The Light Warrior Files
Chapter 2, Part 7: The Rescue
By Chris Ward
***EDITOR'S NOTE: This chapter contains mature content and violent themes.***
Waking to the alarm, I took my time in the shower. Knowing what was coming, I knew that I’d
need to be not only fully awake, but as relaxed and comfortable as possible. After drying
off, I stepped back into the bedroom and began to pull on the outfit I had chosen for the
day, feeling a fleeting smile as I remembered Marita’s reaction the last time I had worn all
black around her.
It had been one of the last dates before we decided to move in together. I had shown up at
her place dressed in a pair of black slacks and a black polo. She took one look at me, swore
in Spanish, and told me that she’d be damned if she went out with someone who belonged
in a funeral home. Then she led me out to the car and directed me to Macy’s, where she
delighted in picking out nearly an entire wardrobe for me. The only choice she gave me
was what size to buy. Right after I paid, she had me change before we went to the
restaurant.
Heading into the living room, I noticed that I was the last one up and out, and that it was
pushing 2. After pouring a cup of coffee I made a couple sandwiches and sat down in the
living room. Looking around, I realized that the others were ready, with the possible
exception of Builder who was off to the side working on something I couldn’t see. The Dark
Lady had chosen a pair of black slacks and a dark blue blouse, which she covered with a
hooded black vest. Glancing at her face, I felt a momentary surge of jealousy. There was a
suspicious glow to her cheeks. Glancing at Ishmael, who sat with her holding her hand,
confirmed my suspicions. They had apparently taken the time, last night or this morning, to
‘test the bed springs’ as the saying goes.
Taking my mind away from that path, I noticed that he was wearing an outfit similar to mine;
black jeans, sport shoes and a black pullover. The primary difference was that my pullover
was hooded and he was wearing a watch cap. From what I could see, Builder was wearing a
similar outfit, with a hooded sweater in place of the snugger pullover. I finished my meal in
silence, lost in thought as, apparently, we all were.
After rinsing off my dishes, I went back to the living room and looked around. “Are we
ready, then?”
After a quickly whispered conversation with his wife, who got up and started talking with
Builder, Ishmael stood up. “Just about.”
Before I had a chance to ask him what he meant by that, Builder came over with the Dark
Lady, and handed out a batch of PDAs and what looked similar to Bluetooth headsets. As he
handed me a set, I looked at him. “What are these for?”
The Lady answered, quickly hooking the PDA to her belt and slipping on the headset. “The
PDA has a mapping feature, as well as a locator. Builder put in the maps we already had, but
also installed a miniature scanner so we can get detail that is missing. They also transmit
coded information that only the other units can decode, transmitting the precise location of
each unit. The headsets are simple communication devices. We may find ourselves
separated or otherwise needing to communicate with each other while outside of easy
speaking range.”
Impressed, I looked over at Builder. “Good thinking. What made you decide to build them?”
“It wasn’t entirely my idea. I’d been working on this stuff for a while, mostly in my head. The
Lady told me the other day to go ahead and get going with the PDAs, though, including the
locator and mapping programs. The headsets were my idea though. I figured it might be
nice to be able to talk without shouting.”
Glancing at her, I raised my elbow as I slipped the pieces into place. Catching the look, and
understanding the question, she shrugged. “You know what I can do. I didn’t fully
understand why we’d need them, but I clearly saw that they’d be important.” Standing up,
she smoothed her outfit with one hand while adjusting the headset in her hair with the
other. When Ishmael stood with her, she continued. “The two of us need a little practice
with invisible movement.”
Over the next hour I kept them invisible as they learned the basics. Looking at the clock, I
called a halt to the practice session. “Guys that should give you enough to go on. With any
luck, assuming things go even partly according to the plan, we won’t be doing any major
movement while invisible. More importantly, we need to get a move on. It’s after 3 and
pushing 4 now. As it is, it’ll be midnight or later before we get to her.”
Ishmael absently scratched the back of his neck while he thought about it. “I guess we
should get moving. Is everyone’s gear working?” After a few seconds of listening to
everyone test their mikes and adjust the headset volume, we were ready. As we headed to
the door, I heard Ishmael’s voice in my ear. “Remember the plan.” With a nod, I vanished.
