"I was afraid if I left that the explosions would frighten you."
"......Idiot......"
Gordon pressed his face against the large debris that separated them, his voice was low and serious. "Tell me. How are you?"
"...Well...the bad news is that I don"t have any feeling from the neck down." Ervel"s voice was weak; it was clear that soon the blood loss would render him unconscious.
Gordon"s brow strained and trembled. "It"s okay. Talk to me. Stay with me...don"t fall asleep."
"The good news is...I can"t feel any pain."
"Ah...well wait until they dig you out and restore your nerves...or we can have Xiao Yan give you a shot of x-2. You"ll be fine."
"Gordon...Do you think we did the right thing? Believing Casey...believing Jane.."
"I never believed in Casey or Jane-I only believed in you."
________________
The armed forces rapidly mobilized. Large quant.i.ties of condensing agent were sprayed over the monument in the town square. Although the strongest support was nearly bursting apart, the agent stabilized it.
The Shire had already lost a third of the city. The troops were conducting search and rescue for the trapped citizens and attempting to repair the structure points around the city. The homeless crowded in the central part of the Shire, the air was a mix of disturbed silence and frightened cries.
The president leaned against the window as he let out a heavy sigh.
"We were lucky."
"President?" Admiral Sharif looked over at him with an incredulous expression.
"The Shire is nothing more than a cage we have used to deceive ourselves. Valentin has shattered this illusion and reintroduced reality." The president lowered his head and his voice dropped to a low and cold tone. "No matter what anyone said, I should have hunted Valentin down. But I was caught up in politics and ambition...now we must all awake from this illusion."
__________________
Xiao Yan"s craft flew upward toward the sun, hues of rust and blood stretched across the sky.
A heavy silence filled the cabin.
The muted atmosphere remained until the last tendrils of light disappeared into the horizon and the inky night washed through the craft. Lauren, unable to take the quiet any longer, finally spoke. "Do you think we are the only ones from the Shire that survived?"
"Of course not." Xiao"s voice was thick with conviction.
Xiao secretly calculated the particle bombs needed to collapse the dome. It was impossible to transport it all by aircraft. Valentin"s goal was simply to spread fear and despair. No longer was the Shire a peaceful and safe place to live. Even if the Sharon virus could solve the zombie issue, without the shield of the Shire, Valentin will be even more ferocious in a.s.serting his power.
The craft entered the base safely and Shen Bing waited for them at the end of the pa.s.sage as usual. This time, his expression was even harsher and the wrinkles above his brow seemed to bear a crushing weight.
Xiao exited the cabin and saluted him. "Colonel, Shen Bing."
"I am pleased that you have made it to my base safely."
Other than the Shire, this base had the most powerful military might.
All the researchers exited the craft and Loch began to directly and anxiously fire off questions.
"Colonel has the Shire contacted your base? What is the situation?"
As Shen Bing headed to the main control room, everyone filed behind him. The researchers and armed forces were all hurried and busy; no one even bothered to look up as the elite researchers pa.s.sed by.
They stopped at a huge holographic image, displaying scenes from the Shire.
"The good news is that the dome hasn"t fallen. Only a third of the city has been lost. The military is repairing all the support points as quickly as possible and attempting to ready living arrangements for the people." Shen Bing stands with his hands clasped firmly behind him.
Lauren squints at the screen, he slowly takes in the destruction of the city and cannot help but yell out. He is devastated that the good news includes the annihilation of over a third of his home.
"Only a third"? Isn"t "only" still a bit too steep a price? This is not good news to Lauren. Not in any way! Xiao Yan pulled Lauren behind him. In the past Xiao might have seen Shen"s words as ruthless, much like Lauren, but after his experiences he understands Shen Bing more.
When it comes to things that have already occurred, it serves nothing to despair, cry, grieve and lower your head. On the contrary, one must break the situation down to its data to pull away such impulses and emotions. Then the situation can be looked at rationally. Valentin attempted to destroy the Central Monument. Once it falls, the remaining parts of the city will sink below ground. If that happens, then the craft that Xiao was one would essentially be the city"s Noah"s ark.
"What is the bad news?"
"The military suffered heavy losses, from the Armed forces to the Central Academy of Sciences. All across the board, more than 572 people were killed in the process of evacuating and protecting the people from the collapsed parts of the dome. This is our highest casualty rate in the past 100 years. Also...General Ervel of the Academy..."
