by Richard Sosa
Dask regarded Karl with sympathy. “He’s been working continuously. You can make his day with the cube technology and maybe he would stop being so damn cranky. We’re running out of time trying to break this open. Rik, fight with us? If you’re anything like Da, he wanted to kill them so badly.”
“What gives you the idea that I am running? Just one thing. Don’t ever threaten Iris again.”
“I wouldn’t harm your girlfriend”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“I’ve been monitoring your safety since you arrived. We’ll scan you two again tonight and I will have some additional inconspicuous guards around the unit. Iris is cleared for more weapons.”
Rik noticed his brother’s nose on Dask’s face, and his hands looked like Neil’s. “I need Iris, she’s running the recordings. I know you don’t like her, and she’s done some crazy-ass stuff but she’s smart and a fearless fighter. She already has weapons around her house.”
“She’s commissioned but not to the fourth level but tell her she’s back in the 7’s. Tell her to show a little respect for the service. I won’t send her out of the way, I need her fighting skills also,” Dask said.
“You tell her.” Rik turned and walked up to Karl, who was absorbed in his notes, and jumped when Rik placed his hand on his shoulder. “Here, old man, this is your alternating power source and it will do exactly what you need from it.” He handed the cube to Karl. “I sent the codes to your IARI unit. Let’s get this open and start playing with the good stuff.” Karl looked at the cube in his hand and then at his IARI. Rik smiled and said, “I have someone in mind that can probably help you with the math part, his name is Ra, I mean Rabid. I forget his last name.”
Karl read his device and used his thumb and pointer finger to make the image of Ra larger. “There’s a gamer that has taken your location data and is also testing an enhanced compound for our weapons. This Rabid character is downloading to my file now.”
Rik smiled. “I trust him. I gave him the encryption break code and now he has the same information as you. Tell him that he’s on the team, we need him and get him down here, Iris’ orders.”
Karl peered at Rik over his glasses. “Whose orders?”
“Trust me he’ll help you.”
Karl typed in his IARI and received an immediate response. “I am in touch with him. He’s on his way.”
Rik inspected the shop and asked. “Can you show me your fighter class Flyers. I want to inspect the underside.”
Karl pointed to Rik and a Tech standing close. “Show him.” Then walked way absorbed in mathematical data that Ra was sharing.
Rik was led to a ‘Raptor’ Class Seven. The sleek black machine with canons and rail laser guns looked deadly. Rik crawled under it and began working. He called out to the Tech. “I need a full set of basic tools, spacers, whatever you use to monitor your gavitonic control system and some torches also someone get me dol-ve.”
Rik worked absorbed by the information that automatically populated his Laptop, he learned more as he learned new concepts. He struggled with a spacer calculation to get the reading correct and something struck him. He stopped working. The shop was silent. He kicked his legs and the creeper rolled out from under the Flyer. It was later in the day. “Where’s everyone?” he said out loud as he stood up and looked around. He saw his time unit on the workbench, “shit. It’s late,” he tried to clean off as best he could, put his dirty shirt back on and noticed Dask left his possessions on the workbench. His body was bruised, scratched, and covered with a grease-like substance. His recorder needed to be cleaned but he had volumes of data to review. In the back, Karl and several Technicians continued to work ignoring him as he left the hangar. The suns had already set and every part of him arched.
Rik didn’t notice the person standing in the shadow. “Will everything work out?”
Rik jumped, “Damn you Dask, you scared the hell out of me.”
“Does Karl have what he needs to finish? Does he have everything that you have, all the technology?”
“Yes, I am not holding out. He a funny old bird and I put Ra on his team for the math part. What’s up with that old geezer?”
Dask folded his arms. “Show some respect. Karl is this planet’s greatest scientist. He’s was born way back in 18.4.5437. His parents were famous as well, doctors Ragjaum JaensAt and Sandi Hir-jun. I am told he was their only child.”
“So, he’s been in here all this time, did he know my brother?”
“No, he was born at a small outpost near the Ram-adan-je province. His parents were serving military tours as medics and provided medical assistance to combatants in the area on both sides of the conflict.”
“Karl was born in a war zone?” Rik said.
“Yeah, while there was never declared war in that region religious fractions continued to use violence, assassinations, bombs, and terrorist activity to push divisive agendas. Peace would in time come to the region but only after considerable warfare. I fought there myself. That was the planet’s only major long-term conflict of attrition since its founding. With increased communications and enlightenment making inroads towards understanding, the most fanatical ideologues increased their virulent hatred of many enemies and relegated themselves to hidden away places on this planet. Medical teams were constantly open targets for the terrorist and required Karl’s parents to carry weapons as well. Our historians say Karl was born on a stormy night in a field medic tent while it was being shelled by mortar fire. That’s why he’s such a mean crass bastard. But I like him,” Dask thought, yeah, he knew Neil quite well in fact.
“I didn’t know that. Thanks for the information,” Rik said.
Rik felt the weight of the day’s work on him and after a walk through the village, without thinking he rounded a familiar corner and climbed the hill to the unit flats, going home. As he stood ready to go inside, he paused remembering what he said in the morning. His legs refused to move, and he stood outside below the terrace looking up.
