John Brosnan - The Sky Lords

Ezekiel halted outside and bent down. “And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity.” It reached in through the opening with its mechanical arm. Jan pressed herself against the wall. “No!” she cried. “Leave me alone!”

The opening abruptly closed and there was a clang as the end of Ezekiel’s arm, sheared through, fell to the floor. Then the floor itself began to sink rapidly beneath Jan’s feet and she realized that the whole room was descending into the ground in the same manner as one of the elevators in the Lord Pangloth . It seemed to her that the room travelled a long way before it slowed to a halt. She held her breath as the opening reappeared, letting in bright light. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the light, then she saw that she was looking into a large room that was as lavishly furnished as any of the royal quarters on the Pangloth .

“I’m sorry. The light is obviously too bright for you. I’ll dim them. It’s been so long since they’ve been used.” It was a girl’s voice, friendly and reassuring. Jan stepped into the room but couldn’t see anyone. The lights dimmed and then, suddenly, there she was standing in the centre of the room. Jan couldn’t understand how she had missed seeing her before. As the girl approached her Jan got a shock; for a moment she thought it was Ceri, but then she saw that though the resemblance was very strong, the girl wasn’t Ceri’s double. Her eyes were brown instead of blue and her hair was much lighter.

She stopped some five feet away from Jan and smiled warmly. She wore strange clothes: a very tight pair of blue trousers cut low on the hips, an equally tight yellow shirt, the front of which was tied in a knot that revealed her midriff. Her feet were bare. “Hi, I’m Ashley! What’s your name?” said the girl brightly.

Jan told her her name, then asked if she could sit down. She had started to tremble. Reaction was setting in.

“Oh, of course!” said Ashley. “Sit wherever you like, Jan.”

Jan collapsed on to a well-upholstered couch and wrapped her arms around herself. Ashley, she noticed, remained standing. “Why was that cyberoid trying to kill you?” she asked Jan.

Jan shook her head wearily. “I don’t know. It was mad, I think. That’s what Milo said on the way here … that it had gone insane over the years … Milo said it was very, very old … Milo. …” She just couldn’t accept that Milo was dead . It was impossible!

“Milo was the man the cyberoid killed before he started chasing you?” Ashley asked her gently.

“Yes. You saw it happen?” Jan asked her, surprised.

“No. I watched a replay. Was he your husband?”

“No … not my husband,” said Jan and smiled wryly. She wondered what Ashley meant by ‘replay’.

“Your lover then? Your boyfriend?”

Jan sighed. “No. He wasn’t even my friend, not really. He was just Milo … and now he’s gone. I can’t get over the shock. And I don’t know what I’m going to do now.” To her own surprise she started to cry. She knew she wasn’t crying for Milo; she was crying for herself. “I won’t be able to survive in the blight lands without him.”

“You can stay here, Jan,” said Ashley. “For as long as you like. It’s been so long since I had any company.”

“You live here by yourself?”

“Yes. Except for Carl, and he doesn’t count. He’s not really a male; he’s just a computer program, but I call him Carl to make him seem a little more human. Not that it works. … ” She gave a wistful sigh, then her face brightened again. “Please say you’ll stay here! It would make me so happy!”

Jan wiped her eyes and looked around the large room with its low ceiling. Then she looked back at Ashley. She felt something was not quite right with her but she couldn’t decide what it was. “What exactly is this place?” she asked.

“A shelter,” the girl replied. “Originally it was built as a nuclear bomb shelter but years later my parents had it refurbished as a shelter against the Gene Wars.” Ashley’s expression grew sad. “It didn’t save them though. One of the later designer plague viruses penetrated the filters and other protective barriers and they died. In there. …” Ashley turned and pointed at one of several closed doors leading off from the room.

“But you survived,” said Jan, feeling increasingly puzzled. Her feeling that there was something very strange about Ashley was growing stronger.

“Oh, yes, I survived. And I guess I always will.” She didn’t sound pleased at the prospect.

Jan had a revelation. “You’re an immortal!” she cried. “Like Milo!”

“Your friend was an immortal?” asked Ashley, surprised. “I thought they had all been killed off centuries ago. Anyway, he’s certainly not an immortal now, is he?”

Mystified, Jan said, “But you must be an immortal. You said your parents died during the Gene Wars. And you don’t look any older than me.”

“How old are you?” Ashley asked with what sounded like genuine interest.

Wishing that the girl would stick to the subject Jan said, “I’m eighteen … no, I must be nineteen now.” She realized her birthday must have occurred two or three months ago, but she had lost track of the time.

“I’m younger than you, then. I’m only seventeen. And I’ll always be seventeen. Sweet seventeen.” She gave a wistful sigh again.

Jan began to wonder if Ashley was crazy. Perhaps she was just a refugee from the blight land, like her, who had entered this strange underground place by accident and was now creating fantasies about her past. As she deliberated on the best way of handling Ashley if she was indeed insane, Jan said, “Where do you get your food and water from? And would there be enough for both of us if I was to stay here?”

“Oh,” said Ashley and put a finger to her lips. “I hadn’t thought of that. Just a moment, I’ll ask Carl.” For a very brief moment her eyes went blank, then she smiled at Jan. “Carl says he can activate the food synthesizer again. The basic organic fuels are in the deep freeze and will have to be thawed, which will take some time, but he can get you some water right away. There’s an underground stream down there.” She pointed at the floor.

Jan stared at her. She was mad. “Er … this ‘Carl’ person just spoke to you and told you all that?” she asked hesitantly.

Ashley nodded. “We have a direct link.”

“I see,” said Jan as if that explained everything. “So there is food and water here.” Mention of water made her aware of a raging thirst, and she hoped the water wasn’t another of Ashley’s fantasies. But the girl appeared physically healthy, at least, so she must have been getting food and water from somewhere. Yet, oddly enough, she hadn’t mentioned eating or drinking herself. “Ah, don’t you and Carl need food or water?” she asked, trying to humour her.

“I told you, Carl is a computer program. Programs don’t eat or drink.” She gave a nervous giggle.

“And what about you?”

Ashley bit her lip and looked uncomfortable. She didn’t answer.

“Well?” persisted Jan.

“I suppose I’d better tell you,” said Ashley sadly. “You would have found out sooner or later.”

“Found out what?”

“This.” Ashley walked over to where Jan was sitting on the couch and held out her right hand to her. Puzzled, Jan went to take hold of it. …

… and her hand passed straight through Ashley’s as if it wasn’t there.

“See?” said Ashley and sighed.

Jan shrank back on the couch and stared at her with terrified eyes. “You’re a ghost!” she cried.