Chapter 12: Escape (Part 2)

He cleared his mind of the carnage, concentrating instead on finding his squad. Fortunately, Orion—whom Giddeon had seen hoisting Eddington onto his back—left a trail of deep footprints in the sand. The heavy tracks abruptly veered toward the forest.

“Easy,” Johnny warned. “You’re a glass bottle waiting to shatter at this velocity. If you trip, you aren’t falling—you’re crushing your skull into the earth. You’ll break every bone in your body before your brain registers the impact. Speed doesn’t make you invulnerable; it just makes your mess-ups bloodier.”

“Point taken,” Giddeon muttered, forcing his pounding legs to decelerate. His ankle nearly collapsed as his heel dug deeper into the shifting sand harder than his muscles were accustomed to. Wobbling, his inertia nearly hurled him face-first onto the beach. The terrifying momentum hammered Johnny’s warning home; super speed had a physics to it that he was entirely unprepared for. “I’ll be careful.”

Pushing tall ferns aside, he penetrated the tree line, navigating the uneven forest floor at a cautious pace. Searching the shadowed canopy, he spotted three ancient pines towering above the other timber that marked quadrant R—Team Panda’s emergency rendezvous point. Heading toward the landmarks, he eventually broke through the thick underbrush and stumbled into a quiet glade.

Hinelin whipped around, his rifle leveled dead at Giddeon’s chest. Letting out a ragged sigh of relief, the team leader immediately lowered his weapon.

“Gid!” Uzari threw herself on him, her arms locking around his sides in a crushing embrace.

“Ouch!” Giddeon sucked a sharp breath through his teeth, his fingers instinctively easing her forearm away from his right-side ribs. He’d been forced to drop his high Endurance during the fight, leaving his body a patchwork of half-knitted bone and deep bruises.

Uzari instantly pulled away, her eyes wide and frantic as she looked him over. “Are you hurt? Where? What’s wrong?”

“I’m okay.” Giddeon forced a faint, reassuring smile, reaching out to steady her trembling shoulders. “It’s just my ribs. They’re still a little tender.”

“If she only knew you broke five of them,” Johnny snickered.

She doesn’t need to know. Besides, they’re almost healed.

“I thought you were a goner for sure,” Hinelin said, shaking his head in sheer amazement. “Who were those people?”

Giddeon scrutinized his face, looking for an involuntary tic or a flicker of his eyes. He paused a moment before answering, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

Hinelin didn’t flinch, meeting Giddeon’s piercing stare head-on. “I know as much as you.” He clutched his chest, coughing hard before spitting a gob of blood onto the grass. “We should keep moving.”

How hurt is he?

“He’s a mess, but you’re a bigger one,” Johnny replied. “Endurance looks to be one of his main attributes. Give him a few days and he’ll be fine.”

We might not have minutes, let alone days. They might be hunting us down right now.

“What about…what about Redler?” Oomah asked, her eyes darting northwest, towards camp. “Shouldn’t someone go back for her?”

A heavy silence fell over the glade. Uzari and Vessa looked away, unable to meet her gaze.

“Redler’s dead, Oomah.” Giddeon’s voice was flat, cutting through her delirium like a thrice-sharpened blade. “We saw it happen. We don’t have the luxury of coddling each other right now.” His fierce gaze locked onto each crew member in turn, pinning them in place. “Hinelin’s right—we need to move. Now.”

Vessa scanned their battered faces, her voice barely a whisper. “Is this…is this everyone?”

“Graks bolted the second that madman showed up,” Hinelin spat, his face twisting in disgust. “Worthless coward. Aside from that waste of skin, everyone else is accounted for.”

“We’re better off without him,” Giddeon said bluntly. “He was an Asp.”

Hinelin nodded grimly. “I saw the tattoo.”

“We all know he was a jerk,” Orion spoke up, his voice strained under Eddington’s weight. “But I don’t think that’s reason enough to up and abandon someone.”

