by Eliza Green
Nothing more than a common thief.
He had no problem with the label, but he’d earned a better place in society through working for Gaetano. He refused to return to the bottom of the rung and wait another seven years to climb it.
Marcus returned to his stolen vehicle and ordered it to drive to nowhere in particular. He didn’t care where he went. He should have floored it to race Harvey back to the construction site, but seeing Harvey all pally with Bill Taggart had turned his stomach. He was sick of everything. What he really wanted was to confront Buchanan about his meeting. The shocked betrayer would have no choice but to let him in on his plans.
Marcus changed his mind and returned to the construction site. The car parked in its owner’s drive. From there, he walked the couple of miles back to the site and his giant hole, which could fit several chopped-up bodies. The thought made Marcus shudder. The hole beckoned him like a prison guard taunting him from outside a cell. He bypassed it and looked around, surprised not see any sign of either Harvey or Ollie. He took advantage of the lack of supervision and went to the house to get his communication device from his room. The house was both quiet and empty when he arrived. Marcus planned to be in and out before either Harvey or Ollie caught wind of his diversion.
He slipped into his bedroom and made a call to Clement. The phone rang and rang. The dickhead Indigene kept him waiting until the tenth ring.
‘Yes?’ said a cautious-sounding Clement.
Marcus rolled his eyes. ‘It’s Martin Casey, your old buddy. Your pal. Listen.’ He talked low and kept one eye on his closed bedroom door. ‘We need to chat about some things. Tonight. Can you meet with me?’
A long pause followed. It irritated Marcus that the Indigenes had no clue about human technology. It had been the same deal in the attic of the Deighton Mansion.
‘We’re not on the schedule tonight,’ said Clement.
‘I know,’ said Marcus. ‘I need to talk to you about something. Not meant for discussion over the communication device, if you get my drift.’
Another long pause irritated Marcus to no end. Carl, his traitorous—and hopefully dead—best friend back on Earth, had been the exact same way.
‘Okay,’ said Clement finally. ‘Usual spot at nine.’
‘Okay.’ Marcus rolled his eyes again. ‘See you then.’
He slipped the device out of his ear and stole out of the house. Back on site, it appeared nobody had missed him. Normally that would have pissed him off, but today that’s how he wanted it.
☼
Marcus arrived earlier than 9pm to make sure he didn’t miss Clement. He stood by the boulders that marked the boundary line for the GS land. It was the only place he and Clement had been. The Indigene hadn’t turned up yet, but Marcus knew enough to know he probably watched from afar. The dark prevented him from seeing much. Even his magnification glasses didn’t extend his vision beyond a few green feet. A sudden gust of wind alerted him to the presence of another. He twisted round but saw nothing. When he turned back, Clement stood a few feet from him, watching.
‘Shit. Fuck!’
Marcus pressed his fist to his already racing heart. The Indigene did his best impression of a statue.
‘How about a little warning next time?’
‘I don’t do warnings,’ said Clement flatly.
‘No, you don’t do humour either,’ muttered Marcus.
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’ Marcus eyed the creature. ‘Do you have any idea how creepy you are?’
Clement smiled. ‘You brought me all the way out here to insult me?’
Marcus exaggerated his eye roll. ‘Of course not, but an insult here and there doesn’t hurt, especially for someone with thick skin like yours.’
‘And I understand yours is thin.’
It was the way Clement said it, all creepy and low, that forced Marcus to drop the act. This Indigene knew more than he let on—and probably too much about Marcus. But at least the neural blocker kept the freak out of his head and put them on equal footing.
‘Okay, yeah, I didn’t bring you here to insult you. I came here to do business.’
Clement lifted his hairless brow. ‘Business?’
‘Things are changing on my side. I thought you’d like to know. I repeated the lies to both Harvey and Ollie, told them you were so desperate you would do anything for a truce with us,’ Marcus bluffed. ‘Not sure if they believed me, but they didn’t look surprised, if you know what I mean.’
