NaNoWriMo: Day 24
Sooo...I'm still continuing with my Dragon Flyz NaNo stuff. My goal is to finish it all by the end of January, so hopefully that will happen. (Then I can really and truly catch up on all of awesome stuff that you guys are doing in the comm!)
Prompt 24: Taxi
nbsp; Cifex opened the communication line back to the Explorer. “I’m ready on this end, Iranda,” he said. “Prepare for transport.” Activating the controls to the teleporter terminal, Cifex watched as a light collected in the gazebo-like structure in the middle of the room. The light overloaded his optical sensors for a moment, before dimming and coalescing into a humanoid shape. In another minute, the humanoid shape gained features and clothing, eventually revealing itself to be Iranda.
nbsp; The lady scientist dropped to her knees, deep sobs wracking her body as she set foot on Old Earth for the first time in seventeen years. Cifex moved toward Iranda, gently helping her up off the floor. “Welcome home, Iranda,” he said, giving her a smile.
nbsp; It had taken Cifex a good week to reconfigure the portal’s controls to bring Iranda back - especially since this wasn’t the portal she had originally come through. He had been back and forth to the Explorer many times in that week, meeting the command crew of the starship and helping Iranda pack up and transport the terraforming technology that Captain Suri had so graciously given them, with the hope that it could aid in the restoration of Earth
nbsp; Iranda had not been idle during her “sabbatical,” as she jokingly referred to her time on the ship as. She had studied the great scientific leaps these humans had made while travelling across the galaxy, and felt especially confident that she could replicate at least some of their successes on alien worlds on Old Earth. Cifex privately thought she might be reaching a bit too far; the technology here was very different from what had emerged on Old Earth in the years after the Cataclysm. Still, if there is a hope here of making a better world for Apex, I must see this through, he acknowledged.
*****
nbsp; “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay, Iranda?” Captain Suri had asked her in their final conversation in Suri’s office. “The world you want to return to is a wreck, overrun with mutants and other foul forms of life. Would it not be better to have Cifex guide your people to the portal and bring them here? We have plenty of room on the ship.”
nbsp; Iranda took a sip of the fragrant jasmine tea that she and the Captain had enjoyed on countless occasions. Setting the cup back on the saucer, she answered, “I appreciate the offer, Suri, really I do. Perhaps because you have never seen our home planet in anything but historical records there is a lost connection, but I understand now that humans need to make a true home on Earth; we destroyed our world over a thousand years ago and now I feel the time has come to restore it and make amends for the damage done by our ancestors.”
nbsp; “The will you at least give your people the option of joining us if they so choose?” Captain Suri countered.
nbsp; Iranda nodded. “Of course. I would never deny anyone the opportunity to join your noble endeavor.”
nbsp; The younger woman hugged Iranda. “I salute you, my friend. May you find the peace there that you so desperately seek.”
nbsp; The smell was the first thing that Iranda experienced on coming through the portal. Seventeen years of clean, filtered air left her unprepared for the rank, rotting odor that always permeated the world below the clouds. But she would rather breathe the stench of decay the rest of her days alongside her family than live in a celestial paradise without them.
nbsp; Iranda had carefully packed away her indigo gown, trading it for a much more practical officer’s uniform from the Explorer. It had been Captain Suri’s parting gift to her, a memento to remember them all by. It certainly didn’t hurt that the cloth had built in nano-circuitry for body temperature regulation (something Iranda was sure she would enjoy in the humid climate of Old Earth).
nbsp; Overcome with emotion on finallyfinallyfinally returning home, Iranda promptly broke down into huge sobs. She was vaguely aware of Cifex trying to comfort her, but Iranda was overwhelmed that it had finally happened. She had spent so many nights blissfully dreaming of returning to her family, only to wake up alone in her quarters on the Explorer. The only way she could keep herself sane over the last week was by constantly looking at the holos of her children from the android’s memory banks.
nbsp; Cifex had already packed the limited amount of equipment she would be able to take in his small hovercraft. Iranda knew once she got the designs for the large terraforming equipment to Orak, he would be able to build them. Her old friend was a certifiable genius with machines. Explorer had also sent along a portable food replicator for her nutritional needs.
nbsp; Cifex handed Iranda a cloak for protection against the howling sandstorms outside before leading her the short distance to the hovercraft. Iranda took one look back at the pyramid, silently vowing to never set foot in one again. Cifex helped her into the hovercraft before closing the gull wing door and moving around to the other side, getting into the pilot’s seat.
nbsp; Cifex had wanted to head straight back to Airlandis once she came through the portal, but Iranda knew that the android’s self-imposed mission could have far reaching benefits for Airlandis. She had compromised with him, and they had plotted a roughly circular route that would let Cifex investigate several 30th century installations before returning to Airlandis’ traditional flyover territory.
nbsp; “The captain gave this to me before we left. I thought it might be more appropriate that you hang onto it for the time being,” Cifex said. He handed her a small laser pistol that fit neatly in the harness built into her suit’s leg. “Just in case we run into any trouble,” he added.
nbsp; Iranda nodded, hoping her long-ago tactical training would kick in during such an event. Aaron had used to tease her, saying she couldn’t hit a dragon if it were right in front on her.
nbsp; Cifex powered up the craft and glided out of the canyon hiding the pyramid. All around them, sand storms raged, buffeting the small ship with their violent winds. “Where is our next stop, Cifex?” Iranda asked, bringing up the navi-map on her station’s terminal.
nbsp; “If we make good time, we’ll leave the great desert behind by this evening,” he responded. “To the north on the edge of the Torrent Sea, there was the Poseidos deep-sea research and defense facility. From the data I downloaded from my old base, it seems there was a military genetic research laboratory down there. The idea being that the facility could be flooded in the event that the scientists ever created anything they couldn’t control.”
nbsp; Iranda shuddered. “Well that sounds…unpleasant,” she said with a grimace.
nbsp; Cifex simply nodded, his face an unreadable mask. “My squadron fought a creature birthed there once. Unpleasant doesn’t begin to describe it.”
