Chapter 44

All the World's a Stage

Simon leaned casually on the railing, one hand slightly discoloured beneath the sleeve of his full-length red coat. Erika's lip curled in loathing as she caught sight of him, but he merely peered down, eyeing his former accomplice with something approaching disappointment.

"Erika, Erika .." He clicked his tongue softly. "You couldn't go through with it, could you? What, did you get attached? Ironic, after all your ribbing me about Kensinge. I knew you'd let me down in the end, you snake. Luckily, there's always a fallback."

With a flick of his wrist, Erika found her own arms captured. She froze for a moment, eyes widening, then twisted this way and that, raining down a barrage of insults on the men who held her, but her former hired guns were unmoved. The remainder of the soldiers hesitated, glancing uncertainly at one another as Simon shook his head sarcastically.

"Guildmaster indeed. You didn't see that coming?"

She tried to pull her arms away from the two men securing her, but despite her violent seizures, she failed to budge them.

"You two have been with me from the beginning!" She screeched. "I trusted you! I put my life in your hands! We were supposed to overthrow-"

"Me?" Simon interrupted, his mouth twisting in amusement. "Overthrow me, weren't you? An interesting idea, if you weren't so blinded by your own ego. As you can see, your men are no longer your men. You have nothing left to bargain with. And I have no further use for you."

Every soul in the room held their breath as he reached inside his jacket, but when his hand reappeared, all that came with it was an old coin, which he flipped in his fingers thoughtfully.

"The best decoys are the ones that seem ridiculous. A logical person automatically suspects by nature every new entity that crosses their path, but not even the greatest warrior can eliminate all possible enemies. The mind naturally narrows down the list of potential threats by sorting those that appear dangerous from those that appear weak or innocent. An adoring mother .." he gestured to Erika and then to himself ".. a submissive fool, for example."

He raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze slipping down and to the left, where two small figures were attempting to take advantage of the chaos in order to make themselves invisible.

"Or perhaps .. a child?"

One by one, every pair of eyes in the room followed, turning toward Erika's niece and nephew with a numb, almost morbid fascination. Guilt-stricken, Zayne backed away from the group, stammering.

"We .. We didn't know he was involved. We thought he worked for the government!"

"You don't have to explain." Lucy stepped forward, folding her arms as she shot a warning look at her cousin. "The truth is, we were bored anyway. He gave us a job to do and he paid us. It was fun, so we kept doing it. We didn't hurt anyone."

Jim stared at her, a vague pain beginning to throb behind his temples.

"Doing .. what?"

"Oh, this and that." Simon put in airily. "They usually did an excellent job of whatever I asked of them. The one thing that I couldn't quite figure out is why, without fail, they kept me in the loop with regards to their visitors .. except .. where you were concerned."

He chuckled a little as his gaze dropped to Harlon.

"For some reason, they didn't want to tell me about you. Why is that? What's so special about you?"

"To be fair, that was Zayne's decision." Lucy countered. "He wouldn't let me tell you."

"Ah .." Simon met the boy's dark eyes, a smile playing on his lips. "Zayne .. of course. I never did quite manage to gain your trust, did I, Zayne? Something tells me it's a supremely difficult task."

He tapped the railing cheerfully, redirecting his attention to Jim.

"You look confused, Commander." He called down. "Anything I can help you with?"

Jim had been staring down blankly at the canal, watching as the excess water sloshed over the sides of the platform, then smoothly raced away until it faded out of view, only to be replaced moments later by another tiny wave. Now, with a grunt in the back of his throat that could have almost been the beginnings of a laugh, the Terra Novan Commander shook his head, raising his eyes to where Simon's figure hovered above, his gaze catching on the thick strips of leather that swayed loosely from the loops of the man's coat. The ends of the red belt contrasted starkly with the cement walls as they rippled like ribbons in the air about him. The colour was too joyful for this place, Jim thought vacantly. With every carefree twist, it mocked them. It felt as though they had been invited to a celebration, only to realise they were the opening act.

He shook his head again, tearing his eyes back to Simon's with an effort.

"Honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin."

The other man seemed strangely pleased with this answer.

