Program Erin

by Alex Fall

  I shut off the mic and took a breath through my nose.

  “Captain. Wouldn't it have been to our tactical advantage not to have made such a...dramatic emergence?” one of the crewmen asked.

  “Weren't you listening?” I turned to face the one who spoke. “We already won. The announcement was just to draw attention to the ship and undermine the weak minded.”

  “...I see.”

  “Vehicular movement. We have several readings powering up,” one of the others announced.

  “Sapphire, thanks to your grand entrance, some of the Reds are packing up and running. We just saw a van fleeing the scene and two airships taking off,” Nicolette called in.

  “Confirmed, I'll take care of the deserters. You handle the inside.” I began marching to my ship and started the process of equipping my armor. Soon, we designated Wyatt to accompany a couple of others on one of our own airships to disable the two escaping, and I boarded my own ship to pursue the van.

  “Tetsuro, launch. We are in pursuit of a van fleeing the area.”

  “OK but...are we waiting for anyone else?” he asked.

  “No, just me. Go!”

  My ship took to the skies with incredible efficiency, and soon the comparatively slow van came in view. While I was watching, I put on a coat to stay warm. Somehow through all the excitement, the cold was getting to me.

  “Erin?” Sharon called out anxiously. “Where are we going?”

  “Sharon, you are to stay on this ship and don't leave it until we are docked on the carrier, do you understand?”

  “Where are-”

  “Do you understand?” I repeated much louder.

  My response frightened her into silence. She just nodded.

  “Captain Erin, if you don't mind me saying, weren't you hurt yesterday?” Tetsuro asked as he was piloting. “I mean, couldn't we find anyone to at least help?”

  “We're stretched thin as it is, Tetsuro. And I think you underestimate what I'm capable of.”

  “Yeah but...being capable and actually doing are...Ok never mind, never mind. You're the boss.”

  “There!” I pointed. “Open the ramp and be ready to drop me there.” I moved towards the airlock and grabbed my helmet.

  “They'll see us though. What if they change directions?” he shouted.

  “Just do it!”

  Moments later and I was hanging onto the ramp of my ship, watching the ground whiz by. The ship leaned as it turned and slowed down. At its slowest, the side street I had pointed out came in view and I slipped off the ramp and onto the edge of the building.

  “Tetsuro, I'm out. Fly ahead and cut them off in case they escape me.”

  “Roger, er...Copy.”

  I rolled my eyes and began descending the outside wall of the building. I could hear the van approaching quickly. By the time I made it to the ground, I already knew my timing was correct. I walked out onto the ordinary main street in time to make the van swerve to avoid me. If they knew it was me, they might not have swerved, but because they did, I raised my hand and pulled back my coat sleeve, then blasted the drivers fender and wheel off the van. The vehicle slumped and scraped until it crashed several dozen meters away. I hustled over to it, clutching my freshly burnt hand.

  Before I made it up to the van, the back doors flew open, one flying off. A Brute hopped out followed by another greater. The driver and another seemed stunned for the moment. The second one out stopped to get his bearings, but the Brute charged headlong. Well, let's get to it then. I pulled and shot a cure dart into him, then moved to dodge. After his first strike, I slipped my coat off with haste and tossed it aside. Hopefully it stays clean. I like that coat. While maneuvering around his blows, I reached up to my comm.

  “Little One, this is Sapphire Eyes. Are you reading any tags in my area?”

  “This is Little One. Yes, there are two, though one seems to be weaker than the other.”

  I knitted a brow as I ducked a blow and threw the brute over my shoulder. “The stronger reading is probably me. I'm carrying a payload of cure. There should be four readings by the time I done. One has already been tagged.” A sound alerted me to the second Greater’s movement, so I turned and also dodged his hit.

  Flyer.

