As Kane had hoped, the hostages veered left into the short hall toward the rear chamber door. The first hostage came into view; it was Sam. Despite a streak of fresh blood on his forehead, he looked alert. Brave, Kane thought, Sam was leading the hostage barricade knowing he would likely be the first to fall in a battle. More hostages followed him, loosely bunched together. Before the Breakers appeared, Kane waved to get Sam’s attention. When he saw Kane, his eyes widened. Kane showed him the fire extinguisher and tried to convey their plan through hand motions. Sam winked, confirming his understanding.
A robotic voice shouted from somewhere behind the hostages. “What are you doing? Pull them back! Pull them back now!”
“Director,” Kane thought aloud, “now would be a good t—”
The battle started before he finished his thought. He heard the sound of laser blasts; the Director and his team had started their attack from behind the Breakers. Kane turned to Thorin and Bhram. “Let’s go.”
The Breakers didn’t know what hit them. While they were distracted with the Director’s attack at their flank, Kane, Thorin, and Bhram pushed through the front line of hostages and emptied the fire extinguishers on the Breakers in a wide swath at head level, creating a dense fog in the hallway.
Kane yelled, “Simon says, down on the floor! Simon says, crawl forward and through the door!”
The Breakers broke ranks and went into utter confusion, firing in all directions. Unfortunately, some of the hostages became confused as well. Thorin and Bhram went in search of stragglers to pull them down and direct them to the chamber. One hostage fell to the ground and lay still, hit by a random laser. A Breaker rushed through the fog toward the chamber door. Thorin was a whirl, delivering a low, spinning kick to the Breaker’s knee. It fell, and Thorin smashed the fire extinguisher onto its head and the Breaker lay still. Bhram utilized the same tactic, knocking Breakers down and following with lethal blows to the head.
Then Kane heard a voice that curdled his blood.
“Kane! Help me!” It was Charly, somewhere beyond the fog.
No, not here! he thought. “Charly!” he yelled back.
“Kane!” Her voice was more distant; they were pulling her away. “Let me go!,” she screamed.
Panic welled up inside him; he had to save her.
Thorin called to him, “Kane, everyone is in the chamber that we can reach; we have to pull back.”
“No,” he yelled. “I need to get Charly.”
Another Breaker burst through the fog, which was almost dissipated. Kane knocked the Breaker off its feet with his extinguisher, then swung the canister around and down on its head. Some of the Breakers had figured out that their assailants were on the ground, and they started firing at the floor. Kane brought his extinguisher up just in time to absorb three deadly laser shots. Then, to his surprise, someone with surprising strength grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him across the floor and into the chamber.
Gathering himself, Kane pulled his legs up and over his head and kicked Thorin in the chest, knocking him away. But he was too late. He heard the latching sound behind him as the chamber door was pulled shut and the deadbolts clicked into place.
“No!” Kane jumped up and slammed his body into the chamber door. He pulled on the handles; it wouldn’t budge. It was electronically locked and could only be released from the control room.
“Open this door, now!” he yelled. “Open this door!” All he could see was Charly’s face, alone and at the mercy of the Breakers. A wave of anguish overwhelmed him. He gave a gut-wrenching cry and pounded on the door until blood flew from his knuckles. “I have to save her . . . I have to.” He crumpled to his knees and began to bang his head on the door. “Charly . . . I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
A pair of firm but gentle hands gripped his head and stopped him from further self-injury.
Kane had trained extensively to endure physical torture, but not this. Anything but this! he thought. Deep in his soul a door was opening, and he fought to keep it closed. The face of his sister, Maddie, flashed into his mind. She’d been so innocent and vulnerable. A flood of memories and feelings, long locked away, now washed through him, and he choked back a sob. Every muscle in his body tensed as he fought to restrain the barrage of emotion within.
He became aware of a soft hand on the back of his neck, and a warm body next to him. A female voice spoke, near to his face, “You have lost someone dear to you?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
“I am so sorry.”
“I promised her that I would watch out for her, that I would protect her. And I failed.”
“You have not failed today.” The voice was kind but certain. “You have saved most of the hostages and all of the colonists. Today you are a hero, Mr. Kane, and we are all deeply grateful for you.”
Her words really didn’t register in his mind, but her voice was soothing. He twisted his body around and sat on the floor with his back against the chamber door.
It was Mhara; she was kneeling in front of him. “You are a miracle, Mr. Kane, you and all your fellows from Earth. There is purpose to your being here.”
She was mesmerizing, even in the midst of his inner turmoil.
“Call me Kane,” he said, not knowing how else to respond.
Her smile flowed into him like a balm, soothing his pain. Then someone handed her a cloth, and she cleaned his bleeding forehead and hands.
12
Day 1
2230 hours
Suspension chamber, Alto Raun
“Kane.” It was Dr. Manassa. “The Director has appeared in the lobby monitor, and he’s waving for us to come out.”
Realizing that he still might be able to get to Charly, he jumped up and grabbed a gun. Then he ran through the chamber and into the control room, where he stopped to check the lobby monitors.
