This Broken Wondrous World (32 page)

Then they started to dive-bomb us.

“They can do that, for one thing,” said Holmes as she hiked the stick to dodge the monkeys. “I am
not
trained for kamikaze flying monkeys.”

She managed to avoid them on their first pass, but then they came up underneath and flew directly into the rotor blades. Suddenly, there were bloody chunks of winged monkeys everywhere, spattering the windshield, making it impossible to see. One or two monkeys wouldn't have been a problem but now they all converged on the rotors. The engine screamed under the strain and every gauge on the dashboard suddenly lit up red.

“We're screwed,” said Holmes. “Tell everyone to prepare for a crash landing.”

I ran back to the cargo area but everyone was already strapping into the seats that lined the sides. Except the maenads, who pressed their faces hungrily against the windows drenched in winged-monkey blood.

“See, ladies?” Henri was saying as he clung to a handlebar next to them. “I told you it would be worth the wait. And winged-monkey guts are just the appetizer.”

I strapped in next to Claire just in time. A moment later, my stomach lurched as the helicopter dropped out of the sky. For a moment, I almost felt weightless, like if I hadn't been strapped in I would have floated away. But then we slammed into the
ground so hard my head snapped back into the padded backing of the seat. We bounced a few times as we skidded along but then finally came to a stop.

“Do it again!” yelled Meadow.

The helicopter started to rock back and forth. I looked out the window. Beast people were swarming over the helicopter, trying to tip it over.

“Everybody ready?” I asked as we all unstrapped ourselves.

“As we'll ever be,” said Ruthven.

“Bring it,” said Liel, flexing her clawed hands, her trowe den at her back.

The bay door slowly began to drop open.

“Ladies, I think that's your cue,” said Henri.

The three maenads shot through the still-opening door. A moment later the air was filled with the sounds of pain and fear.

“Good luck,” said Claire, and gave me quick kiss.

We moved out of the helicopter in a tight group. We'd crashed in the middle of a large intersection in downtown Denver. Beast people were coming at us from all directions. Henri was herding the maenads down the street in the general direction of where Moreau held the hostages. We followed the path of carnage that they cut through the beast people.

“Oh, god,” Claire said under her breath.

The ground was strewn with bodies, some limbless, some headless, some still alive and struggling weakly to escape. The maenads laughed and capered around as they went from one victim to the next, their naked bodies smeared with blood.

There was a moment when I thought,
I did this
. The empty chasm was suddenly there before me again, trying to swallow me up.

“Boy! Are you hurt?” It was La Perricholi next to me.

I shook my head, pushing all those feelings of grief aside. We had to get to Moreau. This had to end.

We kept moving forward. Even with the maenads taking the lead, there were still huge clusters of beast people coming at us. Rhoecus and Javier barreled down the middle, trampling everyone who got in their way. Liel and the trowe darted in and out, their jewel eyes sparkling as they slashed at arms and legs with their long, curved claws. Ruthven was little more than a streak of darkness as he snaked through their ranks, leaving some unconscious, others clutching at their bleeding throats. La Perricholi and Maria ran side by side, their guns blazing, dropping almost as many beast people as the maenads. Holmes covered their rear, picking off the few who'd got past them. And my mother . . . I'd never really thought about it before, but she was just as strong as my father had been. I realized that now, as I watched her easily pick up a beast person with one hand and slam him into another one nearby, letting them both fall to the ground in an unconscious heap. Claire had continued her hand-to-hand combat training with La Perricholi, and it showed. It almost looked effortless, the way she hit them in just the right place with just the right amount of force to knock them out.

I caught all of this in little flashes here and there as I smashed my way through packs of beast people. I'd always been strong, but this was different. This was a whole new level. The world felt like paper to me, and the people in it like cotton balls that I could knock aside without really even trying.

Then I heard a shriek from above. I looked up and saw one of those bird people that had attacked Claire and me at The Commune.

“Vi, time to try out that targeting system,” I said.

“Okeydokey,” she said.

I lifted my robot arm and detached my hand. I pointed the stump at one of the bird people. In my bionic eye I saw a green circle.

“It's all yours,” I said.

Vi took over movement of my arm, calculating distance, velocity, and wind resistance as she made slight adjustments to the position.

“Target locked,” she said.

“Fire.”

A small pellet shot from the stump. As soon as it came in contact with the air, it began to expand into a glob of foam. It slammed into the bird person, sticking to him. The more he struggled with it, the more he stretched out the foam; the more air contact, the thicker and stickier it got. A moment later his wings were caught up in it and he dropped from the sky, landing on a parked car so hard the roof caved in and the windows blew out glass in all directions.

“It worked!” I said.

“You mean you weren't sure it would?” asked Vi.

“Well, we didn't have the exact ingredients for the compound that Holmes told us about, so I had to make a few substitutions.”

I only had two more shots of that stuff, so I reattached my hand and went back to slowly bashing my way through the crowd of beast people.

IT SEEMED LIKE
hours, but it was probably only about twenty minutes later that we got close enough to see the building where Moreau was holed up. It was a massive cathedral of gray stone
that spanned an entire city block, with twin spires rising high above the other buildings.

“Of course he picked a church,” I muttered as I smashed my metal fist into a creature that looked part pig, part hyena.

“Boy, there's a whole new group of them coming!” shouted Claire. “We'll hold them. You go after Moreau.”

I nodded and broke away from the group. A few followed me, and I quickly took care of them. But most of the beast people hadn't even noticed as I slipped away. This group seemed much less disciplined. I wasn't complaining.

