The Mendelssohnian Theory: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic ,Y/A (24 page)

“He won’t try to kill us anymore,” answered Adam.

“How do you do that?” she asked, and her fear of him was
noticeable in her voice.

“I do it because I can,” answered Adam, “they talk to me, and
I listen.” He tried to hug her, but she moved back, frightened.

“You can do that,” and she pointed at the dead man, “to
anyone?”

“I’m not like that,” he answered and when he was certain of
his answer, said, “You know better than that, I’m not like that.”

“But you can,” she insisted, “it’s not… not human?”

“I do what I must to survive,” Adam became angry, “I’m no
more or less human than I was before you knew about it.”

Natalia thought about the time they’d spent together and the
sense of intimacy they’d experienced just a few moments ago. She silently asked
herself the same question Adam had just now asked: now that she knows about his
powers, will she continue to love him? Will she continue to want to be with
him? And the answer popped straight into her head – yes! What she felt for him
was stronger than any other force in the universe.

“I call them ‘spots’,” said Adam, “they call me ‘The Nagid’.”

“And if you ask them something, anything, they’ll do it?”

“They are conditioned,” he explained, “they avoid killing
human beings without a reason.”

“They’ve just killed one now,” said Natalia.

“They protected us,” answered Adam, “it’s not a
contradiction, they were making a choice.” He drew silent, allowing Natalia
some time to decipher all that she’d seen and heard.

“It’s not right for one man to decide who should live or
die,” she said after a few moments of silence.

“There’s always a choice,” he repeated.

“Always?” she asked.

“Yes,” answered the angered Adam, “always.” He turned from
her and began to march along the coastline towards the hovercraft. Natalia
remained behind and examined Adam’s back drawing further away from her. In his
gait, she seemed to notice the weight of his special gift burdening his
shoulders. For the first time, she realized the difficult dilemmas her loved
one was now facing. She wanted to make it easier on him, to aid him, but she
knew she had no part in them. She hesitated a moment more, then hurried after
him, matching her gait with his, and held his hand. He smiled without turning
his head to her, then grew serious. “I never asked for the ability to
communicate with the computerized nanoparticles,” he said, “it’s not a gift, it’s
a responsibility. I would be glad if someone else had this ability, but I’m the
only one who has it.”

“I know,” Natalia said, “I’m sorry for doubting you earlier.”
He hugged her, and she leaned on him, then they continued to walk, locked in
their embrace.

“No one knows about my connection with the spots, and I’d
rather keep it that way,” he said after a while, “we’ll need every element of
surprise we can get.”

“Elizabeth and Joseph don’t know?” Natalia was surprised.

“Even the creators don’t know,” he explained, then stopped
and turned to Natalia. “I think we may have a better chance to succeed if we
keep this entire thing secret. I’m surrounded by various allies with
conflicting interests, and I can’t always understand who’s who in all this
mess.”

“I swear not to tell anyone,” Natalia said, then added,
hesitantly, “I… I love you.” She had never allowed herself to love before and
had never expressed it aloud. She’d always regarded love as a weakness. Her
mother didn’t teach her what love was and showed her none. The few
relationships she’d had with men were always abrupt and ended with heartbreak,
mainly because they didn’t have the chance to sense her lacking love. But then,
on Mars and even more so now, the mere thought of him, or of the both of them together,
made her feel elated and the sentence: ‘I love you’, had escaped from her mouth
before she was able to censure it. She was afraid of his reaction, but the
words couldn’t be taken back and she will need to face their consequences,
whatever they will be.

“I love you too,” said Adam gravely, and Natalia saw on his
face that he’d given much careful thought to the words he had said. She felt,
without realizing how, that he was also afraid of being hurt and
disappointed.

Natalia swore never to disappoint him. She cuddled in his
hands, glued herself to his body and inhaled into her lungs his scent, which
had become hers. His muscles contained her, and the softness of his touch was
as surprising as it was familiar.

A moment later, Adam added, “We need to hurry up. If there’s
one agent, more will probably follow.” They continued on their way, hurrying to
their friends. As they approached the hovercraft, their hands parted and they
signaled to Joseph and Elizabeth to hurry to the aircraft. “They’re on to us,”
Adam explained. Elizabeth started the hovercraft, and they rose up and quickly
hovered away.

