Hunting Will

by Alex Albrinck

  Contents

  Title

  Part I - Casino and Fountain

  Part II - Manor House

  Part III - Fortress

  Author's Notes

  HUNTING WILL

  Prequel to The Aliomenti Saga

  by Alex Albrinck

  Copyright © 2012 by Alex Albrinck. All rights reserved.

  alex@alexalbrinck.com

  Cover by Karri Klawiter. http://artbykarri.com.

  Part I

  Casino and Fountain

  The suspect exited the shadows and moved toward the crowds surrounding the fountain, glancing around in a subtle manner. The fountain was impressive; nearly sixty feet in diameter, it pumped thousands of gallons of water forth in a show timed to classical music and integrated with multi-colored laser lights. The shows were a popular destination, and the fountain was centrally located within the overall casino complex. The outdoor plaza also featured unique specialty shops and restaurants, all designed to separate visitors from their money. To the untrained eye, the suspect’s movements would look like those of any tourist, taking in the sights and the crowds, marveling at the size and scope of both.

  The Hunter’s eyes were well-trained, however. This man was the most dangerous fugitive the Hunter’s team, and the organization backing them, had ever tracked. Numerous previous run-ins had ended in failure, often when they’d allowed the fugitive to escape crowds. In crowds, he wouldn’t display the abilities that made his capture such an enormous challenge. With a crowd around, he’d exercise caution about displaying those abilities. The team of Hunters, having tracked him to a crowded and confined space like this casino mega-complex, were determined to contain him here until they could subdue him. Once subdued, they could transport him to a specialized prison designed to hold men like him.

  The suspect paused for a moment near the fountain, and then moved in the direction of one of the exits, hands in pockets, attempting to blend in with the crowd and leave the confined space. His eyes were on alert, darting in each direction, scanning the exit for trouble, and his movement took him in the direction of the Hunter.

  The man reversed directions, heading instead for a second exit. Muttering under his breath, the Hunter emerged from the shadows of the tunnel, just enough to track the suspect. He could not risk abandoning his post; leaving the exit unguarded would provide the suspect with an avenue of escape. And the Hunter knew they could not allow Will Stark to escape yet again. The leader of their organization was tired of the failures and the excuses offered up. Athos knew that at some level, the man understood Stark to be an extraordinary case. Athos’ team had never failed to capture another suspect, and it was rare that the actual encounters lasted more than a few minutes.

  Stark risked a quick glance over his shoulder, and his eyes fell on Athos. Stark’s lip curled and his eyes narrowed at the sight of the Hunter.

  Athos muttered a curse under his breath. “I’m spotted.” His voice was full of disgust, and transmitted to his team through the voice activated radio implanted behind his ear.

  “I’ve spotted a lovely brunette near him,” Porthos replied. “I’ll keep an eye on her. Sorry… I mean, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “Not now, Porthos.” They’d had enough encounters with Stark to know that the man had likely figured out where all three Hunters were stationed. The element of surprise, if they’d ever had it, was now lost. Athos moved into the crowd, trying to close the gap on Stark and corral him toward the exit Aramis guarded. “Aramis, I’m attempting to maneuver him in your direction. Do you copy?”

  That was their standard strategy with Hunted suspects, and though Stark was abnormally talented, there was no reason to alter the approach. Aramis, after all, was best suited to subdue this suspect, having the unique talent to turn off the abilities of a man like Will Stark. Without Aramis, they had no hope to complete a successful Hunt of the man.

  Aramis didn’t respond.

  Athos clenched his teeth in an effort to prevent screaming in frustration. This was their most dangerous fugitive, the highest priority target they had, and Aramis hadn’t responded? Had he fallen asleep? Or worse… had Stark’s splinter group, known as the Alliance, captured Aramis? That possibility had multiple negative ramifications, for Stark spent much of his time alone and rarely called in reinforcements. The Hunters knew, in each encounter with Will Stark, that they’d not have to account for anyone else’s potential involvement in their planning efforts. Had that changed? Had they lost Aramis before the Hunt had begun?

