The car slammed hard into the back wall of the private parking garage. The driver was already pressing himself against his seat, so he didn’t seem to notice. He just kept pressing on the throttle. Shektee had expected the impact and used it to add force to her punch. She punched through the armored windshield and into the driver’s chest. Grabbing his spinal column, she pulled, ripping the man through the broken windshield. She pulled him right up to her lips so that she could drain the last of his life energy as he died.
The two men at the desk regained enough control of their wits to start firing on Shektee. The attendant had given in to his flight response and was running for the stairs. Whoever was inside the air car was still recovering from the car’s impact with the wall or was too frightened to get out of the car. Shektee ignored the hail of bullets and was more interested in finding Lenard. She hopped down and ripped the rear door from the car.
Two large slugs from a short double-barreled shotgun knocked her stumbling backward. Lenard had been waiting for her to open the door. Michael reached over and sprayed her with machine-gun fire. Before Michael had emptied his clip, Lenard had his own gauss rifle up and was firing. Shektee threw her arms across her face to protect her eyes as the hail of bullets chipped away at her bone armor. The small machine-gun rounds mostly bounced off only a few, finding soft flesh to penetrate. The gauss round slammed into the bone armor, breaking it and tearing through the flesh underneath. Within seconds both guns were empty and Shektee stood before them with black blood oozing from the horrible wounds she’d suffered, but she was still standing.
The two guys at the attendant’s desk watched as the creature staggered back, getting shot at point-blank range by their boss. When the shooting stopped, the creature had horrible wounds, but instead of falling over dead it screamed in rage and attacked. They decided in unison that the attendant had the right idea and ran for the stairs.
Shektee dove forward, bringing herself face-to-face with her prey. She used every ounce of her will to command them to stop and surrender. They were to die slowly, not in the heat of battle. Lenard had always thought of himself as a strong-willed and confident man, but faced with a true test of will, he crumbled. Lenard dropped his weapon and slouched back in the seat to cry.
Michael snarled and punched at Shektee. Sitting the way he was, his punch would have been weak even to another human. Shektee grabbed his outstretched arm and dragged him to her for a kiss. She was careful to only take enough of his life energy to knock him unconscious. Mystique had requested that he get special treatment.
As Shektee backed out of the car, she ordered Lenard to follow her. She walked to the open door and stood there as Lenard slowly followed. Once he arrived, she had him stand on the edge overlooking the street. Shektee stepped up behind him and reached around, putting one clawed finger to his throat and the other clawed hand to his gut. She waited like that for over a minute until a police drone finally flew into view. As the drone recorded her actions, Shektee flicked her wrist and sliced Lenard’s neck open with one hand as the other drove into his stomach and pulled out his intestines. Lenard fell forward off the edge. Shektee held tight to his entrails, letting his fall pull them from his body until she felt the snap as the last of them was pulled free.
The police drone fired Taser darts and used a sonic crowd-control weapon on her; neither had any effect. So she ignored it. Shektee walked back to the car and dragged Michael’s limp body out. When she turned back to the door, she noticed that a second larger drone had arrived. The new drone was armed with a light machine-gun and looked like it was getting ready to fire. Shektee decided it was worth the expenditure of a little more energy to get away without more trouble. She activated her invisibility once again as she moved toward the opening. Michael’s added weight would make flying difficult, but she only needed to go a short distance.
***
The shuttle carrying Mystique and her captors had barely left the atmosphere when the reports of an attack on the Carlisle Shipping building were received. Captain Remington cursed his stupidity for not seeing what was going to happen and where Shektee had gone. It was so obvious now; Mystique had sent her to kill their target while she distracted him. His men were still at the factory, well out of range to respond. The only weapon he had available to attack her with was a missile barrage from the destroyer that would destroy the entire building and most of those surrounding it. He was authorized to do that much collateral damage and had in the past, but he hated each time he had to.
Seconds later, one of the communications technicians on the destroyer patched him into the security feeds for the Carlisle building. He watched as Shektee’s combat form stepped out of the elevator and into the hail of bullets. Remington had hoped the guy manning the tripod was a better shot. He didn’t know how Mr. Johnson had gotten a fifteen-millimeter heavy gauss cannon and didn’t care at the moment. It was capable of destroying the creature. Unfortunately, he wasn’t and now the only chance of killing the creature without killing hundreds of civilians was gone.
The fight in the garage had a few surprises for him. He’d expected the creature to kill the three men at the desk but instead it ignored them. It even allowed them to escape after they had shot it. He assumed it was under orders on how to kill Lenard Johnson and that’s why it hadn’t fed on him. He was not sure what its plans were for the red-haired man and he realized that he wished the drone had shot the poor man. Whatever it was going to do to him, Captain Remington was certain it was going to be much more painful than getting shot.
The shuttle docked with the destroyer as Shektee vanished. Captain Remington prayed that she wouldn’t make him regret not calling for the orbital strike. A medical team was waiting at the airlock to take over Mystique’s treatment. He followed them to the medical bay and watched as they moved her into the auto doc units. He had four guards stationed inside and another two in the corridor outside. He wasn’t taking any chances.
