The Last Revolution (40 page)

Primus whipped his head around to Alexander, who shook his head. His eyes urged self-control.

Gabriel focused his sidearm at Alexander. “Now, where is the weapon you’ve been developing?”

“You’ll have to be more specific. I’ve developed a lot of weapons over the years.”

“We know that you’ve brought up massive amounts of resources, supplies, and engine components. Don’t waste my time! Where is it?”

The situation didn’t seem to rattle Alexander. “There’s one thing I haven’t been able to figure out about all of this. The ADNV Testament was destroyed in a nuclear explosion. The size and yield seem to be comparable to the device stolen from the Island a few weeks ago. I’m curious, how did it make it all the way to the lunar colonies?”

“Haven’t you heard? The lunar terrorists are responsible for the attack.” Gabriel said, in a calm yet threatening tone. “Now tell me, where is the weapon you developed?”

“Maybe the colonists are responsible, but they’re not the only ones that would benefit from the destruction of the Testament… and the death of the current Archon.”

Alden could see it in his eyes; Gabriel had lost his cool. He took a step forward and swung the hilt of his gun into Alexander’s face. Blood splattered out across the floor.

“Father!” Kira yelled. She tried to move forward, but there were soldiers on either side of her, and they held her in place.

“Stop wasting time and tell me where to find your weapon!”

Alexander stood back up to full height. He held his hand to his mouth. When he pulled it away, blood was smeared across his chin and finger. “Why would I ever tell you?”

Gabriel waved his sidearm. “Because I’m the one with the gun.”

“That assumes I’m not prepared to die, which I am. However, if this weapon does exist, and you kill me, you’ll never find it. I can’t imagine what your new Archon will do when he learns you’ve lost your only connection to it.”

Gabriel nodded at the men that held Kira. They moved her off to the side.

“Let go of me!” she yelled.

Alexander shot his hands up. “Wait, just calm down!”

“I can assure you, I’m very calm.” Gabriel swung his gun away from Alexander and pointed it at Kira. “Tell me what I want to know, or your daughter will suffer in your place.”

“You have no idea what you want,” Alexander shot back. “This weapon isn’t what you think it is.”

“We’ll be the judge of that. Either way, you will tell us where it is. This resistance is destined to fail. You’ll never fight off three different nations and the Council military. Tell me what I want to know, and we’ll at least let her live.”

“Okay, I’ll cooperate. If you let everyone else go, I’ll take you to the weapon.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “So much talk, what I need is action!” He squeezed the trigger indiscriminately.

Alden couldn’t believe the speed at which Alexander moved. He dove in front of Kira as the weapon went off. Blood splattered across the floor and Alexander landed with a thud.

“Dad!” Kira dropped and grabbed Alexander. She dragged him over. Alden flashed back to the Island, sitting in a puddle of water as he held Father McKinley. Kira let out a desperate cry. Blood splattered across his chest.

“You son of a bitch!” she yelled at Gabriel.

Alden had seen enough; he grabbed Kira and stopped her from attacking Gabriel. “This isn’t the time,” he whispered into her ear, but she just pushed him away.

Primus slammed its weight into one of the guards behind them. It toppled them both over. It yanked at its chains as it attempted to free itself, but Gabriel smacked a small device on its body. The green light inside the robot disappeared and a moment later Primus crumpled to the ground.

“Now, do what I ordered you to do and get it in the ship!” Gabriel told the soldiers. He went back to Alexander and pointed the weapon at Kira once more.

“What are you doing?” Alden demanded. “This isn’t how we do things. She’s innocent.”

Gabriel aimed the barrel at Alden. “Don’t get in my way. She’s as guilty as the rest of them.”

Europa, the Island, Father McKinley, Kira… He was filled with a sense of purpose and conviction he hadn’t felt since the Siberian mission. For all its complexities, it was now the simplest decision he’d ever made.

Alden shot his hand out and nailed Gabriel’s gun. It sailed across the room. Gabriel swung around and landed a similar blow to Alden’s hand and broke the weapon he’d given him minutes earlier.

“Traitor! You defy the Council and take the side of the terrorists!” Gabriel screamed. He swung again and this time connected with Alden’s torso. There was a cracking sound and an overwhelming force that sent him hurtling back several meters.

