Vallar

by Cindy Borgne

Beacon entered and picked up another injector.

  “What are you doing?” Clare put her small body in front of me.

  “I will continue until I get results.” He took a step closer.

  Clare clutched the table. “You’re going to kill him!”

  “Get out of my way.”

  She didn’t move. Beacon shoved her to the side. She hit the wall and slumped halfway to the floor before her tiny knees steadied. Beacon gripped my chin and turned my face so I couldn’t see.

  “Let go!” I screamed. “Let go of me!”

  Beacon jammed the injector into my burning neck, yanked his hand from my chin and shouted, “Get busy with the intel.” He grabbed Clare by the arm and pulled her out of the room.

  The high frequency tone blasted through the speakers. All I wanted to do was run away. At least in a vision, I could escape the noise and pain.

  After much struggling to gain control, I pulled away from my own body, drifted into the room and flinched at the sight of myself lying on the table unconscious - pale with bruises, scratches, dark circles under my eyes and a swollen neck on the injection side.

  I wondered if Beacon had heard my conversation with Clare, so I searched the walls for a microphone, moving in and out of the wires and beams. I traveled through all the surrounding walls, but to my relief I found no listening device.

  Mumbling came from behind the door. I drifted into the hall. Beacon marched down the hall with an air of frustration about him.

  Kodet marched up to him holding a dataviewer. “Sir, you have to see this.” He extended it for Beacon to view. “Vallar is forming a circle of vessels around this post. We think they have managed to track you here.”

  Beacon glared at the dataviewer. “Have you called for reinforcements?”

  “Yes, they’re on the way, and we just took out the Vallar grain station.” Kodet paused. “However, I took it upon myself to cancel the victory dinner and I ordered the council to return home.”

  “Terrific, this is more inconvenience that boy has caused me.” Beacon turned the corner into a room with radar and monitors. He flipped some switches. The radar displayed a group of red blips representing Vallar on the north edge of the screen. Some blips remained in a circle while others headed toward the Marc station. He glanced at a monitor showing his flagship docked.

  “What is my ship doing still docked here?” Beacon asked.

  “Uh, uh,” Kodet stammered. “Is it necessary to move it? We have several midranges guarding it.”

  “I don’t want it damaged. Move it over to public terminal. Vallar won’t dare fire on it over there with all those civilians trying to evacuate.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Beacon studied the radar. “It’s clear Vallar had advance warning of our plan to take Argyre, and I know who gave it to them.”

  “What are you going to do with Connors if he doesn’t cooperate?” Kodet asked.

  “Don’t worry about that. I have some other ideas to get to him.”

  Repeated banging interrupted the vision. I moaned, not wanting to be conscious and especially not to hear that piercing whine again. I needed to know what he was going to say. Beacon had to be stopped.

  I pried my eyes open.

  “Someone!” Kayla pounded on the door with her fist. “Dr. Holman! You need to get in here.” Her usually puffy red hair was flat except for the sides that winged out. Dust coated her light green Vallar uniform. “Someone, Ian needs a doctor!”

  Was this real or another vision. “Kayla?”

  She spun around and rushed over. Her fair skin was paler than usual and this made the dark circles under her eyes stand out even more.

  I fought against the visions as a mix of meaningless images flashed in my mind. She touched my hand. At first, I felt hopeful that she was unharmed. Then I realized Beacon wouldn’t randomly put her in her with me. This was his other idea. He wanted us to become close, so he could use her against me. At least he didn’t know all my feelings.

  She picked up a damp cloth from the edge of the table and dabbed at my forehead. “Can you move?”

  I picked up my arm and let it drop back down. “Finally,” I whispered.

  She glanced at my neck. “Drugs?”

  “Yeah, how long was I out?”

  “You’ve been out since I came in here about five hours ago.”

  I wondered if I’d already given Beacon some vital piece of information. I pictured a greenish poison running through my veins. I had to protect Kayla. I had to get my strength back.

