The Lover's Parable Through A Seven World Journey (45 page)

“We’re less than two hundred meters to your location. Whatever you’re going to do, you’d better act fast,” John yelled into the mic.

Nearing Banks’ pick-up point, John could see through the swaying windshield wipers the glowing, neon sign towering ahead of them. The Captain was somewhere inside the main entrance to a large, crystalline structured shopping mall.

“Banks, what’s the situation?”

“Get away from the glass building,” Banks screamed back, his voice hoarse and panicked.

Steering back into the traffic in order to avoid getting too close to Banks’ target, John miscalculated the turn, inadvertently lodging their transporter between two hauler vehicles. Jarred under the strain of the abrupt cessation to their forward motion, he and Sofia sat silent for a moment, gathering their senses. They were locked in the stalled traffic between the towering, rigid bodies of the utility machines, unable to open the side doors and inundated with the shrieking horns and cursing of the drivers outside. Unshackling his restraints, John began kicking at the shattered, filth covered windshield, fighting to create a space from which they could extricate.

As the sheet of glass folded outward, he withdrew his pistol from his holster and unscrewed the suppressor from the barrel. Dropping the metallic tube to the floor, John climbed out the opening into the falling rain, standing upon the hood of the vehicle. Firing sporadically into the air, he sent waves of panic throughout the congested street.

Assisting Sofia out of the window, he hopped down, looking for another vehicle to make their escape in.

“Come on,” he demanded, “We need to find Banks.”

“Where’s he at?” Sofia yelled above the hysteria.

A sudden explosion from the shopping center sent shards of glass and burning debris blasting into the street around them. John forced Sofia to the ground, protecting her with his body.

The environment was heavily polluted with screams and wailing sirens. A black cloud of burning flames of the fire-consumed building was descending upon them. The visibility from their position had devolved to zero among the claustrophobic and chaotic mess. Choking as she inhaled the fumes pouring forth from what was left of the crystalline structure, Sofia gasped for air, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

“John,” Banks called out from the drapes of blackness a few meters away.

“We’re over here,” John shouted back.

Following the sound of John’s voice, Banks worked his way through the ensuing turmoil, ignoring John’s immediate questioning as he emerged from the din.

“Follow me,” he yelled, leading his newly found comrades through the disaster zone and into an alley, a path to another part of the city.

Exiting from between the buildings they found the traffic on the next street gridlocked and frozen. Golden’s citizens were attempting to flee the warzone of the local vicinity. Running up to the first idling machine they could find, John forced the driver out of the transporter at gunpoint. Herding Sofia into the back seat, he kept his aim on the innocent civilian as he climbed in behind
her.

“You need to drive, Banks. I’ll guard the rear,” he said.

Jumping behind the wheel and propping his handheld on the dashboard, the Captain accelerated into the traffic, forcing his way across the road and driving them into the nearest alleyway, leading them further away from the city’s central hub. With the aid of his device, he busied himself with finding the quickest way out of the metropolis.

“So, where are we going?” John yelled from the backseat.

Removing the pistols from his shoulder holsters, Banks threw them onto the back seat, giving John more firepower in case they were to run into trouble.

“Just make sure no one’s following us,” he demanded, flipping his eyes back and forth between the road ahead and his handheld computer’s map. “I’ll figure it out.”

“I want to know where we’re going, Banks. What’s the plan, now?”

Banks continued to ignore John’s request for more information. Bringing them nearer to the surrounding forest outside the city limits was his highest priority. He was not about to compromise his attention answering the Sweeper.

Banks secretive behavior was becoming a nuisance, and John wanted to shoot him there on the spot. But he refrained, not just out of concern for Sofia, but because they would have no way of escaping the cursed planet without him. Sofia, meanwhile, huddled on the floor beside John’s legs. The enclosed area gave her a more secure feeling than seeing the open world around her.

