"The control pack for your stunner had to have been located on your chest for it to have worked on me with a narrow beam. I think my kick has damaged it beyond use”
Ripping his jacket open Kilgore looked and saw that the control pack was indeed badly dented.
"It's impossible for you to have recovered from a stunner that fast. And there is no known protection against a stunner”
"None that you know” The look on his and Lenevos face as I said that was priceless. Neither could figure how I had partially protected myself from the stunner. It was the only explanation for my fast recovery. In point of fact they were both wrong. Another item of contention on my existence was my ability to recover from injury or stress fast. No I didn't have some mutant healing ability or anything of that nature. What I did have was the physical strength and stamina equal to possibly two to three world-class athletes. In fact my reaction time, reflexes, all my physical attributes were two to three times human normal. Again I figured this was another inherited byproduct from my father. So the stunner charge, which should have had me incapacitated for at least twenty minutes or more had mostly wore off me in this short amount of time. I however was not fully recovered, hence my shaky rising from the floor. A shakiness Lenevos noticed.
"Take him. He is not fully recovered"
With that Kilgore moved in swiftly. Enhanced abilities not withstanding, Kilgore still had the skills and physical strength to kill me. Easily. As he closed in, he throw a right jab at me with blinding speed, followed by a left power punch. Still partially recovered, I avoided the jab, but caught the right punch on my right shoulder. The power of his punch was extraordinarily. My right arm went practically useless. He immediately followed up with a series of lefts and rights I partially blocked, followed by a snap kick to my mid section that sent me to the floor. I felt like I had been punched and kicked by a twelve-foot gorilla, so intense was Kilgore's power. If I didn't do something life saving soon, I was dead. Moving out of sheer desperation, I kicked him on his right leg, not doing much damage, but slowing him enough for me to scramble to my feet. Kilgore moved in fast backing me up to one of the floor columns. Kilgore again threw one of his punches, which I let slide by me knowing he would hit the column, possibly injuring his hand. Instead Kilgore knocked a good size piece of the concrete column loose and it flew a few feet away. The astonishment must have shown on my face, because he laughed as he threw another punch, which I also managed to avoid, moving swiftly now as I was gaining back my stamina. Kilgore second punch as it missed me also knocked another piece of concrete loose from the column. Reacting now in combat mode, I moved in close to Kilgore, and with devastating speed hit him with two blows to the face with my left forearm, followed up with a snap kick to his left knee. Stepping back quickly, I ducked an ineffective blow to my head and as his punch slid over my right shoulder, I came up, and slammed my right elbow into the back of his head. Kilgore went down to the floor, but swept around quickly enough to block my follow-up kick to his back. Getting up we both then warily circled each other looking for an opening.
"You are fast Conrad. Very fast and strong, but you can't win. I have the strength of many men flowing through my veins thanks to Mr. Lenevos blood. I will eventually wear you down and break you”
Saying that he again attacked. Even though we both had expended a lot of energy, the few second rest let me realize three things. First Kilgore and his boss had performed some type of bio experiment using Lenevos' blood, where Kilgore's physical strength was now greatly enhanced. Second, my right arm was again somewhat usable and my enhanced speed was mostly back to its full peak. Third, I had to stop this fight now, as I had no doubt Lenevos or Kilgore might have reinforcements coming. So much for my vaulted plan to capture Lenevos and end this quickly. As Kilgore moved in, I charged him, moving with all my speed, which completely startled Kilgore. One second I was at least eight feet away, the next I was right in front of him, and he wasn't ready for my attack. Striking with all my power I hit him right under the chin with my left, twice, snapping his head back viciously. As his head snapped back the second time, my third punch with my right caught him in his windpipe. I didn't want to kill Kilgore, but I had to stop this fight now. Fortunately for him my blow wasn't that powerful as it only choked him. Moving in again I then threw