by T. R. Harris
“You can’t tell by looking at me, but I prefer this kind of an ending to the way it used to be.”
“You’re telling me!” Kyle said. “At least this way we can walk home, instead of being carried out on a stretcher. Yes…this is much better.”
Epilogue
The deep gravity-well Amber initiated wasn’t something recommended within a stellar system, but she wasn’t concerned with what the gravity wave would do to other vessels in the area. Fourteen minutes after leaving Iz’zar, the ship was passing the system’s outer boundary and heading for clear space, leaving the pursuit behind.
“How soon until we can broadcast images of the Corollary?” Smitty asked the AI.
“We can broadcast a narrow-beam transmission in seventeen hours that will intercept one of the Grid’s central beacons. The Antaere will be able to block the link a few seconds later, but it will be enough for a burst transmission. That will also give away the location of the Zanzibar.”
Smitty looked at the grim expressions of his Human companions. “Let’s break out the Final Corollary and get some video shot. It’ll be a start, but until we get the full set back to Earth and the test results out to the Grid, don’t expect too much to happen. Just a lot of denials and name calling, would be my guess. But maybe it will give some of the natives justification for supporting us again.”
“Let’s hope so, general,” Angus said. “And not that I’m giving up hope, but I’d sure like to know that Lieutenant Zac Murphy’s last act as a REV wasn’t in vain.”
The last five days were a blur to Zac Murphy. The Antaere kept knocking him out with drugs, having found that jolting him with electric shocks only served to make him stronger. They were keeping him incapacitated most of the time, having learned that he possessed unusual strength and abilities for a non-activated REV.
He had been placed in a heavy steel container with only his feet, hands and head sticking out. He was naked inside the cocoon, and attendants provided food and fluids to him like he was a baby, since he couldn’t feed himself. The worst part was when he had to relieve himself. He would go, soiling himself within his metal prison, until a hose was inserted and water sprayed inside, to drain out of an opening along his back. It helped, but it wasn’t perfect. The smell was beginning to seep through the tight rubber seal around his neck.
He only stayed on Iz’zar for a day, before being placed in a spaceship and flown off the planet. They put him in the sickbay, in a hospital room monitored continuously.
Four days into the journey, as counted by the day/night cycles aboard the ship, an older Antaere entered the room, carrying a small black case. He stepped up to where Zac lay. The REV could barely move his head, so his visitor leaned over so the Human could get a look at his face.
“Hello, Lieutenant Murphy,” the alien said with a joyous lilt in his voice.
Zac noticed that the movement of the Antaere’s lips matched the words he heard. “You speak English?”
“Yes, I do.” The alien smiled. “I find your language extremely expressive, almost too much so. You have creative ways of communicating, often appearing to make up word-associations as you go along. It is a challenge to decipher your meanings. However, I am an expert regarding your kind, so I find the exercise stimulating. My name is Congin Bornak. I am the first-confidant of the Rowin, Andus Zaphin.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“I would hope not; that would mean my efforts have been revealed. I have been the person pulling your strings, my REV friend, which I must say you have obliged at times, and others you have not. In the end, however, all has worked out according to plan.”
“You destroyed the Temple of Light?”
“Yes, I did. I also manipulated the Human scholar, Davide Caspary, into revealing the contents of the 13th Corollary, as well as passing along the schedule of the Rowin so your team could attach themselves to his ship for the journey to Iz’zar. I must say, I was surprised to learn that Human REVs participated in the attack. We were expecting more traditional commandos or even a larger force to perform the mission. Since learning it was REVs, I have been fascinated about you and your comrades. I have learned much.”
Zac wiggled his fingers. “So you have me. Now what, a nice public execution broadcast to the Grid?”
Congin leaned in again. “Oh, where do I begin? No, Mr. Murphy. Let me start by saying that the last thing we want to do is kill you. If that were to happen, then many of our reluctant allies on the colony worlds would rapidly close this chapter of the current crisis, anxious to put it behind them. By keeping you alive, your evil deeds remain active. No, you will not be executed—not yet—not until your usefulness is over. Instead, your ugly Human face will be displayed even more than it has to date. You will make incriminating statements and confess to all you have done…and more.”
“Good luck with that. You know I’d rather die than help feed your lies.”
Congin laughed. “Yes, I know. That is why I have placed you in your metal prison. You will make the statements we require, whether you know it or not.”
“No fucking way, dickhead.”
Congin frowned, as he worked through the phrasing. “Mr. Murphy, we do not need your cooperation. You must realize now that with technology, we can manipulate your image to make you do whatever we want. Now that we have your physical body, your full image will be scanned into our computers, where technicians will make you do anything we want. You recall the video image of you killing your fellow REV, the file we recently acquired and have been broadcasting to the Grid? We have determined that the final segment of that recording was manipulated, not by us, but by your own people. That is the same technology we will apply to your confessions.”
“What are you talking about?” Zac growled.
Congin laughed again. “You did not kill your friend, Mr. Murphy, it was only made to look like you did.”
“Bullshit!”
“No, no bullshit.”
“Why would they do that?”
“I have no idea. Perhaps for control or to make others turn against you. I would look to those who have a vendetta against you and the REVs to find the who and the why.”
Col. Jack Diamond! Zac thought. That bastard has wanted to lock me away from the beginning. The video was his way of making me feel guilty over Manny’s death—if Manny is even dead!
