by Drew Avera
I looked at the man who I had trained to be a policeman. I had taken him under my wing. I had made him a part of my family when things had gotten bad with Kara a few years ago. I had trusted him and he betrayed me. I put everything I had behind the next motion that I made. I felt the hate boil over. Every part of my body leapt with the anxiety of what I was about to do, but I was powerless to stop myself. Rage was taking control and was in the drivers seat. I lifted Thom up by his neck and drove him through the window with every ounce of strength that was in my body. The window shattered from the hit and for a split second I made eye contact with him for the last time. In that moment I met his black soul that was so consumed with selfishness. He was not the man that I had known. He was a monster just like me. I saw him as such before I released my grip. He seemed to float in the air for an eternity before gravity regained control of Thom's body. I watched him fall fifty feet down to the street. We never lost eye contact with each other until his body impacted the ground below. His head split open and splattered blood that formed a pool of red that was oozing all around his body. I starred for a moment to see what I had done. My heart should be breaking, but I was glad that this part was over. Glad that I had reconciled his betrayal of my family. Satisfied that I could now save Kara with the lottery ticket that had belonged to Thom.
I moved away from the window as people began to gather around Thom's body on the street below. I walked over to the night stand next to the bed and grabbed his lottery ticket and his gauntlet that had been laying out in the open. I stashed the ticket into my breast pocket along with my communicator and carried the gauntlet in my left hand out of room four twelve. It was clear at this point that visiting hours were over.
Chapter 23
I made it back to the palace within the few hours that White had been expecting me. I went straight to the conference room where we had met last and I could hear conversation once the elevator door opened. I walked into the conference room to see Kara and White sitting with an arrangement of food on the very large table. A media device was showing the report from the hospital where I had just killed Thom. The body had already been removed but the image showed people cleaning the blood from the pavement where he had fallen.
Kara looked up at me with a surprised expression on her face. She leapt up to me and embraced me. "You made it!"
I hugged her back. "Of course I made it." I said. I pulled the lottery ticket that I had taken from Thom's room out of my pocket and handed it to Kara. She took it and examined it closely.
"All of this violence for something this small?" She said.
"It's a lifeline." White replied as he stepped over to me. "More people have killed for an opportunity to live than they have in self defense. The logic does not make sense but it is true. It is the society in which we live."
White took the gauntlet from me when I offered it to him. It was clear that he had never held one in his own hands before. He turned it over in his hands, taking in every detail. The silver weapon was heavier than it looked. Each tiny control served a purpose. The neural sensors that stabbed into your wrist when you wore it reacted to your brain waves. For a policeman the gauntlet was a part of them.
"How do I put this on?" He asked. I took the gauntlet and manipulated a control that caused into open along a locking seam.
"Place it over your wrist and close it. It will lock once it is closed and you will feel the neural sensors enter your body. It is only painful for a moment." I said to him.
He looked at it questioningly. Was this something that he really wanted to do? "Will it work through clothing?" He asked. "I can see the your jacket sleeve is covered by your gauntlet."
"Yes. The neural sensors will go through clothing. They will travel as far as the first nerve that they find."
White closed the gauntlet around his right wrist and grimaced once it was closed. It was clear that he felt a stabbing pain in his wrist. It was only for a moment before it passed. Kara looked at White, intrigued by this development.
"How do I fire it?" White asked. I demonstrated the use of the controls on the side.
"This is for the sight. This controls the power of the beam. This light will flash when you need to recharge it. Make sure that you keep it turned off until you can control your thought patterns in regards to firing it. A stray thought could cause it to fire on its own because of your nerves reaction to thoughts. This is a part of you. A limb that has grown that you now have to learn to control like an arm or a leg." I said.
White turned the gauntlet on and I grabbed his arm. He looked at me. "What is it?" He asked.
"The first rule is to never aim your gauntlet at anything you do not intend to kill. Accidents happen all the time with recruits. You have not had the training so it is very imperative that you follow this rule."
"I will." He said. I nodded my head to encourage him to take aim and fire at will. He had set the beam to a low setting and fired at a candle stick on a table in the back of the room. The sight had assisted his aim and he hit the target on his first attempt. A smile stretched across his face as he fired at the candle on the other table followed by the communicator that had been sitting next to it. I thought he was getting the hang of it.
"Very good. You have figured out how to aim and fire at will. That skill will be very useful in the future" I said.
Kara bit her lip. I could sense a bit of envy in White's new toy. It of course was not a toy, but she wanted one anyway. "What is our plan now?" She asked.
White looked up at her. "I'm glad you asked." He said as he switched the gauntlet off. He went to a computer that was sitting on the table and switched it on. A map of the transport station illuminated into a hologram. He had marked some points of interest on it already with a few notes written in the margins.
