Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (9 page)

“After I get the security system
off line,” Lombardi says, “I can go in.  Then it should be easy sailing.  I’ll get
this list of items and be out in a flash.”

“Remember,” I say, “we don’t know
where the items are held, so you’ll have to do a little bit of exploring in
order to locate them.  They definitely should be in the warehouses though.”

“Got it,” Lombardi says.  “I’ll
have my pack emptied so I can try to grab as much as I can, but I’m not sure
how much I can carry.”

“It’s okay,” Oscar says.  “Grab
what fits in your pack, but make sure you get enough credits and, most
importantly, get us an insta-item.  Without that, we are screwed.”

“Understood,” Lombardi says. 
“Other than that, so far what I have is clothes, food, and some compcubes.”

“Yes, you have the list,” I say. 
“Just remember the insta-item.”

I take out a small metal
container.  It is a cylinder, no heavier than ten ounces.  It has a clicking
device rigged to the top of it.

“Here,” I say as I hand it to
Lombardi.  “This is for you.  Candy made it earlier.”

“What is it?” he asks, taking it with
his hand.  He examines it, but he is still confused in its purpose.

“It’s a small explosive.  Candy
rigged it together with some of the things she found around here.  It’s pretty
crude, but it’ll get the job done.  You trigger it by pressing the clicker on
top.  You’ll only have a few seconds after you start it before it blows. 
According to Candy, it’s pretty powerful, so be careful.”

Most of my brothers and sisters
look stunned by what I had handed to Lombardi.  He looks relatively shocked as
well.  The one who looks the most surprised is Oscar.

“Candy, why did you make this?”
Oscar says, as if he’s been betrayed.

“Tiago asked me to,” Candy says
sheepishly.  “I just want to help out.”

“You have a problem with this?” I
interrupt.  “What’s the issue?”

“This is not necessary,” Oscar
says.  “If he uses this thing, the alarms will sound and he’ll have more to
deal with.  What you’re giving Lombardi is a death sentence.”

“He gets caught and doesn’t defend
himself, it’s already a death sentence,” I say defiantly.  “Have you already
forgotten what happened to Leonard?  It was last morning.  They, the outside
world, the government, whomever, killed him in cold blood.  Someone is after
us, and they’re out to destroy.  I’m giving Lombardi something he can defend
himself with.”

“Is that so?  This will help him
defend himself?  Or are you giving him something that will send a message to
our so-called hunters.”

“Sometimes, brother, you need to
do both.  It isn’t always so black and white.”

“I don’t approve of this.”

“Of course you wouldn’t.  You’re
not thinking of the big picture.  You want to live in your peaceful dream
land.  A place where the world will leave us alone and let us be, where we are
free to do whatever we want without persecution.  Unlike you, I live in the
real world, and in the real world, people will never accept us.  We are too
different, we shouldn’t even exist.  They’ll make sure that is so.  Just
remember what happened to Leonard, never forget.”

Oscar looks at me, eyes beaming. 
This is another example of his leadership weakening over the past week.  He’s
losing his grip on our siblings and he knows it.

“The bomb is a precaution,” I tell
Oscar.  “Hopefully, Lombardi won’t have to use it.”

“I hope so, too,” Lombardi says.

“Once we get our supplies, we can
focus on getting to the Moon,” I tell everyone.

“Lombardi, you don’t have to bring
the bomb,” Oscar says.

“Oscar…” I say in an irritated
tone.  “Don’t start.”

Lombardi senses the tension and
looks at Oscar.  “No it’s okay, really.  I probably won’t even use it.  It’s insurance,
that’s all.”

Oscar backs away.  Good boy, Lombardi.

In a few days, we will make our
break for the Moon.  I’ve already discussed it with the family.  There are two
teleportation stations in Primm that can send us to any other station out
there, including San Francisco.  It shouldn’t be too hard to get it running,
especially for Candy.  Even I understand the basic concept of how a teleporter
works.

