by Gary Weston
That kill had been Tagg’s. They had decided that before their space-boots had smashed down the final barrier. And there he was. The kingpin. No ifs or buts. Tagg should have dropped him where he sat. But for reasons nobody, including Tagg could explain, the man wasn’t killed. At least until he fired his own weapon with such a shaky hand it missed Tagg and sliced off her face. Only then had Tagg reacted, his own laser slicing the man clean in half. She remembered standing there, unable to comprehend what had happened, not feeling pain, still on her feet. She had seen the shocked look of horror on Tagg’s face, and she heard the two halves of the kingpins body fall to the floor.
The next thing she recalled had been the hospital lights, the injections, the scalpels at her face, what was left of it. She remembered looking up from the hospital trolley as she had been raced along to the operating theatre, and there was Tagg. His expression and his eyes had said it all.
She had hated Tagg Raven. Loved him, also. So many nights before that terrible event they had put their lives of danger aside, shared a bed, talked of the love they had for each other. Not for them the luxury of daring to think of a future together. Deep down, that may have been their strongest desire, but in their line of work, to contemplate a future was to court disaster. And so, in the shadows of the night, when her will to live another day had deserted her completely, she would wish to die. She could no longer live and hate the man she loved so much.
Then, after so many attempts to end it all had failed, she had decided to have even more surgery, regain her face, her looks, her self respect. The man she had tried so hard to hate was with another. Joy Dainty. They were happy. She would rebuild her face and her life. Perhaps even one day learn to love another man the way she had once loved Tagg Raven.
Once again the gods had decided otherwise. No. It wasn’t death she feared. But to die alone in a miserable cell with a hole burnt into the mattress and a blood splatter pattern on the wall above her head. She curled up on the bed, feeling an uncomfortable burning inside her. She looked up at the camera she knew was looking at her through the peep-hole in the steel door, hoping her parents were not watching her die.
Chapter 184
Two shadowy figures draped in white sheets to blend in with the snow covered landscape, ran behind the mobile command centre. At the same time, three more figures ran to a police vehicle and drove away. Keeping low, the two on foot dodged behind the row of police vehicles, running to the concrete bunker with the locked steel cover to the access channel that ran beneath the old prison. A laser zapped the rusting, rudimentary lock that covered the entrance. Raven pulled the hatch open.
‘I would usually say “after you” at this juncture, but I’ll take the lead if you don’t mind.’
Raven didn’t wait for a reply, but dropped down into the channel. Moyra Jett was right behind him. The channel was about four feet square, with pipes and tubes filling much of it. There was barely enough space in which to move. Tagg Raven led the way, his knees either side of a large main sewerage pipe, with a dozen other different pipes and cables running away from the prison.
Onwards they crawled, until they were under the prison. They had to crawl almost to the end of the extended channel, until they came to the point Tagg Raven was particularly interested in.
‘This is about it,’ said Raven. ‘Keep your eyes covered until I’m finished.’
Inspector Jett awkwardly turned around in the channel until she faced the way they had come. Raven had one of several weapons in his hands, and he selected one of the laser rifles. He looked at the end of the tunnel ahead of him, then roughly calculated the correct position on the channel wall with which to focus upon. He blasted the top of the channel at roughly the correct angle, melting a hole through the reinforced concrete. Molten shards dropped all around him a few pieces burning his flesh, but that didn’t slow him down. The rifle finally spluttered and died.
‘I need another laser,’ Raven said.
Jett wriggled to face Raven and passed him another laser rifle. Raven wasted no time in blasting more out of the concrete, determined that nothing was about to stand in his way. Another half hour of continuous blasting, spent another laser.
Jett heard the gun splutter, then turned around and handed the next laser rifle to Raven.
‘That’s the last one.’
Raven said, ‘Then it will have to do.’
Again Raven aimed at the hole in the concrete he was making. His clothing was a mass of holes where the hot shards had burnt through, all the way to his skin. The pain only served to spur him on. His objective had still not been reached, when the rifle started to run down, and so much depended on it.
‘Come on, damn it. Come on.’
