KETTY'S SUBDIVISION Wattys2017

Chapter 25-Part IX

Boondock was tied to the bulkhead in double magnetic bracers welded in place. She fed off the fear in his eyes, but he didn't make a sound although she might die. Something had changed.

"I had my way with your bot, he's mine now," Harazel lied.

His creepy metal mouth twisted into a smile when Ketty began screaming. Like a little girl in a temper tantrum she stomped her feet and charged in a blind rage, slashing her Ion sword in a wide arc meant to decapitate. There was more than power behind that swing. Perhaps the hatred from a hundred generations of warfare, or the long forgotten memory of a lost doll. Maybe it was her love hate relationship with Kato or her shifting emotions. It was an all-consuming fire which burned in her soul, finally released in the ultimate show of human emotions. If Harazel could be surprised, he would have been. She hacked and sliced with hatred, one blow for her mother, another for her father. She was close to him now and the stench of wet straw and manure gagged her, making it hard to breathe. She dodged a blow and struck out for Boondock and Bromide, for Grendle and all the others. Hatred welled up inside. She pushed him away and her hand sunk deep into his chest. An unknown weak spot? But he was feeding off her murderous heart. She slammed him to the ground but his sword blocked hers. Her knee came up into his chest and penetrated where his heart should be. Harazel's eyes glazed over in the ecstasy of her fury. He was caught in the throes of some spiritual experience and she realized he couldn't help himself. It wasn't that he was evil or hated humans, it made him happy. He was high on the smell and taste of her anger. It's who he was.

Harazel began laughing a hideous, gut wrenching laugh, fueling Ketty to slash at the metal mouth. Once, twice, three times and then it began moving with a life of its own. The jaw and razor teeth curled up and crawled off his face. It was made of some living nano-biotic substance the Baird had grafted onto their beaks. Underneath was a foul yellow chip that flexed like weak plastic.

"Well done, princess," he exhaled his last breath into her face. "But it's not over." Then his body went limp, dead of a heart attack or some other fate. Where her knee was pressed into his chest, nothing was left but a shriveled giblet.

"They only have a twenty one year life span, he died of a heart attack," said Boondock.

"You're alright!" she went to him and tried to cut the magnetic lock but it was no use. He seemed different to her. "What did he do?"

"Nothing. I did disable their shields with a virus. Mr. Harazel has been fun to talk to.

"You didn't miss me?"

"I knew you would come, so I was patient."

She couldn't free him. Then a scratching from behind. The necklace tingle at her neck and she felt Harkentofor inviting her to be his friend. "I have something for you," she said to Boondock. Pulling out a small pin, she clipped it to his tunic.

His eyes lit up. "The Golden Seahorse! Does this mean I graduate?"

"Yes. I can finally release you." She turned to face her adversary. "It wasn't you who was defective, Boondock, it was me. I let my fear of losing you control who you really are. Congratulations."

Harkentofor stood there in all his hideous glory. He made a spitting noise but no moisture came from his scrawny neck. "I begged him to finish you but it doesn't seem like he was wise enough to admit he couldn't defeat you. Now a new generation of hardier warriors is emerging. The eggs are incubating even as we speak, and they are my offspring, not my father's."

"Am I supposed to be proud of you?" Ketty asked.

"It's not a matter of pride but necessity. I thought our species and yours could exist in a mutual agreement, much like the Gort had when they created us."

"You want to hunt us like dogs? Go to hell." She swung her sword, but he was too far away. Instead she turned and cut through the massive support beam holding Boondock. Before he could reach her she made a second cut at the bottom. There was nowhere for the magnetism to bite and Boondock's cuffs fell to the ground. She tossed him the vial of his own blood and yelled, "Go give this to Lindy."

Harkentofor attacked like a rooster, feet out, spurs protruding forward. The full weight of his momentum carried him forward. Her back was still turned and the claws embedded themselves on each side of her spine, driving her to the deck. The pain overcame her when the razor sharp points each caught a rib bone, saving her from certain death, but none of that mattered. She had finally released control of Boondock, and in that she found her own freedom.

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