The Fallen

Carly reflected on the plan as the train continued its journey. It was fairly simple – without her control chip she would be invisible to the aliens unless they physically caught sight of her. The Sanctuary First Team would be en route to a data pipeline right as she sat underneath the juddering train, if all was going to plan, and from there they would grant Carly the freedom she needed to complete the mission. The First Team would break open the pipeline and hack into part of the security grid to upload a computer virus, a virus that could allow Carly to access the Grand Tower. She could bypass the guards in the outer palace by sneaking into the cargo lift that dropped directly into the utility tunnels and from there sneak through the mostly empty utility corridors into the Grand Tower. Her work there had shown up some security loopholes that could easily be exploited by someone who knew the system, and this information had helped the few computer technicians at Sanctuary to work up their security virus. Carly found herself re-running the route in her mind, remembering every little switch and relay that she would need to bypass to get to the central computer that controlled the security grid across the entire planet.

Carly felt her heart race as the train slowed and clunked over the points on its final path into the palace, and she wondered for the first time whether her heart really was racing, or whether it was all in her mind. Did the pump inside her respond to the needs of her body, totally aside from her brain, or was it triggered by her internal rhythm, the same rhythm that would have once controlled her natural heart? Was that thumping in her arteries really any harder because she was nervous, afraid of what she was about to do, or was it because she was being blasted by hot air from the engine and straining her muscles to hold herself steady under the locomotive?

The train slowed and the light dimmed – dark shadows flickered beyond the spinning wheels of the train, under the roof of the palace station. Carly felt her ears clamping down on some deafening sound as the train gradually stopped; she was aware of an intense vibration through the chassis that made her teeth hurt. Eventually it subsided and all was still, save a slight rocking as the cargo was hastily unloaded from the carriages; the alien industry wasted not a moment.

Slipping silently from her hiding place under the locomotive Carly crawled carefully along on the rough gravel between the rails, heading for the entrance to the goods lift at the far end of the platform. She peered up over the concrete kerb of the platform and glanced around, checking for guards or workers, although the Medea’s staff rarely visited the station; the automated machinery mostly looked after itself.

Seeing the platform was clear, Carly jumped quickly onto it and scampered across to the shadows on the far side of the station, cowering under the wall as soon as she was close to it. Her heart was definitely pounding now – she was now very aware of the risk of capture; it had seemed so simple in the offices above Sanctuary, detailing sketches with Besaron and the spies. Now for the first time the stakes became apparent – back in her old workplace Carly remembered vividly every last detail of pain, torment and unattended need that she’d experienced at the hands of the Medea; everything was suddenly mind-shatteringly real. Carly did not need to wonder what would happen to her if she were to be captured. Her mind had already created a number of hellish scenarios, which had her writhing in agony, screaming at the top of her voice in pain or pleasure or need for release as the Medea ruthlessly exacted whatever punishment she deemed fit for a deserter.

Carly brought her mind back to the present: the goods lift was only a short walk away, empty and unattended. She glanced at her chronometer in her hiding place – a minute and a half to wait; don’t run too early, she told herself. Don’t set off the alarms.

Waiting seemed only to add to Carly’s nerves as her gaze darted quickly across the platform, looking for anywhere a soldier or repair drone or slave might be working, but saw none. Her heart still raced inside her and she fought to control it, noticing that with each attempt it only seemed to beat harder. At least its mechanical construction meant it was unlikely to overload and stop during hard exercise like a human heart could, although that was little comfort: what if its mechanics failed?

Carly realised her racing mind was doing no good other than to worry her; she glanced at her chronometer again. Ten seconds – enough time to dart across the platform, quick and low through the shadows, a squeeze of her fingers to eject her circuit tester, slide around a pillar and skid sideways into the open door. She popped open the control panel and jammed her circuit tester tool against one of the relays, ignoring the spasms in her shoulder from the current as the lift began to descend quickly, sending her insides racing up through her body and dizzying her for a moment.

