The image of Noah in the hydro-chamber returned to me as clear as if I were still standing in front of him. I wanted to do something to help. Instead, I was condemned to obey the laws of Tartarus and the Defense’s orders to remain confined in my room until otherwise notified.
Clutching my pillow to my chest to scream into it, I stabbed myself with my pendant. I had kept it hidden since witnessing my dad’s reaction when he saw it. Still not having all of my memories, I had to be careful who saw it. I was lucky enough to have been able to keep it without it being used as evidence against me. Pulling it from under my shirt, I gazed at the beauty of the stones and the way they sat against the silver. The wings were what poked me.
… She’s wearing their symbol, Livian …
My dad’s voice echoed through my mind, forming a lump in my throat that brought tears to my eyes.
That was the last thing he said before Alexander took him, my mom, Justin, and Noah, and used them as puppets in his sick game. He had a purpose for his actions. That much I was sure. But what that purpose was, I might never find out. One thing that stuck out to me more than anything else … Everything was going according to his plan. I just didn’t know how.
Tucking the pendant back underneath my shirt, I allowed myself to cry. I cried for my dad. I cried for Noah. I cried for all the loss in my life and all the lack of trust. I cried because everything the Nepherium had built was crumbling to the ground. I cried so hard that I fell asleep.
I had just closed my eyes and my breathing returned to normal when I was yanked from the bed, tumbling to the floor. Disoriented, I stood, forgetting where I was, and swung at the person who attacked me, only to have a corporal throw me against the wall and cuff my hands behind my back. He shoved me out the door. I couldn’t get a word in during his brutal reciting of the astral code of apprehension.
“What did I do?” I asked when he finished.
I received a sharp jolt of electricity from the cuffs.
“Move it, Ehlers,” a sergeant commanded.
I stepped in between two sets of soldiers. An armed escort for the world’s most dangerous accomplice. Wonderful.
I kept pace with the escort, holding my gaze low, looking up when I thought I could get away with it. Every now and then, I was given a sharp jolt through my restraints. On the last one, I bit my lip. The taste of blood hit my tongue with a sulfuric and electric hint on the end.
I didn’t need to guess to know where we were going. The Council Hall was the only location I had ever been escorted to that required the use of the elevator. After stepping on, I pressed my back to the wall and faced the soldier’s backs. The digital numbers flashed in red on the screen above the door until we reached the top floor. “C” for Council Hall. The doors opened right into the very room. I followed two soldiers out, the other two fell in step behind me. As I drew closer to the Council seats, the air thickened with static aggression, making me dizzy and weak in the knees. I fell to the floor, gasping for air. Pain shot up my leg.
“Remove the restraints from the prisoner,” Councilman Ardous said.
My wrists were freed. I rubbed the ache from the raw spots, careful not to break open any of the blisters. Once I calmed enough to feel less bombarded by the energy in the room, I pulled myself to my feet and glanced at the wall of Council seats.
Why are only two seats filled? This isn’t right.
“Elsabetha Ehlers, you are summoned to appear before the Council under suspicion of treason, aiding in the death of dozens of humans, consorting with the enemy of world peace, and threatening the very fabric of what we stand for. Do you understand what I have just said to you?”
He was a bulbous old man with bushy brows and thick, swollen lips. His ash white skin looked even paler against the black of his Council robes. He stared at me from under the folds of skin meant to be eyelids, waiting for an answer.
“Yes, Councilman Ardous.”
“Come stand before your Council.” He motioned with his hand as if I were a fish on a line he was reeling in.
“But there’s just two of you.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Yes, it is. According to the Galactic Municipal Code seven zero mark fourteen: a full Council—meaning all seats occupied—must be present for a trial or hearing to be valid and upheld.”
Sitting high on their podium stage, the Council is formed of ten seats. Nine for representatives from different sectors of the world; the tenth kept empty. It used to be occupied by a Nepherium. But since they fell out of popularity, and went into hiding, the Council felt it was necessary to keep the seat empty as a symbolic gesture of respect and mourning. All meetings and trials were still considered legal and binding, so long as the remaining nine were filled. This … whatever they wanted to call it … was anything but legal.
Councilman Ardous nodded, and I was shoved forward, almost falling to my face again before catching myself and stepping to the center of the room, marked by the large logo of the Defense of Earth and Space. I glanced at the bronze depiction of the emblem that had been a symbol of comfort and welcome. All the hope and feeling of belonging had bled from it, leaving a meaningless picture in a stone floor. A new feeling washed over me in place of the one I had grown so fond of. The Council wanted me to be the traitor, so they could be claimed heroes and save the day.
Damn my luck.
“Elsabetha Ehlers,” Councilwoman Mendoza said. Unlike her fellow Councilman, her bronze skin darkened against her robes. Her dark hair was pulled back into a low pony-tail, and her dark orbs took me in.
“Sergeant,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m still a Sergeant of the Aurora Vanguard until formally demoted or discharged. I earned that rank and will ask that you not disregard it, regardless of your impressions or the situation I’m in.”
A thick silence filled the air. The two Council members exchanged glances. Councilman Ardous shrugged and waved a hand toward Councilwoman Mendoza.
