0

Field of a Thousand Swords

“No! Please don’t. Stop. I’ll go for you if you let Kurou live.” Ami screamed.

Yasu lowered his sword and looked up at her with a grin. “That’s more like it. Do you swear?” he asked with a low growl.

Ami nodded as the tears ran down her cheeks.

“That’s not a good answer,” Yasu roared as he raised his sword and pulled Kurou’s head for the final blow.

“Yes! Yes, I swear. I swear on the life of my unborn children. I’ll go to your field of swords and fetch this Reaper’s Toll you are talking about. I swear it. Just let Kurou go.” Ami sobbed.

Yasu grinned wickedly as he lowered his sword. Then he gave Kurou a hard shove to the ground.

Kurou groaned and rolled over to look at Yasu. “No! You must not do this. He already had the Scarlet Terzite. If you give him the sword, he will be unstoppable.”

Ami shook her head and wiped the tears from her face as she shakily to her feet. “He is already unstoppable, Kurou. He defeated all five of us without it. The others are dead or dying. I just want us to live.”

Kurou groaned and refused to look at her.

“I will not look at your face ever again if you do this.”

“I don’t care if you don’t look at me, Kurou. Just knowing that you are still alive will be enough for me. The hope that someday you will look upon me again will be enough.”

“I will never look at you again,” Kurou spat in her direction, and then moaned in pain at the movement. Then he tried to push himself up.

Yasu kicked Kurou in the ribs. Hard. Ami heard ribs crack.

“Please stop it,” she sobbed. “I already said I would fetch your stupid sword. Now, leave him alone.”

Yasu smiled as he kicked Kurou again. “I don’t trust your kind,” he growled. “If I let him up, he’ll do something that would make me want to kill him. I need him alive for you to do what I want. So, it’s best he stay down.”

The large, burly man spat at Kurou who lay groaning at his feet. “Now, go fetch me my sword you snotty, little brat.”

Ami looked up at him pleadingly, “But where is it? How do you want me to get it if you don’t tell me where it is?”

Yasu snorted, “Seriously? You expect me to believe that line. You and your friends attacked me to try and steal the Scarlet Terzite. It’s obvious you wanted it to get to the Field of Swords. Why else would you have come after me like that?”

He reached down and grabbed Kurou by the back of his coat and tossed him over his shoulder.

“Walk in front of me down this way,” he grunted while pointing down the shadowy tunnel.

Ami walked slowly shuffling her feet more than she had to just to buy some extra time.

“What about my friends back there?” she asked.

“What about them? They’re dead. You can come back and bury them after you get me my sword.”

Amy asked him a few other questions, but he didn’t answer. Yasu told her to shut up and keep walking. He paused from time to time when they came to branching tunnels as if trying to remember which way to go.

Finally, he stopped and motioned for her to step inside. She walked into a massive cavern full of exquisite stalactites and stalagmites that had formed over hundreds and thousands of years.

They came to the other side of the cavern and Yasu motioned her through a smaller tunnel that led to another smaller cavern.

A soft blue glow filled the room. It was beautiful. It emanated from a round circle in the middle of the cavern.

“What is that?” she asked.

Yasu guffawed in scorn, “Seriously, you’re still gonna play dumb and act like you don’t know what that is?”

Ami shrugged and looked at him blankly waiting patiently for his reply.

“C’mon! That’s the portal to Sechya.”

“Sechya?” Ami exclaimed. “But that is over a thousand miles away. What’s in Sechya?”

Ami’s sobbing had ceased. She seemed enthralled with the sight of the portal before her.

Yasu scoffed. “That’s where my sword is, and it is far. That’s why you need the portal.”

“But I was told portals like this were dangerous,” Ami exclaimed. “In the stories, my grandmother told me as a child there is always a trap.”

“Of course, to keep others out. Your people built this and set traps to kill my kind.”

“So, what traps are here and how do we get through it?” she asked.

“Not we! You. I’ll stay here with your friend while you fetch me the sword. And don’t even think of trying anything funny. I’ll slit your friend’s throat without thinking twice.”

Ami sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Just tell me what it looks like and how to find it. Quickly, so I can come back and help him before he bleeds out.”

Yasu kept his eyes fixed on her as he pulled a piece of folded paper out of his pocket. He held it by the corner and shook it out so that it unfolded. It was old and brown and tattered and worn.

“Wow!” Ami exclaimed as she stared at Yasu’s crude drawing of a sword. “It looks like you drew that a long time ago. Huh? How long have you been looking for this thing.”

A low growl erupted from Yasu’s throat, “Far too long. Far too long. I spent my life searching for this weapon.”

“Why?” Ami asked.

The grotesque orc stared at her a long moment before answering, “Once I have it, I will exact vengeance upon my enemies. And I will drive them away from this mountain so my people can once more live in peace from those who have enslaved us to dig out the treasures the mountain hides. Then the treasure will be ours once more.”

Ami sensed the passion emanating from him as he spoke.

“So, what does this sword do?” she asked. “Why is it so important to you? And how will it help you?”

She looked back at the portal and squinted. It seemed like she could make out the faint outline of a sword on the other side of the glowing blue light.

“It’s the sharpest blade ever forged here in these mountains. Some say it is so sharp that it could cut through the hardest rock like goat butter in the summer sun. Once I possess it, I will slice through my enemy’s ranks as none of their weapons will be able to withstand me. With the Scarlet Terzite in one hand to protect me, and the Reaper’s Toll in the other, I shall be undefeated and vanquish my enemies.”

Yasu’s low growl increased to a roar so that by the end he was shouting the words at her as his arms flailed wildly. Ami had to wipe bits of slobber from her face with her sleeves.

“Okay, okay. I get it. So, how do I get through the portal then if there are traps? I can’t even see what is on the other side.”

Yasu grinned and pulled out the Scarlet Terzite. He stepped closer to the portal. The blue glow cleared so that they could see through to the other side. Ami could see a field full of swords all stuck into the ground.

“So, that’s why they call it the field of swords,” she muttered. “How did they get there?”

“They were taken there when great warriors died. It’s a safe haven for them where they are protected from the elements until such a time as one worthy to wield them was found. Or at least that’s what the legends say. They say that the Reaper’s Toll was…”

“C’mon, I don’t have all day or Kurou is going to bleed out,” Ami interrupted him. “Let me go get the sword and then you can tell me all about it.”

Yasu cocked his head to the side and looked at her with a pleased look. “Yes, good. Go!” he commanded.

“But what about traps,” Ami asked. “What if I die going through. Then how will you get the sword.”

The orc grunted and frowned as if he hadn’t considered the possibility. “But your kind can go through there. Only I cannot. It is a trap for me.”

Ami shrugged. “Maybe, but there may be something else that triggers it too.”

Yasu smacked his face with his hands and sighed in exasperation. He walked around in a small circle and motioned her through. “Just go. I’ll take my chances. If you die, I will find someone else of your kind.”

“But you won’t have any leverage over them like you have with me and Kurou.”

“Argh!” Yaso roared. “So, what’s your plan woman. What do you suggest?”

Ami shrugged. “We should at least throw somebody through to make sure that portal won’t burn me up like it would you.”

“Haha! Very smart woman. You want me to throw your friend through first and then you will jump through and run away. I am not that stupid.”

“No, I wasn’t thinking of him. I was thinking of the body of my friend that you killed back there. You can throw her through just to make sure nothing will happen to me because I sure don’t want to die going through this portal today.

“Hmmmm…” Yasu growled. “I suppose you are right. I don’t want to have you die. Then who would get my sword for me.”

The bald-headed orc growled and ran his large rough hand over his grisly gray bread as he pondered his options for a moment.

“C’mon! Let’s go fetch the other body,” he finally said.

He threw Kurou over his shoulder and walked back through the tunnels the way they had come. When they arrived back where the fight had started, he pointed at one of the bodies on the ground.

“What?” Ami said. “You’re the big, strong orc. You can carry them both.”

“I’m not doing all the work here,” Yaso growled.

“Well, fine! But the other guy over there is smaller and lighter.”

Yaso set Kurou down and helped Ami heave his body over her shoulder. She staggered and stumbled under his weight as they walked back down the corridor. They had to stop a few times for her to set him down and catch her breath. Yaso had to set Kurou down and help her each time.

They finally made it back to the portal. It had closed again and turned blue. Ami heaved the weight she was carrying to the ground and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

“Let’s go! We don’t have all day. I want my sword.” Yaso complained.

Ami pointed at the portal, “Well, first you have to open it though. Right?”

Yaso snarled at her and looked like he was about to say something but didn’t. He pulled the Scarlet Terzite from his pocket and held it in front of the portal until it cleared. He nodded for her to continue.

Ami picked up her friend’s arm and held it by the sleeve as she tried to push it through.

“It’s not going through,” she huffed. “Maybe he has to go through with the Scarlet Terzite.”

The orc snorted and his nostrils flared. “I’m not giving you the Scarlet Terzite, woman.”

“Well, do you want me to get through this portal or not?” she asked. “You’ve never actually used it before, have you?”

He slapped his thick orc hands to his face and roared as he turned away for a moment. Finally, he turned back and handed it to her.

“Fine, take it. But remember what I’ll do to your friend here if you try anything foolish.”

Ami took the red crystal pendant and placed it in her friend’s hand before pushing it through the portal.

“Be careful,” Yaso yelped. “If it falls out on the other side, we may be stuck her without being able to fetch it.”

Ami looked at him with a scowl but then paused for a second to wrap the chain around her friend’s hand so she could pull his arm back through when needed. Then she pushed his arm right on through the portal.

The orc breathed a giant sigh of relief behind her. He was so close that the sound and feel of his warm breath down her neck startled her so that she almost fell through herself. She jumped back, pulling her friend’s arm and the Scarlet Terzite back with her.

“What are you waiting for? Go on!” Yaso berated her.

“Calm down, orc. It’s my life on the line. I want to make sure there aren’t any of those traps that are going to go off after we get him all the way through. Help me turn him around so we can push his whole body through.”

The orc shook his head, “Not me. I’ve seen what it does to other orcs that get too close to this thing. Other orcs have tried before me. I’ve seen it. It was built to keep us orcs from going through to the other side.”

“So, how did you know that the Scarlet Terzite would get me through,” Ami asked.

Yaso shrugged, “My friend and I overheard two of your kind talking. They said the Scarlet Terzite would open the portal to the Field of a Thousand Swords. So, we took it from them. My friend tried to go through the portal. And it turned him into a pile of mush and goop.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ami said after a quiet pause. “Let’s push his feet through first.”

“Don’t let the Scarlet Terzite go through,” the orc rumbled in his all-too-familiar growl as he turned her friend around. The orc gave her friend a slight shove through the portal so he was about halfway through.

Ami lifted his upper body up and pushed him the rest of the way through while holding onto his arm. She let his limp body flop through to the other side of the portal and pulled the Scarlet Terzite off his hand at the last second.

“It works,” she shouted with a glance back at the orc.

He waved her forward and she took a step through. The shimmer around the portal had disappeared and the air was completely clear as if the very fabric that separated the two locations no longer existed.

Ami held up her face to the warm sun that she was now standing under and paused with her arms lifted up over her head.

“Hey! Get the sword,” she heard the orc yelling at her.

She turned and grinned at him. “Hang on to your horses there you impatient imp! Do you know how long I’ve been down in that cave and since I’ve felt the rays of the sun warming my body?”

Ami saw his face fill with rage and he flinched as if he were going to leap through the portal at her. She just grinned and looked back at the field around her.

It was full of pink and white flowers. Dozens of swords stuck up out of the ground around them with their sheaths beside them.

She pulled a sword out of the ground and waved it in the air around with masterful skill. She picked up its sheath and slid the sword into it. Then placed it on her side.

Ami turned and smiled at the orc. “Come get your sword, Yaso. I have no idea which one it is, but I think I’m going to keep this one.”

“What?” the orc shouted in a thunderous roar. “I’m going to chop off your friend’s head.”

He slid his sword from its sheath and reached down to grab Kurou’s head in a threatening gesture.

Ami just smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she placed the Scarlet Terzite around her neck.

