Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters involved, Square does.
Author's Note: I'm sooooo sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter! If I had known that ff.net was going to go down, I would have had this chapter up the Thursday before! I hope it was worth the wait. And chapter seventeen will soon follow. BTW, the Black Boa scene was one of the first scenes I came up with for OOTA. It's nice to finally get to it. But… action sequences are haaaaard!
OUT OF THE ASHES
Chapter Sixteen
The Enemy Within
"You lost him?" Major Boyer raged. Ash met his gaze almost impassively, but Boyer could see the anger in those glittering green eyes.
Ash had been led on a merry chase through the city's underbelly before losing the rebels who had plagued their operations. The man had roamed the ruins for hours, searching for any sign of them. He'd only returned at Boyer's demand.
"You called me back," Ash said. The grating of his voice was harsher with his anger. "I'd have had him-"
"Forget it," Boyer sighed, raising a hand to stall Ash's argument. They were in the lobby of a large business building, where Boyer had caught up to the errant Ash. Boyer paced in front of a row of vending machines, angry at Ash's failure and his own foolish impulse to send Ash off alone. At least he came back... And I haven't heard any reports of him attacking our men.
But they should have caught the rebel leader! Boyer wanted to see who this man - or woman - was, and execute that person himself. He's making us look bad!
Boyer slammed his fist through the glass of the closest vending machine, the rush of pain cooling his rage. He examined his hand, observing the several deep cuts and the crooked, broken finger that was the result. Boyer shrugged, smeared the blood on the glass to clean his hand, and fished out a pack of chocolate chip cookies.
"You're bleeding," Ash said, eyes wide in fascination.
"Hmph," Boyer muttered.
There was a soft warbling from Boyer's wrist communicator, and he glowered at it before wolfing down a cookie. "Boyer here," he said.
"Any luck with the rebels?" the face from earlier asked.
"No," Boyer snapped.
"Pity. But you'll be pleased to know, our trap at the base has been sprung. You were right, the fools did go after the doctor."
"So they're dead?" Boyer asked, a little smugly.
The face frowned. "Not yet. Your men have already botched it. The Deep Eyes squad eluded the second ambush, and their ice elementalist broke through a sealed door. Then they got hold of a Protection ovo."
Boyer hissed. Not my men, you fool... None of mine would screw up so badly... "So they've escaped?'
"No. My men have them pinned at the main gate, and are waiting for the ovo to fail. It's only a matter of time."
Boyer didn't deign to respond. He decided to tell the men of New York to beware, however. He wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Ross and company showed up in New York soon. He glanced at Ash, and almost smiled. Wonder how they'll manage against a full-fledged magic user?
"The plans for my arrival still stand," the other continued. "I should be there within ten hours. Try not to let the rebels destroy everything." The face melted away.
Boyer snarled wordlessly before stalking away with an angry gesture at Ash to follow. The hand he'd slashed through the air was covered with blood... but there was no other sign of any injury.
* * *
The swarm of bullets pounded harmlessly off a barrier. The Deep Eyes stared, with the exception of Neil, as the spent bullets fell to the earth in a leaden rain.
"It wasn't this," Aki said, holding up the dead ovo-pack.
"Way to go, Neil," Jane murmured. "But I wouldn't wait so long next time."
"Huh?" Neil asked from where he was glaring at the green and black wires. He hadn't done anything... had he? He angled his head to see the attacking soldiers milling in confusion.
Stupid door, why won't you open? He stared at the panel for a moment, then blinked. No... it couldn't be... Neil reached into the guard booth and hit the door open control. The giant gates slid open, revealing a clear path to their Copperhead.
"Let's go!" Neil said. With a whirlwind of movement, they were again running, with Neil being pulled along by a concerned Jane.
They made it to the ship's open hatch, and Neil hurried to the cockpit and closed the door, beginning the pre-flight checks.
"Do we have time for that?" Jane asked, taking the seat next to him.
"Not really," Neil said as the soldiers followed them out. "But what if they sabotaged the controls?"
"Then we switch to the Black Boa," Jane said. They could see the soldiers opening fire on their ship through the cameras, and Jane winced.
"Right," Neil said, removing his helmet and taking the controls. "Let's get out of here."
