Antagonize (From the Logs of Daniel Quinn Book 2)

by Thomas R. Manning

  “Strange,” I muttered. “The Sentinels are here, but where?”

  “Scott said they were securing the perimeter. Maybe they’re in the forest keeping an eye on things?”

  “Maybe, but he also said we would need their approval to go inside, which means they should be close enough that they can intercept us.”

  “They are Sentinels. Maybe they’re just good at hiding,” Autumn said.

  I nodded, but felt like I’d just swallowed ice water; my gut didn’t agree with her assumption. She landed the vehicle and we both got out. Sharp wind pressed against my body and made me shiver. I shook it off and walked to the Sentinel vehicles. The hoods were cold and the seats didn’t have any indentations from the bodies sitting in them.

  “These haven’t been used in a while,” I said. Autumn stepped beside me as her hair flew with the wind. I turned in a circle and analyzed the ground around me, but found no sign of footprints. I looked toward the forest and zoomed in. No activity except for the swaying of branches.

  After I grabbed my sword and pulled out my revolver, we walked toward the front door. My eye picked up small traces of splintered wood at the base of the entrance and the door itself was cracked open. I held out my hand toward Autumn, nudging her behind me.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Shh. Someone’s been here, or still might be here. Just follow my lead.”

  I knelt and pressed my body against the front wall of the house, next to the door. In the slim opening I detected no movement, but I could already tell the place was trashed. A chair had been knocked over a few feet from the door, and the wind from an open window threw papers throughout the room.

  “Hey!” Autumn shouted and my heart felt like it jumped into my throat. “Get out of my father’s house!”

  No one responded and there didn’t seem to be any movement, at least that I could see or hear. I turned and glared at Autumn, who shrugged her shoulders and held her hands out flat.

  “What? At least we know nobody is home.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” I whispered, and then I lifted my leg and swung it out, hitting the door and sending it flying open. Less than a second later, a blue ball of heat soared past my face. I heard Autumn gasp as I jerked my body into the doorframe toward the blast’s origin and fired off a couple rounds of plasma. My eye picked up two humanoid figures at the end of a long hallway. Their weapons faced my position.

  “Move!” I said and fell against the house as another fireball blew out the doorframe. Autumn and I ran around the side of the house, my eye in constant surveillance mode, looking for other humanoids. As we rounded the corner, I found the window that was open. The wind pushed an ivory curtain away from it, which gave me a good vantage point. I fired a couple blind rounds into the house, but continued to run.

  “This way, come on,” Autumn said, turning into a small opening between the front and back of the house. The path led to stairs descending into the ground. Autumn jumped down the few steps and pulled out a key, then opened the door. We both ran into darkness and eased the door shut. The wood of the floor above creaked as a people ran over us.

  “Where did they go?” a man asked.

  “They moved from the door to the window. Go to the back and make sure they didn’t get through that way. You two, get outside and search the perimeter.”

  More footsteps. Shouts from inside and out. They were searching for us.

  “They’re going to find us down here,” I whispered. I heard a click back where we came in and then Autumn’s hand touched my back.

  “You’d be surprised how many people overlook this door. If they just run around the house without paying attention, they will mistake the alcove for nothing more than a protruding corner of the house.”

  We kept still while the guards searched the premises. While I should have been paying attention to what they were saying and doing, I couldn’t take my focus off of Autumn’s hand on my back. I expected her to take it off after she found me in the dark, but it didn’t move. The touch was soft, her fingers barely spread apart.

  After a few minutes, what felt like countless thumping heartbeats and a lot of sweating, the men reconvened in the house above us. Some of the footsteps were louder than others, and some sounded like heavy metal boots or something similarly heavy. The voice that spoke was muffled through the floorboards, but understandable.

  “They’re not here. They must have run into the forest.”

  I thought I heard something—the sound of soft rumbling followed by sharp gasps, or whispers, or was it sniffing? Why would someone be sniffing?

  “He is still here,” a deep voice said with a sharp growl behind his breath. I nearly dropped my gun, but held onto it. “I can smell him . . . and someone else . . . a female. “

  “Oh, flux,” I whispered. Autumn stepped closer and moved her hand to my shoulder.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  I couldn’t find any words. Standing above us wasn’t just mercenaries or men with advanced guns. Above us stood the creature responsible for Damon Derringer’s murder, and possibly the murder of three councilmen.

  Granak was on Terra.

  Twelve

  “Listen to me,” I said as softly as possible. “You need to get out of here. Go get in the car and get back to Sentinel HQ. Tell Scott what’s going on. Granak is here already.”

  “My father’s killer?” she asked, louder than she should have, but there wasn’t any additional movement above us.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Though I couldn’t see her, my bionic eye’s night vision showed her face; lips parted and eyes widened in a heightened sense of anxiety. “He’s too strong for either of us. We need help. Get to the car and get out of here.”

  “What about you?”

  “Listen, the questions need to stop. If you trust me in any way, I need you to turn around, unlatch the door, and run as fast as you can. No more questions.”

  Nothing happened. She stood there, her arms at her sides, her face frozen in front of me. Then she backed away, slowly, and turned around. I heard the click again and readied my revolver. Autumn pushed the door open and for just an instant, I saw her back and her hair flying in the air.