“I’m sorry,” Thorin said, coming to his side.
“No. I’m the one who’s sorry. I lost it out there. You did the right thing, and you probably saved my ass. Thanks.”
Thorin nodded.
“You’re strong as a freakin’ ox,” Kane added.
“And I will have bruises on my chest.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Let me join you,” Thorin said. “The others can manage here.”
The Director was nowhere to be seen in the video monitors, but there was a Meken sentry stationed in front of one of the lobby cameras. Using the access code that Super 4 had given to the doctor, Kane and Thorin left the control room.
The lobby was a mess; the columns and walls were full of dark pockmarks, and the floor was littered with debris. Half a dozen Breaker bodies lay near the hallway. Kane was relieved that no hostages were among them.
When they heard the sound of laser fire, he and Thorin ran down the hall, where they found the Director and his team gathered just before the T-intersection. An occasional laser flare flew across the intersection, and the smell of fire retardant lingered in the air.
Seeing each other for the first time in two thousand years, the Director and Thorin exchanged a warm Ahlemoni hand-on-shoulder greeting.
“It is good to see you, Director,” Thorin said. “There are no words to express our gratitude for your work.”
“It is very good to see you, Thorin. Are the colonists well?”
“Very well. But what is the status here?”
“The Breakers are holding the remaining hostages as shields just outside the ocean room doors. An offensive attack will put them at grave risk. We are at an impasse.”
“They’re buying time,” Kane said. “Probably waiting for submersibles. Did Super 4 secure the tunnel gates?”
“Supervisor 4 has been terminated.”
Kane’s face fell; it hit him as if he’d lost one of his own team members. “I’m sorry, Director. He was the real hero today.”
“He will be remembered for his sacrifice. Now, let me go to the control room to check on the tunnel gates.”
“The elevator’s still functional,” the doctor said. “It looks awful, but the builders assure us it’s safe to use for evacuation. It will take several trips; we can only get twenty-five to thirty people in the elevator at a time.”
“Doc, I need you to help get everyone out as quickly as possible. I’ll deal with this.”
The doctor frowned.
“Doc, this is what I do.”
Dr. Manassa squeezed Kane’s hand, patted him on the shoulder, and left just as the Director returned.
“The controls to the tunnel gates have been reprogrammed by the Breakers with a new authorization code. I believe that I could decipher it, but it would take considerable processing time, more time than we have.”
Kane grimaced. “OK. We work with what we got. Do you have any idea what we’re dealing with? How many Breakers? Hostages?”
“I believe there are six remaining hostages. Two more are dead, lying in the hallway; we have been unable to retrieve them. Twelve Breakers have been terminated, which leaves eighteen.”
“Tell me about the ocean room.”
“It is a large, naturally occurring cavern, half warehouse and half ocean pool. There are storage containers on either side of the entry doors that could provide cover for our forces. The Breakers will board their submersibles single file by means of a boarding plank.”
“Is there any other way in? Another air vent or adjoining room?”
“No. The ventilation system goes vertical before it connects with the ocean room. This hallway and the ocean tunnel are the only means of entry.”
“Then we need to be ready to move quickly; the closer on their heels that we charge, the better our odds.” Kane shook his head. “They’re likely bringing reinforcements in through the tunnel.”
“I do not believe they will,” the Director replied. “The ocean room can only accept two large transport submersibles at a time. With the exception of a pilot, the submersibles would need to be empty to accommodate removal of the hostages, the colonists, and the Breaker force.”
Kane felt some relief, but he still didn’t have a rescue plan. That’s when he realized it was unusually quiet—too quiet. The Breakers’ random warning shots had ceased. He moved back to the edge of the intersection and closed his eyes to listen. A Breaker was speaking in their robotic tongue. There was a shuffling of feet. Then a muffled yell; it was human. He heard scuffling and grunting, and then a laser blast, but no laser flare passed down the hallway. Muffled screams followed and more scuffling. The skin on Kane’s neck prickled. A robot spoke in a commanding tone. Then he heard the sound of a creaking door.
“They’re leaving,” Kane said out loud. He looked around frantically and waved for a Meken sentry to join him. “I need you to rush the hostages with me; we can’t let them leave.”
The sentry responded, but not as expected. He pushed Kane back and boldly stepped forward into the T-intersection, into the Breakers’ direct line of fire. But there was no Breaker response. Regaining his footing, Kane charged around the corner and down the hall, followed closely by the sentry. The hall was empty except for a body lying on the floor just inside the double doors.
Kneeling beside the body, Kane checked for a pulse, but he knew the man was dead before he touched him; there was a gaping exit wound in the middle of his back. He rolled the body over; it was not anyone he knew. Duct tape was wrapped around the man’s mouth. His hands and knuckles were bloody. A scene formed in Kane’s mind: the man had fought with the Breakers and they had shot him in the chest at point-blank range.
