Xn

by Clint Townsend

  ‘Air!’ his brain screamed. ‘I need air! I’m so close!’

  With his eyes nearly frozen shut, he felt himself drifting to unconsciousness. Without his tether strap securely fastened to the CARBEL, surely Armada would have floated away had his arm not become wedged between two comm-link spools. With his free hand, he groped for the coiled umbilical that housed the oxygen, communications, and power for his suit’s built-in radiant heat. He yanked the tubing from its spool and awkwardly joined the quick coupler of the comm-link with that of his suit.

  ‘Zero percent.’

  Armada broke free of the rack housing the retracting spools, allowing the CARBEL platform to continue its downward journey without him. He opened his mouth to breathe and felt his diaphragm trying to expand, but nothing happened.

  The piercing bing of his emergency alert suddenly stopped, delivering some much needed silence. However, even with his eyes closed, the blinking red light of his holographic screen shone through his eyelids. Every time it flashed, Armada was reminded of his impending doom.

  ‘C’mon, just die!’ he told himself. ‘It’s over now, let go.’

  His arms and legs, he noticed, were no longer twitching, and he could feel the radiant heat of his suit. The light penetrating his eyelids transitioned from blinking red … to stable green. He smelled the odor of fresh oxygen pouring into his helmet and expanded his lungs. Like a newborn baby, he moaned and gasped loudly as more and more clean, filtered air filled his aching chest. His eyes fluttered open, revealing a frost-free helmet visor and hologram screen that showed an internal oxygen level in green double digits, and climbing.

  “Woo-hoo!” he shouted. “Chloe! Chloe!”

  As her name was leaving his lips, Armada was suddenly bathed in a blazingly hot and blinding white light. He raised his hand to the edge of his helmet and drew down a reflective filter. There, on the eastern horizon, the sun rose above the blue, translucent edge of Earth’s atmosphere. He gazed at the burning star, reveling in its glorious warmth.

  “Fear not, and know that I am with you,” he heard the man whisper.

  Confident and assured, Armada closed his eyes.

  CHAPTER 22

  AWOL

  “Great!” Armada grumbled. “Now what do I do?”

  The deck of CARBEL One was nearing the Aerie at the top of the SUBOS, and, as he peered down, the reality of potential danger struck him. In the excitement of the moment of following the orb, Armada failed to consider his options upon arriving at the SUBOS. Without his identification lanyard, he had no means of accessing the inner tower. He didn’t have any zone authorization codes or passes, and was incapable of generating artificial permissions to the SUBOS elevator systems. Once he reached the Aerie and was found to have left the Arena without an authorized release from Garret, dire consequences were sure to follow.

  Armada scooted away from the platform’s edge and rolled over on to his back. Gazing up at the carbon braids and multitude of stars, he proceeded to talk his way through the anticipated scenario of being caught.

  “Okay, any minute now we’ll trip the first descent sensor, triggering the load lights. Right after that comes the second sensor, which will cause the dock beacons to begin flashing. Then the locks will engage, and the deck officer on duty will come and ask me why I’m on the CARBEL without an authorization code. He’ll ask the staging and dispatch clerks to check their incoming and outbound manifests for any individual….”

  He stopped talking to himself when something caught his attention. Staring up at the four vertical deck support posts, it suddenly occurred to him that the load lights didn’t engage. Not only that, but the four mounted video monitors weren’t recording as they normally should. He knew this to be true due to the absence of illumination by either a red or green miniature LED status light on the camera’s exterior.

  “Why are there no load lights?” he wondered aloud. “And the cameras should have started recording the moment the platform pulled away from the Halo.”

  Curious as to the extent of malfunctioning gadgetry, he rolled to his chest and crawled to the edge of the CARBEL deck. Just as he thought, the platform had indeed passed the descent sensors and should have, technically, engaged the lights and beacons. But as he pulled himself over the elevator’s edge, he saw the beacons on the deck’s underside, like the monitors and floodlights, were void of life.

