Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (35 page)

Everything is packed and I’m about
to leave when one more thing catches my eye.  It’s the story tablet mother had,
the one she read fables from.  When we grew old and had no interest in those
stories, she threw it in the trash.  She hadn’t read to us in years, so I guess
she had no use for it.  But I did and I plucked it from the receptacle without
ever telling her.  I needed something to remind me when times were simpler,
when I had no worries.

I remember standing there with my
bag.  There was no more room to fit any items.  I take one last look at the
story tablet, the last piece of my childhood and walk away.

The room starts to darken and I
snap out of my trance.  It’s no longer filled with mementoes.  I’m back to
reality.

I walk up the stairs and return to
my brother.

“So, what do we do now Isaac?” I
say.

“I’ve been thinking about that,
Iris,” he says.  “We should wait until sunrise and then we’ll have to find
another place to hide.  It won’t be safe here for long.”

“I know, I never thought our home
wouldn’t be.”

“Huh?” Isaac asks.

He’s unaware of the things I’ve
been thinking, unaware of the emotional journey I’ve taken through the past.

“Are you okay, Iris?” he asks.

Tears start to flow down my eyes
and I let out a light sniffle.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say,
struggling through the words.  “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to sit on the
porch for a while.”

“Sure, sure,” he says softly.

I plop myself on the front porch
and let the tears come out.  So much flashes through my mind and every image
makes it harder for me to regain my composure.

There was a time when I could sit
on this porch and find moments of peace.  Tiago could be fighting with mother,
or I’d be distraught about my future.  It didn’t matter, though, because on
that porch, I could look up at the sky and let all my troubles drift through
the wind.

“Sister?” Isaac says from behind
me.

I wipe away my tears and sweep
aside my misery.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I say.

“What were you doing earlier?” he
asks.

“Nothing, just thinking about
things.”

“Like what?”

“The past.  You know, when we were
young.”

“Oh,” he says.  He treads
cautiously.  “Those… were good days, right?”

“Yes,” I say, wiping another tear
away.  “They were.”

Those days were some of the best I
ever had, but now they are tainted.  I can’t look back on the past and find
happiness anymore.  If I do, it’ll remind me of what I used to have and what I
never will again.

November 17, 3040
4:10 AM

I landed my hovercar in the
distance, like I did when we approached the Spades and Diamond Casino.  I want
to have the element of surprise on my side because I don’t think they’re
expecting us.

I’ve sent Apollo on scout duty to
see what we’re up against.  He’s been running circles around the building and
hasn’t raised any alarms, but he’ll have a hard time determining who is in the
building without a clear view.  The Li station has very few windows to peer in
and even if we could see what was going on inside, there are no lights on. It
appears they’re working in the dark.

It might be another ruse set up by
Tiago.  Perhaps Curtis was lying to Fenrir before the bomb went off, to throw
us off the trial and lure us into another trap.  But in order for that to
happen, Curtis would have had to know that someone would survive and who
could’ve predicted that?  I certainly doubt that any of these halfkinds can
tell the future.

“So, looks like this is the final
charge, eh?” Fenrir says to me.  “We’re storming the gates before the sunrise.”

“I suppose so,” I say.

“Commander, I hope you’re right.”

“Right about what?”

“About what we’re doing,” he
responds.  “Shoot first, ask later.  Don’t let your guard down, hit a
preemptive strike.  Do you really think they’re that dangerous?”

“We didn’t think so before.  Look
how it’s turned out.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he says
reluctantly.  “But, as I asked before, do you think what we’re doing is right
or not?”

I dodge around the question
because the answer isn’t simple.  “It doesn’t matter if it’s right or not, what
matters is what will happen if we don’t do anything.”

“And what do you think will
happen?”

“I don’t know.  But judging from
tonight, it doesn’t seem to be any good.”

“That’s the human way, I suppose,”
he says gruffly.  “Either destroy, destroy, destroy, or create, create,
create.  Why can’t your kind leave things alone?”

“I can’t answer for all my kind,”
I say defensively.  “But I suppose doing something is better than doing
nothing.”

“So you think,” he responds
vaguely.  It’s odd, when we started this mission, Fenrir was the one who seemed
most likely to hold nothing back, while I was the one who wanted to use
restraint.  Now the roles are reversed.

