The Rift Rider (21 page)

He looked up. All three of them were
watching him. Executive Ko stared at him blankly but the one called Lade was
smiling smugly. Doctor Sree was stroking his chin, studying Charlie as if he
were some exotic insect. Charlie's whole body shook. He wanted to rip their
heads off their shoulders with his bare hands.

"So it appears you will help us, Mr
Scott." The old man's silky voice held a smirk in it.
"Marvellous."

Charlie ground his teeth, saying nothing.

Chief Lade stared hard at him. "Do
exactly what Doctor Sree tells you and you have my word as Chief that the girl
suffers no more. Resist and," he looked at the broken girl. "Well you
know the rest."

Despite his best efforts to stay calm,
Charlie's lip curled and his fists tightened.

To his surprise, he felt a stirring beneath
the surface of his right hand, a separating of the skin. He looked down. The
edge of the Robundee blade, long forgotten about, peeked out from his flesh.

Charlie's heart fluttered. The blade. It was
his way out of here. He relaxed his hand, and the blade returned to its waiting
place beneath the flesh.

Charlie looked over to see if anyone had
noticed the flash of steel. But the aliens had turned away from him and were
now talking amongst themselves. Ko's and Doctor Sree's nodded and grunted as
the old man was dished out orders.

Charlie tried to hear what they were saying,
but they were too far away.

A small voice called beside him.

"The scientist." Awani's voice was
weak. Charlie moved closer, brushing his ear against her lips.

"The device stopping you . . . "
She paused to gather strength. "On his wrist."

Charlie stole a glance at the small man. His
whole right arm was encased in metal. Two lines of white light glowed down
either side of it.

He put his lips against Awani's ear.
 
"I know how I can get us home. Can
you hold on? "

She closed her eyes, and gave the tiniest of
nods.

"I'll come back for you."

The trace of a smile appeared on the damaged
face. "You better."

After Lade left, Doctor Sree with the help
of two fringes took Charlie away. Ko remained in the laboratory, ready to
pierce Awani at a moment's notice. The whole time the scientist walked with
Charlie, the man shot him furtive glances. The little man seemed like he had a
lot of questions but was too reluctant to ask them. Finally they arrived at
their destination, the engine room.

Sree had Charlie chained to a railing and
then began preparing the rift engine.
 

Charlie rolled his shoulders. His arms had
been tied behind him and he was starting to cramp up.

Two fringed soldiers, one blue and male, the
other pale green and female, both armed with electric rods and rifles, stood
either side of him. The female guard heard the shaking chain, reached behind
Charlie and grabbed his shackled wrists. She tested the restraints and then out
of pure malevolence yanked downwards. He yelped with pain. The fringes laughed.

Charlie kept his curses behind his lips. He
was their prisoner for now and subject to whatever petty abuse they deemed fit.
But he would have his vengeance, soon.

Behind him, through the transparent outer
wall, Seenthee and its two moons floated in a sea of pierced black. It was some
view. But Charlie was more interested in what lay in front of him.

The engine room stood as tall as it did
wide, like a concert hall. At its centre floated the Corporation's most prized
possession, the rift engine. It hung four feet above the ground, a metre-wide,
egg-shaped hole, pulsing like a black heart.

A silver pole shot upwards from the engine
room floor, piercing the rift engine's dark glow. Lightening bolts flickered
around it, racing from top to bottom and back again, entering in and out of the
dark cloud floating above it.

Next to the giant conductor, stood a single
empty chair. Energy lashed out at it, wrapping it in white fingers. And just
like an electric chair it was meant for one and one alone. Charlie.

Its monobrowed creator darted around the
room, inspecting the machine while his fingers raced up and down his metal
sleeve. He kept his mouth shut as he worked, his nose doing all the breathing. The
whistling noise it made sounded like the running of claws down a blackboard.

Doctor Sree smiled, and, flicking a switch
on the device on his arm, backed away from the engine. It sparkled into life. A
white glow emerged at its dark centre.

