Scarlet Eyes

A Rifts Story

by Alexis Williams

(Based on the Rifts Roleplaying Game, published by Palladium Books)

CHAPTER THREE

Nikolai tightened the harness around the mule, hardly paying attention to what he was doing. He glanced once again in the direction of the town. Above the furthest hills, the sun was nearing the horizon.

The mule snorted. Nikolai stroked its neck, procrastinating the plowing that awaited him. He just couldn't stop thinking about his friends and what could be happening and why he had been sent away.

An echoing sound made him turn toward the town again. Slowly, he identified it. A horse in full gallop on the dirt road. Approaching.

He left the mule and went to the front gate. His heart leapt to see who it was. Jon was racing toward him as if his life depended on it. Nikolai waved at him, then watched his friend draw up to him and leap off the horse before it had fully stopped. Jon then grabbed him, knocking him into the gate, and punched him in the gut.

Nikolai went down. A gunshot hit the fence post, splintering it.

Jon stopped mid-swing as Sonia, shotgun leveled at him, stepped down from the porch. "Get out of here. Now!"

He stood straight. "I should have known you would protect your traitorous brother. You probably don't even care what a snake he is."

She pulled the lever to chamber another round. "I said, leave."

"Wait," Nikolai struggled to his feet. "What's going on? Jon, why are you doing this?"

Sonia came closer. "It doesn't matter. I want—"

"It does matter," her brother interrupted her. He turned to Jon. "Explain. Please."

The young revolutionary glared at him. "I probably won't live to see another day because of you. I came to make sure you don't, either. How dare you betray us!"

Sonia said, "My brother did not betray you. He would never do that. You've obviously made a mistake."

Jon was incredulous. "Well it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. They came for us. They knew our names! Only nine people had that information. Only nine people even know we exist. And only one of those was sent home before the execution." His eyes bore into Nikolai.

Nikolai had to admit that the evidence against him was compelling. But how could it be so? Nikolai knew he hadn't turned in the Front. It was the last thing he would ever have done. But he couldn't argue the fact that he and his sister had been sent home before the arrests. They knew us, he thought. The only reason they would've spared us if I had turned in the Front.

Then, the answer he sought slipped lightly into his head. It quickly became an unwelcome guest. Because that answer led to only one other person.

But it was impossible. The answer couldn't possibly be betrayal by his trusted sister. Something else had to be true. He had never even considered keeping the Front a secret from her—they had been through too much together. And he'd been so sure that she would've wanted to join up.

But she hadn't joined up.

Even so, it was inconceivable that she would've given his information to the army. It didn't make any sense.

He turned slowly toward Sonia, his eyes confused, almost pleading for her to give him some other explanation.

The three stood silent for a long moment. Eventually, Sonia breathed out slowly and lowered the shotgun. "All-right. Yes." She swallowed. "I called them."

Jon said, "You? But, why?"

She took a step forward. "I've protected my brother for too long to let him get caught up in your crazy dreams of taking on the Coalition." She spoke with quiet strength. "I won't see him die because of your insanity."

Jon couldn't believe the sudden truth. How could he have misjudged her so? He stared hard at her. Her eyes were intelligent, even kind—but filled with fearful conviction. He said, "You didn't think we could've won." His gaze sank to the ground. "And so you've killed us. Before we even had a chance to try."

"You'll forgive me," she said. "If I don't choose to live in your fairy-tale world. I live in the real world. Where people die. Where creatures tear your parents to pieces right in front of you. Where staying alive can't be taken for granted." Her eyes were shiny with moisture. "Look, I'm sorry I had to do this to you. But in time you'll come to agree. The reeducation centers—"

"You don't get it, do you?" Jon looked at her with disbelieving eyes. "They're not arresting us. They—" The revolutionary seemed at a loss for words. He gazed at her for a long time.

Finally, he turned and mounted the horse, casting a final glance at his friend. "You chose the wrong person to trust, Nikolai. Too bad we'll all have to pay for it." Then, to Sonia, he smiled sardonically. "I hope you enjoy your survival."

He spurred the horse and galloped away.

