The Apostates (17 page)

The Prelate Inoguchi was in the water coming from the shore, but she could not catch the ship, which by now had turned hard and was underway. Inoguchi opened a channel in her neural implant and activated a remote trigger. Within a few seconds, another swarm appeared from over the tree line. This swarm of drones was fast approaching the vessel that was under steam, where Aqua-Deluge was engaging Head Ranger Frank’s personal guard.

Another Ranger charged her and grabbed her gun before she could fire, they wrestled over it. She pushed the gun toward him and knocked the broad end of the gun into the Ranger’s face, which loosened his grip. Aqua flipped the gun around and placed a shot through his temple, leaving a blood pattern on the smokestack behind him. Another Ranger grabbed her from behind and put her in an arm-bar hold. A Ranger approached from the front with a bayonet drawn and prepared to thrust it into Aqua’s chest.

Without warning an explosion rang out and
rocked the ship, knocking the two Rangers off balance. Aqua grabbed the bayonet-equipped
rifle and dispatched one of the Rangers with a thrust to the neck. Another
explosion hit the ship and knocked Aqua on her buttocks. She looked up and saw
a swarm of drones. It appeared that they were dropping objects into the water, which cut through the water’s surface—miniature torpedoes. They locked in on the ship and impacted, ripping
a series of breaches in the hull below the water line.

Ravine was pulling himself up a rope ladder dangling down the hull near the stern of the now-crippled ship. It was listing to the port side and was taking on water.

“Aqua, what the hell’s going on?” Ravine
asked emphatically. He leaped over the bulwark and onto the deck, running
toward the bow of the ship, trying to keep his balance on the listing ship.

“Don’t know! Rangers...who the hell are
you?” Aqua-Deluge had exclaimed. Ravine didn’t know who she was talking to. He
rounded a smoke stack and came upon a pile of Ranger bodies. He proceeded
further toward the bow of the ship—then he saw it happen. Prelate Inoguchi
thrust her plasma knife through the chest of Aqua-Deluge, singing flesh and
armor alike. The Prelate retrieved her knife and let Aqua slump to the ground,
she was lining up for a killing blow when Ravine lunged and tackled the Prelate
at the waist.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Head Ranger Frank was sweating now. How
could the assault have gone so awry? He had no idea what was going on, and it
was only a matter of time before Inquisitor Rodrigo found out the magnitude of
Frank’s mistake. Frank decided that it was time to get personally involved.
Maybe he could salvage the situation on his own. He fastened the helmet of his
L.O.V.E officer’s armor onto his head and rushed down the hill toward the
fleet. Head Ranger Frank moved toward a cargo ship on the left. He followed the
trail of Ranger bodies and the sound of battle. Frank found that magnetic grips
were still stuck on the hull of the ship so he used them to scale the side.
Head Ranger Frank reached the weather deck.

Further down the ship, toward the stern, he could see a fight underway. Many of his Ranger’s were engaging a single figure. Before he could react a scalpel was stabbed into the thin neck lining of the armor. Frank yelled in pain, but the scalpel did not dig very deep. He back-handed Blaze-Scorch and was going to turn the scalpel on her if it hadn’t been for Gale-Whirlwind pulling out her sidearm and firing a round into his back. The impact knocked him forward, but the armor absorbed the damage. Frank was livid now. Blaze attempted to attack him, but he landed a punch to her left brow. She went down to one knee, seeing double. Gale was empty, she threw the sidearm away, rushed up to head Ranger Frank and landed a punch to his midsection, but omly hurt her hand on the armor. She then attempted a roundhouse kick to his helmet, but still no damage. Ranger Frank grabbed Gale by the neck and raised her off the ground.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Toward the stern of the ship Hades was fighting with the remaining five Rangers, he had dispatched one. Hades had been disarmed of his sword and was doing the best he could to fight the Rangers hand-to-hand, but he was getting the worst of the beating. Hades’s caught a glimpse down by the bow of the ship that Gale and Blaze were fighting someone, but he couldn’t get to them. Hades caught a Ranger’s fist to the side of the head, dazed, he grabbed the Ranger’s fist then head butted him in the teeth, knocking some loose. The Ranger reeled in pain. Hades followed up by wrapping his arm around the man’s neck and jerked violently—a snap could be heard. Hades let the Ranger fall. The four other Rangers regrouped.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Gale kicked and flailed, trying to free herself from Head Ranger Frank’s grip. She tried to kick him in the crotch, but that was protected too. Gale couldn’t breath and the fight was slipping away from her. The world started to go dark and she could feel herself returning to the darkness. But, her journey was interrupted when Blaze got a hold of a high-powered rifle and sent several rounds into the side of Frank’s armor. The first two rounds impacted into it, weakening the area, the third and fourth rounds punched through and dug into Frank’s side. He collapsed on the ground, holding his side.

