by J. N. Chaney
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, accepting the medallion from Stacy while trying not to appear too eager to get my hands on it once more.
I ran a thumb over the emblem on the front.
“What is that?” Arun asked, turning to look at my medallion. “I think I’ve seen that symbol before.”
“Really?” I asked, willing to show her the medallion in my palm without offering it to her. It felt silly, like a kid with a toy he didn’t want to share, but this was all I had left of the life I left behind.
“What does the symbol mean?” Elon asked.
“Hell if I know,” I said. “It was a gift.”
We all looked down on the bronze medallion in my hand.
“Where have you seen it before?” I asked Arun. “I’ve researched it myself, and it's never come up anywhere. At least nowhere that I’ve been able to find.”
“I—I can’t remember right now, but it’ll come to me,” Arun said, scrunching her brows in deep thought.
The Disciple at our feet moaned something unintelligible.
“We should get him secured before he wakes up,” Elon said.
“Yes,” Arun agreed. “Before I address the rest of the Orion, I want to speak with him. If another Disciple is lurking in the shadows, I want to know about it.”
“I’ll get him up and taken to the brig,” Stacy said, motioning for a suit to help her get the Disciple on his feet.
“Well, this has all been fun,” I said, gripping my medallion tightly in my hand. “I think I’m going to go get some painkillers and sleep for the next week.”
“Are you shot?” Elon asked, concerned as he noticed the burn in my shoulder for the first time. “Did the Disciple have a blaster on him?”
“Nope, Stacy shot me,” I said with a frown, turning in her direction. “You tased me, and then you shot me. That’s two I owe you.”
“No way; that doesn’t count at all,” Stacy said, coming over and placing her hands on my shoulder. She looked through the tear in my shirt. “You’re barely grazed. That doesn’t count as being shot.”
“All of a sudden, you’re the leading mind on what does and doesn’t count as being hit by a blaster round?” I asked.
Stacy grinned then turned back to gather the unconscious Disciple from the ground.
“My brother and I have had a discussion, and we’d like you to work with us,” Arun said. She took a step closer to me, lowering her voice. “The skill set you possess will come in handy. We need people we can rely on, both on the ship and when we start our colony.”
“You mean you want me to be your muscle?” I asked. “Not interested. This was a one-time deal. I owed our Disciple friend here one for jumping me in the cargo hold.”
“Threats like this one aren’t going to stop,” Elon said, joining his sister. “If it’s not the Disciple, it’ll be someone else.”
“I’m no suit,” I said, shaking my head.
“Just come with us and hear what the Disciple has to say,” Elon urged. “Perhaps when you see what we’re up against, you’ll reconsider.”
I thought about it for a moment. I wondered if they’d let me interrogate the Disciple. My ribs and face reminded me that I could get a few more licks on him before this was all over.
“What the hell?” I asked. “I’m already in this. Let’s see how far the rabbit hole really goes.”
17
A quick visit to Doctor Allbright later, and I was with the Eternals and Stacy in the brig. The brig level of the Orion wasn’t like the rest. Dark steel walls and unfinished pipes stuck out from the ceilings. There were more security checkpoints and pass-codes than I cared to remember, even if I was paying attention.
I didn’t plan on being back here, either as a prisoner or a guest.
I was shown into a room with a one-way see-through wall. It reminded me of every interrogation scene out of a movie or book I had ever read. The room on the opposite side of us had a chair with the Disciple strapped to it, both by his wrists and his ankles. A single bright light shone down on him.
He was slumped forward still unconscious, or at least allowing us to believe he was. His mask was pulled down and his hood pulled back, revealing a bald head crisscrossed with scars.
I stood in the room with Arun, Elon, and Stacy.
“I’m giving the appropriate ‘heads-up’ Mr. Slade requested before I enter the room.” Iris’ voice reached our ears.
Elon and Arun looked confused while Stacy smirked.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Iris,” I said as the Cognitive walked into the room from the solid wall behind us.
“Are you and Miss Wilson all right? Do you require further medical attention?” Iris asked with an expression I guessed she considered concern, but it looked more like intrigue to me. “You appear as though you’ve been struck by some kind of large vehicle.”
I glanced over at Stacy. We both looked like we’d been through hell. Stacy’s nose had been reset. She limped a little and held an ice pack to the side of her face.
She was one tough chick. I never heard her complain or cry out in pain. It made me have a deeper level of respect for the woman.
Moving in any direction hurt for me. There was a cut on the inside of my mouth as well as multiple bruises on my eye and cheek. My ribs ached, and my shoulder still burned despite the pain meds I received from Doctor Allbright.
“Yes, we’re okay, Iris,” Stacy said. “Thank you.”
Iris nodded.
“What can you tell us about our guest?” Arun asked the Cognitive. “I’m assuming any identity he used to board the Orion is false?”
“I would have to agree,” Iris said, opening the palm of her right hand, allowing a holographic display to pop up in front of us. “He used the alias Jeffrey Hooke to board the ship, but upon deeper inspection, there seems to be no record of that person. I cross-referenced his facial pattern and prints in the Civil Authority database and found a match. His name is Trevor Bishop.”
