Time Reavers Read online

  “That’s nice. You can turn it off now. It’s warm enough already.”

  “Sure thing.”

  The flame snuffed out as soon as Daniel closed the valve. Nicole wondered how it lit in the first place.

  “So what are we going to do, Daniel?” she asked. “We can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

  “I know. Look, I’m going to get us something to eat. Maybe afterwards I’ll talk to Viktor again. There’s got to be something we can do besides sit on top of Chronopolis waiting for the world to end. I’ll be back in a few minutes. In the mean time, my house is your house. The shower and bed are upstairs. You can stay up there. I’ll sleep on the recliner.”

  “Thanks,” Nicole said, trying not to dwell on what sleep meant for her.

  Daniel disappeared through the archway. Nicole stood up and decided to have a look around while she waited. She climbed the stairs to the second floor, which had a metal-framed bed, frosted-glass shower, and two bookcases filled with Japanese comic books and sci-fi paperbacks. Opening the closet, she found another three black trench coats with a small arsenal of knives cluttering the bottom.

  Nicole looked up at the clear night sky. She supposed it wouldn’t be too bad sleeping here, staring up at the stars. She might have liked it, had it not been for the Mantis waiting in her dreams. Maybe a nice hot shower first…

  “Hello?” Shoko called out from below. “Nicole?”

  “Just a minute!” Nicole hurried down the stairs.

  Shoko stood inside the arch entrance.

  “Is Daniel here?” Shoko asked.

  “No. He should be back in a few minutes. What’s up?”

  “Rüdiger and Melanie are on their way over,” Shoko said. “There’s something we need to discuss with you. Preferably without Daniel around.”

  “Okay…”

  Nicole found it easy to like Shoko. The young woman might have looked small and frail, but she had serious steel in her soul. Nicole wondered how well she’d handle being torn apart by a juggernaut, then having to get up and fight for hours. But Shoko hadn’t complained once. She’d wept quietly a few times, and Nicole and Melanie had said what they hoped were encouraging words, but Shoko had been all business whenever reavers stormed the wall.

  “So how are you doing?”

  “I’d rather not talk about it,” Shoko said.

  “Uh, sure. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

  Shoko crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. She glanced out the archway. The room fell silent for a minute before Shoko said, “Rüdiger was telling me how you were discovered.”

  “Really?”

  “I’m sorry your first encounter with a tau guard had to be Daniel. We’re not all like that, you know.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. He’s not that bad.”

  “I mean we’re not all cold-blooded Overwatch assassins.”

  “Maybe he is,” Nicole said. “But I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for him.”

  “From what I saw on the wall, are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?”

  “Quite sure.”

  “Hmm…” Shoko glanced through the archway again.

  “You really don’t like him,” Nicole said.

  “He…” Shoko sighed. “He’s an okay guy most of the time. But the thing is he’s got this switch in him. He can turn off his emotions like this.” She snapped her fingers. “And that’s not natural.”

  “Out on the plain, you two worked pretty well together.”

  “We’ve worked together before,” Shoko said. “But he’s a difficult man to get close to. And when you do, it’s scary what you find. Ah, here they come.”

  Shoko stepped away from the wall. Rüdiger and Melanie walked into the house.

  “Is Daniel here?” Rüdiger asked.

  “Not right now,” Shoko said.

  Rüdiger exchanged looks with the others.

  “What’s this about?” Nicole asked.

  “We were talking,” Rüdiger said. “And Shoko had an idea for how to reach the second borehole.”

  “It’s actually obvious when you think about it,” Shoko said. “There are two ways out of Chronopolis. One is through the tau tunnels out on the plain.”

  “Which is almost certain death,” Rüdiger said.

  “And the other is through the original borehole,” Shoko said.

  “Which is slightly less probable death,” Rüdiger said.

  “Wait a second,” Nicole said. “Through the original borehole?”

  “That’s right,” Rüdiger said.

  “As in the borehole Chronopolis is sitting on?”

  “Ah, you remembered.”

