by Joshua Grant
“Pandora,” she elaborated. “I think she’s holding it back. Gabe told me that she was still inside him, and that she had stopped him once before. I think she’s here, now, buying us the time we need.”
As if this night couldn’t get any weirder. Now they had dead people jumping into the fray. There is more to this world than meets the eye, he reminded himself, repeating his mother’s words. Julian looked away from the petrified beast and turned his gaze upward. Hey, if you’re up there God, we could certainly use the help right now. He looked back at the Abomination—
--just as its hand shot forward, impacting the glass. Either Pandora’s alleged stranglehold took some of the power out of it or the glass was made of stronger stuff than it looked. Probably a combination of both as a spider web of cracks formed on the smooth surface. It couldn’t take another one like that.
Julian squeezed Aubrey’s hand. “It was a good run.”
She squeezed back. “Yeah, yeah it really was.”
They both braced for the inevitable end as Watcher came in for the kill.
VWOOSH!
Water shot through the open door in a geyser of white foam. The ship had toppled completely sideways now. The water filled the room at an alarming rate, splashing over their cracked viewport in seconds. It covered the Abomination too. Julian was almost thankful for the close call. It awarded them front row tickets to Watcher’s demise.
The architect of the many deaths on the ship, of the slaughter of their friends and colleagues, the scourge of a nation, and the violent end to the world spasmed in front of them, not Pandora’s doing this time. Watcher jerked violently and painfully as water seeped into its many open mouths. Dark blood vomited from the openings. Its bones seemed to shake themselves free of their fleshy prison, each jutting out of Watcher’s splitting skin.
And just as it was breaking up--the body becoming parts, the parts becoming mulchy goo--the pod launched, a minor explosion blossoming in the cold dark as the paneled wall of the smokestack blew away. Their small craft automatically followed the metal fragments into the open ocean, away from the dying Watcher and the dissolving horrors of the sinking cruise ship.
Julian swore he saw another explosion on the other side of the smokestack, but he couldn’t be sure. Everything was shaking and he was woozy as hell. There wasn’t much they could do about that now anyway so it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were free, him and Aubrey, and soon Ricardo.
Thank you, he prayed silently.
Julian fell instantly asleep.
Chapter 35
Watcher watched the craft disappear into the greenish blue with cataracted eyes, thousands of them all over the ship, each rupturing one by one as the great mass was pulled down into the depths. It couldn’t scream its hatred for the human beings that toppled its empire in a matter of hours, not with its swelling throats closing up. Even worse, it was paralyzed to move, what with all its muscles oozing out of its skin and shredding before its very eyes, the few it had left. Like the ship that was so symbolic of its demise, water poured into the gaps replacing them, eating at it from the inside like some parasite, and Watcher knew pain.
It had once worshipped that pain. The very thought of inflicting it once excited Watcher beyond madness. Now that very same pain only produced fear like acid that ate away at its twitching hearts and liquefying spines.
Watcher was afraid, not of dying, no. There were fates worse than death. It feared the great power the humans possessed. It cursed them for it with what little brain matter it had left. They were capable of so much destruction, so much self-inflicted pain and agony. They were evil! Why wouldn’t they let Watcher save them? Why?!
It contemplated this question as it watched the last bubbling traces of the pod disappear into the shadowy ocean. Despite the pain, despite the fear of mankind’s—and Watcher’s—tenuous future, it couldn’t help but smile. There were some levels of existence it was willing to accept. It had lost today. Tomorrow—well, there was always hope.
Watcher closed its last pair of eyes, spasmed, and died.
Chapter 36
Somewhere at Sea
Aubrey stood up and paced the length of the cockpit for what must have been the hundredth time. She was bone tired, and the pilot seats were actually pretty comfortable, but she couldn’t sleep. Every time she’d close her eyes she’d see Gabe with that cold look and wonder if there was something she could have done differently to save him.
