As per the plan, Method A transports onto the surface level about one mile away from Key’s cargo bay, alongside Pretoria and her five Jerseyan guards. Avoiding the PATH network, they proceed on foot through the toxic air walking southwards along a rubble-strewn road, Hudson Street. The ruins of Manhattan’s skyscrapers are much higher than any in New Jersey. Albeit hollowed-out concrete shells, many still reach over 40 stories high and provide some welcome shade. Having once held 10 times the population in this relatively small area, it holds many more underground networks than New Jersey, supporting a large populace of around one and a half million.
Having completed many similar infiltrations before, Method A knows what she is doing and makes quick progress. Sticking to the shadows, she avoids any spotters and soon reaches the cargo ship bay, located close to the World Trade Center station and Gangs Hater’s base of operations. Its entrance demarked by the steam rising through a manhole cover. She instructs all to crouch down as she relays a code, a series of knocks - tap-tap-tap. They have to wait a few tense seconds until there is a reaction, the cover wobbling as it moves up and sideways - screech - a large waft of sticky hot steam escaping out.
Method A calls in a low voice, ‘That you sista’?
‘Aye, it Keys… get inside’, she instructs in an equally low voice.
The cargo bay manager looks remarkably similar to her, as if her actual sister. Less flamboyantly dressed, she wears a greyish blouse and holds a white mycelium bag packed with maggot larvae. With no further words spoken, they follow her as quietly as possible down a 30-foot long ladder, passing her cargo bay and entering into an offshoot of the PATH network -an area teeming with Papini.
Hush! Pretoria steps back, not so used to king scorpions. It scurries up to Keys, greeting her by gently stroking its large frontal claws against her wrinkled face. From the bag, Keys removes some of the larvae, which the scorpion happily devours in one go. It then turns to lead them down the tunnel, so fast that they all have to run to keep up. Going deeper into Gangs Hater’s territory and into an even narrower tunnel, Pretoria is barely able to squeeze through, having to duck low as he struggles to keep up. The diversion seems to be working, their path completely unguarded - Gangs Hater too preoccupied with the battles on the edge of East Side and those in the skies.
The king scorpion leads them next through a crack in the wall, one so small that Pretoria needs the help of the others to pull him through. Their species knows the tunnels even better than the Jerseyans, every nook and cranny for miles around. On the other end, the king scorpion quietly shifts a large old-time poster frame out of the way, revealing a small room with a black metallic, spiral staircase in its centre. There, Keys feeds the king scorpion the rest of the larvae - hush.
It appears not all payments have been made, it’s Method A’s turn, looking a little glum she hands Keys the pink diamond - the hefty sum of moolah that LeSouris gave her in Gambler’s Den. This could prove a price worth paying, for they have reached Gangs Hater’s location without issue. They only need now to climb the spiral stairs if Keys’s intelligence proves correct.
Keys whispers to Method A, ‘Cannon up there, Gangs there. Watch out, I know two guards at the door always… Go get him, traitor of PATH’.
‘Aye, sista’.
Method A and Keys exchange a shaka sign before parting ways. Keys returning through the crack with the king scorpion, who quietly moves the poster frame back into place, once more concealing this hidden entrance.
Method A signals to Pretoria and her guards to get ready to go upstairs, instructing, ‘Follow me up, we gonna blast them Universal loving maggots’.
Her guards smile widely, showing off their silver-plated teeth, they are eager to take revenge. ‘Zap them skin falls off, aye’!
Another replies, ‘Gonna kill them traitors or die trying’!
‘Sssh’!, Method A orders them to remain as quiet as possible, they need to catch Gangs Hater’s guards by surprise or the alarm will be raised.
Gangs Hater stages his defence in an aerial defence station above them. For the price of a pink diamond, Method A is potentially meters away from uniting all Jerseyan settlements, from the ‘exit’ at Newark Penn station to the World Trade Center station. This would be a first, all Jerseyans under one warlord, and with it a powerful force to counter the Universal Council. One Dr VonHelmann seeks to control under the EaR, this ‘New Beginning’. Only a few hours ago did it look like this achievement would be Gangs Hater, albeit as the Council’s ‘puppet’. Through a sequence of tragic events and hard-fought battles, the opportunity now presents itself to Method A.
