Information Cloud: Science fiction and fantasy series (Tales of Cinnamon City Book 1)

by Peter James West

  'We can't fight this!' Fredericks said.

  Bennet shook his head and started backing away.

  The walker powered up for an attack, its thick legs bending at the knees to withstand the recoil of its own weapons. Two huge rotating gun turrets turned towards them and the end caps flipped open.

  Nick had no intention of being around when they opened fire. 'Run for the portal!' he shouted. Grabbing Fredericks by the shoulder, he dragged him towards the portal as fast as he could run.

  Fredericks stumbled alongside him, having little time for complaint. Mason and Bennet stared at each other and then sprinted after them, tripping over exposed roots as they slapped low hanging branches out of their way. They were both strong runners. They caught up with Nick and Fredericks in double quick time. The air crackled with static electricity as the portal faded from cobalt blue to a pale diaphanous green.

  'Now!' Nick shouted.

  They all leapt towards the portal at once. A blinding flash filled the sky above them as the portal wobbled, winking out of existence.

  Nick collided with everyone at once. Their arms and legs merged into a single gyrating bundle of limbs. Fire ravaged his body as it was absorbed by a field of highly energised particles. Tiny lightning bolts stabbed at Nick's mind, each one stinging more the one before until the pain became intolerable. He could hear himself screaming inside. Time stopped.

  He was alone, lost in an emptiness that he couldn't describe as the darkness closed in around him, bringing with it an icy embrace that promised to swallow his soul. Nick saw his own body, curled into a ball, floating through the cosmos, surrounded by a billion stars. Tears stung his eyes as black shapes swam around him, darting towards him and biting at his naked flesh.

  Something shifted. He couldn't decide whether it was himself or the reality around him, but all at once it felt as though every atom of his body was being ripped apart in opposite directions. His eyes rolled in complete blackness, searching for anything to focus on, but there was nothing. He tried desperately to reorientate himself in the void. Suddenly the darkness receded and something struck him on the head. Nick cried with joy because he knew he wasn't alone anymore.

  With a crash and tumble of tangled limbs, he found himself lying on the floor with Frederick's elbow in his face, and somebody's legs across his back.

  'Oh dear God,' Nick whispered, cold seeping into his bones from the white stone floor beneath him.

  He took a deep breath as he watched the portal blinking out behind him. It was the first time he had ever been through a portal, and he very much hoped that it would be the last. No, it would definitely be the last. His mind still reeled with the horrible visions and feelings he had just endured.

  They had been lucky to make it through the portal in time. It had been closing when they had entered it. Jumping into the portal had been a dangerous thing to do, but staying behind would have meant certain incineration at the hands of the Walker. Droids that big weren't there to make friends. Nick wondered if the others had experienced the same things that he had.

  'What have we here?' a voice said from behind him.

  Nick cursed himself for not checking for hostiles earlier. He was still stunned by his experiences inside the portal. He wasn't thinking straight. Untangling himself from the others, he jumped to his feet, managing to find a balanced pose that he hadn't thought possible. Fredericks, Mason and Bennet followed his example, the four of them standing with their impact pistols ready.

  Two Kamari soldiers stood at the end of a long white corridor, wearing baggy white trousers with black cloth belts tied around their waists. The old man was a hand taller than his colleague. He had a thin build and an angular nose. Short tufts of grey hair stuck out from the sides of his blue beret. His clothes looked wet in places as though he had been outside. The other man was much younger. His sandy blonde hair hung in a fringe across his forehead. Nick couldn't help noticing the detached look in his eyes.

  'Spread out,' Nick said, gesturing to the others behind him.

  Fredericks stepped to Nick's right while Mason and Bennet moved to his left. They crept along the corridor with their weapons held in front of them.

  The soldiers didn't appear to be armed. Nick thought it was strange at first. He wondered what weapons they might have concealed in their white padded jackets, but then he noticed movement behind them.