After a walk of several minutes, we entered the subway. Being forced to remain invisible
was annoying but unavoidable. We had decided earlier that I was the one most likely to be
expected, which meant I was the one in the most danger. The good news was that my little
light trick blocked me from all visibility; even the normal ways of seeing the invisible don’t
work on me. After what seemed an interminable ride, we finally exited at stop five. We had
decided that there was no point in making things more complicated than they needed to be.
The complications were likely to introduce themselves as we went along.
Ducking around a dark corner, we found ourselves briefly alone. The Dark Lady and Builder
put up their hoods even as Ishmael put on his cap. Invisibly, I followed suit. Twisting the
light so that they also became invisible, I looked around the corner. “According to the
overhead, we have about five minutes to the next train, and another five between that one
and the one following. That should be plenty of time. Once you’re down there and against
the wall, I’ll make you visible again. Let’s go.”
Slipping around the corner, I worked my unseen way through the crowd, stopping at the lip
of the platform. Crouching down, I reached down with both hands for a grip and flipped
myself down and under. Crawling to the wall, I made myself visible and brightened the area
up slightly. Closing my eyes, I discovered a hitherto unrealized side effect of using my
ability to hide others. Although it took the greatest amount of concentration to bend and
unbend the light, it still took a small amount to keep it bent. This meant that I could follow
anyone I made invisible. Mentally, I tracked Builder and the Lady as they made it under the
platform. Unsurprisingly, since he had been in this situation before, Builder was first, with
the Lady shortly behind them. As they reached the wall, I unbent the light around them.
With a grin, Builder walked over to the door. “It gets easier every time, doesn’t it?”
Smiling briefly, I nodded in agreement. I was following Ishmael’s progress when I heard a
small thud and his voice quietly swearing. Laughing, I went over to him and unbent the light
around him. After bringing him over to the door, I slipped the hood up over my head and
nodded to Builder even as I faded from sight. As Builder used the card and input the code.
As soon as the door began to open, I shut down my light and slipped in ahead of them.
Immediately behind me came Builder, with Ishmael following behind the Lady.
Looking around the area we had entered, we climbed from our knees to our feet. We were
in the center of one end of a vast hallway, with a width of a good twenty-five or thirty feet.
There was very dim lighting, and that was pretty much concentrated on the center of the
hall. Watching the three of them slip to one side, I found myself relieved that the
combination of the darkness of the sides of the hall and their own dark clothing, including
black gloves that I hadn’t put on yet, conspired to make them nearly invisible.
Jogging ahead, I let them know what I was doing. I stopped at the first intersection,
approximately 100 yards away. When I looked into the corridor and saw nobody, I keyed the
mike and gave the go ahead even as I became visible. The next several hours were spent
repeating the same basic sequence. The only variations came the handful of times the
corridors were not empty.
In those instances, which only occurred about four times in our five mile journey, I would
key the mike twice and freeze position. Twice, the people simply crossed the hall and
entered the opposite corridor. Once, with the second group we encountered, they exited
the corridor and simply stood there talking. Since they showed no inclination of moving, I
slowly crept back the several yards to where my partners were waiting. Reaching them, I
whispered what had happened.
Reaching a decision, I faded them out and we slowly walked forward. After passing the two,
who were still standing and talking, we went several more yards before I made us visible
again. Taking a moment to breath, we began our journey again. The only group that caused
us real worry, though, was the last one we encountered.
As this group exited the corridor, they turned and walked right past me. As soon as they
passed, I jogged to the other side of the hall and keyed the mike. “Don’t move.” As soon as
I issued the command, I began running as fast as I could. Angling across the hall again, I
came to a stop right beside Builder even as I threw them into invisibility. I managed to
whisper a hoarse, “Don’t talk,” into the mike just before the group reached us.
After the group had gone beyond us and faded from sight, I unbent the light around all of
us. I noticed that Ishmael’s hand was at the small of his back, where I knew he was carrying
the .45 we had brought, even as Builder was carrying the tranquilizer gun. Catching my
look, he shrugged. “Can’t be too careful.”
