Welcome to the second installment of the Bubblegum Chronicles. This is
my first attempt to satisfy the fans of the Knight Sabers and I hope you
like it. This is set one year after Crash and uses Crash (or at least
my interpretation of), Crisis, The AD Police Files, and Adam Warren's
Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal Comic from Dark Horse. This does not use
any of the recent TV interpretations. Please drop a note or two to let
me know if I have pulled this off. (And of course, all flames will be
cheerfully ignored.)
This had been posted before to RAAC, but I�m arranging for it to go
on a website and I want some final imput before that happens.
The Bubblegum Crisis is owned by AIC, Pioneer Enterainment,
ADVision and a number of others besides me. This is for entertainment
only.
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Genom Tower-Chicago had been repaired quite thoroughly after the
Largo incident, almost back to the previous level of completion. Brian
Wadsworth did not take the time to appreciate this though, in fact he
had just wet his pants. Of course the fact he was now being dangled off
the edge of the rooftop many stories above the ground was probably the
reason for this.
"Like the view?" said a voice behind him. When Brian did not
respond, the voice continued. "You know, I was wondering if I could
throw you hard enough to get past the base of the tower and hit the
street."
A moment later, the figure that had been holding the former
vice-president of Genom-Chicago looked slightly disappointed. Brian
Wadsworth had just crashed into the fifth floor windows.
BUBBLEGUM CHRONICLES II: Alexi
By Donovan Alexander Willett
Iris sat down before the new chief's desk. She was still in a
little shock about being promoted to the rank of captain in charge of
the Investigative Division of the AD Police, but she knew that Leon and
Daley were in a bit of shock themselves.
The word came down two weeks ago that the AD Police was going
through another restructuring. This had been bad news to nearly everyone
because the AD Police had barely survived the last restructuring. If it
hadn't have been for Largo and his boomer rebellion, it is possible that
the AD Police would have been phased out. But, those events clearly
showed the continued need for the division.
Rumors started flying when the directive came down to form a
separate division within the AD Police to conduct investigations. They
got even wilder when a member of the 'Normal' Police was sent to head
the division. Iris had established herself as a competent investigator
within the Police department, but found she had to work extra hard to
get the respect of the Old Guard. At least she did have some help in
that Leon remembered her from the Paradise Loop case and he recognized
that she might be an asset to the force.
Then the first waves of the restructuring hit. Iris found herself
being promoted to Captain, equivalent to the Precinct heads in the
normal police, in charge of investigating all boomer related incidents.
At the same time, Leon was made Captain in charge of the Tactical
Response Division which handled the traditional role of the AD Police.
The two of them cringed wondering who the new chief would be, then were
utterly shocked to learn it would be Daley Wong.
Thinking on it, the choice of Daley was the best. He had been with
the AD Police from the beginning nearly eight years ago, and was
considered to be very knowledgeable of all procedures and regulations,
not that he followed half of them. Some of the force were already
grumbling that the job should have gone to Leon, but Leon was too much
of a hands on officer and he would be spending more time on the streets
rather than in his office doing the essential work. While Daley was no
fan of paperwork, he knew its place.
Daley came in the door and sat down in his new chair. "You two are
lucky." he said to his two captains. "I've just got finished talking to
the Chief of the Normal Police, the Mayor, the entire Council
individually, and representatives of Genom." He ran a hand through his
hair and sat back in his chair. "Well, it's time to get down to the
nitty-gritty of the change."
Iris took that as her cue. "Well, one thing Chief..." Daley cringed
at that. "As captains, Leon and myself are supposed to be assigned an
officer of sergeant rank to act as our aides. I've been reviewing the
personnel records, and I've noted that Nene Romanova is due up for
promotion to sergeant. I would like to have her as my aide."
Leon looked a little uncomfortable. "Iris, there is something you
need to know about Nene." He sat quietly for a moment trying to think of
the best way to say it. "Nene is...she has some...other obligations..."
Before Leon could stumble any further, Daley cut him off. "What my
verbose companion is trying to say is that Nene is a Knight Saber."
Both Leon and Iris turned to him. "You know?" Leon asked.
"I'm not stupid." Daley replied. "I figured it out after a while.
That's why I stopped referring to them as a group of mere mercenaries.
Nene has enough integrity to show they have some as a group."
