Cataclysm Epoch

by Paul Heingarten

  “I dunno. Treg, Baudricort tried to pull something out of Nelson the last time we were with him.”

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  “He asked him about Cataclysm, where it was. I’ve never heard him say much about it, but all of a sudden he’s curious about where it is. Does that make any sense to you?”

  “Not really. But we gotta know he’s onto more than he’s talking about. Maybe he found out how Cataclysm starts, or at least how it moves.”

  It pissed me off that I had to dig around like this for something Baudricort could damn well just ‘fess up. He played us sometimes almost as much as he played Charista and Lebabolis.

  Treg clutched my arm. “Look, we gotta move. Let's bring this to the honcho. He's got explaining to do.”

  I looked at Otto's body and over to Norg as he stood and watched the area, his rifle at the ready. “We have to bury Otto first.”

  “Norg won't like that.”

  My voice hitched and a tear stung my eye. “You think I do? This is what the Action does and I’m damned if I let one of us… us… not get that respect. We owe him, Treg, and you know that.”

  Treg and I explained things to Norg as Zengus tended to Nelson. I'd seen burials in the Action before, but this was the first time it was someone so close to me, and someone from this group. One of our circle was gone.

  I looked around for several minutes until I found a good spot. Otto deserved to be in a place where some wild animal wouldn’t root through to find his body. I settled on a patch of rocks under a few trees for Otto. Treg and Norg dug the grave and buried him. Afterwards, we stood around for a few minutes. No one spoke. Part of me hoped we were wrong, that he wasn’t really dead, and while they laid him in the ground his eyes would’ve opened. But he gave us nothing but complete stillness.

  Once I’d accepted his absence, the words found me. “He believed in the Action, and in us. He loved us, and we loved him too.”

  Norg's jaw clenched. “Rest easy, bro. You're with us always.”

  I grasped Norg’s shoulder. He flinched at my touch, but he nodded even though his gaze never left Otto’s grave. “One or none.”

  #

  A painful sun beat several hours later while we trudged into Encampment 2. After we delivered Nelson to the medics, we found a bit of rest ourselves for a few hours. The raging soreness in my back eased a little once my body surrendered to a nap.

  After I woke up, I contacted Baudricort on the comm and filled him in on our failed mission.

  “Damn, glad you made it out of there.”

  “We were lucky. Except for Otto.”

  “What happened to him?”

  I sucked in a breath and held it. Even though I’d seen it, I had trouble getting the words out. “He’s gone.”

  Baudricort just stared back at me. His eyes widened and his head shook. “No, no, this can’t be happening.”

  “Afraid so.”

  He dropped his head down. When he looked back up, his eyes darted about the way he did when he worked on an emergency Encampment Relo, but he was quiet.

  “We lost a Verge point too.”

  He squinted. “How’s that?”

  “I blasted it.”

  His eyes shot open. “You did what?”

  “It’s a pocket of energy. We had a massive ship baring down on us. What the hell else was I supposed to-“

  He nodded and shook his head fast. “No, no, you’re right. I just never realized you knew about that.”

  “Otto told me once.” The name hurt when I said it. But it felt good that he got the credit here. Even if this one had cost him his life.

  “Ana, I’m sorry about Nelson. I wanted to find Cataclysm, and I thought not telling you about it would protect you.” He sighed. “I never can tell how much they’ve got us under the Link even during the day. I thought playing this one close would be safer.”

  His brow wrinkled and he glanced away.

  “I’m gonna be there whenever you talk with him again. Sorry, I just don’t trust you alone with him after that. I think you can understand.”

  He watched me with sad eyes. “I’m coming there. I know some more Verge points you can try, and there’s some other gear you can use.”

  “How soon can you make it here?”

  “I can be there in a few hours. Will get you in the Admin room when I do.”

  “OK, see you then. Out.”

  #

  I found Kado, another of the Intellectual Products. He'd observed Nelson since we arrived.

  “Ana, I don't know what's going on with him!”

  “It's the Verge, right? The big gap between his base time and now?” I asked, exasperated.

