LAND of the FREE

by Michael W. Huard

  Zaey then her made way out of the door to his suite and ran into the hallway. He pursued her and suddenly a dark-haired, handsome associate with fake sideburns, blocked her path. "Going somewhere in a hurry, lady?" he asked.

  Marcou was behind her. "Stop her! I believe she is a traitor!" he yelled out. "Stop her, she is mine!"

  Zaey now had two opponents, one on each side of her. More shots were heard from a lower level, and she hoped they belonged to her sisters.

  She knew the first rule of fighting two people at once was to keep each in her line of sight, and to use one to somewhat block the other. As a battle broke out, she did her best to keep one in the others way. "I have got to try," she said to herself through gritted teeth.

  The associate was human looking, but Zaey knew he was part-robot underneath. He was going to be a tough one, but thankfully he did not shoot at her. He was programmed never to shoot a pretty girl. This law was a true oddity of the Corporation, but people didn't know Arn Marcou, and his own selfish love of pretty girls, was the very reason such a law came to pass. It might come back to haunt him one day.

  Zaey needed to get out. The associate coming at her was hell bent on stopping her, and the president himself was closing in as he rounded the corner from his room. Zaey prepared to die. But she would die for a cause; she would fight like a rabid wolverine. She had to make the battle last to give the others time to be successful and still escape.

  She stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to face the very angry Y-Wood head honcho. "Are you actually going to kill me?" she asked. "And, here's the thing, I thought you and I, good sir, were at the beginning stages of a budding relationship." He was not impressed.

  Marcou licked his lips at such mockery. "You know what?" he said. "We were building something," he gestured, raising up a thumb. "Tell you what, after we beat the living shit out of your spying, backstabbing, lying little ass, I promise to keep you alive just enough to use that fucking little bitch-ass body of yours in any which way I choose. You can be my little experimental toy doll. How does that sound? Then I will have you put back together as a mostly robot sex slave, programmed to the Company for the rest of your life. That all fair enough?" A wicked grin crossed his face at the thought of such a plan.

  Zaey, now sick to the stomach, had no choice but to fight. The associate was the least of her concerns, yet the president appeared to wait as the half-bot came further forward. "No, that does not sound all too good . . . or fair enough," she replied, as she ducked a first punch swung by the associate. She then side kicked his knee hard, trying to break it. The half-metal bot shifted but did not drop. He spun around with an elbow which Zaey barely just slipped back out of the way of.

  The man she fought looked so real, but his body was stronger, more enhanced, and his brain was smarter and fine-tuned for combat. Marcou called to the bot by his name. "Bartell, leave some of her for me will you?" It seemed the half-man was not listening very well. He tried to stoop low and tackle his female adversary. Reaching for her legs, he dove hard at her.

  Zaey immediately sprawled her body back. She pushed hard on the thing's head and back twisted to her side to free her legs from the bot's grasp. Now free following such a movement, she jumped on Bartell's back.

  Her training in Jiu-Jitsu had taught her to place both legs around the man’s thighs when on top of his back. Her hooks would give her better stability and allow her to stay attached, even if the thing went nuts and tried to roll her off. She had never forgotten her training.

  As Zaey had predicted, the associate went ballistic and started to roll and twist in an attempt to remove the Q-Jin from his backside. President Marcou looked on in utter amusement.

  Smashing the little woman about, Bartell was able to crash her into a wall behind him, forcing her to let go. Zaey just didn't have the strength to hold on and her efforts to choke the half-machine man were not working anyway. She had no weapons, and had to get up or risk suffering too many broken bones in the flurry. Both combatants recovered and stood up. They exchanged several attempts at striking one another, each deflected blows from the other, and the fight was eventually at a standstill.

  The half-man looked to Marcou. The world leader tossed him a long jagged knife, which the associate caught with an evil grin on his face. "Cut her up, but not too much, I still want my leftovers, remember?" the president instructed. Zaey readied herself for knife defense.