  Two men in lab coats were struggling to carry a highly polished metal cylinder between them. It looked like it might have been made out of some kind of titanium alloy. A small console had been embedded into the cylinder's surface and the keypad beside it was backlit with a strange orange light. It looked valuable by the way that the technicians were carrying it, and a hunch told Nick that it might just be the satellite-grid controller.

  An image of a satellite strike on Cinnamon City shot through his mind. He didn't know why the Kamari still had it. Harris had mentioned it was in the hands of some hacker. Maybe this wasn't the controller at all? Nick couldn't risk leaving the controller in enemy hands. Raising his impact pistol, he fired straight at the cylinder.

  The young blonde soldier dived in front of it, deflecting the shot into the wall. He didn't appear to be injured. Was he wearing some kind of personal energy shield? Nick had heard that the Kamari might possess such technology but he had never seen it with his own eyes before. He stared at the soldier, wondering what had just happened. He didn't have long to wonder.

  The soldier shook his head with a sad smile. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a small black disk and threw it along the length of the corridor. It skittered along the floor, bouncing off the side wall before coming to a halt in front of Fredericks. Fearing it might be a grenade, Nick leapt into an adjacent doorway. Fredericks did likewise on the other side of the corridor. Mason and Bennet weren't so lucky. They tried to run down the corridor in the opposite direction but their path was blocked by thick sheets of glass. Bennet smacked his face into the glass wall, and Mason tried to catch him as he fell. The metal tube exploded in a flash of brilliant white light behind them. Nick closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain but it never came. He felt a shock wave pass through him but it was much weaker than he had expected, lacking any real force or heat.

  Mason and Bennet screamed in unison behind him. Nick spun around, struggling into a sitting position with his palms flat against the stone floor. When he stared through the open doorway, he could see blurred silhouettes rubbing their eyes and stumbling around in the corridor outside. He couldn't understand why he couldn't focus on them. He rubbed his eyes, realising his mistake at once.

  Searing heat burned across the back of his eyes. The Kamari soldier must have thrown a blinding bomb. Nick had been lucky to be facing away from the blast, partly protected by the walls of the room he had thrown himself into, but he had been too slow to close his eyes. His vision was already damaged. The pain had been slow to arrive, but now it was building into something intolerable. As he struggled with his own agony, he realised that Mason and Bennet must have taken the full force of the blast. It was too late to save their sight.

  Nick panicked, wondering whether he might be blind too. Maybe he hadn't managed to avoid the blast after all? He cursed himself for being so stupid. Why hadn't he checked for hostiles sooner? The men had followed him into the portal. He betrayed them all by acting like a fool.

  Blind Fight

  His eyes started watering, flowing in streams down his hot cheeks. The fierce burning sensation made him want to claw his own eyes out, but he knew he couldn't succumb to such thoughts. His hands shook as he forced them to remain by his sides, resting with his palms on the floor. Scratching would only make things ten times worse. Orange blotches danced across his vision as he blinked repeatedly, trying to ignore the horrendous pain.

  Maybe shooting the satellite-grid controller hadn't been such a good idea after all. He hadn't even succeed with his stupid stunt. The controller was undamaged, probably on its way to some far away place where th
e Kamari could use it to rain down destruction upon them all. Nick was half blind, stuck in a strange room that could be anywhere. He had made a real mess of things this time. He hoped Rachel wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of his mistake. Squeezing his eyes shut, Nick listened for the sounds of approaching footsteps.

  Bennet was in the corridor a few paces away. Nick could hear his panting breaths and muffled curses. It was difficult to filter out all the noise that he was making, but he had to try so he could listen for voices further down the corridor.

  'Get that thing out of here. Now!' an unfamiliar voice said.

  The sounds of panting and straining suggested the technicians might be taking the satellite-grid controller somewhere else. It was what he had feared. He couldn't allow it to happen. Raising his hands in front of him, he wondered how he could stop them. It was going to be impossible. He couldn't even see his hands in front of his face. The sounds receded into the distance, but the first voice returned loud and clear.

