Remember the Starfighter (33 page)

Facing the long hallway, Julian staggered along, the weight of Arendi nearly dragging on the floor. In each step, metallic mass hugged against his body, his back and legs aching under the stress.

“You’re really heavy for a girl, you know that?” he said, holding her arm over his shoulder.

The only reply Arendi gave was her breath, each exhale desperate. Julian could feel the air against his neck, the agony almost infectious.

“It’s my power core…,” she said, her words barely a whisper. “The reason why my body is malfunctioning.”

“Is it damaged?” he asked, sweat on his hands and face.

“It’s becoming unstable. My systems are trying to force a shutdown. But I couldn’t let that happen. Not now…”

“Your power source. Is that the reason? Why you were able to do those things?”

He replayed the scenes in his mind; a tractor beam deflected, bodies passing through solid doors, an entire ship destroyed with what seemed like a thought.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s the same power behind the Endervars…The ability to control space.”

She sighed, her head slumping down in exhaustion. 

“But I can only maintain it for so long… at the cost of damaging my own systems…”

“Are you okay? We can stop if—”

“Just keep going. Please…”

He looked ahead, and he could see a series of doors at the end of the hallway. Holo-signage showed the main hangers bay to be down this route.
What then?
How far could they go before security forces intercepted them?

He glanced at Arendi, her body teetering on what seemed to be like death.

“Just hang in there. We can make it.”

It was a lie. But that was all he had.

“I had to…I had to…” she murmured.

“Stay with me Arendi,” he intoned. “We’re coming up at the next door.”

“I had to,” she repeated, now louder. “I had to. I had to!”

The words came stammering out, her voice locked in a computerized fit. Over and over she said it, as if a loop had taken over her systems.

Holding her armored body in his arms, Julian shook her.

“Look at me,” he said. “Focus!”

Mechanically, her body began to twitch, her hands opening and closing, Arendi’s neck stuttering up and down.

“We’re almost there. Stay with me.”

“Do you remember…Do you remember….” she said, the words an echo. “Do you remember…”

“Remember what? Tell me.”

More and more, her arms began to shake, a complete shutdown taking hold.

“You asked me…You asked me…You asked me…”

Clutching her tighter, Julian begged her to stop.

“Please, Arendi. Don’t do this.”

But it was in vain. Her voice turned into a high-pitched whine, an electronic scream spinning out, the words a complete chaos.

What was left of Arendi then pushed him violently away, her body now possessed.

“WHYYYY,” the machine bellowed. “WHYYYYYY.”

She was dying, the errors mounting, the shutdown calcifying. Faster and faster her body spun, control totally lost.

“WHYYYY,” she screeched, her hands now like claws quivering in the air. “WHYYYYYY.”

Helpless, Julian closed his eyes, wishing that it would just end. If only he could save her somehow.

The screeching continued, gibberish and computerized echoes bursting from Arendi’s crazed voice. She flailed her arms, and stumbled back and forth, the control giving way to mayhem.

“WHYYYYYYYYYY,” she bellowed ever louder. “WHHHHHYYYYYYY!!”

Finally, it stopped.

Opening his eyes, Julian saw that Arendi stood still and limp. The screaming had ended and gone were the errors claiming her body. She looked at him now, her face covered in hair, but composed. Even serene.

“Arendi, are you there?” he asked.

But the woman could not hear anymore. This was just a final courtesy, the last message her systems would leave.

“Do you remember?” she asked, in a sad eyed-grin. “You asked me, ‘Why did I save you?’”

Before Julian could answer, Arendi finished her thought.

“I was lucky to have you met you. But it’s over for me. Save yourself Julian. Just save yourself.”

With a twitch in her glance, she sealed her eyes, the shutdown final. Her body fell to the floor in a thud, the machine that she was losing power.

Julian ran to her, kneeling down at her side. Calling her name, he brushed back the hair over her face.

“Arendi, don’t do this,” he said, holding her gloved hands. “We’re so close.”

The intelligence within remained cold to his pleas. He tried pulling her up, all of his strength wanting to drag her body forward. Yet only inches did he move her, the weight so heavy it felt anchored to the ground. 

Letting her go, Julian cursed. He slumped on the floor next to her, his drained face falling into his hands. What would he do now?

Just meters away, the doors at the hallway’s end opened, the large gates cranking up from the floor. A rumble of footsteps came marching forth.

The soldiers, encased in battle armor, quickly surrounded them. In their hands carried machine rifles, and disrupter canons, all aiming directly at Arendi’s downed body.

Behind them, a man walked forward, dressed in the customary officer’s uniform. Julian saw his face, noticing the cuts on his cheeks and lips.

“Julian Nverson,” Colonel Righton said in a sneer. “Why did you have to disobey orders?”

The guard shoved Julian to floor, grabbing his arms behind his back, and snapping the handcuffs at his wrists.

“Been watching you on surveillance for quite some time now,” Righton said, as the guard fastened the cuffs. “Looks like we came at the right moment.”

Behind the colonel, Julian spotted Arendi, her body down and motionless on the floor. At her side were two armored officers, each one holding scanning equipment in their hands.

“But I didn’t think that damn Ouryan would go ballistic,” Righton said, standing above him. “Nearly took out this whole section.”

The colonel reached for Julian, pulling him from the floor and onto his knees.

“As for you, well damn,” he said. “You’re bound to face a court martial. Mind-wipe, exile, or death, none of those choices are particularly good.”

The colonel sighed, folding his arms at his chest. Julian, however, couldn’t care less about his own fate.

