1 + 2

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  "Kimberly," Kat interrupted, putting her hand over her chest.

  "What? Can't you see I'm talking? Hades! Sometimes you can be so rude."

  "I'm not the one who's barging in on our party," Kat told her as she turned, facing the way they came in. "They're coming. Bio-mechas." Her eyes erupted with blue Ultra-Epi Light Emissions as she quickly removed her backpack and pulled out the gun Kim had loaned her. "They're coming!" She dropped the bag, unset the safety, and raised the PPK. "Get ready!"

  Chapter Eight

  Guardians Of Etna

  3:31 P.M...

  Katharine's view...

  There were few things I awoke with at Etna Toys Plant and Warehouse over a year ago, and my memory wasn't one of them. I do have this ability that can detect bio-mechas, and once an active bio-mecha enters the perimeter of my ability, I know their distance, their model, and how many there are. I like to call it my own spider-sense.

  End Katharine's view...

  "Great. Just great!" Kim cringed at the word bio-mecha. "How did they find you this time? I thought they couldn't after Brian removed your tracking beacon." She told the hologram, "We'll talk later."

  "Till then..." the hologram said and deactivated as the two blue squares on the music box faded to the silver metal surface.

  "I hate robots," Kim said as she handed the music box back to Kat and readied her weapon. "Hades... I really hate them. What about my question? Are they Un-Men?"

  "No, they're K-99s, and there are about a dozen of them," Kat replied as she placed the music box in her pocket, grabbed the backpack, and slung it over her shoulder. "And they didn't track me down. They were most likely positioned here to guard Etna."

  Kim glanced at the corridor they had come through, then into the passage the door opened into, and asked, "Which way are they coming?" She remembered their last encounter with bio-mechas and how the T-3s nearly killed them when they were at the Factory and would have if not for Lieutenant Creed and his men.

  "They're coming the way we came in." Kat aimed down the long stretch of hall. She wasn't worried. In the time before meeting Kim, she encountered many types of bio-mechas and only the Rogue made her afraid. "They'll turn the corner in about forty seconds. Go on. I can handle them."

  Kimberly's view...

  "Go? I don't think so!" I yell. "I won't have you run off and leave me alone with the tin freaks. When it comes to killing I'll handle my share. You see as a Closer I have my honor to think of."

  I can't have someone stepping in for me. I'm not the type of person to owe anyone anything. I rely on myself and no one else. I reflect on my recent past. No one has been there for me and no one will be, so I have to do it myself.

  I move to the other side of the hall beside that woman, aim where she is, and question, "Do we kill the K-99s like the Un-Men?"

  Katharine's view...

  "No, you need to shoot them in the right eye to disable this line of bio-mechas, so aim carefully," I answer.

  I can tell Kimberly's starting to trust me. Yeah right! Our partnership isn't turning out like I imagined, but I shouldn't expect too much. Kimberly's an assassin. I don't think they can trust anyone.

  I glance at her... Maybe I just don't understand Kimberly. She has to feel isolated and alone, and maybe that's why she's always so angry. Her world must be so dark.

  End Katharine's view...

  The K-99s turned the corner. They were of great size. The height of their shoulders was 34 inches, and they weighed 220 pounds. Their creators combined power and swiftness with keen sensors. The K-99s were modeled after the largest and tallest of the galloping hounds, and they had a rough steel-gray coat and were Greyhound-like. They carried their head and neck high, and their tail had an upward sweep with a slight curve toward the extremity. The K-99s panted as they charged, mimicking their canine archetypes.

  Kat directed her sight at the leader and uttered, "The K-99s are wearing protective steel visors! We won't be able to shoot their kill switch." She lifted her gun and darted for the door behind them. "Run!"

  "What?" Kim shouted over her shoulder as that woman fled past her. "I never thought you were a coward."

  "Hurry!" Kat insisted. "They're wearing visors. We can't take them down." She entered the next passage, turned, and waved for Kim. "Run!" Kat saw that the K-99s were half way down the corridor. "We need to find a place they can't get to."

