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ratcatchers2007-03-26 02:02 pm
dracodraconis.livejournal.com) wrote in ratcatchers2007-03-26 02:02 pm
Through the Looking Glass: Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Wherein I stride fearlessly into the tiger's lair, only to selflessly choose the greater good at great personal cost.
"Event Horizon in 4 minutes," intoned Matthieu, still annoyed at Wren for short-circuiting his fear response. He received only a nod in response. He glanced at his gauges, did a double take at one, then tapped it.
"Wren? How much fuel were we supposed to use for this trip."
"Most of it."
"You do mean for the round trip, don't you?"
"No."
There was a moment of silence into which Matthieu fumed. The military phrase "On a need to know basis" mentally burst into flames.
"So, what kind of response do you think we'll get at the other end?" He asked, seeking somewhere to vent his anger.
"Warm. Plenty of fireworks," she responded dryly.
"Good, I like fireworks."
"I hope so, because they'll all be aimed at us."
The Event Horizon grew before them, far larger than the one at the other end of the tunnel.
"You made a funny, Wren. One might almost think you had a sense of humour."
"It was required for working with you."
They broke through the Event Horizon.
----------------------------------------
They broke free into the night time sky ablaze with artificial lights. Below them was a cityship larger than any Matthieu had ever seen. As the ship banked around, he saw several more city ships floating at various heights. They leveled out and passed through the towers of the big cityship, twisting and turning as Wren sought as place to land. A flash passed them on the left, followed by two more on the right as the ship banked. Matthieu tore his eyes from the landscape outside to focus on the small ships trailing them.
"Got three bogies coming up fast. Give me some evasives while I get a lock on one."
"I was just planning on letting them shoot us." A bolt blew past the right wing.
"Hate to say it, but you've not doing a good job of it.. one down. Take that you feathered bastard. No offense."
"None taken." A brief pause. "Hairless ape."
"Ook!" he replied in his best simian imitation.
The next ten minutes seemed both to take no time at all and an eternity. They wove through the towers of the cityship Varsarius, then dove underneath, drawing their pursuers toward the watery surface. A combination of luck and skill eliminated both remaining pursuers, as well as the two more they had acquired before docked at a deserted refueling station. They opened the canopy and scrambled to the tarmac.
"You get this refueled and I'll go for the Prince. When we're ready to go, I'll signal you and we can rendezvous."
She nodded, already plugging the fuel line into the ship.
"Good luck, Matt" he heard in his head as he entered cityship.
----------------------------------------
He slunk along a corridor, searching for the entrance to the maintenance shaft. Voices around a corner made him pause. He withdrew two silenced pistols and blended into a doorway. The two security officers walked past, headed to the refueling station. A button was pressed on a panel and they paused. Matthieu stepped from the shelter and pulled the trigger as one gun was leveled at the back of one blond head. The grey wall speckled red and pink, surmounting a red stripe formed when the body slumped to the floor. The second guard turned to see the other gun pointed at his face. He rumbled an Angel sub-harmonic, and Matthieu's face took on a look of pure fear. He began shaking, retreating from the now-grinning Angel.
"Yield!" he heard him order in Angel.
The Angel's head snapped back from the impact of the bullet.
"Psyche, you pile of Angel crap!" snarled Matthieu as he kicked the corpse. He proceeded down the corridor, continuing to search for the maintenance hatchway.
Several corridors and two close encounters later, he found the maintenance tunnel. He crawled about 100 metres before he encountered a robotic parts trolley. It responded to his simple commands through his new interface, and ten minutes later it slowed in front of the maintenance hatchway closest to the command centre. He brought up the room layout for the command centre, then crawled through a small accessway to an area that should open beside an entrance to the command centre. He checked his weapons, made sure they were on autofire and both clips full of the magically-augmented bullets he now favoured, then burst into the room. Taking care not to shoot the tubes of green fluid in the centre, he proceeded to kill every jack-pilot in the room. That completed, he jacked into one of the consoles that still appeared to be operational and gave the command to seal the room. They would eventually either cut through the doors or override the command, but this would buy him several minutes.
He took a moment to examine each of the tubes and finally located one that contained a female demon. He cycled the system to deactivate her tube, but he discovered that a higher clearance was required. Cursing softly, he brought up the schematics for the medical feeds to the tubes. If he could at least get her conscious then maybe she might have a suggestion. Once again, a higher clearance was required.