Almost spent, the laser started to stutter, the final blasts of power deepening the hole. There came a crackle and whining sound as the rifle gave up the last of its power. And there it was. Almost non-existent, but it was there. A hole into the solitary confinement cell. It was still too small, just a tiny ray of light from above, like a beacon of hope for Raven to hang his determination on. With the tip of the spent rifle, he rammed at the tiny hole to enlarge it. He got as close to the hole as he could.
‘Tilly. Tilly. Can you hear me?’
Tilly Jordan had been lying on the bed, holding her burning up stomach, when a flash of something red had shot up from the floor. She dragged herself off the bed, and on her hands and knees, crawled towards the hole. She heard a voice. ‘This is Tagg. Tilly. Can you hear me?’
‘Tagg. Yes. I can hear you.’
‘I need to make the hole bigger. Stand back.’
Smashing the end of the rifle at the opening. The hole was almost big enough for a man to pass his hands through. Raven poked his fingers into the cell and Tilly held them.
‘How are you doing, Tilly?’
‘Not good, Tagg. They never gave me any drixolate. I’m burning up inside.’
Raven said, ‘Tilly. I have some here. Enough for a dose.’
‘Too late, Tagg. My body is already shutting down.’
‘Shit! Tilly. We’re getting you out of there. Just hang on and don’t give up. I have a hand laser for you, but I need to make the hole bigger. Stand back.’
Raven smashed at the hole again with the tip of the rifle. He had done it. He could put his hand through the hole. Tilly held his fingers.
‘Tilly. Corey and Fritz might try to use you to save themselves. You see those bastards, wipe them out. Here’s a gun.’
There was just enough room to pass the gun to Tilly.
‘I have it, Tagg.’
‘And here. Drixolate to keep you going.’
‘I’ll try it, but I think it’s too late.’
‘Don’t you talk that way, Tilly. Ok. I have to go. Not much longer, I swear. You see either Corey or Fritz, use the gun on them.’
Tilly said, ‘Tagg. I’ve not much time. I want you to know something. I…I still…Tagg. Will you go get me out of here?’
‘As soon as we can. Hang on, Tilly.’
It tore Raven apart to leave Tilly behind. His first plan had been to carve a hole large enough for her to escape from, so she could get the medical attention she desperately needed. It was a poor plan “B” to just pass her the gun. He was following Jett back along the channel, towards the concrete housing of the entrance. He and Jett stood as the snow billowed around them, searching the skies. Nothing but more snow. And then it came. Captain Karma Casey and her ship.
Chapter 185
Karma Casey said, ‘Saltoe. Stop squirming like that, will you?’
‘I can’t help it. What do I know about firing a laser cannon?’
‘You just be ready to squeeze those triggers when I give the word, ok?’
Saltoe snapped, ‘You fly the damn ship, Casey, I’ll fire the damn cannons.’
Casey grinned. ‘See? Tagg was right about you. Remember what he told you?’
‘Just aim and shoot. Then he said, “We’ll make a D S I agent out of you yet”
.’
‘So there you go. How hard can it be? We’re almost there. Are you ready to do this?’
Saltoe said, ‘You get me there, I’ll shoot the crap out of it.’
‘Ok. Who the hell are you and what did you do with the real Miss Saltoe?’
Saltoe felt the twin triggers in her pudgy hands, and saw the target screens in front of her.
‘This is the real me, and I’m in the mood to kick some ass.’
Casey banked the fighter class ship into a sharp, precise angle. The intention was there, but with a novice shooter at the cannon controls, could they turn this into a reality? The prison loomed large. From out of the police vehicles, scores of armed and armoured police officers poured from every direction, falling flat into the snow, weapons aimed at the prison wall. Anyone coming out that way, was asking to be sliced and diced.
Casey swooped her ship in a slow pass over the prison, and Saltoe fired the laser cannon. The blast of pure energy carved through the rear of the prison, rubble crumbling onto the courtyard. Seconds later, the men who had been used in Corey’s and Fritz’s barbaric experimentation, ran out of their cells to freedom.
‘I did that?’ said Saltoe.
