Collision of Worlds - Chapter 12

“It’s been weeks,” Alyssa bemoaned, standing in the doorway to Alexander’s private quarters. He hated having her around and was thoroughly fed up with her; she was a spoiled child who was never properly disciplined and felt that the world owed her something.

Of course, he would never voice his concerns out loud. She was, for all intents and purposes, his boss, and he needed to keep her happy. Angering her would cause her to lash out, and even though he was certain Maven would defend him if anything dangerous came to light, he knew forcing Maven into that position would make her mad as well.

And that terrified him far more than dealing with Alyssa.

“The soldiers should be arriving today at the latest. We will be able to leave soon and camp near the research facility to watch everything unfold.”

“Where are the four?”

“Still out in the woods.”

“They should be back by now.”

“They will not return until after the endeavor. We are to have no contact with them.”

“I was to be allowed to see them,” she argued. “I wanted to speak with them before this trial was undertaken.”

“The message I received made it clear that they were to have no contact with anyone before the trial was underway to avoid contamination.”

“They weren’t to have contact with Maven,” Alyssa said.

Alexander stared at her, refusing to respond. Of course, that was what the message had dictated, but he had taken it one step further and completely separated them out. The last thing he wanted was for Alyssa to have access to them and cause problems. He had no doubt she would sabotage everything if she could.

Petulant child, he thought, careful to keep his face calm.

“You intentionally delayed the soldiers,” Alyssa said. “They should have been here weeks earlier.”

“The train was undergoing repairs,” Alexander lied. “The delay was inevitable.”

That was wholly untrue, but the delay was necessary. He was finding it difficult to separate himself from Alyssa. She watched him like a hawk, and he needed to gather supplies for his four soldiers before they reached the facility.

He couldn’t trust anyone else with the task because Alyssa was questioning everyone she could find and making sure no one was disobeying the spirit of her little trial.

Technically, he couldn’t give them any supplies…but, if they found items along the way, there was nothing he could do about that.

He wouldn’t risk leaving weapons, though. That would be a step too far and could cause significant problems if Alyssa ever found out.

“The train wouldn’t take weeks to repair,” Alyssa said.

“It is an old train.”

“Still, you could have hired more help to—”

“If you are accusing me of something,” he said, speaking softly but with an edge of iron in his tone. “Then make your accusation, and be done with it. Don’t dance around the issue.”

Alyssa grimaced, furious with him. “Did my sister put you up to it? You are delaying on her behalf?”

“I haven’t spoken to her in weeks.”

“Yes, but you know what she expects of you.”

“She expects me to oversee this friendly wager between the two of you. It is a friendly wager, is it not? A test of Maven’s assets.”

He knew from the look on her face that he’d backed her into a corner. She was constantly trying to downplay the stakes of the situation to try and demean Maven, but she was also desperate for the four to fail, which meant the pretense that this was a sisterly feud and nothing more.

If she were to admit that it was something more, it would reframe the entire situation and cast her in an unfavorable light. Alexander hated the machinations and underhanded lying that rich and powerful people undertook, but he certainly understood the game.

“Of course,” she said. “But the rules were laid out by Darius himself.”

“And they are being followed accordingly,” Alexander replied. “I have had no contact with any of the four, and they know nothing about what they will face. They have no weapons or supplies and will move out as soon as the soldiers have arrived. Is this not the case?”

She wanted to call his bluff. He could see it plainly on her face, but she knew better. Instead, she turned on her heels and left his chambers, leaving him alone once more.

He watched her go and then let out a long sigh. Maven had been keeping away from the area, making sure that there was no way Alyssa could cry foul in the situation, but she would be arriving with the soldiers in the next few days.

He looked forward to getting this over with. The sooner he was able to be rid of Alyssa, the better.

2

As soon as he woke up, Jayson’s eyes shot open. He didn’t move, didn’t even budge from his sleeping position near the campfire. He knew immediately that something was wrong, and they weren’t alone in the camp.

