“No. And you know I’m right.”
Tebayi’s voice was full of scorn. “I pity you, Kalxin. You were on the path of greatness, a respected voice among the Thinkers. And look at you now, you mourn the old instead of rejoicing what is to be.”
Kalxin sighed. “You still don’t know, Tebayi. After all this time.”
“Know what, Kalxin? Explain it to me. Explain it to me, the only Amilaki who dared to attain what the Elders feared to contemplate. Explain it to me, the only Amilaki who went beyond empty rhetoric and found a way to supplant the limitations of our species. Explain it to me, the one about to change all of our destinies. Tell me, oh ancient one, what I don’t understand.”
Kalxin’s upper torso deflated, as if the effort to sit up was too much. The pressure in his head increased at once, causing the knife of pain to burn with even more fierceness. He concentrated on lifting his head up to the source of the voice, to the artificial shell housing Tebayi’s consciousness. He blinked and steadied his gaze, willing his body to cooperate one final time.
“You don’t know about the inner flame burning in humans.”
“Oh, that.”
Kalxin’s eyes narrowed in surprise.
“I know all about what the humans call the soul. I know about how it is viewed as the immaterial component of a physical body and how it is able to transcend death and achieve immortality.” Tebayi chortled. “It is just one of many superstitions they have.”
“You might know about it, but its true meaning is lost to you.”
“I don’t think so. I have extensively researched the subject and found no proof to support its existence. The soul is an invention, pure and simple. A fantasy designed to assuage the fear of death in feeble-minded humans.”
“That’s where you have it wrong, Tebayi.”
“Enlighten me then, Kalxin.”
Kalxin’s gaze twinkled.
“I can’t.”
“Why is that?”
He smiled. “Because I don’t have one.”
“Of course you don’t, because it doesn’t exist.”
“That’s why you don’t understand.”
Tebayi snickered. “Nonsense, all of it.”
“I have seen it.”
“Delusions of an old man.”
Kalxin shrugged, a slow deliberate movement. “Maybe.”
“Your misguided belief is a tragedy in itself. I have achieved what the humans have dreamed about but never managed to attain, despite their soul. I am immortal. I have cast aside the last ties that held me imprisoned and dependent of those biological and inferior bags of blood and bones known as bodies. I have evolved beyond the need for such artifice, forever growing as I extend my reach to the confines of this planet… and even beyond. I am, you poor fool, what you would call the soul of the new Amilaki.”
Kalxin’s stare turned to steel. “I hope not.”
He inclined his head, closed his eyes and exhaled softly.
The voice above him resonated one final time before the world dimmed around him, the pull of death an inevitable force he couldn’t avoid.
“So long… father.”
24 Headway
Noah sensed movement beside him. With a jerk, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was inside some kind of room but the details were out of focus, lost to darkness. He realized he was sitting down on a hard surface, propped up against a wall that felt unnaturally cold. Though he could see, the fog in his vision turned everything into hazy, indistinct, blobs. One particular blob, white and beige-like, bobbed up and down right next to him.
What is that?
Taken aback by the apparition, he tried to move away from it. A chill spread through him but his body remained locked, as if waiting for instructions late in coming. He concentrated on moving his head, closing his eyes to concentrate.
Move. Head.
It didn’t work.
He was paralyzed.
The jumping blob settled over his legs.
He felt the weight of the foreign body as it settled over him, but his eyesight refused to clear.
Dammit.
Maybe his ears worked better. He shuttered away the blobs marring his vision and turned his attention to listening. At first, only the constant buzzing occupied the sound field. Then, one by one, distinct noises popped inside his head.
Wind. Creaking metal. Whimpering.
The last sound was definitely linked to the blob still draped over his legs.
“Foxy?”
His voice sounded as if he was inside a submarine.
The blob became much larger, changing its overall color to white. He sensed something wet on his forehead.
A short bark confirmed the blob’s identity.
“Foxy! Girl! I’m glad its you.”
The Sheltie licked him again.
The blobs in his eyesight slowly dissolved, changing into more corporal shapes. As if he was pulling his head out of an aquarium, the white blob turned clearer and at last, he made out the familiar snout and the two inquisitive eyes.
“I can see you now, Foxy.”
The dog acknowledged him with another lick.
He wanted to pet her but his arm refused to move, or his legs for that matter. He was still glued into place, inert and unable to lift a finger.
“How are you girl?”
Foxy turned her head with a quizzical expression.
She must be wondering why I can’t move.
“I can’t move, not yet anyway.”
“Me neither.”
From the corner of his eye, he identified where the voice came from.
“Sergeant Garcia, are you okay?”
The soldier’s voice was hoarse. “Yes, you?”
“I can see just fine but I’m unable to change position.”
There was a grunt followed by a colorful expletive. “Same here.”
Foxy left Noah’s side and went over to the soldier. She nudged her nose next to his arm. He winked at her. “At least Foxy seems to be all right.”
Noah agreed. “Yeah, I wonder why. Maybe she was knocked out like the rest of us but simply came out of it quicker.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“Who’s there?”