The last mile passed slowly but without incident. Finally we found ourselves facing a
considerably narrowed, probably no wider than ten or fifteen feet, and fully lit section of
hall, ending in an unmarked door. The only feature on or near the door was a small keypad
where the latch and handle should have been. Ducking back so I wouldn’t be seen from the
door, I shed my invisibility again, keying my mike as I did so. Relaying what I had seen, I
finished with, “Come on up but stay out of sight of the door. I think we need a quick
conference.”
When they reached me, I simply had two questions. “Builder, if I can get you up there
unseen, could you get the door open?”
After a moment, he nodded. “I should be able to. To be positive, I need to get a look at it
before it needs opened.”
Adding that to the plan forming in my mind, I turned to the Lady. “Same basic question. If I
can get you to the door, do you think you could tell me whether or not anyone is either in
there or even intending to enter?”
Also giving herself a moment to think, she nodded. “I won’t be able to tell you what they’re
thinking, but I’ll be able to learn that much.”
“Good, here’s the plan. The two of you will come up the hall with me. At the door, Builder
will see what is needed to open it and the Lady will see if anyone’s there. Ishmael, watch
our backs. Okay?”
Getting nods from everyone, I took Builder and the Lady by the hands and faded the three
of us from sight. Leading them up the hall, I let them do their work when we got to the door.
After five minutes, I led them back and faded us in when we reached Ishmael. Looking at
them, I asked, “So, what do we know?”
Builder went first. “Opening the door will be fairly simple. It’s a two key system. The first key
code unlocks the door, and the second one opens it. The trick is that you can’t get it wrong
or take to long inputting them. If either one happens, all hell breaks loose.”
“I don’t suppose you learned the codes while we were up there?”
“Sure. The Unlock code is 013151 and the Open code is 041856. The system has them in its
memory so it can compare input codes to them.”
“Excellent.” Turning to the Lady, I gestured for her contribution.
“I obviously can’t make guarantees that things won’t change before we get in, but there
was nobody there and no intentions of entering.”
Scratching my shoulder in frustration, I decided that was the most I could reasonably
expect. “All right, I guess. So, I’ll turn us all invisible and we’ll head to the door. Once there,
Builder will work his magic and the Lady will warn us if someone decides to check out the
room.” Stopping for a minute, I worked out the rest of this rather hasty plan. Turning to look
at the Lady, I said. “You and I will go first. If it seems like someone is going to enter the
room, squeeze my arm. We’ll stop until the danger passes.” Turning back to Ishmael and
Builder, I continued. “You two will be right behind us. If you bump into us stop until we start
moving again. Once you reach the door, input the codes and slip in. We’ll be right with you.
Once we’re inside, I’ll make us visible again and we can decide what to do from there.”
Walking up the hall without incident, Builder input the codes quickly enough to satisfy the
machine and we were allowed into the room. As soon as we were in, and the door was
closed, I unbent the light around us. The Lady and I were against the wall beside the door,
with Ishmael and Builder near us by the door. Along the opposite wall were a series of
storage lockers, and there was another door opposite the one we had just used. Crossing
to it, I looked through the small window set in it. Turning around, I addressed the Lady. “It
looks like we’re in the main bunker. Is it possible for you to find out where they’re holding
the Shield Maiden?”
Nodding, she crossed over to just beside the door and closed her eyes in concentration.
While she was doing that, I walked up to the lockers, quietly asking Builder to join me.
When he did so, I asked, “Can you tell if there’s any extra security on these things?”
Closing his eyes for a minute, he ran his fingers lightly across them. A moment later, he
reopened them. “Nothing I could find.”
“Excellent.” Digging out the skeleton key I had liberated from Dan, I proceeded to open all
of the lockers. When I saw what had been revealed, I felt like I’d hit the jackpot. “Yahtzee!” I
had uncovered enough weapons and ammunition to fight a small war.
Since the Dark Lady had finished her search, I began distributing weapons and ammo.
Everyone who didn’t already have one received a .45 loaded with a full magazine, as well as
an additional four magazines, and handed a fresh magazine to Ishmael. I also handed out
tranq guns to everyone but Builder, who already had one, and gave them another four
special magazines, including a spare fresh one for Builder. Finally, I handed out combat
knives to everyone. I took a double load, since I wanted Marita as fully armed as the rest of
us when we found her.
