The Enclave (The Verge) (26 page)

A beeping noise coming from the door caught Katherine’s attention.  The Gentec scanner had been activated.  She readied herself for what was about to come at them, at least their position did not put them in a direct line with the door.  Her eyes flicked momentarily to Daniel whose own pain drenched eyes were staring in dread at the door.  The muzzle of the gun remained wedged underneath his chin.

The door whooshed open and a guard stepped through into the room with an assault rifle in his hands.  Before the man had time to turn Katherine was on him.  Her hands wrapped around the rifle and before the man had time to react had twisted it from his grasp and smacked him in the face with the butt of his own gun.  The man dropped howling to the ground clutching at his smashed nose and mouth.

A flash of blue rippled around her and Katherine ducked away from the open door using the wall as cover.  She had caught a glimpse of three more guards outside.  The man with the broken face had taken the opportunity to crawl back out to the safety of the corridor, leaving a trail of smeared blood behind him.

Katherine clutched the rifle close to her and waited.  She had to be careful now, the kinetic shield had to last; at least until she had got a weapon for Joshua.

The three men were right outside that door and her shield could take about two more direct hits before it was completely drained.  Katherine lowered her rifle and leapt through the open door.  Barkley said that she was now a crafted killing machine and as she let her instincts take control Katherine was finally beginning to believe him.

She hit the opposite wall, spun around and let off two shots dropping a man before the other two had even realized what had happened.

Katherine then did a backwards somersault towards the doorway as the wall behind her exploded under a shower of bullets.  Dropping down to one knee, Katherine fired another two round burst at the man on her right pushing him against the shattered wall.  Now there was only the man on her left and the injured man stumbling away from them.

Blue light flared around her again and disappeared, the shield will not last for much longer.  Katherine turned her rifle on the man to her left as he turned to face her.  She pulled the trigger and he dropped to the ground.  The shield flashed again and then disappeared.  Reinforcements had arrived and the power for her shield had just dropped out.

Katherine reached out and grabbed another rifle and jumped back into the protection of the room.  A hot burning ran across her injured shoulder and she knew that a stray bullet had hit her.

Katherine tossed the rifle to Joshua who caught it with a grimace of pain.  She pushed herself back against the wall and Joshua took position on the other side of the door.  And all the time she could hear Barkley’s frantic voice trying to reason with Daniel to put the gun down.  Katherine tuned them out of her mind.  As long as the barrier stayed up, Ross and Barkley were not a threat to them.

There was a spatter of gunfire and then the clatter of boots could be heard in the outside corridor and Katherine tightened her grip on the assault rifle.   Her shoulder was now throbbing to high hell and that meant that the painkillers she had taken are certainly beginning to wear off.  Blood tickled down her arm and dripped to the floor from her bent elbow.  Katherine ignored that too. 
So much for not harming the test subjects.

The corridor fell silent for a moment and then was filled with rapid gunfire.  None of which came through their open door.  Katherine and Joshua looked at each other and Joshua signaled that he would risk a look to see what was happening.  He moved forward and poked his head out for the barest of glimpses before ducking back to his position.

“They’re firing back up the corridor.”

“There is something else around that’s better than us to fire at?”

Joshua shrugged.  “Looks like it.”

Katherine looked over her shoulder towards the barrier.  Barkley was still talking to Daniel but Ross was moving towards the desk.

“I will pull this trigger if the Barrier goes down.”  Daniel sounded as if he had fought for every breath and sweat ran down his face as if he had a high fever.  However, the hand holding the pistol stayed firm.

Katherine rushed over to Daniel.  She dropped down beside him, careful not to jar him.  “Come on Daniel, let’s go while the guards are distracted.”

Daniel shook his head slowly and deliberately while keeping his eyes focused on the two doctors beyond the barrier.  In her peripheral vision Katherine noted that Ross had stopped between Barkley and the desk and was now playing with a piece of equipment attached to her amplifier.  Probably trying to up the power.

“Daniel, we have to go now.  You won’t be able to keep this going.”

Again Daniel shook his head.
‘I will not be anyone’s tool.’

‘You won’t be, but we have to go NOW!’

Daniel’s eyes flicked to Katherine’s. 

‘Don’t you understand?  With what they’ve done to me, there is nowhere for me to hide.  No matter where I am I will be a half loaded weapon.  I will never be sure if I am safe.’

‘Daniel-’

“Katherine.”

“What!”  Katherine kept her eyes on Daniel as she answered Joshua.  It was then that she realized there was no longer gunfire coming from the corridor.

“We’ve been rescued by the cavalry.  Shepherd is here.”

She held up what she hoped was a reassuring hand.  “Daniel, don’t do anything stupid.  I’ll be back in a moment.”  Daniel gave her no answer though his eyes never left hers.

“Kath.”

She turned around in time to see Barkley and Ross disappear through the door.  Her instinct impelled her to follow them but her logic held her in place.  The Barrier protected them – they could not get through without getting rid of it.

“Daniel, they’ve gone,” she said and moved to take the pistol from Daniel.  Daniel jerked away from her movin
g the pistol from behind his jawbone to the soft spot under his jaw, pushing it firmly in place.

“No.  Didn’t you understand me?  I can’t trust myself.  I won’t be able to trust myself ever again and I don’t want to live the rest of my life with the fear that one day I’ll lose my soul.”

Katherine stared at him; unable to truly comprehend what he was saying or what he was intent on doing.

“As long as I live both of us will never be safe.  Never.  It is now my turn to save you.”  Daniel angled the pistol at the base of his jaw ensuring he would have a clean shot.

Katherine felt arms tighten around her and she fought them.  “Don’t you dare Daniel, I order you-”

“I’m not one of your men 72, Katherine.  I do what I deem best.”

