Pandora

by Joshua Grant

  This was a den of evil created by men, supposed human beings, that wanted to advance humanity no matter what the cost. Little did they know, it was costing them their souls bit by bit and all the souls that followed them.

  Souls that Julian was going to put to rest when he blew this place to slag.

  His fear erased in the blood tide of thousands, he charged into the room, teeth gritted, knuckles white on the shotgun. There was no choice but to step on the bodies of the fallen. Fingers popped. Skin peeled wetly. But Julian kept going. He had to. B Squad’s duffel lay only a few meters from the door. They didn’t make it very far before they met Watcher.

  He knelt and tore it open, keeping a wary eye on the bodies around him. Only one moved, rotating lazily in a circle as it dangled from the ceiling by a mucus-slathered strand. It was a body hung by the KKK or any of the other mindless hate groups mankind had puked out. He’d give it a proper cremation and burial at sea.

  Julian dug quickly through the bag’s contents with sweaty fingers. Most of it was useless to him. Bomb disposal tools and computer diagnostic equipment. Come on, where are you? He brushed aside a toolkit and found the case marked “Warning: explosives.” He felt a swell of triumph, but couldn’t manage a smile. The seventy-year-old laying at his right staring at him pleadingly with lifeless eyes ensured that. The only thing he could do for him now was ensure that this would never happen again.

  He hefted the small box of C4 and brought it to the walkway’s edge. The irony wasn’t lost on him. The tool normally used to detonate harmful explosives was now going to make one big damn bomb. He looked at the railing and the slippery engine casing below and felt his heart sink. His weapons would be too bulky. He wasn’t about to take a chance of dropping their best and only hope into the maelstrom of floodwater. And he sure as hell didn’t want to take another swim, especially with a corpsified bubble bath twist.

  Please don’t make me regret this.

  He laid the shotgun down at the edge and his machine gun swiftly followed. If something was down there waiting, he’d be powerless to stop it. Julian gripped the explosives box tightly and swung up over the railing. It was slimier than it looked. He had to be careful. Here goes nothing. Julian dropped, his boots smacking into the mold-slathered engine hard and then sliding out from under him. Dammit! He pressed his bodyweight into the engine, grabbing the box tightly, trying to hold on and stop the cascade into the pool simultaneously. One boot dipped into the slurry, the cold of it sending unpleasant memories chilling through him. Come on! He tightened into a ball, jamming his other foot into a red warning light. It cracked but held, saving Julian from an unpleasant bath by mere inches.

  He slowly, carefully, eased himself up onto his knees. The engine’s fuel well was just a few feet away. With the slickness of Watcher’s sludge and the curvature of the engine casing, that translated into a few feet of walking a tight rope over a pit of cobras.

  Almost there Jules. Don’t lose it now.

  His hands were shaking as he bear-hugged the box. His body ached everywhere. But somehow he managed to will it forward. For Ricardo. His knees slipped through goo. For Mac and the others lost. He pressed his body mass lower and pulled himself forward. For Aubrey and the kid.

  He popped open the plastic box. There looked to be a wad of silly putty and three digital timers. He grabbed a chunk of the putty and pressed it against the fuel tank. Thankfully it stuck there, one of the marvels of modern engineering. He did the same for two more chunks. One would have been sufficient. Two was for redundancy. Three to make sure Watcher got a first class ticket to hell.

  Julian fumbled with the timers. He wished he had paid more attention when Mac and Harry had trained them all in the device, but the technology was pretty user friendly. Just set the timer like an alarm clock, poke it into the putty, and someone was in for a rude awakening.

  Three minutes to reach the Lido. Three to get Aubrey and the kid. Plenty of time, Julian tallied, largely for the sake of his own nerves. He was about to blow this ship to kingdom come while he was still on it after all. Ten minutes, he decided. Wasn’t much margin for error, especially since he didn’t predict Watcher would let them go quietly, but he didn’t want to get caught waiting around with a monster army on his heels either. Ten is good.

  He stabbed the C4, hesitated for a second, and then clicked ‘initiate.’

