by Marty Chan
Brother versus Brother
Ehrich bit his lip as he watched Kifo wade to the shore. He had to keep reminding himself that the boy was not his brother. Inside the cockpit, the assassin operated levers and pedals to propel the machine forward. Two other exoskeleton units emerged from the water. Ehrich recognized one of the two operators as Ba Tian, the crimson-skinned warlord, and the other as the labourer with the bone-shard mohawk. The servos whirred and spit out water as the machines waded to shore. Air hoses on top of the bucket-shaped heads retracted into their housing units.
Farrier rushed past his insurgents to greet the trio. He shouted over the whirring servos of the exoskeleton machines, “Incredible! I must admit I had some doubts when you promised me war machines. They look impressive, but are they battle ready?”
“Test them if you wish,” Ba Tian said, his amplified voice booming out through the brass horn that blossomed on the top of the helmet.
Farrier waved at a buck-toothed rebel and ordered, “Shoot the one on the left.”
The teen raised his teslatron rifle and fired at Kifo’s unit. The blast seared the air and struck the exoskeleton unit dead centre. Energy danced across the iron exterior, but didn’t phase Kifo who remained safely inside the cockpit. He manipulated a few levers, and the machine lumbered toward the rebel, who backed up and fired another shot. The energy fizzled against its dripping iron hide. Servos powered the massive arm as it reached out and snatched the weapon from the shooter. Kifo pulled another lever and the hand started to crush the weapon, which looked like a child’s toy in comparison.
Farrier shouted, “Tarnation! Don’t! The teslatron will—”
The gun exploded, knocking the rebels off their feet. The concussion rocked Kifo’s unit back three steps, but he remained upright. The light faded as Farrier’s group climbed to their feet, now extra wary of the giant machines.
Ba Tian laughed. “Do you need more convincing, Commander?”
Farrier shook a clod of earth off the bottom of his wooden leg and eyed the exoskeleton machine with a soldier’s eye. “I don’t see any armaments.”
Ba Tian raised his giant iron arm and let the weapon turret whir to life. He fired a stream of razor-sharp taels at a willow on the bank. The projectiles sliced through the trunk and the tree toppled to the ground.
Farrier’s eyes lit up, but he covered his excitement with a simple nod. “I suppose it will do in a pinch.”
“You will have fifty of these units, provided you have enough soldiers to operate them.”
The grizzled veteran nodded. “Let me worry about that.”
“Now for your end of the bargain. Your messenger said you have my daughter and her companion,” Ba Tian said.
“Along with a few others—”
“I’m only interested in my daughter and the traitor. Show me to them.”
“Do I look like a newborn colt?” Farrier asked. “When I collect my fifty machines, you can see your family.”
“When I see my daughter, we can talk about the transfer.”
“No deal, Ba Tian. I want the weapons upfront.”
“Tell you what, commander. If we can use Demon Gate, I can deliver one hundred machines instantly.”
“That’s going to attract too much attention,” Farrier said.
The pair went back and forth, bickering about terms and delivery. Ehrich saw all that he needed. He inched away from the shore, but the multitude of voices in his mind began to whisper. They grew louder than ever before.
In the cockpit, Kifo stiffened. He scanned the banks. Ehrich sensed that the assassin was looking for him. The symphony of voices roared. He covered his ears, but the voices were inside his head, begging, pleading, shouting.
Kifo stomped on the pedals and the machine lumbered ahead toward Ehrich’s position.
“Where are you doing?” Ba Tian asked, turning from his negotiations.
“My kindred are calling out,” Kifo said.
Ehrich’s eyes widened. The voices were screaming in his head now. He slipped back from the bank and climbed over the fallen tree just before Kifo reached the top of the slope.
“Running is futile,” Kifo called out. Ehrich wasn’t sure if he had actually heard the assassin’s voice or if it was one of the many echoing in his head.
He headed along the shoreline, leading Kifo away from his friends. The assassin lumbered after him. Lack of speed seemed to be the one weakness of the exoskeleton machine. Farrier motioned for four of his rebels to follow Kifo.
