Chapter 45

Jack Henderson enjoyed working at the school, even on weekends. Truth be told, he liked it more when the students were there, their youthful enthusiasm making him feel younger. The long holiday break was pretty boring, the only highlight being when he chatted to the Guards from the rooftop Post or saw the kids from that special Project they ran up there.

This morning he was doing his usual patrol of the basement levels, collectively known by the Security Team as the Dungeon. It was even quieter and lonelier down here than in the rest of the school, since only he was assigned to check this level.

Which is why he was surprised to see the new guy, Marrick, coming the other way from the direction of the school’s computer stacks. The other guard saw him, gave a little double take, then smiled easily at the older man.

“Hey Henderson, I didn’t know you were on patrol down here as well” the man said calmly. “You gave me quite a scare. I heard the Dungeon is supposed to be haunted by some old Janitor guy”

“Couldn’t say about that” Henderson replied, laying his right hand nonchalantly on the stun baton handle that was holstered at his hip. “The previous Head Janitor used to live down here the kids say. Apparently they called him Creepy Bob and he was quite a character”

“Is that so” Marrick replied evenly. “Well, I need to finish my rounds so I’ll catch you later” The man went to step past him but Henderson moved casually to block the way.

“No rush” he assured the younger guard. “It’s quite laid back when the kids aren’t in school, so let’s chat for a bit. You’re the new guy so I wanted to know a little bit about you”

“Oh, not much to tell” Marrick answered. “But can we talk another time? I’ve got someone I need to catch up with really urgently”

“They can wait” Henderson told him. “Anyway, I am sure I used to see you at the Brackenridge Secure offices. You were in the Strike Team, weren’t you?”

“What? Oh yeah, but I decided that I wanted to move to this job. The pay and conditions are much better”

“Really?” wondered Henderson with feigned surprise. “The Strike Team earned three times what we make in this job. Plus we have to work weekends and nights”

“Look Henderson, we both work for the Brackenridge’s. Just get out of my way and let me finish my job” he snarled.

“No, I don’t think so” Henderson answered. “I work for the School Board and my boss is Fiona Smith”

He drew his stun baton and regarded the new guy with slitted eyes.

“So why are you sneaking around down here, Marrick?” he demanded.

Marrick’s eyes seemed to blink a solid black, startling Henderson and giving the other man time to draw a short bladed fighting knife from his belt. The man lunged forwards with a powerful thrust, much faster than Henderson had expected.

He parried the blade to the side, his stun baton sending out a series of fat blue sparks as the two weapons crossed. Henderson swung his baton at Marrick’s head, forcing the younger man to duck low.

“Getting old there, Henderson” chided Marrick and leaped nimbly forwards to slash his blade across the stomach of the older guard. He managed to turn at the last second, the razor edged knife parting his uniform with ease and leaving a bloody gash on his hip.

“Not that old, punk!” Henderson yelled and drove the butt of his baton onto the other man’s skull. It hit with a meaty thunk and Marrick collapsed to his knees. Henderson staggered back, laying his left hand across the bleeding wound.

“Base, this is Henderson” he called on his comms headset. “Base, do you copy?” All he got was silence. “Goddamned basement blocking the signal again” he muttered. He turned to look back at the way he had come, thinking of the steps he needed to climb until he reached the ground level.

He sensed Marrick moving, a little too late to stop him. The blade drove deep into his stomach, barely hurting at all. It was like he was being punched, but Henderson had spent twenty years on the job and seen lots of knife wounds. He knew this was bad.

Marrick pulled the knife out and looked ready to stab him again. Henderson felt warmth running down his waist and legs, precious life blood leaving his body.

“You are too old, Henderson” gloated the other man. He opened his mouth in a big grin so Henderson cocked his arm back and rammed the stun baton right in there. Marrick moaned and danced as the voltage coursed through his body, his teeth locking onto the baton as his jaw muscles seized. Henderson had set the controls for continuous discharge and the batteries kept sending voltage into the target without stopping.

Henderson let the baton go, watching as Marrick fell writhing to the concrete floor.

“You can keep the baton, new guy” he said and then turned towards the exit. His feet dragged as he walked, using one arm to hold his stomach and the other to brace himself against the tunnel wall.

It felt like an eternity and as he walked he wondered if his wife Ming had taken their kids to the park yet. They loved visiting the parks, especially when their dad came along too. He had promised them they could all go somewhere special on Sunday, since he had that day off.

He had climbed the stairs while he thought about his wife and kids. It was the love he had for them that kept him walking, despite the trail of blood he left smeared behind him. He opened the door to the ground floor lobby and staggered into the arms of a female dressed in the grey uniform of Brackenridge Secure.

“Whoa, is that you Henderson?” asked the woman. He looked at her with pain dimmed eyes and recognised her from his many years at the same security company.

“Konis?” he mumbled. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for my partner” she answered, holding him up with her Enhanced metal arm. “But I am guessing he won’t be coming, will he?”

She looked into his eyes and they blinked pitch black.

Carmody had spent the Saturday morning playing games with her brother Vance at the local park, working off the big breakfast their dad had cooked them. It also allowed their mum a chance to sleep in without the raucous noise two children could make when confined into one small apartment.

