by S. D. Stuart
But why hadn’t the Tin Man destroyed the cage with his explosive bullets? It was then that Caleb noticed the ragged shards of metal where the gun had been forcibly torn from the Tin Man’s arm. He was defenseless, and helpless inside that cage.
A sudden shove from behind alerted him to even more Banshees behind him. He quickly regained his balance, or was it the internal gyroscopes of the suit that kept him vertical? Whether he was improving, or it was the suit improving upon him, he was a better fighter, a better warrior, now than when he first woke up this morning in the hybrid colony.
He was tired of others pushing him around. It was time to take action. Time to be the leader everyone wanted him to be.
He squared his shoulders up and jutted his chin out defiantly, even though she couldn’t see it inside his helmet.
“I am on an important quest and you need to let…”
She held up a hand, the electrified gauntlet hand, and he stopped talking. “I will speak with you in a moment.”
Hands grabbed the arms of his suit from behind as others grabbed Tara and held them both in place while the High Priestess moved in closer to Tara.
“I had not expected it to be you. But then you went to great lengths to make me think it couldn’t be you. You actually had me convinced you were on my side one hundred percent. And that makes what I’m about to do very difficult.”
Tara opened her mouth to say something when lightning shot from the High Priestess’ gauntlet and enveloped her in a crackling embrace. There had been no warning, and the two Banshees who had held on to Tara to prevent her escape were also caught up in the swirling electrical storm. The three women screamed and buckled to their knees, but the High Priestess did not let up.
Tendrils of smoke curled up from the edges of Tara’s hair. Her clothes ignited in a burst of flame and she let out one final scream before collapsing in a charred heap on the floor, pulling the charred remains of the other two on top of her.
The High Priestess continued until Tara, and the two Banshees that were unfortunate enough to have held onto her, where nothing more than a pile of ash on the warehouse floor.
When she was satisfied her message had been received by everyone else in the room, she closed her hand and the crackle of electricity stopped.
Caleb stared at what remained of his only ally in Center City. A light breeze swept through the warehouse, lifted the white ash, and mixed it with the other piles of ash before spreading it thinly across the floor.
The High Priestess took a couple of steps closer to Caleb. The Banshees that held him quickly released their grip and scuttled out of the way, not wanting to become like the other two who had held on to Tara.
She peered at her own reflection in the mirrored visor of his helmet.
“Tell me about this weapon you are looking for.”
Not her too. OZ was a big place until there was a juicy rumor about the ultimate weapon hidden within the prison’s walls. And everybody who was hungry for ultimate power, of which OZ had a higher concentration of psychotic megalomaniacs than any other place on earth, was coming out of the woodwork. And they all wanted it.
The only one who didn’t want it, was him.
She knocked on his visor. “Hello? Anybody home?”
He certainly wouldn’t let her, or anyone who wanted to use it, get their hands on it.
She looked around at the other Banshees, a wry smile on her lips. “You think he fell asleep in there?”
She was expecting some form of answer from him. But if he wanted to get to that weapon and destroy it, before anyone else like her could obtain it, he had to give her an answer she never expected.
An answer that didn’t require words.
He was outnumbered, and outgunned. His new suit had no offensive capabilities whatsoever, save for one.
The High Priestess raised her gauntlet. “I’m only going to ask you one more time.”
Caleb leaned forward and envisioned the wide open spaces of the deep blue sky. His suit responded with full thrust.
At this angle, he shot forward, knocking over the High Priestess, and the rest of the Banshees in his way, like bowling pins.
William had mentioned the suit was grounded and could withstand a direct bolt of energy from a Banshee gauntlet. Caleb didn’t know much about electricity, but maybe he could use his suit to short out the electrified bars on the Tin Man’s cage. If he could get the Tin Man out of the cage, he could even out the odds a little better in his favor.
He slammed into the bars of the cage and felt a tingling sensation as his suit absorbed the energy being fed into the bars. It was not as heavily insulated as William had thought. But then again, he was feeding it more energy than it was designed to withstand.
His hands gripped the bars and the suit trembled with the influx of energy. How much more could it take? He tried to pry his hands loose, but his fingers refused to cooperate and held on with an iron grip.
A scream from behind, sounding like someone shouting “Pirates!”, was followed up by a deafening explosion that ripped his hands from the bars of the cage and sent him tumbling upward into the sky.
As he spun back down to earth, his eyes sought out the warehouse. Or more accurately, the burning crater where the warehouse used to be.
And resting just to the side of the fiery remains of the warehouse, the shadow of an airship. A trail of smoke started from a point in the empty sky and angled down in a straight line to what was left of the warehouse. The airship, hidden behind its sky colored camouflage, had given away its position when it launched its fiery missile.
All the delays he and his team had suffered gave the Directors’ advance team time to catch up.
And he was still only halfway through OZ, with hundreds of kilometers between him and the ancient hybrid weapon. If this kept up, he would never get there before them.
He hit the ground. Landing hard on his back. The suit absorbed most of the impact, but his brain concussed heavily in his skull.
