The Seryys Chronicles: Death Wish

by Joseph Nicholson

  “What’s your call, Khai?” Kay asked. “You’re in charge.”

  Khai paused, as he ascended some more. “Wait for Sibrex’s signal. He’ll let you know when it’s safe for you to unplug.”

  “Okay, Khai,” Kay followed his command.

  “I sure as shit hope you know what you’re doing,” Dah grumbled. “Trusting a Vyysarri over your own friend.”

  “Dack,” Khai stopped his ascent and swam over to Dah. He grabbed the man by his tactical vest and jerked him closer. “If you don’t like where this is going, or you don’t like my command, get the fuck out of here. I will not have you questioning every decision I make. Is that understood?”

  Through the visor of their UOEs, they locked eyes. Khai could see the hurt behind his friend’s eyes, but knew full well that his overwhelming hate for Sibrex was clouding his judgment. Deep down, Khai knew that he knew, but some habits were harder to break than others and this particular habit was engrained into the minds of every single Seryysan alive for over hundreds of years.

  The hurt turned very quickly to anger. “Fine,” was all Dah said. He went inverted and swam back down the shaft, letting gravity take him to ensure he didn’t drown on the way back. “But just remember that this was my plan from the beginning!”

  “Then stay and follow it through!”

  “I won’t go any further with that Vyysarri on our side.”

  “Then you’re no good to us, Dack. You don’t have to trust him, but I do and he’s coming.”

  Dah kept on his descent without even looking back. Damn it! Khai thought.

  With a heavy, sorrow-filled sigh, Khai continued on up the shaft. “Let’s move out, everyone. We’re almost out of time.”

  They swam the rest of the way up and emerged from the water. The water level was just below the lift doors. Khai hefted his bulk out of the water and pried the doors open with his bare hands. Making a quick visual sweep in both directions of the dark engineering level, he deemed it safe to bring the others up. First was Sibrex, followed by Brix, Puar and Naad. They quickly took up firing positions and covered the others as they emerged from the lift shaft. Once everyone was accounted for, they moved out.

  Kay provided them with the schematics of the whole facility, so, following the map, they navigated their way through the engineering level. The next level up was hydroponics, according to the schematics. They didn’t get very far. As they rounded the corner into the corridor that led to the lift they needed, they ran headlong into the two SPEARs. The Security Patrol Enforcement and Assault Robots were waiting for the party and planned on catching them flatfooted… it worked.

  “Shit!” Khai shouted, firing once at the closer of the two SPEARs. The bullet lodged into the sensor package of the robot, but it returned fire anyway. The other swiveled on its treads and opened fire as well. Khai dove around the corner and took cover. The SPEARs picked the perfect place to lay an ambush. The hall was bare, nothing was usable as cover and the SPEARs were advancing.

  “What do we do?” Puar asked.

  “You’re the demo expert, do something!” Naad shouted over the chain guns.

  Puar moved to Khai’s position and peered around the corner. They were only a few yards from them. Puar nodded, Khai covered his ears and so did the rest. Puar pulled the pin on a grenade and rolled it directly under the treads of the lead SPEAR. The grenade detonated, blowing the treads clean off. The SPEAR grinded to a halt, but was still firing.

  “It’s a start!” Khai admitted. Khai leaned out from the corner and squeezed off two shots. Both bullets lodged into the SPEAR’s sensor package and the thing started firing wildly in every direction. With its back turned, they flooded the corridor and unleashed a barrage of fire that brought the SPEARs down slowly. They were successful at a loss of only three officers. Though Khai hated quantifying it that way, it was the truth. Three officers for two SPEARs when one SPEAR was far more superior than any five officers combined, was about as good an outcome as any.

  The lift was empty when they slowly, cautiously approached it. But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that now the facility was on high alert and the lift had been shut down.

  “Kay,” Sibrex called into his throat mic, “You may proceed when ready.”

  “Got it!” Kay called back.

  “Wait!” Khai snapped. “Has Dah returned to the ship yet?”

  “Negative,” Kay responded.

