{"id":155,"date":"2012-04-22T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-22T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=155"},"modified":"2012-04-18T19:52:09","modified_gmt":"2012-04-18T23:52:09","slug":"chapter-seventeen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=155","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Seventeen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Heroes are the people who walk forward when they should run in the opposite direction.\u00a0 I never thought of myself as one, then someone reminded me that most heroes don\u2019t.<\/h3>\n

— Frederick Rose, c. 5237 PD<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

5 Novem, 5249 PD<\/strong><\/p>\n

The corridors up on level twelve were dark as he stepped out of the lift, dark and cold enough that his breath steamed in the air.<\/p>\n

Must not be enough traffic up here to warrant heating the hallways very much.<\/em>\u00a0 It was warmer than the vacuum outside the station\u2019s shell, but just enough that no one was going to freeze to death walking from one end of the station to the other\u2014though it wouldn\u2019t be a comfortable walk.\u00a0 The chill probably cuts down on people deciding to be up here.\u00a0 That would work in someone\u2019s favor, if they\u2019re doing things up here that they\u2019d rather not explain.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, no one with Chinasia Corp would worry too much about what a scientist was doing to a bunch of psychics.\u00a0 After all, Corp propaganda told them that psychics were dangerous, a menace to be controlled or eliminated entirely.<\/p>\n

At least the corridors were carpeted, which muted the sound of his boots on the deck.\u00a0 There was no surveillance equipment that he could see along the hall as he walked slowly along the long, circular hall that spiraled out from the central lifts out toward the station\u2019s hull, where it was sure to be colder.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure the labs and cells up here are probably heated.<\/em><\/p>\n

He hoped they were.<\/p>\n

Now how do I figure out where she is, if she\u2019s up here at all?<\/em>\u00a0 There was no form of directory.\u00a0 The walls were completely unmarked, smooth, gunmetal-dark walls studded with locked hatches every so often.\u00a0 The hallways were dim, lit by sickly yellow lights every seven meters and the hatch controls next to each door.\u00a0 Brendan swallowed, looking around.\u00a0 Maybe I should have gone back to quarters and poked around some computer systems.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was too late for that, now, though.\u00a0 He was up here.<\/p>\n

No turning back.\u00a0 I guess there\u2019s really only one way to do this, shy of checking every room and hoping no one\u2019s around to raise an alarm.<\/em><\/p>\n

His eyes slid closed as he stood dead-center between two pools of light and sucked in a breath of frigid air.\u00a0 Loosening his grip on the mental shields Lindsay had helped him build over their time together, he opened himself to the psychic impressions in his environment rather than shielding himself from them as he\u2019d been taught on E-557.<\/p>\n

A dearth of voices and emotions hit him with enough force that he staggered.\u00a0 Breathe.\u00a0 Breathe.<\/em>\u00a0 Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed it back, shuddering and putting one hand against the wall to steady himself.\u00a0 Pull yourself together and focus, Brendan.\u00a0 Focus.<\/em>\u00a0 He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to narrow the range of his impressions to this section of the station, to this deck.\u00a0 It was easier said than done, and the effort left him sweating and shaking, leaning against the wall as if it was the only thing keeping him upright.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just the effort, of course.\u00a0 The wave of suffering<\/em> that crashed over him was enough to fell someone twice his size with half his ability.\u00a0 He took a few more deep breaths before he opened his eyes and tried to straighten up. The corridor swam in front of him for a moment before his vision normalized.<\/p>\n

Oh god, Lin.\u00a0 I never realized how bad it had to be.\u00a0 I\u2019m so bloody sorry.<\/em><\/p>\n

Breathing through his nose, he kept narrowing his focus as much as he dared as he began to walk slowly down the corridor.\u00a0 There were only two things he needed to focus on\u2014finding America Farragut and not getting caught in the process.\u00a0 The only problem was that he wasn\u2019t sure what America would feel like.<\/p>\n

If I focus down on someone who feels like Lindsay and Rachel, I might be able to pinpoint America.<\/em>\u00a0 It was a long shot, but it was the only shot he had.\u00a0 Jaw set grimly, he kept walking, keeping his focus as narrow as he dared.<\/p>\n

Damn, everyone down here is in so much pain.<\/em>\u00a0 It was impossible to ignore the ambient suffering on this deck.\u00a0 Were they all<\/em> psychics down here?<\/p>\n

He kept track of maintenance hatches as he walked.\u00a0 Those would be useful in case he had to make a quick getaway\u2014and useful if he couldn\u2019t get America safely to one of the utility lifts that were hopefully still operational.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have thought this plan through better,\u201d he muttered to himself.<\/p>\n

