The Day of the Nefilim (36 page)

It was a long time before they put the last of them through. By then, the grid was reacting to what was going on. The current was growing erratic. By the time they took the last group to the Stream, the grid was no longer advancing on it. Its strength was gone, and it was retreating, falling back before the advancing effervescence like dark sand being covered by the incoming tide.

Anak pushed the last of the newborn through. “There are three more control points.”

“Then let’s find them. We must be giving someone a few headaches.”

Anak agreed. “If that’s what you get when your world starts collapsing around you, yes.”

* * *

They found the second control point, and then the third. They cleared both of them out, removing all of the prisoners from each and setting them free in the Stream. They lost track of time.

“They just feel, don’t they,” said Sahrin, watching the last of them float away. “I wonder if that’s all they’ll do.”

“There’s one more control point,” said Anak.

“And then they’ll be history.” Geoca was enjoying himself. “I wonder what’s happening out in the real world?”

“I’d say that we have their attention by now,” the blue woman answered.

“Let’s go.” Anak knew the way.

Sahrin had been thinking. “What’s to stop them just putting a whole lot more people in here, and reactivating the whole thing?”

“Nothing at all,” Anak replied. “An important detail, and one that can only be attended to in the physical world.”

“A bit of wanton destruction?”

“Totally wanton, I’m afraid.”

“Break a few gadgets…”

“
All
their gadgets…”

“Then let’s finish up here as soon as we can. The sooner we kill off this pile of shit, the better.”

The last control point soon became visible, glowing like a nebula in space.

“This one’s bigger than the others.”

“This is the main control point,” replied Anak. “This is the one we have to destroy for real.”

The blue woman stopped. “Wait. I can feel something. There’s someone in here with us.”

“But there hasn’t been anyone or anything here, apart from the prisoners.”

“Well, there’s someone here now, and they’re heading this way...”

* * *

Alexis saw them. They were entering the outer reaches of the primary ganglion. There were only two of them, a male and a female, both human. This was too easy!

“Go and get them,” she said to the two Nefilim she had brought with her. “Alive preferably, but if things don’t work out that way, I don’t care…”

The two aliens swept forward, Alexis floating behind them like a dark Madonna.

A Nefilim diving towards you is a frightening sight. They came screeching out of the clouds of static, their arms out-stretched and their jaws gaping, looking like demons from some witch burner’s nightmare.

“Shit,” said Geoca. “I hope this was the right thing to do.”

“So do I,” replied Sahrin. “But it’s too late now. Let’s go.”

They sped away, down between two converging arms of the ganglion. Their pursuers were gaining on them; they were too close for comfort. Sahrin felt something clutch at her foot. She kicked herself loose as Geoca took hold of her by an arm and threw her to one side. She landed against one of the cocoons in the web. Its occupant began thrashing around, making it hard for her to free herself.

As Geoca launched himself feet first at the closest Nefilim, the blue woman and Anak came flying out of the shadows. Their trap, such as it was, was as sprung as it would ever be.

The blue woman stopped in front of the two Nefilim. She turned herself into a burning star, redder and brighter than any fire, and then an instant later became a whirlwind, spreading out into arcs that rotated in space like flaming swords, threatening to incinerate everything in their path. The glare was so strong that the attackers were blinded. They reeled backwards, shielding their eyes. Taking advantage of the confusion, Anak had come up behind them. He grabbed the closest attacker around its neck and twisted. Its death squeal disappeared in the noise of the grid and the moans of the prisoners.

The blue woman wasn’t able to keep up her display for more than a few seconds, and the other Nefilim could soon see what was going on. It lashed out with a foot, reaching past the body of its companion and hitting Anak square in the face. He reeled backwards, struggling to stay conscious.

