Broken Mirror: Apophis 2029 (33 page)

  "One cannot simply disconnect that many Terawatts of energy," Cypher explained, "for one, you would not be able to disengage it from the primary conduit, and the recoil of separation would cause an electrical chain reaction.  Believe me, this would be much simpler if we were able to shut down the hydrogen generators at their source ...but that is not an option," he offered with a condescending tone.

  A lighted bar ran through the wire frame graph on the screen, mapping our way.  Unfortunately, due to the new time limit, Cypher had to recalculate a last minute detour to get us there before the time elapsed.  This new route took us through a portion of the crumbing construction platforms.  The way was dark and we really did not want to risk such a hazardous course.

  When the elevator doors opened on the bay level, we decided to split up, giving us two chances to make the target on time.  Tasha and Ava could move faster, so they would go the long way.  They took the briefest of moments to memorize the path on my hologram display and took off running.  As Kel's leg left her handicapped, she decided to climb the tallest construction rig near us to help provide cover fire from a vantage point with her sniper rifle.

  Thinking out of the box, I had wondered why Cypher didn't just open the launch bay doors and let the sunlight in so we could have better visibility.  As it turned out, there were certain steps in protocol, which needed to be tripped in sequence before that could happen.  The bay doors would not open without the ship prepped for launch, and that tier wouldn't initiate until the vehicle was fully fueled; and of course, we couldn't fuel the energy coils until the electrical matrix was realigned.

  The timer on my fancy wrist radio showed we had less than ten minutes left.  Thorn and I made for the detour while Kel scrambled up the nearest platform crane.  Weepers in the bottom level began to stir, and we heard their growls and errant shrieks echoing from the dark shadows.  My heart started pounding and I began to wonder if this whole endeavor had been a huge mistake.

  The floor level had a mixed stench of rusting steel and ozone.  To make matters worse, a light mist clung to the floor, hampering our vision.  After crawling on our bellies under a pair of pressure tanks, we scurried up a building crane and made a risky jump to a construction platform, which creaked and swayed precariously as we landed upon it.  We could tell that the weepers in this section had caught our scent when their glowing eyes, which reflected in the floodlights, slowly turned our way from the darkness of the shadows. 

  Strapping our rifles to our backs, we had to make a jump for an exposed undercarriage and swung across like a treacherous set of child's monkey bars.

  "You've got to be fucking kidding me," I breathed aloud as Thorn took the lead. 

  Below us a group of infected began to swarm, reaching out for us as they growled from gloom below.  That was incentive not to slip, which I did more than once on the slick rusted steel.  This course took a bit more athletic tone of a marathon runner, which I was not; and I wasn't accustomed to such demanding acrobatics.  Thorn caught me on the far side as we landed on a turnstile that left us just out of reach of the ground. 

  I had to glance at the holo-screen once again to figure where we were supposed to head next.  For lack of any buttons on the wristband, I waved my hand through the hologram in desperation to reach Cypher.

  "Hey!" I pleaded towards the communicator, trying not to excite the weepers weaving through the maze of machinery towards us, "Are you there?  Where do we go now?" I pleaded as Thorn and I could not make sense of the new route etched on the small screen.  From here, we could see the central bay and the secondary ship, which was secured by a thick restraining clamp.  Close by sat a raised hub with several wires and cables that snaked away in various directions off the platform, one of which led to the rear of the shuttle.

  "Give me a moment," Cypher answered in return.  Just then, a huge mechanical arm from a nearby crane swung around at disturbing speed and landed with a thud at the edge of the turnstile to act as our bridge to the launch platform.  It was difficult to climb up its enormous curved claw, and even more so across its structural arm to the far end where another similar crane moved as its immense servos whined while reached out to connect our path midair, to keep us out of reach of the weepers swarming below.

  Not far away, Ava and Tasha were making a sprint for the conduit on their own path.  Tasha took the front lead with a set of double pistols, gunning down weepers to clear the way as they both bolted ahead.  These poor souls were still wearing the tattered remains of their uniforms, some in jumpsuits or stained lab coats of their former station.  There were still hundreds of infected lingering here, many of them huddled in dark corners and shambling aimlessly about; on these, they didn't waste their limited ammunition. 

