The five young men hit the pavement, each of them grabbing for their laser pistol.
“Identify yourself!” Brandon shouted, waving his laser pistol in the air. “We’re armed.”
“I work for Anne Hopkins,” she answered.
“We work for her too!” Ian shouted. “Don’t fire!”
“Shut up,” Brandon interrupted. “I will do the talking.”
“Why should I listen to you?” Ian asked.
“Brandon is the oldest,” a third voice stated. “He should be in charge.”
“I don’t care what the two of you say,” Ian answered. “I don’t have to listen to you.”
“All of you shut up!” the young woman shouted. “You are going to get us all killed. Do any of your transponders work? All I get on mine is static.”
“Transponders don’t work,” Ian answered. “But my short-range voice modulator does. It sends and receives messages from other modulators and transponders, but its range is limited to about four city blocks, five if there aren’t too many buildings in the way.”
“Punch in the numbers 1, 4, 6, and 9, followed by a capital A and a capital H,” she ordered. “That is a capital A and a capital H, not a small a and a small h.”
Ian thought about not doing it, but then did as he was told.
Anne Hopkins’ voice boomed out from the voice modulator, “Who is this? Identify yourself.”
Ian spoke into the modulator, “Hi, this is Ian.”
“Who?” Anne interrupted.
“Ian,” he repeated. “Ian Johnson. My cousins and I are a little lost.”
Ian looked up as the young woman stepped out from the shadows in the alley across the street. Her laser assault rifle was pointing straight at his head, but as she approached she noticed the man standing on the sidewalk across the street. She swung the rifle in his direction.
“Put down your weapon and identify yourself!” she commanded.
“Jason Jennings,” the young man answered, placing his laser pistol on the sidewalk.
“Put your hands up where I can see them!” she shouted.
“Hold it right there!” Jason answered firmly. “I think that we are all on the same side.”
She slowly lowered the rifle.
“Let’s all calm down,” Jason continued.
“What is going on over there?” Anne’s voice shouted from the modulator. “Kathryn, is that you? Are you there? Are we being attacked from behind?”
The young woman took the modulator from Ian and announced into it, “Anne, this is Kathryn. We are not under attack. Repeat, we are not under attack. However, you should know that voice modulators are not affected by the communications blackout. Did you get that? Voice modulators work. They have extremely limited range, so we still can’t communicate with Brandix, but at least we can talk to each other.”
“Got it,” Anne answered. “I guess that makes sense. Modulators use low-spectrum radio frequencies. Same as combat robots.”
“Did you say combat robots?” Kathryn asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Anne answered. “Look, I have my hands full right now. Is Jason with you? I thought that I heard his voice.”
Kathryn handed the modulator to Jason.
“I’m here,” he stated into the modulator.
“The fireworks have already started, so you might as well stay with Kathryn and J.T.,” Anne stated. “It’s probably for the best. If they try an end-around, and they probably will, it should happen very soon. Keep your eyes and ears open. You got that? Stay put and help Kathryn. She’s going to need all the help that she can get.”
“Got it!” Jason stated, punching the modulator’s off button and handing it back to Kathryn.
“Alright,” Jason continued, taking a long look at Kathryn and the five young men, sizing them up. “It looks like Kathryn is in charge. How can I help?”
“My job is to serve as a lookout in case Casseday’s forces do an end-around and try to attack Anne from behind,” Kathryn explained. “She is only a few blocks from here so it is important that I get word to her quickly if Casseday’s forces show up. I thought that I was going to have to outrun them to deliver the news, but thanks to this modulator, I won’t have to do that.”
“You hear that?” Ian stated to his cousins. “Anne is only a few blocks away. What are we waiting for? Let’s get over there before this is all over.”
“You heard Anne,” Kathryn stated strongly. “We’re supposed to stay put.”
“You have got to be kidding,” Ian continued. “We came here to fight. Besides, Anne told you and this guy to stay put. She didn’t mention any of us.”
“You heard the lady,” Jason interrupted. “We stay put. All of us. You got that? Anne Hopkins knows what she is doing. If she says we need to stay put, we stay put. So, I shoot the first person who leaves. Are there any volunteers to see if I really mean it?”
“Who put you in charge?” Ian asked sarcastically. “We don’t know you.”
“Unless we get out from the middle of the street, we will all be dead,” Kathryn interrupted. “Take your arguments over to your side of the street.”
