by Adam Matlow
Reluctantly, Marcus stepped onto the platform with the others and turned to face Davon who was pacing back and forth a few meters ahead of them.”
“Better luck next time,” said Marcus in a sing-song voice.
“Now Jax!” said Vana.
A strange sensation crept over Marcus’s skin. A coldness enveloped him, and his skin fizzed with an electric charge that started in his fingertips and worked its way up his arm and across his chest. A sudden flash of light dazzled him, and he was struck with a sense of vertigo. He fell, hitting the ground.
Marcus opened his eyes and looked to see sky above him. Vana and Kali struggled to get to their feet, falling over several times in the process. After a few seconds Marcus’s senses returned to normal, and he was able to drag himself into a sitting position. He looked over at the others, who had managed the same.
“Well that was… different,” said Marcus. “Where are we?”
All around them was scrubland. In the distance were the mountains, but they were further away than he expected.
Vana held out a hand and helped Marcus to his feet. She offered a hand to Kali, but she batted it away.
“Davon will be able to use the transporter to figure out where we are. So, I didn’t send us back to New Hope. Doc and the bunker need to remain a secret.”
Marcus licked his finger and held it to the wind. “Well by my calculations, I’d say we’re bang in the middle of nowhere.”
“We should get out of here,” said Kali. “Before he uses that thing to come after us.”
“That won’t be a problem,” said Jax over the comms. “Before we departed I left an invasive program in the control system of the transport device. It will be several hours before they manage to remove it. Until then, they will be unable to use it.”
“Hah!” cried Marcus. “You really think of everything don’t you! I bet he’s pissed now. I’d love to see his face when he realises what you’ve done to his toy.”
Kali touched her ear and spoke. “Central, do you read?”
There was silence. Kali repeated her message several more times before a weak voice replied through the comms and Marcus’s own earpiece.
“We read you over.”
“This is K, I need a pickup, somewhere halfway between New Hope and The Forge,” she said as she studied the landscape.
“Wait, how do I know you are who you say you are?”
“Wilkes, get off your fat ass and come pick me up, or so help me when I get back to base I’ll shove my boot so far up your--”
“On my way,” came the reply, cutting Kali off.
“Well, all we can do now is wait for pickup,” said Kali.
Vana was sat on a nearby rock, turning Jax over in her hands silently.
“Everything alright?” asked Marcus.
Vana looked at him and took a deep breath.
“You wanted to know what I saw on that holographic display in Davon’s office?”
“Whatever it was, seems to have spooked you.”
“Davon has used the Sentinel again. He’s sent another asteroid towards Earth, and this time there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”
Chapter Fourteen
Marcus’s head span with the revelation. He should be shocked, angry, anything - but he felt nothing. The enormity of the news overloaded his senses to the point where they were unable, or perhaps unwilling, to comprehend the situation.
He sat in silence in the back of the truck, picking the lining from his seat and twisting the threads around his fingers idly. Vana was curled in the seat opposite him, staring out at the landscape as it rattled past them. Kali was in the front, frantically trying to get a hold of someone back at the underground basecamp over the radio. Whilst Wilkes, the driver, pushed the old truck's engine to its limit over the rough terrain. A sudden jar as they hit a pothole snapped Marcus from his thoughts. He leaned forward and tapped Kali on the shoulder.
“What’s the problem?” he asked, seeing her flustered expression.
“I can’t get a hold of anyone from any of the nearby settlements. All I’m getting is static.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
Kali threw her head back against her seat and closed her eyes. “Nothing’s changed. We head back to New Hope as planned and hope all this was worth it.”
She shot a glance at Vana, who paid her no attention in return.
◆◆◆
Several hours later they arrived in New Hope, the streets eerily silent. A chill came over Marcus. He’d never get used to seeing the place devoid of life like this. They pulled up at Doc’s warehouse, jumped out and soon found themselves back in the bunker. The walls seemed less oppressive to Marcus now, and he felt some small measure of safety being back within their confines.
“How long do we have?” asked Doc, who was pacing back and forth between his desk and the wall.
“About four days,” replied Vana. “Evidently that was enough time for him to wrap up any of his business here, and leave. It’s so close you should be able to see it in the night sky, if you can distinguish it from all the other debris up there of course.”
“Four days? Four?” cried Marcus. “What can we possibly hope to achieve in such a small amount of time?”
“Davon won’t want to be here when the asteroid arrives. That’s why he was so afraid of us damaging his ship. He’d have no way of escaping.”
“Well that’s all fine and dandy for him, but what about us?”
“Don’t you see?” said Vana, waving a hand at the now completed portal constructed only a day before. “We’ve already started the calculations needed to get the portal working. It may take a day or so, which leaves us with three to do something about the asteroid.”
“You don’t sound convinced,” said Kali. “Let’s call that plan A. What’s plan B? Is there anything we can do from here to stop it? I mean, we managed it before.”
Doc stopped pacing and clapped his hands together in frustration.
“Unless Marcus here can lay his hands on some nuclear weapons, I don’t think we have much chance.”
“Yeah, I keep all my nuclear weapons in my other pants. Sorry about that,” japed Marcus.
