The Past Read online

  VanWest reviews the Colonel’s list of dangers, he has encountered quite a few already, the Packs of mutant dogs in number 7 check, and numbers 1. Murderous criminals armed with lasers, 2. Booby-traps, fake floors and trip mines, 4. Falling rocks and spikes and quite possibly 9. Sensory deprivation gases causing hallucinations, with the maddened man in an Enforcer uniform and beard.

  He inspects the area around him - these are neither ordinary skeletons nor themed decorations. A cold shiver runs down his spine. Judging by their armour, albeit of an older design, like the maddened Enforcer they must be contestants of old. Their final foe proving to be too strong for them to overcome. But what number on the list is that? What is this danger?

  He dims his weapon’s light and cautiously moves forward in search of his squad, trying not to get entangled in the threads. Alpha lies close by, slightly concussed and wincing from his bite wound. He has wrapped his shoulder tightly, making good use of the sticky and silky threads to make a makeshift bandage. VanWest signals to him, placing his index finger on his lips to instruct a dazed Alpha to remain quiet, and then points to the skeletons. VanWest then signals for Alpha to follow as he continues to search for the rest of the squad, Barys and Kun-Lee. At the other end of the passage is a familiar-looking yellow light.

  There’s another astral map on the floor. And, as with the other one, it appears to depict Pytheas’s voyage although at a different point. Here only one pictogram is etched into the stone, that of a long narrow sailing boat docked on an island, what must be the now uninhabitable British Isles with the star Polaris at about 45-degrees to its right. It seems to shine down on the dock. Before he can analyse the drawing further, he notices that his right hand is trembling. Something is amiss!

  A low thrum follows, passing along the walls, and a flash crosses his mind. He has a vision of a spider and a trapped Enforcer slowly being eaten alive. He turns his head slightly to his right and freezes. There’s an ugly brown creature not too far away, it has not two, not four, but eight long legs. And it does have a body! The creature is meticulously wrapping silk threads around its prey, cocooning it to feast on it later. He’s in the lair of every human’s nightmare, the most vicious and largest spider of them all, the Gigs Aranea Cavernae Incola. This danger is number 8 on the Colonel’s list, gigantic carnivorous insects, in this case, a giant spider.

  First discovered in 2535, in Peru, deep underground in a disused mine, this spider is one of only a few lifeforms to excel in an increasingly radioactive world. Having evolved, from a much smaller tarantula, it has grown quite dramatically size-wise! It has since been bred and trained by the Universal Council to hunt and kill rebels hiding deep underground, as well as for entertainment, regularly featuring in executions.

  This time, he spots one of the viewing portals, a blob on the ceiling above the spider. Purposely placed there for the Elites and citizens to watch the competitors’ grizzly deaths. VanWest is a little taken aback by just how gruesome this spectacle is, likely made to show a heroic death by a giant spider, in truth terribly cruel. In the midst of such danger, a fleeting thought crosses his mind, how most of those of low odds are being used, the prize so unattainable. But as an Enforcer, he cannot question and think these devious thoughts about his masters. And, he realises that this wrapped body could be one of his missing squad members. He must take action to help!

  Alpha, now able to talk, whispers, ‘We need to get out… Let’s go’.

  ‘Over there, that could be Barys and Kun-lee. We are a squad, we fight and die together. There is honour, we cannot leave without them’, VanWest objects in a low voice.

  ‘Roach them! There’s a race on, and time is running out. Let’s go, that’s an order’! Alpha only thinking of the prize, HIS prize.

  VanWest pushes Alpha’s hand away as he attempts to pull him along. Unfortunately, the commotion catches the attention of the spider. It swiftly turns towards them - screech - as if angered by the interruption to its feasting preparations. VanWest reacts fast by firing his weapon, which pierces the creature’s abdomen, splashing green goo across. Despite this, the spider remains upright, now even more incensed. Its spindly and razor-sharp front legs kick out at him, knocking him to the floor and his rifle in the opposite direction. Alpha jumps out of the way and flees. His cowardly run does not evade the spider’s wrath; it catches him with an ejection of gooey sticky thread, pinning him against the adjacent wall.

