Specter Protocol

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Like an animal in the darkness, Miyuki stalked her, sidestepping, sizing her up, debating where she needed to sink her katana’s edge. She only had one chance, she doubted Portia would give her the space to make a second strike when she felt the pain. What Miyuki needed, was a kill shot, one the telepath’s precognition wouldn’t be able to pick up. The decapitating slash had to be quick, and at close range, so even if Portia tried to move, she’d still get hit.

  She sidestepped, facing Portia. Deep breathing, she could do this.

  Miyuki swung the nanite infused katana. She got flung backward with a wave of Portia’s hand. Six metal spikes came seeking the fallen Specter. Miyuki rolled to the left. Four spikes missed. She rolled to the right, two missed. She looked to Portia’s eyes; they were fixed on her. How? The MEP gauge read 43 percent. She wasn’t in cooldown. Portia saw her anyway.

  The glow in Portia’s hands remained, never changing, never dimming. It was like she had tapped into an unlimited source of MEP. Miyuki tensed up, the force of Portia’s gifts held her body steady, and then lifted her to the air in sync with Portia raising her right hand.

  “Didn’t your Specter friends teach you?” Portia taunted. “You can’t use telepathic manipulation on an avatar.” She felt the cyberware within her body get pulled apart as Portia made paper crumpling gestures with her hands. The battery in her neck came loose. “Guess not. Well, that doesn’t surprise me since they didn’t explain to you who your brother worked for, or that they’ve been lying about being third party contractors.”

  Miyuki screamed. Not in pain, but in fear.

  Portia wasn’t a telepathic avatar. She was a monster that didn’t need any rest.

  Fifty-Six

  Ray

  Ray had to stop running. His smart glasses showed floating icons of hackable cyberware devices nearby. He was caught. Caught by a lurking Specter, close to the main entrance to the shuttle where Serge disappeared. He’d duck for cover, but there wasn’t any, not high up on the platform. They didn’t shoot. They still wanted him alive. He pondered if going for his phone would change that.

  A majestic growl. He saw the icons shift, turning to face the lion that strode in from behind, baring its fangs. Bashiir’s timing was impeccable and his shifter abilities to sense Specters was a fucking miracle. It bought Ray just enough time to grab his phone with one hand, the other still aiming the pistol. A pair of cyberware enhanced arms shorted out, and the electrical discharge forced the Specter out of their ghostwalking stance. It was Yanmei, and she looked pissed. Ray shot at her. She escaped like a ninja climbing up to the top level of the platform. And then she was gone.

  Ray met up with Bashiir’s lion form, lowering himself slightly to face him. “Thanks, man,” Ray said. “Guess, you were right about the karma.” He eyed the platform, the ladders, and the stairs he’d needed to take up. There’s no way Bashiir got up there the same time Ray and Miyuki did. “How’d you get up here?”

  Bashiir gestured below, beyond the guardrails. Ray saw Piper below covered behind a crate, periodically stepping up, and hurling heavy boxes with her powers between making her assault rifle blaze at the clusterfuck of Specters and the rampaging wolves. Right, Piper had psychokinetic abilities. She flung the lion up to assist Ray.

  Piper kept the wolves alive during the scrap, the wolves being the only force that could bring Specters out from their ghostwalk. It was nice to see she escaped with Bashiir, but for how long? Piper wasn’t using that fancy NC gauntlet of hers. She was getting overwhelmed, and likely conserving her swarms for First Aid. The Specters needed the wolves to die, and she prevented that.

  Piper would not last long without support.

  A woman screamed in pain. It wasn’t Piper.

  Looking back, Ray and Bashiir saw Miyuki dealing with Portia and she wasn’t winning. Miyuki was floating in the air, her body shaking violently, as cyberware joints got dragged out from it. Portia’s glowing hand raised as it happened, making wet red lines drip from Miyuki’s arms and legs. Her powers were gutting her implants.

  Miyuki would not last long without support.

  And back down to Piper and her blood-stained cloak, she was breathing deeply, waiting for her First Aid nanites to repair the gunshot wounds. Ray looked to the open shuttle entrance where Serge had escaped, towing his hacking powers with him. Only Ray knew his weakness, and only his phone could deliver it. Only he could stop Serge.