  Even though the CARBEL was nearing its final destination, from his temporary vantage point, Armada could easily view the entire Aerie and staging zones. The Aerie’s footprint was nearly equivalent to that of a soccer field. All five CARBEL prestaging areas were filled to capacity. Each CARBEL had three prestaging zones, and were aptly named PSZs. So CARBEL One, more commonly known as CE1, had PSZs One, Two, and Three. CARBEL Two, CE2; CARBEL Three, CE3; and so on, followed by a PSZ number. CARBEL One, Prestaging Zone One would read CE1 PSZ1, and on down the line.

  The platform touched down with a deep and mighty thud. Armada remained motionless as he lay on his chest. After looking about the Aerie, he slowly and cautiously erected himself.

  He first observed a digital clock on the wall above the bank of opened SUBOS elevator doors. 05:10 it read. The more he observed of the Aerie deck, the more the irregularities he noticed. Without so much as stepping one foot off the platform, it became apparent that his strange experiences were not isolated to just the Arena and the CARBEL.

  This place should be swarming with people, he thought. And the elevator doors to the SUBOS should be closed at all times, except for load outs.

  One of the strangest sights was that of the CARBEL and SUBOS Elevator Status screens. The large monitors, mounted next to the clock and load out schedule, showed all ten SUBOS elevators to be in standby mode … at the loading docks on Earth’s surface. Furthermore, every CARBEL platform had a status of ‘HALO Off-Load Pending’ in flashing red letters, when in reality, all five were in ‘dock lock.’

  After making sure his suit registered a full supply of oxygen, Armada released the quick coupler of his comm-link and powered down the POG. The self-coiling spool slowly drew in the deflated oxygen and communication line.

  He gingerly crept off the deck to the rows of gargantuan CCs. CC was the anagram given to the 40-foot-by-40-foot ‘CARBEL Cubes’ that the Aerie personnel constructed from the cargo that arrived in the SUBOS elevators. A full load out on a CARBEL platform occupied a 40-foot cube. And, to avoid confusion as to when a load out was to be placed on the schedule, a deck officer assigned CC numbers to the cargo in a PSZ. CE1 would have CC1 in PSZ1, and CC2 would occupy PSZ2. Once a CC was given the okay to be placed on a CARBEL deck, a 40-foot long strip of metal emerged from underneath a hinged, folding plate of steel in the floor. Hidden hydraulic cylinders would then press the raised metal lip against the bottom of the CC, pushing the enormous, one-piece parcel out of its assigned PSZ, by way of rows of closely spaced rollers, and onto its designated CARBEL platform. That was another glaring oddity: the status screens showed all PSZ s to be vacant. Plus, not a single CC existed, according to the monitors.

  Armada popped his head from behind CC3, in line for CARBEL Five. He chuckled to himself when he spied the Aerie cameras were incapacitated.

  “All right, I see it!” he hollered, “Whoever … or whatever you are … thanks.”

  Feeling a bit brave, he casually strolled out into the open and walked the length of the Aerie towards the offices for the CARBEL supervisor and deck officer.

  He sauntered past the open elevator doors and nonchalantly paraded by the dispatch clerk’s kiosk. Unhindered, Armada maneuvered through the stacked pods of nuclear waste awaiting ejection via the WES System.

  As he neared the Aerie offices, Armada pressed his back to the wall and sidestepped the remaining distance. Gradually leaning over to peer through the door’s window, he was pleased to find the entire staff gathered around the glass-enclosed, private office of the deck captain. Every one of them faced away from the door. Relieved to have not been spotte
d, he briskly walked to the security portal. The only thing standing in the way between him and Chloe was the door’s magnetic lock. He cautiously approached the frame and security panel and remembered to look up for the video cameras.

  “I don’t know what your point is in all of this,” Armada stated, focusing on the blackened power light, “but I’m glad that so far as I can tell, you’re on my side.”

  As soon as he wrapped his fingers around the door’s handle, the magnetic lock disengaged and the authorization screen switched from red to green. The automated retinal scanners and motion sensors within the security portal failed to acknowledge his presence.

  “This … is … so bizarre!” he declared as he removed his helmet and pressed the button for the elevator.

