Chapter Sixteen
‘The Code’
Dragging our bodies through the air ducts was tough going. Tork’s large frame made it difficult for him to turn corners, and I could hear him huffing with effort as he forced his body through the slim flues. Eventually we saw light pouring through one of the vents that led to the surface. Bashing it open, we crawled out of the claustrophobic space.
Tork and I stood on the Dorow wasteland, the destroyed entrance to The Hub behind us. On any normal day, you would have been able to see far into the distant, but this was no normal day. The lights surrounding Dorow had failed, and a ring of blackness that threatened to engulf the last remnants of light surrounded the wasteland.
Laid out before us were thousands of Trojan Devices. Although the sight was as terrifying as ever, my mind was focused on one thing, input the code. I was assuming of course that the code was correct. Up until that point, I hadn’t doubted myself. I believed, with all my heart that I was correct, but suddenly, standing there with the weight of two worlds on my shoulders, I questioned if my epiphany was indeed right. What if it was simply a rhyme, a wonderful piece of literature written by a historic figure, and had nothing to do with the code at all? I repeated the passage in my head.
“A dream for one can be a dream for many
If I dream of a new future, could I imagine a new present?
One dream can be forgotten, two can be ignored
But if there were four then six, they should never be discounted.
A dream for one can be a dream for all.”
One, one, two, four, six, one.
It was all I had. Right or wrong, these six numbers were our only hope.
“We only have a few minutes before the launch,” prompted Tork.
I stared at the devices that were no longer dormant; they had become living, breathing entities. You could feel the vibration of power surging through the ground, and a faint smoke had gathered around their bases as their engines began to power up. I had no time to second-guess myself. Flon’s single-minded determination never wavered. He was willing to destroy an entire civilisation, and devastate another, in order to obtain his goal. I needed to have the same conviction. I was the only thing that stood between the end of Valiros as we knew it, and the death of billions of innocent humans.
“Gorn said to input the code directly into one of the Trojans.”
“I know.”
“Then I suggest you snap to it.”
“Yes sir,” I replied. With one final breath to calm my nerves, I advanced towards the machines.
Once I’d arrived at one of the Trojans my breathing was erratic, I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, and sweat covered my palms. I closed my eyes and focused on calming down. I thought of Zeal, and our bonding ceremony, and for the first time that notion didn’t fill me with dread. I wanted to bond with her, and I wanted to do it in the light. This thought gave me the strength I needed.
I began searching for the access panel. Where was it? What had Gorn said? I couldn’t remember. The device was so large. Was it on the back or the front? Top or bottom? Any resolve I’d regained was quickly evaporating.
In a complete panic, I turned back to Tork. “I can’t find the access panel!”
His face was calm, although inside he was probably as anxious as I was. He ran over. “Bottom left corner.”
“Help me look.”
We both began to scan the base of the device. It was Tork who found it. “Here.”
The radio clipped to his belt sprang to life, and the young scientist’s voice crackled over it.
“Commander Tork, the Trojans are at ninety-nine percent.”
“Understood,” he said.
The mighty overhead lights began to flicker as the last remnants of power were drained from their energy cells.
“We’re out of time Mr Parthy. It’s now or never.”
Frantically, I tried to pull the panel free from the Trojan. “I can’t get it open!”
“Move.” Tork pushed me out of the way and began to pull the panel with all his might. The heat from the engine was increasing, and I could see his skin beginning to sear under the intense temperature.
The panel came loose. Tork gripped his hand, his face distorted in agony.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Forget me and input the code.”
The access panel exposed a small control console at the base of the unit, a combination of nine buttons. Falling to my knees, I prepared to input the code.
“Quickly,” he pleaded, his voice filled with pain.
Once again the radio spoke “They’re at one hundred percent.”
The lights above us failed, and Dorow was plunged into darkness. The Trojans roared to life expelling masses of heat and fire from their engines. The blast forced me back. The heat had become so severe there was no way to reach the panel without serious injury.
“It’s too hot. I can’t input the code!” I shouted over the racket.
“Tell me the code! I’ll do it!” he bawled back.
“You can’t. It’s too late.”
Tork knew I was right. The panel was covered in raging flames. There was no way of reaching it and punching in the six numbers required to power down the Trojans.
The ground was shaking from over six thousand flying bombs preparing to launch their attack.
The lights may have failed, but Dorow was aglow with the burning flames that spewed from the devices. We were surrounded in a fiery wasteland like something from a nightmare. Tork and I both knew it was unlikely either of us would survive the launch. All points of escape had been cut off by walls of fire. This was the end. I imagined Flon, lying on the floor in the control centre, satisfaction on his face. He’d won.
“It’s been an honour, Creyson Parthy,” Tork yelled.
This couldn’t be the end. This wasn’t the way it was meant to happen.
One by one, the Trojans began to lift off the ground leaving a path of deadly flames in their wake. My face was starting to burn, my eyes stinging from the relentless heat. Each device rocketed towards the Gateway Cavern, towards Earth.
I refused to allow this to be my legacy. There had to be something I could do. Resolute, I ran back to the Trojan and plunged my hand into the flames.
“Creyson! No!”
The heat didn’t seem to burn at first, it was almost cold, and then the receivers in my brain translated the pain from my hand. It was excruciating. I grew dizzy as I began to lose consciousness. I managed to reach the control panel and began to input the six-digit code. I heard a horrendous cry, I wanted it to stop… until I realised it was me.
Tork grabbed me and yanked my body away.
My hand was blistering, and the sleeve of my shirt had melted into parts of my skin.
“Creyson, you’re an idiot.”
