Terminus Experiment

by Jonathan E Bond

  With that she pulled her MP-5, and fired three shots quickly, aiming for the base of the vampire’s neck.

  Before he could even blink, the rounds had torn through his move-by-wire rig, and he too fell.

  “Truxa!” It was Flak again, tearing through vampires like they weren’t even there.

  Sinunu looked over, and realized that Flak had somehow lost his Vindicator, but it didn’t seem to be slowing him down. He was tearing the heads off vampires with his bare hands, still wading forward, still screaming Truxa’s name like a war cry. Sinunu was also aware of the distant sounds of fighting from the front of the compound, and every few seconds, the ground would shake with the concussion of a rocket. The explosions lit up the night sky as the mortar rounds did their work.

  Sinunu watched Flak for a moment, and could tell that there were too many for him to handle, that he’d gotten too far out in front. She glanced around desperately for someone close enough to help, then saw Rachel’s laser fire cut down the first of the vampires closing in on Flak. Sinunu knew Rachel couldn’t hit the main group surrounding Flak for fear of killing him as well.

  “Truxa!” screamed Flak.

  He was on his own for a moment.

  Sinunu started running, jumping over the still struggling bodies of vampires that had been cut down and some of the Fratellanza dead.

  The corp soldiers were doing their best, but despite the preparation they’d received, most were folding under the raw, maniacal might of nearly thirty vampires coming at them.

  Sinunu risked a glance backward, and Rachel was there, exactly matching Sinunu’s movement and providing cover with her bulky laser.

  To their left and right vampires died by flame and by the stake, but Sinunu was beyond caring about that. A howl rose from the direction of Flak-a blood-curdling moan.

  A chill shook Sinunu and she froze in place for a split second, her entire body rigid with terror.

  She saw that Flak, too, had faltered, his rage stutter-stepped for a moment, and that was all the time it took for the huge troll to go down.

  Then the fear passed and Sinunu battled forward.

  Suddenly, it was as if everything on the battlefield had stopped. There were still isolated pockets of fighting, but they were behind her.

  As one, the crowd of vampires around the troll’s prone body parted silently, creating a corridor to the big man. Only one creature remained, and suddenly Sinunu understood what had made the scream and why Flak had faltered. Her stomach lurched, and her knees threatened to betray her.

  “He kept calling for me, Sin. I just had to come.”

  Truxa stood over Flak’s body like a ghost of her former self, the troll’s blood on her mouth. Sinunu knew what she was looking at. De Vries had told her, had warned her that Truxa might still be out there somewhere, had described in detail what Truxa might have become. He’d called her a banshee. Still, he hadn’t prepared her for what she was seeing now.

  “Truxa?” To Sinunu, her own voice came out like that of a lost child, and her despair was punctuated by the detonation of a rocket exploding on the far side of the compound.

  The banshee nodded and Sinunu blinked quickly, as if her vision had become blurred. It was Truxa, and yet it wasn’t. There was something missing, and Sinunu had seen enough corpses to know what that something was. Without life, without, the spirit that makes a person human, these creatures are nothing more than a collection of matter. That’s what I’m looking at now, a lifeless corpse.

  “Come to me, Sin. I know what this looks like, but you don’t understand. You’re running around destroying the most wondrous creations ever made, without the slightest understanding of what you’re doing.”

  Sinunu felt strength come back to her, and she found herself laughing a low deadly thing among all the death around her. “Shut up.”

  Suddenly, the grin faded from Truxa’s face, and for just a moment, weakness swept through Sinunu. “Sin,” pleaded Truxa, “you’ve got to understand, it’s me. It really is. And what’s more, you and I can be together again. Forever. Isn’t that what we always promised each other? That nothing would separate us? Not even death?”

  Sinunu stopped, her heart tearing itself to pieces in her chest. She looked at the mass of vampires to her left and right. She’d never thought of them as individuals before, had killed them without ever distinguishing one from the next. They had all been the same to her, but now she made out differences, These had once been normal men and women, and looking at their solemn faces, she could see old scars, different nationalities, different ages.

