The next bedroom was eerily silent outside the door, especially knowing which room it was. He sneakily slid the door open and poked his head around to peer into the darkness. The fifteen Nemo clones were scattered around the floor and the bed, all asleep. One of them was curled up in Slayven's arms on a pile of pillows in the corner where the glow from a nightlight shone softly in the room.
Rav let the bedroom door automatically slide closed. Before he was about to head down into the cargo hold, a tiny whisper caught his attention. He spun around to see Nemo standing there in the hallway all alone, his hips bound in the gauze and bandages and the wires from the computer dangling off of the sensors on his bony ribs. "Hey, buddy. What are you doing out of bed?"
Nemo's mint green eyes were glossed over with a distant fog as he stared back at his father without words.
"Nemo, are you okay? Why don't we go back to bed? Aren't you tired? I think it's time for another dose of painkillers."
The boy took one of the cables from his chest and plugged it into his left ear. He ripped the sensor from his ribs then stuck it to the wall of the hallway. He shot a dark glare at Rav before closing his eyes and letting out an ear-shattering scream. The lights along the ceiling flickered then went black as the sounds of the electricity generators whined and shut off.
Rav blinked in the sudden darkness, reaching out for his son, but finding nothing other than the wall. "Nemo? What did you do? What was that? Turn the lights back on. Nemo? Nemo!"
"The green man."
"Nemo? What about the green man? Who is the green man?"
Through the blackness, a single red emergency light came on at the end of the hallway above the door to the computer room. Rav tiptoed towards the eerie red light that filled the hallway, instinctively reaching to his thigh for his revolver that was not there. Instead, he held up his fists in preparation to fight back against anything that could have possibly jumped out at him. Green man? Who was the green man?
When he got close enough, the door slid open and the whispering voice from inside caught in his ears. Rav slipped inside and dropped to his knees to hide behind the first desk against the inside wall. With his back up against the cold metal, he peeked around the corner to see the dim light of a blue hologram hovering above the floor and Sawyer kneeling next to it with a stack of folders that he was flipping through.
The green mohawk. The green man?
Rav squinted through the darkness to make out the figure on the hologram. It was the face of someone he had only seen on the newscasts or the few entries on the database. As soon as he recognized the pudgy man, he clasped his hand over his own mouth to keep himself from making any surprised sounds. Elysian President Jonathan Brightman.
Sawyer's voice spoke softly and calmly to him as the light from the hologram projector died out. "Hello, Rav. I know you're in here."
He froze. Rav swallowed hard as the shuffling footsteps grew closer. He dove for the doorway, but hands grabbed his ankles and pulled him back inside. Forced to turn over onto his back, he shut his eyes against the blinding lights that came on above him. Slowly opening his eyes as his vision adjusted to the onslaught, he looked up at the man in the green jumpsuit standing over him with a switchblade in his hand.
"What are you doing in here, Rav?"
"N-Nothing. I was just looking for your sister. Do you know where she is?"
"She's sorting out rations in the cargo hold. Shouldn't you be in bed with Leah? I know she has missed you."
"Uh, yeah. I'll just be going back to bed, then. Night." Rav was shoved back down to the floor when Sawyer pinned him there with the blade against his throat. He dared not move for fear of the edge slipping across his artery. "Sawyer, don't do this."
Sawyer grinned at him and clicked his neon pink tongue ring against his teeth. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave, Tillman. You've seen too much. I know you were watching me."
"Why were you talking to Brightman? Why were you giving him information? He's the enemy."
"Maybe he's your enemy. I never said he's mine."
"Oh dear space. You're a spy. How long?" Rav asked. "How long have you been doing this?"
"That's my business, not yours. You know, this actually works out perfectly. The ship is quiet. Everyone is asleep or where they can't hear your screams. Jonathan wanted you dead anyway, so what better time to do it than now? I can drag your body outside and bury you in the soft ground. It's perfect."
"Why are you doing this? Why betray your friends and your own sister?"
