CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Palmyra, Eastern UT December 9, 2308 13:51:02 (T-Minus 03:16:08:58)
Hotaru frowned. Her Target had just disappeared. One minute he was at a house in Palmyra, and the next he simply ceased to exist. Had he been terminated? She thought about calling Control, but memories of the washroom incident in Kiev gave her pause. Was someone after her? More importantly, if someone was after her, why was someone after her?
She focused her attention on the Tablet once again. She set the scanning application to scan on all frequencies for the signal that 0247893's chronometer was giving off. It had been hard enough to find him after he had left Kiev. Before the attack, Control had helped her track down his hover's ID signal, and she started tracking it as soon as she landed at JFK. Tracking that signal had led to a consistent second signal that Hotaru had decided must belong to her Target. Gotta give him credit for changing his chronotag.
Wait! There it was again! It was moving. And so was the Hover. He was on the move. She ran to her hover, setting it on Auto, with the other hover as the destination. As she set off, Hotaru checked her Tablet, watching the progress of the dot into the city proper.
"Where are you going, 0247893?" She wondered aloud.
Another check of her Tablet indicated that she had three days and change left to complete her Delivery. She put the hover on Auto, and then transferred the data to the windshield. A small display in the top right of the screen estimated her arrival to his hover. It changed as he turned, and her hover changed course to intercept.
"Fifteen Minutes, and then you're mine." She said, looking at the display.
She sat back, and prepared her Tablet for Delivery. Hotaru then checked her Boom Stick, and was satisfied to see that it was fully charged. Her hover executed a U-turn as the tracking program following her Target once again altered her course to match.
As her hover twisted and turned through the streets of Palmyra, she could do nothing but wait. Suddenly, there was a jarring crash, and her hover lurched forward.
"Rear impact," Her hover's on-board computer said. "You are experiencing a hover accident. Please take appropriate safety measures."
Hotaru looked in the hover's rear view mirror. There was a truck behind her. She did a double-take. A wheeled truck? The sound of the truck's engine was loud compared to the near-silent electric engine of her hover. It roared as it came at her again. There was another crash, and the hover lurched forward anew.
She rapidly punched the Auto button on the dash, disengaging the function, taking the hover under her control. She swerved to the left, and noticed the truck follow her. A glance to the display in the corner of the window told her that her Target had finished his business, and was heading back to wherever it was that he came from.
"Computer. Activate full screen heads-up display. Calculate quickest route to Target."
"Working."
Another jolt from behind. Whoever was behind her meant business. She jammed her foot on the accelerator, and the hover started to break away from the truck. She cranked the wheel to the right, sliding around the corner, nearly crashing into the building as the propulsion jets worked frantically to keep her on the magnetic track. There was a squeal of rubber on asphalt as the driver yanked the truck around to follow her.
Up ahead, she saw a family partway across the street at a crosswalk. She frantically honked her horn, and punched the switch that turned her siren on. The wail of the siren blended with the roar of the truck's engine and the honk of her horn. The family scurried across the street and stared with amazement as Hotaru and the truck screamed by, doing almost three times the posted speed limit.
"Route calculated. Updating display."
The view in front of her changed, and Hotaru suddenly jerked the wheel to the left as the map came to life. Her Target was only four blocks away. With a loud roar the truck made the turn, and pulled alongside her, and rammed into her, sending the right side of her hover into the building, showering sparks and brick fragments behind her. Trying to compensate, she steered left, but the sheer size and weight of the truck was no match for her hover. She two-footed the brake pedal, and watched as the truck shot ahead of her.
As the truck passed her, she noticed with horror that it was the same man from the Kiev washroom. Someone was after her - that was for certain now. Glancing quickly at the map, she noticed that the alley up ahead connected with the road she needed to catch her Target. One hand on the wheel and the other on the handbrake, she cranked the wheel to the left, and noticed with satisfaction that the truck's brake lights came on, and the tires squealed as he tried to bring the huge truck to a stop.
Gravel shot out from under the hoverjets as she navigated the alley's opening. She snapped her attention back to the alley, and winced as her hover clipped a red Hoyota CrossHover. Hotaru grabbed the wheel with both hands now, and pushed the accelerator to the floor, making the most of her lead on the truck. As she came to the mouth of the alley, she steered right, out onto Oleander Avenue and gunned it again.
