Kyle Katarn: The Rise & Fall
Book 1: Rise of a Hero
Chapter 8: A Long Walk
Author's Note: With only days since the destruction of the Death Star, Kyle finds himself back in dire straits while on a mission to the Planet Talay. Wounded, his weapon missing, and a stormtrooper approaching, things are looking bleak.
"Katarn," came a voice.
"What you do you want?" Kyle responded, recognizing it as the same voice he had heard on Danuta.
"Your weapon, you need to get it." "No kidding," Kyle retorted, his voice tight with frustration, "but I can't find it."
"You don't need to find it," said the voice, "call the weapon to you."
"What in the black holes of Carida are you talking about?" Kyle said, getting angrier. ""I can't bring the weapon to me until I find it."
"Yes you can," the voice said, its tone confident, unaffected by Kyle's anger.
This struck Kyle as so absurd he laughed out loud. "Call it?" he said.
"Listen to me," the voice, its tone now serious and uncompromising, "you already see the weapon in your mind. Call it to you."
Another laser blast struck the ground right in front of Kyle, showering him with bits of permacrete. "This is your last chance, Katarn," said the voice. "Call the weapon to you now or die."
With that, the voice went silent. "All right you," came another voice from above Kyle, "hold it right there."
Kyle looked up to find the snout of blaster aimed directly at him. And holding the blaster was a stormtrooper. "Who are..." the trooper began until he caught sight of Kyle's face.
Helden Thex could hardly believe his luck. Bored out of his mind, he had made the mistake of telling the commander so and now had been assigned to this mind numbing guard duty. This building was one of the few on this wreck of a Rebel base still standing. But with all the Rebels destroyed, what was the purpose of guarding the place? Three hours into his shift, Helden was wondering if he could take a nap without anyone noticing when he heard footsteps outside. Expecting one of his squad to appear, Helden was stunned to see a man enter the building. He carried a blaster similar to Helden's own and wore infrared goggles.
As the man moved to the room's exit, Helden came out of his surprise long enough to fire two shots, catching the intruder in the side. To his delight, the man was hurled into the wall. Helden saw him grabbing for his weapon and fired again, hitting the intruder's leg. The man fell, his goggles shattering and weapon sliding well out of reach.
Helden stepped closer, wrinkling his brow in confusion as he heard the man talking, seemingly to someone else. When the man laughed, Helden felt an edge of nervousness creep into him and scanned the room for another person. But he could see no one except the intruder. Deciding it was safe to approach, Helden stepped closer until he could see the intruder clearly.
As the man looked up at him, Helden gasped in surprise. The figure on the ground before him was Kyle Katarn. Helden had seen the image in his daily briefing. All stormtrooper units were to be on the lookout for Katarn on charges of desertion, murder of Governor Donar and attacking the Imperial Base on Danuta. The bounty was 50,000 credits alive, 30,000 dead.
Either way, Helden thought, I'll be a rich man. "Okay, Katarn," he said, smiling evilly beneath his helmet, "on your feet."
Kyle stared up in surprise hearing the trooper address him by name. Helden caught the glance and laughed. "Don't be so surprised. I've heard of you and what you did. And now, I'll get to see you pay the price."
Kyle realized what the man was saying. Captured by the Empire, who knew what he would reveal under interrogation or torture? The Empire had ways of breaking a man and Kyle wasn't anxious to try any of them. "Sorry, but I really don't feeling like cooperating right now."
The stormtrooper backed off a step, aiming for Kyle's head. "Doesn't really matter to me whether I bring you in alive or dead."
"Then I guess you'd better shoot." As the trooper tightened his finger on the trigger, Kyle thought for a minute about his choice. He didn't want to die, but if survival meant betraying the Rebellion, there was no other choice for him. If only I had my gun... he thought, seeing himself holding the weapon in his mind.
The sound of metal scraping on the ground caused both men to turn their heads and look. They both stared in shock at the sight of Kyle's blaster rifle sliding across the ground by itself.
Helden looked around, trying to see who or what was doing it, but he saw nothing. Kyle could only stare in mute surprise as the weapon moved closer, seeming to speed up as it neared Kyle. Yes, he thought, that's it, just a little closer. As if the rifle had heard him, it leapt into air and flew across the remaining distance. Kyle felt the solid slap of the grip as the gun flew into his hand.
