“If Alex were awake, he would be the first one to say that if the roles were reversed that they would not hesitate to kill us,” Kristi answered.
“I suppose so,” Conor replied. “But they have families, people who depend on them. There has to be another way.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Kristi answered. “But I don’t see that we have any choice.”
“Why don’t we rip off a part of the building right above the lead group?” Conor asked. “We could send it spiraling down and hit just a few of them. That should slow them down, and give us enough time to escape. Not only will the climb be more difficult, with a part of the building missing, but they will know that we are waiting for them when they reach the rooftop. That should slow all of them down. No sane person wants to die.”
“It’s worth a try,” Kristi answered. “But these are not security guards. They are hardened, trained ground assault commandos. They are the ones who are sent in to clean up after a reboot. They are fierce, trained assassins. If this doesn’t work, and it probably won’t, you know what we have to do.”
“I understand,” Conor answered.
Conor and Kristi leaned over the railing. Focusing on a section of the building just above the lead group, a large chunk of concrete, about the size of a small house, pulled loose and careened down the building’s side, crushing several commandos before smashing into the street below. The remaining commandos scrambled across the building’s face, disappearing into crevices and indentations. A heartbeat later, the building lit up as nearly 100 laser pistols and rifles fired at once. Instead of grabbing the laser beams, Conor and Kristi formed a protective shield and angled it so the beams glanced off of the shield and continued on, over their heads. The shield, normally invisible, glowed red as laser shot after laser shot hit it and bounced off. Conor felt the heat of the laser beams against his face as the commandos continued firing.
“Whoa!” Conor exclaimed. “That was unexpected.”
“I told you,” Kristi said. “Those guys don’t know quit.”
“I guess that we don’t have any choice,” Conor stated sadly as the heat from the lasers continued to mount and sweat poured down his face. “It’s us or them.”
They reshaped their shield into an elongated u-shape, catching the laser beams and redirecting them back at the commandos. Before the commandos realized what was happening, more than half of them were dead, their bodies falling to the ground like rocks cascading down a steep cliff.
Conor overheard someone shouting into a communication device, “Cease fire! Repeat! Cease fire!”
As the firing slowed and then stopped, Conor heard the same man pleading with someone, “Request permission to withdraw! Repeat, request permission to withdraw! We are totally exposed here!”
A woman’s voice answered, “Permission denied. Continue your assault commander. Repeat. Permission denied. Continue your assault.”
Conor shook his head in disbelief.
“Something’s not right,” he stated. “Those people are being sacrificed.”
“Looks like you were right,” Kristi replied. “They are a diversion.”
“Probably,” Conor agreed.
“Listen,” he stated. “Can you hear that?”
“What?” Kristi asked.
“More hovercraft,” Conor replied. “Lots of them and they are all headed this way.”
“Maybe we will get lucky,” Kristi stated as their hovercraft appeared on the horizon. “Maybe we can outrun them.”
“Let’s hope so,” Conor answered as their hovercraft zoomed in and landed softly on the roof.
“All aboard,” Kristi announced as the hovercraft’s staircase extended to the rooftop.
Michael climbed aboard first and headed for the pilot’s chair. Dee followed close behind. Kristi levitated Kathryn and Alex up the hovercraft’s staircase. After strapping them onto medical beds that folded down from one of the hovercraft’s interior walls, there wasn’t much room left, but they all managed to get inside.
“Let’s get out of here,” Michael stated, keying in their spaceship as their destination.
The hovercraft rose quickly into the sky, heading back to Michael’s spaceship at maximum velocity.
“I am afraid that I have bad news,” Conor announced.
“Now what?” Michael asked.
“I can hear other hovercraft in the vicinity,” he answered. “There are a lot of them and they are closing in on us fast. I don’t think that we can make it back to the spaceship before they spot us. They can’t track us as long as we maintain stealth mode, but this sector has obviously been cleared of all civilian air traffic. We are the only ones flying up here. It’s not like we can blend into traffic and lose them. They are sure to spot us. And I have more bad news. Kristi was right. I sense relatively high levels of radiation coming from that direction. The levels are synonymous with laser cannon.”
“Naturally,” Michael exclaimed. “Military hovercraft flying over the Capital. What’s next, civil war?”
“It sure feels like a war to me,” Conor stated.
“What do we do now?” Kristi asked.
“I’m not sure,” Michael answered. “But we will think of something. We always do.”
Chapter 24
THE CROWBAR
“One of their hovercraft has spotted us,” Conor announced as calmly as he could. “The pilot is charging his laser cannons. I can hear the plasma discharging.”
“Hang on tight!” Michael shouted. “I am going to have to do some fancy flying to avoid that cannon.”
“No!” Conor cried out. “You will hurt Alex and Kathryn if you try to outmaneuver it. Kristi and I will deflect its shots until we reach the spaceship.”
A wide, blue laser beam ripped through the clouds, scorching the air. The shot was dead on and would have killed them all if Conor and Kristi had not deflected it. The beam whizzed by them in a blue blur.
“See!” Conor shouted. “We can hold it off.”
