“Doesn’t matter.”
Her eyes narrowed at me, then she nodded and we grabbed chairs in a storage area. “OK, what?”
“What? Let’s start with what Treg and you were so damned worried about you had to kill an unarmed man for it.”
Ana grit her teeth. Her eyes searched my face for a minute. I drew a total blank on this, and I figured she was waiting for any epiphany from me before she explained.
“Nelson, that man you saw me with back there had some information on Cataclysm. I’d hoped you knew something about it, but I guess we nabbed you before you got to that part.”
She handed me the page. It was a listing of numbers and mathematical equations.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what or where or even when Cataclysm is going to happen. At first it was just for Varrick and me to have time for an escape. Now I want to know just how much time left I have to rescue him before it happens.”
“Tell me more about Varrick. What did that comment about him having no chance mean?”
She tensed at the sound of his name. “They call it the Pox. Lots of people started getting it over the past several years. They think the new power grid is causing it.”
“The Valentium?”
She nodded quickly.
“Are we in danger?”
She flopped her hand back in her lap, and sighed. “Well, if we are, you've got the least to worry. You've been here for what, a week? Me and the rest have been near this our whole lives.”
“Are they going to... will Lebabolis-”
“-take care of him?” Ana said. “Baudricort thinks so.”
“But you don't?”
She shrugged. “They want us back. And to be honest, he's got the best chance over there right now.”
“How so?”
“They've got a scanner that removes every trace of Pox from someone. It's available in the capital to those willing to pay the price.”
“The price?”
“Takes a lot of power to run it. That's why they never made it available to everyone. They figured the average Product's life wasn't worth the cost. Only upper strata get a privilege.” She shook her head in disgust.
“Well, what then?”
Tears rolled down Ana's cheek. Her face wrinkled in sorrow and her voice broke. "I'm beyond sick of Baudricort and his waiting game.”
Her arms writhed like a boxer, her hands balled into fists. She looked off, her face pained. Then she lowered her head.
“They won't let Varrick die, right?” Even as I heard myself say that, I clenched my gut at how naïve it sounded. Who the hell could stop anyone from dying? Could I have kept Mom alive?
“I like to hope not.” She glanced back at me. “But I don't trust ‘em. They'd just as soon keep me thinking he's ill and the rest of our people are sick to keep drawing us out.”
I reached for Ana. Memories of Mom flushed over me. I remembered how I felt when I helplessly watched her die. What I would have done for even five more minutes with her.
Thoughts of everything still flung about me, and I wanted more than anything for my feet to be on the ground, but it just wasn’t there. At least I had a way to get things back on track now. They wanted something from me, and it meant I would get to go home if I cooperated.
“Get me back to Baudricort, Ana. I’ll do those Link messages.”
Chapter 31 (Nelson)
T he room spun around me even though I was in a chair. It felt like I was on one of those spinning rides at a local fair operated by a carny dying to make it go until I retched everywhere.
The cool metal band around my head hugged my temples as a firm reminder it was still on. Every now and then I felt a slight pinch around the back of my head.
I squirmed and clutched my head. “People actually sleep with these things on?”
Baudricort adjusted my device. “All the time. Remember, this is your first experience. Most folks do this their whole lives.”
Ana surveyed the whole situation from behind Baudricort. “How's it feel?”
“Like somebody's reaching into my head and pressing my eyes from the inside out,” I said through clenched teeth.
Baudricort made a few more tweaks. The dizziness faded a little, but the pinching sensation didn’t. “How long do I need to wear this?”
He handed me several pages of text. “Long enough to read that.” He crouched beside me. “I need you to do several of these, so we’ll space them out a bit to give you a break.”
I rifled through the papers.
