Höllenbadt: Book two of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  “Yeah, I figured you might be. I might not know much about technology honey, but I’m sure good at keeping it level on the home front. When are you two going?”

  “Tomorrow before dawn. We thought we would hitch up one of these old wooden carts lying about the place here and get Frieda to take us. That way we have a bit of speed on our side.”

  “What about our vehicle?”

  “Too risky I would say. If the Agent has any sensors on the lookout, he would find us in a flash. Tobias, do you think you could make a few repairs to the cart we chose earlier? I want to get a few of these calibrations sorted out tonight so we can head off with everything at the ready in the morning.”

  “Sure, I’ll get on it now. There are only a few little repairs to make to one of the wheels and to the harness.”

  Two days out from Seattle, John and Tobias encountered their first obstacle – a group of four people who had watched them approach and then stopped them in their tracks. “You cannot go over the mountains with your hose. There is too much snow. Anyway, what makes you think we are going to let you past?”

  “Look, we don’t want trouble. We just want to get to Seattle. How deep is the snow?”

  “About three feet, maybe two in places if you are lucky. That is if we let you past.”

  “As I said, we don’t want trouble. We are going to try the mountains anyway. Where else will we go?”

  “With us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We could stop you. Look at that horse. There is very little to eat around here, and sure it is not as good as beef, but a bit of horse meat sure looks tasty considering the rubbish we have eaten lately.”

  “You cannot have her. No questions. Let us past.”

  “No. Who are you to make demands? In case you cannot count, there are four of us and just two of you. That makes two on one you see.”

  “No it doesn’t,” Tobias said as he revealed a laser pulse rifle to them. “I think this puts the odds in our favour, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah. I bet it doesn’t work. We’ve got some weapons too. A few bows and arrows. They’ll sort you out.”

  “It does work. Now let us past.”

  “Prove it otherwise that horse is our dinner.”

  Tobias shot at the feet of the four men, making them jump as the laser caused a small explosion on the ground in front of them. “Now let us pass.”

  “Yeah Ok Ok. You win, but watch out. Others around here are in bigger numbers and there are even more the closer you get to the city.”

  “We’ll take our chances.”

  As they passed through the mountains, they found that the group of men had been exaggerating, as there was barely twelve inches of snow on the road. A few laser blasts took care of the deeper snow enabling them to journey on as per their planned timetable. Without any more encounters, they arrived in the vicinity of the manufacturing plant and home to the Agent on time.

  There was very little evidence on the outside of the plant, as to what was happening on the inside. Tobias and John took their chances as soon as they arrived, and set up a camp on its permitter out of sight of all of the main buildings. They could see the large hanger used to store completed HyperJets, and for a time, considered if there would be any working planes inside. John had never piloted anything so large, but he was willing to take his chances with their mostly automated systems.

  “I think we need to consider any aircraft that might be available Tobias. I am confident I can fly, it might just take a bit of getting used to.”

  “But we won’t have enough time to do that.”

  “We could. Listen.” John told Tobias of how he could use the flux mechanics he had brought with him, to over ride the systems the Agent would have in place. He detailed what it would take to create enough diversion for them to have time to find a plane, spend some minutes analysing its systems, and then a little more time to power it up and take off along the runway stretching from the main hanger to the field nearby where they were hiding.

  “This could be what we really do need to get an upper hand on this entire situation. If we can steal a jet, then we will be free to go just about anywhere.”

  “Yeah, but the systems are a lot more complicated than your old Beaver plane.”

  “Sure, but remember, you are talking to just about the only person around who knows how flux mechanics work, so it is not like I am inept at technology.”

  “You have a point. What about fuel?”

  “See over there?” John pointed to a large storage area nearby the hanger. “There will be fuel over in that building. These jets only take relatively small cells for their size as they rely heavily on pre-ionic rocket thrusters. I reckon we could put four or five of them on this cart.”

  “Can we land back at Spokane though?”

  “The landing strip is smaller, but I think if we come in on a steep approach then we could pull up in time.”

  “Hey, they are not like beavers you know. You can’t just fly in and fly out of riverbeds with a HyperJet.”

  “Sure, but I think I can try something close. We have to think about it Tobias. Travel is just too slow otherwise.”

  “Ok, we’ll scope it out and then when we come back with the vehicle to get Carmel, we’ll try then. It’s really going to get the Agent going though.”

  “We just have to stay a step ahead of him. He might know a few things, but in reality, he is an idiot. If we have the means, we can defeat him.”

  Their success was reflected on their faces as they departed Seattle and drove Frieda as fast as she could manage back to Spokane. John had all the data he required, and they had found three HyperJets in a shed just off the main hangar. The Agent had destroyed those in the main building, but such as it was with his attacks of mania, he had left the scene content and laughing, having completely overlooked the other jets in a shed that he had likely considered not worth his efforts.

  “What about those people around the place. They all look so sad, yet they were not afflicted with any viruses.”

  “Probably his servants or some type. I guess if you work so close with the Agent, you are not likely to be a very happy person.”