  Julian flinched as the timer clicked into nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds. It was done! In less than ten minutes, Watcher and its hellish playground would be reduced to a crumbling wreck at the bottom of the sea. On account that he didn’t want to join it, Julian slid back to where he climbed down. He stood—

  --and saw shoes, someone standing at the railing’s edge—

  “Shit!”

  He toppled backwards, slamming into the engine, sliding and slipping over the edge. Splash! Bubbles churned all around him as he thrashed, attempting to get his bearings. He tasted it. Salty and oily. His hand brushed against something. Rubbery and stiff. A body!

  Julian recoiled reflexively. His other hand bumped against metal. He grabbed hold and hoisted himself up, sputtering and spitting the grimy mixture from his mouth. He choked for air and blinked hard trying to get a bead on his visitor. Who—

  “It’s okay Julian! It’s me!”

  Julian’s heart stopped at the familiar voice. He looked up to see that the figure on the catwalk hadn’t moved.

  “Where’s Aubrey? Mac—he tried to—“

  Gabe’s voice trailed off partially from the pain of what he was trying to divulge but mostly from the look Julian was giving him. “What is it?”

  “You’re here,” Julian stammered. Ice curdled in his veins. “Then who the hell is with—“

  Aubrey! No!

  Chapter 31

  Lido Deck, Smokestack

  As predicted, there wasn’t much to see in the pod’s engine compartment. A single large engine lay in the middle ready to power two turbines at a moment’s notice. That moment is coming soon. Aubrey took a deep breath. They were safe, at least for now. As far as she knew, Julian was safe too though the worry was steadily building in her. It had already been too long. What the hell was keeping him?

  Yeah, all he has to do is blow up a cruise liner. No biggie. She reminded herself to breathe. It was taking all of her self-control to keep from running down there and checking on him. She promised she’d go in a few minutes if he wasn’t already up here, lock Gabe safe in the pod and go check. That was two minutes ago.

  Can’t hurt. We’re not any safer here than we are down there, she decided and took a half step toward the cabin door. And stopped…again. No. He’s fine. Get a grip doctor.

  She leaned her head gently on the door feeling so turned around she didn’t know which way was up. Her only certainty was that she was going to kill the bastard for kissing her at a time like this. She marveled at the universe that allowed her to find a boyfriend and a son in the world’s worst situation when people searched their entire lives for such a family and never found it.

  Guess I’m one lucky girl. She snorted. It felt good to laugh, even in the cold dark. Especially in the cold dark. Two minutes. Then it’s time to check on the hubby and see if he’s finished cooking dinner.

  She opened the cabin door—

  --and stopped cold.

  Gabe was hunched over the helmsman monitor tapping at the touchscreen keypad. If he heard her enter, he didn’t show any sign. He was furiously tapping, everything else in the world secondary. Aubrey took a step into the room and let the door close loudly behind her. Still, Gabe fixated on the screen like it was a mad game of timed Bejeweled.

  All the fear Aubrey felt this night suddenly came back at once with such force that almost made her knees give out. She checked the windows, the hatch. No monsters. No crazed Mac forcing Gabe to do…something or face the consequence of death. Just the two of them in the silent pod, Gabe’s frustrated taps dancing out a rhythm that her quickening heart had to catch up with.
>
  Aubrey took another tentative step. She could see the screen better now, see what he was doing. Believing it, comprehending, those were two other things entirely. The screen prompted for Aubrey’s password. Gabe entered different letter combinations, one right after the other when they were denied, so fast she could hardly see.

  PASS: DEATH

  INCORRECT PASS. PLEASE REINPUT CODE.

  PASS: JULIAN

  INCORRECT PASS. PLEASE REINPUT CODE.

  PASS: JENNY

  INCORRECT PASS. PLEASE REINPUT CODE.

  “Gabe?” Aubrey tried, her throat dry and papery.

  “You locked me out of the computer,” he said dryly, his focus on the screen unbroken as he tried two more passes with no success. “Tell me, how long did you know?”

  Aubrey realized she wasn’t breathing. What was wrong with him? “Honey, what do you mean? How long did I know what?”

  “That I’m not human.”

