SPLIT PERSONALITY
Delly sauntered over to the two Paprijian soldiers who were guarding what she hoped was a hidden entrance into the Acropolis.
“Excuse me, fellas. You wouldn’t be interested in giving a girl a hand, now would you?”
The soldiers narrowed their focus on her as she revealed both arms to them. Her left hand was holding her prosthetic fist.
“Vakata.”
One of the soldiers shouted as they both raised their weapons, preparing to shoot. Before either could clutch the trigger they were whacked behind their heads by Orion and his girlfriend. She smirked while putting her plastic hand back on.
“Well done you two. Like a couple of seasoned vets. Now let’s get ‘em out of sight. I’ll hold your batons.”
They looked at her for a moment before placing their batons in her left hand. They dragged the Paprijians into the shadows. Once they were finished, Orion turned back to her.
“You know they’re not gonna be out for long, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“So wouldn’t it have been smarter for us to simply shoot ‘em?”
“Perhaps, but these guys aren’t our enemies. They’re just following orders.” She sighed. “And honestly, I’d rather not kill anybody else unless I absolutely have to.”
Orion shrugged. She hoped he understood where she was coming from, but she also recognized that her words when juxtaposed with her actions were totally incongruent with one another.
“All right sis. So how do we get inside?”
“Same way we got outside.”
She led them back to the area the soldiers were guarding. She stomped on it and heard the metallic ping against her boots.
“There you go.”
Orion wasted no time dropping to his knees and ferried the loose sand away. Before them was another exterior hatch. The Paprijians more than likely had built a network of underground tunnels all over the city-state. Her brother reared back with both hands, lifting the hatch. His girl grabbed one side, while Delly dropped the batons and took the other to help out. They pulled it all the way back, revealing a shaft.
“This is just getting silly.”
His girlfriend sighed while slumping her shoulders. That was as apt a response as could be expected. This entire rescue operation was becoming quite the ordeal. Not that Delly had any room to state the obvious. They probably would have torn her head off if she did.
“Not to worry. I’ll go first this time.” Delly said.
“You sure?” Orion asked.
“I am. Just make sure to close that behind us. The last thing we need are any of these guys following us.”
He nodded as Delly bent down and grabbed their batons. She condensed them before chucking them into the shaft.
“What did you do that for?”
“Wanted to see how deep it was. Seems deep enough.”
The batons pinged against the bottom of the shaft as she lowered herself over the shaft’s ladder. She took her time descending as the prosthetic wasn’t making this experience any easier. A loud thud echoed throughout the shaft as she looked up. The hatch was closed and they were right behind her.
Delly noticed the batons as she neared the underground surface. She pushed off the ladder and jumped down, using her prosthetic as a stabilizer. At long last, this monstrosity was paying dividends. She rose back to her feet and looked around. There was a noticeable difference between this shaft and the previous one. She counted five tunnels that united around this shaft.
Like a bunch of rats in a maze, fuck—we’re going in circles.
She walked over to the batons and picked them up as they joined her on the surface.
“This is getting a bit silly, don’t you think?” Orion said.
Delly extended the batons to them. They each accepted their baton as she placed her hands underneath her helmet and detached it.
“What is she doing?” His girlfriend asked.
“I don’t know. Delly?”
She removed her helmet and took a deep breath. She coughed instantly. The air quality was terrible. The shaft was even colder than the surface under the forcefield at night. She lowered her helmet and turned to one of the tunnels. She then turned to the next one and the one after that. She felt a slight breeze touching her face while staring at the fourth one.
“Delly!” Orion shouted.
She re-secured her helmet and looked at him.
“We need to go that way.” She pointed. “I felt a breeze going in that direction.”
“Okay. But how do we know that’s not a trap instead?” His girlfriend added.
“We don’t—which is the problem.”
“Among other things.”
Orion removed his sidearm and approached the tunnel she had pointed to. He raised it and took two shots. The tunnel was illuminated from the fusion bullets as she heard nothing. He re-holstered his sidearm and turned back to them.
“All right, we can go.”
“What the hell did you just do?” Delly asked.
“Well, you said you felt a breeze. So the only recourse we had short of walking into a trap was to shoot first. I didn’t hear my bullet hit anything, did you?”
She shook her head no.
“That’s another tunnel. Now whether or not it leads to Kabibi’s family, there’s only one way to find out.”
“Lead the way little bro.”
Orion pulled his sidearm off his hip while still holding the baton in his left hand. He entered the tunnel first while they followed behind. The terrain here was fluid as each step she took was more laborious than the last. Her boots were covered above the ankles as they trudged on.
“Hey, check it out.” Orion said.
He waved them over as he moved to another part of the maze. She poked her head inside to see him standing at the bottom of a spiral stone staircase. She noticed the staircase lacked barriers along its outer edges while looking up from the center. The depth of this stairwell seemed to dwarf the previous shafts they had been in, which was surprising considering that the underground surface never seemed to be anything but level.
“This has to be the Acropolis. It just has to.”
Delly’s voice cracked a bit. She was holding onto the last bit of hope she could muster that they would be able to find Citera and the boys.
“Delly.”
Orion’s voice snapped her out of her haze as she turned to see that they were already traveling up the stairs.
“You coming or what?”