"What happened to General Ervel?"
Everyone glanced over at Shen Bing with extreme worry. His lowered tone tightened their nerves.
"He was trapped under the rubble and sustained ma.s.sive blood loss. Had they dug him out a second later he would have died. Right now he is undergoing nerve connective surgery."
Xiao let out his breath in relief. He knew that countless researchers must have perished under the collapsed pa.s.sage.
"Xiao Yan you are not here to take refuge. We want to know what you plan to do next."
Shen Bing turned toward Xiao with fierce and solemn eyes. Xiao had never glimpsed such an expression from the man.
"Before we get to that... I am sure you are exhausted. Get some sleep. I wish you good dreams Major."
Shen Bing didn"t have the extra time or energy to talk with the other researchers. He abruptly turned around and went back to work. Xiao Yan had once heard Ervel mention that this base is the only one that is involved in a continuous sweep and search of Valentin. 24/7 they scour the world for any sign of him. However, over the past several months, the base has transformed from a research base to a more military centered base.
The researchers and special forces were a.s.signed quarters and headed to their respective sleeping arrangements.
This is the first time that Xiao Yan has had the privilege of his own room. It is too narrow to fit even a table inside, but at least he has his own bed and the s.p.a.ce to himself. The minute the door slid shut the only sound in the room was the quiet rhythm of respiration. Xiao headed toward the bed and the mattress sank as someone sat next to him. Fingers grazed the hair atop his head and as the hand retracted Xiao tightly grabbed their wrist.
"Am I bothering you?" Heine"s voice was cool and calm. Xiao felt his rapidly scattered thoughts finally settled and still.
"Bother me from what? Being in a daze?" Xiao turned and smiled at Heine"s knitted brow.
"There is something I wanted to ask you. When you were in Renault"s brain...what happened? What did you go through? What kind of world did he build to kill you?"
"It was a never ending labyrinth. Each time I thought that I had returned to reality, I would find that I had never broken free of his mind. He ambushed me with great patience, dissecting every memory fragment with in me and using it to build my world. "Reality" would reappear and then destroy that which was most important to me. I watched my mother die in countless ways over and over again. I struggled to escape his thoughts only to fall into another reality of his design. His thoughts were too deep, always extending past my point of escape. The minute I was about to breach his troposphere I would be pulled back in, forced to fall to a different world."
"And in the end? How did you leave with Shen Bing?"
"I found him and told him that unless we allow ourselves to die in Renault"s mind, he will never let us go."
Xiao Yan"s fingers unconsciously clenched into fists, they twisted tightly against the bed covers.
"But Shen Bing wouldn"t believe it. He thought that I was delusional and I was betraying the Shire since I was demanding that we leave the city. Renault was using the illusion of the Shire to cage us. When I rushed out of the city, Shen Bing was piloting the craft behind me. This world was Renault"s singularity, the anchor to his construction. He knew we were sent to mine clues from Renault"s mind so he used Shen Bing to take me out. I shot down the ice coated craft and pulled open the safety cabin that Shen Bing was in. He still thought that I was a traitor and tried to shoot me. The shot hit my shoulder. The sensation was so real that for a moment I doubted myself. Maybe I really couldn"t adapt to being back in reality and was insane. But I truly believed that we were trapped in Renault"s mind. Although there was no evidence... the world that he built was flawless... No seams whatsoever. I could only rely on my intuition."."
Xiao Yan realized that Heine had forced Shen Bing out of Renault"s mind. The damage to his neurons was not from Renault. It was because Heine had killed him inside Renault"s world.
"I am a horrible person, don"t you think? If I had been wrong, I would be responsible for killing my friend."
"The important thing is that Shen Bing was able to escape his trap. If he had stayed Renault would have been able to pull more information from Shen Bing, thus sinking him deeper into his abyss. After killing Shen Bing...did you commit suicide?"
"No. I decided to try to break free one last time. I had to think faster than Renault could construct. I flew full speed upward. I had no direct target; I just rushed desperately toward the clouds. The engines began to fail and I had to convince myself it was not real...believe that the engines were fine. As I envisioned this, I kept flying. Renault wasn"t able to catch up and I left his mind."