Iris recovered from her shock first. "Well, she told me already. As
my aide, she will not be needed until after the incidents happen, so she
will not be missed so much during the incidents themselves."
Daley sat back in his chair. "Very well, I'll let you tell Sergeant
Romanova. How about you, Leon, who do you want as your aide?"
* * * * *
"How does this look?" asked Calista as she came out of the dressing
room.
Rei and Linna groaned inwardly. The dress fit Calista's curves
perfectly and enhanced her already exceptional looks. "Why," asked a
smiling Linna, "did you have to give her such a nice body? I have enough
trouble with the natural looks my friends have."
The three of them laughed and Calista returned to the dressing
room. The three of them had been out shopping all day and enjoying each
other's company. Before the events of two months before, Linna had liked
Rei as a student and had hoped she could get to know her better. The
revelation that Rei had a lot more in common with her than she ever
imagined made their friendship even more natural.
As for Calista, she was a whirlwind of energy. Freed of the
restraints her original body had when she was a "Sexaroid" built by
Genom, she was truly enjoying life for the first time. Linna had not had
a chance to get to know Priss's friend Sylvie before she was killed, but
she could see how Priss, who was slow to allow anyone to get close,
would become fast friends with her in such a short time.
Calista came back out in her old clothes and they went over to make
their purchases. Afterward, they walked into the extensive park that
dominated this part of Mega-Tokyo.
"Rei, how are Nene's Tai Chi lessons coming?" Linna asked.
"All right. She as to be pushed at times, but she does have the
desire to continue."
"That's good. I have been trying to get her to do some more
exercises ever since we joined the Knight Sabers. Until now, all we
could do is get her into a few aerobics classes."
There was a bit of a silence as the trio enjoyed the relative peace
of the park. Finally, Linna spoke again. "Rei, what kind of person is
Marcus?"
Rei had been expecting that question for a while. "He is a good
man, and a natural leader. I trust him with my life. And if I had a
daughter around Nene's age, I would trust him with her too."
Linna smiled at how Rei had cut to the true question. "Thank you,
Rei. Nene is like a little sister to me, and I worry about her."
After a time, they crested a hill in the center of the park, and
were surprised to see a heavy presence of police around one of the park
structures near the edge.
"I wonder what's going on down there?" said Linna as she began to
make out the fact that both the normal and AD Police were present down
there.
"I don't know." answered Rei, "But we can ask Iris and Nene. They
just got out of that patrol car."
Linna looked out and could barely notice Nene's red hair at that
distance. Sometimes it was hard to remember that her friend was not all
meat and bone, for it was only with her enhanced vision that Rei was
able to pick them out at that distance.
* * * * *
Sergeant Romanova busied herself as she began some new file headers
on the portable computer as she followed Iris through the crowd at the
crime scene. Once they reached the site itself, she stopped short in
horror at the scene. "One victim bled this much." she said quietly.
Iris surveyed the scene, remembering why she was happy transfer out
of homicide a few years back. "Either a heart wound or a major artery.
Only they would spray this far."
Even with the body removed, the scene was one of horror. At the
base of some marble monument to some forgotten figure was the outline of
the victim. All around was blood, where it had splattered nearly three
meters from the source.
After a minute or two, a lieutenant walked up to the pair. "One
victim, Captain, a mid level executive for Genom by the name of Kenichi
Henmi. He had his throat ripped out. Witnesses report that the victim
had been waiting over by the restrooms over there when a figure dressed
in black jumped from the roof, grabbed the victim and returned to the
roof with him. They heard some talking up there, then the victim was
propelled from the roof to where we found him. It appears that the fatal
wound was inflicted just before he was thrown because it took him a few
minutes to die. I sent a team up top and they found blood up there along
with the front half of the victim's neck."
"Strength estimates." Iris inquired.
The lieutenant shrugged. "Pretty strong, stronger than any normal
human."
Iris looked at the lieutenant with mild irritation. "Where are the
witnesses?"
"There, over by the water fountain."
Iris lead the three of them over to the witnesses. One was a middle
aged man dressed in business attire who was constantly checking his
watch. The other was a woman in jogging suit who just sat there looking
at nothing.
"Good afternoon. I am Captain Iris Cara of the AD Police. I have a
few more minor questions before you go."
"It's about time." replied the man. "I was supposed to be back from
lunch thirty minutes ago."
Iris ignored his comments and continued. "When the attacker took
the victim to the roof, did he jump straight up there with ease?"
