Paul Hughes - Enemy

((beacon on whenstream transit.))

West held the flailing woman close. “What is it, Patra? It’s the web, isn’t it? Voices? What do you hear—”

“MAKE IT STOP JUST MAKE IT STOP!!”

West looked from Zero-Four to Jennings, helpless.

Zero-Four was resolute. “Patra. This is very important. What are the voices saying?”

Her body was in spasms, fighting against the hold of West and her father. Muscles taut, silver pupils dilated. And the web so visibly embedded into her flesh.

“Two…Two voices. One like before, the other—darker. Damned. So much like Richter’s voice, but…Another Enemy! One we didn’t know about! And now…Now they’re allied against us. Something terrible is about to happen! Something terrible!” Her body surged in pain, and in seizing she fainted.

“Simon? Results of the sweep.”

Silence.

“What is it?”

((…))

“Simon.”

((it…the beacon…))

“Tell me.”

((massive timesweep waves…emanating from upwhen. point of emergence is…command. zero reading on command’s coordinates. program collapse imminent.))

“No…That’s impossible.”

“What?” West was scared. The look on Zero-Four’s face…

“Are you sure? How could they—”

((the strike force. they must have succeeded. the primary program is beginning to shut down. zero reading from upwhen cache backups. zero reading from secondary backups as well.))

“Jesus. If the backups don’t reformat, how long do we have?”

(not long, michael.)

“Why didn’t the gunships stop them? Is this new Enemy threat that powerful?”

((their patterns aren’t in the registry. they must be rogue code. maybe from the alternities. maybe the gunships…maybe they didn’t fight the enemy because they are the enemy.))

Zero-Four shook his head, not wanting to believe, but knowing the truth in his heart. He paced, covering his eyes, deep in thought. What had Kilbourne done?

“Command’s gone, but there’s still the Fleet, spread throughout countless Whens. And the alternities…We can rebuild. We can gather our forces—”

((michael, we don’t know how far this cancer has spread. there’s so little time. especially if the backup systems are offline. the purpose nears completion.))

“It’s up to us now, isn’t it? We’re on our own.”

((yes.))

A siren roared to life. Zero-Four jumped.

“Now what?”

((incoming enemy vessels. they’ve found us.))

Malachi.

He hung in the darkness, watching.

The Enemy had suddenly come to life, soared past his Shadowed form into the void beyond.

What’s going on?

They had obviously been alerted to something…

Had Shiva finally arrived? Maybe, but why would he have been careless enough to alert the Enemy to his presence?

Malachi powered up.

In the black, he followed after the damned.

fog. (fog.)

dream? (dream?)

patra bathed in the haze of the shock-induced slumber, feeling her muscles slowly relax. this was so much like the stasis chamber, physically helpless, mentally active.

and the dreams came again with a terrible rush.

the web within her burned with a supernatural fire, and she saw…

(she saw…)

(we will build it in your image)

a warrior child, a being of innate sorrow but limitless power. a mark on her face…a scar? no…her innocent eyes burned with metallic fury. throngs of humanity bowing down…the image faded, and a single word floated to the surface of patra’s mind.

hope.

the child stretched its hands to the stars that played above it. the hands flickered and became no more.

a judas.

but the infant’s face. (the face.)

a beautiful face, marred by the pattern of glistening metal that protruded from the flesh…

…savior…

the word, the image tore through her subconscious. a child, half judas, half enemy. the possibilities…

half judas, half enemy.

her child. west’s child.

(savior)

and the image was replaced again.

a vessel, crashing on a dead world. people. a man of the light. a man of age and sorrow. and a woman of the darkness, shimmering in metallic ecstasy—

realization.

west. her father. and herself—

this was not a dream.

this was the future.

the fog swirled around her mind once more, and patra slipped into the deep sleep of exhaustion.

the future…

The Mujahadin were close.

Intimately close.

Terrifyingly close.

In the battle chamber of Mara, Sapphire reeled in the hellish wash of blazing inferno that had been Command. In the virtual reality of the chamber, she seemed to be suspended in the midst of the battle.

To each side of her fleet, the Enemy.

Below her, closing fast, the Mujahadin.

Below them, the ever-expanding ball of brilliance that had been the only safe place the Judas had known: Command.

How had the Enemy found them?

No time for answers.

Calm. Must be calm.

“Golgotha hold fire on Mujahadin. Concentrate on Enemy forces. Mara, emergency linkup to Mujahadin flagship.”

(channel to anubis opened.)

“Anubis, this is Sapphire, Golgotha fleet commander. Check your fire! Stand down! We’re fellow Judas! The rogue code’s turned against you? Command’s gone! Kilbourne’s gone! She was wrong about her alliance. She’s betrayed us all. Please, call off your pursuit of us and help us fight the Enemy! “

…

“Anubis!”

The Mujahadin were within striking distance.

“Please!”

NO SAPPHIRE, IT IS YOU WHO ARE MISTAKEN.

The voice—

Sapphire felt terror rise in her throat.

“J—Jade?”

PURPOSE BE.

Catlike instinct overcame Sapphire, and in a swift movement of the purest reflex she found herself slamming her forearms into the interface gauntlets, the web interface enveloping her body, becoming one with Mara. The weapons nacelles swiveled around, pointed directly at the oncoming Mujahadin.

So be it.

“Golgotha, fire!”

((incoming enemy vessels.))

“Any sign of Malachi?”

((no sign yet. he’s waiting…watching.))

“We’re on our own. Descend the battle chamber elevator.”

A circular panel fell from the ceiling until it was at floor level. Zero-Four stepped on to it.

“Well, people,” he looked from Jennings to West, “it’s do or die time. Get her someplace safe.” He indicated Patra. “Find something to hold on to, and don’t let go. This could get rough.”

The elevator ascended, and Zero-Four was gone.

Killtime.

Brilliant lances of light thrust outward from the Golgotha, now in a protective spherical pattern.

(no effect. the mujahadin are employing a phase dampening field.)

“Fire all fusion and MRDs into their midst!”

With snakelike agility the writhing mass that was the Mujahadin tore at the Golgotha. Mara loosed the last of her fury upon the Mujahadin, firing fusion and molecular relay disruption devices directly into the swarm.