Cutlass Sharpened

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  Renee came forward to breathe inwardly deep as she felt her own power back as well as her chip being reactivated outside the secure zone. “Believe me, Netul, I’m going to make damn sure everyone responsible for this situation will be accountable and publically hung. I know you want to vaporize this entire place and I know I would if I suffered and rotted away for sixty grueling years, but send your senses to the guards inside. Only two supervisors were aware of you and the experiments. The rest still believe what they are doing is justice for society. I beg you, show mercy on them.”

  Netul gave her a flat look before thinking to them “Very well. I find your words true. I had assumed they all knew that grave laws were broken, but most minds are wondering why I and yourselves were in here and why the warden is dead. If I have your vow that the information you hold will be sent to the proper authorities of your people, I will not exact further vengeance.”

  “I promise.”

  Netul nodded. “Then our accord is made. We will meet again one day. May it be again in battle.” He put an arm across his chest, bowed and looked up into the stars before closing his eyes.

  Next thing Oliver and Renee see is a blinding white flash and in the next is that Netul was gone.

  “Well that was interesting.” Oliver grinned as he kept his helmet on.

  Renee nodded and closed her eyes as she felt a frantic need not her own suddenly snap and heard “Renee! What happened? I thought I lost you!!!”

  “Oh, Sparky, it’s so good to hear your voice again.”

  Her mental tone and elated emotions was the balm the Drake sorely needed and his own emotions slid into her, making her cry in relief. “I’ve been so worried, My Friend. Tell me what has happened. I’m boarding your shuttle as we speak and am coming with Jessica and Stephanie. Tell me as I come.”

  “Um, hold that thought, more trouble.”

  Oliver stood in front of her as nine men with guns aimed were yelling for them to surrender. He drew his sword and said “Not this time.”

  Two fired collars, but Oliver was ready this time and he cut them out of the air. To the guards, his arm seemed to vanish for a moment and the charges went off, but he was well protected from the small blasts. His helmet protected his sight and hearing so he was ready for more. When collars failed they fired stunning balls of plasma, but they hit him harmlessly. They increased power, but he was not going down this time. Pulling on the mental lever within negated the muscle seizing shock while the armor kept burns from getting anywhere near flesh.

  Renee was shielded by his body to hear him say calmly “Red, go to the edge and see if there is a way out of here. I’ll keep them occupied and not kill them… unless you know one of them who deserves…”

  “No, they were all just ordered to recapture us by someone who knows the game’s up, but can’t realize it yet. These guys are doing as ordered.” She said after a moment of digging in recent thoughts of the nine men.

  True to his word he went on the attack, but didn’t kill anyone. He merely chased the scattering men to destroy their blasters and knock them out with a blow to the head. They stood no chance to keep up with his physical prowess.

  Renee ran to the edge and groaned as she looked down to see New Wrangler Prison floated directly over a sea of an active super volcano. Beneath was a molten sea. She was glad no one cut the power or the entire facility’s last defense was to plunge and kill everyone in the superheated rock of a super volcano. It was so big, an entire range of mountains could fit comfortably. It bubbled and frothed. Now she knew why no one ever escaped here and that its location was classified. She yelled “We have nowhere to go!”

  “We don’t have a choice!” He pointed as an ion cannon turret slowly turned towards them. The sheer size of the cannon could down enemy ships from space let alone two people in the landing area.

  “Oh fuck me!” Renee groaned out as another complication turned up.

  “We’ve got less than a minute. If that thing fires, we’re goners.”

  “Unless you can suddenly fly we’re screwed.” She snapped.

  “Can’t you levitate us?”

  “Not without leaving a psionic particle trail that will lead that cannon’s energy straight along the same path. Levitating the two of us won’t dissipate quickly enough even with all the wind. The charged particles will be like a cord that will follow our movement. Only sub-light engines don’t leave an electrical trail. Without a ship we can’t fly.”