“Very well, Sergeant Ehlers,” Councilwoman Mendoza said. “Why do you continue to be deceitful before your Council and commanding officers? Have we not been clear in our desire to reach the truth and uphold the peace that our Council members before us have set into place?”
“I haven’t been deceitful. I’ve been transparent and open with everything. What more do you want?”
“The truth, Sergeant,” Councilman Ardous said.
“You won’t accept the truth,” I snapped. “I’ve told you everything I can think of and remember.”
Councilwoman Mendoza said, “That your memory was tampered with and lost when you were in the transporter accident, in which you were the only one found? Additionally, no record of such flight was found, and we have failed to locate such a record since your arrival.” She waved her hand in front of her. “We are left to believe that such records don’t exist.”
“Wait, what? That’s not true. There is record of it. Admiral Vassarious was expecting me that day. What do you mean there’s no record?”
“We mean,” Councilman Ardous said, “the record you claimed would prove your mission to Tartarus was never in existence. No record was ever made.”
“That’s not true! I demand to be presented to Admiral Vassarious. He was expecting me.”
They exchanged more glances then returned their gazes to me.
What the hell? Was this part of Captain Morrigan’s cryptic clues?
“There is one thing you could do that would prove to us, beyond a doubt, your innocence,” Councilwoman Mendoza said.
“What?” I asked.
She gestured to someone behind me. The lights dimmed as a large digital screen lowered from the ceiling.
What was going on here? Once the screen was in place, it turned on to the face of Dr. Strickland.
So much for taking care of Noah … Another reason for me not to trust medical staff.
Behind him sat an odd looking machine. It was a set of rings that crossed over a bed. It was
silver and had bright blue lights shining down on to the bed itself. I couldn’t see much more of the contraption as the doc shifted his weight to shield it.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Strickland,” Councilwoman Mendoza said.
“Afternoon, members of the Council,” he replied.
“Are you ready to demonstrate The Revealer to the Council?” Councilman Ardous asked.
Dr. Strickland nodded once then gestured to the machine. “I am ready to show her off, yes.”
“Well, Sergeant …” Councilman Ardous brought my attention to him.
I lifted an eyebrow. “What? You want me to go in that thing? To do what?”
“This machine has the capability of unlocking your memories,” the doctor said.
“You son of a bitch! That’s what you meant when you said you read my file?”
“Sergeant Ehlers, you are still in the presence of the Council and, as such, respectful language will be used,” Councilman Ardous warned.
“When did you speak with Dr. Strickland? We didn’t authorize any such visit,” Councilwoman Mendoza asked.
“Captain Morrigan authorized it in hopes of gaining her compliance,” Dr. Strickland answered.
And they call me a traitor. “I’m not going in that thing.”
“Yes, you are.” Councilman Ardous turned red in the face.
“No. No, I’m quite sure I’m not,” I insisted.
“Sergeant, you will go in there, and you will participate, even if we have to drug and drag your insubordinate rear the whole way.”
“With all due respect, members of the Council, unless you are willing to go in first and show me the safety of such a machine, my body won’t move an inch.”
“It’s safe enough,” the good doctor said. “Results were inconclusive on lab subjects, but this is a machine intended for human use, not animal. We were able to see what the subject saw, even though the subject’s abilities to make visual memories were very minute and short-term.”
“Excellent. And what side-effects have you noted in the tests?” Councilwoman Mendoza folded her hands together and leaned closer to the screen, eager and interested in the information provided.
The doc got quiet and started fumbling with something in front of him. Something only he could see.
“Doctor?” Councilwoman Mendoza said.
“Yes,” he said then cleared his throat. “Uh, just one of the subjects survived the testing.”
“It’s not safe!” I said. “I’m not going in that thing. My life isn’t worth your power play.”
The doctor hurried to say, “You see, the machine uses invasive, powerful waves of energy to connect with the part of the brain that stores memories, long term ones in particular. That amount of energy has ruptured blood vessels, caused strokes, and in some cases, melted the subject’s brain matter. Again, this machine is intended to operate and function on much larger subjects. Humans are the intended targets. I believe you would be an excellent candidate with your history and level of memory loss. You could regain everything you lost.”
“At the risk of my brain melting. No, thanks. Now, unless you have this thing cleared by the Admiral and orders with his signature on the document, I’m not going near that thing and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Councilman Ardous let out a heavy sigh. His energy shifted. He was … happy?
“I’m afraid you leave us no choice, Sergeant Ehlers …” Councilwoman Mendoza said. Her black eyes stared down at me, like I was an ant about to be crushed under her boot. She nodded once and my hands were gripped at the wrists. I bucked backwards, shoving my head in the direction of a nose, hoping to wiggle free and run.
Something sharp stabbed my lower back. My vision blurred and my body grew weak and then numb. “No … n … o …”
I collapsed to the ground.
I couldn’t grasp what was going on. Every time I blinked, I was somewhere different. In the Council Hall, in the elevator, somewhere in the halls … I recalled the belly of Tartarus, where miscellaneous items and unused transporters were stored. The engine room was located on the lower levels as well. I wouldn’t have known where we were at all if it weren’t for the basic grey sheet metal walls with the location painted in black lettering.
