by Jaxon Reed
Phang raised his hand for silence.
“You will each inform my units of your information, and accompany them to the locations you are aware of. If we sense treachery or deceit, or if one of my bots are damaged while out looking based on one of your tips, then we will deal with you appropriately.
“I am leaving Head Servant Adams in charge of this.”
With that, Phang walked away, accompanied by one of the synthetics as a body guard.
Adams’s face practically burst in joy at his newfound responsibilities.
“Right! You heard the man. Now line up and tell us what you know.”
-+-
Later that day we watched Adams arrange a contingent of bots to follow a servant who said he knew where a work detail would be on the top level.
I frantically swept through the cams on the gardens and farmland up there. Sure enough, a dozen people were laboring away picking fruit at an orchard.
“We’ve got to do something.”
“It’s more important we don’t get caught,” Dee Dee said softly. We had switched roles this time.
“You’re right. But why not both? I’ve got to at least try.”
I ran to the bathroom and climbed up to the hidden shaft leading through the ceiling to the top level.
Dee Dee called out behind me, “I’ll stay here and monitor things. Be careful, Marc!”
I pulled open the vent, squeezed through and discovered rungs to a ladder leading up. At the top I found a trap door. I opened it and popped my head out. I could see nothing but corn stalks.
I climbed out and found myself in a corn field, which is a great place for a hidden door. No cams were around, and nobody could see me unless they happened to be looking down the right row.
Mentally, I made adjustments to my sense of direction, and took off for the orchards at a quick jog. The bots would be coming out of the elevators behind me and would have farther to go. I had a nice head start.
I’d spent many, many hours toiling on the top level at farm duty as a Servant, and the terrain hadn’t changed much since I’d been gone. I burst out of the cornfield at a run, and adjusted course down a path toward the fruit and nut tree orchards.
The thought crossed my mind that if anybody besides Dee Dee were to be watching the cams up here, they’d see me. But we knew that Phang was essentially blind, without access to the spy network.
I reached the orchards and made my way through symmetrical rows of trees. The tops of some of the branches scraped against a glass ceiling forming the giant airtight bubble on the roof.
Finally I saw some people up ahead. Half a dozen were spread out with baskets and ladders, picking apples. I noted they looked like regular apples from Old Earth rather than the superior William’s apples from Redwood.
Everybody turned, startled, as I ran up to them. I stopped and caught my breath.
“GP bots are coming! One of the captured Servants knows the schedule for food workers. Everybody needs to get as far away from here as they can, and tell whoever is in charge to change the schedule. Phang is rounding up as many people as he possible, and he’s killing anyone who doesn’t help him.”
One of them nodded, an orange-haired boy with freckles who looked to be about twelve.
“I’ll tell the others. Everybody scatter!”
They fled in all directions, leaving the apples behind.
I turned around and looked back the way I’d come. It was only then I realized I’d need to find my way back to the trap door without getting caught myself.
The trees provided a little cover, but not as much as the corn field. I began jogging back, weaving among the trees and keeping an eye out for any black GP bots.
Soon enough, I caught sight of them. Three of them walked along a path, heading purposely toward the orchards with one of the Servants in front leading them.
I ducked behind a tree, too late. One of the bots saw me.
“Halt!”
All four turned my way and picked up their pace.
I darted to another tree. One of them fired an energy bolt at me. I ran out and dove behind some bushes. Several more bolts sailed over my head as I army-crawled away.
I heard them break into a jog as they hurried to my position. I scurried behind a tree right before they came around a bend.
The Servant with them said, “He’s gone.”
One of the bots said, “Activate sensors.”
Another bot held out his forearm and scanned the area.
“He’s behind that tree. Hematophagous bio marker.”
If they had been human, I would have expected a hint of surprise at the last statement. As it was, their voices had no inflections.
“Come on out! You won’t be harmed.”
I snorted.
“Yeah, right.”
I took off running in the opposite direction, trying to keep the tree between me and the bots. They fired off several energy bolts.
Thoop! Thoop! Thoop!
One of them hit me square in the back. Paralysis gripped my body and I tumbled down to the dirt. The three bots and the Servant hurried over.
“Bio marker confirmed.”
“Commander Phang, we have a hematophagous subject up here.”
A slight pause.
“Yes, sir.”
“Grab him. We are to deliver him to Commander Phang alive.”
One of them reached down, picked me up, and slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then everybody headed back toward the elevators.
Funny thing about my condition, though. As long as I’ve been hematophagous, I’ve never been stunned for very long. My faculties came back in mere moments. I remained limp, though, hoping the bot carrying me wouldn’t realize I had control of my body again.
I bounced against some bumpy material on the bot’s back, and searched my brain trying to remember what it might be. Every time I saw one, their armor was smooth all over. But I thought I remembered one bot that carried stuff on its back.
Then I recalled the one marked “XO.” Phang had taken a bomb from its back to blow open the Customs Entry. I twisted my neck up and to the side. Sure enough, the letters “XO” were stenciled on this bot’s back. Explosive Ordnance.
