Iástron

by James C. Dunn

  We share the same nightmare. We dreamt of Gilaxiad. How is that possible?

  Through and into Section Five the fifty-four were led by a dozen black-clad soldiers. Justus strode behind, watching Anna, her long brown hair hanging down over her shoulders. He was sure: she was the girl from his nightmare. He’d seen those long brown locks so many times now, heard her voice in his head, haunting him.

  They quickly reached the room previously used as the mess hall. The room was still intact, except the chairs had all been heaped down one end and the tables lined up and stacked before the door, which had been welded firmly shut.

  They had built a barricade.

  On Kramer’s orders the frightened group was forced together in three long rows. Justus purposely placed Anna and her two companions down at the end farthest from the Professor. ‘Keep your head down,’ he whispered as he placed her at the end himself. The blond captain stared at him and Justus nodded, hoping through hope he would understand. He stepped back and out of the way, looking around.

  As everything went silent, Avéne Ketrass entered the room and stood at the Professor’s side. Wearing his long, black lab coat, Kramer stood still, arms behind his back. He eyed them all, one by one. It was as though he enjoyed seeing them frightened out of their wits; helpless and at his mercy.

  Justus couldn’t leave Anna alone with Kramer. He backed towards the far wall, but as he did, a hand stretched around his mouth and he was pulled from the room and out of sight.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  A MAN STOOD still before the captives. He was wrapped in a knee-length coat, dark-black and fine, and a metal face-covering concealed almost one half of his colourless features. The one eye that was visible surveyed them all with untold menace. He began to pace, hands behind his back, down the cowering row.

  Anna shivered and peered about. Justus had disappeared. She could do nothing but hold her sister’s shaking hand as they waited to discover their end. While the man continued to stride back and forth, looking more than pleased with himself, beside her Gílana’s whole body began to shudder. Anna held her up upright, but she tipped off balance and vomited bitter fluid over the ground. She whimpered and sobbed.

  ‘Hush!’ Anna said. ‘Quiet! Please, we have to be quiet!’

  But the one-eyed man had seen them. He stepped forward and looked down on Gílana, lifting a small blade from his pocket and aiming it down at her. She looked up and he placed the knife beneath her chin.

  ‘No!’ Anna pushed the blade away and crawled in front of her sister. ‘Please, please, don’t hurt her.’

  The man sniggered and placed the knife back into his pocket, then knelt down and stared Anna in the eye. He smelled as foul as he looked. ‘You look very familiar,’ he said. ‘My name is Xerin Kramer. What’s yours?’

  ‘Anna,’ she mumbled. ‘Anna Driad.’

  ‘Those overalls you’re wearing,’ he said. ‘I know them. Standard uniform of Titanese crewmembers. You see the eagle emblem on the arm gives it away.’ He stood. ‘You don’t look like soldiers. Tell me, who are you?’ He spoke calmly, almost nicely. He glanced at Gílana in a strange way. She was short and young and obviously no member of the Titanese Guard.

  ‘We’re refugees from Rotavar,’ she said.

  ‘You’re lying.’

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘You are.’

  ‘A combat unit saved us from the Crilshan invaders.’

  ‘Only the two of you? What’s so special about you two?’

  Her thoughts swarmed. She knew her story would not convince him, but she had to try. ‘We stowed away.’

  ‘Liar.’

  ‘We weren’t found until we reached the outpost. We wanted to get to Titan—’

  ‘Don’t lie to me,’ he said, and tapped his face-covering.

  Tap, tap, tap . . . tap, tap, tap . . . tap, tap, tap. He watched her carefully, blood-shot eye staring deep into hers. She focused hard and tried not to bat an eyelid. She could not hold it. She blinked. Kramer sneered. ‘Whether that’s the truth or not doesn’t matter. Your fate will still be the same.’

  ‘And what fate is that?’ Ferranti asked.

  Kramer laughed. ‘The original plan was you’d all die painful deaths in the name of great science. But now I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave this station really rather quickly. So you are all, sadly, to die painful deaths in the name of getting me out alive.’

  At once everybody began shouting. Some edged away from the group and one man jumped towards the guard nearest to him. Three more joined in, dragging him away. There were too many armed men, and the sound of a rifle pulsed through the room. One captive was thrown against the wall and then slumped to the floor, blood seeping down his face. Everyone remained still, quietly whimpering in dread.