  Athos spoke to the Hunter still accessible to him. “Porthos, Aramis isn’t responding, but I’m going to assume he’s still at his post and his communicator isn’t working. I need you to come into the main area, out of the exit tunnel, and help me corral Stark toward Aramis’ exit. I’m going to circle the fountain to my left. You need to circle it to the right.”

  “On it. That should take me closer to the brunette as well. Maybe I can get a picture taken with her…”

  “Focus, Porthos!”

  “Naturally. The photo won’t do me any good if it’s not in focus.”

  “Porthos…”

  “Already shooing Mr. Stark toward the Aramis door from the right side of the fountain, boss. Relax.”

  Athos gritted his teeth.

  Stark spotted Porthos, and recognized the trapping maneuver as the two Hunters circled toward him from opposite sides of the fountain. He twisted his head around and eyed Athos. He then glanced at the exit guarded by Aramis. After a brief pause, Stark turned back to look at Athos and offered the man a brief smirk, and then glanced at Porthos and rolled his eyes.

  “He’s figured it out, Athos.”

  “So I’ve noticed. Aramis, are you there yet?”

  Still no response.

  “OK, Porthos, we need to keep the plan the same, but in the event Aramis has decided to chase after a stray animal, I need you to start moving closer to the perimeter wall. If Stark makes a quick move to the exit, cut off his escape. I’ll stay inside the plaza and we’ll look to trap him with just the two of us if necessary.”

  “Got it.”

  The restaurants and shops formed a solid perimeter around the fountain, and the architects had elected not to provide openings to the outside through the stores and restaurants, citing concerns about theft. They believed that providing a single entry and exit point for each shop, directing customers back into the plaza area surrounding the fountain, would limit the chances for shoplifters to succeed. Athos didn’t care about their reasoning; the design worked perfectly for him. The three Hunters need only guard the two exits back into the casino and the single larger tunnel leading to the outside world. Three Hunters, three exits, and one trapped criminal. Will Stark would finally be caught.

  Without the third Hunter, however, Stark had a greater chance to escape than Athos liked to consider, and Will Stark rarely failed to take advantage of every chance given him. Athos needed to make sure that he and Porthos didn’t allow Aramis’ disappearance to translate into yet another escape.

  Porthos angled himself toward the wall and the exit at a slow pace, trying to stay just ahead of Stark. Athos kept himself closer to the fountain, triangulating his position with Stark’s and Porthos’ in an effort to continue nudging Stark toward Aramis — or at least, where he hoped Aramis waited. The lack of response from the man was unnerving.

  They’d reasoned that, in the likely event Stark caught on to their plan, he’d assume Aramis would cover the tunnel leading to the outside world, and would thus try to head for one of the tunnels providing access into the casino. Stark liked his chances better against Athos or Porthos than against Aramis. Neither Hunter took offense at that; Aramis’ skill simply demanded respect.

  The Hunters, th
erefore, used that understanding against Stark. Athos guarded the exterior tunnel, while Aramis guarded the narrower of the two tunnels leading into the casino. If Athos and Porthos could successfully funnel Stark into that tunnel, Aramis should be able to subdue him without much trouble. They’d also reduce the chance that the Hunt would be remembered by one of the hundreds of humans crowding through the shopping and entertainment paradise the casino provided. The Hunters knew that being observed, being recognized as different by humans, was a risk they must avoid at all costs, even if it meant letting Stark walk free.