  Armada had barely removed the multitool from his left upper arm pocket when the doors parted to an empty cab. With helmet in hand, he entered the compartment and looked at the video monitor and scanner above the elevator door. He didn’t give it a second thought after noticing the loss of power to both.

  “Okay,” he mumbled, staring at the control panel to the right of the sliding door, “how do I enter my zone access authorization code and floor selection … when I don’t have a zone access authorization code and don’t know what floor she’s on?”

  As the words were leaving his lips, the digital keypad suddenly sprang to life. The display showed asterisks stretching the width of the screen, triggering the elevator doors to close. Above the control panel another digital screen lit up with ‘Sixteen M,’ and the cab immediately began its descent.

  “Thanks!” he shouted, removing the piece of SPUD radar-deflecting fabric from the teeth of his multitool. Armada tucked the invaluable swatch in his front pocket, collapsed the multitool, and tucked it into his lower leg zipper pouch.

  “The Aerie is more than half a mile above Sixteen M,” Armada stated, looking up at the clock above the elevator doors. “That should take no less than twenty minutes. It’s almost five-thirty; Chloe said she and her dorm mates wake up at six. That gives me ten minutes to find her, explain what’s going on, and find a safe and secure location to hide before the Nursery staff arrive.”

  Without warning, the screen above the elevator door flashed Sixteen M.

  “What?” Armada asked, confused. “That can’t possibly be right!”

  The cab doors separated, revealing a wall with ‘Sixteen M’ painted in a large, bright-red font.

  “I didn’t even feel it stop,” he continued lecturing himself as he exited the elevator. “I’d have to be in total free fall to descend a half mile that fast.”

  Not knowing Chloe’s room or dormitory sector numbers, Armada couldn’t decide which direction he should take to find her.

  “And those drive motors weren’t designed for speed,” he reasoned looking to his left, then looking right. “The retarders would have engaged if we were descending too quickly.”

  Finally, he committed to turning to his right in search of Chloe. He hadn’t yet raised a foot to move when the overhead lights went out. To his right all was dark, while the lighting in the corridor to his left suddenly returned to normal. Walking slowly down the darkened hallway, he observed that ahead of him there lie an intersection.

  “Perfect!” he grumbled. “Another choice … left, right, or straight.”

  As he drew closer to the intersecting hallway, the lights in the corridor breaking off to the right abruptly went dark.

  “No … way!” Armada exclaimed.

  Before turning to his right, he glanced left at the ceiling-mounted cameras and spied the green LED status lights on all of them; every recessed lightbulb shone brightly. To his right, however, he saw nothing but blackness.

  “Okay!” he hollered, picking up his pace. “I understand!”

  He then broke into a brisk jog as he steered through the darkened maze. Whenever he came to an area where he wasn’t sure which direction he should go, the telltale sign was the absence of light. At all times his movement was concealed in darkness. Be it by human eyes or video camera, his presence was known to no one.

  Armada entered one particular corridor and noticed that all the doors had keypads and retinal scanners to the right of the handles. At first glance, he estimated there to be twenty doors, at least, all of which required a zone access authorization code to enter.

  “Now, which room is she in?” he asked, panting heavily.

  About halfway down the hall, to his left, one of the digital keypad screens began blinking off and on, over and over. He briskly stepped to the door, laid his fingers on the handle, and pushed down. The keypad flashed green and the magnetic lock disengaged. Once in the room, he passed through a lounge area with a couple of cushioned armchairs and sofa, then down a short hallway. Armada crept towards the sleeping quarters, trying desperately not to make a sound.

  Emerging from the hall, he was astonished to find the same glowing, vaporous mass hovering near the lower mattress on the last stack of bunk beds. Not knowing what to say to Chloe, or how he should wake her, he stepped forward ever so slowly, keeping his gaze upon the shining cloud. He hadn’t yet reached her bunk when the orb rose straight up and levitated against the ceiling.

  Armada passed under the illuminated sphere and crouched down beside her. He remembered her being pretty, but now, seeing her again by only the light of the ethereal cloud, she was the most beautiful thing he ever laid eyes on. Delicately resting his elbow on her mattress, he extended his other arm and gently brushed the hair away from her face. It was at that moment he knew, deep in his heart, he truly loved Chloe. Overjoyed to be reunited, he would have been content to simply sit and watch her sleep.