  “Did you hear that?” one of the men shouted. I pointed my weapon upward at their voices and waited. I closed my eyes and pictured Autumn’s face, her smile. I can’t remember the last time I felt butterflies in my stomach like I did with her. There have been other women in my life since Ashley’s death, and some of them were very attractive, but my shield was always up against them. With Autumn, I felt my shield lowering by itself. Why? Did I feel guilty about her father’s death and in reaction felt like I owed her something? In that moment, all I wanted to do was protect her.

  “I see movement!” someone above me shouted.

  I opened fire. Green plasma illuminated the large room around me in flickers and I heard at least one man scream. I kept unloading weapon fire above me, the blasts puncturing small holes in the wood. A large, hairy fist with claws broke through the floor. It retracted and Granak’s face was in sight. Time froze in that moment and I relived the memories of him killing Damon, blowing up the docking gate on Karth, and crippling my ship. The butterflies in my stomach were replaced with ugly bats. I swallowed hard and imagined pushing the nerves down.

  Protect Autumn, I thought.

  “Hi Granak,” I forced myself to say pleasantly just before I fired a plasma round, but he had already taken cover and I missed. Before anyone could retaliate, I ran outside, jerked left, and looked back toward the front of the house. I didn’t see Autumn, but a soldier rounded the corner. I opened fire on him. One of the blasts hit him in the stomach and he fell.

  “QUINN!” Granak’s voice surged like thunder. I advanced toward the front of the house and fired another blind shot into the window as I passed it. The wall blew out behind me and I turned, expecting one of the weapons to be the cause, only to see Granak, who had just run through a fluxing wall.


  He wore the same outfit from Karth, and his barred teeth and claws sent chills throughout my body. One of the men ran out in front of him, his weapon focused on me. Something about his uniform was familiar, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the Leondren.

  “Don’t move!” the man said, positioning himself between us. I didn’t know what their relationship was, but I knew it was complicated when Granak grabbed the man’s head, lifted him off the ground, and threw him back into the house.

  I raised my sword.

  “You are resilient, Quinn. I knew you would still come, even after I nearly destroyed you.”

  “Haven’t you heard? There’s a nice bounty on your head. I thought I’d come to collect,” I forced myself to say. I couldn’t show fear. I couldn’t let him know he could get into my head.

  “Brave one, but foolish,” he said. He bent his legs, extended his claws, and actually pounced.

  He missed my head by less than an inch, but I rolled out of the way and wildly swung the sword. I missed. Outside in the open, Granak would be too fast for me. I stood and ran into the house through the gap he created. A large, brown table had been split down the center and the floor was littered with holes with black scorch marks from my weapon.

  A large thud shook the floor and I turned with the sword outstretched. The blade scraped against the armor on Granak’s chest and sheared through hair on his arm. I followed with my revolver and shot him in the chest. The blast sent him back a couple of steps, but he didn’t fall. I retreated further into the house as Granak let out a blood-curdling roar. One of the guards lay motionless on the floor and I jumped over him. A large stairway led up to a second level and I leapt toward it and climbed. One of Granak’s arms shattered the banister beside me. Any closer and I would have been missing a piece of my midsection.

  I reached the top and spun around to face Granak, who remained at the bottom.

  “I have the high ground,” I breathed and pointed my sword and revolver at him. “Come toward me and I’ll unleash my full battery at you.”

  He laughed. To say my confidence dropped drastically would be an understatement.

  “With me, there is no high ground.” He lunged. I dodged, but there wasn’t enough room to evade his swing. His claws struck my arm, tearing the armor and igniting a burning pain. I smacked into a wall. Granak snarled. I fired a barrage of plasma at him, but he leapt into one of the nearby rooms. Hot, wet blood seeped down my left arm, but I didn’t have time to look at the wound. I could still lift and swing the sword, so it probably wasn’t too bad.

  The house was silent. Two of the soldiers were downstairs and I didn’t know where the third one was. Did he go after Autumn? Did she get away? I wanted to find out, but I had bigger problems somewhere upstairs with me.

  Was Granak recovering, or just trying to freak me out by lying in wait? I knew walls wouldn’t be a problem for him and I kept watching the one across from me, waiting for him to tear it down and go for the kill.

  Could I use that to my advantage in some way? Granak, like any predator, counted on fear, and the element of surprise to catch his prey. I wasn’t faster than him, but agile enough that I managed to escape his grasp thus far. If one thing could anger a predator, it would be knowing his prey didn’t fear him. I shoved my revolver in my holster and grasped the hilt of my sword with both hands. Blood from my wound dripped down my sleeve and onto the bottom of the steel blade.

  Blood on the sword . . . just like Laraar’s blood . . . no . . . not now! I needed all the strength and focus I could muster and hoped I wouldn’t regret my next words.

  “Here kitty, kitty!” I shouted, followed by kissing sounds. If he could antagonize me, then I would do the same to him.

