Darkness (29 page)

When we stepped in, the air was warm but it would take a while for us to thaw. We stood huddled and shivering as the two guards came in behind. The blast door shut. I heard the boarding ramp retract.

The two guards conversed in Spanish for a moment before one of took off his mask. I recognized him as Maxillo, Chief Praetorian of Nova Roma.

“Maxillo!” I said, unable to restrain yourself. “You’re alive!”

I’d last seen the Praetorian on the mountain road outside of Nova Roma. Along with his guards, we had been ambushed by a group of crawlers, and later, a xenodragon.

He shook his head. “Yes. Only five of my Praetorians survived that night. Many in the city died. But we are here. The Emperor knows this is where the true battle will begin.”

The deck of
Orion
vibrated as its engine thrummed. The ship was preparing for liftoff.

From what I could see,
Orion’s
interior was exactly the same as
Odin’s.
Ashton had once mentioned that those two ships, along with
Perseus,
had been based on the same schematics.

“Augustus has ordered that you seat yourselves until the ship is in flight,” Maxillo said. “For safety reasons.”

Ashton muttered something about safety and his butt, but in the end, allowed himself to be led to the wardroom table. More Praetorians found a wall on which to support themselves in preparation for the ship’s liftoff. It looked as if Augustus had taken the time to select new Praetorians for his elite guard, only it did not look as if all twenty-five were aboard the
Orion.

As the ship lifted, I felt Anna touch my hand under the table.

“We’ll be fine,” I said, opening my hand to hold hers.

“The tracker,” she said. “That’s how he found us.”

I looked at her questioningly. Then, I remembered what she had said about the escape pod. Each one was equipped with a tracking device so that another ship could find it. Only it wasn’t
Gilgamesh,
but
Orion,
that found us.

I had no idea if Makara, Samuel, Michael, and Julian were okay. Had they crashed as well? Or had they gotten away? If they had escaped, then they would have saved us rather than Augustus.

As these thoughts spun in my head,
Orion
stabilized and reached a steady cruise speed. My biggest question was how Augustus got his hands on a spaceship and how he had found someone to pilot it.

Maxillo entered the wardroom from the corridor leading to the bridge. I hadn’t even noticed that he had left in the first place.

“The Emperor will see you now.”

We sat at the table for a moment before rising. Two Praetorians flanked the corridor. The one on my right reached out his hand.

“Your weapons.”

Begrudgingly, I handed over my cherished Beretta and my combat knife. Anna unstrapped her katana from her back while Ashton handed the other Praetorian his handgun.

They waved us ahead, and I followed Ashton down the corridor – past the conference room and into the bridge.

Already Augustus sat facing toward us in the co-pilot’s chair, a smile stretched across his face. Sitting in the pilot’s seat, still facing ahead, was a man I had never seen before. I looked at Ashton. Maybe he knew who this man was. If he did, he gave no sign of recognition.

“Welcome aboard the
Orion,”
Augustus said.

Below, the clouds sped underneath. From the LCD, we looked to be flying southwest. That would take us back to the Wasteland. California.

Maybe even Los Angeles.

“Where are we going?” Ashton asked.

“No thanks for your rescue?” Augustus shook his head. “I should have suspected as much.”

“We both know what this is, Santos,” Ashton said.

Augustus frowned at the mention of his real name.

“What is it then, Cornelius?”

“Revenge.”

Augustus laughed. “Revenge? For what? The sweetest revenge would have been to let you freeze to death on that glacier. I saved you because I believe the past can be forgiven. Especially when so much is at stake.”

Ashton growled, but said nothing. Augustus turned his eyes on me and Anna.

“Perhaps the two of you will be more accommodating. I’ve been waiting for this meeting so that we can start the final attack on Ragnarok Crater.”

“Well, why now?” I asked. “Were you waiting until you were sure you could win?”

Augustus smiled. “Very good, Alex. As you have recognized, it would have been foolish for me to have revealed myself until the time was right. After all, you see me as your enemy. I had to wait for the right opportunity.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it,” Anna said.

