Different Paths (15 page)

Scanning the area, Iaido saw that all visible
assailants were down but he knew that even though they had stalled the first
wave, there was more to come. No SWAT Commander would rush a building without
having a backup plan and that probably meant more troops and heavier hardware.

*   *   *   *   *

Lt. Robert Brown was the Commander of SWAT-Four and
looked on his Tac-Net with shock and dread.

He had begun his assault with the most up-to-date Intel
possible and highly trained and motivated troops but in less than a minute the
situation had proven to be one huge SNAFU; a military term which meant
Situation Normal All Fucked Up.

Problems were to be expected given the speed the
operation was set up and the numerous different agencies participating but his
team hadn’t been briefed on the type of resistance they were encountering. The
building had back-up generators and lights, so in less than a minute all power
and defensive systems were back online and the defensive systems were state of
the art; even the Feds couldn’t hack into their system to shut it down. Once
power was restored, anti-personnel and anti-aircraft batteries had popped out
of hidden alcoves on the roof and had disabled anything that came near, men and
machines.

Only the first squad had been able to breach and
make entry but they had been disabled mere seconds after they entered. The only
good news for the SWAT Commander was that his Tac-Net showed only one dead
officer, thank god, but thirteen were down and completely out of the fight; their
suits had administered drugs that put the injured officers into a hibernation
coma.

All that happened in the first minute, now they
were experiencing some sort of electronic jamming that stopped all info on
their tac-net, no communication, no monitor reading, no data flow at all. This
was every commander’s worst nightmare.

They were totally blind; in other words, they had
moved into FUBAR – Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.

Lt. Brown switched his com-link over to broadcast
on all police frequencies.

“All units be advised, SWAT-Four’s CIC is down, I
repeat, SWAT-Four’s CIC is down. All units fall back to safe positions Charlie,
I repeat, fall back to safe position Charlie.”

Lt. Brown turned to the tech working on the problem
and said, “I don’t care what you do or how you do it but get me the tac-net
back!”

*   *   *   *   *

Even with the first wave of attackers stalled and
pinned down, Iaido knew they were screwed.

If a SWAT team was making an assault that meant
they had the area surrounded and all air traffic in the area was controlled and
monitored. Squeezing off a few blasts at the pinned down troopers, Iaido low
crawled his way back to Jay and Talia who were sheltered behind the computer
console.

“Interesting party you are throwing Jay, did you
invite the whole NAPD?”

“Nope, I completely forgot to invite them. I guess
that’s why they ‘crashed’ the party.”

Chuckling at the poor joke, Iaido squeezed off a
few blasts at the troopers on the roof. “Good to see you still have your odd
sense of humor. They have us pinned down and shortly they’ll have a superior
crossfire. We need to get out of here, fast.”

Jay pointed to an area not far away. “There’s an escape
tunnel under that table that leads to the old sewer system.”

Iaido looked at the table; it wasn’t large and
would be easy to move. The problem was its location; there was no cover within
twenty feet of it. Even with his enhanced reflexes it was a death sentence to
try for it. Looking around, he knew they had no choice.

“We need a distraction.”

Jay tapped a few commands into a nearby computer.
“In the works. In less than a minute you’ll have your distraction. It will be
costly but effective.”

Before Talia or Iaido could ask what he meant, the
door to the bar burst open and in rushed all the dancers. The SWAT troopers
paused in their attack to study this new opponent. Most of the dancers were
still nude or semi-nude. As they jumped on the closest troopers, the dancers
began to scratch, bite and kick. It was mayhem but it was all the distraction
they needed.

Iaido rushed to the concealed doorway, threw the
table aside and wrenched open the hatch to reveal a ladder leading into the
darkness. Running back, Iaido snatched up Jay and shoved Talia toward the
hatch.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Iaido yelled.
“Diana! We are leaving!”

Diana nodded in acknowledgement, dropped her THAB
and turned toward the escape hatch but before she got three steps Eve’s cries
for help echoed through the warehouse. With all the chaos of the last few
minutes, the companions had completely forgotten the child.

