Downfall, Part 9
15 Jun 2017User4296
Apex Unlimited AnacondaUnknown System
June 3302
I had just arrived on the correct level when the ship suddenly shook, and what sounded like an explosion from somewhere below. The intercom sprung to life a few seconds later.
"Warning: Overload in progress. Power plant will reach critical mass in fifteen minutes. Please engage safety interlocks," a voice intoned. "Warning: overload in progress..."
The lab the engineer had directed me to seemed to dominate this deck of the ship, and better still was unguarded, leaving me to wonder if the ship only had the six guards – now four – on it. I shrugged inwardly as the door to the lab opened at my approach.
The room was darkened, save for a large screen that occupied the wall opposite of where I entered. Someone was standing in front of it, typing frantically on one of the keyboards attached to many banks of control panels and computer screens along the bottom part of the wall. The middle of the room held what appeared to be a large glass circular tank that sat on a square-shaped raised platform. There was a door on the side that faced the giant screen, and the sides without the door were lined with computer banks. The door was open, and the tank appeared to be empty.
I carefully made my way around the tank and approached the screen, and pointed the laser rifle at the figure typing away. I didn't need to see his face to know who he was.
"That's it, Tucker. It's over. Turn around."
Maxwell slammed his fist against the control console. "It's never over!" he growled. He tapped away at the keys, and I glanced up at the status bar that appeared on the screen. He seemed to be copying the contents of the computer onto holodisks.
"Unfortunately, my calls for security are going unanswered - doubtless your doing?" he snarled.
"Maybe you should pay the help more. Or give them better equipment," I replied.
"It doesn't matter. I don't really need them," he said simply, before turning and pressing something on his wrist.
"What do you-" I began, but the lights in the room suddenly came up, and I squinted against them. Then, something collided with me from behind and took hold.
Whatever it was, it was strong, and I found myself twisting awkwardly as I flew backward, away from the screen. I landed roughly next to the tank and slid to a stop nearby.
"For you see," Maxwell said from the other side of the room, "This little experiment, unlike you, proved to be quite successful."
I shook my head and looked up as I slowly pulled myself to my knees. Someone new had arrived, and they stood between Maxwell and I, clad in only a hospital gown, shoulder-length blue hair framing their face.
She had changed - her eyes were bloodshot, and her frame was gaunter now, but there was no mistaking it - it was Cassandra.
"Do you like her?" Maxwell asked. "It took a bit of time - Sidra nearly ruined it all - but I managed to reverse whatever damage she did. The subsequent rounds went significantly more smoothly."
I pulled myself to my feet. "Goddamn it, Tucker, she's just a child!"
"She is progress!" Maxwell snarled. "Look at what she represents! Armies have been looking for the perfect soldier for millennia - someone who doesn't tire, someone who obeys without question, and someone who can think and react to any situation! Stronger than average humans, faster than average humans... You are witnessing the future!"
"At what cost? You took her free will - who she is - away in the process! You nearly killed her!" I shouted back.
Maxwell pushed his glasses back up onto his nose. The action seemed to calm him. "It's true she almost didn't survive the procedure. Only the worthy can accept this... gift," he shrugged. "Besides, even if millions die... I always thought we could use a good purge."
"You're insane," I balked.
He sniffed. "As interesting as this has been, I really have work to do," Maxwell said as he turned away. "Cassandra, you may kill him now."
Her face bent into a smile, and she exploded forward, rearing her arm back. I had barely managed to pull the rifle up in front of me when her punch struck home. There was a loud crack as the rifle nearly came apart in my hands.
"Don't do this!" I shouted, taking a step back, but she was already upon me, and her second punch found its way into my side. I felt the ribs there crack and give way under the blow.
Well, guess this is it.
"Come on, I know you're still in there!" I spat, stumbling backward away from her. She followed with another punch, which I somehow managed to dodge, and feebly swept at her leg. She easily jumped over it before driving her bare foot into my chest in mid-air. I fell backward against one of the medical carts, and various instruments - tongs, scalpels, syringes - clattered onto the floor. My hand groped against the cart for something to use, and I took hold of one of the metal trays.
I swung, and she ducked, responding with a second punch that knocked me over the medical cart and onto the floor. She leapt on top of me and tried to punch down, but her hand slammed into the metal tray, leaving a knuckle-shaped indentation.
"What would Sidra say if she saw you like this?!"
Cassandra paused, having drawn her hand back for another blow. "Si... dra?" she mumbled, confused.
She screamed and flew into a frenzy. I raised the tray and the punches landed against it, but these were considerably weaker.
"It's me, John! Sidra and I tried to help you! I know you're in there, you need to fight it!" I shouted.
She screamed a second time, and frantically looked around, before her hand closed around one of the scalpels laying on the floor. With the other, she sideswiped the tray, sending it clattering across the room. The scalpel rose into the air over her head.
I screwed my eyes shut. Well, Jack... Guess I'll be seeing you sooner than you thought.
The blow never came. Instead, I heard a shriek on the opposite side of the room.
I cautiously opened my eyes. The hand that had been holding the scalpel was extended toward where Maxwell had been, and she suddenly slumped off me, sobbing, and curled into a ball.
I sat up, confused, and looked over: Maxwell was on the floor and clutching at one of his legs. I crawled over to Cassandra.
She was sobbing as I pulled her head into my lap. "I'm so sorry... I tried to fight it, I did..."
"It's okay."
"I don't know when I'll..." Her hand reached around me, and took hold of the pistol tucked into my belt. I took hold of the handle at about the same moment she pressed the barrel against her chest.
"But…" I began.
"Please, you have to!" she begged. "It's so hard... everything's screaming. It hurts... please. Make it stop..."
I hesitated, and held her gaze for a long moment.
"Let me see Sidra again. Let me see Mom and Dad again."
I nodded, and the pistol roared. She jerked once, then lay still.
"I'm sorry."
***
Maxwell had crawled out the door and into the hallway by the time I caught up with him. The scalpel had hit him in the knee and stuck there - he hadn't even bothered digging it out. Or it was embedded so deeply he couldn't dig it out.
The intercom came to life. "Warning! Overload imminent. Abandon ship. I repeat, abandon ship..."
"You're going to kill me? Take your revenge?" Maxwell challenged.
"I'm not going to kill you," I replied, then took aim. The pistol roared again, and he let out a screech as the laser tore his other knee apart. "I'm just going to let you die."
He screamed at me - no words, just rage - as I moved off down the corridor. I took the first corner, and came face to face with what I had been looking for - a large placard that said "ESCAPE PODS." this door also opened at my approach, which revealed a narrow room with six airlocks, three on each side. None of them had been used, so I slapped the panel next to the nearest one.
I strapped myself into the chair - though it was more like a table with a harness - and pulled the lever mounted on the nearby wall. There was a hiss as the pod pressurized, and within the next moment the pod was fired out of its tube. I looked up through the small window as the Anaconda became smaller as the pod raced away from the ship.
Something flashed toward the rear of the Anaconda - the first in a string of explosions as the power plant went critical and the ship tore itself apart. I had little time to appreciate the moment, because I felt a small prick in my spine. The stasis drugs would soon work their way through my body.
You'll be forgotten here, a voice in my head said. I halfheartedly shrugged.
Maybe. At least we did something good before we went.
My eyes felt heavy, and I found I couldn't keep them open.
Just a short rest. We've earned it...
My eyes fell closed, and I surrendered to the darkness.