by Jim Spencer
Panicking now he turned the small aircraft around in the air and made his way straight down, tumbling headfirst into the Nargus. He launched two missiles in succession, locked onto its head. Pulling himself out as well as he could, he managed to get out of the blast radius, just in time. The two missiles went to the head directly and the creature wailed. It was clearly not expecting that. He looked around, there were two other pods left.
‘Shoot at the head. Give it everything you’ve got left!’ He screamed. They acknowledged by shooting straight away. Four to five missiles went straight down once their bullets had ran out, and Cordell did the same, launching his final missile on the way. They landed in the nearby strip, and made their way out. One of the two officers were injured.
‘Let me take a look.’
‘No sir. I’ll be fine, sort that out first,’ the first officer came in the way and Cordell went back into the pod. Looking around, he found his favourite emergency weapon, a chainsaw. Taking it out and walking along the ground, he made his way towards the fallen Nargus, or so he thought. He was bare footed, so there was no telling whether the animal would attack or not. As the smoke cleared, he found the creature bleeding. It was moving, ever so slightly, for such a large creature. Its eye was open.
Without thinking, he switched on the chainsaw and as he heard its engine rattle, he sawed straight into the eye of the creature. Knowing its brain was there somewhere, it was the only way he could get to it and know for sure it was dead. Its tentacles flailed as he did this and juices came out from beneath its skin. Its blood was somewhat blackened, like ink combined with blood. Possibly poisonous. It didn’t matter, he sawed further and further in until there was no movement left in the creature.
*
The clean-up party was finishing the collection of the Nargus. A few samples to study, maybe they could find another weakness. Cordell doubted it, since they had used every advantage they could. He felt his intercom vibrate. Knowing it was the council members on the intercom, he answered.
‘Meet us in the council room right away.’
‘Yes sir.’
*
‘What happened?’ the high councillor asked, without as much as a ‘hello’. Ignoring his stern manner, he answered,
‘We had a surprise attack sir.’
‘How many casualties?’
‘Twenty.’
The councillor sighed; probably the first time Cordell had ever seen him do that. He left his reaction stable, but this was somewhat unnerving.
‘And the General and Field Marshall?’
‘They died in this attack, I’m afraid.’
Silence for a moment,
‘I’m sorry to hear that. They were good men, I heard.’
‘Yes, they were.’
Again silence, as the high councillor considered this. He then asked,
‘Do you have enough men?’
‘Not now,’ Cordell answered
‘That doesn’t matter, get as many men as you can spare. You’ll be taking a search party to hunt these Nargus down.’
He sat in the dark chamber, stunned momentarily as he contemplated this. Was he mad? No one had ever done this before!
‘Sir, you realise…’
‘Yes, I know. But we have an advantage. One of our scientists has discovered a new weapon for us that could be of great use.’
A weapon he wasn’t aware of? What madness was this? Weapons was his specialty, if he wasn’t told, then this was not on. Before he could argue however, the high councillor spoke,
‘I am promoting you to Field Marshall, the highest command. You have three days to prepare your troops and meet with our scientist who will accompany you.’
Knowing that this was the end of the discussion, he made to leave. Before going however, he asked,
‘If you don’t mind me asking, who is the scientist?’
‘His name is Arion.’
He nodded and left the room. Though he had never met Arion, he was unsure that he had created a weapon of such magnitude that it could take down a Nargus in one blow. That was not humanly possible.
*
It was another day in the life. Arion was feeling much better today, since his father was more active. Although they had still not found what the cause of his coughing was, he was more upbeat than he had been for a while. Taking this as a sign of things to come, he was fairly happy, until the rest of his family came over last night. He didn’t hate them, he just never trusted them. Through most of his life, they had attempted to take from his father. He gladly gave them everything, sometimes neglecting Arion.
Although Arion had forgiven his father for his previous discrepancies, it still felt unusual speaking to them, when they were only in this position due to his father. He tried not to think about it, it was too close to home, but there was always one in the family who exaggerated his feelings. Yes, Arion understood it was a stressful time and he was alone, but repeating every five minutes or so was getting to be a bit much. He had simply resorted to nodding by the end of it and was only excused when he mentioned he had to get to work early tomorrow morning.
‘Oh yes of course. So, what is it you’re working on now, you never told us,’ his uncle, the loudest of them all had asked.
You know I can’t tell you, because it is for the council he thought, but out loud he said,
‘Just some stuff regarding new technologies.’
‘Oh yeah, what kind exactly?’ his uncle pressed.
‘Just some stuff. I’m not really allowed to discuss it.’
‘What not even with family?’ his uncle said. Though his tone was joking, Arion couldn’t help but detect a hint of jealousy.
Like you ever tell me what you’re doing, he thought to himself, rather harshly. They left soon after when he simply kept his responses the same and asked him to come over sometime.
‘When I get time, sure,’ he replied, though he doubted it.
