Exile: Arc

by Jack Lance

  Each pilot now looked out from the steep side of the dome. The long white wall stretched away below to the jagged rocky ridge before the cliff.

  Rhia shouted over bands “Release in three, two, one.”

  A piston within the end of the cranes kicked each of the jets out of the hole, sending them falling down along the wall, and then past the ridge and down along the abyssal cliff face.

  There was plenty of time to right themselves, so they took it easy pulling back on the controls to begin their flight.

  Each of the three jets banked upward and arrowed off in different directions across the flat center of the crater. Randall tested his guns on the morbid sign as they passed it, bursting it into a thousand splintered pieces.

  They then turned back around and flew up and over the upper curve of the dome.

  Port Farnon took his jet along his designated path, toward a target he’d seen countless times in a simulator. He knew Randall and Barron would be heading toward the hangar field to protect the others while escaping. The heletank would reach them very soon, and so two planes would be ample diversion for it.

  Farnon was heading for the wireless antenna array that connected the robots in the dome to the citadels over an old fashioned radio line. It stood on the direct top centre of the dome comprising of a small black hut with huge antenna reaching up into the first of the cloud.

  It was hard to see much through the blizzard of snow pouring out of the clouds, and it got worse the closer he got to them. Then suddenly he saw it emerge from the murky distance, but felt no relief just yet.

  He thought for a moment that he could hear the roar from another plane’s engine, then it was confirmed as one of the other planes darted at him out of the distance ahead. It fired its chain guns and would have hit Farnon if his military training hadn’t kicked in, and dodged slightly aside with a flick of the control stick. He hadn’t dodged quite far enough however, and the other plane rammed the glass roof of the cockpit. The strike split a crack along it and the blizzards began to pour into the cockpit. He flinched against the spitting slush as it sprayed his face and shoulders.

  “Superb.” he hissed, and pulled around having missed the control antenna a mile or so back. “Can anyone read me? Over!”

  At the radar tower, Bailey’s assistant began to step forward, and Bailey began to step away. He analysed the display further.

  “What’s going on here?” Hickam said looking at him sternly.

  Kill him! Kill him quick!

  “Do you think I should?” Bailey said in a worried panic.

  “Who are you talking to?” the man said, and then heard the voice of Port Farnon over the wrist band shouting.

  “I’m under attack! It’s one of the planes!” his words were followed by a barrage of chain gun fire.

  “A double cross!” Hickam hissed looking up at the sky, and then accusingly back to Bailey.

  Bailey stepped toward him and dived to grab his face. He punched at his long thin neck and then pushed the man back, and watched as Hickam gasped for air in the freezing storms. Quickly he grabbed him by the hair and began hitting his head repeatedly on the corner of the radar tower, and kept doing it until the blood was pouring out of him.

  He let go and the man’s body fell to the ground.

  Panting he looked around to make sure nobody had seen, and seeing up on the ridge, a woman escorting a group of children out of the hatch, he grabbed the body and dragged it around to the back of the radar tower. He dragged it to the cliff edge and after slipping a few times in the sleet, he toppled the corpse over the side.

  It span away into the murky fog below.

  Bailey went back and peered around the side of the tower at the group of children and their escort.

  “Children?” he said. “I didn’t know there’d be…”

  Just then a plane flew overhead.

  Randall had reached the platform with the hangars and rocket, and arrowed low over them to catch everyone’s attention.

  “Farnon, what’s going on? Please come in. Clarify your last message, over.” Randall said.

  He took his jet over the upper ridge, along the base of the dome, and then saw a black spot far across the white crater floor.

  “Here he comes.” he said, referring to the heletank.

  He took the plane over the ridge and in a direction roughly toward the robotic killer.

  As he glided closer he heard over the wire, Port Farnon sounding scared and flustered.

  “Please copy. I’m being chased out by another plane. It’s either Randall or Barron. Please copy.”

  “It’s not me, friend.” Randall said.

  “Barron!” Farnon said angrily, and over the wire Randall heard more chain gun fire.

  “Barron you hear me?” Randall shouted. “Break off attack immediately. Don’t make me shoot you down.”

  Randall took the plane down and swooped over the heletank. It immediately howled it’s off tone notes, and gave chase, firing it’s array of spark-cannon weaponry. The rainbow targeting scanner almost blinded Randall in the cockpit but then it stopped. The blizzard had thickened the air but Randall could still see that the heletank had turned around, and was heading toward the hangars.

  He sighed as he began to bank the plane around over the flat snow.

  Back at the hangars, Bailey hid from the view of the children and their escort.

  “What do I do?” he whimpered, crouching down and biting on his thumb.

  Look out!

  Suddenly, the heletank arose from behind the ledge of the cliff, and howled strangely at Bailey. It hung in the air beyond the drop, steadying precisely with its weak antigrav stabilizers.

  “Aaaaagh!” he cried out, as the heletank bowed forward, lowering one of its rotor blades toward him.

  Bailey crouched back against the base of the radar, closing his eyes and crying in panic.

  Move you dumb cunt!

  Bailey couldn’t move. He was scared to the spot, and the blades were lowered so close to him he could feel their rhythm on his skin.

