Essence: Book 1 - Septima

by Nick Braker

  Chapter 23

  SKYLER

  Pira - One hour later.

  The infirmary smelled of something akin to rubbing alcohol but his bed and the room they had put him in would qualify as a suite compared to most hospital rooms on Earth. Kima and his friends had spent a few days in an infirmary, but not one like this. Rank had its privileges and, though he had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with them, they still treated him well. Troy learned he was unconscious for only an hour after arriving and, other than that, he hadn’t slept for two days. They had given him pain medication through his IV and also saline to hydrate him but he refused to take anything else. He still didn’t trust Alta and that fed his decision to stay awake. She could have already gotten to him while he was unconscious, but he wasn’t going to willingly give her a chance otherwise. With the parasite still at work in him, his determination grew stronger to stay true to himself and not let Tohmas’ thoughts control him. Troy still couldn’t fight the headaches, even with his newly discovered Rohku ability. The pain relievers his doctor gave him couldn’t override it either. Troy wanted to ask the doctor why but was sure this was outside the man’s level of expertise.

  Troy didn’t pursue it and instead focused on another technique he had discovered while searching through his memories. Troy could heal himself at an accelerated rate, but only if he remained still and completely focused on that one thought. The Rohku art form had developed over thousands of years and Tohmas had perfected it in his own short lifetime. He could ignore pain and control his body’s healing. Combined with the Pirans’ advanced medical knowledge, Troy’s wounds began to heal. He had ordered the doctor and only the doctor to check on him. After nearly half a day, his wounds finished healing. The two healing forms had made him whole again, not even leaving scars as a testament of his injuries, as if it never happened.

  He left the infirmary and headed back to his own room deep within the complex. Troy needed to sleep, having spent a relentless night and afternoon resisting the parasite and suffering the migraine consequences. The death of those under his protection, the wounds he had suffered, the drain from his healing focus and the emotional strain of the betrayal by so many people conspiring to protect him finally took its toll. He had to rest and, when his head hit the pillow, he passed out from exhaustion.

  ____

  Pira - Unknown hours later.

  It seemed like only a few minutes of sleep when Troy felt a hand pressed over his mouth. His body twitched into motion but relaxed when he realized it was his friend, Geoff. His reflexes were much faster now, both to react and to assess. The person putting their hand over his mouth would normally have died but it was clear Geoff was not here to harm him. Geoff held a finger to his lips sending him a clear message to be quiet. His dimly lit room provided enough light to see, probably intentional on Geoff’s part to ensure Troy knew it was him.

  Geoff pulled out his communication device, this one had a metallic sled around it, different than the one Troy possessed. Geoff gestured to his own device then pointed at Troy and then the one sitting on the nightstand next to him. Troy nodded, understanding. Geoff removed his hand from Troy’s mouth.

  A Piran woman Troy had never met before sat on the other side of the bed with a satchel in her hands. She looked familiar. His mind raced back to that day on the train bound for New Orleans. It was eerie seeing this woman sitting next to him. She looked so much like Kara. This woman’s hair was brunette and Kara’s was red but they were twins otherwise.

  “Kara?” Troy asked.

  “Huh?” the woman said.

  She pulled another metallic sled from her satchel, handed it to Geoff and he slid it over Troy’s device.

  “Now we can talk,” Geoff said.

  “Bro, this is Skyler. Skyler this is Troy,” Geoff said introducing them. “Troy, we don’t have much time.”

  “It’s good to finally meet you, Troy,” she said.

  “The sled prevents eavesdropping,” Geoff said. “Bro, Skyler gave me back myself. She can do the same for you but with all this shit going on, I know it is hard to trust anyone, even your best friend, especially with how deep all this goes.”

  “Yeah, especially the way I’ve been acting,” Troy said.

  “It was bullshit what they did to you. Alta ordered me to say those things to you. They had a parasite in me too, remember?”

