Callisto Deception

by John Read

  The ejection of air ceased. Around us lay dozens of dead soldiers, all with red eyes, and frozen blood around their nostrils. The near vacuum of the surface had killed them before they hit the ground.

  Avro ran to the nearest solider, plucking a grenade from his belt. He pulled the pin and lobbed it at the surviving rover. He repeated the process again, with another two grenades. One grenade landed under the rover, while the other wedged itself between a hydrogen tank and the hull.

  “Get down!” he yelled. We dove behind the nearest slag bank. The grenades went off, and the CFD rover exploded, fire leaping from the shattered windshield, and exterior hatch, but was quickly extinguished by lack of oxygen.

  We came out from behind the pile of rocks when the coast was clear. Marie held back, clearly traumatized. I put an arm around her, guiding her toward the airlock.

  “Collect their weapons and ammo,” Avro said.

  We picked up CDF rifles, slinging them around our backs. Kevin filled a satchel with magazines and C4 breacher charges.

  Marie leaned against the airlock’s interior while I filled my VR helmet with grenades before heading into the airlock myself. Once inside, Malcom and Kevin manually slid shut the exterior airlock door.

  Avro and Amelia clinked their weapons together, as though in a toast before a meal. Avro put an arm around her.

  Marie looked at me through her spacesuit’s visor. “Who are these people?”

  I smiled. “They’re my best friends.”

  With the room repressurized, we stripped off our spacesuits. Several bodies lay on the airlock’s floor.

  Avro, Kevin, Amelia, and I wore nothing but the resistor suit liners. We pulled tunics, pants, and shoes off several fallen CDF soldiers.

  “I’m sorry you have to see this,” I said.

  Marie sighed. “I’m starting to get used to being traumatized. I witnessed the end of the world, remember?”

  “Here, take this,” Amelia said, handing a rifle to Marie. “They say shooting is a good stress reliever.” Marie took the gun with some hesitation, and slung it awkwardly over her back.

  The factory floor outside the airlock was clear of people. Depressurization had severely damaged the facility. The factory roof had collapsed in several places, and the southern wall was gone.

  “I assume this is one of yours?” Malcom said, pointing into an adjacent airlock. “They brought it in here to install a new gun.”

  Avro and I peered at the machine inside. It was one of our JJ’s, with the nuclear reactor missing from its rear.

  “That’s one of ours alright,” I said. “But where are the others?”

  “They’re being held at the base; apparently they’ve had pilots training in them,” Malcom said. “I’m going to leave you now. This place is a mess and I doubt they’ll figure I helped you. I have a wife and two kids now and I’d really like to see them again.”

  “Thanks, Malcom, for everything,” Marie said. Malcom nodded, and walked away, stepping over the debris that had accumulated against the airlock door.

  “What now?” I said. “Do we go after H3?”

  “Not this time, Johnny,” Avro said. “Our mission is over; we need to leave Callisto, and get a message to Earth.”

  “How?” I said, pointing at the airlocks containing our spacecraft. “These things are paperweights. Without the reactor’s they can’t escape the system. What are we supposed to do, fly just far enough away to get a signal out, then wait in orbit to get rescued?”

  “If we have to,” Avro said.

  Marie cleared her throat. “H3 has a saying: ‘always have an ace in the hole’.”

  We all looked at her.

  “You sound like you have a plan?” I said.

  “H3 has a cabin in the woods about sixteen kilometers west of Clydesdale. That’s where I found him. Behind his cabin, on the other side of the Ring wall, is his spaceship. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s fueled and ready to go.”

  A smile ran across all four of our faces.

  “The spaceship is probably locked, right?” Amelia said.

  “Everything will be locked,” I said. “But we’ll figure it out. We always do, right Kevin?”

  “Getting inside is easy,” Kevin said, reaching into a satchel and pulling out a square of C4. “You’re asking me if I can hotwire a spaceship.”

  “That’s exactly what we did, like three months ago,” I said.

  Kevin just looked at me then smiled. “I am sure we will figure something out.” Kevin held up the visor from his VR suit, and a watch from a CDF soldier. He entered the airlock, and synced his watch to the JJ before returning a few seconds later. “Got all my files back,” he said, looking at the watch.

