by J. N. Chaney
“I would have to agree,” Iris said, opening the palm of her right hand, allowing a holographic display to pop up in front of us. “He used the alias Jeffrey Hooke to board the ship, but upon deeper inspection, there seems to be no record of that person. I cross-referenced his facial pattern and prints in the Civil Authority database and found a match. His name is Trevor Bishop.”
My eyes wandered from the Cognitive through the wall to our guest on the other side. He didn’t look like a Trevor to me. With his Russian accent, it seemed plausible this was just an alias as well.
“On the street he goes by the Assassin,” Iris continued. “He’s linked to half a dozen Disciple strikes across the globe.”
“How did he board The Orion in the first place?” Elon asked. “The cloaking device?”
“If I had to guess, yes,” Iris agreed.
“It’s disturbing to think that even with our level of technology, assassins and terrorists are finding a way around it,” Elon thought out loud.
“We might be able to solve that problem sooner, rather than later,” Stacy removed the ice pack from her face. “Dean and I met with Doctor James Wong, the head of the tech department. He’s working on the problem now. Hopefully, we’ll have something soon that will allow us to track someone even if they’re cloaked.”
“Very good,” Arun said. She placed both her white hands on the ledge, leaning into the one way-wall. It was clear she was studying her prisoner. “Iris, tell me more about this Trevor Bishop.”
“Outside of his affiliation with the Disciples, he’s somewhat of a ghost,” Iris said as the screen on her hand moved from a blurry image of Trevor to a list of known aliases, accomplices and skills. “He’s a dangerous man trained in the arts of stealth, hand to hand combat, weapons, poisons and well, the list goes on and on. Shall I read it all?”
“I think we get the point,” Elon said.
We all stood there for a moment, staring at the unconscious man.
“So, are we going to go and wake sleeping beauty up or what?” I asked, looking to the others for a consensus.
“I’ll go in with Stacy,” Elon said, placing a calming hand on his sister’s shoulder. “We should try to handle this matter with words if we are able.”
“You think he’s going to willingly give you information?” Arun arched her eyebrow. “Maybe it will do him some good to experience the pain he put so many others through.”
I already knew Arun was the hot head of the two siblings, but this was down-right intimidating. I wasn’t used to seeing the crazy gleam of vengeance in the eyes of an Eternal. Somehow it made it worse since the bright blue of their eyes shone so bright.
“Give us a chance, and then if it doesn’t work our way, you can use yours,” Elon said, looking to Stacy and me for support.
“I agree,” Stacy chimed in.
“Hey, don’t look at me,” I said, pointing a thumb to Arun. “I’m with your sister here. I’ve come across plenty of guys like our assassin Disciple in there. Talking to that manic isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’m down to put a beating on him, but I don’t think that’s going to do any good either. He’s familiar with pain. He’ll block that out of his head like I would.”
“What would you suggest?” Arun asked with an upturned eyebrow.
“I mean, I’ve never used it myself but some kind of drug or narcotic that will make him tell the truth,” I said, looking at the two Eternals in front of me along with Stacy. I threw a quick glance to Iris as well, so she wouldn’t feel left out.
“Are you talking about injecting our prisoner with drugs to make him talk?” Elon said, shaking his head in surprise. “Mr. Slade, we don’t have a serum like that on board The Orion.”
“Well, have Iris alchemy a brew up for you,” I said, looking over at the Cognitive. “Iris, do you have all the ingredients onboard The Orion to create a truth serum if that’s what we needed?”
“Indeed,” Iris said with a bright, cheery smile across her glowing blue face. “I could have a combination made for you in minutes.”
“See,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “Even the Cognitive thinks we should shoot our Disciple friend up with some happy juice.”
“Before we try anything, Stacy and I are just going to talk to him,” Elon said, resolutely. “We haven’t digressed so far to start injecting one another with chemicals and torture.”