  “I can give you the gift, Sin.”

  Sinunu turned back to Truxa and realized that she could have been wrong. Wrong about everything. After all, Truxa had never lied to her before, had always seemed incapable of lying.

  Sinunu felt a smile cross her lips and watched its mirror on Truxa’s lips, still covered with Flak’s blood, and yet so beautiful, She was about to step forward, her arms coming up to embrace her love forever, when she felt the light touch of a hand on her shoulder.

  “I know it hurts,” whispered Rachel, who must have come closer during the fighting, “but that’s not Truxa, Not anymore.”

  Rachel. there for her, again. As if coming awake from a dream, Sinunu looked at Truxa once more, and the thing in front of her was no longer beautiful. Instead, all Sinunu could focus on was the blood smeared on Truxa’s lips.

  Incapable of lying? Sinunu thought. Truxa would never have been able to kill Flak before, either. Who knows what new tricks she s learned?

  Sinunu squeezed Rachel’s hand, and looked Truxa in the eye.

  “So that’s how it is?” asked Truxa. “Was I that easy to replace?” The look of scorn on her face fueled Sinunu’s anger.

  Sinunu strode forward. “The Truxa I knew and loved can never be replaced, but you’re not her.”

  Then, the air behind Truxa seemed to condense, conforming to a shape. With blinding ease, Martin de Vries shook off the magical shadows that had hidden his approach and took hold of Truxa, immobilizing her. He bent to say something, and Sinunu could barely make out the words.

  “I know what you’re about to try, little girl, but trust me, you can’t. I know tricks you haven’t even thought of; and don’t presume to pit your puny magic against mine. I know the real Truxa is in there somewhere, buried under the abomination of the virus. I also know that woman is screaming right now. Screaming for release. Let us help you.”

  Like a ground swell, a hiss arose from the assembled vampires, but for some reason none of them moved. All eyes were fixed on de Vries, who looked up and smiled sadly at Sinunu.

  In Sinunu’s chest, her heart had become a stone. She strode forward, bloody stake in her hands, with Rachel at her shoulder.

  As she came close, Sinunu watched Truxa go limp in de Vries’ arms. The only thing hinting that her body was still animated was the wavering track of the elf’s eyes as she watched death approach. Sinunu pulled a fresh stake from her belt.

  “I love you.” Truxa’s voice was soft and quiet, just barely loud enough to make its way over the distant sounds of battle.

  Once again, Sinunu’s resolve faltered. She looked up at de Vries, who held her gaze with a steady look. “And I love you,” she said.

  Truxa smiled then, and despite the blood, it was Truxa again. “Then give me peace.”

  Standing over the dead body of her best friend. Sinunu rammed the stake through the heart of the only person she had ever loved.

  35

  In summary, we believe the evidence shows beyond any doubt that Marco D’imato has violated the bylaws of the corporation, Fratelanza, Incorporated, of which he is responsible as Chief Executive Officer: He has diverted corporate assets for his own private schemes, then knowingly concealed these activities from the corporations management and those parties who share in its ownership. He has shown a pattern of behavior that is at once unstable, deviant, and gravely harmful to the functioning and best interests of the co
rporation. Had it not been for the intervention of Julius D’imato, the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer; the fraudulent and erratic actions of Marco D’imato might have resulted in the failure and dissolution of Fratellanza, Incorporated.

  – from D’imato vs D’imato, brief presented by Fillips, Bonavear, and Justran, Attorneys at Law, Magnolia District Court, Judge B. L. Clausen, presiding, 07 August 2060

  Raul Pakow crouched behind a table in the operating theater as the concussion brought down more of the ceiling. A large chunk of concrete hit his head, sending bright bits of light spinning in front of his eyes. Pakow reached up, touching blood, and carefully pushed the flap of skin, which lay curled against his scalp, back into place.

  Wiping blood from his eyes, he peeled off his shirt and used it to slow the flow of blood. He keyed the portable telecom again. “I don’t fragging think so. This whole damn place is coming down around my ears.”

