“What the shock is going on?!” I shout towards the laboratory doors for Dr. Tewantin’s attention. Anything to get him to come out of there finally and face his actions.
I feel Dusk’s warm hand over my arm. “Calm down Ravage. It’ll be alright.”
I stomp my hoof in frustration at this whole ordeal. “Will it Dusk? These are my men we’re talking about here.”
I strike a nerve with this comment and I see it face over Dusk’s face like an ice-cold shower. Her face goes blank. “No, you’re right.” Moving in front of me, Dusk slams a fist on the cast-iron doors, “Dr. Tewantin, get out here now!”
In the space of a few hours, Dusk and I had formed an alliance against Hath-Seth and his army of Dwellers. I had witnessed first-hand what we were all fighting for, the power source I’d known as the Langkowski Snowbird, a weather enabler which Dusk’s army had converted for use of survival in this harsh Martian terrain.
On the call from her own men, we had faced off an assault by the Dwellers, assisting her men at the last possible moment. I’m still unsure why they attacked us, there appeared to be no logically or strategic reasoning behind it, but what surprised me even more was the sudden onslaught in the battle by my own men from Hellrock.
On our return to camp, I soon learned Dr. Tewantin was behind this turn of events. In much the same fashion as he had augmented my body, and return from limbo, Dr. Tewantin had altered my men for use in battle against the Dwellers and Hath-Seth.
They were monsters on Hellrock, and even here on Mars alongside natives, aliens, and refugees they are still monsters.
But the real monster, it seems, is Dr. Tewantin, behind these doors. If only we could come face-to-face with him.
“How long has he been like this, Dusk?” Dusk turns around to face me, an arm remaining on the door.
I get the impression she means to question me, but doesn’t, “Dr. Tewantin is a brilliant scientist, Ravage, believe me. You wouldn’t be here with us if it wasn’t for him.”
I think to respond, but let Dusk continue.
“I thank the Gods you’re here, too. Our days were numbered not that long ago.”
What feels like ages is only moments when Dusk’s arm moves away from the door, allowing it to swing open towards us. We both take a step backward and I’m sure Dusk is expecting Dr. Tewantin, much as I am.
“Sorry for keeping you both waiting,” Igor mutters
“Is Dr. Tewantin in there, Igor?” Dusk butts in.
“I’m sorry, Commander, but no, the doctor is much too busy at this point in time.”
“Like shock he is,” I forcefully respond. “Tewantin, get out here!”
Igor’s arms move up towards me as a means he wants me to lower my voice, “Ah, Ravage, please. Dr. Tewantin cannot be disturbed.”
I move around to give the two of them more room, and to get some space between us all. I turn around to face both of them. “Igor, listen to me, and understand this, these are my men we’re dealing with here. Not some new toy for the doctor’s amusement.”
“I can appreciate your situation Ravage, really” Igor’s hands go into his lab-coat. He may be small, but he has a certain air of authority about him.
“Oh, I don’t think you do Igor. Back on Earth these men looked to me for guidance, and for survival. Their situation was hopeless, but I gave them something to live for, and fight for. I failed them.”
“Go on Ravage, please,” Dusk motions, stepping to my side.
“We faced a force we thought we could defeat with sheer strength alone. I was very, very wrong. We were swallowed up whole and all suffocated on that rock you pulled me from. Pulled us from.”
“Ravage, years ago when I met Dr. Tewantin I was much in the same situation you were in. Facing unsurmountable odds, near death. Then Dr. Tewantin made me into the man you see before you.”
I look down at this little runt of a Martian. His goggle eyes staring up at me like a cyber puppy dogs. He’s hunched over and looks very awkward. I look at Dusk who lifts her shoulders and her eyebrows at me. “Please Igor, continue,” Dusk says.
“I agree the Doctors methods might be unorthodox, and sometimes even to me their unclear. But believe me Ravage; Dr. Tewantin only has the village’s best interests at heart.”
***
From the journal of Dusk.
