Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

• CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: APPOINTMENT(S) WITH DESTINY

Previously:

• Only Seth, Sean and Gary remain at the tower. Gary's birthday is December 31. Seth has been told he is also due to return on the 31st, when he will see a red dodecagon.

• The physics require the death of a Twelve and another to be shot by arrows, preferably non-fatally. Simulations run in Switzerland indicate that Augie and Tim are, respectively, the victims who produce the most favorable outcomes for The Project.

• When Jasper arrives underground, after having been castrated by Seth, his testicles are restored, but Jordan's simultaneously disappear. Both Jordan and Miles are slated to be executed in the final days of the month, after Miles, too, is gelded.

• Some or all of the above two bullets can be avoided if a Twelve volunteers to be beheaded, and another volunteers to be gelded; Harry, satisfied that he will not die a virgin and pessimistic about his future life in Alphaworld, considers sacrificing himself to save Jordan.

• With Seth and Sean's help, Gary is able to restore the memory of the childhood traumas that led to the creation of his alternate personalities Ray and Cody. Cody leaves Gary's head after he `finds' his herd (thanks to Sean's intervention). Ray and Gary, now seemingly simultaneously conscious, consider the prospects of merger.

• Miles has realized he was being manipulated by Sean and draws closer to Vic.

• Paul and Dai, in love with each other, brand each other's names on their bodies in hopes of finding each other after a potential return to Alphaworld.

• Ian, after unsuccessfully trying to save Stan from (Beta-)death, is returned underground and demoted to a captive by Hamish.

• • • • • • • • SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30 * * * * * * * *

THE DORMITORY – ED

A man unknown to me crawled into the dormitory. Yes, crawled. He looked ridiculous, a dog collar around his neck and a puppy-dog tail protruding from his arse. Like Hamish's alleged pet dog, Barry – but this was not Barry.

• Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?

• (Paul) That's Ian. He's – well, he WAS – one of the lieutenants. The one who escaped with Augie.

• (Vic) This is the guy who told me to commit murder, that it was the only way to save our lives.

• It looks like you have some things to answer for, dog boy.

• (Harry) I think it's more complicated than that. Sean was behind this, wasn't he?

• (Ian) He forced me to do all those things. And he killed my boyfriend.

• (Vic) Stan? Stan's dead?

• (Ian) Stan, Theo, Al – all Sean's doing. I tried to protect Stan, but Sean ratted on me and – well, you see the result. Hamish has two dogs now.

It seemed like just desserts to me. Though the pervert probably enjoyed the puppy-dog tail up his arse.

• (Harry) What are you doing here with us? You don't live here if you're Hamish's dog.

• (Ian) I came to warn you. They're going to behead one of you. Barry told me.

Thud. They'd already beheaded my son. I was the old man in the group, the most expendable. These fucking perverts get off on that sort of thing, obviously. I waited in dread for the answer to the inevitable question:

• (Dai) Who?

• (Ian) They mentioned three names – Stapleton, Eton, and Omi. In that order. I'm sorry, Augie.

Relief. Not Niemann. I felt bad for Augie, but the kid was miserable after figuring out he was bent and how that bitch Jordan had betrayed him. Maybe it was for the best – put him out of his misery.

The others circled around Augie, consoling him. I kept my distance – we were never particularly close, and, I mean, we were naked. I was supposed to put my bare body next to his and hug him?

• (Harry) There might be a way out of this, Augie.

• (Augie) What? How, Harry?

• (Harry) Let me talk to Hamish. Ian, I'm going back with you.

THE THRONE ROOM – ABE

Barry, no longer allowed to throw a fuck into me, was away throwing a fuck into someone else – probably Jordan. Hamish was fucking Percy, leaving me in the corner, quietly contemplating my fate.

Someday my prince would come, and that day was tomorrow – December 31st. Seth was due to arrive here and . . . do what? I didn't care, as long as it led to the two of us leaving this universe together. All I wanted was to go back to Cleveland with Seth. The last month without him had been intolerable; I needed him twenty-four/seven. I'd surrender my soul to him however he wanted, handcuffs included.

My reverie was interrupted by the arrival of two figures. One was Ian, in full doggy mode. The other made me gasp: the heavyset dude Seth had chatted with in the airport on Grand Turk. I could never have imagined that HE would wind up as one of Hamish's captives. Hamish was into chubs?

