by Aline Riva
No, Lynch thought as he wondered if in these final, tense moments as he waited to die, perhaps his eyes were deceiving him...But he looked again, and felt sure of it:
The man who aggressively leaned closer to Black and shoved his pass in her face and mouthed the word “Press”, looked very familiar indeed...He was heading for his forties, and his build was a little heavier, but Lynch knew he was right, and it seemed so odd.
“You remind me...of me...” he murmured, and he watched as behind the heavy glass, Black and the man who claimed to be from the press stood up and began to quarrel, their words blocked off by the sealed room.
In the observation room, Governor Black glared at the man who had no right to be present.
“This execution is not public!” she said sharply.
“Oh, did you want a little party all by yourself, then?” he asked her, “You've even barred the guards...” he stopped, looking up as Black did too, hearing a rush of engines and the echo of gunfire.
“I'm sure what's going on out there isn't nearly as interesting as what's about to happen here,” he added, “You wanted to know why I'm here? I was signed in on a pass written out by the Vice Premier!”
Her eyes widened as she thought of the pro cyborg supporting Sylvia Payton.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
He stepped closer, locking his gaze with her own.
“Darren. Give me the keys to the gas chamber.”
As Governor Black remembered she had not bothered to arm herself on this morning that she had sent away the guards to watch alone and goat as Lynch died, she suddenly felt uneasy.
“I can call the guards in here any time I like.”
“The guards buggered off when the shooting started. Keys.”
“Who are you?” she demanded again.
“Darren,” was all he said as anger burned in his blue gaze.
“Darren who?” she said in alarm.
He moved in a blur, slamming into her with a head butt that broke her nose with a crack and sent her sprawling to the floor, out cold and nose flowing with blood.
“Darren fucking Lynch, bitch!” he yelled as he looked down at her in contempt, then he ripped the keys and pass cards from her belt and left the observation room.
In the execution chamber, Lynch had watched the fight, heard something large and powerful land on the roof above, then as his hopes rose, they fell once more as a light on the wall began to blink, indicating he was minutes from the deadly vapour rising from the vent set into the floor. His hands tightened on the arm rests they were bound to as he heard the sound of troops heading up to the roof, as he hoped this would be a rescue but some how doubted it, because he was moments from death and if this was a rescue, it was fucking ironic that it had come too late...
Then the door opened up and the man who had knocked out the prison governor dashed into the room.
“I've come to get you out!”he said, and pulled a flick knife from his pocket and sliced through the bonds that tied him to the chair.
“We have to get out of here fast, there's no time!” he told him urgently as Lynch stared at him, getting the oddest feeling once again as he looked into his eyes.
“Do I know you?” he asked as he stood up, stumbling thanks to the damage to the wires in his leg.
“It's me, Darren! I've been following you for years...We've got about three minutes before that gas comes through the vent...”
“I don't know you!” Lynch said to his rescuer.
“It's me, Josie's son...”
Lynch blinked, caught something between silky and smoky in his voice that reminded him of a nightclub singer he had briefly known years before...
“Not Josie Franklin?” he said in surprise.
Darren smiled.
“My mum.”
“Darren, I kind of knew her – I once shagged your mum!”
“I know,” he replied “I'm your fucking son, now let's get out of here!”
“My what?” exclaimed Lynch.
Then there was a resounding metallic clang as the door to the chamber closed, and the word SEALED illuminated above it.
“Nice work, son,” Lynch said in a voice laced heavily with sarcasm, “The gas is on the way up...and the only way out just fucking auto locked!”
Up above, the shields were down as the City Guard rushed the stairway to the rooftop, and as shots rang out and bounced off the craft, leaving scrapes and dents, Jekel silently noted Joy would not be happy when he got home.
“Activate,” he said as he entered stealth mode and vanished.
As the soldiers ran out of the doorway with guns blazing, Jekel tossed a cannister in their path and as the tear gas rose, he passed unseen around the men who were coughing and fallen to their knees as his battle suit kept him protected with his own oxygen supply, then he launched two more cannisters down the stairway.
As the opposition was swiftly neutralised, he looked to the doorway, letting the scanner do the rest:
Casualties : Zero
Then he pulled the heavy blaster from its holster on his back and held it steady, aiming for the weakest point in the roof, where the map illuminated inside his head indicated that three shots would partly cave it in. The force of the shots made him stagger back despite the heavy protective weight of the battle suit, as the shots blasted holes in the roof and it cracked and partly gave way.
As the blasts hit the rooftop and the right side of the roof crumbled and crashed to the floor, daylight shone into the execution chamber as Lynch looked up and Darren brushed dust from his face and also looked upwards, as above the rubble stood their saviour, a man in a battle suit, an old battle suit that belonged in the war bird, the name on the ID unit was out and as he held out his hand and Lynch struggled to climb up through the debris with help from his son, the man in the battle suit grabbed his hand, pulling Lynch to the surface as Darren followed him up, pausing to look down and see white mist rising from the vent.