"Screw it!" he snarled and took aim at a corner of the tube holding the demon. The first two were absorbed by the magical shielding, but the third penetrated the casing. The tube shattered and he rushed forward to stop her from slumping to the floor. He laid her carefully on the ground and withdrew a small pressurized injector. Time was growing short; already the thumps and orders from beyond the locked doors were replaced with the whine of some sort of power tool. He rolled her onto her stomach and pushed on her back to drain some of the fluid from her lungs. All but her hands, feet and head were covered with a fine-meshed material so he placed the injector near the artery in her throat and pressed the switch. Her body convulsed, forcing her to take a breath. Her eyes flew open, and she began coughing up the remaining fluid in her lungs.
"It's all right, I'm here to rescue you," he intoned calmly as he helped her to a sitting position.
At first she appeared disoriented but as she gained her bearings the temperature of the room began to rise and her face fixed itself into an angry grimace. A flare formed in one of the doors as the Angels finally began to cut their way through. She stared at door and spoke quietly.
"Get behind something. I have unfinished business. She stood, shakily at first, but then stretched her wings. Flames arose from her hands, and each of the tubes, in turn, began to explode. Matthieu replaced one clip with a full one.
"So do I," he replied with an evil grin. He checked his new clip, then snapped it into place. Holding them pointed upward to either side of his head, he spoke. "Let the games begin."
She graced him with smile, then raised a hand toward the door several metres way from them. It exploded outward in a ball of flame.
----------------------------------------
The door to the landing pad opened and a globe of translucent light emerged, crackling each time it was struck. Two figures were contained within it, one shooting two pistols one after another, the other tossing occasional balls of flame. The door closed, leaving them in the humid air outside the ship. Behind them the sea of this water world stretched away to the horizon. Two cityships floated nearby.
"When I say so, press that button, then press the one below when I give the word. He pulled several balls of a putty-like material from his vest. He stood to one side of the door, holding the balls in one hand, then nodded to Sarah. The door slid open and he tossed the balls in.
"Now!" He ducked back to avoid several bolts that passed through the space he had just occupied. The door immediately slid closed. A hollow thump was heard from behind the door.
"Motion sensitive triggers. They'll have to approach the door slowly or rig something to set them all off. Gives us a few minutes." He strode to the edge of the tarmac, gazing down.
"So now we fly out, I take it." She unfurled her wings.
"In a manner of speaking." He put two fingers to his mouth and emitted a loud whistle. It was answer shortly by the whine of the Icarus's engine as it ascended before them. He turned to the Prince and bowed low. "Your chariot awaits." He stood, then glanced at the Gate overhead. "I'm sure you fly fast, but the Icarus is faster. Besides, we can't risk losing you to some hotshot pilot. Earth needs you too much."
He opened the canopy and spoke to Wren in Angel.
"So, where do we...." He stopped, a realization hitting him. From Wren's expression, she had just reached the same conclusion. The sound of two stomachs hitting the floor was deafening in their ears. He looked at her, she returned a stricken expression.
"Get her out of here. She's in your hands now," he growled, then turned to offer a hand to Sarah. She came forward, aware that something significant was going on. He helped her into the copilot's seat, then instructed her in how to release the survival pack from beneath her.
"You two get back there and save the world, I'll set up a distraction here," he stood up to bring the canopy down. A series of thumps from behind the door could be more felt than heard above the scream of the engines. He stopped, then handed Wren a piece of paper.
"Find these children. They're orphans in France. Make sure the money in those accounts, and anything else owed to me, goes to getting them out and into a good home. I'll not have them turn out like me."
She nodded, and wiped a tear away from her right eye before turning back to the instruments. He sealed the canopy and gave her a thumbs up. He turned to run back to the door, a spot of intense light indicating that they were cutting through. She pulled away as he set a large block of explosive below the fuel line.
"Make sure Franz Hollander plays me in the movie about this. He plays Bond like nobody else," she heard in her head, causing her to laugh soundlessly. The appearance of two Angel ships drew her focus back the problem of escape.
In the rear-view monitor, Sarah watched, in the light approaching dawn, a figure run from the doorway and leap off the landing platform just as it was engulfed in flame. Momentarily, a winged figure could be seen gliding away. A cascade reaction along the fuel system weakened the supports on the tower, sending the top of the structure crashing down to the streets below. The damage would in no way cripple the ship, but it would take some time to clean up the damage.
"Matt, head 32 degrees North-Northeast," thought Wren into their communications link. "There is a floating Island, like your Deadtown, where the outcasts of Angel society gather. It'll take you a few hours, but if you find it, you might be able to convince them to let you stay."
