by M. R. Forbes
“Except it wasn’t,” James said, getting angry again. “Either the vault messed up the comms, or Fahri is gone.”
“He’s gone, James.”
James whirled at the voice, turning south toward the deep end of the hangar. He hadn’t heard Nathan approach, and he was shocked to see him standing there now, dressed in fatigues and holding a railgun leveled toward him.
“Nathan?” he said. “What’s going on?”
“Fahri is gone,” Nathan repeated, loud enough for Tinker to hear. James glanced over at Tinker. He was standing right beside the artifact, unmoving.
“Bullshit,” Tinker said. “What are you doing here Nate? I ordered you to stay in Edenrise.”
“It’s over, Tinker. Artifact or not, your plan is finished. The hallucinations weren’t caused by a disease or some random instability. I told you there was something in Edenrise and you didn’t want to believe me. But there was. It sabotaged the energy shields. It made everyone in the city start seeing things. And it launched the virus. Four thousand of them.”
“You’re lying,” Tinker said. “I know you are. What I don’t understand is why? You pledged yourself to Edenrise. What did you come here to do, Nate? Kill me? Kill James?”
“I came here to tell you what happened,” Nathan said. “I came in your F-15. Fahri attacked me, and I defended myself. He’s a good pilot, but he isn’t a Stacker. He decided to live to fight another day. You need to do the same.”
“No,” Tinker said. “That’s not how this goes. I know. I’ve seen it.”
“You saw what it wanted you to see.”
James turned again, as Hayden Duke materialized out of the shadows, whole and healthy and only a few meters away from Tinker. It was impossible.
“I should have known,” Tinker said. “Sheriff Fucking Duke. Nate, you’re a damned traitor!”
“I promised to protect Edenrise, and that’s what I did,” Nathan said. “Hayden helped me save the people, your people from the Other. The same fucking Other that you’re so hell-bent on bringing over to our world.”
“You saw what it wanted you to see,” Hayden repeated. “I know where the power for the shields comes from. It’s been using you this whole time. For years.”
“No,” Tinker said. “The ship was abandoned when I found it. I pulled it up from the bottom of the water. Fifty meters down. Nothing could have survived down there.”
“Do you even know how they work?” Hayden asked. “What they’re capable of? They have weapons that make you hallucinate. They have armor that lets them project as anyone or anything they’ve come in contact with. They can hide in plain sight as the civilian standing on the street corner.”
“Or the trusted robot bodyguard keeping an eye on you in your lab,” Nathan finished. “James, Doc is dead. It killed her.”
James felt the statement like a punch to his gut. “Dead?” he said softly. Damn it.
“It’s over, Tinker,” Hayden said. “You’re a smart guy. You have a lot of value, and you can still do a lot of good for a lot of people. James beat the hell out of me. He tortured me. I’m willing to let it go because I know how much we can accomplish together, for the good of everyone left on this planet.”
Tinker was silent for a moment, and then he started to laugh. “You’re an idiot, Sheriff Duke. You really are. There’s no future for humankind. Haven’t you figured that out yet? We’re fucked one way or another. We’re better off bending our knee to the most powerful being we can find and hope they take us in. Whether the Other was feeding me visions or not, who gives a shit? All you did was prove we’re nothing compared to them. All you did was confirm that this universe is a lot bigger than we realized, and everything else in it is smarter than we are. No, I’m not going to stop, Sheriff. Maybe I was wrong about us proving ourselves to the Others. Maybe they were the ones who sent the trife in the first place. Who the hell knows, and who the hell cares? My whole life’s mission has been to do their will. I’m not giving up on it now. James, kill them!”
Chapter 52
Nathan stared at James, finger resting on the railgun’s trigger. They had both heard Tinker’s order. The only question was, would James follow it?
James’ visor slid open, revealing the replica’s face. He had tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Nathan,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t want to hurt you either,” Nathan replied.
“It was a direct order. I don’t have a choice.”
“Then neither do I.”
“I can only do what I was made to do.”
“I know.”
“Forgive me.”
“I do.”
Nathan’s finger shifted on the trigger, beginning to depress it and fire the armor-piercing flechettes into his duplicate. He didn’t want to. He hated himself for doing it, but what choice did he have? What choice did James have?
They were doing the best they could, each in their own way.
Still, he hesitated. Only for an instant, but that was all the time it took for James to throw himself aside, out of the aim of the powerful railgun.
Nathan didn’t bother to shoot, knowing he would miss. He swung the weapon to follow James, the general producing a gun of his own during his roll. They fired at the same time. Nathan’s shot tore through James’ armor and into his side. James’ round found Nathan’s gun hand, the bullet cutting through muscle and nerve and forcing him to drop his weapon.
The railgun clattered to the floor. James dropped his pistol, rising to his feet and jumping at Nathan. It still wasn’t a fair fight, but at least he wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man.
A heavy armored punch came in at Nathan’s face, and he ducked aside, drawing his laser pistol and sticking it against James’ armor. He held the trigger down, letting the pulses burn into the metal in an effort to get through.
