Darwin's Soldiers: Ground One

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

James tried to steel himself as he saw a feverish velociraptor turn the hallway towards him. Without stopping, she whipped him across the face with the backside of her claw. James hit the floor hard, and she pinned him.

“Where are your friends?” she hissed in his face.

“They escaped,” James replied, fighting to keep fear from showing on his face. Her teeth were centimeters from his nose.

She snarled, sending jets of hot air washing over his face. “Who killed Leither?”

“Ken,” James answered truthfully.

“He killed two of my best men,” she growled. “If I ever get wind of him, he dies.”

“Why don’t you kill me in retaliation?” James challenged. “Before he died, Leither mentioned that he saw how I crossed universes. But he died before telling. Unless there’s an experiment in here somewhere that can resurrect dead people…”

The commander growled. She pointed her pistol at James. “Move it. We’re regrouping in the sublevels with the rest of my men.”

“Why?” James asked. “The one question nobody will answer. What are you hoping to accomplish?”

She refused to answer.

When they got there, a buzz of excitement filled the air. The group was much smaller than when they’d started out. Clearly they’d encountered extremely heavy resistance.

“He did it!” one of them said excitedly. “Without the scientist! Halsey has managed to finish the construction, and he’s about to make the connection!”

“Excellent!” Ashley instantly forgot about James and rushed to the front of the congregation.

“Friends!” she announced. “We have toiled hard for this moment! We left our positions on the streets, as the dregs of society, and lived equally harsh lives in the desert! But there, we trained years for this day, at the final moment you executed your jobs perfectly! And now, after so much toil, you will be rewarded!”

As James watched, fabrics of bright blue energy begin to form into a massive portal behind her, lighting up the sublevels around the amazed terrorists.

Even James was astounded. He could easily escape, but he stood rooted to the ground.

It was time. The other world was true. A portal to it stood in front of him.

The terrorists started whooping at the portal’s creation.

“It was a success!” Ashley cheered. “Now, finally, I can go home, and you can all move on to a new life!”

Could it be true? James wondered, standing far behind the others. Could he really be from this other universe?

Could this be the only chance he’ll have to go home?

“Forward! Now!” Ashley yelled, and stepped a single foot through the portal.

Suddenly there was a massive explosion. Fire shot out of the portal, hitting the two huddled soldiers in front of it. James was hit by the shock wave, and tumbled backwards with a cry.

He stopped rolling in the far wall. His coat was blackened and on fire, and he discarded it. Fire was everywhere, flickering blue in the light of the still-open portal.

As he ran for the exit, James saw the blue light disappear from behind him. The portal had delivered death, and closed.

As James escaped the destroyed sublevels, he saw two figures heading his way.

“James!” exclaimed Ender. “We thought she’d bring you here!”

Ken lowered his pistol and caught James as he collapsed. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t really know, I’ll explain later,” he coughed. “The terrorists are dead. We need to get out of the sublevels; fire had broken out.”

“That’s the least of our concern,” Ender said.

Ken held out a new chemsuit he was holding. “Put this on. Quickly!”

James took it. “Why the urgenó“ he asked, before a massive earthquake sent everything shaking. Even as they were knocked to the ground, James noted that the waves seemed to come from the ceiling. It was as if the base had been hit by a meteorite.

Suddenly his skin rippled with screaming pain. He felt like microscopic particles were consuming him from every angle. He cried out.

“Put the suit on!” Ken pleaded, and he and Ender helped fit James into the suit.

Ten seconds later James zipped the suit up and the pain was gone. “Oh god, what was that?” he groaned.

“A bio-bomb,” Ender replied. “One of Crimson’s new inventions. It consumes carbon-based materials like the human body, but nothing else. The ultimate siege weapon.”

“And the only one America could use within its own borders that would wipe out a facility without the town next door finding out,” Ken added.

James looked at the ceiling. “Should we evacuate the base?” he asked.

Ender shook his head. “Not yet. We won’t want to witness what’s happening upstairs.”

So the three men sat in the darkened hallway, the only light coming from the flames on one end, the only sounds coming from the screams echoing down from the other.

(Note: The explosion that claimed Ashley’s life was from the rocket fired here.) (Personally, I think that makes it the longest-running Checkov's Gun in Darwin's Soldiers.)

[Serris]

Wow!

Your signature high octane writing style is still present.