"You act like this is a new thing. I was spying on you even down in Odyssia two years ago. You were just too dumb to notice. How stupid are you? Everyone here trusted me, even after I used those codes of yours to send you on that rampage in Odyssia when you killed thousands of people. I couldn't believe it. You all were so preoccupied with Vance's crap that no one gave it a second thought to let me back in."
Rav writhed underneath the man's weight bearing down on him, but he kept his head in place as the knife pressed harder against the light stubble along his Adam's apple. "Let me go. I won't tell anyone. Nemo needs me."
"Shut up. That's always your excuse, isn't it? Don't hurt you because you have a son? Don't take you away from him? That's ridiculous. Other people have things they are living for too. And he's not even a real human. He's a computer. A robot. You might as well be telling me to let you live because you have a toaster. No one gives a damn. So guess what? After I'm done with you, I'm going after him too. It would just be too cruel to leave him without his father, don't you think?"
The gunshot drew Rav's attention to the doorway as the bullet collided with Sawyer's shoulder. Hot blood rained down over him and Sawyer fell backwards, knocking papers off of the desk behind him as he caught himself. Rav took the opportunity to get up and prepare to fight. He looked to where the shot had come from.
Nemo stood there, looking incredibly pale, but with his thin arm outstretched and his green derringer in his hand. His entire body was quivering and his chest heaved for each and every labored breath. He cocked the pistol again. "Do you want me to? Daddy, do I kill him?"
Sawyer was hunched over, clutching his wounded shoulder with his hand, the knife still clenched tightly in his fingers. He snapped at Nemo. "You little bastard! I'll break those fingers of your and make you eat them!"
Rav stepped to his son's side and put his hand on top of the derringer. He forced Nemo to lower his arm then pried it out of the boy's grasp. "No. This is my kill. Close your eyes, Nemo."
"Okay."
He held up the pistol and aimed it at Sawyer. "Drop the knife, Sawyer. Come willingly to the cell in the cargo hold and I'll let you live. Do not fight me on this. You're beaten, Sawyer. Don't do anything stupid. Don't make your sister find your body on the floor in here. Think about Sandra."
"Then what? I give up and come with you to that cell? What happens then, huh? You torture me, pry answers and information out of me? It's not going to end like that. That makes it too easy for you. You son is going to die one way or another. There's nothing you can do to stop it. He's falling apart. His system is corrupted with a virus, an irremovable virus. The virus will corrode his files and his body until he is in a constant state of agony. Nothing you do will help him. It's a miracle he's standing there now and still able to speak. I give him one week before he's a complete brain-dead vegetable. He will be begging you to put a bullet in his head. Not even an engineer like you will be able to remove that virus." Sawyer smirked. "You're welcome."
Rav's finger tightened against the trigger, but he regained control. "Where did you get the virus? Who made it? Answer me! Who made the virus?"
Sawyer sank down to the floor, his face contorting in pain from the wound that continued to flood over his jumpsuit. "Why would I tell you? It doesn't matter who made it. All that matters is it's working. Your time with your son is running out, Tillman. Don't waste it."
"What are those papers?" Rav motioned to the open folders spread out across the metal
floor beside the hologram projector. "What information were you sending to President Brightman?"
"You can read. Go check them out yourself."
"Nice try. I'm not turning my back on you for one second. You're not getting out of this. You're not running."
Footsteps raced up the hallway until Visht pushed past Nemo with his laser pistol drawn. "What's going on? I heard a gunshot. Oh space. You shot Sawyer!"
Rav studied the red-horned teenage warbringer of the corner of his eye. "Stay back, Visht. Sawyer is a spy. He's been sending information to Jonathan Brightman. Go get Dallis and Kalimis. I might need backup to get Sawyer down into the cell. I'm not strong enough on my own."
"Yes, sir!"
