Alien Caller (29 page)

The crowd,
silent for so long, suddenly sighed as they saw that, understanding
that their latest champion had lost. But hopefully they didn’t yet
understand how much else they might have lost. David circled his
trapped prey, really just surveying the hole the robot was in, and
saw with satisfaction that there was a piece of jagged reinforcing
immediately behind its back. A piece that was perfect for his
needs.

He moved slowly
to the edge of the arena, trying to look like a cripple, which
wasn’t far from the truth, and then sprinted with all he had left
at it. He leapt and aimed his feet directly at the thing’s pelvis.
The result was everything he’d dreamed of and more, as the creature
literally broke in two. In an explosion of sparks, its body and
right arm went one way, while the other arm and its head fell down
the hole. The floor sheeting had acted like a knife, literally
cutting the robot in half even as it buckled. The robot in turn had
turned a hole into a huge gaping rent in the floor.

Faster than the
crowd would have believed possible, he jumped after the head.

A ten foot fall
and he suddenly found himself on a whole new floor level. He was
free. It was a dark, cold grey small room, but it had one thing
that made it the equal of any palace; a door. The sight of it was
enough to fill him with renewed energy as he suddenly had hope
again. Hope of saving Cyrea.

He hit it like
a charging rhino and watched with satisfaction as it fell off its
hinges and burst into the corridor beyond. He might be injured and
a primitive human, but he was still strong and finally free. People
stopped and stared at him, shocked and obviously frightened.
Leinian people. They looked like they’d seen a ghost. He screamed
incoherently at them, and watched them flee with satisfaction. They
weren’t his target, but they were in the way.

They scattered
like the wind before him, leaving him with a completely free
corridor. A whole cacophony of sirens suddenly went off, and he
realized he was a fugitive. But then he’d already known that. What
they didn’t know was that he wasn’t fleeing, not yet anyway. He was
always a soldier first and he had a job to do. He had to save Cyrea
and he knew of only one way to do that. A very satisfying way. Hell
was shortly about to visit Cyrea’s tormentor.

The relief of
finally seeing his way out of this nightmare leant him even more
energy, and the hope of finding Cyrea and escaping this death trap
grew and grew. Adrenaline flowed through his veins like water as
never before. For a while at least, he knew he would be next to
invincible. But as for how long he could keep going; that was a
whole new question. A voice he knew too well started screaming over
speakers, and he knew he had no more time. But the voice had
replaced its smug evil with a new quality; fear. David relished the
sound. Even more, he could imagine the evil creature telling
everyone he was fleeing, and to get out of his way. How little he
understood.

Leg injuries
forgotten he ran for what he thought was the front of the ship. He
had gotten turned around in the arena, but still the ship’s front
was slightly higher than its back, and it had stair cases
everywhere. Leinians saw him as he ran and dived out of the way,
panicking. He knew he must look a sight being twice the size of
most of them, and with blood everywhere, including on his face. And
a demented look in his eyes, but it served his purpose.

Two quick
corridors and he found a set of stairs. One flight up was where
he’d been held, and where he was going. He took the steps three at
a time, trying to get there before anyone guessed his destination.
He had almost no time he knew before the bastard would realize he
was coming back, and his advantage of surprise would be lost. But
he might have even less before the slime started working again on
Cyrea. The run back was even faster, and any Leinians that weren’t
fast enough getting out of his way found themselves knocked roughly
aside.

Suddenly he was
back at the chamber where he’d been held captive. He risked a quick
look inside and saw that only the robots remained. They were
standing around the lit arena, motionless, with no instructions to
carry out. No one else was there, no crowd, no sadistic piece of
shit. But then he’d always known where the head tormentor was even
if he hadn’t told him. He’d seen the trace of light from the
observation room above the chamber and had known from the
beginning. The question was did his tormentor guess that he
knew?