Something clattered against the metal deck in a side hallway.\u00a0 Brendan froze, heart suddenly hammering at twice normal speed.<\/p>\n

Shit.\u00a0 What was that?<\/em><\/p>\n

Whoever had knocked something over, he couldn\u2019t sense them now.<\/p>\n

What does <\/em>that mean?\u00a0 Was it no one?\u00a0 Or have they somehow managed to <\/em>create people like Aidan Church\u2014someone a psychic can\u2019t sense?<\/em>\u00a0 All the literature he\u2019d ever read\u2014and there wasn\u2019t much of it\u2014said that people like that were born<\/em>, they weren\u2019t made, couldn\u2019t be made.<\/p>\n

What if the theories on that were wrong?<\/p>\n

Stop thinking, Cho, and get your mind on the job you\u2019re trying to do.<\/em>\u00a0 He put his hand on the pocket where he\u2019d hidden Alana\u2019s gun and edged toward the corridor.\u00a0 It was dark in that access passageway.\u00a0 The lights had apparently been shut down in there, possibly to conserve station resources.<\/p>\n

Something pale bobbed into view, sickly and eerie, reflecting the yellow light from the main hallway.\u00a0 It was a face, the eyes dark and sunken shadows over hollow cheeks framed by ragged dark hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d the girl whispered, edging forward toward the light, hugging her arms around her body.\u00a0 The jumpsuit she wore was dark\u2014a soldier\u2019s threadbare cast-off\u2014and hung loose from frail limbs, pooled around her sandaled feet.\u00a0 She crept closer to Brendan, lifting her face to meet his startled gaze.<\/p>\n

The girl took a little breath and stopped a few feet from him, blinking rapidly for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are you?\u201d\u00a0 Brendan asked.\u00a0 She looks like a ghost.\u00a0 A psychic, then?\u00a0 Someone they\u2019re experimenting on?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d she whispered, fumbling around for the pockets of her jumpsuit.\u00a0 Brendan went tense, fingers closing around his weapon.\u00a0 The girl looked up at him and smiled weakly.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s okay, I want to help you.\u00a0 I know why you\u2019ve come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who the hell is she?\u00a0 How does she know why I\u2019m here?<\/em>\u00a0 Brendan\u2019s mouth went dry.\u00a0 Did I screw something up somewhere and announce my presence like I was banging on a gong or something?<\/em><\/p>\n

She fumbled a key-card out of a pocket and held it out to him with a trembling hand.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll need this to get in, to get her out.\u201d\u00a0 She wet her lips.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019ll think I did it, and that\u2019s the way it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the hell?<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d\u00a0 Who is she?\u00a0 Why is she helping me?\u00a0 How the hell does she know I\u2019m here for America Farragut?<\/em><\/p>\n

The girl shook her head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cWithout the Colony, we have no hope, and without the Guard, there is no safety for people like us.\u00a0 She helped me realize that.\u00a0 But if she doesn\u2019t get away, all our hope will die.\u00a0 You\u2019re here to take her away, take her someplace safe.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter how I know.\u00a0 I just know.\u201d\u00a0 She grasped his wrist.<\/p>\n

Brendan jerked back as what felt like electricity shot through his arm, leaving it numb.\u00a0 \u201cHoly\u2014what did you just\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n

She winced, drawing back.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I can\u2019t\u2014I didn\u2019t\u2014\u201d\u00a0 She stooped to pick up the keycard she\u2019d dropped.\u00a0 \u201cJust take it, please, and get her out of here.\u00a0 The rest of us don\u2019t matter if America isn\u2019t freed.\u201d\u00a0 She bit her lip.\u00a0 \u201cThey have no idea what they\u2019ve done.\u00a0 What they\u2019ll do to us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is she babbling about?<\/em>\u00a0 There was a hint of madness in the girl\u2019s eyes, but it was a quiet madness, a desperate madness.\u00a0 Her sanity had begun to slip away by inches, slowly shredded by the things she\u2019d seen, realizations she\u2019d come to.\u00a0 She was unraveling bit by bit.<\/p>\n

Tentatively, the girl took his hand again and pressed the keycard into it.\u00a0 There was no jolt this time.\u00a0 Her jaw trembled a little.\u00a0 \u201cPlease.\u00a0 Do it for all of us, even the ones that might not make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their eyes met and Brendan went cold.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Strapped to a rack, the girl screamed, head thrown back.\u00a0 A surgeon came at her with a scalpel, uncaring.\u00a0 Then, the world exploded, fire and shards of metal flying in every direction\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He pulled back.\u00a0 She recoiled, looking away, her dark hair veiling her face in a jagged line.<\/p>\n

