Jack the Ripper

Inside the research lab, Dr. Martinez sifted through the wreckage, hands shaking as he pulled charred and torn scraps of paper from the rubble. Every piece he found, he tossed aside with growing frustration.

Unreadable. All of it.

His life’s work, reduced to ash in an instant.

His fingers brushed against something solid—the crystal.

Still pulsing, still glowing with that unnatural brilliance. His mind was consumed over it for a moment. As if it was talking to him.

Then in an instant he made his mind. He exhaled and grabbed a gray container, placing the crystal inside before sealing it tight.

“Is that for express shipping, Doctor?”

Martinez flinched.

Jack stood in the doorway, arms crossed, voice cold.

Martinez forced a weak smile. “Jack…”

“I looked up to you.”

“All I’m doing is making sure my life’s work is safe. That isn’t a crime.”

“Yet you sneak around to do it.” Jack said walking closer

Footsteps echoed down the hall. The others appeared.

Akira pointed. “There you are, Jack! I knew you weren’t just going to the bathroom—” His eyes landed on Martinez, then on the sealed box clutched to his chest.

“Doctor?” Akira’s voice now shaking. “What are you doing with the crystal?”

Martinez tightened his grip.

Now they were all watching him. There was no excuse. Not anymore.

Slowly, they all took a step forward.

Martinez backed up slowly. “I know what this looks like… but we have to keep this safe. So that ALL people can use it.”

“All people can’t use it if you’re hiding it.” said Emma, “Put the box down.”

Martinez’s gaze darted around the room. Then—to the closet. It was small. But it’ll do.

He moved. Fast.

Akira lunged to stop him, but Martinez was fast and slipped inside and slammed the door shut, barricading it.

Akira pounded on the metal door. “Come on! You can’t stay in there!”

“Go away! Leave me alone!” Dr. Martinez begged.

“Dr. Martinez, you’re acting crazy.” said Tucker. “Please come out! We can talk about this.”

A bitter and bone chilling laugh from the other side. “Am I crazy? Which one of you was not ordered to secure the base for their own country?”

Silence.

They glanced at each other, shifting uneasily.

They all knew.

They just hadn’t said it out loud.

Martinez laughed again. “Exactly! I know how this goes! You gang up on me! My country has no nukes. No power. You all look down on us. But my people are strong. I am strong. I SAVED THE WORLD! NOT YOU. If any of you take this, my country—my family—will be left behind. You will not steal from us again!”

Tucker’s stomach turned.

Jack exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulders. Then—crack. He twisted his neck.

“Fuck it.”

He turned, storming toward an emergency glass case.

SMASH!

Glass shattered.

Jack reached inside and pulled out the emergency.

“What the hell?” said Victor

“Jack, what are you doing?” asked Akira.

“I’m getting him out of there.” said Jack.

Tucker blocked his path. “Not like this you’re not.”

“Move.” Jack stepped up inches from his face. “That’s an order.”

“You’re not the captain.”

“Section 9, Article 4B.” Jack spat like a machine, “If the leading operative is unable to lead due to physical or mental circumstances, responsibility follows to next in command.” He leaned in. “That’s me. And unless you think cowering in a closet is a show of sanity, you need to move”

Victor stepped behind Tucker. “We can still talk this out.” he said

“Not with him in there, we can’t.” said Jack.

Jack and Victor looked at each other. They looked to the others and slowly they all nodded. Jack might be a jackass, he’s right.

They moved and Jack advanced.

He strode toward the closet door, the axe hanging loosely in his grip.

“Doctor?” Jack called calmly.

Silence.

“I’m gonna count to three and then I'm chopping this door down with an axe!”

No response.

“One…”

Nothing.

“Two…”

Still nothing.

“I’m serious! Two and a half…”

The others tensed.

“Two and three quarters…”

Tucker’s hands balled into fists.

“Three!”

CHOP!

Jack swung the axe, the blade burying itself into the door with a dull, splintering crack.

Wood flew with every strike.

Chop! Chop! Chop!

The others stood frozen, sweat gathering at their brows. The rhythmic hacking filled the room, each impact a gunshot in the tense silence. Lien instinctively moved over to Tucker and grabbed his hand. Tucker squeezed back.

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Jack had carved a hole, but it wasn’t big enough. He had to keep going.

Chop—

SLIP!

THUNK!

The axe wrenched from Jack’s grip and disappeared through the hole.

The handle stuck out slightly.

Silence.

Everyone’s breath hitched, their eyes locked on the weapon. Locked on that hole and scared of what they know is on the other side.

“Doctor?... Doctor Martinez?” Jack’s voice was suddenly shaky. “Make a sound if you can hear me…”

Nothing.

A second passed. Then another.

Lien’s voice cracked. “DOCTOR!!!”

Jack grabbed the axe, tried to yank it free. It wouldn’t budge.

Victor stepped in, gripping the handle alongside him. Together, they pulled and something hard hit the door.

Something held it in place.

They pulled harder. Yanked.

And then—

The axe moved.

But it brought something with it.

A weight.

A shape.

Dr. Martinez’s head lurched through the hole.

Blood-slick. Split deep down the skull where the blade had buried itself.

His dead eyes, glassy and unfocused, stared past them.