*****
nbsp; Iranda dozed while Cifex piloted the hovercraft throughout the afternoon. He couldn’t blame her - interstellar transportation was enough to tire most humans, notwithstanding the emotional journey the woman had been on over the last week.
nbsp; Following the navi-computer’s excellent directions, Cifex finally made it out of the desert, and he couldn’t have been more delighted to leave that place behind. The sun was setting, however, so Cifex located a small rock overhang to hide the hovercraft underneath during the night. Gently shaking Iranda awake, Cifex got out of the hovercraft to scout the area and make sure there were no large predators around. He doubted it, being so close to the inhospitable desert, but it never fried anyone’s servos to double check.
nbsp; When he returned to their camp, Cifex found Iranda had set up the food replicator and produced two steaming mugs of nutritional broth.
nbsp; “Here Cifex, I thought you might be hungry,” she said with a small smile, handing him a mug.
nbsp; Cifex took the mug, but added, “I don’t normally need to eat, Iranda, though my body can break down…” he began, before thinking better of it and simply said, “Thanks.”
nbsp; Night crept up cold and quick on the edges of the desert, and suddenly Cifex was thankful for the warm broth, however redundant it might be. He sat under the hovercraft’s gull door beside Iranda, enjoying the sounds of the wind whipping up the dunes a few miles away.
nbsp; “Cifex,” Iranda said quietly. “I want to properly thank you for rescuing me.”
nbsp; The android shrugged. “It was more good fortune I found the portal than anything else. Not that I’m not delighted to have found you. Your family will be dragging banners through the sky at your return when we get to Airlandis.”
nbsp; Cifex saw tears prick the corner of Iranda’s eyes. “Will they? Now that I’m back on Old Earth, I have to wonder how my family can ever forgive me for putting my theories before them? What if I get to Airlandis and they don’t even want to see me? I don’t think I could take...” The rest of her reply was lost in silent sobs.
nbsp; Cifex set down his cup and pulled a blanked out a compartment in the door, wrapping in around Iranda’s shoulders. Looking her in the eye, he dabbed her tears. “They understand why you had to do it, Iranda. You left with a dream of building them a better life, a home. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately, you just ended up taking the long road. Your family - Aaron, Apex, Z’neth, Summit, and Peak - will welcome you back to that place in their hearts that you never left.”
nbsp; Iranda finally stopped crying and rested her head on Cifex’s shoulder. “Tell me,” she asked him. “Have you thought of where you will go after delivering me to Airlandis?”
nbsp; “Not really,” Cifex answered. “I don’t have a home to return to, so I suppose I’ll continue wandering.”
nbsp; “You could have a home in Airlandis, you know.”
nbsp; “No - I don’t belong there,” Cifex said.
nbsp; “You’re wrong, Cifex. Humanity needs men of strong character like you to rebuild,” Iranda said
nbsp; Cifex snorted in disbelief, “Humanity doesn’t need another killing machine.”
Iranda raised her head, giving him a strange look. “For such a noble man, sometimes you are so indescribably sad. Is it because you don’t think you’re worthy of Apex?”
“Apex is warmth and life itself. What could a machine possibly offer her?”
Iranda drew her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them. “Well, I guess he won’t know unless he comes back to Airlandis with me,” she said, giving him a small smirk. “But really, Cifex, please think about it. You have been a blessing to me, and though I may not be well acquainted with my daughter as of late, I think if you love her it’s worth reaching for.”
Cifex patted Iranda’s hand. “Go to sleep, Space Ace. We have a long day ahead tomorrow.”
Iranda climbed into the back of the hovercraft, stretching out on the seat. When Cifex was assured that she was asleep, he pulled out his holocube of Apex, staring at her face until the sun rose.
*****
nbsp; “Are you sure this is safe?” Iranda asked, staring at the ancient water-tube elevator. They had reached the edge of the Torrent Sea late in the morning, quickly locating the colossal, rusted building at the brackish water’s edge.
nbsp; Cifex was busy collating data from his remote sensors. “It appears to be structurally sound, and the mechanics that drive the elevator shaft appear to be intact. We should be able to reach the bottom without issue.”
nbsp; "Oh, that makes me feel so much safer," Iranda replied, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "I think I'll still take a rebreather if it's all the same."
nbsp; Cifex nodded, pulling one out of his pack and handing it to Iranda before strapping his own on. He didn't really need it to breathe underwater, but it would at least filter the toxins that clouded the Torrent Sea in the event that they had to enter any flooded sections of the base. Cifex had dreaded coming to the Poseidos Base since mapping it out; he would only feel better after his explosive charges went off, taking the research facility to the bottom of the sea.
nbsp; After securing their gear, Cifex and Iranda stepped through the imposing doorway. For all the rust coating the exterior of the structure, the inside was in remarkably good repair. While the lower underwater level had been for genetic research, the upper level had done a good deal of weapons testing. Spent rockets, cannons, and phase weapons littered the ground, telling of the final battle that had taken place here. Cifex noted with a pang of sadness that no human remains were present; whatever creatures had trashed the based had likely carted them away for food or slaves in the post-Cataclysm days.
nbsp; "I'll set charges here before we leave," Cifex said, surveying the weapons that remained. Two large rockets stood against the far wall - too large to be taken by the scavengers that crawled Old Earth.
Cifex's sensors located the entrance to the water-tube elevator at the far edge, and he directed Iranda to follow. Large steel doors blocked the entrance to the elevator, with an access panel to the side; while Cifex worked on opening the doorway, Iranda tried to translate the glyphs written on the door.
"A scientia, homo aedificat deos..." she whispered. "By science, man builds gods."
"Well, that sounds delightful," Cifex replied. Moving back from the access panel, Cifex pulled out his phase rifle and stood slightly in front of Iranda, wanting to protect her in case anything...unnatural came through.
With a deep groan, the metal doors slid open, revealing a platform waiting on top of the water-tube. Cifex did a quick sweep, making sure no hostiles were present before beckoning Iranda forward.
"Can you work this thing?" she asked, sliding her laser pistol back into its holster, though not taking her hand from the grip.
