Sleepers and Scouts

by Phillip Murrell

  “They’re not all bad. That Gordon guy is alright. I hear a lot of murders have been solved because of him.”

  “He’s the one who can speak to the dead?”

  Abel’s ears perk up.

  “Yeah. I think he’s in with Carlos right now. He may get off the hook.”

  “I hope so.”

  Abel stops listening to the conversation as he races throughout the precinct looking for Carlos’ cell. It’s a quick process. He’s quite pleased to see Carlos sitting on his bunk with a man spewing blue smoke from his eyes. The smoke eventually takes the form of Karen. Abel’s heart leaps at this opportunity.

  “Sister,” he says as he makes his presence known.

  Both Carlos and Gordon jump from their seats. The two police officers acting as guards draw their weapons, but Abel turns their guns into yellow duck bath toys. He then builds a solid steel encasement around Carlos’ cell, trapping the pair and Karen’s spirit with Abel inside. The police officers momentarily bang on the walls, but Abel affects reality to eliminate the residual noise.

  Karen looks at Carlos and smiles.

  “Hello, Brother,” she says to Abel, but her attention is on Carlos. “Hello, my love.”

  Carlos breaks down.

  “How can this be?” he asks.

  He blubbers as he looks at Karen.

  “You’ve spent enough time with augments to understand,” Karen happily answers.

  “I’m sorry I shot you, baby.”

  “You didn’t shoot me. It wasn’t your fault at all.”

  “I should have fought him. I was aware of everything but powerless to stop it.”

  “I was overconfident in my own abilities,” Karen admits.

  “That was my fault for not catching him, Sister,” Abel says.

  Carlos looks at Abel. “This is your fault!”

  “It’s not something to worry about,” Karen says.

  The happiness in her voice calms both Carlos and Abel.

  “It happened, but it’s okay,” Karen says. “You’ll understand one day.”

  “Why?” Abel asks.

  “Sorry, Brother. There are rules. Just know that I love you both.”

  “I understand,” Abel answers.

  “I don’t,” Carlos blurts. “Come back to me. If this augment can let us talk, then a different one can resurrect you.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Karen states.

  “Why not?”

  “There are rules. I’m sorry.”

  “I was going to ask you,” Carlos says.

  “What?” Karen asks.

  “I had the ring. I knew you were waiting for me to propose. I wanted to. The only reason I didn’t was because I was waiting for Benji to get Claire’s ring.”

  “I’m so happy for Claire.”

  Carlos laughs nervously. “I don’t think that happened either.”

  “That’s a shame,” Karen calmly states. “They’re good together.”

  “So were we.” Carlos cries.

  “We were. I would have loved to have been your wife. It would have been great, but you can’t hold onto that possibility because it’s gone forever.”

  Carlos wipes the tears rolling down his cheeks.

  “I can’t live without you,” Carlos declares.

  “You can and you must. I have faith in you. The man I wanted to marry wasn’t a quitter. He wasn’t afraid of a challenge either. He fought back from death’s grip and gave me an unforgettable two years.”

  “But I miss you.”

  “It’ll pass. You’ll find someone else. An attractive man like you would have to.”

  Karen turns her attention to Abel. “Brother, you’ll help him, won’t you?”

  “I’ll treat him like my own brother,” Abel agrees.

  “Good,” Karen says. “I need you to help the rest of my family, too.”

  Abel is shamed by the admonishment. “I will help the Templars.”

  “You have a mission. You need to help them see it through.”

  “I will.”

  “Perhaps play by the rules this time,” Karen jokes.

  “For you, Sister.”

  Karen turns her attention back to Carlos. “Promise me you’ll go on.”

  “I miss you so much.”

  “I understand, but promise me that you’ll learn not to.”

  “I promise,” Carlos whispers.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Abel says. “Thank you, Sister. Seeing you so content makes me feel better.”

  “I’m glad. Now I have to go.”

  “No!” Carlos and Abel say in unison.

  “Please, not yet,” Carlos begs.

