by Drew Avera
"Kara, it's Serus, I'm not home right now because I went fishing. I hope to see you soon," hopefully she would understand the message and return to Thom's apartment unscathed. I moved about my apartment and gathered some supplies that I thought would be useful later, extra money, a secondary battery and charger for my gauntlet, and a small bag of clothes including a fresh uniform. I didn't know how long it would be before things returned to normal, or if they ever would. I was hopeful though as I locked up my apartment and stepped out into a mid morning sun that beat down a little warmer than usual this time of year. I decided that the best chance to find Kara was to head back to Thom's.
The walk was long and my heart was full of dread. The programming I had endured during Agency training was driving me nuts. It was as if my mind was tearing down the walls of my humanity brick by brick and it was giving me a headache. I did my best to control my breathing and ease the anxiety that I was feeling. On the outside everything seemed normal, but inside I was full of turmoil.
As I passed Pontiff White's palace I could see businessmen dressed in expensive suits entering in groups of three. I recognized some of the men as retired policemen and assumed that they were attached to a security detail as members of the Syndicate grouped together for a meeting, one that was sure to be about the information Kara shared with me. I continued passed the palace on towards Thom's apartment. I still had another hour of walking before I would arrive and I spent that time routinely checking my communicator for a call from either Thom or Kara. The holographic display was blank each time I checked it.
I found Thom standing next to the water behind his apartment when I arrived. He was still dressed in his uniform despite having the day off. It was typical of us policemen not to have a wardrobe exceeding what was issued to us, plus maybe a business suit for formal affairs. I let out a slight whistle as I walked up behind him and he turned to look at me. He was holding a small screen in his hand and had a look of concern drawn across his face.
"Serus, there is something that you need to see here," he said. I could hear the concern carried in his voice as he swept out his hand and the holographic image spread out over the still water. It was a news program with a headline dictating the failure of our artificial electro-magnetic field. I had wondered why so many in the Syndicate were in Archea, this news must be why.
Thom increased the volume so that I could hear the report. Kara's name was not used, but I knew that the information had to have come from her. The report gave the exact time line of one to one and half years before the magnetic field collapsed. Those words had been used by my sister the night before. My headache increased as my programming battled the next onslaught of fear and dread over my sisters safety.
I pulled out my communicator and dialed her again, several buzzes went unanswered. Frustrated I closed the communicator and shoved it back into my pocket. I felt like hurling it into the water, skipping it like a stone, but I knew that was unwise. I looked up to Thom and saw that he was starring at me.
"It will be fine, Serus," he said as comforting as he could manage. I noticed the attempt, but ignored it. I knew the truth. Even if I could save Kara, time was still running out for the rest of humanity. I felt powerless to do anything to stop it.
The image over the water changed to show an uproar of citizens in the square. They had accumulated in less than an hour and it looked like a growing mob. They were chanting their calls for the Syndicate to do something to save them. I imagined White starring out of his window with disdain covering his pale face while puffing his cigar through clenched teeth. He would be their symbol of hope, but he would sit back to watch all of them die, I was sure of it.
I reached for my communicator again knowing it had not gone off, but compulsion made me look anyway, the screen was still blank. I let out a frustrated sigh when I jammed it back into my pocket. Thom looked at me with the worried look still painted on his face.
"I'm sure that she is alright," he stated.
"Yeah me too, but for how long? Did you know that a large number of board members of the Syndicate have convened at the palace? Surely it has something to do with the failing magnetic field that is all over the news now!" I could feel myself growing more anxious by the second.
"Yeah, I saw the report scrolling at the bottom of the image. It's the largest meeting in fifteen years," Thom said. He looked back down on the image of Archean citizens standing outside the palace crying for their savior, whoever that could be. "Let's go inside and wait for Kara," Thom finished.
I followed him back into his apartment and collapsed onto his couch. I rubbed my eyes and realized just how tired I was. I hadn't slept in more than a day and it was beginning to wear on me. I grabbed a small vial of Serum from my belt and dripped it onto my tongue. It dulled my weariness to the point that I no longer noticed, but it left my mind able to function normally. At one point I had survived over a month without sleep while on Serum, but it can make you go mad if you continue much longer than that.
Thom brought me a drink and sat down across from me. He stayed silent, probably worried about his own family and how they were dealing with the news about the impending doom befalling all of us. It was fine though, the silence helped keep my headache at bay. I closed my eyes for a moment, but they jerked wide open at the knocking sound at Thom's front door. I jumped up and ran over to peer at the security screen to see Kara standing there alone. I jerked the door open and looked into her eyes. It was a moment I had been afraid I would not experience again.
"Kara!" I said as Thom walked up behind me.
"Serus, I think I made a mistake," she said as tears ran from her green eyes. I took her hand and she fell into my arms, worn out from the stress of what she had just been through. I had an uneasy feeling swarm over me, suddenly I noticed a laser sight moving up her back towards my hand. My eyes followed it straight to the gauntlet of another policeman standing across the street. I let out a breath and tensed as I spun around and flung Kara into Thom's arms as I slammed the door shut and locked it. Kara must have been followed and now we were no longer safe here. There would be only one way out now. We would have to fight our way out.