• (Hamish, not pleased at the intrusion mid-fuck) Get your ass out of here!

This, I gathered, was to the chub; Ian belonged here just as much as I did. The big man retreated into the hallway, to a place where I could see him but Hamish couldn't. He looked at me and mouthed `Abe'.

He knew my name. Well, I guess Seth had told him. I didn't know his. He'd probably mentioned it, but I had been reading and not paying attention.

He undertook a series of gestures, pointing to me, moving his hand like it was a mouth talking, pointing toward Hamish and Percy's bed, making pelvic thrusts, and then crossing his arms rapidly like a referee signaling an incomplete pass. I interpreted this as: "Tell me when Hamish is done fucking Percy". I nodded; when Hamish WAS done fucking Percy, I waved him inside.

• (Hamish) Why are you still here?

• (Chub) I have a proposal for you.

This prompted a bark of laughter from the Man in Charge.

• That's hilarious. YOU have a proposal for ME? I have a proposal for you – get your fat ass out of here or I'll have my lieutenants do something to you that won't be fixed in the morning.

• That's actually my proposal.

There was a silence. This had gotten Hamish's attention, and Percy's as well. Not to mention mine and Ian's.

• Okay, let's hear it.

• I want you to cut off my head.

There was another silence.

• Mancini, you're a Twelve. You only have one life. If you're dead here, you're dead, once and for all.

• I know that. We all know that.

• You want to commit suicide.

• If you'll agree not to kill Jordan.

• . . . You want to substitute yourself for Murdock.

• And Augie. Stapleton, to you. We know you have to behead one of us, let it be me, not Augie. But you can't kill Jordan or Miles either.

• The deaths of all left-siders are mandated.

• Jordan and Miles aren't left-siders – they weren't on the plane. And they also have only one life. Barry said if I died, it would save them. Or at least one of them.

• Barry talks too much. Nonetheless, it's an interesting proposal. I'll take it under advisement. Now scram.

I suddenly felt guilty about the mean things I had said in the airport. I had judged the guy based on his outside, when it was clear that inside was a genuine, kind, incredibly generous person, willing to sacrifice himself to spare others.

Mancini left, and Percy and Hamish immediately began to discuss the situation.

• (Percy) Hame, We have to alert Switzerland. They said if there was a volunteer –

• (Hamish) I'll send a transmission. It'll be the wee hours in the morning there now, it may take a while to get an answer. We'll hold off Murdock's execution.

• (Percy) If it still needs to go forward, I doubt there's much harm in waiting until tomorrow.

I was full of mixed feelings. I didn't want any of them to die. But my feelings would have to wait. Percy had other ideas for how I should occupy my time.

• Well, getting fucked has made me even hornier. Pussycat, get in the sling.

I got in the sling.

• • • • • • • • MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 * * * * * * * *

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I woke up early, nervous. This was the big day. Gary and I were both slated to go down, he by the yellow dodecagon, I by the red. If I am to save Abe, it has to happen today. Sean had warned me I'd have tasks to do underground, but I would be told about them after I arrived; that made me nervous, too.

I can't let Abe down. It was now or never.

Scary.

I headed out the door with the latrine in mind and . . . whoa.

ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND – JESÚS (hours earlier)

• Falcon, did you move the Phallic Tower?

• Yes, it's near the exit from the Egress Room now.

• He'll see it when we send him up?

• Can't miss. We'll move the yellow portal after we get the okay from Sean. Herrick has to do his daily first.

• Excellent.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SEAN

I heard Seth leave the tower. I knew the surprise awaiting him outside. I left Gary sleeping and joined Seth on what was proving to be a bright sunny day.

• (Seth) They moved it again.

• They did. Do you know where we are?

• Should I? . . . Wait, this does look familiar. We're not far from the beach, are we? On the west side. Near where we emerged when we escaped.

• Exactly. They want us to be near the exit point.

• Why? Am I supposed to slide down the pole to go underground? Is Gary?

• No. Dodecagons will arrive for you.

• So why move us near the exit point?

• You have to fuck Gary first. Should we wake him and see what flavor he is today?

• You didn't answer my question.

• No, I didn't.

THE THRONE ROOM – ABE

• Good morning, pussycat. How are you feeling?

