A Hero

by Stephen Arseneault

"I had planned on making that announcement first thing tomorrow morning. But since it is such a concern of yours, I will go ahead and push it out this evening. I suppose we can't be too prepared too soon."

  I nodded, feeling triumphant in the way the conversation had gone. "Good. I look forward to hearing it."

  "Good night, Ray. And please let Denise know we really are doing all we can."

  The comm closed. Pea crawled off of my lap.

  Denise looked up with a scowl. "He's such a snake. I bet this is the calm before the storm."

  A news alert came up on the display. "This just in. Only four days ago, our fleet located at the Mycene Colony engaged with a group of Togmal warships. We were victorious, destroying three of the five ships that were preparing for an attack. Our side took casualties, but all nineteen of our warships returned to base. And—"

  An image of Thomas Goodall interrupted the news alert. "Employees of Aarlis mining..."

  TC spent several minutes explaining the family member contracts and their benefits. His speech then went on to talk about the evacuation contingency, what it entailed, and what would be expected of everyone should the need for its implementation arise. After a lengthy discourse, we were told a representative would be coming to each of our apartments with details. If TC was to order an evacuation, we would have well-defined instructions to follow.

  He closed with a statement about the employees being a highly valued team and how the corporation was doing everything possible to protect them. I wanted to reach through the display and grab him by the neck, but by the end he somehow had me convinced he was doing the right thing.

  Denise said, "He's lying. And I'm not signing any contract. He can't force me. The writing is on the wall, Ray. TC will be the end of us all."

  I placed my hand over hers on the table. "And I wouldn't want you to sign. As I said, that would just lock you and Pea into remaining here. The bonus money is in our account. Should the government lift the travel ban, we'll be using that to send you and Pea home. And maybe with that fight we just won over the Togmal, that ban will be lifted sooner rather than later."

  Denise managed a half smile. "Sorry if I've been such a pain. I know you're doing all you can." She turned, looking over at our daughter as she happily played on the floor. "I just want to get her to somewhere safe. Call it a mother's instinct if you will. The stress of being trapped here has me pulling my hair out. And I can tell you from the tone coming from the other mothers and fathers in Pea's lunch group they feel the same way. It just doesn't make sense to keep us here."

  — Chapter 11 —

  * * *

  My days were busy, sometimes stretching to fourteen hours. My morning cup of coffee was now a ritual three times per day. Just the aroma of it had me eager to get to work.

  With the refurbishing, I felt we were making excellent progress toward correcting the issues from the drawing errors. I had a good team assigned to the effort and was expecting to bring the project to a conclusion both under budget and ahead of schedule. I would not fail and give TC the satisfaction of pushing me back into the checker position.

  As another consolation, easing tensions if only slightly so, the mercenary teams arrived to protect us. TC made every effort to make their presence known, parading them around to the different cafeterias for talks during our lunch breaks. I had to admit, their level of professionalism surprised me. We all received instructions for a full evacuation plan which added to our feeling of security.

  I was on the stairwell in one of the mines, directing my crews, when I felt several rumbles. I immediately thought one of the other two nearby mines were caving in, just as we had feared. I scrambled up six flights of stairs. When I reached the surface, I hurried to look out the transparent dome that encapsulated the top of the shaft; my eyes could hardly believe what they were seeing. A section of the main building was on fire.

  Seconds later, an explosion happened just outside. It knocked me from my feet as it shook the dome with a tremendous force. I couldn't see where it had come from.

  I tossed the tablet I was carrying at a bench as I ran past it, turning after toward the transparent walkway going to the main building. In a panic, I ignored my locker. It held both my comm and the expensive cold suit I had purchased several weeks before. My heart jumped into my throat as I thought of both Denise and Pea being in trouble... and I was about a kilometer away. The muscles in my legs pumped as I ran, but I couldn't seem to move fast enough.

  I sprinted into the transparent cross-tunnel. It connected to the main building over five hundred meters away. A third explosion happened, almost knocking me from my feet. An alarm blared at the far end of the tunnel. There, the transparent enclosure cracked wide-open.