‘Like a professional,’ said Casey. ‘Time to take this bird back to the launch pad.’
* * *
‘Now what?’ asked Jett, staring at the ruined half of the prison, with the men running and yelling as they regained their freedom.
Raven said, ‘This is where Corey and Fritz realise everything isn’t going quite to plan. Come on, Jett.’
Raven and Jett ran towards the demolished back-end of the prison, climbed over the rubble and stood inside what was once a cell. The steel-bars defiantly did not want them to pass.
Raven said, ‘You got a weapon with any sort of juice left in it?’
‘Not a lot, Tagg. Maybe all of them together?’
Jett aimed three spent lasers at the locks of the cell door. Fizz, crackle and plop was the order of the day. A solid kick from Raven had the steel door swinging open. He raced down the corridor, Jett just yards behind him. Virtually unarmed, he came to the open door to the solitary confinement cell. What he saw, pulled him up sharp; one arm holding Jett behind him. In front of him Tilly was on her bed, gun in her hand, which was pointing at Corey and Fritz, panicked by the cannon fire from the ship. Both had rushed to their one anchor of hope, their last bargaining chip, only to be faced by a very angry D S I agent, Tilly Jordan.
‘Do it, Tilly,’ said Raven. ‘Take them out.’
Corey, with Fritz waving his rifle everywhere, put his hands above his head; still the cockiness on his face.
‘I know too much, Raven. You don’t want to be doing anything unfortunate now, do you?’
‘Tilly. Are you ok?’
‘I’ve felt better, Tagg.’
‘You know what to do, Tilly.’
Raven moved as Tilly Jordan fired. The shoulder slamming into Fritz and had him off his feet, Fritz blasting his laser in every direction except where it might have counted. Fritz hit the deck, his laser fire hitting the walls and ceiling. An elbow from Raven in Fritz’s face had him dropping his weapon on the floor. Corey grabbed the weapon Fritz had dropped, but Tilly shot it out of his hand. Two fingers fell to the floor with the gun.
Raven passed the gun to Jett, who would have blasted Corey and Fritz for pleasure, but restrained herself, daring either of them to move.
Raven’s concern was Tilly. ‘Did you take the drixolate?’
‘Yes. But it’s too late. Nothing we can do,’
Raven held Tilly in his arms, willing her to live. ‘As long as we are both breathing, I’ll never give up on you.’
Tilly reached up and stroked Raven’s face. ‘Before I die. I love you, Tagg.’
Jett butted in. ‘What do I do, Raven?’
Raven spun around and took the gun from Jett. He aimed it at Corey.
‘You’ll not use that on me,’ said Corey.
Raven snarled, ‘You think?’
Raven aimed low and Corey’s left leg fell off.
‘You bastard,’ said Fritz.
‘Your turn next,’ growled Raven. ‘Corey. I’m about to take your other leg off. You got words to stop me?’
Corey was writhing in agony having had his leg lasered off. ‘Go to hell.’
Tilly said, ‘Tagg. I’m dying inside. Help me.’
Raven said, ‘Say goodbye to your other leg, Corey.’
Raven aimed the gun at Corey’s remaining leg, the smell of burning flesh and bone filling the cell. The leg fell away with Corey screaming his head off.
‘I finally got your attention,’ Raven said. ‘You tell me how to save Tilly, or I keep taking slices off you.’
‘Go to hell.’
Raven said, ‘Maybe tomorrow. Not today.’
Raven yanked Corey’s left arm and applied the laser. Raven blocked out Corey’s screams as the laser cut through the arm. Raven didn’t stop until the arm fell away.
Fritz made a move, but Jett stopped him with a punch that dropped him to the ground.
Jett said, ‘Killing Corey isn’t going to help.’
Raven had what was left of Corey’s body pinned to the floor. ‘No? But slicing him up might make me feel better. Gotta get my revenge somehow.’
Corey’s right arm suddenly swung up and smacked Raven on the side of his head. Raven reacted by pummelling Corey’s head with his fists. The loss of blood got to Corey, and with one final defiant look, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he died.
‘Tagg,’ cried Tilly. ‘I need help here.’