Lights flickered overhead as Carly darted quickly and quietly through the low, narrow corridors towards the grand central hall housing the great security computer. She had infiltrated the Grand Tower at one of its deepest, least visited points via an empty elevator shaft and a ventilation duct; the efforts of the computer techs and the First Team seemed to have worked – she had not set off any alarms or brought any attention to herself. Her heart pounded in her head as she paced onwards, muffling every other sound and making it difficult for her even to hear her own footsteps.

The floor of the corridor began to rise upwards into the vast open space of the grand hall. Carly stopped as the far wall of the hall came into view – she wanted to be certain there was no alien presence before she walked up the ramp into the vast chamber. She slid back against the wall, listening intently for sounds of chatter or breathing or the click of a soldier checking his weapon.

Carly checked her chronometer again: she was ahead of time. Fifty seconds before the hall would be safe to enter. She leant against the wall behind her and felt herself begin to relax, resting her weight against the warm concrete. She realised it had been a long time since she’d allowed herself to relax, and now her body was happily easing itself of strain of its own accord as she leant against the wall. Her body seemed to buzz with joyous sensations as she let her eyes fall closed for a second.

Relaxation grew like a glowing ember within her, steadily washing her mind of thoughts until she concentrated on nothing but the extreme calm that possessed her muscles. A light tingle began deep in her belly – perhaps her nerves were affecting her even as she tried to relax, her mind tried to tell her – perhaps she should not even be allowing herself time to relax when there was precious little time for the mission. The tingle grew and expanded until it contrasted with the gentle heat in her body – a tension of some kind, yet pulling her deeper into her relaxed trance instead of waking her from it. As the tension grew Carly felt the familiar heat of arousal begin to seep from the tingle in her belly down to her sex and up to her head.

Carly felt her breath deepen, lost of all control over her body: her sex was moistening and opening for the pleasure she wished to receive, her nipples crinkled and began to push forth into the hard coins covering them. The tingle in her belly became a nervous desire and Carly felt herself becoming tense all over: she quickly woke herself from the trance as she realised something was desperately wrong.

A soft moan escaped from her lips as gentle currents tickled her nipples, distracting her for a moment with delicately administered pleasure, until she regained her thought process and quickly pushed herself away from the wall. Her body complained viciously: this was the first pleasure she had received since she had left the palace, and her aroused body wanted to enjoy it, but Carly knew it was wrong. Something was tickling her body’s pleasure centres, and suddenly she understood: the Medea’s security systems could not see her, but she still knew Carly was there. Carly checked her watch again – time to move; the hall should be safe by now. As she made to climb the ramp into the grand hall a soft current began playing around her clit, moving from point to point in random curves, rarely passing over the peak of her erect bud but making her hips twitch each time it did.

Carly opened her mouth and took several deep breaths, trying to blink back the pleasure, trying to ignore it, angry with herself for allowing the relaxed trance to overcome her senses long enough for the implants to arouse her body. With an angry grunt she pushed out into the hall, turning immediately for the computer at the far end and running towards it, as quietly as she could under the hot cloudy blanket of arousal.

Running in the hot air of the hall did nothing to cool Carly’s heated body. She began to feel the familiar burning of her skin, seething with arousal – she knew there was nothing she could do to quench the fire that was rapidly growing between her legs. She dived to kneel on the floor behind the computer, pulling up the access panels at its base to reveal the neat column of cables beyond.

Working as quickly as she could through her heat-blurred vision, Carly began to snip the connections to the security computer, one by one until a red warning light on the console illuminated. The computer would now be trying to inform the palace security system that it was being tampered with, but Carly had severed the critical connections and its warning was going unheard. She still had more work to do – she had to override the control panel security so that she could gain unrestricted access to the computer.

