BLUE GENDER
"Children of the Blue"
15. Fallout
The hand that covered Marlene's mouth was shaggy and weak—it did not feel like a human hand at all. It certainly was not strong.
She instinctively raised her elbow in preparation to strike to the rear. Before she could she was stopped by a pleading whisper from a raspy, voice.
"Quiet…or they will hear us…"
The voice was referring to whatever it was that was moving into the area outside of the maintenance room. The same something that Marlene and Yuji had hid from before.
The hand released Marlene's mouth. She turned and stumbled away from a shadow in the dark until she was next to Yuji, who was laying on the floor in the nearly pitch black room.
"Your light…put it out…" the voice said as it—a shadowy figure—softly closed the hatch to the small chamber.
Marlene turned off the light: The shambling mass outside felt like the bigger threat. That mass pushed its way through the cluttered power sub-station. She could hear objects being knocked over, tread on, and pushed aside.
Whatever they were, they finished searching and moved on.
Marlene clicked her flashlight on again.
First she examined Yuji.
He started to sit, rubbing the back of his head as he did.
"Wh—what happened?"
Marlene brought him up to speed.
"Which brings us to you…whoever you are," she finished.
The figure was in the dark. She could see the outline of what appeared to be a person. She swung her light around to take a look.
"No!" the shadow said. "Do not look at me. I do not wish it. You do not wish it, either. No, no. That would be a bad thing for us both."
Marlene honored his request for the time being.
"Who are you? What were those things out there?" Yuji had a headache.
"We are one in the same," the shadow answered. "Survivors"
"How did you get on this station?" Marlene asked.
The man, in a rough but non-threatening voice, explained.
"How…did…I…get…here?" the man groaned—no, it must have been a horrid chuckle. "I never left. You think the entirety of the station was abandoned? You think there were enough shuttles in all of second Earth to take away every soul from here?
"When the military ship exploded we knew time was short. At first there was order. Then chaos. Pilots became Gods. Armed gangs seized shuttles while others tried to blast their way on.
"A few shuttles tried to make two trips. But sometimes they were rushed at the docks, their crews killed either by accident or on purpose. Even pilots. I saw one mob pull a man to pieces because he killed a pilot. They literally pulled him to pieces. Oh what a sight. What a sight indeed!"
Yuji guessed, "Like a drowning man suffocating the life guard."
"Yes!" the shadow liked the analogy. "Oh it was a glorious moment for all of mankind!" The sarcasm was dripping like venom from a Cobra's fangs.
"The best of Second Earth—the mighty survivors of humanity—slaughtering each other. If only order, not chaos, had ruled. Somewhere in all this the reactor was cracked. Either from neglect or vandalism I know not. But when the rads started rising things got worse. Imagine that. Worse."
Marlene was amazed: "You've been here…five years? How many others...?"
The voice spoke: "At first, there must have been twenty thousand of us. Sounds like a lot, but the station felt empty. There were some who organized, built greenhouses to grow plants, rationed protein pills and food stores. There was, for a time, hope."
"Then?" Yuji could almost guess.
"Then we did what humans always do. Greed. Power. Catching one another stealing more than their share. One person thinking their way was better than the other's. So the one big group of survivors broke into smaller groups.
"I, myself, was part of Red Block 17," the shadow said with pride. "We had control of the waste recycling center for almost six months! It was a gold mine! Then Orange Fifteen swarmed us. And back and forth again. Flight Deck'ers, and Command Level'ers, and—"
"Tribes?" Yuji interrupted. "You became tribes?"
"Yes! Oh, you are so smart!"
"You fought wars to control the critical sectors?" Marlene surmised.
"Yes! Yes! And we did it all living in the soft glow of radiation. At first you just got the welts, then your skin starts to feel like it's crawling and your hair falls out like a snake shedding its skin. And I'll tell you, we were snakes."
"But the supplies had to start running out. What about food and water?" Marlene wanted to know.
"Water was never a problem—plenty of storage tanks and liquid waste is recycled," the survivor told them. "Ahhh…but food. Now that's another story."
"Emergency rations could've lasted a year or two I guess," Marlene hoped. "Maybe longer if they were stretched."
"And stretched they are," the shadow said. "All those fights had a convenient by-product. A source of…sustenance. It was all for survival. We all told ourselves that—it was all for survival. There was no purpose greater than the survival of humanity!"
Marlene and Yuji cringed.
"So we fought one another," the voice stayed in the dark, refusing to be seen. "And when there was only one group standing, that group divided again and fought one another to feed from the fallen.
