Hammer's War 1: Forging the Hammer

by James McEwan

  “A drink, that will help me calm my nerves,” she spoke out loud, as she walked to the bar. She grabbed a bottle of whisky, unscrewed the cap, and poured herself a drink. She picked up the glass and downed the brown liquid. She slammed the glass down then poured herself a second drink. She downed that one too, and then she poured a third drink. This time she took the glass with her as she walked to her home office.

  Sexton set the glass down on her desk then she sat down. The first drink was starting to work her shaking hands stopped shaking. “Mr. Pip,” she said.

  A foot tall blue hologram of a man in a tuxedo appeared on her desk next to the glass of whisky. “What can I do for you today?” The hologram asked. Mr. Pip was her house AI.

  “Code burn, purge all files,” Sexton spoke the code to purge all of her personal files. The files contained all of the information connecting her to Thorne and his program.

  “As you wish,” Mr. Pip said and then disappeared.

  “Trying to wash your hands of blood?” The voice was deep and came from across the room. Helen froze in place, her voice dying in her throat. “A wise move if you are intending to hide from your people, but it won’t save you from me,” the voice said.

  Standing just inside of the office door was the same hooded giant she had talked with before. Sexton, knowing she was in big trouble, jumped up from her desk and ran over to the giant. She fell to her knees and pleaded for her life, “I’m sorry my Lord. I did everything you asked. I was a loyal servant. This was not my fault. It was Thorne, he screwed up. Please I can still serve you.”

  The giant reached down and with his massive hand took Sexton by the throat. His hand easily wrapped around her neck as if he held a child’s doll. He lifted her off the floor, her hands grabbing at his hand and wrist in an effort to relieve some of the pressure on her neck. He pulled her in so they were almost nose-to-nose, and for the first time she could see his face. To say that he was ugly was an understatement. Hideous would be a better word, all of his features were huge, and it made his face look somewhat distorted. His eyes were a deep red and his foul smelling teeth were crooked. Part of his face was scared and looked somewhat melted, as if he had been badly burned at some point in his past. “I care not who screwed up! This blunder has put our plans at risk.”

  Struggling against his grip she somehow found enough air to speak, “No, the asset is still in place and has received the order to complete her mission. The plans are still on track.”

  He tightened his grip and her eyes started to bulge, “Oh you mean the girl you sent to kill the young Emperor. The stupid girl fell in love with him and when the order came, she did nothing. Her failure caused me to act and I sent other assets in to do the job, but she killed them all and spirited him away somewhere.”

  Barely able to breath, she whispered, “That can’t be true.”

  “It is and without our agents in control of the Terrain Empire we cannot move forward with our plans to return,” the giant said, his anger showing on his twisted face.

  “But,” was all she could say.

  The giant tightened his grip crushing her neck. The blood vessels in her eyes burst and the whites of her eyes turned red. “You have failed me, and the Nephilim do not tolerate failure. I have worked too long not to see my people return.” Sexton’s body went limp in his massive hand. He disregarded her dead body aside and left.

  Chapter 24

  Fiona was stable for now. Eve had sent out a call for help along with a data burst highlighting Thorne’s secret and highly illegal operation.

  Thad gently picked up Fiona and carried her to the elevator, “Your chariot awaits my lady,” he whispered into her ear. By the time they got to the hanger, Riffrost had brought up a stretcher. Thad lovingly set her down on it, and the two men carried her up the ramp and into Riffrost’s ship.

  Inside the ship, Eve put her good arm around his shoulders, “She is tougher than you give her credit. She will get through this as well. Besides, she has you and Freya, and who could forget about yours truly?” He smiled at that. “See, that’s better. Look, I know you don’t feel good about any of this, but you did a great thing today. These people killed with impunity, and they felt they were above the law. You took them down!”

  “Me, what about you? You did most of the heavily lifting,” Thad said.

  “Well, I may have helped out here and there.” She laughed and hugged him.