“We need to decide where we’re headed,” Elizabeth remarked
after a few minutes of flying.

“As long as I’m around you, you’re all in danger,” Adam said,
“that’s why I’ve decided to leave you.” Joseph and Elizabeth were shocked.
Natalia looked at him with an amazed silence as well. He said he would leave,
but she didn’t think it would happen so quickly.

Elizabeth was the first to regain her composure. “You don’t
really think we’ll let you go by yourself?”

“I’ve been by myself before,” he answered, “it’s easier for
me to defend myself when I don’t need to worry about others.”

“I think you’ve got it all mixed up, chick,” said Joseph,
“we’re here to protect you.”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Adam, “and I thank you for that,
but I’m not running anymore.”

Elizabeth and Joseph exchanged glances and the hint of a
smile passed over Elizabeth’s face. Adam noticed her smile and immediately
understood. “You knew this would be my decision?” he asked.

“I was hoping it will be,” said Elizabeth, “you had two
dangerous possibilities to consider, you could have chosen only one. I think
you’ve made the bravest decision.”

“And you think this dilemma should be part of my way, right?”
Elizabeth nodded, and Adam agreed with her. “You’re right, it is my way.” And
as he’d expressed it aloud, thought became knowledge.

“Perhaps,” Joseph joined the conversation, “you’ve reached a
stage in which no one but you can imagine where you’re headed.”

“I’m going all the way,” said Adam, “until I’ll find the ones
who are responsible for the chase after me. They need to pay for their
arrogance, for their greed, their cruelty, for being manipulative and lacking
any empathy for anyone but themselves. People got killed because this or that
business decision, and many more are about to die. I won’t take it anymore.”
Natalia placed her hand on his and he gave her a smile, then turned serious
once more and added: “But the main reason, perhaps the only one, for my
decision is not related to me personally. I have a mission, a role
-
if you’d like. I won’t
be able to complete it with a threat hanging over my head. First, I’ll remove
that threat so that I can free myself to finish what others have begun before
me.” The three were highly impressed with Adam’s words. ‘He’s no longer the
angry youth who’d reached me almost by mistake,’ thought Elizabeth, ‘he turned
into a leader’, and the realization filled her heart with pride.

“The creator, did he…” Joseph began and immediately corrected
himself and snuck a half-smile toward Elizabeth, “did she say anything about
the intended role you have to play?”

“She said a lot of things,” answered Adam and did not
elaborate. Joseph decided to let it go.

“If you’d let us,” Elizabeth said, as if she was addressing
the son of kings, “we’ll be delighted to serve as your companions, at least for
part of your new journey.” Adam didn’t answer. They patiently waited for his
reply; all four of them knew that the balance of power between them had changed
forever. Now he was the leader, the guide, the decision maker.

“We’ll fly to Skil City,” he finally declared, and the three
of them nodded as one. The name filled Natalia with dread. She was afraid this
will be his plan, but when he’d voiced it aloud, she was shocked by the idea
that they’ll need to get to that city, the city from which went to assassinate
her lover.

As the daughter of parents whose forefathers were Muslim,
Natalia was familiar with the cruelty and harshness of the Russian authorities.
All her life she’d been trying to escape from her ethnicity, but now, the fact
of her being a native of the Great Russian Empire began to close in on her from
every direction and forced her to confront her past. She knew she wouldn’t be
able to change her lover’s mind and had long ago made her choice to follow him
wherever he’ll go.

Skil City, formerly known as New Moscow, was built next to
the Russian capital. The heads of Skil had chosen the Russian capital as the
center of their corporation and in actuality were the ones ruling the
super-confederacy, adopting the local customs of government.

Natalia couldn’t help but wonder why Adam hadn’t mentioned to
Elizabeth and Joseph what he had privately told her about parting from them and
finishing his journey by himself. But she subdued the pangs of concern and
chased them from her heart, promising herself to protect Adam anyway she can.

The hovercraft took off and turned north toward the Ural
Mountains leading to the Great Russian Empire. Joseph turned to Adam and
smiled: “So…” he said, “you’ve finally decided to stop being a chick?”

