"Good. Call in after you're done."
Jarred leads her over to an ordinary-looking brick wall, but when he taps on it, it sounds hollow. "This is it. Be ready for anything. People don't have false walls unless they have something to hide."
"What kind of things have you found behind false walls?" Katarina asks.
"Bones, frozen bodies, a severed foot, and a really pissed off purple butterfly."
"Blice? Why was he behind a wall?"
"Because he was being a pain so I stole him and locked him behind one in Zach's lab one night. Isidore was freaking out, but it was worth it. You were asleep and missed the fun."
"I'm sure."
Jarred slides open the false wall to reveal a steeply descending metal staircase. He grins and bows. "Ladies first."
"Gee, thanks. You're such a gentleman, Jarred."
He follows her into the darkness. "I try. Jayce says my charm is irresistible. Is it working on you?"
"Nope. You're not my type."
"So which one is your type?" Jarred asks. "The man over twice your age who slept with your mother, the psychopath who killed his brother when he was a kid then tried to kill you, or the flying robot who murdered millions of people and caused two apocalypses?"
Her tolerance for Jarred's insulting humor is running out quickly. "Just stop talking."
"Am I getting on your nerves? I'm not a woman, but your choices in men are a bit . . . lacking in judgment."
Without thinking, Katarina unleashes a barrage of verbal daggers into him. "My bad. Next time I'll wait for a mentally unstable French boy with an unhealthy need for control that I can make my personal sex slave then pretend to love him and parade around after getting married to make everyone else stop what they are doing and risk their lives to save him. Then I'll realize years later that all of my bitching about people not accepting my sexuality stems back to my father who beat me. That's the real reason he has control, because in order for me to feel loved, I have to be dominated like my father did to me. Oh, we would have the best marriage, founded on killing people for money and unresolved daddy issues. While I'm at it, I'll work out all the time to make myself look as masculine as I can just to cover up the uncertainty and weakness lurking below the surface of my truly feminine hormonal bullshit."
Jarred doesn't say a word as he pushes past her and continues down the seemingly unending stairs.
18
They continue walking in silence down the long flight of stairs towards the end where they can now see white light flickering against the concrete walls. Neither one of them has said anything to the other since Katarina's slip up. It's not like Jarred to ignore her. Then again, it's not like Katarina to insult him so bluntly and viciously. What came over her to make her say things like that? While some of it might be true, she twisted it in the worst way possible just to hurt him. Jarred is such a nice guy who doesn't deserve to be insulted and berated like that. Katarina resigns to apologize. "I'm sorry."
At first, Jarred only continues walking, but then his voice is abnormally hushed and quiet as he speaks. "You can say whatever you want about me, but Jayce never did anything to hurt you. Why do you think you can say those things about him?"
"I said I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that."
"Well, you were right about one thing. I shouldn't have dragged everyone else into this. They don't need to risk their lives for Jayce. So, I have to know. Is that how you truly feel about me? You think I'm that horrible of a person?"
"No. I was angry." Katarina says.
"Tell me the truth. Have I done anything to make you hate me? I have been providing everything for you, giving you everything you need, and protecting you. I trained you to shoot and all about the work we do. I've been here for you through everything. Now you decide to metaphorically cut my balls off and burn them."
"Now you're overreacting."
Jarred scoffs. "I mean it, Kat. Damn. You know where to aim to make it hurt, don't you?"
"Are you mad at me?"
He sighs and looks over at her. "No. What I said wasn't exactly friendly either. Why don't we just move past it?"
"Sounds good to me."
Jarred slows his pace to let Katarina catch up to his side. "Kat, are you still concerned about what we did?"
She has to tell him the truth. "Not really. I'm scared of you."
"Oh, no. Maybe I got a bit carried away because of what Zach said to me. That was the first time I've heard things like that directed at me since my father. It just triggered something in me. As bad as this sounds, I didn't see Zach lying there. I saw my father. As clear as day, I was beating up my father, which only made me rage more. I lost all control."