The Copperhead lifted, and Neil brought it up to the barrier's overhead arch. (Fire on the following ships,) the voice advised. (They're coming after us.)
Neil ignored the voice. He didn't want to just murder these people for following orders. Besides, he was one of the best pilots in the USMF; he was certain he could outmaneuver them if he had to.
And the fact that they had very little ammo, which Neil had to save for blasting his way through the barrier, influenced his decision as well. (Noble,) the voice commented dryly.
He accelerated the ship towards the barrier, wishing he had more airspace to maneuver in. This is going to be a challenge. Nearing the barrier, Neil fired, aiming for the mesh of conduit that supplied the barrier. In a rain of energy, like liquid fire, one of the supports fell, creating a hole large enough for the Copperhead. Neil aimed the ship for the hole, then pulled hard right when a Snake Phantom thrust its way through, massive feelers hitting the ship's reinforced side. Neil heard the cries of the others as they were thrown off balance by his evasion, but he didn't let that distract him.
"Should I fire?" Neil asked Jane as the Phantom's undulating body slid through the hole.
"No... let them deal with it," Jane said.
"Assuming it goes after them!" Neil lifted the ship as the Phantom's head came toward them, its body flowing beneath them as Neil pulled the Copperhead out of range. The Phantom, visible on the monitors before them, lashed angrily and turned its rage upon the first of the following Copperheads.
Guiding the ship through the now-clear opening, Neil accelerated. "Should be clear skies ahead," he said.
The Copperhead shuddered as the second enemy craft opened fire. The heavy anti-aircraft bullets ripped through the plates, and Neil felt his blood drain from his face as several indicator lights flared red.
"Is something wrong?" Jane demanded.
"Since when did red lights indicate something was right?" Neil pulled a small handheld computer that had been set to the side into his lap. His fingers began to fly over the controls.
"What are you doing?" The Copperhead began to lose height, and Neil paused what he was doing to regain altitude. "Neil! What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm priming the Black Boa for flight. You see those lights? They hit a gas line."
"Oh," Jane said faintly.
"We don't have time to land and take off again; they're too close. I'm matching the Boa's course to ours, and we'll meet up with it in ten minutes." Neil glanced at the lights. "If we have that long."
"Then what?"
"Well," Neil grinned crookedly. "I hope you're ready for a mid-air transfer."
"You're insane!"
"Tell the others."
"That you're insane?"
Neil winced, remembering their earlier conversation. It hadn't sounded like a friendly taunt just now… "Jane, this has nothing to do with me being a Duo. There's no other way. When we're in the Black Boa, we can break out of the atmosphere and escape. Trust me, Jane… Please!" He looked at her pleadingly.
Jane pursed her lips. "You're flying two ships at once; should you be talking to me?" She rose from her seat. "I'll tell Ryan what we're doing. They'll be prepared." She walked off, mumbling something about the tow cables.
After checking his course, Neil set the Boa's autopilot to mirror their course. When it came to the transfer, he'd have to pilot both ships until Aki or Dr. Sid got on board to take the controls. It was the greatest flying challenge Neil had ever faced.
Heh. No pressure… Neil tried to steel his flighty nerves. (Can you do it?) the voice asked.
"The other Copperhead is following, but it isn't gaining on us," Jane reported when she came back to the cockpit. "I think it's just following us to make sure we crash. No sense wasting ammo, after all."
"Is everyone ready?" Neil asked.
"Yes." Neil could hear the nervousness in her voice. "They're all wondering how this will work. We won't have time to land and switch to the Black Boa?" Jane wanted to be sure.
"Not with that Copperhead tailing us. They'd pick us off before we got the Boa in the air. Besides," he gestured to the holographic screen in front of him, "the Boa's already air born and on her way."
The Copperhead pressed on, and it was all Neil could do to hold the ship to its course. He hoped the fuel would last; already, he could feel the ship struggling against his control.
The proximity alert bleeped, and Neil suddenly saw the Black Boa nearing them, flying smoothly to match their course. "Hang on!" Neil warned the others. "I'm going to open the hatch!"
His fingers flew over the controls, overriding the warning that insisted he couldn't open it when he was flying this high at this speed. Then he did the same for the Boa.
