by James McEwan
Thad finally regained his composure. “Sorry Quincy, but I couldn’t help myself. Go ahead and pick something else out while we wait.”
Quincy was mumbling something about chick clotheswhen they heard someone at the door. Everyone froze in place. They stood there listening, trying to figure out who or what was at the door when Thad heard the beeps of the keypad, as the security code was punched in. In a whisper, he said,“Someone is coming, get down.”
Quincy dropped the clothes in his hand and dove underneath a rack of pants, while Doctor Hammer quietly stepped behind a coat rack. Thad ducked down below the level of the racks and started to make his way towards the front door.
A pair of lights started sweeping through the place, Thad whispered “Shit, police.” He had no choice, the backdoor was alarmed and he would not have time to hack it. Forward was his only option now. He dropped down to his belly and slowly crawled towards the cops.
One of them spoke to the other. “You know Zeek, I have a feeling this is just another false alarm or ...” He stopped to hold his fingers up to make quotation marks in the air “a training exercise.”
“I know what you mean; there has not been a level five alert before. I mean shoot to kill orders. I have been a cop here damn near thirty years and I have never had a level five alert issued before.” the one called Zeek said.
Crap, Thad thought, now the police have been alerted, and this was not good. He got closer and closer moving ever so carefully so as not to attract their attention. Finally, he was just about in striking distance. “Ah, there is nothing here, let’s get out of here and go do something that is more fun like busting that old bum Reggie’s chops.” Zeek said.
“Or harassing the working girls, that is always fun.”
“Sure! what the hell.” Zeek said and clicked off his light.
Thad felt a moment of relief as he thought they were going to leave without discovering them. Finally some luck. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side as Quincy laid there on the floor and a small mouse ran up his leg and onto his back. “Get it off!” he screamed, as he jumped into the air.
The two cops jumped at the sound of Quincy’s rather loud and rather high-pitched scream. The younger cop flinched and sent a shot wildly through the air. It missed all the humans in the room, but a poor mannequin was not as lucky. The shot from the cop’s laser pistol melted his head.
Thad was on his feet in a flash. The older cop, Zeek, was just about to tear into the rookie cop about discharging his firearm when Thad popped up in front of them. Zeek’s eyes were wide as dinner plates. Thad swung hard and fast catching Zeek in the neck. The blow cut off the blood supply to his brain and he went out like a light. He dropped to the floor with a thud. The other cop was so startled that he just stood there with a blank look on his face. Thad was not sure if it was because he could not believe that he just fired his weapon, or because a shape just appeared in front of him and knocked out his partner.
The rookie cop crumbled just as quickly as the older one. Now, with the two cops lying at his feet, he hoped that they were the only ones. However, once again, luck was not on his side. From outside he could hear the sirens of more police arriving.
Doctor Hammer joined Thad at the front of the store to check on the two police officers. He understood their predicament, but he didn’t condone killing innocents, and especially not cops. Much to his relief, they were both alive.
Thad knew what Doctor Hammer was doing and tried to put his mind at ease. “They will be okay, a bit sore and maybe a hell of a headache, but none the worse for wear. ”
“Good, I would hate to be responsible for their or anyone’s death for that matter.”
Thad chanced a look out the front window to see a wall of police vehicles pulling up, with heavily armed officers pouring out of them.
“That was awfully fast, don’t you think?” Doctor Hammer asked as he peered around Thad at the quickly growing police presence.
“Not really, they were on high alert already and every officer’s gun is connected to the system. The second one is discharged, it sends out a signal to all units. In a few more minutes, we will have half the damn police force out there. We need to get out of here now.”
“Well, shouldn’t we just go out there and explain the whole mess to them? After all, they are the police.” Quincy asked as he joined them to see what was going on outside.
“No! We can’t trust them, didn’t you hear them say they have shoot on sight orders?” Thad snapped, angered at the situation more than at Quincy’s question.
“So, we haven’t done anything wrong, right?” Quincy’s brain was having a hard time wrapping around his current situation.
“Who do you think the shoot to kill order is for?” Thad pointed out.
“Us?”
“Bingo, give that man a prize!” Thad was a little more than on edge.
While they were talking, no one noticed that the officers outside were calling to the officers inside and the calls were getting more frantic as their friends didn’t respond. Doctor Hammer was about to say something. Thad, for no reason that he could tell, grabbed him and Quincy and roughly forced them to the floor.
The windows shattered as gas was fired into the building as well as about a thousand rubber bullets. Meant to stun, the bullets smashed into everything and seem to be doing more damage to the shop than stunning those inside it. Thad took a couple, but the body armor under his clothing, although heavily damaged, was more than a match for rubber bullets.
He heard Quincy cry out in pain. “I’m hit. Damn it they shot me in my ass! Medic! Son-of-a- bitch! Who shoots a man in the ass?”
“Shut up Quincy, they’re using rubber bullets. The next wave will not be rubber” Thad said as he ran to Quincy, who was jumping up and down holding his battered behind. He grabbed him and threw him to the ground again. Doctor Hammer, still on the ground thought better of standing up, so he stayed floor as well. A second later, the whole building erupted in laser fire.