Giddeon snorted, his gaze briefly dropping to his shredded, blood-caked knuckles.

“Not an as—” Hinelin began, then shook his head. “An Asp,” he emphasized the ‘P’.

A what?” Vessa asked. She adjusted her hand to steady the limp Eddington riding on Orion’s back, blinking away blood as it trickled into her eye from a gash in her scalp.

“A syndicate that deals in blood, slaves, and drugs—in that order,” Giddeon replied. His focus shifted to Eddington, and he stepped up close to the limp man, peeling back one of his eyelids. “What’s wrong with him? Why are his pupils blown?”

“Paralysis,” Vessa replied. “He’s recovering, slowly. Likely a neurotoxin.”

“Move,” Hinelin ordered, then began walking. “We can all talk when it’s safe.”

The next thirty minutes turned into a haze of hacking through ferns and dodging low-hanging vines as Hinelin beelined southeast, the opposite direction of Base Camp Six. No one spoke; only their heavy breathing countered the nerve-wracking sounds of the teeming forest, proof that they were still alive.

At a ridge where the trees thinned, Hinelin abruptly stopped, turning around.

“Most of the sectors we explored were north, not south,” he slowly explained as he rummaged in his ammo pouch, the metallic clink of brass shells echoing sharply against the forest’s hum. “We’re at the edge of any territory our hunters cleared out, meaning everything beyond here is unknown, even to our AIGES. We need to decide where to go.”

The team collapsed, finding rock outcroppings or fallen logs to rest their weary frames. Vessa and Orion eased Eddington down onto a tree stump. He was recovering—albeit extremely slowly—and was finally able to sit up straight without help. His face, however, remained pale, and his body occasionally quivered.

“What are our options?” Oomah’s voice was thin and brittle. She pointed back the way they’d come, her face scrunching into a mask of grief. “Everyone’s gone!” she choked out, hugging herself tight until her knuckles shook. “We can’t go back, and we’ve no clue what’s out here! Probably more of those hell cats,” she whispered, eyes wide with rising panic. “Waiting for us to tire.”

Orion placed his hand gently on his sister’s shoulder. “Calm down, Oom.” His eyes turned to the others. “Can we contact Vibane? Get some kind of backup down here?”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Hinelin replied.

Kilner stepped up into the team leader’s personal space, staring him straight in the eyes. “Now’s not the time to be cryptic!” he growled. “We’ve not been told how Vibane plans to return us to the ship, but you seem to know. Care to explain?”

“He’s right,” Oomah’s voice rose to a frantic pitch, her fingers yanking at tangled strands of her hair. “We’re all going to die if we stay here. We need to get back. Tell us how to get back!”

“Come on, Hinelin.” Orion joined the fray as the team leader remained silent. “Don’t just stand there playing dumb—spit it out!”

The air grew suffocating with their demands, yet Hinelin remained a statue, his eyes glued to the gloom of the forest while their collective anger boiled over.

“He doesn’t know,” Giddeon’s voice cut through the shouting. Wiping his blood-crusted knuckles on his shirt, he gave a sharp nod toward Vessa. “She knows, though.”

Vessa went rigid, the color draining from her face as every eye suddenly pivoted to her. She took a half-step back, her face contorted with confusion as she shook her head.

“How does she know?” Kilner’s eyes narrowed to slits, his gaze darting between them. “And how do you know she knows?”

“Because I’m a hacker,” Giddeon said bluntly, holding nothing back. “I breached Vibane a long time ago. It’s how I got on this mission. Earth One residents weren’t allowed to apply—at least not this time.”

Orion let out a sharp, jagged laugh. “So, you’re just a criminal. Perfect! We have a guy with all tens for stats who’s also a thief. I guess you did have a skill after all—a completely useless one on a planet with no tech.”

“Shut it,” Kilner snapped. “Cowards don’t get to speak.”

