by Jan Domagala
Kurt accelerated through the gears on the Sports Hatch as he drove the car away into another side road across from the scene. Before he had gotten too far though the third and final Grand Voyager came into view. It came around a bend in the road barrelling down it toward them. It swopped lanes and was heading straight at them.
15
Matt arrived back at Col Sec HQ after going straight back to the airport. Another Silver Dart had been sent by Sinclair to pick him up once their first had been commandeered by Kurt.
He went straight to Sinclair’s office, he had given him his report via closed comm. link through his NI and he was interested in what his commanding officer would have to say on the matter.
As he entered the office on Level Ten, he saw Sinclair seated behind his desk as usual.
“Well this is a development we didn’t see coming,” Sinclair said as he saw the expression on his agent’s face. Matt looked like he’d seen a ghost, which of course he thought he had. The opposite hypothesis was too terrible to comprehend and he had forcefully put it out of his mind, although on the journey to the HQ he found himself considering it more and more.
“I know what you mean sir. There can only be two possibilities as I can see it. Either the first Tanya was a clone or the one I saw today is,” Matt said as he approached the desk and the seat Sinclair offered him.
“Or Tanya had a twin sister,” offered Sinclair which was something that Matt clearly, hadn’t considered.
Sinclair saw Matt’s expression alter as he contemplated the implications of that scenario.
“What I want to know is what is the purpose of all this?” Sinclair said.
Matt looked at him with slight surprise and said, “Thought that would be obvious sir. It’s the same as the message that was delivered to me when they killed Tanya in front of me. It’s to mess with us, to show us what they can do. It’s almost like they’re telling us no matter how many of them we kill there will always be someone, or another of the same to take their place. This must be how Hercules felt when he faced the Hydra. Every time he cut off one head another two replaced it.”
“In that case we can expect an announcement of some kind then,” Sinclair said.
“I don’t follow sir,” Matt said.
“Think about it, they went to all the trouble of finding you and making sure you saw, whoever it was. They waited for you to follow them ensuring you got a good look at whoever it was so you could positively identify them. Then they stopped you from following them or even asking questions further ensuring the mystery would continue. They left you with this image of a dead girl knowing you would want answers, now why go to all that trouble if there was no payday?”
“So what announcement do you think they will issue then?”
“That’s the mystery, I’m not sure but we’ll keep monitoring all news broadcasts and the GalaxyWeb to see if anything get’s posted there too.”
“Where is Kurt, did he pick his friend up okay?”
“That’s an ongoing situation. We are monitoring it as we speak. So far he has located his friend but there is some opposition to his successful evac. It seems the demise of OMEGA was more than premature, I’ve sent Jake and the Wildfire Team to assist.”
“You’re right sir. If they’re involved with the action on Celeron and it can only be them who engineered my meeting with Tanya earlier then they are definitely back to their tricks again.”
*****
“What the fuck are they playing at, are they crazy?” Zara asked calmly even though the larger vehicle was closing the gap between them at an amazing speed.
“Don’t worry, they want to stop us not kill us, they’ll move,” Kurt replied confidently.
“Give me your gun, let’s see if I can persuade them,” Zara said and reached inside Kurt’s jacket and pulled free the Sig P999 from its holster. She opened the side window and reached out and fired at the oncoming vehicle. She fired a continuous burst of plasma bolts at the front of the Grand Voyager, three bolts struck the front grille and as the recoil forced the weapon upwards the next four bolts struck the windshield smashing it and striking the driver in the chest and head. Blood sprayed backwards from the kinetic impact of the bolts but the driver didn’t care as he died when the last bolt exploded his head.
The driver died at the control wheel as he fell forward locking it over suddenly taking the large vehicle across the road. Kurt turned the Sports Hatch slightly to the left evading the oncoming Grand Voyager as it slewed across the road to collide with the front of a building as it ploughed into it smashing the front of the vehicle killing the front passenger.
Kurt steered the Sports Hatch away from the crash towards the end of the road and almost into the last Grand Voyager that had gone around the block. Seeing the vehicle at the last second he had just enough time to swerve around it.
The driver of the Grand Voyager sent the vehicle into a skidding turn so tight he almost tipped it over. Within a few yards he had controlled the spin and powered the larger vehicle after the smaller, sleeker Sports Hatch.
Behind them, back at the crash site, two of the Rover5’s got out of the rear compartment and dragged the front two clones from the vehicle leaving them on the road. One of them got behind the wheel and restarted the engine again. The front of the vehicle had been reinforced and had contained some shielding as all three vehicles had yet still had sustained quite a bit of damage. The engine still worked fine though and as the second clone got into the front passenger seat the driver reversed it out from the building. Debris cascaded down from the top of the Voyager as it reversed from where it had collided with the front of the building but it did not impede its progress too much.
Once it was clear of the building it continued the chase once more.
Zara replaced the spent battery clip in the Sig with a fresh one and continued to fire at the following Grand Voyager. She hit the front grille but this was the vehicle that was shielded from the EMP and it gave them some protection against the plasma bolts.