"NOW, KATARN!" the voice yelled.
Kyle pointed the weapon up and fired. The last thing Helden Thex saw was the gun leaping into Katarn's hand and the glow of red from its muzzle. As the stormtrooper fell, armor smoking, Kyle lay in stunned silence, trying to understand what had happened. Somehow, he thought, somehow when I pictured the gun in my hand, it...
"There is no time for this now!" the voice shouted at him, "more stormtroopers are coming! Move, Katarn!"
Kyle hoisted himself up, taking stock of his injuries. The armor had protected him well, but his side felt like he had been kicked by a bantha. Blackness still surrounded him, but just ahead of him and off to the left, he could see a shaft of light. Feeling his wall along the wall, Kyle moved across the room. The blaster shot had numbed his right leg, and he had to limp slightly. But the sight of the light getting closer motivated him to take another step, then another.
His left foot bumped into an obstruction. Reaching down, Kyle felt around and encountered what appeared to be a short staircase. He carefully went up the stairs, then was stopped cold as he walked into a wall. Reaching out, Kyle found walls to his left and right. So if they're there, he thought, reaching forward, then this wall must be...
Kyle pushed and the door opened, letting light from the Talay sun spill into the room. Kyle shaded his eyes against the sudden flood of light, but welcomed its sting just the same. After being in the dark room, unable to see, the light felt good, amazingly good. When his eyes adjusted enough that he could see, Kyle stepped through the door, finding himself on a short passageway leading to another bridge in the distance. Placing a fresh power pack into his blaster, he walked forward, scanning for more troopers.
As he neared the entrance to the bridge, Kyle realized he had found what he was looking for. A single span ahead crossed over a circular pool being fed from the river, which ran through Tak Base. Crossing the span, Kyle made sure to watch his footing. The bridge was just wide enough for one person to cross, but had no handrails or other devices to keep one from falling off.
Reaching the other side of the bridge, Kyle spotted a control panel enclosed on three sides. Stepping forward, Kyle found the panel still had power; the invading Imperials had simply shut it down as he had thought. He pressed a button and heard the sound of massive pumps coming on line. Water was sucked into intake pipes and fed to the generators. They began to turn, slowly at first then faster. In the control room, Kyle watched the power monitors light up, indicators at 5, 10, 25... When they reached 100, lights began to pop on in different parts of the base.
What remained of computer consoles activated, displays coming on. The stormtroopers posted in and around the base turned this way and that, caught unawares as the base seemingly came back to life. They scattered, running about, searching for whoever had turned the power back on. Two spied Kyle making his way back across the bridge. They opened fire, causing him to dash across the bridge and dive for cover. Kyle ran back across the passageway and into the previously darkened room, now lit from overhead fixtures.
Looking at the scene, Kyle saw the room was not nearly as big as it seemed. The body of the stormtrooper he had killed was still sprawled on the floor. He was bending down to check the man's armor for any useful items when a flurry of shots came at him from outside. He rolled away, coming up with his weapon ready. One stormtrooper stepped in cautiously, moving to his fallen comrade. Kyle fired, dropping the Imperial next to the other one. Having heard the blaster fire, two more troopers ran into the room, sweeping the area with their blasters.
But Kyle was ready and shot them both. After listening for more troopers, Kyle made his way from the room carefully, scanning constantly. In the distance, he caught sight of another partially intact building. As he approached, Kyle could see the bodies of a number of Rebel soldiers scattered about the entrance to the building Has to be the command center, he thought, heading for it at a run.
Reaching the building, Kyle went to activate the door controls only to find them blasted. The door itself hung off kilter. He pushed against it and found the door unyielding. They probably barricaded it, he mused. But how do I get in?
Kyle looked about him for anything he could use to pry at the door. It was then he noticed a collection of small silvery objects on the ground. He picked up one of them and smiled as he recognized it. He had found a set of thermal detonators, a small, but very powerful explosive used by Imperial forces.
