by Jake Bible
“Thanks,” Beth said. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get to Heather sooner.”
“Well, I’m just praying there’s a way to reverse the effect,” Melissa said, although the tone of her voice revealed she had zero hope of that happening.
“Yeah, me too,” Beth replied.
Melissa tossed the towel aside and grabbed a robe hanging from the wall. “While we are on the subject of ‘back there’, do you mind telling me why you fucked that guard?”
Beth was quiet for a moment. “It wasn’t me.”
“Right, um, we both know that isn’t true,” Melissa laughed. “And pretty sure you gots the sore cooch to prove it.”
“No, what I mean is, while it was me doing it, it wasn’t me doing it. I know it doesn’t make sense, but it was the same feeling I’ve had off and on for a long time, well as long as I can remember. It’s like I step out of my body, but I don’t really leave.”
“That makes absolutely zero sense.”
“I know… that’s the problem.”
“Better hope that guy didn’t have the bloody tips or anything. You’ll be pissing pus for a week if he did.”
Beth turned the water off and Melissa handed her a dry towel. “I don’t think I get sick.”
“You don’t think…what?”
“I don’t think I get sick. I don’t feel like I do, at least.”
“How the fuck would you even know that?”
“Why, does that sound weird? Weirder than me fucking some strange guy in a prison cell?”
“Good point…freak.” Melissa handed Beth a robe and pushed her onto a small bench. “Hold still. I’m gonna stitch up that ear otherwise it’ll never stop bleeding.”
The girls smiled at each other and Beth held still while Melissa worked.
***
“Go lie down, Alex,” Billy said. “You’ve probably undone half of the bullshit job I did on your wounds.”
Alex, visibly shaken and exhausted, began to protest, but quickly decided not to. “Thanks. Let me know if she, well, changes.”
“You mean if she stops snarling and foaming at the mouth?”
“Right. I’ll see if I can get more information from the girls.”
“Rest first. Let them rest, too,” Billy insisted.
“Styles says we are an hour from the border,” Alex said. “So we have that long to catch a little nap before things get tough.”
“Tough? How?”
“Heather was the one with the code to get us through the Chinese shields. She isn’t really in any position to help now, so we have to do it the hard way.”
“Which is?”
“Up and over. It’ll suck, but I’ve done it before and we’ll be fine.”
Billy nodded towards the stairs. “Good. Go rest.”
“Yes, thank you, I will.”
***
Mr. Gein surveyed the battalion as it stepped onto the transport ship. “Is he ready?” he asked Ms. Isely as she approached the rail.
“He will be by the time we get there,” she answered. “He’s disoriented. Understandable since he just had several weeks worth of information inserted into his mind in the space of minutes.” She grinned. “You were right about him, Mr. Gein. Any other person would be brain dead from that experience, but he isn’t. Remarkable.”
“He’s always been the best. I wish you hadn’t killed Reginald. He would have been a good asset, also.”
“Hardly,” Ms. Isely replied. “We dissected his brain. He didn’t have anywhere near the capacity that Stone does. He would have broken quickly. But he isn’t lost, Mr. Gein.”
Gein eyed Ms. Isely carefully. “What have you done?”
“Simple. I kept the partnership together. I uploaded Reginald’s psyche into Mr. Stone’s mind. It’ll be as if he’s sitting right next to him.
“You what? Never mind, I’m sure you know what you are doing,” Mr. Gein responded, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose as the ship’s departure whistle blew. “You sure the conditioning will hold out?”
“On Stone? Nothing is for certain with Mr. Stone. On the rest? Yes, of course. The holos the Three sent us were invaluable. We modified the programming slightly and even in death we will be able to control them all now.”
“Even in death…,” Mr. Gein whispered. “We’re back full circle. Hundreds of years later and we’re playing with the same fire.”
“No, Mr. Gein. Not the same fire. Better fire, but we won’t lose control like the Americans did.”
