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

by Doug McGovern

  “What’s wrong?” Ivy’s hands balled up into tight fists. Lindsey watched the young girls, growing concern washing over her.

  “My siblings. The Altered Children as you call them, one’s I was reunited with like a handful of weeks ago. They’ve all been sucked into this crack-lab too. I see them down there in the hotbox. Playing the Gladiators games, the ones Uncle Taylor was talking about being like the bartering system in this place. He didn’t explain it all that well. Frankly, I haven’t the faintest what’s going on in the grander scheme, but um… Uncle Taylor, there’s no him-hawing around if I’m going to do this up right. I’ve got a plan for getting your Dante to you. A magic trick if you will. I’m going need a couple of volunteers to be able to do it. Ready to make your bones, ladies?” Reilly popped her knuckles. Lindsey and Ivy pressed closer, eager to see how they could be of help at last.

  “Run your plan by me, huh?” Taylor stood up from the map and leaned over the girls, a thoughtful expression overtaking his face.

  “You know me pretty well, alright? I’m a combat genius when it comes to my little size. My little size. Uncle Taylor that’s the key. See that web of chains in the center of the arena? That’s his nest. His throne. It would be the ultimate offense to commandeer it, don’t you think?” Reilly grinned. Taylor’s eyes glittered. He could see where this was going now.

  “Master of puppets by puppets mastered. I like your style, kiddo.” Taylor shot a thumbs up. The others hadn’t caught on yet.

  “Sorry, what’s the plan?” Timlin scratched the back of his neck.

  “It’s simple. I climb through the ranks of all those other kids that are on sale as Gladiators, right? I sneak up there and while whistling no-pants is having his laugh down on the slab, I will start playing keep away in the nest. I’ll take his spotlight from him. It’s like distracting a cat, Agent Timlin. Pretty lights and tinkling bells gets their attention and you can lure them off alone, into a fearful little corner. Without his stage, he’s nothing more than a dried up rave-hopping junkie that got made into a boy toy pincushion by her Ladyship Lucifer.” Reilly spat into the dust and rubbed her hands together. Croc stepped forward, nodding in profuse agreement.

  “We hunt like coyotes. This kid, though, Taylor. By God, she is one of us! She’ll send in these little girls to hunt on either side of the balcony and be decoys. Run in all directions. When he and his posse come out, we’ll be here to circle him. Then you can chase him off alone, into a corner of sorts and duke your final dukes until you’ve unraveled all his nasty little spider chains! Terrific!” Croc clapped a hand on Reilly’s back. All the other bikers were ecstatic, exchanging ideas about how best to pull this off.

  “Your plan is foolproof, missy. Yet I still have some things to add. We’ve got to give Ms. Kendra a job and I know exactly how. She’s into that TV broadcasting stuff. The people they objectified deserve to know the truth. I say we use Kendra’s broadcasting know how to draw out that little diva and then we force him to teach her the tools of his trade.” Taylor winked at Kendra as if this had been the plan at the back burner of his mind this whole time. Kendra swallowed. She was flattered and daunted by this task all at once.

  Taylor turned back to the Arena. Screams of blood-lusting jubilation were rising from that place now. Dante had given his onlookers something particularly meaty to tear into this time. Taylor closed his eyes not wanting to imagine the poor fools that had found their way into his clutches this time.

  “Take your map, Agent Timlin. I think it serves you better now. You’ll lead the President to the chamber you mentioned. He will use all of his own confidential information to help you sort out the lovely tangle of rubber bands he made of the state of the Union.” Taylor felt along the wall then. He came back with a pair of six guns for Timlin and several scattered knives.

  “Told you, weapons are scattered like sawdust around this mega crap blast place.” Taylor smiled sheepishly turning a knife’s handle to Reilly.

  “Better find yourself something to fight with, even if it’s just a paper clip, huh? I feel like this thing is going to move out hot.” Reilly took the knife gratefully. She tossed her head, glad to be back on the job.

  “Yeah, you let me worry about that, kiddo. Make this like a heist. Get those girls in and get them out. Fast and dangerous, but not so fast that they don’t see you. We want them to see you, dolly. Diversions are all for putting on the Ritz, right?” Taylor held out a hand as Croc brought him a Beretta 93r he’d found along the wall. He loaded it without even looking up and winked.

