Star Cat: Exodus: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 5)

by Andrew Mackay

  “Crap,” Kaoz whispered.

  “Is that Maar Sheck?” the voice from Metal Bird One asked in astonishment. “Isn’t he meant to be in the infirmary?”

  Maar pushed the barrel of his MP5 through the gap, “No. Kaoz and Crain are trying to kill me. They murdered my guard and I escaped.”

  The view from the path was limited. The USARIC mercenaries could only see the door open, but not the barrel of the gun.

  THRAAA-AA-TAT-A-TAAAAT.

  Crain’s chest and arms exploded in a hail of bullets, “Bwaargghh,” he screamed and stumbled back down the path.

  “Open fire, damn it. Open fire.”

  Crain’s bullet-riddled corpse slunk against the driveway.

  BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM.

  The mercenaries opened fire without mercy on the front of the mansion.

  BRAAA-AAA-AAAA-TTTT — KER-SMASH.

  The mega-copters unloaded their canons at a furious rate.

  The windows exploded and coughed out shards of glass onto the pathway.

  Sections of brickwork pinged and exploded as the bullets tore through the mansion.

  Maar jumped away from the door, “Get down.”

  He hit the floor and covered his wife’s body with his own.

  The guests climbed forward on their elbows and knees through the smashed glass.

  Three of them crashed against the wall, shredded by the torrent of bullets spraying the interior of the mansion.

  “Aggghhhh—” a woman’s scream was cut short as a stray bullet hit her in the face.

  “Damn it,” Maar screamed and ran his arms over his wife’s face, “In my house? In my own goddamn house?”

  Philip scrambled to his feet and bolted towards the door.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Maar screamed after him.

  “I n-need to get out of here—”

  Philip jumped through the door and onto the porch.

  “There he is,” Kaoz’s voice could be heard over the gunfire, “Kill him.”

  “Don’t shoot,” Philip held out his hands and begged for mercy. “Please, don’t don’t—”

  The streak of bullets tore down the side of the house and ran across the door and up Philip’s chest and neck, launching his bloodied corpse over Maar and Elizabeth’s head.

  WHUMP.

  Philip’s body slammed to the ground, dead.

  “For God’s sake,” Maar screamed and rolled off his wife. He lifted his MP5 and kicked back towards the pantry. “Go and hide in the cellar.”

  “What? No, I’m not going without you—”

  “—Don’t argue, Elizabeth. Just do it,” Maar said. He emptied his half-full magazine and replaced a fresh one in the grip. “Go, now.”

  “You’ll be okay, won’t you?”

  “Probably not, but I’m going to take as many of those bastards down with me unless they see sense.”

  As Maar climbed to his feet, the helicopter’s gunfire spun to a halt.

  “Maar?” Kaoz yelled from the driveway and kept his firearm trained on the front door, “It’s over. Come out.”

  “You bastards,” Maar’s voice rocketed out from the opened doorway, “You tried to kill me, Kaoz.”

  “No I didn’t, Maar. You brought this on yourself. Why did you kill your Guard and try to escape?”

  “I didn’t,” Maar yelled to a stunned crowd of USARIC officials, who slowly put one and one together, “You killed him to get to me. You won’t get away with this.”

  Kaoz mimed a jerk-off sign at the surrounding guards, who slowly turned their guns in his direction.

  “Is this true, Kaoz?” one of the mercs asked. “Did you try to kill Mr. Sheck?”

  “Yes, he did,” Maar screamed.

  “Of course I didn’t. He killed four-five-one and tried to escape,” Kaoz turned to the door. “But we have you now, you traitorous madman. How many more people have to die, huh, Maar? Just come out so we can get to the bottom of this.”

  “You’ll never get away with this, Kaoz.”

  “Oh, we won’t, huh? Get away with what, exactly?” Kaoz chuckled and lifted his forearm in the air, “The callous murder of a board member? The clandestine order to go and destroy Opera Beta and her crew?”

  “Traitor. I never ordered those things,” Maar lied and turned up to the mega-copter, “He’s a traitor and a backstabber. He tried to kill me, can’t you see that?”