"Ah, yes." He nodded slowly, studying the coin in his hand as though he had never laid eyes on it before. "Your disorientation is understandable, I suppose. And despite how thoroughly amusing it would be to leave you all completely in the dark and never truly able to comprehend what has gone on beneath your noses .."

He smirked for a moment, biting his lower lip mischieviously as he toyed with the possibility. Then, with a small shrug, he relented.

".. I see no harm in laying the pieces out on the table in full view." He announced chivalrously. "In honour of your irritating tenacity, I shall explain it to you."

"We are forever in your debt." Taylor sneered. Simon ignored him.

"For starters, Erika was never in charge. I was." He paused, holding a hand up to quiet the woman's enraged protests while throwing a warning glance at the men who restrained her. "Shut up, or I'll let them do it for you."

With a malignant glare, Erika fell silent. Simon nodded his approval as he continued.

"The truth is, I do work for the government. Well, part of it. Or rather, I used to." He corrected. "These days, it works for me. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

He folded his arms atop the railing, smiling down in an almost friendly fashion.

"While we're buying time as we wait for the rest of your little posse to arrive, shall we start from the beginning?"

A few apprehensive looks were exchanged below, but ultimately, no one answered. Hearing no objections, Simon began his tale a few moments later.

"Once we figured out you'd managed to get through and consequently disappeared into the Chicago mist, we knew we had to find you fast. So I enlisted some help." He cast a faintly curious glance at the uncomfortable children before turning back to Jim. "As you so astutely recognised upon first meeting them, these two know the streets like the backs of their hands. Their assistance in leading you down the garden path has been invaluable. And combined with the height – or shall I say, depth – of our security measures, you didn't have a hope of ever seeing your daughter again unless we allowed it. Or so we thought."

"Well, you thought wrong."

"Obviously." Simon pursed his lips, his veiled gaze studying Zoe's. "It would seem you are far more resourceful than we realised. Or perhaps not. You people do seem to make a habit of being unthinkably lucky."

He gave a reluctant, lopsided grin as he flicked the coin in his hand.

"Believe it or not, I wasn't even supposed to be here today. I had grand plans of fleeing overseas and melting into anonymity. Unfortunately, your little assassin here put an end to that by shooting the man who was supposed to fly me out of the country. Isn't that right, Zoe?"

Zoe was staring at him, her wide dark eyes filled with a mixture of terror and disgust. Jim's firm hand tightened on her shoulder.

"If it wasn't such an inconvenience for me, I might have been impressed." Simon continued with chagrin. "There, you see, Zoe. I'm not as impossible a taskmaster as you thought."

"Is there a point to this?"

"No, he just likes to hear himself talk." Lucas inserted, stepping into Simon's direct line of sight. He stared up mildly at the pretender. "There is one thing you haven't explained. Kensinge might have suspected you were behind this, but at the end of the day, I'm not sure I believed it. This is the largest scientific and military division in the country – maybe the whole world. How could you be in charge?"

Simon leaned his elbows on the railing as he considered the man below.

"Lucas. We meet again. Nice of you to bring the whole family along for the trip."

His eyes hitched on Skye's for a moment, but then they continued along the line of faces as though nothing had happened. Lucas, however, noticed the look, and shot a sideways glance at her.

"Have you two met?"

"You could say that."

"How?"

"Long story." She murmured back, her gaze locked on the figure above them. "I'll fill in the blanks later. For now, let's just say a little bird introduced us .. a one-eyed bird .."

Whatever further questions Lucas may have wanted to ask were immediately squashed by his father's accusing voice on his other side.

"This guy a friend of yours?" He glared at Lucas indignantly. "Why am I not surprised? You probably know all the scumbags of the underworld."

"What can I say?" His son retorted. "University's a good place to meet them."

"I told you to choose your companions better." Taylor railed. "I knew those lawbreakers you hung out with would get you into trouble-"

Lucas snorted in derision.

"Those 'lawbreakers' I hung out with once or twice are now serving the community as doctors, thank you very much."

"What, both of them?!"

"Mhm." His unrepentant progeny responded cheerfully. "This guy here wasn't a friend at all. He was – what were you, Simon? Besides unmemorable, I mean."

"You Taylors .." A flare of cold anger washed over his fellow alumni's face. "Everything always has to be about you, doesn't it? I believe we were in the middle of a conversation before we were rudely interrupted by your college memoirs. Infuriating, and yet, how incredibly typical."