Burdened with Jay and Talia, Iaido could only
watch as Diana ran the length of the warehouse to grab the crying child.
Scooping her up, Diana tucked the young girl’s head into her chest and began
the run back to the escape hatch. Iaido hazarded a glance at the SWAT troopers,
nearly all of the attacking android dancers were down.

The best description of Einstein’s Theory of
Relativity that Iaido had ever heard went something like this; place your hands
on a hot stove and seconds would seem like hours; place your hands on a hot
girl and hours would seem like seconds.

And so, the short run the length of the warehouse
on any given day would be nothing to Diana or Iaido. However, the companions
could do nothing but watch as Diana loaded down with Eve tried to cover the
hundred feet before the inevitable happened. She had covered over half the
distance when the blaster fire began, mostly random shots. Three seconds later,
she was nearly to safety when her luck ran out.

The first blaster bolts clipped her in the
shoulder and spun her around with the force of the blast. Eve went flying out
of her hands which probably saved her life as a second bolt entered Diana’s
head, right behind the left ear. Since Diana was still moving at a fast pace
when she was shot, her momentum carried her into Iaido’s arms and nearly
knocked him from his perch on the recessed ladder. Snagging her with one arm,
Iaido tried to look for Eve but the increased blaster fire forced him to duck
below the tunnel lip. Chancing one last look into the warehouse, Iaido counted
twenty-five SWAT troopers closing in on the tunnel. Ducking back down, he
pulled the hatch closed and threw the locking bolt across the opening.

Eve was lost to them for the moment. It was a
painful realization but it was the truth.

It seemed so familiar; the feeling of leaving
behind someone important. But Omega Squadron never left a man behind, alive or
dead. They took care of their own.

So, why did the feeling of déjà vu haunt him so much
as he carried Diana’s limp body down the escape tunnel?

Chapter 12

The incessant pounding in his skull finally drove Kristopher
to open his eyes and he regretted it the instant he did so. Maybe it was the
flashing lights or the sound of jack hammers nearby that made his head feel
like it was about to explode. Whatever it was, he wanted it to stop. Seeing a
med-tech leaning over him, Kristopher intended on asking for something for the
pain. However, all he could manage was a weak grunt.

The med-tech noticed his discomfort, smiled at him
and said something to him that was swallowed by the noise.

Kristopher noticed absentmindedly that she had a
beautiful smile but anything beyond that was past his comprehension at this
point.

The med-tech pulled out a small box from one of
her pouches, depressed a button and poof, all the noise surrounding them was
gone. She once again flashed him a dazzling smile and said, “Sorry about that,
I should’ve used my dampening generator sooner. The shot I gave you should
start to work shortly but I need you to sit up, if you can.”

Without the overwhelming noise, Lt. Kristopher
found that the throbbing in his head began to lessen. Glancing over at the
med-tech, he read her ID badge, Melissa Greer – RN/EMT. Moving slowly and with
her help, Kristopher sat up and looked around. It was obvious that he was still
inside the warehouse but it looked more like a war zone than a factory. Broken
glass and body parts lay all about the floor. The sight of the disembodied
limbs caused Kristopher to do a double-take.

Melissa followed his gaze. “Don’t worry. Most of
those limbs are parts from androids, the best I have ever seen but purely artificial.
However, several of the SWAT officers also lost some limbs. Thankfully, there
was only one fatality.”

Lt. Kristopher found his voice to be scratchy when
he asked, “Wh…who?”  

Melissa glanced down at her datapad. “A young SWAT
officer by the name of T. Ernspiker. He took three hits from a THAB at close
range and square in the head.”

“Who?”

“We believe it to be a Blue on Blue, sir.”

“Dammit! Who’s the officer in charge of this
cluster-fuck?”

Before he could get an answer, an unfamiliar voice
from behind him asked, “Lieutenant Charles Kristopher?”

Turning quickly, Kristopher nearly fell over as a
wave of dizziness rolled through his body as he discovered two Galactic
Marshals in full body armor standing behind him.

