by S. T. Boston
“Indeed,” the stranger beamed. “But I wouldn't go getting any ideas, Sam. You're on your own here, and we are so close to the completion of my plan that to think you can intervene in any way would be utter foolishness.” The guy perched on the end of the bed and turned to look at Sam. There was a charismatic nature to the stranger which made him cautious. The guy's overconfident and relaxed posture was unnerving. “I thought you might be interested to know that not half an hour ago, China was the last of the world's nuclear powers to come back online. Europe, American and Russia are already operational, which means we are almost ready. Just have a few last-minute tests to complete before the final show. Although after we nuked Tokyo yesterday, there's so much political tension that I'd bet a dollar that you Earth-Humans would push the button yourselves if I left you to it.”
“You did what?” Sam cried.
“I'm sorry, I forgot that for the best part of a day you've been indisposed.” He grinned and Sam had an overwhelming urge to rip his head off. The amber-eyed stranger hadn't introduced himself but Sam knew only too well who he was dealing with. “Our secretive friends in North Korea managed to get their systems up and running first, and we thought it only right to test our little program. It worked, and it worked extremely well. It's fair to say that Japan is in need of a new capital city.”
“You crazy fucking bastard,” Sam groaned, feeling sick.
“That's nothing compared to what is going to happen in the next hour,” Asmodeous said cheerfully.
Sam shook his head. “Your name has been used to depict the very image of evil for thousands of years,” Asmodeous smiled, obviously pleased with his legacy. “But now that I've had the unpleasant fortune of meeting you, I can tell that you're no different than any Earth-Human tyrant our history has ever seen.” Sam watched as Asmodeous' smile turned into an ugly scowl. “You're a narcissistic bullyboy with far more power than any one person should have.”
Asmodeous got to his feet and hammered his fist into Sam's face, knocking him back onto the bed. Sam tasted blood, but didn't mind, pleased to know he'd struck a chord.
“You're going to wish you were dead, Sam Becker,” Asmodeous growled. “When we are ready, you are going to come to the bridge and have a front row seat for the biggest fireworks display in history. When you watch it, you can think of your friend, Adam, out there somewhere, along with your wife, Lucie. There isn't a corner of the globe that won't be affected by the radiation. Maybe they will die quickly, or perhaps they will die slowly. Whatever the outcome, I'd wager Lucie will be dead long before she gives birth to your bastard child.”
Sam did a double take and saw the hateful grin spread across Asmodeous' face once again.
“I'm guessing from your reaction that you didn't know she is with child. Namtar told me; we have an uncanny way of picking up on such things. Call it evolution if you like.”
Before Sam could jump from the bed and reach him, Asmodeous crossed the room and left, the door sliding closed behind him. Sam sunk onto the bed, buried his face in his hands and screamed.
Chapter 36
The Niribus arrived precisely four minutes after Taulass had activated the return device. From the cold, clear blue sky, the bright silver craft had first appeared as no more than a speck, which glinted brightly in the sunlight. As the craft descended rapidly, the glinting Taribium hull was almost too bright to look at.
Passing out of the direct sunlight it swooped silently down, across the A303, and over the ancient stone circle, coming to a stop in a graceful hover just a few feet above the glistening, dew-covered grass, not ten feet from where Taulass stood.
The sudden appearance of the alien craft, which resembled a jumbo-jet sized triangle with a domed, bulbous top, caused two cars who happened to be passing Stonehenge at the time, to veer across the road and collide head on. Adam heard screaming brakes and grinding metal from across the field as the craft touched down and felt bad for not being able to rush to the aid of the occupants.
After the craft settled, a crack appeared halfway along the otherwise seamless hull, and from this opening a gangway extended, forming a gentle slope which led into the magnificent ship. The whole process was silent, automatic and happened in less than a minute. The craft was identical to the one which carried Sam and Adam home, but the sight still made Adam's breath catch. He turned his attention to Lucie, who was standing with her mouth open, her brown eyes fixed in wonder at the sight before them.
