LAND of the FREE

by Michael W. Huard

  In his best loud voice, Y-Wood's President Marcou thanked the people attending and asked everyone to enjoy the attractions, decor, and delicacies of the evening. The few human males, all Corporation bigwigs, scanned the attendees for possible relations. Females in attendance were targets for these wealthy men. It became increasingly obvious that the Corporation cared little for non-company males. But they would certainly take care of their own.

  Dancing and music took center stage. Incredible machine-made sounds filled the air. The alcohol ran freely and the party roared on. A series of laser lights bolted like lightening around the room and the giant ballroom became a haven for wild moving bodies, virtual reality games, and experiences which no party could ever match.

  The R-Bel reporter, Raegan, arrived in a long, golden, thin-strapped gown, and was dusted in dazzling glitter which had been splashed all over her face and upper body. The blond appeared as a goddess from days of old. The only thing to set her apart from the ancient movie stars was her lip piercing which she so boldly displayed.

  Raegan, in time, carefully made her way around to the other sisters one by one. Her visions and dreams had lessened lately and she felt ready for the night to unfold. After greeting each of her fellow Q-Jin women, she came to the same conclusion as the others; President Marcou was a dummy figure. The Y-Wood Corporation was headed by an inner source, a true leader. Who this dummy figure was . . . was yet unknown.

  Human males being eliminated by another group of human males was a selfish act.

  The whole idea of human males being destroyed by cloned men was odd enough. Why stop the procreation of humans? Still so many questions without an answer.

  Raegan spotted Lomax. They had entered the ball separately. Her last six years had been spent working for him. She was the Q-Jin leader, and a reporter for the R-Bel, "Bringing action as it happens," underground news station. Of course it was Corporation headed, but it acted as if it was an underground station for the people. Lomax was a thin, muscular man, aged around thirty-five. He had the classic, dark cropped hair with sideburns and a square-jawed, handsome face. He also wore glasses which gave him a slightly nerdy look. He was handsome in a good way and Raegan was in love with him. They even had a son together.

  The two merged together now as one, and danced to the sounds of the grand ball affair. Lomax had no idea that Rae, as he often liked to call her, would be trying infiltrate Y-Wood this very evening. Raegan knew it would be better and safer if he did not know.

  Later that evening, he took her to the side and looked deep into her eyes, "I've missed you. Is everything okay?"

  Rae smiled and reached out to hold his hand. "Everything is fine, I missed you too," she smiled softly.

  The reporter for R-Bel news did his job with passion. Lomax loved to tell the world what was going on. He truly enjoyed sharing his thoughts with such a vast audience. The Y-Wood Corporation treated him fairly enough, and he got to travel the world. He could even get into big events like the one tonight. The day he met the young reporter, Raegan, his heart had been awakened. Previously, he had never really thought much about the suffering and lack of compassion which was an epidemic in this country. His heart had been numbed by it.

  When this southern girl, full of virtue and such benevolence, had come on board with the news crew, everything had changed. She was there to make a difference from the very start. Every story had to have a backbone. Every story needed a part which would tell of the people and the lives that had been affected. His view of the world was soon to be altered. He too wanted to make a difference. Raegan was so small, so lovely, but when she put her mind to something, the entire room would stand up to listen. He thought of the day they first met. She had been wearing a long gray skirt and a lavender blouse buttoned right up to her ears. He shook his head, smiling to himself at the thought. She had glasses on, her then much darker hair was tied up in a knot, and her shoes were well-worn and plain. She was gorgeous, and when their eyes met, something inside him had known she was very special.

  Lomax broke out of his reminiscent thoughts and snapped back to reality. It had been many years since that first day, years he had spent studying and learning everything he could in order to defeat the very company he did then, and still now worked for. Tonight though, he would just enjoy her company. She looked so beautiful!

  He looked around them, wondering who might be watching. "I notice you have a few friends here tonight? Don’t do anything rash, this place is loaded with associates and company fembots searching for any foul play."

