CHAPTER 7 - AFTERMATH
“Hey Alpha…?”
I open my eyes. The room is bright with sunlight and a gentle breeze brushes my skin. I sit up on the couch and see Terri in the seat opposite me.
“Terri…I thought…”
I can’t remember what I thought.
“It’s okay Rich. Everything is okay.”
He hasn’t called me that since we were teenagers. There is something about the way he says it that makes me think, about what? I have no idea.
“How long have I been out?”
“The guys are preparing to launch so I thought I should remind you. I know you wouldn’t want to be left behind.”
Suddenly I remember that we are supposed to leave this planet. I look closely at my childhood friend. He looks younger.
“Damn, I forgot. Thanks, let’s go.”
But his eyes keep me unmoving. They are soft. His face is sad but happy. How is this possible?
“I’m sorry Cap, but I’m not flying with you guys this time.”
We look at each other and the strange feeling that passes between us is unnerving.
“Why can’t you go with us?”
He smiles “Good hunting Alpha.”
His voice echoes into the distance. His face becomes a transparent nothing and instantly, the room around me disappears and is replaced by a frozen ground littered with bits and pieces of a MAV…Terri’s MAV.
I open my eyes and feel warm tracks of tears run down my face. The soothing sound of the Mirage’s engines in space flight comes first. Then the sterilized scent of the medical bay and now I see Bull sitting across from me with a semi-automatic in his lap.
I exhale hard and try to free the fixed harness holding me in place.
“Alpha…” Bull rises at my sudden movement “…take it easy Boss.”
Holographic modules remain suspended all over me as I lie on the floating bed, monitoring every vital sign that I produce.
“What happened?”
He sets the gun down and sits beside me. “We lost Terri.”
He says it as though he doesn’t want to believe it. That fist in my gut is back and it’s heavier than before.
“I know. Did I get that sonofabitch?”
“Yeah you got him but he’s not dead.”
I begin to rise but Bull stays me at the shoulder and my head returns to the pillow with a pulsing ache.
“We have him in the brig.”
“That explains the gun.”
“Yeh...” The big Military man seems lost “…You screwed him up good though. I didn’t think we’d find you alive but the Neural told me otherwise.”
“Where are we?”
“…Short docking at Starport Vycen Three and waiting.”
“How long have I been out?”
“About seven hours.”
“…Seven hou…Where’re we going?”
“Rouna…”
“Rouna...?”
“Yeh…got the order from Earth a few hours after the battle. Hawk says that we are to go to Callican and resupply, repair and await further instructions.”
I exhale heavily. I feel my headache subsiding. “Has anyone spoken to the Deepcore pilot?”
“No. The General gave us orders not to interact with the prisoner until on base at Rouna.”
“Well that’s bullshit. We’re gonna interrogate the bastard here and now…” The headache is back “…are you guys with me on this?”
“We were just waiting for you Cap.”
“Then let’s not wait any longer. Deactivate this thing and unhook me.”
********
The walk to the Hold through the very narrow corridors of the Mirage has me feeling as though my legs are not my own. Effects of the jump through hyperspace coupled with the collision. I run through what Bull has told me. Vycen Three is one of four Starports in the Vycen system, six thousand light years from Earth. Rouna is one of two planets here, two of the most beautiful known to mankind. Paradise is what Vycen translates to from the language once spoken by the original inhabitants on these worlds; and they were absolutely right about it.
“Good to see ya Cap…”
Akita is not himself. I pat him on the shoulder.
“I assume that Hound is at the controls?”
“Yeah…”
“Okay let’s get this done…” I walk into the room, head no longer pounding. The serum Bull gave me has acted quickly. I feel almost one hundred percent again.
Our Deepcore prisoner is naked and in a sitting position, strapped to the only chair in the space. Stale vomit paints his mouth, chin, and chest. From his nostrils, a thin line of blood oozes, tracing a path along his body and ending beneath his chair where it pools.
“I take it this man wasn’t inducted after leaving hyperspace?”
Akita looks to Pitbull “I thought you activated it?”
The mock tone is entirely void of amusement and Bull responds.
“…thought you did…”
I approach the sitting pilot and hold my hand toward Akita. He moves toward me as Bull positions himself against the wall behind the seat. I take a vial from him and administer a serum to the groaning man. I hate seeing another human in this state but in this case…I make the exception. We wait a few minutes until the pilot is fully conscious and aware of us and then he stares at the floor.
“Deepcore pilot…” I hold a split second but he does not acknowledge the statement “…under our orders we are to extract information from you using any means necessary and place you dead or alive into the custody of our agents on Rouna…”
Still no response
“…Who are you?”
