Höllenbadt: Book two of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  John and Carmel were holding Frieda behind a boulder they had fortunately come across in the forest. They could both see the Agent barely thirty yards away and almost held their breath, not daring to make a sound. But it was Frieda who gave them away with a slight whinny, as perhaps she too could sense the danger from both the Agent and the fire overhead.

  The Agent turned but could not see them. He followed the sound and approached the boulder where they were still standing on the other side. Before he could realise what was happening, John had rushed him, tackling him onto the snow. John punched and wrestled with him as they both struggled to gain the upper hand. With a large swinging punch, he knocked the Agent onto the snow, and then gave him a few more punches to try to knock him out, but he failed.

  Although he was unable to get up, the Agent was still conscious and from his position on the ground, he could see John leading a woman away, with a horse in tow. When the woman turned to briefly glance at the Agent, the Agent was almost overcome with exultation. He immediately recognised Carmel as his former Superior Officer, and struggled to get to his feet. As he did so, he realised John had taken his rifle and so he was unarmed. But oh, to see his former superior, the one person he had vowed to extract all he could in revenge. To see her mere yards away from him was enough for him to overcome his immediate setback. He had found her and he now knew why he had felt the way he had on the chase leading up to this time.

  “I’ll get you. You will not escape me…ever,” he shouted after them. With that he turned and hurried back to his space ship, determined more than ever to catch his prey.

  Fortunately, the other small groups had witnessed his landing and his trail into the forest, and whilst he was gone, they had gathered contrary to previous agreement, and were busily uncovering their wagons and hitching their horses. By the time the Agent had arrived back at the campground after stumbling the few hundred yards back to his ship, they had mostly gone, with only one pair left who were trying as best they could to leave the scene. By the time they had finally hitched their horse and started on their way, the Agent was back inside and sent a laser pulse after them, obliterating them in a second. His mind was primarily on the capture of his former superior and this momentary distraction was just a part of the swelling rage inside him. With a swift movement, he motioned for the craft to rise above the trees and head in the direction he thought Carmel and John had taken.

  John and Carmel had actually doubled back, feeling confident such a simple ploy would be sufficient to avoid the Agent, at least for a few minutes. They were right. As they uncovered the last of the fuel cells and were hitching Frieda up to the cart, they could see him a few hundred yards distant, firing laser canons in rapid succession and heading away from them. By the time they set off, the Agent was nearly half a mile away, searching frantically for his prey, with a sense of logic lost to his manic state.

  They quickly caught up to the other groups who had gathered together on the trail beside the river. “We will have to come back for the truck if the Agent does not destroy it. Steve, I suggest you lead the group on whilst Carmel and I take another route along this more narrow trail here. It looks like an old hiking path, but I am sure our cart will fit. Fortunately the snow is much thinner on this path, due to the overhead cover from the trees, and that should help us. He is after us first and foremost – I could see it in his eyes…”

  “He recognised me,” Carmel added.

  “I know. You others need to be vigilant. He will not give up easily. Consider there may be no turning back either and that we may have to abandon the truck, but I hope not. I have a little plan that might allow you to buy enough time to go back and get it. Here, take these fuel cells and re-install them.” John handed the cells to one of the men who had helped install them back at the village.

  “Steve, do what you can and we will re-join this trail as soon as possible. Carry those old maps we found back at the village and stay on the trail as far as possible. That way we know your heading.”

  The Agent was getting nowhere. He had not seen Carmel again and was growing tired of retaining some element of composure. So bereft of logic and sense he was when his mania took hold, he began blindly firing all around him. Simple reasoning associated with assessing the situation was absent as his hatred for his former superior, reigned over his senses.

  Now John and Carmel were moving off in the opposite direction in a narrow trail that would make it hard to see them from the air, but they knew the spacecraft had sensors on board for detecting them. John was busily working to circumvent this as Carmel drove Frieda on. He was building a resonance device to mask their location by sending out a scrambling signal to confuse the Agent. His sensors would detect them in various non-specific locations and John thought this would at least buy them more time to escape. And now, with the light of the day fading, the Agent would have to rely only on his scanner outputs to make any headway on their location. When after an hour of travelling without any direct sign of the Agent, other than some distant explosive sounds, they came across an old stone bridge crossing the same meandering river that ran alongside the trail further back at the camping ground. The view overhead was almost totally obscured by overlapping tree branches, and so they thought this would make a good place to stay the night.

  The Agent had descended into a furious state. He had been ever so close to capturing his former superior and now all seemed lost. He had almost exhausted the energy banks for the laser canons, resulting in a large forest fire. Unsure of what to do next, he hovered a hundred feet above the forest, as the sunset gave way to the first stars of the night. He had tried to circle the area a few times to do carry out scans to detect for human life signs, but nothing had showed up. In one instance he saw something, but the signal was so faint, he decided against pursuing it, as he was certain they could not have made the seven miles distant that it was. With a burst of expletives, he turned the craft on a sweeping arc and headed to Oakland to stay the night and re-charge the energy banks. He had in no way given up the chase, as he would return to the forest as the sun rose the following morning.

