After running together for an hour, they came upon a rather large domed building that the Y-Corporation had built a few years back. This is where they manufactured things the outside world knew nothing of.
She still wasn't sure why so much work and time was being spent in this building. Years ago, a series of deliveries had come in over a period of a few months, until the deliveries suddenly stopped for whatever reason. Before now, she had never dared to go in the place or even get too close. Tonight was going to be different.
She and Akaboo dearly wanted answers.
They made their way to the top of a cliff, where they decided to attempt to jump onto the dome. The coast seemed clear, so they took a running jump and landed safely on the roof. They then found a secret viewing window to peek down into the massive warehouse. Tonight, no guards were outside, no dogs were running about, and no big birds were flying anywhere nearby. They had picked the perfect evening to finally be brave. She patted Akaboo, making him feel good at what they just did.
Rubbing the small window clear of sand and dirt, Paka peered below.
The sight of close to a thousand robots all standing to attention was not as shocking as the single bot on an uplifted platform stage. He was a huge specimen of grayish and red metal. His bright yellow eyes gleamed out to the bots before him as he barked out words that could be heard clearly from above.
"Loyal subjects gathered here tonight, it is our time. Soon, we will descend upon Earth, and it shall be the moment we have all been waiting for. Stomp your feet and let us make enough noise to show all that THE TIME OF ROBOTS DRAWS NEAR!"
The many robots inside banged their feet up and down on the hard surface of the warehouse. As the noise picked up to a deafening level, the bot on the stage waved his arms for them to stop.
With his arms up high, gesturing to all before him, he proclaimed, "The only good human is a dead human." His yellow eyes flashed over and over again. Paka looked on in horror as two other tough looking silver robots then pulled a human male out from behind the stage curtain. The robot leader strode toward the man, took hold of him, and ripped his limbs from his body one by one. He started with the arms, then the legs, and then he grabbed the man's head. With one firm jerk, he tore the man's head from his shoulders and cried out, "THE AGE OF OUR AWAKENING IS HERE!"
Paka swallowed hard. The scene she had just witnessed made her feel dizzy. To avoid tumbling off the roof, she quickly found her center, which she had learned as a young Mystical Slayer, long before she was sent to Mars.
She felt strongly that this was a non-Y-Wood Corporation gathering. There was really nothing she could do. She gestured to Akaboo that they were going to leave, and the pair leaped back off the dome and headed northwest, back to their secret abode.
It was there that her closest and dearest friends now lived, especially a woman named Pandora. Pandora's most gifted attribute was her positive outlook, not only on surviving but also prospering and looking to the future. Paka was overwhelmed in thought as they traveled on.
It wasn't long ago that she and Pandora had met and become lovers. Love came hard on this distant planet, so it was well worth hanging onto.
The whole trip back was filled with thoughts about how she wished she could be united with her sisters on Earth. Her mind raced with many memories, both current and from long ago. She was chosen to come here and had done her duty with pride, but she never expected to be gone forever. She couldn't help but wonder how her friends were, and if their attack on Y-Wood had finally brought the juggernaut down.
Her thoughts were all over the place, that was until Akaboo squealed at her and brought her back to the present. She jumped back in fright and frowned at Akaboo for his unnecessary noise. Less than a second later, a large flying bird swooped right over her head. That unnecessary noise had saved her life. Akaboo growled as only a foxcat could, high pitched and somewhat squeaky, as he prepared to help his friend.
The creature was nearly seven feet long with a huge jawline packed with many razor-sharp teeth. It whipped about in midair and descended on Paka for a lethal bite. Preparing to fight, Paka drew out her long stick with a speared tip and took a stance, waiting for the right moment. The second it was close enough, she drove the sharp point right up into the thing's gullet. It impaled well, leaving the beast with no choice but to land.
Akaboo circled it and continued his ear-piercing squeals, but he knew better than to try biting it just yet.
Paka hollered her own battle cry. "May the moons carry me to a victory," she called out, drawing two curved swords from her back and moving toward the giant bird. She sliced and diced at the thing while being careful to avoid its chomping maw.
The thing clawed her across the face as they engaged, and she could feel the sting and the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. She tumbled to the right and spun about to slash its legs out. Although the giant bird fell to its side, its ferocious biting continued on with serious intent.
Akaboo seized his opportunity and bit a huge chunk out of its backside. The foxcat's attack was enough to divert the beast's attention away from Paka. No sooner had the beast turned to face Akaboo that Paka brought both her curved blades down across its neckline, causing instant decapitation.
Akaboo was first to congratulate the victor before they continued to make their way home.
***
As the other women had left for L.A., Jansa was now pretty much fully in charge of the vineyard home base. There were other up-and-coming tough women that trained daily with the sisterhood and helped out with work and other chores. Everyone, including men, women, and children, shared the workload to maintain an efficient and smooth running of their home base operations.
One of the newer members, the cyber hacker name D-Marge, was a life saver for Jansa, not only as an up-to-date computer nerd but also as a babysitter, training partner, and overall helper for the two rascals she was trying to keep out of trouble. Jansa smiled to herself, knowing it would soon be three rascals. She knew Victory was ready!
