‘It won’t be long until they’re here,’ said the corporal.
‘How can we stop them?’ Sofia panted.
‘I don’t know, not yet, but somehow we have to,’ Henning said. ‘We have to contain them; we can’t let them run amok killing people in the city.’
Sofia flicked her eyes between Henning and the heavy doors. ‘We are contained here.’
Henning’s biggest worry was that the aliens would flood through the portal—if it was to Grangar or Remola there would be millions, perhaps billions of them—and invade the city, killing people as they went. He realised that as long as the portal remained open, there was no way to contain the aliens.
He stepped over to the corporal. ‘Are you able to open the door?’
‘Negative,’ the corporal said. ‘It’s heavy duty metal composite; giving it a full blast might break the door, but it would also destroy the bridge.’
Sofia pointed past the corporal. ‘They’re coming!’
A number of alien creatures flooded the corridor. Henning looked around for an escape. He recalled the last time he was in an emergency situation in a building in Spit City, when the navy had stormed the FIST headquarters in Pentafol building. It gave him an idea.
‘The fire alarm will open the door!’ he shouted. ‘Get some fire on the sensors.’
The marine nodded, flicked the settings on his rifle, and pointed it up to the ceiling. He pressed the trigger, and from the mouth of his gun, out shot balls of fire. Each hit spread flames across the ceiling, and in seconds the whole ceiling was ablaze.
Sofia clutched Henning’s arm. Henning hoped he hadn’t buried them under a collapsing ceiling.
As she squeezed him hard, a swishing sound blasted out as the fire extinguishers burst out of the ceiling and the walls and sprayed gooey blue liquid all over them.
‘It’s cold!’ she screamed.
The aliens approached them, firing shots that burst into purple as they hit the door, only barely missing them.
A heavy thump, followed by a strained hum, made them turn. The massive doors inched open.
‘Come on!’ It was Henning’s turn to grab Sofia.
Then, as if in slow motion, one of the alien’s guns fired, and a purple plasma bolt shot out. It took less than a tenth of a second, but for Henning it felt like forever—during which he couldn’t move, as the shot came straight towards Sofia.
She screamed as the plasma bolt hit her in a purple explosion, and fell on the floor.
‘Sofia!’ Henning cried out, and bent down, his heart thumping hard. He put two fingers on the side of her neck. She had a pulse; she was breathing.
The aliens fired again.
‘We have to move!’ the marine said, firing back.
Henning looked for wounds, but to his bafflement found none. Moving quickly, he grabbed hold of Sofia under her arms and dragged her through the doorway to the skybridge.
The marine fired a few hot bursts at the aliens, but the only signs of damage seemed to appear in the metal parts. Their skins absorbed the shots that hit them. They also seemed oblivious to the extinguisher liquid.
The marine turned and ran after Henning and Sofia. ‘Is she all right?’
Henning shook his head; he didn’t know. Unlike what he’d expected from a plasma shot, Sofia had suffered no visible damage, but was knocked out by what had looked like a plasma explosion. Perhaps the aliens weren’t shooting plasma at all, but something else. He only hoped Sofia was going to be all right.
The marine helped lift Sofia onto Henning’s back. The endless lights of the city glimmered above them through the glass ceiling as he carried her over the skybridge. On the other side was a shopping centre. The few people who had wandered to the bridge to see the views turned in surprise to see them.
‘Get back!’ Henning shouted. ‘It’s not safe here, move!’
Most of the people took him seriously and started running back towards the shopping centre. A Dresnean man ignored him at first, but when Corporal Leischer stomped through, he ran faster than anyone else.
Reaching the shopping centre, two Andron security guards approached, motioning them to stop.
‘What’s the commotion?’ demanded one, while the other stared wide-eyed at the marine behind them.
‘Shut the door to the skybridge,’ Henning said. ‘There’s an escalating violent attack going on in the Thruneedle building.’
