The Praegressus Project: Part One

by Aaron Hodges

  Another soldier came at him, gun raised to finish him off. Straightening, he twisted as the gun flashed, but too slow. As the dart caught him in the shoulder, he grasped the barrel of the gun and tried to wrench it from the soldier’s grip. To his surprise, the man held on, and the barrel flashed again, sending a dart straight into Chris’s chest.

  The strength fled his legs and suddenly Chris found himself on his knees. An eerie calm settled over him as he looked up at the soldier, watching the bright flash as the rifle sent another dart into his flesh. This time he did not feel the pain as it struck. A great weariness settled around his shoulders as he swayed.

  “Liz,” he breathed, watching her across the room.

  He looked down at his chest, at the darts protruding from his flesh. He fought to reach up, to tear them out, but his arms refused to obey. They hung limp at his side, dead weights as the soldier drove his boot into his stomach.

  “Chris!” he heard Liz’s voice from a distance.

  He struggled to keep his eyes open, to find her in the growing shadows. But the darkness rose up to swallow him, and he fell away into oblivion.

  CHAPTER 24

  “Chris!” Liz screamed as she saw him go down.

  Hurling aside a soldier, she leapt over the bodies scattered across the floor and charged at the man standing over Chris. He looked up as she closed on him, even managed to lift his rifle, before her fist caught him in the face. The force of the blow sent his head whiplashing backwards and he crumpled without a sound.

  But she had turned her back on the other soldiers now, and two raised their guns and opened fire. Her wings cracked open, the long black feathers brushing aside the darts. But she still felt a pinch from her shoulder as one got through. Gritting her teeth, she crouched and hauled Chris up, and then stumbled away from the door.

  She heard the click of guns being reloaded, and ahead she saw Jasmine stumble. The girl still stood over Richard, half a dozen bodies scattered around her. Liz felt a surge of hope, that maybe they could carry the boys to the window, that they might still escape. Then she saw the tips of the darts protruding from Jasmine’s shoulder and arms, saw her wings beginning to slump, and the hope withered in her chest.

  Lowering Chris to the floor beside Richard, Liz drew back her teeth and snarled. Beyond Jasmine, more men poured through the window. Past the shattered glass, a steel cable lead across to a neighbouring building, where a dozen men still waited to join the fight. Ignoring them, she moved to stand beside Jasmine.

  Hissing, Jasmine gathered herself and leapt at a cluster of men, scattering them with her fury. Teeth clenched, Liz followed after her. But already it was clear the darts were having an effect. Even as she joined the other girl, she could see Jasmine slowing, her blows now lacking power. She watched her tear a weapon from a soldier and slam it into his stomach – but a moment later the man straightened and drawing a baton from his belt, he leapt forward to re-join the fight.

  Jasmine staggered as the steel baton caught her in the side of the head. She retreated a step as Liz sprang between them and sent the soldier reeling with a blow to the head. This time he did not get back up. Side by side, they retreated to where Richard and Chris lay.

  “Go, Liz,” Jasmine panted, “Get out of here, before they get you too.”

  Liz shook her head and reached out to steady Jasmine as the girl stumbled. Glancing sideways, Liz forced a smile. “I told you, we’re family. And we’re not finished yet.”

  Baring her teeth, she tore into another intruder as Jasmine slumped to her knees. As her fist crashed into his face, she felt a sharp pinch from her backside. Swearing, she caught the soldier by the shoulder and spun towards the hunters creeping towards them from the door. In one fluid movement, she hurled the man into their midst.

  She grinned as the men scattered, then swore as her leg suddenly went numb. She clenched her fists, fighting back the weakness, as soldiers closed in around them. They must have been running short of ammunition, because they hesitated before firing, waiting to see whether she would collapse.

  Liz swayed on her feet. She glanced across at Jasmine, and her heart clenched as she saw the girl collapsed over Richard. Swallowing, she faced the circle of soldiers, alone now against a dozen men. She sucked in a breath, and then stepped towards the nearest man.

  Crack.

