Julian’s vicious kicks gradually died down to a lessening shiver. Still dangling ten minutes after, he was finally still.
He thought for a while. Anyone who worked for the person that killed granny and kidnapped little children was welcome to die. He let the body fall to the ground and wiped his hands on the ground. He’d killed in cold blood, and he’d almost enjoyed it. This isn't Luke at all. He bowed his head.
CHAPTER 15
Luke sat on the damp ground and stared at nothing. But the only thing on his mind was the words flashing in a brilliant neon inside him ...killer... killer... He shook his head. This was not how he saw himself to be. As far as he was concerned his worst nightmare has come to be. All his life he had seen himself as a lover of life, a supporter of life.
There was nothing he could do about guilt; it seemed to be painted into him indelibly. It was a long time before he broke his fixed gaze. It seemed that a whole day had passed slowly and painfully. He scrutinized his hands. The bruises were rapidly covering up and the pain dispersing. It wasn’t long ago after the fight with Julian. His knuckles still tingled where he'd bashed them into the merciless mercenary. He looked at the carnage surrounding him.
The remains of the bogs smoldered, the acrid smoke wafting from the plastic and whatever they put inside them stinging his nose. At the best, the bogs were soulless pieces of machinery. Their destruction did not affect him.
On the left, lying on his back was Julian's stiffening body. Crawling insects were gathering on it. He looked at the blackening body for as long as he could endure. After all, it was his handwork. Strangely the unusual sight of a body, something he’d avoided all his life, didn’t make him shudder, his usual response to death. He had to get used to it, he suspected more bodies stood between him and the children. It was beginning to be clear to him that minions, man or robot, are as serious about fighting for the cause as their masters.
After an indeterminate period, the rustle of leaves and the piercing cries of circling carrion-eaters broke the tense silence. Tall trees swayed in the gentle breeze, their waving branches and dancing shadows seeming to mock him. The colorful but disgusting birds alighted on nearby branches, staring at Julian in the oblivion of Luke. Over time, their unconcern for his presence grew into the resemblance of an insult. Luke grabbed a dry stick. He swung it over his shoulder and checked himself. The lab-created scavengers had done nothing to him. Animals weren’t even in a position to truly offend. He was a victim of his mind. He chucked the stick away. The flesh-eaters didn’t flinch. He ignored them, his mind going back in time to when he was a little boy with only one dream, to study the science of life. He dreamed of one day bringing back real forest creatures.
Granny had allowed him a plot of land on which he could raise plants and keep animals. She bought him pet after pet. Unfortunately, most of the designer animals lived a short time, but that was long enough to give him a lifelong love of nature. His jaw clenched at the memory of how granny died at the hands of the robot sent by Maya.
The image of the children flashed before his eyes, the innocent pupils taken by Julian. He remembered the good times he had extracted from them the expressions of wonderment. The joy that filled him when their eyes bulged at some new revelation was the thing that he lived for. He remembered a particular day on which he watched them take notes on their handheld as they studied some new plants. One of them, Sarah, a starry-eyed girl that was unusually small for her age, would go into the plant nurseries at every opportunity to see how plants were doing. There was nothing he could do to stop the girl from going to inspect each leaf, or flower or fruit. He missed the children more than he wanted to admit. His palms clenched so hard the nails dug into the flesh. Pain surged through his arm as he crashed his fist into the stony ground. He must get the children back at any cost, no matter who died.
At that moment the blackness lifted like rain clouds on a suddenly sunny day. Luke glanced around with a new perception, the formerly threatening trees suddenly looking really like a warm home, a home desecrated by the remains of the robot dogs and Julian. Who was he kidding? If necessary, he was ready to cover the floor of the forest with bodies of robots and humans.
At first, he thought it was just an impulse. And then a seething excitement seems to fill him, rising to a boiling point. He nodded. Whoever was connected with the abducted children or helped Maya keep them will be crushed. The elation in him was enough to make him float into the trees. It was what was roiling within him, and what he had been hiding from himself. Now that it burst forth, it came as a great relief. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He needed a great effort not to smile at the decision he had made to accept that he is now a taker of life. He Shrugged. It wasn't his fault he had become a killer with the blood of an animal. So why was he wasting time?
