––––––––
Senlar’s blood was spilling out in floods in spite of Denn’s attempts to stop it. As he watched his friend die, the shadow of culpability took over his senses.
In the midst of his desperation, he took off his shirt in order to put it on Senlar’s neck, trying to contain the haemorrhage.
“It’s a bit late for that, Bornew.” It was Neil who was speaking. He was watching the scene with satisfaction.
In his attempt to help Senlar, Denn had forgotten about Neil, who was still there. He immediately took the knife, which was on the floor by his side, and raised it, lunging at him, trying to stab him in the neck, but it was impossible for him to hit his target; his opponent was very quick. Denn attempted a second attack, failing again. This time, Neil hit him hard in the face, throwing him to the floor, one metre away from the dying Senlar.
The evil man walked towards the door and opened it, revealing the chaos that was breaking out outside. The screams and the destruction were evident to Denn, and it was only just beginning.
“Bornew has killed Senlar!” cried Neil from the door, and he walked outside, becoming lost from Denn’s sight, who was still on the floor, somewhat stunned.
Denn looked back at his friend; he dragged himself towards him and placed his hands on the shirt he had put on his neck, but his attempts to help were useless; the blood flowed without respite, staining the entire floor.
“Fight it, my friend, please,” he said to him. It was useless; a few seconds later, Senlar was dead.
Denn was in shock; he was not able to accept anything of what was happening.
“No! Senlar! Please!” he called out, devastated, crying uncontrollably. He was there for a few seconds, trying to revive his friend, almost on the verge of fainting from the distress.
He stood up shakily, covered in blood, with the certainty of being trapped in a horrendous illusion. He walked towards the door, and was able to stare in full clarity at the chilling image, on top of which were added the cries of the people, who were running from one side the other, trying to escape the enormous beasts that were destroying the place.
He left the Surveillance Centre, still incredulous, and saw one of the beasts right in front of him: it destroyed a person in its jaws, tearing them asunder as if they were made of paper.
“This is a nightmare,” he said, sure that soon he would wake up.
C0-UN1 came running up to him, taking him by his shoulders.
“Denn!” he shouted, and shook him brusquely. “Are you all right? Denn!” the robot insisted, but it did not seem to work. Denn had become completely alienated.
“Denn, answer me! Where are Qein and Dani?”
Those names brought him back to reality. He reacted immediately, looking at the robot in fear.
"I don't know... Run!" replied Denn. C0-UN1 went off straight away in search of their friends.
The reality was now evident to Denn; he had to do something. He rushed inside the surveillance centre. He knew that there were some weapons there. He took one, and went back outside.
He began to run through the fort with the intention of helping anybody who was in danger. The shots and the screams that could be heard were causing torment for him, whilst the terrible roars of the enormous beasts only enraged him. As he advanced, he encountered the bodies of the people with whom he had lived for so long. It was a tragedy; many were already dead.
The structures, which had taken them so much arduous effort to put up, were now in ruins. The night bore witness to the tragedy. The beasts destroyed everything in their path, in the midst of fire and death.
Denn continued on his way to the dining hall where, he supposed, would be found the majority of people at this moment. The seemingly eternal fight for survival, of barely a few minutes, was about to end. The roars of the beasts were silenced by the soldiers, who were beginning to take control. Unfortunately, an incredible amount had been lost.
When Denn reached the dining hall, he discovered the worst of the scenes in all the fort: people who were mutilated, crippled by pain; people who are holding their lifeless loved ones, crying in desperation.
In a corner, he could see C0-UN1 together with Qein. The boy appeared to be unhurt, but he was crying inconsolably, a sight which shook Denn to his core. He ran towards them, fearing the worst, and when he arrived, he found it. On the floor was Dani, lying on her back, covered with blood.
The girl was alive, but she was breathing slowly, and with difficulty. Her state was deplorable; one of the beasts had delivered a mortal blow. The wound in her abdomen was horrifying. Those beautiful green eyes that Denn liked so much were now looking opaque and lifeless. She was at death's door.
