by M. D. Cooper
LOST
STELLAR DATE: 03.22.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Crystal Cave, Mount Ida Caverns
REGION: Tyre, New Canaan System
Isa knelt by Martin’s side, holding his limp, cooling hand, wishing she could will life back into his body, wishing she’d had the strength to defeat Pigtail when they’d fought, wishing she’d done something, anything, to stop her from shooting the sweet, kind, loving man who had tried to save her life.
If she hadn’t had her stupid episode in that cave, she wouldn’t have had to be rescued, Martin wouldn’t have heard about it, and he would never have come to Tyre; instead, he would be at his beach house on Landfall, swimming, diving, and tending to his sea creatures. He would never have been dragged into this ridiculous, deadly intrigue with the crazy Tyrians and their mad, evil friend. He would still be alive.
Isa could not even cry. The tears wouldn’t come. She could only sit and stare at Martin’s still face, utter helplessness and regret overwhelming her.
Pigtail seemed to have gone. Isa had heard her movements for a short while, and then nothing. She must have left the cave. Isa wanted to go after her and try to warn Tyre’s authorities about Pigtail’s plans, but she found she couldn’t move. Even if she’d found the emotional strength to leave Martin, she was beyond exhaustion. She could barely remain upright, and her head and leg throbbed with a vicious intensity. All she could do was remain with Martin and wait for death to take her too.
Then there would be four dead bodies in the crystal cave: Samuel, Rahmin, Martin and her. If Pigtail’s plans succeeded, they would stay there forever, burnt by lava or buried in an earthquake.
Isa wondered what had happened to Ada. The last she’d seen of the Tyrian woman, she’d been lying somewhere further back in the cave, injured and incapacitated. Had she somehow made it out? Had Pigtail returned to her and helped her?
Isa heard soft footsteps. They were firm and regular, which meant it wasn’t Ada she was hearing. No, the footsteps had to belong to Pigtail. For some reason, she’d come back.
Isa tensed. She knew she should move. She should hide from the maniac. But she lacked the strength to stand and she didn’t want to desert Martin—not again. She couldn’t leave his lifeless, bloody body alone in that horrible place. The crystals had lost all their wonder and splendor now; the cave had turned into a venue of terror and death.
Pigtail’s footsteps came closer. She wasn’t even trying to be quiet. Isa waited for her, defenseless. Pigtail had taken her weapon when she’d knocked her out, and the weapon Martin had snatched from Samuel lay somewhere else, perhaps where he’d been shot, or somewhere along the trail of blood he’d left while he was dying.
Isa had known for so long that her life was a fluke, a miracle that she’d done nothing to deserve. Everyone she’d grown up with remained enslaved at Sirius or had died in the massacre at Victoria. People who were better than her, smarter, more skilled, more able at everything. What right did she have to live? None at all. And now her time had finally come.
A step sounded behind her.
“So glad to see you again,” Pigtail said. A metal barrel pushed against Isa’s head.
She didn’t know why Pigtail had returned to kill her, but she wouldn’t fight her fate. She couldn’t. She didn’t even cringe or hold her breath as she waited for the shot to come.
It didn’t.
A second passed, then another. The hard muzzle remained firmly pushing into the back of her head. What was Pigtail waiting for?
Isa wondered if she was dreaming. Had she slipped into another waking nightmare? But this wasn’t like any other nightmare she’d ever had.
She turned and peered upward to see the underneath of Pigtail’s chin, and her long arms extending downward to the weapon she held in two fists. The woman was looking to the side, casting about as if watching for something or someone.
Pigtail felt Isa’s movement and shoved the weapon harder into her head. “Don’t move,” she said between her teeth. “They’ll be here any minute. Then you and I are going for a walk.”
Isa had no strength or willpower left to argue. Time inched along. Isa, Pigtail, and Martin remained frozen in their grim tableau. Isa closed her eyes and gently gripped Martin’s hand, replaying in her mind scenes from the times she’d spent with him. She recalled the dinner he’d cooked for her and Erin at his beach house, and the magical evening they’d spent outside eating it, their meal lit only by candlelight and the Cradle. She remembered getting drunk with him on the Odyssey, bound for Athens. She recollected his ridiculous surfing competition with Usef.