multiple blows to his mid section and rib area, as his chest still had the damaged stunner control pack on it. Stunned, Kilgore moved back. Before he could get his bearings I delivered two blows to his right temple, which to my surprise took him to his knees. As I moved in Kilgore surprised me and swept my legs from under me. As I went down, Kilgore kicked me in the side so powerfully, I knew something had broken. The kick sent me half a dozen feet across the floor. As Kilgore rose to resume his attack, I felt what could only be described as an industrial strength vise grab my left ankle. Looking down I saw that Kilgore's kick had driven me within Lenevos reach. He now had my left ankle in his grip, and the pain was truly unbearable, and he was pulling me towards him. Knowing Kilgore would soon be on me I reached into a side sheath, and withdrew another Spike Dagger. Twisting around in pain as I'm being dragged, I slammed the Spike Dagger into Lenevos wrist three times. He screams as he releases my ankle, but I knew from the pain that I would not be able to stand on it. Rolling away, I twisted to find Kilgore was almost upon me. Knowing I now had no choice, I threw the Spike Dagger with all my strength and skill at him. So fast had I thrown it that Kilgore was not aware of it even after it hit him right below his right eye next to his nose and drove up into his brain. He stumbled a few more steps, before his eyes glazed over and he fell face first into the floor. Gasping with the intense pain of my ankle and side, my senses was still heightened enough to tell me that there was danger behind me. Looking back quickly, I was startled to see that Lenevos was so enraged that he had literally lurched forward the few feet between us dragging the net with him partially pulling one of the anchors out of the floor, and was already in the process of delivering a killing blow to my back. As I was still on the floor and knowing I couldn't fully avoid the blow, I threw myself away from him, hopefully in the direction his blow would send me. Even moving as fast as I did his punch hit me in the back with the force of a pile driver. I flew over the floor and slammed into the same floor column that Kilgore had removed pieces from with his fists.
Damn it, these people are killing me. I was finished. My body was in so much pain then, I could barely move. I could hear Lenevos screaming like a deranged maniac. Slowing turning my head towards him I could see he was struggling to reach me and had actually pulled two anchors halfway out of the floor, with the cables of the net cutting nastily into his flesh through his clothes, and he was now bleeding from multiple cuts. Lenevos was practically foaming at the mouth trying to reach me and displaying an amazing amount of strength that no human should have. Groggy with pain, I realized that stabbing Lenevos in his wrist with the Spike Dagger probably pissed him off, but not to the degree of insanity he was now showing. Nothing in his profile indicated this level of outrage in him. He was always noted to be cold and methodical in his killings, both personal and business. Yet here he was trying to reach me tearing his body apart doing so, not even aware he had practically dislodged two of the net anchors. One of his henchmen that had gotten trapped partially under the net I could tell from his posture was dead, probably from Lenevos dragging the net causing it to crush and cut deeply into his neck. Then I noticed that Lenevos eyes would shift back to Kilgore's body in his attempts to reach me. Even though I felt near death myself, I knew I had to stop Lenevos. My contract called for me to deliver him alive, not dead. The cables of the net was already a inch or so into his flesh. He would tear himself up and bleed to death if he wasn't stopped. Slowly and very painfully I rose to my knees. Reaching behind me into another secure pocket I withdrew three hypo darts. These darts were filled with a chemical specially formulated to subdue Lenevos before my client picked him up. One of the darts was damaged from the recent battles. The other two
were okay. Composing myself as best I could I sighted on Lenevos, and when he raised up to move again screaming like an animal, I threw the first dart directly into his throat. He kept on screaming and trying to move as if he didn't feel the dart. Waiting a few seconds and seeing the tranq dart not working, I threw the second dart into his throat. This one he noticed and reached up to rip it out, but the tranq had already been released into his bloodstream. Still screaming and struggling, he kept struggling towards me. I began to get concerned. Lenevos now had enough tranq in him to put out two elephants. I began to fear I would need the third dart to put him out, which was damaged and unusable. Then his struggles began to get weaker and weaker. Right when it look as if he would pass out, he stopped struggling, looked at me and with the coldest voice I have ever heard told me,
