Hello from Australia!
This week’s issue returns to the world of Leven and Erica on The Prism with the third instalment, Void. I worried that, although i would have plenty of time while in transit between various destinations, that the upset to my routine would severely limit what i could write. In the past I’ve stopped completely for extended periods of time while being away. This time however, i have succeeded in writing in the airport, plane, hotel, hostel and overnight bus which i am quite proud of. I put that mostly down to my current writing rules/habits. The first is that i publish a piece of fiction every two weeks, finished or not and the second is that i only need to do ten minutes. This helps reduce the commitment it takes to get some writing done and almost all of the time, i get much more done than i expected.
If you haven’t read the first two parts, Precipice and Abyss, I’d recommend reading those first as it will provide the essential backstory for these pieces. In two weeks time, i may return to writing one-off stories for an issue or two to give myself a creative break but will return again to this world.
Thank you for reading my work, I appreciate having you here and i hope you enjoy this piece.
Leven watched in disbelief as the two men removed their helmets. They had to be lying, but he’d given them the benefit of the doubt. He could almost hear Erica’s voice in his ear telling him to run but something held him to the ground, whether it was the guns of the Andari or pure curiosity.
He turned back to the men, their helmets hanging by their shoulders just like the Novans did. He slid his gaze past their neck guards and his stomach dropped. Having seen only Erica’s long sharp featured face in recent weeks, theirs were compact, short and rounded with the grizzle of days left unshaven.
They were his true kinsfolk. Not a race almost distinct from his own but people like him.
“You are human,” he said as if the words would help him believe it.
There was no need for confirmation but they nodded anyway.
“And you let me free because i am human.”
“We won’t confine humans,” the younger of the two said, it is against our mission. But we needed you, you might be the last person on this ship that can tell us how to get to the bridge.”
Leven felt a chill. “The last person… If you cannot get Erica to talk.” What if she was dead, no longer any use to the Andari.
“You can trust us,” he said, sensing Leven’s unease, “You’re safe from them, from her, with us.”
“If she’s dead,” Leven said, voice flat, “Then you can expect no help from me.” He thought of the directions he’d found on the computer towards the actual entrance to the bridge.
Something like pity flashed across the men’s face. “Come with us,” the younger said, “And you may be able to see Erica. Help us get into the bridge and I’m sure we can work out something for you both.
He didn’t protest as they took an arm each and marched him along the hallway in almost a comical manner. He was glad, however, that their helmets remained hanging on the sides of their suits.
“This girl,” the older said, “She important to you? Even as a Novan? I’ve seen the zoo, god, it felt like i was back on earth again. And what happened to the rest of you.”
“A rebellion,” the younger said, “the place is empty, even the zoo looks like it hasn’t been lived with in years. Probably just dropped poor guys over the side.”
“Something like that,” Leven said, thinking of the days when the sanctuary had been full, where there had been some semblance of a community. Part of him missed it, but he was sure that living in the metal tunnels were what held him on so long. Back when he’d still had memories of before. Before the ice.
“Was the earth really like that? With such old buildings?” Somehow that felt wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He hadn’t come from a place like that, or had he?
The younger one snorted, “Earth? Like that? Hah, they wish it would be. No, Earth is less polluted than it was a few centuries ago, presumably when this thing left its orbit, but the only places that look like that are where we came from. Other zoos.”
Leven stared ahead in the hallway, not seeing the steel but imagining a large scale version of the sanctuary, with workers and teachers like he had. Earth. The concept now seemed bizarre.
“Easy,” the older said, “Give ‘im a few minutes to take it in, it’s a lot, was for me too when i figured.”
“You’re in safe hands now,” the young one said, “there is nothing to worry about.”
“The others,” Leven said, even surprising himself, “They weren’t killed, every one of them stepped off a ledge. It took years, the first one was on the hundredth year and the rest followed in the next decade. There were only a few of us left before you… took over, now there’s only me.”
“But they treated you shit like? Like children.”
Leven shook his head as they rounded another corner, this time it sloped slightly upward. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Erica, she was the last of our teachers.”
The older one nodded but the younger one’s eyes were straight forward, eyes furrowed. “They’re pigs, all of them, filthy pigs. I bet you were her favourite, but that’s not the same. We’re just playthings to them, slaves even.”