“Her body’s damaged,” he muttered. “It’s serious—“

“Yeah, and I’m glad for it. That little android went on a rampage,” Righton said pointing to his face. “Ripped me right out of the observation deck with her powers.”

“What will happen to her?”

“Well, the Ouryan ship is gone, but I’m sure another will come soon. Maybe a whole fleet this time, just to make sure they can secure her.”

“Goddammit, Righton. Don’t let them take her.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

The two armored officers then finished their scan. “Confirmed, her systems are down,” one of them said.

“Good prepare her for stasis on board the S.C. Mercury,” Righton replied. “We’ll have to proceed with an extraction.”

“An extraction?” Julian asked. “You’re not thinking of disassembling her?”

“No choice. She’s too much of a danger. We need to take that power source out of her in the event she reawakens.”

Glancing back at Julian, the colonel signaled the guards.

“Take him away. Keep him on the makeshift brig at section E.”

An officer grabbed Julian by his handcuffs and raised him off the floor. He felt the plated hands shove him in the back.

“Move!” the guard said, pointing a pulse rifle at his spine.

Julian felt the blow of failure. The weapon behind him nudged him forth. He seethed, furious that he could do nothing.

Looking at the floor, he saw Arendi’s broken body. He then imagined her arms and legs, separated, the inside of her chest and abdomen unraveled.

“You fucker,” Julian said. “What the hell happened to you and the rest of the SpaceCore?”

Slowly, Righton turned to face him.

“Seriously?” he asked, half-heartedly.

He pushed past the guards next to him and approached Julian.

“You’re washed up trash. You disobeyed direct orders. Don’t give me that Hegemony crap. We own you, and now we’re discarding you. Expendable. And so is this android.”

Righton unsheathed his arm, the muscles pulling back and flexing. With his fist, the colonel nailed Julian in the gut. Collapsing, he fell on his side, the breath knocked out of him

“Now go fuck yourself. You’ve caused enough damage.”

The colonel walked away, angered but satisfied. Defeated, Julian gritted his teeth.

I’m sorry Arendi
, he wanted to say.
I’m so sorry.

A guard seized his handcuffs, whipping him back, and away from the scene. Nudged forth again by a rifle, Julian walked slowly, shaking his head in shame.

“Intruder alert,” the station alarm said. “Intruder alert.”

The warning was loud, booming with the sound of a new security call. The dozen or so guards, looked at one another, as the comm channels in their helmets transmitted the intel.

“Now what?” Righton said, speaking to his own communication link. “Are we sure that’s not an error? The target is down. I repeat the target is down.”

It was then Julian heard the crash. At the other end of the hallway, a section of the station bulkhead had blown open, the blistering fire sending shrapnel into the air. The bodies of several armed guards fell to the floor, muffled groans of anguish shrieking in the hall.

Replacing the voices was soon the sound of thunder splicing through the confines. On the ground, Julian could see four guards incapacitated, each one convulsing violently. Around their body armor spun a web of electricity, the current smoking in the heat.

 “What the hell is that? Righton yelled.

The remaining guards equipped their weapons, scanning the room for the source of the attack. But still, more guards fell, hit to the ground by the unknown attacker.

“Go to non-armor piercing safe rounds,” Righton ordered. “Switch optics and—”

The colonel then screamed, his face landing on the floor. A mesh of electric current had clasped over him, the sparks bristling on fabric and flesh.

As the remaining five guards searched fretfully for the attacker, Julian saw something move in the air. Shadowy silhouettes seemed to spiral rapidly from one guard to the next, leaving each one in agonizing pain.

The guard next to Julian left his side, joining the only other remaining officer still standing. Eyeing the moving objects, they fired, the bullets bursting from their rifles.

In the air split apart the once invisible drones, the hovering machines exploding in flight. Two, then three, they numbered, each one cut down by the weapons fire.

Ceramic-like fragments dropped to the guards’ feets, as they moved ahead. Their weapons continued to blast, homing in on a target that Julian could barely see.

The unknown attacker retaliated, slamming a guard in the chest. The officer’s body flung backwards, a crater indented into the chest plate.

The other guard fired off his weapon, yelling in desperation. The bullets boomed from the rifle, screeching in the hallway. But the blasts did nothing to abate the oncoming attack. Julian could see the blows, the invisible figure crushing the guard’s armor and gun. Metal became softened fiber against the impacts, the guard’s breastplates splintering at the seams.

The man dropped to his knees, keeling over unconscious. Bodies after bodies littered the hallway, the entire security team wiped out — their training, weapons and equipment undermined in an instant.

The strange electric fields continued to buzz and spark around the guards. On the floor, Julian saw the destroyed carcass of one of the drones. From one second to the next, the leftover parts mysteriously became visible and then disappeared, the matter camouflaging itself into the ground.

He examined one of the broken pieces when he heard the footsteps. Someone was walking toward him, the outline of the invisible silhouette growing larger and clearer. He could see the contour of the legs move, two long arms pacing at the hips.

Materializing in front of him, the figure dropped the cloaking field. Standing tall, the human was entirely clad in a liquid black suit, cybernetic gears clamped to the woman’s body. She raised her two arms, the thick techno-organic skin extending from the gloved hand up to the bicep. Covering her face, was a mask lined by silver circuitry. Slowly, she removed it, the sound of gas venting from the suit. The woman shook her head, as a plume of long hair fell to her shoulders.

Julian could now see her ruby eyes shine. She went to his hands, and broke the cuffs apart.

<
Your backup has arrived
> Alysdeon said through his mind. <
Sorry, I’m late.
>