The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a portion of the sky rolling up like window blinds to reveal the airship hull dropping toward the ground, heading right for him.
Chapter 23
Caleb stood before the mahogany desk in the Captain’s private stateroom aboard the airship. He been stripped of his suit of armor for the second time and wore only leather pants and a rough cotton shirt. If it were not for the fur over his entire body, the shirt probably would have itched.
What did itch was the stiff metallic collar they had placed on him. He fidgeted with it uncomfortably.
Levi, the leader of the Directors’ advance army, sat at his desk ignoring Caleb. He spun the key he had liberated from Nero in his fingertips, inspecting every centimeter of its brass surface.
Levi was dressed like a Roman Centurion, ready to lead his troops into battle. Only it wasn’t his troops he was sending into battle. It was Caleb.
There was a faint knock at the door right before someone poked their head in. “We just crossed over the border into the Northern Territories.”
Levi set the key down on the leather-topped desk. “Any indication we’ve been spotted?”
“None, sir. As far as the grounders are concerned, it’s blue skies all around.”
“Good. Take us to the city Nero identified and prepare to touch down.”
“Yes sir.” The man disappeared, closing the door behind him.
Why would Nero be helping someone who thought of himself as an elite soldier from an extinct civilization? The world had moved on. Humanity had progressed. Yet, this man dressed as if he was still in Rome a thousand years ago. He even made his private army dress the part. Caleb chuckled to himself. The only reason they likely ever won in battle was that the enemy was laughing too hard to fight.
Levi eyed him suspiciously. “I know what you’re thinking, but Nero is not helping us as much as he’s just trying to stay alive. And I suggest you do the same.”
“Or what?”
“That is not for me to decide. I am not the judge. Only the executioner.”
“So if I refuse to help you with your plan, you’ll kill me?”
“We are not the savages you believe us to be.”
“Anybody who wants to use that weapon against anyone else is nothing but a savage.”
“You’re forgetting to see the good in people. With that device we can…”
Caleb felt compelled to correct Levi’s misconception of what it was they were after. “Weapon.”
Levi took a deep breath before continuing. “With that device, we can bring about a level of peace the world has experienced only once before. The same kind of peace that existed when your kind had the device, and used it to keep everyone in line. We only wish to recreate the world as it was so long ago. A world free from war. Free from hatred. Free from violence. Peace is the gift we want to give to the world.”
“And they want to use the most destructive weapon ever created to bring this peace?”
“If it could be done any other way, we would gladly do it.”
He had heard enough and was not convinced. “Then you’ll just have to do it without my help. You can torture or kill me if you want to.”
“I have no intention of harming you. At least not yet. But I will not hesitate to hurt the girl. What was her name? Oh, yes. Dorothy.”
His heart stopped. She was not with him in the warehouse when Levi blew it up. There was no way he could find her, let alone hurt her. He was bluffing.
Levi smiled. “You think I’m bluffing. What would you say if I told you that I would hurt her terribly if you do not cooperate? And the man in the wheelchair who was with her.”
But how? How had they found her? OZ was a big place. It was an entire continent! Yet Levi had come directly to them, when they could have been anywhere.
Levi seemed very pleased with himself as he settled back into his chair. “You think Nero would send you out on such an important task without a way to keep track of you? Like I said, he has been very helpful in finding you. Just as you will be very helpful in finding the boy who hid the device.”
“What makes you think I’ll help you?”
“Along with the leverage I have over you by keeping Dorothy here, safe with me, you’re not going into the city alone.”
The door creaked behind him, signaling someone entering the room. Levi smiled. “And here is your partner now.”
Caleb half turned when a fist slammed into the side of his face. The unexpected attack sent him down to his knees. He looked up into the face of Captain Taylor. Surprisingly, Taylor extended his hand and helped Caleb back to his feet. What was Captain Taylor doing with Levi?
“I thought you worked for the Southern Marshal,” Caleb said.
“I work for whoever’s going to win. And Levi convinced me that she did not stand a chance against what’s coming.”
The truth suddenly dawned on Caleb, like the sun breaking through storm clouds. “You helped them escape from her dungeon.”
Taylor beamed with pride. “And get their ship back.” Taylor looked at Levi. “See, I told you it wouldn’t take long to bring him up to speed. He’s one smart cookie.”
Levi leaned forward, his elbows resting lightly on the desk. “And you think you can keep him under control?”
Taylor pointed to a small box, with a single button on it that sat on the desk. “As long as I have that, it won’t be a problem.”
Levi pushed it over to him and Taylor snatched it up before it flew off the edge of the desk.
Taylor held it up and showed it to Caleb. “I bet you’re wondering what this is.”
In fact, he had been wondering what it was.
“I could go into a lengthy scientific explanation about what it does, but it would be faster to show you.”
Taylor pushed the button and it felt like fire ignited in his neck and tore through every muscle in his body. He reached for his neck and gripped the collar, the source of the electrical surge. In no time, he was on the floor writhing in pain.
The pain suddenly stopped and he gasped, as he lay there, helpless.
Taylor bent over him. “You will do exactly as I say or I will rest a heavy rock on that button and let that collar cook you from the inside out.”