After his friend disappeared around a bend, Nikolai's legs gave way, and he sat hard on the ground.

He could hear his sister's voice. "I had to do it, Nicky. Those people would've been the death of you."

"Leave me," he uttered.

"Nicky, you have to understand—"

"I said, leave me!"

She slowly backed away and returned to the house.

Owen Selby walked briskly toward the spider-skull walker that he'd ordered to stand down. The disappointed and confused crew of two had just climbed out of the machine and were headed toward him, when Owen noticed another man—the armed traveler he'd seen in the video with Mina—sneak into the machine, which quickly came to life.

The crew noticed this and turned around to investigate, only to find their trusted vehicle firing at them. They were struck down immediately.

Owen retreated as the walker launched a couple of smoke grenades into the area and sprang off toward the Enforcer guarding the park.

Royd was thrilled with his luck. Now that he had his own spider-skull walker, the odds of staying alive improved substantially.

That is, if this Enforcer didn't cream him. The Enforcer was a two-story tall robot vehicle roughly in the shape of a man. At thirty feet, the spider walker stood higher, but most of that was the legs. The not-exactly-precisely-named spider walkers consisted of a pilot compartment shaped like a skull mounted on six agile limbs. Two large rail guns protruded from the sides of the head.

He knew it wouldn't be long before someone informed the Enforcer pilot that the spider was being controlled by the enemy, so he charged him as quickly as he could.

It had been a while since Royd had piloted a robot, but he was pleased to find his instincts clicking into place smoothly. He quickly ran his finger down the length of the scar that ran from his left temple to his chin. This was one fight where he couldn't afford any bad luck.

He grabbed the firing stick and loosed a volley of lasers at the Enforcer, who didn't seem very put-off by it. He brought the rail guns online and targeted the robot.

Suddenly, two smoke trails erupted from the Enforcer's left shoulder. Royd knew there were missiles headed straight for him, but he had his shot nearly lined up. Keeping his cool, he fired the rail guns, then scrambled out of the way as fast as possible.

Both approaching missiles hit the ground near Royd's walker, one explosion snapping off half of one of its rear legs. But his rail guns struck true, right in the head of the Enforcer, smashing it to pieces. The concussive force knocked the robot backward about fifty feet and right into the gray brick flour mill, collapsing the structure. The robot didn't get up.

Royd lowered the body of the walker and popped the hatch. In the renewed smoke and confusion, he managed to gather two more fugitive Front-members into the walker before skittering off toward the countryside. Royd decided that the day was turning out quite nicely.

Being a scholar anywhere near the Coalition States was a hazardous career. Knowledge being an important weapon in the Emperor's iron-handed control, he declared all scholars to be rogues, and continually sent his men to hunt them with probably greater zeal than they did predatory creatures from the rifts. So a good scholar is as practiced in the arts of self-defense as he is in reading and writing.

Tobias led a small band of refugees down an irrigation ditch, instructing them all to keep low in the gathering darkness. In the confusion of the sudden battle, he and Mina had managed to rescue three members of the Liberation Front, grab the family members that they refused to leave without, and make for the countryside.

Tobias surveyed the area quickly, finding a tool shed that could give them some cover from the sky cycles that were certainly combing the area for them. He signaled to the others behind him to follow as he climbed out of the ditch. The eight of them—with Mina bringing up the rear—followed him up and into the darkened shed.

"All right, everyone, you're doing great," he said. "Find a spot to catch your breath." He took a seat himself on a worktable, Mina perching herself next to him.

She said, "I hope Royd is okay. Should I call him?"

"Nah. I'm sure he's busy making the Dead Boys wish they'd stayed in bed today," he replied.

She smiled. "So what's the plan?" She quickly added, "And don't nominate me for the committee this time."

Tobias looked over at the rescued people. One of the Front members, Tina, was doing her best to comfort her two frightened cousins. One was a little girl of about nine, with a smudged cheek and tangled hair that was as fiery red as her cousin's. Immediately after being comforted by Tina, she put on a brave face and started comforting her little brother.