She whispers, ‘Ye ready’? Pretoria nods in reply, throwing up his best shaka sign, as do the rest. ‘Follow me, light-footed aye’!
Method A pulls out a large jagged knife to use on the guards by the door - her Subway Hunter too loud. Pretoria opts to guard the rear, fearful that his heavy steps will undo the other’s quiet infiltration. Method A proceeds with lightning pace and soon reaches the top of the stairs, where she creeps up on the two stocky guards. Not dressed in mycelium suits like the bouncers of Gambler’s Den, they wear instead the signature street gangster style of Manhattan, bright red tracksuits and bandanas. Not expecting any intrusion here, they hold their Electrozappers by their side in a relaxed manner.
Without hesitation, Method A throws her knife straight into the head of the furthest positioned guard. Slightly bluish, colourless blood trickles down his face as the others sprint to the second, knocking the guard to the floor and his Electrozapper away. Their actions so fast that a surprised and impressed Pretoria only arrives after its completion.
Method A pulls her knife out of the dead guard’s head and wipes off his watery blood. Holding the Subway Hunter in one and the knife in the other, she whispers to the others, ‘Zappers ready, aye’.
The door is electronically locked, blinking red it requires an eye retina scan to open. One of Method A’s guards lift the semi-conscious guard off the floor and press his left eye against it. Turning from red to green. Bing! The door slides open, prompting all to charge in, where a shocked Gangs Hater stands by a cannon and a primitive 2D map. His guards turn sharply, drawing their weapons, but are too late to stop the plasma blasts and electric shocks coming their way. Method A stops her guards from shooting Gangs Hater next. Throwing her Subway Hunter to the floor, Method A jumps on top of him, putting him in a chokehold and her knife against his neck.
‘Never mess with the Method cousins, this for Bee’! She yells at him as she punches him in his wrinkled forehead.
Ring-ring! An alarm sets off, but it’s already over. Method A drags Gangs Hater to the stairs, stopping a new wave of his guards in flight - who stare back stupefied. She is now the one and only warlord of the Jerseyans.
Method A announces her victory and Gangs Hater’s end, picking the tallest building in New York, ‘Execution on top of One Liberty Plaza’!
Chapter 15 Take me to Church
Back on Mars, the Interrogator quickly gets to his feet and pulls out an Electroclaw from his side, an electric spiralled whip he uses for torture. It holds no rope but stings just as bad, if not worse. The Interrogator adroitly cracks the whip and catches VanWest’s neck before he can react, pulling him to the floor as it spirals around. The amber stone pendant falling from his hands.
VanWest hasn’t come this far to be stopped by an Electroclaw and this wretched snake-like man who yields it. Scooping up a handful of sand, he throws it into the Interrogator’s face, temporarily blinding him and causing him to release the whip. VanWest charges in with a flying kick and strikes the Interrogator’s upper arm - crack, pop - dislocating it. Not finished, he grabs the Interrogator’s other arm, twisting it back and dislocating it next. Agh! The Interrogator drops to his knees, shrieking loudly - for once on the receiving end of a beating.
VanWest’s readies to kill this wretched snake off but, as a cold wind blows through, he stops himself from delivering a final, fatal blow. Looking
across at the red sand, he realises that the air is not freezing cold and that he can breathe normally. With Mars’s surface being close to 95% CO2, he and the Interrogator should have died from hypoxia already. Strangely though they have not, it is as if this area is shielded and has its own atmosphere.
Looking back at the Interrogator, he decides it may be better to not execute him. Part of the Universal Council’s inner circle, who resides on the SCC-400, he could well prove useful in finding Dr King and getting back to the base. His thoughts turning to the safety of his sweet Iris. Hoping and trusting that the clones will and can protect her. Searching the Interrogator, he finds his Interspace Communicator. A device not too dissimilar to the Quantum Communicator but with one key difference, it cannot transmit through the time continuum. Cognisant of the Universal Council’s threat, VanWest quickly smashes it on a rock to ensure they cannot be tracked.
