feet,
turning to fix her with a level gaze. “ You’re responsible for this.”
“What?” She shook her head, eyes wide. “ No , Corvan. I
didn’t program—”
He didn’t let her finish.
Perhaps she’d programmed the R42 to attack. Perhaps she
hadn’t. At the moment, Corvan didn’t have the luxury of trust where Emylie’s
life was concerned.
He whipped his destabilizer from its holster and stunned her
before she’d even realized it was in his hand. He watched as she dropped to the
floor in a crumpled heap across Mare’ree’s severed torso, eyes rolling back in
her head, limbs limp.
Refusing to acknowledge the numb grief threatening to claim
him, he turned and left his apartment. He had to find Emylie. Now.
* * * * *
“Let me go! Let me go let me go letmego !”
The bio-weapon thrashed in Forty-Two’s hold, small childlike
arms and legs whipping out, smacking against his chest and thighs in stinging
little punches and ineffectual kicks.
He ignored it, moving through Spaceport Mercy’s empty
docking level, heading for UZ Agent Proserpina’s Dragonfly-class vessel.
“ Let me go !” the thing screamed again, its tiny
bunched fist bouncing off his cheek, just below his eye.
He gave it a sharp shake. “Be quiet.”
“Corvan is going to make you dead,” it shouted, twisting and
bucking against his side.
Forty-Two smiled. “Agent Thanatos is more than welcome to
try.”
“Thank you.”
The sound of the deep male voice, emotionless and cold at
once, made Forty-Two spin around. Standing on the passageway behind him, the
musky stink of Agent Proserpina wafting from his flesh in potent waves, was the
towering bouncer from The Steam.
“I see you have finished fucking, Agent Thanatos.”
“Corvan!” the bio-weapon squealed, squirming.
The man tilted his head a little, studying Forty-Two
intently, silver eyes steady and unwavering. “Put the child down.”
“I will put the bio-weapon down in The Wisp . After I
kill you.”
“Very well.”
His arm moved in a blur, so fast even Forty-Two’s bionic
vision failed to track it. A sharp report cracked the air, followed immediately
by explosive heat in his chest and a wailing siren in the air as the
spaceport’s security system activated, slamming shut a thick set of solid blast
doors, cutting the docking bay off from the rest of the spaceport.
Forty-Two staggered backward, bio-dermal layer sizzling into
eroding blisters under Thanatos’ fire. His positronic matrix registered the
painful neo-energy signature of a de-atomizing pulse pistol blast spreading
into his living flesh, and he ground his teeth, redirecting power to his
internal equalizer. He gripped the kicking, squirming bio-weapon under his arm
tighter, crushing it harder to his side to prevent it slipping free.
“ Lemmegolemmegolemmego! ”
Thanatos charged him, pulse pistol leveled on his chest,
dead stare locked on his face. Forty-Two lifted his left arm, skin splitting as
his molecular disruptor burst from his forearm. The destructive weapon
detonated, a thick, blinding bolt of iridescent white cutting the air to sink
into Corvan’s chest.
Or it should have. The man twisted midair, avoiding the
lethal charge and firing off another pulse before Forty-Two could track his
path.
The energy pulse tore into Forty-Two’s side, stripping more
skin from his structure, scorching circuits, wires and hydraulics. He stumbled
to the side, the CPU controlling his equilibrium faltering for a micro-second.
[deploy exo-battle armor]
The command code shot through his core unit, followed
instantly by an alert alarm.
[exo-battle armor offline]
A pulse blast struck his shoulder. Another. He reeled
backward, the sensory receptors in his right side spiking into overload.
He spun, flinging the GU’s bio-weapon from his hip as he did
so, clamping his arm around its tiny torso to pin it to his chest. “Shoot again
and I will crush its thorax.”
The small, sweaty thing squirmed, fingers
turning to fix her with a level gaze. “ You’re responsible for this.”
“What?” She shook her head, eyes wide. “ No , Corvan. I
didn’t program—”
He didn’t let her finish.
Perhaps she’d programmed the R42 to attack. Perhaps she
hadn’t. At the moment, Corvan didn’t have the luxury of trust where Emylie’s
life was concerned.
He whipped his destabilizer from its holster and stunned her
before she’d even realized it was in his hand. He watched as she dropped to the
floor in a crumpled heap across Mare’ree’s severed torso, eyes rolling back in
her head, limbs limp.
Refusing to acknowledge the numb grief threatening to claim
him, he turned and left his apartment. He had to find Emylie. Now.
* * * * *
“Let me go! Let me go let me go letmego !”
The bio-weapon thrashed in Forty-Two’s hold, small childlike
arms and legs whipping out, smacking against his chest and thighs in stinging
little punches and ineffectual kicks.
He ignored it, moving through Spaceport Mercy’s empty
docking level, heading for UZ Agent Proserpina’s Dragonfly-class vessel.
“ Let me go !” the thing screamed again, its tiny
bunched fist bouncing off his cheek, just below his eye.
He gave it a sharp shake. “Be quiet.”
“Corvan is going to make you dead,” it shouted, twisting and
bucking against his side.
Forty-Two smiled. “Agent Thanatos is more than welcome to
try.”
“Thank you.”
The sound of the deep male voice, emotionless and cold at
once, made Forty-Two spin around. Standing on the passageway behind him, the
musky stink of Agent Proserpina wafting from his flesh in potent waves, was the
towering bouncer from The Steam.
“I see you have finished fucking, Agent Thanatos.”
“Corvan!” the bio-weapon squealed, squirming.
The man tilted his head a little, studying Forty-Two
intently, silver eyes steady and unwavering. “Put the child down.”
“I will put the bio-weapon down in The Wisp . After I
kill you.”
“Very well.”
His arm moved in a blur, so fast even Forty-Two’s bionic
vision failed to track it. A sharp report cracked the air, followed immediately
by explosive heat in his chest and a wailing siren in the air as the
spaceport’s security system activated, slamming shut a thick set of solid blast
doors, cutting the docking bay off from the rest of the spaceport.
Forty-Two staggered backward, bio-dermal layer sizzling into
eroding blisters under Thanatos’ fire. His positronic matrix registered the
painful neo-energy signature of a de-atomizing pulse pistol blast spreading
into his living flesh, and he ground his teeth, redirecting power to his
internal equalizer. He gripped the kicking, squirming bio-weapon under his arm
tighter, crushing it harder to his side to prevent it slipping free.
“ Lemmegolemmegolemmego! ”
Thanatos charged him, pulse pistol leveled on his chest,
dead stare locked on his face. Forty-Two lifted his left arm, skin splitting as
his molecular disruptor burst from his forearm. The destructive weapon
detonated, a thick, blinding bolt of iridescent white cutting the air to sink
into Corvan’s chest.
Or it should have. The man twisted midair, avoiding the
lethal charge and firing off another pulse before Forty-Two could track his
path.
The energy pulse tore into Forty-Two’s side, stripping more
skin from his structure, scorching circuits, wires and hydraulics. He stumbled
to the side, the CPU controlling his equilibrium faltering for a micro-second.
[deploy exo-battle armor]
The command code shot through his core unit, followed
instantly by an alert alarm.
[exo-battle armor offline]
A pulse blast struck his shoulder. Another. He reeled
backward, the sensory receptors in his right side spiking into overload.
He spun, flinging the GU’s bio-weapon from his hip as he did
so, clamping his arm around its tiny torso to pin it to his chest. “Shoot again
and I will crush its thorax.”
The small, sweaty thing squirmed, fingers
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