Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (28 page)

“And now those two are gone?”
Colbo says.  Trevor nods his head.  “Well, isn’t that fantastic.”

“Why did Borton disobey your orders?”
I ask Trevor.

“Because he was only thinking
about himself,” he says.  “I gave the call to capture them, but he refused to
obey.  Borton took it upon himself to do it.  He was more concerned about what
the Alliance wanted than what I directly told him to do.”

Colbo has a confused expression on
his face.  “Excuse me for my rudeness, Commander, but wasn’t Borton right? 
Shouldn’t we be concerned with Alliance orders?  I mean, the goal of the
mission is to eliminate the halfkinds and it seemed you were in the position to
do so.”

Trevor narrows his brow.

“I know what we’re sent here for,
what our goal is,” he says in a raised voice.  “But we do things my way. 
Unless these things are threatening your life, I don’t want any merciless
killings, you understand?  When we encountered Oscar’s group, they came
peacefully for the most part.  I already had this discussion with Borton, I’m
not going to have it again with you.”

“Borton is dead and Apollo is
injured,” Colbo says.  “Seems they didn’t come as peacefully as you thought.”

The Commander looks even angrier
than before.  “This is the end of this discussion.  I’m not going to talk about
it anymore.”

Colbo has a skeptical look on his
face.  “As you wish, Commander.”

“So, now what’s the plan?” I ask
the group.

“I assume you all have been
staking out the Gonzalez station?” he asks us.

“That is correct,” I respond.

“See anything suspicious?” he
asks.

“No,” I say.  “We arrived at 1 AM and set up a perimeter as you commanded.  Nothing has gone in or out.  The lights are
off inside, there doesn’t seem to be any activity there, but I can only guess
since we haven’t been able to investigate inside.”

“Okay, that’s good that you stayed
your ground,” he says.  “I want you to finish up your search, head inside, and
inspect from there.”

“But it doesn’t seem that there’s
anyone inside,” Colbo says.  “Shouldn’t our focus be on the other station?”

“We’ll get to that one soon
enough.  Just do a quick sweep and nothing more.  If you have reason to think
there’s something suspicious then continue, but if you don’t we’ll meet at the
Li Station.  Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.  Apollo needs some time to
recover from his wound, so I’m going to give him a breather while you guys
fulfill your order.”

“Fair enough,” Colbo says.

“Keep your communicators on, at
least in sound mode,” Trevor says.  “I want to hear what’s going on,
understood?”

“Understood,” Colbo says.  “And
what about the twins?”

“We’ll have to worry about them
later.  Right now the priority is the teleporters.  This is Trevor signing
off.”

His display shuts off, but the
others are still signed on.

“Meet me at my location so we can
go over our tactics,” I tell the others.  I see them leaving their posts and
they come walking my way.  I then turn my communicator off and they do as well.

“So, how should we do this?” Colbo
asks.

“We’ve already swept the
boundary,” I say.   “And there doesn’t seem to be any activity inside.  There
are three entrances on the north, west, and east side.  Let’s split up and
enter from the three sides and then start our search there.  Agreed?”

They all nod their heads.  Colbo
starts to walk to the station, but stops and turns around.  “Man, that Borton
had some guts to defy the Commander’s orders.”

I scoff at his comment.  “Yeah,
and now he’s dead because of it.”

Erawan doesn’t say anything, but
Colbo looks a bit unpleased by my comment.

“Hey, he was one of us, have some
respect,” Colbo says.

“I don’t respect hot-headed
soldiers who defy orders and kill innocent, unarmed individuals.”

Colbo looks shocked by my
statement.  “When did you have a change of heart?  Is this world going crazy? 
Am I the only one who realizes that this is what we were sent to do?  If the
Commander wants to puss out, that’s fine and dandy, but I’m not going to balk
at fulfilling my duty, especially when it’s an Alliance order.”

“So, you would murder harmless
bystanders if your boss told you to?”

“Um, excuse me, last time I
checked, they attacked and killed Borton,” Colbo says like he’s offended.

“And last time I checked, Borton
provoked them.  I doubt he would’ve died if he had listened to the Commander.”

