by Colin Weldon
“So, I guess you should know something,” he said to her.
The hum of the power cables attached to her body echoed around the lab.
“I am your father,” he said stretching out his arms.
“Bang up job I’ve done so far, eh?” he said, “you won’t know who I am when you wake up, but we have a lot of catching up to do, you and I. I should probably tell you about your mother. She would have wanted that. Well, you look just like her. It’s incredible, actually. I don’t know what colour your eyes are, but I am hoping that they are like hers. She had the most beautiful blue eyes. We knew each other when we were kids, your mother and I. She was a scrawny little thing back then. Back before Arturo Verge. I found her hiding inside a food crate, playing with two vegetables, pretending they were people. She looked up at me and handed me one and asked if I wanted to play. I fell in love with her from that moment on. We were inseparable, your mother and I. It was fairly innocent then, we were just pals, but I knew she was the one. I nearly lost her once, during the O2 crisis, but we stuck together and made it through. I’ll tell you about it when you wake up.”
He sat back in the chair and removed the pulse gun from his trousers. The butt of the weapon was digging into his waist. He placed it on the floor next to the foot of the chair.
“You know, now that I mention it, there is a strong possibility that you may never get to meet me,” he said.
He placed his hand against the glass and ran his fingers over the curved cold surface.
“I am going to bring you back to life. You hear me?” he said, raising his voice.
Maya suddenly twitched her head ever so slightly. Aron smiled.
“Okay, I’m done,” said Vishal’s voice from behind him suddenly.
Aron turned to look at him and nodded.
“You realise we’ll probably be shot the second we walk out of here?” Vishal said.
Aron looked back at Maya.
“Then we better run,” he replied getting up from the chair and grabbing the weapon from the floor.
The Unity
“This whole idea is insane. The Kandinsky’s guns pack a serious punch,” Oliver said to India as he attached the last of the explosives on to the core.
“Yeah, but we’re faster, you worry too much, Ollie. Just get the damn things locked into place, Aron will be here shortly,” India said handing him the last of the primer charges.
“You’re the boss,” Oliver said scratching his beard.
India turned away from him and moved towards the exit. She was stopped in her tracks by Florence who had just boarded the ship.
“Florence,” India said, “you made it.”
Florence nodded slightly and looked at Oliver.
“Are we ready?” she asked India.
India turned and looked at Oliver who nodded back.
“Ready as we’ll ever be,” she said, “come with me, you can join me on the flight deck.”
India placed her hand on Florence’s shoulder and guided her to the door that led out of the engine room. They both had to duck as they headed out into the corridors, as the hatch was barely big enough to fit one person through it.
“Any problems?” Florence said to India as they made their way through the ship’s corridors.
“None so far, the crew has been put off the ship, so it’s just us ladies and Oliver at the moment. Cozy,” India replied.
Florence nodded. She looked shaken.
“How about your end?” India said.
“I had some trouble with one of the guards, but it’s been taken care of,” Florence said.
“I see,” India said looking at her.
“We need to get the stations locked down and everyone back into their resident living quarters. I haven’t quite figured that part out yet,” Florence said, “Aron and Vishal said they would take care of that on their way here.”
India nodded.
They continued through the belly of the ship in silence, and made their way up to the flight deck. When they arrived India offered Florence a seat, as she fired up the main flight control systems. After a minute or so she turned to Florence.
“He was a real piece of shit, ay?” India finally asked her.
Florence did not answer straight away. Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she looked out at the stars and main habitat ring of Red Tribe. She finally turned to India.
“It was not always like that,” Florence said softly rubbing the back of her hands nervously, “there was a time when he showed me great kindness. It was a great honour for me to have been the chosen one.”
“What did he do to you, Florence?” India asked bluntly.
Florence turned and looked at her with sadness pouring from her eyes. The look suddenly changed to anger.
“Everything,” she replied looking at the ground.
India looked at her and placed her hand on hers.
“Well, it’s nothing compared to what we’re about to do to him,” she said.
A sound from the flight console broke the silence and India turned to the sensor panel.
“Shit,” India said, “they’re early.”
Florence followed India’s eyes.
“Engine room, we have company, prepare to fire up the core,” India said tapping the comm panel.
“They’re early!” Oliver said.
“No shit, Ollie, just get it done,” India replied.
24
Earth One
Aron watched the last security door to the Forbidden Zone close firmly behind them and looked out into the corridor. Vishal nodded to him as they started walking.
“I have not left that lab in nine years,” Vishal whispered to him.
“Yeah, well, you’re not missing much,” Aron replied scanning his surroundings. They walked to the end of the hallway and came to another locked door. Aron paused and looked at Vishal.
“You ready? There’s no going back,” Aron said.
Vishal looked at him and smiled.
“I need the exercise,” Vishal said.
