by Jack Lance
Bailey typed a command into the computer and then said “There’s your key, comrade! Simply feed your commands through that program. The metal heads will respond.”
Lloyd looked at the screen, then back to Bailey, then beamed “Superlative!”
He clapped and strode around the lab to gather the attention of the others. “Oh my word, you’ve won the day!”
“So, where do I work?” Bailey asked, and the applause stopped.
Barton shrugged and said “It's this way?”
Bailey followed the Beldins and Lloyd onto the elevator again, and Barton handed them all strap-on gas masks. Bailey, not asking anything further grabbed the nozzle of the gasmask in his teeth and tied the ribbons behind his head. Bailey followed them all in affixing his goggles again, and then Barton pressed the button to go down.
The elevator shuddered and then was lowered below the rock bed of the lake. The walls were damp rock and there were some worrying trickles of water in places. The smell was damp and mossy, and then invaded by a fouler smell.
The elevator reached the bottom and Bailey looked around, surveying the broad hall within. There was a thin walkway around a large oval lake of black coloured liquid, that boiled and churned. The smell was terrible, and Barton, realizing that Bailey had failed to affix the nose clip part of his has mask, reached over and did it for him. Bailey nodded and breathed through the nozzle in his mouth.
He followed them around to the opposite side where a thin walkway reached out half a meter or so to a wide oval shed that covered that quarter of the lake. The whole interior of the lake room and the outside of the smaller shed within were all a corrugated plastic, seamless as if constructed for maximum containment.
Barton stepped across a walkway to the door to the room and swiped a blue card in a reader. The door slid aside and Bailey followed as they entered. The door slid shut and they removed their masks and goggles.
“Oh my God! What the fuck?” Bailey cried out. “You could have warned me!”
Barton looked to Cix worriedly and said “This is one of the oil processing plants. It’s the last point of titration in the recycling process. It combines everything from biosphere to human wastes. Not nice, but this room is where you must work from. It’s has the highest level of access.”
“No matter. But still you could have warned me.” Bailey said, surveying the inside of the room.
There were computer panels all along the wall close to the door, and at the other side of the oval interior a small pool of the horrible liquid lapped up on a metal shore. Instruments hung over it that would be dipped down into the lake for testing purposes.
“I take it these computers link to the main robotic communications trunk?” Bailey asked, eyeing Lloyd Oric.
“Yes indeed, my good sir!” he said clapping his hand together. “It’s possible to bounce a signal down through the reprocessing mainframe, into the main trunk, and back up through to the weather testing mainframe.“
Bailey listened then tapped a few commands on the main terminal. One of the screens above suddenly changed its view from the interior of a section of the lake, to a camera looking out over the crater. The camera turned, stopping as it found the radar tower.
“I’m at the site. I’m in. The connection is open.” Bailey muttered, then smiled at the Beldins. “The robots think I’m one of them.”
“Wonderful!” Barton shouted to him.
“I’ll set up the connection to the radar tower. Then when the day comes, we just feed in the command to release a signal to the solar grids. The solar defences will fall and you should be able to pilot a ship out into the galaxy.”
But we won’t do that.
“We… we won’t?” Bailey stammered.
Barton eyed him patiently and said “We will or we won’t?”
“Will.” Bailey chuckled nervously. “It will all be ready to roll out. I’ve done part of it already just opening the connection.”
“We could use a little of your aid on a few more minor problems we’ve encountered.” Lloyd said.
“Well just let us know when it’s all ready.” Barton said as the Beldins walked toward the exit. "Make it as soon as possible, we have news there’s a good storm coming. Good reason for a weather missile run. In truth the other teams are pretty much ready to roll. But take your time. We need this tech stuff done right. It’s the foundation of everything we’re trying to do.”
Cix turned and said “I’ll have Barron come down to the lake room. He can coordinate you on what’s expected of you during the actual break. It will be a little work by each of us, but together, it will be just enough. I’ll tell him to come before end of play this evening.”
Bailey watched as they donned gas mask and goggles, and quickly exited and closed the door behind them.
“How much do you think we can achieve in today’s timeframe?” Lloyd asked.
“What?” Bailey looked at him, squinting.
Bailey and Lloyd worked for a few hours more in the foul smelling place, until they had almost achieved their overall task. It was then Bailey made an excuse that he’d need to rest before completing it and so they returned to the upper lake room for the rest of the day.
Bailey did not truly need to rest however and so was at full energy when he first met Chester Barron.
South Syndicate.
“Good afternoon, Mr Bailey!” Chester Barron strode wide legged down the steps from the elevator to the lake room, and held his huge hand out to Aaron Bailey. “My name is Dr Chester Barron, but you probably know that already.”
“I didn’t know the doctor part.” Bailey smiled and shook his hand.
“Oh yes.” Barron said stepping around him, looking out through each of the walls. “I was a scientist for many years back on the colonies.”
Barron was a huge man, with long, thick dark blonde hair that rested on and off the shoulder. His muscular appearance bulged through his suit and evening jacket almost as if they couldn't quite find a size that properly fit him. He seemed to have a permanent smile burning around the eyes that themselves seemed to be buried within folds of excess muscle. His smile permeated everything he did and said, and he'd win over most people instantly with his force and prowess, but Bailey knew better already.