Chapter 6
Kara screamed as four blue lasers cut through the stone wall in front of Thom's apartment. Thom jumped over the couch and flung open the closet door to grab his gauntlet. I looked out of the window and saw three of the policemen scrambling for cover. One of them was hiding behind a vehicle and was within firing range. I fired my gauntlet and hit him in the neck killing him instantly. I had lost sight of the other two policemen so I moved quickly away from the window and joined Kara who was hiding behind the couch.
Thom crouched down beside us and set the controls on his gauntlet. "How many?" He asked while he kept his eyes moving.
"There were four of them that I saw. I took one out, but there could be more," I replied. It was hard to tell how many policemen were out there without a good long look, a risk I wasn‘t willing to take.
"It looks like we're kind of stuck in here. I only have three windows to serve as vantage points. I can cover the bedroom if you can cover in here," he said.
"Sounds good. Lets get this over with and regroup," I said. Kara was crying next to me. I put my hand on her shoulder to try and console her. I didn’t think that it would do much good in the middle of a fight, but I wanted her to know that I was there.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know that they were following me. It's all my fault." The tears ran down her face is streams that smeared her makeup.
"Shh," I tried to quiet her down. "It's alright, you didn't know. You've been under a lot of stress. We will get through this just like before." I moved over to the bay window and peered out. I could see some movement behind a large bush and I took aim. The laser from my gauntlet hit my target and set the dried leaves of the bush ablaze as well. I didn't feel confident that it was a kill shot so I treated it as a living threat and fired again, there was no movement. I kept my eyes moving and scanned
the perimeter for another policeman. I could hear Thom in the next room taking fire and cussing under his breath. I maintained my position for the next several seconds before I decided to join Thom.
I ran into the room with Thom and ducked under the window. The back wall was covered with burnt holes where the lasers had fired at Thom and missed. I could trace the blue beams and calculated where the next policeman was located. I fired in a large sweep and the policeman’s beam went out. It had to be a hit. Was it a kill shot? I didn't know. Thom stood up and fired his gauntlet into the head of a policeman who had crept up less than ten yards away. That was four targets down.
We looked out from the windows, he stayed in the bedroom and I moved into the living room. Neither of us could see any more policemen lurking outside. The bush that was burning on the other side of the yard filled the area with black smoke as the sun began its decent towards the horizon. The days were short this time of year and time was flying by in a blur. It felt like I had lived through a week in the past two days. I was a wreck.
I looked over at Thom, "watch Kara while I go outside and take a look." He nodded at me as I ran out of the apartment to make a quick sweep of the area. I looked behind all of the hiding spots that I could find. All four bodies were sprawled out and lifeless on the ground. Each of the men looked fairly young and were probably some what inexperienced. They had to be rookies. It figured that the Agency would send in the most expendable policemen for a hit like this. These men may have radioed in what was going on and their location before the attack started. If that were true then the Agency would now be aware of Thom's involvement as well as my own from the fight at Kara's home. I made a final sweep of the area and felt it was secure before I returned into the apartment to check on Kara who was still hiding behind the couch.
"Are you alright?" I asked as I checked her over for injuries. Her clothes were torn a little, probably from when I threw her into Thom‘s arms. She was crying and blabbering about it being her fault. I was concerned that she was potentially going through a mental breakdown. The human mind can only take so much. "Look, Kara, you need to stay with me. It will be fine, but you need to calm down. You can't change what has happened, though you do have control of what will happen. Are you with me?" I wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her a hug. I could feel the shaking of her body between sobs begin to slow down. It was a good sign at least. If I could calm her down then we might have a chance of getting out of here.
"Alright," she said as she pulled away from me and started wiping the tears and smeared makeup from her face. "I'm sorry," she said and she started to stand. "I just can't believe this is happening." She stood there shaking from fear in the middle of Thom's apartment, the furniture was strewn throughout the room, holes and cuts were torn through the walls of the apartment. It looked like a war zone, I guess you could call what we were going through a war. It certainly felt like one.
"I know, Kara, but we will get through this together." Thom walked up to us and gave me a nod letting me know that he was ready when we were. "We need to get out of here," I finished. Thom and I escorted Kara out of the apartment. We left our gauntlets armed and ready in case another policeman emerged to perform the hit. I felt better having a friend who cared fight by my side. It helped take some of the edge off.
"I'm pretty sure White was behind this hit," I said to Thom. "The timing was too perfect and he was the only one who knew that I was with her." He was the most likely suspect in a very short list.
"Sounds reasonable. I could see that being the case. I guess now they know that I'm in the fold as well." Thom said with a slight grin. I think he was liking this more than he would like to admit.