  'I've put too much damned time and effort into that controller for some dip shit to blow a hole in it with a bloody impact pistol.'

  The voice sounded young. Nick guessed it must be the soldier who had thrown the blinding bomb at them. He called the device a controller so Nick's hunch must have been right.

  An older voice said, 'Lets deal with this quickly, we have other matters to attend to.'

  Footsteps approached. Nick backed away from the door instinctively.

  + + +

  Isor walked with silent steps, a thin smile spreading across his face. A member of the Security Forces stood half-blind in the middle of the corridor, leaning heavily on one leg. His black hair was wet, and a bruise stood proud on one side of his face. A small badge on his jacket identified him as Bennet but Isor didn't care about that. Bennet's eyes were tight shut, watering down his cheeks as he shuffled backwards until his hands pressed against the glass wall behind him. He frowned when he realised he couldn't go back any further.

  Isor laughed. 'You weren't expecting containment shutters, were you?'

  Bennet's head snapped back as he tried to locate the source of the laughter. Sweat trickled down from his forehead as he scrunched up his face, panting for breath.

  Isor took his time to approach. Bennet raised his impact pistol but his eyes couldn't tell him where to aim it. He was listening, his head tilted to one side. Isor moved quickly, stepping around the pistol with silent steps. Bennet didn't notice him at all. Isor leant closer until their faces were only a few centimetres apart. He stared at Bennet's scrunched up, twitching eyes, wanting him to open them and be suddenly afraid. After a few seconds, he grew weary of his own game and blew air straight into Bennet's face.

  Bennet jumped, waving his free hand to protect himself. Isor punched him in the forehead, sending him staggering backwards along the corridor. Bennet swung his pistol around, but he didn't look at all sure where to fire it. Isor swung his leg in a sweeping arc, extending his boot with rapid snapping movement. The blow caught Bennet in the face, knocking him back against the glass wall. Blood poured from his broken nose as he fired his impact pistol high into the ceiling.

  Echoes filled the corridor as Bennet held his nose with his free hand and waved the pistol from side to side with the other. Before he could fire again, Isor kicked the weapon from his hand, following up with a lightning fast punch to the face, followed by a vicious elbow to his temple. Bennet's head whipped back with the force of the blows. He toppled sideways, falling to the floor unconscious.

  Another soldier stood against the corridor wall, scowling as he listened to the sounds all around him. He was a big man, wide across the shoulders and even taller than Roy. Blind, and unable to tell what was happening, he stood helpless in his world of darkness. He stared in the wrong direction as Isor approached on silent feet, waiting for the blow that was sure to come.

  Isor balled his fists before spinning around to deliver a solid roundhouse kick. The heel of his left boot caught the soldier's temple, smacking him hard into the wall behind him. His head bounced off the wall, and his legs crumpled, tipping him onto his face on the hard stone floor. Isor smiled when he saw blood seeping from the soldier's ears. He wouldn't live for long.

  + + +

  Nick couldn't see much through his blurry eyes, but it sounded like things weren't going well at all. He heard Mason and Bennet grunting before thudding onto the floor. Familiar voices cried out, then fell silent. It didn't last long. He wanted to help them but his eyes were useless. If he tried to intervene now, he would only succeed in getting himself killed while offering no help at all. He wondered whether Bennet and Mason were unconscious, or dead? He hoped they would recover from their injuries and live to fight another day.

  Fredericks had jumped into a room on the opposite side of the corridor. Maybe the Kamari soldiers hadn't found him yet? Nick shuffled further away from the doorway and wondered when his turn would come. He had no way to defend himself. He was at the mercy of fate's next step. Fear rose inside him. He wasn't used to being so helpless. He had always taken his sight for granted, but now that it was gone, he felt his confidence slipping away.