Geoca and Sahrin leapt forward. Each of them grabbed one of the Nefilim’s arms and pulled as hard as they could, stretching the alien out as though it was crucified in space. It flailed around wildly, trying to shake them off, but they both knew that they wouldn’t be getting any second chances, and they held on. The alien finally dislodged Sahrin by bringing a foot up and kicking her in the head. The Nefilim swung its free hand around, driving its talons into Geoca’s face. It took hold of him and swung him around, close to its mouth. The blue woman leapt onto the Nefilim, but she was too late to stop it from ripping into Geoca’s body with its teeth. It threw him aside and was turning on her when Anak came charging at it.

He drove a fist into the Nefilim’s body. The blue woman sprang away as the Nefilim doubled over, unable to resist as Anak sent it spinning away like a bowling ball, where it became caught up like an insect in the web that surrounded them. It lay there, trapped, its head twisting back and forth as it looked for some escape.

Alexis had been watching from a safe distance.
Damn, I’m such a fool,
she thought.
I’ve fucked up badly.
She should have let them talk her into bringing more than just the two aliens with her. But no, she had to prove that she was capable, and she was regretting it already.

Anak, the blue woman and Sahrin were looking in her direction.

I can’t fight here,
Alexis thought.
Shit!
There was nothing else to do. She turned and pushed herself away into the first current she could find. She would flee to the center of the ganglion, and get back to the real world. And then she would come back with enough help to waste these vandals.

But the current wasn’t fast enough, and Anak was. Alexis felt a strong grip close around one of her legs. She spun around. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you know what you’re doing?” she yelled, looking around desperately for a way to escape.

Anak knew what she was thinking. “Don’t bother,” he said. “There’s no way out of this.”

“That’s right,” said the blue woman. “And as for who we are – we’re your future.”

Alexis sneered. “That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think, freak?”

“Not at all, considering what we’re going to do,” said the blue woman.

Sahrin had stayed with Geoca. He was unconscious, and his wounds were bad. His body was mangled. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to survive. Unless… she took hold of Geoca, and moving him as carefully as she could, found a fast current to the Stream.

As they were approaching it, Geoca stirred. “It’s OK,” she said as he tried unsuccessfully to speak through the mess the Nefilim had made of his face. “It’ll be better soon.”

She eased him through the barrier between the grid and the Stream, gritting her teeth as he strained against the pain of the transition. “Hang in there,” she said, and then he was part of the Stream again. She stayed close as he floated, conscious but not moving. After a few minutes, he was able to communicate.

‘Better?’

‘Much better. I can feel the healing. Thank you.’

‘Not a problem. I know you’d do the same for me.’

‘Of course I would. What happened?’

‘You got hit in the face, but I expect that you knew that, and you got a bad Nefilim bite. You’re a mess, I’m afraid. Well, your body is, anyway. I thought you were done for.’

‘I don’t feel done for. Strange, isn’t it, that I should feel so much better here.’

‘Not so strange, perhaps. I’ll go back and see what’s happening. Don’t go too far away, OK?’

‘How far is too far? I’ll stay here.’

She went back to Anak and the blue woman. They were where she had left them, which was good; she didn’t like the idea of hunting for them in the confusion of this horrible place.

“Geoca’s fine.”

“Good. We have more problems, though. The Vice-Secretary and her friends have forced our hands,” the blue woman said. “If they hadn’t come, we could have removed the prisoners, and then had time to think about our next move. But it’s clear now that they know that something’s going on, and they’re prepared to do something about it. They wouldn’t have sent her” – she indicated Alexis – “otherwise.”

“And when she doesn’t return, they’ll send more…”

“Exactly. We’ve had one lucky break, and it would be too much to hope for another one. They won’t make the same mistake twice. They’ll send real numbers next time. We have to act quickly.”

“What, then?”

“What, then? You want to know what then, bitch?” snarled Alexis, who was still being held by Anak. “I’m going to take your…” Anak put a hand over her mouth. It covered most of her face, but it had the desired effect. He turned her around so that she was facing him and sent her a thought. When he turned her back around, she was silent.

The blue woman continued. “We have to get to the physical plane and disable the installation at the control point. They won’t be able to get in here or resupply it after that. Here’s the problem. The transformation process is slow. When they see that it’s us coming through, they’ll have plenty of time to deal with us while we are helpless.”