‘And who are you?’
‘I’m Henning Dal of the Dawn Alliance Navy.’ He lowered Sofia gently to the floor. Then he pulled up his terminal and showed his I.D to the security guards.
The security guard confirmed it on his screen. ‘Mr Dal, you’re in command.’
‘Close the doors, you don’t want them here.’
The guard sprang to the side of the door, fiddled with the controls, and the heavy doors juddered and thumped shut way before the aliens could get there.
‘They’re not too fast,’ the corporal said. He had taken off his helmet and sounded smaller than before.
‘No, they’re not,’ Henning said, ‘but we’ve still no idea how to stop them, let alone close the portal.’
A cough from the floor caught his attention. Sofia wiped the extinguisher goo from her eyes. Henning let out a sigh of relief.
She pushed herself up to a sitting position. ‘What happened?’
‘You were shot, but it wasn’t plasma,’ Henning said, and as she tried to stand up, he added, ‘You should take it easy.’
Against his advice, she stood up, staggered, and accepted his support.
‘We should get you checked out.’
‘I’m fine, just light-headed. But this yucky…’ Sofia muttered at the blue extinguisher fluid all over her. She pulled the jumper over her head and shook it.
‘How did it feel?’ Henning asked.
She shrugged. ‘I just passed out.’
‘No pain?’
‘No.’
‘No dreams?’
‘No,’ she said, frowning. ‘I just fainted. But I’m all right now.’
‘If you say so,’ Henning said, taking a deep breath and welcoming the break from running from the aliens. ‘I’m glad you are.’
Just as she had said, she seemed to be completely fine. But Henning had seen her being shot, and there had been the explosion. Something extraordinary had happened, but he wasn’t sure what.
‘I’ve connected back to command,’ said the marine, interrupting Henning’s thoughts, and pointed to the window by the bridge. ‘They’re sending reinforcements.’
Outside, a swarm of police craft and navy landers approached the Thruneedle building. At the same time, from the closest dock some floors above them, a string of ships flew out. They were evacuating the building while the police moved in with the heavy gear.
Soon all the traffic in and out of the Thruneedle building stopped.
The hit squad was in. Henning waited for big booms, but none came.
Minutes passed.
‘Wonder what’s happening?’ Sofia asked.
He took a deep breath and pursed his lips. ‘I was expecting the sound of shooting.’
‘They’ve just reported,’ the marine said. ‘They haven’t engaged the enemy. They haven’t found the enemy.’
‘Haven’t found the enemy?’
‘No. There’s no sign of them.’
Chapter Nineteen
‘I have to get to Spit City.’ After the message from Henning, Jill had just hurried to the lab where Belinda Killock and her research team were busy working.
Belinda lifted her eyes from the terminal in front of her, and said, ‘Negative.’
‘Henning needs help.’
‘They’ve got help; we’ve sent a group of elite marines to assist with the anomaly.’
‘But that’s why I got my power back.’
‘They’ll be fine,’ Belinda said. ‘Your skills would be much more useful here than on the ground.’
Jill stared at her with contempt, but
soon thought better of it. Belinda had done just as she had expected and causing a scene wouldn’t help. She had to play along and gain her trust. And this meant she had to make her believe she trusted her, too. Once Jill had Belinda eating out of her hand, she could do anything. This is where she excelled; it hadn’t been a coincidence that she had risen to the rank of commodore, nor was it a surprise that Tredd had fallen for her. So she relaxed her forehead, and tensed those muscles in her face that made up an ethereal smile. ‘You might be right. If the elite marines can’t keep them safe, who can?’
Belinda stopped and smiled back, staring at Jill for a moment too long. ‘I’m glad to see a smile on that face. You’re a beautiful woman, Jill.’
Jill widened her smile to acknowledge the compliment. ‘You’re the one who’s beautiful.’
Belinda whisked her curls back, and—did she really blush?—said, ‘Let me show you something.’
