Calan - The Immortality Paradox

Chapter Sixteen: Last of the Aquarians, Part Three

Sargeant Avani Evans was escorted forcefully from the residential section of La Fuente, and marched north to a built-up, industrial area, filled with ugly concrete and iron warehouses and a tall lookout tower at its centre. A large open space had been erected between the buildings with a makeshift tarpaulin providing constant shade. The place was teeming with people, kitted out in an ecclectic diversity of garments. Some feasted around amateur party games, some slept on floor mats, while others inspected equipment and physical maps like soldiers preparing for war. Large, cuboid batteries were dotted throughout the strange encampment, wires connecting to lighting rigs along with refrigerators, display screens and charging vehicles. Despite the shade, the heat created a humid atmosphere, and hungry flies clung to every piece of exposed skin.

One of her escort pushed her firmly towards the entrance to one of the concrete buildings. A nondescript, old industrial site that had been in the city for years. Inside, the light was very weak, and the Sargeant was thankful for that. Five individuals carried heavy-duty rifles, most likely stolen from some military cache. A sixth, masked and wearing a sun filter on their head, stood unarmed between them. Carrying himself with a lot of confidence, Evans guessed he was the leader of this haphazard host.

Violently, Evans was shoved into a gated compartment of the vast warehouse. It stank of rusted metal and stale water. After the gate was closed behind her, the supposed leader waved for his followers to leave. Apart from one.

'Stay for the interrogation.' He said to the older sister of the wounded boy.

The Sargeant felt a surge of guilt, but she also argued with herself that not everything was as clear as the light of Tanwen. Why was a young boy wandering the streets of Lleno de Vida alone and in such a neglected state? Why had the elderly woman been abandoned to soil herself in a bed? She pressed herself against the cool face of the wall of her new prison.

'There have been no soldiers in Lleno de Vida since the evacuation.' Muffled under the mask, Evans could still hear the man's disapproval. Hard, bloodied eyes peered from under his filter with malice. 'Where did she come from?'

'I found her in my house. She attacked my brother. Wounded him.'

'Strange place for a soldier to be,' the man mocked. 'I suppose it's in their job description to cause harm to others. But it seems the Aquarius Army have forgotten the difference between friend and foe. It would explain why we've been abandoned in this city...and why we've had to build our own.'

'She says she works for the foreign minister.' Evans could see the bias formulations being conducted in the man's brain. The prejudicial parasite of a people scorned. She did not blame them. But it was a struggle to maintain her silence while they used her own words and actions against her.

'The Army has always been loyal to the government. Doing their bidding. But we thought that you'd all scampered away with the rest of the rich cunts. Escaping like the coward First Minister Contreras who dropped us in this fucking mess in the first place. Running to the holiday resorts and palaces and foreign friends and foreign civilisations. No point protecting us because we haven't got the money to pay your worth.' He pressed his forehead against the gate, daring the Sargeant to come forward. Little did he know how much his words resonated. '"Foreign Minister" is a strange title for someone who's supposed to be serving us, isn't it? Almost like a subtle message telling us plebs that we're actually not that important...'

'That's a bit of a stretch...'

'Fuck you!' Palms slammed and shook the gate. The teenage girl could not hide the agitation in her eyes. Children have never been successful liars. 'Where have you and your foreign minister been hiding?' He demaned.