The Mendelssohnian Theory: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic ,Y/A (15 page)

“And what’s the price?” he asked, dressing his voice with a
chill.

“The price is that you’ll need to work with me,” answered
Dmitry Bialystok, “if you’re as talented as Elizabeth says you are, you may
come in handy.”

“I don’t belong to you or to anyone else,” said Adam.

“I demand discipline,” Dmitry continued as if he hadn’t heard
Adam, “and loyalty. With me, people do as they are told without asking any
questions. Consider whether you’re capable of doing this and weigh your alternatives.
Remember that with me, no one has any special privileges, and there’s no such
thing as ‘special’ or ‘the one’ and that’s the last I’ll say on the subject.”
Dmitry turned around and left the small room, and Adam had a feeling of
déjà vu. Dmitry was trying to recruit him in the exact same way
in which Elizabeth had tried to recruit him almost a year ago. He knew he
didn’t have much of a choice and did not need to do a lot of thinking to
realize if he wanted to survive, he had to join Dmitry. He went out and
wondered where he should turn to in order to meet the man again, when a voice
called from down the corridor: “Well? Have you made up your mind?” Adam
approached the voice. Dmitry was leaning on the corridor wall, sucking a false
cigarette (False Cigarette ©).

“I’ll be able to leave whenever I want to?”

“Yes,” Dmitry answered, “but only once you’ve finished
working six Martial months for me. Then you’d be free to leave, if that’s what
you’ll choose to do.”

Adam hesitated before answering: “Deal. When do I start?”

“You already have,” said Dmitry. He signaled to the darkness,
and a humongous man was revealed. “Meet Morris.” Morris nodded at Adam, who
gave him a ‘respect him, but suspect him’ nod back. “Morris will take you to
change into a better protective suit, one that really works instead of this rag
you’re wearing. Morris,” he addressed the giant, “burn all the clothes he’ll
take off. We don’t want anyone to catch a disease.” The hint of a smile passed
over Morris’ face, and he turned back and disappeared down the darkened
corridor. Adam hurried after him, not before turning around for a moment and
saying: “Thanks. You won’t regret it.”

“I know,” answers Dmitry, “Elizabeth always chooses them
well.”

The space hovercraft moved above Mars in a wide orbit and slow
speed that prevented its detection by the earthly defense webs. Nearly four
hundred years after the ability to detect objects in space had been developed,
radars, ultratelescopes, infra-red equipment and other human and computerized
warning systems could still be easily fooled. The hovercraft pilot sat
motionless in his chair, eyes closed. His slight respiration nearly didn’t move
his body. Had anyone looked at him, he would be convinced the pilot could not be
counted among the living. However, no one was there to examine the pilot’s
condition; he was by himself in the hovercraft that moved in the empty
blackness, softly illuminated by the reflected light of Mars.

Sato was not used to be leaving loose ends and now, after
he’d realized the youth was still alive, he renewed the chase. ‘A temporary
delay,’ he defined Adam’s escape and assumed he will find his prey’s tracks
soon enough and, sooner or later, will capture him. Sato was patient. He was
used to such situations, admittedly on Earth and not in the unfamiliar areas of
space (this was his first assignment away from the blue planet), and he’d
always come out winning. This time as well, he did not intend to give up. But
his current boss, the one who’d ordered the contract for Adam, had instructed
him to return to Earth. He had pondered this order for the past half hour while
sitting motionless in the hovercraft, should he oblige the request or ignore it
and continue the chase. Should he return to Earth, he might not have another
chance to complete the mission. He knew, just like any other sensible person on
Earth, that people disappeared in space, changed identities, dug themselves
into the civilian and military bases, joined smugglers or extended their stay on
the space stations until becoming an inseparable part of the vast space crafts’
population. Some of them eventually returned to the home planet, but most of
them simply evaporated without a trace. On the other hand, it wasn’t difficult
to guess his employer wouldn’t like the fact Sato had defied him, and one
wouldn’t want to have such a client displeased. Three additional jobs had
entered his order system while he’d been in space and awaited his return to
Earth. He knew that in any event, he’d have to get back to Earth soon in order
to perform them. He came to a final conclusion, opened his eyes and directed
his personal hovercraft away from the red planet, toward the heart of the solar
system. Adam First’s meeting with his weapon’s muzzle will have to be postponed.