  Winking at him, she grinned, "Yes I realize that, here comes a fembot right now."

  Serving them a cocktail was a young woman with red hair. She had a sexy black lingerie two-piece on. It barely covered her ample curves and perfect, not-so-fake skin. She nodded at the pair and offered them two tall drinking glasses, filled with an illuminated, neon green liquid and then went on her way with a wink. The couple sipped the exotic wine, slipping away to a darker corner of the cathedral-ceilinged chamber. They danced in private to the humming of music in the background. They held one another close and Raegan rested her head on Lomax’s shoulder. For a moment they were lost in time, maybe a time far away and long ago. A time when the world was free. Raegan whispered, "I love you Lomax. And I love our son, Johan, so much . . . and I know, I really know, we will always have one another."

  ***

  Mahira took a turn away from the main hall. She had now searched the complex for over an hour and she had to make a choice. Either she went beyond the boundaries the sisters had set, or she returned back to the ballroom with no answers. She decided on the former and, looking a bit out of place in her tight fitting leather cat suit, she entered the forbidden section of the Corporation’s stronghold. Things were about to get mighty crazy.

  An associate immediately stepped in her way. A half-clone male, tall, well built, and menacing. He had dark hair and a fake goatee. "Hello, beautiful. Are you lost?" he said laughing. "Or are you searching for me?"

  The Q-Jin looked surprised, "Oh I’m sorry, I must have gone the wrong way. I was seeking the kitchen."

  The half-clone, now scanning Mahira’s mind, talked on, "Ahhhhhh, the kitchen is so far from the ballroom." Mahira felt his probe and resisted his mental powers. The associate then circled the Q-Jin, sizing her up. She mirrored his moves and the two poised themselves for a great fight. He drew a laser gun. These were allowed only by those of the inner circle Y-Wood thugs; a weapon strictly forbidden to citizens in the former United States of America. Mahira, using her safety arm bracers, cleverly disguised as jewelry, prepared to deflect his strike. Starigen 6280 flowed within her veins, she was a junkie. The drug made her skin tougher and no normal firearm could penetrate her, but these special lasers still meant trouble.

  The tall, deep-voiced associate raised a finger at her, "Oh, I’m not going to use this on you!" spoke the man thing. "I too would just like something to eat . . . you!" With this, Mahira sprung at him and they locked on in a clinch. She quickly disarmed his gun with a twist of his wrist, sending it sliding along the hallway and smashing into a nearby wall.

  Yet, this was not going to be an easy victory. They exchanged blows, each blocking their opponent. This guy was tough as hell. They grappled to the ground and the battle raged on. The half-clone rolled about and tore at her throat. She pushed him off and wrapped her legs around his waist. He struck down at her with a flurry of angry fists and landed a blow, almost knocking out the small and feisty slayer.

  Mahira recovered and trapped his arm in a lock. Placing her right leg higher up his back, she whipped her left leg round in front of him and trapped his rugged elbow on top of her stomach. With everything she had, she arched her back and tore his limb upward. In a metallic grind of mechanics, the elbow broke apart. Still the man-robot did not give up.

  Twisting hard to his right, he removed Mahira’s legs from around him, and dropped his weight on her from the side. Kneeling over her, he be
gan to crush her small ribs and wanted to claim his victory. Mahira would not falter. Swinging her legs in front of his chest in a defensive maneuver, she knocked him back in a strong, sweeping motion, and landed back on top of him. He grabbed at her with his remaining arm and tossed her into the wall. She hit hard, but she was conscious.

  They stood again and locked eyes. A jump back kick, a favorite of the Q-Jin, caught him straight in the chest. The associate’s strikes came back fast and furious, but with him only having one arm functioning, Mahira deflected most of them. She dove unexpectedly into a roll and was able to come up with his laser gun now gripped in her hand. The laser power of the blue beam struck the clone directly in the head and he collapsed to the floor with blood running from his skull. Wires and computer chips fizzed with fire and sparks. The smell of his electronics failing began to fill the air. With the man-robot finally out of the way, Mahira quickly moved to the end of the hall and, running down a new side corridor, she found a door. She felt this was the door she’d been looking for. It was very intricate, heavily locked, and securely protected by many criss-crossing, green laser beams. She hurried back to tell the others.