“Yes? How can I help you gentlemen?”

The smaller of the two pulled out his badge and
flipped it out so he could see it. “Lt. Kristopher, I am Marshal Cassius and
this is my partner Marshal Brutus. We would like you to accompany us.”

Before Kristopher could answer, a middle age SWAT
Lieutenant stepped up. He was bald and had a reddish-grey mustache and wore his
armor like the weight of the world sat on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry gentlemen but Lt. Kristopher isn’t
going anywhere with you.”

“And just who do you think you are?” asked Marshal
Cassius.

“I am Lt. Brown and until I am relieved by a
higher authority, this is my crime scene. Anyone and everything within these
perimeters is under my jurisdiction.”

Marshal Cassius drew back his shoulders slightly
and for a split second, Kristopher would’ve sworn that the marshal was going to
attack…but the moment passed and the two marshals turned their attention toward
another patient nearby; one that he hadn’t noticed until that very moment, Eve.

 Marshal Brutus moved over to the young girl and
without so much of a word to the med-tech, lifted the young girl up.

Lt. Kristopher stepped forward to block the
Marshal’s path. “Where do you think you are going with that child?”

Marshal Cassius stepped next to his partner and
said, “The lieutenant is correct, we have no jurisdiction here. But this young
child is obviously a Sylvan and we have overriding jurisdiction whenever and
wherever they are concerned.”

“Where are you taking her?”

Stepping out of the dampening field, Marshal
Cassius called over his shoulder. “To headquarters of course, she has answers
that we need.”

Knowing it was hopeless; Kristopher started to
rush forward until he felt Lt. Brown’s hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry old friend but they’re correct. There’s
nothing anyone could do to stop them, at least not legally. Our treaty with the
Sylvans gave that sort of power to the Galactic Marshals.”

Kristopher felt helpless watching the Marshals that
he now knew to be Myrmidons and cold blooded killers walk away. However,
knowing and proving are two different things in the legal system. He knew that
they were scum, now came the challenge of proving it.

Chapter 13

When the companions finally exited the sewer system
that the escape tunnel had led them to, Iaido laid Diana’s mortally wounded form
gently on the waiting speeder. Jay tapped a few buttons on the control panel
and the muffled sounds of several explosions echoed through the tunnels.

The former Master Chief looked over his shoulder
and said, “The passageway above us is now closed and there is no direct route
to us at the moment but eventually they will find us down here. This is a
temporary reprieve at best. Where to?”

“A better question, where are we?” asked Talia as
she looked around at the dark tunnels which ran off in four directions. 

Without releasing Diana, Iaido spoke softly.
“Legends state that in 1874 when the Union General Sherman did his famous
‘March to the Sea’ during the War of Northern Aggression on November 11
^th
he set fire to Atlanta and watched it burn to the ground over the next few
days. At the end of the war, the southerners rebuilt the city overtop the ruins
of the old city and so Underground Atlanta was born. When the Great Meteor
Strike of 2012 destroyed most of the eastern seaboard of the United States
including Atlanta, once again the survivors vowed to rebuild, bigger and
better. And so now in the twenty-second century, we have Underground New
Atlanta or UNA for short. It is its own city with its own rules and laws. It is
but a pale shadow of the city above it but far more deadly.”

Climbing into the transport Talia asked, “How do
you know all this?”

With a slight shrug, Iaido smoothed out Diana’s
hair. “Part of it is my training, part of it is my love of reading but mostly,
UNA has been a good source of information in my line of work and many a mark
has tried to hide down here over the years.”

“Even after all these years, you find ways to
amaze me Iaido,” Jay said. “I didn’t realize your knowledge of history went as
far back as the Civil War.”

Talia didn’t say anything but her raised eyebrow
spoke volumes.

Iaido answered, “Another name for the same war;
but let me answer your first question Jay…head north to Lake Altoona.”

“Why? What’s there?”

“Xerxes should be waiting for us?”

“How? Why?”

“I signaled for him earlier today after my meeting
with the General.”