Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (29 page)

I considered drawing them in
anyway, but if they weren’t coming, I would leave them alone.  They couldn’t go
after the others if they were in my sight.  I wanted to buy Tiago as much time
as possible and if I acted hastily, the clock would be much shorter.  I only
saw three of them and I was sure there were more.  There was no need to set off
the alarms, it might have sped up their actions.

So I waited, and waited, and
wait.  It’s now two and a half hours past midnight, and they’re still outside. 
I wonder if they’re ever going to storm the gates.  From an obscure position,
I’m able to see where they are.  Before, they were scattered around on each
side, watching the perimeter like guardians.  I’m surprised they didn’t notice
me.  It must be hard to see what’s inside since they’ve been hovering away from
the building.  But now, they’re congregating in the distance.  I can faintly
see them with their headsets on, talking on a holoscreen to someone.  That must
be their leader.  I wonder where he is right now.  Maybe he’s observing from a
command station, maybe he’s looking for the others.  I hope they’re okay.

I worry about Oscar.  This mission
is supposed to be for Tiago, but I still think it’s to help them all.  If Oscar
is in danger, then all of this will be in vain.  I’m not here to serve the
interests of one family member, I’m here to serve the interests of everyone. 
We’ve always had a strained relationship, Oscar and I, but I like to think
there’s a mutual respect through all the cautiousness.  Though I hung with
Tiago, I hope he never got the wrong impression.

Suddenly, the team breaks apart. 
Their communicators are off and they start walking towards the station.  This
is it, their commander must have given them the go.  I scamper back to my wall
of benches and parts.  I have my guns ready, the bomb is by my side.  It’s time
to stop thinking, it’s time for action.

If I succeed, I’ll be happy
because I know I’m going where I belong.  And I’ll be happy because I know the
ones I love will be safe.  It’s time for this broken soul to find some peace.

November 17, 3040
2:45 AM

Our communicators are on, we’re in
our positions.  The building is rectangular, one story high, aged, and plain. 
I’m not even sure what the walls are made of, probably carbonidium, an old
alloy that hasn’t been used for decades.  A few windows adorn the side looking
dusty and unclean.  This place, like everything else in this city, is shabby
and run down.  I can’t believe people make cross country trips using this
station.

At almost 3 AM, the November air is
cool, but I barely notice thanks to my fur.  The city lights create an orange
tint that paints the walls of the building and I stare at it while the others
enter.  We haven’t seen or heard anything suspicious, not even a peep.  It’s a
simple sweep job, but we can’t be too careful.  So far, these halfkinds have
proven themselves to be rather resourceful.

Our communicators have been
switched to sound mode.  I’m not sure if Trevor is listening, but per his
orders, it’s on.  I’m at the east entrance, Colbo is at the north, and Erawan
is at the west.  Our weapons are drawn, we’re fully equipped and alert.  All
three of us have the access keys provided us by Primm officials.  It’s mounted
on top of my helmet, all I have to do is put it in front of the scanner and I’m
ready to go in.

“I’m in position.  Confirm that
you are all ready,” I say.

“Confirmed,” Colbo says on the
communicator.

“Confirmed,” Erawan responds.

“All right, on the count of three,
use the keys and open the doors.  Enter slowly and cautiously, got it?” I ask.

“We got it,” Colbo says.

“On my count,” I say.  “One, two,
three.”

I present my key and the scanner
automatically engages.  I hear a beep and the doors slide open.  I take my
first steps in.

I can’t see the others.  I’ve only
had a glance at my surroundings.  I know Erawan stands on the opposite side,
but there’s too much blocking my view.  Benches, teleport pods, item stands,
and structural pillars are some of the things that are in my way.  Even then,
it’s too dark to see clearly.  The only light are the moon beams and street
lights that shine through the cloudy windows.

“Can any of you see?” I ask the
others.

“No,” Colbo says.  “It’s damn dark
in here.  Even a hawk would have a hard time seeing this mess.”

“I have a light on my helmet, give
me a second,” I say to the others.

“It’d be appreciated,” Colbo says.