Iris appeared at the top. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to leave the planet.”
Rik pointed. “What’s wrong with your face?”
Iris wiped her nose. “Nothing.” She’d been crying.
Rik moved like a tired old man and regret, and sadness made him slump, shaking his head ‘no’, “I can’t leave without the most important thing—”
“Your stupid cube thing? Well, I didn’t have a choice and I don’t have it now. I was ordered to take it. I am a grunt, follow orders is part of the damn job.”
“No, dummy. You. I can’t leave unless I take you with me. That’s the way it is. You don’t want to leave, so I am staying and fighting.”
“You’re fighting,” Iris said, “not me. Can you watch the flat for me? They’re hard to get, I am almost packed.”
Rik looked over at the park remembering them hiding. “Yeah, I can do that. When I last saw you, I said some stupid things. Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”
“I am wondering why you’re staying down there like you’re afraid of me. Why are you covered in T-7 solution lubricant? You been playing with the Flyers?” Rik inspected his dirty hands and walked around to climb the stairs.
After cleaning up. They prepared dinner together and sat down to eat. They had to navigate plates on the table. The kitchen was a mess with all the things Iris wanted and needed to pack, everything was neatly stacked. She looked at the table. “I shouldn’t take the Transport Regulator or I-5 Bracor because there’s no common net where I am going.”
Rik scanned the table piled with technology. “I would take extra soap and more underwear if I were you,” he continued to scan the layout of supplies on the table while chewing his dinner, “I think maybe load up your reader with lots of good books.” Iris’ face contorted and she began to cry, her hand against her face with her head bowed her shoulders trembled with the sobs. He immediately moved over to her and held her close.
She trembled slightly and th
en quickly regained her composure. “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave you and it’s getting interesting now. I want to stay and fight.”
“Iris, promise you won’t kill me”
“No.” She gave him a sideways look and wiped her nose.
“After Dask beat the shit out of me, he said he was going to kill me for joking around or something and he had his handgun ready. He said he would kill you if I didn’t leave. He told me that if I wanted to save you, I needed to leave and get out of the way. Then he showed me something that changed everything. I talked with him and told him you needed to be here for the success of the mission. He agreed.”
“Do you know anything about me in the future? Can I unpack? I am not going is that what you’re saying?”
“Yeah, just so you know, you’re not assigned to 4th level, but now to the 7’s, whatever the hell that means.”
“7’s ‘clean up duty’, easy stuff.”
Iris’ mood was back to her usual self and she started putting some things back in drawers. She smiled. “What did Dask show you that changed everything?” Rik held his hands together and then put them up to his face, forcing himself to disclose something difficult. He let out a ragged breath. “What is it, Rik?” Iris asked.
“Dask led me to the grave of my brother and—"
“That gods damn bastard. He killed your brother and he’s leveraging that to hold you here? I never believed he could sink so low, what a cruel bastard. I won’t permit it, Rik. I’ll kill him myself. I swear.” She looked around the room, “where’s my tribar Interceptor? I’ll catch him in transit and shut his vehicle down and shoot his god damn ass.”
“No, No. it’s not like that. Calm down.”
“No? This is beyond evil. I’ll use my Reimage-9 silencer rifle and shoot him at the Military Hangar. I am leaving now to set up. I can take him down in the morning.”
“Iris stop it. Dask is related to me. Neil is his father.”
Iris stared at Rik’s face. Rik looked back at her and thought, oh gods she looks like she going to kill me. Silence.
Iris shook her head ‘no’. Then she remembered to breathe and said, “What?”
“Yeah, he’s the son of Neil? I found my brother. He died many years ago and he’s been here working in secret towards this day and looking for me. Over time he must have concluded that I died in space. When we left planet Da-earra,” Rik paused to remember, “our calculations were messed up.”
“Maasau. I am sure of it,” Iris said, “I remember now.”
“You remember what now?”
“You know, I told you about him. He was a normal citizen and his research was way out there at the cusp of innovation and science. When Ra and I were in business together, the files were encrypted and confounding,” She stared in space at nothing as she remembered, “then some say he started to act crazy and ramble about the end of times. Some say the religious Fata welcomed him and they supplied armed guards for him. Then he just faded away. Some thought those religious zealots finally killed him in some back alley and put his body in Biogentrick 4 acid. That was the theory, but Ra always said, ‘no way’. Ra captured some of his early work and studied it and every so often Ra would come across something that he said was from Maasau.”
“What did Ra find?”
“Ra said it looked like Maasau was using transgravitor location data and looking for something in space. Ra used to listen to the sounds that Neil was sending through the array. He did that for hours, just listening. I guess he was trying to understand the information. He was convinced it was a language. Your language I guess.”
Rik observed Iris. “Neil was Maasau. I am glad that we are finally putting this together,” Rik smiled sadly to himself, “his cover technology was always working when he arrived. He could have become anyone while he was here. He probably lived among you before inventing the Maasau persona.”
“Why would he just go away?”