  The green spotlights made their eerie glowing eyes of the weepers appear even more sinister.  It made me wonder if even a small piece of their minds lamented, knowing that they had become victims by their own hand.  Rifle shots cracked the still air, as Kel took snipe shots at stray weepers from her nested position far above; helping to clear a safe path for us.  With the timer now under five minutes, we had to dash for the conduit. 

  Dropping hard onto narrow ledges of the robotic crane, we found ourselves on the far edge of the tarmac.  Cypher's alternate route had not given consideration for any delays, such as the dozen looming figures that had crawled up upon the launch pad before us, blocking our way.  Shots rang out, but at this distance, more of Kel's strikes missed as bullets ricocheted off the concrete deck.  Around us, we heard the low whir of enormous winding servos.

  Giant metal arms reached out to pluck the weepers up one by one as huge robotic pincers snapped at the infected creatures.  We dodged their swooping arms while hoping that Cypher had a finer control of these hulking automations than it currently appeared.  After almost been crushed by the cranes more than once, we dared to skirt the outer edge as we took potshots at any weeper that tried to grasp at our legs as we ran by the ledge.  Those ghouls who had
scaled the upper platform led chase behind us as we made our way to our target.

  Out of breath, I turned to see weepers being flung high into the air by the wildly swinging arms of the crane, which were inherently slow and lacked the subtle dexterity for picking off their moving prey.  Even so, they were deadly allies when they found their mark.  Infected blood sprayed across the deck whenever a weeper was squashed to a pulp by an automaton clamp or had its body severed, as the lower half kept walking a few awkward steps before collapsing.  The launch platform had been transformed into a horror gallery of death.

  We made it to the conduit with only a minute to spare and took cover behind the hub, shooting down any weeper that escaped Kel's sniper rounds or the reach of the construction claws under Cypher's control.  Tasha and her friend were gaining ground on us when the clock finally ticked to zero.  With that, the power in the entire bay flickered, with only the red emergency beacons of the upper conveyer belt tram left shining into the bay.  With a dying hum, the lights on the conduit itself blinked out as the power draw terminated and the system began its reboot.  Thorn and I looked at one another and dropped our guns to the floor as we took our positions on either side of the power hub; we only had a few moments to do what needed to be done.

  Square in the center of the exposed hub was a manual reset switch.  Around the edge of the platform, Tasha and Ava were making their approach through the stray weepers being drawn by the sound of their gunfire.  Thorn manually uncoupled the feed marked for the Development Lab while I traced the line to the ship and connected it in its place.  We stood there in silence wondering what to do next while the crane arms locked in frozen silence without power as more of the infected began to creep upon our position.  Cypher popped up again on the holo-screen on my arm to give us additional instructions.

  "Caitlin, as the power begins to cycle back on, you will need to activate the reset switch on the center column," he advised, "you must only do so while it is within the shown safety range of the meter before it reaches maximum load."

  Thorn suddenly snatched up his gun off the floor and brought his rifle to bear to cut down the few weepers that made it through the forest of giant robotic arms, which had now slowly began to regain power while I was busy attended the switch.  I noted the series of colored lights were aligned in the hardwired system when I grabbed the thick handle
with both hands to push it into place when the levels hit the green bar of the meter.  It was difficult pulling it back into activation when I met resistance, and grunted with the effort as I pulled with all my weight.  To our relief, it snapped into place just before exceeding the green bar.

  Energy snaked through the cable to the ship as white dots of light appeared upon its outer housing.  A set of flood lamps appeared below the ships underbelly as the giant clamp that held it slowly transferred the shuttle vehicle into the center of the tarmac.

  "T-minus twenty minutes until launch.  Secure all cargo," a computerized voice echoed through the bay.  Thorn and I looked at one another in disbelief, suddenly realizing that bastard, Cypher, had shortchanged us on time yet again.