  “Yeah, we stopped these monsters, but at what cost and will it do any good?” He wondered.

  Eve was puzzled by his statement, “What do you mean?”

  “We stopped this one but how long until someone else tries it, thinking they can do it better or different. How long before they think their plan will succeed where others have failed,” Thad said, as his voice trailed off.

  She hugged him again, “Well who knows, but let’s hope it’s long after you’re gone so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “We can hope,” he replied and hugged her back.

  In the hospital, Fiona had to undergo surgery so Thad left Freya to watch over her. Eve was still with Riffrost getting repaired. Thad wanted to go back to the lab and see the children again. Outside the hospital, he caught an air cab back to the scene of the crime.

  Thad easily avoided the police by walking through walls to find the genetics lab. Now that he had time to process things, he walked over to a tube with a baby boy who was almost full term. He pressed his hand up to the glass, so this is how I began, he thought. Then the baby did something that Thad didn’t expect. He pressed his tiny little hand up to the glass near Thad’s hand. This tiny act made him cry. He was crying because he knew the twins had been right, these children were not weapons which needed to be destroyed, but innocent babies who should have a chance at life.

  Thad returned to the hospital to find Fiona was out of surgery. He found out what room she was in and went to see her. On the way he stopped at a restroom, where he looked in a mirror. His body armor was a mess, riddled with holes, covered in burn marks, and dried blood. He could only wonder what people must think when they saw him. As he splashed clean, cold water into his face, he looked at himself in the mirror and wondered what Doctor Hammer would think of him now.

  Leaving the bathroom, he felt the last few months taking their toll. His body healed too quickly to have any aches or pains, but he felt tired, more tired than he had ever felt in his life. He thought he could sleep for a month, if the twins would let him. He pushed open the door to his wife’s room and entered.

  He found the twins curled up asleep, next to each other. He looked down at his two wives and wondered how it was that he, a man who was created to kill, could be blessed with so much. As he stood there looking at them he could hear Doctor Hammer’s voice in head, No one is born good or bad, and no one is fated to good or evil. We all have the right to choose our own path in life. The true measure of a man is which road he chooses, and I hope son, when you are presented with the choice, you will choose to do good with your life. He thought back to the baby boy and how he almost gave into the rage and killed him before he even had a chance to choose right or wrong for himself.

  He sat down in the chair and watched the two loves of his life breath as they slept. It was not long before he dozed off to sleep himself. When he awoke, he was not sure how much time had passed, but Freya was not in the room. Fiona was still asleep, so he quietly turned on the view screen. He flipped through the channels until he found a news station reporting on the mess he had created.

  The newsreader was a blond female, “Breaking news out of Nova Texas. Apparently, the local police have uncovered a secret training facility for government-sanctioned assassins. Information leaked to the press by an unknown source points to Federation Ambassador Helen Sexton as the head of the organization. When police went to her home to question her about her involvement they found Ms. Sexton’s body. Police are not releasing the cause of death. An anonymous source has leaked documents that connect this organizatio
n to a multitude of political assassinations throughout several human governments.”

  Thad kept watching the news, not noticing the doctor that had just entered the room. The newsreader continued, “In other news today, The Terrain Emperor has disappeared in the wake of a coup attempt. Earth officials are not commenting on his whereabouts, only saying that for his safety he has gone into hiding.”

  Thad cursed his tired brain for being so slow, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He shifted his weight so he could stand when an arm slipped around his neck. He felt the flesh of his neck pierced by a needle. A burning sensation expanded outward from the needle down his neck and into his chest. Thad still had strength enough to pull the arm off him and stand. He took two steps then collapsed on the floor.

  Thorne stepped over the top of him looking down as his body went into convulsions, “Oh I’m sorry, did I just poison the hero of the day? Like I told you before, you will never beat me, son. I have all the cards.”

