Berserker (Messenger Book 2) Read online

“Was it you who shot the Messenger?” an accented voice called back.

  “That's right.”

  “You did us a service with that one,” the shadowy spokesman said. “Put down your weapons and empty your pockets, and we will not kill you.”

  “Not happening,” Hector sneered.

  “Then we will kill you and take your things anyway.”

  “You can try,” Hector said. “But we'll take plenty of you with us. We're augments.”

  “She is an augment?” another voice called with contempt. “She can barely even walk.”

  “She's hurt,” Hector said. “But she's still fast and accurate enough to drop three of you before you can even get a shot off, to say nothing of me.”

  “Bullshit. You are bluffing.”

  Hector glanced at Celeste out of the corner of her eye. “OK darling, why don't you show them what you're capable of.”

  “What do you want me to do?” she replied.

  “Just a little dog and pony show.” Hector slowly knelt down and picked up a rock off the ground, still keeping his finger on his rifle's trigger with his main hand. “You know what to do.”

  When Celeste nodded her OK, Hector threw the rock over the heads of the thugs in front. Celeste fired her pistol and the rock broke in half. She fired two more rounds in quick succession, sending each of the broken halves spinning off course before they hit the ground.

  “Mohku Shiga,” someone said in a frightened whisper.

  “That could just as easily be your heads,” Hector said. “Sure, you've got the numbers to take us out. But how many of you would be treated to a dirt nap before you got us? Care to find out?”

  There was a long silence. Hector took one step forward, then another, hoping that the thugs would part and let him and Celeste pass once he got close enough. Before he could take a third step, a new voice called out.

  “Stop. These two are not bluffing.”

  A new figure emerged from the ranks of the thugs in front. With his enhanced vision, Hector recognized the sharp features, wiry build, and narrow raptor's eyes.

  “Kasim,” he said in surprise.

  “Hector One-Eye,” came the response. Kasim's voice had the timbre of a knife's edge. “I thought you were executed by the colonial government after the fiasco in Gemdrop.”

  “Things got a little crazy in the capital when it was overrun by SLIC's forces,” Hector replied. “Security got a little lax once shells started falling on the jail. The accommodations were lacking, so I took the opportunity to excuse myself.”

  “And now here you are. Why have you come back to Al Hufayr?” Kasim spread his arms. “As you can see, things have deteriorated since you were last here.”

  “We're looking for ol' Doc Fingers,” Hector said. “Any idea what happened to him?”

  “The doctor who decommissioned you?” Kasim said. “He was smarter than most of us. He saw the crisis coming and left before the pandemic hit the town.”

  “He's still alive?” Celeste exclaimed.

  “Do you know where he went?” Hector asked.

  Kasim considered the question. “Hector, you were a good friend to me back in the old days,” he said. “For that, I will let you leave the city unharmed. But information is never free, not even for old friends.”

  “I'm working for SLIC now,” Hector said. “Did you know they've formed an alliance with Spacy?”

  Kasim's perfect poker face rarely betrayed emotion, but Hector could tell from the pause that he hadn't expected that.

  “I did not know,” he said slowly. “That is very interesting news. But not of much use to me.”

  “I'm not finished,” Hector said. “SLIC and Spacy are working together to counter the Messenger pandemic. I don't have the details, but they're providing aid and protection to as many people as they can. Of course, they don't have the resources to save everybody, so they have to prioritize.”

  Kasim crossed his arms and bored into Hector's eyes with his black gaze. “Go on.”

  “I've got the ear of one of SLIC's upper officers,” Hector said. “I could put in a word for you. Tell them what kind of horrible condition Al Hufayr is in, suggest that they send some relief your way.”

  “This promise means nothing,” Kasim scoffed. “There is nothing to stop you from reneging, if you are even telling the truth.”

  “That's all I got,” Hector shrugged. “I'd really like to know where the doc is. You tell me, and I'll put in a word for you. If you don't, then I won't.”

