THE RED MIST TRILOGY: The Box Set

by R T Green

  Hell, she was making a very strong case. The prosecutor was looking around the room for inspiration, rapidly running out of reasons to cross-examine.

  It didn’t excuse the intended evil. But I could see the raw thinking behind it. ‘So are there other mother-ships... out there somewhere?’

  ‘Yes. But they are a very long way away, seeking out safe haven for themselves.’

  ‘Not much chance of a rescue mission then?’

  ‘None.’

  Oh God, I could feel her pain, but worse still I could relate to it. Back in the day I was lost too, with no one to rescue me. All I had was a waste-of-space dad wallowing in lost love, and so-called friends who were only my mates as long as I did their less-than-legal dirty work for them. I became as hard and heartless as the cold reality all around me. And I turned into someone ready, willing and able to inflict pain and death to others.

  Back then I at least was surrounded by my own kind... and yet I was all alone.

  My knights in shining armour eventually rode to my rescue. First my father, who was suddenly my dad again, but back too late to change my newly-created emotionless and unfeeling psyche. And then Zana, who somehow gave me back the little girl who believed good things did exist.

  Tiri would never meet her shining knight.

  Her sad eyes locked into me, just for a moment, and then fell away again. ‘This will all be over soon, Madeline.’

  ‘What does that mean, over?’

  ‘Before too long we will leave this place. Now please, I have work to do.’

  Her tone changed, just like that. Normal service had been resumed. One more handbrake turn of mood laying black tyre marks in the road, which I had no choice but to run with. I wanted to question her more, pump her while she was opened up. I was too late, that window of opportunity had been firmly slammed in my face.

  I turned and headed back to the door. ‘Madeline...’

  ‘Yes?’ She’d spun the chair a little, I couldn’t see her face clearly.

  ‘I have removed your restraints, but you will be confined to your quarters. I think it will be best... for us both.’ Her voice faltered a little in the last few words. And then she spun the chair further, and was completely hidden from my view.

  Paleface Peroni was there, sneaking up on me like the ghost she seemed to be, grasping my arms and leading me away along the walkway.

  Ok, guess I can’t argue with your decision, Tiri. I had head-butted the proprietor after all. Probably not the best move for a non-paying guest. Or using another equally-humbling analogy, I’d slipped past the guards, committed ABH on the queen of the land.

  It was back to the dungeon for me.

  Chapter 107

  I sat on the bunk, contemplating my future once more. If what Tiri said was true, she was leaving soon.

  Whatever that meant. But it would be true. She may be a lot of things, she wasn’t a liar. And in one way, that was even more worrying. Did our imminent trip include me? Was I still teacher’s pet?

  She feeds me snippets of information. Every one with more questions attached to it.

  Infuriating. Almost to the point of screaming bad language and fist-banging. Past the tipping point of head butting. One moment she’s meek, opening up, sharing. And the next, strutting her power, closing down, unreachable.

  She’s more fucked up than I am.

  Tiri, I need to understand you, understand what’s really going on. Nothing makes sense, even though in some ways we are alike.

  You tell me no lies... but you are being far from honest.

  I explored my little space again, opened doors and drawers looking for something I could use as a weapon. The uneasy feeling was creeping up on me that my time to escape was drawing to a close.

  My dungeon must have once been a crew-member’s quarters, but they’d cleaned it out pretty good. Nothing remained to tell me who the previous resident was; nothing that would make a remotely-useful weapon.

  But as I slumped onto the bed and opened a tiny drawer next to it, I found something they’d missed. Right at the back, a photo hardly any bigger than a large postage stamp.

  My eyes filled with tears, and harsh reality hit home with an unrelenting vengeance once more. The thick piece of card was a mini-video, just five seconds or so, on a constant loop that must have reacted to my touch.

  A young woman was waving, smiling. And in her arms was a tiny, pale-faced Calanduran baby.

