Burden of Sisyphus

“This is a stupid ritual.” Eza slid Yen’s tags over his head.

“It’s tradition. Break it, and it’s bad luck. Quit complaining and hold on tight.”

The transport’s tip glowed gentle red, as the ship dipped into the planet’s thick atmosphere. As the rest of the craft immersed itself, fire enveloped the bottom, flaring brightly past the cockpit window. The pilot threw a switch to make the front glass darken, blacking out the blinding flames, as he flew on instruments.

Within the crew cabin, the transport shook violently. Soldiers grabbed their harnesses and clung tightly, as they were tossed from side-to-side, while the ship skipped along the surface of the atmosphere. The temperature became sweltering, as the hull heated from the friction. Sweat beaded on foreheads or spilled unhindered from under thick, oppressive helmets.

Vance gritted his teeth against the shaking, feeling his stomach dance and twist, as he was jostled back and forth. Bile rose in his throat, and he blanched. Pulling tighter against his harness, he planted his feet firmly and lowered his head, trying to get it as close to his knees as possible, knowing that was one of the only positions he could manage while strapped in that helped alleviate the threatening nausea. After seven years of covert operations and eight before then in the infantry, he never became accustomed to entry into a planet’s atmosphere.

“Your vital signs are spiking, Michael,” Halo cooed in his ear.

Aside from monitoring their descent via satellites, she recorded their vital signs to track their health during the chaos of battle. “You never were very good at this.”

“Not right now, Aleiz,” he growled between clenched teeth.

In a lot of ways, her transformation into the Goliath’s Halo was a blessing in disguise. His leaves were taken aboard ship instead of traveling back and forth through atmospheric turbulence.

Though it felt like eternity to Vance, the transport eventually broke through the worst of the turbulence, and the ride evened out. As soon as he was sure he could move without feeling lightheaded, he unstrapped from the webbed seat and walked to the cockpit. His arrival coincided with the pilot lowering the darkened blast shield from the windows, allowing vibrant sunlight to flood the small cabin.

Stooped in the low-ceilinged cockpit, Vance had his first good view of the planet, as the transport broke through the high-altitude cloud cover. A sparkling lake stretched out below the ship, as it sped over the surface. Green trees jutted from the far shoreline in small groves, isolated by large fields of tilled earth and budding vegetation. Though he was unfamiliar with the vegetable life on Purseus II, many of the plants looked similar to a variety of maize. Vance scanned the fields and occasional farmhouses, as they passed over fertile rural land, but he saw neither work animals in the fields nor people wandering around the homes.

“What’s the local time?” he asked the copilot.

He checked a dial on the dashboard. “Should be early afternoon here, Sir.”

Vance frowned. Early afternoon when the crops were just starting to grow would have been an optimum time for farmers to be nurturing their fields. If nothing else, they would’ve been tending to the livestock that also seemed disturbingly absent. Much like the images of the city, the farmland around the military outpost was devoid of life.

“Sir,” the pilot said, interrupting his musing, “we’re approaching the city. It should come into view in ten seconds.”

Vance, peering through the thin layer of soot on the windows, struggled to see the city, as it slowly materialized on the horizon. Built in a traditional style of the Alliance, a series of tall buildings stood like the tip of a spear in the center of the city, spreading outward and downward until the city leveled out in single- and double- story shops and residential neighborhoods. From a distance, with the sun high in the sky, light sparkled from windows on tall office buildings.

“The landing zone is approaching shortly, Sir, and I don’t detect any anomalies in the air.” The pilot marked their location on the console.

“Fly past the landing zone on this approach. Take us on a slow pass over the city. I want to see what we’re walking into before we touch the ground.”

“Yes, Sir.” He adjusted their approach, so the three transport ships would fly over the main city road before looping back to their designated landing zone.

“Anything worthwhile?”

Vance turned to see Decker’s broad, smiling face behind him.

“We’re about to pass over the city. Why don’t you join us?”

Adam squeezed his bulk into the already-cramped cockpit. His broad shoulders pressed firmly against Vance’s, leaving little space for much more than observation.

“Where’s Dallis?” Vance asked.

“He’s still strapped in his seat.” Decker nodded toward the rear of the ship. “He gets a little motion sick when we hit turbulence. Want me to get him for you?”

Vance thought about it, then shook his head. “No. Let him stay where he is. Somehow, I think you’ll appreciate this more than he will.”

The Cair transport slowed, as it began its flight over the city. The initial areas, though empty and without signs of life, seemed mostly unharmed. Vance noticed the destroyed vehicles, a trend that continued the deeper they flew into the city. Vance confirmed they wouldn’t find any chemical or biological weapons being used, since the vehicles seemed systematically destroyed, as if someone tried to keep the residents from fleeing the city. That meant whatever caused the Alliance to lose contact with the city was probably still inside. Vance felt unseen eyes on their ships, waiting for them to land.

The heart of the city, where the tall towers of wealth and privilege stood, showed the most damage. The glass windows Vance saw sparkling from a distance proved to be only partially intact. Up and down each facade, windows were smashed haphazardly, without any apparent pattern. The gaping holes on the still-windowed exteriors looked like a broken code, dotting and dashing its way from building to building in an undecipherable message.

Or, Vance thought darkly, not like a code at all.

Instead, it looked like eyes watching the intruders, as they passed into a forbidden zone.

“Tip the nose,” Vance said quietly, breaking the silence in the cockpit. “I want a better view of the street.”

As the wings tipped, the transport hovered over a vacant street. Trash swirled under the powerful exhaust, dancing and slipping across the street, piling up in already-cluttered gutters. Rows of smashed cars, their roofs collapsed and sparkles of shattered glass lying on the streets around them, sat like silent ghosts of the prosperous city.

The first-floor windows on both sides of the street were shattered outward, panes of glass jutting like daggers from the sidewalks. Though piles of debris shifted along the street, prodded forward by the exhaust from the transports, nothing moved. No animals roamed the street. No people peered hesitantly from behind cover or within the buildings.

The only signs of life where what Decker and Vance saw on the satellite images. Smeared across a number of cars and peppered throughout the shattered glass on the street, large droplets of bright blood painted the street scene in a macabre undertone, telling a tale of death and suffering for which the victims had yet to be found.

“Take us out of here,” Vance said soberly. “Get us back to the landing zone.”

Vance and Decker slipped from the cockpit and back into the stifling heat of the crew cabin. Two dozen faces turned to the pair of Pilgrims, as they finally stood upright, their expressions serious.

“Everything good to go, Sir?” Ainj asked, pulling his sniper rifle against his body.

“As good as we’ve ever had it.” He didn’t look at the Avalon. Still look forward, he called loudly, “Lock and load, Everyone! We’ll hit the landing zone in two minutes.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

The soldiers dismounted from the Cair transports and spread out across the landscape, a sea of black-garbed figures moving forward toward the distant city. At the center of the line, Vance