by Chris Mills
A gunshot erupted. “Oh, Jones,” Darren soon called. “You can’t get far.”
Stephen kept his back to the machine on the other side of the belt. The sentry sparked once more upon the ground. He moved silently. A gunshot erupted. One of the worker droids fell on the table. Down came a press and ended any chance of repair. Sparks flew as it moved up towards another large machine.
“I may not be able to track you the same,” Darren said. “That has not stopped me in the past.” Stephen crawled fast. Darren’s head came under the belt. He peered about with his gun up. “Can you trust him, Jones? It’s not in there. He must have exchanged it under our noses that very day on the Explorer C. You were in surgery. It could have been easy.”
Stephen rolled under another belt and came up. A worker droid kept its pace with a bolt gun. He did as good as he could to keep low along the belt. The gun fired once more. The droid dropped on the belt. Off he rode to another press.
“Did you ever wonder what happened to you?” Darren questioned. “Herald knew. I used to before you messed with things. Did he tell you things are different? People are not the same. You gave up a life that may have good in it. Did you marry? Did you have kids?” He laughed. “It does not matter. Your life was better in the past in that chair.” Stephen’s eyes flared. “What moron blacks out on a ladder?”
Stephen neared a table. Attachments for the droids would help with their work. His shoulder burned. He fell over it. A force pulled him back. Darren slammed his head upon the track and laughed.
“Those only work on droids, you idiot!” Darren said. “The past has you weakened. You should have stayed there.” Stephen cringed. Something burned in his shoulder. A crisp black hole continued to form. “You should have let me kill you quickly. I’m going to enjoy crippling you. I want to drag you to a chair, and you will beg me to put a bullet in you.”
Stephen did all he could to bring the line of constructed parts from the belt down around them. Darren screamed. The gun rattled on the floor. Stephen took hold with his good arm and slammed Darren into the belt. A fist came to Stephen’s gut. He slammed Darren once more into the belt. The two struggled down, hands locked. Stephen hit hard with his knee.
“I never wanted Kodon!” Stephen shouted. He slammed his knee once more. “All I wanted was a chance to live normally!” Darren’s fists connected with Stephen’s jaw. He backed. Darren’s eyes raged. Stephen spied something rolling down the belt. He rushed. Darren’s attempt to block missed. The ring smacked hard against his head.
Darren’s body went back. He screamed. The press hit hard. Blood splattered upon Stephen’s chest and face. His butt hit the ground. He fought the urge quick to spew as he noticed something more than blood had hit his face. He wiped it off fast and shook. Fuck this!
Stephen sat in the corner of the large lift. Its rise was much slower than an elevator in the past. A sign told of maintenance working on it to come. He kept his head hung. Light would come in and fade as they passed over little stretches. The lower city fell below. Beep. He spied the screen by the doors. It only had two levels and gave a current time till arrival. Two minutes seemed to stretch.
A helmet rested on Stephen’s lap, beaten and broken. Inside, he found little. It interfaced with Darren’s suit, and the use that it could have had faded as the body went into the machine. The thing had rumbled hard and finally broke. It was unlikely the empire would come down here to try anything. What answers Darren had were gone.
Stephen had tried to get the mess off himself. He took a spare coat and found little else to hide the mess on his chest. Sentries were inside the place and were more docile compared to the ones outside. A search hadn’t started, and he kept silent and out of sight regardless. Signs had warned of all the hazards in this place and the force used if someone continuously disobeyed. This place was a death trap and meant only for those droids working. Were there any people there at night besides them?
A shadow came across the wall. White tennis shoes came close to Stephen. The man sat down by him. Stephen turned his head briefly and let his head fall. The man patted Stephen’s knee. He had a full head of black hair and warmth in his face. His blue eyes had much care to them.
“I didn’t expect any of this,” Stephen said.
“I know,” the man said.
“What am I supposed to do, Dad? I never wanted to fight like that. I never wanted to kill someone.”