“Jesus. How did this go so wrong? Not how I
thought it would go at all.” Frank was spent.

“You people are arrogant, fascists, who
underestimated us. How did you think this was going to play out?” Blaze-Scorch
scolded Frank. She kept the gun trained on him.

“Good. You’re good, I gotta give that to
you. I’m beat. Got me good,” Frank conceded and smiled. He pulled himself over
to the side of the guardrail and learned against it, while leaking blood.

“Looks like you’re our prisoner. You’ll
probably be a good bargaining chip with the Regime,” Gale mocked him, picking
herself off the ground, air returning to her lungs.

“No no, I’m afraid that can’t happen. My time is up—you can join me in the afterlife if you’d like.” A grenade appeared in Frank’s hand, he had pulled the pin. Without reacting Gale and Blaze ran and jumped around the side of the smoke stack. A split second later the grenade detonated and liberally spread the Head Ranger’s shell around the weather deck. An armored hand landed near Gale’s side. Blaze and Gale rose to their feet and rushed toward the fight between Hades and the remaining Rangers. Gale-Whirlwind glanced at Hades’s Claymore laying on the deck, so she rushed over and swiped it up. A Ranger was struggling with Hades and was gaining the upper hand when he found a sword point emerge from his sternum. The Ranger went limp.

Hades gained a second wind when he saw his
reinforcements in action. He dispatched one Ranger with several quick strikes
to the neck, then threw him overboard. The last remaining Ranger surrendered.

“Blaze, watch him! Gale, let’s find Ravine!” Hades cried.

“Right behind you.” She replied. They were off.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Ravine was locked in a life-and-death
grappling match with Prelate Inoguchi. She had him pinned with his back
against the ground. The Prelate was trying to bring her plasma knife down into
his face, but he was protesting with his hands keeping the knife at bay, but
just barely. Ravine groaned with exertion, due to the struggle.

“Succumb to the will of the Lord,
Apostate!” The Prelate was high on adrenaline as she inched the knife toward
his eye socket.

“No, fuckin’ way, lady. I’ve already been dead!” Ravine yelled, as he grabbed her wrist of the hand holding the knife and twisted, wrenching the knife from her downward grip. The knife was turned upward and burned through the Prelate’s left forearm, severing the hand. The Prelate did not shriek, but clenched her teeth, and jumped backward rapidly.

“There will be a reckoning.” With that line, she plunged overboard, disappearing into the murky water. Ravine ran to the bulwark to locate the Prelate, but she was gone. The ship was listing to port at nearly a forty-five-degree angle. Ravine-Gulch cradled Aqua-Deluge in his arms and ran toward the edge of the ship. A tug was already evacuating the crew. He carried her to the static vessel. Ravine could see that the entire fleet was now under steam and traveling toward the old Golden Gate.

The fight had been worse than he thought
it would have been. They had advanced warning and still very nearly lost. He
wondered where the Prelate had come from and why she was fighting L.O.V.E. Were
the Church and Regime at war as well? Events were about to get hairy.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Graham Wynham’s motorcade cruised into New Megiddo city. It passed through multiple checkpoints but had no problem getting through since he was a friend to the Schrubbs. Graham had checked on the progression of events in California and had learned that the Apostates were attacked but pulled through. Graham was on edge, it seemed that not only L.O.V.E. was after the Apostates but so too was the Church. It also seemed that the Regime was at war with itself; it went well beyond the petty rivalry between the Schrubb siblings. The Regime was cracking up the closer it got to the B.A.G.

