Imminent Destruction

Once placed on its victim the pulse device would attach to the body via electronic polarization. Fully charged, it could kill by leaving a lingering electron pulse in the body that squeezed the blood vessels shut.

“Hey guys!” she said, smiling. “I caught him. What do you think about that?”

“Is she good or what?” Ace asked, loosening his posture. Fade focused on the stun device, he indicated its presence to Ace by pointing the revolver. Ace jumped back to combat posture. Adritah was ready to drop the restriction device on her, positioning it carefully at the top of his hand. If they fired now, it would fall against Destiny.

Fade whispered to Ace, “Aim at his head. Don’t shoot unless I yell fire.”

He turned to Destiny with a command, “Kick him forward and run away.”

“Why in the world would you guys want me to do a thing like that?” she said, “I caught him, he’s no longer a threat.”

“He’s a threat! Now, push him towards us before he-” Adritah’s devious stare stopped him from speaking further.

“I won’t do that, all you need to do is restrain him. I don’t see the need for more bloodshed.”

Fade fired; the bullet hit the device while the force dismembered Adritah’s middle finger. The finger clung to the device as it ricocheted against the wall and bounced off Destiny’s abdomen. The momentary touch caused her immediate collapse. Adritah ducked, snatching her rifle and pushed it against her nose. Blood from his finger stump ran down the barrel, congealing over her cheek.

“One wrong move,” he yelled, “and I’ll spread this girl’s face across the floor.”

She laid almost against the wall, out cold, and breathing heavily. The device had rolled away from her and the finger had buffered it.

“I’ll kill her if she ain’t already dead,” Adritah said. “I won’t hesitate”

“You son of a bitch!” Fade snapped, “When I’m done with you, you’re going to wish that finger had been your head.”

“This is a Stalemate, Captain Harry Defacto, or should I say subject A5. If you want victory, the girl has to die. If you accept defeat, then surrender. Drop your weapons and I’ll let her live. She’ll make plenty of fine spiritual material for the guild.”

“No! I’ll let her die first. You can’t have her humanity.”

“Maybe we can work out a deal,” Adritah said, “You return where you belong, with our ship, and everyone here can have their freedom. We’ll never touch them.”

“How can I trust you!?” Fade yelled.

“What’s going on here?” Ace asked.

“We’re simply taking back what belongs to us,” Adritah said, “Subject A5, you will conform.”

Fade’s aim wavered.

“That’s it,” Adritah said, “Return to us.”

“You think you have the upper hand. I could care less what happens to the others. I won’t let you steal my soul!”

“Funny child, we already own it.”

Adritah glanced at him confidently, pressing the laser rifle to full power. If he shot Destiny now, her remains would leave a mess scattered throughout the hall.

“Well, now’s your chance. I have one shot at full power, if you let me kill her, I won’t be able to defend myself. I’ll give you five seconds to decide: One, two, three, four--.”

“Don’t do it, I surrender,” Fade said, “Put the rifle on regular, and we’ll throw down our weapons.”

“You’re in love with the girl,” Adritah said, “That was your downfall. I thought we trained our assassins better.”

Fade emptied his revolver. The shells clicked against the floor and rolled around his feet. Ace discharged his rifle. Both weapons went to the floor.

“Good, now get your hands in the air,”

He pointing his rifle at them as he approached, urging them to stand closer together with simple gestures, “I can congratulate myself. The Guild is one step closer to its ultimate goal with the Imminent Destruction back in our control. For your information, I don’t intend to keep any of the promises I made concerning your friends. They’ll be put to use as the Guild sees fit.”

The blue beams of a laser pistol came from behind, exploding against the titanium pipes. Adritah looked back for only a moment, long enough for Fade to jump forward and break his jaw with an uppercut. Ace pushed Fade back, pulled the rifle out of Adritah’s hand, and blasted him point blank in the center of the chest. He fell with a dull thud. Ace bent down to check if the man was still alive. Blood flowed directly from Adritah’s chest, soaking his clothes and pooling around him. Private Nick Nicholson from Destiny’s capture, approached slowly, holding a pistol. Beads of sweat fell across Nick’s forehead.

“I volunteered as soon as I woke up,” Nick said. “Is everyone all right?”

“He’s dead,” said Ace “No way this can be repaired in time.”

“Good,” Fade said, “I’m glad.”

Adritah gurgled. Blood spewed from his mouth, dripping down his chin. He managed to convert his gurgling into a few last words as Ace pointed the rifle at his forehead.