  Wake’s voice was distressingly calm. You can and you will. I need that chip. Just download the access codes so I can get to the data from the Matrix. That shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Then get out of there through the tunnel. When you reach the main exit, simply hit the red button, and it will set up the timers for the explosives. I’ll be waiting at the heli pad. Bring me the chip and we’ll lift out of here forever, and get you back to your family.

  It was the thought of Shiva that did it. Just the hope of seeing her again, of holding her, of saying he was sorry, that was enough to get him moving.

  Standing upright, he keyed for the download. Seconds took hours, as the wealth of information transferred to the chip. This was the key to everything. All the most up-to-date information on the Delta strain, which they’d been compiling for the last two weeks.

  Wake had been personally overseeing the extraction of some of the more sensitive equipment when the new attack had begun, and he needed to get out now if he was ever going to get out. Pakow knew that Wake needed this data even more. Without the data to show his masters at Ordo Maximus, Wake might not be able to count on their continued patronage.

  As the last of the information finished transferring, Pakow ripped the chip from the slot and ran for the stairs.

  He knew Wake was lying about getting him home, but that didn’t matter to him now.

  If I play this right, maybe I can force him to give me my freedom.

  Pakow took a left at the head of the stairs as another explosion rocked the compound.

  Ducking falling debris, he thought about Wake’s command concerning the red button. He knew that Wake had mined the compound a year before with just such an emergency as this in mind. Explosives? Why bother? These people are serious about pulling this place down, and I think they’re well on their way.

  He reached the tunnel entrance, a door on the sixth level marked “Janitorial,” and pressed his palm to the lock. A sharp prick and a few seconds for the computer to analyze his genetic code, then the door swung inward, showing a dimly lit tunnel carved out of bedrock.

  “There!”

  The voice came from down the hall behind him, and even as Pakow started forward, he heard the rattle of automatic gunfire.

  Pain erupted in his neck and back, twisting him into the tunnel. He rolled onto his back, then used his left foot to push the door shut just as two men in battle armor reached it.

  He was safe, at least for the moment. There was no way they could breach that door without major explosives, and it would only respond to his and Wake’s gene codes.

  The pain in his neck caused his head to spin, but a quick self-examination let him know it was nothing compared to the wound in his back.

  He flexed his knees, and his legs responded, though movement was excruciating. Pakow lay there for a second, letting the stone floor cool his suddenly hot face.

  After a moment, the pain seemed to ease somewhat, and he realized he wasn’t going to die, at least not yet.

  With a titanic effort, he pulled himself uptight, using the rough wall for support.

  The tunnel was nearly four hundred meters in length, stretching out of sight in front of him. With labored steps, he began to move forward, concentrating on Shiva’s face to give him the strength to do anything more than lay down and go to sleep.

  * * *

  Marco’s eyes suddenly popped open. He was awake, and his head ached with the hunger for blood. That was the first thing he was aware of. The second was the smell of something burning, and the heavy dust in the air.

  A mighty concussion shocked him upright, sending a ripple of agony down his spine and tangling him in the plastic tent over him.

  With a vicious snarl, he ripped away the plastic and took account. He knew immediately what had happened, that he’d been tricked. The small, aching feeling in his chest came from being in stasis, Looking to his left, he understood how he’d escaped Oslo Wake’s planned double-cross. A gaping hole in the wall showed flashing light from outside. Someone, or something, had ripped open the wall and allowed air back into the room.

  He could hear the sounds of gunfire and the screams of dying men and vampires. The compound was under attack again. He didn’t know who it was for sure, but he had a pretty good guess that Fratellanza men were fighting out there.

  Julius must have found out that I’ve been kept against my will. He brought a force to free me. Together, he and I will make you pay for your treachery, Oslo Wake.

  Willing his body to be lighter than air, Marco D’imato became a mist form that drifted out through the new opening in the wall, and straight into the battle.