Ehrich raced along the edge of the bank toward the south end of the island, hoping this distraction would buy Ole Lukoje enough time to open the portal. The voices in his head were growing more insistent, distracting him from the presence of a rebel who was cutting up the bank and running toward him. The nimble brown-haired girl tackled him hard to the ground. He rolled and scrambled away, but another insurgent appeared from the bank and drew his volt pistol. Ehrich used his rolling momentum to slam headfirst into the boy’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending the gun flying out of his hand. Ehrich then lifted his head straight up and connected with the boy’s chin, knocking him out cold. He spun around to see the first girl drawing her pistol as she raced toward him.
He dove for the weapon on the ground as she squeezed the trigger, sending the electro-dart whizzing harmlessly over his head. He grabbed the volt pistol and rolled to the left. A second dart struck the ground just to his right. He fired back. The dart hit the girl in the leg. She shrieked as her entire body lit up, and then collapsed to the ground unconscious.
This encounter had given Kifo enough time to catch up to his quarry. Two of Farrier’s insurgents flanked the assassin in the iron contraption. They raised teslatron rifles at Ehrich.
The voices from the Infinity Coil roared in the teen’s mind, and he tried to shut them out, but there were too many. He tried focussing on just one voice: Dash’s. He sifted through the voices until he could make out his brother’s alone, but what he was saying didn’t make sense. It was like listening to someone talk through a heavy wall. He could hear the tone of it, but not the substance.
The teen rebels moved ahead of Kifo and approached Ehrich. He recognized the Hill cousins, two southern orphans whose accent was as thick as the cornbread they liked to eat. Ehrich reached into his shirt and pulled out the Infinity Coil. Then he aimed the volt pistol at the medallion. The voices went silent, replaced by Kifo’s scream.
“No! Unhand my Infinity Coil!” His voice blasted from the megaphone and echoed across the field.
Ehrich shook his head. “You want it, you’ll have to come out of that milk churn and get it.”
“I’ve got this,” one of the Hill cousins said and raised his teslatron rifle.
Before he could fire, the Hill cousin found himself high in the air, courtesy of Kifo, who held him in his mechanical iron grip. The other Hill cousin was also in the air, screaming for help. The cousins, looking like dolls in the hands of the iron machine, dropped their rifles. Kifo smashed the teens together and knocked them out. Then he tossed their bodies to the ground.
Ehrich backed away until the river water on the southern shore lapped against the heels of his boots. Kifo continued to advance, the machine’s heavy feet crushing the rocks underneath.
“One more step and I’ll pull the trigger,” Ehrich threatened.
Kifo stopped. Ehrich had to remind himself that while the body might be his brother’s, the conscience that guided the body was that of an assassin.
“You want this back?”
“It would be unfortunate for you if any harm were to come to my device,” Kifo said evenly.
“Let my brother go or I’ll destroy it.”
“I’ll require a replacement,” Kifo said.
Ehrich motioned at the unconscious rebels. “Take your pick.”
Kifo took another step forward. “You will suffice.”
Ehrich’s finger twitched on the trigger of the pistol. “I’m warning you—”
The assassin shook his head. “You grasp the consequences if you destroy the Infinity Coil, do you not? You destroy any chance of liberating your brother. Is the reward worth the risk?”
Ehrich didn’t give away his doubt. He had to maintain the appearance of calm to pull off this bluff. “I’ve heard the voices of all your victims. There are hundreds of them. You’re an addict looking for a new persona to adopt. You can’t just be one person for too long. I imagine that being stuck in my brother’s body for two years has been sheer agony. Losing control. Not having the freedom to possess whatever body you want. I don’t think you’re prepared to give that up.”
Kifo took another step forward. “I believe you care about your sibling more. I can hear him within the Infinity Coil. He pines for you. Would you abandon him now in his hour of need?”
The assassin was right. Ehrich had come this far to recover his brother. He couldn’t throw it all away now. His hand began to shake. Kifo smiled and took another step.
“I thought so,” Kifo said.
Ehrich couldn’t pull the trigger. He willed his finger to squeeze, but it wouldn’t budge.
