Paradise Awakened Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  "Looks good. If we stick to this far side of the compound, we won't be seen until we breach the airlock which I have gold squad wiring to explode. It should cause enough havoc that we can get in take out the hostiles."

  "I'm going for Vladimir Evans."

  Doss draws one of his laser pistols from under his tan trench coat and hands it to Inquisitor Connery. "Recruit, take this. Aim for his head. Protect the president at all costs. Is that understood?"

  "Yes, sir."

  Isidore grabs Doss's arm as he turns to leave the ship. "Aren't you forgetting something, Doss?"

  "No."

  "Your space suit."

  Doss look angry as he whispers to Isidore. "You know as well as I do that I don't need it. It will only slow me down."

  "It's been too long since you've been acclimated. Your body isn't as strong as it used to be. I don't care where you grew up. You get that suit on and get out there with the rest of the inquisitors."

  "Fine." He puts on a suit before leaving the airlock.

  Katarina looks up at her father. "What was that about? Why didn't he want to wear a suit?"

  "Don't worry about it. It's not my place to say anything. Due to recent developments, I want you to stay on the ship."

  "No. I came to help. I can fight."

  "I don't want your safety to be unnecessarily compromised. If they are farming androids, imagine what they could do to you. You're my daughter and I've almost lost you far too many times already. I'm not taking this risk."

  Does he really expect her to sit here and do nothing while they are all fighting? She can fight just as well as any of them, well maybe not Doss. He is a grand inquisitor, after all. That shouldn't matter, though. They've all seen her in plasma matches. What's the difference? She waits until Isidore and Inquisitor Connery leave before loading a plasma cartridge into her modified plasma pistol and strapping the holster around her right leg. She steps into a space suit and opens the airlock. She's not going to let them have all the fun. As Katarina steps down onto the lunar surface, she sees the explosion and the eerie silence sends shivers up her spine. Of course. There's no sound out here. It's not until she passes through the artificial atmosphere that all of the sounds flood into her ears and it's nearly enough to make her scream.

  Programming her watch to sync up with Doss and Isidore, she listens to their commands and the correspondence between the inquisitors as they make their way down the hallways, firing and calling out orders.

  Doss sounds almost giddy. "Going up in the ceiling before reaching the main room. I want to make sure there's nothing going on from the left side. Gold squad, head over to the pens and release the prisoners. Green squad, back them up and engage any hostiles. Deadly force authorized. Isidore, come in."

  Silence.

  "Mr. President, answer me."

  Katarina makes it to the building and slips inside the airlock that is still intact on the side. She takes off her suit and draws her pistol. Where is her father? What could have happened already? When she hears her name over the radio, she jumps.

  "Katarina, where is your father's tracker on the map?"

  She presses the blue button on her watch and holds it up close to her mouth. "I don't know."

  "How do you not know?" Doss asks.

  "I'm not on the ship."

  "You were supposed to stay on the ship and keep us updated with positions. Didn't Isidore tell you that?"

  "I wanted to help."

  "Fine. Get over to the main hallway leading from the secondary airlock back towards the large room. Do not go through the automatic doors to your left. They are the only thing standing between us and no air. The oxygen levels are steady right now, but if those open, they will plummet. Is that understood?"

  "Yes."

  Another inquisitor comes over the speaker. "Sir, Isidore is down."

  "Down? What do you mean down?"

  "He was taken by Evans. Inquisitor Connery was shot. Status unknown. Last visual contact was two minutes ago. Isidore went down pretty fast, almost as if something reacted with his slave collar."

  "I see. They've changed the frequency so they can control him with the electricity. Get down there as soon as you can. Where have they taken them?"

  "Into a side room made of what we can only say is lead."

  "To control his magic."

  Katarina stops listening at this point and heads down the long hallway. She has to get to her father. If this is the man who made Blice do all of those horrible things to him, then there is no telling what is going on. She holds up her watch again. "Don't try to stop me. I'm going after my father."

