Skye City: The Darkness of Emmilyn

Back to Hell

Reaching shallow waters, we cruise over a grey coral reef as the brown sea sparkles overhead. The submarine settles below a large shadow and rises into an Anatolian docking port which will lead us back into the warzone, back into hell. The sanctuary of Camari may well have been short-lived, but if one positive comes from this ordeal, we may be able to reunite with the gang. I open my locket, relieved to see the pictures inside were not smudged by seawater because the ones on our mother's wall are gone forever. This locket is our last connection to early childhood.

The submarine rises into the docking port then the bubble-roof retracts and we finally set foot on dry land. Families hug one another and gasp in relief, but I spot San Terian soldiers guarding the entrance to the shelter. Uniforms cover every inch of their flesh, bar their faces, and scowling eyes suggest their objective is not to protect new arrivals. Bulky ammunition pouches must seriously weigh them down, but they certainly make for an imposing sight.

'Nobody leaves until they've been ID'd. Form a line,' a soldier booms.

The other families follow the order as our group hesitate because we are mostly bottom-levellers. 'Could be trouble,' Arturo mutters to Dynah who nods as my big brother glances to the rest of the group, whispering, 'Take cover while Dynah and I handle this.'

Arturo drops his rucksack then he and Dynah join the queue at the shelter entrance – the wall-less front of this corrugated-iron structure. One by one nervous parents show their Citicards and have their eyeballs read by a handheld scanner, then their clothes checked by a metal detector before they are allowed to leave the docks with their kids. A soldier squints suspiciously as we stand behind the submarine and he waves to his colleague as Arturo reaches the front of the queue.

'Citicard,' the soldier booms and three other soldiers grip their rifles tightly as though waiting for an excuse to fire.

'No can do.' Arturo shrugs, bearing his palms. 'I lost my wallet during the escape.'

'In that case, you're not going anywhere until a full biometric scan has been completed. If we can't confirm your identity, we'll be taking you in.' The soldier raises his scanner to Arturo's face and frowns as the device beeps. 'It says your eyes are artificial.'

'I was wondering about that. Thanks for clarifying,' Arturo says.

The soldier raises his rifle but Arturo grabs and bends it into a U-shape with his bare hands and the soldier cowers, trembling. Tears pour from his eyes as he drops the U-shaped weapon, whimpering like a scared puppy. Three other soldiers aim their rifles, but a shockwave flings them towards shipping containers before they can fire, courtesy of Dynah.

'Everyone get into cover now!' Arturo roars, knocking out the remaining guard with a punch, then he grabs one of the un-bent rifles from the ground. He sprays fire into the dockyards and Dynah's hair swings as she unleashes another shockwave. I am tempted to grab a rifle from the ground and help the fight, but I really should let the superhumans do their thing.

'There's three on your side, six on mine. Go!' Arturo yells to Dynah, vanishing from sight. Otess runs across to the unconscious soldier and grabs a dropped rifle then leaves the shelter and he too vanishes from sight. Gunfire roars and I have no idea who is alive or dead until I hear, 'Otess, I'm moving to that container. Stay here and cover me.'

Gunfire roars continuously and then falls to silence, perhaps signifying the end of the battle. I step out from behind the submarine and tiptoe forwards then run back as Arturo roars, 'Shit, get into cover!'

A banging much louder than the previous gunfire then Arturo yells, 'Dynah, this looks like a job for you!' A tinkling, silence, then a horrible screeching crash like metal impacting stone.

'Shall I shoot him?' Otess says, his voice faint and distant.

'Nah, he's just a youngster.' Arturo pauses and his voice falls to an indistinguishable murmur then gunfire roars. Silence again then several bursts of gunfire and finally bullets fill the unconscious soldier at the entrance.

'You can come out now, the coast is clear,' Arturo yells and I dread to think what horrors await my six year old brother.