“But all that is a mere distraction at this point,” Congin said. “We have a more important topic to speak of.”
“What is that?”
“You, Mr. Murphy,” said Congin. “We finally have a living Human REV to study, and from what we have been able to determine, a very unique kind of REV, as well. As you know, we Antaere have a rudimentary REV program of our own; we’ve even adopted your name, though in our language they are called NOVs. You encountered an activated NOV on Iz’zar, defeating him even though you were not at full strength. That shows how far we still have to go to match the effectiveness of your REV warriors.”
“Again, good luck with that.”
“It is only a matter of time, my friend,” Congin said. “And yet, it is your unique abilities—along with the few others who attacked the Temple—that may allow us to jump forward, forgoing the earlier, more basic form of the NOV, and move on to those like you. We have taken blood samples and detected the presence of an organic form of NT-4 in your system. I have spoken with our scientists. They find this to be an exciting—yet perplexing—development. They are at a loss as to how this has happened, and more importantly, how to recreate it in our NOVs.”
Congin went to a small side table and opened the black case he’d brought with him.
“Yet for us to have the time to fully discover the secrets your body holds, we must keep you alive. As with our own NOVs, without periodic boosts, you will die. This has been known for twenty years or more. Unfortunately, I do not have any of your Human NT-4.” He lifted a vial of yellow liquid from the case. “Yet I do have the Antaere version.”
> Zac forced his head to turn a few inches to the left, just enough to see Congin and the vial. He wouldn’t tell the Antaere he didn’t need maintenance boosts of NT-4 to stay alive. If he did, then they wouldn’t worry about him dying. With the plans Congin had for him, this seemed like a possible way out. His death would mess up the alien’s plans considerably.
“I realize we have no idea how this drug will affect you. But since Antaere and Human DNA is ninety-nine percent alike, I have been assured by my doctors that they can counter any side-effects there may be.”
He moved to the table on which Zac lay and reached behind his neck. There was a sharp click as the vial was inserted into an injection pod.
“Please relax, Mr. Murphy. We have the Twilight drug available to bring you back down. That formula is no secret, so there will be no question of its effectiveness.”
Congin Bornak came around and leaned over Zac again. “This will be a fascinating experience for me…and for you, too. From it, we will both learn much.”
Zac had no idea what the foreign NT-4 would do to his system. He hadn’t had a dose of the Human drug for over two years; it was too dangerous. The alien formula could cause him to activate and possibly even reach terminal cascading before the Antaere doctors could react. Considering his imminent future, that would be preferred. He tried to relax and accept fate as it came.
The drug entered his body.
His feet and hands spasmed, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He took in a deep gulp of air, before letting out the loudest, most-primal scream ever made by an activated REV.
The End
More about REV….
I’m pretty fortunate to have the job I have. I get to sit around all day and make things up. And I’m especially grateful for REV and the wondrous new world the story has created in my mind and in my computer.
The science behind REV has been a long-term interest of mine…the idea of manufactured supermen. And this isn’t all science fiction. As I stated in the first book, the idea for REV came from the proliferation and advancements being made in performance-enhancing drugs. It’s a given that we do have the technology to rebuild mankind, to make us better, faster, stronger. But it never seemed fair to me that those with the means and—frankly—the balls, could take these drugs and have an advantage over those who don’t. I think we can all agree that’s not right.
But governments—and particularly—the military, don’t think like that. And we don’t want them to. After all, in a life-or-death situation, there’s no such thing as a fair fight. We want our military to have all the unfair advantages they can get. We’ll live longer and freer that way.
So I set the story eighty years in the future, when advancements in medical technology could be expected to have developed drugs such as NT-4. And from there came the REVs.
I hope you see the logic in the story. Apparently, a lot of you have. The first book was a great success, and it looks like the follow-up edition will be, as well. I want to thank all my loyal fans who emailed me with comments and suggestions and who have offered input into future stories. I welcome these and look forward to even more reader-interaction with the publication of REV: Renegades. Feel free to join in the conversation. Drop me an email anytime at: [email protected].
With gratitude….
T.R. (Tom) Harris
[email protected]
Coming Next:
REV Warriors Book #3
REV: Remastered
(July 2018)
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Contact
Email: [email protected]
Website: bytrharris.com
Novels by T.R. Harris
The Human Chronicles Saga - Continuum
Mission Critical (An Adam Cain Adventure)
The Human Chronicles Saga (original series)
The Fringe Worlds
Alien Assassin
The War of Pawns
The Tactics of Revenge
The Legend of Earth
Cain’s Crusaders
The Apex Predator
A Galaxy to Conquer
The Masters of War
Prelude to War
The Unreachable Stars
When Earth Reigned Supreme
A Clash of Aliens
Battlelines
The Copernicus Deception
Scorched Earth
Alien Games
The Cain Legacy
The Andromeda Mission
Last Species Standing
Invasion Force
Force of Gravity
REV Warriors Series
REV
REV: Renegades
Jason King – Agent to the Stars Series
The Enclaves of Sylox
Treasure of the Galactic Lights
The Drone Wars Series
Day of the Drone
In collaboration with George Wier…
The Liberation Series
Captains Malicious
Available exclusively on Amazon.com and Kindle Unlimited.