Since no one had asked, I supposed I would. “How did you rescue this ship?”

“The old-fashioned way. Blood and boots on the ground. A couple of thousand died on the way there, but in the end we found our way to Bunker Six.” Augustus gestured toward his pilot. “Meet Jonas Sparks, of Bunker One.”

The pilot swiveled in his chair to face us. He had blond, spiked hair, thick glasses, and pale complexion. He offered no form of greeting. He looked to be forty years old.

“Jonas Sparks,” Ashton said. “Yes, I remember that name. Worked in aviation.”

Sparks offered a bland smile. “I’m surprised you even know the name. It’s an honor, Ashton.”

“Sparks found a place in Nova Roma,” Augustus said. “He found his way to my borders after Bunker One fell. He has a knack for technology. You can understand how I might be interested in someone with his abilities. Using Sparks to find the lost spaceships has been part of my plan all along. We knew where the spaceships were housed from data we had previously downloaded from Bunker archives. It was just a matter of reaching them and putting Jonas in the seat long enough to figure out how it all worked. And of course, Sparks took the liberty of disabling the component that allowed you to track us – meaning neither of you could see that both
Orion
and
Perseus
had gone online, while I could track the positions of both
Odin
and
Gilgamesh –
and, interestingly,
Aeneas.”

“And two thousand of your men died doing this?” I asked.

“Regrettably, yes. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think it worth the price. And it has been. Because now I have three key members of the Wasteland Resistance in my hands.”

“Is that what you’re calling us?” Anna asked. “The Wasteland Resistance?”

I wasn’t focusing on that, though. Augustus mentioned that he had three members in his possession. That meant that Makara and the others had gotten away.

“It was a pity your friends crashed as well,” Augustus said. “You were the lucky ones.”

Augustus watched us, his expression inscrutable. I was unable to believe it. If I understood correctly, then Augustus was saying...

“...Wait,” I said. “You’re saying they’re gone.”

Augustus nodded gravely. “Yes.
Gilgamesh
was a mass of flames when we found it in the valley below.”

“He’s lying,” Anna said.

“Why should I lie?” Augustus asked. “Surely you saw the ship crashing down yourself. You were so near to each other at the time. My own data shows both ships going offline within seconds of each other.”

Gilgamesh
offline. We had gone through so much that it seemed impossible for Makara, Samuel, Michael, and Julian to be dead. There was no way.

“Unless I see it with my own eyes, I won’t believe it,” I said.

Augustus turned to Jonas. “Captain Sparks. If you would.”

Jonas nodded, angling the ship back in the direction we had just come from.

“No...” Anna said. “It can’t be.”

“There was no escape pod used, as was the case with
Aeneas,”
Augustus said. “The only logical conclusion is...”

I tried to think of another possibility. But nothing came to mind. Was it
really
unbelievable that Makara and the others had died? It made all the sense in the world.

I simply couldn’t believe it.

“I want that ship scoured on foot,” Ashton said, his voice firm. “I refuse to believe they are dead until I see evidence to support it.”

Augustus smiled, shaking his head. “We are nearly there. You will have your evidence soon enough.”

***

Orion
touched down five minutes later. The dragons that had attacked not a few hours ago were completely gone, probably well on their way to Bunker 84. There was nothing we could do about that.

The way the ship was oriented, I couldn’t see the crash. Both Augustus and Jonas unstrapped themselves from their seats.

“Find warm clothing for them,” Augustus said to Maxillo. “It will be warmer in the valley, but they suffered a lot outside. Take no chances.”

Maxillo nodded, barking a few orders to some of his Praetorians. Within minutes, we were dressed in the same white parkas that all Praetorians were.

Prepared and waiting in the wardroom, Augustus ordered the blast door opened, letting in a rush of cold air. The temperature was at least fifty degrees warmer than it had been in the mountains. That seemed a sharp increase, but when I saw the valley floor it began to make sense.

The ground was coated in pink xenofungus.

The fungus naturally radiated heat, which, when coupled with the lower elevation, accounted for the much warmer temperature. Even so, it was still quite cold.

