Mutant Rising

by Steve Feasey

  ‘Good. Then you personally –’ he jabbed his finger at her – ‘will appropriate a vehicle and travel out to that point.’

  ‘Me, sir?’

  ‘Yes, you! In case you haven’t noticed, we are in the process of transporting a huge number of mutants away from their slums outside this city, which means that everyone, including you, must do their part.’ He waited, daring the woman to answer him back. ‘Once you reach your location, you will conduct a search, broadening it steadily until you find Commander Mange’s body – either living or dead. Regardless of which of these states he might be in, you are to bring the cyborg back here to City Four. Do you understand these instructions – ’ he glanced at her insignia – ‘Captain?’ Another idea occurred to him. ‘Oh, and you can take Fretz here with you.’

  The politician looked at him aghast. ‘With all due respect, sir,’ he spluttered, ‘I’m not trained for duties of that kind. I think –’

  ‘ENOUGH!’ Melk slammed the table again. ‘Are you disobeying a direct order from your president, Fretz?’

  The man slid his eyes in Razko’s direction – and received the tiniest shake of the other man’s head. ‘No, sir. Of course not.’

  ‘Good,’ Melk said. He rapped his knuckles on the tabletop: two quick knocks that seemed to punctuate something only he understood. He looked about him and smiled, his mood seemingly transformed.

  ‘Why is there no air conditioning in this damned room?’

  Nobody dared tell him he’d ordered it turned off at the start of the meeting.

  ‘Well, I think that was a useful discussion, don’t you?’

  Another of his advisors tentatively raised a hand. ‘Mr President, sir, I, er … I thought we’d planned to discuss the repairs to the south-east section of the wall, with the aim of –’

  ‘Another time, I think,’ Melk said with a waft of his hand. Standing up, he paused, frowning as if considering this response. ‘Yes, definitely. Another time. The walls? Who knows – maybe we won’t be needing them for much longer, eh, General?’ Signalling for Razko to accompany him, the president turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

  The people he left behind in the meeting room looked desperately at each other for a few seconds before one dared to break the silence.

  ‘What the hell was that all about?’

  ‘He’s under a lot of strain,’ suggested the woman who’d almost laughed out loud.

  ‘Strain?’ Fretz said, visibly shaken at the thought of leaving the safety of the city to go into the mutant wilderness. ‘He’s out of control, that’s what he is. Did you see the way he was talking to himself? Who does that, hmm? I’ll tell you who: a madman, that’s who. The man is deranged!’

  The woman shot him a look. Fretz held a position in the Principia she’d always hankered after, and in her opinion the man was not fit for office. ‘I hope for your sake that this room isn’t bugged. I’d imagine your little trip out to the Wastes could be very interesting, if what you just said was brought to our beloved president’s attention. I mean, who knows how he’d react?’

  All colour drained from the man’s face. He started to say something and stopped. First he looked about the table, trying to gauge if anyone there would know if the room was bugged or not. When all he received were blank looks, he started to scan the walls and ceiling for possible places a listening device might be concealed.

  ‘Well, I’d better be getting ready,’ Captain Mayer said, standing up and straightening her uniform. ‘I should have a vehicle powered up and ready to go in about an hour. I’ll meet you down by the loading docks in Sector C, Principal Fretz?’

  As things transpired, Melk’s plan for Captain Mayer and her reluctant travelling companion turned out to be a good one. She travelled to the site of the confrontation between Steeleye and the ARM agents, and despite her misgivings about successfully finding anything in that harsh wilderness, she quickly ascertained the direction they had come from. Reasoning that this was as good a direction as any to begin her search, she carried on along the same bearing. As a soldier, Mayer was used to complaints from the men and women under her. Orders were usually met with grumblings or outright objections, but the civilian next to her took whingeing to a whole new level: first it was the heat inside the vehicle; then, when she opened a window, the dust was a problem; her driving came in for criticism next, and when all that was done he started in on the terrain. The man seemed unable to just shut up and get on with things, and the thought of having him alongside for much longer was enough to drive her to distraction. But luck was on the captain’s side. She’d gone no more than ten kilometres from the start point when she saw a pair of figures come over a low rise, heading her way.