Apollo returns from his scouting
mission and interrupts our conversation.  He can sense the tension.

“I hate to break up the party
because I know you and Fenrir must be having an enlightening conversation, but
I think Curtis was telling the truth,” he says.  “There’s one of them out on
patrol right now.”

“Which one?” I ask.

“The cheetah halfkind, Ace
Lawton,” he responds.

“And he didn’t see you?” Fenrir
asks.

“I doubt it or he would’ve reacted
sooner,” Apollo says.

“Good job, Apollo.  Did you get a
look inside?”

He shakes his head.  “Sorry,
Commander, it’s closed shut.”

“It’s okay.”

“What’s the plan, Trevor?” Fenrir
asks.

“No more sneak attacks,” I say. 
“We do a frontal assault.  It’ll be at most six halfkinds and we brought in
some extra fire power, so we’re prepared for whatever they have.”

“Ahh, you’re referring to the
Spitfire?” Apollo says.

I pick up the heavy gun from the
ground and secure its strap around my torso.

“Yes, I am,” I say.  “And this.”

I pull out some mini grenades from
my pockets.  They’re called mini grenades because of their size, not because of
their damage capabilities.  Their blast radius is quite remarkable.

“What do you guys have?” I ask. 
“Don’t tell me you only have those single barrel energy pistols equipped in
your helmets.”

Apollo swishes his tail in an odd
motion.  The sensors in the back of his helmet pick it up and four more barrels
protrude from hidden compartments.  Fenrir does the same.

“Try five barrels,” Apollo says. 
“We can switch it to higher caliber, too, if you want.”

“Um, that’s not necessary,” I
say.  “Fenrir, do you have any more marbles left in your shooter?”

“Only a few, I didn’t have time to
restock or recharge,” he says.

“That’s okay.  Everyone’s armor
equipped?”  I ask.  They both nod.  “Okay.  We’ll take out Ace first and then
carefully make our way in.  Equip your scent boosters.  Got it?”

Both of their helmets switch gears
and out come the scent boosters.

“Good,” I say.  “Let’s go.”

We march prudently towards the
station.  It’s about 200 meters away.  We walk through some shrubbery that hugs
a hovercar parking lot.  It leads to the entrance and it’s our only cover, as
the area around the station is quite open.  I crouch down and make sure my head
doesn’t stick out.  The canines tread lightly on their paws.

We’re now about 100 meters away
and I can see someone moving along the side wall.  He’s strolling about
casually and appears to be holding an energy pistol.  He grips it loosely with
his hands.  I give the signal for the others to stop and their steps come to an
immediate halt.

“You see him?” I ask the other
two.

“Yes,” Apollo says.  “That’s Ace.”

“You think either of you can get a
clear shot from here?” I ask.

“It’s a tad far,” Apollo says.

“Yes, 100 meters is a bit much,”
Fenrir says.  “Even with my homing sensors on, I’m not sure how accurate I can
be.”

“I don’t know how much closer we
can get without attracting attention,” I say.  “If neither of you think you can
do it, I’ll take it.”

“Be my guest,” Fenrir says. 
“You’re the Commander.”

Apollo also nods.

“Okay,” I say.  Both my hands
clamp down on the handle of my pistol, my right index finger grazes the
trigger.  I hold it up in front of my eye, keep my arms steady, and zoom in on
my target.  A deep breath goes in and then exhales out.  My mind is clear, my
focus is strong.  I take one last look at my target and pull the trigger.

The flare streaks out of my gun,
arcing in the air until it homes in my target.  It travels fraction of a
millisecond by fraction of a milliseconds.  I’m wide right.  I miss by a few
inches.

Ace reacts to the impact of my
shot.  A small hole is on the station wall.  He sees the dent and is confused
by what has happened.  He doesn’t make the connection that it was a pistol that
fired at him, but knows something very peculiar is going on.  He peers closer
at my miss and inspects it.

“Let’s move!” I yell.  “Full
strike!”

The three of us emerge from the
bushes and charge towards him.  He turns around and it looks like he’s about to
vomit.  He doesn’t have time to think and bolts for the door, his pistol still
in hand.