Adam smiled back and replied, “Once a chick, always a chick.
I’m just looking for another pile of shit.” The two burst out laughing in front
of Natalia’s confused eyes. Elizabeth smiled behind the hovercraft’s dashboard.
Joseph turned his head forward once more and left Adam and Natalia to
themselves.

“What was that all about?” Natalia asked with a whisper.

“An old story,” answered Adam, “if we get out alive from
where we’re headed, I promise I’ll tell it to you,” and he pressed her body to
his and closed his eyes. She cuddled against him, and they spent the rest of
the flight sleeping.

The Skil Tower was situated on a high hill, at the heart of the
city whose buildings seemed as if they’d simply sprouted all around it. Wide
staircases surrounded it in every direction and led to an open ground floor at
the bottom of the tower. The hill was covered with grass, strewn with many
colored flowers, which demonstrated the corporation’s wealth by the mere fact
of them being live plants and not artificial imitations. When Adam and his
company had landed the hovercraft on the footsteps of the hill and began to
climb up one of the wide stairways, everything appeared tranquil and serene,
but Adam knew that this sense of serenity was completely delusional and was
merely an introduction to what was about to come. They reached the lowest level
of the tower and stood next to one of its pillars. They were headed toward the
tower’s elevator shaft, which was located right at the center of the square.
“It’s quiet,” Joseph said.

“Too quiet,” said Natalia and at that precise moment, the
square began to fill with corporation agents. It seemed as though they were
coming from every direction, from inside the tower and its surroundings,
perhaps they’d even grown out of the earth. The agents organized themselves in
rows, silent and protecting the elevator doors. Adam counted at least fifty
agents facing them in a battle formation. He tried to calculate their chances
of overcoming their enemies and found that the battle was probably hopeless.
But he did not intend to beat them all. He sought the opening through which he
would be able to break through the circle and meet the man who had ignited the
chase after him, the man responsible for the death of his dear ones and the
danger he and his friends were now facing, that man whose commands had
overwhelmed his life, the man whose greed had caused him to try and put his
hands on the unique patent called ‘Adam First’ in order to stop the development
of the entire human race. ‘I won’t give him the pleasure of beating us, I won’t
allow him to succeed,’ thought Adam. But in order to reach the elevator door
and get inside, he needed the help of his friends. He could not stop thinking
about the fact he may be sacrificing them so his mission would succeed. Even
though they had freely chosen to join him, the responsibility for their wellbeing
burdened his shoulders, and he tried to think of a solution that would ensure
both their safety and his own success.

“Stay close to each other until I tell you otherwise,” he
instructed his friends.

They advanced toward the first row of agents, and it parted
and allowed them to pass through, before closing again. The next rows opened
and closed before them the same way. “Set your suits to optimal defensive
mode,” commanded Elizabeth, knowing the suits will at least be able to stop the
laser guns.

The next row of agents did not allow them passage, and now
the agents closed in on them from all directions. They stopped and stood still,
back to back. Beyond the rows of agents, Adam noticed the figure of the tall
assassin who had chased him from almost the very beginning. Natalia had called
him Sato and Adam knew he would need to pass him as well. “Be ready,” Adam
hissed, “each of us will jump forward in a different direction, and we’ll try
to mislead them.” His friends nodded their heads. “Now,” called Adam and they
obeyed him and lunged toward the agents in front of them. To their surprise,
but not to Adam’s, the agents had completely ignored them and allowed them
passage. Their target was Adam and Adam alone. He guessed this would happen and
was happy that his friends were safe for now, outside the circle of the agents.
He allowed the agents to grab him and lead him to Sato, who waited patiently
for Adam to reach him.

“You never had a chance,” said the assassin and smiled a
cruel and narrow smile.

