by S. T. Boston
* * *
Adam glanced around the corner for a second time and eyed the two men on duty outside of the room. He turned to Oriyanna and whispered, “How the heck are we going to play this?” He adjusted his grip on the Glock, his hand feeling clammy and almost as if it were coated in grease, and his shooting arm felt about fifty pounds heavier than the other. He felt sure that as soon as he lifted the weapon to fire it would slide from his hand.
“Leave it to me,” Oriyanna said, sounding unconvincing. Before he had chance to question her further she broke cover, he'd expected her to run, but she didn't. Instead she just sauntered along the corridor, looking as if she should be there. Forcing himself into action he followed.
“We are so lost,” he heard her say, as they closed the gap. “We only arrived a few hours ago and –“
“Stop right where you are!” one of the men shouted, his accent sounded slightly Hispanic. Adam knew the play she was making, hoping to influence one, or both of them, but it wasn't going to work, and she realised it, too. In a flash she whipped up the Arkkadian weapon and fired. With his view ever so slightly obscured Adam watched as the guy who'd issued the command convulse as if he were having a seizure, the sight caught his partner off guard and kicked Adam into action. He sidestepped Oriyanna and levelled the Glock, discharging two rounds. He had never been the best of marksman but one round hit the guy square in the torso. The recoil from the weapon made his hand sting as if he'd just whacked it against a wall. As the guard doubled over, Oriyanna discharged her weapon at him. His whole body looked as if it had been hit by lightning, and this time Adam saw it all. Bright green flashes of what he guessed were some kind of electricity raked over his body, causing him to stand bolt upright, his face contorted for a second as his hair began to smoulder, less than a second later he hit the deck, dead.
Wasting no time they stepped over the bodies, Oriyanna placed her hand into another recess, which Adam had now figured was what equated to a door handle on this ship, causing it to slide open.
* * *
Despite the graveness of the situation, Sam was knackered and with nothing else to do, apart from worry and run through a never-ending list of what-ifs, he felt himself begin to drift off to sleep. His mind had been locked in a torturous quandary of unanswered questions. Was Lucie really pregnant? Why the hell did they know, and he didn't? In his semi-awake state he heard a female voice outside of the room and thought nothing more of it, dismissing it as if it were part of a dream that was waiting to guide him to the land of nod. The second voice, much louder, then screamed, “Stop right where you are!” It chased away his on-coming sleep in a flash. Following the command he heard two deafening shots ring out, someone had discharged a firearm. The next few seconds seemed to pass like minutes. In that time Sam bolted from the bed and stood in a ready position by the door. The idea of rescue flashed though his head but he quashed it as quickly as it came, fearing he was setting himself up for a fall. As the door slid open he had to do a double take at the sight of Adam and Oriyanna as they rushed into the room; both had their weapons out, ready.
“Don't fucking shoot me!” he shouted, half joking and half serious. He knew only too well how trigger happy even the most well trained soldier could be under pressure, and although he'd trust Adam with his life, he was far from well trained in the combat field.
Adam lowered the gun and embraced Sam, almost choking the air out of his lungs and causing him to wince at the pain from his shoulder. “Glad to see you too, bud,” he half laughed. “You saving my butt, now that's one to remember.”
Adam broke the bear hug and said, “A wise crack, well, that shows that you are more than alright.”
Sam smiled at him and said, “How the hell …”
“We don't have time now,” Oriyanna cut in, sliding the handheld from her belt and checking the display. “We have less than twelve minutes before the first return hub opens.”
“Return hub?” Sam questioned in confusion.
“Later,” Adam urged, we need to move.
“You don't have to ask me twice,” beamed Sam. “Just one question, Lucie?”
She is fine, safe and back in good old Blighty,” Adam replied. Before he had time to question him about the baby Adam said, “Thought you might want to use this,” and slid the second Glock from his waistband. Sam took the gun and gave it a very quick onceover. At the door he watched Oriyanna operate the bizarre opening mechanism. The door slid open only to reveal three armed figures on the other side, their weapons raised and ready to fire.