“The Empire you serve. Even that is a puppet- controlled by the Spirit Guild. Keep hunting the crystals, we’ll reach our goal eventually.”

A stream of blood ran down the hall, taking Adritah’s life with it.

“I’ve never seen anyone with such a wound stay coherent,” Ace said, “What did he mean by all that?”

“I don’t know and I could care less,” Fade said as he felt Destiny’s neck and put his ear over her lips.

Her hand shot up, and clutched his arm, “It hurts, everything hurts! It hurts everywhere!” she moaned loudly through clenched teeth and a tight grimace.

As long as she felt pain, her nervous system remained functional. He carried her despite the protest from his underarm.

“Bert, put the droids on disposal duty,” Fade said into his communicator. “We killed him. And what the hell’s wrong with you?! You almost blew everything!”

“Don’t blame me, she’s no child! Get her in the infirmary. I’ll have Horace do everythin’ he can. By the way, the troop commander called me, his men are awake and he’s demandin’ their dinner.”

“They can wait,” Fade said, “Write a full a report about how you bungled your assignments.”

“A full report, look here. If you would have purchased those security droids Horace requested, none of this would have been necessary.”

“A humanoid droid would allow me to manifest myself anywhere in the ship, giving me the ability to apprehend suspicious characters,” Horace said through a nearby speaker.

“Just shut up,” Fade snapped, “you can’t even prevent a stowaway from sneaking aboard, you untrustworthy piece of junk. How do you expect me to trust you with that kind of hardware?”

“I resent that.”

“I could care less. A full report from Lieutenant Slemgut or his pay for this period gets docked by two-thirds, no questions.”

Destiny awoke in Fade’s arms, jumped to her feet but found herself incredibly unstable. Fade and Nick had to brace her from each side. Her head listed towards the floor and her left side went limp against Fade’s good shoulder. She put an arm around him, allowing Fade’s good arm to support her back. Ace followed close behind.

“I don’t need help. I’m fine,” Destiny said. “I can help put lunch together.”

“Do you even know how!? Forget it, you’re going to rest. You still have the effects of that device in your system. If your blood vessels aren’t monitored, you may die. Horace will monitor you for a while, so get some sleep. Afterwards, you should be fine; but only if you don’t push yourself.”

-----

There were four steel beds with foam tops that adjusted to an individual’s bodily form in the infirmary’s surgery room. A surgical instrument panel extended from the ceiling over each bed. A wall computer displayed Horace’s voice bubble. Destiny laid on the closest bed before Fade accessed Horace, who diagnosed the problems quickly using monitoring devices within the bed foam.

“There’s no nerve damage. However, her blood flow to the chest cavity, the digestive tract, and the uterus is severely restricted. Her nerves are conducting a circular current that will command her veins and arteries to remain clasped for the next three days. Risk of heart attack at eighty seven percent, risk of stroke at fifty two percent, risk of limb death fifty percent, risk of internal organ death at ninety-five percent and imminent. Application of a counter current would be fatal. I’ll treat her with Restriction Device Antidote Formula 27V, which must be applied directly onto the skin over the area of the restriction current until the effects of the current wane. I recommend that we start treatment immediately. All garments must be removed.”

“All my cloths, no way!” she struggled to get up, but Horace sprayed her nose with a sleeping vapor, and she quickly fell limp.

“Do you wish to remove her garments. Or should I destroy them with a laser cutter.”

“Use the cutter,” Fade said, “Carefully.”

“I can take it from here then. I’m rather fond of her, so it’s pleasing to know how much you respect her modesty.”

A privacy curtain lowered around the bedside as Horace cut away her garments. Fade smoothed out his eyebrows with his index finger and thumb as he left. Ace met him outside and put a hand on his shoulder, checking it. The blood had loosely congealed.

“Hey, that girl means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” Ace asked.

“Her, I could care less. She’s more trouble than she's worth.”

“She’ll be alright?”

“Horace has to do some stuff, but she should be fine.”

Fresh blood gained slow ground down Fade’s pant leg, flowing from the newly soaked bandage around his shoulder.

“Something opened up,” Fade said before passing out.

Ace drug him into the infirmary, hefting him onto one of the beds.

“Infected wound, burns, and moderate anemia,” Horace said dryly.

“Take care of him. I’ll round up lunch for the assault squad,” Ace said.

“Don’t worry. It’s my responsibility to protect his life.”