“On the contrary,” Adam hissed. The elevator chimed to
indicate it had arrived at the ground floor, and its doors opened, awaiting the
passengers. Sato turned to the agents who held Adam, “Take him upstairs to the
boss and don’t take your hands and eyes off him. As far as I’m concerned, you
can beat him senseless and wake him up when you get there, understood?” The
agents nodded and straightened Adam. The elevator doors began to close when one
of the agents mistakenly pushed a button that reopened them. At that exact
moment, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Natalia jumped on the agents from behind and
knocked them down one after the other. “Quickly,” called Sato. This was exactly
what Adam had been waiting for. He shook his guards and jumped on Sato. The
force of the movement caused the two opponents to fly into the narrow elevator
while struggling with each other. Adam sent his hand and released the
elevator’s locking mechanism. It quickly took off to the management floor. Just
before the door had closed, Adam managed to see Elizabeth being shot in the
stomach and Joseph rushing to her aid while Natalia was trapped between three
agents. Around them, lay many agents who’d been hit by the fighting team. A
strong blow to the head stunned him for a moment. He heard a weak voice in his
head, which instructed him: “Do it already…” He shook his head, thinking he’d
only imagined the voice. He turned around and faced Sato, who had maintained an
indifferent expression and a detached smile that stopped on his lips and didn’t
invade the rest of his face. “Do it already, come on, what are you waiting
for?” Adam heard again that same unknown, commanding voice. Sato noticed the
hesitation in Adam’s movements and quickly attacked his prey. Adam evaded the
older and more experienced warrior and sent a blow toward his body. Sato
managed to turn his shoulders and absorb the blow so that Adam’s hand merely
chafed his back. “Now,” the voice continued, “do it now…” Sato managed to grab
Adam and tried to pin him to the floor. Adam held onto the elevator’s wall to
somersault back and knock off his rival. They faced each other again and began
to exchange a series of kicks and blows, so quick that they seemed more like
two fighting machines than human beings. Adam needed everything he had learned
since the chase after him had begun, in his training with both Elizabeth and
Dmitry the smuggler, who had trained and nurtured him as if he was his own son.
But all that wasn’t enough against Sato, who was much more skilled. Adam felt
his strength draining, and Sato was about to overcome him. “That’s it,” the
voice sounded in his head again. Sato pinned him to the elevator’s floor and
turned him on his belly. He tried to resist, but the assassin was stronger and
obviously had the upper hand. Sato pulled Adam’s hands back and bound them
together with a super-metal restraint (Upprecious Metal ©). He turned Adam on
his back and forced the youth to look into his eyes. “Now,” the voice cried in
his head, and Adam now obeyed its instruction. A spring had loosened in his mind,
and his personality sprang out his body, just like it had in the training
complex in England when he had fought the assassins that infiltrated the
Freedom Secret Camp. Just like he’d killed the agent next to Ararat Lake. The
blinking dots of light, the misty nanoparticles the creator had given him,
jumped from his eyes and surrounded the astonished Sato’s head. The dots joined
together to create the shape of a human face in the air, Adam’s face. The
warrior’s eyes followed the illuminated face, which spun around him, then
rushed into his face. He screamed in pain and grabbed his head with his hands,
trying to crush the dots of light and extract him from himself, but to no
avail. He let go of Adam and felt his way in the elevator, deaf and blind. The
dots of light, the advanced nanoparticles, began to do their work, paralyzing
the systems that accompanied Sato’s senses one after the other and connected
them with Adam’s brain implant. The assassin’s body trembled one last time,
then collapsed to the floor and was still. Adam managed to balance himself
until he sat with his arms still bound and moved on to the next stage. He sent
short commands to the light particles in Sato’s body. At first, it appeared as
though nothing was happening. Suddenly, Sato woke to life and stood above Adam
in an intimidating posture. Adam was afraid the warrior’s strength had managed
to overcome the light particles that had taken over his body. But Sato bent
toward Adam, placed his hands around him, turned him around and with the aid of
a knife he drew from his belt, cut the super-metal restraint that bound Adam’s
wrists with a precise thrust. Then he simply stood, silent and motionless, next
to the youth who had become a man, and waited for further commands from his new
master.