Clement’s expression darkened in the black night. ‘How have things changed, human?’
‘Harvey told me he wants to protect the GS humans now. That’s where their focus lies. He doesn’t care what happens to the Indigenes.’
‘Well, you need to find a way to get their focus back on us.’
‘I will, I promised, but I need something from you.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll pledge my loyalty to the Indigenes if you get me a meeting with your... what do you call them... elders?’
Clement smirked. ‘What do you need to talk to them about?’
Marcus lifted his chin. ‘I want to be changed into one of you.’
‘Why?’
Was this Indigene playing games? ‘Because you suggested it to me. You told me I had options.’
‘I caught some of your thoughts before you turned on your neural blocker. I know you see the GS humans as a more attractive option.’
‘I’ve changed my mind.’
Without Harvey’s help, he didn’t see how he’d get near them.
Clement paused for too long. Marcus didn’t like the wait.
Then Clement said, ‘How will your alteration benefit our truce with the humans? You have the ear of Harvey and Ollie. If you become Indigene, we lose that connection.’
Marcus had given that some thought. ‘I was going to cement the idea in Harvey and Ollie’s heads before I changed, you know, to make sure they wouldn’t back out. But I’ll only agree if your elders promise to change me.’
Clement glanced behind him suddenly, and that’s when Marcus saw three other Indigenes step out of the shadows, all as menacingly tall as Clement. Marcus had not seen them before.
‘We don’t feel you would be a good addition to our race.’
‘You can’t back out, Clement. You promised.’
‘I made no such promise, human. And you won’t get near District Three.’
‘Sure I will.’
‘How?’
‘The same way you get in.’
Clement laughed. ‘There’s more than one way in, human. Drop this idea.’
Marcus shook his head. ‘So you’re not going to help me, not even after I promised to help you?’
‘If your human leaders wish to protect only the GS humans and leave us vulnerable, you’ve outlived your usefulness. We will find another human to manipulate.’
Marcus didn’t care for the term “outlived”, especially not in the Indigenes’ presence. He’d used that term before when he frogmarched one of Gaetano Agostini’s betrayers to their execution.
The group advanced on him and forced him to back up.
His heart thumped so loud he was sure the Indigenes could hear it. ‘So that’s a no to my offer?’
‘That’s a no,’ said Clement.
‘Okay.’ He thumbed behind him. ‘I’ll be off then.’
‘Are you sure you don’t want to stick around, see how we hunt?’ teased Clement.
Marcus was certain he did not. ‘Maybe another time. See you on the next rotation?’
‘Perhaps we’ll see you sooner than that, human,’ said one of Clement’s associates.
He licked his incisor, causing Marcus to shudder.
Marcus retreated from the group, catching himself too late as he stumbled and fell over a low cluster of rocks. His bum hit the ground with a thud, prompting a round of laughter from the carnivorous group stood just three feet away from him. He turned and crawled away until he was clear, then got
to his feet and ran.
A panting and swearing Marcus stopped to see Clement and the others run off in a northerly direction. Clement would be no ally to him after all. But Marcus wasn’t giving up on the idea of alteration yet. With Harvey making his own plans, it was time for him to do the same.
He pulled his DPad out of his pocket and brought up a map of the area. Some of the Indigenes who’d lived in the Deighton mansion attic had discussed the location of District Three’s entrance. It was nothing more than a metal hatch from what he recalled of their discussions. Marcus had a vague idea of its location, given the direction Clement and his associates just ran. He would go there, wait for someone friendlier to appear.
Then what, ask them if he could meet their elders? Ask to be changed into one of them?
Was that what he wanted?
Maybe, if it meant he could become powerful. The Indigenes on Exilon 5 were not the frightened rabbits he’d lorded over on Earth. Here, they had power. He saw the potential to be someone great among them.
