“Duh.” The zombie taunted.
“I’m guessing human. I assume you caused this?” Alisia’s boot found something big and hard lodged in the older zombie’s chest cavity.
“Ya, that’s me.” The zombie replied. Regan’s head spun at the thought of a human causing this on purpose. At least Autar’s fall was an accident, right? It was a faint hope she’d clung to for the sake of faith in humanity.
Alisia reached down getting a hold of the twenty centimeter wide metal canister she had found. It was caked in dried blood. She held it up for Regan to see, then looked towards the zombie. “So, this would be your handiwork then. What is it?”
“Well...” The zombie hesitated. “You’re going to find out anyway, I guess it doesn’t make a difference.” He took the opportunity to brag a bit. “It’s a mobile server. Good long battery, can carry a shitload of nanites, and a half decent transmission radius. Keep it, I have lots.”
Alisia found a clasp and opened it up. As promised, a battery, and a lot of circuitry.
“It could have been a bomb.” The zombie said. “You’re pretty brave.. or dumb.”
“It didn’t seem to fit your M.O. to use a bomb.” she said, fingering a power switch inside. “So, what’s your name?”
“Ha! Nice try. But I guess you have to call me something.. how about... uh.. what’s Autar backwards...? Ratua? No, that sucks. Uh.... ooh, this is cool, how about Samhain?”
“Samhain?” Regan asked.
“Hmm.. you’re right. A bit dorky still, and fact is, he wasn’t actually the Celtic god of the dead. Ooh! Egyptian! Anubis! No, no, that’s been done. Charon? I’m not into boats.” The zombie looked off into nowhere while he thought and rambled. “Namtar? Rudra? Dorky, no. Thanatos has been so done. Tartarus? Tartar sauce. No. Hm. Erebus! Yes! Call me Erebus! Son of Chaos, brother of Nyx!”
“What the hell ever! Why are you doing this?” Alisia asked.
“Did you know that Erebus has a volcano named after him? Some people used to think of Erebus and Hades as the same guy, but I think the-“
“Shut the fuck up.” Alisia pressed the switch in the mobile server, and he fell limp. The scattering of writhing parts they had made stopped moving, and the rest of the zombies in other areas of the mall fell to the ground.
Marking notable things with VTags on the way, the girls carried the mobile server out, trudging through the cooling gore. They came to the entrance as decontamination teams were arriving.
Alisia’s head spun with worries and tried to grapple the implications of this ‘Erebus’. She looked to Regan. She just looked tired. That sort of deep-soul tired. Regan looked to Alisia. Under the warming sun and the press helicopters, she held onto Alisia and pushed back weary tears.
~~~~~
Chapter 35: Unwind
~~~~~
While Alisia took care of the paperwork and other post-mission business on base, Regan and her rattled nerves wandered towards the base bar. Parker spotted her on the way and tagged along. At first Regan resented the unexpected company, but Parker’s easy demeanor soon chipped away her resistance. Before she realized it she was thankful for the company. It wasn’t long before they were seated in a booth, lagers in hand.
“So, what’s up?” Parker asked.
“Up? We just came back from a successful mission and I thought I would come down and pollute myself a bit.”
“Regan, come on. Me and anyone tuned into the news today saw how rattled you were.”
“The news?!”
“Yeah, there was a press chopper sharing the air with us when you guys came out.”
Fuck. Just what she needed. The entire world watching her have a breakdown. “Lovely.” She took a deep drink of her beer. “Don’t tell me... ugh, I don’t wanna know what they said about me.” Weak, they would say. Weak, damaged, fragile survivor of Autar. No wonder Alisia was repulsed by her.
“No.. nothing overdone. Something like ‘here we see Major Terone and Regan Grier, obviously this has been a trying day,’ blah blah blah.”
“Well.. that’s survivable. Nothing like ‘Look at the lesbian crybaby curling up to her unrequited love for a little cry’?”
Parker smiled softly with sympathy in his eyes. “No, your secret’s safe from the world for now. It was pretty rough though, huh?”
“I’ve seen worse, it just reminded me of a lot of stuff.”
“The first fall.”
