They nodded and took her out as Topa closed the drawer to his desk that held the gun. He stood, walked to a wall safe, and started to unlock it when he heard the door opened.
"Now what is it?" Topa asked, irritated as he turned toward the front.
Kim entered, locked the door, removed her knit mask, and then stated, "I usually don't let anyone see me." She knew the Mark didn't know the reason for her arrival, but he soon would, and she took a bit of wicked pleasure out of that fact. Kim told him, "But you're a special case."
"I'm going to have to do something about my security." His expression changed as he looked over the beautiful blonde and stated, "I suppose you're also one of Preacher's friends." He moved back to the side of his desk and pulled out his chair but didn't sit as he continued, "Perhaps you're a lady of the evening who can't live without her daily confessions?"
She sneered, moving to the middle of the office as she ordered him, "Keep your hands where I can see them. I don't need you tripping any silent alarm, and as for my profession..." Kim threw a business card on his mahogany desk as she stated, "This should answer that."
Topa glanced down at it and then questioned, "What's this? A firebird?" He recognized the emblem and sat in his chair as if someone had shoved him down in it. "No... You can't be." He peered up and panicked. "Puck! You're the Phoenix?!" He stood, searching for a place to run. "You're a Closer! Don't kill me! I'll pay you anything! I can give you credits or–" Topa motioned to his safe. "–I have cash."
"Hades... You really disgust me. Why is it I always hear the same old thing from you Marks? Do you really think you can buy off a Closer? Well, you can't." She cleared her throat and then stated, "Samuel R. Topa, the Valhalla Corporation has decided they no longer want to do business with you. They're tired of losing their shipments of Sunna Snapps, so under the Life Closer Clause of your contract with Valhalla, I am authorized by the Assassin's League to terminate your life."
"But why kill me?"
"I'm only guessing, but it sounds like the narcotic Sunna Snapps hasn't been approved for use, but you're selling it anyway for the corporation. A kind of clinical street trial, but the participants don't know they're guinea pigs. You messed up when you lost a few of the shipments," Kim replied as she aimed. "The Valhalla Corporation is now tying up loose ends and using the pretense of your contract to do it." She shot twice and smoke rolled from the silencer, and with no emotion, she added, "You know... just business."
Gray matter splattered the wall as Topa fell back in his chair and blankly stared at the ceiling.
"For once, someone got what they deserved," she muttered. "For Ares' sake! To think you had a preacher killed and used an Illicit Closer to do the job. Did you really think the Assassins Guild wouldn't find out?" She glanced over the black and white photos on his wall. "I know people like us are going to Tartarus, but you had to provoke whatever god you believe in to send you there a little early."
Kim pulled the knit mask back on and headed out the front door. She wanted to leave the estate as soon as possible and forget about this horrible week.
Chapter Nine
The Un-Men Arrive
Points of interest...
Corporations had to develop alternatives for those addicted to nicotine since tobacco plants were nearly wiped out the first few months after the Dry Clouds appeared. The first year of the Dry Clouds (Zero Year), tobacco farms were started on the Light Side of the planet. Twenty-eight years ago, the Corporate Senate decided that crops planted on the Light Side had to produce food, so NicPhake and other synthetics were created. The idea was to wean people off of smoking all together. The synthetic tobacco proved to be as addictive, and the secondhand smoke from NicPhake caused blindness in some infants. NicPhake was then regulated and could only be acquired with a prescription.
10:12 A.M...
Four black Chrysler 3000s drove across the road leading to Topa's estate. The human drivers parked, turned the headlights off, plunging the area back into darkness, and then the passenger and the two back doors opened. Three Un-Men got out of each car, and the vehicles rocked back and forth as the Un-Men exited. They moved to the back of their vehicles as the drivers popped the trunks, and an Un-Man of each group removed Uzis from the back and armed their brethren, and once they were armed, their Input Sensor blinked three times as they received their orders from the Factory.