Mr. Gein studied Ms. Isely’s face for a moment then shook his head again. “Don’t be so sure, Ms. Isely. Greater men and women than us have said the same thing and paid the price for those words.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alex settled back into his seat, the girls reclined across the aisle from him. “So, you want to tell me anything?”
“She kicks ass,” Melissa said, hooking her thumb towards Beth.
“As does she,” Beth responded in kind.
Alex smiled. “You know, you can each take a row and stretch out. Give yourselves some room to rest.”
The girls looked at each other and smiled. “No, thanks,” Melissa said. “I’ve grown found of the freak here.”
“Ahhhh,” Beth mocked. “You always know the right thing to say.”
“You two really bonded back there…” he trailed off, hoping the girls would offer more info. When they didn’t, he changed the subject. “So what was that suit you were wearing, Mel?”
“Just a little something I made on the fly.”
“So, you’re getting your Ghost feet under you?”
“Yep,” she answered. “I think I have a knack for fashion.”
“Work it, girl,” Beth giggled.
Melissa snapped her fingers a couple times and they both laughed.
“Right, um, well, just rest, alright?” Alex winced and the girls turned, concerned.
“You okay?” Beth asked.
“Just a little banged up, but I’ll be fine.”
“You better be,” Melissa grunted. “You die and I’m left with Billy.”
“What about me?” Beth asked. “I’ll take good care of you.”
“What, you playing both sides now? That guard wasn’t enough for you? Need a little Mel action?” Melissa joked.
“Please! You couldn’t handle what I bring!” Beth laughed.
“You know, most people would be traumatized by what you two have been through. I don’t know what exactly happened, but I like the new attitudes. More confusing, but less catty.”
“Catty,” Melissa said.
“Catty,” Beth repeated.
“Pussy,” both girls said simultaneously, then burst into righteous laughter.
Alex smiled nervously, trying to hide his concern then closed his eyes, letting the girls joke and whisper across from him. “Try to get a little rest,” he said before drifting into an uneasy, painful sleep. “You need the rest. We all do.”
***
Every time Billy shifted, Heather strained against her restraints, her eyes filled with hate.
“What the fuck, Heather?” Billy said out loud. “What happened?”
He didn’t expect an answer from the creature before him. Billy knew there wasn’t going to be a cure or help for her, even if they did make it to Tibet in one piece. While he had never heard of anything being substantiated, he’d heard enough rumors and whispers running through Ghost channels to know that what had happened to Heather may have happened to a lot of other people in the past.
He knew the American brass was keeping things from the rest of them about what truly went on back on their home continent. Internal nuclear war was just too convenient an excuse, plus it didn’t explain why all of the Americans abroad were able to coordinate and cooperate with each other right away. If there had in fact been a civil war, wouldn't the surviving Americans been left divided? There was no way the dissenters were only confined to North America. He’d been around espionage and
intrigue for too much of his life to believe that bullshit.
Billy scratched at his arm absentmindedly then looked down at the long gouges he had raked into his skin. “Shit,” he muttered, sending Heather into further fits. “This is not the time to go into withdrawal.” He sat on his hands, but knew it was only a matter of time before he couldn’t control himself and the sickness would hit. He’d be trying to peel his own skin and eat it if he didn’t get some scabs into his system.
“Wish I had a cage, too,” he said to Heather. “You’re locked up so you don’t hurt us and I need to be locked up so I don’t hurt myself.”
He looked around the cargo area, but didn’t see anything that would help. He sighed and kicked off his shoes, getting himself settled a little more comfortably.
“I know you probably can’t really understand me right now, but I wanted to apologize.” Heather growled low. “No, no, I want to. I have to. Hell, I may never get another chance.” He took a deep breath, but almost wished he hadn’t. He was pretty sure Heather was leaking fluids and the cargo hold was quickly stinking up. “Whew! Anyway, about my brother and your sister. I know you blame me. Melissa blames me. Fuck, everyone blames me! But, in all honesty, I thought I was helping. I know I was messed up then. I had just come off that fucked up assignment, and well, had started scabbing. It was hard for me to keep my head straight.”