“I did it,” I said, grimacing through the pain. “I imputed the code.”
“Then why haven’t they stopped?” He unclipped his radio and spoke. “Gorn, come in.”
“Gorn here.”
“We’ve imputed the code, but it hasn’t worked.”
“The code must have been wrong.”
“So what can we do?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the radio. “Nothing,” Gorn said.
“I need options, Gorn.” There was no response on the radio. “Control centre, come in.”
He tried to switch to another channel on the radio. “Anyone, please respond.” He looked across at me. “It’s dead.”
I shouted to Tork “I must have missed something. There must be something else.”
Faced with my own mortality, my mind suddenly became clear. The fear was gone, and a peculiar contentment washed over me. The heat scorched my skin, the searing pain travelled through my body, the burning was almost unbearable, but I no longer cared. My grandfather’s final words whispered in my mind ‘Speak and be heard.’ That was the answer.
“It was never about just the code.”
“What?”
“Anyone could press six buttons. There has to be a reason only one person can deactivate them, a reason I was important enough to hide. It’s because I’m the only who can deliver the code.”
“Deliver? I don’t understand.”
“Speak and be heard, that’s what he told me. First it was the voice of my grandfather, now it’s my voice.”
“You have to say the numbers?”
“No-one said the code was just the numbers.”
I stood and turned to the device in front of me and screamed at the top of my lungs.
“A dream for one can be a dream for many. If I dream of a new future, could I imagine a new present? One dream can be forgotten, two can be ignored. But if there were four then six, they should never be discounted. A dream for one can be a dream for all.”
Nothing happened. Trojans were still taking flight around me; those already in the air had almost reached the Gateway Cavern. The device in front of me began to rise from the ground.
It should have worked. It had to work. I collapsed to my knees, resting my forehead on the ground.
After a few seconds, the roaring began to decrease. I lifted my head; the deadly fires that surrounded us were diminishing. In the distance, I could see the Trojan Devices that were in mid-flight, plummeting to the ground.
Tork stared at me with strange mixture of disbelief and relief, sweat dripping from his face. “Creyson? What just happened?”
The lights in Dorow began to slowly power back up, flooding the wasteland with light. This was followed by the surrounding areas that became illuminated by the overhead lighting. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
The radio crackled to life again. “Commander Tork. Commander Tork please respond.”
He lifted the radio to his face. “Tork here.”
“You did it. The Trojans have powered down, and energy is being redirected to all main systems.”
“It wasn’t me.” He took a beat. “You can thank Creyson Parthy.”
“Understood. We’ll see you shortly.”
“Get that military access point open and have a medical team ready to meet us.”
“Yes Commander. Control centre out.”
Tork flung the radio to the ground. He looked exhausted. It had certainly been a full day for both of us. “How are you feeling, Mr Parthy?”
“I’m a little burnt around the edges, but I can honestly say... I’ve never felt better.” And that was the truth.
“Let’s get back inside.” I helped Tork to his feet, and we began to walk towards the underground entrance to The Hub.
“Creyson,” said a voice from behind us. I recognised it. It was a voice that had offered me comfort in the past. A voice I hadn’t heard for over half a cycle.
I looked back and sure enough standing directly in front of me, clear as the Trojans around us, was my mother. I couldn’t fathom how this was possible. I wondered if I’d lost my mind, that perhaps the stress had been too much causing me to hallucinate.
“Do you see her?”
Tork seemed as mystified as I did. “Who is she?” he asked.
I was relieved this apparition wasn’t in my mind.
“She’s my mother.”
She looked the same as the day she’d vanished. Her long sandy hair flowing over her shoulders, her warm eyes, and gentle smile as beautiful as the memory that was engraved in my mind.
“How’s this possible?” I stepped towards her. “Mother…?”
“Creyson…” started Tork
“Mother, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“Creyson,” he tried again.
I turned back to Tork. “You see her. You said you could see her.”
“I’m sorry Creyson, but she’s not really here.”
“But you see her.”
“I’ve seen this technology before. We use it in the military for training simulations. It’s a projection.” Tork explained. “It must have been programmed into the Trojan Devices. When you delivered the code, your voice activated the program.”
I knew he was right. As I got closer, I noticed she didn’t look directly at me. She didn’t react to my voice, and there was something about her physical form that wasn’t quite solid; light seemed to pass through her, giving her figure an ethereal glow. This wasn’t my mother, it was a recording.
My heart sank a little.
She began to speak. “Crey, if you’re seeing this that means the Veils were successful in activating the Trojans, and you were successful in inputting the deactivation code.”
Hearing her voice again took me back to my youth and the bedtime stories she used to read to me.
“It also means my father, your grandfather has passed. I know he would be proud of you. I’m sorry I had to leave, but I had no choice. I look forward to the day I can hold you again; look upon your face. The world you once knew probably seems a great deal larger now, but this is merely the start Crey. Time is of the essence, and I don’t have long, so remember this; there is war coming. The Order of Darkness are preparing to invade, and we won’t be able to stop them alone. The Veils have a plan, greater than any of us could imagine. Valiros is going to be caught in the middle of a battle for supremacy between these two forces, and the outcome of this war rests with you. The challenges you will face will be great, and the loss even greater. Not everything is what it seems, but if you follow the path that is laid out before you, you can save our world. I love you Crey, with all my heart, I love you.” And with that my mother disappeared.
The ominous warning she delivered made my stomach turn cold, and her final words caused a tear to form in my eye.
“Okay, the Veils I know, but who are ‘The Order of Darkness’?” asked Tork.
“I don’t know.” I took a beat. “But I intend to find out.”