My eyes wandered from the Cognitive through the wall to our guest on the other side. He didn’t look like a Trevor to me. With his Russian accent, it seemed plausible this was just an alias as well.
“On the street, he goes by the Assassin,” Iris continued. “He’s linked to half a dozen Disciple strikes across the globe.”
“How did he board the Orion in the first place?” Elon asked. “The cloaking device?”
“If I had to guess, yes,” Iris agreed.
“It’s disturbing to think that even with our level of technology, assassins and terrorists are finding a way around it,” Elon thought out loud.
“We might be able to solve that problem sooner, rather than later.” Stacy removed the ice pack from her face. “Dean and I met with Doctor James Wong, the head of the tech department. He’s working on the problem now. Hopefully, we’ll have something soon that will allow us to track someone, even if they’re cloaked.”
“Very good,” Arun said. She placed both her white hands on the ledge, leaning into the one-way wall. It was clear she was studying her prisoner. “Iris, tell me more about this Trevor Bishop.”
“Outside of his affiliation with the Disciples, he’s somewhat of a ghost,” Iris said as the screen on her hand moved from a blurry image of Trevor to a list of known aliases, accomplices, and skills. “He’s a dangerous man trained in the arts of stealth, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, poisons, and, well, the list goes on and on. Shall I read it all?”
“I think we get the point,” Elon said.
We all stood there for a moment, staring at the unconscious man.
“So are we going to go and wake up Sleeping Beauty or what?” I asked, looking to the others for consensus.
“I’ll go in with Stacy,” Elon said, placing a calming hand on his sister’s shoulder. “We should try to handle this matter with words if we are able.”
“You think he’s going to willingly give you information?” Arun arched her eyebrow. “Maybe it will do him some good to experience the p
ain he put so many others through.”
I already knew Arun was the hothead of the two siblings, but this was downright intimidating. I wasn’t used to seeing the crazy gleam of vengeance in the eyes of an Eternal. Somehow it made it worse, since the bright blue of their eyes shone so fiercely.
“Give us a chance, and then if it doesn’t work our way, you can use yours,” Elon said, looking to Stacy and me for support.
“I agree,” Stacy chimed in.
“Hey, don’t look at me,” I said, pointing a thumb to Arun. “I’m with your sister here. I’ve come across plenty of guys like our assassin Disciple in there. Talking to that maniac isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’m down with putting a beating on him, but I don’t think that’s going to do any good either. He’s familiar with pain. He’ll block that out of his head like I would.”
“What would you suggest?” Arun asked with an upturned eyebrow.
“I mean, I’ve never used it myself, but some kind of drug or narcotic that will make him tell the truth,” I said, looking at the two Eternals in front of me along with Stacy. I threw a quick glance to Iris as well so she wouldn’t feel left out.
“Are you talking about injecting our prisoner with drugs to make him talk?” Elon said, shaking his head in surprise. “Mr. Slade, we don’t have a serum like that on board the Orion.”
“Well, have Iris alchemy a brew up for you,” I said, looking over at the Cognitive. “Iris, do you have all the ingredients onboard the Orion to create a truth serum if that’s what we need?”
“Indeed,” Iris said with a bright, cheery smile across her glowing blue face. “I could have a combination made for you in minutes.”
“See,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “Even the Cognitive thinks we should shoot our Disciple friend up with some happy juice.”
“Before we try anything, Stacy and I are just going to talk to him,” Elon said resolutely. “We haven’t regressed so far to start injecting one another with chemicals and torture.”
“He never said torture,” Arun reminded her brother. “That was all you. But if you need someone to say it for you to feel better, I would torture him if it meant getting information that would save the lives of a hundred thousand on this ship.”
Elon breathed heavily in exhaustion. He headed for the door with Stacy following, smirking behind him.
“You’re kinda dark,” I said, giving Arun an approving nod. “I like it.”
“I harbor no mercy for those who kill innocent men, women, and children,” Arun said with a shrug, as if it were just a rule of life like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. “When they come for anyone in my colony, I take it personally.”
I liked Arun the more and more I got to know her. Hell, I liked all these people, and it kind of worried me. I’d been on my own for so long with just Ricky as my only real friend, I forgot there were other people out there that shared a common outlook on life with me.
A moment later, they left our room and entered the holding chamber on the other side of the two-way wall. They made enough noise to wake Trevor if he was sleeping. Still, he didn’t move a muscle.
Stacy brought two chairs in for them from the hall outside of the room and placed them facing the terrorist. She made sure they were slightly apart and turned to the side, almost in a circle, to leave me and Arun plenty of room to see our prisoner.
“You think you can make a cage that will be strong enough to hold me?” Trevor said, not bothering to lift his head to look at them. “You will lose this war because you lack the conviction to do what is needed.”
“And what is that, Trevor?” Elon asked, sitting in one of the chairs. “May I call you Trevor?”
Trevor lifted his bald head. A look of pure disgust was written on his bruised face. He scowled at Elon as if he were going to answer, then turned to Stacy instead. “You’re a human like me. Why do you serve such a master?”
“We’re all human,” Stacy said, correcting the prisoner. “And he’s not my master. If you put those two truths to use, you’d be able to see past your hate.”