  The associate stabbed at her, and she quickly turned to her side, making him miss. He followed with a high slash, making her move back, another fake stab, then a slash at her shoulder, then lastly, a reverse low slash. Zaey avoided the attacks by leaning away and then came in on the low reverse cut. She parried the cut with her left hand, and with her right elbow she drove a solid hit into the clone's head. He staggered back but did not fall.

  President Marcou now came forward. "Grab that fucking bitch and hold her for me," he bellowed out. "I will take care of her."

  The half-clone was still not listening fully. He continued to attack with his long knife. He came down to drive such into Zaey's lower neck. The Mystical Slayer dodged low and to her left, slipping behind it, and then proceeded to side kick Marcou as he circled about and tried to advance on her. The president took the hit which backed him right up. Zaey had to now get both her opponents quickly in front of her. The associate came at her with a series of stabs, trying to drive her towards his boss. He then tricked her and landed a heavy punch into her eye. She was dizzy for a moment and almost fell. Zaey could not back up, or she would be at the mercy of Marcou. She took the hit, be it a really bad one. She now felt blood running from her eye socket and knew it would be swollen big-time within a matter of minutes. The half-man attacked again with another attempted downward cut.

  She caught the attacking arm of her assailant and swung her armpit on top of the elbow joint of the associate. She used all her weight on top of him. The pressure, she hoped, would snap his arm off or at least drop him to the floor. He was too strong, and she found herself almost floating around on top of his arm and shoulder. Marcou came back at her and she had no choice but to use this leverage to propel both her legs into the air and directly at the president's head. Her feet smashed into his face and the blow landed hard. Zaey dropped to a squat and spun around to take the half-man's feet out from under the associate. Her dragon sweep Sensei had taught her successfully. It had the desired effect, but as she was spinning, she caught her wrist on the wall and felt it snap. She blocked out the pain and fought for her life.

  She was now on the far side of both men. Now was her chance and she tried to run. The associate, Bartell, ran after her. President Marcou also followed. The clone man tried to leap after her and grab her leg, but she shook him off and again tried to make a run for it as the half-man landed face-first into the marble floor.

  ***

  Ready and waiting, Sinaye positioned herself low behind a pillar in the grand upper balcony hallway. She looked down over the railings to a large dance floor which was eerily quiet and empty. The plan was to get out of the stadium and wait for her fellow sister, Zaey. However, she had a feeling that her help may be needed first. She readied a high-end laser rifle she had pieced together that morning. Then she saw Zaey suddenly burst around the corridor bend, running towards her from down the hall. She was being chased by what looked like an associate, and low and behold, the President of the Y-Wood Corporation.

  The associate was not her target. She zeroed in on the leader and fired a volley of beams directly at him. Zaey slid low and flung her butt on the ground, turned sideways, and slid right past her sister. The shots rang true and Marcou was dropped to the floor. The associate right behind Zaey was now on Sinaye, grabbing the rifle right from her grip, and he began to use it in an attempt to smash her face in.

  Instinctively, Sinaye raised her arm up to block the blows, and instead took the hits on her shoulder and arm. The associate then grabbed that same shoulder and twisted it round, sl
amming the scientist into a nearby pillar. She knew her shoulder was damaged, but had little time to inspect how badly. Her rifle clattered to the floor. Zaey got up, but before she could assist Sinaye, Marcou had staggered back up and appeared before them both. With his entire body weight behind him, the CEO drove himself into Sinaye with a fierce yell, "RAHHHHHHH," she was launched off the top of the balcony, over a railing, and fell down below.

  Zaey screamed, "You motherfucker! Just fucking die will you!" She followed the yell with an all-out, everything she had, powerful roundhouse kick directly into the president's head. He himself was now launched over the railing.

