Cataclysm Epoch

by Paul Heingarten

  “Your tether is set to the correct time. You step inside and that’s it.”

  We eased along the shoreline, a ring of humans. My view shot to the trees, and darted around the rest of the area. It was quiet, except for a few birds. The air was crisp, like another few degrees cooler and I’d have shivered. It reminded me how it felt when I made my Verge jump. The memory made my gut clench. Unlike that time, there was no bunker, just fifty yards of open ground for us to run through.

  “Easy does it,” I whispered. “Good going, group. Keep it up.”

  I glanced back at the woods across from us. We were almost past ‘em and ready for the beeline to the Verge.

  A loud mechanized shriek froze us in position. My bones vibrated. I held my ears and glanced at the others in the group. It wasn’t a Radomet call. I hadn’t heard this one before, ever. Otto mouthed something to me, but I couldn't make it out. Nelson winced like he was slugged in the belly and Norg was, well, his usual chipper self.

  The shrieks continued. The Verge remained unchanged, but some clouds moved in and darkened the area. I turned back to the group and waved ‘em toward it, but then I noticed it.

  Whatever it was wasn't ours or from Lebabolis. I'd never seen whatever this was before: a strange black craft with silver markings. The wings were decorated with odd shapes, a language maybe. Guns protruded from the front and sides, and they aimed in our direction.

  Otto’s lips were taut. He held his P-LAD up, his eyes widened. On screen was the message: Signature Unknown, Foreign Entity

  The shrieking was replaced by a loudspeaker with a voice that spoke some weird language. The others shook their heads.

  We stepped deeper into the woods, but the ship and its guns moved a little with us. Norg was already drawn on it; I bet his glare alone would’ve torn a hole into it.

  Otto marveled at the craft. “Omegans.”

  “You sure?” I asked.

  “Oh yes.”

  “What if I just made a break for it?” asked Nelson as he lurched a bit toward the Verge.

  “Don’t be stupid, prophet man.” Norg spat and leaned toward Nelson. “One of those guns would turn you into chopped meat.”

  I grasped Nelson’s shoulder. “Easy. We dunno they’ve seen us yet, but that’s not your send off party.”

  The loudspeaker piped up again. This time, the message was clear.

  “Halt, you are under arrest. Drop your weapons and prepare to be placed into custody.”

  I took a slow breath and held it. My hand gripped my rifle so tight I felt a burn course through my grip. My shoulders tightened. Then, I heard the response from our group: our pulse rifles activated. A smile found my lips. I glanced around for the best ground cover.

  “The hell with this,” Nelson said, and he bolted toward the Verge.

  “No, dammit!” I yelled after him, but it was too late.

  The Omegan craft opened fire. Its glowing pulse cannon shots perforated the ground around us and sent a shower of dirt, branches and leaves onto us. I crouched to the ground.

  Nelson wobbled on his feet as the ground shook under the weapons fire, but he kept upright and on a twisting path toward the Verge.

  My feet wanted to take off after him, but instead I froze in place. “Stop, Nelson, lie down, they're gonna -”

  A large pop and a cloud of smoke billowed about where he was. My throat tightened. “Nelson!”

  Norg and the others returned fire back at the ship. “I see him!” shouted Otto. “He's on the ground!”

  We made it into the grove of trees. The others formed a line and gave the strange ship enough trouble so nothing else was fired toward Nelson.

  I only hoped that was why they hadn't shot anymore in that direction.

  I craned my neck and checked where everyone else was. “Otto!”

  “Here!” he said off to my right.

  “Let Norg and the rest handle this bird. You and I need to get Nelson and bring him back before that ship gets to him.”

  Otto fired a few shots, then responded, “Check. After you.”

  We took off and added to the barrage of cover fire our group provided. After a short sprint we got to Nelson. He lay face down on the charred ground.

  I turned him over. His eyes were closed, and there was no visible sign of life from him. I grabbed his arm. “Grab the other side, Otto! Let's move!”

