Blackout

by Edward W. Robertson

  Even so, he dragged several chairs over to the entrance. The scrape of them being moved might give him a moment's warning. The effort left him far more exhausted than it should have. Head rushing, he sat on the floor, breathing hard. Blood and sweat trickled down his stomach. He didn't have much longer.

  He turned to face the flames. "Well, raging nuclear inferno. Looks like it's just you and me."

  If the glass was strong enough to contain a nuclear fire, his laser wasn't likely to even warm it up. He shot it anyway but didn't even leave a mark. He circled, shooting more, then fired where the glass met the floor. Some of the flooring burned away, but it only revealed more glass.

  He stepped back. Perhaps he'd been too hasty in killing everyone who knew how to operate the place. Then again, it was highly unlikely any of the Core's engineers would know English. Even if they did, it was even less likely that they would willingly help him destroy it. As usual, murder had been the best solution after all.

  He walked up to the glass and the fire within it. The dancing lights grew so intense he had to look down at the floor. He expected the air to get warmer as he neared the glass, but by the time he stood in arm's range, the temperature hadn't changed at all. He reached out and touched the clear surface. It was lukewarm and felt as solid as the roots of the Himalayas.

  "Come on, brain," he muttered. "You've destroyed everything else we've ever come in contact with. Don't fail me now."

  Smash the computers? Or would they have failsafes, some kind of cloud action that would divert critical functions to devices elsewhere on the ship? His hands were shaking. His thighs, too. His thoughts repeated themselves like a skipping record. He knew he should at least try to wreck the computers and see if that made any difference, but his body felt carved from stone.

  Without meaning to, he sat. The fires of the Core swirled and danced. He watched, mesmerized. Normally, the Core's movements looked utterly random, but as his thoughts shut down, he saw patterns within them. Within their unpredictable snapping, the flames seemed drawn to the right side of the cylinder and almost scared of the left. Walt laughed at this, but he wasn't sure why.

  Somehow, he found himself lying down. The cool floor relieved the heat of his back. Along the ceiling, two pipes fed into the Core. One on the right, and one on the left.

  And then he knew.

  He sat up, wincing. With the last of his strength, he stood. He walked beneath the pipe on the left side of the cylinder. It looked as solid as the glass of the Core, but it had joints. And bands bolting it to the ceiling. A crotch where it split.

  He lifted his laser and fired.

  * * *

  Two terraces down, the Farschool rebels continued their shift to the left. Ness waited until the bridge conscripts didn't seem to be paying him any mind, then dropped to his belly behind a desk and wriggled along the desks to the right. Sprite did the same. It was only when he'd put thirty feet between himself and the rest of Toru's forces that Ness realized how dangerous his little plan was. If the Farschool made a charge, he and Sprite would be hopelessly cut off.

  Yet as he followed the gradual curve of the terrace, angling across from the enemy, nobody seemed to be looking his way. Either the Dovon didn't consider them a threat, or they were only looking out for Dovon-shaped objects. Putting a cluster of desks between him and the conscripts, he descended to the next level, bringing himself within thirty feet of them.

  "Check it out," he said, just loud enough to be heard over the crackle of lasers and the rustling and thumping of the aliens. He nodded to the corner of the desk. "We'll be able to fire straight into their side. Don't get crazy, though. If they start pushing back, be ready to retreat like hell."

  "This is way scarier than the games made it look," Sprite said. "Well, here goes nothing."

  Ness edged his pistol around the desk's corner. When this drew no fire, he stuck one eye out. Directly ahead of him, a squad of conscripts sniped at the Vigil, throwing themselves flat whenever they got pesky enough for the Vigil to start shooting back.

  Sprite leaned over Ness, positioned to fire. Ness licked his lips. "Open fire!"

  Their lasers seared into the enemy. Two Dovon fell at once. With their flank collapsing from an unknown assault, two of the conscripts spooked, springing down to the plateau below in a headlong rush. The remaining three scrunched behind a table, shooting back Ness' way.

  But that only exposed them to the Vigil pressing from above. As soon as the next conscript fell dead, the other two dropped their weapons and lifted their limbs high.

  With the enemy's right flank entirely wiped out, Kkad swooped into the gap with the remaining Vigil. One member grabbed the two bridge crew who'd surrendered while the others smashed into the side of the Farschool lines. Caught in the open, half of the enemy soldiers tried to retreat along the terrace, exposing them to Toru and the others above them, while the other half attempted to drop down to the adjoining terrace for better cover.

