by Wesley Chu
“Spread out,” Gwenda barked. “Flanking positions!” She looked over at Cameron. “Commander, inner triangle. Please.”
“But I have no sights from there.”
“Go!”
One of the most important rules is to follow orders.
“This is bullshit,” Cameron grumbled as he climbed through an open door of the helicopter on one side and then out the other to the inner triangle. He kept his rifle against his shoulder as he swiveled back and forth through the opened doors, ready to shoot if the enemy came into his sights. The violence continued for a few more seconds before silence fell again.
Cameron heard a few calls of “clear” followed by a “stairwell clear.”
He saw a shadow blur to his left through one of the helicopter doors, and before he could yell a warning, he heard a cry of pain followed by three gunshots. Jumping into action on pure instinct, he dove and slid under the nose of a Chinook to roll to the other side.
Cameron aimed his rifle at the new threat and stopped, mouth agape as he stared at the most incredible sight he’d ever seen in his life. Unfortunately, the incredible sight was busy killing the team guarding the platform. A small woman, wearing what looked like a full-blown armored ninja costume, was moving so fast she was almost a blur. She carried a strange, spear-like blade on both wrists and a pistol in her right hand. She moved with the grace of a dancer, slicing through the team like a shadow. The only time she was still was when she pulled the trigger, which to Cameron’s horror, was aimed point-blank at Ms Gwenda’s face. Within seconds, the bodies of the entire team were slumped on the ground, throats slit or gunshot wounds in their heads.
Get moving and shoot that bitch!
By the time Cameron snapped out of his trance, she was gone. He scrambled to his feet and ran to each of the bodies. Everyone was dead, killed cleanly and quickly. A new sort of terror gripped him as he looked around for this woman. This was vastly different than when he had had to fight Jacob. Then, he had been raging too hard to think. He just wanted to protect his mom. Now, he was alone, and the intense fear was overwhelming.
Keep it together, Cameron. Stop holding your breath. Exhale. You are dealing with an Adonis Vessel. It is nothing you cannot handle. You have already fought one before. In fact, she is not better than Lin, and you have sparred with him dozens of times.
“Well, Lin is eighty, and beat me while he was reading the newspaper.”
He just likes to show off.
“What is a boy doing here?” the woman’s voice said from somewhere in the air behind him. The wind was blowing so hard, it seemed to come from everywhere. “Are the Prophus that lacking for men?”
Cameron swiveled his body back and forth, staring into the darkness for any signs of movement. He thought he saw a shadow on his left and opened fire, cracking one of the Chinook’s windows. Then, he thought he saw something else on his right and fired once more, again hitting nothing. She was toying with him.
“Such heavy equipment for one so young,” her voice almost hummed as she spoke. “Logically, you must be a vessel. Which one, I wonder? Only one way to find out.”
Though he was looking straight at her, Cameron didn’t notice her until she was almost on him. She leaped out of the darkness, one of the blades on her wrist extended. It was all he could do to block her attack with the flat of his rifle, so her blade bounced off the metal body. She twisted her arm and his rifle slipped his grasp. He was barely able to dodge two more swings from her before she grabbed his wrist. A kick to the midsection tumbled him to the ground.
“Tao!” she hissed.
Szin. This must be Azumi. She is a top lieutenant to Enzo. I wonder what she is doing here. Be careful. Many of Szin’s hosts have been ninjutsu practitioners.
“The Genjix were ninjas?”
The Genjix were everything.
Cameron scrambled to his feet, one hand clutching his stomach. The woman was studying him with a faint trace of a smile on her pale face. It was the only thing he could make out in the darkness.
“One of my brothers is very much looking forward to speaking with you at length, Tao,” she spoke with a mocking tone. “I believe I will present you to him alive, as a gift.”
She sheathed the two blades on her wrists and attacked. It was so dark outside, and her movements were so fast, that Cameron couldn’t see what she was doing. He blocked a swing and a kick, and then found his legs swept from underneath him. He crashed on the hard metal surface and rolled to his feet, swinging wildly with his fists.
Azumi stayed just out of his reach and then suddenly darted in. Cameron was blindsided by a downward smack that doubled him over, followed by something he didn’t even see that staggered him backward. He juked to the side and swung again, missing.
Before he knew what was happening or where she even was, he found himself caught in a chokehold. Immediately he felt himself losing consciousness. The first thing that crossed his mind was wondering how she had even gotten behind him. The second was how someone this small could be so strong.
Cameron clawed at her forearm and tried to pry her python grip loose. The best he could do was keep from passing out. Barely. The woman jumped on his back to get better leverage. She wrapped her legs around his waist in a body triangle and squeezed harder. Cameron felt himself blacking out. Desperate, he pulled out his pistol and tried to shoot behind him. She laughed and karate chopped it out of his hand, and somehow Cameron found himself not only getting choked, but also in an elbow lock. Now it was a race to see if this crazy tiny ninja was going to break his arm or choke him unconscious first.
Full charge backward, rotate right. Go!
