Broken Stars

by L Bowers

  “Here is my offer. You take the mantle of my guardian and you get the girl to keep. You will also get a fat salary, outstanding benefits package, and room and board. This is a great compensation package for the work you will perform. What do you say?” He asked.

  “There was a time I might have killed for a job like that,” I said. “Then, after figuring out the kind of scum I worked for, would have just killed you. Now I’m giving you the opportunity to walk away with your life. Tell me where to find the women and I will leave with them. But,” I said as his mouth opened to respond. “If you get more girls and keep this business going I will end you.”

  “Tell me, what do you think I am going to say? What would,” He raised his arms up and waved them around. “A man of my station say to such a threat?”

  “I’ll do you one better and ask how long till they arrive?”

  “Beg pardon?” He asked.

  “I know you’re stalling. How long do we have until reinforcements arrive?” I asked.

  The dickbag smiled and sat back. “Any moment now.”

  I lunged forward and plunged my shifting blade arm into his chest. The dickbag’s eyes went wide and he looked down at my arm in shock. I would probably be shocked to see another man elbow deep in my cheat too. He coughed once and blood sprayed from his mouth hitting my face. That was his last act in the land of the living.

  My arms slid free and I turned in time to see a group of six armored men file into the room. “I had hoped to be gone before you arrived,” I said as I wiped the warm tacky green fluid from my face. “Sucks to be you.”

  The armor these new combatants wore was similar in design to that of the Green Range minus the glowing. I took a gamble that they had the cheaper variant. My suspicions were verified when my blade tore into the first one. I had leapt at them and slashed the first guy in line cutting his hips and legs free from the rest of his torso.

  One of them managed a glancing blow to my head, but he died quick when his head went rolling across the floor. Another lost an arm which I used to beat him with. The savage act caused the remaining three to pause. Their bad. Two horizontal slashes left me with one armored guard still alive.

  I kicked him in the chest then grabbed his armor stopping his fall. I swept the tip of my blade against the right eye of his armor. “I need to know where the women are kept. You can spill it and live, or stay quiet for the rest of eternity,” I growled.

  “The seventh floor is housing for the merch,” he offered. “They are unguarded as all the remaining guards are heading here. Please don’t kill me.” He pleaded.

  I brought the image of that woman being used by the fuck below. I held it firm in my mind while I ran this fuck through in cold blood. If he lived he would have every guard heading to my destination. I couldn’t have that, not if I wanted to escape sometime soon.

  Chapter 26

  I squeezed passed the elevator I had came up on. There was barely enough room for me on the emergency ladder but I managed. Going down this way seemed the least likely to lead me into another fight.

  Using my blade I pried the door open and did a quick turkey peek. The hallway was empty so I left the shaft and pushed the doors closed.

  The owners decided this floor needed no decoration at all. The floor and walls were the grey cement like material and a dingy white drop ceiling sat above me. The hallway felt cold and desolate.

  I went to the first door and opened it. A young woman on a pallet with one thin blanket shrank back from the door. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. Finding Candy and leaving with her would be easy, but that wasn’t the plan.

  “Hey,” I said. “I’m not going to hurt you. Do you want to get out of here?” I asked as I took a knee next to her.

  “Is this a trick? I’ve been a good girl, please don’t punish me. Please?” Hearing the terror in her voice broke something in me.

  “This is not a trick, I swear it. I’m here to get you and any other woman I find free, but I need help.” I took her hand in mine and helped her stand. “Can you help me?”

  “I think so. You’re really going to get us out?” She asked.

  “Yes I am, I give you my word. Come on. You go down one side of the hall waking up the girls and I will go on the other. We need to be quiet and fast. Understand?” I asked. Having this girl help me came with a host of risks, but getting any help at all significantly reduced the time this would take which cut my fear of things going south.