The jogger answered. "No. He was only able to make it up to the
ledge and then he pulled himself up."
"Thank you. When he was thrown back down, was he turning or
tumbling."
"Yes, like a disc." she replied.
"Thank you, you may go now." Iris told them. The man gave his
barely civil thanks, while the woman nodded and slowly got to her feet.
"Sergeant." Iris called to one of the female officers of the Normal
Police. "See to it that she makes it home all right."
Once the witnesses were gone, she turned on the lieutenant. "Now,
with the data on the weight of the victim we can estimate the strength
of the attacker and comb through the records to find any boomer or
cybernetic augmentations that would allow such action."
"Yes, Captain." the lieutenant replied.
"The information about how the victim flew gives some indication of
how he was thrown. This time it appears that the attacker had to sling
the victim away, rather than throw him through brute force."
Iris looked at the lieutenant's embarrassed face. "Don't worry,
lieutenant. I know you are new to full scale investigations, so it is
best you learn out here, rather than have the Prosecutor's Office rip
your head off over perceived failings. Now, since the Coroner has taken
the body already, do you have images of the wounds?"
The lieutenant relaxed a little and pulled forth a data-unit. After
a second, he brought the images to the screen. "We were not able to
ascertain if there were any injuries concealed by the victim's clothing,
the Coroner should get any there, but we have some good shots of the
mortal wound.
Iris looked hard at the image, then cycled through the rest of the
crime scene images. "Good. Now finish up everything here and give me
your report when you have it. I expect it first thing tomorrow morning."
Soon, Nene and Iris were back in their vehicle and headed back to
headquarters. After a minute, Iris reached into her briefcase and pulled
out a white noise generator that Sylia had designed. "Nene, we have a
major problem."
"What do you mean?"
"The description of the attacker and the wounds mean one thing.
Alexi has returned."
"Who is Alexi?"
Iris leaned back and felt glad that Nene was driving. "Just after I
joined BioStar, they choose their first subject for the full scale
augmentation. Alexi Tarmolov, like most of us that had been recruited by
BioStar, had a grudge against Genom. In his case, he had lost his wife
who was an operative far a Russian intelligence agency.
"After he received the modifications, which are nearly as extensive
as the ones that Rei and Marcus have now, he worked as a field agent.
But soon, BioStar leaned that he was using his new abilities to hunt
down and kill Genom executives. BioStar has never condoned random
murder, and the predecessors of the Stalkers were sent to bring him in.
Only two of the six members, Rei and Marcus, returned alive. Shortly
thereafter, he apparently left Japan and we only had scattered reports
of his actions from around the world.
"At first, it was feared that his actions were the results of
cyberpsychosis and all further implants for anyone were put on hold. But
an analysis of his diaries and such later revealed that the psychosis
was his own.
"Alexi is strong. He had the dermal mesh and a muscle net almost as
good as our current best, better than mine. He has all the advantages of
sight and is armed with arm blades similar to Rei and Marcus. The most
notable feature are the climbing claws. In his fingertips are sharp
spikes that, when extended, face back along his fingers allowing him to
climb nearly any surface. He has taken to the habit of using these as
deadly weapons, as the unfortunate Mr. Henmi has learned."
Iris rubbed her temples tiredly. "Alexi is considered to be one of
the greatest threats to BioStar. While he has not betrayed us to anyone
to our knowledge, he as killed some of our members. In addition, if he
is ever captured, or he is killed and his body recovered, his
modifications will cause a search for who did the modifications."
"Can they be traced back?"
"Possibly. If not the technology, they may be able to trace his
moments back to his days here in Mega-Tokyo and they may be able to find
us by association.
* * * * *
"With the death of Mr. Henmi, I think it is logical to assume that
the 'Slayer' has returned to Mega-Tokyo."
Quincy sat back and contemplated the situation. "What does this
bring the total to?"
"Eighty-seven, Mr. Chairman."
"Then set up the usual safeguards and traps." Quincy looked to the
next person in the room. "What is the progress on this BioStar
situation?"
Takada bowed. "While my sources have not revealed the location of
BioStar's facility, I have come across some interesting information. On
researching the records we seized from the facilities we took over, I
found that they were ready to engage in full scale cloning procedures.