  “Easy.” Kayla put the cold cloth on my swollen neck. “Your poor neck.”

  She brought some relief, but I could tell by the deepening of lines on her face that I looked like hell. The walls rumbled from a nearby explosion. Vibrations rose from the floor and shook the table.

  “Vallar is here.” Her voice went up and down, sounding like we were in an echo chamber. “Bret will get us out of here.”

  “I saw the Vallar ships forming a circle to block Beacon’s escape.”

  “It might work if they can hold out long enough,” Kayla said. “Can you see how they’re doing?”

  I shut my eyes. Vessels from both sides circled above the office. Laser fire streaked across the thin atmosphere and tore into the sides of the vessels, sending them crashing into the barren land.

  I opened my eyes. “Neither one is winning yet.”

  She touched my hand. “You feel too warm.”

  “Warm? I’m freezing.” More images swirled through my mind. None of them meant anything, until I noticed Alexis. She sat at the controls of a small cargo carrier, holding the control stick and looking out the front viewport. Hannah and a few others sat behind her.

  “Bret got the message out! Alexis and Hannah look like they left the sub-hangar.” Kayla sighed. “At least that’s one good thing.”

  A growing pressure in my bladder caught my attention. I pushed myself up with shaky arms. The lights in the room made my head throb. Upon sitting, my bladder felt about to explode. On the other side of room there was a door to a small room.

  “Is that a bathroom?” I hoped.

  “Yeah.”

  I had to get over there fast and pushed myself off the table. My legs buckled and I gripped the side of the table.

  Kayla helped me across the room. I went in the small bathroom, shut the door and yanked my pants down just in time. As I urinated, a burning sensation radiated in the middle of my back. If I wasn’t alone, I would’ve thought someone shot me with a laser. My legs buckled. I whimpered as I let out something like twenty liters of urine, knowing that if I fell I would drench myself – it wouldn’t be possible to hide it from Kayla.

  I held out until done and dropped to my knees. Then, wanting to rest a few minutes, I dropped onto my side and touched my face with icy hands. Lixatra did this to me. Part of me wanted to rip open a vein on my wrist and spill my own blood onto the floor - anything to stop the flow of visions going through my mind.

  “Ian?” Kayla asked. “Are you o-okay?”

  “Yes.” I wiggled back into my pants and fumbled to zip them. After about a minute, I reached up for the doorknob. A jabbing pain in my back made me drop back down.

  Kayla opened the door a crack and peeked through. “Ian?” She opened it all the way and knelt. “What’s wrong?”

  “My back is killing me.”

  “Can you move?”

  “Yes, but that’s when it hurts the most.”

  She tugged at my arm. “I’ll help you.”

  “I’d rather stay here.” I hated that table of torture.

  “Your back will only get worse if you lay here crooked on the floor.”

  She was right. Maybe if I got some rest, I’d be okay. I let her help me up and walked hunched next to her. She helped me back up on the table.

  “Thanks.” I squirmed, trying to escape the pain.

  “Turn on your side.” She pushed me.

  I groaned and rolled over.

  She touc
hed my back in different places. “Does that hurt?” she asked each time, before moving onto another spot.

  “No,” I mumbled. Her soft touch brought the visions to a content halt. Instead, I picked up her emotions – on the surface she was calm and strong. Searching deeper I found some nervousness and worry.

  She reached the right middle of my back and pressed.

  A jolt of pain sent my mind spinning. “Ow!”

  “Kidneys,” she said. “You held it so long you hurt your kidneys.”

  “Permanently?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ve seen this happen before. I’m going to try and call Dr. Holman again.” Kayla returned to the door. She banged and yelled all over again.

  I tried to endure it, but after a few minutes I shouted, “Kayla, please stop that noise!”

  She came back to the table. “Sorry, but what is wrong with that woman? Why doesn’t she come?”

  “She probably can’t.”