Now for the fun part. It had to be done fast, because the pursuing Copperhead was going to react to the other ship's presence. Not only that, he'd have to flip the Boa, since its hatch was beneath the belly of the ship. Aki and Dr. Sid would have to be sent over first, so they could gain control of the Boa as quickly as possible. Neil hoped they could fly upside down.
"Tow cables are ready," Ryan said over the com link. They would lower themselves on the cables to the Black Boa. "I'm taking Dr. Sid and Aki first, when you're ready."
Below him, the Boa tilted. Neil quickly shifted to the Copperhead's controls; the other ship had begun to drift as he'd tended to the Boa.
"All right, Sarge," Neil said, lowering the Copperhead as close to the Boa as possible.
Jane went back to supervise the transfer. After an agonizing few minutes, she said, "They made it. But we'd better hurry, Neil. The other Copperhead is moving closer."
And he was very low on fuel. But, fortunately, the voice in his head was silent, letting him concentrate on setting the Copperhead's autopilot. This won't hold long!
Neil hurried back to the hatch, where Jane had retracted the tow cables. "Ready?" she asked.
Neil looked out over the country side, so far below and rapidly moving beneath them. "Yeah," he said weakly. He'd always liked flying, but this was suicide… If Dr. Sid and Dr. Ross can make it, so can I!
Setting his good leg on the cable's hook, he took a firm grip. "Let's do it," Neil said. Jane hit the release.
They plunged downward, Neil's stomach rising as he fell through the open sky without even a parachute. We don't even have any of our landing gel…
Below, the Black Boa matched their movements. Someone had gotten to the cockpit, at least. "Ready to drop?" Jane said through the com as the ship's open hatch aligned with their outstretched cables.
"Yeah," Neil said. He was glad he'd yanked on his gauntlets; his hands were so sweaty, there was no way he'd have been able to keep his grip otherwise on the thin metal cable. "Ready when you are."
A shudder went through the cable, and Neil glanced anxiously up at the ship. He winced when he saw the twisted, bullet-riddled metal, and he could even make out the stream of fuel steadily flowing from the tanks. Just hold on…
"Neil!" Jane's voice was suddenly frantic.
"Jump!" came Ryan's voice.
A hail of bullets struck the Copperhead's hatchway, rending the metal where they'd stood. The other ship was taking action against them.
"Why are they firing on the ship and not us?" Jane asked desperately as their Copperhead veered off its set course, pushed by the force of the salvo.
Neil's eyes were drawn to the bullet's intended target. "The Black Boa's shielding us," he said, his voice panicked. "But not the cables…"
Jane's head snapped upward, and she caught sight of what had frightened Neil. His cable was nearly ripped through.
"Can you jump now?" Jane asked.
"No!" The Copperhead's unexpected movement had pulled them out of alignment with the Black Boa. It was trying to regain position, but their Copperhead had begun to weave, and had started losing altitude.
"Grab my hand!" Jane said, extending her arm towards him. Neil, with a wary glance at his unraveling cable, leaned forward. His fingers brushed hers…
"They're moving into firing position again," Ryan warned.
Neil missed Jane's hand, falling heavily against the cable. It snapped at the unexpected shift in weight, and Neil went tumbling in the open air.
"Neil!" Jane screamed in his ears. He was falling, falling, falling… Then, something seemed to grab hold of him, to stop him. He was hovering in midair! Then, he was being drawn into the Black Boa by a concerned trio. Aki, Ryan, and Jane held Neil as the hatch closed behind him and the ship righted itself.
"Sid! Take us into orbit!" Aki commanded.
The Black Boa pulled upwards, shuddering as it passed through the atmosphere and beyond where a Copperhead could follow.
"Are we safe?" Neil asked dully.
"For now," Aki said.
"Good." Neil yanked off his blood-filled boot, then slumped in a faint to the floor.
* * *
"Incredible," Dr. Sid said as he delicately probed the hole in Neil's knee for the bullet. "Simply incredible."
"If you like it so much, why don't you get one of these injuries, too?" Neil cracked weakly. He had a strained look on his face as he struggled to fight the pain.
"I mean the situation," Dr. Sid said dryly.