  “Yeah. I also remember you saying it led straight to reaverspace and it was sealed.”

  “Both are true,” Rüdiger said. “First Founding machinery keeps the borehole sealed.”

  “But some tau guards can operate the machines,” Shoko said. “Like me. We don’t use the First and Second Founding machines very often. They’re far too rare, but I can operate them.”

  “Okay, so you can open the borehole,” Nicole said. “Why would you want to? We need to get to Ludwigsburg.”

  “True,” Rüdiger said. “Once in reaverspace, assuming it’s a spatial equivalent, we’d have about fifteen hundred miles to travel before reaching the spot matching Ludwigsburg.”

  “Which should take about three hours,” Shoko said.

  “And den ve kill de Mantis,” Melanie said.

  “Killing the Mantis will undermine their entire command structure,” Rüdiger said. “The last time a tau guard killed a Mantis, we didn’t have reaver attacks for three whole years. Losing the Mantis will send their operation into chaos. It’ll give Viktor the breathing room he needs to fortify Chronopolis and reclaim the tunnels. Once he’s done that, he can send people to repair the damage at Ludwigsburg.”

  “God, you’re serious,” Nicole said. She pulled out a chair. “I need to sit down.”

  “It’s risky, but I believe it can work,” Rüdiger said. “The borehole hasn’t been opened in decades. The other side might be completely undefended.”

  “And it might not!” Nicole said. “Plus, how are we supposed to travel fifteen hundred miles?”

  “We’ll fly,” Shoko said.

  “What? Do you have some First Founding jet fighter stashed somewhere?”

  “Second Founding, actually,” Shoko said. “And I’d hardly call it a jet fighter.”

  Rüdiger grinned at Shoko. “I told you she was a fast learner.”

  “Oh, God. You people are serious! Why are you bringing this to me?”

  “Let me ask you,” Rüdiger said. “What do you think Viktor’s reaction would be if we told him we wanted to open the original borehole?”

  “Probably the same reaction I’m having right now!” Nicole said.

  “Precisely,” Rüdiger said.

  “Only he can have us all executed and you can’t,” Shoko said.

  “And that’s supposed to convince me this is a good idea?”

  “You’re the one dreaming of the Mantis,” Rüdiger said. “If we’re going to do this we’ll need your help to find it.”

  “If you have some sort of jet, why not just fly to Ludwigsburg and kill it there?”

  “Sure, we can do that,” Rüdiger said. “As soon as the borehole gets finished and they come pouring out.”

  “Sorry it took so long!” Daniel said, walking in. He carried two Styrofoam takeout boxes. “There was a huge line and at first the guy wouldn’t give me seconds. Kept going on about rationing-this and shortage-that and…”

  Daniel looked around the suddenly quiet room. Rüdiger and the others stared back.

  Daniel held up the meals. “Sorry, but I only brought enough for two.”

  “That’s all right,” Rüdiger said. “We were just leaving.”

  “Hey, Daniel, I have a question for you,” Nicole said.

  “Sure. What’s up?” Daniel said, setting the meals on the tabl
e.

  Rüdiger cleared his throat, but Nicole ignored him.

  “Theoretically speaking, could we get to the second borehole by going through the first borehole?”

  Daniel scratched his head thoughtfully for a moment. “You know, that’s actually some pretty good thinking. But it would never work. The last time we opened the borehole was in the sixties when no one knew what it was. The reavers that poured through killed half the city before we sealed it again. There’s no way triple-C would allow us to open it. And besides, no tau guard would be that desperate.”

  “The important part is the reavers did not attack immediately,” Rüdiger said. “It took them almost a week to muster their response and invade. It is unlikely the far side of the borehole is well guarded.”

  “Yeah, but…” Daniel’s jaw almost hit the floor. “Oh, my God. You people are actually considering this.”

  “Daniel, it is the only way—”

  “No, I don’t want to hear it!” Daniel shouted. “Do you realize what you’re suggesting? People have been hung for trying to open the borehole! With martial law declared, Viktor will have you executed on the spot!”

  “He can try,” Rüdiger said.

