by Michael Todd
17
Three of the soldiers got out of the chopper, holding their weapons, but not pointed at Pandora. They simply observed as the colonel advanced toward them, holding “Katie” by the arm.
Calvin, Joshua, and Damian walked behind the women, staring intently forward. They wanted the soldiers to know there was no fear now, and there would be none. The three soldiers looked at Katie, their eyes rolling over all her weapons. They had assumed she would come unarmed, and all three of them gripped their guns a little tighter.
Riggs climbed out and walked across the pad to meet them. Calvin, Joshua, and Damian stopped about three paces behind the colonel and Katie, waiting. The pilot cleared his throat and kept a straight face, reaching forward to pull away Katie’s gun.
The colonel grabbed his wrist and shook her head.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You will lose your life.”
Riggs looked her up and down and glanced back at the others. He wasn’t really sure what to do. He couldn’t transport an armed prisoner, and he definitely couldn’t allow her to walk into the base strapped to the gills with weapons. Pandora could see that he had no question about her being Katie, but she could sense his nerves, even though he kept a pretty good poker face.
“I didn’t give up my pistols for the general at his base, and I won’t give them up now for you. If you try that again, I promise you I’ll empty my clip into all of your heads. Also, if you think I’m doing this for any reason other than to help my people? Well, you are vastly mistaken. At least my team understands what it means to fight for each other. We don’t turn on our own, and we sure as hell have never turned on you. If anything, you can go to bed at night saying your little prayers of thanks because one of us probably saved someone you know.”
Calvin stepped forward and gripped his hands in front of him, flexing his arm muscles. Riggs glanced at him, a slight look of intimidation crossing his face. Calvin lifted his chin and leaned forward with red flashing through his eyes.
“I just want you to know, so you can’t say you weren’t warned… If we hear she is being threatened, that she has been harmed, or that her health has declined in any way while she is in your care, we will come for her. And when we come, we will take down each and every one of you first.”
Riggs nodded and looked back at the colonel. “I have to call this in and get permission to transport her armed.”
The colonel nodded and watched as he walked away, turning her head to glance at KatieDora.
She still couldn’t believe she was standing next to the demon who had helped Katie do all the things that she had done since she became a mercenary. She was starting to understand why the general was so adamant about keeping them safe, not just for Katie’s sake but for Pandora’s as well.
Riggs hurried over to the chopper and pulled on his headphones. “Command, we have a slight problem. The prisoner is refusing to remove her weapons. She says she is only coming to discuss the problems and that she does not remove her pistols for anyone, not even the general. If we make an attempt to take them from her there will be a battle. As it stands, she is willing to come peacefully. I need your permission to load the prisoner as is.”
Lieutenant Colonel Wilson sat at his desk, waiting for news from the brigade he had sent to bring Katie back. He knew that the probability of a peaceful finish to the whole thing was slim, but he had hoped he could at least get her to the base before disposing of her.
He didn’t like being the fall guy for the whole thing, but he had no choice.
He had a duty to protect the humans on the planet, not the hybrid freaks who were running around playing with guns. A knock on the door brought his attention back and he looked up to find one of his sergeants in the doorway.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Colonel, sir, we have one of the men on the line. He is stating that Katie will not take off her weapons, though she agrees to come peacefully.”
“They can’t take them from her? There are three choppers out there.”
“Uh, no, sir. They say it will escalate into a battle.”
“And what have the others said?”
“They are fighting amongst themselves over the decision, and I was asked to come get one from you. They are all waiting for an answer.”
The colonel sighed and put his arms up behind his head, staring at his blank computer screen. It was obviously not the perfect scenario to have her come there fully armed, but at the same time, breaking out in a full-on battle would definitely attract attention.
The last thing he needed was for the general to find out what was going on. He didn’t have the patience to deal with the old bastard.
“Let her bring them. What is one person going to do when we have five hundred here at the base pointing weapons at her? Better to do it here than out there where we will probably lose our choppers and our men. Besides, out there she has all that support, but in here it’s just her. I promise you she won’t be so tough without her buddies standing behind her.”
“Yes, sir.”
He called out before the door closed. “And Sergeant, have a group of men load up on the special ammo and send them to the intake room outside the hangar. We will be ready and waiting for the little sweetheart when she gets here.”
“Right away, sir.”
The sergeant left the room, closing the door behind him.
The colonel leaned back in his chair, thinking about what would happen next. He had just authorized the most dangerous Damned in the world to come to his base fully armed, knowing full well they weren’t going to let her leave there outside a body bag.
He had to believe that his men could hold her back though, because he didn’t want to take a chance of losing her during a battle that could have been avoided.
He stood up from his chair and fixed his belt, reaching down and hitting the intercom on his phone. “Bring in my pistols. I want to be armed as well; show this demon we aren’t backing down, and if she wants a piece of us she’ll find herself spiraling back down to hell.”