“The gas is coming up!”he said in alarm.
Lynch was about to thank his rescuer, but he had turned away, quickly releasing a neutralising agent from his belt and twisting it, then tossing it down to cover the vent.
As he turned from the sight of the deadly gas fading out in the room below, Lynch looked at the man in the battle suit, wishing he could see into the tinted visor. For a moment neither spoke as they stood together on the rooftop, then Lynch broke the silence.
“You neutralised the gas...why? Zero casualties? No deaths, no declaration of war, is that it? Who are you?”
The man in the suit gave the old ID unit a tap, and lights flickered but the display stayed dark.
“Are you an android? You're a protocol five compatible android?”
He shook his head. Then he turned to see something the internal systems had warned him about before the sound of the approaching threat could be heard – far off, a fleet of military sky birds thundered in their direction, heavy guns ready.
Darren looked on in horror.
“We're fucked!” he said.
Then Lynch grabbed the arm of his jacket and dragged him towards the war bird, following the man in the battle suit, who headed for the pilot's seat and sat down and strapped himself in.
Lynch sat down stiffly and buckled up and Darren took the seat next to him and did the same as the war bird fired up and rose gracefully from the rooftop of the prison, then turned around and soared upwards, out of range of the shots fired from below as shields went up and sky and clouds shot past as they headed across the city, all the while Jekel was watching the red dial at the back of his mind, waiting for a warning of incoming missiles.
As he watched the pilot handle the craft so skilfully, Lynch looked on in fascination.
“I'd like to know who you are,” he said, “You saved my life...Thank you...Please tell me who you are, take down your helmet too...I need to look you in the eye and say thank you...Did you hear me? I have to thank you, because of you I'm still here and on my way ho
me. I get to see my family again, I get see my daughter grow up. You saved my life today!”
As the war bird rose again and cruised at a steady speed keeping a safe distance ahead of the fleet that were far off but steadily gaining, the pilot turned from the controls and gave the ID panel another tap. Finally the old unit kicked into life and a name lit up:
Tiger.
Lynch looked in disbelief to the man who had saved his life – the man who he had picked up on the open road long ago, who had not been a fighter, the man who he had vowed would earn his stripes one day...
“Jekel...is that really you in there?”
The pilot touched the button on the collar of his uniform and the helmet folded down, and on seeing the look of surprise on the face of Felix Lynch, he laughed.
“This is a good battle suit,” Jekel said, “But I don't like the helmet....totally messed up my hair...”
He paused to run his fingers through his hair, then looked back at Lynch.
“Riley worked out my wiring could take the Protocol Five Unit. He also realised the wire cluster below it could bond with my burned out cluster so he linked it up with living metal – like growing a new set of essential wires...And here I am.”
Felix smiled as he looked to the man who had once been too afraid to take up arms and fight.
“I realise the war machine is guiding you, but you have to work with it,” he said in admiration, “Well done, Tiger.”
He stretched out his hand, but Jekel didn't shake it, instead he leaned over and gave him a brief hug, and Lynch was surprised at how emotional he felt to be hugged not only by his rescuer, but by a dear friend – so much had changed since Jekel joined his team on the road to Sanctuary, and he had proved himself in battle, faced his own personal fight over the years with courage, and now the former stage magician who had once been nervous to pick up a gun had become his rescuer, at the time he needed him the most...
Lynch blinked away tears as warmth and gratitude filled his heart.
“I can never thank you enough for this,” he added sincerely.
“No need, someone had to do it...and I needed a rewire!”
Jekel flashed him a smiled then turned back to the controls and picked up speed, heeding the warning from the dial in his mind as it rotated, then indicated the distance of the approaching threat.
“One more thing to do,” he said, and let the inner guidance lead him as he swiped the copy of the Premier's card through a device on the control panel, then took off a glove and began to type quickly into a keypad.
Down in the meeting room at Freedom City, the elite who ran the city were in a state of chaos. Paperwork was scattered about, some members paced the room, as Josh sat at the head of the table with his head in his hand in despair.
“Happy now, are we?”asked Sylvia.
He slowly looked up at her and she smiled as a gleam of satisfaction came to her eyes.
“You started this mess!” she said angrily, “And look what happened – they came in for Lynch got him out of there and harmed no one! No declaration of war, just a desperate attempt to free an innocent man!”
Anger burned in his eyes.
“They haven't left our air space yet...”
“And you would fire the first shot that starts the war to end the remains of humanity?”
“The fleet's up there,” he replied, silently wanting to up turn the table and scream in frustration.
Just then, the monitor on the table jumped to life:
Public announcement – The Premier Speaks.
Josh got up from the table as the others looked at him.
“What's going on?” demanded Temple as he indicated to the window, where far below in the city square, the same message has illuminated on the first of many screens around the city, all bearing the same message, all with the Premier's seal beside it.