Taulass wasted no time in shaking her into action when the gangway appeared, tugging Lucie by the arm he said, “We need to get in and get the ship cloaked. We can't have a visible craft when the authorities arrive at the scene of that accident.” Taulass led Lucie into the craft, gently guiding her the way a parent might assist a reluctant child into the dentist's surgery.
Once inside and on the bridge, Oriyanna activated a large holo-display which projected from a three-foot square cube in the middle of the floor. The cube glowed cool neon blue beneath its white surface. The vivid holo-display projected a complex mixture of glyphs and graphics in stunning high definition 3D, real enough to seem as if you could physically wrap a hand around them and carry them away. Oriyanna navigated it with ease and a few seconds later the craft seemed to shimmer slightly, a tiny vibration shuddering through the hull. “Cloak is active,” Oriyanna confirmed, as Taulass began working on the other side of the display. Each side of the cube projected a separate screen, allowing four crew members to work on separate tasks simultaneously. To the front of the cube were a trio of chairs. Each chair rose smoothly from the bridge's stark white floor, and each had its own small holo-display, projecting from a smaller computer in the right armrest. The small computers sprang to life as the ship's main life support systems came online. Adam watched as Oriyanna closed one screen and opened another, running her hand along what appeared to be a projected, sliding fader. This action brought the lights to full brightness. Behind the terminal where Oriyanna worked, two passageways led away from the bridge.
“Where do they lead?” Lucie asked, staring around in amazement.
“Sleeping quarters and what I guess you would call a mess,” Oriyanna replied. “There is also a small medical bay. If the worst happens, you will find enough food for the seven-day journey in the mess.”
“Why are there no windows?” Lucie questioned, not sure what to look at next.
Oriyanna smiled, swiftly swapping screens and punching a few holo-tabs. In a flash the blank wall in front of the seats lit up and displayed a live image of the field in front of the craft. The image was so realistic, Lucie was sure she could feel a light breeze drifting in from outside. “It's a video projection,” Oriyanna explained. “Glass and other similar substances can't handle the pressures and energy releases caused by travelling through large bends in space. We use these video projections instead of windows. Each of the ten living quarters has a smaller version, as does the mess. I find they make the ship seem a little less claustrophobic.”
“Can you call the hub?” Taulass asked, starting to thumb through his sheets of paper.
“Affirmative,” Oriyanna replied. She looked at Lucie. “Could you stand back a little, please?”
Lucie shifted as the floor beneath her feet began to glow a deep magenta. Stepping further to the right, she watched as a seven-foot-high arch rose from the floor. It clicked into place, instantly seeming as if it had been there all along.
Taulass was working swiftly at his terminal, issuing orders to Oriyanna as he went, and Adam rounded the centre seat to stare out across the field. A police car had arrived at the accident, and the two drivers, as well as two passengers from one of the cars were pointing excitedly across the field towards their position. With the craft cloaked, he wondered just how the copper was going to handle their outrageous story.
“We need to be quick,” Taulass commented, not taking his eyes or fast-moving hands away from the screen. “Asmodeous will already know we are here.”
* * *
> Over the past five hours, spurred along by the attack on Japan, the superpowers of the world had swiftly brought their nuclear launch systems online. Not twenty minutes ago, China had joined the select club, and the set was now complete. From the moment they went live, Ben Hawker had inserted Enola into their systems, and now he was waiting patiently while Enola began her first phase – reading and scanning the world's weather patterns and predictions. Once this phase had run its course, she would lock out every country's ability to control their own system, retarget the weapons, and set them free. From here on in Enola could run self-sufficiently, a little failsafe he'd engineered, just in case the worst happened.
Hawker turned to Asmodeous stride onto the bridge, his face framing a scowl. “I'm going to enjoy watching Becker die when the time is right,” he growled, pacing over to Hawker's station. “It's just a shame we didn't manage to secure the others.”