His anger boiled. There was nothing that Kane despised more than the ruthless killing of defenseless and innocent people. Adrenaline pounding, he lowered his head and moved into a sprinter’s stance, his muscles tensing. Exploding forward, he crashed through the double doors like an NFL running back. As the doors swung into the ocean room, he threw his arms forward and dove to the left. Landing on his side, he rolled like a rolling pin until his shoulder smashed into something large, a cargo container. Blue laser flares flew like tiny meteors at the point where his body would have been had he remained upright. Several Breaker spotlights pierced the darkness and started searching the floor. Just as they were about to spot him, the double doors flew open and four Meken sentries stormed into the room. Imitating Kane, they dove in various directions and rolled. Coming to a prone shooter’s position, they fired at the spotlights. After three spotlights shattered, the Breakers doused their lights and the room went dark. As more Mekens entered the room, a battle erupted, and the ocean room quickly turned into a laser light show, luminescent blue streaks flying back and forth and richocheting around the cavern’s domed ceiling.
Hugging the floor, Kane crawled to the end of the cargo container. With the Breakers distracted, he rose to a crouch, slipped further to his left, and moved forward until he ran into another container, smacking his nose. Eyes watering, he moved deeper into the room until he reached the end of the last container.
The domed room was huge, probably two hundred yards in diameter. From the light of the laser flares, he could see the ocean pool twenty feet ahead. Best he could tell, the Breakers were concentrated in two separate groups at the edge of the pool, the nearest about fifty feet away, the second at the other end of the room. Lasers ricocheted off two large submersibles parked in the water, one behind each group. A light appeared over the water and directly behind the far group; it was a hatch sliding open on a submersible. He watched as a lone Breaker dashed across a plank walkway toward the open submersible door and then suddenly fell into the water as someone from his own group shot him from behind.
“You will not retreat until I command it!” yelled an infuriated Breaker.
A hatch was now opening on the submersible closest to Kane. Time was running out. From the light of the hatch, he saw the nearest Breaker holding a woman, using her as a shield while firing at the Mekens. It wasn’t Charly; this woman was too thick and her hair too short. Searching frantically, he didn’t see any other hostages—Charly wasn’t here! She had to be in the far group. He thought about sprinting to the other side of the room, but the open space between them was a dense web of laser fire; there was no way he could make it.
Just as he was thinking about swimming to her location, a command echoed through the room and the Breakers started to move onto the boarding planks. While his heart ached to save Charly, Kane determined that the best he could do right now was rescue the woman right in front of him.
He took aim with his handgun but decided it was too risky to fire. Dropping to the floor, he crawled on his belly to the edge of the water and then toward his target. He was twenty feet away when the Breaker holding the woman started pulling her toward the boarding plank.
“Not this time,” Kane muttered under his breath.
He jumped to his feet, rushed forward, and tackled the Breaker and the woman from the side. The three of them tumbled to the floor at the edge of the dock, the woman screaming behind her gag.
“Run!” he yelled, pushing her away from her captor.
With the woman freed, Kane started to roll up to his knees and reached for the hand gun at his side. A cold metal elbow slammed into the side of his head like a sledgehammer. The blow spun him around and back to the floor, his head ringing with pain. Dazed and lying on his back, he sensed someone standing over him; it was the Breaker. As descreetly as he could, he slid his hand to his holster. It was empty; he’d lost his gun. He tried to roll backward into the water but found his escape blocked by a series of short
posts on the edge of the dock.
“I forgot how weak you humans are,” the Breaker gloated. “So helpless. So useless. Time to die, huma—”
“You die, you son of a bitch!” the woman screamed, as she body slammed her captor. The Breaker shifted horizontally, tripped over the dock posts, and then fell into the ocean pool, splashing water onto Kane. The woman fell to her knees, shaking. Kane pulled her to the floor and they hid in the darkness. Meanwhile, he watched helplessly as the far group of Breakers pulled the remaining hostages across the boarding plank and into the submersible, the Mekens withholding their fire for fear of hitting a hostage. His head fell back to the hard floor. “Charly,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
The Director’s voice resounded in the cavernous room. “Supervisor 1, please listen. We have been comrades for over two thousand years. This is not the way. This is not your way. Please stop this.”
A voice responded viciously from the far submersible, “You are wrong, Director! This is the way. I spent a thousand years discovering my true identity and another thousand years hiding it in your naive little world. I am no longer your comrade. I am no longer Supervisor 1. I am no longer a slave. I am a free Meken. And I have a name.” His voice rose in an impassioned declaration. “I am Rakaan, Redeemer of the Mekens. Remember me, humans. You will feel the wrath of Rakaan!”
His words echoed through the ocean room, down the halls, and into the lobby, where the few remaining colonists stood silent, considering this new threat to their existence. Then the last hatch sealed shut and the two submersibles descended quietly into the water, taking Charly and the remaining hostages with them.
Kane felt numb. The woman winced as she pulled the tape off her hair. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Kane was struck with the role reversal. “Yeah, thanks to you. You saved my life.”
“Well, you saved mine first. Besides, it felt really good shoving that bastard off the dock.”
Someone found the electrical service, and the lights came on in the ocean room. As his eyes adjusted, Kane heard the Director’s voice.
The Last City (The Ahlemon Saga Book 1) Page 12
