V_The 2nd Generation

by Kenneth Johnson

  Across the squad room, Margarita and Nathan hurried in while Ayden covered their backs. They shouted evacuation orders and shoved people toward the front door while scanning the large smoky room. Nathan spotted Ruby being brought out of interrogation and ran to intercept her. "Let's go! Let's go! This way, Captain! Quick!"

  Ruby's young heart raced as she recognized Nathan's voice and realized that her white knight had come to rescue her. But the wily Visitor captain sensed the ruse and pulled down Nathan's mask. Seeing the deserter's face, his powerful voice boomed, "It's the Resistance! Stop them!"

  The dozen remaining cops, Teammates, and Patrollers looked back. And then they attacked. Ayden's white blade flashed out of his wrist and he dismembered the closest pair.

  Nathan struggled with the captain as Margarita grabbed a police pistol and returned hostile gunfire. Bullets ripped the desks, computer screens, and corkboards around her.

  In the alley opposite, Street-C, Blue, and Bryke heard the trouble. Bryke lifted her sonic weapon. Its palm-sized, wire-mesh dish antenna snapped open on the muzzle. She aimed at a police car parked near the station and fired. The squad car was blown over causing shock and distraction to the troops outside who had been about to reenter the building. Then Bryke peered at the station through her wall-penetrating gunscope.

  More hostile troops were coming through the front door but Ayden used his extraordinary strength to shove a heavy desk and send it screeching across the floor. It bowled over six of the incoming enemy. Nathan had just managed to subdue the captain temporarily. He grabbed Ruby, who was thrilled. But across the room Margarita was still pinned down. Bullets zinged past her and electrical pulse bursts smacked and sizzled against the file cabinets. The smell of gunpowder and burning paper filled the air as the room grew smokier still. Margarita knew by their gunfire that the troops were edging closer and flanking her.

  Outside, Bryke was totally calm as she sighted through her scope. She zeroed in for a narrow surgical strike and squeezed the firing button on her sonic weapon.

  Inside the squad room a wall exploded onto the cops and Patrollers, bowling them over with chunks of concrete, brick, and plaster. Most were stunned, but a few recovered to continue pressing the attack. Ayden was dueling with two, and Nathan protected Ruby from another, but two more had reached Margarita and she was definitely outgunned. Then Bryke was suddenly beside her, choking one assailant with her right hand as her left arm hinged backward to grab the second man. Margarita gasped as she saw Bryke's head twist around 180 degrees. Ruby saw it, too, and then they both witnessed an even more remarkable occurrence: two thin tubes flashed from the black Zedti's nose, jabbing down into the man's throat. In a flash Bryke drained his fluids, transforming his face into a mere husk.

  Margarita was breathless. "So much for low-profile."

  Ayden and Nathan were shouting to them, "This way! Quickly!"

  Ayden hurried them out through the hole Bryke had blown in the wall. Big Blue was waiting just outside. He scooped up little Ruby in his strong arms, ignoring her repeated shouts of "Wait! I want to go with Nathan!"

  Blue carried her quickly toward the alley where Street-C was peering out of an open manhole. "Come on, you guys! Hustle it up!"

  Blue passed Ruby down to Street-C, helped Margarita drop in, and then clambered down after them. Ayden reached it but paused to look back for Nathan and Bryke. The black Zedti had just run to her motorcycle. She waved for Ayden to go on with the others, which he did.

  Bryke started her bike as Nathan jumped on behind. "I got your six!"

  Bryke nodded and peeled out of the alley as Nathan shot a Patroller behind them. But then Nathan looked forward over Bryke's shoulder and saw two SFPD cars screeching in to block off the street ahead of them. Bryke didn't even blink. She drove right toward them, gaining speed and adjusting a control on her bike. Nathan was trying his best to stay calm. "Uh . . . maybe not the best plan?"

  The cops and Patrollers took cover, readying their weapons to fire as Bryke rocketed directly for them. Her head suddenly spun around 180 degrees to look Nathan right in the face. Nathan was stupefied. The effect was surreal as Bryke calmly directed him, "Hold tight to me."

  Then her head twisted forward again and just as the enemy began to open fire Nathan felt the bike lurch forward faster as though something had suddenly pushed it from behind. He looked back and saw that a thick blast of ion particles had exploded out from the rear of the bike and was pushing in a powerful steady stream like a jet-assisted takeoff. Indeed, Nathan felt an odd pressure on the seat of his pants and realized that the bike was rising beneath him. He looked down to the side and saw that they had left the ground. The bike was airborne.