Also, is Halsey is named after you? I ask because of the disclaimer you sent me a long time ago telling that you won't sue me if I use your characters in my novel.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

I used the name Halsey only because I could rearrange the letters around to spell "Ashley," symbolizing the bond the siblings shared in their youth. He's not supoosed to represent or resemble me in any way, I just couldn't think of any other names that did that.

And yeah, you totally can still use them
I can only get internet on my phone these next two days, so I can't update the story, but we've reached the end of Part 1. No more flashbacks from here on out, just James, Neku, and their friends trying to escape Las Vegas.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

After a long wait, it's time for Part 2! The final kink in the story has been worked out, should be able to keep posting regularly until the end.

-------------------------------------------

PART 2

“Clearly the bio-bomb didn’t work out as well as Crimson hoped,’ Ender added dryly at the end of the story. “It didn’t stop at Pelvanida, it kept going. The bomb radius eventually reached Crimson, at least we assume. They wouldn’t answer our hail.”

“You were correct,” said Neku. “We visited there.”

“So nobody else survived?” Snow asked. The story had clearly distressed her.

“Only one poor soul, and then I wouldn’t call it living,” Ken said sadly. “A young dragon experiment who could regenerate. His power kept him alive even when the bio-bomb ate away at his flesh. The perpetual pain drove him insane, and we couldn’t bring him with us, though we tried. He’d only try to kill us.”

“We’re not sure what happened to him,” Ender said. “When we came back a few months later, he was gone. It either finally consumed him, or he escaped somehow.”

“Why’d you go back?” Neku asked.

“After that much time, James and I were able to figure out how to build a force-field that traps the air inside it, and breaks the flesh-eating air down into harmless gases, one of which is oxygen,” Ender explained. “We practiced by getting the supplies to build one in this cellar. That’s why we still have air to breathe after so long.”

“So you returned to Pelvanida and set up a similar field,” Neku reasoned. “But you had to wait for the field to finish ëfiltering’ the air to breathable levels.”

Ender nodded. “Clearly I miscalculated how long it would take, since it was perfectly breathable when your team arrived.”

Snow nodded. Nobody spoke for a while.

Vic suddenly returned. “It’s done. Hawkeye is flyable, if a bit shaky. When we want to fly himó” he broke off, noting the tension in the room.

Finally James spoke again, the first time since telling his story. “In your universe, do you remember a James Zanasiu ever going missing?”

Snow and Neku looked at each other.

“He’s not missing,” Neku said. “Or at least he wasn’t. He was always a respectable scientist at Pelvanida.”

“He was the leader of the away team we were on,” Snow added. “He sacrificed his life to keep the bridge open so the rest of the team could get home safely.”

James was silent.

“So that means…?” Ken asked.

“…that it was indeed an extreme coincidence,” Ender said. “There was a James Zanasiu in both universes, exactly where they were supposed to be. The terrorist commander was wrong.”

“I’m sorry, James,” Snow said.

James didn’t say anything else. He slowly got up and silently excused himself from the room.

“I can’t believe Crimson would ever bomb Pelvanida,” Neku said, missing the emotion of the event that just happened. “How could that be an intelligent move?”

“Crimson knew how badly things would go if the experiments being created were ever to escape the lab,” Ender explained. “We see the problems the velociraptor caused, and her power wasn’t even combat-oriented. Better to kill a labfull of innocent scientists than to risk letting such dangerous experiments infiltrate the rest of America.”

“I don’t know if we were innocent, exactly,” Ken corrected. “But it doesn’t matter now. You have a ship. We can escape the quarantine barracks by simply flying over it.”

“No, we can’t,” Ender said. “The orders were simple: if we kill Tardigan, they’ll let us out. Otherwise they’ll shoot us on sight. They do not want to give him the opportunity to escape.”

“We might be able to do that instead,” said Vic. He took the crimson papers Tardigan had given them and showed them to Ender. “Look. Crimson had been working on a serum that would neutralize experimental powers.”

Ender’s eyes went wide as he scanned the paper. “Perfectly reverse-engineerable. This is brilliant.”

“What?” asked Ken. “I don’t understand.”

“In our universe, powers came from artificial strands of brain proteins,” Vic explained. “The ATP created by these proteins function similar to HeLa cells, in that they release energy endlessly instead of breaking down after the initial reaction. This is why powers don’t run out of energy, their only limit is how tired the experiment gets. There’s always energy to back them up.”

“Okay, I get it,” said Ken, who clearly wasn’t.