Graham’s motorcade wound up old Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Ministry of Defense. He was on his way to meet with Keir Schrubb in an effort to persuade him to use his forces to take power. It was quite the gamble, but meaning that they had been life-long friends, and he knew that Keir’s hubris knew no bounds, Graham thought it likely to pay off. But, Graham also knew it could go horribly wrong. He didn’t know how much the Regime and Church knew after the battle at the Mothball fleet had taken place. He was flying blind.

The motorcade came upon the Ministry of Defense and was directed to drive around to the diplomat’s entrance, a protected steel and concrete bay, that twisted down into a sub-basement level. The vehicles came to a stop in an area of a drab, gray monochromatic scheme. A sizable lift was waiting adjacent to the parked vehicles. Graham and his entourage entered the lift, which ferried them up countless levels to the receiving hall. The lift doors opened to let everyone spill out to be met by awaiting ministry officials.

“Welcome, Mr. Wynham. Please wait for the
Minister here. Feel free to enjoy our drink and refreshments,” the official
gestured over to a decanter of brandy and various unappetizing bits of cold
cuts and old cheeses. Graham decided to pour himself some brandy. He took a sip
and stared up at a massive portrait of Keir’s father, John W. Schrubb in his
younger days. It must have been a painting from the early Twenty-first century.
The face wore an asymmetrical smile. Graham thought it looked insincere.

On the opposite side of the hall, directly aligned with the father’s portrait, another portrait was Keir’s own. It was that of a military conqueror, Keir was in full parade uniform, mounted on a horse, which was rearing back. In Keir’s hand was a glowing cross. An ethereal image of the busts of Jesus and the Reverend flanked Keir’s image, both being slightly transparent. The portrait spoke volumes about Keir’s opinion of himself. Graham chuckled under his breath as he viewed the portrait. He walked parallel to the wall further. There was a sign that painting had once hung here but had been taken down some time ago. Graham deduced that it must have been Kate’s portrait. It made sense.

Graham came upon a towering bookcase and perused some of the titles. Clearly they weren’t books that Keir ever read. Mostly likely an employee of the ministry kept them. Some of the titles he spied were “The Art of War” by Tsun Tzu, “Julian” by Gore Vidal, and “The Persian Expedition” by Xenophon. Someone had a taste for history and historical fiction he had thought. It was an interesting collection of books, far more interesting than the surrounding decor. Graham took another sip of his brandy. Keir certainly had a way of making folks wait. It didn’t usually take him this long. At long last, huge double doors opened that lead to the inner chambers and offices. A porter told Graham to follow him. The porter led him through empty office space and rooms that hadn’t been touched in quite a while. Graham was puzzled, where were all the Ministry employees? It was a huge ministry with a monster budget, it couldn’t possibly function without all its employees. That worried Graham.

“If Keir’s ministry is totally crippled,
how will he help my plan?” Graham asked himself worriedly.

He continued to follow the porter into a rear chamber thought a row of empty offices. The porter opened the door and there was Keir Schrubb, in a plush, living area with a theater module, massive sofa, and a jacuzzi on the far side of the chamber. Near a kitchen area was a sizable catering table, filled to the brim with hotplates and trays of h’orderves. The hotplates contained breakfast and lunch items, scrambled eggs and cheese with breakfast links, sautéed with onion, French toast and maple syrup, and eggs Benedict with black forest ham, and roasted potatoes. The lunch hotplates contained various hot deli sandwiches, racks of lamb, and asparagus served with a cream sauce. There were also various barbecue items to be had. Graham was very impressed and confused as to what the occasion was. It appeared that Keir Schrubb and family had been at this for a while.

“Graham! Come in, come in! It’s a Schrubb
family party in here. Please, come get some food make yourself at home!” Keir
Schrubb demanded, gesturing for him to sit down.

“Wow, Keir, what’s the occasion?” Graham
had asked. He passed up the food and went straight to the full bar included in
the space. He poured himself a scotch.