“Citizens of Lebabolis, I bring you peace and good tidings from the Prophet Xander. The time has come for you to rise up against the silent oppression of Lebabolis. I say again, rise up! You are being held in captivity against your very nature. Your captors hide in plain sight as those who claim to shelter, clothe and feed you as Products of Lebabolis. You are being used as tools for the sole purpose of Lebabolis to conquer the world and subjugate its resources and people to the will of a few. Do not be fooled by the security and prosperity the great liar Harkson Baronage offers. Together with his mad dog Charista Mantisword, he will drain the world of all hope for true freedom and reason.
"Be strong, fear not, good people of Lebabolis. The Prophet Xander loves you and is showing you the way to true freedom.”
I sat back in my chair. “So what happens after this runs?”
Baudricort handled the pages. “We give it time to get out. I can hack MODOSNet, but they're good at shutting down infiltration. I'm thinking it'll take at least a few tries before it gets heard by enough people.”
Baudricort played the Link message back on speakers in the room. An odd chill ran through me as I heard a voice, my voice, that read the script as if I spoke it. According to them, this was exactly how it sounded when sent through the Link.
“You almost sound like you believe what you read,” Ana said.
“It's a means to an end, Ana. You don't have to subscribe to it.” Baudricort stared off and beamed like I’d given him the cure for every disease ever known.
Ana nodded at me. “Nice work, Xander.”
Baudricort offered a small smile as well. “This is going well. Sit tight; there's one more thing we need to run.”
He tapped a few controls, and I felt a sharp sting on the back of my neck. My body flinched by reflex. “W-what the hell?”
Ana’s eyes widened. A roaring kind of static started in my ears. Baudricort’s lips still moved, and I just made out his voice over the din in my head. “Nelson, just relax. I want to see if we can figure out about Cataclysm.”
“What the hell is this?” Ana stepped toward Baudricort.
My body tensed and shook as the pain in my neck increased. Ana grabbed Baudricort and argued with him, but I couldn’t hear a thing at that point.
The roar in my ears sounded like a rushing stream of water, and then flashes of light filled my vision. I closed my eyes, but that didn’t stop them.
A tingling sensation ran down my spine, through my arms and legs. I strained against the chair, but I was held fast.
A voice penetrated the rushing noise in my ears. It was Baudricort’s voice, and he asked, “Where is Cataclysm?”
His voice echoed in my head; it felt like it bounced off my skull. I gnashed my teeth and shook from the loudened roar in my ears and the tingling everywhere else.
The flashing lights in my vision flickered and I saw images float past. Places I’d been to, people I’d seen; they swirled about me in random order. There was Tina and me at a bar having a drink. Then, Travis and me at my job interview. Quick scenes that just swarmed past like a video played on high speed.
“Where is Cataclysm?” The question came again with more echoes. I moved my jaw up and down; every time my teeth clicked it sounded like a bell.
I attempted to speak. I wanted to tell him to cut this shit out, whatever the hell it was. How dumb was I? None of these people wanted to help me out. They were just out for whatever they thought I had to offer.
“Where is Cataclysm?”
My jaw clenched again, but I managed to mutter, “Ffffffuck yyyyyou.”
Another series of jolts soared through me, and my eyes flew open. I saw Ana. She held Baudricort’s head back, her face twisted in anger. She gestured toward me, but I still had no idea what she was saying.
Again the voice came, “Where is Cataclysm?”
My jaw bobbed a few times. I reared up for another retort, but this time I spoke something I never planned on. I couldn’t have even made this up, wouldn’t have even thought of this.
“Western Range, 41.2835°N 120.2007°W.” My body shook after I said that, and my eyes squeezed shut again. The roaring came to a stop, and the pain in my neck was gone. I heard shouting. My eyes peered open and I saw Ana; she was holding a knife poised at Baudricort.
“What the hell did you do to him?” They both looked at me, Ana with mild fright and Baudricort with interest through his dazed eyes.
Ana shoved Baudricort and rushed up to me.
“What the hell do you know, old man? Why are you talking about finding Cataclysm? It’s an event, it happened. Right?”