  The Aliomenti were a thousand-year old organization of men and women who had unlocked an incredible truth about human beings. They were born with the energy-producing regions of their trillions of cells ratcheted down to less than five percent of capacity, just enough to power their bodily functions and keep them alive. The Aliomenti figured out how to remove those factors restraining the full production of energy by cells, and found that the excess energy could be used by the mind both inside and outside the body to accomplish feats most otherwise would have seen as magic. This specialized extra energy – dubbed Energy in recognition of the power it provided the Aliomenti – could be grown and enhanced within the body, and pulled in from the outside. With sufficient Energy, the Aliomenti could practice telepathy and telekinesis, perfectly understand the emotional state of others, and maximize general health. Master practitioners, like Will Stark and, to a lesser degree, the Hunters, developed sufficient Energy capacity to manipulate their entire beings with the mind, bringing skills like invisibility and teleportation into the realm of reality. Such skills provided immense power, but the Aliomenti feared discovery by the billions of non-Aliomenti – described by the derisive use of the word human – for the massive numbers of humans could react with fear and destroy their more talented brethren. No matter how blatantly Will Stark might violate other Aliomenti rules, even he wouldn’t dare turn invisible, teleport, or fly away in the sight of humans. He’d not induce a panic of that type. And the Hunters knew that.

  Aramis’ Dampering skill was crucial, for at his touch the Energy stores of any Aliomenti would be destroyed and prevented from regenerating until his touch was removed. The Hunters preferred crowds, for Stark couldn’t do anything special without drawing attention, while Aramis could embrace an old friend without raising suspicion. Away from crowds, Stark could outmaneuver them and prevent Aramis’ skill from ever coming into play. Surprise worked to the Hunters’ advantage. They’d used radios to prevent Stark from detecting their telepathic conversations, an approach intended to allow them to get as near to the man as possible before he became aware of their presence.

  All surprise was gone now. Cleverness would determine the outcome of the Hunt. Athos and Porthos would try to push Stark toward Aramis’ exit while looking desperate and fearful. They hoped that would drive Stark through exactly the tunnel they wished him to use. Numbers and strategy were on the Hunters’ side.

  Or they would be, if Aramis was still around. Athos, still hearing nothing from the third Hunter, began to despair that they’d fail to capture Stark again, and that he’d need to explain to his boss exactly how it was that Athos had lost Aramis to the Alliance.

  Will Stark wandered in a leisurely pattern toward the exit guarded by Aramis, exactly as Athos and Porthos wanted. Both Hunters kept their distance, trying to look concerned about the direction Stark took. In reality, Stark was behaving exactly as they’d planned… if Aramis was still in that tunnel.

  The fugitive wandered into a crowd of taller people, and suddenly neither Athos nor Porthos could see him. In a panic, Athos moved away from the fountain toward the group of people, standing on his toes in an effort to spot the fugitive inside the grove of human trees. He circled around the group, heading more toward the exit and Porthos and away from the fountain, hoping to spot Stark, but to no avail. Were the taller people members of the Alliance, there to hide their leader in plain sight, until Athos or Porthos made a mistake?

  Athos finally spotted Stark, and his heart fell.

  Will Stark walked out of and away from the group of tall people, not toward Aramis’ exit, but in the opposite direction, toward the fountain and the exit once guarded by Athos. It was the exit to the outside world, and it was without protection by any Hunter. Stark had used the human crowds to hide, waiting for Athos to make a mistake and leave his containment spot. Athos knew he was being too hard on himself. The outcome would have been the same if Porthos had come to investigate instead. Stark would have exited the smaller crowd… on the side of that smaller crowd nearest Aramis’ exit. Right where they wanted him to go.

  Athos cursed himself silently. True, Stark was now moving through a thick crowd of people with a twenty yard head start to the exit. He’d clearly realized that if Athos and Porthos weren’t racing to stop him from moving toward the exit he approached, then he was walking into a trap named Aramis. Stark used the smaller crowd of humans to maneuver Athos out of the way so he could reverse course. The fugitive was now making his way to the exit he’d always preferred to use, the exit leading directly to the outside world.

  Athos scrambled after Stark, struggling to work his way through the thick masses of humans in his way, and was aware that Porthos was doing the same, with much better luck. It was a low-speed race through the crowds, a race now just between Porthos and Stark. Porthos’ path was less obstructed, but Stark’s was much shorter. Athos’ path was through the most heavily crowded part of the plaza; it was up to Porthos to intercept Stark before the man got away again. Athos tried to dart between visitors, his gaze alternating between his fellow Hunter and the man being Hunted. His despair grew.