  Reilly turned to face the girls. They were scared, standing close together, but anxious to begin.

  “Are you ready to be led into the jaws of perdition by a 12-year-old?” Reilly clapped a heavy hand on Ivy’s shoulder. Ivy giggled and flipped her hair out of her eyes.

  “Well, only if I come out of it all smelling like a rose. Don’t get me killed, chick. There will be some serious haunting in your future if you do that.” Ivy looked at Lindsey who nodded.

  “Yeah, we trust. We’ve got to do this right, of course. Jane and the others need us to come through.” Lindsey looked at the horizon. Something in her gut told her that her best friend was in more trouble than even she knew. She prayed in her heart that she would pull through this dark moment of temptation.

  *****

  Chapter 14

  Leona led them to a secret doorway in the base of the gates. She passed through this place as much belonging to it as any one of the demons that haunted it. They reminded themselves that it was because she’d created this place. It was hard to wrap their heads around. The fact that they were here with her in this scene. How the earth had taken the turn that it had—it was all unthinkable.

  “Do you know where we’re going sister?” Leona looked back, studying Kiara’s face. Kiara walked with her head bowed. Leona’s revenge wasn’t geared toward Lucia only.

  “To the Court of Souls. You want to draw out Lucia, you will have to boldly stride into his presence with the scapegoat.” Kiara looked at the ceiling. Heaven help her now and forbid that she should honestly go through with this.

  “Where you’ll make a full end of him, since you’re probably the only person that knows how. After which I will make a full end to you.” Vincent smirked, reveling in the idea.

  “Ooh, I don’t know. Kiara here seems to think I can still be saved, eh?” Leona snickered. Kiara popped her neck.

  “I hoped so, but now I know. If there ever was a reprobate that was truly cast off and cut off from any hope of redemption, then that’s you. You are a sinner to the last and I hope your ending is exactly what you deserve.” Kiara spat on the marble floors.

  Leona hissed, drawing her sword on Kingsley, going straight for her sister’s vitals thus. Kiara dove in, grabbing the blade before it made its way to Kingsley’s throat. Kingsley’s reflexes kicked in high gear and he took on a martial artist’s stance, flanking Kiara. Kiara tossed her head and twisted the in her flesh and bone. She wrenched it out of Leona’s hand, holding it to her throat. Leona’s eyes were wide.

  “Just because I’m walking with you and following your strategy, doesn’t mean that I’m your underling or sacrament. Whatever sacrifices I have made and will, I made them by my own choice. Your mind is so twisted I can’t expect for you to see it for what it is. Don’t kick too hard against the thorns, Caroline, dear. They will bite you. You may think of yourself as omnipotent in some sense, but I am the one that still holds all of this Hell together and I will be the final piece to undo you, whether you win or lose.” Kiara’s eyes turned that freakish black again.

  Silence pervaded. Leona looked petrified for the first time in their memory. She swallowed and nodded, looking out beyond where they knew to.

  “Keep your heads. The mirrors of our souls and all their darkness are lingering here by the possessive science of my first and former love. The master of puppets will spare no expense in making you crawl to the Altar. Do you have your hearts as set on your redemp
tion as I upon my vengeance? Heed my instructions then.” Leona hiked up her skirts, stepping ahead of them at full speed. Spirits on the street corners that had previously been fighting over the scraps of food they’d squandered looked up in alarm. They recognized the creator and tormentor of this place. Word would spread like wildfire. Lucia would soon appear in all his glory and fall straight into the spider’s trap as so many lesser men had done for arrogance and the false confidence it creates.

  Dexter stopped dead in his tracks. The others were walking far ahead, attempting to keep up. All of them except for Jane. She was walking shoulders slouched, studying her reflection in the spessartine floor. Something weighed on her with the full force of earth’s gravity.

  “Jane.” Dexter drew a sharp breath. He knew that it would be better for the both of them if she came clean. She knew it too, but coming clean was impossible, so stained was she with her own blood.

