“I didn’t say that. Of course we’re real. You’re more real here than anywhere else. This is your mind, your soul, in a pure form.”
She nodded slightly.
“We aren’t really talking,” he continued. “And I can’t really touch and feel your body. I guess whatever part of us exists here is interacting in some other way and we sense it as touch.”
“It feels so real, though!”
“I know. I think the implants must be involved, but I have no idea how.”
“So you launched yourself into this just to save me? Thank you!”
Jess flushed with embarrassment.
“Not exactly. I had no idea you were here. I came here to help the Wanderer, to save it from the same attacks you suffered from. I saw your bubble blow past and started chasing it immediately. It took a while to catch up, but I made it in the end.”
“Thank you anyway. However you came to be here, you still saved me.”
She grabbed his head before he could reply, pulling him into a passionate kiss. He felt the warmth of her body pressing against him, could smell her skin. The simulation truly was amazing. He decided it should be checked out once this was all over and the Wanderer was safe. How would it feel to have sex in this virtual world?
Even as he grinned at that thought something nagged at his mind. Something important.
“Shit!” he shouted, pulling back.
“What’s wrong?” Ali asked, startled.
“The Wanderer! I didn’t think. I don’t know where it is. Without my help it isn’t going to be able to hold out. We have to get back to it, wherever it is.”
Jess concentrated, getting them moving in a direction that felt right. With no points of reference and the constantly shifting surroundings he had no idea of the way back and was left relying on feelings.
“Can I help?” Ali asked.
“It’s easier if I handle the defences myself,” Jess replied. “And you’re tired. You could keep your eyes open though, in case I miss anything. Especially the Wanderer. It’s surrounded by a field like the one around us. At least I hope it still is…”
* * *
The Wanderer was struggling. As soon as Jess left the Taint renewed its assault, constantly changing tactics. The defences Jess had devised stifled the attacks for some time, but the Taint started to adjust its attacks. Without Jess’s help the Wanderer was unable to adapt quickly enough to the changes.
It started slowly. A couple of sections in the barrier were overwhelmed by a new type of assault, but the layer behind held. Then a few more sections fell to variants on the same assault. Soon all of the attacks used the new tactics and the Wanderer’s barrier was being crushed and forced inward.
Defeat was inevitable if Jess didn’t return to help. The Wanderer tried reaching out to him, contacting him through his implants. It got nothing but static. Wherever Jess was he was beyond the Wanderer’s ability to contact.
Grimly the Wanderer continued the fight. It wouldn’t give in. It was incapable of giving in. But it could be beaten. If Jess didn’t return in time then it would be beaten. And then the Taint would have won.
* * *
No matter how hard Jess tried he couldn’t detect any sign of the Wanderer. He had to rely on dead reckoning, his memories of chasing after Ali and, mostly, pure guesswork.
Moving through the environment was becoming increasingly difficult. The chaotic streams of colour seemed to be moving faster and hitting harder than they had before. The creatures he’d faced before had returned in greater numbers. They threw themselves against the barrier Jess maintained, forcing him to spend time and energy fending them off.
They kept finding ways to weaken the barrier around Jess and Ali. Jess found himself spending more time dealing with the attacks than looking for the Wanderer.
Each time he found a new way to bolster the defences, a new way to destroy those who attacked, they seemed to find a way to counter it almost immediately. Jess gritted his teeth and battled on, determined not to give in.
Having Ali so close helped. It reminded him of the most important thing at stake in the fight. She still had her arms wrapped around him as she stared out, seeking any sign of the Wanderer.
Jess grew more and more frustrated as time passed without any sign of the ship. He started to realise just how impossible a task he had taken on.
“This is useless,” he said. “We’ll never find the Wanderer at this rate. We need to try something different.”
“Don’t leave me here, Jess. Please!” Ali said.
