Chapter Twenty-Seven: Life

Jason walked into the Grandstand. He headed straight for the bar where he saw Celeste sitting on a stool on the end, a beer bottle in her hand.

‘They said I might find you here’ Jason said, sitting next to her, looking at her. Celeste remained silent, putting the bottle to her mouth, tipping it slightly.

‘Not talking huh? Well I’m not letting you drink alone. I’m going to sit right here and drink with you and we’re going to talk because they told me what happened. Understand?’ Jason told her. Jason signalled to one of the civilians behind the bar who handed him a bottle.

‘Alright,’ Jason said opening the bottle. ‘I’ll start. What happened wasn’t your fault’

‘I’ve heard this speech enough times to know what you’re going to say’ Celeste said quietly.

‘She speaks. Apparently you haven’t spoken to anyone the last couple of days and your actions have been out-of-character. For example no one knew you drank beer, let alone drink full stop’ Jason said.

‘Because I don’t, and this,’ Celeste replied, shaking the bottle. ‘It's the only thing we’ve got’ Celeste continued as she finished off the bottle. Jason started drinking his.

‘That’s…new’ Jason said, his eyes popping.

‘I take don’t drink’ Celeste said.

‘I do occasionally, mainly vodka. But as you said, this will have to do’ Jason said, smiling a little.

‘At least you’re back, with Sarah as you promised’ Celeste said, turning to face him. Her eyes were bloodshot but Jason saw a slight glimmer of joy in her eyes. Jason didn’t want to crush it, he could see it was the only thing keeping her going, but he knew he had to do it. She deserved to know. Jason sighed.

‘You might want another one’ Jason said.

‘Celebrating your return?’ Celeste asked as the civilian handed her another bottle. She opened and drank almost immediately.

‘Yes and no. Celeste, in order to escape the prison, I had to use Nexus forces as a diversion. Claire, Sarah and I, plus two others made it out but um…’ he started.

‘What is it?’ Celeste said. She was already halfway through the bottle.

‘Sarah was shot. She… she died a couple of hours ago’ Jason told her.

‘What?’ Celeste said quietly, her voice shaking.

‘Sarah’s dead. She bled to death in front of me’ Jason said. ‘We were just too little too late’

‘No…’ Celeste said, getting off the stool and backing away. ‘You’re lying’ Celeste said as she left Jason and ran off. Carlisle had been watching from afar and walked over to him.

‘It’s a lot to process’ he said.

‘Yeah, well… she needed to know’ Jason replied.

‘Should someone keep an eye on her?’ Carlisle asked.

‘No. Like you said, it’s a lot to process especially after losing the baby. She just needs time’ Jason answered.

‘Ok, that’s your decision. We still have several things to discuss. The most pressing is what to do with the Nexus prisoners. We can’t keep them locked up in the kitchen long-term’ Carlisle said.

‘I agree. I know military protocol says execution but I think they’re perfect bargaining chips, both for protection and dealing’ Jason said.

‘Protection?’ Carlisle asked.

‘The Nexus won’t try to take the Racecourse if they have soldiers that are being held as prisoners inside. In the meantime, I want to speak to Miles’ Jason said.

‘Knock yourself out. He’s through that door on your right’ Carlisle responded, pointing at the door.

‘I’m back,’ Jason said, walking into the opening, leaning against a wall. ‘Did you miss me?’

‘Jason,’ Miles replied unhappily. ‘I see you survived’

‘You knew about that’

‘I hear things. The door isn’t that thick’ Miles said. Jason nodded.

‘As you probably know, the military have a process for dealing with… with people like you,’ Jason said. When Miles didn’t respond he continued. ‘It’s like a trial, except you don’t get to defend yourself. All the evidence gets shown to the other soldiers and then a silent vote. If you’re found innocent, congratulations, you’re free to go. If you’re found guilty, it’s the death penalty. I am giving you twenty-four hours. If you confess and tell us everything you know about the Nexus in that time, Death Penalty comes off the table’ Jason said to him.

‘But you’ve got the wrong man-‘ Miles started.

