CHAPTER ELEVEN
Farra followed the crowds of eager onlookers as they all made their way to the outskirts of the city. Their destination was the ancient forest and Michael Donaldson’s speech. As she walked amongst the people of Terramora, she was again struck by a tangible feeling of optimism and hope. These people were amazing, she thought as she allowed herself to soak up the energy of hope as it poured from every one of them. As they walked, the city became less and less new and more ruins were visible. Mounds of rubble were regular sights and here and there amongst the debris could be seen personal items that once belonged to more of these happy, hopeful people. A shoe, a hairbrush, a child’s toy all stark reminders of the true cost of the Transmortal attack. Now and then someone nearby would remark that they used to frequent this or that store, restaurant, place of worship or whatever the ruin they were passing used to be. Not once did she hear a single person say anything about wanting vengeance, nor even express anger at what happened here. She supposed that during the past decades since the attack, time healed the survivors' hearts enough for them to leave their anger behind and move forward to their future. Whatever, she was impressed by their optimism and compassion.
As they approached the edge of the forest, she moved off to one side and stood amongst a stand of tall bushes. The evening before as she lay in bed Leon appeared and they went over the events of the day to come. He seemed a little evasive she remembered, but he always saw her right and she could find no reason to doubt him now. He told her during that first day when he let her speak to Vincent, that she would need to trust him without question so she was going to do so. There was a raised platform on which a lectern had been erected for Donaldson to make his speech to the people of Terramora. A knee high rope surrounded the platform indicating without being invasive, that this was the boundary beyond which no one must go and instinctively she noted how easy it would be to jump over if need be.
Behind the platform, stretching into the distance was the forest. The fresh new green amongst the blackened stumps of the old making a powerful backdrop. At the back of the platform, she could see Donaldson’s security aides. Some in suits talking into headsets while others dressed in combats scanned the crowd and readied their weapons. Leon told her this would be her moment of destiny for it was during this speech that somehow she was to pass the package over to Donaldson and get away again without being arrested or shot. She wasn’t sure how it was to happen though and it was this detail that Leon seemed a bit vague about.
“You will know when the right moment presents itself," he told her. "Act quickly and without hesitation for you will have just seconds to pass over the package and say what needs to be said.”
“I guess I’ll just have to wait and keep my eyes and ears open,” she mused to herself as she waited for Donaldson to start his speech. A throb from the centre of her chest told her Leon was nearby and wanted her attention. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to go inwards and waited.
“Watch and listen child. Use your eyes and ears to their fullest potential, they will show you the moment for action.” She frowned, what did he mean, use them to their fullest potential? She now had better eyesight and hearing than anyone she ever knew; even without stretching them she could hear and see stuff others had no hope of noticing. Almost silently the realisation crept to the front of her mind and she knew what he meant. She was to use her eyes and ears at their fullest capability, which meant that she must listen and look for something from far away.
“Oh I see, well you could’ve just told me that,” she sent the thought to Leon with a light hearted tut.
As Donaldson climbed up to the lectern and received his applause, Farra opened her ears to hear the tiniest of noises and she zoomed her eyesight in to the maximum and scanned the horizon. At first the noise almost overwhelmed her but the Drycenians taught her a technique of blocking out unwanted noise so she could concentrate on hearing the tiny noises. Everything settled into a tolerable murmur and she could clearly hear the trees swishing in the breeze, birds calling and creatures snuffling about. As she scanned the horizon the far tree line leapt forward to greet her and she was able to alter her focus to scan at various distances as quickly as she would with her normal eyesight.
Fifteen minutes into the speech and she heard it. A tiny cracking sound that just didn’t belong. Like someone stepping on a twig in the forest. The forest! She scanned the horizon and all distances in between in the direction that sound came from but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She was about to start panicking when something glinted off to the left of her visual field. She immediately focussed in on it and saw to her horror that it was a man hiding in the far tree line. That glint was the hot Terramoran sun glinting off the shiny metal body of the lethal looking laser weapon he was aiming at Donaldson’s back as he gave his speech.