“Great. So, like in your universe they made this serum, which completely halts the process by introducing transgenic prions--”

“--Except,” Ender chimed in, “the serum in our universe is different because the experimental powers work oppositely in our universe. Experiments in our universe artificially adapt regular ATP to adapt to preexisting proteins, meaning that the serum from this universe, which is supposed to ëcorrupt’ energy flow, would actually reactivate the powers in an experiment that uses artificial proteins.”

Neku looked at Snow. “You mean…?”

“If we can get into Crimson again, and inject you with this serum, your powers will reactivate,” Vic said. “Your primary ones. Electrokinesis, pyrokinesis. The works.”

Neku grinned. “Excellent. If you guys can get our powers back, we’ll take care of Tardigan.”

Ender nodded. “We’re counting on it.”

“Let’s move out tomorrow,” Ken said. “The sooner I never have to see this wasteland again, the better.”

   *   *   *

James, Ender, and Ken had their own bedrooms, but Ken donated his to Snow and Neku and slept in the main room where Vic was.

Alone with Snow once again, Neku undressed and laid on the bed. “Ready?” he said, smiling.

Snow was glancing at the door. “Not yet, Neku. I actually would like to talk to someone. It won’t take long.”

“Who?”

“It’s nothing important. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Okay. I’ll be awake.”

Snow left the room and knocked on James’ door.

“Come in,” she heard, after a pause.

She tentatively opened the door and walked in. James hadn’t prepared for bed; he stood staring at the wall silently.

“How are you doing?” she asked softly, coming forward.

He didn’t answer right away.

“What was he like?” James finally asked. “The other James?”

“Incredibly brave.” Snow didn’t encroach his personal space, but moved near his side. “Before we went on this mission, we were involved in the terrorist attack in our world, at our Pelvanida. He risked his life over and over for his coworkers, even experiments like me he didn’t know personally. His death was the most heroic of anyone I know.”

James looked pained. He opened his mouth to talk, but Snow continued. “You remind me a lot of him.”

He stopped. “Why?”

“Our James was willing to die for his friends. Everyone on our team owes him their life. You were the same way. In that story you told, you faced down an enraged velociraptor unarmed just so that your friends could escape. You were never willing to leave anybody else behind.”

“Your James led a team against the terrorists. I almost joined them,” he retorted bitterly.

“That’s not true; you fought them to the end. If you hadn’t, you would have been with them when that explosion hit.” Snow stepped forward completely and met his eye. “You may be different people, but I can hardly tell. The only difference I can think of is that our James’ story has ended. You still have one more battle to fight.”

James reflected on this, and something steeled inside him. “You’re right,” he said.

Snow laid a hand on his shoulder. “Are you feeling better?” she asked. Even though she’d achieved her desired response, something seemed off.

“I have a team. I have an enemy. And I have a responsibility to get all of you safely out of this quarantine zone,” James said with resolution.

“We all do,” Snow responded.

James nodded. “You should sleep. There’s not much night left.”

Snow excused herself from the room, but she doubted anyone would get much rest tonight.

[Serris]

I think this is your longest stories written.

I am really, really, really hesitant to say this but your Card of Ten-verse is not my favorite.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

It's certainly different, much more straightforward sci-fi, especially the space travel parts. I just want to tell the stories of every away team member from Card of Ten (because I hate continuity holes), and this one chronicles the final few. The anti-matter universe won't ever be appearing again.

According to my Microsoft Word, this complete story is 3 pages shorter than Card of Ten. (Nuts! ) I have about ten pages left to post.

To make up for this, I make sure to write lots of stories that take place in the main continuity. There'll be a story starring ROSS coming in the near future, hopefully!

-------------------------------------------------

The next morning the team reassembled, gathered all the supplies they needed, and returned to Hawkeye. For worst-case scenario, they brought as much food and other supplies as they could and stored it in the ship’s locker.

“How are we supposed to get to Crimson?” Ken asked. “He’ll be watching the skies.”

“He didn’t shoot us out of the sky the first time,” said Vic.

“Like Ken, I’d prefer a more polished plan as to how we’re getting in,” Ender agreed.

“I could drop you all off and provide a distraction, if necessary,” said Hawkeye.

“Too risky,” said Neku. “You’re our only way out of here.”

“We could land the ship some ways away and hike to Crimson,” suggested Ken.

“Let’s just fly the ship to the base,” said Vic again. “It’s not difficult.”

“Let’s let James decide,” said Snow.

Everyone stopped, and silently agreed. They looked at James.

“There’s always a chance the sky will be booby-trapped,” James finally decided, after deliberation, but the ground almost certainly is. We’ll fly to the base.”