  “Just put your gun down and come out so we can discuss this,” Kaoz said. “You’ve pissed off a lot of people. Your actions tore two nations apart. I can’t stand back and watch you do this. Now, come out and deal with the consequences.”

  “No,” Maar yelled, “You put your gun down, Kaoz. That’s an order.”

  “Nu-huh, Sheck. Not this time.”

  Maar watched Elizabeth and a female guest stand to their feet, utterly traumatized by the unfolding events.

  “Maar?” Elizabeth asked. “Is it true?”

  “Is what true?”

  “Did you really do those things that man is saying?”

  “Of course I didn’t,” Maar shrieked at the top of his lungs, “Damn it, why does everybody default to thinking I’m the bad guy?”

  “You’re beginning to test my patience,” Kaoz’s voice flew through the shattered door. “Get out here. Now.”

  Maar trained his eyes on his wife in the hope she’d see sense, “You believe me, right?”

  “Y-Yes,” the female guest nodded, hoping not be executed by the armed monster standing before her.

  “No, not you, you imbecile,” Maar barked. “You, Elizabeth. You believe me. Don’t you?”

  She nodded without hesitation. “Yes, sweetheart. I believe you.”

  “They’re trying to kill me, Elizabeth. They think I’ve done something wrong. They’re mistaken.”

  “I believe you.”

  Maar stared into his wife’s eyes for what might be the last time in their lives, “You trust me, right?”

  He offered her his free hand. She averted her eyes down his frail body and arrived at his fingertips.

  Slowly, she took hold of his hand and squeezed it firmly.

  “Yes, I trust you. With my life.”

  “Good.”

  Kaoz waved the two mega-copters down to the ground, “Metal Bird One and Two, settle down. I think Sheck’s going to surrender,” he said into his forearm.

  “Understood.”

  Elizabeth moved through the door with the barrel of an MP5 buried in her temple.

  “Don’t shoot,” she said.

  Surprised, Kaoz gestured to the mercenaries to lower their weapons, “Everyone, refrain from fire.”

  He stepped forward and squinted at the tired figure holding the gun to the woman’s head, “Maar?”

  “Who wants to shoot me, huh?” Maar screamed from behind his human shield, “Stay back. One false move and I blow her head off.”

  “But that’s your wife?” Kaoz yelled. “You’re not going to shoot your wife, are you?”

  Maar nodded at Crain’s corpse sprawled across the blood-soaked gravel, “I shot him didn’t I? Now, stay back.”

  Kaoz shook his head, “Maar, this is not how we want this to end.”

  “I’ll tell you how this ends, you collaborator,” Maar said as Elizabeth closed her eyes and accepted her fate. “You. All of you are going to listen to what I have to say.”

  The blades of the mega-copters ground to a halt.

  A strange silence befell the driveway as Maar launched into his speech with his wife at the end of his gun.

  “My name is Maar Sheck. I am the CEO of the United States and Russian Intergalactic Confederation, and I am an innocent man.”

  “Pah,” Kaoz chuckled, “Is that so?”

  Maar knew that Kaoz and Crain were the only ones who were privy to the truth, and one of them had turned to worm food a few minutes ago.

  “Whatever evidence you think you have that incriminates me is a falsehood,” Maar turned to the pilots
in the two mega-copters, “Kaoz attempted to murder me. When it didn’t work, he and Crain McDormand, the two men I trusted most, attempted to execute me at the infirmary. Kaoz has taken matters into his own hands and defied the very oath he took when he joined the company. Namely, to protect its assets and ensure no one comes to any harm.”

  The USARIC mercenaries slowly turned to Kaoz for an answer.

  “Is this true?” one of them asked, “Did you deliberately sabotage USARIC’s protocols?”

  “Of course I didn’t,” Kaoz yelled back. “Maar Sheck has the nerve to call me a traitor? He ordered me to execute a board member. He compelled the board to sanction the destruction of all the souls on board Space Opera Beta. Have you seen the repercussions his actions have had? The assassination of Dimitri Vasilov? Viktor Rabinovich? Not to mention the animal abuse and the failed Star Cat Project which precipitated the whole damn thing. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are being repatriated as we speak. Families torn apart. Children without homes or families. Thousands have gone missing.”

