by Drew Avera
Chapter 15
The wait was killing me. Laurel, Gena, and I had waited close to an hour in the dark field overlooking Faracon; still there was no sign of Harris, my sister, or their team. I couldn't help but be a little worried. The controller part of my personality made me feel as if everything was out of my hands and therefore going wrong. There was no justifiable reason to doubt Harris' ability to complete the mission, but when it came to Kara's life I didn't want to leave anything to chance.
"How long do we wait. Should we go after them?" I asked. I was beyond irritated at the moment and sure that was reflected in my voice.
"Harris gave strict orders, Serus. I understand your concern, but if we go down there we run the risk of getting caught. We can't afford that at this time." Gena kept her eyes in her binoculars, looking down at the dark city mulling about as blind as bats. There were sounds and flickering beams of light from the guards running about hastily. "We need to stay here until we know for sure they are captured," she finished.
I kicked some rocks under my feet and crossed my arms. I felt useless just waiting. A stiff wind blew and with it the sound of gunfire. I spun around and looked over the cliff to see what the commotion was all about.
Another blast of gunshots pierced the night. "There," Gena spoke with her finger pointing towards a muzzle flash barely seen through the dense trees. The sound of automatic weapons reporting from the short distance brought fear into my heart. Kara’s in danger!
I instinctively turned to run in their direction, but Gena and Laurel both moved to stop me in my tracks.
"Serus, give them a chance to get away first." Laurel spoke with her hands resting on my shoulders and her body in front of me. The thought of moving her out of the way and striking out on my own crossed my mind, but I hesitated.
"If we do nothing, they can die.” Lifting my gauntlet with the moonlight reflecting off the cold metal, I said, "this is how you deal with an enemy. Let me use it."
"Serus, if we draw more fire, we can be killed or thrust them into more danger; better to live to fight another day." Gena's no-nonsense approach to battle tactics was almost heartless. I could feel the flush of blood boiling in my cheeks.
I cussed under my breath and turned from the commotion. I could still hear the gunfire, but hoped by not looking at it I could remove myself from the situation enough to calm down. When my programming was intact, it was easier to dissociate myself from reality, but, ever sense I fought my training and reclaimed my humanity, I found it difficult to cope with emotions I had spent the better part of five years without.
"It will be fine, Serus." Laurel wrapped her arms around me and leaned her head into my shoulder. Her body felt warm and I wondered how she could be so strong in this moment. A thought occurred to me. She wasn't just being strong now; like Kara, she had to be strong after I was recruited and torn out of their lives. Guilt stung as I realized how defeated I was acting. I was a damned policeman. I was a fighter. I turned back around and wrapped my arms around Laurel as I looked out into the darkness with the symphony of gunfire . . . and waited.
It didn't take long before the sounds died down and silence enveloped the area. I was nervous, but I refused to let fear devour me and make me too impotent to lead this group. A sound from behind us grabbed my attention: the snap of a twig.
I turned and aimed my gauntlet between the eyes of our intruder. The blue beam reflected from his eyes and he glared at me with his hand shielding them from the bright glow. He shook his head slightly as if he were a bit irritated and wasn't willing to hide it.
"When you're done blinding me with the light, maybe we should get going." Harris was out of breath and had a sense of urgency to his voice.
I lowered my gauntlet. "Where's Kara?"
Harris cracked his neck and scrunched his shoulders as he tried to get comfortable. Beads of sweat reflected from his brow and he was visibly shaken. "She's with the others about half a mile away near the creek. Ben was shot in the leg and she's taking care of the wound. We need to get going in case the guards find them," he said.
We followed Harris out of the clearing and began our descent toward the creek. "Is Ben going to be all right?" Gena asked. She wasn't able to mask her concern as easily as she had before. Maybe knowing her friend was not completely out of danger hit her harder than she expected.
Harris kept walking as he answered. "I sure as hell hope so."
Chapter 16
We found Ben ten minutes later and I could tell he was in extreme pain. He maintained a strong look on his face as he fought back tears, but I suspected he did so more to keep Gena at ease than for his own benefit. There was a tight bond between them, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't keep the truth from her. Their relationship was a lot like mine and Laurel's, other than the part where I was recruited into The Agency bit. It was a hardship I was certain we would never recover from. I could tell by looking that he would go there and beyond for Gena. I suppose that was the real power of love.
"Ben, I'm so sorry," Gena said. She placed her hand on the side of his face and looked into his eyes. He took in a deep breath before responding.
"It's not your fault," he whispered through clenched teeth. I could almost feel his pain by listening to each breath he took.
Harris knelt beside him and started looking at the wound more closely as Kara and Laurel stood guard. "Do you know anything about dressing wounds, Serus?" he asked.
I stepped closer to look at the damage. A large chunk of flesh was missing on his thigh and I could tell it was mostly fatty tissue with only a little muscle damage, luckily there wasn't a severed artery, based on what little blood was pooling in his wound. "I know we need to stop the bleeding and get him out of here before they find us," I said.
"Do you have any ideas besides wrapping a tourniquet around it? I don't want him to lose his leg if we can help it," Harris replied.
