Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (9 page)

Trent's glance slid once more to the mirror
covering the wall. He froze, glimpsing for the first time the
recently healed scar that stretched from his triceps to his
bicep.

The painful flash returned, worse than
before, but this time images followed. Scenes of a giant
insect-like creature smashing a blade like claw into his side,
nearly cutting him in half. Images of old abandoned railroad tracks
followed, a dirty man whistling while skipping along, drinking from
an unmarked bottle without a care in the world.

The images increased, flowing faster and
faster.

A scene of a man in a suit waking in a dirty
alley covered in vomit and filth, an angry boss screaming at the
same man moments before being escorted away by corporate security,
confused and in a daze...and then a crying man on his knees,
seeming to have heard the worst news of his life. Next to the man
in the final image stood Samantha, looking down upon him with pity
in her eyes, and a little regret...but no love.

The visions ended abruptly. Trent's eyes
flashed opened to find Samantha staring down upon him with wonder,
his naked body strewn across the bathroom floor. He quickly
recovered to his feet, waving away the words of concern on
Samantha's lips before she could voice them.

“This is wrong,” Trent said with the
strongest tone he could muster.”This place is strange. It looks
like my apartment, feels like my apartment...but...but I don't
think it's my apartment,” he chose his words carefully, trying to
let the absurdity of the realization he’d made settle in, while
feeling his confidence in their truth grow stronger.

“I don't know what's going on here, Samantha,
but you lied to me and...and we broke up months ago. Why are you
here and what's going on?” he question her. No longer uncertain,
knowing full well this was wrong.

Samantha gazed at him with a fascination that
he could not recall having witnessed before. A small smirk settled,
appearing bemused, as she grabbed a clean towel, wrapped it loosely
around her shapely curves, then proceeded to glide out of the
bathroom, beckoning for him to follow. Trent, reluctantly, followed
close behind, forgetting his towel and clothes.

Samantha’s towel slide to the floor as she
fell back onto the bed, perching on her elbows to curl a single
strand of her long brown hair with one hand, while gesturing for
Trent to join her with the other. Trent felt himself flush, trying
desperately to hold his resolve, but the sight beyond enticing.

“Samantha, I need to know what's going on,
this is all wrong. Tell me...please!” he begged, no longer able to
muster the forcefulness he'd shown in the bathroom.

“Embrace me and we discuss those matters
later,” she told, beckoning him, passion overflowing from each and
every one of her sultry words. He felt himself start to give in;
being drawn to the woman he once loved with every ounce of his
being, summoning him in such a powerfully sensual way that even his
recently returned mind was on the verge of collapse.

“No...please tell me. I don't...I don't want
to be hurt again,” Trent pleaded, the pain from the time of
betrayal returning alongside the horrible memories.

He collapsed to his knees, all thoughts of
desire fleeing his flesh as sorrow forced it free. Suddenly, a warm
body engulfed him, followed by a sweet aroma that once existed in
his fondest memories, but now only in his worst nightmares. The
floodgates opened.

Time meant nothing as his tears once again
tried to cleanse his soul. The embrace and warmth of another, even
the one who caused the pain, helped lessen the sorrow. Each painful
memory lingered, then vanished, as another layer of his heart
hardened. The tears eventually began to run dry and a gentle,
calming voice whispered into his ear.

“Stay with me here and you will never feel
pain again, or move into the unknown, to never see me again. Make
your choice,” the voice was sweet, like that of an angel.

Trent glanced up to the woman he now knew was
not Samantha, seeing love in her eyes for the first time. He gently
removed himself from her embrace, kissing her gently on the cheek
and smiled, his choice made. Everything went dark and tears once
again rolled down his cheeks as he vowed that never again would he
be ruled by sorrow.

Daniel watched the touching scene unfold with
a pity he knew was against his nature. Most of the human garbage
that stumbled upon the TSB recruitment grounds were generally
broken husks who had little to no human emotions left. In those
instances, even when they passed the first phase of the trial, they
would live out the remainder of their lives in the embrace of a
robotic automaton, not being able to leave behind a past reality
that was lost.