  A swirl of images tried to take over my mind again. I reached out and touched her hand. “Stay by me.”

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  Among the other feelings, I could sense tiredness in her legs and a headache from a lack of sleep. There was nowhere to sit, so I scooted over closer to the wall. “You can rest here.”

  She jumped up and sat down. “Thanks.” She paused. “So do you know if Sonny is here too?”

  “No, he’s back with Vallar.”

  “Wow, you’re amazing.”

  “I don’t feel amazing.”

  She leaned over me, staring in a curious way. “What were you going to tell me before you were captured?”

  “I, um, um.” All I could do was stammer.

  “Ian? What is it?” She nudged me.

  “I’ve been afraid to tell you because it’s strange.”

  “What could be so strange?” She dabbed my forehead with the cloth. “I promise to keep an open mind.”

  I didn’t have the strength to say no to those curious green eyes. “Okay, b-before the battle of mine, I-I had a vision of us together.”

  “What’s so strange about that?”

  “As more than friends.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’m sorry. You were . . . .” Another round of random images raced through my mind.

  “Ian? Ian!” Kayla tapped my cheek several times.

  A twinge of pain went through my back. “Kayla?”

  “You passed out again.” She touched my hand and the images slowed.

  I thought back to what I was trying to say. “My vision was wrong. You were engaged to Layne at the time. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You can’t help what you see.”

  “Thanks for being so kind. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but ever since I had the vision.” I took a deep breath, having to go through with it in case this was the last chance to tell her. She’d been kind and understanding so far. I had to say it. “Ever since then I’ve loved you.”

  She looked off to the side, wide-eyed and bewildered.

  The longer I waited for her to respond, the more I felt like an idiot. “You can forget I said that if you want.”

  Her eyes reddened with tears. “You were going to leave Marscorp until . . . .” She wiped her eyes. “Until you saw Bret and I in trouble. You dropped your plans of escape to save me, didn’t you?”

  I reached up and wiped a tear off her cheek. “I couldn’t let you die.”

  Kayla took my hand and held it. “And Beacon. He’s been tormenting you.” She scowled at the door. “He has to be stopped.”

  For a few odd seconds, she watched me in a thoughtful way. I could tell she was thinking about my awkward admission, so I put my hand over my eyes.

  Kayla chuckled and pulled my hand down. “Ian, you can see so much. Try to see a way to escape.”

  “I will.”

  She had a calming way about her.

  “I hate to ask this, but when you hold my hand it helps me focus.”

  “Whatever it takes to get out of here,” she said.

  I drifted in and out of consciousness. All around Argyre, ships from Marscorp and Vallar fired at each other. I cringed at the wrecked vessels and bodies lying across the surface. A group of soldiers ran trying to avoid laser fire. I spotted two Phantom ships in the battle.

  I made the jump into Phantom Two as Bret and Rachel moved in closer to the giant dome surrounding the Marc station. Three round sections combined to make up the dome positioned so each one touched each other similar to the design of a clover.

  The computer calculated its measurements. The screen displayed the size of 605 by 600 meters. Small lights outlined the frame, forming an X at the top of each section.

  They didn’t come here for the view. Bret stared ahead with watery, bloodshot eyes mixed with an intense focus that reminded me of a video I watched of a tiger stalking its prey. I could tell he’d blamed himself for our capture. The dome represented what might be his only chance to rid Mars of Admiral Beacon.

  Vallar ships covered for Bret as he flew the craft closer to the dome. The night-vision screen displayed the black metal frame covering it. He stopped several meters before the dome.

  A tear rolled down from Rachel’s puffy eyes. She gritted her teeth, took a deep breath and pressed the trigger on the laser control stick. A red ray streaked out of their ship and struck a lower beam on the framework, but it didn’t penetrate. Another Phantom vessel also fired on different section of the dome.