“This life is the only your given, son. Anything your heart needs is worth fighting for.”
“I wish you didn’t have to die.”
“Nothing slows in life. It can and cannot be fair. You need to let go of it, son.”
“Of what?”
“This anger that lurks in you. It eats at your very being.”
Stephen closed his eyes. Pain had eaten at him too long. Life after his father had never been the same. An accident had about killed him, and when he got better and life continued, he fell. He lay crippled on the floor knowing he would never be the same. The future gave him back what he needed, but it came with a price. He had enough threats upon him. Darren only tore at him more. Herald’s good friend betrayed them all and made Stephen find a pain he never knew. He hated it all.
“Let it go,” Stephen’s father said.
“I can’t,” Stephen said. “None of this is fair. How am I supposed to -”
“Son, you will start by getting up. Get off your ass and hold your head high. Stop pushing away what your heart needs and realize that you’ll fight. That’s what you’ve always done. That’s the son I raised.”
Beep. Stephen sat alone in the lift. He pushed himself up. Blood did not seep from the wound on the back of his shoulder. Those bullets killed quickly with their fire. They also cauterized things. Stephen groaned. He felt the thing in him. He tried to limit the movement. His father was right, but had Stephen always fought?
Beep. The doors slid open with a grind. Silence had been too long. Stephen limped out of the lift. The way out was a long hall with a large glass window. Not a person was in sight. Stephen neared the end and waved the little pass in front of the reader. Once more a grind came.
Horns blared. Stephen stepped out onto a platform. This walkway reminded him of those higher up. Much life flowed here. What time was it? He came close to the rail and stared down. This lift had taken him far from the ground and above other levels.
“Sir?” a woman said. Stephen kept hold of the helmet. A young woman stood close. Her clothes were clean. The Telicion smiled. Her eyes could bring a man to stare with their beauty. “Sir, do you need help?”
Stephen nodded.
Dad.
**
“Mr. Zumerkrin, it has been more than five hours,” Officer Dordy said. “Get some rest. We’ll be down here.”
“We should have heard something,” Herald said.
“The reports of the craft have come in. We do not have any information on where it has gone.”
Herald rubbed his eyes. It had pushed towards three according to the clock at the desk. The hotel had closed for the night. Only guests could get in. Two officers had been placed here in case Hanash returned and tried to break in. Herald kept by the front desk, trying not to tap his foot anymore than he already was. The others had taken to their rooms. He had not wanted to see any of them in tears. He hoped they had finally fallen asleep.
“Mr. Zumerkrin, I implore you to go back to your room,” Officer Dordy said. “It’s late. Tiredness does no one well.” His partner motioned with his thumb to the bathroom. Dordy nodded. “We’ll inform you the moment we learn anything.”
Galat II had different police by sectors. They were supposed to work together. Here they had no word since a cruiser had attempted to chase Stephen and Hanash. Stephen hadn’t a clue how to fly a car here and getting in it had been foolish. Kodon was worth no one’s life anymore.
Whoosh. Something rose into the air and slid across the ground. The two stared at a beat-up helmet. Herald’s eyes widened at the sight of cracks upon it.
A pair of feet came onto their level and approached. An officer kept to the man’s rear.
“Glory be,” Officer Dordy said. “It’s him.”
“Stephen,” Herald said. His whole body went limp. He let a breath out and tried to hug him. Smack. Stephen’s glare did not fade.
“We’ll need to get a report,” Officer Dordy said. “I’ll notify the precinct about this.” Stephen nodded. His eyes stayed fixed on Herald. Something lingered in them that made Herald’s chest turn. Officer Dordy pulled out his handheld. He looked back and forth between the two. “I’m going to use the restroom. Remember, this is a hotel.”
A chill rose as the lobby fell silent. Smack. Herald stared down at the containment tube on the floor. “You managed to keep it,” he said. “It wasn’t worth your life.”
“What did you do with it?” Stephen questioned.