“She is right,” Jason stated. “We had better get under cover. I will take this alley. Why don’t the five of you join Kathryn in the alley across the street? I am sure that she would enjoy your company.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Kathryn said. “J.T. and I are just fine by ourselves. You can all stay over here.”
“Who’s J.T.?” Ian asked.
“None of your business,” Kathryn answered as she turned her back on him and hurried across the street.
“She’s pretty,” Brandon stated to no one in particular as he followed Jason and the others into the alley. “Feisty, but pretty.”
“Too feisty, if you ask me,” Ian answered.
“Quiet!” Kathryn shouted from across the street. “I can hear you all the way over here.”
“Yes ma’am!” Ian shouted back. “By the way, Brandon was wondering if you were under contract.”
Brandon shoved Ian hard, knocking him into a metal trash container which fell into the street, spilling garbage everywhere.
“That hurt!” Ian shouted.
Kathryn interrupted again, shouting “Shut up over there! You will give us away.”
“Stop it!” Jason shouted. “This isn’t a game! We could be under attack at any time.”
“He started it,” Ian whined.
“If you don’t get your act together I will shoot you myself,” Jason stated strongly.
“Yes, sir,” Ian answered. “But he started it.”
“Enough!” Jason stated angrily. “All of you. Go over there, sit down, and shut up!”
The five young men moved over to the far side of the alley and sat down as a group. Once they were settled, Jason positioned himself behind a parked hovercraft and leaned his head out just far enough to see up and down the street in both directions. Reaching into a pocket, he grabbed a motion detector and tossed it into the street. Setting his wrist transponder to the motion detector’s frequency, the transponder’s viewing screen turned pale blue. A white line ran repeatedly across the screen as the motion detector looked for any sign of movement within a two block radius. A few moments later, a series of small white blips appeared on the screen.
“We are about to have company,” he called out to Kathryn. “There are at least 20 of them, maybe more. Looks like an end-around to me. They are coming down your alley. You better contact Anne and get out of there. They are headed right at you.”
Turning to the young men, he announced, “Get ready.”
Laser fire erupted from across the street. Jason watched in dismay as several large chunks of the two buildings lining the alley across the street crashed to the ground, landing in the precise spot where he had last seen Kathryn standing. As the rubble piled up, a choking cloud of dust filled the street. Although he could not see her, he knew that Kathryn was still alive because he could hear laser blasts firing b
ack and forth. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted his nose. He recoiled instinctively, but gathered himself together and raised his laser pistol into firing position, looking for a target. Kathryn staggered out from the alley’s shadows across the street. Her automatic assault laser rifle sprayed out a steady stream of laser blasts into the dust cloud behind her. Debris rained down from the sky as the buildings lining the alleyway began to give way. Jason ran into the street without thinking, firing his laser pistol repeatedly, trying to provide Kathryn some cover. As he reached her side a laser beam struck right in front of them, blasting the asphalt pavement into hundreds of jagged, sharp fragments that shot through the air in all directions. Dozens of fragments pelted his body, knocking him to the ground. As he fell, a laser beam cut across his left shoulder, burning a trench across his shoulder blade.
“That shot came from my left,” he thought as he rolled onto his right shoulder, pointed his laser pistol to his left, and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
“How stupid can I get?” he thought, pain throbbing throughout his body. “They have us in a crossfire. I should have stayed in the alley.”
More than a dozen ground assault commandos raced up the street, their laser pistols spitting blue and red laser beams. The pavement in front of Jason exploded. A red laser beam whizzed past his head, a blue one hit the side of his left boot. It burst into flames. The pain was unbearable. Gritting his teeth, he managed to get off another shot. He hit one of the commandos, slicing off her left leg. The woman fell, face-first, to the pavement, screaming.