Dated Mars time Deimos 5th, 1999th cycle.
We were lucky to survive the Dwellers attack the last time, thanks in no small part to Ravage’s assistance and well as the unexpected but much needed addition of his men.
At first Ravage was unsure, and I think, uncomfortable with his men being back in action. However since the battle I have seen a real change in his demeanour. Ravage is more assertive, more sure of himself. He leads his men on early morning training drills, though they don’t require it.
Dr. Tewantin as augmented every one of these score of monsters, including Ravage, into world class fighting machines. Each of Ravage’s men looks and acts differently from the others, but it doesn’t take a military mind to see the practical applications Dr. Tewantin has put in place on them.
Some men can fly; some can burrow like nobody’s business. Some has skin so course and thick that they blend into the surroundings.
Both Ravage and I agree that Dr. Tewantin may have stepped over a few ethical boundaries here, but even Ravage has put this aside and is using it to his advantage.
Ravage knows the final fight between us and Hath-Seth is coming. I can tell he wants his men ready. As do I want my own men ready. However, neither of us can control when the enemy attacks, or from where.
In the last battle the Dwellers took out a many number of my men, and since then Ravage’s men have occupied their place in the village. Still however we struggle to make ends meet. With food and energy supplies running short this term, we have to knuckle down and do our best.
I’ve said it once before, and I’m sure I’ll say it a thousand times over. I thank the Gods Ravage is with us.
End journal
***
Stepping out of the Officers’ Mess, I stand before Igor, who stares up at me as if expecting me to say the first word. I surprise myself that I’m at a loss of what to say. Things have been hard all around lately. Hath-Seth and his Dwellers haven’t attacked since, which is one small blessing, yet I’m still working in my head a means to end this war.
“Um, food’s in there,” I point behind me.
“Thank you,” Igor replies sternly. “I see you’re progressing well with your men.”
“Ahem, yes. They’re good soldiers.”
“I’ll be sure to tell the Doctor you said so.”
Igor steps around me to head into the Officers’ Mess. “When will we be seeing Dr. Tewantin again, Igor?”
“As I keep saying, he’s very busy.”
“Yeah, I understand that.” I coil down to come face to face with Igor. “What’s got him so busy, hey?”
Igor stumbles back, and I can tell I intimidate him. “I’m going to have to keep my mouth shut on this one, I’m afraid.”
“Afraid are you?” I laugh as I smile. “Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, hey?” I love how I can make even an alien sweat.
“Ah… yes.” Igor continues to step backwards from me. “I should really be going now.”
“You know, Igor,” I continue, “we’re all working very hard here, to survive against Hath-Seth and the Dwellers. You might want to mention to the good Doctor that we’re all working together, as a team.”
“Oh?”
“Just see that he doesn’t forget that.” My belief in Dr. Tewantin’s good intentions is becoming thin, and right now I don’t care to keep it to myself.
***
I’m still smiling at the thought of riling Igor up out the front of the Officers’ Mess, and I’m sure Dusk can tell that’s why I’m in such a good mood.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Dusk asks.
“Oh. Nothing, it’s okay.” Damn.
Dusk and I have taken a leave of absence from the village, and I have led her down further into the Martian undergrounds.
“Ravage, you mentioned a while back that there was a way of dealing with Hath-Seth finally. Care to elaborate?”
“For days now as I’ve been training my men, I’ve been thinking of the reason Hath-Seth is attacking us. He wants the Langkowski Snowbird.”
“The power source.”
“Exactly,” I respond. “My idea is to educate him. There’s more than one power source on this shocking planet you know?”
“Actually, no, I don’t,” Dusk admits.
“Since I was woken here on Mars I’ve felt a cold. At first I didn’t think much of it, with so much going on around me. But over the course of a few days it became more and more noticeable to me,” I keep leading Dusk downward, our surroundings becoming darker with each step.
“You’ve found something?”
“I think I have. Just bear with me…” I step forward with Dusk still at my side, and I stop.