“Go ahead. You can’t get to me. I’m safe. Do what you want to with him because I didn’t care for him much in the first place.”

The look of shock on the orc’s face at realizing he had been had was classic. He screamed and threw his sword at her. Ami easily dodged it and just kept laughing.

“C’mon, Hibiki!” she said kicking at the body of her friend. “You can get up now. No, need to keep acting.”

Hibiki opened his eyes and smiled at her. “Whew! That was close. I almost threw up when that stinky orc got close to me to help you pick me up.”

He reached a hand up and Ami helped pull him to his feet. “You always were a good actor.”

They glanced over at the orc who had a befuddled look on his face as he tried to process what was going on.

“What?!” Kurou yelled. “You’re going to leave me here to die.”

Ami shrugged. “Sorry, Kurou. That crazy orc would kill us all anyway if we gave him what we wanted. This is what we came for. Right? Our task was to get the Scarlet Terzite and come through the portal. I saw that Hibiki wasn’t really dead like the others. He had only passed out. I just had to improvise after Yaso bested you to get us over here.”

Yaso took a step forward and growled at them, “Careful, woman. You swore an oath on the life of your unborn children that you would get me that sword. Your word is your honor.”

Ami smiled wistfully, “Truth is, that I can’t have kids, Yaso. My doctor told my parents that years ago. So, that’s not something I’ll have to worry about. Is it?”

Yaso let off a string of thunderous curse words in his language that Ami had no idea what he was saying, although she imagined they were probably pretty foul as he took another step forward.

“Careful, Yaso!” the woman cautioned. “You don’t want to turn into a pile of goop and slime like your friend. Do you?”

He held up his hand and pushed it forward slowly. It came through the edge of the portal without anything happening to him. Ami and Hibiki took a nervous step back.

“It seems the portal is wide open. I think you forgot to close it behind you, little lady.” the orc said with a smirk. “When you called me an imp, I almost went into a rage and close enough to sense that the portal’s protection was no longer blocking me.”

Ami pressed closer to Hibiki and whispered for him to grab a sword while she covered him. She began to slide her sword out of its sheath. Hibiki lunged for the nearest sword sticking up out of the ground. But the orc was still faster.

He closed the gap between them and grabbed the hilt of her sword with one hand and slapped her to the side with the other.

The orc spun around and lashed out the tip of Ami’s sword clean through Hibiki’s wrist whose hand fell off still holding the sword he had tried to grab.

Hibiki fell to his knees screaming and clutching his wounded arm with his good hand.

Yaso walked over to the woman who lay sprawled on the ground where she had landed. “What was it that you said about improvising?” he smirked as he circled her.

He waited in front of her as she pulled herself to her knees. Ami had landed on top of a sword and pulled it up behind her back. Hoping that the orc wouldn’t see the tip until she had a chance to use it. Waiting for him to come closer.

Yaso didn’t disappoint. He got right up close in her face. Grinning with that taunting smile.

“Thank you for opening the portal, Ami. Now, I can find my sword myself. This turned out much better than I expected. In fact, I think I see it sticking up right over there.”

As he turned to point to the side, Ami swung her sword out from behind her back and shoved the weapon up into his chest as hard as she could.

He looked down at her in shock. “You don’t cease to amaze me, human. For a female of your kind, you are very resilient and so full of surprises. Too bad you are not one of us. I would take you for my wife. There would never be a dull moment with you around.”

Ami waited for him to step back or fall forward. But when he smiled, she looked down at the sword she had shoved at his chest. She pulled it back. Then sighed in frustration when she realized that the blade had broken.

The orc pushed his fingers through the hole the sword had made in his shirt, exposing the hard leather and chainmail protection he was wearing. He continued holding on to Ami with the other hand.

A glimmer of sunlight flickered in Ami’s eyes and bright flash accompanied by a swishing sound of sweeping sword before it connected with the orc’s thick arm. The orc screamed and let go of Ami immediately.

She fell back to the ground and saw Hibiki looking just as a shocked as the orc did.

“A hand for a hand, and a wrist for a wrist, you orc scum,” Hibiki shouted in gleeful anguish. “No protection there. Huh?”

The orc’s arms were thick and strong, and Hibiki only had one arm to swing the sword with. So, it hadn’t cut clean through the orc flesh and bone but gotten stuck about half way through.

The orc grabbed the handle of the sword with his good hand and roared as he pulled it loose.

“Your kind should know better than to mess with someone like me. You’re weak and pathetic. That’s why I didn’t kill you in the beginning but let you live. I should have followed my instincts and cut your heads off right from the start.” he spat at Ami who was scrambling to get away from him on all fours.

Hibiki was limping over to pick up another sword. He turned to face the orc with his sword pointed in its face. But the orc swatted it to the side. His powerful arm were no match for his scrawnier, punier opponent’s.

Even though he only had one, good arm to swing with, he drew his sword back and brought it straight down on Hibiki’s head, cleaving through his skull.

Yaso didn’t even try to pull it free. He left it there and turned to go after Ami before she became a threat. She had found a sword and was turning around, but Yaso didn’t even bother finding another weapon to face her with.

He simply dodged her attack and swatted her arm in the opposite direction. She attempted to recover and swing back in the other direction. But before she could come back around, the orc smashed her across the face.

Ami fell hard. The sword fell beside her. She lifted her head to look for it, but the world swirled around her from the pain of the blow. She felt around for the sword, but by time her fingers found it, the orc had already stomped his giant foot down on it.

Yaso bent over and swatted her hand away. He picked the sword by the handle, then wiped his face with the back of his other hand. He wiped away the sweat, but ended up smearing blood from his wounded arm which only made matters worse.

The orc spat to the side and stared down at Ami with so much hatred that she could almost feel the rage emanating from him.

“I rue ever considering accepting your offer to get the sword in exchange for your friend’s life,” he growled as he flipped the sword in his hand so the blade faced down.

Yaso raised it over her throat for the final blow. Ami raised her arm and turned her face to protect herself.

She heard the sound of metal slicing through flesh. She felt the splatter of warm blood across her face and body. But she felt no pain.

Ami pulled her arm back and looked up to see Yaso with a large blade sticking out of his throat and another through the middle of his chest.

He dropped his sword and reached up to feel the blade coming through his flesh.

The orc continued to look at her in disbelief as he tried to understand what had just happened. He turned around slowly to face Kurou before falling to his knees.

“What? How?” he said as he fingered the sword coming through the breastplate in his chest.

“I guess you were right about the Reaper’s Toll cutting through anything,” Kurou said before bringing a third sword across the orc’s neck. It took three or four hacks for Kurou to chop off.

“Do you think he’s really dead?” Kurou asked as he pulled the Reaper’s Toll from the orc’s chest.

Then Kurou came over and bent over Ami. She smiled at him and sat up trying to hug him.

“Oh, Kurou! I’m so glad you’re safe.” she said with a sob.

“Oh, save it, woman. Your tears don’t fool me anymore.” he said as he pulled the Scarlet Terzite from her neck. “You left me back there for dead.”

He stood up and walked away. Ami scrambled to her feet.

“Wait! Where are you going? I’m coming with you.”

“I’m going to finish my mission. You can go back to whatever hole you crawled out of before I found you.” he growled.

Ami fell to her knees.

“No, please don’t leave me. Stop. I’ll go with you and fight with you!” Ami screamed after him.

Kurou turned and smiled at the irony of her words before stepping back through the portal and closing it behind him.

0

Gage the Aixtron: Return Of The Fallen Warrior

“Pssst! Hey Anwar, come over here.” Anwar whispered loudly across the abandoned, old junkyard.

Muhamed looked up from the pile of junk that he had been quietly digging through and set down a handful of trash that he had been sorting. He brushed off his hands and opened his backpack. Then placed a few items that he had set to the side that he deemed worth keeping into the old, greenish-brown backpack he had picked up a few weeks ago on the other side of the junkyard.

It was old but practical. Everyone had wanted the backpack. Some had asked him for it. Others tried to trade something else for the large bag. Imram had even offered him fifty Syndicate Pieces that were commonly referred to as the Haoding. But Muhamad had turned them down.

Having the larger, sturdier bag meant he could carry more than twice the amount of stuff back to the underground village easier. It had already paid for itself in the short time he had it.

Muhamed packed his items carefully inside the bag and closed it. Then he slid it over his shoulders before heading over to Anwar.

“What is it?” he whispered quietly while trying to figure out what it was exactly that Anwar had found.

“It’s an AIX-49, silly!” Anwar retorted in an aggravated but hushed tone.

Muhamed squinted and stooped closer for a better look. He could see an arm and part of its side where Anwar had pulled away the surrounding trash.

“I don’t know what an AIX-49 is, but I’m sure you can scavenge some of its parts for a fair amount of Haoding from the hackers over in Pagarh.”

He started to walk away, but Anwar grabbed onto his leg and pulled him back.

“Where are you going? Help me get it out. I want to take it down there whole. Not just a few pieces. I’m sure it will be worth much more this way.”

Muhamad scowled at the thought of all the work it would take to dig the robot out and drag it back to camp. “You should just cover it up and go see if you can find anyone interested in it before going to all that trouble. Besides, we only have a few hours left before dark, and I still have to meet my quota. I haven’t found much of anything that will interest the quartermaster.”

Now it was Anwar’s turn to scowl. “But someone else may find it and dig it out before we return. C’mon, help me out. I’ve already had more than my quota for the day. I’ll share it with you. Hurry up and help me claim it before Annisa gets here.”

The younger boy glanced over his shoulder and saw the lithe young, dark-haired girl coming around a pile of twisted metal over to his left. He sighed and threw himself down onto the dirty heap of rubbish that Anwar had been sifting through.

“Fine, I’ll help you. But I don’t like it. I’ve never heard of an AIX-49, but if they are anything like the Mechans, then it’s dangerous to even be messing around with.” he whispered hoarsely as he grudgingly began clearing trash and debris away from the machine.

“What did you boys find?” Annisa whispered when she came up behind them.

“An AIX-49,” Anwar said proudly with a big grin. “It’s what the previous generation of Mechanized Human Control Technology was composed of. They were…”

“I know what an AIX-49 is, silly. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” Annisa said with a scoffing laugh.

“Muhamad didn’t know what one was,” Anwar said with a quiet laugh as he jabbed his friend in the ribs. “And she does.”

Muhamad blushed but kept right on digging as if he hadn’t heard. Annisa crouched down and began helping Muhamad pull away the twisted metal and debris that surrounded the AIX-49. Anwar pushed her shoulder and took her place helping Muhamad move a chunk of metal.

“Go on, Annisa. Find your own scraps to meet your quota. This won’t count as much for quota, and we don’t have enough for you.” Anwar growled in a low voice.

“Quota! You have an AIX-49 that looks like it’s in decent condition, and you’re worried about meeting your quota. What’s wrong with you? Do you know how much this is worth?” she shrieked louder than she had intended.
Anwar slapped his hand over her mouth, “Shhh! Keep it down. You’ll attract the mechans. And yes, we’re going to sell the AIX-49 at the market tomorrow.”

Annisa scoffed again, “At the market, silly boy? You won’t get a tenth of what it’s worth at the market. They’ll only give you what it’s worth in scraps.”

“And you know where to sell it for more?” Anwar asked while trying to keep the hopeful plea out of his voice.
“I do. I have a friend who has an acquaintance. They are willing to pay ten thousand haoding for an AIX-49 or something equivalent.”

Anwar’s jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over as he visualized how he would spend all that money. Muhamad didn’t believe her and asked, “Why are they willing to pay that much for an old Mechan like this?”

She shrugged. “They didn’t say what they wanted it for, but from what I gathered they found a way to hack these things and convert them into fighting for us.”

“And you’ll help us negotiate a good deal with your friends?” Anwar asked.

Annisa nodded.

“Fine,” Anwar agreed while nodding at Muhamad. “We’ll give you ten percent of the price you help us get for it.”

“What?! No way, I want at least fifty. You won’t get anything without my help.” she said with a smirk.

“What?!” Anwar screeched. “But I found it.”

“No,” Muhamad retorted. “We’ll split it evenly three ways.”

