Something Assigned

            Ian, Melisa and Devon stood on an artificial hill looking down at a compound. It was dark and the moon was full. It would be difficult to sneak inside the compound undetected.

  “Okay,” said Ian as he carefully opened the duffle bag he had brought with him. Inside were the Dragon’s Fire grenades. “Each take one, shake it once, and then throw it. Do not shake it more than once. Am I clear?”

  “Yeah,” said Dev, “Once, fine. Twice, okay. Three times, you’re playing with yourself.”

            They each took a grenade, shook it once, and flung it as far as possible into the compound. The vials shattered and immediately massive balls of fire erupted, vaporizing anything close to them. They continued until most of the complex was on fire. Sirens started to sound as they ran down the hill, drawing their weapons and opening fire on anyone who was still alive, and stupid enough not to surrender.

            Ed was moving along the corridors slowly. Each step was becoming easier but his vision was not improving. Soldiers ran past him and officers shouted commands but they all ignored him. He was an escaped prisoner with a weapon in his arms, yet they ignored him.

            He could hear explosions, and that was the first sign that not all was as it seemed. The plane did not bank, it did not shudder. In fact it acted very un-plane like. Ed rubbed at his temples with his free hand, his mind was foggy and he couldn’t think clearly. He shook his head to clear his mind and continued onward.

            Ian broke down a sealed blast door with the help of a rail gun turret. The rail bolt was half as thick as his arm and moved with such speed that it passed right through the reinforced steel and imbedded itself three rooms over.

            They had no time to marvel at it, though, since the whole complex was after them. They might have been able to clear out most of the people above ground level but down here in the bowels of the City Atop the City there were a lot more of them, and no place to use the Dragon’s Fire grenades.

  “I thought we had a plan?” asked Melisa.

  “We’re following it,” Ian said over the commotion.

  “I don’t recall this being part of the plan.”

  “It’s called improvisation,” said Devon, dispatching a few soldiers.

  “I prefer well thought out plans.”

  “Yes, well, we don’t have that luxury,” said Ian.

            The fighting in the hallways was becoming a problem. They kept getting bottlenecked as they entered larger rooms and had to fight their way inside.

            Ed was making his way down, deeper into the thing he was in. He knew it wasn’t a plane, it couldn’t be. He thought it might be a ship, some large carrier or cargo ship. The corridors definitely gave it that impression. But it didn’t act like a ship either.

            They were moving quickly through the complex. The resistance was getting harder to push through as they reached the third level. Finally they came to massive blast doors guarded by the largest group of soldiers they had faced thus far.

            They had no choice but to fight their way through with what little ammunition they had left. When that was depleted they switched to their swords, rending flesh from bone.

            Ed was stumbling towards massive doors at the far end of the hallway. Either he could no longer hear the fighting or he pretended not to, he wasn’t sure. The jerking had stopped slightly and he had long since lost his weapon. He had no idea how he’s lost it, but it didn’t matter anyway.

            The great doors loomed ever closer. All he wanted was to get inside the room, to free Aaliyah and leave this forsaken place.

            Ed reached the doors as searched for the keypad, entering in Aaliyah’s birth date. He was only half surprised when the door opened.

            Ian slit the throat of the last soldier standing. He exhaled and looked at the other two. All of them had a few new cuts and bruises, but nothing life threatening.

            He spun on the spot as they heard the large blast doors open. They were slow and loud and only opened enough for one person to walk through at a time. They stood in anticipation; waiting for someone to walk through. When no one did Ian decided to investigate. The others followed suit.

            Once they were inside, the doors shut behind them, much faster than they had opened, and the trio found themselves in darkness.

  “You will not find who you seek here,” said a male voice, deep and booming, from somewhere ahead in the darkness.

  “Show yourself!” Ian commanded.

            A light came on above them, flooding the area where they stood in a cone of yellow light.

  “We are the counsel,” said another voice, female this time, but still they had no faces to go on.

  “The counsel of what?” asked Melisa.

  “That is of no import,” said the male voice.

  “Where are Ed and Aaliyah?” asked Devon.

  “Ed is where he’s been all this time,” said the female voice. “And he finds himself in a situation similar to yours. As for Aaliyah, she’s neither here nor there.”

  “But you may yet rescue her,” said a third voice, slow and rasping. “She is safe and will remain so, as long as you do what is asked of you.”

  “And what is asked of us?” Ian demanded.

  “All in due time,” said the first male voice. “For now, you will be permitted to return home. You may leave unharmed and unhindered. Once back in South Africa, you will await your handlers.”