The Servant had fallen behind a bit since they didn’t need him to lead the way anymore. I caught his eyes. They grew wider when he realized I was awake. I held his gaze for a moment, trying to figure out how to communicate without letting the bots know anything. Finally, I decided there wasn’t any way. I just hoped he could run fast enough. I reached under my chest for one of the lumps on XO’s back, and pulled out a small egg-shaped bomb similar to the one Phang used earlier.
I slapped it against the bot’s back and pressed in the center just like I’d seen Phang do it. The bot stopped as he felt movement, and pulled me down in front of him. I presumed he was going to inspect me and see why I was moving since I was supposed to be stunned.
As soon as my feet hit the ground, I twisted out of his grip, ducked and rolled.
I yelled, “Run!” at the Servant while tearing off in the direction we’d come.
He seemed like a nice kid, maybe fifteen or sixteen, light brown hair and a big flat nose. I didn’t hang around to see if he’d obey the order, but then I heard his footsteps behind me.
“Halt!”
Thoop! Thoop!
The bolts caught us in the back. I went tumbling to the ground again.
KABLOOOM!
The explosion flung our limp bodies further away before we hit the ground.
-+-
I woke up a few moments later, battered and bruised. A few flames crackled on grass and bushes nearby. The smoke dissipated throughout the glass bubble. A thought crossed my mind as I came back to my senses. I was unsure if there were exhaust vents up here, and if so exactly where they were.
I stood up slowly. My ears were still ringing. I had bruises everywhere, and sharp pains in my chest told me several ribs were broken.
I lo
oked around and found the Servant a few feet away. I knew he was dead just by looking. His body seemed twisted all wrong, and there was no movement. A tremendous sense of guilt washed over me. He was dead on account of my actions.
Looking back where the bots were, I noticed all three had been blown apart by the blast. That little egg-shaped bomb must have been more powerful than our bricks of plastic explosives. The XO unit looked the worse. Only a few scraps of recognizable parts were left.
I staggered over to the body of the Servant and sat down. He had several open wounds to choose from. Shoving aside my feelings of guilt, I started drinking the blood from a cut in his arm.
A few minutes later I felt much better. The pain in my chest started to go away. I could feel my body mending itself.
I debated if I should try and drag what was left of him over to Dee Dee and let her finish it off. Our blood supply was finite, after all. It also might not be good to leave half-drained corpses around.
But I tossed aside the idea. Phang already knew I was here, anyway. And once Dee Dee finished with the body, we’d have the problem of disposing it. I recalled Peterson, another Servant who died while near me. I jettisoned his body in outer space, and it was still found. Dead bodies I’m responsible for seem to have a bad habit of showing up.
Reluctantly, I left the Servant behind and made my way toward the cornfield and the trap door back to our hiding place.
-+-
“Where’d he get the bomb?”
It was an innocent question posed by Adams. He looked up into Phang’s face and we noticed a flash of irritation in the bigger man’s eyes.
“Sending the XO unit was an oversight.”
Admitting the mistake seemed to rankle him. I suspected if Phang did not feel he still needed Adams, he might have hit the smaller man for asking. Or worse.
They stood around looking at the mess I’d left behind. Dee Dee and I watched on a nearby cam.
She had seen everything that happened, watching my progress on cams placed around the top level. When I crawled back down the trap door into our suite, she ran up and gave me a hug. By that time, my ribs had healed, and hugging didn’t hurt.
“I won’t be making the same mistake again.”
Phang walked around the wreckage from the explosion and made his way to the Servant’s body. Phang’s visor was pulled back, his face clearly visible. He knelt and examined the corpse, half drained of blood. Adams followed him, and remained standing at a respectful distance.
“I’m hampered here, Mr. Adams. I don’t have the full set of tools needed for this mission. We have specialized bots designed to track prisoners, interrogation drugs, advanced monitoring and counter-monitoring equipment back home. I don’t even have simple thermal imaging which could let us follow the footsteps taken by our quarry.”
He stood up and turned back toward Adams, who remained quiet for once, trying to follow Phang’s line of reasoning.
“But there’s one thing I do have, Mr. Adams.”
Phang tapped his temple with a forefinger.
“Superior intellect. These fools think they can outsmart me by laying traps and taking out my synthetics. It’s time to let them know who they’re dealing with.”
He walked back in the direction of the elevators. The bots with him fell in line, and Adams hurried to catch up.
When Adams neared him again, Phang spoke without looking back.
“I need access to the city’s communication system, somehow. The command center was destroyed, but I know there must be other terminals. Find one for me, Mr. Adams.”
“Yes, sir, yes, sir!”
Chapter Eight
“I am Commander Sebastian Phang, of the Galactic Police.”
We heard him through the suite’s com console. His voice reverberated throughout the city, too, carried over every speaker and com channel available.
Adams had, unfortunately, recalled the location of a terminal near his suites. Phang had one of his bots hack into it, and he quickly gained control over the entire system. The bot cobbled together a portable PA unit that Phang carried with him.
“He’s made another mistake,” Dee Dee said.
