Part Three: Ultimatums
"I'm a
soldier, meaning that I'm
Both the defendant
and the judge
I'm standing on
both sides of the fire
Going around turns,
overtaking death and life
I'm running to
fight with the shadow of a lie"
From "Rise"
From Ghost In The
Shell: Stand Alone Complex
"They're gone."
On the deck, in front of Pilot's console, Arissia sat. She opened her eyes and frowned. She had felt the unseen force snatch John, Aeryn and the others from Moya. "I know, Pilot. I felt them go. Is the baby all right?"
Pilot glanced down at his console. "Yes. D'Argo is sleeping peacefully, still surrounded by DRDs. Moya's sensors did not detect anything except the voice prior to their disappearance. I am at a loss for what to do." Pilot watched Arissia stand. "Are you really a deity?"
Arissia looked up at him and a faint smile crossed her face. "To many people in this universe, yes, I am. Despite the abilities I inherited by surviving the end of my universe, I don't take a hand in the everyday lives of the myriad of life forms in this universe."
"But you do wield power of some kind."
"I'd rather refer to them as abilities. Yes, I do have a wide range of abilities at my disposal. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find whoever it is behind this."
"Then th…"
Arissia turned back to Pilot. He seemed frozen, stopped in mid-sentence. "Pilot?" She frowned and looked around. "All right. Whoever you are, you really are powerful; I still don't sense you."
"I'm right here."
Arissia turned. In the doorway stood a tall man dressed entirely in black. "Hello," she said. "Am I to assume you're the one behind this?"
"I am." He began to walk toward Arissia. "I was grievously injured by these people, by Crowe in particular. The time has come for retribution."
"I see. Is there anything I can help mediate? Surely there can be a more peaceful solution to this."
The man smiled. "Mediation will not resolve anything. My corporeal existence ended because of them. There can be only one resolution."
Arissia rubbed her hands together and took a step toward the man. She reached out with her mind, to try and determine who he was. "I can't sense you. You're completely blank to me." The man's smile grew slightly. "Why did you bring me into this?"
"You forgot about me. You watched Crowe and the rest injure me, and did nothing to help me. You let me die."
"I highly doubt that. As I've always said, I don't take a hand in day-to-day lives. If something was done to you by anyone, then I'm sorry. At any rate, I'm the only person in this universe who can say she remembers everything from the last fourteen billion years. I can honestly say, I don't know you."
The man's smile faded. "You will soon remember." An instant later, he was gone.
"…ere. Is something wrong?"
Arissia turned back to Pilot. There was a look of concern on his face. "No, Pilot. Nothing's wrong. But I do have an idea. Is there any way I can access Moya's sensors directly?"
Pilot's head tilted to one side and he frowned. "The neurocluster should give you the access you need. What are you thinking?"
"If I can use Moya's sensors in addition to my own abilities, perhaps I can find John, Aeryn and the rest."
Pilot nodded and gestured toward the ladderways on either side of his console. "You can access Moya through the neurocluster below us. Moya will be as helpful as she possibly can."
"Good, Pilot." Arissia glanced back at the door then started back to the console.
The sense of nothingness faded after a microt.
Aeryn lay still for a moment, listening to the sound of light wind blowing through grass. The temperature had dropped slightly, and she seemed to be laying on dirt or soil. She thought she could hear someone nearby, but couldn't be sure who it was. Aeryn opened her eyes, sat up and looked around.
She could see nothing but grass surrounding her on all sides, stretching to the horizon.
"All right," she said quietly. "I'm starting to get annoyed."
She slapped her comm. "John? John, can you hear me? Pilot?" All she heard was the slight hiss of dead air.
Her mouth pulled into a deep frown. "I'm started to get extremely annoyed." She drew her pulse pistol and checked its oil charge.
After a microt, Aeryn heard someone moving behind her. Turning, she saw Murphy stand and rub his hands over his face.
"That wasn't pleasant," he said. He looked around quickly. "Carly?"
"It looks like just you and me right now," Aeryn said. "We appear to be caught in someone else's vendetta."
"I don't even know what happened when John showed up in my time. I wasn't even there. Don't get me wrong; I'd follow Carly into anything, but I like to know why I'm fighting."
"Aeryn! Murphy!"
Turning, they saw Antandra and Scott walking toward them. "Have you seen John and the others," Aeryn asked, trying to keep her anger in check.
"No," Scott said. "We woke up back over that way. We spotted you and started walking. Any idea where we are?"
"Some anonymous field of grass on some anonymous planet. Why we're here is the question." Antandra drew her sword and checked its built-in vibe generator. "I haven't seen any landmarks or structures. What's the plan?"
"We could stand here and wait for something to happen, or we could pick a direction and start walking."
There was again the feeling of someone standing behind them just before they heard the voice.
"And so, the game begins."
Turning, they saw a tall man dressed in black. "My retribution now begins."