  Kim joined her, and they bolted through the passage. The concrete floor they ran across descended and ended, and it was replaced by a sandy one. They ran down it with the K-99s gaining on them, and the passage ended in a large cave with a second level floor curved above them. Three other passages left the cave.

  "Now what?" Kim asked.

  "Climb!" Kat commanded as she tucked the gun and started scaling the pitted stone wall.

  Kim placed her gun in her shoulder holster and followed. They were about ten feet up when the K-99s reached the cave. The pack circled under them. The leader leaped up, snapped at Kim's heel, and barely missed her. Kim lurched up, startled by the large mouth, lost her footing, and slipped. Kat grabbed her wrist, and Kim dangled above the K-99s.

  "Oh my Zeus!" Kim shouted. "Don't drop me! Get me up!"

  "Crap!" Kat strained as she dug her nails into the cliff. "I can't. I don't have the strength." She swung her to the rock face. "You'll have to reestablish your footing." She grunted. "And hurry. You're not exactly light."

  All the K-99s barked and growled as a few continued leaping for them.

  Kim franticly searched the rough surface with her free hand, but couldn't find a holding. On her third swing over, she found a grip and her footing. "Got it!"

  "Thank goodness." Kat released. "I couldn't hold you up much longer."

  Kim climbed higher and then glared down at her. "What was that about my weight?"

  "Ah, nothing..." Kat swallowed hard, burning under the fury of the Phoenix's fiery gaze. "It was nothing."

  "That's what I thought," Kim said and then continued climbing.

  Once they were higher, the K-99s gave up their jumping, and then the twelve K-99s stared at one another and calculated their next move. They agreed on a plan and split in half. The first group continued into one of the cave's passages while the other half went back the way they had come in.

  Kim reached the second story, dragged herself up, and wiped sand off her black clothes. "What are they doing?"

  "Umm..." Kat struggled to reach the top. She glanced down and quickly looked up as she started to lose her hold. "Could you give me a hand? I don't know if I can pull myself up. I'm pretty tired after holding up your heavy... umm... after holding you up."

  Kimberly's view...

  I walk to the edge and put my hands on my hips, thinking I'd get right on it. If that woman thinks I'm going to help her, she better get it straight right now, I'm only looking out for myself. She better do the same thing.

  "Your hand, please," that woman pleads to me. "I think I'm about to fall."

  I don't move as I inquire, "What about my question?"

  Katharine's view...

  Kimberly isn't going to help me, and I panic as I glance down. I doubt she'll even attempt to save me if I fall. I slowly drag myself up as my arms tremble with the effort, and then I pull myself high enough to lay half my body over the ledge. I don't think she would have, and our partnership seems more and more one-sided.

  "Well..." Kimberly taps her foot and inquires, "My question?"

  "Right." I exhale, creating a mini dust cloud over the sandy floor. "Your question."

  I cough and rest a few more seconds. I'm not Kimberly's partner... I'm her punching bag. I'm finally able to catch my breath enough to answer her.

  "The K-99s are tracking us and most likely have the floor plans of this facility and are finding the best way to hunt us down."

  "Well, you better get off your lazy asp and get moving." Kimberly
scans the second level and adds, "No time to lie around."

  I moan, roll long ways, take a couple more seconds to catch my breath, stand, and glare at her. I can't understand why Kimberly treats me this way. It's like she wants me to die. It's probably because it will save her from having to close me later. I'm feeling less and less secure in our partnership.

  Looking at one end of the curved walkway then to the other, Kimberly says, "I see a door."

  She rushes to it around the sandy floor, and I follow. I can't believe Kimberly stood there and watched me struggle like a bug with its legs torn off.

  Kimberly tries the knob and then tells me, "It's locked." She examines the keyhole. "I should be able to pick it."

