The Last Revolution

by Carpenter, R. T.

  The cold in Siberia was unlike anything he’d experienced before. He could still feel the chill wrapping around his core, it made him shudder. There was blood on his hands; now he was running—sprinting through the frozen woods. The snow was so deep that he struggled to move forward. The sound of gunfire was everywhere.

  “Unload everything you’ve got!” Gabriel screamed at the top of his lungs.

  Alden stopped running and ducked behind a tree for cover. He lifted his assault rifle and fired several shots in the direction they’d just traveled.

  They couldn’t stop running; their survival depended on them reaching the rendezvous point. “Keep moving!” Alden yelled. “We’re almost there.”

  Trees disintegrated under the hail of bullets. The enemy forces were getting closer. Puffs of snow popped up everywhere.

  Daniel let out a blood curdling scream. Blood splattered out of the back of his leg and covered the pearly white snow in a deep red. He collapsed to the ground.

  “Gabriel,” Alden yelled. “Grab Mary, keeping moving. We have to get out of here!” Alden pushed through the snow towards Daniel. He dropped his gun and grabbed him by the shoulder. Alden slipped his head under his arm, helping him to his feet. “Come on Daniel, we’re not dying here. I just need you to keep moving.”

  A deep pain crept up his spine and gripped his chest. Alden shook his head inside the combat suit and pushed back at the memories. He was still on the transport ship headed towards Traterous. An uncomfortable ache had been gnawing at him since they’d left Apollo City. Would he be forced to endure another tragic failure? If this mission took his life then at least he’d be able to see his team again. Although that would mean he’d have to leave Kira.

  He peered out the window. She was out there, somewhere; hidden beneath the vast expanse of the lunar surface. Her team would be getting close to the outer wall of Traterous by now, ready to provide the diversion they needed to escape. On cue, a tiny structure appeared on the horizon. The building was perched atop a hill. It was isolated by a giant wall that encircled the entire formation. The peak had been flattened; replaced with the main jailhouse he’d seen on the holographic map.

  Guard posts dotted the wall, like giants protecting their keep. Several smaller buildings were scattered across the courtyard inside the walls.

  Thereon walked up, gave Alden a solemn nod and then clicked his guard helmet into place. The glowing red eyes came to life. He was now indistinguishable from any other guard.

  “That’s where we make our landing.” He pointed at an empty docking pad off to the right. It was bathed in light, awaiting their arrival. “Everyone take your positions! This is it.”

  Liam dropped the craft into a low approach. “If we’ve been discovered, they’ll never have a better shot than now,” he mumbled.

  Liam increased his grip on the steering wheel. He’d have to make it look like he’d done this maneuver a hundred times. As they came in low Alden could see that every guard post along the wall was affixed with giant anti-meteorite cannons. They swung around and locked onto their position.

  “Is that normal?” Alden asked.

  Liam shrugged. “If not, we’ll find out soon.” He held the control steady and brought them out in a wide curve before dropping towards the launch pad. The guns continued to follow them until they had dropped below their line of sight. They swung back around and pointed out beyond the gates.

  With a soft bump they touched down on the surface.

  Liam flicked several switches on the overhead control panel and killed the engines. He glanced back at them, “And that was the easy part.”

  “Nice job, we’ll take it from here.” Thereon turned to Alden, “You’re on point, I’ll take the rear. The rest of you take up positions around the prisoners.” Thereon pitched Liam the spare helmet he’d been holding. “You’ve got the ship; keep her hot while we’re gone.”

  “You got it boss. Good luck.” Liam locked the security helmet into his suit and then flipped the switch to vent the cabin’s oxygen. It was sucked up into small retainers under the ship to keep it from being released into space. Liam flipped another switch and the back hatch opened. Bright white spotlights from the surrounding towers were fixed on their position in the back of the shuttle. Alden was the first to step forward and he walked down the steps and onto the lunar surface. Several rows of prisoners fell into line behind him and disembarked from the ship one at a time.