Stop it Aubrey! He was dead long before you arrived. She wished she could fully believe that, to the point where her whole body ached as badly as her heart, so she paced and waited as the pod did its thing. Mac had done a good job designing the machine. It was almost fully automated making it user friendly. As soon as they were clear of the Emerald Rose’s wreckage, the pod surfaced and immediately plotted a course for the nearest shore leaving her nothing to do but wait.
Julian gave her the scare of her life when he passed out. She thought for sure that this time would be the last. Aubrey blinked away the tears at remembering the panic she felt. But he was a fighter, both physically and in spirit. She had done what she could for his injuries using one of the med kits she found strapped to the wall.
Now he just needed rest and time, so Aubrey left him there and went to check the engine room. If there was something hiding there—well, neither of them were in much condition to do anything about it. But still, she checked. She’d probably be checking behind doors for a long time after this.
As she predicted, and hoped, the engine room was just an engine room, vacant of any stowaways. Upon returning to the cabin, Aubrey breathed another sigh of relief. Julian wasn’t hunkered over the touchscreen plotting the downfall of man. He lay head flopped back on the cushy chair, resting more peacefully than Aubrey ever could—and looking damned cute if she had to say so.
Behind him, she could see waves smashing against the damaged viewport. Minor amounts of water managed to infiltrate the craft by squeezing between the array of cracks, but not enough to cause her concern. Aubrey thought about wiping her hand across the glass and sprinkling the fluid on sleeping Julian, just to be sure, but then decided she didn’t want to know. Besides, any relationship deserved a bit of mystery.
She finally resigned herself to sit down and try to eat something out of the stale looking emergency rations when Julian stirred with a groan. He slowly peeled open his eyes and looked at her. “What happened?” he asked groggily.
Aubrey couldn’t help but smile at his tousled bedhead. He was one of those guys that somehow looked amazing even right after they got up. Even after a late night fighting monsters and saving the world. God, some people have all the luck! “You passed out. And in case you were wondering, no you don’t snore,” Aubrey informed, grinning.
Julian blinked away the disorientation and looked at the mountain of bandages Aubrey had wrapped him in. “How long was I out?”
Aubrey gestured to the viewport. “Take a look.”
It was still nighttime, but lights could be seen on the horizon, distorted and diffusing through the wave spattered viewport, but they were there. With the pod steadily chugging away, they’d be on land in roughly twenty minutes, provided the Coast Guard didn’t pick them up, a prospect Aubrey wasn’t too thrilled about, what with the Organization’s numerous connections.
“And Watcher?” Julian tried to sit up suddenly but Aubrey pushed him back gently.
“Dead. I watched it die.”
Julian closed his eyes again and for a moment Aubrey thought he passed out. Finally he opened them again. “There’s something I can’t figure out.”
Concern beaded on Aubrey’s brow. “What’s that?”
“Why hope?”
Of all the questions he could have asked, she wasn’t expecting that one. “What?”
“Hope,” he reiterated. “You used it as a password. Why hope? It seems like that was the last thing either of us got out of that cruise.”
Aubrey thought a moment on
how to word it. She had been picking through her conflicted feelings for the past hour or so, but she never thought she’d tell anyone this. Yet now, looking at him, at his intense but compassionate eyes, she knew she’d tell Julian. She could tell him anything and everything in the world, and she would from here on out. And that was an amazing feeling.
“I originally accepted to come along because Carver was going to pave the way for my research. I was going to stop any mother from feeling the same pain I felt when I lost Jen.” Aubrey’s voice broke a little and she paused, swallowing the lump. “I thought that was where my hope stemmed from. But on that ship, when you were down in the engine room, Watcher gave me the choice to do just that. I just had to give up on you and everyone else and Watcher would have given me the world. And I was tempted Julian. I was actually tempted.”