  He tried to speak, but couldn’t. Only foam came out of his mouth. “Don’t try, you can’t. I have given you a combination of a paralytic and poison. You will be dead in few seconds. It will be quick, although by the looks of it, painful.” Thorne noticed the foaming coming from Thad’s mouth, “Hum, never seen it do that before, oh well good bye Thad.”

  Thad stopped moving, but the foam kept spilling from his mouth. Thorne paid no more attention to him and returned to the tray to refill the needle. He softly spoke to Fiona who was still asleep, “Sorry my dear, I’m going to kill you and your bitch sister too. I have to kill anyone who knows about me. It’s the only way that I will survive. Nevertheless, I must say, killing you two will be more of a pleasure than you can imagine.” He filled the needle then inserted it into her IV line.

  What Thorne didn’t know was that the foam coming out of Thad’s mouth was his body’s nanobot’s working hard to expel the poison. His cells were healing as fast as they were being damaged. While Thorne was preparing to poison Fiona, Thad had regained control of his body.

  “Good bye Fiona,” he started to put pressure on the plunger.

  Freya smiled at the cute young girl behind the coffee counter, “Can I get two, double mochas’ please?”

  “Sure thing,” she said and pointed to the credit console. Freya remembered she didn’t have any money or cards on her so she punched in the credit account number. She waited for a few seconds before the approval appeared on the screen.

  “Excuse me, is there a comm I can use?” Freya asked the girl. She smiled and pointed to a comm booth at the end of the counter. “Thank you,” she said. While she waited for the girl to make the coffee, she thought she would call Eve and see how she was doing.

  She stepped into the booth punched in Eve’s personal comm frequency. She waited for the comm to connect.

  “Hello Freya,” Eve said.

  “Hey, how did you know it was me? It could have been Thad.” Freya said.

  “Simple silly, only the three of you know this comm frequency and Fiona is in bed resting, Thad would never leave her side, so that left you,” Eve answered.

  “Oh, I see. I didn’t think of that, anyway how are you doing sweetie?” She asked.

  Eve was lying on a repair table, with a bot using a plasma cutter to cut off the damaged arm. “Well Riffrost found a top notch repair shop and right now they are sawing off my damaged arm.”

  “That doesn’t sound like fun,” Freya said.

  “It’s not bad, and by the looks of the bots around this shop, the guy that runs it is an artist. A few hours and I will be better than I was before.” Eve said.

  “Well, I just wanted to check on you and let you know about Fiona, she…”Eve cut her off.

  “I already know sweetie. The hospital AI and I are in constant contact, but thank you anyway.”

  “Well, okay then, you get yourself fixed up, and get back here as soon as you can. I have to go, the coffee is ready,” she said.

  “I will,” Eve said, and then the com channel went dead.

  Freya left the booth, picked up the two cups of coffee, and made her way back to the room.

  Thorne believed he had killed Thad when Thad’s hand grabbed a hold of his thumb and broke it. It more than took Thorne by surprise. Thad spun Thorne around so he had to come face to face with Thad. “How,” was all Thorne could say.

  “There are things you don’t know about me and one of them is I’m getting really tired of people trying to kill me and my family.” He struck again, this time Thorne was ready for him and blocked the blow. They exchanged strikes and blocks for a few seconds. The sounds of the fighting woke Fiona, who could only watch.

  Thorne reached under his shirt and grabbed a force blade. He switched it on and came at Thad. He was moving fast and Thad being so tired was not, but as luck would have it, Freya opened the door and in doing so blocked Thorne’s knife attack. The force blade slashed through the door leaving a burnt wood smell in the air.

  “What the,” Freya shouted as the force blade hit the door. The two cups of coffee in her hands became weapons as she threw the hot coffee at him. It splashed on his chest, and Thorne screamed as the hot coffee scolded him. He dropped the knife and his hands, out of reflex, went to his chest. He tore at his shirt trying to get it off as fast as he could. Freya was not about to stand there and watch. She landed a kick right into Thorne’s midsection, which sent him backwards into the wall. He hit hard, and his hands, which had been at the collar of his shirt, were forced apart with such force that his collar button gave way and flew off.