Denn was dumbstruck. With his face bathed in tears, he threw himself to the floor to try and help the girl.
"Dani! Fight it, please... Dani...! C0, fetch help! Help, please...!" he cried in desperation.
The girl’s breathing was becoming ever slower. She did not say anything. She did not look anywhere. She was on the verge of dying. Dani breathed deeply, and then breathed out. She would never do so again. Her life had ended.
Denn remained beside her, looking incredulous. Qein, without understanding what was happening, exclaimed: "Dani?" But there was no response.
"Dani!" cried Denn with all his strength. "Wake up, Dani, please!"
"She has... gone," the robot said to him, taking him by the shoulder.
"Let me go, C0, I have to help her...! Dani! Wake up, please!"
Denn was driven to despair trying the impossible, but he only succeeded in upsetting Qein even more, who was crying in anguish at the loss of his sister. Although he kicked and fought to break free, C0-UN1 took the boy, putting him over his shoulder to taking away from there.
The robot returned to Denn, who insisted.
“Dani is dead, Denn, stop."
"No! Dani! Dani...! I’m sorry, Dani! Please wake up.”
There was no time to do anything else. That tragedy was not the only one; within the entire fort, there reigned destruction and death, and on top of it all, Neil was approaching with several soldiers by his side.
“Capture him!” he said to the men, who rushed to obey the order.
Denn turned around at the sound of that voice. Upon looking at Neil, he felt an uncontrollable fury. He immediately launched himself at him with the intention of killing him.
Before he could reach him, one of the soldiers shot him with a stun weapon. A moment later, another solder hit him with the butt of his weapon. It was enough to render him unconscious. C0-UN1 tried to help him, but the soldiers shot him at the same time, again and again. One of them placed some handcuffs on the robot’s wrists and legs, rendering him immobile. They had both been captured.
The horrible destruction had been the scene of Neil’s ruthless plan to rid himself of Senlar and Denn.
The day arrived, and Denn recovered consciousness. He was sitting in a chair, in a fair amount of pain, fighting to remember anything. He tried to move, but he was cuffed to the seat. He noticed immediately that his eye device was not working; they had removed the wristband that it connected to. He looked down, and saw how his seat, to which he was cuffed, was screwed tightly to the wooden floor. There was no way he could break free.
To his side was C0-UN1, equally cuffed to a chair.
"I was afraid you weren't going to wake up," said the robot.
"What happened, C0?"
"They've captured us. They're blaming us for what happened yesterday."
What happened yesterday?, he asked himself, confused. At that moment, clarity returned to Denn. He now remembered perfectly what had happened. A tear ran down his cheek as he thought about his friends.
"Senlar and Dani are dead..." he said, crying.
C0-UN1 was feeling the same sadness as Denn, but unlike him, he was not able to cry in order to vent his feelings. He remained silent.
"In reality, it’s my fault, C0. None of this would ever have happened if I hadn’t taken the station. Now I’ve even got you into trouble.”
“What happened yesterday, Denn?”
“That bastard Neil... He let the beasts in.”
“But why?”
“He’s insane! His plan was to cause a tragedy in the fort in order to blame it on me... He’s going to use the hijacking of the station to pit everyone against me...”
“We must tell them the truth, they will understand."
"And you think they’re going to listen to me? When Neil tells them it was me who hijacked the station, they're all going to wish to see me dead."
"You have to try it. They will believe us."
"It isn't that easy, C0, they don't have that ability that you have to know whether someone is telling the truth or not. Neil must have told them his lies by now. Perhaps it's already too late for me."
"Then... What are you going to do, Denn? Give up? All this was for nothing?"
"It seems that... everything was in vain. I was an idiot for thinking I would be able to change anything. The only thing I achieved was all those people dying. I'm nothing more than a criminal."
