“That’s for the grenade,” Lupus snarled. “My damned ears are still ringing.”
Flat on his back, Boardman raised his head and said weakly, “What was I supposed to do? You shot me.”
Lupus made a move like he was going to go after him again, but Scott said quickly, “Knuckles has a big mouth, but he’s got mad skills in the ring.”
Lupus was a betting man and a big fan of grease fights. Scott hoped to appeal to his sense of greed at the thought of obtaining a new fighter.
It worked; Lupus ran the flashlight over Boardman, lingering on the injured agent’s wicked-looking xenografts. He finally turned his attention to the optics in his hand. As soon as he’d snatched them from Boardman’s face, the com team shut down transmission - Scott knew because his own display had gone blank. When Lupus fit Boardman’s spectagoggles to his face, he would see no time, no map, nothing to indicate the optics were anything other than standard night vision goggles.
Lupus was also unaware that the round spectagoggles gave him the appearance of the Big Bad Wolf dressed up as a steampunk Granny. Scott bit back a highly inappropriate laugh.
Thankfully, Lupus didn’t notice. He glared at the two hovering xenos and said, “What you waitin’ for? Go get you some Mad Eye action.”
They grinned and ran off.
Lupus turned his attention back to Boardman. “Where you hit?”
“Leg.” Boardman gestured to his right thigh.
“Well, you better get up and walk on it, boy. I don’t particularly feel like taking on a Mad Eye mob tonight.”
Boardman sat up and laboriously got to his feet. “Yes, sir.”
Lupus started down the corridor, but paused when his pocket buzzed. He pulled out his holophone and glanced at it, but instead of putting it on display he held it to his ear and snapped, “What?” After several seconds of listening, he said shortly, “I’m well aware of that.”
Something about Lupus’ manner told Scott the caller was Padme. It was confirmed when one of the techs said in his ear, “Call intercepted,” and then he heard her voice: “-says it looks like there are dozens of boats. And the alarm went off in the building next to Bluto’s. Where are you?”
“Standing here with an old friend. But you already know that, don’t you?”
For a tense moment, Scott thought Lupus was revealing his hand; telling her he knew of her plan to have Scott kill him.
But she didn’t miss a beat. “Yes, I’m watching the camera footage.”
“Then why didn’t you just say that? Always playing your damned games.” He hung up on her and shook his head at Scott. “If she wasn’t pregnant, I swear to Dog I’d kill her myself.”
“Who, Padme?” Scott asked, trying to hide his shock.
“Who else? Come on, show me this boat of yours.”
Scott put his arm around Boardman’s waist and helped him as they made their way out of the building. Lupus headed on a straight path to the beach, down the same alley Scott and Boardman had come through on the way in. It seemed too good to be true that Lupus was walking to the UAAV under his own steam, unaware of what awaited him. Which, as far as Scott was concerned, was a heck of a lot better than having to subdue him during the flood of fear Padme was supposed to have dosed him with. The plan had been to drag his large, bound and unwilling body through the cluttered alley and across the beach, which would have been left for Scott to do alone since Boardman was in no shape to help.
Scott’s optics display was still dark, but he knew the time had to have passed by now: Padme hadn’t activated his nanoneurons on schedule. She’d been witness to the fight; witness to everything that was said and done. Did she realize Scott’s intention was to capture Lupus all along, or did she simply think he’d failed to kill him? Either way, he should have known she wouldn’t leave it to chance. She’d planned on watching from afar all along.
Chapter Thirty
Bryn’s teeth had begun to chatter uncontrollably. Jason offered her his jacket but didn’t attempt to move closer or, heaven forbid, put his arm around her. Even though the warmth of his body still lingered in the heavy leather jacket draped over her shoulders, she was freezing. She clenched her jaw to stop the rat-a-tat, but every time she relaxed, it started up again. Maddy finally exclaimed, “For bugger’s sake, they’re going to hear you on shore. Come here!”