  Aubrey felt her throat clench up the rest of the way. “Gabe, this isn’t funny. You’re scaring me.”

  “You should be scared.” Gabe stopped typing and swiveled to face her. Stiffly. Coldly. No humor or joy remained in his once beautiful eyes. Only a cold, calculating consciousness stared back at her now. “Mac knew that I wasn’t human so I killed him.”

  Aubrey felt like she was going to be sick, that her head was going to pop if she didn’t breathe. What was she supposed to do? What the hell was even happening? Gun in my right hand. Thirteen bullets. Door! Get to the door! The hatch suddenly seemed light years away. Get to the door and find Julian. He’ll know what to do.

  Gabe slowly traced her gaze to the hatch and then back to her. “Don’t worry. I like you.” Gabe smiled, a smile that once melted her heart now sent chills down her spine.

  Aubrey smiled back, held it, and the boy—no, whatever the fuck it was—slowly turned back to its business at the monitor. Aubrey was definitely going to be sick. She felt a flood of emotions tear through her, sorrow and fear most of all, the two atoms threatening to collide in a cold fusion that would leave her devastated and unable to move. She swallowed back the sadness and forced herself to take in a shuttering breath, and then another. She couldn’t be paralyzed here. She had to get to Julian.

  Gabe seemed to have forgotten her existence entirely. He tapped at the screen, madly entering letters like the Scrabble junkie he had become. Aubrey stepped toward the door as quietly as she could. Gabe stopped typing and sat up straight but didn’t turn. Aubrey hesitated, watching him, her skin breaking out in a cold sweat. She looked at the hatch. Just a few steps away. What could Gabe do to stop her?

  Gabe isn’t in the fucking pod with you, she reminded herself painfully. She had no idea what she was dealing with here, but she did know that staying here doing nothing was a guaranteed trip to the grave. Aubrey chose to go with the maybe. She took another step.

  Gabe swiveled around once more, his expression dark. “Your kind is so predictable. You only care about your own survival. That’s why they made me. So let me give you a little survival tip. If you put one foot out that door, I’ll eviscerate you in a heartbeat.”

  Aubrey felt the blood drain from her face. Gabe’s glare was so knifing, she felt he could slice her to ribbons with it alone. The hatchway didn’t appear to be guarded. Gabe very well could have been bluffing, but like it or not Aubrey couldn’t find the will to call him on it. She was trapped, her brain screaming for any option.

  Please Julian, help me!

  Gabe leaned back casually in his chair, looking like the ten year old she had mistaken him to be. He was the candy coating that contained a razorblade within and she found herself hating every inch of him for it.

  “Where’s Gabe?” she asked, her jaw so tight she feared she might shatter teeth.

  Dark amusement swirled in the boy’s jade eyes. “The engine room.” Hope fluttered in Aubrey’s heart. “Stateroom 1014,” Gabe continued wickedly. “Part of him came to visit you on the bridge. He was one of the first people I met when I came aboard. He likes to swim.”

  Tears began welling up in Aubrey’s eyes, bitter like frozen glass shards. She gripped the pistol until her knuckles popped. “Don’t be sad,” Gabe prompted. “I reunited him with his mother. Now they’ll be together always, side by side, literally. She wasn’t a very good mother, not like you. That’s why I chose you.”

  Pure ice slid through Aubrey’s heart. “Chose me? For what?”

  “To be my new mother.” Gabe leaned forward and Aubrey found herself shrinking back a step. “I’m going to keep you alive, forever, inside of me. There are such wonderful things we’re going to see together.”

  Every word was shattered glass that she found herself stumbling over, but like a classic John McClane, an exit lay in wait if she just kept stumbling. Good. Keep it talking. Aubrey licked her lips. “That sounds—interesting. But I don’t understand. What are you going to show me that I haven’t already seen?”

  Aubrey braced for an answer she knew she wouldn’t like. Gabe smiled again, either delighted at her interest or amused that she was playing for time, she couldn’t tell. “Your kind is broken. I’m going to fix them. That’s what Pandora wanted.”

  Aubrey swallowed hard. “Pandora?”

  Come on Julian! Blow the damn thing already!

