Redemption Protocol (Contact)

by Mike Freeman

  “This could allude to the existence of mental capability. It might even suggest––”

  “Psionics,” Weaver confirmed.

  Darkwood's eyes widened in amazement.

  “Incredible.”

  Weaver hurriedly qualified.

  “I’ve nothing definite as yet. It may have no practical applications at all.”

  Karch walked over and interrupted with a sigh.

  “Fournier is losing time again. We should get him up to the ship. I can’t baby sit him all the time.”

  Weaver nodded.

  “Ok.”

  Darkwood smiled.

  “Time to go. My shuttle is touching down.”

  Weaver smiled as Darkwood hustled toward the exit.

  “Good luck.”

  Darkwood called over his shoulder.

  “Thank you. Let me know what you find.”

  Weaver waved.

  “Will do.”

  She smiled at Karch.

  “He seems very excitable.”

  Karch watched Darkwood go.

  “You have no idea.”

  Weaver did something of a double take. Karch blinked and looked mortified. Touvenay walked up to join them.

  “If Fournier is going up to disc six I’d like to join him so I can make use of the full analysis suite on the platform.”

  Weaver turned to Karch.

  “Are you happy to take Fournier and Touvenay back up to disc six?”

  Karch shrugged.

  “If you’re happy for me to leave you and Kemensky here.”

  Weaver smiled.

  “I'm fine with that. I doubt anyone else can get in the front door to reach us anyway.”

  Karch chuckled.

  “True.”

  Weaver spread her hands.

  “Well then, if Kemensky agrees...”

  They both gazed around, then looked blankly at each other. Weaver cast to her missing crewmate.

  “Kemensky?”

  120.

  Novosa couldn’t fight.

  Stephanie had her pinned down with her arm. Surely the others had to notice? Charles was looking at Stephanie more than her. Tomas stood over Charles. Surely Tomas would notice?

  Novosa kept mouthing ‘it was you, it was you' over and over. Her lips felt like they belonged to someone else.

  She felt a tiny needle enter her neck. She clotted around it immediately. Otva`li, she thought. Fuck you. The voice in her head screamed at her to fight for her life.

  She was desperate for Charles to link her to some comms equipment or get the airbag over her head so she could breathe and speak. Anything. Please. Surely Charles would work out that something was wrong.

  ‘It was you, it was you.’

  She wanted to gasp as the thick needle punctured her neck.

  She panicked. It was so unfair and so one sided. She’d fought so hard to get this far. The foreign object thrust deeper. She felt micro-feed pipes burst out of the needle and snake through her neck. Her body closed off veins and arteries, trying to stop the flow of poison. She couldn’t block them all. The foreign substance contaminated her blood. Her heart and lungs responded erratically as the poison worked to kill her.

  She diagnosed and scrubbed her blood, dumping toxins into her reservoir and fighting the bitch every step of the way. But there was too much. The toxins were interfering with her body's ability to respond. She felt the tentacles force up into her brain.

  She wanted to fight but it was so unfair. The bitch was killing her again. She wanted to cry, but even that comfort was denied to her with her frozen, damaged eyes. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t cry. She was helpless like a baby.

  Her senses darkened. Her mind dulled and her heart became sluggish. She tried to fight, to animate herself, but the inner voice that had screamed to fight had faded to a whisper. It spoke softly, ‘go to sleep’. Her heart slowed and her lungs seized.

  Her mouth shaped the words. She was trying to tell them. Why couldn't they see?

  ‘It was you, it was you.’

  ~ ~ ~

  Havoc looked down at Novosa as the others worked frantically to save her. Novosa’s condition looked marginal. Havoc was glad to see Stephanie getting involved as he tried to understand Stone's concerns.

  > Was there anything else?

  > They talked about delivery. Sending me down to the slot while they delivered. Ekker wondered if you would catch on.

  > He actually mentioned me?

  > Yeah, but Tyburn brushed him off. He said you’re too trusting; that you always were a day late and a dollar short.

  Havoc was shellshocked. The words reverberated around his skull like a stray bullet in a tank.

  Forge.

  Claudius Forge.

  'You’re too trusting, Son, you always were a day late and a dollar short.'

  A thousand fragments of shattered sculpture lifted off the floor of his mind. Characteristic phrases, expressions, movements and pictures swirled and joined, forming larger pieces. The myriad of images and aural fragments spun like a fairground ride, accelerating, the swirling memories linking to form complete thoughts, joining, compounding, probability moving from an unknown to a certainty with the volume of corroborating evidence, the perfect fit, the complete absence of counterfactuals. The dam ripped open, releasing a deluge of images. The sculpture stood, perfectly formed now, reassembled seamlessly from a thousand, ten thousand, a million different pieces. The identity, certain; the enemy, present; his purpose in life, here and now.

  General Claudius Forge.

  Havoc’s heart turned to ice.

  > Play it to me.

  Retribution

  121.

  Stephanie spoke desperately.

  “Oh my God, we’re losing her.”

  Charles fitted the airbag over Novosa’s face.

  “I’ve got this side.”

  Stephanie’s voice cracked.

  “Don’t die on us, Saskia. Keep trying, please.”