• Like shit. How am I supposed to be feeling?

• It's your last day, I understand.

• Last day here, or last day in existence?

• Pussycat, do you know where you are?

• I know we're in an alternate universe, if that's what you're asking.

• Then, let's say it's your last day in existence in this universe.

• I'm going to die.

• You're going to die.

• But maybe I'm still alive in the other universe?

• You're a left-sider. You have another existence.

• Will my consciousness transfer there? Will I be aware of anything after the axe strikes my neck?

• Pussycat –

• Will Seth be there? Will we be together? That's all that matters, Percy. I love him more now than ever. I want that love to carry over. And Sean – Sean won't be there, will he?

• Pussycat, you ask too many questions. It's tiresome. You worry too much, think too much. Your brain is not the most important part of you in this universe. Your ass is.

• I'm more than an ass, Percy. You're an ass, so far as I'm concerned.

• Oh, now, pussycat, be nice. After I'm giving you such a lovely parting gift.

• . . . What's that?

• I know it's a little late for Christmas, but what little boy doesn't want a train set?

• A train s-

• I'm giving you a nice long train to pull. And after Herrick arrives, we'll see what happens, and whether or not you wake up ANYWHERE tomorrow morning. One thing's certain: you won't be waking up here.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

• Good morning.

• Good morning. / Good morning.

• . . . I can't tell. Who's there?

• I am. / And I am.

• BOTH of you?

• Yes. / You got it, Sethy.

• Sean, are you processing this?

• (Sean) I think so. You're both conscious at the same time.

• (Gary, giggling) We're living together.

• (Ray) I haven't figured out a way to fuck him, but we've decided to cohabitate.

• (Gary) Neither of us wants to go away. And he has some qualities I could use.

• (Ray) Like cojones.

• (Gary) I would say `courage', but yeah.

• (Ray) And he has some qualities I could use.

• (Gary) Like empathy.

• (Ray) And we both like sex, now we can have it both ways. We can be tops sometimes and bottoms sometimes.

• Well, it's good that you both like sex, because I have to fuck one of you. Or both of you.

• (Gary) Both of us. He'll put up with it.

• (Ray) I will. I'm starting to understand him now. We talked a lot last night.

• You . . . talked a lot. To each other.

• (Gary) Yeah.

• (Ray) We realize we can be there for each other when there are things we don't want to handle.

• So when I fuck you this morning, you're going to let Gary take over.

• (Ray) No, I'll be there, too. But he can help me get through it.

• (Gary) And he can help me take risks.

• (Ray) Like fucking Jasper's ass if we ever get the chance.

• (Gary) And letting Jasper fuck us if we ever get the chance.

• Well, bend over, guys, it's time for your last morning fuck.

Admittedly, it was disconcerting to hear them talking to each other while my dick was buried in their ass. Gary was loving it and helping Ray to cope with it, so I just went about my business and rammed my dick up that manly butt until my joy juice erupted from my cock, at what seemed like record levels.

Man, did that feel good!

THE DORMITORY – AUGIE

My first thought was, "This is the last time I will ever wake up." My life is about to end – and what kind of life has it been? All those years living in fear of hell because I was a sinner, thinking the worst of those sins was having unnatural desires. And fooling myself into thinking I'd been redeemed by Jordan because I'd fallen in love with a woman. Who wasn't a woman. I was a homosexual, and ashamed of it.

But now, as I prepared to meet my maker, I knew I had been redeemed. God wasn't Pastor Markson. Jesus never said a word against being gay. He said to love one another, and he didn't add as long as they're the opposite sex'. I've met men on this island who are good people and are gay – the old me would have said despite being gay' – Seth and Harry and Paul and Dai and Jasper and Stan and . . . Jordan. Maybe even Vic, who killed someone. See, that's the thing. Gay people are complex, like all people are complex. Lucas was horrible, and Ed and Leo had their obnoxious side. I can name straight people who are wonderful, and straight people who are horrible and obnoxious. When it comes to being a good person or a bad person, whether or not you're gay doesn't come into it at all.

I've learned that. And that means I can be a good person, even though these last few years I've thought I was a bad one. So I suppose if I have to die today, I can do so with my head held high.

Harry thinks I might not have to die today, but I'm not sure why.

ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND – JESÚS

• Thibaut?