He continued
down the corridor past the chamber, heading for the stair case
leading to the viewing room. Two more flights of steps vanished in
short order, and he was at the door. It was locked. And when he hit
it, he realised it was locked and barricaded from the other side.
Apparently he was expected after all. But no barricade was going to
stop him. He hit the door hard and then hit it again, smashing it
with his entire body weight. The door began buckling.

Over the air he
could hear the voice, screaming in panic, and he knew the master of
the ceremonies had suddenly found a new emotion, fear, and was
calling for back up. All the back up he could get. A savage joy
possessed him and David vowed to get him before they arrived. He
could almost feel his enemy’s blood flowing in his fingers as he
snapped his neck. He redoubled his efforts and watched the door
slowly collapse. Metal door and metal frame, they still weren’t
going to stop him.

Then in a
single glorious instant it was gone, the door falling to the floor
as its last hinge tore loose. The room was finally open. His enemy
lay inside. He dived in, knowing the likelihood that he would be
facing weapons, and wasn’t disappointed as a ruby red beam splashed
somewhere over his head. Which was why he’d come in so low. The
shot was fast, but he was faster. A chair, or the remains of one
became a missile as he threw it in the direction of the shooter,
causing him to duck.

That was all
the time David needed, as he covered the distance between them in a
single lunge. One hand took his weapons hand, a sudden flick broke
the wrist and the weapon went flying. More crunching sounds made
themselves known, as he shattered the Leinian’s whole arm and
shoulder. It was ridiculously easy, as though he was made of paper.
The other hand went straight to his enemy’s neck, cutting off his
scream before it began, and he lifted him off the ground one handed
and pushed him straight into the wall. The fingers might be broken,
the wrist next to useless, but for the moment his hand had all the
strength he needed.

His tormentor
turned out to be Leinian as he’d expected, but he was older and
even tinier then the others David had met. His size made it easy to
hold him against the wall with his left hand, feet dangling at
least a foot off the ground, while he used his right to search him.
The Leinian was panicking wildly, which was exactly how David
wanted him, but with his throat caught in the vice of David’s hand
he was unable to scream. The best he could do was splutter and gasp
for air.

Finding nothing
in his hands or clothing David stripped him, a simple operation as
he simply tore the clothes off his body. The one piece grey suit
came apart like paper with so much adrenaline coursing through his
veins and he tossed it behind him. The under garments went faster.
And then he had him. Not just physically, he held his whole being
in his hands. Heart and soul, the Leinian was his. David saw it in
his eyes. The ancient Leinian was simply so terrified he would tell
him anything. Do anything for him. He wouldn’t even think of
resisting. There was of course only one thing he wanted to
know.

“Cyrea.” He
roared it at him, straight in his face, and watched the old Leinian
wilt. With his jaw broken, what came out sounded more like an
animal’s snarl, but it was close enough.

“She’s all
right. She’s not here but she’s fine. Really. I wouldn’t hurt her.
It was a trick. All of it. Just a trick.” He was babbling so fast
David almost didn’t understand him, but when he did, it just made
him angry. He knew he couldn’t believe him. It sounded too good to
be true. It sounded like exactly what he wanted to hear, and he
wouldn’t trust the creature. He couldn’t, not when he’d heard her
scream.

“You lie.” If
his first shout had been loud his next was a sonic boom, and the
sick creature nearly shat himself with fear.

“No! True,
true. All true.”

Sounds behind
him stopped his interrogation before it could go any further, and
he flung the ancient Leinian brutally to one side while he spun and
found the weapon he had dropped. A diving roll brought the silver
pencil into his hands, and once there he knew how to use it. It had
only one button, push and aim. He did just that and was rewarded
with the sight of a red beam cutting its way into the far wall with
a small explosion of fire, and the sounds of surprise and panic
somewhere beyond the room.