“What?!” Anwar screeched again as he turned to face Muham

d. “But I found it. I should get fifty percent and then thirty for each of you.”

Annisa looked at Muhamad and laughed, “Boys, boys, boys. Math never was your strong suit in school. Was it? I’m leaving. Have fun digging your stupid AIX-49 out from under there. It’s probably no good anyway.”

Anwar leaped forward and grabbed her by the arm to stop her. “Fine, we split it equally three ways. But your friends better be legit.”

Annisa smiled and pulled her hair back. Muhamad slung his backpack off to the side under some shade. They began to work quickly to dig out the AIX-49 before it got dark. None of them wanted to be out after the sun went down.

The three worked tirelessly for a while to free the Mechan from the rubble and debris. Muhamad cleared the dirt and debris from around its face. Carefully brushing and blowing at dirt and bugs that filled the lines and crevices of its face and head.

Its face was completely black with a red rim around the top and backside of his head. Robotic sensors and antennas drew back from its head like braids of hair. It didn’t look anything like the modern-day Mechans that he was familiar with.

“What’s that?” Anwar asked from where he was working around the AIX-49’s feet. Muhamad looked over to Annisa who was reading off of a black rectangular object she had picked up.

“I thought it was trash and almost tossed it to the side. But it looks like it’s some kind of power supply,” she said with a shrug. “It might belong to this little baby here.”

Anwar grabbed it from her to read what it said. Annisa tried to grab it back from him and they wrestled for a brief second, but Anwar was bigger and stronger. He yanked it away and held it over his head. The girl pushed him and kicked at his ankles. He just laughed and moved away.

“It looks like it might fit right here,” Muhamad said, pointing to a hole in its head.

Annis and Anwar stepped in for a closer look. Muhamad reached out his hand and Anwar grudgingly handed it over to him. It took a few tries of pushing and twisting until he got it in the right spot and the piece clicked into place.

A greenish-white light lit up the circle around the AIX-49’s face and moved around in a clockwise rotation. Greenish-white lights also lit up along its shoulders.

“Stop! Turn it off.” Annisa hissed as she tried to push her way forward to pull the battery back out. Muhamad had already tried, but there was no way to get a grip on it to pull it out.

There was a loud hissing and vapor started coming up from underneath the AIX-49’s body.

“It’s gonna blow!” Annisa screamed as she and Anwar fled.

Muhamad raced over to grab his backpack but tripped in the process and fell down in a tangled mess. When he pushed himself up, the AIX-49 was already looming over him.

It reached down with its right hand which Muhamad realized was a sharply pointed claw. It hooked into his shirt and pulled him up onto his feet. The AIX-49 drew him close. Muhamad could hear soft whirring noises as if it were analyzing his face.

Muhamad looked around for his friends, but they were nowhere in sight. “Help! C’mon guys. Do something.” he yelled as he tried to pull himself free.

Just then he heard a loud shrill whistle waft across the junkyard. The warning whistle. Mechans were on their way. Most likely attracted by the commotion of Annisa’s screams and the Muhamad’s ruckus with this stupid AIX thing.

He could hear the faint whirring of the drones as came searching through the smog. Muhamad kicked at the AIX-49 and pulled desperately to get free from its claw. But its grip was too strong.

The AIX-49 looked up in the direction of the drones as they came into view. It cocked its head to the side and analyzed them as it had been doing to the boy. The normally aggressive drones paused as if confused by the sight of the AIX-49 and weren’t quite sure what to make of it.

After a few moments, the two drones moved on and continued to search the area. The AIX-49 continued to stand there holding Muhamad while watching the drones float around the area.

One of the drones paused its long, slow circle over the area. Then zipped down toward a pile of junk. Muhamad heard Annisa scream and the loud clatter of junk clattering as she jumped out of her hiding place. She came racing around the trash heap toward Muhamad and the AIX-49.

The drone didn’t have to circle around. It came straight up over the top and cut her off just in front of Muhamad. The faint whirring sound grew louder as it came lower in their direction. Annisa was stuck between two large heaps of junk and had nowhere else to run except back the way she had come.

The small girl turned to flee back in the direction she had just come from only to realize that the second drone had cut off her escape route. She glanced forward and then backward between the two before glancing over at Muhamad who could see the defeat in her eyes as she fought back the tears.

Muhamad tried to pull himself free again. He wanted to do something to help Annisa, but the AIX-49 held him back. He turned back and swung the fleshy, underpart of his fist at its head. But it didn’t do any good. His hand bounced off without even phasing the Mechan. Muhamad took another swing at the Mechan.

After his third swing, Muhamad felt out of breath. He took a fourth swing, but his arm felt heavy and his head felt dizzy. The AIX-49’s tight grip twisting his shirt and jacket up around his neck. Muhamad felt his legs get heavy and go weak as well.

The AIX-49 turned its attention back to the lad and said in a low voice, “When I let go of you, grab the girl and run for cover as fast as you can.”

Muhamad tried to focus and even answer, but his vision started to darken around the edges as he began to blackout. All he could do though was gasp for breath. The AIX-49 suddenly let go of him and leaped into the air.

It seemed to float up toward the closest drone now hovering over Annisa. The drone quickly shifted its attention from the girl and spun to meet the oncoming Mechan. It attempted to float up higher as it moved away from the oncoming AIX-49.

The Mechan had either calculated the drone’s movement or could fly because it continued moving over Annisa’s head along with the floating bot.

The boy wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was really true or just a dream he was having after passing out. He took a step forward in Annisa’s direction. But his legs buckled under him and he fell to his knees.

He took a ragged, gasping breath before glancing up as he pulled himself back up onto his feet. The Mechan had pulled a large sword with a glowing, white blade that seemed to crackle with electricity that it pulled from the air around it.

The AIX-49 brought it down over the drone. The sword seemed to cut through the large drone as if it were warm butter. The drone fell to the ground in two pieces just past Annisa. It turned its attention toward the second drone. And leaped towards it. But it had already turned and was floating over a large heap of trash.

The girl came to her senses and raced toward Muhamad. “C’mon, Muhamad. Let’s get out of here,” she panted in a hushed voice.

But Muhamad didn’t listen. He moved over to where the two halves of the drone lay still quietly clicking and hissing as it tried to move around. He slung the backpack down and managed to slide it into the bag. But it wasn’t big enough to hold them both. So, he picked it up in his arms and tried to carry it.

“What are you doing, Muhamad?” the girl hissed. “We have to get out of here. That thing will be coming back at any minute.”

“Do you know what this thing is worth?” he exclaimed excitedly.

“You’re not going to be able to run and carry that thing. And I’m not gonna dawdle around here while you try to drag that thing back to camp.”

Just then Anwar came out of the heap of trash he had managed to hide under. “It doesn’t seem too heavy. Just put it over your shoulder and run with it. When you get tired, I’ll switch and help you carry it. We’ll trade it off and on until we get back home.”

Annisa let out a gasp of exasperation, “We need to run home before that thing comes back and chops us up with its sword. I can’t help you carry that thing if I’m dead.”

She took off on a dead run through the heaps of grimy trash that lay smothered in the dark smog.

“Annisa’s right. It’ll slow us down. We can come back for it later.

Muhamad shrugged the second half of the drone at the base of a trash heap and threw some smaller junk around it to camouflage it. Anwar started to protest, but then helped throw trash around it too.

Then they both broke into a quick trot toward the camp. Muhamad was moving along at a pretty good pace, even though he was hugging and puffing a lot harder than Anwar. They were about halfway home when Anwar tugged on the backpack to take it from him.

Muhamad paused briefly to shrug it off his back when they heard the crunch of footsteps in the gravel. Both boys spun toward it. The AIX-49 swung its blazing sword at their outstretched arms holding onto the backpack.

They both let go and fell backward as they scrambled to get away from the Mechan. It stood there looking at them. Muhamad stood to his feet first when he realized that the sword had sliced the straps clean off the backpack.

“What did you do?” he squealed out chastising the Mechan as he waved the straps in front of its face.

“You shouldn’t take that back with you. They’ll be able to track it right to you.”

The Mechan reached down and pulled the drawstring that held the bag shut. He shook the drone’s half out onto the ground. He stuck his sword inside of it and sliced off a piece. Then picked it up with the hook of his other hand.

“This is the tracking device. I’ll take it with me to lead any others away from you. You can do what you want with the rest.”

Anwar finally stood to his feet. “You…you aren’t going to kill us. Or take us prisoners?” he stammered.

The AIX-49 chortled. It was a strange robotic sound, but the boys still recognized it as a laugh. They looked at him blankly.

“What?! C’mon. Don’t you boys recognize me?” it asked waving its sword around wildly in the air above its head before striking a pose with its hook hand on its hip and the sword pointed off over its left shoulder.

The two boys looked at each other and shook their heads before looking back at the AIX-49. Its light seemed to dim a bit and its shoulders sagged as it lowered the sword.

“Weird! We are on Autox. Right?” it asked.

The boys nodded.

“And this is Ayukana. Right?” it asked again.

The boys looked at each other quizzically and nodded again.

“So, it’s me. Gage, the AIXtron. Surely, you’ve heard of me. Right?”

This time the boys shook their heads. The so-called, self-named AIXtron looked around at the heaps of rubbish around it. Then up at the sky. It looked down at the drown at its feet. It sighed with a loud hissing sound as smoke rolled out of its back.

“What year are we in? How long have I been down here?” it asked.

“5781,” the boys both replied simultaneously.

“I have heard legends of a Mechan that defended us and led our troops into battle back during the uprising. But that was a long time ago.” Muhamad added.

The Mechan sat down and looked off into the distance. “That was long before either of you was born. I didn’t realize that I had been out so long since that last battle against…”

Gage stood to its feet. “No matter. Return to your camps quickly before more drones come. The next ones won’t be snooper drones, but full-on attack drones. Tell your people about me. If any of them remember me, tell them to light the fires of Pagarh. I’ll be around. Tell them I’m ready to take up the fight again. And only this time I won’t lose.”

Muhamad and Anwar raced back to camp excitedly. They told everyone that they knew about the AIX-49. Most of them just laughed and called the boys crazy. But a few of the elders cried when they heard the boys’ story.

“Yes,” they said. “We remember this Mechan. He was a mighty warrior. We almost defeated the Mechans. But they managed to defeat him. We thought he had been destroyed.”

Their hope was rekindled. And they rekindled the fires of Pagarh. Waiting for the return of their once valiant hero whom they hoped would once again return to save them.

0

The Portal To Nemderia

Kemp smiled at Deloris. “This is it, doll. Today, we put our work to the test. We prove that time travel is possible.”

“Or not,” she retorted. “I keep telling you that I don’t have a good feeling about this. I don’t think we’re ready.”

The red-headed man with three-days of unshaven, orange scruff scoffed, “This is science, baby. We don’t have room for feelings or thoughts. Only data and cold, hard facts.”

“Yes, but those cryptic messages that you keep receiving back through your ‘time machine’ sound more like a Nigerian scammer than someone from the future. I keep telling you I got a bad feeling about this. We should let someone know.”

“And let them get all the credit? No, way! I worked hard for this. But don’t worry, as soon as I get back, we’ll let the higher-ups know. Okay?”

“And what if you don’t come back? Or what if something worse happens?”

“Oh, c’mon, Deloris. For crying out loud. Why do you have to be such a pessimist? Can’t you just be positive for once? Especially on a day like today. Sheesh.”

The dark-haired woman’s eyes flashed fire and fury. But she bit her tongue and frowned. She turned back to the console so he wouldn’t see her wipe away the hot tear brought by his scathing remark.

Kemp sat down at the opposite terminal and began typing furiously away at the keyword while humming a tune off-key. She had once thought it cute. Now, it irritated her.

Deloris regretted ever bringing this idea to Kemp in the first place. He had seemed like such a nice guy at the time. But the man had changed as their work progressed.

The man walked over and stood under the portal. He shoved a lock of red hair from off his forehead. Checking the wires to make sure everything was connected properly.

Kemp began taking over the project like it had been his idea in the first place. He became more arrogant and bossy with each progressive discovery. Never mind that it was her ideas that brought about each breakthrough. But he never acknowledged that it was her input that got them to where they were.