“Yeah. What a mess that was. Seeing all those people.. well...” Regan slid into her own little world and her eyes began to glaze, staring into her drink.
Parker tapped his finger abruptly on the table. “Topic change!”
“Meh?” Regan looked at him, still a little removed from the world.
“Let’s talk about something else.”
Three body canisters containing samples from the mall mob were wheeled into the Yute base lab on trolleys. Alisia was now a passing acquaintance to the aged lab head, ‘Doc Brock’ who looked like he was in desperate need of some sun. She handed him the mobile server she had recovered and told him what she knew.
“So, if you can figure anything more, or if you notice anything different about these zombies, it might help track this guy down.”
“Why would these zombies be different?” the wiry scientist asked, already prodding the canister.
“Whatever or whoever was controlling them, and taking possession of them.. well, these ones might have something extra on them or in them to make it possible. I don’t know. Also compare them to the one we brought in from the warehouse office job. I’m pretty sure our new friend ‘Erebus’ was in there too, for a bit.”
Alisia thanked him, and waved towards the back of the lab where she spotted a few faces eyeing her. She headed back to the airlimb and arrived just in time to see a civilian delivery man with a forklift style dolly loading a palette of miscellaneous goods onto the airlimb under Regan’s supervision.
“Just leave it in here,” she said, gesturing to the floor of the main bay. “I’ll worry about it from there.”
“What the heck is this?” Alisia asked, a little annoyed.
“Heeeheee... I went and did some net shopping the other day. It’s here!” Regan peeked into the plastic-wrapped bundle of products as the delivery man set the hand cart’s forks down. Regan thanked him with a chipper smile, and dismissed him. He walked past Alisia who was still a little stunned.
“What the fuck did you buy?”
“Oh, all kinds of things. Hey, ‘leesh, do we have a new mission?”
“No. Until the lab boys tell us something or another attack breaks out, we’re on easy standby.”
Regan dug her nails into the plastic package and smiled like a little girl who’d had too much sugar. “Ha! Then it’s time to go!”
“Go? Where are y-“ Then Alisia suddenly remembered about Regan’s birthday. “Oh, Regan, I haven’t had a chance to get you anything...!”
“Bah! I don’t need your presents; I just need your presence! Remember? My tropical spot! Get Kris to drop us off!”
Alisia regretted agreeing to come with her on her little vacation, but it was too late to back out. With any luck she could park herself by the hotel pool and Regan wouldn’t pester her too badly, being surrounded by the public. Ack. The public. Regan might react badly. She would need support. This was going to be an interesting and difficult trip.
~~~~~
Chapter 36: Evil Exposed
~~~~~
Kris settled down and curled up to her new favorite victim, Parker. The heat and sweat would be unpleasant in a while, but for the moment they just soaked each other in, nested into Parker’s bed.
“So, you have no interest in Alisia?”
“No,” Parker said, “What an odd thing to bring up now.. got a jealous streak or something?”
Kris sneered to herself. So the nice little puppy had a bit of ego. “Mmmmm, no,” she purred, “I just wondered...” She paused, and touched Parker in a way that got his attention. �
��I was just wondering what she’s doing right now...” Kris sighed, “She’s got to be feeling... lonely, in that big room, all alone.”
Parker smirked. “It sounds like I’m the one who should be feeling jealous.”
“Mmmmm, no....” Kris made a fake little giggle, the type that men seemed to like to hearing. “She doesn’t like girls. I think I know what she needs...” Her touch became a bit more suggestive.
“What the hell?”
It wasn’t quite the reaction Kris was hoping for. “Come on... she’s hot, isn’t she? She could probably use the attention of a man...”
Parker’s stomach turned at Kris’s implied vulgarity. “She’s my commander!”
“She’s a wommmmmannnn....” Kris gasped.
“What? No! Why do you want me with her? I thought we were doing ok right here, you and me.”
Oh great, he’s grown attached or something. Press on.. “Yeah, we’re doin’ ok, but you and Alisia... think of it.. she’s so strong on the job, so commanding.. then off duty, she’s so... demure.. so... mmmm.... wouldn’t you like to get deep into her- head,... and see what makes her... makes her... tick?”