In fact, the only thing that seemed to be holding them back was the fact
that clones do not have developed personas. Our most recent information
from the informant has informed us that they have bypassed this problem
by installing certain boomer brains within clone bodies. I am confident
that we could recreate this procedure, and as I outlined in my proposal
before you, I have the perfect target for our purposes."
Quincy looked over the data before him. "So far, she has avoided
causing any further problems for Genom."
"Mr. Chairman, she is still closely associated with the Knight
Sabers, who are associated with BioStar."
"Very well, I approve. Is there anything you would like in addition
to this?"
"Yes Mr. Chairman, I would like to have Madigan assigned to the
project. She should help in keeping the section motivated and she has a
strong loyalty to Genom."
Quincy though hard on that. Madigan was one of his best operatives,
and one of the most loyal, but she could give him the possibility of
direct control of Takada's unit if necessary. "Very well."
* * * * *
"Good-bye." Sylia said to her old college roommate as she stepped
through the door. As she walked down the hallway smiling at the
friendship they had shared, she thought back on how she must thank Linna
on insisting that she got out more.
She entered the elevator and paid scant attention to the other
woman who joined her. They shared the elevator in silence as they rode
down to the lobby. Then it began.
Both occupants of the elevator looked up as the access panel in the
ceiling opened up. Then a black clad arm reached down and took the other
woman by the chin. She struggled and Sylia could see blood run down her
neck as she was drawn up through the ceiling.
Sylia had been frozen for a moment, but she pulled herself together
and reached into her handbag. Pulling out her phone, she punched the
emergency autodialer.
From above, she could hear the sounds of the woman crying, then the
sound of cloth ripping. "Don't rape me." she could hear her whimper.
"Rape you?" came the cold, calm voice of the attacker, "I would not
soil myself inside Genom trash like you."
Then Sylia heard a wet, ripping sound accompanied by several rapid
snaps. The woman let out horrific screams for a few moments as blood
began to pour form the holes in the ceiling.
* * * * *
"We were able to follow the killer's bloody trail back to the alley
behind the building, Captain, but it appears he entered a car there and
no one has reported seeing it."
Iris nodded, only half paying attention to the lieutenant. She
looked across the lobby to where Nene sat against the wall hugging her
knees. Iris, in her time with the normal police, had seen several gory
crime scenes, so this one had not shocked her too much. But Nene, who at
most saw bodies from afar in her previous duties with the AD Police, was
not ready to see a body like this. Alexi, the evidence pointed straight
at him, had grabbed the base of the woman's sternum and had pulled it up
like a pull tab, exposing her heart and lungs for the world to see. The
location of the body had slowed down its removal, so they were there to
see it brought down to the Coroner's gurney before it was bagged. As she
got the last details from the lieutenant, she was Sylia walk over to
Nene and try to get her to drink some water she had brought.
Sylia was not having much luck though. "Nene, you need to drink
something."
Nene did not respond, she only stared blankly across the lobby.
Sylia understood what Nene was going through and she sat down beside
her. Finally, Nene spoke, her voice broken and rough from crying. "How
would he do that. She was only a receptionist for some assistant
vice-president. She did not set policy. She could do nothing to set the
course of Genom."
Sylia reached over and pulled Nene close. "For him, it did not
matter. We need to find him to prevent another attack like this."
"Miss Stingray." came Iris's voice. "Sylia, we have everything we
need from you, so you can go now. I'm giving Nene the rest of the day
off, could you take care of her?"
Sylia thanked her and gently began to lead Nene to her car.
* * * * *
Rei stood beside her car getting herself ready for this. Marcus and
Dr. Harrison had approved this mission, she now had to get herself ready
for it. She thought back on the last time she was face to face with
Alexi. She had only been with BioStar for a few months, and she thought
on how she had been recruited for the role she now held. Then, though,
she and the others had been only lightly augmented.
In the end, there was no contest, for Alexi was superior in both
body and force of will. She and Marcus barely escaped with their lives.
Slowly, she willed herself to walk and begin the recon. Before he
left Mega-Tokyo four years before, he had used several safe houses
around the city. The encounter that had cost the lives of four friends
had occurred at one such safe house, and BioStar had been aware of two
others, but had let them be. Rei had just finished scouting the other,
and all the tells they had left were still in place. No one had been
there.
This other one was a small apartment built into the back of an
abandoned factory where the office spaces had been. She moved silently
through the remnants of an assembly line whose product was long
forgotten and she reached the second floor access. A new lock was on the
door.
