Hunting Nora Stone

by Colin Weldon

  Nora had not been timid when she had changed her clothes and the view had caused a strange silence in the cabin. She had gotten completely naked in front of the group without hesitation and put on the overalls. It was hard not to look. Not because of the physicality of the woman but what was implanted in her body. It was the first time Eddie had seen anything like it. Hiran had been transfixed by the cybernetic implants that had replaced her arms all the way up to her shoulders. Technology that spanned most of her upper back spread out in a network of flexible wires and soft tissue bio gel. Even Holt looked genuinely in awe at the level to which her body had been replaced by the transparent material, which seemed to moved seamlessly with the movement of her human muscles. She had looked at each of them intently as the three men gazed compulsively at her cybernetic body.

  “You look like you’ve never seen a naked woman before,” she had said wryly, zipping up her jumpsuit.

  “What the hell did they do to you?” Holt had said.

  Nora had smiled.

  “Upgrades, Care to test them out?” Nora said smiling and taking her seat, she looked at Hiran.

  “Hey, Whiz Kid,” she said getting his attention.

  He gave her a nervous look.

  “What are you able to do with that equipment?” she asked.

  “What did you have in mind?” Hiran said.

  “If you were given the correct input frequencies could you hack into a quantum key encrypted system and plant a root command?” Nora said.

  “Probably not no,” Hiran said.

  “What if you were given the cypher key?” Nora said.

  “Well then yes, obviously,” Hiran said.

  “Good, then get out your laptop we have some work to do,” she said.

  Hiran obeyed instantly as Nora moved over to him and sat close to him. Hiran cleared his throat.

  Holt turned to Eddie.

  “My bother told me about you,” Holt said.

  Eddie locked eyes with him; he hadn’t wanted to confront this today.

  “Oh?” Eddie replied.

  “You didn’t go to the funeral?” Holt said bluntly.

  Eddie looked at the floor.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Eddie said, “I wasn’t firing at one hundred per cent when I got back.”

  “I don’t blame you, Dylan only had good things to say about you, well mostly. He told me a story about you two in Mexico,” Holt said smiling.

  Eddie was genuinely surprised.

  “Jesus, he broke the bro code, what goes on tour stays on tour. The bastard,” Eddie couldn’t help but smile. Holt reciprocated.

  “You’re secret is safe with me, you did your best. Did he die well?” Holt said coldly. Eddie stared into his eyes.

  “He was the bravest man I ever knew. He died fighting,” Eddie said trying to hold back the flood of memory that was bursting to get out.

  “Good,” Holt said, “may we all die well.”

  * * *

  The helicopter flew low, as is made its way south over the East River. It passed over the Williamsburg Bridge and banked right towards the Brooklyn Bridge. The low-lying cloud coated the skylines in a dull grey casting a grim picture of the city. Up ahead, Eddie could see a trail of smoke billowing from the Manhattan side of the iconic structure.

  He took a tactical vest that he had found earlier from the armoury and slid it over his shoulders. He figured the Kevlar plating inside would be made redundant by his new body armour but figured that every little bit helped. He slid a Glock into a holster under his left arm. He looked at Hiran.

  “Hand me those vials will you?” he said.

  Hiran reached inside his coat and handed Eddie the dart like syringe.

  “What’s that supposed to be?” Nora said, “neurological inhibitor?”

  Hiran gave her embarrassed gaze.

  “Eh,” he said.

  “Yeah that won’t work, his outer shell, unless he was damaged by the crash, is virtually impenetrable and even if you did get through the only thing human left is his brain stem,” she said

  “Shit,” Eddie said, “then what are we supposed to…”

  He was cut short from a sudden load alarm sound from the cockpit.

  “Incoming,” shouted the pilot, “Everyone hang on!”