“Continuing course, then,” Hawkeye reported.

They reached the base with no resitance.

“Warning,” Hawkeye alerted. “Single life form approaching our position. He sees us.”

“Should we leave and come back?” asked Ken, gripping his shotgun.

“No,” said James. “He’ll always be ready. He probably guessed we’d try to storm Crimson.”

“Time is more important than ever now,” said Neku. “Let’s move fast.”

Hawkeye docked on the roof and the team disembarked.

“Follow me,” said Vic, scanning the fragments of paper, which he’d laminated at the hideout. “Testing room is near the middle of the base.”

The group stayed on alert. James, Ken, and Ender surrounded the others, shotguns at the ready. But nothing attacked them.

“Tardigan has entered the base,” reported Vic, checking his radio. “Hawkeye can’t see within the base though.”

“He’s trying to scare us,” said Ken, who looked as though it was working. “He’ll strike at any minute,”

They reached the experimental room. Unopened vials revealed clear liquids, and wicked looking tables and machines sat unused.

“Power?” asked Ender.

Vic checked. “Still on. We’re lucky. Anything could have gone wrong after so long without maintenance.”

“Are these safe?” asked Snow, nervously glancing at the operating tables. Hanging from them were thick titanium restraints for every appendage including the tail.

Vic didn’t answer right away. “Ender, please seal off the room.”

Ender nodded and crossed to the first of the entrances.

“This room can be built to withstand almost any force imaginable, since it was made to create experiments we never actually understood,” Vic explained. “I’m going to need both of you out of your radiation suits so I can work on you. Also, I’m sorry, but parts of this procedure will hurt. Normally the experiment is sedated, but we need you awake so you can fight Tardigan before he kills all of us.”

Neku nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Snow didn’t look so sure.

“All locked up,” Ender announced. “Filters running. Clean air in 32 seconds.”

“We’re going to guard from outside,” said James, out of respect for Neku’s and Snow’s decency.

A minute later, Neku and Snow removed their radiation suits and outer clothing. Vic locked them into two of the tables.

“If you push hard enough, you can force the shackles open,” Vic explained. “You’ll need the willpower to stay calm no matter how badly this hurts, since I don’t want you trapped if Tardigan breaks in here. I’m really sorry about this.”

“We understand, Vic,” said Snow. She was shivering, but looked at Neku with an expression of love. “Good luck, Neku.”

Neku was thinking about crushing Tardigan’s skull with telekinesis. “Get started, Vic. we’re ready.”

   *   *   *

Outside, Ken was getting jumpy. “Why hasn’t he done anything yet?” he asked for the third time.

“He’s trying to put us off guard, like you said before,” James replied. “Or he’s trying to gauge what it is we’re up to. Stay focused.”

Ken glanced to Ender. “What are the odds that this experiment-thing will work?”

“I have faith in Dr. Summers as a scientist,” Ender replied. “If he can get the process to work, he will.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“We should start walking routes around the experimental room,” interrupted James. “Spread out so we can still see each other, but cover maximum ground.”

Thirty minutes later, nothing had happened. Despite himself, James had become almost as jumpy as Ken.

“Will both of you calm down?” Ender finally asked, after walking countless circles around the lab. “Neither of you are helping my mental welló“

Suddenly the lights flashed and someone screamed from inside the lab.

One look at Ender’s face told James that this wasn’t part of the procedure. Ken raced to the nearest door but James grabbed him before he hit the button. “Don’t open the door! Snow and Neku aren’t wearing suits!”

Ender was rerouting an intercom system to the ship. “Hawkeye! Patch me through to Vic!”

Vic’s voice came though. “He’s rigged the power source! I gave Neku a simple shock intended to restart his electrokinesis, but instead he was hit with over 5000 volts!”

“Is he all right?”

“No, he’s not all right! Get down to the power grid and get it fixed, I’ve got to stabilize Neku!”

“Let’s go!” Ken clicked his shotgun for emphasis.

The three raced down the hallway.

“Careful!” Ender yelled at a certain junction. His keen eyes picked out thin cracks in the walls and floor. Leaping gingerly onto the unstable surface, he vaulted over with ease as the next ten feet of the floor collapsed into the hallway below.

He stared back at the others. “Can you jump that?”

James and Ken were hesitating. “Not in these suits,” admitted James.

Ken gritted his teeth and made a flying jump, but just came short. Ender grabbed his hand and kept him from falling to the bottom floor until James could scramble down and catch him.

“Keep going!” James called up to Ender. “We’ll rejoin you as soon as we find some stairs or something!”