‘Ok.’
Raven grabbed Fritz. ‘You want to end up like Corey, I can do that.’
Staring wide-eyed at the dismembered dead body on the floor, Fritz knew his turn was next.
‘It’s too late for the drixolate. There’s some of the antidote left. Maybe…’
‘Then let’s go get it. Jett, you stay with Tilly. Move it, Fritz.’
Fritz led the way to the old prison medical centre, which Corey had used as a laboratory. Fritz picked up a small glass bottle with the clear liquid.
‘Let me go free or I’ll smash it.’
Raven growled, ‘Smash it and what I did to Corey will seem like nothing compared to what I’ll do to you. I’ll make your death very slow and very painful. Now hand it over.’
The cold, mean look in Raven’s eyes won Fritz over. He gave Raven the bottle. It took just one shot from Raven, a neat hole burnt through Fritz’s head. Fritz stood there, his eyes like the rest of him. Dead. He fell like a chopped pine tree, his face smashing hard on the floor. Without a second look at him, Raven raced back to the cell. Jett was cradling Tilly in her arms.
‘Is she alive?’ Raven asked.
‘Only just.’
Raven parted Tilly’s lips and carefully poured the liquid into her mouth. Tilly’s eyes opened and she stared at Raven.
‘Tagg…’
‘Don’t you go dying on me. I’ll get you to the hospital.’
Raven gathered Tilly up in his arms and carried her outside and through the rubble Saltoe and Casey had made with the ship’s laser cannon. Detective Sergeant Bill Webster ran towards him, his gun in his hand.
‘You can put that away,’ Raven told him. ‘Just a couple of body bags needed. I have to get Tilly to the hospital and fast.’
Webster opened up the back of the mobile command centre and yelled instructions to the driver. The huge vehicle lifted off the ground and they were away to the city hospital. Tom Jett, Sally and Ian Jordan were the only others, and the Jordans’ went to the padded bench where Raven had gently laid Tilly.
There were only a couple of officers still in the vehicle, both at the radio. They were calling the hospital, getting a medical team on standby.
Sally was holding Tilly’s hand, and she looked up at Raven. ‘She can’t die. She simply can’t die.’
Raven collapsed into a vacant seat. All he could do was to hope and pray.
Chapter 186
Inspector Jett found Raven sitting alone in the corridor outside the emergency room.
‘How is she?’
‘Hanging on,’ said Raven. ‘The doctors don’t fancy her chances. Her mom and dad are by her side.’
Jett sat by his side and squeezed his arm. ‘You did all you could, Tagg.’
‘Try telling her parents that. I let them down. I let Tilly down. Again.’
Jett shook her head. ‘You couldn’t have done anything differently. If Tilly had not pointed a gun at you, you’d be the one in the hospital bed, not her.’
Raven said, ‘You have no idea how much I wish that were the case. I had to watch her suffer for years, and now she’s going through it all over again.’
‘She did go through it, I know. And that tells me she’s a fighter. We have to believe she’ll pull through.’
Raven nodded. ‘What’s happening back at the prison?’
‘One hell of a clean-up operation going on. The men have all been reunited with their families and they’re in another wing of the hospital, being checked out. They’ll be kept in for a few days to see if the antidote really did work. Any signs of a relapse, they’ll be administered drixolate to keep them alive.’
Raven cursed himself. ‘Another stuff up on my part. Killing Corey. We lost the chance of learning the formula when I killed him.’
Jett said, ‘I was there. He would never have told you the formula. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have gladly done it. Besides. I gave the hospital laboratory what was left of the antidote. They’re working on it right now, to analyse it and see if they can replicate it. At least with the test subjects Corey and Fritz used, we’ll soon know if the drug worked and any long term implications.’
The door along the corridor swung open and Karma Casey and Miss Saltoe entered.
Casey asked, ‘Tagg. Any news?’
‘She’s hanging on. That’s as much as I know. Hey. Miss Saltoe. Good shooting back there.’
‘More luck than judgement,’ admitted Saltoe. ‘I’ve written up the reports on the incident. When are we going home?’