  Kasim tapped one finger against his arm, silently weighing Hector's offer.

  “Hey, I hear you,” Hector said. “I could be BSing you. Let's put it at fifty-fifty odds. If you tell me where the doc is—which will cost you nothing—in return, you get a coin flip's chance of some relief aid, which, to judge from this town's condition, could really save your asses. Worst case scenario, you gain nothing and lose nothing. Hard to go wrong with this deal.”

  Kasim held up one hand. “Enough. You have made your point.” He dug something out of his pocket. “A coin flip's chance, you say? Very well, then let a coin flip decide my answer. Heads, I tell you where the doctor is. Tails, you leave your weapons and equipment behind, and I let you walk free.”

  “Hey now,” Hector objected, “we never said anything about—”

  Kasim flipped the coin, caught it, and slapped it on the back of his hand. There was a pregnant pause as he pulled his other hand away and stared at the result.

  “Luck is with you today, old friend.” He pocketed the coin. “The doctor is in Gemdrop. If this aid that you promised comes, I am greatly in your debt. If it does not, then we are blood enemies. Now be swiftly on your way. It is not often that I restrain my men's bloodlust.”

  Kasim departed without another word, and his men parted to let Hector and Celeste pass. They made their way toward the edge of town as quickly as Celeste's condition would allow.

  “That was some pretty good negotiating,” Celeste said. “You're more clever than I thought.”

  “Clever nothing,” Hector replied. “I forgot how unpredictable that wipe is. He'll seize on any random thing you say and turn it against you. We had a 50% chance of losing everything we've got.”

  “Which isn't much,” Celeste pointed out. “SLIC and Spacy could afford the loss of a few guns, and our ride is just a short walk away.”

  “I guess.”

  “So will you do it?” Celeste asked. “Suggest that we send aid to Al Hufayr, I mean.”

  “Sure I will,” Hector said. “I gave my word.”

  “Colonel Lane isn't likely to go for it. With our limited resources, he has a lot higher priorities than a gang of ruffians.”

  Hector shrugged. “Not my problem. I just said I'd put in a word.”

  They reached the edge of the city and emerged onto the sandy plain. Hector glanced behind them and scanned the street with his low light vision to make sure they weren't being followed.

  “So, the doctor retreated to Gemdrop,” Celeste mused. “Never thought I'd return to that pit. I don't imagine either of us is going to be very welcome there, after what happened last time.”

  “Probably not,” Hector agreed. “Like this mission wasn't complicated enough already.”

  Twenty-fourth Escalation

  Darkening wings from white to black

  Wizard and Regina stood before a bank of consoles inside the control center of the Temple. Several operators sat in front of the wall of machinery, monitoring the facility's support systems. The Regents paid them no mind. Their attention was focused entirely on the video feed from the security camera inside the padded cell where Janice was being held.

  After being injected with Syneger cells from the Original, Janice had been placed inside the cell, only allowed out for brief periods to eat and take care of necessary biological functions. The straitjacket she wore served the dual purpose of restraining her and monitoring her physiological readings, while she was kept entertained by voice activated holographic
projections connected to a library of thousands of entertainment programs. The Regents noted that she had spent a lot of time watching recordings of her own concerts, holo films, and network appearances. Regina had remarked that she seemed to have a narcissistic streak, but Wizard knew the truth. She was saying goodbye to her former life.

  Keeping Janice restrained in this manner was necessary both for her own safety and that of the Temple. Despite the application of potent pain medication, the Regents knew from experience that the transformation would be agonizing once it started, and full sedation might have interfered with the awakening. The padded cell and straitjacket would prevent Janice from killing herself once the process began.