“It’s his fault for not being
careful,” Colbo says.  He lifts his gun from the ground into his arms.  “Don’t
expect me to be the same way.”

“Confident as ever,” I say
sarcastically.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks
in an irritated manner.  “Before this evening started, you seemed to be willing
to do what it takes to get the job done.  Now all of a sudden, you’re going
soft.  What gives?”

I look at the ground and then I
look back up to the others.  “After our skirmish at the supply depot, I started
to think about things.  We’ve been sent to kill these things, yet they haven’t
done anything to us.  They only thing they want is to live.  And how do we, our
leaders, as a society, react to their discovery?  We come in with guns in the
air.  They weren’t even given a chance, we sent them out for execution the
minute we knew of them.”

“Well,” Colbo says, “you know why
we’re doing this.  I mean, we’ve talked about it so many times now.”

“Just because I know why doesn’t
make it any more right.”

“That’s too bad for you then, but
when it comes down to it, if our lives are on the line, I want to know that I,
the rest of the team, can count on you.  You’re not going to get cold feet because
you’ve got a case of guilt all of a sudden?”

I look at Colbo.  His face is
humorless, his lower lip protrudes, and his brow tightens.  He’s dead serious.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say
callously.

“Good.”  He turns his back to me
and starts to stride away.  I look at Erawan who hasn’t said a word the whole
time.

“You don’t talk much do you?” I
ask him.

He lowers his head so that we are
eye level and looks directly at me.

“No, I don’t,” he says sternly. 
He then turns around and marches in Colbo’s direction.

At least one of us understands
what the hell is going on.

November 17, 3040 2:34 AM

I got to the Gonzalez station at
about midnight.  Candy’s programs worked like a charm.  The window she set to
disable security was from 12 AM to 12:30 AM and, like clockwork, I walked
through the doors without a hint of struggle.  Once inside, I turned the
security systems off and started to lay the foundations of my final resting
place.

I walked around a bit to see what
I was working with.  The teleport station wasn’t too big, but it was roomy
enough for me to conceal myself from the view outside.  The walls were high and
the floor was checkered black and white.  Multiple screens hung from floor to
ceiling, but they were off when I arrived.  Everything was off, the station was
in full charge mode.

There was a lot of furniture on
the floor:  benches, some food stands, ticket counters, and other things. 
There was also a large metal box with safety signs on it.  That must have been
the generator that Candy mentioned.  Lastly, there were ten or so teleport pods
lined up against the wall.  I wouldn’t be using them, though, maybe just for
cover.

After I was done surveying the
area, I looked inside my pack to see its contents.  A small handheld device was
at the bottom, I took it out to observe.  It was a transmitter, a wrist mounted
one.  It wasn’t a fancy holo display model, but it was what I needed.  Tiago
wanted to make sure I sent him a sign when I executed my plan.  That way he
would know when the deed is done.

I attached it on to my wrist and
it fit snuggly.  The transmitter had a button in the middle.  All I had to do
was press it and Tiago would receive a little beep.  That was the signal I had
to give.  After observing it for a few seconds, I continued rummaging through
my backpack.

I felt something hard yet light
touch my hands.  They were the two energy pistols that Ace had swiped from his
earlier supply run.  I took one out to inspect.  It was fully charged and felt
light in my hand.  I gripped it and got comfortable with my aim.  My finger
caressed the trigger.  I looked at a trash dispenser nearby, pointed my gun at
it, and took a shot.  A quick light dispersed from the barrel and grazed the
side of the unit.  I’m not that skilled of a shooter, but my goal isn’t to
kill, it was to lure them in.

I set the gun aside and dug
through the bag again.  This time I pulled out a flat disc like object.  They
were garden mines, compact and precise.  It was extremely light and I probably
could have tossed it clear across the station if I wanted to.  There were a lot
of them, at least fifty in my bag.

Tiago’s instructions about these
were simple.  I press the small button to arm them.  After they’re armed,
they’d beep a few times and then stop.  There wouldn’t be a way to figure out
where I placed them after that, no lights, no sounds.  I’d have to remember
where I put them exactly.  If I didn’t, I could very well blow myself up.  My
plan was to lay them around the perimeter and stay clear from it afterwards. 
I’d be waiting in the center, anyway.

