The Good Death Box Set: A Hard SciFi Science Fiction Series

by Doug McGovern

  “We’re offering you a place in the Order. We will dominate. We will remove the insurgent and establish a new administrator for the world. It’s the Andromeda. She has the strength to reign with justice and establish domestic tranquility. Commerce will increase. The boundaries between the dimensions are stripping away as we speak. Lucia’s race is only one of many races that live beyond our sky. We will contract with them for good trade. All will be well, young man. But you must cease this resistance.” Fulton chuckled like he was offering sanctuary to a child. Leaf was disgusted.

  “You expect me to be that puny? Look what your last administrator did to me! The truth is what you say it is,” cried Leaf. “The peace is what you say it is. Justice is what puts you out on top. If I’m supposedly some kind of deity based on this freak disease you’ve infected me with, then I can stop you! I can change the course of justice. I can overthrow your order!” Leaf felt his heart burst into flame. His arms swung out, clapping his fists together. They struck with the strength of chisels, sending a wave of ectoplasm rolling like a boulder through the doorway between Florence and this Furnace-dimension.

  The hole that had opened and threatened to suck Leaf in snapped shut again. There stood Derek, letting lightning course into him from above. Medusa’s doubles were filling the air, surrounded by Andromeda’s. They danced around each other, shooting out currents at machine-gun frenzy, trying to push the Fulton Order back, trying to maintain control.

  Now Leaf could see that all along Leona and Andromeda had just been pieces in a much larger game. It was their fault in the end, for all their overly zealous ambitions, that his secret order, their criminal administration, was being exposed in full. Now that the particles that held reality together were being super-heated and moved out of place, and all the laws of physics were broken by the physical laws of other worlds bleeding through, there would be nowhere for them to hide.

  Derek screamed. The lightning that he was leeching from the powers in the air was giving him the energy he needed to control his seismology and use it to hold back the pirate onslaught. He froze the Fulton supercars in place as they came revving through holes in the atmosphere, surfacing from factories only God knew the location of. His tremors held up the walls of ectoplasm, making them pool together to where they formed a single clear canopy, like a snake’s eyelid, over the sky. His tremors pushed the particles of brick and mortar back together holding the city of Florence in its original form. Italians looked on, hands covering their mouths, shaking rosaries dangling from their wrists and they prayed for the tormented man that was saving them.

  “Atlas!” Leaf called out, gathering the fire of that interdimensional attack into himself.

  Derek looked up, swallowing the lightning that was showering into his mouth. He shifted his head to where it flowed through the top of his skull now, wreathing him like an Olympian’s crown.

  “Hey, buddy! I knew you’d pull through.” Derek smiled, facial muscles trembling under the strain.

  There was a suspended moment between them where they both knew that they were about to have to make a choice. One choice that would annihilate them but just might save the world.

  “Leaf…I think you know what we’ve got to do, man.” Derek’s emerald eyes were pleading. Leaf could see the terror reflecting from them even at this distance. This was an impossible thing to ask of Leaf, yet Derek already knew the answer. He hated the answer.

  “You’re thinking that if I shoot my energy into you we can accelerate this god-like steroid up and push the inter-galactic kamikaze back into the box, yeah?” Leaf smiled. It was the only plan that made any sense. The only kind of strategy that gave civilians a shot. As citizen soldiers, that was their job, right?

  “It will, quite literally, blow us to hell?” Derek gnashed his teeth. A tiny drop of blood, like a tear, oozed over his bottom lip.

  “We’ve been to hell before, you and me. This is just another bad day at the office, man.” Leaf nodded. Derek cleared his throat.

  “There’s only one way to go, right? You and me. We were brothers.” Derek had no words to say all the things he wanted to tell him. All the truth he wanted to shower on him. Leona had brought about an age of hate and lies, where lust was the normal and unadulterated love like that within the family had become an alien trait. They had braved the odds. To hell with this supposed god-ship! In the end, they were more than conquerors and more than men. They were brothers.

  “Like I’ll let you have all the fun in the basement, huh? Tell those freaks to look out below. We’re coming.” Leaf chuckled. Then, gritting his teeth, the nodded and put out his hands in the shape of the cross.

