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Things got really confusing really fast.
The armor's lasers speared the spot where I had just been standing. That was a temporary reprieve at best as, really, there is no way to dodge a laser. No matter how fast I moved, there was just no way to cover enough ground. All he had to do was twitch his wrist and I was done for. Compared to the speed of light I was, essentially, not moving. Relativistic velocities were a real bitch when it came to dodging.
Fortunately, I didn't have to dodge again. I never saw Shyd move. As luck would have it, neither did One of Shadows. Shyd's wutah flashed upwards and slapped Shadow's wrists upwards. The Chimera's lasers tore deep gouges into the ceiling. I normally don't need a huge invitation in such situations and didn't need one now. I leaped forward and stabbed my blade directly towards his chest.
Damn, he was fast!
I don't know how he saw me. Maybe he had some sort of early warning sensor going. All I know is that he was looking upwards at the ceiling one moment and then darting backwards and to the side faster than the eye could see. Still, there was a bright flash of light followed by the smell of something burning.
Cursing, One of Shadows came to a halt a few feet away and inspected his armor. The tip of my blade had just barely made contact with him. Where the blade had touched the armor had split and melted. A shower of sparks jetted out from where the blade cut. Chimera armor was tough, yes, but that blade was like the heart of a sun. There are limits to everything. Still cursing, One of Shadows reached up and touched the section of his armor. It popped off in his hand. He chucked it aside. Now there was a four inch by three inch section of exposed flesh just above his heart.
"That," he declared with a snarl, "Is the last time you will cut me!"
He sprang forward in a blur of motion.
Fae are fast on their own. Their ruggidized endoskeleton combined with biomechanical enhancements basically meant they got the same benefits of the powered armor buried under their skin. A Fae wearing smart armor on top of his own enhancements was unbelievably fast. A Chimera using the best that it could find from Fae biology and pumping it up for its own use while wearing later generation armor? Too fast for the eye to follow. We would be dead in milliseconds and never feel it. However, there were two things we had going for us. There were six of us and he was afraid to let our weapons touch him.
As long as he was moving he was safe. But the moment he paused to shoot, punch, kick, or change directions we sprang on him en masse. Even with enhanced reflexes, he only had four limbs to fight us off which left two too many.
So began the weirdest stalemate the universe has probably ever seen. He disappeared. We swung around wildly shooting, flashing our blades, or twirling that stupid wutah of Shyd's and as soon as he appeared we'd all leap in that direction only to have him disappear again.
The Rhon suits didn't make us any faster or stronger than a normal human. We could just tap into the strength and speed for a lot longer than biology alone should permit. So while we were slow and clumsy in comparison to One of Shadows, we were still bouncing around the confined space of the corridor with lots of frenetic energy. By unspoken mutual agreement, we kept our movements erratics. I hoped that, as fast as he was moving, that hitting a target that was also moving in its own weird tangents would present a challenge. I was half right. Shooting us was a problem. Doing a drive by punch to the ribcage seemed to be much easier.
I collapsed to the floor as something blurred in front of me and my chest exploded. Were my ribs actually broken?
Inhaling hurt more than it had any right to ache. Breathing should not be painful. The air burned and something felt like it was pressing my lungs downwards. I kept inhaling and the ache eased off. My ribs, for a wonder, seemed to be intact. Bruised, yes. Maybe even a few of them were cracked. But I didn't seem to have any of them sticking out of my lungs either. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. But I was alive and that's what mattered. I gathered my feet under me and tried to stand. It wasn't happening. I'd been asking a lot of my body and it had just formed a union and went on strike.
So, I surveyed the damage around us instead. For the most part the mercs, android and otherwise, were out of commission. Most of the robots were smashed and lying about in pieces. One robot had its legs and one arm chopped off and was dragging itself away from the action as if it were looking for Sarah Conner. Closer to me were the frog faced mercs. Most of them had seen better days as well.
My friends had gotten the drop on the mercenaries and had dispatched of them quickly. Once again I was reminded that when it came down to hand to hand combat there really wasn't such a thing as a fair fight between a human and most aliens.