  The gap was too large to overcome. Will Stark had beaten them again.

  “Boss, I can get there before him, if—”

  “No,” Athos said, his tone sharp. “You know the rules. We cannot do anything that would risk exposure.”

  “He’s going to get away again, Athos,” Porthos snapped, his tone bitter. “Why are we following rules that only benefit him?”

  Athos had no answer for that.

  Stark seemed aware he was going to get away as well, and his face curled into a grin as he saw a sign indicating entry to an underground parking garage. Athos hissed. If he’d walked out through the tunnel, a path filled with people, they’d have a final chance to chase him down and subdue him, as there were certainly people on the outside who might see Stark do something unnatural. The tunnel itself was likely crowded and would slow Stark’s exit as well. An underground parking garage, however, offered innumerable crevices and shadows Stark could operate in, and as such his escape would be near-certain once he entered.

  Porthos had narrowed the gap considerably, but Stark would enter the garage before either of the Hunters could block his path. Where was Aramis? A third Hunter would have proved valuable in this Hunt; each Hunter could wait by their respective exits until Stark was forced to leave. Instead, Athos had left his post out of necessity and Porthos had joined him as they’d tried to corner Stark with only two men, and they’d failed in an all-too-predictable manner. Athos seethed with anger at Aramis’ dereliction of duty.

  Stark reached the large tunnel corridor, just as the crowds thinned in front of the Hunters. Both men sprinted to the exit, but were there only in time to see Stark step through the door to the parking garage.

  ●●●●●

  After watching the door close behind him with a resounding clang, Will Stark turned to make certain he was alone before engaging the advanced abilities that identified him as a former member of the Aliomenti, abilities which would both amaze and frighten any humans who might observe them. Will Stark would not risk such exposure. As he began to scan the walls for security cameras, a hand emerged from the shadows and seized him by the shoulder, and Stark sagged toward the ground as if he’d been shot. Athos and Porthos crashed through the door, in time to see their quarry on the ground, held there by a man with blond hair and wire-rimmed glas
ses.

  “Aramis!” snapped Athos. “Where were you?

  The man smiled behind the glasses. “I knew he’d end up here, so I entered the garage at my exit and came out here. He walked right into my trap.” Will Stark lay on the metal landing of the stairwell leading down to the underground parking area, gasping, eyes wide. Aramis’ very touch drained the man of the mysterious Energy used to perform his special Aliomenti skills; Aramis’ Damper was the mental equivalent of having the air knocked from his lungs.

  Athos’ green eyes blazed, and he pushed his black hair back from his face. “Your trap? We set our plans as a team before starting a Hunt. No deviation without discussion, remember? Why weren’t you responding to either of us?”

  “Couldn’t hear you in the garage. Not sure why.”

  “Radios don’t work in the garages because of the metal beams and concrete barriers,” Stark said, his voice strained and muffled. “The metal shields the radio signals. You’d be better off sticking to telepathy; it’s not like I didn’t know you were there the whole time.”

  Porthos walked over to Stark and crouched down, lifted the man’s head, and looked into his eyes. “Shut up, Stark,” he hissed. Letting Stark’s face fall into the metal steps, he stood up to face Aramis, ignoring the cry of pain from Stark as the man’s head hit the metal landing.

  Athos nodded at Porthos. “Give me a hand.” The two men grasped Stark under his arms and hauled him to his feet, while Aramis maintained a grip on Stark’s shoulder. After working with Porthos to force Stark face-first into the wall, Athos produced a pair of molded gloves. After Aramis leaned into Stark to ensure he didn’t move, Athos pinned Stark’s left arm against the wall and forced Stark’s left hand into one half of the pair of gloves. He then slammed his full weight into Stark’s left arm, smashing the limb against the wall, rendering it numb and immobile.