I've been round and round the block, Bailey.
“You people don’t seem to regard this as being part of those colonies.” Bailey sighed.
“Most people wouldn’t want to. Most people wouldn’t even want to escape.” Barron said sitting down in somebody’s chair. “This is a colony for those exiled from the colonies of Lantis, and a few other alien factions in the empire. You should accept your situation. Even if we do make it out of this solar system, we still won’t be returning to the empire any time soon, and likely not at all.”
“I accept this. I just hope we’re going somewhere we can live half way decent lives.” Bailey said, throwing out a query about other areas of the overall plan.
Barron smiled realizing this and said “Rest assured we will. Part of what you will need to know revolves around the weather rocket that you may or may not have seen during your tour of the hangar district. The weather missile is launched into orbit during particularly heavy storms. We will pick one such storm and hide within the rocket during its flight into space. Once in space it, and other missiles around the crater are collected by the weather station that orbits Narcosia. It is all done robotically and quickly enough for us to commandeer the control deck of the station. It is fortunate for us that the station has a backspace-drive, capable of jumping directly out of the system, to anywhere in the galaxy it has the power to reach, and with a station of that size it should possess quite a lot of power.”
“So this is your plan?” Bailey said.
“Everybody involved will be given a bracelet to wear. When the bracelet turns red you’ll need to leave your station and get to the rocket as quickly as possible. People will be there to help you. But it is important for you, being one of the fol
ks that will be out in the field, that you complete your assignment before leaving. We all succeed or we all fail.”
“I understand completely.” Bailey said dismissively. “I won’t be able to get to the rocket in time from all the way down in the oil room though.”
“Oh really?” Barron sat back crossing his legs, interested by the feedback.
“I’ll have to virus the radar tower and patch into it manually.”
Barron shook his head slightly, confused by the jargon.
“I’ll need to be up there beside the radar tower to hack the solar defences. It’s the only other way. And there’s a robot sentry right beside it to stop people like me doing things like this.”
“I see. Well, this should be taken care of. I can tell you all now that part of the plan is to blow up the robot control antenna for the base. We believe this will sever it from the central intelligence for a few minutes until an override engages. This should disable your sentry long enough for you to hack the grid and get the hell outa there.” Barron thumbed as he said this, and Bailey thought a moment before nodding.
“And you’re sure they won’t attack. You’re sure?” Lloyd asked quite forcefully, apparently worried for Bailey’s safety.
“Sure as eggs.” Barron said standing up, and glanced disdainfully at Lloyd as he passed.
Barron walked back to the elevator and said “That should be everything. We will hand out the bracelets in the next day or so. Wear them at all times, and when the light turns amber you need to get to your positions and wait for the lights to go red. That’s the time when your task must be complete, and to get your ass to the rocket.”
Chester Barron. God has sent me another angel. Only this angel will fall to the earth in flames.
“Then we wait.” Bailey nodded, and Barron nodded back with a mighty smile.
Bailey and the other technicians watched Chester Barron disappear up through the shaft, and then turned to one another closely.
Bailey leant in to hear the chatter.
“So long as we do our very own jobs we can at least cover our own names and reputations should all of this end in collapse.” one of the darker skinned Lantians said, whose ancestors appeared to have come from the North continents.
“I have no concern for my reputation. I have more concern for the repercussions on those caught and sent back. I won’t survive in the shells. Solitary confinement will crush my intellect. I will fade like the setting sun.” another interjected, apparently one of the more classically educated of the high brow technicians.
Bailey interjected “Surely not? What is this talk of collapse and failure? Dr Barron seems confident, does he not? And I’m told he’s had the most experience of any other on the colony of escapes such as this… I know there are rumours…”
“Rumours?” Lloyd smiled to him. “Facts comrade. The Beldins have forgiven him of his sin, but the sin remains.”
“What is it that you know. I have heard many versions of this story.” Bailey lied.
“Only what is said. Barron was second in command of the biggest escape attempt the prison had ever seen. Everything was set to work, until Barron was contacted and bribed by Border-Sec, who we believe were working on behalf of those that live in the Citadels.”
“The ones that aren’t there.” Bailey jibed.
“The Beldins showed you them I’m sure. It pains me to leave the colony in this state. Nothing will change for those we leave behind.” Lloyd hung his head slightly, as if thinking of people or things important to him.
“The plan will work. I am sure of it.” Bailey nodded to them, and pressed with a repressed passion. “I will help you with everything. I will make it work.”
Lloyd chuckled and slapped a hand on Bailey’s arm. “I know you will, comrade. I have every faith in you.”
“We must all believe in one another.” one of the lady technicians said shyly.
“Let’s call that close of play for today. Bailey has worked particularly hard for his first day. I have to inform you all that I was impressed.” Lloyd spoke to the small crowd. “So let’s call it a day, and reconvene tomorrow at…. Eight forty five in the morn.”