Deloris watched as he moved to the monitors to make a few final adjustments.

She couldn’t believe that she had once been in love with Kemp. At least not this version of him. Deloris had seriously considered walking away many times, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of taking credit for her ideas and everything she had done.

Kemp came back to his terminal and threw himself in his chair with a smug, satisfied grin. He typed furiously away again.

No, Deloris had a better idea in mind. Once this time machine worked, she would go back in time and warn herself not to let Kemp in on the project. And she would bring herself the blueprint so she could accelerate the development process.

Finally, Kemp spun around in his chair and announced that they were ready to begin. She nodded in agreement. Still lost in thought.

Deloris wondered briefly how she would manage without him. There were things that she needed him for. Granted, the ideas were hers even though he was the one who actually executed them. But why did he have to be such a douche and take all the credit?

“Earth to Deloris. Are you there? Are you ready? It’s go time, woman. Let’s get a move on it, woman.”

She scowled at him. “Of course, I’m ready.”

“Sheesh, girl. You don’t have to be so touchy. What’s wrong with you today?”

Deloris bit her tongue. She would definitely go back in time and remove him from the project. She could find some other person to take his place. It was a time machine, after all. She could go back as many times as she needed until she found the right person.

The thought crossed her mind that he might come back with her idea and try to remove her from the timeline. She would have to act quickly. As soon as this thing worked today, she would send her past self a message three years earlier. The day she met Kemp.

“C’mon, D!” Kemp said right behind her ear.

Deloris jumped. She hadn’t been paying attention and seen him come up beside her.

“Oh, that’s cute. You’re just doodling my name on that paper. You surprise me sometimes, Deloris. I thought you were angry at me.”

Kemp didn’t wait for a reply. He rushed over to stand in the portal.

“Okay, I’m ready when you are. Fire away,” the man ordered.

Deloris fingered the keyboard. Prepared to start the process. But then paused.

“We never talked about when I should send you?” she said.

“Just send me back five minutes into the past,” he said impatiently.

“But wouldn’t we have seen you already? You should have appeared five minutes ago.”

“Of course not, babe. Because you haven’t pushed the button yet.”

“But in the future, I have.”

“Well, you obviously haven’t. Otherwise, I would already be here.” Kemp retorted.

“Maybe the machine doesn’t really work the way we think,” she said thoughtfully. “I really don’t think we should open this time portal without some security measures in place.”

“C’mon, woman. Not again. We’ve gone over this a million times. Let’s just get on with this already,” he sighed in exasperation. “Nothing can go wrong. We can always go back and undo this if something goes wrong.”

“We really need to inform the board.”

“They won’t let us proceed and tie us up for another ten years. Don’t you want to find out what happened before you were born, and what will happen in the future?”

“We need to get some security guards in here.”

“Why? Do you think I’m gonna come back any crazier than I already am?”

“We need to have an emergency crew in place.”

“Nothing is going to happen. It’ll be fine. The messages have been telling us exactly what to do till now. That’s how we made it this far. If we don’t hurry up, they might get tired of waiting and send their messages farther back in time to someone else.”

“Yes, but what if those messages weren’t really from our future selves?”

“Oh, c’mon, lady. Don’t start now. You’ve never brought these questions up before even though you’ve considered them. You want this just as badly as I do. Why are you bringing them up now? Sheesh. C’mon. I’m the one that’s putting my neck on the line here. And I’m prepared to accept the risk. All you have to do is push the button. Just go ahead and push it already!”

Kemp’s voice increased in volume and frustration.

“No!” Deloris replied firmly. “This was my idea, and it’s my project. I’m not going to let you ruin it.”

“What? Your project? Since when? We both worked on it together. And your idea? What are you talking about? I’m the one who told you about my discovery of these Flashing Roumbernites deep in those French caves that I discovered. Before I ever met you. I showed you my team’s research about its effects on time and space. Before I even knew you existed. So, if you think that your bright idea of harnessing all my previous research means you own this project, you are completely mistaken, buddy. Now, push that button already and send me back in time.”

“You just happened to travel to France? Just happened to go down into some mysterious cave that you’ve never revealed its location? And just happened to discover Flashing Roumbernites?” Deloris spat.

“Yes. Of course,” Kemp replied.”What are you insinuating? That the messages told me where to find the Flashing Roumbernites? That would have been impossible. We didn’t start receiving messages until after we found it.”

“And until I came up with the time travel idea,” Deloris pouted.

“No, we received the first message before you came up with that idea,” he growled.

“No, it’s not,” she whined.

Kemp sighed in exasperation. “It’s easy to prove. We can go back and look at my journal. I’ve recorded every important idea, detail, and even there.”

The man stomped down from under the carved ring of Flashing Roumbernite. He stormed over to his computer and pulled up his logs. Kemp clicked through various links and scrolled down the page.

“Look here,” he gloated. “I found it. Dated January 23rd.”

He scrolled down a bit more before reading out loud, “A mysterious item materialized out of nowhere beside the Flashing Roumbernite today. As we discussed the strange event over dinner, Deloris suggested that someone might be using it to contact us from the future. Our initial hypothesis is that we might be able to harness its strange properties to contact whoever sent this and eventually be able to connect with them. She is such an intelligent woman. I love the way her mind works.”

“Really?” Deloris asked.

“Really, what?” Kemp replied.

“Do you think I’m an intelligent woman? Do you really love the way my mind works?”

“Of course, doll. You know, I do. Why would you even doubt that?”

“Because you never tell me those kinds of things? You don’t tell me how you feel about me. About us.”

“What? Oh, c’mon. Sure we have our ups and downs. But you know I love you. I’d do anything for you.”

“Really?”

“Sure, babe. Why else do you think I listen to your crazy time-traveling ideas and work my tail off to make it actually work?”

Deloris shrugged, “I don’t know. You don’t listen to me and make fun of my ideas. You do things your own way.”

“I do what it takes to make things happen. Most of the time, I know that what you are suggesting won’t work, but I understand what you want, and I get the end result you want. So, I get the result you want, even if I don’t do it the way you’re telling me. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

“Well, it makes you seem arrogant and better than others. You make these snide remarks that make me want to cry.”

“Oh, grow up, girl. That’s just the way I am. You should know that better than anybody. That’s the way I am with everyone.”

“But I’m not everyone,” she pouted.

“I know, baby. Or course not. Come here.”

Kemp reached out and gave her a long hug. She buried her face in his shoulder. Relief and joy washing away the anxiety and resentment that had been building up over the past few weeks.

Deloris took a deep breath and wiped the corner of her eye before looking back up.

“Thanks, Kemp. I needed to hear that,” she sighed softly. “I didn’t think you liked me anymore.”

“Of course, I like you. I love you.”

“Really?” she asked again. Pleading for assurance.

“Of course. I keep saying that. What do I have to do to prove it to you?”

“Don’t initiate the time portal. Not till we get make sure this is what it really seems.”

Kemp scowled and threw himself back in the chair, “I thought you’d want something easy. Like a diamond ring. Look, I already bought one. Just so you know. I was going to give it to you as soon as this project was a success. C’mon. We’re so close.”

Now, it was Deloris’ turn to sit back. “What? You really bought me a ring? You want to marry me?”

“Yes, doll. You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to marry. We think so much alike. We can do great things together. We belong together.”

“Fine. Just to wrap up this phase of the project. For the record, though, I don’t like this. ot one bit. I don’t think we should do this. I have a bad feeling about this. I still think we should wait.”

“Duly noted, my dear. Just one more quick experiment, and then we’ll take some time off to document and publish our research. We’ll be famous. After we’ll get married in Greece. Honeymoon in Bora Bora. When we get back, we’ll pick up where we left off. Everyone will know what we are doing. That’ll give them time to set up security measures in place. How does that sound?”

“Yeah. I like it,” Deloris replied with a smile. “I guess we do have to prove that our theory actually works. Otherwise, no one will believe us. Worse, we’ll just be the laughing stock of the scientific community.”

“I love the way your mind works there, little lady. But don’t worry. This will work.”

“No, we have to be realistic and acknowledge that it might not work the way we think. Or that we might not even get it right the first time. It took Thomas Edison ten thousand tries to create the first light bulb.”

“Stop being such a pessimist,” Kemp growled. “Think positive. Besides, old Thomas didn’t have someone on the other side telling him how to create his light bulbs. I think we stand a much better chance of success. C’mon.”

Kemp jumped up and bounced around like a young boy on Christmas day. It made Deloris smile. Maybe she was just being a pessimist. It had almost cost her a future wedding. If he hadn’t taken the time to say all this now, she would have changed the past as soon as he got back.

Deloris breathed a sigh of relief as she settled back into her seat. She waited for Kemp to get into position.

“I’m gonna ask one last time. You sure you want to go through with this? We can run some other tests first.” she asked.
“Yes. I am absolutely positive. We’ve already discussed this. Any other test has so many variables that we wouldn’t be sure of the results. The only way to be certain of the outcome is for one of us to actually experience it.”

“Fine,” Deloris sighed. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I won’t,” Kemp said, flashing his super charming smile.

It was what she called his fake smile. She knew it was just as nervous as she was, even though he acted so positive and upbeat. He didn’t fool her any.

“Okay. We’re ready,” she said.

Kemp gave her two thumbs up.

“Three. Two. One,” Deloris counted down before pressing a large, red button to initiate the portal.

Just as the instructions they received in their previous message had stated, a soft glow began to fill the portal around Kemp.

But something else she didn’t expect began to take place as well. Long bolts of blueish-white light began to flow out in all directions. It frightened her.

Deloris stood up to get a better view of what was going on but then cowered back down when the beams moved in her direction.

“What’s going on, Kemp!” she shouted with her voice quavering nervously.

Frightened, Kemp didn’t move. He stood absolutely still. Waiting for things to calm down.

“I think you’d better shut it down, Deloris,” he thundered. “Something isn’t right.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do!” she replied desperately.

Deloris typed furiously to close down the program. But nothing seemed to be working. She tried to shut it down manually, but that didn’t work either. She was growing increasingly nervous.

She looked up to where he was pointing. The power source. Deloris ran over and unplugged the system. Nothing happened.

“It’s not working,” she shouted.

“Hit the circuit breaker panel like I showed you,” he ordered.

Deloris ran over and flipped all the smaller switches. The lights and computer monitors began going off one by one. What that was done, she flipped the main breaker.

All the lights were out. The computer monitors off.

And yet the portal area within the Flashing Roumbernite continued to glow softly. The electrical field around it hummed softly. The bolts of light continued to flow and move around the room as if searching for a place to connect.

Kemp seemed to be safe within the portal, but Deloris had to dodge a roving beam moving in her direction.

“I think you’d better get in here with me, where it’s safe, Deloris.”

He stretched out his hand in her direction. She hesitated a moment but then reached out her hand to move toward him. Shuffling her way through the glowing darkness. But as she got closer, Deloris realized that he was fading away in front of her.

“Kemp! What’s going on?”

“I think it’s working, babe. I’ll see you in the past. Five minutes ago.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you appear five minutes ago, Kemp?”

“Because I haven’t gone yet, woman,” Kemp replied in an exasperated tone of voice. “Just give it time.”

And then he was gone. Fading away softly until she could no longer see the slightest trace of Kemp.

The bolts of flowing, bluish-white light grew shorter and smaller. They disappeared. Then the soft glow of the portal faded away.

There was only silence. The room completely dark.

“Kemp! Are you there? Can you hear me?”

She waited.

A few moments. Five minutes. Forever.

But Kemp didn’t return. Not then. Not five minutes in the past. Not five minutes in the future.

After what seemed like an eternity, Deloris stumbled back through the darkness. Fumbling for the circuit breakers. Flipping on the main switch. Then one by one flipping on each of the other smaller breakers.

One by one, the lights came back on. One by one, the computer monitors flickered back into view. One by one, the computer systems whirred back to life. As if nothing had happened.

Everything looked just as it had a few minutes earlier. Except that Kemp was no longer there. Kemp was gone.