  “We’re giving him several medications. He’s stable, but I don’t know why he passed out like that. It all points to the Tether. Best I can tell, the chip in his device may be malfunctioning. That's the best theory we have, but right now it's just that. Whatever happens, we can’t let his Tether break, or-”

  His gaze drifted off and the worry on his face spread to me. “Will he die?”

  Kado gazed at me and searched for his reply. He wouldn’t have soft sold anything to me. “You know I’ll do whatever I can to stop that, right?”

  He winced and gave a polite smile.

  “I’ve got a P-LAD from Otto with some things on it. Maybe you can find out some other options for treating him.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything else I-“

  I waved him quiet. “Find something, Kado. I’m not losing him. OK?”

  Chapter 36 (Ana)

  W hile they tended to Nelson, I pulled out Otto’s P-LAD and scoured it with Treg. All the maps I ever saw, all the plotting I watched Baudricort, Llewyn and the others doing, nothing ever showed up like this.

  The maps showed the Range that Baudricort mentioned, with some paths marked. The notes on it were scribbled, and a lot of things were scratched out. And then there was the device. That’s what we called it, since it wasn’t clear what the hell it was. A series of tubes and control modules, the diagram was not very clear, but one word on it was: Cataclysm.

  Treg scratched his head. “What do you make of those schematics?”

  “Could be some kind of shelter – or maybe an escape vehicle. They put ‘Cataclysm’ on it, maybe it’s some kind of counter device, something to negate the effects? I turned to Treg. “I couldn’t understand much of what Otto said near the end, but he kept repeating ‘Find it’, and pointed to this thing.”

  “It’s in the Range somewhere. But that thing's got to be over a thousand miles wide. If it’s even in there somewhere, we’ll be looking a long time unless we have some kind of clue.”

  Baudricort brushed everyone off who asked about Cataclysm. Had he known about these records? Otto was his number one with Tech. Wouldn’t they have discussed this? And if it was something for Cataclysm, why wouldn’t he have mentioned it to the Action as a group?

  “Hey, how about this?” Treg tapped the screen, which revealed an archive on screen. It was a bunch of notes:

  I don’t have long, but I need to pass this on to someone. I hope whoever finds this knows what kind of terrible weapon is here, and that it must be destroyed. I wanted to destroy it, I should have. It was my responsibility. The Valkyrie protects, and the existence of the Cataclysm device puts the world in danger.

  The person who created Cataclysm as well as myself know what people will do to get it. I’m including specific instructions for shutting down this device, but it can only be shut down in a certain way. My troops and I are overrun, and I don’t have much more time. I’ve initiated a safety sequence, the instructions for operating it are contained in these files.

  For my failure at this, my calling, the creator of Cataclysm who is so much more to me than that, and for the one other thing I’ve lost that hurts me the most, I have no adequate explanation other than when faced with the deepest, darkest tyranny, I did all that was left in my power to keep this weapon, and the world, safe.
<
br />   To whoever finds this, if you feel any inkling of light in your soul, find whatever courage and strength you need to complete destroying this Cataclysm device. If you have other ideas, may this device burn you from the inside out.

  The Valkyrie

  I read the words over and over, tried to take them in and hoped that I wasn’t imagined things. Cataclysm was a device? Baudricort was always pretty clear that he knew it existed, but he had never said anything about finding it, or that it was something anyone needed to find anyway. Was he trying to keep it a secret and hope no one found out about it?

  “Did Otto tell you about this?” I asked Treg.

  He shook his head. “I knew about weapons, but this is way beyond anything that they’d give to a Warrior Product.” He pointed to the screen. “Says here it causes massive destruction, upends the gravitational field, even reverses polarity.”

  “Is this what they used back then? Total catastrophic damage,” I muttered. “Under someone’s control. Wonder how the Valkyrie got it?”

  “We can ask the old man, but as little as he’s said about it so far, don’t know what he’d give up now.”

