by S. T. Boston
“Listen, you've just told me we only have two return hubs to get home, you're sure we've missed one, and if we miss the second we're stuck here!”
“I know, but—”
“But nothing, we have the square root of fuck all time and a ship the size of three cruise liners.” Sam stopped and took hold of his friend, looking him in the eye. Despite the gloom he could see tears glistening in Adam's eyes. “Only you know the way back to the hub room, I can't find it on my own!”
“I'm not sure I can either,” Adam replied, trying to remember which turns they'd taken.
“Sure you can,” Sam prompted. “Once we get off this ship, we'll see what's happening, make some plans and then we can come back for Oriyanna.” Sam wasn't certain he believed his own statement, but he needed to get Adam moving. “I need to get back for Lucie,” he concluded and he heard the desperation in his voice.
Adam paused for longer than he would have liked. “Okay, but I am coming back,” he announced firmly.
“Agreed, now let's get moving – which way?”
“We need to drop one floor, pass the room they held you in, then it's two left turns, down ten decks and straight down the lower corridor, past the server room, four more decks down and then, I think, five doors along.” Adam led the way, feeling like shit and suffering a stab of betrayal for leaving Oriyanna behind. This task is greater than any one of our lives, he heard her repeat in his head. It was easy to say and agree to at the time; but when it came to the crunch, it was a different matter.
They rushed down one deck, passing the room where Sam had been held. The two dead guards were still slumped on the floor, one of them had his right eye closed, as if he was winking at them. Adam found the first stairway and opened the door. The pair hammered down the ten decks, Adam guessing it was Taulass who'd turned the lights on, and he silently thanked him. The handheld was with Oriyanna and without it, they'd have been fumbling around in the dark. The ten decks passed much more quickly on the descent than they had during the ascent and they soon found themselves on the floor housing the server room.
“Are you sure it's this way?” Sam asked urgently.
“Certain,” Adam raced along the corridor. “This is the server room,” he announced, coming to a stop. He activated the door and peered inside; the lights were on and one of the server cubes still had an active holo-display. Taulass was gone. “He must have made the first return window,” said Adam, glancing at his watch, but he wasn't certain how much time they had. “Let's get moving.” They broke into a run, located the next door and dropped the last four floors. “This is the passage, just five doors along.”
“I hope to God you're right,” Sam said.
Adam counted the doors in his head, arrived at the fifth and thrust his hand into the recess. “We must have missed it,” Adam said, and he couldn't hide a hint of hope in his voice at the sight of the hub, which was silent and dull. “Now can we please…” Before he could finish the sentence a low hum filled the room, and the centre of the hub flickered with blue current.
“No, we didn't,” Sam beamed. “Talk about in the nick of time – do we always have to cut this shit so bloody close?” He glanced at Adam and guessed from the expression in his eyes that he wasn't intending on making the jump. “Sorry, old buddy,” he said, grabbing Adam's arm.
Adam fought back, using his weight to counteract Sam's grasp, but Sam was stronger and had the advantage of having caught him off guard. With one final, desperate effort which caused his shoulder to scream in protest, Sam swung Adam around and pushed him though the arch, then dashed through himself.
* * *
For the first half hour, Lucie had been unable to do anything other than watch the clock on the holo-display tick down painfully slowly. As the final two minutes ticked by her anxiety grew to a point where she was sure she'd throw up. Bang on the thirty minute mark the hub began to hum as it went live. Once live, the fifteen second window started its own countdown – more torturous seconds for her to endure. With five seconds to spare Taulass fell through the portal and into the bridge, his breathing rapid and his face covered in sweat. Before he'd had chance to steady himself, the portal shut.
“Where are the others?” Lucie asked in dismay.
“They— they are— alive,” he panted, placing one hand on the server cube to steady himself. “The— they—– ha— have— Sam, I think. But th— there was a problem.”
“What problem?” she shrieked.
“No time to explain now,” Taulass said, his breath coming a little easier. “Enola is live, the launch system has already begun.”
