Fall of Hades Read Free

“Take off your shirt, please.”
    Schema looked at her, then back at the voice. “What are you doing?”
    â€œLet me be clear,” the voice said. “Your very existence hangs by a thread. Don’t get into the habit of questioning orders. I am not your employee or your subordinate. I do not have time to trifle with you. You will obey me without question or die quickly.” His eyes narrowed and he spoke slowly, carefully enunciating each word. “Do you understand?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThen take it off.”
    Schema quickly pulled off his shirt, exposing his tan, flabby body.
    â€œNow put your arms through here,” Cassy said.
    The device she was putting on him looked a lot like the Elgen RESAT. Schema put his arms through the straps, and Cassy slid the device forward. A thin, rubber-coated box about the size of a cell phone rested over his heart. Cassy locked the straps, then took the other two straps from the box and brought them around Schema’s ribs and snapped them shut in back.
    â€œYou are familiar with the RESAT machines, of course,” the voice said. “This is patterned after them, but based on the same technology that you used to kill Carl Vey. Except I’ve made a few improvements.” The voice lifted a small remote. “If you are a half mile or more from the central monitor, which is secured somewhere in this building, the arrestor will automatically activate, immediately stopping your heart. If I push this button, right here, the arrestor will activate, stopping your heart. If you try to remove the device, the arrestor will activate, stopping your heart.
    â€œOf course Cassy can do any of this without technology, but I wanted insurance in case you think you can escape while we’re not around. You will wear the arrestor until I take it off you.”
    Cassy fastened the final lock, then stepped back. The machine hummed quietly as two diodes began blinking.
    â€œIt’s on,” Cassy said.
    The voice lifted the remote in front of him, his index finger hovering a quarter inch above a red button. “One push, and your heart ceases to beat.”
    â€œI get the idea,” Schema said, sounding more annoyed than scared.
    â€œOf course you do,” the voice said. “You’ve held others’ lives in your hands for some time. How does it feel to be on the opposite end of the leash?”
    â€œHumbling,” Schema said. “But Hatch already put me on that end of the leash.”
    â€œYes, he has. And it’s time to talk about him. Time is of the essence. We have a plan we are about to put into motion.” The voice leaned forward. “We are going to the heart of the Elgen. We are going to steal the Joule .”
    Schema looked unimpressed. “That’s a foolish idea. The Joule is tighter than Fort Knox. Trust me, the ship is impenetrable.”
    â€œ Nothing is impenetrable.”
    â€œThe Joule is. Its security systems can’t be breached. And it keeps its periphery. If anything comes within three hundred meters, it submerges. Its protocols are unbending.”
    â€œWhich is why we need you to help us steal it. We need to know the ship’s security features and its crew’s protocols.” The voice leaned back in his seat. “If you help us steal the Joule , you get your life back. We’ll give you a hundred million dollars from the boat and allow you to regain control of the Elgen company.”
    â€œI want Hatch’s head on a stake.”
    â€œYou can get his head yourself. Take your money and buy an army. But first we need to steal the boat. We need protocols and security features.”
    â€œI’ll do what I can,” Schema said. “But Hatch has probably already changed the protocols.”
    â€œWe’ll take what you can give us.”
    â€œI can get you the boat’s schematics. . . . There are plans—blueprints.”
    â€œWhere are