Empire of Light

Corso covered his brief disappointment by going on the attack once more. Jarret stood his ground, blocking Corso's stabbing thrust and taking the opportunity to punch him hard in the throat. Corso jerked back, ignoring the pain, and moved in close to his rival once again.

When he had the chance, he grabbed hold of Jarret's injured hand once again, and twisted it as hard as possible.

Jarret's teeth clenched in agony, then Corso felt something slice through the flesh over his ribcage. He twisted away, but did not dare spare a glance down in case Jarret took advantage of his distraction.

At least two minutes had passed, and the fight became more desperate, Jarret feinting towards Corso, then kicking out hard once he was close enough. Corso neatly avoided the kick and threw himself forward, trying for a chance at Jarret's jugular. Instead Jarret managed a successful slash at Corso's back, scoring a deep flesh wound.

They hit the ground together, Corso on top. Jarret lost his grip on his knife once again and it spun out of reach. Corso tried to get in close with his own blade, but Jarret fought furiously, pressing the heel of one hand against Corso's face while maintaining a grip on his knife-hand with the other.

A deep thrumming began to fill Corso's ears at the same moment he realized most of the blood staining the ground immediately around them was his own. He had to finish it right now, or he was going to die.

He let go of his knife and used his feet to propel himself in an arc over the top of Jarret's head that landed him on his back, head to head with his opponent on the frozen soil. Then he quickly reached up and wrapped both arms around Jarret's neck before the other had a chance to twist out of the way. Corso sat up quickly, digging the heels of his boots into the hard soil and pulling Jarret after him, twisting his neck backwards.

Jarret struggled and let out a gargling scream, then there was a terrible, sickening crunch as his neck snapped. He twitched spasmodically for a few moments and then fell still. Corso released him and struggled back to his feet, before retrieving one of the knives and stabbing it into the ground to signal the end of the challenge.

Kenley and some of Corso's staff darted forward, grabbing hold of him before he crumpled to his knees. His entire body now felt like it was on fire. As if from a great distance, he heard McDade call out the duration of the fight: three minutes and twelve seconds, Corso's longest-lasting challenge yet.

The air was filled with shouting and booing from Jarret's angry supporters – as well as from those who had bet on the wrong man.

'Close,' Corso mumbled, half aware of Kenley's face near to his own. 'Too close.'

'You'll be fine. The doctor's ready to stitch you up now.'

As they carried him out of the combat ring, he looked around again to see if he could spot Dakota – but she had vanished, if she had ever been there at all.

Corso was gently heaved on to a stretcher, and realized Breisch was holding one end of it. He was then lifted into the back of an aid-copter originally used for ferrying injured soldiers out of the battlefield.

'Put him down now. The rest of you, outside,' he heard Breisch order. 'Everyone but the doctors.'

Someone pushed a needle into his arm and Corso tasted peppermint on his tongue. Two faces hovered within view, as he saw scissors cutting away his shirt, revealing a wound in his side which was much deeper than he had realized.

For a little while, everything seemed to get increasingly far away.

'Second wound's on his other side,' he heard a doctor say. 'We'll have to turn him. Ready… now.'

Everything got dark.

Chapter Thirteen

When Corso next opened his eyes, he found himself in a private room inside a hospital. The curtains were open, and the only light in the room came from the twinkling skyline of Unity beyond. The Senate building was visible towards the centre of town, a dome wreathed in artfully tangled girders and lit from beneath by floodlights.

An ambient video loop of a shoreline under a vault of grey clouds cycled across an expanse of wall next to the door. He mumbled a series of commands until he found one that caused the loop to switch off, then let his head fall back against the pillow, enjoying the sudden silence.

'You're back, I see.'

Corso lurched up in surprise. Breisch had been sitting the whole time in a chair to one side of the bed, nearly invisible in the shadows.

'How long?' Corso managed to ask, before letting his head sink back. His throat and mouth felt raw and ragged.

Breisch lifted himself out of the chair and stepped over to stand beside the bed. 'You've been out cold for two days. The med boys patched you up good, though. That was a hell of a fight.'

'I thought I was a dead man.'

'You very nearly were. You kept your head, though, when Jarret didn't. He thought he had you figured out.'

It was coming back now, yet it all felt like it had happened a million years ago. 'I remember now. Listen, I'm sorry I-'

'It's all right,' Breisch cut him off. 'I think we'd gone about as far as we could with your training anyway. I just wanted to be here when you woke up. There's somebody else here who's been waiting to see you since they choppered you in.'

Corso watched as Breisch stepped towards the door, pulling it open.

'Wait.. ' began Corso.

'Good luck, son,' said Breisch. 'I've enjoyed working with you.' He stepped through and was gone.

Corso stared at the closed door, then tried to lever himself into an upright position. The right side of his chest still felt like it was on fire, so he moved with extreme care. Something shifted against his ribcage under the bed sheet, but before he had a chance to investigate, the door opened again and Dakota walked in.

'I don't think they'll like it if you move around too much,' she declared, looking him up and down.

Corso froze where he was, then slid back down with infinite care. 'Until I saw you back there, I was sure you were dead,' he grunted.

Dakota headed past his bed and perched on the edge of the windowsill. The lights of the city now illuminated her from behind, colouring her skin a pale bronze.

'In a fu

He tugged the bed sheet down with his left hand and saw, to his horror, that something not unlike an enormous caterpillar with semi-translucent flesh lay across the gash in his chest. He could see blood – his blood – pulsing through its body, while its dozen legs impaled his severed flesh, holding it in place.

'The wonders of modern biotechnology,' Dakota said. 'But don't worry. One of the doctors said it'd die and fall off in a couple of days once you've healed up.'

Corso let the sheet fall back into place, thoroughly disturbed by the sight.

'You simply disappeared,' he said. 'We got your final warning about the swarm heading our way… then nothing. What the hell happened to you, Dakota?'

'The swarm turned on me the instant I let my guard down.'

She shrugged. 'I thought I was studying it, while the whole time it was siphoning off the same data you sent to me. When it attacked, I was trapped. I had to use the last of my ship's energy reserves to send that final communication.'

'But you got away. You escaped, and now you're here.'

'It's not as simple as that.'

Corso groaned and tried to sit up again. His head was pounding. 'I need to get up.'

She hopped down from the windowsill and stepped over to the bed, gently pushing him back down. 'There's nothing needs taking care of so badly that you have to go anywhere right this instant.'

'Tell me exactly what happened. What did you mean, It's not as simple as that?