I signal to Pitbull. The big soldier moves forward, grasps the pilot by the back of his head and forces him to look at me.
“…Easy or hard way, your choice...”
Still no response
“…I’m not in any mood to play games. Who are you?”
I remember Terri and now anger replaces the fist in my gut
“Have it your way. Bring me The Gun.”
Akita leaves the room immediately. I return to the Deepcore man before me.
“You will answer by will or by force. Who are you? Why were you on Keden? Why were you on Solace Five? What are the plans of Deepcore and their interests in Keden?”
The man keeps our eye to eye after Bull releases him and with a concentrated effort, responds
“You don’t scare me. If I told you what I know, you wouldn’t know your right hand from your left.”
The door opens and Akita enters the room again. I turn to the man in the chair. “What do you mean by this?”
No answer.
Akita hands me The Gun and I turn once more toward the chair. The tool in my hand, named simply, The Gun, is a modified handgun that shoots Truezine into the bloodstream. The truth serum, frozen in the form of a very small needle, dissolves once lodged in the body and can kill its host if they are not in the best of health. I point the gun to the neck of the naked man in the chair.
“Do you know what this is..?”
No answer
“…This is Truezine and you know what it does. Now who are you?”
No answer again.
“Did you guys strip his tech?”
Akita steps forward “…Yeah, nothing much…”
He removes two plastic packs from a slot in the counter nearby and hands them to me. In one, is a broken locator and in the other, a pair of Digital Eyes which I take from him.
“Get rid of the locator…”
Terri’s final words echo in my head. My finger squeezes the trigger and the man flinches as the red dot in his neck shows where the serum is now lodged. I watch his eyes as they begin to water and his sudden cry is pitiful. We wait for the drug to take effect. His eyes roll in their sockets. His mouth curves into a playful smile.
I ask again “Who are you?”
The smiling man looks happily at me “I am Captain James Hiram…”
“Why were you on Keden?”
“To remove the obstacle…”
I turn to Akita and he shrug’s in ignorance.
“What obstacle?”
“You…”
“You were sent to Keden to remove me?”
“Yes…”
“Who sent you?”
“The man…”
“Who is the man?”
“The man…”
“Who do you work for?”
“The man…”
I turn again to Akita. “Who the hell is, The Man?” He raises his shoulders and shakes his head.
“What are the intentions of Deepcore on Keden?”
“Protect it…”
“Protect it..? From whom..?”
“The man…”
“This conversation is going nowhere. How could you be protecting it from the man you work for?”
No answer.
“Why were you on Solace Five?”
“To kill you…”
“How did you know I was going to be on Solace Five?”
Silence
“Who ordered you to kill me?”
“The man…”
“Where is The Man?”
No answer
“Where is The Man?”
Still nothing
“What were your orders after killing me?”
“Rendezvous on Keden and lock it down…”
“What do you mean, lock it down?”
The man’s face suddenly contorts. The after effect of the drug is taking over. I need more time “What do you mean, lock it down?”
His smile and bright eyes vanish and is soon replaced by a menacing look. “Keden will fall…”
“What?”
“You stopped me…” His voice is becoming a coarse but loud whisper “…Keden will fall…Earth will fall.”
“Why will Keden and Earth fall..? How…?” I immediately think of Mirana.
The pilot’s eyes roll into the back of his head and I shake him back to consciousness.
“We will lock down Keden. Take the Cyclones. No one can match them.” He’s rambling now.
“What are the Cyclones?”
“You destroyed mine…”
“He’s talking about his Mecha.” Akita cuts in.
I turn back to the dying man “There are more like it?”
“Ten…”
This is not good. One was hell but nine more? “Where are they?”
“Keden…”
“When is Keden going to be locked down?”
“Keden is…locked…d…d…d…” And with that, the man spasms and froths at the mouth as what’s left of his life leaves him in a shallow breath of foul air.
My mind is in hyper drive. I pocket the Digital Eyes and force myself to turn and walk away.
“Store him and let’s get to Rouna.”
This simple search and destroy mission has just become something else. Who is, The Man? Why did he send these men to Keden to get rid of us or was it just me? How did they know we would follow them to Solace Five? What the hell is going on?
I leave the room and stumble through the corridor to the narrow ladder leading into the cockpit. If Keden is locked down, how are we to get back undetected? Mirana…is she okay…is she alive?
“Terr…Hound…” The reality is numbing. Terrier is not coming back. There are so many emotions running wild and unbound through me that I don’t know how to feel. But I must keep it together. This is bigger than me or Terri right now.
“Yes Alpha..?”
“…get us to Rouna.”