  The associate came at Zaey and kicked her straight in the stomach. She nearly keeled over from the hit but stood firm. Another straight kick followed, but she caught this one and threw the half-man off to the side, making him lose his balance. She had to get to Sinaye and the associate was now the only thing stopping her. She ran at him with every ounce of energy she had left. Leaping up, she sprung her entire body, knee first, into the associate's jaw. The flying knee landed square, and the thing's head snapped back with a loud cracking sound. Its neck flopped over its shoulders, wires and flesh separated, and the darn thing was done.

  Zaey rushed down the stairs to Sinaye, who had landed the best she could, but had still suffered a leg injury. Thankfully, she was alive. Zaey hooked Sinaye's arm around the back of her neck and helped her up. Sinaye no doubt had a torn knee ligament and possibly more broken bones. Zaey had a busted, swollen eye and a fractured wrist. Yet, Sinaye, with the help of her sister, was able to move, and they both walked out of the Corporation's stronghold.

  President Marcou was left behind as a big splat of blood on his own expensive marble floor.

  Chapter 26

  There was blood on the red planet!

  The women had made it back to their outpost. The cave system was located far west of the V-Net prison. All of them had developed it into a decent holding and they had made it a home. Their biggest issue with its location was it was so damn cold, and the Martian worms always posed a problem, but still, it was good enough as a place to live.

  They all went inside and felt a huge relief. The prison had been hit hard. Prisoners were out and about as escapees, and some had already joined them. Soon, the Corporation would also be there, putting the pieces back together. Hopefully, the Corporation had sent that many to Mars, that not many remained in Boston as the sisters of the order attacked their main USA facility.

  They immediately took to securing their premises, concealing and blocking the entrance and closing down all communication in and around their hiding place.

  It did little good. A few days later, drones were dispatched and had been hovering about overhead. When Field Commander Purcell reached the location of the hidden tracking devices, a rocky out crop, he had instructed two large drone attackers to shoot air missiles which had blasted the mountain several times. Once an opening had been created, he led his troop of robot warriors and the super-bot, Galax, inside.

  The women, those who had not been buried by the missile hits, made a valiant effort to try and fight back. Several had managed to get to their weapons, but the soldiers had shot them down before they could do much damage with them. There was no law on Mars pertaining to shooting anyone, pretty or otherwise. The bots shot anything that moved. The exploding cave system had also unexpectedly let loose a nest of Martian worms. The big bastards had chewed at the metal robots and Purcell had decided to remain outside for a while longer with the trusty Galax by his side.

  In a stroke of luck, Kanya was finally able to get to her rifle and Paka grabbed one too. Neither of the women were too badly hurt. The screeches of pain and cries for help from many of the other women were too hard to swallow for both of them. "We need to pull the rubble off of them," Kanya cried out to her black companion.

  Paka shook her head as to deny such a thought. "We can't take the time, sis, there's more bots coming in and they’re sure to have leaders, and perhaps even human captains directing them. I don't know how they found us, but at least everyone who can move, we have to try and escape." The pair spotted other survivors and still had hope.

  Black armored robots were closing in, and the Mystical Slayer duo shot at them in unison. Shots fired back, and a lethal gun fight was now in progress. Laser beams flew in all directions and some of the remaining women were shot down along with three of the robots who also fell. Kanya made her way to all the documents and information about everything the sisterhood had recorded for years.

  Paka ran to help a few of the women who were fighting hand-to-hand in the hallway, which was now open due to a hole in the wall on its west side. She glanced over her shoulder at her friend, "Destroy it all, Kanya," she yelled, "tear it all apart, use the grenade in the steel chest, blow it all away, hurry!"

  Paka, now with a sword in hand, slashed at the two remaining robots that were battling with her fellow freedom fighters. The bots were powerful specimens, armored, and tough. She took out one's leg, then the other's left arm, but the bots still fought on with the limbs they had left. The fight was wild and crazy, and the people had almost no weapons to combat with. Down fell another companion and soon another. Paka was left alone with no help. She fought hard, ducking fist blows from one bot, and jumping over another that spun a sweep at her legs. She fell back while trying to get closer to Kanya, who she hoped was ready to lend a hand in shooting these suckers down. More shots fired out at her and she was hit in the leg.