Xiao"s forehead sank against Heine"s and strong arms suddenly wrapped tightly around him, the force of his embrace revealing his anguish and trauma.
"Xiao Yan...in truth I am still often quite skeptical...unsure..."
"You think that perhaps you are still caught in Renault"s mind?"
"Yes. I think that maybe you are the best bait he could build for me... Forever trapping me in his world, unable to wrench free from his grasp."
"Maybe this is the only thing he would be unable to build. He can create infinite versions of me, but he cannot create your feelings. He doesn"t know what I want or am willing to do to make you shift your gaze toward me. Or that your feelings for me have destroyed all lines in the sand you have drawn."
"Xiao Yan...when facing Valentin...you have to be even more patient than Renault."
Xiao Yan"s shoulders trembled and he whispered thickly, "How do you know that I will face Valentin?"
"Because you never run away."
Xiao"s mouth lifted up in a twisted smile and he kissed Heine"s chin, dragging his lips across his skin to meet his mouth. As his tongue dipped inside, Heine suddenly moved pa.s.sionately against him. He leaned in with every ounce of his strength and the force of his desperate kiss became impossible to bear. Xiao Yan was forced to break free as his jaw was nearly crushed.
Xiao Yan"s communicator suddenly sounded and a lazy drawling voice split through the air, rousing Xiao instantly.
"Hah, such a special and rare moment."
The holographic display shows a man leaning his chin on his hand. His gaze is heavy lidded and seductive, but his pale skin gives away the weighted darkness swelling the area beneath his eyes.
"Jane Wallace." Xiao was still pressed against Heine, who turned his head to look at the image display. He suddenly stood up and dragged Xiao with him.
"Hey were you able to contact me?!"
Of all the researchers, the security is tightest around Xiao Yan.
"Obviously Gordon gave me your contact." Jane expression grew complicated and saddened. His hand reached to clutch at his chest. "Xiao, that time that you left me with the zombies...do you know how much that broke my heart? Now you are with another man. Out of anyone in the world, you are the only one who has managed to hurt me so many times."
His dramatic lines were rather cliché.
Xiao snorted and c.o.c.ked a brow. "I am pretty sure that Gordon did not give you my contact info so you could spout nonsense, I am disconnecting."
Ever since he discovered Jane and Casey"s true ident.i.ty, Xiao"s feelings toward them grew complicated. In his core he knew that, while Jane was not trustworthy, he really did need to get free from Valentin. In the end he was a powerful ally with similar goals.
"Okay. Okay. I get it. You are more short tempered than you used to be. You were far lovelier to me before."
Jane"s gaze shifted over to Heine and his expression instantly chilled. Even though they were not actually face to face, it wasn"t hard to sense the murderous atmosphere gathering between them. Heine"s blue eyes turned glacial. Thy icy orbs hardened to steel and the air instantly pulled tight as he met Jane"s eyes. Xiao had not seen Heine like this for some time.
"I know what you want to say but we won"t be used by you." Heine spoke first.
"Used? One of you has an inhuman terminal interface rate and the other is a special forces soldier...what should I do but use you." Jane leaned back against his chair and his jokes settled into a more somber tone. "There really is no time for kidding. Valentin used those particle bombs on the Shire and took Claire to force me out. I was worried he was torturing her, but she is already dead."
"How did she die?" Xiao knew that anyone from the Surge that followed Jane was like family to him. That included Claire.
"Her legs were severed and they forced her into an aircraft. On the way, she grabbed someone"s gun and blew her head off."
Jane"s expression was similar to when Sharon was killed. It was not so much pained as it was complicated- He suppressed his sadness.
"So, do you want revenge?" Heine looked over at Jane, carefully scrutinizing his intentions.
"Yes. I want revenge. If I don"t shoot first you know who Valentin"s next target is. The Shire"s fall was not only to intimidate the city but also for me- A warning. Wherever Xiao goes, he will destroy. With his particle bombs he doesn"t even need to launch an invasion."
"Sounds like Valentin is getting rather restless. He is quite anxious for you to show your face."
Jane smiled helplessly and nodded to Xiao Yan. "Use that clever little brain of yours and tell me why you think that is."