  Splitting up to help Piper and Miyuki made sense, but it’d give Serge what he wanted, a means to escape and fly across that big ass pond to the Federation.

  Piper, or Miyuki. One of the two had to be sacrificed.

  The wolves were alive now because of Piper and Ray, and he already saw two them lying on their sides, dead from vicious gunshot wounds. If Piper falls, then the wolves do, and then nobody could sense the Specters other than him and Bashiir. And if Miyuki falls Portia will come in and fuck them up.

  Ray couldn’t choose who to sacrifice. Both women were important to their survival.

  “Bashiir,” Ray said and pointed a finger at Miyuki, then one down below at Piper. “Help one of them, you figure it out.” And Ray ran for the shuttle’s entrance. “But don’t help me!” he added while returning his run. “I got this.” I hope.

  The entrance was shut and locked by the time Ray got to it. His phone was the key. He swiped right, thumbed the app, and told his botnet to get to work. Five seconds and the door obeyed his command. Ray entered the shuttle, his raised pistol leading the way, his finger an inch away from the trigger.

  It was empty, and the lights were off in all compartments. He found the prototype TEK suit in the main corridor, just lying there. Specters didn’t get enough time to drag it to the cargo hold. Keyboard clicking. Someone was near, Ray followed the clicks.

  He arrived in the reactor chamber, a small circular room littered with computer consoles and cooling pipes, while the shuttle’s fusion core sat in the middle. Serge was there, his face down at one computer station, likely keying in the shuttle’s prechecks for takeoff. Ray checked his phone, using its app to siphon data from Serge’s console. He was right—

  Two bullets missed his left temple.

  Ray retreated behind a cooling pipe. Gunfire echoed and sparked the wall ahead of Ray. Serge saw him. Ray let him know he saw him too with a quick aim and a pull of the trigger three times. Serge ducked behind his console at that point. It gave Ray time to look about, his eyes read the new data populating the lenses of his glasses.

  Serge’s pistol clapped. Ray had to jerk his head back or risk losing it. He couldn’t see much else, not while Ray pressed his back against the cooling pipe, looking away from Serge.

  It got quiet, so Ray spoke up. “Just give it up, Serge. You ain’t leaving!”

  “Fuck that!”

  Keyboard clicking. Serge had to finish his job, and that meant his face was to the computer screen, and not Ray. Ray peeked. He was right and reached for his phone when he saw the console was a vulnerable target. Ray selected the Overload app.

  The console turned to a bright white flash of light, spewing a torrent of sparks and electrical bolts. Smoke filled the chamber, and so did Serge’s cries of pain, his flesh and clothing burned from the blast. Serge lost his cover. Ray took aim and fired. He missed, the massive Australian showed his athletic prowess by running and vaulting behind a cooling pipe, like the one Ray used.

  “Oh,” Serge snorted. “Your girlfriend’s a feisty one.”

  Ray gasped and his heart fluttered. “Ari? She’s here?”

  “I mean that RW upstairs.” Serge waved his tablet just above his cover, just enough for Ray to see he’d been using it. “Hacking her now thanks to some nanites Yanmei put in her. Guess I have you to thank for the recipe.”

  Another one of Ray’s tricks Serge stole. He gritted his teeth and checked his ammo counter. Two rounds left and not a spare clip in sight.

  Fifty-Seven

  Estrella

  Estrella ran with the Alpha
Pack in their wolf form. Their growling mouths made the Specters think twice about approaching her, or shooting, then again, it’s hard to shoot a target when wolves bite at your hands and arms.

  “Shit!”

  It sounded like Ray. Her eyes followed the source of the outburst. It was him, covered behind a cargo box with Miyuki, their faces turned to the upper-level platform of the port. Ray spoke again. She couldn’t make it out. And then he stood up and rushed for the stairs, Miyuki trailed behind holding what looked like Nobuo’s katana and a pistol. What was so important above she wondered.

