Burden of Sisyphus

by Jon Messenger

  “Then you can leave the Academy with your head held high, knowing you did all you could. That’s a damn sight better than the way you are now, constantly second-guessing yourself and fearing waking up each morning.”

  “I’m not afraid.” Keryn sat heavily on her bed.

  “You are. Most of your fear comes from the fact that all you do is either lie on the bed studying or sitting in front of your console. You never give your mind a chance to rest. You need to unwind once in a while, if for no other reason than to let your mind think of something else for a chance.”

  Iana dropped on the bed beside Keryn. “Last night, I extended the offer to go to the bar, and you said, ‘No.’ Tonight, I won’t give you that option. Get up, get over yourself, and get ready to go out.”

  Groaning, Keryn fell into the bed and buried her face in her pillow.

  “What are you, five years old?” Iana shouted.

  Keryn peeked over the edge of the pillow, staring at her aggressive roommate.

  “Get your lazy butt out of bed. We have a lot of work to do if we’re going to drive the boys wild at the bar tonight.”

  Finding Iana’s attitude contagious, Keryn began laughing. “You know, I do need to get out of this place awhile.”

  “Then get up. Let’s get ready for a wild night on the town.”

  They spent the better part of an hour preparing for their night, sorting through a myriad of outfits. As Iana looked through the piles of shoes under her bed, Keryn stared at herself in the mirror. Her silver hair was pinned up with loose tendrils flowing down her neck and shoulders. A plunging neckline revealed deeply tanned skin and exposed the curves of her breasts. Shirt and pants clung tightly to her body, though they weren’t nearly as constrictive as the suit earlier.

  She felt confident again, and her violet eyes sparkled at her reflection.

  Leaving the bathroom, she caught Iana’s attention. “So, how do I look?” She turned in a circle.

  “Platonic erotic.” Iana smiled.

  “Excuse me?”

  “It means all the boys will want you, but you won’t give them the time of day.”

  Laughing, the pair left the barracks and crossed the quad to the only bar on campus. Twin moons cast warm glows over the courtyard. The scent of freshly bloomed flowers filled Keryn’s senses, and the day’s tension slowly faded.

  In the distance, she saw the bar’s glowing neon signs. Soft, rhythmic beats carried on the breeze, telling stories of dancing bodies and freely flowing alcohol. Her spirits lifted, she hurried with Iana across the grassy quad, eager to join the festivities.

  As they entered, the pair was enveloped in a cocoon of pounding, percussive beats and shrill, stringed notes. A live band, hidden by a haze of smoke, stood on the stage at the far end of the room. A few tables lined the walls, their smooth tops dominated by large hookahs, from which noxious gray-green smoke billowed.

  The center of the room was packed with writhing cadets, each dancing his own style to the intoxicating music. Recognizing a few of them through the smoke, Keryn and Iana exchanged waves, as they moved to the long bar.

  Sliding onto two empty stools, the girls had to lean across the bar to be heard by the bartender. Soon, drinks in hand, they began talking and laughing, allowing the day’s stress to fade. While not exactly what Keryn tried to order through the din, her drink was sweet and strong, the alcohol burning the back of her throat.

  As the night went on, and they consumed more drinks, the pair told stories of their home worlds and childhoods. While Keryn was surprised to hear of Iana’s upbringing as a gypsy, a traveling group of Pilgrims known for their disregard for social regulations like public intoxication and nudity, Iana was enthralled by Keryn’s description of the Voice and the Ritual of Initiation. Iana grilled her for hours. Though shy at first, Keryn quickly found herself warming to the interrogation and sharing insight about having two distinct personalities in her mind. Their shared laughter stretched into the night.

  Well past midnight, the mood in the bar shifted. No longer did the band produce bone-jarring beats and raucous riffs. Instead, the pace slowed, allowing intoxicated cadets to pair off and spend the remainder of the evening dancing slowly, cradled in each other’s arms. For Keryn and Iana, it allowed them to speak more easily, as they continued storytelling, no longer required to lean close to each other and shout to be heard.

