The Anathema tc-2

by Zachary Rawlins

  “It’s empty, as far as I can see,” Michelle said slowly, her voice straining with effort, “and that isn’t very far. Something is hidden here, Chris. I’ve never felt such a strong aversion to anything before.”

  “Christ, we knew all that,” Chris said morosely, looking at the gate and the impenetrable blackness past it. “Alright, Song, send your boys on down there.”

  He’d worked with her for two years, and he’d seen it countless times, but Song’s drones, zombie-like reanimated corpses infected with her own peculiar nanites, still troubled him. He understood that it was the dead Operator’s nanites that Song activated, not actually the dead person, but it was still disturbing. Even to someone who remembered dying. Something about the way they moved like badly fashioned marionettes, the disturbing lack of respiration, expression, humanity. Song sent all three of the Operators she had reanimated down the tunnel, shuffling along in the eerie absence of breath.

  It didn’t last long. Song opened her eyes and shook her head, the yellowish green light around her head fading slowly away.

  “I think they made it as far as Michelle could see,” Song said, with her bizarre North Korean accented English, that Chris always had to run back through in his head to achieve a complete understanding. “There is something in there that inhibits protocols.”

  “This must be it,” Chris said, running a finger along one of the invisible joining lines between the stone blocks that made up the base of the arched ceiling. “Beneath the hill the Academy was built on, as we suspected.”

  “This is stupid,” Leigh complained. “Just send me in, Chris. They can’t hurt me, whoever is in there.”

  “Unless it’s Gaul,” he scoffed. “He’s got an implant, remember? He can download telepathic protocols that could probably neutralize you, by yourself. An innate resistance to that kind of thing only goes so far.”

  “Are we just going to stand here?” Leigh demanded impatiently. “If you don’t want me to do it, then what are we going to do?”

  “I didn’t say I didn’t want you to do it, I said I didn’t want you to do it alone,” Chris said sternly. Leigh looked mildly chastised at the public rebuke, but he didn’t have much choice, if he wanted to retain the respect of the troops under his command. Leigh might be the future of his race, but he wasn’t about to start letting her tell him what to do. “Okay, we move on. Leigh goes first, as fast as possible, until the next chamber is clear. Song, you follow after that. Curtis, you stay a cautious distance behind her, keeping an eye on their mental shields. I will be right behind you, then Michelle. Be ready — if we ending up fighting, we’ll need a barrier. Drake, you stay back here, and be ready to pull us out if things go south. Clear?”

  The nods were more reluctant than he would have liked, but he didn’t blame them much. The narrow tunnel in front of him was the kind of position a soldier hopes never to be put in — dark, tight, with only one way in and one way out, too small to maneuver or fight in, and nowhere to run but forward. Only Leigh looked pleased by the situation, but then again, she could see in the dark. He gave her a nod and she started forward. Her speed was, as always, blinding. Song went next, and then Curtis followed hesitantly, with Chris and Michelle right behind him, almost pushing him along.

  The tunnel was exactly as awful as it had looked — musty, cramped, and filled with stale air; and, now, nervous people walking in single-file. The ceiling arch was still a full meter overhead, but the path was so narrow that occasionally the stone walls would brush against his shoulders. Chris wasn’t a claustrophobic normally, but in that tiny passage, almost treading on Curtis’s heels, with Michelle so close behind him that if he came to a sudden stop that she would probably have collided with him before she could react, he suddenly became acutely aware of the thousands of tons of rock and dirt overhead, held up by stone supports built centuries earlier, never reinforced or supplemented. He couldn’t shake the idea that he could actually feel the weight of it, pressing down overhead, invisible through the inky blackness that surrounded them but omnipresent. Even the beams of their flashlights seemed subject to the terrible pressure, flickering and receding the further they went. Chris could smell rank sweat coming off Curtis, and he knew that the Operator was even more frightened than he was, which, paradoxically, made Chris feel slightly better.

