H.A.L.F.: The Makers

by Natalie Wright

  It turned out that the bridge he’d crossed was the wrong one. He was in Queens, not Brooklyn. Jack figured out a route back to Thomas’ apartment and eased the car back into the heavy city traffic.

  Jack hadn’t committed the house number to memory, but he figured he’d recognize it when he saw it. He wove the rust-bucket car through traffic as quickly as he could.

  A few wrong turns and an hour later, Jack managed to find the street. The sun was low in the sky, but it was still light enough that Jack could see the brilliant gold cloud of leaves that hung on the oak tree outside Thomas’ building.

  Jack hit the intercom button three times before Thomas buzzed Jack in. He took the stairs by twos.

  Locks clicked as Jack strode down the hallway. Thomas opened the door and pulled Jack in by his sleeve. “Get in here.” He whispered the words through gritted teeth.

  While driving around in circles in Queens, Jack had time to think about how he’d break the news to Thomas. He’d run through dialogue scenarios in his head. None of them ended well. But he didn’t get a chance to use any of his rehearsed lines.

  “How could you let her go in there? Alone?”

  Jack was taken aback and didn’t know what to say. He’d planned on being compassionate and understanding, but when hit with accusation, he got defensive instead. “I’m not her keeper. I just work here. Remember?”

  Thomas ran a hand through his long, greasy hair and paced the wood floor. Striding from one side of the room to the other did nothing to calm him. If anything, it seemed to amp him up even more.

  Jack needed Thomas at his best, not deep in a manic rage. Anna wasn’t there to work her magic on him. It was up to Jack.

  He took Thomas by the shoulders and shook him. “Stop. Thomas, just stop.”

  Thomas’ eyes became a thundercloud the way Anna’s did when she was angry. “Get your hands off me.” His lip was curled up in a snarl.

  “I won’t. I’m worried about her too. But being in a rage won’t help her. Now calm down and talk to me.”

  Thomas tried to shrug Jack off, but Jack kept a firm grip on him.

  “Sit. Tell me how you knew she was missing before I got here.”

  “Why? As you said, you only work here. So what is any of this to you?”

  It was a good question. With Anna gone, Jack could have taken the car and the money Anna had given him and found his way back to Arizona. The cash would be enough to allow Jack to lie low for a while. Eventually the nightmarish Sturgis family and their woes would be behind him.

  At first he’d stayed with Anna because he was afraid of what would happen to him if he didn’t. But somewhere along the way it had become about more than fear.

  He gave Thomas another shake. “My contractual obligations require me to get your aunt out of prison. But I need Alecto to do that. And to get Alecto, I need your sister. I can’t do it alone.” That wasn’t all there was to it, but it was all he was going to tell Thomas.

  Thomas’ eyes ratcheted down from hurricane to mild storm. Jack let go of him.

  “Come on, man. We need to help each other here. I know working with others isn’t your thing, but you’ve gotta cowboy up. Pull yourself together. For Anna.”

  Thomas ran his hands through his hair again then flounced over to his chair and flopped down into it. When Jack didn’t sit down, Thomas glared at him and gestured to the couch.

  Jack had to move papers again to clear a spot to sit.

  Thomas grilled Jack over what had taken him so long to get back. His voice was filled with accusation, as if Jack somehow had a hand in Anna’s disappearance.

  They really don’t trust anybody.

  Jack recounted how he’d gotten lost, including details about reading the map and the wrong turns he’d taken. He remembered enough details about Queens that Thomas stopped the inquisition.

  Thomas then pressed Jack for details about the kidnapping. Jack was eager to learn how Thomas knew Anna was gone before Jack got there, but he decided to appease Thomas rather than edge him over the cliff. Jack recounted everything he could remember about the day. Thomas listened intently, his knees to his chest, his hands steepled under his chin. It reminded Jack of Commander Sturgis and it creeped him out.

  “So I expected to come back here and have to break the news to you. But you already knew. How is it that you knew she was missing before I got here?”

