The Primal Connection

by Alexander Dregon

  Traci was shifting now, beginning to stir even. Terry had moved closer while Decker watched his back. He was leaning over her when her eyes snapped open.

  First, there was fear as she remembered whatever had happened as she waited for the drugs that had knocked her out to take full effect. Then the time she had spent in whatever daze she had been in. Now, she was coming back and finding herself in the presence of the man she had been thinking about when she had been taken. Her reaction was not quite what Terry had expected.

  “What the hell did you do to me?”

  Stunned did not begin to describe Terry’s reaction. “Whoa, honey! I just got you out. Hold on. Charlie?”

  Charlie at once began the data burst. Instantly, Traci’s mind filled with images and thoughts much like Decker’s had earlier. These had the addition of the last few minutes and the events they knew of that were only for them from earlier. Charlie left out nothing, opting to tell the truth in its entirety rather than to pick and choose. It took even less time for her to assimilate it than Decker had needed.

  Her eyes went wide as she looked at Terry.

  For a minute, he wondered if he had made a mistake. If she couldn’t handle it, could Charlie remove the data and replace it with a more plausible story?

  The question proved unnecessary, as the next second, she threw her arms around Terry and shivered as she hugged him tightly, eyes wide and lips parted in fear. She had understood. And whatever else happened, she knew Terry was crazy about her. And what Mir was. She even knew what had happened to Pop and why. The realization was frightening, but Charlie had used his hundred plus years of studying humanity to teach her what they were, what they wanted and what they did. The good and the bad. After that, it had been up to her. And she had made her choice. And Terry was happy with it as well, as he hugged back.

  Decker and the two techs watched as the pair embraced and then kissed passionately.

  Mir had said nothing the whole time whether by design or weakness. Now, recharged by his full re-integration with Traci, he was amazed to find that he was more intimately connected with her than he had been before. A fact he demonstrated by tapping into her auditory senses and using them to search the surrounding area.

  That was why he heard it first.

  He started to try to contact Charlie but stopped as he realized it was the perfect chance to test his new relationship with Traci.

  “Excuse me,” he began, “I do not wish to frighten you, but since we are now able to talk, I feel I should introduce myself. My name is Mir.”

  At first, Traci froze at the voice without substance in her head. She looked at Terry who simply nodded. Then, she began haltingly, “H-h-hello, M-M-Mir?”

  Even without being able to see him, Terry knew Mir was beaming in his own way.

  Decker and Charlie were both happy as well, although in Decker’s case, he had trouble figuring out why.

  All of which stopped a second later as Mir heard the noise again and referred it to Charlie. The sound had been unfamiliar to him, but Charlie recognized it at once. As did Terry when he amplified it for him to hear.

  It was the sound a helicopter starting its engines.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Decker, can you hear that?”

  Without the advantage of Charlie’s auditory augmentation, Decker strained to pick up any errant sounds for several seconds until finally his eyes lit up. Like Terry, he also recognized the sound.

  “Copter! Sounds close!”

  Terry spun on the two men, eyes narrowed menacingly. “Where is the helipad?”

  It was clear both men though of lying, but they thought better of it as Decker slid up behind Terry as if backing him up. Finally, the larger one said, “In the courtyard behind the main building! It’s a small copter. Only holds four.”

  Using Charlie as a relay, Terry talked to Decker, Traci and Mir.

  “If he gets up in the air, we end up doing this all over again, and next time, if he gets all the data he has in play, it’ll be against a helluva lot worse than these damn zombies he has now!”

  Decker, Mir and Charlie agreed.

  Even though all Traci knew about what was going on was from Charlie’s data burst, she had learned enough to know that it was a very bad thing. Still, she had no idea what she could add to the mix, so she decided to stand mute for the moment and see how things played out. And besides, this would be the first time she had ever seen this man that she was so crazy about in action.

  He did not disappoint. Terry had already formulated a plan. The trouble was that Charlie had a problem with it.

  “Terry you are pushing your limits on enhancement. You cannot remain in this state for this long without paying a price. And you are fast reaching the point where that price will be exorbitant.”

  Terry said nothing, even in the mind speak he used with Charlie. He knew he was pushing the limits of what he could take even with Charlie’s help and his own constitution, which he knew was impressive thanks in no small part to Charlie’s care and manipulations. He would end up paying for this, but the price was worth it if he could stop this madness. Abshrd was a killer even before they found him here, and the reality was he had plans to get better at it, using Traci, Dr. Broche and even him. And Terry was not about to allow that.

  Finally, he said simply, “This guy has to be stopped here and now, whatever it takes.”

  It was no surprise to him that Decker agreed. What was a shock was that Mir and Traci did as well.

  Charlie said no more about stopping, but instead, Terry could feel him trying to repair whatever he could to keep him ready for a boost as needed. It was his way of saying, “Okay, I did my bit to stop you, now I’m gonna do my best to help.”

  Terry, again, turned to the two men sitting on the floor. A quick decision and he pointed at the smaller of the two, saying, “Gimme that lab coat, now!”

  The man didn’t even bother to ask why or argue. He simply stood and snatched the coat off without a word.

