A voice, clear and evil, cut the tense stillness. “Looking for something?”
Panicked, David glanced around, both into and outside of the building. He saw no one and hesitated, wondering from where the voice had come. Placing his hands upon the windowsill, he began to step inside.
A drop of wet saliva splashed against his hand, and looking at it, his eyes drifted upward. A row of sharp teeth greeted him, inches away.
The metal lizard faced downward, its contours highlighted by silvery gleams of moonlight. Iguanus gripped the building with all four claws, pointing toward David like the vertical line of an exclamation point. Hot fangs parted, and more sticky saliva fell.
David tried to raise his weapon and shoot, but found it slashed from his hand before he could act. The carnivorous mouth opened wider and lunged. He dodged it by a narrow margin. The Lieutenant backed away, searching for an escape until his butt brushed the cold, iron barrier. He ducked another fang-filled advance, wondering what to do.
The creature’s tail crashed downward, first to his right, then his left. Angry metal screeched at its unforgiving sculptor, the force rearranging the railings and battering them into a twisted cage. Iguanus had trapped him, and there was no way out but down.
Laying both hands upon the chilling metal, he gripped and jumped backwards, his body flipped up and over the bar. Somersaulting, his feet caught the fiend with a well-aimed kick, and the momentum carried him further into the open air. His hands gripped tighter on the cold metal.
Careening outward, the entire fire escape lurched, and the injured wrought iron fell away from the building’s side. It dropped to the street with a thunderous clang, taking David down with the wreckage. He jumped, rolling as he struck the pavement, and began to run.
Iguanus growled, slithering down the wall after him. The lizard released his grip a floor above the ground, leaping toward his fleeing prey.
Razor claws met and entered David’s flesh, a groan of pain rising from his lungs. He hit the ground as the rest of the villain landed atop him, jarring the radio from his ear and crushing it under the silvery weight. His own grunts replaced the dying echoes of twisted metal.
Despite the flight suit’s protection, he felt ruptures grow along his body, his hands searching for anything to defend himself. He wished again for a functioning SkyRise pack as the lizard began ripping the fabric apart. Without his gear, little protected him beyond the thin material of his uniform.
Desperate, David found a loose, metal bar that had broken free of the wrecked staircase. His fingers wrapped it, and he pulled it to him. Aiming the pointy end, he jabbed, plinking off of the creature’s metallic hide. He tried again and again, searching for some weak point.
Iguanus batted the crude weapon aside, and resumed his attack. The hooks of his clawed hands pulled at David’s flesh.
Long gouges opening along his torso, the soldier tried another two-handed jab, and thrust the pointed metal into the lizard’s oil-black eye. Feeling the membrane yield, he twisted the bar for good measure.
Iguanus growled with pain and fury, rescinding his assault. He pulled away, covering his gaping eyehole with a silvery claw. His thick, muscled tail swept street-level, crashing against David and sending the man into the gutter.
He struck hard against the wet, garbage-lined curb, breaking a few ribs. The soldier continued fighting for his life, slashing the air with his last remaining weapon.
It made little difference against the armored foe. With another powerful sweep of his tail, Iguanus crushed David’s hand, and the bar fell away, its clang echoing a death toll. His last hopes left as it bounced noisily away.
The enraged lizard drew closer, claws outstretched. A metallic smile of fatal teeth extended along his snout.
David tried to stand, but found his injuries making every motion more difficult. Seeing no recourse, he shut his eyelids in preparation for the coming doom.
A flash brightened the blackness of his closed eyes, and a loud crack filled his ears. Air gushed against him as something fell.
David peeked, almost unwilling to look upon what had happened.
Iguanus lay before him, dead. The creature appeared no different than it had in life, except for the leaking hole where its eye had been. A black stream of exiting fluid drained down the side of its snout, glistening in the dim light. It was the only movement affecting any of the silvery monster’s body.
