LAND of the FREE

by Michael W. Huard

  Wynne spotted what appeared to be a sharp sword on a weapons rack which had fallen down. She grabbed it and took a fighting stance. She had Starigen 6280 pumping through her veins, so she would not go down without a fight.

  He came onto her with a flight of fists. Wynne dodged his initial blitz and countered with a sword swipe while moving to her right. The blade did little damage to his metal exterior.

  The small blond found the bot pursuing her again. This time he managed to knock her sword attacks aside and reached out, grasping her neck. She countered his grab with a body twist and tried to break the robot's arm with an over the top, armpit pressure lock. He was too strong and tossed her back to the ground. He jumped ten feet up in the air and landed down on the Q-Jin. Wynne was skilled in grappling on the ground, but was still shocked by how strong and heavy he was. He pinned her arms to the ground and head butted her in the face. Blood sprayed out of her now broken nose as she barely held onto consciousness.

  Extending her arms right back and bringing them together, the bot lost his grip and she turned to her side, sliding a leg through to her elbow. She tried desperately to hold the robotics champion in a defensive leg grab, but he yanked it free. He stood and lifted Wynne off the ground high above his head, then tossed her fifteen feet away into the fallen debris. The Mystical Slayer knew how to fall. She did her best, but the landing still hurt and she felt more bones crunching and breaking.

  Wynne was up again and did her best to knock the monster off his feet. With an almighty gallop she ran up a slanted ceiling beam which was only partially attached to the ceiling. Giving it all she had, she pounced off the high end of the beam and sent a flying super round kick into the robot's head.

  The kick's impact worked. Galax the super bot was sent spiraling into the wall. He hit hard, stumbled, and began to slouch. Wynne executed her landing with great dexterity, and before Galax could rise again, she grabbed a loose water pipe and ran at him full steam, smacking him square in the face. The damage was done. His beautiful, mega expensive face was irreparably dented. Despite Wynne's attack, Galax rose again to seek his revenge. She fended off many blows, but his knee landed hard in her ribs, making a loud cracking sound. Galax drove an elbow into the back of her head as she slouched over. Wynne tried to stand her ground but the bot lifted her once more into the air, this time dropping her on his knee, breaking her body in two. He dropped her to the turf and went about his search for more living people. Field Marshall Purcell had been watching the battle and looked proud of his personal bodyguard champion. He smiled brightly, knowing the entire mission had been a smashing success.

  There were no survivors to be found by the soldiers. The building was still burning and collapsing. Purcell knew this would never be a stronghold, illegal or otherwise, ever again.

  Somewhere nearby, Purcell overheard more fighting. "Galax, come with me," he ordered. Other bots and clones rushed to the commotion. "We are finished here for today," he added. "Let the others deal with the leftover scraps of resistance. We shall celebrate back home." With that, he and his super bot left and boarded their ship, flying off to Old Fenway Boston headquarters.

  ***

  Sinaye and Jansa came upon the wreckage of their home base with heavy hearts and set about searching for any survivors.

  Jansa was shell-shocked. Seeing all the dead bodies of women and children was tearing her soul apart. She was distraught with emotion and fell to her knees. The pain was too much to bear. This was her home, her people. Her mind was elsewhere. Sinaye rushed up to Jansa and shook her from behind. "Janz, you need to snap out of it, quick. Look . . . " she pointed to an approaching army of soldiers, " . . . they're coming for us, please, we have to go!"

  But, Jansa was a world away with her own thoughts . . .

  ***

  He was a reiki master, an acupuncturist, and a medic to name just a few. Tallis Merril was Jansa's teacher and she had learned so much from him over the years. She always knew eastern and western medicine had a place together in treating the sick or wounded. The mental and spiritual aspect of healing was always just as important as the physical. It was old Merril who made her understand the true meaning of healing. Jansa would forever know him as her master, her mentor, and her friend. The two had made so much progress on their biggest ever project. Together they stood side by side dissecting the human body which lay before them.

  "You have done it Jansa! The nanobots are moving to where we expected, they are floating through the bloodstream. These "swimmers" are heading right to the diseased areas and eliminating the problem. Cancer has been cured in this very medical lab! It’s a miracle," cried out Merril as he hugged the young Jansa.

  ***

  Dazed and overwhelmed with confusion, Jansa now fell back into the real world. For a moment in time, she had been back with Merril and she was happy. But the death around her had not gone away as she snapped back into reality. She grabbed her forehead and tried to squeeze her aching brain. She ran her hand through her smoked and charcoal-singed blond hair. Sweat and dried blood covered her body. If there ever was a God, like some still spoke of, he was nowhere to be found on this dreadful day. Sinaye grabbed Jansa and shook her again. "Listen to me, we can’t stay here, we’ll die. Follow me, we must get back up in the air and get out of the city."

  Several robot soldiers had started to fire at the two women, and more associates came into sight from the opposite direction. A fight was imminent.