  “This happens every time,” Gordon explains. “But the spirit world sees things differently than us. You have to let her go when she asks.”

  Karen looks at Carlos and Abel. She flashes a smile.

  “I’m willing to stay as long as they need me to.”

  “Great,” Gordon says. He clearly doesn’t mean it.

  “Thank you,” Carlos says.

  “I’ll reciprocate your generosity,” Abel promises.

  He makes an extravagant menu of food appear in the cramped quarters of the cell.

  “Just let me know your preference,” Abel adds.

  “Okay,” Gordon says. Now he’s clearly a lot more content to stay. “I’ll make sure all charges are dropped by Monday. I’ve built up a pretty good reputation since working here.”

  Gordon begins to indulge in the food while Carlos and Abel excitedly speak to Karen, who maintains a content smile throughout.

  Ajit teleports into the streets of Madrid carrying Constructor. The young Templar waves his hands to move the cloud of smoke that arrived with him.

  “Should we change your name to Sulfur?” Constructor asks. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Call when you need me to get the pair of you.”

  “Got it.”

  Ajit disappears. Constructor waves away another plume of smoke.

  The citizens of Madrid seem wary of his presence; they immediately find reasons to be somewhere else. Constructor searches for his target at the café that Saager assured him the augment was signed in at.

  Constructor searches through the people leaving the café and sees his target slipping into the crowd. The man tries to avoid him.

  “Wait!” Constructor screams at the man in translated Spanish.

  He’s in his late fifties with a scrawny frame and comically bulging eyes. He keeps walking.

  Constructor flies after him. He grabs the man on the shoulder to spin him around. The crowd races away. Most are probably thankful that a Templar isn’t interested in them.

  “Let go!” the man screams.

  “I just want to talk,” Constructor says, careful to release the man.

  “I don’t want anything to do with you.”

  “We need people like you to help stop the Malignant.”

  “Why would I want to stop them? They made me powerful.”

  “They’ll make you a slave.”

  “Says the man trying to abduct me.”

  “You have to come with me, buddy,” Constructor demands.

  “Call me Vape,” the man retorts.

  Vape takes a deep breath and looks at Constructor with hate. His body loses all consistency and turns into an ethereal green smoke, which quickly dissolves his clothes. Constructor tries to grab at the smoke, but his fingers pass through it. The smoke follows Constructor as he tries to move out of it, while his armor begins to react to the caustic gas. Constructor flies straight up, and the smoke falls free from him. When it resettles on the ground, the naked human form of Vape stands there. Constructor flies back down and fills his voice with menace.

  “That was
a mistake!”

  “Says you.”

  The Valhalla hovers over a closed Miss Ery’s. Yellow police tape surrounds the building. The passenger pods beneath the Valhalla open, and several Templars are ejected beneath it. They fly to the street below and enter the bar. Votary leads his team inside which consists of Lottery, Stitch, Port, and Curtis, wearing a light gray armor.

  “Thanks for bringing me,” Curtis mentions.

  “Consider it field training, First Line,” Votary responds. “Everyone spread out and use your various filters to see if anything was left behind.”

  “Will Karen’s armor still be here?” Lottery asks.

  “Doubtful,” Votary grumbles. “I think Father probably took it. The police didn’t report having her body or gear.”

  “You think they would?” Stitch asks.

  “No. Spread out,” Votary commands.

  Two energy spheres crash through the front window of Miss Ery’s, followed closely by two more. The Templars turn to look at them.

  “Move!” Votary orders.

  The warning comes too late. The orbs explode. The room is filled with a bright light, but their helmets easily compensate for it. A ringing fills the eatery, but the Templars simply adjust the ambient sound their helmets let in. Votary looks at the other Templars. He’s perplexed by what just happened when a beast flies through the front door. It’s tall, nearly fourteen feet, and rips the front half of the bar down when it enters. The new opening exposes several more people standing in tactical gear, leveling rifles at the Templars.

  “The A-Men, I presume. Is this some kind of joke?” Lottery asks.

  Because of Beast Mode’s transformation, Moon Glare speaks for the A-Men.