  “Robert.” When Jack didn’t show recognition of the name, Thomas rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated breath. “My father.”

  “How’d your dad know?”

  “Robert. Not dad.”

  “Okay, whatever.” Jack doubted there was enough thorazine on the planet to sufficiently medicate the Sturgis family. “Spell it out for me.”

  Thomas eyed him evenly and unsteepled his fingers. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Okay.” Jack knew it wasn’t his fault, but he was glad to hear Thomas acknowledge it.

  “It’s my fault. They kidnapped her because of me.”

  34

  ERIKA

  The closer they got to Aphthartos, the drier the floors became. There was no water dripping from the ceilings. The walls weren’t slick. It was good for Xenos. She was able to walk on her own now. And Tex had come to consciousness a few times but passed back out again. But for the sake of their mission, Erika had hoped it would be a bit soggier. With no humidity to even the odds, it would be nearly impossible to combat the Conexus’ potent telepathic weapon.

  After nearly a half hour of walking, they turned into a hall with a bright light at the other end. It was the same corridor Xenos had led them to weeks ago in their failed escape attempt.

  “There,” Dr. Randall said. His voice was thin and ragged from his exertion. “Aphthartos.”

  “You mean Tro,” Xenos said.

  “They are one and the same,” Dr. Randall replied.

  Erika wanted to run toward that light as fast as she could. The sooner she got to the Conexus craft, the faster she could get out of the dark, smelly cave. But she stopped and waited for the others to catch up and help her formulate a plan.

  Ian sauntered up next to her. “What are you waiting for?”

  “A plan. Anyone?”

  Dr. Randall knelt and gently laid Tex down. “My arms are noodles.” He shook them out and rubbed his muscles.

  “Noodles?” Xenos asked.

  “We’ll have to explain it another time.” Erika turned to Dr. Randall. “Any ideas? You know the place better than we do.”

  “Correction. I knew the place. But I’d say that Xenos here has better intel than I do about the current state of things.”

  The three humans looked to Xenos. She withered under their gaze.

  Ian rolled his eyes. His voice exploded with his impatience. “Look, we’re not asking you to plan a global invasion or anything. It’s simple. We need you to tell us the setup of things in there.”

  Xenos backed up a few steps away from them and began to cry. Ian threw up his hands and looked like he was trying hard not to hit her. Erika understood his frustration. It was hard to help the creature who had so little ability – or even desire – to help herself. But Xenos had helped them find the waterworks and turn it on, and she’d healed Ian. Without her help, they’d probably be dead.

  Erika put an arm around Xenos’ tiny shoulders. “Back off, Ian. Without her help, you’d be dead.”

  Dr. Randall came to Xenos’ defense as well. “She has had her entire world shaken down around her.”

  “Yeah, well, so have I,” Ian said.

  “True, but I dare say you have more ammunition to start with. She’s going against a lifetime of conditioning, Ian,” Dr. Randall said.

  Ian didn’t apologize to her, but he ended his interrogation.

  “Allow me to speak to her,” Dr. Randall said. “Perhaps I can help her to help us.” Dr. Randall took Xenos aside and spoke softly and gently to her. Erika couldn’t hear what they said. After about five minutes, Dr. Randall came
back.

  “From what I gather, they changed very little of the layout of the place. There is still the large, open town square. The buildings were long ago replaced, but the setup is nearly the same. They live and work there, she says. In the center of the town.”

  “Did she tell you where in Tro they keep their ship?”

  “This seems odd, but the way she describes the location, it sounds like it’s in the old recreation center. In the pool room no less.”

  Erika didn’t like the sound of it. “That means a whole bunch of Conexus between us and that ship.”

  Dr. Randall nodded.

  Erika looked down at the gun in her hands. She counted the grenades they had still strapped to their ammo belts and did a quick estimate of the ammo they had left. Even if they fired every round they had and never missed, they’d be able to take out maybe a few hundred Conexus. There were allegedly thousands of them. We’ll never make it. The only way they had a shot was to cut down on the number of bodies they might have to kill.

