by Jan Domagala
Once inside the vehicles the order was given and the convoy set off leaving the Space Port behind as they left for Jacksonville.
*****
The first thing Matt noticed when he opened both eyes was pain, blinding, searing pain centred across the back of his head. The second thing was a pair of boots close by his head.
“Are you alright sir?” asked a voice he barely recognised through the haze surrounding his mind. When he realised it was Tucker, the driver of the staff car he replied, “I’ve been better.”
He put his right hand to the back of his head and when he felt nothing but a slight raised area he looked at his fingers in the fading light of the alley to see if there was any blood. After finding none he did a quick inventory of the rest of him, checking for any injuries that may have occurred whilst he was unconscious. Satisfied that he was alright he slowly got to his feet hoping that the sense of nausea was not going to last long.
“What happened sir, I saw you come to the car but you wandered off. I thought you must’ve remembered something and you’d gone to do it or go somewhere but when you failed to return I called. When there was no response I knew something was wrong so I followed your tracking chip and found you here,” explained Tucker.
“I thought I saw someone I knew,” Matt said, his voice sounding harsh to him.
“And was it who you thought it was?”
“It couldn’t have been.”
“Are you sure sir?”
“Pretty much, yes.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I was standing right in front of her when someone shot her through the head.”
“Wow! Well that makes no sense sir, no sense at all.”
“You’re right Tucker, it doesn’t. Let’s go, General Sinclair will need to know what happened here today,” Matt said and he slowly headed toward the end of the alley, the nausea already fading as his senses returned bringing with them a focus he needed for what was to come.
As he reached the staff car his renewed grief at seeing Tanya had been replaced by an anger that boiled inside of him and would only be quenched when he had the culprit of this insane plot lying before him.
He would have his revenge and it would not be pretty.
*****
Norsky looked warily at the large man with the opaline eyes in front of him. He looked every inch of what he was, a warrior and although he felt confident he was no match for the new improved version of Norsky he didn’t want to get into any protracted conflict with whoever his employer was. He felt that they could be allies and prove valuable to each other’s aims and therefore, as much as it pained him to do so, he had to tread carefully.
“Captain Pavel Norsky, late of the Elysium Alliance’s Black Knights. Specialist in covert intelligence, expert marksman and close quarter combat, need I go on?” Hermes said by way of introduction.
Norsky knew by the résumé that they had done their homework on him but he was completely in the dark as to who they were or what their objectives were. What he did know about them though, was that they wanted the same thing as him, the destruction of Col Sec.
“You seem to know me and although you’ve given me your name I know next to nothing about you. If we are to work together don’t you think it would be wise to share some information?” he suggested.
“What do you want from us?” Hermes wanted to know.
“I want to know what your aim is toward the Confederation.”
“We have no aim toward the Confederation, just Col Sec.”
“What is it you want from me then?”
“There is a plan in place for an attack on their HQ but we need the services of an Alliance officer.”
“That is intriguing,” Norsky said as his interest was piqued.
“Go on, tell me more,” he said as he leaned forward in his seat.
*****
Captain Pierce of the Vanguard called Kurt over a secure channel. The familiar tingle alerted him and he turned his head away from Zara and Bane so he could concentrate on the call.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“We have been monitoring a smallish cruiser that has just taken up a stationary orbit over Jacksonville sir. A shuttle from this craft has just landed at Jacksonville Space port and from our sensor scans we can tell you that there are three vehicles loaded with six men each on their way to your location as we speak. Their ETA is approximately fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you Captain, have you heard from the Wildfire Team?” Kurt asked.
“No I’m sorry; they’re probably keeping radio silence.”
“Okay Captain, thanks for the heads up, I’ll keep in touch, please monitor our progress,” Kurt replied and ended the call.
As he faced Zara and Bane once more they looked worried, Bane asked, “Trouble heading this way?”
“I’m afraid so, eighteen of them,” Kurt told him.
“Like I said Kurt, this whole thing has been a set up from the get go. I just don’t know why,” Zara said.
“I can think of a reason why,” Kurt said. He turned to Bane and said, “I’m sorry to bring this to your door again.”
Zara said, “If we leave now, they’ll follow us and not come here.”
“How can you be so sure?” Bane asked.
“If we take it that this has been a set up from the start then we have to assume they have eyes on this place watching for either me or Kurt, or both of us. If that’s true then we have to also assume that when we leave they will follow us seeing as we are their objective,” Zara explained.
“She has a point,” Bane said.
“I can’t take the chance that they won’t follow us though, so we’ll have to make sure they follow us. I won’t endanger any innocents,” Kurt said.
Bane smiled and said, “Nice gesture son, but trust me, we haven’t been innocent for a long time.”
“I meant your customers Abe; I know you and your boys can handle yourselves but what about them?” Kurt said gesturing towards the room full of people with a wave of his hand.