  I let it all out, had no choice. Blurting out my guilt and my pain, sobbing like the baby in the picture, but without the comforting arms of a mother to take away the hurt.

  The crew-member whose quarters I’d inherited must have died at my hands. Either in Zana’s apartment or mine, or by suffering a horrible watery death at the bottom of the Thames. Maybe Calanduran’s don’t know love, but he was a family man, and by the looks of it a devoted one too.

  And what made it worse was that the two people in the photo could well have been on the mother-ship.

  Maybe Zana and me did the only thing we could. But at what cost?

  My almost-silent waitress brought my evening meal. As I ate, my anger grew. A confused, mashed-up feeling I tried to analyse but failed dismally. Most of it was aimed at me, a cold-hearted killer who suddenly found the warmth of love, but who still reverted to her former self when push came to shove.

  Maybe I had no choice, maybe I did what I did for all the right reasons.

  But are there any right reasons for mass murder?

  It was late. I’d spent the evening trying to untie impossibly-tangled knots in my head, and finally given up. I was tired, very tired. Whether it was the physical exertions of the morning or the mental exertions of the rest of the day, I wasn’t sure. Probably both.

  Tiri didn’t show. She was likely still nursing her bruised ego. Or her bruised head.

  I was glad. My own company was just fine.

  She wasn’t the only one bruised. Mind games or not, she’d scored another victory. My self-esteem was struggling to climb out of the hot curry soup she’d thrown it into, a little bit drowned and a little bit burnt.

  Do your worst, Tiri. I’m feeding it pint glasses of cold water. Your guilt-trip vindaloo won’t be burning its throat much longer. It’ll take more than that to floor me.

  But that weird kind of anger still simmered away, and some of it aimed itself at Zana. Without her meddling with my heart and my soul, I wouldn’t be in this emotional mess. Life was so much easier without a heart, unencumbered by caring for anyone, not even myself.

  Oh Zana, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Your love changed me, for the better. But sometimes it’s so hard trying to be a decent human being. Especially in the company of a fucked-up non-human being.

  Yes Tiri, my anger has gone full circle and come right back to you. You left that video-card there on purpose, didn’t you? Playing your mind games, teasing my feelings as well as my spirit.

  Enough is enough. There is only one more game to be played now, whatever the cost.

  Endgame.

  Chapter 108

  ‘You getting anywhere with that thing, Miles?’

  ‘Well, so far I’ve ordered an Indian takeaway, turned up the heating, and sent a hundred dollars to my daughter, but as for anything else...’

  Coop grinned, despite the dull ache in his stomach. He patted his partner on the back. ‘Keep at it, bud. You’re the nearest thing to a techie we’ve got, so you’ll have to do.’

  Miles pulled a face, retorted back. ‘Yeah, it took you a month to work out how to use your watch, and that’s only got three buttons!’

  The two agents had headed to the shack after breakfast at the hotel, found Tami and David trying to keep busy, their faces giving away the desolation all four of them were feeling.

  ‘I guess Merry Christmas isn’t too appropriate.’ Coop greeted Tami and David with a rueful, mirthless smile as they arrived.

  ‘Merry Christmas anyway,’ said Tami, a slight shake in her voice.

 
The others mumbled similar greetings, sat at the table as David poured coffee. ‘Guess it might be a happy event, if everything turns out well?’

  There was an uncertain question in his voice. Coop nodded, unwilling to say any actual words.

  It was mid-afternoon. They all knew things weren’t looking so good. Soon after they’d first arrived, Coop had told them he believed both the girls were in the company of aliens, something which, judging by the lack of reaction and the misting of Tami’s eyes, they’d already worked out for themselves.

  And it was all too easy to see that with both of them captured, what might have already happened was too horrific for any of them to put into words.

  One faint hope remained; that Miles could work out how to operate the pendant, and discover a clue or two that might be of some use. So far he’d managed to fire it up, but he was having to be super-careful he didn’t inadvertently press the wrong button, and do more harm than good.

