Assassination Anxiety (The McKenzie Files)
Page 19
Kelly raised his hands and created a six foot high wall of his red energy to incinerate the flying debris on contact. Diane stood behind the energy wall with Kelly. The debris exploded into bursts of flame when it flew into Kelly’s shield. Kelly switched to an offensive tactic by manipulating the red shield to shoot out a broad beam of energy down the corridor in the hope of hitting Poltergeist. As far as Colin could tell, the only targets that Kelly was hitting were the flying debris. Beyond that, his beam burned through empty air. He fired again, but still hit nothing.
Colin looked over to Cyndi and Jones. They were still on the floor while keeping their heads down. Colin turned back to Diane and Kelly. “Keep going!” he shouted.
Kelly turned and looked back at Colin. “Keep going through this?”
Colin ducked down and turned his head as he saw a large round slab of metal
flying toward him. That was when he again saw the image of Poltergeist at the corner of his eye. Looking down the corridor again, he saw Poltergeist materialize. He was still floating through the air with his black cape fluttering about. The monster raised his clawed hand and thrust it forward. At that same moment, an even larger cloud of material torn from the corridor burst through the air around him.
The storm of debris flew down the corridor and overwhelmed Colin and the others. Colin was knocked onto his back again. The debris caught Diane and Kelly by surprise by flowing around his shield wall and flying above their heads to crash down on top of them. Kelly’s shield faded out the moment he fell. Then the huge collection of metal and plastic dropped to the floor to bury Colin and the others with a deafening crash.
Aching spots flared up along Colin’s body from his legs to his forehead. His body was weighted down by the pressure of three large jagged sheets of metal. But he was able to move his arms out from under them. From there he could squirm his way free – providing Poltergeist gave him the chance.
At first Colin didn’t see anything as he looked down the corridor. Then he was surprised when he blinked his eyes and caught an image of Poltergeist floating down the corridor toward him. Closing his eyes for a few seconds and opening them, Colin saw nothing. Then he heard the crunch and thumps of heavy footsteps against the debris-strewn floor. Colin cried out as he felt an increasing pressure of his torso being compressed by the metal panels on top of him. Then the source of the pressure revealed itself as Poltergeist materializing over him, standing on top of the panels.
Poltergeist leaned down, bearing more of his weight on top of the panels. Colin gasp for air, and his chest ached. From behind Poltergeist came the grating sound of metal scraping together. Poltergeist turned just as Diane was rising up from under the seven foot metal beam in her hand. There were two small bleeding cuts across her right cheek and one across her forehead. She gnashed her teeth in a rage as she looked at Poltergeist. “Leave him alone!” she bellowed at the hulking brute. She picked up the beam with both hands, wielding it like a club, and charged toward Poltergeist. “Pick on somebody who can kick your ass!”
Diane swung the beam at Poltergeist. He caught it with one hand and held it fast. “And who might that be?” Poltergeist inquired in a deep raspy voice.
Poltergeist raised the beam higher into the air, lifting Diane off her feet. He swung the beam around and hurled it down the left corridor. The beam, with Diane still holding on, passed over Colin’s head as they flew through the air. Colin was able to turn his he to see Diane hit the floor several feet away. With loud thuds the beam bounced twice as it landed. Diane also bounced on and then rolled across the floor three times before coming to a stop.
Colin looked up just as Poltergeist vanished again, and the weight bearing down on his body diminished. He’s still here. He’s just invisible, Colin told himself. That’s when he’s the most dangerous.
Colin placed his glowing hands against the metal panels resting on top of him, and they crumbled into small fragments. Colin jumped to his feet, his entire body aching. He looked about, trying to find some sign of Poltergeist, and heard a moan coming from Diane’s direction. He turned to see her rising to her knees. Colin’s first instinct was to run to her side. But then Poltergeist appeared hovering in the air in front of her. He dropped down to his feet and struck Diane with a backhand fist that knocked her into the air and sent her slamming into the wall.