They tidied their work areas and went to the elevator. Once in the hexagonal room above, Lloyd stopped Bailey and said “Come with me, Bailey. I’ll drive you home later.”
Bailey looked at the other technicians walking away up the first of the spiralling corridor, and then followed Lloyd back onto the hanging elevator platform.
Lloyd did the same trick with the control box and then pressed the button to go up, taking the elevator adjacent to the tunnel to the outside.
Bailey followed Lloyd through and out into the night. They hid behind the rock ridge and made their way around to the small ledge where the Beldins had taken him earlier that morning. Lloyd sat down on the rock, and lay back looking at the clear night sky.
“Come hither, comrade.” he said in his nerdy way.
Bailey lay beside him and looked up.
Lloyd passed him a small, high fibre confectionary bar. Bailey smiled taking it then took a bite enthusiastically, accidentally biting the side of his tongue as he did, and then cringing against the pain. He was hungry though, and although the sweet bar was tainted by the taste of his own blood he swallowed it anyway. As he did he glanced slightly at the place where he’d seen the revealed citadels earlier, and considered something abstract.
Lloyd sucked in the icy, fresh air and sighed as he watched the perfectly clear sky above.
“Must be the calm before the storm.” Bailey said.
“That’s right. It often happens this way on Narcosia. The night before the storms begin the sky clears completely, and you can see it all. I don’t recognize any of these star patterns, so we must be somewhere far, far away from the colonies. Probably close to the outer rim.”
“That’s a long way home.”
“But we aren’t going home.” Lloyd looked at him. “You can abandon all hope of ever returning. You need real citizenship to live your life in those worlds. They’ll spot a fake eventually, there’s no way to fool them. And even if you could go back would you really want to? I certainly wouldn’t. Anything I called home died long ago. The Eclipse Empire, saw to that, and all the corrupted dynasties within it. Worst by far being Cequodus and the others involved with the Shadow Alliance. Good deeds happen in the light, comrade. Evil in the dark. Choice of symbolism can reveal so much motive in these things.”
“I agree, I guess. And no, I don’t think I have anything to go back to either.” Bailey said truthfully.
“Look up there.” Lloyd pointed with his thin hand at the end of the huge furry coat arm. “See the weather station?”
Bailey looked up, searching the black between the stars. He found it, a close collection of lights like the stars, but with a few slowly flashing red and green lights. And then he saw something else.
“What is that?” Bailey pointed at it.
Lloyd looked, seeing the brightly lit ship a little over toward the horizon.
“It’s big whatever it is.” Lloyd began.
I recognize it.
“Looks like a Shadow Security ship. Sheriff class.” Lloyd said. “Sheriffs hunt down exiles in the empire then bring them back here to the prison. Like glorified bounty hunters I suppose. I don’t know why it’s still here though. They dropped off the last batch of exiles weeks ago. I’ve never seen one stay in orbit when it doesn’t need to. It will be costing money to keep it there after all.”
I know who it is. I met them on the colonies. They beat me.
“What species are the Sheriffs? Are they from Lantis like us?”
They weren’t Lantians.
“No. I saw one once, just before I was captured and brought here. They wear scarlet robes at all times, and dark green canvas masks. But the shape of it… the body… that face. They weren’t from Lantis, I’m sure.” Lloyd said.
They’re waiting.
“Waiting for what?” Bailey sai
d out aloud, and Lloyd looked at him, considering his thoughts.
“They’re waiting for something.” Lloyd agreed.
They’re waiting for me. And let them wait.
Bailey lay a while longer with Lloyd Oric, talking about various mundane things that had happened in the colony, and how South Syndicate had approached him and his ‘comrades’ to help with their escape.
The next day, Bailey awoke on the sofa in his home’s front room. The large holo-theatre at the opposite side played out its news report like a tank of violence. He had forgotten to turn it off before falling asleep.
Bailey opened his eyes to see the aftermath of some terror attack on a neighbourhood in a district he didn’t recognize. It was being reported on enthusiastically by what he had found to be the colonies only live broadcaster. It was mainly an open access system where members of the colony could produce and have scheduled their own programs, most of which were of a low standard Bailey had decided. The hourly news bulletin was quite well produced however as well as a few select shows that he had seen just before sleep that night.
There was another day of work ahead, and it was going to be the hardest he’d done in his short life. Bailey stood up in the morning sunlight and slowly turned his head surveying his home and the sounds of parents and children milling around the other homes on the way to school. He felt nothing, and he found it strange.
Before anything else he stopped by Gen Colec’s apartment, finding it much the same as last time, but for a slightly mustier smell, and that the lizard had knocked over a floor vase. It watched Bailey as he moved through the place, expecting some sort of punishment, but Bailey was in a hurry.
He gathered the rest of Colec’s ID cards and dashed back out.
Nobody saw him as he made his way back to the beach at the edge of the desert, and ran along the pier to the door. He had his own control for the door now which he used as he dived through the forcefield, not stopping but squeezing through the opening gap, and then onward down the spiralling corridor. When he reached the bottom he found he had caught up with two others, who had walked a more casual pace to work. He nodded to them trying not to show how blustered he’d become from the run.