His mouth stretched at the corners, becoming something of a pained smile.

"Told you I killed the Administrator, didn't I? You should've listened."

"I guess I should have." The physicist commented. The bored note in his voice grated against the other man's last nerve – a fact Lucas knew perfectly well, though Simon valiantly hid the fact.

"But I still fail to understand how you could have accomplished this. You have no money, no authority-"

"Money." Simon shook his head reproachfully. "Is money really all that matters to you people?"

"Then explain it to me."

"You really don't get it?" The aspiring puppetmaster peered down at him with an almost inquisitive air. ".. no, I suppose you don't. But then you wouldn't, would you? Brilliant mind, genius student, you caught the eye of everyone that met you .. unlike me. I fell behind and wasted away simply because I wasn't as quick as the rest of you."

A hint of venom had entered Simon's voice.

"Where there is brilliance, there must be obscurity. I was the drop-out, the failure. I was weak, I was pathetic, I was a useless yes-man. At least .. that's what I became. But in the end, I embraced it, dear Lucas. In order to become who I wanted to be, I became who I was not and yet appeared to be. A talented physicist, I was not, but a decent strategist .. perhaps. I seem to have done alright for myself."

A spiteful chuckle came from Erika's side of the room.

"Oh, please. You may talk like a villain, Simon, but don't kid yourself. I saw you when you were weak. You barely had the stomach to kill your master, let alone take his place. Back then, your fear almost consumed you. Don't pretend to be a mastermind now. We all know the kind of snivelling traitor you really are."

"Yes .." Simon smiled a little. The truth in her speech didn't appear to phase him in the least. "You're right, of course. I haven't changed. I was scared to death to raise my hand against him. But .. I learned a lesson a long time ago."

He paused for a moment, his eyes flashing as his white-knuckled fingers gripped the rail.

"Fear isn't real. It makes no difference. I've always been timid, I've always feared what I wasn't sure of. But it doesn't matter in the end. Because, despite the fear, I can act. I can plan. I can steal, kill, deceive, destroy, climb higher up the ladder, reach the top, and then, if I'm still not satisfied, jump off!" He laughed, spreading his hands apart. "I can rule the world. And I do. So you see. Strategy and fear are not mutually exclusive. Fear simply becomes irrelevant. I'm sure no one I've killed is concerned now with whether or not I was afraid at the time. What do you think?"

Jim eyed him warily.

"You're insane."

"No .. you'd like to think that, but only because you're trying to rationalise it. What you really don't want is to face up to the fact that I'm right. You see, you too are afraid- we all are, really." He added, interrupting himself. "But unlike me, you haven't yet learned how to analyse it. Your morally-just minds don't want to understand the reality behind my words and actions. Conscience itself can become a weakness or a strength depending on two factors – the situation in which it's used and how it's formed. In Terra Nova, perhaps, you have the luxury of a conscience, but here in the future, it's always a weakness. Always. There's no room for it. Hesitate and you die."

"You're wrong, you know."

"Says the man who ended up in Golad simply for defending his daughter. And then bought, stole, and cheated his way into Terra Nova. And then repeatedly put two more children in harm's way just to try and get the same daughter back again."

Simon's features glimmered with wry amusement.

"Nevertheless, I will concede that a heartless bully has no business inheriting the new world either. I'm sure we can all agree on that .. except maybe you, Erika."

As he said this, the entire building around them seemed to shudder. Simon swayed and gripped the railing again, casting a frown over his shoulder as a series of booms resounded from somewhere. At the end of the room, the Terminus was giving birth to an ever-expanding light. When all quieted, he looked back down to his captives. Erika's attention had snagged once again on her children. She was staring at them with a mixture of awe and hatred, the combination of which lent itself to a rather strange expression.

"And you two .. all this time, you were helping him?"

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Simon put in lightly. "They really have been most useful associates."

"But how .. how did you-"

"How did we keep in contact?" He supplied, raising his eyebrows and directing another glance at his little employees. "At first, we met at a designated street corner. You never kept track of them during the day, so it was relatively easy. It became much more difficult once they actually located their target, of course, but we had other plans in place."

The corner of his mouth twisted into a small smile.

"Kids rarely go to bed as early as their parents think they do."

