by Hal Archer
Jake worked some more to open the door, but still he couldn't do so. He heaved his shoulder into it, but neither the door, nor the glass wall around it moved in the slightest.
"It's a material I developed," Lorian said. "Completely impervious."
Jake walked back over to Nadira. "So, he's is in on it? You've been lying to me."
She looked at him, but then turned her attention back to her father. "I understood why you did what you had to all those years, why you worked for Kharn. You had no choice."
Her father held his hand up to the glass in front of her. "I protected you."
"Yes," she said, strain of swelling emotion in her voice. "You protected me and so many others. You did everything you could."
"Kharn recognized my abilities. He allowed me to continue my research, and in return I assisted him and his scientists with their work."
"But this?" Nadira placed her hands against the glass, still holding her blaster in one hand.
Her father looked at her silently for a moment, and then turned away. "Kharn is a brilliant man. I didn't understand at first what he was trying to accomplish, but now I do. Together we can do so much, for all peoples."
"By killing the Waudure?" Nadira's face flushed. Her eyes grew glossy.
Jake slammed his fist against the glass. "Ok. I hate to break up the touching reunion, but this isn't happening. You open the lab or I'll find a way to do it. And I'm not above blowing the whole place up if that's what it takes."
Lorian moved back to the instruments on the counter beside the vat. "The rebels are the treacherous ones." He picked up a large dropper and stuck it into the solution in the vat. Then he squeezed a few drops of the liquid onto a petri dish. "If it weren't for their saboteurs stalling our efforts, collapsing the mines, and hitting our supply caravans, we'd have achieved a stable augmentation process by now."
"You have been murdering them," Nadira said. "Our people!"
Jake took his blaster out and shot at the glass wall where Lorian stood on the other side. The shot reflected off the surface, zipping back between Jake and Nadira.
"Ok," he said. "Maybe not the best idea."
Nadira's father stirred the solution in the dish with the tip of the dropper. "We had to use a variety of test subjects. Studying how each race reacts to the process is critical to achieving the correct formula. Their deaths served the greater good."
Jake leaned over to Nadira. "I think he's too committed. Might as well be Kharn in there."
She cast him a glare, before turning back to face her father. "Please, father. This is not who you are." Tears streamed from the outer corners of her eyes. "You would kill your own daughter?"
Jake looked around the room for something that might help to get into the lab, a control panel, something he could use to smash the wall. "We're not getting this far to fail!"
"My dear Nadira," Lorian said, "you were right. I have protected you. The bioweapon will not affect you, just as it will not affect me, or any of the people here in this base, Cracian or Waudure." He held the petri dish up to the light and tilted it slightly, looking at the solution in it. "During your routine medical examinations while you were here, minor alterations were made to you. You are different from the Waudure rebels you insist on supporting."
"What?" Nadira helped her hands up, looking at them as if to see what he'd done.
Her father placed the petri dish back on the counter. "I am a scientist, not a monster. I would not harm the innocent. They led you astray. You, my sweet daughter, you can now return to your rightful place."
"So, your great science," Jake said, "calls for you to kill off thousands of people!"
"They chose their fate," Lorian said. "Kharn has built the foundation to a great future for all peoples. Unfortunately, some of the Waudure could not accept that."
"Screw that," Jake said. "There has to be a way in." He ran over to the clear door to the right of the enclosed lab space again. He squared his shoulders to the door and stepped forward, lunging into it with a kick. Nothing. He slammed against it twice with his body weight, hitting the door with his shoulder. The door didn't budge.
Lorian stepped over to the wall behind him, raising his hand to a button beside a perforated panel. "You two will witness as we overcome the final hurdle. With the Waudure rebels eliminated, we will be on our way to mastering the augmentation process that will usher in a new age of hope for the galaxy." He pressed the button down and turned toward the panel. "It is time."
Through the panel came a reply. "Excellent."
Nadira turned to Jake. "Explosives?"
He shook his head. "They were in my pack."
