Attack Doll 3: Protocol Black

by Douglas A. Taylor

Chapter 21

 

  I materialized into a bare, white room. On one wall I could see a dried smear of blood that was the only sign that we had once kept Lily Lee captive here. "So why did I send you to the stronghouse?" said Wizzit's voice from my belt buckle as I deactivated my force shield.

  I dipped a hand into a pocket of my battle vest. "I picked up two things in JB Swift's lab that may be of interest, but which should be examined before we bring them into HQ. First . . ." I held up a tiny bit of gold. "This is one of Lily's earrings. I, uh, well, I'm not really sure what we can do with it. Try sending random infrared signals to it, I guess, and see which ones cause it to vibrate."

  "Scanning . . . okay, it looks harmless. You can bring it back to HQ with you. Good catch. Next?"

  I held up the thumb drive. "Next up we have this. JB Swift gave it to me before he sent me back; he says it's evidence. He didn't say any more than that."

  "Evidence? Hmm. Padma, would you run to your room and get your laptop? I'm going to send you to the stronghouse with Trevor. And the rest of you -- healing comas all around. Especially you, Nicolai. You have some pretty nasty burns all up and down your arms and legs from that last push."

  I heard the usual chorus of groans, and Padma's clear voice said, "Will do, Wizzit."

  A couple of minutes later, she 'ported in, holding her laptop. She had undone her braid, I noticed; her long, black hair spilled out very prettily across her shoulders. We booted up her laptop, and after Wizzit assured us the drive was safe, we plugged it in. It contained a single video file.

  The vid looked like it had been taken by an Enclave security camera of some sort. There was a date and current time down in one corner, from a couple of weeks ago. I could see JB Swift moving back and forth, attending to some sort of machinery and giving directions to a number of alters -- creatures something between normal humans and full-blown monsters. Suddenly one of the alters looked up from his screen. "Sir! We've received a message from one of the telephone sites we set up for the attack doll! We have identified the phone and have her coordinates."

  "Then what are you waiting for? Bring her in!"

  "Sir, the readings we are getting are ambiguous. There appear to be two humans in the vicinity, and the GPS information we're reading from the phone isn't precise enough for us to distinguish them."

  "Let me see."

  JB Swift went over to confer. A couple of minutes later, there was a flash of light and Lily Lee appeared. She was holding a cellphone in one hand -- Commander Windham's cellphone -- and her other hand was gripping Commander Windham himself. The side of his face was bruised, but he was obviously still alive and at least semiconscious.

  "Lily," JB Swift ordered, "Special Order three-six-alpha-oh-five is no longer in force."

  "Acknowledged." Lily didn't move; she simply stood where she was, swaying a little and holding Prime Commander's wrist as if she were a little girl and he were a teddy bear she was dragging around with her.

  "Lily, drop the phone and let go the man's wrist." We heard a clatter as the cellphone fell. Commander Windham groaned once as she let go of his arm and he slumped to the floor. "Lily," said JB Swift, "self-report."

  Lily clasped her hands behind her back and said in a monotone, "I am uninjured. I am not ill. I do not need to perform any bodily eliminations." Her voice was slurred and sometimes difficult to understand. "I have been awake for one hundred two hours, twenty-four minutes. I last ate six hours, fourteen minutes ago. I last drank six hours, sixteen minutes ago. Overall status: I am exhausted and nearing system collapse due to lack of sleep. I must sleep soon if I am to continue to function."

  JB Swift nodded. "Lily, follow me. Let's put you to bed."

  "Following."

  As the two of them headed for the door, one of the alters said, "Sir! What should we do with the other human?"

  "Send him back," JB Swift said. "He's no good to us."

  "Yes, sir!"

  After Lily and JB Swift left, one of the alters -- a tall fellow with long fangs, huge bat-ears, and a long, barbed tail -- dragged Commander Windham over to where a circle was inlaid into the floor. He stepped away, stopped, and went back to the commander, who seemed to be trying to get up. Then, with a casualness that made me cringe, he took hold of Prime Commander's head, twisted it around until we could hear a snap, then let go. Commander Windham dropped lifeless to the floor.

  Padma hid her face in my shoulder with a cry of horror. I put a comforting arm around her, unable to take my eyes off the screen. Commander Windham's body was vanishing now, being teleported back to the stronghouse where we would soon discover it, and then the video ended.

  "Wizzit," I said, "did you get all that?"

  "I did. Looks like Lily didn't kill Prime Commander, did she?"

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. "No, she didn't."

  Those were the last words I was able to utter for several minutes, and I barely managed to choke those out. My throat closed up, my eyes suddenly began burning with tears, and -- yeah, I'll admit it -- I started to cry. Pretty funny, huh? Tough, strong Trevor, badass Prime Blue, bawling like a baby.

  To be honest, I'm not even sure why I was crying. It probably had something to do with the fact that I had just watched one of the best men I ever knew be murdered -- senselessly murdered, for there had been no reason for Bat-ears to kill him. And then there was the knowledge that his death had been at least partly my fault, because I had been the one who asked him to see to Lily that day. I had, in effect, sent him to his death. Justified or not, the guilt from that still haunted me, and watching him die here had stirred it all up again.

  And at the same time, I had just seen proof positive that Lily hadn't been the one to kill him. She was innocent. I had been holding that crime against her for so long, letting go of it lifted an intolerable weight from my heart.

