Subterranean (17 page)

“I’m glad you’re on my side!” She exclaimed with a gasp.

“Yes, your side.” He said assuredly.

“Right...” Lisa answered, somewhat disturbed, and then crept into the house; it looked different when it was dark with no activity in the kitchen. “Rasina?” She called out, hoping Rolan’s wife was still here. “It’s me, Lisa. The Ravagers are attacking the city. I’m here to make sure you’re okay.” She made her way to the table where the dinner party took place and looked at all of the food laid out, like someone had been there recently. “Rasina? Please, I need to know you’re okay.”

Suddenly, from behind, she heard a cry of anger and turned around to see a metal object swing at her face. She threw up her hands and ducked just in time, causing the mysterious attacker to miss and trip over her foot, falling to the ground with a thud. The glowing light from the figure pierced the darkness, and she saw Rasina’s face, her lips, eyes, and cheeks outlined with a vibrant green.

“Rasina! It’s me! Lisa!”

Rasina pushed away from her and screamed, begging her to spare her life. “Stay away! Do not kill me!”

“Rasina! It’s me, Lisa, remember?!” She held her hand out invitingly. “I only want to help you!”

“Lies!” She shouted with a series of kicks. “Stay away from me, traitor!”

“Traitor?!” Lisa reeled in incredulity. “What?!”

“You betrayed our people to the Ravagers! You tried to kill our leader!” She gasped at the thought that next entered her mind. “Where is my husband?! What have you done with him?!”

“I didn’t do anything to him!” She cast the accusation aside. “And I’m not a traitor! Tural is lying to you! He doesn’t want anyone to know the truth!”

“No! Get away, human!”

“Rasina, please,” she implored, “I came back to get you! We can find Rolan and the others together!”

“NO!” She pushed herself further away from Lisa, kicking and shouting to keep her at a distance.

“Rasina, come on!” She pleaded on her knees, hoping she would listen, yet she continued to resist. Then, silencing them both was a hideous cry in the distance, freezing them in place and drawing their attention to the streets outside. “Oh, no…” Lisa breathed sharply, her muscles tensed in fear, “we have to go, now!”

“No! Get off me, human!” She shook Lisa’s arm loose and slapped her hands away.

“Rasina! Trust me! I’m your friend!”

“No!”

The heart-wrenching sound repeated, its menacing discord stunning everything in range of hearing. They threw their hands up to cover their ears, grunting in pain until it stopped. “Come!”

Lisa seized Rasina by the arm, yanked her erect, and dragged her to the door. As they crossed over the threshold, they saw a squad of Ravager soldiers stomping down the street surrounding a tall, slender figure clad in wicked spiked armor.

“The Ravagers!” They halted abruptly. “You led them here!” Rasina’s condemnation and subsequent struggle to wrest free alerted them, and in seconds the house was being bombarded with gunfire.

“Get down!” She fell to the ground and jerked Rasina with her, crawling back inside.
Oh, no, what now?!
Her eyes raced around the dark house for an answer. “Is there another way out of here?”

Rasina trembled with fear and shook her head. “No, the front door is the only exit!”

Feeling around in her pockets for the devices Radovan had given her, Lisa pulled out one shaped like an orb. “I have an idea!”

Fondling the device, she found a soft button and pushed it, causing the orb to expand, tick a few times from mechanisms moving inside, and then contract, the muted yellow outlines lighting up from the activation.
I hope this works…
She peeked outside and tossed the device at the line of Ravagers, the orb landing directly in the center of the group. Instantly, the clamor of battle hushed and an explosion rocked them to their core, the sheer force of the shockwave an obvious affirmation that everything nearby had been wiped out.

“Are they gone?” Rasina asked Lisa while she watched her edge out into the darkness.

“I think so.” She saw the glint of some weapons and armor on the ground mingling with the faded silhouettes of Ravager bodies. “It’s safe now.” She turned back to Rasina and held a hand out. “Come with me.”

She reluctantly agreed, still uncertain she could trust her. “Uh… okay…”

They stepped out onto the street where the glow from Rasina’s body cast rays of soft light at the surroundings. “Radovan? Where are you?!” She shouted and looked about, groaning in anger when he didn’t respond. “Damn it!”

“Who is Radovan?” Rasina stared at her worriedly.

“I thought he was my friend.” She hung her head and sighed. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, where are we going?”

“I don’t know,” her hands met her face, the sounds of destruction and misery tempting her to resign herself to failure, “I don’t know!” She cried again in anger, her tone mixed with sorrow. “I just want to find Flynn!”

“What? Why do you need me for that?” Rasina asked.

“I don’t,” she marched up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “I came back to make sure you were safe.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought you were my friend, too!”

“Well…”

“Nevermind, would you just help me find Flynn, please? He’s probably with Rolan right now, anyway, so we both want the same thing.”