“Graham, my friend, the Second Coming is upon us. Might as well enjoy the time you have left in this world! Join in my friend, the whole family is here,” Keir gestured for his two children to approach.

“Say ‘hi’ to Mr. Graham, kids!” His two
offspring approached.

“Ahoy Mr. Graham. Are you a pirate? You look like a butt-pirate!” Jimmy Schrubb exclaimed. He was wearing a costume pirate hat and toy scimitar. He laughed for a minute, then turned and ran away.

“Gwaham!” Jackie Schrubb had screeched,
she put her hand up to shake his hand, which he did, and he felt something moist
and sticky in her hand. Most likely snot. She turned away and ran manically
back to the mountain of toys in the middle of the room.

Graham had thought they weren’t
necessarily evil people. They were just ignorant and had no curiosity about the
world around them. And he couldn’t necessarily fault them for that, after all
if he hadn’t done ‘Database’ and subsequently traveled undercover he’d have never
known the real plight of the world. Graham would have been just another
insulated Regime elite, existing in a bubble until the Second Coming occurred.

Graham pulled out a handkerchief and wiped
the fluid off his hand, then he took a sip of his scotch.

“Adorable kids you have there, Keir. Last
time I saw them they were babies,” Graham said.

“Hey, ‘hun, come on over, say hello to
Graham,” Keir instructed.

“Hi Graham,” She looked heavily distracted like she was elsewhere mentally. Graham surmised that she had just finished a dose of ‘Database’ and she was having residual visions.

“They are really pulling out the stops
here. Celebrating with ministry funds no doubt,” Graham had thought.

“Hey Keir, Where’s all the ministry
workers? The building is empty,” Graham inquired.

‘I told them to go home, be with their
families and prepare for the B.A.G. They aren’t needed here now!” Keir
proclaimed.

“But, Keir, the Apostates are still out
there, plotting. Your ministry should be hunting them down,” Graham suggested.

“Are you telling me I don’t know how to
run my own ministry?” Keir looked agitated.

“Of course not, just reminding you there
is still danger out there, even this close to the B.A.G.,” Graham placated.

Keir poured himself a drink and took a
seat on the large, plush sofa in the middle of the space. He smiled again.

“I still have all armed forces on
activation. All defensive capabilities of the Regime are in place. I just sent
the paper pushers home. Who needs ‘em? We are warriors here,” Keir proudly
announced.

“What matters now is spending time with
family. Being with the ones we love in the time we have left,” Keir gestured to
his ilk.

The man did love his poor, dumb family, genuinely. All he was doing is what he thought was his duty. He didn’t really have the intellectual capacity to know any better. Even though Keir had aspirations to replace his father, he still followed the system his father put into place to the letter. He didn’t have his own ideas or vision. He was a product; an invention of his father’s system. Even if Keir would somehow stop the Second Coming and rule like a strong man, he wouldn’t actually be running things. Other ambitious and subtle individuals would rule from behind the scenes. Graham hypothesized that he would probably end up being assassinated. Which is the reason why Graham was attempting to manipulate Keir into supporting his stratagem.

“Tell me, Graham, why aren’t you with your family in this time of celebration? The world is going to end soon,” Keir probed.

“We aren’t as tight knit as your family.
They like to do their own thing,” Graham fabricated.

“I’d just think that you’d want to get as
much time as possible with them,” Keir suggested.

Graham had missed his family for quite a
while now. The comment unusually affected him. Years earlier he had smuggled
them overseas. He wondered what they had been doing. His children were both
born in the same year. Graham, periodically, communicated to his wife through
anonymous, encrypted messages. His wife was part of the Neo Railroad. That is
all he knew about her current activities, that she helped smuggle refugees
overseas. He wondered if he would see her after all this was concluded.

“Yes, well, you know how families are.”
Graham tried to change the subject.

“You’ve been a lonely man, Graham, working
all the time. No rest for the wicked, eh?” Keir said sarcastically.

“Something like that. You know it takes
much effort to keep your organization armed so they can do their jobs,” Graham
retorted.

