by Jan Domagala
“Ever since I can remember you’ve treated me like I’m nothing, like I didn’t measure up to your expectations and d’you know what? I’m sick of it. I don’t care if I don’t measure up, I like my job and I like who I am and what’s more, I won’t change any of it for anyone, especially you,” she stormed and turned and walked away leaving her father stunned by her outburst. All he could do was watch her leave.
Angelina stormed past her mother and headed straight for the front door. Her mother watched her leave and said nothing although she had been within hearing distance and a wry smile crossed her lips as the door closed behind her daughter.
“It’s about time too,” she muttered to herself.
*****
Kurt and Matt arrived at the RandCorp HQ in Washington DC and were shown immediately to the penthouse suite of offices that Able Rand used to control the huge corporation.
As usual they were allowed to keep their weapons on them being officers of Col Sec. They had passed through the security scans when they walked through the reception and identified. The RandCorp HQ had no need for security personnel to be on hand in great numbers, the scanners monitored everyone as they entered and ran through a series of detailed identifying scans from full bio scans which included fingerprint and retina and even d.n.a. scans. In this way they did not need facial recognition software as it was possible to change someone’s appearance too easily.
As they reached the top of the huge building they were greeted by the sight of two men standing over by the large picture window that gave the building its grand view of the sprawling cityscape. They turned to face them as they entered and the family resemblance was immediate.
“Come in gentlemen, I hope your journey wasn’t too tiring,” said the older of the two men. Able Rand was tall and slim and exuded a raw undefined power. His white hair was brushed straight back from a high forehead over piercing brown eyes. His bright and easy smile showed his genuine pleasure at seeing them. His unblemished, smooth complexion belied his true age of sixty three. He had run RandCorp for the past thirty odd years, taking over from his father as his father had from his decades before. It was truly, a family business being passed down from one generation to the next since its inception over five centuries ago.
“It was fine thanks,” replied Matt. He had been here once before just after the OMEGA incident when they investigated the viability of RandCorp being the much needed replacement to MaxCorp in supplying Col Sec’s tec and munitions.
“You must be Kurt Stryder,” Able said as the two men came across to greet them. “Allow me to introduce my son, Josh,” Able said indicating the young man at his side. Josh was as tall as his father at six three but had a bit more muscle. His turquoise eyes shined brightly from a deeply tanned face framed by tousled light brown hair that had been bleached by the sun and reached almost to his broad shoulders. His goatee, along with the tousled shoulder length hair gave him the appearance of a modern day pirate.
“Pleased to meet you both,” Josh said with an easy smile that mirrored his father’s. He extended his hand to shake Matt and Kurt’s.
“Josh is in charge of Special Operations which covers a vast array of subjects. Mostly he concentrates on research projects we develop, not only for the private sector but for Col Sec too. His speciality though is the security of these projects for which he has the help of our head of security, Mitch Ryan,” said Able.
“Gentlemen, I’m at your disposal,” Josh said.
“We’ve been ordered to come and see how the upgrades are coming along,” Matt said.
A look was exchanged between father and son which Josh gave voice to by asking, “Isn’t that something that could’ve been handled with a call over a secure channel?”
General Sinclair was a tad concerned so he sent us along to reaffirm his confidence in RandCorp and it was an opportunity for Kurt to meet you too,” Matt replied.
“Concerned about what, exactly?” Able asked becoming concerned that this visit was not what he had expected it to be.
“I would think they are concerned that we may still have a mole inside the firm, Dad,” Josh said, looking at his father then returning his gaze to Matt and Kurt, added, “Am I right?”
“Not so much no, but we are concerned that the threat of OMEGA isn’t over just yet,” Matt said in a non-committal tone.
“What’s the basis of your fears gentlemen?” Able wanted to know.
“There’s been an incident, that’s all I’m at liberty to tell you,” Matt said.
“Look, if you want our total co-operation you have to trust us, I’m not asking for anything that would breach your security, but you have to give us more than that,” Josh said.
“I was attacked by three clones, Rover5’s whilst another watched and assessed,” Kurt said blurting it out before Matt could stop him.
“From what I’ve learned of the Rover5’s they were bred for battle. You don’t appear any worse for wear!” Josh said his eyes going wide with surprise and a little suspicion.
Matt looked at Kurt in anger and Kurt said, “What? If you want them to work with us, and I do mean with us and not for us then they have to know something of what we’re up against. We have to trust them sometime Matt, it may as well be now.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Matt replied then to the others said, “Whatever is said in this office must remain Top Secret.”
“Going back to my previous question, you were attacked by three battle bred clones and came away without so much as a scratch?” Josh asked.
“Just lucky I guess,” Kurt replied which garnered a glance from Matt that said ‘see what you get when you reveal too much’
“Why do I not believe you?” Josh asked.
“Look that’s not important at this time, what is important is that we think OMEGA is still active and is planning something so we need those upgrades and we need them now,” Matt said cutting through the argument.
