by R. E. Graham
“Two more life signs detected” Marth said.
There wasn’t much time, he needed to know who she was though.
“Are you Lilly Aurelius?” he asked, his voice sounding slightly synthetic as it came from the speaker built into the front of his helmet. He removed his shoulder knife and cut the rope binding her wrists together.
She did not respond to him. Instead she covered her face and cowered in fear.
“I am Inquisitor Damien Varius. I’m not going to hurt you child” Varius said as he pointed to himself and then extended his right hand.
Hesitatingly the child slowly reached out her hand to his.
“Is your name Lilly?”
She looked at him and nodded as her body continued to shake.
“Well what do we have here?” asked a voice from behind the two.
Varius froze in place for a moment before standing up slowly and turning around.
Jonnt and his wife Deborah stood in the doorway. The inn keeper’s face was twisted with the smuggest look imaginable as he aimed his own scattergun at the Inquisitor.
Using his body to shield the child, Varius asked, “How long have you been kidnapping people from the neighboring towns Jonnt?”
“It isn’t what you think Inquisitor!” Deborah said as the two men stared each other down.
“Oh? What is it then?” Varius asked keeping his focus on Jonnt’s scattergun.
“We only did this because the government forgot about us! People from our town went all the way to the capital here on Assembly to try and get more food rations sent to us, but they could only get a few crates. We did all we could to prevent this. Please, you have to understand…” the inn keeper’s wife began to walk into the room to plead further but her husband put his arm out in front of her.
“Deb you stay put! This man doesn’t care about our problems.” Jonnt glared at the Inquisitor with a deep inner bitterness. “He is just some cog in the machine. Unthinking. Uncaring. We did try to get help sent to us as the drought set in and our crops all died. This is a thousand cycle kind of drought. This world wasn’t even colonized last time this happened…”
“Why didn’t you leave the area then?” the Inquisitor asked.
“And where would we go? The entire planet is dried dust. Not to mention, our ancestors have lived in Alachua for multiple generations trying to build this town into something. What do we do? Just go and abandon generations of work?”
Varius remained motionless, saying nothing back.
“Heh…” Jonnt scoffed. “Mister righteous.”
“Where is Inquisitor Kopen, Jonnt?” Varius asked keeping his tone neutral.
“We didn’t know that little girl was anyone important until he showed up. Decided to keep her locked away until we had a better plan. You know, he did seem like a nice guy…for an inquisitor. Always thought all inquisitors would be more like, well, you. No common decency. All that matters is the job.”
“Where is he Jonnt?!” Varius needed to know what happened to Kopen, to know what his judgement would be.
Lilly shouted and ran to the corner of the room to hide herself from the shouting. The Inquisitor kept his eyes right on the other man.
“Please, you have to understand…” Deborah tried to plead but again her husband cut her off.
“You shut your damned mouth!” the inn keeper barked. “This man doesn’t care about our misery. You want to know where he is? I believe Kopen is at the diner back by the inn. And come to think of it, some of him is probably here too!” Jonnt began to laugh to himself loudly.
Varius fought the urge to blast the man in front of him into eternity. Instead, he turned to Deborah and asked, “How many in the town know about what is happening here?”
The laughter startled the inn keeper’s wife. She looked at her husband confused.
The inn keeper stared at the Inquisitor for a moment with an inhuman grin. As he blinked, his eyes turned completely black.
A cold shiver ran through Varius’ body as his brain attempted to register that his adversary’s eyes just changed colors right in front of him.
The entire demeanor of the inn keeper immediately seemed to be different and now he didn’t seem to blink.
“Hello Damien” Jonnt said.
Varius turned his head slightly to the side, confused.
“Oh…this may be a little disorienting for you. I sometimes forget how stupid and simple you humans can be.”
Deborah reached her hand out to her husband, but he screeched back. “Get your hand away from me woman before I string you up on meat hooks!”
She pulled back in terror and looked to Varius in shock.