Parker leaned back and widened his eyes. “You’re after Regan..!”
“What?!” Fuck, that was an unexpected and unwelcome jump of logic.
“You want Regan but you need to get Alisia away from her, and you want me to do it! Well too bad.” Parker was now rather insulted. Feeling regret and disgust crawling up on him, he sat up and started looking for his clothes.
Kris gave up on the seductive bit. “If I wanted a girl, there’s billions of em out there. Regan’s not special!” Kris spoke with notable spite.
Parker fumbled into his shirt. “She is so! You and her were an item right? You wouldn’t want to get back with her at all?”
Kris’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses, and they flashed of hate for just a moment. “No.” She started getting dressed, intending to leave.
Parker was a little startled. Then it hit him, and he spoke before considering it. “You just want to hurt her.”
Motion and sound stopped.
Kris turned, half dressed, to look at Parker. Her eyes told no tales, but her jaw trembled. “Shut the fuck up. Where the hell’s my bra?” Her voice was quiet and eerily calm.
“You didn’t bring one.” Parker replied. His flat tone demanded a response to his prior accusation, but Kris ignored him. “She rejected you, didn’t she? You didn’t dump her, it was the other way around.” Parker’s tone was softened now, but only a little. Kris stared into him with an expression which refused to reveal anything. Parker pushed his luck. “Don’t tell me you loved her.. you, the evil, evil slut?”
“I thought I told you to shut up. Love is a crutch.”
Parker tried to read her tone, or her voice, but she had practiced them too well. “Yes, love is support. It was meant that way. It keeps people together.”
“I’m going to be sick.” Kris snapped away and left, stumbling on the doorframe. Parker considered giving chase... but no, not now.
Kris was still putting herself together after she got to her room, still angry, when her comm popped on.
“Kris?” It was Alisia. “I supplied some co-ordinates to the ‘limb. I could use a drop-off, then we’re on leave for a couple days.”
“Fine.” Kris snapped. What she was feeling was “Fine, what the fuck ever.” Fucking Parker. She could feel him just down the hall. She could feel him judging her. For the first time in a long time, the phrase ‘evil slut’ hurt her. She stepped out of her door, doing her damnedest to rip the door off its tracks as she opened it. She stormed around the corner and almost ran over Alisia.
“Woah, Captain, slow down.” Alisia seemed to be in ‘non-business’ mode, although she was still in full uniform.
“.... sorry Sir. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get us airborne. Where the heck are we going?”
“I don’t know the details. Some resort Regan picked out.”
“Regan?” Kris bitterly applauded Regan in her mind. Sneaky little bitch. “I see.” Kris walked off towards the operations room. She walked with such a spiteful stride that Alisia was surprised that her heels didn’t leave dents in the plate metal floor. Alisia had never seen her so mad before... Kris was always so smooth and aloof. The aloof side was unnerving, but this one was outright frightening. A part of Alisia hoped that Kris would do something stupid and give her an excuse to transfer her out as Regan wanted.
~~~~~
Chapter 37: Trapped
~~~~~
Alisia opened the bay door and felt tropical warmth flood in. The shore of an island could be seen ahead. It grew closer. At least Regan had taste. The airlimb slowed to a stop thirty meters from shore, three meters above the sea. The engines revved down to a quiet hover. Alisia could now hear the sea, gently singing its ancient song.
Regan approached. She was rolling her giant palette of cargo along. It dwarfed Alisia’s overnight bag. Regan was already in the spirit of things. Her usual skimpy outfit had been replaced with a different skimpy outfit. A racy swimsuit under her usual leather jacket.
“You’re taking that whole thing?” Alisia asked, pointing at Regan’s cargo.
“Yeah, I bought most of it just for this trip!” She gazed out to the island shore. “It’s amazing. The satellite photos don’t do it justice.”
“Sate....? What? Where are we?”
Regan smirked. “It’s unnamed. There’s no tourist trade here. I found it by pouring over satellite photos and this looked ideal.”
Alisia had to admit, it looked amazing. Soft white sand, cerulean water, and seemingly untouched jungle farther up the beach. “Uh.. wait a sec. Are you telling me there’s no civilization on this island?”