Tobias was sad to think of the trouble these children were being forced to endure. "This is a tough one," he said quietly to his friend. "We can't beat two platoons. The best we could hope for is to get them to go away."

Mina ran her fingers through her long, auburn hair. "We could capture the colonel, force him to order a retreat. It would give us time to get the Front out of here."

"And then what?" Tobias sighed. "Tomorrow the Emperor sends a whole division and obliterates the town. We win the battle and lose the war."

The two thought for a moment, then Mina's face lit up. "What if they think they did win?"

Tobias followed her thought. "They want all the members of the Front dead. Could we fake their deaths? What if we used your illusion spell?"

Mina shook her head at that. "No, the spell is cast on an individual person. I couldn't cast it on all of them."

"All right," Tobias said, undaunted. "What if it's just one. What if we do capture the colonel and stage some scenario he'd believe, then let him escape?"

Mina pondered it. "It won't be easy. But I don't see any other way."

"The only thing is," Tobias hopped down and started pacing. "We'd have to get all the Front members together. If any of the soldiers were out chasing them, they'd give conflicting information to the colonel."

Mina jumped down. "Then let's find them."

Tobias nodded, then pulled a power pack from his jacket pocket and snapped it onto his pistol.

Nikolai folded his switchblade and stuck it into his back pocket. He stepped into the living room, stuffed two boxes of 12-gauge cartridges into the pocket of his hunting vest and checked the shotgun.

He tried to pretend that his heart wasn't beating so hard from fear. He tried to pretend that the mist in his vision wasn't tears.

He took a last look around the house he'd lived in for a year, the only home he'd known since his parents were killed three years ago in another land.

Sonia was standing in the doorway. "What are you doing?" Her voice trembled.

He turned away. "What does it look like I'm doing." He left the house, the screen door banging against its wooden frame. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder and adjusted the strap, heading toward his bicycle.

Sonia raced out of the house. "Wait, Nicky! You can't do this. They'll hurt you!"

He turned to face her, no longer able to check his anger. "They're probably going to kill me!"

"Then don't go."

"I have to," he said, the anger replaced with a dark determination.

"Why?"

He couldn't believe that she couldn't see the obvious. "Because I'm the reason they're in trouble. Because . . . because I gave you secrets that I shouldn't have. Because I trusted you." He couldn't look at her anymore. He grabbed the handle of the bike. He had never been this angry at his sister. It was a feeling he didn't like, and he wished that he didn't have to carry it. Piled on top of his own fear and guilt, it was too much to bear.

He looked up at the sky. "Why did you do this?"

She took a deep breath. "Because I love you, Nicky. Because—"

"Love me?" He spun to face her. "If you love me, how could you betray me—and everything I stand for?"

"It's my job to keep you safe. Those people would have eventually gotten you killed—"

"That was my choice." His chest hurt and his mouth was dry. "This is what I believe in. Doesn't that matter to you? What's the point of keeping me alive if you won't let me live? How does that help me? How—" His breath left him as everything became clear. He suddenly saw her differently. "It wasn't for me, was it?" He sighed. "It was for you."

"Nicky, the Coalition—"

"No. I don't care how you justified it to yourself." He approached her. "It wasn't my life you were concerned about. It was my attention. My devotion. You didn't like it that I was following someone else. That you weren't my whole life anymore. You just didn't want to let go."

She stood silent, shaking her head, perhaps wanting to deny it, but not able to. "I don't know. Maybe it was a mistake. But what's done is done. You're safe. Don't throw that away." She took his hand in both of hers and looked at him, tears streaming from her eyes. "Stay here with me. Please."

Nikolai looked at her. Felt the weight of the shotgun on his back. Thought about his friends. Things could never be the same. It was strange to feel nostalgia for the innocence of only a few hours ago. But in that brief time, his whole world had changed.

He noticed for the first time that he was taller than Sonia. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her with all the love he felt for her, which, despite everything, was as strong as it always had been.

Then he let her go and mounted his bicycle.

She continued to plead with him, but didn't restrain him.

He rode off quickly, blinking the tears away as best as he could.