Jill followed her to a large screen on the wall on the other side of the room. Belinda flicked the screen on, and soon, an animated rendering of an energy stream appeared.
‘In a relatively short time we’ve come a long way—one could say Project Renascence has been humanity’s biggest breakthrough. We’ve seen the power of deep energy, and we have harnessed it in the Starcrasher system.’
The screen showed what seemed to be depictions of energy flow.
‘And telekinesis is just one application,’ Belinda said. ‘I believe the deep energy will take humanity to the next level.’
Jill nodded in anticipation of what was about to come next.
‘Remember the Re-Stem unit?’ she said, as the screen showed its legs wrapping around a human. She zoomed in on the core. ‘I believe we could use it to give the ability to control deep energy to those who weren’t born with it.’
Jill’s intuition told her it was wrong, but she couldn’t say that to Belinda. Instead she asked, ‘Have you tried it on anyone?’
‘We did some initial testing, but it’s not fit for humans yet. It’s still in the early stages.’
‘Are you sure about it?’
‘Giving access to deep energy for humans? Yes, Jill, you don’t even realise what you’ve got… or perhaps you did once it was gone.’
‘True,’ she said. ‘But it does come with a cost.’
Belinda smiled and stared at her for slightly too long. ‘Exactly. And that’s why I need your help.’
Jill was about to ask what kind of help, when Belinda seemed to become lost in her own thoughts; she whispered something to herself.
‘Yes, my—’ she said, then seemed surprised. ‘Now? Already? OK.’
‘What is it?’ Jill said.
Belinda suddenly seemed distant. ‘Ah, it was just Jane. She reminded me of something.’
‘Jane, the AI?’
‘Yeah,’ she replied, but for some reason Jill found it difficult to believe. Belinda swallowed once and fixed her gaze back on Jill. ‘Sorry, I had completely forgotten that there’s a meeting I should be preparing for. But you should get acquainted with the system. We’re still unable to control the pathways of the energy flows; in the current setup the energy would knock its user down. But because you’re a natural, I believe you could help us figure it out. You should have a chat with Render.’
Jill nodded, and wondered what might have come over Belinda. Perhaps it was just the navy—she remembered how tough the organisation could be.
Belinda touched Jill’s arm and said, ‘See you soon, girl.’ Then she turned and hurried out of the lab.
Two things left Jill confused: the sudden informality of her last words, and the weird sense that when she left, it felt as if a constant hum she hadn’t even noticed before had suddenly stopped—like when air conditioning is turned off.
Later that day, Jill met Dr Render for lunch. The standard fare for humans at the cantina was designed to provide the perfect balance of macro and micro-nutrients. They said one could live forever with that stuff, but the variety of tastes and textures was limited, and Jill just couldn’t fathom eating it every day for the rest of her life.
She found it difficult to read the man. He had a reputation as a mad scientist. Last time she had seen him was on the bridge of the Angel, when she had stood in a bucket of goo, and he had fisticuffs with Belinda just before he collapsed. Now, though, he seemed to exude calm and consideration, but beneath the surface, Jill was sensing nervousness.
‘…connection will hence be difficult to attain, but should the fi-nuclea respond to Poller’s stimulus, we could have a usable controller,’ he said, and took a spoonful from the green bowl in front of him.
While he had lost Jill with the technical details, she was able to grasp the logic of what he was saying. In essence, they had figured out how to give the E to a person without the innate ability, and the only thing they lacked was a stable method for the person to control it. But it seemed they were close to solving that, too.
‘Just let me know if there’s anything I can do,’ she said, leaning forward. ‘I have a gift, and I want to use it.’
Render took another spoonful. ‘Now that you mention it, I could do a few additional measurements while you control your powers.’
‘Hopefully not by standing in a bucket of goo.’
He flinched, then chuckled, ‘No, no… I’m sorry about that.’ He wiped the corner of his mouth.