  The noise blaring from the speakers roused every weeper in the structure as we heard moans and shrieks arise from the surrounding walls of the launch bay.  The battling arms of the robotic cranes ceased shortly thereafter, leaving us to fend for ourselves.  Shots continued to ring out as Kel attempted to compensate for the sudden lack of backup support the cranes had provided.  Tasha and Ava were finally able to make their way to the top of the pad moments, mere moments after we had finished resetting the power coupling.

  With a jolt, a distant crane arm extended from the walkway along the wall support above us, and swung out to breach the tip of the tarmac as it extended.  This was unexpected, but we had failed to anticipate how Cypher planned to make it down from his glass penthouse on the top floor to the dock of the ship.  We kept cover fire as the expanding deck took its sweet time progressing to bridge the gap between us. 

  We were expecting that Cypher had picked up Serena and the child on route as he had promised, but we were distressed to see Beatrice standing alone before us when the bridge gate door cycled open before us.  She had an irritated look fuming in her eyes, as if she was about to lose her temper.  This was a confrontation we had readily expected at some point, but weren't quite ready to address at this very moment.  Luckily, we still had our firearms to keep the old woman in line.

  A strange noise behind us made us all turn in unison when a hum of gears rotated up a single glowing cylinder from the center of the bay floor.  It twisted once, and a smaller robot arm unfolded from the tarmac floor and promptly placed the illuminated rod into a secured hold within the ship. 

  "What the hell was that?" Tasha inquired, taking a moment to catch her breath between taking shots and any stray weeper that came within range.

  "That was the primary sample!" Betty snapped in disbelief as she hastily unfurled her sleeve to expose an odd glass wristband identical to the one I was wearing.  Her eyes lifted to mine in bleak astonishment when she saw the one strapped to my wrist.  It was then that we looked at one another and realized that Cypher had been playing us both.

  "That bastard," I fumed under my breath, though loud enough for everyone to hear.  Regardless, the irony of it took but a moment to set in, "...what did he promise you?" I demanded to Betty, as Thorn turned his rifle in her direction.

  "Why is the power to my lab shut down?" she barked back with twice the antagonism I could muster.  With a glance to the conduit, it took her a minute to piece together that the coupling beside the hub that fed the Laboratory had been disengaged. 

  "Well, that idiot still needs to get to his ship," Thorn noted the obvious, and that we would be there to stop him.  It didn't seem like the smartest of all tactics, to betray the both of us and without having clear access to the shuttle after the fact. 

  "T-minus twelve minutes till launch.  Cargo is secured.  All unessential personnel are to clear the area," the computer voice echoed through the dome.  We passed a glare at one another in defiance, 'like hell we are.'

  "Why would he put that fragment sample on the ship?" Ava demanded in confusion to what had just transpired.

  "He plans to use it for himself," Tasha finished, having connected the dots of the ruse. 

  "Cypher had the sample cleansed and verified for the DNA strain before it was resealed in a containment cylinder and ejected for transfer to that ship," Beatrice related as she pointed at the shuttle.  Looking upwards, we noticed that the steel walkway which had led directly to the processing chamber where we had left Betty, had doubled as a personnel ramp down to the launch pad.

  "So, where is this fucktard so we can have a word with him?"  Ava offered with a snarky glare, as she turned to take another crack shot, blowing a large hole in the head of a weeper that had clambered up onto the deck just a few yards away.  The countdown voice echoed yet again as the green spotlights at ground level turned red while a series of blue rotating strobe lights that lined the top edge of the bay blinked on.

  "T-minus ten minutes until launch.  All personnel are to report to their assigned stations," echoed from above.  With that, there was an unnerving moment when the entire building creaked as the interlocking bolts on the silo hatch began to cycle, releasing their pins.  With a horrible grinding wrench, the enormous bay doors dropped and began to slide open.  Sunlight washed in like heavenly light, blinding us and weepers alike as it cut into the dark chamber.  A shrill scream arose from the ghouls that were sensitive to the bright light having lived in consuming darkness for so long.  Many cowered quickly and slunk away into whatever protective shadow they could find.

