Dasslak hurried towards the girl; he took her by the handcuffs behind her with his left hand, and with the right he drew one of his revolvers, getting ready to shoot whatever crossed in front of them.
“What are you planning? Is someone coming for you?” he asked in Cora’s ear.
“Nobody’s coming for me, Vaquero,” whispered the girl.
“I’m going to kill you right here, girl,” declared the assassin, in a terrifying tone.
Before the girl could beg for her life, a voice interrupted from the other side of the building:
“I’m not looking for trouble, my sir... I will take you in front of The Augur,” said the voice, in an accent that the girl recognised.
“Show yourself!” responded the assassin.
The man began to walk from the front door to the room that Dasslak and Cora were in. The girl, although nervous, smiled in excitement. She felt the assassin’s quiet breathing a few centimetres from her own. That legendary man seemed incapable of feeling fear. He was ready to kill her and whoever it was who was coming from the other side. When the man was near the door, he spoke again.
“I’m going to lean in, my sir.”
“Slowly,” ordered Dasslak.
It was the man with blue skin and no hair. He was dressed in long coffee-coloured clothes that flowed when he walked. It was the same man that had brought Cora in front of The Augur.
“That’s the blue guy, Vaquero,” said the girl.
“I can see that.”
“Greetings, my sir. My name is Vhemm,” he said to him, and took a bow. “The Augur is waiting for you. Would you be able to follow me?”
“Do you know this woman?”
“Yes, my sir. She was chosen by The Augur to guide you here.”
“What?” asked the assassin, amazed. “Why?”
“I would like to be able tell you, my sir,” replied the peculiar man, “but it is impossible to understand the mind of my master The Augur.”
“Why would The Augur be wanting to guide me here?”
“Who knows, my sir! I merely obey.”
“What happened in this place? Why is there nobody here?”
“Somebody wants to hurt my master The Augur. We must be cautious.”
Dasslak pushed the woman gently forwards and put away his revolver.
“Let’s go, then,” he said.
The blue man turned around and began to lead them. The assassin went behind the girl, close enough to catch her if she tried to escape. They left the place, and began to walk.
After a short while, they went into the city, leaving the market behind. They walked through narrow streets. It was almost a labyrinth, with alleys going off in all directions.
“Why are we going in circles?” asked the assassin, after a few minutes of walking. Cora looked surprised, she did not appear to have realised.
“There is always somebody following, my sir. It is necessary for me to make sure of losing them.”
“Losing who?”
“That is not important, my sir. Soon you will be able to see The Augur.”
“Perhaps you want to lose your life?” said the assassin, as he looked all around, trying to find the supposed pursuers.
“Patience, my sir.”
Before Dasslak could retort, the man crossed through a door that the assassin had not noticed before, to one side of the street.
“Quickly, through here,” said Vhemm. Cora, waiting for her orders, looked at Dasslak, who despite being mistrusting, had no choice but to continue. He pushed the girl, and followed her inside. Once they were in, the door was closed and everything was filled with darkness, until some torches, positioned one after the other along the walls, turned on, revealing a long passageway to some steps that lead down several metres.
“It is through here,” said the man.
The girl was on the point of falling down the steps a couple of times, were it not for the intervention of the assassin, who caught her before she could go cascading down.
“You’re very careless. A convergence shouldn’t trip over, ever. Not even in the dark,” Dasslak said to her.
When the steps finished, they reached a larger and better-lit room.
“How much longer is there to go?” asked the assassin, who did not lower his guard, suspecting that everything could be an ambush.
“It’s there up ahead, my sir.”
The room continued to an arched entrance. When they crossed it, they reached a round hall, of some thirty metres in diameter. Above their heads, there was a large ventilation system. It was a fan that turned slowly, producing a faint sound. Along the wall there were sufficient torches to perfectly light the place. Just in front of the entrance, at the back, a stone platform rose up half a metre high above floor level, with some steps forming a circle of some five metres in diameter.
“The room is empty,” said the girl.
“There’s nobody here,” said the annoyed assassin to Vhemm. “Where is The Augur?”
“Here, my sir.”
Cora and Dasslak cast their eyes over the entire room without finding anyone. They looked behind to make sure, but they did not see The Augur there either.
“I swear I’m going to kill you,” the assassin sentenced Vhemm, after feeling tricked.
“He is here,” insisted the blue man.
“Uy!” was heard. A sound of surprise coming from Cora caught the assassin’s attention.
“What is it?” asked Dasslak, addressing the girl.
“There at the front... there he is, Vaquero,” said Cora, fascinated.
Dasslak quickly looked towards the platform, which up until a moment ago was empty, and he saw him. He was a tall man, old and thin. He was wearing a shirt with several holes through which one could see his malnourished figure. He had on a pair of trousers cut below the knee, and fitted to his waist by a piece of cord. His long black hair, fairly dishevelled, reached halfway down his back. His eyes seemed to dance in the space, as if they were an illusion.
