“Compiling a list of our assets and sending them to you now,” Bapz responded.
Bapz wore a smart-looking suit with a bowtie. His silver skin shimmered in the light of the armory. His hair was slicked back, molding into his skin. He turned when he heard me approach.
“Master Hunt,” he said with a genuine smile. “I’m glad to see you up and around. I have a present for you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Bapz moved across the room to a table to gather a thick briefcase.
“You did good,” Wesley said, looking at me from his datapad. “I knew you’d pull through. I knew you’d find a way.”
“The war council,” I pointed out. “We should meet tonight to go over assets and the plan of attack.”
“Agreed.” Wesley looked down at his datapad. “I’ll make the call and get them here. Preacher’s been asking for you.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said.
Wesley looked like he was about to say more, when Bapz returned with the suitcase in hand.
“X and I made it for you while you were recovering from your injuries,” Bapz explained. “Open it.”
Bapz supported the case in both hands to allow me to open the metal case.
I clicked both locks on either side and lifted the top.
I wasn’t prepared to find what was inside.
Sixteen
I couldn’t help but grin as I saw my MK II refurbished and cleaned. Beside it sitting in the hollowed-out foam case was a small drum. I’d missed having the ability to cycle through various projectile rounds.
But that wasn’t all. A flat black-handled hatchet with a silver blade as well as a knife sat in grooves in the case. A pair of silver wristbands rested alongside them.
I was speechless. The weapons were a thing of beauty.
“So do you like them?” X asked.
“Like them?” I uttered. “I think I’m in love.”
“Bapz has access to a weapons printer the likes even I had never seen,” X explained. “We cleaned up your MK II but then created that drum you like. You’ll be able to cycle through; normal, explosive, gas, and neutralizing rounds again.”
I lifted the heavy MK II out of the case along with the drum. I could tell by the weight of the drum it was already loaded. I slapped it into the butt of the weapon and aimed down the sight.
I cycled through the different rounds inside the drum by pressing my thumb in four different positions on the handle. I could feel the drum rotate on command as it obeyed my requests.
“We can get you a hip holster for it as well,” Bapz told me, eyeing the weapons still in the case. “X and I also cooked you up something that will help you when you battle with the axe and knife.”
I reluctantly placed the MK II back into the case. I wanted to go out and test it now.
“What are these?” I asked, lifting the silver wristbands up. All silver, there was a faint blue light that shone in the center of each piece. “I’m not really one for jewelry.”
“Oh, I think you’ll make an exception for these,” X said. “And they’re not jewelry. Try them on and then throw your axe and knife.”
“Throw them?” I asked, placing the silver wristbands over each hand. They bonded to my skin and automatically fit snugly. “Where? At what?”
“Oh please, allow me,” Bapz said. He handed the case to Wesley then moved backward to the wall where the worktables sat. He pressed a small red button on the wall I had yet to notice.
The wall itself opened from the middle. Another room, this one a range for testing weaponry, was revealed past the sliding wall.
The range was long and narrow with enough space for five, maybe six people to work side by side.
“Oh, this place is so crazy,” I mumbled under my breath.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Wesley grunted, giving me a look that said he wasn’t kidding. “There’s a zoo in here too. Well, not a zoo; more of a haven for rare animals. She even had a—”
A loud beep cut off Wesley as Bapz ordered the range to produce a pair of targets. The targets were more like mannequins with a head, torso, and arms. He placed them ten meters down range.
“I noticed an opportunity when you’re fighting,” X explained. “Once you throw the axe and knife, those weapons are useless unless you were to go and pick them up again. What if we created a way for you to use them over and over again? Unlike the MK II, you would never have to worry about reloading or running out of ammunition.”
“That would be great, but I don’t think I’d be able to carry an infinite supply of axes and knives,” I answered. “I still have to practice with them. Right now, muscle memory is the only way I’ve been able to fight with them.”
“Old habits die hard,” Wesley agreed.
“Throw the axe and knife down range then beckon them back to your palm by jerking your fingers toward you like you would tell someone to get closer,” X coached me. “When you do, get ready to catch them.”
I lifted the axe and knife out of the case Wesley held for me.
The weapons felt as though they belonged in my hands. Cold steel in my palms was even soothing in a way.
I approached the range. Focusing on the target, I sent the knife spinning in the air first and then the axe. They arched through the empty space between me and the dummy. The knife impaled my target in the face while the axe buried itself deep in the chest.
“A specialized magnatic pull will draw the weapons back to you when you beckon for them,” Bapz explained. “They’ll come back to you quickly, so get ready to catch them.”
I couldn’t help but notice Wesley take a few steps back.
I placed both hands in front of me. I motioned with my fingers to come back to me like I would tell someone to keep backing up if they were parking in a spot.
My heart raced with eager anticipation.
First nothing.
I jerked my finger even harder toward me.
The axe and knife wiggled then pulled free.