Like with the icy chamber and the mural, he wonders if he is being transported to a saved itinerary of places, it’s as if Mars recognises him as President Van der Westhuizen - just as the little girl did. Picking up the pendant, he grabs the Interrogator by the scuff of the neck and drags him up a slope to get a better view of their location. Where he finds a landscape very much affected by people; in front, there are hundreds of pathways cutting through a much-smoothened landscape.
Lifting the Interrogator’s head up next, he asks, ‘Do you know this place’?
The whimpering Interrogator shakes his head, he does not. VanWest believes him, for it does not look like the layout of any Universal Council controlled settlement. He checks his Moggle X, which returns his exact geolocation, 7 78. Remembering that the ‘Face of Mars’ mountain is located in 8-77, he realises that this smoothened rock could well be that of Cydonia. Further, the numbers remind him of the tattoo on Van der Westhuizen’s wrist, 777. This cannot be a coincidence? If this is indeed Cydonia, then the church he saw must be close.
VanWest checks his Quantum Communicator but there is still no message. He worries at what the reason could be; hoping it to be interference and distance rather than something worse. Not knowing how Dr VonHelmann progresses on Earth, he feels even more pressure for their mission to be a success - for Dr King’s death. Entering the code 01034589X, he sends an update: Iris, LeSouris In Base, VanWest In Geo 7-78, Our Stone Is Amber Stone Pendant, Must Find Our Energy.
The success of this ‘New Beginning’ could lie in finding the church. Although he doesn’t yet fully understand what exactly lies there - Our Stone could unlock Our Energy. The President hid something under the slab in the church, he must find whatever lies there. Looking at the amber stone pendant, he figures he has a better chance to save everyone, including his sweet Iris, if he can find the church.
VanWest ushers the Interrogator to the smoothen rocks of geolocation 7-77, on what proves to be a long descent and walk. Now closer, he can see cylindrical outlines under the sand, the foundations of capsule buildings and homes. But the Interrogator starts to limp and slow, whimpering loudly. Having not slept properly since arriving on Mars, VanWest also feels tired, but he knows if he is to save Iris and LeSouris, then they must keep going. He grabs the Interrogator’s by the neck once again and pushes him forward.
The crisscrossing paths become more frequent, indicating a more built-up area, the centre of this lost settlement should be close. He decides to follow the outlines of the widest path, another long trek that eventually leads him to an elevated square-shaped clearing. This could be the foundations of the church! Its outline much larger than any he has seen thus far. He notices too an indent in one section, possibly what was the entrance.
Forcing the Interrogator to his knees, he goes over, kneeling down to wipe away the red sand. As he does, the red sand changes to dark blue, there are bricks underneath! Moving more sand out of the way, he finds a stairway, the bricks leading up from the street. He remembers these steps from his vision of the church, this must be it! Looking at his pendant, he notices that it glows ever so slightly. The Interrogator’s whimpering stopping, instead replaced by a silent intrigue.
La-la-la!
As he steps onto the dark blue bricks, a familiar sound returns, that from the mural. He turns around to find the little girl, Van der Westhuizen’s daughter, standing beside him. She’s smiling, still looking at him lovingly as if her father. Leaving the Interrogator behind, he follows the girl through what would have been the church’s doorway. His mind-tingling, he feels its special energy flowing through him, this a divine place. An energy that momentary frees him of anxiety and worry: Dr VonHelmann, the horrors of Schuurman’s lab, Iris’s safety and saving Earth’s citizens.
The girl leads him to the other side of the Church, to where the sermon would once have stood. VanWest looks at her, expecting some type of instruction but there is none, she only stares back at him angelically. Looking into her eyes, he remembers the distressing scene of Van der Westhuizen moving a slab. Noticing where she places her feet, he kneels down and removes the red sand. There he finds a slab, also bluish in colour like the bricks on the stairs.
