Frontline sf-4

by Randolph Lalonde

  “There's a botanical section?”

  “More like a park. I was hoping it would be enough to entice you to stay aboard, that or the engineering section.”

  “I don't need to be enticed. Freeground may have given me an assignment, but I was ready to come on my own. I was just lucky Minh was headed the same way.”

  “How is he?”

  “He's the same. Once we get him to a medical center he'll be fine.”

  “The infirmary on the Triton is more like a small hospital, we'll get him back on his feet.”

  “Thank you Jake.”

  “I'm just glad I can help him.”

  A silence settled on them. Jacob Valance stood separate from the quiet, diminishing crowd, staring down the tunnel as it extended into a darkness that may as well have gone on forever. He was so unsure of what to say. An uncertainty and fear filled him that was unlike anything he could recall.

  Jacob's memories of her felt like his own. At the same time he could clearly recall comforting Ayan on the Triton as the life faded from her. Yet she had been reborn and she was on the other end of the communique, waiting for him to say something. How could he possibly convey his relief, his amazement, his joy to her without putting her off? Was it even right to express any of it under such dismal conditions?

  “Are you okay?” she asked finally, quietly.

  His mind was filled with every possible way to answer the question and for a long moment he struggled to narrow it down, to at once figure out what she was referring to specifically and what his best answer could be. “Um,” was all that came out.

  “I mean, do you remember? Laura said you do but-” Ayan said in a nervous rush.

  “It feels strange when I hear someone call me Valance now,” Jake blurted. He had barely started to realize it but ever since he last introduced himself to Alaka and his people by his full name, it was a feeling that he couldn't shake.

  “Okaaay,” Ayan sounded a little confused, and very unsure.

  “I mean I remember everything, now it's like it's all my own life, and the years where I didn't have those memories just fit into the missing time,” Jake sighed and sat down on a power cable box beside the unirail. “It's like someone turned out the lights for six years and I had to make my way in the dark, then someone started turning on switches and when I remembered you everything started coming together. When you died, I mean, when the other you died-”

  “Oh my God, were you there?”

  The pain of the moment, the last bright smile he'd seen on her face came back to him then and he forced what he needed to tell her out. “I pretended I was Jonas. That was the first time I felt like everything was real, like I wasn't just struggling day to day for nothing,” he hesitated before going on. “When I was with her, watching her fade away everything else disappeared. Then she was gone and I was lost all over again.”

  “I'm so sorry.”

  “You couldn't have done anything and I'm glad I was there. She passed away smiling,” he didn't know if he was saying the right thing, for once he didn't have time to plan his strategy, to pick and choose his words carefully. Instead he just kept talking. “Now you're just a few hours away, but for all I know you barely remember anything.”

  The quiet that followed was soon broken by the sound of her quietly crying. “I remember everything. I've missed you so much,” he could hear her trying to keep herself together as she went on, sniffling first. “You know what they say about making the same decision twice? I'd do it three times, five times, over and over again for you, even if I have to start calling you Jake.”

  “You might just have to, I'm used to the first name,” Jacob looked behind him to see that there were just a few people left to descend into the lower tunnel. Things were moving very quickly. “I think my turn to go down is coming up, I'll see you soon Ayan. I'll be there soon. Just-” he tried to think of the right words but nothing clear, no gentle way to say what was on his mind came. “Just don't expect me to be the same, there are years, things I've done since you knew me.. ”

  “I understand. I'm not the same either, we both come with surprises.”

  Any surprise she had for him couldn't compare to his history as a hunter, all the people he'd killed on Pandem but he decided there would be another time for that; “I'll see you soon,” he promised quietly.

  “Okay, be careful. Tell Alaka that if he doesn't get you here in one piece I'll make him into a fur rug,” she said with a chuckle, he could hear her tears clearing up.

  Jake laughed as much in mirth as in joy as he unconsciously nodded at his communication and control unit; “I'll tell him, he'll get a laugh.” He was just about to end the private communique but added; “I'll be there soon,” once more before closing the line.

  Terry Ozark McPatrick and Minh-Chu Buu

  The darkness of the old sealed tunnel was just what Oz wanted after the ordeal that had passed. It was like the quiet after a midnight storm. He sighed and looked around, his head piece drawn back so it was an open hood.

  The concrete closest to the old transit line that once led to the space station terminal had aged badly, the cracks in the ceiling allowed moisture to drip, the big metal magnetic ties that had been pulled up so they could properly wall the tunnel up were once piled but had settled and were strewn out. Tons of metal, just left down here to rot for God only knows how long. I wonder what the crews who sealed this place would think if they knew that these old holes would save our lives. He thought to himself as he eyed the well lit double service doors further down the cavernous tunnel. They had been pried open and scouted hours ago. Where Dementia's knowledge of the old tunnels ended Alaka's began. The nafalli had been through most of the tunnels before while exterminating rim weasels and he led them straight to a forgotten maintenance access that could take them into the spaceport. The disused service hallways let out right behind a small West Keeper outpost, all that lay between them and the main lower landing platforms and hangars. The Clever Dream was waiting, and he hoped it would be ready soon.