Two of the mercs had been tossed into the walls with enough force to leave a dent. I wasn't sure if that was due to the kinetic guns or if Lee had just thrown them. Probably the former, but one of them had its arms stretched out in front of it and twisted into an unnatural angle so I couldn't rule out brute force. Another was on the ground groaning and trying to protect its legs with its arms. The legs weren't moving and had a strangely limp appearance to them. Broken. Other mercs lay dead or dying including one that was fairly close to me that dropped its rifle.
Standing I might not be able to do. But that didn't mean I was entirely out of the fight..
With a painful lurch, I stretched out and grabbed the rifle by the barrel and dragged it towards me. I looked around and saw my friends were concentrating their efforts on the far end of the corridor. Now that the odds were only five to one the Chimera seemed to be willing to stop moving so often and try to get a shot off. So far he hadn't hit anyone, but I was certain that wouldn't last.
"Tie your shoes everyone!" I shouted.
Four people dropped to the floor immediately. Shyd fell a little slower as he shot me a confused look. Fortunately Jack was beside him and had anticipated this. She grabbed his arm as she fell and dragged him down half a second behind her. The Chimera stopped moving as they dropped and looked up in my direction.
I pulled the trigger.
I set the gun to full auto and emptied the power pack in the Chimera's direction. The corridor lit up as bolts of energy surged through the air. Then I heard a "whoompf" sound and I was flying backwards as the rifle was yanked from my hands. I landed hard on my ass and skidded across the floor along my back. The Chimera stood where I had been a moment before. He glared at me. His lips twisted into an ugly snarl. There were a few pockmarks on his armor that lay testimony to the fact that, despite his earlier warning, I definitely did hit him again. That seemed to anger him more than anything.
Oh yeah. Humans are resistant to energy weapons and, by extension, the Chimera would be too. With the armor and all that it'd probably been no worse than a few bee stings.
I was not making friends today.
My stolen rifle was in his hands. He looked at it once and then let go of it with one hand. He raised his free hand and pointed a fist in my direction. I was still on my back. It would take too long to get into position to dodge. I could feel more than see the burners in his wrist charging up. Then he looked away from me and brought the rifle up and around to his left. He braced it with both hands a moment before a glowing blade sliced through it. Heather was up and charging him.
He tried to shoot her with his burners but she twisted to the side before he could get a bead on her. The blade slashed through the air where he had been. He'd dodged it but he was clearly shocked by the fact she'd been able to avoid his first attack. That shock was slowing him down. It really wasn't much of an advantage, but Heather pressed it all the same. She slashed at his head and forced him to duck. He tried to roll to his right but she changed directions with her blade on the downstroke to intercept him. He flopped backwards onto his spine allowing the blade to pass by harmlessly. He kicked his feet into the air and did a backwards somersault to land on his feet once more. He was five feet away from her now. Too far away for her to cut with her blade. Heather didn't bother rushing him. She held back as twin blasts caught Shadows in the crossfire.
I had forgotten Lee and Jack were equipped with pistols. Apparently so had One of Shadows. Unlike my energy weapon, the Rhon pistols fired forcefields that caused mayhem with pure kinetic energy. The armor could only dampen it so much as the Chimera was struck with the force of two freight engines striking him in tandem.
I ducked by reflex as he flew over my head and towards the wall. Somehow, I'm not sure exactly how he did it, he curled into a ball as he flew and rotated until his feet were pointed towards the wall. I swear, I heard the bone snap as he hit the wall but that didn't even slow him down. Relying on the superfast healing built into the Fae physiology, he sprang off the wall almost before he finished absorbing the blow with his legs. He flew away, twisted in mid air, and landed in front of Heather. He immediately had to duck and drop to the side as her blade cut the air where he had been standing.
Fuck! I had bumped uglies with a Jedi! How awesome is that?
She swung her blade backwards to where he was rolling and caused him to divert directions again. Once more, she sensed this before he did this and altered her own course. Then, oddly, she froze in place and dropped her blade. One of Shadows jumped to his feet and growled.