Once Visht was gone again, Rav took a few brave steps towards the traitor, still clenching the tiny pistol in his hand. "I'm going to give you one chance to tell me who made the virus before I start filling other parts of your body with lead. This isn't a game. It's not funny. Nemo may be just a computer to you, but he's my life. He's everything I have. I'm begging you to tell me anything that I can use to help him. Look at him. He's dying. Surely even you have a heart for a dying child."
"I couldn't care less."
"Why are you doing this? You still haven't answered that. There has to be some reason, right? Is it money? Is Jonathan Brightman funneling money your way in exchange for information?"
"Who said I was working for Brightman?" Sawyer asked, his voice raspy with pain. "Because I was talking to him? He's just one of my many contacts. I have friends, others, across the galaxies. They're everywhere. We're unstoppable. We want this war to continue as long as possible or until the rightful ruler claims his power."
"And who is the rightful ruler in your opinion?"
"The president of Odyssia. Alphonso Cyrino."
"No."
"You should be excited. He is your family, after all. He wants this war to continue so he can get all the funding he needs from the Elysian government. Odyssia is the one safe haven for humanity. It's virtually indestructible. Its walls are impenetrable. Once the rest of the human colonies are wiped out from war, Odyssia will be the one place left for humans to gather and repopulate the universe. It will be a utopia, a peaceful place for all to gather under the always-observing eyes of the government. Anyone who strays against the laws will be eliminated. There will be no uprisings again. There will be no more rebels like you and Vance messing everything up for the rest of us. Obedience will be the guiding force."
"Enough. That's madness." He gained his focus again, switching back to what really mattered. "Tell me about the virus. Get talking or I blast your kneecaps off."
"You really want to know who made the virus?"
"Yes! Please."
"Talk to your buddy. Ask Vance." Sawyer removed his hand from his bleeding shoulder. In one swift movement, he plunged the switchblade into his artery. He fell over in a thrashing fit as blood sprayed across the walls and pooled up in a lake around him. The man writhed in a bloody mess until he lay there, the hole in his neck spurting like a fountain, until his body went limp.
Prying his eyes away from the gory scene, Rav turned to his son. He jumped into action. The boy was unconscious in the doorway. Kneeling beside him, he placed his fingers against Nemo's neck and a shock of pure panic surged through him.
No pulse.
Rav scooped his son up in his arms and screamed into the hallway. "Help me! Sandra, Slayven, anyone! Help me!"
Chapter 11
The explosion sent chunks of concrete and dust flying out from the cell. Alarms immediately began blaring through the multiple floors of the prison where other inmates shouted or cried out in pain. Heat radiated out from the blackened crater that formed in the far corner from the blast and sections of steel clanked as they hit the floor and walls.
Vance held Ben in his arms to shelter him from the blast and the debris while they knelt on the floor of the cell behind the warbringer. Krisharn's massive body blocked the majority of the dangerous projectiles where he stood in front of them to protect the more vulnerable humans. The thick dust and smoke from the explosion caught in Vance's lungs, causing him to double over in a fit of violent hacking and choking until Krisharn produced a clean handkerchief and handed it to him.
"Tie this around your head. You can't breathe in this stuff, not with your weak lungs." Krisharn helped Vance to his feet then tied the handkerchief for him. "There. We can't have you passing out on us, My Warlord. Are you all right too, Benjamin?"
"I'm fine. We should go, right? The guards will get here soon."
"Follow me through the main room of the prison. I memorized the layout in case we had to make an escape in this manner."
Vance held onto Ben's arm as they crawled over the slabs of collapsed concrete ceiling and twisted bars of iron from the support beams. He gasped when the cold water from the overhead sprinklers soaked through his jumpsuit. "Krisharn, are you sure you know what you're doing? What if we get caught?"
"Then we fight."
He slipped through the hole on the other side of the wall and dropped down in the main room that was already flooded with an inch of water. More of it poured out of the pipes that had been damaged in the explosion, gushing brown-tinted water into the cells. Guards were shouting orders to the prisoners who had gathered outside of their cells, using stun guns to keep him controlled. The bickering and threats back and forth quickly increased until prisoners lunged at the guards and engaged them in a brawl.