• The substitution can proceed.

• Even if it's Mancini? He was supposed to remain alive because he was a virgin.

• Well, he's no virgin now. His ass has been breached, if only slightly. Making the substitution lowers the success probability by four tenths of a percent, which is negligible.

• We should do it then. It will spare Murdock's only life.

• (Ari) Jesús, you told me you didn't care a fig about their lives, only the success of The Project.

• Ari, we can have both. It's a matter of balance.

• What about King?

• When Onslow arrives, King loses his nuts.

• And his head?

• That too, unless someone volunteers for castration.

• Torrance is his lover. He might volunteer to save him.

• Maybe. Torrance has only one life. If he gives up his balls, they're gone forever.

MILES'S CELL – MILES

• Vic, I owe you an apology. What I told Al Casey was true – well, partly true: that I was stringing you along when I really loved someone else. But that was before I came to my senses.

• Your senses.

• Before I realized that I loved you as much as you loved me. If this is my last day on earth, I need you to know that. I can't die in peace unless I know that you know just how much I love you.

• Don't talk about shit like dying in peace.

• I have to, Vic. They're going to cut off my balls and then my head. Jordan's already a eunuch, although that happened by magic and not –

• I heard. Enough talk about balls and heads. We're talking about love. And I do love you, Miles.

• But? . . . I heard a `but' in your voice.

• When you arrived on the island, I don't know – you seemed different. Distant.

• It was Sean. He had me wrapped around his little finger.

• He's good at that. Wrapped me around his little finger, too. Got me to murder Al – and didn't even have the stones to tell me himself. He pressured Ian into it. He's a piece of work, that Sean.

• You're a piece of work yourself, Vic. A masterwork. A great piece of art.

• Who appreciates a great piece of ass.

• Is that what I am to you, Vic? A great piece of ass?

• Uh-huh. But it's not all you are, baby. When you walked into my gym, it was love at first sight. These past few months – until the flight – were the happiest of my life.

• Mine, too. I'm starting to realize that now. Sean can go fuck himself. And you can go fuck me.

• Is that a figure of speech?

• No time like the present, Vic. One final fuck to go out on. We've already got our clothes off.

• And I've already got my pecker up.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

Sean had waited discreetly inside the tower while I fucked the Onslow boys. In the aftermath, Gary pulled my head toward me and gave me a passionate kiss – which he never would have done without Ray by his side. It was a good kiss, too – Ray must have been coaching him.

I poked my head inside the tower to let Sean know we'd finished, when I heard Ray behind me:

• Wow, they sure didn't waste any fuckin' time, did they?

I turned around and saw it. The yellow dodecagon appeared a hundred yards away. In the meadow, not in the woods where we had first encountered it on that eventful first day on the island.

• (Gary) Augie said that everybody found their dodecagons beautiful.

• (Ray) They were right. The damn thing is fucking beautiful. Look at that big yellow cock.

• (Gary) Seth? Can I go to it? I want to.

• (Sean) It's your appointment with destiny, Gary. Everything's coming to a head today and if you don't surrender, I don't know what will happen. Maybe the island will collapse and we'll be stuck in the middle of the sea, food for sharks.

• Don't mind him, Gary. That won't happen. But, yeah, you're supposed to go to it, you want to go to it, so go to it.

I watched him – them – trot out naked toward the yellow disc. He jumped up on it enthusiastically, raising his arms above his head triumphantly like Rocky at the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He ran over to what he must have seen as a giant phallus (invisible to me) and bent over, seeming to hug a column of air. And then he rocked back and forth – I imagined both Ray fucking and Gary getting fucked, though I know the latter was closer to the truth. He/they looked ecstatic. I got close enough to catch a glimpse of a depiction of a rodent – Gary was born in the year of the Rat – before the dodecagon flipped open like a foot-operated trash can, dropping Gary down below.

He was gone. Only Sean and I remained on the surface. And I had my own appointment with destiny and the red dodecagon. I wasn't going off in search of it. I knew it would find me.

THE DARK ROOM – GARY

We fell into the earth, which felt like being on some kind of ride at an amusement park where you dropped from a great height only to land safely. We landed safely, in a pitch black room – with a dildo up our ass. Ray didn't like it, but I kinda did.

We weren't in the chair for very long when the door opened. And a figure approached, a man in his forties. A man I recognized.