He sat down now, thinking over the events of last night as he picked up a small lab rat to test. His experiments today, injure the rat, use the console device to initiate the GOD particle within his chamber and try to repair him. Then test and repeat.
Of course, the rat didn’t know what was happening and he had to be careful not to be too close when he did injure it, for its bite, though harmless now, was still painful. He decided to use a laser. Putting on his goggles, he apologised to the creature and put the concentration to full. Pinpointing the bone, it screeched in agony. Eventually he heard the crack of the leg bone he was expecting. Stopping the machine instantly, he went back to the tent, but the rat wasn’t moving.
‘Crap,’ he spoke out, trying to feel a heartbeat. There was nothing of life in there. It seemed as though the animal was too shocked to survive it. He shook his head. This is why he hated testing on animals. But the council wanted it this way first. Just then, an idea occurred to him. What if he could influence the GOD particle to revive his heart and repair his leg? It was outlandish and crazy, but worth a try.
Resetting his apparatus, he put two radar sensors in the general position of the small cave like encasement of the rat. It still sat there, dead and bleeding. He switched on his console, which had the instruction to initiate his formula onto whatever device he wanted it to. He scanned the room and located the sensors wirelessly. Then, initiating his formula, he waited. He had a small x-ray screen near him to show what would be happening.
The screen shook. That was unusual he thought. Looking back, he saw the desk was beginning to shake. He was stuck. Having no fail safe, if this table collapsed, then he would have no way out of the room, for the force of its drop would probably take the floor as well. The shaking became more vigorous, but he kept his attention to the screen in front of him. After what felt like an eternity, the leg of the creature cracked into place and its heart suddenly started. The machine stopped, as it was only on for 30 seconds, but it also repaired some holes nearby which he had been meaning to take a look at a few days ago.
; He stood there, transfixed for a moment, wondering what to do. The rat got up, jolly as ever and seemingly without any memory of what had happened. What was even more startling, there was no blood. Where it had gone, he had no answer. He decided to try the ultimate test. What would happen if nothing was wrong with it and he pushed the GOD particle? He switched the module on again.
After its thirty seconds of shaking, the rat was motionless and without a heartbeat. Shaking his head, he switched on the module once more to bring the rat back to life.
*
He didn’t publish his findings, because he couldn’t comprehend them. In the matter of a few minutes, he had done the unthinkable. Suddenly, thoughts were going into his mind beyond his understanding. Questions of faith, questions of logic. Somehow, using the GOD particle, he had managed to not only repair the rat, but had managed to bring it back to life and give it death again. He had done something very God-like. As he sat there, shaking whilst thinking what to write, his intercom buzzed.
That was unusual he thought to himself. The intercom was only designed for emergencies and only the chancellor could call him. After he replied, it was indeed Tali who spoke.
‘Hello my lad. How are we today?’
‘Doing well, Tali. To what do I owe this pleasure?’
‘Unfortunately, it’s more business today. If it’s possible, could you make your way to the meeting chamber, we have an urgent matter to discuss with you.’
‘Sure, what’s it regarding, if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘Nothing to worry about. More a request from Atan,’
‘Really, the high chancellor, as in your boss wants to see me?’
‘Oh yes, that old one. Indeed, it is the case my boy. Come on over, would you?’ he asked, with great politeness.
‘Right away.’ With that he left his work, glad to keep his mind elsewhere.
*
‘Well my lad, how are you?’
‘I’m good. How come Atan wants to see me?’ Arion decided to be as forthcoming as possible.
‘He has a mission for you.’
‘Of what kind?’ he inquired.
‘We’ll just let him tell you, eh?’ With that the lights dimmed and after a few seconds, Atan, the high chancellor came on screen.
‘Good afternoon Arion.’
‘High Chancellor,’ he nodded his head.
‘As I’m sure you are aware, we were attacked this morning by a giant Nargus. Our communications were almost lost and besides our army’s valiant effort, the casualties were great. In the end, we were able to detain the creature’.
‘Yes, I believe almost everyone heard that,’ although his lab was soundproof, he could still feel the rumbling.
‘As much as we mourn the dead, it has come to our attention that we seem to be getting more of these attacks lately.’
‘I think this is the third one this week’
‘Indeed. As a result, I have sanctioned our own lieutenant Cordell, who is now Field Marshall to send out a search party to find and destroy these creatures.’
Silence for a moment, as Arion contemplated this news. As there was no response from him, Atan continued;
‘I would like you to accompany lieutenant Cordell on his mission. I believe you have now discovered the GOD particle.’
‘I have indeed.’
‘Any progress on knowing its limitations?’
He hesitated at the moment, not knowing how much to reveal. Eventually, he decided to give a partial answer.
‘I have just recently cured an injured animal.’
‘When was this?’ Atan asked.
‘Just before I was called over actually. I was about to begin tests to see the extent of its recovery.’
Once again, Atan was silent for a moment as he contemplated what he had said. Then,
‘Can you reverse this effect to injure a creature instead?’