I raised my eyes to see everything Augustus described.
Gilgamesh
lay twisted, yet mostly intact. A deep scar in the fungus revealed where the ship had slid upon impact. The fungus might have broken
Gilgamesh’s
fall a bit. Hope swelled in my chest as I tried to force it down. A fierce fire burned within the ship, smoke pouring from every orifice, especially the open cargo bay aft. Somehow, that had been forced open in the crash.

We approached the ship. As we drew closer, the outlook grew bleaker. I saw just how
thick
the smoke was. The twisted hull crushed my hope.

There was no way anyone was getting in there to recon. The fire and smoke were too thick, and if there were bodies, we’d have to wait until the fire petered out. There would only be ashes and bone remaining.

“I hope this is enough to persuade you,” Augustus said. “I am truly sorry your friends died. I came here first, but the fires were already raging. There is no evidence suggesting anyone escaped.”

Anna watched the fire, frozen. Ashton’s face remained impassive. Neither said anything at all.

“We must now return to Los Angeles,” Augustus said. “It is time to gather what forces we can – including everyone from Las Vegas, the Raiders, and others – to plan an attack. The time for petty differences is over.” Augustus gestured toward the downed ship. “That is all of our fates should we not band together.”

Anna made a fist as Ashton looked at Augustus with loathing.

“Why the anger? Have I said anything that’s not true? Come; the world needs us. We must work together. I need your advice on how to carry out the upcoming battle. Obviously, I must bow to your expertise in many areas...”

“Do you mind?” Anna asked. “We just lost our friends here and you’re giving us a sales pitch.”

Augustus lifted his hands, backing away. “You are right. Take your time.”

As Augustus and his Praetorians retreated, the three of us walked closer to the ship. We could only trust ourselves to investigate this closely, and none of us would be satisfied until we had a final answer. It wasn’t likely, but if there was
any
chance they were alive, we had to make absolutely sure. Losing those four would be the biggest blow imaginable. Such a loss was incomprehensible.

I stared into the yawning entrance of the cargo bay, out of which black smoke belched. It was impossible to see within. As smoke poured out, I felt a sense of defeat.

They
couldn’t
be alive. It was just what I wanted to believe.

“Maybe,” Ashton said. “Maybe it’s time we faced facts.”

Anna grabbed my hand. With her other, she grabbed Ashton’s. We continued to look into the ship, as if Makara, Samuel, Michael, and Julian would walk out unscathed.

I felt my heart sink further.

“They’re...really dead.”

My words faded as we just stared, unwilling to yield our hope. I thought about how ridiculous we must look to the others doing this, but I didn’t care. I just wanted Makara back. Samuel. All of them.

We stood there for fifteen minutes. Augustus did nothing to interrupt us from our stance, giving us the time we needed. The smoke thinned, but it was still hard to see inside. There was nothing we could do.

“There might be tracks or something,” Anna said.

“On this fungus?” I asked.

“It’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

We left our spot, scanning the ground for tracks. The problem was that the fungus already had so many natural imprints that nothing stuck out. We went along the whole length of the ship – the other side leaned against a mountain, making it impossible to look over there.

We found ourselves once again in front of the cargo bay, maybe fifty feet distant.

Augustus and his Praetorians came over to get us.

“We must leave,” Augustus said. “There is nothing else to be done here.”

A single tear coursed down my face. I felt it should have been more given the circumstances, but I had reached my end. Without Makara or Samuel, I didn’t know what I would do. I had been through so much with both. It was bound to happen, sooner or later – if not here, it would have happened at Ragnarok. At least Anna was alive. I squeezed her hand. She didn’t respond.

Ashton was the first to start heading back for the ship. Anna remained beside me. I stood rooted, staring into the cargo bay.

“Come on,” she said, her voice thick.

The smoke was all but gone. Gazing into the shadow of the bay, I noticed something that set my heart racing.

“Wait.”

Anna paused, recognizing hope in my voice.

“The bay is empty,” I said.

I looked at Anna, trying to communicate the importance of this news with only my eyes. Augustus couldn’t know. He needed to think...