Immortal Suicide: A Fight Across Time And Space

by Simon Bown

  Weedon watched and reacted little to the severe flash of light or the powerful sub bass reverberation. The rift opened to reveal a dismal volcanic terrain.

  He stepped through quickly, anxious to place the warhead in position and destroy the Mezzyima trans-dimensional gateway. The flash of time space imagery caused little upset to him and he turned to wait for Teafu. An expression of fear and confusion crossed Teafu’s face as he passed through the rift onto the rugged surface. “What is it? What’s the problem?” Weedon was immediately concerned.

  “I have lost all of my telepathy.” Teafu closed his eyes and remained still. “There is nothing, I am completely cut off from any psychic energy.”

  For the first time in their relationship Weedon saw a real vulnerability in him. He appeared as a normal defenceless human, it was only his immortality that remained. Luckily this was not a quality linked to his telepathy but a real enduring part of his physicality. “What could be causing the loss?”

  “It must be a result of the vortex, we are very close to a trans dimensional boundary. I would not know what effect that could have on extra sensory abilities. At least we know the Mezzyima will be similarly affected.”

  Weedon pulled the new remote from his bag and closed the rift. “We should get this done quickly and return to safety.”

  LUCY’S FIGHT

  Lucy arrived through the rift, ignored Barton’s desperately curious expression and sat heavily against the wall. Teafu‘s clumsy remote clattered to the floor as Lucy raised her hands to her head. Her perception both in mind and spirit was dominated by the aftermath of his encounter with Teafu. She had looked into the eyes of a truly evil individual and felt her mind sapped of all hope. A psychic sledge hammer had beaten repeatedly on her mind and the lack of it gaining access had been a hindrance rather than a saviour.

  Barton took in Lucy’s broken state and felt desperately sorry for what he had put her through. He could not risk exposing himself to one of Teafu’s colleagues and giving away his presence in this era. If he could be sure of Teafu’s whereabouts at a precise time and place then and only then would he act. A few moments ago he had seen Lucy step through a rift to the past, a worried but vibrant woman and within seconds she had returned a drawn desperate character. Encountering Teafu had been a shocking event for Lucy but it was something Barton was willing to risk for the sake of Teafu's demise. The vagaries of time travel gave Barton all the time he needed to wait for Lucy to recover but he was anxious to continue his pursuit. Several moments passed in silence as Barton looked down on her. His conflicted thoughts left him both desperate to help and eager to cross-examine her regardless of her trauma. He picked up the remote Lucy had collected from the past and examined it carefully. “What happened?” Barton’s reassuring tone did little to help Lucy.

  “There were others there, odd alien entities.” Barton was obviously worried. “What do you mean? What did they look like?”

  “Large balls of liquid metal floating a few feet off the ground. I was rendered immobile by their powerful minds and commanded to remain still. It was the most shocking moment of my life.” Lucy turned on Barton and shouted at him, spitting every word. “Did you know they would be there? Did you really risk my life, my sanity in this twisted chase?” Lucy searched Barton’s eyes for a moment before she turned away. Her hands were shaking and she felt dizzied by her outburst.

  “They are the Mezzyima, I had no idea they would be there. We must keep clear of them at all cost. What they want with Teafu is not our concern.”

  “You know them?”

  “I have encountered them before. There is a lot more to this than I can explain in the time we have available.”

  For the first time Lucy saw that Barton was worried and it scared her. If Barton could not fight off these Mezzyima with all his advanced technology then they were in much greater danger than she had previously suspected. She looked at the remote in Barton’s hands. “He dropped it. I thought it might be of some use.”

  Barton admired Lucy’s fortitude. Her voice was weak and shallow but did not lack the cadence of a keen mind. He turned the device over in his hands perhaps he could access it and find any hidden secrets.

  “I think it is his remote, he opened a rift with it.”

  Barton sat next to Lucy and spoke softly. “Is he the one I’m looking for?”

  Lucy curled up, hugged her knees close to her chest and caught Barton with an intense stare. “Yes.”

  After Lucy had been helped to her bed Barton examined the remote to garner all the information he could from it. The crude design and build suggested it was constructed with limited resources and Barton found no difficulty in downloading the contents.

  Lucy awoke feeling entirely free of the previous night’s torment. She sat up and discovered Barton meditating at the foot of his bed. She waited for her host to surface from his effortless calm. Gradually the mind alighted and the eyes opened to reveal an assured Barton.

  “We have found him. I have taken his remote apart and stripped it of all its information, I know where he is going.” He smiled and got to his feet with surprising speed.

  “You know where he is going?”

  “Yes. The fool programmed his next destination into the remote. A planet on the edge of the universe, I should have known all along. He is going to Haras.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Well I have to follow him there and do as I will.”

  “What do you mean, a planet on the edge of the universe?”

  Barton smiled. “It is the planet where the Mezzyima enter our universe, through a trans dimensional vortex. Teafu means to close it.”

  “But won’t the Mezzyima stop him?”

  “I don’t think they can. Anyway I will be there and I will stop him.”

  Lucy wondered why Barton was always so confident he could get the better of Teafu. “How can you be so sure?”

