A voice suddenly boomed through the PA system. He was looking at Alicia when it did and he saw her go white, and start shaking. The voice was loud, but felt like a whisper, like something or someone was standing right behind him, murmuring in his ear. He shuddered, aware that Ally was gripping his hand and he gave hers a squeeze in return, feeling suddenly cold.
"Gamers, welcome back, and welcome to the latest addition to The Game."
Ally squeezed his hand in return, stepping closer. Around them, he could see others responding the same way, gathering together as if to find safety in numbers. Over her head he met Stem's nervous eyes, and shook his head, shrugging.
"As you can see, not all of your ships made it back to port, a sad event for all involved. However, on the lighter side, the five ships that now hang here have been fixed, made good again."
The gamers glanced at one another, many still confused, but some understanding, their confusion becoming fear, or intent. The Lord didn't wait for anyone else to work out what was coming next.
"Tonight, 5 ships will leave this hanger, each bearing 2 pilots. The rest of you will remain here, permanently. To make things interesting, the hanger has been sealed and in one hour, deadly gas will fill this space."
He glanced down at Ally, his blood running cold. She had her hand on her knife, eyes flashing as she sized up the people around them. She was pulling his hand and he came to, suddenly seeing the other gamers also reaching for weapons. She yanked at him again and he started to run.
A Game of War
Book Two
The End of Innocence
Intro
The stars flashed by, white streaks of light blurred by the tears that coursed down her cheeks. She could feel it welling up, a deep river of hurt that threatened to burst and swamp her, carrying her away from herself and into a welcome oblivion. She forced it down, knowing that she was only buying time, that every moment she refused to face it would make the flood, when it did come, ever more powerful. She checked her instruments, watching her hands from some disconnected place as they moved expertly around the controls. A hand landed gently on her shoulder and squeezed, bringing her a little more back to the present. She shook her head, clearing out the thoughts for good and checked her screens again. They showed nothing but stars and she breathed a sigh of relief that they were still, apparently, safe.
Chapter Seven
She couldn't quite believe they were here, so close to safety, to freedom. The last month had been a blur, a strange dream from which she was still expecting to wake. Yet ahead of them hung the veil, the edge of explored space so close she could almost reach out and touch the strange mess of rock and dust and gas that filled the forward screens. She'd heard so much about it, but seeing it now, stretching across the horizon, she could barely comprehend the sheer size of it. Little was known about it, just that when humans began their early explorations, finally freed from Earth by the Lords' technology, they got this far and stopped.
Beyond it lay the war, the Lord's personal battle with everything, whatever it was that lay beyond. Millions of humans had died in it, fuel thrown on the fire of the creatures' endless need to conquer and expand.
They had found out, over the past few weeks, just how easy it was for the Lords to fill their armies. That revelation, over all the others, was what still had her waking in a sweat every night, shivering and terrified.
She tried, through the ever-present sense of loss, to backtrack and gain perspective on what they had achieved, but once again she found herself back in the hanger, on the day when everything changed.
She ran, eyes fixed on the Vale. She was vaguely aware of Stem's breathing, harsh and ragged as he kept pace, and dad's hand clinging to hers. Behind them the screams started, but her only thought was getting to their ship, getting out before she too was forced to use the knife that swung heavy on her hip. At least 100 metres lay between her and where the first rope ladders hung from the mooring platforms. She could make it, of that she was sure, but dad was getting heavier every second and with every step taken she felt like her arm was being pulled from its socket.
Stem grabbed her hand, trying to pull her faster and she felt, for a second, torn. She could let go of dad and just run. She paused, dragging in a breath, and glanced around. Dad came to a halt beside her, gasping and struggling to draw breath. Back at the hanger door, fights had broken out and she could see blood smeared across the concrete. The rich smell of iron was mingling with the usual tang of grease and welding. There were bodies, people who only minutes earlier were survivors of the game but now lay bleeding out on the hanger floor. Others were running, gaining fast. There were maybe 100 of them in here, a few already down, but many more doing just as she was. She turned, and ran again.
Stem hadn't stopped and was now ahead. She focused on his back and nothing else, counting her breaths. Dad was stumbling along in her wake, barely moving his feet. It felt as if she was dragging his full weight on her own. The Vale was much closer and she felt a flicker of hope flare. A young pilot, one she didn't recognise, had overtaken Stem and thrown himself onto the nearest rope ladder. He began to scramble up it, swinging around wildly as his weight shifted. Watching him, she felt her heart grow as heavy as her feet. Dad would never make it up the ladder. She would have to leave him at the bottom until she got the engine running and could pick him up. She could manage the flying part, but the blood behind her made her doubt he would be there to collect.
She was heaving now, gasping for air and her shoulder was burning. Abruptly she was taken off her feet and thrown to the floor. She rolled over, realising that dad had collapsed and dragged her down. She slung an arm under him and tried to lift, achieving nothing but more pain. A furtive glance over his shoulder confirmed that others were closing, so close now she could see the fear and pain in their eyes.