Ender nodded and disappeared from view.

“James!” Ken warned.

At the end of the hallway stood a massive hulking figure covered in cobbled-together armor.

James fired his shotgun but that only seemed to enrage it into charging them.

Ken kicked down a door and pulled James through just in time. As Tardigan regained his momentum to charge them again, James and Ken burst into the next room.

A sentry turret swiveled to meet them. Ken raised his shot gun but James pushed both of them to the ground. “No, stay down!”

As they slid under the turret, it fired and hit Tardigan as he entered the room. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. Ignoring the turret fire, he walked up to it and crushed it in his fists.

James and Ken sprinted into the next room. Tardigan was bearing down on them.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Ken yelled to James.

James had no idea.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Snow was cradling Neku’s charred body and sobbing. Vic had the lab medkit out and was preparing frantically.

“Snow, excuse me,” he said apologetically, stepping in and applying salve.

“What happened? What did you do?” she cried.

“Something went wrong. He’s not dead for now.” Vic instantly regretted adding those last two words.

Ender’s voice cackled on Vic’s radio. “Dr. Summers. I’ve reached the electrical grid. It was no coincidence that the power was still up in our desired sections. Tardigan was setting us up for this.”

Vic looked down at Neku. “I should have realized that Tardigan might know the contents of the papers I took, and guess our next move. Can you repair the damage?”

“Already done. A second electrical shock and the other necessary fecilities are checked out. I’ll stand by until I get your signal.”

Vic glanced down at Neku. “I have to shock him again,” he explained to Snow. “If done right, it should reactivate his powers and make him immune to electricity.”

Snow was still looking at Neku. “Why does he do this to us? We’ve done nothing wrong to him. We’ve shown him kindness and agreed to his every request. What did we do wrong? What should I have done for him?”

“Snow…” Vic started, trying to mask his impatience.

Her eyes were still teared up. “All right. If he were conscious, he’d say to do it.”

Vic connected the nodes and hit the power.

Neku convulsed as a jolt of blue lightning crackled down his prone form.

“He’s…” Snow put his hand on Neku’s shoulder. “Is he?...”

“He could just be unconscious. He has to recover from the initial shock.” Vic took a deep breath. “We have to move on with the next part of your transformation. Tardigan could attack at any time.”

“What do I have to do?” asked Snow.

“To reactivate your pyrokinesis, you have to subject yourself to a lethal dose of fire, just like Neku did with electricity.” Vic hadn’t planned on telling Snow the part about Neku’s dose being lethal either. He really needed to watch what he said.

“Where are we going to get a lethal dose of fire?” she asked.

“The most important part of any experimental laboratory.” Vic motioned to a large metallic cubicle cutout in the wall, double-reinforced and filled with vertical vents on the side walls.

“The incinerator?” Snow started. “What? What if something goes wrong?”

“Nothing will go wrong,” Vic assured her. “Ender and I are both monitoring the situation. This next step is completely routine.”

“There’s no such thing as routine when you’re reverse-engineering an unpredictable process from the wrong universe!” Snow spat back.

Vic didn’t have anything to counter with, and the two just stared at each other.

Finally, Snow slumped. “Will it hurt?”

“Only for a short while.” Vic was aware of the implications of his statement. “You’ll almost immediately grow immune to fire. Then you’ll be able to control it.”

Snow glanced at the incinerator.

“Snow, we don’t have much time,” Vic urged.

Snow looked one more time at Neku. After bending down and kissing him on the forehead, she conceded, “I’m ready.”

She climbed into the small incinerator. Vic closed the door behind her and hit the button.

Snow screamed.

   *   *   *

James and Ken remained only a couple dozen feet ahead of the charging water bear.

A T-junction approached from up ahead. The left hallway was dark with littered boxes showing through the shadows. The right to see it was clear.

“Don’t go right!” James hissed. “He wants us to go right!”

“I[/i] want us to go right,” groaned Ken, looking at the numerous trip dangers to the left, but led the way into the darkness.

James heard Tardigan falter temporarily. For the first time, James felt he was a step ahead of his adversary.

Then something smashed painfully into his shins, sending stars of pein through his vision. He willed himself to keep moving.

He smashed his shins at least a dozen more times before hobbling out into a lighted section. Ken had already made it through, and waved at him. “James! Get behind me!”

James noted with alarm that Ken had his shotgun pointed at him. “Ken, we can’t kill him withó“

“Just get down!”

