New Gaia

by Samuel Isaacson

  “Get out of here,” Anna suddenly says, still not taking her eyes off the screen. “I need to try to stop this. Aagh!” she suddenly screams without warning. “Why can’t people just mind their own business?”

  Appearing out of nowhere, her assistant indicates you should follow her back down the stairs and you eventually manage to leave the building. Turn to 81.

  145

  “Excellent,” says David. “Let’s get to business then, shall we?”

  He organises for a private transport to allow Pauline to return to earth, then takes out a device and shows you a series of images of people. “We’ve narrowed down next steps to a conversation with one of these people, who should be able to provide some insight into the situation and give us a steer for our tactics.

  “Paul Grakler is the UDE ambassador to Mars-”

  “UDE?” interrupts Catalina.

  “United Democracies of Earth,” explains David. “He has an equal and opposite in Lauren Tucs, the ambassador for the ASR – the Alliance of Socialist Republics. Paul is likely to be able to answer more questions about earth while Lauren will have a bit of a wider view I would have thought.

  “Anna Michaels is one of the leading technology minds on Mars, and probably the wealthiest person. Her companies provide almost 70% of the communications technology for the planet, including interplanetary contact. She would probably have the ability to analyse the communications that have taken place.

  “Then there’s Ada Uovu, an independent scientist with an observatory in the mountains just outside of New Gaia. She’s often used by the Council as an expert on interstellar matters.

  “Finally, there’s Fujo Eze, Chief Officer of the Martian Navy. He’ll be the one to give any final command for military action, so often has advanced intelligence on this sort of thing. What are your thoughts?”

  Do you say you’d like to visit one of the ambassadors (turn to 384), Anna Michaels (turn to 165), Ada Uovu (turn to 50) or Fujo Eze (turn to 73)?

  146

  After a few false starts you manage to crack the password protecting the system, which brings up a message inbox. You scan a few of the titles and they all seem too strange to interpret while under the time pressure you’re feeling, although one entitled “Crazy Moira” attracts your attention.

  “Confirmed,” it reads. “Safe word established, her madness can now be brought on by the word Moira and switched off using the protocol you suggested. Charles.”

  You leave through the stained-glass door (turn to 64).

  147

  The door opens into another nondescript corridor and you realise this place must be larger than you first thought. The corridor immediately turns to the left, continues for several paces and then turns to the right.

  Just on the corner is a small table on which a helmet has been placed as a decoration. You think it could offer you good protection and can put it on if you like. After some time, you reach another door on your right-hand side this time, and the corridor continues ahead of you.

  Will you go through the door (turn to 367) or continue along the corridor (turn to 204)?

  148

  The door opens to reveal a corridor leading out to your left. The wall right next to the door you’re walking through has been painted a hideous shade of pink as if someone wanted to create a feature wall of some sort. You wonder if it might mean something but Catalina and David are keen to keep moving and so you leave it behind.

  A few paces down the corridor it ends at a pair of doors, one directly in front of you and one on the right-hand wall. Will you go through the door ahead of you (turn to 290), or the one to your right (turn to 236)?

  149

  The door opens into a corridor that continues for a short distance before making a U-turn to your left. Just on the bend there must be a motion detector, because a dart suddenly flies out at you. You must lose 3 SPIRIT points unless you successfully make a BODY check at difficulty 13.

  You follow the corridor until it ends at a door, and you walk through (turn to 371).

  150

  Through the door is a large, square room with a big, transparent dome filling its centre. You cross to the opposite corner as fast as you can and throw yourself through the door. Add 5 seconds to your TIME score. If your TIME is now 140 seconds or more, turn immediately to 142. If not, turn to 270.

  151

  The security officer is too fast for you and wraps you in a bear hug before you can do anything.

  “Now then,” he says, looking up at the nurse approaching him. “Where’s this one meant to be?”

  The nurse smiles at you and tuts playfully. “This way,” she says and walks you back to your room, escorted by the security officer.

  “I’ll just sit here and keep an eye on things,” he says, settling into a chair between you and the door. You realise there’s nothing to be done about it and resign yourself to having to simply rest in bed. Within half an hour you are sleeping soundly. Turn to 34.

  152

  You arrive at the safehouse and are greeted with the sight of Pauline along with a familiar face. It’s Angel Travis, the lawyer who worked with you in the trial.

  “Lovely to see you again!” he says, beaming and hugging you and Catalina as you enter. You look across at Pauline and notice that she’s smiling too, which comes as a bit of a surprise until you see what she’s standing in front of.

  The table behind her has some fearsome-looking weaponry laid out on it in three neat sections. Pauline sees the direction of your eyes and steps in front of the table.

  “This is the point at which you thank me for being the sensible one and getting what we need for this. I am now the proud owner of a pair of Pablo Twins, a Rutter-342 and a Dammler Micro RPG. So, we’re actually going to be able to respond to whatever these guys throw at us when we find them.”