Someone had been there, that was for sure. But Rei needed to know
for certain who had been there. With practiced ease, she leapt to a
catwalk and crossed over to the roof of the internal structure. There,
she found the concealed door they had installed for this purpose.
Dropping inside, she surveyed her surroundings. The rooms were
devoid of any major form of ornamentation, which was in line with both
Alexi's personality and the personalities of some forms of fanatics.
Moving through the other rooms, she found they were still pretty close
to how they had been when she was here last. Finally, she noted the
small portable computer sitting on a table. She moved cautiously over to
it, for she did not wish to disturb anything, but she was able to
determine that the communications ports were filled.
"How do you think I find my targets?" came a familiar voice behind
her.
She spun around and came face to face with Alexi. He was much the
same as when she last saw him years ago. About six foot with blonde hair
and cold blue eyes which always made Rei think of ice.
"Rei Sato." he said. "I was not aware you knew of my little home
here."
She said nothing, but she cocked her wrists and blades shot from
her forearms.
"Always the quiet one." he said. "But I was under the impression
that a cease fire existed between BioStar and myself. Or is this a
personal thing?" He raised his arms and his own blades extended. "You
know, Rei, I did not want to kill them. I thought of them as much my
friends as they were yours."
They made a few passes at each other, without making any real
contact. Slowly they circled, then Alexi charged succeeding in scoring a
strike against her thigh, but the blade fail to penetrate the dermal
mesh under her skin.
Rei used the momentum to get behind him, but he threw his weight
back throwing them to the floor. She retracted the arm blade on her
right arm and then put out a set of smaller blades from under her
fingernails. Quickly, she brought these across his face. But, like his
shot to her leg, the claws failed to penetrate his dermal mesh and only
left shallow, bloody scratches on his cheeks. Rolling to their feet,
they faced each other again.
"Well, Rei, neither one of us has the advantage now. But we shall
meet again." With that, he charged through the door and out of the
apartment."
Rei stood there breathing hard. Finally she pulled back her blades
and turned to gather the computer.
Outside, she did not see Alexi standing at the edge of another
building watching as she got into her car. "Yes, Rei, we shall meet
again. You and the others have been infected by Genom. I see that now. I
will have to eliminate you. You and your new friends."
* * * * *
Dr. Harrison walked into the computer room and was surprised to
find Adrian and Nene setting up in there. "What do you have planned
Monreux, Miss Romanova?"
Nene looked up from her terminal. "We were thinking that if Alexi
was half as successful as he appears to be, Genom would be keeping track
of him as best they could. Adrian has not seen any data in the normal
areas he monitors, so we are going to do a hard target search in some of
their more secure areas."
Harrison nodded. "Yes, that way we could use any information they
have, along with ours, to find him quicker. By the way, Nene, how are
you doing? I heard you were a little shook up after seeing the results
of Alexi's actions the other day."
Nene nodded as her face grew a little darker. "It pretty much
ruined that day. But I'm going to have to get used to that if I'm going
to keep wearing that uniform. Besides, working here to find him helps."
He started to turn out of the room when Nene called to him. Dr.
Harrison. Sylia has invited some of our friends here to a little social
gathering at her place tonight. You could probably use some time outside
these walls, and we would be happy to have you there."
he stood quietly for a moment. "Thank you Nene, I might just make
that." he said, then he left the room.
The blonde Frenchman looked at the door for a second, then went
back to preparing his console. "You know, Nene. In the five years I have
been here, I have almost never seen him go outside these walls
socially."
"I don't think anyone thought to invite him much. I think he
accepted because he and Sylia think on the same level in many ways, so
he won't feel so alone there."
They made some finishing adjustments and Nene watched as Adrian
pulled a cord out from a hidden fold on the inside of his right forearm.
"You know," she said, "I half expected to see you sitting there with
wires dangling from your head."
Adrian made the connections to the terminal laughing lightly to
himself. "I never could stand the idea of having hardware stuck in my
skull. All of my computer interface gear is in by arm between the two
bones. I control it through a neural cord we grew just for that." He
smiled. "This way, I have all the advantages. Plus, if any ice nails my
hardware, I don't have to worry about my gray matter being aced with
it."
Soon, they were into the net and moving into Genom's systems.
Letting loose some search routines they had worked up earlier, they soon
found the Slayer files. That done, they made a quick retreat.
