by Brett Bam
Jericho slowed and went through a door. They were in a wide open concrete area with a balcony on the far side. They ran to the edge, their steps echoing through the space. Kedesh slowed to a stop and leaned over the railing, looking down. They had come through the outer rock of the asteroid and were looking straight into the inner chamber. They were very high up on the inside of the docking endcap. There were several small blimps tethered to the endcap mooring station, ready to fly clear across the chamber. They all smiled in relief and darted for the stairs again. They piled into the blimp and found safe harbour as Kulen’s hand blinked brightly and the blimp powered up. Jericho took the controls and they flew into the interior. The blimp had two large powerful props on its stern to propel it along. The cabin beneath the inflatable had a coupling which held onto a zip-line. The blimp was restricted in range by the zip-line, they had to follow where the lines went, and they would have to navigate coupling interchanges to alter direction and ascend or descend. Nevertheless, it was a luxury carriage in which they all sat uncomfortably, loaded down with their supplies. Jack Mac looked at Kulen.
“Moabi just died for you.”
Kulen hung his head, said nothing.
“You little coward,” spat Jack Mac.
“Easy Jack,” said Curtis.
“Fuck off doc. Moabi's dead. I saw that thing cut his head off.”
Curtis blushed and looked away.
“Hey kid, what’s happening. Who was that?”
“I told you. That's the Protocol. It killed my father. It's tried to kill me, and Dalys.”
“They're willing to kill everyone on this asteroid just to get to you. Why? What is that thing on your hand exactly.”
“I told you, it's the…”
“Yeh, yeh!” Jack Mac interrupted him. “The infinite machine, whatever the fuck that is.”
Kulen looked intently at him. “I can save all these people Jack Mac. That thing will stop me if it gets a chance. Will you help me?”
Jack Mac kissed his teeth. “Godsdammit. I don't have a choice now do I? We've got the comet by the tail, now we just hang on until the end. You better be right, boy.”
An uncomfortable silence dominated the gondola. It gave them all a chance to stare at the landscape rolling past, beneath, and above them. The destruction was devastating. Roads had been cracked, trees had toppled, houses loosened from their foundations, every body of water had risen and drenched the land around it. And everywhere there were people. In the roads and parks, on top of flooded buildings, fighting fires, tending wounded, marshalling survivors and collecting the dead.
Kulen looked long and hard and saw more than most. He saw details on the ground far below and high above. He saw blood on the ground, and he heard the screams of the desperate. He saw the shattered shell of the society though the eyes of the broken. The crowds below were turning to stare and point as the blimp flew past, humming along the line. It was the only object with electricity and light, so they waved and screamed for help.
“This is horrible. All those people. All that pain and death and loss.” Without understanding why, Kulen’s eyes brimmed with tears. He blinked and they tickled his cheeks as they fell from his lashes. Curtis sat next to him and put her hand on his shoulder, at a loss for words.
Then she simply hugged the crying boy, Kulen allowed her embrace for a short time and then leaned away and wiped his nose.
“It was so beautiful before.”
Curtis frowned, “What was?”
“This place, this city. I could see the life, energy and the emotions of all the people. All their interactions and hopes and hates and beliefs and loves and intentions and commerce and everything. It all made a pattern that was just beautiful. But it's all gone now. The whole thing is shattered and drained. It's just a rock in space now. How could something like this happen?”
Curtis smiled at him and smoothed down his hair, her kindness and gentility were very comforting. It was the first time in his life he had been touched like this by another person.
The sensation was addictive and he closed his eyes and pressed her palm to his face.
“Such is life kid,” said Jack Mac from behind his gun. He had the weapon draped across his knees, and he leaned over it to talk. “All people die. You, me, all of them out there, death is assured for all of us. Life is a struggle, from war to disaster to pain, and eventually the end. Death comes for us all. We don't get to choose the time or the method, Life, Luck and Fate take care of that for us. And there's nothing any of us can do about it.”
