“She likes you,” Conor stated as they entered the tent.
“We’re just good friends,” Alex replied, swiping a security card across a keypad on a red metallic box anchored to the sidewalk.
The box’s lid popped opened. After inserting the security card into a card reader inside the box, the tent stiffened and its entrance flaps locked shut.
“Anne and I go way back,” Alex continued. “We made some credits, and had a few adventures. Nothing romantic. She’s more like a sister to me. Funny how life turns out sometimes. For a while I thought that our business partnership would go on forever. It was fun, and profitable. But then I met Michael and he offered the chance to visit far off places, to do and see things that no one else had ever done or seen. Anne had no interest in going off-world. She would never leave her family. So, that was that. I’m just glad that she doesn’t hold a grudge.”
Alex walked over to a black metal conduit cover embedded into the sidewalk, set his laser pistol to its lowest setting, and vaporized the sealant holding the conduit in place. Conor levitated the conduit and placed it onto the concrete sidewalk. A foul stench filled the tent.
“Oh my,” Alex stated, instinctively covering up his nose. “Now I know why all of the maintenance work is done by robots.”
They quickly put their stench masks on. Alex then slid a rather large and bulky-looking box marked “inverse airflow regulator” next to the opening.
“This will keep the smell from spilling over into the street,” he stated, his voice muffled by the stench mask. “That should prevent anyone from calling the utility company. The tent’s security shield will prevent anyone from getting into here. So, we should be good to go.”
“Let’s talk using my telepathy,” Conor answered. “It’s hard to understand what you are saying through the stench mask.”
“Are you ready?” Alex thought as he turned his wrist lamp on.
Conor nodded.
“Good,” Alex answered as he sat down, slid his legs into the conduit, and felt for the first rung on the metal ladder that led to the main sewer line below them.
“Remember,” Alex cautioned as he started down the ladder. “Keep your eyes and ears alert. Our noses won’t help us much down there. In fact, we won’t be able to smell a thing with these stench masks on.”
Alex disappeared into the darkness, his wrist lamp illuminating the ladder’s rungs as he climbed down. Taking a deep breath, Conor slid his legs over the side of the opening, found the ladder’s top rung, and followed him down. The ladder was surprisingly cold and wet with condensation. Conor almost lost his grip several times as he tried to keep pace with Alex, who moved quickly down the ladder. After what seemed like an eternity, he stepped off of the ladder and onto a black, grated, algae-covered platform that extended halfway across the width of the pipe. Instead of being shoulder-high and wide, the pipe was taller and wider than him. Amber lights illuminated a river of raw, dark sewage as it flowed by, just beneath the platform.
“I thought that you said that the pipe was going to be shoulder-high and wide,” Conor stated. “Not that I am complaining. It looks like we can walk upright all of the way.”
“That is what the blueprints indicated,” Alex answered, turning off his wrist lamp. “And there was nothing about these lights or this platform. No telling how far this platform goes.”
Pointing down, he continued, “With any luck, we won’t have to wade through any of that stuff.”
Alex led the way, walking at a very brisk pace. Conor kept pace, just a step behind. Their boots made squishing noises as they ripped up small chunks of algae with each step. Fat droplets of condensation dripped down from the top of the pipe striking the platform with a steady plop-plop-plop sound. The droplets also rained down on their heads.
“Who would have thought that I would need a hat down here?” Conor thought to himself as a droplet hit him on the forehead and another landed on his right ear. “I guess that Alex was right. You should always expect the unexpected.”
Just then, he heard something in the pipe behind them. It sounded like the pitter-patter of tiny feet running on carpet. Listening intently, the sound grew noticeably louder. Whomever, or whatever, was making that noise was headed their way.
Grabbing Alex’s arm, Conor asked, “Can you hear that?”
Alex stopped and turned to face him, “I don’t hear anything. What is it?”
Conor reached into a pocket and pulled out his laser pistol.
“What is it?” Alex asked again, this time reaching for his own laser pistol and setting it on kill.
“I’m not certain,” Conor answered as he turned and crouched down low. “Someone or something is headed this way.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Alex repeated, knowing that his hearing was much better than most. “It’s creepy down here. Are you sure that you didn’t just imagine it?”
“I know what I heard,” Conor answered. “We are not alone down here.”
“Okay,” Alex answered, aiming his wrist lamp down the pipe.
Conor heard it again, but this time the noise was different. It was louder, more diverse, as if originating from many sources instead of a few.
“They are coming this way,” Conor stated. “A lot of them. They are definitely not maintenance robots. I hear breathing. Panting really. They are running. Running incredibly fast. It has to be a pack of animals of some kind. There is no way that we can outrun them.”
Motioning for Conor to step behind him, Alex placed his left knee on the platform and got into firing position. Conor stood behind him, his laser held high, just to the right of Alex’s head. Their laser barrels glowed red.
“I will shoot everything from the middle of the platform to the left,” Alex stated calmly. “You shoot everything to the right and anything that might be in the muck. You got that? And don’t hesitate to use your powers if you have to. I brought you along for a reason.”