Deloris wanted to turn the portal back on. She wanted to jump in herself. To go after Kemp. Find him. Rescue him. Bring him back. Marry him in Greece. Go on that honeymoon in Bora Bora.

She resisted the urge. That would be foolish. No telling where Kemp had gone. No telling if he had gone anywhere. Maybe he had just dissipated into nothingness.

There was no telling if their controls actually worked. Maybe he was a thousand centuries in the past trying to avoid becoming a dinosaur snack. Perhaps he was a million millennia in the future watching time unfold. Or maybe he had just gone to a different dimension.

Well, not time to cry over spilled milk. Kemp had been a bit of an arrogant dork most of the time anyway. She’d figure things out with him if she ever saw him again.

Right now, she had to figure out a way to do some damage control here. She quickly shut down the security cameras and deleted the feed for the day. No sense in leaving it up for anyone else to see.

If she took credit for this idea, she would be responsible for Kemp’s disappearance. And if she said it was his responsibility, Kemp would get the glory if he returned someday.

Deloris sat down at her computer and began to type furiously. Putting her new plan in place.

Suddenly, the portal began to glow again. A bolt of blue light flickered and spanned the room. It buzzed and crackled overhead. Growing in intensity.

A dark form took shape in the portal. Then another. A musty scent filled the room. Deloris covered her mouth and coughed.

“Kemp! Is that you?” she exclaimed.

As they took form, she could see that they were men. But neither was Kemp. They were both larger and stronger. Both had long hair. Each held a long sword, unsheathed at their side.

But the strangest thing about them was that their eyes glowed a bright bluish-white. Almost the same hue as the bolts of electricity coming from the portal.

“Where is Kemp? And who are you?” she demanded to know.

“Kemp,” the taller of the two men growled with disdain as he stepped out from the portal. “Was that the name of the whiny, little man.”

Deloris noticed blood dripping from the edge of his sword. Her eyes widened in shock.

Her voice quavered as she asked, “Are you from the past or the future?”

The men looked at each other and laughed.

“Silly human thinks time travel is possible,” the larger man said to his companion with a laugh.

“You sent the messages. You said you were from the future. Helping us.” Deloris asked in confusion.

“I told you humans are gullible, Tanyl,” the larger spokesman said.

Tanyl guffawed loudly. “You were right, as always, my friend. This is going to be like taking candy from a baby. I can’t believe this was so easy.”

“Who are you?” she demanded, still shaking her head in shock.

She reached for the phone and dialed security. Tanyl, the shorter man who had appeared, reached out the edge of his sword and flicked it away from her ear.

“I think this is how they communicate, Alwin.”

“Let’s get what we need and leave for now. We’ll gather our troops and prepare the invasion. Now that the portal is open, we can come back when preparations are in order.” Alwin said.

“What of her?” Tanyl asked.

“Let her join the one she calls Kemp,” Alwin replied.

Tanyl raised his sword as if to strike her. Deloris’s mind whirled, trying to come up with an escape plan. She refused to die here like a loser. She stood to her feet and lifted her head defiantly.

“Take me with you. I created this portal. I can help you create others. To other locations in our world. Give you more access points. Our world is large. I can make your invasion easier. If you only enter through one portal, other countries will have time to gather and fight you. Push you back. You should come through multiple points of entry.”

“Silly, human. I wouldn’t trust you for a second. We already have a plan set in motion. We will infiltrate your world. Your kind will never know the Nemderians have arrived.”

She scoffed. “You underestimate us. You caught me by surprise, but my leaders know everything. They will soon know about you unless you have someone like me that understands how they think and can teach you our ways.”

“I think we should take her with us! She could be useful.” Tanyl said, lowering his sword to his side.

“No, it could be trickery. This human has the look of one who plays dumb to fool us. Yet all the while, she plots to overthrow us.”

Tanyl groaned and threw up his hands in exasperation, “You say that about everyone, silly.”

They began to jabber in a strange language. Deloris let them argue it out for a bit.

“Why would you help us and betray your people?” Tanyl finally asked as if willing her to convince his partner.

“Well, if Nemderia is going to attack us and kill us all, I want to be on the winning side, of course,” she replied as sincerely as she could.

“See,” Tanyl said, lifting his arms to his side as if proving a point to Alwin. “She is an intelligent woman. And she can help us.”

“Fine,” Alwin growled. “Bring her along. But I still don’t trust her. And if she does anything sneaky, I’ll cut her head off myself.”

Tanyl smiled at her. “Come, let us go and make preparations. We have much to do.”

They stepped toward the portal. A Nemderian on each side of her. She looked directly at the cameras in front of her knowing they were not recording. She had shut them off. Knowing that no one would see the feed or do anything about it. Hoping that she would be able to stay alive long enough to escape and return home.

The portal glowed softly. Bolts of light flowed out around the room. And then they were gone. The computers whirred busily. The monitors glowed brightly. The only evidence anyone had recently been there were a few drops of blood under the portal and the musty scent of the Nemderian warriors who had taken Deloris still wafting in the air.

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Chapter 1 – Breaking & Entering

April opened the drawer quietly. She pawed through the papers looking for anything suspicious that she could use as evidence. The flashlight slipped from her hand, and she reacted quickly. She managed to grab it again before it hit the floor, but the flashlight smacked into the edge of the drawer making a loud hollow sound.

She paused what she was doing and ducked down for a minute, waiting to see if anyone would come to see what was going on. April held her breath in the dark office. It was a large room with a few steps that led down into another larger open area overlooking the city. Two large couches filled a part of the space closest to the window with a coffee table between them.

April had never been in this room during the day. She wondered if Tony ever had. Did he sit in the couch overlooking the city with that beautiful view casually discussing the terrible things they were doing with his partners? She could imagine him there casually sipping his coffee as if this were just another one of his multi-million dollar business deals.
How could he be so heartless? This was the man she had fallen in love with. The man she had married and promised to spend her life with. The man whose children she bore. This was a betrayal of trust far beyond anything she had ever imagined possible. How could he do this to her?

She was furious. If she found what she was looking for and could prove what she suspected to be true, nothing would keep her from exacting her revenge on the man she had once loved.

Sure, she would confront him and give him a chance to prove himself innocent. There was always the possibility that she could be wrong. But only a very tiny chance. All the mounting evidence seemed to be pointing in one direction.
Her husband was guilty.

A gleam of light flashed through the window as the guard came walking on his round. The light glowed softly off the wall. She wondered if he would enter the room as she squeezed in under the desk and pulled the chair back in after her.

She held her breath again and closed her eyes as the guard stopped at the door. He shined the light in and flashed it around a few times before continuing on to check on the rest of the rooms on the forty-seventh floor.

This was the only floor that had its own guard on duty twenty-four-seven. The rest of the building had its own security team with cameras and the whole nine yards. But they did things differently up here on this floor. They had their own security team. It was a completely different company that ran things up here. They had all the same toys as the boys below. The same top-of-the-line security equipment. But they also liked to do things the old-fashioned way.

Tony always said that there some things you just couldn’t depend on technology to do for you. That some things just needed to be done by hand.

April shuddered and tried not to imagine what all that involved. She still didn’t know much. She never had probed into what it was that Tony actually did here at LocTech. Sure, she knew they were a technology company that derived most of their profits from medical research and development that they licensed out to other companies for a share of participation and profits. They also had some top-secret government contracts.

But she never would have guessed that Tony could actually be involved in something so gruesome. Nor that he would have involved his own family members in this mess.

In hindsight, it was pretty obvious. She should have seen the handwriting on the wall. She didn’t know how she had managed to ignore it all this time. I mean, it had been staring her right in the face.

Maybe she just didn’t want to admit it. She felt guilty almost for not having noticing and taking action before. Not that it was her fault, but that she was guilty by association. Guilty for her negligence in asking questions sooner. Now, it was too late, and she had no one else to blame. But that was no longer the case. She was going to get to the bottom of this if that was the last thing she did.

Even if it killed her.

The guard had left already, and the flashlight’s glow continued receding down the hall. She pawed through the remaining drawers but still didn’t find anything useful. Hamilton was organized and obviously believed in minimalism. There wasn’t much in his drawers for her to even go through.

It was completely unlike Tony’s office down the hall. She had been in there lots of times, and it was always a mess. She looked out the window through the door to head back. The guard had stopped to check his phone. He was just standing there in the middle of the hall as he leaned up against the wall. If she ratted on him, she could have him fired because she knew it was against company policy. The guards were supposed to remain alert and avoid distractions. They weren’t even allowed to have a television on at night up here on floor forty-seven.

April knew because she had looked into it when she was researching how to break into these offices. She had known it would make her task more difficult. There wouldn’t just be some fat, lazy dude chugging down coffee and doughnuts engrossed in some old horror flick to block out the noise of her intrusion.

So, here she was now with this guard standing outside her door on his cell phone. Not that she could rat him out even she was concerned about the security of her husband’s company because that would raise questions about what she was doing in Hamilton’s office at three a.m.

He didn’t budge for several minutes, so she sighed and went back into the other room to sit down on the couch. She was tired. It had been a long night. She had been sneaking in and out of offices for the past several hours. She had already visited seven of the twelve director’s offices. And so far, hadn’t turned up anything interesting.

She laid down on the couch to stay out of sight if the guard should happen to come back by and look through the window. It was so comfortable here. She snuggled her head in deeper into the pillows. They smelled nice. Like flowers and lilies. Must have been a woman that sat here last.

April looked out over the city. This was her city. She had been born and raised here among Brimhill’s elite. Her father had been a powerful businessman and even been mayor for a term. He was a well-respected man in town even though he had long retired and didn’t leave his estate much. She loved him and tried to imagine leaving him and this city behind.

If things were as bad as she thought they were, there was no way she could stay here. Even if she was innocent, people would still consider her guilty by association.

If she exposed them.

Maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe she could just let things go. Keep on living the good life. Bad things happened. It wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t responsible for what they were doing.

She could just put her head down and act like she didn’t know anything at all. It was better than having her head shot off which was very likely to happen. She had heard the horror stories about Hamilton back in his younger days.

That was how he had built up his wealth and founded the company as senior partner. He was like a godfather from the old mafia organizations, only he wasn’t Italian. Actually, she didn’t know where he was from. He was pretty secretive about it, and no one ever would tell her anything. Even Tony brushed her off by saying he was from down south somewhere.

Really. Like no one would ever want to know where you were from and brush it off like that. At the very least, he could have made something up. Or even just stuck his finger on the map and mentioned a name. Or maybe that was just part persona he wanted to portray. The mysterious mobster.

April snickered at the thought and sat up carefully. She checked to make sure the guard wasn’t at the door before standing up. It was too dangerous staying on the couch. The last thing she wanted to do was fall asleep there and wake up with Hamilton standing over her wanting to know why she was asleep on the couch in his office.

She walked back to the door and peeked through the window. The guard was gone. She sighed in relief. April opened the door slowly to avoid making any noise and tiptoed down to the next office. Just as she got there though and started to open the door, someone yelled out at her.

“Hey! What are you doing? Stop right there.”

Continue Reading Chapter 2 – Kung Fu Fighting >>>

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Chapter 2 – Kung Fu Fighting

April didn’t stop to look back. She threw herself into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. She twisted the lock and pressed herself up against the wall so the guard couldn’t see her when he looked in. He turned the handle a few times, but it didn’t open. She could hear him fumbling around with keys while swearing softly. April looked around the room trying to think of somewhere to hide.

Crowley’s office was smaller than the other offices she had visited this evening. He only had a small, single room for an office but not the second one that looked out over the city. “Strange,” she thought. “The space between the rooms was equal, so why did this one have less interior space.”

April stayed up against the wall so the guard couldn’t see her, but moved along it down to the far end of the office. She knocked on the far wall, and it sounded hollow. The room was beside Hamilton’s so they should have been connected, but intuitively she knew that the spacing wasn’t right. Something was definitely off.

By this time the guard had managed to get the door open and burst in after her.

“Freeze,” he yelled out. “Put your hands up where I can see them.”

April raised her arms slowly into the air. The guard stepped forward and moved slowly in her direction.