  I drew a long, shuddering breath and put my other arm around Padma's slim figure. I wanted to hold Lily or Li Lin-fa, but they weren't present and Padma was. Burying my face in her wealth of hair, I gave myself up to the sobs that suddenly wracked my body. She drew me close to her and stroked my hair and murmured soft, comforting words -- some in English, some in French, some in languages I didn't even recognize.

  A few minutes later, I raised my head to see her smiling softly at me. She kissed me on each cheek, then drew back. She looked deep into my eyes as if searching for something. She must have found it, because she smiled again, placed her hands on my shoulders, and pushed me back onto the floor.

  "Padma, what --?" I asked.

  "Shh," she whispered as she reached down and began tugging at the waistband of my shorts. "Don't talk." Her mouth was soft and warm and inviting against mine, and a little later, after she pulled back one final time to slip out of her bra and that silly Hello Kitty tee-shirt she was wearing and to skin off her shorts and underwear, I discovered that the rest of her was soft and warm and inviting as well.

  Afterwards, as she lay contentedly on top of me, with her cheek resting against my chest and her hair spilling across my shoulders, I heard Wizzit make a noise as if he were clearing his non-existent throat.

  "Uh, kids, just wanted to let you know that I turned off the audio and video feeds back to HQ right after the vid ended. And, while I appreciate this impromptu demonstration of human mating practices, and not to rush a tender moment or anything, the others are starting to wake up from their healing comas. They will soon be wondering what's taking the two of you so long here."

  His words abruptly brought me back to reality, and reality was that I was lying naked on a cement floor in an unheated building in Montana in early November. Padma must have had the same realization, because she suddenly shivered and pushed herself off of me.

  "Uh, not sure what to have you tell them, Wizzit," I said uncertainly as I pushed myself up to a sitting position.

  "W
hat I will tell them is that the two of you are in your own rooms, not having had sex just now, recovering from your injuries. Which I will not be able to do convincingly if you two don't get a move on!"

  "Right. Got it!"

  I hurriedly pulled on my clothes. Padma snatched up hers and headed for the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later, fully clothed and with a troubled look on her face. "Trevor," she told me earnestly, "this must never happen again."

  I grinned. "Hey, I didn't expect it to happen the first time."

  "I know." She looked down. "I didn't expect it either. I . . . wanted it, and I think you needed it, and it was very nice. But never again."

  Her deadly seriousness awoke my puckish sense of humor. "Understood," I said. "Here, I'll even make a note of it." I pretended to write on my hand. "No . . . more . . . sex . . . with . . . Padma." I glanced up at her, then resumed writing. "In . . . the . . . stronghouse."

  "Or anywhere else!" She stamped her foot. "Please, Trevor, be serious. You know why we can't do this again!"

  "Yeah, I know," I said, dropping the comedy routine. I took hold of her hands. "Seriously, Padma, it was wonderful for me, too; I was pretty upset, and you made me feel a whole lot better. Thank you. But I promise, it won't happen again, and I won't say a word about it to anyone. Hey, I like both you and Nicolai; I don't want to break you guys up."

  "And you have your own fish to cook," she reminded me.

  "Fry," I corrected her. "The phrase is 'my own fish to fry.'"

  "Time, kids!" Wizzit said impatiently. "Gotta send you out now. And remember, you have both had healing comas, so no limping around." He treated us to a dramatic sigh. "I suppose I'll have to take care of you for real tonight at bedtime."

  "Thanks, Wizzit," we chorused. Then I felt the familiar tingle at the base of my skull as Wizzit prepared to teleport me back to my room.

  ###

  The Attack Doll Series

  by

  Douglas A. Taylor

  Twenty-one-year-old Trevor Chiao is Prime Indigo; he is a member of the fabulous Primes, a group of seven men and women whose mission is to protect the Earth from Enclave, an alien organization bent on taking over the world.

  Protected by an indigo-colored force shield that enhances his strength and speed and keeps his identity secret, he travels all over the world with his fellow Primes, battling monsters, Zoinks, and the mysterious Lily Lee, a beautiful Asian woman who refers to herself as . . . the Attack Doll.

  Attack Doll 1: Violet Lost

  Trevor becomes the mentor of Padma Reddy, a young woman from India who has joined the team as their new Prime Violet. When Padma is kidnapped by Enclave during her first mission as a Prime, Trevor must risk his own life to infiltrate the Enclave base and rescue . . . Violet Lost.

  Attack Doll 2: Junior Prime

  Trevor usually gets along pretty well with his younger sister Angela, but when the two of them are taken prisoner by Enclave and Angie discovers Trevor's secret identity, he doesn't quite know how to handle it. What's a guy to do when his kid sister wants to tag along as a . . . Junior Prime?

  Attack Doll 3: Protocol Black

  The death of Prime Commander has dealt a heavy blow to Trevor and his fellow Primes. And when the team is threatened by government forces intent on discovering their secrets, things go from bad to worse. To hold the team together, the Primes must enlist the aid of an old friend and implement . . . Protocol Black.

  Don't miss the next exciting book in the Attack Doll series:

  Attack Doll 4: Primes Emeriti

  There are times when seven Primes just aren't enough. When the Earth's problems with Enclave suddenly triple, it's looking like this is one of those times. Fortunately, a new class of heroes stands ready to help Trevor and his friends shoulder their burden. They are the . . . Primes Emeriti.