She looked down in doubt. “But Tural…”

“Ugh!” She broke her pleas and walked away, determined to continue without her. Then, she stopped and thought of when she was with Flynn the night they had dinner.
He wouldn’t just give up on her. There ARE good people.
She took a deep breath, holding back tears, and turned around to Rasina, who was still standing there dumbfounded in the midst of all the fallen Ravagers. “Look, I don’t know what Tural told you, but he lied. I just saved you from the Ravagers because you are my friend, and that’s what friends do. If you want to trust Tural over me right now, that’s your decision. But whatever you decide, make it fast, because it’s dangerous here and I’m going to look for Flynn with or without help.”

“Lisa… I…” She stepped slowly up to her and let her gaze fall to the ground as she thought. With a sigh, she fixed her sable eyes on Lisa’s and spoke. “Where would Flynn be now?”

“I don’t know…” She said with a doleful shrug and shake of her head. “I don’t even know if he or Rolan or Vale or anyone else is still alive.”

“Maybe we should start with Tural, then.” She said reassuringly. “He would know where they are.”

“Tural wants to kill me! You think he’s just going to tell us where we can find them?!”

“I do not know, but I believe we should try.”

Lisa sighed again and then suddenly felt the warmth of Rasina’s hand in hers. “Okay…” she relented, “you’re right… let’s go find Tural.”

Before they could start off towards their destination, the hideous sound of the Ravagers rang in their ears, bringing them to their knees in pain. The Ravager officer stood behind them, clad in spiked black armor and coated with the purple blood of its own injuries that stained its face and hands, still howling in its guttural language as before. With a swing of its arm, it cast Rasina aside like a rag doll, and then grabbed Lisa by the throat, pulling her close to its clicking jaws.

“Ah! Help!” She screamed and tried to fight off her attacker, but the strength of the Ravager was far superior to her own; its grasp alone felt like a vise grip around her neck. “Rasina! Radovan! Anyone?!”

Her fading screams were choked silent, the Ravager glaring at her furiously for the pain she inflicted upon it earlier. She prayed for it to stop, not knowing how much longer she could take it, and then, from out of nowhere, a bolt of energy struck the back of the Ravager strangling her, and she was dropped to the ground gasping for air.

“Oh, my god!” She watched her attacker claw at the hole in its back, wailing in agony from the mortal wound. It weakly thrashed about before it fell to its knees, and then promptly onto its face, the thud sending vibrations crawling through her heart. “Oh, my god!”

From behind came Radovan, who stamped up to the Ravager officer and held his rifle out ready to fire again. In its dying breath, it tried again to communicate in its language, this time directly to Radovan, who stood shocked before it and lowered his weapon in contemplation.

“Radovan!” Lisa scrambled to her feet and hugged him.

“What are you doing?” He asked and stared at her confused.

“Hugging you!” Her lip then quivered in anger. With a hard hand, she slapped him across the face. “Where were you earlier?!”

He stepped back for a moment, astounded by the blow to his face, and then pointed to the top of a nearby building. “The roof. There was a superior vantage point from there.”

“What?! Are you kidding me?!” She clenched her fists, prepared to slap him again, but threw up her hands instead. “Gah! Nevermind!” She rubbed the skin around her neck, feeling like something was still wrapped tightly around it. “Let’s just get out of here!”

She knelt down to Rasina and checked to see if she was okay; nothing was broken, only a few bruises. She helped her up and glanced towards the inner city, the horrid sounds, flickering lights, and burning smells made a home for fear within her heart. First hesitant, she then reached for her absent necklace with thoughts of Flynn and sighed.

“Let’s try to stay together.” Their hearts and minds steeled for whatever would come next, they ran off towards the city and into the heart of the fighting. “To Tural’s chambers!”

Chapter 16

To Convince a King

Tural’s chambers was at last in sight; Flynn and Vale saw the imposing metal doors from the cover they sat behind as they tried to figure out a way inside. Although an invasion was in progress, the two guards that stood watch on Tural’s chambers were still there, performing their sole duty through to the final hours.

“How do we get past them?” Flynn looked at Vale for an answer. “You know… without killing them?”

“I will open the doors, and then, unfortunately, we must stun them.” She said, locking her weapon into firing position.

“There has to be a way we can talk them down or something… If I can’t convince two simple guards to follow me, then how am I supposed to convince Tural?”

“So, that is your plan? Convince Tural to follow you?” She hummed in thought. “Gain control of the leader and the rest will follow.” A grin crept across her face. “Impressive, for an archaeologist.”

“Hey!” He blushed in embarrassment.

“But surely, then, you must know that these guards are loyal exclusively to Tural. There is nothing you can do or say to sway them unless you have Tural on your side.” She moved into a position ready to approach them. “A course the rest of the Subterranean population will no doubt follow.” She turned to him. “I am the only one who trusts you now, Flynn.”

