Raemus sat on a lonely stilerium stump that was in the center of a
giant, cavernous room. The walls stretched up and out for hundreds of feet all
around him. Huge windows reached from floor to ceiling and were situated like
the points of a compass. In a seemingly random placement, there were 16 large
podiums that bore throne-like chairs, each holding a member of the Council.
Beneath the single metal stump, there was a tarnished, circular grate that
measured 4 feet across and sat decaying under a film of muck. Under the grate
was darkness, with an occasional faint dripping sound from down below.
Raemus sat hunched over with his head down, looking at the floor. The
torso portion of his uniform had been removed and he sat, half-naked, before
them all. His mottled skin was normally a jigsaw puzzle of assorted flesh
tones, but today it was splashed with blood and cuts. He was breathing
heavily—a deep pant mixed with the rattle of exhaustion. The two Nomans that
had assisted with his correction lumbered mindlessly out of the chamber. As he
watched his blood dripping onto the grate and into the nothingness below, he
reviewed the past 24 hours in his mind.
Elias Gellar had flown his transport
ship from Dome Calimbus to a nearby dock station in order to transfer to a
light-drive frigate. He assumed that since he had turned in Emilio Sanchez, he
would have no reason to hide. He needed only to perfect his story to the
Council and hope that he could remove himself from the problem. Gellar had
never spoken to the Council, or any of their representatives, but he was
confident that he could lie his way through his debriefing. Unfortunately, as
soon as Gellar passed through the Transportation Arch while exiting his
transport, the Nanscan technology built into the arch had detected anomalies in
his nanomachine chemistry and electromagnetic output. From that moment on, he
had been doomed. Granted, he was already in a lot of trouble for turning in a
comrade but what had changed in him was far more dangerous. When Raemus had
finally made it to the dock station, Gellar was already on a frigate to the gas
giant Septin. Raemus had barely taken fifteen steps into the station when he
had heard an urgent Comm-notice from Central Core. It boomed over the station's
communication grid:
"Elite Officer Raemus, your presence is required before the Council
and you are expected to report immediately," the notice said.
"Shit," said Raemus. He’d made his way to the nearest Comm-station
and requested a vidcon with a Council representative. The Comm-station was a
screen with a keyboard that jutted out from underneath. Also, there was a
speaker placed flush in the stilerium wall. The Comm-station was equipped with
a silence cage to prevent eavesdropping by passersbys. As the screen flashed
and brought up the image of a young woman, he could feel the electricity of the
cage activate and the din of the station fade away. Raemus' forearm hair stood
on end. When he spoke, his voice sounded like it was in a small box.
"Captain Raemus: Elite Officer of Dome Calimbus, requesting
specification of a recent Council communication," he said stoically. A
woman appeared on the screen who was young and attractive. She had gray hair
and alabaster skin. Her pupils were different colors¾one blue and one white. It
signified her station and purpose. She lowered her gaze and Raemus could hear
the blips and bleeps of computer acknowledgments. She returned her plastic
expression to Raemus and said "Captain Raemus, the Council requests your
presence immediately regarding the situation concerning two Noman Drivers,
Sanchez and Gellar. It appears that Gellar is a priority at this time. They are
displeased with your inability to recover the Driver Gellar at the appropriate
time. Your tools are plenty and your ways are minimal. I have arranged a light
transport for you at this station. It leaves in five minutes." The screen
blipped into a horizontal white line and faded out. Raemus heard the noise of
the station coming back and his hair relaxed as the silence cage faded away.
"Shit." Raemus sighed. Raemus pulled out his chronometer and bit his
lower lip. He felt that he had to choose between capturing Elias or returning
to Genetia and appearing before the Council. He turned away from the screen and
headed toward the docking station, thinking about how he would kill Elias once
he reached Septin.
Back in the Council Hall, Raemus watched his blood as it dripped onto
the metal grate and listened to the silence crescendo inside his head. The
Council had not said a word for what seemed like forever and Raemus didn't know
what was going to happen to him. He heard a whoosh sound and boot steps
approached him from behind. He turned to look and he saw his Co-officers Kadrin
and Anderson. They both looked like shit; almost as bad as Raemus. Raemus was
about to stand when he heard a booming voice fill the hall. "Captain
Raemus, you and your Officers were ordered to return here to Genetia to review
your mishandling of the escaped Drivers. You have all been addressed and corrected
accordingly, and we expect immediate results when our orders are given. If you
do not act accordingly thus forward, you, and all your progeny, will suffer in
a life-extruding device for an indefinite amount of time. We have provided you
the freedom of your mind so that we may all share in a common familial thread.
It is a gift that can be rescinded. We will not accept any deviation from the
orders we give you. That is a freedom you do not have."
"You will now go, with your brothers, to the holding facility in
the northeast pylon and retrieve the captive from his place of darkness. You
will then give him to the light. Emilio Sanchez has taken a shuttle into
uncharted space and is presently being tracked and is not an immediate concern.
It appears that whatever multi-cellular reactions are taking place inside him,
they do not appear to be as threatening as Gellar’s. You will address the
problem of Elias Gellar immediately." The voice then fell silent. The word
"immediately" echoed with warm and washed reverberation inside the
chamber for almost a minute.
Raemus swallowed hard and pulled himself up from the stump. His legs
briefly shuddered under his weight but supported him after a moment. A
Councilwoman's voice began to swell and fill the chamber, "Be mindful of
your actions, Raemus. And remember that we love you." Raemus looked up into darkness and
responded in the same way a child would respond to a parent after they had been
disciplined. "I love you too."
The three Elite Officers turned and shuffled out of the Hall
and, as the doors shut silently behind them, Raemus said to Kadrin and
Anderson, "We are taking two hours to rest and repair ourselves. Then we
go to the northeast pylon to retrieve that son of a bitch, Gellar. He'll get
his light, alright." He
gritted his teeth as he fantasized about what he was going to do to the fallen
Driver. As they entered the magnalift and descended away from the Council Hall,
Raemus' eyes glazed over and a wicked smile spread across his face. He activated
his communicator and requested that an FPC to be made ready for flight.
"FPC...? Where are we going, Raemus?" asked Anderson. "It's a
surprise." said Raemus.
© Christopher Robert Dawson 2000-2013
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