by G J Ogden
“Is everyone ready?” Satomi called out.
“Ready when you are...” Taylor answered.
“Aye aye, Technical Specialist Satomi Rose!” said Casey with her usual gusto.
“Hell no...” said Blake.
Then the chamber collapsed in around them and they all fell through normal space and into a state of nothingness, into a void similar to what they experienced during a jump. For a few seconds there was nothing and then they each emerged again inside an opaque corridor, surrounded by stars. But this space was different to the one that Taylor knew. Instead of a single corridor, there were four, intersecting in the center to form a cross. Each corridor had a doorway, and unlike the closed door of the DMZ, all four were open. But where the door frames in front of Casey and Blake were dull and absent of light and color, the ones in front of Taylor and Satomi were bathed in an iridescent glow. These were starlight doors, Taylor understood. The gateways into the Fabric.
Taylor was the first to run through, followed quickly by Satomi, but instead of being surrounded by an endless system of wire-framed cubes that seemed to extend into infinity around him, Taylor was surrounded by what seemed to be millions of pinpricks of light, with himself and Satomi at the very center.
“This is the Nexus, Taylor,” said Satomi. “This is where the Fabric begins, and this is where it ends. Every thread connects to this one point. Every command, message and response that Warfare Command has ever issued and will ever issue originates and ends here. It’s what brought us together.”
Taylor was awestruck by the immense beauty of what he was seeing, but then something about what Satomi had said gave him chills. He’d forgotten that inside the Fabric, he was capable of physical emotion again. “If we destroy the Nexus, what happens to us?” he asked, “I know we’ve broken free of the Hedalt programming, but we’re still simulants. If the Nexus is destroyed, are we destroyed with it?”
Satomi took Taylor’s hands, and the warmth of her touch took him completely by surprise. His simulant hands could detect temperature and pressure, but the touch of a human hand was something uniquely special. “I don’t have all the answers Taylor,” Satomi admitted, “but I do know that if we don’t destroy the Nexus, we’ll never truly be free. Don’t ask me how I know that; I just know.”
Taylor smiled and squeezed her hands gently, “I’m going to have to get used to this new, open-minded Satomi Rose. I thought you were guided by tech manuals and formulae.”
Satomi smiled back, “Maybe the original Satomi Rose was,” she said, “but I’m someone different. And so are you.”
“I’d like to figure out who these two new people are,” said Taylor, and then he forced himself to lock his gaze onto hers, even though all he wanted was to look away, “and it would be great if we could figure it out together.”
Satomi laughed, which was not the reaction Taylor had expected, or, if he was honest, had hoped for. But then she touched her hand to the side of his face, as she had done only minutes earlier, except this time the feeling was electric. “Here we are, about to bring our whole universe crashing down around us, and you choose this moment to hit on me?”
Taylor laughed and then shrugged, “Sorry, I guess I never really knew what to say, or when.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Satomi, and then she kissed him softly on the lips. It perhaps only lasted for a second or two, but to Taylor it felt like an eternity. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
They closed their eyes, still holding each other’s hands tightly, and focused on the Nexus, concentrating on the source of its power; the rift between normal space and the Fabric that had been torn open by the Masters eons ago. They both felt it instantly and were drawn to it. Together, they began to fly through the Fabric, deep into the belly of the Nexus, into its heart. The corridors remained connected, pulling Casey and Blake with them. And just as they could sense their presence in the void of a super-luminal jump, Taylor and Satomi could feel them now. Casey and Blake were linked to them, through their consciousness and energy. It was a connection stronger than any metal, a bond stronger than friendship, stronger even than blood. In that moment, they were all one.
Taylor opened his eyes and was almost blinded by the intensity of the light that penetrated the space around them, like the light from a star focused through a diamond. “I can see it!” cried Taylor, “What do we do?”
“You know what to do, Taylor,” said Satomi “You’ve done it before. Just concentrate. I’m with you!”