“You don’t have to fear for your men Ravage. They’re in good hands with us, you know?”
“I know that. I do. What we’re doing here, it’s a long shot, and of course it’s life or death. I know you’ve wanted this war to end, Dusk. But it’s not going to peter out in a whimper. In my experiences these things rarely do.”
Dusk moves towards me and I feel her hand once again on mine. “Dusk, if what you’re waiting to happen happens, I cannot fail these men again.”
“It’ll be okay,” I hear her say, barely. Suddenly there’s a cold whistling through the caverns. I’m sure even Dusk can sense it. “What is that?”
“Hold still,” I tell her as I coil up tightly into a ball. My legs remain alongside my body and hold me still as I build up momentum for a spin. A heavy spin.
I wrap my legs up inside my body and I spin as if my life depended on it. Slowly I create a burrow into the soil as I begin to break dirt and descend. Dusk steps away to let me continue further. With each metre of dirt I dislodge the colder it gets.
Suddenly I break through the dirt and hit a soft chunk of ice. It’s so cold that I start to freeze up. I notice that the ice isn’t solid, but rather sitting on top of a massive amount of ice-cold water.
A history lesson suddenly pops into my head. As CEO of Eco I learnt that Heroic Age scientists believed Mars to be a planet with life-sustaining water. At the turn of their century they had sent probes to this planet to confirm this theory, including the Langkowski Snowbird it seems. For some reason the history feeds stop there and there’s no further mention of Mars after this era.
I reach up and very slowly crawl my way back up to Dusk. I am chilled to the bone, or what passes for bone these days, and I can tell Dusk knows.
“My God, Ravage, what have you found? Are you okay?”
“So, so cold,” is all I can utter.
“I wish I had a blanket for you. Something.”
“I’ll be okay. Just cold.”
“What does this mean?”
“I need my men down here to dig. I’ve found your new power source, Dusk. It’s water. Millions of gallons of it.” I can sense a smile forming on Dusk, and I savour the moment, “I also know how we’re going to end this war.”
***
END OF BOOK FIVE
I feel Dusk’s warm hand over my arm. “Calm down Ravage. It’ll be alright.”
I stomp my hoof in frustration at this whole ordeal. “Will it Dusk? These are my men we’re talking about here.”
I strike a nerve with this comment and I see it face over Dusk’s face like an ice-cold shower. Her face goes blank. “No, you’re right.” Moving in front of me, Dusk slams a fist on the cast-iron doors, “Dr. Tewantin, get out here now!”
In the space of a few hours, Dusk and I had formed an alliance against Hath-Seth and his army of Dwellers. I had witnessed first-hand what we were all fighting for, the power source I’d known as the Langkowski Snowbird, a weather enabler which Dusk’s army had converted for use of survival in this harsh Martian terrain.
On the call from her own men, we had faced off an assault by the Dwellers, assisting her men at the last possible moment. I’m still unsure why they attacked us, there appeared to be no logically or strategic reasoning behind it, but what surprised me even more was the sudden onslaught in the battle by my own men from Hellrock.
On our return to camp, I soon learned Dr. Tewantin was behind this turn of events. In much the same fashion as he had augmented my body, and return from limbo, Dr. Tewantin had altered my men for use in battle against the Dwellers and Hath-Seth.
They were monsters on Hellrock, and even here on Mars alongside natives, aliens, and refugees they are still monsters.
But the real monster, it seems, is Dr. Tewantin, behind these doors. If only we could come face-to-face with him.
“How long has he been like this, Dusk?” Dusk turns around to face me, an arm remaining on the door.
I get the impression she means to question me, but doesn’t, “Dr. Tewantin is a brilliant scientist, Ravage, believe me. You wouldn’t be here with us if it wasn’t for him.”
I think to respond, but let Dusk continue.
“I thank the Gods you’re here, too. Our days were numbered not that long ago.”
