by L B Garrison
An Atropos pulled Mandy up by the arm. “You won’t survive this either.”
Gel dripped onto Mandy’s shoes. Loops of glowing blue fiber-optics dangled from her torn body, like intestines. Mandy tried not to look. Tried not to vomit, despite pressure building in her middle. “It doesn’t matter. They’re safe.”
Atropos ignited a searing ball of fire and aimed it at the armor above Mandy’s engines, where her partially fill dark energy capacitor lay. A rupture of the capacitor would blow her apart. The plasma bolt grew.
Mandy yanked against Atropos’s arms and head-butted her. Little lights swirled across her vision. Mandy thudded against the deck. The plasma ball skipped and burned a path across her armor. Atropos stumbled back.
Mandy dipped her port side down, tilting the deck to keep Atropos off balance. She pulled herself forward with one arm, dragging her useless legs and jerked Atropos’ ankle. Atropos fell and they both went tumbling down the sloped armor towards the edge.
Mandy spread her arms out to increase her surface area. Her hands slid over the smooth hull. It had seemed like a better plan in her head. The thumping of Atropos against the deck stopped. She had gone over the edge.
A vent slid by. Mandy caught the corner and leveled her deck. Her legs spilled over the side, just swinging dead weight. Hypersonic wind pushed on her body. She jammed her other hand into the vent, grit her teeth and held on.
The clouds thinned and winds faded as she broke into space. Her head filled with damage reports. Few of her important systems were still working. She pulled herself onto the deck, laying on her tattered stomach. Her chest and back ached with every breath. No way that wouldn’t leave a mark.
The glare of a baby sun marked the place where Artemis had been. Orange lightening cascaded outward through the clouds. The brilliance faded, leaving behind a dull red wound of molten crust.
It was hard to focus. Mandy stretched her arms out so that her hands covered Demeter’s scar. Machines didn’t forget and she still knew where every smudge of blood had stained her hands from the girl in plaid. Felt the girl’s last breaths. She’d killed Atropos today and left hundreds to die. Could she have done more? A hollow sat in her chest. She wanted to cry for them and who she used to be. Nothing.
Probabilities shifted. The Mobius fleet arrived.
Mandy let her hands drop. Steam and smoke obscure the scar where Artemis had once stood. Mandy was so very tired.
Someone was there, walking on her hull. Small hands touched her back and rolled her over.
Orion’s Nebula painted the void with swirls of lavender, indigo and a thousand hues of ultra-violet that never graced human eyes. Beautiful, but the colors were all running together. At least now she understood how the other Mandy, the human Mandy, had done so much. She thought she had died and she gave her second chance all she had.
Can I say the same?
Curls of dark hair hid the nebula. “Mandy. Mandy!”
Static. The stars went black.
EPILOGUE
N
eon lines cut the darkness.
Arms wrapped around Mandy’s shoulders from behind. Cisco’s firm chest pressed against her back. “I’m sure it’s nice to get off the walking cane for a little while,” he said, his breath tickling her ear.
Mandy laid her head back against him and rocked side to side on her feet. Bailey’s virtual worlds were always indistinguishable from the real one. “I don’t miss the tingling either. Trident said that should fade and, in a few days, I’ll be good as new. We’re lucky Fischer was so generous, giving me exotic matter to rebuild and keeping all of your names out of his reports.”
Bailey made adjustments on the displays around her. “It’s the very least he could do, isn’t it? What with you saving the planet and all. Also, I thought Trident was going to teach you how to turn off the pain.”
“Yeah, she did. I decided to keep it. The pain makes me feel a little more alive.”
Bailey arched her eyebrows.
“Be original, Bailey. Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy.”
Cisco held her tighter. “I wish you would change your mind.”
Tiny videos shimmered like windblown leaves on the tangle of blue threads. Rin’s personality was nearly done and so was their time together.
Mandy traced circles on Cisco’s forearms with her fingertips. “Trident is folded up in the elsewhere at Demeter’s core, waiting. I wish we could stay, but we can’t hide for much longer.” She stopped and looked up at him. “It’s not forever. We’ll see each other again, but with the whole EC looking for us, we’re too dangerous to be around.”
Bailey collapsed the displays. “It’s complete.”
Mandy pulled away from Cisco. Reluctantly, he let her go.
Mandy turned and put her hands on his broad shoulders. Goodbyes were hard. She found herself staring at the floor. His warmth seeped through his crisp uniform. She really needed to make more eye-contact to show she was interested. Because she was. Interested. “I guess this is it. Collecting Rin is the last thing on my list. Tell Fischer to keep you safe, or he’ll answer to me.”
Cisco chuckled. “I don’t think it works that way.”
She hugged him and breathed his warm cardamom essence. Her arms barely reached around to his back. Could a guy and a machine have a chance at happiness together? “It’s not the way the universe works, but it should be.”
He kissed her on the lips gently, sending a wave of tingles down to her toes. It might be her imagination, but something in his touch gave her hope.