“Come on Jon, give him a break.”
Jon didn’t seem to notice but didn’t speak again.
Leven glanced around again but there was nowhere to go. They’d have caught him, trying to find Erica. At least now he could bargain for Erica’s freedom, or at the very least, her life. He had one card left to play.
The rooms the Andari had taken for their command were almost as messy as the machine workshops. He’d taken peace in the messiness and change of scenery from the plain steel walls that filled his memories, everything blurring into one. These rooms, halfway into the accessible part of the prism were adorned with equipment, hastily setup, wires trailing across the floor. Panels in the wall had been removed with some difficulty, some roughly, exposing wires and junction boxes, pipes and ventilation systems.
While the machine workshops were barely enough to fit twenty people in, these rooms were large enough that the prism’s internal structure was visible, huge beams crossing the room at odd angles. Plastic crates were stacked up against the walls, supporting monitors and still more equipment. Balanced in front of each was a man or a woman, all human, their helmets hanging from their vacuum suits. Desks had been dragged in from somewhere and were covered in weapons, a few that he recognised from the workshop and the rest alien to him, with their plastic construction and long barrels.
“Headquarters,” Jon said, face lightening up a little.
They rounded the corner and Leven caught sight of their leader. She had the air of someone he would receive his orders from and do it without hesitation.
She wore an exo-suit but this was of a navy blue and the metal armour was like scales that shifted as she moved. Long black braids hung down as she leaned towards one of the monitors and when she turned, glancing their way, he shivered.
“Captain Alexandria,” Jon whispered in his ear, “But we call her Alex.”
The guards at his side stopped where they were and waited until the Captain said something to the Andari beside her and straightened to a height tall enough to match heights with many of the Novans. She had blonde hair, pulled back in a tight bun making a face that would otherwise be young, look commanding and older, although, as ever, age wasn’t quite the same signifier as it once had been. This was her age when she’d gone into the ice.
Leven shook himself out of his stupor, he was here for Erica and that was all that mattered. So far as he cared, the Andari could have the prism, but they wouldn’t take his only friend from him, not if he could stop them. He’d decided to live on because of her and he meant to honour his decision. He had to make his life worth something.
“Captain Alex,” he said as she approached, “I am here to bargain for Erica’s—“
“Jon,” she said, nodding to the younger man and then to the older of the two, “Max.” She paused and shifted the full weight of her gaze back to Leven, eyes taking in the vacuum suit, sliding up to land back on his face. He was sweating now although the room wasn’t any hotter than normal and the suit suddenly felt confining.
She turned back to Jon, “You had orders to let him be, did you not? Did he cause trouble, or are you just trying to prove yourself. And…” she took in all three of them now, “He now knows where we are based and our little secret. I’ll be surprised if the Erica girl doesn’t already know. You may have just dashed our chances at getting in with any dignity.”
Jon waited, shifting his feet. When she was finished, he opened his mouth but Leven was faster. Rather, he didn’t care to interrupt this Captain, human or not.
“Captain, you’re keeping Erica captive. I can help if you will give her freedom.”
“Captain, sir,” Jon said, glancing quickly at Leven, “he was heading right for this place. It was as if he knew where he was going. He’s always stuck to the outer tunnels. We assumed, that, wearing a protective suit and heading for us, that he had breached the rules you imposed on him.”
“What rules?” Leven protested. He said it a bit louder than he expected and several of those at the computers glanced over their shoulders, just to turn away quickly when the Captain met their gaze.
“Let’s go to the next room,” Alex said a frown adding a few wrinkles to her forehead, “I see that we are causing a scene.”
Jon looked even more uncomfortable but didn’t let it show in his step.
Without looking to see that they were following, the Captain slipped through another door behind one of the computers.
When he was shoved through, a little forcefully, he could see that it had been a store. Now, with a makeshift table and two monitors on a table, it was clearly an office.
When the door closed behind them, Alex didn’t take her chair but turned to face them.
“What is done is done, we now have another prisoner.” She turned to Jon, “I suggest you start finding a way this doesn’t breach our mission. But, for what it’s worth, we know that Erica has been communicating with him. There is no other way that he’d find his way here, humans don’t have access to the overlays.”