  As groups of cadets left the bar, having found mates for the night, Keryn stretched her stiffening muscles. Though she drank quite a few glasses during the night, her pace and constitution left her feeling little more than a bit light-headed. Iana, however, giggled softly to herself between bouts of hiccups.

  Realizing it was time to leave, Keryn slid from her chair and cradled Iana in her arms, trying to help the flaccid girl off her stool.

  “Isn’t this a cute scene?” a pompous, singing voice called from behind the pair.

  Keryn gritted her teeth, feeling the day’s frustrations immediately return. “I didn’t come here for trouble, Sasha. We’re leaving, anyway.”

  “Is this your last party before they put you on a ship and send you home? After your pathetic displays the past couple of days, it’s only a matter of time before you’re gone. Might as well turn in your letter of resignation now and save yourself the embarrassment of having the instructors do it for you.”

  Keryn sat Iana on her stool again. The Pilgrim reached for her twice before managing to land a calming hand on her arm. “Don’t let her….” She hiccupped. “Don’t let her pick a fight with you. Just let it be.”

  “Don’t worry.” Keryn placed a reassuring hand on Iana’s. “I won’t do anything I’ll regret in the morning.”

  Stepping away from her roommate, Keryn turned toward Sasha and her throng of friends. Keryn counted six females behind the Avalon. From the corner of her eye, she saw Zalide inhaling from a hookah. Quickly figuring the odds, she was certain none of Sasha’s group posed a physical threat. Still, though she may have willingly started a fight when she arrived at the bar, the anger of the day was gone. Instead, all she wanted was to take Iana home.

  “What are you staring at, Freak,” Sasha asked.

  “Nothing, Sasha. I’m not looking at anything.” She turned to collect her belongings.

  “So now I’m nothing? Is that what you’re saying? Do you think you’re somehow better than me, Loser?”

  You should’ve broken her jaw when you had the chance, the Voice advised.

  Knowing Sasha wanted a fight, Keryn ignored the prodding from Sasha and the Voice’s gentle cooing. The Voice’s misguided advice articulated Keryn’s subconscious desires, but even it didn’t have her best interests at heart.

  A rough voice from behind let Keryn know Sasha wasn’t going to give up so easily. “I’m talking to you. Don't you dare ignore me.”

  Don’t put up with her, the Voice urged. Take her down.

  “Don’t push me,” Keryn growled, barely loud enough for Sasha to hear.

  Bolstered by her perceived dominance of the situation and her friends behind her, Sasha wouldn’t stop. “I’ll do whatever I want, and I’ll say whatever I want. The fact is, you’re a savage, and so is your friend. Your entire, pathetic excuse for a race is full of savages. You’re all better off dead.”

  Keryn dropped Iana heavily onto her stool.

  “Don’t do this, Keryn,” Iana begged weakly.

  “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’ll be right back.”

  Spinning, she lashed out with a lightning-fast right cross that landed solidly on the surprised Avalon’s face. Keryn felt a satisfying crunch of cartilage in the delicate Avalon’s nose, as Sasha flew backward and crumpled to the hardwood floor. Dark blood spilled heavily from her broken nose, and her eyes fluttered, as she fought to remain conscious.

  A tumbling chair and bellow of rage warned Keryn that more trouble was brewing. From across the room, Sasha’s boyfriend leaped to his feet and charged Keryn. His fist reared back, as he telegraphed hi
s attack from halfway across the bar.

  Keryn snapped her head to one side and locked her smoldering purple eyes on the intoxicated Zalide. Her body coiled in attack position, she raised her finger in warning.

  “Stop!” The volume of that word was augmented by the power of her voice. The strength of her tone startled Zalide, carving cleanly through his mental fog. Surprised, he slowed his charge until it was a slow walk before stopping a few feet away from the dangerous Wyndgaart. Confused, he stared at the confident woman.

  “You at a crossroads, and you need to make a decision,” Keryn said. “I know what you want to do. You want to play the role of knight in shining armor. You’ve rushed to the aid of your love and want revenge on the person who brought her low, but this isn’t a storybook. If you decide to go forward with your plan and attack me, let me explain how the rest of your night will go.