Shit, she thought to herself. He’s going to be assassinated right here in front of me. She raced into action, pulling her hood up over her head and down over her face so she wouldn’t be recognised and get herself arrested or shot at for lunging at Donaldson. She raced from the cover of the bushes, leapt the rope barrier and jumped up the steps of the platform in one bound. She launched herself at Donaldson’s chest, knocking him backwards off his feet, the momentum of her weight carrying them both back down the rear of the platform and sending them both sprawling to the ground. As they were in mid flight, the shots rang out. Two of Donaldson’s security men were killed instantly and another was badly injured and unable to move. The soldiers were at that moment returning fire into the distance and running through the forest towards the assailant. As Farra and Donaldson landed in an ungainly heap on the ground, she knew there was just seconds to get the package over and say the most important words of her life. She reached inside her shirt and removed the package and offered it to him. Her face was covered by her hood but he was aware of a pair of startlingly green eyes looking back at him.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” he asked as he tried to regain his breath and his composure.
“Never mind. Take this package please. Remember Moxal 3?” she asked him and he nodded. “This package contains Vincent’s book and data cube; the one he tried to give you years ago. He is innocent of the crimes he was convicted of and the data that this package contains proves it. It will also help you deal with the Moxal Revolutionaries once and for all. Vincent is innocent. You must clear his name for at this very moment he is bringing to an end the evil that once walked here on this very spot. He has suffered so much for crimes he didn’t commit, use this and clear him. Please.” She leapt up and turned to run away before the remaining security forces could catch her as an accessory to attempted murder. Donaldson didn’t know who this was but he knew it was definitely a woman and as she turned to run, he just had time to catch sight of a beautiful dragon through a tear in her over shirt before she disappeared into the crowd and was gone.
Farra ran like she’d never run before, cutting into alleyways and side streets and back tracking on herself to outwit anyone that might be following. After forty minutes she found herself in an as yet completely undeveloped part of the city where all was still in ruins. Windowless walls loomed all around, their sightless eyes looking down at her as she stopped running to catch her breath. For a moment she thought these monoliths were mocking her as she stooped, hands on her knees heaving to get her breathing back to normal. She was sweating like a bull on heat and badly needed a cool drink. She wandered into one of the empty wrecks that was once a grocery store and made her way to the rear, climbing over rubble and packets and bottles whose labels had long since faded to nothing. She found a dark corner and stripped off her hooded over shirt and was dismayed to see a tear down the back. No wonder the heat got to her! She rummaged in her bag for the clean shirt she stowed there and put it on; no one would recognise her now in a different shirt. She crumpled up the torn one and set light to it and stayed with it to make sure it
all burned away.
She trod the ash into the rubble with her boot, got up and nonchalantly made her way back into the city to get a cool drink. As she was walking, she saw security patrols racing through the streets, sirens sounding and horns blaring. People leapt out of the way to avoid being run over as the ANA thundered passed and everywhere people were gossiping about what just happened. She decided that the best way to appear blameless was to pretend she had no idea what was going on, so she stopped by a small group of women who were talking and asked them what happened.
“My dear didn’t you see? Michael Donaldson was almost killed out at the forest about an hour ago,” an elderly woman informed her. She tried to look shocked.
“Oh my god, that’s awful. Is he ok?” She hoped she was being convincing and by the way the woman responded she guessed she was doing a fine acting job.
“Well, it seems that someone took a shot at him while he was making his speech. Killed two of his men too and another got shot in the leg. Donaldson wasn’t hit though, thank heavens. Can you imagine what the repercussions would be if he’d been killed?” The woman was in her element being the one with the news and she was revelling in having this crowd hanging on her every word. Here and there the other women would gasp and utter a “gosh” or an “oh my god” with a hand to the throat in genuine shock. Farra joined in with them and listened intently as the old woman continued. “Apparently someone from the crowd ran at Donaldson and knocked him down before he could get shot by the killer. The security service reckons that it must have been someone who was in on the plot but got cold feet at the last minute and decided to save him instead of help to kill him.” The women continued with their “oh gosh’s” and “oh heavens” as Farra feigned a missed appointment and excused herself.
So she was right to run away. It was inevitable to her that the security service would automatically think she was involved if she stuck around or got herself caught. She decided it was time to send a message to the Drycenians to bring them up to speed. She got out her Unicom Transmitter, pressed the activation button and waited for a few seconds before she started talking so that anyone watching would assume she was waiting for the other end to pick up. She tried to sound as if she was actually talking to someone, but she found it difficult and just hoped that no one was close enough to hear her.