  Tex coughed.

  “Tex, my boy!” Dr. Randall knelt beside him. “I thought we’d lost you.”

  Tex let out another dry, raspy cough. “I was nearly … gone. My mind – it still … it is hard.” Tex tried to rise.

  Dr. Randall put out a hand to help him to a sitting position. “Easy, son. Rest. We’ll get you back to our own time. And then I can work on getting you well.”

  Tex nodded slowly. “It is drier – here.”

  Xenos knelt beside him. She reached her thin-fingered hand toward him slowly and touched his chest. “Are you Infractus?”

  Tex shook his head gently. “Not – broken. And neither … are you. We are … unique.” He smiled wanly but only briefly. His thin smile was replaced by a grimace of pain.

  Xenos’ hand rested lightly on his chest. She closed her eyes, her face as still as stone. The hall was silent except for the slight rattle of Dr. Randall’s chest as he breathed.

  Tex too had his eyes closed. The grimace faded, and soon his face was calm and serene. Xenos moved her hands slowly from his chest to his stomach and finally to his face and head.

  “She’s healing him, I think,” Erika whispered to Ian.

  “Good. We’ll need him if we stand any chance of getting out of here.”

  Xenos sat back and removed her hands from Tex. She kept her eyes closed. “You are not whole. I cannot repair what is no longer there.”

  “What do you mean?” Dr. Randall asked.

  Tex stood up slowly. He was so skinny it hurt to look at him. But at least he’d stopped trembling and his eyes were open.

  “She means that they took a few pieces of me to study, trying to find out why I can do things that so-called Infractus cannot do.”

  “What do you mean took pieces?” Erika asked.

  “I’m missing a kidney and a bit of my liver and …”

  “And what?” Dr. Randall asked. His voice quavered with alarm.

  “Nothing. I – I do not know. I think that is all.”

  All the time Erika had spent working up hatred toward Tex, they were torturing him. Guilt filled her gullet with bile.

  “Thousands of years of evolution and they are every bit as barbaric as we are,” Dr. Randall said.

  “Maybe even worse, Doc,” Ian said. “Creepy little grey bastards.”

  Tex put his hand out to Xenos to help her up. “Thank you. I may not be whole, but I am much better thanks to your able healing.”

  She blinked her eyes at him and put her hand in his and rose. Though Tex was short by human standards, he towered over Xenos. She looked like a small child next to him. And she looked up at Tex like a child seeing Mickey Mouse for the first time at Disneyland.

  Tex stared back at her and they stood motionless and silent, their hands touching. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, it occurred to Erika that they might be speaking to each other telepathically. Either that or I may need to tell them to get a room. As much as Erika was glad for Xenos and Tex to find each other, she was at the same time jealous. The realization surprised her. She turned away and forced herself to think instead about how to get to the Conexus ship.

  Ian said, “You can get a room later, Tex. Right now we need you to help us kick some Conexus booty so we can blow this place.”

  Xenos cocked her head to the side. “The Conexus do not wear boots.”

  “And there is no need to blow up their Tro,” Tex said.

  “I mean, Tex, are you going to join us in making a plan to get out of here or kiss and hold hands with your new girlfriend?” Ian said.

  Tex dropped Xenos’ hand like it had suddenly become hot coals from a fire. He flashed Erika a guilty look. “It is not – she is not –”

  “Look, it’s okay, buddy. You’re not a little kid. You don’t need to be embarrassed,” Ian said.

  “I am not embarrassed. I am –”

  Dr. Randall clapped Tex on the back. “Who knew we’d have to travel to the future to find you a girl, huh, my boy? But I think what your friends mean is let’s get home; then you can set about the business of courting your new lady friend.”

  Not exactly the way I’d put it, but …

  Tex’s large eyes shone darker and flashed anger. He rubbed his temples. “Please. Just listen. We must get to their ship.”

  “Yep. We’ve got that part of the plan down,” said Ian.

  Erika shushed him. “Listen.”