“The upgrades are ready to be uploaded to the Col Sec mainframe. In turn they will be downloaded to your NI’s. The new software will overwrite the existing software and you’ll be good to go,” Josh said.
“Sounds good to me,” Kurt said
Matt accessed a secure comm. channel via his NI and called General Sinclair. “Sir the upgrades are ready to be uploaded to the mainframe,” he said.
“Okay commence when ready,” Sinclair replied.
“The General says to commence when ready,” Matt replied.
Able said, “Okay then but we can’t do it from here, we’ll have to go to your new base.”
“New base, what new base?” Kurt asked as he looked from Able to Josh and finally to Matt who wore a broad smile.
“Oh you’re gonna love this,” Matt said.
5
Zara Hardy was pacing around her cell. It was an austere simple cell with nothing more than a bed as furniture. She had been transferred from the ship she had been on in orbit around Toldax to this present starship. She had an idea where they were taking her but her exact whereabouts were still a mystery to her.
She had been getting used to her new abilities which were also a mystery to her and the fact that she was even alive, was the biggest mystery of them all. She could remember getting shot and dying, but if that was true then how was she still alive and what had happened to the hours in between her dying and waking up on the starship that she had no memory of?
Through her hours of questioning and testing she had endured at the hands of her captors had given her time to postulate a theory of what had happened to her.
She knew what Kurt Stryder was capable of, had seen him regenerate in front of her eyes. The Alliance had tried to assimilate his ability by reproducing a serum similar to the one administered to him by using his blood. What she thought had happened was, when Kurt had covered her body to protect her from a fireball during their escape from the facility they had been trapped in on Toldax. She had a few cuts and scrapes on her body from some of the fighting they had
endured during their escape attempt. Some of Kurt’s blood must have been mingled with hers when he covered her protecting her from the flames. The trauma of the gunshot must have activated the regenerative effect of Kurt’s blood when mingled with hers. It had taken longer for the effect to fully regenerate her than it did with Kurt but never the less it had worked and she was grateful. She did not know just how powerful she was but she was getting some idea.
What troubled her at that moment though was something she had overheard in a conversation between some of her captors.
They were planning an attack on Col Sec but before that they were planning on capturing Kurt Stryder.
She had to escape somehow and warn them of what was intended. She just had to find the right time.
There was an advantage that she had which she would have to use. They had kept her with them for a purpose, they obviously had a use for her and that meant they wanted her alive. That was good because when she made her move to escape they would hesitate in using deadly force against her. Her new abilities would help her in her attempt also and it would be a good chance for her to test them, and she did not have to wait much longer.
The door to her cell opened and a guard walked in holding a pistol aimed straight at her. She recognised the weapon as a Sig P996, the standard sidearm of Recon Delta marines of which she was one.
“This way,” said the guard as he motioned for her to exit the small cell in front of him with his pistol.
She slowly walked past him staring him full in the eye; she stood at five feet ten so she was almost as tall as the guard. She had an athletic figure with a full bosom and her full sensuous lips parted in a wry smile as the guard quickly glanced down to snatch a glimpse of her cleavage. She had been given a one piece coverall suit to wear, it had an elasticised waist which showed off her trim waist to good effect and she had undone the top three buttons to show what the guard could not tear his eyes from. That was something she knew she could use later when the time was right, she realised.
“Where‘re you taking me now?” she asked, her voice low and sultry.
“I’m not allowed to say,” the guard replied swallowing hard as he dragged his eyes out of her cleavage.
“So you know where but you can’t say, is that it?” she probed.
“Come on they’re waiting,” said the guard steeling himself against her deep brown eyes which he found strangely hypnotic, not in the truest sense but she was extremely attractive and if he wasn’t careful he knew he would fall under her spell.
She exited her cell and into the austere corridor. The ship she was on was very basic in design, nothing in the way of decoration so that when she walked down the corridor she saw nothing. There was a hatch on the right as she approached where the guard ordered her to halt.
The hatch opened and another guard stood in the doorway aiming another Sig P996 at her. He beckoned her forward through the hatchway and into a docking tube and through into another smaller craft.
She was shown to a seat against the starboard hull where she sat. She never took her eyes off the new guard but her peripheral vision, because her sight had been enhanced picked up more detail about the small shuttle than any normal eyes could. There was a row of four seats on the starboard side and the same against the port side. Behind her stood another guard who took over from the one who ushered her to her seat as he left them and went forward into the pilot’s cabin.
She appeared to be quite relaxed but in fact she was coiled like a powerful spring ready to be let loose. The guard behind her sat in a seat behind on the port side so he had a good view of her.
She felt the docking clamps disengage and the shuttle pulled away from the other ship.
Now was the time to make her move.
She turned to face the guard behind her and caught his eye; she bent forward twisting in her seat to expose more of her cleavage and smiled as his eyes followed the curve of her neck down into the creek between her breasts.