Colin was horrified as he watched Diane fall to the floor. She did not move after that. Colin now saw Poltergeist as an easy visible target. He raised his hands to blast the monster with an electrical bolt. Then Poltergeist vanished again. The next second Colin felt a sharp pain as something struck the back of his head. He dropped to the floor, struggling to lift himself up by his arms. Looking up he saw a basketball sized lump of metal hovering over his head, dropping toward his face.
back to top
Chapter 16
Colin awoke, finding himself lying face down on the floor among a group of bodies. One of them was Kelly, lying on his back at Colin’s left side. Colin tried to rise and felt a stinging pain on his forehead. He placed his hand on the aching spot, remembering the brief encounter with a ball of metal after their losing battle against Poltergeist. Colin turned to see that Diane lying on her back to his right, and beyond her, Cyndi and Lieutenant Jones. Considering the fact that he was still alive himself, Colin hoped they were okay.
Colin sat up and shook Diane and Kelly to wake them. Diane still had blood on her face from her cuts. Colin hoped they were only surface injuries as she moaned and moved her arms.
Kelly appeared to be unhurt. He let out a loud groan. Gasping for air, he opened his eyes and rubbed his head as he sat up. “What happened? Where are we?”
“Not sure,” Colin muttered. He glanced around at their new surroundings – a large circular room with a trooper sitting at a control console at the left and right sides. Ten feet ahead, Colin saw another control console manned by Ron Corby.
Ron looked over his shoulder. “Look who’s awake.”
Colin was startled when the monster, Shrapnel, rushed over from the back of the room. His body was still covered with the long, sharp metal blades and spikes. Protruding from both of his forearms were two long blades measuring three feet in length. Shrapnel stopped close to Colin and held these blades up to his face. “Don’t even think about moving,” Shrapnel said in a deep, gruff voice.
Colin saw Eddie Driscoll smiling as he walked from behind Shrapnel. “And don’t even think about sinking those metal blades of yours into a guy who can fry you with a million volts of juice,” Driscoll warned Shrapnel.
“Well then I can always slice off his girlfriend’s face,” Shrapnel replied as he moved his blades over to Diane’s limp body.
Inferno, wearing his chubby long-haired trooper disguise, joined in. “You can kill her if you want. Just leave this one for me,” he said with glee as he reached down and grabbed Kelly by the neck, pulling him to his feet.
“Get off me,” Kelly demanded, struggling helplessly as Inferno wrapped his arm around his torso in a tight embrace. Inferno laughed as he tossed from left to right. He placed his hand against Kelly’s mouth to keep him quiet and kissed his forehead enthusiastically.
“You guys want to take that outside?” Driscoll said.
“Outside?” Inferno grinned evilly. “You mean as in shoving him out an airlock? That’s not as fun as burning off his skin, but I’m flexible.”
“They would already be dead if it weren’t for you,” Shrapnel growled at Driscoll.
Driscoll held up his hands. “Take it easy. I convinced Poltergeist to give them a stay of execution so that I can try to talk some sense into them. After all, they used to be on our side. They could still be useful.”
Colin rose to his feet. “And just what makes you think that any of us are going to join up with you?”
The dark, towering form of Poltergeist materialized behind Driscoll. He bared his sharp teeth and let out a snarl. “Because if you’re not one of us, you’re dead.”
�
�My number one favorite part of the show,” Inferno shouted with increased glee. “Bring it on.”
Cyndi and Jones stirred. Jones’s face turned pale when he sat up and looked at them. He didn’t make any sudden moves. Cyndi touched her forehead as she sat up, then screamed when she looked up and saw the two monsters standing over her. Ron rushed over to investigate. “Just take it easy,” he told her. “Calm down. It’s going to be okay.”
“She’s fine,” said Poltergeist. “Get back to your station.”
“I don’t want my wife hurt,” Ron exclaimed as he knelt down and took her hand. “You’ve already hurt her enough. You could have killed her in that corridor.”