In the platform’s center stood a small control tower. Its screens were dark, but Cifex transferred a small amount of power to it, activating the ancient screens and being gifted a level-by-level readout of the base's substructure. The main breeding and cloning laboratories were located on the deepest level, naturally.
"This is my era's technology," Cifex answered with a chuckle. "I'm probably the last being left on the planet with a working understanding of it." Flipping a few switches, Cifex heard a loud creak as the platform began to descend into the water tube. “Stay alert, Iranda. We don’t know if anything is still alive down here.”
Iranda gave him an odd look. “You think that after all this time anything could survive down here?”
Cifex simply shrugged. “Don’t forget I fought the nightmares manufactured here in the Cataclysmic Wars. If they have access to the Torrent Sea for food, I don’t doubt some of they could have managed to persist and reproduce. It’s what we’re here to find out, after all.”
nbsp; The platform rattled down the water-tube, and Cifex could have sworn his optical sensors were playing tricks on him - huge dark shapes seemed to drift around them, though never close enough to become fully visible. It was disconcerting, to say the least. He could hear Iranda breathing in quick, shallow breaths. Maybe it would have been safer had she stayed in the hovercraft?
nbsp; The elevator platform came to rest with a shudder on the lowest level - floor fifteen. The thick metal door had blaring warning signs covering it, listing that only clearance level alpha was allowed behind these doors.
nbsp; “Here’s my clearance card,” Cifex said, pointing his phase rifle at the access panel and blasting it. The metal door slid open, and Cifex heard Iranda inhale a sharp breath at what lay on the other side.
nbsp; In maturation tubes all around the room translucent eggs hung suspended in a gelatinous matrix. Cifex jumped into the room, his phase rifle ready to take out any hostiles that might still be hanging around. Satisfied that the room was clear, Cifex made a motion for Iranda to follow him in.
“They look amphibious in nature,” Iranda said, peering closely at the large eggs. Cifex could see maturing embryos inside through their translucent shells. “They’re not hooked up to any monitoring equipment,” Iranda added. “I would expect something more than this if these were…leftovers from the Pre-Cataclysmic era.”
Cifex gave her a pointed look. “So you’re saying these are new eggs?”
Iranda nodded. “They’re definitely alive, at any rate. I can’t say more without running a full diagnostic,” she said, before looking around at the trashed equipment, “though that seems like somewhat of an impossibility considering the horrendous state of the machinery here.”
“Further proof that these creatures use this as an egg repository,” Cifex said.
“How can aquatic constructs get in here, though?” Iranda asked. “Those doors were sealed.”
Cifex swept the room, scanning for any points of entry other than the one they had entered through. When his scan turned up nothing, he gave Iranda a grave look. “I have to assume they know how to come in through the front doors.”
Iranda shuddered. “It stands to reason, I suppose. These were creatures bred to fight androids and humans. They had to have at least some intelligence programmed in. And time has only selected for the more intelligent individuals.”
It was Cifex’s turn to shudder. “We’re not waiting for the smart ones to come back, then. I’m setting the charges now and we’re going to send these hell-spawn to the bottom of the sea.”
Cifex handed a few of the charges to Iranda, and they spread them around the room before programming a twenty minute silent countdown, allowing enough time to reach the surface and destroy the weapons cache above them as well.
Running back to the water tube elevator, Cifex pressed the controls to take them back to the surface. As the platform began to ascend, he heard a horrible, wet screech above them. Looking upward, Cifex saw myriad horrible shapes crawling down the sides of the elevator shaft.
The creatures had huge bulbous eyes and gill slits, along with razor-sharp teeth and sucking, amphibious appendages that allowed them to cling to the walls. Two of them dropped to the platform and began to grab at Iranda; Cifex quickly dispatched them with his phase rifle, leaving oily smears on the deck plating.
He saw Iranda take aim at another that was falling toward her and fire, vaporizing it with her laser pistol. Cifex took the opportunity to join her back to back, and soon the platform was littered with bodies as more and more of the creatures seemed to pour out of every orifice, screaming and trying to take them down.
The platform finally reached the ground level, and Cifex fired a wide spread, clearing their way to the door. “Go, Iranda! I’ll hold them off while you get out!” he yelled over the sound of their weapons fire. She nodded, racing toward the door, her blonde ponytail swishing with every stride.
Cifex roared as his phase rifle cut through the genetic freaks, flashing back to his days as a military assault android.
“Get out of there, Cifex!” Iranda yelled. Cifex could soon see why, as the metal doors to the elevator shaft began to close. He ran with all his strength for the door, sliding through at the last minute before it closed. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been the only one lucky enough to make it through. At least twenty of the creatures had followed him, and Cifex could hear the rest trying to tear their way through the metal.
“Oh, shit,” Cifex swore as he stole a glance across the room to the building’s exit. Standing there was one of Dread Wing’s grotesque mutants, supervising Dark Dramen as they loaded up the two large rocket boosters onto dragon-carried towing sleighs.
Cifex ran toward Iranda, picking her up and using the motors in his legs to execute a high jump toward the balcony level that ran around the building’s interior. “We’ve got a problem,” Cifex said, setting Iranda down.
“I hadn’t noticed!” she said, vaporizing one of the creatures that was starting to crawl up the wall toward them.
“More than the genetic freaks! One of Dread Wing’s lieutenants is trying to make off with those rocket boosters! That kind of advantage could tip the balance of power on Old Earth,” Cifex said, taking aim and firing a volley at the Dark Dramen securing the rockets. Well, that got their attention. It also had the added bonus of diverting the attention of the fish-mutants, who started going after the Dark Dramen.
“I was saving this,” Cifex said, digging into his pouch and pulling out a small chrome sphere, “but this seems like the appropriate time.”
“A thermal detonator!” Iranda breathed in. “With the amount of explosives that will set off, this building will be reduced to a scorch mark.”
Cifex gave a ragged chuckle. “That’s the general idea. Iranda, I can’t allow those rockets or any of this technology to fall into Dread Wing’s clutches. That’s why you’re taking this,” he said pulling out a belt from his pouch and securing it around Iranda’s waist. “This anti-grav belt has enough power left to carry your free of the blast radius. If I’m not successful, you’re going to have to warn Airlandis what’s coming.”