  Metal around the laser beam glowed red and spread further out along the frame. Hot metal under the beam turned into liquid. Pieces of it oozed off. A fracture grew like a crack in a viewport and spread in different directions along the frame.

  The beam on the frame snapped. Several more beams bent and broke off, causing the entire dome to shift to the right, splitting several joints in the frame. Pieces of the structure broke, crumbling away and falling on the dusty ground. The dome shattered in one massive explosion.

  I wanted to see Beacon cling in vain to his last drop of life, twisting his face in agony and slowly losing his grip on a crumbling rock. But didn’t Bret realize we were with Beacon? I wanted to yell a warning, but I wasn’t really there.

  Kayla and I had to get out of there before the explosion, but how? My mind flowed through every section of the Marc station. One end connected to Argyre. The other to a small terminal where a Marc midrange remained docked, surrounded by other ships standing guard.

  Throughout the building there were offices for recruiting and keeping track of grain shipments. Other than the small control room, it had nothing else military about it.

  I searched underneath the post and found another basement beneath this one. It contained a maze of heating units connected to metal ducts. Rusty metal crates were stacked along the walls. A layer of dust coated everything. The basement spread out under several of the rooms, including a small supply closet not too far from the room where we were trapped.

  I continued to hunt for somewhere to hide, focusing my attention beyond the floor and walls of the basement. Underneath a stack of crates in one corner, a gap under the floor came into view. I flowed through the floor for a closer look. A stairway in one corner led down about a hundred steps. At the bottom was a long tunnel. Organizations often had shelters in case of attack, so this was no surprised.

  An old box sat up against the wall. Property of the Bradford Corporation.

  I’d never heard of that organization. Most likely the Marcs conquered them before I was born and stole this building. From the amount of dust, it looked like they forgot about this passage way.

  I followed it along, paused at two passages going in opposite directions and took the one to the right. The end of it narrowed and stopped at a circular plate in the wall. I moved through it, into a large drainage pipe. Light flowed in from holes in a metal cover above me. This led me into an area full of corn stalks. A short distance further, and I came up to a pole barn.

  Bret’s attack had
the potential to distract everyone, so we could get to this tunnel. Yet even if I could get out of this room, I was exhausted.

  Chapter 27

  “Ian,” said a nearby voice. “Can you hear me?” Someone tapped my cheek.

  What would be left of the Marc station after the dome exploded? I continued to reach out, but the tapping continued.

  At the feel of a jab into my arm, I gasped and pulled away. Clare’s wrinkled face came into focus. She put an injector back into her bag and straightened a gray sweater lying over my chest.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “It’s for the pain and fever.”

  “What took you so long?” Kayla stood behind her, eyes bent with anger and holding two water bottles. “His kidneys are hurting him badly. He needs to be examined.”

  “The only reason I could come in here is because everyone is distracted with the battle. I can’t do anything else.”

  Kayla’s green eyes narrowed. A few strands of her red hair stood on end.

  Clare went to speak again, but an explosion shook the room. The doctor glanced up at the ceiling. “There’s a chance we may have to evacuate.”

  “You will.” I motioned for her to come closer. Even though there was no microphone, I had to be careful. Clare was the only one who could help me, but would she?

  They both leaned toward me.

  I whispered as softly as possible. “Vallar is going to destroy the dome surrounding this station.”

  “Ian,” Kayla whispered through her teeth. “Don’t tell her anything.”

  “She’s the only one who can help us get to the tunnel under this station.”

  “Tunnel?” Kayla and Clare asked.

  “There’s another basement under this one, and under that there is an old escape route leading to one of the farms. Can you get us there after the dome explodes?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Kayla rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  “You better stay in this basement until the dome explodes.” I rested my hand over Clare’s, trying to sense for the truth, but she was so scared I could only pick up on her fear.

  Clare nodded and whispered. “I’ll be back.” She opened the door and went out.

  Kayla threw up her hands as the door shut and rolled her eyes. “Sure she will.”