What feels like ages is only moments when Dusk’s arm moves away from the door, allowing it to swing open towards us. We both take a step backward and I’m sure Dusk is expecting Dr. Tewantin, much as I am.
“Sorry for keeping you both waiting,” Igor mutters
“Is Dr. Tewantin in there, Igor?” Dusk butts in.
“I’m sorry, Commander, but no, the doctor is much too busy at this point in time.”
“Like shock he is,” I forcefully respond. “Tewantin, get out here!”
Igor’s arms move up towards me as a means he wants me to lower my voice, “Ah, Ravage, please. Dr. Tewantin cannot be disturbed.”
I move around to give the two of them more room, and to get some space between us all. I turn around to face both of them. “Igor, listen to me, and understand this, these are my men we’re dealing with here. Not some new toy for the doctor’s amusement.”
“I can appreciate your situation Ravage, really” Igor’s hands go into his lab-coat. He may be small, but he has a certain air of authority about him.
“Oh, I don’t think you do Igor. Back on Earth these men looked to me for guidance, and for survival. Their situation was hopeless, but I gave them something to live for, and fight for. I failed them.”
“Go on Ravage, please,” Dusk motions, stepping to my side.
“We faced a force we thought we could defeat with sheer strength alone. I was very, very wrong. We were swallowed up whole and all suffocated on that rock you pulled me from. Pulled us from.”
“Ravage, years ago when I met Dr. Tewantin I was much in the same situation you were in. Facing unsurmountable odds, near death. Then Dr. Tewantin made me into the man you see before you.”
I look down at this little runt of a Martian. His goggle eyes staring up at me like a cyber puppy dogs. He’s hunched over and looks very awkward. I look at Dusk who lifts her shoulders and her eyebrows at me. “Please Igor, continue,” Dusk says.
“I agree the Doctors methods might be unorthodox, and sometimes even to me their unclear. But believe me Ravage; Dr. Tewantin only has the village’s best interests at heart.”
***
From the journal of Dusk.
Dated Mars time Deimos 5th, 1999th cycle.
We were lucky to survive the Dwellers attack the last time, thanks in no small part to Ravage’s assistance and well as the unexpected but much needed addition of his men.
At first Ravage was unsure, and I think, uncomfortable with his men being back in action. However since the battle I have seen a real change in his demeanour. Ravage is more assertive, more sure of himself. He leads his men on early morning training drills, though they don’t require it.
Dr. Tewantin as augmented every one of these score of monsters, including Ravage, into world class fighting machines. Each of Ravage’s men looks and acts differently from the others, but it doesn’t take a military mind to see the practical applications Dr. Tewantin has put in place on them.
Some men can fly; some can burrow like nobody’s business. Some has skin so course and thick that they blend into the surroundings.
Both Ravage and I agree that Dr. Tewantin may have stepped over a few ethical boundaries here, but even Ravage has put this aside and is using it to his advantage.
Ravage knows the final fight between us and Hath-Seth is coming. I can tell he wants his men ready. As do I want my own men ready. However, neither of us can control when the enemy attacks, or from where.
In the last battle the Dwellers took out a many number of my men, and since then Ravage’s men have occupied their place in the village. Still however we struggle to make ends meet. With food and energy supplies running short this term, we have to knuckle down and do our best.
I’ve said it once before, and I’m sure I’ll say it a thousand times over. I thank the Gods Ravage is with us.
End journal
***
Stepping out of the Officers’ Mess, I stand before Igor, who stares up at me as if expecting me to say the first word. I surprise myself that I’m at a loss of what to say. Things have been hard all around lately. Hath-Seth and his Dwellers haven’t attacked since, which is one small blessing, yet I’m still working in my head a means to end this war.
“Um, food’s in there,” I point behind me.
“Thank you,” Igor replies sternly. “I see you’re progressing well with your men.”
“Ahem, yes. They’re good soldiers.”
“I’ll be sure to tell the Doctor you said so.”
Igor steps around me to head into the Officers’ Mess. “When will we be seeing Dr. Tewantin again, Igor?”