  He was well insulated and didn’t notice the two hundred degree drop in temperature, but he did feel about a hundred rifles trained on his head as he stepped forward. He was hyper-aware of his surroundings. The adrenaline brought back years of training. Stop. Look. Listen.

  The prison loomed large above them, nestled into the top half of the hill. Despite his capabilities inside the suit, the situation was incredibly intimidating. At least he had the suit; he felt bad for the soldiers dressed as prisoners. If this failed, would any of them ever leave this place again?

  A group of Council soldiers from the main guard house approached their location. Thereon stepped forward and put his hand on Alden’s arm for the briefest of moments. “Stay behind me.”

  He walked towards the lead officer, pretending to ignore the fifteen soldiers in line behind him. Thereon saluted. “Prisoner transport 0942 from Apollo City.”

  “What is that?” The lead soldier asked, pointing at Alden.

  “They’ve increased security since the terrorist attack on New Tranquility. Between you and me, I won’t complain about some additional fire power.”

  The officer nodded in understanding, but continued to stare at Alden for a few moments. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “They’ve been sent up to guard the transport ships. No one wants this kind of trash on the loose.”

  Alden felt mildly annoyed being referred to as an inanimate object, but they were really only interested in the suit. It would have been akin to receiving a new piece of heavy artillery. The person who operated it was ancillary to what it was capable of doing for them.

  The other officer continued, “You’re five minutes late.”

  “There was a backlog at the terminal, our departure was delayed. There has been a near constant stream of troop reinforcements from Earth. I think they’re calling it a surge. I’m sure we’ll be increasing the frequency of transports in the near future.”

  It was hard to tell what was going on behind the soldier’s mask, but Alden assumed it involved a lot of frowning. This wasn’t going well. They needed to get this wrapped up and the prisoners unloaded. If they were attacked, he could probably take the squad of soldiers in front of them, maybe the nearest turret. However, if the full battalion mobilized, which they certainly would, they’d be in a lot of trouble.

  The lead soldier typed a few commands on his wrist deck. Moments later, a trail of dust kicked up in the distance, but Alden’s view was obstructed by the soldiers. Something was coming. He stepped back into a defensive position and switched the safety off the rockets. Moments later an automated personnel carrier pulled up beside the group. There were enough seats for all fifteen prisoners and places to handcuff each one of them down.

  The lead prison guard nodded towards them. “Grab the new inmates, lock them into place.” His men moved around Alden in unison. They grabbed the soldiers dressed as prisoners and seated them on the transport. Their hands were already shackled, but they locked them to the transport. It seemed an unnecessary precaution. How fast could they move even if they tried to escape? Alden walked to the front of the carrier and took up a guard position along with the rest of the soldiers.

  They moved up the hill towards the main facility. It was a dull walk. Alden turned his rifle over several times looking for any indication of a jam due to the razor sharp lunar dust. His rifle was twice the size of the other soldiers’. The suit allowed him to carry far deadlier artillery.

  They entered through the front gates of the prison. Alden stepped back to take in the ful
l breadth of the area. The room must have been at least thirty stories high and housed tens of thousands of prisoners. Long rows of cells stretched in front of them; heavily armed guards patrolled every level. There were very few windows and those that did exist showed only the blackness of space. He couldn’t imagine a more depressing place.

  The clock inside his helmet turned red. They now had less than five minutes before the attack began. They needed to hurry. Thereon must have felt the same pressure because he walked up beside the head guard. “Let’s get these prisoners processed and then we’ll be on our way. There is always another batch waiting for a ride.”

  The head guard scoffed, “You tell those prats that if they’re going to keep sending us people, we’re going to need more space. We can only cram in so many.”

