Year One

Chapter 5

JAREK

Day 5 without Talin. And still I sat there, stroking the thick hairs of an un-shaved beard whilst watching the red blip of the Zirek spacecraft slowly move across the hologram I'd set up in my apartment. After five days you'd think I would have made a move by now. Instead I sat in my apartment in a pit of despair, with no job, no friend and no hope. It would only be a matter of time before I had no apartment to come back to either. A few more days squatting and the laser beams would swoop in, incinerating me and my belongings. I was running out of time. I needed a plan, and fast.

*

TALIN

Drip, drip, drip. That's all I'd heard for the past five days. Along with the occasional scurry of cyber-rats and creaks from the deteriorating ship I'd been chained to. It turns out I was just a spare part. A worthless bait of no more importance than the rusty walls I was chained to. What a friend Jarek turned out to be. I saw him dash out of the ship to save him self, leaving me behind. And I doubt I'd ever forget it.

JAREK

It turns out going out on a massive rescue mission was a little harder than I thought. The Zirek's had stopped at Region 28 (or what was Australia). That was over 10,000 miles away. Great. The PPU had taken my company car (which, side note, could travel faster than sound, had more gadgets than James Bond's Aston Martin, and could fly, of course). I needed a vehicle, and luckily I knew just the man for the job.

*

"You what!"

"I need to get a car from the PPU's vault," I explained for the fifth time.

"But that's suicide, mate! If you think I'm walking into a laser-fest to get you a car you've misunderstood the boundaries of our friendship. Rule 1: No incredibly stupid suicide missions that will get us incinerated."

Zay was a great friend, but it was going to take a lot of persuasion to get him to help me.

"Look, Talin has been captured and it's all my fault," I pleaded. "I need a car and you're the only one smart enough to get me into the vault." Zay gave a sneer and crossed his arms. Gotcha.

"Say I can get you into this high tech security, robot infested vault of ultimate gadgetry and artificial intelligence- what's in it for me?"

"Well, you said it yourself. The largest containment of government technology in the world? I'm sure you can find a few parting gifts."

Score.

*

I met Zay in Cardiff that same night. Turns out government agencies like to keep their gizmo's away from their HQ. Wales was a tough one to get into without a valid government pass, but Zay soon took care of that. He wasn't head computer engineer (fancy word for hacker) for nothing.

We crouched around the gleaming tunnel which dropped 5 miles bellow the surface. There was no need for security since a single drop would kill you easily.

"Alright. I've managed to attach my computer hub to the mainframe. I should be able to activate the gravity switch allowing us to walk down the sides-,"

"Wait a minute- should?" I looked at Zay questioningly.

"Well, yeah, I have no idea if this will work. It's all just speculation, really. 30% chance of success I'd say."

I rolled my eyes and looked at the drop which awaited us. It sent a chill up my spine but I could still feel the adrenaline rush urging me to jump.

"Okay... 30% chance that we will not fall to our deaths and live happily ever after," I said sarcastically.

"Hey, you wanted to do this, not me! Now get ready to jump,"

"Wait wa-,"

Zay was already on his feet and pulling up his trousers. "Three,"

Oh God.

"Two,"

Crap, crap, crap!

"One,"

For Talin!

I jumped.

*

TALIN

I was awoken by the sound of my cell lock being opened. The loud racket of the lock mechanism and harshness of the movements told me it was old me it was ol' big face Malron paying me a visit. Oh, joy.

Malron squeezed himself into the cell, closing the door behind him. To my surprise he was, well, laughing - if you could call it that. He chucked for a few seconds before dropping to the ground facing me, sending a thud through the room. I grimaced at him. I wasn't going to let him get through to me.

"Ah, look, at, you." He came closer to me, his rashes of black, grimy hair swiping my face. "Is this what agents become when they are out of office?" He laughed again. "A dirty rat scurrying to deaths door. That's all you are. Rats. Pests! All the years of human existence and you barely scrape the surface of the universe. Going around claiming the planets as your own and thinking you're the dominant race. But it all back fired didn't it! Destroying yourselves and the world around you. You ignored the bigger picture. The same star that gave you life those aeons ago has decided your time is up. And what do you do? You rebel!" He sat back on his heels.

"Did you know your friend is out there right now about to plunge to his death to save you?" The mention of Jarek raised my head and for a moment I had a flicker of hope. Only a moment. "I'm afraid he won't achieve anything by finding us. Your survival is only keeping your friend on our trail and it seems you're reaching your final destination. Hmmph. A few days without sustenance and you animals simply wither and die." He suddenly stopped talking, looking alarmed as he reached for his neck and began to convulse with chocking sounds. I shuffled to the cell wall, fearful of what would come next. Maybe he was dying? Or was that too much of a miracle?

"Heh. Speaking of sustenance, it seems I haven't been keeping up with my shape shifting vials. Maybe I should give you an insight into what awaits your friend?" He chocked. Staggering up to his feet, his convulses became more violent as he began to enlarge inside his suit, inflating so much that his eyes began to bulge and fall out of their sockets, rolling towards my feet in a trail of slime. His suit was engulfed by a thick slime that was his body, a black, scaly skin so hideous it made me sick. Malron - or what was Malron stopped convulsing and turned to face me with deep nostrils that grew with hatred, as if they saw me. He roared what must have been a fearsome laugh, sending blinding acid into my eyes. It was almost a blessing as I didn't have to look at that creature anymore. I fell to the ground in pain, as the beast of Malron left my cell, his gruesome roar still echoing through the walls.

I crouched into a ball and cried, from the acid and build up of emotions from the past few days of torment. But now I had a flicker of hope - Jarek was coming.