  “We figured you would come back. You’re all under arrest.”

  “This is a joke,” Lottery says.

  “Just come with us,” Moon Glare warns. “There’s no reason this has to get out of hand. Come with us, and maybe we can help each other.”

  “Handle this,” Votary instructs Lottery. He continues to search the bar for leftover technology.

  Moon Glare levels her pistol on Votary, but nobody takes it seriously as a threat.

  “I wouldn’t upset him,” Lottery warns. “Apparently he can turn into a real tazdeve when he’s pissed.”

  “What?” Moon Glare asks.

  “I’m just saying.”

  “Come with us and we’ll offer you all amnesty,” Moon Glare says.

  “How about you come with us? We’ll offer some nifty armor,” Lottery counters. “Plus, cookies.”

  Beast Mode seems tired of the games and flies over the Templars to tackle Votary. He never makes it to his destination. First Line jumps up and grabs Beast Mode in a headlock. He slams the monster into the tables closest to where the front door used to stand.

  This opening blow instigates a full brawl. Each of the A-Men fires his weapon at the Templars. The bullets bounce harmlessly off them.

  “Take it easy on them,” Lottery instructs. “They know not what they do.”

  Lottery creates a pair of clones and charges the woman who addressed him. The first clone is about to tackle her and pin her to the ground when he apparently decides against it. She stares at him, and he opts to sit on the floor instead. Lottery Prime and his second clone keep moving forward. Moon Glare shifts focus on them. They both stop moving, but the first clone stands and shoots lasers from his eyes at Moon Glare’s pistol. The pistol turns red. She drops it and grips her burned palm. The action takes her attention off the trio of aggressors for the briefest of moments. It’s all Lottery needs. He flies straight at her midsection while the other two clones go high and low. The resulting collision knocks the wind out of Moon Glare’s lungs and flips her body in a helicopter spin. When she lands, Lottery kneels on her back and keeps her arms pinned behind her. Another pair of hands keep her face looking at the floor.

  Amorph is able to squeeze past the grabs by both Port and Stitch. His target is clearly Votary.

  “Payback time, bitch!” Amorph screams.

  He lets his belt-fed 7.62 machine gun rage into Votary. Votary, from annoyance more than anything else, turns to Amorph and runs across the bar.

  “Hell yeah!” Amorph screams.

  He throws a punch at Votary, who easily ducks under it. Votary steps close to Amorph and uppercuts him powerfully in the chin. Amorph spits out a pair of teeth. He seems surprised by this. Votary doesn’t allow him the time to remember he’s in a fight. He punches Amorph in the jaw. The blow fractures the bone and launches Amorph over the bar counter. He’s unconscious before he settles on the other side. Votary nonchalantly goes back to his task of searching the tavern.

  First Line continues to wrestle with Beast Mode. The monster thrashes his leathery wings and knocks First Line free of him. Beast Mode turns and snaps his pincers at First Line while the Templar strong man grabs the other spindly limbs that poke at him. First Line is able to get his hands around Beast Mode’s right pincer. First Line’s armor absorbs the jabs from the weaker limbs. He pulls on the pincer, and Beast Mode roars in pain. He backs off and protects his wounded hand. First Line charges. He uses his flight boots to help him reach Beast Mode’s face. First Line punches him, knocking Beast Mode into the red felt pool table.

  Beast Mode shatters the recreation table in his haste to stand back up and face First Line. He uses all three sets of upper limbs to block First Line’s kick that pushes his massive body into the purple and blue felt pool tables behind him. They’re also reduced to splinters.

  “Please stop,” Stitch begs as she tries to put her hands on the elusive Flashbang.

  The little person scampers under a booth and throws more orbs at Stitch.

  “That doesn’t work,” she complains. “Just stop.”

  “Don’t condescend me,” Flashbang says with disgust.

  He rolls a grenade at her. Stitch steps on it with her left foot. The grenade explodes and tosses her into the air, but she recovers from the fall and flies straight toward Flashbang. He stands up from under the booth, and Stitch clotheslines him. Flashbang clutches his throat and hacks. Stitch takes the opportunity to spray him down with adhesive foam. This action eliminates him as a threat in the fight.