"You have killed my son. I will find you, and when I do I will kill you with my bare hands"'
If ever there was a voice from hell, that was it. I could not imagine the Devil making that statement in a more chilling and frightening manner. With that Lenevos passed out on the floor, his blood flowing slowing away from him. Not knowing my tactical situation, I forced myself to my feet, cussing to myself as the pain in my ankle seemed to intensify. Hopping a little at a time I made my way to the back of the warehouse where Kilgore had thrown my 44C and after a few moments found and recovered it. Working my way back around the warehouse now armed I searched as best I could to see if there were any more of Kilgore henchmen. Either I had took them all out, or Kilgore had entered alone from the roof, wanting to finish me off himself. I was inclined to believe the latter. Working my way back to Lenevos, I found my 40C. In preparation for the battle, I had secured multiple emergency packs around the warehouse in case I was injured or lost my weapons. Back near the pipe I had climbed down I reached the emergency pack I had secured there. Inside I had emergency first aid meds, which I immediately took to lessen the pain. This was an old medical recipe from my uncle, a combat vet, which lessened the pain of your injuries, but was not narcotic so your senses wasn't deadened in anyway leaving you still combat ready. Checking my ankle I found that it was severely swollen, but wasn't broken. It could however be fractured. I took a Splint pack from my pack and secured it around my ankle and lower leg to secure it and then activated it. Waiting a few minutes for the splint to harden, I then did a complete check of the warehouse. It took me about ten minutes to completely check out the rest of the warehouse and outside area, using the sensors I had in place. Doing a visual check of Lenevos I could see that he was out cold, but still bleeding from his cuts. Moving as fast as I could I went to a side corner of the warehouse where I had stowed the control unit for the Capture Net. It was a mobile unit with its own power source. Not taking any chances, I let the net unwind a couple of feet off Lenevos, to minimize the damage done to his body, but close enough if I needed, to rewind it again if necessary.
Feeling a little better, and after fully assessing my tactical situation, I took the vid comm from my emergency pack and called my client. I was informed that they would arrive for pickup within a half hour. That startled me for that meant they were very close. I had assumed they were still in Canada, and would send a local law unit to pick up Lenevos. Well this was better. Right now I wanted nothing more than to get back home to New Pioneer, a small town outside of Desert Oasis, the Mega City in the Southwest Sector and some really good medical and therapeutic care. Around twenty-five minutes later my client along with a fair contingent of local law arrived to pick up Lenevos. Upon seeing Lenevos condition, my client became alarmed and asked if he was dead or dying. I explained that he wasn't, but he would require immediate medical care. I also explained that Kilgore, his right hand man was dead and was also Lenevos' son. This bit of information did not seem to startle my client. When I asked why I was told,
"We long suspected that there was a more personal relationship between Lenevos and Kilgore. Although we weren't able to figure out what, indications were that Lenevos was grooming Kilgore to take over. I know we should have told you that bit of info, but there was some security concerns in our investigations, which suggested that this piece of info needed to be kept quiet.
"After I had him trapped under the nest, I used tranqdoc gas on him and he wasn't affected. Later the nococaine darts almost didn't work either. What kind of man is he that he could stand up under such drugs and still function"
"As compensation, an additional $50,000 MU's will be paid to you for your efforts. I assumed $300,000 monetary units will smooth over any disagreements we may have"
he said completely ignoring my question.
"Well let's see, $250,000 MU's to bring him in alive and now you are paying me an additional $50,000 for my troubles. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why do you want him so bad?"