  The shining orb suddenly pulsed with a brilliant flash.

  Armada stood, turned away from Chloe, and raised his head. He smiled as the light intensified and penetrated him; through his eyelids, through his suit, it consumed him. How warm and relaxed he felt. As if being hugged internally, the radiance of the dazzling colors soothed away his fear and doubts. The light emitted by the cloud gradually faded, prompting him to open his eyes.

  He turned, bent over, and eased himself on to Chloe’s bed. Reaching out with his left hand, he tenderly grasped her right shoulder, and, with a gentle shake, softly whispered, “Chloe,” but received no response.

  He glanced back and up to his right at the clock on the wall.

  “Chloe,” he repeated, with more volume and a firm nudge. “Hey, c’mon … it’s ten ‘til six. We gotta move.”

  Chloe began to stir and yawned deeply. She extended her arms straight out, clenched her fists, and arched her back. After completely stretching, she lay flat on the mattress and rubbed her eyes.

  “I don’t wanna get up,” she groggily complained. “I’ll write to you tonight.”

  “Hey, we can’t stay; it’s time to go,” he said, trying not to laugh.

  Then reality hit her.

  “Armada!” she ecstatically shouted, springing up with her eyes wide open. “You’re here!”

  Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly as she continued calling his name.

  “Armada, Armada! Oh, my gosh! I was so scared! All of a sudden, my terminal lost connection with….”

  “Okay, sshh, be quiet. I’m glad to see you, too, but right now….”

  Without warning she drew back, placed her hands on his cheeks, pulled him to her, and kissed him.

  Surprised by her own impulsive, aggressive actions, she abruptly pushed him away. With a gasp of shock she covered her mouth. Armada sat on her bed with his mouth agape and a quickening pulse. Having formally broken the ice, the long distance romantics lunged at each other. Their mouths met for a more intimate and lengthy replay.

  After reveling in the impromptu moment, the couple separated their lips but remained embraced.

  “Wow!” Armada blurted, chortling slightly. “Didn’t see that coming.”

  Sensing something wrong, he leaned back and saw tears running down Chloe’s chee
ks. She quickly covered her face and fell forward against his chest. Her torso shook as she silently sobbed.

  “Hey now,” he said tenderly, rubbing her back. “Take a breath, let’s calm down. Everything’s gonna be okay, you’ll see.”

  “How can you say that?” she loudly whispered, sitting upright. “How do you know we’ll be safe? Remember what they did to Titan? There’s no telling what Wyczthack and White will do when they catch us! And I haven’t even told you about what happened a couple of hours ago after I lost connection with you. You won’t believe me when I….”

  “Sshh,” Armada lowly hissed, pressing his finger against her lips. “I have something to tell you as well, but first, you need to see this.”

  He lowered his hand, took Chloe by her right wrist, and began pulling her arm as he stood up.

  “You’re absolutely gonna flip when I…,” she started to say.

  Her words fell short when she clambered out of bed and observed the hovering, shimmering cloud of many colors. She and Armada tightened their grips on each other’s hand. They stood next to the bunk bed and gazed in awe at the floating orb. Shutting their eyes, they remained motionless as the ethereal sphere’s light suddenly intensified. The illumination was so brilliant that for all but a few fleeting seconds, darkness and shadows ceased to exist.

  After a moment, the brilliant light grew dim and the duo opened their eyes.

  While staring at the glowing mass, a man’s voice reassuringly stated, “Fear not, my children, and know that I am with you.”

  The cloud suddenly and swiftly crossed the sleeping chambers and passed through the wall, leaving the room pitch-black.

  With the dormitory void of all light and power, the twosome reached for one another, entwined their arms, and gently swayed from side to side.

  “We gotta go now,” Armada whispered. “Take only what you truly need … you’re not ever coming back. Also, do you or one of the other girls have a knife, or pair of scissors? And we’ll need something sticky, like tape or Band-Aids.”