by T. C. Edge
But this time, he had.
Knowing I'd either jump or duck, he was ready for both ends. As I leapt into the air, so his bionic arm reached out and caught me, metal fingers rushing forwards and taking a grip of my neck. I felt the air stop in my throat, unable to get in or out.
His fingers tightened. I could feel my windpipe being crunched.
In a desperate move I reached again for my gun, but his other hand rushed out and took it.
He ripped it from my grasp and lifted it into the air. His head cocked as he inspected it. Then, as though it was nothing at all, he closed his fist, and tightened his fingers, crushing my pistol like paper.
I stared at it, my most valued possession, something I'd worked so long and hard to make. My anger surged at seeing it destroyed, giving me a second wind.
In a flash, I'd taken hold of my knife and thrust right upwards, into his arm. I hit well and hit hard, cutting through his armour, into whatever flesh there might have remained beneath.
He grunted in pain - I didn't know he felt it - as I pulled the trigger and sent the electric charge right through him. It ran up his arm, across his fingers, and onto the skin of my neck. I could feel the sizzling heat and pain as his grip weakened, and I thrashed myself loose. I dropped to the ground, splashing into the rain, leaving my knife embedded where it was.
He let out a hissing sound once more, losing himself again to pain and anger. His eyes turned on me as if he was about to strike, before suddenly lifting and looking behind me.
They narrowed at what they saw, and he took a step back, something catching his attention.
I glanced back down the street and saw figures. I looked again at Mantis, as he prepared to run, but found him stopping right where he was. At the other end of the street, emerging from an alley, I saw more VLA soldiers pouring into view, blocking the bridge, blocking his escape.
I hauled a mighty breath into my lungs, as I stood face to face with this monster. My neck felt raw, scorched by fire, the falling rain a soothing balm. I steadied myself, my head starting to spin, as the VLA soldiers closed in. I took a step back, no longer needing to engage, but Mantis was having none of it.
Suddenly, he lunged right at me once more, giving no further thought to escape. His attention centred on me alone as he unleashed his working mantis arm for one final, ferocious attack.
I flew back into action once again, backtracking towards my allies as he came slashing right at me. I made it only a few metres before I tripped on a broken stone. He was on me in a split-second, looming tall and terrifying against the moonlight.
I looked up as his grim appendage prepared to strike, lifting my hands to my face to shield me, pulling my legs up to my chest. I shut my eyes, fearing the sting of his blade, fearing my final moments were upon me...
But it never came.
Instead, I heard frantic movement and opened my eyes back up to find several VLA soldiers appearing, grappling with Mantis and hauling him to the ground. I blinked the water from my eyes - tears or rain I couldn't tell which - and watched as they began tying him up with metal, electrified, rope, immobilising his limbs as he roared and hissed and tried to thrash himself free.
I managed to sit up, shivering, semi-paralysed as I watched on. The utter terror of what I'd just been through began to dawn on me. I held it back as I looked at this aberration being tied up and dragged away.
His black eyes were on me. His words were for me too.
"I'll get you!" he growled, his voice spitting hatred. "I'll get you, girl! I'll tear you limb from limb..."
Slowly, I began to get to my feet. My body was shaking all over. I drew a long, steadying breath, and looked Mantis dead in the eye, refusing to turn away, or be cowed by this malformed thing.
"The weapon," I said, my voice strangely calm. I didn't speak loudly, but knew that he could hear, despite everything that was going on. "Tell me about the weapon, Mantis. Tell me what it is."
His frantic expression and wild thrashing suddenly began to calm. His face twisted into a grin instead, a rasping laughter filling the night skies. It echoed loud as he was dragged away, hauled towards a vehicle that appeared from the end of the street.
I paced after him. "What is it!" I called, more loudly now. "What, Mantis, what?!"
He never answered, not directly. All he did was laugh a few crazed words as he was bundled into the back of the vehicle...
"Ghosts," he chuckled, "that's all you are. You are all going to die..."
32
I stared on, as Mantis's manic voice grew muted as he was shoved into the back of the vehicle and locked away. His words echoed in my ears, resounding loudly, endlessly.
You are all going to die...