“Sir! We have to get Khasim to a doctor or he’s going to die,” one of the soldiers said to Gabriel.

“Good, let him bleed to death.”

“I don’t think the Archon will be pleased if we fail to recover the weapon.”

“I don’t care about the weapon!” Gabriel yelled back.

Alden rolled over and looked back at Gabriel. Whatever kinship he’d pretended to show had vanished forever. At that moment, he knew the only thing Gabriel wanted was for him to die.

“Sir!” the soldier cut in once more, defiantly.

“What?” Gabriel reeled around, ready to strike.

The soldier backed off slightly and lowered his voice, “He’ll kill us.”

Alden watched Gabriel struggle with the choice. “Grab them and let’s go!” he snapped.

Several soldiers picked up Alden by the arms. They dragged him towards Gabriel’s ship. Alden used his last strength to pull his legs underneath his body. He jumped into the air. The guards lost their grip. Alden dropped behind them. He landed several successive blows and downed the soldiers. Snatching up one of their sidearms, Alden fired at the remaining soldiers.

Two soldiers attempted to drag Kira to the ship. He vaulted over a piece of machinery and landed a bone-crushing blow into the first soldier, and then another into the opposite one’s stomach. As the soldier doubled over, Alden kicked him as hard as he could. He sailed back into a leg piece for a mech-warrior. His body bent around the metal in an inhuman fashion and then dropped to the ground.

Every soldier returned fire. Alden jerked Kira down behind several large pieces of metal. Bullet fire ricocheted off the walls around them. The last thing he saw was Alexander’s limp body carried into the ship. Alden snatched up one of the dead robot’s assault rifles. He raised the barrel above the cover and started firing.

“I’ll be back for you!” Gabriel yelled as he stepped onto the ship Alden had arrived on.

The moment the door shut behind him, the craft lifted up off the hangar floor. It headed back through the entrance tunnel and disappeared out of sight.

“Is there another craft?” Alden asked Kira desperately. “I swear I’ll get your father back!”

“No, but there is this.” She gestured at one of the large containers next to them. She pressed one of the buttons on the side of it. Agreat hiss of steam escaped from the sides as the cover swung open. Inside was the last of the four zero-gravity suits. It was black with red and gold accents along the torso and arms. “This was my father’s. It was the last one he built and the strongest of the four. It was meant to be worn by the leader of the unit. He’d want you to have it,” she said.

Alden grabbed her arm and pulled her in close. “I promise I’ll bring your father back.”

“I know you will,” she said softly.

“I need you to head to Level Two and take charge. Start the assault. I’ll head there as soon as I can.”

She nodded. “Please bring Primus back with you as well. I can’t tell you how important he is.”

“That giant robot?”

She nodded, kissed him and then ran off into one of the tunnels.

Moments later Alden was inside the gold suit and blasting down the tunnel after Gabriel and Alexander. His body shrank back into the suit as he accelerated faster and faster. The suit moved like no other. He made it up the shaft and out into space at breakneck speed. He pulled back on the thrusters slightly, as he continued to sail forward. It only took a moment to locate the craft rising out of the canyon ahead of him.

He pressed the jets to full speed. As he closed in, he was able to wrap his fingers around an exterior vent and pull himself close. Alden climbed along the exterior hull as the surface quickly faded away beneath them. He needed to slow their progress, or they’d be in outer space before long. If anything happened up here, it would be a struggle to return to the surface before his air ran out.

He turned to the aft engine, raised his arm, and fired one of his rockets. It whizzed out of its launcher and slammed into the motor. There was a great burst of light. The craft dipped and then listed to one side. It slowed under the drag of the damaged engine. He slammed his fists into the glass that protected the pilot. It cracked under the force. Alden put all his energy into the next thrust and crashed his clenched fists through the glass.

The instantaneous change in pressure ripped the pilot out the window and into space. Alden grabbed hold of the frame and pulled himself inside. Without a barrier to space, the artificial gravity engine had stopped functioning inside the cockpit. He floated inside and then flipped the emergency switch. The familiar blue barrier materialized over the exposed cockpit window.

