Chapter 24: Intervention
Hargo rushed toward the transport, slowing his approach as he got to within a few meters of it. Jackson stopped with him and awaited his instruction. Hargo crouched down low, with his pistol at the ready as he inspected the two guards.
The first one had multiple burn marks in a concentric pattern on his torso. Upon a closer look, he could see the burns consisted of three, evenly spaced shots in a triangular formation. The sniper rifle’s accuracy and speed was impressive to have made such precise shots. Perhaps the hefty salary they were paying Frank was worth it after all.
He gave a passing glance at the body of the other guard, but could tell from what was left of his head that there was no need to worry about him, either.
At that moment, he heard the familiar whiz and snap sound of flicker fire—coming from the sniper rifle.
He ducked down angrily, wondering for a split second if Frank was trying to target him purposely, but the fire was concentrated inside the shuttle.
A moment later, he heard and saw return fire erupt from inside the transport—apparently, there must have been another guard inside after all.
Hargo tapped his wrist-link. “What’s in there?” he yelled.
“One Peacekeeper,” came Frank’s tinny-sounding response.
Another volley of flicker fire exchanged between them.
“Keep at it until you take him out,” Hargo ordered.
The firefight continued for several more exchanges and then suddenly stopped. Hargo waited for Frank to report his status through the wrist-link.
“I think I got him,” came Frank’s voice finally.
“Are you sure? Hargo pressed.
“Pretty sure.”
Hargo looked toward Jackson and gave him the signal to go into the transport. Jackson nodded and darted inside with flicker pistol in hand.
Immediately he heard the sound of flicker fire and small explosions erupt from inside the transport. He was about to jump in but hesitated when he heard the lower-pitched sound of a flicker rifle firing.
After a moment, the shots stopped and he heard what sounded like someone hitting the floor.
He hugged the hull of the transport and crouched down low. He inched himself closer to get a peek inside the transport. Suddenly, the ramp door began to close and a weapons platform began to emerge from the top of the transport.
“Cover me!” he spoke into his wrist-link.
Hargo backed away from the transport and then darted back across the way toward the safety of the building wall. As he ran, he could hear the sound of the weapons platform rotating behind him—but it did not fire. He made it to the wall and ducked behind it.
Panting, he looked toward the sniper position. He was going to make that idiot Frank pay for his screw up.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of the transport’s engines come alive. He peeked his head out from the wall and caught sight of it lifting off—there was only one chance left.
“Beta team,” he spoke into his wrist-link. “Primary recovery plan failed. You are clear to intercept transport target.”
“Acknowledged,” the response came.
Hargo looked at the Peacekeeper transport escaping into the starlit sky. It would be exiting the edge of the atmospheric field in moments and be in open space. A few minutes later, it would be able to jump out of the system.
Their window of opportunity was going to be tight, but they still had a chance to pull this off.
At that moment a beep sounded on his wrist-link—it was Frank.
“What?” Hargo asked.
“I’m picking up chatter on the shuttle’s tactical—from the Peacekeepers. It looks like they’re aware of us and are sending reinforcements. It sounds like they’ll be here any minute.”
“I thought you were jamming them?” Hargo asked.
“I was—but when the transport launched, it must have gotten a signal off to an already nearby patrol.”
“Get the equipment back in the shuttle; we’re taking off.”
He shut off the conference link and looked at the path back to their shuttle. He saw no signs of other Peacekeepers or activity in the area—it was a clear path for the moment.
Hargo strode toward the shuttle with flicker pistol in hand. As he walked, he glanced around at the surrounding structures for any signs of danger as he made his way there—so far, so good.
Just as he got close, he heard the sound of police sirens piercing the air. He turned around to the source of the sound. In the distance near the landing pad he’d just left, he could see a group of Peacekeeper ships emerge from behind a structure.
“Halt where you are!” an amplified voice boomed out from them.
He saw Peacekeepers rappel down to the ground from the craft. They looked in his direction and began to aim their rifles at him. He immediately broke out into a full sprint toward his shuttle.
Flicker fire began to streak above his head. Some of the blue beams of energy struck the path ahead of him on the ground, while other fire hit the structures around him.
Sparks and debris splashed at him, raining pieces that scraped the exposed skin on his face. But he ignored the superficial wounds and continued ahead.
He ran in a zigzag pattern to evade additional fire and then stopped behind a wall.
“Frank!” He yelled into his wrist-link, panting heavily and trying to catch his breath. “Get on the sniper rifle and hold them off!”
A moment later, streaks of flicker fire flew past him from the sniper toward the Peacekeepers chasing him. He peeked around the wall to see three of the Peacekeepers on the ground, but a dozen more were behind them and began to return fire.
A barrage of fire flew toward the sniper’s position and Hargo could see him abandon the rifle and duck into the Peacekeeper shuttle for safety.
“Get back on that fucking rifle!” Hargo yelled into the wrist-link, but there was no response.
Hargo had a clear path to the shuttle, only twenty yards away. But without cover fire he would stand little chance of getting to it—he was going to have to make a choice.
“Beta team,” he spoke into his wrist-link. “Break off intercept and head directly to my position, immediately.”
There was a pause. “But sir, we almost have them—are you sure?”