“And even if we did get through, we’d most likely be outnumbered,” added Anak.

“Big problem,” said Sahrin. “So what are we going to do?”

“The prisoners here need to be freed. That’s your job, Sahrin. Anak and I will make the transformation into the physical plane.”

“But you just said…”

“I know. But they won’t be seeing me. I’ll be in disguise.” She moved in front of Alexis. “You’re going to serve a purpose, Vice-Secretary. That should be something new for you.”

Alexis found her voice again. “Fuck off, skank!”

“Let go of her, Anak.”

The blue woman dissolved into a cloud of sparkling stars. Before Alexis could do anything, the cloud had enveloped her. She looked puzzled and tried to move, but her limbs wouldn’t obey her. The cloud began to grow smaller. At first it seemed as if it was condensing, but it wasn’t. It was soaking into the Vice-Secretary’s skin as though she was a sponge. As the last of the cloud disappeared into her and her skin returned to its normal color, Alexis’s agitation ceased and her face became calm.

The Vice-Secretary spoke. “This is my disguise.”

“Is it…” Sahrin hesitated – “you?”

“Until I leave this body, yes. Whoever is waiting on the other side shouldn’t find my appearance alarming, I think.”

“What about her? Where is she?”

“She’s here, and as you might expect, she’s communicating her displeasure to me. She’s very direct.”

The blue woman/Alexis turned to Anak. “Anak, do you think you’ll pass for one of them?” She pointed at the Nefilim that was stuck in the web. It had stopped moving.

“As long as they don’t look too closely.”

“Good. Sahrin, release as many people as you can. You’ll have to be quick, because there’s no way of telling what will happen once we get to the other side. And equally, we don’t know what will happen here if we disable their controls.”

“Oh, great. That makes me feel real secure. Give me what time you can.” Sahrin didn’t enjoy the thought that this might turn out to be a suicide mission.

The blue woman/Alexis and Anak turned away towards the center of the ganglion.

Sahrin set to work. There were so many of them. The pods were everywhere, and the task was even bigger now that she was doing it alone.

The other two reached the center of the mass. It was calm, in the way that the eye of a hurricane is calm. There was no static, just a ball of light suspended before them.

“That’s the entrance.” Anak moved towards it and put his hand on it. It rippled and changed color, like oil floating on water.

“Then let’s use it.”

They pressed against the surface. It resisted them briefly, stretching inwards, then parted. As they entered, their minds were thrown back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness. Alexis felt it, and surged against the intruder, fighting her with all the strength she could muster. The blue woman struggled to maintain control over her host.

* * *

A slurry of bubbles formed on the floor in the control center then joined together, creating a thick slurry of foam. The ground began stretching upwards as shapes formed under it. As it continued to rise, the rock didn’t crack or break, but dissolved slowly into the forming bodies, like water soaking into dry earth. Finally, their features became visible, and as their skin absorbed the last of the rock, their eyes opened.

The blue woman’s grip slipped, and Alexis made a break for it. She rushed into the space in her mind that the blue woman was grappling for, and planted herself there as strongly as she could. She pushed as hard as she could, and the blue woman was almost forced out. The cloud, blue again now that they were out of the grid, began to appear around her body as Alexis sat up. She looked around at the human and Nefilim scientists who were watching.

“Don’t just stand there!” Alexis yelled, jumping to her feet.

The blue woman rushed back into her. In an instant, she re-established control, pushing the shrieking Alexis back into her corner. The scientists looked confused. One of them stepped forward.

“Vice-Secretary, what’s going on? What was that blue light?”

She ignored him.
Don’t just stand there…
“Don’t just stand there!” she said. “Get on with your jobs!”

She looked around the room. They were in an underground cavern. Its ceiling was lost in darkness and the floor was covered in pieces of rock, some of them large, but most of them small, strewn across the floor like gravel. There were more scientists, soldiers and other hangers-on here than she had hoped. A few Nefilim were busy at the controls that she and Anak needed to get to, and there were some human scientists watching every move the aliens made.