by James McEwan
“To send a message Sir. He wants you to know he is gunning for you. He is out for blood, yours, mine, everyone in this organization,” Reinke said. “You started a war and he intends to finish it.”
This sent Thorne into a rage, “That son of bitch! He did tell me once, if we came after him, it would be war. Well if it’s war he wants, war is what he’ll get! However, this could not come at a worse time. We are in the middle of the biggest and most dangerous operation our organization has ever undertaken. I don’t need a rogue operative out there, who thinks he is on some kind of holy quest. No way, for operational security, he has to be brought in or terminated.” He was fuming, “As for you, I understand what happened, however you still failed and I do not accept failure!”
Thorne was so angry he did not stop to think of the kill chip. He opted for the antique colt model 1911, which had been in his family for generations. He pulled the pistol out and just before he pulled the trigger, Reinke said softly, “Demons run.”
That stopped Thorne for a second, “What does that mean?”
“It was something one of his wives said to me. She said, ‘Demons run when a good man goes to war, and you bastards better start running’.”
“Nonsense,” Thorne yelled at him. Reinke did not flinch. He had known he was a dead man, the minute Thad let him go. Thorne pulled the trigger again and again until the pistol slide locked back.
The force of the bullets knocked Reinke back into the chair. He sat there, blood oozing from six holes in his chest. His chest stopped moving and with no breath left in him, Thorne was confident Reinke was dead. Thorne walked around the desk and checked his pulse, there was nothing, but something just was not right. He saw a small lump on the side of Renike’s neck. He noticed it because a faint red light started to blink under the dead man’s skin.
Thorne jumped back when he heard a voice come from the dead man’s open mouth, “Hello Thorne.”
Thorne recovered himself, “Well Hello Marcus, or should I call you Thad.”
“Only my friends can call me Thad, and you are no friend of mine,” Thad said, watching Thorne through the dead man’s eyes. The implants they had installed were working perfectly and had no need for the man to be alive just have his eyelids open.
Trying to stay composed Thorne said, “No I guess not. However it doesn’t change the fact that I always win and sooner or later I will get you, and when I do you will wish you had died out there in the desert.”
Thad was beyond angry, but he was not going to let Thorne know it, “Big words from a man who sends others to do his dirty work. By the way, how did that go for you? Oh that’s right your grab team is dead at my hands and your sanitation team wiped by the very people they were sent to kill.”
Thorne was not a man used to being insulted or losing, “Yes that was unfortunate, but that is the game.”
Thad let a little anger slip out, “Game! You think war is a game?”
The side of Thorne’s mouth lifted slightly at the thought he could get under Thad’s skin. Thorne rounded the desk and sat down to carry on the strange and morbid conversation, “War is always a game, and people are nothing more than pawns to be moved and lost at the whims of those who are in power.”
Thad realized Thorne was trying to goad him into saying something rash, but he could not help himself, “Well this pawn is tired of being moved by the likes of you. I am going to burn you and your organization to the ground.”
The smirk on Thorne’s face got bigger, he knew he was getting to Thad, “So how many were sanitized before the team was neutralized, ten, fifty, a hundred?”
Thad’s hands were balled into tight fists, but he got control of his anger, “Yes, you killed a lot of good people that night, but they will be your last.”
Thorne laughed, “My last? Thorne waited but there was nothing but silence. “What no witty remark?”
An eerie silence fell over the conversation, but Thad finally spoke and his tone was ice cold, “I am coming for you.”
The smirk on Thorne’s face dropped, “I welcome it.”
“Well Thorne, consider this my shot across your bow.” The corpse started beeping.
“Oh Shit!” Thorne yelled as he slammed the panic button on his desk. Two marines and a major charged into the room with laser rifles at the ready. The Major asked, “Are you okay Sir?”
“Get out, get everyone out right now. Clear the floor! He’ sent us back a God damn bomb, a fucking walking bomb!”
Running for the stairs, he could hear the beeping fade behind him. Over the loud speakers the computer voice was saying, “We have a bomb threat. This is not a drill. Please make your way calmly to the nearest exit,” it kept repeating.
Thorne had cleared the first flight of the many he would have to descend to get out, when the bomb exploded. The stairwell door one flight above him was blown off its hinges and through the opposite wall. The force of the pressure wave flashing down the stairwell knocked Thorne off his feet and sent him tumbling down the stairs. He landed hard on the stairwell landing. Everything went dark for a few seconds before the emergency lighting kicked on.
Bells were ringing in his ears and he could feel blood running down his face. He had landed on his wrist, which had snapped with a crunching sound. He was covered in dust, with small cuts and bruises, but otherwise unharmed.
All the news channels across the universe were showing various camera angles outside of the building when the bomb went off. The footage showed glass, dust and other things flying out of the building’s sixtieth floor. Reports were still coming in. So far, there were no reported deaths, but many people were reporting injuries from falling glass. The building was reported to be an office for a space mining company headquarters and they were expected to make a statement soon.
Thad had seen enough. He switched off the monitor. Fiona was watching with him, “So, why did we have to blow up the sixtieth floor of a high-rise building?”
