The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Chapter 39: Moebius Inversion

It didn't look much like a miracle when it abruptly snaked past the first astonished vampire, which stared at it with ill-disguised astonishment and fear. But its creator had no doubt of its ability to penetrate the wall of shockwave and psionic shield that now protected the Brotherhood survivors' final refuge.

A cable of what could only be described as dark light, seething with blue and red streaks of energy approximately 20 centimeters in diameter, it moved slowly as it seemed to pick its way into the battlefield, ignoring sheeting debris and shrapnel. Its head was formed by four plates of shifting energy which formed a box shape as they angled forward to nearly touch each other while creating a ridge of sorts that ran around the circumference of the cable like a dragon's frill.

That strange head of shifting energy plates paused as it came abreast of an astonished Lash, turning as if to regard him from some sort of sensory cluster that wasn't visible. It didn't pause for long, however; a heart beat later it swung back onto its path and slowly advanced out into the shockwave and smoke-filled space in front of the office's doorway.

As the cable moved into the energy-riddled space, it wasn't long before a shockwave came in contact with it. But, instead of pushing the cable askance and even ripping it apart, it was the shockwave that abruptly collapsed to tumble haphazardly over the shifting construct of dark light. It was as if the energy that had formed it was suddenly sapped from it, forcing the molecules of the shockwave wall to return to their former state.

Ignoring the destruction of the shockwave, the cable pressed forward, quickly running into and destroying even more of the silvery walls. It wasn't long before the relentless construct had ripped a broad swath through the shockwaves to lay bare the path to the very front door.

It was along this open valley that Lash was able to catch sight of a prostrate Dee, lying flat on the floor with her arms held tightly to her head, twitching slightly as she imagined shockwaves passing close to her body. Relief rippled through the big vampire at seeing the human woman still alive. He could only hope that all of them could be lucky enough to survive long enough to get out of the trap they had closed around themselves!

Eyes locked on Dee, Lash almost missed the head of the cable as it turned to regard the shimmering energy field that protected the doorway of the battered office they had tried and failed to penetrate. After a brief pause to examine the energy field, the cable head darted forward with the striking speed of a viper.

With a flare of brilliant white light, it slammed into the shield wall. And then was burrowing through it with little or no resistance, the psyken energies of the psionic shields proving just as ineffective in slowing the dark light cable down as had the shockwaves. Each overlapping shield fell equally fast, as the dark light ripped through it like it was so much tissue paper.

Lash blinked in astonishment as he watched the cable penetrate the shield wall. Then he was blinking away the afterimages burnt into his retinas, his ears filling with a snarling roar as a massive explosion ripped the office into kindling. In the same instant the cable winked out of sight, its task complete.

A hasty oath poised on his lips, Lash flung himself to the ground, as the office's remains showered over them. Just what the hell was going on here?? And what in the name of the Dark Father was that cable of ... of dark light? And who generated it?

The big vampire's answers were quick in coming; as debris from the shattered office still rained down, out of the smoke and dust clouds that blanketed the northern end of the corridor, leading back to a bank of offices running along the northwest wall of the building, a figure appeared. A figure that, at first glance, seemed to be cloaked in shadows, in lingering wisps of raw power and ultimate destruction.