‘Just as our
investigations were nearing their completion we discovered
something that shook our conclusions down to their very
foundations. Topographic and environmental analysis indicated that
far from starving the colonies had been thriving. They had not been
strangled by a lack of resources during the Resource Wars; they had
innovated and succeeded. And yet they had certainly decided upon
self genocide. It made no sense.
‘Three weeks
later a deep space reconnaissance team discovered an artefact.
Something that was present on the surface of each of those barren
planets but not on a single surviving one. We arranged to have it
shipped back, but in transit two of the vessels were lost. An
analysis of the detonation zone revealed radiation consistent with
the vessels’ on board nuclear reactor. It seemed apparent that
their destruction was intentional. We did not know why. Our working
theory was that for some reason the crew had chosen to murder
themselves, or even each other, and we believed that this was the
effect of those Artefacts.
‘Obviously we
abandoned recovery. It was too dangerous to allow the artefacts
back to Earth. Instead they were moved to a deep-space facility,
abandoned during the war, and left for remote study. The station is
a relic from the time of the United World. It was there that we
discovered our salvation. It seemed a certain genetic expression
would allow a person close enough to the object without causing
them harm. The adaption enabled them to see things that others
could not see. It immunised them for a short time and made them
able to come within a close proximity of the artefact without it
causing unintended side effects. During their studies they
transmitted a report. I will play it to you now.’
Leaning on the
edge of my seat with interest I watched as Sephra moved his hands
through the air as if in some kind of ritual. Bursting to life
before my eyes an image resolved itself into existence. In front of
me a middle aged man stared out of the screen. He was very pale and
sweating heavily. Another wave from Sephra and sound exploded
throughout the room.
‘This is High
Researcher Clarence O’Donald of the Eternis System’s Deep-Space
Station Ascension. We have done it Commander. We have done it. We
have isolated the genes required for safe interaction with article
77-x. Unfortunately, as we predicted, the discovery has come a
little too late for us. The infection is reaching its final stage.
Dr Raddock and I have decided to avert the final stages by exposing
ourselves to a nerve agent. This will be our last transmission. We
send you all our love. Please don’t forget what we have done for
you.’
The message
ended. I breathed out a breath I did not even realise I was
carrying. Sephra turned and slashed his hand through the image,
cutting it in half and dissolving it. The room darkened a little as
the ambient lighting system restored itself to full brightness. I
had not even noticed that it had dimmed. Sephra gave me a look and
continued.
‘This is the
adaptation that we have given you. Your DNA proved the most likely
match out of all of our candidates. To put this a little more
clearly, you are our only suitable candidate.’ Sephra poured
himself a glass of whiskey from the highball in the corner. His
fingers negotiated the glass with an incredible dexterity.
‘The worst
news is yet to come. Recent reports suggest that the artefacts have
begun to surface on the remaining colonies. Only one so far remains
clear of infection. Six days ago the Ascension station informed us
that recent data analysis had led to a potential solution to the
problem. Before broadcasting could continue the communication
stream went dead. We have heard nothing since.
‘The reason
that we have given you this adaption is simple, we would like you
to find out what the information contained and remove all of the
artefacts from the colonies before any real harm can come to them.
Do you understand?’
Breathlessly I
replied ‘Yes, but I’m not the one you want. I’m no scientist, I
have never even been into space, what the hell could you possibly
want with me?’
Sephra turned
to me and looked straight into my eyes.
‘Believe me
George’ he said ‘if there was anyone else, anyone on the entire
planet, I would have picked them over you.’ Sephra stood up with a
sigh. ‘The final six colonies do not have long.’ His stilted
movements led me to believe that he had some difficulty in walking.
Nevertheless he managed to move, with a grace fitting of his
position, to the huge window that looked out and onto the city.
‘We are giving
you the very last ship this planet will ever produce. It is not
quite to the standard that we produced before the war but it’s as
close as we are ever going to get. You have one week to
prepare.’