He had to move when James tried to get him in a bear hug, dropping low and rolling backward, almost making it back to his feet when James kicked him in the chest. The impact knocked the pistol from his hands and threw him back nearly four meters. He stumbled back to his knees, trying to get up as James charged again. He could hear more gunfire in the background, and he glanced over to see Hayden engaged with Tinker.
He had his own monster to worry about.
James came at him again, throwing a heavy punch that Nathan brought his hands up to block, catching the armored fist with both of them and pushing back against the force. It hurt like hell with the hole in his right hand, and he was nowhere near as strong as James, but he slowed the blow long enough to circle to the side, getting clear of the general.
He knew he couldn’t win a fight like this. His only chance was to get back to the railgun and find some way to hold it and fire with his off-hand. He spotted it on the ground, and he tried to make a run for it.
James grabbed his arm, bringing him in, his other fist coming for Nathan’s face. Nathan kicked against the armor’s chest plate, getting enough purchase to swing his head away. He used his strength to roll himself up and drop down, the momentum bringing James off-balance enough that he was able to get his feet down and lift.
It seemed impossible, but somehow he got the armor off the ground, bringing it up over his head and crashing down, James forced to release his neck before he landed on his back. Nathan grunted and stumbled, his body weakened by the effort, but he resumed his race back to the railgun.
He heard James rising behind him. He knew he wouldn’t make it back before the general caught up. He spun around, ducking and rolling, acting entirely on instinct.
James’ foot missed him by centimeters, and he overshot Nathan, forced to stop and turn around. Agile was one thing James wasn’t in the armor, and by the time he repositioned himself Nathan was on top of him. He jumped past James’ guard, grabbing his helmet and lifting, ripping it off his head. James caught him a moment later, throwing him back and away from the railgun, sending him to the floor a second time and leaving him gasping for air.
> Nathan got up, blocking James’ next punch with the helmet, letting the general leave a substantial dent in the metal. Then Nathan threw the helmet at him, forcing him to block it or get hit in the head. The half-second distraction let him break away again.
James chased him, the strength of the armor giving him massive strides that outpaced Nathan’s run. Nathan’s saw the laser pistol to his left, so much closer than the railgun. It wasn’t anywhere near as powerful of a weapon, but it was the only one he had a chance to reach.
He could sense James right behind him, and they both dove at the same time, James trying to grab Nathan, and Nathan trying to grab the laser pistol.
Nathan hit the ground, James landing on top of his legs. He heard the crack and felt one of them break under the pressure, despite the bodysuit. He clenched his teeth in pain but didn’t lose sight of his goal, reaching out and pulling himself forward the few centimeters he needed.
James tried to climb up, using his weight to keep Nathan on his stomach. Nathan got his left hand on the pistol, and he swung it under his neck so he could point it back.
He couldn’t see James’ face, but he heard him breathing behind him. He pulled the trigger, the pulses of dense light causing a sudden intense smell of burning flesh. James cried out, rolling off Nathan, who rolled over to see what he had done.
James human eye was gone, burned out by the laser. Smoke was rising from the back of his head. The laser had gone right through his skull. Through his brain. He was still writhing. Still alive. He turned his head to look at Nathan.
Nathan crawled over to him, tears in his eyes. They looked at one another. James reached out, taking Nathan’s left hand in his, bringing the laser pistol to his forehead. He didn’t speak. The damage had destroyed that ability. He didn’t need words.
“I’m sorry,” Nathan said.
He knew James was too.
He breathed in, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger again.
When he opened them, James was gone.
Chapter 53
Hayden’s hand dropped to his hip, grabbing the revolver from its holster and whipping it up toward Tinker in the blink of an eye. Tinker reacted faster than he ever expected, sweeping his arm in front of his helmet as the shots rang out. Bang! Bang! Bang! The rounds skipped off the armor, thicker and denser than Hayden thought it would be, saving the man from a quick end.
He charged toward Tinker, still firing. The bullets continued to skip off the other man’s armor, as Tinker leaped back away from the artifact, reaching for a weapon of his own. Hayden kept count of the shots, knowing as soon as the weapon was empty, expertly flipping open the cylinder, popping an auto-loader off his bandolier and sliding six more rounds into their chambers and closing the cylinder again. The whole maneuver took less than two seconds before he was shooting again.
The changes caused by the compound he had been given made everything seem to move slower than it should have, allowing him to perceive so much more. Tinker’s hand dropped to a laser pistol attached to the side of his robotic legs, and Hayden was already rolling to the side by the time the beams started flashing to where he had been just an instant before. His coat trailed out behind him as he came up still shooting, emptying the gun a second time and quickly reloading, diving away from Tinker’s return fire again and coming up shooting, walking him back and away from the artifact.
Tinker seemed to realize what he was trying to do in lieu of piercing the armor, and he changed his tactics, instead meeting Hayden’s charge with one of his own. Hayden didn’t back down, reloading one final time and firing point-blank into Tinker, standing his ground as the armor approached.
The last few rounds made it through the metal shell, and Tinker grunted and lowered that hand right before he reached Hayden, swinging the other instead, even though it was still carrying the pistol. Hayden ducked beneath it, burying Gus’ powerful hand in the armor’s stomach and driving it up, lifting Tinker off the ground and turning with the momentum, throwing him off-balance.
