Reddened Wasteland (17 page)

“Alerik, you must find the pieces. Only
trust Cinine. Follow her map. Find the caches.”

He quickly tore out the small excerpt on the back of
the folder. As he stood from the bed, there was a knock at the door. He walked
over and pressed the button to slide it open. Cinine was on the other side,
with three guards all dressed in their traditional patchwork armor. She stepped
into the tiny room and waved the guards away, then began pacing the room
slowly.

“Alerik, we have much to discuss,” her eyes flicked to
Lucius, then back to Alerik.

“Yes, much,” Alerik’s reply was short, but he had been
lied to, and he was irritated.

“I suppose you have figured out that Bragog is— was
with us,” she said with a sigh as she sat on the bed.

“Yeah, I have gathered that much. How many people do
you have working for you on the surface?” Alerik sat on the end of the bed.

“We used to have many in our day… Now, though, it
seems less and less as time goes on. Many have either been captured, or killed.
A few have even flipped. We worried about Bragog for a while, but he only
proved that he was a really good actor,” she said with a wistful smile.

“Bragog saved my life. Without him, I would have been
executed. I owe him and his cause everything, and it seems his cause was you,”
Alerik stood up and started pacing, “I need to know more, though; I need to
know his sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Tell me everything, he said that I could
only trust you.”

“What would you like to know dear?” she asked as she
patted the bed, signaling for him to sit down again.

“Why are there tubes leading out of the dome, and why
has no one ever seen them?” he complied and took a seat, though it was
difficult to sit still while so many emotions and questions were bouncing
through his psyche.

“Oh, people have seen them, but they would never speak
on such matters. Ask yourself, Alerik, why would The Union have tubes leading
out of the dome?” she asked.

“To leave, I assume,” he replied.

“Precisely. The red hue of your friend’s eyes, there,
should give you a clue as to who is sent out,” she said, pointing to Lucius.

“The androids, yes… we came to that conclusion, but it
still doesn’t make sense. What would they gain by sending them out?” he asked,
“It’s not as if they are bringing anything in, it would be noticed too
quickly.”

“So, if nothing ever comes in…” she said, letting the
thought register in Alerik.

“It’s only going out,” he said. Again, he stood and
began pacing, “That would explain why we never see what is produced in the
mines. There are no stockpiles within the settlement.”

“Have you ever asked yourself why we believe what we
believe here in The Den?”

“I have wondered, sure,” he frowned, “I don’t see what
that has to do with this.”

“We believe that life still exists on Earth. We just
believe that The Earth cleansed itself of the wicked, and sent them to this
new, unhospitable world. For generations we have suffered here, and it was all
to make us who we are, Alerik. We believe Mars to be a training ground for our
people and The Union are agents of evil sent to build up our fortitude. We
believe in duality, light and dark, good and evil,” she explained.

“So you believe that the Earth holds the pure while
our world harbors nothing but evil? How can you say that when there are people
like you and I here? I don’t claim to be perfect, but I am a far cry from The
Union,” he snorted.

“Well, with duality, there cannot be evil without good
and vice versa. We believe these things go in cycles. So, while Earth purges itself
of evil, Mars will do the same with the righteous,” she said with a smile.

“You mean, people are meant to return to Earth?” he
was confused.

“Yes. At one point, Earth was nothing but the
righteous, and Mars flooded with evil… but, over time, the scales find balance
and the cycle renews,” she said, standing up.

“I think I understand… But if what you’re saying is
true, then Earth is, once again, as unbalanced as we are.”

“That is why we must go there. We have been put
through all of this here to make us stronger, so that we may return to our home
world and eliminate the evil residing there. Then, we rebuild in an era of
peace on Earth, and let the evil on Mars destroy itself.”

Alerik gave her a skeptical look, “Okay, let’s say all
of that is possible and true. What is to stop the cycle from beginning again?”

“Nothing. Evil people will always exist, just as good
always will. Our only job is to ensure that the scales never tip this far
again,” she said, walking through the door to the room and making her way into
the hall, “I still have more to show you. Follow me.”

“You know, for a religion, this all sounds oddly
reasonable… But then again, I think that is how they get you,” Alerik chuckled
as he followed behind Cinine, “You are aware that there is no way for us to
actually get to the Earth, though… right?”

