Hunter (16 page)

There were
fifteen of them in total, some injured but many still able to
fight. They could be just what Corvus needed. He glared at them,
trying to see through his haze of pain and to pass judgement on
these new-comers. In the end he nodded and gestured for Brynden to
approach.

Brynden was a
young man, far too young to take on the responsibilities of a
coven. There were a few older than him among their ranks but they
seemed timid, their shoulders hunched; they could never lead
either. Brynden wore a dark shirt and dark pants which matched his
black hair. He walked to Corvus with his back straight, their eyes
locked. He had courage.

Brynden knelt
next to Corvus so that their eyes were level.

"Are you
planning to stab me in the back?" Corvus asked through clenched
teeth.

It took all
of his strength to focus on Brynden, to take in his subtle body
hints, to really gauge the man.

"No," Brynden
replied. His face remained straight without a single flicker of
deceit.

"Do you and
your companions swear fealty to me and mine?" Corvus
asked.

"Yes,"
Brynden said, again in an unwavering tone.

"We must
overthrow the useless authorities of this planet. Will you aide
us?"

"Yes."

Corvus
continued to stare into the other man's eyes for a few moments
before nodding once.

"Welcome,"
Corvus said.

Corvus's
coven lowered their weapons and moved in to grasp the forearms of
their new coven fellows. They nodded at one another and a palpable
tension lifted from the room, floating out of the basement and up
into the night sky.

CHAPTER TWENTY

"The biggest advantage the lecheons have over us
is that they can see in the dark," Nova said. She looked over the
group of officers. These men and women would stand with her and
Briggles against the lecheons. They needed to be ready, so she had
arranged a training session to educate them on how to better fight
the lecheons. "All they have to do is turn out the lights and we're
helpless."

"Then we'll
wear the night-vision goggles," said Johnson, a stout officer with
a perpetually angry face.

"That might
work for some," Nova said with a sigh. "But there aren't enough
goggles for everyone and if they get pulled off, you have to know
how to fight in the dark."

"What do you
mean there's not enough? " Johnson demanded. "How are you going to
decide who gets them and who doesn't? You may as well send us all
to a slaughter house!" Uneasy murmurs swept over the gathering,
growing to heated accusations.

"We can't
fight in the dark!"

"Like lambs
to a slaughter!"

"Who does she
think she is?!"

Nova raised
her hand but the outcry continued. She looked to Briggles who
grimaced and turned to the sea of angry faces.

"Silence!" he
bellowed.

The noise
died and the officers shifted on their feet. Before, there had been
mild interest; now there was outright fear. Nova frowned. These
people needed to stay strong and focus, or they would all end up
dead.

"You know
we've had budget cuts; you can thank the Confederacy for that,"
Briggles said. "There just isn't enough equipment for everyone. We
have no other choice but to work with what we have."

The gathered
officers continued to grumble, but nodded their heads in
agreement.

"There will
be lights, but we can't plan for everything. If the lecheons take
out the lights then we will have to know how to fight blind," Nova
said once silence had returned to the group.

"How are we
supposed to do that?" Johnson asked amid renewed cries. "Just
suddenly grow a pair of lecheon eyes? I don't know about
you,
hunter,
but
I can't do that."

"We've got
many other senses Johnson, I suggest you learn how to use them.
We're going to be breaking into groups and using these," Nova
gestured to a pile of wooden sticks. "Luckily each training-bot can
see in the dark, so it'll be just like fighting a
lecheon."

The officers
looked at one another. Their expressions were confused, scared, and
doubtful. Nova sighed; she had to learn to fight in the dark just
as much as them. She wasn't going to hold their hands through it
all.

"At first
you'll take it in turns, fighting one at a time," Briggles said,
taking over. "After that four of you will be fighting one training
dummy. You have to try and tune into your other senses or you'll
find yourself killed by the dummy or smashed over the head by one
of your companions."

Nova nodded,
turned to the pile of sticks and hefted one in her hand. Briggles
did the same then they both walked to a far corner of the police
academy's training centre where a training-bot was standing,
currently powered down.

They were
joined by two other officers, including Johnson, while the rest
spread themselves amongst the other bots.

Briggles
grinned at the small group. "I'll go first so you can all have
something to laugh at."

He stepped
towards the robot and glanced around at the other groups. Each
group's selected fighters were standing ready, nervously looking at
their training-bots.

"Lights out,"
Briggles commanded. The room plunged into darkness.

Nova
listened. The room was suddenly filled with cries of pain and
confusion. Curses poured forth and echoed off the bare walls.
Bodies thumped to the ground and wooden sticks swished futilely
through the air. Briggles was panting nearby. He hadn't been
knocked to the ground, so he'd done better than most, but he hadn't
managed to hit the trainer-bot yet either.

She strained
her ears. The trainer-bot was following Briggles's footsteps. He
was stepping sideways but it wasn't fast enough. A part of Nova
wanted to call out, to warn him to duck, but that would have been
against the purpose of the exercise, so she kept quiet. A second
later there was a dull thud and Briggles groaned.

"I think I'm
dead," Briggles coughed.

"I'll take
it," Nova said.

"I don't see
the point in this." Johnson's unmistakeable whine weaved out of the
darkness. "The lecheons are going to have guns, what's the point of
these useless sticks?"

Nova gritted
her teeth. "If you tried to train with guns in the dark now, you'd
all end up killing each other. How about you focus on mastering
this, then maybe I'll trust you with a gun."