Tinker crashed to the stone floor, the armor sliding a few centimeters on its back. Hayden followed right behind him, dropping the revolver to close his other hand. The claw sprang out from it as he jumped on top of Tinker, driving it down toward the helmet’s visor.
It hit the glass, cracking it but not making it through.
Tinker punched Hayden in the side, the force knocking him off and sending him rolling away. The bodysuit beneath his clothes spared him from a set of broken ribs, but the blow still managed to knock the wind out of him. He came up fighting anyway, reaching across his body to grab his other revolver and start shooting, aiming for the cracked visor.
Tinker got his hand up in time, preventing the rounds from piercing the damaged part of the armor. It also left him unable to see, and Hayden bounced up, rushing toward him and grabbing his other arm in Gus’ hand. He squeezed down hard, crushing the metal and Tinker’s bones inside it, causing the old man’s arm to shatter. He cried out in pain.
“Where’s Natalia, you son of a bitch,” Hayden growled.
Tinker didn’t answer, instead turning and yanking his mangled hand away and using the other to try and hit Hayden a second time. Hayden spun away from it, holstering the revolver and extending his claw again, driving it into the visor a second time.
The blade made it through, but only part of the way. He came face-to-face with Tinker, able to see the man’s fear, his eyes crossed and looking at the sharp edge of the claw only centimeters from his forehead.
He hit Hayden again this time in the chest and hard enough to drive him back. Hayden tumbled hands over feet, coming to a stop on his stomach a few meters away. He pulled himself to his knees, expecting Tinker to be coming after him.
He wasn’t.
He was running toward the artifact.
“No!” Hayden shouted, jumping up and reaching for the pulse laser pistol beneath his arm. He drew it and squeezed the trigger, invisible bursts of dense light creating multiple scorch marks on Tinker’s back. A few of the blasts sank all the way through, scoring hits into his flesh.
Tinker made it to the artifact, grabbing a rod from somewhere on his armor and holding it up. His arm moved forward, slapping it against the alien stone.
Shots rang out from nearby in the rapid-fire cadence of a machine-gun. Glass exploded from Tinker’s helmet, the rounds punching through the already damaged visor and into Tinker’s face. Hayden watched as Tinker spun, trying to escape the assault. He got a momentary glimpse of the old man’s bloodied face before he fell forward onto his stomach.
He didn’t move again.
Hayden looked past him, finding Natalia a moment later, a rifle in her hands and a huge smile on her face.
“I’m an engineer, do you think I can’t figure out how to open a fucking door, asshole?” she said.
Hayden got to his feet, running across the space, everything else in the universe forgotten. At least, it was until he made it to the artifact. The LED on the device Tinker had attached to it was flashing green, turning solid just as he reached it.
He came to a sudden stop in front of the artifact, the stone monolith making a deep humming sound as the front of it parted in the middle and swung completely open, creating a single large rounded rectangle. The center of it was like a mirror, a perfect reflection making it impossible to tell which side was reality.
Until it changed.
The surface rippled and altered, the reflection changing into something else. Another world. Who knew where. Who knew how far.
It was on fire.
Wherever the other end of the gate was located was surrounded by ash and death and destruction. Cloud-filled skies, mangled columns, grand statues reduced to rubble, only their humanoid feet remaining. Cloaked bodies lay strewn across the foreground, their faces either torn off or buried beneath the folds of their robes. Dark shapes moved in the background.
They were too big to be trife. The air rippled around them, and their flesh reacted, similar t
o the projection of the Other’s armor. One of them seemed to notice Hayden standing there, and it turned its head his way, its face reflecting Hayden’s face a moment later.
Then it huffed and charged, using both its hands and feet to propel itself toward the gate.
Hayden stepped toward it, reaching out and grabbing the rod, tearing it from the top of the artifact at the same time the creature’s massive hand started reaching through.
The world vanished. The reflection vanished. The only proof it had ever existed was the remains of the hand, which flopped onto the floor and began to bleed dark blood.
“So much for your Others,” Hayden said, glancing over at Tinker’s motionless form. “It looks like they’re doing worse than us.”
“What the hell?” Nathan said, coming up behind him. His hand was a mess of blood and he was limping badly. Hayden looked past him, finding James’ corpse a dozen meters away.
“Hayden,” Natalia said, approaching him. “Oh Hayden, you’re alive.”
Hayden smiled, ignoring Nathan to take his wife in his arms. He held her close, kissing the side of her head as they embraced.
“I have an idea,” she said. “Let’s try to go at least a year without having to stop some crazy asshole from ruining the world.”
Hayden laughed. “Pozz that. Sounds perfect to me.”
He pulled back, remembering the compound and the potential side-effects. Fuck it, Chandra had told him it wasn’t likely, and he didn’t feel like worrying. Not right now.
“Nathan Stacker, I want you to meet my wife, Natalia Duke.”
“A pleasure,” Nathan said, putting out his undamaged hand. Natalia took it. “I see Sheriff Duke married the only person on Earth who’s more stubborn than he is.”
They all started laughing.
It felt good to have something so simple to laugh about again.
54
One week later…