"You tipped your hand, human," he said, "I don't know how you gained these abilities, but you should realize that by reading my mind you opened a door to -argwarfl!"
That last bit was compliments of a wutah cracking against the backside of his head. Points for Shyd for not letting the bad guy get into his monologue.
He rolled forward away from the blow. There was still a flash of light but I got the impression that it hadn't quite delivered the full punch. Probably because the asshole was back up on his feet in a second and growling once more.
So far we'd had been dealing more damage than we were receiving. But that didn't really matter because he was shrugging off that same damage as if we were little more than flies. At the same time he had effectively incapacitated two of our fighters with minimal effort. I was only just finding the strength to stand once more and Heather - I confirmed this with a glance in her direction - was still frozen. But, wait, something was different. I looked back. Her blade was missing.
With a crackle of energy, I heard the missing blade snap to life. I whirled around expecting to see One of Shadows charging me with the stolen blade. But, no, it was the Professor. She was charging in with a plasma blade in each hand and twirling them around like a death dealing majorette.
One of Shadows tried to disappear again. He started moving fast but found himself brought up short by the Professor. She stood in the middle of the corridor and extended her arms out to the sides. The whirling blades hummed as they slashed the air mere inches from the wall. He couldn't go that direction. She advanced slowly. Narrowing the space where he could move. Jack and Lee got the hint and crept up behind her to fire over her shoulders down the corridor in his direction. With less space to run he found it harder to dodge the bolts of kinetic force hurled in his direction. A glancing blow here. A near miss there. But the shots were getting closer as he found less and less room to retreat. Shyd appeared beside me and helped me to my feet.
"Want to stomp a kvojing cow turd to see how far it squirts?" He asked.
Not as poetic as "it's clobbering time" but I still caught his meaning. Still finding it difficult to catch my breath, I nodded agreement and we started advancing down the corridor. I still had my plasma blade somehow. I ignited it and held it low and ready to swing. Shyd walked in front of me with his wutah twirling in front of him. The message was clear. Even if One of Shadows tried attacking my friends in front of us he'd never get past us too. We were winning. I felt a flicker of optimism.
I really need to stop doing that.
The blur of motion that had been One of Shadows suddenly stopped moving long enough to slap a palm against the wall beside him. Nothing happened. Not on his end of the corridor anyway. But on my end something did happen. The wall beside me opened up.
For just the briefest moment the sight of black space and a white rocky planet face surprised me. I thought that, somehow, he had opened an airlock and I was about to be blown out to die upon the airless surface of the planet. But, no, it was just a window of some sort. Still, it startled me and I must have gasped in surprise because the next thing I knew I was making eye contact with Lee, the Professor, and Jack who had all turned around to see if I was all right. Which meant none of us were watching the Chimera.
The Professor screamed as a blur knocked her off her feet. Her blades went wild and sliced back behind her where Lee was standing. She would have cut him in half if she hadn't had the presence of mind to switch off the blades. They tumbled out of her hands as she let go of them to brace for impact. Lee forgot himself for the moment and, by reflex I imagine, turned to help her out. They tumbled together in a lump on the floor. The blur, never slowing down, did something to Jack. I heard a crack of bone snapping and she crumpled to the floor screaming. She dropped her pistol. Forgotten.
The blur was past them and Shyd's wutah was out of his hands and swinging at him.
I've been describing events as if they were happening one after another but, to me, it was as if they all happened at once. The Prof screamed and fell into Lee as Jack fell to the floor screaming. All while Shyd, somehow, managed to block the first blow from the wutah with his own forearm.
Again, I heard that sickly sound of bone snapping. Shyd dropped his useless left arm and made a sliding move to the right. The wutah missed him - barely - and Shyd punched with his good arm in the direction of where the blur should be. He missed but, fuck, give Shyd credit. He lasted longer at this hand to hand stuff against the Chimera longer than he had any right to. The blur did something, a punch I imagine, and Shyd was crumpling to the floor unconscious. Then, before I could blink my eyes, One of Shadows was behind me with his arm around my neck and one of his wrist laser pressed to my head.