"Things got out of control, but I know you didn't wish it. I still don't fully understand what you did, but I know that this is not the end."
"What are you talking about?" asked Denn.
"This is not the end, Denn... You have to tell the people what Neil did. If you don't, he will hurt more people."
"You don't understand anything, C0. Everything is already lost. There's no way to put this right. Senlar and Dani were very precious to me. There gone because of me. You'll never understand what it feels like. All those people, the captain and the others, they’ve all paid for my fantasy. I would like you to be able to feel what I'm feeling, only that way..."
"Enough!” interrupted the robot. “Do you believe I don’t feel sadness? Dani and Qein treated me like a brother. Now Dani is dead and Qein is devastated. Don’t tell me I don’t know how it feels, Denn. I can’t even express my feelings. I will not accept that all of this pain I feel is for nothing. If your actions allowed this to happen, then now it is your responsibility to sort it out.”
Denn was speechless; C0-UN1 was going through the same thing as him. All the sacrifices of those good people could not be in vain. He must not give up now, not after everything that had happened.
“C0... I’m sorry, you’re right; Neil must be stopped... If only there was something we could do.”
“You must tell the truth.”
“That is if they give me the opportunity... Now I know what Neil is capable of. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes in through that door at any moment to kill me.”
“I will not allow it, Denn. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not afraid of dying, C0... I’m already dead... I died last night along with our friends.”
The room was in silence for a long time. Denn remained with his eyes closed, sitting in the seat, waiting. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and two soldiers came in. It was obvious from their demeanour that they felt a profound rancour towards Denn.
One of the men released the cuffs in order to free him from the chair, whilst the other aimed at him with a weapon. After putting the handcuffs back onto his wrists, the soldier pushed him so he would walk. ‘Let’s go!’ he told him. Denn looked at C0-UN1, as if to say goodbye, and one moment later, he left the room along with his escorts.
Outside, there were people all around. The eyes judged him harshly as he was brought to the centre of the fort, where there was enough space for everyone to gather. 'How could you?', could be heard. 'Bastard!' said a few. It was a long walk, in which he could only sense hatred and resentment.
Denn was a different person now; a darkness followed him. It was as if he were living eternally in the shadow of the previous day. He could no longer feel anything other than anguish.
When they reached the centre of fort, they knelt him down on the ground, and the crowd formed a circle all around him. A moment later, from amongst the people, emerged Neil. He walked up to Denn, stopped by his right side, and began:
“Now you all know. This man is the one responsible for us being here. He hijacked the jump-gate station and caused us to get lost in space. Senlar found him out... When Bornew was questioned, he gave some absurd excuses about fantastical stories in order to justify his actions; he then became angry, and spewed out threats. Nevertheless, Senlar, the good man that he was, decided to leave him working in the fort whilst he thought about what to do with him. I begged him to let us to take him prisoner, and for us to talk with all of you, but he just forced me to assign tasks to Bornew in the installation of the security systems for the fort."
"You're lying!" claimed Denn.
"I'm not. Senlar told me that we had to give him another opportunity. That I had to take him to work with me. I had no other option than to obey. Taking advantage of that, Bornew prepared the fort's security codes, which he later used to deactivate the systems, letting in the beasts that murdered our brothers and sisters. This man had the intention of murdering both Senlar and myself, and blaming the beasts for everything, but we discovered him, unfortunately not in time. Denn Bornew cut Senlar’s throat and then tried to kill me. I was able to escape, but the damage was already done. This man is a psychopathic murderer, and has to pay for what he has done."
"How could you?" yelled someone.
"It's a lie!" contested Denn.
The people, outraged, shouted all sorts of things at Denn. One of them made an assertion that made the situation worse: ‘It’s true, he was the only one who had the codes for the fort’. The people were becoming more and more convinced. ‘It’s true; I was there. He was the only one who knew the codes’, confirmed one woman.