‘Then you have the twenty-four hours to give us the name of the right man’ Jason said, leaving the room. He saw a large leather couch on a carpeted floor which Jason collapsed himself into and let out a sigh of pleasure as comfort overwhelmed him. Next thing he knew he was being shaken by Carlisle.

‘Good, you’re awake’ Carlisle said, his voice sounding a little panicked.

‘I didn’t even know I was asleep’ Jason replied.

‘Yeah well, we’ve got bigger problems. Celeste is missing. Last time anyone saw her was an hour ago. A car is missing too, presumably taken by Celeste’ Carlisle said.

‘Have you searched the Racecourse?’ Jason asked.

‘Twice. How do you think we know she’s missing?’ Carlisle replied.

‘Alright, I’ll take a car, Emilia and Claire and go find her. You’re in charge until I get back’ Jason told him.

‘You don’t even know where to look’ Carlisle responded.

‘Tell them to meet me outside’ Jason ordered. He had a feeling that he knew exactly where she was.

‘You’re sure she’s going to be here?’ Claire asked as Jason pulled a car he had taken from the Racecourse roughly into a car park, and parked it across two parking spaces.

‘Call it a hunch’ Jason replied. They arrived at Scarborough beach, the sun was setting over the little amount of water they could see. For a moment Jason was reminded of the peace that had come before what many now regarded as a war. Jason ran down to the shore and saw that Celeste was already in the water up to her waist. Jason’s hydrophobia set in now. The water wasn’t violent, in fact it was quite calm, but he could tell there was a strong current as Celeste seemed to be fighting to walk in a straight line. Jason stood at the water’s edge, watching as Celeste walked further into the water that was creeping up to her neck.

‘Celeste!’ Jason called out. Celeste turned and saw him.

‘How did you find me?’ She asked. A slight was blowing now.

‘It doesn’t matter. Don’t do this’ Jason pleaded. He was afraid of this.

‘I miss her already’ Celeste said breathing deeply. Jason could tell she was on the edge, that she would take herself under at any moment.

‘You really think Sarah would want you to do this?’ Jason asked.

‘Do you believe?’ Celeste asked.

‘Believe?’

‘In God? In the afterlife? Celeste added. Jason shook his head.

‘I don’t’ Jason answered.

‘Why not?’

‘Because if he’s so perfect why did he create a world with so many imperfections? That being said I have no problem with people believing in their perfectionist God,’ Jason replied. ‘Now please, come out of the water’

‘I can’t’ Celeste said simply and let herself fall under the water.

‘Celeste, no!’ Jason said, but it was useless. His voice carried over the surface of the water, deaf on Celeste’s ears. Jason knew had to move, pull her out but between his fear of water and the shock of seeing Celeste go under, he couldn’t move. He stood there for what felt like hours to him until either Claire or Emilia pushed him into the water. The shock of the cold temperature forced him to move. He didn’t know how long Celeste had been under. A minute at the least but possibly longer and given how drunk she was, she could’ve drowned already. All fear aside Jason swam to where Celeste had gone under, letting the current take him which was indeed strong, after a few strokes he was already about thirty metres down the beach. Suddenly his foot hit solid flesh, Celeste’s body. Taking a deep breath to calm himself he dove down. The salt water stung his eyes, almost blinding him. All he could see were cloudy shapes in the water, but he could the see the outline of Celeste just metres in front of him. Slowly he wrapped his arms around and pulled her up, gasping for air as he broke through the surface. Celeste was unconscious and Jason realised he hadn’t thought this through. He hadn’t thought about how he was going to carry Celeste’s deadweight back to the shore. Slowly he planted his feet into the sand below him and slowly fought against the current to walk back to shore. Jason’s legs carried him through the water and he was exhausted by the time he reached the sand on the shore. Jason collapsed as he saw Claire and Emilia run over to them.

‘Jason?’ Claire said.

‘I’ll be fine, help Celeste’ Jason panted, rolling onto his back, catching his breath. He could hear Emilia trying to resuscitate Celeste and eventually, just when he could tell that Emilia was about to give up he heard the coughing and splattering of water

Chapter Twenty-six: The Warrior Returning Alive

Jason shook Sarah’s lifeless body. It couldn’t end like this, so close and yet so far.