“I have a theory that The Union is far more informed
than we are, in regards to life on Earth. I feel those tunnels have something
to do with it,” she said as they reached a stairwell that descended further
into the depths of the vaults.

As Alerik followed her down the stairs, he wondered to
himself how much of what she had said was fact, and how much of it was
unconfirmed conjecture-turned-belief. Faith didn’t hold much weight in Liberty,
and even if it were all true, getting to Earth would be impossible. The aspect
of cycles did make sense to him, but the thought that
all
the original
Martian settlers had been evil seemed a bit far-fetched. There were so many
good people on Mars. Then again, if she believed everything she had just said
to him, it was no wonder they had prepared themselves so well for war.

They finally reached the bottom of the stairwell and
made their way through a narrow hall that led to a large metal door. Cinine
pushed a series of buttons on a panel to the right of the door and it slid
open. They both stepped through the door, the sheer size of the room was
overwhelming. In the very center of the room was a massive control panel,
connected to a large metal tube going into the ground, surrounded by guard
rails.

“What is this room?” Alerik asked as he scanned the
area.

“This is the room responsible for all life on Mars,”
she said with a light-hearted smile, “Back in the year 2015 on Earth,
scientists discovered saltwater beneath the surface of Mars, and many years
later they traveled there, looking for any signs of life. Eventually, they
funded a project to create a settlement here, and so the vaults were built.
This room was the water supply to these vaults. It was supposed to be a temporary
project, but they ran out of funding, and the project was abandoned. Well,
until Earth began its cycle again,” she said.

“Then people were forced to come here…” he trailed
off, “So, how do you know all of this?”

“The scientists that first came left many relics. From
books, to devices capturing their voices. The people who came first documented
everything. That is why The Union are so well-informed… When they branched off,
onto the surface, we believe they did so with information that they kept secret,”
she frowned.

“So, in the beginning, everyone who arrived here was
evil, and generations later, the good that were born became the Children of
Old,” Alerik thought out loud.

“Exactly. The Union scrambled to the surface so that
we wouldn’t pollute their cause. At first there were only a few of us, and they
left us here to work on the pumps that brought water out to the settlement,
confident that we would keep doing it since it would keep everyone alive. Seems
they wanted good people working on the source of all life here. Go figure,” she
said, rolling her eyes.

“To ensure that you would, they closed off all of the
entrances in—” Alerik came to a realization.

“Yes, and that is why they have left us alone, for the
most part. Our entrances have all been buried under construction, and through
the years The Union lost sight of where we were. They know we are underneath
them and supply their water, but they do not know of the entrance we built for
ourselves. We built it nearly fifty years ago, only a few close to us know of
it, and the people we send to the surface. Well, now you and your friends know
of course,” she said.

“So why are they looking for you, now… after all of
these years?”

“I assume it has to do with the scales finding
balance. Uprisings have begun, and they can only assume that we are part of it
as we are the original good. Plus, now that they have androids, they don’t have
to worry about right or wrong, they can just program them to do what we do now,
with little worry,” she said.

“Of course… So you have been planning for war for a
long time now,” he said.

“Since the beginning, when we first learned of these
cycles. The Earth was purging entire species before we existed. According to
the texts left behind, there used to be massive creatures on Earth that it
cleansed itself of millions of years ago. We are just the latest one. The
cycles will happen, we just need to live through it, and this is how we will do
it,” she gestured towards the control panel.

“You are going to cut off their water supply? Won’t
that affect everyone up there?” Alerik asked.

“It is a small price to pay for victory, and to
guarantee our survival. The human body cannot go long without water, by the
second day, their forces will be completely weakened. Of course, this will not affect
the androids, but any advantage we can get, we’re going to take,” she said,
looking especially apathetic.

“When will you cut off the water?” Alerik asked.

“When you collect the pieces to the radio that Bragog
left behind for you,” she smiled.

“Once I have all of the pieces, and I put this thing
together, then what?” he frowned. He was uncomfortable with the thought of
cutting off the water supply to everyone on the surface. The Union still held
all the power, they would be the last to see the effects. Why did everyone’s
master plan involve harming the very people he had been fighting to protect?