I’m surprised these things were at
the supply depot, so I guessed they’re not very strong, probably made to scare
away small animals in the woods for someone who might need that sort of thing. 
I highly doubted they would do enough damage to injure a trained operative,
but, again, it was just to lure them in.

Those items weren’t for me, it was
for any possible intruders I might run into.  The last thing in the pack was
for my use.

I pulled it out, a long metal
cylinder custom made by Candy.  It was an explosive, the same kind that she had
made for Lombardi, only much more powerful.  According to Tiago, it could take
down this whole station if need be.  It worked the same way, clutch the handle,
the bomb arms, let go of the handle, the bomb detonates within a few moments.

These were the tools I would use
to do my work.  Like an artist and his brush, I respected the equipment I was
given.  I made sure that no resource would go unused, everything was important.

With all the items in hand, I went
to work setting the trap.  I took the garden mines and walked around the
perimeter, arming and tossing mines around like I was sowing seeds in a
garden.  I concentrated all of them towards the entrance doors that hug three
different walls.  They were the only way anyone could get in, so when our
enemies entered, they’d have a nasty surprise for them.

I then grabbed whatever I could
and constructed a fort smack in the middle of the station.  Benches, trash
dispensers, pieces of wood and metal, anything I could get my hands on became a
part of my reinforcement.  This was where I planned to hunker down when the
enemies came.  While they blast their shots, I’d be hiding, waiting for them,
drawing them in.

That’s what the guns were for.  I
didn’t plan to kill anything.  My shot proved I wasn’t that great.  I wanted to
bait them in, like flies.  As long as my fort held up, I could stay there until
they come close enough for me to make my last move, my master stroke, the
reason I was in the Gonzalez station in the first place and not some corpse in
a grass field.

The creatures that were after us,
they know we were headed to a teleporter.  There were only two in Primm, the Li
station and the Gonzalez station.  The Li station was farther from the depot
where they found Lombardi, farther from our hideout.  Tiago said, tactically,
our pursuers would investigate the Gonzalez station first.  Little did they
know I’d be waiting for them.

My mission was simple - when they
come, I’d draw them in.  I’d fire some shots and the mines I placed would go
off if they got near them.  They’d be stunned and filled with adrenaline, then
rush to their target without even thinking twice about what was in store for
them.  The second I felt like they were within range, I would set off Candy’s
bomb and it’d be goodbye to our enemies.

Tiago would have the time he
needed to make his escape.  I’d have my rest and, in doing so, I’d help my
family.  I’ve wanted both for a long time.  I thought about it, talked about
it, and now I could finally do something about it.

Tiago mentioned that I could turn
back whenever I wanted to.  He shouldn’t have wasted his breath.  I was only
going forward, not backward.  Though I had my doubts here and there, though I
didn’t fully trust Tiago, I was and still am ready to end this.  I don’t want
to live anymore.  My encounter with that drunk lion proved beyond a shadow of a
doubt that this world would fear me, that I was a monster.  Monsters get burned
at the stake, I’d rather end my life on my own terms.

Some think suicide is selfish.  I
think those people don’t know what it’s like to hate yourself so much that you
question your existence.  Only then would they know what it’s like to want to
take your own life.

What I’m doing isn’t selfish, what
I’m doing is for the family.  If anything, it’s selfless.

After I had completed the setup of
my lair, I heard some noise outside and carefully crept to a window to see who
it was.  I saw the wolf and gorilla that Ace mentioned, the ones that killed
Lombardi.  They also were accompanied by an elephant.  Tiago was right, they
did come.  These were the creatures that I would have my revenge on, the ones
that I could put an end to so that my brothers, both Oscar and Tiago, won’t
have to worry about them anymore.

I was ready to take them on, but
for some reason they stayed outside.  They set up camp and resided there,
didn’t even bother to come near the doors.  I was ready for them, ready to pull
the trigger to bring them in, to squeeze the handle of my bomb so it could
blast them to pieces, but I had to wait.