James hit the ground as Tardigan burst out of the darkness. Ken fired, and a massive explosion sent Tardigan and the surrounding hallway smashing through the ceiling of the hall below.

“There was a crate labeled as containing Tannerite,” Ken explained, as he helped James to his feet.

James nodded. “We need to move before he gets back up.”

   *   *   *

Vic balked as the walls started shakin, and something massive smashed into the other side of the wall. Then, with a horrible groan, the door was pried open and Tardigan glared into the room.

The water bear’s armor was charred and cracked, but Tardigan himself seemed unharmed. He smiled wickedly and approached.

Drawing his explosive, Vic chucked it at his foe. Tardigan merely caught it and trapped the explosion in his suffocating grasp.

Vic backed up as he drew his pistol. “Even if I can’t harm you, I will do everything in my power to protect my patients!”

Tardigan glanced at Neku’s body, then at the running incinerator. “You’ve done a great job so far.”

He continued to approach Vic, but as soon as he crossed Neku’s table a thunder wave sent him staggering backwards.

Neku floated off the table, his fists crackling with energy. His eyes flushed with rage and determination. “You’re right, Tardigan. He’s done a great job. I’m more powerful than ever before!”

The incinerator door flew off its hinges and crashed intothe opposite wall. Snow emerged, encircled in a whirlwind of flames.

Tardigan ran. He bolted from the room and headed out of the base. Neku flew after him, laughing, with Snow clutching onto his back. Neku kept up a protective barrier to keep them protected from the carnivorous atmosphere.

Tardigan hit the streets, but he didn’t get far when Snow shot a fireball that singed Tardigan’s feet. He tumbled to the ground.

Neku hovered overhead.

“For Kagetora, and for everyone else you’ve killed since turning this ghost city into a death trap, we’re finishing you!”

[Serris]

Man, Snow and Neku are gonna have a hell of a fight on their hands.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

James and Ken emerged into the deeper complexes of Crimson. So far, they’d only found ways to go further down instead of up.

“This area seems too easy to traverse,” Ken said. “Tardigan’s doing something down here.”

James was noticing things too. “The ventilation systems seem repaired. He’s put work into this section.”

“What could he be working on?”

“If we follow the ventilation system, we should find out.”

At the end they found something worse than either of them could have guessed.

“They made more than one bio-bomb?” gasped Ken.

A short cylindrical oval, about the size of a small human, sat in a larger pheumatic tube which was connected to a bunch of pipes. Some of the pipes weren’t originally part of Crimson.

“That’s an even earlier prototype,” James said. “Its problem is that its blast radius was even more unpredictable than the bomb used on Pelvanida. Its particles could spread through the air practically indefinitely, unlike the other’s which stop after reaching a certain distance.”

Ken examined the machine. “Is he hoping to spread the bomb’s effect out of the quarantine zone?”

“Not ëhoping;’ that’s exactly what it will do.”

“How should we stop it? Destroy the pipes?”

“Then the toxic air will get in, and people will still die.”

“Well, what should we do?”

“We need to trap the bomb in something that blocks the gas it’ll give off.”

Ken started searching the room. “Like what?”

He heard a click and looked back. James had locked himself in the glass table with the bomb. He started taking off his chemsuit.

“James, what are you doing?” Ken raced back, but he couldn’t open the door while James had his tube off.

James stuffed the bomb into the suit. “The only way to ensure none of its payload escaped; use something designed to be airtight.”

“James, put your suit back on and let me do it! You’re the scientist, the team needs you more than me. You’re…you’re the leader!”

James shook his head. “I’m glad you think of me as a leader, but the other James Zanasiu sacrificed himself for his team. I won’t let someone die for me.

“Well, neither will I. I’m going to get another protective suit.”

“Tardigan will have removed any from this section anyway. And besides, with the amount of air in here I probably have less than ten minutes to live.” Remembering where the premature detonator was, James set it off. The rush of gas bulged the suit but didn’t puncture. It was done.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Ken started to remove his suit.

“What the hell are you doing?” exclaimed James angrily. “Don’t take your suit off!”

“It’s not my suit, James. It’s yours. You gave it to me in Pelvanida. I’m giving it back.”

“No!” James whacked the glass. “You can’t! This isn’t how it’s supposed to turn out!”

“Too bad.” Ken hung his suit on the handle of the tube’s door. He was already bleeding from every part of his body. Each droplet of blood glistened for a second before vaporizing. He was clearly using all his willpower to mask his pain.

