“Those videos were fake,” Colin informed him, getting awkwardly back to his feet. “It’s all part of the plan to keep the crew out of the way.”
The impact of a loud and powerful explosion was felt throughout the entire section. A loud shrieking alarm went off. Everyone looked to the far left where the sound and impact came from.
“That sounds like it came from ordinance storage up on Deck Five,” said the female trooper. “We’ve got to get up there and see what’s going on.”
“You can’t go up there. It’s too dangerous,” Colin warned her.
The female trooper pointed to the right. “Look. The elevator is working again.”
Colin looked over at the elevator twenty feet away and saw its door opening. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Two troopers approached the elevator as the door opened. Poltergeist stormed out and gave one trooper a backhand blow with his fist. The trooper flew back and struck the side of a fighter parked several feet away. The second trooper drew his laser pistol from its holster, but Poltergeist quickly grabbed the trooper by his head and flung him at the nearest wall. The trooper’s body left a small splatter of blood on the wall when he bounced off and fell to the floor. Poltergeist turned to Colin and Diane.
“We have to move,” said Colin. He ran toward the rows of fighters with Diane right beside him. Behind them Colin heard Poltergeist issue a loud threat over the sound of the alarm going off. “McKenzie! You are going to die! Both of you!”
Colin looked back. Poltergeist rushed over to a fighter and reached underneath to pick the craft up over his head with little effort. He hurled the fighter in Colin and Diane’s direction.
“Look out!” Colin yelled. They both made a sharp left turn as the fighter crashed into another fighter parked six feet away, sending metal parts from both fighters flying into the air. Colin looked back to see Poltergeist lifting up another fighter to hurl at them. “Get down!” he shouted. He and Diane stopped in their tracks and kneeled down as the fighter flew over their heads and landed on top of the fighter that was resting a few feet in front of them. Colin turned and looked back to see Poltergeist lifting a third fighter to throw at them. Then he vanished just as three troopers were closing in on him with their weapons drawn. The fighter remained suspended in the air, then was joined by three other fighters that began to levitate. The troopers stopped and looked up at the four floating craft. The fighters all disintegrated into small fragments of metal debris that began to spin through the air as if caught in the eye of a hurricane. Another fighter rose into the air and came crashing down on top of a trooper, crushing him instantly. The two other troopers turned and ran from the area as one fighter after another leaped into the air and split apart into metal fragments that joined the growing storm of debris.
“Keep running,” Colin said. Diane joined him as he bolted forward.
“I’m tired of running,” Diane yelled. “There has to be a way that we can fight this guy. If only he’d stay visible.”
Colin gave thought to that. He stopped running and kneeled down behind a fighter. Diane ran over and kneeled down next to him. She took the time to pull out four more pieces of metal shrapnel from her leg. Colin panted to catch his breath. “Remember what Driscoll said? Poltergeist’s power isn’t what it seems. I didn’t get it then. But I think I do now.” He peered from underneath the fighter to watch the spinning storm of metal. By his estimate, it was fifty feet away and closing in on them fast, cutting a swath through the rows of parked fighter craft. Some of them were torn apart to join the storm, while a few others were lifted up off the floor and tossed about.
“When we fought him earlier, there were times that he turned invisible, but I could spot him from the corner of my eye, and for a second after I blinked. It’s just a theory, but maybe he’s not really invisible. Maybe he’s using his power to play mind games with us. He’s blanking his image from our minds.”
“Then we’ve got a chance,” said Diane.
“Not much,” Colin said grimly. Visible or unseen, Poltergeist was still a formidable enemy. “Driscoll also mentioned the cape.”
“Yeah. Not the ideal fashion statement to go into battle.”
“I don’t think it’s just for show. What if the cape is tied to his power somehow? Driscoll said that Poltergeist is a cyborg. What if the cape is an extension of his cybernetics?”
“Then if we remove the cape, maybe we can beat him?”
“It’s a possibility. But it won’t be easy. We still have to get close to him.”