  Jane sighed and forced herself to turn, to look at him. There was no judgment in his eyes. Yet she knew that this silence rang with pain. Why did she struggle to trust him after all they had been through together? His misunderstanding made her falter. She sputtered to say something and failed to find the words. Her eyes trained to the floors. Dexter took a long stride forward.

  “Jane, you’re going to have to look at me sooner or later.” Dexter stopped a step in front of Jane. She shuddered. He gasped. The pain was abysmal. That she should punish herself for everything was beyond him! How could it even remotely be her fault? Why had it even been her responsibility in the first place? None of that made any sense to tender-hearted Dexter.

  Jane’s face was washed in tears when Dexter lifted her chin on his fingertips. His eyes showed nothing but calm. Whatever it was, however bad, he needed to know her secret. He could work through it with her, but only if she let him in.

  Jane nodded and clenched her teeth. She took his hands. How was he going to take this? How could she lay it on him gently?

  “What did she do, Jane? What was her plan?” Dexter’s eyes grew wide. As he drew her close, he realized that her belly had been cut into. Jane nodded, laughing nervously. Sooner or later he found out everything. She might as well get this over with.

  “I didn’t say yes. I knew that…That I would have to tell you. That I couldn’t lie to you…It would be wrong. After all that you lost and all that you put at risk, even when you were supposed to come out of it all without a scratch—I was supposed to save you!” Jane laid her head on Dexter’s shoulder. He gasped and clung to her.

  “No, we are supposed to save each other. Because you deserve to live too.” Dexter kissed Jane on the scalp. He needed her to feel her value. To absorb it through his arms. She was air to him. He was lingering here, walking through Hell only because she allowed him to breathe in her energy.

  “You say so. You believe it too, which I love you for. Only…I don’t think I get to. Not then, not now. Do you understand? I’m Andromeda still. That’s what she asked me to do. Dexter, I’m not sure what she meant but…She said for her plan to work…”Jane clenched her fist. The thought that they were going by Leona’s plan was sickening to her marrow and joints. Dexter burst into tears, surprising himself and Jane.

  “Say no more. Don’t…Shh…I understand. Just, shhh.” Dexter kissed Jane. She collapsed against him, numb, horrified by his tears. He cradled her to his body and danced in slow motion around the mirror floor.

  “Thank you…You could have decided on your own and it would still be admirable. I wouldn’t have had the guts to come clean if it were me in your position. It wasn’t fair for me to ask, but I’m glad that I did. You know why?” Dexter lifted Jane’s face. She coughed, lips trembling.

  “No. Honestly, I don’t understand anything that’s happened! After all, I did to save you, I still got you killed!” Jane’s turn to burst into tears. Dexter thumbed them away.

  “That was my choice. Just like you made a choice, mm? Don’t put it on yourself. No more weight on your shoulders, Jane. I don’t exactly know what this means either, but there’s one thing I do know. The reason why I’m glad you told me. I’m going to go with you and help you bear this cross, one last time. This is you and me…We end together or not at all, understood?” Dexter thumbed the steady stream of tears away from Jane’s face. As they stood there, enthralled by each other’s sacrifice, the Court began to fill with billions of copies of the altered peoples. Medusa, Andromeda and Pandora Man. Prometheus along with shaking hybrids of Derek Matheson.

  By droves they marched, each bearing up a banner on their shoulder that was made out of a sheet of glass cast in the shape of a flag. The doubles were painted with gold like the Athena’s Rings’ master of ceremonies, but they were clothed too, all in white choir robes. Under their breaths, they chanted Sic Semper Tyrannus. The air swelled with a swarm of hornets and bees attracted to the honey they’d bathed their feet in.

  A voice boomed from the high marble arches of this city.

  “You are audacious, Leona. I have never doubted that. To think that you would bring your heir and superior, the very core of Andromeda, directly to me. You must be desperate for clemency you will not receive!” Lucia’s voice was followed by the sounds of alarm bells. Something was happening in the other wing of this constant mountainous tunnel city region. The Athena Rings’ was swarmed with chaos that was about to spill over.

  “You should be careful the threats you make. Things are rarely what they seem.” Leona spoke to the faint air, smirking at all the doubles that had surrounded them to cut her off.