  * * *

  Isidore is pushed down on his knees on a purple carpet in the middle of an elaborately decorated room. He pulls against the handcuffs binding his arms in front of him. Even if he wanted to use his abilities to get out of here, he couldn't. He's been secured in these kind of handcuffs before. They connect with the nerves in his wrists and drain his power from him. So he has to stay here as the guards leave. When the older man in the long velvet robe steps out of the shadows and moves in front of him, Isidore knows immediately who he is. The cold grey eyes and the pipe smoke only bring back haunting memories.

  Vladimir Evans chuckles and lifts Isidore's face to look at him. "Well, well. It's been what? Twenty years since we last saw each other? You look just as young and inexperienced as you did back then. Has my son not been keeping you broken down like he should? I don't see any bruises."

  "Shut up, Vladimir." He snaps at him.

  "It's Tsar Vladimir to you."

  Isidore scoffs. "Tsar? Really? How pretentious can you get?"

  Vladimir slaps him across the face. "Shut up, 42."

  "Make me!"

  "My, my, you've gotten mouthy. Looks like I have to retrain you."

  "I dare you to try." Isidore says as he glares at him. He's in no mood to be treated like some kind of animal. He already moved past that part of his life and he doesn't aim to go back.

  "Oh? Fine." Vladimir reaches to his belt and pulls out a whip. "Mark my words. Before I let you die, I will break you of your arrogance."

  He watches the leather whip closely, never taking his eyes off of it as Vladimir circles around him. "So, you think it's okay to eat androids?"

  "I don't have to explain my actions to you." Vladimir says as he drags the whip over Isidore's back. "But since you asked and I think you'll find this bit of information especially entertaining, I'll let you know. We're farming them. In six days, we can grow an android from an embryo to adulthood. One android will provide enough food for all the humans up here for days. Then when we cross their DNA with plant fibers, we are able to infuse them with all the nutrients essential for life. We either force them to mate or if they refuse, we artificially inseminate them or just do it ourselves if we want to have a bit of fun."

  Isidore steadies himself mentally as his shirt is torn open and he knows what's coming, but he won't give Vladimir the satisfaction of seeing him worry. "But then they'd be half human."

  "You're either all human or you're not."

  "You've been eating your own children?"

  "They're androids. It doesn't matter." Vladimir says as the first hit from the whip slashes across Isidore's back.

  He can't scream. Vladimir won't break him. Isidore is far past being able to be broken. He is as steady as stone as the lashes continue. Instead, he focuses on the young inquisitor who was shot defending him. Connery. Yes, that was his name. The boy's hair is drenched in sweat and blood as he attempts to silently crawl across the polished floor to the door at the back of the room. The blood spills from his wound in his shoulder. Isidore knows he has to continue to take this beating at least until Connery can get out of here. Then the boy does what Isidore never expected. He stands up and draws the laser pistol that Doss had given to him before leaving the ship.

  "Stop! Let the president go."

  Vladimir laughs and turns to the boy. "Your bravery is beyond your years, boy. U
nfortunately, so is your stupidity."

  Connery reaches out to steady himself on the wall as he still manages to hold up the pistol. "Let him go or I will kill you."

  "You think you can kill me? Look at you. You're dying from losing so much blood and you want to protect this android? Isn't your human life worth so much more than that? Now, put your gun away and I'll have my medics tend to your wounds. You'll live if you get immediate medical attention."

  "I swore to protect the president and follow the orders of my superiors when I joined the Inquisition. I gave my life to serve and I will die an inquisitor."

  "So be it." Vladimir snaps his fingers and a group of guards surround the boy. They pry the gun from his hand and shoot him in his legs so he can't walk. Once Connery drops to the floor, his screaming fills the room and the guards leave again.

  "Save him, please." Isidore says as he watches Connery writhing in pain, his pistol just out of reach.

  "Are you begging now, 42? Look at all that blood. He will be free from his pain in a few minutes."

  "Then just shoot him in the head and stop this suffering. It's inhumane."

  "Inhumane? What would an android know about that? You should be concerned with your own fate right now or the fates of your other inquisitors. My partner Clark is really interested in getting his hands on Grand Inquisitor Doss for some reason." Vladimir whips him again.