I’m about to equip my flashlight,
when I sense something odd.  Colbo and Erawan continue to move forward as I
hold my position and try to figure out what is off.  I don’t see or hear
anything funny.  It’s quiet, too quiet, but that’s not always a bad sign.  It’s
something else, something I can’t put my paw on.  It smells funny in here like
a hint of sulfur.  And then, I realize what it is.  Oh, shit!

“Colbo don’t move!” I yell.  It’s
too late.  The quaking hits my feet and a piercing noise vibrates through my
ears.

“Goddamnit!” Colbo yells.  I hear
him on my communicator.  His bellow echoes through the walls.  “My foot, it
feels like someone clamped it with spikes.  It hurts!  Fuck!”

“Erawan, are you okay?” I say
through my communicator.

I don’t get a response.  I can’t
really see through the rising dust, but I think I see the shape of an
elephant.  Sure enough, Erawan responds.

“I’m okay,” he says.

Colbo continues to curse in pain. 
Meanwhile, I take another sniff into the air.  The scent is familiar to me now.

“What happened over there?” a
voice asks me.  It’s Trevor.  I guess he is listening in after all.

“The place is booby trapped with
garden mines,” I say through the communicator.   “They’re small and non-lethal,
but they can cause damage if tripped.”

“No shit, asshole!” Colbo says.

“You’ll live.  Stop being a
pussy,” I say to him.

“They totally fried my foot, so
screw you,” he says, grimacing through the pain.  “It doesn’t seem to be too
bad, just hurts like hell.  I think I might be walking funny for the rest of
the night.”

“That’s okay,” Trevor chimes in. 
“Fenrir, you’ll need to find a way to disable the mines.”

Disable the mines?  I can barely
see, let alone know where they are.  But suddenly an idea pops into my head.

“I’m going to use the marble
shooters,” I say.  “If I put them on low charges, they’ll hit the mines and set
them off.  I can clear out the ones in front of me and then go to Erawan’s and
Colbo’s locations to set theirs off.  All of you need to stand back.”

“Do it,” Trevor says.  “Everyone
fall back!”

I nudge my nose on the black box
located above my front paw.  A red light discharges from it and I stick my
wrist out, aiming in front of me.  Small, bright neon blue flames pour out of
it like a cereal box and hit the ground running.  It only takes seconds for
them to make contact with the mines and I see puffs of smoke and flying metal
shoot into the air.  The mines are being detonated one by one, each little
flame doing its job, each little flame clearing my path.

In less than a minute, all the
traps in front of me are gone and I can see a well-defined road of dead mines
in my way.  I head towards the other’s positions when, suddenly, another
peculiar smell hits my nose.  It’s pungent, dirty, like the back of an alley or
swamp.  It’s the scent of a living thing.

“We’re not alone!” I yell to the
others.  Once again, I’m too late.  Swift whizzing noises fill the air and
bright, meteor like streams fly from the center of the building.  Before I even
realize what’s going on, I promptly run behind a nearby item stand for cover. 
It’s the dash of my life, but with my nimbleness, I’m able to make it.

I take a few seconds to recover,
then moderately peer from the side and see that the projectiles keep coming.  We’re
being fired at.  Some are aimed at me, others are aimed at Colbo and Erawan,
and they’re all originating from the middle.

The ammo fires at us fast and
reckless.  I’m not even sure what our enemy is trying to hit.  It seems he’s bombarding
us with random shots.  I realize that whomever is shooting isn’t an expert.  A
true marksman wouldn’t be draining the power on his gun, he’d conserve what he
has.

“Whoever is doing this is a
horrible shot,” I say to my comrades over the communicator.

“Agreed, he isn’t hitting jack,”
Colbo says.

“I think with his unfocused
nature, I can charge at him,” I say.  “I’m the smallest of us and you still
have mines in front of you.  I have a straight clearing to this guy, I’ll try
to rush and overwhelm him.  Whatever he has coming for me, I can dodge it.”

“Being the hero, eh, wolf?” Coblo
says sarcastically.

“No, just taking the best option.”

I stay behind the item stand and
continue to hear him waste away his ammunition.  I gently peer out and try to
get a fix on his location.  At this point, the smoke has cleared and my eyes
have adjusted to the dark.  I can see his outline, hiding behind an assembled
fort of benches.  It’s an unobstructed line from me to his little barricade. 
Time to make my move.