Another test? He wasn’t sure, but he could feel something in the air. A presence around them. Someone, or something, was watching them. He couldn’t see or hear anything, but he would wager his life on being correct.

After a few seconds, he heard the relaxed snoring of Richard, asleep on the other side of the campfire. His breathing was calm and steady, nothing out of the ordinary, so he doubted Richard had noticed that anything was wrong.

He didn’t get up, but he did shift ever so slightly so that he was in closer reach of his makeshift weapons. All he had right now was a spear he’d sharpened, but it would be enough to keep him safe from any local wildlife.

More seconds ticked past. He listened to Richard’s breathing and watched the area around them, taking deep and steady breaths to make it seem like he was sleeping. It was quiet, but he didn’t allow himself to relax. Not yet.

He heard a scuffing sound from outside camp. Someone was hiding out there, maybe fifteen meters away, he was sure of it now. He listened, straining to hear another movement, and then he heard more shifting steps as someone approached their camp.

Two people, he realized, and they were moving in on Richard’s side. His friend was still asleep, still snoring. The footsteps stopped, still about ten meters from the campfire.

“Only one is sleeping,” a familiar voice said.

Jayson relaxed and climbed slowly to his feet. Two people were waiting just outside the camp: Tricia Jester and Bret Finnegan.

“I was wondering when you guys might show up.”

Tricia nodded at him. “We were told to come find you.”

“By who? Alexander?”

“No,” Bret said. “Not exactly. We woke up a few days ago and found a note in our camp. It just said: East.”

“How long have we been out here?” Jayson asked.

Bret shrugged. “Lost count of the days. Around three weeks?”

Jayson stepped forward and kicked Richard lightly on the shoulder. Richard snorted and groaned, rolling shakily to his feet and awkwardly trying to defend himself.

“Wha…?” he mumbled.

He saw Tricia and instantly relaxed. “Trish,” he said.

She nodded at him. He rushed over and wrapped her in a hug, kissing her. She seemed surprised but didn’t pull away from his embrace.

“I didn’t think I could survive another day without you,” he said. “I haven’t been able to sleep when you aren’t around.”

“You seemed to be sleeping just fine,” she replied.

“A fluke,” he explained, winking at Jayson. “Ask Jayson. I haven’t slept at all before tonight.”

Jayson sighed. “So what do we do now?”

“No idea,” Bret said. “But we were sent here to find you, so I’m assuming they want us to stick together. How are you on supplies?”

“Not a lot of what they originally gave us left,” Jayson said. “We’ve been hunting and built up a small shelter, but we assumed we wouldn’t be out here forever. We have some meat and vegetables stockpiled. What about you?”

“We only brought light provisions with us to find you. Our camp was considerably more…developed.”

Jayson chose not to view the statement as an insult.

“Do you think we should keep moving?”

Tricia chimed in, “No. I think we were sent here to find you. And we have. If Alexander wants us to do something else, then he’ll tell us.”

“I agree,” Bret said. “Plus, we’ve been walking all night and I could use some rest. It was much easier to follow the smoke of your campfire than track you during the day.”

Jayson dug into their stockpiles and put together a small meal and then the four of them sat around the fire. Tricia and Richard sat together leaning against a log, resting on each other.

It was peaceful just eating their meal in silence. Jayson had to admit it felt good finally seeing some other people out here. He knew, however, that this meant that whatever they were out here to do, it was nearly time.

“What do you think this mission is?” Bret asked. “It can’t be as simple as clearing out an old research facility.”

“What else do you think it might be?”

“An ambush, maybe. This could be a test. What do you think?”

“No clue,” Jayson said. “I’m just ready to get it over with.”

“Alexander doesn’t seem to have much faith in us making it through it.”

“I think he’s just blowing smoke,” Richard said. “He likes to exaggerate and make stuff up.”

“Are we talking about the same man?” Bret asked. “He’s the most straightforward person I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t think we have to worry about it,” Tricia said. “Until we know more, there is no sense in wasting time thinking about it.”