  Lying winded on his back, VanWest watches as the creature crawls over him. Its pinchers opening wide as it leers, salivating as if imagining him to be a tantalising and bloodied piece of raw tartare. VanWest is paralysed, frozen in fear, envisioning his body being put into a moribund state as his blood is slowly sucked out. He never imagined going out this way.

  All seems lost as the spider’s pinchers bear down on him, but then a blue light illuminates the lair. The light swoops down from above, cutting the spider’s head clean off. To his relief, he finds it belongs to that of a Blue team Enforcer… Barys! His distinct purple eyes instantly recognisable. Barys cuts the spider’s legs next, splattering more goo across as it collapses and slams against the floor. It is dead.

  Clearing the saliva and goo from VanWest’s face and armour, Barys stretches out his hand and pulls him to his feet, exchanging a salute and a smile.

  ‘Barys, you saved my life! I will repay you one day. As per the code of honour, you can ask me any favour’.

  ‘No problem, VanWest. There is always honour between us… where’s Kun’?

  ‘I saw the spider threading a cocoon… there, over there’! VanWest points.

  Barys sets about cutting through the silk threads with his laser sword, finally uncovering Kun-lee’s deathly pale face, allowing him to breathe freely. VanWest leans over, placing two fingers on his neck, he detects a faint pulse. Relieved, he goes somewhat reluctantly to Alpha, who is still stuck against the wall and pulls him from the gooey, sticky matter. He focuses once again on the squad’s objective: to help the Blue team win, and yes, even if it means that Alpha is the one collecting its ultimate prize of Elite status.

  ‘Give us a hand to lift up Kun’, Barys asks, not quite realising the full extent of Alpha’s injury.

  ‘Roach him! Let’s go! We don’t have time’, Alpha responds in an irritated tone, quickly remaking his silk bandage.

  ‘Alpha, you see me leaving you behind? Gosh, saved you twice already. Where’s your sense of duty and honour at’? Barys berates him while lifting Kun-lee’s limp body over his shoulders.

  ‘The competition isn’t about honour, it is about winning. Kun is going to make us lose’! Alpha counters. Barys shakes his head in disgust and looks away.

  Determined to escape this maze, VanWest returns to the dimly lit astral map. His eyes focusing once again on the boat that is docking, wondering why its journey ends in line with the star Polaris. The star seems to shine brightest. Wanting to see it better, he asks the squad to ‘turn-off’ their weapon’s light. Eureka! There’s a promising discovery, in the dark he can see a faint stream of light cutting through the dock and Polaris at a 45-degree angle and radiating out of the map.

  VanWest follows the light stream to its source, the others following curiously, whilst also staying wary of any other danger that could lie ahead. After several steps, they find that it originates from a very tiny slit in the rocks, there is a loose stone. VanWest bends down to pull it free from the wall, after several forceful yanks opens it up, sending a flood of light into the hallway. It’s a path to the surface!

  Opening up the orifice as wide as possible, VanWest keeps his honour by helping Barys to drag Kun-lee through. An impatient Alpha standing guard behind. One after the other they squeeze through and exit. They have completed the voyage as indicated on the astral map, reaching the end of the Pytheas’s Labyrinth.

  As they exit, a deafening cacophony of explosions and warning sirens ring out. Their communicators also reactivate. The exasperated voice of their base commander, the Colonel, come
s through, ‘Enforcers! Are your cerebral hearing implants working? Copy that? … Answer’!

  ‘Affirmative, Colonel! Communicators working’, VanWest is the first to reply.

  ‘Affirmative, Colonel’! Alpha and Barys both reply next.

  ‘Enforcers, you are behind. Separate if you must and roaching sprint to the orange light. The Reds are winning the race… Remember to stay sharp, these Space Roaches will be up to all sorts of dirty tricks. I warn you too, if you can’t run you better wait for a medical bot. Copy that’?

  ‘Roger that, Colonel’! They confirm.

  Pytheas’s Labyrinth has taken a hefty toll. The Colonel needs them to win the race. But they can no longer go as a squad of four, VanWest looks at Kun-lee, whose lips have turned a frosty blue, his body showing all the symptoms of anaphylactic shock. And then looks at Alpha, whose wound has bled through his makeshift web bandage, he looks pale and greatly enervated.