“You find a way to The Union Radio tower and use the
device to hijack the signal. Then you scan the skies, and try to find another
signal and if we are right about all of this, you will find some originating
from Earth. Once you have a lock, broadcast to the entire world, let them hear
our story. I am confident that if there are still people there, like we
predict, they will at least have advanced enough technologically to receive
radio signals,” she explained as she moved closer to Alerik.

“If these cycles are as you say they are, then there
will be just as many evil on Earth as there are good… just like here. How will
we know we are reaching the right people?” he asked.

“We won’t. That is where the faith part comes into
play,” she smiled as she gave his upper-arm a light squeeze.

“I suppose that faith also keeps you believing that we
can actually pull this off as well?”

“You catch on quick,” she said with a wink.

“How can you be so confident? Can I borrow a little of
that from you?” he chuckled.

“Well, it is half faith, and half good information. We
won’t be alone in this fight. Liberty’s Hammer is planning an attack, a
full-scale war, actually. With them fighting the androids and both sides
weakened from thirst, I have faith that you will make it to the radio tower.
Our people will be cutting a path in front of you, as well. Of course, we can’t
risk being seen prematurely, so we won’t be with you to collect the pieces.
Once you have them, however, return here, and we will be ready,” she said as
she began leading him back to the stairs.

“It is not going to be easy to do this while
simultaneously being the most wanted man in the settlement, but, I guess I will
just have to have faith,” he managed to mask his sarcasm as he walked beside
Cinine.

The last few days had been a blur to Alerik, as he
sailed through the sky with Lucius he finally had a moment to reflect on all
that had happened. He hated himself for the fact that Velar had crossed his
mind less and less, lately. He might have let her down, but she would be the
last person on his list of failures. The future was a longshot, but if there
was any chance at all, he was going to take it. He would avenge all of them,
Bragog, Velar and the people of the mines. Fire burned behind his bright blue
eyes as he stared off at the skyline of the Diamond District. Cinine had given
him so much information… but how much of it could he use, and how much was the
ravings of the religious? He wondered for a while like this as Lucius stared
straight ahead, his usual smile was absent. In its place was a blank
expression.

“I’ll be in and out. Five minutes, tops,” Alerik said
to Lucius as they pulled up to his apartment that was undoubtedly under watch.

“I’ll be here,” Lucius said in a gloomy tone.

Alerik pulled his leather jacket up over his neck in
an attempt to disguise himself before hopping out of the vehicle. As he walked
the balcony, approaching the front door, a flood of memories came back to him.
Memories of him first coming to this place with Velar, and how excited they
were. The sadness he felt was overcome by anger, boiling to the forefront of
his mind. He opened the front door and stepped inside, immediately feeling the
cold sting of steel pressed firmly against his neck. He was getting pretty
familiar with the sensation.

“I’d lower your weapon if I were you, today is not a
good day,” he snapped.

“Oh! It’s you!” a familiar voice shouted, sounding
relieved.

He felt the pressure of the weapon vanish and was
immediately encircled by a pair of arms. He looked down to see Saskia smiling
up at him. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, she had no idea how happy he
was to see a friendly face.

“You are a sight for sore eyes!” he laughed.

“I could say the same. But, what are you doing here?
Half of the settlement is out looking for you!” she lowered her voice.

“I came back to get Velar’s backpack, and my pickaxe.
I want a miner’s pickaxe to be the last thing seen by every Union soldier I
encounter. Why are you here? This is— was
my
apartment, after all.”

“Because I knew that they would be hunting me just as
hard as they are you, and I didn’t know of anywhere else to go. I knew this
would be the last place The Union would set foot. Mainly since they have it
under surveillance. They knew you would come back, Alerik. We have to get out
of here,” her voice grew nervous.

“So, they planned an ambush… great. I guess I wouldn’t
expect anything less from them. That is just what we need.” Alerik darted
through the apartment, grabbing the pickaxe and backpack off of the counter.
“Let’s go. I have so much to tell you,” he said, grabbing Saskia’s hand.

The two made their way out onto the balcony where
Lucius was waiting with the vehicle. Just as they reached the door, two Union
vehicles descended from high up above the building. Alerik opened the car door
and pushed Saskia in before diving into the vehicle after her.

“Get us out of here, Lucius!” Alerik shouted as he
kicked the seat.

Lucius nodded in the rearview mirror, jetting off
instantly. The acceleration threw Saskia and Alerik hard against the seat. The
two vehicles kept a close tail on them, firing metallic bolts through the metal
and glass, causing the shards to spray into the back seat.