A moment later, a door slid open at the back of the enclosed side of the lab. Jake hadn't noticed the door, as it was flush to the wall and made to look like part of it, with only a seam showing.
"Kharn," Nadira said.
Jake saw him for the first time. He only had the few Cracians he'd fought for comparison, but Kharn stood notably taller. His dark gray uniform and light gray skin made him look like a villain, Jake thought. But the expression on his face sealed the deal in Jake's mind.
Kharn seemed to be relishing the thought of activating the weapon, of killing thousands of people.
Jake felt nauseated by the smile Kharn wore.
Kharn stepped out of his private elevator. "We have guests, Lorian."
"I was going to notify you," Lorian said, "but the facility is secure."
Kharn moved past him, approaching the clear wall toward Jake and Nadira. "It's quite alright. In fact, I rather prefer it this way."
Jake took a step closer to the glass divide. "So, you're the crazy son of a bitch in charge."
"Mister Mudd," Kharn said, plying the tips of his bony fingers against one another in front of him as he spoke, "we meet at last."
"An unpleasant necessity," Jake said.
Kharn pulled a credit chip out of his pocket. "I believe this is what you came for, isn't it? You see, Mudd, I am an honorable man." He turned the credit chip over with his fingers. "A million credits. Say we have an agreement, and I'll hand it over. Then you walk away and go back to your ship."
"Go to hell," Jake said.
"Despite the trouble you've caused," Kharn said, "I must thank you for your cooperation." He tucked the credit chip back into his pocket.
Jake clenched his bandaged hands into fists. "Why don't you open the door and we can thank each other properly."
Kharn gave no notice to his comment, nor to his fists, and continued. "You see," he turned and extended his arm toward the vat behind him, "this wouldn't have been possible without your help."
Nadira looked at Jake, and he noticed her stare.
Jake turned to her. "I told you, I had no idea of the cargo!"
"Still," Kharn said, "with the help of an old friend of yours, you came through quite nicely."
"What's he talking about?" Nadira asked Jake.
He shook his head.
Kharn spoke to Nadira. "Your father had such faith in you. He always believed you'd be loyal in the end."
"Kharn." Lorian slapped the counter in front of him, toppling over a few of the instruments.
"I must say, I had my doubts. Turns out, I was right to have my people keep a close watch on you. Your rebels continued to pose problems. Fortunately, there are avenues for finding solutions to such problems. It took a while, but I found a man who specializes in such solutions, and he was willing to help, for a price."
Nadira, her cheeks flush and her eyes red, asked, "What's he talking about?"
"No friend of mine would ever help you, Kharn." Jake's chest rose and fell visibly. He stared at Kharn with the intensity of a man ready to cross any line to do what was necessary.
Kharn raised his eyebrows, mocking surprise. "Oh? He seemed to know you. He knew all about you, Jake Mudd, about your past."
"I'm going to kill you," Jake said.
"Father!" Nadira stood at the dividing wall, her palms touching it, bracing herself as she lean
ed against it.
"That's more like the man he described." Kharn walked away from the clear partition, moving to the comm switch on the wall behind Lorian. Then he turned to face Jake again. "Jake is well acquainted with death, it turns out. Aren't you Mudd?"
"We're not talking about my past. That's not me anymore," Jake said. "The Waudure are good people. I've seen them. We're talking about women and men who just want to live without fear of being hunted, to live without being a slave to your sick dream. And children."
Kharn pressed the comm button. "Bring her in."
He looked at Lorian. "It is ready?"
"Yes," Lorian said. "We only need to encode the solution. Then the system will convert it to gas and expel it into the atmosphere. Just a few hours to spread."
Nadira staggered back a few steps, watching her father as he spoke to Kharn.
"The beauty," Kharn said, again addressing Jake, "is the price I had to pay for such a black-market commodity. Do you know what it cost me?"
"Enough games, Kharn," Jake said. He hurried to the wall of cabinets nearby. Then he grabbed one and yanked it away from the wall. Lifting it overhead, the strain showing in his neck and by the vein bulging on his forehead, he hurled the cabinet against the barrier between Kharn and himself. The wall vibrated for a second at the impact, but the cabinet crashed to the ground, and the wall stayed intact.