  Estrella’s HUD magnified, enlarging the view of the upper platform. There was a shuttle, primed with its flaring jets ready for takeoff. Serge ran for it while Yanmei waited for him near its opened entrance. They were making an escape, most likely with the prototype hauled aboard. Ray and Miyuki wouldn’t stand a chance against Yanmei and Serge. She needed to join them and turn it into a three on two fight. She had to find another way up to the platform, the battle between the three Specters and half the Alpha Pack blocked the path to the stairs and Ray and Miyuki.

  She looked down at the alpha of the wolf pack, a large gray wolf with dreadlocks long enough to brush the ground.

  “Yo, Nelson.” Nelson in his wolf form tilt his head upward, glancing at her. She pointed to the platform. “Watch my ass! Make sure nobody tags me!”

  He nodded. She felt weird for a moment. She was talking to a wolf, and it understood and acknowledged her with a nod.

  Nelson and six other wolves escorted Estrella around the blockade of the skirmish. They led her to the opposite end of the port where the second set of stairs led to the top of the docking platform. Estrella ascended the stairs, the sound of her feet hitting the metal clanging with each step. Nelson and the rest of his gang remained behind, guarding the stairs, and stopping the Specters from following her.

  She grimaced upon her arrival. The stairs she used didn’t reach the platform Ray and Miyuki arrived on, instead it brought her to the platform above it. She’d have to hop down to help. Estrella searched for a place to leap down. She found none, just the exposed topside of the shuttle. It’d have to do. She could leap onto it, then scale down its hull to the platform.

  Estrella ran and jumped, soaring through the air, falling, and landing onto the shuttle. She couldn’t find a place to scale to the lower platform upon a closer glance.

  For fuck’s sake. Suggestions, Geoffrey?

  We can render this vessel inoperative if we can bring its rector offline. Her HUD flashed an update with a floating navi-point guiding her to the shuttle’s reactor. It is however shielded and will take time for our nanites to make it inside.

  She liked the idea, and the sabotage should distract Yanmei and Serge long enough for Estrella to regroup with Ray and Miyuki. Estrella raised her NC gauntlet hand, primed a swarm of nanites, and aimed it in the reactor’s direction.

  Do what you can—

  Yanmei landed in front of her, both feet on the shuttle’s top, one hand holding her body steady from the leap off the platform.

  There was no glow in her hands, she must have hit cooldown right as she leaped. Yanmei had been following Estrella.

  Cancel that!

  Estrella pointed her gauntleted hand at the new target.

  And that target kicked her hand with a swift roundhouse. Estrella countered with a tackle. Yanmei fell back with Estrella overtop. She pushed on Estrella’s chest. Her cyborg strength sent her flying off, up, and down. Estrella was back on her feet, nanites ready, Incinerate selected. She released the swarm, watched, and winced. Yanmei laughed, flashed her hands white with light, and vanished.

  The nanites struggled to find a target, she had Geoffrey recall them, lifting her NC gauntlet hand up for them to return to—

  Sharp stab to the left thigh.

  Invasive nanites entered her body, it felt like a million ants crawling around inside her thigh. Estrella swung her leg for a counter kick, she hit nothing but the air. Another stab to her back, more invasive nanites. She grinned. Not this time.

  Working quickly, she found and selected Nanite Cleanse from her HUD’s menu. Two swarms of utility nanites within her received new orders: find and destroy Yanmei’s poisoning nanites.

  Nanite swarm(s) remaining: 4

  Now, Estrella was the one laughing.

  Yo, G’ I thought you could block her?

  Her brainwave pattern seems to have changed. Fascinating, it must be a countermeasure her cyberware can provide after a period of time.

  A slash hit. Five blades cut a gash across her abs. She didn’t have Defense Matrix active. She selected that after calling herself stupid for not having it up beforehand.

  Nanite swarm(s) remaining: 0

  The second and third strikes of finger blades tickled. They also struck Estrella from behind, which meant Yanmei was there and backstabbing her, literately. She spun, cybernetic reflexes helped her grab her pistol and fire two rounds dead straight. They hit something because she didn’t see the bullets fly off into the distance.