Like any other mode of
transportation, in order to get from point A to point B, you basically need to
know where you’re going and how to get there.  Our destination is the Bay Area,
the transporters is how we’ll get there.  All those things need is for the
power to be on.  There are delivery and receiving teleporters, one to send and
one to arrive in.  Once we fire it up, we locate a receiving teleporter to travel
to.  Receiving teleporters are duty free, so we can arrive anytime without
being noticed.  After we walk through the teleportation gate, and when we get
to the other side, we’re in the Golden State.  Then we use the more powerful
San Francisco delivery teleporter station to go to the Moon.

The great thing about teleporters
is that when you choose your destination, it automatically turns on the
receiving one.  It’s not possible to walk through a gate if the receiver is
off, because if you did, you wouldn’t exactly end up anywhere.  Automatically
turning on the other side is a failsafe created to prevent that from
happening.  And if, for some reason, the other side isn’t working because the
power is out or it’s broken, the delivery teleporter will fail to open the gate
to the other side.  It’s incredible that these provisions have been built into
the machines.

We’ll be breaking in during off
hours, so we’ll have to trust in Candy’s abilities.  She’ll need to figure out
how to disable any security systems, activate the power in the teleportation
station, and enter the destination.  I’m confident she’ll be able to do all
three.  She’s been researching vigorously on the technical aspects of our
plan.  She’s already demonstrated a knack for disabling security systems, as
she was able to figure out how to aid Lombardi on his task.  She still has a
few days to figure out how to start the power and run the machine, and a few
days is plenty of time for someone of her scientific caliber.  I have complete
faith in her, she hasn’t let us down yet.

We should reach the Moon instantly
after teleporting there.  Then, we’ll sneak into the undeveloped areas to carve
out our new home.  There’s still a lot left to be discovered on the Moon.  The
Moon may be terraformed, but it’s a long way from being a new Earth.  There’s a
lot of unsettled land and politically it’s a nightmare as every species is
still trying to claim a piece.

Our family can survive as long as
we have the insta-item.  With the credits that Lombardi will swipe for us,
we’ll be able to order food and other items that will keep us afloat online. 
The supplies will be teleported directly to our insta-item machine, no
questions asked.  That way, we can get what we want anonymously.  Long ago,
humans used something called mail to do this.  I can’t imagine a world where I
would have to wait in order to get something I ordered.

We have the maps of the Moon, we
know what’s populated and what’s not.  Unlike here, there’s plenty of land up
there.  Living undetected and in peace should be much easier.  We just have to
worry about getting there.  It’s still a long road away, but if things go right
for us, we can make it.

There is a big problem though, the
others.  Someone is after us.  Mother had spent all of her life terrifying us
about the outside world.  I didn’t believe her.  I always thought she was
crazy, that the years of prostitution had taken a toll on her mental health. 
She would rant and scare us about the horrors that existed out there.  When I
was younger, I was afraid, but as I got older, I saw what she really was, a
liar.

Or so I thought.  It appears I am
wrong and she was right.

When Ace came back and told us
about Leonard’s demise, I was shocked, a little from the news of his death, but
more so because of who was responsible for it.  A government science crew was
on hand so quickly after he died.  They were eager to learn from his corpse. 
When Ace delivered the news to all of us, I realized that mother was right.

We went into hiding right away as
a safeguard.  Even I didn’t know what we would face, and I needed time to
figure out what our plan was and what threats would come our way.  We lived off
the supplies that we had gathered, but within a few days, I saw that our stash
was dwindling.  We would have enough food to last another week, but hiding out
in an abandoned building is no place to live a life.  We’d spend the rest of
our existences like cockroaches.

Yet, I didn’t know what to do, the
world was still a mysterious place to me.  I had no idea the kind of reception
me and my siblings would receive if we stepped out into the public.

I wanted to think that the world
wasn’t that bad of a place.  I, after all, was always arguing with mother,
doubting the merits of her warnings.  But to say that mother’s words didn’t
have an effect on me while growing up is untrue.  Mother may have been crazy,
but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have been right.  I needed to test out
exactly how dangerous it was for creatures like us.