Leven didn’t protest the point but lifted his shoulders slightly, hoping that the vacuum suit’s helmet ring would cover his broken implant.
“So,” Alex continued, “As you were both instrumental in this, you will take the first two days of shifts guarding him and he is not to sleep at the same time as Erica, just in case.” She turned her gaze on Leven again, “We can probably trust him now he knows the truth, he can’t be more than a plaything for her.” She glanced at Jon when she finished, as if to drive the point home.
To Leven’s surprise, Jon opened his mouth, the pleasant subservience gone from his face. “Sir, i get your point.” The words were short and sharp, “I will work on a report.”
“I can also get you into the bridge,” Leven said when Alex waved them away.
“The bridge, what do you know about the bridge?
“I know where the entrance is and i know how to get it open.”
She looked skeptical but waved at Jon and his counterpart to stop, “Your report might not be necessary,” she said turning back to Leven, “This might be our way in.”
Leven opened her mouth but her eyes were narrowed slightly, “What is your price? No,I get it. Her life.”
When Leven found Erica, he was exhausted but time was running out faster than ever. Since the Andari had messed with the ship’s systems, the nightly cycle of dimmed lights and cooling air was gone. Instead, the bright lights shone in an endless daytime. He could have been awake for hours, for days and he wouldn’t be able to tell. He guessed days by the deep weariness in his bones.
The Andari. The humans.
Everything was such a mess in his head, and the short discussion he’d had with the first two Andari and later, their leader were a blur now. All he knew was that the air was about to be vented, and for those who lived their entire lives in space, without the reliable atmosphere of Earth or Mars to protect them, that meant death in two minutes by decompression or in eight hours from the lack of oxygen.
He didn’t know who’d given him the directions to find Erica, but here he was, standing before a bed on wheels that must have been taken from one of the medical bays. She had no guards anymore, that had been part of the agreement and she was asleep.
“Enough of the killing,” he said, “There is a peaceful way to go about this.” His voice sounded high-pitched and weak as it echoed around the small room. He remembered briefly falling asleep, his back to one of these walls, then waking up alone in an empty hallway with water and food.
There were so many questions that it hurt his head. It was better since he’d removed his partly broken brain chip upon recommendation from the Andari. Those in the bridge could spy on him if he put it in.
Leven knelt down beside Erica, something warming in his chest as she stirred in her sleep, attempting to roll over. He put out a gentle hand and shook her slightly.
“Erica, it’s time to wake up.”
Her eyes flicked open and she swivelled her head to look at him. For a long moment, she just stared at him, and then, when he drew his hand back, she grinned. Before he had a chance to back away, her arms were around him, pressing her head into his shoulder.
Gradually Leven felt himself ease and allowed himself to breath in her scent.
“We need to go,” he whispered, hating that he had to ruin the moment.
She pulled away slightly so that their noses were almost touching. For a second he thought she was going to kiss him but then they were apart again and she was swinging her legs off the bed.
A frown crept onto her face as she looked around, a mixture of fear and excitement. “They didn’t catch you too? No, they can’t have… I saw you—”
“No,” Leven said, “They didn’t catch me.” It wasn’t a lie, not really. Somehow, the Andari weren’t allowed to capture him. And that meant that the Captain was not the top of command, there were perhaps other groups elsewhere.
“But I saw you talking to them, and where are the gaurds? Did you kill them?”
Leven winced, “No, they’re not dead, but we don’t have much time,” he paused, “They won’t sleep for long, and the others have retreated, perhaps to refill their oxygen tanks for what is coming.”
“What’s coming… The gust.”
Leven nodded and stood up, “Come on, let’s get to the bridge.”
Leven’s heart thudded in his chest as they hurried through the steel hallways. In his head, he calculated the quickest route to the location that the woman from the bridge had given him and they met nobody along the way. Thankfully Erica hadn’t asked why yet. How would he explain? Would she understand what he was doing or would she try to stop him? How much could he trust that the Andari would keep to their word?
There were so many questions and such little time. Yet, he was certain that if he didn’t follow through with his plan, he and Erica would both soon be dead, however the Andari treated them. The three day deadline was fast approaching according to Erica, with a mere three hours remaining. And what was to say that the Novans would also keep to their agreement either?
