Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (23 page)

“Listen,” I say.  “Even if you
weren’t the one who sent out the invitation, I’m just here to talk.  I’m not
here to hurt you.  Why don’t we sit down and we can discuss what…”

Suddenly, I hear a shouting from
my communicator followed by a charging sound.

“One of them has a gun!” It’s
Borton.

“What?” I say perplexed.   “No,
stand down, Borton, I don’t see any…”

But it’s too late.  Seconds
haven’t even passed and a shot has been fired.  It’s aimed at the halfkinds but
misses.  It hits one of the lanterns and the impact creates a large flash that
blinds me.  My eyes feel like they’re engulfed in flames and my eyelids tense
up as I close them.  I hear a screaming and the sound of footsteps running away
from me.

“Borton, back off!  Stand down,” I
yell sightlessly.

“No, they’re armed.  They were
about to fire at you!” he yells back.  My vision slowly recovers, but I’m still
dazed from the flash of the lantern.

“Damnit, Borton!” I yell.  “I told
you not to shoot.”

“And I’m telling you they’re
armed.  They scampered off to the right, while you were down, and are holed up
behind those blackjack tables and slot machines,” he says. “I’m going to take
them out.”

“No Borton, stay here!”

It’s too late.  I can see him chase
after them in the haze of my eyes.  In a few seconds things went from peaceful
to chaotic and I’m stuck on one knee wondering how this mission has failed so
horribly.

November 17, 3040
1:00 AM

“Hello?!” I shout at the
darkness.  “Who’s there?”

A few minutes ago, we were dozing
off and now I stand here fearing for my life.  Someone has entered through the
front door.  I heard the creaking noise moments ago, but it’s too dark to see
anything.  I have a lantern in my hand.  However, the surrounding slot machines
and tables block any visibility.

I hear some whispering, but it’s
too soft to be audible.  It sounds like the intruder is having a full
conversation with someone.  Is there more than one trespasser?  Who is he
talking too?

I don’t have much time to ponder,
though.  Someone steps out of the shadows and into my light.  It’s a human,
tall, medium build, but toned.  He’s wearing tactical gear.  This is one of the
men who have been on our trail.  I’m sure this group is responsible for killing
Leonard and Lombardi.  A sudden weakness overcomes my body.  The fear has set
in and I begin to wonder if this is the end for me and my siblings.

The human himself looks a bit
flabbergasted.  This is the first time any of us have come face to face with
our pursuers.  I’m sure he already had an idea of what I looked like, but
seeing it in the flesh probably blows his mind.  After all, we aren’t the
norm.  We’re the freaks.  Judging by the way he looks, he’s thinking the same
thing.

We both stand in awkward silence,
unsure of what to do.  Finally, he says something to break the tension.  “You
speak human.”

His manner surprises me.  I didn’t
expect him to ask so calmly.  I, on the other hand, don’t have time for idle
chit chat and cut straight to the chase.

“Who are you?” I ask, voice
shaking.  “Are you the ones who are trying to kill us?”

“No,” he says again in that
relaxed tone.  “I’m here to talk.  We got your message.”

“Message?  What are you talking
about?”  I don’t understand.  I never sent a message, and neither did the twins
or Maddie.  They had been with me the whole time and we hadn’t encountered
anyone on our way here.

“Your message, the note you left
on my hovercar,” he says.  “You said you wanted to talk, well, here I am, so
let’s talk.”

Hovercar?  Note?  What the hell is
this gibberish?  Perhaps it’s some kind of trick, because I certainly didn’t
want to meet with him, I just wanted to stay hidden.  There’s no way anyone
should know where we are.  I was very careful on our way here, making sure not
a piece of evidence was left behind.  In fact, the only people who knew where
we were was…

….no, it can’t be… it can’t… can
it?  He wouldn’t have.  He couldn’t.  But then I think about it, our history
and arguments.  Clashes flash before my eyes and I realize… he did.

“You don’t know what I’m talking
about?” the human asks me, breaking my thoughts.

“I... I…”  I’m at a loss for
words.  The revelation that my own brother probably sold me and my siblings out
causes my brain to overload.  I can’t fathom the reasoning for it.  Why did he
betray us?  What purpose does this action serve?  Is he so callous that he
would sacrifice us, like pawns in his master plan?  Does he feel nothing for
his family?