  Terry snatched it away from him and handed it to Traci, who accepted it in equal silence.

  Decker wondered if it was more for his benefit than hers. Traci had a luscious body, and it was easy to see Terry cared about her. It was likely he couldn’t think as well as normal with her running around nearly naked. And there could be a shade or two of jealousy in there as well.

  In either case, the coat was on in a second, and then, it was on to things that are more important.

  “Decker, you keep these two here. I’m gonna let Charlie lead me to this thing and see if I can get a handle on his ass.”

  Now, Decker had a problem. “Look, if we lock these two down, she can come with us, and that way, I can help you. I know how tough you are, but even so, the odds are that—”

  But Charlie cut him off. “You cannot go anywhere near Abshrd! Mir made the leap to you, and given the strength of your bio-fields, you could be a prize if one of those in that conglomerate chose to do the same. I can protect Terry, but I cannot offer the same to you. Given what he may have learned from whatever these two have told him, I may not even be able to do that as well as before, but I feel I can handle him as long as Terry’s fields remain at optimum level.”

  Charlie had more to say, but Terry ended the whole thing. “You stay with her! Charlie, how much could he learn from Traci?”

  “Unknown, but given what appears to be the amount of data in this terminal, he definitely gave her a thorough examination. He had to learn all he could as quickly as possible once you were here. He has probably scanned you as well and has a large file of your data as well.”

  Traci was not at all happy about the fact that this Abshrd had had her kidnapped and examined without her permission. It was time for her to learn something about what this was. “If it’s that much, won’t that slow him down some?”

  Charlie considered that for a moment before replying, “Given that there are nearly ten terabytes of data at this station, it is a safe bet.”

>   Decker, still watching the pair on the floor, whistled softly. “No computer could handle that in any thing you could call quick. Maybe we could make that time a little longer, somehow.”

  The smaller of the two men laughed derisively. “No chance of that. We’re on a dedicated system. It went to a buffer as soon as we put it in. That is the way it was designed, so there was no interference possible. You can try to if you want, but I can tell you, it won’t work.”

  None of them could figure why the man offered any help, but there was no time to ponder. The copter’s noise had leveled off to what sounded like a steady rhythm and was probably ready to leave at a moment’s notice. If they were right, the amount of data gave them some time but not much.

  Terry headed for the door. “Game ain’t changed. Watch them and make sure that anything left out there stays out there. I’m heading for that copter!”

  No one could think of a protest as Terry walked out the door, but as soon as he left, Decker turned to Traci. “I don’t know what he thinks he is, but he’s gonna get himself killed trying to play hero! We need to—”

  But Mir cut him off. “Listen to me. I do not know how long I will be able to talk to either of you. I can feel the connection slipping away as Abshrd gets further away! Terry is right, however. If Abshrd gets within range of you, Mr. Decker, he could conceivably occupy you or have one of his conglomerates do it for him. In either case, even with your injuries, you could become the biggest threat to Terry out there.”

  Traci chimed in. “He’s right. From what the...from what Charlie told me, you are pretty much next to Terry in how strong your...fields are. I’m not really sure what that means, but I know, given the way Terry looked, he isn’t gonna be up to taking on whatever he has to out there and you.”

  Decker wasn’t pleased. His shoulder hurt and his pride was wounded. He wasn’t used to being protected. And then there was the matter of Dr. Broche. That bastard was still controlling her, and they still had no idea if they could even save her if they did get her out.

  Suddenly, it occurred to him that the two men they had been left to guard could be the answer. With the proper persuasion of course.

  “You!” He said suddenly, pointing at the larger of the two men. “What’s your name?”

  Stunned by the sudden interest in him, he stammered, “My name is Winston. Cyrus Winston.” Then as an afterthought he added, “He’s Hardy. Trevor Hardy. We—”

  “Don’t give a shit!” Decker shot at him. “All I want to know is do you know what kind of shape Dr. Broche is in? I mean... how much crap has this Abshrd done to her? And more importantly, can it be reversed? Can she make it back?”

  Both men looked at him and then at Traci. Hardy wet his lips then began haltingly, “She’s been under his control for months. In the beginning, when he was just making suggestions to her and it was just him, there was no problem. Since he added the others, though, the demands on her body have grown to the point where he has to supplement her fields artificially. That has been the cause of her deterioration. As to whether or not she can be helped...well, we’re not doctors. I don’t know what her internal condition is. I work on computers and follow the instructions Abshrd gave us on how to get the information he wanted. Neither of us can tell you anything other than he has done all he could to keep her going.”

  Traci listened as well and shook her head. “Which could just mean he doesn’t have anyone else to do what she does.”

  Or at least, he didn’t up to now. Now, with the data he had gotten off Traci and whatever he might have learned off Bridger, who knew what he could come up with? And this time, it wouldn’t be limited to just one. If it worked, he could make a superman for each of his friends. Decker shuddered at the thought. No, Bridger was right. This had to end now. But dammit, he wanted in.