“The contraption does work?” Councilman Ardous asked during a moment I had my eyes open. I tried to look for him through the blurry haze that had become my vision.
“In theory. It will work on human subjects, with less side-effects, but …”
When I opened my eyes again, I was on a bed and looking up at two crossing rings with blue lights flashing on me. My hands were cuffed at the wrists and my feet at the ankles.
Dr. Strickland came into view, flashing a light into my eyes and running a bio scanner down the length of my body. “Don’t be nervous, Sergeant,” the doc whispered. “Everything will be fine so long as you don’t fight it.”
I wanted to tell him to relax himself. His nervousness vibrated so hard I would be able to feel him on the other side of the station, but my mouth mumbled just a few unintelligible syllables before my eyes closed again.
The machine’s hum came to me. Then the pain. Pinching pins and needles attacked my brain. Slicing my head off with a plasma sword would’ve felt better. Hell, being burned alive would’ve been better. The sensation of giant screws entering my skull and brain at several points became the constant. If my hands weren’t bound, I’d have clawed my way out of the machine. The rings rotated, creating an orb of light and energy surrounding me.
“Relax, Sergeant. You’re making it worse,” the doc warned.
Relax? Relax? How the fuck? I know, let’s switch places, and then we’ll see how much you fucking relax.
I wanted to say that to him. Shout it in his face at the top of my lungs. But all I could do was scream in agony.
A sharp pain entered my chest, pressure in my shoulder hit, and then my left arm went numb. All at once, the pain stopped, my screaming ceased, and I relaxed into a sea of night.
FOUR
BEEPS. PIERCING, STINGING, AGONIZING beeps.
I wanted to open my eyes, but the light above my bed was on, and the second a tiny sliver slipped through my eyelids, the pain increased. My brain felt like it had just been sliced to hell, and my chest hurt like I had been stomped on until all the ribs were broken, shattered pieces.
What happened to me?
Please, kill me now.
With each deep breath of air, sharp stabs of pain jabbed my lungs. Did I fall and break my ribs? No, that wasn’t it …
Then I remembered everything. Every single painful little detail.
Safe, they said … Prove your innocence, they said. Here, lie down and endure torture, was more like it. Dying wasn’t part of the plan. If it weren’t for the fact something as small as thinking made my head hurt worse, I’d confront those two Council members, demanding they explain themselves before I shoved their asses full of sedatives and forced them through that machine.
My throat itched. I tried to clear it, making a sound that my head didn’t like. Groaning came out much weaker than I thought it should. Rubbing my head would’ve been natural had I not been too weak to move.
That told me one of two things: either they thought I was going to run the second I came to, or they damn near killed me and wanted enough time to cover their asses and come up with an alibi and coinciding excuses. As it was, I ended up in the high clearance med ward.
Well, at least two of their plans backfired. That machine is crap, and their careers are done for.
“Nurse,” I tried to call out, making it just above a whisper. A chiming symbol tinkled in response. Thank Gaia it was soft enough to not make my head pound harder.
My poor head …
Why was it that most of my injuries as of late involved my head? A girl could only take so much. I cracked open my eyes, but a sword of light sliced through my brain. Annoyed, and in even more pain, I closed them.
Seconds later, the soft steps
of someone approached, and green apple perfume wafted into the room. She pressed the button on the wall where the tinkling came from, and the lights dimmed. That allowed me to open my eyes and take in the silhouette of the nurse standing next to the head of my bed.
“Good evening, Sergeant,” the nurse whispered. “It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” She pressed a button, and the head of the bed lifted up so I could sit up half way.
“Like a jackhammer took aggression out on my head and a wrecking ball was taken to my chest.” I had to force that out with a few deep breaths. Talking was a lot of work with a weakened body.
“I can give you something for the pain. You’ve been through one heck of an ordeal.”
“What happened?” I asked.
She laid her hand on my arm and rubbed up and down. I almost felt the warmth of her skin. “Sergeant, you had a heart attack in your room after overdosing. Don’t you remember?”
So that’s the excuse they’re going to live by? I wonder how they explained dragging me up from the bowels of Tartarus …
I felt for her energy. Calmness returned but something buzzed underneath. Fear. I forced out, “No.”
“I’ll go get the doctor. He’ll be able to better explain than me. Okay?”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“Just page me again if you need something before I return.”
“Wait,” I tried to cry out before she left. She heard me and turned. I said, “I can’t move.”
She said, “I’ll make sure I bring something to help wake up your body. We had to sedate you because of the nightmares you were having. You thrashed like someone was strangling you. It must be horrible to have such terrible dreams.”
Averting my gaze, I mouthed a silent, “Yeah.”
“Get some rest, hon.” She disappeared, leaving the curtains open and giving me a direct view toward the hydro-chamber units the hall wrapped around. One of them had a thick blue sheet tacked to the wall. My mind raced with a number of possibilities before settling on getting the doctor to open up about it. I had a right to know of Noah’s well-being. Traitor or not.
Echoes of Memories (Nepherium Novella Series Book 2) Page 3