"I don't think so," One of Shadows hissed, "Drop the weapons. Now!"
I slapped my blade to my thigh and let go. Wait. He said "weapons." I rolled my eyes in the direction of the heap where Lee, the Prof, and Jack had fell. Jack, pained expression on her face, was sitting up on the floor with one twisted leg stretched out to the side. She had her pistol trained in my direction. She lowered it. Lee and the Professor were still disentangling themselves but I saw Lee was already bringing his own pistol around to point my direction. He too stopped and lowered his. That's about the time I noticed the sound of dozens of feet marching in unison down the corridor.
"Late as usual," One of Shadows commented. He sounded almost amused.
"I swear," he said, "It is the same all over. Security is never there when you need them. Ah, well, this was a fun distraction at least. I had not realized how entertaining your kind could be. So optimistic! Still, even you must recognize your complete failure. Surrender now and-"
And I really didn't care. I'd had enough of this asshole for one lifetime. With no better idea of what to do, I activated my comm.
"Dire!" I grunted past the arm that was half choking me, "I'm not asking you as your captain. I'm asking as a friend. Will you shoot this motherfucker?"
"Certainly, Jason," came the reply, "Locking in on your comm now."
"What?" One of Shadows said. He was surprised and, in that moment of confusion, he loosened his grip on me as he yanked his head around to look out the window behind him. I twisted free and dived for the floor as the window filled with the most brilliant light I have ever seen.
There was a deafening boom followed by intense heat. Without thinking about it, I nodded my head and activated my helmet. The bright lights and sounds subsided as I was tossed about by, well, something. It felt like a giant had set his hands on fire and was throwing me around the room. I bounced off the wall and ceiling and then I was bouncing off something else. Hard but with a gritty texture. My ears were still ringing but the faceplate dialed back the polarization just a bit.
I was outside. Everything was ridiculously bright. Even through the faceplate I could tell there was blinding glare. In front of me was a building with a huge irregular hole in the side of it. Beyond that I could see a couple dozen of the froggy mercs floundering on the floor. Lee was on his feet and running in their direction. Then it was gone. A black hemisphere of force covered the hole. Some sort of forcefield designed to contain the leak? It must have been. But, where was the Chimera?
I looked behind me and saw him struggling to his feet.
Unlike me, he didn't have a helmet. The collar forcefields were trying to compensate for this and slow the air leaking from his suit. Still, I could see a cloud of vapor jetting upwards from where the fields weakened and didn't completely seal in the air. There was no sound. Was I still deaf? No, that wasn't it. Well, not entirely. There was no air out here. The Chimera opened his mouth and threw back his head. He was screaming.
As I watched his pearly white skin grew darker. It then turned black and began to bubble. He was being roasted in the bright light and intense radiation bombarding the surface of the planet. He lowered his head and scanned the area. It was futile. The eyes were milky orbs that saw nothing.
He opened his mouth and appeared to be screaming again. Pain or challenge? As I watched I saw the blackened and bubbling skin on his face slough off and . . reveal new pink skin underneath. He was regenerating! As fast as it was burning him his body was trying to heal from it. The new pink skin darkened and turned black as well. In a matter of a few minutes he would lose and regrow his face over and over again. Presumably his eyes were trying to regenerate as well only to be blinded time and time again.
The pain must be overwhelming. I struggled to rise to my feet only to see him extend his arms at full length and begin firing his wrist mounted lasers. He tried to spin in place to cut a chest high swatch all around. I dived for the ground and allowed the beams to pass overhead.
My helmet darkened again and I blinked a few times before the faceplate brightened again and allowed me to see a crater where the Chimera had been standing before. Off to the side I saw a charred and smoking figure curled up into a fetal position. The sky above me brightened and I looked upwards. Huge cannons had sprouted forth from the top of the building and were firing into the night sky.
"Apologies, Jason," Dire said over my comm, "They have pinpointed my position and are returning fire. Several ships are attempting to board me. I must concentrate on personal defense before I can provide additional support."