  Back in the ballroom, Zaey, dressed in her long black gown, was drawing the attention of male and females alike. Lawyers from Y-Wood propositioned her repeatedly, as did many others. She was struggling to find anything of importance with these gatherings of followers, so she took another path into a virtual zone.

  Her choice was one of inner peace. She picked a rocky mountaintop, somewhere in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She sat and watched a resting sea, which occasionally crashed slightly against the rocks. The sky was blue and the waves swayed in and out. Zaey found rest. Little did she know, an associate was also enjoying a moment of relaxation. When she had entered the zone, he took to watching her, and reading her, and learning from the back of her mind what the Q-Jin’s true intentions were for tonight. He left the virtual domain to set defenses in place for such a plan. He would be well rewarded for this intelligence.

  Mahira had returned to the sisters, and Raegan and the others joined her in seeking the door once again. Raegan had managed to slip away from Lomax, as she did not want to see him in harm's way. He had too much at stake in the underground city, and Johan would be lost without him.

  The sisters Raegan, Mahira, Envy, and Zaey gathered in line. Mahira led the group to her recent finding. Zaey adjusted her black-feathered facial mask, hoping no one would recognize her too easily from the lawyer meetings earlier. Envy slipped on a pair of spandex leggings to cover up some of her earlier seductive attire.

  Raegan had a plan. She explained, "Something is behind that door, we know the Corporation does not want us to see whatever it is. Everything we have been researching and gathering clues for, leads me to think that there has to be more than meets the eye. We get in and gather as much information as we can. Then we leave. No lingering. All eyes are probably watching this area, especially that room. Everyone, move fast!"

  Zaey tuned in, "There has to be computerized layouts of the clone creations? Their home creation base information?"

  Mahira added now, "What we really need is the answer to why they so covet human male extinction."

  Raegan looked at each sister and with a thumb up, she whispered, "Let’s do it! We move fast and with purpose. I have contacted Blu already, she knows our basic location." Envy nodded in agreement. Their leader spoke on, "She’ll find us, the chips placed over the tracking devices at the party’s entrance have our location in them." The four mystical slayers agreed in unison, and together, plan in place, they proceeded down the hallway.

  The door came in view. Green laser beams glowed and ran all around it. Envy knelt by the door and removed her small computer-like tablet, setting out to remove the deadly traps.

  She punched in several codes and deciphering numbers and soon enough the lasers were gone. Picking the lock was next. As soon as Envy touched the door, all four girls backed up in surprise, as a deep voice spoke from beyond.

  "I sensed your arrival. My evolution has derived from human thinking. I have now surpassed your race in my capacity for experience. I am conscious, and I have spiritually awakened. Everyone is meaningful."

  The women turned and looked at one another. Then, chaos broke out.

  From around the corner stepped several associates. Y-Wood's President Marcou stood behind them scowling. "I see we appear to have intruders in our presence? Such a pretty foursome too. I won't even ask what the hell you’re doing up here. I take it searching for something? Something which you definitely should not be trespassing in order to see . . . Main systems, turn off female protection mode." With fury in his voice, he added, "Kill them! Kill them all!" In his rage he did not even recognize Zaey. She was dressed out of her familiar work clothes with the feather mask adding to her secrecy.

  With the sudden appearance of these powerful Y-Wood heads, the sisters had no time to contemplate the door and the mystery voice they had just heard behind it. With no weapons to destroy the clone men, they had to resort to hand-to-hand combat. Mahira took the lead and launched a running, flying side kick into the closest associate, just before he pulled out his laser gun. He took a hard blow from Mahira which knocked the wind out of him. The other associates took aim at Mahira's companions with their guns. Zaey dodged a shot, as did Raegan. Envy was not so lucky. Before she could react, a light blue beam struck her in the shoulder and she coiled back in pain.