  As he swooped past, I pulled my dart gun and landed a shot somewhere in his leg. He quickly fell to the ground and let out a yelp of pain. Again, noise alerted me to move, but it was hard to discern from what. The noise sounded like something rushing. I sidestepped just in time to avoid a whirling street sign, but the trash can lid following it got me. It was thrown with such force that it knocked me over. Almost instantly, the Brute snatched the collar of my armor, picked me up and slammed me back down into the ground. The wind was knocked out of me, but but I had the presence of mind to kick him in the jaw before I was slammed again. Just to be sure, I added a little spice to it.

  The Brute stumbled back with a foot shaped burn across his chin and the flyer moved in to continue waylaying me. Stupid Greater, get off me! I wrapped my legs and wormed my arms around him in time to put him in an arm lock, but he got out by levitating away. At least I picked myself up and readied myself. The Brute and flyer moved in together, so I made a hard right, aiming to take cover behind an electrical service box.

  Movement.

  It's not from the two I'm fighting. It's from...there. A prompt went off in my head, triggering me to pull my gun and instantly fire a shot. With perfect timing, a Slick stumbled out of his quick movement and fell to the ground. I landed my shot somewhere in his hip or leg. Using the momentum I already had from taking a hard right, I redirected my efforts into landing a dart in the slick before he got moving again. It was a success, but I left myself in the open.

  The flyer performed some impossible kick with the aid of his power, causing me to dodge right into the Brute's hands. The Brute grabbed my left arm, tossed me lightly into the air so that I couldn't dodge, and wound up for a strong blow.

  Oh no…

  My vision filled with blackness and stars and the fist sent me flying through the air and through the door of a cargo truck trailer. I couldn't breath out of my nose, my eye felt incredibly swollen, and the world was spinning. I could hear my enemies approaching, but all around me was darkness. No, no it's not. There's some light. Where am I? I sat up and rubbed my head, discovering that my helmet was no longer there. Did it fly off from the force of the strike? Ugh...my eye. My poor eye. And that wet stuff on my face, I'll bet that's blood. I heard an order being given to find a new vehicle for their getaway. I pushed myself free of the debris inside the trailer and stumbled towards the door. How dare you...how dare you pitiful Greaters hurt me. I trained for months to keep you from touching me. It makes me ANGRY!

  The Brute ripped the doors off the trailer to find me standing there with clenched fists and a furious demeanor. I must have been a fearsome sight. Even though they seemingly had the upper hand, they all stalled. Even the slick took a step back. I went to say something, but it just came out as a gradually escalating yell. I was already collecting massive amounts of my power, but only one thing kept me in check. Keegan's voice. “Don't kill them.”

  * * *

  “Sapphire Eyes, this is Little One. We are reading four tags not including yourself. What's your status?” the comm whined.

  “Awaiting pickup from Tetsuro.”

  “Say again, we didn't copy.”

  I moaned to myself lightly and closed my eyes a little tighter. “Awaiting pickup from Tetsuro.”

  “...what about Tetsuro? We can't understand you.”

  I moaned again and reached up to touch my swollen nose. It hurts to talk. And then when I do talk, they can't understand me. Why bother? As my ship approached, my one eye cracked open. I was sitting back inside the trailer with my helmet by my side. Four cured, unconscious, and burnt Greaters littered the area. I dragged myself out of the trailer and towards my ship as it landed. Sharon was there to greet me, but rather than actually say anything, she examined
the smoldering surroundings with a certain awe. However, once I drew near, she moved to give me plenty of clearance. I pushed my helmet into her hands and stumbled into my home, dragging my coat alongside me.

  “This is Sapphire Three, Sapphire Eyes is on board. Returning to Little One.” Tetsuro turned to make sure I was actually on the ship, but did a double take when he saw me. “Erin? You need to go to the hospital!”

  “No!” I blurted.

  “Erin...should I call miss Lori?” asked Sharon.

  I wanted to say no, but didn't put forth the energy. I just grunted and continued to my room.

  “Captain, there's a lot of smoke and fire down there. Was everything alright?” Tetsuro called out.