"Thank you, Dire," I said, "You've done more than I could have asked. You're the best ship anyone could hope for and a better friend than I deserve."
"Thank you, sir," Dire replied in his usual flat and emotionally devoid voice, "However, I feel I should warn you that I was not able to get a direct lock on your opponent from this distance. I fear I may not have scored a direct hit. You may find he is not entirely incapacitated."
I looked over. Fuck! Oh, for crying out loud! Give me a break!
Even as I watched the smoldering hulk of the Chimera was standing up again. A shower of sparks flowed from his damaged armor and he was forced to remove sections of it. He tore free the damaged sections over his right shoulder and arm. The skin was bare beneath and immediately turned black in the harsh rays of this world. The arm pulled in upon itself. Drying out like a mummy. Still it worked. He used this damaged arm and his good left arm to tear away more charred sections of armor. Exposing legs and the left half of his stomach. Only his left arm, his chest, and his right leg were still armored now. Even those bits did not seem to be operating normally. The gas jet above his head fluctuated allowing irregular sized clouds out as the fields struggled to keep his head in atmosphere. His armored arm moved stiffly. He pointed it to the side and waited. A moment later a weak laser shot from it. It was underpowered and he couldn't fire it continuously, but it could still kill me if he got a lucky shot in my direction.
Fuck and double fuck!
I dropped on my hands and knees and crawled on my belly in his direction. He rotated like a clock and sent spurts of erratic laser bursts out as he turned slowly in place.
As before, with the helmet in place the world seemed simpler. My friends were trapped behind that forcefield and facing armed mercenaries. But Lee was on his feet the last I saw him so that wasn't a concern. My ship was under fire but if there was a ship out there that could take on the Dire Blade I hadn't seen it. So that wasn't a concern. All that mattered was executing the menace in front of me.
No matter how many times I donned that helmet, my thought processes while wearing it almost seem alien to me later. It all made sense at the time. I knew that my friends and the ship were in danger themselves. But I didn't worry about it. The danger affecting them wasn't something I could do anything about so I didn't bother wasting mental energy on it. I still liked them even then. I'm pretty sure I was sincere when I had just told Dire he was a better friend than I deserved. The words didn't feel hollow then, but at the same time a "friend" seemed to have a different definition. They were people - or a ship - that I was okay with helping and felt no desire to harm. The fucker in front of me? DIfferent story. He had to die.
I crawled towards him across the moon-like surface of the planet. Dust scattered as I crawled but I ignored it. He couldn't see me. It was impossible to hear me. He couldn't even read my mind. The only way he could find me was if the proximity sensors on his suit were still working and-
Shit!
I rolled to the side as he pointed his wrist at me. A moment later the ground where I had been exploded.
There was a delay between the time he wanted to fire and the time the laser actually left the barrel. It wasn't much but it gave me a chance to dodge. I scurried to one side and raced towards him again. He tried to get a bead on me again and, once more, I managed to jump to the side. He tried to track me but, apparently, even the proximity sensors weren't giving him that good of an idea of my location. Sudden movements seemed to confuse it.
Okay, we'll do it that way.
I scrambled to my feet and ran for him in a zigzag fashion. He whipped his head around blindly as he searched for me. His arm moved jerkily from left to right. He was having problems. By the time he realized that I was almost upon him it was too late. I grabbed him in a flying tackle and as we skidded across the moon surface with me on top of him I lifted myself up enough to punch him in the face three times.
He was in pain. It made him slower and weaker. But he was still stronger and tougher than me. Despite the padding in gloved hands allowing me to really let loose, the impacts were barely enough to hurt him. Or maybe he was in so much pain that they didn't even register. He shook them off and reached up for my neck. So I stopped punching him and reached for my leg where I stashed the plasma blade. I fired it up. I was sitting on his chest. Even with strength on his side pure physics was keeping him pinned down. I'd never have a better shot. Gripping the handle in both hands, I plunged the glowing tip towards the exposed region on his chest. My arm stopped just short of making contact. Two hands gripped my arms in an iron vice grip. How the hell had he done that without seeing me?