  Barys and VanWest can ill afford to support their weaker colleagues. They will need all their strength and energy to finish and survive this final stage. The orange light from the gateway into Stage 3, the Fire of Vesta, calls them on. A stage that promises to be the sternest test. If Stage 2 is about teamwork, Stage 3 is about individuals seeking a prize that many would literally kill for!

  Their emergence from the caves has seen the leaderboard update, their images prompting rapturous applause. After just two hours of racing, they find that the maze has recorded its highest casualty rate ever recorded, only 21 Out Of The 200 Competitors Remain. 179 are listed as Inactive, including Kun-lee. An instruction rolls through VanWest’s Moggle X lenses, informing him that 00:04:00 Remain To Complete Stage 2 before disqualification.

  VanWest urges an injured Alpha to capitulate and help Kun-lee, ‘You better wait for a medical bot to arrive. You are not strong enough for the Fires of Vesta, stay, make sure Kun gets medical attention’.

  Alpha grunts angrily, ‘You think I can’t handle a bit of pain? Roachtard, I’m here to win. He’s a dead man… Dump him and let’s go’!

  ‘Have some honour! You owe me to make sure he gets out of here’! Barys calls honour on him, having rescued Alpha twice.

  Attempting to continue forward, Alpha half faints and stumbles back. Seeing his oily blood running down his arm and dripping from his hand, he finally realises that his Games is over, ‘Roaching Hell’!

  Barys lays Kun-lee’s limp body down beside him, ‘Remember the code of honour, get him out’!

  Begrudgingly capitulating, Alpha cannot stop himself from taking a final parting shot, showing his true colours once more, ‘You roachtards are screwed without me. You aren’t Elite material. The Reds have already won’!

  VanWest shrugs his shoulders, there’s no time to waste on Alpha’s spiteful words. Resolutely, he hurries up the slope alongside Barys towards the orange light. Without a moment to spare, they enter together into the final stage, the Fires of Vesta.

  Chapter 3 Forewarned

  A surreal scene greets them, fire shooting up from pits and boulders crashing down from the sky. The collision of the rocks and fire produces layer upon layer of thick dust, making the white light of the finish line faint and distant like that of a faraway star. The air is hostile to breathe; putrid and acidic, it forces Barys and VanWest to activate their hazmat masks. A few minutes more of this and their lungs would burn, bringing with it a painful death.

  The Fires of Vesta looks to be a near-exact copy of last year’s final stage. Fortunately, the Blues have trained well for this under the Colonel’s tutelage. Barys and VanWest might even have a fighting chance of finishing. Notwithstanding this, their endurance and agility, including the ability to duck, run and jump as well as dive at a split-second’s notice, will be most certainly tested.

  As the Colonel has warned them, it could also prove to be a test of cunning. The Red team’s Space Roaches are undoubtedly lurking in blind spots. The high number of canyons scattered across this course are ideal for hiding and laying ambushes. Both would be wise to remain ready for the unexpected!

  VanWest and Barys check their communicators for any new instructions, only to find that they have been deactivated once more. They use their Moggle X mapping system to plot their route forward, calibrating it to return an optimal risk-reward path that will take them around the most dangerous parts of the debris field, North-East 44-Degrees, Fatality Risk 40%, Finish Time 00:20:00.

  Except they quickly realise that they don’t actually have 20 minutes, that is if they want to win. Looking up at the leaderboard, a Red Space Soldier is much further ahead than previously thought, his lead nearly insurmountable. If they want to bring the honour home for the Blues and win this race, there is only one choice to make, to re-calibrate their Moggle Xs for a more dangerous route. Barys and VanWest exchange a look and decide to go for it!

  Their Moggle Xs return with a route that takes them straight through the boulder canyon, North 0 Degrees, Fatality Risk 90%, Finish Time 00:15:00. More than doubling their risk of death.

  Agreeing, they charge into the fray following its path. Ducking to avoid the sharp-edged boulders raining down and jumping over flames that lash violently up at them and singes their armour and boots. In hindsight, their choice of plasma rifle over a jetpack may have proven to be somewhat short-sighted. As rookies, they hadn’t really planned to make it this far. Even though the debris field grows denser and the fire more violent, they skilfully keep progressing onwards against the odds.