I stared at
this strange man and replied ‘won’t I want a little more training
than a week?’
‘Of course you
will,’ Sephra replied mirthfully, ‘but in a week we will have lost
control of this planet.’
‘What do you
mean?’ I stared at him incredulously.
‘Because in
one week the power goes out and it will never come on again. After
that all remaining resources will have been consumed within a
month. And that is all there is to it.’
‘My God, what
about all the people, can’t we get them out? Can’t we save them?’ I
urged him.
‘Nobody else
can survive exposure to the artefacts. Even the people of your ship
will only have a temporary immunity. They will inevitably succumb
to its effects. It would be wise to complete your operation before
this occurs.
‘You should
also be aware that if we use this ship in any other way than to get
rid of those artefacts and find a cure for them, our species faces
extinction. As for me, well, I made it to sixty and in these times
that is all you can really ask for.’
Then he smiled
the way a father might do to his son after he had given him a good
fright. It was comforting and I began to feel safer, like this was
all some sort of joke.
‘Mr Engeltine,
go home and get some rest. Get to the ship and prepare for takeoff.
It was an absolute pleasure to meet you. Good luck, and for the
love of God don’t crash my bloody ship.’
I laughed.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have, but I did nonetheless. I smiled and he
smiled. It was a bitter smile forced out of utter depression.
Sephra rose slowly and steadily. He walked towards the huge window
and stared out of it in a wise pensiveness. The red sky bathed him
as he breathed in the pure air of the office.
He took a last
deep drag of his cigarette and put it out. Speaking but never
letting his eyes leave the view from the window he said, ‘It really
was a pleasure.’
With a subtle
motion he touched a small thing to his head, closed his eyes and
never opened them again.
The power had
failed sooner than Sephra had expected and the world was in
turmoil. It was just two days after his death that the power
failed. There was no slow regression into darkness. One moment the
lights were on and the next they weren’t.
What we didn’t
know, what had been kept from us, was that we had used up all of
our resources. The war which had so casually used nuclear fuel as
an explosive had denied its descendants the power required to
continue living. In a sheltered reality we had been living off
back-ups for months. Living on borrowed time.
It hit the
population like an explosion. One moment our screens were giving us
all the information we could ever want. The next they weren’t and
never would again. One moment there was order the next there was
chaos.
High above
Bataga the most powerful people in the world looked down on their
city, trapped. Without power there were no lifts and no doors. Only
the poor could make it out onto the streets. Fire prevention
systems had been drained of all their power. The systems watched
passively as their kings burnt and their palaces melted.
Hospitals
suffered record deaths as life giving machines failed. Newborns in
oxygen and xenon incubators suffocated as the nurses struggled
fruitlessly to release the electronic locks. The hallways echoed
with the screams of the untreated injured.
The Police
went home, there was no use for them anymore. Families gathered
together their relatives. In hushed circles parents whispered to
their children sweet words of comfort before they blew their brains
out. Mothers spared their children from the horror of the new-world
by drowning them in the fabric of the pillows they had so lovingly
bought for their most precious joys. The world was gone and nothing
could ever bring it back.
I needed to
reach the docks. I had to get to my ship, but all around me the
streets were in turmoil. There were riots everywhere. Everyone had
gone mad. Here there were people rushing into each other desperate
to cause death. Just around the corner there were people looting
with an addicted thirst. The militia’s destroyed anything they saw.
Nothing was immune.
I had called
Adrian earlier and told him to come with me. I told him that I had
a way out, that I had a way of surviving. Whether or not this was
true, I knew that I had to save him, no matter what was between us.
Matt had already died. He had been thrown off his own roof by the
gangs.
I couldn’t
wait any longer. I had to go. The crashing of explosives was
getting closer. It was just as I had become certain of his death
that I spotted him out of the corner of my eye. His impossibly
handsome figure was striding towards me at full speed.