“Correct! A private little spot to spend a weekend! That’s why all the luggage! This is also a camping weekend!” Regan spread her arms as if to embrace her little island. Previously unnoticed, Kris chose that moment to shove Regan out the door. Alisia gasped and reached out to Regan in vain. Regan formed a fist for Kris in reflex just before hitting the water.
Kris laughed in delight.
Alisia watched Regan flounder amidst various curses. “... You realize she’s just gonna kick your ass.”
Kris kept watching Regan, and quietly responded “.......yeah.”
“Was it worth it?”
“..... yeah.”
Regan finally stabilized, and shouted up at Kris. “What the hell?!”
Kris waved coyly. “That’s your fee. I fly you out here and pick you up, and I get to make you wet!”
Regan muttered something. Alisia guessed that it was something about ‘evil slut’.
“Alright smartass!” Regan yelled up, “Get onto the beach and unload the gear!” Regan turned and started swimming to shore. Kris headed back for the operations room.
Alisia looked at Regan and thought. “Aw hell, that’s not nice.” She stripped her boots and fatigues and tossed them on the luggage heap, revealing her own swimsuit. Looking at it now, she wished she had something a little more frumpy, but what the hell. The airlimb started to float towards shore accelerating, but Alisia jumped out landing a few meters in front of Regan.
She righted herself and found Regan looking at her with curiosity.
“I couldn’t let you swim to shore all alone and sad,” Alisia said cheerfully, “It’s your freakin’ birthday. We’re here to have fun, right?”
Regan smiled the most carefree, innocent smile Alisia had ever seen on her. Regan swam over and hugged Alisia. “That’s the spirit, ‘leesha!”
Alisia knew there was nothing sexual about the hug, but she couldn’t help being very aware at how scantily clad they both were and how much skin contact was being made. “Let go, stupid, I need to swim!”
They met the airlimb on shore. Parker had already unloaded the gear, and he was trying to not look like he was watching as Alisia and Regan came out of the water. After some goodbyes, the airlimb lifted off.
Alisia watched it as the engines grew quieter in the distance. That’s when it all sunk in.
She was alone.
With Regan.
On an uninhabited tropical island.
For the whole weekend.
Nowhere to run.
She turned around slowly, expecting to see Regan with an evil, evil grin, possibly in some suggestive pose. Thankfully, Regan was simply digging through the luggage for a towel. She tossed one at Alisia, too.
“Thanks.” She did a quick job of drying off and noticed Regan watching her a bit. A whole weekend of this. What were they going to do? She dreaded to think what Regan was planning. As if Regan read her mind, she spoke up.
“So, I brought a lot of stuff. There’s an inflatable raft if we wanted to do that, I have a portable terminal in here somewhere, a tent, all kinds of food, you name it.” She grabbed a couple beach blankets and laid them out. Alisia spotted a large beach umbrella in the heap and set it up.
Soon, they were both sitting, enjoying the sun, the sounds of the surf, and a couple sweet, colourful drinks.
“Not a bad birthday party you’ve thrown yourself here, Regan. I feel a bit silly.”
“Why?”
“Because this kind of thing is supposed to be set up by your friends, not yourself.”
“Would you have done this?”
True. Alisia was planning a cake, and maybe a short pub visit. That would have probably been preferable, but she did promise. Why was that, again?
Regan rolled over and wiggled like an anxious little kid. She let out a giggle then rolled off onto the sand, and kept going.
Alisia watched, waiting for it to make sense, but Regan just kept rolling around, throwing up sand. “Alright you toddler, what the hell are you doing?”
Regan halted and faced Alisia with a big grin. She looked like a puppy who’d just heard its name called. “Our own beach! No tourists! No fat, sweaty men in speedos! It’s all ours!”
Alisia smiled a softly amused giggle.
Regan ran over to the terminal and started up some music. “Let’s go for another swim!” She whipped out a couple meter and a half foam pole pool toys from the luggage and tossed one at Alisia. “Come on!” Regan started running for the water.
AZU-1: Lifehack Page 18