"This is the entrance into the transport station. There is only one way in and out so we are limited in our means of arrival. The marks on the map here and here are direct routes to the primary transports for the highest ranking officials of the Syndicate." He pointed those positions out on the map and enlarged the image around the second mark. "The second transport will be the easiest for us to access. It should be less guarded than the first and will not be filled with as many of the higher ups."
I looked hard at the image of the map and identified some hiding spots that would be available to me. "Why not try to take out the first transport?" I asked.
"If we do that then we will alert the guards of our presence. They will halt the departure of all the transports until they find who is responsible. It's a risk we don't have time to make." White sounded like a general who had gone over the plan thousands of times. He made a good call.
"Alright. When do we leave?" Kara asked. She seemed to be more in control of her emotions and more assertive. She was handling the situation very well under these dire circumstances.
"Just after midnight." White said. "We don't want to go too early because we may be identified if a large number of people are walking about. If we go later then our potential targets will be less but we won't have as large of an audience to get in our way."
"Good plan." I said.
"I thought you would say so." White replied. "In the mean time we should enjoy some food. It may be the last meal we have that has any consistency for several months." He laughed at the possibility of eating freeze dried food. All of our technological advances and space food was still disgusting.
The three of us feasted on the food that White had provided. There was all kinds of protein foods to give us energy. Steak and chicken were grilled to perfection. It was a last meal fit for a dying man. I just hoped that this would not be the last meal for any of us tonight.
We finished the meal and sat back to watch the media report. It showed images of the transports being fueled and loaded for the exodus. It seemed strange to me that there was such an event centered around this. These transports were going to leave millions of people to die. You would think that the whole population of the planet would b
e up in arms and going after the Syndicate. It seemed like people were too ignorant to stand up for themselves. That was probably true I supposed.
The clock chirped at midnight and it felt like the air in the room had disappeared. All three of us looked at each other and it was a moment of very real fear that closed around us. The only thing that allowed me to stand at that moment was my determination to save Kara from what would be the end of the world as we knew it. White stood up after I did and was followed by Kara. We three stood defiantly at our mission. Was it easier to sit back and let events unfold around us? Of course it was. We were not ignorant to that fact, but neither of us were willing to give up our lives without a fight.
We left the conference room and entered the elevator. From there we walked through the lobby and out into the square. From the square we were in the streets walking to the transport station. Every step brought us closer to another opportunity to live or to die. Each step closer to a reality that we had spent days trying to achieve, but seemingly felt unattainable. This was the final fight on Mars. Within hours we would either be dead or on a transport for Earth. Each step marked time as the seconds passed, then minutes, until we could see the transport station in the distance. Illuminated by artificial lights the transports looked like huge metallic buildings. Primitive in their design, but advanced in their ability to preserve what life could fit aboard them. The reality of each foreseeable future passed through my mind. It was now or never.
Chapter 24
The transport station was enormous and was filled with a collection of transporters parked in a configuration that enabled a multitude of people to board and depart without any bottlenecking problems. I was amazed at the size of the complex. There were hundreds of people inside the compound and even more were outside who protested the Syndicate and the lottery winners. The half moon that hung overhead was barely visible due to the bright lights of the compound. The organization of this venture was almost militaristic in nature.
"Oh my!" White said obviously dumbfounded by what we were walking into. "I was not expecting it to be so busy this time of night!"
Kara gripped my arm and I could feel just how nervous she was. We were about to walk into the lions den. We were in the Syndicate's court. Anything could happen, but I was ready to face it.
We walked around outside the entrance gate but we were stopped by a bright light that illuminated around us. It was blinding like the light in the room that I had been taken to after Sorell had me abducted. This situation stank of his involvement and I was soon to find that I was right.
"Well, well, well. I see we have some unwelcome guests." He said in a playful cocky sort of way. He had good reason to be confident because about two dozen policemen emerged and held us up. "I don't suggest any sudden moves. You don't want a hole blown through your body or anything do you?" He laughed a sinister laugh and sneered at us.
One of the policemen walked up to us and looked us over. "The only people allowed to board a transport are those who have a lottery ticket. This is not negotiable." I could hear a nervousness in this rookie’s voice. I guess they had a problem recruiting senior policemen to work as security for this kind of event. The rookies were always the most motivated and the easiest to be manipulated.
"We have tickets." White said a bit too willingly. What was he doing? I only had two tickets and there were three of us. The rookie policeman looked up at Sorell for some kind of affirmation.
"By all means, if they can produce a lottery ticket then let them pass." He laughed at the ridiculous assumption that we would have tickets to board. White and Kara produced their tickets and Sorell's laughter ended. It seemed that he had believed that White was bluffing.
"I would like to have Serus come with me as my bodyguard." White said. I could see what he was doing. He was trying to find a loop hole to get us on the transport.
"I'm sorry, sir. One ticket per person is the policy." The rookie said. This caused Sorell to laugh again. “No bodyguards or other unauthorized guests.”
"That's ridiculous!" White said. "How many members of the Syndicate boarded with their families on the same ticket?"