Captain Remington was met by the XO as he entered CIC. The XO reported that one of the security guards from the elevator was alive and had regained consciousness. That piece of news really confused Captain Remington. Why had Shektee left him alive? What was special about him? Her kind never left survivors, especially not ones they were close enough to knock unconscious.
“I want a full medical workup on the survivor. If he left a bad taste in its mouth, I want to know why,” Remington ordered.
“Sir, Doctor Nichols reports that Mystique will survive and he expects to be able to wake her in forty-eight hours,” one of the communications techs stated.
“I want her moved into quarantine as soon as possible. She has been physically and psionicly enhanced, giving her a number of special abilities. Assume that she will be awake before the doctor expects and she can defeat any lock. She is also highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Her preferred weapons are knives of any kind. And most important, she can make herself invisible, so no doors in medical open without authorization from this room,” Captain Remington instructed everyone in the room. To any other crew his statements about Mystique would have been met with skepticism, but this crew had seen enough to not doubt anything he said. Within minutes all of his demands were met.
***
Chapter 11
Who Is Really in Charge
Shektee thought for a while of her situation and her options. Captain Remington had taken Mystique up to his ship, so getting to her was going to be difficult. She had no doubt that she could charm someone into taking her up to the ship, but they’d never let her onboard. She could continue to hunt the people who worked for Lenard Johnson, but that would leave Mystique at Remington’s mercy. If he did anything to her that upset the ancient, she’d pay a terrible price for allowing it. This left her only one real option: surrender.
Remington had taken over almost all communication on the planet to send her a message. “We have your mistress. Surrender peacefully and she will be unharmed.” The message continually scrolled across ever
y video screen and started every phone call. She hated the idea of surrendering to a human but she really didn’t have a choice. The only thing she could do was to arrange her surrender so that she didn’t give up total control.
Humans had rules they had to follow; she needed someone who knew their rules and was willing to help her. Detective Montgomery had helped in the ambush that Mystique was hurt in, so she wouldn’t work with him again. It would take a lot of self-control to keep from killing him if they ever met again. Major Castleman was working for Captain Remington so he was out. The only person she could think of, Mystique had sent away. An evil smile lit up her face as the idea of forcing Remington to work for her surrender amused her.
Shektee looked around the diner for an easy pawn. A middle-aged man was watching her but looked away embarrassed when she spotted him. She wouldn’t have to use any mystical powers on him to get him to do whatever she wanted. So she waited for him to look again and this time she motioned for him to come over. The man was so shy he almost ran out of the diner.
Shektee cursed his weakness and was about to go after him when a large man sat down next to her, forcing her to move or be sat on. “Hi, I’m Jed. What you want with a scrawny twerp like that when you can have a real man?”
Shektee smiled; she loved arrogant volunteers. “I want you to make a call for me,” she purred into his ear, rubbing up against him in all the right places.
“Whatever you want, darling,” he replied, slipping his arm over her shoulder and down her side.
“Here is the number; tell the person who answers that Shektee will meet Bruce Montagu at his apartment at ten o’clock tomorrow night,” she instructed.
“Sure, whatever; let’s go to my place. I can call from there.”
Shektee thought for a few seconds before deciding that he was right. At his place, she could feed on him in private after he made the call. “Okay, let’s go,” she said with a smile and a giggle, playing the part of dumb tart.
The walk to Jed’s place was only a block. At first, Jed tried to walk slow and pull Shektee in tight so he could feel her up, but Shektee pulled away and complained that it was cold. She set a quick pace, forcing Jed to hurry. She wanted to be in the privacy of his apartment. When they finally arrived, Jed’s apartment looked exactly the way Shektee had expected. Clothing and empty food containers lay scattered about and the place smelled of sweat and old beer.
Jed wasted no time; even before his door was completely closed, he was grabbing Shektee. He wanted her and he was going to have her. Shektee simply laughed as she let him hug her tight and kiss her. He took her laugher as consent that he could do as he pleased. That was of course until Shektee’s hand clamped down on his nuts like a steel vise. The sudden pain almost caused him to black out. With her other hand, Shektee grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at her.
“You have a phone call to make before we get started,” she said in a voice so cold and commanding, it cut through the pain-induced fog.
“All right, all right. Let go of my nuts, bitch!” he demanded. Shektee hated taking orders from humans. In a flash of anger, she pulled his face to hers and kissed him. As she drained his life energy, she squeezed with her other hand and pulverized his testes. His pain added a wonderful flavor, making it impossible for Shektee to stop until she had drained every bit of energy from him.
Shektee looked down at Jed’s emaciated corpse and frowned. She hadn’t intended to do that, but oh well. She looked for his phone and once she had it, she dialed Major Castleman’s number.
“Major Castleman’s office. How may I help you?” came the strong voice of a young man.
“This is Shektee. I wish to speak with the major.”
“One moment, please,” came his reply. Shektee liked these military types. They knew how to follow orders and act with respect.
