by R T Green
His tone stabbed into me, but I knew why he’d adopted it. ‘Yes, sir. But I don’t see where we go from here.’
‘Right this minute, neither do I. But I get the feeling this ain’t over. Tiri isn’t about to give up on you. Now she’s licking her wounds, but we haven’t seen the last of her.’
Guess he was right, if I thought about it. I let out a huge yawn, a sudden weariness trying to overcome me. ‘Ok, Coop. But may I sleep now please? I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.’
His voice softened. ‘Yeah, you ain’t the only one, Madeline. We’re all shattered.’ He pointed to a chair in the corner of the room. ‘Tami brought you some clean clothes. We’re safe for now, here in the shuttle. Get yourself some sleep, and we’ll come at this again in the morning.’
I dressed in the brown jeans and vest top. No one had thought to bring nightclothes, and somehow I didn’t fancy sleeping naked this night.
Coop joined Tami, David and Miles at the small mess table. They’d worked out how to use the autochef, and six plates of ship’s rations were sitting waiting at the table.
He glanced around their shell-shocked and exhausted faces. ‘Madeline is getting some sleep... the poor kid has had even less than the rest of us. I’m pretty sure there is no danger tonight, especially with the object of Tiri’s desire here with us.’
Miles agreed. ‘Truth is, we’re safer protected by the shuttle than we would be at the shack.’
‘For sure. And this ain’t over, so my suggestion folks is that we sleep here, and if there’s no developments, get ourselves home at first light. That old jalopy of ours is half a mile away, uphill through the jungle, and I sure don’t fancy making that trek right now. We all agreed?’
Coop slumped onto the bunk in his cabin, closed his eyes for a moment, let out a sigh. He was shattered along with everyone else, but after Madeline’s words, he wasn’t sure he would get any sleep.
She’d looked at him like she hated him. He knew she didn’t, her emotions running wild because he’d stopped her foolishness. He couldn’t help but admire her spirit. She had been totally prepared to lead a life of hell, just to save the woman she loved.
She’d already been battered to that hell and back, and yet even then, all that mattered was love. A love given to her by the woman who, if she’d succeeded, she would never have seen again.
And Madeline was right. Still he was failing them both. He shook his head, beating himself up again. It seemed that no matter how much he tried to help them, all he did was make things worse.
Two hours later, he knew for sure sleep wasn’t coming. He dragged his weary body off the bunk, brewed a coffee and spooned four sugars into it.
The ship was quiet, peaceful; he listened outside each door, there was not a sound. It looked like Madeline had found sleep. That at least was good.
He opened the hatch to the outside world, sat on the steps sipping his coffee. The rain had gone, and a bright half-moon bathed the clearing in a hazy yellow light. The lightest of breezes wafted moist, warm air around him. The dark shadows in the trees felt a little spooky, but somehow despite that, the Caribbean night seemed to soothe his jitters.
After fifteen minutes he shook his head yet again, headed back to his cabin. If he was to be any use to anyone, he had to find a little sleep.
Chapter 123
She’d taken my everything. My life, my spirit, my soul. There was nothing more to take.
My mistress owned every part of me.
What was left, anyway.
She would come for me, I knew. When she was ready, when she had come to terms with the realisation that apart from me, she also had nothing.
We were paupers both, bonded together only by the mutual knowledge that I had taken away her everything, as she had mine.
I lay on the bunk fully clothed, trying to bat away a million images flashing through my mind in full HD. The moment I first set eyes on Zana in the bar in London, how intimated she’d made me feel. Her rebuke, so harsh, unfeeling... then the kiss, fleeting, divine. Our first meal together, the story of the olive, so pertinent to her.
Go away, I don’t want those memories...
Her apartment... so close to ecstasy, but then so far apart. The hill, being told she was doing something really bad, feeling her pain and conflict. The bitter-sweet joy of the hotel in Norfolk, the horror at DIAL HQ of discovering she was not human.
The utter, overpowering love when she revealed her true colours to me.