  Novosa's blue lips moved in slow motion, their contortions a tortured mockery of their proper function. Novosa was mouthing something, a word, or a name. Stephanie was pleased to see Charles didn’t notice – he was too preoccupied with getting the airbag in place while Stephanie supported Novosa's head. It was thrilling to murder the bitch in plain sight of everyone.

  Tears trickled down Stephanie’s cheeks.

  “Please Saskia, don’t go, don’t give up. Don't die. Please.”

  Charles fiddled with the seal around the shattered base of Novosa's helmet. Novosa’s lips stopped moving. Charles slowed down, then stopped.

  Novosa was gone. Charles looked down at his hands.

  “I was too slow.”

  Stephanie nodded, accepting Charles's guilt as she looked down at Novosa. She withdrew the needle and sprayed the wound to heal the skin as she lifted her arm from Novosa and knelt back.

  “Who could do something like this?”

  Charles shook his head.

  “I can’t imagine.”

  Stephanie put her hand onto her visor.

  “Oh my God. It's awful.”

  Charles circled round to stand by her as she knelt next to Novosa’s corpse, ready to comfort her. They looked down at Novosa's dismembered body together. Stephanie wondered if anyone had deciphered Novosa's final words. She spoke with tears running down her cheeks.

  “What did she say?”

  Charles put his hand on her shoulder. Stephanie stood and wrapped her arms around Charles for comfort. Charles slowly put his arms around her in return. She laid her helmet against his shoulder. God, she was good. She cuddled Charles as Tomas looked on.

  Charles shook his head as he looked down at Novosa’s butchered body.

  “I think she was saying, ‘thank you’. 'Thank you. Thank you.'”

  Stephanie bit her lip so she didn't laugh out loud.

  122.

  Weaver scanned the room. Kemensky was nowhere to be seen.

  “He has to be down in
that bloody ship again.”

  “He’s probably jerking off in it,” Karch said.

  Weaver looked shocked.

  “Merri!”

  Karch chuckled. Still, Weaver felt uneasy.

  “I hope he hasn’t done anything stupid.”

  They both cast to Kemensky again.

  There was no response.

  Weaver sighed.

  “He has to be down there. I’ll go and tell him the plan and see if he wants to stay or go.”

  “And be parted from his new toy? I can’t see it myself.”

  Weaver walked across to the giant windows and looked down.

  “True. Kemensky!”

  Nothing.

  She shook her head as she passed through the sliding doors and made her way down to the alien craft. It looked spectacular, sleek and agile. She ducked down and looked underneath for Kemensky’s feet, but there was nothing. He must have gone inside again.

  Timewaster.

  She tutted.

  “You bugger.”

  She stood at the base of the tunnel that rose into the alien craft and cupped her hands to her mouth.

  “Kemensky!”

  A bright light flared inside. It died almost before it had started. Weaver jumped back, startled.

  “Kemensky?”

  There was no response.

  > Karch, could you come down here?

  > Coming.

  Weaver looked uncertainly up the angled shaft. Kemensky might need her help right now. She hoisted herself up into the ship.

  She crept slowly up the ribbed shaft toward the center of the craft. She screwed her face up as an unpleasant smell filled the passage. The acrid smell made her feel sick. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She felt too nervous to shout loudly now.

  “Kemensky?”

  123.

  Stephanie watched Havoc lift Novosa’s corpse effortlessly and carry it back to the vehicle. Havoc placed it carefully in the back with a minimum of ceremony.

  Stephanie knew that something was wrong – something was different. She’d expected Havoc to be supportive and sympathetic after Novosa’s death. Instead he was cold and distant. She wondered if he'd noticed something. She tried to brush her hand through her hair but her gauntlet clanked against her helmet. She stepped in front of Havoc as he walked round the vehicle.

  “I’m scared, John.”

  Havoc’s eyes were barren and cold. For the first time ever, he scared her. She’d never seen Havoc look like this before. He looked like a killer.

  She held her breath.

  He stepped past her.

  “We have to go.”

  Stephanie wasn't sure that Havoc even saw her.

  She breathed again.

  ~ ~ ~

  Havoc turned the vehicle in a wide arc, accelerating hard. Novosa's corpse thumped around in the back as he flung the vehicle from side to side, hurtling back toward the entrance in the wall.

  Stone cast to him, the signal improving all the time as Stone rose higher in the shaft.

  > I'm two kilometers from the surface now. God I hate this.

  > I'm coming, Stone.

  > Now?

  > Soon.

  > Do you think you can handle them all?

  > Don't do anything brave and stupid, Stone.

  > Don't worry. I have plans. How often do you meet a girl like Saskia?

  > Notice the 'and', Stone. Don’t do anything brave and stupid.

  > I can handle myself.

  > Stone this isn't TV. Dutch McDaniels isn't real. They'll kill you without blinking.

  > You're scaring me now.

  > That might be a good thing.

  > I'm hanging on a fucking thread over nothing, Havoc. Trust me, I'm scared enough.

  > Ok. Sit tight and I'll be there. Get back to the slot if you can.

  > I can't, I have to go up to come down. Will you tell the others?