Kifo was almost on top of him.
A chorus of voices shouted inside Ehrich’s mind: “Free us!”
Kifo stopped. “No, no. Don’t.”
Ehrich’s hand stopped shaking and he looked into his brother’s face. He knew what he had to do, and his resolve showed in his expression. He pressed the end of the barrel of the volt pistol into the heart of the Infinity Coil.
“No!” Kifo shrieked. He pushed the pedals of the cockpit, sending it back two steps. Then he unstrapped himself from the cockpit seat and pushed open the glass bubble that housed him. “You wish your brother’s return, I will grant it.”
“Now,” Ehrich ordered.
Kifo hopped down from the exoskeleton’s cockpit. “Lower the gun. I’ll do as you bid.”
Ehrich kept the volt pistol aimed at the Infinity Coil as he followed Kifo up the shore and toward the fallen body of the burly Hill brother. The assassin knelt down and held his hand out for the Infinity Coil. “I will require it to complete the process. Hand me the device.”
“One wrong move and I destroy the Infinity Coil. You understand?”
He nodded. Ehrich began to hand over the medallion, but the voices in his head screamed, “No!”
Ehrich pulled back but he was too late. Kifo slammed his fist into his gut. Ehrich gasped for air as he tumbled back. He clung to the Infinity Coil’s strap as Kifo tried to wrest it away.
The voices in Ehrich’s mind exploded into a cacophony of shouts. He shook his head as he struggled with Kifo.
“All of you, silence,” Kifo hissed through gritted teeth. Clearly, the voices were yelling in his head as well.
Ehrich punched Kifo in the face. The assassin rolled off. Ehrich tried to climb on top of him, but Kifo brought his knees up and flipped Ehrich over onto his back. The older Weisz brother managed to sit up, but Kifo had already moved in behind him. He grabbed the other end of the tether and yanked the Infinity Coil up so the leather strap hooked around Ehrich’s neck. He gasped for air as the strap slipped tighter and tighter. Ehrich smelled sulphur and, for an instant, he felt himself separating from his body. The voices sounded like they were next to him now. Was he passing out, or was he being absorbed into the Infinity Coil? He couldn’t tell.
Suddenly, he saw Dash in front of him. Not the cold-eyed boy who had been possessed, but the fresh-faced kid who had looked up to his big brother. They were no longer on the shore of Devil’s Island. Instead, they were floating in a sort of limbo. Ehrich reached out to touch his brother’s arm, but his hand passed through. He looked at his own hand and saw through it as if it were translucent. Where was he?
Dash yelled, “Fight!”
Suddenly, Ehrich opened his eyes and saw the East River ahead. He felt the hard rocks under his legs. He noticed his volt pistol a few feet away. He heard the gears clicking on the Infinity Coil. Without another second’s hesitation, he slammed himself backward, knocking the back of his head against the nose of the assassin. The strap loosened, giving Ehrich a chance to take another breath as he slammed himself back again. Kifo grunted, but didn’t let go.
Ehrich swung his elbow around hard. He caught Kifo in the ribs and knocked him sideways. Then he angled his head so that the noose slipped off. He saw the Infinity Coil glowing in the assassin’s hand just before he shoved Kifo into the river. Ehrich crawled across the rocks to retrieve his fallen volt pistol. Kifo rose up in the water, holding the Infinity Coil by the leather strap.
“Finally!” Kifo roared.
Ehrich raised the pistol and fired the electro-dart into the assassin’s chest. Electricity lit up his body and arced to the Infinity Coil. Kifo fell backwards into the water as the sizzle of energy filled the air, but all Ehrich could hear was the anguished cries of hundreds of voices in his mind. Then all was silence.
He raced into the river and searched the waters. He swept his arms under the surface, trying to grab his brother’s body. There was nothing but cold murky water. Desperately, Ehrich waded farther from the shore. He called out in his mind, “Dash, where are you? Dash!”
No response. It was as if the voices within the Infinity Coil had been snuffed out.
