Tesla Evolution Box Set

by Mark Lingane

  Dark lines of the deadly cyborg forces marched through the wall. They flooded in and spilled out, searching. Men attacked them, but they were so exhausted they were easily cast aside.

  And on marched the invading army.

  “Where on earth have you been? What happened to you?” Melanie shouted. Sebastian was covered in dirt and grazes.

  “I, there was, I needed to …”

  “For God’s sake, pull yourself together. Who faced down the cyborg?”

  “Er,” he paused, “Gavin.”

  “What!”

  “Don’t worry. He’s safe and back in the hands of experts. And I helped a bit.”

  “He is so brave.”

  He couldn’t disagree. Gavin stood out there alone facing certain death. But the word Sebastian would have used was “stupid.”

  “They’re in,” Melanie shouted. “Engage! Engage!”

  Sebastian pulled the lever, which zapped, and his hair stood on end. A silent wave rolled out and sparks flew.

  A line of advancing cyborgs stopped in their tracks, seemingly lost. Several seconds later a fierce fighter came in and spun around with swords blazing. The black cyborgs fell like dominoes.

  “I like that person,” Melanie said.

  The crew began to gain momentum. Melanie was targeting with pinpoint precision, and Sebastian was able to give her the power she needed when she asked for it. Even Isaac was getting the hang of the steam wheel. Sweat poured off him as he struggled to maintain control of it. He dragged his hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat running into his eyes.

  The dish lurched up and the beam shot out over the city wall into the distance.

  “Sorry,” cried Isaac. “It slipped. “Sebastian, what’s the matter? Hello?” He waved his hand in front of Sebastian’s face.

  Sebastian shook his head. The beam had shot out over the hill, maybe even hitting it, because he had felt the machine under it stir momentarily. Power could be transferred to it over the air.

  “I’m back,” he shouted. “Power is building. Ready in ten.”

  “Ten what?” Melanie said.

  “Seconds, of course.”

  “It could’ve been minutes. I’m new to this.”

  “We’ve got trouble,” Isaac yelled. “There’s like hundreds of cyborgs. A big group’s split off toward the city center. Heaps are coming this way.”

  “You have power,” Sebastian called out.

  “Nothing happened,” Melanie replied. “Are you sure?”

  “Definitely.”

  A deafening explosion rocked beneath them. The building suddenly lurched to the side. Melanie and Isaac screamed. Sebastian looked out the control room window onto the street below. Two cyborgs stood facing them with a huge EM gun. It had a long tube, similar to the cannon, but a large gray box at the rear.

  A cyborg pulled a lever on the side of the tube and a large blue translucent ball roared up toward them. The ball hit the wall next to Sebastian. Shards of brick and stone flew over him, and he felt the strange blue ball engulf him.

  In the blink of an eye, he focused his mind, extended his hands and released the energy straight back at the unsuspecting cyborgs, which impacted the plasma cannon and exploded. Metal shards radiated out, cutting the cyborgs to ribbons. They collapsed into pools of their own blood.

  Below them, beams cracked and the floor dropped down. Everyone collapsed to the floor, scrabbling for something to hold onto. The tower started to twist, slowly shaking and leaning as it drifted toward the ground. Isaac managed to grip onto the steam wheel, but the pipes buckled.

  Melanie was clinging to her levers and had a frightening clear view of the approaching ground. Behind her, the floor was rapidly becoming the wall, and the boys would soon be hanging above her.

  She placed one foot on a lever, twisted and leaped up to the steam wheel, clutching at it with one hand. She grabbed Isaac around the waist. Her footing was beginning to slip. The cobbled street was only yards away. She released her grip from the wheel, and with her boots fighting for grip, she ran the few paces to Sebastian, picked him up and charged out of the opening. She leaped onto the dish, which crumpled under their combined weight, and they slid down toward the street.