Heather’s eyes bored into Billy’s and he turned away, not sure if he could continue under that glare. “I swear, even though I was high as a fucking Berlin skyscraper, the design was right. I went over it and over it after everything happened and it wasn’t my fault. Everything worked. They shouldn’t have crashed. They shouldn’t be dead. And like I have pleaded over and over, I shouldn’t be blamed for the skiff malfunctioning.”
He took another deep breath, this time through his mouth. “What I am to blame for was leaving my post and going after the target myself. I thought I could catch him. I thought I knew better than my training. That’s where the blame is. If I’d stayed put, I could have gotten to them in time. I probably could have pulled them out of the river. Hell, I could have changed the motherfucking skiff into a fucking submarine if I wanted too! But, none of that happened because I was flying on God knows what, I don’t even remember, and I let them down. I let you down. I let Melissa down. That is what I’m sorry for.”
He turned back to Heather and the creature spat bloody foam at him. He jumped out of the way, letting the spittle fly past his face. “Yeah, I deserved that.”
Heather strained at her bonds and the sound of her joints popped wetly. Billy winced at the noise, but then saw Heather start to move her right arm up out of the BC holding it in place. Her arm was twisted and bent at an angle that should have made it impossible to move, but then the entire situation before him was impossible.
“Um, whatcha doin’ there, Heather? That’s gonna be sore later. You may want to just keep still.”
Heather got her right arm free and began on her left. Billy watched in horror as she twisted her head about, the vertebrae snapping and crunching, her neck going limp. With both hands free, Heather started to yank on her own head, pulling it this way and that, all the while snarling and growling, her eyes locked on Billy.
“Oh, shit…,” he whispered, frozen in place by the sight before him. It wasn’t the painful contortions that were terrifying, so much as it was how the BC seemed to be softening. Almost like Heather was manipulating it herself. Like an undead Ghost.
Heather’s head finally came loose and she leaned forward, the sound of her bone re-knitting, a sound Billy thought he would never hear as long as he lived, echoing against the cargo hold’s walls. She tried to lunge at him, but her legs were still held in place and she shrieked in frustration.
Then she began the process to free her legs.
Billy backed towards the stairs, but never took his eyes off Heather. “HEY GUYS!!! NEED SOME HELP DOWN HERE!!!”
***
Beth knew she was in that half sleep state and shouldn’t be concerned by hearing voices, but the voices weren’t Mel’s and Alex’s. They were from the other place. She tried to make out what they were saying, tried to pierce the veil that was in place between her world and theirs. But, the harder she tried, the harder she concentrated, the quieter the voices became.
She told her fatigued brain to relax and just let the voices come to her and she had almost gotten to that state when she felt her shoulder being grabbed.
“Wake up, Beth!” Mel was shouting. “Billy’s screaming murder! Heather’s getting loose!”
Beth slammed awake, adrenaline shooting through her. “How? How can that be? I had her restrained. No one could get out of that without…” Beth pushed herself from her seat, her body a protest of pains and aches, and shoved past Melissa. “She’s a Ghost, Mel! A fucking Ghost! How could I be so stupid?!?”
***
“Fucking help!” Billy shouted, as Heather freed her legs and rammed herself against the cage, reaching and clawing between the bars to get at Billy.
Beth hit the bottom of the stairs and gasped as Heather started to warp the cage, making an opening for herself.
“NO!” Beth shouted, concentrating on the BC, trying to force it back in place. The material began to comply, but Heather’s rage grew and Beth started to lose control. “She’s too strong for me! I don’t know what to do!”
“Yes, you do,” Alex said from behind her, slowly easing himself down the stairs. “You do know what to do, Beth. I know what you are and you can beat her. But, you will have to look deep inside yourself and you won’t like what you see.”
“Stop with the fucking riddles and tell her what to do!” Mel shouted from the top of the stairs.