Before Conor could reply, a dozen enormous sewer rats, each weighing as much as a grown man, appeared out of the darkness. Their eyes reflected the amber light as they ran straight at them, their razor-sharp claws ripping up algae in huge chunks. Alex’s first shot hit the lead rat in the snout, burrowed a fist-sized hole straight through the length of its entire body, sliced through the rat directly behind it, and continued on down the pipe, disappearing into the distance. Both rats fell nose-first to the platform, their hides smoking from the laser beam’s heat. Conor’s first shot hit the rat running behind those two, sliced it in half, and continued down the sewer, chasing Alex’s laser shot. A moment later, two successive explosions rattled the platform as the laser beams struck something in the distance. Alex and Conor fell backward, hitting the platform hard as it rocked violently back and forth. The three dead rats tumbled off of the platform and fell into the wastewater. The remaining rats lost their footing, but quickly regrouped. Rising up on their hind legs, they leapt through the air, snarling and hissing as they charged. Sitting up, Conor focused on the rats, levitated them off of the platform, and twisted their heads sharply to the right, snapping their necks. They died instantly.
“Nicely done,” Alex stated, obviously impressed.
“They were hunting us, weren’t they?” Conor asked as the now lifeless rats dropped to the platform.
“Seemed that way,” Alex answered as he kicked the carcasses off of the platform and into the muck below and watched as their bodies floated away. “I had no idea that rats could get so big. I’m surprised that no one knows about these things. They are enormous. Can you imagine the panic that would take place if those things were roaming the streets at night?”
“You don’t suppose that there are more of them, do you?” Conor asked.
“Probably,” Alex answered.
Conor stiffened as he heard the sound of scurrying feet flying down the platform in the distance.
“There’s more!” Conor shouted in Alex’s mind. “They are coming. Lots of them!”
�
�We better get moving,” Alex stated as he turned and continued down the platform, breaking into a slow, and then a quick, jog. “We can’t afford any more delays. Time is of the essence.”
Conor matched him stride-for-stride.
“How close are they?” Alex asked without slowing down. “Can we reach the factory before they reach us?”
“I don’t think so,” Conor replied.
“In that case, I don’t think that we have much choice,” Alex stated as he stopped and motioned for Conor to step past him.
Alex kneeled, aimed his laser pistol at the platform behind them, and blasted it. A large segment of the platform vaporized instantaneously and an even larger segment farther down the pipe shattered and fell into the raw sewage. He then blasted the top of the pipe above where the platform had fallen. The pipe’s ceiling exploded, collapsing into a heap of metal, stone, dirt, and rock. The debris filled the entire pipe. The wastewater beneath their feet stopped flowing. The amber lights went dark.
“We won’t have to worry about them anymore,” Alex stated emphatically. “I hope that they like swimming through raw sewage.”
“I could have killed them if they reached us,” Conor stated, not sure why Alex blasted the platform.
“Probably,” he replied. “But there is no sense in taking any chances. Besides, we have to hurry. The attack starts in less than an hour.”
Alex turned and jogged down the platform toward the factory. Conor followed close behind. Neither of them said anything as they picked up the pace, their boots ripping up small chunks of algae with each stride. Conor heard the high-pitched squeals of drowning rats in the distance and wondered if Alex could hear them too, or if he cared.
Chapter 28
US OR THEM
The cleats on their boots tore through the algae, creating a rhythmic pinging noise as they raced down the metal platform.
“We are almost there,” Alex thought, sweat pouring down his face.
Conor grabbed his arm and pulled him to a full stop.
“What now?” Alex asked.
“Robots,” Conor answered. “Three of them. They are directly in front of us and headed this way.”
Alex pulled his laser pistol from his pocket. Conor did the same.
“Get ready,” Alex stated forcefully, instinctively assuming the military’s standard, right-handed firing position – left foot slightly forward and pointing directly at the target, body turned almost completely sideways to minimize exposure to enemy fire, right foot planted behind and at a slight angle to help absorb the laser’s recoil, laser held shoulder-high allowing for line-of-sight targeting, both hands firmly on the laser’s handle to steady the shot, left arm bent slightly at the elbow, right arm fully extended, right index finger poised over the trigger, and head tilted slightly to the right allowing for the best line-of-sight targeting possible.
“We will have to take them out quickly, before they get a chance to report our presence,” he continued. “Just like the last time, I will concentrate my fire on the middle and left side of the platform. You take the right.”
Planting his feet securely onto the platform, Conor mimicked Alex’s firing position and waited. He did not have to wait long. Three maintenance robots rolled into view, their searchlights illumining the platform in front of them. Alex fired first and hit the maintenance robot farthest to their left just above its wheel base. The robot exploded, sending thousands of tiny metal fragments shooting out in all directions. Conor quickly activated his levitation shield as the platform buckled beneath their feet and metal fragments pummeled everything in sight, including the remaining two robots. His normally invisible shield sparked brightly as metal fragments struck it and ricocheted off. As the last metal fragment fell to the ground, Conor dropped the shield. Once again, Alex fired first. He hit one of the two remaining maintenance robots right between its false eyes, vaporizing its humanoid-shaped head. The robot, which had already sustained heavy damage when the first robot exploded, rolled off of what was left of the platform and fell into the brown muck. The third robot turned to flee, but two of its three wheels had been damaged in the initial explosion and the good one got tangled up in some debris. As it struggled to turn, Conor fired. The laser burned a fist-sized hole through the robot’s left shoulder and exited the robot’s chest. Its eyes blazed brightly and then went dark. Its arms went limp.