"Ignore them. Stay by my side."
That was easier said than done. The panicked screams from the prisoners as they were shoved back into their water-filled cells caught his attention. The water grew above their ankles. "They're locking them back up. If they're kept in here very much longer, they will all drown."
"I don't think they care. Stop dragging behind. You will draw attention to us and then you'll be back inside a cell. I don't have another blast charge." He dragged the two of them behind a guard's equipment locker. "Look over there at the stairs leading up to the less-secured floors. Do you see the bars lowering over the hallway at that point? There is a gate that lowers during a suspected escape to prevent prisoner movement. We have to make it through before the gate drops completely. We are going to make a run for it, but you have to make sure you don't get spotted. Those guards are carrying assault rifles. If one of them sees us, we'll be shot."
"Lead on. Stick to the shadows, right?"
Krisharn took off first, maneuvering his bulky frame around the metal tables and support beams like he weighed nothing. Years of intense military training kept him physically agile. He dove across the open part of the main room, able to avoid detection because the guards were too busy beating a few of the prisoners who still fought back in the knee-deep water. Once he reached the far wall where the water lapped against the doorway to the stairwell, he reached up to grab onto the closing gate.
Vance leaned forward on his toes, prepared to run, but his eyes were drawn to the screaming a few feet away on the other side of the tables where blood began saturating the top of the water. He held out his arm to prevent Ben from going. "Krisharn, we can't! They're killing people. I can't risk losing Ben."
"Don't worry with the guards. They're panicking. Just get over here." Krisharn's shoulder muscles rippled as he strained to hold open the bars. "Come on! I can't hold it much longer."
Vance led Ben across the open room, their bare feet splashing the sewage-filled water over themselves, until they dashed below the gate and slid to a stop at the bottom stairs. The gate slammed shut behind them after Krisharn let it fall. Without another word, they ascended the stairs, slowly with their soaked pants weighing them down. Dripping and panting from his burning lungs, Vance dropped to his knees once they reached the top where the security stations were, still occupied by guards.
Krisharn growled as he slid his arms under Vance's armpits and hoisted him to his feet. He whispered forcefully to him, his hand clenching around Vance's throat. "Don't
you dare start coughing now. I know you're hurting, but you have to say quiet to get out of here alive. Do I need to hit you over the head and carry you out, or will you be able to control it?"
Vance gritted his teeth. He pulled the bandanna tighter around his face. "I'll try."
They ducked down behind a large file cabinet as four guards in riot gear raced down the hallway, not even stopping to check in at the security point. Vance leaned his head back to rest against the cold metal. He glanced up at Ben, whose grey eyes were wide with concern.
"Vance, why is your asthma getting so bad? There's hardly any smoke in this room."
"Does no one pay attention when I explain things to them? I'm dying, Ben. I still have that virus running rampant through my body. My disease is progressing much faster than yours. Now isn't the time to discuss this, mate." Vance coughed a few times, careful to muffle himself the best that he could. He took a few deep breaths then nodded his head. "How are we gonna get past the security guards up here?"
Krisharn drew his machete from his back. "We're going to kill them."
Vance had to step in. "You can't just go around killing innocent people."
"You need to reevaluate your definition of innocent. Maybe it's because English is not my first language, but the people keeping us locked inside this flooding deathtrap don't seem to be innocent. Look at it this way. If we don't kill them, we die. Period. Now what do you want to do?"
Ben's delicately pure voice whispered to him. "We should kill them."
Vance looked to his husband who was ripping off two of the metal handles from the file cabinet and fashioning them around his hands to make a crude pair of brass knuckles. "Ben . . . you're not a violent person. You don't have to fight."
"That's where you're wrong. I'm not violent, but I have to fight. We all have to. Plus, with you not being in any condition for it, I will have to be the one to pick up the slack." He took two practice swipes at the wall with his fists then smiled. "Let's go, Krisharn. You take the left guard and I'll take the right."
The Genesis Sequence Books 6-10 Page 48