‘On that, though,’ Jill said, ‘you fell on the floor. What happened?’
‘I’m not sure,’ he said, the tendons in his neck twitching. ‘Maybe I just had too long a day, or too many of those days behind me then. The Starcrasher project sucked me dry.’
‘I can imagine.’ Jill wanted to understand Belinda better. ‘Where does she get all her energy? Dr Killock, I mean.’
Again, the man’s neck seemed to twitch. Jill wondered if it was something he did all the time or if it was a tell.
‘She’s very intense.’
‘You’ve worked with her for a while, right? How’s it going?’
‘It’s good, yeah. She’s good.’ The twitch was there again.
Jill looked him in the eye, and he looked away. ‘We both work for her, we’re colleagues. You can tell me.’
He took a gulp of water and stole a look at her as he put it down. With a little tremble he picked up the spoon and took up some soup. ‘The thing is,’ he said, ‘I remember exactly when I noticed the change in her.’
‘What happened?’
‘Don’t get me wrong. She’s a great boss, but she wasn’t herself that day. It got her into trouble, and since then, things have been different.’
‘What changed?’
‘First she acted like she was possessed, but now that’s gone, and sometimes she talks to Jane.’
‘Isn’t that her AI?’
With a sombre face, he shook his head.
‘How come? She told me she calls her AI Jane.’
‘She does, yeah, but that’s not the one she talks with.’
Jill dropped the spoon and leaned forward. ‘Who is it, then?’
He shrugged, then leaned back on his chair. ‘I don’t know, and it worries me. It’s as if someone’s controlling her.’
The short discussion she had witnessed between Belinda and Jane had definitely sounded strange. Instead of a subservient AI, Jane sounded like someone who told her what to do, and now Render said he had the same concerns. Whatever it was, there was something wrong with Belinda.
Later in the afternoon, after Dr Render had explained the details of what they were trying to do, the news caught their attention.
New black spots are still appearing across the Dawn, the newscaster said, while the image on the screen showed video footage of black spots in various locations across the worlds.
‘Henning went after one of those in Spit City,’ Jill said.
So far, the black spots haven’t done anything. However, citizens are urged to avoid any contact with them. The Dawn Alliance Navy is investigating the matter, and we will repo
rt back with any developments. And now, going live to Shin-Chuong—Mr Brock Roome reports.
The image showed the massive Shin-Chuong market square: a hectare-wide open space surrounded by some of the shiniest towers in the universe—and the reporter standing by a relatively small upright black disc which, with its lack of any reflection, seemed fake.
With a swoosh of the door, Belinda came into the lab. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her breath fast, as if she had been running. ‘Good, you’re both here. How is it going?’
‘Have you seen the news?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I was called into an urgent planning meeting regarding the spots.’
‘Are they the Remola?’ Jill asked.
Belinda took a strand of her hair and placed it behind her ear. ‘We don’t know.’
‘Surely you—’
Belinda raised a finger and looked around. No one in the lab seemed to pay attention. She whispered, ‘Let’s go somewhere else.’
Jill and Render followed Belinda out of the lab and into a small sound-proofed meeting room. She told them about the extent of the issue—there were over two thousand confirmed instances—and the report from Henning and Sofia down in Spit City, the only location in which there had been contact.
‘Are they all right?’ Jill asked.
‘As far as I know, the situation is under control, with a unit of elite marines taking over.’
While it was good news that Henning was all right, Jill couldn’t shake the thought that the Remolans were back, and she wondered what it could possibly mean. Last time they flew ships through massive holes in space, but now they were on the ground and on the space stations.
‘Is there one on the Central?’ Jill asked.
Belinda nodded.
Jill gulped. ‘Where?’
‘In the Union Hall—between the city and the Spire.’
‘Are they of the Remola?’
‘That’s our best hypothesis,’ Belinda said. ‘It seems we didn’t push them back, after all.’
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