Stop this... enough torture.
I love you, Zana. I always will, but now we can never be together.
Oh Coop. You have been my saviour and my best friend, even thought you don’t really believe that. You have. I wish I could show you how grateful I am. You will be devastated I know, but I ask your forgiveness. You will find it, because you are an angel.
Dad. Poor dad, I’ve put you through hell these past few weeks, but you and Tami were there for me, no matter what. I was part of a family, and I don’t know if you will ever know how precious that was. I can’t find the words in my mashed-up head to thank you both, but they are there, somewhere unspoken.
No more. No more memories, no more torture.
No more pain.
The pendant sat on the little table next to the bed. I picked it up, turned it over and over in my hands. I wanted to call Tiri, end this once and for all. Somehow my finger wouldn’t press the call button. I put it down again. Wait a bit longer, until you’ve plucked up enough courage.
I guess she and I were more bonded together than I thought. I heard the single ping, saw the centre begin to flash. Hold it together. I pressed the screen.
‘You double-crossed me.’
‘And you didn’t?’
‘Perhaps we are as bad as each other, Madeline.’
‘No, Tiri. I was coming back to you. It was other people who had a different agenda.’
She hesitated. ‘I wish to talk with you. Alone.’
‘Yeah, me too. When and where?’
‘Now. There is a small cove, close to where you are. Head downhill and you will come to it. I will be on the beach.’
‘I’ll be there.’
I stood at the mirror brushing my hair, loving the feel of the bristles caressing me. Tami, bless her, had brought one of my bags, put a few things in it. I found a silver hair-tie, pulled back my hair loosely, and fixed it in place. Then a pair of silver earrings, now I could see my ears for the first time in a while.
I had to look my best. Feel my best, for my one final act of defiance.
For the last hour I hadn’t heard a sound. Before that someone had been moving around, but for a while now all had been quiet. I checked the Rolex. Four in the morning. It would be getting light soon.
I took off the watch, gazed admiringly at its diamond-studded beauty, and then placed it on the cupboard top. Thank you for the loan, DIAL. You can have it back now.
I groaned as the door hissed aside. It wasn’t that loud, but in this deathly quiet? I crept to the bridge, gasped in relief as I saw it sitting on the mess table. I wasn’t sure if it belonged to Miles or Coop, but it didn’t really matter. I slung the holster strap across my shoulder, checked the gun was loaded.
Something heavy was trying to press my eyelids down as I crept back along the walkway. It wasn’t tears, there were no more of them in existence. I don’t know what it was, but as I paused outside my dad’s door, the weight seemed to transfer itself to my legs.
Trembling hands reached slowly out, flattened onto the alloy of the door, a silent final goodbye.
Then I stood at the open hatch, looked back one last time, said an unspoken farewell to the people who have loved me and cared for me. The people who, ultimately, I have let down.
As the hatch to the outside world lifted up, a half-moon was shining out of a cloudless dark sky. It would light my way. I began to walk, and suddenly I felt free. Free of the torment, free of the pain.
You have taken my everything, Tiri. But there wa
s one thing left only I could take.
Chapter 124
A slight breeze drifted over me as I hobbled across the clearing. Going downhill was a relief; my ankle still hurt like hell. Tiri wasn’t going to see me with an obvious disadvantage, so the less effort it needed to get there the better.
I began to work my way through the trees and the undergrowth, starting to wish I’d brought a torch. Little moonlight filtered through the branches, and once or twice I stumbled and fell onto the wet ground.
The forest began to drop away more steeply. I could smell the sea. It must be close. Yes, a beach would be good, for the final act.
Then I could see something lighter ahead. Moonlight, reflecting off gentle waves. Still the trees were dense, it looked like they were growing right up to the beach.
My heart began to thump. Don’t lose your resolve, not now. Thirty feet from the beach, I pulled the gun from its holster. Whichever way this was going to end, I had to be ready.