  The ground shook all about us with the weapons fire and blasts that pummeled the ground and trees. My knees were so sore they almost buckled. But I tightened my grip and surged ahead back behind Norg and Treg, who still served a healthy barrage of return fire at the strange aircraft. We were almost back to the woods when a thump and a quick burst of heat hit us. I heard Otto's groan, and Nelson's body got heavier in my grip all of a sudden. We were still about twenty feet from the brush. Someone else helped with Nelson, and I pulled Otto behind a downed tree.

  “Think of something fast!” Norg bellowed. “Not gonna last long here!”

  The craft pivoted back and moved straight over the Verge. Several claws dropped from it toward the Verge center, and it stopped its barrage.

  “They’re harvesting it. I’ve got an idea. Everybody, on the ground!” I yelled.

  I pointed my weapon at the center of the Verge. I fired several shots, and the sky burst into a brilliant display of light. The blast sent a wave of hot air over us. The ship exploded with a loud echoing blast that sent the remnants of it off in the distance, a trail of smoke behind it.

  The trees about us shook, their leaves made a frantic and angry rustle. The glowing center of the Verge flickered and faded to nothing.

  Chapter 34 (Nelson)

  M y eyelids split the darkness into a smoky haze. I felt cool bristles of grass beneath me as I shifted around. My hearing was muffled, but I heard shouting voices.

  The last thing I remembered was when I ran toward the Verge location, I heard this one loud pop. I felt a solid blow to my chest, like a punch, and I was knocked down to the ground. A few dark shapes entered my view, and after I focused on them a little I saw they were people. One knelt close and Ana's face came into a slight focus. Her lips moved but everything still sounded like I was underwater.

  Finally, my hearing returned enough and I heard her ask, “Are you alright?”

  My voice warbled in my ears. “Can't hear much. What the hell was that?”

  She frowned in reply while she and someone else pulled me to a seated position in the woods. “Otto always said the Verges are nothing more than trapped energy. I figured this ol‘ pulse rifle could release a little of it.”

  The rest checked their gear. Treg held up an electronic device with antennas like a radio. Someone wheezed nearby. I craned my head and saw Otto as he clutched his side. A bit of blood oozed over his hand. Ana said, “Easy, Otto, keep pressure on that.”

  “The fuck we still doing here?” Norg bellowed from behind me. “Won't be long before another patrol comes by to take us down. Lebabolis, Omegans, don’t matter. We’re dead meat if we take on any kinda unit in our shape now.” He circled around and met my eyes. “And you, prophet man, I thought I said don't be stupid. You got Otto shot up with that little stunt of yours.”

  “Norg, that's enough.” Ana and Norg stared at each other like two dogs in a territorial dispute. He threw me another pointed glare before he lurched off.

  I got on my knees for a second but was too sore for that. “I thought I could make it.”

  We watched Norg as he surveyed the Verge location. “He's always had a short fuse on him.” She jabbed a finger in my face. “It doesn't excuse what you did. You better just hope Otto makes it, because Norg looks about as pissed as I’ve ever seen, and I can’t promise I can stop him if he goes for you.”

  I looked past Ana to the Verge location. The spot that once glowed with such a brilliant light was gone. In its place was a tremendous black spot of charred ground. Thin trails of smoke billowed from the ground, and any foliage close enough to have survived smoldered
with lingering flames. My eyes flickered and my nose wrinkled against the burnt air.

  “Guess we need to find a new spot,” I said.

  Ana nodded. “My number one is we get as far the hell away from here as possible.” Her eyes fell to Otto. “And watch him; I don't like that wound.”

  #

  Treg approached us. “Took me a minute to figure this thing out. This is more Intellectual Product stuff. I located the nearest Encampment beacon but there’s too much interference from the Valentium residue for any comm contact. We'll need to hump outta here for a bit so we can link up with whoever’s closest.”

  Ana nodded. “Can you walk, Nelson? Otto needs more attention right now.”

  I got on my feet, but the ground still felt a little wobbly. Ana steadied me and I held onto her for a few seconds. After a few breaths I replied, “Yeah, t-think so. I'll be alright.” I saw Norg from the corner of my eye, his stare spoke enough about his disgust of the situation, most of all me.