* * *
“Well, isn't this just nice and convenient,” Namtar snarled as he bore his gun down on Sam Becker. The surprise on the faces of the trio had been nothing short of priceless. “Just when I was beginning to think that we'd only have the pleasure of Sam's company for the big show, you two just literally fall into our laps.”
“How's the eye?” grinned Sam as he saw Croaker stood by his side. The other guy in the group was a new player to the equation. He stood almost as tall as Namtar and his stature was as equally impressive. His black tee-shirt looked to be a size too small and highlighted the bulging muscles beneath. His sandy blonde hair was close the same shade as Sam's, but that's where the similarities ended. Next to the two giants, Croaker looked almost weedy. All three were toting lethal looking Diablo tactical handguns.
“I'd shoot you dead here and now if I could,” Croaker snapped. “Now if you'd please lay down your weapons, that'd be appreciated.”
Sam lowered the gun reluctantly, motioning for Adam and Oriyanna to do the same.
“There is a certain someone on the bridge that would just love to make your acquaintance,” Namtar grinned, looking at Adam. “And it's been many years since you two last met,” he added, switching his attention to Oriyanna as she placed her weapon on the floor. “Now kick them toward me,” he ordered. They all did as instructed and watched helplessly as he collected them up, he stopped to admire the Arkkadian gun. “Isn't this a little against your code?” he said, turning it over in his hand. “Alien tech on Earth, tut-tut!”
“If you'd care to hand it back I'll demonstrate the latest in our weapons developments,” she said in a low voice. “Not even The Gift can save you against this.”
Namtar smiled, “You might want to ask Sam all about The Gift, when you get a chance, let's just say the pair of you might want to offer yourself up first for a bullet. Now let's get moving.”
* * *
“Excellent news,” Asmodeous beamed as Namtar reported in on the ship's com system that he had both Adam Fisher and Oriyanna in custody and on the way to the bridge. He turned to Hawker who was eyeing him warily from the seat of the control console he was working at. “Please excuse my previous outburst,” he said, patting his shoulder. “It was inexcusable.”
“Don't mention it,” grunted Hawker.
“Now let's see if we have any other gate-crashers. If you'd be good enough to call up the life support systems. It might help us flush out any more rats.
* * *
From the mirror of the main control panel, Taulass watched as the operator called up the life support system and ran a scan. Just seconds before he'd successfully managed to shut down the censors that would have given his position away. If the user looked hard enough he'd easily see that this particular part of the system was not functioning, but if, as he hoped, he carried out a quick scan then he'd be in the clear.
From the bowels of the ship he watched as the screen came to life, reporting back just eleven crew, including Adam, Sam and Oriyanna. With baited breath he waited, almost not wanting to see if the operator delved meticulously deeper into the system. After a few tense seconds the screen swapped back to Enola, who was still busy doing her thing.
Moments before he'd watched the two green dots outside of Sam's room blink out of existence, foolishly he'd allowed himself a moment of hope, thinking that they'd have time to get clear before the other three dots, which were heading relentlessly toward t
heir position, actually arrived. Much to his dismay the trio had stalled, likely caught up with each other in some rapid question and answer session. It had just been long enough to ensure their capture. So pent up had his anxiety been that he'd had to reel himself in from screaming pointlessly at the screen, like a sports fan trying to encourage his team into scoring from the comfort of his sofa. It was torturous to watch. There were just seven minutes now until he had Enola in his possession and he was fast coming to terms with the fact that he'd be heading back to Niribus on his own.
