The Experiment (12 page)

Sara closed the door behind us and said “Everyone it’s ok, you can trust him, I trust him!”

There was nothing but silence. Judging by the way they were all looking at me, I had a feeling they knew exactly who I was… and what I’d been doing… I could see the disgust, and even hatred…

Then out of nowhere I heard a familiar voice fill the room.

“I know this man better than I know any of you, if we can trust anyone it’s him. I give you my word!”

It was Kayin.

He walked over and embraced me.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t contact you sooner man. We couldn’t risk you possibly giving us away, whether you would mean to or not. You’re too close to Horus…”

I was so overwhelmed and happy, I was speechless…

Kayin looked at me remorsefully “I’m sorry about what I said last time we spoke… I had just found out and I was so angry... I had no idea the danger you were in. Then Sara and I met and she told me everything… I wanted to tell you. I…”

I stopped him “It’s ok Kayin, I’m just gald we’re talking again… What is all this?”

Sara stepped forward “Like Kayin said, you’re too close to Horus so we’ve had to keep you in the dark… We’ve been quietly gathering people who want this to stop… We’re planning on taking the ship and setting the natives free.”

Kayin said “Sara’s been recruiting people from the science and I’ve been working on gaining support within the military and the rest of the crew… Almost everyone I talk to about what’s happening with the natives seems upset and feels like they were lied to… As the months pass we’re just getting more and more people willing to join our cause.”

I replied “Do you think we’ll actually have enough people to take the ship?”

Kayin laughed “Oh that’s going to be the easy part… Almost the whole military is either keeping watch or assisting with the mining. The ship is basically left
unguarded… Technically we should have enough people to seize it right now. The problem is going to be convincing the majority of the military and the miners to side with us... Because of the revolt, many of them still have a lot of hatred towards the natives.”

“…Yeah, I heard you had to be involved in that… I’m sorry…”

I could tell I struck a nerve by the look on his face. He didn’t respond, he just looked at the ground and then back at me… He didn’t have to; I knew exactly what he was feeling. He had to watch them die; even kill them, just like Sara and I…

I instantly regretting even bringing it up…

For over a year I’ve felt completely helpless and alone. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a dream that didn’t eventually turn into a nightmare. I came to dread sleeping long ago; it didn’t allow me a break from the horrible things I saw every day like it should have. They would all come rushing back, moments after I closed my eyes.

To see Kayin, Sara, and so many others ready to take action against the ACI almost made me fall to my knees. I knew there had to be others that wouldn’t be able to stand by and let this happen.

As I looked around the room I could see the same pain and anger in their eyes that burned inside me every day… But at the same time I also started to think about what we were up against.

Even though Kayin said it would be easy, there were still at least a few hundred members of the military division left on this ship, all with advanced training and big salaries at stake.

I had to question Kayin “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here with all of you right now… You have no idea what this means to me… And how much I’ve missed you. But I also can’t see how this can work with so few people…”

Kayin got a wild look in his eyes and smiled.

He moved closer to me “We’ve been working at this for some time Atlas. This isn’t everyone involved… not even close. Remember, we have to be as secretive as possible. Can’t make our gatherings too large… Atlas, there are hundreds of people from every division standing by, ready to go. We’ve actually got really good odds, and I have a feeling when we do act, the others will follow… Everyone knows this is wrong, whether they’ve admitted it to themselves yet or not.”

I suppose it was just like Kayin to organize something like this. I’m not at all surprised that he would want to take action against the ACI for what they’ve done; he’s a good man… The best I’ve ever known and I know why anyone would want to follow him. He was the perfect person to recruit more people for this…

As I stood there, I could feel myself coming back to
life. Almost as if an invisible force had been restraining my very essence… Though I guess I know exactly what that force was… or more like who…

All that mattered, is it was gone now. If it were up to me we would act immediately. The longer we wait the more natives will die… And just thinking about how much Horus enjoys his deity status infuriates me to no end.

I looked Kayin in the eyes and said “I believe in you Kayin, I always have. You’re the best guy I’ve ever known. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it… no matter what it is.”

I looked over at Sara and I could see that she was completely confident about the situation. I knew right then, looking at her and Kayin, and everyone in that room, that we would succeed in freeing the natives.

Kayin continued to explain that he and a lot of the other soldiers were shocked and angered by the plan from the very beginning. Unfortunately, Commander Neros has a lot of influence and quite a few men who are loyal only to him.

Kayin is convinced that even they will turn once they realize what’s taking place, but that we still had to expect heavy resistance… He also claimed he was going to kill Neros with his own hands…

“Neros is mine… After all those speeches about how we have to care about people and not be selfish. I can’t believe I fell for it… It was nothing more than an
act to get us all out here so we’d feel helpless and desperate enough to go along with his plan…”

I stopped Kayin and said “Then I’ll be the one that kills Horus. That man is a monster and he doesn’t deserve to be alive… And he definitely doesn’t deserve to go on and tell his story to anyone… you have no idea what he’s done. Even if I were to describe some of it…”

Kayin stopped me “I already planned on having you take out Horus, that’s one of the reasons you’re here… Though there’s a lot more to this plan than just a takeover and bringing those two criminals to justice. It will all be about timing. You’re going to have to be patient and continue what you’re doing.”

Kayin explained that he was slowly organizing even more people to join the resistance. He planned on having explosives set off near the mining sites in order to disorient the men still loyal to Neros right before the attack.

Then, everyone on our side would secure every site by any means necessary as the rest of us took the ship.

Other than the thinly spread military personnel, the ship was mainly occupied by technicians, along with a few hundred scientists and the flight crew. Most likely they wouldn’t put up much of a fight, especially since they’d be completely unarmed... He even claimed to have several people on the flight deck involved as
well.

