Mechanic (Corrosive Knights)

by E. R. Torre

  “Everyone?”

  “Yeah. Even your daughter. The only way Octi’s getting their money’s worth off that thing is if they sell it as a toy or box it up with every kid’s unhappy meal.”

  “Fair enough. Did you find anything?”

  “Yes and no. Robert Octi Jr.'s here. He wouldn't leave the comfort of the Big City unless there was something big going on here.”

  “In that respect, he’s a lot like you.”

  Nox glared at Ellis.

  “Just a joke,” Ellis said. He considered Nox’s words for a few seconds. “Your theory about that survey van is looking good. First Octi Corp. silences them, and now the company’s second in charge is personally nosing around. There’s definitely something going on. What’s the plan?”

  “Whatever Robert’s doing, I doubt it involves this particular base. Sooner or later he’ll come out, and when he does, we follow.”

  “That’s it? That’s your whole plan?”

  “It’s a work in progress,” Nox said. She rolled onto her back and eased her hands behind her head. Far above them, a half-moon bathed the blood red sands in a soft white glow.

  The rising sun obliterated the night. In the base, warehouse doors opened with a loud groan. The sound awoke Nox. She stirred for a moment before retrieving her sunglasses and putting them on. Ellis, lying beside her, stirred as well.

  They were both wide awake when the sleek blue helicopter was rolled out of the warehouse and towed some fifty feet from the warehouse doors. Nox stared hard through her binoculars, examining everyone involved in this early morning action. She spotted two people emerge from the warehouse and walk to the vehicle.

  “It’s Robert Octi Junior and his bodyguard,” Nox said.

  The two entered the helicopter while those that remained on the landing pad stepped back. After a few moments, the helicopter’s blades began a slow spin. With time, they gained speed until the sand below the chopper was whipped into angry swirls. The helicopter took off and headed east, as if on a collision course with the rising sun.

  “Damn,” Nox muttered.

  She hurriedly rose and rolled up her sleeping bag. Ellis did the same.

  “We can't follow them,” Ellis said. “They’re too fast. Shit, even if they didn't see us their scanners would pick us up.”

  “What’s the range of their scanners?”

  “I don’t know. It depends on the equipment they’re using.”

  “You said the Tower Co. trucks could spot a pursuer at five miles.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s assume the helicopter uses similar scanning equipment. Unlike the trucks, we can follow a flying object from a far greater distance.” Nox handed Ellis her binoculars. “You’ll be my eyes. Guide me.”

  “That’s some plan.”

  “Better than what I had last night.”

  The two mounted Nox’s chopper. Ellis zeroed in on the helicopter’s position.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  Nox kicked the chopper’s ignition, but nothing happened. She frowned and swore.

  “They are getting away,” Ellis said. “You might want to hurry.”

  Nox swore again. It took five tries before she had her chopper going.

  They tore through the soft desert sands at reckless speeds. Ellis, seated behind Nox, kept his eyes on the Octi Corp. helicopter. At times he almost lost sight of it, but it was the only foreign object in an otherwise clear blue sky.

  Nagel piloted the helicopter. Though his eyes seldom strayed from the view outside, he spent more and more time staring at the scanner beside the directional radar. After a while, a faint blip appeared at the corner of the scanner. It faded away, only to reappear again a few minutes later. Nagel pointed to the blip.

  “Yes Nagel,” Robert Octi Jr. said. He was in the passenger seat next to his bodyguard. “I noticed it, too. Do you think someone's following us?”

  Nagel looked directly into Robert’s eyes. He offered a cold smile. Robert laughed.

  “Of course they are. Probably the same person that put Donovan’s piece of shit robot out of its misery. Hmmm…I wonder if they’re Tower Co. spies.”

  Nagel said nothing.

  “Whoever they are, they made a big mistake,” Robert said. He picked up the radio receiver. “This is Octi One. Please respond Octi Base 32.”

  Static filled the receiver for a few seconds before clearing.

