by Gavin Magson
Ajax bounded up the stairs with long strides and reached the top of the mansion swiftly. He stepped out into a corridor that was lavishly decorated to fit in with the theme he had encountered so far. Once more Ajax called out Ilya's name whilst walking further down the corridor. Just as he was about to give up on his search of the floor Ajax heard the faintest noise, it came from a room to his right and sounded muffled.
He moved up next to the door and turned his ear to listen out. When he heard the muted almost-sound again Ajax turned the doors handle and pushed it open. His eyes were instantly drawn to the figure tied to a chair in the room’s centre, the woman straining feebly against her bonds with little effect. Ajax dropped his rucksack and moved straight to Ilya's side. He grabbed at the tape and ripped it from her mouth. Her eyes struggled to focus on his, even as he spoke to her she looked back dazed and confused.
“Are you all right? What happened to you?” asked Ajax, wild panic caused his voice to quiver and crack at the sight of her.
He tilted her head up and gently shook Ilya until her eyes shifted, focusing onto his. A faint smile started to spread on her cracked, bloodied lips, quickly wiped away as her eyes widened in shock.
Ajax ducked and spun, he caught the attacker with his outstretched leg and narrowly avoided the swinging bat aimed at his head. Before the man had a chance to hit the floor Ajax grabbed his neck, he twisted it savagely until the crunch of bones breaking made the groggy Ilya wince.
There was no time to slow, three more men burst in the door, all wielding different weapons. Ajax caught the swing of a club with his left forearm, the pain threatened to overcome him as he struggled to block it out. A metal bar careened at him; Ajax powered off the floor and took the man in front with him as he dodged the second blow.
His attackers back met the wall behind with a shuddering blow, the gush of air and cry of pain filled Ajax with more bloodlust. He sidestepped just in time for a swing to connect that broke his previous attackers jaw and left him slumped on the floor, blood gushing from a tear in the man's neck.
Ajax drew his knife and slashed its blade along an outstretched arm, spraying blood as flesh opened to the bone. With one more man left Ajax switched the blade to his left hand, watching as the man's eyes tracked his knifes’ swift movement.
Ajax took his opening, a lighting fast right cross knocked the man back, the follow up lunge saw the knife plunged deep into the man's jugular. Ajax smiled as the man sank to his knees, clutching at the gushing wound as he struggled to breath; a few bubbles of blood the closest to speech he could muster.
“That is enough for now, Mr Frost,” said Henry as he cocked a gun and pointed it at Ilya's head.
Ajax turned to see the man wielding a rifle at Ilya and dropped his knife. Footsteps thundered along the corridor as more men entered the room, some instantly left reeling from the carnage he had caused.
“Someone knock him out,” said Henry. Ajax did not have time to tense before an iron bar clubbed him on the skull. He fell to the floor, his vision darkened as he struggled to lift his head to see the approaching man. The last thing he saw was Ilya crying in her chair.
Ilya rubbed her hands together, it was the only thing should could do to stop her nerves causing them to shake. She knew that now was her last chance to confess what she had kept from Henry for too long; the truth was consuming her, it needed to come out.
The observation deck of their ship was luxurious and ostentatious, two of many new words Ilya had been taught by Henry over the previous months. She even could spell both, if required, and had practised her handwriting constantly at Henry's request. At first she had done it for the praise, enjoying the look of delight on his face; now Ilya knew he loved nothing more than to try and improve her for when they had polite company.
Outside the thick window was a blue pearl of a moon, its rotation slow and lazy as it orbited the small planet below. Henry was busy in the shower, his invitation for Ilya to join him ignored as nerves got the best of her.
Henry re-joined Ilya in the room; a brief plume of steam escaped from behind the shower door and was instantly sucked up by the air conditioning. As he entered the room Henry noticed that she was engrossed in the view on offer. Ilya was twirling a dial on the arm of her chair to zoom in and out of the image, constantly panning the camera. Behind the grey planet, several hundred thousand miles away by her reckoning, was a thin asteroid belt that marked the end of the system. It took Henry three attempts to get her attention, Ilya almost jumped with shock when she realised his presence.