“Yes! Go full throttle and lay down suppression fire at the Peacekeeper force chasing me!”
“Acknowledged,” the voice came back, disappointment evident in his voice.
Hargo held his flicker pistol high then quickly peeked his head beyond the cover of the wall.
On the other side, he saw the face of a Peacekeeper practically in front of him. Taking advantage of the soldier’s surprise, he fired his pistol point-blank at his head and saw him go down.
Another Peacekeeper stood a few meters behind the first. Hargo got two shots off in his direction before ducking back to the safety of the wall. A barrage of return fire came at him, but it either all whizzed by or struck the structure.
At that moment, he heard footsteps nearby. He whirled his pistol and crouched down only to see an unarmed woman in a cocktail waitress outfit standing a few meters away from him.
Hargo did not know how she got so close to him without noticing. But it didn’t matter a damn to him right now: she was his ticket out of here. Hargo stalked toward her and grabbed her, putting her into a headlock with his free arm. He put his gun to her head.
“Okay, bitch,” he whispered, his mouth close to her ear. “Don’t struggle, and do what I fucking say—and maybe you’ll get to live.”
To his surprise, she did not fight him and instead began to giggle.
She drunk? he wondered.
He squeezed her neck hard, to the point where it must have constricted her breathing.
“This isn’t a joke, bitch. You better sober up. I will kill you right here.”
Again she laughed.
Hargo brought a hard knee
to her stomach. He then turned her around and slammed her against the wall, his hand now around her neck.
“Still think this is funny, bitch?” he said, his face close to her. “I’ll make you feel pain like you’ve never felt—”
She casually put her hand over his wrist, and with a strength she should not possess, she pulled his hand off of her. Hargo pushed back, but her grip was like a vise. She gave him a wink and then twisted his arm behind him, slamming him headfirst into the wall in one swift motion.
Hargo dropped his pistol and almost blacked out from the attack.
“What the fuck?” He groaned in pain.
“Yes, actually,” she said. “I do think it’s funny. I think you are funny—I think all of you humans are funny.”
She twisted him around and pinned him against the wall by the shoulders.
Hargo could feel blood streaming down his face and into his eyes. He blinked hard to clear his clouded vision.
“Let’s skip the foreplay,” she said. “I want to know everything about you—everything. Now look at me!”
She grabbed him by the chin and peered into his eyes. Her eyes glowed with an unnatural blue light that seemed to hypnotize him.
He could feel something in his mind, like a whirlwind of chaotic thought that began to grow inside him. The whirlwind overwhelmed him, sucking in his thoughts to the point where it felt like his brain was being sucked out of him. He screamed in pain.
Everything around him began to darken and the only light he could see was that eerie blue in her eyes. He felt himself begin to pass into unconsciousness.
“No!” she yelled, slapping his face. “Not yet! What is your purpose here? Who do you work for?”
He looked up groggily and managed to spit blood in her face.
“Fuck you!”
She pulled him close to her and reached down to take his hand in hers. With a sudden motion, she bent his fingers and then twisted them all the way around. A loud crack sounded. Hargo yelled in agony and almost passed out from the pain.
“We can make this rough if you like,” she whispered to him with a seductive smile. “Tell me, do you like to receive pain as much as you do in delivering it?”
“Halt!” a voice called from behind them. “Stop what you’re doing! Back away from him now or we will fire at you!”
In between the waves of sharp pain, Hargo made out the figures of Peacekeepers surrounding them both. If nothing else, at least the pain from her attack might soon end.
“Well,” she said, without turning away from him. “I guess we’ll have to make this a quickie.”
Her eyes began to glow brighter and the world around him began to fade to black. He saw a kaleidoscope of imagery pass before his eyes, scenes from his childhood—memories that he had long since forgotten.
The images played forward like a recording.
Hargo then saw himself as an adult, on Earth, during winter—snow in every direction. He watched his father get out of his hovercar. The bastard did not even notice the battle axe Hargo held in his hands. Instead, he approached Hargo with a determined look—that same look he wore when he beat Hargo as a boy—but Hargo was no longer a boy.
Hargo lifted the axe high in the air and swung it straight down on his father’s head, splitting it in half—an explosion of brain, bone, and blood showered the air. The landscape was now tainted by the invading blood—it seemed to almost glow as it dyed the innocent white snow.
As his father fell to the ground, he gazed at the hovercar’s windshield—little rivers of blood trickled through the ice. Hargo approached it and leaned over—running his tongue against it and tasting the icy blood, reveling in the pleasure it gave him.
The memories flashed forward again and now he was in Jack Dagiri’s office, being interviewed for a security job.
“That will be enough,” Hargo heard the woman say.
Suddenly and without warning, she grabbed his head with both her hands and smashed it against the wall behind him. The impact resulted in blood and bone fragments splattering the wall.
Hargo’s world went black… and then ended.
*****
The Peacekeepers moved in just as the man’s lifeless body slumped down to the ground in front of her.
The mysterious woman turned around to face her newest aggressors. She imagined that they probably wore shocked expressions behind the dark tints of their face helmets. The thought amused her.
“Now then,” she said to them. “Who wants to play with me?”