  #

  After an hour of tests and some medication, Nelson was better. I sat with him in his room while Treg contacted Baudricort on the comm. Treg and I figured that we needed to corner Baudricort on Cataclysm, and from what we had seen in Otto’s P-LAD, the sooner the better.

  Nelson reclined on the bed. He winced whenever he moved. “We gotta stop meeting like this.”

  “How are you feeling?” I patted his leg.

  “Eh, alright I suppose. I just kind of dropped out, it felt like I was some kind of kitchen appliance plugged in and running and someone just yanks the power cord out and I keel over.”

  “I talked to the medic. They gave you some medication that should slow that down. They think it’s related to your tether and just the general time sickness.”

  “Oh great, was afraid you’d say something like that. I gotta keep this doohickey on but it’s gonna make me pass out every now and then.”

  “It is what it is, for now,” I said. “Look, I know having a look at anything to do with Cataclysm or something Baudricort might be interested in is about the last thing on your mind at this point, but I’ve got some maps about that Cataclysm Treg and I were trying to make sense of. Wanna have a look?”

  He squirmed a bit. “Well, seeing as how he’s not around to give me the anal probe or something, why not. Whatcha got?”

  I laid the P-LAD on his lap and stood over his shoulder. I flipped it through the screens slow, taking a few minutes to give him time to take it all in. The schematics, I flipped past them. The mountain ranges came up next. I cycled through the maps and ranges for a few seconds, and then he grabbed the P-LAD firm in his hands. His whole body tensed like a statue, and for a second I thought he was having a seizure.

  “You OK?”

  He chewed on his lip. “You ever see something and feel like you’ve seen it before somewhere?”

  “Maybe.”

  His eyes locked on this image, and his hands held the P-LAD so tight I wondered if it would crack. “It’s right there. I don’t know why I do, but I’ve got this feeling and I’m telling you, save this and we’ll use it to find that thing, I’m sure of it.”

  #

  Treg came in after a few minutes and grabbed a seat. “The honcho’s headed here. Should be another hour or so. What’s doing with the maps; Nelson get anything out of them?”

  “Oh yeah, he did.” I nudged Nelson. He smiled for the first time since he had collapsed in the field. “We should move on this soon, gotta figure out a way. If we can grab Cataclysm, we’d get all these jokers lined up to deal with us. We wouldn’t need Charista, or Baudricort, or even the Omegans.”

  “Yeah, but what do we have to do to get there?” Treg shrugged. “We’re looking at several hundred miles easy, over open ground, and with whatever firepower we can muster up. Baudricort’s not gonna give us whatever we need; I’d be surprised if he does. There’s too much to protect and he’s got too many other people out in the open still. No, Ana.”

  “He was damn near about to cut this guy’s head open to find Cataclysm if I hadn’t offered to rearrange his face with my blade.”

  “Right, but also remember how secret he kept it all. What makes you think he wants us to be anywhere near it?”

  I watched the monitors that tracked Nelson’s signs and thought about the rest of the Action. I wondered if I still had that reputation with people out there. “Maybe we don’t need Baudricort.”

  “How so?”

  “I can talk to people. They have to be tired, at least some of them, tired of always running. Betcha most don’t even know why they’re still on Exodus anymore. Maybe if I tell them what we’re running to, give them something they can latch onto. All people need is something they can see. A goal, an idea.”

  “But what idea? Cataclysm is dangerous. You saw what the Valkyrie said about it. And she hid it pretty well.”

  I grabbed the P-LAD and studied the map Nelson was so excited about. It was a long way, sure. And I didn’t know what kind of group we’d get on this. I figured Treg, Norg, Zengus were locks. But we needed more. A vehicle or two, some air cover even. We were just too thin to make a run.

  “I’ll talk with Baudricort. He and I have an – understanding.”

  Chapter 37 (Ana)

  O nce Baudricort arrived at Nelson’s room at the Encampment, the three of us laid it all on him: the P-LAD, the messages from the Valkyrie, Nelson’s gut response to the pictures of the Range.