“Goodbye Dan.”  Katherine heard Joshua whisper through her hair and felt his arms lock tighter about her.

“Goodbye Josh.  Tell mum and Sarah I love them.”

“Daniel.  NO!” 

He pulled the trigger.

Katherine sagged in Joshua’s arms, her knees hitting hard on the stone floor as the sound of the gun echoed through the room.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

“How could he?”

Katherine felt betrayed and abandoned.  The one person who knew Yunga was gone.  The one person who kept her sane had gone.  She was alone.

Her eyes could not leave Daniel’s lifeless body where it slumped against the wall.  His chin had dropped down on his chest mercifully hiding the entry wound from sight, but the wall behind displayed the turmoil created by the exit wound.

“Kath, we have to go.”

Katherine felt Joshua’s arms tying to pull her away from Daniel and she resisted him.  From the corridor came the sounds of running booted feet and familiar voices suddenly filled the room.

“Commander.”  Katherine recognized the voice of her security officer.

“Steve, she won’t move.  Help me.”

“Is she hurt?”  She felt a new hand on her shoulder.

“She’s in shock.”

“Kath!”  Tom’s voice shattered Katherine’s concentration and she turned to look into the eyes of her best friend as he reached out to cup her face in his hands.

“Kath, we’ve got to move.”

“Tom.  56 is dead.  He shot himself.”

Katherine’s voice cracked as she felt the tugging at the back of her throat grew worse.  Tears were trying to escape the dam of her eyes and she gave no thought to who saw them when they broke.

“Kath, look at me.”  Tom firmed his grip and caught her water-layered eyes with his own.  Katherine shuddered as the tears finally escaped and trickled down her cheeks.  But her eyes locked on to the confidence and understanding that Tom offered, always offered. “You have people here who depend on you, who need you to get us back to the
William Light.
  We all need to get out of here so we can get revenge on these bastards.”

Revenge.

The word lodged in Katherine’s brain.  Revenge is what has kept her going over the last three years.  Revenge is what has consoled Katherine when she did not want to dwell on the fact that she would never see her son grow to adulthood.  Would never see her husband grow bald and infirm.

The tears abruptly stopped as her anger reared its ugly head and Katherine slammed down her emotional barriers so that her rage could be fed in peace.  She will need it.

Tom must have seen a change in her eyes as he smiled at her and moved his hand to her shoulders.  He looked at Joshua who was still behind her and Katherine’s eyes slipped to the door behind the Barrier.  Beyond that door were Barkley and Ross.

Daniel’s pistol was in his lap, still held by the hand that killed him.  She reached out and took the pistol from the lifeless grip and held it reverently in her hand.
I’ll come back for you Daniel.’

Katherine rose quickly to her feet, and slung her rifle over her shoulder and tucked Daniel’s pistol into her utility belt.  Tom and Joshua scrambled to their feet along with her.

“Let’s get moving.”

“We can’t leave him here.”  Joshua caught her arm as he rose stopping Katherine in her tracks.

“I’m not.  Daniel and Sam will come with us on the way out.”

Joshua released her arm as if stung.  “You’re still going after Barkley?”

She nodded and Katherine tried to screen out Joshua’s pain.  Nothing was to interfere with her thirst for vengeance.  Barkley is going to pay for both of their pain.

“Who is Barkley?”  Steve’s voice cut across their conversation.

“The man in charge here.  The Chief Scientist.  He’s the reason that none of the members of this enclave are still alive.”  Katherine was pleased to see an answering spark in Steve’s eye.  She had promised him that these people would pay for the atrocities he witnessed.

Tightening his grip on the stock of his rifle Steve raised it up, ready to do business.  “Let’s go hunting.”

“Kath, we should leave now.”

Katherine turned on Tom, allowing some of her anger to slip to the surface.  “Tom, don’t fight me on this.”

“The man needs to be captured and bought to a
public
trial.  This is cold blooded murder.”

“I call it self-defense.”  Katherine could feel Tom’s emotional turmoil pushing against her.  Logically, she knew he had a point, but emotionally she just could not accept it. 

“Are you going to accept my orders Lieutenant?  If not I will send you back to the
William Light
.”

Tom stared blankly at her a moment before reacting.  “Yes.  I will.”  He did not sound enthusiastic but Katherine felt better knowing that he would be with her.  She saw Tom’s eyes look at Joshua and visibly widen as he noted Joshua’s face for the first time.

Joshua noticed and shrugged off the Lieutenant’s gaze.  “Had a disagreement with your commander.”

Tom looked shrewdly at Katherine but said nothing.

Shaking his head Joshua slumped back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor next to his brother.  “I’m not going to be much use.  I’ll stay with my brother.”

“Josh-”

“Look Kath, with my body puffing up the way it is, I’d be next to useless in a fight, plus I’m having some trouble concentrating, I might pass out.  I’ll stay here and you can get me on the way out.”

She stared down at Val Myra, unsure on how to take this.

“I have to do this.”

“And I have to bring Dan home to our mother.  I promised her and I’m not going to leave him now that I’ve found him.”  Joshua looked up at her.  “In my opinion we should all go back to the
William Light
right now and report this atrocity to Federation authorities.  This enclave is Val Myran.  My family is responsible for these people and we’ve failed them.  The rest of the enclaves need to be told to get out if they haven’t already.”

Katherine saw the earnestness in his eyes.  He meant it.  But did he not understand that if Barkley were dead, this would not happen again?

“I have to do this.  I’ll see you on the way back.”  Her voice was harsh and her words edged in flint and as soon as the words left her mouth she regretted the tone.  She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back at Tom.