  “Then wait ‘til he gets there, then disconnect,” Khai said, eying Sibrex suspiciously.

  “Okay, Khai.”

  “Then let’s get this over with,” Naad growled.

  They removed the emergency access hatch and climbed out onto the roof the lift car. There was a ladder that led all the way up to the top level and the command/panic room. Khai looked up the long lift shaft and cringed, remembering that his last trek through a lift shaft didn’t exactly go well for him.

  After a heavy sigh, Khai spoke. “Up we go.”

  “Great…” Puar grumbled.

  They started climbing. It was all they could do. All the Agents present jumped from the ladder and grabbed onto the cable of the lift car. They started climbing up that way, faster than the others.

  “See you at the top,” one of them said playfully.

  “Hey!” Khai shouted. “Conserve your strength! You’ll need it for the fight that’s coming.”

  “Trust us, Khai. We’ve been at this for while,” one of the Agents said.

  “And I’ve been doing this half my life! There’s no glory-seeking in this mission. Got it?”

  They all slowed their ascent, swung back to the ladder above Khai and started climbing at a normal rate. The engineering level was the equivalent of ten stories tall and hydroponics wasn’t much better. In fact, only ten percent of the bunker was living space—two levels. The bottom residential level was the presidential suite; five thousand square feet of all the luxuries of home. The upper residential level housed the control/panic room, storage space for the maintenance robots, meeting rooms, additional staff quarters and the main hanger.

  They finally reached the hydroponics level where they stopped for a breather.

  “How much longer?” Puar practically whined.

  “Hydroponics has six levels,” Kay responded. “Then the residential levels are next. That’s where you’ll find the Prime Minister. He’ll be on one of the two levels. Unfortunately, the whole facility is shielded from external sensors, so I can’t pinpoint his exact location.”

  “Well, then we’ll start there and go room-by-room ‘til we find him,” Khai said. “What kind of resistance are we looking at, Kay?”

  “I honestly don’t know. There could be ten or twenty SPEARs, it’s impossible to say.”

  “Hazard a guess?” Naad asked.

  “Given the number of SPEARs in the Hall of Justice, I would say roughly fifteen.”

  “Is that an educated guess, or a shot in the dark?” Brix asked.

  “Shot in the dark.”

  “Great!” Khai scoffed. “Break’s over. Get moving.”

  They climbed again. Khai was going over the maps and pictures of the facility in his head. The lift opened up into a large, ballroom-style foyer that connected lift cars on both ends of the facility. That was where their current lift ended; it was hidden from view as a security measure and a second form of escape should the facility be compromised. The other lift was the only way up to the top level. The foyer had high vaulted ceilings and grand pillars made of marble laced with gold and silver. To the right of the foyer was the cafeteria, kitchen and food storage. To the left of the foyer was the Prime Minister’s suite; it consisted of six bedrooms, two living rooms, a private kitchen with bar and all the amenities of home. That would be the most likely place to find him on that level. Otherwise, the second most likely spot would be the control room on the top level.

  The overwhelming amount of resistance that was inevitably going to meet them the moment they emerged from the lift confounded him.
The complete lack of any intel was driving him mad. Even in the worst-case scenarios, Khai had a ballpark figure of the opposition’s numbers. This was almost literally like going in blindfolded to the surprise birthday party from hell.

  “Hey, Agents!” Khai called out. “Stop for a moment, would ya?”

  “What is the problem, Khai?”

  “We need a plan once we get to the foyer.”

  “We have been formulating a plan since hydroponics.”

  “Oh, good,” Khai said. “So when were you going to let us in on that plan.”

  “When it was finished,” the boy said plainly.

  “Okay,” Khai said. “Maybe we could help with that.”

  “I don’t believe so,” the boy responded.

  “Listen, kid,” Khai growled. “I was killing Vyysarri before you were a glimmer in your daddy’s eye. I have a trick or two up my sleeve. Oh! Sorry Sibrex, I didn’t mean that in the… uh, no offense.”

  “None taken, Khai. Your history is well known.”