  As surprised as Nathan was, the enemy was even more stunned. They fired wildly but Bryke was weaving through the air over their heads, providing a very difficult moving target. She continued to gain altitude, reaching fifty, then seventy-five, then a hundred feet as she banked left and swept over Golden Gate Park. Nathan was bedazzled and laughing like a schoolboy as he looked down at the flat rooftop and skylights of the California Academy of Sciences they were skimming over. Bryke skillfully guided their amazing little vehicle through the sky toward Presidio Heights. Like a kid in the world's biggest candy store, Nathan was beaming all the way.

  THE TEAMMATE UNIT TO WHICH HALF-BREED TED HAD BEEN ATtached was patrolling along Baker Street at the eastern edge of the Presidio. All six of the individuals in Ted's group were under twenty years of age and enjoyed flaunting their authority, chunky Debra Stein the most of all. As they moved along the sidewalk parallel to the circular, classically domed Palace of Fine Arts a half-breed girl was approaching from the opposite direction. She was about fourteen and wore the stained hand-me-down white uniform dress of a domestic. Both of her eyes had vertical pupils, but rather than yellow they were a sickly shade of green. She had a human nose and forehead that gave way to a dark head of hair, but her cheeks were scaly and she had no ears.

  When she saw the Teammate unit approaching the girl dutifully stepped down into the gutter to let them pass. As she did she heard one of the Teammates, a chubby male with pockmarked skin, chortle to the others, "Shit, that one really got whomped with the ugly stick." His fellow Teammates chuckled and Ted forced a laugh along with them.

  The half-breed girl paused with surprise when she saw Ted among them. Never had half-breeds been allowed to wear a Teammate uniform. She was amazed. Ted gave her a condescending, superior glance and continued on with his troop. After a few paces he even felt emboldened enough to comment, "Yeah, some of 'em are really ugly."

  His partner, Debra Stein, didn't even glance at him as she muttered sourly, "Look who's talking."

  HUMPHREY BOGART GAZED INTO THE LIQUID EYES OF INGRID Bergman and offered melancholy encouragement, "We'll always have Paris."

  In the last row of the nearly-empty small theater, which often played such classic movies, Willy was attending to his distraught wife. He had gotten a cup of ice from the concession stand and held it against her bruised arm. Harmy was in great turmoil. She whispered with painful distraction, "I think it's all been a mistake, Willy."

  "I don't believe that," Willy said sincerely. "Ted's just lost right now. Confused. That happens to a lot of kids, particularly to kids like him."

  Harmy was staring downward into nothingness. Her face still had a film of perspiration from her ordeal, the bruise on her cheek throbbed. "It was unfair of us to ever have him."

  "I know it's been hard but—"

  "We should just separate, Willy." A tear spilled out.

  The gentle Visitor put his arms around her. "No, I could never. I love you, Harmy."

  She leaned into him, weeping. She loved him, too. He cradled her and his fingers stroked her frizzy, strawberry blond hair. Despite his determination to rally her spirits, Willy too was very worried about Ted and about their future as a family now that the boy had denounced his mother and given his loyalty over to the Teammates.

  MIKE
DONOVAN GASPED. THE PAIN WAS SEARING.

  "Hold on," Kayta's soft voice encouraged, "I'm almost done." She was using a Zedti electrical syringe to inject and stimulate his leg at the same time. Mike was sitting up in an old wheelchair clutching the armrests so tightly that his bony knuckles were white. He had barely made it through the treatment to his other leg. The pain had been truly exquisite. Now the air in the room was getting sickeningly milky and grainy around him just as Kayta stopped the process. "There."

  Mike slumped, breathing hard, blowing great puffs trying to stay conscious through the residual pain that still came in surges. In an effort to distract him, Kayta touched a nearby wall where a big red "V" had been spray-painted. "Tell me: this means . . . ?"

  "For Victory," Mike said disagreeably, panting, "an old concept." He was still trying to get on top of the severe pain as she picked a small bug off of his nearby cot.

  "Ah. You've got a friend."

  "Your cousin?" He grunted.