Charlie felt the rift engine come to life. It
plucked at the fabric of space with hidden fingers, looking for a point of weakness
to plunge them through.

Charlie shuddered. The darkness shimmered.
It had found Charlie. Invisible fingers danced over him, violating him, seeking
out the key locked beneath his physical shell.
 

Beside him, the fringed soldiers shuffled
back and forth, their fingers flicking over their trigger guards. They seemed
none too pleased about having front row seats to Doctor Sree's experiment.

"It's working," Doctor Sree said,
circling the machine. His eyes contained a mad gleam. "Guards, in a moment
I want you to move the prisoner to the chair."

"Yes, Sir," they said, their
stretched voices giving their fear away.

"Mr Scott. When you're seated, I will
trigger the change in you. You will open a rift inside the engine and allow it
to draw out the necessary energy. Don't try anything. Remember, I've got you
under my control." He waved his sheathed arm at Charlie. "Offer the
least resistance, and I'll message Executive Ko. She's with your friend,
itching to act."

Charlie watched the light running along the
scientist's wrist. It shimmered the same white as the rift engine's burgeoning
heart.

Charlie had to destroy that device. But to
do that, he needed to get closer. Doctor Sree had kept his distance since
leaving laboratory, letting the fringes do his work for him. "There's no
need to threaten me," Charlie said, affecting a friendly tone. "I
said I'd help you, and I will. You know I'm just as interested to see if your
engine works as you are. It looks fascinating."

The scientist looked at the shimmering oval
hole. "It is."

"I hope you don't mind. But before I help
you can I ask you something? Purely scientific, I promise."

The little man stopped, and looked at
Charlie. "Go on."

"How do you know so much about me? I
mean, I only found out the truth a couple of days ago. But you seemed to have
known all along."

The scientist ran a finger across the length
of the monobrow, his eyes igniting with an energy that took years off him. "When
you crossed over, you left fragments of yourself in the space around the rift.
My drones have been sending the data back for study. I've drawn some
fascinating conclusions."

"Oh
yeah?" Charlie said, wrinkling his forehead. Beside him the guards watched
the glowing vortex at the centre of the room, saying nothing but looking
increasingly uneasy. Charlie felt the engines fingertips tapping at his
intestines.

"You're
like the rollers." The scientist took a few steps towards Charlie.
"You have the same energy signature. Yet somehow you can maintain a solid
form. You're a paradox."

"You
flatter me, Doctor."

"You
shouldn't exist."

"And yet
here I am."

The scientist
shook his head, smiling. "You know at the beginning you had us all
fooled." He moved two more paces closer. "Even me. Your bio data
showed you as a typical turen male. How did you do that?"

"That
wasn't me. The pathfinder who collected me made the changes on his ship's
medbot. But it didn't need much to make me appear turen." Charlie paused,
meeting the scientist's eyes and holding them in his gaze. "You see if my
father hadn't tried to escape, I would have grown up on Seenthee, a turen just
like you."

A strange
expression came over the scientist's face. He took another step closer. Charlie
had brought him within spitting distance. Two more steps and he would be in
reach. Patience, Charlie told himself.

Beside him, he
felt the two soldiers stir. He glanced at them. Their attention appeared caught
between the strange scientist and his glowing invention.

Doctor Sree
turned his face away from Charlie, fixing his eyes on the floor at Charlie's
feet. "Who was your father?"

"I never
met him. But I heard he was a scientist. Krest, I think his name was."

 
Charlie heard the rushed intake of
breath. When the scientist lifted his face, it contained a look of horror.
"You're his son?"

Charlie nodded.

"It can't
be," the scientist said, taking another step forward, looking at Charlie,
wide-eyed, seeking something familiar in his face. "Impossible."

"They tell
me I have his eyes."

That was the
push he needed. Doctor Sree stepped forward, tilting his head to get a better
look at Charlie's eyes.

Charlie leaned
forward as if offering his assistance. Behind his back he slid his left hand
over his right. Then he tensed his right fist. The blade slid out in a smooth
silent motion. Charlie flexed his hand, stopping the blade once a third of it
had come out. He covered the flat surface of the blade with his left hand.

