Infinite Empire – Chapter 3

For some bizarre reason, I have come to the conclusion that I can save everyone. That all the limitless technology and advancements and riches that the Empire has accumulated over these past few hundred years, since they first made that first jump, since they first built their first ever operational Gateway, all of this, I have concluded, it belongs to the people.

Not just the corporations who can afford to buy it.

Not just the lucky handful of people who can afford to own all those company shares.

Not just the lucky few offered off-world employment contracts.

No.

It belongs to everyone. And I am the one to steal it, take it, give to them. Like Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods.

Oxygen levels critical. Shields critical.

Power core?

You guessed it, critical.

My suit informs me that I must keep moving if I want to live. But I am not listening. Probably because I am hearing other voices. Probably because there’s a chance I am hallucinating on account of my brain not getting enough oxygen.

Then again, I never listen. To anyone.

And right now, I am having thoughts of grandeur and visions of grandeur. I can save everyone, right?

Not if you don’t listen to your suit and get moving.

The inside of my helmet, the heads-up display, it flashes orange. My suit lets me know that I have eight minutes of air left.

My optics have adjusted to the darkness.

The cliff wasn’t a cliff. It was the side of a building. A structure. This cave, this chamber, is part of it. According to my suit, I am inside a very large building. A temple? A church?

A tomb.

What the hell is this place?

More people come out of nowhere. Out of the shadows. There are an awful lot of humans on this alien planet.

“Hey! Who are you? Are you with the company?”

“He’s not with the company. Look at that suit. It’s older than me!”

I hold my hands up. In defeat. In shock. I am truly shocked. “I’m not with the company. I’m not with the Empire. My ship…”

“You’re not with the company? And you’re not with the Empire? Then what the hell are you doing here? This place is off limits. You’d know that if you knew anything.”

A guy who looks like he knows how to handle himself says, “This is gonna cost you, buddy.”

A weapon. A gun. Pointed right at my chest.

Run.

What have I gotten myself into? My wife doesn’t deserve this. Kids don’t deserve this. I’m supposed to provide for them. I’m supposed to look after them.

Screw the world.

I’m only one man.

My suit reminds me that I have a supply of flashbang grenades ready to deploy. These are designed to blind and deafen. Disorientate and disarm.

I use them all.

No point in saving any.

The cavern turns into a New Year’s Eve celebration.

I buy myself some breathing room. Just enough. I sprint down a long and never-ending corridor. I use up so much oxygen in the process. At this rate, I am going to run suffocate.

I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been. How selfish.

Deluded.

Sure, I’ve travelled to the edge of the universe in the blink of an eye, but at what cost? I haven’t actually accomplished anything. I haven’t saved anyone. Jess is dead. She joined the team because she believed in me. And now she’s dead.

Why did she believe? What the hell did I say to her? What the hell did I do?

Nothing. You didn’t say anything. You didn’t need to convince her or persuade her. She believed in you because you are doing the right thing.

Can’t stop now. Come too far. All the way to the edge.

Keep going. Keep running. You can do it. Make her death matter. Make it right.

Save your boys. Save your damn wife. Save the world.

Seven minutes of air left.

Another alert. HUD flashes green. The ship is close. Getting closer. It’s homing in on my suit.

How? Did Luke figure it out? Has he taken control?

Don’t know. Don’t care. Keep running. Get outside.

You can do this.

I tell myself I can do this. I can make it. I almost believe.

I come face to face with a drone. Looks like a Sentinel. Top of the range. Never seen one up close like this. Not even in the city. It sees me. Studies me.

And then it disappears.

If it were a security drone, I’d be dead. If it had weapons, I’d be dead.

I don’t plan on hanging around long enough for its commander to show up.

I keep moving. I need to get back outside. Get to a clearing. Get back to the ship.

Get back to you.

Figure out the rest later.

I don’t know why I thought I could ever do this. In the end, all I ever accomplished was moving away, becoming distant. But what else was I supposed to do? The world is dying. It is on the verge of cataclysmic destruction. And the human race, at least, the humans left on Earth, are on the brink of extinction. If I could just pull this off, if I could just accomplish this one final thing, I could help, I could do something with my life, I could save the goddamn world.

The empty cavern becomes not so empty.

I stumble across a row of storage units. And another.

And another.

Is this a warehouse?

No. it’s a lab. Up ahead, there is equipment. Lots and lots of equipment.

More storage units. Freezers for a morgue.

I should stay in the darkness, but I am drawn to the light. Oxygen is low. I am not thinking straight. Impossible to think.

I see bodies. Everywhere.

Cut up. Open. Dismembered. Butchered.

I see another group of heavily armored and heavily armed individuals. They are moving in a work like fashion. Bored. Mechanical. This is their bread and butter. This is a normal day for them.

“Who the hell is this guy?”

I hold my hands up. “I’m from…”

The company?

The Empire?

Beyond the morgue I see an exit point. I see my ticket to the outside world.

Say something.

“I’m from the Colonial Empire. We were sent a distress signal from a research vessel that has become stranded and possibly derelict.”

The men pause.

As still as the corpses.

And then laughter.

“If you’re from the Empire then I’m a goddamn Tyrannosaurus Rex.”

Another gun is pointed at my chest. Everyone here is armed. Everyone here is on high alert. I’m starting to realize we have definitely stumbled across a black site. A military site. I am not supposed to be here.

No one is supposed to be here.

I am shot with a tazer and for a moment my suit has a heart attack. For a moment I feel the shock run through my body as I am knocked clear off my feet.

My suit recovers. Power is reduced. Oxygen is reduced. Shields are almost non-existent.

I am alive. But the suit can’t protect me forever. There are some things in this world you just have to do yourself.

When I get back to my feet the company men are in disbelief.

One of them says, “Damn, maybe this guy really is from the Empire.”

Another one says, “Hey, I think that suit is an old Ranger suit. Don’t make ‘em like that anymore.”

The hesitation is all I need to make a grab for the nearest weapon. It’s a gun that delivers some kind of electric charge. Possibly fatal. Possibly not. I guess it all depends. I guess it’s all relative.

None of them are wearing suits like mine. Their armor is old. I don’t think they are shielded. The few who are wearing suits like mine, do not have their defenses activated.

No armor. No shields.

I pull the trigger. The electric charge is enough to drop half of them. Impossible to tell if they’re dead or alive. I won’t be stopping to check their vitals.

I take aim at the morgue freezer and pull the trigger. The whole thing sparks and ignites.

Another New Year’s Eve celebration.

The lights go out.

Night vision is activated.

I sprint for the exit.

The ship is inbound.

Five minutes.

I can make it.