\u201cCullings,\u201d Brendan breathed.\u00a0 \u201cYou know they\u2019re coming.\u00a0 They\u2019ve already started.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d the girl whispered.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re coming.\u00a0 We\u2026all of us here\u2026saw them coming.\u00a0 Some deny it.\u00a0 I tried to.\u00a0 I\u2014I found I couldn\u2019t anymore.\u201d\u00a0 She licked her lips.\u00a0 \u201cYour intelligence people are good.\u00a0 It might have been too late, if you\u2019d waited another day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, but I know you\u2019re here just in time.\u201d\u00a0 She pointed down the corridor he stood in.\u00a0 \u201cIn another thirty meters, you\u2019ll find a door with a red light above it.\u00a0 The card will open that door and you\u2019ll find her there.\u00a0 If you come back here, you\u2019ll find a lift.\u00a0 It\u2019s not supposed to work, but it does.\u00a0 We made sure of it so you could get out.\u201d\u00a0 Her throat convulsed as she swallowed.\u00a0 \u201cJust get her out of here and don\u2019t think about anything else.\u00a0 None of us here matter if you can\u2019t escape, with her or without her.\u201d<\/p>\n

What in the name of everything sacred and profane is going on here?<\/em><\/p>\n

She went rigid, face growing paler.\u00a0 \u201cOh ancestors,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to hurry.\u00a0 I\u2019ll delay anyone who comes down here for as long as I can, but you have to hurry<\/em>.\u00a0 You can\u2019t let Zaki catch you.\u00a0 If he catches you, he\u2019ll kill you and then we\u2019ll have no<\/em> hope left!\u201d\u00a0 She pushed past him into the corridor, starting to hurry in the direction he\u2019d come from.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait!\u201d Brendan hissed at her.<\/p>\n

She turned for a brief moment, looking at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are you?\u201d he whispered. \u00a0\u201cAnd why are you helping me?\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl gave him a tiny, weak smile.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s something I have to do, Kaito, and me alone.\u00a0 You\u2019re the only hope we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cKeep your heads down.\u00a0 <\/em>Down!\u201d\u00a0 Marshal Rose\u2019s braid whipped around like a lash as she looked toward the slender girl with a scarred face cradling an infant in her unbroken arm.\u00a0 \u201cHow did you save all of them?\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The girl licked her lips.\u00a0 \u201cIt was something I had to do, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 Would Kaito be proud of me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cKaito?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The girl winced.\u00a0 \u201cI think you call him Commander Cho.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He shook his head, struggling to clear it.\u00a0 The girl was gone.\u00a0 He blinked back tears that stung, wondering\u2014wondering at what he\u2019d just seen, wondering at the girl.\u00a0 Who was she?<\/p>\n

What did I just see?<\/em>\u00a0 He pressed his knuckles against his eyes, setting his jaw.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m overwrought and imagining things.<\/em>\u00a0 He looked at the key card she\u2019d pressed into his hand for a long moment.\u00a0 Don\u2019t look a gift-horse in the mouth, Brendan.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got a job to do, take all the help you can get.\u00a0 Who knows, maybe she\u2019s someone who works for us, someone who got caught.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even as he jogged down the corridor, looking for the door she\u2019d mentioned, the questions nagged at him.<\/p>\n

Was this all a trap?<\/p>\n

That<\/em> certainly unsettled his stomach.\u00a0 It was all he could do to keep himself from puking his dinner up right then and there.<\/p>\n

Then a wave of hate and pain hit him and he lost all control of himself and doubled over, retching.\u00a0 He fell into the wall, stomach roiling and cramping, throat convulsing violently.\u00a0 Tears stung his eyes as he fought for control, breathing heavily in ragged gasps between heaves and looking around for the source of the suffering.<\/p>\n

The door was within arm\u2019s reach, and the source of the suffering lay within.<\/p>\n

Target acquired,<\/em> he thought, then doubled over again.\u00a0 He started to wrestle his mental shields back into place, every metaphorical inch a battle.<\/p>\n

Finally, he slumped against the wall, breathing hard and trying to master himself.\u00a0 At least his stomach was completely empty now.<\/p>\n

Brendan turned and stared at the door as his stomach calmed.\u00a0 His fingers clenched around the edges of the key-card.<\/p>\n

Promises made, promises kept.<\/em><\/p>\n

He ran the key through the slot and prayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heroes are the people who walk forward when they should run in the opposite direction.\u00a0 I never thought of myself as one, then someone reminded me that most heroes don\u2019t. — Frederick Rose, c. 5237 PD   5 Novem, 5249 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-last-colony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25yjF-2v","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}