Cameron moved without thinking; following Tao’s directions was second nature to him by now. He charged backward and slammed into the metal wall of one of the towers, causing a low hollow bonging sound to echo across the structure and earning him a grunt from Azumi. Then he tried to twist out of her grip. He made the mistake, however, of twisting left instead of right, and went straight through the blown elevator doors into the open shaft.
Oh crap. Your other…
The two of them tumbled head over feet into the darkness. Azumi held on to him as they plummeted down what felt like several stories. He could feel her trying to twist around and roll on top of him. He flailed, desperately trying grab onto something.
Find the calm!
Right away, Tao took control. He shot his arms out to block Azumi and elbowed her in the gut. He grabbed her arms, and the two grappled for control of the fall. Mid-air, without being able to plant their feet against something solid for leverage, the stronger person won out, which in this case was Tao. He prevented Azumi from rolling on top of him and swung her around until she was positioned below.
Then they struck a hard surface with a thunderous echo of metal, and everything went black.
43
Dark Times
Timestamp: 3475
In the end, I have to accept what I’ve done. Without my blundering, Jill and Cameron might have lived normal lives. Hell, I doubt I could’ve even landed Jill if it hadn’t been for Tao. I’d be one of those chubby cubicle worker bees who clocked in nine to five jobs and woke up one day, retired, wondering what happened to my life. You know, there was a guy named Pete who once warned me about that. I wonder how he’s doing now.
Anyway, if I had to choose all over again, I’m not sure if I would have done the same thing. I guess I’d have to, or Cameron would never have been born. See, screwed either way. Story of my life.
* * *
Roen’s worst fears were realized when he finally reached the platform. He burst through the stairwell opening and didn’t find a living soul. The guards should be up here. Something was wrong. There was no way Gwenda or the pilots would have abandoned their posts. Where could they have gone, anyway?
Roen peered inside one of the helicopter openings and then moved to the other side. Nothing. He crouched and hugged the outer body of the Chinooks as he swept the outer
perimeter of the platform. Still nothing. Where was the team?
He reached the last bend of the third helicopter and nearly tripped over a body. He turned it over and recognized one of the pilots, dead from a cut throat. He looked past the body and saw several more lying in assorted positions on the ground and against one of the columns. He checked them as well. While Roen wasn’t a forensics expert, he had seen enough battle scenes to know what had happened.
A team of Genjix had assaulted the platform, taking out one or two of the guards. Gwenda’s team had moved in quickly and contained them. None of the Genjix seemed to have gotten more than two meters away from the doorway. Then, they must have been attacked from behind. Surprised by someone with a blade. Some of the squad had died from knife wounds, others from single gunshots. The blade wounds were interesting. Two of the bodies were shanked, as if stabbed by a very thin spear. The other two had their throats cut, but they were shallowly done. Whoever did this was precise. An Adonis Vessel. Fortunately, none of these bodies were his son.
“Cameron, where are you?” Roen bellowed, his voice barely perceptible over the howling wind, a hundred possibilities running through his head. Could he have gotten away? Was his body thrown over the side into the lake? Did he run downstairs? Panic set in as he looked over the edges of the platform. It’d be impossible to see a body in the darkness, especially with the Prophus’s black armor.
The thought of finding the body of his son crippled him. The thought of not ever knowing, even more so. Despair hit Roen like a truck. The rifle clattered onto the ground, and he dropped to his knees. All this pain; all this violence. And now, his son another victim of this stupid war. What was left out there if he didn’t have his boy? What did he have to live for? Vengeance? It felt hollow. Justice? There was no such thing.
Then Roen thought of Jill. She was still down there. Alive. He hadn’t lost her yet. She was all he had left in the world. He had to protect her. Roen slapped himself in the face. No, he wasn’t going to give up on Cameron either. He would never give up on his boy. Cameron was smart; he was able; he had Tao. Roen wasn’t going to give up until he saw the body. He was going to assume that Cameron was alive and had fled down to the base somewhere. And his son needed him.
“God help the Genjix,” he growled picking up his rifle. If his son and wife were dead, he would take that hollow vengeance and fill it with the bodies of their killers.
He sped down one of the other stairwells and then back up through the last stairwell. Then he looked down into the elevator shaft. The light wasn’t strong at the bottom. The cut panel at the ceiling of the elevator offered very little illumination. He thought he maybe saw a figure down there, but he couldn’t be sure. For all he knew, it could just be his imagination hoping against all hope. Still, Roen wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. He would tear this entire damn base apart panel by panel if he had to, in order to find his son. He looked at the metal cables hanging in the middle of the shaft. He frigging hated heights.
Well, there was nothing he wouldn’t do right now; he was desperate enough to try. Roen slung his rifle across his back, took a deep breath, and hesitated. He took a few more deep breaths, and had two more false starts before he decided “to hell with it” and jumped across the gap. His first attempt on the cable missed, and his second rope-burned his hand, and he almost fell. His third desperate grab succeeded, and he found himself dangling precariously in the middle of the shaft. He laughed a little crazily in relief and began to rappel down. Roen was two-thirds down the cable when he saw two bodies, one of them in Prophus armor. His breath caught in his throat when he landed on the top of the elevator. It was Cameron! He felt the panic set in as he felt for a pulse and for injuries.