  Rage moves within me like a caged tigress as I silently watch Kimberly from behind, and the intensifying anger consumes my mind; it has been a long time since I felt this mad. Kimberly didn't help me. We're supposed to be partners. I could have fallen and died. I feel my eyes crackle with electricity and see their blue hue reflect off the sand around me as my anger keeps the Beta Phase active. I watch Kimberly remove a small kit from her knapsack. I think she wanted me to fall. I fist my right hand, thinking over the possibility, and the Ult L-E glows brighter like the torch of a welder. I think she plans on killing me once she finds who murdered her mom. I remove my own PPK and unlock the safety, deciding I can't take it anymore and need to act.

  Not realizing what's going on behind her, Kimberly kneels and starts to lift her tools to the knob. "I'll have it open in no–"

  I raise the gun. Kimberly will... I focus on the back of her head. Kimberly will kill me. I take aim as my rage increases. She won't treat me like this again.

  End Katharine's view...

  Her eyes flickered with surges of purple-electricity fighting with the blue. The Ult L-E clashed like two dragons, seeking dominance, and the purple won the battle and consumed her irises. Kat swore to herself as surges of blood-red electricity blazed in her eyes that she wouldn't let Kim do it.

  The blood-red electricity devoured the purple as she declared, "I won't let you do it!"

  Kat fired, and the empty shell ejected from the gun as she shot again. The first shell clanged to the floor as the second followed; she fired two more times without pausing.

  Kimberly's view...

  "–time?"

  I gasp as the bullets whizz by inches from my face, and I instinctively go for my gun as I turn to that woman. I stop before drawing my weapon.

  The bullets that woman shot, slam into the knob, and with a frustrated yell, she kicks in the door, and the frame splinters. She walks by me and glowers at me with eyes that caution, and they caution that she'll only put up with so much. That woman has been mistreated enough.

  Hades! I see more in her stare, and it warns me that she won't let me kill her, not without a fight. I get the message, and her eyes... They're on fire. I've never seen them that way before.

  That woman walks in about ten feet, stops, and turns, and by then her demeanor has completed a one-eighty. Her hazel eyes no longer crackle with blood-red Ult L-E or look provoked as she says, "Come on, there's no time to be sitting around on your lazy asp."

  What do I see in that woman's eyes? Is it the look of innocence or is it a childlike facade hiding a dark purpose? Whatever I see, I have to be more careful. What do I really know about her? She could be a vicious tigress hiding inside a kitten.

  Chapter Nine

  The Furies

  3:41 P.M...

  Hellenistic Sector, Business Vicinage...

  Lieutenant Creed approached a secretary at the Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office. "I have an appointment with the Chairman."

  Cathy looked up and greeted, "Good afternoon, Lieutenant Creed. Go right in, Mr. Griffin is expecting you."

  Creed glanced at the waiting room, saw no one there, and made his way down the hall and once he arrived, he knocked on the door and entered the huge corner office.

  Mr. Griffin sat at his desk, working on his computer and said, "Lieutenant, come in. Have a seat."

  Creed closed the door then went and sat. "Do you have new orders for my unit, sir?"

  "Actually..." Mr. Griffin grabbed a H.H.C. from his desk and handed it to him. "I'm disbanding your unit. Here are the orders."

  Creed stood, shouting, "I don't understand. My unit is the most efficient..."

  "Lieutenant," Mr. Griffin interrupted. "Your unit is efficient, and that is precisely why I am disbanding it."

  Confused about what he had been told, Creed took the device, sat, opened the file, and scanned over the document.

  Mr. Griffin continued, "I want you to assemble a special task force under my control." He faced the desktop computer and typed a few things. "I want you to select only the best of your officers. Ones you can trust." He turned his attention back to him. "Then I want you to go into the Third Branch Office S.C.M. files and find other highly qualified men and women. This task force will be under your command, and you'll report only to me."

  "Sir?"

  "I'll need to run Ultra-black Operations. Orthos and his security force is fine for internal matters, and the S.C.Ms. aren't specialized enough for what I'm wanting. I would like you to find the elite in every field. You'll have all the funding you'll need, and you can use Sub-level 120 of this building as your base of operations."