  The doors are thrown open and a woman runs inside. Isidore feels the tears growing in his eyes as the pain finally gets to him. Who is that? He knows that face too well. "Katarina, no!"

  Vladimir throws down the whip and steps up to her. "Welcome to the party, 43. You were just a tiny baby when I saw you last. You're quite the attractive android, aren't you? You take after your father." He pushes her against the wall as the guards shackle her wrists.

  Katarina kicks at them, but she's overpowered as the guards drag her off. "No! Let me go."

  "Take the girl into a cell and strip her. I want her ready for me when I get there."

  More footsteps echo in the hallway as green squad fills the room and take shots at Vladimir who runs off down a side path. One follows after him as the rest tend to Isidore and Inquisitor Connery who eventually stopped moving.

  The inquisitors help Isidore to his feet and unshackle him. The first thing he does is recover his watch from the floor where Vladimir tossed it. He presses the blue button. "Doss, they took my daughter."

  "I know. I watched the entire thing. Look up."

  Isidore looks up to the ceiling where Doss waves at him from a misplaced tile in the ventilation shaft. "Please save Katarina."

  "I'm on it."

  9

  Katarina closes her eyes as the guards rip her clothes from her and she is left alone in the cold cell with the blinding white lights bearing down on her, making her feel even more exposed than she is. Her heart is racing as she huddles down in the corner, as far away from the metal door as she can get. They took her gun and everything. Her hair has fallen out of the clip and it provides a little shelter for her.

  How could she have been so stupid? She should have stayed in the ship instead of trying to make a difference. She thought that taking that risk would have been what her husband would do, but Byron is a lot stronger than she is. Now he is safe at home down on Earth and she is naked and at the mercy of a crazy android-eating abusive man. What would Byron say now? He'd tell her to stay strong and not let them break her, that she should have listened to her father, that he'll come rescue her. But Byron can't rescue her this time. With the way things have been going, the inquisitors have their hands full defending the hostages and Isidore. She is on her own.

  At least they removed her handcuffs. But little good that does her. These walls have lead in them and will completely stop her from using her dark matter magic. However, she's never been able to use it like she should anyway. She used it once on accident when she was angry at Dmitri. That was nearly fatal. Her ball of dark matter had barely missed him. If she had aimed it better, Dmitri would have been devoured by the nanobots and he'd be gone. She swore that day to never use it again. Besides that, she couldn't figure out how she did it that one time.

  When the guards return with guns drawn and whips in their other hands, Katarina stands and backs up against the wall. She holds up her fists, ready to fight them if she has to.

  "Turn around and face the wall, 43."

  A man's voice from up above her calls out. "Don't touch her."

  She knows that voice. Doss!

  Doss drops down from the ceiling and lands gracefully on his feet as if he has been doing it for all of his life. He draws his dual pistols from his belt and aims them at the guards. "Stand down or feel the wrath of the heavens."

  A guard steps forward. "We're not afraid of some inquisitor."

  Doss grins and pushes his brown bangs out of his eyes. "I'm not just some inquisitor. I'm giving you one more warning. Put your guns down or I will be forced to use my sword. You don't want me to use my sword." In one fluid movement, he holsters his pistols and draws his silver short sword. A blast of energy explodes out, nearly knocking the guards off of their feet.

  "He's an archon!" One of the guards shouts. "Kill him. He must have gone rogue."

  "Get down!" Doss shouts and he clutches Katarina to his chest. As the gunfire rings out in the room, there is a gust of wind and the clashing of bullets on metal. They ricochet and reflect back into the crowd of soldiers.

  Katarina opens her eyes and gasps as she sees the large white metal wings surrounding her. "Doss . . ."

  "No time for questions. I'll distract these guys. You crawl over to that ventilation grate. I'll meet up with you before you reach the airlock."

  "What about Isidore?" She asks.