Adam flexed his fingers into fists, trying to restore the
blood flow. He straightened up, pushed the elevator button and sent it
downstairs. His meeting with the head of the corporation will have to wait. He
hurried to the ground floor, where his friends were fighting the corporation
agents. When the elevator doors opened, he quickly jumped outside, leaving the
paralyzed Sato behind. He found Joseph and Natalia protecting Elizabeth, who
was lying on the ground, injured by a laser beam that had managed to infiltrate
her protective suit. Of all the agents that were in the square when he had left
them, only seven now remained and they closed on the company from every
direction. He jumped on the nearest agent, and the momentum of his movement
hurled them both onto another agent. For a moment, the attention of the
remaining agents, busy with the task of besieging their prisoners, had become
lax. Natalia took advantage of the opportunity. She bent, sent her leg forward
in a split-like movement, and kicked the feet of the agent in front of her. He
fell on his face, bumped his head and lay still on the ground. She hurried to
Adam and helped him overcome the two agents who stood in front of him. Then
they immediately turned to face the remaining four agents. Joseph still attempted
to handle them, but his strength had betrayed him, and he simply embraced and
protected Natalia, their four enemies leaning above. Natalia and Adam attacked
the agents from behind and brought them down. In the silence that settled after
the chaos of the battle, only Elizabeth’s sighs could be heard. Joseph rose up
and held her hand. He saw what Adam and Natasha could see as well. Elizabeth’s
wounds were mortal. She mumbled something and Joseph stooped until his ear was
above her mouth and listened. “Help him,” she mumbled, “he must succeed.”

“Hang in there,” called Joseph, frightened and helpless,
“help her, Adam. Please help her,” the elderly scientists begged.

“Come,” Adam instructed Natalia and hurried to Sato. “Tie him
up and see that he doesn’t move,” he commanded. She tied the older warrior’s
hands and feet, while Adam relayed a message to a single dot of light that
erupted from Sato’s body in the form of glowing dust and merged into a sphere
of light that floated around him. Sato moved and opened his eyes. Adam’s
control of him had eased a bit, and he strained to re-stabilize it. “I gave him
back some control over his body,” he said to Natalia, who looked at him with
astonishment as if seeing him for the first time. “His brain is still under my
control, but his body resists and he may hurt you or himself. Keep him alive, I
need him alive.” Adam spat out his commands sharply. He wanted to be softer
with Natalia, but time was of the essence, and he was afraid more agents would
show up soon. He left Sato under Natalia’s supervision and hurried to get back
to Elizabeth. The nanoparticles secreted by her brain implant weren’t able to
overcome the laser injury and for the moment, were only able to sustain her
life. Adam hinted to Joseph that he should stay clear and directed the sphere
of light to the puncture the laser beam had pored in Elizabeth’s stomach. The
sphere spun for a brief moment around the edges of the tiny hole, then
penetrated it. Elizabeth sighed with pain, then immediately drew silent. Adam
covered the wound with his right hand and felt how the nanoparticles the
creator had given him were draining his energy. Elizabeth opened her eyes and
looked into Adam’s. He smiled at her, and she returned a tired smile.

“The savior,” she mumbled and closed her eyes. Adam waited a
moment, then turned to Joseph. “Take her to the nearest hospital. She needs to
rest.” The improvetegrated nanoparticles dissolved in Elizabeth’s body while
she slept an unconscious sleep.

Natalia turned to Adam and called: “I’m coming with you.” For
a moment she eased her hold on the assassin a little. It was enough for Sato.
His body curled into a ball, and his foot kicked Natalia, who was thrown from
the elevator. The warrior struggled to get up and press the button, which would
close the elevator door, but Adam lunged forward and was able, at the last
moment, to push his hand between the closing doors. The light sphere squeezed
between the doors and penetrated Sato’s body once more. The assassin fell on
the elevator’s floor, and the doors slid back and reopened. “No,” said Adam,
“from here, I continue by myself. Go with Joseph and Elizabeth,” he added in a
softer tone, “I need to concentrate now, without worrying about the lives of
the ones I hold dearest. Without being afraid something bad might happen to
you.” He took her in his arms and whispered, “I love you.” Natalia hugged him,
hiding between his arms, her head buried in his shoulder. “It’s not over yet,”
he said after a few seconds, “you need to get them out of here quickly. More
agents are already on their way.” Natalia straightened up, rose to the tips of
her toes and kissed him. Then she turned around and got back to Joseph. They
lifted Elizabeth and carried her to the hovercraft. Adam followed them with his
eyes until they reached the aircraft, then pushed the button for the Skil
Tower’s uppermost level. While waiting for the elevator door to close and for
it to begin its climb toward the management floor, toward the man who had
instructed that he and all the people related to him must be hurt, Sato sent
his foot with a well aimed kick directed at Adam’s face. Adam was thrown back
to the elevator wall, then dropped to the floor and remained there, lying
still.