  A heavy feeling in his stomach made him wonder whether he was really going to make it out this time. Maybe he would die right here on the cold stone floor of a room he had never even seen. What if these were his last few seconds of life? He had agreed to transfer to Beacon Station. Had it been his final mistake? He missed Rachel so much, and he missed Lisa even more. How would Rachel tell his daughter that her father wasn't coming home? He pictured Lisa crying, and Rachel holding her while she explained that her father had made too many stupid mistakes. A sudden pain rose in his chest. He wasn't ready to die. The mental image of Lisa suffering alone had shocked him, breaking something inside him. Dying wasn't an option right now. He had to survive! He had to do something - anything!

  Nick shuffled backwards on his hands and knees until his feet hit the wall behind him. The blurred shape of the doorway swirled before him like a sand storm. Nick's head pounded. He reached up to his jacket collar and flicked on his identity alarm broadcast, hoping some nearby unit might notice it. He didn't have to worry about the Kamari finding him now. It was already too late for that. Nick raised his impact pistol, hoping he would at least be able to make out if somebody entered the room.

  + + +

  Isor stood on the balls of his feet just outside the door of a small storage room. He loosened his jacket and wiped a smear of blood from his forehead - blood that wasn't his own. Rolling up his loose, white sleeves, he glanced down at the veins that stood proud from his strong, muscular forearms. Flexing his fingers, he thought about what he was going to do to the last of the Security Forces. The soldier was hiding in the storage room, waiting for Isor to end his life. He wouldn't have to wait for long.

  'Wait,' Roy said from somewhere behind him.

  Isor turned, flashing his teeth. He didn't like being interrupted when the fury was upon him. 'What is it?'

  'Wait one minute,' Roy said, standing some distance away. He was wearing his blue beret at an odd angle and tapping at a small device on the back of his wrist. Looking up, he strode towards Isor, joining him beside the doorway.

  'Commander Nick Chambers,' Roy said.

  Isor frowned at his father. He just wanted to finish killing the soldiers, but he sensed that Roy now had other plans.

  Roy put a hand on his arm and smiled. Isor pulled away. Roy always had some reason for interrupting him while he was practising his combat skills. It grated on Isor's nerves. Letting out a long sigh, he detached himself from the situation, letting his mind return to a safe and familiar place. He imagined a large white magnolia flower sitting in the palm of his hand, watching its petals gathering into a long smooth bud. Smoke rose from the bud as it turned black before crumbling to ash that blew away in a sudden wind. Isor took a long deep breath, nodded to his father, and then turned and walked away.

  + + +

  'How do you know my name
?' Nick said.

  If he could play for time, just until his vision cleared, he'd stand a much better chance. Who were these people? His blurred vision could only make out shadows on the wall of the corridor outside. Nick aimed his impact pistol through the doorway at head height, waiting for any sign of movement.

  A voice answered from the corridor, 'Your comms pack. It transmits an identifying signal, but you know that, Nick.'

  'The signal is encrypted.'

  'Well, yes.'

  'Who are you?'

  'My name is Roy Helleron. I believe your colleagues have already met my son, Isor.'

  Nick frowned, considering the name. Why did it sound familiar? He searched his memory but couldn't think where he had heard it before. Closing his left eye, he pressed his free hand against it, making it water in the hope that it would help him see more clearly. The pain in his eyes was subsiding now but he still had a horrendous headache.

  'What do you want with me?' Nick said, watching the shadows outside the door with his right eye. If Roy Helleron popped his head around that corner, Nick intended to blow a hole straight through it.

  'Information,' Roy said.

  'I'm not telling you anything. Forget about it.'

  'Information is a valuable thing, Nick.'

  'When Gail Thompson finds out about this place, you're in the shit. I'll tell you that much.'

  Roy laughed, a soft, assured chuckle from the back of his throat. 'Put down the gun and we can go for a walk.'

  'Like fuck.'

  Nick heard footsteps in the corridor. Either Roy was moving around or someone else had joined him. Nick wasn't sure. He opened his left eye and blinked until it was clear. He could almost focus. Switching his pistol to the other hand, he closed his right eye and pressed his palm against it.