
‘100 metres in there’s a dip and our vehicle is 200 metres’
‘Can we get across it?’
‘Not across it, but around it, yes. We’ll have to go at snail speed though’
He was silent as a view of the front came up. The inside of the driver chamber reflected upon the outside to give an exact 3D rendering of the outside world. He could see the dip straight ahead. It was about twenty feet down, not the kind of problem they needed right now. Thankfully they would be able to get across it, because only a little bit of it came in the way.
‘That’s what we’re checking now, how close to our wheel is it?’ There was silence for a moment as Cordell looked at his figures.
‘2 millimetres,’ he finally said.
‘That’s not bad,’ Arion mentioned.
‘No, 2 millimetres’ counterbalance, which means we have to push the vehicle 1 millimetre to the right and hope the cliff can hold our weight for that remaining one.’
‘Let’s push everything to the left,’ Arion suggested.
Some people laughed at this, but Cordell thought for a moment. Finally, he said,
‘Unless anyone has a better idea?’ They stopped the vehicle and worked tirelessly for 30 minutes whilst everything, including themselves were pushed to the left-hand side of the vehicle, thus giving less weight to the right. In that time, the driver manoeuvred the vehicle the distance. Cordell looked at the screen, which showed a green image instead of amber as it was before.
‘Just good enough.’
Arion smiled as the remaining soldiers remained silent. He knew now that he had just courted favour with them, as they scrapped their way through the camouflage entrance, passed the dip into the dying sea.
Chapter 6
They had made camp outside, whilst scanning the near perimeter. Their scanners were spherical balls that hovered over their heads and went within a radius of 15 miles before coming back. If there was any danger on the surface, they would know instantly. As they sat there, watching the night sky, the landscape seemed unusual. Even with the scarcity of water, plants had grown fairly high, though died quickly due to lack of nourishment. Branches were hanging limply a few yards from where they sat.
He didn’t know the properties of these plants so had no idea whether they were edible or not. Their food was grown in labs. Processed and tinned, there was no other way than growing the food in large greenhouses for the whole nation. It kept everyone in a ration system of eating, which stopped any need for binge eating, a problem society had had previously, or so he read. The soldiers were making final adjustments as they sat down, making a stove for a makeshift meat buffet.
‘Sit down,’ one of them gestured at Arion. He did as he was told, feeling a little uneasy as he realised this was the first time he had truly interacted with them. He seemed to notice this as he said,
‘Let us introduce ourselves properly then, hey,’ he pointed to himself, ‘I’m Nicholas’
‘How do you do?’ Arion answered formally. Nicholas sniggered at this as he pointed to the man next to him,
‘This is Elijah, the ever good-natured one.’
‘You’re not gonna let that go are you?’ Elijah pointed out.
‘Why, what does that mean?’ Arion asked him. Nicholas answered,
‘He helped a stray dog once. It was a mother with small pups, made everyone of us walk around the damn thing, even though going through it was easier.’
‘Look I told you, it was a humane thing to do.’ Elijah argued.
‘We know, but the name stuck after that. So, get over it,’ Elijah shook his head but didn’t comment any further.
‘Moving on, we have twinkle toes over here. Marcel is his name.’
Marcel shook his head as the others jeered at him.
‘So why are you called twinkle toes?’ Arion asked.
‘I’m fast with my feet’ he answered, ‘and very quiet’
‘Patrick, you know,’ he pointed to Patrick, who complained,
‘don’ I get an intro?’
‘I think you just gave yourself one,’ Nicholas pointed out.
‘You fecking asshole,’ Patrick scorned.
‘These two quiet ones are Terence and Luke. Twins you know. Or as we call them ‘Tom and Tom’’
The two shook their heads but didn’t say anything,
‘They don’t talk much,’ Nicholas told him. Arion nodded and went on to introduce himself,
‘Arion, scientist. Or as some of you will say, limpdick’
Everyone laughed at this,
‘Hey, I have to keep up appearances,’ Arion shrugged. They sat down and spoke for many moments whilst they ate the food which was a part of their rations. Once the meals were done, the others busied themselves into making a bigger fire. As they made their fires, Cordell sat down near him.
‘I think I’m getting too old for this,’
‘You look ok to me,’ Arion began.
‘I know, but I feel old.’
Arion didn’t answer, having not experienced old age yet. He asked about the mission and Cordell bought up the monitors.
‘We have twelve scanners going around every corner. The problem is, you can never be entirely safe here.’
‘How come?’
‘Many dips,’ Cordell answered simply.
‘Hmm. I guess you’ve been around before?’
‘Only once or twice,’ Cordell answered in an awkward manner.
‘Considering no one goes out anymore, that’s something in itself.’
‘Well, I don’t want to be too big-headed about it.’
They were silent for a few minutes as the remaining marines went into their tents for the night. Cordell seemed fine for the moment where he was.
‘How are you adjusting to the environment?’ Cordell finally asked him.
‘Better than I thought, though I still have a bit of a headache.’
‘That’s ok. It’ll go by tomorrow morning.’
They were sat down in the quite pit of what was once a vast ocean. The moon was full tonight, which usually meant the wolves were out, or so Arion laughed.
‘I don’t think we’ll be worried about wolves any longer, it’s the Wolves more than anything.’
‘I thought they were extinct at one point?’ Arion remembered reading about that in an old history book once.
‘They were. Apparently, some found a small cave and went in. That region was closed off, probably due to a meteor shower and they made their homes underground. Until the major earthquake of 200 years ago, which drowned the water.’
‘That’s funny. I don’t remember reading about it.’
‘They don’t have it anymore. I read an old tattered book which was demolished to make way for newer revelations later on. They said that these texts would be preserved digitally, but that clearly didn’t happen.’
‘Hmm. That’s a shame really, I’d love to know more about our history.’
‘So would I,’ Cordell commented, ‘It almost feels like we’re lost at times.’
‘Yeah, anyway I’m going to sleep. I need some medicine for this headache.’
‘No problem. I’ve got first watch anyway.’
‘No worries. See you soon.’
*
He woke up with a sudden jolt. His headache was gone, but there was something else outside. He moved out and found Cordell along with his captain, whose name he still didn’t know, scanning something.
‘How far is it?’ Cordell asked.
‘About 100 metres, moving away though.’
‘What’s moving away?’ Arion asked.