  Eddie looked out and saw a white trail of smoking headed in their direction.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Director Wise stepped onto the Gulf Stream jet, the information from the situation room wasn’t good. He was alive, the old bastard. He took his seat and pulled the small curtain beside the window closed. Old habits die-hard. The engines roared to life as the plane began to taxi out to the runway, at some speed. He rubbed his eyes and tried to think of a way to salvage this complete debacle. The pilot lined up the plane and, without stopping, applied full power.

  The tarmac dropped away and he rose over the Washington landscape. He glanced at the peak of the Washington monument and picked up the phone that was fixed onto the wall next to his seat. He dialled the number and waited for the ring tone. It would be the first time that he had spoken openly with the Quorum’s sleeper agent since the mission had begun.

  “Director Wise,” said Julian Miller on the other end.

  Wise paused for a moment and looked at the dome of Capitol Hill.

  “Report,” Wise said.

  “One moment,” said Miller.

  There was a few seconds of silence, as Miller was, presumably, making sure their conversation took place in privacy.

  “He knows,” Miller said, “Royo is alive and he knows. We have a real problem down here sir. We’ve got military vehicles pulling up outside the building. He’s shutting us down.”

  Wise tried to remain calm but the blood boiling beneath his skin was just too much to bear. He slammed his fist down hard on the armrest, catching his wrist on its side and causing a sharp pain to travel up his arm.

  “Fuck!” he shouted down the phone at Miller. “So Stone didn’t kill him on Air Force One?”

  “No sir, it appears not,” Miller said.

  “Where is Conrad now?”

  “It would appear he and Stone are on a helicopter headed for downtown New York,” Miller replied.

  “Shit,” Wise said under his breath as he peered out at the clouds.

  Miller’s tone was obedient. The way a soldier would address a commanding officer on the battlefield.

  “What would you like me to do sir?”

  Wise thought for a moment.

  “Fire the EMP, wipe every bit of data in that building, do it now. Contact Shaw and tell him to lock down the Academy, full breach protocol. Nobody gets in or out. They may get access to the labs but under no circumstances is the military to find the Academy, is that understood?”

  “Yes sir,” Miller replied

  “Once the EMP has wiped out the electrical systems, you know what to do Julian. You are not to be taken alive, do you understand?” Wise said.

  “I understand,” said Miller sounding resigned to the fate that Wise had laid out for him. Heller was not the only one with a hidden compartment in his belt.

  “We thank you for your service. Goodbye Julian,” Wise said.

  “Goodbye sir,” Miller said and hung up.

  Wise pressed the reset button on the phone and dialled the cockpit.

  “Change course,” he said, “we’re going to Nevada.”

  New York

  The chaffing flares fired as Eddie was thrown hard against the wall. The chopper tilted on its side as it banked hard to the right. The klaxon sounded from the cockpit notifying the pilots of the missile lock. Eddie grabbed hold of a rope grip and peered out as a crunching sound struck what seemed to be the tail. The impact knocked his grip free and he was thrown the floor, he was joined there by the others.

  �
�Fuck,” Eddie heard Hiran say.

  He felt his stomach lurch as the aircraft began to spin. Black smoke began to creep through the fuselage as he tried to get a grip on one of the handholds. He managed to pull himself up to see the skyline of New York circling him at speed. He saw the tall towers of the Brooklyn Bridge appear as the helicopter spiralled downwards.

  “Brace yourselves,” shouted the pilot.

  Memories of the last time this had happened began to flood into Eddie’s brain. A horrifying déjà vu triggered an anxiety response he strained to control. The crash, which had led to his incarceration and subsequent months of torture, had begun exactly like it. He gritted his teeth and shouted at the fear in his brain.

  Fuck off! He screamed in his mind.

  It had worked before. He felt both the spinning of the helicopter and the screaming voices in his head begin to slow. The pilot had regained some control, not much. Then it hit. Hard. Eddie felt his body lift off the floor as it was thrust upwards towards the roof. His shoulder took the brunt of the impact before gravity brought him back to the ground.