Gasps left Carly’s mouth as she felt the tingling begin to push deeper into her sex, following down the roof of her moist pussy and tickling her g-spot. The tingling currents began to increase slowly in power as she worked, pushing Carly’s body forwards through the stages of arousal until an explosive orgasm began to build inside her and Carly found herself struggling to continue, blinking furiously to clear the haze from her vision. One wrong snip could electrocute her, or render the computer inoperable – she still had to use it to shut down the security grid, or the mission would be for nothing.

As the currents became stronger and stronger Carly found herself becoming clumsier, dropping wires just as she was about to snip them, getting her cutters tangled in the mess of cables that she had created, losing the trail of one colourless connection from another. Her orgasm suddenly rose inside her like a blowing volcano and she dropped the wires she held in her left hand, gripping firmly against the computer casing as she clamped her eyes shut, held her breath and gripped her legs together. Just as she had expected her release was cut short; she was prepared for the inevitable frustration that followed, yet still she found herself gasping for breath, floundering under the sudden blanket of anger and tension. Her clit throbbed and her pussy ached deep inside and her heart pounded in alternating waves of frustration and disappointment, but she knew she had to go on: more lives are at stake than my own, she told herself. I can’t be responsible for so many deaths, this is more important than my sex.

Slowly she regained her senses, shaking the dark clouds from her vision and picking up the wires again. No sooner had she restarted work the gentle tickling started again, quietly arousing her nipples and her throbbing clit and playing around inside her yearning sex. Carly’s hips rocked slowly back and forth with her internal rhythm as she knelt on the floor, pulling and snipping and intermittently gasping in pleasure.

Before long Carly felt the burning heat travel up her spine again, hammering at her mind and demanding release from the sexual tension that coursed through her body like acid in her veins. Part of her mind told her hips to rock faster and they began to do so, her buttocks and thighs instinctively clenching on each forward stroke as if she was trying to force an orgasm out of herself.

Carly prepared to snip the last few wires, her heart pounding with arousal and anger and fear that she may have made a mistake in her connections. Again she found her eyes clamping shut as another orgasm threatened to burst inside her, and again it was cut short as the delightful tingling stopped. This time her agonised frustration was made worse as the tingles intermittently started and stopped, forcing her to use every bit of her concentration and self-control to prevent from crying out loud. The pulsating tingles sped up and slowed down again inside her, keeping her right on the brink; she felt a familiar longing inside her: images of Lonnie’s face, red and flustered and agonised, looking into her eyes and waiting for the kiss that would set them both free from torment.

Carly found her mind spinning; uncertainty filled her head until she felt herself screaming, unsure whether she was screaming in her mind alone or to the world outside as well. The boundary between her mental and physical selves became so blurred that she was unsure which she was occupying. Her fingers left the computer and she felt herself drop to the ground, face and chest against the floor as she instinctively thrust her sex upwards and outwards, crying even in primordial body language.

This was the precipice that Carly had been dragged up to so many times with her lover, and together thrust out over the edge until they wanted nothing but to be dropped into the chasm of delight below them. Instinctively Carly found herself searching for Lonnie, turning her head around in confused panic to look for her lover, yet she was not there: I CAN’T TAKE THIS, words that span in her mind, or perhaps screamed; she was screaming them, maybe aloud. Desire had grown to need and surpassed it; the two worlds of existence had become one, but in time with the pulsating of currents deep inside Carly’s sex they began to separate and integrate, a thick boundary appearing and disappearing in her very existence. Gripping onto that boundary like a lifesaver Carly pulled herself out of the confusion, slipping each time it blurred but gripping harder with each pulsated reappearance until her head broke the surface of reality and left her gasping for air. Blinking back the confusion, Carly realised she was still kneeling behind the security computer, the last wire still in her hand. She snipped.

A snap of pain, or maybe the abstract of pain caused by the sudden lack of any feeling whatsoever. Silence. Deathly black timelessness and a dizzy, falling sensation; swirling colours on the borderline of existence, so far off the spectrum that they encroached upon the opposite side, swimming around in patterns that could be circles, perhaps would be circles if there were other geometric shapes to compare them with. Colours became recognisable as neons, bright incandescent fractals on the very borders of sight. Roaring wind in the distance, growing louder, one single gust that became stronger and stronger until it was so loud that it escaped sound and began to bleed into the other senses. Greys and whites ripped at the edges of the swirling neons; cold chills ran quickly across the… Skin.