Baudricort stared at her. His eyes jumped to me, then back to Ana. “I had to find out if he knew about it.”
“Cataclysm, OK, you found it, you bastard. Don’t you ever think about someone else before what you want? How about letting other people in on things for a change?”
She yanked my restraints off. I gasped a bit for air and she helped me upright. Baudricort’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, Nelson. I didn’t think you’d have allowed me to do that if you knew.”
“Good guess.” I moaned. Ana pulled me upright.
She ran her hand through my hair a few times. “I’m taking you out of here before he gets any other bright ideas. Just got a message from Encampment 7 anyway. They’ve taken a hit. Lots of casualties.”
“They should’ve traded places with me.” I groaned.
Ana helped me up. Baudricort tended to some data but looked up when she thrust her dagger toward his chest. “We’re heading to 7. You so much as touch him like that again, I’ll cut your stomach out and feed it to you.”
Chapter 32 (Nelson)
T he bouncing on the trip to Encampment 7 did nothing good for my headache, but being away from the torture chamber from the ninth level of hell was relief enough right then.
“I’m sorry, Nelson. I really had no idea.” Ana clenched the wheel tight. “He said next to nothing about Cataclysm and now that you’re around, he tries this.”
She pounded the console. “I never knew.” A sparkle of moisture appeared under one of her eyes.
“What was the point of that Xander message he had me do? Just a smoke and mirror thing, get me off guard for the third degree times a million?”
“I know the messages are real; we’ve had those for a long time. He keeps a lot to himself though. Now there’s that location you blurted out. I don’t get it, is that where Cataclysm starts?” She tapped a few controls on the console and pulled up a map. “That’s close to our destination in the Range. Is he trying to kill us?”
The question floated in the air between us for a few minutes. She gave a sigh. “Someday I’m gonna sit his ass down and make him come clean about everything.”
I wiped the sweat off my brow. I was back to square one over here. Ana had rescued me from people who were about to torture me and brought me to people who did just that. But her story about her brother and her reaction had me wondering. And she pulled me away each time. As upside down as it all was, she somehow stood apart from it. Whenever I stuck with her so far, I ended up better off.
#
By the time we got to Encampment 7, the efforts were already underway. This was salvage at the very best. Groups of soldiers looked at burned out buildings and checked for anyone still alive. Ana surveyed it all, the grimness of it reflected on her face.
The air was heavy with a smoky odor of burning fuel and flesh. I gagged when I saw twisted corpses, like pieces of black wood half burned to dust.
Ana shook her head. “Animals. They did this.”
“This happen a lot?” I asked.
“Too much,” she replied as she looked at the carnage around her. “They’d rather us dead than not with them.”
A few people shouted for Ana. About fifty yards away, a group of soldiers crowded around something on the ground. As we stepped over rubble, Ana focused on that direction. Then, she said, “Oh God,” and took off in a sprint.
My less nimble feet weren't as fast as hers. When I got to the circle of soldiers, Ana knelt in the center next to a wounded child who writhed on the ground.
Ana asked the group, “Anyone know her?”
Someone thought the kid was a rescued orphan. No one else knew anything. She looked around seven years old. Nasty burns smeared her face and body. Her black hair was quite stringy, and her gaze wandered. She focused on a few of us in the circle over her.
Her eyes widened when she saw Ana. Ana collected the girl into her arms as she whimpered. Ana cradled her and rocked gently. “Shh, it’s OK.” The girl's eyes were wild and glanced around as if she were waiting for another attack like whatever did this.
Ana calmly brushed the girl's hair from her face. “See that look, Nelson? That's how we live. Waiting for things to be better, but terrified that they'll only get worse.”
Ana leaned in closer and spoke in a whisper. “What's your name, sweetheart?”
In a raspy voice, she half whispered, “Clara.”
Ana’s voice hitched as she replied, “Aww, how pretty. Thirsty?”