  Kayta smiled. "Only distantly. You and I are more alike, really. Except that humans have a desire for individual luxury. So they created technology which could leave your Earth uninhabitable." She examined the bug. "Except for insects."

  "Or your kind?" He put it to her harshly, "Do the Zedti want the Earth for themselves?"

  "No," she said, "we do not."

  But Mike noted that she seemed uneasy about the question. Kayta sensed that and changed the subject, fidgeting in her clothes. "What I want is to take these clothes off."

  Mike's eyebrows went up. "Really? Well don't hold back on my account."

  "On our world we wear nothing," she explained.

  Mike visualized the concept. "Interesting place to visit."

  She got to her feet. "Lean on me and try to stand."

  "What? Already?"

  "Yes, to help the nerve endings relocate." She assisted Mike, who rose about halfway out of the wheelchair. But the pain was excruciating. He shouted loudly and fell onto the nearby cot, angrily waving her away.

  "Forget it, dammit! Forget about it!" He sagged onto the cot, feeling defeated.

  "It will improve, you'll see." Kayta wanted to be more encouraging, but saw the timing was wrong. She stepped away. Mike secretly opened a packet of morphalyne he had boosted. He rubbed a dab of it into his ear. His eyes slowly glazed as the world turned soft and warm and his pain eased somewhat. Across the room, Julie watched him sadly, but then her face lit up brightly as Ruby ran in.

  "Momma!" The scruffy little half-breed ran to embrace Julie, who hugged her tightly. The Resistance gang entered behind her. Margarita had shed her firefighting gear but Nathan still wore his. Ayden and Bryke came inside last.

  Ruby was spouting privately and proudly to Julie, "You should've seen Nathan, Mom, he was so cool." Then the girl looked up at Julie with apprehension. "And I know: I'm seriously grounded." Julie laughed, wiping her own tears.

  Margarita caught Julie's eye and nodded toward the Zedti. "They were rather incredible."

  "And wait till you get a load of their goddamn airbikes." Nathan grinned, still on a high from his airy ride.

  Julie went to each of them, extending a hand in gratitude. "Thank you," she said. Then she looked particularly at Ayden and Bryke, and added, "All of you."

  Nathan saw Margarita move to one side nursing an injured hand. Ruby watched a bit jealously as Nathan went to her. "Get hurt?"

  "Just stubbed my thumb." Margarita was rubbing her right one. He reached out to help. She hesitated, then let him take her hand. It was the first time they had really touched. A small current of feeling swept from one to the other. He felt her thumb carefully, then gently popped it back into place.

  "Yow!" She saw stars for a brief second, then recovered as he continued to massage her hand soothingly. "Thanks. And nice work back there, hotshot."

  "You, too, Red." He was still holding her hand and enjoying the softer, feminine side of her again, particularly since she was back in the very flattering T-shirt and skirt. After a moment she withdrew her hand and turned away. Nathan sensed that she wanted to look back at him, but that she wouldn't let herself.

  Ruby watched the interaction between the two of them and then noticed Bryke looking at her. The half-breed girl went to the Zedti, extending her hand, which Bryke took into her own.

  "Thank you," Ruby said, "for saving me. And for getting Nathan out okay, too." The dark-skinned Zedti didn't smile, but the expression of her pink, focused eyes reflected pleasure in receiving Ruby's thanks. "My mom really appreciated it, too."

  Bryke glanced over at Julie, whose smile back underlined Ruby's statement. Then Bryke asked the girl, "What does 'mom' mean?"

  Ruby was confused by the question. "What? Um, well, it's sort of a nickname." She saw from Bryke's stare that she was further bewildered. "Nickname. That means like short for something. Like people might call me Rube instead of Ruby. Instead of saying mother sometimes we say mom."

  "Ah." Bryke nodded.

  "What do you call your mother?"

  Bryke shrugged. "I never knew her."

  Ruby frowned sympathetically. "Oh, I'm sorry. Actually Julie isn't my biological mother. Mine died when I was born and Julie adopted me. What happened to yours?"

  "I don't know. Very likely she had other children."

  "Okay, wait a minute"—Ruby frowned—"now I'm confused."

  Bryke explained, "My mother deposited me as a larva in a birthing colony."

  Ruby blinked, then realized, "Oh. Of course. The insect thing. That's so weird."

  "Not to us."