Definitely going to need to charge this tonight, she thought. Assuming I'm not dead.
Another glance at the map, and she saw that there was only two blocks separating her and her Target. She weaved around a slower moving hover, and the road became only two lanes wide. Up ahead, she could see a bridge, and beyond that a black state-issued hover that turned left on a road that led to the outskirts of town.
Hotaru piloted her hover as fast as she could across the bridge, and made the left. She slowed her hover to match her Target's speed. He drove across the intersection of Harrison and Oleander and she followed. She was halfway through the intersection when a movement caught her eye off to the right. She turned her head to see the grille of the truck as it impacted with her hover. The two vehicles skidded across the intersection and into the lawn of the house on the corner, crushing the lower half of a lawn mower in the process.
She quickly opened her door, and jumped out toward the back of her hover, rolling to her feet. Taking a defensive stance, she quickly glanced for the driver. Finding him, she quickly ran in his direction, hands up and on the attack. She was forced to quickly duck out of the way as the sizzling energy of the man's Boom Stick was unleashed in her direction. The energy bolt slammed into an oak tree on the lawn, reducing it to so many splinters.
Closing the distance, she jumped in the air, delivering a kick to the man's chest, knocking him backwards, and off-balance. Landing nimbly, she went for his legs, but was shocked when he delivered a blow under her guard connecting with her chin. She reeled from the hit, stars clouding her vision. She felt hands on her shoulders, and she was thrown down roughly to the grass.
She put her hands up in front of her, ready to ward off blows. Her vision was clearing, and she saw him coming in from the right. He raised his leg to kick her in the ribs, but at the last minute, she grabbed his foot, spinning it away from her, causing him to lose his momentum. She gained her feet and rushed him. Grabbing the handle of the lawn mower, she wrenched it free of its moorings, wielding it like a club. Hotaru took large swings at his legs and knees, and felt immense satisfaction when he yelped in pain as it connected with bone.
Despite his pain, he stayed on his feet, and when she swung for his head with the deadly metal frame, he grabbed the frame, and twisted it from her grasp. He tossed it to the ground beside him, preferring instead to take her on in hand-to-hand combat. Hotaru assumed the first position in her offensive Tai Chi stance, and started the form, wasting no time. He countered her movements with blocks of his own, and used his feet to keep her off-balance as he sent quick jab kicks in her direction.
Hotaru noticed that his back was to the wreck, and she launched an offensive in that direction, determined to pin him in and finish this attack. When his back leg touched the hover, he realized that he was trapped, and his eyes went feral. She had to end this. She came at him, fists flying. He grabbed each of her fists in a meaty hand, and kicked out, burying his foot in her midsection. As her bod
y went horizontal, he let go of her hands, and she crashed to the ground in the fetal position, struggling for breath.
With her mostly incapacitated, he crossed the three steps to the handle that Hotaru used as a club. Grabbing it, he ran back to her, and kicked her in the stomach again, rolling her onto her back. He grabbed the narrow end of the handle, and pressed the wide end against her throat. She quickly put her hands to the cross piece, pushing against his weight that drove the handle against her windpipe. She frantically kicked out, but he was nowhere in reach, standing behind her as he was.
The man reached behind him, drawing out a Tablet.
"Hotaru Kogame, you have been-"
There was a loud crack, and the man was thrown to the side, releasing his grip on the handle. He staggered backward and there was another crack. This time, a circle of red began to appear in the center of his chest. Hotaru could see where his shirt had been torn by whatever had hit him. Craning her neck to see behind her, she noticed a man standing on his stoop with a hunting rifle in his hands. Tendrils of smoke still hung around the end of the barrel.
"Are you all right, miss?" The man asked, concern on his face.
Unable to speak, she simply nodded. Checking on the man again, Hotaru saw that he was on the ground, clutching at his chest. His breath came in ragged gasps and he looked at her with horror when she approached.
"Who sent you?" She asked, her own breath not yet returned.
In answer, he spat in her face, saliva and blood spraying into her eyes. He looked away. She reached over with a quick hand, grabbing his chin, bringing it back toward her.
"Who sent you?" She asked, more forcefully this time.
He tried to shake his head, but her grip was firm.
"Tell me! WHO SENT YOU?"
The light in his eyes was fading. He was moments away from death. She tried once more.
"Who wants me dead?"
With the knowing look of someone who is embracing death, he uttered only one word:
"Iris."