The End and the Beginning
25 Mar 2021Eddie Stone
The incident with the sewage plant, now known as ‘The Big Stink’ was weeks in the past. Media outlets run by opposing factions had had a field day, whilst on the Company’s own news channel, a stony-faced official had condemned the ‘outrageous act of sabotage’ and that the perpetrators would ‘be tracked down and taught a lesson’. As it happened, once they worked out was going on, technicians had restored the plant to normal operation in less than twenty minutes. It would take a lot longer to disinfect and deodorise the areas that had been treated to an effluent surprise.Eddie thought ‘outrageous sabotage’ was a bit steep; after all, he could have gone in there with a few kilos of plastic explosive. None the less, he kept a low profile until the furore died down. He had noted, though, that no mention had been made publicly about the man he had murdered. Tanya had said nothing, but nodded approvingly.
The day everything changed, he was working in a water purification unit, doing a bit of routine maintenance. To his annoyance, the filters he’d been given weren’t the right type for the machinery in question. He sighed, packed them back up and headed back to stores to find the right ones. And so, one minute, he was scanning the shelves for the filters he needed; the next, the world exploded in smoke and flame, flinging him backwards and half-burying him in rubble. He must had lain there for a few minutes before the shock passed, crawling out into a world filled with shrieking sirens and the smell of burning. Staggering out of the trashed storeroom, painfully making his way down the corridor towards the admin area. The damage was worse here, so the centre of the blast was close. Although the area was almost destroyed, he realised he was about to pass Tanya’s office…
He found her crumpled in the midst of debris that flickered with fire. The smoke was choking, and he knew by the smell it would be toxic as well. Dropping to the floor, he got hold of the unconscious woman and began to drag them both out of the devastation. Getting to the main corridor seemed to take forever, but there were people there, who reached out and helped them, amidst the chaos and confusion.
She was almost unrecognisable, hair burnt away and skin hideously scorched. A oxygen mask covered nose and mouth and a drip led into one forearm. A tube from the other arm led back to a device Eddie recognised from his mother’s final days: a syringe driver. Although Tanya’s eyes were gone too, she somehow knew it was him when he entered the room.
“Guess...the Company...are...making...an...example...of...us…” The words were strained and rasping.
He sat beside the bed and stared at the human ruin therein. “I’ll kill them all,” he growled.
“Nah...you’ll...be...next...you..get...the...hell...out…”
“How? If they know, won’t last long if I try and board a transport outa here!”
“There’s...a...way…” she said, weakly gesturing to something on the bedside table. He stood, walked round and picked it up. Tanya’s pass. With a Herculean effort, she spoke louder, forcing the words together.
“The port. Storage hanger five. Disused police ship. Still works. Pass will get you in.”
“Tanya, I -”
“Edvard. Get away. From here. Don’t waste your life.” He saw a smile appear under the mask.
“Don’t worry. About me. I’m checking out. Know that much.”
His face set, he slid the pass into a pocket. “You gave me a chance, Tanya. I won’t forget that.”
She wilted again, her breathing becoming laboured. Machines next to the bed began to chime.
“Oh...gods...free...at...last!”
And then she was dead.
The next few hours sped by. Eddie made his way to the hangar, and found the ship in question, Faulcon deLacy Viper MkIV. Its police paint scheme was almost gone, flaking away over the years.
Boarding it, he found a RemLok and wrist terminal in the sleep cell. The vessel was on minimal power, just ticking over. He slowly donned the RemLok, waiting as it adjusted itself to his body shape, and then the pilot’s seat beckoned. Displays flickered to life as he powered the Viper up.
He had never flown a starship before, but a bit of quick research at home had shown him the basics, and Eddie was a quick study. Home...ha! Not any more. He had packed some clothes and his treasured keyboard, a bracelet that had been his mother’s and data tabs containing his father’s music collection. He had poured accelerant throughout the apartment and left a lit candle on a table.
By the time with place was alight, he was in the chamber that housed the main reservoir for the colony. He removed the filters. A trolley laden with barrels of disinfectant, their lids removed, went into the water. Chlorine dioxide, lots of it. Enough to make a lot of people very ill. Maybe even kill them. Once again, he felt no emotion whatsoever.
The landing pad, raised the ship to launch position. As far as flight control were concerned, it was Tanya onboard; telemetry from the ship would show her pass had been used to access it. Unusual behaviour, perhaps; but before anyone could do anything about their suspicions, the old Viper was lifting, engines coughing sooty flames as it flew for the first time in years.
No backward glance. The frame shift drive powered up and kicked the ship into supercruise, the planet falling away, ship curving until it could line up and vanish into witch-space.