Orion’s face burned. He took three quick strides toward the skinny man before Oomah threw herself in his path, hands pressed against his chest. Kilner didn’t even blink; his eyes locked on Giddeon.

“You’re a hacker, then? That doesn’t explain what you said about Vessa.”

“And I’m curious what you meant by ‘this time’?” Hinelin spoke up, his eyes intent on Giddeon.

Giddeon purposefully ignored the question, his posture remaining calm as he answered, “When I breached Vibane’s mainframe to forge my ticket, I found someone else had already hacked in ahead of me. They approved an application.” He locked eyes with Hinelin. “If we get off this rock, tell your handlers they missed the hidden backup protocols that logged their entire footprints in the system.”

A hard tension gripped the clearing as the crew’s focus abruptly pivoted back to the team leader.

“Why would Hinelin need his application approved?” Vessa asked.

“The military doesn’t like Vibane keeping secrets,” Giddeon replied flatly. “I traced the source back to a Triumvirate command post on Earth Two. They left a digital trail. Again—very sloppy.”

Orion shoved past his sister, boxing Hinelin in on one side with Kilner on the other. “Is it true?” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

Hinelin didn’t flinch. He met Orion’s heat with a cold, unblinking stare that said absolutely nothing.

“This doesn’t prove a thing,” Vessa said, her voice a dead calm. Giddeon’s eyes, however, caught her trembling fingers right before she pressed them hard against her leg. “Mr. Seres has already admitted he’s a thief. He could be manufacturing all of this.”

“To what end?” Uzari cut in, crossing her arms. “What does he have to gain from lying? Make it make sense.”

“I have no clue what hidden agendas people have on this mission,” Vessa replied, stilling her hands as her gaze drifted back to Giddeon.

Uzari smiled, her eyes flashing dangerously. “Including yours?”

Vessa tilted her head, one hand on her hip. Her finger began tapping an insistent, slow beat against her side. “What are you insinuating?” She was smiling, but her tone was biting enough to draw blood.

“Just wondering why you’re the first to call someone else a liar, considering you were just accused of doing the same.” Uzari’s smile remained a cold, static line. “What’s with the tone, Vessa? We’re all friends here, right?”

“He’s got no gaming experience,” Giddeon cut in as the women’s eyes bore death into one another. “Vibane wanted gamers—people who understood the basis behind the AIGES system. The Triumvirate hacks didn’t even bother spoofing his gaming history; the amateurs simply green-lit the file. It was a rushed job.”

Kilner looked confused, his hand unconsciously touching the Veridian axe tucked through his belt loop. “I thought the Triumvirate was partnered with Vibane.”

Giddeon shook his head. “Ereos lied. We’re officially not even here. In fact, not all of us are. Over thirty Aiges participants went missing after the enhancement surgery. Most of them were older.”

“What are you saying?” Oomah asked, her voice cracking.

“Probably dead,” Orion answered. “They said implantation was a hundred percent success rate. Probably lied about that too.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Kilner shouted, pacing in a frantic circle as he shook his head. “This is an unsanctioned mission? Meaning we have no rescue team coming? Is there even a way back up to the ship?”

“Ask her.” Giddeon’s stare bore into Vessa.

Vessa’s eyes widened, the perfect picture of wounded innocence. “I’m just as perplexed as everyone else,” she said smoothly. “What are you talking about?”

“I have to say, her acting is top-notch,” Johnny chimed in. “A solid nine out of ten. What was that old show where they gave out orbs—no, globes? Golden ones. I want to give her one right now!”

Orion turned his glare onto Giddeon, his jaw tightening into a hard, rigid line. “Stop with the word games. Explain it yourself.”

Giddeon shrugged. “My intellect’s only ten, so if you can’t keep up with what I’m saying…”

Orion spat a curse, stepping aggressively into Giddeon’s space until they were nearly chest-to-chest. “I don’t give a damn about your stats. Start talking before I decide to beat that last brain cell in your head to a pulp.”