"What if you lose control with me?"
"I won't. I swear it." Jarred says adamantly. "After this is all over, I'll get help. I need some kind of help. I've been having nightmares about things that usually wouldn't bother me. I'll be asleep and I'll see the faces of people I've killed. I'll relive all of the torture I was put through and I'll see Jayce suffering while I am powerless to help him. I won't hurt you. Just like I can't harm Jayce, I can never hurt you. I may be a violent person at times, but not towards the people I love. Jayce will attest to that. I haven't laid a hand on him in anger, not even when he would hit me. I take that back. I tried to punish him once with my belt many years ago, but after I saw him cowering in the corner, I couldn't do it again. That's when Jayce really took control of everything. I lost any desire to give him orders. He acted like it didn't matter, but it mattered to me. I swore that I wouldn't be that kind of owner. Then when we got married, we truly became equals, with Jayce being dominant and protective of me."
Katarina sees the pain written all over his face and the tears swelling in his eyes, even in this dim light. "You're crying."
He wipes his eyes on the sleeve of his coat. "I never used to do that either. What's wrong with me, Kat?"
"The same thing that's wrong with all of us. We want peace. We have to find a way to end this."
Jarred jumps over the last three steps and lands at the end of a hallway. "Hey, get down here. I just found our buddies."
Katarina steps into the hallway where the fluorescent lights flicker in the ceiling. Far down on the other end, Doss, Zerachiel, and Gabriel are sitting behind metal bars in a cell with what appears to be blood smeared along the walls and the floor. She almost doesn't recognize them without their large wings. They're short and jagged as if someone broke their feathers off. It's a sickening sight, really. Despite this, she can't contain her elation as she sees her husband's face.
"Stand back and I'll get this door off." Jarred takes off his coat and rolls up the sleeves of his shirt. He grabs the bars and with a surge of inhuman strength, he bends the iron until it snaps and he tosses it aside.
"Doss!" Katarina runs to him and they embrace.
He kisses her gently and breathes in the scent of her hair. "Shh. You have to stay quiet or they'll come back. I've missed you."
"I missed you too."
Zerachiel groans and holds his neck as he stumbles into the hallway. His eyes are glossy with tears. "Can we go now?"
"What's wrong with him?" Jarred asks.
"They cut him up. I got shocked beyond belief with a stun gun and Gabriel was waterboarded just for the hell of it I guess." Doss turns to Gabriel who is still sitting on the floor and staring at the wall. "You okay, buddy?"
"I don't know." Gabriel mumbles.
"Come on. You can't stay here."
"Why does it matter? Go on without me. I'm useless anyway."
"Sounds like they broke him." Jarred says.
Doss kneels down beside Gabriel and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Gabriel, don't let them win. Break out of this. We don't have much time. They could be coming back any minute. This is our chance to get out."
"I want to stay."
"No. Zodiac. What about Zodiac? You swore that you would protect him. He needs you."
Gabriel clutches Doss's shirt i
n his hands. "For Zodiac."
Doss helps him to his feet and into the hall with the others. "Okay. We should get moving. What's the plan?"
"We're getting you out of here." Jarred says. "Where are Kazimir and Zodiac?"
"Kazimir is being forced to work on the development of a weapon for Clark. He's in a factory about two miles from here."
"And my son?"
Doss looks down at the floor. "Velex didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Velex's voice comes over the speakers. "Guys, you need to get to Kazimir's location immediately. I have reports of a confrontation going on as we speak."
Jarred isn't about to let this go. "Where is my son?"
"Uh . . . we'll discuss that when you get back to the ship."
"No. We're discussing this now. Where is Zodiac?"
"In Paradise. Clark has him."
"So he's using a baby to manipulate us and get us to go down there to our deaths?"
"Exactly." Velex says.
"Is he alive?"
"Zodiac? Almost certainly. Hostages are no good to Clark if they're dead."