I looked over his shoulder to better assess the wound. "I can cauterize it with my gauntlet to stop the bleeding, but it's going to hurt like hell. I can give him some Serum to help dull the pain, so hopefully he can walk out of here," I said, knowing exactly what it was going to feel like on the receiving end of my gauntlet. I'd performed the same aid to myself when slicing my arm open during a fight involving a plate-glass window and a target not willing to fall as easily as I'd expected.
"Do it," Ben said. His voice was shaky and I imagined shock was beginning to set in. The wound might not be life threatening, but it wasn't going to hurt any less. Of that, I was sure.
"All right," I said with a nervous smile, as I knelt beside him. He watched me as I adjusted the power setting of my gauntlet enough to allow the tissue to close up without blasting his leg off. I aimed the diffuser at the wound and used the sight to illuminate the area. The pale blue glow of the beam was bright against the dark backdrop so I had to move quickly. "Hold him down."
Harris and Gena grabbed him as I quickly fired a laser across his wound. Choked sobs escaped his lips as he fought to keep from crying out. I felt sorry for him, but it was a necessary step if we were to get out of here and save him. It took nearly thirty seconds to get the bleeding to stop and by that point Ben was close to passing out from the pain.
"Here," I said as I handed a small bottle of Serum to him. "Take this and it will dull your pain."
"I didn't say it would taste good, but it should do the trick. Is it working yet?" I asked.
Ben looked down at his leg and back up at me. "Yeah, I think it is," he said. Gena brushed a few hairs off his face and kissed his forehead, pulling back with a relieved smile.
"Good. Let’s move," Harris said. He and Gena helped Ben stand up. We followed Harris out of the woods and headed back towards Midican. It was harrowing to move as quickly as we could with next to no light and a severely wounded soldier in our ranks. We didn't have time to think of the hardship. We just pushed on, and arrived in Midican about an hour later. The Serum seemed to have been an effective medicine, as Ben walked gi
ngerly with little assistance and a bit of a limp when we arrived.
"I'm going to get him in bed and off his leg now," Gena said. I could see signs of pain in his face once we were under some lighting, but he hadn't complained much after we dressed his wound.
"All right. Make sure you clean it up and redress it while you're there. We don't want infection to set in," Harris said before Gena was out of sight. "Rest up, and let's go over this stuff in the morning. After the night we've had we could use some sleep."
"I don't know if I can sleep," Kara said. "There's so much information in these documents to go over."
Harris turned around and faced her. "It's three in the morning. At least take a few hours and let's meet up for breakfast to go over it together. How about that?" Kara smiled and nodded her head in agreement as she walked in. "She's lying under that smile isn't she?" Harris asked as I stepped next to him.
I placed a hand on his shoulder assuringly and, without looking at him, said, "You catch on quick, my friend."
He chuckled behind me as Laurel and I walked into the house with exhausted steps. I took her hand in mine as we walked towards our room and went to bed.
Chapter 17
"What do you think?" Harris asked Kara.
She had been going through the schematics and formulas for over two hours, and that was after the few hours she studied them while the rest of us were sleeping. I didn't know how she was still standing after the night we had, but there she was with her face buried in her work.
"I think it's doable," she said all matter-of-fact. A tuft of hair kept dangling in front of her face each time she looked up at us. "Serus, have you had any luck contacting Pontiff White?"
I shook my head as I stepped closer to her. I liked to keep my distance from the scientific discussions, but playing secretary for my sister was a step apart from being too involved in it. At least I knew she wouldn't call on me to answer any mathematical equations while I was busy trying to establish a connection with Pontiff White. I didn't want to say anything, but I was getting concerned by the fact I still hadn't connected with any of the communications systems on Mars. Communications wasn't my area of expertise, but I had always heard we maintained our systems in the event of any emergency, especially of this magnitude. I just hoped it was operator error on my part.
"Keep trying. If we can get ahead of this situation, we have a greater chance of making a difference." She went back to scribbling on the documents as Harris made a smirk in my direction. He loved this side of Kara; I could tell. She was confident with a touch of bossy, kind of like I remembered our mother being.
I winked at him before moving back to the communications station in his office. There was something invigorating about being on the cusp of potentially saving the world we knew as home that was hard to put into words. Of course, the elation dropped with each failed attempt to contact Pontiff White.
"This is Serus Blackwell, trying to contact anyone listening on Mars. We have urgent news from Earth and need to contact Pontiff White. Can anybody hear me?" Static was the only response to my efforts. It was infuriating and I was struggling to maintain my composure. Outside, I seemed calm and friendly, but inside I wanted to scream. Why aren’t they answering? Are we too late?
"Maybe the Earth's moon is interfering with the signal," Laurel said when she entered the office. "I remember having a hard time contacting home when we took a transport onto the other side of the asteroid belt. It was one of those rich-people excursions to see Europa. The signal came back a few hours later." She stood there, confident, with her hands on her hips, but her eyes didn't lie. She saw the concern in my face and wanted to ease my worry with a logical explanation.