  The attack was timed so well that, despite his excellent hearing, Chris couldn’t tell what happened first — Leigh hollering that she had reached the far end of the passage, her voice echoing in what sounded like a vast space, or the sound of flesh yielding to something harder and heavier. Then was another sound behind them, more difficult to place, but when he turned around, something about Drake looked a little off. Then his body tumbled into sections, legs and waist collapsing in one direction, torso falling backwards. His head leaked everywhere as it rolled away into the darkness.

  From the shadows behind him, Alice Gallow, mortifyingly alive and upbeat, waved cheerily.

  Chris shoved Curtis into the next chamber, yelling incoherently as he did so. If he could have, he would have shoved him out of the way. After all, if Alice was still alive, then that meant that Xia might be as well, and if Xia was alive…

  On cue, the tunnel they were in lit up with reddish-orange light, and Chris felt a tremendous heat behind him, the stone walls groaning with the unexpected temperature change, having been held at a constant by its depth for centuries. Fortunately, Michelle had good reflexes, and her barrier protocol was ready, or they would have died right there. As it was, the heat just behind Michelle was intense. Michelle had ground into his back in a panicked attempt to run and had almost fallen over, so that he was practically dragging her along. A wall of flame licked the pinkish-purple barrier she’d erected across the tunnel, like looking at a forest fire through a soap bubble. The barrier stopped the flames, but Chris could feel his back blistering through his cream-colored jacket. He managed to drag Michelle with him, pushing Song and Curtis forcefully into the next chamber, where things were not a great deal better.

  The space was so huge it was hard not to be awed by it. To Chris, it seemed very likely that the whole of the Administration building that was the heart of the Academy could have fit comfortably inside the massive space. A great domed ceiling and utterly flat floor, carved from the stone around them and seamless, with no obvious joinings or tool marks, dominated it. The ceiling was so far overhead that the center of it, where the dome reached its apex, was lost in darkness, despite the shafts of reflected sunlight that made the room dazzlingly bright, at least to Chris’s eyes. Even in this situation, Chris couldn’t help but wonder who could have carved such a place, and how they moved equipment and debris through such a narrow access tunnel, but then he had to turn to more immediate concerns.

  Leigh was down on her hands and knees, no doubt incapacitated by the man in glasses near the center of the huge chamber. It had to be Gaul; though he had never actually met the Director of the Academy in person, the red eyes, visible even behind his glasses, were a dead giveaway. There was a shifting, strange aura around the Director, threads of interwoven red and blue light that twisted and crawled through the space around him, dim and ephemeral. The red-haired girl who was kicking Leigh in the ribs like she expected a reward for it was more familiar.

  “Margot, that is no way to treat someone who is practically your sister.”

  “What?” Margot asked, hesitating. “I thought you were dead, Christopher. I preferred that idea to what I’m seeing here.”

  Chris shoved Curtis, who was still staring at the chamber around him like an overwhelmed tourist.

  “Activate Leigh’s telepathic shields, you moron.”

  Curtis closed his eyes briefly, and then followed that with a series of strange hand gestures. Chris had never bothered to ask what exactly his subordinate was doing with his hands when he used his protocol, because he genuinely didn’t care. Now, however, it struck him as particularly ridiculous.

  “Christopher Feld,” Gaul said wa
rningly, his voice echoing all throughout the huge space. “I have been led to believe that you are the kind of man who likes to know things. You should know, regardless of what happens, I cannot find a future in which you leave this room alive.”

  Normally, he would have chalked that up to the standard prefight demoralization. However, coming from a precognitive, a renowned precognitive, that was bad news. Chris was considering his response when Leigh swung into action, her shields apparently restored by Curtis. She stood up and grabbed hold of Margot in one fluid motion, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her wrist, then threw her, overhand, so far that Chris couldn’t actually see her hit. He watched her body sail through the air, into the darkness, and then hit the stone with a sound like a bag of meat dropped on concrete.

  “Finally,” Leigh said, rubbing her side where she had been kicked. “Can I kill them, Chris? Both of them?”