Before the guard knew what was happening she was out of her seat and rushing toward him. He just had time to look into her face before she struck him with a straight right to the point of his jaw. His head hit the back of the seat as his senses left him and he slumped down in his seat.
“Sleep tight,” she said with a smile as she relieved him of his pistol.
The pilot’s cabin was just a few paces away and she covered the distance in less than a second.
The door opened to her touch and the first guard spun around to see who it was. He was standing behind the two pilots seated at the front of the shuttle getting ready to sit down in the third chair. His eyes went wide as he saw who it was.
Zara put the muzzle of the Sig to his forehead and pulled the trigger. The pulsed plasma bolt blasted the man’s head apart spraying a red stream over the backs of the heads of the two pilots’.
The man in the right chair turned just in time to see her step over the fallen guard and just before she shot him too.
Zara pulled the dead pilot from the chair and tossed him over the backrest then sat down. The other pilot stared at her with eyes wide with fear.
She extended her arm toward him aiming the Sig at his face. The pilot mouthed a silent prayer just before the gun went off blowing his head apart. The window at the side of him was painted with his blood before he slumped in his seat, dead.
Zara quickly took control of the shuttle, disengaged the automatic course control and took over manual control. She turned the shuttle away from the course that had been plotted and went to full burn on the thrusters to get as far away from her captors as she could.
As she checked out the nav-com her eyes went wide with surprise.
There was a planet close by, well within the range of the shuttle, and it was a planet that she instantly recognised.
It was Celeron, Kurt Stryder’s homeworld.
*****
On the starship Zara had just escaped from the Rover5 was on the bridge waiting for news of Zara Hardy’s departure. He was a clone like all the others on board but not quite. Jonas Wilde had wanted a hierarchy inside his warrior clones so he had a few engineered with command protocols built inside. He and his three brothers were part of the first batch and his name was Orion.
A guard came on to the bridge and stood behind him.
“Did she get away as planned?” he asked without turning around.
“Yes sir, she’s on her way to Celeron as we speak,” replied the guard.
“Was the sub dermal tracker planted as I wanted?”
“It was sir,” the guard replied.
“Good, we’ll be able to keep an eye on her no matter where she goes. Inform our assets on the planet that she’s on her way to them,” he said.
“Copy that.”
“I’ll inform OMEGA Command of our status,” he said and he turned to leave the bridge. “I’ll be in my quarters, inform me of any new developments,” he added then left the bridge.
6
Jake Riley and Natasha Garvey approached her family home from around the lake. They entered the three story building through the large ornate wooden front door and immediately heard voices coming from the study to the left of the hallway. A large wooden staircase spiralled upwards to the upper two floors from the open hallway. The study door was slightly ajar allowing the sound of the voices to travel out to them.
“You do realise that if the Alliance gains control of the research it could prove disastrous to the Confederation,” said a strangers’ voice.
“There’s not a lot I can do, I’m out of the loop since I retired,” replied Admiral Garvey.
“Retired, since when?” asked the stranger.
“Since I returned from Tartaran. I’ve had enough of this whole thing Miles. Too many lives have been lost due to this and this last sortie almost cost me my daughter. I won’t allow that to happen again,” Garvey said.
Natasha pushed open the door without knocking. Her father was standing facing another man of similar age and they wer
e deep in conversation which was suspended the moment they noticed they were being watched.
“Hi Dad, aren’t you going to introduce us?” she said sensing the tension between the two men.
The stranger turned to look at her and his slate grey eyes showed his anger. He was around five feet eleven tall and had white hair and a stern expression on his aquiline features. He looked about ready to leave when Garvey said, “This is Doctor Miles Baxter and he’s just leaving.”
“Baxter, why do I know that name?” Jake said.
“What’s going on here Dad?” Natasha asked concern written all over her lovely face.
“You probably know his son better, Jonas Baxter, he was the one responsible for the serum you were given, you and Captain Kurt Stryder,” Admiral Garvey said turning to look at his visitor.
“What’s going on here sir?” Jake asked, his concern level escalated at the mention of the word Tartaran as he still had bad memories of their time on that planet’s surface, bad memories that bordered upon nightmares.
“Miles here is concerned about the Alliance taking control of Tartaran,” Garvey said.
“Why exactly?” Jake asked suspecting the worst but needing it put into words.
“Be careful what you say here, you know this is classified,” Miles Baxter said stopping Garvey in his tracks. The latter turned to him and gave him a look of frustration, “Jake Riley is the leader of the Wildfire Team and has one of the highest clearances in Col Sec, besides he and his team were responsible for rescuing my daughter. They were just on the planet so they have a right to know what this is all about, don’t you think?” he said angrily.
“No I don’t but it seems that I won’t be able to stop you so it’s on your head,” Miles Baxter said throwing his hands up in frustration.
“Will someone please tell me what you are talking about, what is it about Tartaran that Doctor Baxter here thinks we shouldn’t know about,” Jake said.