Then, as if gravity had only now remembered him, his body slumped forward.

The door swung open.

Dr. Martinez collapsed onto the floor with a sickening thud. His blood splattering out on the ground and the crystal in a death grip.

Emma turned and vomited into the corner.

“DOCTOR MARTINEZ!!!” Akira screamed.

Lien hit the ground, sobbing, reaching for him but unable to make herself touch the body.

Tucker stood still.

His whole body shook.

His eyes locked on the lifeless form of the man who had led them.

The man who had kept them together.

The man who had just died by their hands.

The bodies of the family lay where they’d fallen.

Riddled with bullets.

Blood seeped into the floorboards, soaking the edges of the family photos still hanging on the walls. The mother, the father, the children—all of them gone.

Tucker stood frozen.

Twelve years old.

His hand trembling.

Breathing hard.

The sound in his ears wasn’t a gunshot anymore. It was a loud hum. A deafening, empty noise that swallowed everything else.

“All packed up!” Jeff’s voice from another room.

Mike’s hand gripped his shoulder.

“Time to move.”

Tucker didn’t move. He couldn’t.

His father, Mike, yanked him back. Hard.

Tucker stumbled after him, still shaking, his legs barely working. But as he ran, he looked back.

One last time.

The little boy.

His lifeless eyes locked onto Tucker’s.

Searching.

Asking why.

Tucker teleported back to the present, his mind finally in control. He moved before he even realized it.

He grabbed Jack by the front of his jumpsuit and lifted him clean off the ground.

“You killed him!” His voice was raw, almost unrecognizable. “You fucking killed him!”

Jack’s face twisted in sheer panic.

Before he could stammer out a response, Tucker threw him across the room.

Jack crashed over a table, sending equipment flying.

Victor and Akira grabbed Tucker, pulling him back. He fought against them but it was to no avail.

“Look at him!” Tucker roared. “Look at what you’ve done! He was our friend, and you killed him!”

Jack scrambled to his feet, hands raised in defense. “No-no, I wasn’t trying to—”

“We could’ve talked it out!” said Victor.

Jack’s breath came in fast, panicked bursts. “You all saw him! You knew I had to get him out! He was acting crazy! Acting irrational! We all agreed! remember?”

“Or maybe you were just following orders.” said Emma spitting out the last of her vomit.

Jack’s eyes grew wide. His whole body shook like a rattle. “Me? No. No, no, no.” Jack stammered, “Don’t try to flip this on me! I’m not a killer.”

“But you are a murderer,” said Lien, rising from the ground.

They all moved toward him.

Jack backed away.

“Stop it,” he stammered. “Get away!”

“Just come quietly, Jack.” said Victor, “You’ve done enough.”

“No,” Jack whispered. His hands balled into fists. “You’re not gonna get me!”

Jack took off in a sprint.

They chased.

He rounded a corner too fast, panic clouding his judgment. He didn’t see the exposed pipe until—

WHAM!

His body hit it full force.

The metal snapped.

Steam exploded from the break, a blistering jet of heat tearing across the side of Jack’s face. The pressure exploded the metal pieces into his face, cutting it.

He screamed.

Then his body collapsed.

And just like that, two were done and not many were left to go.

***

They all were quiet in the medical bay.

Jack lay unconscious on the medical bed, his face swollen, cut and burned. Piles of bloody gauze and wraps filled the nearby trash can.

Lien finished wrapping his face in new gauze wrap.

“At last the bleeding has become less severe,” said Lien.

The others stood around, trying to process what had just happened.

“He’s a jackass, alright.” said Victor, “But I never thought…”

Akira, arms crossed, stared at Jack’s battered face. “Well, he’s human, isn’t he?” said Akira. “He knew how important that crystal was. He got desperate. Just like any of us could.”

“And might still become,” said Tucker.

A heavy beat of silence.

“Shut up, will you?” said Emma, “I’m freaked out enough, thank you. Jesus, it hasn’t been more than a few hours and we’ve already gone to shit!”

“What about the body?” asked Lien. “Are we just going to leave him there?”

“I guess we have to.” said Victor, “Just… seems wrong to get rid of him.”

Tucker’s hands curled into fists.

“We need to call for EVAC,” said Tucker.

“How? No one’s coming for us.” said Victor.

“I don’t care. We need to leave. ASAP! Before things get worse, somehow.”

“Even if a country got through, there’s re-entry to worry about,” said Akira. “We might get shot down.”

“Or become political prisoners.” added Lien.

Emma’s eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. “Wait! What about the central computer?”

“What about it?”

“If we can get it back online, we might be able to recover the research notes.”

“If we send the notes to every country at once, we can force a deal! No one can claim the crystal for themselves! Great idea, Emma!”

“Yeah. But what about the leak in the lab?” asked Akira. “That pipe has to be plugged. If we lose ventilation, it won’t matter who comes for us—we’ll be dead before they get here.”

“Well it sounds like we know what to do,” said Tucker. “You, Emma, and Lien—work on the central computer. Victor and I will handle the pipe.”

Everyone exchanged looks.

“Everyone’s working-” said Emma.

“-And no one’s alone.” ended Akira.

They all took a breath.

“Well then,” said Victor, “Let’s get started.”