  My boots slid to a stop as I turned to run in the other direction. A fierce wind forced me to put my head down as the heated air from the shaft and dome flew toward the breach. I almost panicked as the airlock door in front of me began to close. I ran and dove, my left shoulder striking the closing door as I passed through.

  I fell to the floor, knowing I had just broken a bone. Before the pain registered, using my good arm, I rolled over and pushed myself to my feet. I staggered over to the bench where I had thrown the tablet and picked it up. The display was shattered. It would not turn on.

  I glanced at my empty wrist, remembering my comm was in my locker. I hurried to the locker only to discover the steel door was jammed. Several kicks failed to force it free.

  Another explosion rocked me. The transparent bubble covering the mine-shaft opening, just above my head—cracked. I could hear the hiss of air escaping, but the structure held.

  Most of the dozen people trapped in the dome with me were scurrying about. Some stood still, blankly staring out through the dome at the main building. The ground began to shake as a section of the main building collapsed, obliterating the remains of the tunnel at the other end, blocking off that exit.

  My heart jumped as a Togmal warship slipped overhead with its plasma weapons firing. Streaks of blue light shot across the short distance to the main building, sending debris into the air. New flames erupted and smoke billowed.

  It was then I saw one of the merc ships, the Eagle's Wing, coming to our defense. More blue zips of plasma flew, this time striking the Togmal ship as it turned hard skyward. Bits of debris blew out from its tail section as the merc gunner earned his pay.

  I was jolted by a bright explosion that I felt several seconds later in the form of a shockwave striking the dome. The transparent structure cracked further, and the temperature suddenly dropped, but the thick, polycarbonate dome held.

  My eyes turned skyward as the damaged Togmal warship nosed over and rocketed directly toward us. The merc gunner continued firing out a devastating volley of plasma rounds as they followed. With an instinct I didn't know I had, I turned and ran toward the mine shaft. Down below would be safety, with generators, heat, water, and food. I passed through the doors heading to the massive elevator and wide stairwell going down.

  I hesitated in front of the open elevator doors, wanting to step inside, but my brain was screaming out NO. As I took a glance back, the battered Togmal ship slammed into the ground outside. From the impact and from scattering debris, that side of the transparent dome shattered, sending a wall of subzero air rolling across the floor. A shockwave knocked down all those who remained out in the dome.

  The hundred-person elevator I was contemplating boarding—dropped like a stone. The floor beneath me jerked one way and then the other, taking out my footing. I bounced forward, toward the opening, while at the same time an intense rush of air followed the elevator down. With my good arm I reached out, grabbing hold of the edge of the door. My legs went into the shaft and over the edge, dangling... but I held fast.

  As I struggled to keep my grip, the frigid air from outside slapped me in the face, sending a chill down my spine. The air was so cold it felt solid. The bitter freeze clawed at my fingertips, but to release my grip meant certain death.


  I gritted my teeth. Pea and Denise needed me. With all the might I could muster, I pulled myself out and rolled away from the opening. My broken arm was numb. I could see it was a displaced fracture from the lump under my coveralls. The skin was unbroken, but the bone had separated.

  Supporting the break with my good hand, I gripped the leg of a nearby table with my other and slowly pulled, a scream of anguished pain erupted as the misaligned bone slipped back into place. My upper lip quivered as I passed out.

  When my eyes opened, I could feel the grip of the cold taking hold of my senses. It had only been a few seconds, but a crystalline-white layer of frost had already formed around the dome fractures.

  I willed myself to my feet, cradling my arm. I hurried over to the double doors that separated the elevator and stairs from the dome outside. If I wanted to save Denise and Pea, I had to keep myself alive first. I flipped a hook, swinging one of the heavy doors around, locking it into place with a latch on the floor. My entire body shivered from the shock of my injury and the epic cold. The second door closed with a comforting clang.