  “Evacuate,” shouted the pilot as Eddie tried to clear his vision.

  He looked around and saw that everyone seemed ok. Some cuts and scrapes, lucky, for now. He waited until the other three had gotten out safely before following. He looked up, holding his shoulder and got his bearings. They had landed on the Brooklyn side of the bridge. It was chaotic. There were hundreds of people running and screaming away from the centre of the bridge where the smoke was coming from. He turned to the pilot who was removing his helmet.

  “Nice landing,” he said.

  “Thank you sir,” replied the marine.

  “What hit us?” he asked.

  “Looked like a projectile from a hand held launcher sir, an Amraam would have certainly taken us out,” the Marine said.

  “We have to move,” Nora said.

  Eddie looked at Holt; he looked like he was bleeding from his left arm.

  “I’m good,” Holt said.

  He turned to Hiran.

  “You stay here,” he said.

  “But I can..”

  “Stay here,” Eddie repeated.

  “You know what to do?” Nora said to Hiran.

  “Yes, but I don’t know how effective it’s going to be,” Hiran said.

  “We may only need a few seconds,” Nora said.

  Eddie looked to the trail of smoke and began moving towards it. He drew his weapon and held it low. He could see flames billowing from damaged cars mixed in the flashing blues of emergency vehicles from across the other side of the bridge as they approached.

  They continued moving steadily, Nora taking point with Holt and Eddie bringing up the rear. He caught the tail section of the downed aircraft through a gap between two wrecked cars and paused, checking every possible hiding point. They continued down towards the centre of the bridge before Nora raised her right arm and gave them a stop signal. Eddie and Holt obeyed, as Nora pointed her cybernetic hand towards a clearing. Eddie could see the crashed aircraft clearly now. Standing on its roof, as brazen and calm as you could imagine, was Tarsis, or rather what was left of him. What Eddie could make out at this distance looked like half his face had been torn off, the flesh completely melted off revealing the metallic under structure. There was a large hole punched straight through his mid section and sparks reigned down onto the street. He glared at them with the one eye he had left. The other, a dark socket.

  “Come on Nora, I don’t have all day!” Tarsis screamed at them, his voice sounding decidedly more mechanical than human.

  Nora turned to Eddie.

  “This goes south, you know what to do,” she said.

  Eddie nodded.

  “Then let’s get the party started,” she said looking back and breaking into a sprint.

  Eddie gave Holt a nod and they followed suit, weapons fully drawn. Eddie activated his armour as Tarsis leapt from the roof of the burning plane and landed on the ground with a thud. The centre of the bridge was deserted now aside from vehicle debris. Tarsis began running towards them, towards Nora. She was much too fast and had pulled away from Eddie. She was now a good fifty meters in front. He drew his weapon up and fired off a few shots as Tarsis leapt into the air. His first shot missed but he clocked him right in the chest with the second. It seemed to have no effect as Tarsis came down hard, meeting Nora’s raised arms. The two made contact, with Nora absorbing the impact of the blow, bending her knees and spinning around striking him with her forearm, which connected with his back. Eddie fired off two more shots as he approached, these two hitting Tarsis square in the back. Tarsis didn’t even acknowledge them as and Nora began sparing in a furious exchange of blows, which, even at a quarter of their strength would have killed a normal person in a heartbeat. Eddie turned to Holt.

  “Keep back!” he shouted, “go for it’s head.”

