“Sorry. The Corps… they flew us into China after the first strike, while the invasion was still happening. We didn’t know what the hell was going on, and next thing I know, I’m in a busted ass helicopter falling out of low orbit.”
“Intense.”
“Yeah, I guess so. We crashed in the dust cloud, and hit the ground running. Just kept moving and gathering survivors, hoping to find some place that wasn’t toast. We saw so many dead, though.” Corpses piled up in Jack’s head. “So damn many dead.”
“I’m sorry,” Kai said.
“No. No, it’s alright. They… they didn’t have to survive this crap. They were the lucky ones.”
Kai nodded, and then neither spoke for a long time. It had taken them a while to get to this point, and Jack suspected Kai had suffered more torture than he had. The man was just short of catatonic when he arrived, but after the first week, he came back to life. He was a fast healer, too. Bruises had already faded to hints of their former glory, and he didn’t look half as gaunt. His eyes were still discolored, but Jack chalked that up to allergies or malnutrition.
“Listen,” Kai said quietly and moved closer, “did they ever ask you about the… the Nefrem?”
Jack couldn’t figure out why Kai was acting so cloak and dagger. Maybe he knew something about the prison cells that Jack didn’t. “Constantly,” he said, and shuddered at the memory of the torture sessions. “Wish I had any damn idea what a Nefrem was. It’d make stonewalling them that much more satisfying.”
“Yeah.”
“And all that talk about a battle fleet. Did he mean in space?”
“I guess.”
“I just don’t get it,” Jack said. “I mean, if we had a secret fleet, wouldn’t we have used it to protect ourselves? These sons of bitches roll over us in five minutes and then have the gall to ask where our battle fleet is. It’s like kicking a three year old and then demanding his car keys. I figured he was just messing with my head.”
“Trying to keep us off guard? Makes sense.”
“I don’t know what the hell else it coulda been.”
Kai had a particularly dead look in his eyes. “Who knows. Maybe it’s a case of mistaken identity.”
Jack froze for a second, then laughed so hard it hurt. “Oh God, that’s rich. You, my friend, officially have the bleakest outlook in the whole damned universe.”
Kai asked, “How do you figure?”
“How do I figure? So, big bad space invaders drops trou on our planet and shit all over us. It’s one thing if they’re looking for a new home, or they’re on some kind of religious crusade, out slaughtering infidels, or get this… maybe they’re just mean bastards who can’t stand the sight of us. I can believe any of that. But blotting out ten billion lives by mistake? Like a filing error or something? That would be the most depressing thing in the history of damn depressing things.”
Kai smiled. “I guess you’re right.”
“Truth is, I’ve got my own theory about why they’re here.”
“Really? Do tell.”
Jack looked at Kai with a steely gaze, his eyes burning with a cold fire, and he beckoned the other man forward. When Kai was close, Jack whispered, “They were evicted.”
“I don’t follow.”
“From their last planet. They missed rent a couple months in a row, and the landlord was finally like, dude, get the hell out.”
The look in Kai’s eyes said he wasn’t sure if Jack was serious or not. A breath later, they both erupted in laughter.
“Think he turned the heat off first? Like a subtle hint?”
“Naw,” Jack said. “They just woke up one morning with all their clothes floating in orbit. And I’ll tell you this, they sure as shit didn’t get their security deposit back.”
And they both laughed some more. Jack laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. Then that silence returned.
“Anyway, I’m gonna try to get some sleep. I’ll catch you in the morning, alright?”
Kai nodded, and Jack headed back over to his side of the cell.
“Hey Jack, can I ask you one last thing?”
“Shoot.”
“What… What’s the biggest mistake you ever made?”
“I dunno. I’ve made some whoppers in my time.”
“Just pick one.”
“Fine. When I was a little punk-ass back in high school, I used to street race with friends. It was dumb, but ya know, we were kids. This one night, the rain is falling just a little bit, and suddenly I’m out of control. Wheels are spinning, making a God awful racket, and the back end gets loose. I pound on the breaks and the whole car starts to slide. I’m screwed. I’m screaming, my buddy Kyle is yellin’ in the passenger seat, and then I don’t really remember what happened. I wake up and the car’s in a ditch. Kyle’s bleeding all over the place.”
“Did he die?”
“No. Someone in the other car was smart enough to call an ambulance, and they got to him in time. It was close, though.”
“So everything worked out alright?”
“I guess. I mean, I almost lost a good friend and for what? For nothing. For being a stupid kid.”
“What came of it?”
“Kyle stayed in the hospital for a few weeks, and I got community service. We both ended up stronger for it. Really changed my life, come to think of it.”
“How?”
“They put me on a suicide hotline, of all things. I was sullen and bitchy about it at first, but then something changed. I started listening to people, and it was the first time I felt like I had a purpose. Like I was doing good in the world. That led me to the Corps.”
“Your whole career is just making up for a guilty conscience, then?”
“That’s one way to look at it. See if I waste a perfectly good inspirational story on you again.”
“Alright. Tell me another way to look at it?”