"Thanks," came the faint reply over growing static. "It's been a pleasure to serve with you. Now, go save the world." The link broke up into static as they struck the Event Horizon just ahead of what was now three Angel ships pursuing them.
"Event Horizon in 4 minutes," intoned Matthieu, still annoyed at Wren for short-circuiting his fear response. He received only a nod in response. He glanced at his gauges, did a double take at one, then tapped it.
"Wren? How much fuel were we supposed to use for this trip."
"Most of it."
"You do mean for the round trip, don't you?"
"No."
There was a moment of silence into which Matthieu fumed. The military phrase "On a need to know basis" mentally burst into flames.
"So, what kind of response do you think we'll get at the other end?" He asked, seeking somewhere to vent his anger.
"Warm. Plenty of fireworks," she responded dryly.
"Good, I like fireworks."
"I hope so, because they'll all be aimed at us."
The Event Horizon grew before them, far larger than the one at the other end of the tunnel.
"You made a funny, Wren. One might almost think you had a sense of humour."
"It was required for working with you."
They broke through the Event Horizon.
----------------------------------------
They broke free into the night time sky ablaze with artificial lights. Below them was a cityship larger than any Matthieu had ever seen. As the ship banked around, he saw several more city ships floating at various heights. They leveled out and passed through the towers of the big cityship, twisting and turning as Wren sought as place to land. A flash passed them on the left, followed by two more on the right as the ship banked. Matthieu tore his eyes from the landscape outside to focus on the small ships trailing them.
"Got three bogies coming up fast. Give me some evasives while I get a lock on one."
"I was just planning on letting them shoot us." A bolt blew past the right wing.
"Hate to say it, but you've not doing a good job of it.. one down. Take that you feathered bastard. No offense."
"None taken." A brief pause. "Hairless ape."
"Ook!" he replied in his best simian imitation.
The next ten minutes seemed both to take no time at all and an eternity. They wove through the towers of the cityship Varsarius, then dove underneath, drawing their pursuers toward the watery surface. A combination of luck and skill eliminated both remaining pursuers, as well as the two more they had acquired before docked at a deserted refueling station. They opened the canopy and scrambled to the tarmac.
"You get this refueled and I'll go for the Prince. When we're ready to go, I'll signal you and we can rendezvous."
She nodded, already plugging the fuel line into the ship.
"Good luck, Matt" he heard in his head as he entered cityship.
----------------------------------------
He slunk along a corridor, searching for the entrance to the maintenance shaft. Voices around a corner made him pause. He withdrew two silenced pistols and blended into a doorway. The two security officers walked past, headed to the refueling station. A button was pressed on a panel and they paused. Matthieu stepped from the shelter and pulled the trigger as one gun was leveled at the back of one blond head. The grey wall speckled red and pink, surmounting a red stripe formed when the body slumped to the floor. The second guard turned to see the other gun pointed at his face. He rumbled an Angel sub-harmonic, and Matthieu's face took on a look of pure fear. He began shaking, retreating from the now-grinning Angel.
"Yield!" he heard him order in Angel.
The Angel's head snapped back from the impact of the bullet.
"Psyche, you pile of Angel crap!" snarled Matthieu as he kicked the corpse. He proceeded down the corridor, continuing to search for the maintenance hatchway.
Several corridors and two close encounters later, he found the maintenance tunnel. He crawled about 100 metres before he encountered a robotic parts trolley. It responded to his simple commands through his new interface, and ten minutes later it slowed in front of the maintenance hatchway closest to the command centre. He brought up the room layout for the command centre, then crawled through a small accessway to an area that should open beside an entrance to the command centre. He checked his weapons, made sure they were on autofire and both clips full of the magically-augmented bullets he now favoured, then burst into the room. Taking care not to shoot the tubes of green fluid in the centre, he proceeded to kill every jack-pilot in the room. That completed, he jacked into one of the consoles that still appeared to be operational and gave the command to seal the room. They would eventually either cut through the doors or override the command, but this would buy him several minutes.
He took a moment to examine each of the tubes and finally located one that contained a female demon. He cycled the system to deactivate her tube, but he discovered that a higher clearance was required. Cursing softly, he brought up the schematics for the medical feeds to the tubes. If he could at least get her conscious then maybe she might have a suggestion. Once again, a higher clearance was required.