Clara nodded several times. Ana grabbed her canteen and held for her. “We'll take care of you, OK darling? You rest.”
Ana kissed Clara softly on the forehead and handed her to one of the others. She surveyed the rest of the charred area as I followed her.
“I can't do this,” she said after a few minutes.
“Do what?”
“Leave. Even if I could get Varrick, I can't leave ‘em. Not when this keeps happening.”
Her eyes filled with angry tears and her brow furrowed. “I’m an idiot.”
“Why?”
Her head shook slow, her eyes scoured the scene again. “I thought I’d be safe one day if I left. But where’s safety, where Baudricort’s leading us? To the north? The Omegans won’t be done even if they stop Lebabolis. They’ll keep on and one day I’ll have to deal with them anyway.”
She brushed her arm past her eyes and glanced at me. “That little girl may as well be Varrick. And everyone else's kid. And their mother, or father. Someone's gotta stop this.”
We sat on a pile of rubble. “What you said back there with Baudricort, about destroying MODOSNet. Do you think it's even possible?”
She chuckled for a bit and looked toward the burning structures. “Crazy, and a long shot. We'd only do that if we got to the capital, and that’s locked up rather tight, so I dunno.” She picked up a twisted piece of metal and hurled it. “But it's the head. You wanna kill a snake...” She sliced the air with her hand.
The more I was around these people the more I felt for them. In part for what I did, however it happened, that created this world. The image of Clara was seared into my head too now, and I wanted it gone. No one deserved a life like these people had.
“I should stay,” I said.
Her eyebrows shot up. She looked at me for awhile. Her lips bent upward a little, but she said nothing still.
We sat and watched the soldiers with the cleanup again. Then she got up and turned to me. “Nelson, this isn't your fight. You don’t need this. You’ve got your own family, and you deserve to be with them. I'll make that happen, at least.”
Chapter 33 (Ana)
W hile we waited for the cleanup at 7 I got the coordinates for the Verge from Baudricort. It was the least his ass could’ve done.
The Verge location ended was about sixty miles away from Encampment 3, so we hitched a ride with a
Hell Hawk most of the way.
This particular Verge was in thick woods. A grove of trees and brush extended from where we were around to the right, where it expanded into the woods. The air was thick with the musky smell of damp, rotted leaves. The trees formed a ring around the Verge, with a clearing of fifty yards all around the Verge location.
With the clearing, the Verge was impossible to miss. An egg shaped aura of red-purple light lit the surrounding brush up like a jewel stuck on a vine. When we got close to the Verge, our group kept low in a field of dense brush and surveyed the area.
Off to the right, the ground rose up into cliffs at the far end. A stream made a natural boundary to our right. With all the trees around, it made great cover for us – but also for anyone who wanted a shot at us.
The sun shone bright and cast thousands of shadows everywhere in the woods. It was thick, but not enough that the light wasn’t all over.
We stood at the edge of the woods before the stream. Otto was off to my left. He tried a scan of all heat sigs in the area, and any other possible intruders.
“You hear that?” I asked.
Nelson turned to me. “Huh? No.”
“Exactly. That’s the wrong kinda quiet.”
“Mmmhm.” Norg alternated between a manual weapon check of his rifle and a clenched brow while he looked at whatever the hell Otto was doing. I pointed to the woods and whispered to Norg, “Think we'll find anyone in there?”
He scanned the tree line for a moment. “That's where I'd be.”
Nelson admired the Verge location, a glowing aura of reddish purple light.
“Pretty, isn't it?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I’m beyond words.”
I gathered the rest around closer. We all agreed we were too few for anything other than a straight run at the Verge.
“On my go,” I said, “we sweep along the shoreline of the stream, and when we're one hundred feet from the Verge, start angling toward it. Circle around Nelson. Anyone or anything starts shooting at us, repel fire from wherever, got it?”
Cataclysm Epoch (The Valkyrie Chronicles Book 1) Page 15