  "Well, duh, Ruby, no. I guess not. Sorry, that was very rude." Bryke actually formed a very slight grin. "So I guess you don't miss not having parents or a family?"

  "But I do have a family," Bryke said in her soft voice, interlacing her fingers. "All Zedti are my family. They are all my parents, my siblings, my offspring."

  "The hive thing, like Robert said, huh?"

  "Exactly"—Bryke enjoyed the youngster—"the hive 'thing.' "

  Ruby looked at her again, weighing something. "Okay, as long as we're into it here, can I ask you another question?" Bryke nodded. "Those things that came out of your nose . . ."

  "The proboscis tubes," Bryke offered. "That's most likely what you'd call them."

  "Oh, right," Ruby said blankly. "Proboscis tubes. Exactly what I was thinking. For sure."

  "You have insects here on Earth with similar attributes, do you not?"

  "Well"—Ruby thought a moment—"yeah, I guess we do, like mosquitoes, huh?"

  "Among many others, yes," Bryke acknowledged.

  Ruby suddenly felt a touch of embarrassment. "Hey, look. I'm sorry about all my stupid questions."

  "I don't think any questions are stupid, Ruby. In fact, I have one for you." Ruby looked quizzical and indicated for Bryke to ask it. "I heard someone say you were twelve years old. Is that true, Ruby?"

  "Yeah, why?"

  "I thought you might be interested to know that I also am twelve years old."

  Ruby's blue eyes grew wide. "No way! There is no way!"

  But Bryke's expression showed confirmation of her statement. "Our growth patterns are somewhat different from yours."

  "No. Really? Would you say that?" Ruby was still stupefied. She looked deeply into Bryke's friendly pink eyes, then finally said, "I just love getting to know new people."

  THAT NIGHT EMMA STOOD IN THE DOORWAY OF HER ELEGANT boudoir. She was silhouetted by the light behind her and the outline of her naked body could clearly be seen through the thin, diaphanous teddy. She was trying, unsuccessfully, not to be nervous. Her breathing was shallow. The Visitor, wearing only boxers, moved closer and stroked his fingers like an artist's brush slowly up her arm. Paul whispered, "You're trembling?"

  Emma's voice was very small, "A little."

  She felt the palm of his other hand press against her side. His body temperature seemed cooler than hers. She felt his hand slide very slowly down to her hip as he murmured, "Am I your fi
rst of my kind?"

  "Yes."

  "You won't be disappointed," he murmured, his lips tracing along her mahogany shoulder, then her neck. Emma reacted with fear, but tried to make it appear as arousal. She steeled herself for what was to come.

  17

  SHAWN HAD PASSED THROUGH THE OUTER CHAMBERS WHERE DIANA'S lower-echelon aides were attentive to their evening business. After sounding the notification tone, he had been admitted into her inner sanctum. It was more comfortably appointed than Jeremy's Spartan quarters. Her suite had a sitting area with a soft couch and matching chairs near the large viewing port, which commanded a magnificent view. The nighttime lights of San Francisco twinkled directly below, with those of San Mateo in the distance.

  Shawn saw that Diana and Jeremy were in the more formal area reserved for business. They were looking at a large screen that was presenting a three-dimensional holographic view of a Mothership. They watched as one of the huge segments from Jeremy's massive new craft attached itself to the underbelly of the Mothership over an ocean.

  "The progress is excellent," Jeremy said matter-of-factly, though Diana was aware of his thinly veiled pride. "Within seventy-two hours all the Motherships will have my new plug-ins."

  Shawn had been waiting for the Commandants' attention. When they looked toward him, he clicked his heels respectfully and said, "Commandants. Another husk has been reported. And an airbike was sighted."

  Jeremy took the news in stride. "Ah, Zedti scouts rear their ugly heads. Excellent timing. Capture me one, Shawn."

  Diana smiled sweetly. "I already ordered that. As soon as I saw those first husks. I also ordered a deep-space scan for Zedti warships."

  Jeremy refused to be ruffled by her. "Good. Our Leader would be pleased. Thank you, Shawn."

  Shawn bowed out, craftily eyeing his two sparring commanders. Once the hatch had closed Diana moved casually toward the sitting area. She had finally decided to broach a subject that had been preoccupying her, but she kept her tone airy and light. "I've heard rumors that you'd become rather intimate with our Leader."