  Then suddenly, Port Farnon flew down, and crashed his jet’s wing across the heletank’s upper side. The plane flew down and crashed on fire into the side of the cliff, while the heletank, knocked off balance and out of its senses shouldered to the side and crashed on the edge of the cliff. It lay on its back for a moment like a stunned turtle, before tipping over the cliff edge and falling away into the mists below.

  Bailey opened his eyes and looked at where the heletank had been, and saw Port Farnon dropping by having ejected and deployed his parachute.

  “Help me, Bailey!” he shouted at him with frustration as he wriggled with the chords. “I’ve missed the platform help meeee!”

  There was nothing Bailey could do even if he had wanted to. Instead he walked to the cliff edge and watched Port Farnon sail away into the grey below.

  “Good work, Farnon.” Bailey heard Randall’s voice over the wireless, but there was no reply. “I’m going to go for Barron. You get safe, buddy.”

  Bailey skulked around the side of the radar tower to get another look at the children.

  He heard a tinny voice say “Hold it right there. Trespassers will be killed.”

  He looked around as the robot sentry that had been previously disabled, now stalked its way toward the children, and Byder Mauv that stood before them like a human shield.

  “Please.” she said. “We just want to go back to the prison.”

  “You do not have a permit?” the robot said, and raised its huge rifle. “Trespassers will be killed.”

  It shot a single precise round that burst the woman’s thin chest. Bailey watched her corpse fall in silence to the snow between himself and the gaggle of kids.

  “The family team….” Bailey said in his hiding place.

  “What was that, Bailey?” the voice of Barton said, having overheard him. “Be careful the robot grid has rebooted.”

  Shmamily team. We’ll wipe em all out. Stupid w
orthless fucks!

  “I am what I do!” he said louder, as he watched the robot step toward the children. “I am Bailey!”

  You do what I say.

  “Go to heeeeeeeeeeeeeeell!” Bailey yelled, and ran out between the buildings. “Aaaaaaaaaaagh!”

  He dived and tackled the robot to the ground, snatching up it’s rifle, before rolling on his shoulders, and back to his feet. He turned and aimed the gun at the robot, who now stood facing him with the scared and crying children at their side.

  It slowly held its golden arms up, from which extended two long thin blades.

  Bailey grinned and pulled the trigger, hearing only a hollow ‘clunk’ sound.

  “Biometric authorization required.” the faint computer voice spoke to him from within the gun.

  “Son of a…” Bailey began but stopped as the robot sailed forward, and swung one of the long blades down at him.

  He caught it, blocking it with the jagged bayonet of the rifle, and then having seen what he had done, unclipped the bayonet and dropped the useless rifle to the snow. As the robot made its next move to strike, Bailey swung the military bayonet back around to meet it.

  He blocked each of its fast attacks with the huge bayonet, then began to attack himself, swinging and lunging with skills he had no memory acquiring. With no gun or anything else he was left with only the thick blade as a primitive means of attack.

  Although he would need to stop the evil bastard somehow, right now he was content just to gradually draw it away from the children.

  The robot was fast and technical in its strikes, pushing Bailey back toward the steps down to the rocket. The narrow rock steps were slippery with blackened ice, but Bailey managed to keep his stance, blocking and replying each of the robots relentless blows. He walked back along the steps toward the battle that was raging below around the base of the rocket.

  The South and East syndicate leaders, and members of Old Gang were locked in gunfire with heavily armed robot sentries.

  Robots were blown apart, but a number of Old Gang were killed as they fumbled out of their comfort zone. Josep cried out at this and ran for the rocky slope to get away, along with a few others who had decided it was all hopeless now too. The children looked up at her hopefully as she trotted by and up to the hatch.

  Erik Luminaire, who had stood his ground was caught in a blast of plasma fire so heated that it incinerated his body until only the burning top half of his mohicaned skull remained. It span and hit the rocks beside Josep, who panicked more and scrambled on.

  Josep escaped from the mayhem and ran back toward the prison, pushing through the group of children and then up to the hatch.

  Through all of this Bailey was driven down close to the base of the rocket. The robot pushed him back with its hand and readied to deal the last blow, when in the corner of his eye he saw Rhia running toward them.

  He allowed himself to be pushed onto the floor by his opponent and then covered his face theatrically, as if beaten.

  “Baiileeeeeeeeey!” Rhia yelled and leaped through the air at the robot, spinning and then kicking hard against the side of its head with her high heel shoe.

  The robot staggered left and right clutching at its slightly dented head and the positronic lights that had been slightly scrambled within. The heel had stabbed through the plastic covering and now hung out of its brain as it struggled to gather its thoughts.

  Bailey, now appearing more composed stood up and spun around, dragging the huge blade with him for one final theatrical blow. He sliced at the robot’s neck severing its head, hands and blades, and then continued the swing to drive the sword through its chest.

  “Bailey!” Barton yelled, running around to him. “Get away from the rocket. It’s about to go.”

  “Shouldn’t we try?” Bailey said as he helped Rhia to steady herself on the cold ground. “And what about the people inside?”