He squeezed her hand for support, cued on by the disgust in her voice and the tears that flowed freely down her cheeks. “But then I realized that Carver had offered me the exact same thing. And I decided then that the end must never justify the means. Maybe there’s a realm beyond our own, a realm of pure evil that underlies our world. But its only connection is through us. We are the conduit through which that evil flows. And that means we have a choice, to give in to that, or not to.
“I made my choice then. I wanted to save the children of the world, and as long as we don’t choose to cut corners in the name of a good cause, like the Atlantians did, like Carver’s Organization, then I’ll do just that. For Jen’s sake.”
“And Ricardo’s,” Julian added, nodding.
And Gabe’s, she added silently. “And all the future kids. That gives me hope.”
“Hence the password.” Julian leaned in then and kissed her for a long time. When he pulled away he was grinning, a boyish mischief creeping into his eyes. “You’re an amazing person. I probably would have just set it as ‘balls’ or something.”
Aubrey laughed. She loved this man, she really did. Funny how love could grow in such a short time and in the darkest of places. “There’s the smile I’ve been looking for,” he said fondly and pretended to lay back. “My work here is done.”
Work. Aubrey’s thoughts turned back to the growing shoreline. “So what happens next?” she asked, her tone serious now.
Julian exhaled slowly. “I thought about having a conversation with Carver. Ask him some uncomfortable questions about his Organization.”
“No, you are going to a hospital,” Aubrey countered. “I’ll handle Carver.”
“You and I both know you wouldn’t make it ten feet inside that fortress alone. We’re both going. My security codes should still be able to get us in the back way.”
She thought to argue, demand he get treatment, maybe even play a guilt trip, but one look at him told her that he was adamant about this and, frankly, he deserved his pound of flesh just as much as she did.
“Besides, who hasn’t dreamt of telling off their jerk boss every now and then?”
“Okay,” Aubrey agreed. “So what, go in, confront Carver, get the rub on whether this Organization is real or not, and then, what, get Ricardo and spend the rest of our lives on the run or in hiding while we fight this shadow organization?”
“That or we can get a house and settle down in the suburbs somewhere.” Julian smirked and Aubrey did too.
“Yeah, that option sounds just a little too crazy for us,” she agreed.
“For all the future kids,” he said.
“For all the future kids,” she repeated and turned her attention back to the approaching land. Carver, you and your Organization opened up a shit ton of worms this time!
Chapter 37
The Carver Building
At such an early hour, Carver’s office was flooded with shadows, plenty of places to hide but Aubrey was beginning to worry that the evil mastermind wasn’t going to show up like Julian said he would. She trusted her boyfriend. After all, he had been forced to memorize all the top execs’ schedules, routines, and habits in order to better protect them. God, she couldn’t imagine how he felt protecting the slime for all these years without even knowing it. All the more need for this conversation to happen.
So where the hell is he? Aubrey fidgeted again and she sensed Julian’s frustration growing too. The bastard was probably in a bunker somewhere just in case the world collapsed. In the twenty minutes since Julian’s codes got them in through a maintenance hatch and conveniently past all the cameras, they had thoroughly rummaged through Carver’s office looking for anything useful to their cause.
I’d say this counts. She slid her finger over the manila file in her hands. They found it in a hatch on the underside of Carver’s desk. He hadn’t even made all that much effort to hide it. Maybe he didn’t think anyone would ever come looking for the Organization. He could debunk anyone that brought it up. It wasn’t like sane people spouted off about conspiracies and evil secret societies that plotted the downfall of the planet.
Anyone who accidently stumbled upon the file would probably mistake it for Carver’s personal list of contacts anyway. But Aubrey and Julian knew different. The file held just a few names and places, presumably agents and facilities that belonged to the Organization. It wasn’t much, but it gave them a starting point. They had their work cut out for them though. Some of the names were very surprising. Aubrey almost didn’t believe them herself. This thing went pretty high up the food chain. She found herself feeling very small and afraid as she read them. How were they supposed to fight this alone?