  She picks up two pistols and slots them into a holster you notice she wasn’t wearing earlier. “These are mine,” she says. “You two can pick for yourself from the Rutter,” at this she points at a rifle with the largest scope you’ve seen aside from on a sniper rifle, “or the Dammler,” she says, pointing to a gun with a short, wide barrel and large handles.

  “Which would you like?” asks Catalina. Do you choose the Rutter-342, a convenient weapon with a high level of accuracy (turn to 200) or the Dammler Micro RPG, a way to do damage over a wider area (turn to 323)?

  153

  The room behind the door is a small version of hell, and you see dozens of Ildan crawling over one another. The moment the door opens, several of them dash out at you. Catalina fights to shut the door while you and David see of the nuisance. While you are fighting these in order, any time you take damage you will have to take an extra point of damage for each other surviving creature.

  First Ildan

  BODY 5

  SPIRIT 8

  Second Ildan

  BODY 4

  SPIRIT 7

  Third Ildan

  BODY 5

  SPIRIT 7

  Fourth Ildan

  BODY 6

  SPIRIT 4

  If you win, you retrace your steps and sprint straight across the T-junction (turn to 221).

  154

  “Yes,” the COMN says, thoughtfully. He spins around and brings up a large screen on the wall showing what you presume is a live feed of a group of people having a drink around a table in a bar.

  “There he is,” he says, pointing at a shady-looking man sitting in the corner of the table, then he touches his ear to open a communication channel. “Code Sierra November, Lima Lima.”

  The two of you stand watching the screen for a moment and then the figure of Leo Liren suddenly slumps to the floor, and the entire bar immediately begins to panic.

  “There we go,” says the COMN, “job done. Thank you for your help. We’ve done all we can here, and I wish you all the best with your future endeavours.”

  Unsure of what to think about what you’ve just witnessed you make your way out of the
headquarters. Record the codeword Palus and turn to 228.

  155

  If you have the codeword Casius, turn to 251. If not, read on.

  You open the door and step inside, revealing what must be the staff room. There is a small kitchen area on the right-hand wall, two circular tables surrounded by chairs in the middle of the room and sofas against the walls to your left and opposite the door you just came in by.

  “Can I help you?” asks a middle-aged lady with a pair of glasses resting on her head. “You shouldn’t really be in here, you know. Shall we get you back to your room?”

  The door has not yet closed and you hear the lift doors open behind you; you think that if you turn and run you would be able to make it to the lift in time. If you would like to make a run for it, turn to 79. If not, your only option is to explain to the doctor your suspicion that the nurse has been infested (turn to 233).

  156

  You walk up to the guards, who tense up and look around alertly as if surprised to see anyone in this area that they don’t recognise.

  What story are you going to try to bluff them with? Do you tell them that you have a delivery (turn to 65), do you say the three of you are joining the security team at a separate location and are here for orientation (turn to 112), or do you say that you have news from Big Jonny (turn to 193)?

  157

  David listens to you, and eventually holds up a hand.

  “I’ve heard enough,” he says. “I agree that she wasn’t as obliging as she could have been, but let’s not pretend that being a bit cautious around uninvited guests is a sign that she’s plotting the destruction of the human race. Come on, let’s head back to the city and decide on a course of action.”

  The three of you are about to step back into the transport when he suddenly touches his hand to his ear and says, “Excuse me,” turning away to take a communication.

  A minute later he turns back to you with an expression of surprise.

  “It turns out-” he begins, stutters and then coughs before starting again. “It turns out the alien fleet has picked up speed and will be with us in a little under three hours. We’re going to have to get a move on.”

  You all climb in and head into the city, David on his comms unit the whole time, giving some instructions and relaying back to you the movement of the defence forces across the city and the surrounding area. By the time you arrive back in New Gaia, the barracks have been entirely emptied and the city is full of uniformed personnel encouraging civilians inside and taking strategic orders from the commanding officers.

  Two hours later you are positioned in a bunker behind a surface-to-air missile just to the east of the city and the shapes of the fleet become visible in the sky. You stand there, eyes turned upward to focus on the small yet clearly visible dots. You are wondering whether they are actually growing in your vision or if your eyes are playing tricks on you when their colour suddenly changes to a distinct red. You blink and turn to Catalina.

  “Yes,” she says, anticipating your question. “I saw it too.”

  The red dots grow and grow until you can clearly see the fireball hurtling through space directly at your position, large enough to engulf the whole of New Gaia multiple times over. Within a minute you can feel its heat, and your skin has painfully melted from your body before its heart hits the floor.

  158

  As you run back through this door you must keep a log of how long it is taking you to make your way out. Begin by adding 5 seconds to your TIME score.

  The door has opened onto a corridor running left and right. Will you go left (turn to 223) or right (turn to 37)?

  159

  The alien presence within you makes you aware of others’ movements and perceptions and so you confidently emerge into the third-floor corridor without difficulty. Turn to 17.