Kharn walked up to the clear divide, staring at Jake. "You. All your friend wanted in exchange for the bioweapon precursors was to know that you would be here, so he knew where to hunt you down and kill you."
Kharn turned and took Lorian's place in front of the vat.
"Hyde," Jake said.
"Oh," Kharn said, as if recalling the detail, "he also said something about destroying your ship, Sarah. Apparently, you're quite fond of her."
Jake ran to the transparent wall guarding Kharn and pounded on it with his fists. Blood wicked through the bandages on his hands and smeared onto the unbreakable glass.
Kharn laughed as he watched Jake beat against the barrier.
CHAPTER 38
T he door through which Kharn had entered the lab again slid open. Held firmly by two guards clasping her wrists, a young Waudure girl, no older than eleven, squirmed and fought to get free. Her face was wrought with terror, tears streamed down her cheeks.
Jake heard her cries through the speakers above him and watched in disbelief. "She's a child!"
Nadira pounded the glass barrier. "No! Don't!"
Kharn gestured for the two guards to bring the girl to him. "Her sacrifice will not be in vain," he said. "Once the weapon is encoded, it is irreversible. The loyal Waudure here within the walls of the Cracian base have nothing to fear. They, unlike this daughter of a rebel, have been protected for their loyalty."
Jake stepped back a few feet, then gave the clear wall a strong sidekick, but his foot only deflected off the surface. "How about we throw you into the vat instead?"
Kharn chuckled at him. "Of course, we engineered a failsafe into the weapon from the beginning. It will have no impact on Cracians. The Daedalon storms will carry the weapon to every inch of the planet. Soon, the rebel interruptions I've tolerated for too long will cease."
Nadira slapped her hands repeatedly against the transparent barrier. "Father! Do something! You can't let him get away with this. Please!"
Lorian watched his daughter's tearful pleading. He stepped between Kharn and the guards who were holding the Waudure girl. "Couldn't we use one of the adult prisoners? She's an innocent child."
A look of rage flashed over Kharn's face as he turned to Lorian. "Innocent? The sins of her parents abide in her."
Lorian, glancing first to the crying girl, said, "I don't think we should do it this way."
Kharn raised his arm and swung it fiercely at him, striking him on his temple. Kharn's blow knocked Lorian back. He fell against a set of metal levers, hitting his head on them.
Jake noticed the large robotic arm above the vat moved when Lorian fell onto the levers behind Kharn. He could see blood pooling on the floor beside Lorian, who slid to the ground against the back wall.
"No!" Nadira screamed and wailed. "Father!" She continued with unrestrained lamentations as she slumped to the floor before the glass wall, her body convulsing with each sob.
Jake ran to the door of the inner lab again and pushed and pounded on it. "Kharn! Damn you!"
Kharn ignored him. The door held firm. He signaled the two guards to bring the girl to him. They did so. Then they held the girl up by her wrists as Kharn moved to the controls beside Lorian's body. Kharn paused to look at Lorian on the floor, his head had a large gash, blood still running down to the growing pool on the floor. Kharn kicked him in the chest, shoving his body away from the controls to the robotic arm. Lorian's body flipped over from the thrust, resting a few feet away, under the control panel on the wall.
While Jake still pounded on the door, Kharn used the control levers to activate the robotic arm and guide it to take hold of the girl from her waist. Once he had, the two guards stepped back to watch the procedure.
Kharn, intently focused on what he was doing, didn't notice what Jake saw. The guards didn't notice either. Lorian turned his head to see Jake outside the transparent door. Lorian's left eye was swollen shut and his head was glazed with blood, but with his right eye he looked at Jake.
Nadira couldn't see her father moving behind the two guards. She continued to weep.
Kharn worked the levers to lift the girl higher off the ground.
Jake watched Lorian slide his arm up the wall toward the intercom control panel, painting a red smear on the surface as he did.
