Jupiter's Halo Book One: The Lies

Chapter Eleven "The Opportunity"

The cuff on his left wrist was loose.

Aitkin fought to keep his arm still. He wanted desperately to test the restraint. Was it loose enough to allow his arm to slip free or would it give nothing more than the space for his muscles to expand?

He didn’t know how or why it would be loose. Maybe the auto-surgeon had clipped the tight straps when it was working on him. Maybe his constant struggle had finally broken something, whatever the cause he might have an opportunity that he couldn’t let slip by. But how could he know for sure without giving it away?

He didn’t know, couldn’t know exactly where in the darkness of the room his tormentor was and where his eyes were focused. The slightest movement could reveal his intentions. There again, he might have an opportunity to test the situation without being seen and not even know it. He needed some way to be sure.

“You are angry at me perhaps?” The voice said with a hint of glee. “You believe your faith is somehow important and my lack of respect for it should be punished?” There was another chuckle, openly derisive. “All the things that I have done here and that is what brings your first real reaction.”

Aitkin raised his head as far as the chair restraints would let him and stared into the darkness.

“My faith is my own.” He said quietly.

“He speaks!” The response was akin to applause. “Tell me of your faith then. Make me understand why it should be so important.”

Aitkin could hear how the voice was getting closer. He imagined his captor leaning in towards the circle of light. If only he could reach out… not yet though. Not yet.

"I don't want to talk to the darkness anymore." Aitkin put everything he could into delivering the words with just the right inflexion of pathetic. It wasn't difficult, all he had to do was stop trying to hide how broken he really was. His throat was parched, his body ached and the exhaustion pulled at him constantly.

His mind was clear though. For the first time in days, he was able to think with complete clarity. He could see how the next minutes would play out. He watched the images in his mind.

The face would be revealed.

He would test his restraints and Luna willing…

He pushed the thoughts aside for now. If he let himself dwell on them he would miss his moment.

“I, I don’t want to lose it. My faith.” He let his voice break, giving in to the weakness that pervaded him to make his words brittle and broken. “But… but I don’t want to talk to the darkness anymore. If you will show me your face I will tell you the reasons for my… my choice.” He laid the bait.

There was silence from the darkness for a moment and then another chuckle.

“You believe this is an even trade; my advantage given away just to hear about your beliefs?”

Aitkin wanted to narrow his eyes, but instead, he let them sink down in a gesture of obeisance. He just needed to push a little further.

“I can’t take the pain anymore. I can’t!” He sobbed the words. “Please just talk to me. Show me your face, let me know you’re human at least.” He let out another sob, appropriately pathetic. “Please.”

He waited. It was a gamble. His change in demeanour wouldn’t go unnoticed surely, but it had been days. They must expect him to break down at some point. He had to hope their belief in their own abilities was strong enough to persuade them this was for real.

“Come now Aitkin Cassini,” The voice was gentle, dropping his title in familiarity. “If you are ready to talk with me properly then that is all I needed to hear.” The voice was close now, just outside the light. “How could I refuse such a request? After all, it is the single thing I have sought from the beginning. A conversation. Just a conversation.”

Aitkin tried to keep his body from tensing. The moment was nearly here.

“I will do as you ask and more, Aitkin Cassini. I will show you my face and tell you my name.”

There was movement on the edge of the circle in front of him. A dark robe broke the light as his captor stepped forward. Aitkin’s eyes traced their way up a long, thin body as more of it slid out of the darkness.

The unbroken black of the robe made it appear as if the darkness was invading his shaft of light until his vision adjusted and the details started to become clear.

His tormentor was tall, slim and swathed from floor to neck in wrappings of cloth that hid his true physique.

Above the robe, a pale face came slowly into the light. It was old, veined with blue under the almost translucent skin and wrinkled around the mouth and eyes.

Aitkin couldn’t guess at its real age; the man could be eighty or two-hundred and still look the same.

The face he looked up at was kindly, like an elderly grandfather, it didn’t fit with the agony it had caused him, but as it leaned closer he could see the truth of the man in his eyes. They were black as if they contained no iris, only pupils. They stared with a cold hardness at odds with the mild expression that touched the rest of the features.

“Am I what you expected Aitkin Cassini?”

Aitkin let his head shake slowly.

“N-no.” He stammered, careful to keep up his role as the pliant victim.

“And you asked to know I am human, but I will tell you more than that.” The man leaned in close, his nose almost touching Aitkin’s. “My name is Mylus Vant, Aitkin Cassini and I am a Father.”

Aitkin felt the cold shiver of genuine terror run down his spine at the words.

The Fatherhood was almost a myth. Terrible, degenerate torturers who would offer their services to any bidder for the right price. When he was young they were stories told to children to frighten them into obedience. As he’d grown to adulthood he’d learned the stories held more truth than he wanted to believe.

They would go to any length, commit any act to satisfy their clients’ requirements. They would torture anyone. It didn’t matter who you were, how important you thought yourself to be. In the eyes of the Fathers you were just another body and mind to work on.

Questions filled his mind. How had he fallen into the hands of the Fatherhood? Who had paid them? What did they want to know?

He thought about his plan. If he truly was facing a Father then could it work? Really? Was he simply deluding himself into believing he could escape?

No one escaped the Fatherhood.

He realised all that he’d been through so far was just the beginning. If he tried to hold out, the agony he had suffered would be as nothing compared to what they could do to him.

Itona’s voice floated into his mind, still muffled and drowning in the fear that filled him up. He fought against it, trying to keep it from overwhelming him now his moment was so close. He still couldn’t make out her words, but he felt she was trying to tell him to stop. It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be her, just part of his fractured mind spilling gibberish into his consciousness. He tried to block it out.

Aitkin had heard stories about the Fatherhood. At the time he’d questioned them with cynicism, if no one ever survived the Father’s attentions then where did the stories come from?

Such simple logic seemed nonsense in the face of the fear that gripped him now.

Those black eyes were close, watching his mind race and the terror grip him. They were staring into his so intently, relishing the effect of their words.

Aitkin fought the fear paralyzing his limbs. If he did nothing his fate was sealed. If he tried and failed the punishment would be horrific beyond imagining, but if he tried and succeeded…

He had to try.

Aitkin moved his arm, feeling the strips holding it down flex at the pressure. They were looser than he’d thought, letting his arm lift slowly from the metal of the chair.

He stared into Mylus’ eyes, desperate to keep his attention for just a moment longer.

His arm was completely raised from the rest, the muscles in his shoulder screaming at the sudden use after so long without movement. He tried to keep the pain from showing on his face.

The restraints would give enough to free his arm, he was sure of it. He didn’t know if he still had the strength to make this opportunity count, but he had to try.

Mylus tilted his head to one side, still examining Aitkin closely.

“I see you know our work.” He said, the dark smile finally reaching his eyes. “Now you understand where you are. You truly know who has power over you. You understand what your future holds, how few options you really have.” Mylus smiled wider. “If you think about those options for a moment maybe you have realised your belief you can hold out is ultimately misguided, yes?”

Aitkin sucked in a deep breath and braced his legs against the chair supports. It was now or never.

He pulled his arm from the restraints and seized Mylus by the throat. His grip was stronger than he’d expected, the muscles responding as if their days without use hadn’t passed and he saw the shock plain in the eyes widening before him.

Aitkin squeezed and felt the fragility of the flesh beneath his fingers. Mylus gave a choking noise as the pressure closed his windpipe, his smile vanishing to be replaced with an expression of shock and fear.

 “I’ve thought about it,” Aitkin said, leaning forward against his restraints, “And I’m going to have to say no.”