Aron nodded and removed the pulse gun from his waist. He hit the release button and the door opened. Two large Colonial Guards stood at its entrance. They turned to face the two men that had just emerged. Aron raised his weapon and fired twice. The two guards crumpled to the ground. He looked up to see a woman staring at them in shock.
“Don’t be frightened,” he shouted, lowering his weapon and raising both of his arms. She stood there shaking. She was carrying a basket full of linen which was now on the ground. Both of her hands were placed over her mouth in fear. Aron stepped over the two bodies and approached her. Vishal stepped over one of the guards and relieved him of his weapon. Aron approached the woman. He recognised her. Her name was Jane, she had a small green stripe on her sleeve, which identified her as being from the Green Tribe, most of whom were delegated to maintenance tasks, like fixing and running the waist distribution network on the space stations. He knew her family. She had a husband and one small boy. A seven-year-old called Thomas. She had short brown hair which was tied up in a ponytail. While she looked well beyond her thirty-six years, she looked strong. Green Tribe was well fed in comparison to Red. They had important skills that Arturo needed and they were rewarded for their work, with priority in food and healthcare.
Aron walked up to her while still looking beyond her, down the length of the corridor, to see if the other guards had been alerted. He placed his hand on her arm. She was shaking.
“What did you do?” she whispered to him, “you will be executed.”
Aron smiled.
“Jane, after today, there will be no more executions, I promise you that. I need you to go back to your quarters and stay there. Lock your doors and don’t let anyone near you or your family. Just for the day. Please trust me,” he said to her.
Aron felt her arm loosen up. She calmed down and looked at the dead guards behind him.
“Let me help you, Aron, we can all help you,” she said to him.
Aron smiled at her. There was more courage here than he thought. People were tired. Angry. They wanted a way out.
“It’s too dangerous, Jane, please just do as I ask,” Aron said to her.
“There are three guards in section seventeen and one guarding the entrance to the umbilicus. You won’t make it to your ship with just the two of you,” she said.
Aron smiled again at her and squeezed her shoulder in appreciation.
“We are not going to the ship, Jane. We are just paying Arturo a visit. We need to have a little talk with him,” Aron said.
Jane nodded.
“We are with you, Aron, we are always with you,” she said turning away from him and walking quickly down the corridor.
Aron watched her as she walked away and was filled with a new hope.
“Impressive,” Vishal said as he took his place by his side.
“What’s that?” Aron said.
Vishal raised his eyebrows.
“They believe in you,” Vishal said.
Aron looked at Vishal.
“They believe in being free,” Aron said, “let’s move.”
The Kandinsky
“They are just sitting there,” Escat said looking at the view screen.
Arturo stood next to him and looked at The Unity docked quietly at the Earth One main hangar deck. He frowned.
“Lock the main cannons on that ship and fire,” Escat said to his weapons officer who was sitting at a console on the right hand side of the bridge. He was a young man no more than twenty, dressed in a black jumpsuit. He looked back at Escat.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Do nothing!” Arturo shouted at the young man suddenly.
Arturo did not like this. The Unity could have easily outrun The Kandinsky. Why were they just sitting there? They would have seen them on their scanners long ago.
The young man looked at Escat who nodded at him. Arturo thought about opening fire and cleansing his soul of the baggage he had carried for all these years. They were all traitors. A new beginning awaited them. He only needed two things from that piece of space junk. The codes to the communication buoys, and Vishal. The bridge remained silent. He ran his fingers over his bald head and felt the small cut that ran the length of his scalp. He looked at Escat.
“I am going aboard,” he said to Escat who was now looking at him with strange eyes.
“All due respect, sir, but do you think that is wise?” Escat said.
Arturo just looked at him and frowned. He should execute him for questioning him in front of others. He watched as Escat looked away seemingly aware of what he had just done.
“I will go with you, Chancellor,” Escat said.
“No, I want you here. Keep those guns locked on The Unity. If she makes a single move off that docking port, I want you to take care of her, is that understood?” he said to Escat.
“Yes, sir,” Escat replied.
Arturo turned and began walking off the bridge. He was flanked by two Colonial Guards. Escat had explicitly instructed the guards that anyone who came within ten feet of the chancellor was to be shot on sight without hesitation or question. Failure to comply would result in an immediate trip to the nearest airlock. Needless to say, the corridors of The Kandinsky cleared quickly when the chancellor was in sight.
Earth One
They made their way through the bowels of the ship while Escat docked The Kandinsky next to the umbilicus docking port. The long cylindrical walkway that connected Earth One to the other space station was in constant need of repair and normally would only be used by maintenance crews. It was a good tactical link up point, allowing for a swift departure when the time came. Arturo and his entourage of Colonial Guards left the ship and began walking through the hallways of Earth One. Streams of yellow light were pulsating from emergency beacons all along the corridor. Arturo frowned as he looked at the flashing lights. They were met at the airlock by six Colonial Guards who lined the halls.