  “Oh, so now you’re going to fight an army of tau guards and then open the borehole? Great plan, Rüdi!”

  “We can’t sit back and do nothing!” Shoko said.

  “Why not? It’s better than your plan!”

  “So you vill just give up?” Melanie asked.

  “It’s too dangerous!” Daniel said. “It’s suicide! It’s worse than suicide! It’s like jumping off a cliff and taking the whole city with you! Don’t you get it? There will be reavers in the streets! They’ll kill us all!”

  Nicole opened her mouth to say something, hopefully to calm everyone down, but she stopped. She sniffed the air, breathing in the familiar odor of rotting meat.

  Nicole quickly looked around. “Guys, I think we have a problem.”

  “Of course we have a problem!” Daniel shouted.

  “No, I mean, do you smell that?”

  Daniel breathed in. “Oh, crap.” He drew his sword.

  “I think they’re already here,” Nicole said.

  “Me and my big mouth.” Daniel ran out into the empty streets.

  Nicole stepped through the archway. She looked both ways down the street. Nothing moved. The street was empty except for the faint glow of the lampposts near Daniel’s house.

  “Damn it!” Daniel said. “Those things could be anywhere!”

  “What’s going on?” Shoko asked.

  “We encountered a new type of reaver on the Greek Road,” Rüdiger said. “There may be one nearby.”

  “You got here using the Greek Road?”

  “Yes.”

  “Damn, seriously?” Shoko said. “And I thought the route I took was crazy.”

  Daniel shushed them. “Would you shut up and start looking?” he whispered.

  “What are we looking for?”

  “A reaver, damn it!”

  Nicole breathed in and out slowly, tasting the air. “It’s getting fainter.”

  Daniel flew up the street towards the Greek Wall, stopped at the intersection and sucked in an exaggerated breath. He sped back, streaked past Nicole, and stopped at the opposite intersection.

  Daniel shook his head and ran back to join the others. The whole exercise took him a few seconds.

  “I can’t tell where it went!” Daniel said.

  “It could be anywhere in the city,” Rüdiger said. “There could be dozens of them.”

  “There can’t be many!” Daniel said. “We’ve had tau guards at the Greek Wall the whole time.”

  “They’re only human.”

  “I’ll let Viktor know,” Daniel said. “We need to organize a search.”

  Daniel turned to leave, but Nicole grabbed his coat.

  “Wait!” Nicole said. “Hold up!”

  “Come on, let go!”

  “Daniel, calm down. Let’s think about this for a second.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Look,” Nicole said. “We don’t need to know where the reaver is. We need to figure out where it’s going.”

  Daniel opened his mouth, but stopped. He scrunched up his face and scratched the back of his head.

  “So,” Nicole said. “Where would a stealthy, poisonous reaver go in Chronopolis?”

  “How should I know?” Daniel said. “They could be anywhere, just killing people at random in their sleep. They could try to ambush people on the wall.”

  Nicole glanced at Melanie. A cold, disturbing thought settled in her mind.

  “Vhat?” Melanie asked. “Vhy are you looking at me like dat?”

  “I’m trying to think like a reaver,” Nicole said. “What keeps people on that wall? What makes it so hard for the reavers to put us down for good?”

  “What, you mean resetters?” Daniel asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “Mein Gott… you tink I vas de target?”

  Nicole nodded slowly.

  “Why her?” Rüdiger asked.

  “Easy,” Nicole said quietly. She felt a tightness growing in her chest and wondered if Amy was still alive. “The reaver followed her back home.”

  “Oh, crap!” Daniel said. “All the resetters are gathered at the hospital! Shoko!”

  “Right behind you!”

  Daniel and Shoko took off at a blistering run.

  “Hey, guys!” Nicole shouted, but the two tau guards had disappeared around the corner. “What the hell? Melanie, can you get us there?”

  “Ja, dis vay.”

