ChapterEleven - A Visit to Mr Howard's pt 2

Alternity - Chapter 11

A Visit to Mr Howard's Part 2

Time:CY 10090 AD June 5167
Location: Simti IV

The Andromeda strike team waited in an alley adjacent to the compound's walls. Dylan, Beka, and Harper were wearing standard High Guard body armor. Tyr had refused to wear it, saying that it restricted his movement. Trance had again been left on board to care for her child. Andromeda's voice issued from from Dylan's personal communicator.

"Fighters are on final approach," said Andromeda.

Seconds late the peace of the day was shattered. Two Phoenix fighters came hurtling in from the heavens headed for the compound. The first one fired a missile at the gate leaving a gaping hole where the armor plate had once been, then took out the autogun emplacement to the left of the gate. The second fighter moved to the other side of the compound, destroying the rest of the autogun installations and began to fire at the armored bunker. The first Phoenix now operating in completely autonomous mode hovered protectively above the Andromeda strike team as they ran through the gate. Tyr turned left and blew up the camera installed just inside the gate, as the first fighter destroyed the remaining cameras. The second fighter continued to pound the bunker, when it was struck by heavy weapons fire from its target. It wobbled, and fell onto the maple tree exploding an instant later. Fortunately for the crew of the Andromeda and the surrounding area, the designers of the Phoenix had anticipated that their brainchildren might be shot down over urban areas and the craft were not equipped with a matter/antimatter power sources, so while the explosion was enough send the crew diving for cover, it was not enough to devastate the area. Meanwhile the first Phoenix had moved to hover above the bunker and began to fire at the subterranean tunnel. Just as it broke through the tunnel ceiling, it was hit by heavy weapons fire from the bunker. It managed to fire one more round into the tunnel before it crashed directly onto the bunker. The strike team, running toward the breach, saw flames erupt from every window and gun port in the bunker. All firing from that location ceased.

As the attackers ran past the parked vehicles, there was a mechanical whine from ahead. One side of the swimming pool began to tilt upward. Moving surprisingly fast, it dumped all of its water in the area of the maple tree, coincidentally putting out the fire. The low rumble of an engine rose to a howl, and from beneath the pool a large armored personnel carrier emerged, moving up an inclined ramp into the open.

"Too late!" shouted Harper gleefully, as the he and his crew mates jumped through the breach into the tunnel.

Dylan activated his communicator. "Andromeda," he said, "We've got an armored fighting vehicle up topside. We need it to be gone when we get ready to leave."

"Understood, Dylan," replied Andromeda after a brief but noticeable delay. "Three more Phoenix fighters have already been dispatched."

"Very good," replied Dylan. "We're entering the building now, so we'll be out of contact."

The team stepped over the rubble of the exploded corridor roof and came to a set of double doors. Since they were designed to be used by internal security personnel, there were no locks or access control devices. As they pulled the doors open, they were confronted by three men running down the corridor in their direction. The three skidded to a stop and tried to draw their weapons, but they had to draw their weapons while the Andromeda crew had theirs at the ready. A few seconds later, the Andromeda strike team was relieving the late security guards of their security access cards and communications devices. They ascended a short staircase and stood at the top, looking into the entry lobby. An armored door with a card reader and retinal scanner was the only entrance to the building. Tyr looked at the picture on the ID card he had retrieved from the guard.

"Give me a minute," he said, running back down the stairs.

Tyr returned less than a minute later. He passed the access card through the card reader, then held a small object up to the retinal scanner. The magnetic lock clicked and the door swung open. Dylan exchanged a surprised glance with Beka and Harper, then followed Tyr through the door. The security radios immediately came to life.

"Control to Sven," said the Security Control officer. "What's your status?"

Tyr checked his ID card, then held it up for the others to see. The name on the card was "Sven Knudsen," and the picture was that of a young blond-haired man. Tyr smiled ironically as he raised the communicator and pushed the Transmit button.

"I'm okay," he said.

"Well watch out," came the response. "All Hell is breaking loose and apparently the computers are all screwed up as well. We saw you come through the lobby door, but the retinal scan showed that your eye was almost upside down. Why are you coming back in here anyway? I sent you to the bunker."

Tyr raised the communicator to his lips and keyed the Transmit button with a predatory look in his eyes. "We came for you, Control. We came to kill you,; you and your employer and there's not a thing you can do to stop us. I hope your have children, because if you haven't your line will shortly be ended."

The Security communicator fell silent. Tyr continued down the entry hallway, followed by the other team members. At the end of the hallway was another door, which opened into a large warehouse. Unlike the warehouse they had entered in the Sinti spaceport, in this one the items were neatly stacked, with every item carrying a label embossed with the item name, a short description, and a price. As they walked toward the nearest stack of stolen goods, a barrage of fire came toward them from automatic gun positions mounted in the warehouse ceiling. They scrambled for cover, and almost made it. One of the gauss gun rounds smashed into Harper, snapping his head back and knocking him to the floor. Beka grabbed him by the collar and dragged him behind a stack of crates. Dylan and Tyr ran over to assist.