* * *
Oriyanna stood silently in the elevator as it sped them up the one deck and toward the bridge approach passage. The two guys with Namtar were Earth-Breed, of that she was almost certain, which meant there was a possibility that she could use one, if not both of them to her advantage. It was a tall ask, and a mind control task the likes of which she'd never attempted. The taller of the two males glanced at her, the way she knew men often regarded women on Earth. Instead of shunning his look she met his eyes and smiled. Liam Granger, that was his name, she didn't know how she knew, she just did. Liam held her gaze, and by this point he could do nothing other than look at her, for she had him. Now was not the time to push herself, for she'd need all the energy she could muster when that time came. Instead she looked away, allowing him his thoughts back.
* * *
Adam felt sick, his legs had all the feeling of two lumps of dead meat, yet still they carried him forward as if operating on their own agenda. The walk from the elevator to the bridge seemed miles. His mind wandered to his sister, who was no doubt watching the timer tick down on the display back aboard Niribus, hoping foolishly that when the time came all of them would appear, slapping each other's backs triumphantly. It was a nice thought, but it was a fool's thought.
Adam had managed to work out that at least two of the group had been responsible for Sam's capture. One he was certain was an Elder, the other guy, who wore a badly fashioned bandage over his right eye was Earth-Breed, because if he wasn't he would have healed by now. He hadn't had time to question Sam about what the Elder had said, about him not being able to take a bullet. Just what had they done to him during the trip to Nazca? Had he really been stripped of The Gift? He also had a strange mark on his forehead that he'd not yet had time to ask him about.
Like a group being led to their execution, and that is exactly how it felt to Adam, they arrived at the main door to the bridge. The guy with the one eye pulled him out of the way roughly and used the recess to open the door. The bridge of Arkus 2 was vast compared to that of Niribus'. Instead of the three main control chairs it had a bank of ten. Only two were occupied, though. It was an odd scene, whilst completely alien the figure sat at the largest chair wore a dark brown hooded top, jeans and a pair of Nike trainers. He was a man, no older than thirty eight, the kind you'd pass in the street and not look twice at. For some reason it was the trainers that particularly stuck into Adam's mind, they just looked the most out of place. Next to him, at a slightly smaller console was a second male, he was of similar age, maybe a little younger, but wore thick rimmed black glasses. His clothing, also unusually casual, seemed to hang off his scrawny body. If this guy had ever gone to school he would have definitely been in the chess club.
The vastness of the room seemed amplified by the lack of crew. On a plinth, behind them, and closer to the door stood a third male. He was smartly dressed, his suit looked expensive, and his shoes were so well polished they might as well have been patent leather. His blonde hair, although wavy in a slightly messy manner, seemed to fit his attire. As Adam looked into his strange amber eyes he felt an icy hand clench his heart. He didn't need any introduction, he knew instantly who he was. The thing that really struck him was how young he looked, late twenties at most.
He watched a warm, almost welcoming smile form on his lips, “Adam Fisher,” he announced in a loud voice, his eyes glinting charismatically. “It really is a pleasure.” He almost bound over to him, took his hand and pumped it furiously up and down a few times, like an overly familiar game show host. His hand was as cold as ice. “You know I was so disappointed that my friend here,” he gestured to the one that Adam had pegged as an Elder, “didn't manage to bring you back with, Sam.” The grin faded and turned a little reptilian, cold and not as welcoming as it had been. “But I shouldn't have been such a pessimist, because your own stupid fucking tenacity, and inability to leave things alone meant you made it here all on your very own.” He turned and looked at Oriyanna, “Well, with a little help from your friends, I mean credit where credit is due, right?” He glanced from Adam to Sam and then back to Oriyanna, as if he expected one of them to answer. “But something is bugging me.” His eyes fixed back on Adam, he felt them boring into his soul. “Why would you two lovebirds run a suicide mission to rescue good old Sam here? Something tells me that you know just what we are doing, and if that is the case what would be the point of saving him if the rest of the world is about to go to hell in a hand basket? I'll tell you why, because this is just one half of your plan. Although I would like to point out that we are merely minutes away now from all systems go and far too late for any heroics, but still, please, humour me? “Adam watched him stride briskly over to the guy with the bandaged eye and snatch his handgun away. “So, either you tell me right now, or I shoot her in the head!” He thrust the gun against Oriyanna's temple.