The last of the trees were still blocking my view. I wanted the view, do the deed with a final look at the beautiful Caribbean. It seemed lighter, the faintest of blue tingeing the sky to the east. Come on, the last few feet.
I quickened my step, a little too much for my unwilling foot. I didn’t go down, but stumbled the last six feet onto the sand.
And as I straightened up and looked around at the tiny secluded cove I found myself in, I saw her standing there.
Coop woke with a start. What was that? He sat up, spooked. He’d not really wanted to fall asleep, just in case Madeline needed him, but exhaustion had put paid to that.
He looked at his watch. Four fifteen. He listened, all seemed quiet. Just his nerves, making him jittery. He lay back, but the uneasy feeling wouldn’t leave him alone. He groaned, fell out of bed, still fully dressed, and decided another cup of sugar with added coffee sounded good.
He wandered into the walkway, and stopped dead. Madeline’s door was open, the lights on. Where was she? He checked the med room, ran to the bridge to see if she’d had the same idea as him. She wasn’t there.
And then his heart sank to the floor. Neither was his gun. No... no... He ran back to Miles’s door, tapped as hard as he dare, unwilling to wake the others. ‘Miles, tell me you’re awake, for fuck’s sake...’
No answer. He tapped again, a little harder. ‘Miles... please...’
A half-asleep murmur. ‘Coop... It’s open.’
He hit the door button, ran to the bunk and wrenched him unceremoniously upright. ‘Madeline... she’s gone. And so’s my gun.’
He was out of the bed in a second, frantically pulling on his boots. ‘Please don’t tell me she’s...’
‘I can’t tell you that, mate. I think she is.’
They ran out into the clearing, stopped. ‘Which way, Coop?’
‘Fuck knows.’ He clutched his head, trying to find a sensible thought. ‘She’s got a gammy ankle. If it was me I’d take the easy option... downhill. Let’s search the clearings first, then we’ll just have to take a punt.’
They split up, ran around the clearing just inside the tree line, and then fought their way through the trees to the second one. No sign of Madeline, or anyone else. Miles spun around in a full circle. ‘Bloody hell, Coop... we’re just going to have to go for it.’
‘Yeah, I know. Come on, maybe there’s time...’
They hit the trees, and began a frantic dash in the direction of the beach.
Chapter 125
She looked like an apparition. A ghostly forlorn sight, standing motionless on the sand, her head slightly bowed. She wore a long red gown that reached to her feet, with a loose-fitting hood hiding her face. Thirty metres behind her, the black shuttle sat on the far end of the beach, uncloaked and in full view.
She turned her head a little. I hid the hand with the gun in it behind my back. She spoke, softly. ‘You do not look so good, Madeline. It pains me to see you like this.’
‘Even though it’s your fault?’
‘My fault? I have tried to care for you, Madeline. You chose to run from me.’
‘You know why.’
‘Are you alone?’
‘Of course.’
I saw her take a deep breath. ‘Madeline, I want to ask you one last time.’
‘Ask me what?’ The words were a hoarse growl.
Her head bowed. ‘I want to ask you to leave all this behind. Come with me, so we can be together.’
‘And what about Zana?’
She turned to face me. Her face looked hollow, her features contorted with anguish. ‘Why does everything lead back to her, Madeline? Forget Zana, please. She is nothing to either of us now.’
I could feel the anger building. ‘Forget her? You think that would ever be possible? You have taken away everything except memories. There’s nothing left... nothing.’ She took a couple of steps towards me. ‘Don’t you dare come any closer.’
She stood still again. ‘You have something left, Madeline. You have me.’
Oh, you are seriously fucked-up, Tiri. I could feel my body starting to shake, tried in vain to keep it still. She wasn’t going to see she was getting to me. ‘And how is your sister going to feel about that, Tiri?’
‘That is no longer a concern. I want you to forget her’
Something was hidden in her words. I could feel a nervous, uncertain sweat beading on my forehead. ‘What have you done, Tiri?’