  "What name will this task force operate under?"

  "You'll be called the Furies."

  "Furies," Creed repeated then grinned, pleased with the name.

  Mr. Griffin pushed back from the desk and ordered, "Begin putting the task force together tonight. I need the Furies operational in less than a week. Cathy can assist you with any outside resource you'll need to get your base ready." He paused, opened a desk drawer, and removed a box that fit in his palm. "One other thing. I'm promoting you to captain." He handed the lieutenant the box with the new insignia pins.

  "I don't know what to say." Creed took the box and stated, "Thank you, sir."

  The phone rang.

  "Please excuse me, lieutenant... Actually, I should say, captain." Mr. Griffin answered the phone, "Yes, Cathy."

  "Orthos is here. He says he has the files from the Second Branch Office."

  "Yes, the ones the Vice President wanted to send over. Have the Head of Security come in."

  "At once, Mr. Griffin," Cathy spoke and then hung up.

  Mr. Griffin told Creed, "You have your orders, captain. That's all."

  Creed stood and saluted. "Yes, sir."

  He left and past Orthos who entered the Chairman's office, carrying about a dozen folders.

  Mr. Griffin waited till his Head of Security entered and then questioned him, "Did you have any problems at the Second Branch Office?"

  "No, sir." Orthos placed the folders on the desk. "The Vice President showed no hostility. He seemed eager for you to have these, and he said they are from when you were Head of Security here and he was the Chairman."

  "It was a very long time ago." Mr. Griffin stared at the files, wondering why the Vice President would send them then looked to Orthos and questioned, "Did the Vice President say anything?"

  "Only that he thought he might have some more files. He told me I should stop by later and pick them up."

  "Do so and watch yourself."

  "Yes, Chairman," Orthos replied and then made his way out.

  Mr. Griffin's view...

  I stand, pick up the folders, then go and lie on my dark brown leather couch, and flip through them till something catches my eye. I sit up in disbelief and read it again. It can't be right! According to the files, I have another child, and the revelation is like an earthquake, toppling the world on top of me.

  I flip back a few pages. I thought the child died during delivery, but not according to these records. Hades! I slam my fist on the couch. The corporation lied to me and dared take my child away!

  Chapter Ten


  New Neighbor

  4:01 P.M...

  Hellenistic Sector, Residential Vicinage...

  An unmarked white delivery van rumbled down West 1000 Avenue, drove into Nexus Apartments parking garage, and stopped at the entrance. Zax removed a card from his shirt pocket, swiped it on a scanner, then waited as a gate slid open. Security cameras monitored the entrance and all of the garage, and a security guard manned each level. Zax drove past the gate and up a few ramps, parked on level four, and stepped down from the vehicle; he wore a white delivery uniform and cap. Zax unloaded a few boxes from the back of the van onto a push cart, started toward the elevator, went up to the thirty-first floor, and made his way to Apartment G.

  In front of the door, he cleared his throat before saying, "Door, unlock."

  "Voice recognized as Zax Olympus," A.C.S. stated in a female voice. "Opening door."

  The apartment door slid sideways, he walked in the small entry, pushing the cart, and commanded, "Door lock."

  The door shut.

  "Welcome to your home, Mr. Olympus," A.C.S. stated. "The staff and management of Nexus Apartments hopes your stay with us will be enjoyable."

  "Thanks."

  Zax glanced around. The apartment's layout was the opposite of its neighbor H. The entry emptied into an open kitchen with black marble counters and stainless steel appliances. He pushed the cart into the living room off to the right, paused from his work, and walked to the kitchen's window to look over West 1000 Avenue. Black rain fell on the street below. He had made it in before the Tainted Rain storm. He glanced around the kitchen, but maybe he should have bought some groceries. It looks like he'll be living on takeout. He saw a note and a remote on the kitchen's counter, and Zax read the note; it was from the manager of Nexus Apartments.

  "Welcome to your new home. If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact me. The remote will work the TV and radio and as you instructed, the apartment is fully furnished. Enjoy your stay."