Chapter 15: The View of Sogne
"Sunbird Team! Sunbird Team! This is Ash Cloud, strategic command - reporting new contact designated R.T.C. Sogne Two! Gutenberg-Class humanoid. Previous contact R.T.C. Sogne One is code black. I repeat, code black!"
Royce stood in a black room faced by dozens of luminous displays. On them, countless orange glyphs cascaded down in long patterns. Satellite ground tracks and white holographic lines traced through the air. He struggled to take it all in- the images of planes, tanks, missile batteries, satellites- the visage of a burning city with a black figure towering over it.
He leaned on the console of a man clad in a black uniform with a crimson U.N.F. patch on his shoulder, his face illuminated by yellow warnings from the light of his console:
"EMERGENCY! YELLOW ALERT!"
"Is that them," he asked.
"Is that who?"
"The Sunbirds?"
"Yes."
"How are they?"
"They're in trouble. They used Stylet already and they're lining up for another shot."
"Is Valor Crane cleared?"
"What? Who are you?"
"I'm getting out of here."
"Wait," the man said to him, pulling his headphones off his ears. "You're the Tracer pilot, aren't you?"
"That's me."
"I was the one talking with you guys in there. I saw-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"But you should know-"
"I don't want to know." He turned to leave.
"Your boss is on his way up here. He wants to meet with you."
"I'll be gone. Tell him to take care of Ria."
"You can't keep the truth from her forever," Alban said to Ishigami outside the Genista gate. A black car sat idling on the curb nearby.
"We need her. Until we have a solid backup plan. There are too many questions. All it's going to take is one wrong move and she goes from being a major asset to a major liability."
"How are the Sunbirds?"
"They need help. I'm going to Ash Cloud."
"To do what?"
"To get Ria and Royce back in a Tracer- I don't care if I have to chain them to the seats. We need that thing up and running- before it gets worse. This isn't going to stop. They'll come for Serilona next."
"Can't you just focus on the team that's flying? You're just going to abandon them and fly out to space?"
"A commander thinks strategically. I've assigned a staff officer to manage the Sunbird's tactical situation."
"Ishigami!" he grabbed the old man's arm. "Surely there's another way. Why Royce and Ria? There must be other Tracer pilots."
He looked back at Alban with an expression of bitter defeat and exhaustion. "I made a deal with Ikuno to get those two here- and another sacrifice to get them to Ash Cloud and in the Tracer," he pointed at the sky. "All of these things I've lined up- I've paid upfront, in blood and sweat. They're done when I say they're done."
"What about Diana? What if he can only fly with her?"
"They're not even the same species, Alban! You should know that better than anyone. She's got Royce wrapped around her finger. Who knows what'll happen when we put them together! You want to put an unethical Khanian experiment in control of most powerful weapon humans have ever built- and toss away the carrot we've been leading her with? You don't get it- she could be worse than the Khanians- worse than the Klaxosaurs!"
"Ishigami- I know I'm just a scientist- but, don't do this. This is wrong. Just give them a chance."
"You should mind the science and leave the leadership to me." He shrugged Alban off and stepped into the waiting car, then sealed the door behind him.
Alban shook his head. Gravel crunched under the car's tires at it slowly pulled away.
The faintest crescent moon hung high above him. The girl with red pig tails blew a pink bubble of gum from her lips as she leaned against a heavy metal door behind him. A small white visitor badge hung from her chest. She popped the bubble with her tongue before pushing off from the door. Then she walked slowly toward him.
"What's up?" She asked him.
"I'm at a loss for words, that's what's up."
"Whys that?" she leaned her head in confusion, peering up at him sideways.
"I just saw a man I've admired all my life- a man of reason, reduced to blind desperation."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know what's going to happen next."
"Is Cho okay?"
"I don't know. I can't see a guy like that going down easy. Besides, he's got a girl like you waiting for him."
She turned away from him and swished her hand. "Bah! That's dumb!" Then she looked at the ground, "I hope he remembers me-"
"Oh I remember, alright! I remember you didn't listen to me," Diana screeched at Kristoff from the front seat.
"Just hold the damn thing steady," Kristoff berated her. He aimed a purple reticle at the gigantic black figure dripping lava from its arms. Blue light radiated in its void-like eyes. The plane was shaking as they banked hard around, narrowly avoiding its clutches.
"Fire retrograde!" Cho yelled.
No response.
"Hello?" he yelled over the radio. "Fire retrograde! We're in position!"
"Kristoff, I think Ishigami's gone!"
"What the hell do you mean he's gone? He's the one in charge of this mission! Where the hell'd he go?"
"He hasn't been on comms for five minutes."
"Ishigami is pursuing other options," an unfamiliar voice croaked over a squelched transmission.
"And who the hell is this?"
"Captain Sobu."
"Well, Captain- are you going to fire the damn orbital cannon or not?"
"Uh- yeah give me a sec. I've got to call it in."
"Amateurs!" he shouted at Diana.
"Now you know how I feel." There was grit and vindication in her voice. She sounded- happy.