  Was he strong enough? This was furious power, too much for him, something he’d never asked for? Leaf shrieked and suddenly the pain was doable. He could see Derek’s face. He was accountable to this man. How could he fail him? They were the pillars that held up all that was left for the people of the Globe. If they could hold on long enough, they could draw all of it back. They could buy Jane all the time she needed.

  Jane, can you hear me? Is it working? Derek tried to breathe. His lungs were exploding and reforming themselves, recycling his own energy to keep him alive long enough to get the job done.

  You’ve done it. You’ve done what I couldn’t do. God will never forget it, Captain Matheson. I promise you…This will be over soon. Jane’s voice was fading away, trailing off into the static that sometimes cut through the collective consciousness. She was standing in the full force of the storm. Soon they would be rid of it all. Humanity would survive. Whatever happened to them would just be the price they had to pay.

  Derek looked at Leaf and closed his eyes. He wanted his adopted little brother to be the last of anything he’d ever see.

  *****

  Chapter 19

  Timlin drifted under the White House, moving in a long crescent moon.

  “Reilly, the moonroof! He’ll know what to do!” Timlin was flipping several toggle switches on the dash.

  “This thing, despite its weird shape, has much more seating than I expected.” Reilly climbed over the many folding seats that made up the walls of the cylindrical black automobile. She shook herself looking at Lindsey’s wide eyes. This thing was like a miniature spaceship. Laughing she popped the moonroof’s hatch.

  “Fire in zee hole!” Reilly waved to the Geryon. Clenching President Matthews by the top of his skull, he leaped in a long arc through the air and crashed into the cab.

  Matthews’ sobbed. As soon as his butt had dusted the seat, Reilly pulled a revolver and stuck it up under his nose.

  “What’s the plan, wizard? I say if we’ve got to test the mojo out on anybody, we should make this clown rub it on! Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will work like Alka-Seltzer does on pigeons.” Reilly grinned, sticking her tongue in her cheek.

  “We need him for information from the other side. When I was in the ground, I wasn’t just taking a dirt nap. I know what we’ve got to do. Nobody else has to die or be forever altered by this serum.” Timlin twisted the car in a large arc around the White House, heading for the city’s guts.

  “Okay, so where to?” Ivy was beaming. She was enjoying this somehow. Lindsey saw it and felt her spirits lifted. They might be able to win this fight after all.

  “The Pentagon. There was a room, deep underground, when I was an agent all those years ago. A laboratory for testing out old man Kelley’s prototypes. They also kept below top secret files there. It came to me like sleep-learning, impossibly clear. Half those files were marked with the Fulton seal. We’re sitting on a gold mine of information. The playbook is in our hands, ladies and gentlemen.”

  Timlin looked at Harrison, who sat next to him, grinning from ear to ear. Everything that they’d lived and died for was about to come to light. Justice was in sight.

  “Are you sure you want to cross that line? The material that we hold in government security is secret for a reason. This is the path of no return. You should stop resisting and let
those who have blazed the trail guide you.” President Matthews strained against the Geryon’s arms. The creature growled, digging his fingers into his ribs and cracking them like pencils. The President screamed.

  “You know what, I’ve had enough.” Lindsey’s hand shot out and snatched a small cylinder of backup Andromeda samples out of Joseph’s coat. The old man gave a cry as Lindsey snapped the cork off of it and held it on the verge of Matthews’ lips.

  “You wanted to have the world and a soft little cushion to sit on? You honestly thought that by selling out to them you would escape their fury? Especially stupid, Mr. President! No laws can save you from the gates of Hell. The worlds are melting like butter all around us!” Lindsey was screaming. The others looked on in horror wondering if she would actually do it. Wondering what the fallout would be if they lost their bargaining chip and puzzle pawn to the fury of the serum.

  “I have stood by and watched in a safe house for months as you pushed the duties of government off on an innocent girl I finished out my growing up years with. She became a monster so that you could escape the mayhem. What makes you think that justice won’t come for you? Maybe not here. Another life, another world…”

  Lindsey’s eyes were growing red. Harrison was in tears now too, remembering the kind girl who had cared for him when he’d been sick. Lindsey bit her lip until a faint trace of blood flecked her chin. She shook herself, shaking Matthews until his teeth rattled.