"These ones do." Their aunt spat back. "I made sure of it. The video feeds-"

"Feeds can be hacked." Simon waved a hand dismissively. "As you of all people should know."

Erika whirled on the children with a new swell of rage.

"Why?!"

"We didn't know you worked for him, honest!" Lucy protested, but Erika cut her off with a vicious snarl.

"I do not work for him! He works for me!"

"'Fraid not." Simon interrupted, a smidge gleefully. "The girl was entirely correct. But she was being kind. Not only did they work for me, but much of your staff have assisted me on occasion as well."

Erika barked out a rusty laugh.

"Liar. You expect me to believe a word you say is true?"

"It is, actually." With that, Simon gestured to someone nearby, turning back to his guests as the woman came forward out of the darkness. "Aiva, tie her up and put her out of the way. Somewhere she won't bother anyone."

Erika gaped at her former housemaid in shock.

"Aiva .. but .."

The housekeeper's implacable face revealed nothing, but as she descended the stairs and approached Erika, the other woman roared and swung an arm out savagely. The wild animal was restrained with unexpected swiftness as Aiva caught the intended blow and proceeded to lock it behind the assailant's back. Erika lurched and strained to no avail, her facial colouring performing an interesting sequence of transitions. She turned white, then red, then purple, then back to white again, and finally ended in a sickly grey colour as the full extent of her position finally dawned on her. Simon had lost interest in his former business partner and had turned back to Jim once more.

"It really was awfully careless of Parker to leave the Portal wide open. Hard to find good help these days. No matter." He shrugged. "You picked the perfect time, actually. Lucky you. You'll be the only surviving Terra Novans, a remnant from a piece of history better left .. in the past."

"You can talk all you want." Jim murmured. "You'll never take out all of us."

Something tugged at the corners of Simon's mouth.

"It has taken longer than I anticipated, yes, but it ends for good today. In fact, my men should be just about there by now – and with enough sonic bombs to obliterate the entire planet .. just in case your comrades get it into their heads to try something. There really is no way for us to fail this time. By the end of the morning, there'll be nothing left for you to return home to."

"What about your city?!" Lucas burst out, a wave of horror washing over him as a cold, brown swell from the canal soaked his feet. "Your ruins! Kensinge told me all about it. She still believes they're there somewhere, hidden in the mountain. You can't blow up the area without completely destroying whatever may be left. What, you're just gonna raze it to the ground without a second thought?!"

Simon smiled with some fondness.

"Astute as always, Heather. But in the most precise sense, you're wrong, you know. The city's not there." He leaned over the top of the staircase intently. "It will be there. You see, my men were too quick for you. They made it back to me with the report. They found the burial site, meaning I can do whatever I like to your little picnic in the trees. It doesn't matter how I go about it, or how much destruction I cause. Because in the end, we will succeed. You can't change destiny."

Lucas scoffed.

"Please. You aren't some believer in legends and myths. You would never base your entire plan on faith in some ancient story."

"You don't know me .. remember?" Simon hissed, his eyes growing as cold as steel. Then he shrugged. "But for what it's worth, you're right. Kensinge was the believer, not me. And evidently, not you."

He glanced over at Erika, who was still furiously resisting Aiva's efforts to draw her away.

"It appears neither one of us was particularly entranced by fanciful tales of the past – or was it the future? It was necessary to play along for a while. But now that necessity has outlived its usefulness. Just like the Guild itself. And the colony, as a matter of fact."

He stared down at his former partner.

"Pity, you were a rather good actress. And the news media loved you. Until recently, of course. Alas, adoration can be so fickle."

"You thought you'd save yourself some mess and just have me arrested, didn't you?" Erika growled, her expression thunderous. "Well surprise, you failed. You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I'm out of the picture for five minutes and you get arrested?"

"Don't pretend this wasn't your doing." She glowered. "We both know you wanted me out of the way."

"Why would I try such a pointless scheme?" Simon appeared bemused.

"Alright, yes. I had heard the government was preparing another 'living sacrifice', but I figured you were slippery enough to weasel your way clear of the debris when it all came crashing down around your head. Looks like I was right."

"And while all this was taking place, you were .. ?"