"As the radiation seeped deeper into our minds the lengths we would go to survive warped us even more. Now it is no longer humanity that survives on this station. Those of us who are left are nothing more than demons inhabiting our own hell. A hell that we so neatly made for ourselves."
"And those who are walking around out there…are they friends of yours?" Yuji hoped for some sort of safe passage deal.
"Ha!" He laughed. "I'm the last of Red Block 17. They find me they will skin me and roast me over an open plasma conduit."
"And us? And the rest of our party?" Marlene asked.
"They would do the same to you in an instant."
"Even if we had a shuttle? Even if we could take some of you to Earth?"
"Return to Earth? We are well beyond that, 2-8-0-5. None of us—"
"Do you know me? Who are you?"
The shadow paused then answered, in a melancholy tone: "You would not remember me, and I wouldn't blame you for not remembering. After all, I've gone through some…some changes. But I do remember you. I remember what you did that day. I owe you."
Marlene sighed: "Listen, we are here to help find our son—"
"If he is on this station, you will not want him back."
"He isn't here. But there is information in Amick Hendar's office that can help us find him. Whatever wrong I've done to you, please stand aside and—"
"Wrong?" The Shadow was surprised. "Had you done me wrong I would've let the mob have you. No, 2-8-0-5. You changed my life. You showed more value in my life than I had shown in my own. You showed me—and many others—that there was a better way."
"I don't understand," she was confused.
"You wouldn't remember. It was a small part of your re-education at the hands of that taskmaster, Amick Hendar. But I remember. We were on an N.I.S. infantry drill."
"N.I.S.?" Yuji asked.
Marlene answered: "Nest Infiltration Simulation."
The man who could not be seen went on: "I am code number 3-0-2-2. I was injured in the leg. The rest of the squad ran. But you helped me to my feet. You carried me in your arms through the course. You would not leave me behind even though you would have been disqualified with me. We almost made it, too, if Amick hadn't rigged the simulator to purposely defeat you.
"The whole time you kept saying something about how 'this is how Yuji and I made it through that Hell on Earth.' I have never forgotten that. It was only a simulation, but you showed more care for my life than even I had. You showed me that part of being a good soldier—a good person—is caring about another.
"So when I saw your shuttle dock, I decided that I would return the favor. But this is no simulation."
Marlene did not know what to think.
The shadow spoke: "You have to get to Amick's office? I will take you."
---
"For Christ's sake what—what are these things!?" Moss' rifle was running hot and running low on ammo.
He and Captain Junker had not hesitated to open fire when they had seen the mob of mutated, hunched creatures—creatures that looked all too human—bare down on them in the shrike simulator room. It had been immediately obvious that their attackers were not collecting for the station Christmas party.
Worse still, the mob did not fear death—it seemed as if some of them welcomed it as they charged bullets with wrenches, pipes, knives, and other instruments of attack.
The two men had retreated through a maintenance exit, down a primary corridor, and into a massive empty storage hanger. The creatures—the denizens of the Education and Training Station—followed.
Junker tried to answer: "People? Radiation sickness? I don't know but for God's sake keep firing 'cause they keep on coming!"
The storage room had two large doorways, one on each end, as well as a catwalk that circled the room and provided maintenance access to a large freight crane that sat on tracks on the ceiling of the chamber.
The Captain and Moss entered the room and made for the exit on the far side, only to be confronted with a second mob of the things.
"Oh Jesus—" Moss started to say as the jaws of two sets of the things began to chomp closed.
But Captain Junker was not ready to surrender. He ran toward the side of the storage facility and climbed onto a pile of boxes as the two masses of hostiles entered the warehouse.
"Up! Up!" Junker said as he reached for the catwalk and grabbed hold.
As Junker swung himself on to the walkway above Moss tried to follow. Junker turned and picked off two of the things chasing him but as Moss reached for the walkway one of the boxes he was standing on was knocked from his feet.
Junker reached down and grasped the man's hand as their pursuers reached for his legs.
"Don't…let…go," Moss cried.
Then something unexpected happened.
The mob that had blocked Junker and Moss' exit from the storage area attacked the group that had been chasing them. A fight between the two tribes erupted; Junker and Moss were forgotten and the Captain was able to help Darren onto the scaffold.
For a moment they watched the melee. Opponents bludgeoned each other as they growled and hissed like animals at one another. Junker noticed that some of the wounded and dead were dragged away by the opposing side. He had a scary feeling he knew why.
"What?" Moss was breathing hard as they paused and got a good look at what had been chasing them. "Are these…men?"
"They used to be," Junker observed. "They used to be."
