CHAPTER 9: LOSING AND GAINING.
But that love for life came to an end a few seconds later.
I hadn't taken notice before but there was a gap between the office ceilings and the higher roof of the main factory. Without warning, not even the scraping of talons on metal, a shape sprung from this dark gap landing on Çrámerr's back. Together they rolled down the stairwell, hi-man and Krilla locked in deadly embrace.
Reflexively, Çrámerr's finger squeezed the carbine's trigger and shells sprayed out all over the factory floor, punching great holes into the vats. The Krilla raised one forearm. With shock and disbelief I saw it clutched a long shard of glass in its ratty hand. Even in the dim light within the factory its weapon glittered wickedly. With all its strength it plunged the glass in the narrow gap between Çrámerr's body armour and helmet. Blood spurted out from his carotid artery, fountaining out, spraying the floor and nearer vats with his life-blood.
Çrámerr was a goner – there was nothing anybody could do for him now. He rolled over, found his feet and slammed his attacker into a supporting pillar. Nothing was dislodging that rat-man's grip. With the last of his strength, Çrámerr turned around his carbine until the barrel pointed back at the Krilla. He fired for the final time. The Krilla flew backwards, its side torn out in a bloody welter of blood and guts by 10mm shells. The monster lay twitching, its legs cartwheeling as it died.
Clasping his gauntlet to his neck in a vain attempt to stem his blood-loss, Çrámerr rolled over and looked up at us. Even then, he smiled. I suppose knowing your clone is your passport against death does that for you.
Still supporting Âgustin, we hurried as quickly as we dared down the stairwell. Where were the rest? It is almost unheard for a Krilla to attack alone. Let alone attack with a tool. They are pack animals after all. Showing supreme effort, Çrámerr propped himself up on one elbow. Scarlet blood poured over his armour and pooled around him, mixing with the rat-man's. We stood around him, Âgustin still leaning against me.
Çrámerr croaked something but I couldn't understand him. He spoke again. Giving up, and with the last force of his incredibly strong personality, he touched the base of his skull. Then I understood. He wanted us to remove his back-up memory chip. Everything up to his last save point would be on that chip and could be downloaded later into his clone. It's true what they say. If you're rich enough, death has been bought off.
He looked up one last time and then fell forward into his own blood. Kneeling, I felt for his pulse waiting for it to still.
"Oh – hurry," Clemency shouted, fear in her voice. Here they came, another horde of Krillaz swarming towards us, their backs undulating like waves, their cries echoing in the vast floor space. She fired several shots, the Bassoonka's shells bursting in their midst. The explosions did little to slow them.
Without waiting for Çrámerr's death, I ripped the chip out from its slot and dropped it into an empty pocket. Any problems could be sorted out later by the techs at the cloning labs. They'd clean up the chip's data, not wanting to saddle the new clone with a load of bad memories at the start of its life. I flipped a sketchy salute. For all his faults, Luis Çrámerr died bravely.
"Run," I shouted. Fortunately our way to the loading bay was clear. If we made it to the Steg, we'd be safe. Trouble was, I was encumbered by Âgustin and Krillaz are fast. Especially when they scent prey. On the other hand, we were running for our lives. We ran for all we were worth, me dragging Âgustin with me. I forced air into my lungs, trying to oxygenate my blood. The Krillaz chased after us, their cries bouncing off the walls.
We almost made it. Almost but not quite. The loading bay door was just out of reach when they caught us. One Krilla, bolder or faster than the rest leaped at my back. Catching sight of it out of the corner of my eye, I sidestepped and it slammed into the side of a vat. A burst from my Hi-Ripper stopped it getting up again.
"No, please don't," Âgustin moaned.
"You're safe with us," I told him. Hoped I would make good on that promise. After all I had a cool million riding on him and I'd protect him to the best of my ability. How good that would be remained to be seen.
I fetched up against the side of a vat. It felt cool and clammy with mosses and lichens clinging to its side. Leaning Âgustin against the vat, I freed my arm, crouched and fired several short, hard bursts into the waves of Krillaz, bowling them over in tattered remains, tearing gaps through their ranks. Seeing what I was doing, Clemency turned and fired shells in a curving arc, blowing holes in the crowd. Then she stopped.
"What's the matter?" I called over the rat-men's high-pitched cries.
She joggled the safety. "Out of ammo," she said. Her eyes were wide and her face was pale.
This was bad news. My ammo display also showed my supply was running low. I sent another hail of shards into a piebald Krilla sneaking up. The rest paused and there – at the back as usual, I saw Captain Albino leading on his troops. He must have followed us all the way from City Hall. No way did he want to miss out on the action – or the feast.
From my battle-vest I unclipped a couple of smoke grenades. Everyone knows animals hate and fear fire and hopefully smoke would work on their primitive instincts. Also, the thick smoke might buy us enough time to get away. Pressing their timers, I lobbed the grenades towards the first rank of Krillaz. One rolled towards another tank's housing but bounced off. The monsters recoiled, running backwards, their tails swishing from side to side. By now, they'd seen enough of the death and destruction our hi-man weapons caused.
A second later, with a dull whoompf, the two smoke bombs detonated. Yes, it's old technology but sometimes simple is best. Thick, choking black smoke billowed out, veiling and then obscuring the Krillaz from our view. Which also meant they couldn't see us. The breeze from the open loading bay door guided the worst of the smoke away from us. The cries coming from the Krillaz now sounded terrified and desperate. I heard their talons scraping the Konkreet as they fled.