  “Thanks, I guess. Anyway, what’s your plan?”

  “We were planning on being the first wave. Our reflex packages will make us harder targets on the move and we can draw their fire while you and the others escape the shaft.”

  “That’s a damn good start,” Khai said. “What comes next?”

  “You guys open fire and we mow them down with overwhelming force.”

  “That’s it?” Puar asked incredulously.

  “I said we were still working on it,” said the boy.

  “Okay. You guys draw their fire; if you can, corral them into the center of the foyer and then we can use the pillars as cover and catch them in the crossfire.”

  “What would you suggest we do next?” the boy asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Khai admitted. “It’s something we’ll have to play by ear.”

  The boy shrugged then said, “Whatever you say, but you’re not inspiring much confidence in us.”

  “Look here, kid,” Khai growled. “Winning battles like this is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent getting your ass kicked! Just get up there and start jumping around or something. Get them corralled into the center and we’ll all gun them down from our cover points. Got it?”

  “You’re in charge, boss,” the boy said, sighing.

  “Fucking kids…” Khai half growled, half whispered through a clenched jaw, shaking his head.

  In short order, they made it to the bottom of the residential level. The lift doors were sealed—as was to be expected. What was not expected was that the doors were welded shut from inside the shaft.

  “Shit!” Khai scoffed.

  “What is the problem?” Sibrex asked.

  “I don’t think we’re alone in this shaft,” Khai said ominously. “These doors were sealed from this side.”

  “That’s bad, right?” Puar asked.

  “Right,” Khai responded.

  “So what do we do?” Naad asked, his low voice echoing down the shaft.

  “Kay?”

  “Yes, Khai?”

  “You said this thing was completely self-sufficient, right?”

  “Yes, right down to maintenance bots. Why?”

  “I have an idea. I don’t think we’re alone, but I don’t think we’re in danger, either.”

  Khai pulled out the laser cutter and got to work on the door. Only moments later, the shaft echoed with whirring servos as two maintenance bots emerged from small alcoves on either side of the door. Using tiny magnets at the ends of their tiny legs, they crawled along the walls like spiders and began welding the spot on the door where Khai was cutting. His theory was right. They wouldn’t let him cut through the door.

  “Puar!”

  “Sir?”

  “Time for some fireworks,” Khai said, moving farther up to let him in. “Blow the doors.”

  “With pleasure, sir,” Puar moved up as the maintenance bots were still welding. As Puar started fastening the plastic explosives to the door, one of the bots stopped. Puar hesitated and the bot got back to work. “Sir?”

  “They’re not a threat,” Khai assured him. “Keep going.”

  Puar nodded and stuck the igniters into the plastic mold. The bot chirped at him and took a more aggressive stance. The arc welder attachment angled and sent a good jolt through Puar’s hand.

  “Youch!” Puar yelped, letting go of the ladder to hold his hand. “Shit!”

  Puar lost his balance and fell. Before he could get too far, and with reflexes honed from decades of fighting, Khai caught Puar buy his flak jacket. Using his superior strength, he lifted Puar back up to the ladder. “Thanks,” he breathed.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “Uh, Khai?” the boy called out.

  “What?” Khai’s voice betrayed a little bit of annoyance.

  “We have incoming! Lots of them!”

  Khai looked up and saw at least a hundred spider-like maintenance bots skittering down the shaft wall. “Puar!” He shouted, shooting the two bots on the doors.

  “Sir?”

  “I want that door in pieces ten seconds ago!”

  “I’m on it!”

  “Open fire!” Khai shouted.

  They fired into the swarm of bots as they crawled down at them. The seemingly unlimited number of bots flooding the shaft were only held at bay for a few moments before the bots skittered into range of their arc welders and started sparking them. The shocks scalded hands and arms and faces. The Agents jumped from the ladder to the lift cable and out of range of the bots’ welders. From there they were able to take them down by the hundreds.

