by Justin Sloan
“You have so many connections, why are you hiding?”
“Because, my dear boy, like you I am a wanted man by our good ol’ Project Destiny friends. Even the most connected individuals are basically the walking dead when targeted up here. By now, your friends are most certainly aware of my escape, meaning both of us have a price on our heads, I’m sure.”
“Ahhh,” Stealth nodded in realization, “meaning you have to be careful about which of your regulars to trust.”
“Some of them would be more than willing to hand me over for a price. Others would fetch their own price, if not for my protection. Meaning, they owe me one.”
“You’ve paid off someone in PD?”
Veles chuckled at that. “I hope it’s your memory loss that makes you so ignorant. Someone in PD? Try all of PD. Basically, the higher-ups at New Origins know not to mess with me. That is… until they feel they can simply be rid of me. Take my money and put someone in my place, someone more in line with their ways of thinking. There will be a reckoning for last night, you can count on that.”
“Don’t make me regret breaking you out.”
“Again, here you go saying something stupid.” Veles patted him on the head like a child, though Stealth swatted the hand away. “Think about it, Mr. Soldier Boy. These same people I’m saying will pay are the ones who you’re out to get. Or if you aren’t yet, you soon enough will be.”
“Stop calling me boy, and even more, stop treating me like a child. I may be missing some memories, but not a single one of those memories has to do with beating you to a pulp.”
“And yet, you wouldn’t. You are too much of a nice soul, I believe.”
Stealth frowned, unable to argue with that. “We have to move. If Nightshade finds us, we’re done for. You understand this, right?”
“What you all have done to your bodies… is unthinkable.” Veles considered him, unsure, then nodded. “But we have our ways of fighting back, toys not yet fully put to the test. Perhaps the time has come.”
“You want to fight the likes of her with toys?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
Veles motioned to a door that had just opened on the far side. A dim, purple light shone through, and a man was staring out. The man was bald, half of his face shining in the light as if made from metal. When he nodded, it was clear that was exactly the case.
“That, my boy, is a man I like to call Set,” Veles said, motioning for him to follow before darting off for the door.
“As in the gods of violence and disorder?” Stealth asked, coming to a stop next to Veles as they halted beside a cart of various spices. “How original.”
“He goes for the other meaning of it, the god of foreigners. In one story, Set sailed with Ra himself to appeal to the serpent of chaos.” He gestured to the doorway, where the man had pulled back, watching them closely but careful to stay out of the spotlight. “Our man Set here is like that, in a way. He will accompany me as I put a stop to chaos, which in this case is New Origins. He’s our toy maker.”
“You don’t speak normal. Anyone ever tell you that?”
Veles chuckled, watching as a PD bike flew past on the other side of the stalls. When it was gone, he moved for the door, Stealth at his heels. The man shared quick words with Set. They glanced back at Stealth, then held up a screen that did a quick scan of him. More hushed chatter, and then the two stepped in, both turning and waiting for Stealth to follow.
Once he was inside, a woman closed the door, and the three of them stared at him, waiting. The lines of the walls emitted purple light, and the room was filled with all manner of weapons on display. A quick scan showed some that were clearly stolen from the PD soldiers, others that could only be black market. Either they were selling this to any lowlife who could afford it, or preparing an army.
“What is this?” Stealth asked.
“You wanted answers?” Veles asked. “We can get them for you, but we want something in return.”
Stealth waited, figuring it best to let them speak first in this regard.
“We can help you,” Set said, his voice thick with an otherworldly feel, his yellowed eyes almost glowing in the purple light. “You’ve had the Taipan upgrades?”
“At least started them, yes.”
“That’ll do.” Set nodded to the woman, who turned to a seemingly normal wall. When she lifted her hands, a screen appeared before her and she pressed in a code. The screen went green, then closed, and the wall slid apart.
Arguing about this didn’t make sense. If Stealth stepped away now, where did that leave him? He’d abandoned his tribe, broken out one of the most dangerous people on this station. And most of all, he wanted answers.
Even if this was a trap, he didn’t see how he had any other choices at the moment.
The others entered first, him following. Now he saw where the purple glow was really coming from—a large glass ball in the center, filled with light. The light inside the ball turned, circling and moving out, then reshaping, as if testing its constraints.
“You are among the first humans to see this,” Set said, walking around to the other side of the light so that he faced Stealth. “Before we go further, though, I have to hear you say it.”
“It,” Stealth said, jokingly.
A look of anger flashed over the man’s face, replaced a split-second later by the calm that he wore so well. “In this case, it being that you have abandoned the Project Destiny forces, that you will work against them in order to take them down.”
“I don’t work for you.”
“You don’t have to, as long as you are against them.”
“I…” Stealth stood, eyes flashing from one of them to the next, then the woman, and back again. “There’s no reason for me to do this.”
“None that you’re aware of yet,” Veles said, but then turned to the woman. “Tell me, Juanita, what is it your team has discovered?”
The woman stepped forward, eyes staring at him fiercely. Stealth could see her more clearly now, and realized she wasn’t more than a teenager.