Michael muttered something unintelligible under his breath and pounded the control panel with his fist.
“What’s the matter?” Conor asked. “Kristi and I can hold it off.”
“No you can’t,” Michael stated, obviously still upset. “That shot was just to set the range. I have seen military hovercraft in action on other worlds. It can shoot an almost unlimited number of those laser beams before recharging, and it can fire up to four shots at a time. If that pilot is half as good as I think that he is, and given how fast he is catching up to us, there is no way that you and Kristi will be able to protect us. It has too much firepower. And that is just one hovercraft. You said that there are others looking for us as well. You can bet that they all know where we are now. Even if you could hold that one off, when the others get here we are done.”
Michael took a deep breath.
“We have no choice,” he announced. “We have to take out that lead hovercraft quickly, before the others arrive. Then, we have to find a place to land and hide, or we are all dead for sure.”
Michael pulled back on the steering mechanism, causing the hovercraft to fly almost straight up. The military hovercraft matched their trajectory and closed in for the kill.
“If it gets close enough can the two of you disable it?” Michael asked.
“We can try,” Kristi answered.
The pilot was just about to shoot when Conor and Kristi grabbed his steering mechanism, pushed it all the way to the right, and broke it in two. The hovercraft spiraled out of control. As it fell to the ground, Conor broke off one of the hovercraft’s plasma nozzles, spilling liquid plasma throughout its engine casing. The hovercraft exploded in a huge ball of fire, raining debris on the buildings and streets below.
“Great job!” Michael exclaimed as he leveled out their hovercraft. “Now all we have to do is find somewhere to hide before the others arrive.”
“Where are we?” Kristi asked.
Michael brought up a map of the Capital on
the screen in front of him.
“Over the Delcronian sector,” Michael answered.
“Doesn’t Anne Hopkins live in that sector?” Kristi asked.
“That’s right!” Michael stated excitedly. “She does!”
Michael typed in her address and waited for the hovercraft to find the coordinates. The hovercraft banked to the left and began to descend. It headed for a tall building with a small landing strip on its roof.
“Just what we need, another rooftop,” Dee stated sarcastically.
“Don’t worry,” Michael told her as their hovercraft glided in and landed. “If anyone can get us out of this mess she can. I know where she lives. Conor and I will see if she is at home. The two of you wait here. Dee, you keep an eye on Kathryn and Alex. Kristi, take the pilot’s chair. Monitor the airspace above us. If those other hovercraft show up, don’t hesitate. Get out of here as fast as you can. Conor and I can take care of ourselves.”
Kristi was about to protest his orders, then thought the better of it and slid into the pilot’s chair. Michael grabbed Alex’s laser pistol and climbed down the hovercraft’s staircase to the rooftop. Conor followed him. As they left the hovercraft, Dee checked on Kathryn and Alex. Kathryn was sleeping like a baby. The microbots had placed her into a medically induced coma. Alex remained unconscious, but his breathing had improved, his vital signs were slowly moving toward normal, and the worst of his laser burns had begun to heal.
Reaching the rooftop, Conor floated a nearby canopy over to the hovercraft, preventing it from being seen from above. He then scanned the building with all of his senses.
“There are about 200 people in the building,” he told Michael. “Most of them are on the 1st floor, in the restaurant. There is a large gathering in front of a wall-sized, hologram projection screen. There is a sporting event taking place, and bets are being placed on every play. There is a lot of yelling. Most of it is good-natured, but one guy just threw a chair. The restaurant staff is escorting him out of the building. The upper floors are a mix of meeting rooms and private residences. From the tone of the conversations, most of the meeting rooms are being used for business transactions, but there are a few parties going on.”
“Anne has a corner suite, on the top floor, on the far side of the building,” Michael replied. “Can you tell if she is at home and if she is alone?”
Conor focused on that corner of the building.
“I can’t tell for sure,” he answered. “There is some movement in that corner of the building, but there are a lot of hologram displays and domestic robots on the top floor. It’s hard to tell from this distance if what I am sensing is a person, a hologram, or a robot.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Michael replied, walking over to the only door on the roof. “Let’s see if she is at home.”
Michael tried to open the door, but it was locked from the inside. It was an old-fashioned metal door with a handle and a bolt lock.
“I will take care of this,” Conor stated, focusing on the locking mechanism.
The lock popped open. Michael turned the handle and gave the door a push. It still did not move.
“Something else is keeping it locked,” Michael stated, giving the door another push. “Some type of technology I have never seen before.”
“Let me have another try,” Conor stated, focusing on the door.
The door creaked loudly, broke off of its frame, and crashed down the stairwell.
“Sorry,” Conor stated sheepishly. “Whatever was holding it closed refused to let go so I pushed as hard as I could. I guess there goes any chance of us sneaking in without being noticed.”
They stood at the top of the stairs, expecting to hear alarm bells and seeing security guards rushing up the stairs. But nothing happened.
“I guess that they trusted whatever was holding the door shut,” Michael stated, somewhat surprised. “There doesn’t appear to be any backup security systems. Given the Crowbar’s clientele, I expected very sophisticated and redundant security systems.”