"You are so right Mr. Hutchins. Do not look a gift horse in the mouth. Your funds have already been transferred into your account. Good Day” With that statement I was dismissed, and politely escorted from the warehouse. A medic took me over to his Med-Amb unit, looked me over and stated I needed to be hospitalized, but I declined. About twenty minutes later my client and his crowd was driving away with Lenevos and his boys in tow. Trust me that was a fast cleanup. I had previously arranged for the company I rented the Capture Net from to come and retrieve their equipment upon completion of the job. Getting confirmation that they were on their way, I drove carefully back to my hotel. Once back in my room I called the emergency combat medic I had retained earlier in case I needed him. The medic arrived, checked me out and also suggested that I be hospitalized. Declining again and having him stabilize my injuries, I paid him and he left. Combat Merc Medics are highly specialized medics who are skilled in stabilizing personnel injured on the battlefield. The few who have gone private make themselves available to select people in hazardous fields of work who may require their services in an emergency, such as a bounty hunter. I took a long hot shower, ordered up a thick steak with potatoes, gravy and a couple of beers, and after gorging myself went to bed for a good night's sleep.
I was awaken the next morning by my room comm ringing so insistently it jumped off of the nightstand, or maybe I knocked it off. I was so pissed to be awaken, that any action I took against that comm unit was justified. As I picked up the comm, I said,
"You had better be dying whoever this is, or I will be killing you myself"
"Boss is that anyway to greet your better half. I should quit just for that mean greeting” Looking at the vid screen I saw it was my associate Yolanda. One of the most capable and dangerous people I knew. Her past is clouded in secrecy, but she was a godsend as an associate. She was also one the most beautiful women I have ever met.
"Sorry Yolanda. Yesterday was a bad day, and I needed some rest"
"So I heard. I contacted some friends in Faring and was informed of your little battle there. Don't ask. I have contacts in the strangest of places. How are you feeling?"
"Battered and beat down badly. I will be on the evening flight out tonight, and will need Doc Med to fully check me out tomorrow. I sustained some serious injury to my left ankle and ribs, but I have a Cello cast on the ankle and my ribs have been stabilized for now. I also have a minor burn to my stomach. They all will be stable until I get back"
"I figured as much. I have sent over some therapeutic help to get you through the day, until your flight. Enjoy"
"Damn it Yolanda, I don't need any help, just a few more hours of sleep. Call off your help and let me rest in peace"
"You almost died in pieces. The help I sent will insure that you heal in peace and should be at your door right about now. See you later tonight"
She then hung up. To verify her statement, the doorbell started ringing. Cussing to myself, I checked my scanners to see if any weapons was present outside my door. Getting a negative reading, I got up and hobbled over to the door to send the troublesome help running. I just needed some sleep, not a damn nursemaid. Getting to the door I yanked it open and opened my mouth
to send away the help, but froze with my mouth open. Standing there was a vision of womanly loveliness, which took my breath away. She was a head shorter than me, but full figured in all of the right places. Her angelic face was a nice rich tan that you could see she had acquired from years of living under a tropical sun. She had a slight angular face that was very beautiful, especially her rich full and tempting lips. Her voice though when she spoke was the deciding factor. When she spoke, I was hooked. Completely.
"Hello Mr. Hutchins. My name is Viela. Ms. Dormans sent me over to tend to your medical needs. May I come in?"
"Yes. Yes by all means, please come in and please, just call me Conrad"
"Fine, and you can call me Viela"
"Okay Viela. What medical field are you trained in?
"The therapeutic kind Mr. Hutchins, The therapeutic kind"
At that point I closed the door, she advanced on me and commenced to soothe all of my medical needs.
Chapter Two: Back Home
I arrived home late the next night. Viela's therapy was so good I decided to stay another night. Yolanda hadn't left any messages for me so I went up straight to bed. When I woke up it was already early afternoon. After taking a shower and throwing on some clothes I went down to see what was happening. Doc Med was already waiting for me in the dining area drinking some coffe.
"Hello Doc. Glad to see you"
"Hello Conrad" Doc said while eyeing me critically. "Yolanda told me you had sustained some serious injuries on your last job
"Well yes Doc, I did. That's why you are here, to check me out, and rebuild me"
"Yes I am, so why don't we get started"
Manhunter Revelations Page 5