“To find them, blowing up a floor on the building is a dead giveaway. It’s a big smoke signal telling us where to look for Thorne and his crew of murdering bastards.” Thad said, and then kissed her forehead.
“It’s too bad we had to hurt innocent people,” she said.
“Yeah, that was not part of the plan. I’ll have to talk to Eve about the amount of explosives she used,” he said.
“Thad honey, I don’t understand how they missed the bomb. Don’t they have scanners for that?” She asked.
“Geese, you are full of questions today,” she frowned at him. He laughed, “You are so cute when you wrinkle up your nose.” That earned him a punch to the arm. “Okay, watch it slugger. The reason they did not pick it up was because we wrapped it in plastaflesh. It naturally blocks the scanner beams. However, I think, after this one somebody will figure out how to get around that. As far as I know, we are the first to use plastaflesh to hide a bomb.”
“I have one last question, if it’s not too taxing to your brain,” she said, crossing her arms.
“Oh I think I can manage one more question my love, but after that, I think I will have to take you to the bedroom, strip off your clothes, and make you pay for all this valuable information.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.
Fiona laughed, “Okay sure. So now we know where they are, but how do we get there and more importantly what do we do when we are there?”
He pulled her close and brushed her lips with his, “Ah, that is two questions, and I’m not sure I’m up to it.”
She laughed again, “Oh, I’m quite sure you are up to it. That or you have a gun in your pocket.”
“The answer to both of your questions is, leave it to me,” he said.
Fiona accepted his answer and jumped into his arms, “Okay you can now take and ravish me.”
“Yes, my lady” he said carrying her to the bedroom.
Freya and Eve were downstairs talking, “Eve, Fiona, and I have been talking. We know you really like Thad and after what Rhonda said we think, if
you want to be a sister wife, we would love to have you as one.”
Eve hugged her, “Oh honey you are so sweet, but I think of Thad more like a son than a lover. Besides, I don’t think I will ever love anyone like I loved Doctor Hammer.”
Freya hugged her back, then arm in arm said, “Well then, Mom let’s go pack. We have a long way to go.”
Chapter 19
Thorne had his office staff overseeing the cleanup and rebuilding operation, while he was dealing with his very upset boss. “Damn it George, it’s all over the news feeds, we don’t need this, not right now!” Helen Sexton was yelling.
“Helen, I told you already, the spin doctors are saying it was a gas main that blew up, an accident. The press doesn’t know anything we don’t want them to. It’s being handled.”
Her hologram looked tired, he had never seen her this way, “Everything is in play now and if you do your job, then in a few days, you will be reinstated and who knows maybe even promoted to Sky Marshall. You will command all of the combined forces of the Rep Com, the Star Guard, and the mighty Terrain Empire. So don’t screw it up!”
“Look our asset is in place and will carry out the mission on time. This side problem is being handled by me, personally.” Under the table, where the hologram cameras could not see, Thorne’s fingers instinctually crossed.
“Good, I feel much better about things, now you are finally taking a hands-on approach.” Her hologram disappeared, without so much as a good bye, or even a kiss my ass.
Back on Nome, Fiona was trying to buy tickets on the next ship off world, but her credit account was frozen, “Thad honey, I have a problem here, the accounts have been frozen.”
He came over to her computer, “Yeah I thought that might happen. See here, we have been flagged for investigation of tax fraud.”
“Well that sucks!” She pouted.
He punched in some new credit codes, “Here, use this. I figured someday my past might rear it’s ugly head, so long ago I set up a few false ID’s and accounts. Don’t worry your pretty little head. We still have plenty of money.”
“My pretty little head huh? I will show you pretty little head mister, Freya could you come here for a second?” Fiona asked.
“Sure, be there in a second,” she responded. Freya entered the room. “What’s up Sis?”
“Would you hold him while I beat him?” Fiona teased.
“Ooh, has he been a bad boy?” Freya asked wrapping herself around Thad.
“Oh he has been a very, very bad boy!” Fiona replied, as she wrapped herself around Thad’s other side.
“Women!” was all he could say before they dragged him to the ground.
Thorne was in the conference room two floors below his destroyed office. He had finished his call with Ambassador Sexton, and now he turned his attention to doing everything he could to make Thad’s life difficult. If he could not kill or capture him, maybe he could at least be contained. Thorne put freezes on all of Hammer’s accounts, put out a bounty on Thad and his wives, and listed them as armed and dangerous criminals escaped from a mental reprocessing center.
The day they chose to depart, Archie drove Thad and the crew to the spaceport where they found the Sheriff waiting for them. These days he was walking with a limp and leaning on a cane. His right arm still bandaged and hanging in a sling, Thad shook his left hand, “It’s good to see you up and about.”
The Sheriff laughed, “Thanks to you, but should have let me die there on the floor.”
“I’m sorry, but you are just too cranky to die. You would have laid there bitching and I don’t think anyone wanted to hear it,” Thad said.
“You got me there,” he said. “Look, all kidding aside, Thad, you need to see this. It just came across the Law Enforcement Net,” he paused and handed him another alert, “And this one, on the Bounty Hunters Net. I think you got their attention with your little bomb trick.”
