Just as K'rth and Nix vanished from sight, noise came across my mike that sent chills up my spine. I caught snips of yelling and the crack of gunfire, like someone on our squad had their mike open. Whatever had happening was going down quickly and I heard Angus yell a curse.
"FUCK! WHERE ARE YOU GO-AHHH!"
"Hello?" I asked, moving away from Obie and trying to hear. There was more shooting and the sound of rounds hitting near the mike, but I couldn't tell who's I was listening too. That scared me and I yelled loud enough into the mike that Obie winced.
"ANGUS! GAEL! WHAT IS HAPPENING?"
More gunfire, but again no one answered. I got an idea and stormed back into the nexus to find the Ebon. Without thinking, I stomped one of the Interceptors just as K'rth had. With a look of horror, Theopolus tried to run past me and I cornered him. With my hand in his hair, I pulled him towards the wall of screens.
"ANGUS! GAEL! ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"
"Son of a bitch," I cursed and jerked the Ebon's hair. He squealed and I pointed at the screens. "SHOW ME WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE REST OF THE SQUAD NOW!"
He shuddered and tried to stammer out some sort of objection that sounded like "I don't know where they are," but I could barely hear him. I was caught up in the sounds of what was probably my friends dying and reacted badly. Pulling my Blitzer, I snapped back the hammer and shoved it into his face.
"NOW!" I yelled and he burst out in tears. If he hadn't started working immediately, I probably would have shot him on the spot.
The screens in front of me flexed and blinked, looking like the eyes of someone who just woke up. Gradually several of the less damaged ones came to life again and began flickering over images of corridors and rooms. When I saw something flash past on one of them, I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pointed.
"There! Show me that one again."
Whimpering, he complied and I saw a combat in a hall. The walls were chopped up and I knew we had the right area when someone leaned around a corner and fire off a blast of Ebb. I thought it looked like Casper and that would be close enough to finding the rest.
"Okay, where is it?" I asked. When he didn't answer I slapped him at the back of the head. "WHERE IS IT?"
"I-I-it's I-I-in th-th-th-thuh" he started, but I didn't have time for it.
"Fine!" I said as I swung him away from the wall. "You're going to lead us there!"
"What?" he asked, suddenly able to enunciate again. There was a hint of bravery in his voice, probably because he realized I needed him and I stepped on that notion pretty quickly.
"You'll lead us there or I'll shoot you now," I answered. "Understand?"
He nodded his head and gulped, fully aware that I wasn't kidding and stepped around the two prone Interceptors. When Obie fell in behind, I concentrated on my mike again.
"GAEL, ANGUS? ANYONE?"
No answer again and I pushed the Ebon in front of me. The Waster and McNeil may have just gotten two of the most important people in my life killed and panic was rising in my throat. That was when I heard a crackle across the mike like someone was seating it and my heart skipped a beat.
"Yes?" a voice said, but I didn't recognize it. It sounded like the person was smiling.
"Who is this?" I demanded and shoved the Ebon forward. The sound of Obie's breath was right behind me again, but I was too distracted to care if I got run over or not.
"Who's asking?" came the smartass reply.
I stopped so suddenly that I nearly pulled the Ebon off his feet in mid stride and Obie halted next to me. Coldness washed up my legs and my throat tightened as I accepted the reality of what I was hearing. The Dark Night team had one of our mikes and that meant someone I cared about was probably dead.
"The operative that is going to put your fucking head on a stick."
"Uh-huh," came the voice again and laughter. "Why did you run away Sloperative? I don't remember that 'run away screaming' tactic when I was at Meny."
"Bayer," I said over the mike. It was either him or one of the other turncoats he had working for him. I waved Theopolus forward and he started moving again. Meanwhile, I wondered who had run away.
"In the flesh," he answered, seeming a little please that I knew who he was. "So what pathetic SLA-trained waste am I talking to anyway?"
"Alex Cole."
"Cole, wow, that's a name from the past," he said again, enjoying it. "Been a long time. How's it hangin?"
"I'm going to kill you," I answered as I ripped the mike free of my collar. I didn't want to that voice again until he was lying at my feet screaming to hold his innards in.
The growing anger had burned away the numbness and I shoved the Ebon forward hard enough that he stumbled and fell on his knees. Pulling him back up, I pushed him again and he staggered forward to grab a wall. I couldn't think of anything except the faces of my friends and when he spun back on me, I aimed the handgun at his face. Streams of tears trailed down his face, but I was beyond sympathy for anyone else.
"KEEP GOING!" I yelled and put enough pressure on the trigger that the hammer shifted. That was when Obie reached over my shoulder and pushed my arm down.
"Be Kahm," he said and I shook my head. I wasn't sure if he had said "Become" or "Be Calm," and shrugged as I turned to look up at him. The moment my back was turned, the Ebon let out a shriek and took off.
I might have growled as I ran after him and with his fear lending proverbial wings to his feet, I could barely keep him in sight as he dodged around corners. At least I remembered to lower the hammer and tuck the Blitzer away before I shot myself by accident. I almost pulled my MAC instead, but that wouldn't have been much safer.
Three sharp turns later, the corridor opened into a long downward slope and I pounded the floor to close the distance. He had a good lead on me, but my endurance and training was letting me close the distance. As I gained, he kept glancing over his shoulder at the crazy human and his eyes looked as big as my fists. When I got within about fifteen feet or so, he touched the wall and the edges of the corridor snapped in behind him like an iris. The bastard had sealed the corridor behind him.
I yelled in anger again and slowed down to kick the door in frustration. Surprisingly, it flinched and that encouraged me because that meant it could be broken down. I looked back at Obie and waved him in.
"Take it down!" I said and he nodded, backing up like he was about to tackle another fire door. With a snarl, he lowered his head and started forward, the floor shaking with the weight of his steps. I backed up and squinted as I waited for the usual impact, neither of us expected what happened next.
Instead of it being a solid, the portal stretched and tore like it was made of leather, barely slowing him down. There was a loud boom as he hit the far wall, followed by another when he fell back. He had nearly knocked himself out and the Ebon was staring dumbfounded just out of arm's reach.
"C'mere you son of a bitch!" I snapped as I dove through the hole and leapt over the prone Chagrin. Theo spun sideways and took off again with so much speed that that I wondered if I was still chasing the same Ebon. Ahead, the long corridor ended in a spider web of intersections and that meant he was nearly home free. I'd never get him if he left this hall, so I pushed myself into a sprint. With my lungs aching with the effort, my fingers brushed his shoulder but somehow he managed to pull away again. He was moving fast enough to put Nix to shame and I got desperate. Lunging forward, I managed to get my hand on him and hooked my fingers into his collar and hair. Coming to a stop, he screamed and tilted backwards to trot next to me.
"End of the line," I snarled as I tossed him forward into the bulkhead in front of us. I wanted to kick the hell out of him so badly I could taste it, but my anger was giving way to reason. He was just scared and didn't deserve to have the hell knocked out of him. Wincing, I convinced myself that the aggression should be saved for the ones who killed my friends and the ones who got them killed.
As fate would have it, one of them just happened to trot up to me.
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