  Chapter 14

  The eastern sector of the United States was the main centre for combating the influences of the Agent on Earth. Most counties were now divided into sectors due to the influx of the Agent, with state internal boundaries now seen as mere formalities. Scientists from nations across the globe had gathered in this region to work together on developing anti viruses to gain the upper hand, and restore their sense of order. To this time, there had been barely any success, with only a few advances over some of the minor viruses he had sent out using the amplifier. Their systems were running at limited capacity in order to isolate them from attack, so they were unable to control a lot of the aspects of life for the populations who were located within each sector.

  Whilst those in office and their associates lived almost entirely free of the Agent, many people still suffered the horrors of the viruses sent to them affecting their injected nano technology. Many called for the authorities to help them by removing the tiny robots, but the authorities were unwilling to assist, as it would expose their systems to the Agent. In growing numbers, people began to experience the horrific effects of parts of their self being lost to the ugly oblivion brought on by the Agent, and the authorities had determined they were unfit to remain.

  It was during the transportation of a large group of people from the east to the western sector for life under the Agent, when Tobias Englemann thought he recognised someone he knew. He watched as the transport unloaded just inside the boundary between the eastern and western sectors, located at near Omaha Nebraska, and could see the looks on the faces of those to be sent into no man’s land. At the fringe just inside the boundary, it was safe for people like him who had none of the technology the authorities had forced upon people, where they could reside relatively untroubled. He was glad to at least have a little freedom away from the chaos of the larger cities and so he lived a normal existence
getting by any way he could.

  His small house was an old allotment given to those of lesser status when the high-rise in Omaha had reached capacity shortly after the Agent had began his reign of terror. Those who live there many floors above the streets below, lived an empty life, struggling with day-to-day existence, far removed from the life the authorities had provided for them previously. Whilst the grandeur of the buildings remained, there was nothing to resemble a life enjoyed by their inhabitants. Lighting was the cold grey brought on after the mandatory identification chip deadline had passed, and there was no free market allowing shops and restaurants giving character to the city streets.

  Tobias could hardly believe what he saw on the faces of those who were being sent away. The looks of desperation in their eyes, gave way to the maws of vortexes on their bodies, as their very being receded into oblivion. He had avoided these sights during the many previous transportations in the past, but on this day, he was drawn to the process. When he looked harder at the person he thought he recognised he saw that it was a guard who had detained him at the facility near San Francisco eight years before. As the guard was quickly ushered past him towards the large metal gates that blocked the roadway ahead, Tobias turned away in disgust at the spectacle. Then as the people were mercilessly shoved through the gates, which crashed and locked behind them, he could hear their screams and pleas. He was very unsettled and wondered why he had chosen to see this, as he had never done so previously. He struggled internally himself at the sheer horror of the sights and the looks on the faces of those being sent away, and he knew this would resonate with him beyond this day.

  When Tobias arrived home, he fixed himself a hot drink and sat down alone to contemplate his feelings. His life had become one of survival, but for him, just to survive was not enough. He remembered days long ago when he would enjoy the openness of the wild, the sparkling waters of San Francisco Bay, and the social times by the wharves. ‘Where would Asper be?’ he thought. ‘I wonder if she is still alive.’ He had fallen in love with Asper Carter during the time they had eluded the authorities and when they had escaped the facility. They had spent some time together, until the day came where he never saw her again.

  While he sat there, news broadcast began to show on his holographic projector, “The authorities advise there has been a recent breakthrough in the fight against viruses from the Agent. Recent developments in technology have enabled us to take another step towards eradicating the potential threat from the Agent, but there is still some way to go yet. Members of the public are advised that systems will soon be brought on-line for servicing nano technology, and so you will be able to rely on the authorities to provide the protection you need.”

  Tobias wondered what the developments in technology could be, as the last he knew of the most effective way to counteract the Agent’s viruses, was through the use of balanced flux mechanics. He had discussed this with John during their last contact over a year previously, where John had told him the authorities still had not been able to glean any information about flux mechanics from him. ‘I wonder if they have caught up with John?’ he thought. His last meeting was a hurried affair, where they had talked over a beer, something that had become difficult to obtain, and where John had told him he was going west to find The Fixture and Carmel. Neither Tobias nor John, had been in contact with the couple for nearly six years prior to their brief chat over a beer, and they had both speculated on their whereabouts and their lives. ‘Could I go and find them? It will be risky.’ He speculated on this for a moment, wondering if there was any sense to even giving it consideration, and after a while decided there would be almost no leads to go by other than Carmel’s house north of San Francisco, and that could likely have been subjected to some of the Agent’s ways.