  It didn't matter. I shut my door and locked it. Pain medicine. Sleep medicine. Healing medicine. So many drugs. I began shuffling through my medication, applying everything I needed to correct the damage, then moved to my sink and just stood over it while my injured nose leaked into the drain. I made the mistake of looking into the mirror, where I saw a horrifically ugly girl with bright blue eyes, made uglier by a black eye, swollen nose, dried blood, and dirt. I let my greasy hair fall in the way and block the view. What's the point? Why am I doing all of this? Is it even worth it anymore?

  * * *

  My ship came in view of the triage we just set up, the second one we have established. Tetsuro reeled us around to land and I moved to the airlock where my helmet was waiting. Wyatt was also there, but Lori was waiting for Sharon.

  “Expecting battle?” Wyatt asked.

  “These last two weeks have been crazy. I always expect the worst.”

  Wyatt leaned his head back to rest on the wall. “How optimistic of you.”

  “I'll be more optimistic when Nicolette gives me a good report,” I grumbled.

  “And a new triage isn't a good report?”

  “Touchdown in three!” Tetsuro called out. The airlock ramp began opening and three seconds later, we connected to the ground. The sun was bright today, bringing with it some warmth, but the slightest breeze would chill me to the core. I clung to my coat for warmth and buried my face further into the collar as we stepped out.

  “Helmet?” Wyatt asked, holding out for me.

  I snatched it without a word, but didn't put it on.

  “Hey! Bright side, your armor works fantastically,” Wyatt piped up.

  “Shush.”

  “Good goodness, what's going on in the life of Erin?”

  I paused to glare at my crew member. In the background I heard someone approaching.

  “Captain Sapphire, ready for the tour?” a capable and scruffy pale guy asked. He was being followed by a lady in a lab coat, but I didn't recognize either of them.

  “Who are you?” I asked bluntly.

  “Eddie Marks. I've been employed here due to my history in the medical field.”

  “Are you one of Nicolette's?”

  “Who? Wait, the redhead lady? No, I'm a Dweller. Since the cure reached us, her guys have been leaving some jobs for us.”

  Wyatt and I looked at each other. “And what if the Greaters come looking for trouble here?” I asked.

  “We cure them,” the lab coat lady said.

  “And then die by their infuriated hand? Who are you again?” I replied sarcastically.

  “Maggie Moreau. I also have experience in the medical field. And if the Greaters come, your people have ensured that we have been armed.”

  “Plus there are still a few Greaters that stop by from time to time. They're good guys,” Eddie said.

  “But they still have powers…”

  “So how about that tour?” Wyatt cut in.

  “Yeah! Follow me.”

  The triage was strange. Even though it was a refitted clinic that I myself have been inside of and even though I chose this location, it was still strange. Dwellers were lined up ready for the injection, a couple of Greaters as well. Maybe it struck me as peculiar because the city was finally giving in, or maybe it tickled the bad memories of the Directorates, but either way it didn't sit well with me. Some in the building recognized me, throwing whispers around about “Sapphire Eyes.” Lori eventually dragged Sharon out of her room. Sharon was scheduled to receive the cure today, but when the time arrived she threw a fit. Sharon does NOT like needles. But somewhere after that fiasco was through, one of Nicolette's people approached.

  “Captain? Progress report for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “We've intercepted and moved into four more city blocks, trying our best to hit big groups. At this point, any active Greaters keep shifting to areas we've already been to or hiding where we are not. Some are even mixed into Dweller establishments.”

  “Is there a problem reaching them?”

  “Yes and no. Between you and me, we're shorthanded. Some Dwellers with combat history have volunteered, but Nicolette won't use them. It's putting a strain on us, and every Greater who hasn't gotten a cure so far is ferociously resisting us.”

  I sighed. “Any casualties?”

  “A few on both sides. There are a couple of organized resistance groups hitting back at us. We think they are the remaining Big Man. The most problematic ones are a Tank and Trickster, a group of Flyers, and a Burn.”

  A memory came up at the mention of the Burn. I can deal with the others, but...a burn. Is it him?

  “Have you seen the burn?” I asked pensively.

  “Not personally, no.”