  Melanie inhaled deeply, crouched, and leaped up powerfully just as the control level smashed into the ground. She landed heavily on the street and ran a couple of unsteady paces forward before all three tumbled down, rolling head over heels. Before they had time to breathe, Melanie was up. She grabbed the boys by whatever she could clutch and pulled them into the nearest alleyway. The rest of the tower crumbled, disintegrating into sheets of bricks, with dust and rubble spiraling skywards.

  Melanie wrenched the boys up off the ground. Sebastian had blood pouring from his head and couldn’t stand straight. And the cyborgs were upon them. They tried to push her aside, reaching out for Sebastian. She ripped the sword from her back and hacked into the nearest ones.

  “Isaac, take Sebastian and hide him.”

  “What about me?”

  “Just run,” she screamed. The boys stumbled away. Sebastian glanced back over his shoulder and was amazed to see Melanie swinging a sword with one hand, firing a gun with the other, and kicking with any leg she had free.

  Isaac sprinted through the streets, pulling Sebastian in his dazed state behind. They ran into several cyborgs that had been cut down. Isaac saw a picture of Sebastian’s face on the black devices they held. Ducking through the forgotten, narrow alleyways he kept out of sight, keeping them momentarily safe. They watched the enemy stalk by, walking without hesitation. Checking their small black devices. Searching. The cyborgs burst through doorways into people’s homes, smashing through furniture, rendering anyone they found unconscious—if they were lucky.

  Sebastian finally began to gain awareness. He followed Isaac as he continued to find his old cut-throughs, concealed from the eyes of the city. But eventually a cyborg would find them. They hid in a small building tip, beneath broken timbers and bricks until the rubble was pulled aside. A cyborg grabbed Isaac and lifted him off the ground.

  “Run, Sebastian,” he shouted, as he was thrown aside, crashing into a wall, unmoving.

  Sebastian dashed away, ducking down a deserted street, but found a cyborg posted at the end. He hid under a low seat as the guard turned to investigate the running footsteps behind him.

  And on marched the invading army.

  The guard attached himself to the end of a passing regiment, and Sebastian took the opportunity to scramble up and into the city center. He needed to get out; the city was just a trap.

  A reptilian-like cyborg stepped out from behind the Joshua Richards statue. Sebastian recognized him as the dragon rider. He brought down a sword bigger than Sebastian, in a wide arc, narrowly missing him. Sebastian slid, turned, but half-tripped, half-fell in his haste to escape. The cyborg fired his laser, but it bounced harmlessly off Sebastian’s gleaming cuirass.

  Sebastian leaped to his feet and tried to dodge the huge black cyborg, but was met by the cyborg’s arm, knocking him on his back and the air out of his lungs.

  The cyborg was huge. He reached down and grabbed Sebastian by his leg. He dragged him back and wrapped his hand around the young boy’s throat. Sebastian tried to clear his mind, to focus on the cyborg, but the intensity of the encounter muddied his thoughts. He lashed out with his foot and twisted away as fast as he could.

  The cyborg’s armored fingers couldn’t hold him and Sebastian tumbled away, knocking his head against the wall.

  The cyborg placed his great foot on the young boy’s chest, raised his sword above his head, ready to bring it down and finish Sebastian. The cyborg swung, and the sword clanged against another blocking the path. Dark, solemn eyes stared up at the defender.

  “Not on my watch,” shouted Melanie.

  To the surprise of both the cyborg and Melanie, a spear erupted out of his chest. His eyes closed and he toppled forward. Behind him stood a thin, powerful woman weari
ng nothing but rabbit skins. She had murder in her eyes.

  “Mom?” cried Sebastian.

  29

  THE BATTLE WAS brief. Waves of desert walkers swarmed in, using a combination of highly polished steel shields, spears, and boomerangs. They ran, jumped and faded through the cyborg army like ghosts. Fast as lizards. Deadly as snakes. Parker arrived with a secondary force of farmers and displaced refugees, big men who hit things hard. It was over by the end of the day.

  As a medic wrapped Nikola’s arm in a thick bandage, covering the black swirls, he watched the Aboriginal man talking to Isabelle. He was so thin, yet just as deadly as Nikola had been with his sword and lifetime of training.

