Critical Path

“It’s far too late for that now,” Edgar said, his jowls wobbling. His fever was getting worse. Hair slicked against his face, which had taken on a grave pallor.

“Someone’s coming,” Franklin said, backing away.

Across the clearing the trees were swaying.

Footsteps and snapping branches came from all around them.

“The Croatoans,” Maria said. “They must have found Elizabeth’s body and tracked us here.”

Spinning around with panic, Maria realized they were trapped, entirely surrounded and no way out. This was it, then—the end of this infernal adventure. Despite her heart racing, a part of her welcomed this. It had been such a struggle for so long. White wasn’t returning. Raleigh had forsaken them.

Ahead of the clearing, the trees parted and four figures stepped out.

“The devils!” Maria screamed when she saw them.

They weren’t human. The figures walked upright but with satyr legs. Their faces were large and resembled turtles. They made strange clicking noises and were armed with weapons that only vaguely resembled dueling pistols, only much larger and carried with two arms.

Before Maria could run, a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind.

Franklin and Edgar too were caught, and no amount of screaming or thrashing could dissuade the beasts from dragging them away.

* * *

Maria wiped the tears from her eyes and sat back on the sofa. Denver moved to sit next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s not you, even if you have the memories.”

“They… did things to them. Once they were taken to Roanoke Island,” Maria said, gathering her composure. “The tribespeople known as the Croatoans were just simple Indians. They didn’t understand what was happening. They thought the aliens were gods.”

“At least we now know what happened to all those poor colonists,” Denver said. “My dad will want to know this.”

“Of course,” Maria said, “I want him to know all this. There were a dozen of us colonists strapped to their operating tables, their engineers prodding and testing us, pumping us full of drugs.”

Maria leaned into Denver, resting her face against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. “I promise,” he said. “They’ll pay for everything they’ve done.”

“You can’t trust them,” Maria said. “No matter what they say or try to prove, they cannot be trusted. They’re evil, Den, truly.”

“Which is all the more reason I have to see this through.”

He had the bomb and he had his dad. Whatever plan Hagellan had in mind, they were two factors that would be beyond his reckoning.

Maria looked up at him. “Promise me you’ll come back. Somehow… just come back.”

He couldn’t mean it, as he didn’t believe he would be coming back, but he promised anyway, wanting to give her something to believe in. They sat there together in each other’s arms as they waited for Charlie’s return and the start of the end.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Aimee walked by Charlie’s side. She moved gracefully along the main dirt road through Unity, her green silk dress gently flapping in the cool breeze.

Two miserable-looking men guarded their flanks, carrying bolt-action rifles with wooden stocks.

The stalls lining the main route were a hive of activity, just like when he was first dragged through by his neck.

Aimee gently grabbed his arm and pulled him to the left. “We’re going to the arena. This way.”

She led him around the thick stone wall that surrounded and protected her residence, toward the concrete-constructed stadium.

A few people and croatoans stood around a stall outside, trading items for cooked meat. The faint buzz of a crowd noise drifted over.

Charlie frowned. “What the hell’s going on? I’m not interested in seeing your entertainment.” He had other things to worry about, like the ship’s preparation. All this was just getting in the way of the plans, but at least Mike was there handling things.

“You might be when you see who’s fighting.”

“And who might that be?”

“Your treacherous friend Gregor. He came to attack me and killed Baliska. He’s also the reason Augustus escaped.”

Charlie stopped.

Unity had its own strange laws and practices, but he wouldn’t be a party to them. As much as he hated Gregor, and still suspected him of killing Pippa, he did help bring down the mother and terraform ships and was one of only a few pre-apocalypse survivors left on the ground.

“Let me talk to him. I’ll tell him to leave and never return,” Charlie said, not quite believing that he was standing up for Gregor. “He deserves a chance.”

Aimee let out a deep breath. “How many chances does that man need? I have already given him one that he didn’t deserve, and look how he repaid me? He has fallen foul of our laws and will be judged in the arena.”

“Just do this favor for me, please?”

“You can’t stop it, Charlie. This is one of the most serious offences we have seen in Unity. People have been put to death for far less. What kind of message do you think I will be sending out if I give him clemency?”