  A gun roared, and another dart tore into Liz’s side. She staggered, the numbness spreading, but she took another step. Gunshots sounded again, and she felt two more stabs of pain from her back. By then she had reached the man, and stretching out an arm she clawed at his weapon. But he only retreated a step, before slamming the butt of his rifle into her face.

  Light flashed across Liz’s vision as the blow struck, driving her to her knees. She looked up at the man, cursing her weakness, struggling to regain her feet. But the tranquiliser pumping through her veins was too much for her now, and with agonising slowness, she toppled backwards to the ground.

  The soldier smiled down at her. Reaching for a radio strapped to his shoulder, he spoke into the black microphone. “Targets neutralised. We’re ready for you, boss.”

  Liz’s stomach clenched and tears stung her eyes as she looked up at the man. Despair wrapped around her throat and she found herself begging. “Please, just kill us. Don’t let him take us back.”

  Grinning, the man drew back his boot and drove it into her face. The blow slammed her head back into the floor. She tasted blood in her mouth as the man lifted his foot again and hammered the steel-capped boot into her side. The force of the blow lifted her from the ground and sent her sprawling across the ground.

  Laying on her side, she listened as the man’s footsteps retreated. Staring at the open door, she struggled to sit up. But her limbs refused to obey, and she found she could no longer even blink her eyes.

  Around the room, the soldiers were reaching up to pull the night vision goggles from their faces. An instant later, the lights flickered back on, filling the room with blinding white. Pain stabbed through Liz’s eyes, and she willed them to close, without success.

  A moment later, footsteps came from the hallway outside. A man appeared in the doorway, wearing a familiar white lab coat. Liz’s stomach clenched as she looked up at his face, and felt the last traces of courage crumble within her.

  Halt wore a cold smile as he crossed the room. He stood over her and folded his arms. “Well done, Commander. They are all present?”

  Before the soldiers could respond, a wild shriek erupted from the corridor. Mira tore into view, grey wings flashing as she emerged from her hiding place and shot straight at Halt. He staggered backwards as the girl crashed into his chest, her unnatural strength knocking him back.

  Liz’s heart fluttered as Mira tore at Halt’s face, her lips drawn back in an animalistic snarl. Around the room, the soldiers retreated from her fury. Hope tingled in Liz’s chest as she found herself hoping Mira would tear Halt’s head from his shoulders.

  Then Halt straightened, and his arm shot out to catch Mira by the throat. Liz’s heart lurched in sudden fear, before she reminded herself Mira’s augmented strength was more than a match for an ordinary human’s. She would snap Halt’s arm like a twig.

  Mira squirmed in Halt’s grasp, then lifted her hands and brought them down on Halt’s elbow. Liz watched, waiting for the sharp crack of breaking bone, for Halt’s scream and for Mira to slip free.

  Instead, Halt smiled. Snarling, he lifted Mira higher, even as she kicked and tore at him. Then with casual ease, he hurled her head first into the wall. Mira shrieked as she struck, and then slumped unmoving to the ground.

  Turning back to the commander, Halt shook his head. “I suggest you secure the subjects properly, Commander. We wouldn’t want any more… incidents,” he looked around the room, eyes sweeping the shattered remains of the apartment. “When you’re done, take care of the woman and her daughter. They did a great service to this country, reporting the fugitives. But we can’t have any witnesses of this…
unfortunate incident.”

  As he spoke, Halt turned and looked down at Liz, the smile still frozen on his thin lips.

  And his cold grey eyes pierced her.

  CHAPTER 25

  Agony pulled Chris back from the darkness, dragging him slowly to wakefulness. He made to sit up, but flopped sideways as he found his arms fastened behind his back with steel cuffs. A sharp ache came from the wound in his arm and he bit back a cry. Rolling onto his side, he clenched his teeth, swallowing the pain, before forcing his eyes to open.

  His heart sank as the room shifted into focus. The first thing he saw was a wall of thick wire mesh. A quick glance around confirmed his suspicions – he was lying in a cage. Apparently, someone had decided handcuffs were not enough to hold them.