“No. Of course not!” He hugged her tightly. “That’s not what I meant. I need to find some way to locate the Wanderer, or communicate with it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, but I have to try. We can’t stay like this forever. If the Wanderer loses then it’s all over.”
“Be careful. We don’t know what else is out there.”
“I will. And I won’t leave you. I promise.”
“I love you, Jess.”
“I love you too. I’ll get us out of this. Don’t you worry.”
He closed his eyes, focusing on what he had in mind. Up until now he’d been trying to find any sign the Wanderer had passed. Now he reached out for the Wanderer itself, trying to use his link to the ship. If he could make that connection then he could follow it back to the Wanderer. In theory, at least.
Jess knew he wouldn’t have long before having to fend off another attack. He turned his attention inwards, towards his link with the Wanderer, then forced power through it. It worked! The link was tenuous, almost non-existent, but he could feel the Wanderer out there somewhere. He would need to strengthen the connection before it could be used as a guide, but the theory worked. They could track the Wanderer down.
Pain exploded in his neck, just below his right ear. Jess screamed, losing the connection to the Wanderer. Snapping his eyes open he searched for the attacker, even as he wondered how any creature had got through his barrier undetected.
There was no sign of any attacker. Ali was close beside him still, hands pressed against the injury. Trying to stop the blood flow, Jess guessed. It certainly wasn’t stopping the pain. What the hell had taken a chunk out of him?
“Ow! I’m not sure that’s helping,” he said.
She didn’t answer.
“Ali… what got me? Damn it hurts. It seems to be getting worse. Let me feel the damage.”
She still didn’t respond. Jess took hold of her hands, tried to move them. He couldn’t shift them. And the pain was getting worse.
“Ali, please. Move your hands. I need to see what’s happening.”
She still didn’t answer, but this time she turned to face him. Jess recoiled in shock but her hands on his neck stopped him getting far. The Ali he knew was gone. In her place was something which had to come from the Taint. Her eyes were glowing red, her face had gone chalk white. And the grin on her face… it was chilling to see.
How had the Taint taken her? Had the creature that attacked Jess also attacked Ali? He checked the barrier. No. Nothing had come through the barrier. Then how…
And then it all clicked into place. Nothing had come through the barrier. The creature had always been within. He’d been so pleased to find Ali, to save her, that he hadn’t considered that it might not be her. For the second time the Taint had used his love for Ali to get close to him.
This time there would be no escape. Jess realised that Ali was the source of his pain, that she was attacking him directly. He pulled in the barrier so it only surrounded him, strengthening it as he did so. Ali was outside the barrier now, but she showed no ill effects. As he’d suspected, she was now a creature of the Taint.
With Ali’s influence removed the barrier seemed stronger again. The creatures were back, launching themselves at the barrier time after time, but no longer showing any sign of being able to penetrate it. Ali must have been passing on information about each defence Jess had created. No wonder they had been overcoming them so quickly!
There was one area the barrier couldn’t protect. Ali’s hands were still digging into Jess’s neck, and the Taint was assaulting Jess through that connection. He fought back as well as he could but it quickly became clear he couldn’t possibly win. The Taint was attacking him directly, pushing into his very soul, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Or was there? Hope flared as an idea formed. Of course! The Taint could only attack him while he remained in this realm. All he had to do was return to the real world for a few moments. That would break the connection, giving him a chance to recover. Then he could enter the realm again, but where the Wanderer was rather than back into Ali’s hands.
Even as the thought formed he put it into action, launching himself back towards the real world. Nothing happened. Panic settled over Jess. Desperately he tried again. And again. With the same result each time.
“Oh no, my love,” Ali said. “You can’t leave. I won’t let you. Not until I’m done with you, at least.”
Jess struggled against her, trying to find some way, any way, to break free. All he needed was a few moments of freedom. Just long enough to return to the real world.
Nothing worked. Ali’s grip was unbreakable, and her assault continued without interruption. To Jess each new attack felt like icy needles pushing into his soul. Each attack left him weaker. Each brought him closer to death, or becoming like Ali, and there was nothing he could do.