‘I’ll go get a shovel’ Emilia said.

‘What for?’ Claire asked.

‘A grave’ Emilia replied.

‘We are not burying her. Not here’ Jason said.

‘Then what are we doing?’ Razim asked.

‘Our objective hasn’t changed. All that’s changed is Sarah’s dead. We are taking her body back. Celeste would want to see her sister one last time, regardless’ Jason answered. There was silence for a moment.

‘Jason, I told you. We are not willing to carry a corpse all the way there’ Emilia said, breaking the silence.

‘Who said anything about carrying her? We’ll need a car’ Jason replied.

‘He’s right,’ Claire said. ‘It’s what Celeste would want’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know Jason was Celeste’s bitch’ Razim replied.

‘This has nothing to do with command’ Jason growled, a little offended.

‘Why don’t you two go find a working car? We’ll stay here, gather as many supplies as we can’ Claire said. Emilia nodded and left with Razim.

‘Please tell me you got what you needed from their systems’ Jason said to Claire.

‘I think so. I haven’t had a chance to look yet’ Claire replied, pulling cans of food from the counter. It was only now that Jason realised they had stopped in a café. He pulled himself up and helped Claire with food.

‘You want to tell what you saw?’ she asked.

‘Who says I saw anything?’ Jason replied.

‘I do,’ Claire told him. ‘When you came into the prison, you were throwing a fit or some sort of seizure. When you went down then, you threw the same thing. So what did you see?’

‘Honestly? I don’t know’ Jason said.

‘Well maybe I can help,’ Claire replied. ‘I didn’t just come across why the Tallentiri are here. When you go in, you have nightmares or lucid dreams. Whatever they do to us, causes us to see our worst fears. I saw myself trapped in a series of Earthquakes-‘

‘You’re scared of Earthquakes?’ Jason asked.

‘It’s a phobia. Moving on, what did you see when you first came in?’ Claire asked.

‘First of all, I saw three things. Not many people know it but I’m a little superstitious. The first thing I was trapped in a room of mirrors. I can’t remember how, but they broke and I fell through the floor which was also a mirror’ Jason said.

‘Which is like what? Seven years bad luck?’ Claire responded.

‘Per mirror. So roughly forty-two years, give or take a mirror. Anyway, after I fell through the mirror, I landed in an ocean-‘

‘You’re afraid of water?’

‘I’m hydrophobic’ Jason admitted.

‘But you drink it’ Claire said.

‘Of course I drink it. It’s near impossible to drown in a glass of water,’ Jason snapped. ‘The water was calm originally, but when I moved it became wavy, then violent. The waves picked me up, then dunked me over and over. I lost count how many times I drowned. And I’d rather not talk about the third thing I saw’ Jason relented.

‘That bad huh?’ Claire asked.

‘You have no idea’ Jason told her, stuffing the cans roughly into a bag. They heard two cars pull up out front. Jason calmly walked over and picked the Aug off the floor and took cover behind the coor.

‘It’s ok,’ Claire said, peering through the window. ‘It’s them’

‘Ok. You take the food, I’ll carry Sarah out to the car’ Jason said. Claire nodded as she went and stuffed the last few cans into the bag and carried them out. Jason walked over and carefully picked up Sarah’s body; one arm under her arms and the other under her knees.

‘One driver and one gunner per car. Jason, you’re driving and you have Claire with you-‘ Emilia started.

‘I thought I was in charge?’ Jason said.

‘They spotted us. We have to go now’ Razim told him. Jason nodded.

‘I’ll take the leading car and Sarah’ Jason said, lowering Sarah’s body onto the back seat.

‘Where are we going?’ Emilia asked.

‘I haven’t decided that yet. No matter what you stay on my ass, understand?’ Jason said as he got into the driver’s seat, Claire sat beside him. Jason handed her the Aug.