Out of the
corner of his eyes, he could see the guards staring in annoyance at the
scientist. They did not welcome this interruption. They wanted to get away from
the rift engine as quickly as possible.

Charlie felt a
rush of excitement. This was it. He whispered to the scientist. "You see
it, don't you?" As he spoke he sliced through the chain connecting him to
the railing.

Doctor Sree
stared at Charlie, disbelief in his eyes.

Charlie pulled
his head back.

The scientist
blinked, and went to say something. But as the scientist's mouth dropped open,
Charlie stepped forwards whipping his head at the face in front of him. There
was a sickening crunch as the man's nose caved in.

Charlie pulled
back. The scientist stumbled towards the rift engine. The guards had still not
reacted. Charlie seized his moment, raising his leg and bringing his heel
crashing down against the male guard's knee. The leg buckled and the guard tumbled
to his side, his rifle flung to one side.

Charlie, his
hands still pinned behind his back, spun on the spot and kicked out at the
second guard. He caught a shin, but she stayed on her feet. She was too close
to fire her rifle, so she swung it like a club at Charlie's head.

He ducked and
the barrel flew over him. As she spun, he pushed off both feet, launching
himself at the woman's midriff, taking her off her feet. He twisted as he fell,
landing on top of her, the rifle pinned between them.

She tore at his
face and hair with wild fingers. Charlie rolled away, slashing out behind him
with his bladed hand. He felt a rush of warmth and the woman screamed.

He looked up.
The male guard was back up, reaching for the fallen rifle. The scientist lay on
his side, a metre away from the rift engine. He had his hands over his nose.
Blood flowed through the fingers, and down over the device on his arm.

The years of
rolling around a rugby field had given Charlie excellent recovery speed. He
used it now, pouncing to his feet, and charging at the scientist. Charlie fixed
the scientist's arm in his sights. At the last moment he leapt high, bringing
his knees to his chest as if he were dive-bombing a swimming pool. He clenched
his fist behind his backside and dropped like a dead weight onto the prone
scientist.

It was a perfect
shot. Doctor Sree screamed out in pain. The blade had slid straight through his
metal sleeve. The hidden arms stopping Charlie from shifting disappeared. He smiled
as a whole universe of opportunity opened up to him.

Across the room
the male fringe had his rifle aimed at Charlie. His female partner was leaning
against the railing, blood seeping out of a slash in the side of her uniform.
"Get away from him," he said.

 
Charlie flexed and the blade slid out of the
scientist's arm and back to its resting place beneath Charlie's skin. He rolled
onto his knees and then stood up.

The scientist
whimpered on the floor behind him.

"Step
forward," the fringed man commanded.

Charlie shook
his head. "No."

They faced each
other like gunslingers. The guard squeezed the trigger, letting off three shots
in quick succession.

But he was too
slow. Charlie had already changed to key form. The energy bursts passed
straight through him, vanishing into the black orb behind him.

Charlie
stretched his glowing limbs outwards, feeling the energy rush through him. The
two fringes looked at each other and then bolted for the door.

Charlie turned
and looked down at the scientist. The device on his arm fizzed and popped, the
metal melting. Doctor Sree was desperately trying to pull it off, his fingers
caked in fleshy pulp. Horror flashed through his eyes. The pain must have been
immense.

Charlie stood
over him. The scientist looked up. His dilated pupils held the reflection of a
glowing green man.

"Say
goodbye to your science project," Charlie said, and slashed out a green
hand at the white centre of the rift engine.

The rushing of a
thousand hurricanes roared behind the white tear. The conductor pole took on an
ominous blue glow as it sucked in the energy. The edges of the rift engine
shook and then it was gone, sucked inside the Divide.

Without the rift
engine to control the influx of energy the conductor pole began fizzing,
sending bolts of energy out into the engine room. In an instant, the room
resembled the inside of a thundercloud.

Doctor Sree
called out for Charlie to help him.

Charlie looked
down at the scientist a final time, winked, and dived through the rift.