“Goddamit Ken!” James tried to look away, but found he couldn’t. After a few seconds, he knew Ken must be dead, the air had eaten him down to the bone. In a few seconds, nothing remained of his assistant.

   *   *   *

Tardigan staggered to his feet, but Snow blasted him with a wave of fire. His armor crumbled away into charcoal, exposing his vitals.

Neku blasted him backwards with a bolt of lightning. “Don’t have any tricks up your sleeve now, do you?” he gloated.

Tardigan ripped a lamppost out of the ground and brandished it, but Neku ripped it out of his hands telekinetically.

“What was the temperature Vic said water bears could withstand?” Snow asked Neku

“Let’s find out!”

Snow dropped down from Neku and flame-punched Tardigan onto his back. Holding his head back as her fist erupted into blue fire, she glared Tardigan down.

Tardigan waited patiently.

“Kill him!” Neku shouted.

“First, I want to know why he did this to us.” Snow kept Tardigan pinned. “We were so kind to you. Why did you kill our friends and kidnap me and play these mind games?”

Snow squinted her eyes. Neku realized she was opening her mind to Tardigan, hoping to receive something.

Neku grew impatient. Summoning the full strength of his telekinetic power, he mentally warped his hand until it became a razor-sharp point. “I’ve had enough of this; he killed our friends, I’m killing him.”

Snow, who was still listening to Tardigan’s thoughts, gasped and her eyes went wide. She didn’t resist when Neku pushed her aside and drove his hand into Tardigan’s neck.

He pushed it in all the way to the elbow. Blood flowed freely, protected from the atmosphere by Neku’s shield.

Tardigan stiffened and his back arched. For the first time, he seemed low on energy. Neku could feel the life flowing out of him.

Tardigan was trying to speak. Neku leaned in close.

“…Thank…you…” The beast slumped and was still.

Neku withdrew his hand and stood up, confused. He looked at Snow.

“He just wanted to die,” she explained, eyes still wide. “He just wanted to be with his loved ones, but he couldn’t because he’s practically invincible. All these death traps, he built them for himself. And used them on himself.”

“Then why did he keep killing people?” Neku asked.

“He was giving them a gift. The only thing he could never have himself.”

Neku looked at the body. The atmosphere had consumed all of Tardigan’s blood and liquids, but the body remained. The only body in a city full of death.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Ender and Vic sprinted down another hallway.

“James! Ken!” Ender called.

“You have no idea where they could have gone?” Vic asked.

“Tardigan chased them this way, and there were signs of combat back there.”

They eventually emerged into the bomb room, where they found James on his knees in the tube, looking sick.

Ender slipped the hazsuit through the door for him. “James, where’s Ken?”

James shook his head. Ender and Vic traded a glance.

James emerged from the tube, now dressed. “The others?”

“Neku and Snow are fighting Tardigan,” Vic explained. “It’s Hawkeye we’re worried about. He hasn’t replied to our radio messages.”

“We’d better get moving then,” James said, glancing one final time at our empty spot of ground in front of the tube.

They jogged through the complex and returned to the roof to find a seemingly intact shuttle craft. When they entered it, they found it a mess.

Wires were sparking, metal plates and curcuitboards were scattered, and everything was covered in dents.

“Tardigan got to him,” Vic gasped. “Destroyed him.”

“Why didn’t he fly away?” James asked.

“He needed a copilot,” Ender said darkly.

“Is it fixable?” James asked.

Ender and Vic exchanged another look.

Outside, they heard a light thump. Neku had flown over, still holding Snow. He was also holding something large and shriveled

“Do we have a spare set of clothes?” Snow asked, trying to cover herself.

“Not right now, sorry,” Ender apologized, courteously averting his eyes and examining the ship. “Vic I’ll be needing your help.”

“And Neku, we’ll be needing your ability to generate electricity,” Vic said. “It’s the only thing that will be powering the ship.”

Neku nodded.

“What about Hawkeye?” Snow asked, looking worried.

“He may still be alive,” said Ender, but didn’t sound as if he believed it.

“Can we escape the quarantine zone without the shuttle?”

James shook his head. “The walls are high and heavily guarded because of Tardigan. We have to fly out.”

“And we’re not leaving Hawkeye,” Snow added fiercly. “He’s flown us too far to just abandon once he’s crippled.”

“We might not have a choice,” Vic commented. “Neku, come here, I need you to stand near this panel.”

Neku obliged, dropping the shriveled thing.

James examined it and recognized Tardigan’s head. He remembered that they’ll need to prove Tardigan’s death. “I’ll secure this to the top of the ship,” he said, grabbing some strong ropes from their supplies.