We’re about 20 meters away and
we’re closing in on him.  He’s in front of the entrance and knocks a few times
on the closed door.  We fire a few shots his way, but aiming on a full sprint
isn’t easy and they miss him left and right.  He sure is taking his sweet time
entering the building.  As we approach, I notice he’s not trying to get in, but
phoning in some kind of code.

Sure enough, I’m right.  Out
bursts a behemoth of a creature, a pistol in each hand, firing like a maniac.

“Try and take me down, assholes!”
he yells.

The glare of the street lights
shine off his massive frame and they hug his colossal and well-defined
muscles.  He has a horn stuck in the middle of his head.  It’s Alex Lawton.

The three of us split up and take
cover.  I hide behind a trash bin, Fenrir dashes behind small metal wall, and
Apollo jumps under some raised plant holders.  I delicately pop my head up, but
I’m hit with a barrage of gunfire.

“Apollo, Fenrir, do your helmets
have something that can help us see past our cover?” I ask them on my
communicator.

“Yes, there’s a camera installed
on the top,” Apollo says.  “I can use it to peer above this plant holder.”

I wait a few seconds and he chimes
back in.

“It’s out.  Those two definitely
know where we are, they’re firing recklessly at our locations,” Apollo says.

“We don’t need your fancy device
to figure that out, the barrage of energy shots tell us the story!” Fenrir
shoots back.  “Give us something we don’t know.”

“Their location is about 20 meters
ahead of you, to the left.  Can you sneak in a marble and distract them?  We
can use it as cover fire.”

“Got it,” Fenrir says.  I see him
press a button on his leg mounted box with his paw.  A blue, bouncy ball of
energy fires from it.  I stick my head out and see Ace and Alex looking at it, entranced
by its gentle glow.  But then Alex realizes what it is, pushes Ace out of the
way, and jumps to the side.  The sphere goes off, emitting a concentrated
explosion that sends pieces of the ground flying into the air.

Now is our time.  I jump out from behind
the trash bin and start firing at Ace.  Apollo and Fenrir also start charging. 
They team up and throw a volley of fire in Alex’s direction.

Ace and Alex both roll around
until they find something they can hide behind.  They take a few seconds to rest
and then continue their stand, firing shots left and right.  It’s too much to
dodge, so I’m forced to find something to hide behind.  I see another trash bin
and use it as a temporary fort.

Apollo and Fenrir have a different
strategy.  They’re aggressive and continue going forward, side by side.  I see
Alex pop up from behind his cover and fire a shot straight at them.  Fenrir is
able to dodge it, but Apollo gets hit square in the abdomen.  I hear him yell
out a sharp cry.

“Apollo!” I yell.  “Fenrir, get
him out of there!”

Fenrir stops dead in his tracks
and turns around toward our fallen ally.  Alex continues to fire, but his other
shots miss wildly.  His first shot must have been a fluke.  Fenrir clamps his
jaws on Apollo’s uniform and drags him away behind an abandoned hovercar parked
in front of the station.

“What’s his status?” I yell
frantically over the communicator as Ace continues his bombardment of shots.

“I’m fine,” Apollo says.  I’m
surprised to hear his voice.  “His shot hit my armor, I just have the wind
knocked out of me.  Thanks for getting me out of there, Fenrir.”

“It’s my job,” Fenrir says
taciturnly.

“We’re getting in closer,” I say. 
“Continue the assault.  Our priority is to get inside the station and take the
others out.”

“Understood,” both of them say.

I stick my gun out and fire a few
shots blindly at Ace.  He responds to my gunfire with more gunfire.  Back and
forth we go, our standoff switches from one side to the other like a seesaw.  I
look at Apollo and Fenrir, and the same thing happens to them.  This is going
nowhere.  We need to change up our approach.

“I have a plan,” I tell the others
via the communicator.  “I’m going to draw them out and when I do, find cover. 
I’ll take care of the rest.”

“How are you going to do that?” Apollo
asks.

“With the big guns.”

I dig in my pocket and pull out a
mini grenade.  I unstrap my Spitfire and set it to my side.  I press a button
to arm it and lob it overhead to Ace’s direction.