Let's see if this thing is as powerful as I remember, Kyle thought. He pulled back the trigger, seeing the detonator lights begin to pulse as the device began counting down. He placed it by the door, then jumped behind part of a damaged wall for cover. Counting to three, Kyle covered his head and got down as low as he could behind the wall. But nothing happened. He waited a moment more, but still nothing. Standing up, he looked over at the door. The glowing detonator was still sitting there. Wonderful, it must be defective or...
A short series of beeps issued from the device. Oh no, Kyle thought, diving down again as the detonator went off. Chunks of permacrete and plasteel flew in every direction, some right over his head. He counted out ten more seconds, then peered over the lip of the wall. The door was gone, completely vaporized, leaving the entrance wide open now.
Smiling nervously, Kyle stood and walked inside. A short walk brought him into the Tak Base command center, its windows allowing a 360-degree view of the base. All the glass had all been blown out and most of the computer consoles were little more than chunks of metal and slag. Kyle tried a few of the less damaged systems, but even with the power on, he got no response. The Rebels probably wiped the computers during the attack, he thought, turning away. In one corner of the room lay another body. It took Kyle a moment to recognize it as the Mon Calamari commander of Tak Base. He was in the same shape as most of his men, body nearly vaporized, pieces of clothing and bones all that was left.
But, next to him was something unusual. Kyle stepped closer. Grasped in the remains of the Mon Calamari's flippered-hands was the snout of what looked like a gun, but not one Kyle had ever seen before. Gleaming black metal with a half-meter long barrel led to a roughly triangular body, thickening as it neared the back half of the device. A second muzzle sat below the first, but its purpose was unclear. Reaching down, Kyle hefted the device, finding it moderately heavy. Definitely not something the average stormtrooper would use, he thought. It's too bulky and heavy.
Kyle noticed that the object, whatever it was, appeared to be damaged. A hole in the back half of the device exposed its guts, a maze of circuits and other parts that were completely foreign to him. He considered calling the Moldy Crow to let Jan know of his discovery, but realized a transmission from here could easily be detected by the Imperials.
There not much more I can do here, he thought, glancing around at the devastation. Further exploration of the base would almost surely mean more encounters with stormtroopers and he was already hurt. His best bet now was to take the device he had found, make his way back to the landing area and get off Talay as fast as the Moldy Crow could carry him.
Exiting the control room, Kyle made his way into the plaza separating the command area from the rest of the base. He was midway across when a blaster shot caught him in the left side. He went down, rolling with the impact of the shot. Finding cover behind the steps he had just come down, Kyle peered over the edge, blaster at the ready. Another shot struck the steps just in front of him, showering his face with chips of permacrete. Kyle tried to shield himself, but the stings he now felt on his face told him he had been cut in several places. Hoping none of the cuts were deep ones, he ducked down again as a fresh wave of blaster fire struck the ground near him.
He tried firing blindly in the general direction of where he thought the enemy was, but the only answer was the sound of return fire. It suddenly occurred to Kyle that he was still holding the strange device he had found. Thinking fast, he hurled the device into the clear, watching as it struck the ground, bounced twice, then slid to a stop. The weapons fire directed at him now concentrated on the device.
His brows rose in surprise as he saw blaster bolts ricochet off the casing. The fire began to slacken and Kyle realized his one chance was fading quickly. Standing up, he caught sight of a pair of stormtroopers on the far side of the plaza. Like him, they were staring at the device, watching as their blasts bounced of it harmlessly.
Kyle aimed and fired, catching one of the troopers full in the chest. The man fell, his armor smoldering. Pushing off from the steps, he ran at the second trooper, letting out a war cry at the top of the lungs. The trooper, caught by surprise, fired but his shots were poorly aimed and none hit near Kyle. As he closed the gap, Kyle broke stride and stopped, bringing his blaster up as fast as he could. He and the trooper fired simultaneously, Kyle's shot catching the trooper in the head. The trooper's shot expended itself on his chest armor, knocking him onto the ground.
Pain, his ever-present companion, racked his body. His breath came in short gasps. Slowly, painfully, Kyle rose to his feet, seeing the bodies of the two troopers, smoke rising from their armor. Time to get out of here, he thought, stopping only long enough to pick up the strange device. To Kyle's surprise, the weapon appeared to have sustained no further damage, the casing showing no affect of the blast bolts that had struck it; only a few scuff marks from its impact with the ground. Stranger and stranger, thought Kyle. With the device at his side, he carefully picked his way back through the base, heading for the landing area.