He stood and winced. His toes burned with pain. He sat back, removed the undersized shoes, and threw them away. His entire body was covered with a thick layer of hair. He could feel the thick growth everywhere except around his eyes and on his palms and soles of his feet. He’d lost the depilatory bottle and there was nothing he could do. Even if he could do something it would have to be after he had a word with Maya, good or bad. He turned his back on Julian.
With long resolute strides, he headed in the direction of Maya's hideout. He kept a sharp lookout for bogs and robots, or any of Maya’s minions. The only thing on his mind was the image he saw in the robot police headquarters computer. After he warmed up sufficiently, surprised at how easily he had silently slipped through the woods, he jogged onward toward Maya's facility.
CHAPTER16 THE ROAD OF TRIALS
A certain instinct told him Maya’s facility was still a good way away. He suspected the instinct to be from his new animal part. Luke stood at the edge of a large clearing, the yellow sun sinking in the horizon. Such quietness seemed unnatural. Uneasy, he cocked his ear. He heard nothing. Maybe he was just jittery.
He took a step and pain flashed in his back. Surprised, he reached behind. His fingers folded over something short and hard. He yanked at it and raised a dart with metal foil stabilizers to his face. It was familiar. He had used the tranquilizer gun to sedate animals many times to capture animals. It was his turn now.
The dart in his hand, he turned around to see where it came from. Another dart landed in his chest as he saw the shooters. Their rifles welded to their cheeks, they advanced on him. Increasingly dizzy, He took a step and his knees hit the ground. When he opened his eyes, two men stood on either side of him, one with a toothpick between thin lips.
“Welcome back,” he said. “Do you understand me?”
Luke tried to talk but the words came out as a mumble. His mouth refused to obey him. As if it was a dream, he lunged at the man, but he kicked Luke’s hand.
“Hey, Jake,” the second man said. “I think we had better carry him to transport.”
Jake snorted. “You are too officious, Shem. There are many mercenaries after this monster. If you use your brain, we could make some credits from the first comers.”
“How.”
“We pretend we want to sell him to them, we knock them into inexistence, and then we put the difference in our pockets.”
“I don’t think that’s smart.”
“It is smart, and it’s part of my plan. I need credits to pay for an implant for my son.”
“That's no reason to cross Maya. You know the kind of person she is. Let’s take this man to her, I say.”
“You call this a man? Look at him, hair all over his body, nails like digging tools. This is a regular animal, and there are more like this with Maya.” He kicked Luke in the ribs.
Luke gripped Jake’s leg, trying to throw him down. It seemed an age before he was able to apply a little force. Jake smirked down at him, and then a look of surprise showed on his face as bullets chipped bark off the trees and kicked soil around them. The mercenaries hit the ground, bringing their weapons to bear. Luke’s movements slow from the effect of t
he tranquilizer; he grabbed Jake a second before Jake’s head splattered warm crimson fluid into his face.
He forced his head to turn to Shem, who twitched on the ground with only the stump of his neck remaining. He turned left and right searching for the source of the well-placed bullets. All was still except the rustle of leaves in the breeze, and then the fall of afoot. Luke's ears twitched in the direction of the footstep. Although it was a pity Jake couldn’t stay alive to facilitate his son’s transplant, whoever killed Jake and Shem was coming. He did a quick calculation. He could dash away and take a bullet behind his head. He could charge at the source of the steps and end up with bullets in his face. But since he had no option, he preferred meeting death head-on.
He struggled to his feet, took a step and his legs gave under him, the momentum turning his head over heels, and smacked into the ground a good way off. He lay there groaning and gasping. Blood leaked from his thigh where a bullet had hit him. He got on his knees and stood and fell at the moment he put his weight on his left foot. He knew enough to know that his leg was broken, the bullet having passed through his thighbone. Now he knew how a hunted animal felt. But he wasn't afraid or even angry. The only thing he wanted was to rip out the truth or whoever stood between him and the children.