  Forgotten again, Ness stood, shooting at every visible head, limb, or torso. Sprite's weapon flashed in his hands. In the chaotic scramble to reposition themselves, the enemy lost a third of their remaining troops. Survivors flung aside their weapons, hiding as low as they could while lifting a single tentacle.

  Surrender.

  The Vigil gathered them up, escorting them to a makeshift holding station at the side of the vast room. A knot of Farschool holdouts dug in, pulling chairs around themselves. Toru's forces surrounded them and cut them down without suffering a single loss.

  Ness stood, half dazed by the suddenness of the victory. The air stank of roasted shell and blood. Sprite whooped, kicking his wooden leg through a flatscreen.

  "NESS NESS NESS!" Sebastian grabbed his hands and pumped them up and down, all but tearing them from their sockets. "TRIUMPH VICTORY PARADISE"

  Ness laughed, waiting for the alien to release his hands. He signed back, "Not yet. We still got to deal with the guys down there."

  He pointed to the innermost ring of the bridge. There, the remaining rebels were hauling furniture into a circular wall around them, sweeping monitors and control devices to the floor.

  "YOUR WORK IS DONE FOR THIS MOMENT," Sebastian gestured. "FROM HERE, LET THOSE WHO GUIDE THE SHIP RECLAIM IT"

  Toru brought his people together, arranging a new strategy. They spread among the desks, descending one or two levels at a time while the remaining troops covered them. Ness and Sprite hung near the back. It had been a solid fifteen or twenty minutes since they'd come to the bridge, but there still hadn't been a single new arrival.

  As Toru's tiny army neared the base of the terraces, the fortified Dovon cast down their weapons and fled toward the other end of the bridge, a massive viewscreen overlooking the clouded city. The ridge-headed alien who had led the rebellion gestured to the fleeing troops, but they didn't so much as glance back. Tentacles flipping in disgust, he threw down his laser and walked forth, beckoning to Toru.

  Toru rose from behind a tangle of chairs and descended the terraces to the bottom of the bridge. The rebel commander stepped forward, head and sense-pods held proudly. They gestured back and forth. Both were angry. Toru drew back his claws in denial, then pointed out the window.

  The ridged alien launched himself at Toru.

  They grappled, tentacles interlocking like a fleshy buckyball. Toru shuffled back, then lowered his center and surged forward. The ridged alien tripped over his own feet and slammed to the floor. As he gouged at Toru with his claws, Toru snaked a tentacle around his thin throat, clubbing his skull with his hammer-pod. Within moments, the rebel went limp. Toru hung on for another ten seconds, then twenty. At last, he stood, releasing the rebel commander. The body spread out like pooling oil.

  Only then, as the Vigil approached those who'd surrendered and bound their limbs with rubbery tubes, did Ness begin to relax.

  Toru moved to the center of the bridge floor, gesturing broadly. There was a quiver to his tentacles, but Ness couldn't tell if that was from
nerves or the emotion of the moment.

  "WE TAKE THIS FEARSOME SHIP FROM THOSE WHO DO WRONG," Toru said, Sebastian translating. "NOW, AND FOREVER FORWARD, LET US USE IT TO DO RIGHT"

  Around him, aliens thrust up their tentacles and waved their claws. Sprite raised his fists and yelled. Ness yelled, too, their two human voices joining the silent celebration of the Dovon.

  "THE FIRST RIGHTNESS IS TO STOP THE WORLDPOISON," Toru went on. "TO DO THIS REQUIRES CONTROL OF ALL THE SHIP. WE WORK AS A BODY, ORGANS AND LIMBS AND SENSES IN TANDEM. LET EACH PIECE DO ITS PART"

  He doled out roles. While the crew scrambled to find workstations that hadn't been dashed to pieces or shot up with lasers, Ness and Sprite hoofed it up the terraces toward the front doors, stepping over mangled electronics and piles of slag. The whole room had a hot, plasticky smell that reminded Ness of the interior of a freshly cleaned car on a sunny day. He hadn't encountered that smell in years. Funny what you remembered.

  He helped the Vigil drag desks into a defensive pattern one level below the doors. They set up behind the fortifications, weapons at the ready.