  Mayer pulled to a halt and watched them.

  The cyborg could hardly move; the man-machine was hanging on to the nightmarish creature that appeared to be accompanying him; that hellish creation appeared exhausted, only just bearing the strain and effort of the weight placed on it. Concentrating as they were on staying upright, the pair initially failed to see the vehicle ahead of them.

  Like Mayer, Fretz was speechless for a moment. When he did speak, it was in a horrified tone. ‘Get us out of here,’ he said. ‘Just put this thing into reverse and get us the hell out of this place before they notice us.’

  ‘Those are not our orders, Principal,’ Mayer said, although in truth the exact same idea had occurred to her.

  The cyborg was bad enough: bloodied and ruined, it looked as if both flesh and mechanical elements had been put through a threshing machine. But the thing with it, a truly terrifying monster that Mayer thought would haunt her nightmares, was enough to make even the hard-bitten soldier shrivel inside.

  Nevertheless, she reluctantly undid her seat belt and climbed down out of the cab, calling out and waving to get their attention. Upon spotting her, they straightened up a little and began to make their way over.

  Captain Mayer drew herself up to her full height when the half-man, half-machine was in front of her. Even weakened and damaged, he was a formidable sight. ‘Commander Mange,’ she said, trying her best to sound a lot braver than she really felt, ‘my orders are to take you back to C4 where you will face a court martial.’

  ‘Get me into that carrier,’ he said, the lips and tongue of his smashed and ruined face not working properly. ‘This is Anya. Get her in too.’

  Mayer hesitated, then reached for the wrist restraints hanging from her belt.

  ‘She’s my rescuer, not my prisoner,’ Steeleye slurred, shooting the soldier a withering look with his one good eye.

  ‘I’m to take you back, Commander. I wasn’t instructed to take anyone or anything else back.’

  ‘Well, I’m telling you now, Captain. She goes with me. And if it was Melk who gave you the order to come here and find me, you’ll be glad you obeyed my directive.’

  Mayer paused for a moment and then gave a curt nod. ‘The pair of you will be more comfortable in the back. There’s water in a canteen there and a first-aid kit in the storage compartment in the footwell.’ As the pair made their way to the rear of the vehicle, Mayer walked round to the passenger door. She opened it and looked in at the politician, dabbing at his forehead with a blue silken handkerchief. ‘Get out,’ she said to Fretz.

  ‘What?’

  Up until she’d laid eyes on her new passengers, this had been the part of her mission she’d been dreading the most. ‘Out. Now.’

  ‘Who do you think you’re talking to, Captain? I am a member of the Principia, not one of your –’

  ‘I know all too well who and what you are, sir, but my orders were twofold: bring him back, and leave you here.’

  The politician’s eyes grew wide as he stared back at her. ‘W-what? Are you insane? When did you receive such an order? Who would dare to issue such a preposterous –’

  ‘A few moments before we left. The president contacted me personally. He was quite clear. He also said that I was to tell you that he hopes you’ll use you
r walk back, if you should make it back, to think up some more of your excellent jokes. He looks forward to hearing them.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what you’re –’

  ‘Get out, Principal Fretz.’ Her right hand moved down to her hip, the thumb releasing the flap that secured the pistol in its holster. The movement was not lost on the politician, and he stared at the hand that now rested on the butt of the weapon.

  Tears slid down Fretz’s face. Gathering what little courage he had, Fretz nodded once and silently did as instructed.

  ‘Here,’ Mayer said, handing the man a small canteen of water. It was contrary to what she’d been ordered, but she didn’t think it would matter.

  Getting back into the vehicle, she sat for a moment, then turned the engine on and began to back away.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Steeleye asked from behind her.

  ‘Nothing that concerns you, Commander.’

  As she drove off, Mayer glanced in the rear mirror at the receding figure of the politician. Without any warm clothing, shelter or means to defend himself against the wild animals that roamed these parts, she doubted he would make it through the night.