“Dear God,” Lucie said shakily as Taulass placed the handheld onto the server cube and connected it. Lucie watched the second timer start its countdown – ten more minutes of torture, and then what? Not knowing was horrendous, her nerves shot.
* * *
Taulass needed to work fast. He swiftly synced Enola with his own systems, giving him access to the main control panel. He switched off the automated program and assumed manual control in the same split-second as Enola released every launchable nuclear warhead. “Launch is go,” he muttered, more to himself than Lucie.
“Can you stop it?” she asked urgently.
“No. Not the launch, anyway,” he said. “I have an idea, though.” He located the primary command screen and pumped in a single line of code, telling all but one of the weapons to abort. Pushing execute he held his breath and watched to see if they would accept his new command. The screen froze for a second before acknowledging the abort command. “Done,” he said in a relieved breath. “That was too close.”
“What's happening now?”
He sat back and smiled. “I've de-armed the entire human race, that's what's happening. I altered the targeting systems on each weapon and they'll jettison harmlessly into space. Except for one. I need one of them.”
“What the hell do you need a nuclear weapon for?” Lucie cried.
“This needs to end now,” Taulass spoke in a voice fractured by the stress he'd been under for the past two days. “I'm re-targeting one weapon to the coordinates of Arkus 2.”
Lucie tried to pull him away from the holo-display, screaming at him. “But you'll kill them! How can you even consider doing such a thing?”
“The nuke has launched,” Taulass said firmly, wrestling her aside. Lucie fell awkwardly to the floor and he felt terrible, but the situation needed to be controlled. “The next window opens in less than a minute, and that weapon will take fifteen minutes to reach the target. If they're going to make it back, they'll be safely here by the time it detonates.”
“And if they don't make it?” she demanded, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
“They knew before they left this was likely to be a one-way mission, Lucie. Even if your brother didn't voice the knowledge, he knew. Your brother and Sam are two of the bravest people I've ever met – you should be proud of them both.”
The hub was now less than a minute from opening. Taulass hid it well, but inside he felt like shit. Every ounce of his being wanted to turn that nuke around and let it fly off into space with its other deadly brethren, leaving time to launch a hare-brained rescue mission. But Asmodeous was in his sights and the task needed to be completed. To let him escape would just lead to another situation like this, of that Taulass was certain. He glanced at Lucie and it was clear the young woman had endured all she could, she didn't even have the energy to pick herself up from the floor. As the hub began to hum softly, she rolled into a protective foetal position and began sobbing fiercely.
* * *
Adam was still fighting against the momentum of Sam's shove as he reeled out of the hub and onto the bridge of the Niribus. Sam followed swiftly, catching him before he had the opportunity to spin around and return to the Arkus 2.
“You had no right,” Adam shouted, throwing himself against Sam and fighting to get back to the hub. “It was my choice, not yours!”
Oblivious to Lucie and Taulas
s, Sam grappled with his friend, placing one leg behind his knees and dropping him to the floor, holding him in place until the portal blinked out of existence. Adam struggled inanely for another few seconds before all the fight went out of him. With the risk of Adam throwing himself back though gone, Sam let go and stood up, only to find himself grappled by Lucie, who threw her arms around him in a bear hug.
“Sam, Sam!” she cried, smothering his face in kisses. He took her into his arms and kissed her back, her body shaking uncontrollably beneath his hands. Lucie broke away and embraced her brother, who had picked himself up from the floor, his eyes awash with tears.
“You have to open a new window,” Adam demanded. “He took her when the lights went out, she's still on that ship!”
“It's impossible,” Taulass said, his voice wracked with regret. “If we do, we will cripple our own craft. We have taken as much power as we can out of the engines, even with the aid of the Earth's energy it won't be enough, and that ship is too vast to mount a search in the time we have available.”
“Fuck the engines!” Adam shouted. “Do it now!”
Taulass took him by the shoulders, holding him firmly. “I have stopped the attack, but I have one nuke targeted at Arkus 2. I'm sorry, Adam but you knew the risks, as did Oriyanna. This needs to end now. There is no chance of return. In ten minutes, that ship will be destroyed.”