  “This is Octi Base 32. Come in Octi One.”

  “We're five miles from Mesa 12, heading north,” Robert said. “We've got an unidentified ground vehicle following us. Our direction is 45 by 38. We request someone discourage the vehicle's driver from continuing his activity. Do you copy?”

  “We copy. One of our trucks is in your area. ETA for interception is fifteen minutes.”

  “Excellent. Octi One out.”

  Robert put the receiver back in its place.

  “Whoever it is —was— won't be bothering us much longer.”

  Nox’s chopper kicked up clouds of dust as it roared past the uneven dunes. A desert road intersected their path and Nox turned on to it, thankful for a smoother way. Ellis took advantage and cleaned the dust from the binoculars. When he was done, he put them back over his eyes. His jaw tightened. He lowered the binoculars and tapped Nox on her shoulder.

  “I don't like this,” he yelled above the choppers’ engine. “The helicopter’s slowing down.”

  “So?”

  “They haven’t changed altitude or direction, only speed. It’s like they want us to follow.”

  “They know we’re here?”

  “That’s my guess.”

  Nox stared out at the horizon. They were currently riding flat desert land but, in the distance, she spotted a group of three mesas. Almost directly over them, some five hundred or so feet in the air, the Mechanic spotted a tiny black dot. It was the Octi Corp. helicopter. Until now, Nox needed Ellis and his powerful binoculars to tell her where they were. Until now.

  “Where are we?” Nox asked.

  “Route twenty one,” Ellis replied. “Some of the supply trucks use it now and again.”

  Nox considered this.

  “Which means other Octi vehicles could be in the area.”

  “Yeah,” Ellis said. “We should stop. Turn arou—”

  The loud crack of a rifle shot interrupted Ellis’ words.

  Nox’s chopper veered wildly to the side and Ellis was the first to fall off. He hit the ground hard and rolled around like a rag doll. Nox tried to keep the chopper up, but another bullet crashed into her vehicle’s gas tank and sent a spray of volatile liquid all over the Mechanic. Nox released the handlebars and fell.

  For her, the entire desert world turned upside down.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Nox tucked her body tight when she hit the ground. The sand was burning hot and scrapped the flesh from her elbows and ripped her pants.

  While the world spun around her, another bullet whizzed past and shattered a rock. Nox could do nothing about it. The next shot could well be the last.

  But luck was on Nox’s side. She felt her body rise into the air and float for a second before crashing between the narrow walls of a small ditch. It lay beside the desert road and hid Nox’s body from the sniper. The shooter was clearly furious that his target was no longer visible. A barrage of bullets slammed into the ditch’s opening. None ricocheted within.

  Nox felt blood drip down the side of her face. She opened and closed her eyes and tried to get her bearings but was too dazed. Instead, she remained flat on her back, staring up at the blue sky. The gunfire eventually stopped. So too did the spinning in Nox’s head.

  Nox checked her body and found all bones were intact. Her only serious injuries were a deep cut on her forehead and a bad scrape on her right knee. Neither was life threatening. Nox next examined her surroundings. The bullets came from the west, from the direction of the mesas. The ditch was higher on the west side, so she was able to look up and over and at th
e road she was on.

  The first thing she saw was Ellis lying beside a large boulder. The elderly man was unconscious and blood spilled from an ugly gash on his head. Had Ellis fallen a second later, he would have rolled into the boulder and smashed himself to pieces. Had he fallen a second before, he would have rolled to a stop in plain sight of the sniper. As it was, the boulder’s mass provided a perfect shield.

  Between Ellis and Nox was the chopper. Its frame was bent and its handlebars twisted from the crash.

  “Damn,” Nox muttered.

  She checked her belt. Other than a small pocket knife carried at her side, she was defenseless. The Mechanic let out a laugh.

  “Would you be so kind as to come in a little closer,” Nox told the hidden sniper. “You do and I’ll give you a hell of a cut.”