  She made a mental note to herself never to tell President Melk any jokes.

  Jax

  The vehicle had hardly come to a halt when Jax was out of the door and hurtling headlong down the hill that led to their encampment. The albino ignored the dangers of going so quickly down the rubble-strewn pathway in near total darkness, and when he fell, badly twisting his ankle, he was straight back up again, in spite of the searing pain in his leg, as if it wasn’t there. At the bottom he headed for the fire, only limping to a halt when Brick got to his feet and turned towards him. Nothing was said. The big man just stood, tugging the bottom of his shirt back and forth between his hands as if trying to wring some invisible matter from it. Jax’s gaze moved from his friend to the two broken bodies on the ground, where he lingered for a moment or two before turning back to the big man.

  Brick looked terrible. It was clear he’d recently used his powers of healing, and that it had left him utterly spent. His eyes were sunken – deep shadows under yellowed bloodshot orbs – and the network of veins and arteries beneath his sallow skin was dark, appearing almost black in the firelight. From the dried blood on his face and in his hair, it seemed he’d been injured too.

  Jax had never been able to look inside Brick’s mind. Even when they’d been young boys together, back at the Farm where Melk had created them – the two of them being earlier, ‘less successful’ experiments – he had been unable to access his friend’s thoughts. Nevertheless so, he felt the waves of pain, sadness and anger emanating from the big man. Approaching him, he reached out a hand and was shocked when the huge mutant flinched as if he thought the albino might strike him. ‘It’s OK, Brick,’ Jax said, placing the hand on the other’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. ‘It’s OK.’

  With that, he moved towards the fire and knelt beside the two bodies. Pulling at the blanket covering the smallest figure first, he already knew what he would find underneath. Looking down at the little girl’s broken body, he sighed and shook his head. ‘Sleep now, little Flea,’ he whispered, covering her again.

  ‘Brick tried,’ the big man rumbled. ‘Brick got to her real quick, but the hurt was too much. Too much.’ Jax turned to look over his shoulder at his friend. ‘Brick couldn’t get it out. Useless … Brick … Couldn’t … Get … Hurt … Out …’ With each word, the big mutant, tears running down his cheeks, hit himself, slapping at the side of his head, until with some difficulty Jax, on his feet now, managed to grab hold of his hands, urging him to stop and reassuring him he knew just how hard Brick must have tried to save her. After a few moments, when he’d finally managed to calm the big guy down again, Jax turned to the figure beneath the second blanket. He took a step in its direction, then stopped, not wanting to uncover it and confirm what he knew lay beneath.

  ‘Silas,’ Jax said, when he was finally able to speak again.

  Brick groaned.

  ‘What was it, Brick? A cave-in? Before he disappeared from my mind, I thought I sensed something like that. I sensed … rocks falling, and –’

  ‘Not cave-in.’ The two friends’ eyes met. ‘The bad man did it. The man who came looking for us.’

  ‘What bad man?’ Jax’s entire demeanour changed, the grief quickly giving way to an even stronger emotion.

  ‘Metal man.’

  ‘Brick, please talk sense.’

  ‘One-eyed man. Brick dug him out too.’

  There was a pause as Jax took this information in.

  ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Down there.’ Again Brick wouldn’t make eye contact. Now he looked down at the ground with a shamed expression, as if he expected to be reprimanded. ‘Had to, Jax. Couldn’t just leave him there. Not right. Maw would have been mad if Brick had done that.’

  ‘It’s OK.’

  ‘Brick didn’t heal him though. Oh no. No.’ He went back to twisting the bottom of his shirt. ‘Tied him up with wire. Broke his guns. Smashed them with my hands. Did a good job. Had to. To stop him getting away.’ He looked at Jax for reassurance, the younger mutant nodding to let him know he’d done well.

  ‘Show me,’ Jax said, heading for the underground entrance.

  ‘He was here!’ Brick wailed, looking down at the place he’d left the broken and injured Steeleye. They looked down at the mass of tangled wire. ‘He was broken. Couldn’t get out. Brick made sure!’