“Hey guys it’s me, how ya doing? I’m fine thanks. It’s very hot here but it’s a nice place. The package has been delivered safely but there’s been a development. Someone tried to assassinate him. I got to him just in time and prevented a disaster and got the package over. We just have to hope he does the right thing with it; it’s all down to him now. This is one bit of the plan over which none of us have any control. Thing is though, I had to make a quick getaway after saving the old guy and now they’re looking for me. They think I must’ve been involved in the assassination plot but got cold feet at the last minute. I was disguised so they shouldn’t know it was me, but you never know. Anyway, just wanted to bring you up to speed. Whatever happens, you must get Vincent, he is your first and only priority right now okay? Hope everything is going well your end and I wish you success at finding Vincent quickly. Farra out.” She pressed the transmit button and waited for the three beeps to let her know her message was on its way. Within a few minutes her Drycenian friends would receive the message, even though they were three days away at the battle cruiser’s top speed. She was impressed beyond belief at their technology. “Now I gotta get a drink.” She strode into the first café she came across and ordered herself a bottle of the local beer. She thought she’d never tasted beer as good.
He watched her from across the street, his anger rising with each passing minute. How dare she come here and ruin everything he took years planning for. He first got suspicious of her when he saw her at the forest. She made a point of standing amongst some bushes, rather than amongst the crowd and she obviously wasn’t paying attention to the idiot’s speech as she kept her eyes on the far tree line. It was as if the bitch knew that Jackson was there. He couldn’t believe it when she suddenly launched herself at the old guy moments before Jackson opened fire and saved the old bastard. The worst thing was when he listened in on her cell phone call and heard her mention Vincent. His equipment couldn’t hear the other side of the call though, only hers and he supposed it could be a coincidence. There must be thousands of Vincents in the galaxy, but supposing, just supposing! He was incensed and felt like tearing her head off right here and now. Well the bitch was going to pay, and pay dear.
As Farra enjoyed her beer she began to relax. She was sure no one would recognise her as she’d been wearing the hood of her over shirt right down so only her eyes showed. She would make sure she continued to be careful though, and she wouldn’t wear the local over shirts any more, just in case it triggered anyone’s suspicions. She was about to order herself a second beer when she felt a rather sharper than normal throb from her chest. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift slightly. Leon’s voice was there loud and urgent.
“Farra my child, something is going to happen very soon that will frighten you. I beg of you with all my heart, do not fear. I am with you always, you must believe this now more than ever before.” He sounded worried, and this worried her.
“What on earth is the matter? What’s going to happen?” she asked, already frightened.
“Before this day is finished, you are going to be assaulted by someone who is also very important to this whole journey that we are all embarked upon. He will find you and assault you and take you captive. I beg of you child, don’t fight him please. Be submissive and allow him control of the situation for now. I will be at your side every moment, I promise.”
“What? You’re kidding right? For fucks’s sake Leon tell me you’re kidding.” She shouted her thoughts at him, incredulity and shock flooding her mind.
“Please Farra my dear,” Leon responded. His voice now had an edge. She noticed and was instantly cowed.
“Sorry, it’s just a bit of a shock y’know. What do you want me to do then?” she asked, taking a sharp breath in and forcing herself back into operation mode.
“Allow him to abduct you, don’t escape him. His mind is highly unstable but if he feels he has complete control he will do what needs to be done, you will come to no harm and he will have helped you a bit further along on your quest. If you get feisty with him, he might lose it and just kill you. Promise me child.”
“Shit, okay I promise.” She ordered another beer and a shot to go with it.
She tried her hardest to look as if she hadn’t a care in the world as she strolled nonchalantly through the streets of the city on her way back to the hotel for dinner. Try as she might she just couldn’t do it. What the hell was Leon thinking of, telling her to let herself be assaulted and taken captive? For fucks’ sake whatever next? After all she’d been through during the past weeks and months and all of it for the good of others. She put her life on the line for a guy she’d never met, nearly been eaten by the Uvees, shot at by Rangers and nearly got her head blown off by some lunatic just a couple of hours ago, and now she was to happily let herself be kidnapped? Good god is this guy Vincent really worth all of this? As she asked herself the question she already knew what her answer would be and that just made her more frightened than she already was. She thought of her Drycenian friends, racing across the galaxy at this very minute to Vincent’s aid, just because she persuaded them to help her help him. She thought of the Lilean people she saw in the visions Leon showed her, of their suffering at the hands of the Transmortals and how Vincent was at this moment trying single handedly to bring their evil to an end for the good of the whole galaxy. And then she thought of Vincent being murdered while taking his very first breaths all those years ago as his mother died giving birth to him. She thought of him trying to understand what was going on back on Moxal 3 and wondering why no one would help him. She th
ought of him being taken away and accused of terrible crimes he didn’t commit and how scared he must’ve been as he was led away to be frozen indefinitely at the Cryo Stasis Facility. She thought of him alone on some rock somewhere with no one to talk to or lean on for moral support and she thought of him wondering if he’d even live through the next days, let alone if he’d ever be a free man again. She finally thought of him as he laid there asleep when she kissed him and she realised how very important he was becoming to her, above and beyond the mission they were all on. She didn’t want to feel like this; she didn’t need this complicating matters that were already complicated enough on their own. She had relationships in the past; she hadn’t lived like a nun but she’d never really been in love before. She almost got engaged once but then the guy ran off with a female soldier he was on an exercise with on Layton 7 Moon Base. That broke her heart and her pride too, but then five months later he got himself killed in action and she felt vindicated. That helped her a lot; it would’ve taken her ages to get over that betrayal if he wasn't killed. She was experienced enough to understand where her feelings were wanting to go but she was sure she was strong enough to prevent them from having their way. She snapped out of her daydreams and realised she’d gotten herself lost.