  Most of the area was now in burning ruins, and both Q-Jin had little time to decide how best to defend themselves. They placed their backs to the front of a collapsed wall which gave them some much needed coverage. The robots in black armor came forwards shooting their laser rifles without any sense of fear. Both women were better shots, and they too had laser guns, hand pistols . . . and they were set to do some serious damage. The main issue was the half-clone associates. They were smart, deceptive, and tough as hell.

  The hall suddenly emptied as the associates tossed gas bombs in the direction of the Q-Jin. They waited to see how the girls would deal with their special delivery. Shots were still coming from down the hall as the globes exploded into a greenish mist. Both Jansa and Sinaye were trained in combative terrorism measures, which was going to be of great help in this situation. Holding their breath, they both dug into their packs for a protective mask. The gas was making them dizzy, but both women covered their faces and stayed low to the ground until the mist started to fade away. The half-clones closed rank with their weapons at the ready. One of the associates, a solidly built part-cyborg with a square chin and dark hair, had more than just synthetic looks. His name was Albarto. He was a genius in every way. A genius of the implanted variety. The sight of Sinaye registered a warning to him. Do not kill, keep alive, subject wanted by Corporation heads, do not kill, keep alive.

  He telepathically informed the other associates of Sinaye's presence and all weapons were lowered at once. A stray shot from down the hall grazed Sinaye across the shoulder. She coiled back in pain and ended up sitting on the floor against the far wall. Albarto, under his orders to keep the scientist alive, went nuts at the realization that someone had disobeyed his telepathic orders. He turned back down the hall and ran after the sharpshooter.

  He rushed at the rebel robot with a razor sharp blade and severed its neck. He turned around and stormed back to the women. Jansa was pretty good with blades herself. Her laser gun was empty but she battled on with two associates, dodging their hard billy clubs which were bent on knocking the women senseless. Sinaye, from her slumped position against the wall, was just about able to fire a few shots at the two associates attacking her friend. The shots helped a little, as both were hit and looked damaged. Jansa then spotted Albarto, the lead clone, heading directly for her. He had a sinister smile on his face.

  Jansa would now need to call on her years of martial arts training. Multiple opponents were never easy; in fact, they were the hardest to fight. She maneuvered so as to ke
ep both in her sight, to force them both to stay side by side and never enabling them to get behind her. This allowed for only one direction of attack in such tight quarters, and she was very skilled at parrying a single attack.

  A swift step to her left let the club's thrust pass her by. She countered with a slice on the half-robot man’s attacking wrist. The other associate swung his stick down towards her head. Jansa crouched under it, driving her other blade up into his throat. She then spun straight behind him, keeping both half-clones in front of her at all times.

  "Come here, tough little girl," spoke Albarto. "Looks as though you are wanted back at headquarters . . . you must be special?" Sinaye fired a dead on shot at his metal face which opened a gaping wound. She had no bullets left on her second attempted shot. He grabbed her and lifted her up off the cement floor, shoving her back down in anger. Albarto was teaching her a lesson. He would not kill her. But she would suffer.

  Jansa avoided another double swing of the associate’s club, the second swing she slapped away to her right, and then her knife came dazzling fast across his throat. The half-clone stumbled back and held his deeply wounded neck and wire sparking chin. His buddy grabbed at Jansa and wrapped his strong arm around her head. He squeezed in an attempt to rip Jansa’s head off. The Mystical Slayer doctor dropped low and slid her right foot between the clone's legs, spinning her body over while carrying his weight with her. She ended up on top of him, but he was still holding onto her head from underneath.

  Jansa repositioned her body so as to remove the clone's grasping arm away from her head. She passed her legs over his head, falling back for a deep arm bar. The half-man had his arm torn away from his body. Electricity ran wild across his body as he desperately tried to remain functioning. But the sparks burned out and he was no more. Jansa kicked him away and pounced on his frame. She twisted and snapped his neck, just to be sure she had ended his fake existence.

  Sinaye needed help. Jansa screamed a war cry at the top of her lungs and charged at the head clone. He was too fast for her and landed Jansa with a backhand as she rounded the corner. She went flying in pain and blood spurted from her mouth as she hit the ground hard. It had bought Sinaye just enough time to recover and take out her katana. She jammed it deep into Albarto’s right side as he came in to grab her again. She spun into a lower body sweep which took out both his feet from under him. Both Sinaye and Albarto rose back to their feet. Sinaye ran as fast as she could and jumped up knee first into a flying strike that blasted the associate leader directly in his face. He slouched down and appeared to be out cold, or better yet, short circuited. There were too many robot soldiers around. The women had to leave, or die themselves.

  The fight was over. The pain and loss of the sisterhood’s main home base was only just beginning to sink in. Jansa and Sinaye flew back to underground Boston immediately. They laughed and cried at the memories of friends who had lost their lives in the devastation they left behind. This type of life could not continue.

  Chapter 12

  This was not the first time Resin Cador, Y-Wood's top assistant, had visited Enceladus. Its icy shell had worn down over the centuries and the Corporation's robotic probes had gained entry into an ocean world buried deep within. Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, had many moons, but none were habitable like this little gem. Cador was a tough cookie, about five-foot eight, built of mostly muscle, and he kept the smoothest of shaved heads. His big secret was a lower body remade with millions of Corporation dollars. Saturn was his home away from Earth, much like how that lower body was home to him now, five years after a serious train accident.