  Tobias knew the conditions in the western sector were bad. Aside from the regular propaganda style reports issued by the authorities, he knew enough to be able to picture the devastation the Agent would have wrought upon the people, the places, and the way of life in general. He had now seen it written across the faces of those being transported today, where on some, their faces met and end to nowhere, and Tobias thought a journey to the west, may well be the same.

  His mind turned to the others he had met eight years ago when the authorities first began their clamp down on civil liberties. He had not seen Lorraine, Raynie, Jake, Jenna, or Lyle for nearly the entire time. In fact, he had only seen Asper and Lorraine since their escape from the facility from the dreaded robot that had begun to chase them along the transit way. He felt sad as he loved the others as friends and had grown close to them during those times. Now, so long since their parting, the feelings of desperation had tapered off as the years passed by. Without any knowledge of their location, or if they too were alive, his sadness did deepen at times though, alone in the ramshackle house.

  To him, at least he had his spirit, and his way of endurance. Despite the hardships and tribulations of the recent years, his times of sadness often ended with his recollection of his inner strengths, and so they would lift him so as to not keep his feelings and his head down. Being solemn had never been his way, even though he would often be seen as the quieter one who seemed to be at the fringe of a group. Tobias was an observer, a thinker, and a feeler, and so whilst he was silent, he always took careful note of what was happening and how it made him feel.

  After the news bulletin had ended, the projector returned to the entertainment program it has been previously showing – a rather shallow episode featuring a dramatisation of life better lived with the authorities as providers. They had largely continued on with this motive since the breakdown of the identification and security agreement between nations in the short time after twenty eighty eight. Two years later, the Earth was a quagmire of dissent, both from governments, and by the Agent. As a runoff effect to this, the authorities had lost some of their grip on the people, and so many who had lived on the fringes of the consumption, were not nearly as affected as those who had seen the authorities as the be all and end all for their lives.

  The failure so many times, to counteract the viruses sent by the Agent, and the shutting down of central systems where support and upgrades were no longer available, had left many with diminishing technology implanted inside their bodies, and so as the technology rapidly aged, so too their bodies began to reflect their inner selves.

  A flaw in the nano technology was that it required regular upgrading and support in order to maintain its integrity, so with the very limited services now available, people began to experience entirely new illnesses brought on by the implants, in addition to the effects of viruses coming from the Agent. Imperfections began to erupt in bodies where lesions would appear on their skin, indicative of what was happening on the inside. Some suffered from the technology being expelled by their own body’s resistance mechanisms, resulting in unsightly lumps and skin conditions that never seemed to heal. Others would be subjected to the pain so very deep inside themselves that they would beg for attention, beg to be helped, and beg to have the technology removed. But the authorities were adamant that to bring the nano technology services back on-line, would make their central systems too vulnerable to the Agent.

  And so, society was rapidly descending into a plethora of the well off and the rest who were left to suffer and make do where they could. The authorities still had the view of there being too many people for an efficient society, and so they made no special cases, no considerations, and had no compassion for those who suffered. There were the robots previously used to round up dissidents and these were still functional in a limited capacity. When they would appear out of thin air, disguised to reflect their surroundings and thus render them invisible, they instigated the same fears as they did when they were first deployed, and so anyone seen as a nuisance was collected and simply disposed of. There was no longer any ‘facility’ for the idea of rehabilitation was left behind as they concentrated all their efforts on fighting the Agent, so they could then r
eturn to full control of the population.

  Tobias switched off the projector and went over to the window to see dusk was fast approaching. He had watched it many times before as the last rays of the sun shone on the dust that always seemed to hang in the air around the thirty foot high wire fence separating the eastern and western sectors. There was nobody to be seen at the fence, for the authorities ensured anyone on the western side, could not come within two hundred yards of the divide. Anyone who tried was simply shot with a laser canon from one of the many towers that formed part of the fence every three hundred yards. The fence stretched the entire length of the United States and beyond into Canada. It has been hastily constructed before the Agent had even made it that for east to Nebraska, but the authorities had decided that would be the stopping point, and so like in times of many years past, they erected the fence and simply left those on the other side who had not made it back in time.

  The dust never seemed to settle and Tobias had often wondered why it would just hang in the air, seeming to defy gravity. As he watched, a person from the western sector came running towards him - it the first he had ever seen. ‘They must have made it past the canons…’ he thought, trailing off as first the person made it to the fence, and then was electrocuted bringing death the moment they touched it. The sight of this shocked him – to see a person go through such a torturous death right in front of him, was upsetting. He turned away as he could not look at their motionless body, realising that the electrification must have something to do with the ever-present dust. ‘I have to do something,’ he thought as he walked back over to the sofa. But he did not know what he could do, or why he suddenly felt this way, and it would continue to distract him until he acted somehow.