Alex sighed. “Once I saw what you could do with BC I knew right away. You’re a Vessel, Beth. You are designed to carry very special messages or data. Sometimes entire personalities.”
“A Vessel?” Billy asked. “They’re just myths! They don’t really exist!”
“Yes, William, they do exist and you are looking at one now.” Alex made it to the bottom step and leaned against the wall. “Beth, we will do what we can to keep her occupied, but you need to have a seat and talk to those inner voices you have.”
Beth looked back at Alex, puzzled. “Did I mention the voices to you?”
“No, Beth, but I know what they are. They can help. They are inside you, part of you and we need them to step up and take over for a moment.” Beth looked past Alex and up at Melissa, who in turn shrugged her shoulders. “No time to waste, Beth. You need to do this now or Heather could potentially rip this entire aircraft apart.” Beth’s eyes filled with fear and she reached out a hand to Melissa, who immediately came down the stairs, pushing past Alex, and took it. “We’ll hold her off, Beth, but you have to hurry.”
“It’ll be okay, Beth,” Melissa said, using her real name for the first time. Beth squeezed Mel’s hand, sat herself on the ground and closed her eyes.
***
“Hello?”
Brian jolted awake, his mind trying to focus on the voice he heard.
“Hello? I need to speak, um, to the voices.”
“Who is…” Brian tried to answer, but the words never made it out before his windpipe was squeezed brutally, ending any chance of communication.
“Shhhhhhh,” the woman hissed in his ear. “Not. A. Peep.”
“I heard that!” Beth shouted. “I know you’re there! Speak to me, please! Please, I need your help!”
Silence.
“PLEASE!” Beth pleaded. “I know what I am! I’m a Vessel! You have to help me! We have an infected woman that is trying to kill us! I need to know how to stop her!”
Brian felt the pressure from his windpipe loosen.
“I know you are inside me! If I die, you die!”
“Fine!” the woman shouted. “We’ll help you, but you aren’t going to like it. Once we come out, you won’t be the same. You won’t be Elizabeth Laughlin anymore. You’ll
be someone else.”
“I don’t care! Everyone is going to die, is going to turn into one of those things, if you don’t help!”
Brian felt the hood yanked from his head and was blinded by bright light. He looked about as his eyes adjusted and realized he was in a room by himself, but the walls kept fading in and out, as if they didn’t have a fixed point. He felt unseen lips kiss his mouth.
“It was great knowing you, Dr. Brian Lisbon. Thanks for the good times,” the woman’s voice said. “I’m sorry you’re dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Beth’s eyes shot open and she struggled not to scream as knowledge, knowledge that wasn’t hers, slammed into her mind. She knew who she was: she was Elizabeth Laughlin. But, she was also someone else. She was Brian Lisbon. Dr. Brian Lisbon who had been living in another part of the world for the past twenty years. And he was dead. Murdered. But, not before he uploaded his consciousness. Uploaded it for transport to the Vessel for retrieval.
Beth gasped and stood up, her mind focused on the thing that was Heather. A thing that was only feet from her and coming at her fast.
“NO!” Beth screamed, her hands outstretched. Heather stopped instantly, frozen in place, her clawed hands just inches from Beth’s hands.
“What did you do?” Melissa panted. She was curled into a ball at Beth’s feet. “You were gone so long.”
Beth looked about her in confusion. She was no longer sitting at the bottom of the stairs, but behind a pile of crates on the far side of the cargo hold. Then her heart broke as she saw the crumpled and mutilated bodies of Billy and Alex. Her hand shot to her mouth and she struggled not to throw up.
“They saved us,” Mel whispered, peering around the crates. “They gave me time to drag you back here until you woke up.”
“How long?” Beth asked.
“Ten minutes, maybe,” Melissa said, choking back tears. “Billy was so brave. After Heather…killed Alex, Billy held her off. He fought hard, Beth, but she was just so vicious.” Melissa began to sob, her arms hugging her knees. “They’re gone, Beth. Everyone I love is gone. Everyone I know is gone. I’m alone.”