“Where are we flying to?” Adam asked Dmitry.

“That’s none of your business,” said Dmitry and continued to
navigate the small spacecraft in silence. Adam sat in the seat next to him and
gazed out the hovercraft’s large front window. The black and star-strewn space
had always interested him. He recalled how his father would urge him to look at
the stars and memorize the names of the ones he could recognize. But the space
now visible to his eyes was different. Stars he was familiar with were mixed up
with ones he couldn’t recognize, and he concentrated in an attempt to try and
connect names with the dots of light in front of him.

During the first weeks of his stay with the smugglers, Dmitry
had worked him to the bone. He carried heavy boxes of cargo, filled with
ordered goods, from the smuggling hovercrafts to the organization’s storage
warehouses, and boxes of cargo, just as heavy, back to the hovercrafts that
delivered the merchandise to the ordering parties. Later on, he was sent, with
a false identity, to the American superpower complex, in order to pass on a
message to smugglers who’d been captured and arrested by the authorities. He
cleaned the various smuggler aircraft, with the aid of a flame-thrower, from
all trash and filth collected on their outer walls and took part in several
raids on cargo shuttles from Earth. During one such raid, he found himself in a
short battle between Dmitry’s smugglers and rival group of smugglers who tried
to get their hands on the same merchandise. And all that time, Adam had
continued to learn. He accumulated knowledge and ability he would not have been
able to receive anywhere else. After three months, during which Dmitry had
trained him in the piloting of hovercrafts in space, taught him unconventional
fighting techniques and guided him with negotiation skills he alone possessed,
the two headed out in Dmitry’s private spacecraft to an unknown destination, at
least as far as Adam was concerned.

“Get ready,” Dmitry cautioned,
and Adam prepared himself. “Close and seal your suit, we’re going outside,” the
smuggler announced and lunged to his feet. Adam hurried after him. “You’ve
shown me that you’re capable of fighting and surviving. Now show me what your
heart is made of.” He gave a mark with his eyes and the hovercraft’s cargo door
slid open. The cockpit had gotten cooler with the same speed with which the air
was drained from it. Dmitry smiled at Adam through the helmet of his protective
suit and jumped toward the opening. Adam didn’t hesitate and lunged after him.
They glided above the planet’s thin atmosphere, accelerating on their way down.
“Don’t try to fight it,” Dmitry instructed, “harness the speed in order to
stabilize yourself.” Adam obeyed the older smuggler and balanced the speed of
his descent until it nearly ceased, and he hovered beside Bialystok with the
aid of his protective suit’s gravity stabilizers. “Pay attention, above you to
the right,” Dmitry instructed, and Adam noticed a large metallic object in the
area his commander had pointed at. He immediately recognized the object as a
spy satellite that approached them with great speed. “In the side pocket of
your suit, you’ll find a small control stick (Controlizer ©),” the smuggler
continued to explain, “direct it toward the satellite and once you’re ready,
shoot. We’ll have only one opportunity to get attached to it. Don’t miss.” Adam
took out the control stick, the standard personal weapon used by most super
power armies, a reincarnation of the mythological ‘Leatherman’ from four
hundred years ago, and patiently waited for the satellite to pass above him. He
directed the muzzle of his gun toward the large chunk of metal and fired at it,
a tenth of a second after Dmitry had fired his own gun. The older smuggler was
sucked at once, dragged after the magnetic cable that was fired until he hit
the satellite while Adam’s harpoon had missed the large body by a hairsbreadth.
Adam continued to hover, looking at Dmitry getting further and further away
from him. “You’re all alone now,” Dmitry transmitted to him, “try to reach the
rendezvous point, based on coordinates one, nine, alpha…” the transmission
suddenly interrupted and Adam remained by himself. The darkened silence
threatened to swallow him, and he hadn’t the faintest idea where he was.
Strangely, Adam thought to himself, he felt no fear. He wasn’t entirely
convinced this was not one of Dmitry’s tests, and although he didn’t know what
to do next, surely he’d be able to survive. After all, he’d ridden the sand
storms of Mars and had beaten them. But after about three Martian hours, in
which he’d unsuccessfully attempted to direct himself with finesse into the
planet’s atmosphere without being burnt alive, he realized his situation was
much worse than he had first thought it to be. Panic began to clutch at him,
stubbornly grasping his heart, and although he tried to calm down, he was
afraid his chances of survival were close to nothing.