“Take off your mask,” he ordered referring to an old stocking that she had pulled over her face to keep any cameras from recognizing her.

April didn’t budge. She just stared at the guard unblinkingly. He moved a bit closer still pointing the gun at her.
“How did you get in here?” he asked.

She still didn’t reply. April recognized him now and remembered that he was the new guard that had just joined the team recently. That’s why it had taken him so long to find the key to open the door and enter the room.
“Turn around,” he ordered. “And keep your hands up.”

April had started to put them down but dutifully raised them again. Well, this was going to be awkward. Trying to explain to her husband and his partners what she was doing in their offices at three in the morning.

She didn’t think anyone suspected that she knew what they were up. But this would be pretty obvious. They would realize that she was onto them and want to know how much she knew.

Could she take this guard on? He was pretty tough looking, and not at all like the doughnut eating creep she had hoped would be on duty tonight.

The other guard would have been a piece of cake to take down. Her dad had been a fifth-degree black belt. He had given her a kimono when she was just six years old and enrolled her in Brimhill’s finest dojo.

April never had cared much for karate and wouldn’t have said that she had applied herself as well as she knew she could have. April just did the minimum to get by and quit as soon as she received her black belt because that had been her father’s requirement. The old man tried to convince her to keep practicing, but she wasn’t interested. She had other more interesting things to do. Besides, that was why she had bodyguards around to protect her. Right?

So, now April knew she would be rusty, but this was her only chance to get out of here. She waited until she heard him rattling his handcuffs as he pulled them out of his belt. He reached out his hand and put it on her shoulder. She spun around using her raised arm to knock his hand away and continued to follow through with a wicked punch across the face with her other fist.

He didn’t fall over but did take a few steps backward. She didn’t wait for him to recuperate but immediately continued with a full-scale attack. April rained blows down on his exposed abdomen since he was holding his face with his hands from her first punch.

The guard fell down this time. He doubled up in pain and rolled around gasping for air. April continued to hold her karate stance with one foot in front of the other. She felt pretty good and proud for so effortlessly defending herself. Her father would have been proud. She would have to tell him about it someday.

Now, she had to figure out what to do with the guard. She spotted the handcuffs and reached over to pick them up. She felt terrible for the poor guy. This would probably get him fired in the morning. But he deserved it for flirting around on the job with his girlfriend when he should have been working.

She reached down and slapped the cuffs on one of his arms and then reached over for his other wrist. He flipped himself over and wrapped his legs around her slamming April to the ground. It knocked the breath out of her, and she lay gasping for a second. Her right elbow stung where it had hit the floor.

The guard sat up and got to his knees while pressing his weight against her to keep her from moving. April squirmed and wiggled to try and get free. She wished she had taken those stupid Brazilian jiu-jitsu courses her father always insisted she try out because he claimed it would make her a better, more well-rounded fighter so she could defend herself at close quarters when down.

Now, she wished she had actually listened to him. April always laughed at him and told him that she wouldn’t let anyone ever get that close because she’d beat them off with a barrage of karate chops and kicks. She tried to remember how do one of those grapple holds that the old man had tried to teach her when they sparred.

She grabbed the guard’s thumb and pulled down hard as she twisted away from herself. April flipped her leg up and over his arm to lock it in place as she applied pressure. April could tell immediately that she wasn’t doing something quite right because she couldn’t pull him down completely.

The guard reached over with his other hand to punch her in the face. It was an awkward overhand blow that didn’t hurt too badly. She continued twisting and pushing her legs farther up his arm to get a lock on him. He kept moving around with her, grabbing at her face and hair that was covered by the stocking.

He locked his fingers in the stocking and tried to twist it off. She brought her legs up as high as he could and pulled down with all of her strength. This time she felt something pop. The guard screamed through his gritted teeth but didn’t let go of her hair. He loosened enough to get his fingers into the netting and pulled down. The stocking popped off over her head.

The guard looked up at her in shock. “Mrs. Blanchet,” he managed to stammer out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you. I thought you were a thief.”

He let go of her hair and stopped trying to struggle to get free. But she didn’t relax her grip. This was a real mess. Now, how was she going to get out of this? She’d have to kill him to keep him from talking. But with the mask off her head, the cameras might be filming her. She couldn’t remember where the security cameras were in the room.

“It’s a personal thing.” she managed to say. “I thought my husband might be cheating on me and I was looking for proof.”

That was the only thing that came to mind. April couldn’t think of any other excuses off the top of her head.

“In this room,” he asked incredulously. “This isn’t his office.”

“Yes, I know. But I checked Tony’s office and didn’t find anything. So, I thought the other boys might know something.”

She looked him in the eye and could tell that he didn’t quite believe her.

“Well, look. Why don’t you let go of my arm? I’ll let you leave the building just like this never happened. Okay. It’s not like you’re a thief, and I have to arrest you. You’re just a jealous, I mean, a suspicious wife who is concerned about the welfare of her husband.” the guard said.

“And you’ll let me continue my search,” she asked. “All you have to do is stay down at the other end of the building till I’m done.”

“I can’t let you do that. You will have to leave,” the guard replied.

“I’ll tell them that I got in here because you were on your cell phone and not paying attention,” she said.

He laughed. “Sure, everybody does it. Just because it’s in the handbook doesn’t mean anyone actually abides by it. Besides, I have a good excuse. My sister is sick and was just checking in to make sure he was okay.”

“I will tell them that I was just in the building to get something from Tony’s office and that you attacked me and dragged me in here. I was just a helpless woman trying to defend herself.” she shot back.

“The video footage will prove otherwise,” he answered angrily with his eyes flashing at her threat.

“I avoided the cameras,” she said. “I know where they are and won’t appear on any of them. And I had some outside help to wipe the system if any picked me up.”

Continue Reading Chapter 3 – Secret Door >>>

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Chapter 3 – Secret Door

That was a lie, but he didn’t know it. At least not yet. April might not have enough proof at the moment, but it was time to leave tonight regardless. She just needed enough time to get to her car and drive off into the darkness. She didn’t know where she would go yet, but the ‘Blue Wolf’ already had a place lined up.

Blue Wolf. That was his code name. She didn’t know what his real name was. His team had approached her three weeks ago. Made some extreme accusations and asked some very unnerving questions. It was intense, and April thought the man was going to kill her on the spot. She felt like they were putting her on trial. They left when they realized April really didn’t know anything, and the group slipped quietly off into the darkness. But not before giving her some things to look into and some questions to ask her husband.

Tony brushed them off like it was no big deal. He finally realized someone had put her up to this and demanded to know who it was, but she honestly didn’t know any of their names at the time. Her husband told her that it was probably just some angry, vindictive employee who had gotten sacked. He tried to laugh it off like it was no big deal, but she could tell that her questions had clearly unnerved him.

The Blue Wolf had returned a few more times over the next few days and weeks, asking more questions and requesting her help to get more information. At first, she did it out of curiosity. April wanted to find out what her husband was really up to. But as she discovered more about the horrible things her husband’s company was involved in, she felt compelled to dig deeper and get to the bottom of this situation.

Ultimately, everything led up to this night and where she was now at this moment. The Blue Wolf promised to help her escape no matter what. Whether she found the evidence she needed or not. That was the only reason April went through with this endeavor. She hadn’t known initially if she would really turn the evidence over to him even if she did find anything. But after all April had seen and heard and discovered, now there was no doubt in her mind that it was necessary to expose what LocTech was doing. She only needed to find a way to prove it to others.

Now, here she was. So close, and yet so far. In the lion’s dene, but still no concrete evidence. She looked over at the wall that wasn’t where it was supposed to be. She just wanted to check it out. It would make perfect sense. They had a hidden room where they kept all their secrets. That would explain why she hadn’t found anything in the drawers.

“Put your other hand over here and cuff it,” she ordered. “I just want to check one thing, and then I’ll let you go. That way you have an excuse for not having caught me.”

“No, please, Mrs. Blanchet. I have a son. He’s sick. I can’t afford to lose my job.” he begged.

“A son? A minute ago you said it was your sister. We’ll see about that. But for now, put your hand over here and cuff it,” April ordered.

The security man put his hands together and pressed the cuff around his other hand using his body for support.
“Okay,” he said. “You can let go now.”

April relaxed her grip. “Not bad for an old lady, huh?” she asked with a grin.

He smiled weakly and looked away in embarrassment at having been beaten and subdued by his boss’ wife. He would never hear the end of this.

She turned and walked over to the wall. April knocked on it and definitely sounded hollow. The only thing on the wall was a single picture. She walked over to it and tried to take it off, but it was screwed on tight somehow. Strange, she was sure that there would be some kind of opening behind it based on the lines in the wall.

“I can tell you how to open it if you let me go.” the guard said.

April looked at him.

“I thought you weren’t going to help me by just walking away down the other hall. And now you want me to believe that you’re gonna help me get into a secret room?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t have much of a choice now. I’m screwed either way. You’ve got me here. The least I can do is negotiate with you to make the best of the situation.”

“Nah! Uh huh,” she said. “Too late for that. I don’t believe you. You’ve recuperated, and you want another shot at me.”
“Fine,” he retorted. “You don’t have to let me go now. Just after you find what you need. I won’t tell anyone you were here if you don’t get me in trouble for this.”

“How do you know the entrance?” she asked curiously. She didn’t really think the guard knew anything about it. April assumed that he was just stalling for time.

“I see things,” he said. “I’m the night guard around here. I know what goes on after they close up shop.”

“Okay then, Houdini. Show me the secret door into the magical room,” she replied.

“Well, you gotta pull that frame there up and then out about one inch. Then you pull it to the right a little and push it back into the wall. At least that’s what they seem to do.”

April looked at him for a moment and decided to give it a shot. She gave it a few tugs, but it didn’t budge.

“Nothing happened here, big boy,” she said. “What’s your name by the way?”

“Bill,” he said. “Bill Redfern, ma’am. And I believe you need to get the frame up before you pull it out. There’s a trick to it.”

April gave a push from the bottom, and it slid up a little.

“Don’t go too far,” Bill warned. “There’s a trick to it. Just keep going up and tug it to the right.”

She managed to find the groove and slid it over to the side. Then she pushed in on it. The picture slid out and flipped up almost nailing her in the face. She dodged and jumped back. The walls slid open silently revealing a completely blank room.

April stepped forward and banged into a glass wall.

“Ouch! What’s this,” she asked turning to look at Bill.

“I’m not sure ma’am,” he said starting to get up off of the ground. “But I don’t think it’s very good. And I don’t think you should be here.”

“Well, what do you see when you’re in here, and they open this thing?” she asked.

“They just step inside and then the door closes. I keep guard and wait till the doors open again. They come out. That’s all I really know, but if I had to guess, I would say that it’s some kind of elevator.”

Continue Reading Chapter 4 – Sector Seven >>>

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Chapter 4 – Sector Seven

“How do I open the glass?” she asked. “There doesn’t seem to be any opening.”

Bill shrugged helplessly. “Maybe there is something else you need to do, or maybe they have a passkey to get it open. But the glass always opens for the men. I’ve never seen it stay closed like that before. Close the wall and try again,” he suggested with a gesture that indicated that she should pull the frame down.

She did, and the walls closed back into position. April stepped aside as Bill came toward her. He had a little trouble initially because of the cuffs and his sore arm where April had twisted it. But he managed to get the frame up and slide it over. The guard pressed in harder than she had. She also noticed that he seemed to pull it down farther than she had.

This time the wall slid open along with the glass. April stepped inside and indicated for Bill to follow her.

“Oh, no, ma’am. I should stay here and keep watch,” he said half-heartedly.

“Yeah, right. So, you can run away and rat me out. Get in here, or I’ll drag you in by your sore arm.” she said defiantly.

He grinned and whispered in her ear as he stepped forward. “I always did want to know what was going on down here. I just have to play my role as a good guard and make sure I don’t look too enthusiastic about coming along. April smiled at him. He seemed like a nice guy just trying to do his job.

April realized that he was bigger than she first imagined now that he was standing right in front of her. And he didn’t look like he sat around eating doughnuts. Bill seemed pretty strong and muscular under his suit. And he’d make better lifeguard than security guard she thought as she checked him out. He turned around after the doors slid shut and smiled at her. She averted her gaze quickly and pretended to be interested in looking around the room.