  I moved to the next room and an identical situation. There were twenty rooms in this hallway, ten on each side. Three more girls agreed to help making our progress fairly quick. Once all twenty girls were in the hallway I gave them a once over. They cowered and tried to get as far from me as they could. Seeing them like that made it hard for me to think of them as women and not girls.

  Candy was not among them. That didn’t discourage me as I knew there were more rooms in the adjacent hallways.

  “Does anyone here know the girl they call candy is?” I asked the assembled twenty. My question was met with blank stares. “Okay, then follow me to the next hallway. We are going to get everyone before we leave.”

  As we rounded the corner there was a distant boom and the floor shook. Several girls screamed behind me and a couple fell. To keep myself from falling I had to spread my legs wide.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked. Twenty pairs of eye looked to me for answers. “That isn’t normal?” Twenty heads moved side to side in the negative. “Well shit. Let's keep moving. This is just another reason to get out of here faster.”

  Without waiting I went to the first door and opened it only to find it empty. The next room bore fruit. A girl lay on her side with her back to me. I went in and took a knee next to her.

  “Hey,” I said shaking her gently. “Wake up, it’s time to get out of here.”

  The girl looked over her shoulder at me and my heart stopped. It was Francine. Or an exact replica of the woman I knew as Francine. I wondered at the feelings of joy and pain I felt but she started screaming.

  “It’s okay,” I said as I held my hands out palms facing her. She continued screaming and crawling backwards away from me. “I’m not one of them I came to bring you back to Francine.”

  She stopped, her eyes going wide. “You know my sister?”

  “Yes. She’s on my ship now. I came to take you to her. I’m getting all of the women held here out,” I said.

  “This is a trick!”

  “No,” I said. “This is not a trick. I don’t care if you have been a good girl and I am not going to hurt you. I am going to free you, Candy.”

  “How do you know that name?” She backed up until she was pressed against the wall.

  “I found your file in the computer. Francine was hurt trying to get here so she couldn't come with. She was unconscious before she could tell me your name,” I said. “I’m a little worried about her and would like to get us back to see her.”

  “Oh.” She looked down for a minute and I waited without saying anything. These girls lives were hell so if she needed a minute she was going to get it. She looked up and her eyes went wide. “You freed them?”

  A quick glance over my shoulder let me see the same thing Candy saw. Several girls were milling by. “Yeah,” I replied as I looked back at Candy. “I did, and I plan to free them all.”

  “We should go then,” Candy said.

  I helped the thinner version of Francine to her bare feet and lead her out into the hall. A second boom shook the place followed by the sounds of gunfire. Whoever it was causing all the ruckus was getting closer.

  “Time is running out!” I shouted. “Everyone open a door and get these women out. I’ll be at the elevator making sure it’s secure and ready for us.”

  I turned to leave and Candy tried pulling in the opposite direction and fell on her ass when I didn’t follow. I looked back at her. “I came for you and I’ll be damned if I let you out of my sight,” I said.

  She looked
back at the women rushing to and fro then turned to me and nodded. “Okay.”

  I helped her up more out of concern for her condition than a gentlemanly action. Aside from being too thin her legs wobbled when she tried to stand. The first order of business when we got back was going to be fattening

  her up.

  With Candy’s arm draped over my shoulder I hauled her back to the elevators and pressed the down button for all seven of them. We were going to probably fill them to capacity. I feared that might not be enough to get all the girls down on the first trip.

  A rainbow of alien women took up the space behind us. By the time the first elevator alerted us to its arrival we had to have all the women on the floor staged and ready to go. I turned my back to the elevator doors.

  “Is this everyone?” I asked.

  A chorus of yes came back to me. The sound of paper being dragged on the ground could barely be heard coming from behind me. I didn’t know why the doors took so long to open after the car arrived. It was something I would have changed if I ran the place. Along with the entire business model. The girls closest to me screamed and their eyes went wide.

  I dove forward and spun so my back was facing down and pulled Candy on top of me as I did. We hit the ground and I pushed her off. There was no time for being gentle. I kick flipped back to my feet shifting my left arm into a blade before my feet touched down.