"This man is not your family."
"He is my brother." Kara interrupted. The rookie looked up at Sorell again. Instead of laughing he just shook his head no.
"I'm sorry, but I can not let him pass without a ticket. Policemen do not have families according to the rules of the Agency,” the rookie shot down Kara’s hope of my joining her. Kara looked up at me with concern, I could tell that she was afraid that I would be left here to die.
“Serus?” she said.
“It’s alright, Kara. Just go. Take the opportunity and go to Earth. You may not have the opportunity again,” I said. Kara frowned and looked down at the ground. She was about to cry, but I grabbed her and held her close. She had grown stronger, more resilient in the last few days. I knew she could handle the separation, at least that is what I wanted her to think. Deep down I was terrified of losing her, afraid of not being there for her. “It will be alright, I promise.”
Kara released me and wiped a small tear from her eye. I brushed a strand of hair away from her face and smiled at her. Every part of me wanted to lash out against these policemen and the maniacal man standing above us. I struggled to maintain my self control, losing myself to the hate I felt inside would put Kara in danger. I had to ensure that she boarded the transport safely.
Kara turned and handed the ticket to the rookie who had stopped us. He accepted it and the first rank of policemen stepped aside and allowed Kara permission to board. I was thankful that she was able to leave this dying planet, but I was afraid of what would happen without some kind of protection. She looked at me and smiled for what I thought would be the last time. She was leaving and I would stay here and die.
Kara walked passed and followed the route to the transporter that she had been directed to board as the policemen closed the ranks between us. I felt a compulsion to act now that Kara was safe and I followed through with it. I jumped passed White and tried to fight my way through the ranks to go and be with my sister. Three policemen grabbed me and threw me to the ground. I was pinned down and had at least a dozen lasers pointed at my head.
White jumped over to assist me but he was held back by some of the other policemen. He too had lasers pointed at his face ready to kill him. Sorell stood above us and clapped his hands with a smile on his face.
"Bravo!" He said. "I love your passion! So ready to kill or be killed." He laughed again. His laughter was becoming very annoying. "Let me put it to you like this, Serus. If you fight us then not only will we kill you because you are outnumbered, but we will kill your sister before she even sets foot on Earth. Do you understand me?"
I shook my head in acknowledgment, I found it hard to speak with hands pressing down on my neck and chest. There was nothing I could do. If I acted out I would be killed and be unable to protect Kara. My only option was to trust White to protect her.
The policemen released White and he straightened out his suit. He was still wearing the gauntlet but I thought that he wasn't even thinking about it anymore. That was until he touched it with his hand. Not in the kind of touch like a man who adjusts his cuff over his wrist. This was a calculated move. It was the kind of move that warranted a reaction if it went any further. What did he think that he was doing? Was he crazy? If he carried on with this then that would put Kara in danger too. Oh my God!
Chapter 25
Click. That was the only sound that I heard. I winced at what I thought would be the outcome. Was it over? Was I still alive? What was happening? I still felt the heavy weight of boots press against my chest and neck. The blood was rushing to my head so that all I could hear now was the sound of my beating heart. I was afraid, but I opened my eyes and looked up to see White standing over me with the Thom’s gauntlet held in his left hand. I was shocked that he had not fired upon the policemen or Sorell. White was still standing unscathed as he walked over to one
of the policemen. He said something to one of them that I could not hear and I felt the pressure ease up off of my chest. I was confused as White extended his hand to me and helped me up.
Everything was surreal. I could not believe my eyes, I was in shock. Was my brain so overloaded that I was now hallucinating? White led me by the arm away from the group of policemen. We walked until we were out of earshot of the men and Sorell who was on the catwalk above the ranks of policemen. Perched fifteen feet above the rest of us exuding an air of authority.
"Things have changed," White said to me. The expression on his face was solemn, almost grief stricken.
"How so?" I asked, half expecting him to turn on me and stab me in the back. I still questioned whether or not I could trust him even after he allowed Kara and I to stay at the palace.
"We are surrounded and we are out gunned. Our only hope is for us to make a sacrifice," he said. My heart sank. If I stayed here then I would die, and with the rush of emotions that I had been experiencing lately that thought caused me to dread what was about to come. Also if White escorted Kara to Earth then how was I going to know if she were safe? He didn't have the training and skills that I had. He was an old man, and no matter how much he intended to do right by her, he was already going to be at a disadvantage when trying to protect her adequately. I had to go, it was my duty, it was my responsibility!
"I owe it to Kara to go and try to protect her," I said. "She is all that I have left!" I spoke urgently. My heart was beating more rapidly with each passing moment. Fear was the leading emotion that was feeding me at the time.
White stepped back for a moment and I could see in the reflection of the streetlight that he had wiped a tear from his eye. Was this some kind of surrender or betrayal? I didn't know. I couldn't read his thoughts. I was still dealing with the confusion that stemmed from moments before.