“Don’t worry, I will lose them,” Lucius reassured them
as he maneuvered through the air, trying to outwit his pursuers.

“We don’t have time, we need to deal with them
quickly,” Saskia insisted. She didn’t pause for discussion, she just climbed
through the back window and took out her gun to return fire. Alerik twisted in
his seat and gripped her legs to help steady her.

Lucius took the car far out of the city and into the
slums, hanging low to the ground in an attempt to scare The Union soldiers into
quitting. Saskia kept firing her weapon as metal bolts ripped through the
vehicle. They were barely hanging on, when Saskia finally found her mark,
blasting a driver of one of the vehicles in the face and causing his vehicle to
take a nose dive.

“Nice shot!” Alerik shouted just as a bolt flew
through Saskia’s shoulder, causing blood to spray onto the back of the driver’s
seat. Alerik quickly yanked her into the car, taking her gun in the process.
“Lay down! Put pressure on that shoulder!” he yelled as their vehicle shot
upward to avoid one of the shacks. The pressure held Alerik to the seat and he
struggled against it, trying to climb back up to see out of the back window. As
soon as the vehicle was steady again, he peered out the window to see the last
Union soldier was still tailing them.

“This guy won’t give up!” Alerik shouted as he aimed
the gun at the vehicle’s battery. He fired the shot and let out a relieved sigh
as he watched sparks fly out of the front of The Union vehicle. It jerked
forward a couple of times before slowing to a stop and falling out of the sky,
crashing against the ground. It was a satisfying sight.

“Are you going to be alright?” Alerik asked Saskia
once he was sure no one else was coming. He helped her apply pressure to her
wound, smiling apologetically when she winced.

“I think I’m okay. Thanks to you,” her grimace shifted
to a small smile.

Alerik examined the injury, “It went clean through.
Now, this next part is going to hurt.” He pointed the gun out the window and
fired several times before pressing the hot barrel on her shoulder. Saskia
screamed in pain and the smell of burning flesh filled the car.

“What the fuck!” she managed to gasp.

“Sorry… It’s not really over,” he said as he fired
several more shots. He lifted her up and repeating the process on the exit
wound. He handed her his flask, “You look like you could use a drink.”

“You don’t fucking say,” she growled before taking a
long swig. “Next time, a bit of warning?”

“I didn’t have time to argue with you,” he pointed to
the blood on the seat. “Anyway, it’s over and done now.”

“Yeah, I guess it is… Thank you, again,” she gave him
a weak smile.

“Hate to break up the love fest, but we need to get
out of this vehicle… fast,” Lucius said as the vehicle slowed. “Looks like the
rest of our trip has to be on foot. Any ideas?”

“Just land safely, we will stick to the shadows until
nightfall,” Alerik said. Lucius steered the vehicle down to land.

Saskia sat up in her seat and looked over at Alerik,
“You know our faces are everywhere in the settlement, right?”

“Then let’s work extra hard to make sure nobody sees
them,” Alerik said as the vehicle came to a stop.

***

Night fell upon the settlement just as Alerik’s group
neared one of the caches Bragog had marked on the map. Luckily, most of the
locations were within the slums that he was all too familiar with. Knowledge of
the area was invaluable as they were trying to remain undetected.

Union soldiers had been patrolling for most of the
day, scouring every square inch of the settlement. They must have known that a
war was imminent. As Alerik crept in the shadows, meticulously moving from
shack to shack, he heard a radio playing in the distance. There was no happy
music, just the sound of Aldain speaking about a settlement-wide curfew that
would last indefinitely. Everyone was under complete lock and key, no one was
to leave their houses after dark, which would make things very difficult for
Alerik. He would stick out like a sore thumb if nobody else was out in the
streets at night. Nevertheless, he had to find those pieces, and failure was
not an option.

“Stick close to the walls. We are less than a couple-hundred
feet from the first piece,” Alerik whispered to his companions. The sound of
footsteps could be heard in the distance.

Saskia nodded and tugged Lucius along. She was
well-trained in this sort of thing, but Lucius was a bit rigid and didn’t really
know the meaning of discretion. Every time Alerik looked over, Saskia was
pushing Lucius’ head down or pulling him out of the light. He was a liability,
but he was a friend, and the only one capable of putting the radio together.