  There was also the possibility, however slim, that the awakening might fail and Janice would turn into a rogue Messenger. As a countermeasure, the awakening chamber was surrounded by several meters of dense radiation shielding which would be enough to absorb even the most intense burst of repil radiation—or so they hoped. Repil radiation had a curious way of penetrating even the most intensive shielding at times, almost as though the subatomic probabilities were being manipulated by a deliberate will. Either that, or one was forced to believe in the statistical impossibility of the waves passing through layer after layer of densely packed atoms with properties well suited to scattering them.

  It had been several days now since Janice was placed in the chamber. Everything was progressing smoothly so far. Her cells were growing diffusion organelles at an astounding rate, and her brain structure was beginning to exhibit the characteristic changes. The moment of truth was close at hand.

  “It's starting,” Regina said.

  Wizard could see that plainly for himself from the sight of Janice collapsing onto her side and thrashing on the floor. After several minutes, she staggered back to her feet and flung herself back and forth from one padded wall into another, with greater and greater fury until she sprawled onto the floor again, where she convulsed even more violently. They kept the audio feed from the cell muted. Her agony was clear enough without listening to the unnerving screams that accompanied the awakening.

  “I don't understand,” one of the operators said. “How can Perfect Messengers experience such pain even with all the medication we administer?”

  Wizard put a hand on the operator's shoulder. “Indeed, it is beyond an ordinary human's understanding. The agony of awakening is not a physical pain. It comes from the exposure to a greater intelligence, the shedding of one's own imperfections and the burning brand that comes from being marked as a higher being. It is a mental pain—spiritual, even.”

  “But what awaits on the other side,” Regina added, “is bliss.”

  “Purgatory in ten minutes,” Wizard smiled. “A small price to pay for ascension.”

  A trill from one of the instrument panels caught the Regents' attention. Wizard moved next to the console and demanded, “What's happening?”

  “Her diffusion organelles have begun their reversal,” the operator reported. “The sensors are reporting back on her input levels. They're at 30%... 50%... 70.”

  Alarm flickered on Wizard's face. “That's rising fast.”

  “85%,” the operator reported. “90.”

  Wizard's heart pounded in his chest. That was way beyond his or Regina's levels.

  The operator continued rattling off the readings, as though Wizard could not see them for himself. “98%,” he said. “99. 100... One hun...” He gulped. “105. We're past the theoretical maximum, and still rising.”

  “Are the sensors broken?” Regina demanded.

  “No, my lady. The system would tell us if there was a failure.”

  Regina cast a frightened glance at the video feed, where Janice was rolling and kicking in agony. “Is she going rogue?” she exclaimed.

  “Stand by to release the nerve gas,” Wizard commanded. “If she starts emitting all that energy she's been taking in, I want that chamber flooded with poison.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  The Regents kept their gazes glued to the readouts. The sensors finally failed after reporting over 500% input levels. Altogether, the awakening lasted nearly fifteen minutes. At last, Janice grew still and the flurry of activity on the instrument panels fell to normal levels.

  “Is she still alive?” Regina asked.

  “Life readings are normal,” one of the operators reported. “The awakening is complete.”

  “Disarm the nerve gas,” Wizard ordered.

  Slowly, Janice staggered back to her feet and stood in the middle of the cell, panting. Regina looked at the video feed in fear.

  “What have we created?” she gasped.

  In contrast to his counterpart's anxiety, Wizard's face glowed with a smile of exaltation. He turned to meet Regina's gaze.

  “Let's go find out.”

  *

  The transformation had begun. It was still far from complete, but the first step had been taken. The process was now irreversible, and with it, one word kept repeating, over and over, in Janice's mind.

  Power.

  But that power was badly muted here. The Syneger cells had provided a vector to infuse Janice's body with an initial surge of energy, but now the Voice was much too faint to continue supplying her needs. That would have to be remedied.

  Still, she had enough in reserve for a little experimentation. Janice had an instinctual feel for what she needed to do. She closed her eyes, focused, visualized.

  Scarlet arcs of energy, like bloody lightning, ripped through her straitjacket. The smoking remains tumbled to the floor at her feet. She opened her eyes, raised her arms, and flexed her fingers.