“Welcome,” a soft, pleasant female voice said after the doors closed. “Please, sit down. We’ll reach our destination in two minutes and thirty seconds.”

April looked around and saw some seats along the sides of the room. She walked over and sat down as she felt their descent begin. She looked at Bill, but he ignored her. He was busy reading some text on the far wall.

“What does it say?” she asked.

“Nothing much,” he replied. “Just standard safety information when riding on an elevator. How much weight it can safely carry. That sort of thing. What’s interesting about it though is that there doesn’t seem to be any information about where we’re going. And it says what the room is airlocked, and not to open it under any circumstances when we arrive due to airborne safety hazards.”

“Sector Seven,” she muttered under her breath. “So, it’s true. We’ve found it.”

“What’s Sector Zen?” he asked. “A place the directors go to relax?”

April shook her head quietly but didn’t say anything else. Bill came over and sat on the chair beside her. He held up his hands for her to take off the cuffs. She looked him in the eyes and shook her head.

“C’mon, Mrs. Blanchet. I can tell your scared. I can see it in your face. It scares me. Let me go so I can fight too if we get attacked.”

“Sector Seven,” she repeated again. “It’s their secret lab where they perform all their unorthodox experiments.

Experiments that are technically illegal and would get them in trouble if they were found out.”

She finished removing the handcuffs from him. Bill rubbed his wrists gently.

“We aren’t looking for evidence of a secret lover for a jilted wife. Are we? You lied to me. How could you? I trusted you with my life to come down here,” he said in a mocking voice that expressed his fake deception.

April smiled at him and shook her head. “No, we aren’t. But I couldn’t tell you that.”

“So, what do you intend to do exactly?” he asked.

She shook her head sadly, “I don’t know,” she said. But April knew exactly what she was going to do. She just wasn’t going to give Bill any information that she could pass on to Tony. But as she got out of this place, she was going to tell Blue Wolf the truth and then get as far away from here as she could until it all blew over. If it ever did.

If this was as bad as she thought it was, she ran the risk of being killed by Tony and his creepy partners. She never did like them. Tony had eight when they first met. They had added on a few more over the years. She never did hear where they came from. Tony never gave her any straight answers. It frustrated her to no end.

The elevator came to a halt, and the doors slid open. The glass remained sealed though. April stepped forward and reached out her hands, but the voice over the speaker commanded her not to touch the windows.

“It’s for your own safety,” the voice said reassuringly.

April looked out past the glass. They were in a large room with people on all sides. Some seemed to be lying on the ground sleeping. Others stood around in small groups. But there didn’t seem to be much interaction between them. They didn’t seem to be smiling or laughing. As she watched these people, it didn’t even look like they were speaking to each other. She felt sorry for them.

“Hey, look!” Bill exclaimed excitedly. “There’s Alpha Four’s brother.”

“Where?” she asked. She knew Alpha Four was one of Tony’s bodyguards. She reached out and placed her hand on the glass.

“Please remove your hand from the sides of the elevator. Refrain from touching as it will draw unwanted attention from the subjects.”

April let go of the glass and pulled back.

“What’s he doing down here?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I heard he was really sick though and the doctors didn’t give him much hope. Actually, I heard that he had already died. Maybe they faked his death just to bring him down here and run some experimental tests on him.” Bill suggested.

“So, that way no one would suspect anything if he didn’t return,” April finished.

Bill shrugged and cocked his head to the side as if she could be right.

“This is pretty creepy. I think we should get out of here,” he said.

“No!” April said sharply. “We have to help them. Look at these people. They’re all suffering down here. We have to help them get free.”

Continue Reading Chapter 5 – Mob >>>

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Chapter 5 – Mob

Bill shifted uncomfortably in his spot. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea, ma’am. I’m sure they have these folks down here for a reason. We should probably go get the proper authorities and let them handle this.”

The man that Bill had identified as Alpha Four’s brother came shuffling over to their elevator.

“Warning. Warning.” the elevator voice started up. “Strange element approaching. Be careful. Would you like the elevator to head back up to Forty-Seven?”

“No!”, April said.

Bill started to say yes, but April reached out and punched him in the gut hard enough to make him keel over.

“Shut up!” she said. “We’re gonna do this whether you like it or not. We’re gonna get them out of here.”

Bill rolled his eyes and sighed. “Why me?” he asked pleadingly.

She watched expectantly, but nothing happened. The doors remained closed. Alpha Four’s brother reached out to touch the glass. He mouthed something at them, but April couldn’t understand what he was saying. No sound entered the elevator from the outside, and even if it did, the blare of the siren inside of the elevator would have drowned it out.”Protocol three breach. Warning. You have attracted the attention of the insidious. Protocol three recommends we head back to floor forty-seven. Permission to leave.”

“No,” April replied. “Turn off the sirens. Sirens off. Stop the alarm.”

The blaring alarm finally shut off, but the yellow warning lights continued to flash around them.

“Open the door,” April commanded, but nothing happened. “Let us out. Release us. Open sesame.”

“I’m sorry, but protocol does not allow for opening of the exits in this sector. Viewing room is only for observation. It is to protect viewers from contamination.”

“Contamination from what?” April asked.

“I’m sorry, but that is classified information. Please state your ID and the password for further information.”

“Oh, you stupid robot,” April yelled in exasperation and kicked at the glass.

“Please refrain from touching the glass as you will attract unwanted attention from the subjects.”

April looked around from something to smash the glass. She tried yanking one of the seats from the wall, but it didn’t budge. She gave up quickly because she realized they were made of plastic and foam. Even if she could remove one from the wall, she wouldn’t be able to do much damage.

“Calm down,” Bill said. “The glass is bulletproof. You couldn’t break through if you shot straight at it and this thing obviously isn’t going to let you out. Besides, it’s probably for the best because the system may be protecting you from some insidious, fast-spreading virus or contagious disease that they are trying to treat.”

As soon as he said the words bulletproof, April looked at his holster. “Where’s your gun,” she demanded.

He felt down towards his waist and realized it wasn’t there. “It must have fallen off in our scuffle,” he said. “But even if I had one, I wouldn’t let you go firing it off in here. You’re nuts. The bullets would ricochet this small room and hurt one of us.”

April grabbed at his belt and started tugging at his waist to unbuckle it.

“Whoa, there momma! What in the world are you doing?”

“Shut up and give me your belt,” she demanded.

Bill sighed and finished unbuckling it. He handed it to her with a scowl. “Please be careful with this thing. That belt buckle cost me a pretty penny.”

April turned back to the glass where Alpha Four’s brother was still leaning against the glass. His glassy eyes looked blankly in their direction like he couldn’t even see them. He drooled, and his saliva ran down the glass.

So, she backed up to get away from where he leaning against the elevator. April flipped the belt over her shoulder and whipped it back around to try and crack the window with the metal tip of the buckle. But it didn’t even scratch the glass and barely even made a sound when it hit.

After four or five fruitless attempts, she gave up and sat back down in one of the seats to catch her breath. She stood back up and started to hit the glass again.

It was obvious that he was trying to be quiet and not attract the attention of the others around him. When he got close, he waved his arms at them as if ordering them to calm down.

“Open the door,” April yelled. She waved and motioned with her hands for the man to let them out.

The man outside made a signal like she was crazy with his finger to his head. Then he pointed up as if telling them to leave.

By now, Alpha Four’s brother had noticed the man and started to shuffle his way around to the other side. He got to the man and kept trying to grab on to him, but the man easily pushed him away. He pointed the gun at Alpha Four’s brother who acted like he had never seen one before in his life. He kept grabbing at the gun and trying to poke his finger down the barrel.

The guard kept pointing up for them to leave and became exasperated when they didn’t go. Not that April even knew how to operate the machine. The man outside pulled out his walkie-talkie and started talking excitedly to someone while waving his arms. More of the other people in the room began shuffling over to him.

He pointed back up defiantly one more time and then turned to leave. He half-walked and half-ran as he tried to avoid the oncoming mob. April could tell that he was furious.

“What do we do now?” she asked Bill.

He shrugged and sat down. “I’m gonna be in so much trouble. They’re gonna kill me.”

The elevator’s voice came back on and said, “Remote control protocol initiated. Elevator will now return to floor forty-seven. Please hold on till we reach our destination.”

“Let us off at floor twenty-two,” April said.

“I’m sorry. Exit at floor twenty-two not permitted. Exits only at fifteen, twenty-eight, and thirty-three.”

“Let us off on fifteen, please,” April said.

“Impossible to stop on fifteen. Manual override has been engaged via remote control by someone with a higher level of access. Please state your ID and password to override manual control.” the elevator said.

“C’mon,” she said tapping Bill on the shoulder. “What’s your ID and password?”

“I don’t have one yet for the elevator,” he replied.

“Well, use what you do have. Maybe it will work.”

“Elevator, my ID is Bill Redford. Gamma Eight. My passcode is papa Romeo-Four-Zulu-Delta-Two.”

“ID and password confirmed,” the elevator said.

“See,” April said with a grin. “Now, tell it to let us off on the fifteenth floor.”

Bill repeated the command, but the elevator denied his request.

“Your level of access is not sufficient to override the controls. Someone higher in command has control of the remote access. Please stand by until the elevator comes to a complete stop.”

The doors opened, and there were several men in the room waiting for them.

Continue Reading Chapter 6 – Judge, Jury, & Executioner >>>

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Chapter 6 – Judge, Jury, & Executioner

“Tony,” April said trying to smile cheerfully. She could see Hamilton and Crowley scowling at her. Johnny stood in front of Tony beside the elevator doors.

“What are you doing, baby?” Tony asked. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Come over here and sit on the couch.”
He took her by the shoulder and led her over to a couch close to the desk. She sat down. Tony turned back to chew out the guard.

“What were you thinking, Bill. How did you let this lady get the best of you?” he asked furiously.

Johnny stepped forward and came to his defense, “I’m sure he didn’t want to harm Mrs. Blanchet. He probably didn’t realize how tough your wife was and she nailed him before he could get the situation under control. Right, Bill.”

He started to steer Bill towards the door.

“Don’t worry about this Tony. I’ve got it under control, and I’ll deal with him tomorrow. But give him a break. I’m sure he didn’t mean to let her through. I saw the surveillance tapes before you got here. She nailed him good. You’ve got to admit this is an extreme situation because he wasn’t dealing with a regular thief. I mean this is family we’re dealing with here. Right?”

“Okay, sure. You handle it, Johnny. But don’t be long.” Tony said.

Hamilton and Crowley were talking among themselves off in the corner. Tony came back over to the couch and sat down beside April.

“What’s going on, baby? What are you doing in here at this unearthly time of the night for?”
April knew this didn’t look good, and she didn’t want Tony to get in trouble with the board, so she decided to stick to her jealous wife routine.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I thought you were cheating on me. I’ve just been jealous because you haven’t been paying much attention to me. And I wanted to know what was going on.”

“Uh, huh,” Tony muttered in indignation. “Are you accusing me of two-timing on you? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Calm down, Tony.” Hamilton butted in to help him keep his cool. “So, if that’s true April, what were you doing here in Crowley’s office?”

She shook her head and tried to conjure up a few tears to make herself look sincere. It wasn’t too hard because she really was scared. She had always been scared of Hamilton. There was just something creepy about the guy. The way he walked and talked. It was just all off. The way he waltzed into partnership and practically taken over most of the company.

“And why did you get on the elevator, April?” Crowley added. “Did you think you would find more proof there?”

“I didn’t know it was an elevator. I thought it was just a secret room. How did I know it would go down to Sector Seven?”

“Sector Seven,” Tony asked in surprise. “What do you know about Sector Seven?”

“Bill must have told me,” she stammered nervously.

“No, April. Bill doesn’t know about Sector Seven. He doesn’t have clearance for Sector Seven. He thinks this is a meeting room.” Hamilton thundered. “I know because I’m the one who gives people clearance to go down there.”