  Khai was shocked hundreds of times as the bots swarmed him. His high threshold for pain kept him in the fight, but some of the shocks were leaving severe burns. Sibrex also leapt from the ladder to the cable and aided in the cover fire. Brix was directly under Khai and above Puar, who was getting the charges set. Brix ran out of ammo and was taking too long to reload the dual magazines.

  Too many shocks sent him falling, but again, Khai was there for the rescue. He grabbed hold of the man, still getting shocked tens of times every second. A bot shocked Khai’s leg and he lost his footing on the step. He dropped his machine gun and grabbed the ladder. Everyone watched as Khai dangled, holding onto Brix with his left hand and the ladder with his right. The Agents couldn’t kill them fast enough and officers below could only fend them off with hand-to-hand techniques at the risk of hitting their teammates with friendly fire.

  Sibrex stopped shooting and started climbing.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Khai practically screamed. Sibrex didn’t respond. “Sibrex?” Maybe Dah was right! How could I have been so stupid?

  Sibrex climbed about four yards up the cable past the Agents. He flipped a switch on his right gauntlet and a strong pressure filled the shaft making everyone’s stomachs turn and ears pop for a brief moment. Only seconds later, the bots all shut down and fell into the dark depths of the lift shaft. Once the bots were gone, Sibrex leapt from the cable down to the ladder above Khai. He reached down and grabbed Khai’s wrist and hefted both him and Brix up far enough for Khai to get his footing.

  There was silence for almost a minute, only the sound of panting filled the shaft.

  Suddenly, Naad broke the silence. “Not a threat, my black ass!”

  Khai shrugged. “They didn’t look like a threat.”

  “Charges set,” Puar announced.

  “What timing,” Brix said, sarcasm saturating his tone.

  “Everybody above the door—now,” Khai ordered.

  They complied quickly. Khai was pretty sure that everyone was about as ready to be out of the shaft as he was. The doors blew open and the Agents instantly leapt from the cable into the foyer and equally instant were the sounds of gunfire issuing from the SPEARs in the room. Khai was the first to respond by quickly and easily dropping himself down and helping the others up. He spared a look at the Agents and marveled at their speed. They almost moved too fast to track.
He was impressed with their abilities and also a little jealous. He could only imagine what he would be capable of, had he been given one of those of reflex… hoop-a-joobs.

  As the Agents did their job, Khai got to work. His intention was never to do the whole crossfire thing. He was going to show those kids how it was done. As the others scrambled to get themselves out of the shaft, Khai charged in with his trusted sidearm in hand. There were six SPEARs in the room, four of which were mostly in the center of the Foyer. He took four large bounds and leapt high into the air over the cluster of SPEARs, raining bullets on them as he flipped over them.

  He landed in a dead run straight for one of those SPEARs that hadn’t been corralled. Its chain gun tracked him with only the precision that a machine could, but it wasn’t good enough to take down a man like Khai, a man on a mission, a man without a death wish. He kicked off the wall, during which he grabbed the knife from the boot that was momentarily planted on the wall, coming down on the robot and driving the knife straight down into its head.

  The robot hadn’t even hit the floor before Khai was making his way across the room to the other that hadn’t fallen for Khai’s plan. The SPEAR was ready, and Khai was counting on that. He darted to the right and rolled to the left, bullets ricocheting off the marble floor the whole way. He stopped right in front of the corralled SPEARs. He reared up and leapt backward into a back flip and let the center SPEARs get riddled with bullet holes.

  The Agents, so stunned by Khai’s performance, finally reacted and swarmed the remaining SPEAR. In short order, the threat was neutralized and they all took a deep breath. The acrid smell of singed wires and smoldering hydraulic fluid stung their noses, but they were alive. Doing a visual inventory of his men, Khai counted only four dead, one Agent and the rest were officers.

  “Everyone okay?” Khai asked.

  “We’re fine,” Puar spoke for Dah’s old team. “But I’ve definitely been better.” Puar took some shrapnel to the upper calf. The shrapnel was sticking out about two inches and blood was beginning to pool around his boot.

  “I got it,” Khai said, as others moved in to help. “This is gonna hurt, kid. You ready?”

  “No,” Puar said, his voice shaky.