“Wow, wow, wow,” I marveled, bracing myself as both weapons hurtled through the air toward me. It was a strange act to willingly stand in front of weapons heading for me. Everything in my body told me to turn and run, at least hit the floor.
My only saving grace in that moment was that the axe and knife shot toward me handles first. With a grunt, I settled myself, forcing my feet to stay planted. Both weapons landed in my palms with a dull slap.
I was breathing heavily. I half expected to get my palm impaled by one of the weapons.
“Hey, it works!” X said ecstatically.
“It works?” I repeated. “You mean you two didn’t test these?”
“I mean Bapz did, but we weren’t sure if your reflexes would be as fast as his,” X commented as if it were no big deal at all. “You’re technically the first human to try it out.”
“Did you know about this?” I asked Wesley.
“Why do you think I took a few steps back?” Wesley asked, returning the case to Bapz and taking the cigar out of his mouth. “You were already a force to be reckoned with, but with that upgraded MK II of yours and now these recallers, you’ll be the Voy’s worst nightmare.”
“Recallers, huh?” I said. “I like that.”
“Excuse the interruption, but we have a call coming in from a cloaked channel,” X answered.
“Would they be able to track us if we open up the line?” I asked. “It could be the GG. Captain Valentine has my channel.”
“No. They wouldn’t be able to track you here,” Bapz reassured us. “When Rose set this place up, she made sure we were in a dark spot completely cloaked from tracking.”
I looked over at Wesley for conformation. He had been in this game a lot longer than I had.
“Go for it,” he said, taking a hard puff from his cigar.
The heavy odor filled the room. It smelled good, rich even.
“Put them through, X,” I directed. “You can put them on speaker.”
“Hell
o?” Zoe Valentine’s voice came over the line, stressed and low. “Daniel, this is Zoe. If you can hear me, I had nothing to do with the ambush. You have to believe me. Please pick up. I repeat, this is Captain Zoe Valentine. If this channel is still active, please put me through to Daniel Hunt.”
“Zoe, I’m here,” I said. Despite being attacked by the Galactic Government, I still trusted the woman. I didn’t think she had anything to do with the attempt on our lives or the attack on Immortal Corp, but I wasn’t going to tell her that just yet.
“Daniel, oh, thank the creator,” Zoe uttered, relieved. “I thought we might have lost you in the attack. You have to believe me. I had nothing to do with that. I had no idea General Armstrong was going to send the Shadow Praetorians after you and Immortal Corp. This was the first time I could get a transmission out. They’re watching me.”
“Tone levels, inflection in her voice and the pace of her speaking all check out that she’s telling the truth,” X relayed in my head. “Be careful, but I think you can trust her.”
“I want to believe you,” I said out loud. “I do, but besides your word, what else do you have?”
I know I sounded cold, but there were dead Immortal Corp bodies in the wake of all of this. Wesley and I could have even been killed. I needed to be cautious here.
“I’d do anything for my daughter,” Zoe answered. “Right now, I’m having her taken to a military facility on the moon. The GG doesn’t understand what they’re up against. They won’t until it’s too late. They’ve made contact with the aliens. They’re going to try and talk with them. I agree with you, these aliens didn’t come this far and prepare to the extent they have to sit down and have a cup of caf.”
“They’ll slaughter them,” Wesley murmured under his breath. “It’s a trap.”
“When’s the meeting?” I asked. “Where?”
“General Armstrong plans to meet with the Voy tomorrow night, at a location on the far side of Mars,” Zoe said. “I’ve been all but completely taken out of the loop. They still trust me since I didn’t warn you or try to make contact with you as far as they know. I think the only reason I’m still given access to information is because I was the first to bring this to their attention. They want me around in case I can help or provide any other pieces of info I might have forgotten.”
My mind was working overtime. The meeting between the Voy and the Galactic Government was to take place tomorrow night. That would be only two days until the Voy planned to invade.
There was no way the Voy were going to come to an agreement now. It was an ambush so clear to see, it was frustrating why the GG couldn’t pick up on it.
“We have to save them from themselves,” I blurted. “They’re walking into a trap. Maybe if we get them out of it, they’ll see that this only ends in one way: war.”
“I can try and get you coordinates and time.” Zoe’s voice lowered. “I have to go. There’s someone coming.”
The line went dead.
Seventeen
I stood looking at Wesley and Bapz.
“You trust her?” Wesley asked around his cigar perched in the right corner of his mouth.
“I do,” I said.
“Me too,” he confirmed. “We’ll gear up to get the GG out of this mess if we can. We should send out a drone in advance to confirm everything Zoe is telling us. As far as I can see, she has no reason to lie. I’m pretty good at reading people. When we met her, I didn’t think she was the type to lie and lead people to their deaths.”
I nodded my agreement.
“I’ll make the calls and get the war council here to go over our plans tonight,” Wesley said. “Any one besides the Order you want on the council?”
I remembered my dream and the warning Alerna gave of Madam Eternal.
“I think we should have Commander Shaw from Phoenix on board,” I said. “What do you know of Madam Eternal?”