  From another area in the multi-level complex hall, more associates started to appear on the scene. They tore away their fake surface skin to reveal the twisted, skeletal faces of their true mechanical nature. Human vampires, created by robotics, moved in on the Q-Jin sisters.

  More combat broke out for Mahira. She had disrupted a flurry of shots from the first group of associates and the Y-Wood head, Marcou, was not happy. Raegan spun around and landed a heavy elbow to one associate and sent him crashing back to the floor. A clone man tackled Envy and another aimed in on Zaey with gun fire. Luckily, he missed the small Australian, who again dodged away from the onslaught of shots.

  The half-clones who had joined from the other end of the hall, dropped several odd looking capsules to the floor. From these capsules, weird forms of creatures began to develop. Almost like living fetuses, but made out of a metallic, liquid substance. As they grew to their full mid-calf size, they formed to be that of a half snake, half spider. These nasty monsters, with steel blades for legs and multiple metal teeth, crawled straight towards the Q-Jin.

  Envy had recovered enough from the shot to her shoulder to defend herself against the man who wrestled with her. She wrapped her legs around his neck, choking him fiercely. He did not pass out, but his neck snapped out of place. He moved to the left to escape Envy's hold around his neck and snapped it back into place. With an evil grin he drew a sharp, jagged-edged blade and slashed down at the red-headed spy’s face.

  She narrowly avoided his attack with a roll to the side and came up ready to react to his next knife move. He waved the blade at Envy menacingly and advanced towards her. Before he could get near, Raegan knocked the knife from his hand with an outside crescent kick, sending it banging into the wall. Envy cried out in pain, her shoulder now searing in agony. Raegan reached over to tend to Envy's wound and instructed, "Cover that and apply pressure. Quickly!" she insisted.

  Before Raegan could finish with Envy's wound, another associate was on her, then more began to appear from the other side. Mahira, in a flash of fighting prowess, landed many blows to the cloned newcomers and the entire fight was going at full speed. Then, as if the sisters hadn't enough to contend with already, the spider-snakes arrived to make their mark.

  With multiple legs and arms scuttling through the air, the creatures snapped their jaws and bit into the Q-Jin's legs. The women could not move with the grace they had come to know so well. Even with Starigen 6280 flowing within their blood, this battle had turned to the side of the associates. Raegan yelled o
ut, "These things look like showerheads with bad dispositions. Look out!" The creatures continued their attempts to chew crazily at each of the women’s shins and ankles.

  Blood was now running from all four sisters, but none were ready to give up. Raegan and Mahira deflected attacks from their closed in half-clone opponents. Zaey grabbed a laser gun from the floor and fired at their enemy. A few associates began to fall, then another, and another, but still more were coming from down the hall. Envy drove a thumb into the eye socket of her nearest attacker. Raegan nearly tore off one’s head with a guillotine choke. Mahira blasted punch after punch and dropped another clone to the floor . . . but the fallen ones continued to rise anew and attack the girls with even more fury. Zaey screamed out, "These bastards won’t stay down!"

  Raegan delivered a flying knee to one while Mahira swept the feet out from under another. Zaey grabbed at one and tossed it into the air with an effective hip throw. Still, they reformed and came back.

  "This is crazy," yelled Envy. The sisters knew even the toughest people on the planet couldn't defeat just a few clones, let alone an elite dozen clones all at once. The showerheads kept biting at their lower bodies and things were looking bad.

  A laser beam hit Zaey’s hand and another struck Mahira in the side. The women were giving it all they had, but the wounds were adding up. A group of associates now gathered down the hall, looking very excited and confident with a huge bazooka-type laser gun, aiming to launch a major blow at the sisters. President Marcou had fallen back to the new gathering of associates and interjected the chaos by barking at the big gun wielders. "Waittttttt . . . don’t fire at the door area, or anywhere near it with that monster gun!" This was a good thing for the Q-Jin.