To the astonishment of both, the mysterious man began to laugh. A few seconds later, he stopped. With a hoarse voice, The Augur spoke at last:
“Now I understand it. Twenty years ago I predicted some radical changes. Perhaps I could finally understand it all. And now that you’re in front of me, I do. The cause of all the anomalies... was you, Assassin.”
The Augur was a mysterious man. A peculiarity of the universe. The assassin had heard it countless times. Nothing of what that man was saying made sense. It had taken him a long time, but at last he had found him.
Chapter XV
Guilty
Senlar’s blood was spilling out in floods in spite of Denn’s attempts to stop it. As he watched his friend die, the shadow of culpability took over his senses.
In the midst of his desperation, he took off his shirt in order to put it on Senlar’s neck, trying to contain the haemorrhage.
“It’s a bit late for that, Bornew.” It was Neil who was speaking. He was watching the scene with satisfaction.
In his attempt to help Senlar, Denn had forgotten about Neil, who was still there. He immediately took the knife, which was on the floor by his side, and raised it, lunging at him, trying to stab him in the neck, but it was impossible for him to hit his target; his opponent was very quick. Denn attempted a second attack, failing again. This time, Neil hit him hard in the face, throwing him to the floor, one metre away from the dying Senlar.
The evil man walked towards the door and opened it, revealing the chaos that was breaking out outside. The screams and the destruction were evident to Denn, and it was only just beginning.
“Bornew has killed Senlar!” cried Neil from the door, and he walked outside, becoming lost from Denn’s sight, who was still on the floor, somewhat stunned.
Denn looked back at his friend; he dragged himself towards him and placed his hands on the shirt he had put on his neck, but his attempts to help were useless; the blood flowed without respite, staining the entire floor.<
br />
“Fight it, my friend, please,” he said to him. It was useless; a few seconds later, Senlar was dead.
Denn was in shock; he was not able to accept anything of what was happening.
“No! Senlar! Please!” he called out, devastated, crying uncontrollably. He was there for a few seconds, trying to revive his friend, almost on the verge of fainting from the distress.
He stood up shakily, covered in blood, with the certainty of being trapped in a horrendous illusion. He walked towards the door, and was able to stare in full clarity at the chilling image, on top of which were added the cries of the people, who were running from one side the other, trying to escape the enormous beasts that were destroying the place.
He left the Surveillance Centre, still incredulous, and saw one of the beasts right in front of him: it destroyed a person in its jaws, tearing them asunder as if they were made of paper.
“This is a nightmare,” he said, sure that soon he would wake up.
C0-UN1 came running up to him, taking him by his shoulders.
“Denn!” he shouted, and shook him brusquely. “Are you all right? Denn!” the robot insisted, but it did not seem to work. Denn had become completely alienated.
“Denn, answer me! Where are Qein and Dani?”
Those names brought him back to reality. He reacted immediately, looking at the robot in fear.
"I don't know... Run!" replied Denn. C0-UN1 went off straight away in search of their friends.
The reality was now evident to Denn; he had to do something. He rushed inside the surveillance centre. He knew that there were some weapons there. He took one, and went back outside.
He began to run through the fort with the intention of helping anybody who was in danger. The shots and the screams that could be heard were causing torment for him, whilst the terrible roars of the enormous beasts only enraged him. As he advanced, he encountered the bodies of the people with whom he had lived for so long. It was a tragedy; many were already dead.
The structures, which had taken them so much arduous effort to put up, were now in ruins. The night bore witness to the tragedy. The beasts destroyed everything in their path, in the midst of fire and death.
Denn continued on his way to the dining hall where, he supposed, would be found the majority of people at this moment. The seemingly eternal fight for survival, of barely a few minutes, was about to end. The roars of the beasts were silenced by the soldiers, who were beginning to take control. Unfortunately, an incredible amount had been lost.
When Denn reached the dining hall, he discovered the worst of the scenes in all the fort: people who were mutilated, crippled by pain; people who are holding their lifeless loved ones, crying in desperation.
In a corner, he could see C0-UN1 together with Qein. The boy appeared to be unhurt, but he was crying inconsolably, a sight which shook Denn to his core. He ran towards them, fearing the worst, and when he arrived, he found it. On the floor was Dani, lying on her back, covered with blood.
The girl was alive, but she was breathing slowly, and with difficulty. Her state was deplorable; one of the beasts had delivered a mortal blow. The wound in her abdomen was horrifying. Those beautiful green eyes that Denn liked so much were now looking opaque and lifeless. She was at death's door.
Denn was dumbstruck. With his face bathed in tears, he threw himself to the floor to try and help the girl.
"Dani! Fight it, please... Dani...! C0, fetch help! Help, please...!" he cried in desperation.
The girl’s breathing was becoming ever slower. She did not say anything. She did not look anywhere. She was on the verge of dying. Dani breathed deeply, and then breathed out. She would never do so again. Her life had ended.
Denn remained beside her, looking incredulous. Qein, without understanding what was happening, exclaimed: "Dani?" But there was no response.
"Dani!" cried Denn with all his strength. "Wake up, Dani, please!"
"She has... gone," the robot said to him, taking him by the shoulder.