“He never said torture,” Arun reminded her brother. “That was all you. But if you need someone to say it for you to feel better, I would torture him if it meant getting information that would save the lives of a hundred thousand on this ship.”
Elon breathed heavily, in exhaustion. He headed for the door with Stacy following, smirking behind him.
“You’re kinda dark,” I said, giving Arun an approving nod. “I like it.”
“I harbor no mercy for those who kill innocent men, women, and children,” Arun said with a shrug, as if it were just a rule of life like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. “When they come for anyone in my colony, I take it personally.”
I liked Arun the more and more I got to know her. Hell, I liked all these people, and it kind of worried me. I’d been on my own for so long with just Ricky as my only real friend, I forgot there were other people out there that shared a common outlook on life with me.
A moment later, they left our room and entered the holding chamber on the other side of the two-way wall. They made enough noise to wake Trevor if he was sleeping. Still, he didn’t move a muscle.
Stacy brought two chairs in for them from the hall outside of the room and placed them facing the terrorist. She made sure they were slightly apart and turned to the side, almost in a circle, to leave myself and Arun plenty of room to see our prisoner.
“You think you can make a cage that will be strong enough to hold me?” Trevor said, not bothering to lift his head to look at them. “You will lose this war because you lack the conviction to do what is needed.”
“And what is that, Trevor?” Elon asked, sitting in one of the chairs. “May I call you Trevor?”
Trevor lifted his bald head. A look of pure disgust was written on his bruised face. He scowled at Elon as if he were going to answer, then turned to Stacy instead. “You’re a human like me. Why do you serve such a master?”
“We’re all human,” Stacy said, correcting the prisoner. “And he’s not my master. If you put those two truths to use, you’d be able to see past your hate.”
Trevor shook his head in disgust. He spat on the ground next to him.
“Trevor Bishop,” Elon tried again. “I hope you realize that this sit down is an act of...well of hope that you would be willing to talk to us. Whatever mission you had, whatever goal you were tasked with, has failed. It’s over for you now, but there is still a chance of redemption for you. We need to know if you are working alone or if there are other Disciples on board The Orion preparing to strike.”
Trevor lifted his head to the ceiling and roared with laughter. Even standing in the other room, it was a noise that made me wince. The sound was certainly laughter, but it was hollow and void of any true joy.
“Albino, tell me,” Trevor said, glaring at Elon. “Did you trade your soul when you sacrificed your humanity for eternal life? The human line will prosper, and we will outlast your genetically enhanced filth.”
“You do realize that what we’re trying to do here is help, right?” Elon said, patiently, leaning forward in his seat. If he was flustered at all by the insults hurled at him, he didn’t show it. “Eternals are only humans who have manipulated our DNA. That doesn’t make us monsters. We’re just like you. They’re good and bad among us. Right now, I’m traveling along with a colony to assist them in setting up a new world. A world where there will be opportunity for everyone.”
“Opportunity that would have existed on Earth if you and your elitist kind didn’t keep the rest of the population from advancing.” Trevor shook his head with disgust. “And I’ll let
you in on a little secret. Your plan will fail.”
“Why is that?” Stacy asked from her seat. Unlike Elon, I could see her fists clenching with anger. The white of her knuckles showed on both hands.
“Because I’m not alone on The Orion,” Trevor grinned. “Others will be activated, and this ship will fall from the sky in fire and ash, and all of you will go with it.”
Chapter 18
Trevor let out another hysterical laugh while all of us remained quiet. My mind was reeling with the implications of his words. There were too many questions left unanswered. Was he telling the truth? If he was, how many Disciples had snuck on board? When and where would they strike next?
“It’s clear that death doesn’t worry you,” Elon said, reigning in the mad prisoner in front of him. “My death nor the death of others. You feel nothing condemning a hundred thousand children and innocents to their deaths. What gives you that right? What makes you able to play God?”