And then, in the wee hours of last
morning, I saw Leonard sneak out.  He didn’t see me, though, if he did, he
surely wouldn’t have left.  At first, I wondered where he was going, but after
a few minutes of thought, I knew exactly where.  It didn’t take a genius to
know that he was heading home, back to where mother’s body was, back to say
goodbye.

In terms of his usefulness,
Leonard was right there on the bottom next to Lombardi.  He was young, naïve,
and too emotional to be counted on.  He didn’t have anything that he could
offer to our family.  Even Lombardi had a certain level of enthusiasm and
courage, Leonard did not.  He was a coward, and I knew that in the future he
would be a liability.  That’s what I thought of when I saw him sneak out.

He was my brother and I loved him,
but in the fight for our survival, he would only hurt our chances.  I couldn’t
babysit him forever, and when he snuck out that morning, it proved to me that
my judgments were correct.  He wasn’t thinking about his family.  His
foolishness could have jeopardized the safety of all our brothers and sisters. 
So I did what I had to do, I called the police and let them know that there was
a homicide at 1523 Chakming Drive, Primm, Nevada.

When I sent the tip I was unsure
about what waited for us outside.  Was it harm?  Was it help?  What kind of welcome
would we get?  There was too much I didn’t know.  Leonard would help me find
out.

And when he didn’t come back that
morning, when Ace arrived with the news of his of death, I got my answer.  We
were on our own, and there would always be someone ready to hunt us.

In his death, Leonard ended up as
the most useful member of our family.  He gave my brothers and sisters the
motivation to get a move on.  We had all been unsure about where to go, if we
should stay in Primm, if we would be safe here.  Leonard’s death made it all
too clear that we were not.  He gave us the sign that we needed to think of an
escape plan.

Most importantly, he let me know
that mother was right and that I was wrong.  The world is the dangerous place
she talked about, but I would have never figured this out on my own.

I am sorry baby brother, but I
hope you can find it in your heart to understand.  At least you’re with her
now.

Lombardi is about to leave and
begins to say his goodbyes.  The others gather around him, but while no one is
looking, I tap Ace’s shoulder.

“He’s leaving soon,” I whisper to
him.

Ace nods quietly, so none of the
others can see.

“You know what to do?” I whisper
again.

He nods silently once more, and I
nod back.  I know I can count on Ace, he’s hasn’t let me down yet.

November 16, 3040
7:15 PM

Our debriefing has finished, so
Agent Leons shows us the way out of the conference room.

“We need to figure out our
strategy first,” I tell him as we walk through the hallways with the team
behind us.

“Hold on, son,” he tells me. 
“First we’ll have to stop by the armory, reception said the team’s special
packages have arrived.”

“These things are going to be on
the move, especially after one of their own has been killed.  The more we wait,
the farther they may have gotten.”

“It’s night time, no one is going
anywhere this fast.  All the ways out are closed.  You need to slow down there,
pal.  You can’t fight a battle if you don’t have anything to back it up.”

We’re all different species, so
the headquarters here doesn’t exactly have everything each of us need.  For
example, for handguns, I require a standard issue Tang 534A Pistol.  It fires
pulsed energy shots at a target, hot enough to char through the skin of a
crocodile and leave him dead.

However, other members of my team
may not have fingers to operate my firearm.  Most quadrupeds have to rely on
side harnesses to hold their weapons, and their mouths or tails to pull the
trigger.  This is the first time I have met my team, so I’m not sure what kind
of arms they plan to use.  All of their gear had to be ported in earlier this
morning, according to Agent Leons.

We get to the armory and I see six
bags on the floor.  They’re all the same color, granite black, but each is
tagged and one says “Trevor.”  Another says “Snow,” and another says “Bradley.” 
“Freely,” “Bornoa,” and “Zuma.”  Looks like they packed their gear, too.

“I see that some of you have your
equipment on.  Nice armor big guy,” Agent Leons says looking at Erawan.  He
does not appear amused.  “All except Commander Trevor.  I’ll provide you with
some standard issue protective gear after your strategy session.  I believe the
rest of you brought your own weaponry, since we’re running low on animal arms
around here.  Don’t know why you brought your own stuff, Simon, you know we
have plenty of toys for you to play with.”