  "Don't worry about him. You get moving. Go!" He pushes her down on the floor and sends another wave of energy at the guards and they stop shooting. He points at them, raising his wings higher as he speaks. "Lay down your weapons or I will blow the roof off this place and we can fight in space. I'll give a hint. I'm the only one here who would survive. Choose your next moves carefully."

  "What is an archon doing here?"

  "I'm here for a divine purpose. Today you pay for your sins." Doss nearly drops his sword when Vladimir Evans and another man push past the guards. Clark. He is stricken with a sudden surge of panic. It's him, the man who turned the others against him so many years ago.

  Clark's cane taps on the hard floor as he walks up in front of Doss and grins as he examines his wings. "Where have you been?"

  "What the hell are you?" Vladimir asks.

  "What am I?" Doss asks. "Why don't you ask Clark? Surely your partner hasn't been keeping things from you."

  Clark shakes his head. "Doss . . . it's been so long."

  "Not long enough."

  "I see you've come to embrace your modifications."

  Doss holds up his sword. "Never. Now tell him what I am."

  "Since when do you get to speak to me like this?"

  "Since I've been awakened to the truth of it all. I have evolved."

  Clark reaches up and takes Doss's necklace in his bony hand. "Is this a crucifix around your neck? Religious? How interesting. The angel goes to church."

  Doss steps away from him. "Shut up, heathen. How dare you mock the sanctity of the church?"

  "Archon, stand down." Clark orders.

  "Don't tell me what to do. I don't take orders from you anymore."

  Vladimir raises his hand. "Kill him."

  Clark holds up his cane. "No. Let him go back to his ship. I'll let the others take care of him in time. They'll enjoy spilling his blood more than these humans will. You like holy retribution, do you not, Doss? Well, I will let the angels deliver swift and decisive judgment on your traitorous soul. There's a reason you fell to Earth. You can hide it and pretend that it never happened only for so long. Eventually, your creator will figure it out."

  "You don't know anything about Kazimir." Doss says. "He should h
ave killed you long ago when he was still a member of the KGB."

  "But see, that wouldn't have solved your problems, would it? The Imperial Galactic Reich is still very much alive and active whether Paradise realizes it or not. Do you want to kill me now and leave the others to die? No. I didn't think so. You may have betrayed everyone, but you're still sworn to defend humanity. You have two choices. Go back to your ship and hide on Earth while you wait for the others to hunt you down or stay here and let me take you apart. It's your choice, Doss."

  "And what of Vladimir?"

  Clark chuckles and spins his cane around to point at Vladimir. "Evans was never a major player in this little conquest."

  The shot rings out and Vladimir falls to his hands and knees. "Clark . . . why?"

  "See, you've done nothing but hold me back. And the truth is, I have Byron, Blice, Zach and Isidore. I don't need anything else. I'll get them up here eventually and when that time comes, we will ally with the Imperial Galactic Reich."

  "The IGR will never accept you." Vladimir spits at him.

  Clark shakes his head and slides another bullet into the top of his cane. "You've always been so egotistical. I bet you didn't even know that I'm an officer in the IGR space force."

  "Traitor."

  "Just stop talking, Vlad." Clark fires again and Vladimir collapses and lies lifeless on the floor in a pool of blood. "Now, Doss, go find your naked little android girl and leave this place. I already have too many repairs to make as it is. Have your inquisitors had fun destroying my compound? I'll even let you take the hostages with you. God knows I don't need food. But when your feet touch Earth again, remember that up above you, the others are watching and plotting your demise."

  Doss lets his wings collapse and fold up then slide back into the slots on his back. They were getting heavy. His body isn't used to keeping them out like that for so long. He sheathes his sword and the guards part as he walks between them. Some of them whisper prayers under their breath or bow their heads. He makes his way through the scorched hallways where bullet holes fill the walls and the light fixtures are sparking. Through one of the large thick glass walls, he sees the androids being loaded up onto the ship. Good. What about Isidore and Connery? When he looks at his watch communicator, he sees why he hasn't had any transmissions. It's completely busted. Then he sees the engines start up as the last of the hostages are loaded and the doors begin to close. They're leaving without him. He takes off running and trips over something in the floor.