Opening the drawers in the last locker, I found and handed out silencers for the .45s. In the
bottom drawer of that locker, I found a pair of unusual gloves. Picking them up, I began to
study them closely for several minutes. Finally I figured out what I was seeing. They were a
special type of close combat glove that I vaguely remembered reading about some time
ago, but had never expected to see. A basic physical description would take note of the bar
across the palm, the barbed metallic plate that would cover the business end of a closed
fist, and the oddly wider than normal forearm enclosure.
What that basic description would miss on those gloves is the express purpose of each of
those items. The palm bar had two purposes. When a fist was formed around it and the bar
was squeezed slightly, it would lock the fist into a specific position and release a catch on
the barbed plate, which would than raise slightly. When that plate was depressed due to
the force of a punch, twin blades would shoot out from either side of the fist. The blades
were razor sharp and approximately six inches in length. They would eject and retract in
the space of approximately one half second.
Sliding them on, I quickly learned that they weren’t my preference, although Marita would
probably love them. Turning back around, I looked at the Lady. “Any ideas on where she is?”
Pulling out her PDA, she called up the bunker map and, with a handful of commands
uploaded the information to ours. Pulling mine out, I scanned the map as she spoke. “I
wasn’t able to get a precise fix. The best I could do was to locate the general area she’s in.
She’s somewhere, probably toward the center, of the area colored in gray.” The area she
was describing was fairly small, when compared to the size of the bunker, but was still large
enough that completely checking it would take a good chunk of time. As I contemplated the
best approach, I felt her take my arm. Looking down, I found myself staring into her
beautiful green eyes, intent but filled with concern.
“What’s the problem?” For some reason, I was whispering.
“It’s the Shield Maiden.”
Steeling myself, I prayed I wasn’t about to hear the worst. “All right.”
Taking a deep breath, she moved on. “When I found her mind, I discovered some
disturbing information. Her emotional state indicates that she’s been under a fairly steady
emotional attack, probably from Dan.”
Eyes narrowing, I managed, “I sort of expected that. I don’t plan on letting him get away with
it. Your eyes tell me there’s something else; what is it?”
“There were emotional markers I recognized from my time as a psychiatric therapist. You
need to prepare yourself for the fact that she has definitely been physically, and probably
sexually, abused.”
Closing my eyes against what she had just said, I forced my thoughts to calm down. “Beaten
and raped?”
Clenching her hand on my bicep she just nodded and said in a small, tear choked voice, “I’
m very much afraid so.”
Breathing deeply, I found myself unable to think. I started to run at the door, only to be
tackled by Ishmael, who took the precaution of pinning my arms behind my back. After
attempting to fight him off for several minutes, I calmed down enough to register what else
the Lady was saying. “Now, more than at any time since her abduction, the Shield Maiden
needs you to be calm and rational. Think, don’t react. Follow the plan. Her one hope has
been for you to come find her and rescue her. If you are caught, and you will be if you just
burst into the hall, you will destroy that hope and kill her. Don’t fail her.”
Whether it was due to her ability, or to her time and training as a psychiatrist, she knew
exactly how to calm me down. I may have failed Marita once by allowing them to abduct her,
but I’d be damned before failing her again. Closing my eyes, I mastered the last of my rage,
shoving it into a corner for when I’d need it. “All right. You can get off me now, Ishmael. I’m
not exactly calm, but I’m at least rational.”
As he released me and helped me up, I did some quick thinking. Taking out both .45s, I
screwed the silencers onto the barrels. Checking their loads, I released the safeties and
slid one of them back into its holster, holding the other one loosely in my hand. Fixing my
eyes on it, I said, “I’m not asking any of you to follow my lead on this, all right? They’ve
made this personal, and I’m going to react personal. They dealt the cards when they
grabbed her, and upped the ante by hurting her. I’m calling the hand right now. Any of them
that get in my way go down hard and permanent.
“So… Lady, as we get closer can you narrow the location down?” seeing her nod, I flashed
an evil grin. “Shall we get going then?” As we headed to the door, I wasn’t overly surprised
to see that Ishmael was carrying his .45 as well.