  Sebastian trotted up from below. "TORU CLOSES THE JET HANGAR. ELSEWHERE, DEEPFINDERS ROOT OUT THE FARSCHOOL FROM THE SHIP. THERE IS NOW NO RISK OF THE WORLDPOISON LEAVING HERE"

  "That sounds great," Ness replied. "So why do you look so grim?"

  Sebastian folded his claws together. "BECAUSE THERE IS ALSO A SAMPLE AT THE AIRPORT COLONY. THEY HAVE ORDERS TO RELEASE"

  A twinge shot through Ness' nerves. "Does Toru have any loyalists down there?"

  "YES BUT NO ONE REPLIES. IT IS PERHAPS TAKEN BY FARSCHOOL. TORU ORDERS A BOMBING. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY—"

  The ship's lights flicked off. Ness glanced at the ceiling, suppressing a scream. The lights resumed, but weaker, shaded orange. Behind the barricades, the Vigil stood taller, eyes fixed on the doors.

  "What the hell was that?" Ness signed.

  Below, the Deepfinders gestured maniacally over their tablets, rushing to the undamaged computers. Toru spoke with the bridge crew. A runner bounded up the steps, relaying news to the Dovon at the upper fortifications.

  "THE CORE," Sebastian signed to Ness. "IT IS WOUNDED"

  "Wounded? What's going on?"

  "MAIN POWER IS LOST. THERE IS BACKUP, BUT BACKUP IS NOT MEANT TO LAST FOR LONG"

  "Do the Core's workers know what's wrong?"

  "THEY SAY NOTHING. THERE IS NO RESPONSE"

  Dread crept up Ness' gullet. "This isn't the work of the Farschool. It's Walt."

  "HE WHO KILLED DDEN"

  "I saw him run out of here. Can we reach him over your comms?"

  "OUR COMMS ARE FOR US," Sebastian signed. "THERE IS NO NOISE; HE WILL NOT HEAR"

  Ness grimaced. "Grab Toru. Let's go."

  "TORU IS NEEDED HERE"

  "Toru is needed in the place that's about to send us crashing down into the ocean! Come on!"

  He dragged Sebastian down to the stage floor. Sebastian pushed his way through the throng around Toru. The two Dovon argued vigorously.

  Sebastian pivoted on Ness. "HE ASKS WHY HE MUST GO"

  "Because this man is extremely dangerous. He's the one who destroyed the first ship. And given his ego, trust me—he won't deal with anyone less than whoever's in charge."

  Sebastian relayed this. Toru hesitated, then bobbed his tentacles in tight agreement. The three of them ran up the steps. At the barricades, Toru summoned Kkad and a second Vigil to him.

  "Bringing them isn't a great idea," Ness signed. "Walt doesn't respond well when he feels threatened."

  "IT IS TO GET US TO THE CORE IN SAFETY. THEY WILL NOT ENTER"

  Ness nodded. The five of them dashed into the hall. On their way to the elevator, they passed a group of Vigil headed for the bridge, but Toru waved off their attempts to talk to him. They got into the elevator and headed down.

  The doors parted, spilling out a series of oscillating notes. At times they were painfully discordant, but at others, they were maddeningly close to forming a melody. The group sprinted down the corridor to a pair of reinforced doors. These were mostly white, but a large patch of paint had been burned away, revealing dull, silvery metal.

  Toru got out the little disk he'd used to open the bridge. The Core doors parted. In the entryway beyond, two Dovon lay dead, blackened by lasers. Toru stepped over them and into the gigantic chamber beyond. This was circular, with a fire-filled tube at its center that ran thirty feet from floor to ceiling. The flames inside it were beyond words, but Ness didn't have time to gawk.

  Walt stood across the room, firing a laser into the ceiling. Orange liquid dribbled from a pipe and splashed to the floor. Walt looked like a nightmare: shirtless, a bloodstained beige bandage wrapped tight around his ribs; his chest, sides, and face were marred by dozens of small cuts, like he'd picked a fight with a gang of rats.

  He held a second gun, too. And it was aimed right at Sebastian.

  28

  Walt held his gun on the alien. He knew the human across from him. Dude from Team Submarine. Ness. He'd looked better: wild-eyed, hair askew, sweaty. Then again, Walt had looked better, himself.

  "Excuse me," Walt said. "Can't you see I'm working here?"