  “Can you blow it up?”

  Renee’s eyes became pure emerald light as her hands faced each other and a massive blue ball of energy vibrated the air as she put every iota of her being into it and threw her arms forward with a yell. A Kinetic explosion able to level the whole facility condensed to a ball struck something and was diverted. “Fuck! They have a deflection field! Where did they get one!?”

  Oliver’s mind worked furiously for ten seconds before he snapped his fingers. “We can fly… or more accurately glide!”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked as the cannon was almost upon them. She saw the barrel’s dark chamber as large as she is tall creeping closer.

  “Netul, must have planned this for so long. He gave us both a way out, up and above keeping you from dying down in Level Four. Think about your bracelet and imagine your suit altering like you’ve seen mine do often. Absorb the cape and make a wingsuit. The volcanic heat’s thermals will keep us well above the lava till we get out of range.”

  Renee imagined just that as she watched his cape make a parachute from wrist to ankle and between the legs too. She felt her armor adjusting and even added a thin film over her head to act as a windscreen.

  They had no time to spare and flung themselves off a second before the entire lip of the landing area blew up. Renee screamed, but then felt Oliver grab and flipped in such a way that she stopped tumbling and spread her arms and legs. He was right beneath her as she evened out, gliding upside down, always there to catch her.

  As they glided away Renee began to catch her breath and activated her chip to mentally design a better gliding method. Her armor thinned some more, but added a lattice to offer rigidity and her suit basically became a cockpit. The wings along her sides hardened and went to become three meters wider while her legs locked together and made smaller wings she could adjust by changing the position of her legs. Gliding became infinitely smoother, faster and easier to control.

  Below, Oliver copied her and his wings were beside hers.

  They didn’t hold still as she sent her telepathy to him and they randomly confused the cannon from getting a lock. They spread away, but not so far so as to be unable to react if the other was in need. Renee though was amazed by her armor, especially able to breathe in a noxious environment where their sensors were unable to gain a lock on them.

  Sparky was always there and informed Jessica and Stephanie on where to go. They soon found the volcano and Renee grinned as her shuttle was right where she expected. Jessica was at the controls and matched the gliding speed while opening the cargo hold. His body glowed brightly so she could see the hold in the darkness that surrounded them.

  Renee angled herself perfectly and her suit absorbed back into itself though she tripped and fell to the floor. Oliver glided in second and his landing was much worse as he slammed into the ship’s wall with enough force to grunt in pain. Renee watched as Sparky hit the button to shut the cargo doors and the howling wind died. She yelled up to the cockpit. “Get us the hell out of here!”

  “Already on it!” Jessica said as she hit the throttle and left the area to hold nothing back.

  Sparky practically pounced on her and reared back on his hind legs to gather her in his arms. “Do not ever do this to me again.”

  “I love you too, Sparky.” She hugged him for all she was worth, unable to stop the tears of relief from falling.

  Oliver rubbed his throbbing, sore shoulder which took the brunt from the ungraceful landing and decided she and Sparky needed alone time. He
headed through to the ship’s multipurpose core room and up into the cockpit to find they already reached space. “Where are we going?”

  “The Dorgenox. Jake’s orders.” Stephanie said as she flung her platinum hair over a shoulder while turning her seat. “Where have the two of you been?”

  “We just broke out of New Wrangler Prison.” Even Jessica’s head whipped around at that. “We’ll tell you everything, but right now I need your skills, Jessica. Stephanie, can you fly.”

  “I won’t crash into anything, but I can’t promise more than that.” She admitted.

  “Good thing we’re hours from the spaceport and space is rather free of debris. You’ll do fine, Babe.” Jessica patted Stephanie’s thigh and left the pilots chair and followed Oliver back. “What do you need?”

  “Get out your data pad while I make a call. Go see Renee and tell her to download her neural chip’ recordings to it and wait for my instructions.” She pulled out a thin handheld crystal and left him as he tapped behind his ear. “Elder Talon, are you and Claw busy? It’s Oliver.”