  160

  Through the door is the longest corridor you’ve seen in this place, stretching out to your left. You don’t think you’d be able to see the end properly, although the moment you have that thought you admit it’s purely philosophical, as a group of people are halfway along it, blocking your view.

  They pause for a moment to see how you will react, and the three of you glance at each other considering whether you will turn back or not. David steps forward and you realise you no longer have that choice, as the other group withdraws weapons and begins to move towards you.

  The two groups move towards one another, in full knowledge that a battle is about to happen and that it’s only a matter of time. When you get closer to them, the thought that you could try to bluff your way through flashes into your mind. If you would like to talk your way past them, make a HEART check at difficulty 12. If you succeed, turn to 257. If you fail, they don’t believe your story, so you must fight them anyway. Each of the three of you manage to take on one enemy:

  Patrol guard

  BODY 7

  SPIRIT 8

  If you win, turn to 42.

  161

  You pull up the Rutter and rapidly aim at her head, pulling the trigger at the perfect moment. You see her head suddenly framed by a pink cloud, and as she collapses the trail of blood behind her creates a gruesome arrow pointing in the direction of your victim.

  “What?” cries Pauline, stepping forward to inspect the body and confirming that the job is done. “Where did that come from?”

  Catalina claps you on the back and moves up to join her. Turn to 305.

  162

  Make a HEART check at difficulty 17. If you succeed, turn to 102. If you fail, turn to 86.

  163

  The alien presence inside you gives you a heightened sense of awareness and you skilfully wait for the perfect moment to emerge into the corridor without being detected. Turn to 272.

  164

  He looks at you for a moment and then nods in respect.

  “That is a great idea!” he says. “They’ll never see it coming, and it simplifies our entire operation – I love it. Enjoy earth, and I’ll do exactly as you suggest.”

  You climb into the private car that has pulled up to the door and get in with Pauline. As you leave, you wave goodbye fondly to Catalina and her family, and you find yourself glued to the window at the impressive sight of New Gaia receding into the distance.

  The wait at the port is less enjoyable, and you are grateful to eventually board and leave the planet. After having travelled for about three hours, Pauline points out of the window at some movement against the backdrop of the darkness, and it doesn’t take you long to realise that you are helplessly witnessing the invasion of Mars.

  Several hours later you find yourself incapable of removing yourself from the window, and it is only because you are staring so intently that you see the hundreds of shapes that just surrounded Mars growing in size and then suddenly hurtling past you towards earth.

  You collapse back in the chair, unsure of your future other than that by the time you reach earth there will be nothing of humanity left.

  165

  You meet Anna Michaels in her private roof garden on one of the tallest buildings in New Gaia. When you reach her apartment, her assistant shows you up the stairs and leaves you a few yards away from Anna, who is engrossed in a screen filled with lines of impenetrable text.

  “Your visitors,” the assistant says, and Anna raises a finger in acknowledgement. Several minutes later she looks up at you from the screen.

  “Yes?” she says, and then looks back down at the screen.

  “Ms Michaels-” begins David and is immediately interrupted.

  “Anna,” she replies.

  “Anna,” he continues smoothly, “you are aware of the approaching alien fleet.”

  “Oh yes,” she says, finally putting the screen down. “Comms leaving Mars and nothing in and out of earth. My people are on that, by the way. There’s no way they’re using my tech to communicate, I can tell you that much. We track all traffic on every device we manufacture or contribute to and there’s nothing out of the ordinar
y.”

  Will you ask her what other communications are currently leaving Mars (turn to 277), or how she’d recommend you go about stopping the messages being sent (turn to 68)?

  166

  Tomas thinks for a moment and then stands and leaves the room, returning a few minutes later with a bag full of items.

  “Maybe some of these will be helpful,” he says, pulling out a handful of food bars and a necklace with a large pendant in the shape of a shield. You thank him and may take up to two food bars, each of which will restore 4 lost SPIRIT points at any point except in a section involving combat or a skill check. The pendant is a virtual shield generator, reacting to its environment and protecting you against the impact of light attacks. While wearing this, you may reduce all damage done to you by 1.

  You thank the family profusely, and Catalina promises to return as soon as she can. You make a silent promise to yourself to find your own family the moment this insanity is over.

  The two of you leave and return to the safehouse to be reunited with Pauline (turn to 152).

  167

  The corridor continues to a corner where it bends round to the left. You follow it round and after a few yards keep following it to the left and back to the right, at which point you see a very large man standing in front of a door. As you appear, he says, “They’re here,” and lunges at you.

  Ada’s crony

  BODY 7

  SPIRIT 8

  If you win, turn to 385.

  168

  She is a professional, sees exactly what you’re doing and steps aside just as you pull the trigger. The shot zips past her and penetrates a window, dramatically causing it to smash.

  Lose 4 SPIRIT points and turn to 16.

  169

  As you land on the other side of the wall, you fall awkwardly, hurting your leg. Lose 1 BODY point. You can’t help letting out a small yelp of pain and remain still for a few moments in the hope that no-one heard you, while Pauline and Catalina drop down silently behind you.