“No. I’ve got to get close to him,” Diane said. “You stay here.” Diane stood and charged toward the approaching metal storm.
“Where the hell are you going?” Colin cried out at Diane. She’s insane. We need a better plan than to just charge him head-on.
Colin watched Diane draw closer to the metal storm. At its center, Poltergeist reappeared for a brief moment, then vanished again. Colin was trying to concentrate and keep Poltergeist in view. He had to keep reminding himself that it was all a mind trick, and Poltergeist was still there. Colin blinked, and Poltergeist reappeared. Then he vanished again. Colin was hoping that Diane was also trying to concentrate to maintain the image of Poltergeist.
Diane came within twenty feet of the metal storm and stopped near a fighter at her right. She moved swiftly to stoop underneath the fighter and hoist it up over her head. She then hurled it into the air toward the storm, but her effort proved futile as the craft was torn asunder just a foot before it reached the storm, and its large fragments were hurled back down at her. A basketball-sized hunk of metal slammed into her chest and knocked her onto her back as several smaller fragments rained down on her.
After witnessing this Colin felt as though his heart had stopped beating. She’s down already, he thought. He was desperate to help her, but without his hands, there was nothing he could do. Then he wondered how far his powers of regeneration would go. With a thought he had stopped his own bleeding. What else could his body do?
He stared at his arms and again visualized his damaged tissues. He was throwing his consciousness into his very cells, feeling each section of damaged tissue rebuilding itself. Then came the pain that surged through his arms, so intense that he cried out and doubled over, holding his arms up against his chest. So much for that experiment!
As the pain subsided, he looked back at Diane still lying on the floor, but starting to get back up. Then Poltergeist appeared, standing in front of her. Towering over her, he raised his scaly fist and threw a punch at her, but she sprang to her feet and caught the fist with her right hand. Poltergeist’s fist did not move any further, and neither did Diane. They were both locked in a stalemate of powers, and Poltergeist roared, “Second gennie bitch! You think you’re as strong as me?”
“No!” Diane shouted back. “I’m stronger.” She grabbed Poltergeist’s fist with both hands and pulled him off his feet, swinging him around through the air three times before letting him go and sending him flying into a parked fighter several yards away. Poltergeist bounced off of the fighter, knocking it off of its landing legs and leaving a large dent on its side. He fell, hitting the floor and rolling twice before coming to a stop. He wasted no time getting back to his feet as Diane charged toward him, screaming at the top of her lungs. Poltergeist vanished from view, but as Colin blinked his eyes Poltergeist reappeared again. Then he again vanished. Colin blinked again to regain Poltergeist’s image. Concentrate! he screamed in his mind, hoping somehow he could channel to Diane, but she was so intent on beating Poltergeist with sheer strength, he knew concentrating on anything else would be impossible for her.
Diane reached Poltergeist and delivered a solid punch to his stomach. Poltergeist stumbled backwards and grabbed his stomach. Diane charged for him again. Poltergeist pointed his hand to a fighter at his left. The craft rose into the air, flipped over, and came crashing down to the floor in front of Diane. Unfazed, Diane leaped onto the fighter, then landed on the floor
close to Poltergeist and threw a punch under his jaw. Poltergeist’s head jerked back with a spray of saliva from his mouth. He staggered back two steps, then stumbled forward. Using his telekinetic power to levitate himself he rose into the air. He thrust both arms out to his sides, and from all around him, large pieces of metal wreckage from damaged fighters flew into the air.
Diane dashed forward and jumped up to grab the end of Poltergeist’s cape. She gave it a strong tug as she dropped back to the floor. Sparks shot out from Poltergeist’s neck when his cape was removed. He growled like a wounded animal while clawing at the sparking exposed wires in his neck and jerking his body from left and right. The fragments of metal that he had levitated with his power were still flying through the air, but now they gathered all around him, bombarding him as if he were a powerful magnet. His body was knocked left and right and back and forth until he fell to the floor.