Removing more sand, he realises that it is crooked in shape, different from the others around. The girl leans in to give him a kiss on the head, sending a warm feeling rushing through him, a feeling of destiny, of everything coming together for a reason. He wants to ask the girl more, but she starts to fade. He reaches out his hand, but she disappears, this time, what feels to be the final time.
He glances back to check on the Interrogator before lifting the slab, who waits, cowering in the same position. For once, it is this evil man who is afraid, not one of his countless number of victims. In this flattened, sandy ruin, there is nowhere for him to flee. Deciding he is not a concern, VanWest returns to the slab eager to find what lies beneath, his amber stone glowing brighter.
Fitting his fingers into the small gaps on either side of the slab, he heaves it up and slides it out. Zoom! Immediately a blue light shoots out, so strong it forces him to shield his eyes. Only for a faint, sweet humming sound to call him back. Squinting, he peers inside. At the bottom lies a decorative box, the image on its lid very much like that of the mural in the icy chamber. Though much smaller, it too misses a circular piece where the sun is - the exact size and shape of his amber stone.
Mesmerised, he brings Our Stone close, the key to unlock Our Energy. The pendant glowing brighter as he does so. Carefully, he removes the stone from its metallic frame, gently knocking it against the floor until it dislodges. The stone is drawn to it like a magnet - the sweet hum growing louder.
However, as a well-disciplined Enforcer, he stops himself. First, he needs to send an update to the others, whatever may happen could affect everyone - particularly those on Mars. But this time he finds a short message waiting on his Quantum Communicator, his mind having been too focused to have noticed it earlier. The Fight Intense on Earth, The Commissioner Comes to Mars. If Find Our Energy In Cydonia, Use This Shield To Protect Iris.
Realising it to be Dr VonHelmann responding to his last message, he finds it odd that the doctor never spoke of Our Energy or Cydonia’s location before - now he reveals that he knew of both! This ‘interplanetary diplomat’ didn’t even want to tell his own daughter that there was a shield on Mars before! Commissioner Ming implicated him in the Martian’s demise, VanWest questions more and more if Dr VonHelmann really was a dissenting voice or if there is a darker truth that he hides.
Before he can unlock the box, the ground begins to shake, the red sand whipping upwards in a frenzy. As if sensing the danger, the sweet sound subsides. The face of the Commissioner in his ship flashes through VanWest’s head. He jumps up and hurries over to the Interrogator, suspicious that he has something to do with this - his Quantum Communicator unlikely to have been hacked.
VanWest grabs his throat and starts to squeeze, ‘Did you contact the Universal? I know you did’!
Even being choked, the Interrogator manages to reply with a mocking smile. But his small beady eyes answ
er VanWest’s question, its shape remarkably similar to those of a Space Soldier. The Interrogator is part machine, thus making his cybernetic person traceable wherever he goes. Unsurprisingly, the Inspectors are another machine used to keep the citizens down.
VanWest releases and throws him backwards, he risks being blown to smithereens if he doesn’t act quickly. Rushing back, the amber stone glowing a fiery yellowish-orange, he kneels down and without pausing inserts it into the lid of the box - the colours mixing instantly to form a bright bluish-green stream of light.
Like electricity pulsating through him, his hairs stand straight and eyes roll backwards, its energy overwhelming. Images, memories of the Martian people enter into his head, like a video upload, each tells their story. Starting well, they speak of the great excitement in starting and establishing this settlement, building the church, raising their families, learning to communicate with one another by mind and transference. Successfully building a greener and fairer world with a breathable, less hostile atmosphere.
Even minute details are included, how they switched from having a silica aerogel dome to live under and grow their food, to the wondrous green energy that arrived, turning all of Mars rich with fauna. The green energy, a technology bought to them from far away, given to them in recognition of being ‘the worthy few’.
However, the stories soon become darker, decades later there is mention of aggressive humans coming from their ancestral lands, Earth. At first, offering to trade but then demanding that they become a colony, offering them a choice that reeked of virtual enslavement and servitude; arrogant and self-entitled, they demanded that the Martians mine their lands and pay tribute to them. These humans belonged to the Grand Council.
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