  Chris nodded happily. He was overwhelmed with pride, but that was normal, right? He was her guardian, after all. And she had turned out to be such a good girl.

  “It’s hard to describe,” Emily whispered, her lips so close to his ear that she barely needed to make any sound at all. “Whatever you think it is, it isn’t like that. The Outer Dark is beautiful, Alex.”

  “If you say so,” Alex said agreeably. He had been bothered for a while by the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something important, but he was so comfortable here, so pleasantly drowsy with Emily in his arms, that it was starting to fade in importance. “What is it?”

  “It’s a place… sort of. It’s an idea,” Emily said quietly, running her fingers down the length of his arm. “It’s like Central. It’s somewhere in the Ether, near the very edge — did you know it has edges? I didn’t, not until I saw it. But that’s what the Outer Dark is, Alex. It’s the place where the Ether ends and there is nothing above it but an empty sky. There are no stars, Alex,” she said, pausing to nip at his ear playfully. “There are no stars in the sky. The sun never rises. At first, it was frightening. But after they show you, after they help you to see, it isn’t frightening at all. It’s beautiful. We will go there together, Alex, you and me. Not long now. The fighting seems to have stopped, for the most part. Central belongs to us, you belong to me, all is right with the world, and, very soon, Alistair will come to finish things here and then we can go.”

  “Alistair?” Alex asked, alarmed. “Why would Alistair come here?”

  Emily laughed and patted him on the head affectionately.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said brightly. “Don’t worry about anything. Let’s talk about something else, alright?”

  “Okay. Where’s Therese, anyway? I haven’t seen her at all since before everything got weird…”

  Emily sighed, rested her chin on his chest, and looked pouty.

  “I’m not sure that Therese is gonna be okay. She’s always been ambitious. This whole thing was her idea, obviously. Using me to turn you over to the Anathema — and doesn’t that embody everything that’s wrong with this place? My own sister decides to use me the exact same way the people she’s trying to protect me from were planning to, for my own good, no less. I guess even that isn’t enough for her. Not that I’m one to talk. But I know my limits, and Therese never has. They made her… special there, in the Outer Dark. Stronger. I think it may have gone to her head.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m not really sure what it is you are saying.”

  “Therese stayed back at the island,” Emily said sadly. “She wanted to fight with Anastasia.”

  27

  Anastasia tapped Therese’s head with the toe of her shoe. Once, twice, nothing. She sighed as she looked down at her, shook her head, hugged herself though it was not cold, and turned back toward the waterlogged hill behind her, topped by the ruins of her vacation home.

  It wasn’t telepathy hiding him or anything like that. She simply didn’t notice he was there until he was right in front of her. She was startled, and made a very small noise before she got her hand to her mouth, causing herself a great deal of embarrassment. To Renton’s credit, he acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, which was more than a little bit out of character.

  “I was wondering if you had decided to kill me or not” Renton said, scratching a bruised cheek topped with a rapidly forming black eye. “Because I’m tired of waiting, Ana.”

  “This is a spectacularly bad time to have this discussion,” Anastasia pointed out tersely, gesturing to take in both the ruined island and the corpse behind her.

  “Right, but, well, I’ve had a series of unpleasant experiences today, so if at all possible, I’d like to get this out of the way before we get back to killing people.”

  “Fair enough,” Anastasia acknowledged, wishing that there was somewhere she could sit down without risking further damage to her already marred dress. “To answer your question, Renton, your rather stupid question, I have never once, even briefly, considered killing you.”

  “I was wrong?” Renton asked, looking unaccountably disappointed. “I figured, when Timor showed up, that’s what you had in mind. The kid seems like a pushover, which is a bit insulting, honestly. But then why are you looking to replace me?”

  Anastasia glared at him until he grinned and looked away.

  “Right, sorry,” Renton said, laughing. “I guess I know. But you know I’ve always done my best for you, Ana…”

  “You don’t have to try and convince me. It isn’t as if I’ll be replacing you now.”