Mandy reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, her cheek against his. Three little words. The old ways die hard, but it was her time to be vulnerable and accept the risks of opening herself. To do something with this new life.
Mandy took a deep breath and held it for just a moment. “I love you.”
She felt his smile against her cheek.
“Now was that so hard?” he whispered.
No, it really wasn’t. “Cisco?”
He pulled back and gazed into her eyes. “Sorry. I love you too. I’ve been saying it with every action.”
Mandy had to frown at that. Maybe love had different languages and she didn’t understand what others were telling her.
“You lot should really get a room,” Bailey quipped.
“You’re in my head, Bailey,” Mandy said.
“Oh. Right. Carry on.”
Mandy pulled away, giving Cisco a final touch on the shoulder. She extended a hand to Bailey. “See you.”
Bailey put her hands on her hips. “A handshake? Is that it then?”
Mandy giggled and drew Bailey into an embrace, spinning her around and holding on tight. “I’m going to miss you.”
Bailey squeezed back. “I’ll miss you as well, love.”
Mandy ruffled Bailey’s hair, which smelled like lilacs. Why hadn’t she noticed that before? “I wish I could stay until Alex wakes up.”
“She’ll understand,” Bailey said. “The Kinderen nanomechs have been purged and the doctors expect the mind reconstruction to go well.”
“When she wakes up, Alex will still be able to throw fireballs,” Cisco added.
“It comes in handy.” Mandy stood back, so she could see them both and tried to smile, but talk of Alex reminded her of how many had died in Artemis. Thousands more from the small settlements were being purged of the Kinderen influence. Better to focus on that.
Bailey glanced at Cisco. “We’ve been speculating. Whatever will you do?”
“I learned something. A lot of things, actually. But mostly, I’m a weapon now and sometimes, I’ll have to do things I don’t want to, but it’s going to be my decision. No one will ever use me, like they’ve used the others. Every ship deserves that choice.”
Mandy turned back to the tree of squiggly lines and images.
Bailey looked her handiwork up and down. “Mandy, I’m afraid to say so, but you should prepare for the worst. Rin may be gone.”
“She’s no
t gone, Bailey. She’s cut off from society, she lost her home, a parent and her way, but I know where she is.” Mandy reached out to touch the glowing red knot that twisted the tree and hesitated. It seemed like she was always saying goodbye.
“We’ll be waiting for you,” Cisco said.
“We will meet again,” Bailey added.
“Count on it,” Mandy said. She touched the knot and the world shattered.
Ash drifted, like tufts of snow, through the chill air. Mandy shivered and climbed the church’s steps until she stood by the weeping child. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Fire crackled through the surrounding city.
Mandy knelt.
Rin’s eyes shifted to Mandy, but her face held no expression. Her eyes, no emotion beyond sorrow.
Mandy ran her fingers through Rin’s hair. “Do you remember me?”
The girl’s gazed remained unfocused. “Mandy?”
Mandy smiled. “There you are. We won, Rin. We beat the Kinderen.”
“Won,” Rin repeated. Her eyes filled with tears that fell to the ashes. “Jazz-mir.”
In the distance, a wave of darkness splashed over the city. The sky faded to night and the fires died. All grew cold and silent.
Mandy grabbed Rin by the arms and shook her small body. “Don’t you quit on me. Do you hear?”
The advancing darkness paused. “I don’t know what to do. Who I am anymore.”
Mandy let go and sat on the steps. “I’m not sure how I fit in this world either.”
Rin sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. Dark circles marred the skin under her eyes. She stared at the broken church, avoiding eye contact. “What do we do?”
Mandy took a breath of frigid air. “Once, I had everything I ever needed and didn’t know it. Even then, I kept a lot of myself hidden from Landin and Sage, like you did with Jazz-mir. We shouldn’t have done that. But we can’t hide now. We know each other’s secrets. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t know what happens next, but you aren’t alone anymore.” Mandy shrugged. “You got me now.”
Rin’s gaze dipped to the tear speckled ash, then she uncurled and put her arms around Mandy’s neck.
Mandy gasped at the unexpected contact.
The clouds parted and for the first time in this life, warm sunlight fell on Mandy.
Rin hugged her. “No, we have each other.”
Thank you for taking this journey with me. If you’ve enjoyed this book please consider leaving a review. This helps me bring stories to more people and allows me to continue creating new books. I greatly appreciate your support and feedback.
On my web site, lbgarrison.com, I review independent author books. I want to do my part to support the indie author community. I also share resources that have helped me on my writer’s journey and post updates on my latest books. The site is updated weekly, so drop by often.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
o my loving wife and best friend. Without her patience and support, this would not be possible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
H
ave you ever watched the stars on a warm summer night and wondered if someone was looking back? Thoughts of dinosaurs and aliens dominated LB Garrison’s childhood. Adult concerns came later, but never could quite crowd out the wonder.
A microbiologist by profession, and dreamer by choice, he has always been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, and recently a writer of speculative fiction. He is currently wrestling with his next book in southeast New Mexico.