Kingdoms Fall: Book One

by Joseph Pryce

  “Baba would rather shit on your head before telling you anything”, Peaches snorted derisively. “You best take my word for it”.

  Trane finally turned and looked at her for a long instant over his shoulder. He then replied straight-faced, “We shall see about that”.

  The four of them drove in complete silence for the next half hour before Heiro veered off the main expressway onto a dark side road. He steered the hover into a narrow trash strewn alleyway that opened up onto a large abandoned hidden crescent. At first glance the crescent appeared to one’s idea of a dumping ground for Slum Village’s scrap metal and abandoned electronic part but at closer inspection it almost appeared as if the junk had been deliberately placed there. At the very end of the crescent was an extremely steep cobblestoned incline named Suicide Hill. It was appropriately named because any man, woman or child fool enough to approach Baba’s property without an invitation was committing suicide. The twenty room brightly lit mansion sat at the very tip of the hill. The cobblestones of the hill were lined with gold and ran from Baba’s front door all the way down to a large black imposing security gate.

  Hiero parked his vehicle off to one side being careful to stay in the night’s shadows and away from the dozen surveillance digi-cams that Baba had installed on the street lamps. Standing guard at the security gates were two hulking gold and black coloured androids in the shape of men. The machines had been built to intimidate not too necessarily to appear precisely as normal men, so everything about them had been exaggerated. The bulging muscles in their elongated arms and legs, their fangs for teeth and claws for hands and their three large brown eyes instead of two.

  Trane turned and nodded slightly to Busha who pulled out her rifle from its holster and stuck it unceremoniously underneath Peaches’ chin. “One false move from you, little girl and we will be sending you back to your boyfriend in three separate pieces”, she whispered roughly.

  Hiero opened up the hover’s utility compartment located underneath the poly-glass dashboard and removed a black metal capsule the size of an acorn. “Watch this”, he said to the others with a smile. Hiero held the capsule out of the hover’s window and pressed its power switch. The street lamps dimmed momentarily for roughly ten seconds before returning back to their normal luminance. Busha glanced at Heiro incredulously and asked, “Where the hell did you acquire an Anti-Safeguard Pod, Hiero?! That’s military technology!”

  Hiero threw Busha a devilish grin. “That is for me to know and for you to find out, my large and very sexy dangerous friend”.

  Trane rolled his eyes in heavy sarcasm. “He bedded the wife of one of the KRG scientists and lifted the pod from the husband’s laboratory whilst she slept”, he gladly informed Busha.

  Busha smacked Hiero in the back of the neck with her hand. “You are such a whore!”

  “Is it my fault that the Creator made me so irresistible to members of the opposite sex?” Hiero shrugged nonchalantly.

  “How long does it take for the pod’s energy wave to work?” Trane asked him.

  Hiero glanced quickly at the diamond encrusted chronometer on his wrist, a gift from a rich countess that he had intimate relations with last year. “Give it another thirty seconds to deactivate all of the surrounding surveillance. To Baba’s security staff nothing will appear askew on their security consoles but unbeknownst to them the pod has rendered them deaf and blind to us by injecting a special disruption code into their security mainframe, preventing them from detecting our bio-readings”, he explained patiently.

  “So nobody inside of the estate will ever see us coming?” Busha asked. “I wish I had one of those devices on some of the assignments I pulled in the old days. It would have saved a lot of my men from being killed on the job”.

  Trane glanced at Hiero’s fancy chronometer to check the time again. “Time to go”, he ordered and climbed out of the hover followed by Hiero, Busha with Peaches in tow as her hostage.

  The three of them stood at the very end of the crescent staring at Baba’s black security gate with some trepidation, from where they stood they could see the fierce looking androids standing guard.

  Busha turned to Hiero and asked, “Are you sure that the damn pod knocked out all of their surveillance?”

  “Of course I am sure”, Hiero replied cockily. “Once we eliminate those two droids and the rest of the staff guarding the mansion’s perimeter, we will be home free”.

  Busha motioned at the two automated sentries standing a hundred metres away at the gates. “And how are we supposed to get past them? If we use our blasters, the bodyguards up at the house will spy the energy blasts for sure”.

  Trane shot Black Peaches a fixed look that she immediately picked up on and nodded tiredly. The pain in her head and knee had grown worse as the night progressed. “Of course…..You want me to get you past the gates”, she said resignedly.

  “You are Baba’s woman. They know who you are and will let us past if you tell them too”, Trane replied coolly.

  “I never show up at the mansion without calling first. That is one of Baba’s many rules. The cyborgs know this”, Peaches said stubbornly.

  Busha jabbed her in the stomach with the shotgun and told her with some impatience, “Well sweet thing, unless you are prepared to give us the information about those Viper Agents yourself, you best get creative. Or else I will burn your arm off right here in the street”.

  Peaches knew a little of Busha’s dangerous past life and could tell that she did not say things like that idly. “I cannot tell you what I do not know”, she answered coolly.

  “Then get us past the gate so that we can ask Baba”, Trane ordered her.