Something clutched at his hand and he looked down to see Erica’s suited hand curling around his own. It released a conflicting sense of warmth and fear into him, both of which he pushed down. Still, he didn’t let go.
“You’re scared that they won’t let us in,” she said softly.
He nodded. It was true, he was scared of that, it just wasn’t the largest of his worries. He could see the look on her face when she realised what he’d done to get her out of her cell.
“They have waited this long,” she said, “enough time to give the Andari a foothold. They are trying their best to keep us alive.”
“I hope you’re right.” What he didn’t ask was how the Novans would use them once they were within their grasp. One of them had already tried to kill both of them.
She squeezed tighter as they rounded another sharp corner, the steel coming to almost a point. They all looked the same without the overlays yet the particular angle of the junction and the way the floor sloped down to the left made it clear where he was. Centuries in these halls had left their mark and had thankfully not left with the rest of his memories.
“This feels like a trap,” Erica said and stopped, yanking him around slightly, “The Andari would have never let us go free unless they could use it, perhaps they are following us?”
Leven’s stomach twisted. She knew. She could see through his lies. “Where else can we go?” He said finally once his breathing had slowed a little, “They also haven’t tried to kill us, i hope that means something.”
Erica watched him carefully and then nodded, letting him pull her back into a run. He thought that there was something she wasn’t saying and his stomach twisted further.
“There is something else,” Leven said, “Both sides have largely ignored me which makes sense, I’m not worth worrying about, alive or dead, but you… You said that they contacted you telling you about the gust. And before, someone you used to know tried to kill you. You can’t tell me that you weren’t important, that you aren’t important, why else would they go to such pains to keep you alive?”
“You’re right,” she said after what felt like a long silence. When he glanced at her she looked quite uncomfortable.
“Just a moment,” he said, pausing looking left and right. Then straight ahead. “We’re here.”
Erica stared at the wall and then down each hallway and back the way they had come, she nodded finally. “You could be right, i doubt we’d be able to see the entrance unless they wanted us to. Those other entrances… fakes all of them.
“Do your thing,” Leven said, crouching by the wall and feeling the steel for any sign of a gap or difference in texture. Nothing.
“Whatever happens,” Erica said, suddenly serious, “promise me that you’ll discuss it with me before you make any decisions. There are some things you ought to know about me, but… yes, another time.”
Leven watched her and when he realised she expected a response, nodded and squeezed her hand.
She seemed to accept this and pulled away, sitting down to lie her back against the wall, eyes closing.
For a while he waited, watching her, before turning his gaze to the various halls leading off. Too much was relying on the good graces of both the Novans and the Andari. And he would be responsible for anything that went wrong. Erica, if she died and anyone else for that matter.
Erica’s eyes flickered open and she jumped to her feet, looking around. She gave him a quick grin and turned to the wall. He followed her gaze and his own heart leapt as a portion two metres by two metres slid backwards and split, opening into a small chamber.
They exchanged a glance and stepped inside. As the door began to close, the room filling with darkness, Leven pulled off the bag he’d been carrying and lay it against the closing outer door. For a moment they were in total darkness then a light flared to life and another door opened.
Five Novans in exo-suits greeted them, their guns pointed at both of their chests. Behind them a hallway, not so different as before led away except it opened out into an area that was bright enough to make it difficult to focus on.
Slowly he raised his hands and moved forwards. The door closed behind him and he sighed with relief.
“This way.” The voice was male and soft. He didn’t recognise it.
“I want to talk to—“
Erica’s voice was cut off by a boom that shook the room, the lights dimming for a moment. Leven clamped his hands to his ears as a second one came and something creaked behind him. He was briefly aware of the guards shouting and more footsteps. He fell to his knees just as the third boom came and hot air hit him as something crashed into the guards.
Smoke filled the hallway and everything save for Erica’s face was hidden.
She grabbed onto his shoulders and drew her face close, “What was that?” Her face was hard, breath cool against his cheek and the new heat in the hallway.
Leven closed his eyes, “I’m sorry, i really am.”
“They’re in!” One of the guards screamed as smoke filled the air.
Erica stared at him then dived away into the smoke, keeping low. He reached out for her but she was gone and he was blinded by the smoke.
The shooting started and the rest of the words were drowned out as small explosions ripped through the air.