  ‘Maybe you didn’t –’

  ‘Brick made sure!’

  Jax looked over at his friend. It was clear, in his mind at least, that Brick thought it impossible the murderer could have escaped. The big guy had a wild-eyed look about him, staring this way and that for some clue as to how it could have happened.

  Tuning Brick out, Jax stared down at the wires and discarded sack that Brick had used as a hood over Steeleye’s head. Something felt wrong about the scene. Taking the flaming torch with him, he went back up the escalator stairs and approached the generators again, frowning when each in turn failed to start. As he got to the last one, he was struck by a smell. In his hurry to get to the man responsible for killing his adopted father, he had not noticed it, but it was clear now. There, on the floor, was a ruined mess of food. A short distance away, the door to the storage unit was still open.

  An idea occurred to him.

  Jax, on his haunches with his hand in the scattered food, closed his eyes and tried to tune into the place, reaching out for a clue as to how Steeleye could have got away. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. Jax could read people readily, tune into their thoughts as effortlessly as if he was listening to them speak, but what he was trying to do now was pick up on the ghosts of thoughts: things that had happened in a place previously. In his experience it only worked if these ‘ghost feelings’ were associated with strong emotions. The first thing he sensed was fear and he allowed himself to open up to it, letting that dread sensation creep through him as he vicariously experienced some of the horrors his friends had suffered as they fled down the stairs in the inky darkness. Next came a harsh panicky sensation, then more fear, then pain. Steeleye was included in these newer sensations, the mutant’s psychic footprint different from the others’ but just as strong, and it became clear to Jax that the killer too had been scared witless in those moments before the roof had come crashing down on them. Brick’s fright and terrible sadness washed over the albino next, but then came a new phantom, this one more recent and different again. Despite the intense concentration and effort he was having to expend, Jax was aware that Brick had come up to join him, the big man hovering beside him. As if through thick glass, he heard Brick say his name and ask him if he was OK, but Jax ignored him, all of his focus on this new emotion and the person associated with so much anger and resentment.

  He had felt the same thing from the same person before. It had never been as strong as this, but he recognised that psychic footp
rint.

  When he opened his eyes, Brick was in front of him, wringing his hands together and shuffling from foot to foot, unsure what to do for the best.

  ‘Anya,’ Jax said, feeling the strength suddenly drain out of him. He was light-headed, and as his legs gave out he would have fallen to the ground had the big man not easily scooped him up. The energy trickled back into him, and he knew Brick was responsible for helping to rejuvenate him, despite being drained himself.

  ‘What?’

  ‘It was Anya. She was here. She’s the one who made this mess, and she’s the one who set Mange free.’ He frowned as two more things occurred to him. Brick set him on his feet again. ‘She let him go because he promised to help her get back at us, and – ’ he groped for more understanding of the ghost emotions he felt – ‘she helped him without knowing that he’d killed Silas.’

  Brick took a moment to process this. ‘Poor Anya,’ he eventually said.

  A sudden flame of anger welled up inside Jax, but he swallowed down the harsh words he was about direct in Brick’s direction. Giving in to anger was what had caused this tragedy. And the big man was right. Anya was every bit as much a victim as Flea and Silas had been. She’d fallen in with a damaged and ruthless individual, a man who would stop at nothing to realise his ambitions. Jax’s only hope was that she too might come to realise this before the man was able to completely poison her.

  They didn’t want to bury Silas and Flea in that dead place. It didn’t feel right to simply add them to the vast number of nameless bodies there. Instead Brick carried them both to the top of a hill where Jax prepared two graves, side by side, at the peak. They lowered a body into each grave as gently as they could, then stood, shovels in their hands, neither wishing to begin piling the cold earth back over their friends’ bodies. It was Brick who finally broke the impasse, the big man telling Flea that he was sorry, before throwing a handful of dirt down on to the blanket in which the small body was wrapped. Jax did likewise, and then the two, without another word, continued the dreadful task until both graves were complete.