  Yanmei appeared ahead, staggering, and breathing deeply. She was cupping her chest, fingers turning red from the two holes she’d been covering. Estrella got the bitch. She fired twice more, and two gory red holes drilled through her gut. The force pushed Yanmei back, her hands flung to the side from the impact, unveiling the other two gunshot holes dripping blood. Yanmei deployed her nanite injector needle and turned it on herself. And then she wasn’t bleeding, the blood moved in reverse, and the four holes started to seal shut. Her nanites worked fast to mend the damage.

  The holes were gone, and Yanmei regained her composure, ruby glowing eyes full of anger directed at Estrella. She shot her again in the one shoulder. Yanmei stepped closer, ignoring the pain, and pushed back. Nanites made the blood move in reverse too, and sealed the wound. Right, she had to shoot her in the head. She took aim—

  A spinning kick to her hands and her pistol was no longer in her grasp.

  And then Yanmei was invisible to Estrella’s senses. She put her fists up, expecting the next horrific act of the Specter.

  How long before you can block her again?

  That process will take much longer—

  Dagger blades cut away at her skin.

  Defense Matrix was losing its power and fast. She turned to the left, her fists swinging. She felt nothing but the sting of a needle hit and pump more nanites into her from behind. Estrella had to order another swarm to deal with them, only she was out. She ran, hopefully away from Yanmei, there was no way to tell. Her left arm opened, and she took one of the nanotubes purchased from TT and injected it into her leg. Then hit Overdrive.

  The world moving in slow motion gave her enough time to think and plan her next move. First, she grabbed the remaining nanotubes, all five of them.

  Nanite swarm(s) remaining: 5

  Then she raged when Overdrive suddenly ended, the invasive nanites killing the ones powering it. Things began to move like normal.

  Estrella had to end the threat inside her first. She used Cleanse. Then another invisible strike put more hostile robots in her. She countered with another Cleanse. Yanmei was smart. Force Estrella to spend all nanites on Cleanse. She’d lose Defense Matrix, then her life. A stab from behind, this time, Estrella reacted with a backward elbow. She hit something.

  Turning around, and Yanmei was visible, red moved in reverse from her nose. Estrella aimed her gauntlet hand at her.

  Fuck it, gonna fry her ass. She selected Incinerate again.

  I would advise against that. That will bring our available nanite count to zero. Reserving nanites for First Aid and Cleanse is recommend.

  Or we can drop her now.

  I— Static. Something happened to Geoffrey. I am being hacked…

  How?

  Static. Her nanites have created a backdoor.

  Can you fight it?

  Trying, which is why I cannot block her, or why offensive nanites are not recommended. I cannot be re
lied upon further to control them effectively.

  Meaning her internal ones could be affected too. When thinking about it more, saving nanites for protection might be the best.

  So much for Induce Muscles Spasms, she thought having remembered Miyuki’s advice.

  Yanmei slashed her finger blades, but her hands weren’t glowing. She hit the cooldown. This was Estrella’s chance, and Geoffrey was getting hacked. The two women met again in the violent confrontation, one a witch, the other a ghost, both with long black hair reflecting the setting sun in the distance while exchanging a flurry of punches, kicks, flips, and evasive rolls.

  Estrella got her good with a knee to the gut and pushed Yanmei backward. “You call yourself a real witch…” Yanmei sneered.

  Estrella put up her fists. “That’s what my ID says.”

  She punched. Yanmei blocked and headbutted her. Now Estrella got pushed backward.

  “Imaginary witches are the real witches, direct descendants of those that fell to human persecution,” Yanmei said. And the two went at it again, swinging hard with lefts and rights. “You? You’re just human spliced with a machine. We are the future.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Estrella said as she ducked and swept her feet, tripping Yanmei. “You know how many IWs I’ve killed? Notice how I ain’t fuckin’ tired of it? I can do this all fucking day!”

  Yanmei lay back first. Estrella drove her synthetic fist down. She put a dent in the hull. Yanmei’s speed allowed her to roll away, then dive behind Estrella.

  “You’re no different from the humans that hunted and persecuted us hundreds of years ago!” Yanmei kicked Estrella from behind. It launched her through the air, and she fell and landed at the edge of the ship. Yanmei sauntered toward her. “Humans that swore that witches and warlocks were tools of the devil with their religious tomes in hand. You’re a corporate produced witch hunter, Rodriguez. A witch hunter that thinks she’s one of us.”