Stuff was flying everywhere and the gas was getting thick. It was getting hard to breathe and see, so Thad pointed to the back door. No point in worrying about the alarm at this point. He was more worried about what was on the other side of the door. They made their wayto the back room and down the hall that led to the back door. Now out of the firing line, they were able to get off their bellies and move much faster.
“Okay. I get a lone assassin, but the cops? Why in the hell are they trying to kill me?” Doctor Hammer asked as his voice cracked with a slight sense of fear.
Thad stopped at the door and changed his sight mode to thermal. Just as he expected, there were several officers covering the back door. “The people who are after you have a lot of resources and it is nothing for them to issue false orders to the police. Now get back and find something hard to hide behind.” Thad said, as he used his DDSD to materialize some explosives.
Thad packed the explosives around the door then retreated back down the hallway. He could hear the shouts of the police as they made their way into the front of the now burning store. “You guys ready for this?” They both nodded. “Okay when it goes boom we make a run for it. Go straight for the three bikes we saw earlier.” They both nodded again, Thad smiled, and then pushed the button on the remote trigger.
There was a blinding light followed by a pressure wave and a deafening roar as the heat from the explosives slammed into them. The air was filled with dust and smoke, but all three men ran for the door. Outside the door, four police officers were waiting for anyone to come out of the door. Their weapons pointed at the door, the last thing they were expecting was for the door to explode into thousands of razor sharp chunks of hot flying metal. Luckily for them, Thad had designed the explosion to push most of the fragments up and over their heads so the only harm the cops got was the blast wave knocking them on their backsides.
They ran past the stunned cops and Quincy remarked. “Now that’s what I call an exit!”
Thad was o
n the first bike in just a few steps and for the first time tonight luck was finally with them, the keys were there. Thad fired up his bike just as the Doctor jumped on one behind him. The bike came off the ground and all gauges read green. He looked over to see Quincy on his bike floating next to him. Quincy gave him quick thumbs up.
Thad wrenched the accelerator and the bike took off like a rocket. He whipped the bike around the building to see a whole lot of police vehicles and police in the cattle yard and they were between them and the gate that led out of the city.
Thinking fast, he spotted a covered corral that led right up to the closed gate. Thad grabbed the flexi-steel cable that was attached to the bike. The cowboys use them to rope the cattle, flexible as rope, but stronger than steel ... flexi-steel as it was known, was perfect for the job he had in mind.
“Follow me.” Thad yelled as he used one hand to spin the flexi-steel over his head, and like a true cowboy, he lassoed the end of the first piece of the corral fence. Thad let go of the flexi-steel rope just in time, it snapped tight then the corral fence piece tore lose. Thad then made a wide circle dragging the twisted piece of metal behind him. Quincy saw what Thad was doing switched sides so he was not in the way of the flexi-steel or the chunk of flying metal.
The cops were closing in when Thad came screaming past them. The flexi-steel and the piece of the fence forced them to drop their guns and hit the ground as flat as they could or be beheaded by the flexi-steel. One officer was not as fast to get down as the others, but luckily for him, he was just far enough from Thad that when the fence piece hit him it only smashed the gun from his hands. He broke both hands, but he would be okay.
The second time around Thad positioned the bike so the metal fence piece slammed into the supports that were holding the corral cover up. One by one, they knocked free with a loud clang. The cover collapsed sending a wave of dust, cow dung, and hay flying towards the cops, who were already humiliated enough by Thad’s mad dash with the fence, now they were covered in cow shit!
As Thad came around, this time, he pushed a button on the bike's controls and the rope was cut free sending the beat up twisted chunk of metal that used to be a fence flying through the yard finally slamming into a police vehicle. Thad would have laughed if it had not been deadly serious. Now that the cover was laying half-way on the ground it made a perfect ramp.
Thad gunned the accelerator again and steered straight for the ramp. As he gained the speed he would need to clear the fence he noticed a tall police sergeant barking out orders. The sergeant and Thad locked eyes momentarily. Thad waved as he passed by. Quincy saw this and followed suit. “And you thought I was a crazy driver!” he yelled over the comm. Doctor Hammer was right behind them and three grav-bikes hit the ramp and shot high into the air passing over the police and the gate that had stood between them and freedom.
Chapter 4
Thad and crew had been riding hard for a few hours now. It was late in the morning, and now that the adrenalin had worn off, the lack of sleep and all the day’s excitement was taking its toll. They had to ride north to get around the massive herd of cattle that was on the plains. They cleared the last of the herd finally, and Thad looked for the best place to stop and rest.
Quincy said over the comm. “Finally fresh air! I thought the smell was going to kill me.”
“It gives me a whole new appreciation for what the cowboys do.” Hammer said.
“Okay gentlemen; see that little valley over to the left? That is where we are going to stop and rest.” Thad said, as he pointed to a grassy spot between two small hills.
Quincy squinted his eyes. “You call that a valley?”
“Well, it is the low spot between two hills, that constitutes a valley right?” Thad shot back.
No one spoke. They just pulled the bikes over to the little valley, as Thad called it. There they shut down the bikes and dismounted. “Excuse me gentlemen, but my bladder is about to explode.” Doctor Hammer said, as he ran for the side of the hill to relieve himself.