"Let me go, C0, I have to help her...! Dani! Wake up, please!"
Denn was driven to despair trying the impossible, but he only succeeded in upsetting Qein even more, who was crying in anguish at the loss of his sister. Although he kicked and fought to break free, C0-UN1 took the boy, putting him over his shoulder to taking away from there.
The robot returned to Denn, who insisted.
“Dani is dead, Denn, stop."
"No! Dani! Dani...! I’m sorry, Dani! Please wake up.”
There was no time to do anything else. That tragedy was not the only one; within the entire fort, there reigned destruction and death, and on top of it all, Neil was approaching with several soldiers by his side.
“Capture him!” he said to the men, who rushed to obey the order.
Denn turned around at the sound of that voice. Upon looking at Neil, he felt an uncontrollable fury. He immediately launched himself at him with the intention of killing him.
Before he could reach him, one of the soldiers shot him with a stun weapon. A moment later, another solder hit him with the butt of his weapon. It was enough to render him unconscious. C0-UN1 tried to help him, but the soldiers shot him at the same time, again and again. One of them placed some handcuffs on the robot’s wrists and legs, rendering him immobile. They had both been captured.
The horrible destruction had been the scene of Neil’s ruthless plan to rid himself of Senlar and Denn.
The day arrived, and Denn recovered consciousness. He was sitting in a chair, in a fair amount of pain, fighting to remember anything. He tried to move, but he was cuffed to the seat. He noticed immediately that his eye device was not working; they had removed the wristband that it connected to. He looked down, and saw how his seat, to which he was cuffed, was screwed tightly to the wooden floor. There was no way he could break free.
To his side was C0-UN1, equally cuffed to a chair.
"I was afraid you weren't going to wake up," said the robot.
"What happened, C0?"
"They've captured us. They're blaming us for what happened yesterday."
What happened yesterday?, he asked himself, confused. At that moment, clarity returned to Denn. He now remembered perfectly what had happened. A tear ran down his cheek as he thought about his friends.
"Senlar and Dani are dead..." he said, crying.
C0-UN1 was feeling the same sadness as Denn, but unlike him, he was not able to cry in order to vent his feelings. He remained silent.
"In reality, it’s my fault, C0. None of this would ever have happened if I hadn’t taken the station. Now I’ve even got you into trouble.”
“What happened yesterday, Denn?”
“That bastard Neil... He let the beasts in.”
“But why?”
“He’s insane! His plan was to cause a tragedy in the fort in order to blame it on me... He’s going to use the hijacking of the station to pit everyone against me...”
“We must tell them the truth, they will understand."
"And you think they’re going to listen to me? When Neil tells them it was me who hijacked the station, they're all going to wish to see me dead."
"You have to try it. They will believe us."
"It isn't that easy, C0, they don't have that ability that you have to know whether someone is telling the truth or not. Neil must have told them his lies by now. Perhaps it's already too late for me."
"Then... What are you going to do, Denn? Give up? All this was for nothing?"
"It seems that... everything was in vain. I was an idiot for thinking I would be able to change anything. The only thing I achieved was all those people dying. I'm nothing more than a criminal."
"Things got out of control, but I know you didn't wish it. I still don't fully understand what you did, but I know that this is not the end."
"What are you talking about?" asked Denn.
"This is not the end, Denn... You have to tell the people what Neil did. If you don't, he will hurt more
people."
"You don't understand anything, C0. Everything is already lost. There's no way to put this right. Senlar and Dani were very precious to me. There gone because of me. You'll never understand what it feels like. All those people, the captain and the others, they’ve all paid for my fantasy. I would like you to be able to feel what I'm feeling, only that way..."
"Enough!” interrupted the robot. “Do you believe I don’t feel sadness? Dani and Qein treated me like a brother. Now Dani is dead and Qein is devastated. Don’t tell me I don’t know how it feels, Denn. I can’t even express my feelings. I will not accept that all of this pain I feel is for nothing. If your actions allowed this to happen, then now it is your responsibility to sort it out.”
Denn was speechless; C0-UN1 was going through the same thing as him. All the sacrifices of those good people could not be in vain. He must not give up now, not after everything that had happened.
“C0... I’m sorry, you’re right; Neil must be stopped... If only there was something we could do.”
“You must tell the truth.”
“That is if they give me the opportunity... Now I know what Neil is capable of. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes in through that door at any moment to kill me.”
“I will not allow it, Denn. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not afraid of dying, C0... I’m already dead... I died last night along with our friends.”
The room was in silence for a long time. Denn remained with his eyes closed, sitting in the seat, waiting. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and two soldiers came in. It was obvious from their demeanour that they felt a profound rancour towards Denn.
One of the men released the cuffs in order to free him from the chair, whilst the other aimed at him with a weapon. After putting the handcuffs back onto his wrists, the soldier pushed him so he would walk. ‘Let’s go!’ he told him. Denn looked at C0-UN1, as if to say goodbye, and one moment later, he left the room along with his escorts.
Convergence: Genesis Page 21