“I won’t leave you to fight them alone!” Iranda cried. “I know I’m not the best shot, but I can’t let you die here - not after everything you did for me!”
Cifex hugged Iranda briefly, fiercely. “And I can’t risk having you caught in the crossfire.” He quickly programmed the belt while Iranda was unaware. “And it wasn’t a request,” he whispered. Without a sound, Iranda lifted off the ground, crying foul and protest. Cifex blasted one of the building’s windows, and the belt lifted Iranda through it and away.
Cifex turned his attention to the rabble below. “Monster, I can’t let you steal those rockets!” he yelled, jumping down from the platform and racing toward Fryte. The mutant bellowed, sending a gout of plasma fire arcing toward Cifex. He deftly avoided it, and got off a few shots of his own, sending Fryte staggering behind several large cannisters.
Cifex grinned wickedly, recognizing the “Hazardous” symbol on the containers. Taking careful aim, he shot the canister. The resulting explosion sent a brutal shockwave ricocheting through the battle pandemonium, knocking fish-mutants and Dark Dramen to the ground.
Fryte quickly recovered from the blast and tackled Cifex to the ground. The mutant’s hot, fetid breath overloaded Cifex’s olfactory sensors.
“You will pay with your life, hu-man!” Fryte yelled, grabbing Cife’x neck in an attempt to crush his windpipe.
“Good. Thing. I’m. Not. Human,” Cifex gasped, jamming an electro-shocker into Fryte’s chest and sending the mutant flying backward with a jolt of electricity
All around him, fish-mutants battled the Dark Dramen. By his internal chronometer, Cifex knew there were only a few minutes left before the charges they had set on the lower levels detonated. He began running toward the sleigh, hoping to use his thermal detonator to make sure the rockets went up with the rest of the building.
As he ran, in a moment Cifex saw the metal pole sprout from his chest. Time slowed as he collapsed on the floor, the thermal detonator rolling out of his hand. Cifex’s optical sensors dimmed, growing hazy and full of static.
“Stupid man will not stop Fryte,” the mutant sneered from above him as he dropped a second pole, giving Cifex a kick for good measure.
Cifex pulled the metal pole from his chest as his self-repair subroutines took over trying to muster the nanites of his body to rebuild. But Cifex knew there would be no time for the microscopic machines to finish their job. Marshaling the last remaining quantum bits of his power cells, Cifex remotely activated the countdown on the thermal detonator.
Fryte blasted a few fish-mutants as he stomped back to the rockets, directing the dragons to pull them out on the sleigh. In that moment, the building shook violently as the lower charges detonated. Cifex sighed, hoping that had destroyed the eggs of the fish-mutants.
As he lay there, Cifex felt a pang of…regret? Yes, regret that he would be unable to complete his quest and earn the respect that would allow him to one day see Apex again with pride. As his vision began to darken, Cifex brought up a mental file of Apex’s smiling face
“Get up, Cifex!” she said to him. “No way am I letting you die on me in this hell-hole!” Apex’s features seemed to run a little, before dissolving into Iranda’s concerned visage.
“Iranda?” Cifex whispered. “How…?” he trailed off in bewilderment.
Iranda gave him a little smirk as she tore off the anti-grav belt and looped it around his waist. “I’m a scientist, you know. Reprogramming an anti-grav belt is easy.”
Cifex shook his head. “You have to get out of here! The thermal detonator is going to go off any moment!”
Iranda threw her arms around Cifex as the belt lifted him off the ground. “Then it’s best we get out together, my friend.”
Cifex could feel the explosion before he could see it. Heat waves radiated off the thermal detonator, drying and cracking the moist skin of the fish-mutants. Cifex held tight to Iranda as the anti-grav belt pulled them out the very window he had sent her before. They had no sooner cleared the building before the walls began to turn red and melt.
Then the world exploded
Light brighter than the sun forced Cifex to close his eyes, and the force of the resultant blast blew the pair end over end. Cifex lost all sense of space and gravity until they hit the waters of the Torrent Sea. It was only by sheer force of will that the android was able to stay online and drag the now unconscious Iranda to the shore before collapsing and going offline.
*****
nbsp; Iranda awoke cold and wet, her mouth tasting of ash and rotting seaweed. Waves lapped at her feet, and her head was splitting with pain.
nbsp; Looking around, she could see the smoking remains of the Poseidos facility in the distance some way down the shoreline. How far did that blast throw us?
nbsp; Cifex! She looking around frantically and only calmed for a moment after seeing the android’s body lying beside her.
nbsp; “My brave friend,” she sighed, wiping the seaweed from his face. Looking him over, Iranda could see that the hole in his chest was almost repaired. But would he come back online after such a shock? She didn’t have the right tools to help him out here.
nbsp; While she waited for Cifex to awaken, Iranda wandered the beach gathering driftwood to build a fire in an attempt to dry out. A small shot from her laser pistol ignited the wood, and soon a blaze was crackling. Iranda dragged Cifex up from the waves and next to the fire, not sure if androids even required heat like humans.
nbsp; Her stomach rumbled, and Iranda wondered if the hovercraft had survived the blast. She would have to wait for Cifex to wake up and call it, though.
nbsp; As the twilight came upon them and the sun dropped below the waves, Iranda spied a flutter of Cifex’s eyelashes as he began to come back online.
nbsp; “System diagnostic and repair complete - further testing still required before unit can return to active combat duty,” he said in a strange, monotone voice. Iranda breathed a sigh of relief as Cifex’s next words were in his normal voice. “Iranda, did we win?” he croaked.
nbsp; She nodded. “Poseidos is a smoking crater from what I can tell, though I think Fryte got away with the two rocket boosters. I could see the dragons lifting off before coming back in to get you out.”
nbsp; “You have to take word to Airlandis,” Cifex said, gingerly sitting up and running a hand absentmindedly through his mohawk. “If Dread Wing gets those engines…”
nbsp; Iranda knew what would happen if those rockets were installed onto Warnado - the warship would fly again and conquer Airlandis. “I’m not going back to Airlandis alone Cifex - you need a full diagnostic and repair. I’m sorry to say your mission is being cut a little short, but it looks like we’re going home.”
