Anniversary post! Jak Exo Moreno, man-machine blend, is threatening the planetary government. Can his love, Dru Delaney, save him?
Jak approached the door to the
main building and ran his hand over the security scanner. The door lock whirred
but didn’t open. He tried again, pressing his palm hard against the red glowing
light. The lock again made the hissing sound but nothing happened.
“Let me try, Leader Moreno.” One
of his guards moved forward and reached out his hand to the door.
Jak stepped to one side to make
room and that movement saved his life. A laser burst lanced through the night,
its fine red beam bisecting the guard’s arm and traveling upward into the
guard’s neck, which exploded in a spray of blood and tissue.
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Another burst of laser fire
slammed into the plascrete of the building behind them. Shards of razor sharp
fragments spiraled around them and Jak felt one bite into his face, making him
flinch away from the pain. The guard briefly loosened his grip and Jak took
advantage of the moment, dropping to the pavement to kneel briefly then jumping
up, pivoting and ramming his fist hard into the guard’s chest.
The man went down with a
startled grunt and Jak grabbed him, rolling to the ground with the guard on top
of him. The next burst from the weapon caught the guard in the chest and he
died with a strangled shout, sagging back and momentarily pinning Jak to the
ground.
Jak pushed the body off of him
and spun away from the lights that illuminated the path under the walkway
leading to the government building. Alarms were clanging inside and Jak saw
people running through the walkways, weapons drawn. People spilled out of
doorways, muted shouts and panicked cries mingling with the sound of distant
explosions.
“Leader Moreno!”
Jak turned and saw three guards
racing across the courtyard toward him. They went just a few steps then laser
fire crisscrossed in the night, overlying strands like deadly webs that
ensnared the two men and woman, cutting them down in a bloody tangle.
Jak kept the apartment building
against his back and began a dash to the government center where more guards –
and more importantly, weapons – were housed. Adrenaline rushed through him and
Jak used it to keep his panic at bay. Who
is in on it? How did they get guards to attack me? Is the building still
locked? He veered to the left, aiming for a different door. If all doors
were locked, he would go to the front and break the glass there to get in. He
had to cross some open space but he could minimize his vulnerability by staying
close to the building most of the way.
He was halfway to the building
when the lanterns that lit the courtyard flickered and died. The moon provided
as much shadow as light, but Jak welcomed the darkness. He was nearing the side
door leading to the common room on the lower level when he heard voices behind
him.
“Exo!”
Jak froze and looked over his
shoulder. Two figures were emerging from the darkness, weapons in their hands.
Shouts were loud from the building behind him and beyond the shadowy courtyard
he saw more people coming, people with weapons.
There was no clear exit ahead of
him and he had no idea what was happening in the building behind him. He had
only a slim chance of escape and nothing to use as a weapon. Jak assessed his
options in the blink of an eye and settled on the only thing remaining: his
telepathic training.
He turned and ran toward the
doorway to the government center. If he could reach the relative security of
that building, he might find others inside who could help, or weapons he could
use. As he moved Jak focused on the attackers and attempted to touch the mind
of the man running toward him.
Nothing except a dogged thought
was palpable: Kill Exo Moreno. The
single-minded focus was intense and for the first time since the attack began,
Jak felt fright. The man either had rigid mental shields or he’d been somehow
programmed, all other thoughts and emotions purged to leave only murder.
A clone? Jak wondered as he reached the door and slapped his hand
against the palm reader. Did they
reprogram a clone to kill me? That’s the only thing that makes sense. No one
could be that devoid of emotion or thought.
The door didn’t budge. Jak
didn’t waste time. He spun away to face the men coming at him, their guns
raised. I can kill at least one of them,
maybe two, with a psychic burst, he thought grimly. He gathered his power
and refused to look beyond the four people who paused and took aim at him.
He saw movement in the glass
panel at the top of the door. A face, then two, peered out at him then suddenly
the door swung open.
“Move!”
Jak jumped to the left as a
lithe figure darted out of the shadows of the doorway and fired over his shoulder.
More shots blazed from inside the building, and Jak’s attackers went down amid
a barrage of laser fire, screams torn from mangled throats and chests.
Dru grabbed Jak’s arm. “Come on!
Don’t just stand there. We have a planet to save!”
More info here:
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