  Nox again stared out of the ditch. Beside Nox’s chopper lay her back pack and, next to that, her water canteen.

  “You didn’t get us, but you must be smiling,” Nox said. The canteen made a beautiful lure.

  Nox eased up a little and cautiously stared off into the distance. She spotted the three mesas to the west and replayed the events of the last few minutes in her mind. She tried to determine exactly where the shots came from. After a while, she gave up. The sniper was in one of the mesas, but it was impossible to tell which.

  And that was assuming there was only one sniper.

  Nox thought about this for a few seconds but discarded the idea that there may be more. The fact that both Ellis and she were still alive not only proved they were dealing with a single shooter but also that the person’s skills with a rifle were, at best, mediocre.

  The ambush was hastily drawn. Robert Octi Junior spotted Nox’s tail and called in the nearest personnel. Though he failed to kill his targets, the sniper had pinned them down. It wouldn’t be long before reinforcements arrived to finish the job.

  Nox turned away. Her eyes once again settled on the canteen and backpack.

  If Ellis and she had any chance, any chance at all of surviving…

  Nox’s body tensed. She had one chance, all right. Could she...?

  This is fucking crazy, Nox thought.

  Yeah, so what else are you going to do?

  Nox let out a breath and closed her eyes. She suppressed a shiver. There’s nothing else you can do. It’s all or nothing.

  “All or nothing,” Nox whispered.

  Here we go.

  With all her remaining strength, Nox leaped out of the ditch and ran for the canteen.

  She ran as fast as she could, zigzagging along the way.

  The canteen lay thirty feet away, then fifteen…

  She took a breath. She would make it.

  Ten feet, then five.

  The canteen was within reach. She just had to lean down, pluck it off the ground…

  Nox abruptly changed directions. Just as she did, the roar of sniper fire filled the air and the canteen erupted. A second bullet hit the ground directly beside it and in the exact spot where Nox would have been had she actually reached for the canteen.

  Instead, Nox’s change in direction brought her to the backpack. In one smooth, fluid motion the Independent reached down and grabbed it just as a third bullet tore into the ground a few feet away. The sniper was tricked into thinking Nox was going for the water and wasted every one of his shots.

  Nox zigzagged back to the ditch and hurled herself into it. One last bullet sought, but failed, to find its mark.

  Nox hit the ditch walls hard. Darkness crept up on her and she let out a groan. After a few minutes, the pain faded. Nox wiped the sweat from her forehead.

  I was right, she thought. You are a piss poor shooter.

  Nox took her handgun out of the backpack and also removed a small black container. Within it was a barrel extension, a grip extension, and a small targeting sight. Nox screwed each piece into place on the handgun until it resembled a miniature rifle.

  “Show yourself again,” Nox muttered to the unseen sniper. She stared down the sight and adjusted it until she was satisfied. “Just one peek.”

  But Nox still had no idea which mesa the sniper occupied. It was likely, too, that he changed his position. Especially after his target got hold of a backpack containing who knows what within it. Still, the sniper had little to worry about. Nox and Ellis were locked down and the cavalry was that much closer to arriving.

  Nox shook her head.

  Despite the effort and risk, despite the comfort of carrying a weapon, Ellis and she were still hopelessly trapped.

  The sun beat down relentlessly on Nox’s hiding place. She felt the ferocious rays steal her strength, but there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. She thought about the Big City and she thought about all those shitty bars she hung out in.

  At least they were air conditioned. Nox smiled. At least there was that.

  Nox’s thoughts turned to the distant past. She remembered the heat of the Arabian deserts and just how much she despised the place. She swore she’d never again venture into the sands. Yet here she was. The merciless sands just wouldn’t let her go.

  Nox’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud groan. Ellis was stirring.

  “...son...of a...bitch,” Ellis moaned.

  “Stay where you are!” Nox yelled.

  Ellis rubbed his head and got to his knees. He noted the boulder lying in front of him and leaned against it. He let out a laugh.