“They take your memory on purpose, you and the rest of them,” she said. “They turn you into super soldiers, able to heal, stronger than anyone has ever been… but at the price of your soul.”
“You don’t remember her, do you?” Set asked, looking down at the screen that Juanita had just sent to him. When Stealth frowned at the teen, Veles laughed. “Not her, no. I mean your wife.”
“Excuse me?”
Set pulled up his wrist screen and then swiped his hand so that images floated before them.
“Interesting,” Veles said, stepping around to each, scanning them.
“Her…?” Stealth said, eyes frozen on an image of the woman he had seen before. Alicia Carter, it said her name was. And then there was him, staring back with a much younger, excited look to him—thinner, but definitely him. He wore his Marine uniform, the name Carter there… and that was a memory he could recall, his time as Staff Sergeant Carter. The name above it, though, said Marick Carter.
So he wasn’t just Stealth. He had a first name, one he knew must’ve been out there, but had managed to elude him.
“According to your file,” Set said, “which a group that calls themselves The Looking Glass has obtained through a recent break-in at the dome, you had a wife, you had a life. This woman.” He gestured to the image of Alicia, who he now knew so well.
“She goes by Alice, now,” Juanita said. “Her call sign, or code name. Hacker name? Whatever it is—”
“You’ve met her?” Stealth asked, trying to process all of this. His head was pounding, his ears itching, and his eyes on the verge of watering.
Juanita nodded.
“She’s out there,” Veles said, wrapping an arm around Stealth—no, Marick. “New Origins stole her from you. Not just her, but the memories of her. You have become their slave. Now is your chance to break free.”
Marick turned, holding his head in his hands. He could see the p
icture of Alicia, knew it was her, knew they had shared a life… and yet, none of it was returning to him.
How anyone, or any company, could do this to someone, he was sure he’d never understand. What he did know, however, was that it couldn’t continue. He needed to get to her, to take her away from this place. Maybe then they could rebuild, start over.
Maybe even find a way to get his memories back.
“I’m in,” he said. “Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”
“Great,” Veles replied, and then they all turned to look at the shifting purple ball of light.
“Now, what exactly am I looking at here?”
“Set, if you could.” Veles motioned for the bald man to explain.
“We, er, have our sources on Titan,” Set said. “While not religious, we are very connected to both the miners and the Titanians, and so when this was discovered, we were front and center.”
“It’s alien?”
“We believe it’s matter, not life. In fact, it started with mining what we thought was ice under the surface. It came out more as crystals, and when we conducted tests on it, fortunately in a controlled environment, this is what we came up with. Basically, a new form of energy, a new element, maybe? I don’t know what to call it. Maybe those on Earth would have ideas, but….”
“But nobody knows about it but you all,” Marick said, catching on.
“Earth has its own agenda, while New Origins has the PD super soldiers. If we hope to stay in the game, we need an advantage.”
“And somehow, you think this will be that advantage?” Marick asked.
“We’ve been conducting tests. Unfortunately… test subjects have gotten hurt.”
Now it made sense. “You need me because I’m stronger, able to heal…?”
“Precisely,” Veles said. “You help us figure this out, we help you. Understand?”
“You scratch my back, I massage the hell out of yours? Sure, yeah, why the hell not.”
Veles laughed, smiling wide to show his yellow teeth. “Wonderful. I believe it’s time, then, to show you the real toys. Well, for now it’s mostly the one.”
He turned and pulled out a harness, which he began to strap to Marick. It had its own exoskeleton for support, and fit over his uniform snugly enough without body armor. The shoulders were thick, where the technology was, most likely. Then they put a headpiece on.
“An explanation would be great right about now,” Marick said, trying to figure out what they had put on his body.
“Sure, sure, but first… walk with me, see how it moves.” Veles adjusted something on the arm of the exoskeleton, and a screen popped up in front of Marick’s eyes, projected from the headpiece. It read “location set.” Then Veles led him into the front room where they paused, the man beaming with anticipation.
“The energy back there, we’ve harnessed it in a way none of us would have expected,” Veles said, his voice uncharacteristically excited.
“You’re telling me…” Marick’s eyes fell to the suit and he had a sudden urge to tear it off.
“Yes, it’s inside the suit. Just a small amount, in crystal form. When you activate it, the energy will become kinetic, and… well, why don’t we find out.”
“First, what happened to the others who tried this? The non-mods?”
“Burned, sent to medical… those who survived.”
“Are you fu—”
But Veles hadn’t waited for him to finish that, instead hitting a selection on the exoskeleton again. The screen returned, a series of images flashing by and then landing on one that read “Teleportation,” with a percentage showing charge levels, and more.
“…cking... serious,” Marick muttered as he watched the numbers rise. Fifty-five percent…. Ninety… Then, fairly fast, it reached one hundred percent. Full.
Veles gulped, stepped back, and stared, eyes wide. A glance down showed Marick’s legs were gone, his lower torso vanishing in what looked like blue, glowing blocks. And then the purple kicked in. With a flash, the room was gone.