With his concentration on their path, Banks was oblivious as to how close to death he had come. Pulling out of another alleyway and into the slow moving traffic, it looked as if they were finally leaving the entertainment district behind. Comfortably blended into the flow, the black plumes of smoke expanding into the night sky were visible against the reflected city lights on the underside of the mantel of fog that hung over it. As they watched from their slow crawling position a few miles from the scene, bursts of lightning-like, blue flashes appeared throughout the clouds above, followed closely by the descending airships that began landing around the perimeter of Golden.

“They’re here,” Banks mumbled.

“Who’s here?” John yelled.

“We knew this was going to happen, but I didn’t think they had the means to get here so fast,” Banks continued.

Leaning over the front seat, John could see through the front windshield that the military’s air transporters were raining down heavily into the surrounding forests.

“I hope your friends have that airship ready to take us home,” he sneered.

“Central got the data that you sent from the two targets you bagged in the apartment. Our mission isn’t over,” the Captain
said.

“Two? What are you talking about?” John inquired
suspiciously.

“Arlington and Corona. They were two of the three targets that we were sent for. Look, John, we don’t have time to talk right now. The entire city’s going to be crawling with...”

“Wrong answer, Captain. I want to know how Central knew that I eliminated both of them?”

Banks ignored the question, saying, “The new LZ’s located off a rural path that leads deep into the forest, just outside of the city. We…”

“You’re playing games with me. There’s something going on that you’re not telling us.”

Banks wanted to continue to steer clear of the topic, but getting the Sweeper upset at such a desperate time was not a good idea, and he knew it. They were so close to making their escape, but the Security was just minutes away. After carefully considering his words, he confided to John for the sake of the mission.

“They believe you’ve supplied them with the data they needed: they’ve located the
Top
Man
.”

“
The
Top Man?” John said throwing his hands in the air and sitting back against the seat. “I thought the three targets were the
top
men.”

“They never were. They’re just pawns taking orders from the guy above them. Our new orders are to…”

“
Our
new orders?” John interrupted. “Who
are
the real pawns in this game?”

Banks had no time to explain. He could see that they were heading towards the flashing lights of the initial stages of a military blockade at the end of their road, perhaps four to five hundred meters ahead. With only moments to react before there were no more options for escape from the city streets, he attempted to swerve into the last visible alleyway, but unwittingly embedded the front end of their vehicle into the transporter beside them. The driver of the transporter, cursing and waiving his fist, immediately laid his hands on his horn, bringing the attention of the military agents upon them.

Banks seemed oblivious to the damage he had caused. Metal twisted and stretched apart as he backed the transporter away from the collision, driving away from the scene and into the early stages of a construction zone situated within a warehouse district. The victim of his reckless actions was screaming for help, and the military agents were quick to answer the call. Weaving through the traffic, they were heading towards their direction.

Ignoring the demands shouting through the bullhorns, small arms fire could be heard as Banks continued the retreat into the construction arena. John immediately returned fire, blowing holes through the back window, littering empty, hot shells upon Sofia. As they continued to make their way between the two large, concrete frames ahead of them, Banks stopped the transporter and cut the engine.

“What are you doing?” John roared out.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s all part of the plan.”

“I’m getting tired of your plans, Banks,” John said, pointing the pistol into Banks’ face. “If you’re not getting us out of here, I
will.”

He reached across Sofia, grasping the handle to the rear door.

“John,” Banks called out. “Just wait. It’ll be clear in a moment.”

“You’re a fool,” John said, pinching the microphone on his throat as he kicked open the door and climbed out. “Team Two this is Team Three, how copy?”

“John,” the Captain interrupted.

“Shut up, Banks,” John yelled at him, pointing his finger in the Captain’s face. “Team Two this is Team Three. Do you copy? The LZ is compromised. Repeat: the LZ is compromised. Over.”

The rumbling of the military vehicles was growing steadily more aggressive on the street outside. Removing his sights from Banks, John took cover beside their transporter, readying his pistol for the first agent to turn the corner.