  Ness held up his palms. "Walt. Listen. You got to stop."

  "Stop taking down the Swimmers?" He glanced toward the two aliens. "Have they brainwashed you?"

  "No, man! We've done it. This here is Commander Toru." He motioned to the larger of the two aliens. "Do you know about the two camps? The Farschool and the Deepfinders?"

  "Yeah. And they sound like two sides of the same coin."

  "Toru brought the Deepfinders here to investigate what the Farschool had done. Then one of his officers betrayed him. That was Dden, the guy you killed a few hours back. After that, the Farschool took over the ship. Well, we just took it back. The war's over. Toru's going to gather up the Dovon and go home."

  "Dovon?"

  "That's what they call themselves. It's done, Walt. Nobody else has to die."

  The arm Walt had pointed up at the dripping pipe was starting to get heavy. "You really think you can trust them?"

  "I know I can."

  "They've done nothing but lie to us and kill us. Forgive me if I'm not willing to risk extinction because you think you've made a new friend. I'm bringing down the ship. It's the only way to be sure."

  Ness scrunched his lips together and took a step forward. "No it's not. We can take a chance on them!"

  "Like hell we can. This is our last hope. Our entire future! And you want me to take a chance?"

  "You do realize that if you crash the ship, we're going to die, too?"

  "So the fuck what?" Dizziness rushed over his head. He willed himself to stay upright. The feeling passed. "They took Carrie here. And they killed her. This is what they get."

  "They killed her?" Ness' face fell. "How?"

  "I don't know. They showed me a video. They were bagging up her body."

  "Who showed you that?"

  "Bait. The guy I was working with." Another wave of warm tingles gushed across his head. "The guy who lied to me about every single thing we were doing here."

  Ness took another step forward. "I know they got some human prisoners onboard. Do you want me to check again?"

  "Check fast. I don't have much longer. And I will make sure this ship dies before I do."

  Ness smiled tightly and turned to the aliens, signing to the slightly smaller one. Walt pushed his hope to the bottom of his chest, doing his best to drown it in bile. The larger Swimmer, Toru, got out one of their shiny tablets and gestured over it. Orange liquid dripped steadily from the pipe Walt had been working on. A few more shots, and he'd cut clean through it. Behind him, the flames of the Core had shrunk, flapping in distress.

  The hulking Swimmer handed the tablet to Ness. Ness smiled, set the tablet on the floor, and slid it toward Walt. "That her?"

  Thighs shaking, Walt crouched and picked up the tablet. Carrie's face stared back at him. Eyes crin
kling, she laughed, but he couldn't hear any sound.

  He shook the tablet. "Turn up the volume! Let us talk!"

  "There's no audio." Ness glanced at his alien friend. "We'll get her a tablet, okay? Something to write with."

  Walt reached for his pad and paper. They were gone, spent to kill Bait. "I'll need one, too."

  Ness signed to his Swimmer buddy, who signed in turn to Toru. Toru glided over to one of the workstations, detaching a tablet from it. As he motioned over its screen, he opened a desk drawer and got out something that resembled a screwdriver, though its handle was more flared, like a dumbbell. He brought these toward Walt. Walt jerked the laser at the alien's head. Toru mimed writing on the tablet with the screwdriver, demonstrating that it was a stylus, then sank to the floor and slid tablet and stylus to Walt.

  The screen was black. Walt moved the stylus across it, writing his name, then swept his hand over the screen, erasing it. Displayed on Toru's original tablet, a Swimmer handed Carrie a pad and stylus of her own, demonstrating their use. Walt crouched, resting the laser on his knee where he could grab it fast if anyone tried anything while he was writing.

  On the screen, the Swimmer stepped back. Carrie wrote, then held up the pad where Walt could see it. "Walt? Are you okay?"

  "Fine," he wrote back. "Are you?"

  "A little imprisoned, but this new guard is much nicer than the last one." She glanced over his shoulder. He was facing Ness and the Swimmers, his back to the Core. She frowned, wiped her tablet clean, and wrote, "What are you doing? Is it something insane?"

  "I was kind of about to blow up the ship."

  She laughed soundlessly. "Do whatever you think's best. But in case you haven't noticed, we're both on the ship."

  "I thought you were dead," he wrote, blinking away the dampness in his eyes. "I'll come get you, okay? You stay right there."