  Peaches sighed her compliance and limped ahead of them toward Suicide Hill with the three friends followed close behind her.

  Busha slipped her rifle back into its holster.

  The two cyborgs watched them all approach the gates and aimed their steely glares at the group. The bigger of the two guards was named Scorpion and he was the first to address Peaches. “Evening mum, we weren’t expecting you tonight”.

  Peaches swallowed the throbbing pain she felt and feigned an appealing smile. “I know that I usually link ahead, Scorpion. But I really have to speak with Baba about something. Can you let me in, please?” Peaches batted her pretty eye lashes at Scorpion for effect but it was wasted on the machine.

  Scorpion glanced in hesitation at Blades, the other cyborg. “What do you think, Blades?” It asked.

  Blades scowled at Trane, Busha and Hiero. “Who are these three, mum?” Blades asked Peaches.

  “Friends of Baba”, Peaches quickly replied.

  Blades turned to Scorpion. “I think we should get clearance first”, he turned to Peaches. “I apologize for the inconvenience, mum. But it is just that Master Starr was not expecting you this evening”.

  Hiero casually stepped forward and told Scorpion and Blades, “I am afraid that we cannot let you do that, my two metal men”.

  Blades shot Hiero an evil look and flexed its biceps. “What was that you said, stranger?” He asked with mechanized menace.

  Before the two androids could stop him, Hiero flicked two circular devices the size of large coins that he had hidden in his hand through the bars of the gate. The devices were called Sub-Inhibitors and instantly caused Scorpion and Blades internal operational systems to become inoperable. The two cyborgs dropped dead to the ground akin to two trees that had been felled by an axe.

  “Where the hell did you get Inhibitors, Hiero?” Busha asked impatiently.

  “Another gift from the scientist’s wife”, Trane informed her before Heiro could provide another snappy reply. He crouched down and reached through the bars of the fence for Scorpion’s inert form which happened to be the closest within reach and flipped open a keyboard panel located on side of the machine’s neck. Trane looked up at Peaches. “What is the access code for the gate?”

  Peaches shrugged with indifference at him. “How should I know?”
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br />   Busha backhanded Peaches very hard across the face with her open palm. “Wrong answer. Give him the right one or lose some teeth”, she told her with ill will.

  Peaches tenderly rubbed the spot where Busha had struck her and spit out some blood onto the ground. “The code is 2-3-9-6”, she advised Trane.

  Trane tapped the code into Scorpion’s keyboard and only one second passed before the heavy black gate silently drew itself open.

  “Just like magic”, Hiero whispered with a laugh.

  The four of them marched past the gate and began their long ascent up the hill.

  Peaches glanced up the long hill to the top where the mansion sat. I hope Baba has all his bodyguards on duty tonight. I want to see these bastards fry! She thought in anger.

  Trane was the one to spot the first bodyguard fifty metres away and pushed the other three hastily behind the trunk of a tall very leafy red manicured umbrella tree. He shot Hiero a stern glance and asked, “Are you quite certain that the Anti-Safeguard Pod worked?”

  Hiero nodded confidently. “One hundred percent certain”.

  Trane turned to Busha. “If anything should go wrong here”, he began and pointed at Peaches, “Kill her first”, he said.

  Trane stepped out from behind the tree and proceeded toward the bodyguard. He gave him a friendly wave followed by a non -threatening smile. “What say you friend? I was wondering if you could point me toward the lavatory.”

  The bodyguard stopped abruptly in his tracks and wondered inwardly just who the hell Trane was and how the hell he got past the front gates. His hand slipped immediately down to the butt of his blaster sitting in its holster. His name was Nemet and he was dressed in a gold coloured tailor made business suit. The cuffs on the long blazer and loose fitting trousers were black as was his shirt and tie. Baba’s favourite colours in all the world were gold and black and he insisted that all those on his staff wear them.

  “Who the devil are you?! You are on private property!” Nemet shouted.

  Trane instantly feigned confusion. “I am very sorry, friend. I must have gotten lost. I was just looking for a privy”, he said with convincing innocence.

  Nemet pulled out his blaster and pointed it in a threatening fashion at Trane and moved in closer. “How did you get past the gate?! Speak!”

  Nemet was now close enough for Trane to grab him which he immediately did. He seized the bodyguard’s blaster hand with both of his and strongly broke his right wrist. Nemet howled in pain and dropped the weapon. Trane then broke Nemet’s right ankle with a violent kick of his boot sending the big bodyguard crumbling in suffering to the ground. Trane reached down and picked up Nemet’s gun. He smashed the butt of it against the bodyguard’s temple and sent him to a world of darkness. He then turned and whistled just loud enough for his compatriots to hear him.

  Heiro popped out from behind the umbrella tree followed by Busha who had to drag Peaches out who looked to be on the verge of passing out.

  “I saw two more bodyguards at the side of the house”, Trane told them.

  “I will take care of them”, Hiero responded. “Meet me inside the house”.