  “Teafu is an immortal and so killing him is not an option. I will have to remove him from our universe. One way of doing this is to pass through a vortex such as the one on Haras.” Barton walked to the door.

  “And this is what you will do? Throw him into the vortex?” Lucy asked.

  “Yes, it suits my purposes perfectly. I will need your help, the area will be full of Mezzyima and it will take all of my concentration to avoid them.” He walked through the door and disappeared out of sight.

  Lucy fell back on her bed and put her hands over her eyes.

  The large reactor room that had facilitated Lucy’s joyous entrance back into her own time had now become a place of ominous portent. She entered and looked down at the space where she had rested after her encounter with Teafu. A vibrant Barton watched and waited for Lucy to speak. He looked at Lucy and sensed her determination. In their brief time together Barton had not perceived such a depth of assurance.

  “I’m ready. What do you need me to do?” Lucy asked.

  “I have pinpointed the time and place of his emergence on the planet Haras. We will travel there through normal space from a rift a few light days out of the system. But first we should acquire a space craft. What we need is a small, fast space plane but unfortunately the sort of thing I’m thinking of is not built until sometime after your encounter with Teafu. Therefore, we must travel to a time and place in the far future and then return to the arena of battle.” Barton picked up the remote and brought the reactor to life.

  “Why do we need a space craft? Why not just open a rift?”

  “The Mezzyima will have a large presence. If we open a rift we will risk drawing too much attention to ourselves.” Barton looked down at the remote. “On a planet a long way from the Amalgam, far out of the Mezzyima sphere of influence, we will find a bazaar populated by pirates, thieves and general undesirables. We can obtain a space craft capable of what we need from there.”

  The desert floor trembled as the bass tone pulsed the opening of the rift. Dust motes danced in a circular pattern mapping out the wave
form of the thundering quantum occurrence. Barton stepped out of the rift, his grave face giving away his sense of grief for all the life lost on this world.

  He was followed by an all-together more cautious Lucy. They walked away from the rift and turned to watch it close.

  “This is Strocir Sumae, a planet used by Teafu and his two accomplices as a base of operations. When he was found here and the Mezzyima attempted to capture him, he dropped an asteroid onto the planet to create a diversion for his escape.”

  Lucy slowly looked around and with sudden shock spoke quickly. “This is an alien planet! It can’t be safe for me here, what about alien microbes or germs or..?”

  Barton looked at Lucy and talked with a certain sadness. “All indigenous life was killed when the asteroid struck, nothing survived, not even the tiniest bacteria.”

  The full gravity of Teafu’s acts of terrorism finally became truly apparent to Lucy and she was shocked to the core. She turned a full circle looking to the horizon, grasping the shocking reality and shedding her fear for her own safety. Teafu must be stopped and it was now she would move forward with a deadly resolve.

  Barton pointed towards some tall dunes. “Approximately one mile over there we will find what we need.” He turned and began to climb the rise of desert sand.

  Lucy and Barton stopped at the summit to take in the view. A small makeshift town made up the ground between them and a river flowing through the desert floor half a mile distant. The prefabricated buildings rose no more than two levels and had the aged look only sand ravaged constructions could have. Many were patched up with varying degrees of success and some had windows very raggedly cut straight from the basic structure. Scattered amongst them lay small space craft, large weapons and stalls selling small weapons and food. Beyond the bazaar to the left a number of space planes and small shuttles took up a parking area. Crew members loitered around their vessels being harassed by children selling food and cheap jewellery while others made their way in and out of the market. A small shuttle lifted silently off the sand and after hovering momentarily at only a few feet accelerated into the sky at such a pace it virtually disappeared.

  “There we are.” Barton pointed toward the centre of the marketplace. “Just as I thought.” He said.

  Lucy noticed the large number of dangerous looking individuals. “Are you sure we will be safe?” She asked.

  Barton smiled. “Oh yes, quite safe. Just stay with me.” He led the way down the slope and in amongst the buildings.

  Every person they passed wore an unusual metallic head piece, as they moved the metal changed colour and a depth of imagery flowed over the surface. “What are they wearing on their heads?” Lucy asked.

  “Telepathy suppressors. No one can have an advantage over you if they can’t read your thoughts.”

  “What are the pictures on them?”

  “A set of pre-recorded psychic experiences are continually being transmitted on every wave length a human can sense, these act as a camouflage to block access to what is really going on in their minds.”

  Lucy noticed she and Barton were getting some interested and confused looks as they passed further into the market. She overheard conversation that was obviously English but the sentences were constructed in such a peculiar fashion she could not make sense of what was being said. “Why are they all looking at us?” Lucy asked.

  “We are the only people with no head wear. They find it very odd we are not trying to block telepathic access. It might indicate we are Amalgam agents. Naturally they are worried.” Barton turned a corner and made a straight line to a stall next to a small space plane. “Good day sir.” He said. “I wish to take your space craft.”

  The short stall keeper rubbed his stubble with his right hand and pressed an icon on a terminal to his left. He took the foul smelling cigar from his mouth, squinted at Lucy and then looked Barton in the eye. “Who are you?” He asked.