“She was in the wrong place with the wrong people,” Poltergeist answered coldly.
Cyndi withdrew her hand from Ron. “Where’s Audrey?” she demanded.
“Don’t worry. She’s fine,” Ron whispered.
“Fine? Where is she?” Cyndi cried. “She wasn’t in our quarters!”
“She’s someplace safe until our mission is complete,” Ron explained, still remaining calm.
“I want to see her!” Cyndi demanded, nearly shrieking. “What have you done with her? You and these monsters!”
“Okay, that’s enough!” Ron shouted back. “I already told you that she’s safe. She’s in the ordinance bay on Deck Five. You’ll see her after our mission is completed.”
“This is too much of a pain in the ass,” Shrapnel told Poltergeist. “We should have killed her and the kid when we had the chance.”
“Or maybe recruited a pilot who was single,” Ron shouted as he stood up. “I told you. My family stays safe, and I’ll do as you say. That’s part of our deal.”
Poltergeist stepped closer to Ron. His mouth was just inches away from Ron’s face. “Your deal was with the boss. Not with me.”
Driscoll stepped in between the two. “But fortunately we need the good Lieutenant here to help pull this whole thing off. So the boss wants us to be one big dysfunctional family.”
Colin looked down and saw that Diane was moving again. She sat up and reared back when she saw Poltergeist and Shrapnel. “What the hell is going on?”
“Another family reunion,” Colin sniped, turning on Driscoll. “So just who is this boss? I was under the impression that Poltergeist was giving the orders.”
“The boss is the one who brought us all online,” said Poltergeist. “He could crush you like a grape from a thousand feet away.”
“This boss sounds like somebody I’d like to meet,” Colin replied.
“You’ve already met him,” said Driscoll. “In fact, he’s still a bit pissed at you.”
Somebody that we’ve already met? And still pissed at us? It has to be Doctor Trevors.
“They’re here,” announced a trooper sitting at the left console.
The twin metal doors at the back of the room slip open. Colin was surprised to see four Brelacs enter the room. Two of them were carrying a four-foot-long metal cylinder by handles at each end. Two Brelac soldiers holding large rifles with black cables attached to their sides walked in behind them. The other ends of the cables were attached to the sides of the soldier’s heads.
“Psycho-gunners,” Colin said.
The two Brelacs carrying the cylinder placed it on the floor close to the console in the middle of the room. One of them pressed a key on a small touchpad on the side of the cylinder. With a brief hiss, the top half of the cylinder’s metal housing slid down into the bottom to reveal a large pale white brain with a single red eye in the middle of its mass, floating in a round container filled with a green liquid. There were several small wires connected to the brain that ran down to the bottom of the container.
“Here’s your copilot,” the Brelac said as he faced Poltergeist.
His partner opened a small panel under the touchpad and pulled out three small cables. He went to the bottom of the control console and pulled off a small, square panel. He then reached inside the console to attach the cables to the components inside. Ron walked over and examined the cylinder.
“Cyber processor, mark seven. Our highest functioning unit,” the Brelac explained. “Fully programmed with piloting capabilities. And it will respond to all verbal commands.”
The Brelac finished inserting the cables. It pressed three keys on the cylinder’s touchpad. There was a loud beep, then a green light appeared above the touchpad. “It’s done,” said the Brelac.
“So this explains the mysterious ship that was approaching,” Colin told Driscoll. “Your friends were making a delivery. And you’re using this thing to copilot the ship?”
Driscoll threw his hand up. “Hey, our best option. We couldn’t find a pilot willing to join up with a Vendetta plan on such short notice to help fly a ship this big. So our Brelac contacts offered an alternative. They use these things all the time. Now the mission can go forward, and when we reach our target, Drennan will never know what hit her.”
“And that includes a bunch of kids too,” Cyndi cried as she moved toward Ron. “I still can’t believe that you’re willing to go through with this. You’ll be helping to kill hundreds of children too.”