The second phase of the recruitment trial was
a strange one. Given an opportunity to relive a time of great
happiness, most humans wouldn't think twice about grasping the
opportunity, especially if they were in the horrible situations
that most of the human garbage found themselves when they reached
the recruitment grounds. But on rare occasions an individual would
give up on living the comfortable, happy life of their past, to
embrace an unknown future.

Daniel sighed, knowing that the TSB had
received its latest recruit, no matter how well he fared in the
next two phases of the trial. Slightly disappointed that he wasn't
able to witness yet another candidate fail gruesomely, he sent the
priority alerts to TSB command that were required when a new adult
recruit had been located and waited for the reply.

His eyes drifted back to the projection where
Trent lay, curled in a ball within total darkness.

He may be perfect
, Daniel realized,
always being on the lookout for cronies that he could use to
further his own ambitions, and this man fit the bill perfectly. He
may be a little too emotional for his liking, but the kindness, or
weakness as Daniel knew it, and the detailed background information
he copied to his personal files, would make Trent a perfect
candidate to assist Daniel in his further endeavors.

Now, he just needed to wait, and manipulate
the Program so that the next two trials were for the proper
position within the TSB for Daniel to exploit him properly. If he
could get Trent into maintenance, or even the engineering program,
he could use him to alter logs and cause accidents. But even if he
was assigned as a general crewman, he could use him to undermine
his many rivals. The thoughts and possible uses for this man
continued to multiply when the beep of a return message received
brought him back to the matter at hand.

This must be a mistake,
he thought as
he read the orders, unable to hide his shock.

The next phase of Trent’s trial was only
meant to be given to TSB recruits who were raised from childhood in
the TSB orphanage. There was no way TSB command would provide
permission to have a 30 year old ex-hobo attempt these trials.

It’s ridiculous!
His thoughts raced as
he sent a request for confirmation, which was verified within
seconds, containing the TSB commander’s, Knight Captain Quinn,
encryption code, no less.

A sigh of resignation escaped Daniels lips as
reality set-in. Reluctantly, he entered the parameters for the next
phase of the trial, then pressed the activate icon. He stood,
moving out into the observation outpost proper, entering one of the
personal transport tubes that lined the back wall, considering
again how he could possibly use this new recruit for his
aspirations. He grabbed the handle inside the cylindrical tube
transport, choosing not to sit, then accessed the transport tube’s
BAP with his BC node to enter his destination.

As the tube door slid shut and the transport
started accelerating through the tens of thousands of kilometers of
the TSB transport tube network that snaked deep below the surface
of the Earth, he started preparing his speech. The most important
part of using anyone was to make a good first impression, and
Daniel rarely let a chance to increase his followers pass him
by.

Time unknown flowed like a river beneath
Trent, guiding him through a universe that had long forgotten the
touch of light and the meaning of sound. At first, he didn’t
resist, finding the unknown refreshing, allowing him to reaffirm
his pledge. That sorrow would never again rule him. But he found
his resolve soon being tested. The sea of sorrow that had clung to
him for year’s eternal, begging to be let free, to swirl back
towards the surface of his conscious mind.

As the battle intensified, his mind tumbling
ever deeper, the whisper of sorrows embrace growing ever louder,
another thought broke free in the dark flow that held him, one that
asked:
How did you come upon this current fate, Trent?
He
knew not the answer, but the question cleared his mind and he began
to consider its answer for the first time with some semblance of
reason.

Apparently, sometime after he camped with the
kind family who provided him a bottle of tequila for a slice of
cheese and slab of jerky, he had drunkenly stumbled upon something
bizarre, some sort of experiment.

Experiment,
he shivered, the word
recalling memories almost forgotten.