  Kaoz lifted his arm and made sure everyone could see his Individimedia ink.

  “I have the evidence.”

  “It’s a lie,” Maar said. “He’s put me in this position. I’m the CEO of USARIC and you are all my employees. I want you to terminate this scumbag, now. That’s a direct order.”

  A USARIC mercenary stepped out from behind the fountain and kept his gun aimed at Kaoz, “But, sir—”

  “—Don’t question me, you puffy-cheeked bell-end. Just blow the bastard’s head off.”

  The mercenary didn’t know whose orders to follow.

  The pilot climbed out from the mega-copter and held his hands out.

  “Look, I suggest we put our guns down,” he said in an attempt to placate the standoff, “Maar?”

  “What?”

  “Please remove the gun from your wife’s head.”

  “No, you fool,” Maar screamed, “Tell Kaoz to put his gun down and surrender.”

  The pilot turned to Kaoz for a reaction, “Well?”

  “Well what? I’m not going anywhere till Maar is apprehended and brought to justice. Enough lives have been lost due to his actions.”

  “How dare you, Kaoz,” Maar screamed at him. “I trusted you. We all trusted you. You try to turn my own company against me? I’ll see you rot in hell, you asshole.”

  Kaoz surveyed the USARIC mercenaries as they lowered their guns and began to take Maar’s side.

  “I can’t believe you’re all falling for his lessense,” Kaoz screamed. “Are you all so easily persuaded?”

  “Kaoz, sir, please,” the pilot said. “Lower the gun and we’ll deal with this back at Cape Claudius. Before Viddy media gets wind of this.”

  “I swear to God someone better take this lying cretin out of the game or I’ll do it myself,” Maar fumed.

  The pilot turned to Maar, “Sir, please—”

  “Kaoz?” Maar shouted at the man.

  “Maar?” Kaoz shouted back.

  Both men pointed their weapons at each other, only Maar had his wife protecting the vast majority of his body.

  “Only one of us is walking away from this thing alive.”

  “Oh, you got that right.”

  “Yeah,” Maar said as he planted the sole of his foot on the small of his wife’s back, “And it’s not going to be you.”

  BOOT.

  Maar kicked his wife forward, swung his MP5 at Kaoz and squeezed the trigger.

  THRAA-A-TAT-TAT.

  Kaoz stepped back as his body and left forearm burst into a haze of blood from the swathe of bullets. He squeezed his trigger and fired off a round of shots in Maar’s direction.

  It all happened so fast.

  Everyone hit the deck.

  The USARIC mercenaries gripped their weapons as they fell to the ground.

  Kaoz slumped to his knees and clutched his bloodied chest, “Yuh-yuh, y-you sh-shot m-meeeee—”

  FWUMP.

  Maar rolled onto his side and gripped his MP5 against his chest, “Damn right I shot you, you traitor. Is this any way to treat a heart attack survivor?”

  “Nggg, uh, uh—”

  The back of Kaoz’s head hit the ground. He died in front of Maar’s eyes.

  “See you in hell, you son of a bitch,” Maar sneered.

  “Jesus Christ,” the pilot rose to his feet and held out his arms, “Everyone, hold your fire. For God’s sake.”

  “Muuuuh,” Elizabeth screamed from the fountain.

  Maar turned around and saw her stomach bleed profusely from three bullet hits, “Elizabeth.”

  “Maar, muh, Maar, h-help m-me—”

  “—No, no, no.”

  Maar scrambled to his feet and raced over to the fountain. The mercenaries watched on as he slid to his knees and opened her gown.

  She’d taken at least three bullets and couldn’t move.

  “God damn it, someone call a medician,” Maar shouted at the pilot, “Quick, she’s been hit.”

  Elizabeth spat out a mound of blood down her gown, “I c-can’t—I c-can’t—”

  “No, no, it’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Please, don’t—” Maar’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. He held her blood-smeared face in his hands, “Don’t you dare, Elizabeth. Don’t you—no, no,” he said as he thumbed her left eyelid, “No, keep your eyes open. Keep your eyes open.”

  “Ngggg,” she grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut and fell into his arms.

  “No, no,” he huffed and cradled her head in his arms, “Elizabeth.”