They uttered, "Setting programming to Infiltration Mode. Eliminate any obstructions to primary Seek and Destroy Program."
The dozen Un-Men gathered in front of the lead vehicle and looked to the north gate that was about a hundred feet down the wall from them. They synchronized to determined the best entry point and relayed their findings to the Factory.
Five armed men stood guard within the gate. The guards noticed them when they pulled up and readied themselves to engage the armed intruders, and if they had to, the men would shoot on sight.
In unison, the Un-Men nodded their understanding of the Factory's orders. They slung the Uzi over their shoulder and started for the wall directly in front of them as the drivers drove the vehicles away. The Un-Men climbed over the fifteen foot wall by stabbing their fingers into the brick. Each thrust of a hand into the mortar and clay sounded like a boot crunching across the snow; it sounded like an army marching across the white powder as they all scaled the wall.
"The intruders climbed over!" a man at the gate yelled.
"Quick, radio in backup!" another man yelled through his WM-B.
The five guards opened fire on the intruders, and bullets riddled the dozen bodies, filling their business suits with holes. The Un-Men remained standing, staring ahead. The guards ceased fire and glanced at one another, seeing that the intruders were still alive.
The Un-Men turned their heads in an eerily co-occurrence and looked to the guards.
"Obstacle encountered," they stated as they assessed the obstruction.
Two of them lifted their Uzi, aimed, and shot the men, and the men's bodies jerked as the wave of bullets bombarded them. The Un-Men ceased, and the men collapsed to the ground. The two Un-Men scanned the bodies and determined the men's life signs had ceased.
"Obstacle eliminated," a Team Leader stated. "Setting programming to Seek and Destroy. We will track down Pandora and eliminate her."
They headed into the heart of the estate in four groups of three as they all stated, "Pandora will not escape us this time."
Earlier at Topa's house...
The two henchmen shoved Kat down the stairs of the cellar and followed after her as the wooden steps creaked with their weight, and once they reached the bottom, one of the men frisked her. He took the music box, business card, and the note from her pant's pocket and set them on a table. He laid the white book and her gun there after he had ejected the gun's magazine and cleared the weapon's chamber. The other henchman motioned with his gun to a chair for her to sit, and she complied. Racks of wine filled the cool dusty room, and a rat scurried across the concrete floor in the back.
One of the henchmen grabbed her chin, lifted it up, examined her face, and said, "You aren't much to look at, are ya?"
She didn't respond, giving up. Kat conceded that this was her fate for not killing Topa. She had him in her sights, and she couldn't pull the trigger. Preacher might not want her to take revenge, but she felt like it was her duty, and she shouldn't have listened to her heart.
The henchman released her chin and joined the other man at the square table. They both removed their WM-B and breathed in the room's filtered air.
Kat regretfully wiped her hands over her face, remembering Preacher, and the more she thought about him, the more she thought about how she'd failed to do what she had come to do.
"What do you think Topa will do to her, Muggs?" one of the henchmen asked.
"Don't know," the other replied as he shrugged. "Slap her around I guess. What does he usually do with women?"
The one
named Warner picked up the music box, opened it, and Unfinished Melody played as Kat relaxed in the chair and her eyelids drooped. Her sorrow and pain vanished with the melody as it lulled her into an oblivious euphoria. Nothing mattered when she existed in this state, not even the death of Preacher.
"Hey, she's falling asleep." Muggs stood, kicked her chair, and ordered, "Stay awake!" He glanced at the book and added, "Maybe use this time to pray or don't you know you're going to die?"
Entranced by the melody, she ignored Muggs and listened as if she was a youngster and the music box was the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and she would happily follow the bewitching music and vanish from existence. Kat stayed in this euphoric state until Warner closed the lid, ending the melody.
After he did, Warner examined the music box more closely and stated, "This ain't no ordinary trinket. It's electronic or something."
"You could pawn it at least," Muggs said. "It is silver."