  “We owe you everything,” Isabelle said.

  “Yes,” Ari replied. “Don’t forget it. We lost some good fellas today in your war.”

  The bodies of the fallen enemy were self-destructing. “Together we can beat them for good.”

  “No. The elder says this is what we do. No more. She said white man should clean up his own mess.”

  “I understand,” Isabelle replied.

  Ari signaled to the legion of desert walkers. They disappeared into the horizon’s mirage, stick figures against the shimmering light. Ari glanced back over his shoulder, “Remember the agreement. Because of you, the young fella is wrapped up in this good and tight.”

  Isabelle nodded and turned back to the city. The cleanup was going to take a month. Several senior soldiers were gathering around the plasma cannon.

  She approached the pack. Parker nodded to her as she joined the group.

  “Colonel Parker, thank you for everything you did. I’ll always be indebted to you. Oliver, we meet again,” Isabelle said.

  “Good gracious, Isabelle, what happened to your back?”

  She stared directly at Nikola, “A wardrobe malfunction. And, Captain, it’s good to see you.”

  “Commander now. Captain, likewise.” He gave her a nod. His eyes were tired, and his face was drawn. But he had the posture of a victor.

  “There’s no need to get emotional about it.”

  “We missed you.”

  “We?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “I,” he corrected. He gave her a quick smile. “We have a lot to talk about. Please join me in what’s left of my office for a debriefing.”

  “Duty first?” She smiled at him. “I see some things haven’t changed with you, Commander. Is Sebby safe?”

  “He has a guard.” He indicated the two youngsters sitting on the stone bench, leaning against the wall.

  Isabelle twisted her torso to look, and her stomach muscles flexed. She turned back and caught the commander looking at her waist. He quickly snapped his eyes back to her face.

  “The girl?” she said, catching Nikola’s slight blush.

  “She’s good. Fierce, unrelenting, and unsuspecting. She reminds me of someone I once knew.” He struggled to his feet.

  “I trust your judgment.”

  “Thank you, Captain. Your confidence and commendation is appreciated.” Neither of them showed any emotion.

  Oliver stared between them, trying to comprehend what he was missing.

  “Commander, I have a duty. Give me a call when you’re free.” She turned and walked over toward Sebastian.

  “You could salute your superior officer,” he called out after her.

  “In what way are you superior?” She smiled at him back over her shoulder as she walked away. As she approached her son, Sebastian got up and ran toward her.

  “Do you know Isabelle?” Oliver said. Nikola smiled.

  “Mom!”

  “Sebby.”

  She gave him a huge hug. He burst into tears, feeling like he would never be able to stop. She lifted him up and twirled him until they were both dizzy. She gave him a big kiss on his forehead.

  “It’s good to see you. Have you been keeping out of trouble?”

  He smiled. It was something she had always said. “You look all muscly and tanned,” he said. “There’s not much of you to hug.” He poked her muscled stomach. It hurt his finger.

  “How have you been holding up?”

  “It’s been terrible. Death. Running. Hiding. Explosions. Aunt Ratty’s dead. She tried to steal your earrings.”

  “That’s a harsh punishment for a fairly minor misdemeanor.”

  “She spent lots of money, and bought a boat for Rapacity Oakley. The cyborgs came and destroyed the town. And I found a lizard in a bottle. I set it free, but it bit me.”

  “What about the other Oakleys?”

  He nodded. “All dead, I guess.”

  “Wasn’t totally bad then.”

  She smiled at him, but he didn’t have the energy to laugh. He watched the desert walkers fade into the distance. The setting sun reflected off their shields, which glittered on the horizon like a band of diamonds.

  “How come they have the shiny shields?” he asked.

  “They’ve been watching the cyborgs for a long time. They’ve learned.”

  “And they made you better?”

  “Yes.”

  “We should do something nice for them. We could give them the boat Aunt Ratty bought.”