Leven flattened himself to the ground, not daring to look up for any sight of Erica.
“You’re meant to wait,” he whispered but his words were lost to the noise. Someone else screamed and then the gunshots paused as footsteps ran past.
When they started up again, they were further down the hallway. The Andari must have sent everyone they could for this breach for the running footsteps didn’t stop for a long time.
When they finally did, he was briefly aware of someone speaking and turned his head enough to see Erica, lying a few metres ahead of him, clutching one of the dead guard’s radios. She was bleeding from her shoulder but didn’t seem to notice.
“Start the gust,” she yelled, “And do it now. If you wait, there will only be more.”
The gust. The fiery blast that would suck anyone unawares from the ship into space and kill anyone without a vacuum suit.
“No,” he said, then again a bit louder, “No!” Erica shifted her head to look at him, past the occasional pair of suited legs that passed them.
Her face was pale and there was no hint of the earlier smile. “Leven,” she said then stopped. She shook her head at him and turned back to the radio. Before she could speak, a voice returned the call. “Gust is commencing… Now.”
An alarm blared to life and then Leven felt the air rush past him. A pressure door ahead of them slammed closed. Realising what was about to happen, he jammed his helmet on and tried to stand up.
The flow of air stopped, obviously depleted from the centre of the ship faster. He staggered to his feet and glanced at Erica who had her helmet on. Then he glanced back to the destroyed bridge entrance. A bright orange light flared and the Andari who was just crossing into the airlock slowed and fell, something horrible happening to their suits. It was as if they were melting.
The orange faded to black and Leven felt a chill. He wondered how many of the Andari were trapped in smaller rooms, in their office when it had happened.
He waited and moved over to the inner door to look through. With no light, he used the torch on the arm of his suit to scan the place where he’d sat as Erica got the door opened.
The walls were no longer plain steel but discoloured, sometimes with rainbow looking reflections from his torch beam. Other parts were blackened and… worst of all, lying on the floor were a dozen bodies in exo-suits, heaps of melted plastic and scorched metal.
“Erica,” he said. The voice echoed around his helmet and he realised that his voice wouldn’t carry in the vacuum.
To him, vacuum should have looked stranger. Things should be floating around, but of course gravity didn’t disappear with the air, even artificial gravity, so he could walk normally, perhaps marginally easier.
The silence rang like alarm bells in his ears as he bent down to Erica’s level, hand still clutched to the radio that now wouldn’t work. Through the clear visor of her suit, her face was tinged red, anger or from crying, he couldn’t tell. She met his eyes but didn’t see him as he gently prised the radio from her hand.
Their helmets touched for a moment and he caught her muffled voice. “You idiot…” was all he caught before pulling away. Her face said the rest and Leven turned away. He wanted to tell her that they’d promised not to shoot, that the deal had been to do the rest peacefully. He hadn’t believed it more than she would so he just threw the radio out the airlock door.
Somehow, they had to get through to fresh oxygen. He should have had hours left, but having stupidly left his helmet off to talk to Erica, his oxygen was almost depleted and Erica’s might be worse.
Ignoring the scorched bodies and exo-suits, Leven stepped into the airlock and examined the outer door. The inner one was completely gone, in a crumpled heap not far from Erica but the outer one was simply warped, a red light flashing from somewhere in the ceiling.
How he could have used his brain chip here. He kicked it a few times from the inside but nothing happened, it seemed thoroughly jammed, pushed slightly outwards until it was stuck, a metre gap between it and a good seal.
Even if he could fix the dent, he would have to do it on the outside and therefore leave him locked out. Instead, he stumbled over to the inner door and, with some difficulty, dragged it over to gap.
Yet it was too heavy and his gloves too slippy to lift it. He glanced around in despair, eyes landing on Erica, now standing. She wasn’t looking at him but approached and took ahold of the other side. Between them, they lifted the door up to cover the gap. There was only a small sliver at the top but, jamming it upright, it would hold so long as the pressure was on the inside.
In silence, of course, they made their way back to the pressure door. Erica settled herself, back against the wall and Leven stood back to wait.
It was infuriating to stand there, watching his oxygen counter tick down the minutes while nothing happened. If only he had his chip, he could have seen what she was doing. Maybe she was just waiting for him to die so she could be finally free of him.