  “You made that innocent girl a promise. A promise to protect humanity. You swore to her, as her dying wish. Never mind your oath of office or how you broke it, Judas! I will demand that you keep the promise you made to my sister. She is dead and in a Hell you can’t imagine. Because of you. Because of your cowardice. I blame all of this on you.” Lindsey traced the vial around Matthews’ lip threateningly. She gloated, nodding as tears splashed free and rained on his cheeks. She growled, through gritted teeth and stained mascara.

  “It would be so easy. But it’s because of her and all that she believed in that I won’t. What you will do, if you want to be shown the mercy you so don’t deserve…You will give us the information we need. The magic sword, the silver arrow, whatever it has to be. You thought you could tame it? Cage it, make it your pet? Ignore it and maybe it would go away? Pet it and then it wouldn’t bite you? No. Slay your dragon, Mr. President. You will help us. You were born to help us and today I’m thrusting greatness upon you.” Lindsey let Matthews’ go and pressed the cork back into the vial, carefully tucking it back into Joseph’s pocket.

  “Wow.” Joseph smiled sheepishly at Harrison.

  “Hey, I thought I should keep some handy in case the crap hit the fans and I needed to power up. I’m old. Don’t judge.” Joseph shrugged and looked away.

  Harrison face-palmed.

  “Fate of the free-world, Joseph, and you carry it in your jacket like it was just so much change.”

  Matthews stared at Lindsey, horrified more by her mercy than by her sudden violence. Ivy let out a shaking breath.

  “Now that we know who’s who, this is how it’s going to go. Mr. President will give us all clearance into the basement section of the Pentagon. Before the collective consciousness serum breakthrough, there was a computerized headset machine that did the trick. It required a blood transfusion and some electron-voltage. I guess you’ll get the gentlest punishment possible for your crimes, sir. I’m strapping you and the Geryon into either seat.” Timlin nodded, with a smirk. He tilted two joystick styled throttle switches attached to the gear-shifter and hit the gas. The car shot off like a Topol missile.

  “This thing is like a firework with a steering wheel! God, I can’t wait until I’m old enough to drive!” Reilly crossed her fingers as if she was praying that she would make it that far.

  *****

  Chapter 20

  Taylor Riveaulx felt the years of his life rushing over him like lava showers. The heat of his rage was barely suppressed. There was an animal alive in him. That was the only thing that was left with any life.

  Exhaustion creaked through his body. He’d already sacrificed everything he’d had for this crap-hole world. When would it be over? When could he rest in peace?

  He heard the sound of engines closing in. Smiling, he shook himself. This afterlife wasn’t entirely without its perks.

  “Well, that ghost juice is coming down pretty hot, boss. What’s our play?” Croc pulled a cigar out of his pocket. He touched it to the ectoplasm experimentally. Sure enough, the end lit up. Croc cackled and touched it to his lips.

  “One good use for it anyway!” He looked at Taylor with his brows crossing. This was it. After all their efforts to slay the beast Leona was becoming as a kid, now they were too late. This was the end of the world. They hadn’t been able to do anything except slow it down.

  “Well, it’s too late to save the world, gentlemen. Who’s hungry for clones? I’m thinking we could fry as many of those things as possible and get as many bawling suits out of this city before we blow.” Taylor jabbed a finger at the sky filled with Medusa and Andromeda doubles.

  The men were engrossed with their plan making. So much so that they had almost forgotten Kendra Reagan had been pulled through the airways by Jane’s mysterious warping power too. She stepped out in front of them, having seized a camera from an abandoned news truck.

  “Someone’s gotta haul me along.” She smiled, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Croc licked his lips and looked uncertainly at Taylor.

  “Yeah? Why’s that, little lady?” Croc twitched his fingers wondering if they had time to try to call the news.

  “I think Mr. Riveaulx will agree with me. If this is the end of the world, it needs to be on camera. Just in the crazy chance that the mothership will find the tape one day. Something to remember humanity by.” Kendra smiled, nodding.