Prompt 24: Taxi
nbsp; Cifex opened the communication line back to the Explorer. “I’m ready on this end, Iranda,” he said. “Prepare for transport.” Activating the controls to the teleporter terminal, Cifex watched as a light collected in the gazebo-like structure in the middle of the room. The light overloaded his optical sensors for a moment, before dimming and coalescing into a humanoid shape. In another minute, the humanoid shape gained features and clothing, eventually revealing itself to be Iranda.
nbsp; The lady scientist dropped to her knees, deep sobs wracking her body as she set foot on Old Earth for the first time in seventeen years. Cifex moved toward Iranda, gently helping her up off the floor. “Welcome home, Iranda,” he said, giving her a smile.
nbsp; It had taken Cifex a good week to reconfigure the portal’s controls to bring Iranda back - especially since this wasn’t the portal she had originally come through. He had been back and forth to the Explorer many times in that week, meeting the command crew of the starship and helping Iranda pack up and transport the terraforming technology that Captain Suri had so graciously given them, with the hope that it could aid in the restoration of Earth
nbsp; Iranda had not been idle during her “sabbatical,” as she jokingly referred to her time on the ship as. She had studied the great scientific leaps these humans had made while travelling across the galaxy, and felt especially confident that she could replicate at least some of their successes on alien worlds on Old Earth. Cifex privately thought she might be reaching a bit too far; the technology here was very different from what had emerged on Old Earth in the years after the Cataclysm. Still, if there is a hope here of making a better world for Apex, I must see this through, he acknowledged.
*****
nbsp; “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay, Iranda?” Captain Suri had asked her in their final conversation in Suri’s office. “The world you want to return to is a wreck, overrun with mutants and other foul forms of life. Would it not be better to have Cifex guide your people to the portal and bring them here? We have plenty of room on the ship.”
nbsp; Iranda took a sip of the fragrant jasmine tea that she and the Captain had enjoyed on countless occasions. Setting the cup back on the saucer, she answered, “I appreciate the offer, Suri, really I do. Perhaps because you have never seen our home planet in anything but historical records there is a lost connection, but I understand now that humans need to make a true home on Earth; we destroyed our world over a thousand years ago and now I feel the time has come to restore it and make amends for the damage done by our ancestors.”
nbsp; “The will you at least give your people the option of joining us if they so choose?” Captain Suri countered.
nbsp; Iranda nodded. “Of course. I would never deny anyone the opportunity to join your noble endeavor.”
nbsp; The younger woman hugged Iranda. “I salute you, my friend. May you find the peace there that you so desperately seek.”
nbsp; The smell was the first thing that Iranda experienced on coming through the portal. Seventeen years of clean, filtered air left her unprepared for the rank, rotting odor that always permeated the world below the clouds. But she would rather breathe the stench of decay the rest of her days alongside her family than live in a celestial paradise without them.
nbsp; Iranda had carefully packed away her indigo gown, trading it for a much more practical officer’s uniform from the Explorer. It had been Captain Suri’s parting gift to her, a memento to remember them all by. It certainly didn’t hurt that the cloth had built in nano-circuitry for body temperature regulation (something Iranda was sure she would enjoy in the humid climate of Old Earth).
nbsp; Overcome with emotion on finallyfinallyfinally returning home, Iranda promptly broke down into huge sobs. She was vaguely aware of Cifex trying to comfort her, but Iranda was overwhelmed that it had finally happened. She had spent so many nights blissfully dreaming of returning to her family, only to wake up alone in her quarters on the Explorer. The only way she could keep herself sane over the last week was by constantly looking at the holos of her children from the android’s memory banks.
nbsp; Cifex had already packed the limited amount of equipment she would be able to take in his small hovercraft. Iranda knew once she got the designs for the large terraforming equipment to Orak, he would be able to build them. Her old friend was a certifiable genius with machines. Explorer had also sent along a portable food replicator for her nutritional needs.
nbsp; Cifex handed Iranda a cloak for protection against the howling sandstorms outside before leading her the short distance to the hovercraft. Iranda took one look back at the pyramid, silently vowing to never set foot in one again. Cifex helped her into the hovercraft before closing the gull wing door and moving around to the other side, getting into the pilot’s seat.
nbsp; Cifex had wanted to head straight back to Airlandis once she came through the portal, but Iranda knew that the android’s self-imposed mission could have far reaching benefits for Airlandis. She had compromised with him, and they had plotted a roughly circular route that would let Cifex investigate several 30th century installations before returning to Airlandis’ traditional flyover territory.
nbsp; “The captain gave this to me before we left. I thought it might be more appropriate that you hang onto it for the time being,” Cifex said. He handed her a small laser pistol that fit neatly in the harness built into her suit’s leg. “Just in case we run into any trouble,” he added.
nbsp; Iranda nodded, hoping her long-ago tactical training would kick in during such an event. Aaron had used to tease her, saying she couldn’t hit a dragon if it were right in front on her.
nbsp; Cifex powered up the craft and glided out of the canyon hiding the pyramid. All around them, sand storms raged, buffeting the small ship with their violent winds. “Where is our next stop, Cifex?” Iranda asked, bringing up the navi-map on her station’s terminal.
nbsp; “If we make good time, we’ll leave the great desert behind by this evening,” he responded. “To the north on the edge of the Torrent Sea, there was the Poseidos deep-sea research and defense facility. From the data I downloaded from my old base, it seems there was a military genetic research laboratory down there. The idea being that the facility could be flooded in the event that the scientists ever created anything they couldn’t control.”
nbsp; Iranda shuddered. “Well that sounds…unpleasant,” she said with a grimace.
nbsp; Cifex simply nodded, his face an unreadable mask. “My squadron fought a creature birthed there once. Unpleasant doesn’t begin to describe it.”