She stepped
forward, careful to avoid Briggles's groaning body as he pulled
himself away from the trainer-bot. Nova stopped moving and
listened. The robot moved on wheels which made it relatively easy
to follow, certainly easier than a lecheon stepping on quiet feet.
She hoped that the spotlights would be on long enough to take down
most of the lecheons before things went dark, and that there were
enough officers with night-vision goggles to finish the
rest.

The robot
rolled straight towards her. Nova heard its mechanical arms lifting
up, before the catch release dropped the arm in a sweeping arc,
swinging the wooden stick along with it. She ducked low and the
wooden stick sailed straight over her head. She stood up and swung
with her own weapon, but the robot was already out of reach. Her
stick sailed through thin air and she was left completely
disorientated.

She stopped
moving and tried to slow her panicked breathing. It was hard to
stay calm and focused in the darkness. There was something about
the dark which set off innate alarm bells inside her head. Humans
weren't meant for the dark. Their eyes weren't built for it. Focus
was made even more difficult by the other noises echoing around;
the screams and thuds, the cries of frustration. So far there had
been no sound of victory. What did that mean for their fight
against the lecheons?

There! The
trainer-bot had moved to her right, planning to circle around and
take her by surprise. Its wheels gave it away as they rumbled along
the floor. Nova stepped back and turned to face the oncoming enemy.
She had no idea which way she was facing in relation to the rest of
the room, or where Briggles and the others were standing, she just
hoped they weren't anywhere near the path of her weapon. A swishing
noise alerted her to an incoming blow. Nova only had enough time to
lift her weapon and block the attack. The thwack of wood on wood
echoed in her ears and the force of the blow made her arms vibrate.
The trainer-bots obviously weren't set on easy; they were swinging
to hurt. She made a mental note that they should probably have had
a medical team on standby for this particular training exercise.
She couldn't do anything about it now though.

The
trainer-bot's stick fell away only to return a second later,
swinging from the other direction. Nova lifted her own stick and
blocked the blow once more, only this time she stepped forward
towards the robot. She was within its circle of reach but it would
have a hard time swinging its weapon with any force in the close
quarters. She lifted her stick above her head and brought it
slamming down onto the trainer-bot's head.

DING.

The victory
bell echoed around the room and the robot before her went
temporarily dead. At the noise of the bell the rest of the room
went momentarily silent, until some officers got wacked by their
own trainer-bots and reality was brought crashing back.

Nova stepped
away from the robot towards the sound of breathing which she hoped
was Briggles.

"Excellent
work!" said the Inspector, clapping.

"I'll give it
a go next," said Johnson from somewhere to their right.

The battles
continued. In his second try Briggles managed to wack the
trainer-bot in the chest with his stick. Nova's second round was
short. She didn't waste any time before swinging her weapon and
taking out the trainer-bot. It took four rounds for Johnson and the
other officer to get a victory and two more rounds again before
either of them won a second time.

Around the
room other groups were doing the same. To some, fighting in the
dark came naturally; to others it was a real struggle. Those with
hearing problems quickly learnt that fighting in the dark was not
for them and were replaced by others. After everyone had won at
least one round Nova and Briggles changed the game.

"This time
the trainer-bots have been given guns," Briggles said. "As usual
your shirts will detect if you've been hit. We're going to scatter
obstacles about the room. Your mission is simple.
Survive."

They allowed
a five minute breather while the room was set up and the
trainer-bots reprogrammed. Nova was breathing hard from her fights
with the trainer-bot, but she felt more comfortable in the dark.
Surviving required a delicate mix of controlling your own noise and
listening for others. Her stomach clenched at the thought of facing
a lecheon in the dark. The trainer-bots were nothing in
comparison.

"Whoever
lasts the longest gets a pay rise," Briggles called out. "Let the
game begin."

The lights
blinked out and mayhem erupted throughout the room. Nova dashed
away from the centre of the room and put her back against a wall.
The rest of the room was filled with pandemonium as officers tried
to outmanoeuvre the invisible trainer-bots. A pair collided not far
from Nova and she heard a sickening crunch and they crumpled to the
floor.

Nova crept
over to them in the dark. She felt along the floor until her hand
tapped an ankle.

"Oi, are you
two ok?" she murmured.

They
mumbled.

"Are you okay
or should I call off the game?" Nova asked.

"We're good,
we're good," said the first.

"Yeah I'm
good," said the second. "Just a busted lip, that's all."

Nova nodded
to herself and melted back away from the two. Fake gunfire echoed
through the room and red lights flashed as people were eliminated.
The game progressed and more people were taken out to stand on the
sidelines. The room grew steadily quieter.

Nova felt her
away along the wall, before ducking behind what felt like a plastic
box near the corner of the room. From there she could listen to the
mayhem but was protected from fire on two sides. She listened. A
set of wheels was getting closer, moving between the various
objects, and weaving its way towards her. She crouched low, a hand
on the floor, ready to sprint if she had to.

The wheels
squeaked closer.

How long
before the robot could see her? She suspected that for the moment
the plastic box hid her from sight but it wouldn't be long before
the robot would come around the side.

It was going
towards the left side of the box. Nova crept on silent feet around
the other side, moving gradually so that she reached the right side
just as the robot rolled around to look at where she had been
crouched. The robot moved forward. She continued to creep around.
She suspected that the trainer-bot had some idea she was there,
otherwise why would it keep circling? She moved all the way around
until she was back at her starting place before the robot rolled
off.