“With more time, it might have been possible,” Namtar commented casually.
“One is better than none,” Asmodeous said, casting his gaze over Croaker's ruined face. “You both gave a great deal for the cause. When this is over I too, will mourn for the loss of your brother, Namtar. Asag was a great friend to me for many years.”
“Have you thought about what you are going to do with Becker after the Earth is destroyed?”
“Not yet, no. To just kill him will be too swift, and no real punishment for his actions. There is no rush to deal with him, his life will be torturous enough by the end of the day, knowing his family is dead.”
“I understand,” Namtar said, nodding. “When the time comes, I would respectfully request that I be permitted to avenge my brother.”
“The deed will be yours, and yours alone,” Asmodeous agreed.
“I hate to interrupt, but we've just picked up a signal from an Arkkadian vessel, it's entered Earth's atmosphere.
“Location,” Asmodeous barked urgently, spinning around to study Hawker's screen.
“One hundred thousand feet and descending over northern France,” Hawker paused, tracking the green dot on the screen. “Thirty thousand feet, southern England.”
Namtar studied the map display with interest as the craft settled in Wiltshire. “This is very close to the location where we recovered Becker,” he said.
“Keep the craft tracked,” Asmodeous commanded. “As soon as they start heading this way, you will notify me immediately.” A thin smile broke out on his face and he said, “It would seem we may be having more guests attend, after all.”
* * *
Time does odd things in situations of extreme stress and anxiety. To Adam it seemed both an age, and far too soon, when Taulass finally punched the last few calculations into the main computer terminal of the Niribus, stood back and announced with a relieved breath, “I think we're ready.”
In all it had taken him a little over twenty minutes to reprogram the way in which the Taribium hull captured energy from a wormhole and fed it back into the antimatter engines. Now it could tap into the Earth's energy grid, virtually bypassing the engines and feed the power directly to the hub.
“It's not perfect,” he commented, as if berating himself. “I'm going to need ten percent power from the ship to top it up, and that will cover both windows.”
“But that won't cause us any problems?” Adam asked as he tucked one of the Glock's into the back of his waistband. He held the other by his side, ready to use.
“If we all get back in the two return windows I've set, no. If you miss the second one, I'm afraid you're stuck, to open a third will use too much power. Power we don't have.”
“We best not miss that second window,” Adam smiled, although inside, he didn't feel much like smiling at all. He watched Oriyanna check the Arkkadian weapons that she and Taulass were taking. Resembling Earth guns, perhaps a mixture of a real gun and a plastic imitation, they were light grey and completely smooth. Adam wasn't sure what substance they were made of, but when Oriyanna had given it to him to examine it felt too light, not heavy and reassuring like an Earth weapon did. He was confident, though, that it could do the job at hand.
Taulass worked quickly at his side of the terminal, and what Adam had come to assume was some type of home screen switched to a very realistic 3D image of a massive ship. It looked to be a greatly increased version of the one they were currently in. Adam recognised it from his dream and a chill ran through his anxious body.
“This is Arkus 2,” Oriyanna announced, as Taulass reached into the display and moved the ship around with his hand. He touched something on the body of the main cube and it changed to a schematic. “The ship is vast, but with this map, and once we get on board, access to the life support systems, we should know where we are going.” Taulass fiddled with the glowing blue block of the main computer. Adam could see he'd removed something – two somethings, in fact. He handed one to Oriyanna and kept one for himself. He unfolded the material and it formed into a tablet PC which was hand sized, made of a clear, glass-like substance which seemed amazingly flexible. Oriyanna placed her palm onto the surface of the one she held and a screen sprung to life. On the brightly lit display was a smaller computer image of Arkus 2.