Cameron’s eyes opened. “Roen, you found me.”
“Hey, buddy,” Roen choked the words out. “How are you feeling?”
Cameron sat up. “He is unconscious. I did not want to wake him yet. He might need rest. He has no broken bones or internal injuries. However, thank goodness he had a soft landing.” He turned and saw the body.
Roen turned the body over. “Is she…”
“…dead. One of Enzo’s Adonis lieutenants,” Tao said. “I saw her Quasing Szin leave. Let us hope he does not find a host in time.”
“Azumi is a big gun, and my son got her, huh?” Roen helped Tao to his feet. “Why don’t you stay here until all of this is over? I think he’s had enough.”
Tao shook his head. “No. You left him alone once, and he ended up at the bottom of an elevator shaft. I would prefer he stay by your side. Hang on, let me try to wake him up.”
Somehow, though Roen knew it was more dangerous for Cameron to come with him, he couldn’t find it in himself to object. He just couldn’t stand letting his son out of his sight. Cameron’s eyes became unfocused, and a few seconds later, his knees buckled and he groaned.
“Ow,” he mumbled. “Why do I feel like I just went five rounds with Lin?”
“Well,” Roen couldn’t help but smile. “You went toe-to-toe with an elevator car.”
“Did I win?”
“It didn’t kill you.”
“Makes me stronger?”
“Something like that. Can you stand?”
Roen helped Cameron to his feet and then checked the car below them, hanging upside down and looking at the hallway outside the half-opened elevator door. When he was sure it was clear, he dropped down and motioned for Cameron to follow. The two of them left the elevator and crept down the hallway. Roen noticed right away how Cameron fell in line, using the SWAT tactics he and Tao had drilled into him. His chest swelled with pride as they expertly scoped out each room and secured each intersection one by one.
They reached the entrance to the command center and found it a hulking mess. Roen motioned for Cameron to stay put while he peeked his head around the corner and scanned the interior. It was completely abandoned. He signaled for Cameron to follow as they checked inside. Bullet holes riddled everything, the walls, the consoles, the screens. A large battle had been waged here. Bodies from both sides were strewn across the floor, but none were Jill or the rest of the commanders.
“Dad,” Cameron said. “There’re people coming.”
The two scrambled to the far back of the room and hid behind a row of consoles as four Genjix passed. Two of them paid the room only a cursory glance before moving on. That could only mean one thing; they were behind enemy lines. The Prophus forces must have been pushed away from the center point. That couldn’t be good.
“Jill,” Roen whispered into his comm. “What’s your status?”
She clicked over, but the sounds of fighting in the background were so loud he could barely make out her words. “Roen!” Then it was garbled. Then he heard “east of” and “pinned” and then she was cut off. That was enough for him, though. He pulled on Cameron’s sleeve.
“Where to?” he asked.
“We’re going to save your mom.”
Cameron’s face scrunched up, and his exhausted and pained expression turned into determination as he caught his second wind. Roen saw true grit in his son’s eyes and realized for the first time that Cameron really was ready. He was ready now, inside as well as out.
Roen patted his son on the back. “Let’s rock this party.”
The two of them headed east from the command center down the main hallway. Jill’s message wasn’t much to work from, and Roen usually wouldn’t operate on such light information, but this was Jill, and he would go east until the end of the world for her.
They took out three Genjix, each roving by themselves, and avoided two full patrols of five. The sound of fighting intensified the further they moved away from the spine. Some of the enemy traffic became too heavy on this floor, so they went down a level to avoid patrols. They circumvented several blockades and continued generally east, sometimes going up or down a level when they hit an obstacle. Soon, they were completely lost.
Nonetheless, they continued moving in an easterly d
irection. Roen couldn’t be sure, but he could swear they were being stalked. There were always shadows and noise coming from somewhere, giving them only one path to move as they ventured deeper away from the spine.
“Dad, do you know where we’re going?” Cameron asked.
Roen shrugged. “I didn’t think too far ahead, besides heading toward your mother.”
His son rolled his eyes. “Tao says he can get us back to the command center. He also thinks we’re being corralled somehow.”
Roen frowned. “Why does he think that?”
“Something about how at every intersection, only one path seems open. Should we go back?”
“Screw it. We go east until we find your mom.”
The two entered a dimly-lit portion of the base filled with large cavernous rooms. Their progress slowed as visibility worsened. The sounds of fighting had died as well. Part of Roen was screaming at him that he was heading the wrong way. However, he knew that Jill wasn’t where he had just come from, so he continued to prod them forward, hoping to find a set of stairs back up to the higher levels. They had just passed a series of large empty rooms when Cameron stumbled upon a room with two dozen large pallets of containers about neck-height in the center.
“Dad,” Cameron whispered. He pointed at his eyes and then into the room.
Roen peeked inside and saw two men lounging among the pallets. One was leaning against a stack, while the other was tilting back in a chair.
“Let’s check it out,” Roen whispered.
They waited until the two worst guards in the world were too distracted by their conversation to notice them. They crept inside, staying in the shadow behind one of the pallets. They positioned themselves near the wall and Roen motioned to Cameron to take out the guard on the right. Then he counted down from five.