With the drug-like music gone, her pain and sorrow rushed back like a runaway locomotive. Feeling nothing would be better than this heart pang, so Kat pleaded, "Could you please let the melody play?"
"Shut up! You don't get a final request," Warner told her, then propped his feet on the table, and started rolling a cigarette with synthetic tobacco.
Muggs looked around the cellar as he said, "I've heard a couple of stories of people who've been taken down here. Isn't there another entrance to this place? One that comes up in the middle of the estate? I've heard..."
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
Kat ignored the men as they talked, and she focused on the cellar door like a prowling tigress about to pounce. Ultra-Epi coursed through her blood as the e-field of her body altered, and her ocular organs sparked with blue voltage, and in a calm voice, she said, "They're here."
Warner lit the cigarette and blew white-pink smoke from the side of his mouth. He took another drag of NicPhake as he ignored her warning. He didn't even look at her.
"Who's here?" Muggs asked, turned to face her, and gaped, seeing her eyes. He stood, nearly knocking his chair over as he inquired, "Are you some sort of creature from the underworld?"
"They're here," Kat repeated. She didn't care if the Un-Men found her or not.
Warner tightened his jaw, not hearing his partner's comment, and yelled at her, "Didn't I tell you to shut the puck up?" He stood and lifted his hand to strike her as white-pink ashes dropped from the cigarette, and then he paused and asked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"
"There are twelve intruders at the north gate!" a man yelled over the intercom of their WM-Bs. "Hades! They've scaled the wall and are inside!"
Warner picked up his mask and listened.
The man on the other end breathed hard as if he ran. "We're engaging them." Weapons fire filled the airwaves. "They must be wearing armor. We're switching to..." There was a pause. "Two of them are turning toward us and have lifted their weapons! Take cover!"
The rapid tat-tat of Uzis drowned out the man's screams.
Warner turned to his partner and ordered him, "Quick get on the radio and see what Topa wants us to do."
"Right, I'm on it." He put his WM-B on and activated the intercom. "Boss, this is Muggs." There was no reply. "Boss, this is Muggs." There was still no response. "Can anyone hear me?" Only dead air returned his call, so he turned to Warner and questioned, "Now what?"
Warner thought for a moment and said, "You stay with the woman. I'm going to head to the main house and see..."
Gunfire erupted above ground, drawing their attention.
Muggs looked up to the cellar's small window and uttered, "It's outside the house!"
"These intruders move fast," Warner said. "We need to get out of here!"
The door to the cellar burst open, and three Un-Men started down the stairs, aiming their Uzis.
"Target acquired," they stated in their monotone voices. "Will now terminate Pandora."
"Hades!" Muggs cursed as he and Warner drew their guns.
The men opened fire, and the Un-Men continued down the steps unhindered by the metal barrage.
"Puck! Why won't they die?!" Warner yelled. "What are they?"
Kat ran to the table, grabbed her things, and then turned the table over. She ducked behind it and glanced at Warner and Muggs, knowing they were doomed, and at that point, she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was that this would give her a second chance at Topa.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Muggs asked as he turned to her, and a bullet struck his shoulder, knocking him back.
Warner grabbed him, pulled him behind some crates, and continued firing at the three intruders as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Die already, you puckers!!"
Muggs leaned on the crate to support himself and returned fire.
Kat dashed for the rear of the room as bullets sprayed by her, and in the back, she found a door. She turned the knob, but it was locked, so she stood back, fired at the old lock, and kicked in the door. She sprinted down a tunnel, hearing the two men die as the Un-Men overran their position. It didn't matter to her if the men died as hatred filled her heart; she believed they got what they deserved. Kat followed the tunnel to a ladder with bloodlust fueling her manic dash, and she climbed to the surface where a manhole opened into a group of apple trees. No Un-Men or guards battled in the immediate area, so she took the time to check over her weapon. Her heart slowed since the danger was gone for the moment, and the blue Ult L-E faded as the Ultra-Epi dissipated in her blood.