Thad looked over the bulletins, “Yeah I kicked the hornet’s nest, but that was only just the beginning.”
The Sheriff looked past Thad, “I can see you are taking enough gear with you,” he was referring to the two shipping containers being loaded onto the shuttle.
“What? That, it’s just their luggage,” he pointed to the three women.
“I may be an old drunk, but I’m not too drunk to buy the crap you’re selling,” the Sheriff said with a laugh.
“Thanks for everything. Take care of things here, while I’m gone, and when I get back, I’ll have a case of Jack Daniels for you. We can drink to Doctor Hammer and everyone else’s memory,” Thad said, as he shook the Sheriff’s left hand.
“It’s Wyatt,” he said.
“What?” Thad said caught off guard.
“Wyatt Jackson, it’s my name. You always just call me Sheriff. When you get back my friend, call me Wyatt.”
Thad smiled, “You got it, Mr. Sheriff Wyatt Jackson.”
Freya ran over to them, grabbing Thad by the arm, “Come on, they’re waiting for us.”
Thad waved goodbye and left with Freya. Thad’s little group boarded the shuttle while Archie got back in the limo and departed for home. He still had a lot of work to do helping with the rebuilding. The port attendant and the Sheriff watched as the shuttle lifted off. “May God have mercy on their souls,” the Sheriff said.
“Who, Thad?” The attendant asked.
“No, the people he is going after,” the Sheriff answered.
Chapter 20
The accommodations aboard the cargo ship left much to be desired, but Thad and the girls made do. The captain was a bit on the rough side, but he didn’t ask questions. His small crew stayed mostly to themselves.
Thad spent most of his time working on his body armor, first removing the active camouflage unit. His suit did not have the space or the power to run two units. If Doctor Hammer had still been alive he could have figured out a way to integrate the built-in power trans-dimension source of the phase device to power both units, but he was not Doctor Hammer. Thad, however, was able to install the phase device, as well as a DDSD into his suit.
He put on the suit, turned to the girls, and said, “Here goes nothing.” He pressed a control on his belt and his whole body tingled as if someone had stuck a million needles into him. The world seemed to fade. Thad saw what looked like a double image of everything. He held up his hand, “Trippy.”
“Yeah, I would say so, you look like a ghost,” Fiona said.
“Well let’s see if this thing works, shall we?” Thad walked up to the cabin wall. He held out his hand and pushed it through the wall. It felt like he was trying to push through gelatin. He pushed on through. It was the strangest feeling he ever experienced. On the other side of the wall he shut off the device, and everything went back to normal.
Freya poked her head out of the door, “Still in one piece?”
“It appears so,” he replied, as he looked himself over. “I’d say it works, and it’s going to give us a major advantage.”
“Great, now you stop playing with your toys and come play with me instead,” Freya said.
He laughed and followed her back into the cabin.
They were two days on board and things so far were uneventful, even boring. Thad asked the twins to keep to their cabin. He wanted to keep as low a profile as possible. The twins on the other hand had no intention of staying confined to a room, not after the months they spent as prisoners in a room like this on the Night Terror.
Freya found that she liked to walk about the ship and even talked with a few of the crew. She wanted to see the stars. It had been a long time since she had the chance to see them from space. Every human ship made, regardless of the make or model had two great places to view outer space. The first was the bridge and the other was some form of observation deck.
Freya, having grown up on cargo haulers just like this one, knew right where to look. She found the observation deck devoid of anyone at the moment. She pushed the open button on the control panel. The shiel
d covering the window rose revealing the infinite brilliance of space.
It was not long before her tranquility was interrupted by a rather gruff voice, “They are almost as pretty as you.”
Startled she spun on the balls of her feet to see a balding man. He stood taller than her by a few inches, and his rather large belly was hanging over his wide belt. When he smiled, he showed off an array of rotting teeth. There was a glimmer of sweat on his balding head.
“I’m sorry miss I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.
She gave him a warm smile, “It’s okay, I guess I was just lost in the stars.” He took a step towards her and this made her feel uncomfortable, “I’m sorry, but I need to get back to my cabin.” She left before he could say anything else.
Later Freya was lying in bed, sweating and unable to sleep. The temperature control on this boat was constantly on the fritz, one minute they were ready to freeze and the next their cabin felt like a sauna. She looked at Thad who was sleeping, although she couldn’t figure out how. Fiona had also found some way to sleep through the heat. She gave up and quietly slid from bed. She donned running shorts, shoes, and a sports bra.
She looked at Eve who was sitting in a chair at the small table that doubled as a desk, her eyes were closed, which she often did when she was in contact with the copy of herself she left at home. She waved, but got no reaction. “I’m on my own then,” she said softly as she left the room.
Freya noticed the clock just before she left the room; it read 1:45 am. Prefect time for a run, no one should be on the track to bug me, she thought. The track was built around the top of the cargo bays, and was standard on all cargo ships. The ship designers put them there for ship’s crews to use, a way to get some exorcise, however most crew never touched them, and by the look of the track was the case on this ship. She ran two miles worth of laps then did one more lap to cool down. When she finished her run, she stopped near the hatch that lead back to the rest of the ship.