“With what?”
“Kodon!” Stephen boomed.
Herald rose his hands quick. “Calm down,” he said. “It’s late.”
“Where is it?”
“You had it the whole time.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did,” Herald said. “It’s right there.” He picked up the containment tube. Some scratches had come to it since its journey. “When Ron opens it -”
“You have to have it.”
“Why would I take it from you?” Herald said. “You’ve had it since the Explorer C.” He tossed it back. It bounced right off Stephen’s chest and hit the floor. Once more, Herald picked it up. “Stephen, I can tell a lot has happened.”
“He opened it,” Stephen. “I didn’t see a glow.”
“Who opened it? Hanash?”
“Darren.”
“Darren? He’s dead.”
“No, he was Hanash.”
“That’s impossible,” Herald said. “Darren didn’t have the heart.”
“It was Darren. I killed him.”
The two officers emerged at the wrong time. “We need to work on that report right now,” Officer Dordy sternly said.
Herald sat in a small conference room. Officer Dordy finished up his report, most recorded by Stephen’s own word. Herald kept quiet. Many thoughts swarmed his brain. The depth of what happened with Darren made him feel cold. His best friend aboard the Explorer C had taken leave from his past role to watch him and wait. Did their friendship really mean nothing to him? Darren never once appeared like a killer.
Herald rubbed his face. He had been treated for a concussion. Herald stared at the man who had killed Darren. He wanted to say something but found himself lost for words when he tried to open his mouth. Herald had killed to defend himself. Stephen had anger behind his words and had suffered much.
A kind girl took Stephen to a late clinic where Stephen had a bullet pulled out of him, two bone fractures healed, and was cleaned up. It explained the change of clothes. A doctor gave him some geks to get back. It was more than Herald expected from anyone that far down there to do.
The helmet that turned Darren into Hanash rested on the table. Herald feared seeing it again till now. He kept envisioning Hanash breaking into his hotel room and bashing in his face. Darren. No one would follow them now without the technology Darren had used. If he alone kept that secret, no one could track it. Herald felt like tossing the containment tube, but he had to see for himself. Maybe the inner chamber had a shield to it. He found only a little relief in hiding that fact of that shuttle on the Explorer C from Darren. That promise to the captain paid off. What would have happened if he uttered a word to Darren about it?
Officer Dordy rose, coffee in hand. He took a sip and nodded. “That should cover it,” he said. “I’ll forward this to Councilman Wallace as requested.”
“Thank you,” Herald said.
The Galatian Empire had its own precincts around the area that reported directly to the empire before anyone else. They were fortunate to have the best on this before and not some desk cop sipping coffee. It still didn’t bring Stephen back without him doing it himself.
“Rest,” Officer Dordy said. “You have a meeting as I have been informed.”
Herald sighed. He had to keep that appointment with Ron now more than ever. Kodon’s once thought keeper stood up. Herald remembered seeing Stephen the first time. Alvin and Samantha would be happy to know he grew up well in the past. This future almost killed Stephen again. Too much had happened.
The door slid closed behind the officer with a final nod. “You need to get some sleep,” Herald said.
“Are you certain that you -,” Stephen began.
“I promise,” Herald said. “The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you. I would have never betrayed what little trust we started with. I never opened it. We were to see it together. I never saw anything besides what your mother sent me.”
Stephen took hold of the containment tube. “It didn’t glow,” he said. “He didn’t see anything.”
“Did he take it out?”
“Enough to react,” Stephen said. “What happened to it?”
“It’s too late to ponder,” Herald said. “We’ll see Ron. There are answers in there.”
“Fine.”
The idea that Kodon was missing didn’t scare Herald. If the enemy had it in their hands the whole time and didn’t know, could harm really come? Without it though, Herald felt he would be breaking a promise on top of finding Stephen. Samantha wanted it away in better hands, and with its potential power, people should be wary of who controlled it.