Josh looked on in horror.
“I didn't do this!” he yelled.
And then the screen switched to a message, seemingly coming from the Premier, as all who watched were unaware this planned broadcast was actually coming from the skies above:
As of today the human/cyborg divide is over. We are one nation. The anti cyborg terror cell have been destroyed. Hostage safe. General Lynch is also released. No casualties reported....War ends today. Division will not be tolerated. Today marks a new age. An age of universal peace....
Then another message flashed up:
Today is the start of peace and unity. This is for those who fell in battle, and for their lovers, their wives and the mothers. But mostly, for their kids. The future belongs to our children. Lets give them a good one....
Josh turned from the window, his face a mask of rage.
“WHICH ONE OF YOU BASTARDS SET ME UP?” he shouted.
The others looked at each other, then to the Vice Premier, who looked to the message and smiled.
“I agree with the sentiment, Josh. But you should have consulted us first...Yet again it seems you have acted alone without considering your colleagues and for that, I vote no confidence in your leadership. Is everyone else with me?”
Those at the table raised their hands, as did those who were over at the window.
“You can't do this to me!” Josh fumed.
“We just did,” said Spear, as he shook hands with Sylvia Payton and said, “Congratulations, Madam Premier.”
“You can't do this to me!” Josh yelled again.
“We just did,” announced Steph as she entered the room with a smile on her face. Josh looked to her pleadingly, hoping as a member of the circle she could defend him, turn this around...But then he gave a gasp of horror as he saw what she held in her hand...a brown cloth bag, the one from his safe... containing something he had found several years back when working with others to build a better city, clearing away the wreckage of a bank, and stumbling across the remains of a vault that had contained treasure within safety deposit boxes...
Steph walked over to the table and looked to the others, then smiled warmly at Premier Sylvia Payton.
“In light of the ridiculous fine placed on Cyborg Valley,” she said, “I think it best if we clear that away with an immediate payment...”
She opened up the bag, held it up over the middle of the table and the others gasped as a shower of diamonds cascaded down, hitting the table like sparkling raindrops as they caught the light, covering the centre of the table.
“That will more than cover it,” said Sylvia as the others looked on, staring at the treasure that glittered before them, “I propose we use a portion of this to invest in the city... and that we gift the rest of the diamonds to our allies in Cyborg Valley as a gesture of our goodwill. I'm sure the vote will be yes from everyone...as the former Premier is out of a job, there could be a few more vacancies by the end of the day if I don't see unity here... So, are we in agreement?”
All hands raised obediently and Sylvia smiled.
“Wonderful! Now, General Temple...go to your control room and send a message to your troops in the skies. Tell them to stand down.”
Temple got up and saluted Sylvia, then he left the room.
Steph stepped closer to the table and looked down at the diamonds.
“You have to help me, Steph!” whined Josh as he looked on in dismay.
She glanced at him then looked away, turning her attention back to those seated at the table.
“I'd like to add my own small contribution,” she said, and she slipped off her gold wedding ring and placed it on top of the pile of diamonds.
“My resignation is on your desk,” she added as she smiled to Sylvia, “I'm off to Cyborg Valley...to be with your son.”
“It's about time!” Sylvia said warmly.
“You bitch!” Josh yelled, but she didn't look back as she left the meeting, closing the door behind her as she made her way out of the building, where her packed bags were already loaded into a waiting vehicle ready to drive her away from the city forever.
Josh turned
back to the others as rage burned in his eyes.
“You can't do this to me! I was Premier, you can't just take that away!”
Sylvia smiled as she looked down at the table, pressed a button and called security.
“I can, and I did,” she replied calmly as vengeance glittered in her eyes, “And it's been a long time coming!”
Back at Cyborg Valley, over the hillside where the gravel driveway led to the mansion house of Blake Riley, Joy had stopped the motor home to see Elise and her daughter and Flynn and his wife were already there, and Riley was explaining the situation.
“...So I realised I could permanently bond the new wire cluster to his old one,” he said, “The living metal coating bonded it and pulled the new wiring into place. When the mission is over the Protocol Five unit will shut down but the rest will carry on functioning, leaving Ash with perfect wiring that will last him a lifetime.”
Joy jumped down from the open door over the motor home as her son followed, she ran over to Riley and grabbed his shoulder, he spun around and faced her looking rather bewildered.
“You never told me!”
“I had to wait for the wiring to kick in...I didn't know anything for sure until he woke up!”
Anger and relief and all kinds of other emotions swirled in her mind, reflecting in her eyes making her look like a mad woman for a moment.
“You saved his life, thank you!” she said, and she launched herself at him, grabbing Riley and hugging him tightly. Then she let go and looked at him angrily.
“And you put an android war machine inside his head! He could be killed on that mission, he's not a soldier, he's a stage magician from Skegness, you prick!”