Taylor took a deep breath and squeezed Satomi’s hands even more tightly, so tightly he was worried he might hurt her, but Satomi just squeezed back. Knowing she was there with him this time filled him with the confidence he needed. He closed his eyes again and pictured the Nexus’ power core in his mind. Overload...
As soon as he thought the word, he heard it echo back to him, and then he heard Satomi repeat it too, their thoughts blending together as one. Pain reached out and crippled his body, ten times more intense than any pain he’d felt before; even more intense than Provost Adra’s purge that had almost destroyed him. He felt his grip weaken, and despite Satomi’s hold on him, the pain was too intense and he could feel himself slipping away. Then two more pairs of hands clasped around him, simultaneously pulling him back up and also keeping him rooted. He opened his eyes and saw Blake and Casey, but it was like looking at a reflection of them in a window, as if there weren’t really there.
“Keep trying!” cried Satomi, her voice distorted and muddled. “We’ve got you!”
He could barely make her out through the blinding light that filled the void between them. But he was no longer afraid, or unsure of their success. He knew that together – as a crew, as a family – they could succeed. He shut his eyes again. Overload…
Suddenly, the light faded and fractured, as if the diamond lens had cracked. He opened his eyes and saw Satomi clearly, still holding his hands.
“We’ve done it!” cried Satomi, “The power core is destabilizing, The Nexus will be destroyed. We have to leave!”
Together they were flying again, back through the guts of the Nexus and into deep space, still as a connected quartet of corridors, until they were back to where they had begun.
Satomi released Taylor’s hands and slapped him on the chest, “Go! Run back through the door!”
Then without another word she was running away from him, towards her own starlight door. Taylor turned and ran too and together they passed through the threshold and out into the void of nothingness, where all that existed was their consciousness, and then finally back into the real world inside the Nexus.
Taylor stepped out of the stasis chamber and onto the deck plating, which was shuddering with seismic-like tremors. Alarms were ringing out all around and the lights were flickering chaotically. He looked along the broad, open hall and saw a figure lying on the deck. He ran towards it with the others close behind and quickly realized that the body was that of the Hedalt engineer, Rikov. His torso was twisted and contorted and his head had been wrenched almost one hundred and eighty degrees around. Taylor looked up and saw a blackened and jagged opening where the laboratory door had once been, and then from the flickering shadows to his side he saw two figures move. One was a Hedalt officer he had never seen before, but the other face he could never forget. It was Adra.
“Avoid this purge, simulant...” Adra snarled. Then she raised her plasma pistol and shot Taylor in the chest.
TWENTY-ONE
Taylor looked down at the smoldering hole in his chest. He could taste the acrid fumes of burning polymers and scorched circuity, but the lack of pain was confusing and surreal, as if the wound was an illusion.
He staggered backwards, suddenly losing control of his legs, but strong arms caught him and prevented his fall. He managed to tilt his head back to see Satomi supporting him, looking more scared than he’d ever seen her before. Her mouth was moving, like she was yelling or even screaming, but he couldn’t he
ar her. Only the sound of the plasma pistol discharging resonated in his ears, blocking everything else out.
Blake turned to make a run for his weapon, which was lying on the floor, beside his non-functional simulant counterpart, but the ripple of plasma filled the air again and the shard struck the deck beside him. Blake froze and glowered back at Vice Provost Adra, smoking pistol in hand, face twisted with a mixture of disgust and satisfaction.
“Try that again, and the next shot will be to your head, simulant,” Adra challenged, snarling the word ‘simulant’. “I intend for you all to die in due course, but not until you have watched your precious Captain expire first.”
“You’re too late!” Blake growled back at her, “This place is gonna blow an’ take us all with it!”
Adra’s right eye twitched and then she shot a glance back to Vika, who understood the subtle message and removed a data pad from her coat pocket. Several seconds passed with only the piercing shriek of the evacuation alarms breaking the silence, until Vika lowered the data pad to her side and slowly stepped beside Adra.
“The simulant is correct,” said Vika. She moderated the volume of her voice with the intention that the simulants couldn’t hear, but she hadn’t accounted for their heightened senses. “The power core is destabilizing.”