The darkness nearby unfurled like a frayed blanket, and a figure disengaged from the wall, walking toward him. Its shape was indistinct, barely visible save the gleam of David’s smoking gun in its hand. Even in the direct cone of the dim streetlight, the man was difficult to see. Approaching to within a few yards, he aimed the gun again and fired. The monster’s head gave another jerk.
“She’s upstairs if you want her,” the figure said after the gun’s echo had cleared. “Iguanus tore her up pretty bad, but she’s alive. Get her and go.”
David was stunned, slow both in action and to understand. Deciding that the gunman was no threat, he stood, bracing his broken ribs. “Thank you,” he said, nodding to the shadowy shape.
Both looked at the corpse. The shot had come from the creature’s new blind side, entering through the ruptured socket. The bullet had made an entry, but no exit wound, leaving David to surmise that it had bounced around inside, destroying the lizard’s internal organs.
“I owed him,” the man replied, kicking the saurian head. He tossed the gun aside, and faded back into the darkness. A last, whispered remark underscored his exit.
“How’s that for backbone?”
Again left alone, it didn’t take David long to enter the warehouse and find Femme. He freed her from that chamber of horrors, her invincible body trembling under his touch. The physical wounds were already healing, but her psychological injuries would take much longer. He looked to her, but saw no life behind her dark eyes.
They made it back to the car in little time, and still, she said nothing. David eased her into the backseat, pulling a blanket from the trunk and wrapping it around her. With one last scan of the area, he himself got into the vehicle and started the engine.
He needed to find Red, and they could leave this nightmare. In his opinion, the end couldn’t come quickly enough.
Chapter Twenty-seven
From his perch above the park, Red heard the battle on the building’s far side. He strained to see in the darkness, trying to make out the shapes moving below the array of moonlit rooftops. He couldn’t quite see them, but knew that Mead was in trouble. “Hold on, Lieutenant,” he said into his radio. “I’m coming.”
He ran along the water tower’s catwalk, rounding its girth and using the full moon’s light to guide him. The ladder access waited on the back side, blocked from view by the bulk of the tank. He made his way around the misshapen orb, hoping he would not be too late.
Running to help, he cursed their hasty decision making. Lack of time had limited their planning, and the lack of the senator’s approval everything else. The element of surprise had been their greatest advantage, and from the sounds of struggle echoing from David’s position, that advantage had been lost. Their rescue mission seemed doomed.
He had felt the need to help Femme, of course, but he also knew that he and the Lieutenant would be lucky to escape with their lives. The odds were not in their favor, especially given foes such as these. All he hoped for now was survival.
Red turned a corner and ran down the shaded metal grating. He was nearing the opening, and his eyes worked hard to make out its shape in the dim light. If he wasn’t careful, he could miss the hole completely, slipping through and falling the height of the tower. His pace slowed, but his pulse did not.
A strange light greeted him as he neared the ladder’s access, providing him a better view of the walkway. He hadn’t remembered the light coming up, but was thankful for its illumination. He moved a little faster, more sure in his footing. Rounding the final section, he saw the light’s source.
The Aegis stood there, waiting.
Red tried to stop in his tracks, but momentum carried him a few steps further. By the time his feet felt traction, it was too late. The Aegis’ eye fixed upon him.
Red paused, leaving the borrowed handgun holstered on his belt. He knew it would make little difference, and had only accepted it as a last resort. He trusted more in his preternatural ability, and heart pounding, he used it.
Another of the Aegis’ memories began.
A man dipped an instrument into a pool of roiling sludge, checking the bright red digits on its crude display. “Fifty-seven point zero four” he said, looking back to his colleague working along a wall of gauges and instrumentation. “It’s ready, Doctor.”
Dr. Miller made a quick note on his clipboard, and tapped a knuckle against one of the wall’s dials. It stirred a bit, but held position. He scribbled something else, and stepped back toward the waist-high control panel. Its lights were ablaze with color.