I put my weight behind it and pushed down. My damaged ribs ached with the exertion. I had gravity on my side. He was hurt and couldn't recruit as much muscle to fight me off as normal. His armor was damaged so he only had his implants to augment his failing strength. Still, he was strong and I wasn't making much headway.
Much being the operative word.
The blade drifted downwards by a millimeter.
That's when the headache started.
It started low and in the back of my skull. I thought at first it was just tension from all the exertion and, well, the lung damage. Something I could ignore. But it grew stronger and, somehow, deeper. It took on an odd characteristic. Something alien to myself. Don't ask me how I knew this. I just knew.
Too late I remembered Heather. A combination of lowered mental defenses and true desperation on the part of the Fae had allowed it to implant part of itself into her mind.
The headache grew and built. It developed a resonance. Some weird reverb that almost reminded me of voices. Then it stopped reminding me of voices and actually became voices.
~you are weak! a voice scolded ~Drive this creature out!
Hey! I remembered that voice. Adjudicators. But the Chimera claimed that the Adjudicators were now their puppets. But this sounded like the other way around. No. It couldn't be.
"You guys let the Chimera think they were pulling the strings, didn't you?" I thought.
I can't explain what happened next except as a color shift. I wasn't seeing anything different. Not yet. But that's what it felt like. Like my thoughts were in sepia before that and there was now a tiny bit of color leaking in on one spot.
One of Shadows didn't know. Oh, this was fun!
The blade twitched closer.
I almost had to admire the Adjudicators for this one. They knew how to play the long con.
"They just rolled right over once you tried out your new mental powers, didn't they?" I said. I said it out loud this time. It helped me focus on the words.
"You thought," I said with a grunt, "You were the psychic big boys on the block. So you took over for the old guys and this time you were going to win once and for all."
The color patch in my mind darkened. Did that mean I was getting close?
"You forgot," I said, still pushing down, "That Adjudicators aren't like other psychics. They can join together. Shout as one. Individually you may be stronger, but what about ten Adjudicators? Or a hundred? Or a thousand? How many can you hold out against? And what was it you said to Heather? By reading your mind she opened a door, was it? Being psychic also means you opened a door into your own mind."
The color darkened and, well, twisted. It wasn't just the color either. I saw it in One of Shadow's face. He was losing focus. Just a bit more.
"That trick with destroying the galaxy is pretty sweet," I went on, "Did you guys come up with that one on your own or did it just arrive as a flash of inspiration? Don't bother answering because I'll answer for you. Your keystone. The ship that was supposed to detonate out here. Why was it located at the outpost nearest Earth? Why not closer to here? Why was it one they knew about? I'll tell you why. It was never meant to go off here. There was going to be an accident. It was meant to go off near Earth! Your plan was never meant to succeed. The Con-Flux would find out about it just in time to be helpless to stop the destruction of Earth."
That last part left a bitter taste in my mouth. Still, it fit. It felt right. As I spoke more and more of the puzzle pieces were fitting into place at blinding speed.
"Why else would the Con-Flux suddenly get interested in Earth again at this particular time?" I went on, "And sending a ranking member of the Church no less! A church founded to rid the universe of you! When he died as the Dire Blade exploded the entire Con-Flux would be stirred up! They'd redouble their efforts to exterminate you. Especially once they found that you'd already set up explosions to render their part of the galaxy uninhabitable. You'd be forced to retreat with the Con-Flux breathing down your neck the entire way!"
A flash. A protest I though.
"Yes!" I said, "You were meant to lose the Fourth Wave. Just like the other three waves. The Adjudicators don't want you to win. They want the conflict to draw out for ever! Now, thanks to you, the Rhon, the Fair Traders, and the Envoy are getting tossed into the mix. Now we're all going to be at each other's throats right in your neck of the woods! They want the war stepped up. To drive all of you to the brink of extinction. To knock you back to the stone age!"
More flashing.