Nene leaned back putting down the interfaces when she felt a hand
on her shoulder. Startled, she all but jumped onto her console as she
turned.
Marcus stood there with a blush running across his face. "I'm sorry
Nene, I was going to ask if you two had found anything interesting."
Nene relaxed and laughed nervously. "We found some files we can go
over later. You going to be at Sylia's tonight?"
"Of course, I would not miss that for the world. But I came down
here for another reason. Rei just got back from an overnight recon of
Alexi's hideouts and she ended up face to face with him at one point. He
might be more willing to act against us now. Keep that in mind."
Nene looked down for a second, but pulled herself together. "Well,
we will get him long before he has a chance to get us." she said and she
edged around him to leave the room.
Marcus just stood there thinking on how to react to the fact that
she just goosed him.
* * * * *
"I'll be right back." Mackie said as he left the room. The three
ladies present waved good bye and went back to sorting out the contents
of boxes spread all around the mid sized apartment.
"Where do you want this, Akiko?" Priss asked as she pulled some
audio equipment out of one box.
Akiko Akado pointed to a bookcase she and Mackie had just finished
reassembling. Taking a small break from unpacking, she looked around the
apartment she and Mackie had found. Finally she spoke. "Well, do I
pass?"
Priss nearly dropped the stereo as she began to laugh. Sylia just
smiled. "If I didn't think you were good for my little brother, do you
think I would have let things get this far?"
"Well, the way the four of you act whenever you are around, I just
thought you were still reserving judgment."
Priss actually turned a little red. As much as he could be a pain
in the ass at times, she did see Mackie as a little brother at times.
And this was a sentiment felt by the other Knight Sabers. She looked
over at Akiko. She was an attractive woman of medium height, black hair
and brown eyes. She also noted though that Akiko had dressed as normal
in a revealing outfit, a trait which had caught her off guard when she
realized that this woman was seeking to be a surgeon.
Meanwhile, Sylia had pulled out one of her noise generators and had
placed it on a countertop. "Actually, Akiko, we came here for another
reason. I admit that I did some background checks on you to ensure that
you were a good person, and I now feel safe to give you this
information."
Akiko looked at Sylia in puzzlement as the leader of the Knight
Sabers continued. "You see, Mackie has some responsibilities that stem
from the fact that he helped me design, build and maintain the suits
that Priss, Linna, Nene and myself wear in our other profession."
Akiko gave a nervous grin. "Don't tell me, you're Knight Sabers,
right?" The grin faded when Sylia nodded. "Well, at least Mackie doesn't
go out with you." she said quietly.
"He pilots our support vehicles and he does have his own combat
armor if things require it."
Akiko stood quietly for a moment. "That explains why he had to
cancel a couple of dates all the sudden." she said quietly.
"If you were going to be close to Mackie, you needed to know this."
Akiko still stood there quietly when Priss came up and put her arm
on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to him."
Akiko relaxed slightly at that. "Besides, if we lost him, who could we
pick on?"
Akiko burst out laughing and the tension in the room eased up a
little. She looked back up at the two women. "Is that all? There aren't
any global conspiracies I need to know of are there?"
"No," Sylia said keeping a straight face, "we took down the
Illuminati last week. We're not do to save the world again for at least
a few days."
When Mackie came back later, he was left to wonder how the three of
them ended up sitting on the floor laughing.
* * * * *
Nene pulled into the garage of the Silky Doll on her motoroid. Ever
since the bomb that nearly killed her had been planted in her scooter,
she had been riding the motoroid and truly enjoying herself. Pulling off
her helmet, she looked over and saw Iris getting out of her car.
"Nene, you naughty little girl."
"What?" Nene replied with an air of offended innocence.
"I think Marcus is still standing in there in the computer room
trying to react."
They laughed and headed for the elevators. There they ran into
Sylia as she came out of the car. "Nene, Iris." she said in greeting.
"Mackie managed to get his car to breakdown. How he could manage that
while still maintain the vans, I don't know, but I'm going to go pick
him and Akiko up. Linna, Rei and Calista are already upstairs enjoying
the pool."
They talked as they rode up to the top floor of LADYS633 where
Sylia had her extensive living area. Stepping out of the lift, they
looked around for a second, then the lights went out.
Nene turned back to the elevator to see arcs running through the
control panel. They looked around as emergency lights came on to cast a
dim, yellow light.