I raised my eyebrows questioningly.
“By making this announcement he’s essentially broadcast to Daddy and everyone else that the com links are compromised. If he’d waited, he might have been able to gain some valuable intel.”
“I don’t think Commander Sebastian Phang is as smart as he thinks he is.”
We both shared a smile before his voice came back over the com.
“People of Redwood City, I need one thing and one thing only. A hematophagous specimen. I don’t care if it’s a monkey or a human. Either one will do.
“Once I have this specimen, I will leave Redwood in peace. But until I get it, Redwood will have no peace.”
I flipped through the feeds showing people in hiding places that we knew of around the city. Everybody listened intently.
“Now, I call upon Professor Curtis Cruz to show himself and give up one of these, human or otherwise. Professor, I give you one hour to bring me a specimen. I will be in Park Seven, waiting. If I do not have my specimen within sixty minutes from now, I will begin killing prisoners, one every five minutes.
“After they’re all gone, if I still don’t have it, I will continue capturing and killing every living soul in this God-forsaken cubic city, tearing it apart bolt by bolt until I find each and every last one of you.
“I . . . will . . . not . . . rest . . . until I have my specimen.”
I found the room where the Cruzes were hidden, along with Major Moore, Sergeant Sledge, Jacob, Jason, Charlie, Andrea, and about two dozen others.
Everyone looked at the Professor. For his part, he stared at the floor while listening to Phang.
“Lest you think I’m bluffing, Professor . . .”
Phang motioned at one of the bots, who dragged over an Engineer from the line of men standing in the park.
He pointed his underarm gun at the man’s stomach and fired. The Engineer cried out in agony, and sank to his knees.
Phang held the mic near the man’s face while he died screaming and moaning, his death throes echoing across the com channels. All the while, Phang wore a bored expression on his face.
When the poor guy finally breathed his last, Phang said, “That’s a taste of what awaits each individual in my custody if that specimen does not arrive in Park Seven within the next fifty-six minutes.”
-+-
“Just give him one of the monkeys, Daddy.”
We watched in silence as the Cruzes, the Joneses, and everybody else in the Professor’s room discussed the situation.
The Professor turned toward Connie.
“It’s not that simple, darling. The monkeys are not anywhere near here, and a viable sample couldn’t be delivered to him in an hour even if we could get there and back in time.”
“Then tell him that! Or tell Marcus or Dee Dee to go to him. Maybe both of them.”
A collective chorus of, “NO!” broke out among the others.
Major Moore stepped forward and caught Connie’s attention.
“I don’t think you understand the stakes involved here, Ms. Cruz. If Phang becomes hematophagous, he can create an essentially undefeatable army. The entire Revolution is at stake. An army of soldiers who can’t be killed would swing the tide of war to the State’s favor.”
She looked around at everybody else in the room.
“If you thought living under the State was oppressive, imagine living under a regime of immortal vampires. And they wouldn’t be ‘nice people’ like the Savitches. They’d be utterly ruthless.”
The thought made most of them pause. Those here on Redwood had not been party to the discussions about this back on New Texas. The Board of Regents for New Texas A&M had already considered and dismissed the possibility of creating their own vampire army due to these very implications.
“Then give him Marcus and Dee De
e, and keep him confined to Redwood. There’s no spaceships here. He isn’t leaving anytime soon.”
Her mother walked up and put an arm around her shoulders.
“You don’t mean that Consuela. You would have us live under this . . . this thug for the rest of our lives?”
“If it means saving everybody, yes.”
I could tell no one else in the room shared her sentiment by the looks on their faces.
Major Moore cleared her throat.
“There is no way we can assume that a spaceship would never land here. Remember, as far as we know vampires live practically forever. Say a ship lands a thousand years from now and Phang is still around, waiting. We are just delaying the inevitable if he becomes hematophagic.”
Connie crossed her arms and sank away from the conversation. The others kept talking, tossing ideas around, trying to figure out a way out of the dilemma.
Finally Professor Cruz spoke up again, and all eyes turned his way.
“I’m going to have to go down and present myself to him. I can’t just stand here and let him kill all those people.”
Major Moore said, “Absolutely not. You are key to this entire operation. Plus, you don’t know what he’ll do to pry out the secret of what you did with the monkeys. If he gains control of you, we lose everything.”
“That’s an admirable sentiment, Major, but I’m afraid it’s not your decision to make.”
They began arguing, and people in the room chose sides, although most did not appear to want the Professor to give himself up.
In the commotion, Connie slipped out the door.
“Where’s she going?”
Dee Dee pointed at her sister on the monitor and I quickly switched over to a hall cam. We watched Connie march down to the elevator bank.
“What does she think she’s doing?”
“I wish we could tell Daddy.”
I flipped back over to the room again and found everybody still engaged in heated discussion. No one noticed that Connie was gone.
Ding!
She entered the elevator.
“Level Twenty-five.”
Dee Dee and I looked at each other in shock.
-+-
We watched on the monitor as Connie walked into Park 7. Three of the bots immediately trained their guns on her when she came through the entryway.