“Collateral damage,” Ron snapped. “It can’t be helped. You have to look at the bigger picture. We’re helping to end the war.”
“By handing the United Protectorate over to Vendetta and the Brelac?” Colin asked Ron. “That sounds like a raw deal to me.”
“Who the hell is this?” One of the armed Brelac growled as he aimed his psycho rifle at Colin.
Poltergeist held up his hand. “Just a piece of trash to be thrown out. And it’s long overdue.”
“Thrown out?” echoed Driscoll. “You mean kill them? Fine. I’ll handle it.”
“Shrapnel and Inferno will handle it with you, to see that it’s done right,” Poltergeist added.
Driscoll grinned. “What? You don’t trust me?”
“No,”
“Trust you?” said Inferno. “After you let them escape in that subway on Maseklos Prime?”
“Or that little sliding mishap with Vosh,” Shrapnel added. “Funny how that happened.”
“What happened to Vosh was an accident,” Driscoll stated in his own defense. “And I tried to catch these guys on the subway car, but they got the drop on me. I had no choice but to fall back.”
Poltergeist let out a growl as he looked back at Driscoll. “You’re too close to McKenzie. So Shrapnel and Inferno will make sure that you kill him first.”
Ron returned to his console. Poltergeist pointed to a trooper sitting at the console at the right side of the room. He ordered the man to replay the Brant program. A large square holographic screen with Brant’s face appeared at the front of the room. Brant spoke out. “Attention, all hands. We are experiencing technical difficulties. All crew members are to remain at their stations until further notice. I repeat. Remain at your stations.”
So this explains Brant’s announcement, thought Colin. It’s just a ruse to help keep the crew out of the way while they continue with their mission.
Poltergeist pointed at Cyndi. “Take this bitch down to Deck Five after you get rid of the others.”
Driscoll led the way as he followed the four Brelacs out of the room. Shrapnel and Inferno walked behind the group.
Cyndi tried to make one final appeal to Ron as she walked by his console. “Ron, for the last time, please don’t do this. Please.”
Ron ignored Cyndi and began working the controls before him.
The group marched out into the corridor. Colin walked faster so that he could catch up to Driscoll. “You never explained how you survived after being shot back on Meridan,” Colin said.
“It’s very simple. It’s how our bodies were made,” Driscoll told him. “These second generation Reploid bodies are superior to the first generation. And far superior to humans. We’ve been given the heightened ability to regenerate serious injuries. Even by conscious control.”
“Conscious control?”
Colin remembered how Driscoll was shot back on Meridan. In fact, he was shot several times. Colin was still amazed that Driscoll was still alive. Then he remembered watching Diane instantly heal her wounded arm back on Retalas.
“So you say that we can control our own healing,” said Colin. “Even gunshot wounds like you had? As long as you stay awake?”
“As long as you stay awake,” Driscoll repeated. “If you loose consciousness, then you die. Getting shot in the chest hurt like hell, but I managed to hold on. I also froze my body so that I could slow my heartbeat down to a crawl and give a better show at looking dead. It wasn’t fun, but it paid off. You would have had all this information about how we regenerate if you weren’t reprogrammed. That goes for all three of you. You’ve all become half-assed versions of what you used to be.”
“And just what is that?” Colin demanded.
“Total bad asses,” Driscoll replied fervently. “A year ago, you’d never let yourselves get your asses kicked by Poltergeist and his crew. Especially Poltergeist. He’s just an oversized gecko with a bunch of cheap hardware stuck up his ass.”
“What was that?” Inferno inquired of Driscoll. Walking behind Kelly, he gave him a shove forward.
“Just figuratively speaking,” Driscoll replied innocently.
Colin began to wonder about Driscoll’s comradeship with these monsters. “Tell me this,” he mumbled. “Are you really with these monsters? Or are you just stuck here with them by this boss of theirs?”