  Slowly, she turned to face Jane.

  “This begins negotiations with whatever buyer will help me forestall my judgment,” Leona shouted to the echoing archways. She spoke in affected tones, concealing her true plan still yet also revealing that the proposed transaction was her Trojan horse. Jane gaped at Leona’s sporadic madness and how it flew in the face of all the dignitaries and tacticians that made up her empire. They had run it for her like little pawns. Yet it had always belonged to her. That was more evident with every moment that passed.

  Leona turned and took a step toward Jane.

  “Now it’s time for you to make your decision. Will you be Andromeda for the slighted masses again? Do you trust yourself enough to know to make the calls of judgment that redeem your eternity here?” Leona glared at Jane. Vincent gaped at her. He was edgy. He was confident that he’d be able to defeat Lucia if he could just get to him, but using his own child as bait to draw him out was the worse compromise he’d ever had to make. His face was pained.

  Jane looked at Kingsley and Kiara. She saw in their eyes that they’d already worked out some sort of strategy of their own for dealing with this onslaught. There was no hope in their faces. Somehow that despair gave her the strength. They would need her to come up with a solution for their redemption.

  “I trust myself enough to know that where tragedies have followed me, miracles seem to abound all the more in their wake. Fine, I’ll do it your way. Show me where I need to position myself and I’ll hold that cinch in the wall.” Jane tossed her head. She would not blanch in the face of destruction now. She never had before. Consistency was the key to victory, so far as her philosophy went. Besides, she needed to keep a sound head on her shoulders for when Leona eventually betrayed her to save herself.

  “You won’t believe this. I’m about to show you the petting zoo, the real treasure trove at the heart of all my work. Prepare to be amazed!” Leona brandished her sword, holding it defiantly out toward the walls of Poseidon’s inner gate Court structure. Jane held her breath. Petting zoo?

  *****

  Chapter 15

  In the line of service, the two soldiers had faced a lot of impossible, sometimes even brutal situations. They’d never blanched at them. Yet under the weight of this impossible task, they floundered, more fearful of harming each other than facing Dante’s consequences.

  “Gentlemen of the Poseidon Courts…May I call to your attention a beautiful pair
of stock I hereby dub the Gemini for their unique albeit dormant Andromeda Enhancements. Let’s not forget before we disparage the package, as Mr. Manson tends to do, that you all were raving to purchase stocks and lotteries in the machine-genius wonder boy here and his electromagnetically indispensable companion. It was not long ago that you approached myself and Mr. Lewis considering the exchange of the Andromeda to replace She-Hitler as the Queen of the Gates, with these two as her direct attendants. Thought you’d capitalize on She-Hitler’s madness huh? Came back to bite you, didn’t it? It always does.” Dante puffed smoke rings from his cigar like a locomotive, moving in figure eights between the kneeling, broken men. He was waiting for the signal to fight them, pacing like a tiger in the box.

  “The tables have shifted, Lord Dante. You’ve certainly gotten the memo already. The girl was able to overcome the Andromeda’s autonomy and destroy it. Those scattered android pieces are as useful to us now as the fancy toys that this boy made freely accessible to the world!” Fulton beat his fists against the balcony’s rails. The whole arena echoed with the sound. People had grown silent, frightful.

  Dante nodded.

  “Oh, yes, that’s right. His majesty the great Lucia has taken over that puppet show for his pleasure, is that it? That will be a sight should it ever debut on the world. Oh, and speak of the world… That place is under such damage control now dealing with the effects of technology’s hyper puberty…You fools are wasting your time attempting to dominate it now. Give your kiddos a break and they’ll have the attention span it takes to buy your lies.” Dante stared thoughtfully over the arena.

  “If I may Lord Dante…The children I created with Leona Kelley…I think the eldest and only fully biological one, the girl in Taylor Riveaulx’s company, would make for a prime successor to both Andromeda and She-Hitler. Say that we were to dissolve the sodium photon-holographic doubles left behind at Andromeda’s death. If we were to inject them with the blood of the Golden Fleece into the veins of She-Hitler’s child. Imagine what she would become!” Buchanan paused waiting for the Court to hear him out.