It was a possible explanation, but I was worried that the lack of communications was something more. "Or we could be too late," I said out loud without meaning to. You could hear a pin drop in the room when everyone looked up at me. I could feel the searing burn of their eyes and I was more than slightly embarrassed by it. My shoulders slumped as Kara spoke.
"That's not funny.” Her eyes tore into my own. It was more a look of disappointment than anger. She wielded it well.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," I said. I was partially telling the truth. I really didn't mean for anyone to hear me say it. In my defense, it was hard to hold back my fear. It felt as if it were clawing its way through my body when I tried to bury it.
"Serus, there's only one way to take a comment like that," Laurel said. "I know you're worried; I am too. My parents are still there, and my brother. But let's not give up hope. Not yet." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and I felt like an ass for causing her pain by my words, even if my cause for concern was valid, I didn't want to hurt the ones I loved by jumping to conclusions right now. "Please, try again," Laurel said after a long pause.
She was right. It wasn't like me to be so eager to throw in the towel. I had fought harder battles in the past and overcome greater obstacles. This was not the end. We still had hope of a brighter future. I leaned down and snatched up the transmitter and spoke into it. "This is Serus Blackwell. I am trying to contact anyone on Mars. I have an urgent message for Pontiff White. Is anyone there?" There was a small blip of sound before static filled our ears again. In frustration I dropped the transmitter onto the desk and turned to face everyone. My resolve was crumbling no matter how many times someone tried to encourage me. I couldn't take any more pep talks, I needed to act. "We're killing time," I said solemnly. "I think we should go back."
Chapter 18
My words grabbed everyone's attention. Both Kara and Laurel looked at me as if I had said something wrong and Harris stood there with his arms crossed and watched.
"That might be best," Kara said, causing every eye in the room to look at her. To say it caught us off guard would be a lie.
"Whoa! You want to go back to a planet that is falling apart and try to save it?" Harris asked. There was a noticeable tinge of fear in his voice. He usually sounded much more in control of his emotions. Maybe her words struck a chord with him; I know it did with me.
"Is it that much of a surprise to you?" Kara asked. I noticed a glint in her eye which often preceded a lecture. I was right. "We told you that our plan was to save our planet. It doesn't matter what it takes. Even if I have to up there and work in a spacesuit, then so be it. Why are you all of a sudden questioning it now?" I could tell she had mixed emotions, though she was good at hiding it from Harris.
Harris shrugged sheepishly, "honestly, saving your planet seems like a long shot," he said. "Did you really think it would be this easy for you three to go back and heroically save those lives? Be realistic, The Syndicate condemned everyone on Mars to die. If their plans could be so easily foiled then they wouldn't have infiltrated Faracon and put all of this into motion without a hitch."
I had to admit he had a point. It did seem way too easy for them to get the upper hand and what was worse was they were getting away with it. I was so busy trying to save Mars that I had failed in my original mission to bring down The Syndicate.
Kara set down the pencil she was using to take notes. "As much of a long shot as it is to come across as a nice guy and then fold at the first sign things might not go your way?" Her words were cold as ice, as was her gaze. It struck me as a low blow, and I could read the hurt on Harris' face.
Harris shook his head.
"I don't think that is what he meant," I said.
Although I enjoyed watching him come down from the pedestal Kara had held him upon, I didn't see the point in arguing against our case. He seemed to have been in our corner this whole time, there was no reason for him to back out now.
"Oh? Then what did he mean?" She asked. Her hands were on her hips and I thought perhaps stress was irritating her more than anything else. "Can my brother read minds all of a sudden? Tell me, what was his point?" she snapped.
"I think his point is that the atmosphere was decaying before we left. We've been gone almost a year, and return
ing now will take us another five or six months. At that rate it may be too late. You told me yourself before we left Mars that it might only hold together another eighteen months. We should keep trying to contact them because time is of the essence."
Kara's face was red, but it wasn't because of anger. I knew her better than that. She was tired and frustrated. She didn't accept defeat and arguing wasn't going to do anything other than make things worse.
Harris stepped over to me. "Yeah, that's all I meant," he said, obviously relieved I had put his thoughts into words for him. Kara was a tricky woman to deal with. She was too smart for anyone to try and pull the wool over her eyes and she had a quick wit, quicker than mine at times.
Kara rubbed her neck and sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry," she said. "We probably need to talk to Captain Fillon and see if he is willing to take us back."
I had to admit I was more than a little shocked by her quick turnaround. She was still red-faced, but her eyes showed their gentle light as she looked at Harris. I chalked her outburst up to the fact she was running on fumes after being awake more than twenty-four hours.
Laurel stood up and put her hand on my shoulder. "He has a son back home. Trust me when I say he'll be itching to get home and try to save him. In fact, I think he can convince some of the other transport captains to go with us in case we need to evacuate the planet," she said.
I looked in her eyes and she smiled back at me. An evacuation might save only a fraction of the people we left behind, but I knew better than to bring that point up.
"Do you really think those transports can bring everyone back?" Harris asked. His arms were crossed over his chest. He had come to the same conclusion I think all of us had. There were millions of people on Mars and nowhere near enough space to bring them all back with the few transports we had at our disposal.