  In the division of command he had drawn the shortest straw. Ayan was to keep the lines of communication open between herself and Jake or Alaka, Jason was always busy gathering information about what the enemy was doing while he kept a line to Dementia open, and he was to try and keep in touch with everyone they left behind as he managed the refugees and rebels who had come with them.

  His job was the most depressing of the lot. The last transmission from the survivors they had left behind was nothing but panic, screams and a plea for help. Dementia had kept trying to connect to the machines they'd left behind with the refugees with no success.

  Both he and Jason tried to warn the refugees that the Holocaust Virus would take over completely, that it wasn't safe to keep anything controlled by an artificial intelligence near or in the camp. Yves wouldn't acknowledge their attempts at communication and if anyone heard their general broadcasts through local channels there was no indication.

  When it happened less than two hours later the androids and artificial life driven service machines lashed out in a sudden flash of violence as though they were taking vengeance for being forced to switch sides. He'd seen it himself, one of the resistance fighters opened a video link just as it started, begging for help of some kind, a new patch or a means of escape.

  Few things phased him, Oz was a trained soldier, he'd seen the All-Con Conflict as a member of a marine unit, gone on actual boarding actions and commanded a cloak ship in the middle of a war zone with one mission; to hunt down and destroy the enemy. The sounds of civilians and rebels alike being ruthlessly cut down at close range was beyond anything he'd experienced. When the screams started on his communicator he only looked at the video portion of the transmission for a moment before turning it off.

  There was nothing they could do, the refugees and resistance fighters had surrounded themselves with the combat, security and assistance bots that Dementia had freed. They were inside the camp attending the wounded, mending b
roken equipment, even assisting them in their plans to fend off the West Watch.

  Telling the people who had followed them into the transit tunnels was hard. He didn't show his own grief, only delivered the information as accurately and as gently as possible. He didn't give false hope, he answered questions directly and he allowed the group to comfort each other. It was all in his officer's training, but to those who left friends they had made while defending the barricades behind it just didn't feel like enough. He wanted to offer them his sympathy, tell them that there was still some chance that someone made it out, that if they mounted a rescue mission there would be something to recover, but none of it was true so he had nothing but the hard, cold facts. The few who felt motivated to mount a rescue mission had to be told, over and over again, that there was no chance of survival. When that didn't work he played back the recording, let them hear the screams for themselves.

  No one blamed Ayan, Jason or himself. That was a relief but little comfort. Many of them blamed Dementia and even Oz was led to wonder why he hadn't said anything about his countermeasures to the Holocaust Virus not being a permanent solution to Yves and the other resistance leaders. He had to put that aside, however. It wasn't something he had time to ponder and if there was anyone who was better suited to solve that puzzle it was Jason. His officer training came in handy once more; Dementia and the Clever Dream were their ticket off of Pandem so he went to work reassuring people that Yves had been warned, that Dementia had done everything he could have. It was a lie, but one that might hold them together until they were safely away.

  It was difficult to raise spirits, but there were other facts to offer. A group of seasoned rebels and refugees were on their way. At the head of the group was Alaka; someone who knew more about these tunnels than everyone combined and had been responsible for directing them away from the overtaken refugee barricade. Beside him was their old friend; Jacob Valance, a well known bounty hunter and privateer. They were waiting for them so they could get to a ship with a cloaking device and an artificial intelligence that could fight off the holocaust virus. Those were the facts that, after they had a few minutes to mourn, Ayan, Jason and himself started to quietly remind them of. “We're getting out of here soon,” he reassured.

  When things finally quieted down he found the most peaceful spot he could. He sat on an upturned block of broken concrete beside the sealed protective bag that held Minh-Chu Buu in suspended animation. Behind them was the thick concrete wall that had been erected ages before to block the tunnel off from the old spaceport receiving station.

  As he opened a meal bar he couldn't help but remember his captivity on the Overlord II. “You know, no matter how good these ration bars taste, what they do with the texture, they'll always remind me of the condensed sludge chunks they fed us on that ship,” he chewed through that first bite slowly, enjoying the dark quiet. “It's funny, you kept calling yourself crazy, even back in the sims before I had met you, and I really didn't believe you were a little touched in the head until you hit the afterburners on that heap we escaped that ship on. You should have seen our faces, most us looked like they thought the thing would tear itself to pieces,” Oz couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. “But then Jonas climbed into one of those ball turrets and I wasn't sure who was crazier. I wasn't far behind though, so there's no telling who gets the nutso prize. I felt so alive when we were on the First Light, like every moment counted for something. Even when we recorded a report we knew someone we'd run into on the ship would read it, it wasn't going to some stiff functionary or assessment program who we'd never meet. I'll never forget Jason's face when he saw the first one you recorded in the shower. He couldn't stop laughing for I don't know how long and all he said when we came to look was; 'he could have just recorded the audio!'”