“Well, maybe he heard about it through the company grapevine,” she said to cover for herself.
Hamilton smirked. “I don’t think so, April. He’s just arrived recently and is only here at night. There aren’t many people around for him to chat with about company gossip. I’m gonna ask you one more time. How do you know about Sector Seven?”

“Nothing, I swear. I don’t know nothing. Honest. Please, I’ll forget all about it and never mention it to anyone ever again.”

Hamilton pulled up a chair close to her with the back facing towards her. He threw his legs around the sides and sat down in front of her. He took his time rolling up his sleeves while he gathered his thoughts.

“I’m only gonna ask you this once, April. You answer me straight and give me the right answer, or I will kill you myself. I don’t care if you are Tony’s wife. Have you been in touch with the Blue Wolf?”

A chill ran down April’s spine, and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. If they suspected that she had talked to him, she knew Hamilton would make good on his threat.

“Of course not,” she replied as calmly as she could. “Why would I talk to somebody named the Blue Wolf.”
But it was too late, she could see in Hamilton’s eyes that he already knew the truth. He was just setting her up in front of Tony.

“Tony, you gotta believe me. Please. I’m your wife. The mother of your children. I love you, Tony. I would never do anything to harm you or your company.”

Tony refused to look at her. He stood up and walked away from the couch. He slid the glass doors open and stepped out onto the veranda outside. He stood silently at the edge looking out over the city.

Hamilton and Crowley were off in the corner conferring among themselves.

April started to cry. Her hands shook, and her legs trembled. She threw her face in her hands and tried to muffle her sobs.

Johnny came back in and walked over to where Crowley and Hamilton were still huddled near the desk.

“Tony,” Hamilton called him and motioned with his hand for the man to step from the veranda to join them.

Tony walked past April without looking her in the eye. She thought she could see that his eyes were shiny from tears.

“What’s going on, Tony?” she asked as he went by. She reached out to touch him, but he moved his hand away from her.

The men spoke briefly, and all nodded. April watched them through tears in her eyes. It looked like they were taking a vote. Then they all broke up.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Tony said. “We knew the Blue Wolf had contacted you. But I thought you were going to stay true to me. To us. To the company. But the men don’t trust you. They think you’re going to believe the Blue Wolf’s lies and they’re going to use you to turn us in.”

On the one hand, she wanted to beg and plead for her life, but at the same time, she knew it was useless. The die had been cast, and the men had made their decision.

Judge, jury, and executioners.

This was it, and she had to know what was going on down there before her end came. What were these men doing down there?

“Okay, Tony. I understand,” she took a deep breath and stood up. “I always let you run things your way even though I didn’t agree with your methods. But I didn’t ever think it would come to this.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. But you’re playing for the wrong team. If you had been honest with me from the start and told me about this when they first contacted you, I think we could have worked things out. But it’s out of my hands now.”

Tony sighed and shrugged as he looked at the other guys. That gesture infuriated April. He always used it when he was trying to weasel his way out of something. She was spitting nails now.

“C’mon, Tony. Don’t throw the blame on others. Man up for yourself just once and admit that you’ll be glad to be rid of me. I bet you don’t have the guts to do the job yourself. You’ll have one of your nameless thugs pull the trigger. It’s probably just as well because you’d probably botch it and make me suffer. I’d rather it be handled by a pro anyway. I bet none of you have the guts to do me in,” she screamed at them with her voice rising in crescendo till she was literally screeching at the end.

April’s face was livid, and her whole body shook with anger and fury at this final betrayal. She wanted to weep and sob, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of watching her beg for her life. She shoved her way past the men towards the door.

“C’mon. Let’s get it over with,” she shouted. “Where is my executioner?”

She continued walking towards the door and wanted to snicker at the look of shock on their faces. This was not the reaction they had expected from her at all.

“Wait,” April said as she spun around. “I do have one question. Do me the honor of telling me what I saw down there in that elevator.”

The men remained silent and looked at Tony.

“They’re clones, baby. We’ve been trying to develop a cloning process. But we haven’t quite been successful yet. So, each of those people that you saw down there was a clone of someone that has already died.”

April nodded and smiled. “So, you’re going to kill me to keep this Blue Wolf guy from knowing what you’re up to and learning all your secrets. You know he’ll just keep coming until he finds someone who does know something and is willing to talk.”

The men shrugged. Hamilton was the one who finally replied. “Yeah, we keep close tabs on most everybody and know who he’s talking to already. Hopefully, they’ll be smart and not break our trust by sneaking around like you did.”

“Get it over with, Johnny,” Crowley ordered.

“Hmm, Johnny’s gonna do me in. Huh?” April said. “I remember when he started working for you all as a boy. This is what you had him doing.”

“He’s a good, trustworthy employee that always does what he’s told,” Crowley replied. “A good man we can trust with our lives. That’s what’s important to us. Trust.”

“Yeah, whatever! Blah, blah, blah. Go sweet-talk yourself to sleep, old man. Your day of judgment is coming too. You’ll get yours soon enough.” April said arrogantly as she snubbed her nose at them.

Continue Reading Chapter 7 – Float Like An Angel >>>

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Chapter 7 – Float Like An Angel

She could hardly believe the way she was acting herself. This was totally unlike the sweet lady-like persona she always tried to exude. But it felt so freeing to finally just let go and be herself even if it was only for a few minutes longer.
“Well, come along, Johnny. Let’s get this over with. You boys run along and get your story straight to tell the cops when they come around.”

Hamilton nodded at Johnny who swallowed hard and nodded back at him. He looked at April and held out his arm like a real gentleman. At least he had the courtesy to treat her like a lady even in the end. They started to walk out the door, but Hamilton yelled after them.

“Hey! Where are you going? We said to make it look like an accident.” he indicated with his head toward the balcony.

“Well, if you want the cops to think she jumped off to commit suicide, why would you have her jump from Crowley’s office. Let me handle it from Tony’s balcony. When you hear her scream, you send Tony over to wait in there. He can say they had an argument.” Johnny retorted sullenly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh, right! Good thinking, son.” Hamilton replied.

He waved them on out the door.

“We’ll be right behind you, but we don’t want poor Tony to see nothing. So, be quick about it.”

“Sure,” Johnny said.

April continued to walk with her head held high holding tightly to Johnny’s arm. She was grateful for the support, even he was going to kill her in a moment. She couldn’t believe that Tony was just going to go along with this thing. And since he was, at the very least, her husband could have the decency to be with her at the end. But she refused to allow herself to look back at him or even acknowledge him.

As they continued to walk down the hall, April realized that the only thing that kept her going right now and allowed her to place one foot in front of the other was the pure, unadulterated rage that flowed from her heart. She was so hot with rage that she could feel her heart pounding throughout her body. Her thinking was crystal clear and razor sharp.

She noticed every detail of the environment around her as she walked down the hall. The tiniest detail right down to the sweat mixed in with Johnny’s cologne. The buzz of the fluorescent lamps overhead as they walked under each one. As she entered Tony’s office for the last time, she didn’t even feel like she was walking but rather just floating along beside Johnny.

When they reached the edge of the balcony, she grabbed on to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Make it quick, Johnny.”

‘Here, put your legs through these,” he said.

April complied obediently. It felt like a strange way to make it look like she was going to commit suicide.

“Is this gonna make it look like I had a bungee jumping accident instead of committing suicide. Oh, thank you, Johnny.

I don’t want people to think that of me. Especially not my father.”

Johnny pushed her away and tried to tighten it around her waist.

“Quickly, before they get here,” he said in a hushed whisper. “Scream as loud as you can when I push you over the edge.”

You don’t have to push me, Johnny,” she said.

“Don’t jump out. Just a take a short step off the ledge,” he said.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to step onto the ledge without looking down. April didn’t want to wait for Johnny to push her. She didn’t want to give herself time to grieve and mourn. She had lived a long and happy life. She could truly say that she had lived a good one. The best that money could buy.

April had no regrets, except for loving Tony. That sleazy scumbag of an old man. He had been almost twice her age when they had gotten married. She was his second wife. People said she had married him for his money, but that wasn’t true at all. She had her mother’s inheritance and had started making good money straight out of college. She really had loved him. All these years. Been faithful and true. And this is how he treated her. Oh, poor Tony, if she came across him in the afterlife wherever that happened to be. If she recognized him, she would make him pay.

She felt Johnny’s hand pressing on the back of her calves. “Hurry,” he said. She closed her eyes and stepped off the ledge.

April felt the wind blowing up through her hair in the free fall. Her hair whipping around her face. Her arms raised above her head. But she didn’t scream. She refused to scream. She wouldn’t give those dirty old men the satisfaction of listening to her scream as she fell to her death.

She waited for the impact. And waited. And waited. After a few moments, April opened her eyes and realized that she was still descending quickly, but she wasn’t in a deadly free fall. Whatever Johnny had tied around her waist was lowering her speedily but safely.

As she saw the ground coming up quickly, several men dressed in black reached up to grab her and pull her free. They carried her around the corner of the building and towards a waiting van.

April saw a body lying on the ground near where they met her. She looked back to try and understand what was going on.

Was she dead?

Were these her angels coming to drive her away into the afterlife?

When they got to the van, one of the men pulled off his mask and helped her enter. It was the Blue Wolf. Suddenly, everything made sense. This was part of his escape plan.

“That woman?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, your clone. Tony had some made a while back. We kept one of the extras that didn’t make it.”

“And Johnny?” she asked.

“Yes. He’s started to see the light as well. When he knew that Tony was onto you, he contacted me and told me to be ready to do whatever it took to save you. We had no idea that it would be tonight, so we had to improvise,” the Blue Wolf answered.

“So, how did you set it up so fast?”

“We had several contingency plans in place. This was Jonny’s idea. If they caught you in the building, he would suggest that they make it look like suicide from Tony’s office.”

April felt wave after wave of relief washing over her. Relief mixed with anger and fury at Tony. Gratefulness to Johnny and Blue Wolf for protecting her.

Blue Wolf put his arm around her. She cradled her head in his shoulder and let the sobs take over. Huge heaving sobs. She couldn’t contain the fear and the rage any longer. She began to wail and cry loudly while Blue Wolf held her tightly.

“I’m sorry, my angel. I didn’t mean for it to come to this.” Blue Wolf whispered softly over and over again to calm her down.

After a bit, April managed to compose herself. The same calm that she had felt before returned once again. She knew it would take her time to get over this grief. She would cry many times again before she got it all out of her system. But for now, she was alive. And that was all that mattered.

“Blue Wolf,” she said.

“Yes,” he answered quietly in the darkness just loud enough to be heard over the hum of the wheels on the asphalt and the blowing of the air conditioner.

“Promise me that we are going to do whatever it takes to bring LocTech down, but I don’t want anyone to kill Tony until he’s seen us destroy everything he has built.”

“Hmm,” was his reply in the darkness. April couldn’t see his expression.

“Promise me,” she whispered pleadingly. The rage screamed vengeance in her ears as her heart pounded her blood furiously through her trembling body.

“Don’t worry, my dear. We will make sure to let you do the honors when the time comes. Tony will know it is his little angel who has returned to exact her revenge.”

April smiled. She liked the sound of that. There was a lot to do over the coming days and months. The first thing she was going to do was pick back up on her martial art training.

“We’re almost home,” he whispered tenderly in her ear. “You can sleep. Tomorrow we will decide what to do from here on out. What do you want to do first?”

“Release the clones,” she said immediately without even thinking. “We’re going to release all those ‘insidious’ in Sector Seven.”

“Hmm,” he said sleepily. “I like the sound of that. Come, Juanita will show you to your room. Breakfast is normally served at six thirty, but don’t worry. You must get your rest. Tomorrow we will serve you breakfast whenever you get up.”

“Thank you, Blue Wolf,” she said as she hugged him. “Good night.”

April followed the small girl to the room she was shown. She didn’t bother taking off her clothes. She threw herself on the bed and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep willing herself not to feel anything until the next day. It would come with its own troubles and challenges.

But for now, she was alive. She was safe. And she would sleep.

——

April’s story continues in Rise! (Book 1 of the Edge of the Universe series) that you can download free at various book retailers or from my blog at DaveBailey.me