KETTY'S SUBDIVISION Wattys2017

Chapter 9-Part II

Scott complained all morning, but somehow Belletine got her team to the farming city. Ketty would have been surprised to see the scope of activity occurring there, but it was off the main highway, and she had never bothered to investigate the local culture as a kid. Obviously she had been too wrapped up in her bots.

Under his breath, Scott whined, "I can't believe she's in charge. Why do we want to go to the city anyway?"

"Shut the hell up you freaking rapist. I want to punish your face for what you did to Rayleen."

"Hey, she wanted it. Isn't that what all girls want?" Grendle looked down at the pathetic excuse for a human and realized there was something broke deep inside of Scott. It could have been a genetic flaw or it could be a social flaw. Despite humanities cunning and sophisticated technology, there was something wrong with genetic perfection. It was unable to weed out selfishness, or instill compassion, among other things. And perhaps that was a good thing, thought Grendle, because free will is one thing which separates us from lower species. Grendle took a deep breath and imagined his brother standing in Scott's place. With his hand on Scott's shoulders he spoke with conviction.

"Rayleen is a princess, and despite what you may think, despite your selfish desires, she is worth waiting for and worth fighting for. There are more people in the world besides you, Scott. You're lucky I believe in second chances, or you would be dead by now, but you have to want it Scott, deep down inside, you have to make the change."

He looked at his feet like a lost puppy. "I know that now, but how do I make it up to her?"

"You will never make it up to her. She has to forgive you, and she will never do that unless you change. But do it for yourself. Do it because it's the right thing to do. Quit feeling sorry for yourself like you're the victim." Belletine motioned them to stop with a fist to Grendle's chest. Now that he was paying attention, Grendle saw Rayjack coming back from the farming city.

"Do you think they will help us?" Belletine asked, but then they saw Rayjack up close.

"There are three armed humans coming this way, and they don't seem friendly." Rayjack pulled back a broken flap from his pants, revealing a clean hole through his leg where tiny nano-bots were already healing the wound. "I suggest we get the heck out of here, pronto."

Scott and Grendle moved up next to Rayjack. They were sweating profusely and smelled really bad.

"It's them or us," said Grendle. "We need to take the offensive."

"Wait!" Belletine said a little too loud.

"Oh no, them boys have seen us now," said Rayjack.

The whine of a quantum slug split the air. Scott knew it had already passed them a second earlier. "Take cover!"

Grendle squeezed off his crossbow, hitting one lone figure between the eyes. First blood made Belletine puke while Scott moved to a closer position. Now the air was filled with stray pieces of electron deprived matter. One touch of a quantum bullet would annihilate flesh, but the way Scott moved in close to their adversaries impressed Belletine. He seemed more confident now that he was under pressure. Despite their complaining, the two of them acted like best fighting buddies. Suddenly, Grendle stood and ran at a right angle to the remaining two, causing one of them to give chase. But Scott was much closer than she had realized, and now he grabbed the passing figure from behind. His hand drew the blade across the woman's throat, but the kill came at a price, and he screamed as something burned his leg.

The third figure had Scott dead to rights with his second shot, except he turned to run as he fired a parting shot. Belletine sprinted across the field, raising her Javelin to make the easy kill to his back, but she stopped, unable to carry through. Instead, she drew her blow gun and placed one small feathery dart in the back of his neck. They found him, a hundred paces beyond the edge of the field.

"Look at that," Scott yelled, limping up with a flesh wound. Next to the paralyzed man was a black pipe sticking straight up from the ground. It made a ninety degree bend with a large grate covering the opening. They heard shouting from a distance, and it was obvious reinforcements were on the way. They had two choices, attack the locals for no reason, or escape into the pipe.

She had to make a decision, and make it fast.

A few miles away, Ketty ducked for cover when she felt the pulsing of gravity repulsive thrusters. Then a low wail caught her ear, sending a lump into her throat. It came from her right, where she had sent the others. She had heard that sound two nights before and she knew it didn't come from any ship in this system.

"Boondock!" Ketty called him to her side. "We're going over there now." He staggered under her weight as she jumped on his back. Rayleen and Sizy were miles away by now, leaving her alone and in the open, but she didn't care. The others were in danger.

"My knees, my knees!" Boondock wailed in a piercing shriek.

"Run, Boondock!" Ketty ordered. And he obeyed, taking off at a snail's pace as his eighty five pounds of cybernetic carbon and high tensile steel began dragging her to the edge of the meadow they had been skirting.

*"I will definitely need a retrofit after this exercise, Mistress."

"Are you calling me fat? Get going, the others may be dying at this moment." That spurred him on a little, but it was still too slow. She could almost run faster. "Boondock, pretend the human race depends on the next ten minutes. You are our only hope." Suddenly she felt his true potential kick in, and now they were covering ground fast. She could only pray they made it in time.

Back at the pipe, Belletine turned, surprised by the loud screeching from the sky. A massive war bird came down towards their position, unlike anything known in this Galaxy. Below giant wings, an undulating sack of strange matter pulsed in odd breathing motions. Large fusion nacelles hung off the wings for atmospheric propulsion, but the sack had tiny sticks protruding at every odd angle. Her chest vibrated like liquid steel from strong pulses of energy which allowed the ship to maneuver with an eerie precision. As it closed on their position, the sticks began firing and now she knew they were the target. To Belletine it made little sense except it was coming for them. A loud crackling made her look down to where Egor had the grate tore off the sewer pipe, and already Scott and Miss-cordoy were taking refuge in the city water conduit. Grendle had her from behind, easily picking her up through the hatch.

"Agghh." She felt his body go rigid as warm liquid spread across her back. She turned to look outside as another shot tore through his leg. Then Egor pulled her down the ladder hard, causing her jaw to slam down each rung as he climbed over her shoulders and tried to help, but it was too late. He let out a low guttural scream like grinding gears at the sight of Grendle's blown out head and began sealing the opening. His strong hands bent the thick metal like a tin can until it was completely dark. Memories of his master's parents dyeing while he remained helpless flooded back and threatened to snap his sintered brain in half, but he had to protect those below.

The ladder led down, deep into the planetary crust. Belletine remembered an obscure fact from grade school, the city siphoned sea water for processing drinking water. The underground pipe system was a labyrinth of complex structures that covered hundreds of square miles. Now they were descending into the depths with no escape and no map.

"We must go this way to reach the city," said Miss-cordoy as she fired up a small fusion torch that tried to light the cavernous structure. The bottom was still covered in water, but the wide slope of the pipe made it easy to walk along the edge, yet no light reached the ceiling. Fortunately the water flow had stopped or they would all be dead.

"Where is Grendle!" cried Scott as they followed Miss-cordoy, but when he saw Belletine's blood soaked clothes, he dropped his head in resignation. His emotions caught up with his narcissistic personality and chiseled away at the hardness of his selfish heart. For the first time a tear ran down his face and he didn't bother trying to hide it. He was finally thinking of someone besides himself. A loud explosion rocked the tunnel behind them and the entire roof caved in where the alien star ship tried to finish what it had started. They knew it wouldn't be long before they were pursued so they picked up the pace and ran for their lives.

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