“As I keep saying, he’s very busy.”
“Yeah, I understand that.” I coil down to come face to face with Igor. “What’s got him so busy, hey?”
Igor stumbles back, and I can tell I intimidate him. “I’m going to have to keep my mouth shut on this one, I’m afraid.”
“Afraid are you?” I laugh as I smile. “Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, hey?” I love how I can make even an alien sweat.
“Ah… yes.” Igor continues to step backwards from me. “I should really be going now.”
“You know, Igor,” I continue, “we’re all working very hard here, to survive against Hath-Seth and the Dwellers. You might want to mention to the good Doctor that we’re all working together, as a team.”
“Oh?”
“Just see that he doesn’t forget that.” My belief in Dr. Tewantin’s good intentions is becoming thin, and right now I don’t care to keep it to myself.
***
I’m still smiling at the thought of riling Igor up out the front of the Officers’ Mess, and I’m sure Dusk can tell that’s why I’m in such a good mood.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Dusk asks.
“Oh. Nothing, it’s okay.” Damn.
Dusk and I have taken a leave of absence from the village, and I have led her down further into the Martian undergrounds.
“Ravage, you mentioned a while back that there was a way of dealing with Hath-Seth finally. Care to elaborate?”
“For days now as I’ve been training my men, I’ve been thinking of the reason Hath-Seth is attacking us. He wants the Langkowski Snowbird.”
“The power source.”
“Exactly,” I respond. “My idea is to educate him. There’s more than one power source on this shocking planet you know?”
“Actually, no, I don’t,” Dusk admits.
“Since I was woken here on Mars I’ve felt a cold. At first I didn’t think much of it, with so much going on around me. But over the course of a few days it became more and more noticeable to me,” I keep leading Dusk downward, our surroundings becoming darker with each step.
“You’ve found something?”
“I think I have. Just bear with me…” I step forward with Dusk still at my side, and I stop.
“You don’t have to fear for your men Ravage. They’re in good hands with us, you know?”
“I know that. I do. What we’re doing here, it’s a long shot, and of course it’s life or death. I know you’ve wanted this war to end, Dusk. But it’s not going to peter out in a whimper. In my experiences these things rarely do.”
Dusk moves towards me and I feel her hand once again on mine. “Dusk, if what you’re waiting to happen happens, I cannot fail these men again.”
“It’ll be okay,” I hear her say, barely. Suddenly there’s a cold whistling through the caverns. I’m sure even Dusk can sense it. “What is that?”
“Hold still,” I tell her as I coil up tightly into a ball. My legs remain alongside my body and hold me still as I build up momentum for a spin. A heavy spin.
I wrap my legs up inside my body and I spin as if my life depended on it. Slowly I create a burrow into the soil as I begin to break dirt and descend. Dusk steps away to let me continue further. With each metre of dirt I dislodge the colder it gets.
Suddenly I break through the dirt and hit a soft chunk of ice. It’s so cold that I start to freeze up. I notice that the ice isn’t solid, but rather sitting on top of a massive amount of ice-cold water.
A history lesson suddenly pops into my head. As CEO of Eco I learnt that Heroic Age scientists believed Mars to be a planet with life-sustaining water. At the turn of their century they had sent probes to this planet to confirm this theory, including the Langkowski Snowbird it seems. For some reason the history feeds stop there and there’s no further mention of Mars after this era.
I reach up and very slowly crawl my way back up to Dusk. I am chilled to the bone, or what passes for bone these days, and I can tell Dusk knows.
“My God, Ravage, what have you found? Are you okay?”
“So, so cold,” is all I can utter.
“I wish I had a blanket for you. Something.”
“I’ll be okay. Just cold.”
“What does this mean?”
“I need my men down here to dig. I’ve found your new power source, Dusk. It’s water. Millions of gallons of it.” I can sense a smile forming on Dusk, and I savour the moment, “I also know how we’re going to end this war.”
***
END OF BOOK FIVE