Trevor shook his head in disgust. He spat on the ground next to him.
“Trevor Bishop,” Elon tried again. “I hope you realize that this sit down is an act of...well, of hope that you would be willing to talk to us. Whatever mission you had, whatever goal you were tasked with, has failed. It’s over for you now, but there is still a chance of redemption for you. We need to know if you are working alone or if there are other Disciples on board the Orion preparing to strike.”
Trevor lifted his head to the ceiling and roared with laughter. Even standing in the other room, it was a noise that made me wince. The sound was certainly laughter, but it was hollow and devoid of any true joy.
“Albino, tell me,” Trevor said, glaring at Elon. “Did you trade your soul when you sacrificed your humanity for eternal life? The human line will prosper, and we will outlast your genetically enhanced filth.”
“You do realize that what we’re trying to do here is help, right?” Elon said patiently, leaning forward in his seat. If he was flustered at all by the insults hurled at him, he didn’t show it. “Eternals are only humans who have manipulated our DNA. That doesn’t make us monsters. We’re just like you. There are good and bad among us. Right now, I’m traveling along with a colony to assist them in setting up a new world. A world where there will be opportunity for everyone.”
“Opportunity that would have existed on Earth if you and your elitist kind didn’t keep the rest of the population from advancing.” Trevor shook his head with disgust. “And I’ll let you in on a little secret. Your plan will fail.”
“Why is that?” Stacy asked from her seat. Unlike Elon, I could see her fists clenching with anger. The white of her knuckles showed on both hands.
“Because I’m not alone on the Orion.” Trevor grinned. “Others will be activated, this ship will fall from the sky in fire and ash, and all of you will go with it.”
18
Trevor let out another hysterical laugh while all of us remained quiet. My mind was reeling with the implications of his words. There were too many questions left unanswered. Was he telling the truth? If he was, how many Disciples had snuck on board? When and where would they strike next?
“It’s clear that death doesn’t worry you,” Elon said, reining in the mad prisoner in front of him. “My death nor the death of others. You feel nothing condemning a hundred thousand children and innocents to their deaths. What gives you that right? What makes you able to play God?”
“The second they boarded this ship, they lost all of their privileges to live,” Trevor said with a shrug. “Do what you want because that’s all you’re getting out of me.”
“How many other Disciples are on board the Orion?” Stacy asked, rising from her seat. “Where are they?”
“Questions that will keep you up at night, I’m sure,” Trevor said with an ominous smirk. “I told you, you’re not getting anything out of me. I shouldn’t even have let you know that much, but I wanted you to know that you’re not safe. That’s fun for me. While I’m in here, you’ll be out there wondering and worrying. It will be something I can take comfort in.”
Stacy walked over to the prisoner and struck him across the jaw, then in the nose and again in his left eye. She could have kept going, and neither Arun nor I would have pulled her off. It was good Elon was in the room. He jumped up and firmly placed his hands on Stacy’s shoulders.
“Enough,” Elon said, pulling her away. “This is what he wants. This is playing into his twisted game somehow. You’re better than this.”
Stacy was breathing hard, but she refrained from laying into his face anymore.
Trevor was chuckling and howling to the ceiling. “What’s next? Waterboarding? Sleep deprivation? I’ve been through it all!”
Stacy and Elon left the room and entered our own.
“This doesn’t seem like the right time to say I told you so, but…” I let my voi
ce trail off. “I kinda did.”
“We need more information,” Arun said, looking to her brother. “If you’d like to leave for this next part, I’ll understand.”
“We aren’t going to torture him,” Elon said, skewering his sister with a hard stare. “If we do, what separates us from the Disciples? If there is no line we aren’t willing to cross, what makes us different from them?”
“Are you serious?” Arun said, shaking her head. “We’re trying to save an entire colony ship of lives here.”
“If I may?” Stacy interjected. “I’m going to agree with Dean on this one. Wow, that’s something I really never thought I’d be saying.”
“Hey, easy,” I said. “I’m right here, you know. But please, do go on.”
“I don’t think our guest is going to respond to physical acts to get him to speak. I think we might need to try something else.”
“Truth serum would be the best alternative,” Iris said.
The Cognitive had been uncharacteristically quiet for a time, like she was in a state of deep contemplation.
Everyone looked over to Elon.
“It would be better for everyone if we tried Dean’s method,” Arun urged her brother.
“Fine, yes, all right,” Elon said, blowing out a deep breath. “We’ll try it. I suppose it is better than peeling off fingernails or electric shocks.”
“Only better because those methods wouldn’t work; otherwise, I would be more than happy to try them,” Arun said, glaring at Elon.
“Easy now, sister,” Elon replied with a slight smile.
“I’ll be right back,” Iris said, phasing out of a wall and disappearing.
“She just walks in and out, huh,” I said, shaking my head. “No knocking or anything? I guess privacy is out the door.”
Suddenly, Trevor yelled to get our attention.
“You! Him, I mean. I want to see the brawler!” Trevor hollered to the empty room. “He’s the reason I’m in here to begin with. I have something to tell him. Only him—I’ll only talk to him.”