Recalling Destiny

by Michael Blinkhoff

  What the hell did I miss?

  She jumped when she recognised him on screen, wondering what he was doing and more to the point, what was going on. After a brief introduction, the announcer in the centre of the panel stated the intention of the broadcast.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have some very unfortunate news to report. Several weeks ago, an event occurred called the Day of Darkness that seemingly changed the course of human history. Some one hundred and seventy million people across the globe dropped dead for no apparent reason. Fallout from the initial death toll resulted in approximately another thirty million deaths.”

  The announcer shuffled the papers he held in his hand as he read. “It would appear as though a second such event has occurred.” He stuttered as he read, obviously distressed at the information he was having to announce. “The information we have been receiving from numerous sources across the globe is that a second Day of Darkness has occurred.”

  What! Catlin thought aghast, again!

  “I say again ladies and gentlemen. Another event has occurred affecting the entire globe. We have finally re-established a tentative communication network to bring you this information, at this time no other such broadcasts will recommence in this State of Emergency. Please make sure your televisions remain on this channel. A.B.C Radio will also be live feeding this broadcast.”

  “The panel of experts you see before you now have been put together to assist the remaining members of the public with information and details on government initiatives to aid this country moving forward.”

  “Australia has been reasonably spared in the disaster, with only a few reports of deaths from aid stations at this stage. Of course, the country has already suffered a mass waves of deaths.”

  “Worldwide though, the limited information we have received thus far is much graver. The death toll from this event has been more catastrophic than the first, with early estimates in the half billion area.” The speaker stuttered again as he spoke, evidently sickened by his own words. He looked at the sheet in front of him, double checked what was written and looked up, stalling the live broadcast.

  “Ah,” he mumbled. “Can someone clarify this?” He whispered to somebody off screen.

  “It is …. Are we sure … Ok,” he stammered, live on T.V. “I say again ladies and gentlemen, half a billion lives at this stage.”

  Catlin fell off the couch, landing with a thud on the floor and thumping into the coffee table.

  Half a billion.

  People.

  Dead.

  The commotion she caused was heard by another person in the apartment and at the sound of her hitting the floor he came charging into the lounge room half naked, gun in hand and pointed at the ready.

  Catlin looked up stupidly at the Viper as he came charging into the room, “Sorry … I fell.”

  “What the …” he was about to ask, when he realised she hadn’t taken her eyes off the TV screen. He looked over at the television and did a double take when he too recognised Samuel on the screen.

  “Huh!” he lowered the gun. “What the hell?”

  “I know right ... You’ve got no idea what’s going on, man …”

  “Sshhh!” He silenced her as he leaned in to hear what the announcer was saying.

  “I will firstly pass you on to Dorothy Fortmeir, who will provide further details on the actual event. At this stage you should see aid stations in local areas come up on the bottom of the screens, please read this to find your local aid station and get to it immediately if you haven’t done so already. It is important that you register for aid A.S.A.P.”

  The camera panned from the announcer to the woman, Dorothy Fortmeir, she lacked the finesse of the broadcaster and spoke in monotone. “We have as yet been unable to ascertain an accurate death toll from around the globe. The Chinese and Indian governments at this stage seems to be the most co-operative and least affected by the event.”

  “A large section of Eastern Europe has suffered a seventy percent death rate, but information from the area is limited. Fallout is global, but most definitely centred around the Central and Eastern sections of Europe.”

  “Holy shit!” the Viper swore. “That’s a lot of people hey.”

  “I know, I can believe it.”

  “Again? What on earth … this is crazy!”

  “Want to know something else crazy?’

  “Huh”

  “I said want to know something else crazy?”

  “What?”

  “I know what caused the first one.”

  “The first one what?”

  “The first event, the one that happened already.”

  “And …” the Viper responded, seeming not to care.

  “What do you mean and?” She got upset at him, “do you already know what happened?”

  “Something to do with Destiny, Fahwad told me something but I didn’t exactly follow what he was blabbing about, he talks too much hey, gives me a bloody headache.”

  “Who’s Fahwad?” Catlin asked.

  The Viper didn’t realise until that time that he hadn’t mentioned anything about Fahwad and silently cursed himself for the folly. Truth was he was a soldier, an assassin and not someone who was skilled at talking, influence and game playing. The little slip annoyed him.

  He and Catlin had spent the previous evening together, sharing a meal before he took the bedroom and told her she could sleep on the couch. But not much other discussion was had between the two, certainly not about plans. Catlin had asked, but he’d replied he was too tired and needed to go to sleep.

  “He is the friend that I mentioned to you before,” he relinquished the information.

  “Ooh.” she said, thinking back on their conversation the day earlier. She knew that whilst he was attempting to hide details from her, he lacked the ability to hide his emotions. This meant Catlin could read him easily, making her feel more comfortable around him. She felt she could sense what was going through his mind and much preferred it than a person who was blank and impossible to read.