  36

  Banshee. Noxplorator letalis. This creature is indistinguishable from an elf save that it may appear very gaunt. The creature wails, instilling fear to the point of blind panic in its prey, which will flee in mindless terror. The banshee rarely shows any restraint, almost always draining a victim in the initial attack.

  – from Guide to Paranormal Creatures of North America: Awakened Animals, by E F. Paterson, MIT amp;T Press, Cambridge, 2050

  The swirling black receded and Rachel found that she could stand. Again. She had watched Sinunu stake Truxa, and the banshee’s howl was still like an ice storm under her skin. She’d continued to fight until all the vampires were dead, and then had gone on fighting after that. She’d help Sinunu push what remained of their force toward the front of the building, hoping to crush the vampires between themselves and Julius’ men.

  Rachel estimated that more than ninety vampires had died, though that number was skewed due to the fact that several of them were infected Fratellanza men from the assault a couple days ago.

  And despite all the killing, despite all the anger she’d channeled into the fight, she couldn’t get Truxa’s last scream out of her mind. That howl haunted Rachel as she and Sinunu and de Vries made their way across the battlefield, pausing now and then to stake anyone, Fratellanza or not, who looked as if he or she might be able to get back up.

  Dead bodies lay like chaff on ground, which had been dusty and gray, but was now a muck of volcanic ash and black blood. The shell-shocked survivors were still busy, staking men who had once been their friends and carring off bodies to the large pyres that were burning across the landscape. Short Eyes had slotted the priest chip at some time during the fighting, and refused to take the chip out. So now she was giving last rites to the ones about to be staked, her body soaked in blood and mud, her face filled with holy glee.

  Across the grotesque landscape. Rachel could make out the loading docks and a trio of figures standing there, the center one being supported by the other two. Even without her helmet’s enhanced sighting, she could distinguished the silver hair of Julius on the right and the red hair of Biggs on the left. And in the middle…

  Suddenly, her exhaustion was forgotten as she started to run. Sinunu stumbled behind her, but de Vries caught and supported her as they followed close behind.

  Rachel reached the loading dock, and Julius flashed her a tight grin, full of pain. Biggs looked exhaust
ed beyond comprehension as he and Julius laid Warren on the floor. “Killian!” Julius yelled. “Killian! Where the frag is that mage?”

  “Here, sir,” came his voice.

  “Heal him.” Julius said.

  As the mage spoke in low tones, Rachel walked over to Warren, feeling a sense of apprehension she couldn’t quite place. Kneeling down, she put her hands on his face, which was hot and sweaty. “Honey?”

  Warren’s head lolled for a moment, then slowly his eyes opened. Rachel felt a huge weight fall from her shoulders as she saw the light of sanity in his eyes. She wasn’t sure what Warren had been subjected to here, and she feared the worst.

  “Rach?” Warren’s voice was slurred.

  “Yeah, baby. I’m here.” Rachel felt his hand on her shoulder.

  “Had a bad dream,” said Warren.

  “Go back to sleep.”

  Killian finished his enchantment as de Vries walked up with Sinunu. “He’ll be all right,” he said. “Just needs rest.”

  Behind them, de Vries held Sinunu, keeping her from collapsing to floor.

  In front of Rachel Biggs looked up. “She gonna make it?” Rachel turned and looked at Sinunu, her white skin positively blue from blood loss.

  “She’s about had it,” de Vries said. “Massive internal injuries, enough broken bones to make a combat biker blush, but she’ll pull through. I can help her, as long as we can get her some place where her wounds won’t come in contact with all the blood on the ground. Some of the virus might still be viable, and… He didn’t finish his sentence, but Rachel could tell by the look in his eyes that even the famed vampire hunter would have a hard time putting a stake in Sin if she were infected.

  Julius nodded. “Take her inside. My men have cleared the first six levels, and haven’t met with any resistance whatsoever, so I’m assuming the man behind this committed all his forces to the defense. It should be safe.”

  With Warren in tow, they moved Sinunu inside the entrance, which looked as if some giant had reached down and punched his way through. They gently laid her down on the glass-strewn carpet.