As Gods Above

by Andre Labuschagne

  That is why we would like Master Fong to join us as well, since that way we can get away with minimal bloodshed.”

  “I know that something has been bothering my husband for quite a while now” Lyn answered. “May I call him to confirm. I will give my parole not to warn anybody unless I am sure that you are dishonest.”

  “Let me dial him for you.”

  “Hello. Li Mei, please connect me to my husband.”

  “Hello, Darling. How is your little project going?

  Like a bomb you say. I thought you would be having fun. Will I be seeing you soon?

  Sooner than I think?

  That’s good – I actually have a bit of a problem, there’s a man here who says you asked him to deliver a carpet – you know, that Ali Baba pattern?

  But the price seems to be a bit high – did you discuss it with him – he seems a bit foxy to me.”

  She turned to L’ki. “He wants to talk to you.”

  L’ki took the phone. ”Greetings Master Wu. I am merely an agent for our mutual friend – the Greek.

  He suggested that we deliver the product to your wife at her mothers, in order to save time and costs.

  Yes we have sufficient labor to handle the delivery. I am sure you will be very happy when you see the product – the colors are very clear, and the pattern is exquisite.

  OK, I’ll hand the phone back to your wife.”

  “Pei-ling?

  Yes.

  OK. See you soon Love.”

  “It seems to me that you are quite prepared for this kind of situation.” Freya remarked.

  “In China, everyone – especially those of us tied up with the organization, are always prepared to have to communicate secretly.

  Also, my husband and I have been together for a long time now, and we understand each other.

  Mother, Wu has vouched for these people, and their strange story. I am going with them.

  You and your husbands will obviously have to make your own decisions, but I believe you will suffer no harm either way?”

  “I will vouch for that!” Harold agreed.

  “So will I.” added Freya.

  Madame Fong considered their options. “Can you let just my mental call through?”

  “No problem. Let me inform our enforcers.

  Ready.”

  “Fong. Can you and Li Chang please come home for a couple of minutes? We need to make a couple of last minute decisions, and I need you to give me your input. Also we have found something I need you to see for yourself.

  We only need a couple of minutes.”

  Then she added to L’ki. “They are porting in.”

  L’ki barely had time to warn the enforcers, when the two men ported themselves in.

  “What is going on my dear? And who are these people?

  Is something wrong – I sense that all communications are blocked?”

  Quickly the women explained the situation, with Lyn confirming that her husband was a part of the arrangement.

  “He indicated that there was something he was very unhappy about.”

  “That must mean that they are going to release that virus they developed.” Li Chang commented. “I wondered if he was going to be able to stomach that.”

  “I believe you are right.” Fong agreed. He turned to the two foreigners. “Will you go screen down on your intentions with me?” he asked L’ki.

  “Yes. As long as my associate may come in with you as a safeguard.”

  “I have no objection. Li can be my second.”

  After a few moments of silent communication, Fong turned to his wife. I am satisfied they are honest. They are seriously trying to help us, on the recommendation of Wu Pei Li. I’m in.”

  “Me too.” Confirmed Li Chang.

  “Then let us commence.” L’ki called his three strongest teleporters in. “Firstly we will port you to a safe place. Is their anything you wish to take with you?”

  “Most of our possessions are already loaded, but our most precious and private possessions are here. Fortunately they are packed ready for transport to the ship.”

  They quickly gathered everything they wished to take with them, including Pei-ling’s possessions as well as the children. They were then ported to the Matterhorn Base, where they could be held safe, comfortable and incommunicado.

  As soon as the port was complete, L’ki gave the word and the force spread through town. Strangely no property was destroyed that didn’t belong to the enemy. And no innocent bystander was hurt.

  The first property to go was the Fong estate. Fortunately the servants all rushed out to attend to a fire, before the main house was totally destroyed. Unfortunately the family didn’t make it in time.

  Several organization plants were attacked next. Due to the power of the attacking force the organization forces seemed to melt away. Only when they reached the central processing facility did they experience organized defense.

  The defense was organized by two warriors with major powers – both high telepathy and telekinetic talents.

  Unfortunately for them, they were being matched to at least three Magos. Gerald Kerr, the more powerful of the warriors launched an all out attack on L’ki.