“What's got into you today? You've been distant ever since our union, I thought you of all people would be ecstatic during out honeymoon.” his honest look did little to improve on her sour mood.
“Could you just sit down, this would come easier if I didn't have to watch you pace around the room.”
His tall frame folded onto the couch, Henry moved his body sideways to look Ilya straight in the face. She could not tell what thoughts were going through the man's mind, which only scared her even more. Ilya wished she could read Henry Steel like one of the many books he often studied fastidiously.
“There is something I have been keeping from you, it's unfair of me to not tell you all my secrets; I don't want there to be anything between us. Just don't overreact, I am honestly so sorry for my mistake and I promise you nothing will happen again.
“When I stayed in the Haven, the night before our union, I might have overdone it with the amount I was drinking. It was a bit of a send-off, admitting the end of my past life and the start of a new one with you. At the end of the night Ajax had to carry me upstairs, we were both so drunk it was a real struggle. I suggested that we finish our last bottle in his room, since it was so much further to my own.” still the man's face did not even twitch, was he even taking in what she was saying?
“I won't try to hide it, we were both unbelievably drunk and I kissed him. It meant nothing to either of us and was such a stupid thing to do; I can't tell you how much I regret it. Ajax pulled away, he knew how wrong it was and it stopped there; I promise nothing else happened.”
The faintest gasp escaped her lips as Ilya stopped breathing, waiting with building trepidation for his reaction. She did not truly know what Henry was capable of and feared the unknown; surely her apology would be enough for such a small crime?
He just sat there, his impassive face set with a neutral expression that gave nothing away. Ilya imagined the planet beyond their ship turning to dust in the time that lapsed; she had yet to even see him blink. After such an unbearable amount of time Henry pulled a small object out of his shirt pocket and raised the black cylinder to his lips, all the while his dead eyes were still locked onto hers.
“Jacob, turn the ship around; we are going back to Sector Four.”
“What are you doing? I said I was sorry, there is no need to cancel the honeymoon.” pleaded Ilya, her eyes flared wide when she saw Henry rise from his seat.
“I have some unfinished business to attend to.” he said, the icy tone was hard on the ears and sent a shiver down her spine.
Ilya did not have time to raise her hands in protection, his open palm connected with a loud snap. She could feel something dribble down her chin, she used a finger to wipe it from her face and saw the claret that bled from her split lip.
Ilya's mouth curled back in a snarl, her blood rose inside as she launched herself at Henry. He easily dodged the attack, stepping aside as she sailed past. Ilya hit the window with a thud, bounced off the floor and struggled to get back on her feet. The whole scene blurred as her vision fogged and her legs seemed to protest as she stood. A single punch from Henry connected and Ilya crumpled to the floor unconscious. Henry spat on his bleeding bride and left her where she lay.
The cold water felt like a thousand icy daggers ripping into his flesh; Ajax snapped awake with a stream of curses. When he was over the sudden shock Ajax could feel the splitting headache tearing itself around his skull, it thumped at his brai
n to make itself known. His hair and scalp felt matted with the drying blood that coated the back of his head. The blow had been tremendous; he thanked his luck that it had not killed him.
Ajax tried to move his hands, metal chains cut into his wrist and drew blood as he struggled. He muttered several curses under his breath as realisation dawned on Ajax that he was trapped like prey. With effort and a grimace he opened his eyes, the situation no better now that he could see where he was.
Both arms and legs were cuffed and chained to the wall behind him, the little slack in the heavy manacles allowed him to move his limbs a few inches at best. Across from him, at the other wall of the dank cellar, a man stood with his back to Ajax. He instantly knew the man to be Henry, seeing how the tall, powerful figure wore such fine clothes as if it were a second skin; there could be no mistaking the arrogance.
“What the fuck have you done, Henry? Why am I here?” even the volume of his own voice caused Ajax's skull to ache.
Henry turned and allowed Ajax to see the aggravated black eye and scratches down his face for the first time. Ajax had not seen these before, which suggested that the man might have picked them up since seeing him in the room several storeys above. How much time had passed since he was rendered unconscious? More importantly, where was Ilya now?