“We both have these portable screens with us, Adam. You and Oriyanna are going to need yours to find Sam, without the use of a map you could wander that ship for hours, not knowing where you are. I am going to use mine to copy Enola, as discussed earlier.” Taulass glanced from Adam to Oriyanna, and finally to Lucie. “As soon as the hub closes down, the thirty-minute countdown will begin to the first return window. After that closes, the ten minute countdown will begin.” He pointed to a three-dimensional spinning globe in the corner of the holo-display. “If we don't come back Lucie, you touch that with your hand, and it will manually activate the ship's program to return to Arkkadia.”
Lucie nodded uneasily. “I understand,” she said.
Taulass switched his attention to Oriyanna. “Activate the hub.”
Oriyanna worked deftly at the holo-display for a few seconds before a gentle hum filled the small bridge. The hub glowed ever so slightly, it still appeared to be a regular arch but to look through it now was like peering through thick glass. Adam thought he saw small, cotton-thin flashes of blue electricity in the glassy surface.
“Hub is active,” Oriyanna said, looking up. “Fifteen seconds.”
Taulass wasted no time; holding his weapon out in a ready position, he approached the glowing arch and vanished. Adam heard Lucie gasp in surprise. When Oriyanna went though he gave his sister a quick peck on the cheek, and her eyes filled with tears.
“I'll see you soon, and I'll bring Sam,” he said reassuringly, before turning and vanishing through the arch.
* * *
The transportation room they'd arrived in was pitch black. It was in a lower part of the vessel, one which had not been used for a long time. It was instantly clear they were missing one vital piece of kit – a torch.
Adam stumbled from the hub, bumping into Oriyanna who was trying to bring the screen of her handheld to life. Taulass managed it first, and the glow from the display lit up the small room.
“Well, no welcoming party,” he said uneasily, moving to the wall and locating a pressure pad which he pressed with his thumb. The room's lights flickered to life and Adam saw that on this vast ship, a hub room was exactly what it said it was; nothing else but a glowing arch in the centre of the small ten by ten square room. Just along from the pressure pad Taulass placed his hand into a small recess in the wall, and a door, which had been all but invisible started to slide open.
The three of them filed out into a dark corridor, using the light from the handheld displays to navigate with. The air was chillingly cool and carried no smells whatsoever. The whole place appeared desolate and abandoned.
“The nearest server room is four decks above; there are access stairs just along this passage,” Taulass said in a low voice. “Keep track of every turn, you might need to remember them later.”
“This ship has stairs?” asked Adam, not sure if he could believe such a technical marvel would have something so antiquated on board.
“Yes. We don't want to risk using the elevators,” Taulass responded. He stopped at another small recess and opened another door. “This way,” he whispered.
The dark stairway seemed to have no end, and obviously reached from the bottom of the ship to the top. Adam couldn't begin to fathom just how far they plunged into the abyss below. Taulass had mentioned that the hub room they'd used was on a lower deck, but the dark stairs seemed to plunge on forever beneath them. Having climbed four flights they exited into a lit passageway, all blinking owlishly in the bright light. Oriyanna held her hand up in a 'be very careful' fashion, but this passage was as empty as the one they'd been in not two minutes ago.
“I'm guessing they only have basic support systems turned on for the top half of the ship,” Taulass commented, scanning the screen on the handheld. “The decks below the hub room were mainly used for cargo.” He halted by another hand sized recess in the wall, studied his handheld a second time and said, “This should be it – here.” As with the previous two doorways, Taulass placed his hand into the opening and a door slid open. “Server room two,” he announced as they stepped into darkness once again. Before the door closed he located the pressure plate on the wall and turned the lights on.
The place looked like no server room Adam had ever seen. Instead of housing banks of tall, whirring machines, there were six of the solid cubes, similar to the one aboard Niribus, only these were black, rising like a pre-cast mould from the floor to a height of around three feet.
“Our one cube has more power than all of these,” Oriyanna pointed out, when she saw the expression on Adam's face. “This is very old tech now, although it is still highly functional.”