  Power.

  She contemplated destroying the reinforced metal door keeping her locked in the cell. The feat was well within her capabilities, but she would need a clearer connection to the Voice. As she considered what to do, the door slid open, revealing a second door which also opened in turn, on and on until an entire corridor of opened doors beckoned her on.

  “Come forth, Janice,” Wizard's voice reverberated through unseen speakers. “The Regents are ready to welcome you into the inner circle.”

  Janice tossed her hair, held her head high, and strode through the passage. She emerged into the chamber on the other side and found Wizard and Regina waiting for her, their metallic spheres bobbing at their sides.

  “And so.” Wizard spread his arms, beaming. “The Xenolists welcome a new savior into the fold.”

  Two servants came forth. The first began dressing Janice in a set of Regent's robes perfectly tailored to her proportions. The second knelt in front of Janice and placed a metal container on the floor in front of her. She removed the lid from the container, revealing a pair of metal spheres like Wizard and Regina's. Once Janice was changed into her new attire, the servants quietly left the room.

  “These are your MINDs,” Regina said. “We manufactured them for maximum compatibility according to the data we gathered while you were in confinement.”

  Once again, Janice instinctively knew what to do. She raised one hand and the MINDs flew out of their container like a pair of dogs jumping for their master, then spun around her in a playful orbital dance.

  “The MINDs are filled with cloned Messenger cells, giving you another vector to channel the Xenowave,” Regina explained. “The process isn't fully understood, but these devices act as a beacon for the Voice, amplifying it in places where it is normally faint. All that you need to know is that they will give you greater access to your powers, even here on the surface where little repil radiation penetrates.”

  Janice grinned. “I noticed.”

  At her silent command, the MINDs froze in front of her, separated by a distance slightly greater than her wingspan. Scarlet sparks blazed from the spheres and their surfaces cracked, causing the cloned Messenger tissue inside to spill out. Rather than falling to the ground, the tissue from each sphere writhed toward its counterpart until they met in the center where they clung together, connecting the two sphe
res with a narrow shaft. The left sphere cracked some more and another growth of Messenger cells burst forth, twisting into the shape of a crescent moon. Then another arc of red lightning coursed through the exposed tissue, solidifying it into a black substance as hard as stone and as smooth as glass.

  Janice grabbed her newly formed staff, spun it through her fingers, and held it loosely at her side. She met the stunned expressions of the Regents with a cocky smirk.

  “What are you?” Regina breathed.

  “Me?” Janice blinked. “I'm...”

  The Voice whispered the answer in Janice's mind, and her smile grew wider.

  “I am the ultimate species of Messenger.” She flourished her cape and brandished her staff for emphasis. “I am a Berserker.”

  *

  Wizard and Regina led Janice to a secluded conference room. A pair of masked guards stood watch outside the door, but once inside, the three of them were alone. Wizard activated the conference table's holographic projector, conjuring a globe of Chalice.

  “So what happens next?” Janice asked. “Do I go through some kind of training or something?”

  “There is no training for how to be a Messenger,” Regina replied. “Simply follow the Voice of the Xenowave. It will show you everything you need to know.”

  “Fine with me,” Janice said with a shrug. “Training sounds boring anyway.”

  “Now that you are one of us,” Regina continued, “we will need to acquaint you with all the secrets of our organization—our numbers, our bases, our resources. And, of course, our ultimate goal.”

  “Uh-huh.” Janice planted her free hand on her hip and looked lazily around the room. “I hope you're not expecting me to make any administrative decisions. Management isn't really my strong suit.”

  “Not to worry,” Wizard replied, smiling. “Your talents lie elsewhere. The Xenowave has already told us, you are to be our sword.”

  “Now that sounds more like it.” Janice thrust her staff at the shimmering globe of Chalice. “Which part of this craphole do I get to destroy first?”