“Bribes,” Conor replied. “I bet that they have paid off the local authorities to stay away. That would explain the lack of security.”
“Could be,” Michael stated, heading down the stairs. “But keep your eyes open, just in case.”
It was difficult to see anything. The only light in the stairwell came from a row of soft, amber lights running along the underside of the handrail.
“Is anyone coming our way?” Michael asked Conor as they continued down the stairs.
“I don’t see or hear anyone,” Conor answered.
“Kind of quiet, isn’t it?” Michael half-whispered.
“Yes,” Conor answered. “Too quiet.”
They reached a landing in the stairwell, with one end of the landing continuing down and the other ending in front of a door with a large “9” engraved in it.
“This is it,” Michael stated, approaching the door. “Her apartment is on the 9th floor.”
Michael pressed his palm against the door’s entrance pad and to his surprise the door opened.
“No locks?” Conor asked.
“I guess not,” Michael answered, giving the door a little push as he stepped inside. He found himself standing under a very large, ornate glass chandelier, next to a restroom. He took another step forward just as an elderly gentleman stepped out of the restroom. There was no way to avoid him. His first instinct was to draw Alex’s laser pistol. But as he reached for it in his pocket, he changed his mind. Looking down to avoid eye contact, he purposively took a submissive posture as the man walked past.
“The hand sterilizers are out of order,” the man stated over his shoulder as he passed. “Get them fixed.”
“Yes sir,” Michael answered. “Right away sir!”
As the man headed down the hall, Michael realized who he was.
“Conor, can you hear me?” Michael asked in his mind.
“Yes,” Conor answered. “What was that all about?”
“I don’t believe it,” Michael replied. “That was Justice Kourdar. Fortunately, he did not look directly at me, otherwise he would have recognized me. Can you sense where he is headed? He may know what is going on.”
“There are two relatively large meeting rooms directly in front of us,” he answered. “There are eight humanoids and three reptilians in the room on the right-hand side of the hallway. They are sitting around a large wooden table, talking. The meeting room on the left is empty. Behind those two rooms there are five smaller, private rooms and another hallway that leads to a turbolift and still more rooms. Two of the smaller, private residents are currently occupied by couples. They are ...”
Conor stopped mid-sentence.
“What?” Michael asked.
“Sorry,” Conor answered. “The couples are … busy.”
“Skip those rooms,” Michael instructed. “Can you tell where Justice Kourdar went?”
“He just entered the meeting room on the right,” Conor answered.
“Can you listen in on their conversation?” Michael asked.
“Yes,” Conor stated. “Someone named Gurrala is mumbling something about a double-cross. Whatever happened, he is very unhappy. His heart rate is nearly twice normal.”
“Continue to listen in,” Michael instructed as he sneaked down the hallway toward the room. “Maybe they know what is going on.”
“Be careful,” Conor stated. “Some of the people in that room are armed. I can sense the radiation from their laser pistols.”
Michael approached the entrance door to the meeting room. Placing his right ear to the door, he listened for himself.
“I can’t believe your incompetence,” Justice Kourdar lectured the man. “I gave you everything that you needed. You knew where Brandix was going to be and when he was going to be there. An idiot could have done the job!”
“He was accompanied by armed guards,” Gurrala answered, his voice rising in anger. “I lost two good friends in the laser exchange. I
was lucky to get out of there alive.”
“You’re an idiot!” Justice Kourdar shouted, losing his patience. “Why didn’t you bring more people with you?”
“We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near him if we went in there with numbers,” he answered. “You know that!”
“No, I don’t know that!” Justice Kourdar shouted, rising to his feet. “Someone get this incompetent fool out of my sight!”
Two armed men sitting at the back of the room got up and grabbed Gurrala from behind.
“You haven’t heard the last of me!” Gurrala shouted. “I have friends. Lots of friends. You can’t touch me. We have files on you. We have files on all of you.”
“Someone shut him up!” Justice Kourdar commanded.
A woman stood up from the table and attached a medical device to Gurrala’s left leg. He went limp, paralyzed from the neck down and unable to speak.
“Thank you Kelly,” Justice Kourdar stated, looking in the woman’s direction. “That’s much better.”
Walking over to where Gurrala was lying helplessly on the floor, Justice Kourdar reached into a pocket, took out an old-fashioned carving knife, and stuck it into the man’s right thigh.
“No one threatens me and lives to speak of it,” Justice Kourdar lectured him. “By the way, I know that you can’t feel a thing right now, but you’re making a bloody mess on the carpet. It’s going to cost at least 1,000 credits to replace it. Someone is going to have to pay for that and it’s not going to be me and it’s not going to be you because you are going to be dead. So, I am going to send someone to visit your contract partner to demand payment. That’s only fair, given that you caused the mess. I hope for her sake that she has sufficient credits to cover the damage. Otherwise, I’m going to have her killed as well. It’s only fair.”
Turning to the two men standing over Gurrala, Justice Kourdar stated, “Get him out of here using the back entrance and dispose of the body. Don’t leave any traces behind. Am I understood?”
“Yes sir,” the two men answered simultaneously.
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