"Who are you," Aeryn demanded. "What the frell is going on?"
The man smiled. "Now begins retribution."
"Retribution? For what? I don't know you."
"You know who I am. Because of you, my life ended for a time. Now, you must earn the right to live. If you succeed, you and your companions will live. If not, you will join me in death."
Murphy shook his head. "Melodrama doesn't become you. Where's Carly and the rest?"
"They have their own task to accomplish. Just as you have a task you must carry out."
Scott shook his head and crossed his arms. "I'm not performing for someone's entertainment. And I'm certainly not going to take the fall for what I may do sometime in my future."
Aeryn held up a hand to silence him. "Just what is it you want from us? You keep mentioning retribution."
The smile on the man's face grew, becoming almost predatory. "What you have to do is simply reach the tower."
"What tower?"
He waved a hand. Part of the horizon distorted, seemed to twist in on itself. When the distortion faded, a tower rose from the field of grass. "That tower."
Murphy tried to keep the smile off his face. "Maybe it would be a good idea to have all your game pieces in place before you let the players go."
The man's smile faded slightly. "Perhaps. Your task is simple. Gain entrance to the tower and you will survive. However, you will not survive to reach the tower."
Antandra exchanged a look with Aeryn. "If going to that tower means my death, I'm not going anywhere."
"You don't understand, Archangel. If you don't go, you will still die. Attempting to access the tower gives you the opportunity to survive."
On Antandra's belt, Parsifal's portable unit clicked. "You're contradicting yourself, sir. First you say that if the Archangel and the others remain here, they'll die. Then you say that if they go to the tower, they will survive, however they won't survive getting to the tower."
"There is no contradiction. It begins." The man disappeared.
The four of them exchanged looks. "So, what's the plan," Murphy asked.
Aeryn sighed. "I don't believe in foregone conclusions. I say we head for the tower."
"I agree," Antandra said. "If we're going to die anyway, we might as well make it hard for them."
"There's holes in every plot," Murphy said. "I get the feeling this dink is making this up as he goes along. Maybe we can catch a break and get back to the others, then back to the ship."
"All right then." Scott gestured toward the tower. "Lay on, MacDuff; and damned be him who first cries, 'Hold, enough!'"
As they started walking, Antandra patted Parsifal's portable unit. "Parsifal, sensors to maximum range, three hundred-sixty degrees, spherical."
"Understood, Archangel."
Aeryn glanced toward the clear sky and tried to assure herself that John would be all right.
"Okay, maybe this wasn't the best idea I've ever had."
John looked around the rocky ground he and the others were working their way across. Ahead of him, Carly was scanning the horizon. Mathias was close behind him, Zoe bringing up the rear. The sky above was dark and stormy, and a high wind tugged at them.
They had found themselves somehow transported from Moya to this rocky land, with no hint of how they had gotten there, no hint of where Aeryn and the others were. They had spotted the tower in the distance and decided to start for it.
"A little late for second thoughts, don't you think?" Mathias shielded his eyes as wind-blown dust struck him. "At least that tower will give some shelter." He looked around. "And to think, I was looking forward to a quiet day."
"I'd given up on quiet days on Moya. Things have been pretty calm for the last few months, but it never lasts." John looked back at Zoe. "Anything?"
"I'm not sensing anything," she said. "My mind is linked to Scott's; I'm not sensing that either."
"And since my comm's not working either, we don't know what's going on with Aeryn and the rest. Mathias, you said this guy's voice was familiar. Any ideas who it might be and why he's got it in for you?"
"None. I haven't done any real field work in years; I leave that to Antandra. I haven't a clue who this is."
Carly came back to them, shaking her head. "The ground between here and the tower looks like a rock pile. I think we can make it, but it'll be a long, hard slog."
"Then let's not stand here talking about it," John said.
"Who are you?"
The four of them turned slowly. Behind them, stood a tall man, wearing a long robe. His long white beard and hair bellowed in the wind.
"Who are you," he repeated.
John looked at the others and took a step forward. "Just four people who don't know where they are or how they got here."
"We were going to try an reach that tower in the distance," Mathias said. "We hope to find some hint of what's going on."
The man considered them for a moment then started walking. "The way is clear now. The trek should be made quickly. I will lead you."
Rather than follow the man, Zoe remained still. She held up a hand and waved the others back to her. "There's something wrong," she said.
"Something else wrong, you mean," Carly said.
"I can't sense him. I can sense the three of you, but I can't sense him. Either he's shielded from me, or he's not really there."
"I wish Antandra was here," Mathias said. "Parsifal's sensors would be able to tell us who or what he is."
"Well, no sense dwelling on what we don't have." John took a deep breath. "Let's follow him for now. But be ready just in case Moses there decides he's going to lead us into a trap."
As they started after the man, John couldn't help but think their situation was going from bad to worse.'
TO BE CONTINUED