  The moon’s hydrogen gas was the key source of its energy. In time, the probes had been able to discover that the salt water and chemicals from this hydrogen gas could support life.

  The ringed planet of rock, ice, dust, and gas, being so far from the sun, had hidden its secret energy source for a thousand years or more.

  Technology advancements can change everything. And money helps; lots of money. Cador had been stealing it for years. First, as a normal worker, then as a higher assistant to the Corporate big shots, and now as the second sidekick to President Marcou, the CEO of the worldwide mega company. "Oh wait," he smiled, "Hale Valdosta has recently been found dead. News for all." He found himself speaking out loud quite happily. Everything he stole went to the moon and back. Quite literally.

  Exploring was part of what made Y-Wood so rich and successful. They already had money, and they looked for more money all over the galaxy. Trips to other planets were now easier than ever. This trip, as with any subsequent ones, was said to not land all that much in terms of expanding the finances of the Corporation and their universally strong grip. Cador had lied about that too.

  The biggest secret of his life, aside from his robotic lower half, was here. Enceladus. On one of their previous explorations, he and his team of robotic drone soldiers, doctors, and scientists had discovered a race of aqua men and women they so named "Seidons". Their name was derived from the Greek God, Poseidon, eons ago in literature. The Seidons had been curious, but understandably cautious when he and his team first probed into their deep sea world. In time, especially with Cador bringing gifts to their world, they had become friendly towards this bald-headed slickster.

  It was this location where Cador was working on his dream. The aqua people were self-sufficient. They used every speck of anything and everything in their ocean and its surrounding rocky cliffs to live and survive. The robots were also able to teach them many new things about living. Cador learned things too. He made it a point to always bring fancy technology which would astound these seamen. He also invented simple tools which no one had previously thought of, which helped them to evolve and made their lives easier. The robotic doctors taught them skills in healing, and brought medicines from Earth which saved lives and changed the way the Saturn moon people existed.

  Seidons were a race of water dwelling creatures that Earth had never seen. Most were around six-feet tall with a yellow, black, or green coloring. Their skin was scaly with giant fins on their backs. They all had webbed fingers and toes to aid their life under water.

  At first sight, their razor sharp fangs looked quite concerning, but their true nature as carnivores was not as vicious as their teeth might suggest. They spoke in their own language, and their weapons were mostly limited to spears and knives, with the occasional use of a net. The best of them could swim amazingly well and they could all see up to three hundred feet under water.

  The leadership of the Seidons fell into clans, with each individual family being responsible for specific things to help their species grow and survive. A certainty about these Saturn moon toads is they were rugged creatures who multiplied quickly. Birthing produced dozens at a time, to a point where sooner or later they would need to seriously expand their living space. Cador realized this, and thought on it quite often while back on Earth.

  In exchange for studying their culture, Cador would help them in any way he could, and was allowed to have his own private quarters on the moon. It was here he set up and worked on what he referred to as "The Second Genesis Project". In time, the world would find out about his project, but for now, only he and his private robotic team held onto this knowledge.

  Cador left his team on the ringed planet's moon, Enceladus. He needed to get back to President Marcou. Y-Wood needed his expertise!

  ***

  Back in underground Boston, the city lay in silence. Lomax and Raegan were hidden away and were comforting each other. Their room was full of soft blankets and fans were blowing the hanging canopy which surrounded their bed. "I think they know where we are, but they are still waiting," spoke Lomax. He kissed his love and held her tight. "Rae, I love you, everything about you. We have worked so hard and given so much. It’s a lifetime of memories which makes it worth every minute."

  She kissed him back and looked into his eyes. They both knew this may well be their last time together for a wh
ile. "No matter what happens next, all my dreams, all my experiences, as amazing as they have been; nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to our love," she whispered to him. "Love makes it all better. Love makes it all seem so worthwhile . . . I love you so much, you’re a great man, never forget that." She kissed Lomax again and added, "Tough times don’t last, but tough people do. You and I, and our precious son, Johan, are the tough ones. We will survive."

  They made sweet, passionate love and released all their emotions, squeezing each other so tight, so beautiful, and so deep. They both knew that drastic measures must be taken, starting that same afternoon. Neither of them would hold back. For them, making love was different to having sex. They cared deeply for one another, and making love felt like a spiritual vibration which connected their souls. The beauty of having a life together, a son, a family, made it that much better.

  ***

  Raegan had a speech to give. She walked the long hallway, uncertain of the future. As she turned the corner, she was joined by other Q-Jin and the sisterhood marched along together. Their duty was to inform their people about the possibility of impending doom for the underground. Raegan took to the podium. The horrific news of the sisterhood's New York home base made her very unsettled, but she had to stay strong.

  The chamber before her was the biggest in the city. All its citizens were gathered together as she addressed underground Boston.