  “That is not important.” Barton replied. “I have a quantity of Mallanite to offer you for this fine vessel. How much do you require?”

  The stall keeper’s eyes lit up at the mention of the Mallenite. “Where are your suppressors?” He asked.

  Lucy noticed a small crowd gathering around them, something that Barton seemed to be oblivious to.

  A second man appeared from the building attached to the stall. He walked around and stood next Lucy.

  Barton continued as if talking to a shop keeper on a pleasant summer day. “We have no need for suppressors. Do you have a price or should I go elsewhere?”

  The stall keeper spat some dark drool onto the sand by his feet. “Mallenite? Where would you get Mallenite from?” He motioned at Barton with a contemptuous gesture.

  “That is not your concern.”

  “Mallenite can be easily traced, I wouldn’t want to be linked to anything illegal or dishonest.”

  “It is totally clean I assure you. Not that you seem to be the most lawful of businessmen.”

  The stall keeper nodded at his colleague who moved quickly putting one arm around Lucy’s neck and raising a weapon to Barton with the other.

  Barton turned and faced the aggressor. He focused an intense stare on the man who suddenly screamed. The weapon discharged into Barton’s chest. A large number of tiny bloody jets erupted from the many wounds but he did not fall or cry out in pain. Barton stepped forward and took the weapon from the man’s hand as he collapsed whimpering to the floor.

  The stall keeper pointed at Barton and cried out a fearful assertion. “You’re an immortal.”

  The massed crowd turned and struggled to make a quick but chaotic exit from the marketplace. Individuals fell in the rush and were trampled by the panic stricken mob.

  Lucy stared, and just as she thought nothing more could surprise or shock her the discovery that Barton was an immortal came and shattered her equilibrium as if she had suffered a terrible physical blow. She would have been angry but for the stress of the last few days. The desert floor came up to meet her as she sat heavily and put her hand to her forehead.

  Barton crouched and touched her arm. “Sorry Lucy. I should have told you.” He said.

  The parking area had become a scene of alarm and congestion as too many crew fought to board the tiny vessels. With barely a second between them the small craft lifted off one by one and powered into orbit. Each tiny shadow zipped over the bazaar as the panicked stall holders and customers made an anxious exit.

  “You know if you had just made me a deal none of this would have happened.” Barton said to the stall keeper. “Now if we can start again. How much Mallenite do you want for that space plane behind you?”

  The stall keeper stared at Barton, frightened and confused. “You still wish to make a transaction?”

  “Yes of course. I am not a thief, I wouldn’t just take it.”

  Lucy looked around and studied the empty marketplace. “Why did they run?” She asked.

  “People always think immortals are agents of the Mezzyima.” Barton replied and looked at the stall keeper. “In this case they are quite wrong.”

  “Two hundred pounds.” The stall keeper said.

  Barton appeared surprised and impressed that despite the stall keeper’s obvious fear he still had the audacity to request a ludicrous sum. “You want two hundred pounds of Mallenite? For that tiny space plane?”

  “One hundred?” The frightened stall keeper proposed.

  “Five pounds.” Barton stated. “And no more.”

  “Yes, very good. Five. What of him?” The stall keeper pointed a shaking hand at his colleague still lying unconscious on the sand.

  “He will be fine in a few days.” Barton reached into his inside pocket and lifted out a small velvet bag. He handed it to the stall keeper who was suddenly quite excited.

  “Here are the command codes.”

  Barton allowed himself a huge smile. “Excellent.” He said.

  The space plane had more room inside than Lucy was expecting. The forward compar
tment housed the piloting and navigation section together with a small open area behind the crew seating with a galley dispenser. In the rear was the sleeping room with two small bunks and a tiny shower cubicle. “Are you sure this is what we need? I think it’s a little small for doing battle with Teafu or the Mezzyima.” Lucy said.

  “It was designed to travel several days at high speed inside star systems. The salesmen here always install certain screening systems. Particularly they have put in a larger version of the telepathy suppressor.” Barton closed the interior airlock door and sat in the pilot seat. “Once we are close to the planet surface we will disembark and find them quickly.” Barton took his remote from his pocket and cradled it in his hands. A pin point of intense blue light materialized two hundred yards in front of the small craft.

  A severe sonic boom snatched Lucy’s attention away from Barton and she looked out of the window to see a large menacing vessel pass overhead. “Barton, I think one of the stall holders has returned.” He said.

  The craft executed a brutal high speed turn. Flaps on its right side lifted and released engine gasses which in turn produced a dirty grey vapour trail. The front reared up as it cut its speed dramatically and came to a dead stop.

  Barton peered out and studied the new arrival. “I think it’s an ex-military attack craft, a warrior class Remorseless. Quite deadly.” The rift opened and expanded rapidly to a size easily capable of swallowing the shuttle. Barton took hold of the controls and moved them forward.

  Two wisps of smoke underneath the large craft signalled the release of a pair of high velocity missiles.

  Lucy gazed, shocked at the incoming menace. “Barton I think we might need to go a little faster.”