I laughed with relief. Of course! With their ratty ancestry, Krillaz are very prone to breathing difficulties. Naturally, they'd hate and fear smoke even more than most animals.
Hoisting Âgustin upright, with my shoulder under his arms, I called over to Clemency, "C'mon. Now. Only a few metres and we're out of here."
She needed no further encouragement, running for the exit as clouds of smoke boiled behind us. With Âgustin's dead weight slowing me, I was a little behind her but not by much. Three rows of vats to go... two... one and the loading bay door stood wide open with our Steg and freedom beyond.
Three Krillaz raced out from behind the last vat. One of them was their leader, Captain Albino himself, still wearing his scraps of armour. I guess he wanted to get his share of flesh. A juvenile – its patchy fur mostly white – running low caught Clemency around her knees, bowling her over. She clubbed it with her now useless Bassoonka but it gripped tight. Its friends then went for her arms.
"Vic! Help me!" she screamed.
Raising my Metallist Hi-Ripper I pulled the trigger. A few shards embedded themselves in the young Krilla. It screamed with pain but the ammo warning light was now solid red. Totally, 100% empty.
Âgustin and I were only a couple of metres from the exit now. Another scrum of Krillaz emerged from behind another vat, their greedy arms outstretched, their eyes focussed on the struggling woman.
"Vic, – aidez-moi...," she screamed again.
I noticed her panic made her lapse into her native language. My heartstrings were torn. A woman, well I didn't love her but I wondered if such feelings could have developed over time. I'd seen the way she looked at me and sometimes I glanced at her and liked what I saw.
Âgustin pulled in my grasp. "Get me out of here," he panted.
He was too weak to walk and couldn't make it to the Steg under his own steam. Through the smokescreen behind me I heard the Krilla horde stirring. It wouldn't hold them long – and it was thinning already. Forcing me to make up my mind, a few Krillaz emerge
d through the smokescreen and ran to join those around Clemency.
She screamed a wordless cry of pain and fear mixed together. The sound cut through me and my vision blurred. Âgustin stirred again. I had to decide now. On one hand it meant trying to rescue a woman I cared for but with no guarantee of success. And even if I saved her, there was no assurance that we would want to be together afterwards. We could have one of those short-burning things and after she had returned to her usual routine, she'd take up with some high-income, tennis playing, go-getting executive type at her local country club.
On the other hand, there was Âgustin and the cool million Hydrans riding on his safe return. One million Hydrans. Even with inflation, that's still a huge amount and with it I could buy a woman or two if my tastes ran to it. There are worlds you can do that sort of thing.
So I made my decision and now I would have to live with it.
Turning my head away from the squirming mass of Krillaz as they chewed through poor Clemency's armour, I dragged Âgustin towards the exit. Out in the goods yard, our Steg promised safety. Tears leaked from Âgustin's eyes as he stepped out into the drizzle and looked up at the clouds. No, I didn't despise the man at all. Don't forget he'd starved for weeks in that server room and could never have expected to see the outside again.
We walked down the ramp, the Steg looming larger with every step. A rattle of claws behind me showed we weren't out of danger yet. Seeing he'd been spotted, the Krilla leaped, its tail flailing the air. Its outstretched arms ready to grab, its massive jaws ready to bite. Dropping Âgustin, I whipped out my diamond blade, gripped it two-handed and impaled the Krilla as it landed.
The monster shrieked. Lowering it to the ground, I kicked it off my blade with my boot. It twitched as the diamond scraped along its ribs but it made to stand and carry on attacking.
I didn't give it a chance. Stamping my boot onto its foot, I felt bones break beneath me. "This is for Clemency," I told it slashing my blade across its throat. The thing gurgled and choked, falling forwards into its own life-blood. I kicked its dying body hard.
"Vargo," Âgustin said, recalling me to the here and now. More Krillaz were spilling out of the loading bay. Seeing us, they bounded forwards. Scooping up the emaciated young man, I ran like the wind.
We made it with a metre to spare. Perhaps less but I wasn't measuring. Reaching the Steg's security, I wrenched down the handle and the heavy door swung open. Adjusting my hold, glad that he was so light, I bodily threw Âgustin inside. He cried out as his fleshless body slammed onto the Steg's metal floor. I was inside one second later, slamming the door shut behind us and locking it tight.
Making my way up to the front, past the sad relics of my one-time companions, I got behind the wheel and fired it up. Through my view-screen I watched Krillaz banging on the sides and trying to climb up. One leaped up at the view-screen so I electrified the exterior and they all fell away squeaking with shock.
Carefully, not wanting to further damage the tyres, I turned around and headed out of the goods yard. Behind me, I saw more and more Krillaz boiling out of the plant. Some, more hopeful than their friends ran after the Steg but as soon as I was out of the gateway I put on speed and left them behind.
The chewed tyres made their usual ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunk as they ground over the poor road surface but I didn't mind. It has to be said, my spirits lifted as we left Bas-Hinna's city limits and entered the countryside. We were safe now. As the tyres went ker-chunk, my mind heard instead the sound ker-ching, ker-ching, like an old-fashioned cash register as I thought about the million Hydrans coming my way.
I already knew how I was gonna spend some of my money. I was coming back to Hancox 1 but this time I'd be better prepared. A few hard men I knew I could rely on – even if one was more a cyborg now – plenty of ammunition, grenades, flamethrowers. The works. Then me and Captain Albino were gonna have us a party. I owed that rat-man payback for Clemency. Oh yeah...
THE END.
Krillaz Page 10