The God Complex: The Book Of Alan, Destroyer Of Worlds

Chapter Fifteen

Gabe was still nursing his bruises when he got home, the gravity of what happened just starting to sink in: the next few months of his life were now in the hands of a madman who wanted him dead.

He found Tiffany sitting in front of the TV with her legs curled up by her side, she was engrossed in the conclusion of an S News interview with the head of the EDEN program: Professor Dawkins. He was being mock-interrogated by the unnecessarily fabulous looking Dominique, dressed in a three-piece suit made entirely of sequins and doing remarkably well to still look serious and informed.

'So, Professor Dawkins m'luv, here's me final question. Why, right, haven't we taken off yet? The world's flippin ending and we're not leaving until the last possible minute. What we still doing here?'

'Oh,' said the professor, adjusting his glasses. 'You see the technology came to us by the grace of God, but it came very late in the day, which puts an enormous amount of pressure and strain on the EDEN taskforce. We need more pilots and mechanics and navigators, we need to up-skill anyone capable before we leave. Therefore, it is imperative we take all the time we can to train civilians for the task ahead to ensure we give our species the best chance of survival. Don't misunderstand me, it is a risk, but a necessary one for the safety of every man, woman and child. I believe Supreme leader Abaddon has already applauded the training commanders and so should we all for they are only concerned with keeping us all safe.'

The shot pans to a picture of Supreme leader Abaddon bathed in golden light and feeding a puppy held by a hopeful looking child, as Dominique wrapped up the programme.

'I don't think Commander Cain got the message,' said Gabe eventually.

'Oh my God, Gabe you scared the hell out of me. What do you mean Commander Cain? Did you see him? Is he still alive?'

'See him?' said Gabe exasperated. 'He's my training commander.'

'Oh my God, that's wonderful. You're bound to get the pilot position at YAMA,' said Tiffany perking up.

'I'm not sure it is wonderful,' said Gabe, feeling his ribs. 'He wants me dead.'

'Oh, stop overreacting,' said Tiffany getting up off the sofa.

'I'm telling you he is trying to kill me,' he yelled, following her into the kitchen.

'Gabe, I'm sure he's not trying to kill you, he's probably still annoyed that you let him down,' she said turning on the kettle and reaching for her favourite mug. 'We all are.'

'It's more than that - you didn't see him, you didn't see how angry he was. The man has completely lost it, he promised if he ever saw me again, he'd kill me and now he's actually trying.'

Tiffany took out the milk and sniffed its contents. 'Why would he bother? He's got nothing to gain from it and probably everything to lose. Look Gabe, it's pretty clear what's happening here, you're overreacting because you used to be his little golden boy and now you've got a taste of what it's like to be on the receiving end, that's all.'

'A taste! Have you seen what he did to the back of my head?' Gabe bent forward to show her.

She winced, 'you mean he hit you?'

'No, he deliberately tried to kill me with the simulator.'

'Oh Gabe,' she said, showing her growing annoyance through the medium of aggressively disposing of her tea bag.

'So, because you were careless in the simulator I now have to believe Commander Cain is trying to kill you? Again, why would he bother? It would have been no skin off his nose that you walked away from EDEN, the only people you screwed over were me and Wendy. She turned her back on him, 'Honestly, Gabe,' she yelled exasperated, 'I knew you'd do something like this.'