I looked down at him. “Cort, I have need of Coonts expertise with artifacts I recently acquired. He will accompany me to my ship.”
He hastily answered, “That is not possible without orders from Drayen. I will have to report this immediately.”
I was running out of options and patience. We did not have time to play nice with Cort. His continued interference was an unwelcome distraction. I open hand slapped him hard enough to knock him over the top of the Grawl sitting at the desk closest to us. That was a show stopper. I now had a captive audience. In my rapidly growing panic, I was having difficulty slowing my reflexes and the strength of my new anatomy. I hope I didn’t accidentally kill Cort. He hadn’t made any movement from the sitting on his face position I had put him in. It was go time!
I yelled out, “Any who question my authority will meet with swift retribution!”
I was glad they all suddenly found busy work and quickly turned their backs to us. We headed for the outer door and the maze of hallways that lay beyond it.
“Justice, I could really use a heads up! Justice, have you got a copy!”
A bunch of really bad scenarios were doing laps around my brain and full blown panic was getting ready to join them. I had comms right up till I entered the crazy maze of hallways. They must have this area shielded against outside comms. I did not have time to wonder about it anymore because one of the big doors to my right opened and two small pale flickering lights from cloaked power sources came out. They were attempting to intercept my progress. These guys must be slow because no one has figured out I can see them cloaked. I gave them both a dumbass award. With as much restraint as my panic would allow I kicked moron two back through the door he came out of. I reached out and managed to get a good grip on moron one and bodily threw him at least fifteen feet in the air. His landing might have earned him a score of two based on the sloppy sound of it. We picked up our pace when Coonts heard the groaning associated with the very hard landing and finally figured out why I was flailing around.
“I find your violent disposition alarming, what predator race do you come from?”
“For now let’s just say I come by it honestly. Most all recorded history on my world documents the mindless violence of my species. If your friends decide to start shooting get behind me, I am shielded against light weapons fire.”
I wondering when the word was going to get out someone was springing Coonts. I was mentally preparing myself to shoot the place up if I had to. I had never shot a weapon with the intention of killing someone. Once you go down that road you will be changed forever. I was really hoping to hear from Justice but was still getting nothing. The big cargo storage area I had passed through was about a hundred yards to my front. It would not be a good place to have a shootout because of the distance to good cover. The door to the dock was easily another hundred yards across the storage area. I needed to hear from Justice so I would at least know if I had a ship to leave in. Coonts must have been worried about getting shot because he was crouched over and bumping me in the ass with his head each time I slowed to get my bearings.
The Grawl apparently decided he needed to say something. “Your simple manipulation of artifact 699 is noteworthy but I can see it lacks proper alloy lamination to make it a good choice for body armor. If we come under concentrated weapons fire, we will perish. You have not given me your rank, title or name. I would like to address you properly when you pass on to the void after Drayen finally puts a stop to our flight.”
The irritation of his remarks made me reply. “I notice it hasn’t stopped you from seeking shelter behind my simple manipulations. For now, you can call me Mr. Myers. We are coming up on the cargo storage area that leads to the dock my ship was in. If you know a safer way to get around that shooting gallery you can sing out at any time.”
The little Grawl suddenly stopped with a strange look on his face.
“The strange nature of your verbalizations and your title seem vaguely familiar to me. You……………ARE HUMAN! How is it conceivable a simple minded beast could make its way to this outpost! This is truly madness, this cannot be possible!”
Crap, I finally let the cat out of the bag and the little runt has the gall to start bitching about me rescuing him!
“Look, if you keep whining, this simple minded beast is going to leave you here. I’m sure your fellow beings can figure out a much simpler minded solution to your escape attempt."
I did not know what it was going to take to get through to Coonts. We were rapidly running low on options for my escape route. To add to my troubles a good sized disk dropped out of the overhead tunnels. It had six of the taller Grawl standing on it and three of them were carrying what looked like two foot long fluorescent light bulbs. Almost as one they cloaked and started dispersing to block our exit. I did not know if the tubes were for sexual probing or not, but judging by the way my unwilling partner started acting there was an orgy in the works and he must be of the really shy persuasion.
There was a blue flash to my left and my H.U.D. distorted momentarily. I guess they were trying to stun me. I felt a blow across my lower back and turned to see if Coonts had switched sides. He was stretched out on the floor mumbling to his Gods for all I knew. I saw the orange glow of a cloaking power source moving very swiftly to my right. I dropped quickly to my hands and one knee while thrusting my right leg out into a sweeping motion that caught my hidden detractor by surprise. I swept his legs out from under him rewarding me with a high pitched grunt and the thump of alien face meeting the floor. I groped at my unseen attacker till I caught an appendage. As I came off the floor, I twisted savagely pulling my opponent around in a swing that would have made the Babe envious. My hurled alien projectile made contact with the two cloaked Grawl trying to drag Coonts off. They went down in a pile as Coonts took off crawling in my direction.