  I dropped to my knees as a wave of warm air coming up from the still-open elevator shaft began to fill the room. The dome was gone, but there were generators, heat, and help in the mine below. When my senses had calmed to the level where I could again think, I stood and walked toward the steps going down. There would be medical staff, along with comms to the main building. Denise and Pea were foremost in my mind.

  I had only descended a single flight of stairs when I could hear voices coming up from deep below. It was a welcome sound. I let out a sigh of relief as I continued.

  When I reached the recently repaired eighth turn, a tremendous vibration shook the stairwell. I took hold of the rail beside me, barely keeping my feet. I could hear the twisting and tearing of metal, then the hard cracks of concrete breaking, a sure sign the shaft supports below had failed.

  For just a moment, screams echoed up from beneath. I turned to scramble back toward the top of the stairs. The lights in the shaft dimmed and were then completely blocked by a billowing plume of dust coming up from the collapse. I released the rail as it pulled from the wall.

  I reached down, feeling my way up the stairs as the darkness enveloped me. I pulled my coverall over my face in an attempt to keep the excessive dust from my lungs. It wasn't enough. It took every ounce of will to keep myself from coughing, forcing me to suck in more of the fouled air.

  "Is this it? Am I done for?"

  The morbid thoughts again brought Denise and Pea back to the forefront of my mind. I was not going to let myself die without knowing if they were safe. I climbed up the final step, still not breathing, then scurried across the floor to the doors.

  The handle felt almost frozen as I gripped it. When the light of the Echelon day streamed in, the cold again smacked the bare skin of my face. I sucked in a breath, the frigid air stinging my lungs.

  As I wiped dust from my eyes, I hurried over to my locker. My first kick reminded me it was stuck.

  "Come on Ray. Make this thing open!"

  I kicked again and the locker door sprang free.

  I grabbed the cold suit and comm before hustling back to beside the stairwell door where warm air, although full of dust, billowed up from below. I pulled the suit onto my legs first, shivering as I struggled to get my broken arm inside. I knew five minutes max in those temperatures would bring frostbite to my exposed skin.

  The pain was excruciating. But when the zipper reached just under my chin, I knew I could make it. I pulled the hood over my head and cinched it tight. I took a pair of heavy gloves from my pockets and pulled them onto my aching hands. The right glove was a battle against the pain, but defeat was no longer something I believed in. I had to get back to Denise and Pea.

  A side pouch contained a wool scarf. I wrapped it around my head and face. The wool warmed my breath, bringing immediate relief to my lungs. I placed the comm bracelet over the sleeve of my suit and opened a channel to Denise. The seconds that went by as I waited on a reply were a torment.

  "Ray? Thank goodness! Are you okay?"

  I sighed as I spoke through the scarf. "My arm is broken. And I'm outside. You? Pea?"

  "We're good. We're in the room. Power is out. I have the cold suit on. I have Pea wrapped up tight. The temperature out in the hall is way down. What's going on?"

  "The Togmal attacked. I guess they managed to get past the mercs and got in a few shots. Anything coming over your comm or the news channel?"

  "Just the same message to stay in your rooms and make yourself warm. I've heard people screaming out in the hall. It's chaos. Wait... you're outside? And where are the mercs?"

  "The dome over Mine One fractured. And the shaft collapsed. There's two thousand people down there, Denise. I see fires at the main building. Is the air in the hall clear or do you see smoke?"

  "Hold on... some smoke. And the people going by are all heading toward the other end of the building. Not sure it's any better. I'm keeping us here. You get inside!"

  "If the smoke picks up, you head out with the crowd. Otherwise, I'm coming your way. I don't know how I'll get in there, but I'll figure it out. Just know I'm okay."

  Denise sighed. "Crap. We've done absolutely nothing to secure this place. Best I have for defense is a kitchen knife. I wish I'd brought one of my weapons from home. All those years of training with my dad, I could at least give them a fight."

  "As far as I can tell, none have landed."

  "That's good. Your arm? How bad?"

  "Not compound, just displaced. But back in place. Don't worry. I'll make it. Just keep safe."