  It was a very, very painfully slow process.

  ‘Wow!’

  Coop turned back to the table as his partner let out a cry. ‘Miles?’

  ‘Look at this, guys.’

  They crowded around the table. Whatever Miles had done, the flat centre of the pendant had come to life. It wasn’t just a plain disc of silver anymore. Now it was a tiny map of the island. The smallest of red dots was blinking away, somewhere in the middle.

  Strange, miniature symbols ran across the top of the screen, which was no bigger than a large watch face. ‘Can you zoom in, mate?’ Coop asked.

  Miles wiped the sweat from his brow. ‘It’s all flippin’ foreign, bud.’

  ‘Alien, Miles.’

  ‘Makes no bloody difference, it’s all Dutch to me!’

  ‘Keep the faith. Just press something, see what happens.’

  Miles glanced up to his partner, grinned. ‘Remind me never to defuse a bomb when you’re around, Coop.’

  But there wasn’t much choice. For a minute Miles studied the symbols, and then decided to press none of them, just touched the centre of the screen instead. The map zoomed in. ‘Hmm... maybe their technology isn’t so different after all.’ He put a finger on the screen again, moved it a little. The map moved too.

  ‘Oh my,’ said Coop, straining to see the detail. ‘You thinking what I’m thinking, bud?’

  Miles nodded, traversed the whole island with his finger, and then looked up to the others. ‘Just one red light, folks.’

  David nodded. ‘That’s got to be a shuttle then, I guess.’

  ‘Yeah, but now we’s got a problem. Or maybe three. Chances are that’s Zana’s shuttle... this is her disc after all. But it might be the enemy craft, ‘cos we know they must have one.’ He raised his arms from his sides, a pained expression on his face. ‘But I gotta say this, guys... if that pendant is set to locate alien shuttles, and there’s only one light flashing away, there’s a chance the one we want has already left.’

  Tami’s head lowered, she spoke in a whisper. ‘So how do we... how do we know for sure?’

  Miles answered. ‘Process of elimination. First we find out which shuttle that is.’

  Coop nodded, looked at his watch. ‘And there’s only one way to do that. Go pay it a visit. If it is Zana’s shuttle, from what she told me back in London, it will respond to that pendant, like it’s a car key.’

  ‘And if it’s the other one?’

  ‘Then we know they’re still on the island.’

  Miles frowned. ‘We’ve got to be careful, Coop. If it’s them, they might see us coming.’

  He nodded. ‘Keep playing with that disc, bud. And then you and me will take a trip... in the early hours, so we get there just before dawn. Then with any luck we’ll catch them napping.’

  Chapter 109

  My watch said it was eight in the morning, I’d slept long again. No point snuggling back up, so I slipped on the red gown I’d been given two days ago.

  The door slid open. Does she watch me, know exactly when I wake?

  Of course she does.

  She was wearing an emerald green dress, again almost reaching the floor, but pulled in at the waist with a red fabric tie. She looked elegant. She smiled to me, warm, affectionate.

  ‘Good morning, Madeline. I hope you are well, on this special day for humans.’

  Special day? What the hell? Oh... seriously?

  ‘I believe the greeting is Merry Christmas.’

  Christmas day. You’d better not be wanting to pull my cracker again, Tiri.

  ‘Come, breakfast is ready. I have prepared it myself.’

  We sat at the palace table once more, ate like we were an old married couple. My mind had slammed into overdrive again, flashing through scenarios that involved escape. The shackles were gone, but I still didn’t know how many people were aboard the shuttle.

  Know your enemy. At least, what the odds were.

  Once I’d finished with the fake enjoyment of breakfast at Tiri’s, I knew I had to try and find out what I was up against. But right then she was chatting away, looking like she was in no hurry. She asked me about what was to her the strange phenomenon of Christmas, seemed really interested about how I’d spent my festive periods.