  “They might come after us out there,” Avro said. “We’ll need someone to clear the space.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Amelia said,

  Avro looked over at the spacecraft. “You think the ship will remember me?”

  Kevin nodded toward the ship. Avro walked over, the ship scanned his face, and the hatch dropped open. He peered inside, and ran a quick diagnostics check.

  “Get H3’s ship in the air, Kevin, and I’ll cover you,” Avro said. “Amelia, I love you.”

  She ran over, jumping into his arms, and gave him a big kiss.

  “We’ll dock with you in orbit,” I said, exchanging a fist bump with Avro. “Good luck, brother, see you in a couple hours.” Avro hit the door panel on the JJ, closing it behind him while Kevin cycled the airlock.

  We made our way to the exit, stepping around overturned machines and pieces of the structure’s roof.

  Outside, a Depress-Department truck pulled up to the curb. Seven men in spacesuits poured out, and ran toward the factory like fire fighters to a burning building. Two of the men in tandem carried a tube of pressure canvas.

  “Hey,” Amelia yelled. They didn’t hear her beneath their helmets. “Hey!” she yelled again, grabbing one man by the arm. He stopped, popping the seal on his helmet, and tucked it under his arm. He ran a hand through his brown hair.

  “The airlock is secure,” Amelia said. “But we lost three platoons.”

  “What happened?” the brown-haired man said.

  “Bastards blew the airlock during the escape attempt,” Amelia said.

  “Attempt?”

  “The prisoners were killed.”

  “Are you sure?” the man said.

  “Saw it myself. They were in the airlock, in a rover. But when the doors blew, the rover went with it. Bodies are all over the surface.”

  “Thanks, we’ll send an EVA team to investigate.” The man put his helmet back on, and tapped the transmitter on his wrist.

  Several CFD vehicles were parked outside, their owners lying dead on the slag. I walked over to a jeep, reached in, and hit the ignition. Hydrazine engines hummed to life as water vapor poured from the exhaust.

  A message crackled over the jeep’s radio: “CDF forces, CDF forces, situation secure. I repeat situation secure, return to standard patrols.”

  “Seems like we’ve bought ourselves some time,” Amelia said.

  Marie put a finger on her watch and voice texted Charles. “Something important has come up. Get Branson and Lise, meet us at the Clydesdale stables. I’ll be there soon.”

  We left Newport, passing a few other patrolling CDF vehicles. They waved as we passed. Our disguises were working, at least for now.

  Kevin climbed into the bed of the truck.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Kevin wore his visor, and was typing on invisible displays. He lifted the visor, and began fiddling with blocks of C4 and a coil of wires.

  “You’re building a key,” I said.

  “Of sorts.” Kevin shot me a tired smile and held up the C4. I left him to his work.

  We reached Clydesdale as the holographic sun perched low on the horizon. A breeze blew from the east and shadows danced on the houses and barns. We passed a wooden wharf with several boats rocki
ng in the subtle swell.

  “Marie!” came a man’s voice from nearby. We turned to see a blue house with a tall sloped roof. Two dormers protruded above a wraparound deck. The man rushed over from the deck, his eyes red and wet with tears.

  “Oh, no!” Marie said, and Amelia cocked her rifle, but kept it hidden below the dash. “Stop the jeep.”

  Marie got out and the man rushed over, placing his hands on Marie’s shoulders. “I got a call from Hoshi; she said you were dead!”

  I could tell Marie and this man had something special between them, and deep down, I felt jealous. How is a man is supposed to feel in a situation like this? I thought, and suppressed the emotion as best I could.

  Marie studied the man’s face. “James, you didn’t know?”

  “I’m so happy you’re alive,” the man called James said, he looked at us. “Thank you, thank you. I’m so relieved she was wrong ... I ...”

  “You didn’t know,” Marie said again, “about Earth?”

  “Hoshi said you were killed in an escape attempt with the Alliance.”

  “James, there is no Alliance,” Marie said. “There never was. These are my friends, from Earth.”