• (Ray) I knew he would be here.

• I think I did, too. I mean, someone from our past – who else would it be?

• (Ray) Don't worry. I got this. I'm not intimidated by him anymore.

And somehow I wasn't either.

• Hello, Uncle Atticus.

• (Atticus) Hello, Gary. Or is this Ray? . . . Cody?

• Cody's gone. Ray and I are both here. And we can take anything you can dish out.

• (Atticus) I can dish it out, son. But you're in luck. Normally, new arrivals get a long train to pull. But not today. It'll be just me.

• (Ray) Ha! Gary, look at that cock. We thought it was so big before. It's way smaller than Seth's.

• (Atticus) You thought it plenty big then.

• (Ray) We're grown up now. Our asshole got bigger. I think your cock got smaller.

Ray was right. Atticus's cock was no match for Seth's. Neither was his fucking.

Piece of cake. I got this.

THE THRONE ROOM – BARRY

• Boy, I'm sending you to the surface.

I need to have my hearing checked.

• Excuse me, Master. Did you just say you were sending me to the surface?

• I did.

• . . . Is this reward? Release? Punishment?

• None of the above. It's a job.

• A job.

• I need you to fetch Sean.

• Who's Sean?

• Sean is an employee of Stimulever who's been up on the surface with the Trigger and the others. I need you to bring him back down. He'll be at a big tower you'll see when you go up.

• He can't come down by himself?

• No. Ian will give you the code to the Egress Room; he's a smart doggy, he'll remember it. When you get to the surface, leave the access point open. It'll be like a manhole cover that lifts like a lid. When you find Sean, bring him down through that opening.

• . . . Okay.

• The proper response is `Yes, Master'.

• Yes, Master. Okay.

THE DORMITORY – JASPER

Life since my arrival – two days ago – has been on the dramatic side. I'd been warned that I would meet someone from my past, but little did I expect it to be Alec, who had subjected me to the most terrifying night of my life.

He picked up right where he had left off, tying me to a St. Andrew's cross and assaulting my ass – this time going all the way to the 750 blows he had promised on that terrible night two and a half years ago. My ass was destroyed well before he fucked it ungreased. And yet the next morning I was fine.

Yesterday, I was subjected to the first gang-bang of my life (as a bottom). And more torture at the hands of Alec.

Never in my life had I been so grateful for my birthday being on December 29th. If it were December 2nd, like Paul's, this would have been going on for four weeks. Instead, I only had a couple of days of it.

He picked me up this morning, and I sighed that sigh you give when there's no point in fighting the inevitable.

• (Alec) Ready for a castration?

• Been there, done that.

I don't know what got in me to be so flip in response to being the first man in history to be gelded twice. I just felt flip.

• Oh, not you, this time. You get to be a spectator.

• While you fuck me?

• Actually, no. It's the last day, there won't be any fucking. Except for Percy's little pussycat. Everybody's getting a go at him this morning, even Hamish's pooches. I already took my turn.

I wondered who the victim was. Gary was due today – I prayed it wasn't him. I wondered how he had gotten on without me. I sensed that if Seth could find the right key, it would unlock his brain and free him of those two invaders. But I was probably being foolish – if Gary's psychiatrist in St. Louis couldn't manage to uncover whatever childhood trauma was responsible, it was too much to expect Seth to. On the other hand, this island had magical qualities. You never knew what was possible here.

The victim turned out to be a small black man, who must be Miles, Vic's boyfriend. I felt heartsick – for Miles, having experienced the loss he was about to sustain, and for Vic, who loved Miles dearly. Rumor had it that Miles was not only to be gelded today, but executed as well, execution down here taking the form of an axe slicing through your neck. Clean, quick, but gruesome to contemplate.

Alec did the job himself, assisted by a tall, dark and handsome lieutenant named Stefan. They had gagged him, sparing my ears his screams – and (probably more to the point) sparing Alec his invective. The procedure had not taken long and before I knew it, poor Miles was a eunuch. So, I'd heard, was Jordan, though the means by which that had reportedly been achieved was literally incredible. Jordan's emasculation filled me with guilt, for it seemed causally linked to the restoration of my own gonads.