  Kerry Ann was delighted to see them coming down the valley only one day after the time they were due to arrive back at the farm. She ran to greet them, praising them as she went, “I knew I could trust you honey, and you Tobias. You two are the greatest men I have ever known. And Frieda, look at you.” She gave Frieda a hug around her neck as John stopped the cart and both men climbed down to return her greeting. She gave John and Tobias hugs in turn repeating her accolades for their successful return.

  “Ok, let’s go inside. Tobias and I will tell you all about our little journey.”

  “Not that little honey. You’ve been gone over two weeks and it’s more than five hundred miles return since you left here.”

  “So we’re going to fly. Wow. Last time I flew in a jet, I was a little girl. I haven’t even been in one of those new fangled HyperJet things. How fast do they go?”

  “Fast enough to get us far away from Seattle quickly, but technically speaking, they can go past mach five, which makes for around four thousand miles per hour.”

  “So what is our next move?”

  “Tobias and I are going to take the vehicle to Seattle and do three things. First is to rescue Carmel, and then we hope to steal the Torus used by the Agent uses in his amplifier. And then, depending if we are successful, we are going to take one of those HyperJets and come back here for you Kerry Ann. You will need to make it to the airport in Spokane with Frieda - we are not leaving her behind. If we cannot take the jet, we’ll come back here via the airport in the vehicle and then we will have to keep going.”

  Their time together again was only brief as John and Tobias agreed it would be best if they went back to Seattle immediately to avoid any problems driving through the mountains from any new snowfall.

  “I’ll be waiting with Frieda at the airport
just like you said.”

  “Make sure you go to the place we told you. Tobias and I checked it out on our way back here, and it looks safe. Go in eleven hours. It will be five hours drive there, we’ll allow an hour in Seattle just to be sure, and then the drive back will be another five. You might need to wait around a bit if we are late driving back, but if we take a jet, we’ll do a fly over this place on approach, so leave as soon as you see us.”

  “I’ll saddle Frieda so I can ride.”

  Their first objective proved to be successful where they were able to free a HyperJet of its holdings and load five fuel cells on board without being detected.

  “It will take a bit to get it going,” John said as he studied the controls. “At least we have it ready to pre-flight stage. If we make it back here, we’ll have to do the pre-flight checks and then power up for a few minutes. This shed has kept these planes in good condition even though they have not flown for years. We can thank the authorities for the lengths they went to in keeping this place at the ready and free from contaminants.”

  The readout on John’s scanner looked unusual for what he was expecting a few minutes later as they were hiding just outside the main building. It showed an installation in a room at the rear of the main factory building with six machines producing a constant stream of input data. From what he could tell, the readouts were similar to the nano technology update chairs he had encountered years before – notably at his son’s Chris’ residence in the high-rise in London. “The Agent must be using some of those implants. I wonder why. They’ll only affect his own people if he sends out another virus.”

  “It must be part of his madness. Maybe he is using them to test some systems.”

  “I’m going to focus in on those readings for a minute. Keep a watch out and use that scanner you made – it will show if anyone with weapons are closing in on us. Once I have enough data, we should make our move.” John calibrated the readout for a few minutes to zero in on the room. “Yeah, I was right, six people by the looks of it, all undergoing something nasty from the Agent.”

  “So where do we start?”

  “In the main building. My readouts show his main operations are there, along with his amplifier. We need to disable some and falsify others, before we can move in.”

  They armed themselves each with a laser pulse rifle, took one spare, and Tobias’s ray gun. Kerry Ann was left with the remaining rifle in case she ran into any trouble. As the two men approached the doors to the main building, they only needed to avoid a few of the Agent’s minions who were milling about looking lost for something to do or focus on. When they reached the main doorway, they paused for a moment as John fine-tuned his scanner readouts. “Ok. There is definitely a strong signal coming from the far side of the room, which I am sure is the amplifier. I am going to send a flux signal to that now, which should enable us to penetrate the electro-static field and take it from its position.” He entered a sequence to disable the charge field, yet still make it appear physically as a hologram and thus on the Agent’s readouts, as though the Torus were still active.

  “I suggest we change tactics and take that as the first thing. With these other signals, we can make our way around avoiding the sensors, so when we get to Carmel, we can then leave without having to go back for the Torus. He’ll be nearby, but most likely working alone, as Carmel told me he preferred to be alone when she was his superior. Keep your rifle at the ready but don’t fire unless you have to, otherwise his minions will come running.”

  They entered at a run with John immediately going to the holographic array where he took the Torus of Eternity. His algorithm was working as the readouts continued to show the amplifier was still operating with the Torus in situation. Next move was towards the rear where two doors were located side by side, but their footsteps had brought attention. At the moment they were about to enter through the right side door, a minion of the Agent burst through the left side.

  “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

  “Nothing,” Tobias said as he shot him with the rifle at stun setting. This served to bring more people from inside the room, and so both John and Tobias shot them as they appeared. When no others came through the door, they were about to run in through the right side doorway, but they held their ground. Tobias looked at John questioningly, seeing him with his head slightly leaning to the side. “What…?”

  “Left door. Go in,” he said as he began to run at the doorway just a few yards away.