“Report,” he said to the nearest one.
“There is a fire, sir, in one of the waste disposal shoots. All colonists have returned to their quarters as per the fire protocol,” the guard said in his mechanical computerised voice. Arturo frowned and looked up and down the halls.
“We have three guards unaccounted for at present and we’re conducting a search,” the guard continued.
Arturo felt eyes looking at him. He could feel a change on the station.
“Where is Florence?” he asked one of the guards.
“She is currently on board The Unity, Chancellor,” replied the guard.
Arturo frowned and looked down the deserted corridor.
“Find her and bring her to my office,” he replied starting to walk.
The large contingent of guards followed.
A few minutes later and Arturo was at the entrance to his office on the upper deck of Earth One. They had not encountered a single soul on their way. The empty hallways bathed in yellow light came one after another. Arturo began to regret coming on board. He should destroy this place quickly. He told the guards to wait outside as he entered the code to the door of his room. He stepped inside. It was pitch black.
“Lights,” he said out loud as he closed the door behind him.
The room remained in darkness.
“Lights,” he said again taking a step inside. He was sure that he heard breathing. He was about to turn to open the door once again when he felt an arm around his neck and a strong hand across his mouth.
They’ve got you, you fool. You idiot! Escape or die now!
The other voice inside his head screamed as he was lifted off his feet and dragged across the floor in darkness. He felt so stupid. He was being assassinated. He should have blown the place to high heaven. What was he thinking coming on board the station?
Earth One
Office of the Chancellor
The lights came on suddenly as Vishal entered the manual override on the room’s systems. Aron dragged the chancellor, who was kicking hard, across the floor towards his desk. He was surprised at how strong the old man was. He had his hand firmly pressed against his mouth. All he could hear were muffled screams as he lifted him off his feet and slammed him straight onto his large desk, towards the rear of the room. He pointed his pulse gun at the chancellor’s head and kept his hand firmly on his mouth.
“You make a sound and I pull the trigger, end of game, you get me you piece of shit?” Aron said furiously looking into the eyes of the chancellor.
His heart was pounding through his chest. He felt the chancellor’s breath begin to ease as he went silent. He saw a ferocity in his eyes that he was not expecting. A true hatred. And something else. His eyes kept darting from one side of the room to the other. Arturo nodded slowly.
“I am going to take my hand away now. I think you and I should have a little chat. It is taking everything in my body to NOT pull this trigger, so don’t think for one second that I won’t do it. I have killed three men today already. If you can call them men,” Aron said, as he slowly released the pressure on the chancellor’s mouth. Arturo remained silent. Aron lifted his hand completely off and watched the chancellor as his eyes continued to dart from left to right. There was a tense moment of silence as Aron stepped back from the desk, leaving Arturo just lying there. His chest rising and falling. He rolled onto his side and sat up slowly looking at Vishal, who was at the door. He turned his attention to Aron, who had his arm outstretched following Arturo’s head movements with his gun.
Arturo looked carefully at Aron and smiled. Standing up slowly and facing off against the threat calmly.
“Impressive,” Arturo said, “you realise that you aren’t getting out of this room alive.”
Aron took a step towards the chancellor. He ran all the reasons not to pull the trigger through his mind. There were not that many. He was right though, if he killed him now, the odds were, that the door would be stormed in a matter of seconds and they would both be taken out before they had a c
hance to do anything about it.
“Shut up,” Aron replied gritting his teeth.
“What did they say, Mr Elstone?” Arturo said.
“Guess you’ll never know, will you, you murdering psycho,” Aron replied.
Arturo turned to Vishal.
“I presume you have introduced Mr Elstone to his daughter, yes?” Arturo said.
Vishal did not respond. Aron’s hand began shaking. The mere mention of Maya was boiling his blood. He was expecting some form of manipulation from Arturo and thought he had been prepared for it, but when the words finally came out of his mouth, he could not help it. With a quick movement of the arm holding the gun, he struck the chancellor hard across the cheek with the butt of the weapon. He was angry with himself for doing so. He had just weakened his position and shown Arturo that he could get to him easily by mentioning Maya’s name. That being said, he had to admit that it felt good. Damn good. Arturo pulled his head back from the corner of the desk, where he was propping himself up from the force of the blow. He began to laugh. Aron frowned and took a step back. Arturo’s laugh began to grow into hysteria. He began holding his sides as his bent over frame convulsed. Aron looked at Vishal who looked grimly on at the strange scene beginning to unfold in front of them.
“You idiots!” cried Arturo through fits of laughter, “you poor, poor children, look at you both, you have no idea.”