Once the levitation stopped and Poltergeist hit the floor, the metal rubbish fell away from him and he struggled to get back to his feet. While he was still vulnerable, Diane dropped his cape and bolted toward him delivered a powerful punch to his chest. Poltergeist’s body flew across the bay for several feet until he struck the wall with a loud boom. He lay motionless between two caved-in wall panels. Diane took a step forward, but Poltergeist did not get back up.
Colin stared, amazed. Did she do it? “Is he finished?” he shouted.
Diane still watched and waited. There was still no movement. She turned back to Colin. “I think he’s done!”
That was good news to hear. Colin walked from behind the cover of the fighter and approached Diane. She ran over to him, breathing hard, locking her gaze on his. “He wasn’t so tough,” she said, grinning.
Colin smiled. “You say that now, after getting your ass kicked how many times?”
She rolled her eyes. “Point taken. Now there’s just one left – Inferno. We’ve got to find him and Kelly.”
“If Kelly’s still alive,” Colin said, frowning. “We’ve got to get back up to Deck Five.”
“No. You’re staying here. You’re too badly wounded.”
Colin sighed. She was right. In his current state, he would be useless in a fight. He looked to his left and right. Troopers who were hiding behind the parked fighters were now emerging from their cover to see if the threat was over. The irritating alarm was still sounding off inside the bay. He looked past Diane’s shoulder to the area where she fought Poltergeist. He didn’t see Poltergeist’s black cape lying on the floor where she’d tossed it. He was about to bring the cape to her when he saw an assault shuttle rising into the air, turning in their direction. “Look out! Get down!” he shouted.
Diane turned just as the shuttle opened fire with the laser guns mounted on its two front wings. Multiple laser beams whizzed past her head. She ducked down and turned to run with Colin. Colin looked back and saw that the shuttle was pursuing them while firing its weapons. Laser fire burned into the floor behind them as they ran. They took refuge under a fighter and kneeled low to the floor as the shuttle’s laser fire riddled the upper portion of its hull. Colin could see the shuttle passing overhead. He smelled plastic burning and felt a surge of heat against his back. He looked up to see that the fighter was on fire.
“We have to move,” Colin told Diane.
Colin kept his head down as he ran out from under the fighter, with Diane close at his side. The top of the fighter was mangled by the laser fire. Small flames shot out from the large holes in its hull. The landing bay’s automatic fire suppression system reacted to the flames by shooting out jets of blue gas up from vents in the floor and down from the ceiling.
Colin glanced over his shoulder at the attacking shuttle in the distance, flying away but turning around for a second pass, then spotted Poltergeist hovering in the air behind the shuttle. Poltergeist had reclaimed his cape and seemed back in business, as powerful and dangerous as before, directing the shuttle attack with his telekinetic ability.
The shuttle launched a missile at Colin and Diane. They both dove to the floor as the missile destroyed a nearby fighter and the fire suppression system kicked in to deal with the burning wreckage. Their only option was to duck under another fighter for cover. Colin could almost feel the impact of every laser shot as he heard them thump against the top of the fighter. He saw another fighter a few feet up ahead and bolted for it. Diane ran to keep up with him. As he and Diane knelt down behind the fighter, the attacking shuttle passed overhead and flew back toward Poltergeist. Diane darted over to a dead trooper lying close by and grabbed his laser pistol, then rushed back to hide under the fighter. “We’re running out of places to hide,” she yelled over the shrill of the alarm. “Our best option is to try and fight this freak.”
“We’re going to have to fight that shuttle he’s controlling first,” Colin said.
Diane popped up to look over the fighter. “It’s coming back.”
Colin glanced at the laser pistol Diane had confiscated, thinking that if that was the only thing they had to ward off a heavily armed assault shuttle, they were toast. They needed better firepower if they wanted to survive, and his psionic power was their only hope. He resumed visualizing his damaged tissues healing, now finding it somewhat easier to submerge his consciousness into the cellular level of his body. He could see and feel his damaged tissues expanding. His muscle and tendons were repairing themselves. And then the pain returned, surging like fire through both his arms. He doubled over again but didn’t stop. He couldn’t afford to.