I was afraid they would execute Miles before my eyes, too, but Alec (and I) escorted him back to his room, where Vic was waiting, taking him into his arms, the two of them together mourning their mutual loss.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

• Seth, now that we're alone –

• Is this where you tell me again how much you truly love me?

• No. This is where I tell you what happens when you go underground.

• How to save Abe.

• How to destroy The Project.

• DESTROY it? You said The Project was the only way Abe and I could only be together.

• I know I did. In fact, the opposite's true. If the Project's launched, you and Abe will be separated.

• The opposite's true. From what you've been telling us all along.

• Yes.

• Congratulations, Sean. You have firmly established your reputation as a liar. So – were you lying to me then, or are you lying to me now?

• I was lying to you then.

• And how do I know you aren't lying to me now?

• You don't. But why would I confess to lying before if I weren't being sincere?

Oh, fuck you very much, Sean O'Hara. I'm not confused enough already? All I know is what I want – and I can spell it in three letters. I just don't know how to get it.

I needed time to think. I headed inside the tower, only to find that the multi-colored dodecagon that had constituted the tower's floor for the past month was now entirely red.

They weren't being subtle. The red dodecagon would find me, all right. No chance I could miss this one. If I stepped into the tower, I would be on the red dodecagon. My appointment with destiny had arrived.

I stepped onto the red dodecagon. And nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing happened.

THE DORMITORY – DAI

As if there were any chance this was going to be a normal day. Vic was distraught over Miles' castration and pending execution. Augie was distraught over his own pending execution, as well as Jordan's. Paul was distraught over the thought that he or I could be chosen if Augie wasn't. Jasper was distraught over the fact that Jordan had been emasculated, seemingly as a result of his own re-masculation. Tim was trying to be helpful without knowing how. And Ed was . . . at least trying to be nice to Augie, although I think it was less genuine kindness than relief that it wasn't his head on the chopping block.

And then there was Harry, who was strangely calm. Maybe not so strangely. Harry was always the calmest, most sensible of all of us. He assured us – especially Augie – that it would be all right, that none of us would die today. But I don't know how he could say that, given what Ian had relayed this morning. And it was an established fact that once you were a eunuch, you were not long for this world.

Not long for THIS world. There was another world, but supposedly we didn't exist there anymore. So if you weren't long for this world, you weren't long for any world. And by tonight, one of us would be dead. Three of us, counting Jordan and Miles. What was there to hold on to in the face of that?

Paul. I had to hold on to Paul. I had to hope they were telling the truth, that once we got past midnight, we would go back to Alphaworld, alive and intact. And pray that once I was there, I could find him.

Which meant getting branded for the fifth time. But this was the time that counted. This time our brands wouldn't be erased when we woke up the next morning. We had to trust that when we saw the names burned into our bodies, we would consider it so significant that we would scour the earth to find each other.

I had my doubts it would work, even so. Would I arrive in Richmond on January 1 and notice an unexplained brand on my body? Or would I arrive in Alphaworld at the moment I'd left it, on the plane back on November 30? Before the island, before the brand. In which case it would only be serendipity if the two of us met and hit it off. I suppose there was a chance; we had been in the same row.

I gathered Paul and we went in search of the Mayer brothers. And when we got back, bearing our burnt tattoos, we threw ourselves on the bed and I fucked him right in front of everyone else.

Who applauded. They understood. This might be the last time we ever had sex.

THE PHALLIC TOWER - SETH

• Sean, what's going on – or to be more accurate, what's NOT going on? The red dodecagon appears, I step on it, and nothing happens?

• Maybe it's not your time yet.

• Then why is it here? And –

I stopped. We were not alone.

I didn't know his name, but the identity of the interloper was obvious, given the collar and puppy-tail dildo. He was the pilot of Flight 12, and Hamish's dog slave. My first thought was that perhaps he'd escaped, but were that the case, the first thing he'd do was ditch the canine peripherals.

• What are you doing here? And do you have a name, or should I just call you Fido?

• Barry Russell. Captain Barry Russell. I came to collect him. (to Sean) I gather you're Sean, as I know he's Herrick and you're the only person left.

• (Sean) Your powers of deduction are astonishing.

• A regular Sherlock Bones.

• (Barry, to Sean) They want you downstairs. They sent me to escort you.

• (Sean) That's not the reason they sent you.

The pilot took a step back. He gave the impression of someone who had been toyed with too often, and had realized he was perhaps being played for the fool once again.