The more he explained the details of his plan the more I knew it would definitely work. It almost seemed too easy, but we had the element of surprise; no one would ever expect an attack from within. Not even Neros… He and Horus were far too arrogant and focused on their own aspirations to think something like that could ever happen.

It seems as though time had worn away at everyone’s conscience. According to Kayin almost anyone he eventually confronted wanted Horus and Neros dead, and the natives freed… Of course he had to be very careful. If he let one wrong person in on the plan it was all over. He had to pick and choose wisely…

When Kayin was done talking to me, he turned around and addressed the room.

“Ok everyone this will be our last meeting for some time. The day is coming and we can’t risk anyone finding out. It could be a week or even a year… You will all be contacted for one final debriefing before we act, but be ready at any time. Just a handful of errors in timing could ruin everything…”

Kayin paused, looked down at the floor and clenched his fists.

He jerked his head back up and looked at everyone – I could see the fire in his eyes.

“You all know what we’re doing, don’t let anyone
get in your way… Try not to kill any of our people… but do what’s necessary; there is no one innocent here, even us!.. So we must all be ready to give our own lives for this as well… it’s the very least we can do!”

They were harsh words, but they were true. None of us were innocent, even though we were eventually going to try and help; we let it happen in the first place.

We could have all refused and started an uprising right then but we didn’t… because we were afraid. Of course I wouldn’t ever say that, but I’m sure some of them had come to the same realization… This was almost directly our fault as we made it all possible by cooperating.

We could place all the blame on the ACI and men like Neros and Horus, but the reality was different… And I felt the least I could do is recognize it...

It’s the reason I couldn’t sleep, and the reason I’ve had countless nightmares… It’s because I know that I LET this happen. So many natives were tortured and killed before my very eyes and I did nothing… In fact I was helping the man in charge of it all…

I thought to myself “Am I the guiltiest person in the room?.. Do I even deserve to kill Horus after all I had done?..”

Maybe I’m a monster just like him, only selfish and afraid as well…

There was no doubt in my mind that I would die for this if need be. I just hope I can do even better and give them back their freedom… Then maybe one day, I’d be able to forgive myself…

Once everyone else left the room, Kayin lightly slapped me on the side of the head and started laughing.

“I can’t believe what you got yourself into! What are the chances Horus would pick you of all people… You’re lucky I’m here to save you Atlas!” He continued to laugh.

“I know… I think about it every day, believe me. If only I hadn’t gone back out to the asirium hall after Neros’ speech… Horus wouldn’t even know I exist… ”

The laughter and happiness in his eyes quickly faded… “There’s another part of the plan… this is where you come in… I came up with a crazy idea and I’m interested in your opinion.”

He went on to present the idea of me stealing at least two of the injections from Horus’ lab.

His plan was to use some of his contacts on the planet to further advance a few of the natives. When Horus originally advanced a few of them to act as leaders, they immediately rallied the others and formed a rebellion… Kayin wanted to try and convince the natives to coordinate an attack alongside ours.

“If the miners can teach them to mine, then I’m sure we can convince them to attack at a certain time.”

One of the mining sites was especially large, which meant a lot of armed men… He had the idea of immediately overwhelming the remaining soldiers and miners in the hopes they would all surrender and join us. He felt it could prevent hundreds of deaths if they knew there was no point in fighting back… And I agreed with him.

There was only one problem I could think of…

“Well now that they worship us as their creators, will we be able to get them to attack again? After everything that happened they may refuse to do it this time.”

“I’m thinking that maybe we’ll be actually able to communicate with the ones we further advance. Then they can convince and coordinate the other, just as they did before… And I know a guy who studied ancient languages before he joined the ACI. If anyone can do it, it’s him.”

He made a good point. They had already come up with a simplistic language, the ability to learn and coordinate, displayed the want to be free, and most importantly the will and courage to fight.

If a few of them were smart enough to understand what we wanted them to do, and that we wanted to help them, they should theoretically be able to convince the others.

I said “Kayin, like I said before; I trust you…and yeah I think it’s a good idea… I’ve looked into their eyes
while Horus was drilling holes in their heads… they want to be free and they’re smart enough to recognize us trying to help them; I know it.”

Kayin nodded “Alright then, I don’t know how long it will be until we’re ready but the faster you act, the sooner we can do this.

I said “I know exactly where he has some extra ones in his lab… I remember the day perfectly... He commented about wishing he could take the experiments even further…”

I could see the disgust on Kayin’s face as he closed his eyes and shook his head…

“I have to get back Atlas. Be ready… It was great to see you… Just have Sara send someone to contact me when you get the injectors. And hopefully, next time we meet will be the day we all make up for what we’ve allowed to happen.”

“I’ll be there, right alongside you.”

We shook hands and he walked out.

I could tell all of this had changed him… I’m sure it had changed all of us in one way or another...

Only Sara and I remained. I was still a little nervous around her so I stood there hoping she would talk...

She walked over and touched my arm “Atlas, I’m sorry it had to be like this. We couldn’t risk telling you too soon…”

I smiled “I completely understand… If anything I was just worried about you…”

We didn’t speak for quite some time and just looked into each other’s eyes. The side effects from the stasis definitely hadn’t subsided… Maybe they never would.

Eventually Sara said “The effects haven’t gone away you know… I still feel like I miss you…”

I felt relieved to know I wasn’t the only one and replied “I thought about you every day. All I wanted to do is take you and get away from here… It was horrible having to see you all the time and not being able to talk.”

I could see her expression change from shy, to the same sadness I see when I look in the mirror every day. “Well you know it has to stay this way…”

Even though I was still somewhat nervous around her, I reached out and took her hand.

“I know, but it was really good to spend time with you, even if it’s just for a minute…”