Susan, the other SUBs, and I burst into the hospital, the battle had already moved deep into the building. We heard a noise in a room on our right. I peeked in, and a bullet slammed into the door sill just centimeters from my head.
"What is it, Matt?" Jan asked.
"We got three hostiles barricaded in there. I'd love to have a hand grenade right now."
Just as I had spoken these words, there came hollering and the sound of screaming from the room. I quickly peeked back in.
From the door behind the barricade, Walker had burst in among the enemy soldiers swinging a piece of pipe. His first blow knocked the jaw right off his first opponent. His down stroke crushed the skull of the second. The third fired wildly hitting nothing. Walker brought up the jagged end of the pipe and drove it into the third man's abdomen with such force it completely penetrated his body.
The wounded man on the floor, without a jaw, was still alive and had produced a pistol.
"Pete, look out!" I shouted. The report of the pistol punctuated my last word. The man had ended his own pain.
As the rest of us entered the room, Walker bent over and secured himself an AK and all the mags he could carry.
"What are you doing outside the bunker?" I asked hotly.
"Well, hell, I'm glad to see you, too."
"You know I'm glad to see you. But I want to see you alive after this is over!"
"You're gonna need all the help you can get. You've lost another ten to fifteen bots. You ain't got but seventy to seventy-five left. I figure there are still a hundred of the bad guys or so. More important, we heard these bastards from inside the shelter on our cams before they destroyed them all. Pegram has wired the hospital and set a very large explosive charge on the roof, they intend to blow out the entire side of the dome. They figure that'll kill all power to the bunker and expose it to the radiation and cold out there, which will eventually kill everyone in it.
"The detonator is on the roof next to the bomb, and it's the only detonator they have; destroy it, and the bomb is useless."
At that instant, a familiar figure poked his head into the door through which Walker had entered. It was Pegram. Our presence surprised him. He fired a quick three round burst at us just as Emily, Jan, Susan, and I fired dozens of rounds at him. All of our rounds missed.
However, one of Pegram's rounds caught Walker behind his right knee, exiting to the left of his knee cap and destroying the ball of his femur. He fell hard to the ground. A bone fragment had ripped into his popliteal artery, and he was bleeding profusely.
I ripped Walker's belt off and started to employ it as a tourniquet. He grabbed my hand and through the pain said, "Go get him."
"We have to get you to Doc, inside the bunker!"
"Matt," Emily said, "we can handle this."
I paused, looked at Walker then back at Emily. "Okay. Pull all the bots back to the bunker; tell them to hold it at all costs."
"We know what to do, Matt, just go." It was Cassie who spoke, the woman who had cried over Sam.
I jumped up. Susan leaned down and kissed Walker on the forehead and squeezed his arm. Then she, too, stood and joined me at my side. I looked at her and she gave me that "don't argue with me," look, so I turned and we headed out. "Let me take the lead," she shouted. I turned to argue with her, but she cut me off. "Do you know how to get to the roof?" she asked. I stepped aside and she blasted off down the hallway.
"Watch out for—" Before I could say enemy, she turned and fired several rounds into an open door, then took off again. I glanced in as I passed the door; there were two dead terrorists on the floor.
We started up a stairwell, leaping several steps at a time. Just beyond the third floor, we encountered a cave in, the stairs had collapsed. More quake damage.
"Now what?" I asked.
"He could be climbing up the maintenance ladder inside the elevator shaft."
"Is there a fire escape?" I asked.
"Yes, north side!"
We exited the stairwell on the third floor. Looking north we could see a large window at the end of the hall, beyond which was the fire escape, and the glass was broken out of the window frame. It could have been broken in the quake, but it might have been Pegram's way up.
"Susan," I said, "you go up the fire escape. I have some experience with elevator shafts. Be careful, darling."
Her anxious eyes scanned my face, then she kissed me and took off at a dead run.
The elevator shafts were right next to the stairwell. I pulled the doors open. The cars were both below me. I turned and started up the ladder on the side of the shaft climbing for all I was worth. At the top was a door with a window in it. I looked out onto the roof, but could see nothing. I opened the door and cautiously stepped out, weapon at the ready.