  “I’m available. My husband’s preoccupied at the moment.” Talon’s strong feminine voice came across loud and clear. “What do you need?”

  “Information. Renee and I were accused of bombing Galicom and sent to New Wrangler Prison on Verard within the past twenty four hours. We were innocent. Wrangler then expunged our existence under his watch and dropped us down in Level Four where he held a Creelin Zeelin Beyleez warrior by the name of Netul for sixty four years. I just got us out, but as we made our escape we discovered Beasts in the prison used to experiment splicing human and Beast together while using Keptl infestation spores to combine the two. We just escaped and I’m afraid time is of the essence. Other parties were aware and we’ve got documentation to verify my claims. I need a reliable source here on Verard to give the information before those parties can escape.” Stephanie was staring at him, completely caught off guard.

  Talon was quiet to process this before saying “If you have undeniable proof you should contact my daughter Cassandra Peterson. She is a supreme judge there. Her password is Donavin three three two. Wait five minutes for me to contact her first so she’ll be prepared for this massive breach of the laws. Five minutes.”

  “Not a second longer. Thanks.”

  “No, thank you. I know Netul. We go back a few centuries. And he’s the only Beyleez in Andromeda. I’ll check on him later. His wife Callier will be so relieved. Good luck straightening this mess out.”

  The conversation ended and he sat down on a nearby comfortable chair to close his eyes. He heard Renee in the back saying “Yeah, pretty badass huh?”

  “Yeah! Now you and him even dress alike. So how did you get a suit like this?”

  “I can’t, Jess. I made a Creelin a promise and I intend to keep it. You mind if I can take a shower? I’m rather ripe and I desperately need to remove my makeup.”

  “Sure, Sweetheart.”

  Footsteps alerted their arrival and Renee went straight for the bathroom door. Sparky’s long neck stretched out though the hole, not going far from her for the foreseeable future. Jessica exclaimed “Stars!” as she scanned the information projected in front of her. “Steph, you need to see this!” Stephanie’s eyes grew.

  At five minutes he programmed the judge’s information and said “Cassandra, it’s Oliver Void.”

  Cassandra had a voice just like her mother. “My mom filled me in. I’m ready for the proof. Send it encrypted at once so I can sign a warrant for a full inquiry into the maximum security prison. The channel you need to sent to is…”

  Jessica programmed the private fifty three number link into a data-burst flash, adding her own encryption program to it and sending it to the judge.

  Renee came out of the shower wearing short shorts that showed off her thighs and a casual shirt. Her eyeliner, blush and fingernail paint was gone. She made a beeline and plopped right down in Oliver’s lap, just to be held. Comforted.

  Not ten minutes later Cassandra returned and it was clear she was on a war path. “Elder Void, I’ve issued the warrant and deployed the Marines to secure the prison. I personally authenticated the copied codes and even linked my office with the security system. My husband watched the recent footage they were trying to scrub and saw you and the Creelin there killing the warden last. Rest assured, no charges will be filed for your hand in Wrangler’s justified killing nor your breaking out of jail. I just personally watched the bombing in Galicom and checked the scanners and found Ms. Dorgen innocent. A scan of her body entering nor leaving the building had no trace of being an accomplice to the detonation. She just looked like her punching the table set off the explosion. You have my thanks as well as my sincerest apologies. I also promise that all complicit in this conspiracy will be hung without any plea for retraining to be granted.”

  “Thank you, Cassandra.” The call ended. “We’ve been cleared officially.”

  “About damn time.” She let out a breath she had been holding. “Tomorrow we have unfinished business. Tonight we’ll be medically checked and get back to some fun… but first… you need a bath.” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Join me?”

  “Maybe later.” She promised with a kiss. “Right now I need to shut my eyes and veg now that we escaped.” Renee got off his lap so he could get up and get clean.