*****
nbsp; Iranda dozed while Cifex piloted the hovercraft throughout the afternoon. He couldn’t blame her - interstellar transportation was enough to tire most humans, notwithstanding the emotional journey the woman had been on over the last week.
nbsp; Following the navi-computer’s excellent directions, Cifex finally made it out of the desert, and he couldn’t have been more delighted to leave that place behind. The sun was setting, however, so Cifex located a small rock overhang to hide the hovercraft underneath during the night. Gently shaking Iranda awake, Cifex got out of the hovercraft to scout the area and make sure there were no large predators around. He doubted it, being so close to the inhospitable desert, but it never fried anyone’s servos to double check.
nbsp; When he returned to their camp, Cifex found Iranda had set up the food replicator and produced two steaming mugs of nutritional broth.
nbsp; “Here Cifex, I thought you might be hungry,” she said with a small smile, handing him a mug.
nbsp; Cifex took the mug, but added, “I don’t normally need to eat, Iranda, though my body can break down…” he began, before thinking better of it and simply said, “Thanks.”
nbsp; Night crept up cold and quick on the edges of the desert, and suddenly Cifex was thankful for the warm broth, however redundant it might be. He sat under the hovercraft’s gull door beside Iranda, enjoying the sounds of the wind whipping up the dunes a few miles away.
nbsp; “Cifex,” Iranda said quietly. “I want to properly thank you for rescuing me.”
nbsp; The android shrugged. “It was more good fortune I found the portal than anything else. Not that I’m not delighted to have found you. Your family will be dragging banners through the sky at your return when we get to Airlandis.”
nbsp; Cifex saw tears prick the corner of Iranda’s eyes. “Will they? Now that I’m back on Old Earth, I have to wonder how my family can ever forgive me for putting my theories before them? What if I get to Airlandis and they don’t even want to see me? I don’t think I could take...” The rest of her reply was lost in silent sobs.
nbsp; Cifex set down his cup and pulled a blanked out a compartment in the door, wrapping in around Iranda’s shoulders. Looking her in the eye, he dabbed her tears. “They understand why you had to do it, Iranda. You left with a dream of building them a better life, a home. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately, you just ended up taking the long road. Your family - Aaron, Apex, Z’neth, Summit, and Peak - will welcome you back to that place in their hearts that you never left.”
nbsp; Iranda finally stopped crying and rested her head on Cifex’s shoulder. “Tell me,” she asked him. “Have you thought of where you will go after delivering me to Airlandis?”
nbsp; “Not really,” Cifex answered. “I don’t have a home to return to, so I suppose I’ll continue wandering.”
nbsp; “You could have a home in Airlandis, you know.”
nbsp; “No - I don’t belong there,” Cifex said.
nbsp; “You’re wrong, Cifex. Humanity needs men of strong character like you to rebuild,” Iranda said
nbsp; Cifex snorted in disbelief, “Humanity doesn’t need another killing machine.”
Iranda raised her head, giving him a strange look. “For such a noble man, sometimes you are so indescribably sad. Is it because you don’t think you’re worthy of Apex?”
“Apex is warmth and life itself. What could a machine possibly offer her?”
Iranda drew her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them. “Well, I guess he won’t know unless he comes back to Airlandis with me,” she said, giving him a small smirk. “But really, Cifex, please think about it. You have been a blessing to me, and though I may not be well acquainted with my daughter as of late, I think if you love her it’s worth reaching for.”
Cifex patted Iranda’s hand. “Go to sleep, Space Ace. We have a long day ahead tomorrow.”
Iranda climbed into the back of the hovercraft, stretching out on the seat. When Cifex was assured that she was asleep, he pulled out his holocube of Apex, staring at her face until the sun rose.
*****
nbsp; “Are you sure this is safe?” Iranda asked, staring at the ancient water-tube elevator. They had reached the edge of the Torrent Sea late in the morning, quickly locating the colossal, rusted building at the brackish water’s edge.
nbsp; Cifex was busy collating data from his remote sensors. “It appears to be structurally sound, and the mechanics that drive the elevator shaft appear to be intact. We should be able to reach the bottom without issue.”
nbsp; "Oh, that makes me feel so much safer," Iranda replied, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "I think I'll still take a rebreather if it's all the same."
nbsp; Cifex nodded, pulling one out of his pack and handing it to Iranda before strapping his own on. He didn't really need it to breathe underwater, but it would at least filter the toxins that clouded the Torrent Sea in the event that they had to enter any flooded sections of the base. Cifex had dreaded coming to the Poseidos Base since mapping it out; he would only feel better after his explosive charges went off, taking the research facility to the bottom of the sea.
nbsp; After securing their gear, Cifex and Iranda stepped through the imposing doorway. For all the rust coating the exterior of the structure, the inside was in remarkably good repair. While the lower underwater level had been for genetic research, the upper level had done a good deal of weapons testing. Spent rockets, cannons, and phase weapons littered the ground, telling of the final battle that had taken place here. Cifex noted with a pang of sadness that no human remains were present; whatever creatures had trashed the based had likely carted them away for food or slaves in the post-Cataclysm days.
nbsp; "I'll set charges here before we leave," Cifex said, surveying the weapons that remained. Two large rockets stood against the far wall - too large to be taken by the scavengers that crawled Old Earth.
Cifex's sensors located the entrance to the water-tube elevator at the far edge, and he directed Iranda to follow. Large steel doors blocked the entrance to the elevator, with an access panel to the side; while Cifex worked on opening the doorway, Iranda tried to translate the glyphs written on the door.
"A scientia, homo aedificat deos..." she whispered. "By science, man builds gods."
"Well, that sounds delightful," Cifex replied. Moving back from the access panel, Cifex pulled out his phase rifle and stood slightly in front of Iranda, wanting to protect her in case anything...unnatural came through.
With a deep groan, the metal doors slid open, revealing a platform waiting on top of the water-tube. Cifex did a quick sweep, making sure no hostiles were present before beckoning Iranda forward.
"Can you work this thing?" she asked, sliding her laser pistol back into its holster, though not taking her hand from the grip.
In the platform’s center stood a small control tower. Its screens were dark, but Cifex transferred a small amount of power to it, activating the ancient screens and being gifted a level-by-level readout of the base's substructure. The main breeding and cloning laboratories were located on the deepest level, naturally.