The clones inside the Voyager returned fire by hanging out of the side windows once more. Pulsed Plasma bolts struck the sides of the Sports Hatch and those on Zara’s side almost forced her back inside. One of the bolts struck the door frame close by her shoulder and secondary impact seared her shoulder.
“Agh! Shit!” she screamed as the pain from the wound lanced through her. She ducked back inside and looked at the wound through the damaged clothing. Beneath the torn and burnt coverall over her shoulder she watched as new skin formed where the wound was. Her eyes went wide in surprise as the realisation of her ability hit her fully. She had suspected she had this ability, there could be no other explanation to her resurrection but actually seeing it with her own eyes was something else. Not only was it awe inspiring it was also daunting. Now she faced the same dilemma as Kurt about her future.
“Will I ever get used to that?” she asked.
Without looking at her Kurt said, “Maybe.”
“Have you?” she asked.
“Not yet,” he replied.
More pulsed plasma bolts struck the rear of the Sports Hatch as Kurt tried to get away from the clones behind them.
“Where the hell is Jake?” he muttered.
*****
Artie piloted the forward section of the Pulsar down through the atmosphere of Celeron toward the flight lanes above Jacksonville.
“Have you got a fix on Kurt and Zara yet Artie?” Jake asked as he looked through the forward viewport.
“Yes sir, we are approaching them now,” the AI replied.
Seated behind Jake were the rest of the Wildfire Team, to his right was Joseph Vance, to his left and slightly behind was Angelina Torres and next to her was Mack Cooper. Vance said, “We’re not gonna be able to get low enough to pick them up, not unless they get closer to the edge of the city.”
“What about that park, if they got to it we could put down there and pick them up,” Torres offered pointing to the Jacksonville Centra
l Park, a huge area of greenery frequented by holiday makers, visitors and locals alike as an area for relaxation. It was decorated with a wide variety of flowers, shrubs and trees both indigenous to the planet and brought here from other worlds. It was a show piece of the talents of many gardeners who had worked for many years to bring it to the stage it was at present.
“Jake to Kurt, can you make it to Central Park?” Jake said through the comm. link.
“I’ll see what I can do. We’re under fire from one of those vehicles you told us about though,” Kurt replied.
“I’ll see what I can do to help,” Jake said then to the AI said, “You heard that Artie, let’s try and help them.”
The AI said, “I’m taking us down a little closer sir, do you want manual control over the weapons sir?”
“I’ll take them Artie,” Cooper offered and turned his seat to the right where the control panel was. He charged up the weapons and said, “Weapons are hot. How far do you want this to go Cap, shall I limit it just to Pulse cannons or are missiles authorised?”
“Let’s wait and see what the situation warrants ‘eh before we go around blowing the whole planet up,” Jake replied.
“Spoil sport,” joked Cooper.
The forward section of the Pulsar blasted through the atmosphere and levelled off above the huge city of Jacksonville and the AI said, “We are approaching the location you requested sir.”
“Can you get a location fix on Kurt yet Artie?” Jake asked.
“I have a fix on them sir but they are not where you want them to be just yet sir.”
“Where are they, show me,” Jake ordered and the forward monitor screen displayed an enhanced image of the situation down on the planets’ surface.
“There you are,” Jake said.
*****
“How far are we from this Central Park?” Zara asked as they sped along a straight stretch of road between high sided buildings.
“Too far, I doubt we can make it, hang on,” Kurt replied then he suddenly spun the wheel and turned the Sports Hatch down into a narrow alley between two buildings. He was hoping to lose the two vehicles stuck to his rear bumper like glue since the crashed Voyager had caught up to them also. The turn down the alley certainly caught the clones chasing them unawares and they had to skid to a stop then reverse and negotiate the turn into the alley which cost them valuable time and allowed Kurt to put some distance between them. What he hadn’t bargained on was the third Voyager had been in communication with the other two and was running parallel to them so that when Kurt’s Sports Hatch emerged from the alley he was waiting for them.
“We don’t seem to be able to catch a break at all here,” observed Zara with some chagrin.
Pulsed plasma bolts peppered the rear of the Sports Hatch as the clones inside the Voyager following them opened fire.
“We can’t take this for much longer, has this thing got any weapons other than this Sig of yours?” Zara said.
“Nope just the nonlethal variety, the EMP is about it. Apparently it’s not a good policy to litter the streets with wrecked vehicles or dead bodies. You’ll have to make do with the Sig,” Kurt replied.
More bolts struck the rear compartment of their vehicle and a small explosion erupted somewhere at the back of it sending the car into an uncontrolled rear wheel spin. The vehicle veered across the road narrowly missing two oncoming vehicles from the opposite direction which had to swerve to avoid crashing.
“The fuel cell has been damaged, we’re losing fuel, we won’t get far now, we’ll have to ditch this and make it on foot,” Kurt said once he had the Sports Hatch under control once more. He had checked the vehicles control panel and the readouts told him they only had a few minutes before the fuel cell was completely depleted.
“Are you crazy, make it on foot?” Zara shouted not believing what she was hearing.