  “Oh my God. Oh my God!” James said, scanning each of us. Then he gazed at the horizon. I could tell he suddenly saw this colony in a whole new light. “That means my father … dammit, what an idiot I’ve been.”

  “Your father had something to do with this?” Amelia said. “If he’s still alive, he’s in a hell of a lot of trouble.”

  Marie reached up and hugged James. “I forgive you for lying about the Klondike,” she said. “I understand now why you did. We’re leaving Callisto. These people are from NASA, but it’s not safe for us here anymore. They believe we can commandeer H3’s ship.”

  “If there’s anything you can do to throw the CDF off our trail, that would be greatly appreciated,” I said.

  James nodded. “CDF jeeps have been driving by all day. You were never here.”

  “Thanks,” Marie said.

  “I told the truth when I said I’d always be there for you, Marie.”

  Marie nodded, and got back in the jeep. “Good bye, James.”

  I looked at James, then at Marie. “Nice town,” was all I could bring myself to say as we pulled away, leaving James alone.

  “That was my home,” Marie said, pointing to a yellow Cape Cod. I gave an impressed nod. “Branson and Lise are waiting for us at the stables with Charles, an old friend of mine.”

  Another old friend? It was going to take me time to adjust to the fact that she and I had been leading separate lives for some time now.

  “You said H3’s cabin was sixteen kilometers east of here,” Amelia said. “This was the last town, when we flew over, and I don’t recall seeing any roads.”

  “There are no roads,” Marie said.

  “Does your friend have a boat?” Amelia asked.

  “I am not getting on another boat,” Kevin said. He was wearing the VR headset while programming the stolen watch.

  “No boats,” Marie said. “Horses.”

  Amelia and I looked at each other, then back at Kevin. “Horses will do,” he said.

  We pulled into a dirt path between two houses. The path led to a barn surrounded by a white fence.

  Marie reached her arm out the window and waved. A man came out; he looked older, in his sixties perhaps, with a grey beard accented with white. He wore a flannel shirt and looked as if he belonged at the barn. The man unlocked a gate and let the jeep pass.

  A young boy stood at the barn door. He was about one meter tall with wavy hair. He looked confused as I got out and walked toward him, tears pooling at my eyes, the gravity too weak to drag them down my cheeks. I knelt in front of him, looking up into his brown eyes. “Branson,” I said.

  “I know you from somewhere,” he said. “Mom? Who is this?”

  Branson came closer, studying my face.

  Marie was sobbing through a smile.

  “Mom, this looks like Dad, like the man from the pictures.” Branson was articulating like a boy wise beyond his years.

  A toddler dragged a stick across the barn floor. Lise! I smiled and the girl toddled away, hiding behind a feed bucket. Lise looked exactly like the pictures I’d seen of Marie as a child. The toddler’s curly brown hair parted around the cutest silhouette of a face I’d ever seen. Marie walked over and swept Lise into her arms to kiss her. The others stood by in silent observation.

  I put a hand on Branson’s shoulder and smiled. “Branson, I’m your father. We’re going to leave this place.”

  “Marie,” the grey-haired man said. “What’s going on?”

  “They’re from Earth, Charles,” Marie said. “And Earth is fine.”

  “Well, technically,” Kevin said, “we came from the moon, via Mars, via Earth, but ah, yeah, Earth is fine. California is messed up though.”

  Charles stood, inspecting us. “They said you were from the Alliance.”

  “Yeah,” Amelia said. “We heard that.”

  “We need to leave Callisto,” I said. “The world, Earth, needs to know what happened here.”

  “Well …” Charles said, trailing off. He looked up at the sky, then at the south wall, then the north. “I have to say, I like what they’ve done with the place, even if I disagree with how we got here. I look forward to living out the rest of my days here.”

  “I’ll miss you, Charles,” Marie said, giving him a hug. “Tell Diana, thanks. For everything.”

  “I’ve saddled up three horses,” Charles said.

  “We’ll need to saddle up one more,” Marie said. “I’m sure your wife won’t mind if we borrow Jags.”