  A group of armed and armored thugs piled out of the elevator. None had armor elevating them to power ranger status which I was grateful for. But they all had gun shaped weapons. I needed to brush up on space-guns as soon as I could.

  I dashed forward like I was Mega man. A slash removed the closest guard’s arm and using my forward momentum a head but sent him flying back. I staggered back and saw stars. No more head butts.

  A foot hit me square on the chest pushing me back. My blade tore through his calf as I forgot myself and tried grabbing his leg. He screamed as I pulled my blade out and freed half of his calf muscle in the process. He pointed his weapon at me and fired as he fell.

  A blue bolt hit me center mass. Every muscle in my body spasmed. Twitching legs no longer able to hold me up dropped me to the floor. As my eyelids fluttered, I caught glimpses of armed men standing over me and kicking me. All I felt were the spasms, not a single hit registered in my overtaxed nervous system.

  Darkness crept in around my vision. Enough sense was left to know if I blacked out that was game over. Before everything went dark my body started to settle down and my eyes open. My heart took on a regular rhythm and I could breath. The stun weapon’s effects were wearing off.

  The back of my head hit the ground and I looked up as pain seared my mind. One of the guards moved to stand over my head and looked down. His eyes went wide when he saw me looking back and he raised his weapon enough to point the glowing blue end at my face.

  An elevator dinged and all the commotion stopped. The guy about to shoot me looked toward the source of the noise and I followed his gave. The doors opened and a large figure in all black armor walked it. The armored figure turned to face the guards and raised both arms to waist level. Two small mini guns mounted on the top of his forearms spun up then let loose a barrage of red bolts.

  The guard standing over me took two to the faceplate and one to the chest. He fell back and his weapon fell from his hand landing on my chest. I scooped up the stunner and shot the next guy closest to me. Staying low seemed to be my best option as red bolts filled the air above me. I flipped over onto my back and crawled away from the imposing figure.

  All of the red bolts hit an armored guard I hadn’t noticed before. Some penetrated but most did not. The shots that couldn’t get through armor shattered and little red motes of light floated to the ground. To my right the women had gathered together and cowered on the floor. Amazingly not a single shot went in their direction.

  After just a few seconds the firing stopped. Looking back I saw the figure in bulky black armor was walking toward me. I stood and let my arm shift into a blade. No way in hell was I going to sit there and let this person kill me, not without a fight.

  The helmet sat between two round, bulky shoulder guards. The faceplate slid up and away letting me see the person’s face. I blinked a couple time not believing what I was seeing.

  “Francine, is that you?”

  Chapter 27

  “It is me,” Francine said with a smile on her face.

  “How are you here?” I said as I walked closer to my partner in this adventure.

  “Well, according to Titan I was unconscious for about twelve hours. Once I woke up I was dead set on coming here to find you. I couldn't live with being the reason something bad happened to you. Titan talked me out of it. You ever try getting your way with a hundred foot killing machine? It didn’t work out too well,” Francine said.

  “Yeah, I can see that going his way. But that doesn’t explain you being here or that kick-ass armor you have on.”

  “Right. So I helped Titan with Foe Hammer. He was able to get it back online and mostly fixed. We discovered the Foe Slayer armor after that.”

  “That armor is called Foe Slayer?” I asked to which Francine nodded and grinned. “What is up with the names of space stuff? Does armor really need a name?”

  “Have you seen me kicking ass in this thing?” Francine gestured down her armor clad body.

  I chuckled. “Okay, you got me there. So that was you blowing shit up a little while ago?”

  “Yup.”

  “Cool. For now we are going to put a pin in this conversation. I think there’s something a little more important you should see.”

  She tilted her head to the side and frowned for a second. Then she caught on before I could respond. “You found her?”

  I pointed to the woman who looked like a thinner version of Francine and smile. “I did.”