“Yes, sir.”
He punched the button a second time. “Excellent. Oh, and a cup of coffee, please.”
He hung up the comm and walked across his office, staring at the pictures he had hung on the wall. They were from the different wars he had fought in, and he was standing tall and proud next to his fellow soldiers.
This war, though, it was unlike anything he had faced before. He needed to research Katie and replicate her in a controlled environment, then dispose of her before she could cause any problems.
He had been in the service long enough to not want to make the war against the Damned his biggest failure. If he didn’t succeed, those pulling the strings would make sure he didn’t survive.
The whole base was abuzz, knowing the famous merc Katie was coming in, and some even said she was surrendering herself.
Most didn’t believe that for a second, but those aligned with the colonel knew that he wasn’t going to let her out of there alive.
Riggs came back from the chopper and pulled a set of cuffs from the back of his pants. Pandora just looked at him and raised an eyebrow, putting her hand on the pistol at her side. He put his hands in the air and looked at the colonel.
“They will agree to let her come fully armed, but for safety purposes, she will need to be cuffed during the helicopter ride. I will take them off her before she exits the plane. You have to understand protocol and safety. You may know her, but we do not.”
The colonel was about to speak up, but Pandora raised her hand, stopping her. “That’s fine. Just for the helicopter ride.”
She put her hands out and watched in amusement as the pilot put the cuffs on her with shaking hands. She knew full well that if she wanted to kill the men on that chopper all she had to do was tug and the cuffs would break right off.
The men on that chopper were not her targets though, and she wanted to make sure she and Katie got to the base and in front of whoever had put out the order to have her
brought in. Once she was there, she didn’t care who stood in her way.
She wouldn’t be giving Katie to them peacefully, if at all.
Pandora walked with the pilot toward the chopper, looking over her shoulder and winking at the guys who were all standing tall, watching closely as the other birds circled the base and headed out.
Pandora climbed into the back and took a seat, lifting her hands as one of the soldiers strapped her in. They closed the doors to the bird and the colonel backed off the pad with the rest of them as the chopper’s blades picked up speed.
The wind blew wildly around them as the bird lifted into the air and hovered for a moment before taking off into the distance. The colonel nodded and looked over at her helicopter, which was being prepped for takeoff. She didn’t want to leave, but she had to get back to monitor the situation from intelligence.
“All right, boys, here are your weapons.” She handed the pistol and knives back to Joshua. “We will be monitoring this, and if I know the general, the first hint of danger for her and we will come down on them before they can even blink. Thank you for helping me.”
“Of course,” Damian told her, shaking her hand.
Joshua headed back to the armory building and the colonel went to her helicopter. Damian and Calvin remained in place as the colonel’s helicopter took off before starting back for the elevator.
Damian patted Calvin on the back as they walked.
“I’ll be in my study,” Damian told Calvin.
“What are you going to be doing?”
Damian looked over his shoulder as he continued walking towards the door. “Seeing how many whiskeys I can drink!”
Calvin cracked a smile and nodded, wishing he could join him but he knew that his place was in the IT room monitoring whatever they could find.
Timothy was already working on a way to get into the security video footage so they could at least watch.
They got in the elevator and Calvin nodded as Damian got off, walking down the tunnel toward his study.
Calvin leaned back against the wall as the elevator doors shut, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn’t like what was going on, not in the slightest, but he didn’t call the shots.
He now knew how Korbin had felt when he’d said yes to a dangerous plan. It was necessary, sure, but that didn’t mean he wanted to go through with it. The trouble with their positions was the fact that he cared about Katie and Pandora as family, not just as coworkers.
He knew that if anything happened to them he would take his anger out on that entire damn base, even if he died doing it.
Nobody messed with family.
18
I know I can do this, Pandora growled to herself. How hard could it be? I can fucking pull bullets out of people but I can’t get Katie tuned into my subconscious frequency correctly.
Pan...ra...ca... you...ear.... e?
Not really, unless you are talking in code. Hold on a second.
The helicopter shook from the turbulence and Pandora bounced in her seat. She tried to put her hands down but then remembered the cuffs. She didn’t want to accidentally pull too hard; she could snap the chain in a second. The guy sitting across from her holding his gun didn’t look too stable. Fear radiated from his eyes. The last thing she wanted was for Trigger-Happy McGee to panic and fill her full of bullets.
That would spoil her clothes.
Wait...wait.... there. Can you hear me?
Yes, thank God. It was fucking quiet in here. I could hear our stomach gurgling.
It’s because you didn’t feed me before it was time to go.
How about vision? Everything looks like it’s underwater.
Yeah, hold on.
Pandora closed her eyes and leaned her head back, trying not to look like she was doing anything nefarious. She tweaked her powers, pulling her vision inward and meshing it with Katie. Finally, it clicked in her mind.
Okay, fixed.
All I see is black. Katie hissed in frustration.