Most of all he wished for the silence to be gone, to hear voices, anything that would distract him from the sight of those melted bodies that were burned into his vision, the Novans gunned down within seconds of rescuing him. All for what? So that he and Erica could survive. It seemed selfish now that the self-preserving part of his brain had backed off.
His oxygen counter ticked down to five minutes and he closed his eyes, settling down to the ground, hands around his helmet latch. He figured he would rather die from decompression than suffocation. He hoped it would be quicker and the thought of gasping for air while still aware was horrible.
The only warning he had was a red warning light starting above him and then a gust of wind slammed into him pushing him slightly farther down the hall. Then it was gone and the sound of the warning came to his ear like a siren.
He jumped to his feet and, oxygen counter ticking to zero, pulled off his helmet. Erica was already halfway through the open pressure door and he stumbled in after her.
There was still a light breeze as the air was pulled through the gap. Erica collapsed to the floor beside him. For a moment he thought she’d been shot, but looking around, the room that the hallway opened out into was empty, the desks had been overturned but were now vacant.
Her helmet. The door began to close, pushing her legs towards the wall and he heaved, dragging her all the way in and fumbling with the latch on her helmet.
It came off with a hiss just as the door closed and the alarm stopped. Erica gasped for air and Leven sat back on his heels, sighing with relief.
For a long time, they remained like that, avoiding each others’ gazes as they relished the taste of fresh air.
Aftermath:
“There is something i have to tell you,” Erica said, sitting up and pulling herself away from him until her back was against an upturned desk, it’s surface peppered with bullet holes. “It is a little too late to be useful, but i think you should know.”
“They told me,” Leven cut in, “So i know what the Novans did to my people.”
Erica closed her mouth into a thin line and waited.
“We were the lucky ones,” Leven continued, his stomach twisting itself into knots, “Seven hundred years of ice to become museum pieces. Like we used to do to bodies we found in the melting icecaps. The rest… they were to be Novan servants, called the Dari. Can you believe that?”
Leven hoped for any sign of shock but Erica’s face remained cold. “I can. I am among those Novans you describe. It is my culture that allowed that to happen, to continue.”
“But you…”
She raised a hand, “I took part in the first thaw, when we made the plan. For a long time i have only kept a twenty year memory, the rest stored in digital archives. When i was helped you, i had to dig through it. I found the reason i became addicted to the overlays, why i signed onto this ship. Why I dedicated a century to human studies.”
Leven shivered. Everything the Andari had told him made sense, though he’d found it hard to believe at first. To believe that Erica could do such a thing.
Erica seemed to read his mind. “Dari is what we called the humans. Andari simply means the liberated ones.”
Leven glanced back towards the pressure door, “And you just killed a lot more of them.” He tried to stand up but his legs gave way beneath him.
“I did. And all because you don’t understand what you’ve done.”
“I don’t understand?” His voice sounded high pitched and childish but he didn’t care. “I can forgive what you did three hundred years ago. Hell, you don’t even remember it, but half an hour ago, you gave the order to kill everyone else out there. I saw their bodies, like melted heaps.”
Erica’s face didn’t move save for a slight wince of pain. She didn’t even bother moving from her propped up position.
“I can’t protect you from them,” he said, “And even if i could, how could i tell them that you’re innocent.”
She sighed, “Do you know what the prism is?”
He shook his head though it pained him to do so.
“It’s the seat of the Novan government for the solar system, and you just let a band of rebel soldiers into the government.”
“The government which enslaved them!”
“You talk about how many people i just killed? What about you? Do you think they came in here peacefully and asked for everyone to put up their hands? No, they came in with guns and won’t stop until every one is dead, me included!”
Leven tried to push down the wave of guilt that followed her words and failed. When he looked back at Erica, she was on her feet.
“If there are any Novans alive here,” she said, “I might as well die with them. I have had enough of being trapped.”
Leven opened his mouth to call after her but found nothing to say. Instead he watched her disappear into one of the side hallways, helmet clutched in one hand.
When the Andari came to get him, he was barely conscious and even as they lifted him, he couldn’t move his mouth to form words. The last thing he was aware of was of people slapping his back and grinning down at him, as if he’d done something heroic. He must have been dreaming.