  “That would be pretty useful in the desert.” She ruffled his hair. “We have an agreement. A payment to be collected one day.”

  They peered up at the spectacle of the burning city, looming large.

  “I wondered if I left the stove on when I left,” Isabelle said. “I suppose we should find somewhere to sleep.”

  “At least we won’t be cold.” Sebastian wrapped his arm around his mother and they both walked through the city gates.

  “I haven’t been in a civilized place in over a decade, and there is one thing I have missed.”

  “Shoes?”

  “To think like that, young sir, is insulting and stereotypical. Do you think they’ll have a fire sale?”

  “I’m not sure if I’m meant to laugh. Wait, Nikola told me about this. Are you being post-modern?”

  “That is such a big word for him. I hope it didn’t hurt. What I want is a long, hot bath. As do you.”

  “Mom!”

  “And you have to wash your hair.”

  “Mom!”

  The smell of death drifted in on the westerly winds as the sun set behind the city, overpowering the teams collecting the bodies for disposal. Melanie and Isaac were chasing around the Joshua Richards statue in the center square. Nikola and Parker were deep in conversation.

  Sebastian wandered over to the group.

  “Where’s Isabelle?” Nikola said.

  “She’s having a bath,” Sebastian said. “She said she’d be about a week. Possibly a month. And if I told you she was making a special effort, I’d be in real troubl … oh. Nothing.”

  Nikola smiled. He turned back to Parker. “I’d love to know how you found the walkers.”

  “We go back a bit.”

  “And good thinking about banding the farmers together.”

  “Sturdy men, honest and reliable,” Parker said. “Have always come to our aid when the situation was dire.”

  “I met an amazing farmer on the way to New Toowoomba. Merv. He was a legend with an axe.”

  Nikola and Parker glanced at each other.

  “I did not know that,” Parker said. “New Toowoomba, you say?”

  “Yeah, a few hours south. He managed to defeat a whole stack of cyborgs on his own.”

  “I bet he did. With your permission, Commander, I … er … need to go.”

  “Understood, Colonel. Tell Thrown to organize the events.” Parker left.

  Sebastian was surprised that Parker never saluted Nikola, although everyone else did.

  “Events?” Sebastian said.

  “I’m getting the senior soldiers to organize a celebration. We survived, and we should be proud of that.”

  “Cool, a party,” said Isaac. “I’m wearing my cap. The ladies go crazy for a sharp-dressed man.”

  Melanie excitedly
added, “And Gavin is going to be guest of honor for his bravery and bringing their leader down.”

  Sebastian went crimson. Nikola placed his hand on his shoulder as he went to protest. “Not now,” he hissed. He pulled Sebastian aside.

  “He’s going to be guest of honor! I was the one who—”

  “This is a lot more complicated than you probably understand. He needs to be the guest, even if he doesn’t deserve it. Many fell in the battle, worthy and great men and women.”

  Commotion broke around city hall. Nikola glanced over at the assembling dignitaries.

  “This doesn’t look good. Go up to my office. We can talk about it after this meeting.” He pushed Sebastian off in the direction of Old Benjamin. He watched the young boy storm off toward the tower. Melanie and Isaac were kicking a stone, being children. Isaac had kicked it between her legs and performed a victory dance. Nikola felt buoyed by their sense of fun in the heart of desolation. Melanie grabbed Isaac in a headlock and punched him in the stomach.

  A heavy blow landed on his shoulder. A cane.

  “I’m guessing you are feeling pretty pleased with yourself,” Barton said.

  “Not a phrase I’d normally associate with battle. I assume you’ve been using the cellars to their best, planning your survival?” he added.

  “We are without a mayor. I’ve been talking to Number Two.”

  Nikola’s head sagged. “Barton, I have no interest in your attempts to reclaim the title. Trade was a great man. You cannot replace him.”

  “I’m not going to replace him. As much as I would love to offer my experienced hand to the tiller of this out-of-control train, I prefer to spend my retirement restfully. The city needs new blood.”