Fortunately, he encountered no more stormtroopers. But he remained on guard just the same. He had had enough surprises for one day. Approaching the last bridge over the river, Kyle spotted the plaza where he had leapt over the wall to surprise a group of stormtroopers.
It occurred to him just then that he had no way back to the landing area. The wall he had leapt over was over six meters high, too far to jump. He considered using the river, but abandoned the idea quickly. The current was far too swift for him to safely negotiate in his present state. And besides, he wasn't sure it would get him back to the landing area. It was then he saw what he hadn't noticed before. On the wall, about halfway down its length, were two doors. Let's hope one of them gets me back to the landing pad, he thought.
Approaching the doors, Kyle keyed the pad on the one to his left. The door started to slide open, then stopped. Kyle reached to key the door again when he heard the distinctive beeps of a thermal detonator. Reacting instinctively, he threw himself away from the door and onto the ground, covering his head with his arms. The explosion lifted the door completely out of its frame, sending it shooting over his head with only inches to spare.
Lighter debris fell around him as smoke poured forth from the room. When it seemed safe, Kyle got up and turned around. Where the door had been was now a smoking black hole. Peering inside, he could see the room inside was impassable. Chunks of permacrete and debris had effectively blocked any passage beyond the door.
Kyle turned to the second door, which had also been blown off by the concussion of the explosion. But this door had merely fallen out of its frame and lay on the ground nearby. Peering inside, Kyle could see little. The explosion had evidently knocked out the power to this area. Kyle started to put on his infrared goggles, then let out a frustrated exhalation as he remembered they had been destroyed. Not much choice, he thought.
But before proceeding, he fired a number of shots into the room. The flashes of light enabled him to see a doorway on the far side of the room and that the way was virtually unblocked. Blaster at the ready, and one hand held out to help him feel his way through, Kyle stepped into the room.
The room was pitch black, just like the other one where he had encountered the stormtrooper earlier. Kyle brought his free hand up and closer until he could feel his own breath. His hand, however, was not visible at all. Concentrating on crossing the room safely, he put his hand out until it came into contact with what he hoped was the doorway. Switching the blaster to his left hand, Kyle felt with his right hand, encountering only air. He stepped back and fired a shot into the open space. The flash of light illuminated a hallway that described a curve to the right at the end.
Switching the blaster back to his right hand, he walked down the hall slowly, firing occasional shots to make sure he was heading the right way. As the hall began to curve, Kyle pressed his hand flat against the wall, using its surface to guide his steps. It was then he realized that, in addition to the curve in the hallway, it was going up as well. He continued to follow the curving hall, still unable to see. He was about ready to fire another shot to check his position.
"Hold it right there!"
Kyle froze. The voice had seemed to come from right next to him. But how? He had heard no other footsteps than his own.
"Drop your weapon!" came the voice, closer this time.
Kyle had no more time to think. If the owner of the voice had a weapon, he was training it on Kyle right now. Mashing the trigger on his blaster, he swept it about him, left, right, up, down.
A grunt from right next to him was accompanied by the sound of a body falling. Kyle stopped firing and listened. The voice didn't come again. Kneeling down, he felt around until he encountered an arm. Feeling his way up, Kyle realized the body was right next to him. Reaching for where he thought the head might be, he felt the fabric of the peaked hat worn by Imperial officers. He must have been hiding in here, Kyle thought, probably he was the one who planted the charge on the door. And then when that didn't get me, he waited here for me.
Kyle shivered involuntarily. The thought of being in total darkness with a dead body was very unnerving. Standing up quickly, he fired his weapon until he could see the way to go. Moving faster now, Kyle proceeded up the sloping hallway until he saw a glint of light. His pace quickened, a run now. The light got brighter and closer until Kyle realized he was approaching a closed door.
He forced himself to stop, fight or flight instinct screaming at him to get out, get out now! But to get out, he had to get the door open. It was then he remembered the thermal detonators he had found. Pulling one out of his pocket, Kyle armed and threw the detonator. It struck the surface of the door, setting off the detonator's proximity sensor. The blast wave knocked Kyle to the ground and vaporized the door. Sunlight flooded the darkened room, making his eyes wince as they adjusted.