  “Sniper?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Now I know how those desert rats felt,” Ellis said. He coughed. “Fucking karma.”

  “Karma?”

  “Heh. Something the stoners back in the military talked about. Spiritual crap. You know, the type of shit you don’t believe in.”

  “Thank god I’m an atheist.”

  Ellis let out a laugh.

  “You…you got your gun?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ellis continued rubbing his head.

  “Back in the Arabian Wars, we had this bad-ass sergeant who told us exactly what to do when dealing with snipers.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Call in a missile strike, flatten the whole town,” Ellis said. He chuckled. “You wouldn’t happen to have any missiles stored away in your back pack, would you?”

  “Afraid not.”

  “Didn’t think so. Anyway, he also trained us on how to deal with sexually transmitted diseases. You haven’t lived until a seventy year old man tells you where not to stick your tongue.”

  “That’s one class I’m glad I skipped.”

  Ellis was quiet for a few seconds.

  “The sergeant said that if we were pinned down by a sniper and couldn’t call in outside help, there was only one way left to flush the bastard out. You had to do it personally. Nox, I have to draw him out.”

  Alarm filled the Mechanic’s face.

  “Stay where you are!” she barked. “The sniper’s green. He’ll show himself.”

  Ellis let out a sigh.

  “You know the sniper’s got back-up on its way. As it is, we might be too late.”

  “You’re a better shot, Ellis. I’ll throw you the gun. I’ll be the target.”

  “That’s mighty noble of you, but right now, the way I feel, I wouldn’t trust me with any sort of long range shot. That fall did quite a number on me and I’m not seeing so good. Anyway, if you throw me the gun, it could get damaged. We’re fucked as it is. We’d be truly fucked if the gun’s barrel got bent.”

  Nox was silent.

  “Besides, why let him know we’re armed? At least we’ve got the element of surprise.”

  Nox remained silent. Ellis frowned.

  “We haven’t got all day, Nox. Are you ready to take the shot?”

  “All right,” Nox finally said. “Fuck.”

  “I know the feeling.”

  “Look, I wasn’t kidding. The shooter’s skills are shit. If you move quickly enough, you can get through this.”

  “I can’t move quick, Nox. I
can barely move at all. That’s why I’ll make a good decoy. You just make your shot.”

  Nox thought hard.

  “Look,” she finally said. “Forget it. We don’t know if any backup is coming. The sun’ll set in a few more hours and we can—”

  “No, Nox. The cavalry’s coming, but it’s coming for the other side. Are you ready to get him?”

  Nox stared at the mesas. She drew her handgun and rested its stock on her shoulder. She stared through the telescopic sight.

  “I’m…I’m ready.”

  The smile returned to Ellis’ face.

  “When you see my daughter, tell her...tell her…”

  “Tell her yourself.”

  “I’ve done plenty of things to be ashamed of, Nox. Almost all of them happened during the war. But I never had any regrets about her. Nor about you.”

  Nox bit her upper lip so hard she drew blood.

  “I’m glad we got to know each other. I’m glad you survived. Maybe one day, you can tell everyone who you are and what you did, as well as what they did to you.”

  “Why would anyone care?”

  “The world needs to know. It’s…it’s like we’ve been sleepwalking all this time, happy to hide in our comfortable homes and let others run our lives. The ones in power get richer and more powerful while we’re squeaking by and hoping for better days. Those days aren’t coming. Not unless we make them happen.”

  Ellis rose to his feet.

  “I’m babbling, Nox,” Ellis said and let out a chuckle. “The fall must have done me more harm than I thought.” He was silent for a few seconds. “Send every one of those bastards to hell.”

  Ellis stepped away from the boulder, and in plain view of the mesas.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Nox immediately spotted the puff of smoke. It came from the mesa on the far left. Nearly a full second later came the roar of the gunshot. By then, Nox was firing her own weapon, over and over and over again. She sent an entire clip of bullets at the exposed attacker.