“Dammit,” she cursed out loud, realising she should have been paying attention to where she was going. She decided to go into the next store she came to and ask the way back to the hotel rather than walk around for ages hoping to accidentally get back to somewhere she recognised. She rounded a corner and found a café so she went in and asked the man at the counter for directions. “Excuse me, how do I get to the Hotel Metropol from here? I’ve got a little lost.” She shrugged her shoulders hoping he’d take pity on her and give her good directions.
“Afternoon ma’am, your quickest way is out of here, turn left up the alleyway, then left again at the end. Down to the end of that road, cross the street and then take the first right. It’s about fifteen minutes walk.” He smiled patiently, obviously a bit put out that she wasn’t even planning to buy a coffee.
“Thank you so much,” she smiled as sweetly as she could before leaving the café and trying to remember the directions. She looked to the left and saw a narrow alleyway. It was just a gap between the café and another building rather than a proper thoroughfare and she supposed that only the locals really knew about it and used it much. It was rather picturesque; kind of old fashioned like in a painting. She was so busy admiring the old worldliness of the place that she didn’t notice the presence of the man who hid in the doorway of the warehouse next door.
Before she had time to gather her thoughts and realise what was happening, she found herself suddenly flung bodily against the wall so hard it knocked the wind from her lungs. She panicked, instinctively going to reach for her blade as a distinct throb came from her chest. She was being pinned against the wall from behind by a big man with incredible strength and as she fought for breath she tried hard to reach the blade that sat on her hip. She felt the throb in her chest but in her panic it didn't register into her consciousness. There wasn't time to prepare herself for this and make sure she didn’t fight, she was just acting on instinct like the good soldier she was. Another throb, this time much more painful and she felt it and recognised it. She cried out with the pain of it as she struggled with the man and it made her lose her focus so he over powered her with ease and restrained her hands behind her back. He snapped some kind of handcuffs on her and then she felt a blade at her throat and hot panting breath in her ear.
“You fuckin bitch,” he spat at her between panting breaths. “You’re gonna fuckin pay for this mess.” He dug the edge of his blade into the skin of her throat, making her tilt her head even farther back which hurt her neck terribly.
“What do you want you moron,” she gasped as she tried to force herself into a submissive stance that just wasn’t natural for her. The man said nothing, but forced her to walk up the alleyway to the end. After checking both ways to make sure no one was coming he marched her forcefully across the street and threw her into the back of an ex military armoured shunter buggy. She rode in these vehicles many times during her military service and she knew without trying that there was no way she was going to escape. They are basically an armoured box on either wheels, tracks or hover mode that the military use to carry soldiers across terrain safely where there is a significant threat from hostiles. It can also be used as a very effective mobile prison. It can be solar powered in sunny climes or magno batteries in other regions and is impervious to everything but the most powerful laser bombs and pulse weaponry. She knew that now he got her in one of these, she was going where he wanted her to go.
They bumped along for what seemed like hours before rumbling to a stop and all the time she was laid in the back in the dark still handcuffed and scared. The little star shaped scar on her chest was now throbbing quietly but constantly to let her know Leon was with her and it helped, sort of. The restraints on her wrists were cutting painfully into her skin and the arm she was lying on had gone completely numb. She kept rolling over onto her stomach to let the blood get back which meant she bumped her head, nose and chin so many times during the trip that she didn’t know what bit of her hurt the most. The shunter buggy isn’t designed for comfort and she knew she’d be black and blue when she got out of there. Suddenly the door opened and she was temporarily blinded as the bright Terramoran sun exploded into the inside of the dark vehicle. The man grabbed her roughly by the ankles and pulled her out backwards into the fresh air. She couldn’t stand at first and he had to hold her up to stop her from collapsing onto the ground in a heap.