But as he rose, the feeling of sunlight, even alien sunlight, brought relief.
Examining his surroundings, Kyle realized the door led out onto the short bridge he had crossed earlier. Beyond it was the pile of debris he had climbed. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he smiled in relief as he made his way across the bridge and down the hill of debris. But the smile quickly faded as he caught sight of the bodies of the Rebels once again.
Turning his gaze from them, Kyle made his way out onto the landing field. Pulling his communicator out, he activated the locator signal. Moments later, the Moldy Crow flew in, low and fast. Jan brought the ship to a hover next to him as he clambered aboard.
Barely had he gotten the cockpit closed when Jan sent the ship streaking back into the sky. As they cleared Talay's outer atmosphere, Jan turned round in her seat, her eyes widening in shock at his appearance. Blood oozed from several cuts on his face. His armor was scarred by blaster fire and dented in several places.
"Are you all right?" she asked, her concern plain. Kyle gave her a smile of reassurance. "A bit banged up, but I'll be okay."
Before he could say anything else, Jan handed a medpack back to him. Kyle opened it and began dressing his wounds. "What happened down there?" Jan demanded. "It's as bad as we feared, Jan," said Kyle, "the base is rubble for the most part. I was able to get the main generator back online, but most of the equipment is slagged."
"And the personnel?" Jan asked hopefully. "No survivors," Kyle replied with a shake of his head, "whatever weapon the Imperials used; it was effective, very effective."
Neither operative said anything for a long moment, letting the impact of Kyle's words wash over them. Jan turned round again to check on Kyle and noticed the strange object he was holding. "What's that?"
"Something I found in the main control room," Kyle answered, "I think it's a weapon, but unlike any I've ever seen before." "I don't recognize it eit..." Jan began to say, then trailed off.
"What?" Kyle asked. "Pass that thing up here," Jan said. Hefting the device, Kyle carefully handed it to Jan. She took it, studying the back end of the device, then the barrel. "Aha!" she said triumphantly, "there it is!"
"What!" Kyle said, incredulous. "Right here," Jan said, indicating a mark on the barrel of the device.
Kyle glanced at the mark, then shrugged. "It says 'MR'. So what?" "'MR' stands for Moff Rebus." Jan said.
"And he is?" Kyle asked.
Jan blew out a breath of frustration, then said, "Moff Rebus is one of the biggest manufacturers and dealers of illegal weaponry in the galaxy. The Rebellion has had dealings with him before. He always marks his merchandise with his initials 'MR'."
"So whatever this thing is," Kyle said, "Moff Rebus is the one who built it and sold it to the Empire."
"The Empire buys a lot of weapons, Kyle," Jan said, "and they demand the best."
"So," Kyle said, "We go find Moff Rebus." "Whoa, no so fast, Katarn." Jan said, "You're already wounded. I think we should get you back to the New Hope."
"I'm okay, Jan. I can..." Kyle trailed off as he saw Jan glaring back at him, her eyes telling him she wasn't buying it.
"Okay," Kyle said, "so I'm not alright. But I still think we should go."
Jan opened her mouth to speak, but Kyle pushed ahead. "Besides, if we wait and Rebus learns about our mission to Talay..."
"He'll go underground and we'll never find him." Jan finished for him. Sighing resignedly, she said, "Alright, we'll go. But there's something you need to know."
"What?" Kyle asked, not liking the expression he saw on Jan's face.
"Moff Rebus lives in Anoat City on the planet Anoat. "Jan said.
"Wait a minute," Kyle said, "you don't mean?" Jan nodded, "One of the Empire's garbage worlds." Kyle hung his head, shaking it slowly.
"No one ever said being a Rebel agent was glamorous, Kyle. But I do have one piece of good news for you."
Lifting his head, Kyle looked Jan in the eye and said, "What's that?"
Fighting a smile, she replied, "The New Hope has a complete decontamination shower system for when we get back."
"Well thank you so very much, Jan," Kyle said sarcastically, "that makes me feel so much better."
Turning back to the controls, Jan said, "Let's get this over with. Setting course for the Anoat System."