Holding the gun at the ready, I slipped the door open and looked out. With nobody in the
corridors, we exited the room. As before, I led the group with Builder behind me and the
Lady being followed by Ishmael, who was partially guiding her as her eyes were partially
closed in concentration. As we rounded the first corner we ran directly into a half dozen
Organization personnel. As soon as they spotted us they opened their mouths, apparently
to call for help.
On a hair trigger already, we gave them no chance to do so. Four of them died from shots
fired either by Ishmael or me. Builder dropped the remaining two with his tranq gun.
Knowing that time was now pressing, we didn’t bother either to search or to conceal the
bodies.
As we entered the area indicated by the Lady as Marita’s general location, I realized that
more encounters were now a guarantee. Popping open an unlocked room, I led us in for a
quick conference. Scratching my chin as I talked, I kept an eye on the corridor. “This just
isn’t going to work. Dark Lady, between the locator and map on the PDA and your ability,
could you guide me to where they’re holding the Shield Maiden?”
After a moment's thought she nodded. “Yes.”
“Excellent. Here’s the revised plan, then. Lady, I want you to stay here out of sight. I need
you to guide me to her from here. Ishmael, you stay with her. She’ll need a guard, and you’
re best suited. Builder, I think you should come with me. I’ll need someone to watch my
back, and you were both fast and accurate with the tranqs earlier.” Looking around, I
noticed that Ishmael and the Lady were already concealing themselves behind some
shelving in the far corner of the room. The area was dark enough that the clothing they
were wearing, combined with their dark skin, made them virtually invisible.
Walking over to them, I gave them both a firm handshake. “Listen, I can’t guarantee that
Builder and I will be able to get back to this spot with the Shield Maiden, so I won’t even
have us try. Instead, I want you two to haul ass when you hear me say that we’ve got her.
We’ll meet you in the ammo room, hopefully no more than a few minutes behind you. Got
it?” When they nodded, I grinned morbidly and turned to go. “All right, Builder. Let’s head
out.”
Listening to the Lady’s voice in the headset, we worked our way ever deeper into the
bunker. Several times we made a fight of it. Builder count of unconscious targets climbed
to better than a dozen, roughly equal my death total.
Finally I heard the words I was so desperate for. The Lady’s voice came on and said, “The
next door opens to her location. She’s not alone.”
Builder asked the question before I did. “How many with her?”
After a brief pause, she returned, “I only sense one.”
Turning to Builder, I let all the rage and frustration I was feeling into my voice. “Keep any
late comers off my back, but this one’s all mine. Are we clear?” As he nodded, I led him at a
run down the corridor to the next door. There was a small window set in the door, which
allowed me a brief glimpse of the room itself.
What I was seeing was a small observation room that was apparently empty. Using the
skeleton key again, I opened the door just enough to quietly squeeze in. Letting Builder in,
I gestured that he was to stay by the now closed door and keep a look out. Turning to the
observation window, I looked upon a sight that fanned my barely concealed rage to a white
heat that made it difficult to even breathe, let alone think.
Marita lay tied, spread eagle, to a bed facing the window. Her clothing lay in a cut and torn
pile in one corner. Her nude body bore bruising and cuts which attested to the force with
which the outfit had been removed. Other bruising along her body hinted that the Lady had
been right about the physical abuse, and bruising on her breasts and pelvic area told me
that the only woman I’d ever loved had been violently raped.
A man was in the room with her, caressing her breasts even as I made my initial study of the
room. As I frantically looked for a way to open the door separating the two rooms, his hands
moved to his belt. With a scream of unbearable rage, I released a beam of solid light,
stronger than anything I had ever done before. It didn’t so much break the observation
window as disintegrate it. The beam flew directly over the man’s shoulder, barely missing
his head, and impacted the wall with enough force to cause cracks to form.
Leaping through the window even as the beam hit the wall, I slammed into the man as he
began to turn around. Smashing him against the wall, I wrapped one hand around his throat
and began to squeeze. Screaming curses in every language I knew them in, I began to slam
my closed fist repeatedly into his groin, ribs and face.