“There’s a couple different angles. Maybe I found my true calling, or maybe I learned there was value in trying to make things right. Maybe I found myself on a career track and just went where it led me. Maybe… maybe I was totally infatuated with a girl in the call center, and chased her tail right into the Corps.”
“Which is it?”
“A combination. Answers are rarely simple, my friend. So, what was your biggest mistake?”
Kai was quiet for a long while. “Something worse. Something a lot worse.”
Jack didn’t know what his new friend was hiding, but the man’s remorse left a sour smell in the air. “Listen… No matter what you did, the important thing is who you become in the wake of it. Usually, I’d say it’s never too late to make it right, but… well, it may be too late to make it right.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Jack.”
“No problem. G’night, Kai.”
“Night.”
Chapter 42:
The Wake of It
Kai was gone when Jack woke up the next morning. That should have told him something, but he was too busy trying not to let it get to him. He tried to take it in stride, and was partially successful. Only partially. Against his own better judgment, he’d become attached to the guy, even though either one could disappear at any moment. One of them had.
Jack found it odd that he couldn’t quite picture Kai’s face, even after spending weeks trapped together in an empty room, and it troubled him. He felt heartless for not remembering. Inhuman. He decided that Kai must have had the single most forgettable face in the world. It was the only rational explanation.
Even though Jack and God were on the outs again, he said a small prayer for his doughy-faced Finnish friend and hoped for the best. Then he went back to his routine of merciless exercise, and tried to think nothing else of it. He was partially successful in that as well. Working himself to slobbering exhaustion certainly helped.
Then, shortly after his dinner meal, the inexplicable happened. Jack was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, and the opposite wall melted away like a sheet of ice suddenly hit by a bla
st furnace.
The fascist alien interrogator stood in the opening.
Jack didn’t waste any time. His opportunity had come. The one he’d been training for. He propelled himself up from the ground and scrambled toward the enemy, fists swinging. His first blow landed with a loud crack and the alien’s head jerked to the side. The second fist crashed into the alien’s gut, and it felt like hitting concrete.
Even in his blind fury, Jack realized he wasn’t having any effect. The alien stood unperturbed, no more wounded than if Jack had splashed him with lukewarm water. It was the most insulting thing possible. It made Jack feel weak and powerless.
“Why won’t you fight back?” he growled. His arm tightened and exploded, charged with every last ounce of his strength. “Fight me!”
The alien shrugged the blow off just as he had the others. “Don’t you think I’ve hurt you enough?” he asked.
Jack didn’t quite know how to answer that. The alien had hurt him more than enough, but this wasn’t how he imagined things turning out. In his dreams, they would clash and fight like savage animals, only to perish with their hands at each other’s throats.
“I offer you two options,” the interrogator said, “Kill me if you like. I won’t resist. Or I can lead you out of this place. You will not escape without my assistance. The choice is yours.”
Escape. The mere thought of it hurt. Jack had banished that idea from his mind so long ago he couldn’t even imagine it anymore. This had to be some kind of trap, but what if it wasn’t?
“Why?” The word barely escaped his mouth.
“There’s no time to explain right now. I’ll answer your questions once we’re outside, but we must leave now. Decide, Jack Hernandez.” The alien held out Jack’s handgun, handle first, and offered it to him.
Jack snatched the gun out of the alien’s gloved hand, pulled back the slide and inspected the chamber. There was a copper jacketed round sitting inside. He released the slide and it clacked back into place, then he raised the gun up and placed it against the interrogator’s head.
The alien didn’t so much as twitch.
Jack’s finger slid to the trigger. The metal was cool to the touch. It begged for him to do it. It cried out for Jack to end the miserable creature’s existence, so he could never hurt anyone again.
Jack lowered the gun.
“I hope you made the right decision,” the interrogator said.
“So do I.”
The alien stepped aside and motioned to a pile of clothes against the wall. “I brought your things. Dress quickly, then follow me. We must leave while the guard detail is being changed.”
It took Jack less than thirty seconds to discard his dirty rags and climb back into his underclothes and jumpsuit. In another ten, his holsters and duty pack were fastened and the assault rifle was slung across his back. He felt like a different man. He felt a bit like himself again.
He slid the handgun into its holster and said, “Let’s go.”
The interrogator led a winding route through the building, passing huge blocks honeycombed with cells just like Jack’s. The hallways were empty, and the guard stations abandoned. The creature ran effortlessly, and Jack struggled just to keep up.
They reached the rooftop, and Jack was struck with vertigo. The great blue city stretched out in all directions, and he felt lost, dizzy and nauseous all at the same time. He buckled over and started breathing deeply.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Jack said as he stood back up. “Been cooped up in a shoe box too long. It’s a lot to take in all at once.”
“You must recover quickly. We’re not yet in the clear.”
The rooftop was circular, with stables around the outside housing open-topped flyers, each attached to a hose full of greenish fluid. “You gonna fly one of these things?”
The interrogator shook his head. “No. I am unable to operate Yuon Kwon.”
“So it’s a dead-end then. What the hell?”
“You must fly it.”
“Come again?” Jack asked incredulously.
“Your species possesses all of the organs necessary to interface with Yuon Kwon.”