  He was supported by three of his enforcers, one of whom was a pyro. Kerr opened a channel and focused the fire into a lance. The speed of the attack was incredible – too fast to simply deflect or counter.

  L’ki did the only thing he could, He ported. Then he struck with all his might – he grabbed all the free electrical ions in the area with his telekinetic talent, then opened a channel to port the electricity with an exit vector aimed directly at the enemy warrior, while he imparted every possible erg of energy he was capable of to the emerging electrons.

  The resultant lightning bolt practically vaporized Kerr as well as John Chang, his main henchman. This effectively ended all resistance, it was more than the remaining enemy could take – they were not paid to fight at this level.

  Quietly they faded away. Then they took the only possible way out, porting to the moon base.

  The attacking force quickly assembled the gathered goods and ported them to the Matterhorn base. Then they destroyed the facility before porting there themselves.

  Quanzhou New City – East China – 1st February 2036

  “Time, guys!” Joe Sprout warned his troop. “The Hunan attack just hit a high; I think anyone who is watching is concentrating on them right now. Let’s hit them.”

  “Sho thing Boss” Teased Joseph, “Yo all hit them high, Ah’l jest hit them low!”

  “Hey Joseph, You-all sound just like them little dahkies our friends down there use in their plantations.”

  “Yessuh Massuh and this here dahkie am going to wok now.”

  “Ok, Ok guys, if we could hit them with your sense of humor, we could lay them dead without lifting a finger. Unfortunately we’re going to have to do this the hard way.

  Mortars and grenades – acquire target – launch!

  TK lead force, strike!”

  Suddenly the peaceful countryside about the visible plant erupted in flame and destruction. As large parts of the plant, and incidentally the armored door guarding access to the secret base under the plant dissolved into nothingness, the attack force advanced at full speed.

  Meanwhile, deep in the sublevels of the base, Wu Pei-ling was adding his mite to the confusion. As the alarms started sounding and every light on the security channels went dead, the sent the thought “now!” on Alpha’s private band.

  The next moment every computer screen in the facility went crazy, all doors froze in an open state, and the psi screens dropped.

  Immediately on actioning the plan, Alpha started withdrawing the last vestiges of it’s presence from the systems, and initiated the plant self destruct sequence.

  As L’ki and his crew were mopping up the opposition in Hunan, and Joe Sprout and the forlorn hope were storming through the front door, the main attack force materialized in the midst of the panicking sc
ientists in the main laboratory.

  Like clockwork the various groups went about their assigned tasks.

  Michael sought and found Pei-ling. “Dr. Fu Manchu, I presume!”

  “Affirmative my dear fellow!” Pei-ling quipped back. “I hope you are the furniture removal chappie, I need to relocate urgently – my landlord is evicting me.”

  “Just point us at the goods.” Requested Awaki.

  David and Bernardo grabbed the neat stack of canisters and ported them to the sub-Antarctic base.

  They relinquished control of them to the AIs and returned their attention to the fray, just as Michael and Awaki, in merge with Pei-ling grabbed the anti viral serum, porting that to New York, where Anzashi, Dianna and Marianne were waiting to deploy it if required.

  “Damn!” Pei-ling exclaimed, as Anzashi sent “Something has been sent from there – Michael, Awaki! We are tracing the port; it looks like the terminus was in the Ural region.”

  “She’s right, one of the flasks is missing – it must have been Strang. He must have grabbed it just before you ported. Can you still query Alpha?”

  “Not directly.” Michael replied. “But we can get in touch with Beta, which is the AI managing the virus at head office.”

  He immediately carried on: “Beta, can you give us an overview of the containers you received.”

  “Affirmative Michael. This is a visual of the stack.”

  “The missing canister is one of the airborne variants. The basic stock is enough to infect probably five thousand people. If they are not inoculated, the effect thereafter can only be imagined. Gestation is five days on the latest strains, and the virus is contagious from the second day.”

  Pei-ling shuddered at the thought.

  “That agent is supposed to attack the university and technology park at Swerdlowsk. They believe that the disease will spread amongst the pilots, and that they will try to escape by air, spreading the disease worldwide.”

  “’Zashi, Dianna! Did you girls hear that?”