Even so, Jansa had her hands full with Sun and Karma. With none of the main sisters about, those two were acting up from boredom. Little did she know that the two of them had already gotten into mischief. They'd been snooping around at the latest formulas and research in locations that were strictly off limits to them.
It was on this late afternoon that she wanted them to hang with Victory, but she found the two meddling with the applications in a forbidden lab chamber.
When she saw them, she immediately started screaming, "What in the world are you two doing? You have no idea what you were getting into. Most of that stuff has not even been tested! If you just go by a label and touch yourself with that or inject it, who knows what the consequences might be. Both of you, get your butts over here, right now!"
Jansa was unaware that this wasn't their first time visiting this place. She also didn't know that they had already messed with the things Jansa had warned them so sternly about.
Jansa was now stressed beyond belief. She put the two of them to work on some heavy chores and banned them from any fun escapades until further notice.
That evening, Jansa got another shock.
She had just slipped into her comfortable cotton pajamas, as she most often did before bedtime, and had settled down for some quiet time with a good book and a cup of tea, hoping it would make her tired and encourage a restful sleep. Her medical research was always very taxing in itself, so the physical training she was now also in charge of was proving to be pretty tough.
She was about to walk to her private room to climb into bed when she saw a man sitting in a chair in the den. She nearly dropped her tea from the shock. Placing her cup on the counter, she quickly grabbed a nearby weapon, a laser pistol, and readied to shoot this intruder. The man, whose face was lost in the shadows, did not move from his spot.
The man's deep voice spoke to her. "Well, don't shoot me."
Jansa immediately went to fi
nd a light and shone it in his direction. She now recognized the man as Darren, the dark-skinned, dark-haired motorcycle leader that she had gone at it with very recently.
She threatened him with the gun, pointing it and shaking it at him. "Are you crazy, sneaking up on me in here? You're lucky there's no one else here. They would've killed you by now."
He nodded and replied, "I actually do feel lucky that there's no one else here, because that means you and I are alone together."
Jansa frowned. "There must be a better way to try to get my attention than to trespass and sneak up on me in the middle of the night in the dark. I know you're as cocky as they come, but you're still lucky you're not already dead."
"You see, that's the thing," Darren said to her. "I'm not like nobody else. When I see something or someone I want, I go for it. I don't look back!"
Jansa was now blushing. "You can't be serious…you're hitting on me?"
Darren stood up. "Well, let me just say, if it helps, I did bring a bottle of wine." He lifted the bottle up to show the feisty doctor. "I kind of figured you to be a wine type of woman. Very classy and very sexy."
Jansa was slightly taken aback by his words, but she admired his nerve.
She made her way over to him and sat on a couch opposite the recliner that he was so leisurely sitting on. She put on a lamp beside her. He then sat back down.
She asked the handsome man, who was still wearing his blue headscarf, "Listen, what is it that you actually want from us? This can't just be a dangerous drop-in-for-a-booty call. I know you have something else on your mind."
Darren winked at her. "I actually do have some thoughts, yes. I mean, I see this little place you have all worked on and built up so nicely, and I'm thinking that if you and I became better friends, perhaps we could all work together. You have to realize, I'm not a bad guy really," he said, smiling.
Jansa grinned. "Well, you certainly look like a bad boy."
Darren tilted his head to the side, staring at the curly blond on the couch. "Should I take that as a good thing?"
She wasn't quite sure how to answer that question, so she avoided it and went around it by asking, "Are you going to share that wine with me or not?"
The two went on to sip from the same wine bottle, chatting about this and that as they became more comfortable.
Their fight had been a day she didn't want to remember until now.
Slowly, the two became at ease, and she came to the conclusion that he was genuine in his thoughts about working together. However, she knew that many of his men could definitely not be trusted so she still had her concerns. But, tonight, it was only him here on his own. With that thought, she found him easing his way over beside her on the couch.
The liquid courage that the two were sharing had the healer feeling a bit giddy. She giggled and asked, "What do you think you're doing, mister?"
Darren leaned closer and whispered, "You're so beautiful, and your lips are calling to me."
Jansa was excited. She took a short breath, or, in truth, she had her breath taken by the man before her. "You really are something else," she started to explain, but before she could say more, he kissed her on the lips and then ran his lips down her chin to seek her waiting neckline.
He kissed that too before nibbling gently on her ear. Her whole body started to quiver as they kissed on the lips again.
Her loins became aroused as the powerful man pressed closer and closer until they were lost in passion and embracing as one. It had been awhile for her, but their lovemaking was very passionate, sweaty, and really good.
***
In the morning, when she awoke on the very same couch they had made love on, he was gone. But the noise from the two young girls that had been driving her nuts earlier, was loud and clear once again. Yet now, there were three of them.
She heard the red haired girl they all referred to as Sun call out, "We're up and moving about. In fact, we're making breakfast, Auntie Jansa. Victory is here too."