  With that he walked down the main cell block. It reminded Alden of an ancient prison he’d read about on an island in the middle of a freezing bay. In many ways this place perfectly resembled that. There were a limited number of spacecrafts around, no place to hide; it would be impossible to burrow through the solid rock and you couldn’t walk out. If that wasn’t bad enough, the only exit was through an array of heavily armored sentinel towers with state of the art anti-aircraft weaponry.

  At the back of the block, they descended a set of large stairs with barrier walls that had to be deactivated every few feet to let them through. The suit was clunky and hard to maneuver in; his steps made an incredible amount of noise as they came down on the metal surface. It was a far cry from the soft powder outside. Alden’s implants recognized every soldier they passed, registered them in a digital map he was recording. Squeezing the handle of his gun, Alden continued forward, alert for any signs of danger. He wished he could have spent more time testing the suit before their lives depended on it.

  Three minutes until the breach. Hopefully the other team is in position. The thought of Kira in danger made him nervous. The walls around them were no longer made of metal. Instead, they had been carved out of solid rock. Based on the map, they were at least two stories below ground. On the surface, he felt like a god inside the suit, but down here it just seemed claustrophobic.

  General Stone’s cryo-chamber was still another level below. The clock was ticking down. This was taking too long. They needed to move faster. Alden slowed his movements until he’d fallen to the back of the group. Two of the other soldiers noticed the change and adjusted accordingly. A few moments later the three of them were alone.

  Alden nodded to Callisto and Solana. They turned and sprinted down a set of empty corridors and another flight of steps. Just as Thereon had said, a giant steel door stood closed at the bottom. What was it with these colonists and large underground doors?

  Suddenly the entire building shook. Small chunks of concrete crashed to the floor around them. Warning signals went off everywhere; the facility was going into lockdown. Alden’s digital map showed hundreds of heat signatures moving above his head. The entire base had mobilized. Mech-warriors, anti-grav tanks, and several platoons of men moved off towards the left corner of the prison. Kira’s team had started the attack. Alden pictured the chaos unfolding before his eyes.

  Callisto reached the bottom of the steps and laid explosives around the large door. He sprinted back to their spot.

  “Fire in the hole!”

  All of the lights suddenly went out. The background sounds of flowing water and air ceased. Everything became deadly quiet. As the smoke cleared, they saw that the wall, stairs, and floor around the blast area had been completely obliterated.

  Turning to the twins, he said, “Stay here and guard the exit.” Alden jumped into the small crater. He weaved around the mangled door and into the secure room.

  The rectangular room was bathed in a blue hue from the cryo tanks stacked along the walls. Each held a different prisoner in suspended animation. Two guards who had been monitoring the room attempted to pick themselves off the floor. Alden ran over to them as he lifted his helmet off the suit. He swung it with tremendous force and knocked them both out cold. Sorry.

  Alden hurried down the row of tubes. Several of the figures looked horribly mangled. Others seemed vaguely familiar, relics forgotten by history. The rest just projected evil and probably deserved their entombment. At the end of the row sat three tanks isolated from the rest. The first was empty; it didn’t appear to have ever been used. He wasn’t surprised to read the name Alexander Hawkins. Special prison cell—all it needed was the captive. Given his perceived intelligence, he could understand why the Council wanted to hold on to Mr. Alexander. Alden shuddered at the thought; he’d personally send him to a place he’d never return from.

  Despite the hook-ups, the second to last tube was completely missing. A lone note was attached to the control panel.

  Subject: Prisoner Num. 79-837-99

  Birth Name: Jin-Gan

  Origin: Sino-Russian Federation

  Current Location: Hyperion Research Center

  Reason: Classified

  The last two lines hurt, Hyperion Research Center, Classified. The bullet wound to his shoulder and abdomen had long healed, but the name still brought back pain. He remembered the four empty walls of his tiny hospital room, a lone window through which he could stare out into space and watch the Earth as it rotated passed.

  He remembered Father McKinley asleep in the chair next to his bed when he finally woke. His body seethed in pain. How had he gotten here?

  “Where am I?” Alden croaked.