I knew from recovering Sora’s remains the cloak suits could stand up to a good bear chewing without perforating. Unfortunately for the occupants of the suits, blunt trauma was still a very bad thing. I took two running steps and leaped up and did a layout body slam on the three unevenly stacked power sources. I knew my new body mass was well on the other side of 250 pounds. When I landed I could feel the alien’s bones or cartilage giving way. I could hear grunted groans of agony. My other three dancing partners retreated in the direction of the disk. Their panicked response to my violence was to start shooting non-stop pale blue streaks of light past me on all sides. I wanted to put an end to the confrontation, so I leaped to my feet and charged down the hall after them. When they saw my charge they jumped on the disk and disappeared into the overhead.
“Coonts get off the floor and let’s go before they come back with fresh troops.”
The Grawl was starting to freak out. “You have killed Cort and one of his clan, the other will perish without immediate medical attention!”
That idiot Cort should have stayed on the desk where I put him and he would be alive right now. The thought of killing someone in combat was giving me the shakes, but did nothing to temper my anger at being forced to do so.
I yelled down at the prone Grawl. “What the hell do you think they were trying to do? Thank you for lying on the floor before they killed you. Let’s get moving before they come back!”
The local star must have started rising on the idea he was going to die if he stayed. He finally got off the floor and made a beeline to where I was waiting. We turned and ran towards my mapped exit and as we got to the door, I looked back and saw a disk just starting to drop out of the overhead. Coonts got the door open and ran through. As I started through, it slammed into my shoulder and hip spinning me onto the floor at Coonts feet.
The panicked Grawl called out. “They are attempting to lock down the docks, we will be trapped, you must call more humans from your ship or we will be destroyed!”
14
The impact from the door had me dazed. I got to my hands and knees. Coonts exclamation of our impending doom quickly cleare
d the fog from my thoughts. My attempt to stand upright had me at eye level with the Grawl. The look of absolute terror on his face must have been contagious. I felt the chill of his fear run up my spine and slap me firmly in the brain box. I did not know what to do. There wasn’t a “B” team waiting in the wings to back up my escape plan. I stood up and I could feel the fear coming around again, with a right hook this time. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. A sudden calming resolve shrugged off my panic induced fear and its assault on my will to carry on. A small smile formed on my lips and it grew into something sinister. They thought I was a beast so I would give them one.
“Nathan! Your probability of returning to this vessel had dropped to below 34%. Your lack of communication had left me postulating the probability of your death by hostile forces in the outpost. Be advised there are eleven Grawl technicians attempting to override the locks on my hatches. They have also dropped the atmospheric retention field. I am picking up signals from Coont’s implants but I am not detecting a power source for an atmospheric suit. He must acquire a suit before you attempt to enter the docking bay.”
The relief I felt wash over me when I heard Justice over the comms was quickly quashed by the fact I now had to find a volunteer to give up a suit for Coonts. This crap just kept getting better and better.
“Justice, I could use some help opening these doors. Is there anything you can do?”
“Negative Nathan, I am locked out of all access systems. There is a high probability you will be forced to find an alternate route to this ship,”
I looked out across the large open storage area. I saw several doorways on the side wall close to the big pressure door giving me access to the ship. I was positive we were locked in. I did not think Coonts would have access authority to get through any of the passages, let alone access to a suit. We would be sitting ducks if we tried to make it to the other side by running straight across. Since I was not getting any help from Coonts, I made the decision to work our way around the numerous crates stacked around the perimeter. The route I had chosen presented its own problems in the simple fact if we had cover, so did anybody else that wished to impede out progress.
“Coonts, I know this is going to stain your nickers but I’m the only human in several thousand light years that I know of. You’re going to have to suck it up! We need to find you an atmospheric suit before we get to the dock area, do you know where they’re stored?”
He did not like the ramifications of my comment and made a forlorn reply. “There are atmospheric suits in the security rooms closest to the docking bay. Any delay in our flight will increase the chances of a more organized response to your escape plans.”
“Well at least they’re using stun weapons. I don’t think that will slow us down enough to matter unless they manage to hit you.”
“Foolish human, those weapons were designed to kill primitive predators. You are fortunate artifact 699 is resistant to light charged particles or you would be dead! The reason I have not perished is they feel I still have some apparent value to them. Now I fear the value they foresaw is nil and I will be actively targeted.”
The remorse I was feeling earlier about killing Cort and his clan members was eating at me. I had been agonizing over whether it was a gross overreaction on my part and if I could have done something different. Knowing I had been marked for execution changed everything for me. It would not brush aside the shadows of doubt I was experiencing. It did instill the grim determination not to hesitate if confronted with deadly force.
The thought of going through all of this trouble to get Coonts only to have him killed at the door to the ship, made me slip my cape off and pull most of the ammunition from the loops. I filled the cargo pockets on the legs of my coveralls and then put the cape over Coonts. If they did not know I was armed, it was a sure thing now. I racked the slide of the bull pup shotgun and threaded another round of buckshot into the magazine. I remembered how well the stubby shotgun had served me hunting wild pigs in heavy brush. Now the weapon was going to add to its resume’ in ways the manufacturer could never comprehend.