  I tried to seem just as interested, hoping she couldn’t see the steam of escape plots coming out of my ears as I tried to split my brain in two. But then breakfast was over.

  She stood, took my hand. ‘Come. As I understand is the tradition, I have a gift for you.’

  Ok, stunned again. ‘Tiri, I’m sorry but I didn’t get you anything. Always such a rush at this time of year, you know...’

  She smiled, like she really meant it. ‘Madeline, you have already given me a special gift.’

  Have I? Maybe. They say a pet is for life though, not just for Christmas.

  She led me to the bridge. Someone else was there, working away at the central console. I couldn’t see who it was, just a pair of legs, the high back of the chair hiding the rest of her. Or him, it was impossible to tell.

  Tiri sat down at the secondary station on the left of the bridge, pressed a few switches, and the big screen in front of us flickered into life.

  ‘What do you see?’

  I studied the map of half the world on the VCR. A thin green line looked like it began in London, went north-east to somewhere in East Anglia, then shot west, crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean islands.

  ‘I... I’m not sure what I’m seeing. A trace of your movements?’

  ‘Let me enlarge it.’

  She panned in, right to Tobago. The island filled the screen. The long green line culminated in a red dot, somewhere in the middle of the rainforest. Then it began again, heading south to another red dot, just west of Scarborough. Then north-east again, to a final red mark on the edge of the forest.

  ‘Well, it looks like the flight-path of your shuttle.’

  ‘You are partly correct. They are shuttle movements, but not of this craft. The map you are looking at shows the known movements of a different craft.’

  ‘A... a different craft?’ Please, no...

  And then the someone else spoke. The high-back chair at the centre console turned to face me. ‘Yes, Madeline. My shuttle.’

  She looked me straight in the eyes, breaking me, making my blood run cold. ‘Nice to see you after so long, Madeline.’

  I stared at her, every molecule of me turning to stone, every brain cell focusing into her piercing, unflinching eyes. Then I could no longer focus. Tears fogged my sight, the room began to spin around me. And then my legs turned to jelly.

  I clutched at the console, a million emotions blasting into me like a wrecking ball, my heart and my soul imploding, crushing me from the outside in. Tiri leapt from her seat, grabbed me to stop my dive to the floor, eased me into her seat.

  ‘Why... I don’t...’ The words were a whisper, echoing in a void of panic as I tried desperately to argue with what my eyes knew was the truth.

  Tiri was kneeling in front of me, her hands wr
apped around mine, concern on her face. ‘I am sorry, Madeline. I tried to break it to you gently... I am not so good at compassion.’

  She sounded miles away, muffled words thundering into the bubble my subconscious had built around me, trying to protect my sanity from the harshest of realities. Still part of me was fighting it, a battle it could never win. The facts were there, sitting in the chair, like she was where she belonged... the woman who I thought loved me.

  What have you done to us, Zana?

  I felt the coldness of glass in my hands. ‘Drink some water,’ she said. I took a sip, spluttered most of it out disgustingly. The second sip was better behaved, the chilled water cooling the flames in my throat, bringing me back to reality.

  ‘This must be a shock for you.’

  Shock? This is beyond shock. Beyond anything. Something was welling up inside me, emotion on emotion, battling each other for supremacy. Anger won. ‘You knew. All along you knew...’

  She sat back into the other seat, moved it a little closer to me. ‘Yes, I knew. But until yesterday, I was not aware of Zana’s repentance.’

  Oh shit. It was all making sense. Horrific sense. Somehow my thunderstruck head was putting the pieces together. ‘You abducted me to flush her out.’

  ‘That was the intention, yes. But then we got lucky.’

  Anger was still winning, fighting with a sudden desire to time-travel back a few days. ‘What kind of lucky?’ I growled the words out.

  ‘When we came for you, we also discovered Zana close to your father’s house. Two for one, you might say.’

  ‘How convenient for you.’