The Phoenix Fallacy Book I: Janus (26 page)

Chapter 3
2: Parting Gifts

Janus and Celes hurried behind Wouris as she led them on a furious dash back along the catwalks.  Although it seemed unlikely that the S.T.s would ever bother checking the catwalks, the Cerberus S.T.s could still seal their exit.

Evading the flurry of activity, however, did not prove difficult.  The S.T.s seemed single-minded in their task – which was to reach their designated positions and seal the entrances; not to search.  And unencumbered by their lighter, smaller armor, it did not take long for the three to quickly outdistance the S.T.s as they raced through the complex.

Janus flashed a word to Celes and Wouris as they ran.

Typical.

Wouris shook her head and Celes smiled.

When they finally returned to the darkened hall connecting the factory to the supply room, they found the door already open and the two S.T.s they had passed earlier leaning against opposite walls, complaining to each other.

“Stupid Captain Burroughs.  Doesn’t seem to care that this stupid entrance is sealed up.  ‘Overlord Middleton wants all entrances secure.’  ‘Overlord Middleton will be angry with us if we don’t follow orders.’  Damn, I hate him.”

“Tell me about it, ‘Neff.  First we’re sent to repair that stupid old belt, and now we’re guarding a collapsed entrance.  I was telling Reynolds just a little while ago that I don’t even know why we’re here.  I mean, what do they want with this old factory anyway?  It’s been producing a ton of suits that can’t be custom fitted.  They’re cheap, they’re low quality.  How are we supposed to use them?  It’s absolutely pointless!”

“Oh, don’t get me started—” There was a loud pop and both troopers slumped over and fell to the ground, lifeless.

“Got mine first,” Janus bragged to Celes.

“Oh, did not.”

Wouris just shook her head.

The three took a few moments more to dispose of the evidence of their infiltration, using the S.T.’s own Zeus rifles and a sprinkling of some of the Immutium from the collapsed cavern to create the appearance of a fight.

It seemed believable enough to Janus, S.T.s were not known for their wisdom or mild tempers, and the promise of even small riches would likely be enough to set a pair of them off.

“Good,” Wouris said, “That should cover our tracks well enough.”

“Do you think they’ll believe the pair of them shot each other in the chest?  Seems a little unlikely to me,” Celes commented.

“They’re S.T.s, Celes,” Janus said, “They’ll, in all likelihood, be found by S.T.s.  I don’t think they will look too closely.  Besides, the tunnel is supposed to be blocked; I don’t think they will consider someone coming this way.”

Wouris nodded, “And besides, we don’t really have that many options.  It will do well enough, so let’s get out of here before we actually run into more of them.”

It was morning when they
left the bunker, clad in the three Infernus suits.  A full night had passed while they journeyed underground, but they were soon bounding with ease towards the evac point.  Wouris, however, motioned for them to slow, as if suddenly remembering an important detail.

“One last thing before we go.”  She pulled out a detonator.  Janus and Celes looked curiously at her.  “I’ve been testing it periodically since the attack.  Unfortunately, while they were jamming all the signals I haven’t been able to activate it.  I decided I should leave it alone for awhile.”

She pushed the button, and a huge ball of flame erupted to the South.  “Oh dear.  Apparently they forgot to disarm the charges before they stopped jamming the signal,” she said cheerily. 

Celes smiled and said, “Come on, let’s go home.”

Chapter 3
3: Returning

Lyn, Ramirez, and Marcus all greeted them eagerly when they jumped onto the Longboat.

“We knew you guys would make it!”  Lyn exclaimed, as Ramirez and Marcus helped them out of their large suits.

With her armor off, Celes quickly gave each of them a hug, “Well, we were worried for all of you!”

“I wasn’t,” Marcus smiled at Celes.  She looked perplexed, but he quickly added, “I knew they couldn’t get you that easy.”

He released her and turned to Janus, extending his hand, “All of you.”

Janus nodded in respect as the pair clasped hands, “I’m glad you all made it out.  Who else survived?”