Finally, after several minutes, I was able to regain control of myself. I slowly realized that he
was no longer fighting against me, or even moving. Looking at what I held in my clenched
fist, I was only vaguely able to recognize it as a human. The fighting gloves I was wearing
had performed their task admirably. Dropping him in disgust, I stripped the gloves off as I
approached the bed. From this close, I was able to see even more bruising on her face and
torso. Taking the combat knife from its sheath, I grabbed the first of the ropes at her ankles.
Suddenly her eyes shot open. Unseeing, she began to moan in multiple languages,
repeating the same basic series of comments. “God, no. Not again. Please, God, no more.
Lucius, where are you?”
With tears in my eyes, I slid the blade between the rope and her ankle and carefully slit the
rope. After freeing the first ankle, I moved to the other one. Once both ankles were freed, I
moved to her wrists, which were tied so that her arms, while retaining the spread eagle
position, were stretched out over her head. With even more care than I had exercised with
her ankles, I slit the ropes from her wrists.
Stripping off my pullover, I laid it across her exposed breasts. Sitting at the top of the bed, I
cradled her head in my lap, gently stroking her hair as I did so. Removing the single pillow
they had given her, I attempted to cover her exposed pubic area.
Continuing to lightly stroke her hair, brushing it away from her face, I looked into eyes that
were unable to see me, lost as they were in horrors within her own mind. I gently spoke to
her, letting her know that I was there, telling her that she was safe, but mostly letting my
love for her fill my voice and flood like light into the dark place she had been forced into.
My first ray of hope came, ironically, when her eyes first came alive with hatred. She started
shrieking like a wildcat and slashing at my face and arms with her nails. I kept stroking her
hair and talking to her, pausing only occasionally to protect my eyes from her nails.
Finally, after an unknown length of time, her eyes blinked open with complete recognition.
Marita, my love, had returned to me. One gentle hand reached up to stroke the cheek she
had only just tried to shred. “Lucius?”
With a slightly pained grin, I said, “Yeah, it’s me baby. Sorry I’m late.”
She didn’t laugh, or even smile, at the lame joke, not that I had expected her to. Instead,
she levered herself so that she was seated in my lap. Rapping her arms around my waist,
she buried her head in my shoulder and began to weep; a choked, tearing sobbing that
threatened to break my heart. Burrowing my face into her normally luxurious brown hair, I
embraced her and began to weep with joy at finding her, combined with pain at what she
was suffering and had suffered.
Finally her sobs quieted and we sat there holding each other for some time. Eventually she
began to speak into my shoulder. “They hurt me, dear heart.” Looking down, I found her
eyes, lost again in memory, seeking out mine. I instinctively knew that, whatever she was
going to tell me now, she needed nothing more than for me to be there. The time for
retribution would come, but not now.
“They hurt me. They caught me by convincing me that you had been in a horrible accident,
and were clinging to life. As soon as they had me out of the courthouse, they forced me
into a limo. Before I knew what was happening, something was shoved over my mouth and
nose; chloroform I’d guess, or something very much like it. When I came to, I was in here.
“That’s when they called you. That guy, Dan, was in here and made me experience some of
my worst fears.” As she paused for a minute, I tightened my embrace when she shuddered.
“No. I’m not ready to talk about that. I don’t know that I ever will.
“That was Friday evening. They let me sleep for a little while, but I have no idea how long. It
was just about the last sleep I’ve gotten. Fan came back several times, doing the same
thing.” Drawing another shuddering breath, she continued. “Finally he came one last time.
He said something about having to go to headquarters, but that he had made arrangements
to keep me from being ‘lonely,’ as he put it. He gave me one last waking nightmare and left.
“That was when the real nightmare began. Someone came in with a knife. I lunged at him,
but he just backhanded me. He did it hard enough to temporarily stun me and knock me
back onto the bed. The bastard tied me up and took his knife to my clothing. After he had
removed all my clothing, he fondled me for several minutes before he began to beat me,
slowly and methodically. The more I screamed and begged, the more he seemed to get off
on it. Apparently he got tired of the foreplay because, after beating me for several minutes
he dropped his pants and mounted me.”
he suddenly pressed her face deeper into my shoulder and began a fresh round of
weeping. “H-h-he r-r-r-raped me, Lucius. Not-not just once, but repeatedly. He-he-he’s
been here a lot. He-he seemed to enjoy being as violent and cruel as possible when he did
me.” Lifting her face slightly from my shoulder, she looked into my eyes. Her eyes were
streaming tears, filled with fear and humiliation. “Actually, I could have sworn he was back,
shortly before I felt and heard you calling me. He-he was getting violent and excited again. I
could have sworn he said something about getting ready to use the knife on me. I thought
he meant to kill me.”
