Cascade

19 - Endgame

19 - Endgame

Claire rushed through bushes, down a path along some gourde patches, and dashed into the flower garden. The familiar scene brought her a sense of peace, even though she knew she was still being pursued. The pleasant aromas of the blossoming petals wafted to her through the air. She approached a flower, and held it gently in her hand, as if apologizing for what she was about to do. In the face of all the destruction she had caused already, the last thing she wanted to do was destroy more. But she knew it had to be done. Few other choices remained.

Claire hurried towards the center of the garden, knelt, and found one of the irrigation boxes. She pried it open with her fingers, pulling the top free. A simple turn valve lay within. She followed the line from the box, imagining where it would extend through the ground. Crawling on her hands and knees, she shuffled forward until she came to an irrigation head.

Due to the extremely low gravity on Reynos, sprinklers weren’t exactly feasible. Instead, the gardens and crop regions had irrigation heads which would inject water directly into the soil at regulated rates. Claire grasped it firmly and tore it from the ground. Usually, tearing sprinklers from the ground would be difficult work. But this was Reynos. Everything was barely holding itself together as it was.

With an opening in the system now created, Claire tossed the irrigation head away and shuffled back to the valve. Forgoing a count of three, she simply closed her eyes, and cranked the valve, causing the destructive water to course through the pipes and flood the gardens.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. The poor soil and gravel used to fill in the gardens soaked up the water and broke itself apart like crumble cake. Before she knew it, Claire found her knees sinking into the ground. She scrambled to her feet, which only served to sink her faster under the increased pressure. Not like it mattered at this point. Looking trapped and helpless was in fact part of the plan. Claire only hoped that she merely looked trapped. It would be a short operation indeed if she fell victim to her own snare. She made a move to turn around. The mud squelched at her legs and she sank to near her knees. This was to be expected, and she knew that if she moved slowly enough, she wouldn’t have to give too much resistance.

Of course, never being trained in large areas of science and general knowledge, Marcus would have no idea how to navigate in a semisolid. Attempting to power through it would only make it worse. Which was the entire point.

Moving at a snail’s pace, Claire was able to turn herself around, and make it look as if she had stumbled into the mud during her flight. Leaves rustled behind her. She turned her head to see the large form of Marcus pushing his way through the bushes. He stopped at the edge of the mud and chuckled.

“Fitting that Reynos would fight back.” He said.

“It doesn’t have to end like this?” Claire said.

“No. It doesn’t. But that’s not my call is it? You decided that when you betrayed us. You were to weak to hold to the truth. And now, once again, your weakness will be your downfall.” He said. He stepped forward with powerful strides, approaching Claire in the mud. Claire struggled some more, hardly making and inch of progress. Marcus continued to push forward. The mud sank up to past his ankles, and continued towards his knees. His strides became slower, and Claire could see that each step required more effort than the last. As Marcus came within two meters of Claire, who continued to make attempts at escape, he finally paused to rest.

“Strength isn’t the measure of worth, Marcus. That’s why you were never chosen to lead, and that is why you can never understand why I did this. You were never made to think outside yourself. That’s why you’ll always be stuck.” She said. Leaning to her side, Claire lay over the mud and crawled away. With her full body spread out across the surface, her arms pulled her along as she floated across the top of the mud, leaving Marcus to struggle fruitlessly behind her. He fell forward also, pushing his hands and knees into the thick sludge, trying to drive himself onward. As his hands covered in the mud, they sank deeper. The more Marcus strove against the pull, the deeper he fell. Claire reached the edge of the flower beds and crawled onto firm ground once more. She turned to Marcus, who’s hips were now completely submerged.