At the pool, Rei looked to Calista and Linna who were sitting on
the edge of the pool. "This happen before?"
Linna, who was looking around, shook her head. "Once, but the
backup generators kicked on almost immediately."
Rei pulled herself out of the water and dried herself off. "I'm
going to look around. Stay here." she said as she pulled on a T-shirt
and began to move off.
Passing around a corner, she had no warning when she was attacked.
Despite the shock absorbing properties of the dermal mesh and having an
unbreakable skull, the blow of the metal baton shook her brain enough to
daze her seriously. Quickly, skilled hands manacled her hands and feet
together and she felt herself being lifted.
"Don't worry," came Alexi's voice behind her ear, "I won't kill you
just yet. First, I'm going to take out your new friends. I'm saving you
and Captain Cara for last."
At the pool, Linna and Calista had finished pulling on their
clothes. Linna was about to say something when she felt her communicator
in her purse begin to vibrate. Pulling it out, she heard Nene's voice.
"Sylia, come in Sylia." The signal was weak and she could hear a jamming
tone.
Nene repeated the call twice more before Linna keyed hers. "Looks
like the signal is not getting out."
"I tried calling too, but the land lines are cut and the cell
phones are being jammed too. I'm at the armory now, but the locks fried,
just like the elevator controls."
"All right. Rei is taking a look around, but I'm going to check the
emergency exits."
"Roger."
Linna and Calista left the pool and entered the vast chamber which
everything was located. Reaching one of the emergency doors, she found
them to be spot welded shut. She cursed and pulled back out the radio.
"Nene, the emergency exits have been sealed. With Rei, we might be able
to get them open, but she hasn't gotten back from her recon."
Calista was looking around when she suddenly pointed up to the
supports for the glass ceiling. Linna looked up to see a figure hanging
other one from one of the central beams. The figure then jumped down to
where Sylia was building an addition.
* * * * *
Marcus pulled into the garage to find Sylia standing by the
disassembled controls of the elevators. She looked back and seeing him
and Dr. Harrison, walked over to the car.
"I'm glad to see you Marcus. I got back to find the doors here are
inoperative and all contact with upstairs cut off. I sent Mackie with
Priss and Akiko to Dr. Raven's to get the van, but they won't be back
for at least twenty minutes."
"Where are the emergency routes."
"Over there." she said pointing to a back corner. "I didn't want to
take them without the hardsuits, but you might be able to make a recon."
Marcus got out of the car and pulled up the driver's seat to reveal
a compartment in which he kept a backup suit of body armor. Donning it
quickly, he regretted that this unit did not include the trust unit, but
he was soon ready.
Sylia handed him a piece of equipment. "This is a signal tracer.
With it, you should be able to find the jammer and take it out."
* * * * *
Nene slowly moved through the rooms of the unfinished structure.
The flechette pistol she carried felt cold in her hands as she listened
for the slightest sound.
"Hello Miss Romanova." came an unknown male voice. She spun around
and fired as the dark figure came into view. He grabbed his left bicep.
"That penetrated." he exclaimed.
Before Nene could fire again, he stepped forward and knocked her
down with a fierce backhand to the jaw. She shook her head and started
to bring the gun back up when he brought up his own pistol and fired a
single shot. Nene felt pain shoot through her head and she saw no more.
Iris moved quickly to reach the sound of gunfire. She turned the
corner and leveled her pistol on Alexi who was standing over Nene's
inert form. Immediately, she fired a quick burst of shots, but, unlike
the tiny needles of Nene's pistol, the slugs her pistol fired were
stopped by the dermal net.
Alexi turned and smiled. "Iris. I'm afraid that your little friend
will have to end her position as your aide."
Iris cursed and dropped the pistol. Grabbing a metal rebar lying on
the floor, she charged Alexi ignoring the sharp pains she felt as her
dermal mesh stopped his gunfire. With a yell, she swung the bar,
striking him on his wounded arm.
He stumbled back and raised his arms to block some of the barrage
of blows Iris swung in her anger. While she was not as strong as Alexi,
she knew his older dermal mesh was not as efficient as hers in absorbing
kinetic energy and that her blows were beginning to tell.
Finally he managed to catch the bar and drawing out the metal baton
he had used on Rei, he struck her on the side of the head. She fell to
the floor dazed. "I'm going to kill your other two friends before I come
back for you. Enjoy these last few minutes you have." he said before
leaping out a window.