“Have you any better ideas?”
“Yes actually. Pull up at the front of that building,” Zara told him.
Kurt wasn’t quite sure what she had in mind but he went along with it, he had no choice really, their vehicle would stop of its own accord soon anyway.
He skidded to a stop in front of a tall building that had a double fronted entrance hall. They both got out; she fired at the clones inside the Voyager that was coming to a stop just down the street after them as they ran up to the entrance.
“Okay, what’s your plan?” he asked as he reached the entrance to the building. She came and stood next to him aiming the Sig down the street at the Voyager firing off the occasional bolt to persuade any clone from exiting the vehicle.
“We get inside and get to the top of the building, perhaps your friends can pick us up from the roof.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kurt agreed and accessed the control panel at the side of the door via his NI. He had soon hacked into the locking mechanism and had the double doors opened so they could gain entry to the building.
Zara kept watch down the street occasionally firing a shot down toward the Voyager to deter them from following them. From the opposite direction came the other two Voyagers which came to a screeching halt in front of the building. Clones were firing from open windows at her with pulse rifles as they approached. Plasma bolts struck the ground in front of her and the walls at their side as Kurt attempted to open the doors.
“Okay we’re in,” he said as he pulled her through the open door just as a salvo of plasma bolts peppered the doors where they had stood seconds earlier. Kurt locked the doors and pulled her towards the elevator at the back of the Hallway. They ran and got into the first elevator available scattering a few people who were in the hallway shouting for them to get away and hide. Kurt pressed the control panel to take the elevator to the top floor.
As they watched the doors close they saw the doors to the entrance blown apart under concentrated fire from pulse rifles. Kurt and Zara were on the move upwards in the elevator when a group of Rover5’s came rushing into the hallway. As they spread out to take control of the area one of them stood in the middle and issued orders.
“You three lock down this hallway, no one in or out. You call the elevators and follow them to whichever floor they took the rest with me up the stairs. Contact us the moment you know which floor they’re on,” he said indicating which clones he meant with decisive waves of his large hand.
Inside the elevator Kurt and Zara watched the LED readout as the floors dropped away as they rose through the building. They were heading for the thirty fifth floor at the very top.
“When we get to the top, look for a fire escape, we should be able to get out onto the roof from there. It’ll be easier to hold them off from that vantage point as they’ll have to use the same point of entry to reach us,” Zara said.
“Unless there’s more than one fire escape in which case we’re screwed as we only have one weapon,” Kurt pointed out the one flaw in her plan.
“Well if you have any other suggestions what we should do then go ahead, I’m all ears,” Zara chided.
“Let’s get to the roof and we’ll have a better idea with what we’re facing. There may be something we can use as a weapon if we need to hold them off from two points,” he said.
The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened and they got out quickly. They looked around for a fire escape and found one at the far end of the corridor they were standing in.
“Over there,” Kurt said and they both sprinted toward it.
Kurt reached the window first and he manhandled it open just as they heard a disturbance behind them. Zara turned to look and saw several clones coming through the stairwell door. They were armed with pulse rifles and brought them up to fire.
She aimed and fired the Sig she was still holding before they could fire. Three pulsed plasma bolts struck the first two clones as they approached stopping them in their tracks. They went down instantly their blood spilling on to the floor where they lay.
“Quick get through the window, get up to the roof,” Kurt sa
id pulling Zara to him.
“You go, I have the Sig,” she replied pushing Kurt away.
“Look, I won’t lose you again,” he said grabbing her by the shoulder, he pulled her toward him and forced her to the window. “Now go!” he shouted.
She was not prepared for the strength he displayed but when she saw the anguish in his eyes she dived through the window onto the fire escape steel balcony.
Kurt turned and by this time three clones are close enough to reach out and touch him. A hand clamped down on his shoulder pulling him back. Because he had one foot through the open window he stumbled back into the corridor into a group of clones. They started to pound him with the rifle butts on his back and shoulders.
He lashed out at the nearest one punching him in the stomach doubling him over as all the air was purged from his lungs. He elbowed another in the face smashing teeth in an explosion of blood. A third received a chop to the throat which crushed his windpipe dropping him like a stone as his airwaves snapped closed, his face went blue as he struggled to drag air into his starved lungs.
For a second Kurt found himself free to move a little but then a pulsed plasma bolt caught him a glancing blow to his left shoulder spinning him around as he moved when he saw the clone about to fire. The pain from the shot lanced through him almost bringing him to his knees. He dodged to the side as the clone tried to reacquire his target. Kurt caught the front of the muzzle of the pulse rifle and yanked it from the clone’s hands then swung it around his head to smash it into the head of the nearest attacker. It struck the clone’s head with such force that it caved in the side where the point of impact was. Blood and brain matter sprayed out from the collision splashing other clones as they too came forward.
Turning the rifle around into the proper grip he rapidly fired at the rest of the clones gunning down at least three more. The corridor was empty by then as any other clones were reluctant to enter the killing field that the corridor had become, so Kurt turned and exited through the open window and sprinted up the metal fire escape to vault over the lip of the roof.