"So he takes my husband and my son from me?"
"Jarred . . ."
"I will kill him." Jarred says. "I want to make him pay for all he's taken from me."
"We all do. We've all lost something because of him. We'll get our revenge."
* * *
It's a brutally cold walk across the rocky ground to the factory where Kazimir is being held. They have to avoid crevasses, frozen lakes, and the potential for triggering avalanches as they get higher up the cliffs. The archons are pretty beat up, but they don't complain the entire way. A couple of times, Doss and Gabriel have to help Zerachiel walk by supporting him on their shoulders. He's by far the worst off.
Zerachiel's long white hair is matted with rust-colored blood and dirt. There is a large gash on his collarbone that is bleeding down the front of his brown robe. He keeps making pained moaning noises as he struggles to walk in the deep snow. Jarred even gave him his extra coat in an attempt to keep him warm. It doesn't seem to be working, though. If the archon who claims to not feel any pain when he's focused is in this much agony, the pain must be overwhelming. And this is a man who had a knife blade break off next to his heart and it didn't bother him.
"Just a little ways farther, Zerachiel." Katarina says as she follows their current location on the holographic map from her watch. "We'll get Kazimir out and then get you to the ship where the medics will tend to you."
"I'm okay, really."
"Lying isn't going to do us any good." Jarred says as he reaches out to help Katarina step over a small crevasse.
"Look. Those lights are where we're going. Can you all make it that far?"
"We can try."
* * *
Katarina drops down in the snow and motions for the others to join her. She peeks around the open door in the back of the factory. Jarred joins her on her right side and Doss is on her left. Hiding behind some plastic blue fuel barrels, they have just enough cover to be concealed from the wandering eyes of the guards who are pacing along the second level of the scaffolding surrounding the open floor of the building. Not much is going on, but judging by the nervous tension hanging over the place, something must have occurred recently.
"There he is." Doss says and he motions towards the back of the building where a couple of computers are set up on a cluttered table. Sure enough, Kazimir is busy working on something that Katarina can't tell what it is exactly from here.
"What do we do now?" Jarred asks. "These guards are heavily armored. I don't want to tango with them."
"I think Kazimir is actually chained to that table." Doss says.
Katarina weighs her options before deciding against using her rifle. "I would check, but I don't want my scope to reflect the light and give away our position." She stops talking as the low rumbling of an engine approaches. "Do you hear that?"
"Sounds like a vehicle and it's coming this way." Jarred pushes Katarina back around the corner and the others follow just as a half-track pulls up and stops only feet from where they just were. Hopefully the four Blood Force soldiers exiting the vehicle don't spot the recently disturbed snow and drops of Zerachiel's blood.
Katarina scoots back up to the fuel barrels so she can listen in and watch what is going to happen. The soldiers don't look happy as they walk up to the table where Kazimir is diligently working.
The head soldier unlocks the handcuffs around Kazimir's wrist. "How is your progress coming on the weapon, Dr. Dark?"
Kazimir removes his safety glasses and turns around to face the soldiers. "I can't do it."
"What do you mean? Do you need more materials? We can get anything you need."
"That won't help. I advise you to abandon this project. I will help you work on something else if you wish."
"No. That won't do." The soldier says. "You are the brightest scientist in the Milky Way galaxy and possibly beyond that. We know you can do this. It is a matter of you doing it. Pretending to be under-qualified will get you nowhere but in a heap of pain. So for your best interests, I suggest that you get to work and stop fooling around. You are wasting our time.
"I refuse to build this." Kazimir says. "It's inhumane. Do with me what you will, but I won't be a part of killing innocent people all over the galaxy. This isn't what nanobots were created to do."
"You either comply with our orders, or you will be terminated."
Kazimir looks around at the consoles again and shakes his head. "I can't do it. I just can't morally justify building a weapon of this magnitude. You're right. I'm the only scientist capable of finishing this. If I die, then I will be saving millions of lives in the long run. This weapon doesn't need to exist."