“What are you?” the Inquisitor asked keeping himself as still as possible.
“Me? Oh, I’m what you humans fear that lives in the darkness. I have been hard at work in this disgusting little town making preparations just right for you. Unfortunately, your little friend Kopen wasn’t what I needed to complete my plans.”
Varius mustered all of the strength he could within himself to ask, “What preparations? What have you done to the people of this town?”
After taking in a very deep breath, Jonnt licked his twisted lips. “I can taste your fear Damien. It is so delicious. As for this town, that doesn’t matter. Someone important is eagerly waiting to meet you, so, you are coming with me.”
“Oh, I don’t think so” Varius said definitively.
In a flash the Inquisitor drew his sidearm and fired two rounds into Jonnt’s chest as he side stepped attempting to get out of direct aim of the scattergun. While the two shots did hit the other man square in the torso, he was still able to track the Inquisitor and fire his own shot off. The powerful blast of the two-handed weapon didn’t penetrate the Inquisitor’s body armor, but it did slam him into the wall very hard.
Deborah spun around and ran for the alarm button outside the room.
Marth interjected with its synthetic female voice, “Severe damage to chest armor and trauma to ribcage.”
“Yeah, I noticed…” he said as he stood up.
Jonnt was on the ground gurgling blood. Varius managed to limp to the doorway and aim his pistol.
Deborah reached up and managed to hit the red alarm button, but before she could turn around to check on her husband she was shot in the back of the head. Her body bashed into the wall and slid to the floor.
The alarm began to howl loudly throughout the facility.
“You…are only slowing down the inevitable Damien…you were chosen…”
In severe pain, the Inquisitor turned back to the inn keeper to find him completely standing and bringing his weapon back up to fire.
Varius spun outside of the room just as a chunk of the doorframe and wall exploded outward. Lilly screamed and held her hands tightly to her ears.
As Jonnt stepped out of the small room Varius fired a round into the other man’s kneecap.
He groaned furiously as he fell hard. The additional wound did not seem stop him as he attempted to aim his scattergun again.
Varius fired twice more hitting the inn keeper once in the shoulder and in the stomach. The scattergun clanked on the floor as it fell from Jonnt’s hand. Even though his body was shutting down he managed to look back at the Inquisitor with those soulless black eyes. “I’ll be seeing you soon. Have fun getting out of the town…” he said before he blinked, and his eyes changed back to normal.
Fear immediately filled Jonnt’s face as he tried to speak but couldn’t as he choked on his blood. The Inquisitor stood still for several heartbeats, pistol aimed at the inn keeper ensuring he wasn’t going to get back up.
Chapter 5
Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 2
Prefecture: Quarry
Planet: Assembly
Location: Inside the Slaughterhouse
A loud shrieking sound boomed from speakers throughout the slaughterhouse and mounted to the outside of the structure. Varius walked back to the room and slumped against the do
orway. While he cradled his ribs with his right arm he held out his left hand to Lilly. “We have to leave this place.”
The little girl reached out and Varius helped her stand. He bent down and lifted her up in his left arm. He peeked out from the doorway and checked his HUD for anyone else approaching. Seeing the room was clear he moved out and headed back towards the slaughterhouse’s entrance.
Before even opening the front door, bright lights shown through the small windows as a vehicle drove up. Varius could hear the sound of doors opening and closing along with the voices of men outside over the dull wail of the alarm system.
The Inquisitor holstered his pistol and set Lilly down beside him. He opened a pocket on his left thigh and pulled out a thin silver rectangle. Grasping it in both hands tightly he bent it. The rectangle bent back on its own as he placed it vertically on the door near where the doorknob and the doorframe meet. The rectangle strip began to glow orange before it faded back to gray. While it cooled it fused together with the door and the frame preventing the door from being opened.
Varius picked Lilly back up and drew his pistol again. “Marth, I need a different exit” he said as he turned back around.