  As Barys manages to avoid yet another roving boulder, VanWest isn’t so lucky. Clank! A piece of debris breaks away and clips his shoulder, deactivating his energy shield and throwing his plasma rifle out of reach. Barys rushes over to help, grabbing his arm and signalling for them to leap down into the canyon below, to take shelter from another fast approaching boulder. With no time to spare, they jump and land on a pile of smouldering gravel onto a ground littered with fragments of red and blue armour.

  ‘I have a bad feeling, we shouldn’t have come down here’, VanWest warns Barys, pointing to the fragments. His hands tremble, similar to the Spider’s lair.

  ‘Relax VanWest. Look a support cache’! Barys points enthusiastically towards a red box on top of a large pile of rocks opposite them.

  VanWest spots a red light. Knowing it to be danger, he screams ‘Red’! But it’s too late, several shots are already hurtling towards them.

  Whilst it’s technically against the rules to attack fellow competitors, this canyon is a viewing blind spot, effectively making it a no holds barred battleground. One of the shots deflects off a rock and catches Barys, piercing his body armour and ripping his torso open. His energy shield and hazmat gear knocked out of action and no longer able to protect him. He falls to his knees shrieking in agony, the acidic air entering his body, quickly turning his purple eyes yellowish as his blood boils. VanWest attempts to grab Barys’s plasma rifle to return fire, but another flurry of shots from the Soldier’s rifle incinerates the weapon before he can take hold of it.

  With the rifle now training on him, VanWest ducks down and scrambles towards the support cache, doing his best to avoid the debris and boulders that fall from above. The rifle’s shots narrowly miss him, and somehow he manages to reach the cache. As he grabs hold of the proton energy net inside, the Space Soldier, having activated his jetpack, lands right on top of him delivering a crushing kick to his ribs, which sends VanWest tumbling back under a plume of dust.

  VanWest recognises the Cr symbol on his red shoulder plate, it’s Major Chromes! The Space Army’s poster boy and last year’s runner up to its champion, Lt. Colonel Omega. Colonel Cornelius forewarned them about the ‘Space Roaches’, and their ‘dirty tricks’ - these competitors are without honour. In hindsight, both him and Barys should have taken heed and been warier when plotting their route.

  VanWest thinks fast, using the wall of dust to his advantage, he takes a risky gamble to remove the exterior layer of his body armour in order to make a decoy. He hopes to lur
e his dangerous foe into a surprise attack of his own. With only a thin layer of protective clothing to guard against the acidic air and any plasma shot, he hurries to hide behind a large rock before the dust settles. His armour shimmers, speckles of light breaking through the dust, enticing an oblivious Chromes in.

  ‘Got no skill, so very easy! Ha-ha’! Chromes taunts as he discharges several shots into the armour. But as soon as the words leave his mouth, he realises that he has made a crucial mistake, for this is a training class plasma rifle and not a combat one. He has unwittingly temporarily emptied his rifle’s charge.

  Seeing that his trap has worked, VanWest leaps from behind the rocks and counterattacks, throwing his proton energy net over a surprised Chromes.

  ‘Barys has a message for you, he says to go roach yourself’, VanWest yells as he tightens the proton energy net, suffocating Chromes until he passes out. The net designed to protect against debris proves to be an effective weapon as well.

  Bittersweet, he has made some progress. The announcer updates that only ‘Two Red Soldiers’ and ‘One Blue Enforcer’ remain. He’s the only Blue Enforcer left! This stage proving to be as deadly as the last. The smog above him dissipates as his face projects across the dome, those in the stands rapturously applauding. VanWest takes a deep breath through his hazmat mask, there is no time to celebrate. The leaderboard also shows that the two Red Soldiers are much closer to the finish line than him. The fight with Chromes has not only severely wounded Barys but has also cost him valuable time, time that he could ill afford to lose.

  He races over to a now unconscious Barys, grabbing his damaged blue armour on the way and placing it over his open wound. He manages to reactivate the hazmat mode, which to his relief still partially works. Despite wanting to stay and make sure his friend is okay, he knows all would have been in vain if the Red team were to win today. By giving him the body armour, he has hopefully saved his life and thus repaid the code of honour he owes. Barys should be picked up later. Well, at least VanWest convinces himself that he will be.