"Screw it!" he snarled and took aim at a corner of the tube holding the demon. The first two were absorbed by the magical shielding, but the third penetrated the casing. The tube shattered and he rushed forward to stop her from slumping to the floor. He laid her carefully on the ground and withdrew a small pressurized injector. Time was growing short; already the thumps and orders from beyond the locked doors were replaced with the whine of some sort of power tool. He rolled her onto her stomach and pushed on her back to drain some of the fluid from her lungs. All but her hands, feet and head were covered with a fine-meshed material so he placed the injector near the artery in her throat and pressed the switch. Her body convulsed, forcing her to take a breath. Her eyes flew open, and she began coughing up the remaining fluid in her lungs.
"It's all right, I'm here to rescue you," he intoned calmly as he helped her to a sitting position.
At first she appeared disoriented but as she gained her bearings the temperature of the room began to rise and her face fixed itself into an angry grimace. A flare formed in one of the doors as the Angels finally began to cut their way through. She stared at door and spoke quietly.
"Get behind something. I have unfinished business. She stood, shakily at first, but then stretched her wings. Flames arose from her hands, and each of the tubes, in turn, began to explode. Matthieu replaced one clip with a full one.
"So do I," he replied with an evil grin. He checked his new clip, then snapped it into place. Holding them pointed upward to either side of his head, he spoke. "Let the games begin."
She graced him with smile, then raised a hand toward the door several metres way from them. It exploded outward in a ball of flame.
----------------------------------------
The door to the landing pad opened and a globe of translucent light emerged, crackling each time it was struck. Two figures were contained within it, one shooting two pistols one after another, the other tossing occasional balls of flame. The door closed, leaving them in the humid air outside the ship. Behind them the sea of this water world stretched away to the horizon. Two cityships floated nearby.
"When I say so, press that button, then press the one below when I give the word. He pulled several balls of a putty-like material from his vest. He stood to one side of the door, holding the balls in one hand, then nodded to Sarah. The door slid open and he tossed the balls in.
"Now!" He ducked back to avoid several bolts that passed through the space he had just occupied. The door immediately slid closed. A hollow thump was heard from behind the door.
"Motion sensitive triggers. They'll have to approach the door slowly or rig something to set them all off. Gives us a few minutes." He strode to the edge of the tarmac, gazing down.
"So now we fly out, I take it." She unfurled her wings.
"In a manner of speaking." He put two fingers to his mouth and emitted a loud whistle. It was answer shortly by the whine of the Icarus's engine as it ascended before them. He turned to the Prince and bowed low. "Your chariot awaits." He stood, then glanced at the Gate overhead. "I'm sure you fly fast, but the Icarus is faster. Besides, we can't risk losing you to some hotshot pilot. Earth needs you too much."
He opened the canopy and spoke to Wren in Angel.
"So, where do we...." He stopped, a realization hitting him. From Wren's expression, she had just reached the same conclusion. The sound of two stomachs hitting the floor was deafening in their ears. He looked at her, she returned a stricken expression.
"Get her out of here. She's in your hands now," he growled, then turned to offer a hand to Sarah. She came forward, aware that something significant was going on. He helped her into the copilot's seat, then instructed her in how to release the survival pack from beneath her.
"You two get back there and save the world, I'll set up a distraction here," he stood up to bring the canopy down. A series of thumps from behind the door could be more felt than heard above the scream of the engines. He stopped, then handed Wren a piece of paper.
"Find these children. They're orphans in France. Make sure the money in those accounts, and anything else owed to me, goes to getting them out and into a good home. I'll not have them turn out like me."
She nodded, and wiped a tear away from her right eye before turning back to the instruments. He sealed the canopy and gave her a thumbs up. He turned to run back to the door, a spot of intense light indicating that they were cutting through. She pulled away as he set a large block of explosive below the fuel line.
"Make sure Franz Hollander plays me in the movie about this. He plays Bond like nobody else," she heard in her head, causing her to laugh soundlessly. The appearance of two Angel ships drew her focus back the problem of escape.
In the rear-view monitor, Sarah watched, in the light approaching dawn, a figure run from the doorway and leap off the landing platform just as it was engulfed in flame. Momentarily, a winged figure could be seen gliding away. A cascade reaction along the fuel system weakened the supports on the tower, sending the top of the structure crashing down to the streets below. The damage would in no way cripple the ship, but it would take some time to clean up the damage.
"Matt, head 32 degrees North-Northeast," thought Wren into their communications link. "There is a floating Island, like your Deadtown, where the outcasts of Angel society gather. It'll take you a few hours, but if you find it, you might be able to convince them to let you stay."
"Thanks," came the faint reply over growing static. "It's been a pleasure to serve with you. Now, go save the world." The link broke up into static as they struck the Event Horizon just ahead of what was now three Angel ships pursuing them.