“That’s a loaded question,” Wesley said with a sideways stare. “I know that there’s things she does that can’t be explained. Immortal Corp and most of the other corporations are founded on science and technology. Madam Eternal has chosen to follow a different path of knowledge.”
Wesley didn’t use the word “magic” but he didn’t have to. I could read between the lines. After witnessing aliens, I was ready to believe anything that came my way next.
“She’s never done anything but help the corporations as our unofficial healer,” Wesley went on to confirm. “We don’t have to have her on the war council, but everyone trusts her. That’s why she was the one who chose the stones when the fighting started.
“I was going to include her in the war council unless you have reservations,” Wesley said.
“No,” I answered. I decided to take the approach that having the mysterious woman close and under my eye was better than pushing her to the outskirts of the conflict. Besides, she had done nothing wrong yet. “Let’s have her on the council. It might be smart if all the other corporations trust her.”
“I agree,” Wesley replied, heading for the door. “I’ll set the meeting for tonight. After dinner.”
With that, he was gone.
I knew I had only scratched the surface on what needed to be done, but the knife and axe in my hands along with the recallers practically begged me to be used.
“I’m sure if you took a few minutes for yourself, things will manage to hold together,” Bapz offered, reading my thoughts. “I’ve given X access to the range and training room. Should you need anything else, you have only to ask.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking down at the weapons in my hand. “Thanks for everything.”
“You are welcome, sir,” Bapz said, also moving to leave the room. He hesitated, opened then closed his mouth again.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I can’t help but feel like my former owner would have been glad she chose you as a successor,” Bapz opined. “If you find time today before your meeting, there is a gated area to the rear of the grounds. There’s wildlife there and a near extinct species of animal I think you might enjoy.”
“Thanks,” I said, somewhat confused. “I’m not sure if animal watching is in the cards for me right now.”
“If you have time, it would be worth your while,” Bapz said with a mysterious shrug then moved out the door.
“Any idea what he’s talking about?” I asked X.
“Sifting through the data in his memory banks is daunting even for me,” X admitted. “There is a mountain of information here. Rosemary Cripps came from wealth and a line of adventurers and some eclectic ancestors. There are reports in the information files about animals nearly extinct to those that were extinct and experiments to bring back the species.”
“Weird,” I said, stepping into the training room while twirling the knife and axe in each of my hands. The feeling was natural, just like walking. Although I couldn’t remember the years spent training with the weapons, the muscle memory from working with them so much came back as easy as breathing.
The range was set up with lights in the walls and ceiling. A single target shaped like a person sat in front of me now.
“Can you switch up the targets so there are a few moving?” I asked X.
“Oh, I can do better than that,” X said, lowering the single dummy target into the floor. “Everything in the range seems to be maneuverable.”
I watched in awe as X brought up ten dummies from the floor that moved around like real people. The legs of the dummies didn’t move, but each of them stood on a steel plate that rolled over the floor even smoother than someone could run.
A grin split my face. This was going to be fun.
I spent the next half hour maneuvering through the dummies. Sending my knife and axe at them then calling them back to use again and again. Every time I scored a hit, X would pull the dummy into the floor then bring up another one somewhere in the room.
She didn’t take it easy on me either. She sent them toward me at a sprint t
hen jerked them to the side, trying to avoid my blows. She attacked me from behind with the dummies and all around. One time, she even succeeded in slamming one of the dummies into me.
“Sorry, are you okay?” X asked in a worried tone.
“I think I’ll heal,” I said, lifting myself off the ground. I wiped the sweat from my eyes. “Come on, don’t take it easy on me; you won’t be doing me any favors. Again, more, faster.”
“You got it,” X said.
By the time we were done, I felt comfortable calling each weapon back to my hand. I found that I could catch the axe and knife in either hand. Beckoning them both brought the pair at the same time. If I only recalled one of them; the knife came first, followed by the axe.
“Thanks again,” I said to X. “With these, I’ll really be able to take it to the Voy.”
My mind wandered back to the Voy interrogator named Dall. He had been the one to sic that alien bug around my throat before he cut me open to take a sample of my blood and tissue.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it was probably that sample that led the Voy to discovering a way to inhibit our healing factor. Preacher was proof that the Voy could take away our healing ability; whether or not we could ever get it back was yet to be seen.
Payback was on my mind. How I would find him in the war that was about to break was beyond me at this point. All I knew was that he didn’t strike me as the kind who I’d meet on the front line.
He’d let his army do his dirty work for him. He was the kind of leader that led from the back.
“You think we have time to check out the rear of the compound that Bapz was talking about before the meeting?” X asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” I answered, exiting the training room. I scanned the armory looking for a belt to hold my MK II along with its drum.
Not only did I find a holster that fit the weapon like a glove, but a black utility belt that had sheaths for the axe and knife at my waist.
Carrying the full complement of weapons with me gave me a sense of peace I couldn’t explain.
Vendetta: A Near Future Thriller (Forsaken Mercenary Book 4) Page 11