“Stand up,” he yelled at her and shook her from behind. She tried to keep still and make her numb knees work. She took a quick look at her surroundings and noticed that they were in an area of forest a long way outside of the city. There was no way she’d be able to escape even if it were a good idea; there was nowhere to hide amongst the young saplings and seedlings. The sound of an engine approaching from far away caught her powerful hearing and she looked towards the sound. Focussing her eyes, the scene jumped towards her and she saw a man riding a hover cycle coming this way. A shove from behind made her lose her concentration and she turned to see herself looking at a small space ship. It was small, just a planet hopper really and nothing at all special. There were no identifying marks so she could tell where it came from or who owned and operated it. As she looked at the ship her captor became aware of the hover cycle approaching. He grabbed her by the restraints and pushed her forward to meet the cycle and its rider. The rider dropped the bike and ran towards them, yanking off his goggles and throwing them to the ground. Fear was written all over his face as he approached them.
“For fucks’ sake Boss, you didn’t tell me I’d have to be shot at and chased all over the fuckin planet by the security forces. What the fuck did you get me into here?” he yelled pointing angrily at her captor.
She was stunned. he’d called her captor Boss. She wondered if he was the mysterious unnamed Boss from the Moxal 3 saga but he wasn’t going to be pushed around and he reacted accordingly.
“So what, you think I’m stupid huh Jackson? You think I don’t know you and this bitch here got an alternate plan to take what’s mine huh?” He jabbed her hard in the back when he said the word bitch and she felt drops of spittle on her neck as he continued ranting at Jackson who she now realised must be the assassin whose plan she foiled when she saved Donaldson. Oops, no wonder they’re annoyed, she thought to herself. “There’s no way I’m gonna let a stupid fuck like you ruin everything I’ve worked for all these years Jackson. You and this bitch ain’t gonna take away what’s mine, not now not ever.” A shot thundered in her ear so loud she cried out in surprise and pain as her eardrums almost exploded. Jackson’s chest imploded, leaving a large hole big enough to put a fist through. His eyes were wide in surprise as he fell backwards onto the Terram
oran forest floor. She had seen that type of wound before, on Vincent’s data cube. It was the calling card of the Transmortal Hellfire Pulse Laser Canon. She was suddenly convinced there was a link between what occurred back on Moxal 3 all those years ago, and what she witnessed here today.
The Boss shoved Farra roughly towards the little planet hopper ship so hard that she lost her balance and fell. He grabbed her and yanked her up to her feet and as he did so, she came around to face him and found herself looking at something she recognised but had never seen on anyone else but herself before. It was hot on Terramora, the sun relentless and her captor had opened the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing a small star shaped scar in the centre of his chest, right on the sternum. This guy’s Lilean, she thought to herself, shocked at the discovery. He saw her gaping at it.
“What the fuck you looking at?” he demanded angrily, “you gotta problem?”
She didn’t quite know how to answer him. “I err, no, no problem,” she lied as he pushed her roughly towards the planet hopper’s rear hatch.
The little planet hopper was fairly spacious inside and she found herself seated in a fairly comfortable seat at the rear. The Boss restrained each of her arms to bulkheads so although she was at last sitting relatively comfortably, her arms were stuck out sideways at ninety degrees from her body, held there by the restraints. As he tightened the restraint holding her left arm, her Drycenian plate became uncovered and he noticed it. There was a tense moment of silence as he looked at it, and then at her face questioningly.
“What the fuck is that?” He jabbed at it with a finger. When she didn’t answer immediately he looked her straight in the eyes challengingly. His question gave away the fact that he didn’t know what it was or where it was from, so she risked a complete lie and hoped he bought it.
“I broke my arm a few years ago on some shit pile of a planet out in the middle of god knows where. The army medics were gonna amputate but the locals said they could save it if we treated em easy. This is the result. They saved the arm but I have to have that thing on it all the time to hold it all together or something.” She silently prayed.
“Rather you than me,” he replied and immediately lost interest. She sighed deeply and thanked god. A throb from her chest in reply told her Leon was close. The Boss put an additional restraint around her middle and the seat and more around each ankle, she wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked him, trying not to sound too confident.
“To your death, now shut the fuck up,” he snarled as he took the pilot’s seat and began tapping switches and buttons. The engines roared into life and with a shudder that became a rumble that became a bone shattering vibration, the little planet hopper leapt from the surface of Terramora Prime for the last time.
*****