  Her head tilted back into the crook of his neck. Her lifeless eyes stared into his.

  She died right there in his arms.

  Maar exhaled and felt fury dagger through his body.

  “No, n-no—”

  He let out a mighty wail of pain and anguish as he held his dead wife in his arms.

  The pilot approached the fountain with great caution. “I’m sorry, Maar.”

  The bereaved man had no words. He placed his wife’s head on the gravel and closed her eyelids.

  “We had no idea Kaoz was a traitor, sir,” the pilot said. “We were under the impression we were pursuing your bodyguard.”

  Maar ignored him and stood up to his feet.

  His estate had been decimated.

  Random dead bodies littered the area.

  And, deep down inside, any contrition, blame, and guilt Maar might have otherwise felt vanished in the blink of an eye.

  He knew he was responsible for the carnage, but in his world, he was the good guy. Operating as justly as he might.

  How dare some scumbag try to take the reins of the company he spent his entire life building up - consequences and societal destruction be damned.

  Maar pointed at the corpses that littered his driveway, “I want all this cleared up.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Maar stormed over to Kaoz’s dead body as he spoke, “Inside the house. Make sure everyone is taken care of.”

  The moment those inside heard Maar’s order, they shrieked and ran for their lives.

  “Yes, sir,” the pilot waved the mercenaries into the house.

  Maar crouched over Kaoz’s corpse and held up the man’s left arm. He rolled the sleeve down and placed his thumb against Kaoz’s Individimedia ink.

  SLICE.

  Maar buried his thumbnail into the skin and filleted across the flesh, toward the crook of the elbow.

  “Come on, come on,” he muttered.

  He wrenched his thumbnail up and across the flesh in his Kaoz’s wrist.

  A tiny chip the size of a grain of sand fell into Maar’s open palm, “Gotcha.”

  He tossed the tiny pill-shaped device in his mouth.

  BLAM — THUD. BLAM-BLAM — THUD, THUD.

  The sound of USARIC’s execution of the remaining guests in the house pierced through Maar’s ears as he released Kaaz’s arm.

  “Are you okay, Mr. Sheck?” the pilot asked.

 
Maar swallowed the chip and stared at Kaoz and Crain’s dead bodies.

  “I’m fine—”

  BANG — THUD.

  Maar jolted in his shoes at the sound of the gunfire.

  A mercenary ran through the front doors and hollered at everyone outside, “Okay, that’s the last one. They’re all dead.”

  “Take me back to base,” Maar said. “We have work to do. A nation to fix. And a deal to make with the IRI.”

  “Certainly, sir.”

  Maar scowled at Kaoz’s cadaverous, lifeless face, “Asshole.”

  He ran off to the mega-copter and climbed in just as the mercenaries evacuated the house.

  They’d left no one alive.

  A job well done.

  The mega-copter lifted up and away from the grounds of the estate.

  Maar surveyed the damage from the great height he now had.

  The USARIC mercenary sitting opposite him offered his hand to shake, “Mr. Sheck?”

  The old man ignored him and focused on the smoking wreckage that was his former home.

  No going back.

  “Mr. Sheck, sir?” the man repeated.

  Maar turned to him and glowered at his offer of a handshake, “What do you want?”

  “My name is Brayn, sir,” he shouted over the cacophonous noise of the copter’s blades, “Am I to understand that the individual who called in the APB was staging a coup?”

  “A coup?” Maar shouted back and gripped the handlebar above the door, “Hardly a coup. It was an act of treachery. What were you told?”

  Brayn placed his shotgun on his lap and passed Maar a spare headset, “I can’t hear you over the noise. Wear this.”

  Maar took the headset and hooked it around his ears, “Is that better?”

  Brayn’s gruff voice trickled into Maar’s ears, “Yes, you’re patched into the comms, now.”

  Brayn removed his thumbnail from his left hand and pressed it against the wall, “Listen, sir—”

  “—Take me back to Research, please.”

  “Yes, we’re on our way there, but I think you should see this.”

  The thumbnail projected a miniature hologram recording.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Watch.”

  Santiago Sibald warbled to life in the small rectangle and lifted his head to the drone that filmed him.