Looking back towards the ships, she could see Stem had reached the ladder and was looking back in their direction. She watched as he hesitated, face scrunched in a mask of frustration before he came sprinting back. She buried her face in dad's shoulder, a sob of despair escaping her lips.
"Ally, just bloody go, please."
She ignored him, instead trying to lift him again, grunting with the effort. Stem reached them and and between them they hauled him to his feet. With surprising strength dad grabbed her head, his hand wrapped around the back of her neck. His breathing was coming in fits and starts.
"I mean it. Go. I can't. Just get out of here."
She could feel the tears welling up and shook her head free, refusing to look him in the face. More people had overtaken them now and were fighting to climb the first ladder. Stem, his hand under dad's arm, nudged her on the back and she looked as he motioned with his head to another ladder, further away, but directly beneath the Vale. She nodded in return and they began to stumble towards it.
A scream amongst the shouting made her lurch and half turn. A woman was hanging from the first ladder, upside down with her feet tangled up. Blood was pouring from a knife wound in her neck and she was jerking and bucking as she died. At the bottom, another gamer with blood on his face and hands was scrambling to his feet, trying to grab the elusive rope and hold it steady. Two others had changed their minds as well, driven off by the blood-soaked gamer and and were heading their way. She could see the anguish on their faces that she was sure was present on her own. How had it come to this, so quickly? She felt the fear rise up in her and got her answer. No matter how many times she had faced the prospect of death, she wasn't any less desperate to live.
Ally and Stem reached the ladder together and she understood, suddenly and with complete clarity, that they weren't going to make it. Her hand fell to her waist and grabbed the handle of the knife she had never thought about as a weapon, only a tool.
One of the gamers jumped past them, grabbing the lowest run and pulling himself up. Stem grabbed his ankle and dragged him off, sending him crashing to the ground. The other had taken his own knife out and was advan
cing towards her. As she pulled hers and held it in her shaking hand, dad pushed himself up, and dove at the man. Despite being barely able to stand he managed to grab their assailant's wrist and drag him to the floor.
Ally saw herself from above, standing, helpless and pathetic, and a growl escaped her lips. She flung herself towards the man who was thumping her dad on the head whilst wrenching his arm about. She caught him by surprise and was only vaguely aware of her own screaming as she plunged her knife into his shoulder and then again into his back.
He stopped hitting dad and fell back onto the floor, cursing and moaning. She grabbed dad, hauling him upright and turned towards Stem and the ladder. Her turn was all that saved her. The knife held by the second man slid deep into her father's side, between the ribs. Realising what had happened she let out an anguished scream, oblivious to it as she watched him fall from her arms to the floor. Stem, rising from the ground and bleeding, wrapped his arms around the man's head, yanking him backwards and onto the floor on top of him. She knew she was screaming now, long, hoarse cries as her knife went in, first his chest, then neck, again and again.
"Ally, enough, enough!"
Stem's voice cut through and she forced her arm to stop, the knife hitting the concrete as it slipped from her blood-covered hand. Stem pushed the inert body off him and onto the floor, then dragged himself to his feet. Ally fell to her knees next to her father, her hands grabbing his as her eyes filled with tears. The world blurred and she howled, burying her face in his chest.
Stem pulled at her shoulder, pulling her away and she lashed out. He ignored it and pulled again, forcing her to twist and see him.
"Ally, he's dead. I'm sorry but he's dead. We have to go."
She heard him as if he stood at the far end of the hanger, a voice echoing and distant, but the meaning sank in. Her instincts took over and she ran her bloody hand over her face, clearing her eyes of tears. She winced as the blood got in them, but she could see enough to see that gamers, fewer now and many limping and bloody, were heading their way. The taste of blood was suddenly strong in her mouth and she retched, then stood and reached for the ladder. As she pulled herself up she whimpered, her shoulder a throbbing mass of pain.
Painfully slowly she hauled herself upwards, Stem's hands helping to steady her feet on the rungs. She was most of the way up when the ladder was jerked from below and she slipped. One arm went through a rung and caught her, sending new shafts of pain through her body. She felt her foot connect with Stem and heard him shout. Tears were streaming now as the agony became almost unbearable. She looked down, saw that Stem was still clinging on and so faced upwards, determination forging a path through her anguish.
The ladder was now moving, but more steadily as another gamer began to climb. She struggled off it and collapsed face-down on the narrow metal walkway. She dragged herself to the hatch on the Vale, and reached with shaking fingers to the keypad. Her hands were slippery and she struggled to input the code. The impatient beeps told her she'd done it wrong.
"Dammit, c'mon, c'mon."
The blood was mixing with sweat and the keypad became a blur. The sweat was running down her neck and she was shaking all over now. The walkway was vibrating as the man on the ladder got nearer the top. She took two quick deep breaths, dragged her arm over her face, and bashed the code in again. Nothing. She stared at it blankly, uncomprehending.
"They've reset them Ally!"
His voice cut through her reverie and she cursed, then input the standard reset.
The door hissed open and she threw herself through, scrabbling to get free of the hatch before collapsing on the floor. Stem was through seconds later and slammed the 'close' button with a clenched fist.