"Except we screwed it up," I went on, "Humans didn't play by the rules. So they tried sending us to the Sphere. To lead the Church to it and try to force a conflict there. They wanted the Con-Flux to find it. They wanted the Con-Flux on high alert to look for your other little devices and, hopefully, to wipe out humanity as well. Except to do that they needed you to be discovered. Don't you see, Shadows? You got played! I bet you thought facing me one on one was your idea. You could have shot me down while we were still in the ship but, no, you had to do this personally. To take on six humans at once. You were supposed to die! The only reason the Adjudicators are helping you now is because . . ."
My voice faltered. It became so clear.
"Because of what's in my head," I said slowly, "They want you to kill me because if I can get this program or whatever in there among them . . . That's what I needed! I needed a powerful psychic to give me a direct link! That's what I was trying to tell myself!"
One of Shadows wasn't fighting me as hard any more so I took the chance and split my attention.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. Then a weird thing happened. I was still there on the surface of the planet pushing down on a plasma blade but I was also back on that island. It was like the two places were superimposed over one another.
The island looked better than before. Lush vegetation covered the interior and palm trees swayed in the breeze. The beach was the biggest change, however. All around the perimeter of the island, right where the sand met the ocean, there were these tall wooden barricades. They seemed to be made out of the trunks of palm trees. As I stared I heard a loud explosion.
Just over the top of the barricade I could see it. The tip of a sailing ship. A puff of white smoke rose up from below just as the wooden perimeter in front of me shook violently. Then it stopped all at once.
They were firing cannons at me! But that palm tree barrier was holding them back. Palm trees and cannons.
Something clicked.
"Sullivan's Island!" I said.
"About time you figured it out," a voice that was familiar and not said behind me. I turned to face him. Or, well, face me.
"I thought you said I wouldn't see you anymore," I pointed out.
"Well," I/he said as he scratched at the gold and blue tattoos on his chin, "That's when we were integrating. Now your mind is splitting off the program again and-"
"Forget the exposition," I said, "We've had enough of that. You're here so that must mean you're getting ready to head off and join the Adjudicators ranks?"
He nodded and pointed past me and out over the ocean.
"Through there if I can make it," he said.
I looked back and saw that there was a blemish in the pale blue sky just beyond the ship. A swirling vortex of black light. No, don't ask how light can be black. Just take it from me. It was glowing black.
"The Adjudicators?" I asked as I turned to face my doppleganger again. He nodded once and then smiled.
"You do realize this probably isn't what Sullivan's Island really looks like, don't you?" He asked.
I sighed.
"I've never been to South Carolina," I pointed out, "So how would I . . . er . . . we know, huh? I just thought it was an interesting story from my history class. About the only part of the Revolutionary War I did find interesting."
I shook my head.
"I didn't even remember the name of the fort," I protested.
"Yet, you must have if I can say it."
I ignored that.
"I guess the story just sort of stuck with me, you know?" I went on, "British ships firing upon this flimsy wooden fort with their cannons. It shouldn't have been able to stand up to the assault but it did. An accidental building material turns the tide of a battle."
His grin faltered.
"Yeah," he said with a sigh, "Probably a metaphor for humanity itself in there somewhere. But I'm just too lazy to draw it out."
"Who cares?" I said, "No one wants to hear about symbolism. We have a battle to fight!"
He nodded and looked out at the sea again.
"I need to get to that portal," he repeated, "That ship is Weenie of Shadows and that vortex behind it is the Adjudicators. They were trying to reinforce him and give him better ammo. They didn't realize that your flimsy looking barricade is actually made of Palmetto. They'd have a lot of hammering to do before they could break through that."
As if to punctuate the idea, the barricade shook again.
"The problem," he continued, "Is that now they realize you've figure it out they're going to haul ass and try something else. They're probably only hanging around long enough to flip the kill switch." "Kill switch?" I asked.
"Not yours," he explained, "Remember, telepathy is a double edged sword. You can influence others but you open a door to influence. Without a really powerful psychic to bridge your mind to that of the Adjudicators this won't work. Even though the Chimera really isn't breaking through, his assault on you is opening up enough of a leak that I can get out. I just need it to stay open long enough for me to cross the bridge to get to the Adjudicators! But if they kill him first or he drops the connection then-"
I tuned out the rest. I stopped focusing on the island and snapped back to reality. One of Shadows was fighting me still but something had changed. His arms were shaking as if he were losing control of his muscles. A strained expression crossed his face.
