The Constant Star (75)

THE STORY SO FAR

The streets are empty, but Siff can see the occasional pair of eyes gazing fearfully from closed windows.

“The fight just got here today. Up until now all these homes were safe. Look up ahead, we’re already too late.” By the main doors lay several bodies of security forces. Burn marks across the floor and doors are still smoking from the firepower just now utilized, “If she’s hacked the system there’s no way we’re getting in. She’ll have those doors sealed until she’s done what she intends to do.”

“We can’t let that happen, Bear. I’ve seen her kill people without a second thought just so she can have power. We have to stop her.”

“And that’s not our only problem.” Baldr’s voice comes from the shadows behind them. He steps smiling into Siff’s immediate embrace, “Hello sweetheart. It’s good to see you.”

“I thought you were dead! Dad! Don’t ever do that again!”

“To protect you, I’d do it a thousand times over.”

“You were saying we have another problem? Is it Mars?” Bellerophon is still on mission.

“Yes. I’ve been tracing the location of the Council members. Saturn and Pluto are in the Needle’s operations room. They have sealed the doors shut. But I don’t know where Mars is.”

“Do you think he’s dead, Dad?”

“Not yet. But if he has his way we all soon will be.”

“What do you mean?”

“He is one-hundred percent sold to the mission as it now officially stands. He sees the fall of our society and Diana’s aggressive overtaking as reason enough to arm the self-destruct mechanism. He’s going to override the system and manually force Janus to self-destruct a thousand years early.”

“Holy shit. Dad, we need to stop him.”

“I don’t know where he is, but I know where he’s going. He’s been manually firing up the triggering mechanisms and will now be on his way to the Bridge to punch in the final code. I think if we can stop Diana, we may be able to convince him not to blow the ship.”

“But if we don’t stop Macy fast enough he’s going to kill us all. We need you to intercept him Dad. Bear and I can handle the Needle.”

“And how do you plan on doing that? Those doors are sealed tight.”

“Well, Macy kinda really hates me. And thinks I’m dead. If I show up knocking on the door it should at least distract her from Bear making his way to where she’s hardwired in.”

Bear shakes his head, “She’s going to kill you, Siff.”

“She’s going to try. But if you can get her out of the system the security protocols will stop her.”

“And if I don’t? Siff, I’m not willing to sacrifice your life.”

“You’re not, Bear. I am. It’s my choice. She’d kill you straight away, but I can get in her head. This is the only chance we have. To save this ship I’d do it a thousand times over.”

Baldr smiles mournfully, “I’m so proud of you. If there was another way…”

“We both know there isn’t, and we don’t have time to waste. We have to stop Macy, and you have to stop Mars.”

He smiles, “Yes ma’am. Love you sweetheart.”

“Love you Dad.”

They hug briefly and separate with a smile before Baldr disappears back into the dark.

“Okay, so,” Bear looks at Siff quizzically, “Where exactly am I going?”

Lucas walks through ashes and still-burning trees. This section of Janus was once a residential neighborhood, schools used to sing with the voices of playful children, and parks would be filled with families enjoying the landscape. Bodies of the fallen lay unburied; the war tore through this place before any had a chance to flee.

His pilgrimage has grown as word spread throughout the refugees. Now hundreds are following and it is no longer possible to move in stealth. But Lucas also no longer cares if he is seen. Walking through such suffering breaks his heart. He can no longer be stoic as weeping bursts forth like a spring. Lucas kneels where two children lay fallen, they can’t have been older than five. One dropped his leather backpack as he fell, the other her colorful bracelet. Lucas takes the pack and removes the strap, solemnly wrapping it around his walking staff. Then takes the bracelet and attaches it also, “I am so sorry, little ones.” He speaks softly as his soul mourns, “You will be remembered.” Tears still streaming down his face, Lucas moves to another child, then another. The pilgrims watch him continue to attach mementos of these precious and vulnerable children until his staff is a memorial to these lives lost.

Seeing their leader so moved, his followers do the same. Mournfully remembering the children that lie here, they also weep as they pick up toys, jewelry, and keepsakes. The Needle, the Council, will answer for all that has been done.

59

Did the doors get bigger somehow? Siff approaches the solid steel barrier in front of her. Shut tight. Dead bodies litter the courtyard, the most recent casualties of these terrible few days. She reminds herself if they don’t succeed there will be many more deaths in the near future. She gulps and steps forward to within a few feet of the imposing entrance. Looking up to where the security band stripes across, she smiles and waves, “Hi Bitch, I’m still alive. Got the courage to kill me yourself this time?” Siff knocks on the giant doors as obnoxiously as she can, “Helloooooooo! Idun! Macy! Diana! Whatever the hell you like to call yourself! Chickenshit bitch who can’t do her own dirty work! C’mon, let me in. You know you want—”

The doors shudder and slide apart. Oh shit, this is it. Here we go then.

Siff steps into the main lobby of the Needle. What was once an exciting and inspiring place is now filled with an ominous silence. The occasional body lays on the floor as scientists and workers sit terrified. The doors close behind her and another one

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