“You don't know?” asked Henry. He paced over to the tethered man until Ajax could smell the strong alcohol on his breath. “You kissed Ilya, she told me herself. I had one condition for your freedom, no contact after the marriage. Did you really think that a kiss on the eve of our wedding was perfectly acceptable?” the man's eye was twitching heavily and spittle sprayed from his mouth.
“A kiss? So that was real?” muttered Ajax. He took no notice of the flinch on Henry's face, too lost in his own thoughts. “I'm sorry about that, it was all my fault. We were both very drunk and it meant nothing, I swear. You should not punish Ilya, she is not to blame.”
“You think that you can feed me any old shit and I'll buy it? You betrayed me and so did she. It is only my love for Ilya that will keep her alive; you, not so much.”
Henry turned around as another figure came into view. The man pushed a trolley that rattled, squeaked and groaned in a cacophony of agonising sound that filled the dank room. On a tray atop the trolley were several metallic implements, their varying designs all foreboding and intimidating. It did not take much for Ajax to recognise them as implements of torture.
Henry’s hand slowly moved over the selection, hesitating above each item as his meticulously considered each for what he had in mind. Far too soon for Ajax’s liking the man selected a pair of pliers and turned back with a manic grin on his face. Ajax tried to shake free his shackles but to no avail, the chains did not budge as Henry gripped a finger nail with the pliers. He could not fight back, so he held his breath as the inevitable came. With a huge pull the nail came free, ripped from its roots, raising a muffled cry through Ajax's pursed lips.
“I do hope that you don't pass out when I really get going, Ajax, I’m only just beginning to have some fun.” said Henry as he gripped a second nail.
Methodically Henry ripped each individual nail from Ajax's hands, until blood seeped from the ruined digits and Ajax thrashed against the pain. Henry's grin, the smile of a borderline psychopath, just stared Ajax in the face as he cursed, screamed and spat at the man; Henry did not relent once.
When the last nail bounced gently on the cobbled floor below Ajax slouched back, clenching his teeth together as his hands twitched and the pain ebbed harder. The desire to clench his fists against the agony was overwhelming, yet he knew to do so would just intensify the pain. Henry was no longer stood in front of him when Ajax looked up from the blood splattered floor. The mayor took a bottle from the tray bearer, who remained silently still whilst watching Ajax’s suffering, and drank heavily.
“Cut out his implant, Raúl, make sure to drop it in this immediately.” said Henry. With his back turned to the chained Ajax all the prisoner saw was what looked like a shallow cup encased in some machinery. There was a faint whirr as the object was brought closer by Raúl, once it was up close Ajax could smell the contents for what it was.
Raúl held the cup in his left hand and a knife in the other, it's rough and dirtied point vibrating to mirror its wielders nerves. Inside the cup bubbled a brown concoction, it looked to Ajax like a close analogue for human blood, even a tinge of iron drifted up his nose as the man held it close to Ajax's right wrist. The newcomers face was waxy and unkempt, a sheen of sweat coated tanned flesh. Ajax stared into the man's eyes; pure terror looked back at him.
The knife pierced his flesh, the point pressed just hard enough so that Raúl could drag it along the scar tissue formed from the implant. Ajax felt the warm trickle of blood run along his angled arm, he bit back his pain and anger; Raúl's quiet curse did not help his own rage. Henry turned around, the bottle pressed against his lips as his employee cursed a second time. He marched over and pushed the man out of the way; from the instant reaction of anger Ajax knew Raúl had messed up.
“You fucking imbecile, how could you nick the vein? Go get me some rags or something. Bastard!” Henry looked even more enraged as flecks of spit and the stench of alcohol hit Ajax.
Ajax raised his head to look at the wound and saw the blood pumping in beat with his heart. It already coated his arm with crimson and the floor below was fast following suit. It dawned on him that with the nano machines losing their effectiveness Ajax was really in a dire situation; if he did not escape soon this could be the death of him. To let his emotions panic him would increase his heart rate, decreasing his chance of escape. His only chance now was to break free, without incurring more injury, and allow the nano machines time to repair.