Perhaps it was because she was so lost in her thoughts, or perhaps it was because the woman moved so quietly, but Isa didn’t notice the Marine until she’d crept into the narrow space where Martin lay and Pigtail held her hostage. When Isa saw her, the Marine was already standing upright, though she was the shortest Marine Isa had ever seen.
Pigtail certainly seemed to be taken by surprise too. Her arms jerked, knocking her gun against Isa’s head at exactly the place where she’d previously struck her with a rock. Agony surged from Isa’s skull, and her stomach threatened to empty out its contents.
“She’s coming with me,” said Pigtail, “and you’re going to let me out of here.”
The Marine didn’t speak. Almost faster than Isa could follow, the woman lifted her weapon and fired.
The barrel that had been pressed against Isa’s head disappeared. Less than a second later, Pigtail’s body crashed to the ground behind her.
Isa spun around. Pigtail had a hole in her head. Blood was soaking into her blonde hair, and her eyes were wide and unseeing.
The Marine ran to Isa and grabbed her, crushing her. Isa was relieved but confused. Though she was grateful for the woman’s intervention, she seemed excessively emotional. The Marine said something, but her voice was muffled by her helmet.
The Link is back!
Then, as Isa realized who had spoken to her, the Marine’s visor became transparent.
Erin.
Isa could barely believe it. She crushed Erin to her, finding new strength in her happiness.
“How long’s Martin been…like this?” Erin asked urgently.
Then Isa remembered what had happened, and grief engulfed her again. “I—I don’t know.”
“How long?” Erin urged, tightly gripping Isa’s upper arms.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know,” Isa repeated. She’d lost all sense of time.
Usef appeared, drenched in sweat and, for some reason, not wearing his armor. He took one look at Pigtail and cursed.
“She was an information source,” he barked at Erin.
Then he saw Martin. His arm dropped, and his weapon hung loose.
Erin jumped up and faced their bulky Marine friend. “He hasn’t been dead long,” she said.
Usef hesitated. “We have to—”
“Usef, please,” Erin said, her voice choked with emotion.
Another moment’s hesitation later, the major nodded. Slinging his weapon over his shoulder, he leant down and grabbed one of Martin’s arms. He pulled his limp form upward, put his other shoulder into Martin’s stomach, and hoisted him up onto it.
He took a moment to balance Martin’s body, then said, “Stay right here, and don’t do anything else this stupid. Backup’s on its way.”
Then he turned and sped from the place.
“What’s happening?” Isa asked. “Where’s he taking Martin?”
“There’s a chance…” Erin said, then her words dried up.
She was chewing her lip and blinking away tears. Her visor became opaque and she swung around, watching. When Isa also tried to stand, she pushed down on her shoulder.
Isa said.
Isa nodded. She would find the energy from somewhere. But when she stood up, she wobbled precariously. The cave was moving toward and away from her like waves on a beach. Erin slipped under her arm and grabbed her hand so that Isa’s arm was resting on her shoulder. With Erin supporting her, Isa thought she could manage to go a little farther.
Erin said.
said Isa.
Erin’s grip on her loosened, and Isa nearly fell. Erin grabbed her again and pulled her close.
Isa heard a muffled curse through Erin’s helmet.
Erin didn’t explain the significance of what she’d just learned, and Isa was too weak and exhausted to understand an explanation, even if it had been offered.
They carried on walking, Erin half-carrying Isa across the difficult terrain. Concentrating on finding the Tyrian was all Isa had strength for. She could barely focus as she tried to recognize familiar spots in the mass of crystals.
The sound of running, booted feet began to echo around the cave.
Isa said.
Hearing the ice-hard tone in her partner’s voice, Isa believed she was right. There was a side to the woman she loved that she’d never seen before. The way Erin had taken one look at Martin’s body and immediately executed Pigtail in cold blood had shocked Isa, even though at the time she’d mistaken Erin for a Marine.
Isa halted as they came to the open space where Martin had broken free of his bonds.
Another few steps brought them in sight of Ada’s feet. As they walked closer, it became clear that they were too late. Ada’s arms were thrown up as if she’d been trying to defend herself. Her mouth was half-open, and her eyes were wide with fear or surprise. Isa saw the wound that Martin had inflicted, but that hadn’t been what had killed her. Another wound had opened her stomach and chest.