“It wouldn’t help anyway,” said Doc. “It took the world’s entire arsenal to destroy the first one, and from what Vana says this one is much bigger. We wouldn’t make a dent. And just look at what it left us with. Vast swathes of radioactive wasteland from all the fallout. Even if we did destroy or deflect it somehow, the result would probably be much the same.”
“Not that I’m complaining, but why didn’t they use a much bigger asteroid to start with?” asked Kali.
Vana slumped into a chair and stretched out her legs. “Over-confidence perhaps? It had worked for them before in the past, so why not again?”
Marcus sighed. “So, we just have to sit around waiting for our machine to be ready before we can go and take out the Sentinel?”
Vana curled her lips in a faint, apologetic smile. “Destroying it is no longer an option. We need to take control of it. It’s the only thing powerful enough to deflect the asteroid.”
They all sat in silence for a few moments. Marcus drummed his fingers against a nearby desk, trying to release the tension steadily growing in his chest.
“Okay, I’m bored of waiting already,” he said, jumping to his feet. “I need to do something useful to take my mind off this whole crazy situation. One thing’s for sure, we’re going to need some help. I can see how the original plan to sneak on board and sabotage the Sentinel would have worked with a small team, but if we’re planning on taking control of it, then we need more people. The three of us surely aren’t going to be able to pull that off?”
Vana nodded in agreement.
“I didn’t want to put any of you at risk, but now…” she paused, her head drooping, and her eyes fixed on the floor. “Now I have endangered your entire planet by coming here.”
“Nonsense,” said Doc, waving his hand. “After ev
erything you have told us, it is likely he was always planning to do this. You may have sped up his timetable, but that is all. Without you, we would have never known about it, or have had a chance to stop it.”
“I hadn’t thought about it that way,” she responded, glancing up. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Anyone have any idea where we can find this help?” asked Marcus, looking around the room at everyone. “As far as we know, everyone in the settlements has been taken. There may be a few people lurking out in the Badlands, but there is not enough time to round people up and convince them to join our cause.”
“I may have an idea,” said Kali. “We do know some people who have their own little underground bunker on the outskirts of town. Perhaps they were also spared from whatever it was that took everyone else.”
“You’re not seriously suggesting--”
“Who else?”
A polite cough from the corner of the room grabbed Marcus’s attention. Amara sat on a tall stool, her legs swinging back and forth as she listened in on the conversation.
“Would someone around here care to fill me in on what we’re talking about?” she asked.
Marcus turned to her, “A thug who goes by the name of Hudson. I spent a delightful few hours chained to one of his walls, whilst one of his knuckleheads worked me over.”
Amara looked puzzled, as if she were trying to remember something just out of her grasp.
“You’ve met him,” he offered by way of clarification. “When we first met; Hudson was the one who turned me over to Davon, and tried to bargain with him. Not that it did him any favours.”
Amara clearly didn’t like being reminded of the time she spent under Davon’s control.
“I-- the sword...”
“Gah! Don’t remind me about that thing. It still gives me the chills whenever I think about it.”
She didn’t reply, but looked at the ceiling as if deep in thought and gave a large sigh.
“Well, let’s go see if Hudson’s home shall we?” asked Marcus.
“You’d better stay here Marcus,” said Kali, “I’ll go. We have an understanding me and him, I’ll be fine.”
Marcus considered objecting for a split second, before realising it would be of no use. Once her mind was made up, it was made up and there was no changing it. Besides, there was no reason for him to think she would be in any danger from Hudson. If anything, he was in danger from her, if the past few days were anything to go by.
Kali left the bunker alone, heading for Hudson’s bolt-hole. The rest made themselves busy whilst they waited. Amara retreated to her room, whilst Vana and Doc fiddled endlessly with the device. Marcus felt useless. He couldn’t help Doc or Vana, not unless they wanted something heavy moving. He doubted he could do that either at the moment, as the excitement of the last few days left his body bruised and aching, and shot more than once.
Instead, he wandered around the bunker looking for something to do before finally giving up, returning to his room and laying on his bed. Doing nothing was exhausting. The only thing he could do was rest. He fell asleep almost instantly.
◆◆◆
Marcus was awoken by the sound of voices coming from the main hall. He swung his legs over the side of his bunk and dropped to the floor. The problem with being underground was you couldn’t tell whether it was night or day, and for whatever reason, this started to bother him. The next time he saw a clock he was going to bag it and get it on his wall. At least then he’d be able to keep track of the time.
The voices became more heated and emanated from the main hall. Marcus staggered from his bunk and stumbled, half asleep towards the source of all the commotion.
Hudson, full of beard and unwelcomed cheerfulness, talked loudly over people about something. He was flanked by five men, who carried an odd collection of weaponry, from shotguns to large bowie knives. They were not the sort of people you’d want to bump into in a dark alley. Kali was talking to Hudson, or rather she was being talked at.
“Oh goodie. He’s arrived,” muttered Marcus through gritted teeth. He’d half hoped Hudson had vanished along with the rest.
“Ah, Marcus my good friend,” beamed Hudson, throwing out his arms, gesturing for a hug. “Good to meet you again.”