"Valentin"s approach to eternal life is to replace his decaying organs, but he cannot replace his brain. He must transfer it to a new body and avoid damaging the neurons. That means he needs a 100 percent match. Even if he cultivates a body and the DNA is the same, the complexity of the neurons leaves much variability. It is hard to find two identical leaves in this world and Jane...you are the closest."
"Yes. I intend to use myself as bait to lure out Valentin and you are the hunter. Heine Burton, you must know that of all the people in the world, only one has an interface rate similar to Valentin.-That is Xiao Yan. You cannot protect him in your hands like a fragile piece of porcelain forever. Work with me or wait until Valentin finds you. The choice is yours."
After that the connection terminated and Xiao Yan was left pondering Jane"s words.
________
A crisp sea breeze sifts through and a hand stretches outward toward the ground. Occasionally the sound of seagulls pierce the quiet sky and the lone sounds make the world seem severely empty.
Casey walked over to Jane and sat beside him. He pulled his legs up and hugged his knees to his chest before leaning his head down and looking over at Jane.
"I a.s.sumed you would talk with Xiao Yan for much longer."
"The only thing that we have in common is Valentin. How long does it take to say what is needed?" Jane"s lips twist sadly. "How is your father?"
"Which father do you refer to? My maker or the father of my genetics?"
Jane reached his arm out and rubbed the back of Casey"s neck. "He almost died."
"Yeah. Almost." Casey looked up and let out a heavy sigh. "I didn"t have time to ask him. I wonder if in his heart I am nothing more than a replacement for Alex or if there is something special...meaningful..."
"You shouldn"t leave the Shire with such a question."
"You shouldn"t chase down Valentin yourself. You are more than bait. There is nothing more valuable than your life. If you fail, Valentin will steal everything...all of you."
"Casey we are different than Xiao Yan and Heine. They have a place that they are from. We don"t. We float aimlessly about the ocean. I don"t expect to find myself an island, it is enough to have a small reef for the moment...so that when we close our eyes we forget in this brief peace that even the reef belongs to the sea...we have nothing."
"We have each other. You have always been there for us. You don"t want what happened to Claire to happen to me or Jerry or anyone else. And you don"t want anything to happen to Xiao Yan. You know that, as long as Valentin is still alive, he will definitely go after Xiao Yan and take his brain."
"So this time...we have to succeed." Jane"s eyes grew hard and focused, his cold gaze lifted and he stared up at the endless sky.
+++++
That evening Xiao Yan told Shen Bing and the other researchers about Jane"s proposal. As expected, most were strongly opposed to his plan. Jane was a notorious traitor. No one believed that he intended to cooperate with the Shire. They talked over each other in anxious tones.
Xiao turned to look at the oddly quiet Ritz and Loch.
"What do you think?"
"It doesn"t matter what we think. What do you need us to do for you?" Loch, who always spoke in clipped remarks, voiced his words with complete devotion.
"Major! What are you talking about? You want to watch Xiao Yan go to his death?"
"This is Valentin! He can destroy the Shire overnight! How many people are there? How would you deal with him!"
"We thought we were safely protected in the Shire, but what now? No matter where we go, that guy can easily demolish it? It doesn"t matter what life we want to live...he will take it. So count me in and tell me what I can do to help!"
Ritz"s gaze is full of will and might. This major who speak in lazy drawls and neglects his projects now has an unshakable force boiling in his eyes.
"Well this hasn"t been approved of by the military yet so if anyone feels it is impossible to lure Valentin out using Jane you can leave the room."
Xiao looked over in Heine"s direction. Winn stood next to him and shook his hand. "What can we do? My orders from Gordon are to protect you no matter what, he said nothing about stopping you."
Mark rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe because I didn"t take too many Academy cla.s.ses I don"t understand much. All I know is that Valentin has been killing us so why not turn the tables. Xiao Yan if you want to trap that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I think you are the man to do it. I am with you."
*********I really like this chapter. I know that nothing really happens in it but I love that we finally get Heine"s story. The author managed to give us a rather large glimpse into his character with a rather short tidbit. His coldness, his disconnect, the fact that he could not perform blocker duties after such a trauma...so much revealed in that story. Anyone feeling Jane yet...I can"t help but have a soft spot for Jane.
As usual if you feel like it...tips are welcome...the link is on my profile page.
Also, I have another interview- on my birthday of all days so this should be...potentially devastating. Wish me luck...