The oxygen rushed back into the newly pressurized cabin along with the artificial gravity. The suit stabilized just as the gravity took over. There was a loud thud as he made contact with the metal floor. To the rear was the pilot’s entrance hatch. Alden pushed out, moving towards the cargo hold in the rear. Sirens sounded, announcing part of the craft had just depressurized—something no one liked to hear in space. Alexander sat slumped across a cot; his face had gone grey. It looked like it was a struggle to keep his eyes open. Gabriel was attempting to pressure information out of him before it was too late.

The heavy footsteps of the suit alerted everyone to his presence. Gabriel looked up at him and smiled. “I knew you’d come.” He turned to the handful of soldiers that had survived the attack and said, “Get him.” They raised their weapons and fired on his position.

Alden flicked his wrist and several assault rifle barrels popped up on either arm. Bullets ricocheted off his suit. He fired in a circle until every soldier dropped to the floor.

Gabriel launched off his back foot and slammed his fist into Alden’s shoulder. Alden let the force push him back slightly and then swung around and landed a kick into Gabriel’s stomach, which sent him back into the other wall.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you die!” Gabriel smacked his hands together and then lunged back at Alden. This time he spun around and threw his full weight into the kick. Alden dropped his head and used his hand to leverage the speed of Gabriel’s kick to duck the attack. He tried to jab up into his body as he sailed over, but Gabriel deflected the follow-up shot and pushed him back.

“Why are you fighting for the Council?” Alden yelled. “We were raised to defend the Three Nations Treaty, not push them into war!”

“Sometimes war is the answer. Humanity will realize that the lunar colonists are the real enemies and they’ll band together to defeat them. In place of a shaky treaty will be a long and lasting peace. Energy rations will be a thing of the past, and we won’t have to deal with their grubby demands. We’ll be able to increase exports back to Earth and ease the resource drain we’ve suffered under for so long.”

Alden stood slightly more erect as he realized what had just been said. “War is the answer?” He couldn’t believe it. “You think a controlled burn is acceptable? Do you listen to yourself? Did you bring the reactor up here…”

“So what if I did? I wasn’t the one who set it off. You can’t trust these people with anything. They’re all murderers.”

The full nature of Gabriel’s deceit was taking shape. The friend he had as a child was gone. All that was left was a twisted and tortured soul. A great pain ran through Alden’s chest as he processed the information. “Father McKinley was killed by the person who stole the particle reactor from the Island.”

“I didn’t want to kill him…”

Alden let out an angry scream along with the pain he’d kept bottled up inside. He lunged into Gabriel and slammed him to the ground.

Gabriel kicked up and flipped Alden off. Jumping to his feet, he grabbed Alden by the side and flung him across the open space and into the wall of the ship. The metal structure bent slightly from the impact of his metal suit. A crack shot across the large window just above the impact zone.

Gabriel rushed at Alden. He swung with everything he had. It took all of Alden’s energy to deflect the punishing blows hurled at him. He threw a kick into Gabriel’s side, but he caught his leg and then swung him away. Alden sailed through the air but was able to regain his balance and land against the other wall.

“I’m going to kill you now,” Gabriel said. “And I’ll enjoy every moment of it. It’s what Mary and Daniel would have wanted—”

“No, they wouldn’t have.” Alden shot back. There was no way this was going to end well. There was only one thing left he could do. “I don’t think they’d agree with this either, but I hope they’ll forgive me.” He raised his wrists and fired a rocket at the wall just behind Gabriel. It blew a massive hole into the side of the ship. Gabriel gave Alden the quickest of glances just before he was sucked out into space.

The oxygen rushed out and the force yanked him towards the exposed hole. Alexander was flipped out of the bed and slammed into the deck. The entire room was being sucked out into space, including the lifeless soldiers on the floor. The ship’s protective defenses sprang into action and a blue barrier appeared over the hole, sealing it off. Alden slammed into the barrier, causing a ripple of energy to cascade over the field.

He pulled himself off the floor and moved towards Alexander’s body. There was blood on the wall. Alexander had drawn something—two interconnected circles, and then, beneath it:
Primus knows.

“Wake up!” Alden shook Alexander. His flattened vital signs appeared at the bottom of the display in his helmet. He was gone. Just one more thing Gabriel had taken from him. Now he’d never know where he really came from or who his father was. How was he going to tell Kira? She’d be heartbroken, so many unanswered questions.