"Well I guess you are now at least. We need to find shelter, a place to hide and sleep. We can’t keep Kara out in the open, it’s too dangerous. The only place I can think of to go is to my fathers old apartment. It has been condemned for a few years but it is one place that they may not think to look. It could buy us some time at least." It wasn't a great plan, but I'm mostly an offensive strategist. Trying to play defense in this situation was a weakness that I hoped I would not regret.
"I’m game," Thom replied, he was still along for the ride.
"One more thing," I added. "I need you to keep watch over her. Don't let her out of your sight. I don't think she will bolt on you again, but I don't want to tempt her. I'll relieve you after I share some words with White." I believed that Kara knew the risks now. She was a smart girl, surely she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Thom chuckled under his breath and gave me a pat on the back. "I won't let her out of my sight." That was just what I needed to hear. With that behind us we went to find shelter at the condemned apartment that had belonged to my father. Hopefully it was still somewhat inhabitable. Either way it would be better than parading around in the middle of Archea. Together we walked, keeping a constant eye out for further danger. This wasn’t the kind of quality family time that I would have wanted, but it did feel good spending time with Kara again, despite the circumstances. I put my arm around her as we kept to the side streets, traveling to the last home that I had really known, our father’s apartment.
Chapter 7
Once Kara was settled into the condemned apartment that had belonged to our father I began conjuring up how I was going to approach Pontiff White. My first thought was to try and play it safe, but considering the fact that he already knew that I was involved then I didn't see much point in pulling punches. I sat on the stool next to Thom as he was looking at the latest report to see how things were going after the bomb dropped about how the magnetic field was beginning to fail. According to the report it seemed that the mob was beginning to disperse. It happened quicker than I imagined it would. I supposed that people forgot how to fight when they relied on the Syndicate to take care of them. It was probably better for them to forget.
"I'm heading back to talk to White," I said to Thom as I rose up off the stool.
"Alright, we will stay here until you get back. I'll be honest though, I don't feel that this is the safest place for fugitives," he said as he motioned at the windows that exposed us to the outside world with their lack of curtains. I shook my head in agreement.
"I know, but it's all we have right now." He nodded back as I began to leave. It had been dark for about five hours. Most of the citizens were going to bed about this time, but I was certain that Pontiff White would still be awake and in his office. A certainty that fueled my resolve during the long walk to the palace.
I stayed in the shadows once I approached the palace. I was surprised to see more people in the square than they had shown on Thom's media device. Either the people had returned or the image had been edited to make it seem that things were dying down. I was more than certain that White was still awake when I was able to see him peering out of his window down at the mob of people.
I entered through the same entrance I had used earlier that day. I was no longer drawn in by the beautiful expensive furnishings that surrounded me. I ignored them all as I went to the elevator and was lifted to the floor where White's office was located. The elevator door opened and revealed the pale lit floor that would scan me with each step, transferring my information straight onto White's computer. I didn't care about that as each step I took brightened the hallway. I made large strides to cross the hallway as quickly as possible and stepped into White's office without knocking.
The Pontiff was still standing at the window with his back to me when he spoke, "Serus, I've been waiting for you."
"I'm sure you have," I responded. "There was another hit attempt on Kara tonight. Based on the fact that she was followed instead of immediately being executed upon discovery I figured you were behind the hit."
"You figured correctly," he said as he turned around to face me. The look on his face was not the confident, maniacal look I had seen earlier. "I wasn't left with much choice in the matter. You can see what happened when the news report was released. Mass hysteria tha
t is still going on outside this palace. I have seen reports from other cities that show the same reaction, citizens crying out to the magistrate buildings, looking for a hope that is not there, clinging to their false gods, the Syndicate! That same Syndicate, whose board members were in my office when you arrived earlier today stirring things up. As I said before, I was left with little choice in what I had to do."
I was taken back by his words. Just earlier today he had seemed so deep in their pocket and so very incorruptible that I felt he was indeed their crazy little puppet. This man I was speaking to now was different, almost pathetic in his attempt to woo me with his anti-government slurs.
"You look puzzled, Serus," he said. "Is it really so odd for me to be speaking this way? I'm relatively alone in my office with this madness erupting outside. You and me are the same person. We are the feared pawns of the Syndicate. We are powerless on our own, but we are energized by the very thing that we hate. Victims, you and I are the victims, Serus! Look out there and see what your sister has done and ask me why I had to give the order. I had them follow her to lead them back to you. Had you stayed out of the situation entirely then it is possible your sister would be dead, but the entire world would be ignorant of what is to come. By saving your sister you have damned every single person standing out there. Ignorance is bliss and the sheep have been so full of bliss that it has become sickening!
"I don't blame you for defending Kara. I really don't to be perfectly honest. I'm just not in a situation now to benefit from any direction that this fiasco will go. So I did what I was told to do and ordered the hit. I'll admit that I wasn't surprised that you came out on top, yet again. Trust me when I tell you that it's only a temporary victory."