Vic and Ender worked on the ship for hours. Once the internal sensors were repaired and they’d determined that the ship was still airtight, Vic gave his hazsuit to Snow for decency. The two mechanics could now work much faster without their bulky suits on.

Throughout most of the ordeal, Snow provided moral support, Neku held on to different wires and provided charge when asked, and James took frequent breaks from securing the head to look at the skyline and think, though nobody had the time to ask him what.

Finally, Vic announced. “Done. The ship is barely flyable. We’ll get one take off, and that’s it.”

“One is all we need,” James answered. “Good thing we’re so close to the border.”

“That head is secure enough to survive a rocky flight?” Ender asked him.

James nodded. “Odysseus couldn’t get out of those ropes.”

Snow glanced at Neku, who was holding certain wires between each finger and providing a steady charge throughout this. He looked exhausted, especially since he had to keep standing. “Are you ready, Neku? Should we let you rest?”

Neku shook his head. “I’m ready, let’s go.”

Vic frowned, and seemed about to object when Ender cut over him. “We’ll need the yellow wires and the middle black one charged at 600 volts, Neku.”

Neku nodded and complied. Vic took pilot seat, Ender took copilot.

The ship shuddered and rose slowly. Unsteadily, it began to chug away from Crimson.

“ETA fifteen minutes,” Ender announced.

Neku’s legs were shaking. Unlike the others, who could sway with the rocking of the ship, he had to hold his ground.

Snow was nervously staying close to him, but couldn’t do anything for him. “Hold on,” she whispered, “you can make it.”

“Ten minutes,” Ender announced. “Hailing the guy on border patrol to verify identity.”

The ship dipped suddenly, but quickly righted itself. James and Neku kept their balance but Snow went tumbling.

“Neku, keep a consistent charge! Ender snapped. “Switch to the far left black wire, 1000 volts!”

Neku nodded, panting. His arms were killing him.

Snow scrambled to her feet. “Neku, you can do it. This is the last thing! We’re free after this!”

“We’re cleared,” Vic announced. “Hang in there, Neku!”

Neku staggered, his arms fell slightly. The left black wire slipped out of his hands. The ship nose-dived.

“The red wires, Neku!” Ender yelled. “600 volts!”

Neku scrambled to comply, and the ship unsteadily rightened.

“We’re on the reserve power system now,” Ender said crossly. “You can’t screw up again, Neku.”

“My hands are so sweaty! It slipped, I’m sorry!” Neku knew he was moments away from passing out or falling over. There was nothing he could do.

A spark of resolve flashed across Snow’s eyes. “James, can you please go into the cockpit?” she asked.

James didn’t argue. Snow sealed the door behind him.

Sweat was stinging Neku’s eyes and rolling off of his face. “Snow, what are you…?”

He broke off as she stripped out of her hazsuit, smiling. She walked seductively toward him.

“You’ve earned this,” she whispered, kneeling in front of him.

   *   *   *

In the cockpit, Vic and Ender were watching the altimeter nervously. At the rate Neku was losing energy, they wouldn’t have enough to make it over the wall.

“We’re going to crash,” Ender said bitterly. “We’re going to crash into the quarantine wall. After all this.”

Suddenly the power shot back up to optimal. The ship’s altitude gained twenty feet and soared over the wall.

“We’re over!” Vic exclaimed. “Neku did it!”

After soaring over the wall, the power cut out drastically.

“It’s all right, we were expecting a controlled crash landing,” Ender assured. “Hold on!”

The ship leveled out and skidded along the ground. After a few loud minutes, the ship ground to a halt, completely drained of power.

Snow opened the door to the passenger bay, smiling and dressed in her suit. “He’s all right. He’s just passed out.”

Neku lay where he’d been standing, surrounded in dead wires. Vic checked his vitals. “Yeah, he’ll be fine, with some rest.”

“We did it!” James explained. “We actually made it out! Back to civilization!”

The four cheered.

“After everything we’ve gone through,” Snow hugged Vic, tears running down her face, “with the away team, with Pelvanida, with Tardigan, we’re finally safe. The air is breathable, the people are non-hostile, and we have all the time inó“

There was a knock on the door.

All four broke off.


--------------------------------------------------------------

and that's the end! Sorry for the cliffhangar, I just thought the Away team should end things the way they began; entering a new and unfamiliar place.

[Serris]

Aw s---! Cliffhanger! Can't wait for the next installment!