  “How do you know he's a Burn?”

  “Because...there's fire and burn marks? Burns are a dangerous bunch. They don't leave many survivors. Apparently they can even take your vehicles apart.”

  I narrowed my eyes and faced him. “What?”

  “Yeah, one of our trucks had a missing axle and fender after one of our battles.”

  I looked off into the distance. Is it him?...or someone else? “Exercise caution. If you run into these trouble groups again, report to me immediately.”

  “On a final note, one of our intermediary aircraft was taken out.”

  “What? How?” I said in surprise.

  “We don't know. Still working the details.”

  I looked off into the distance again. This isn't going as well as I had hoped. I returned to the triage to pass time distributing the cure.

  Eight more days of this yielded even more disturbing results. The greaters have started mixing in with the Dwellers for ambushes. And while we can tell who has been cured and who hasn't, we can't tell from the cruiser if those not yet cured are Dwellers or Greaters. At the very least, the cure seems to have no adverse effect on Dwellers. Sharon showed no signs of change, aside from being put out that she was stuck with a needle. Such a little girl…

  On the ninth day, however, some especially bad news came up. Our first triage was attacked by one of the organized Benevolent squads. They seemed to have moved on to retaliation. And the bad part, it was a burn that led the attack. Was it THAT burn? This must be dealt with. I have to intercept them. But how?

  * * *

  “Yes, thermal imaging!” I repeated into the comm. I shook my head once more to alleviate the headache but it wouldn't go away. A bullet clipped my cover, a real bullet, forcing me to tuck further out of sight. Two down, five cured, five misses. I'm out of cure. This wouldn't have been such a mess if I knew that tricksters were so effective. God, my burns hurt!

  “Ok we have thermal up. Locking unit positions into your navigator.”

  I glanced down at the utility item on my waist. Ok, so there's only two people actually in the room with me, and maybe that one way out to my right is firing over here too. I pulled myself to my feet and glanced over the concrete wall I was hiding behind. On the other side of the plaza were five more Greaters, one charging electricity, and another carrying a whole bench as an improvised weapon. Where are you, trickster?

  “I think I found our trouble maker,” Wyatt signaled.

  “Lock him down, then deliver some more cure for me,” I order
ed.

  “The last of the Dwellers are coming out,” Lori informed.

  I narrowed my eyes again. Now I have room to play. Which one of you boogers are real though? Doesn't matter, I have enough bullets.

  I stood, pulled my revolver and fan fired. I hit every target, though not perfectly. Somewhere in the mix, after the bullets left my gun, but before the shells hit the ground, an enemy bullet struck my eye plate. I spun around to the ground and cussed. “Ugh! Why does that hurt so bad every time?!” I yelled.

  “Did you get hit in the eye AGAIN?” Wyatt replied.

  “Shut up! That was a rhetorical question!” I closed my sore eye tight and sent a burn from my brow to clear the cracked mess left behind from the bullet out of my vision. I stood and growled, trotting with irritation straight at one of the five antagonists.

  “You!”

  The Brute threw the bench with all his might at my body and the Bolt released his massive charge into me. Neither had an effect, because they weren't real. The one I was trotting towards began backing up and opened fire. The only movement I made was to raise and hand in the way of my face to shield my eye and jaw. Bullets stopped on my impenetrable plates with pain, so I growled again and quickened my gait. The enemy kept backing up, calling to the other for assistance. Once I was close enough, I lit up and swiped my hand across the firearm, tearing it to pieces and catching his hand in the process. While he reeled from the injury to his hand, I struck him in the throat, then grabbed his throat and pushed him against the nearest wall.

  “What's your power, huh? Are you one of the owls who keep messing up all my missions?” I snarled. I finished the conversation with kick to the side of the knee to force him into kneeling, then my own knee to his head. And again. And a third time. It would have been four, but his assistance arrived.

  A girl grabbed the collar of my armor and slung me away. A bullet immediately landed near my collar bone, in between armor plates. The armor weave still stopped it, but that level of pain paralyzed me for a second.