"Thinking up new and increasingly impressive ways of securing your eternal happiness, of course." He retorted, disdain for the woman dripping from every sarcastic word. Erika's glare deepened. Simon eyed her.

"It was you, wasn't it? You sent the ministry after me. You tried to drive me out of the country. Almost succeeded too."

At this, her anger faded somewhat, replaced by a small smile that ghosted its way across her face. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Simon huffed in disgust.

"I knew it was you. I guess we were trying to get rid of each other from the start."

He cocked his head curiously.

"I might as well confess then that I've been doing some extensive checking up on you. It took a while for them to find anything, but the truth has a habit of revealing itself sooner or later. For all your apparent concern about the historical significance of the artefacts in the past, you've been putting the structures in place to start a full-blown mining operation as soon as you could figure out what to do with me. What I don't understand is when and why the Guildmaster of the most secretive and widespread scientific and historical preservation society on earth became more interested in monetary gain than actual history or science."

"You still don't understand?" Erika snorted. "Simon, honestly, you can be so naive. I don't know how you've survived this long, I really don't."

"Go on then." He prompted, giving her a small nod of encouragement, his eyes twinkling. "I won't rest until you've explained it to me. You'll be going away for a very long time, so you might as well bare your soul now."

"Very well, if you insist." Erika retorted, wrenching her elbow out of her former housemaid's grip with a poisonous hiss. "If you already know so much, there really isn't much point in hiding the rest."

She massaged her aching wrist for a moment and then folded her arms, casting a curious look at the bewildered expressions on the faces of her nearby wards.

"Money is power. It's a simple concept, not to mention an ancient one, but apparently you've still failed to wrap your mind around it, so I'll elaborate."

She tapped her nails on her arm, a smile touching her lips, as though she found her current circumstances to be little more than a dramatic spectacle.

"There is one commodity Terra Nova possesses that is worth more than gold. As far as we know of, it isn't found anywhere else in our solar system, making its value practically limitless. Its nearly unattainable. Its applications are almost immeasurable. But it isn't ancient artefacts from time travellers gone by, and no .." She shot a wry smile at Taylor, her eyebrow rising a little as she glimpsed the Kaprosuchus beside him. ".. it isn't dinosaurs. It's meteoric ore."

She looked back up to meet Simon's placid gaze.

"Your former Administrator knew as much. That's why he went after it with such singleness of purpose, making him a far more savvy businessman than you will ever be."

When she paused to await his response, Simon simply shrugged.

"You're allowed your opinion."

Erika's eyes glinted maliciously.

"I don't think you understand. I'm not just some money-hungry parasite. Believe me, I've met enough of those in my time. But that ore is on a level by itself. It has uses in practically every field – pharmaceutical, technological, economical, mechanical. It's an absolute wildcard. Everyone's desperate for a taste. Insert it into the right place and you'll end up holding the very puppet-strings of society. A few truckloads of it and we'll control the medical industry. A few more and we'll control the stock market. We've already got the military at our beck and call, so by injecting a certain amount of priceless metal into the economy, we can turn the tide in our favour, send the waterfall pouring right into our pockets."

Simon steepled his fingers, frowning slightly as he considered them.

"What were you going to do once we took over the colony? Surely injecting capital into this world is pointless if our entire goal is ultimately to shut it out."

"Short-sighted as always." Erika huffed, almost good-naturedly. "Why would we cut ties to the future when we have all the benefits of a thriving civilisation at our fingertips? Where are we going to get machinery, medicine, clothing, anything, if not here? Were you planning on taking over Terra Nova only to live just like the savages? I certainly wasn't."

Her words didn't seem to be penetrating Simon's cool armour, but she felt a thrill of victory nevertheless. She flashed him a triumphant grin, showing off her white teeth.

"No, I'm not planning on closing up the fractures once we get through. We'll keep enough ore trickling in to keep the former world at our mercy while we bleed it dry. Eventually, the decrepit old mule won't be able to pull the cart anymore, but once the previous world dies completely, a select group of people will be so established in the new one, we won't need it anymore. The most advanced technology combined with the smartest minds and the freshest, richest planet. You could say we'll have the best of both worlds."

Simon eyed her for a moment, then exhaled sharply under his breath.