“We had better hurry,” Alex stated, walking past the now motionless robot. “We are running out of time.”
They continued down the platform and spotted an access ladder sticking out of the pipe’s ceiling.
“Finally,” Alex announced happily, reaching up and grabbing the access ladder’s bottom rung.
Alex disappeared into the access pipe. Conor was about to follow him when he caught a glimpse of dozens of searchlights headed in their direction.
“We have company!” Conor announced.
They climbed up the ladder as fast as they could. The ladder’s bottom rungs were awash in light. A moment later, several armed security guards looked up the ladder, stench masks hiding their faces. Their laser pistols were pointed straight at them. Focusing, Conor grabbed the laser pistols and pulled them up the access pipe. As the laser pistols raced up the ladder, Alex’s right arm caught Conor under his left armpit and pushed him hard against the side of the access pipe. Alex fired five laser shots in rapid succession. The platform beneath them exploded, jagged metal shards rocketing out in all directions. Conor raised his levitation shield and hung onto the ladder as it rocked back and forth. The ladder cracked, but, to his relief, did not break apart. Looking down, he saw numerous body parts scattered among the rubble.
“Us or them,” he heard Alex think. “It was us or them.”
Reaching the top of the ladder, Alex pushed the lid’s emergency release button. As the lid opened, he saw the explosives. The blast knocked him out and as he fell off of the ladder he landed on top of Conor, sending both of them tumbling down the access pipe and into the darkness. They fell more than halfway down the access pipe before Conor was able to grab the ladder. Holding onto Alex, he levitated up the ladder and into the storage room.
Alex was a mess. He had numerous cuts on his arms and face, a deep, bloody gash across his forehead, a large bump on the side of his head, his shirt was torn to shreds, and his right arm looked like it was broken in several places. Fortunately, Conor had brought along a medical kit. After spraying sealant on the cuts, he attached a stabilization bandage to Alex’s right arm. As the microbots went to work repairing the bone, Conor surveyed the large, nearly empty storage room. It was filthy dirty. Soot lingered on the walls, a reminder of the old days when the factory used fossil fuels as an energy source. A pile of abandoned mechanical equipment, covered with cobwebs, was lined up against the far side of the room. There were two doorways. The closest one was to his left. The doorway to his right was about twice as far away. He sensed two armed men approaching the doorway to his right and six others approaching the doorway to his left. One of the men to his right pushed the door open, slamming it hard against the wall.
“That’s a diversion,” Conor thought, purposively looking in that direction. “They will be coming through the doorway on my left.”
Six young men wearing Consortium Space Academy uniforms, each armed with a laser pistol, rushed through the doorway to his left. Conor sent them flying straight up to the ceiling. Their laser pistols fell to the floor.
“You’re next,” Conor yelled across the room at the two people behind the door to his right. “In case you had not noticed, I could have killed them, but I didn’t. We are here to help.”
“Who are you and what do you want?” an older, mature voice called out from behind the door to his right.
Recognizing the voice, Conor shouted, “Justice Brandix, is that you?”
“Answer my question,” the voice repeated.
“Conor Sinclair and Alex Kilgoramond,” Conor answered. “We have a message from Michael LaRocque.”
Brandix stepped into the room.
“Michael has secured the assistance of Anne Hopkins, a privateer,” Conor continued. “She has over 100 armed men and women positioned behind Casseday and Kourdar’s forces. They are going to attack them from behind at precisely 5 o’clock, less than 30 minutes from now. The idea is to draw their attention away from you so you can break out of the factory and into the surrounding neighborhood. She will conduct a strategic retreat, drawing them away from you as you make your getaway.”
Chapter 29
LOVERS
Anne Hopkins walked slowly down the sidewalk, clinging tightly onto her companion’s left arm. She looked up lovingly into his big brown eyes, moved her face closer to his, and kissed him on the cheek. The man blushed as they continued walking down Scrafford Avenue, arm-in-arm, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world. They headed straight for two armed security guards, an older-looking man with silver-gray hair and a very young woman, probably just graduated from the Academy. The guards were stationed at the corner of Scrafford Avenue and 20th Street, one city block west of Emory Boulevard and 14 blocks south of the factory. They paid close attention to Anne and her companion as they approached.
“Take a look at those two,” the male guard announced, pointing a finger in Anne’s direction as she stopped and kissed her companion again, this time on the lips.
“Isn’t that sweet?” the young woman asked.
“Sweet?” the guard responded, a note of disgust in his voice. “Call me old-fashioned, but you shouldn’t kiss in public. I have no problem with people holding hands, but kissing in public crosses the line. It’s not decent.”
“Loosen up,” the young woman replied. “They’re not hurting anyone.”
“That’s not the point,” the man stated firmly. “There is a law against public displays of affection. The law is the law. If people don’t obey the law, then there is chaos.”
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