“Shektee, are you ready to turn yourself in?” Major Castleman asked, getting right to the point. She liked that also.
“Yes, but on my terms. I will surrender to Bruce Montagu at our hotel room. I will look for him on the balcony at ten o’clock tomorrow night. If he is there, I’ll speak with him, then allow you to take me into custody. If he isn’t there, I will go hunt for the evening and come back the following night. How much hunting I do in your city is up to you,” Shektee instructed, waiting a few seconds for him to ask the questions he was undoubtedly about to.
“Why Bruce Montagu and what hotel room?” Castleman asked, as they were the first questions he could think of, and he didn’t want her getting bored and breaking the connection.
“He’s Mystique’s friend and he understands your rules of conduct. He knows what hotel room; ask him. I’ll talk to you again soon,” she replied before ending the call.
***
Major Castleman hit the call button connecting him to Captain Remington. The captain had demanded that a direct line be set up so that they could contact each other without the normal delays. Remington answered immediately, not wasting time with the normal greetings; he simply said, “Remington”
Major Castleman informed him of Shektee’s call and her demands for her surrender. Bruce Montagu was outside his jurisdiction, so he couldn’t even find the boy. He informed Remington of what he did know about the young man and his connection with Mystique. Captain Remington thanked him for the information and informed him that he’d have an arrest warrant issued for Bruce. Castleman had his people send Captain Remington a recording of the call and the location it had originated from. Shektee hadn’t been as careful as Mystique and had allowed them to trace her location. Both men agreed that the chance of catching her still there was slim, but they had to try.
Captain Remington contacted his men at the spaceport and sent them to Shektee’s last-known location. Next he contacted the chief of police and had an arrest warrant issued for Bruce Montagu. The chief pointed out that Mrs. Montagu was a very powerful person and that it wouldn’t be easy to bring her son in for questioning. Captain Remington was tired of people telling him what he could and couldn’t do. He corrected the chief, making it perfectly clear that Bruce Montagu was to be apprehended unharmed. Anyone hampering with his apprehension was to be arrested for treason, and that included the chief. Before the chief could protest, Remington cut the connection.
His next call was to the base commander of the Federation army base. It was a small base with only a few-hundred troops but they represented a much larger force that very few civilians were willing to go up against. Their simple presence would change people’s attitudes. He gave the commander the proper authorization codes to give him command of the base and all of its personnel, and instructed the commander to set battle stations. He then wanted an officer and two squads in full tactical gear to report to the chief of police. They were to ensure Bruce Montagu was arrested unharmed within the next twelve hours. He would be arriving within the hour to oversee the operation.
***
By the time Bruce Montagu was in custody, his mother and her attorney were both under arrest. To Mr. Shensi’s credit he did show a lot of loyalty by not turning over Bruce once he was arrested. In the end, it had been the private security firm guarding Bruce that had turned him over. Now Bruce was sitting in an interrogation room at police headquarters.
Captain Remington sat in the next room watching Bruce and reading his school evaluations and transcripts. Bruce had a promising career ahead of him if he lived through the night. He had high marks in computer science and had been accepted to the Naval Academy. He did have a rich kid’s lack of respect for certain rules and authority, but the Academy would fix that. The kid had admitted to helping Mystique and Shektee and even knew what Shektee was. All in all, he seemed like a good kid. Remington felt a little sorry for having to use him as bait, but he was going to do whatever it took to capture Shektee.
Captain Remington hadn’t told Bruce about his part in tonight’s meeting. Bruce had explained about the hotel and had provided the room number they’d stayed in. Remington’s te
am was setting up in the room and he had snipers positioned on adjacent buildings. If she surrendered, great; if not, his guys would shred her and most likely Bruce before she could get away.
It was nine o’clock, time to tell Bruce and get him to the hotel. He motioned for the guards to bring Bruce to the roof. They would use one of his shuttles to get to the hotel. Captain Remington picked up his helmet and walked out into the hall as the two guards brought Bruce out of the interrogation room. Bruce looked nervous but he was doing a good job of hiding it. Captain Remington really did hope he survived the night.
***
The shuttle hatch was open as Remington crossed the roof and climbed aboard. Next came Bruce, followed by the two guards. Nobody expected any trouble so everyone was taken by surprise when Shektee kicked the first guard into the second guard. She’d used all of her strength and skill to make sure to knock both of the men in heavy armor to the ground. Bruce stopped and was standing halfway up the steps to the shuttle entrance. Remington heard the crash and turned to see what was going on.
Shektee wasted no time looking to see the results of her attack. She turned and pushed Bruce the rest of the way into the shuttle. As he saw Shektee’s combat form enter the cabin, Remington triggered the panic button in his armor. He knew he had no chance of defeating her. His only hope was to take her with him. Shektee’s surprises for him were not over yet, though. The shuttle pilot triggered the hatch, closing it before the guards could regain their footing.
Bruce figured out what was going on even before Captain Remington. As soon as he was inside the shuttle, he dove to the side scrambling for one of the seat. Bruce had to wiggle around a bit to get buckled in as the shuttle accelerated high into the night sky.
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