“One down,” Jason thought as he curled up, hoping to find the strength to keep firing. He knew that as long as he kept firing he had a chance. At that very moment, a steady stream of laser fire shot out from the alley behind him, cutting across the commandos racing toward him, killing them all instantly. Their bodies fell to the pavement, smoke pouring from the multiple laser holes that had been shot clean through them. Jason turned around and saw Ian, Brandon, and their three cousins lined up on the sidewalk behind him, each of them holding two laser pistols, one in each hand, firing in unison gunslinger-style. They turned as one, directing their laser fire at the guards emerging from the alley across the street. They walked toward Jason, firing continuously. Kathryn staggered to her feet and joined them. Together, they blanketed the alley with laser blasts. The buildings were charred black by errant and ricocheting shots, and the alley lit up as laser beams cut back and forth through the air. Casseday’s guards ducked for cover, but they were hemmed in by the fallen rubble. They were picked off, one after the other. The laser fire continued for several minutes. Kathryn’s strength started to give way as the weight of the laser rifle slowly took its toll. Then, finally, it was quiet. Kathryn dropped the rifle and fell to her knees, exhausted. Sweat pouring down her face, she looked up at Ian and his cousins and then back at the dozens of smoldering bodies littering the street.
“How about that?” Kathryn thought. “Those guys are okay.”
Jason looked down at his left leg. His pant leg was soaked red and his still smoldering left boot was almost totally melted.
“I’m gushing like a geyser!” he shouted, pulling a tourniquet from his med kit. “I thought that laser blasts cauterized themselves.”
“Here,” Kathryn stated, taking the tourniquet from his now trembling hands. “You’re messing it up. Let me do it. This isn’t a laser wound.”
Kathryn wrapped the tourniquet around his leg and pressed its green on button. The tourniquet hummed as it tightened around his leg, cut off the flow of blood, and pumped microbots into his bloodstream.
“Oh my,” she stated, examining Jason’s left shoulder.
“What?” Jason asked. “What is it?”
“I hope that we are in time,” Kathryn stated, spraying a sealant on the wound.
“In time for what?” Jason asked in a near panic. “How bad is it?”
“It’s pretty deep,” Kathryn stated, obviously concerned. “I have no medical training, but these field med kits are pretty good. Are you in pain?”
“I was,” Jason stated as he sat up. “But the bots are working, I feel much better.”
Kathryn turned away from Jason for just a moment and called out, “J.T., it is safe now. You can come out.”
A young boy, no more than 12 years old, emerged from inside a metal trash can in the alley and stepped into the street.
“Kathryn,” the boy called out. “Those guards left something over here.”
J.T. rolled a mobile missile launcher with two missiles still attached to its side into the street. Its firing extension tube scraped loudly against the pavement. Kathryn gave J.T. a big hug.
“Way to go!” she shouted.
The boy smiled.
“Okay,” Kathryn stated, her voice taking on a commanding tone. “We don’t have much time. That was probably just an advance scouting party. The rest of Casseday’s end-around will be here shortly. You can bet on that.”
Pointing at Ian, Kathryn continued, “You there.”
Ian looked around, as if he thought that Kathryn was speaking to someone else.
“You,” she repeated, pointing her finger straight at him. “Give J.T. a hand. That missile launcher is too heavy for one person.”
Ian walked over to J.T. and tried to pull it from his hands.
“No way!” the boy shouted, pulling the missile launcher from Ian’s grasp and pointing to the far end of the firing tube. “You hold it back there. I’ll handle the firing mechanism.”
“Why do you get to fire it?” Ian complained. “I’m older. I should get to fire it.”
“I found it,” J.T. responded. “Besides, you don’t know how to fire it.”
“Yes I do!” Ian answered, his voice rising into an annoying whining sound.
“Stop it!” Kathryn shouted. “We don’t have time for this. J.T. will handle the firing mechanism. Ian, or whatever your name is, you hold the missile launcher steady. You’re the older, stronger of the two, so it makes sense that you hold it steady.”
“See,” Ian stated into J.T.’s ear triumphantly. “I get to hold it steady because I’m older and stronger than you.”
Kathryn rolled her eyes to the sky.
“I don’t believe this,” she thought, walking over to Jason and helping him get out of the street and onto the sidewalk.
Jason sat on the sidewalk, his back propped up against a solar-powered light pole, his laser pistol resting on his lap. His left leg was limp, and there was no way to check the condition of his left foot. His boot was burned beyond recognition. Kathryn knew that if they did not get him to a medical facility soon that he could lose his leg.
“I was able to get a message to Anne,” Kathryn stated. “She knows that they are coming.”
“Excellent,” Jason stated. “Why don’t you and the boys get out of here? I can hold them off for a little while. You have done your job. I can’t move. Save yourself.”
Ignoring him, Kathryn took a long look down the street and then down the alley.