Curtis shot him a hard look. “That's enough Jack. He’s just a kid.”
Jack Mac scowled at her. “No, he's not, he's their last hope. You see kid, the thing about you is you have the power to do it. You have the power to save all those lives out there. If you can get the lights back on then you will save millions of people. The truth is you're the only one who can stand up to that thing out there. I couldn't do anything to save Berea or Moabi, but you can help here. So, I don't want to see you crying into a pretty girl’s shoulder. I want to see you up on your feet and ready to go. I want that fire back in your eyes and I want to see that light in your hand shine. You might just be our last hope, whether the rest of us like it or not. Granted, you're probably as innocent in all of this as I am, but now you have to stand up to your responsibility. You were the one who wanted to come back in here. We’ve followed you this far. No more feeling sorry for yourself, it's time to bring the wind boy.”
Kulen was breathing hard and his nostrils flared. He was listening carefully to Jack Mac, and the words seemed to arouse something in him. He looked at his hand and set his lips in a determined line. The silver did indeed start to glow. It got hotter and brighter and a breeze sprang up inside the gondola. Sparks started to snap and fizzle from the glove. They looked hot and dangerous and left little trails of smoke as they fell. Jericho grabbed a fire extinguisher, but before he could deploy it he saw that the sparks were extinguishing as they touched the deck, leaving a little brown burn behind. No, not going out, passing through the deck of the gondola to drift down to the chamber surface below. As the gondola swept along the zip line it rained white sparks. The sparks each landed, and where they touched, light and electricity bloomed. Jericho stared amazed, hope blossomed inside him. This child was capable of miracles. Yet these small bursts of power would never be enough to pull them out of the trouble they were in. That would take a real miracle.
A wave of heavy gravity rolled over them and they all shifted in concert. Jericho realised it was just the strongest of many he had already felt, this was the first to register above the subliminal. With a start, he realised what was wrong.
“When the power went out and the endcap sea rose up, our spin destabilised. We've got a wobble which is getting worse.” They could all feel the small sways in gravity, like standing in shoulder deep water which was surging. “We have to stabilise the asteroid.”
Curtis grimaced. “How do we do that?”
“The water. I don't understand the detail, but we're all taught as children that the swirling sea at the base of the asteroid keeps the spin stable and solid. When the turbines failed, the sea stopped spinning and flowed across the chamber. We have to get the water back down and spinning again,” he looked at Kulen. “You have to restart the turbines on the sea floor.”
Their path took them inexorably towards the central city, the bracelet of nearly touching and connected spires which clustered like teeth in the centre of the cylinder. There the chaos was supreme. Towers had splintered and fallen, crashing into others and toppling them also. A wide swath of collapsed buildings lay upon each other like straw in a field. Deeper into the city the destruction was less marked, although where every building had stood straight and strong before, now there were many cracked and leaning. Some structures were supported completely by their immediate neighbours. Their line curled directly into the chaos, it was squeezed between two buildings, one lying atop the other. Jericho braked them to a s
top where the zip line disappeared into a horizontal crack which they could never navigate.
“End of the line folks, everybody out.”
They clambered onto the face of the building. As they walked down its cracked length they could see into its windows at the world inside, tilted askew. There were bodies everywhere. Glass and blood smothered every surface.
They filed their way through the collapsed architecture, looking for a way through. They entered a maze of jumbled angles, and picked across it as speedily as they could.
Eventually Curtis stood and pointed. “I see a light!” she called.