  “We heard you Awaki! We have every sensitive at our command focusing on that virus. The person who received it is shielded, but our finders can see the virus clearly. We think he just boarded a plane – headed to Swerdlowsk.”

  “Sorry girls – this is Pei-ling. I believe our agent is a woman. She is probably Greek looking.

  ”

  “Are we talking about whom I think were talking about?”

  “Yes, our friend Ares’ favorite sister. We didn’t call her pestilence for nothing.”

  “She always was pretty sneaky.” Dianna remarked.

  “But I still want to see the day she can escape the huntress. I’ve got her scent now, you guys can relax. We will yell if we need help.”

  “Things seem to be pretty quiet around here.” Remarked Awaki. “How are you guys doing Bernardo?”

  “Fine thanks Awaki. Fortunately they were taken totally by surprise, and the forlorn hope has drawn a lot of their manpower, or we would have lost a lot of men.

  As it is, we have three men wounded, and David and I nearly got our asses fried.”

  “Strang?” Pei-ling asked.

  “He and that second in command of his. I haven’t seen a bolt that hot since that traveling salesman sold Zeus a brass chariot.

  If we hadn’t come in with our guard up, and backed by the best enforcers we have, I would have been a wisp of ashes right now.”

  “What happened to them?” Pei-ling wanted to know.

  “The only way we could handle that much power, was to absorb and reflect it right back at them.

  They tried to port, along with another couple of warriors in their retinue, but they were too late. They got fried instead.”

  “Are you sure they didn’t get away?”

  “Dead certain.”

  “Good!”

  “Let’s hold old home week until we have more time guys.” Michael suggested. “Its time to gather the forlorn hope and any of the top secret prisoners you can get hold of and run for it – we have less than two minutes left before this facility blows sky high.”

  “David, Bernardo, Pei-ling gather anything of interest you find here and head for the hills. Michael and I will pick up our little lost chicks and go to roost.”

  “Matterhorn?” Queried Bernardo.

  “Right.”

  “Ok guys, lets get going.” Bernardo prompted as Awaki and Michael disappeared.

  Within seconds the room was deserted of all but the ghosts of war.

  Quanzhou New City – East China – 1st February 2036

  Awaki and Michael homed in on Joe Sprout where he was coordinating the attack on the barracks, where the last few ‘volunteers’ for the new colony were being held.

  “Hi guys!” Michael greeted. “How are things?”

  “Going well Michael! Have you guys finished your little shopping trip?”

  “We’re all packed up and ready to go. But the big bell is about to ring, so we thought we would give you guys a hand to wrap up here.”

  “You’re welcome. We’ve been sort of marking time, to keep these guys busy, but if you’re done, it’s time to pull out the stops.

  There’s a big bad warrior type up behind the armored door, and he and his buddies have been putting out some rather hot PK bolts. Three months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to handle them at all, but Joe and I have been absorbing them before any of our guys got burnt.

  So far our only casualty has been one of the enforcers who got shot in the foot with a Makarov.”

  “Shall we show off our new meld?”

  “Guys only? I thought you had to have a woman to make a meld?”

  “We’ve been practicing this one – It seems to work for relatives too – apparently he’s my grandfather, a couple of times removed – a couple of times.” Michael quipped.

  “I don’t think I got that right – and I’m not sure I want to.” Joseph pulled a disgusted face. “But if you whiteys have finished comparing ancestry can we please clear this joint – I have a bridge appointment.”

  “I didn’t know the bridge was dating!” Michael and Joe came back as the link was formed and the two warriors pulled in.

  “Now we really have to hurry.” Complained Awaki. “I need a headache tablet.”

  “I think a KO will be enough” Awaki suggested.

  “Sure, and limit it so they have time to evacuate.” Joe confirmed.

  The next moment the unit struck – piercing physical and mental shields like so much rice paper, and the defenders were rendered unconscious. Before withdrawing, they left a suggestion that the defenders wake in one minute, and leave immediately.

  The attack force converged on the barracks, gathered the ‘volunteers’ and ported to the Matterhorn base.

  Seconds later the guards awoke. Driven by the suggestion planted deep in their psyches, they wasted no time evacuating the facility.