The silence of the hotel didn’t fade. Herald kept quiet in the lift. A lone person waited in the hall, sitting on the floor in front of her door. Kim rose quickly without a word. She hugged Stephen. Herald tried to get around and ended up waiting near her door. Her tears stung. He had been sure to have them notified, but she may have been the only one up when the message arrived.
“You should come home,” Kim said. “No more.”
“I know,” Stephen said softly. “I can’t.”
The door closed behind Stephen. Kim shook her head. Her eyes soon met Herald. “What happened?” she asked.
“He killed Hanash,” Herald said.
“He killed him? Is he going to be okay?”
“I think so,” Herald said. “There’s a lot on his mind. Try to not ask more questions on it now. It’s late. He has to see Ron.”
“Not now.”
“He has to. You will understand later.”
Kim took a breath. She rubbed her face many times. “Herald, please be honest,” she said. “Is it right anymore for him to stay here? Hanash may be gone, but if things don’t change?”
“It’s not up to me,” Herald said. “This will be over soon enough.”
“I’m not asking what I know is a choice. I’m asking if he should be here.”
“If I had let bad things push me away, I’d never have found him,” Herald said. “Life is not straightforward and fair. I lost my best friend long ago and spent half my life hoping that his son had a chance to live. I still chose to follow what many thought a worthless effort.”
“Did you about die?”
“Once,” Herald said. “Kodon is not a nice thing. You know what it could do. If we don’t have it, then things will be better.”
“Things changed when he had his accident,” Kim said. “I’m happy to see him be closer to his former self, but not faced with what could cripple him or worse.”
“I know,” Herald said. “Kim, it’s late. Our minds think the worse when we can’t focus. Nothing I can say will help, and I don’t want this to be worse. You have to understand that.”
Kim nodded. Herald took a deep breath as the hall cleared. He clutched the rail and stared at the tree. It lit the place, bringing a warmth, and replacing much of the dim light the halls gave. His life hadn’t been what he really expected. He met Alvin when he moved to a new home and was very young. He spied him through a hole in the fence that connected their backyards. Their lives had been great until a moment came, and he
wished that things were different.
Herald didn’t know what life could have been but knew that he may have been happy. Alvin and he had been best friends, and this indebted feeling upon what happened wouldn’t shake. If he had, much could have been. Perhaps he’d have a son of his own and a home on Earth or Galat II. A station wouldn’t be half bad. Did he mess up more than his own life on this course?
Chapter Eighteen
Stephen kept his arms crossed. The taxi rocked lightly in the flow of traffic. The driver took them down a bit. They could still see the sky and far down into the depths that chaos took him last night. Images plagued his thoughts from what the press did to Darren. Sleep hadn’t come easy, and only now had he started to rid of some of them. His eyelids wanted to sink, and he caught himself from going too far.
“Minute,” the driver called back.
Herald hadn’t made a choice on what taxi to get. Stephen didn’t mind not having a roof, but he really didn’t need the chatty driver this morning. Herald had been nice enough to keep their conversation going at first.
The meter kept running. The screen that separated them from their driver revealed their fare. Geks never seemed to be anything but a fixed amount. It was either 25 geks or 1000 - not 25.24. Stephen stretched and opened his eyes wide. A good old smack might help. They had been traveling for more than forty minutes now. Special lanes were made for crafts to push speeds and then drop to join normal traffic. There were spots also that were made for them to go up and down by the use of signals.
The taxi slowed and moved out of traffic. Buildings here were much wider. Slits along them kept to similar patterns. One section extended out for their landing. Bars rose, rails attached. A dark door revealed itself where slits had outlined. The taxi driver thanked them greatly upon the generous tip.
Up the taxi went not long after they got out. Stephen kept watch of it as it finally joined traffic. “Don’t worry,” Herald said. “He’s here.”
“Are you sure?” Stephen asked.
“We can’t stand on this if the taxi was denied,” Herald said. “Places like this have rules.” The front door had opened. “See.”