The Grawl looked up at me. “It is a small comfort knowing you have possibly prolonged my life, but removing your outer shielding may ultimately prove detrimental to yours. Your primitive projectile weaponry may slow pursuit but will not penetrate the atmospheric armoring of cloak suit technology.”
I was praying the modifications Justice had performed on my weapons would give me the edge I needed to get out of here alive.
“Don’t count this primitive human out yet. Let’s find you a suit so we can get the hell out of here before your friends in the dock figure out how to board my ship.”
“Human, any systems your race is currently using for intergalactic travel would be easily penetrated by even the lowest level Grawl offspring. We would be better off to beg the mercy of Drayen in hopes he might find us suitable for menial slave labor.”
The little shit was starting to piss me off! “Coonts, I am sick to death hearing about your idiotic superiority complex. The technological lead your race currently has over mine is going to change in the very near future. It’s going to do so whether your race likes it or not! Your so called Legacy Project is parked right outside, and it’s mine to command. Right now all I need from you is to stop your bullshit pep talks and start using your wonderfully advanced brain to think of ways to get us safely to my ship.”
The little twerp looked like a jack-o'-lantern he was so surprised. I was not going to stand there and let anyone take a pot shot at me with only half my armor. I grabbed Halloween puss by the edge of the much too large cape and jerked him along with me until he finally got a good head of steam on his own. We started working our way around the storage area towards the doors by the dock.
My audio pickups detected a slight hissing noise to our rear. I turned in time to see a disk drop out of the overhead with seven of the taller Grawl standing on it. The one in front had gold colored epaulets and stripes on his fancy cloak suit.
“STOP HUMAN BEAST, Cease your primitive violence at once and I will spare your insignificant life!”
If the little wanker ever saw what my shotgun did to wild hogs, he would hire a new speechwriter. I slowly stood upright and turned around to face Mr. Fountain of favors. It was hard for me to know if a Grawl is smiling or frowning. I took his reaction to noticing my armament as amusement. I had not used my weapons in anger yet but his bemused look made me nervous as hell. I started thinking he knew more than he was letting on.
“I will grant you one chance at life beast! Throw down your primitive weapons and surrender yourself along with the Grawl property you somehow managed to use to reach this location. I will see to it you are safely returned to your world once you have had proper cerebral conditioning. Your primitive brain should be able to comprehend the benevolent nature of my generous offer.”
I had to give it to the guy, nobody had a way of pushing my buttons like he was managing to do. It was not helping matters hearing Coonts whispering out loud, “Don’t trust him he is going to kill us!” About that time another disk came down from the overhead leaving me temporarily lost for snappy comebacks. The disk was loaded to capacity with four creatures that were giving my weird-shit-o-meter a real workout. They were about eight feet tall and shaped like blunt upside down ice cream cones. They had four spider looking legs and four arms with four fingered hands. What took the prize was the large grotesque set of Chameleon eyes on each side of their pointy heads.
I called up my secure comms. “Justice, I got some scary looking things out here. I have no idea what they are capable of doing, but I know how many they plan on using to do it.”
“Nathan, I am picking up the faint signals of Sitch thought controllers. Sitch are a primitive race bred for slave labor. They are also used for death matches in the fighting pits in the lower sections of the outpost. Many races gamble on the outcome of unarmed combat between Sitch owned by different trading species. Most Sitch are manipul
ated by their master’s implants by way of small controllers imbedded in their craniums at birth. They move swiftly and are incredible strong. They have no will of their own so they will fight to the death without hesitation.”
Since I did not have a prejudice bone in my body, I decided to add nonracial and non-weight biased to my growing list of galactic credentials. I jerked my shotgun up from my side and a bright green dot appeared on Drayen’s chest. What I thought was a look of amusement changed to something else as I gave him two quick blast of buckshot. The modifications Justice had made to the rounds were visually dramatic. The shot leaped out at Drayen and flashed into bright silver tracers that made contact with him and his cohorts. It sunk in then came popping back out and falling on the floor in glowing pieces of slag. The results were gratifying as Drayen was driven backwards into his stunned audience. I suddenly felt the spirit of sharing come over me and generously donated free samples of the glowing Earth souvenirs to all of Drayen’s minions.
The Grawl on the first disk were down and thrashing like fish out of water. The big ugly beasts on the other disk were twisting to and fro swatting at themselves in confusion. All had several smoking wounds on their grotesque bodies. Not wanting to deal with any uncertainties I flicked my magazine selector over to slugs and aimed low into the forest of spider legs. I swept my remaining seven rounds back and forth into my targets. Crates behind the beast were exploding as the slugs tore through their legs and kept going. The big creatures were down and dragging themselves around on the floor by their upper appendages. Satisfied with my handy work I started treading shells into the empty shotgun as fast as I could pull them from my pockets. I felt a tugging on the back of my coveralls and turned to see and even grimmer looking jack-o'-lantern expression on Coonts’s face.
“Mr. Myers we must leave here immediately! If you have killed Drayen, you have made extremely powerful enemies. We must flee or we will be destroyed!”
First of my Kind Page 16