He got on his hands and right knee, his lips pulled away from his teeth, a pushing pressure around his eyes as the steps approached. Ready to attack, he froze as the foliage parted and a slight figure emerged with a rifle in her hand. Unbelievable! The long silver hair was as familiar as the piercing blue eyes. The perfect skin and the well-oiled limb movement was something he saw every day at the nursery. Sarah's mother!
His best pupil’s mother stalked closer, she seemed poised like a predator ready to strike. Not removing her eye from the gun sighting system, the steps sneaked closer, and then the warm rifle muzzle pressed against Luke’s temple.
He raised his eye slowly until he looked into the blue eyes. “Why are you doing this, Mrs. Conway?”
“You dare ask me why?” When Luke did not answer, she went on. “Many years ago, someone said he climbed Mount Everest because it was there. The best mercenaries around and robots are after you, but I got you.”
“That’s not enough reason. Your daughter is among the captured pupils.”
He winced as Mrs. Conway jabbed the rifle into his side. “Shut up.” She whistled. A pack robot, one designed for carrying loads, ambled into the clearing on spindly legs. She secured his hands and legs, the robot put him on its flat back, and, obeying Sarah’s mother, it headed north.
CHAPTER 17
Milky snowflakes floated around. Luke blinked repeatedly, the swirling colors dispersing into the white paint of a wall. He was in a cubicle. He checked his thigh. The wound had closed over, but it still ached inside. He turned as the door opened. A tall figure in a dark cape entered. Maya!
Luke sat up. "Where are my pupils?”He stood to fly at her but stopped as two bogs entered and stood on either side of the gigantic woman.
Maya folded her hands. “You should have known you can't run away from me, Luke.” Luke stepped forward but the bogs stepped between him and Maya, needle-sharp teeth bared.
“Stop, young man. I will advise you to sit. I am more than ready for you this time. These autonomous robot dogs are top-of-the-range. They are brainwave controlled, and they are the wrong adversary for a human being.” Her platinum teeth winked behind a wide smile. “Oh, I forgot, that you are only almost human. The bogs inched nearer, closely followed by Maya. Something akin to awe showed on her heavily muscled face. She stopped a few inches away, nodding.
“Just look at you, a perfect beast, even better than I dared hope for. None of my subjects have achieved this level of perfection. Unfortunately, recent advances in my studies mean I don't need you. I only need a drop of your blood or even a cell. I advise you to sit still. She snapped a finger at one of the bogs. “A-bog, take a blood sample from the subject. B-bog, provide overwatch.”
The bog on the left sprang forward. Luke threw a punch but the bog was back beside Maya. If he hadn't seen it move through the air he would have doubted that it left its mistress’s side. A numbing feeling spread in his arm. He pressed a thick finger on a bright spot of red showing through the shiny black hair.
“That's all I need,” Maya said.
“Can I go with the children now?
“You presume. I'm meaning genetic material and body fluids. As for your body, it is not exactly useless yet. And The children are now subjects for experiments, just like you.
"You treacherous bitch!"
As I was saying before your tantrum, I no longer need you except for my other purpose. Let Me explain. I told you I culled some of my subjects because of physical deformities, some for mental aberrations. But I have some who seem to be physically and mentally odd, but with one common thread passing through them; an unstoppable tendency toward physical violence. There are three hundred of them, but I think three of them are special. If you can defeat these three in combat, I will let you go, you and your special pupils. You have my word.”
Luke had no option. “Yes, if you’ll keep your word.”
“Excellent. Have a sound sleep, your first fight is in a few hours.
As soon as the door locked, Luke dashed to the door. All his effort to open it proved abortive. There was not a handhold or a window through which he could pass. He went back to the bed and lay on it with his eyes closed. He tried to calm himself with long slow breaths.