  Baudricort eyed the screen with the Valkyrie’s note. He ran his finger over the letters, his eyes damp. “It was so long ago,” he half muttered to himself.

  “You OK?” I asked.

  After a few more moments, he said, “Yeah, I’m good.” He leaned back, his arms folded. “Suppose I can’t keep this secret any longer.”

  We all stared at him.

  He stood and paced, his hands kneaded together like he was trying to escape from invisible handcuffs. “Cataclysm was a project began by Charista years ago. She, like many of the Coursons, thought if they could somehow harness the destructive power of what Cataclysm was supposed to be in Xander’s book, we’d have the ultimate defense.”

  “Or weapon,” I muttered.

  Baudricort held his hand up to me. “It was intended as defense. And the Valkyrie saw to it that was the only reason for it. But then things changed. The Omegan armies invaded. Charista had a choice: she could let the Lebabolis Army, led by the Valkyrie, turn back the Omegans, or they could try using Cataclysm.

  “It was risky, either way. Letting the Lebabolis ground and air forces fight it out was sure to cost many lives, and may have not ended well at all. But Cataclysm was untested. There was no way of knowing it wouldn’t backfire and cause even worse damage on Lebabolis.

  “The Valkyrie argued against Cataclysm. She and Charaista were close, but on this they parted ways.

  “Cataclysm was fired. It turned back the Omegans, but it also damaged some settlements in the Outlands. People who’d lived independent of Lebabolis for many years were killed. Charista dismissed it as collateral damage and loss of those less worthy than the Products of Lebabolis.

  “The Valkyrie attempted to take out Charista, but the attempt failed. Then, in a late night raid, she stole Cataclysm away and hid it. No one except the Valkyrie’s most loyal troops knew where it was. She returned and was pressed to find out where it was hidden. But the Valkyrie held fast. There was no breaking her. Charista knew as I and the Coursons did that breaking the Valkyrie’s mind was impossible. Still, she tried. She then ordered the Valkyrie and her troops sent for Realignment.”

  “So that’s what happened to her.” I shook my head.

  “No, not quite. I helped her. I forged the system records that made it look like she and the rest received Realignment. I also helped her unit escape north, made that look like they overpowere
d the security. They were part of the Regiment so it wasn’t a big stretch. But the Valkyrie was locked up, and I never saw her again.”

  Nelson propped himself up on his elbows. “Who built Cataclysm, Baudricort?”

  The question hung in the air like early morning fog. Baudricort’s brow creased, and a few beads of sweat formed. He looked at Nelson, then the rest of us. But he still said nothing. He didn’t have to, I knew the answer.

  “You did.” I stood up, my arms folded. His eyes tracked to me. I stepped toward him. “All this time, it was you. You were running from all your mistakes. MODOSNet… Realignment… and Cataclysm.”

  “Ana.” Treg stood up.

  Baudricort folded his arms. He heaved a bit and bit his lip.

  I stood right next to Baudricort. “Why didn’t you say anything? Tell anyone?” A million thoughts flooded my brain. On one hand, I wanted to pummel him for what he had put Nelson through, and what we all went through, before and after Exodus.

  But his beaten look, his wild eyes like those of a starved animal, made me freeze in place. I looked on him with a mixture of helplessness and mild anger.

  When he spoke again, his voice shook. “The Link ties you all into Lebabolis. Not just when you’re asleep. They can pull information from you as well as send. That’s what I tried with Nelson.” He glanced to the bed. “I’m sorry for that. I’m in a horrible spin, and I’m trying to do what I can to fix it.”

  He stood up and faced me. “They used me. My ideas, my plans. I only wanted to rebuild. They wanted to restrict, refine, in their image. I learned later, there was no stopping Charista. The Valkyrie did too. We wanted the same thing, but we figured on different ways of getting it done. She wanted to cut the head off, but I wanted to eat away at the system over time. With messages, with cracks. Enough breaks in a wall and it will tumble.”

  “But you both lost.” I paced about. I grabbed for the P-LAD. “But here, we’ve got something. At least we know where Cataclysm is.”