  I walked toward the hole in the side of the shaft dome. I could feel the cold through my suit. I was still shivering, but it was tolerable.

  I glanced down at my co-workers as I traversed the floor of the dome. Their bodies were beginning to freeze solid. I wanted to look away... but I couldn't. It was a relief when I reached the outside and left the sight behind.

  As I crossed the hard, frozen surface of Echelon, I saw debris from the Togmal warship. Even given my desperate situation and my injury, curiosity got the best of me. I walked the few meters to the wreckage.

  There I came upon our enemy. It was a Togmal crewman... or at least half of him. His helmet was split apart, revealing his gray, scaly skin. His eyes were stuck open. Bright-red, frozen stains of blood covered the ground where his lower half would have been. I pulled down the wool scarf just long enough to spit on his face.

  As I walked further through the debris, I came across another body and then a third. The Togmal looked as though mad scientists had conducted some horrific genetic experiment where a human was cross-bred with a lizard. I was not impressed.

  I then came across a Togmal weapon. It had the standard shape of an assault rifle, but with a power-pack and settings that weren't familiar. My knowledge of such was limited to the movies and video feeds I had viewed over my life while watching entertainment. I was far from an expert on weapons and had no military training.

  I lifted the rifle in my good hand, looking over the various buttons and dials on its side. I selected a slide, pushing it forward. The electronics of the weapon came to life.

  — Chapter 12 —

  * * *

  I don't know what possessed me, but I turned and took aim at one of the dead Togmal. I squeezed the trigger and a plasma burst shot forward, blowing a hole the size of a cabbage in the Togmal's frozen side. I experienced pure gratification.

  I turned toward the building and was surprised to find five soldiers in hardened suits standing in front of me, their weapons trained. I lowered the Togmal rifle. The merc soldiers did the same once I was recognized as human.

  "Sir. You shouldn't be out here."

  I gestured with a head nod. "Came from the dome. Heading to the main building. My wife and daughter are in there."

  "Tannis, take him to the ship."

  "My arm is broken."

  "We'll get
you taken care of. Barts, take your team and check that structure."

  I shook my head. "No one but me made it. And the shaft going down to the mine collapsed. If anyone is alive down there, they're trapped."

  "We'll check it out, sir. Right now, let's get you to where it's warm and have our doc look over that arm."

  During the short walk to the merc ship, I wondered how they had landed so close to the wreckage without me realizing. If a Togmal ship had done the same, I would now be dead because of my inane curiosity.

  I opened a comm to Denise as soon as I was on the merc ship. "Hey. I've been rescued by the mercs. You still safe?"

  "The power has come back on and with it the heat. I think we're okay."

  Once I knew they were safe, the pain, the terror, and the fatigue set in. I suddenly felt faint and dropped to my knees. I heard the merc beside me call for help before I face planted onto the deck.

  White light shattered my eyes. I blinked trying to focus. Denise’s face appeared; she was looking down at me with a smile. Was I dreaming?

  "Hey there Sleeping Beauty" she said. "You’ve been out for over 7 hours." Pea popped up beside her with a grin. My heart raced with joy. My family was there with me, and safe.

  Denise gently brushed the hair on my forehead from my eyes with her hand. Her warm, gentle touch was like a huge hug, like something I would receive after being away for weeks. She picked up Pea and put her on the bed beside me. Pea leaned in for me to give her a kiss on the forehead and her little arms wrapped around my neck.

  A doctor walked in. "Mr. Jackson. You appear to be a lucky man."

  "Yeah." I thought. "I'm lucky. I have my family."

  "The break was clean. Who set it for you?"

  "I did that myself, doc. I was desperate."

  "Well it went perfectly back in place. And the tissue surrounding it appears to be in good shape. I added a bonding agent that will keep it together until it fully mends. You'll experience some pain and discomfort around the break. While the damage was light, you still have muscles and other tissues that are bruised. Other than the pain, which will subside in a few weeks, the arm should be fully functional."