Three hours later, two bogs entered through the opening door. Moving with the unnatural grace of an artificial thing, they stopped before him.
“We will march you to the arena. Comport yourself to avoid unfortunate consequences.”
Except for a tiny metallic ring, the voice was indistinguishable from that of a human being. Luke shrugged and followed them. Outside, he saw that he could look through the door to his cubicle. He shook his head and followed the bogs down a long corridor, a tunnel as long as he could see, each of his steps seeming to push the end further away.
Both sides of the corridor were filled with transparent doors like the door to his cubicle. His head darted left and right at the grotesque beings in the small rooms, some asleep, others playing games on large colorful screens. He counted not less than two hundred and fifty of the monsters. If these were the things he was supposed to fight, he was done for already. A feeling of shame surged through him as he followed the bogs through three doors into a large Hall.
Inside, the mechanic bots scurried about, putting finishing touches to what appeared to be a fighting pit. They worked with almost indefatigable energy derived from nuclear power. They labored with the seriousness of human beings when they were up to some mischief. But that was not what caught his interest. High above, just under the tall roof, was suspended a cage from which his pupil stared down through steel mesh.
“Luke! Luke! They called.
Sarah! John! Luke sprinted toward the edge and he landed hard on his face, tripped by a fast-moving bog. A slim knife pressed against his jugular vein. He kept as still as he could.
“You must behave yourself,” the bog said.
Luke nodded. “I will behave myself.”
The knife retracted with a metallic snap and the bog flipped him back on his feet. It nudged him from behind.
“Easy, robot, easy,” he said. The robot was right; he must behave himself if he had to rescue his pupils. Not that he believed Maya’s promise to release them, but that was all he had. He had better concentrate on winning a fight against whatever Maya threw at him.
“Get into the arena,” the bog said.
There was no use arguing. His eyes on the children dangling from the roof, Luke did as he was told. The arena door locked behind him. He expected a sinking feeling, but, rather a feeling of elation filled him.
CHAPTER 18
A few minutes later, the bogs returned. Each holding on to a long cable, they towed one of the beings Luke saw in the las
t corridor. It stood on two feet and its hands swung at its sides, but that was where the resemblance to man or gorilla ended. The beast growled and lunged at a bog. A bolt of electricity flashed at it. Luke pressed his hands to his ears at the piercing shriek from the beast.
“Careful, A-bog. Specimen 190 must not be destroyed.” Maya’s amplified voice came from every angle. Then she appeared at the door, riding on a hoverchair. The hover chair glided past the bogs and stopped before the arena, at height level, from a vantage position. “B-bog, fetch specimens 204 and 290. Sedate them with a quarter of the drug.”
As one bog guarded the gnashing beast, while the other went back to the entrance, Luke glanced at Maya. She was taller than the last time and was clad in a flowing gown under her black cape. Her growth rate wasn’t Luke’s immediate concern. He turned as the bog entered with two more beasts. They followed calmly and then one of them leaped at Maya’s hover chair, lifting the bog off the ground. Brought short by the weight of the other beast, it snapped back to the ground.
Maya leaned over her armrest. “B-bog, tranquilize both specimens.”
It took less than a second for the bog to inject them with the required chemicals, and then the beasts crouched on the floor. Luke shuddered to think that he might have been like one of these less than human beasts.
“Good,” Maya said. She turned to Luke. “They are here to witness the fight because I made the same deal with them. The winner leaves here alive. A-bog, send in the specimen.”
The arena door opened. A jolt of electricity from one of the bogs sent the screeching beast hurtling inside. The being sprang at and bounced back from the closed door. It fell on its backside. In a flash, it rolled on its hand and feet. If there was anything to the beast, it moved like lightning. It snapped its head left and right, and then it froze. Saliva drooling from its mouth, its red eyes fixed on Luke. Saliva drooling from a mouth full of long, white teeth, it rose.
MARK OF THE EARTHWALKER: Evolution Protocol Page 6