Behind and above me, I heard Pegram's voice; he was on top of the elevator motor housing. "Drop your weapon, Sergeant, or I'll blow your G-Buc out of your chest." I let go of my rifle and it drifted down to the rooftop. I extended my arms and turned around. He stood there aiming dead center at my chest. He smiled down at me, and then dropped to the rooftop, and as he did, Colonel Mamat stepped out from around the corner. He was armed only with a bayonet from an AK. The identifier above Pegram's head reminded me he, too, was a SUB, whereas Mamat was a Bio. Fighting Mamat would be simple. But even unarmed, Pegram was going to be a problem.
Whispering so softly I could barely hear him he said, "Make a noise, and I'll kill your girlfriend."
Then I heard the approaching footsteps. Susan, having attained the roof, was coming around the side of the structure.
Mamat pressed himself against the wall right next to where she would appear. Just as the muzzle of her weapon became visible, Pegram again spoke aloud. "Greetings, Hella, I have a friend of yours here."
I saw her peek around the corner. She could see me standing with my arms out and my weapon at my feet.
"That's close enough, Hella," Pegram said. "Dispose of the weapon and join us." This demand was accompanied by weapons fire coming from inside the hospital. "Ah, more of your little tin trash cans are being shot to pieces."
Susan tossed her weapon over the side of the building. As she did, Mamat stepped behind her and pulled her right arm behind her back and held the bayonet to her right side just on level with her kidney—if she'd had a kidney, that is. She stood very still and allowed this to happen.
"Okay, Pegram, you got us. What is it you want?" I asked.
"That's Lieutenant Colonel Pegram, Sergeant."
"No. That rank is held by men and women with honor. You surrendered that rank when you surrendered your honor."
"Brilliant speech. Far better than I expected from an enlisted man."
"Pegram, you want something or I wouldn't still be standing. What is it?"
I watched as Pegram produced, with his non-firing hand, his RT-135. He pressed a button on it and returned it to his pocket.
"Two things, really; one, I needed you in order to take Hella. I knew she would do nothing to endanger your life."
"How could you know that?"
"I still have a spy, a little bot that enjoys a great deal of affection."
"Sanyo?"
"And number two, I wanted you here with me to enjoy my victory when I blow these charges. This hospital building is completely wired and will crumble into dust, and take a look on the side of the dome there, largest shape charge I've ever seen, and entirely hand-made by my little Oceanic brothers, here."
"What do you want with me?" Susan asked.
"You are the big enigma, Hella. Before I shake off this mortal coil, I just have to know how you, the most dedicated—one of the founders of Hamba-Ular, the Servants of the Serpent—how could you have been so quickly and completely turned?"
"I guess." Susan realized they still believed her to be Hella. "Pegram, you are going to have to die disappointed."
"I'm informed that you two are acting like lovers, holding hands, whispering, giggling, and kissing like school
children."
"What's your point, Pegram?" I asked.
"He's jealous," Susan said.
As she did, Mamat pulled her arm up tighter, she grimaced and her knees buckled. A surprisingly realistic act—even Pegram failed to catch it.
Mamat spoke softly, and in Malaysian into Susan's ear. I, of course, could hear him clearly. "I am going to take great pleasure in killing you, bitch. I have suffered you far too long."
"Ah, well, Hella, our little discussion would only have delayed the inevitable," Pegram went on. "I will not deny Colonel Mamat his little pleasure. So, Sergeant, after we watch your lover die, I will destroy this dome and everyone in it. Mamat and I will live forever in martyr's bliss, while you and Hella, here, will simply cease to exist. Too bad, really. I would like to have you live for all eternity knowing that I defeated you. Kill her, Colonel."
It was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to witness. Mamat shoved the bayonet halfway into Susan's 'kidney' before it stopped; he then twisted it, all the while grinning like a jack-o-lantern and chuckling a demented laugh. Susan's eyes closed and she crumpled to the roof like rag doll.
I made a motion toward her.
"Ah, ah, ah," Pegram said, bringing me to a halt. Pegram then walked around behind me, I slowly turned as he did.