"You are trying our patience, Dr. Dark. We are authorized to force you into compliance."
He holds out his arms. "Then I invite you to do what you must. You can keep me here for years and waste your time, energy, and resources attempting to manipulate me, but I have one secret, gentlemen. I am more stubborn than any of you. So you might as well go ahead and get it over with."
The soldier pushes Kazimir to his knees and places the barrel of his pistol against the back of his head. The shot rings out and Kazimir falls to the floor, but there's no blood. Once the soldiers realize that he's still alive and not bleeding to death, they pick up a saw from the table.
Katarina's stomach turns. "No. They're not going to do what I think they are."
"They are." Doss whispers. "They want his microchip. I can't watch this."
"Do you want me to take the shot?" Katarina asks as she readies her rifle.
Jarred pushes the rifle back down. "It won't do us any good. We're too close and there are too many of them."
Katarina watches in pure horror as the soldiers hold Kazimir down on the floor and the leader twists his hair in one hand then drags the serrated edge of the rusty handsaw across his scalp. The screams are racked with pain as Kazimir pulls against the hands securing there to endure this until he dies. The sound of the saw scraping, ripping, and digging through flesh then bone is repulsive. The only thing worse than the struggling cries of torture is watching it and not being able to stop it. She turns around to see Zerachiel vomiting and weeping.
The head soldier pulls out Kazimir's microchip and kicks over the body. "Burn him. I don't want him having the chance to come back. If he won't cooperate on his own free will, then we'll just upload his mind onto a computer and extract the data and knowledge that way. Good job, men. Let's head out. There's nothing else for us to do here."
* * *
Back on the ship, the atmosphere is heavy with sorrow, loss, and guilt. They don't say much. What is there to say? They all saw it. By now Velex and Apollo know. Katarina sits between her husband and her owner, but even their presence does little to cheer her up. She should have taken the shot. Even if they would have been compromised, she wanted so bad to do something, to do anything. But for ano
ther agonizing time, Katarina was powerless as someone she cared about was slaughtered.
Velex enters the main room where everyone is gathered. "Conference time. Archons, what happened to your wings?"
"They were clipped so we couldn't fly or use our abilities." Doss says. "We've been in that cell the entire time. Some Blood Force agents told us that we were being detained so we couldn't be used as replacements. What were they talking about?"
"For Jayce. They didn't want any of you to be able to take his place down in Paradise for powering the Paradise Awakened Project. But the Nymphs promised to help so we don't have to worry about that anymore."
Apollo sighs and rubs his face with his hand. "I have some bad news from Olympus. Because Kazimir is dead, the Nymphs have declined to help."
"Why this?" Velex asks, obviously growing agitated. "Out of everything that could happen at this point, why did it have to be this?"
Doss sighs. "Jarred . . . I'm sorry."
"Without a volunteer to take Jayce's place, he will die." Velex says.
"I'll do it." Katarina says. "With Kazimir gone, only Velex remains as a friendly T.I.M.E. aside from Jayce and some random people who are probably dead already. If I am a failsafe, maybe it's time to activate me. We can destroy all the T.I.M.E.s. Clark is a T.I.M.E. who needs to die anyway."
Gabriel shakes his head. "But like you said, so is Jayce. If we activate the failsafe, all the T.I.M.E.s die. That doesn't help Jayce."
"Then let me take his place. Turn me into an archon so I can connect to the Paradise network instead. We'll make a deal with Clark. Tell him that I'll take Jayce's place instead of you activating the failsafe."
"No." Doss says as he grabs Katarina's hand. "I won't let you do this."
She pulls away from her husband. "It's not your decision, Doss. I'm doing this for my owner. More than that, I'm doing this for love. Jarred and Jayce need to be together."
"What about us? You're my wife. I need you too. Does our love not count for anything?"
"If I could do it, I would." Gabriel says. "But I bonded with Zodiac so I have to be alive to protect him."
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