  “Who are you?” the Agent demanded of them the second they entered. He was standing in front of a row of chairs, pointing a laser pistol at them.

  “Never you mind…”

  “You!” the Agent identified John, as he recalled their meeting east of Bishop when he had taken Carmel.

  “Yes me. You little bastard. Where is Carmel?”

  The Agent did not hesitate a moment longer and fired at John, but Tobias had covered him and before the laser bolt could strike, he had shot the Agent in the hand. It didn’t stop John from being hit, with the laser shot knocking him to the ground, causing him to cry out in anguish from the pain where the bolt had stuck him in the shoulder.

  “Carmel! Hey Carmel, it’s Tobias.” She was the first person he saw in one of the six chairs lined up against the far wall. A second later he realised that the other five were people he had not seen in a long time. “John! John, are you Ok? They are all here John.”

  The Agent was whimpering from the severe burn to his hand, and for a moment was disorientated from what was happening around him. When John rose off the floor in response to Tobias, the Agent came to and turned his attention to his attackers once more, where he launched at them in an attempt to inflict injuries. But the two men were far too strong for the small man, and after a few seconds of scuffle, he lay on the floor unconscious. Without delay, both John and Tobias turned and ran to the chairs.

  “Careful. If we disconnect before switching this off, we could hurt them,” he said as they set about freeing the six adults linked to nano technology injection chairs. Within ninety seconds they had freed all of them from the tentacle like injection and data lines.

  “John, we knew you would come. The others are so very weak though.”

  “I can see, but we need to be quick. There will be people all over here at any moment. As fast as they could, Carmel, Tobias, and John lead the others out through the doors into the main control room.

  “Just a second,” John said letting go of Raynie’s arm. He levelled his rifle and fired a volley of six shots all over the holographic array, destroying the vortex amplifier and most of the other equipment. “Right, let’s go!”

  When they arrived at the doorway leading outside, the Agent’s minions had come rushing. There were at least thirty people all intent on stopping the attackers any way they could. Some had pulse rifles, and others were armed with whatever they could find. The scene quickly became a battleground of cross fire laser shots, and objects being thrown around. Tobias had his rifle shot out of his hand, and Carmel took a shot in the lower leg - she still held on to the rifle Tobias had given her, managing to stun three of their assailants. John was firing and helping the others by trying to shield them as they slowly moved in the direction of the shed out by the main hanger. He watched Tobias take his ray gun from his backpack, watching him as his weapon had full effect on those whom he aimed at. Amongst the melee, John was impressed with its results, for a moment he even managed a slight smile as he watched Tobias take out seven people with bolts of electricity.

  As they finally approached the door to the shed, there were only four armed minions left, with the others doing what they could to prevent their escape. At the last moment before they went inside, Jake and Jenna both took laser shots, their cries sounding out above the din.

  “You don’t do that to my friends,” Tobias said as he let forth a volley of ray gun bolts taking out another three of the minions.

  “Keep them back while I get the others into the pla
ne,” John shouted.

  “Oh we will,” Tobias replied. Both he and Carmel kept firing at and around their pursuers until all the others had successfully boarded the jet. As they gradually retreated towards the ladder to go inside themselves, John powered up all the systems and pre-flight checks. Within three minutes he was complete and the jet was ready to go, but the Agent had regained consciousness and was himself running towards his waiting spaceship.

  “Everyone ready? Time for takeoff.” John powered up the four engines and they slowly taxied out of the open end of the shed an on to the runway. As soon as he was aligned on the runway, he pushed the throttle to full power and the jet reacted instantly, pushing everyone back hard into their seats. Take off for HyperJets was normally a gradually process in order to minimise the effects of G forces on passengers, but in this instance John had given it maximum power.

  Within half a minute they were airborne and as soon as he could, John turned the jet on a hard left heading straight for Spokane. “We have to make a landing for two more passengers, and then the sky is the limit. Carmel, you will be happy to see one of them, and she is carrying something for you.”

  Ten minutes later John took the jet in on a steep approach to Spokane airport for a landing to pick up Kerry Ann and Frieda. He was concerned though, as the Agent would be following in his space ship at any moment and the wait at the airport for Kerry Ann to arrive would be stressfully long. As he pulled up at the main terminus, he was surprise and immensely relived. Kerry Ann had taken the initiative and arrived early to wait the time out at the airport, rather than wait for a fly over by John. He did not even cut the engines as Tobias helped her and Frieda inside. This too was a surprise as Kerry Ann had thought ahead and so Carmel and Tobias were able to help her pull a ramp up to the jet she had located so they could lead Frieda in. As soon as she was secure, John turned and then took the jet skyward again on a heading east, and at maximum speed.

  The Agent was beside himself with anger and hatred. He was at his absolute worst and he was almost unable to control his space ship. Piloting his spaceship was a challenge for his state, resulting in erratic flight as he entered sequences again and again in an effort to track the HyperJet. Each time he tried, he failed, and so he would try again, only to get the same result. John had powered up his clever stealth like device he had first used when he and Tobias escaped from Alaska, and so the Agent had no idea where the HyperJet was, or where it was heading.