G. Fields - Under Vanishing Skies

I wondered what they were doing. The pilot couldn’t possibly be dumb enough to try landing on the roof. If he tried, he’d be in for a big fucking surprise. The roof was not very sturdy. It had almost caved in on Rick, Jin, and me when we went up there to install an antenna. A helojumper weighed a lot more than the three of us. It would bring the whole tower down.

The rush of wind came in through the vertical ventilation shafts and filled the room. I squinted my eyes as sand and debris flew through the air. Then I heard a loud thump on the roof followed by two more. A high pitched squeal echoed through the room. It was the sound of metal twisting. I looked up. A large metal panel that covered the ceiling fell into the room and crashed near the servers.

I covered my head with my arms and prepared for that giant blender to come crashing through. The sound of the helojumper blades was deafening. I looked through the dust cloud and saw a man wearing an MDF uniform laying motionless on top of a backup server. I quickly turned my attention back to the email server. It was fine. I sent my message to William and then crawled away from the servers just in case more of the roof caved in.

I looked up through the big hole in the ceiling. I could make out the underside of the helojumper. It hovered twenty feet above the roof. Through its transparent bottom, I could see at least two people inside. But then the helojumper pitched forward and it flew out of sight.

The roof hatch opened. They must have rappelled onto the roof. I hadn’t considered that possibility.

A moment later, two men in MDF uniforms came down the ladder. I knew the first one in an instant. He had a bandage around his left hand and a giant, curved sword in his belt. It was Pun. He jumped off the ladder, turned, and pulled a pistol from his holster. He pointed it directly at me and motioned for me to put my hands in the air, but I held on to my side with both hands. The pain had reached a new level. I doubled over.

I heard the second guy jump off the ladder. I looked up. He clumsily slid the rifle off his shoulder before rushing over to the guy sprawled out over the server. He checked for a pulse and then shook his head at Pun.

“Open the lower hatch,” Pun said to the guy. He got up and went over to the hatch. He opened it using the manual override handle. Then he stood at attention next to the hatch as Viyaja climbed up into the data center. A technician that I vaguely remembered followed him into the room.

“You have caused quite a stir, Aron,” Viyaja said wiping the dust off his shirt. “But you are too late. The ship’s captain has already accepted the list from the Council.” He walked over to Pun. “And this stunt will just be seen as the desperate act of a delusional man. A man who was killed by the MDF as they tried to apprehend him.”

Viyaja’s smile triggered something deep inside of me. Despite the pain, I rushed towards him.

Pun hit me on the side of the head with the butt of his pistol. I fell and darkness closed in. Somewhere in that darkness, I heard Viyaja say, “Do not kill him yet, you idiot. We need him.”

The darkness receded and I lifted my hand to my forehead. When I pulled it away, I saw that it was covered in blood. I rolled over and pushed myself up to a sitting position. Viyaja was watching the technician trying to unlock the console.

I laughed.

“What is so funny, Mr. Atherton.?” Viyaja asked.

“Him,” I said, motioning at the technician. “He’s wasting his time.”

“Why? He was trained by you.”

I laughed again, but the pain in my head cut the laughter short. “Yeah, I know. But I never taught him how to fix what I did to that server.”

Viyaja looked furious. Addressing the technician, Viyaja said, “Power down the servers.”

The technician looked pale. “But sir… that could cause a cascade failure.”

Waving his hand dismissively, Viyaja said, “I don’t care about the technical details. Just turn them off!”

I could tell that the technician wanted to explain what a cascade failure was. They would have to rebuild the entire network from scratch. He looked back and forth between Viyaja’s seething face and Pun’s impassive stare. Then, with his hands shaking, he began to power down the servers.

I checked my watch. The messages should have all been sent out by now.

A minute later, the technician looked over at Viyaja and said, “It is done.”

Viyaja called over to the guard and said, “Bring him here.”

The guard grabbed me by my bicep and hauled me up. From the puddle of blood on ground, I knew that it wouldn’t be long before I passed out.

The guard walked me over to Viyaja and held me there.

“I am going to ask you a question,” Viyaja said. “If you answer it truthfully, I promise that my friend, Pun, will kill you quickly. But if you play games, then you will learn the meaning of real pain.”

Addressing Pun, he said, “Unleash your Khukuri.”

The Gurkha holstered his pistol and drew his sword. I stared at it and remembered how he had cut his own hand just to prove a point.

Viyaja stared at me. “So, Mr. Atherton, where is your friend’s data mat?”

“What friend?”

“I told you. Do not play games with me. You know that I am talking about Jin.”

“You’re too late, asshole. By now the data mat is in the hands of the ship’s captain.”

I looked at Pun and spit in his face. “Come on, Pun. Stop fucking around and kill me already. My head and side are really starting to hurt.”

“He will kill you when I tell him to kill you.” Viyaja’s face was flushed and sweaty. “You!” He pointed to the guard. “Run to the hotel and find the boy. When you find the boy, kill him and bring the data mat to me.”

Eyes wide, the guard looked back and forth between Viyaja and Pun, but he didn’t move.

“You fucking prick!” I yelled at Viyaja. “I’ll kill you if anything happens to that boy.” I took a step towards Viyaja, but Pun placed his sword in front of me like a crossing guard sign.

I glared at him and said, “I thought you said that you swore an oath to protect the people of the Maldives?”

He placed the point of his sword against my chest.

“If you honor that oath, then why in the hell are you taking orders from him? He doesn’t care about the people. Look how easily he just ordered the death of a ten-year-old boy. He’d order the death of everyone in the Maldives if meant saving his own neck”

Pun’s face was a mask of stone, but there was something I saw in his eyes. What was it? Then it hit me.

He didn’t know!

“Why do you think he wants that data mat?” I pushed harder now. “I’ll tell you why… to cover his tracks. He doesn’t want anyone to find out how many people he’s already killed.”

“Shut up! The Gurkha has sworn an oath of loyalty to me.”

I watched as Pun turned his head and looked directly at Viyaja for the first time. I saw beads of sweat multiply on Viyaja’s forehead. He wiped them away with the back of his arm.

“You will kill him now. That is an order!” Viyaja screamed.

Pun lifted his sword above his head and set his gaze back on me.

“I can’t believe that you are taking orders from Viyaja after what he’s done to your people.”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t ask me… ask him. Ask him who massacred everyone on Hanikada.”

Pun stared at Viyaja.

“He’s lying!” Viyaja shouted. “Don’t listen to him. He is trying to trick you.”

Pun studied Viyaja’s face.

Viyaja reached over and pulled the pistol out of the guard’s holster. He took a step back and placed the barrel against my temple.

The room began to spin. I began to laugh again as I thought of how disappointed Viyaja would be when I died before he had a chance to kill me.