  Father McKinley opened his eyes. “You’re awake. Doctor!” Rushing to his side, Father McKinley grabbed his hand. “You’re okay.”

  “Wh-what happened?” Alden asked groggily.

  “There will be plenty of time for that. For now I just need you to rest. Would you like anything?”

  Alden’s mouth felt dry. It was hard to swallow. “Water.”

  “Of course.” Father McKinley went to a small sink and filled a glass. He held it to Alden’s lips.

  Alden couldn’t move and was forced to take advantage of the priest’s kindness. He sipped the water. “What’s going on?”

  Father McKinley ignored him and continued to hold the glass. Alden took another drink. The door in the back of the room opened. The doctor walked in, followed by several attendants who hung back against the wall taking notes. They were studying him. Where was he?

  “Everything will be okay.” The doctor moved towards his bedside. She was wearing Council military fatigues, although she had a kind, gentle nature about her. “There is no need to be alarmed, it’s important that we keep your heart rate down.” She pulled out a small light and shone it into his eyes. “How do you feel?”

  The memory of the snow and blood flooded back into his consciousness. He could still feel the heat of the bullets as they whizzed past and shredded the trees around him. Daniel had been screaming; there was blood in the snow. “Where is my team, what’s happened!?”

  “There’s no need to get alarmed,” the doctor said. “Let’s just take it easy.”

  “I-I can’t be here. My team, they need me. I have to get out of here!” Alden tried to move but he realized that he was fastened to the bed. “Something’s not right!” Alden screamed and pulled against the restraints.

  “You two, get over here now,” the doctor ordered. One of the lab technicians moved in with a needle, clear liquid dripped from its point.

  Despite the chaos, Alden heard one of the technicians whispering on the other side of the room “It’s happening again, the procedure destroys the mind.”

  How had he heard that? A strap held his left arm down. With every ounce of his energy, he yanked against it. Despite the heavy stitching in the fabric, it tore loose. He swung his free hand at the attendant and sent him crashing to the floor.

  Someone reached out and touched his chest. “Everything is going to be alright, Alden. I’m watching over you. These people are here to help you.”

  He was gasping for breath. Why was he here? Why? At first it
was a flash, then a stream of images and finally he remembered. The snow, the woods, his team, the mission; they had failed.

  There was a tiny pinch in his neck. The doctor was injecting him with something.

  He was just so very tired.

  Sweat ran down his face and into his eyes. He was standing in the zero-grav suit, several stories underneath Traterous, staring at the empty space where one of the tubes had been. Whoever this prisoner was, they’d been taken to the very same place where he’d received his augmentation. The clock in the lower corner of his vision continued to count down.

  Had Thereon seen someone that had gone crazy from the augmentation? Was that the horror he’d witnessed? Were they experimenting on prisoners?

  Once again Alden shook the thoughts from his mind. They were almost out of time; he had to stay focused. The last one was marked Jacob Stone. The faintest lines of his heartbeat appeared on a little digital screen above the tube. So they had been right after all, he was still alive. Alden rushed to the control panel and pressed a series of buttons in rapid succession. The contents of the tube emptied and steam jetted up, obscuring his view. The digital life monitor beat faster and faster until the rhythm matched a living heart. A great hiss of steam escaped the edges of the now-unsealed tomb and the front panel swung wide open.

  A dark-skinned man tumbled out. Alden caught him before he collapsed to the floor. Despite being more than seventy-five years old, Stone didn’t look a day over 40. Before Alden could think of the right thing to say, he was forced to react as a fist sailed at his face. Stone was a large man and could probably break facial bones in a single punch. Alden reacted instantly and, with the aid of the suit, stopped the fist exactly where it was.

  “You bastard,” Stone said through pants for breath. “I’ll kill you for what you’ve done.”

  “General!” Alden commanded. “I’m not here to harm you. I’m here to free you. I’m… I’m with the resistance.”