Thad and Quincy looked at each other. “Sounds like a good idea.” Quincy said. Thad nodded in agreement and they both found spots to relieve themselves.
Standing the middle of the wrecked cattle yard and surrounded by literally dirty cops, Marcus was enraged. “What do you mean, they got away? Are you and your men cops or just plain incompetent fools?”
The Sergeant in charge was trying to explain, but was not getting anywhere with Marcus. “But Sir, we didn’t...”
Marcus held up his hand, cutting him off. “That’s enough! Now get out my sight before I have your badge.”
“Sir.” was all he said before he turned and stormed off. Back with his men, he started to grumble “Black suited ass wipe! Who in the hell does he think he is, just shows up here after everything is over flashes some high-level government badge and thinks he can talk to me like that, pompous ass hole.”
“Who is that cock-sucker anyway, Sarge?” The rookie officer asked, with his eyes still stinging from the tear gas and rubbing his sore neck.
“I don’t know, but you can bet your ass I’m going to find out.” he said.
Marcus was on his communicator. “Look, I don’t care if you have to wake the God damn president to get approval I need the sat tasked to me now!”
“But, Sir I have to get Thorne’s authorization before I can turn it over to you.” the voice on the other end said.
Marcus rolled his eyes, even in an ultra-secret organization there is too damn much red tape. “Look, you little prick I have his authorization code!”
“I know Sir, but authorization for sat redeployment must come from Thorne himself, his own rules Sir.” again the voice on the other end said.
“Fine, I will call him and wake him myself, but you are the one who will pay the price.” Marcus screamed into the communicator just before slamming it closed.
Thad set the bikes’ sensors to alarm if anything came within a mile of them. Quincy and Doctor Hammer were already fast asleep. He sat down in the soft grass and found himself dropping off to sleep. However, it was not a natural sleep, one he would have welcomed after all he was exhausted. This sleep felt artificial, he recognized that he was being drugged a little too late. He tried, but could not find the strength to stand up. Soon the world was going in and out of focus and he lost the battle and slipped into the blackness of unconsciousness.
Chapter 5
Police Sergeant Dominic St. Claire finished his shift in a bad mood, and when he got back to the station, he filed his paperwork and plopped down in his chair. No sooner did his butt hit the seat before his captain ordered him into his office. He spent the next half hour being yelled at again for the way things went down in the cattle yard. After St. Claire checked to see how much of his ass was left after the chewing, the twenty-three-year veteran wanted to find out what was really going on more than ever.
He sat at his computer and opted to use the keyboard interface rather than the voice interface. He did not want anyone listening to what he was up to. He first ran the badge number that the mystery man flashed. A warning flashed on the screen “Higher Security Clearance Needed.” “Bullshit.” he said to the screen. He punched away at the keys like a madman. At every turn, he found himself blocked. “Damn it, this is impossible!” He yelled at the screen.
A passing officer stopped and said. “What’s wrong, Dom?”
“Oh, nothing. Just trying to run down an ID, but I keep hitting dead ends. In all my years I have never run into this much bureaucratic bullshit.” Dominic grumbled.
“Well good luck, but if I were you I would let it go until tomorrow. Go get some rest, you look like shit.” the officer commented.
“Thanks, but I think you’re right. I’m pretty beat. I will catch you later.” he waved to the officer.
* * *
At the same time, deep inside the high rise building in downtown New Dallas a security AI (Artificial Intelligence) named Attila was busy working to prepare a file on Se
rgeant Dominic St. Claire. The duty officer was sitting with his feet up on the desk reading a tablet when Attila suddenly appeared on the desk. “Jake, if you could be bothered to tear yourself away from your skin magazine, I have a report for you.”
The duty officer, who was supposed to be watching the incoming intel was quite engrossed in his reading (or rather ogling the young naked centerfold) and Attila’s sudden appearance caused him to fall over backward out of his chair. “Shit, Attila you have to stop doing that.” he said as he stood up rubbing the back of his head.
“Really, Jake, if you would pay more attention to your job and less to your base human desires, then I wouldn’t surprise you when I have to alert you.” Attila chided him.
“Hey, a guy has needs, besides how often do I have anything to do around here anyway?” Jake shrugged.
“True, it is rather boring around here most days, but this one you may be interested in. We have a police officer who has been trying to hack into the ID server for the last hour. He has also been running checks on Doctor Julius Hammer, and one Quincy Jones.” Attila said as he flashed up the information on a holographic screen for Jake to see.
“Oh yeah. I would say that is interesting! That is Marcus’s operation ... better alert him and I will alert the boss.” Jake said.
On the way home, Sergeant St. Claire stopped by a small Asian restaurant. He was enjoying a bowl of Pho noodles. On the table, next to his bowl was a tablet that had all the information he found about Doctor Hammer and Quincy Jones. He was reading the background information. “Why does the government want a Doctor and a cab driver dead?” He pondered out loud. “Neither of them have anything in common, no connection at all, nor this third guy, no information about him at all. None of this makes sense.” He was talking out loud and did not notice the waitress standing over him.