“Yes, it does. M.O.D. thanks you for your
service,” Keir admitted.

“And with all this unfinished business, we
need to stay especially vigilant,” Graham added.

“You’re right there, old friend. But I
ain’t gonna let that spoil my time left here. Take a load off!” Keir commanded,
he took a swig of his drink and laughed.

“Actually, Keir, there is something I
would like to discuss with you in private. Do you have some place we can
speak?” Graham asked curiously.

“We are in private, Graham, it’s just me and my family! They don’t really pay attention anyway, they have their distractions,” Keir gestured over to his family. His kids were smashing plastic toys into one another and throwing the broken pieces at each other. His wife laid back on the end of the couch with eyes rolled up into her head, muttering something about “The Kardashians”. For some reason, the room was littered with tangible media from the early Twenty-first century even though all of this information was archived on the [Virtue-net], unrestricted for high-level Regime officials. There was a video game console attached to the media center, gossip magazines on the central table, media disks from that time period. They emulated the nuclear family before the creation of the [Virtue-net].

“Can we at least step over to the bar and
get some refills?” Graham suggested.

“Sure, Graham, be my guest,” Keir said.

They walked over to the marble-topped bar. Keir walked behind the bar and pulled two chilled beer steins from a miniature refrigerator and planted them on the surface of the bar.

“What’ll it be? Keir asked, fingering a
beer tap.

“Let’s see, I’ll take a pilsner,” Graham
stated.

Keir put both steins under beer taps, he pulled a pilsner pint for Graham and poured himself a chocolate stout. Keir slid the pint in Graham’s direction. Graham caught it in front of him. Keir gestured for a toast. Graham reciprocated bringing his stein up to meet Keir’s stein.

“To the glorious everlasting life the Lord
has given us!” Keir proclaimed.

Graham made contact with the stein. This was slightly troubling. Keir had always played the Regime game, but he had never been never a religious nut. This revelation could complicate his plan, he had thought to back out, but the Apostates were depending on his plan moving forward. He wrestled with this decision for several seconds until Keir broke the silence once more.

“I’m going to miss the taste of beer. The
Lord better have some mighty fine breweries up there in Heaven Land!” Keir
jested.

“It would certainly make eternity a bit
more tolerable, that’s for sure,” Graham returned the jest.

“Alright Graham, so let’s have it. What’s
on your mind?” Keir probed.

“Keir, remember we had a discussion awhile
back about your father and sister?” Graham asked. Attempting to steer the
conversation in the direction of his plan.

“Yeah, I think I remember something about
that. What about it?” Keir asked with slight irritation.

“Well, do you still feel that way? Still
have the desire to lead?” Graham asked.

“Of course. But it ain’t going to go anywhere. We have what, a couple weeks until the Second Coming? Nah, I’ve given up on that.” Keir tried to bury his ambition.

“What about wanting to conquer other
countries and creating an empire? You seemed pretty excited about that,” Graham
suggested bait.

“An empire that will only last a couple weeks?
How’s that gonna work?” Keir asked rhetorically.

“Why does it have to last a couple of
weeks?” Graham was trying to be vague to guide him.

“Well, yeah, but if I did that it would mean, going against my father and the Reverend. Are you out of your mind? Jesus is coming back. How does that get stopped?” Keir was confused and released spittle as he spoke.

“Keir, I thought you didn’t really buy
into the Church’s dogma? It may very well not happen, you’re aware there have
been false prophets in the past,” Graham said, as he swallowed some beer.

Keir gave him a puzzled look. He downed
the rest of his pint and then poured another one.

“If that’s the case...then why is everyone
in the Regime getting ready for this event, like its bound to happen?
Everybody is preparing. What happens if I’m left behind?” Keir was worried.

“Well, that’s a gamble you have to take. But, I see no signs that this is some divinely fueled event. It sounds like this will be a man-made event. I mean for God’s sake, man, look at all the resources that your father’s Regime is pouring into the B.A.G. If it was in God’s plan wouldn’t it happen organically? Without coercion?” Graham was treading on thin ice, talking heresy and treason.