  Charles smiled. “He’ll find his way back.”

  Marie and Charles saddled Jags while Amelia and I disassembled the CDF jeep and fed it into the barn’s recycolizer, along with the day’s muck from the stalls.

  34

  The horses’ motions were fluid and graceful, a unique gait in Callisto’s low gravity. We trotted single file down a beaten path behind the town, a trail known only to Marie and a few of the other riders in Clydesdale. Lise hung in a special equestrian harness on Marie’s front; by the look of it, she was used to the experience. Branson wore a black helmet and rode with me.

  Branches brushed against my tunic and I ducked to avoid others. Along the trail, we occasionally got a glimpse of the Ring’s wall, but as darkness covered the Ring, we saw nothing but trees.

  The trail ended at the lake which reflected Jupiter’s light.

  “We’re almost there,” Marie said.

  Marie pulled on her reins and her horse halted. Our horses followed their leader, and slowed to a stop as well.

  “It looks abandoned,” Amelia said.

  “Amelia, Kevin, follow me,” I said, dismounting and unslinging the rifle from my back. “But keep quiet.”

  The cabin was locked, as we had expected. Kevin blew the door open with a small chunk of C4. Amelia stood watch and Kevin searched the interior. I went back to help Marie with the kids, and to release the horses. Kevin flicked the lights on and off, giving the all-clear, and we went inside. Marie set Lise down on a chair, and pointed up a spiral staircase.

  “The ship is up there,” she said.

  Kevin and I climbed the stairs while Amelia kept watch at the door.

  “Take this,” Kevin said, handing me the stolen CDF watch. “Sync it to the ship’s computer once you’re inside. Make sure you do it. I’ve loaded it with my profile from the JJ.”

  “Why can’t you do it?” I said.

  “I’ll be busy.”

  “How’s it coming with that door?” Amelia called up the stairs.

  Kevin put a hand on my shoulder. “There’s something I have to do,” he said, and then descended the stairs and walked out the cabin door.

  “What?” I said. “Where are you going?”

  “To get the key to the spaceship.”

  “Oh, no.” I flew down the stairs a
fter him. Amelia came to the door and we looked at each other, trying to figure out what was going on with Kevin.

  “Shit,” Amelia said. “Grab your gun.”

  “What’s going on?” Marie said, rocking the toddler in her arms.

  “Kevin called H3,” Amelia said. “He must have known we wouldn’t be able to take off without him.”

  Kevin reached the dock first, standing there with his hands in the air. A boat pulled up to the shore and two CDF soldiers jumped out, grabbed him, and forced his hands behind his back.

  Amelia and I took cover behind a tree. I nodded and we moved to the next tree, maintaining our cover. A third CDF soldier stood at the helm, behind a bulletproof shield.

  I peered around the tree, and watched as they dragged Kevin toward the boat.

  “One word from either of you and I’ll blow his head off,” echoed a voice from the boat. H3 stood on the deck, behind a bulletproof shield, pressing the transmit button on a microphone. A loudspeaker on the boat’s roof amplified his voice.

  I was about to yell, but Amelia slapped a hand over my mouth. “He can’t let us talk, or the CDF will know we’re not from the Alliance,” she whispered.

  “So, what?” I whispered.

  “So, we’d all die, that’s so what. How the hell does Kevin think he’s going to get out of this?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure he has a plan.”

  Kevin stood behind the glass now. Two guards pointed rifles at his side.

  H3 put the microphone to his lips. “At least one of you has some sense,” he said. “Patel here has agreed to complete my spaceships in exchange for Marie’s freedom. Amelia will remain as collateral, and Mr. Orville will go back to work. I believe this is an acceptable deal, considering the circumstances.”

  “Considering we just took out a third of his army, I’d say that’s pretty generous,” Amelia whispered.

  “How the heck is he going to keep his promise?” I whispered.

  “You’re probably wondering how I can keep my generous promise?” H3 said through the megaphone. “You know I won’t kill you, John. I need you. We need you to finish what you started. Amelia, however, is definitely expendable at this point. So, if you want to keep your friends alive, it’s best we all cooperate.”