She went to stand up, but Flynn jerked her back down. “Wait!”

“What?” She clenched her fist to fight back, but slowly relaxed when Flynn looked at her inquisitively.

“Why?”

She looked at him confused. “Why what?

“Why are you the only one who trusts me?”

She paused, staring at the rocky ground for an answer. “You are my friend.” She said with a smile.

He shook his head doubtfully. “That’s not the reason.”

“Is it not?”

“No…” He cocked his head. “There’s something else.”

She simply smiled in response, shifting the subject to the matter at hand. “I hope you are an accurate marksman.” She chuckled softly and headed towards the doors to Tural’s chambers, running with a frantic look on her face to be appropriately convincing of a loyal officer running to her leader in a time of great peril.

“Overseer Vale!” One of the guards already moved to open the doors while the other asked about the situation of the city. “How far have the Ravagers gotten, Overseer?”

“Far enough,” she said confidently, her voice displaying a totally different demeanor than Flynn had become accustomed to, “it ends here.” She turned her head around to look at Flynn in the distance and, with a nod, gave him the signal to open fire.

Okay, two guys, two shots.
He lined up his sights first on the conversing guard, blasting him with a stun bolt that dropped him to the ground, and then on the second guard, but the bolt missed and exploded into the wall, covering the scene in sparks and a bright flash.

“Overseer, get down!” The guard pushed her aside and started firing at Flynn, shaving away inches of his cover with a shower of lethal bolts. From on the ground, Vale yanked out her sidearm and shot the guard squarely in the chest, the stun blast instantly rendering him unconscious.

Flynn breathed a sigh of relief when the commotion stopped, peering out from cover to see the result of the situation. “Vale!” He sprinted up to her lying on the ground and knelt beside her. “Are you okay?”

“I am fine, Flynn.” She used his shoulder to push herself up. “Your aim, however, is another matter.”

“What can I say?” He rose to his feet with a smirk. “I’m an archaeologist.”

“Yes,” she entered the airlock to Tural’s chambers with him, “you should leave that out of your speech.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Speech?”

“Yes,” she pushed the controls to seal them inside and begin the decontamination process, “I assume you will need one to persuade Tural.”

“Hmm, I guess I hadn’t really thought about that…”

“You do not even know how to persuade Tural to join your side?” She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, the hot steam from the depressurizing valves gently kissing her face. “Very well, then… Perhaps you should appeal to his sense of commitment.”

“Commitment?” He asked curiously. “To what?”

“He made a promise to preserve the Subterranean species.”

“Well, I guess any leader would make a promise like that.”

“Indeed, but his was special because he made it to Lunnak himself.”

“Lunnak? The ancient ruler of the Subterraneans?” He eyed Vale with a scrutinizing look. “Just how long do members of your species live?”

“Longer than your species,” she said flatly, “but, true, technically he did not make the promise to Lunnak directly. It was passed down through generations of his ancestors until Tural finally accepted it as a child.”

“Great, a childhood promise to a father figure.” He sighed and turned to face the door; the decontamination process was nearly complete. “This is not going to be fun.”

“It is highly unlikely you will be successful.” She said with a grin.

“Oh, good, I thought it was just me.”

“But your cause is just.” She explained. “He will see reason, even if it is not immediately. He is no savage.”

He noticed her replace her weapon, and then reluctantly followed suit. “I hope so.”

With a hiss, the doors to Tural’s chambers parted open and there sat the revered leader at his desk with an energy pistol pointed at Flynn and Vale. They stood frozen at the sight, both instinctively reaching for their weapons, but suppressing the urge when Tural spoke, his voice the very definition of desperation.

“Reach for your weapons and you are both dead.” His hand was unsteady, shaking slightly with anxiety.

“Tural,” Flynn stepped into the office, “I—“

“Do not move, human!” He fired a warning shot at the wall, turning Flynn to a statue.

“Okay,” he put his hands halfway up in placation, “I just want to talk, Tural.”

“Talk?!” He gritted his teeth. “You are a Ravager agent! You and your human female friend!” He turned his gaze to Vale. “And you, Overseer… How could you do this to me? I trusted you!”

“How could I do
what
?” She asked mockingly. “Side with our only hope of survival?”

“Survival?!” He pointed accusingly at Flynn. “He is the reason we now face our doom! The very reason this planet will be destroyed along with everyone you have ever loved!”

“He made a mistake, Tural.” Vale calmly said. “He was overeager to discover the truth, and we are partly to blame for withholding it from him. Had we only told him from the beginning…”

“Traitor!” Tural slammed his fist down. “It does not matter what his intentions were, the fact is there are Ravagers out there now destroying the last remnants of our ancient civilization and
he
is to blame.” He aimed the pistol at Flynn. “You could not simply keep out of our affairs, could you, human? If you had only followed the protocols and accepted what we told you, you could have lived a peaceful and prosperous life here… but now you will die here with us!”