  Holt frowned but obeyed, slowing his pace but firing off a few rounds before doing so. Eddie knew he didn’t stand a chance against this thing without any body armour. Just as he was about to reach the pair he watched as Tarsis dipped down, reaching one arm under Nora’s groin and the other over her shoulder, picking her up and throwing her swiftly through the air. Her body hit the side of a burning black Mercedes, crumpling in the metal as she tumbled onto the ground. Tarsis screamed a horrible robotic noise and turned to Eddie, who already had his shoulder down low. He ploughed into Tarsis, sending the pair crashing backwards into the fuselage of the downed fighter. Eddie felt the armour take the impact as he wrapped his arms around Tarsis’s mid section and squeezed. He felt a powerful thud on his back as Tarsis brought his metallic elbows down on Eddie’s back. It was enough to break Eddie’s hold and send him to the ground and also knock the wind out of him. Tarsis brought his knee down towards Eddie’s head but he was quick enough to roll out of the way. The impact on the tarmac left a sizeable crater, a crater that would have been Eddie’s skull. He got to his feet quickly as Holt fired off another shot, hitting Tarsis cleanly in the jaw. Tarsis ignored it, keeping its deformed eyes on Eddie.

  “Raindrops keep falling on my head,” sang Tarsis, “just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed, Nothing seems to fit, oh Raindrops keep falling on my…”

  Nora came out of nowhere; thrusting herself into the machine, body slamming him back into the fuselage of the fighter. Tarsis growled as the pair began grappling with each other. Eddie didn’t wait for a cue, he joined in, trying to grab Tarsis’s right arm and pin it upwards so that Nora could land her punches. Eddie looked for his gun, realising that it was on the ground next to him. He strained against the strength of the machine. It took everything he had, even with the armour to hold on. In one powerful motion, Tarsis pushed forwards, sending Nora and Eddie to the ground. Eddie looked up and saw Tarsis, now with what looked like a large metal spike in one hand, heading straight for him. In a swift smooth motion he plunged the spike straight through Eddie’s shoulder. He screamed as the blinding pain blurred his vision. Tarsis then left Eddie on the ground, impaled. He walked over to the gun, picked it up and aiming it at Eddie’s head.

  “No!” he heard from his left as he heard a shot ring out.

  He waited for death. It didn’t come. He watched as a body came between the bullet and his head, a familiar body. It was Holt.

  “No!” Eddie screamed as Holt dropped to his knees, his face planting itself onto the street.

  “Fuck,” Eddie screamed grabbing the spike and trying to get to his feet. Nora and Tarsis exchanged a storm of punches. Eddie turned back towards the end of the street.

  “Hiran!” she screamed, “NOW!”

  He reached inside his overalls and removed a grenade as Tarsis suddenly stopped moving. Eddie pulled the pin and threw the grenade at Nora.

  “Do it!” he shouted.

  Nora looked to Eddie, caught the grenade and wi
th one swift punch, brought her hand up under Tarsis’s jaw, puncturing straight through to his skull. She withdrew her hand, leaving the grenade in situ and grabbed him by the neck. He looked stunned, confused, malfunctioning. Nora dragged the cyborg across the road, his feet trailing on the ground and then grabbed his crotch. She lifted him cleanly off the ground and flung him over the railing. Tarsis disappeared from sight.

  “Down!” she shouted, sounding exasperated.

  Eddie hit the deck, less than a second later he heard and explosion. Then there was quiet.

  He dragged himself over to the fallen Holt and looked at the pool of blood oozing from his chest. He took his head in his arms.

  “Todd?” he said shaking his head.

  Holt opened his eyes and spluttered.

  “It’s not your fault,” Holt said through his bloodied mouth, “tell The President he still owes me fifty bucks.”

  He closed his eyes.

  “Holt!” Eddie shouted.

  He was gone. Eddie couldn’t hold it back anymore, both brothers, under his watch. Tears began to flow.

  “No,” Eddie whispered to himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

  “Take a deep breath Eddie,” Nora said.

  The sounds of helicopters overhead seeped through the wave of emotion. A bright light exploded all around them as the searchlights got a fix on them. He looked up at Nora, still holding Holt’s head in his arms. She reached across to her right arm. A little compartment on her bicep opened up and she took out a syringe of some sort.

  “What are you doing?” he said.

  She reached over to his arm and injected him with something. The pain went away, replaced with a powerful sense of euphoria.