They all stopped and looked and surely enough, outside a now dead hospital there was a bright light and a throng of people. They automatically turned and made for it. It quickly became obvious that they were approaching a refugee camp, a gathering place of the wounded and dying. Someone had found a generator and started it. A few people in white moved amongst the wounded. Curtis broke into a run long before the others, and by the time they came into the light she was already on her knees with her hands covered in blood, her implant flashing. The three men stood and watched as she stopped the bleeding of a girl on the ground who suddenly took in a breath and emerged from the land of the dead. Curtis moved on and started issuing instructions to those around her. People started to help themselves as she directed them, her own hands working to save others. Jericho looked like he was about to shrug off his own pack and help, when Kulen’s glowing hand pulsed brightly and audibly. The deep bass beat was accompanied by sparks blown in a wind. Equipment all around them started up and the make-shift hospital suddenly had electricity, light and warmth. Jack Mac turned to Kulen in time to see the boy lowering his bright hand. Then an answering pulse came from across the lit area and Kulen looked up into the eyes of a stranger on the other side of the crowd. He started when he realised who it was. The man in black! He took three steps back and then turned and ran. Jack Mac lifted his weapon to his shoulder, thumbing the safety off. He kept the barrel pointed at the ground as he skipped backwards. When he finally saw the stranger, he stopped short and fired his gun. Or at least he pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The trigger felt loose and it clicked back and forth with no satisfying expulsion of death. The stranger smiled at him, which chilled him to the bone. For a moment, Jack was torn in two.
“Get the boy. I'll take care of this,” said Jericho. They made eye contact, the soldier and the policeman. Jack Mac looked at the madly sprinting boy, and at the doctor on her knees, then he turned and followed Kulen without a word. Jericho watched them both go, then looked at the stranger. Their eyes met and the man in black smiled a predator’s smile, eyes shining. He walked forward into the light and through the crowd. Where he moved, people stopped moaning, a ripple of quiet amongst the crying wounded followed him.
Jericho slid his handgun out of his holster as the stranger with the glowing hand and the bright eyes moved toward Curtis. When the stranger stopped in front of him, Jericho cocked the weapon with his thumb and took hold of it with both hands.
“Would you really shoot me?”
“If that's what it takes to stop you.”
“Poor agent Jericho. You have no idea what's going on. You have no idea who that boy is, or what he is capable of. But you're about to learn something about yourself, and of that I envy you. You stand at a fork on your path, a major life decision. You have two choices. You can take a short path or a long one. To take the short path, all you need do is lift that weapon and point it at me. To take the long path, you discard that thing and help these people. They need your help! Can you not see it?”
Jericho gripped the gun tighter and looked around.
“There's more, agent Jericho. The short path means you'll never see your girls again.”
Kedesh looked at him sharply and gasped. His face darkened.
“Think of them Kedesh. Turn aside, let me pass.”
The stranger waved his hand and something lit up and buzzed at Jericho's belt. His eyes widened and he pulled out his glasses. They were active, and fully charged. There was a ring tone, and a surprised voice said Jericho's name. He put them on “Sarah? Is that you? Where are you? Are the girls with you? Have you got shelter? Is it safe?” They were safe, as surprised by the sudden connection as he was. The stranger walked past him, and in his joy, Jericho did not see him.
Curtis was working carefully to set a shattered arm while her patient writhed and screamed, bereft of painkillers. Then there was a bright warm light over her shoulder and a deep voice in her ear. Her patient quieted like a settling baby as the light fell upon him.
“Ah, Curtis. My fair doctor. You do nothing but good for this world. Bless you for that. In return for your hard and constant work, good doctor, I will give you a tool which will make you work that much harder. You will not thank me for it until you are old and have the chance to reflect. I wonder if you will remember me with kindness in those days? I hope so, even though I deserve less.”
The details in Curtis’ eye inexplicably expanded. A rich detail of the patient’s physiology blossomed as she looked. She could see the detail of the splintered bone, and could even see the small capillary damage and the internal bleeding it caused. She manipulated the arm and set the splint with casual ease once she saw how to do it. This detail was amazing. “How did you do that?” She turned as she stood to contemplate the voice behind her. A bright light made her blink. She couldn't see him silhouetted in it at first, then the light dimmed and she could see the tall, dark stranger standing in front of her. He was beautiful, a sudden recognition caught her breath and she put her hand to her throat. The stranger smiled. This time the smile was pleasant and kind.