“The second they boarded this ship, they lost all of their privileges to live,” Trevor said with a shrug. “Do what you want because that’s all you’re getting out of me.”
“How many other Disciples are on board The Orion?” Stacy asked, rising from her seat. “Where are they?”
“Questions that will keep you up at night I’m sure,” Trevor said with an ominous smirk. “I told you, you’re not getting anything out of me. I shouldn’t even have let you know that much, but I wanted you to know that you’re not safe. That’s fun for me. While I’m in here, you’ll be out there wondering and worrying. It will be something I can take comfort in.”
Stacy walked over to the prisoner and struck him across the jaw, then in the nose and again in his left eye. She could have kept going, and neither Arun or I would pull her off. It was good Elon was in the room. He jumped up and firmly placed his hands on Stacy’s shoulders.
“Enough,” Elon said, pulling her away. “This is what he wants. This is playing into his twisted game somehow. You’re better than this.”
Stacy was breathing hard, but she refrained from laying into his face anymore.
Trevor was chuckling and howling to the ceiling. “What’s next? Waterboarding? Sleep deprivation? I’ve been through it all!”
Stacy and Elon left the room and entered our own.
“This doesn’t seem like the right time to say I told you so but…” I let my voice trail off. “I kinda did.”
“We need more information,” Arun said, looking to her brother. “If you’d like to leave for this next part, I’ll understand.”
“We aren’t going to torture him,” Elon said, skewering his sister with a hard stare. “If we do, what separates us from the Disciples? If there is no line we aren’t willing to cross, what makes us different from them?”
“Are you serious?” Arun said, shaking her head. “Were trying to save an entire colony ship of lives here.”
“If I may?” Stacy interjected. “I’m going to agree with Dean on this one. Wow, that’s something I really never thought I’d be saying.”
“Hey, easy,” I said. “I’m right here, you know. But please, do go on.”
“I don’t think our guest is going to respond to physical acts to get him to speak. I think we might need to try something else.”
“Truth serum would be the best alternative,” Iris said.
The Cognitive had been uncharacteristically quiet for a time, like she was in a state of deep contemplation.
Everyone looked over to Elon.
“It would be better for everyone if we tried Dean’s method,” Arun urged her brother.
“Fine, yes, all right,” Elon said, blowing out a deep breath. “We’ll try it. I suppose it is better than peeling off fingernails or electric shocks.”
“Only better because those methods wouldn’t work, otherwise I would be more than happy to try them,” Arun said, glaring at Elon.
“Easy now, sister,” Elon replied with a slight smile.
“I’ll be right back,” Iris said, phasing out of a wall and disappearing.
“She just walks in and out, huh,” I said, shaking my head. “No knocking or anything? I guess privacy is out the door.”
Suddenly, Trevor yelled to get our attention.
“You! Him, I mean. I want to see the brawler!” Trevor hollered to the empty room. “He’s the reason I’m in here to begin with. I have something to tell him. Only him—I’ll only talk to him.”
“I think he’s talking about me,” I said, looking to the others.
“Go, but be careful,” Arun said. “Don’t let him get into your head.”
“No worries about that,” I said, tapping the side of my skull. “Nothing gets through here.”
I left the room before Stacy could make a joke and entered the long hall. There was a pair of suits outside the door right next to ours. I nodded to them before going in.
“Ahhh, there he is,” Trevor said, looking up at me with his battered face. “The man of the hour.”
“I’m not sure about that, Buttercup,” I said, pulling up a chair to him and turning it around, so I sat on it backward. “You seem pretty popular yourself right now.”
“You and I are brothers, feathers fallen from the same bird,” Trevor went on.
His eyes were wild, dark but darting all over the place, almost as if he were reading something.
“How’s that?” I asked, playing along to get any more information out of him.
“I see the animal in your eye. You’re a warrior just like me. A skilled fighter.” Trevor said as if he were giving me a compliment. “You and I are survivors. I can see the pain that lives deep inside of you. What you must have been through.”