Part V
Staring Into The Abyss
Chapter 43
The Wanderer reached out for Jess, trying to recapture the connection it had briefly felt, but there was nothing. He was gone.
That was bad news. The Wanderer had already lost much of the ground Jess had helped it gain. Control of almost all systems, including the shields, had been lost. The Taint was pushing the Wanderer back faster and faster.
The fight wasn’t over. Not yet, but it would be soon. Without a miracle, without Jess, the Wanderer was going to lose.
* * *
With no other options left Jess did the unthinkable. He gathered all the power he could, then blasted it at Ali. Despite everything that had happened, despite knowing it wasn’t really Ali, tears still flowed down his cheeks as he unleashed the attack.
Ali just laughed, shrugging off the attack and continuing her own. Jess slumped in her grip. He had nothing left to give. His resistance to the attack was crumbling rapidly. Soon, very soon, it would all be over.
The attack suddenly changed nature. White hot pain poured through every nerve in his body. Jess writhed in Ali’s grasp, struggling to form a coherent thought. Was this it? Was it all over? Or had the Taint broken through only to face a final defence? Was the pain a good thing?
The chaotic world around him wavered, flickering in and out of existence. Jess hardly noticed. The pain had intensified, something he hadn’t thought possible. Things got worse. Something huge grabbed Jess and tore him away from where he was. He felt as if he was being torn into tiny pieces at the same time.
It stopped as suddenly as it started. Jess blinked several times. He was somewhere dark. He seemed to be laying on the floor. As his eyes adjusted something moved into sight. Jess flinched, then relaxed as he realised what he was seeing.
“Teeko!” he said. “I’m so pleased to see you. What happened? And where are we?”
“Men through wall came. Men guns with. Teeko two killed. Came more did. Jess friend in danger was. Jess friend Teeko moved.”
Men with guns? The troopers! Jess hadn’t thought to check where he and Teeko were when the alien first snatched him from Ali’s grasp. But why would Teeko have chosen an area so close to the troopers?
Teeko wouldn’t have known. Teeko hadn’t been involved in the discussions about the troopers. Ending up near them had just been bad luck, then. Jess frowned. How had the troopers broken through? The reinforced walls should have held them for a long time. He checked the time and was shocked to find three hours had passed. Had he really spent that long away from his body? Apparently so.
Jess reached out to the Wanderer, wanting to check where Teeko and he now were. Something was very wrong with it. Something major was missing. All that remained were the most basic systems, such as the time and internal maps. The soul of the Wanderer was gone.
Panic gripped Jess. Was it too late? Had the Wanderer fallen to the Taint? There was only one way to tell for sure.
“Teeko, I have to go back in. The Wanderer is in great danger still. Can you watch over me again?”
“Friend Jess Teeko guard will. Friend Jess Teeko safe keep will.”
“Thanks.”
Jess was gone almost before he finished speaking. His mind hurtling towards that other place. Towards the Wanderer. He hoped. Trying to convince himself it wasn’t too late. Trying to ignore the fear gnawing at his guts.
* * *
Jess burst back into the chaotic realm of swirling colours. Things had changed in the time he’d been away, or he was in a different area than before. Yellow was the predominant colour now, yellow with a sickly green swirling through it.
There was no sign of the Wanderer. In fact to begin with there was no sign of anything except the swirling colours. That didn’t last long. The Taint soon reacted to his presence. More of the creatures appeared and quickly closed in, trying to reach Jess.
This time he wasn’t fighting on two fronts. His barrier easily withstood the attacks. Lightning streamed from his hands, ripping apart creature after creature.
Fighting was getting him nowhere, though. He needed to find the Wanderer. Closing his eyes he focused, concentrating on his link with the ship. The Wanderer was still there, though far weaker than before. He could sense its desperation and fatigue. It wasn’t going to last much longer.