He'd given me enough fuel for a thousand nightmares. Perhaps those words were the most unsettling of all.
Standing there, amid the calming rains, I felt a hand come suddenly down on my shoulder. I turned quickly, my nerves shredded, to find a familiar face looking right at me.
"Paige?" Ford whispered, his eyes narrow and tense. "What...what the hell are you doing here?"
I stared at him for a second, lifting my night-vision goggles to my forehead, looking into those big, brown eyes, into that rugged face stained with smoke and splashed with blood. I must have stared too long, as though needing to look at him as a tonic, as a cure for spending those long, terrible minutes in the company of that nightmare.
He frowned, appearing concerned. "Paige, are you OK?" His voice was so soft, joining the gentle tinkling of the rain. "What happened?" He glanced behind me. "Did you...did you fight him? Did you fight him alone?"
I managed to draw a weak smile, and a single nod. And then, needing the contact, I flung my arms around him, holding him tight, pulling his body as close as I could to mine.
He gripped back, hard. I could sense the many questions on his tongue, though he didn't speak for a moment. He just held me, as I shivered, as I tried to retain my composure once more.
"You're shaking all over," he whispered softly. "We need to get you somewhere warm and dry..."
I drew back now, and pulled myself together. I didn't want to seem weak or in need of such treatment. I wanted to be treated as a soldier. I wanted to show him that, even after fighting Mantis on my own, I could keep myself together. I could take it all in my stride.
I fixed my expression and didn't allow myself to wilt. I looked at him and cleared my throat. "I had to stop him," I said, resolute now, firm. "I had to, Ford. I couldn't let him go..."
He brows tightened a little more. "How did you know we were..."
"I worked it out," I said quickly, not wanting to reveal the full details just yet. "Your father told me the meeting was happening tonight. I...I never expected to engage, Ford. I only wanted to observe. But..." I shook my head and looked to the arena. "I had no choice. I had to act, when I saw him flee. I just...had to."
I heard the vehicle behind me begin to rumble, as it prepared to move off. We turned together to look upon the van and its prisoner, hidden away, and the VLA soldiers still milling around.
Orders were being called out to the ten or so of them there. I focussed my eyes on the source and saw that it was Carson, barking over the rains, his voice filled with some urgency and strain.
We fell silent for a second, until Carson's sharp eyes caught sight of us. He turned immediately and marched right over, military and efficient in his step, his body humming with the energy of battle.
"I've been told what you did, Paige," he said, "but you shouldn't be here. I told you you weren't to be a soldier. I told you not to get involved."
His words came suddenly; they forced me to stiffen. What weakness, what emotional fragility remained in me was banished. I hauled a breath into my lungs and stared back. Before I could speak, however, to offer some retort, Ford's voice cut through the air, doing so on my behalf.
"But father," he said, quite fiercely. "She stopped Mantis. She fought him alone and lived. You just said it yourself, you
know what she did. Give her some praise at least..."
"Praise?" Carson said, staring at his son. "She almost got herself killed, Ford. She interfered where she didn't need to..."
"Didn't need to?" I whispered harshly, breathing heavily. My emotions were threatening to break free once again. "He...he was getting away. I...I had no choice. I had to..."
Carson shook his head, interrupting me. His eyes worked up towards the bridge nearby, leading towards the Eastbends.
"Mantis was heading right for our trap," he said sharply. "We wanted him to leave in this direction, Paige. We wanted him to try to cross the bridge, where some of our best men were lying in wait."
He drew a breath and shook his head. His eyes, sharpened by the strains of combat, softened a little, along with his voice "What you did was very brave, Paige, and to have stood toe to toe with Mantis for that long was highly impressive for someone so inexperienced. But," he took another steadying breath, "it wasn't your place, and you should never have been here in the first place." He looked angrily to Ford. "And it wasn't yours to tell her where the deal was taking place."
Ford frowned. "I never told her," he said. "I haven't spoken with her for days."
"Forgive me if I don't believe you, Ford," his father responded. Nearby, the soldiers were moving now, drawing Carson's attention. "I have no time to speak about this now," he went on briskly. "We will talk about all of this later." His eyes glanced at me again. "Take Paige home, and make sure she gets there safely. You will do so immediately. Do you understand?"