Three hours later
The Moldy Crow descended through the thick, murky air of Anoat. In the cockpit, both Jan and Kyle stared at the scene below. In every direction, as far at the eye could see, waste was scattered all over the planet. Bodies of water that might have once been blue had turned brown. Trash of all kinds covered the ground.
"Well, there it is," Jan said.
"It's even worse than I had imagined," said Kyle.
Anoat City was not much better than its surroundings. Bare metal walkways and a few permacrete structures were visible. But the trash was slowly overcoming even these surfaces. Jan found a circular pad just big enough for one ship and settled the Moldy Crow into it. When the canopy opened, both agents gagged at the smell. The scent of rotting garbage was nearly overwhelming.
Holding his nose, Kyle called to Jan. "Explain to me exactly how Moff Rebus lives in this place."
"He has an underground base." Jan explained, "there he..." The sound of an Imperial droid approaching cut Jan off.
The operatives turned to see the floating metal disc with its spider-like limbs approaching the ship. To their surprise, the droid extended a blaster from one of its metal arms and fired. The shot glanced off the Crow's starboard wing. The pair ducked, Kyle reaching for his blaster. But before he could clear it of the holster, Jan had swiveled the Moldy Crow around and hit the droid with a blast from the ship's lasers. It exploded, pieces falling to the ground.
Rising from his crouch, Kyle looked over at Jan, "I think Rebus knows we're here."
Jan frowned at him, then shook her head. "Just like him. Shoot first and ask questions later. Be careful, Kyle, Rebus probably has more droids in the complex. He prefers them to humans." Hefting his blaster, Kyle said, "Well at least I won't have to worry about stormtroopers."
Stepping out on the starboard wing, Kyle jumped onto the ground. Something he landed on made a "spurt" sound. Kyle glanced down and wished he hadn't. Looking back at Jan, he said, "Full decon, right?"
Jan smiled and nodded in answer. Turning, Kyle went up a set of steps leading from the landing bay and into the city. Moving through a set of corridors, he encountered two more probe droids, destroying them with his blaster. Coming down another corridor, he noticed a darkly colored piece of metal at the end. Stepping up to it, Kyle was jolted as the metal shook and began to move. A hidden lift, he thought, pretty clever Rebus.
Reaching the bottom he stepped off of the lift, finding a short corridor leading to a door. As he neared the door, it slid open. Gripping his blaster tighter, Kyle stepped through the door and down a set of stairs to a large square of permacrete surrounded by a lake of raw sewage. The square was bordered by a gazebo-type structure also made of permacrete. Perfect for picnics, Kyle thought, smiling. He reminded himself to try and breathe through his mouth and not imagine what he was breathing in.
As he scanned the area, Kyle noticed four grates in the wall surrounding the lake of trash, two in front of him and two to either side. But all four were closed and there appeared to be no means of opening them. This must be a dead end, Kyle thought. He moved back to the stairs and sat down to consider how best to proceed. Perhaps Jan could use the Moldy Crow's weapons to blast one of the grates open. He moved to stand up when he spotted something he hadn't seen before.
On one wall of the "gazebo" was a switch. Stepping closer he could see the switch could be moved to one of four positions. Grasping it, Kyle moved the switch all the way to the left. There was a "clunk" sound from off to his left.
Suspecting what the switch was, he stepped into the middle of the "gazebo" and saw the grate to the left side of the room was now open. Kyle nodded as he thought, that's it; the switch controls the grates. But which one will lead me to Moff Rebus? Wrinkling his lip in disgusts, Kyle realized there was only one solution, to try them all.
Forty-five minutes later
A soaked, tired, bruised and not-so-nice-smelling Kyle Katarn pulled himself back onto the permacrete, rolling onto his back, not caring about the various kinds of waste sluicing off of him.
So far he had checked three of the grates and had ran into three dead ends. Probe droids and Imperial interrogation droids had greeted his intrusion with laser fire. And just when Kyle thought it couldn't get worse, he had fallen from a swiftly moving river of sludge over a waterfall into a large, dimly lit room brimming with sewage. As he fought to get his bearings, a low growling sound came from beneath the watery waste. Kyle looked around frantically for the source of the sound. Time to get out of here, he thought.