No, not the room—him. And then he was back in the first room, gasping for air as pain shot through him. A quick, searing pain, like being burned… and then it was gone.
The door burst open and Veles darted in, hands out, mouth open. “It worked! Oh my GODS! IT WORKED!”
“The healing was in process when he arrived,” Set said, walking around Marick, analyzing him like a lab rat. “It looked like he was about to boil, to burst like the others, but… it worked.”
Marick stood there, staring at the floor, then slowly lifted his eyes to Veles. “You could have killed me.”
“But instead, I’ve delivered you from the clutches of New Origins, haven’t I?”
Marick strode forward, hand raised to punch the man right in the throat. “But you could have killed me! You didn’t even warn me, you just—”
“This one’s yours.”
That put him in his place. Marick stumbled back, choking on his words. He glanced around, looking at the bald man and the teen, realizing what this meant. “I effectively join your ranks?”
“You have reason enough to take down New Origins. We’ve made several of these suits, but need the mods. If you can find a way to get us in to enhance ourselves to be able to use them, even just a couple of us,” he shared a look with Set at that, “we would be in your debt, and consider this first suit a payment well deserved. Without you, it’s worthless, after all.”
Nothing he said was untrue, so why did it put such a heavy feeling in his heart? Yet, Marick had signed up for experiences just like this. As far as he knew, he was the first human to ever teleport. It could be the key to finding Alicia, to getting out of here.
“How does it work?” he asked with a grin.
The others smiled, thrusting out their hands to welcome him to the team.
24
Alice: The Docks
A false sunrise formed on the glass overhead, the sounds of birds chirping emitting from speakers. It was almost like a real morning back home. Sometimes, whenever New Origins decided it was to be spring, they would even send fake cherry blossoms blowing in the wind.
Alice was glad that wasn’t this day, because today she wanted to be focused, not lost to nostalgia or emotions. She didn’t want to think of the time Marick had taken her to Japan to see the cherry blossom festival, how they’d ridden that small sunset dinner cruise boat along the canal between the trees. It had been the perfect evening of magic and mayhem—the mayhem part a thing she didn’t mind thinking about right now.
She’d torn it up that night, and thinking back on moments like that did the opposite of making her sad and emotional. A surge of pride ran through her, and she felt she could roar, that no matter what they threw at her, she was ready.
Judging by the location of the oncoming ship, she had damn well better be, too. While there were space elevators to Japan from the two main space stations, bringing up recruits by ship was still faster.
It was too bad she had to leave her earpiece out, because right now she would’ve loved to hear what her teammates were discussing. She approached the shadowed side of the docks. Standing behind them, she wasn’t likely to be spotted as she waited.
Others claimed she was nuts, but she always thought new recruit day had a distinct smell to it. Maybe it was the anticipation in the air, or people on the space station all bathing as they knew that new people were coming. Maybe they hoped to meet their new spouse among the groups of miners that sometimes came as well. She had no idea, but swore it smelled different—more like talcum powder and clamshell soaps.
A glance over to the loading area showed her that Oliver was right in place, a Titanian man with him. They had infiltrated the dock workers, and would deliver this Jane when the time came. Sitting there and waiting was a pain, but at least she wasn’t about to be drugged and then carried off to be sedated by the Titanians until Alice’s mission was over.
The transport ship pulled up alongside its loading d
ock, made berth, and then the passengers started unloading.
“Come on,” Alice said to herself, hands starting to shake with anticipation. “Any minute now.”
She moved forward and then froze at the sight of her Corporal Lenz. Unfortunately, she was walking with the other two females, sharing a nervous laugh as they glanced around at their new home.
Wonderful. Not only would Alice have to play the part, she had to pretend to know these two, somehow.
Her teammates were on the move, slowly making their way after them. Alice got in position, lips feeling parched and a low ringing forming in her ears. The damn smell like talcum was overpowering—though she couldn’t be quite sure it was really even there.
The women recruits were close, and Alice tensed. All she had to do was move in, ensure the uniform was a fit and check for anything else out of place, and then blend back with the other two.
As she got ready, watching Oliver as he prepared to leap, a voice called out.
“You three, in here,” a woman said, gesturing aside. “Ain’t having a man check you, unless that’s your preference.”
Jane chuckled, but the other two looked at her like she was immature, all of them following the lady. Great, Alice’s double laughed at moments like that. Noted, but not appreciated.
Now the three were following a senior PD officer off of the expected trajectory, meaning Alice would have to think fast here. Instead of going with the original plan, she hurried, walking along with her head down, and came right up beside the target.
She glanced back at Oliver and pointed to the hiding spot she had started from, then picked up the pace. The woman wasn’t behind the others, so Alice took one of her money chips and flicked it so that it hit her in the rear end. The woman jumped and turned, pausing as the other women moved in front of her. In those quick seconds, Alice had caught up, and bumped her with a quick hip check.
Jane stumbled, almost catching herself. But Oliver was there, grabbing her as he put a cloth over her mouth and dropped down over the side of the ledge at the same time.