  “You will do as they command,” said the female voice. “And once you have completed your assignment, Aaliyah will be returned to you,”

  “And what of Ed?”

  “As we mentioned earlier,” said the second male voice in its slow tone. “He is in the same position. He will be told the same, and returned to South Africa.”

  “And the Source?” Ian asked, recalling what the Oracle had told him.

  “Ah, yes, the Source,” said the female voice. “It will no longer affect your friend, Edward, until we see it fit to use it again. Now leave.”

            And that was the end of that. The light went out and the door opened. When they did not leave of their own accord, a few of the soldiers escorted them. The three were resigned to their forced choice, and returned to South Africa empty handed, with the exception of the crate they’d taken earlier.

            They arrived early the next morning and Ian headed straight home to Danny. She had taken the day off when he had told her they were returning. He recounted the events of the past few days, with a few minor edits, since JR was listening as well.

            Late that night, Ed came in through the front door. He was wet, as if he had swum back, and a dark mood surrounded him.

  “I’m sorry, for your loss,” said JR. It was the worst possible thing he could have said.

            Blindingly fast, Ed had him by the throat and pinned against the wall next to the fridge.

  “What do you know of loss?” Ed said with a tone of fury none of them had ever heard before.

  “Well, Melisa was-”

  “She’s alive, you blithering idiot,” said Ed and he released JR to fall on all fours in front of him.

            Ed looked over at Ian and Danny before stalking off to his room.

  “What?” asked JR, getting to his feet.

  “I meant to tell you,” started Ian. “I’m sorry dude, I never wanted you to find out like this,”

  “Melisa’s alive?”

  “Yes, we-”

  “That’s all I need to know,” said JR and left.

  “It’s going to kill him,” said Ian rubbing his eyes with his right hand.

  “Come, I’ll help you relax,” said Danny, rubbing his shoulders.

            JR drove straight to Melisa’s house. On his way there he had to outrun the police three times, but it did not matter. He had to see her.

            He pulled up in front of her house as his radio played the final minute of “Won’t Go Home Without You” by Maroon 5. JR was positively beaming, he wanted nothing more to hold Melisa, to touch her, to kiss her, to…

            His excitement died when he saw Devon and Melisa making out through the living room window. It was like JR was in a sudden trance. He wanted to look away, but he could not. He saw them undress each other, making out on the couch. He saw them until they fell to the floor in each other’s arms and he could see them no more. But he knew they were there. And he knew what they were doing.

  “Get out,” Ed said as Ian entered his room.

  “No, we need to talk.”

  “Fuck your talking,” Ed said and swung a fist at Ian, who dodged it effortlessly.

  “Ed, listen.”

            Ed swung at him again, and this time Ian caught his fist and hit him on the head. Ed reeled, recovered and struck out at Ian again, who blocked the blow and sent Ed crashing to the floor. Ed grasped for a broken arrow and swung at Ian for a fourth time.

            This time he managed to land the blow partially. As Ian deflected, the arrow head cut at his stitches and tore the lower half. Ian gave Ed the worst PK of his life, sending him sprawling on the floor again, his ear ringing and cheek stinging.

  “Now you listen to me, you little shit, and you listen well. There are only two ways this can go. You can get up and stop feeling sorry for yourself, follow me to the kitchen, drink a cup of coffee and tell me everything that happen since you were taken, and I will do the same. Or, you can stay there, and feel sorry for yourself, and when the handlers come and give us our damned assignment, you can get yourself and the rest of us killed. Then, just to spite you, they’ll kill Aaliyah,”

  Ed clenched his fists at the mention of her name, and tears formed in his eyes.

  “But not before they rape her, and break her, and torture her. Then when she is dead inside, broken and no longer the woman she is now, only then, will they send her to you in the Beyond. So what’s it going to be,” he concluded, holding out a hand.

            Ed stared up at Ian for a while before he reluctantly took the offered hand and pulled himself up.

  “Why do you care what happens to Aaliyah?” Ed asked.

  “Because, were the roles reversed and Danny was in trouble, I’d expect you to help me get her back, no matter what. And I’d expect you to be the voice of reason should I lose my sense,”

            They descended the steps to the kitchen in silence, and Ian made coffee. It was only when he gave Ed his cup that Ed spoke again.

  “What do you think they’ll ask of us?”

  “Probably tell us to assassinate world leaders. But whatever it is, we’ll play along as long as need be. Now, what happened, and don’t leave anything out,” said Ian.

 Ed began recounting his story.