Julian suddenly wrapped his arm around her, a nice reminder that she wasn’t alone, not anymore. She closed her eyes and took in the warmth of the embrace. They snapped back open again when she heard the hallway elevator’s ding. A second later Carver hurried through the office doors. He was no longer the pleasant old man she had met a day earlier and it took all her effort not to shoot him now.
He circled his desk, unaware that he was being watched. He felt underneath, looking for something that should have been there but wasn’t. Realizing that it was missing, he slowly stood up and switched on the desk lamp, casting the office in a pleasant buttery glow.
“I should have known,” he declared without looking at them. “When the jets flew by and reported the destruction of the Emerald Rose, somehow I knew you weren’t dead.” Finally he looked up at the two people that had invaded his office. There was a degree of surprise in his tired eyes. “However, I never in a million years expected that he would send you two, especially you Dr. Pittinger. Very smart of him indeed, using my own ace in the hole against me.”
Aubrey and Julian exchanged a look. “What are you talking about? Who?” she asked.
Carver dismissed her with an angry wave of the hand. “Oh don’t play coy. There’s no point anymore. He’s been trying to take the Organization away from me for years. Says I’m not imaginative enough. And since you two are here that means he’s already won.”
Aubrey felt her stomach muscles tighten. It was one thing to suspect Carver of conspiring against humanity for his own personal gain, even with all the damning evidence. It was another entirely to hear him say the words and openly admit it.
“All those people,” she stammered hotly. “You sent all those people to their grave knowing exactly what would happen to them!”
“Oh, is that how he got to you? He promised you justice?” Carver knitted his fuzzy eyebrows like he pitied her. “You’re much too easy of a mark Dr. Pittinger. You asked me before why I chose you and I lied about that. I chose you for this mission because you’re a sorry individual with no one in your life and therefore no one to miss you when you disappeared off the planet.”
“Shut up,” Julian growled, taking a half step forward. Aubrey restrained him gently. Even in his torn up state, she was pretty sure he could beat the frail old man to death.
Carver smiled, knowing he struck a nerve, and Aubrey hated him all the more for it. “Ironically, you managed to save a few lives while you were there, though not in th
e way you expected,” he revealed.
“What do you mean?” she asked. If she could keep him talking, maybe they’d have a chance to figure out who was really behind all of this.
“You mean you really don’t know? Oh that is just too precious! You sold your loyalty to him at the drop of a hat didn’t you? You whore.” This time Julian didn’t react, though his withering gaze burned holes in Carver. Seeing how the older man wasn’t going to get a rise out of them, he continued. “Watcher actually contacted us shortly after the ship was lost to the public offering us a deal, although I’m sure you already know all this.”
“Deal? What deal?” Julian broke in.
Carver seemed amused. “Very well, I’ll play along. It told us that if we gave it time to gestate, we would be permitted to send a team aboard.”
“You son of a bitch!” Julian spat, his tone pure ice. “You made sure the search crews weren’t looking in the right places. You helped it kill all those people!”
“Not an easy task, I assure you,” Carver said as if he was proud of it. This time Aubrey thought Julian was going to kill him for sure and she doubted she’d even try to stop him. But Carver continued, completely oblivious to their ire. “But Watcher made one more demand, one that had all of us scratching our heads. It wanted the team to have a woman with it, a very specific woman, a doctor amongst other things.”
“Me,” Aubrey said in barely a whisper.
“Yes. We think it was trying to recreate Pandora, if the myth held true, and oh how it did. The gods used Pandora to advance their own ends in their war. And so you are being used by those who are above you in every way.”
Aubrey ignored the jab. “So what was the plan Carver? Get me aboard and I was going to, what, talk Watcher into joining your Organization’s cause?”
“No, you place on yourself far too much importance. You were just camouflage and our means of getting a man on that ship. We knew Watcher wouldn’t attack the team as long as you were with them, at least not at first. You were to give my agents time to extract a sample and return it to base before our jets sank that ship.”