  “First, your punch will be far too slow. You’re drunk, and I’m not. Beyond that, I’m a Wyndgaart and the finest fighter in the class. So you’ll punch, and you’ll miss terribly. By the time you realize I’m not on the connecting end of your powerful punch, I’ll already be behind you. Your back will be exposed, which will allow me to pummel it on both sides. Why the lower back, you ask? Because that’s where your kidneys are.”

  Keryn looked to make sure she had everyone’s attention and no one else was trying to flank her. Confident they were paying attention, she continued, “Have you ever been punched in the kidneys? I have. It’s a miserably painful experience. Every time I hit your kidney, more and more blood vessels will rupture. They’ll spill blood into your kidneys. The same thing will happen to your intestinal tract, as stray punches rupture blood vessels in there, too, mixing blood into your bowels.

  “The end result will be that your friends will carry you out of here tonight. Tomorrow, once you’re sober again, you’ll have plenty of time to wonder why you made such a poor decision every time you go to the bathroom and fill the toilet with dark, red blood. All that will happen because of a bad decision you’re about to make.”

  She shifted her stance in preparation for the conclusion of their discussion. “Which brings us back to the present. Either you take your slut of a girlfriend and leave right now, or you can do what I see in your eyes you want, and try to attack me. It’s your choice, Terran humper.”

  For a moment, Keryn thought he might’ve taken her offer to leave. However, she wasn’t able to pass up an opportunity to goad him one last time.

  The Uligart launched at her, throwing a clubbing fist downward toward her head. Sliding easily to the right, she watched him slam his fist painfully into the solid bar. As he howled in pain, she extended a knuckle on her right hand and struck the side of his neck.

  Zalide jerked, as the muscles in his neck seized, leaving him unable to turn his head. Keryn immediately followed that up with a swift knee to his abdomen. Clutching his stomach, he doubled over in pain, as she moved behind him.

  She delivered a series of blows to his lower back. The Uligart grunted in pain, tears rolling from his eyes, as she alternated open-handed palm strikes and close-fisted punches to the delicate area. Slowly, his knees buckled, and he slumped against a barstool.

  Her vision red with anger, Keryn only partially heard yells of surprise. They reached her ears as if she were under water. Figures approached from the corner of her vision. Finished with Zalide, she drove her knee into the back of his neck, disrupting his nervous system and dropping him unconscious to the floor.

  Moving quicker than she anticipated, a figure slammed into her side, lifting her from her feet. The two landed heavily together, their limbs intertwined, as the attacker tried to pin her to the ground. Lashing out with an elbow, she caught his jaw and sent him reeling backward while freeing her.

  As she slid away and fought to regain her footing, she noticed the dark, black pants and matching uniform jacket of an instructor. He cupped his mouth, blood seeping from between his fingers and dribbling down to his jacket collar. He glared at her with venom.

  “Cadet Riddell!” a familiar Avalon voice yelled, cutting through the commotion. “You’ll stand down at once.”

  Victoria stood in the doorway, her wings tucked tightly to her side, her hands on her hips, as she glowered at Keryn from across the room. Though she was many feet away, Keryn shrank back from that malicious look.

  Victoria turned toward the few members of Sasha’s group who remained. “You three will take your two cadets and my instructor to the infirmary immediately. Do I make myself clear?”

  The three girls nodded and rushed forward. Though Sasha and the instructor were able to stand and walk, Zalide was dead weight and had to be carried from the bar.

  “Cadet Morven,” Victoria told a quickly sobering Iana, “you will head straight back to your room. Don’t let me catch you deviating from that location in the slightest.”

  Iana gave a furtive shrug toward Keryn before slipping past Victoria and the two instructors flanking her. The bar was empty except for Keryn and the instructors. Even the bartender was gone.

  “As for you,” Victoria said, her singing voice marred by anger, “I thought we had reached a pretty clear understanding. I thought you had potential, but now you’re making me think I was wrong about you.”

  As Keryn’s warrior instincts fled, and her adrenalin stopped pumping, her blinding fighter’s rage was quickly replaced by embarrassment. Again, she felt tears sting her eyes.