"Where's the crank, c'mon, help me out."
She pushed herself to her knees, gesturing to the engine starter and Stem rushed down towards dad's seat. The thought made her double over again, her face pressed again the cool metal flooring. A crash on the outside of the door made her jump and she floundered towards her own seat, landing in it and beginning start up. She buckled in and watched as Stem furiously pumped at the starter, eyes glued to the red light that glowed just behind the handle. The crashing outside got louder and she realised that the gamer was smashing the code box, hoping to override it and force the door.
After what seemed like an age, the light went green and Stem hit the ignition. The ship began to vibrate as the engine roared into life. Triggered by the change, the hanger roof overhead split apart, the night sky, their doorway to freedom, appearing above them. The clamps released and she leaned back on the sticks. She didn't hear the scream as the gamer lost his grip and fell to the hanger floor far below. She was only abstractly aware of the blood that dripped from her face and onto the seat, and ran down the sticks from where her white-knuckled hands clung to them.
They soared free of the hanger, joining the other 'winners' who were emerging from the long row of giant buildings that were becoming tombs. On all sides the dark of the planet crowded in, the lights from the port a blinding oasis. She hit the homing control, letting the Vale swing around and head towards the Homeship.
The tears were still running, but she felt something else - a deep, burning anger that filled her brain and blocked out the cries of mourning; mourning that wouldn't happen until they left the Homeship far behind.
The rest of that day was faded in her memory. She had flashes of getting back on board, of crawling off the Vale and collapsing on the Homeship landing bay floor. She knew that Stem had got her back to the engine, and she could remember sitting curled up in the shower as the steaming water burned her skin. She winced in her seat as the vision of walking to their place in the engine and seeing dad's bed and tools jumped up from the mud of her memory. She must have made it to Stem's cubby because that was where she woke, 12 hours later, raging, craving revenge.
Chapter Eight
Stem settled himself in dad's flight seat, spinning it so he could face her.
"OK, life support's refilled and we're about half way through the supply, so we're good for a few more days."
She nodded, once, making no reply. He sighed and she could feel herself tense up. The last few days had been horrible, tense and nerve-wracking. When everything had been happening on the Homeship they hadn't had a chance to imagine what this part, the running, would be like, but now she thought she knew what the escapees back on board felt like. She had barely slept, neither of them had, and they expected any second to see a craft appear behind them. The constant watching and waiting was unbearable. She knew she was being unfair to him, knew it even as she was snapping at him, but she just couldn't stop herself.
"Still nothing?"
"Nope."
She paused, feeling hope try to squeeze between the grief and the rage and then feeling it ebb away, frustrated in its effort.
"But they'll be here soon, you know it."
He nodded glumly. She could see how tense he was, how out of sorts. His normally relaxed way with her was absent and he was constantly fidgeting and pacing and checking and checking again. She spun her chair so she didn't have to watch him, didn't have to see the one from whom she drew her strength, so weak and powerless.
She gazed again at the screens, almost wishing something would appear, just to end the waiting. As she watched, the screen seemed to blur and she wandered back in her mind.
They'd been back from the great game for 3 days, and spent the entire time debating and discussing, desperately trying to find something they could focus on. They knew that things had changed, neither one had to say anything. By mutual, silent consent, they had agreed every waking second they had would be dedicated to revenge and escape. No longer would they be slaves and no longer would they live in fear of the Lord.
The talk had been about how and where they could strike, what they could do to make a real change.
"We're stuck Ally, there isn't anything to find. I would have found it, hell, I looked long enough."
"Tel
l me again Stem, just humour me, please. Where did you look?"
She slumped back against the moth-eaten pillow that lay between her and the pipes, all too aware that they were going round in circles, but terrified of stopping for fear of what would happen inside if they did. Stem looked at her, eyes wide, before sighing and shaking his head.
"I've looked all over the damn ship. I've spent years looking and there's nothing. If you hadn't seen him in the flesh, I might be tempted to think that the Lord wasn't actually here at all. He has the top deck to himself, but everywhere else is just like here. Just slaves doing normal things. But you know this Ally, c'mon, we've been taking about this long before this game."
He paused, and she realised he was waiting for some kind of breakdown at his mention of the game. She could let it happen, so easily, but she forced it down, and instead rage swept over it, a fire over dry kindling. She stood, slamming her hand against the pipes.
"Then what the hell can we do? Isn't there someone else who can help? Who have we talked to?"
"Everyone, pretty much. Everyone's the same. No one wants to get into trouble, so no one says anything. We can't risk actually telling anyone what we think."
"But they're humans, they're slaves! Why would they not want to be free, to at least try?"
She trailed off, feeling again the futility and the grief and this time she couldn't keep it down. She felt her mouth open, open wide and she screamed, a piercing howl of impotent fury and release. The sound seemed to go on forever. Her vision went dark and she felt herself tumble, Stem catching her head just before it hit the floor. She could hear him from a long way away, calling her but she couldn't answer.
A Game of War Season One Amazon Page 6