  “Be careful and remember no blasters, Heiro”, Busha reminded him.

  Hiero gave the towering woman a sarcastic mock salute. “Yes. Yes, mother dear”, he replied and disappeared into the shadows of the mansion grounds.

  Trane and Busha made their way across the estate as stealthily as possible despite Heiro’s assurances that the Anti-Safeguard Pod made it impossible for them to be seen on the mansion’s security monitors. They froze in their tracks when they observed two bodyguards sharing a gasper in the rear atrium and slipped behind some large manicured shrubbery.

  The end of the thin cylinder of finely cut rolled tobacco glowed like an ember in the night darkness temporarily illuminating the two men’s pale faces and their long straight blonde and orange hair as they passed the gasper back and forth.

  “What the bloody hell?” Busha reacted visibly but managed to keep her voice just above a whisper to avoid the bodyguards hearing her outburst.

  Trane was shocked as well to see members of the Degox and Chrine tribes guarding Baba’s home. Since when did Baba start hiring Volgags? He thought. Something is not right here. Trane knew of several Volgags that lived in Slum Village but the majority of them mainly stuck to their own kind.

  Busha put her hand on his shoulder as he was about to advance on the unsuspecting bodyguards. “You stay with Peaches. I have this one”, she said and handed him her rifle so he could keep Peaches under guard. She walked out from behind the shrubbery with her hands raised in the air and into the light where the Volgags could see her plainly. They were both dressed in gold and black like Nemet, their fingers bore diamond rings and had black gemstone earrings decorating both ears.

  The Degox was the larger of the two bodyguards and he was the first to spy Busha approaching. He swiftly raised his blaster at her. “Oi! Who goes there?” He yelled.

  The other bodyguard was a little less rigid than his cohort and paid more attention to his smoke than Busha. “Relax Derg. She must obviously be one of Baba’s new bitches”, he chuckled. He pushed his orange hair away from his face and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “The bedroom’s round back, big legs. But you best hurry, the boss has already started without you”, he winked lasciviously at Busha.

  Derg nodded and let his blaster arm drop. “Of course you’re right, Delter. But she’s bigger than what he usually orders. I mean she’s got to be the biggest hussy that we’ve ever seen”, Derg slapped Busha on the ass for effect.

  Busha immediately sprang into action by snatching Derg’s outstretched arm and breaking it at the elbow. As he was falling to the ground in screaming agony she quickly sidestepped him and grabbed Delter’s head with both of her big hands and snapped his neck with a mighty grunt. Trane rushed forward pulling Peaches behind him. “Why did you kill them?” He asked in alarm as she stared at the two dead Volgags on the ground.

  Busha loudly cracked her knuckles and gave Derg’s corpse a swift kick in the guts. “I hate fucking Volgags”, she replied and paused a moment to recall. “Years ago, I took an assignment in the Coldlands. It should have been an easy one, a simple exchange of one hostage for another. But my team got caught in a murderous snowstorm up near White Ice Way. I have never seen snow like that before in my life! The snow drifts were at least twenty feet high! So I told my men to hunker down for the night and we made camp”, Busha crouched down to pick up Derg’s blaster from the ground. “In the middle of the night I leave the tent and go behind a bush to take a piss and one of these Degox savages jump me! I did not even hear him coming. He had his spear at my neck and his lizard in me before I even a chance to defend myself!”

  Trane bent down to pick up Delter’s blaster. “I am sorry, Busha”.

  “It’s alright, Trane. After he was done with his little rape I buried that spear so far up his ass that it came out his mouth”, she replied with a bitter laugh. “Follow me. The dead slag said that Baba’s bedroom is around back”.

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  Baba Starr’s master suite was a testament to premiere luxury. The floors of the massive room were covered wall to wall with thick golden shag carpeting. The sitting room was separated from the main lounge area by a wall of glass enclosed fireplaces complete with a black marble fountain in its centre. If there was one thing that distracted one’s eye from the beauty of the room, it was that the walls of the room were decorated with the heads of all the dozens of enemies that Baba had ordered executed over the years. The dead man skulls were displayed in glass cases filled with preservation fluid that preventing them from ever deteriorating. Toward the back of the room sat a winding golden staircase with black stairs that led to the upper levels where the sleeping area was located. Trane, Heiro, Busha and Peaches were leaned up against the long black marble refreshment counter when they happened
to see Apple Annie descending the stairs in a pair of crystal bottomed red high heels and nothing else. She was every bit as beautiful as Peaches was if only slightly taller and she bore long red braids on her head opposed to Peaches short black curly bob style cut. Because the counter was behind the stairs, Annie did not immediately see the group. She turned on the stairs and called out over her shoulder to the upper level.

  “What did you say that you wanted to drink again, lover?”

  “Bring up another bottle of champagne and make it quick. The bed’s getting cold”, came Baba’s reply from upstairs.

  Peaches was justifiably outraged at the sight of her naked sister coming from her paramour’s bedroom.

  “Annie?!” Peaches made an attempt to charge at her but Busha held her back.