Crouching next
to me he put his mouth to my ear and shouted over the rifle fire
‘why are we going to the docks? It is madness down there, the worst
of the violence. You can’t get through. There are no more ships
left. The evacuation has come and gone. I mean people are jumping
onto sub-orbiters trying to get away. They can’t make the
translation to hyperspace. They’re never going to make it away from
Earth. What chance do we stand?’
‘It’s okay,’ I
shouted over the deafening noise. ‘There is one more. We have a
chance. You just have to trust me.’ I threw my head over my
shoulder. ‘Now let’s go before we get shot.’
Running at
lightning speed I threw myself across the street. Bullets like rain
washed the crowd away. It was a tsunami of lead that the crowd
simply could not withstand. They jumped and spun about in the air
and fell away twitching.
We ran down
the banking sides of the walkway desperately urging one another
forward. The Docks were just moments away as we rounded the corner.
I had expected that there would be unrest but what I was not
prepared for was an inferno.
The Docks had
been built before the wars and they truly were something
incredible. Deep wide pits that created chasms in the ground formed
their structure. Huge angular cranes stood above to lift and lower
ships into the voids below. In the background there were huge
skyscrapers each shaped into impossible designs surrounding the
docklands. The red sky shrouded their figures in a veil of
violence. I realised with horror that they were all ablaze. An aura
of brilliant red embers had settled around them. The flood of
citizens flickered with the fire’s red gaze as they dashed here and
there, desperate to find something, anything that could help them
escape.
Among the
chaos I sighted directions to port 2B. Without a moment’s
hesitation I grabbed Adrian by the hand and ran. As I ran
everything became light. Halos began to surround the citizens
around me. The buildings blossomed with light and became beautiful
symbols of destructive harmony.
My eyes, in
their ethereal state, caught sight of a girl in front of me. She
was perhaps eight or nine and had become separated from her
parents. Lost, she was fleeing in any direction. There was a sudden
crashing as a grenade detonated behind her. In an instant light
surged towards her and pushed her forward. She became an angel,
launched into the sky on a sea of colours. She was beautiful and my
heart wept for her salvation. Then she was gone. I knew that I had
seen something profound and I was grateful for it.
The dodging
and strafing continued until a sign hung above our head came into
view. Emblazed by fire onto its surface were the letters
2B
.
I didn’t know how, but we seemed to have made it. It seemed that in
my mind’s state of heavenly inebriation I had been guided in the
right direction. I surged with energy. In just a few moments we
would be safe. I was sure that we had made it.
I looked back
towards Adrian and my heart almost stopped. My body sunk as my eyes
saw that his shirt was adorned in crimson. He had been hit. I
looped my arm under his shoulder. Using all of my strength I
dragged him forwards. We entered the gang-way too slowly. The
seconds were crawling by with the feelings of minutes. I groaned
with the strain of lifting Adrian up and onto the railing by the
door. Running my hand along the gene pad we were authorised for
entry and the air lock opened. I dragged Adrian into the dark.
*
The ship
lifted off into a violent sky. One of the Dock’s huge cranes
tumbled into the voids beneath causing a shock-wave that began a
cascade which sent the scarred holes back into the Earth. Above the
vessel there was only peace and silence. For a moment, so short it
could be mistaken for a fantasy, the sky was blue. A blue that had
not been seen in decades. Then it was black pitted with tiny points
of light as the ship escaped its sacred home and began its voyage
into the unknown.
‘Will he
survive’? I enquired.
The doctor
focused on me. He seemed a very tired man. He turned back towards
the console and replied, ‘his injuries are not severe. We will
restore him to full health in a day or two. But you should not have
brought him here. You should have left him to die back on Earth
with his soul still intact. He cannot survive the influence of the
artefacts. You have left him with only two options. To kill himself
at his own leisure in full control of his own actions, or try to
kill us all on the volition of an infection. Either way he will
die.’