“You let me worry about them, you need to go now. If these guys are as bad as the lady here seems to think then you need to go so that me and my boys can do what we have to, to protect my customers,”
Reluctantly Kurt said, “I suppose you’re both right. If we leave now then there’s a chance they’ll follow us and not bother you and if not then our leaving will give you the time you need to evacuate your club.”
“We’re wasting time Kurt, we have to leave, and now,” Zara urged.
“Okay, I have a car outside, let’s go,” Kurt finally said. He could see no other recourse but to agree and leave and just hope that everything else worked out.
The two of them left the club as Bane got to his feet to watch them go. He turned to Tony and said, “Keep watch for those vehicles. If they look like any of them are heading this way, we get everyone out and fast.”
“Yes boss, we can tell everyone there’s a fire or something, that’ll light a fire under their asses and get the moving, no pun intended,” Tony replied.
“Good idea, go tell the boys and tell them to get ready,” Bane said then moved off toward the bar muttering to himself, “That guy will be the death of me. I need a drink.”
Outside the club Kurt steered Zara towards his car which he had parked on the VIP car park across from the club. Zara remembered it well from the last time she had been to the club for it was where Pavel Norsky had taken her captive in his attempt to capture Kurt all those weeks ago. Such a lot had happened in that time and it seemed like it was all connected, almost as if it was the same incident.
As Kurt and Zara activated the harnesses in the seats once they had gotten in the car Kurt looked at her and said, “Hope we’re right about this.”
He started the car and drove off the car park heading away from the club.
“Are we not going toward the Space port?” Zara asked when she saw the direction they were heading.
“Not unless yo
u want to drive straight toward them. We have to lead them away, make sure they follow us then we can double back and get to the shuttle,” Kurt said as he concentrated on driving the car. He soon had her powering through the streets of Jacksonville hoping that he didn’t pick up any unwanted attention from the local Constabulary, being stopped for a speeding violation was the last thing he needed at that time.
*****
The clone monitoring Zara looked up from the small screen on the padd he was holding and said, “They’ve left the club.”
Orion turned to look at the clone and said, “Copy that.” He accessed a comm. channel via his NI and called the drivers of the two other vehicles following behind his. He said, “They’ve made their move, peel off and intercept.”
14
Jake Riley had picked up the rest of his team; Angelina Torres had already been on Earth the same as him so all he had to do was pick up the other two, Joseph Vance and Mack Cooper en route. With the full Wildfire Team assembled he ordered the Artificial Intelligence in control of their own starship, the Pulsar, to take them to Celeron. The AI was called Artificial Integrated Intelligence Control Module, a name the Team could not get their heads around so they simply called it Artie.
“We are approaching Celeron controlled space sirs,” the AI said, its synthesised voice issuing through the integrated speakers all through the Pulsar.
“Thank you Artie. Hail the captain of the Vanguard please and then locate Kurt and his friend for us,” Jake replied.
“Pierce here,” replied the Captain, “glad to hear from you Captain Riley. We’ve been monitoring a small cruiser that arrived a short time ago; a shuttle exited it and landed at Jacksonville Space port. Eighteen men got out and into three vehicles which are now heading toward Captain Stryder’s location.”
“Okay, we’ll take over from here Captain, please inform the pilot of the Dart to return to your vessel and then remain on station to monitor the cruiser. We’ll handle the extraction from here,” Jake said.
“Copy that sir,” Pierce said. Although Pierce and Jake were technically the same rank, that of Captain, but Jake being in the new Wildfire program gave him authority over the rest of the fleet officers.
The Pulsar’s AI gave access to every comm. channel available wherever they were to each member of the Team. Jake used his NI to call Kurt.
“Kurt, Jake here, we’re coming to extract you and your friend,” he said.
“Sir I’ve just identified the person with Captain Stryder, she is Zara Hardy, also a Recon Delta marine but she is listed as Killed In Action,” Artie said.
“I knew he was meeting one of our own but not who it was. KIA you say, I bet she’ll have an interesting story to tell us then,” Jake said.
“Good to hear from you again Jake, have you got a lock on me?” Kurt replied as he drove through the streets of Jacksonville.
“Yes and we’re closing on you but it’ll take time and you have to know you have three vehicles on your tail, each with six hostiles on board. You need to get to somewhere secluded so we can take out those chasing you,” Jake said as he watched the scanners showing Kurt and Zara’s position.
“That might be easier said than done but I’ll try,” Kurt said.
“We’ll be with you as soon as we can, keep this link open,” Jake said.
Jake turned to the rest of his team and said, “Let’s get in the forward section and take it down there.”
Without a single word the team all walked as quickly as they could into the nose cone section and strapped themselves into their seats.
“Okay Artie, let’s take her down, keep monitoring our progress and keep a lock on Kurt and Zara,” Jake said.
“Copy that sir, I will relay visual data to the screens in the forward section and will ensure the comm. link remains open and fixed for your use,” the Pulsar’s AI said.
“Right Team, let’s go to work,” Jake said as he settled in for the task ahead.
*****
Zara glanced at Kurt who was concentrating heavily on driving at speed through the streets, “Who’s Jake, is he our evac?” she asked then quickly returned her attention to the road ahead.