He saw another faint light in the sky.
"Is that it?"
"Stylet confirms retrograde fire."
"One hundred twenty seconds to impact." Cho announced.
The creature's blue eyes glowed brighter as it looked directly at them.
"Oh hell! What now!"
It was all over in a flash of blue light.
"Royce, you'll want to see this."
"What?"
He hurried over to the man's console still flashing yellow.
"Sunbird One Five is down- R.T.C. Sogne two blasted it with some kind of organic laser."
"Who's in it?"
"Looks like Diana Zhen and Kristo-"
He reached a hand out for something to brace himself on.
Please no.
"Are you okay?"
No.
"Royce!"
He looked down at his hand. He tightened his grip on the table.
"I've got to go," he said through gritted teeth, pushed off the table and walked toward the door.
"Wait-" came the voice of the controller. But he was already out the door.
Countless corridors flashed before him. Lights dissolved above into a river of white fluorescence. He finally reached the airlock.
He pulled his pressure suit from a hangar and zipped it up, then swung himself into the Crane's pilot seat.
He started the thing up, flipping switches as fast as he could. His heart was racing. Outside the Crane was black as pitch between a black metal docking bay above and a night-time Earth below.
The console illuminated with yellow pinstripes below his trembling fingers. With one press he felt a sudden drop. Then the dimly lit bottom of the station receded above him.
He was falling.
Down.
Down the perilous black abyss.
Into the world again.
He checked the fuel, locked in the coordinates of Sogne and fired the rocket. Light erupted behind him.
A brilliant red glow consumed his windows as he feathered the stick through steadily thickening air.
Almost there.
The sound of buffeting followed and the stick between his hands shook violently.
A tiny red-orange river shined in the darkness below.
That must be it.
On his radio, a chorus of cursing and yelling greeted him.
"Shit- One oh six and falling- Kristoff is down- Sogne two-"
"Sunbird Six Two you are to R.T.B. immediately and wait for further-"
"We are not leaving Kristoff you fu-"
"Gutenberg class Sogne Two sustained only minor damage! He's down but he's still active." an unfamiliar voice said hastily.
"Broadcast One Five's coordinates on all rescue channels-"
"There's no one, Cho!"
Royce took a moment to process the words, then he keyed the mic. "I'm in the area."
"Who the hell is that?" Cho's voice.
"This is Royce. I'm in the Valor Crane."
"F- yes!" he heard Morisato's voice. "Way to go, Royce!"
"Royce can you target in that thing?"
"I- uh. I don't know. I don't know if I can target anything."
"Stylet is approaching prograde window again T-minus sixty. If you can hold off just bit we can take that thing out!"
"Are they- alive? Diana and Kristoff," he asked.
"I don't know. Transmitters are blasted. Sato says he saw a parachute."
"What happened?"
"That thing hit their plane with some kinda beam. It took a retrograde shot from Stylet. An orbital round wounded it, but it's still alive. It's still movin' down there."
He squinted his eyes at the black mass surrounded by a river of lava thousands of feet below.
"Diana- are you okay?"
"Diana?"
She opened her eyes.
Is this- some sort of hell? My punishment- for what I've done? All those years ago?
There was a jagged golf-ball sized hole in the visor of her helmet. Long spidery cracks ran throughout her vision. A black mound a hundred feet high rose in the distance surrounded by a moat of flowing lava. Great cracks and fissures tore the ground. White hot specks still burned on the sharp points of metal fragments which stuck out of the dirt like stalagmites. Splinters of glass scattered the landscape.
The smell of burning magnesium and acrid charred paint stung her nostrils. Green specks and white flashes darted around in her vision. Sporadic flashes and readouts on multicolored gauges flickered on the cracked and blasted cockpit displays in front of her. She flew a craft of dry parched earth.
The cockpit was half buried in the ground. The rest of the plane was in pieces around her.
She grasped the two long riveted metal rails on either side and tried to lift herself up.
"AAAhhhh!" she yelled.
My foot- it's stuck! I can't feel below my ankle.
She reached up and removed her cracked helmet and tossed it away. She heard it smash on the ground.
Is this- what's left of the Sunbird? I must have gone down with the plane. I wonder where-
"Diana!" she looked around for the source of the noise and saw a heap of organic matter crawling up the side of the seat well.
It was Kristoff.
His helmet was half melted. Vitrified. One of his legs was missing. Grey smoke rose from his thigh and reddish pink skin showed underneath his tattered fabric. There was another hole in his flight suit near his stomach. That one appeared black and reflective.
"Kristoff? Don't move!"
"Diana. I'm-"
She tried again to heave herself up from the cockpit but couldn't pry herself free from whatever was pinching her leg.
"Kristoff- I'm stuck. Hold on. Someone will come. Just hold on."
He dragged a tattered parachute behind him. Little bits of volcanic glass stuck to his arms.
"I'm not going to make it," he collapsed back onto the parched ground. "That thing threw stuff at me while I was dangling there. After the auto-ejection went off."