“Listen,” the human continues
say.  “Even if you weren’t the one who sent out the invitation, I’m just here
to talk.  I’m not here to hurt you.  Why don’t we sit down and we can discuss
what…”

Suddenly, I hear something
scurrying in our direction behind me.

“One of them has a gun!” a voice
yells.  He lies. We have no weapons.

“What?” I hear the human say.  He
continues speaking but his words are unclear.  The noise from behind masks his
voice.

I hear a sharp whizzing noise and
a bright flash hits my eyes.  Something has exploded and I hear Maddie let out
a shrill wail.  Whoever is behind us has fired a shot and it nearly hit her. 
Luckily, it missed and she is uninjured.  The only thing that is damaged is one
of our lanterns, which has been blasted to smithereens.

The chaos is actually a blessing
in disguise, it’s the perfect distraction.  I look at the human and he’s
blinded by the flash, so I quickly signal to the others and we bolt to the
other side of the casino.  We sprint rapidly and find shelter behind a long stretch
of broken down slot machines.

I peer through the cracks and see
what we’re up against.  Other than the human, who still appears to be
disoriented, there’s also a dog and a pig.  The dog has run to the human’s aid,
but the pig continues to rush our way.  If I don’t act fast, he’ll be here in a
few seconds.  I see a rusted steel chair nearby and throw it in his direction. 
It flies up in the air and arcs its way down, right onto his head.  He tumbles
over his own footing and comes crashing into a table, causing it to flip to its
side.

“Damnit!” I hear the pig say as he
writhes in pain.  “Assholes hit me right on the head!  I’m taking cover.”

He slowly stumbles behind the
table that had overturned and sits.  The human seems to be okay now, and he and
the dog rush to the pig’s location.  He gets a nearby blackjack table and
pushes it to its side, hiding behind it.

I hear some mumbling and arguments
from behind their table, but I can’t understand what they’re saying.

“Why are they attacking us, we
didn’t even do anything!” Maddie asks in a frightened tone.

“One of them thinks we have a
gun,” Isaac says.

“Did that pig say we shot at him? 
I couldn’t hear anything,” Iris responds.

“I don’t know what they’re talking
about, I was totally still while that guy was talking to you, Oscar,” Maddie
says.

“Shh, quiet!” I whisper.

We don’t have time to sort things
out.  I hear the sound of metal clinking in succession and then it stops.  From
behind the slot machines, I see a small silver orb a few feet from us.  It
beeps and I am generally perplexed.

In the blink of an eye, smoke
sprays out of it.  We all start to cough violently, and scatter away to get
ourselves to clean air.  Maddie and the twins scramble to the right, I run
doggedly to the left.

As soon as I am clear from the
haze, I feel something blow by my head, like a swift wind.  I then feel
another, as I continue to run forward.  I look behind me and see things getting
knocked down.  Cups and chairs are shattered right before my eyes.  Small holes
explode from the wall in eruptions of cheap wood and dry paint.  From the
corner of my vision, I see a large column, big enough to cover me.  I make a
straight line for it while things continue to fly left and right.  Through
perseverance and fear, I make it to my destination.

The opposite side of the column
starts to blast away, debris flies all over the place.

“Borton, that’s enough!” I hear
the human say, and the shooting stops.  “They’re not firing back.  I don’t
think they have any weapons.  Go check on the others, Apollo, and I will get
the big one.”

I take a quick look at my siblings. 
They’re holed up at the bar.  I can see them from my angle, hiding behind the
counter as the pig approaches him.  He has guns on both sides of his body.  My
brother and sisters hear him, step by step by step.  They are petrified.  If I
don’t do something quick, they’ll be killed.

I look at Maddie.  She’s
shivering, crying hysterically with the panic and dread.  She looks the same
way she did when we were kids, when Tiago and his crew bullied her.  I was the
one who got her in this mess, it’s time for me to get her out of it.

I step out from behind the column
and have my arms spread open.

“Don’t shoot!” I say.  “I don’t
have anything on me.”

