The Mirrorverse
Chapter 67

Syrhahn

Syrhahn left the hospital, sorry he was not able to thank those responsible for his return from the brink of death. He admired the complete lack of scar, prodding at it, somehow expecting it to be different than before he was shot, but it was perfect.

They were sat on purple grass, Syrhahn, April, Sam and another couple of travellers; a man and a woman. It was the most extraordinary planet, and it fully complemented the most extraordinary twists and turns his life had taken since that fateful day Viskra had bid him farewell and then failed to return from work.

Like Eden, it had two suns, both blazing high in the sky, one higher than the other and offset at thirty degrees. It was gloriously hot, far warmer than Cxielo had ever got, warmer than Eden also. Both Syrhahn and April had been bathed in sunscreen before being allowed out into the powerful glare of the suns.

Syrhahn’s legs were extended out in front of him as he reclined back onto his arms, which were outstretched behind him. He did feel a pang of guilt for relaxing and feeling at peace while Viskra was out there held captive, or worse. Despite the tone of the conversation, he did feel completely at ease. And the tone of the conversation was most grievous indeed.

“We are aware that William has acquired some kind of weapon,” the woman, Beth, was saying.

“Yup, that’s where my family comes in,” Syrhahn levelled with her. “My son, Viskra, has created an anti-matter gun under the banner of the Cxielo military. His work was taken along with him by short men. I have their photo here.”

He went to pull the photograph from his pocket of the short men before they disappeared into the ether, but found it missing. April laughed and extracted it from her rear trouser pocket. Of course she still had it from their little weapons spree.

Beth took the picture and looked at it, her hands tiny like Aprils, perhaps smaller even. She was a decametre shorter than April, who was ever so slightly shorter than Maya. Syrhahn knew it meant she was either very old, old like William, perhaps hundreds of years old, or from a world back down the evolutionary lane of humans, or both.

“Yup, that’s Brecht,” she confirmed. “So tell me about this anti-matter ray.”

“I only know that it uses anti-matter, and in practise blew half the base up. That was with shielding. Viskra was working on further shielding, as it was the handheld equivalent of demotate.”

“What is demotate?” asked April.

“A very powerful explosive,” the other man replied. He was called Animal, and his curly red hair did lend itself to the animalistic image. “Enough to fit in the palm of your hand can blow up a whole building.”

“But highly unstable,” continued Syrhahn. “It’s considered more a suicide tool as it tends to go off before it’s supposed to.”

“Our intel indicates William is going to use the weapon to take out the Spectrals,” Sam informed Syrhahn seriously. Syrhahn closed his eyes, feeling the hot suns playing down on his eyelids, wishing Viskra would just come waltzing around the corner, and it all be over.

“He’s building an army and they could attack any time,” Animal continued. “The Spectrals will inform us the second they arrive, and we will arrive seconds later.”

Syrhahn stared at the pile of guns in the centre of their circle, belying the idyll of the sunny afternoon. He was beginning to sweat a great deal in the heat and worried that the sunscreen would come off with his sweat.

“I can engulf anything I touch, and can get us there instantly,” Beth said, stroking back her hair idly as if they weren’t talking all-out war.

“How many are there of us?” requested Syrhahn, beginning to grudgingly switch into battle mode. He barely recognised the person he had become.

“We are many,” Sam replied. “But we do not give our numbers out to anyone.”

“Why can you engulf?” Syrhahn asked Beth, already knowing the answer.

“I have borne children,” she looked at him with her piercing blue-grey eyes, only affirming his theory on Maya. She had to have been pregnant. So two lives were lost in that forest. Another innocent lost in a pointless war.

“Have you heard from Xhisara?” he inquired.

“Actually no, we’ve heard nothing from them,” Sam responded with a touch of concern.

“We’re assuming they’ve got paranoid and taken to hiding, but they knew we’d need them and now we can’t contact them,” Tina’s voice had a touch of irritation in it, but it was put on, she was clearly worried.

“I can keep checking the astral plane,” April offered, just trying to feel useful more than anything.

“No. Absolutely no contact with the astral plane, we cannot allow our security to be compromised in such a manner. You could be tracked.” Animal’s interjection was sharp and rapid.

It was fair to say that their security had been compromised twice, but Syrhahn had no intention of keeping April from ensuring their own safety. For all they knew, Sam and company could be the enemy.

Both Syrhahn and April agreed not to enter the astral plane, and wandered off to walk amongst the purple trees and flowers. That chlorophyll reflected red and blue light and took in green was still baffling him, but every time he thought it impossible, he recalled the maple tree that was purple on Earth and Cxielo.

Syrhahn and April found a path that led into a forest, and without a word, Syrhahn hoisted April into a tree where she could attempt to contact the others without being caught.