  Thought the sunlight was a welcoming sight, it came at a price.  The top of the bay doors had not been cleared for the pre-launch, but had been peppered with stray military vehicles, which had been left abandoned during the firefight during the incursion all those years ago.  Trucks and jeeps and oil barrels came tumbling several stories down, smashing into machinery, platforms and equipment.  Weepers shrieked as they were crushed under tons of steel, spraying their infected organs and blood across the scaffolding.  Floodlights exploded upon impact and ruptured tanks caught fire, and thick clouds of soot bloomed with flames rose into the misty morning light.

  The percussion shook the launch pad as the shuttle swayed within the iron clamps.  For a brief moment, the construction cranes had frozen in place; this led us to assume that Cypher was no longer at the controls in his glass box but on his way down to the ship.  From the causeway were Beatrice had arrived, we heard Serena yelling, limping towards us in exhaustion, a look of despair shrouding her face.  We could barely make out what she was shouting over the noise of bursting pipes and crashing equipment raining upon us; "The boy, he has the boy..."

  While she was stumbling halfway along the catwalk, we peered up just as a large shadow momentarily blocked the glare of sunlight while the bay doors above opened ever wider.  A large tanker truck had tipped over the edge directly above her position, the supporting flooring beneath it now removed.  At first, the engine carriage dangled and swayed precariously as we called out to Serena who was unable to hear us over the grinding metal and noise.  In desperation, I dropped my gun to run to her aid, seeing the danger looming above. 

  A strong arm yanked me back.  I turned to see Thorn had grabbed my shoulder to stop me.  My blue eyes looked into his, colored with confusion.  The feeling of betrayal melted into dread that felt like my blood in my veins had turned to lead.  Time seemed to slow as the tanker slipped over the edge with a shriek of metal and crushed the walkway were Serena had stood.  After the impact, there was nothing left but smoke and twisted metal where she had been, the center of the bridge had buckled into a tangle of scrap steel and roaring flames. 

  Thorn clung onto my shoulder as tears welled in my eyes.  She was gone. Serena had been alone on the bridge, yelling something about the child.  Had he died too?

  Upon the tarmac floor, a central ring in front of the ship lit up, expanding like a capsule from a shell layered within.  In a flurry of thick steam, Cypher stepped out of the luminous tube.  We should have guessed that the executive floor would have its own private elevator passage to the launch floor.  He took a step to one side, dragging the small boy out in front of him by the scruff of his ragged collar, with a gun in his other hand pointed to the child's head.

  "Stay back, and he won't get hurt," Cypher warned as he tapped an electronic pad strapped to his cuff.  When he did so the giant robotic cranes once again came to attention, their enormous claws poised threateningly as
Cypher inched his way towards the shuttle door before him.

  Even now, Cypher's germaphobe fears were apparent as he shuffled warily towards the boarding hatch while wearing a clumsy biohazard suit.  A shot rang out from across the bay as the report struck the ship’s hull next to his head.  Shocked by how close the sniper round had been, Cypher lost composure and turned towards the direction where the shot had come from.  He immediately eyed Kel who was steadying herself for another shot; cursing herself under her breath for having missed her first crack at him through the smoke and shadows of busted steel from across the bay.

  With the touch of a button on his wrist, a robotic arm obeyed his command and twisted with haunting stealth towards Kel, snapping its giant claws at her angrily as its finite grasp was but a few yards out of reach.  With a growl, Cypher tapped again at the controller on his wrist as the crane arm reacted and snatched a nearby pressure tank in its claws, ripping it up from its bolts.  In one smooth motion, it launched the canister towards Kel who was perched precariously up in her snipers nest on top of the construction platform.  She raised her arms defensively in vain, as if that would save her; only to breathe a sigh of relief as the heavy tank fell short.

  It was a grim moment of tension as the pressure tank slammed into the ground at the base of the platform.  With a hiss, it exploded.  The percussion blew Kel high into the air and down onto the jagged supports, skewering her through.  Her first breath was a cough of blood as she struggled to get to her feet. 