“Impossible,” growled Adra, snatching the pad from her grasp with her spare hand. She read the information, digging deeper into the systems menu, but all she discovered was that Vika was correct. The power core was destabilizing and there was nothing she could do about it. Even as a full provost, she would require a quorum of Warfare Council members even to access such a critical system. As a vice provost she was powerless to intervene.
“Leave!” Satomi called out. She had sunk to her knees, still cradling Taylor’s body in her arms with his silver eyes staring up at her, growing duller with each passing second. “It doesn’t matter what you do to us anymore. Your fleet will be crippled and Earth will fall to the humans. You have lost!”
“We will crush your pitiful fleet, even without simulants!” Adra growled, while thrusting the data pad back towards Vika, without even bothering to look at her. Had she done so, Adra would have seen the burning hostility in the adjutant’s eyes; hostility that had not gone unnoticed by Satomi or the others. “Return to the ship and compute a course to Earth,” Adra barked, still waiting for Vika to take the data pad from her. “I will join you once I have destroyed these abominations!”
Vika took the data pad and tossed it to the deck behind her, like a piece of trash. The sound of the device clattering and scraping across the metal caused Adra to jerk around, in case there was another simulant she’d missed. When she saw the pad on the deck, she raised her eyes to meet Vika’s.
“I am no longer yours to command,” Vika said, the words seeping out of her mouth like venom, “The simulant is correct – you have failed. Earth is lost. And your life is now mine to take!”
Satomi, Blake and Casey watched in stunned silence as the two Hedalt soldiers squared off and began to slowly circle one another, eyes locked. Both were coiled and ready to strike. If they’d had lungs, each of the simulants would have been holding their breath.
Adra struck first, raising her plasma pistol to shoot Vika at point-blank range, but Vika was ready. Stepping in, she stripped the pistol from Adra’s grasp, before throwing a fast jab that the Vice Provost blocked with equally astonishing speed. Vika pressed her advantage, pushing Adra back with an unrelenting succession of powerful strikes that even Adra was unable to defend against. Taking hits to the face and body, Adra staggered back, feeling the pain register, despite the protection of her armor. But Vika was overconfident and overstretched, allowing Adra to deflect her next assault and open up a space between them; enough for her to recover her footing.
“I love a good fight,” said Blake as the melee continued, with Adra and Vika trading blow for blow, neither gaining a clear upper hand over the other, “but how ‘bout we get the hell outta here while they’re tryin’ to kill each other?”
“What about Taylor?” cried Satomi. “We can’t leave him!”
“We ain’t leavin’ no-one,” boomed Blake, “Sonner’ll fix him, but we have to get outta here first. Now c’mon, while we still can!”
Casey helped Satomi hoist Taylor over her shoulder in a fireman’s lift and then they all began to edge along the side of the chamber as discreetly as possible.
But then Casey suddenly stopped. “Wait, I have an idea!”
“Casey, what the hell?!” Blake called back, as Casey ran in the opposite direction towards the four empty stasis pods. He cursed and then turned to Satomi, “Get the ship fired up. I’ll catch ya up, once our damn pilot comes back!”
“Hurry!” Satomi called back, “this station will tear itself apart in minutes!”
Blake nodded, and then watched to make sure that Satomi made it past the warring Hedalt duo, who were still locked in a furious hand-to-hand engagement. Blood was smeared across both of their faces and each was showing signs of fatigue. But Blake knew that a wounded animal could be even more dangerous, and did not want to be around to confront whoever emerged the victor.
Keeping half an eye on the fight, Blake looked back to see Casey now running back towards him, carrying a body over her shoulder. When she got closer, he could see that it was the prototype simulant frame of Taylor Ray.
“What the hell are ya doin’ with that?” asked Blake, looking at her as if she were crazy.
“Spare parts, knucklehead,” replied Casey, “The Cap needs a new body, right?”
“Oh, hey, you’re smarter than ya look!” said Blake, and Casey kicked him in the shins, “Ow!” he yelped, even though he felt no pain, “Now run, will ya? I got your back!”