"Just relax," he said. "Look behind me, Sergeant. That little black case is a wireless detonator. This close to the shape charge, I do believe we will all be vaporized, you won't feel a thing. In a moment, all the remaining fighters of the scimitar and stars will join us on the roof here, and then we faithful will begin our journey to everlasting bliss."
He was standing only six meters away from me. The case was another six behind him. I knew that I could accurately jump fifty-five meters on the Moon; of course, if he was looking at me, he could blast a hole in my chest before I reached him.
I lowered my head and chuckled.
"Ah, false bravado in the face of death?" Pegram asked.
"For a smart man, you have sure surrounded yourself with idiots." Pegram squinted at me. "You described an AN-857 wireless detonator, but what you have there is Chinese MK-28; what you need is a few stinking meters of WD-216 wire. I'm guessin' you don't have it." I was lying, but I only needed a second's distraction.
He turned his head to look, and again, my world shifted into slow motion. I watched as his head turned away, the instant his eyes moved off me, I jumped.
He must have caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, though. He tried to bring the muzzle of his weapon to bear and fired, the weapon was on full auto. The last round before I slammed into him passed through my plaid shirt and cut a furrow through the simulated flesh under my right arm.
As I fell on him, I hit the AK with the side of my left forearm as hard as I could, knocking it from Pegram's hand. I hit him hard, knocking him off his feet. I was instantly reminded that we both had the same capabilities when Pegram jumped up and tried to grab the back of my neck with his right hand. I grabbed his right with my left and slammed my elbow hard into his jaw, ripping the fake skin away from his lower teeth. He began to laugh at me. I had forgotten the lesson Brunhilde had taught me in our fight on the lander—neither of us felt pain. Punches that did no damage were useless.
I grabbed his forehead and jammed a thumb into his right eye socket until I saw sparks and smoke rise up. He lurched, arching his back violently and threw me off. I sprang to my feet, but he was on me before I turned around, knocking me to the ground. He knelt on my back and I felt his hand on my neck. He instantly shot a tremendous jolt of electricity into my Brain Computer Interface. Some involuntary defense grabbed every bit of power in my body and directed it to a defensive shield around my BCI.
From where I lay, I saw Mamat walk away from Susan's body with the bayonet in his hand. He was headed over to help Pegram finish me. As soon as his back was to Susan, her eyes sprang open; she crawled forward with great speed and grabbed Mamat's leg, he fell flat on his face. She then jerked him toward her. He rolled onto his back and sat up quickly and attacked her with the bayonet.
Susan grabbed his wrist and effortlessly broke both his radius and his ulna. He screamed in pain as the broken bones protruded from the flesh of his forearm. She picked up the knife and held it up between the two of them. "Bitch?" she asked him.
With his other hand, Mamat pulled a small pistol out of nowhere, but before he could point it, Susan drove the blade of the bayonet up under his chin, and into his brain.
She then pulled it out of Mamat's head, and with great accuracy, threw it at Pegram. The knife entered his right shoulder and severed the connection to the stun gun in his palm. He fell backward and pulled it out. I staggered to my feet and toward the detonator.
Pegram was enraged. He had jerked the knife from his shoulder and was running toward me, with the bloody knife poised to plunge into my G-Buc. I was moving slowly and, though I parried his strike, the knife sank into my upper abdomen, and something that looked like wet coffee grounds and milk oozed out. I felt dizzy and weak, and fell onto the roof top.
Just as Pegram was about to strike again, a pistol cracked and the bullet careened off the side of his head. He turned and fled behind an air purification unit with his right arm dangling useless at his side.
Susan crawled toward me, dragging her right leg behind her. She grabbed me and pulled me behind the elevator motor housing.
"Darling, are you all right?" she asked, her eyes wide.
Acknowledging she was right about that recharge I said, "I should...have eaten lunch...when you told me to." My voice sounded as though I was gasping for breath.
She pulled my shirt open to examine my wound. "When will you learn to start listening to me?"
"Hey, we aren't...married...yet," I said, and smiled.
We both heard the noise at the same instant. Dozens of boots storming onto the roof from the fire escape near where Pegram had taken cover. Then, from the other side of the elevator housing, we heard the door spring open and the sound of more boots pounding onto the roof.