She lifted her arms from her sides, looked reluctant to speak for a moment. ‘Did you think I would not know it was she who orchestrated your escape?’
I was losing control, I knew it. The gun behind my back was trying to shake itself out of my grip, the sweat on my brow running into my eyes. ‘Wh... what do you mean?’
‘My own sister has betrayed me. Twice, Madeline. She will never betray me again.’
Now I knew what she wasn’t telling me. ‘You... you lair!’
‘Have I ever lied to you, Madeline?’ She took another step forward. I backed away, manic eyes locked into hers, my lungs heaving in huge gulps of air. I tightened my grip on the gun, my head a mess of confusion, my legs wanting to give in. No, don’t show her she’s winning again...
Another step closer. Don’t push it Tiri, manic depressive with a gun here. Eight feet between us then, her face smiling through her tears. ‘Are you going to kill me, Madeline?’
How does she know? Can she see the gun somehow? Fuck it. If she knows it’s there, she might as well have it in her face...
I took my hand from behind my back, held the gun out at full stretch with both arms. Stop shaking. ‘There’s plenty of bullets in this chamber, Tiri.’
She took another step forward. ‘Madeline, I’m begging now. Please don’t do this.’
Oh Christ. My hands were shaking so much, I couldn’t have hit her if she was six inches away. My heart was about to explode, I could feel the saliva running down my chin. Get a grip...
‘Come with me, Madeline. Let us leave this place, be together. I would like that, the two of us.’
Oh Tiri, you shouldn’t have said two. My finger tightened around the trigger, the beach started to spin around my head. ‘You’re sick.’
Another step, three feet away from death. Her hollow face taunted me, her beautiful green eyes bore right through me. My legs were about to crumple...
‘If you do not wish us to be together, then kill me. I want you to kill me.’
What? Yes, please.
‘But if you kill me, you must promise me something.’
‘Promise you what?’ I could hardly hear my own voice, a stupid meek whisper drowned out by the thumping in my ears. Maybe she heard it. Another step forward, her face a foot away from the barrel.
‘A promise you must make, and keep. Either to end this now and kill us both, or you kill neither of us. Promise me...’
I didn’t get chance to answer, she took me by surprise, grasped the barrel of the gun with both hands, stuck it against her forehead. ‘The final choice is yours
, Madeline.’
I stared at her, shaking my head from side to side, my mouth open, gasping for air I didn’t need, making my heart pump harder as I began to hyper-ventilate. Her eyes flamed burning green into my soul, her determination to die with me turning me into stone. She meant it, every word.
I couldn’t speak, not a single syllable. The seconds ticked by, neither of us moving. Then she dropped her hands, leaving the gun in mine. ‘Very well. I will leave now. Please take good care of yourself, Madeline. You are still precious to me.’ She backed away a few steps, her eyes never leaving mine.
And then her head bowed, she turned away from me, and walked slowly towards the shuttle.
Fire the gun, you fool. Shoot her in the back. My finger tightened on the trigger once more, my whole body convulsing, my head willing me to drop the final curtain. She was almost at the shuttle, hadn’t looked back once.
For God’s sake, you’re a trained assassin. Killing someone is easy...
It had to be. Sweat blinded me, my soul wanted to curl up and die. I cried out, a desperate, screamed final request. ‘I want Zana.’
I want Zana, even though she’s...
Eyes fogged by tears of heartbreak watched her turn just as she reached the steps. ‘I will see you back in London, Madeline.’ She disappeared inside the shuttle. And then something was pushed from the hatch, a lifeless rag doll wrapped in red, crashing to the sand below.
The hatch hissed to a close as I crumpled to my knees. The sound of the engine rose. I dropped the gun onto the sand, and wrapped my useless hands around my head. And as I watched the shuttle rise into the air, my scream of agony echoed into the night sky.
‘Madeline...’
Eyes misted with sweat and tears turned towards the sound. Coop, and Miles? He dropped to his knees in front of me, pulled me into his arms.