The robotic arm, still under Kharn's control, maneuvered the Waudure girl over the vat. With his attention only on the girl and the vat below her, Kharn said, "No one will ever dare to interfere with my life’s work again."
The girl screamed repeatedly.
Jake watched Lorian, still laying on the floor, push his upper body up slightly with one of his legs, managing to rise a foot off the ground. He stretched his arm out. With his hand shaking, he extended a finger and pushed a button on the panel.
Jake saw Lorian collapse to the floor again as the inner lab door in front of Jake slid open.
He rushed in.
Kharn, with his hand on the lever to release the girl into the vat, turned to see him running toward him.
Jake dove through the air with his arms out in front of him.
Kharn pushed the lever, causing the robotic arm to release the girl over the vat.
She dropped as Jake flew toward her. He caught her in his outstretched arms just before her foot touched the surface of the solution in the vat. The two of them tumbled onto the floor beyond the tank, Jake rolling his body and wrapping his arms around her to brace her against the impact.
"Jake!" Nadira got up and ran toward the entrance to the lab room.
Kharn yelled, "Mudd!"
Jake opened his arms. "Are you OK?"
The girl, trembling, nodded her head.
"Go," Jake said to her, pointing toward the door as Nadira came to it.
The young girl ran across the lab to Nadira who knelt to receive her. Then she carried the girl away from the entrance, away from Kharn, taking her to the farthest corner of the room. She stayed with her. "You're safe now."
Jake got up and faced Kharn.
"You will die for that," Kharn said. "Your friend be damned. The pleasure will be mine."
Jake stood with his arms a little out to his sides, hands wrapped in tattered blood-soaked bandages. "Bring it."
Kharn stepped forward, throwing a punch at Jake's head. Jake bobbed to the side and moved diagonally into Kharn's space, landing a blow to his midsection. As he did, Kharn, barely reacting to Jake's punch, struck Jake on the side of his head with his other fist. The two men traded blows for a few seconds, and then locked into a grapple with one another.
Jake came inside, taking hold of Kharn's uniform just bel
ow his shoulders. Kharn used his longer arms to wrap his bony fingers around Jake's neck, squeezing with a strength Jake didn't think possible.
He felt his focus drift as Kharn choked the flow of air from his lungs. He leaned into Kharn, still holding him near the collar. He doubled down, heaving his body weight behind his strength, pushing Kharn backwards. He drove him off balance and charged with him toward the wall. Kharn's back hit the wall hard and Jake followed through, slamming into him. Kharn's choke hold on Jake's neck fell away.
As the two men fought, Nadira comforted the Waudure girl as best she could. The girl stopped crying, but sat curled up, holding her knees. Nadira darted her eyes around the room and toward the entrance, checking for any other threats to the girl or herself.
"Stay here," she said. "I'm going to help my friend."
The girl nodded, but said nothing.
Nadira stood and, pulling her blaster from its holster, ran back toward the entrance to the contained lab. As she reached the door, the girl screamed.
Nadira looked back to see two Cracian guards grabbing the girl and pulling her up. The girl kicked and continued to scream, but the men overpowered her, carrying her toward the lab.
Nadira, glanced at Jake, who was trading blows again with Kharn. They were turning about. She didn't have a clear shot. She swung her blaster up toward the approaching guards carrying the girl.
One of the guards had already trained his weapon on her. He fired. The blast hit her shoulder, blowing a chunk from it. She screamed and dropped her weapon as she stumbled, grabbing her injured arm with her opposite hand.
The two guards, forcing the girl along with them, stood over Nadira, training their weapons at her head. "Inside," one of them said.
Wincing, she got up and made her way into the lab. The guards, still holding the Waudure child, came in behind her.
Kharn, his back to Nadira and his guards, reached out and took hold of Jake's throat again. Jake struggled to pry Kharn's hand from his neck, but the grip was too strong. He swung for Kharn, but his blows onto his chest were grazing. Kharn's long limbs gave him greater reach.
"Jake," Nadira called out to him, "I'm sorry."