  As I got a better footing I looked away from the Verge, and back toward where we came from. I hoped whatever location they had in mind wasn't too far away.

  Zengus broke my train of thought. “Otto! No, no don't... We're losing him!”

  Ana and Treg scurried over as Zengus laid Otto gently on his back. His eyes smashed shut in agony, his wheezing deepened and his legs twitched. Zengus worked fast while Ana and the others kept watch for what seemed like an hour. Ana stroked his forehead and his eyes opened for a moment. I heard nothing she said as she leaned in and comforted him as best she could.

  Otto nodded toward one side and grasped for something. Ana pulled out a flat screen device and looked at it for awhile. “You want me to have this?” She held it up to his face.

  He huffed and nodded. A few seconds later his eyes shut again.

  “Otto, talk to me,” Zengus commanded. “You're gonna make it.”

  Otto said nothing, he just lay still for awhile longer, with only his moving chest as any indication of his state. Soon that stopped too.

  Zengus glanced at Ana and Treg and shook his head. Everyone froze for a few moments. It seemed like even the wind had stopped. Not even the birds I’d seen about made any noise. I felt pulled back to the house next to Mom’s bed as she breathed her last. My gut tightened and I blinked the moisture that was no longer caused by the burning landscape.

  Treg kicked the ground and ambled away, his arms folded. Ana cradled Otto's head in her hands. Then, after she eased him back to the ground, she punched the ground nearby. Her scream filled the air, its echoes jarred more tears from my eyes.

  #

  “This is your fault.”

  Norg broke the silence. My stomach tightened and I swallowed hard at his engorged eyes.

  He clutched his rifle tight and paced. “What's so special about him? So he wrote a damned book, and he’s hot shit around here. Well, I'm pretty damn sick of losing people I care about, and if that's what helping him’s gonna mean, I'm out.”

  Ana still knelt over Otto, she was fixated on the device Otto had handed her.

  Treg stepped toward him. “Norg. Ya know we had orders for this. This was part of our deal -”

  “Screw that. Call me a deserter if you want. I'm getting as far away from him as I can.”

  “And go where?” Ana neared my side and she slid Otto's device in her pocket. “You think I'd stay any longer than I needed to? This changes things. That ship, whoever they are, changes things. Maybe we don’t know who’s out there, but I sure as hell know who’s right here.”

  She stepped around us in a circle. “We grew up together, Norg. You, me, Treg, Otto. What was it we used to say?”

  Norg said, “Gonna grab the world–”

  “-And make it ours,” Ana completed. “We were young. Proud Products in that system. Gonna go and make a difference. And yeah, it was the wrong system. And Baudricort tried to set it right. I'm not saying he didn't make his own mistakes too, but I believe he's the one that's gonna get us there one day. We have to follow through. Everyone deserves to go home.”

  “Like Otto?” Norg said. “Is he worth less than Nelson?”

  Ana’s gaze lingered on Norg, then fell to Otto’s body. She approached Norg until they were eye to eye. “Of course not. Look, I wasn't for Baudricort’s game of cut, run and send Link messages. Otto believed, like Baudricort did, like all of you do, about giving us a fresh start. But oh, there’s Cataclysm too. Well, Otto’s just given me something on that.”

  “What do you mean?” Treg asked.

  “It’s schematics on that P-LAD. I think it’s some kind of weapon.”

  “It’s a weapon?” Norg asked.

  “Looks that way. And all over these files are notes about Cataclysm.”

  Treg stopped his calculations and looked at me, along with the rest of them.

  “Baudricort put Nelson on the Link and did a pull. He got him to give some coordinates when he asked where Cataclsym was.”

  I shifted on the ground. It was all I could do right then. Ana watched over me before she looked at the rest of the group. “You all know I’d do anything for you guys, and I know you’d do the same. Tell me right here and now, do any of you know about Cataclysm?”

  Treg and the rest said no.

  Ana’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what he’s thinking, or why he and even Otto kept this quiet like this. But if it’s that secret, if Baudricort’s been that tight about it, I’ve gotta think it’s worth a whole lot, maybe even to Charista.”