A crow cawing from the branch of an apple tree drew her attention. Red fruit littered the branches, and her face softened from that of a warrior in the rages of battle to a woman in mourning. Preacher loved apples; he had eaten one almost everyday. She closed her eyes and held the bloodied book to her chest. Topa would die this time, and nothing would stop her, so Kat rushed toward his office, determined to finish him off no matter what grave sin she had to commit to do so.
Smoke from gunfire and small explosions lingered in the air as she hurried by several bodies and one Un-Man they managed to disable. Electrical snaps flew from several holes in its head. The humans' red blood and the Un-Man's black oil mixed in a small pool, and Kat felt a smidgen of guilt. Those men wouldn't be dead if the Un-Men weren't hunting her, but the guilt left her as hatred returned, drowning the small voice that uttered save them. She ducked behind a hedge as four men rushed past her.
Fright paled their faces as one shouted orders, "We have to pull back from the gates and meet at the armory. We need heavy artillery."
The group of men hurried on. The thought of helping them against the unstoppable monsters never even crossed her mind, too much animosity clouded her thoughts. Kat stepped from the hedge, turned to continue to Topa's office, but paused, narrowing her eyes. Another obstacle popped up to block her revenge.
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
Ultra-Epi coursed through her blood as her eyes produced a cerulean lambency. There were two Un-Men nearing her position. Fear didn't fill her heart but rage as the warrior's side of her returned, and she gripped the gun ready to eliminate all who stood in her way as an Un-Man stepped from the side of a building to her left and another stepped from a cluster of trees on her right. Kat had encountered five different models of Un-Men over the past year. The Rogue they discontinued; it was a Type Four. The one to her left was a Type Two; it was a six foot six thin model with dark brown skin and a South African accent. The other one was a Type Five; it was a six foot large muscular model with a Russian accent.
"Target acquired. I and another unit have cornered the Pandora Project," the dark skinned Type Two or T-2 relayed over its I-Link.
"Commencing attack," the T-5 stated.
Without a second thought, Kat raised her gun and fired once to her left and once to her right. She was going to kill Topa. The Un-Men fell to the ground and lay still as downed trees as Kat rushed on. She wasn't going to let anyone or anything get in her w
ay.
Chapter Ten
Caught In A Cross Fire
Earlier...
At the northwestern corner of Topa's estate, Kim pulled her black knapsack from the pile of leaves she had hid it in, threw the grappling hook over the wall, and climbed the cord to the top. She spotted four cars parked by the north gate with twelve men getting out who carried Uzis. She dropped back down into the estate.
"Great, just great!" she muttered to herself. "Who are those guys?"
She whipped up on the rope, forcing the grappling hook to fall down, and then she stowed it in the knapsack. Gunfire erupted at the north gate as Kim raced for the center of the estate; she would try to go over the south wall. Gunfire continued as Topa's men shouted, some in panic and some as their last cry. Kim ducked into a tool shed before six men rushed past her. Weedwackers, a lawnmower, shelves, axes, and other lawn tools filled the outbuilding. She waited in the dark structure till she heard the men move on into the distance, and then she left quietly. A man came running up from the other direction.
"I've spotted an intruder," he shouted over the WM-B's intercom.
Another man joined him before Kim fired four times, hitting the first man twice in the stomach, and he fell, shrieking as blood poured from his abdomen. The other two bullets hit the second man in the shoulder and heart. The first man's shrieks alerted three more to her position before he died. She shot one in the face before the second guard tackled her, and they struggled for the gun till a shot discharged. Kim moaned and rolled the dead man off of her, and by then, the third guard had his weapon trained on her.
"Toss your gun!" he shouted. "Now stand up."
She stood, raising her hands.
"I should kill you where you stand, but Topa will want to interrogate you."
She grinned. If he only knew she had already killed their boss, he might have thought differently about keeping her alive. Her luck was looking up.
He grabbed her knit mask, pulled it off her head, and her blonde hair frizzed out as she said, "You shouldn't have done that."