  My words apparently hit a nerve. He crashed through the wall in front of me, snarling with his claws outstretched. I couldn’t dodge this time, but I didn’t need to. As he flew toward me, I went limp and dropped to the ground. Granak soared over me and into the wall. I took my chance. I thrust the sword and it hit him in the chest, piercing his armor and flesh. He let out a noise, not quite a roar or growl, but something more agonizing. He fell onto his hands and knees and my whole body trembled as I lay under him.

  He didn’t attack me or attempt to bite off my head, but he brought his right foot forward, then his left. Stars above, he was getting up, even after being impaled. I gripped the hilt and expected him to pull the sword out of himself, but instead he pressed his hand against mine, palming them together. He squeezed hard and pain surged through my hands. As he stood, I went with him, and the strain in my hands and wrists only aggravated the pain in my left arm.

  Granak had me. My plan worked, but his body was too strong. Not even a sword through his gut stopped him. All he had to do was wrap his large hand around my head and twist, or throw me like a rag doll like he did with the soldier downstairs.

  But he didn’t, at least not fast enough. As he straightened and stared at me, someone ran up the stairs.

  “Don’t even think about hurting him,” a female voice said. Autumn. She stood near the top of the steps and pointed one of the soldier’s blue fireball guns at Granak.

  “Foolish girl,” Granak said, breathing hard, though not as hard as me. “Daniel Quinn, you are unlike the rest of these pitiful meat-things.” He pushed against me, the sword following along as he removed it from his midsection. The blade came out crimson. “Your time to die has yet to pass. Until then, enjoy the show.”

  Granak tossed me aside and I landed hard. The wind knocked out of me and my arm caught between me and the floor. I heard a crash and the splintering of wood. Granak escaped, though escape didn’t seem to be the appropriate word. It took a moment to assess my condition, and though I had some pain in my arm and legs, nothing seemed broken. I sat up against the wall and heaved in a few breaths. Autumn ran to me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine,” I said. ‘Enjoy the show,’ Granak had said, and his words played over and over in my mind as I thought back to the events that led me to this point.

  Autumn walked to the hole in the wall and leaned over to check for Granak or enemy soldiers.

  “Did you get in touch with the Sentinels?” I asked.

  “No,” she said. “I was running toward the car and one of the men ran after me. By the time I took him down, I heard that . . . thing, that Leondren growling or whatever.”

  “You heard the growling and you ran back toward the house instead of away from it?”

  She shrugged. Her hair hung over the front of her face, obscuring her eyes. I used my bionic eye to scan for any sign of injuries over the rest of her body, but found none.

  “Daniel, about the guards . . . should I call Reynold directly?”

  “No,” I spat out. “Don’t call anyone, not yet.”

  She helped me up and we walked back down the stairs in search of the fallen guards. The sudden calm was eerie, as if a hundred men were about to burst from the outskirts of the forest and rush us. But as far as I knew, everyone with Granak had been dealt with. The one inside the house, who Granak threw like a rag doll, was face down with no pulse. I turned him over and confirmed what I thought I saw when I fired on the guard outside. Their familiar outfits were Sentinel outfits.

  Damon’s location, the attack on the docking tower, and Granak on Terra all led to one conclusion—The Sentinels were compromised. I suspected it before, but the last thing I wanted to do was voice my concern to them. How far up did it go? Autumn sighed beside me as she looked down on the fallen man.

  “I didn’t call when I saw the Sentinel uniform. Daniel, you told me not to call Reynold. You don’t actually think he’s a suspect, do you?”

  “Autumn, I don’t want to believe it, but someone in the high ranks had to be involved. They had to have knowledge of your father’s trip to Karth, and they probably allowed the mercenaries access to the docking tower where they attacked us. Scott himself told me he considered me a suspect, which would make me a scapegoat in all
this.”

  She stood there, not really moving or reacting. Her eyes glistened slightly, but her gaze was focused on something inside her mind more than the surrounding area. I didn’t want to suspect Scott, but everything up to this point was too fluxing convenient for the opposition.

  “Listen, it’s just a hypothesis. We don’t know anything yet, but until we find out more we need to be cautious, okay?” She nodded. “Good.”

  Enjoy the show, he said.

  Damon’s assassination was public—no stealth or secrecy involved—which then led to Granak blowing up the gate on Karth. The three councilmen were maimed, their body parts scattered around their room. All the pieces of the puzzle were itching at my mind, as if trying to tell me something.

  Enjoy the show.

  Autumn grabbed a medical kit from one of the rooms to clean my cuts and stop the bleeding. Once she was satisfied with her work, we moved through the house, careful in case more Sentinels were still here or on the way. The place was trashed. Not only were desks, shelves, and other furniture tossed, but unnecessary items were thrown about, like paper weights and picture frames. For what reason?

  “What do you think they were looking for?” Autumn asked with her arms folded, as if fighting off a chill.

  Enjoy the show, I thought once more, and then it hit me.

  “Nothing. I don’t think they were after anything at all. Where does your father keep his computers?”

  She led me further down the hallway to a large room. Bookshelves lined one wall, though most of the books were now scattered on the floor. Autumn stepped over the debris toward a dark brown desk, where she picked up a black laptop off the floor. The machine didn’t appear to be damaged.