"This is my era's technology," Cifex answered with a chuckle. "I'm probably the last being left on the planet with a working understanding of it." Flipping a few switches, Cifex heard a loud creak as the platform began to descend into the water tube. “Stay alert, Iranda. We don’t know if anything is still alive down here.”
Iranda gave him an odd look. “You think that after all this time anything could survive down here?”
Cifex simply shrugged. “Don’t forget I fought the nightmares manufactured here in the Cataclysmic Wars. If they have access to the Torrent Sea for food, I don’t doubt some of they could have managed to persist and reproduce. It’s what we’re here to find out, after all.”
nbsp; The platform rattled down the water-tube, and Cifex could have sworn his optical sensors were playing tricks on him - huge dark shapes seemed to drift around them, though never close enough to become fully visible. It was disconcerting, to say the least. He could hear Iranda breathing in quick, shallow breaths. Maybe it would have been safer had she stayed in the hovercraft?
nbsp; The elevator platform came to rest with a shudder on the lowest level - floor fifteen. The thick metal door had blaring warning signs covering it, listing that only clearance level alpha was allowed behind these doors.
nbsp; “Here’s my clearance card,” Cifex said, pointing his phase rifle at the access panel and blasting it. The metal door slid open, and Cifex heard Iranda inhale a sharp breath at what lay on the other side.
nbsp; In maturation tubes all around the room translucent eggs hung suspended in a gelatinous matrix. Cifex jumped into the room, his phase rifle ready to take out any hostiles that might still be hanging around. Satisfied that the room was clear, Cifex made a motion for Iranda to follow him in.
“They look amphibious in nature,” Iranda said, peering closely at the large eggs. Cifex could see maturing embryos inside through their translucent shells. “They’re not hooked up to any monitoring equipment,” Iranda added. “I would expect something more than this if these were…leftovers from the Pre-Cataclysmic era.”
Cifex gave her a pointed look. “So you’re saying these are new eggs?”
Iranda nodded. “They’re definitely alive, at any rate. I can’t say more without running a full diagnostic,” she said, before looking around at the trashed equipment, “though that seems like somewhat of an impossibility considering the horrendous state of the machinery here.”
“Further proof that these creatures use this as an egg repository,” Cifex said.
“How can aquatic constructs get in here, though?” Iranda asked. “Those doors were sealed.”
Cifex swept the room, scanning for any points of entry other than the one they had entered through. When his scan turned up nothing, he gave Iranda a grave look. “I have to assume they know how to come in through the front doors.”
Iranda shuddered. “It stands to reason, I suppose. These were creatures bred to fight androids and humans. They had to have at least some intelligence programmed in. And time has only selected for the more intelligent individuals.”
It was Cifex’s turn to shudder. “We’re not waiting for the smart ones to come back, then. I’m setting the charges now and we’re going to send these hell-spawn to the bottom of the sea.”
Cifex handed a few of the charges to Iranda, and they spread them around the room before programming a twenty minute silent countdown, allowing enough time to reach the surface and destroy the weapons cache above them as well.
Running back to the water tube elevator, Cifex pressed the controls to take them back to the surface. As the platform began to ascend, he heard a horrible, wet screech above them. Looking upward, Cifex saw myriad horrible shapes crawling down the sides of the elevator shaft.
The creatures had huge bulbous eyes and gill slits, along with razor-sharp teeth and sucking, amphibious appendages that allowed them to cling to the walls. Two of them dropped to the platform and began to grab at Iranda; Cifex quickly dispatched them with his phase rifle, leaving oily smears on the deck plating.
He saw Iranda take aim at another that was falling toward her and fire, vaporizing it with her laser pistol. Cifex took the opportunity to join her back to back, and soon the platform was littered with bodies as more and more of the creatures seemed to pour out of every orifice, screaming and trying to take them down.
The platform finally reached the ground level, and Cifex fired a wide spread, clearing their way to the door. “Go, Iranda! I’ll hold them off while you get out!” he yelled over the sound of their weapons fire. She nodded, racing toward the door, her blonde ponytail swishing with every stride.
Cifex roared as his phase rifle cut through the genetic freaks, flashing back to his days as a military assault android.
“Get out of there, Cifex!” Iranda yelled. Cifex could soon see why, as the metal doors to the elevator shaft began to close. He ran with all his strength for the door, sliding through at the last minute before it closed. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been the only one lucky enough to make it through. At least twenty of the creatures had followed him, and Cifex could hear the rest trying to tear their way through the metal.
“Oh, shit,” Cifex swore as he stole a glance across the room to the building’s exit. Standing there was one of Dread Wing’s grotesque mutants, supervising Dark Dramen as they loaded up the two large rocket boosters onto dragon-carried towing sleighs.
Cifex ran toward Iranda, picking her up and using the motors in his legs to execute a high jump toward the balcony level that ran around the building’s interior. “We’ve got a problem,” Cifex said, setting Iranda down.
“I hadn’t noticed!” she said, vaporizing one of the creatures that was starting to crawl up the wall toward them.
“More than the genetic freaks! One of Dread Wing’s lieutenants is trying to make off with those rocket boosters! That kind of advantage could tip the balance of power on Old Earth,” Cifex said, taking aim and firing a volley at the Dark Dramen securing the rockets. Well, that got their attention. It also had the added bonus of diverting the attention of the fish-mutants, who started going after the Dark Dramen.
“I was saving this,” Cifex said, digging into his pouch and pulling out a small chrome sphere, “but this seems like the appropriate time.”
“A thermal detonator!” Iranda breathed in. “With the amount of explosives that will set off, this building will be reduced to a scorch mark.”
Cifex gave a ragged chuckle. “That’s the general idea. Iranda, I can’t allow those rockets or any of this technology to fall into Dread Wing’s clutches. That’s why you’re taking this,” he said pulling out a belt from his pouch and securing it around Iranda’s waist. “This anti-grav belt has enough power left to carry your free of the blast radius. If I’m not successful, you’re going to have to warn Airlandis what’s coming.”
