“I sedated you, don’t worry.”
“Of course, how silly of me to be upset in such a sterile environment.”
“Your infection renders most other bacteria null. Most that would kill you post op, I mean.”
Sindaris’ mouth twists into an artificial smile that would rival Caufmann’s most patronising feint of good cheer. “Keep your scalpel away from me.”
“Don’t you want to know what’s changing inside you and what isn’t?”
“Not as much as you do.”
Caufmann takes a small object that looks like a stamp from his coat pocket. “You still need this branding. You’ll show up on scans, military weapon scopes, and you’ll be flagged as friendly. Without it, you’ll be shot when we reach Whitechapel.”
Sindaris thinks for a moment then allows Caufmann to approach him. The doctor places the stamp against his head and presses the button on the tip, as if clicking a pen. A flash is seen followed by Sindaris crying out. His forehead steams and the emblem of Godyssey is burned into his head. It’s about the size of a bottle cap.
Rennin is playing with Drej’s knife, digging it into the reservoir’s surface when Sindaris’ scream of pain makes him jump. He watches Sindaris and Caufmann interact for a moment more before seeing that whatever happened was discussed prior. He returns his attention to the floor in front of him and continues scraping Drej’s knife against it.
He’s tried to return the knife again but the deserter HolinMech won’t even touch it now. When Drej becomes agitated the knife vibrates. Rennin lays it down beside his rifle and observes the others, still crowding around the dead conduit. He sighs deeply and looks over to Wayne Carr. He sits with his wife and surviving children.
This is turning into a circus, Rennin concludes. Now they have two dead CryoZaiyons, a deserter HolinMech and an infected civilian that seems quite polite.
He sighs again when his rifle catches his eye. Something in the scope is flashing. He raises the scope to his eye. A quick inspection, and he can tell whatever was causing the flash is gone now. He frowns and puts it back down purposely in the exact place it was previously to see if it happens again.
The flashing does indeed start again.
He looks at it suspiciously for a moment and sees the knife in front of the scope. This time he picks the rifle up again aiming the scope at the weapon. ‘Substance 6’ flashes on the scope display. Rennin stares at it for a while as if in a trance then his eyes dart to Drej. He swings the rifle to aim at him. ‘Substance 6’ flashes again. Then he scans Antares, then Caufmann and both result in Substance 6 readings. He scans Sindaris and the same appears again. “Thermosteel…” he says and an image of Del enters his mind making him cringe.
Within minutes, he is at the centre of show and tell to Caufmann and the group. Unsurprisingly, there are very few positive reactions to this news.
Verge, Jawa, Carmine, and Sabre are mystified. Drake and Mia don’t seem to care. Wayne is attempting to keep his children calm to stop himself from panicking; the kids themselves seem completely disinterested. Drej and Antares are fascinated.
“Substance 6 is Thermosteel… Del’s been re-purposed to harvest it, is that what you’re saying?” asks Antares.
“What else could it be? Thermosteel is the most valuable organic mineral in the system. The contaminant bones are so strong because they’re made of Thermosteel,” says Rennin.
Caufmann shakes his head. “Taking Thermosteel from a dead body won’t work, it has already solidified. The liquid primary stage is what’s valuable so you’d need…” he trails off and his face turns blank.
Rennin nudges him. “Need what?”
Caufmann blinks then looks at him. “The parasite in each contaminant spinal column would be interacting with the bone marrow centres and must produce raw material. If Del is harvesting those parasites and they can be kept alive within a new host or even survive independently after the initial parasitic stage, they could produce the mineral indefinitely.”
“This entire city is… a farm?” cries out Verge disbelievingly.
“This is insane, why here? Why not a third world country?” asks Sabre.
“You think that would be better? What the hell is wrong with you?” asks Jawa.
“It would be less obvious, is what I’m saying. This is a Godyssey city,” Sabre counters.
“With a fully armed perimeter left over from the war. It would keep it contained,” suggests Rennin.
Caufmann shakes his head. “No. This affliction was not meant to be used here, but the inadvertent architects of this disaster are taking advantage of it nonetheless.”
“Well now what the fuck is going to happen?” asks Rennin.
“Nothing changes. We’re going to Whitechapel.”
15.
Breakout
After an hour of walking up the tunnel single file, Rennin has had enough. Drej’s knife is constantly vibrating and it’s driving him mad.
Looking back, he can see Antares is holding Drej’s hand, quietly encouraging him along. Rennin can’t stifle his eyebrow arching but looks away when Antares’ green eyes lock on his.
Drej doesn’t look good at all. He is scared to death of whatever it is down here that has been speaking to him constantly. Even with Antares assistance, Drej is almost mute with horror.
Mia and Drake have tried to raise Horizon Military in the field on all forms of communication with no success. All they are receiving is static.
Although there is a retreat to Whitechapel, they still should have been able to contact someone. But they haven’t. Hours of tuning the receiver has picked up only two channels, the was only gunfire on the first, and contaminants babbling on the second.
Mia tries another channel. “Drake, which team is 107.65?”
“Whiskey,” he answers.
“How do you even remember useless shit like that?” asks Rennin.
Drake shrugs. “It’s like remembering radio stations, I guess.”
Mia speaks into the radio. “Whiskey Unit this is Raston Squad, are you receiving?” Mia asks and waits a bit but there’s no reply. “Whiskey Unit this—” she’s interrupted by Rennin switching the radio pack off.
“No one’s there.”
“There might be someone, arsehole.”
Rennin’s eyes lock on hers like binary missiles. “What exactly are we going to do if we raise anyone? We can’t do much more than tell them to go to Whitechapel, which they would already know, because if we can raise them then the base can too, and if you call me by my daddy’s pet name for me again you can kiss our marriage goodbye.”
Drej grabs Rennin’s shoulder. “There are two Suvaco units inbound to our location.”
“How the hell do they even know anyone’s down here?” asks Jawa.
“They didn’t say,” says Drej deadpan.
“Was that a joke?” asks Rennin.
“Be quiet!” orders Caufmann. “Arca, there’s nothing on my scanners.”
“Nor mine,” Antares shakes her head. “That thing is talking to you isn’t it? Where are they? How far?”
Drej’s red eyes glance back the way they came. “Eighty metres.”
“Behind us?” asks Mia, more rhetorically.
“Are they jamming you?” Rennin asks Antares.
There’s a series of curses that ripple over the coterie. Caufmann watches his gauntlet. “We’re just over a kilometre from Whitechapel,” he mutters. “Sabre, take Mister Carr and run his family to the trains with Carmine and I mean run. Go!”
Sabre picks up one of Wayne’s children, Carmine the other. “With our hands full we need a gunner,” says the captain.