It was much warmer under the roof at the helm, and the captain made it warmer by adjusting the fan nearest Bryn to blow heat on the back of her legs. Maddy continued to examine the holo radar and ignored Bryn as she, too, bent over the display.
The swarm of red dots representing the fleet was coalescing near shore. There were several other dots here and there, but they didn’t seem to concern Maddy. Bryn noticed one blip that was quite close to the yacht and almost touching the shoreline. She turned and looked for it, but saw nothing.
“What?” Maddy asked.
Bryn shook her head, but Maddy persisted. “You have a very expressive face and just now you looked positively constipated. What did you see?”
Bryn pointed to the blip and waved a hand to indicate the shore. “According the radar, there should be a boat between us and Bluto’s.”
“What’s a Bluto’s?” Maddy asked.
“It’s a bar and grill.” She pointed again. “See that light? Bluto’s should be right about there.”
Maddy frowned down at the radar and then held her hand out towards one of her soldiers and snapped her fingers. He immediately moved forward to hand her a pair of binoculars. She stepped close to the window and lifted them to her eyes. After about a minute she muttered, “Curious.”
Bryn waited.
Maddy bent her torso one way and then the other. “Quite curious.”
Dillo appeared at her side. “What is it?”
Maddy handed him the binoculars. “Look at waves directly beneath that light there. Do you see how they’re breaking?”
Bryn didn’t see a thing; it was still too dark, but assumed the binoculars had night capability or something.
“Uh-huh,” Dillo said. “I see it. Like there’s a glass boat right there.”
“An invisible boat. But not invisible to radar.”
Jason joined them, and Dillo passed the binoculars to him.
“It’s not very big,” Dillo said, looking down at the radar holo. “Who do you s’pose it is?”
Maddy crossed her arms and then brought the knuckles of her left hand to rest against her upper lip. “Well, if it’s Harbor Patrol they’ve certainly upped their game.”
Bryn was the only one who saw Jason’s face after he slowly lowered the binoculars. She’d spent the last two days in close company with him, and even though he had very few ‘tells,’ she picked up on the flicker of concern in his eyes.
He knows what it is, she thought. Which probably meant the invisible boat was XIA.
Chapter Thirty-one
Just about nothing had gone according to plan, but all they had to do was play it cool until they got to the UAAV, where Lo was waiting with enough firepower to convince even Lupus that it’d be best not to resist. As Scott helped Boardman over and around the junk cluttering the alley, he suddenly remembered the dodo egg, which may or may not have depleted itself of pepper spray when the wild dogs encountered it.
Lupus had forged ahead and would be almost upon it. He was still wearing Boardman’s optics, which would protect his eyes, and his face was furred, which would protect his skin somewhat, but his mouth and canine nose would be vulnerable.
Scott started to shout a warning, but it was too late. He heard a faint ‘pssst’ sound as the dodo egg went off, followed by Lupus crying out in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. Boardman said, “Ah, jeez. Go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”
Scott glanced up at the sky, which was beginning to lighten, but not enough for Boardman to see his way through the alley, a virtual minefield of rusty metal and splintered boards.
He reached up to his goggles and said, “Take my optics,” bu
t Boardman replied, “I got my holophone. Go!”
Scott jumped over a heap of garbage that looked suspiciously like it was squirming, pushed past an overflowing and foul-smelling dumpster, and wove his way through haphazardly stacked piles of beams and boards to where Lupus was bent double, coughing and swearing.
Scott stayed back, out of Lupus’ reach in case the big man lashed out. “You okay?”
The reply was garbled, but Scott thought he said, “Can’t...breathe.”
Scott fought off a surge of irritation. This would be the perfect opportunity to fully take control of the situation by using his stun gun, but the electric shock would incapacitate Lupus’ muscles, and since he was already having trouble breathing, he might suffocate.
As if to illustrate the need to hurry, a faint burst of gunfire erupted somewhere down the beach.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
An angry growl was the only response, but Lupus began staggering toward the end of the alley. Scott looked around for the dodo egg, but it was gone - Lupus must have kicked it away. Boardman caught up with them, but when Scott made a move like he was going to help him, the other agent waved him off and said, “I’ll be right behind you.”