Most of the games had involved Carmody hitting a cricket ball across the big grassed space and Vance running madly in pursuit. She had tried to teach him how to swing her new bat as well while she threw the ball, but he missed most shots and spent his time chasing the errant ball anyway.

They were both suitably tired from their exercise and were trudging the three blocks home, Vance trailing behind his longer-legged sister. Like they always did the siblings were taking a shortcut through a service alley that ran behind some big residential towers. It was that in-between time when all the early morning joggers and dog walkers had already gone home and the lunch crowd had not yet ventured out, so they were the only ones there.

A drone buzzed into sight from around a corner, about ten meters up in the air, its sensor eyes looking over the two children. Ever since the Halloween attack, Carmody took more notice of the many drones that roamed the City and she looked at this one speculatively.

It could be a security remote for one of the towers that overlooked this alley or it might be a private drone, peeping on the neighbours. Carmody paused and took her new bat from her shoulder and held it in her right hand, twirling it thoughtfully.

“What’s up, Sis?” Vance asked her when he caught up to his sister. He glanced up at the hovering drone and immediately discounted it with the blithe innocence of the young. “Just a drone, Sis” he added. “It’s not one of them killer ones so put the bat away”

“Maybe” Carmody replied but she kept the bat in hand as she followed her brother.

They were approaching the corner to the connecting alley when two men stepped out from concealment. Both were tall, wearing long heavy coats and with black visors covering their faces. Their hands were gloved but empty, yet Carmody felt the menace coming from the pair.

“Back this way Vance!” she said and grabbed his hand, turning them back the way they had come. Another masked man appeared at the end of alley, flanked by two metallic hounds. Carmody stopped for a moment in shock, then quickly scanned the alley sides for any exits.

There were solid walls along both sides, with a service gate about halfway between the siblings and the end of the alleyway. Carmody remembered it from previous journeys along the alley as being a sturdy metal mesh barrier, not something that could be easily opened.

Not unless they were a Kinetic Enhancer like her!

“Okay, Vance, when I say run we are going to head to that gate” she told him quietly. “Do you see it?”

“Yeah” Vance nodded his head. “But won’t it be locked?”

“Not to me” she assured him. “Right, let’s go!” She took off running and Vance joined her, both of them sprinting hard down the alley. The man facing them started running too and his robot hounds leaped into action, outpacing him and rushing to intercept the children.

Carmody knew the hounds would reach them before they got to the gate, so she angled to the middle of the paved alley. As she expected the two hounds focussed on her, ignoring her little brother.

“Keep going!” she shouted to Vance as the first hound reached her. It leaped upwards, big metal jaws opening as it tried to latch onto her arm. Carmody pivoted on her leading leg at the last instant, the hound missing her forearm by scant centimeters. Excalibur swung in a broad arc as she rotated and hit the mechanical on its hindquarters.

She had channelled her power into the bat and the metal machine gave an electronic squeal as its rear half shattered, the front section propelled like a cannonball at the two other men following her and Vance.

The flailing front torso and head of the robot thumped into the leading man and bowled him over. Carmody had time for a quick grin of triumph before a warning shout from Vance alerted her to the danger.

She instinctively ducked, letting the second mechanical sail harmlessly over her head. Its claws screeched on the tarmac as it landed and she was sure it would be on her in seconds. Up ahead she could see Vance was at the gate but the third man was closing in fast.

“Vance, throw me the cricket ball!” she yelled. It only took a second then Vance understood and drew the hard red ball from his pocket. He was a far better bowler than batsman and he tossed her a perfect pitch. The man was nearly on top of him when Excalibur connected with the cricket ball.

Her aim was perfect and her driving blow from the bat sent the ball right into his visor. The man flipped over backwards and crashed to the hard ground. Carmody ran up to her brother and checked the security gate. As she remembered, it was an open mesh and beyond that was a service corridor leading into the lower level of the tower.

Carmody had raised Excalibur to bust the barrier down when the second hound rushed up to her and snagged her right arm. The metal jaws clamped over her forearm, drawing blood and making her scream and drop Excalibur to the ground. Vance screamed too, his face a mask of terror.

“Okay you brats, time to pay for what you did” snarled one of the men, bulkier than the other two. All three had gathered to stand in a loose ring around the two children, glaring down at them through the concealing visors. Two of the men were scuffed and moving stiffly, so she had hurt them a little it seemed.

Carmody bit back her tears as the mechanical hound gripped her arm. It had lacerated the outer skin but so far it had not bitten any deeper. Vance huddled at her side, tears welling from his own eyes.

“Let my little brother go first” Carmody demanded, determined to show no fear in front of these faceless attackers.

“Nope” said the first one that had spoken. “We’re gonna bust him up a little first, just so you’ll know what’s coming”

“Excuse me gentlemen, but you seem to have assaulted my girlfriend” called out a young girl’s voice. The three men looked around and saw a slender girl with long black pigtails watching from one end of the alley. She was dressed in a knee length dress that buttoned up the front, white lace collar and cuffs at her neck and throat. Her hands were empty, held down at her sides.