Erin dropped to her knees, bringing Isa down with her.
DESPERATION
STELLAR DATE: 03.22.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Crystal Cave, Mount Ida Caverns
REGION: Tyre, New Canaan System
Erin stared at the corpse of the Tyrian.
SSS?
She could barely believe it. The idea that Sanctity of the Sol System terrorists had made it all the way to New Canaan boggled her mind. Everyone had thought the sabotage at Estrella de la Muerte to be their last-ditch attempt to stop the Intrepid. That some of their number had risked death as a final backup was hard to swallow.
And not only that, their desire to wreak havoc remained wholly intact, despite the Intrepid’s journey far into the future. It was no wonder she’d struggled to work out what Pippa was up to; predicting the actions of people who thought nothing of waiting centuries to destroy entire colonies, meant envisaging their madness.
But Erin had no time to try to wrap her head around the philosophy of the SSS. She had to find where the group had planted the antimatter bombs. The sites would be along the planet’s fault lines, yes, but those stretched across thousands of kilometers.
Suddenly, Isa collapsed, falling from Erin’s grasp and slumping to the cavern’s floor. Erin crouched next to her, touching her shoulder.
Walter said.
“Shit…oh, Isa.” Erin knelt beside her love, her armor’s scan gathering the woman’s vitals. She was overheating and dehydrated. On top of that, her blood pressure was dangerously low.
Onyx replied.
Erin switched to the Marine’s channel.
Erin brushed the hair from Isa’s face and frowned with concern. Initially, she’d thought all the blood on Isa had been from Martin, but on top of the heat and exhaustion, she realized that her lover had been shot in the leg and sustained a head injury. Not to mention, her knees and hands looked like someone had taken sandpaper to them.
Erin had been clinging to hope for Martin, but now she worried that she should have the same concerns for Isa.
As she waited for the Marines who would carry Isa to the surface, she thought of Usef racing up the tunnels with Martin over his shoulder, bearing the weight of an adult man as he ran, fighting gravity up the steep passageways…
If anyone can perform that feat of strength and endurance, it’s Usef. He might do it. He might make it. He might save Martin.
The image of Pippa standing over Martin’s corpse flashed into Erin’s mind. Shooting the woman had been a reflex; Erin wouldn’t have been able to stop herself had she wanted to. But she didn’t even hesitate to put an end to the terrorist’s life.
Pippa deserved to die. In the same circumstances, Erin would have done the same thing in a heartbeat…. Except maybe Usef had been right. It could have waited until after she’d interrogated her.
Erin returned her attention to Isa, who hadn’t moved at all. Erin was no doctor, but Isa looked like she was barely clinging to life.
Where are the damn Marines?
Then suddenly, they were right behind her.
Isa would hate that, Erin thought, swallowing hard. She was always careful with her hair.
Erin watched the pair carry Isa out, then she returned to the problem at hand, struggling to focus on what she needed to do. There was nothing more she could do for Martin or Isa. She had to find the antimatter bombs.
She looked down at the last hope for information from the terrorists, murdered by Pippa to prevent her from divulging the SSS’s secrets
.
The fact that all the terrorists were dead, as far as Erin knew, didn’t diminish the threat they posed. There was a risk that the bombs could be on a countdown, and no reason to assume there was much time before they went off.
She considered that Pippa would have known that Max’s body would be discovered soon, and then her guilt would be clear—which was why she’d left Carthage even while under suspicion.
The woman had come to Tyre expressly to set the SSS’s plans in motion.
Why had the SSS terrorists come to this cave? Usef’s prior concern came to mind. Am I sitting on one of the detonation sites?
Erin brought up a map of Tyre’s tectonic plates.
Bingo.
One of the fault lines ran right under the crystal cave. But, assuming she could find the bomb, how could she deactivate it?
he replied, his voice filled with more sorrow than she’d expected.
Then she realized that Eamon might have been injured along with Martin. Before she could ask if the other AI had been responsive, Walter continued.
Erin said.
Walter replied, but Erin was already on her feet and reaching out to the Marines who remained in the cave.
Even though Arla seemed uncertain, Erin resolved to be optimistic. She had to be.
The Marines spread out in their search, and eleven anxious minutes later, Sergeant Grey called out.