‘I…believe it can be possible,’ he answered, very carefully. He knew he was treading thin ice here and some of the council members were giving somewhat astonished looks of apprehension or surprise, he couldn’t tell. Sitting back, he was glad that he wasn’t the only one whom this had affected.
‘Well Arion. The search party goes out in three days. Do you believe you can discover how to reverse this process of healing in that time?’
‘Yes, I believe I can,’ of course he didn’t tell him that he had already discovered this, and more.
‘Very well. It’s settled then. In three days, we will send you out, along with our lieutenant, where you will be their guide and will help them to eradicate this issue once and for all.’
‘I do thank you, but could you elaborate on ‘guide’’ he asked, confused.
‘You will be in charge.’
He was taken aback by this. He wasn’t exactly a leader type, let alone one of a military operation. He tried to work his way out of this, but was but back,
‘I’m sorry but you are the only one who knows how to work this machinery. You will be the one in charge.’
‘Very well. What about…’
‘You father? We will have a medical escort with him 24 hours a day. Your family has agreed to take care of him in your absence. Though of course, they do not know of your exact mission.’
Somewhat glad and apprehensive, he accepted this arrangement, although he honestly didn’t remember his family saying anything about it before. Then again, they were known to be stingy sometimes.
Chapter 5
Three days had gone by. Although Arion had told the council he needed some time to make sure everything worked, he knew it did. Most of these days he had spent in the hospital wing, as they went through simple exercises with his father. They were still unsure what the issue was and Arion was contemplating using the GOD particle. But he knew his father would disagree to that, and besides, he hadn’t tested it on humans yet. It may have an adverse reaction.
What he did do in the meantime was test the rat for any unusual anomalies. The fact was, there were none. It was in perfect health and seemed to have a new spring in its step. It was almost like he was back in his youth. The amount of agility it had shown was unusual for a rat that was over 10 years old. There were no unusual signs in his bone structure either. If anything, he seemed more flexible than usual.
He took his mind away from that and tried to concentrate on the next few days that were to come. He had been formerly introduced to Field Marshall Cordell, who was a tough, but surprisingly gentle, individual. Or so he thought. Most army men he had met were always somewhat brutish. Not that he couldn’t handle it, but it still made it difficult to have a normal conversation with them. But it seemed like the Marshall was different. In fact, just yesterday, he found out that Cordell didn’t even want to be a soldier, but a mechanic.
‘Why didn’t you do it then?’ Arion had asked him.
‘Circumstance,’ he had answered. Arion nodded. Unfortunately, he knew only too well. Everybody was given a career path to follow from a young age from the chancellors. They simply looked at their results on tests and put them into the relevant field. For Cordell, maths was his weakness, so he was considered to be more of a fighter. Although as he had told him, he became better later. But by then his destiny had been determined and he couldn’t change course. It was a shame really, that if anyone was a late bloomer, it was just considered tough luck. You were stuck with what you had.
‘Although I have to respect you in one way.’
‘Oh yeah, what’s that?’ Cordell had asked.
‘You’ve done as well as you could have, given the circumstances.’
‘Yeah, I suppose when I retire, they’ll offer me a place in the council. Unlikely though, I’ll probably just get retirement.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Arion had answered, citing his father as an example. But that was yesterday, today, they would go out to begin a new mission in an unknown land. They were to venture to the dry oceans, to begin their search. They had no idea how long it was going to take,
or whether they would succeed.
*
The day finished and he made his way to the bunker. Cordell would be waiting for him, as well as an army of a dozen men, which was the best he could provide. Feeling somewhat apprehensive, he had appointed Tali the councillor to keep an eye on his father, because he didn’t trust his family,
‘That’s understandable,’ Tali had said, as he made his way to the hospital to visit his father. With all his politics and sentiments, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for Tali. He had truly helped him over the years with no regard for any results or return of any favour. He was probably the one person who had supported him besides his father. And now that he had made his discovery and was going with the army, his actual family wanted a piece of the action.
He refuted outright, without even showing any courtesy this time, simply replying in a cold manner,
‘I can’t tell you where I’m going, it’s with the army. Tali will be taking care of father in the meantime.’
They were very unhappy with being advised that they couldn’t help. And they even accused him of trusting others outside of his family. He wanted to agree, but knew it would not be the right thing to do, so he ended the conversation with;
‘I didn’t have time, he was the closest person to me at the time, so I asked him.’
Of course, what he really wanted to say was that he was the only one who was willing to take care of him and actually gave a damn what he felt! But once again, he restrained himself, thinking better of it.
Tali was used to hostilities, having to deal with this on a daily basis at his line of work. Arion was still frustrated with the fact that his family wouldn’t allow him to make his own decisions without him causing an eruption. Was it that difficult for them to see that he was 30 and not 5? Was he missing something, or did they simply like control? He liked to think it was the former, but sometimes he couldn’t help but feel it may be the latter.