“There is another door at the back of the building.” The AI displayed a route on the HUD leading down a hallway ahead of him.
As he walked for the hallway Lilly turned back startled by the men banging on the door.
With his hands full, the Inquisitor kicked the backdoor open and stepped out while holding his pistol up ready to shoot. He checked to the left for enemies. Just then a bullet hit him in the right forearm causing him to drop his pistol from the pain. Thankfully for him, his protective suit saved his body from most of the injury. The bullet did little more than bruise his arm, but that did nothing to stop the intense pain. Beneath the outer uniform each inquisitor wore a thin suit that was designed to tighten at high impact to help deflect and spread the force of bullets depending on the angle of the hit.
He rushed back inside as more bullets hit the doorway. The alarm continued screaming while Varius passed through the kitchen area as a man with a scattergun rounded the corner in front of him. Instinctively the Inquisitor spun and pulled Lilly in towards his chest as he took the shot to his back. Again, his helmet informed him of his building injuries and compromises to his armor. The small girl began to cry as he ran back through the kitchen the way they came and towards the right, narrowly missing another shot that punched through the wall.
Running down the hall he turned left and found a room he hadn’t entered yet.
“They went in the tunnel!” a voice shouted from somewhere outside the room.
“Bunker?” Varius thought to himself as he looked around. His HUD detected multiple heartbeats approaching them. He spotted a door at the other end of the room. Running quickly out of options, he opened the door to see stairs that lead down to a dirt path lit by a solo string of lights along the wall of the tunnel.
While he charged down the stairs Varius held Lilly tight and began to run once he hit the dirt. The path went on much farther than he could see.
This was probably used for smuggling around the sinful acts of the slaughterhouse. Exactly how many of the townspeople knew about what was going on with all of the missing citizens from the nearby towns?
Lilly pointed behind Varius, back down the path, “Uh oh!”
Bullets began to zing pass the fleeing pair. One round made sparks shoot out when it caused a light nearby to explode. Lilly shouted again as Varius ducked into a path that lead up to some other staircase. He set the girl down and reached up and removed the laser rifle on his back. As the weapon disconnected from his back it began to unfold and locked into active mode.
He twisted around the corner and opened fire. Bright blue beams jetted at his pursuers. Two bolts sliced through a younger man in the chest and upper right thigh. He screamed in pain as he fell. Two other men pressed themselves up against the walls of the tunnel trying to become smaller targets. Varius fired several more shots until his focus was pulled away when Marth alerted him that two more heartbeats were coming up behind him from the new staircase.
As he raised his right arm to lock the rifle to his back again it folded back up just as it reconnected to the magnet. After grabbing Lilly, he bolted out to the right running further down the tunnel just as the door of the staircase flung open.
Varius continued running, his heart pounding in his ears, as more and more voices could be heard following behind them. Bullets whizzed by and suddenly that was when a green laser bolt cut through his left leg passing further down the tunnel until it burned into the wall somewhere further on. Clutching Lilly tightly, he caught himself from falling and instead rolled into somewhat of a ready stance.
Another green bolt passed just shy of his helmet. Varius spotted another stonecrete staircase close by. He hobbled over to the stairs while carrying Lilly. With all of his might he fought to get up the stone steps until he reached the door. He threw the door open and peeked inside and saw that it looked like they were in someone’s cellar since he could see through wooden slats for a ceiling.
“They are closing in behind you” the AI said.
After setting Lilly down inside the dusty room he turned back to the door and grabbed a black cylinder from his lower back.
“Well I have a gift for them.” A red-light glowed on top as the Inquisitor activated the device. He waited for several heartbeats as the men approached the stairs then tossed the cylinder in the tunnel and slammed the door shut.
One of the men down below shouted, “Grenade!” as the Inquisitor ran up to Lilly and shielded her with his body. The explosion rocked the room the pair were in, streams of dust descended from above.
“Are you okay?” he grunted to Lilly as he stood up.