  ‘I don’t like cowards,’ Kramer said. ‘They aren’t useful to me.’

  As he spoke, Gílana lurched down on all-fours a second time. More fluid poured onto the floor and she keeled over, retching. Anna turned to Ferranti, whose mouth hung open, eyes darting between the professor and the coiled men around him. Kramer looked at Gílana strangely and whispered something to the dark-haired woman nearby, who did not seem at all bothered by the scene before her. As Anna stroked her sister’s hair, the woman approached them and examined Gílana closely, testing her pulse and mopping her brow. She looked so poorly.

  Anna prayed nothing was wrong. She recalled Gílana had been ill on the journey from Titan, and after leaving Rotavar too. She had complained of nausea, headaches, weariness. What if something had happened to her while they had stowed away? What if all that time at zero gravity had affected her somehow?

  Please be all right.

  The dark-haired woman stood and walked back to Kramer. She whispered in his ear and he smiled. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes, Professor.’

  ‘Very good,’ he said. ‘Now, if you will all stand, it is time.’

  ‘Time for what?’ Ferranti asked, rising before the others.

  ‘We no longer need you for our experiment,’ Kramer said. ‘But if we are to escape, we will need a distraction. We will need bait.’

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  ‘OUCH! GEROFF!’

  ‘Hang on!’

  ‘Let go!’

  Tussling with his mysterious assailant, Justus found himself dragged down the corridor and out of both sight and ear-shot of those gathered in the nearby hall. ‘Let go!’ He couldn’t leave Anna in there. Not with Kramer. Pulled into an empty corridor Justus thrust his foot into their path and took the hand wrapped around his mouth.

  ‘Okay, okay!’ The attacker raised his arms and the Captain released him, relieved and maddened. It was Araman. ‘Sorry,’ he said, blushing. ‘But Kramer can’t know we’ve seen each other yet, never mind spoken.’

  ‘You want to tell me what’s happened here?’ Justus demanded. ‘Where’s Lesper?’

  ‘Dead.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s what Kramer said. It was them, wasn’t it? It was those things.’

  Araman nodded, fear flowing like blood behind his eyes.

  ‘I knew it.’

  ‘Did you get my message?’ he asked.

  ‘Some of it. I came as fast as I could.’

  ‘What were you doing all this time, Antal?’

  Justus averted his gaze. ‘Lesper told me he needed participants . . . for Section Six . . . test subjects . . . easy strays . . . said he knew the best place to retrieve them—’

  ‘You mean snatch them!’

  Justus nodded, still avoiding eye contact. ‘I didn’t ask what they were for, though I could guess. I was a coward. I was wrong.’ He hung his head at the disgust upon his friend’s face. ‘But I’m not going along with it anymore. Araman, we have to stop him.’

  ‘I know, my friend. We will. But I’m afraid there’s graver news.’ He checked down the corridor for anyone or anything, and then spoke quietly. ‘After those things escaped and attacked us,’ he said, ‘we sealed off certain por
tions of the base as best we could, mostly the lower areas on both sides, closest to Section Six and the two entrances to the Black Labyrinth.’

  ‘Did it work?’

  ‘I wish it had. Only the beasts, they didn’t act as Kramer said they would. Killed a great part of the base-crew to begin with, then disappeared into the Black Labyrinth. The one place we can’t follow them down.

  ‘At first we thought that was it. But that night they came back. And they kept coming back. Every night they’d return, and every night they’d take more of us. And there was nothing we could do to stop them. They terrify me, Antal . . . they scare me more than anything ever has. They’re unnatural, filled with an evil. We . . . We lay still and prayed they wouldn’t take us. We did not put up a fight. Cold hissing and the stale stench of death, c . . . clawing hands reaching for us . . . in the dark. Eventually Kramer decided that we’d start choosing who the creatures could take.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Yes . . . he said that the oldest would go first, the men and the workers of little value. He would not allow any of the soldiers to be sacrificed. Said that they were needed in case the beasts ever came for all of us.’

  ‘And I assume the brave professor never at one point put himself up for martyr?’