“Hey, it’s a Halloween doll come to life” joked one of the men, the same one Carmody had hit with the flying hound. He turned to face the girl and drew a long stun baton from under his coat. “You might want to run away while you still have the chance” he added menacingly.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you men” the girl responded and lifted her hands in front of her. The man yelled and charged at her, his baton swinging in vicious arcs.

Angelina Brackenridge made a grabbing gesture with her hands and the running man suddenly stopped in his tracks. The girl raised her hands and the suddenly frightened man was lifted into the air, held by invisible energies.

Then she flung her hands sideways and he slammed violently into the unyielding wall of the tower sides. There was a loud wet impact and he fell limp, suspended like a squashed bug against the concrete wall.

Angelina lowered her hands and the body dropped with a squelch to the alley surface, not moving at all.

“Who’s next?” she demanded angrily.

“Killer, go get her!” commanded the bulky man and the mechanical hound released Carmody’s arm. It bounded over a terrified Vance then ran at machine speed towards Angelina. At the same time, the big guy grabbed Carmody and dragged the girl to her feet.

“Let’s go” he snapped to his companion and the two of them turned to go in the other direction, dragging a wounded Carmody with them. The pain from her injured arm made it hard for her to think but she was wracking her brain on how to get out of this.

Her abductor yelled in pain when a hard whacking noise came from his back. They all turned to see Vance drawing Excalibur Mk Two back for another wild swing at the man.

“You little snot!” the guy shouted angrily and went to kick the boy.

“Touch the kid and I’ll kill you” a cold, commanding voice uttered from close by. The man lowered his raised leg and they all stared at a tall, well built man in an expensive tailor made suit. He was unarmed and looked about fifty years of age, though well kept and obviously fit.

“You think so, tough guy” said the leader, the bulky one holding Carmody. He drew a short barrelled pistol from inside his coat and waved it at the new arrival. “How about you scram or you’ll get the same treatment my hound is giving that other kid”

There was a clatter of broken metal and plastic as the second mechanical hound was lifted over their heads and dropped at the leader’s feet.

“Do you mean that hound?” asked Angelina as she walked up to the group. “You may need to get some repairs done first”

“You okay there, Angelina?” asked her father, Frank Brackenridge, from his side of the group.

“All good, dad” she answered. “Their mechanicals aren’t even as good as the ones we use at our warehouses”

The two attackers were getting worried now. Carmody felt the pistol jammed against her head as the men backed away to the alley wall, holding her in front of them like a shield.

“Back off now or I shoot the kid!” the leader spat angrily. He had one hand locked around Carmody’s body and the other was holding the gun tightly to her skull. Angelina stood in front of the scene, her father at her side. Vance hung back, still holding Excalibur, uncertain what to do.

Angelina met Carmody’s eyes and a moment of understanding passed between them.

“A real master of an Ability knows its power is in the small things we can do” Angelina said to her best friend and made a pinching gesture with her right hand.

Carmody stomped her foot onto the tough boots her captor wore, focussing her power into her heel. Her soft soled running shoes slammed down like a sledgehammer, crushing the man’s foot. He screamed and tried to pull the trigger on his pistol but it wouldn’t move, like it was held in a vice. She slipped out of his grip and rushed to Angelina’s side.

“Thanks. Angelina!” she breathed out, cradling her injured arm. They looked at the two men and she asked “So what are we going to do with them?”

Angelina moved her hands and the leader found his hand slowly and unstoppably moving to place his own gun against the side of his head. He whimpered in sudden fear and his partner looked terrified too.

“Now we ask some questions” Angelina said calmly. “And we had better get some good answers”

=====

“How did you know where I was?” Carmody asked Angelina as her father drove the big electric sedan. Vance was in the front seat next to Mr Brackenridge while Angelina wrapped a bandage around Carmody’s arm in the rear seats.

“Well, we couldn’t get hold of you on your phone so dad called your parents at home. They told us where you were”

“Oh, I see” Carmody responded. “My phone had a dead battery so I left it behind. It was lucky you found us when you did, so thanks for that”

Angelina grinned at her friend as she tied off the bandage.

“We would have found you sooner if you two hadn’t taken that back-alley shortcut!” she gently reprimanded her.

“Yeah” agreed Carmody. “So Eric called to warn you about the attacks?”

“Uh-huh” Angelina agreed. “He wants all of us to meet at the Fortress for a big meeting. Dad is going to fly us there in our private Helijet. It should be waiting for us on the penthouse landing pad”

Carmody was going to say more and felt really embarrassed. She flushed a bright red and turned her head away from the other girl.

“What’s the matter Carmody?” Angelina asked when she noticed her friend’s strange reaction. “Are you worried about those thugs? Don’t be, our Security people will take them in for more detailed interrogation. We got what we needed from them for now”

“No, it wasn’t that I wanted to talk about” she mumbled. “It was something you said”

“What was that?” Angelina asked curiously.

Carmody swallowed nervously and looked Angelina in the eyes.

“You called me your girlfriend!”

“Oh!” Angelina said with surprise. “I thought that was obvious”