Scott went after Lupus, who had stopped on the boardwalk. Wheezing heavily, he gestured out at the water. The UAAV was still in camouflage mode, but Scott knew its general location. There was something else out there, though. In his ear, Lo said, “Welcome back. And, yeah, we got company.”
Out on the water, several hundred yards from shore, a dark shape was silhouetted against the lighter sky. Lupus struggled to speak between laboriously indrawn breaths. “Your...boat?”
Whoever was manning the other water craft seemed to be in stealth mode, too, since there were no running lights. Scott had a bad feeling about it, but the other vessel’s presence did give him an idea. He hadn’t thought how to lure Lupus out to the UAAV when it was essentially invisible.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he said. “Come on.”
Chapter Thirty-two
When the sound of gunfire echoed out over the water, Maddy snatched the binoculars from Jason and turned to look at the Mad Eye boats.
It was light enough now for Bryn to see them just converging on shore. The plan had been for the invading Mad Eyes to land quickly before stealthily moving into XBestia territory, but something must have gone wrong because there were men on shore shooting at the boats. The cracking and popping sounds increased and now Bryn heard faint shouts and screams. From this distance, the men on shore looked like ants. They began to fall under an onslaught of bullets from the incoming boats.
Maddy lowered the binoculars. Her angry face, highlighted by the bluish light shining up from the holo display, looked positively sinister. She turned to Dillo and said, “They knew.”
Dillo held his hand out for the binoculars. For a moment, Bryn thought Maddy might throw them at him, but she handed them over.
He looked. “There were only five or six men on shore. If someone warned them, there’d be a whole lot more...hold on...ahh, here they come.”
Bryn saw them pouring across the boardwalk, collectively shouting and waving their weapons like a barbarian horde. They rushed to meet the occupants of the boats that had made it to shore.
“How did they know?” Maddy said through gritted teeth.
“They must have posted a look-out,” Jason said.
Maddy treated him to a dour look that shot his suggestion down. “They’re too stupid and disorganized for that. Someone tipped them off.”
“Wait,” said Dillo. He’d turned and was looking toward Bluto’s. “I see something.”
“Well, what is it?” Maddy snapped.
“Two men on the beach, headed for that invisible boat.” He passed her the binoculars with a huge grin. “And you’re not going to believe who it is.”
Maddy lifted the binoculars and looked. After several tense seconds, she lowered them again. On her face was a look of utter glee.
“Captain?” she asked cheerfully. “How close can you bring us in?”
Chapter Thirty-three
Lupus made it halfway across the beach before collapsing. He rolled onto his back gasping for breath. Scott was no veterinarian, but the wolf-faced man’s canine nose and thin black lips looked swollen. He knew from basic training that some people reacted more adversely to pepper spray than others. From the sound of Lupus’ labored breathing, he must have inhaled some of the caustic liquid. If his lung passages closed up, Scott would be left hauling a dead man.
He quickly assessed the situation. The boat shadowing them had begun moving closer. It was very likely they’d spotted the UAAV on radar. It was unlikely they were friendlies. Boardman had just stepped onto the beach and was shuffling his way through the sand towards him.
“Lo, I need you,” he said, before pulling the backpack from his back and unzipping it. A flick of his wrists and the stretcher pack unrolled, the stabilizing bars snapping automatically into place.
“They spotted us,” Lo replied.
“Affirmative. Lupus is down, Boardman is shot, and we need your muscle.” Scott set the stretcher in the sand, knelt by Lupus’ side and heaved him onto it.
The UAAV motor revved and in seconds Lo had driven it onto the sand and stopped nearby. Scott glanced up. It looked like an ice cream truck again. Lo slid open the side door, jumped out, and took the back end of the stretcher.
The com team must have repositioned the drone, because one of them said, “The unknown vessel has launched an outboard. You’ve got two incoming. Get out of there!”