• Report

A voice was heard next to him.
Adam immediately rolled into a fighting position and surveyed his surroundings.
He couldn’t notice anything and stabilized himself once more, forcing himself
to relax, when suddenly, the same voice was heard again.

• Follow the red lights

All
at once, a series of tiny lights ignited in front of him, stretching far beyond
his field of vision. He sent his hand, touched the nearest light and felt its
stability. He leaned on it for a moment, burdening it with the weight of his
body, and then pulled himself toward the next light. He continued to progress
along the trail of lights, accumulating speed as he went along. The more he
accelerated, the further apart the lights had become.

• Report

The voice sounded again, this
time inside his head. Adam felt the voice as an electric, almost metallic
current at the edges of his head, but it also emanated from his entire body. He
concentrated and tried to answer voicelessly.

• Report

• Approaching first rendezvous point. No human presence can
be discerned in a wide radius. Recommendations?

• The location of one Dmitry Bialystok

• Locating. Dmitry Bialystok located

• Calculate trajectory for reaching him

• Follow the red lights

Adam continued to advance with
the lights. The lights led him into the planet’s atmosphere at the right angle,
which prevented strong and scalding friction. He tried to locate the one who
was speaking to him and guiding him. He hoped this was not a trap, but even if
someone was trapping him, he had no choice but to obey, ‘I’ll handle whoever it
is on the relatively safe ground of Mars and not in space,’ he said to himself
while continuing to hover with long rowing movements.

• Report

Once more, the voice was heard
and once more Adam answered in his head:

• Report

• A hovercraft type aircraft approaching you

• Was it able to recognize me?

• No recognition signature

• Who owns the hovercraft?

• No records

‘A smuggler ship!’ Adam realized and hope was rekindled in
him.

• Visual eye contact in three, two, one, now

Bialystok’s
smuggler hovercraft was revealed, cruising slowly to intercept his flight
trajectory. He directed himself toward it, matched his speed with the
hovercraft’s and attached himself to its body. Only once he’d stabilized
himself on the back of the hovercraft did he notice the lights that had
accompanied him disappeared.

• Report

He tried his luck but received no answer. The signal was
gone. The hovercraft gradually lowered itself, passing mountains and valleys on
its way, until it had reached a barren plain and landed on stable ground. The
hovercraft’s door opened, and Dmitry jumped outside and hurried to Adam. “There
you are,” he called happily to the young man, “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Really?” asked Adam, “I thought it was just another one of
your tests.”

“No,” answered the smuggler, and immediately came to his
senses and toughened his tone of voice, “you’ve left me to do the job by
myself. We’ll need to wait for the satellite’s next round.”

“And the talking lights?” asked Adam.

“What talking lights?” Bialystok was momentarily confused.

“The ones that directed me,” answered Adam, “it was you,
wasn’t it?” he was embarrassed and confused. ‘Was he the only one who had seen
the lights? The only one who’d heard the voices?’

Dmitry examined Adam closely. “Let’s head back to base. I’ll
take someone else with me. You must be suffering from space-drunkenness.”

Adam hurried to calm him down: “No, it’s nothing. Let’s
continue with the mission.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Dmitry became suspicious.

“Yes,” answered Adam with a greater confidence than he was
actually feeling. His mind brimmed with speculations about the identity of his
helper, but he cleared his head of all thoughts and tried to concentrate on the
mission.