  Oz worked his way through another bite of his meal bar as he thought back. “You know, I barely knew you. Even in all the sims we went on before the First Light. You were so busy down on the flight deck when we got aboard I didn't have much time then either, but I tell ya it's not the same out here without you. Jonas is Jacob now, and he's seen and done some dark things if the holo archives are any indication, but when I saw you and Ayan I knew that if there were two people who could bring him back, remind him of who he really is regardless of everything he might have done out here in the dark, it would be you two. I'm just a soldier, but wherever you and Ayan go there's some kind of spark, rooms light up.” He sighed as he chewed through another bite. “Besides, after what you've been through you deserve to be where you want to be. Maybe we all deserve a little piece of what we had back,” he looked at the last bite of his meal replacement bar as he swallowed the preceding bite. “There's gotta be a better way to package emergency food. Ah well, quiet time's almost-” he started to say before he was interrupted by a sound, the smallest of sounds behind him.

  He turned the audio receptors up on his comm unit and was instantly rewarded. The sounds of four running, booted feet were just on the other side of that wall and they were moving away. “Duck and cover!” he shouted as he dropped what was left of his meal bar, grabbed Minh in his protective vacbag, and ran a few meters to stop behind an upturned hunk of concrete.

  The wall sealing the tunnel off exploded in a sudden heave of heavy brick, mortar and dirt.

  Together At Last

  Alaka and Jake led the way between several ancient maglev transit cars. They were two decks high and eleven meters across. Judging from the thick dust they were kicking up the tunnel had been abandoned for a very long time. “Why did they close all this up?” asked one of Alaka's children as he clung on his father's back and poked his head over his shoulder. He was from the middle litter, just barely a pre-teenager.

  “They made a system that could travel horizontally and up and down so people didn't have to go from the rail cars to elevators as much when they got to the space port.”

  “You and Mom used to tell me never to go there.”

  “The Spaceport?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You remember why, don't you Temin?”

  “I remember.”

  “Say it aloud,” Alaka pressed gently.

  “Because you and Mom didn't want slavers to grab us and take us away,” his son said quietly between sniffs as he pointed his snout in the air then directly ahead.

  “That's right, but we have to go there now.”

  “Because there's a ship ready to take us to the Triton,” he struggled to climb higher up on Alaka, almost coming over his shoulder as he sniffed the darkness ahead. “They're close dad.”

  “I know, go see your mother,” Alaka said gently.

  His son kept on sniffing the air, closing his eyes and ignoring his father's instructions.

  “Go to your mother Temin,” Alaka said more firmly.

  The boy hopped off his father's back and bounced off one of the old transit cars before running back to the rear of the line, where his mother and the rest of their children followed in the main group.

  “He's a good boy, that one. He wanted to hunt rim weasels with me,” Alaka said quietly to Jake as he adjusted the strap on his massive improvised beam cannon.

  “I like him, and he's right, we're getting close,” Jake said with a nod towards a light in the distance. He brought up a small sub display window on his visor and increased the magnification. There wasn't anything to see just yet, only the gradual curve of the corner with light hitting the far wall, but he knew that just around that corner they'd find the other group of refugees, led by Oz, Jason, Minh and Ayan.

  His stomach was in knots despite the effort he made on concentrating on the longer goal; getting off Pandem and out to the safety of the stars if not directly back to Triton.

  The temptation to initiate communications with his ship, to reach out and see if they were listening was incredible. Though it was almost more than he could stand he couldn't do it, there was a good chance they would respond and give away their position and it just wasn't time
for that yet.

  “We're almost there,” Jake said over the general command channel. “Just around the corner.”

  “We'll be ready to move as soon as you get here,” Ayan replied.

  Jake watched the magnified screen closely as they came out from between the last of the old transit cars. Even though they were far underground and the darkness of the tunnel was still pressing down on them, it felt like they were moving out of being trapped in a small space, into a much broader, freer environment. It was an easy feeling to enjoy and as Jake looked on Ayan and Jason came into view.

  They were still over a hundred meters away, but as watched them the mental image of the Ayan he had met on Triton, of her final, parting smile, began to fade. It was replaced with what was right before his eyes. Her dark grey poncho hood was up, a few blonde curls had fought their way free and dangled down the front. She was happy, talking to Jason about something he couldn't overhear. There were differences, she was shorter, she'd gone blonde, and dimples played in cheeks that were thicker than he recalled, but she was still Ayan, she was still the most beautiful sight he'd ever laid eyes on.

  The people behind her came into view. They looked more sullen but watched Jason and Ayan or spoke amongst themselves casually. It was good to see new faces, other survivors. It was incredible that anyone had survived the wasteland above the tunnels. All that wholesale destruction brought on by the Order of Eden couldn't eliminate all life in the city of Damshir and it was encouraging.

  He had never been with a group of people who knew how to survive as well as those behind and beside him and he wouldn't have believed it unless he had seen it for himself. The things he'd done in his past career as a hunter seemed small compared to the hardships imposed on the survivors by Regent Galactic and the Order of Eden's West Watcher army.

  The thought that his ship, Triton, a heavily armed close combat carrier with thousands aboard might be just in orbit, so close yet so far away nagged at him. Once he got aboard he would find out how the crew and ship were, situate the survivors who wanted to remain and help with the ship and then get to work.