  ‘Of course not. But then, neither did I.’ The young man fought the tear in his eye, and sighed lengthily.

  Justus placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘You did well, Araman. If it wasn’t for your message we wouldn’t have a ship to escape on at all. Everyone would be trapped here.’

  Araman winced. ‘That’s the thing, Antal. Kramer doesn’t plan on letting everyone go.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Avéne’s been working closely with him, helping him. According to her he plans on using the people you brought back as one single mass sacrifice so that a “selected few” can leave on the Chaos.’

  ‘He can’t do that!’

  ‘He can do whatever he wants. Everyone listens to him. I told him what he was doing was absurd, and he’s not spoken to me since. He’s been watching me. Doesn’t trust me. That’s why I had to speak to you first, without him knowing.’

  Justus peered around the nearest corner, though it didn’t appear anyone else was there. He moved close to Araman. ‘The soldiers are loyal to Kramer. We can’t take him on in front of them. Is Ketrass trustworthy?’

  ‘I don’t know. Private Riess is, I think.’

  ‘Well we need to do something quick. Any ideas?’

  ‘Well,’ Araman said, ‘it’s risky, but—’

  SLAM! An open door struck the wall and voices echoed down the dark corridor. Another door veered open and along marched three armed soldiers; behind them trudged the bound and exhausted prisoners. Kramer was with them, and Ketrass beside. Justus watched Anna as she walked near the front of the shaking group. She looked to him, not with the fire and passion and strength, but with tears, terror, and despair. The blond captain shuffled along behind. But Anna’s sister wasn’t with her.

  The line of prisoners continued past but Kramer stopped beside Justus. The Captain turned to see that Araman had slipped away; the Professor hadn’t seen him. ‘The captives are to be taken down the elevator in Section Two and then left at the bottom,’ Kramer said as they followed the marching rows through the dock. ‘The elevator will then be destroyed and the shaft blocked indefinitely. Is that a problem, Captain?’

  ‘Professor,’ Justus said, ‘we seem to be missing one of the captives. Where’s the young blonde girl?’

  ‘How perceptive of you, Captain.’ Kramer smirked. ‘Got an eye for the younger ones, I see.’

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘You needn’t worry. The young girl will be kept with us.’

  ‘But sir, for what? Is that—’

  ‘Enough, Captain. Is it a problem or not?’

  Justus looked across the bay and spotted Araman and Ketrass standing nearby. Araman nodded once. This was his chance. Cut Kramer down and then talk your way out. It normally works. If not, free as many prisoners as you can. Nothing lost. Now was as good a time as any. Lowering his head and taking one long, deep breath, Justus lifted from his belt his advanced coilbolt. Igniting it he swerved towards the Professor—

  —but at once a burning pain shot through his arm. The coil fell to the ground. He looked at Kramer, who continued to clutch the knife he’d sunk through Justus’ left arm. Struck by the sudden shock of it he cringed in blinding pain and fell to his knees. Kramer withdrew the blade in one burning slice and cracked Justus over the head with the blunt tip. A dull pain filled his head. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t process what had just happened.

  ‘There’s nothing I hate more than conspirators,’ Kramer said. The group had stopped moving, engineers listening nearby, the soldiers’ rifles primed, and Araman and Ketrass rushed over. ‘Men who say one thing and do another. I may be deemed unfair, but I rarely deceive.’

  ‘No,’ Justus replied through gritted teeth, gripping his leaking limb as a sudden numbness came over him. ‘You just prefer to deceive yourself!’

  Kramer leaned forward and gripped the Captain’s hair to pull him close. Blood trickled from his arm and down his black uniform. ‘It’s over, Iástron,’ he said. ‘I know who you are.’

  He breathed deeply, panting. ‘Who am I?’

  ‘Just as we thought,’ Kramer whispered. ‘A child you once were, lonely and clouded, mistaken and ignored. You don’t know yourself, do you? You poor creature. You sicken me.’ He raised the knife edge. ‘Oh, Peter Marx, you should never have run away.’ He made to plunge it down—

  ‘No!’ Araman threw himself in the way. ‘You can’t!’

  ‘And why’s that, Alwar?’ Kramer retorted, standing.