“Be careful, John. There’s no telling what the liquid might do to one of us.”
John Blackman turned back to the vat. Before him, a vast pool of luminous liquid stretched twenty feet across the room. Bubbles broke the surface here and there, reminding him of water beginning to boil. This fluid was thicker however, and the bubbles held their shapes longer before bursting. It hurt his eyes to watch them, and he turned away, the rest of the room appearing darker as his pupils adjusted.
A thin mist had risen from the metal basin, spilling over its sides in a slow cascade. As he noticed it, John was grateful for the thick radiation suit and the hiss of the gas mask covering his face. He joined the doctor at the control panel, breaking his momentary reverie and making a few adjustments to its dials.
Dr. Miller was similarly covered, his eyes showing behind thick lenses. His gaze darting down toward the watch wrapped around the outer sleeve of his suit. “He needs to be here soon. We’ve got a limited window for this procedure,” he said, speaking seemingly for no other reason than to hear himself over the suit’s mechanical wheeze.
John nodded. Both knew that precious time was wasting.
They did not have to wait long. The click of the door’s spinning knob captured their attentions, and a young man in a black business suit entered, extending his hand as he neared them. “Phillip Monroe,” he said with a firm shake.
The elder of the scientists greeted him, presenting himself with a small bow. “I’m Dr. Steven Miller, and this is my colleague, John Blackman,” he said, indicating the other hazmat-suited scientist.
Mr. Monroe nodded, losing no more time to pleasantries. “Is everything ready, Doctor?”
The two scientists looked at one another, then back to the other man. “As ready as we’ll ever be,” Dr. Miller replied.
With that, the door opened again, and faint, external light silhouetted the shape of a bulky man. As he neared, the light of the pool helped define his features. Captain Valour, the world’s greatest superhero, stepped forth into the glow. He carried the unconscious form of his arch enemy, Dr. Malorius, over his shoulder.
John led the hero to a pair of bare metal stretchers hanging beside the pool. He helped position Malorius on one of them, allowing the automated restraints to take hold. That done, Valour himself stood at the other, and the titanium cables enwrapped him as well. He seemed relieved as the restraints took hold.
“I’m ready, Doctor,” the costumed man called. “Start the process.”
With the command, machinery began to hum, and gears began to turn. The room came alive with the sounds of working equipment, and John watched as the stretchers lifted the world’s two most powerful men above the pool.
Red pulled himself from the memory, unsure what was happening but knowing that there was no time to waste. He found himself staring down the walkway at the one-eyed villain. The situation had not changed, but he felt his fear of the man evaporate.
“Was that you?” he found himself asking. “What did we just see, John?”
The Aegis lowered his head, shaking the insect-like helmet. “I don’t know,” the electronic voice admitted. “Another life.”
Red squinted, trying to make sense of everything he had experienced. The mystery only deepened. “Who are you?”
It seemed as if the man was about to answer, when a gunshot echoed among them. Red glanced toward its source on the far side of the warehouse, but saw nothing. His eyes returned to his adversary.
The Aegis was gone.
Despite being stunned by the disappearance, Red wasted no further time in racing to David’s aid. He descended the ladder with a studied haste, careful to find each rung. “Lieutenant,” he called aloud into the radio.
There was no response.
Leaping from the ladder a few rungs above the ground, he touched down and ran for the spot where he had last seen Mead. There was no telling what had happened, and traversing the park, he hustled to a building’s corner and placed his back firmly against it. Red withdrew his gun from its holster, and gripping the weapon with both hands, peered around its edge.
He looked down the alleyway with a slow caution, something glinting at its end. As his eyes focused, the metal scales of the lizard-creature became clear. Red pulled himself back to the safety behind the building’s wall. He knew he couldn’t turn Iguanus, had tried during the vicious attack that had started all of this. He needed a different approach, and a single idea came to mind.
