"Project Zodiac" (Nature)

=Chapter 7: Project Zodiac= Sonia and Elliot had been driving through Europe for around a day now. Due to Elliot’s wound healing rapidly, she had tied down in the passenger seat to the handle above the door. Though it drained the blood from his hands, Elliot cared even less about his own pain than Sonia did.

“If you let me go, I’ll take you back to my camp. They’ll take care of you and give you everything you need. I personally will give you twice whatever your employer wants.” Elliot was longing to return to his stepsister.

“Somehow, I don’t think you’re telling me the truth,” Sonia laughed, as turned a corner onto a desolate dual carriageway.

“My employer is giving me everything I need. A fully stocked rucksack, a fully fuelled car… All the water I need; all the meat I need. I was never going to keep Roger around. I just had planned on trading his corpse myself. But, because I’m kind, I left him with the only friend of yours that is still alive. If that woman has any sense, she’ll cook Roger, eat him for protein. Or maybe she’ll trade him in to those delightful men that drive around Europe with corpses on the back of their truck. You see? She can either get meat or water either way. You’re welcome,” To add to her taunting, Sonia sarcastically smiled at Elliot.

Though he looked disgusted at her, it was actually Elliot who was smiling on the inside – He knew how strong Zach was, and there was no doubt in his mind that he would pull through. Even though he didn’t know Agnes, he knew her stab wound was not in a fatal area. With Celeste on the scene, both were likely to be ok. Now, Elliot’s allies would know it was worth looking for him again…

“Listen to me, Sonia, I know who you are. I’ve heard about you before. I know you came down from Space Station Gemini and I know all the sacrifices you had to make up there,” Elliot tried getting through to her on a humane level.

“You know nothing of the sacrifices which we made up there,” Sonia sternly responded.

“I hope you realise that other people have made sacrifices as well,” Elliot belittled her. “Myself included. If I listed all the people, I lost… Well, let’s just say it would put yours to shame.”

“You view me as a ‘bad guy’, when you sit there using the death toll of this world as a starting point for competition,” Sonia sounded ironically disgusted with him.

“Nothing is too immoral nowadays. The only reason we’re even in the position to have this conversation is because of the bounty over my head.”

This was true, but Sonia was still not up for continuing their discussion. She instead opted to remain silent.

“Space Station Gemini is a bit of an interesting name, isn’t it?” Elliot tried to reignite their discussion however. Sonia’s face dropped slightly, though she made no verbal response. “Come on, no need for secrets anymore. Why is it called that? Out of all the Zodiac signs, why Gemini specifically?” Only a part of him was genuinely intrigued by the answer.

“Project Zodiac… That’s what they called it. There were twelve separate ‘missions’. Roger and I, we were sent up to the Gemini – the Space Station mission.” She paused as the car slowed down slightly, she was clearly lost deep in memory.

“Twelve missions… And there’s twelve zodiac signs as well. So, Space Station Gemini was one of the missions. What were the other eleven then?” More of Elliot was gradually becoming interested for real.

“I don’t recall every single of them. I remember the S.S. Aries; that was a private cruise ship. Then there was Flight Pisces; a luxury private jet.” She hesitated momentarily while trying to recall more names. “Oh, and there was also the Oil Rig labelled as ‘Capricorn’. The largest and most luxurious oil rig in the world. It even had its’ own shopping centre.”

Elliot was starting to put the pieces together, “So, all of these ‘missions’… They were all based in areas away from mainland, yes?” Sonia nodded slightly, feeling that one or two may not have been. “So what exactly was the purpose of this, Project: Zodiac, then?”

“We were never told… Our bosses only said that it was two things: Vital and classified. The money was good, really good. We’re talking seven to eight figures here. Some of the more daring and dangerous missions offered even nine figure sums… The Gemini was our post. Our crew of thirteen was sent up, but little did we know how doomed we were from the start…”

Elliot thought she was being slightly melodramatic with her wording, but was still curious nonetheless. “So, you never found out what the purpose of ‘Zodiac’ really was, then?” He himself even sounded slightly disappointed by this.

“We all had our own theories... But there was one which really stood out amongst the rest. Within the first few weeks of us being on board the Gemini, we discovered something. It terrified us all so much, that we agreed to never speak of it again. Fortunately, we never did…” She cleared her throat, swallowing hard, “We relayed a signal to the nearest satellite. Earth Control had ordered us to do so when we arrived to ensure we made it safely… But they weren’t the only ones who heard it. The signal bounced off in multiple directions. One beamed down to Earth, the other went off into outer space. A few minutes later, we’re picking up a return signal on the activity log. At first we assumed it was Earth Control, but the source of this signal… Although it was untraceable, its’ trajectory came from the complete wrong direction. This came from the stars…”

Elliot was starting to think Sonia was crazy, but still a large part of him was believing of her story.