Skin. Body. Torso, arms, head, all together, cold and numb in the rip-roaring wind. A strong sensation of inertia. Falling forwards quickly.

Carly opened her eyes and caught herself with her good hand before her jaw hit the hard concrete floor. She blinked several times, clearing her eyes of tears. She was still behind the computer, kneeling in complete silence apart from the sound of her shallow breath. A cold trickle of moisture ran down her left thigh and she shivered, suddenly the air felt cool to her skin.

Her clit and pussy ached, not just with need but with some physical pain – perhaps the tingling currents had become too strong and damaged her sensitive flesh, or maybe she had become so aroused that she had strained her muscles clenching, or maybe both. As she moved she felt the pain spread through her body until she began to hurt all over, her back and her neck and her joints aching as with extreme fatigue.

Sounds began to bleed into her senses and she gradually remembered what she was supposed to be doing. She assumed that disconnecting the security computer had in some way disabled the device between her legs, the thing that had tormented her sex until she had slipped inside her own mind, unable to tell the difference between reality and memory. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out (or if she’d truly blacked out at all, versus disappeared into some dream state brought on by the torment or its sudden end); her chronometer was dead.

Shaking her head Carly stood and stepped to the front of the computer, trying to stretch herself out to ease the pain. Tapping quickly on the console she brought up the security grid index, instinctively looking at her wrist-console for translations of the alien symbols, before realising that thanks to her work in the palace she could read them perfectly. She began to shut down the security grid, zone by regional zone; Sanctuary’s Second Team would now have unrestricted access into an old silo near the mountains, where they would be able to take control of the rail network. They would hack into the alien computer network and take control of the automated alien hardware – with careful reprogramming they planned to load a train with heavy weaponry and divert it to their captured silo. Even as Carly continued to shut down other parts of the security grid a window popped open on top of the screen – a simple black box containing a single phrase: good work Lieutenant. Carly stood back and smiled despite the agony racking her body: the Second Team were underway with their mission!

Carly scurried back around to the rear of the computer – there was now one final part to her mission: destroy the security computer, preventing the aliens from reactivating the grid. She only hoped that in the chaos caused by the loss of their security network they would not notice the trainload of weaponry leaving one of their storage depots.

A jet of fat blue sparks shot out of the back of the computer as Carly tugged a circuit board free from its mountings. She reached back into the works with her circuit tester, connected a thick cable to a main power feed, and touched her metal finger against a single chip, a fat black block directly in the path of the tail on the bloody Q symbol, which Carly realised could actually be translated as an arrow.

Carly stood as the snaps and sparks and the smell of burning plastic filled the space behind the computer. She wondered how much time she had left: the Second Team would be diverting a locomotive to her right now, set on a direct course for the starport so that she could join the rest of Sanctuary on their journey back to Earth. There was now only one thing more vital than making the train without being captured, the one part of the plan she had added herself, without informing Sanctuary: Find Lonnie.

***

Lonnie sat curled up on Carly’s lap as the locomotive sped onwards, rocking rhythmically over the rails. She shivered from time to time and Carly hugged her, wondering if she was cold, or afraid, or both. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks tear-stained, although she had stopped crying and appeared to be asleep or at least resting.

Carly’s heart still pounded and she felt faint, a little dizzy. Her mission was technically over, although it was a long way back to the starport, and in their blind panic the alien soldiers appeared to be shooting anything that moved. She hoped that the aliens wouldn’t be able to repair the security computer before her train reached its destination – any notice that the security system was coming back on-line and the Sanctuary refugees would have no choice but to lift off immediately. If they had managed to penetrate the starport’s defences by that time.