Chronicle of Nautilus

Chapter 19: The Diversion

Burning Barry was always crowded. It was popular between the younger citizens. Its main beverages and specialty was weak booze and snacks. Visitors came here to have fun, play different table top or digital games. You could hardly ever see a sad face in this place.

Even though it was midday, darkness filled the room. The place had very small windows and only a little portion of light could get in. There were dim lights over each round table, old pictures and photos of famous people from human history decorated the walls. Tom made a few circles searching for someone who would stick out of the crowd. Even a lone person could fit the role, since everyone came in pairs or crowds. He quickly came to the conclusion that The Outsider was absent.

When he was about to leave, someone passed by and whispered.

“Hi, Tom.”

As he turned to the person, he felt something cold touch his arm. Tom looked at the gadget:  It was a handcuff made especially for him - thick, heavy and strong, melted from a tough alloy as a single solid piece between both cheek plates. The property on the item, which gave the most concern, was that it had no keyhole.

Tom’s comm’s device started beeping rapidly. This was the tone he had set for city’s perimeter breach. Someone with no access to the outer parts of the ship was trying to crack security systems.

He looked at the man who had just cuffed him. And what a man it was – a sweaty, ugly, fatty, more than two meters tall, with a strong black metallic arm, which extended to the neck, on his side of the handcuffs.

“What do you think you are doing?” Tom lifted his head up and stared into fatty’s eyes.

But the big man did not reply, only coldly stared back. Tom shook his hand, trying to wake him up. The comms device was still beeping.

Tom tried to communicate with the mountain again, “What is this? A joke, right?”

The man stood silent, he had no intention to talk or move.  

Landau grabbed fatty's arm and pulled his locked hand away, trying to break the connection with force. Even though he used his full strength it was still not enough.

Tom sighed and let fatty’s arm go. He pulled the man once, pulled him twice, he finally budged.  Landau walked out of the bar, dragging the fatty behind him. He looked at the cab and understood the complexity of the situation he was in. Even if he managed to get into the cab, there was no way that would be able to use it, as it had weight limits. As strong a man as Tom was, he did not consider that tearing off the arm from a human being, and killing him in the process, in a populated area was a possible solution.

Tom looked at the comms device – it was Ermac’s base that was being breached.  He had to act quickly. The first thought which came to his mind was to call to the base of operations and that’s what he did.

A female operator answered. “Hello, how can I—“

Tom did not let her finish the sentence. “This is Landau, get any free agent, give him a cab and tell him to bring me a metal cutting tool, I got handcuffed. I am sending you my location. Do anything it takes and get here fast, it’s an emergency.”

The woman on another end understood and followed the commands immediately.  She did not reply and hung up.

Now all Tom could do was to wait. He wondered what had happened for Claire. He could only hope that she was safe. After all, the Outsider preferred wits to violence.

******

A few minutes passed for the uncanny couple until an agent in black uniform and short dark hair had landed close to them. He threw the cutter out of the window.

Tom used it to cut the cuffs and ran to his cab which was on the other side of the street.

The fatty grabbed his metallic arm with the organic one and twisted it, separating it by the elbow.  He extended the half of his arm which was still attached to the body towards Tom’s transporter. A source of light deep inside it was increasing in luminosity.

As Tom was opening the door of his transporter, he heard a loud explosion. The parking place of his agent’s cab had changed, now it stood between Landau and the fatty and was in burning shambles. The agent was alive and well, standing by the burning cab, he turned to Tom.

“Go, I got this.”

 “Thanks.” Tom nodded his head.

He pushed the controls inside of his cab and flew up into the sky towards the top circle up in the sky.

Not many people knew the location of Ermac’s base.  The kidnaping of Claire and this attack was connected. She must have told The Outsider where the entrance was.

Landau got higher and higher; the warmth of the sun was increasing, even though it was the middle of winter down below it was as hot as in summer up there. He landed on a small platform surrounded by grape fields. This location was at least a kilometer away from the closest greenhouse. He grabbed the laser cutter, jumped out of the cab and ran off.

 As he moved through the grapevines towards the hidden entrance, he noticed Claire sitting on the ground, slowly swaying back and forth, a huge hole in the wall behind her was blown up, a small door could be seen breached deep inside the wreckage.

“You are too late. He welded it from the inside. I bet he had left some booby traps if you try to cut it through. I would not advise using the tool you are carrying,” she told calmly, her sight pierced the ground somewhere behind Landau.

Tom looked at her and did not say a word, she seemed totally broken.

Claire continued. “I’m sorry, Tom. I haven’t said a word. He broke into my head—” still sitting on the ground, she lifted her knees, put her head between them and crossed hands on top of it. “Glen is not what he pretends to be. He is one of the monster’s tools now. It was him who tricked me.  Oh, Tom, he connected to me and showed things… brutal things... we are not alone in the universe, but we are the worst…”

“You might be correct Claire, but we have all the time in the universe to improve. Don’t we?”

“We don’t,” Claire silently replied.

Tom took a pause and asked, “Was it Glen who got in there?”  He stared at the door in the distance.

“No it was someone else… someone much more dangerous.”