Devil’s Island Besieged
Ole Lukoje hopped from one foot to another as a sliver of a dimensional portal appeared. “It’s-s-s working, but I need more necro energy,” he said.
“Keep at it,” Amina ordered.
She focussed her attention back onto the approaching enemy: two exoskeletons and a group of Farrier’s rebels. Amina had two options. She could run or fight. The promise of the gateway was too tempting.
She turned to Ning Shu and Hakeem. “We have to give Ole Lukoje more time to open the portal. It’s Hakeem’s only chance.”
The scientist wiped sweat from his brow. He was pale and weak, but he gripped his teslatron rifle and said, “No other choice.”
Ning Shu lay down and took aim with her rifle. “Amina, your highest priority is Hakeem.”
Amina nodded. She lay flat on the ground a few paces away from Hakeem, who aimed his teslatron rifle at the advancing pair of exoskeleton machines.
Hakeem instructed her, “Aim at the servos. That’s the weak point of the units. It won’t stop them, but it will slow them down if we can score a direct hit.”
She nodded and inched away from him. Ba Tian’s machine suddenly raised its arm with the weapon turret. The carousel began to spin and whine until a high-pitched scream filled the air.
“He sees us,” Ning Shu said as she stood up in between them. “Stay behind me.”
“Ning Shu, are you crazy? Get down!” Amina ordered.
The red girl whipped off her jade tael and whirled the necklace until the air vibrated with the hum of the device. Ba Tian unleashed razor taels at the trio. They pinged off the whirling shield Ning Shu had created with her jade tael. Amina and Hakeem fired on the approaching machines.
Suddenly, Farrier’s insurgents appeared from behind the units. They spread out across the graveyard and returned fire. The night sky was illuminated by the teslatron bolts hammering Ning Shu’s shield. Amina shot at the exoskeleton nearest her. The shot lit up the exoskeleton unit, but missed the servos.
On the other side of Ning Shu, Hakeem inched himself to the edge of her spinning shield and fired at the stray insurgents trying to flank them. He was a scientist, not a warrior, and his shots went wide and high. Ba Tian and his fellow exoskeleton operator advanced on their position. Their only hope now was Ole Lukoje.
“I don’t care what you have to do to open the portal, but do it now!” Amina yelled.
“Patienc-c-ce,” the raggedy man answered.
Amina spotted four of Farrier’s insurgents flanking past Hakeem’s defenses. She swung her rifle around and shot at the rebels. One went down. The rest took cover behind the grave markers. Amina pinned them down so that she could protect Ol
e Lukoje as he worked on the portal. She advanced on the rebels, leaving Hakeem and Ning Shu to hold off the machines and the rest of Farrier’s insurgents.
Ning Shu shouted at Hakeem, “The humans are moving on the right. Take them down.”
Hakeem crawled to Amina’s former position on Ning Shu’s right. He fired at two insurgents moving through the grave markers. His bolt seared a wooden cross, but missed the pair completely. He coughed as he tried to reposition for another shot.
“Hakeem, are you all right?” Ning Shu asked.
“Stop asking!” he snapped.
Before Ning Shu could check on him, a round of razor taels pinged off her shield. Her arm burned in pain from twirling the jade tael. The two exoskeleton machines moved closer. She couldn’t keep this up for much longer.
Then, from the right, a hail of projectiles slammed into one of the machines. A few more jammed into the metal hide. They were razor taels. She looked to the right and saw a third exoskeleton unit lumbering erratically across the graveyard. The operator hadn’t fully mastered the controls, but seemed to know how the weapon turret worked at least.
Ehrich smiled grimly from the cockpit.
He had figured out that the pedals operated the legs, and he pumped them to make the unit move forward. The levers in front of him controlled the arms, and he had found the lever that operated the turret. He pulled on it again to send a fresh volley of razor taels at the attackers.
The taels cut down the grave markers and bit into a trio of rebels that were moving toward Hakeem. They dropped their weapons and fell to the ground, bloodied and screaming in pain. Ehrich could hear all the sounds of the battle through the cockpit’s interior brass horn, a mini-version of the one attached to the outside of the helmet.