“I am sorry about this,” said Henry. He took the filthy scrap of cloth his henchman returned with and tied it tightly around Ajax's bleeding wrist. “It looks like you will be dying a little sooner than I planned. Not to worry, I will make sure to speed things up a bit so I get everything done in time.”
The cloth around his wrist was starting to drip blood already, the ache from his arms being held far apart was fading away as the blood drained from his body. Ajax closed his eyes, his head sagged as his breathing became laboured and his energy seeped away. The sharp pain as Henry punctured his chest with electrodes briefly focused his mind, not enough to realise what was happening before electricity coursed through his body.
Henry watched, that unnerving smile ever present, as Ajax shook in his shackles. His body convulsed and spasmed against the wall he hung from and a guttural cry escaped his mouth. In Henry's hands was a small box, he slowly twisted a dial on the front face to increase the current which surged through wires that lead from a battery into Ajax's flesh. Henry laughed as Ajax's pain riddled screams rang in their ears, eerily echoing around the small room and causing the nervous Raúl to turn away and grimace.
“This is your punishment, Ajax, I want you to know this was all your own doing before you die. If you had just accepted that Ilya could never be yours none of this would have happened. Right now you could be enjoying your freedom somewhere pleasant, perhaps slumming it with that motley crew Ilya was so fond of, instead of bleeding to death in my basement. Ilya and I would still be touring the solar system, enjoying the beauty of space without a second thought of your miserable existence. Oh, how such primitive men can be so weak. Raúl, hand me that knife.” said Henry. He nodded towards the blade sticking hilt up between his feet.
Raúl hesitated slightly before common sense caught up with him; he gathered the knife and held it by the blade. Henry switched off the battery, instantly the screams and whimpers stopped as Ajax went limp. Henry unplugging the wires and look great pleasure in pulling out the electrodes, twisting them for added pain. He carefully returned the implements to his trolley and accepted the knife with another grin.
“You will never get away with this,” whispered Ajax hoarsely. Blood dribbled down his chin and across his bar
e chest, eventually connecting with the rest of his lifeblood in pool below.
Henry leant in close, so close that Raúl could not hear what his master uttered into Ajax’s ear. “I already have. Your corpse will show up in the slums, I knew you were heading to Seven today. No one will blink an eye at another dead mercenary, neither will your friends. Ilya is mine, she will stay here imprisoned until the day she accepts her fate, or dies first; it does not bother me which.”
His eyes and nostrils flared as Ajax called upon his last remaining strength, he strained against the chains to lean out further. Henry did not react fast enough, teeth sunk into his throat and bit down hard. His knife met flesh as he plunged it repeatedly into Ajax's side, the chained man did not let go until he tore out the mayors jugular in a violent spray of thick arterial blood.
Henry sank to his knees, his eyes wide and face set in shock as it was his turn to bleed profusely. Ajax struggled to breathe, he spat out the torturers flesh and tried to drag air into his lungs. He knew at least one had been punctured by the blade, his breathing ragged and laboured.
“I may die, but I am taking you with me, Henry. Ilya is my world and I leave it happy knowing you can't harm her any more. Now do humanity a favour and die, you wretched scum.”
Henry looked up at Ajax, his eyes locked to Ajax's as Henry Steel pitched backwards and died. Blood coated the man from the throat down, no longer were his fine clothes impeccably clean.
“What do you think, Raúl, fancy untying me?” asked Ajax weakly. He smiled as the nervous man almost pissed himself in fear.
“I-i-it won't make a difference,” stammered the man, rooted to the spot.
Ajax could feel the wounds trying to mend feebly. The skin that he had torn by the sudden movement slowly started to pull tight across his bleeding wrists and feet, yet the deep knife wounds were unaffected. The lung was not getting any worse, but would take much longer to repair itself. If he could just get Raúl to release him he might yet make it out of here alive; he did not know what power his augment had left and felt he might not have yet passed the point of no return. So long as he could get his hands on some artificial blood to replenish that which he had lost there was a chance the nano machines could heal him. The sound of footsteps broke his train of thought, the noise echoing as an unseen figure closed in on the cellar.