  The armor opened up in the front and Francine stepped down and out. She rushed to her twin and scooped her up in her arm Candy screamed and pushed at her sister. Francine held tight to her sister while the poor girl freaked out. My heart cracked as I watched the joy drain from Francine’s face as she realized just how damaged her sister was.

  “Fiona, I am going to take care of you,” Francine said to her sister. “No one is going to hurt you again.” Then she struck the girl in the head knocking her out.

  “What the fuck?” I asked

  Francine ignored me and carried her limp sister to Foe Slayer. She pushed the unconscious girl into the armor and it closed around her. “Foe Slayer, activate voice command mode.”

  The armor came to life standing up straight and closing the face plate. “Keep the occupant safe and maintain a position at my six.

  “Confirmed.” A deep robotic voice said from the speaker in the helmet.

  “Autonomous?” I asked.

  “Yes. Foe Hammer is capable of autonomous movement and some basic combat abilities,” Francine said. She went to the back of the machine and came back with a rifle.

  “Damn thing is more like a Swiss army mech than armor,” I said.

  “I don’t know what that means,” Francine said.

  I pulled the woman into a tight hug. She went stiff but melted into me a second later. “I am sorry your sister is in this state,” I whispered.

  “It’s not your fault, Tom, but thank you.”

  “Let’s move,” I said as I released my partner.

  “Right.”

  “Okay, ladies,” I said in my command voice. “Everyone into the elevators. We’ve worn out our welcome and it’s time the get gone.” My words boomed through the space and the woman jumped into action.

  “I don’t know if there will be enough room for Foe Slayer on one of the elevators with all these women here,” Francine said.

  “There won’t be. As soon as they’re all loaded the three of us hit the stairs,” I said.

  “But they will be unprotected,” Francine said as worry creased her brow.

  “Only for the ride d
own. We’re going to haul ass down the stairs and meet or beat them there. They should only be alone for the length of the ride. Then we all get away.”

  “To where?” Francine asked.

  “I made a friend that has agreed to take care of the women we free. Once we get out of here we’ll be all good. We just have to get out. I don’t think there can be many guards left,” I said.

  “Okay, then let's get going,” Francine said.

  By that time all the women were loaded in elevators, so I ran to each pressing the button for the ground floor. Then I headed to the stairs with Francine and Foe Slayer at my back. I took the stairs in leaps and bounds quickly descending the flights. I was half way down the flight between three and four when Francine called out to me.

  “Tom, Foe Slayer is having trouble keeping up. Go on ahead and we will catch up,” Francine said.

  “Copy that, I will see you on the bottom.”

  I pushed on increasing my pace and quickly descended to the first floor. I burst through the door with my arm shifting and ready to bring the pain. There was no one there. The elevators were still descending. I walked along the elevator doors and glanced up to see the status of the cars. Everyone except the third one was almost at ground level.

  I returned to the third elevator to see what was going on. It was now at the top floor and stopped there. We had a problem and I had a choice. Before I could get into the issue the door to the stairwell opened and Francine came out. Foe Slayer demolished the door frame with it’s wide shoulders as it followed Francine out.

  “Are you okay?” Francine asked.

  “No, we have a problem. It looked like one of the cars was called to the top and it is not coming back down,” I said. “I think someone over rode the elevator and is now the women from it in their custody.”

  “We should leave,” Francine said. “We have Fiona so you have done what I asked, Tom. We also have a bunch of women we are freeing. We do not have to continue to put our lives in danger.”

  “Is that really how you feel?” I asked.

  Francine’s face turned down and she didn't meet my gaze. I spoke before she responded because I had a felling she didn’t want to leave those women. “You and Foe Slayer are going to take Fiona and these women and get out of here. There is a video store three blocks to the south, go there and speak to Tevor. I am going back up and I’ll get those women. I couldn’t live with myself if I left them and I think you feel the same way, Francine.”