“Jake Riley, he’s Recon Delta like us and he heads a special team from a new program initiated by General Sinclair called the Wildfire Program. The Team is the Wildfire Team and all four of members have received a variation of the serum that was given to me. They haven’t the regenerative capabilities that I have and now obviously you too but they do have some enhanced abilities. It looks like Sinclair has scrambled them to come pick us up,” he replied never taking his eyes off the road ahead.
“I don’t like this Kurt, it seems like we’re being played and I’m not sure why,” she said concern etching her forehead with deep lines.
“The General seemed concerned about this OMEGA group coming back. After the attack on Col Sec HQ a few weeks back they hadn’t heard about them but now with the attack on me and you escaping from them he’s sure they’re involved in this somehow. If they’d heard of the serum somehow then we could be facing a threat similar to the one posed by the Alliance when they captured me to try and duplicate the results on some of their own,” Kurt said offering a supposition.
“Sounds reasonable. How much do you know of this OMEGA?”
“Only what I’ve read in the reports of the attack. They are a determined group that seek the destruction of Col Sec and Sinclair in particular; you can download it to your NI when we get back to HQ.”
“If we get back, you mean,” Zara said.
“We’ll get back, don’t worry about that,” Kurt
“You really believe that don’t you?”
“Yes, don’t you?”
Zara thought about that for a moment then said, “I’m not sure. Since coming back there’s a lot I’m not sure of.”
The streets passed by at speed and as Kurt steered the car around a bend he spotted a vehicle coming straight for them.
The Grand Voyager 600s suddenly veered around pulling an emergency braking technique that brought it to a stop across the road, effectively blocking the road off. The side doors slid open to reveal two men aiming pulse rifles at them. Pulsed plasma bolts lanced out at them filling the space between them with destructive energy.
“Shit, I think they’ve found us,” Kurt said.
“You think!” Zara snapped.
Kurt copied the technique, choosing to ignore the sarcasm, spinning his car around to face the opposite direction. Plasma bolts narrowly missed the speeding sports car and instead struck the ground or other vehicles close to them. The front of a green sedan burst into flames as a barrage of plasma bolts struck its forward compartment. It spun out of control as the driver of the vehicle struggled to bring it to a stop. He finally brought it to a halt and dived out of the door leaving the burning vehicle askew across the road.
Without reducing speed Kurt was suddenly facing the way he had just come and sped off once more. The Grand Voyager was soon giving chase once more as it swerved around the burning vehicle left abandoned in the road.
“That was a close call,” Kurt observed but before Zara could comment another Grand Voyager 600s appeared from another direction cutting into traffic positioning themselves right behind them just before the first one pulled in behind it.
“Hold on,” Kurt said as he spun the steering wheel turning the sports car down another street away from the vehicles chasing them.
Unfortunately the nearest Grand Voyager 600s made the turn as well staying as close to them as they could whilst the other continued along the original road.
Zara looked through the rear window to see how close they were, “We’ve lost one, the other has gone past,” she said.
“They’re hoping to cut us off further down the block,” Kurt told her.
The Grand Voyager rammed into the rear section of the CIV Sports Hatch rocking those inside from the impact.
“These guys don’t give up do they?” she said as she faced fr
ont once more.
Kurt gained control of the Sports Hatch from the fish tail motion the impact with the larger vehicle caused. He increased their speed hurtling down the street at well over eighty miles per hour dodging in and out of traffic on both sides of the road.
Pulsed plasma bolts peppered the back of the Sports Hatch making it swerve from the kinetic energy from the impacts.
“We can’t take many more hits like that,” Zara said.
“This is a Col Sec vehicle; let’s see what improvements they’ve made to her. Perhaps we can persuade them from trying that again ‘eh?” Kurt said.
He reached down to the centre console and opened a slim panel. Beneath it was a panel, he accessed it via his NI and found a series of hidden functions that could be useful.
“Let’s try this,” he said and activated a set of defences built into the car. First off he fired an EMP weapon at the vehicle behind them; it was a short range burst hoping to short out the fuel cell and other electrical functions on it.
The EMP struck the Grand Voyager full in the front grille but had no effect. It carried on chasing them and the two clones hanging out of either side windows continued to fire at them.
“Damn they must be shielded, bastards came well prepared. We may have to resort to harsher tactics,” Kurt said.
He suddenly steered around another corner without indicating to fellow travellers. He was trying to lose the Grand Voyager and by crossing oncoming traffic he almost caused a crash between at least three other vehicles as they skidded and veered to avoid him. Two midsized vehicles almost collided as the Sports Hatch crossed their path. A large bus had to pull up short before it ploughed into them. It jack knifed and slid sideways to a halt as the driver spun the wheel and slammed on the automatic brakes in an attempt to prevent a major accident.
The Grand Voyager lost ground as it had to negotiate through this new blockade. By the time they had managed to get around the bus that was partially blocking the street the Sports Hatch was nowhere to be seen.