  He made mention earlier of his friend, but she had no idea that it was Fahwad, she remembered meeting a man briefly back at Destiny and wondered if it was the same person. It’d only been a brief encounter but she still remembered the snarl he gave her when she looked him up and down, clearly he was a bigger player in all of this than she thought.

  Despite tight lips the night before the Viper still looked after Catlin, making her a bed on the couch and cooking a reasonable dinner for the two of them. Silent as he was, he seemed to understand and want to take care of her.

  “What’s your friend been up to then?” she asked casually.

  “Soon,” Sousa replied.

  “Soon what?”

  “Soon I will tell you of my plans, but first, you must tell me what you know about the black fella.”

  “Is that how it works with you? You get what you want and I wait to see if you’re going to tell me?”

  “Hey listen woman!” his temper flared. “Don’t you be telling me no shit here yeah! I don’t bloody work for you hey!”

  But Catlin remained undeterred by his testosterone fuelled outburst, standing up to meet him face to face. “Well if you want my help then you better play ball buddy!”

  The Viper never did take kindly to people shouting at him without fear in their voice. He stood to his full height, raised his finger and was about to shout at her when Catlin grabbed the extended finger and pointed back at him with equal intensity.

  “Don’t think you can boss me around just cause you’re the big tough guy, ok?” She rolled his finger in her palm, looking him in the eye threateningly.

  But the Viper wasn’t so easily frightened either, he returned her thick-headed stare defiantly, but didn’t move the finger. “Do your worse,” he challenged her.

  But
Catlin was stubborn, she wrinkled her face up and kept twisting his finger in her grip, her body turning as she did so. “I’ll break it,” she cautioned.

  “Go ahead,” he mocked with a smile, calling her bluff and even taking the time to lean back and let out a little, phony laugh.

  She didn’t think he would’ve called her bluff, but before she could stop herself, her hand turned. Before her eye’s she witnessed herself twisting his finger beyond its limit, hearing the audible snap as his index finger broke sideways under the pressure of her grip.

  She looked up, half expecting a right hand to be flung in her direction. She flinched instinctively, closing her eyes in anticipation, but the blow never came, nor did he make any sound.

  She opened one eye perceptibly and looked up at the surprisingly calm figure of the Viper looking back, surprised to find he was smiling. Her brow furrowed, she looked at him with both eyes in confusion.

  “Let me show you something,” he said, extending his other hand towards her.

  Slightly mesmerized, she consented to his request and held her hand out for him to take. Sousa grabbed it firmly and pulled her in close to him, right into his chest. As she came within a breath of him she felt her heart start to pulsate at their proximity, she hadn’t expected him to do that.

  They were chest to chest, hands locked together, she could feel his breath on her neck.

  In the moment, she looked down and noticed he was only wearing underpants. Now they could not hide his excitement. Catlin could feel him begin to lengthen against her thigh and see his underwear stretching beyond its limits.

  She looked up at him demurely, realising her breath had started to become short, she looked away from him shyly but he grabbed her by her chin and turned her back to face him. She felt weak at his touch and the feel of him between her legs moistened her.

  Just when she thought he was about to lean in closer to her face, Sousa moved his injured hand into the space between the two of them, his eyes flicked to it indicating that she should look at it.

  It took her a moment to recover from what she thought was going on, her hand went to her chest, attempting to calm herself and she leaned back. The two were still locked by the hand though and he drew her in again. “Look,” he said, placing his injured hand firmly in front of her this time.

  She looked at the damaged hand, it took a second for her eyes to adjust at such close range but when she did she had to do a double take. She grabbed the hand and studied it more closely, turning it over and examining it carefully.

  “What the …?” was all she could say. Hard as she tried to find it, she could find no evidence on his right hand that she’d broken his finger. She’d felt it crack under her grip only a minute earlier, she knew she broke it, but could find no evidence of it.

  “What the hell?”

  “Ja, I thought that would get your attention hey!”

  “… you are not who I thought you were Sousa, who are you?”

  His chest puffed as he spoke. “I am the Viper.”

  “How did you do that?”

  “I told you of my friend.”

  “Fahwad?”

  “Yes, he has given me the power.”

  It made Catlin instantly think back to what Marion had said back on the mountain, about the energy transfers that had taken place in the past and lightbulbs started going off inside her head.

  Marion had said that all those lives had been transferred into one.

  “Sousa, Fahwad gave you this?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “No idea.”

  “But he has this power?”

  “He has something greater than what I have, I know this.”

  “How did you …?” she wondered. “The finger?”

  “These things I don’t know, but other things I do.” he smiled down at her with a raised eyebrow, breath warm on her neck.

  His hand moved to the small of her back and she felt him grind up against her, she had to swallow hard as her heart thumped furiously in her chest. She looked away from him as if she were a girl, lustful thoughts taking control of her mind, a man hadn’t touched her like this for a long time.