Scott and Lo heaved Lupus into the UAAV, then ran together to assist Boardman. One on each side, with his arms over their shoulders, they lifted him and pounded across the sand. To the right, half a mile up the beach, the Mad Eye and XBestia gangs were killing each other. Isolated patches of orange light flickered from several locations along the boardwalk. Clouds of billowing smoke indicated the light came from buildings that had been torched. Far off sirens began to wail. Ahead of them, to the left of the UAAV, the two men from the unknown vessel landed. The taller of the two had hulking huge shoulders. Both were armed with rifles.
Scott and the others were twenty yards from safety when Boardman said, “We’re not going to make it. Leave me!”
“The hell with that,” Lo said. She ducked out from under Boardman’s arm and pulled her gun. Scott swore, but he knew why she’d done it. Of the two of them, he was stronger and could get Boardman to safety faster than she could.
“Federal agent!” she shouted. “Drop your weapons!”
Scott didn’t hesitate; Lo was wearing body armor and could handle herself, and he wasn’t about to squander her gambit by standing around waiting to see what the two armed men would do. He bent down, hefted Boardman in a fireman’s carry, and ran.
Chapter Thirty-three
After Maddy sent Dillo and Jason ashore in the little outboard, she broke her own radio silence rule to call someone. Bryn tried to stay out of her way as she paced back and forth, staring at her holophone and muttering, “Pick up...pick up.”
Bryn had begun chewing on one of her fingernails, eyes glued to the outboard as it zoomed closer to shore. The sky had gotten lighter, but darkness was still hours away from being completely dispelled.
“No one’s answering!” Maddy let out a frustrated cry and threw her holophone at the windshield. It slid across the dash and clattered to the floor.
The captain turned to her with eyebrows raised. “Maybe they’re busy.”
“I need them...” she jabbed a finger at the beach where the gang fight was still raging, “to go there!” she turned and pointed to where Jason and Dillo were just landing. “Lupus is in that truck!”
Bryn shrank away from Maddy’s fury, pressing her nose against the cold glass. The shore was some distance away, but she clearly saw two people helping a third walk to the invisible boat that had quite bizarrely turned into an ice cream truck and driven onto the beach.
She couldn’t make out their faces in the low light, but one of the helpers was a woman and the other a man with goggles over his eyes. When the woman broke away and yelled that she was a federal agent, Bryn hoped Jason and Dillo would back off, but they didn’t.
Dillo yelled back, “We just want the wolf man!”
The woman responded by diving to the side and simultaneously firing at them. Jason and Dillo dropped flat. After that, everything happened so fast it was like a blur. The woman continued to fire while rolling towards the ice cream truck. Dillo and Jason also took cover on the ground and fired back.
In the meantime, a group of xenos, Bryn wasn’t sure if they were XBestia or Mad Eye, seemed to be making their way up the beach. Several fires had broken out and the windless morning did nothing to dispel the smoke, which expanded in the air and drifted across the sand.
The man with the goggles appeared from behind the truck with a gun in each hand. He laid down a hail of bullets that allowed the woman to run for the shelter of the truck. Just when Bryn thought the ‘federal agents’ were going to get away, Dillo took aim and picked the goggled man off - and from the way the man’s head jerked back before he fell, it looked like he’d been hit in the face.
The xenos coming up the beach were flat-out running now, chased by another, larger group. The ones being chased must have been Mad Eye, because they headed straight for Dillo and Jason, who began shooting at their pursuers. Most of the newcomers were carrying firearms, but none were shooting, and Bryn suspected it was because they were all out of ammunition.
She glanced back at the truck just in time to see the woman use the distraction to attempt to pull the fallen man to safety, but Dillo saw her, too, and quite casually turned and shot her.
Bryn’s fingernail had been bitten to the quick. She moved on to the next finger, watching the carnage on the beach, horrified, but unable to look away. Six Mad Eyes made it to safety behind Dillo and Jason. Ammunition was shared, and the newcomers gained a quick advantage over their pursuers, who retreated out of range.
Xenofreak Nation, Book Two: Mad Eye Page 15