Marcus had the overwhelming urge to grab his beard and slam his face into the nearby table. Then he’d see if Hudson enjoyed the reunion or not. Instead he tried to be civil.
“And you,” said Marcus, screwing his face up. “Oh sorry, where are my manners? Kali, see if you can find a chair for our dear friend… Oh and some rope. Mustn’t forget the rope.”
Kali glared at him but didn’t budge an inch.
“What?” Marcus protested. “I’m trying to repay the kindness he showed me.”
“That’s enough,” said Kali. “Let’s try and put the past behind us shall we?”
“That’s easy for you to say. You didn’t have to go through what I did. Which reminds me, whatever happened to Clifton?”
Hudson’s demeanour changed, he slouched and lowered his tone.
“He vanished along with everyone else.”
Marcus clapped his hands together and allowed a wide grin to cross his face.
“Oh well, that’s just too bad,” he said. Things were looking up already.
Hudson held out his hand and offered it forward. “You do know it was only business, don’t you? It was nothing personal.”
“Of course, of course,” he said through his teeth. “No hard feelings.” Marcus could feel Kali’s eyes burning into the back of his head, so he shook Hudson’s hand. A good firm handshake. Hudson didn’t blink an eye as Marcus squeezed until his hand went numb.
“Glad we got that sorted out then,” said Hudson after Marcus released his hand.
“Hudson and what was left of his men were barricaded in their cellar on the outskirts of town,” said Kali.
“One of my men saw it happen,” said Hudson. “I didn’t believe him at first of course, who would? But after seeing the deserted streets and houses for myself, I couldn’t deny it. I was gratified to hear from Kali that you and the girl managed to keep yourself in one piece.”
At this point Marcus couldn’t care less about what happened during their last encounter. It seemed a lifetime ago. Before the weight of the whole world was placed upon his shoulders. He chose not to answer Hudson directly, giving instead a barely perceptible nod - which seemed to satisfy him.
Marcus pulled Kali to one side.
“Are you sure using these guys is a good idea?” he said. “How do we know we can trust them?”
“We have no choice. If we are to stand any chance of pulling this thing off, we’re going to need their help. Besides, after I told him the stakes he was more than willing to help.”
“And he believed you? I mean, I’ve seen it all with my own eyes and even I have trouble believing in it sometimes.”
“Well, there’s also the fact a lot of these folks have family and friends in New Hope that are now missing. I told them we would be looking for them, and we need help. Besides I didn’t tell them everything, just enough to get his help.”
The smell of smoke drifted underneath Marcus’s nose. He turned to find Hudson puffing on a cigar, blowing the smoke in the direction of the pair. Marcus hadn’t heard him approach. Despite his age he was surprisingly light-footed.
“Whatever it is you two are conspiring about, I hope it involves telling me what is really going on here. Because it’s obvious to me you’ve been holding back the whole story.”
Kali shrugged. “I’ll let you tell him. I’m not sure I believe it all myself.”
Hudson took a deep drag of his cigar, before dropping it to the ground and stepping on it.
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” he said, “I’ve held up my part of the bargain by supplying the firepower for this little adventure, so I think it’s only fair you tell me the plan.”
“Fine,” said Marcus. “Please keep any questions until the end
,” he said in a mocking tone. “We have a lot to get through and not a lot of time.”
Marcus proceeded to explain the situation surrounding Vana, and who she was. What Davon was doing, and who he was, and about the Legions of implants under his control. By the time Marcus finished, Hudson and his men were all silent - and with varying expressions of disbelief painted across their faces.
“Oh hell, that’s one crazy-ass story!” said one of the men. He slapped his thigh. “Just to let you know. I’m totally on board with this. Let’s go kick some alien ass.”
“Good man,” beamed Hudson. “I knew I could count on you fellas to do the right thing.”
The verbal back slapping was interrupted by a deep rumbling sound coming from the surface. The room shook, and the lights flickered. Loose plaster fell from the ceilings and clouds of dust were thrown into the air.
“What the hell was that!?” shouted Marcus amidst the confusion. One of Hudson’s men came jogging along the corridor towards them.
“It’s the Legion” he shouted, “they’ve found us. They must have followed us here.”
“Shit,” yelled Marcus, “how many?”
“Dozens I think, I dunno, I didn’t stick around long enough to count. They blew a hole in the ceiling and were dropping through.”
Kali grabbed Marcus by the shoulder and pushed him towards a door on the opposite side of the room. “We can’t stay here, it’s too exposed. Get into the room with that device you concocted, we can defend that area more easily.”
As they all rushed out of the room, one of Hudson’s men unclipped a shotgun from his backpack and thrust it at Marcus, along with a handful of shells. Marcus didn’t have time to thank the man before he bolted through the door Kali was ushering people through.
Everyone followed, Amara helping the ageing Doc through the door and along a corridor before they all burst into the room - the portal standing idle in the centre. Amara hurried Doc through the thick metal door, and Marcus slammed it behind them as the first wave of Legion soldiers came into view. He bolted the door and called for people to help him build a barricade from anything in the room not screwed down. Tables, chairs, boxes, everything possible was hurriedly piled in front of the door.