"I suppose there's one piece in this game that's been there from the start. One unique part that was always irreplaceable. A trump card, if you will. To you, it was the ore. To me, it was the Probe. We had the same goal, however. We both wanted to win the grand prize – Terra Nova."

He extended a hand out to Jim.

"Do you understand now? You might be tenacious and plucky. You might even have goodness on your side. But you can't win. I have so many citizens vying to join my army, I can't even use them all. Honestly, it's like a zombie apocalypse of recruits. It's almost frightening. Some join for the chance to escape the dumpster fire that is the future. Some join just to try and get shot so they don't have to work up the courage to do it themselves. With such a high turnover rate, they're not the best trained, but there are always more to step into the gap when we lose them. Granted, they're not the best army money can buy .."

He cast an unreadable glance at Lucas.

".. but they're cheap and .. shall we say .. reusable? This is why you'll never truly be able to hold onto your piece of paradise. In the end, your enemies are innumerable. They may wear different faces, but they'll always be the same. Take Nakayami and myself for example. The truth was, neither of us could do it alone. This partnership was the ticket we'd both been waiting for. She needed the military support and funding of the government. I needed her intelligence network and sphere of influence. She wanted money and power-"

"And you?" Erika spat the question in disgust. "What did you want? A backbone? Foresight? Someone to do the hard work for you?"

"Me?" Simon mused. "I wanted to be respected. Have you any idea how insufferable it is to be the smartest person in any room at any given time and still be ignored and looked down upon? I swore that one day I would be respected, even feared. And I will be. And I am. But today these two kingdoms of ours are united under one head. From here on out .."

He trailed off as the pool of light at the far end of the room began to flicker brightly. A moment later, the wooden curve of an antique bow pierced the blue. Simon watched in fascination as the ship slid by, lurching to a halt beneath him.

"Finally." He muttered, then raised his voice laughingly. "Is it me, or is the bus late today?"

"Shall we blow it out of the water, sir?"

"With the Portal right behind it, are you mad?" Simon scoffed. "No one fires anywhere near that ship. It looks like it's barely holding together as it is. And while I don't believe our dear commander is the suicide bomber type, we can't rule out the possibility of there being enough explosives on board to level Chicago. I'm not taking any chances. Close the Portal."

"Yes, sir."

He observed the scene curiously from above as Esteban was retrieved and immediately escorted onto the dock. Kensinge's second-in-command was apparently the only one on board. Despite his raised hands, he appeared irritatingly calm, standing straight-backed, his eyes quietly searched for something. A small smile appeared as he located Skye and Lucas, then it grew wider as he spotted Zoe. He grew more serious, however, as his gaze rose to Jim.

"Someone requested a pick-up?"

"What took you so long?"

"Ran into some trouble just off the base." Esteban reported apologetically. "We overlooked the possibility of enemy crafts in the water. Luckily, we were close enough to the cliffs for our guys to take them out, but they were partially shielded. We succeeded, but it was easier said than done."

The matter-of-fact manner in which he gave the explanation belied the true nature of the event. The quiet soldier wasn't given to exaggeration. The battle had been precarious indeed. He finished his brief summary by patting Zoe warmly on the head, much to her father's alarm.

"Glad you're still alive."

"Us too." Lucas put in cheerfully. "But don't worry. We weren't waiting alone. Simon was just regaling us with tales of his evil pursuits."

Esteban scoffed.

"Surprised you weren't wishing fervently for death."

"To be honest, it was looking like a pretty good option before you showed up."

"They sent you?" Jim interrupted. "Just you?"

"Afraid so. No one else could be spared."

Above them, Simon snorted sarcastically.

"Be thankful. Kensinge sent the best of the best." He turned to one of the soldiers below him. "As enjoyable as this is, I'm growing rather tired of it. McAngus, restrain the children. Vargas, shoot the adults. Start with the newest arrival first."

"Now!"

Jim's command came out of nowhere, but the reaction was instantaneous. Though they seemed distracted, the small squadron of Terra Novans had been waiting for just this second, every muscle coiled like wire, tension mounting under the surface until the moment arrived to spring into action. Now the time had come. Jim's army charged, each taking the soldier closest to them. Shots broke out in all directions, as fingers that had been itching for a job to do clamped down eagerly on their triggers. Those that found themselves unarmed made it their first order of business to reverse that disadvantage. Esteban had been relieved of his weapon a moment earlier, but now he made a dash backward, attempting to return to the ship only to find his path blocked by a short, bald man.