* * *
Asmodeous' speech was nothing more than a distant voice to Oriyanna, a little like when you can hear two people in a nearby room talking, you can distinguish the voices but not what is being said. With Asmodeous taking centre stage, no one had really noticed the vacant look on her face, nor had they noticed the vacant look on the face of Liam Granger. With every passing second she could feel her strength subsiding, the task was going to take all of her energy.
Getting into his head had been easy, for as soon as he'd had a chance he'd given her another one of those looks, and as before she'd accepted it, snaring him like a spider in its web. She didn't know how Enola worked, but she was certain that the two Earth-Breeds sat at the control console were the ones running it, sure Asmodeous was calling the shots but he wasn't the brains behind the program.
'All you need to do, Liam, is raise your gun and shoot the man at the main console, once you have done that, shoot his friend, then if you are still alive shoot Asmodeous,' she said in his head. 'It's alright for you to do this, for this is your destiny. You want to fulfil your destiny, don't you, Liam?'
Through the conflicting white noise in his head she felt him say 'Yes,' but his own thoughts and subconscious were still getting in the way, screaming at him to ignore her pleas.
'Then what is stopping you? Just raise the gun and shoot, the gun was built to shoot, that is the gun's destiny, just as your destiny is to pull the trigger. Don't deny yourself that, Liam. Time is short, shoot, Liam, shoot the gun.' Oriyanna was so far gone that she didn't even register Asmodeous as he thrust the Diablo against her temple.
'Liam, time is short, you know this is the right thing to do, shoot the gun, Liam, shoot it NOW!'
* * *
Adam knew he couldn't tell Asmodeous, despite the gun that was now aimed point blank at Oriyanna, he knew that the task in hand was greater than their own lives, still it ate at him like a rabid animal, and every fibre of his being wanted to scream, There is another, he is copying your fucking program now, and he is going to stop you, no matter what happens to us. Somehow he bit back his tongue, and held it in. He looked into Oriyanna's eyes, and that's when he noticed that whilst she was there in body, her mind may as well have been on another planet. Before he had chance to question it one of the team who'd confronted them in Sam's room, the largest of the ones he'd pegged as Earth-Breed, whipped his handgun up and shot the guy in the brown hooded top through the back of the head. In a flash he dispatched the second male with the same finesse, his goofy glasses tumbling from his ruined face. The cubed console to their front became splattered in
a grotesque mixture of blood and brain tissue, breaking the projection up into a series of crazy lines, which made the image look like a broken barcode. Pirouetting on his left leg he span toward Asmodeous, but Asmodeous was faster. The gun whipped away from Oriyanna's head and fired, it obliterated the left hand side of this face, he swayed on the spot for the briefest of seconds, what was left of his face looking confused, before his legs collapsed and he hit the floor. A split second later Oriyanna went down, blood flowing from both of her nostrils. Sam, who was well trained to act in such situations threw himself into Namtar, who had a look of total confusion on his face. Adam felt the weight of Asmodeous' gun as the muzzle bore down on him, before he had chance to react the lights went out.
Chapter 37
Despite the ventilation and air-conditioning systems that were humming away to themselves in the background, the PEOC had a smell of perspiration, mixed with an air of tension. America's nuclear launch capability had been live for just over an hour, and not to anyone's surprise it had shown no signs of malfunction or hacking.
President Hill was now more than certain that the Dae Wonsu had lied, which made the task in hand all the more critical. Since the call from North Korea they had been able to offer up no further evidence to back up their claims that their systems had been overridden and controlled by some unknown third party, other than the rather questionable video feed. The decisions that now needed to be made on how best to deal with such an unprovoked and heinous act against humanity could not be made lightly.