Citizens of Earth, mostly denizens of the
corps camps, were known to vanish from time to time. The
underground press noted most disappearances in a way that made many
people
assume
they were taken by
corporations who conducted illegal human research. Though Trent,
like most other corporate workers, always believed the stories were
just rumors, a creation of those fearful of the power of the
almighty corporation. But now, after facing a giant insect-like
creature that shouldn’t exist, then reliving a moment from his
past, he started to believe the stories may hold a grain of
truth.

The silence thickened, enveloping him, as the
reality that he may be a corporate guinea pig took hold.
What
other horrors may they make me face?
The worry crept further
into his mind, calling forth manifestations of hideous
monstrosities scurrying within the darkness, waiting to feast on
his juicy flesh. Panic set in and he knew if he continued to lie
still within the unknown, in the all encompassing darkness, his
fear would spiral out of control and he would go mad.

“Hel...Hello!” he tried to shout, but his
voice cracked, and he collapsed into a sudden coughing fit, barely
noticing the room brighten around him. It took a few moments for
him to recover and his eyes to adjust, but when they did, he found
he was no longer within the imitation apartment. Instead, he was
now surrounded by four walls of pure white, with a single,
rectangular table in the center, and a piece of blue and white
clothing, similar to a military style jumpsuit, hanging from the
far wall.

“Please proceed to cloth yourself with the
provided garment,” a monotone voice instructed, emanating from all
around him, seeming born of the air itself. He spun in place,
searching desperately for the voice’s owner, but finding he was
alone.

“Who...who are you? What do you want with
me?” he asked frantically.

“Please proceed to cloth yourself with the
provided garment,” the monotone voice repeated.

He wanted to refuse, demand an explanation
before he would listen to another word. But a sudden draft reminded
him of his nudity, the room seeming to have cooled. Swallowing his
resistance for the moment, he tiptoed slowly across the room and
removed the jumpsuit-like outfit from the wall, studying it
carefully.

It had a base coloring of blue with white
strips down the sides of the legs, arms, and torso. On its breast
stood a small patch of Earth, with symbols over its face he didn’t
recognize. Finding nothing out of place...
beyond this entire
situation
, he reminded himself...he slipped into the jumpsuit,
the super soft material causing his skin to tingle as he latched up
the front.

“Take your position by the control board when
you are ready to begin.” Trent froze as the monotone voice
reappeared the moment he clasped the final latch.

“Begin what? What’s going on? What is this
control board?” he asked, and in response, the rectangular table in
the center of the room began to undulate, an intricate design being
carved into its surface as he watched. Awe struck, but little
surprised given what had already befallen him, he waited for the
design to steady. When it did, he found he couldn't get a clear
view from where he stood by the far wall.

“Answer me! What’s going on? What corporation
are you from?” he demanded, silence the only response.

What now?
Trent wondered, reluctant to
approach the rectangular table without knowing what was going on,
but confident that it was indeed the control board in which the
monotone voice was referring, nothing else present.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated on the
table, straining his mind to try to comprehend what the abstract
design on its surface meant and, most importantly, what would begin
when he approached.

Nervously, he rubbed his clammy hands on his
sides, his finger brushing against something stiff near his armpit
that he hadn’t noticed before, like there was an object hidden
within the jumpsuit. He searched for a pocket, finding one
seamlessly sewn next to the patch of Earth on his left breast.
Reaching in, he pulled free a stack of rectangular shaped pieces of
white plastic, each about seven centimeters long and a centimeter
wide. Examining them closely, he found no distinct marks or
features, they being just a solid white like the rest of his
surroundings.

That must be it,
his mind cried when
he glanced back at the table,
the carvings on the surface aren’t
random
, he realized, being able to now discern 10 raised
“pathways” zigzagging from one end of the table to the other, with
deep, smooth walled chasms between each, and gaps appearing
randomly along each pathway. He quickly surmised that the white
pieces of plastic he found in his pocket were the same width as the
paths, and more importantly, the same length as the gaps.