The pig looks over, but his body
and guns are still pointed at my brother and sisters.  The human points his
weapon straight at me and takes a long glance.

“He’s telling the truth.  I don’t
see anything on him.  Where were these guns you were talking about Borton?” he
says angrily.  “They’re obviously unarmed, not a single shot has been fired
from their side.”

The pig remains silent, but
doesn’t show any remorse for his lie.  The human puts his gun down and stows it
in a holster on the side of his pants.  I continue to walk forward slowly with
my arms in the air.

“I give up,” I say.  “Take me in.”

He approaches, takes out a metal
stick, and presses a button on it.  An orange glow shines and from the ends,
two short beams uncoil like a snake.  I’ve seen them before, they’re energy
cuffs, concentrated light that is flexible, strong, and near impossible to
break.

I put my arms together and present
them to the human.  He grabs one, but before he can get the cuffs on, I knock
his hand away.  The force of my swing causes the device to fly to the other
side of the room.  He looks a bit surprised, but the minute I stick my hand
toward his waist, he knows what I’m trying to do.

His gun is so close to my reach, I
can practically feel my fingers touch it, but before I can make contact, I feel
something, like a mallet, hit my face.  It’s the human’s fist.

“He’s going after my gun!” he
yells at his teammates.

“Just shoot him already!” the pig
yells.

“No, I want him alive!” he fires
back.  He quickly unholsters his gun and tosses it to the dog.  “Keep this away
from him.  I can take him down myself.”

I’m still a little staggered from
his first blow, but I recover to my feet.  I have claws and a huge size
advantage, but my fighting skills are less than impressive.  I throw a wild
swing at his head, but he reflexively ducks under it and strikes a blow to my
stomach.  I crouch over in pain, but before I can even clutch it, his knee hits
the front of my face.  It feels like a brick and I am certain my nose is
broken.

I wobble backwards and land on my
ass.  I put my hands over my nose to try and contain the bleeding.  My stomach
is in agony, my face is soft and tender, probably bruised beyond belief.  But
even as I’m wrought with pain, I look at my family, who have now emerged from
their hiding place to watch my moment of heroism.  I can’t let them down.

A second wind comes over me and I
lunge at the human.  He thought I was down for the count and I catch him by
surprise.  I collapse over him.  My whole body covers his head, and I can feel
him struggle to breathe below me.  I use my weight to my advantage and attempt
to smother him.  He violently moves his arms and legs to try to get me off, but
it is useless.  I actually might win this fight!

“Ouch, goddamnit!” I yell.  Right
there and then, I feel a sharp pain pierce through my leg like a dagger. 
Pieces of flesh and delicate tendons are being torn into and it is
excruciating.  “What the hell?!”

I look behind me and see that the
dog has a firm grip on my heel with his jaws.  He crunches down on them hard
and I start to experience the muscle getting ripped from my bones.

It is too much for me to take, so
I turn around and try to kick him away.  But in my attempt to shoo the dog, I
lose my position and the human speedily recovers.  My back is turned to him and
he instantly wraps his arms around my neck.

The dog lets go of his grasp and
says, “Stun mode.”

A baton protrudes from his helmet
and I see an electric spark shoot out.  I feel a sting on my chest and things
quickly turn black.  I’m out cold.

Minutes later, my consciousness sluggishly
blurs back into place.  Feeling to my legs and arms returns.  I’m sitting down
in a squatted position, but I can’t move.  Something is holding them down.  I
struggle to try and get free, but no matter how hard I try, my attempts end in
failure.

I see the human in front of me. 
My brothers and sisters are now exposed from their cover and they’re on their
knees.  The pig still has his guns pointed at them.

“What happened?” I ask the human.

“Apollo stunned you,” he says. 
“It was the only way we could bring you down.  You almost had me when you tried
to go for my gun.  Good thing he was there to save me.”

Beaten and bloody, restraints
tying my hands behind my back and my legs to the ground, I am exhausted and
defeated.  We have lost.

“What’s your name?” I ask the
human.

He looks at me curiously. 
“Simon.”

“I’m Oscar, but you probably know
that already,” I say lethargically.

“I’m afraid I do.  I have
information on all of you.”