  Taylor studied her more a moment. Then, he grinned, all of his teeth glittering like swords.

  “Little lady’s got a point. We’ve got one last ride in us, gentlemen. They think they can bring hell to us? Let’s give them some real hell!” Taylor reached into his pocket and pulled out a busted iPod he’d bummed off of Ivy back at camp.

  “Every last stand needs an anthem.” He flipped through the playlist until he pulled up Sleeping Dogs by Zakk Wylde. Snickering, his eyes rolled back in his head turning black with the blood that was suspended in his veins only oxygenated by whatever hellish things his sister had done to it. His teeth rubbed together focusing energy of his own. Kendra jumped as a thousand intercoms throughout the many buildings lining the street tuned in to him, playing his song over their speakers.

  “Sissy wasn’t the only one that got the gifts in our family, sugar. Climb up. Let’s show ‘em we’ve still got it ‘til they drop the sun on our backs.” He reached into his belt and pulled up a Rhino 200D he’d tucked there, having harvested some of the war spoils of the Fulton raids for himself.

  Kendra climbed on the back of his bike and balanced the camera on his shoulder. Taylor smiled and leaned closer to the bike. He whispered as if talking to Leona.

  “Can you hear me, little sister? I’m coming to settle this family feud with you once and for all.” He hit the throttle and they shot forward.

  Taylor tossed his head, letting his eyes roll back in his head again, black as an iron locomotive, shooting a strong chemical smoke like tears. He whistled a sheer, eagle-cry whistle. All of Medusas doubles turned as if hypnotized, screaming with cougar yowls and heading projectile speed for the bike.

  *****

  Chapter 21

  All roads had led to the Altar.

  Kingsley gasped as he and Kiara at last collapsed at the mouth of the same cave where the Pandora Man was born. The Altered children took up a fighting stance around them. They were wary of being back in the place of their captivity, peering for signs of danger through the chemical fog.

  Kingsley panted. The walls of the cave had been torn open by that battle only three months ago. Now the Altar itself
and all of the scientific research equipment lay broken open like a nut, showing its glittering contents.

  Leona stood on the altar now in her bridal gown. No other form was with her. She had sent her legions out to fight more important battles for her in the skies. A katana glittered in her hand pointed toward the ground.

  Andromeda stood next to her holding a torch she’d lit on fire with the power of her own photonic energy. It glowed an eerie blue-green and moved in the wind like Pacific waters.

  “See, dearest? Heaven has provided a burnt offering to atone for us. We will live forever.” Leona stretched out a hand beckoning Kingsley to come forward. He cringed in disgust. Kiara stood up, spreading her arms. She forced her way in front of him.

  Kingsley felt his heart leap to the center of his throat. Kiara’s face had become magnetic, drawing metallic particles out of the soil and air until it was darker than motor oil. Her eyes blazed with a sudden power surge that made her irises invisible under the opaque foam that sponged from them like rabies. Leona let out a tiny chirp of fear and took a full step backward, the knife quaking in her hand.

  Kingsley felt himself break out into a cold sweat. His whole body quivered as Kiara opened her mouth slowly like a nutcracker might and let out a long harmonized wail that made the legend of banshees seem like choir song. Leona covered her ears, sobbing and pleading.

  “You owe blood. I have come to take you to the other side.” Kiara took a single step forward.

  “No! No! There was a promise. I was promised the world. How could he send you when he loved me?!” Leona dropped the sword. It clattered on the altar top. She took two fistfuls of her hair, screaming.

  “You know the law. You were given a chance by their code. For years I have paid for your sins in the pit of pits. Hell was a quiet place I dreamed of escaping to. It’s because of you that I am an abomination. You will pay for your crimes against humanity and all the worlds. I have come to take you. The Poseidon Gates are waiting.” Kiara’s dark face twisted and only grew a thousand shades darker. The enamel of her teeth began to rapidly reproduce itself and supercharged by the ectoplasm beating through the air, they turned into a platinum-like material. Fine points extended from her mouth, slow and dripping like a viper’s fangs.