“Tural!” Flynn stomped up to the desk, throwing a chair aside and planting his hands down with an authoritative thud. “Would you listen to me for a minute?! I am NOT a Ravager agent! They’re destroying my planet just as they are destroying yours now! I want to stop them as badly as you do, but I can’t do that without your help!”

Tural jumped up out of his seat and retreated towards the back wall. “Help?!” He scoffed, still holding his pistol out at Flynn and occasionally shifting his aim over to Vale. “You come in here and dare ask for my help?! With all of the damage you have caused?!”

“Tural,” Flynn lowered his voice and looked up at him, “I know you promised Lunnak that you would protect the security of this species, but look outside right now,” he cast a hand in the obstructed direction of the city, “you have done so well all these years because the Ravagers have never made it this far, but now that they have, you don’t know what to do.” He brought a finger up to his head and tapped it against his temple. “I, however, know exactly what to do.” He watched Tural turn speechless and rub his chin. “I have seen the destruction the Ravagers cause for myself and I forfeited the chance to save my people out of despair, the same despair that you feel now. But there’s still a chance for you to save your people, to keep your promise with Lunnak, and to live. You just need to help me fight a common foe.”

In the midst of all the careful introspection, it appeared as though Tural might accept Flynn’s offer, but an explosion closer and more powerful than any of the others suddenly rushed through the caves, knocking the three of them off balance with recurring jolts of violent tremors. The abrupt surge of action reignited tensions and wild bolts of searing plasma began flying across the room. Rock and dust polluted the air, making it hard to see, but the boulder that struck Tural down was still visible through it all, undoubtedly rendering him unconscious, if not dead.

“Tural!” Flynn coughed uncontrollably, clouds of dust pouring out from the ceiling that threatened to collapse on him at any moment. “Tural!” He recklessly stumbled his way over to the large rock that pinned Tural down and tried to free him from it, when suddenly he felt Vale’s hands latch onto him. “Get off me,” he fought to break her grasp, “we have to save him!”

“No!” She kicked him behind the knee and yanked him back, dragging him inside the airlock. “There is no time, this chamber is collapsing!”

“No! We’re on our own without him!” He heard a slam against the controls and the doors began to close. “We need him!”

He reached his hand out to the seat of Subterranean power and the person who once sat in it, the only hope he had of uniting its peoples, now crumbling down in a mess of destruction. He tried desperately to get back in there, but by the time he managed to push Vale off of him, there was barely enough space for his arm through the closing doors.

“Damn it!” He beat his fist on the doors, shouting for them to open. “NO!”

“Flynn,” she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, “it is okay.”

“Get off me!”

He slapped her arm away and pushed her against the wall. From within her eyes, he saw a glimpse of vulnerability from her, not one of physical danger, but of something indescribable. He couldn’t quite put words to it, though he could feel the wrong he had committed against her resonating deep within him. She didn’t deserve his misdirected anger, and he felt horrible for losing control of it. However angry he was at her for pulling him out of the cave-in, she was right.

“Sorry, I, uh… I… shouldn’t have done that.” He stepped back and helped her off the wall, still holding onto her hand when their eyes met, and his heart started to race alongside his quick breaths. Without warning, she slapped him hard across the face. “Ouch! What was that for?!” He turned away from her, rubbing his face. A simple squint of her eyes was all he needed to understand. “Never mind, I get it. I won’t do that again.”

When the airlock finished the decontamination process, the doors split open and out they came, considering what to do now that Tural was dead. There wasn’t much time for planning, however, as Rolan suddenly appeared, weapon in his hands, the city and everything he cared for engulfed in flames behind him… and the cause of it all standing in front of him.

Betrayal

“You!” Rolan brought his weapon to bear on Flynn and Vale, his aggressive stance emphasizing his words thickened with anger. “What are you doing here?!” He saw the doors to Tural’s chambers closing behind them. “Where is Tural?!”

“Rolan!” Flynn shouted, over the chaotic clamor within the city. “We need your help!”

“Ha! We?!” He pointed his rifle at Vale. “You sided with the human over your own people, Vale?!”

“No, I sided with both.” She said, slightly annoyed. “I have explained myself to you already, Rolan, and you agreed with me.”

“That was before I saw the video of him breaking into the hangar!” He turned his rifle back on Flynn. “He attacked one of our own people to contact the Ravagers!”

“Rolan, that does not make any sense! Why would Flynn want to contact the Ravagers?! He hates them!”

“It does not matter what his intentions were; the Ravagers are here now and hundreds of our people fall, yet he still lives!” Rolan clicked his weapon into firing position.