“Why don’t you and the others just get out of here?” Jason repeated, patting the laser pistol with his right hand. “I will be fine. The medical kit is working. I feel no pain. Do the smart thing. Save yourself and the others. Live to fight another day.”
“I’m not going to leave you behind,” Kathryn stated. “Besides, there are still eight of us. Plus, we’ve got a mobile missile launcher and two missiles. They won’t be expecting that.”
“Are you out of your mind?” one of Ian’s cousins asked. “We have done our job. Let’s get out of here! No amount of credits is worth this.”
“We’re not going anywhere!” Kathryn interrupted him.
She moved very close to his face and said forcefully, “I’m not going to leave him behind!”
“He’s right,” Jason interrupted. “There are too many of them. You did your duty. You slowed them down and Anne knows that they are coming. Now let me do my duty and slow them down some more. It will be
worth it if I know that you are all going to be safe. You can tell everyone how heroic I was.”
“End of discussion,” Kathryn stated forcefully. “I am staying. We are all staying. No one is being left behind.”
The cousins huddled up, discussing what to do.
“Just remember,” Kathryn stated as they argued amongst themselves. “If I survive, everyone will know if you ran away like a bunch of cowards.”
Kathryn overheard one of them say “we should get out of here while we still have a chance” and another say “I don’t want to be remembered as a coward.”
“Here’s the deal,” Kathryn interrupted. “If you stay, you can take the missile launcher and use the building debris for cover. I will take the alley across the street. As soon as they get close I will open fire to attract their attention. The rest of you open up and give them everything that you’ve got. Having two missiles explode in their laps should shake them up pretty good. Fire on them for five minutes. Just five minutes. We then retreat into the neighborhood. What do you say?”
“How are we going to get him out?” Brandon asked, pointing at Jason.
“Let me worry about him,” Kathryn stated. “All I am asking for is five minutes. And then you can leave. But if you leave before the five minutes are up I swear that if I survive I will hunt you down until the end of time. And when I find you I promise that you will die a slow and very painful death.”
The cousins huddled up once again and voted. It was not unanimous.
Kathryn positioned herself in the alley, crouched low, and leaned her head around the building’s corner. She did not have to wait long. About 30 ground assault commandos moved rapidly up the street, using parked hovercraft for cover.
“Here we go,” Kathryn thought, leaning out from the building’s side and opening fire.
Her first shot cut across a commando’s belly, slicing him in half. His top half fell forward, hitting the pavement with a thud. His lower half wavered for a moment before falling backward. Kathryn fired three more shots and ducked for cover behind a large slab of concrete that had fallen off of the building’s side. She made it just in time. Dozens of laser beams hit right in front of her, vaporizing a large section of the street. The explosion knocked her to the pavement and broke the concrete slab in half. Holding her laser pistol steady with her knees, she fired three quick shots through a gaping hole in the slab. The first shot ripped through a commando’s chest and hit another standing directly behind him in the face. Their lifeless bodies fell to the pavement. The second shot sliced through a commando’s shoulder and continued on, hitting a stone pillar. The third shot whizzed by a commando’s head and struck a parked hovercraft. It exploded, sending metal shrapnel rocketing out in all directions; impaling three commandos. Two of them died instantly. The third bled to death. At that exact moment, Jason and the five cousins opened fire from across the street. Red and blue streaks of laser light scorched the air. Kathryn heard the roar of the mobile missile launcher and then a loud explosion as a missile struck a parked hovercraft, blowing it and the four commandos behind it into a million pieces. Both sides continued to pour it on, exchanging volley after volley of laser fire. All of the buildings lining the street burst into flames as errant shots blasted through windows and torched their insides. As the firefight intensified, a huge cloud of black smoke and dust engulfed the street, making it difficult for either side to find a target. Kathryn strained to see through the dust cloud, hoping to find anything moving to shoot at. She thought she saw something move and was about to shoot when an ear-piercing cracking noise sent shivers up her spine. Looking up, she saw the building towering over her engulfed in flames. It began to topple and break apart. She tried to roll out of the way, but there was not enough time. She crossed her arms in front of her face as the building broke apart and rained debris on her. A large chunk of concrete with a metal rod sticking out of one end smashed into her right leg. Another chunk of concrete struck her left shoulder. Grimacing, she raised her laser pistol, hoping to get off one last shot.
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