Jansa was about to round the corner, following the welcome smell of food. She found herself smiling, not just because breakfast was looking so good with the eggs, toast, and bacon they had put on a plate for her, but also because of the shenanigans of last night; those were worth smiling about too.
She sat with Sun, Karma, and Victory to eat a yummy morning meal. "I want you three to work hard today because tonight, I have something special that we're all going to do together."
The young girls became excited. They had thought fun was banned for a while longer, but Jansa suddenly seemed very happy for some reason.
The three girls asked what was going to be going on later, but Jansa shushed them immediately and said, "I said breakfast, then training and chores, then I'll let you know a bit more about it." The girls seem satisfied with that answer, so the four of them enjoyed their warm breakfast together in silence.
Jansa found herself lost in thought while eating. Was this Darren fellow for real, or was he just out for a playful sexual encounter?
She had a serious dilemma here, and she needed to work out whether or not she could really trust him.
***
In the wee hours of the same morning, Andy Cool, who had grown up in the ghetto of Connecticut with a family who'd never had all that much, knew his day had come.
He had always been the type of teenage boy that would look out for the other kids on the streets; some people were just born that way, caring and compassionate.
If they were hungry, he would find them food; if they were thirsty, he found them something to drink, and this continued for most of his youth and into his adolescent years. He was now fifty-three and still living in the ghetto as he had done his whole life. He was still doing the same things for everybody. It gave him a sense of belonging, a sense of reason to be alive; it simply made him happy.
Today was a special day he had been planning for quite a long time.
Andy Cool, an Afro-American good soul, took one of the sisterhood's American flags out to a large overpass far from where he lived. It was here, in a pretty desolate location, that he strapped that baby right on top of a bridge and let it fly. It was a popular road traveling out into the main city regions, so it was likely to be seen by many people.
He'd never had much money, but as he walked away seeing that flag showing so clearly, it made him feel like he was a very rich guy.
Whenever anyone saw it, they too would feel this burning desire for hope in a world gone crazy. Andy couldn't help but smile all the way home.
Chapter Fourteen
A day in the life of Trevor, who was no ordinary young boy, would be more than anyone his age could ever experience. Trevor's trainers were clones, male associates of the Corporation; part human and part robot. It was well known that each of the clones were highly enhanced with top level AI, so the boy learned from the beginning that his studies would make him much smarter than he ever dreamed possible.
He was also taught daily by the super robot Galax. This within itself taught him lessons of knowledge beyond most humans.
Trevor studied spitters today, which were the cobra-like snakes of the Corporation. Each could deploy a deadly and poisonous vapor from their mouths. Overall, these suckers were just ugly snakes with glowing blue eyes. They were quite creepy for anyone that encountered them.
He learned that many of the Corporation's top workers would use them as watchdogs in their apartments. Trevor also learned the various ways that they liked to attack and all about how they would hide as well. Perhaps most importantly, he learned of the antidote to their poison.
On other days, he spent much time studying the aspects of hibernation in space and how the wormholes to the various planets were disappearing as of late. This sort of stuff was subject matter that he actually found quite fascinating. The aspect of astromining, however, was one he didn't find so interesting, but he continued to study and learn his daily lessons. Days quickly turned into weeks, and we
eks turned into years.
The curly haired kid also learned top notch combative measures from Galax; sparring with an elite bot was a learning experience in itself.
His body was sore at times, yet his brain was worse still.
Most of his so-called prior memories were gone now, but he often still dreamed. He found himself having visions of the past that no one could take from him. In a past life, he must have belonged to a family, but his mind just wouldn't let him see who that family was. His brain, especially his memories, had all but been erased.
He enjoyed studying Mars and hoped to go there one day. He knew the Corporation had colonized Mars years ago, and he spent much time researching everything he possibly could. As a result of his research, he had found out about a project for the colonization of one of Saturn's moons. The Corporation was involved in that as well.
His robotics studies was one of the most fascinating things he dealt with.
The Corporation was a master at creation and was always on the cutting edge of the world's new and advanced technology. Trevor got to sit in on many of these sessions, watching the creations become real right before his big brown eyes.
The showerheads where his very least favorite study. These were worm or snake-like robotic creatures with great big fangs and heads that looked like the head of a shower nozzle. For some reason, more often than not, they didn't do what they were supposed to do. For this reason, he'd found himself at the wrong end of one of the sharp metal things more often than he would've liked. He thought to himself about adjusting this oddity one day to make these things work a whole lot better.
He enjoyed his computer training very much. It was interesting being able to travel anywhere in the world at the push of a button.
Trevor did not live an ordinary life.
Through word of mouth, he learned about the so-called sisterhood of rebel fighters. It truly seemed like these women weren't anything that the president or any of the associates had to worry about.
The sisterhood had had some success in the past, but with the recent changes being made, the boy found them to be irrelevant and soon lost interest in such tales.
HOPE BRINGERS (Strong superhero women) (Mystical Slayers Book 2) Page 8