He picked up
the Leinian again, who hadn’t even had time to move from the place
he’d landed, and this time looped his arm around his throat from
behind. Now he had a weapon, a hostage and a living shield. There
was real hope. He shot a couple of short blasts into the door frame
and was rewarded with the sounds of more panicking feet as they
dived out of the way again.

“Tell them to
get back.” He had to repeat himself several times before even he
could understand himself, but the creature did exactly as ordered.
He knew he would. It was always the way. Those who were once in
positions of absolute power were generally cowards when it was
taken away from them. And this one had suddenly found itself
absolutely powerless.

“Cyrea.” There
were two things he knew he needed. He needed to get Cyrea, and he
needed to get out of this hell hole. And from his new found
position of strength he thought he just might be able to do both.
He kept screaming the name in the Leinian’s ear until he
understood, and then he too started calling for her. Meanwhile the
number of people outside the door was growing, and he kept sending
splashes of red light in their direction. The metal around the
already ruined door frame was beginning to melt, and the people
were milling somewhere beyond it. But at least they weren’t coming
through.

“Cyrea.” This
time he forced the laser into his prisoner’s temple and watched him
squirm. But at least he seemed to understand. At his prodding his
hostage began calling for her, using his voice for David. Begging
for her would have been more accurate, which seemed so right to
David. He should beg. He should pray - before he died. But most of
all he should get Cyrea free. Fast.

It was a long
and anxious wait as he stewed, wondering what they had done to her.
Would she still know him, love him? Would she even be able to
stand? He needed her to be able walk at least if he was to get her
out of this hell hole. But then he also needed to be able to walk
himself, and he knew he too was starting to run down. The
adrenaline was waning again, and his tiredness and injuries were
beginning to make themselves known. On the edge of victory he was
beginning to fail. It would be close.

“David.” Voices
had been calling his name for some time from beyond the door, but
he had ignored them all. He could barely hear them over the noise
of the rush of blood in his ears. But finally came the voice he had
waited to hear. It was Cyrea. His heart soared and strength flowed
back through him again. She was still alive and she knew his name.
Whatever the creature had done to her, it hadn’t finished the job
and his relief was infinite.

“Come in.” And
for once he was reasonably intelligible, somehow managing to speak
without moving his jaw. It wouldn’t last, but when he wasn’t
understandable he knew his prisoner would make him so.

She entered the
room, walking easily, no sign of pain in her eyes, just concern.
Make that panic. He saw the whites of her eyes bulging as she laid
eyes on him.

As she saw him
and took in the scene, saw the way he was armed with a laser, and
holding the Leinian prisoner by the throat as a hostage, she grew
very frightened. But not for herself, nor him. For his prisoner. He
felt a gut wrenching shock.

“Ohh my God,
David, what are you doing? Have you gone mad? And what’s happened
to you?” It was the last thing he expected to hear, and for a few
moments he didn’t believe he had. Could they already have twisted
her mind so far that she didn’t know what had happened? In his arms
his hostage started wriggling frantically, understanding his
confusion and no doubt knowing it would go badly for him.

He tried to
tell her how it was, that they were escaping, but finally his voice
had packed up. The jaw had given up all movement, and what came out
sounded like a stampede of wild monkeys rather than language. But
his hostage understood that too.

“Ayn Cyrea, he
believes you’ve been held hostage and brainwashed. He’s trying to
escape and he wants you to go with him.” David let him speak,
listening, though not well. The corners of his vision were starting
to go grey as he stood there. The rest of the world was completely
red. He hoped they didn’t notice.

“Escape what?
Why? And what the shit has happened to him? Who the hell did this?”
Cyrea was confused and scared, but not of him at least. She saw the
blood, the damage, and knew he was in a bad way. But she didn’t
know how bad. Even David was beginning to understand it was worse
than he thought. Unconsciously he had started leaning on the little
Leinian, and pushed the laser even more firmly into his temples. In
his heart he wanted to push it so hard his skull crunched, but
somehow he restrained himself. The little monster was still his
only hope of getting out of there.