Taking a few, deep breaths, he adjusted his grip on the gun. Exhaling a final time, he leapt from his cover, aiming at the monster and preparing to fire. The silvery body became visible beyond the gun’s sights. His fingers flexed on the trigger.
The noise of gravel popping under spinning tires erupted behind him. Red jumped, startled. Thoughts of Iguanus vanished as David’s vehicle neared.
“Get in the car,” David shouted from the driver’s window. “We’re getting out of here.”
Seeing Femme bundled in the back seat, Red was more than happy to comply. He took a last look at Iguanus, but the creature hadn’t moved. He holstered his weapon and nodded, running to the passenger door. The escape was better than he had hoped.
Chapter Twenty-eight
“Thanks for coming, Steve,” Jack Williams said, offering the scientist a tumbler of brandy and ice. He unbuttoned his jacket and smoothed his suit, moving to sit across from the physician. Tipping his own glass to his lips, he gulped the amber liquid. A deep exhale escaped him.
“It’s wearing off.”
Dr. Steven Miller held the drink, but almost ignored it. He had known Jack for most of the man’s natural life, and continued to be a friend and confidant to the aging senator. Despite their relationship however, emergency house calls were unusual, and both knew it.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, Jack,” he said. “I didn’t come all the way for games.”
Jack looked at the man and chuckled. If Steve wanted a show, he’d give him one. He emptied the tumbler and placed it on the end table, before rising again and crossing the room. A massive bookcase, loaded down with tomes of history and law, waited near the fireplace. Jack found an edge, gripped it with one hand, and lifted. The entire oaken mass came away from the floor, wood creaking as its heavy contents shifted.
“It’s getting worse,” Jack said, looking across the leather spines of his collection. “I get stronger every day.”
The doctor stared for a moment, scenarios no doubt racing through his mind. “Are you suggesting that the effects of the cure are fading?” he asked with incredulity. Despite his attitude, all the affirmation he needed rested in the senator’s eyes. He leaned forward, holding the forgotten alcohol. “I’m sorry, Jack. That’s not possible.”
The senator dropped the bookcase into its rightful spot, and returned to his chair. He sat back, closing his eyes. “A lot has happened to me in the past few hours, Steve. Through it all, I’ve walked out unharmed.”
Dr. Miller considered for a moment. “How have
you been feeling?”
Jack smiled, watching the diagnostician surface from within his friend. “Physically? I’ve never felt better. That’s what scares me.”
“And your drinking? Have you experienced more blackouts?”
Jack scowled, but answered the question. “It’s no secret that I enjoy a strong drink from time to time, perhaps too much on occasion. I think I have the right.” He shook his head. “Besides, that has no bearing here.”
“Okay.” The doctor nodded, unconvinced but backing off. “You know I have to ask. Have you been near any of the liquid?”
A nervous chuckle escaped from Jack’s lips. “No. I haven’t even seen it since that night.”
“It’s the only explanation, Jack. That pool mutated you, depleting your powers. There’s no possibility of recurrence without a secondary exposure.”
The senator stood and filled a new glass with Cognac. “What about the rain, and the preternaturals?”
“No,” the doctor said, shaking his head. “If the two are connected, it’s because of their initial contamination. Your body has already been exposed. It’d take a much larger dose to affect you, and it would need a different medium to have any lasting effects.”
Jack took another sip, enjoying the liquor’s burn in his throat. “A different medium?”
Steve coughed, readying himself for the explanation. “We used the radioactive liquid as a base before, so that it would break down some of your natural resistances and allow the agent to take effect. A second exposure couldn’t do that. You’ve already been mutated, in this case into a normal human.” He held up his hands as he spoke, trying to illustrate the subcellular processes. “Unless it’s introduced via a new vehicle, something that can break through your cell walls and reach the DNA inside, even exposure to high doses wouldn’t have any lasting results.”
“Could that vehicle be something like a virus?”
Preternaturals: A Superhero Thriller Page 15