---
"They are way over due," Denise observed as they floated in zero g next to the shuttle.
"We be done wit dis real soon," Gunther spoke of the sealant they were applying to the shuttle's wound. "I think we go soon, too."
Dr. Gamble had returned from the command center. He offered his opinion, "I'm sure they are fine. This is a big station. We should be patient."
"Well, doc," Pistol stated plainly. "My wife tells me I'm not one for being patient and for once I agree with her. Maybe we should go on up to the command center and see if we can get those monitors work'in. Maybe track em' down."
"I told you, most of the consoles are in bad shape—"
"Let me try," Denise, the technician, volunteered as she checked the clip in her pistol. "Doc, you and I will go. You two boys stay here, finish the job, and sit tight. We won't be long."
Dr. Gamble shrugged: "If you say so."
---
3022 stayed in the dark hall while Marlene and Yuji worked feverishly in the bright lights of Amick's office. They had accessed the computer and were downloading data onto a disc.
"Let's see what this says…" Marlene pondered but a groan from outside the door and farther down the corridor suggested otherwise.
3022 told them: "I think they are coming. I think you should look at the data when you are safely back to your shuttlecraft. It is dangerous here."
"He's right," Yuji said. "We've got the whole file. The info has to be in here."
Marlene hesitated but the sound of the searching mass was clearly audible. They had only a few moments to make a clear getaway.
"Damn," she muttered then followed Yuji out.
The man who refused to be seen, 3022, stayed behind them and in the dark shadows between lights.
---
"Well things don't look so bad," Denise commented as she scanned the command area. "Some are dead but we might be able to re-route some of the operations to other controls. Hang on…"
She sat on the floor next to a console marked "Exterior Sensor Array." As she did, she rested her pistol on top of the console then opened a rear hatch on the bank of high tech monitors.
"Maybe I can re-route the internal sensor functions to this console. I just have to make sure this one works, first."
She hit something in the wiry innards that brought it to life. Immediately a repeating 'ping' noise came from its control panel.
Denise stood slowly. She did not notice that her pistol was gone.
She looked at the display on the console.
"Well, we got power--what the..? Hey," she said. "The station's radar is showing…there's an object approaching the station…"
She turned to Gamble with a puzzled look. What she saw confused her even more. He was pointing the pistol in her direction.
"Doctor? Charles?"
The console 'pinged' faster.
"I'm sorry, Denise. I've been hiding something from you and the rest. I feel really bad about it," the Doctor looked at the gun curiously, then set it on a bank of computers he was standing near.
He began to unbutton his shirt.
"But I think I'm ready to share my secret, and I want you to be the first to know…"
He revealed his bare chest.
Denise was confused. She wasn't sure what was he was doing.
Then Dr. Gamble's skin began to move.
Denise saw what he had to show her.
She screamed.
---
Marlene and Yuji moved quickly through a corridor that, their guide had told them, was an access way for hull maintenance. It was dark and dreary—perfect for 3022 to keep his condition secret from them. More importantly, the area appeared free of danger although they knew that could change quickly.
Ahead, in the hall, the darkness was broken by a glow.
Marlene and Yuji, in the lead, walked past the source of that light—an open doorway into an observation room. Inside that room was a large super-reinforced panel of thick glass. The light that filled half of the room came from Earth as seen through the observation window.
Marlene kept walking until she realized their host had stopped.
She turned. She could see his silhouette standing at the doorway, staying away from the light, but looking nonetheless.
"What is it?"
He moved into that room, careful to stay out of the glow form Earth.
Marlene and Yuji joined him there.
"I…often come here…to look…so beautiful."
He held one ragged arm aloft as if reaching from the dark toward the glass. As if he might dare to touch it.
The two visitors followed his gaze. Marlene had watched Earth from orbit most of her life. Yet still…
She turned her eyes away from that blue sphere and studied the outline of the man who stayed in the shadows. She could feel the longing in him…the agony.
Yuji observed Marlene and as he watched what happened, he fell in love with her all over again.
"What…is your name?" Marlene asked their guide.
"Code number 3-0—"
"No," Marlene said. "Your name."
"My name? I don't know…if anyone ever asked me that before…my name was—my name is…Stephen."
"Stephen," Marlene spoke in a tone that Yuji recognized. A tone that was kind but insistent. It was the same tone she often used with Takashi.
It was a mother's voice.
"Stephen," she said. "Step into the light."
He tried to argue, "No—I…" but he stopped.
Their host took a hesitant step forward until all of what he had become was cast in the brilliance of Earth's glow.
Yuji could not help but cringe. He nearly stepped backward.