Garcia shifted his eyes to the right. Five feet away sat a large, squarish, person, braced against the body of yet another, though slimmer, soldier. Although the head looked down to the floor, Garcia recognized Graves’ distinctive uniform.
“Colonel,” Garcia said, his voice stronger. “It’s me, Sergeant Garcia. I’m sitting just a few feet away from you. I can’t move and neither can Noah who’s sitting across from me.”
The Colonel cleared his throat. “Where are we? I can’t see a damn thing.”
“I believe we are locked up inside the supply container, sir.”
There was a moment of silence as the Colonel absorbed the answer. “Can you confirm that the entire unit is here?”
“No, sir. My vision is limited… but I think so, yeah.”
“Jesus.”
“But we do have an able-bodied trooper, sir,” Noah piped up.
Foxy made her way between the stretched out legs of the soldiers, tiptoeing her way deeper inside the container. She reached Colonel Graves and put her head on his lap.
“Ah, Foxy,” Graves said with a smile. “You are looking good as always.”
The Sheltie wagged her tail with enthusiasm.
Marilisa Leyland, her head resting on the Colonel’s right shoulder, spoke up. “I never thought we would be so close, Colonel.”
“Oh, Doctor! I’m sorry you’re in this mess.”
“Not your fault, sir.”
Graves harrumphed. “Yes it is. I didn’t see it coming. Didn’t see the threat even though it was right outside our doors.”
There was a sudden silence inside the gloomy confine.
“Uh, sir,” Noah said.
“Go ahead.”
“I can’t stare at them directly, but I think the doo
rs aren’t completely closed.”
“What?”
“It’s true, sir,” Garcia amended. “Me and Noah are the ones closest to the doors and I can definitely feel cold air coming inside.”
“What does it mean, Colonel?” Leyland asked.
“It means Doctor, that we have a chance.” Graves raised his voice so that everyone could hear. “Listen up people. I know this looks bad. But we can’t abandon hope. We are unhurt, we have our wits and when this damn paralysis ceases, we will resume fighting.”
There was a chorus of, “Yes, sir!”
“Someone left those door open for us. That means to me that we have people still on the go, still on the move. Once we regain our mobility, we will go back inside the plant and stop the Amilaki threat once and for all. We can’t let the Tebayi witch take over our mainframes, our infrastructures, our way of life. We must stop her right here, right now. We are the vanguard, the first and last line of defense.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sergeant Garcia.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
“The instant you are able to walk, I want you to lead the unit. You will rush out that door, grab all the weapons you need and make a beeline for the Cube.”
“Understood, sir. And once we’re inside?”
“We take control back. That means, I want all the Amilaki neutralized, even the friendlies. I want the computers shut down as well as the whole goddamn shebang. I want the entire room secured.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Sergeant?”
“Yes.”
“Use deadly force if necessary.”
“Paige!” Beatrice blurted, catching her breath with great big gulps of air. “Tell me you have a rope.”
There was a shift in the shadows and the soldier rose into view.
“I sure do. Why?”
Beatrice nodded, a grin spreading to her face.
“No time to explain,” she said. “Follow me.”
She ran down the length of the wall, without looking backwards to see if the two followed. Two minutes later they were standing at the bottom of a steel ladder affixed to the side of the building. There was a cage around the ladder, also steel, but the white paint was all but gone, the rust covering every inch of the structure. Beatrice didn’t hesitate and began climbing. The ladder was used to gain access to the roof and that was exactly what she needed to do. Breathing hard, she pulled herself up and soon enough found she’d reached the top. She hopped unto the roof, finding her feet on the tar and gravel surface. A moment later Paige and Kyle joined her, the two soldiers putting a knee down out of habit.
“What now?” Paige asked.
Beatrice took a step toward the edge. There was only a short skirt, about a foot high, along the edge of the roof and she took care not to trip over it. Peeking down at the wall from her vantage point, she could see the tall windows set in the brickwork. They were plunged in darkness, with no illumination whatsoever.
Is that the old control room?
It had to be. The windows were on the upper floor and faced out to Mount Verstovia, like the layout indicated. Shrugging away the doubts still lingering in her mind, she called Paige over.
“See those windows,” she pointed them out to the soldier, “That’s the old control room. Apparently Eklan and Asalak are locked up in there.”
“Understood.”
Paige gestured to De Rozan and both soldiers got to work. Kyle slipped out of his backpack and began rummaging through the contents. He plucked out a length of rope and handed it over to Paige.
“It’s only 50 feet long,” he said, the disappointment in his voice easily noticeable.
“That’s okay, it’ll do.”
She unfurled the rope to its full length. The nylon was striped with a repeating black and green pattern and though its diameter was just 9mm, it had a tensile strength of more than 1300 pounds, strong enough for their needs.
Paige spotted a two-feet high pipe jutting out from the gravel. It was in the perfect spot, in a straight line to where the windows were, about 20 feet below. She looped the rope about the 4 inches wide, steel-clad ventilation pipe and tugged on it to make sure it would hold.
It did.
She walked back near the edge and looked down at the objective. She would need to repel down the facade, break a window and make her way inside.