  He allowed his eyes to roam across the rest of the room, and breathed a sigh of relief as he found the others lying nearby. They had each been given a cage of their own. He spotted Liz lying unconscious on the floor of the next cage, her wings hanging limply around her. Richard, Jasmine and Mira were on her other side, while half a dozen empty cages stood to his left.

  Chris struggled to sit up, cursing the steel cuffs holding his hands fastened behind his back. His wings shifted behind him, stretching out to help steady him. In the narrow confines of the cage he had little room to manoeuvre, but he finally managed to get to his knees.

  A moan came from Liz’s cage, and he scooted across to the wire and peered through. A purple bruise darkened Liz’s forehead, but otherwise she seemed unharmed. He breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes fluttered open.

  “Chris,” she murmured.

  Before he could warn her, she tried to sit up, and promptly fell on her face. A string of curses rolled off the concrete walls as Chris suppressed his laughter. Movement came from the cages beyond her as the others woke.

  Trying a second time, Liz managed to rock back on her haunches. Her blue eyes focused on him and she shot him a look. “You never saw that,” she looked around then, taking in the row of cages and plain concrete walls. “Where are we? Trying to recreate our first date, Chris?” her tone was light, but he could hear the fear behind her attempt at humour.

  Chris looked away, blinking back sudden tears. He strained his wrists against the cuffs, but as pain shot through his arm, he realised it was hopeless. With them locked behind his back, he could leverage the full extent of his strength against them.

  “I don’t know, Liz,” he said finally. He bowed his head. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”

  His voice cracked as guilt swept through him. What had he been thinking, rushing off the way he had? They’d had no business in that alleyway. If not for his stupidity, he would never have been injured, and they would never have found themselves in Daniella’s apartment.

  “Don’t be stupid, Chris,” Liz leaned her head against the wire and closed her eyes. “You couldn’t have known Daniella and her mother would betray us. And besides, do you really think I would have just stood there while those policemen attacked her? You were just a step ahead of the rest of us.”

  “I was reckless,” Chris argued. “I rushed in without thinking, without caring what happened. If I’d been more careful, had listened to you, none of this would have happened.”

  “Maybe,” Liz shrugged, “They had guns though, Chris. If you hadn’t acted so quickly, we would never have gotten close to them. How’s your arm?”

  “It’s a bit sore. Not as bad as last night though,” he replied.

  Liz smiled, but before she could respond, the door on the opposite wall clicked and swung open. Three men stepped through wearing the familiar blue uniform of the guards at the facility. Chris’s heart sank.

  No, we can’t be back.

  His worst suspicions seemed to be confirmed as Doctor Halt followed the guards inside. He wore the same white lab coat and sleek black pants as the last time Chris had seen him. A thin smile on his lips, Halt strode towards them, letting the door slam shut behind him.

  “Awake at last, I see,” his voice was cold as he walked down the row of cages, surveying each of them in turn. Chris noticed Jasmine, Mira and Richard were sitting up now, their eyes plastered to the ground, unwilling to meet Halt’s gaze.

  Reaching the end of the row, Halt turned and marched back, stopping finally in front of the guards.

  “All still in one piece, it seems,” he clenched his arms behind his back, “Fallow’s little escapade did not prove so disastrous after all. We’ll call it as an unplanned test run, I suppose. The President and his Directors will certainly be pleased with the results.”

  Chris stared up at the man, struggling to shake off the clutches of despair. But crouched on the ground, his arms bound behind his back and the wire mesh hemming him in, he could not summon the energy to fight back.

  “This isn’t the end, Halt,” Liz growled from her cage. She struggled to sit up straight, her wings flailing against the wire.

  Halt stepped up to her cage, the smile falling from his lips. “You’re wrong, Elizabeth Flores. This is very much the end. The President will soon approve the extra funding I need to continue the Praegressus project. Once I have finalised matters here in San Francisco, I will have you shipped back to our primary facility. There I will watch you torn apart, piece by delicate piece, and use what we find to perfect our recombinant DNA. You and your little friends will be consigned to the pages of history; remembered as nothing more than stepping stones in our path to evolutionary perfection.”