Lyn glanced at Wouris, “Well, we did pretty well, considering.  Ramirez and I made it out with Holloway and Kirsten.  Jones and Valers made it back to the beach before it got too crazy.  We ran into Marcus along the way, and he had Baker, Conor, and Nathans with him.  We lost Byrons on the way out, his Longboat got hit on the fly.  Roderick got taken out on the run back to the beach.”

“
I lost Thomas, Browning, and Freeham to a squad of Inferni.”  Marcus said.

Wouris
grimaced.  “They went down fighting, though,” he added.

Lyn piped in,
“Marcus really did you proud, Wouris.  His squad saved the team from Rolan’s Rangers.  But…we don’t know what happened to Bynes, Alexis, Hastings, and Young.”  Lyn added hesitantly.

Janus shook his head, “They didn’t make it.”

Lyn nodded sorrowfully, “Right.”  She paused and smiled.  “The Praetor will be happy to know all of you made it though; especially you, Janus.”  Janus raised his eyebrows.  “He wants his blade back.”

*

Executor Delacroix kicked the limp arm of Security Trooper Neff, examining the two dead bodies.  Several Troopers worked to clean up the mess.

“It looks like they got into an argument and shot each other, my Lord,” Captain Burroughs was standing at attention at his side.  “This type of thing isn’t uncommon.  I apologize that it happened at such an inconvenient time.”

“Indeed.”  Delacroix stared at the bodies and then at the door to the supply room further down the hall.

The Captain seemed to understand, “It’s a blocked entrance, Executor.  I’ve had several sets of Security Troopers check it out.  They have all reported that the room on the other side of the door is collapsed.  No one could get in or out.”

Delacroix gave one last look at the bodies and then with a swish of his cape left the hall, his white hair rippling behind.

*

When the Longboat finally landed within one of Valhalla’s docking bays, Janus couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.  Janus, Celes, and Wouris, had experienced an unpleasant, but brief bout of shivers and vomiting on the flight back.  Despite their protests about feeling fine, the three were immediately ordered by Colonel Hawkes to proceed directly to the infirmary.  Since the sickness appeared to be brief, Ramirez, Lyn, and Marcus were allowed to head straight to the Mess.

“We haven’t been hungry since we found out so many people were missing or dead.  Now that you’re back, I’m feeling better,” Lyn said cheerfully.

Janus and Celes both felt their stomachs growl, and watched the friends longingly as they went.

Wouris waved them on, “Come on, let’s go.  We’ll be out of the infirmary in no time.” 

As they walked, Janus mentally retraced his steps from the first time he had come to join ODIN.  It was exactly the same path that the Praetor had taken him along, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.  Dark clouds hung low over the horizon, blocking the sun and giving the grand hall of Valhalla a grey tinge.  Even the waterfalls seemed muted, not bubbling and babbling as happily as they were before.

The infirmary was nearly empty when they arrived.  Only a few critically injured Adepts remained, and all of them were on the mend.  Such a thing would have shocked Janus before he came to ODIN, having grown up in the slums. 

He had been compelled to study the Nanytes of the Adept camps after his shoulder’s quick recovery, however. 
With every Adept’s blood sample on file, a Nanyte injection could quickly be prepared that featured the antigens of that Adept’s blood cells.  Once injected into the blood stream, the antigen protected Nanytes would appear to be part of the body and avoid attack by the immune system.  Inside, the Nanyte could perform a multitude of operations, from tissue repair to actively fighting viruses.  A full injection could heal most minor injuries in no time.  Several injections could bring the most critically injured Adept back to battle status in a matter of days.  Unfortunately, the Nanytes had a very limited lifespan themselves, and their batteries would quickly die.  In a matter of weeks, every Nanyte within the body would be absorbed and disappear.  While the Adept camps clearly benefited from them, Nanytes had only been adopted in limited quantities due to some of their disadvantages:  Injections of too many Nanytes could create clots and other potentially fatal side effects, at least so Janus had read.  Nanytes were also prohibitively expensive and difficult to produce, which explained why Corporations only made use of them for the upper castes.  And worst of all, the Nanytes could only be maintained for a limited period of time outside of their generators, rendering them useless for battlefield medicine.  Still, despite their flaws, Janus was only too glad to have access to them.  His ribs would heal in a day or two at most, as opposed to the weeks he had been laid out when he had broken his ribs in the slums.

