by B.V. Bayly
Chapter Thirty
Six guards surrounded Gabriel as he sat outside the broken concrete wall of the parking area. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat drumming pain through his ribs. They dragged Nate over by his vest, and dropped him on the ground next to him. Nate clutched his shoulder and winced as he hit the rough payment.
“You alright?” Gabriel helped him sit.
“It passed through. I think it missed the bone.” Nate gritted his teeth.
“Shut up!” One of the guards stepped forward and nodded his chin at the other guards. “Secure them!”
One of the guards walked toward them, pulling two of the magnetic chains from his belt. His helmet jerked and the helmet’s material burst out the opposite side. His eyes froze as blood dripped down his face. A second later he collapsed – dead. The other guards stared at the body, stunned. Seconds later, more shots pierced the heads of the unprepared guards, killing them instantly. The two remaining guards fled for the cover of the concrete parking area. Only one of them made it, screaming “Sniper! Sniper!” into his wrist com.
A black van barreled down the alleyway, barely stopping long enough to let someone scoop up the steel strongbox. It continued towards them – skidding to a stop as the van door popped open and a man with a mask over his face jumped out. “Get in!”
Gabriel helped him lift Nate into the van and dived in after him. The tires screeched as they pulled away, bouncing over the broken pieces of concrete scattered across the road.
The masked man pulled his hood off and pointed at Nate. “Get him fixed up!” He left Gabriel to try and figure out what to do as he climbed up into the passenger seat next to the driver. “Get to a safe house fast!”
Not sure what he should do, Gabriel stared at Nate. “What do you need?”
“Pills … side pouch … black vial and the small plastic box …” Nate pointed a shaky hand at his bag.
Gabriel fumbled around with the side pouch, finally unclipping it from Nate and dumping all of its contents onto the floor of the van. He grabbed the bottle of pills as the van cornered hard and the rest of the items slid out of reach. Nate popped the top off with one hand and drank from the pill bottle. He coughed and, in a few moments, the shaking stopped and his words became more coherent.
“Riley, I need some light!” Nate hollered and the cargo lamp flipped on. “Good … the black vial now … hand it to me.”
Gabriel handed it over while trying to keep all the items in a pile and stop them from sliding away. Nate removed one end, exposing a long thick needle. He jammed it into his wounded shoulder and cried out. His foot thumped against the ground, his eyes closed tight, as he fought the pain. Gabriel felt helpless.
“Help me out of my jacket.”
Gabriel carefully peeled the sticky fabric off of Nate’s shoulders.
“In the plastic box … there’s a tube of paste. It needs to go on the wound. Whatever you do, don’t touch it,” Nate instructed him.
“What is this stuff?” Gabriel opened the tube. His nose twitched as the strong smell filled the air. Squeezing it out onto the dark hole in Nate’s shoulder, he pulled his head back as it began to smoke. The air smelled like burnt meat.
“Ugh! What’s happening?” He watched as it bubbled and oozed in the wound.
“It’s a chemical that reacts with our blood by pulling the plasma to the surface to seal the wound. It stinks to high heaven, but it will seal the wound temporarily and stop the bleeding.” Nate waved the stench away with his hand.
“And the pills?” He pulled Nate forward in order to cover the back of the shoulder with more of the smelly paste.
“Adrenaline spikers. Stops me from passing out on you.”
“You’re going to be okay, then?” He focused on emptying the tube's contents onto the wound.
“It will hold me together until I can get some proper treatment.” Nate leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. “My own little first aid kit … never leave home without it.”
The man from the passenger seat climbed back to join them. “Looks like you do good work, Gabriel. The name’s Riley.” He patted Gabriel on the back then turned to Nate. “You look like crap.”
“Aren’t you a bishop?” Nate grinned at him.
“Ah, just a title. You know that. Still, they saved me from myself so I owe God something. I’m in the service, but still a sinner to the core. Now, your little favor wasn’t cheap – what do you have for me?” He tilted his head and grinned at Nate.
“You haven’t changed.” Nate laughed and pointed at his duffel bag. “Clipped just inside.”
“Let’s see.” Riley crawled around Gabriel to the duffel bag, pulling out the reflective black bag. “They still good?”
“Put them in right after we disabled the first two of TERA’s men. Should be perfect.” Nate hoisted himself up with his good arm.
“What are you talking about?” Gabriel looked from one to the other.
“The guards' little toys here – radios, ear pieces, trackers – if you want to steal them, you gotta be ready. Some smart asshole designed a system to disable them remotely. Stops people like me from impersonating TERA’s men.”
“The bag blocks it.” Gabriel tapped the shiny surface.
“Exactly.” Riley smiled. “You see – information beats a bunch of soldiers any day, and you don’t get shot.” He pointed at Nate. “These will help us keep an eye on TERA.” Riley grinned. “Sit tight.” He returned to the seat up front.
“You two are friends?” Gabriel put all of the items back into Nate’s bag.
“Friends? No idea, but he’s there when I need him. My team rescued him after he was captured behind enemy lines, back in the day. We found him half-insane and nearly beaten to death. That was almost fifteen years ago. The Church managed to put him back together, so he’s been with them ever since.” Nate tried to move his shoulder and grunted at the pain.