Ford's jaw tightened as he stared his father in the eye, the two a near mirror image of one another, only separated by a quarter century or so.
"Yes, sir," he said through his teeth.
Carson's slightly darker eyes held on his son's a moment. Then he turned and sped off, joining the rest of his men, as they quickly disappeared into the night.
I stared after him, feeling sick. Everything I'd done that night...had been for nothing.
And now, what? I was going to be thrust back onto the periphery again?
"I'm...sorry about him, Paige," Ford said, watching his father leave. "He'll come around. He'll realise what you did when he calms down."
He gently turned to me, as the street continued to clear, and the rains started to ease up. A quiet fell between us. I wanted to scream, to cry, to curl up and forget I'd ever come here at all.
But I wanted to follow too. I wanted to force myself in. Whatever their plan had been, I didn't damn well know.
I caught Mantis.
I did that.
I stopped him from getting away.
"I can't believe you faced him," Ford went on softly. He shook his head, as a smile began to blossom on his face. It helped. Just a little. "I can't believe you fought Mantis by yourself."
I nodded a couple of times, staring into the dark night, my night vision goggles clinging tight to my forehead. "I guess your training works," I said weakly.
"Well, maybe," he said, "But...he's a little above your pay grade, Paige."
"Evidently not," I returned, managing a casual shrug. "I was only trying to slow him down, after all." I looked into his warm eyes. "He should think himself lucky I wasn't trying to kill him."
His grin blossomed, and I even managed one of my own, as we turned and began walking in the direction of Southside.
Ford always had a way of making me feel light, of cheering me up, of making me smile. Even now, he managed it, and it helped hide the turmoil inside me, but certainly didn't solve it.
Oh, I wanted to hold onto this feeling, this powerful sense of affront and resentment. And I wanted to remember, too, just what I'd achieved that night. No, perhaps I wouldn't have been able to kill Mantis, but how many could say they could? He was the most feared man in the city, and I'd stood right there with him and not fled.
I deserved to be with the big boys.
And I didn't give a damn what Carson said...
One way or another, I would be.
THE END
The Variant Series will continued in Book 2 - Initiate
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Next Up - Initiate
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Now, for those who have followed me for some time, you’ll know that this new series is set within the framework of a much larger universe. For those who are new to me, it’s called the ‘Enhanced Universe’, and already comprises three separate series, and 25 books, all linked together into an epic, multi-character narrative.
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Also by T. C. Edge
THE ENHANCED SERIES (MAIN SERIES):
The Enhanced (Book One)
Hybrid (Book Two)
Nameless (Book Three)
Assassin (Book Four)
Captive (Book Five)
Renegade (Book Six)
Invader (Book Seven)
Avenger (Book Eight)
Defender (Book Nine)
Nemesis (Book Ten)
Sequel (to main Enhanced series, and Warrior Race series):
The Enhanced: Awakening
The Enhanced: Conquest
The Enhanced: Fractured
The Enhanced: Invasion
THE WARRIOR RACE SERIES (ENHANCED UNIVERSE):
The Warrior Race (Book One)
The Red Warrior (Book Two)
Angel of War (Book Three)
CHILDREN OF THE PRIME SERIES (ENHANCED UNIVERSE):
The Chosen (Book One)
Trial of the Chosen (Book 2)
Blood of the Chosen (Book 3)
March of the Chosen (Book 4)
War of the Chosen (Book 5)
Fall of the Chosen (Book 6)
Rise of the Chosen (Book 7)
Fate of the Chosen (Book 8)
OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:
THE WATCHERS SERIES:
The Watchers Trilogy:
The Watchers of Eden (Book One)
City of Stone (Book Two)
War at the Wall (Book Three)
The Watchers Trilogy Box Set
The Seekers Trilogy
The Watcher Wars (Book One)
The Seekers of Knight (Book Two)
The Endless Knight
The Seekers Trilogy Box Set
THE PHANTOM CHRONICLES:
The Last Phantom (Book 1)
Phantom Hunter (Book 2)
Phantom Legacy (Book 3)
Phantom Unleashed (Book 4)
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T C Edge, Variant