  “Wait… why not?”

  “Must I say it?” Anastasia said tersely, looking away. “My sisters. You saved them. The attack started and then you went and saved the only people who matter to me. I haven’t forgotten who you are, your loyalty, or what you are capable of.”

  Renton nodded his agreement. He looked about as battered as she had ever seen him, with his suit in tatters, and cuts and bruises distributed liberally about his face, chest and arms, but that made sense. He had, after all, been very busy.

  “But, Renton, it’s important that you understand something. This was a position you put me in. A situation that you created,” Anastasia said sternly. “Because you have worked for me for so many years, I am going to make myself extra clear. Do you understand what the problem is?”

  “I suppose,” Renton said, scuffing his shoe on the ground. “What can I say? I can’t help how I feel.”

  “You can, trust me,” Anastasia assured him bitterly. “It’s inappropriate and unnecessary, Renton. It was one thing when you had the good sense to keep it private. Now that you’ve started making it public, people are noticing, and talking, and you know perfectly well I can’t have that. You know who I am and why this is important. I shouldn’t have to explain it to you.”

  “No, you don’t, it’s just that…”

  “Believe me, Renton; I’m not confused about what you are thinking. Would it help at all if I told you that I was a lesbian?”

  Renton’s jaw didn’t drop, but he did miss a beat.

  “…are you?”

  Anastasia shook her head.

  “Not even slightly,” she admitted. “I just thought it might make you feel better about things.”

  “I appreciate the gesture.”

  “Anyway, you know as well as I do that any match I make would be political,” Anastasia said, making sure she sounded matter-of-fact, and not resigned. “The good of the Black Sun comes first, Renton.”

  “You don’t have to let the precognitive pool decide this for you!” Renton shouted, gesturing angrily. “Come on, Ana! You never let anyone tell you what to do.”

  “I don’t. I also understand that I wasn’t simply born into power and wealth. I was born to rule. I have never had a life of my own, Renton, and I never will. The power and the wealth, this is my compensation for putting the good of the cartel before my own. Leading the Black Sun requires excellence and total devotion, even my poor father understands that. Why can’t you?”

  “I do understand,” Rento
n said sullenly. “I just love you anyway.”

  Anastasia’s expression was icy.

  “Did you think I would be happy to hear that? Maybe feel sorry for you?” Anastasia demanded, clearly furious. “Look, I need to know this is dealt with. I need you to understand that, even if I had a choice in the matter, I still wouldn’t pick you.”

  Renton laughed sharply.

  “I hate to say it, but Alex is right,” Renton said glibly. “You are brutally frank.”

  “If it helps, I am sorry,” Anastasia said, shrugging. “It is what it is. Find someone your own age. At least how old you look. It’s not as if you ever hurt for attention. If Svetlana hadn’t passed out from overwork, poor girl, she’d probably be following you around right now.”

  “I know, but I want…”

  “Forget about it,” Anastasia commanded, frustration evident in her expression and her voice. “My priority will always be the Black Sun, Renton, and you know what that means. I don’t waste people, though, and I would never simply throw you away. I’m not getting rid of you, I’m promoting you, silly boy, to where you can do me the most good. I don’t expect that we will need to have this conversation again. Have I made myself understood?”

  Renton nodded. He still had a smile fixed firmly on his face, but it was puzzled.

  “Okay. I have gotten used to having you around, after all,” Anastasia added charitably. “It won’t be easy for me to adjust, either, once you are in your new position. Now, can we discuss this later, at a more appropriate time?”

  “Sure, Ana,” Renton said, without a trace of obvious ill will or bitterness, though he could not have been happy. “There are a bunch of Black Sun guys back at the house, or, well, what’s left of the house, waiting for you. Apparently your father is still trying to decide what to do.”

  “Of course he is, the old fool. Very well,” she said calmly, heading back up the path that he had just come down. “Then let’s go, Renton. We have a great deal of work left to do today. After all, we still have to retake Central.”