  > We don't know who to trust.

  > Except Saskia. I think she likes me, Havoc.

  Havoc thought he should try and save Stone before he slew him.

  He said nothing.

  124.

  Tyburn stared at Intrepido, their virtuoso blade runner, sizing him up as they sat inside the cabin and played back the conversation between Havoc and Stone.

  Ekker looked between them, his eyebrows raised. A flicker of a smile played across his lips.

  The playback finished. Tyburn tossed the transmitter he’d retrieved from behind the coffee machine onto the table.

  “Welcome to the fight of your lives.”

  “He's only one man,” Intrepido said.

  Tyburn didn’t answer.

  “What about the reactors?” Ekker said.

  Tyburn nodded.

  “If we can, yes.”

  Intrepido smiled at Ekker.

  “If we can?”

  Ekker frowned.

  “The ORC is on their way here now. And you know those bastards.”

  Intrepido smacked his lips for emphasis.

  “Armed to the teeth.”

  “I give us sixty minutes maximum,” Tyburn said.

  Ekker looked startled.

  “What?”

  “But he’s half-way across the planet,” Intrepido said.

  “That’s why we’ve got sixty minutes,” Tyburn said.

  Intrepido shook his head in disbelief.

  Tyburn leaned forward.

  “Stop thinking about one man. Start thinking about an instrument of violence, a force of nature.”

  Intrepido waved a hand.

  “I'll crush him like a bug.”

  Tyburn relaxed back.

  “Good to hear, Intrepido. Just don't underestimate him. Don't play with him. It's up to you.”

  “I'm looking forward to it.”

  Tyburn turned to Ekker.

  “And greet that little fucker when he gets to the hook platform.”

  Ekker ran his tongue over his teeth.

  “With pleasure.”

  125.

  Havoc drove back toward the pyramid as fast as he could safely travel. They were thrown forward by crunching landings as they crested each dune. Every time they crashed down Novosa's body thumped into the back of the rear compartment.

  Havoc cast to Stephanie in the front of the vehicle as he didn't want to be overheard by the princes.

  > I think that Tyburn is Claudius Forge.

  Stephanie couldn’t hide her astonishment.

  > What?

  > He has Stone. He's done a deal with the ORC.

  > What?

  Havoc drove on, twisting the wheel like he was ripping the head off a bear. He said nothing.

  Stephanie stared at him.

  > How sure are you?

  > Sure.

  > What are you going to do?

  > Visit.

  She considered this.

  > Are you going down to save Stone or kill the man you think is Forge?

  > Both.

  > What if you can't do both?

  He turned to her. His eyes were graveyard pits.

  > Both.

  Stephanie paused for a minute. He knew she’d be marshaling her arguments about why what he’d proposed was a terrible idea. He waited, streaming data to configure his kit and load outs.

  She reached over and briefly touched his arm.

  “You should go and make sure.”

  He turned to her in surprise. She nodded at him. She understood his need to do it. They sped through the entrance in the wall.

  > Thank you.

  126.

  Weaver was aware that Karch was speaking but she couldn't process the words. She couldn’t speak either. She floated outside the scene. It was too hideous to contemplate.

  Karch shook her shoulder.

  “Weaver, are you ok?”

  It was awful. The stench was disgusting. Kemensky lay on his side with his face contracted in a grotesque grin. His hair smoked, his tongue was black and his eyes were burning.

 
; His eyes were literally burning.

  As Weaver watched, the flames coming out of Kemensky’s eyes flickered out and the blood stopped bubbling out of his ear. His eye sockets oozed dark liquid.

  Weaver gagged. A lot of the skin around Kemensky’s face had melted. The stench of his burning hair stuck to her like tar. She could hardly breathe.

  She prodded Kemensky’s shoulder again to see if there was any reaction. It was awful and disgusting.

  Karch pointed to the exit.

  “I’ll move him. You get going.”

  Weaver nodded. She stumbled out of the chamber, down the tunnel and jumped down to the hangar floor. When her feet hit the ground she dropped to her knees and puked her guts out. She shivered on all fours, vomiting, retching and crying.

  She couldn’t stop.

  127.

  Stephanie was still trying to work through the ramifications of what Havoc had told her when he braked the vehicle to an abrupt halt in front of the cabins. Abbott walked over to meet them.

  Stephanie looked around. Only one shuttle remained. The princes had moved up to the disc six orbital platform for the time being, reducing their crew exposure at the pyramid and meaning even less cover for her.

  Abbott stopped nearby. She thought he looked tense.

  “The Gathering is coming in five minutes. We're going to have a shared conference with the alien and show them that it isn't their Redeemer or any other deity.”

  Havoc walked round to the rear of the vehicle.

  “We're not going to try and remove the alien?”

  Abbott shook his head.

  “It'll start a war.”

  Stephanie was surprised. At the same time that Abbott started to talk openly about the Gathering visit, he cast privately to her.

  > Be careful, Stephanie. Jafari is going to detain Havoc.

  > Detain him?

  > It might get violent.

  Stephanie glanced at Havoc.

  > Might?

  > Point taken. You should move over to the pyramid entrance and shelter there.

  > Will you?