They entered the hovercraft and took off toward the next
rendezvous point with the satellite. When they came out of the hovercraft,
Dmitry took out the control stick and signaled for Adam to follow suit. Adam
noticed the satellite approaching them with speed again. He aimed the weapon
and fired at it. This time, the magnetic hook was caught on the moving body and
drew Adam after it. “Press the stick again and it will scroll you toward the
satellite,” Dmitry’s voice was heard on the inner radio. Adam realized this
transmission was very different from the previous one, which had reported and
helped him. Dmitry’s voice was heard in his ear, while the other voice emitted
from inside him as if each and every part of his body spoke with him. For a
moment, he almost lost his concentration following this new realization and
loosened his grip on the weapon. He immediately came to his senses, pulled the
stick’s trigger and scrolled himself toward the satellite. When he’d reached
the metallic body, Dmitry was already waiting for him and showed him how to
stabilize himself on the satellite’s sides. “It’s a very old satellite, from
before the second Nano-revolution,” explained Dmitry, “you can hardly see them
anymore. Today’s satellites are the size of a hand, or even smaller, and their
capabilities make the use of satellites such as the one we’re attached to now
obsolete. This satellite doesn’t exist,” he determined, “one of the superpowers
placed it in orbit for an espionage mission when it was still unclear who was
controlling the planet and later on, when the Mars treaty was signed and
territorial divisions were made, it became unnecessary and was forgotten.”

“What are we looking for?”

“We’re not looking for anything,” answered Dmitry, “we’re
taking. This satellite contains a nuclear system, which provides it all the
energy it needs in order to function. Even though it’s obsolete, its small
nuclear reactor is still active. I have an order for such a reactor.”

“What are the radiation levels?” Adam was interested.

“They’re supposed to be stable and in any event, your suit
should reject most of it and protect you,” answered Dmitry, “but there’s always
danger. Even if they can catch us at any moment, it doesn’t mean we’ll stop
running, right?” Adam nodded and Dmitry continued to speak while opening the
satellite cover and pulling the nuclear reactor: “There are two parts here. You’ll
take the one that includes the accelerator and power generator, and I’ll take
the radioactive material.” He handed Adam a long, narrow box and held onto the
other one. “Release yourself from the satellite and continue to hover until I
pick you up with the hovercraft. Understood?”

Adam nodded. He prepared himself to jump upon Dmitry’s mark,
but at that exact moment the satellite inclined at a sharp angle and both men
abruptly lost contact with it. Dmitry’s box dropped from his hand and fell
toward the planet. “Quickly,” hissed Dmitry, “it mustn’t enter the atmosphere.
The friction will ignite it and cause a nuclear explosion.” Adam threw his own
box at Dmitry and directed himself for a quick dive following the other one.

“Bring the hovercraft,” he said on the radio, “I’ll get it.”

“No,” called Dmitry, but it was already too late, Adam was
far below him. He changed his direction and broadcast his coordinates to the
hovercraft, praying with all his heart that Adam would succeed where he had
failed. He knew that Adam’s chances were slim, and so were the chances of all
people on Mars. A nuclear blast of that magnitude and in that altitude spelled
a death sentence for all human beings, computers, engines and electrical
appliances on the planet.

Adam dropped after the
radioactive box. His protective suite’s stabilizers accelerated the speed of
his decent, and he gradually advanced toward his target, but at the same time,
he was approaching the point of no return in which the box and its content will
be burned, and a nuclear blast will occur.

• Report

The voice was heard again

• A successful outcome for the problem at hand

Adam immediately broadcasted.

• Go round it and accompany it from below

Adam obeyed. He accelerated the speed of his fall, passed the
box and stabilized himself below it.

• Done

He broadcasted in his mind

• Hold the object and tilt it with a circular movement

Adam followed the voice’s
suggestion. He and the object moved together in a semi-circle. He felt his
back, turned toward the surface, was heating, but the circular movement
continued, and he was thrown back toward space, in a round orbit, while holding
onto the dangerous box tightly.

• Thank you

He broadcasted but was unanswered. He continued to hover in
space until he saw Dmitry’s hovercraft approaching him. The hovercraft’s door
opened, and he entered it. The hovercraft’s pressure stabilized, and the air
filled up with oxygen. He allowed himself to remove the helmet of his suit from
his head “Mission accomplished,” he beamed with pride.