A few moments later, I was at the cathedral entrance. The door opened, and the Siren stepped out.

“Forgot about you,” I muttered.

She opened her mouth and I had just enough time to take my metal hand off before she started to sing.

“Vi, take over,” I said, and then I was lost in the music.

A moment later, I came out of it. The Siren lay on the ground, a blob of sticky foam covering her mouth.

“Nice shot,” I said.

“The hard part was making sure her nose wasn't covered,” Vi said. “I knew you wouldn't want her to suffocate.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Now, let's get in there and hope Moreau hasn't killed those hostages.” I pushed open the doors and stepped into the cathedral.

The inside was one vast room with dark wood pews in orderly rows. The walls were lined with tall stained-glass pictures of saints, and the ceiling rose over fifty feet into the air. Moreau stood behind the altar at the far end, holding a struggling human male down with one clawed hand while he injected something into his neck. Otherwise, the church was empty.

“My, my,” said Moreau. “It looks like you're finally taking your
own self-improvement seriously. Excellent, bold work, if you don't mind my saying so.”

“Where are the other hostages?” I said, aiming my stump at Moreau.

“Oh, they're all gone.”

“You killed them all?”

“Actually, I believe it is your friends who are currently killing them.”

“What?”

“I've . . . well, see for yourself.” He looked down at the human, who had gone from struggling to convulsive.

“Oh no . . .” I said.

“Oh yes.”

The human thrashed on the altar as his skin began to ripple and bubble, then peel away in strips, exposing bright green scales beneath. His eyes turned black and his tongue lengthened as it protruded from his open mouth. One leg grew longer and thicker and the other shriveled up and lay dangling to the side. His entire rib cage began to grow and lengthen. Then there was a sharp crack as his chest split open, exposing his ribs.

“Ah, well,” said Moreau. “Sometimes that happens.”

The half-snake creature tried to sit up, but wet, squiggly guts came spilling out across the altar and floor. Then it fell over in a heap and grew still.

“That latest group of beast people they're fighting . . .” I said.

“Were the hostages. Yes. I turned them into monsters and set them loose on you. I don't imagine they'll fare very well, though, considering they lack any sort of training or guidance.”

“You . . .” I said. “Stay put.” I shot my last sticky foam pellet at his hand, gluing it to the altar. Then I turned and ran back out of the cathedral.

From the top step I could see them all down there fighting. And from this distance, it was so obvious that this group of beast people had no idea what they were doing. They were just reacting mindlessly to the violence. Classic fight or flight.

“Stop killing!” I shouted. “PLEASE GOD, STOP KILLING!”

But they didn't even notice me. I was going to have to go down there and stop them myself. I slammed my metal hand back into place and was about to start down the steps when an incredibly strong hand grabbed my flesh arm and yanked me backward so hard my feet left the ground. I flew back through the church doors and slammed into one of the stone pillars inside. On impact, my head snapped to one side and the bionics in my eye shattered. There was a momentary screech of feedback, then the eye went black and there was silence. My link to Vi was broken.

Moreau stood over me, his ape mouth grinning. The hand I had glued to the altar was now just a ragged, bloody stump at the end of his arm. He looked down at it and shrugged. “I can always grow myself a new one later.”

I struggled to my feet.

“In the meantime,” he continued, “I am about to almost literally beat you with one hand tied behind my back.”

He came at me so fast and strong I couldn't connect a single hit. He used his one clawed hand, his feet, his tail, and his teeth all with equal skill. The ferocity of a wild beast combined with the strategy and intellect of a human. He was a perfect fighter. I didn't stand a chance. No wonder he'd beaten my dad.

But when I thought of my dad, my body suddenly filled with a cold rage, as hard and unmovable as the Jura Mountains he'd loved so much. The pain didn't matter anymore. I barely felt it. I pulled myself back into a more defensive position, blocking,
dodging, ignoring the tempting openings that were just traps. He was losing blood. A lot of blood. I let him slowly push me back deeper into the church, all the while taking note of how his strikes were coming a little slower, the blows with less force. Finally, I saw that the scales had tipped in my favor. He swung a sloppy kick at my face, I dodged and brought my fist down on his kneecap, shattering it.

His eagle eyes went wide as he realized he'd taken too long and worn himself out. But it was too late. I caught his clawed hand and crushed his fingers in my grip. Then I swept his good leg with my robot leg, breaking his ankle in the process. He fell to the ground in a heap and lay there, panting.

“Stupid,” he said between gasps. “Damned beast instincts. Stubborn beast flesh. It creeps in. Even with constant vigilance it forever creeps in.” He glared up at me. “Well, I suppose you've won. If you can call it winning. And we are all the poorer for it. I was on the side of righteousness and liberty.”

“You're a murderer.”

“I am a surgeon, remorselessly cutting out the cancers of this flawed and broken world. I could have made it something great. But you have swooped in to return us to the status quo. I was trying to accomplish something. You accomplish nothing.”

“I stopped you.”

“For now. But I have contingency plans. They will imprison me just as they did before. And those monsters sympathetic to my cause will grow more ardent in their love for me. Because make no mistake, the humans will be even more cruel to us now than they ever were before. Yes, and I will escape again, and those who were too frightened to rise up this time will not hesitate next time.”

“Actually, you're wrong.”

“About what?”

“They won't get a chance to imprison you.”

He laughed weakly. “Don't pretend that you have what it takes to kill me. Stephen told me all about you and your weak, middle-class morality.”