“All of this is a conspiracy, prepared by Neil to get the power for himself,” confirmed Denn. “He’s lying,” he asserted.
“I’m lying? Do you deny having hijacked the station?”
“...No. I’m responsible, but I never wanted to hurt anybody... I...”
It was all getting worse. ‘He’s not even denied it’, cried someone. ‘He’s the guilty one’, said another.
“I hijacked the station, but that is all. I didn’t kill Senlar, or open the doors. It was Neil!” he said to everyone. “It was you who killed him, Neil,” he said with hatred. “I swear! Senlar was my friend, you all have to believe me.”
“It would be very convenient for you if it had been me who killed Senlar, wouldn’t it? But I have proof that it was you. Wallace, get over here!” Wallace emerged, somewhat frightened, from among the crowd. In a bag he brought the knife with which Neil had murdered Senlar. “...Tell these people what you discovered.”
The scientist stuttered a little before beginning to speak. He looked at Denn with sadness, he felt betrayed. He returned his gaze to the people, and he spoke:
“This is, without doubt, the knife that Senlar was killed with... The prints... belong to Denn.”
Those who still doubted that Denn was capable of what had happened did so no longer.
Denn remembered that Neil had been wearing gloves when he killed Senlar. He, on the other hand, had picked up the knife with his bare hand. His fingerprints had remained imprinted on the handle of the weapon.
The people were devastated. Some put their hands to their heads; others began to cry, remembering the suffering that had come to them the previous day.
“No!” said Denn in desperation. “Neil’s trying to frame me.”
“All those people died because of you, we’ve proven it, and even so you continue to deny it. You are a coward. You’ve caused too much damage. That robot has been your accomplice; he is also guilty. You both tricked everyone into thinking you were their friends, just to vilely betray them, but not me; I always knew you were not trustworthy.”
“How could you, Denn?” came the voice of a small boy amongst the people. Denn searched with his eyes to see where the sound had come from, and then he could see; it was Qein. His beloved sister, his only family, was gone forever thanks to him.
The tears ran once more down Denn’s cheeks. Neil had been the direct culprit, but he felt responsible; he was not going to say anything more now. The people believed him to be a criminal, and now he himself was beginning to do so too. He was not going to deny it anymore; if he hadn’t hijacked the station, Dani, Senlar, and the rest, would still be alive. The only thing he wished was to be able to kill Neil right there, but he was handcuffed and kneeling on the ground. It was the end for him.
“I’m sorry!” said Denn, handing himself over to his fate.
“This man is a danger to us all,” claimed Neil. “Many have died, others are badly injured and mutilated. The beasts destroyed the medical capsule, and there is no way of repairing it; several of those injured will soon die. Perhaps even this very day. Bornew is the guilty one! If we lock him away anywhere, we will always live with the fear that he could escape... I cannot allow that. I am going to carry out justice right here. Those who don’t want to see it, l ask you to look away.”
“I’ll watch; that man’s the reason why my wife is dead!” could be heard from the multitude.
“He must pay!” said someone else. One after the other came the demands for justice from the people who had lost their loved ones the previous day. There were many who wanted to see the guilty pay, and those who might have preferred to make a different decision did not have the will to object. The verdict had been given; the evil Neil Gobi had got what he wanted; he would be able to kill Denn without anybody questioning it.
One of the soldiers approached Neil, after the latter made a signal to him. He brought a lethal munition rifle which he handed to him so he would be able to carry out the sentence. Those who were the most furious continued shouting insults and asking for Denn’s head. Others, especially those who had considered Denn a friend, like Wallace and Olyr, turned around so as to not witness the act. Nobody asked for clemency.
Neil took the rifle and placed it against Denn’s head.
“Say goodbye, Bornew.”
Denn Bornew looked at the furious crowd calling for his death as payment for what had happened. Incredulously, he envisaged as his existence was ending. Whilst Neil moved his finger towards the trigger, his whole life flashed in front of his eyes.