“I won’t leave you to fight them alone!” Iranda cried. “I know I’m not the best shot, but I can’t let you die here - not after everything you did for me!”
Cifex hugged Iranda briefly, fiercely. “And I can’t risk having you caught in the crossfire.” He quickly programmed the belt while Iranda was unaware. “And it wasn’t a request,” he whispered. Without a sound, Iranda lifted off the ground, crying foul and protest. Cifex blasted one of the building’s windows, and the belt lifted Iranda through it and away.
Cifex turned his attention to the rabble below. “Monster, I can’t let you steal those rockets!” he yelled, jumping down from the platform and racing toward Fryte. The mutant bellowed, sending a gout of plasma fire arcing toward Cifex. He deftly avoided it, and got off a few shots of his own, sending Fryte staggering behind several large cannisters.
Cifex grinned wickedly, recognizing the “Hazardous” symbol on the containers. Taking careful aim, he shot the canister. The resulting explosion sent a brutal shockwave ricocheting through the battle pandemonium, knocking fish-mutants and Dark Dramen to the ground.
Fryte quickly recovered from the blast and tackled Cifex to the ground. The mutant’s hot, fetid breath overloaded Cifex’s olfactory sensors.
“You will pay with your life, hu-man!” Fryte yelled, grabbing Cife’x neck in an attempt to crush his windpipe.
“Good. Thing. I’m. Not. Human,” Cifex gasped, jamming an electro-shocker into Fryte’s chest and sending the mutant flying backward with a jolt of electricity
All around him, fish-mutants battled the Dark Dramen. By his internal chronometer, Cifex knew there were only a few minutes left before the charges they had set on the lower levels detonated. He began running toward the sleigh, hoping to use his thermal detonator to make sure the rockets went up with the rest of the building.
As he ran, in a moment Cifex saw the metal pole sprout from his chest. Time slowed as he collapsed on the floor, the thermal detonator rolling out of his hand. Cifex’s optical sensors dimmed, growing hazy and full of static.
“Stupid man will not stop Fryte,” the mutant sneered from above him as he dropped a second pole, giving Cifex a kick for good measure.
Cifex pulled the metal pole from his chest as his self-repair subroutines took over trying to muster the nanites of his body to rebuild. But Cifex knew there would be no time for the microscopic machines to finish their job. Marshaling the last remaining quantum bits of his power cells, Cifex remotely activated the countdown on the thermal detonator.
Fryte blasted a few fish-mutants as he stomped back to the rockets, directing the dragons to pull them out on the sleigh. In that moment, the building shook violently as the lower charges detonated. Cifex sighed, hoping that had destroyed the eggs of the fish-mutants.
As he lay there, Cifex felt a pang of…regret? Yes, regret that he would be unable to complete his quest and earn the respect that would allow him to one day see Apex again with pride. As his vision began to darken, Cifex brought up a mental file of Apex’s smiling face
“Get up, Cifex!” she said to him. “No way am I letting you die on me in this hell-hole!” Apex’s features seemed to run a little, before dissolving into Iranda’s concerned visage.
“Iranda?” Cifex whispered. “How…?” he trailed off in bewilderment.
Iranda gave him a little smirk as she tore off the anti-grav belt and looped it around his waist. “I’m a scientist, you know. Reprogramming an anti-grav belt is easy.”
Cifex shook his head. “You have to get out of here! The thermal detonator is going to go off any moment!”
Iranda threw her arms around Cifex as the belt lifted him off the ground. “Then it’s best we get out together, my friend.”
Cifex could feel the explosion before he could see it. Heat waves radiated off the thermal detonator, drying and cracking the moist skin of the fish-mutants. Cifex held tight to Iranda as the anti-grav belt pulled them out the very window he had sent her before. They had no sooner cleared the building before the walls began to turn red and melt.
Then the world exploded
Light brighter than the sun forced Cifex to close his eyes, and the force of the resultant blast blew the pair end over end. Cifex lost all sense of space and gravity until they hit the waters of the Torrent Sea. It was only by sheer force of will that the android was able to stay online and drag the now unconscious Iranda to the shore before collapsing and going offline.
*****
nbsp; Iranda awoke cold and wet, her mouth tasting of ash and rotting seaweed. Waves lapped at her feet, and her head was splitting with pain.
nbsp; Looking around, she could see the smoking remains of the Poseidos facility in the distance some way down the shoreline. How far did that blast throw us?
nbsp; Cifex! She looking around frantically and only calmed for a moment after seeing the android’s body lying beside her.
nbsp; “My brave friend,” she sighed, wiping the seaweed from his face. Looking him over, Iranda could see that the hole in his chest was almost repaired. But would he come back online after such a shock? She didn’t have the right tools to help him out here.
nbsp; While she waited for Cifex to awaken, Iranda wandered the beach gathering driftwood to build a fire in an attempt to dry out. A small shot from her laser pistol ignited the wood, and soon a blaze was crackling. Iranda dragged Cifex up from the waves and next to the fire, not sure if androids even required heat like humans.
nbsp; Her stomach rumbled, and Iranda wondered if the hovercraft had survived the blast. She would have to wait for Cifex to wake up and call it, though.
nbsp; As the twilight came upon them and the sun dropped below the waves, Iranda spied a flutter of Cifex’s eyelashes as he began to come back online.
nbsp; “System diagnostic and repair complete - further testing still required before unit can return to active combat duty,” he said in a strange, monotone voice. Iranda breathed a sigh of relief as Cifex’s next words were in his normal voice. “Iranda, did we win?” he croaked.
nbsp; She nodded. “Poseidos is a smoking crater from what I can tell, though I think Fryte got away with the two rocket boosters. I could see the dragons lifting off before coming back in to get you out.”
nbsp; “You have to take word to Airlandis,” Cifex said, gingerly sitting up and running a hand absentmindedly through his mohawk. “If Dread Wing gets those engines…”
nbsp; Iranda knew what would happen if those rockets were installed onto Warnado - the warship would fly again and conquer Airlandis. “I’m not going back to Airlandis alone Cifex - you need a full diagnostic and repair. I’m sorry to say your mission is being cut a little short, but it looks like we’re going home.”