I don’t think, I simply churn my
legs.  My top speed is 65 miles per hour and, at this moment, I’m certain I’m
hitting it.  The creature is only 40 or 50 feet away, I’m near the fort in less
than a few seconds.  With all my might, I lunge forward, colliding through the
benches and nail him head on.  Chairs and scraps fly everywhere, a thunderous
crash echoes through the walls.  I’ve hammered him with all that I got and he
goes sprawling across the floor, taking his blockade with him.

For a moment, I’m out cold.  I
overestimated my distance and applied too much force on my victim, which causes
me to get slightly knocked out in the process.  But when I come to, I see the
broken and deformed pile of seats in front of me.  My victim is trapped under
it.

I pounce on the stash and bury my
head underneath, but, to my surprise, I feel nothing, see nothing, and smell
nothing but broken benches.  I am utterly perplexed, but I don’t have time to
think about it.  The muffled screams of my comrades enter my ears.  I can’t
hear them with my head encapsulated by this mountain of mass, so I pick it up
to see what the commotion is.

“Behind you!” I hear Colbo yell.

“What?” I respond.

For the third time, I’m too late. 
I feel a massive fist hit my back and I drop to the ground in milliseconds. 
The blow takes a few moments of my consciousness, but when things come back to
me, I feel something cold, rough, and slimy wrap around my neck.  It’s firm and
stiff, like a boa constrictor.  Before I even realize what’s going on, it’s
completely squeezed around my head.

If I was able to see myself, I’d
see an enormous half man, half crocodile creature choking the life out of me
with its colossal tail.  Unfortunately, I’m not watching as an outsider, I’m
experiencing it.  I struggle mightily, trying to position my head so my jaws
can clamp down on him.  It’s no use, though, there’s no way I can twist my head
in position.  My paws flail around uselessly, the energy starts to fade.  I
feel myself letting go.  My awareness is fleeting, slipping away from my reach.

He uses his appendage to turn my
body around so that I’m facing him.  I stare into the face of this thing as my
vision blurs and my air passages tighten.  I see beady yellow eyes and a
protruding snout snorting directly at my nose.  His skin looks like it’s tough
as nails, harder than any kind of synthetic leather I’ve seen before.  And his
teeth are terrifying.  They are sharp like blades and stick out of his mouth in
random, chaotic directions.

The last thing I think before I’m
about to pass out is that I’m going to be this guy’s early breakfast.  But
something amazing happens.  His tail loosens and I fall straight to the ground
with a thud.  I’m once again out for a few seconds and, once again, when I
regain my consciousness, he’s gone.

But not for long.  I hear the
pounding of his footsteps from behind his makeshift fort.  He jumps beyond it
and lands in front of me.  His mammoth feet are the first thing I see.  I then
raise my head bit by bit to see the rest of him.  He’s wearing a tattered shirt
with cut off sleeves and loose jeans.  The muscles on his arms are well defined
and the scales on his body make the ones on his face a pale comparison in
roughness.  His hands are webbed.  On the tips of his fingers are thick, jagged
claws.  His body is hunched over and he’s breathing heavily.  He stands in
front of me, a massive tower of flesh and bone, and raises right arm high in
the air.  He outstretches his fingers and prepares the claws.  It’s time for
him to strike a fatal blow.

I’m still recovering from nearly
being choked to death and I am too weak to fight back.  I try to react, but it
is in vain.  Things flash in front of my eyes, from the beginning of the
mission to this moment.  I trace through my thoughts on the objective, my
disagreements in its purpose, my understandings of the enemies, and the moral
ambiguity of it all.  So many of my questions will remain unanswered.  I didn’t
want things to end, not until I’ve become satisfied, not until I understand
things clearly.

But I guess this is it.  I
helplessly watch him thrust his arm in my direction and close my eyes.

A second has passed and I feel
nothing.  His swipe should’ve been struck by now.  I open my eyes to see him
staggering backwards, landing on his back on top of the piles of benches.  He
clutches his chest, breathing deeply, and I see a blackish red liquid leak from
behind it.  It trickles down to his leg, where another wound oozes from his
thigh.  I didn’t realize it earlier when I scanned him, but the first wound was
there before the second one.  He has been shot twice.