Against Gravity

"Peter McCowan told me about all the rest," Kendrick said. "He told me about the Bright, how they found a way to the end of time."

Rustling noises, and he looked up from the chair he'd been dropped into, searching his captors' faces. A soldier lurked in the shadows nearby.

"Who's Peter McCowan?" Helen demanded.

"A friend of mine. He spoke to me while I was locked in the trunk of your car."

Another brief silence. "Tell me more about your friend."

"He died in the Maze."

"Fuck."

Helen covered her eyes with one hand, quietly repeating the word "Fuck" over and over, under her breath.

"Okay. Let's start again," she continued after a bit. "The Bright – what are they?"

"They live on the Archimedes. Draeger designed them to find God. I…" A wave of nausea surged through Kendrick. He heard himself groan.

Someone nearby was muttering under his breath, in a rush of words that sounded like a litany. It was the soldier, and he looked as though he was weeping. Helen turned to bark something at him that Kendrick couldn't make out. When she turned back to Kendrick, her eyes were shiny.

"And that's what they call themselves – the Bright?" she asked.

"Yes."

Now she turned to Hardenbrooke who was leaning against a wall, his arms folded, watching. Night had fallen and pale moonlight spilled through the high-up window of the cell.

"We should give him some more shots of another inhibitor," Hardenbrooke muttered. "His augments will have dredged most of what we've already given him out of his bloodstream. That's how he's managing to hold so much back."

"Fine. Do whatever you need to," Helen said impatiently. Hardenbrooke stood up and stepped forward. A moment later Kendrick felt a tiny sting in one arm, followed by a numbness spreading through his thoughts.

"Okay, then," Helen said brightly, sounding like a teacher instructing a class of pre-schoolers. "He obviously doesn't know anything new about zero point. Okay… so how long have you known about the Archimedes?"

"About the Archimedes?" Kendrick asked.

"Anything, Mr Gallmon."

"All I know is, Buddy says those things that I've been dreaming about found God at the end of time. It meant something to Caroline, too – before you took her. The others think they could live for ever, if only they could get there."

Kendrick could see the incredulity written on Hardenbrooke's features. Helen's expression, by contrast, was fervent, almost ecstatic. She muttered something that sounded like a prayer.

"This is insane, this is bullshit," said Hardenbrooke. "What does this have to do with zero-point weapons?"

"Shut up," Helen snapped. "This is important."

"Oh Christ, sometimes I can't believe you people really believe this shit." Hardenbrooke looked ready to tear his hair out. "We're not here to talk about religion. We're here to find a way to win."

"If we win, it's because God smiles on us, and not on you," Helen said evenly, still staring down at Kendrick. "Hardenbrooke, I'll ask you not to take the Lord's name in vain again."

"Let's be clear," Hardenbrooke said carefully. "Zero-point tech is the purpose of this interrogation. Any more of this flagrant bullshit isn't. So keep your religious beliefs out of this, okay?"

Helen ignored him, leaning over Kendrick and peering into his eyes, as though she might find secrets lurking there. "Draeger thinks you're special," she muttered, just inches from his face. "Maybe you're not. Maybe he's wrong, and we're all barking up the wrong tree."

She looked off into space for a while, saying nothing, before finally shaking her head and standing upright. "This is useless. Look, he's no use to us if he doesn't know anything more than we do."

"But Draeger thinks he's important, you said."

"So what? Draeger is an egomaniac. You know, you haven't exactly earned your money yet – or don't you understand that?"

Hardenbrooke blinked. "I don't know what you mean."

"You told us that Draeger thought this idiot was essential to regaining access to the Archimedes. So far, he doesn't come across as very fucking essential to me. That means his friends can still take the Godhead away from us, regardless of whether we have him here or not. What are you going to do about that?"

Hardenbrooke's face was pale. "You're nuts, do you know that?" he said quietly. "Any military advantage-"

"I know what you want," Kendrick interrupted, his thoughts rapidly becoming clearer.

They both swivelled to stare at him, as if he were a corpse suddenly returned to life.

"With zero-point energy, you could win a war against anyone. Somehow, you think I can get you on board where everyone else has failed, don't you?"

Helen's expression remained mask-like. "Can you?"

"I don't know," Kendrick replied. He listened, helpless, as the truth spilled out of his own mouth. "No more so than any of the rest. But whatever's up there, it hates me. It doesn't want me there."

Kendrick found that he couldn't stop blinking. A dawning sense of horror began to awaken within him, as if he were emerging from a deep, restful sleep only to find everyone he had ever cared about torn limb from limb and lying in front of him.

"It's wearing off," said Hardenbrooke. "But pumping any more into him isn't going to work."

Another soldier entered the cell, looking harassed. Helen glared at him. "This had better be good, whatever it is."

"It looks like the enemy know we're here. The perimeter defence just brought down a robot recon, but we're almost certain it transmitted our location first. Command says we're to pull out early – launch ahead of schedule."

Helen cast a worried glance in Kendrick's direction.

Launch what? he wondered.

The soldier left in a hurry.

"Well, haven't you been a complete waste of time," Helen muttered at Hardenbrooke. "All this trouble and it looks like your friend here can't tell us a damn thing after all."

Hardenbrooke looked as though he was about to explode with rage, having undoubtedly promised that a gold mine of information would spill from Kendrick's lips. He stepped quickly towards Helen and grabbed her shoulder. She spun, staring at him unbelievingly.

Kendrick witnessed all this, including the way that Helen shook her head almost imperceptibly over Hardenbrooke's shoulder at the guard, who had begun to step forward. The soldier stopped, but lowered his rifle to hold it levelled at Hardenbrooke at waist level.

"There was an agreement." Hardenbrooke's face flushed red, which made his scars all the more ugly. "We need the rest of the information from him, about what Draeger is pla

"Shut up. You've been worse than fucking useless."

"No, I've had enough of this demented nonsense. I-"

Kendrick watched Helen's hand slip down to the holster clipped to her belt. The motion of her delicate fingers on the gun was smooth and practised, and he found himself admiring the way the pistol slid gracefully into her grip. Raising it only slightly, she shot Hardenbrooke in the stomach at point-blank range.

He went down like the proverbial sack of potatoes. Helen stared down dismissively at his crumpled body. Then her finger tightened again on the trigger, and a few more shots hammered into Hardenbrooke's supine form.

"Helen," Kendrick croaked, his throat still immobile-feeling.

Her breathing slowed. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking at him.

"My name's Leigh," she said.

"Leigh? That's good." A bitter chuckle fell from Kendrick's lips. He felt as though he'd been raped. "Because you're a lousy lay, Leigh," he told her. "Even if you do fuck for Jesus."

He wondered if she would shoot him too now, but there was still enough of the drug remaining in his system for him to find it surprisingly difficult to care. Instead, somewhat to his surprise, Leigh/Helen stepped forward and backhanded him across the face – so hard that at first he thought she'd dislocated his jaw.