Easy enough.
“Okay Kyle, I want you to secure the line while I go down. Once I’m in, you guys wait while I go find our charges.”
“You don’t want me to follow you down?” Kyle asked, somewhat taken aback.
“Not immediately. I might need you to haul out our friends if they can’t manage it.”
Kyle nodded but his brow remained furrowed.
Paige shot a glance at Beatrice. “Are you sure about this? That they are in there?”
There was a quick grin on Beatrice’s face. “Absolutely, unless your buddy, Owen, lied to me.”
“Owen?”
“Yes, I just talked to him. He’s on our side now, having seen, as he said, the light. He says hello, by the way.”
“Jesus,” Paige mumbled, shaking her head.
“Come on Paige, admit it. He is likable.”
The Corporal gazed at her with the same an expression as a deer trapped in headlights. “Uh, no.”
Shifting her attention back to what she was doing, Paige gripped the extremity of the rope and passed it between her legs. Then, in one smooth movement, she snaked it behind her right thigh, guided it over her chest and passed it over her shoulder, the one on the opposite side from her thigh. Then, from the shoulder, she passed the rope to her other hand, securing the rope’s travel with one final pull. Satisfied, she gave a thumbs up to the others and made her way to the edge of the roof.
Kyle checked the rope to make sure it wasn’t tangled anywhere and facing the Corporal, gave her a short nod. “How will you break the window?”
“I’m thinking of kicking it in.”
“A firefighter friend of mine once said that the bottom corner of any window is the weakest part.”
“Oh, really? I didn’t know that. I’ll give it a try.”
Paige shot a last glance at them then maneuvered herself into position. Legs apart, she eased backward and with care, slowly let the rope slip between her fingers. Foot by foot, she rappelled downwards, using both legs to steady herself against the wall. Four minutes later, her left foot hit the glass. She had reached the target. The muscles in her arms and legs burned from the effort and she took a moment to gather her strength. She lowered herself a few more feet, her progress precisely lined up with the strip of aluminum that separated each window. Looking into the room, she could make out a desk, a few chairs and on the far wall, an array of gauges.
Save for one solitary light source out to the side, no other illumination was visible. She scanned for movement, saw none. If Asalak and Eklan were in there, they were lost in the prevailing darkness.
She glanced up at the roof. Two silhouettes stared down at her, the moonlight blunting their features into amorphous shapes. “I don’t see them but I’m going in!” She called, her words whipped up by the wind.
Tightening her hold on the rope, she inched down a final few inches and stopped. Her right foot hovered above the bottom corner of the window. All she needed to do now was to twist her body sidewise, pull her leg back and kick.
She forced air into her lungs, pumping herself up. She counted down to three in her head, heaved herself backward with one brutal push then swung her foot out as hard she could.
The steel-capped toe of her boot struck the glass… and bounced harmlessly away.
The pane shook and vibrated but kept its integrity, the moon dancing on the reflective surface.
She gave it a second try, putting even more weight behind the kick. The boot made contact and a small piece of glass flew away. Encouraged, she kicked again. A bigger crack cut across the window, splintering the surface into two halves. Heart ha
mmering in her chest, Paige became desperate. She was dead tired now, barely able to hold on. She needed to get inside, right now. She had pushed herself too much, beyond her forces, and realized that she couldn’t climb up anymore. The burning sensation in her arms and legs was incredible but she couldn’t do anything about it, not unless she found a way to get inside that room.
She gazed down at the ground. It lay hidden in the gloom but she knew the rope didn’t reach that far down. There would be at least a twenty-five feet gap between her and the surface. She wondered if her legs would break if she fell. Most assuredly, but she had no desire to find out.
And with one final push, she struck the glass.
There was a shattering noise, followed by a shower of falling glass. She looked inside the room. The light cast oblique outlines in the interior but she had no time to admire its artful effect. She put her left foot on the window’s empty sill and gripped the edge of it with her left hand. A broken piece of glass cut her glove, stinging the palm of her hand. She ignored the flare of pain and concentrated on finding her footing. Marshaling the last ounces of strength she still had available, she lunged for the cool interior, crashing down with a loud fracas on the tile-carpeted floor.
She had made it.
A voice hissed in her left ear. “Stay right there.”
25 Escape
The voice in Paige’s ear followed the warning with a new one, “All clear, Corporal Hillcox.”
In the subdued interior of the old control room, Paige got up from her crouched stance and gazed at her interlocutor. Asalak stared back, a look of expectation in his eyes. In the far corner of the room, she saw Eklan slowly close a door that led out to a brick-lined corridor. There was a man at his feet and she understood at once that the guard had come in to investigate the noise.
But Eklan had taken care of him.
“Are you hurt?” Asalak asked.
Impressed by his calm, she shook her head. “No. You?”
“We are fit to travel. We have to stop Tebayi, Corporal, before its too late.”
Paige saw Eklan come closer, his gaze shifting back every few seconds to the main door, as if he was waiting for other Amilaki to rush inside.
The Parabiont Invasion Book 3 Page 15