‘Anything moves that isn’t Emilia or Razim’s car, you shoot it’ Jason told her. Claire nodded as Jason slammed the car into drive and took off. They were under attack almost instantly. Nexus forces came from everywhere. Claire fired and they heard either Razim or Emilia follow suit. Jason made a sharp right turn, nearly flipping the car and saw the Nexus had cars of their own.

‘Shoot their tires Claire!’ Jason ordered as the cars came speeding towards them. As each of Claire’s shots hit the tires, the tires popped and the cars spun out of control as Jason sped through, Emilia and Razim weren’t far.

‘That won’t stop them forever’ Claire told him.

‘I know, but it buys us some time at least’ Jason replied. Emilia sped up and drove along them, winding her window down. Jason rolled down his.

‘Well done. Nearly cut us off’ Emilia called out, watching the road every so often.

‘But didn’t’ Jason called back.

‘Where are we going?’ Emilia asked.

‘Freeway, then Tunnel, I’m still leading’ Jason answered. Jason sped up and then turned sharply onto the freeway.

‘Jason, the freeway is going to be packed with cars’ Claire said.

‘You’d think that, but there weren’t any on the freeway outside of Perth. Also, if the invasion happened in the morning I’d agree with you, but it didn’t’ Jason replied. And what he said held true. The freeway was clear.

‘We lost them’ Claire said.

‘For now at least. I don’t doubt they’re planning something’ Jason said, suddenly remembering something.

‘Do you still have the envelope?’ he asked.

‘Why do you ask that?’

‘You asked what I saw. Well I had a chat with my old man. He said I’m right about the spy, that the envelope would tell me exactly who it is’ Jason said.

‘You have a fear of your dad?’ Claire asked him.

‘More like a fear of becoming him but that’s beside the point. This wasn’t like the first time. This was real’ Jason replied.

‘They’re designed to feel real’

‘You don’t understand. Just, the envelope. Please tell me you still have it’ Jason told her.

‘Yes. I gave it to Celeste shortly before I was captured’ Claire replied. They had entered the tunnel.

‘Good’ Jason replied. So far so good, Jason thought to himself. They were nearly home. Nearly safe. The two cars drove out the outside and onto a bridge where they met a blockade of Nexus soldiers. Jason stopped. There was a Nexus soldier waiting patiently in front of the vehicles. Jason got out of the car, taking his rifle from Claire. Razim and Emilia stayed in their car, pulling up beside them.

‘Stay here’ He muttered. The Solider chuckled.

‘Go on. Try it. You’re outnumbered and outgunned. You’ll be shot be shot to pieces within seconds, Jason Blake’ he said.

‘And you would be?’ Jason asked.

‘Commander Michaels. Also the beginning of your end. I must say, you are quite crafty and a slippery one to catch. Using our forces to break yourself out of a Tallentiri prison? Well played. I’ll admit. That thought didn’t cross our minds. I assume Heath gave you the code?’ Michaels asked. Jason nodded.

‘What do you want?’ Jason asked. He notice a slight flash from one of the windows of the racecourse. Jason had to assume it was from military snipers. Jason had seen this play out in drills when he was at the Barracks with his dad. He hoped it played out right.

‘Well, the High Commander wants your head on a spike. Me? I’ll settle for… your head over there and… the rest of you over there,’ Michaels said pointing in opposite directions. ‘But before all that, you have something we need’

‘The envelope?’ Jason enquired.

‘They told me you were intelligent but I didn’t believe it. Yes, the envelope. We can’t afford that lying around’ Michaels answered.

‘Well you are obviously slow. I don’t have it. It was destroyed when I was captured’ Jason said.

‘Liar. We know it still exists’ Michaels snarled. Jason hung his left arm at his side, his index finger pointing down. And Michaels dropped, a small hole in the back of his head. Ground forces of the military at the Racecourse were advancing behind the Nexus cars but their drivers surrendered themselves without a fight. As did their supporting soldiers. Carlisle walked up to Jason.

‘You’re alive’ Carlisle said.

‘No thanks to your weapon. It was almost out when you gave it to me’ Jason told him.

‘Well I did tell you to get a new one,’ Carlisle said. ‘Anyway, we’ll take you all back. There’s some things you need to know’