  “You’ll accompany me immediately to the dean’s office. He’s more than eager to have a word or two with you.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Vance, breaking from cover, ran up the ruined street, dodging the larger piles of rubble. The outpost was still ten blocks away—an incredible distance even with the way cleared by Halo’s bombing of the city. He fired a couple rounds at any Seque foolish enough to emerge from the alleyways along his path.

  The loss of the alpha male left a void in the Seques’ hierarchy and made them hesitate, as their prey ran past, but Vance knew it wouldn’t last. He and his soldiers took advantage of the opening to cover a lot of distance toward the military structure.

  The group labored during the run. Smoke still hung like a blanket over the city, stinging their lungs as they rushed for safety. The smoke, a combination of concrete dust and ash from still-smoldering plasma, watered Vance’s eyes. Tears streamed unwillingly from his eyes, leaving tracks down soot-covered cheeks before pooling in his beard.

  After they ran for nearly three blocks, the Seques finally broke from their stupor. At first, only one or two broke from alleys or leaped from rooftops to impede the escaping soldiers. Though resilient, a steady hail of gunfire brought the more-daring Seques down, leaving them writhing in pain on the ground. Steadily, however, more and more Seques attacked the group’s fringes.

  Without stopping, Vance cringed, as he heard screams of surprise and pain, as his soldiers were attacked and killed by the monsters.

  “Ainj,” he called into the radio over the din of gunfire and screams, “we need cover fire. I don’t care how bad a view you have through the smoke, find a scope setting that’ll penetrate the smoke and start firing.”

  He ran on, waiting for sniper fire that never came. “Ainj, do you copy?”

  Atop a skyscraper, a Seque clamped its jaws on the thigh of the body under it, planting a clawed hand on the abdomen for leverage, and tore a strip of bloody meat from the corpse. Slurping, it sucked down the dripping meat and sunk its head down again, its razor-sharp teeth ripping into the exposed stomach.

  The Seque looked up, as a distant voice called out.

  “Ainj, are you alive?”

  It spoke in a language the Seque didn’t understand. It tipped its head in confusion.

  Pushing the corpse aside, it stalked across the roof, searching the source of the sound. Sniffing the air, it glanced back and forth, unable to locate it.

  After a brief pause, the voice rang out again.

  “Answer me, Ainj. Tell
me you’re alive.”

  The Seque finally located the noise near the edge of the building. Near the lip of the roof, a voice spoke from a discarded headset and speaker. Sniffing the radio, Seque flicked its hand and sent the headset cascading off the top of the roof.

  Turning away, the beast returned to its meal.

  Vance cursed and kept running, firing at the growing group of Seques emerging from all side streets to block their way. Without Ainj, one of their best aces in the hole was gone. Vance felt their chances slipping away like grains of sand in an hourglass. He pushed on, praying they’d make it to the safety of the outpost.

  The group of soldiers, which began their spring for safety in a tight group, slowly spread out, as the stronger runners outdistanced their slower teammates. Vance, Decker, Dallis, Yen, and Eza kept pace at the head of the group, but Vance was concerned about Ixibas and Tusque, who lumbered slowly near the rear of the pack.

  Seques broke from cover halfway through the group. Covering long distances in their pounces, the monsters landed on a trio of infantry soldiers, burying fangs and claws into their soft flesh. A lone Seque charged into the midst of the runners, bowling over two before wrapping itself around a third.

  Both soldier and Seque slammed into the wall of a building across the street. Already on its feet, the Seque unleashed a brutal flurry of teeth and claws, stripping away the protective armor and mauling the doomed Uligart.

  Tusque and Ixibas slid to a halt, as the Seques separated them from their teammates. More monsters spread out in the widening gap, cutting the two cover-operations soldiers and their small band of infantry from those still running for safety.

  Raising weapons, the soldiers unloaded a deadly barrage at the Seques, killing three. For every one that fell, however, another emerged from the side streets to take its place. A scream from behind alerted the duo to trouble. Monsters filled the streets behind them, finally catching their elusive prey.

  As Tusque turned toward the new threat, he realized his mistake, as one of the Seques separating the two groups launched itself high into the air. It came down on Tusque, raking his back with its claws. As he rolled aside, it sank its teeth into his calf.