She grimaced, "I guess I should be glad- mine didn't."
Her leg felt cold. She noticed she was shivering.
She reached out an arm to the man lying on the ground, just a few feet away.
"Take my hand. Don't give up just yet. They'll find us."
Kristoff grimaced and reached up for her, but couldn't touch.
"Diana- I can hear them. Can you?"
"Hear who?"
"Can you hit that button, behind you- the one for- the targeting?"
"Where is it," she reached behind her back and felt around on the console.
"A little to your left. No- down. Over to your left. There. That button. Press it."
She pressed the button. The flickering displays showed no change in their sporadic behavior.
"That's good- that's good. Thank you."
"Kristoff, what are you doing."
Before them, a mountainous black figure rose out of the red lava. She saw a red hot hole in its chest which was healing before their eyes.
"I can't hear anything- can you?"
"I've got this, Diana. Don't worry. I've got this." Kristoff said. A black liquid stain trickled down the front of his suit as he heaved himself upright. He stared at the gargantuan mound.
"Don't strain yourself. I promised I wouldn't-"
"Nah- this is what I signed up for. This true-blue hero shit." He coughed. "You'd do the same-"
A glimmer of purple illuminated on his half melted helmet. He remained upright for a moment, defiant and proud. Then he teetered. Gravity carried him the rest of the way. He fell on his side.
A screech like tearing metal blasted her eardrums.
"Diana- it's coming. I think it knows- what I did," Kristoff wheezed through labored breaths.
The figure, tall as a skyscraper, lifted a leg toward them. It reached down and began scooping up a ball of orange lava.
"Would you do me a favor, Diana?" He stammered out. "I know you act like you don't care, but- deep down, I think- you've got a good heart."
She saw him remove his helmet awkwardly with the palms of his gloves. His face half-blasted by black shrapnel. One of his eyes was nothing more than a red crater. His teeth were exposed within his cheek.
"Kristoff- no."
The black figure continued to advance, lifting the glowing ball in its outstretched arm.
He turned his palms to her, his fingers were mangled, twisted, some completely covered with glassy obsidian chunks.
"I can't do it." He struggled to say, "I need your help."
"I can't-"
"It's coming. I don't want to go out like that." He pointed at the advancing giant. "I don't want to live like this." She saw his teeth moving inside his jaw. "Please."
"No- I promised- Royce."
"Screw Royce! Diana- do this for me."
She reached down below her seat and located the sidearm tucked away. She brought it out and pointed it at him.
"Kristoff-"
He coughed and with one arm clutched the hole in his stomach. "Only weaklings die, right?"
Above her she heard the screech of engines, and then nothing. The low metallic groan of the monster drowned out everything else. She clicked off the safety.
"You deserved better. Kristoff, I don't-"
"Diana- No. No matter- what anyone says- I wanted this-" he gulped. There was another low pitched screech. "Do it now, Di-"
Two sonic booms rang out across the vast Khanian desert.
She looked up at the gigantic monster, prepared to see a ball of lava hurtling for her.
But instead she saw the monster cut in half by a massive circular annulus. It collapsed, still holding the glowing ball in its hand.
She heard a small thud. Then an earthquake as the monster hit the ground.
She looked down at the smoking gun in her hand and dropped it from her quivering fingers.
"Diana!"
Did I miss? No- that's not his voice. That's-
"Diana! You shot him!"
She couldn't turn her body to see who it was. But she already knew.
Darling- no.
"You killed him! You shot him- Why! Why'd you do it?!"
Why didn't I just refuse?
She leaned her head back and remained silent, resting her arms on the two metal rails beside her.
Her mind was blank. Her eyes lost focus and only a few scant green pulsating whispers reminded her that she was still awake.
A man clad in a tan pressure suit approached her. His straggly black hair streaked down his face, plastered to his forehead with sweat and grime. He climbed up on the nose radome and yanked her up by the armpits.
Her fractured ankle came free with a soft pop. The pain lashed her mind but she barely had the strength to scream. She merely whispered:
"Darling- it- it- hurts."
He pinned her shoulders to the back of the hard poly seat. One of his eyes was half illuminated by the fires in the distance. The other was cold, dark and angry.
"Why! Diana! Why!?" He shook her.
"He asked me-"
"He asked you! Why would he ask you? Why!"
He placed his hands on her neck. He began to apply pressure and she struggled to pry him away.
"Why! Diana! Why! I'll never forgive you! You killed him! Why did you kill him!"
"I-m kkkk- ttsssooo tsss-oorry. Da-"
She lifted her arms but she was too weak and he was too enraged.
Tiny green dots darted around her vision.
She reached behind, feeling around for the transceiver pouch where she knew Kristoff left it unused. She reached into the bag and gingerly pulled out the white band.
"You're a killer! A black widow! A monster!" he continued to yell.
With the last of her strength she brought the white band up to his head, and gently placed it on him.
The green sparks accelerated. She was rushing down a prismatic green and white tunnel like falling into a hologram.