Horrid welts, burns across his cheeks, skin hanging in tatters from scrawny bones, only solitary wires left where hair should have been…hunched shoulders…a twisted form that had at one time been human.
Yuji saw that Marlene did not cringe.
She moved forward and joined their guide in the light. The man tried to step away but she would not have it. She reached out, took him in her arms and cradled him against her chest. Yuji saw two silent tears race from her eyes.
The man who stayed in the shadows began to sob.
Yuji knew that in those few moments Marlene showed this man more compassion than he had known in a lifetime. For those few moments, he was not alone, he was not abandoned, he was not forgotten.
And he was human again…for a few short moments.
Marlene clutched him tightly. "For this to happen…while I lived in paradise, you were living in Hell. What happened here…is all our shame."
Yuji could only wonder how a woman who so often questioned if she even had a heart, showed that she had the biggest heart he knew.
"It's over, now," Marlene told Stephen. "We have a shuttle. You can come to Earth with us."
He pulled away.
"No," he was emphatic, but not loud. "That can not happen. I will not go and I beg you to take no one from this station with you."
"But why?" Yuji tried to understand.
"We are the cancer of Second Earth," he turned to look out the observation window as he spoke to them. "We would pollute that world. We created this hell. We must parish here as an epitaph to the folly of this place—to the notion that man can live without our home. As if we belong anywhere else."
They were silent then Stephen informed them: "This corridor will take you to a junction that leads to the command center. From there you can get to your shuttle bay."
"And you?" Yuji asked.
"Me? I think…I think I'll stay here for a while longer…"
He traced the glass with his hand as if he were running his fingers over the Earth's blue oceans.
"Thank you," Yuji told him. "For helping us."
"Stephen," Marlene spoke softly. "You feel that I helped you once, long ago. Would you like me to help you again?"
He turned away from the Earth for a moment, was confused, then realized what she was suggesting.
His lips curled into what might have been half of a smile: "Yes. Yes if you would. It is a hard thing to do that for oneself, especially after all one has done in the name of survival."
"I understand," she said.
"I just…I just want to look at the Earth one last time. Just to imagine…is it as beautiful as I imagine?"
"It is beautiful, Stephen. The oceans, the green forests, the desert sands and frozen snow," Marlene described. "If you look hard enough, you can see them all, even from here."
Stephen turned to the view again and rested his hand on the glass. He said to them, "I wish you luck on your journey. I hope you find your son."
Marlene quietly slipped her pistol from its holster.
"I hope you find peace, Stephen."
He gazed through the glass at that round marvel sitting in space.
"I think I can…I think I can see it all…just as you described…so beautiful."
A single round ended a lifetime of torment.
---
Red lights began flashing.
"What is dat?" Gunther asked in a frantic voice.
"Oh shit," Pistol Jones recognized the warning klaxons that reverberated through the bay. "The doors are opening. Something is coming in!"
Indeed the main hanger doors began to open. The magnetic field kept the atmosphere inside the bay from being sucked out by the vacuum of space.
A red shuttle with a white stripe entered the bay. From Pistol and Gunther's view it was upside down, landing on the ceiling. But in zero g there is no up and down.
"Who the hell—?" Jones was stymied.
The door to the arriving shuttle opened and weapons fire rained toward the two men. They retreated out of the bay.
---
"What was that?" Moss asked as the two leaned against the bulkhead.
They had felt a vibration through the shaft they had just finished descending.
"Sounded like…felt like…a docking bay door closing shut."
"They leave us here?"
"Not without this," Junker held the electronic router in the air.
"Then what?"
"That's what I'm afraid to find out."
---
Marlene and Yuji were jogging along the hallway. They came to the door for the command center. The two walked in.
"Hello, Marlene, Yuji," Dr. Gamble waved as he stood over the dead body of Denise Karr.
But he wasn't the only one in the room. It was filled with men wearing red and white body armor and holding heavy assault rifles.
Another man was there, too. He had a scar on his face and wore a crimson uniform with four stars on his shoulders.
Dr. Gamble continued: "We were supposed to hook up with the General and his men back in Houston, but that bitch Amick screwed that up. So we had to improvise.
"Still, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is we're going back to Earth. The bad news is Denise and her friends won't be joining us. But let's be honest, shall we? This was never about them. It was always about you two. So let's get this show on the road, time is running short."
NEXT FACTOR:
16. Dead End
Dr. Gamble: "Well, Captain, we have to be going so I guess this is goodbye. But don't worry, we're going to leave behind some company for you. Fire all the bullets you want but, if you don't mind some friendly advice, I'd save one for yourself."