Casey set off, but had to slam on the brakes as Adra and Vika tore in front of her and hammered into the wall. Their hands were at each other’s throats, and both were still too consumed with trying to kill one other to notice Casey or Blake.
“Go round!” called out Blake, shielding her as she carried the limp simulant body into the middle of the chamber.
Adra and Vika remained locked together, neither giving an inch to the other. The fight had descended from a contest of combat skill into a brutal brawl for survival. It had come down to who had the greater will to survive. Vika’s thirst for revenge versus Adra’s refusal to let the humans win, at any cost.
“I lied to you…” spluttered Adra, fighting for breath as Vika’s nails dug into her skin. “In the end… Lux had… my respect… You will die… with nothing…”
Vika’s bloodied eyes quivered and her pupils constricted, “You did not… deserve… his loyalty!” she gasped back at her, showering Adra’s face with speckles of bright-red blood.
Vika’s emotional outburst was all that Adra needed, because in that split-second her grip had weakened. It was only by a fraction, but a fraction was all that separated them. Breaking Vika’s hold, Adra then smashed a forearm into her throat, causing the Adjutant to crumble to her knees, hands clasped to her neck, unable to breathe.
Adra took a step back and stared down at her, before drawing the black blade from inside her coat. “You know nothing of loyalty,” she hissed, before spitting blood at Vika’s feet. Vika looked up, eyes still full of hatred, and Adra launched a kick to her head, sending it bouncing off the metal wall like a football, before her body fell to the deck. A slowly expanding pool of blood started to grow around Vika’s fractured skull.
Adra knelt by her side with the grace of someone who was about to pray, and held Vika’s jaw, forcing the Adjutant to look into her eyes. “You had the chance to be great,” said Adra, with contempt, “the chance to be something special. But look at you now.” She shook her head in disgust and then plunged the blade into Vika’s throat, angling it up towards the back of her skull. She watched the life leak out of Vika’s body, as the Adjutant reached up and grabbed Adra’s arm in a pitiful and futile attempt to push her away. “I will claim what
is rightfully mine,” Adra continued, “no-one will stand in my way.” Then she pulled the knife out of Vika’s flesh and rose imperiously back to her full height. It was then that she saw Casey Valera, a simulant body draped over her shoulder. She recognized it instantly as the body of the one being she detested more than any other in the galaxy, even more than any human. The body of Captain Taylor Ray.
“Oh no,” snarled Adra, angling the blood-soaked blade towards Casey, “You do not get to leave!”
Suddenly Adra was hit from the side by a full speed tackle from Blake, which knocked her to the deck and sent them both spiraling out of control.
“Blake!” Casey cried out, as he tumbled across the floor with Adra close beside him. “Blake!”
“Just go, Casey!” Blake called back, climbing to his knees as Adra rose alongside him, face blooded and bruised and twisted with rage. “I’ll catch you up!”
“I’m going to enjoy breaking you, simulant!” snarled Adra, who had managed to hold on to her blade, despite the fall. “I will slice you apart piece by piece while you watch. And then... then I will start on your friend.” Adra flicked the tip of the blade towards Casey, who was still frozen like a statue with Taylor over her shoulder, face drawn and eyes wide.
“Give it ya best shot, steel skin!” Blake snapped back, inviting Adra on with a cocky wave of his hand. But whereas Vika or a human would have been susceptible to Adra’s taunts, Blake’s fury was contained in his mind. A fully-human Blake Meade would have succumbed to her threats and launched a frenzied charge at Adra, letting the anger flow uncontrollably through his fists and elbows and feet. A fully-human Blake Meade would have succumbed to blind rage, as Vika had done. And, as a consequence, a fully-human Blake Meade would have been dead in seconds. But this Blake Meade was not fully human. He was unique. And he wasn’t about to fall into Adra’s trap.
Blake advanced and feigned an attack, drawing Adra forward, blade pressed towards where his human heart would have been. But his deception had caused Adra to commit and overextend, and as he caught her by the wrist and twisted it into a lock, he saw fear flash into her severe green eyes for the first time.