The more he worked through his plan, the more ridiculous the idea became. But he had to try something. Of one thing he was certain: Marcus Murphy would not go down without a fight.
37
Stephen led a blindfolded Simon through the hatch entrance and down the stone steps while Serena and Bill brought up the rear. He sensed Serena’s mistrust of the man the Elite GS humans referred to as “Conditioned”. While Stephen had omitted to mention his envisioning skill had stopped working, his ability to see auras lit up the people around him.
The Conditioned produced auras in odd shades: rusty reds and green/blue combinations, different to the purer colours of the Indigenes. Simon’s aura was a hesitant yellow mixed with a moodier grey—nothing that concerned Stephen.
They stood outside the outer door to District Three. A scanner swept over the entire group and the door opened. Stephen guided Simon through the environmental force field. In the thinner air, Stephen popped out his air filtration device, while Bill donned a gel mask. He noticed Simon had no trouble in either type of air. It was possible his lungs had been genetically altered to adapt to any environment, similar to the biodome animals and the Indigenes who underwent genetic reversal.
Similar to Laura.
The strong yellow depicting Bill’s hesitation stood out. His friend didn’t want to be here and Stephen knew the reason for his reluctance. But Laura was part of this next phase and he’d need her help to refine his experiment.
Stephen brought Simon to one of Anton’s testing labs, cleared of work benches and equipment. They couldn’t risk Simon seeing their equipment.
He stopped at the door when he saw who was in the room with Anton.
‘Gabriel! Clement. What are you two doing here?’
‘Clement and I heard you were battling against more than a few rogue Indigenes and humans. Thought you might need a hand. I was less than a courteous host when you and Serena last visited me.’
‘You had a lot going on.’ Stephen waved his hand. ‘Where’s Margaux? Did she come with you?’
‘No. She’s looking after things while I’m away. In fact, it was she who encouraged me to come.’
Stephen smiled. With Gabriel here, it felt like he had Pierre, his former elder, back.
He led Simon inside the room and said, ‘You can remove your blindfold now.’
Simon pulled it off, blinking in the low light.
Anton moved closer, with the neurosensor in his hand.
When he reached for Simon, the Conditioned stepped back, his fear manifesting as a rusty red aura. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Relax, Simon,’ said Bill. His mask muffled his words. ‘You won’t be harmed here. You have my word.’
Anton opened his hand to show Simon a silicone casing. Inside was the flat, round disc made of amorphous metal. ‘It’s my neurosensor. We’ve tested it out on a volunteer and she was able to enhance her own ability while wearing it. If this works on you, we should be able to break the Elite’s mind barrier and restore our abilities in their presence. If Stephen can improve his envisioning ability, we can deal with whatever comes next.’
Stephen felt Bill’s edginess increase, saw him glance towards the door.
‘We’d like to try it on you now, Simon,’ said Anton.
Simon shook his head. ‘If Tanya gets control of my mind, she’ll know exactly how this thing works. She’ll feel what I experience.’
‘No, you won’t be the one wearing it.’ Anton nodded to Stephen. ‘He will.’
Stephen kept his expression neutral when Simon glanced back at him. Both Gabriel and Clement watched him from one side of the room while Serena and Bill stood near the door. He couldn’t let on that the neurosensor might be his only chance to get his broken envisioning skill to work.
‘You’re the closest thing to an Elite we have to test on,’ said Anton. ‘I’d like to see if I can push past your mind blockade. If we are to read Tanya’s mind, we must practise first.’
Simon nodded, but his yellow aura said he wasn’t convinced. ‘Can’t you just look into the future, tell us how this is all going to play out?’
Stephen prepared to rattle out an excuse when Serena reached out with her mind.
What’s wrong? she said.
Nothing, I just...
He felt Anton muscle in on the telepathic conversation. Why not try it? We’ll probably still need others to use the neurosensor, but at least this way we’ll predict what’s coming.
Stephen huffed out a breath. Because I can’t. My ability hasn’t been working for months.