“Maybe he just grew up, had a family and stopped being a weirdo. He must have concluded at some point the invasion wasn’t going to happen soon. He wouldn’t have had my unit to indicate that any Orbs were in this solar system. I am sure he would have known about the orbit and history of this planet. He finally concluded I was dead. I think he just found a home here.”
“Your brother lived here among us?”
“Yes. His technology would have prevented him from being detected as alien. His translator would have given him a superior language skill immediately and he would have had immediate data and replication technology to integrate himself seamlessly down to his clothing, credits, and accent, navigation, history, identity, everything.” Rik and Iris pondered as if both remembered. “What were the sounds that Ra listened too?” Rik asked?
“Ra told me that it was communication and language. This was a long time ago and the data is old. Neil was probably reaching out to you in your language. Ra never deciphered it.
“I think I have a job now,” Rik changed the subject, “I am sharing my information as I am working on the Flyers. They want me to come back tomorrow.”
“Me too. Is Dask your new boss?”
“I think so.”
“Mine too.”
“Don’t kill your boss with your ‘9-silencer’ weapon thing. We need to earn some credits first,” Rik said.
Chapter Twenty-four
No one paid attention to a thin, gristle framed man walking on the sidewalk until he suddenly crossed into the street and shouted to no one and walked in front of gliders and hoover craft oblivious to traffic while waving his arms in the air. He was in the street avoiding something in front of him on the sidewalk as he pointed and shouted, “get away from me, you evil abomination.” He was bald on his crown and his chance to grow hair using rejuvenation technology and treatments had long passed. He had no regard for personal hygiene as he reached into a recycler to scrap the sides of the bin for something to eat. His hair around the sides of his head was long and stringy; his teeth yellow stained, and he had the odor from an unwashed body. His pace was fast, erratic and he turned around many times as if he was being followed. While he bowed his head low as he walked, he stared side to side at the people passing him. Then he stopped and inspected something in a shop window display. It didn’t meet his approval and he muttered curses and vituperations, as he pointed at the object. Suddenly he shouted, “Almighty Lester-okr is the true ruler of this world. Repent your hedonistic ways. Repent and seek the goodwill and gracious love of your all-knowing and kind god through me, before his displeasure of you, compels him to eviscerate your bowels and burn your children. Repent. Accept his deep love and kindness. The end of times is upon us.”
The prophet walked away as if everyone was sufficiently warned and he checked them off in his mind as ‘lost’ souls. While he walked away, he muttered to himself as he wiped his feet like a dog burying his feces. “Holy father, I am not responsible for them any longer, they will not listen, I’ve done my work here.”
Between two large beautifully designed buildings he walked around into the service alley where it was shaded and warm from the gavitonic equipment running in their wells and he crawled on all fours under support beans. He reached the gavitonic system crawl space and made his way further inside to the building’s structural support core. He removed a make-shift cardboard door to expose a small jagged opening in the wall made by an industrial laser cutting tool. He climbed in and covered the entrance back and crawled further through black mud and stagnant water as he followed the cabling junction to the portal tunnel. Before stepping into the portal tunnel, he looked both ways. The open area allowed him to stand as he stepped inside. He moved faster to his destination. A voice echoed in the blackness, “Who goes there?”
“It is I, Brother Thoma-jer are you guarding us? Praise be.”
Brother Thoma-jer was surprised. “Provider Bishop Wegin-ouk? We’ve waited for you all these days. We thought you were not returning today.”
The Provider walked up
to the man, hugged him gently and said. “I had a shipment to oversee. It will be delivered here tonight. I also have the Sword of God. We will soon have the materials and men we have been praying for.”
“Praise be—”
The slap and punch to the guard’s face and stomach caught the man off balance as he bent away and fell to the ground and a swift kick connected to his ribs. The man rolled over holding his stomach. “I told you to watch the outside,” Wegin-ouk said slowly, “the outside, not in here in the warmth. You complete dumb shit. You’ll let anyone in and destroy us all.” Bishop Wegin-ouk continued to strike the man who was rolled into a ball on the ground not making a sound. “God will punish you now and in the next life. You must repent; you must be a weapon of God. Do you hear me? I will call on you to make amends for how disappointing you are to god.” The Bishop caught his breath and then puts out his filthy hand to the guard.
The guard sat up with a vacant mean glare at the Bishop. “Everyone said you were out fornicating, but I defended you.” He grabbed the fingers gently, they smelled sour and he wanted to vomit but he kissed the top of the hand. The Bishop pushed his face away, walked past the man and his steps splashed in the puddles as he disappeared deeper into the tunnel.
Leaving the conduit service tunnel, he veered to a side steel door and knocked once, waited, then knocked a sequence of raps. The door clanked open. The smell of unwashed bodies, rotting food, and stale air, met his nostrils as they flared.
The man at the door spoke. “Provider, we’ve waited for nearly two days. Is everything well?”
“Yes, preparations are in place for us,” the Bishop stepped through the small opening, “where’s the big man?”
The gaunt looking man pointed to the back of the long room which was an empty storage area. “Get me some food and not the slop from the dumpster. I want to celebrate.” Bishop Wegin-ouk said without looking at the man.
“Yes, Provider.” The man scurried away toward another connected tunnel.