  Why did he keep forgetting about these things? Geoff would never have agreed to put a parasite in him. Hell, it seemed pretty obvious Troy wouldn’t have agreed to put one in them either. Was Tohmas influencing his thinking? That had to be the answer. Troy couldn’t trust anything he thought or did and he had no way of knowing what was right or wrong or what was real or not.

  Geoff motioned to Skyler. She pulled out her communication device, activating a video. It projected onto Troy’s wall. The video was at a poor angle within Alta’s office but the quality was good enough. Troy guessed the camera was placed on a computer rack housed on the opposite side of her office. The rack covered nearly a fourth of the video’s image but from what he remembered of her office, this seemed realistic. Troy shrugged, continuing to watch it.

  “I think Skyler is trying to help Geoff rid himself of the parasite,” Cienna said, perched on top of Alta’s desk like a cat ready to pounce on its prey below.

  “No shit, C,” Alta exclaimed.

  “We should put her next to Brice’s real body in the tar pits and let that fall on Troy as well,” Cienna said.

  “Let’s send a Reptauran parasite to her via the Soul Transfer device. That will fry her brain,” Alta said. “The best part is they will never doubt my science. I’ll just say it was too much for her weakened DNA to handle.”

  Alta laughed, continuing.

  “That way I can watch the bitch squirm as the parasite eats her soul. Of course, I’ll preface the transmission with a quiet description to her about what is going to happen.”

  “Sep, you’re awful quiet. You good?” Cienna asked.

  “She is falling for Troy it seems,” Alta scoffed.

  “But Sep,” Cienna said, “the humans are weak like the Pirans. We need Tohmas to get these people together so they can help get us a ship and we can leave this worthless planet.”

  “I think Troy could have done what we needed. I don’t buy the fact that the humans are as weak as we thought. We should have tried a more direct approach,” Septima said.

  “This is the direct approach,” Alta said. “The humans and Pirans are just another example of a step back in evolution. Hell, the Reptaurans at least have their shit together.”

  Alta walked over to Septima. Septima’s face filled with fear.

  “You get with the program and stick to the plan as we all agreed. Am I clear?” Alta asked, sticking her finger in Septima’s chest.

  “Very clear, Alta. Very clear,” Septima replied.

  Septima’s voice quivered. He’d never seen her act this way. Cienna frowned at Septima.

  “Alta, Sep is falling in love with Troy. She told me this yesterday. She says that a letter he gave her is a better version of Tohmas and she thinks we have made a big mistake,” Cienna said.

  Troy knew Septima very well, he could see the look of betrayal in her face. Septima covered it quickly.

  “C, that is not exactly what I said. I said the letter was thoughtful and I think the humans are amazing people,” Septima said.

  “You also said you weren’t sure you were going with us. If he would take you, you would start over with him,” Cienna replied.

  “Cienna, why?” Septima asked, obviously shocked at her own friend’s betrayal of her confidence.

  Alta grabbed Septima’s chin, lifting it to face her.

  “You do what you have to do or you will join Skyler’s fate. It is for your own good. Troy is done with you anyway. Do as you’re told or I will plant more shit on you in such a way that he might snap your neck himself. Do you know that bastard smacked my face? A human smacked a Rohku. Oh, he w
ill die a slow death and I will make you watch so you understand who is in control here. If Tohmas doesn’t get control soon, I’ll follow through with my threat.”

  Alta poked Septima’s chest again, harder this time.

  “Now get the fuck out of here before I get angry,” Alta said, yelling at her.

  It reminded Troy of the day she chewed his ass a new hole for walking out into Gen-Pop. Septima’s shoulders drooped. It wasn’t much but he could see it as she walked out. Septima’s fear of Alta was genuine. Cienna jumped down from the desk with catlike grace.

  “What about that?” Cienna asked. “How the hell is the parasite you created working so well?”

  “It’s not. Something else is happening here and I fucking don’t know what it is,” Alta said. “I think Tohmas might have planned it, something he set up in case he died. Tohmas always has a backup plan.”

  Cienna cocked her head at Alta.

  “Just like you, darling,” Cienna said, laughing and sneering. “Boom.”