She nodded as tears began to well in her good eye.
Various clenched his jaws angrily as he pulled a metal shelf next to the door down to block the door to the tunnel. Glass jars on the shelves fell and shattered on the floor, spilling clear liquid all around.
Marth again chimed in Varius’ ear, “Another heartbeat detected.”
Lilly let out a terrified shriek, but before the Inquisitor could turn back to the small girl he felt two big hands lift him up and throw him across the room. His right shoulder slammed into another metal shelf loaded with more glass jars. Two of the containers tumbled to the ground and burst. Lilly ran behind a wooden crate to hide from the brawl.
As the Inquisitor stood up prepared to fight, he got a look at his sudden attacker and took a step back in a little bit of shock. The man was clearly a whole head taller than Varius, who was already a tall man, and had some incredibly wide shoulders.
Unsheathing his knife from his shoulder, the Inquisitor took a step towards the large man. The attacker however picked up a nearby plank of wood and smashed it against the Inquisitor’s helmet. The plank broke in two but the law man managed to stay upright.
Varius shook his head to clear his blurred vision. He flipped the knife and caught the blade with his gloved hand. With one quick motion he threw the knife and impaled into the big man’s foot right to the floor.
“Raaaaah!” the man bellowed in pain. He leaned down to the ground and yanked the knife out of his foot in one mighty jerk motion.
“I’m gonna skewer you like an animal!” the man said with a devilish grin.
Varius jumped back to avoid a jab from the bladed weapon. The Inquisitor grabbed a jar from the standing shelf and flung it as hard as he could. The glass jar bashed the man in the face but didn’t break until it hit the ground. It did momentarily stun the attacker though. Varius used the opening to dash forward and block another knife attack with his left forearm. He flicked his assassin blade out and stabbed the man four times before the man grabbed his right forearm with his massive left hand.
The large man smiled widely in defiance just before his face was smashed in from Varius’ headbutt. Both men staggered backwards for a moment before
the Inquisitor regained himself. He reached up and grabbed his rifle. The large man began to run forwards at Varius before he was skewered in the heart and chest by multiple laser bolts. The Inquisitor stepped to the side as the lifeless body crashed into the standing shelf breaking even more jars.
Varius looked up to see a wooden staircase leading to the above floor. After picking Lilly up, he limped up each step feeling intense pain in his ribcage. As he got a look at the above room he realized they were inside the inn.
Looking out the front window he saw several wheeled vehicles pull up. The silhouettes of more men moving in the contrast of the darkness around them and the bright lights from the vehicles. That’s when Varius saw him. Stepping out from a white wheeled truck was the Mayor in his crisp white suit. He held a rifle in his right hand, while he coordinated and pointed directions with his left.
They’re all guilty then…
He looked around the inn and spotted an oil lamp that hung from a nail in the wall. It wasn’t lit but would still do nicely. He set Lilly down and grabbed the oil lamp and threw it at the bar. It burst, and oil covered the countertop, alcohol and the padded wooden stools. He also tossed in some other tie-down cushions from the chairs around the small table.
Varius activated his comm system build into his helmet. “This is Inquisitor Varius, code one-four-silo-alpha-seven. I request an airstrike on the town of Alachua.”
“Roger that Inquisitor” responded the female operator. “Fighters inbound. T-minus ten.”
“Have the fighters stay to the South of the town. I will order when to strike” the Inquisitor said as he grabbed his rifle and aimed it at the front windows. He fired multiple shots wildly through the glass. The men outside ducked for cover.
“Wilco Inquisitor” the operator said before the line was cut.
Varius set his rifle down on the table and took a flare from his left thigh pocket. Using his right hand, he ignited the flare and tossed at the bar. He grabbed his rifle and then Lilly.
“Get in there and kill him!” shouted Mayor White to his men. Several gunmen approached the front door while three others opened fired. Bullets tore through the windows and walls completely missing the pair inside.