But before he could make a move, a Dianoga appeared from underneath the sewage and attacked; it's jaws closing on Kyle's left arm. Only the armor he wore saved his arm from being torn off completely. The Dianoga tried to bite Kyle through the armor and he screamed in pain. Reaching down into the sewage, he found his gun strapped to his leg and drew it free.
The weapon exploded out of the sewage as Kyle pulled it up, showering him with debris. Pointing the weapon at the Dianoga, he pulled the trigger and watched as bolt after bolt of red light lanced into the creature. With a scream, it let go, dead body floating to the surface of the sludge.
That sight was enough for him. Pushing his way through the garbage, Kyle tried to swim as best he could. A door at the far side of the sludge pool caught his attention and he swam towards it. The door opened as he approached and Kyle entered only to be caught in a swiftly moving stream of garbage. The door shut, leaving the space completely dark.
He tried to orient himself, but the current keep spinning him around, making it impossible to even determine his direction. When light appeared ahead, Kyle thought he might finally be safe until he fell over yet another waterfall back into the room where he had begun this odyssey. Nearly the same thing had happened on the two subsequent trips. As Kyle made himself sit up, looking at the last grate, he considered abandoning the whole thing. Wherever Rebus was, Kyle wasn't getting any closer to him. And he was tired of this place, the garbage, the sludge and especially the smell.
He pounded a fist onto the ground, which only served to shake loose more sewage from his clothes and deposit it on his face. Great, he thought, trying to wipe his face clean, just what I needed. Looking down at his belt, Kyle stared at his communicator, tempted to use it to call Jan and tell her to come and get him out of there right now. But if I do that... Taking a couple of deep breaths, he tried to calm down. Need to focus on the mission, he thought. I'll try this one last grate and if leads nowhere, then I'll call Jan.
That decided, Kyle stood up, went to the switch and moved it to the fourth and final position. The last grate slid open and he waded into the sewage towards it.
Entering the passage, he encountered a current, but slower than the one he had just come out of. As he slid down the passage, Kyle spotted what looked like a room just ahead and to his right. Pushing through the current, he was able to move himself near to right side of the passage.
As the room got closer, Kyle pushed his legs down, finding the bottom of the passage. He pushed off, trying to jump as he best he could. Half leaping, half sloshing out of the sewage, he crashed onto the floor of the room. The impact drove the breath from his body and he spent a few minutes lying there getting it back. When taking a breath didn't feel like fire tearing at his lungs, Kyle rose to his feet and surveyed the room. The floors and wall were bare metal. But there were no computers, displays or any other indication of the room's purpose. It was then he spied a switch on one wall. He examined it, finding that the switch was a simple up and down affair.
Grasping it, he pushed the switch to the down position. The sound of pumps starting and machinery activating brought his attention to a window next to the switch. Lights had come on and Kyle could see the large pool he had fallen into earlier. But now, the watery sludge was rising. Kyle stared in shocked surprise as the garbage rose, stopping at a point where the sludge was now only a few inches below him instead of the several feet it had been. But the machinery was still making sounds. And as he watched, a section of wall came down from the ceiling, cutting off nearly three quarters of the sludge pool. As the wall locked into place, another section some distance ahead slid open.
Well, I'll be, thought Kyle, smiling, a secret passage. Stepping out of the room, he found the garbage much easier to walk through now as the current had completely disappeared. Wading through the knee-deep sludge, Kyle made his way to the door at the far side. Crossing the threshold, he found himself on a short ledge. Around him were similar ledges, but there were gaps between them, some over a meter wide. The door slid shut behind him, cutting off any avenue of escape.
Well, at least there's one good thing about this room, Kyle noticed immediately, no garbage.
Indeed the room was almost starkly clean, the metal ledges gleaming dully. Stepping to the edge of the ledge he was standing on, Kyle fired a shot into the gap below. He watched the bolt of red energy travel down and down, finally disappearing in the darkness. He could see that he definitely did not want to lose his footing here. But which direction to go? Aiming his gun again, Kyle fired several shots, some ahead, others to the side. The blasts to the left and right struck metal, giving off a faint glow as the energy expended itself. But the bolts he fired ahead of him disappeared like the previous shot had. That's the way to go then, he thought.
Spying the closest ledge, Kyle stepped back until he was against the floor. Then, he took two quick steps and launched himself across the gap, hoping he would make it.