Praetor Jennings was waiting for them.  He quickly sized up the group and then nodded for the doctors to proceed.  “I want you all prepared for a debriefing at 0800 hours tomorrow, in the ‘Torch’. Sergeant, I would like to see you immediately following your examination.”

Janus and Celes saluted and stood to attention, “Yes, sir.”

Wouris followed suit after she was satisfied Janus and Celes held form appropriately, “Sir.”

The Praetor made a casual wave, “Go on.  Get fixed up.”

“Thank you, sir,” they spoke together.

By the time Janus, Celes, and Wouris left the infirmary it was nearly 2300 hours.  Yalla had given them a clean bill of health, unable to explain their bout of sickness, but glad to say Janus’ ribs were healing remarkably well, even before the Nanytes.  Wouris bade them good night and headed off to see the Praetor.  Both Janus and Celes were tired, but the need for food moved them slowly in the direction of the mess.

As they entered, they were met with a chorus of cheers.  Adepts stood up and patted them on the back as they passed.  Bewildered, Janus and Celes headed over to where Marcus, Lyn, and Ramirez were sitting.  All three were smiling broadly at them.

“What’s with the celebration?”  Janus asked.

“Eh, we couldn’t sleep,” Marcus grinned.

  “More like everyone was so pleased to have you come back alive.  They couldn’t believe anyone else had made it.  That, and the fact that everybody loved Wouris’ little finishing touch to your adventure,” Lyn added.  “Hey, you still have that?” Lyn pointed to the sword still on Janus’ back.

Janus looked surprised, “Yes, we saw the Praetor in the infirmary, but he didn’t ask for it and I didn’t think to give it back.  I don’t know what to do with it.  I can’t just throw it in the weapons locker.”

“The Praetor must be distracted by the losses we’ve suffered.  Maybe he’ll ask for it at the debriefing tomorrow?”  Celes said.

“Debriefing…?”  Asked Marcus.

“Well, the Praetor will want to know everything that we heard on the trip back in the Longboat,” Ramirez said.

“Good point,” Marcus conceded, “Which reminds me… don’t stuff yourselves tonight.  The Praetor
gave every remaining cadet full Adept status with the condition that we continue our training.  We spent the day with Keats and Hawkes before we were permitted to travel to the evac point.”

“Why did the Praetor let you do that, anyway?”  Janus asked with concern.  “He didn’t know whether anyone would make it back in the first place.  Why let you three risk coming along?”

“Think about it, Janus,” Celes answered.  “After such a huge loss, it would be a morale boost for the Praetor to appear confident someone would make it back.  Even if no one did make it back, it wouldn’t cost him anything to allow it.”

Marcus grinned, “I realize that growing up in Cerberus probably made you less than sociable Janus, but human emotions can play just as big a part in a battle as any other factor.”

“Besides,” Celes gave Janus a smirk, “the Praetor probably figured that if anyone was going to make it out, it would be you.”

Marcus’ grin vanished while Ramirez and Lyn laughed.

“Careful, his head doesn’t need to be any bigger than it already is,” Marcus grunted.  Janus gave Marcus a curious look, while Lyn, Ramirez, and Celes chuckled.

“Well, I think I’m off to bed.”  Lyn yawned.  “I want to have as much sleep as I can get before another training session like the one we had today.  I think Keats and Hawkes want us to be able to take on the whole of the Titan Corporate Forces if we ever go up against them again.  We’ll probably be training during your debriefing, so fill us in afterward.”

“Will do,” Celes said.

“Good night,” Lyn said as she rose.

Ramirez rose with her and grunted a “‘Night,” to the rest of the group.

“Well, I’m going to grab some food so I can do the same,” Janus said, watching Ramirez and Lyn leave the mess.

Marcus glanced at Celes, but stifled a big yawn.  Resignedly, he said, “I guess I’m off then.  See you in the morning.”

Janus and Celes both said good night and grabbed some of the remaining Passers just as the automated kitchen systems began to recycle the excess.  Multicolored blocks of processed plant protein never tasted so good.