  “Bitch, I’ll bite you!” Flashbang curses.

  Port holds her own against the dual threat of Hot Box and Refract. They try combinations of reflecting Hot Box’s rays off Refract and just shooting them at her directly. Port swings a whip at them to keep them from both attacking from different angles. Refract has a cut dripping blood from above his left eyebrow, a testament to her accuracy.

  Port dodges a kick from Hot Box and attaches a small disk underneath his foot. He rotates and aims a punch at her, but she ducks underneath it and cracks her whip to keep him back. She turns as Refract charges. She hits him in the chest with her left palm and leaves a second disk on his chest. Refract looks at the souvenir and tries to pry it free, but Port activates the magnets in them. Refract is soon on the floor after being kicked by Hot Box. Hot Box comically hops around as he tries to free his leg. Port lashes him with her whip and yanks him to the floor. He hits his head on a bar stool as he goes down. Hot Box and Refract thrash about as they try to remove the boot stuck to Refract’s chest.

  Beast Mode hoists First Line above his head and hurls the man at Port and Stitch. The two Templars try to catch him and tumble under the force of his weight. First Line doesn’t move. The women have difficulty getting out from under him. Beast Mode prepares for a flying attack, but reverts to a nude Roger Cove.

  Roger looks over his shoulder. He’s obviously perplexed by the involuntary transformation. Votary stands in front of him.

  “I’m done,” Votary declares.

  He punches Roger in the face. The man sprawls across the sole table still standing upright. It collapses under him, and he squeals. Roger pull
s a splinter out of his scrotum. He rolls in agony on the wreckage.

  “Time to go, Templars,” Votary instructs.

  “Let me help them first,” Stitch begs.

  “Make it quick.”

  One by one Stitch sees to the vanquished A-Men.

  Constructor summons a volley of stalagmites out of the ground to impale Vape. He no longer wants to recruit the augment and is fighting to the death. Vape’s augmentation instinctively transforms him into gas, and he melts the threatening stone. He then reverts to a nude man. He breathes heavily as he tries to recover long enough to battle the enraged Templar.

  Constructor reaches out his right hand, and his diamond tipped lance rises from the ground. It rests in his grip. Constructor uses the weapon to sweep his opponent to the ground. Vape rolls away, narrowly missing the skewer that Constructor thrusts at him. Vape breathes deeply as he waits for Constructor to strike again. It only takes a moment. Constructor jabs with the diamond point at Vape’s throat. He turns to gas for the shortest of moments. It’s long enough to break the diamond edge free from dissolving steel, but Vape now has a streak of blood trailing from his neck down to his waist. The wound is superficial, but Vape doesn’t look like he can keep it up much longer.

  Inexplicably, a long metal tube smashes into the ground between the two. It resembles an iron lung, but it’s uniformly orange. The capsule penetrates the ground and stands on its y axis. The unexpected appearance halts the fight. This gives Vape the much needed chance to catch his breath. The door opens to the pod, and two men in orange armor exit. Constructor instinctively attacks both. He makes the ground swallow the first Malignant marine from head to toe. He swings his damaged weapon at the second and strikes him across the helmet. The marine readies his rifle on Constructor and fires a three-round burst of penetrators.

  Constructor falls straight back as the pens travel over his body and miss him. He hits hard on the ground and gasps as the oxygen leaves his body. Constructor sends another series of stalagmites at the marine, but Vape jumps in front in his gaseous state. The stalagmites dissolve, and Constructor feels his armor melt again. He tries to stand, but feels a pair of pens slam into his stomach and exit out the back of his armor after breaking through a reflexive rock shield. Constructor screams as he feels his skin bubble. His armor liquefies and pools around him as his body tries to keep him shielded in a rock cocoon. In his weakened state, he can’t keep up his defense. He eventually submits and waits for death to take him. He’s fortunate when Vape transforms to human again and gasps while lying on Constructor’s stomach.