  Chapter 11

  “Okay, we’re docked.” Jessica called out as she spun in the seat and got up.

  Oliver opened the main airlock of the shuttle and both the inner and outer wooden doors opened wide so he could disembark and exit the craft inside the private docking bay. Behind followed Renee, Stephanie and Jessica.

  Renee barely made four steps before a scaly green snout knocked against her shoulder. A soft smile quirked her expression before she took the hint and climbed aboard Sparky’s back. Sparky had already thanked Oliver for getting her back to him and was raised a notch higher in those slit, reptilian eyes.

  They crossed the expanse to the large elevator network of the ship when Renee asked “Stephanie, it just hit me, but how did you get my baby from the parking building? And how did you know something was wrong?”

  “I’m responsible actually.” Jessica said with a toss of her reddish brown hair. “After you hung up with me yesterday I went to a gravity chamber to get accustomed to higher gravities. You know, learn how to throw things around and how much more effort I need to put in on levitating objects and so on. It was about two hours later when Abdul called me and Steph when Sparky came roaring on the bridge looking like he wanted to murder everyone. When he calmed Sparky enough to get a clear thought across, he tried triangulating your com, but you had seemed to disappear. There’s been problem after problem since arriving here.” She shook her head and pursed her delicate lips. “We found that there was a bombing at Galicom in the same area as the renewal office and tried finding you. Abdul contacted us and we chartered a shuttle and found nothing.

  “I knew something bad happened and ran back to the nearest garage and hacked into the system to bypass protocol and trick the system to release your shuttle into my care. I checked the flight recorder and you didn’t leave any messages. So Steph and I took her back to the Dorgenox and picked up Sparky since this is the largest shuttle on the Dorgenox that can carry a dozen Drakes if need be. We then flew back down and Sparky focused as I flew all over Verard trying to get him in as close proximity to you as we could, but you were on the other side of the planet when he finally reconnected.”

  Gazes turned to the primal rumble emanating from Sparky’s chest that clearly said he was glad it worked out.

  “So did you at least get the visa renewed?” Asked Renee, patting Sparky’s thick, supple neck.

  “That is one of the other issues she was speaking of.” Told Stephanie as she entwined her finger’s with Jessica’s. “The bombing closed off that whole area for the remainder of the day though we all know the building’s automated repair functions would fix any damag
e within a couple hours.”

  “What else?”

  “Well… something is screwing with the Terran network. Mostly for Galicom’s mainframe. It’s why Jake and the Hunters had to go down to the planet. My brother said it was something top secret. Whatever is going on is being kept out of the public knowledge for the time being.” Stated Jessica. “Before we get to the unpleasant part of the story, I want to have details on the date. You told me he took you to The Pits right?”

  Renee brightened immediately in her comfortable shirt and shorts. “It was such a surprise. It was by far the best date I ever could imagine.”

  “Details, Sweetheart. I’m living vicariously here. Even I thought The Pits were myth propagated by people on the net with too much time on their hands.”

  And Jessica got her wish as Renee winked and said “I wanted to surprise you, auntie. Look under the video file titled ‘Fight Night’ and enjoy. My eyes recorded everything.”

  “Not everything I hope.” Oliver inquired.

  Renee replied with a wolfish grin. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to make my aunt want to burn her eyes out when we had balls to the wall sex. I just recorded the fights. Sex is saved on another file.”

  “Thank you for that.” Jessica laughed. “Seeing Oliver naked once was scandalous enough for two lifetimes. I don’t need to see my niece using her magic box too. I’m just glad you got rid of those cobwebs.”

  “JESSICA!!!” Renee went beet red and that made her relative laugh uproariously.

  “Oh… That…. was rich.” She said catching her breath as Oliver pressed the button for the elevator. “Sweetheart, I’m just glad you inadvertently let me win the bet with my wife.”