She nodded and hurried to catch up with them while making a concerted effort to remain as close to the inner part of the staircase as possible. The design was off as it seemed to be winding for no apparent reason. They continued their ascent as the staircase had transformed. Whenever they reached a level, there was an exit door that led to a landing.
They quietly entered the first three with their sidearms drawn, however, after careful examination, each landing had presented them with the exact same issue. There was no one around. Not a Paprijian soldier nor Citera and the boys. They ascended to the fourth level as Orion stopped in his tracks and turned back.
“This is taking too long. We should split up. That way we can cover more ground. I’ll take this level, while you two take the one above me. We’ll just keep rotating until we find them.”
“I don’t know little bro. Might be better if you and freckles stay together.”
“Will you stop with that little bro shit?” He said. “I’m a man now, all right. Yeah, you outrank me, but I don’t care, you need us. So cut the shit and let us help. And her name is Rio. Remember it.”
While the volume in his voice couldn’t have been more than just above a whisper, his tone was anything but. Delly was hearing him loud and clear. The timid adolescent she had unmercifully teased throughout their childhood was nothing more than a memory. The universe had toughened Orion up more than she ever could. And now it was clear to her just how much her brother loved this freckle-faced girl. Not that she should’ve been surprised. They had been on that ship for God knows how many years.
“Okay Orion. You got it.” She said. “Be safe out there.”
He nodded and hugged the wall as he approached the metal exit door. She and Rio pointed their sidearms at the door as he carefully pulled it open. He disappeared through it as she turned to Rio.
“What are you smirking at?”
“What?” Rio shrugged. “This is my natural face.”
Delly side-eyed her for a split-second. Rio was so full of shit. Rio seemed like she had been enjoying the dressing down her brother had given her. Delly exhaled. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on her perceived slights. They resumed ascending the stairwell to the next level. They entered the landing and noticed that all of the doors were open with the exception of one. She turned back to Rio.
“Looks like a good place for an ambush.” She whispered.
“Agreed.”
She raised her prosthetic, gesturing for Rio to hug the left wall while she hugged the right. If a gunfight was about to ensue, the last thing they could afford was to get in each other’s way. They resumed moving forward as Rio was the first to disappear inside of a room. Delly held her position just outside. Rio re-appeared and gestured that the room was clear. Delly nodded.
A muffled noise captured her ear as she crouched with her sidearm ready. It was coming from further down the landing. She turned to see Rio was acting in concert. Marius had really taught them well.
“Quiet.”
They continued moving closer. Delly tried to keep her steps as delicate as possible, but the sand beneath their boots were making a crunching sound.
“We can hear you out there. Stay back. Do you hear me? We’ll kill them all.”
Delly sighed and shook her head. She gestured to Rio not to move. She needed to think for a moment. There was still a chance that Citera and the boys weren’t even here and that this was in fact, a deliberate ruse. She was startled as she felt Rio’s hand on her shoulder.
“I thought I told you to stay there?”
“You did. But I have an idea. Just need you to follow my lead.”
Of all the things. A seasoned soldier like Delly taking her cues from her little brother’s freckled-faced girlfriend. If they survived this situation, she would definitely have a good laugh or cry about this one.
“Okay. Do what you gotta do. I’m right behind you.”
Rio nodded and approached the closed door to their right with her sidearm raised. Delly kept her sidearm ready. Rio stopped in front of the door and took four steps back.
What the hell is she doing?
Rio gestured for Delly to come closer. She obliged her request and stopped just outside the door as Rio held her hand up. She was in position. Rio lowered her weapon and rushed the door. She kicked it in, entering the room.
“I said stay back!” The Paprijian soldier shouted.
“Relax. I’m putting my weapons down, all right?” Rio said. “I just need you two to let them go. You can take me instead.”
That crazy idiot.
No wonder Orion was so madly in love. He had found himself quite the brave girl. Delly noticed Rio’s leg and foot had extended back outside the room. She had to be kneeling. Delly took a deep breath. If Rio was doing what she thought, Delly would only have a split second to carry out her part, which still hadn’t been communicated to her.
“You see.” Rio said. “I’m unarmed now.”
“Wrong move, vakata.”
“Who you telling?”
Rio’s leg totally disappeared as Delly rose to her feet with her sidearm raised. She stepped in the doorway to see the two Paprijians soldiers holding Rhodelo and Narobe. Citera was sitting on the floor, bound and gagged. Before either soldier could react, she took two shots hitting them right between the eyes. The soldiers fell backwards releasing the boys before their bodies hit the ground. Rhodelo and Narobe ran to their mother, hugging her for dear life. She noticed Rio still lying on the floor with her hands covering her head.
“You can get up now. I got ‘em.”
Rio turned over and looked up at her.
“Nice shooting.”
“Nicer plan.”
Rio laughed as she did as well. She holstered her weapon as she stepped further inside. She lowered her head to detach her helmet.
“Hey kiddos, you miss me?”
Rhodelo and Narobe turned to her. Their little faces lit up upon seeing her.
“Delly!”
She couldn’t help but smile. This was a longtime coming. She turned to Rio.
“Go check on my brother. I got this.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. He needs you more than I do.”
Delly winked as Rio nodded. She grabbed her sidearm and baton before dashing out of the room in search of Orion. Delly turned her attention back to Citera and the boys. They ran to her, almost tackling her in the process. She had never seen them so happy.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” Rhodelo said.
“Are you kidding? It’s gonna take a lot more than this to get rid of me.”