• (Barry) Then what is?

• (Sean) Barry, when's your birthday?

• December 1. The very day I arrived here – what a nice birthday present it was, too, getting plunked into the underground and having the shit fucked out of me by his Royal Fuckwad.

• (Sean) Careful, Barry. I work for the same company as His Royal Fuckwad. You want to watch what you say in front of me.

• (Barry) Jeez, you sound just like him.

• Sean, stop it. He doesn't need your threats. Why did you ask about his birthday?

• (Sean) And what year were you born?

• (Barry) 1982.

• (Sean) 1982. Do you know what year that is on the Chinese calendar?

• (Barry) Like I fucking care about the Chinese calendar? Not a ton of Chinese in Santo Domingo, pal.

• (Sean) The Year of the Dog.

Barry barked a bitter laugh.

• (Barry) Well, isn't that just peachy. If I were born in the Year of the Dragon, would I be breathing fire instead of wearing this dog suit?

• (Sean) Seth, what year were you born in?

• 1. Also the Year of the Dog.

• (Barry) Omigod, it's my long-lost twin brother! Oh, wait, doesn't fucking work like that, does it? Am I supposed to be bowled over by this incredible coincidence?

• (Sean) Seth, you were always curious about why the red wedge on the tower floor had the number 1 on it, as your birthday wasn't on December 1st but on the cusp of January 1st.

• So?

• So that number 1 wasn't for you – it was for Barry here.

• Excuse me? But he was never here.

• He is now. Seth, you're the Trigger. You're not actually one of the Twelve. He is.

• (Barry) WHAT?!

• The physics required the pilot to be in the same Chinese calendar year as the Trigger. You were selected for this project long ago. Your meeting Hamish in Santo Domingo was hardly coincidental. Zen Tropical Airways doesn't even exist in the real world, only in this universe. You've been in Betaworld for months.

• (Barry) Oh bloody hell.

• (Sean) You arrived underground on your birthday in December. And you were sent up here now not to collect me, but because you have to go back down again – on the red dodecagon.

• (Barry) What?

• (Sean) Good-bye, Barry.

And he shoved Barry inside the Phallic Tower. The dodecagon had the same effect on him that I had seen it have on Gary earlier. He ran over to embrace a column of air on the far side that must have been visible to him as a six-foot red phallus, and then bent over as if being fucked.

A minute later, the floor collapsed and sent Barry back to Hamishland. Leaving me alone on the surface – with Sean.

THE DORMITORY – HARRY

My appointment with destiny was approaching and I was filled with – not dread. I was actually calm, not at all afraid. Which is not to say I wasn't emotional. The emotion I was feeling was sadness – sadness at leaving these people behind. I hadn't told them what I was doing.

An hour after Ian had broken the news that one of the Twelve was to be executed, Uri escorted me to the Throne Room, where Hamish informed me that the simulations' had approved my substitution for Jordan; what was more, my sacrifice would spare Augie as well. I looked for a treacherous loophole – could that mean Paul and Dai were now threatened? But no, Hamish was quite direct, if tactless. In his words, yours is the only head that needs to come off today, among the Twelve'.

I caught the qualification and reiterated that Jordan would be kept safe. He smiled and said yes, Jordan would survive, but that my action was not sufficient to save King.

Well, that had never been promised, but I had been hopeful. Poor Miles. Poor Vic.

I asked him when the execution would take place and he said it could be at any time, now that Onslow had arrived. He didn't want to be more specific than that, because if someone was going to be executed, it should be spontaneous and the timing not under their control.

Which left me with the feeling that he could decide to implement it thirty seconds after I left the Throne Room.

I returned to the dormitory. Vic, to my relief, was not there. I didn't want to have to tell him I knew that Miles was doomed. I was sure he was spending as much time with him as he could. Paul and Dai were not there either, but I explained to the remainder – Augie, Tim, Jasper, and Ed – plus a newly-arrived Gary – that Augie was safe, that they had cancelled their plans to behead him.

I said good-bye to them, and hugged them all, without explaining.

• (Jasper) Whoa, Harry, why are you saying good-bye? Are you leaving?

• (Tim) We should all stay together through this. We don't know what's going to happen tonight.

• (Augie) They might try to do stuff to me then.