Still focusing on the link Jess launched himself forwards, smashing through the chaos as he closed in on the ship. It still felt a long way off, but at least he was heading in the right direction.
Moving was harder than it had been before. More than just the colours surrounding him had changed. It felt like he was fighting his way through treacle. He wasn’t moving fast enough. If he didn’t speed up the Wanderer would succumb before he arrived.
Jess tried shaping his barrier into a cone, to drill through any resistance. It made no difference. He tried pushing against his surroundings, using it to push off from. Again it made no difference. Despair threatened to overwhelm him. He felt himself slowing and let it happen. What was the point? He couldn’t make it in time. The Wanderer was still far too far away.
As if to prove the point he felt alarm flowing from his link with the Wanderer. He felt the ship falter. If it was a human it would have been down on its knees. Jess came to a stop. What did it matter whether he was here or slightly closer? Either way the Wanderer would be beaten, consumed, long before he arrived. And he was going to feel it all through his link.
Through his link. Through his link! Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Focusing hard, and not stopping to wonder if what he planned was impossible, Jess focused on the link once more, but this time was different. He didn’t stop at focusing on the link, he forced himself into the link.
It was difficult, like trying to squeeze through a hole that was far too small, but it was working. Jess poured more and more of himself into the link, pushing as hard as he could.
Suddenly everything flipped. Jess was no longer forcing himself in, now he was being dragged in. He couldn’t prevent it even if he wanted to. Moments later everything blurred, then disappeared. Intense pressure built up, making it difficult to think. Fear started to gnaw at him. Surely he should have reached the Wanderer by now. What if he’d made a mistake? Could he end up stuck where he was? Stuck forever?
Panic replaced fear. Jess started to struggle, trying to find something to grip on. Something to orientate himself by. Anything.
Nothing he tried made any difference. He continued to speed along and the pressure kept growing. At this rate he wouldn’t h
ave to worry about being stuck, he’d be ripped apart long before that could happen.
In a flash everything changed again. Bright light surrounded him. The pressure vanished. He hit the ground and rolled over twice before crashing into something hard. A wall.
The wall crumbled under the impact, letting in a swirling, biting, angry presence. It snapped at Jess who instinctively threw up a barrier, sealing the gap.
Jess shook his head and his surroundings seemed to spin. He swallowed hard. When the spinning stopped he was able to make out his surroundings. He’d found the Wanderer! He was back in the bubble it had created. The wall he’d hit was the barrier. His desperate move had worked!
Only just in time. The barrier was now only a few metres across and showing cracks all over. Jess could sense the Wanderer, about to use the last of its reserves, and the powerful Tainted creatures trying to smash their way in.
“No!” Jess yelled. “This isn’t how it ends!”
Forcing himself upright he reached out, merging with the Wanderer’s barrier and stabilising it. The cracks vanished. Jess could feel the Wanderer’s relief, mixed with puzzlement at Jess’s sudden arrival.
Jess quickly set about rebuilding the Wanderer’s defences, and beginning to reclaim what the Taint had taken. This time he wouldn’t become distracted or fall for any traps. This time he was going to drive the Taint completely out of the Wanderer’s systems.
The changes hadn’t gone unnoticed. The Tainted creatures came even thicker and faster than before. It didn’t matter. Jess easily dealt with them.
Then she was there. Ali. As he’d known she would be. This time she was being held between two of the monstrous creatures. Her face was back to normal and she appeared to be struggling to escape. Then she caught sight of him.
“Jess!” she shouted. “Oh god… Jess. Please save me. Please. Don’t let them hurt me!”
Despite everything, Jess felt himself moving towards her, going to her aid. Then he stopped. It wasn’t Ali. He knew that. He might be slow but even he could spot the pattern. The Taint kept using Ali to reach him. No more.
Wanderer's Odyssey - Books 1 to 3: The Epic Space Opera Series Begins Page 82