  Tex opened his eyes and stopped rubbing his temples. “They expect us. Unfortunately I am not – Xenos and I are … We are unable to keep them out of our minds. They will know everything we intend before we get there.”

  Ian kicked the crumbling floor. “So what you’re saying is we’re screwed.”

  Tex’s response was delivered in his matter-of-fact tone. “Perhaps. But you do have one advantage.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?” Ian asked.

  “They cannot read your minds very well. They see your lack of ability to connect to the Conexus as a weakness. You can never be a part of the collective – of the hive mind. But in this case, what they see as a weakness is in fact your only advantage.”

  “Doesn’t do much to even the odds,” Erika said.

  “There is more. They are currently disoriented. Agitated. They rarely experience death, and today you have killed several of them. The water infiltration has cut them off from their food production labs. They are worried about the entire structure of the former A.H.D.N.A. caving in.”

  “A legitimate concern,” Dr. Randall said.

  “If that happens, they will be cut off from all manufacturing and processing that they need to do. Their town, Tro, what we called Aphthartos – it is only administration and residential. If A.H.D.N.A. falls, they will die. The Regina, their leader, has the collective quite busy right now calculating, planning and processing this information.”

  “So what you’re saying is that they are currently vulnerable?” Dr. Randall asked.

  “As vulnerable as they may ever be,” Tex replied.

  “Then we shouldn’t wait. We should attack now,” Ian said.

  “I see no advantage to waiting,” Tex said.

  “Time out. We don’t have enough bullets or ’nades to take them all out. Maybe we should sneak in while they’re sleeping,” Erika said.

  “They do not sleep,” Tex said. “It is more of a down mode when they rest.”

  “Sleep – rest. Whatever. Point is they won’t be at their most alert.”

  Erika’s points led to a heated debate, each of them talking over the other. Ian and Tex argued strongly in favor of plowing forward.

  “Dr. Randall, what do you think we should do?” Erika asked.

  Dr. Randall took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. When he put his glasses back on, they sat slightly askew on his face. His chin was grizzled with a patchy, white beard. His salt-and-pepper hair hung to his shoulders now and his cheeks were dark hollows. “I’m tired. I want to go home.”

  “Hell ye
ah, that’s what I’m talking about,” Ian said.

  “But there are just too many of them and not enough bullets for the job,” Dr. Randall said.

  Erika pondered what Tex had said. He’d referred to the Conexus as a hive. And every hive had a queen.

  “We need to distract them,” Erika said. “And I think I know a way to disorient them so much, we may stand a chance.”

  35

  JACK

  Jack had gotten Thomas calmed down, but when he said it was his fault that Anna had been kidnapped, Thomas went back into a tailspin. His eyes misted and he crossed his arms over his knees. He was folded onto the chair and rocked slowly on his heels. He looked nearly catatonic.

  Jack’s patience for multiple personalities had worn thin. “Stay with me, Thomas. Focus. Who took Anna and why?”

  Thomas looked up at him, his face contorted with pain. “Croft ordered the nab.”

  Jack shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. It was mob guys, not Croft’s men.”

  “Everyone works for Croft. Even the mob.”

  “But we were following one of Croft’s guards –”

  “A plant. They knew you two were watching. It’s a game, Jack. He toyed with her. This is about making sure she understands – that we all understand – that he’s the one in control. Of everybody. All. The. Time.”

  “How’d your da – I mean Robert – get involved in this? Was he here?”

  Thomas shook his head. “Of course not. He wouldn’t sully himself by being in my presence.” He spat the words out like he was spitting out something that tasted foul.

  “I’m confused. You said Robert told you about Anna being taken.”

  “Croft called my father. A courtesy call, he said, so my father had a chance to take care of the business of his own house ‘like a man’ he said.” Thomas lifted his chin off his knees and stared at Jack. “‘You have a weed in your garden,’ Croft said. ‘I suggest you rip it out by the roots.’”

  “How’d you hear this conversation? I thought you never left here.”