“That doesn’t make any damn sense,” Jack said.
“I wish I could disagree with you.” The interrogator turned and jogged toward one of the flyers and waved Jack on with his hand. “Come. We must hurry, Jack.”
Jack followed. They climbed into the flyer, the inside of which was much like the walker Jack had inspected in the field. After a moment, he noticed a distinct difference, though. This one was alive. The walls were warm to the touch, and when he reached out to touch it, the creature cooed.
“Hurry.”
“What? How do I do this?”
“Climb into the pilot’s cradle. It will adjust to you, and…”
“And what?”
“I’m not sure. If we’re lucky, you’ll figure it out. We must hurry, or we won’t make the rendezvous.”
Jack stepped to the front where the empty cradle hung open. If this was all an intricate trap, Jack could imagine easier ways for the interrogator to kill him.
He rolled up his sleeves and slowly lowered himself in. The inside was warm and humid, with a musky odor that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It reminded Jack of reaching into an open wound. Then it quivered and cinched down tight, while insectoid arms gripped him around the midsection.
“This is disgusting.” His voice was muffled.
“Jack…”
“I don’t know what do.”
Something flashed, and Jack had blind spots like he’d just looked at the sun. He blinked his eyes and tried to clear them. There was another flash more intense than the first. “Something’s happening,” he said.
When the third flash struck, Jack experienced something strange. The strangest thing in his life. Even weirder than his stint with those mushrooms. He touched another creature’s mind and saw through its eyes.
“It’s working,” he thought he said. He wasn’t sure if he said it or thought it. Things had gotten messy.
“Can you get us airborne?” The interrogator’s voice had a weird echo.
“I think so,” he said, and then he made it happen. Jack felt the fin around the edge of himself spin up, the cycling sound filling the air, and the flyer climbed out of its stall. The attached hose tugged back for a moment, but its connector snapped away and he was free.
“Good. Now take us toward those towers, then head left and follow traffic until we reach the edge of the city.”
Jack was overwhelmed. He was flying. It all had to be dream. He was still lying on the floor of his prison cell, and none of this was real.
So he approached it as a dream, and he flew. He flew free, jetting through traffic and banking through the air. He darted between the other flyers, and flipped a quick barrel roll.
“Calm down, Jack. You’re going to attract attention if you keep this up.”
“Sorry,” he said, and he slid back into traffic like a good little boy. After a few minutes of travel, he reached the city’s end and slid back out of traffic and into open skies. Out into freedom.
If this was a dream, Jack never wanted to wake up.
Chapter 43:
Rendezvous
The interrogator directed Jack eastward and the small flyer sped over dense rainforest. Trees beneath them started orange, then turned green after a few kilometers and finally thinned out at the foot of the Virunga Mountains.
“Set down in that clearing,” the interrogator said, and Jack did.
The flyer neared the ground and its stubby legs extended, then bent under the weight as the vehicle kissed the Earth. Just as Jack began to wonder how to remove himself from the cradle, the vehicle released him. He was back in the real world. Back in his own body. The experience was disorienting beyond belief.
The night was dark and rain had just begun to fall. The feeling of standing there beneath the clouds, splashed by rain and caressed by the warm winds, wa
s simply brilliant. Jack’s skin was caked with months worth of filth, and he wanted nothing more than to stand in the rain and feel clean again. Feel new again.
“I should kill you,” Jack said after a long silence.
“You still have the option.”
He considered reaching for his gun, but he had too many questions that needed answers. The interrogator might have been suicidal, but he hadn’t worn out his usefulness. Not yet. “Will you tell me what’s going on?”
“Where should I begin?” the alien asked.
Jack’s shoulders were soaking wet, and the water trickled down over the rest of him. “Is Kai your real name, or was that just a cover?”
“Real name. When did you figure it out?”
“Not until you handed me the gun. You called me Jack. So, I gather you’re not Finnish, but… how do look so human?”
“Our shape is similar. For the rest, I altered my outward appearance. I created a disguise in order to gain your trust.”
“Helluva disguise,” Jack said. “I bought it hook, line and sinker.” He listened to the melodic pitter-patter on the leaves all around him. Just that morning, he was sure he’d never hear that sound again, yet there he was.
“That can’t be everything you want to know.”
“Of course not,” Jack said. He took a tentative step out of the flyer and onto the wet soil, fearing it would disappear the moment he touched it. When he was confident it was real and not going anywhere, he took another step and then sat down among the plants. “I want to know how this all happened. How did we end up here?”
Kai walked over to him, and Jack motioned for him to sit down. “It’s a long story,” Kai said.
“Take your time. I’m a patient man.”
Kai pulled his mask off and shoved it in his jacket, then took a deep breath. “As you wish. It starts thirty-two of your years ago. My people, the Somari, had just come out of a century long war, and for the first time in our history, our people were united. It was the dawn of a new age of prosperity, fueled by the technological advances made during the war.”
“What sort of advances?”
Kai smiled. “Genetic engineering. Biotechnology. The ability to manufacture new bodies from whole cloth, and transfer minds from one to the next.”
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