My eyes are closed, moron.
Pandora opened her eyes wide and blinked several times as she looked around the chopper. The soldier sat up alertly in his chair and stared at her, making sure she wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. Pandora rolled her eyes and looked toward the door to the front of the chopper.
Perfect. Wow, this is really amazing. I can watch everything so much better.
Good. Now that it’s settled, we have a bit of a ride. Pandora yawned. I can’t quite nap with Captain America over there staring me down. What do you want to talk about?
We need to catch up on the soaps. Seriously, the last time we watched, Isadora was about to make the leap to the underworld to seduce the king.
Like that would work. He hates humans.
I don’t think they base the show on reality. Well, not until now, at least. This should give them killer ratings and all kinds of material to work with.
Hell yeah, it will. Ugh, I’m so hungry. I would seriously kill for some Chick-Fil-A.
You would kill for no reason at all, so that doesn’t sound like a cry for help.
I still don’t get how two fast-food companies can have such different chicken. I have to admit the McNuggets smell amazing, though.
I think that we should make our own.
Uh, no, but nice try. I’m not the cooking type of girl.
What if I said we could make donuts at home?
I’d think about it. JUST think about it.
Well, I guess that’s better than nothing. I mean, the money I’ve spent on donuts I could have spent on a house or another car.
That is a little over-exaggeration, I think. Well...maybe.
Pandora and Katie talked almost the whole trip, re-discussing her boobs, talking about the game shows Pandora’d had to miss recently, and pretty much anything else they could think of. Pandora looked at the approaching base as the chopper began to drop.
Katie got quiet and Pandora could feel her nerves begin to churn. Katie was a brave bitch, but the situation they were walking into was unlike anything they had been through before.
I won’t let anything happen to you, Katie. I just want you to know that. If I have to storm the gates of heaven to put your spirit up there? I guess it will be on my list of things to do.
Thanks, P. That means a lot.
The breeze blew across the grassy field just outside the perimeter of the military base. A man stood, his sunglasses tight against his eyes and his long coat whipping around him. He walked slowly forward, hands in his pockets, taking his time. The sound of helicopters stopped him, and he looked up as the birds went over him. The military base was just a mile away, but he wasn’t going there.
Katie had it under control.
He watched as the choppers slowed, hovering high in the air for several moments before beginning to drop slowly down. He kept his eyes clamped to the rotating propellers until they disappeared behind the tall walls and buildings of the base.
He didn’t say a single word, nor did emotion cloud his judgment. When the birds were out of sight he stepped forward, the wind blowing through his cropped white hair.
His body disappeared into the wind...
The chopper landed and Pandora held out her hands. The soldier sighed and gave her a nasty look but unlocked the cuffs. She smiled broadly and straightened her shirt, her boobs stretching the front a bit more than Katie’s did.
“Do you even know why you hate me so much?” she asked the soldier. “Is it because they told you I’m big, bad and scary?”
“Don’t hate you. Just following orders.”
“Oh, you have orders to look at me like you want me dead?”
“If I wanted you dead I could have shot you at any point.”
“Right.” Pandora smirked, seeing right through his tough-guy act. She could smell the fear practically dripping off of him at that point, and though she really wanted to fuck with the kid she decided against it. She had bigger fish to fry; she had to be getting clo
se to the boss.
The door to the bird slid open and the pilot grabbed her arm and helped her to the ground. He let her arm go and they headed away from the helo pad.
She took a couple of steps and stopped, sniffing the air and turning to her right. She squinted into the distance but didn’t see anything.
What’s wrong?
I sense something in the wind, but it’s not there. Strange.
What kind of something?
Never mind, we have other things to worry about right now. We can talk about that later.
The pilot stopped and looked back, waiting for her to catch up. There was a large hangar in the background and the soldiers pointed her in that direction with the muzzles of their guns.
Luckily for them, they pointed their weapons toward the building and not toward Pandora. There was an essence in the air; something she had felt before, but it had been hundreds if not thousands of years.
It only pushed her suspicions even further about Katie, but she had to put it in the back of her mind. She promised to protect Katie from harm, and she was going to make sure that no matter what, she stuck to that promise.
Pandora walked carefully toward the hangar bay. She knew things weren’t fun and shiny anymore, and they would heat up when she walked inside that hangar. She took a deep breath and stopped at the door, looking at the pilot.
He sighed. “If you want to get out of here or even survive this, my advice is to keep your smart attitude out of the colonel’s face.”
Pandora smiled brightly. “I’ll take that advice into consideration and then probably ignore it. Thanks.”
At the base outside Vegas, there was little movement except the wind.
Inside of the manufacturing building, the machines had been shut down for the first time ever and the girls had all gone home at Joshua’s bidding. He was the only one inside and was simply sitting at his desk staring into the distance, waiting for any word on Katie.
She was the only person he had trusted since his mother and father, and the first person to give him a chance to be more.