“Team Two, do you copy?” he attempted once more.

“They can’t hear you,” Banks confessed. “Their microphones are off. You need to get inside where it’s safer.”

“Why are their microphones off?” Sofia spoke up.

John opened the front passenger door and climbed inside while keeping an eye on the street behind them.

“What’s going on, old man?” he asked, shoving the barrel of the pistol into Banks’ throat. “Why aren’t they communicating with us?”

“Didn’t Stephen tell you? Don’t you remember, kids? The airships are one-way tickets, at least for most of us. Stephen and Maryanne understood that.”

“You mean, Maryanne’s in danger somewhere in the city?” Sofia cried out. “John, we need to help them!”

“You can’t, young lady,” the Captain interjected.

“You know where they are, Banks. Take us to them, now,” John demanded.

“I can’t do that.”

John fired the pistol beside Banks’ head, shattering the driver’s side window, causing the old man to duck his head.

“I can make it so that you’ll take us to them, Captain,” he whispered, as his commanding officer stared at him under a profusely sweating brow.

“Go ahead, John. Kill me and compromise the entire last leg of the mission. My death won’t solve anything. It’ll just make things harder everywhere else because we’ll have failed to complete the final objective.”

“We’re going to complete it, but we’re doing it with them”

“No we won’t… not with Stephen and Maryanne. They volunteered for this. They have a better understanding of sacrifice than you do. Central anticipated almost everything… only we were supposed to be at the airship by now. We all knew that the military would take the city once we made the hits, but things moved a little faster than we had anticipated… and now some of us need to live to finish the job.”

To Banks’ relief, John removed the pistol’s aim and sat back in the seat.

“We have to help them. We need to get to Mary. Please, John,” Sofia pleaded.

John leaned his head back. There were so many paths to take.

“They’re giving their lives for us, for you. They do not want your help in this matter. Don’t let them die in vain, John.”

Banks took note of the time, shaking his head.

“I know your pain, young lady,” he said to Sofia. “Stephen was my good friend.”

“But can’t we do something to help them?” she sobbed.

Banks continued to shake his head, his eyes welling up with moisture.

John stepped out of the transporter, taking a steady aim down the alley as the voices of the military agents echoed through their bullhorns, demanding an unconditional surrender.

“There’s going to be an explosion that’ll dwarf mine in comparison,” Banks whispered to Sofia. “But we’ll be safe here.”

Weeping for her friend, Sofia could not understand why Maryanne would give her life in such a manner.

“Maryanne, why didn’t you stay with me?” she cried, burying her face in the palms of her hands.

“John, don’t worry about them. In thirty seconds the military will be no threat to us. Come, get inside.”

An agent peered around the wall shining the flashlight from his weapon towards their position. John rapidly fired off several rounds, sending him back behind his cover.

“Twenty seconds, John.”

A metal canister sailed over the buildings, landing halfway between their transporter and the city street.

“Poison,” John yelled, ducking down.

John’s words fell upon Sofia’s ears like the autumn leaves, dead and insignificant. The pain in her heart was too much for her. The world of darkness that forever seemed to exist on Golden was stifling and suffocating. To think that Maryanne was somewhere out there waiting to die on such a terrible planet was a thought that brought more tears to her eyes.

“Please, Savior, don’t let her suffer,” Sofia began to pray.

“Ten Seconds,” the Captain counted down.

As John lay on the cold, wet asphalt, the wall of burning began to rise in his mind. If he was going to die here, he was not going to give the military the satisfaction of eliminating him with one of their bullets. He would rather the poison do its dirty work for them.

Damp and chilly, he returned to his seat inside the vehicle. He knew he should have chosen a place near Sofia, but he did not want to witness the effects of the gas upon her: the bloody cough, the bloody tears. He certainly did not want her to see any of that falling upon him either. He closed the door as the popping of the canister commenced, bringing with it the thickly rising plume of death.