“Does he know about me?” Gabriel set the bag down on the chest, keeping his balance as the van shifted left. “Do they know what I am?”
“I don’t know,” Nate whispered. “The guard at the elevator is a ghost that works for Riley – I’ve bumped into him before. We’ll see what Riley knows.” The van stopped abruptly. “This must be our stop.”
Riley offered to stay with them until one of the Church’s doctors could patch Nate up, and then they would be on their own. The safe house was more of a room than any kind of house. Gabriel stared at the empty space and sighed. There was no furniture – it was simply a twelve by twelve room with no windows. A single bulb illuminated the room and a small fridge hummed in the corner. Despite the lack of basics, he was relieved to be somewhere safe for the moment.
“There’s a jug or two of clean water and rations. That’s about it. I need to check in with my teams. You’ll be safe here, just try to relax. I’ll be back.” Riley shut the door behind him. Nate put his shoulders against the wall and slid down to the floor.
Gabriel hoped it was true. He turned his attention over to the chest, dragging it across the floor towards Nate. He rubbed his hand across the top. “So what is so important about this thing?”
“Reports by your father, locations of ore caches, things we will need soon,” Nate explained. “And something you might find familiar.”
Familiar? What could that be?
Nate reached into his shirt, pulling out his dog tags and a small key that dangled with them. He snapped the key free from the steel string and held it out to him. “Take a look. We are going to be here awhile, until things calm down.”
Gabriel slid the small key into the lock on the front of the chest. A mechanical buzz filled the room and a slight hiss came from the box, as an internal pressure seal was released. He opened the lid to reveal a set of files, some journals, and a strange looking alloyed rod. Puzzled, he looked to Nate. Nothing was familiar.
“Give me the rod.” Nate held his hand out for it. “Keep looking deeper … it is
n’t going to jump out at you.”
Gabriel removed the files and journals, and stacked them on the dirty floor of the room. It couldn’t be. A small white crystal glowed weakly inside a polymer case. Without hesitation he picked it up and pulled it free. The small crystal came to life at his touch.
“Why did he have this?” He rotated the crystal in his hand.
“Not sure.” Nate gave a one-sided shrug. “There were only a few of them … maybe he knew how special they were. Anyhow, I figure the crystal’s yours now, seeing as you’re probably the only one who can use it.” He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.
Gabriel traced his fingers along the smooth grooves and sharp angles of the crystal. Something about them seemed familiar. As he rolled it around in his hands, a pulling sensation came over him.
“Strange …” The small crystal vibrated with each beat of his heart.
“What’s that?”
“It isn’t reacting much.” He was disappointed. “But there’s something about it.”
“And?”
“It has a pull to it.” He was confused by the sensation coming from the ore. He held it closer to his body and the crystal shifted in his hand. “Look!” He was stunned by the movement.
Nate shook his head and closed his eyes again.
The piece of ore was acting like a magnet. Gabriel could feel it wanting to move. Determined to understand what had just happened, he held the crystal nearer to his chest. It teetered on its edge, as if something invisible was pulling it towards him. He continued drifting the new crystal towards himself. Inches away from him, it vibrated in the palm of his hand.
“Do you see this?” He held it out to Nate.
“Gabriel, my eyes are closed. I don’t care to see anything right now.”
He set the crystal down on his lap and lifted his shirt, tucking it under his chin. Rubbing his fingers across the smooth surface of his crystal, he noticed a small cove along the outside edge. He glanced at the crystal in his lap. Was this a part of the one in his chest?
“I think they fit together.” He picked up the loose crystal, checking the shape once again.
“Gabriel, you’re imagining it.” Nate didn’t open his eyes. “If we went outside we could find two rocks from totally different places that would seem to fit together … it doesn’t mean anything.”
Annoyed by Nate’s comment, Gabriel kept tracing the piece in his hand. “But they were all found together, right?”
“I think so. It was a long time ago.”
Gabriel watched as the two pieces began pulsing in unison – without touching. The two must match. As he narrowed the distance between the two, he could feel the pull from the small crystal. Their pulsing lights grew brighter and they surged in unison.
He pushed the new crystal into the small cove on the shard in his chest, adjusting it slightly until it was just perfect. Immediately, the two shards glowed even more brightly. The light filled the small room. He let go of the crystal. The new crystal stuck to its larger counterpart. A pool of light burst from his chest, swirling tightly around the two pieces. He was electrified. His skin sizzled. The crystal sent waves and waves of energy crashing through his muscles, vibrating through his bones. He tried to cry out to Nate, but nothing left his mouth. The energy continued to swirl around his chest, burning his skin. A volcano erupted in his chest as the light grew brighter – like a mini sun burning a hole straight through him, searing his skin away.
“Gabriel!” Nate’s cry reached him through the intense light.
Gabriel clenched his teeth at the pain so hard, that he expected them to shatter at any moment. His rib cage split apart and his skin tore open. Paralyzed, he lay on the hard floor, unable to move.
“Gabriel!” Nate sounded frantic. Gabriel felt his grip as he tried to pull him free of the light.