  Cienna made a motion like a bomb going off. Alta ignored her, pacing back and forth, her hands fidgeting.

  “Something else is going on. Is it his human side in combination with my suggestion parasite? What if we’ve stumbled upon something bigger?”

  “Bigger?”

  “Essences, what if Borit’un destroyed Tohmas’ vial?” Alta asked.

  “We all know what happens then, the person is completely and utterly destroyed.”

  “Yes but Troy might not just be a look-a-like. He’s certainly Tohmas’ twin when it comes to their essence but they are clearly two different people at a genetic level. Tohmas has Rohku DNA and Troy has human--.”

  “I’ll leave the mad scientist stuff to you,” Cienna said.

  Alta moved back to her computer, engrossed in thought.

  “I’ll put some thought into my essence theory but I need you to watch that bitch,” Alta said. “She has lost her mind and is as dangerous as that Skyler whore,” Alta told her.

  “I’ll keep my eye on Sep. When do we do Skyler?” Cienna asked.

  “I’ll come up with something to end that bitch,” Alta said. “I really like the Reptauran parasite idea. It will eat her soul and turn her bat shit crazy.”

  Cienna smiled. Troy couldn’t believe his eyes. Those two were out of control evil. To be able to fool so many people with their sweet natures in public and then to see this on video. Troy probably would have seen some of this if his mind weren’t being influenced. Cienna’s mocking, Alta’s taunting, signs he would have caught that might have given him pause.

  “That’s why I love you so, Alta,” Cienna said.

  “Come over here and show me how much you love me, C,” Alta said.

  Skyler turned off the video, pulling out another device. It appeared to have a heavy base about a foot square. From the middle, a single metal pole about one inch in diameter stood vertically from it. On the end of the foot-long pole appeared to be another type of laser, one similar to the version Alta used on him, though this one was close to the size of a football.

  “If you let me direct this device at you, it will destroy the suggestion parasite,” Skyler said. “You will no longer be controllable.”

  “She did it for me,” Geoff said. “You don’t have much time. Something else is going on here and the Troy I know is fading away. You might have a week left at most. It’s more likely you have a few days.”

  “The longer we wait, the greater the risk that both your DNA and your essence will be mutated beyond repair,” Skyler told him. “Like Alta said, something else is going on here.”

  Troy had to admit that the things he could do and the things he thought were not what he remembered of himself. The dominance Tohmas must have over him made him sure he had no idea who he was anymore. Geoff interrupted his thoughts.

  “Well?” Geoff asked.

  “Yeah,” Troy said, nodding. “Do it.”

  Skyler placed the device at the foot of the bed. She worked at preparing it when Troy’s head snapped back into the pillow, his hands digging deep into the mattress. The room began to fade around him, going black. Did they turn the lights off? He was certain Skyler hadn’t turned the device on. What was happening?

  Troy heard someone talking inside his head. A voice, deep within, screaming in anger. Words and phrases briefly flashed across his consciousness.

  Attack... kill them, pathetic humans.

  Something consumed him. Troy’s senses faded into the blackness but not before he felt a surge of anger and fear. Fear of being killed and anger at Geoff and Skyler for attempting it. A pathetic human and a weakling Piran couldn’t kill the great Tohmas.

  I will kill them both.

  “Geo--” Troy started to say, trying to warn them.

  Tohmas took control of him, again.

  ____

  “Geoff,” Skyler screamed. “Tohmas is taking control of him.”

  Something pierced Troy’s arm, stinging him. Tohmas opened his eyes, assessing the threat against him. A human male stood next to the bed on his left side and a Piran female at the foot of the bed. She was working on activating a device at his feet.

  Ah yes, the device they plan to kill me with.

  “Shit,” Geoff exclaimed, taking a step back.

  Tohmas’ right foot kicked out at the human’s head. His foot missed but it sufficed. The human had stepped back, preparing to defend itself while Tohmas let his leg’s momentum help as he pushed off the bed with his hands. He landed, facing the human.

  “Time to die,” Tohmas said.