  “She could try a pull on us if she thought any of us knew, like the honcho did on Nelson.” Treg commented.

  I clasped my hands. “I saw her communicating with Baudricort at an Encampment. I’m getting in Baudricort’s face as soon as I can and we’re finding this thing. That could be what we need to get Lebabolis to let our people go, maybe even more.”

  “Look, we gotta leave now,” Treg said. “Longer we stay, the less luck we’ll have here.” He swallowed and eyed us. “Someone carry Otto.”

  “Me,” Norg replied as he ambled toward Otto's body.

  We left the wooded area in a single line that snaked over the open ground. Treg walked in front with Ana. Norg walked behind me. No one talked for a long time. Whatever device Treg used earlier made beeping noises. He stopped and examined it.

  “OK, better access point,” he said. While he tapped the controls Ana walked over to me.

  “How're you holding up?”

  “Alright I guess. Look, about Otto. I'm sorry.”

  She eyed me. “Even without your stunt there were slim odds of everyone making it. But remember what I said.”

  “Of course.”

  Ana looked over to Treg. “These beacon sweeps can take a few minutes, better relax while we can.” We grabbed a seat on the ground. While the trees were set back a bit from us, the ground still had a bit of grass that sprouted from between the rocks and gravel.

  Ana swept her legs up underneath her and leaned on her rifle in thought. Her hair slid over her eyes. Her jawbone twitched.

  “So did you know that girl with Brenn when you grabbed me?”

  Her gaze was somewhere else but she answered, “Nycole. Yep.”

  “Guess she's somebody important to be escorting a prisoner like me.”

  She glanced to me, then back to her rifle. “Mmmhm. Treg knew her better than me, being a Warrior Product.” She sighed. “Nycole was one of the best Warrior Products in school. Wouldn't be surprised if they made her an officer in the Security Force by now.”

  “So, why are you still helping me, after all this, and now with what happened to Otto?”

  She pondered for a few moments. “Because he'd want me to.”

  “Baudricort?”

  “Varrick.” She smiled a bit. “When he was a little younger, but able to move around and talk, I used to tell him about taking care of family, and people who needed help. He'd ask 'how do I know who needs help?' and I'd say you'd know when you saw ‘em.”

 
; “You keep saving me. How am I ever going to pay you back?”

  She managed a half smile then glanced away. The little girl and now Otto joined my growing dread over leaving these people. And those coordinates I’d come out with, like I recited my home address, I had no idea where that came from. But they had to make it, and for whatever reason for all of this, I was the one they needed to get there.

  My thoughts wandered to Mom, and I wondered about her take on this situation. She always taught me if I made a mess, I cleaned it up. But this wasn’t dirty dishes in the sink. If I helped them in this mission and we failed, was that it for me?

  I squinted a bit as the sun peeked from behind a cloud over us. A sharp ache hit me on the side of my head and a throbbing built between my temples. I glanced away from the sun, maybe I'd watched it too close.

  The pain remained though, and the throbbing intensified. My lip quavered.

  Ana's voice echoed in my head. “Nelson?” And everything went black.

  Chapter 35 (Ana)

  I KNELT OVER NELSON and checked his signs. “Zengus, anything in your med pack for reviving someone?”

  Zengus brought his kit over. “Few things; lemme see.”

  I felt a slight pulse in his neck, but his skin was fiery to the touch. Zengus slipped a pill between Nelson's lips. “Displacement sickness?”

  “I guess. Otto said no one's ever gone that far from base time before.”

  Treg walked over. “What happened?”

  “Nelson passed out.”

  Treg cringed. “Got a fix on the nearest Encampment. Gonna be at least three hours walk. More if we're hauling these two.”

  Norg stood back at a distance and watched Zengus work on Nelson. I motioned Treg off to the side. “Ya know, Otto passed something to me before he died.”

  “Oh?”

  I pulled the device out. “Yeah. You gotta see this.” I activated the device. It was similar to P-LADs, but it didn't have any individual ID data.

  Treg eyed the displays. “What are these schematics for?”