Gathering her wits, she crawled over to Nene's prostrate form. She
was bleeding badly from the forehead, but the wound was nowhere near as
bad as it looked. Iris pulled a bandage out of her purse and placed it
over the wound. "You're lucky, Nene, that we gave you that extra hard
skull when you first came to use."
* * * * *
Linna stood looking around for a weapon. This was where Sylia
stored her recreational equipment, but there was only so much that could
be done with a ski pole. Suddenly her radio came to life. "Linna."
Linna pulled it back out of her pocket. "Yeah Iris."
"We met the intruder. It's Alexi. He knocked me silly, but he wants
to kill everyone else first. Nene is down, but the ceramic bone lacing
we gave her saved her. Keep an eye out, he's coming for you now."
Linna stood still, thinking about what to do next when automatic
fire cut through the door. Hugging the walls, she and Calista managed to
avoid the bullets, but there was no other exit.
After a second of silence, the door burst apart as Alexi threw
himself through. Calista immediately threw herself at him, knocking him
off balance, but he recovered and threw her away. Linna was surprised at
how well Calista rolled and landed virtually on her feet. Before Alexi
was able to bring the machine pistol to bear on Linna, Calista was on
him again.
Looking around, Linna finally found her weapon. Grabbing a
mountaineer's pick that Sylia had used during her stay in Germany last
year, she turned and awaited an opening.
Calista, her arm bleeding from a blade strike, saw her there and
acted. Dropping down, she grabbed Alexi's legs and pulled back. Alexi
collapsed onto his back, leaving him momentarily open.
A moment was all Linna needed as she brought the sharp point of the
reinforced steel pick down on Alexi's chest.
Alexi grunted and rolled over. Getting to his feet, he pulled the
pick free. "Do you think you can stop me with this, girl?" he said. He
brought the pick up to strike Linna, but then he stumbled. Looking down,
she saw the free flowing blood pouring from the wound. "Why do you stop
me?" he asked dropping the pick. "I am only doing what has to be done."
Alexi stumbled forward and grabbed Linna's shoulders. "Genom is
evil to the core. It must be destroyed to the last man." he said. He
stood there for a moment, a pleading look in his eyes, before he
crumpled to the floor.
Linna had moved over to tend to Calista's wounds, ignoring the fact
that the front of her clothes were covered in Alexi's blood, when the
radio came to life again. "Nene, Iris, Linna, come in." came Marcus's
voice. The jamming tone was gone.
"Marcus, where are you?" came Iris's reply.
"Up in the rafters with Rei. I traced Alexi's jammer up here. Where
is he?"
Linna keyed her radio. "He's in here. Dead." she said, suddenly
tired. "Calista is hurt, and Iris said Nene had been wounded."
Sylia's voice cut in. "I just got off the line with BioStar. They
have a evac copter inbound."
Linna did not respond. She just sat there looking at his body.
* * * * *
"I've got confirmation. Alexi Tarmolov was killed by the Stalkers
and Knight Sabers at the Stingray residence."
A young man looked at the other three in the room. "I have reviewed
Tarmolov's files. If I might ask, why did we use such an unstable
individual."
The eldest in the room sat back in his chair. "Questions are good
Johnson. Alexi Tarmolov was a walking smokescreen. Where he went,
Genom's attention was focused on him, and not on uncovering our
activities. In addition, we were able on fourteen occasions to direct
him to specific targets and on eight occasions, passed off our
operations as his activities." The man leaned forward and interlaced his
fingers below his chin. "On the other hand, he had gotten to the point
that he was getting to be a possible liability. So it is fortunate that
he was eliminated before he could have lead others to us."
The one woman in the room stood up and walked over to the window
overlooking New Orleans's French Quarter. "Will we have our agent inside
BioStar leak anymore information to Genom."
"No, not yet."
She turned to her companions. "I still believe we should redouble
our efforts to get an agent into the core of BioStar. The agent we have
now is useful, but he does not have the access we need and it is
unlikely he will get it anytime soon."
"Patience Linda, the Agency will get there eventually. Our plans
are progressing apace."
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Well, that's it for part two. Part three "Milk Run" will be coming out
soon (I hope). Let me know what you think of my little effort by
contacting me here with C&C or through direct mail.