Aki smiled. They had escaped the base, and they had Dr. Sid. And it seemed Neil had another talent as well; she would have sworn that he'd flown to the ship. Telekinesis, maybe? Anyway, finally, things were going right!
Neil cried out as Dr. Sid pulled the bullet free with his tongs, and Aki stepped forward to disinfect the wound. She dabbed it delicately, cleaning the blood before anything else. "I can't believe you were able to do so much on this," Aki said when she finished, moving back to let Ryan finish the job. Dr. Sid leaned forward to watch.
"Yes," Jane said quietly. "You did very well. I'm especially curious how you were able to fool the gate's computer so easily.
Neil stiffened. "Trade secret," he murmured. Aki watched this exchange between them, brow furrowing in puzzlement. What was going on between them?
Ryan stepped away from Neil's healed knee, and the tech tried it hesitantly. "Still a little stiff, but much better," he said with obvious relief.
Dr. Sid had already been briefed on the situation as he'd
helped Neil, and he proceeded to tell them how Boyer had made him study spirits
that were entirely green.
"All green? Where could they have come from?" Aki wondered.
"I don't know. But he also gave me scans from New York citizens as well, and I was able to sort them into three categories."
The Undeads, the Duos, and the Mages," Neil said. Jane's head jerked up at this new classification. When Dr. Sid looked confused, Neil explained. "The Undeads, like Ryan here, have these ugly wounds that woulda killed them. You've seen Mages – Jane, for instance – in action. And Duos… have two spirits," Neil concluded quietly.
"Yes… Though you could classify the Undeads as Mages as well, if Ryan is any indication," Dr. Sid said.
"He heals, I kill," Jane said flatly.
"White Mage, Black Mage," Neil said.
"So why can't Ryan heal himself?" Aki wondered.
"I don't know… Perhaps it interferes with whatever keeps these 'Undeads' alive in the first place. And it might explain why their… powers differ as well." Dr. Sid shrugged. "I don't know; I'm just grasping at straws here. Major Boyer really didn't give me enough to work with."
"Did he say what the green spirits were?" Aki asked. "How are they different? And where did they come from?"
"Again, I have no idea. But… they were young. Mostly children, with a couple of exceptions."
Aki exchanged glances with the Deep Eyes. They were as baffled as she. Could the children of New York have been affected differently?
"Anyway," Dr. Sid continued, "what about the Duos? They're the ones with the denser spirits, correct?"
Aki started. Denser spirits… "Your spirit is very dense," I told Neil… She turned to look at Neil, and noticed Jane was already staring at him.
"They go insane," Neil said uncomfortably. He looked as if he wished he'd kept out of the conversation.
Ryan, noticing the others' odd looks, turned to Neil as well. "Neil?" he said softly.
Neil shrank away. "What is it? Why is everyone looking at me like I have a horn growing out of my head or something?"
"Tell them," Jane said quietly. "They have the right to know."
"Know what?" Dr. Sid asked.
"You're a Duo!" Ryan said with astonishment. "That's why you've been acting oddly."
Neil wouldn't meet their eyes. "Yeah," was all he said.
Aki's heart went out to him. Of all the curses to be stuck with… "But… you seem sane enough," she said softly. "Maybe you're lucky."
Neil gave a short, bitter laugh. "Lucky. Right." Hysteria edged his voice. "Could we not talk about this right now?" he pleaded. "This is uncomfortable."
They exchanged glances. "So, what do we do now?" Jane asked.
"We're safe here," Ryan said. "But we can't stay in orbit forever. We need to contact General Ryder and tell him what's going on. And we need to know what's happening in New York. Who knows what General Hein is planning… Neil, are you all right?" The tech looked as if someone had slapped him on the face.
"It's not General Hein," he muttered.
"Neil?"
"Just trust me! General Hein isn't behind this!"
"How do you know – " Jane began.
Aki drew in a strangled breath. "Oh my God…" she whispered, staring at Neil with horror.
Ryan's jaw dropped. "Neil… you aren't saying…"
Neil shakily got to his feet, almost drifting in the zero gravity. He pressed his hands to his temples. "I know it isn't General Hein… because he's right here… inside me…"
To Be Continued…