  But the Viper grabbed her by the chin, sliding his finger back and forth down its length. Catlin felt herself moistening more at his touch and tilted her head back instinctively to receive him. She closed her eyes and felt his breath upon her, unable to control herself any longer. Thought escaped her and desire flooded in.

  He bent down towards her and took her mouth in his. Catlin gave into her desire, not even attempting to fight his advance and the two were locked together in a passionate embrace.

  “I have wanted you for so long Catlin.”

  - -

  RECALLING

  destiny

  RECALLING

  destiny

  - -

  Ma'am

  “Lucinda, where is this going?” Marion called as she entered another rudimentary tunnel, away from the blue light.

  “Hold on!” Lucinda panted, joining her inside the tight tunnel.

  Marion turned around to help the struggling Lucinda through the low entrance to the tunnel. Lucinda heaved with the effort, “I’m a little unfit.”

  “Maybe you should stop playing God then,” Marion remarked as she pulled her along, using her revitalised strength to assist.

  Lucinda ignored the remark and kept moving, Marion followed and noticed a section inside the tunnel that had roof supports, and not just any kind of supports. They were steel struts she’d seen before, in Destiny.

  She knew the tunnel they’d just crawled along must be leading them into some corner of the Destiny installation. It must’ve been how Lucinda had moved between the two threads and where she had first found the second thread. The tunnel ended though in a steel metal plate, with no obvious signs of a door.

  “Lucinda?” she asked.

  Lucinda stopped at one of the steel cased supports and lent there for a second, trying to catch her breath. Once she got it back, she pushed past Marion to the plain looking wall, dropped the lamp she was carrying to the ground and felt around the surface of the wall.

  Finding what she was looking for, Lucinda dropped her shoulder into a section of the wall softly. An audible click sounded and a section of the wall opened, revealing a door through to the other side.

  Lucinda, satisfied, picked up her lamp and indicated for Marion to follow. The two of them passed through a narrow passage, fully walled and supported on all sides, and came to another door which Lucinda opened with a key she carried in her breast pocket.

  “You built all this?”

  “Yep.”

  “How long did it take you?”

  “A lot less time than what you think.”

  “Was that because you enhanced yourself?”

  “Had to accomplish it on my own, without anyone knowing about it, so yeah, I gave myself a little leg up.”

  Marion rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything as Lucinda moved to open the second door.

  Once open, Marion realised exactly where they were, it was the living quarters to the rear of the Destiny installation. She stepped out of the tunnel, through a large cupboard and exited into a bedroom. She instantly recognised the room and to whom it belonged, it didn’t surprise her that it was Lucinda’s.

  “Hmmm, I suppose …” Marion was cut off by Lucinda who had her finger to her lips in an action of silence.

  “We don’t know if were alone yet,” she whispered. “They could’ve got in.”

  The two ladies moved down the hallway, tip toeing the whole way and it wasn’t until they’d almost reached the main floor they relaxed. The sound was dull at first but as they neared the entrance to the operations floor of Destiny they could clearly make out the sounds of drilling mach
ines above them. Which meant they were still alone in the installation and the government hadn’t gotten in.

  Lucinda breathed a sigh of relief. “Best idea ever!”

  Marion assumed she was referring to the fact the tunnel entrance had been sealed by explosion. It was an idea Lucinda had put into effect only a few years prior and now she was elated it had been of use.

  Marion ignored her and instinctively moved over to her station to check her computer and realising everything was exactly as she’d left it, she uttered. “Useless!”

  “Not everything,” came the reply from Lucinda who’d also sat down on a console and was wiping the dust and dirt from it.

  Marion came to her side to see what she was up to on the console and quickly the big screen on the main wall came to life. Only instead of the regular amount of transmissions that were usually visible on screen, there was only one available.

  “What the?”

  “Is upstairs back online?”

  “I dunno, something’s wrong.” Lucinda typed in a few commands. “Only one available stream. Look, normally there are thousands of active channels.”

  “Try rebooting it …”

  “Get off it!”

  “Oh ok! Well what is it then?”

  “I said I don’t know, now shoosh!”

  “Bring up the main feed.”

  “There’s no active channels.”

  “Rubbish, they have thousands upstairs, surely they are still active …”

  “Well, there’s one.”

  “Just one?”

  “Yeah, and it’s a television station.”

  The two looked up to the big screen, sat and watched as the A.B.C television station came on; an emergency broadcast being relayed through. It was the same channel Lucinda had seen back at the military camp, the national emergency broadcast channel seemingly the only source of media still available.

  “Lucinda, is this what’s been going on out there?” Marion enquired, marvelling at the footage as it reeled across the screen.

  “I’m not sure,” she remarked. “I haven’t seen this footage before, the information is new.”