Uzari caught Giddeon’s eyes. “Gid,” she said softly, shaking her head.

Her words melted his natural inclination to ridicule the man, and he let out a sharp, jagged breath. “Fine. You want the simple version? During our briefings, Ereos had to check his holo screen before addressing us. But with Hinelin and Vessa? He never looked once. He didn’t need to—he already knew who they were.”

Giddeon’s gaze shifted onto Vessa. “I know why he was briefed on Hinelin. But you’re not military. You’re something else.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vessa’s voice faltered, a slight stutter forming a hairline crack in her facade of ignorance. “I was hired for my expertise. I’ve always wanted to see Enivia, just like the rest of you.” She looked at Kilner, then Oomah, her eyes wide and pleading.

“Perhaps Mr. Vibane met Vessa before the briefing,” Oomah suggested.

Giddeon snickered. “Did you find the water fountain to your liking, Vessa?”

Vessa’s eyebrows furrowed. “Water fountain?”

“In Ereos’s personal quarters. Surely, you couldn’t have missed it.” Giddeon smirked purposefully, trying to draw her lies out.

“How do you know she visited his quarters?” Johnny asked.

I don’t. It’s an assumption, so if she lies now and I actually have evidence about it, her bluff will crumble.

Vessa turned to the rest of the crew. “If you must know, I ran into Ereos at an aerospace conference last year,” she admitted, her tone shifting to defensive pride. “He didn’t need a holo to know me—I’ve been featured in enough scientific journals to be known in certain circles. He was highly interested in my knowledge of atmospheric anomalies. My thesis on Enivia has been the industry standard for over a decade, which is why he hired me specifically. Because he wanted the best.”

“I’ve seen her before,” Kilner admitted, backing up her claim. “On the news.”

Oomah snapped her fingers, a look of realization dawning. “Timeless Magazine. The feature piece on atmospheric weather patterns over Enivia. That was you.”

Vessa nodded. “My research has been highlighted in several publications.”

Orion’s gaze shifted off Vessa, back to Giddeon. “She sounds legit to me…but you sure as hell don’t.”

“Question one,” Giddeon replied, his eyes steady on Vessa. The clearing went still.

“What are you talking about?” Vessa finally asked. She shook her head, glancing at the others for support.

“On your application for Vibane. What was question one?”

“I can’t remember every single query on a corporate application.” Vessa chuckled, making the idea sound outrageous. “It would be absurd if I did.”

“Wait,” Eddington croaked from his seat on the stump. His voice sounded like grinding stones, raw and unused to the effort. “You r-really don’t know…question one?”

“Question one is—” Oomah began.

“Quiet!” Orion’s hand shot out, palm flat toward his sister. He didn’t look at her; his eyes were pinned to Hinelin and Vessa. “Question one,” he repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous chill. “Can either of you tell us what it was?”

Hinelin remained an unmoving wall of steel, but Vessa’s eyes darted frantically toward the dark forest, dodging the group’s collective gaze.

“Again,” Vessa began, though the chuckle had vanished from her voice, replaced by a razor-thin edge. “It was a lengthy document. I don’t see why—”

“Save it!” Kilner snapped. “No one would forget that question, Vessa. Clearly, you never even saw the page.”

“My name? My Citizen Code? My thesis title?” She threw her hands up, her voice rising to a frantic pitch as she took a step backward. “I witnessed our teammate getting ripped apart! We’re being hunted by monsters, and you’re interrogating me over paperwork?”

“What is your favorite game?” Uzari said softly. “That was it. The very first line. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen on a government form—the kind of detail you remember because it made absolutely no sense…until now.”

Vessa opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. Nothing came out. Her defense had completely crumbled.

Uzari strode forward. The snick of her Vibane axe unfolding sent a jolting roar through the silent clearing. She didn’t stop until the blade’s cold edge was tucked under Vessa’s chin. “You’re going to tell us the truth, or we’re done with you. Capisce?”