  ‘Because . . . well . . . best not to spill his blood in here. The beasts can sense it, can they not? It wouldn’t do to bring them back now we’re ready to leave, surely.’

  Kramer tapped his face covering twice. ‘That’s true. And you suggest?’

  ‘S . . . Send him in with the others. Sacrifice him as well.’

  Ketrass advanced to his side. ‘I agree,’ she said. ‘Better than killing him here, in front of everyone.’ She gestured to the Chaos’ engineers, who had stopped to watch the commotion. Justus watched the two collaborators. They’d betrayed him. Ketrass looked away but Araman stared him in the eye. He shook his head; they’d betrayed him.

  ‘Very good,’ Kramer said. ‘Lieutenant! Take them all down now; the Captain as well.’

  The lieutenant and a group of soldiers sauntered over. ‘Right away, Professor.’

  Justus didn’t fight as three of his own soldiers dragged him through the dock and into Section Two. The first elevator was right ahead. The initial group of fifteen was quickly sent down, followed by a further two groups, while the rest waited above. Justus caught sight of Anna watching him silently. Whoever she was no longer mattered. It was over. As the elevator returned with two soldiers stood inside, the rest of the captives—which now included the man once captain of the station—were pushed within. The third and final tribute.

  ‘Wait!’ called a voice down the tunnel. Justus twisted, hopeful of a last minute rescue, though what he saw was an out-of-breath Araman charging towards them.

  ‘What is it?’ said one of the soldiers. ‘I hope you’re here with good reason!’

  ‘The best,’ Araman said. ‘Professor Kramer sends his regards to the former captain of Erebus.’ He held up Justus’ black overcoat. ‘Apparently it gets a little chilly down there.’ He sniggered and the soldiers laughed and snorted.

  The lieutenant turned to Justus with a smirk. ‘I never liked you, Justus.’ And he threw a punch into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him back into the elevator. Araman hurled the folded up coat at Justus and smiled oddly. Their eyes met. He winked. The elevator hatch slammed closed. Darkness fell.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  THE DRUMS OF war were beating. At the heart of the dark kingdom of
Yux Dishan lay his molten planet. Rivers of orange light flowed across the surface like blood pouring over a stone. Crilshar had marshalled all neighbouring Proximan forces in preparation for battle. Yux Dishan knew his enemy was coming for him. Everyone an all sides knew there was no turning back. One-hundred-thousand men and women were ready for the assault upon Crilshar. Vastly outnumbered, it would be down to skill and fastidious preparation to win victory, though despair swelled and hope grew less and less the closer their confrontation came.

  Captain Ernesta Mendoza swept down the Quasar’s shady blue corridors, alone and making for the general’s private quarter. Three days had passed since their departure from the Retani Peninsula. Ruben had remained silent about his agreement with the Master Retani Gobisla, but he did announce the new alliance, albeit gravely. And so they had leapt toward the edge of Dishan space, ready to rendezvous with the Vons’ forces from Earth. The assault upon Crilshar would be over swiftly, for good or evil.

  She knocked on his door. He allowed her in and she stood by his one-way window, overlooking the barracks below: a great deal of movement and preparation was taking place.

  ‘I expected you’d send for me sooner, General.’

  ‘Ruben, please,’ he answered. ‘I did not call you for your captaincy.’

  ‘Then as what?’

  ‘As my friend.’

  ‘Is that all?’

  His lip trembled. ‘The Alignment has failed, Ernesta.’

  ‘I don’t believe that.’

  ‘The worlds of the Systems lie apart. This Alliance of Four has gathered, but there are not enough to turn any tide.’

  ‘We have the Retanis now. Their forces—’

  ‘Not enough. Crilshar possesses Erebus.’ He looked her in the eye. ‘I will go down there and discover what Erebus is, where it is, and then I will destroy it. The Crilshan database will know. And with it I will find my girls. It’s all linked, Ernesta.’

  ‘Is this really about Erebus . . . about Crilshar?’

  He bowed his head. ‘I miss them. I miss them all.’

  Mendoza had not expected to see her general in a weakened state; especially not now. She reached for his hand and held it in hers, comforting in the only way she knew how. ‘Anna and Gílana are strong,’ she said. ‘Stronger than even you or I.’