Caleb panted heavily as he lay on his back, unable to respond. That satisfied Taylor, who returned his attention back to Levi.
“I don’t think he’ll be a problem, sir. We will find the boy and get back what he stole from you.”
Two hours later, Caleb and Taylor stood in the middle of a marketplace in the Northern Territories. According to Taylor, this was the same marketplace the Totos had been following Jasper. Since he did not have access to the Toto network, Taylor insisted they wander around the marketplace and wait for Jasper to walk past them.
Caleb wore a hooded cloak to hide his feline features. After the mass exodus to the south, there were no hybrids anywhere else in OZ. If someone spotted him, it would draw unwanted attention. Fortunately, for him, the Northern Territories were not a friendly place and people ignored each other quite readily. Everyone, except for one man who called out to every potential customer who came within earshot of him.
As the two of them worked their way through the marketplace, keeping an eye out for Jasper, he could hear what the huckster was saying as they got closer.
“Only sixpence a try. Bring your key, any key. Every key in your house. Be the one to unlock the mystical, magical box and claim the treasure waiting inside.”
Caleb shook his head. Leave it up to Jasper to figure out a way to make money from a locked box. He pointed the huckster out to Taylor.
“I think we found it.”
Jasper tossed another farthing to the bartender. “Keep those sarsaparillas coming.”
The bartender looked at him with his good eye, the non-milky one, while he slid the dirty coin across the counter and poured two fingers of the sweet drink into Jasper’s glass. “If this keeps up, I’m going to have to cut you off.”
Jasper snatched the glass and hovered over it like a dog protecting its dinner. “There’s no alcohol in this.”
“True, but if you’re throwing farthings on the bar, you’re almost out of money.”
Jasper stared down at his reflection in the brown liquid. Being able to read people must be one of the prerequisites to becoming a bartender.
Separated from Nero, and with the rest of the army dead, he found himself in a strange land with no money. In addition, who was going to hire a young kid for anything, and pay him? He had to do something that would give him the freedom he wanted, and the money he needed.
He instantly fell back on some of the scams he pulled off back at home, but quickly realized the inhabitants of the Northern Territories were a much tougher crowd. The still tender burn, from a hot poker pressed into the palm of his right hand, attested to that.
None of his old tricks were going to work here. He needed something new. Something that wasn’t perceived as a scam, yet could still provide him a steady income.
Nero’s box proved to be the perfect answer. If Nero could not open the box, with his vast resources and knowledge, what chance did anybody else have?
So, why not let everyone have a try? Let them bring their own keys and pay for the chance to get at the treasure inside. A locked box holds a secret. Everyone loves a secret. It proved to be the perfect money-making scheme.
For about three days.
Now it seemed that this town’s interest in a locked box had waned and he was down to a few farthings in his purse. It was time to take his box to another town. And next time, he would conserve his money.
Randall sat down heavily next to him at the bar, his face beaming. “I got two more takers for you,” he said as he nodded toward the door of the tavern. Two men stood at the entrance, one of them wearing a hooded cloak.
Jasper’s suspicious nature took over. They certainly didn’t look like the usual clients willing to pay for an attempt at th
e unknown. They must be up to something.
He didn’t take his eyes off the men as he probed his assistant, who was many years older than he was, but none the wiser, for more information. “How many keys?”
“Just one.”
He rubbed the last of his two farthings in his pocket between an index finger and thumb. This wasn’t sounding too good. “Did you tell them the sixpence price is for a bulk discount?”
“I did. They agreed to the one try for three shillings.”
“How much convincing did it take?”
“I should have asked for a whole pound, because they agreed right away.”
This was sounding too good to be true. From his experiences growing up in OZ, anytime it was too good, it wasn’t true. His suspicions were all but confirmed and he couldn’t let his overwhelming need for money override his finely tuned survival instincts. He knew when not to get sucked into a trap.
“They’re not customers, Randall. Send them away.”
“No, no. They are customers.” Randall held out his open hand, three shillings clinking together in his palm. “They’ve already paid. See?”
Jasper snatched all three shillings from Randall’s hand. No sense in letting money go to waste.
“Fine. But take them by Draco first. He will determine if they are customers or not.”
Jasper grabbed Randall’s collar and pulled him back to the bar as he started to walk away. “You can forget about your cut if he kills these two like he killed the last one. We don’t need the kind of attention another body will bring. The townspeople are already spooked that there might be a monster running around loose, and if there is another victim, there will be far too many guards posted around the city for us to continue our business arrangement.”
From across the room, Caleb watched Jasper control the conversation between him and Randall.
Taylor leaned over and whispered, “Is that the kid we’re looking for?”
Caleb nodded silently.
It certainly looked like Jasper. But he behaved very differently than he had ever seen him behave before. In fact, if he didn’t know better, it looked as if Jasper was acting like a crime lord. But he did know better. He knew Jasper, and he was no crime lord. Sure, he ran his fair share of scams, but what kid growing up in OZ didn’t? It was a dog eat dog world, and now, Jasper was acting like the biggest dog of them all.