"The boy was lucky," said Tyr examining the ugly gash over Harper's left ear. "The round only grazed him, but he undoubtedly has a concussion. We'll have to leave him here while we find the Security Control Room and deal with the operator."

"You'll be all right here, Harper," said Beka, moving Harper to a sitting position against an equipment crate. He gave her a lopsided grin, his eyes glazed. "Stay right here," she said, "and we'll be back for you in a few minutes."

Beka, Dylan, and Tyr stood up and ran into the warehouse, dodging the autogun gauss rounds and firing up at the ceiling-mounted cameras and the autoguns. The sound of gunfire receded. Harper sat against the crate, watching random starbursts appear before his retinas and wondering about the continuous ringing in his ears. His head began to nod and he began to slip into unconsciousness. Suddenly Trance appeared before him.

"Harper, my love," she said. "You have to get up. Get up, darling. Get up and come to me."

"Yes," said Harper. "I do have to get up now. I will get up and come to you."

Harper found his pistol on the floor and returned it to its holster. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that Trance was not really there, and that she was just a figment of his imagination but his body wasn't listening. He struggled to his feet, using the crate for support.

"Look," he said to Trance. "I stand. I stand under the ceiling of autogun cameras. Therefore I understand the cameras. Is that right? I think it is."

"Sanctuary," said Trance. "It's this way," she said, pointing to a door. "There is medical help inside. Also Sparky Cola."

"Sparky Cola!" said Harper. "Then I'm there. Just lead the way, oh controller of my heart strings."

Harper staggered toward the door, opened it, and stepped into a corridor. He wobbled down the corridor, occasionally putting his free hand up against the wall to steady himself. The part of his mind that was functioning clearly suspected that the gauss round that had grazed his head had given him a concussion; he felt nauseous and wanted to do nothing more than lie down and go to sleep. He continued forward then stopped short as he heard a strange sound. It was somewhere between a moan and a whimper, and it was coming from up ahead. Gun in hand, he moved silently down the corridor until he realized that the sound was coming from behind an ornate full-length mirror mounted on the corridor wall. A short search revealed the secret catch that allowed the mirror to swing away from the wall. Behind it was an armored door, slightly ajar. Harper slowly pushed the door open and looked around it into the room. His eyes widened in shock.

The room was richly paneled with glistening Toguewood cut from the forests of Seabreeze. A gleaming wooden desk made of similar wood rested in the center of the room. On the desk was a large name plaque with a single word in gold-leaf script: 'Howard.' Behind the desk sat a man who was almost certainly the infamous Mr. Howard. He was dressed in expensive yet comfortable-looking clothing. He sported an immaculate haircut and manicure, several exotic rings, and a pair of soft calf-leather boots. And he was dying.

A vaguely humanoid figure was standing over him. Ten to twelve feet in height, it was made, apparently, of living flame. The only part of the creature that wasn't burning was its eyes. Two black pits in the being's head, they were intensely focused on the figure of Howard, so intense that they seemed to burn even more than the creature's body. One ff the figure's hands was stretched out toward Howard, with the fingers contorted in a grasping motion. Howard's gaze was fixed on the creature, his eyes bulging in horror; his mouth open in a silent scream, his head and neck stretched toward it yet his hands tightly gripping the arms of the chair in resistance. Something flowed from Howard's mouth into the creature's hand, more solid than a gas but more tenuous than a liquid, and glowing vaguely green. The creature seemed to speak, though to Harper it was as if the words were heard with his mind rather than with his ears.

"I supplied you with great powers to do my bidding, and you used them to enrich yourself," it said in a deep and heavily-accented growl. "I gave you directions and orders and you disobeyed me. For your greed and incompetence, you shall suffer."

The creature opened its hand wider, and Howard's body partly rose from the chair, straining toward the deadly flame and at the same time trying to pull back. As Harper watched Mr Howard's dark hair began to turn gray then white then thinned to a few scattered strands, his body seemed to shrink in on itself, the pirate leader's muscular body wasting away. His skin began to turn the shade of old parchment. Howard was aging years per second before Harpers eyes. Harper knew that the man's death was near. He stepped into the room and aimed his gun at the creature.

"STOP!" he shouted.

The being's head snapped around toward Harper. Growling, it jerked its attention back to Howard. Remembering Dylan's desire to take Mr. Howard alive Harper began firing at the glowing figure. To his amazement the gauss rounds had no effect of the thing; instead Mr. Howard began to jerk as though he had been the target of the bullets. His chest exploded in gout of blood and tissue as somehow the rounds that Harper fired were redirected towards the sitting Mr. Howard. In an impossibly bright flash, the creature was gone. And in Mr. Howard's chair sat the bullet-riddled corpse of an old man. Dylan came running in and skidded to a halt, taking in the scene.

"Harper!" he shouted. "What did you do?"

Harper stood stock-still and silent, his trembling hands aiming his gun vaguely in the direction of the desk, then darkness overtook him. The last thing he heard was Dylan saying "Harper? Harper!"

Chapter 10