As they got closer to where the first location was
marked on the map, Alerik came to the realization that it was in the bar he
always frequented. Did Bragog really expect him to take the bar radio without
anyone noticing? This was going to take a bit of finesse, and if that didn’t
work, he figured he could always swing his pickaxe. He was thankful that the
curfew probably cleared all of the bar regulars out already, but he wouldn’t
put it past The Union soldiers to pillage the place while no one was around. He
remained wary.

He hugged the walls of a small shack as he came within
view of the bar. It still had the street light out front, the one he used to
meet Velar under. It seemed like just yesterday that they were both under that
light and she was scolding him for his smoking habit. Alerik didn’t have much
time to dwell on it… Saskia pulled out her pistol and shot out the light.

“What did you do that for?” Alerik asked, offended
even though he knew Saskia had no way of knowing that he was having a
sentimental moment.

“I don’t want to risk being spotted,” she explained.

“So you’d rather be heard?” Alerik frowned, a puzzled
look on his face. He checked out both sides of the street before moving.

Everything was quiet as they crept towards the bar.
Lucius crunched a shard of glass with his boot as they approached the front
door to the bar. He mouthed, “I’m sorry,” in response to the scowls the other
two gave him.

Alerik shook his head at Lucius before trying to slide
the door open. It was chained shut. Saskia pushed him out of the way and fired
a bolt through the chain, causing it to ricochet around inside. It was like she
wanted to be captured.

“Really?” Alerik grumbled as he cracked the door and
slid inside, pulling her along with him.

Lucius was the last inside, he stepped in and shut the
door behind him, “You really need to learn how to be quiet,” he snickered to
Saskia.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she said with her
head cocked to Lucius.

“Guys, come on, we don’t have a lot of time, and we
still have one more piece to get to,” Alerik said over his shoulder as he moved
towards the bar radio.

“Hey… back at your apartment, you said that you had so
much to tell me. Care to elaborate?” Saskia asked.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just looking for the right…”
Alerik trailed off as he reached the bar and found a man cowering behind it,
clutching a crowbar. He motioned for Saskia to come around to where he was
standing.

Saskia cautiously walked over to the bar and peered
over, “Stand up,” she trained her gun on the man.

The man stood up and straightened his clothes. He was
a fragile, elderly man with a dark skin complexion. He didn’t appear to be much
of a threat and he looked absolutely terrified. At least until his eyes landed
on Alerik’s face.

“Alerik? Alerik Jacobs?!” a smile crept onto the man’s
face.

“You’ve made a mistake,” Alerik moved towards the man.

“Wait!” the man said, putting his arm out, “I have no
quarrel with you. You’re a hero!”

“A hero?” Alerik frowned and paused to make sure he
heard the man correctly. He was pretty sure he’d just called him a hero. “Wait…
What?”

The old man’s smile grew, “The whole settlement thinks
it. You stood up to The Union! Truth be told, most of us hated you. We really
thought you were one of their lackeys, but then your face was plastered across
every television and radio, and this time they said you were an enemy, not
their poster boy. You must’ve did something to really piss them off. Pissing
off The Union? Well… That is something I can get behind.”

“So… You’re not interested in the reward for capturing
me?” Alerik arched a brow.

“No, no. My reward is just meeting you. I don’t think
anyone has ever had the balls to stand up to The Union the way you are. To be
honest, everyone that comes in here raves about you and how you stuck it to
them,” he said laughing, “You should hear some of the stories they’re telling
about you. I hope they’re all true,” he let out a wheezy sort of laugh.

“Well, there is a way you can help me out,” Alerik
said as he put his pickaxe onto his back.

“Anything!” the man bobbed his head.

“That radio, there. I need it for something. Something
that will
really
stick it to The Union,” Alerik grinned.

“Take it, it’s yours,” the man said, smiling, “Can I
offer you a drink?”

“I’ll take you up on that… once this whole thing is
over,” Alerik chuckled, then began rummaging through Velar’s backpack, “No hard
feelings. It’s not that I don’t trust you or anything, I just have to be safe,”
he explained as he pulled a chain from the bag.

“Oh! You have to tie me up, I get it! Make it look
good in case Union soldiers show up. No problem! It would be an honor,” the man
eagerly thrusted his arms forward.