“I wondered if you would recognise me.”
“How is this possible? How is any of this possible?”
“Oh doctor, there is more to this life than you ever knew. Nothing is impossible. And very soon you will come to understand that. I have given you a gift which you will first bless, and then curse. In the long run, I hope it will open up more possibility to you than even I can imagine. Make of it what you will.” He gestured to the injured masses and the struggling medical staff. Curtis nodded once, and then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
“What's going to happen to the others? Dalys and Jack Mac?”
“They will risk their lives, rely on their luck and meet their fates. And though not all shall survive, not one of them will ever be the same. I promise you that!”
“You killed Moabi.”
“I gave him the release he craved.”
Curtis seemed happy with that, and she turned to help a little girl whose leg had been crushed by the same wall which killed her father. Curtis saved her life, and then many others. She never saw the dark man again.
In a smashed place beneath the city, water dripped off concrete. Steel rods, bent and twisted, tattered the end of a large concrete slab which had snapped in two. At the base of the slab where it fell into the water was a massive tangle of steel cable. Underneath the cable was a burned and broken blimp. Its shattered windows and twisted chassis demonstrated the trauma of the little vehicle’s death. The man in black knew how it had died. He had watched it torn free of the zip line by the tsunami, had seen it fall, spiralling into the depths of the chamber like a cannon ball. Its impact had been terrific, and then it had been swallowed by the tumultuous earth it had fallen upon. And now here it lay, deep underneath everything where the water flooded and pooled.
The man in black came walking across the water. He stopped and stared at the massive tangle of cable. His hand started to glow softly, a silver sparkle rolled over his knuckles. The tangle of cables uncoiled itself. Like a long twisting snake, it slithered into and around and over itself, until a hole was opened. Out of the hole rose the gondola. It creaked and cracked and dripped. Pieces fell from it, jagged edges snagged moving cables. A loud wrenching screech came from the craft as it was torn open by an invisible hand. The gondola fell back into the hole
, and the slithering cables collapsed onto it. Three bodies hovered in the air. They had stayed motionless as the gondola fell. Broken bits of meat. Three very dead people.
The man in black closed his eyes and clenched his fist, which grew white hot very quickly. A wind started to blow from the gloved hand. It disturbed the water the man in black stood upon, lapping at his feet and wetting his trouser cuffs. The wind blew harder, ruffling his hair and making little white caps jump and flex. The pressure was constant and increasing. One of the shattered corpses began to glow, and then so did the other two. White light glowed through their eyes and mouths. It shone brightly from under the skin, where trauma had broken it, the light escaped. Slowly, the tears in the skin began to repair. Slowly their bodies rotated and glowed brightly. A sliver of rainbow light flashed from the stranger’s silver hand to each of the dead bodies before him. All three jumped as if shocked. He did it again, and again, and again.
One of the bodies groaned and rolled over, which made the man in black smile. He looked more carefully and saw that the other two were breathing again. All three of these little creatures which he had seen fall, would now survive. He lowered his hand and they sank gently to an exposed patch of flat, dry concrete. He turned and walked back across the water, ripples expanding in the calming waters where he stepped.
Ebal Gibeon sat bolt upright and took a shuddering breath. It was the second time in 24 hours that he had awoken from a beautifully vivid dream to find himself somewhere he didn't recognise.
The door that Jeremiah Comfort had closed would not open, no matter what the young boy trapped at the top of the stairs did. He had gone down the stairs, but even a small glimpse into the room below had driven him back up here. That way lay death, he knew it. He was trapped here in the dark with death waiting below and he was scared. He did not understand what he had done to deserve something like this. When the scary man came back, the little boy would beg to be taken back home. His mother would be worried and his father would be angry.