• I don't think so, Augie. I think you're safe. I think you're all safe.

• (Ed) You're up to something, Harry. What is it?

• (smiling) Ask Charles Darnay.

• (Augie) Who?

There was a pause. I saw a change come over Tim's face.

• (Tim) Harry, no!

• It's fine, Tim.

• (Tim) We need you!

• No you don't. Augie needs me right now. And Jordan. Good-bye.

Not wanting to prolong this, I left and headed for Jordan's room.

THE DORMITORY – AUGIE

• What was that about? Who's Charles Darnay?

• (Ed) Oh, God. I just got it. How stupid of me – and me being British.

• Huh?

• (Ed) "A Tale of Two Cities." Charles Dickens.

• (Tim) It's during the French Revolution. And Charles Darnay has been sentenced to the guillotine.

• (Jasper) Jeez, I remember. This other guy, who looks like him –

• (Ed) Sidney Carton.

• (Jasper) – takes his place and lets himself be beheaded so that Darnay can escape and be with his lady love.

• And you think that Harry –

• (Tim) Is playing the Sidney Carton role. And you're Charles Darnay.

EXECUTION CHAMBER – HARRY

I didn't even get to Jordan's room. They seized me in the hallway, roughly, as if I was an escaped convict, and frog-marched me down a corridor I had never seen before. And into a room where there was a chopping block. And an axe hanging on the wall.

And a nude man wearing a black mask, obscuring everything but his eyes. Straight out of every beheading scene you'd ever seen in a movie (except for the nudity). I knew who it was, though – Stefan.

Hamish was there and Percy, and Uri, of course. And Ian, in doggy mode, to witness. As well as a couple of other lieutenants, in case they needed extra muscle power to force me into place.

They threw me down on the floor, and then pulled me up and forced my head onto the block.

That had all happened way faster than I was expecting. And more roughly than I was expecting.

Hamish spoke to me.

• Normally, we fuck a man before we chop off his head. But that would be what you wanted, wouldn't it, Mancini? You're going to die not quite a virgin, but damn close to it. You'll die without a proper fucking, without anyone ever squirting up your ass, we'll have to settle for that. Do you have any last words?

• Jordan, he's –

• Oh, shut up, Mancini. Murdock is safe. Would you like to know what we're going to do with your head?

• No.

• Not curious?

• You can do magic. You can just make it disappear. Like the rest of my body.

• We can. We could just make you disappear right now, and you'd be equally dead. Or I could set you on fire, and you'd burn to a crisp. Would you prefer that?

God, no. I agreed to do this because it would be quick and painless. Just a tickle at the back of the neck – that's what they said. As long as the axe goes clean through in one blow.

• Well, let's get on with it, then. Stefan?

I closed my eyes, and heard Stefan lift the heavy axe from off its perch in the wall. And then the first element of fear crept in.

And so, absurdly, did Jean-Paul Sartre. "Being and Nothingness." I was going from a state of Being to a state of Nothingness.

Being and Nothingness. Which was better? If Being had been my life in Betaworld, the way I was treated in the last month by the men I had met at the Tower, the respect they had accorded me, I'd vote for Being all the time. But if Being was like my life in Alphaworld, the life I was escaping, a lonely, loveless existence rife with humiliation – then Nothingness won, hands down.

And if, by choosing Nothingness over Being, I could spare the lives of two people who preferred Being over Nothingness , then this was the right choice.

Something sharp touched the back of my neck.

• (Stefan, laughing) That's what the axe feels like.

• (Hamish) The next time you feel it, it's going to whomp through your neck and slice it off so fast you won't even feel it.

• (Stefan) Don't worry, I'll do it quick and clean – I always have, none of those two or three whacks at it to make the head come off.

• (Hamish) I have to warn you. There's no scientific proof of this, of course – but some say that the head lives on for a few seconds after being severed. You'll feel your head hit the floor, and may be aware of it rolling for a few seconds before you lose consciousness.

• Sounds like fun. Like being on a roller coaster.

Bravado, of course, but I wasn't about to let them intimidate me. If I was going out, I was going out triumphantly.

I heard Stefan lift the axe. I braced myself for the sensation of seeing the floor come rushing toward me. But then:

• (a voice – was it Ian?) Wait!

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN – THE RETURN OF SETH HERRICK]