  The Field Marshall of the Y-Wood Corporation conglomerate then entered the chamber. He was fully armored with black and gray steel sections about his body and helmet. He held a thick, bazooka-like laser gun and steadied it at Paka. Kanya was suddenly running to beside her dark friend and leaping in the air. "Oh no you don't!" she screamed out, as she fired at the commander and rolled into a ninja tumble beside him to close the distance between them. "Run, Paka!" she yelled back to her longtime friend.

  Kanya's shot had hit him and had sent him flying back, causing his bazooka to misfire. Paka paused for a moment as the world seemed to slow down. Kanya rose up on one knee, and it looked like she was ready to go at the Marshall again, but then in came a blue and silver steel robot, made with materials which were far beyond the norm of any bot Paka ever had seen. He ran at full speed to the side of his field commander, and with a long, serrated sword, he removed Kanya's head in one single swipe.

  Now, he was coming directly towards Paka. His sword whipped at her neck, but she faded back and leaned just enough to make the thick razor-edged sword swing by her. She had no choice but to run. The boss man was already up and zoning in on shooting Paka.

  Paka bolted as fast as she could, and as she did, the marshal aimed at her and simply said, "Goodbye." He prepared to shoot her into oblivion, but just as his finger was about to squeeze the trigger, the mother of all Martian worms crashed through a hole beside him and its massive maws bit into his neck. His rifle now dropped away as he grabbed at the giant, savage creature and tried to fight it off. Blood squirted from his open neck wound, and he yelled out in excruciating pain. Galax, in light of his master's troubles, was already giving chase to Paka.

  She ran down an open corridor, but he was right behind her. She had only one chance. A hole in the ground was just to her right; it was a haven for the Martian worms which she had known about from months before. A lair which the rebel women had all but covered up. It had been opened up again as a result of the drone bomb blasts. She decided to throw her small body into it, and she crunched herself into the hole as tight as possible. The hole was not that big, so once inside, the super robot, Galax, would not be able to reach her. He could not fit in to grab Paka, but he came to the entrance and peered inside.

  Paka crawled deeper and had leveled her long sword to point out in front of her. That turned out to be a good thing, for when she was just about to hit the bottom, a fat earth worm shot up at her, its toothy mouth wide open. It had been hoping
for a crunchy, fleshy snack. Paka's sword pierced right through its jaw and up into its brain. The thing never did get its meal.

  Galax had returned to destroy the Martian worm on his commander’s neck. He ripped it away and tore it into three pieces. A medical bot from their ship was brought in to tend to the bloody wound. It was not pretty. Galax, in the meantime, searched the area for anyone left alive. It was then that he came across a strange looking steel chest, one which appeared to have papers in it.

  Some of the documents were destroyed. But he did find a few things which he thought would be of great interest to the Corporation. Galax and his commander had now learned this group of rebels were more than just a bunch of ordinary girls.

  They flew back to Boston immediately.

  ***

  Cador had a technical marvel in the shape of his flying vessel Breeze. He was now making his move away from Boston and the Corporation's stronghold on Earth. He had a serious choice to make and still kept his biggest secret of all.

  He could pilot his getaway ship as far into space as was needed. He had done it before. Planet Saturn was where his big secret was kept; he had already been there several times. If the Corporation suffered a serious hit and President Marcou truly was ousted, Cador would possibly become the president of Y-Wood. The whole idea was crazy.

  Cador hoped he still had communications with several of their bots, Field Commander Purcell, Galax, Omagus, and his boss, Marcou. He'd give it a little time . . . wait it out. They were probably all fine and he had lots of other issues to deal with. Only then would he make a final decision. He flew up higher into space and eventually looked back down on planet Earth.