  His eyes played over the shelves behind the men as he thought. Say what you will about Abshrd, he did make sure they had everything they thought they wanted for whatever they wanted it for. The chemical stores were impressive. Suddenly, a thought ran through Decker’s mind. Maybe it wasn’t the part he wanted to play, but he did have a sudden idea of how to help.

  He turned to Traci.

  “Get those extension cords and help me tie these two clowns up. We got a date!”

  Hardy protested loudly. “Those things out there are too far gone to care if we were on the same side! They break in here, they’ll kill us!”

  Decker was not impressed. To him, they had made their bed, now they could die in it for all he cared. Still, he wasn’t heartless. And besides, he had another idea.

  He turned to Traci. “Can you handle a gun?”

  “I can point and shoot.” Then, she smiled evilly. “And from the back, I’ll have plenty of time.”

  “Fine. They give you anything like a reason, you put one through wherever you like. Got it?”

  The grin widened. “Not a problem!”

  As they all turned to follow Decker out, both Winston and Hardy wondered if they should have taken their chances with the zombies.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Terry moved through the hall silently, heading in the direction of the sound from the copter. He felt wasted. Ordinarily, Charlie would only keep him on boost for few seconds at a time, but here, he had been on high to full boost, off and on, for nearly an hour. His bodily stores were depleting and his hormones were running out. He had only a few minutes of boost left before he would begin to suffer damage even Charlie might not be able to repair. He doubted it would be fatal, but it was still a damned inconvenience.

  “Charlie, how long have I got?” Terry asked, already knowing the answer wouldn’t be one he wanted to hear.

  “You can sustain three more minutes of boost without extensive damage. Nothing more! I will not hold it any longer than that. You will have eighty percent of your maximum but that is still less than what these have been amplified to. Your advantage is the time distortion I give you but that is no more than half of its full potential now. I dare not risk any more than that. In your present condition, it could burn out the neural pathways. I could possibly repair it, but the damage would be extensive, and you could very well never recover completely.”

  “Knew I didn’t wanna hear this! Best make the best of what we got then. Any idea on what’s between us and Abshrd?”

  “I cannot be sure. Abshrd has learned how to block my senses enough that I cannot detect him, but his method has a flaw. In the affected area, I can detect nothing. Like a hole in space. I can detect nothing for a radius of twenty feet approximately. The fact that it is there gives away his position if not his intention.”

  “All right. Can you pick him up now?”

  Charlie went silent with concentration. After a few seconds, he almost shouted in Terry’s mind, “I have a blank spot to the left behind the door at the end of the hall. It has to be one of his shields.”

  Terry moved to the door quickly, intent on getting in and finishing this once and for all. But at the door, he froze. Abshrd was no fool. He had to know that Charlie would notice the flaw and use that to figure out where he was if nothing else. That knowledge made it the perfect bait for a trap.

  “Charlie, listen closely and see if you can pick up anything in there.”

  Again, Charlie concentrated, this time trying to focus on auditory input, trying to detect anything that could verify the theory that Abshrd was indeed there on the other side of the door. At first, like before, there was nothing. Then, suddenly, came a sound of breathing. Faint, as if hushed either mechanically or by concentration, yet there nonetheless.

  The cleverness of the trap dawned on Charlie then, followed by a rush of consternation at his gullibility. He would have fallen for it had it not been for Terry.

  Only now, once it was clear, it also became apparent that there was another level to this. If they did not fall directly into the trap itself, retreat left them open to attack from the rear by whatever the forces in that room were. And if he knew Abshrd, thi
s late in the game, those forces would be formidable.

  “Terry, there are at least two of what appears to be Abshrd’s guards on the other side of that door. I cannot detect Abshrd, but they are definitely there.”

  “Great,” Terry thought back. “These clowns are looking for a fight, and I’m not feeling it at all. If Abshrd is there, there’s no choice but to go in. If he’s not, we waste time while he heads out.” Then, another thought. “Charlie, can you detect another of those holes in space you were talking about?”

  Charlie spread his senses again, but it was no use. “I can’t find any. That increases the chances that Abshrd is in there.” With an undisguised air of resignation, he added, “Looks like we start here.”

  Terry agreed. Moving next to the door, he listened as best he could to see if there was any other sound from the room. Charlie didn’t enhance his hearing for the same reason as his time distortion abilities were halved. At this point, it could burn out neurons beyond even Charlie’s ability to repair, but he did what he could to aid him. Even so, Terry still heard nothing from inside. He leaped across the door, turning the handle as he did and pushing the door to open it while slipping off to the side in case one of the men inside was armed. He wished he had the nine millimeter that Decker had given him, but he had used the bullets up and tossed the gun. He’d have settled for one of the swords or machetes the zombies had used, but he had opted out on them thanks to the weird feel of them.

  So, his only weapon was his hands and feet. Ordinarily, that would be more than enough with Charlie’s backing, but now, fading as he was, he was not as sure as he would have been normally.

  None of which changed anything. As he had said earlier, Abshrd had to be stopped. At any cost.

  The door swung in unchallenged. Whoever they were, they didn’t bait easily.

  “Charlie, anything?”

  “Still nothing, but I can still hear them breathing.”