“Then you take this ship up now and take us there! What's stopping you? You can jump the craft there in an instant! There's no need for secrecy now, and nearly everyone else is dead!”
“But the chances of finding her…” Taulass began, but in reality, he was already preparing to launch. As the Niribus lifted silently into the air he turned to Adam. “Hold on. Without being in space, this might shake the old girl a little.”
Chapter 39
The strain of influencing Liam Granger to make him shoot two people had rendered Oriyanna unconscious. When the murkiness lifted from her mind and she regained lucidity, she found herself lying on the cool floor on her back. Opening her eyes, she twisted her head and noticed Asmodeous. He was perched on the end of a bed, his eyes fixated on the screen of the ship's computer, which displayed itself on the wall of the room. The whole situation struck her as odd, and her struggling brain couldn't quite compute what was happening, or how she'd come to be there. He must have sensed that she was awake because he turned his attention to her, a big, charismatic, but slightly unhinged smile spreading over his face.
“You're awake. Marvellous, and just in time, too,” he chirped. “The launch is just about to begin, come take a look.”
Begrudgingly, Oriyanna propped herself up on her elbows. Her body still felt weak, but strength was returning to by the second, allowing her to get up onto her feet. She glanced around, realising she was alone with him in one of the crew's living quarters. Her memory treated her to the image of Liam Granger shooting the two operators dead – if that had happened, then why the hell was the launch still going ahead?
On the screen was a box, and inside the box was a number of small graphics, each representing a nuclear weapon. Gradually, one-by-one, the graphics swiftly changed from green to red.
“We have lift-off,” Asmodeous shouted in delight, jumping off the bed as if celebrating a goal scored by his favourite football team.
Oriyanna didn't know what to do. She had no idea what had happened to Sam, Adam and Taulass, the plan had obviously failed, and as a result, over the next twenty-five minutes every major city on the globe was going to be reduced to ash. Not able to drag her gaze from the screen she watched, eyes filling with tears until suddenly, the word 'ABORT' flashed across the display.
“No! No!” Asmodeous screamed, getting up from the bed and rushing to the display, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He gripped the edges of the monitor, his eyes close to the screen, as if he couldn't believe what he'd seen.
Oriyanna snatched the opportunity and crossed the small cabin, ramming his face into the monitor, and she heard his nose break with a nauseating crunch. Turning away from Asmodeous she reached the door, opened it and fled out into the passageway. With no weapons at her disposal she didn't like her chances against him, and she needed to get off the ship fast.
Reaching the end of the first passage, Oriyanna hit the stairs and she glanced back, only to see Asmodeous rounding the frame of the cabin door and breaking into a run. His bloodied nose formed a streak of crimson down the lower half of his face. She threw herself into the stairwell and hurried down into the bowels of the ship, taking the steps four or five at a time.
She could hear him behind her, his feet slamming on the metallic stairs as he pounded down them in pursuit. Oriyanna delved deeply into her memory and tried to recall where the emergency access door was. She was certain she knew and with no other options available she stuck to her only plan.
The descent seemed to take forever, and all the time Asmodeous' feet pounded on the stairs above her. She was certain they were growing louder with every flight. Not once did she dare look back, positive a moment of lapsed concentration would surely lead to a fall, and that would be the end of any hope.
Reaching the very bottom of the ship, her feet found the landing; now she glanced back and saw how close Asmodeous was. Just a floor above, two at most, and descending as fast as a cheetah might chase down its prey.
Struggling to draw air into her chest, Oriyanna took off down the passageway, her legs burning and her muscles on fire. She reached the access hatch, threw her hand into the recess and waited anxiously. Opening the emergency access hatch would require the ship to de-cloak, meaning it took seconds longer to carry out the command, seconds she didn't have. A hundred yards behind her, Asmodeous was closing in, his amber eyes insane, the bottom of his face covered in bright red blood.
The hatch finally opened and cool desert air hit Oriyanna's sweaty face, the surrounding mountains ignited in a bright halo of light. Fork lighting laced its way across the sky, behaving like a crazed, electrified spider's web. Throwing herself down the access ramp, heavy rain instantly soaked her to the skin and her feet slipped treacherously on the metal ramp. She fought for purchase but it was too late, her body twisted and she went tumbling down, her body landing in a crumpled mess at the bottom of the ramp.