  As soon as his feet touched the floor, Tohmas attacked. The human brought its arms up in defense.

  Threat number one. The human. How quaint. It wants to fight Brawler style. He’ll primarily use his fists and try to grapple me. Effective only against untrained opponents. This one is dead already. Frankly, this will be quite boring so perhaps I should spice things up a bit. Threat number two. The Piran female. No threat at all. The Skyler whore’s only physical ability is spreading her legs. She is dead already as well.

  Tohmas feinted two shots to the human’s torso, spinning his own body completely around to bring a backhand fist to the human’s face. It connected. The human stumbled back, blood dripping from its mouth.

  “I’ll give you a moment to recover,” Tohmas said. “I don’t want this to end too soon.”

  Tohmas laughed, glancing back at the Piran female.

  “I’m watching you, dear,” Tohmas said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Geoff regained his balance.

  “I want my friend back,” Geoff said, spitting blood.

  “Request denied,” Tohmas replied.

  Tohmas attacked again, rushing forward. He hit the human with a left punch to its face, followed by a right elbow into its nose. Both blows forced it back, slamming it into the wall. It pushed off, darting to the right toward the Piran female. Blood ran from the human’s face.

  Bad move. You’re exposed and open for this.

  Tohmas stepped forward, bringing his arms forward and then down and backward, adding to the power of a front heel kick into the human’s side. The force was so strong the human flew through the air and into a crate Troy kept in the room’s corner. The human’s body shattered the wooden crate into splinters.

  Magnificent. This body’s density is amazing. Stronger as well. Still, that kick should have broken the human’s ribcage. Is it the creature’s density? This new body is dense too, so that shouldn’t be it. I’ll have to think on that later. Right now though, I’ll stop and smell the roses. Huh? Why did I think that?

  The human staggered but managed to stand.

  “I will get my friend back,” Geoff managed. “You just don’t know it yet.”

  An idle threat. The human now has a piece of the crate in its hand. A wooden shiv. Bravado, nothing more. I will invert it, putting the shiv into its own heart.

  “Come to me, little human,” Tohmas said, motioning the creature closer with h
is hand. “Bring me your wooden toy. I know you want to stick me with it. Perhaps you can.”

  Tohmas grinned as the human rushed him. At the same time, the Piran whore reached for her satchel. Tohmas deflected the shiv attack down while spinning to completely avoid the human’s swing and moving in behind it. He grabbed the human in a neck hold while ripping the shiv from its now injured hand. The female had already reached into the satchel as Tohmas threw the shiv. It pierced the bag and her hand. She screamed.

  That was not my best option. I should have killed this human with that shiv, using the human’s body as a meat shield should the whore pull a blaster out. Rusty.

  The human elbowed him, the blow breaking the neck hold and forcing Tohmas away.

  Ah yes, human strength.

  The human turned as Tohmas sprang forward, this time feinting a side kick with his right leg to its face. Tohmas knew the human would protect his face first but it was the human’s leg Tohmas wanted. Still in midair, the human brought its hands up to block Tohmas’ high kick, leaving his lower section vulnerable. Tohmas kicked his left leg out, moving with finesse and grace that only decades of mastery could offer. The foot connected, hitting its knee. The blow was solid but the break he expected did not happen. The kick certainly hurt the human but it was still mobile.

  Why didn’t its leg break? Tohmas thought.

  Because asshat, you’re fighting two humans. Troy thought.

  “Troy?” Tohmas said aloud, hearing Troy’s thoughts in his head.

  How could the human be mentally active at the same time as he? Tohmas felt a solid shot to his left face. These humans were indeed strong. Troy had distracted him, giving his brainless friend an unanswered punch. Tohmas spun, letting the human’s blow push him away, closer to the female. If he had to fight two of them, one mentally and the other physically, he could use the Piran bitch as leverage. The human in his head could be controlled, it wouldn’t take much mental focus. The art of Rohku taught mind and body control. They worked together with only the greatest, like himself, capable of doing both. The human inside his mind meant he had two opponents now.