  Chris shuddered and looked away. There was an almost fanatical rage in Halt’s grey eyes as he glared down at Liz.

  But shaking her head, Liz laughed in the face of Halt’s fury. “I know what you are, Halt,” she replied. “I saw what you did, before I passed out. You’re Chead!”

  Chris gaped at Liz’s accusation. He stared at Halt, watching for some reaction. The doctor’s grey eyes hardened and his posture seemed to stiffen. He slowly shook his head. “You had best keep such notions to yourself, Elizabeth. Or I may decide to dissect you right here in San Francisco.”

  Liz snorted. “Go ahead. I’d rather die than go back to that place.”

  A long silence stretched out as the two locked eyes. Finally Halt shook his head and smiled. “As invigorating as this conversation is, I am needed elsewhere. When I return, I will introduce you each to fresh new collars – and a lesson in etiquette to go with them. For now, you’ll have to make do with the company of these men here. I’m afraid they’re quite new, but they’ll ensure you don’t have any mishaps.”

  With that, Halt turned and walked from the room. The three guards edged forward to take his place, their weapons held loosely against their chests. Their eyes flickered over the rows of cages, lingering on Liz and her outstretched wings. While Chris had tucked his wings tightly against his back, hers extended across her cage, their black feathers shining in the overhead lights.

  All the fight seemed to have fled Liz with Halt’s dismissal. She sat with her head bowed and shoulders slumped, unaware of the guard’s attention, until one of them spoke. “You think they’re real?”

  Another of the men laughed. “You heard the doctor – they’re experiments,” the man stepped closer to the cage as he spoke, and raising his rifle, slammed the butt into the mesh.

  The wire of Liz’s cage rattled with the impact, and Liz glanced up, her eyes widening. The guard laughed again as her wings lifted slightly from the ground. He turned back to the other two. “Look pretty real to me!”

  The others stepped closer, peering through the wires at the dark feathers filling the cage. The cages were only ten feet wide, while at their full extend Liz’s wings spread more than twenty, leaving them pressed up against the wire. Chris could hardly blame the men for their curiosity, though it made him sick to his stomach, to see Liz treated like a caged animal.

  “You think she can actually fly?” another of the guards muttered.

  “Of course she can fly,” the first replied “You think these people are stupi
d or something? Why would they give her wings if she couldn’t use em?”

  “Piss off,” Liz snapped suddenly. Crouched on the ground, she retreated to the back of the cage.

  Outside, the guards looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

  “Feisty, isn’t she?” the first guard grinned as he leaned against the wire. “What’s your name again, pretty girl? Elizabeth, wasn’t it?

  Liz pursed her lips and looked away.

  “Leave her alone,” Chris growled from his cage, but the men ignored him.

  “Let’s take a closer look, shall we boys?” the man who appeared to be the ring leader suggested.

  The others paused at that, sharing a glance. “Don’t think that’s a good idea, James. The doctor seemed pretty keen on keeping them where they are.”

  James only laughed. “Who’s going to know? Look at her, she’s tiny! And her hands are cuffed behind her back. You think we can’t take her?”

  The second guard fell silent, as the third shrugged. “Can’t hurt. You heard the doctor. He’s gonna put her down when he gets back anyway. Give us something to tell the boys at the pub about, at least.”

  That was enough for the first guard. He reached down and removed a set of keys from his belt and turned back to Liz’s cage. Heart thudding in his chest, Chris scrambled to get his legs beneath him, and finally managed to haul himself to his feet. Stumbling forward, he threw himself against the wire to catch the men’s attention. His wings stretched out, slamming against the steel.

  The men paused and turned to stare at him.

  “Leave her alone,” Chris growled. “If you touch her, I swear I’ll kill you all.”

  The men glanced at one another, momentarily frozen by the ferocity of Chris’s gaze. Then the man called James grinned, glancing down the row of cages. “What do you know, they’ve all got wings, boys,” turning his back on Chris he stepped up to the door of Liz’s cage, “This one’s still the prettiest though.”