“Sarge, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Gnashing his teeth to get through the pain, Colin didn’t answer. For a minute Diane stared at him in confusion, then turned her attention back to the approaching shuttle. She aimed her weapon and was able to fire two shots before the shuttle’s return fire forced her to duck under the fighter for cover. Laser fire burned into the fighter and the surrounding floor. Colin shouted in pain, feeling like two swords had been thrust up the length of his arms.
Poltergeist’s voice boomed, “There is no escape! You are both going to die!”
“The shuttle is going back so that it can make another pass at us,” Diane warned.
At the moment Colin was not concerned about the shuttle. His mind was absorbed with the agony that he was trying to endure as it spread through his expanding muscles, tendons, and bones, with blood bursting though his veins. He could feel the painful tingle of nerve endings going through his fingers. My fingers? He looked down to see his blood-soaked hands fully reformed. The only sensation that he could feel in them was pain. He could not move his fingers, but the return of his hands was more than enough. He stood back up. Diane aimed the laser pistol at the shuttle and fired two shots as it flew from the area. Then the gun was yanked from her hand and floated into the air. The fighter that Colin and Diane were hiding behind rose into the air and flipped over, landing with a loud crashing boom several feet behind them. They were now exposed.
“Death is coming!” Poltergeist shouted as the shuttle was about to pass behind him and fly in for another attack.
“Death is here!” Colin shouted back at Poltergeist. He raised his blood-soaked hands in the air toward Poltergeist. Diane jumped aside as jagged streaks of electrical energy shot out from Colin’s hands with a bright white flash forming a single bolt of energy that streaked through the air and struck Poltergeist head-on. The bolt shoved Poltergeist back into the shuttle, causing the craft to explode into a ball of fire. The burning wreck, along with Poltergeist, was hurled back and smashed through the wall ten feet away, creating a large jagged hole that erupted in a fiery explosion. Flaming debris shot out and scattered throughout the area as a huge cloud of fire rose up to the ceiling.
Colin waited tensely, expecting Poltergeist to emerge from the flames and retaliate. He kept watching as the fire suppression system sprayed out its blue gas from vents in the floor and ceiling to extinguish the flames. There was still no movement from the hole in the wall. It looked li
ke the fight was finally over.
Colin sucked in a huge breath and let it out with all the tension and fear that had been bottled up inside him. He stepped back, looking at his regenerated hands in amazement. They still ached, and he could not move his fingers. His skin was pale and covered with dried flakes of blood heated by his electrical surge. But in spite of the pain, the return of his hands was a welcome sight.
Diane approached. “Is Poltergeist dead?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he is.” Colin felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over him.
“So, the fight’s really over? We won?”
“Not yet. We still have to deal with Inferno and the others up in the auxiliary control room.”
Colin noticed that a few troopers were starting to gather near the hole in the wall. They had their weapons drawn and moved in with caution.
“How are your hands?” Diane asked. “How do they feel?”
“They hurt like hell, and I can’t move them. But I think they’ll be fine.” Suddenly gripped by fatigue, he felt his legs getting wobbly, but he fought to maintain control. He had to be prepared to go into the next battle. “Let’s take the access ladder back up to Deck Five and find Kelly.” No sense making useless comments like ‘I hope he’s alright.’ We’ll know soon enough.
As Colin and Diane turned to head toward the emergency access ladder, they were greeted by a few more troopers running in their direction – among them, Kelly and Cyndi carrying a tearful Audrey in her arms. Kelly sprinted over to Colin and Diane. “Oh, my God! Am I glad to see you guys!” He was smiling so wide, it looked as if his face might explode. “I thought you were dead.”
“Almost,” said Colin. “Where’s Inferno?”
A sly grin appeared on Kelly’s face. “He’s gone. He asked me for a kiss. So I gave him one.” He frowned and added quickly, “What about the rest of these monsters?”
“They’re gone,’ Colin said simply.
Assassination Anxiety (The McKenzie Files) Page 22