  Looking down, she touched the restraints of twisted metal spikes that had pierced through her body, gripping them in disbelief.  Her eyes glazed over as she looked up through the black smoke that wisped gently into the cloudy sky above.  The bay doors snapped and locked into place as the computer came over the speaker system and a siren horn signaled.

  "T-minus five minutes until launch.  Bay doors are clear for lift off.  Shuttle gate will lock in two minutes," its warning hail rang through the thick air. 

  Ava didn't waste the opportunity to raise her weapon while Cypher was distracted controlling the crane arm during his assault on Kel.  Dropping to one knee, she brought up the scope of her rifle to be sure of her shot and not harm the child.  Adjusting to aim high, she had his head in her crosshairs when she felt something suddenly yank her feet out from underneath her from behind, and she landed hard on her face.  Nose bloodied, she reached for her rifle that lay on the bay floor, now just inches beyond her grasp.

  Tasha turned to see her friend lying flat on her stomach and in the claws of a raging weeper that was dragging her backwards off the platform edge.  She dropped one pistol to grab Ava's hand, straining to hold her back as the infected creature growled in defiance.  Thorn and I turned to see what had happened. and Thorn lunged for Tasha to anchor her from being pulled over the threshold and into the grasping arms of several weepers that had seized Ava's legs.  I was torn, not knowing what to do; caught in the middle of having to choose to save the boy or my friends?

  Beatrice had no ethical margins to weigh her down, and snatched up my rifle which I had discarded just before Thorn had held me fast during my futile attempt to save Serena.  All too eager to exact her revenge, the old woman barely bothered to take aim.  Having never fired a rifle, she pulled the trigger and lurched back, knocked off balance by the recoil.  The shot passed inches from the little boy’s face, grazing Cypher's wrist and the electronic band he wore.

  She regained her poise again to pull the trigger, just as Cypher turned towards her, his eyes grew wide in fear from behind the faceplate of his protective suit; now fogged by the moisture of his nervous breath.  His grip loosened on the child who jerked himself free from his grasp and dove into the protection of the open hatch of the shuttle.  A sour
'click'
met Betty's ears as she squeezed the trigger again and again, while a grimace fell across her lips as she realize it was out of ammo.  Glancing down at the punctured suit and his own hot blood dripping to the tarmac floor, Cypher dissolved into hysterics.

  He was just as quickly silenced by a rifle butt to the side of the head that cracked open his faceplate and popped it from its bindings.  Beatrice was on him like a wildcat as he fell back onto the hard floor while she ripped the hood from his bio suit; screaming like a banshee.  Cypher was in a frenzy as he tried to fend her off, but was no match for her unbridled fury.  He shrieked and wailed at her to stop.  In her rage, she reached out to grasp a dismembered arm from a weeper lying within reach that had been flung there from and encounter with a robotic crane; and she began to mercilessly beat him in the face with its stump, dark blood mashing everywhere.

  I was so aghast at her savage attack and that she would risk infecting herself without restraint.  It was without merit, I agreed that Cypher got what he deserved; but I was still stunned by the method of his punishment.  I rushed past her as she was beating our host senseless, and dove into the ship to find the child.  Seconds dragged on as I searched for the boy within the cramped vessel.

  The carnage outside seemed muffled and distant from within the confines of the insulated shuttle.  Wiggling past a bulkhead, I finally found a pair of small feet tucked within a cramped compartment.  I leaned over and looked into the boy’s eyes the very first time, which were a vibrant mixture of grey and green.  They were large and glassy, and I read a great deal of his past within them in that still moment.

  "We have to go, we can't stay here..." I started to comfort him, but still apprehensive to force him from his hiding spot.  He just looked back at me in confusion, as if to ask 'where else can we possibly go?'  His apprehension caught me off guard.  The initial plan was to depart by this shuttle and head for the coast to drop off the three girls, while Thorn and I decided what we were going to do.  The boy had always dreamed about going to go to the stars, which is why he, subconsciously or not, chose to vault into the ship for protection.  We never heard the ringing of the final hail from the loudspeaker outside.