Looking into those eyes, I felt the rage beginning to build again. I also felt her shame and
humiliation at what had happened. “Shorter than me? Built like a tank, with a single
eyebrow covering both eyes? Light brown hair and a kind of dumb but mean look to him?”
The horror threatened to overwhelm her again as she nodded. Looking over her shoulder
at the once human by the wall, I felt a primal joy at being able to relay this little piece of
pleasant news to her. “I don’t think he’ll be bothering you, or much of anyone else, ever
again.”
Looking into my face in confusion, she turned her head to follow my gaze. As her eyes fell
upon the lifeless corpse, I found myself slightly frightened by the look of absolute hatred
and pure rage that came into her face. Her voice, normally beautiful with just the trace of an
exotic accent became harsh and bitter. “Good!”
Suddenly slipping from the bed, she stalked over to the body, letting the items covering
her nakedness fall to the floor. Limping, she kept walking until she was leaning against the
wall, over the body. Out of nowhere she began to kick at the body, shrieking curses in
English, Spanish and French at the same time. Boiled down their essence, her comments
were a rolling tirade comprised of variations of, “Wanna f***ing rape me now, you goddamn,
c***sucking, son of a f***ing b****?! Couldn’t f*** me enough f***ing earlier, could you? No,
your f***ing ass wanted to f***ing f*** me one last f***ing time! Thought it was a f***ing riot,
didn’t ya, ya little f***ing pig? WHO’S F***ING LAUGHING NOW YOU MOTHER-F***ING SON OF A
F***ING B***; YOU GODDAMN SACK OF F***ING S***?!?! God, I wish you were alive so I COULD
F***ING KILL YOU WITH MY BARE F***ING HANDS!!!”
As her voice raised and her language deteriorated, I was finally able to shake off the
momentary shock that her rage had caused. Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms
around her and guided her back to the bed. At first she resisted, even attempting to claw
my arms. Finally she yielded, and sat weeping at the edge of the bed. After holding her for
several more minutes, the latest storm passed. Leaving her at the edge of the bed, I went
over to the pile of clothes in the corner.
Everything was a loss. Her blouse, skirt, even her underwear and shoes had been
destroyed in that bastard’s hurry to get to her flesh. Looking around, I spotted the fighting
gloves and the pullover. Grabbing them both up, I went back to her. Holding the pullover in
one hand, I compared it to her measurements.
Sitting down beside her, I explained. “This looks like it’ll be a little tight across your
breasts. Do you think you’ll be able to stand that, or do we look for something else?”
Looking in my eyes, she gently touched a couple of the larger bruises while she made her
decision. “I don’t think there’s much choice. I watched you dig through my clothes over
there, and nothing’s salvageable. It’ll be uncomfortable, but I’ll wear it.” Standing up, I
helped her pull it on. Stepping back, I realized that we still had a problem. Although my
torso was, for the most part, a little longer and bulkier, her breasts more than made up for
it. In this case, I had been hoping that the pullover, which was a little long on me, would
function as a micro-skirt for Marita. Unfortunately, it barely made it down past her belly
button.
Scratching the back of my head, I did some quick thinking. “Damn! Okay, honey, can you
stay here for just a minute while I-” I slowed and stopped as the fear and horror came back
into her eyes.
Beginning to retreat back inside herself, she sat down and hugged her chest. “No. Please.
Don’t leave me alone. Please, not alone again.”
Sitting down beside her, I gently embraced her and began a light rocking motion as I
stroked her hair again, quietly whispering, “Shh. I’m not leaving. I promise. I’m not going to
leave you alone, ever.”
Slowly she came back to me again. When her eyes cleared, I tried a smile, but it didn’t work
very well. “So, are you ready to leave?”
“Sí.”
“Good.” Keying the mike open I said, “We’ve got her.”
The Dark Lady’s voice came over. “How is she?”