  The button hit Freya right in the eye. She yelped from the pain, and covered her eye. Thorne recovered, standing against the wall, his bare chest blistering. Thad made a move for him, and Thorne dove for the knife on the floor. He slid across the tile floor and scooped up the knife. Thad was on top of him trying to get the knife when Thorne slashed at him, hitting the control pad for his phase device. Thorne was able to get a leg under Thad’s chest. He pushed with all his might, which sent Thad backwards into a view screen. It shattered, sparking and sending electricity arcing across Thad’s body armor.

  Everyone froze and watched Thad fade away right in front of their eyes. It only took a few seconds then Thad was gone, no ghost image, nothing was left of him. Fiona screamed out, “Thad!”

  Freya shrieked, “You killed him!” The anger she felt, she had only ever felt once before when her parents had been murdered. She was so surprised Thad was gone she did not see the force blade coming for her. It went through her like a hot knife through butter. The pain was almost blinding. Thorne, stabbing wildly, had hit her below her right breast, a straight shot to her liver. Freya grabbed his hand so he could not pull the knife free and stab her again.

  Thorne and Freya were locked in a battle of strength and will, and Freya was losing. Thorne had a mad look in his eyes, and could tell Freya was dying. He was so intent on watching the life drain from her he didn’t notice the cord slip around his neck. It was Fiona. She had taken the cord from her IV machine and wrapped it around his neck. She pulled with everything she had. Thorne let go of the knife and clawed at the cord around his throat.

  Freya held the grip of the knife with both hands. She took a deep breath and pulled. The pain was intense; much more that she was ready for. Freya let lose a scream as the blade came free of her flesh.

  The look in Thorne’s eyes had been replaced with fear. She attempted to plunge the knife deep into his chest. Thorne, the coward, would not let them kill him this way. He pulled the pin on a flash bang grenade hanging from his belt. White light blinded them and the sound made their ears ring. Fiona felt the cord go loose as Thorne cut it and slipped away again.

  When they could see again the twins looked at each other. Freya had her hand over her wound. She walked over to the bed, her skin quickly turning pale, “I don’t think I’m doing very well.”

  “Don’t you dare die on me, I can’t lose you too,” tears poured from Fiona’s eyes.
<
br />   “I’m not going to die, but I do need a rest. Move over.” She tried to climb into the bed but passed out on the floor. A real nurse came into the room and seeing the carnage, ran for help.

  Chapter 25

  When Freya finally woke, she was in a bed next to Fiona, who was talking to Eve. “See I told you I wouldn’t die on you.”

  “Oh, you’re awake! The doctors say they got to you in the nick of time. They were able to fix the damage to your liver and save your life.” Fiona said with a smile.

  “That’s good because I thought I was going to die on the floor,” she tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.

  Eve came to her side, “I’m really glad you didn’t die on the floor or anywhere else for that matter.” Freya squeezed her hand. “I’m just beside myself about Thaddeus. I just can’t believe he’s gone.”

  Freya said, “I know, but I saw it with my own eyes, he just faded away. If he was still alive he would have come back already.”

  Fiona was tearing up again, “So what do we do now?”

  Eve took both girls hands in hers, “We get you two healed up. We still have some unfinished business to take care of and then we can go home and try to figure out what happened to Thad. Perhaps we can find a way to get him back.”

  Freya could tell she was taking Thad’s loss as badly as they were, “Eve, he is gone we have to let him go.”

  Eve smiled at her, “Don’t count your husband out yet. That man has a knack for surviving where others couldn’t.”

  Chapter 26

  Two months went by and the twins healed up, but the scars they carried would be there for a long time to come. Eve had been fully repaired and was back to her beautiful self again. While recovering they had spent the time tracking down Thorne.