The next morning they found another note pinned to a tree near them. None of them had heard anything or anyone come into their camp during the night.

It said one word: North.

3

“I didn’t realize heading north would be so crappy,” Richard said.

They had been hiking for the last four days, and it was starting to get bitterly cold. None of them had prepared for a trek like this, but after a day of hiking, they had come across bags of supplies that had everything they needed, including food, water, and cold weather clothing and equipment.

No weapons, though.

“Alderson is known for extreme weather patterns,” Tricia replied. “It fluctuates wildly over short distances. That’s part of why they weren’t willing to build major cities here. It’s simply too dangerous.”

The supplies had also included climbing gear, but the ground was relatively level and they hadn’t needed it yet. He had confidence, though, that Alexander wouldn’t have packed it for them if it wasn’t necessary.

For Jayson, this was a tremendous relief. He was stiff and tired from just sitting around and doing nothing for the last several weeks, so the chance to move around was incredibly rewarding.

“Still, you would think they would give us some idea of why we were hiking through the middle of a frozen tundra,” Richard said. “Why can’t they send us to a nice secluded beach with eighty-degree weather?”

“Does he ever shut up?” Bret asked.

“Never,” Jayson said.

“Nope,” Richard agreed. “I talk when I’m bored and when I’m tired, and right now I’m both, so you might as well get used to it.”

4

It continued like that for another two days’ worth of hiking, the temperature gradually dipping and the landscape becoming more and more unforgiving. The night came on faster and faster, but they couldn’t afford to travel in the darkness. The possibility of slipping and falling into a ravine or into a hole was simply too great.

They finally found uses for their climbing gear on that second day and were forced to scale up and down cliff faces that were icy and sheer. It was something they’d done before, though, so it wasn’t too difficult and they were still able to make good time.

He wasn’t exactly sure where they were going. He knew they should be on the lookout for a research facility, but he didn’t know what to expect: Would it be built into the side of a mountain or a standalone structure? Was it low in the valley or high on one of the cliffs? He was afraid that if they happened to be a few degrees off in their trek, they might simply miss it and walk right past.

When they found what they were looking for, however, it was obvious they had made it to the right place.

The facility was enormous. It stretched out in a canyon in front of them, at least a kilometer in diameter and several stories tall, a dome structure concealing whatever actual facility was beneath. It looked old, at least a few hundred years, and was packed in snow and ice on most of the exterior. Enormous spires and towers climbed into the clouds from out of the structure with large cylindrical dishes attached to them.

“What the hell is that?” Bret asked.

“Looks like a small city,” Jayson said.

“I didn’t think there was anything like that out here.”

“It’s the research facility,” Tricia said. “Looks like it was abandoned a long time ago. I don’t see any tracks nearby, even from animals.”

“We’re here to clear it out, right? There must be something inside.”

“There certainly must be,” Tricia said. “It’s almost nightfall. We should camp here and start again in the morning.”

“Why? We’re almost there and we have a few hours of light left.”

“We don’t know if the facility has power. Do you see those glass sections? They let light in, and no doubt that will be the only light we have. I’d rather not go in and then find out its pitch black inside.”

“Fair enough,” Jayson said.

They set up camp, using snow to build a shelter against the wind and then huddling together to stay warm. Jayson watched the dome, fascinated by it. It could easily house thousands of people living comfortably and had been built to withstand time and elements.

“Why do you think they abandoned it?” he asked.

“No doubt practicality,” Bret said. “When the Academy closed down and the Republic abandoned the planet, they probably had no more use for it.”

“Still, the place probably cost a fortune,” Jayson said. “You would think people would come live here if they abandoned it.”

“It’s a long way from anything important,” Bret replied.

“Still…I bet a community could survive out here without much trouble just using the tools left behind.”

“Maybe,” Bret said. “You think there’s another reason?”

“We’re out here to clear the place out. Maybe whatever else is living there is way worse than what we’re imagining.”

Bret was silent for a long moment. “That’s a scary thought.”