  “It’s too late. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Cix said, joining them, and they all ran back up the steps, and through the hangers to the children.

  “No.” Barton said to his wife. “We have to try.”

  She nodded and they turned and ran back and down to the rocket. They were about to run to the ladder when the rocket ignited and blasted out, pushing them onto their backs.

  “They’ll be ok. Come on!” Rhia yelled to Bailey, as they watched the rocket slowly raise up above the place.

  Barton and Cix could not be seen and so they shepherded the children back up the hillside to the tunnel.

  “Okay. It was a good try.” the voice of Barton came over the band. “Now everyone back inside the colony.”

  Randall replied on the band “No way Barron lives. No way.”

  Within the cockpit window Randall’s three pointed missile lock narrowed on Barron’s plane as it darted below, close to the ground. It was heading toward the other dome, Randall could now tell.

  He gained a lock and immediately fired, and engaged the thruster to follow as close behind the missile as he could. The cockpit shuddered as it overclocked its natural speeds, and Randall struggled against the joystick to keep it level at its target.

  Randall saw the missile miss as Barron pulled an evasive manoeuvre, but the explosion so close to the plane on the ground sent it spiralling out of control.

  Randall, drawing ever closer, saw Barron’s plane level out and skid onto the flat snow. It came to a stop and Randall, took aim, firing the chain gun and raining the plane with bullets.

  Then, the gun was out of ammo, and out of missiles too. He flew the plane over the crashed plane as Barron opened the cockpit, and emerged into the now quietened blizzard, apparently unharmed. He dropped down onto the crater basin in a heavy coat and began running away.

  Randall saw this and took the plane around and down, skidding it onto the ice as the other had done. It came to a neat halt and Randall opened the cockpit and got out, feeling the bite of the freezing air against his skin through the thin t shirt. He dropped down onto the rock and compacted snow and squinted to see a blurry, distant spot heading toward the towering dome, that was now much closer than their own.

  He took his pistol, and fired a few shots after Barron, who was running like a mad man toward the other city. The shots burst the snow around him, but didn’t stop him.

  “You bastard! You sold us out!” Randall shouted, and then heard metallic footsteps behind him.

  Realizing that he had been caught he put his hands on his head and sank to his knees in his now wet jeans. The snow congealed on his face as he saw the lain snow around him begin dancing with colour.

  “Stay down.” one of the robots said in its tinny way.

  Meanwhile, Port Farnon still hadn’t reached the bottom of the cliff. He had carefully guided the parachute as best he could so not to hit the cliff face, but now that the crater floor was more clearly in sight, he saw running at high speeds over it, the robot sentries. He realized now that it had all been for nothing, and so quickly reached the decision to avoid being caught for as long as possible.

  Tugging on the left rope he leaned the parachute closer to the cliff face. He slammed into it hard enough to break bones, but grabbed a hold of an outcropping of rock and held himself close to it.

  Quickly, he slapped off the parachute straps, just as a strong gust of wind tugged at it. The silvery chute whipped away, tugging hard from his right arm.

  Hanging from the side of the cliff he felt fine apart from the cold that was now seeping through his wet t shirt and pants.

  Down, he could see more and more of the sentries fleeting back and forth at massive speeds, kicking up a wake of snow behind them as they did. He looked up seeing the same murky distance that he had seen when looking down from above. After a sigh he began to climb.

  The rocket flew out toward the sky above, as the people who had survived made their way back to the hatch. Bailey and Rhia got there first, climbing up the snow covered hill and then piling the children into the hatch. Rhia got in next w
hile Bailey waved for Barton and Cix to hurry.

  Far away, in the main citadel a milky hand rapped its long fingernails on a metal console. A camera view was following the ascending weather rocket beside the sickly character. The person sank their hand into a holographic control sponge and began a massaging motion. The rocket began turning on the screen until it had rotated 180 degrees.

  Bailey noticed what had happened, as did Rhia who was looking from the hatch door.

  The rocket was turning around and heading back to crash upon the hangars.

  “Hurry up nooooooow!” Bailey shouted, but saw how far away the Beldins were.

  Get inside. You can wait for your friends.

  Bailey saw the sense in it, and climbed back into the hatch, and watched as the Beldins reached the bottom of the hill. They climbed the slippery slope as best they could, but the roar of the rocket was loud, and they seemed to know that they had failed.

  They pushed on to the last moment, then stood looking at Bailey beyond the ridge as the rocket struck the roof of the hangar behind them.

  Bailey saw the gush of flames toward him, and could feel the heat from them before he made the move to close the hatch. The round glass door snapped shut and the flames splashed against them. They licked against the other side of the thick window, and through them a blackened corpse struck its head against the glass, and then fell down to the ground. The flesh had already been flayed from it and Bailey couldn’t tell which of them it was.

  The fire parted like a curtain, quickly lifting to show the hangar platform now completely bare of snow and ice, it having all been melted down to water. It was a blackened, scorched area now, full of debris and corpses.

  The children were crying in the tunnel, and Rhia had stopped talking. Bailey rocked slightly where he sat.

  “Why?” he said. “Why did it have to happen this way?”

  “Come on.” Rhia said, and Bailey followed her with the children.