  Melanie led them down the street at a run through a district filled with ugly brick and concrete buildings. At the end of the street, they took a right and proceeded to the end. Lampposts lit their path and winked out after they raced by. At the end of the street was a wide building. Four thick, fluted pillars at the corners supported a triangular stone roof. Red curtains hung from rods along the roof, obscuring the spacious interior.

  “The hospital?” Nicole asked.

  “Ja.”

  Inside, several people shouted. The stench of rotting meat hung in the air.

  “Amy!” Nicole said, sprinting. She reached out and clenched her fist, feeling the rough curtain fabric in her hands. With a jerk, she threw the nearest curtain aside and ran in.

  Inside, the hospital looked like a temple of some kind with a wide dais surrounding the towering visage of a muscular man. The statue held the severed head of a mantis aloft and looked down at her with a triumphant grin. Beds were arranged in a tight grid that left little space to walk. Tau guards occupied most of them, some healed, some awaiting their turn with the resetters.

  “Get your weapons out!” Daniel shouted, racing through the hospital and jumping over people in his way. “Get ready! Reavers are here!”

  The healthy tau guards started getting up. They pulled out their swords or set their fists ablaze with crackling energies. Daniel and Shoko continued spreading the word.

  “I can smell them, but I can’t see them!” Rüdiger said. Flames spun around him in a rapid swirl.

  “There are so many tau guards here, where could they hide?” Nicole asked. She barely had enough room to pass between the beds without tripping over someone’s arms or legs. She spotted Amy lying in a bed near the statue and started making her way towards her.

  A hint of motion caught her eye. Nicole looked up at the ceiling. Unlike most of the hospital, it was flat, unadorned marble. But for some reason, she found it hard to focus on any one part of it, as if the ceiling shifted subtly under her gaze.

  “I think they’re above us!” Nicole shouted.

  Rüdiger looked up. “Yeah, but where?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  Nicole spread her arms and reached out with her sense. She found the curtains and pulled them in. Long sheets of red fabric ripped free of their support rods and flew towards her. She pulled her arms in and closed her eyes. The curta
ins swished around her in a crimson tornado.

  Nicole let out a slow breath. The tornado of fabric picked up speed and ascended, swirling faster and higher until it touched the ceiling and spread. Bits of cloth caught on the sharp reaver bodies. One of them. Two. Five. Ten!

  The curtains caught on over a dozen reavers, marking their bodies with shredded bits of fabric.

  Rüdiger threw the first fireball. The impact cracked one of the reavers in two and set the curtains on fire. After that, the hospital erupted with explosions of ice, wind, and electricity. The reavers leaped from the ceiling and slashed at anyone within reach. Daniel and Shoko cut down two of them before they hit the ground.

  One of the reavers landed on an occupied bed. It stabbed the occupant to death and dashed towards the nearest resetter, a red-haired girl who couldn’t be older than twelve. Throwing knives turned it into a pincushion. The reavers killed a few tau guards, but without the element of surprise, they could only do so much harm before superior numbers crushed them. Yet even in death, they managed to cause harm.

  A balding tau guard with an axe hacked at one of the last reavers. He hit a reservoir of fluid inside the reaver, which spewed pressurized ichor over his face. The man screamed, clawing at his melting skin until he collapsed. Two resetters ran to his aid.

  Nicole checked to make sure Amy was okay. She lay peacefully in her bed, oblivious to the carnage around her. A reaver crept down the statue’s leg, oily venom oozing from its mouth.

  “Get away from my sister!” Nicole shouted. She levitated a flaming remnant of the curtains and flung it at the reaver. The burning cloth wrapped around the reaver and pushed it off the statue. It fell through the air, legs flailing about.

  A barrage of tau guard explosions ended its life. Smoldering chunks hit the ground.

  Nicole stood next to Amy and looked around. A few of the sword-wielding tau guards went to each of the reaver corpses and made sure they were dead.

  “Wow, that was close,” Daniel said, suddenly beside her.

  “Ah!” Nicole shouted. “Damn it! Would you stop doing that?”

  “Sorry.”

  Shoko jumped down from the statue’s arm. “I think they’re all dead.”

  “We should check the area and make sure,” Daniel said.