The few seconds it took to recover allowed Asmodeous to close the gap, and when Oriyanna got to her feet, she peered back toward the ship. Asmodeous was only twenty yards behind her now, and judging from the triumphant expression on his face, he knew he was going to catch her. He'd slowed his rushed approach and almost stalked down the access ramp, his lips locked in a jeering grin. More lightning ignited the sky, silhouetting the gigantic hulk of Arkus 2 against his predatory body. Oriyanna knew there was no point in running, she would only be burning valuable energy, energy she'd need to defend herself. She took a step back, buying a little more room and prepared to fight.
* * *
In the Earth's atmosphere, the short wormhole jump created a sonic boom five times louder than that of a plane breaking the sound barrier. Four miles away, in the small town of Amesbury, every window in every house, shop and car shattered. Less than a second later, the Niribus arrived above the giant structure of Arkus 2 in Peru, the smaller craft zipping along the length of the craft before dropping down beside it.
“I'll run a scan of the craft,” Taulass said, as lightning flashed across the horizon. The ship was uncloaked and impossibly huge against the darkened sky.
“Down there, look!” cried Sam, pointing out of the window. Twenty feet below them, out in the open ground, two bodies were locked in a bitter struggle.
“Get us on the ground,” Adam ordered. “I need your weapon, ours were taken.”
“No offence, mate, but I think I'll do the honours,” Sam said, as Taulass touched the ship down less than fifty feet from where the pair were fighting. Before Lucie could protest, Sam took the weapon from Taulass and gave it a once over. When the door to the craft slid open, both Adam a
nd Sam rushed out into the pounding rain.
* * *
Asmodeous hit Oriyanna like a steam train, instantly knocking her off her feet and sending her sprawling onto her back. Before she could react he was on her, pinning her to the wet ground with the weight of his body. Oriyanna stared upwards, registering the arrival of the Niribus as it blinked into existence high above them. The small craft sped along the length of Arkus 2 and for a moment she lost sight of it, before it swooped down the side of the hull and came back. Oriyanna made a futile effort to toss Asmodeous from his positon, but he fought back, slamming her head against the ground. Oriyanna saw stars and nausea flooded her stomach.
“I might not be able to shoot you, but I'm going to smash your pretty fucking skull to pieces,” Asmodeous raged as he yanked her hair, adjusted his grip and slammed the back of her head again, then again. The nauseating crunch of her skull breaking reverberated through every muscle and bone in her ancient body. Once again, Asmodeous drew her head up, but thankfully oblivion took her before the next blow came.
* * *
Sam raced across the wet ground, his shirt plastered to his skin, the weapon raised. “Hey, asshole!” he shouted as more lighting chased hot lines through the sky, followed by a clap of thunder so loud it shook the ground. Asmodeous turned to stare at him, puzzlement on his crazed face. His hands were covered in blood despite the incessant rain, and Sam realised why – the back of Oriyanna's head was mush, resembling a hardboiled egg in a shell which had been dropped from a kitchen counter. It made him want to gag. Before Asmodeous had the chance to slam her skull down again, Sam raised the gun. A red targeting dot highlighted a spot on Asmodeous' head for a nanosecond before Sam pulled the trigger. There was no recoil, and no sound – just a small vibration through the handle which lasted half a second at most. Sam watched Asmodeous' body convulse, green lightning dancing over his wet clothing, face and his hands.
Before Asmodeous' body hit the ground, Sam saw Adam slam into him, and push him away. The dead body slumped onto the wet ground with a splash. Sam watched Adam collect Oriyanna's limp body in his arms, his movements frantic. He had a horrible suspicion that they'd been too late – her skin was pallid and her lips an unhealthy shade of purple. The whole scene gave Sam a horrible flashback to when they'd first found Oriyanna, battered and shot on the riverbank. As they hurried toward the Niribus, more lightning streaked the sky, stinging his eyes.