“Listen, I’m not sure why you’re gazing so longingly into my eyes, but you’re wrong,” I said, trying to get the conversation back on track. “Now, what is it that you wanted to tell me?”
“I wanted to tell you that you are destined for great things, as am I,” Trevor said. For the first time, he looked serious, like he was actually telling the truth, or at least he believed he was. “You and I are about to embark on an adventure together, like two swords poised for battle.”
“Well, if you haven’t noticed, we’ve already embarked on an adventure,” I said, looking around the room. “And I hate to break it to you, but the only thing you’re going to be seeing for a long time is the inside of a cell on The Orion, and maybe the inside of a cell once we establish the colony on Kronos Five. Is that all you have? Is that all you wanted to say? That you think we’re friends about to go on a road trip?”
“I never used the word ‘friends’,” Trevor said, looking deep into my eyes once more. “Not friends. The very best of enemies.”
“There you go gazing deeply into my eyes again,” I said with a sigh. “You got to at least buy me a drink or something if you’re going to look at me like that. Why don’t you tell me something useful for a change? How many of you are on board?”
Trevor grinned. “I will not tell you, friend. No, that is your journey.”
It was my turn to laugh. I chuckled, filling the room with the noise. “I’m not your friend, Trevor. I can guarantee you that.”
There was a knock on the door just before it opened, and Arun walked in holding a long needle.
Trevor’s gaze rested on Arun before turning to the device in her hand.
“What is that?” He asked through clenched teeth. “What are you doing?”
“It’s time to have an honest conversation for once in your miserable life,” Arun said, and stalking forward, she slammed the needle into Trevor’s neck and pressed down on the plunger with her thumb.
“What? No!” Trevor jerked his body and neck as far to the side as he could, but the restraints kept him in place. The needlepoint disappeared into his neck a second later.
I was no stranger to pain, but even I winced at the ferocity that Arun stabbed him with. I realized what she reminded me of. She was like a momma bear, and those on The Orion were her cu
bs. Her anger came from the fact that they were in danger.
Arun finally extracted the needle from Trevor’s neck, taking a step back.
Trevor shook his head and worked his jaw like he was trying to get water out of his ears.
“Iris, how long will the truth serum take to begin its process?” Arun asked the room. “How will we know that it is working?”
“The serum will take effect in the space of a few seconds,” Iris said, phasing through the closed door. “You will know, trust me.”
Trevor blinked at the Cognitive a few times then grinned. “A Cognitive. One of the enemies of humankind.”
“What’s your real name?” I asked as Trevor continued to grin. “Your accent tells me that you’re not from America. The name Trevor Bishop doesn’t fit.”
“You are correct, my friend,” Trevor grinned. He pursed his lips as if he were deep in thought. He swayed a little in his chair as if he were drunk. “My name—my birth name is Maksim Aleksandre Kuznetsov Petrov.”
“Yeah, that’s a mouthful. I’d probably go by Trevor, too,” I said.
Maksim smiled and actually laughed, almost genuinely.
“Maksim,” Arun took over the line of questioning. “I need you to tell me if you planted any other traps or anything else that could be dangerous or destructive to The Orion or those it carries.”
Maksim looked over at Arun. Previously his eyes had always been full of hate when he looked at an Eternal. Right now, it was more like fear that washed over his bruised face.
“Why don’t you just leave us alone?” Maksim said, looking at Arun like he truly wanted to know. “Transients only want a better life, but you make this impossible, placing yourself at the top of the food chain with your boot on our neck.”
“Maksim,” Arun said while using a softer voice, trying to calm the man. “Please, I need you to focus right now. Are there any other traps set to go off on the ship? Anything that would harm the people on board The Orion.”
“I have not,” Maksim said with a heavy, regret-laden breath. “I did not have enough time to set the toxins to rotate through the air filtration system. My brother here was fast enough to stop me.”