He was dying.
"No you don't, fucker," I growled, "Not that easily you don't!"
I flipped on my comm.
"Heather!" I shouted, "Please tell me you're out there! This dying bastard has a link up between my head and the Adjudicators! I need that link to stay open! You hear me? Do whatever you can but make sure that door doesn't shut!"
I split my attention again and was back on the island.
"I sent a call out to Heather and- HOLY SHIT!"
I had planned on telling my doppleganger that I had called in reinforcements but, apparently, that wasn't entirely necessary. In that brief span of time that I had been gone the Man o'War out in the water had stopped firing. It now drifted with the current and appeared to be unmanned. Behind it the swirling vortex of the Adjudicators had dwindled from the size of a building to the size of a woman bent over on all fours and straining. That's not a coincidental image, by the way. A woman made of gold light was stuck in the opening and straining with everything she had to keep it from collapsing.
"Keep the fucker alive!" My doppleganger said to me as he raced to the wooden barricade. Somehow he managed to find hand and footholds between the loosely stacked timbers and started climbing. In a minute he was up and over the wall. I heard a splash as he dived into the ocean beyond and started swimming. Seconds after he hit the water I heard a cracking sound. I stood on tiptoe and looked out at the ship beyond. The huge mast that supported its massive sails had split down the middle. The crack was from the weight of the sails tearing the broken mast free of the ship. The ship was disintegrating. That could only mean . . .
I flashed back to reality and stopped pushing down on the blade. Instead I yanked upwards a mere instant before One of Shadows arms went limp. The blade slipped and would have plunged into his heart if I hadn't reversed directions with my effort. As it was it still managed to melt a shallow gouge into the remaining armor over his chest.
The blackened flesh of his face went slack and his head rolled to one side. The stump of a nose flared its nostrils. He was breathing still, but just barely.
"It ain't that fucking easy!" I told him.
I aimed the blade at his chest once more. But I didn't stab this time. No, this time I cut. I cut away the burnt skin on top. Through the mesh of armor below. I cut away the ceramic laminated bones of the ribcage. Before the harsh light of the word could sear it and before his flagging regenerative powers could seal the hole, I plunged my fist inside and gripped his naked heart in my gloved hand.
"You!" I shouted as I squeezed once, "Are!"
I let go and squeezed again.
"Going!"
Squeeze and release.
"To! Live!"
Squeeze and release.
"Long enough!"
Squeeze.
"For me to make them regret fucking with me!"
Squeeze and release. Squeeze and release. Yeah, I had no fucking clue if it would work but One of Shadows squirmed as I forced his heart to pump. I saw him cough and the heart under my hands fluttered once. Twice. It tried to die again.
Nope.
Squeeze and pump. Squeeze and pump.
He shuddered. The heart started up again. Feebly. The lungs expanded and contracted. He was breathing again. I shifted my attention once more to the island. It was my turn to run towards the barricade. I shoved my hands in between the timbers and gripped. I heaved and scrambled up the side. Shoving my toes in between the cracks when I could. Slowly and painfully I eased myself up to the top and looked towards the vortex in the distance.
The vortex was still there. In front of it was a battered and sinking warship. Still afloat, but taking on water. The vortex had shrunk again and the golden figure was struggling to maintain the gap. As I watched, a familiar looking person with gold and blue tattoos climbed out of the water and scrambled up the side of the sinking ship. He was on the deck in the blink of an eye and running. He raced across the deck trailing water as he ran and leaped off the edge. He sailed through the air and plunged head first into the vortex. I flashed back to reality.
"Okay," I said with a gasp, "Now you can die."
I gripped the heart tighter and put both feet on his chest. I kicked off with every bit of my remaining strength.
I felt something rip a moment before exhaustion got the better of me. I was asleep before I even had time to hit the ground.
Next Chapter
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