“It was just a few short blips. Like Morse code or some other coded communication. But the pattern, it was irregular, it was strange. It didn’t loop. It was like a bleeping monologue. Each blip was different from the last, but never as strange as the next. The message was long enough for us to get a good indication of the source. We believed it came from a whole other star system. We never worked out what the message meant, but we all knew who it had come from. We disconnected from the satellite, too afraid of ever possibly encountering that signal again…” Sonia twitched slightly at her memories.

Noticing her genuine reactions, Elliot was now far more on board for trusting her story. “Wow… And you say this was your first few weeks on board the Gemini? That must be before the apocalypse, right?”

She nodded in affirmation, “Yes. It happened in late 2025.” Elliot puffed out, “2025… Wow, seems like such a long time. Even if it’s only been a couple of years. So much, too much, has happened.” He was thinking back to a better time.

“I like you, Elliot. Really, I do.” Sonia complimented him. “I like the way you think, and I like how open-minded you are. I wish that things could have gone differently. If there wasn’t a bounty on your head, perhaps they would’ve. For that, I do apologise. I hope you can forgive me for turning you in. But, knowing your mind and personality, I know you understand that it’s just survival of the fittest…”

He nodded at her, confused by her compliment, yet also understanding of her situation as well. “Things still can go differently, Sonia. My offer still stands… Come back to Camp Hackley, they’ll take you in. Nobody ever even has to know the truth about you. Goodness knows how many secrets I’ve kept.” Elliot believed he was getting somewhere, but evidently not.

“I can’t do that Elliot. It’s a trust thing. Quite frankly, I don’t trust you a whole lot… So, now that I’ve given you my story. Tell me about you. Your life before the apocalypse, your life afterwards, and how exactly you even became a criminal in the first place.” Her Australian accent was now a lot more laidback, rather than demanding and sinister.

“When I was just sixteen years old, I was part of an uprising. I joined a resistance group. It started out as a plan conceived in the abandoned underground… But eventually, we rose up. We overthrew the Citadel in the middle of London. Then, the People’s Republic were instated, and the country was whole again.” He remembered that glorious day when the Resistance finally claimed victory. “I had my friends beside me… I fought with old ones, and I made some new ones. We numbered in the thousands. In fact, I remember when the thousandth member was recruited. His name was bloody Paul of all things.” Both Elliot and Sonia laughed with each other slightly.

“See the thing is, every time I look back at that memory now, all I see is black & white. Every single person except for two are in black & white. They’re all gone, they’re all dead. The only people who are still in colour are Maddy, and of course myself… I don’t even know if she’s still alive, but I would presume she is. Maddy was extremely resourceful. She and Ryan were a good couple… Crikey, she was torn up by his death.”

Now, it was Sonia who needed to begin believing Elliot.

“He was only 17 when it happened. The uprising, everything in our lives, it just got too much for him… He killed himself on Christmas Day. That was all he wanted, one last Christmas. He spent the entire day with Maddy. I knew something was up, but I had no idea he’d go that far… Maddy was the first one to find him dead on his bedroom floor, both his wrists were slit. That’s what makes her strong – She was broken by his death, but she found herself again eventually. If she can survive that, she can survive anything… That’s how I know she’s still alive.”

Just like Elliot, Sonia too was now fully believing of his story. “You’re just like me… I look back at the Gemini; all I see is ghosts. Everyone is dead… I know I’m partly to blame for that. But you see, Elliot, we’re not so different you and I… I can see that.”

While he wanted to completely deny that statement at first, Elliot actually agreed with her to an extent, remaining silent instead. He turned to face her, looking side on at her face. “So… Did you have anyone special on board the Gemini?” He had nothing else to ask.

Sonia thought this to be a weird question. She pulled over, stopped the truck on the side of the dual carriageway. “No… There was never even anyone on Earth for me. My sister was always the lucky one. She even had a son – my nephew. Obviously, he’s gone now…” She bowed her head.

Elliot’s eyes widened, “You’re right, we are the same… I lost my niece. She was only a few years younger than me. She wanted to be just like me, so she snuck in to the join the Resistance. She was killed in the crossfire…” He shivered upon remembering her.

Sonia looked over at Elliot, the two were engaged in eye contact. Elliot moved in towards her, as Sonia reached in to meet him – their lips made contact.

“Wait,” she pulled back from him. “Elliot, this is wrong. You’re 28, and I’m 40… Don’t you think that’s just a little bit weird?” It didn’t bother her, but she valued Elliot’s humility.

“Sonia, nowadays, what isn’t even a little bit weird? I mean, you’re about to trade me in just so you can have a drink. Early on, you shot my friend, and you stabbed a woman you don’t even know… But I’m not mad at you. God knows I can’t judge anyone. So no, Sonia. Out of everything I’ve been through, a 12-year age gap between two adults doesn’t bother me at all…” He grinned at her, as she pulled him – This time, their kiss was far more intense…

-'Maddy' is mentioned once again. She has been brought up by Elliot, Olivia and Steven several times in the past before.
 * All of the aforementioned characters were a part of an old fictional story which the writer kept to himself.