We could hear Pegram telling them where we were hiding and ordering us watched. Not killed. What was this? I shot Susan a look. Then we heard it. Pegram asked to be assisted over to the detonator.
I looked at Susan, we kissed. "I love you, Susan," I gasped.
As I looked at her, a bizarre event occurred, an event well outside the parameters of her design specifications. Her optical receivers over-lubricated and the excess ran down her cheeks.
In my shirt pocket, the RT-135 Hartly had returned to me activated, indicating an incoming message. Susan and I locked eyes. I tried to retrieve it, but my hands fumbled with the pocket button. Susan grabbed the shirt and ripped the pocket open and activated the device. "Hello?" she said in a hushed tone.
"Matt?" the voice sounded distant, and as if spoken through a long tube.
"Who is this?" Susan asked.
"Are there any friendly Bios in the dome with you?"
"In the shelter—"
"Any outside the shelter?"
"Who is this?" she demanded.
"Are any friendly Bio's outside the shelter?!"
"I don't know!"
"We don't have time to find out. I need one minute, buy me one minute, then hang on tight to something."
The transmission was so weak and distorted we could not make out the identity of the speaker.
"Pegram!" I shouted as best I could.
"What?" he shouted back angrily.
"You got us you bastard. Sus—uh, Hella is about done and my power is draining fast,” I started speaking Malaysian. “But I want you know something—the shelter down there, it's self-sustaining. You may kill us and yourselves, but when the rescue ships arrive, those people down there will still be alive." I knew that the survival of even one of us would represent a failure on his part to all the other members of his cult. "When they get home, their story will be all over international news. The whole world will know I bested you."
Susan spoke now, trying to sound as weak as I felt, "Idiot, there's...a lot...you don't know. Like...Ava's...vault door...you didn't expect that...did you?"
Again, another pause. We could overhear Pegram asking some Bio, in Malaysian, if there was any way to confirm our claim.
"No," the man responded, "but it makes sense for the bunker to have backup systems, despite there being no record of such systems."
"Damn it!" Pegram exclaimed. Then after another pause he shouted, "You lie! You just want to plant the seed of doubt."
"Go...ahead. Blow it," I shouted back, still speaking Malaysian so all his people would understand. "You and these...other assholes will...discover the truth...when you find you're not in martyr's bliss."
"Regardless, Sergeant, you and Hella will be dead, and that will be a great victory for me."
Just at that very moment, warning lights and alarms began to sound throughout the dome, and, like an explosion, the entire atmosphere in the structure instantly turned into mist. An ear-splitting sound, like a thousand racing steam locomotives, rent the air.
The instant the air became opaque, Susan realized what was happening. She grabbed me with one hand and with the other, grabbed a metal conduit running along the roof.
With a violence I would not have believed possible, the mist, the entire atmosphere of the dome, rushed toward a single, small building along the north wall. All manner of things not nailed down began to fly toward the small building. Several of the terrorists on the roof of the hospital were blown off by gale force winds.
In a few seconds, it was over.
Susan looked at me, her eyes wide. "Matt, we're in a vacuum! All the air has been sucked out!" I could not hear her but I could make out the words on her lips.
I checked my internal chronometer. Almost fifteen seconds had passed since the air had been voided.
All the Bios were close to death by now—a horrible death. I recalled what Professor Hibbard had taught us in the IIEA School regarding human exposure to a vacuum, "Some degree of consciousness is usually retained for nine to eleven seconds, as with hypoxia. Rapidly thereafter will come paralysis followed by convulsions. Water vapor will rapidly form in the soft tissues. This water vapor will cause rapid swelling of the body to near twice its normal volume, unless it is constrained by an Ess-CEPS or other pressure suit. The heart's rate will rise initially, then fall rapidly. Arterial blood pressure will fall over a period of thirty seconds to a minute, while venous pressure will rise, due to distention of the venous system by gas and vapor. Venous pressure will meet or exceed arterial pressure within one minute. Then there will be virtually no effective circulation of the blood. After an initial rush of gas from the lungs during decompression, gas and water vapor will continue to flow outward through the airways causing rapid dehydration." His description was of a death that was a far cry from the instant vaporization Pegram must have promised his followers.
The Battle of Broken Moon Page 28