‘What?’ Gabriel said out loud
Bill had moved next to Anton. He poked him in the arm. ‘What did he say?’
‘He says his envisioning ability is gone,’ said Anton.
‘I didn’t say that.’ Stephen glanced at an alarmed looking Bill. ‘It hasn’t worked since they created that machine.’
Simon nodded as if he understood the problem. ‘The machine produces radiation. And anyone who gets near it would carry some on their skin. A low enough level, but it might be enough to block your brain’s abilities.’
‘Radiation?’ Stephen smiled. ‘That’s what I’ve been stressing over for months? I thought I’d lost my ability.’
Why didn’t you tell me? Serena said.
I didn’t want to bother you over nothing.
Your health isn’t nothing, Stephen.
I’m sorry.
Bill and Simon both stared at him; he sensed their anxious energies.
‘Could we get on with this, maybe talk about disappearing abilities another time?’ said Bill. ‘Simon doesn’t have much time.’
Stephen nodded. ‘I’m sorry. Of course.’ He turned to Anton. ‘Will the neurosensor work to bolster my envisioning ability?’
‘It works to bolster any ability. We should try it,’ said Anton.
The omicron rock could be a limiting factor.
‘It should be able to penetrate it,’ replied Anton to his silent thought.
‘Okay,’ he said, and Anton pressed the outer silicone casing to the side of his head.
Stephen felt an instant jolt of power that started out slow, but increased steadily. All of a sudden he became aware of Simon, sensing his ability to switch from independent to shared thought in a flash. But he put him out of his mind so he could concentrate on the future.
He closed his eyes. Serena stood next to him and used her influence ability to bolster his, like she used to do in the beginning. It felt like a pulsating wave across his mind. With the neurosensor attached, everything in his mind opened up; conduits in his mind widened to make the transfer of information easier.
Serena grabbed his hands and her touch delivered to him a much needed calm. He concentrated on the flashes of events not yet to occur that had been out of reach for a while now. Several images flashed through his mind. He latched on to one, but the scene blurred too much for him to make out detail. The neurosensor had widened the conduits al
l right, but the fast rate of information delivery made it impossible for Stephen to control.
‘Take a deep breath and relax,’ said Serena. ‘Remember, you’re not in control; the device is. Slow your thoughts down and the images will adjust.’
Stephen took a deep breath and followed her instructions. As soon as he slowed everything down, the images followed suit. He plucked one from the carousel which showed Simon leaving the district—an event yet to happen. Relief flooded through him and he smiled. He plucked another one of Laura loitering close to this room, watching while Bill walked through a tunnel. But a third selection produced his greatest fear.
It was of Simon inside their district. But it wasn’t the Simon standing in this room. This one had a dark passenger.
Stephen released his frustration in one long breath and opened his eyes. ‘I couldn’t see far enough to see how this plays out, but I saw Simon inside this district. He wasn’t himself.’
A worried-looking Simon nodded. ‘Tanya plans to put a copy of her personality in my mind. And if you’ve seen it, that means I have no way to avoid that outcome.’
‘Do you know what she’s after?’ Gabriel asked him.
‘Probably the Nexus. She and the others want to transcend and they need power to do it.’
‘But the Nexus won’t help them,’ said Serena. ‘It resists foreign bodies—those not made from our DNA.’
‘It has already helped them,’ said Simon. ‘We used the machine to siphon off some of the Nexus’ power to heal Tanya.’
‘But that was with the aid of a machine,’ said Anton. ‘If you or Tanya connected directly with the Nexus, you would experience it differently.’
‘Were you able to access Simon’s mind?’ Bill asked Stephen.
Stephen nodded. ‘Partially. I wasn’t really trying, but it felt possible.’
‘Good because I have an idea.’
‘What?’
Everyone looked at Bill.
‘Serena’s an influencer. What if she accessed the Elite’s thoughts, convinced them not to come here?’
