Lifeboat

36. Decommissioned

"You must be so desperate to be reacquainted with your wife, Professor and who am I to stand in the way of true love?"

The man with the stare smiled. A full, authentic lip action which became all the more menacing by the lack of emotion in his eyes.

Four guards stepped around the tall man, blocking out the lights from the tunnel behind them.

This was bad.

I searched Dante's face for a clue of any possible way out of this. But on the arrival of the guards from further up the corridor, his head and shoulders dropped.

He took hold of my arms and manoeuvred me to stand beside him. We chose to face each other rather than be blindsided by one group or the other.

"Good, good." The Stare gloated, smoothing back his cropped grey hair close to his skull. "Now, let's see if you can help me with something in return."
He pointed to a guard blocking the other side of the corridor.
"You there. Go and bring the lovely Doctor to us. She doesn't need anything with her."

Dante raised his head. I watched as a twitch under his left eye grew in speed and intensity.

The stifling air of the corridor became hot and thick. The cool swirl from the escape hole snaked its way around my bare ankles. Grabbing at me as if trying to pull me free.

The Stare gestured at the wall to the right of the escape hole and grunted at the guard beside him.

The well-built woman in the World Union State uniform lifted a thin block of metal from her belt and placed it along the seam in the wall.

Nodding at the other guards, a wall of bodies gathered closer around us while The Stare stepped back.

An entire section of the wall, above the escape hole, slid backwards then grated to fit flush behind the left outside wall.

I sucked in the fresh air from the beach. Dante's chest heaved and he closed his eyes briefly.

Footsteps from up the corridor snapped Dante to attention. His hand automatically grasped my wrist while he strained to see who approached.

The Stare slid past the cage of guards and walked out onto the beach. He lifted his head to the sky and barked back at his guards.
"Hurry this up. The dawn is coming."

Dante's face lit up. Literally. His cheeks raised, his eyebrows curved and his wide-eyed expression brought tears to my eyes. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to say a word.

I touched his hand, smiling and he released me.

Dr. Cristina Dante forced her way through the block of bodies and straight into her husband's arms.

The couple crashed to their knees, in a frantic blur of stroking and kissing, hugging and crying. Snivelling words of love and joy into each other's hair and necks.

"That's enough."

The Stare's command bounced off the walls of the corridor. He stood in the opening and waved his hand dismissively at the loving couple.
"Bring them out here."

As the guards manhandled us out onto the beach, Dante put up a brave fight. He'd obviously been reanimated by his reunion with Cristina and his adrenaline took effect.

He gave me an idea. If I had the same capabilites as the other Poll I'd encountered and thinking back to the memory of snapping Erica's father's neck, I believed it to be true, then surely I would be able to do the same now.

The Stare preempted my move.
"Doctor. Be good enough to order the shutdown of my equipment right now."

Cristina halted in her desperate struggle to yank the guards from attacking Dante. She glared back at the tall man. Her chest heaved as she threw back her answer.
"No. Go to hell."

I followed The Stare's movements as he pushed amid the brawling guards and snatched Dante by the hair. Yelling like a wild animal, Dante kicked and punched with all his strength.

It came to nothing. The guards surrounded him and The Stare crushed him on his knees into the sand.

Holding a pulse revolver to Dante's temple, The Stare grinned up at Cristina.
"Oh, but I believe you will. The time has ended for this little replication of my precious daughter. Now come closer and put her out of service before I blow your husband's brains across the beach."

Bravely, Dante struggled, he shouted hoarsely.
"Don't Cristina! Poll can kill them all."

Could I?

In answer to my question, The Stare smirked and gave a vicious kick into Dante's ribs, making him gasp.
"I beg to differ, dear Professor. Poll is never permitted to kill World Union military. So sorry to burst your bubble."

He smacked sharply at Dante's head with the butt of the gun.
"This Poll has served her use. She's given us a few too many headaches. Escaping her designated colony for one. Very clever, by the way, my dear."

He raised his left eyebrow while he tilted his head to sneer at me.
"We were lucky to catch up with you and get you reprogrammed before you left for the safety of the Provider section. The Lifeboat is our standard reset. Did you enjoy the experience? I've always wondered. Kind of poetic don't you agree, Doctor?"

Shifting his steel eyes to Cristina, a cold flush of the truth in his words seeped around my mind.
"My poor girl, lost in a boating accident. The failed reanimation process, staged on a lifeboat. Ironic don't you think."

Cristina spat, a spray of sand sprung up around it.
"Sick. The project is sick. I never would have done it if you'd told me the truth. These are living beings! They have the right to live, to think, to evolve. What gives you the right to change that?"

The Stare threw back his head and laughed. After a moment of this chilling sound, he collected himself and glanced at the horizon. The first hints of wavy pink light emerged over the sea.

"Too bad." He released the safety on the revolver. "Now, Doctor. Or Poll will suffer the dawn, as you and the Professor are going to."

Cristina desperately caught Dante's eye. He shook his head and turned to look at me.
"It's for the best, Poll. You won't feel it anyway."

"And you?" My voice shook, my vision blurred by hot tears.

Cristina stepped towards me as Dante held my gaze.

"Poll. Stand down." Christina's rich, sad voice lulled my senses. A heavy weight formed around my neck.

Her sweet, soft words sank into my head.
"Service dismissed, Poll. Decommissioned."

I closed my eyes and felt nothing.