  “The scientist that created me. She was a lot like you. Compassionate. Naïve.”

  “You killed her?” Aubrey presumed.

  Gabe’s expression turned darker than ever before and she decided it’d be a bad idea to interrupt him again, if she even got the opportunity. He spoke a second later and she found the capacity to breathe again. “No, she’s here with me.” He gestured to his chest.

  Aubrey’s heart fluttered. This was it, her chance. Perhaps there was some human part of him after all, something she could reach out to, plead with, if nothing else manipulate.

  Gabe cocked his head sideways. “She’s screaming.”

  Fuck.

  “She wants you to run. That would be like her, running away from her problems instead of summoning her strength to fight them. But you won’t run, will you?”

  Aubrey shook her head, a minor imperceptible twitch.

  “Good. I like your insides where they are.” Gabe smiled and Aubrey did her best to match it, the edge of her lips twitching with the effort. She was in a shitload of trouble. He had no intention of letting her go and he was sociopath crazy, as in Ed Gein ‘I’m gonna eat your face’ crazy. Julian needed to hurry or her smiling mouth would be the only thing left for him to save.

  Gotta know more. Maybe find a weakness.

  She cleared her throat. “Tell me about your mother. What made Pandora so special?”

  Gabe looked a little disappointed she didn’t flinch at his insides comment. The bastard was toying with her. “Pandora had potential. She created me after all. Perhaps she was the greatest of your kind. I’m hoping you’ll prove me wrong in that assumption. The Atlantis nation was ruled by a set of powerful families that were constantly vying for power in their complex political schemes. They could have been gods but instead they chose to bicker amongst themselves like starving mice.

  “But one lowly scientist saw a solution to her people’s problems. It came in the form of a cure, a cure to the numerous ailments that plague your frail bodies. A cure to even death itself. She hoped that such a commodity would heal your kind of its lust for division and unite humanity for all time.”

  Aubrey was fascinated despite herself. Thousands of years before she was even born, Pandora found the cure that Aubrey had sought so desperately these last few dismal years. “How?”

  “She traced the genetics of all species back to the common source, the god gene, and thus created me. Pandora thought to play god and redeem her people but they were beyond forgiveness. I Watched from my home in the lab, nestled in the cryo freezers where they thought I couldn’t see. Watched as the scientists argued about what course they might take, as divided as ever, maybe even mor
e. Watched as the Great Houses sent their spies to see what Pandora was up to, to see the forbidden knowledge that she had tapped into. And I learned then the depths that man was willing to plunge to protect his weakness.

  “Pandora didn’t see the attack coming until it was too late. The Great Houses sent their assassins to take from her what was not theirs. But they couldn’t have anticipated the results their actions would bring. They didn’t know that I had been Watching, and waiting for just this chance.

  “They killed Pandora and her scientists, gunned them down, but not before she was able to release me. She thought I would heal her, heal all of them. I did, just not in the way she expected. Mankind’s will to destroy itself was just too great so it was left to me to break that will. And to do that I had to break your kind, to crush your emotions, to unmake you at the most basic levels and build you up from scratch. I was spreading, becoming wiser and stronger with each one of your bodies I ravaged. I ingested your consciousness, drank your sorrow, and kept your kind safe within me to be tortured into something new and beautiful.

  “But I underestimated the most despicable of your emotions: hope.”

  Aubrey stopped herself from looking at the computer screen. If he knew, if he somehow figured out, then the apocalypse he was describing would become a reality once more.

  “Hope,” Gabe continued. “Powered by love. Pandora loved your kind so much that she found a way to resist me from within. She fought through the fire and the torture and the pain I inflicted to stay my hand long enough for a few survivors to escape. Then the bitch sank her great nation, trapping me at the bottom of the ocean in the dark and cold, dousing mankind’s only salvation.”

  Aubrey felt her heart beating faster. Was there some way Pandora could help them now?

  “Oh don’t worry,” Gabe said, mistaking her hope for concern, “I made sure she regretted it every second ever since. She won’t try that again.”

  Aubrey looked at the hatch so far away. She was running out of time. They all were. “So you sealed yourself off in the lab and waited?”