"You picked the wrong side, Captain."

The pistol was pointed between his eyes. Esteban made an attempt to dodge right, but a bar of iron clamped down on his neck, forcing black dots in front of his vision. He tried to kick the man behind him, but was rewarded with more weight thrust against his windpipe. Fading in and out of view, the pistol appeared back in front of his face, accompanied by a chuckle of victory.

"Lights out, big boy-"

The shot was early and wide. Kensinge's second-in-command froze, his vision clearing momentarily as a bullet skimmed past his ear. In front of him, the short man gave a satisfying grunt of confusion, trying to shake off the heavy thing that had landed on his arm while Zoe held on with all her might.
At the sight of the little girl who had come to his rescue, Esteban found a new surge of strength. He stepped backward and overpowered the man who had captured him, but had barely managed to take a step toward Zoe before another assailant leaped onto his back, trying to separate his head from his shoulders with a new attack on his bruised throat. He watched helplessly as Zoe was thrown to the ground in front of him. Vargas' pistol followed her, peering at her with its one eye like a hungry viper. Esteban roared, but couldn't get free, pinned down further by a third persistent soldier that had clamped onto his left arm. Where was Jim?!

As it happened, Jim was quite close by, and had even heard the Phoenix captain's cry for help, but it was no use. The Commander had been targeted by several attackers at once. He was fighting with all the ferocity he could muster, but try as he might, he was swiftly losing ground.

There was still hope for Zoe, however.

Someone else was closer.

Just before Vargas' evil gun went off a second time, Harlon launched himself at the bald man. For a moment, their combined shadow fell over the girl, then a bang resounded. The shadow disappeared as they fell backward together, disappearing beneath the dirty water of the canal. No one reappeared.

The little rebellion was quelled as quickly as it had begun. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Terra Novans were pushed back again. In the end, the wounds they had inflicted were akin to the scratches a lion might suffer from a teething kitten. Out of harm's way for the moment, Simon watched with trepidation and interest as the scuffle died down.

"Well, all's well that ends well, I suppose."

Jim struggled against the firm grasp of his captors.

"Stop it! Stop! Surely there's a way we can avoid all this."

"Getting desperate now, aren't we? Keep talking." Simon dared him. "How many more will it be before it's your turn, I wonder. Let's see, who's next .."

The coin in his hand reappeared again, as he pointed it first at one person, then another.

"The trusty sheriff .. the legendary commander .. the warrior queen .. the physicist .. who is the next in the line of expendability .. after you, of course." He centred his attention back on Esteban. "Heather Kensinge's faithful lapdog. How sad she'll never see you again-"

He paused, blinking in surprise as a small explosion disrupted the water's surface below him. Still seated on the ground where she had fallen, Zoe now scrambled to the edge. She reached out quickly and grasped Harlon's flailing arm, digging her heels in as she helped the Sixer to drag his body back onto the concrete platform. He was holding his side and bleeding, but he was alive.

".. oh." Simon peered down, looking slightly disappointed. "Vargas?"

Harlon shook his head breathlessly. A flicker of annoyance crossed the other man's face.

"Too bad. And a word of advice: I'd stay away from that edge if I were you. Blood tends to attract the sharks, but if you ask me, there's far worse down there than that."

Harlon's gaze began to drift toward the murky water, but darted instead in the other direction as the slitted eyes of the Kaprosuchus crept closer through the mass of bodies.

"Don't even think about it."

Simon made a chuckling noise in his throat.

"You lot are amusing, I'll allow you that. Now. Shall we try again?"

This time it was Aiva that locked onto her target, relinquishing her hold on her former employer as she stepped up to face Esteban. He stood silently amidst the yells of protest that rang out on his behalf, waiting grimly for the bang that would end his life.

Instead, there came a different sort of explosion. As Aiva was preparing to fire, the murky depths had been preparing a surprise of their own. There was no bang of gunfire that followed, no shout of triumph. Even the cries of outrage were hushed, silenced instantaneously as, without a second's warning, the tables were turned.

A torrential roar sounded beneath their feet.

The surface of the water broke.

And a mass of tentacles erupted out of the canal.