Grimacing, I admitted the truth. “Not great. Turns out you were right, on both counts. We
can deal with that later though. Right now she’s ready to go home.”
“Excellent. We’ll meet you at the entrance.”
Raising my voice, I called, “Builder?”
He came from his position by the door and smiled at Marita. Catching her half-dressed
state, he blushingly turned solidly toward me. “We leaving then?”
“Yes, but we’ll be slightly delayed.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not going to force her to flash the entire damn world! The first person we run
across that is approximately her size gets to donate his clothing!”
A sudden gasp caused us both to spin around, weapons drawn. Marita was on her feet,
darting across the room to the corpse. Falling to her knees she began to rifle his pockets.
“Son of a b****! What the f*** did you do with it?” After several seconds, during which her
search grew more frenzied, she gave a hiss of satisfaction as she withdrew a necklace
from one of his pockets. Walking back to us, she commented, “The bastard was slightly
more careful removing this than he was with everything else. I guess the c***sucker
thought he could get some money selling it.” Handing it over to me, she turned around and
held her hair in one hand. “Can you put it back on me, please?”
Glancing at it before draping it around her neck, I realized part of why it was so important.
Suspended from a delicate golden chain was a golden pendent. The pendent was cast in
the profile of a wolf’s head, and was set with diamonds, except for the eye which was a trio
of small rubies. I remembered commissioning it right after we decided to live together. I
gave it to her over dinner the night she moved in. Her face lit up beautifully when she
unwrapped and opened the box, and she demanded that I put it on her immediately. After
we got back, I found her way of thanking me for it particularly enjoyable.
Since that time, the necklace had only been removed, and carefully lain in the original case
in her jewelry box, for bathing or a bare handful of times when a different piece was a
better compliment to an outfit. After fastening the clasp, I took the fighting gloves from
where I had dumped them and handed them to her. Pulling them on, she asked, “What are
these?”
Nodding at the bloody mass by the wall, I said, “They’re what did that to your attacker.
Specifically, they’re fighting gloves.” Gently leading her toward the door, I gave her a
rough view of how they worked. With a wicked grin and a noise in her throat that sounded
almost like a purr of satisfaction, she finished pulling them on. As we reached the door, I
took a minute to buckle the gun belt containing the spare .45, the tranq gun and the knife at
her waist. I couldn’t help wincing it reflected pain as I brushed some of the more painful
looking exposed bruises. Looking at Builder, I nodded toward the door. As he looked out, I
followed him with Marita.
Exiting the room, we began to take the quickest possible path to the entrance. We had
been on the move for approximately ten minutes, perhaps fifteen, when we encountered
the first group of personnel. Marita and I began firing at the same time, with Builder
immediately after us. When it was over, I realized that there were a dozen bodies on the
floor, all of them dead. Looking over, I realized that Builder had not been firing the tranq.
Catching my curious glance, he shrugged. “I saw what they did to her.”
Glancing at the bodies again, I noticed that one of them was only slightly larger than Marita,
and that another one had feet that were about the same size as hers. Realizing that we didn’
t have time for privacy, I stripped the pants from the one and the shoes and socks from the
other and handed them to her. After she pulled on the pants, I helped her tighten the gun
belt so that it helped keep them up. After she was fully covered, and the shoes were
securely tied, we started to run, as best she could, down the corridors holding our
weapons at the ready.
Although we were now able to cover ground faster, we also encountered more enemies,
and not always at enough distance to make the guns feasible. After the first couple
encounters like this, during which Marita saved our hide, Builder and I began carrying the
knives in the hands not carrying our guns.
By the time we burst into the room just inside the bunker, we had left better than fifty fresh
corpses, made that way by bullet and blade, behind us in the corridors. Our entrance
caused Ishmael to jump to his feet with a startled, “What the hell?” The three of us couldn’t
help but laugh in relief.
Finally getting control of myself, I managed to gasp out, “Let’s just say that there’s a very
limited amount of time left for us to remain somewhat unnoticed. As if my words were the
cue they were waiting for, alarms started sounding. Swearing under his breath, Ishmael ran
over to the exit and jerked it open.
After looking down the hall, he glanced over his shoulder at Marita. “We’ve got five miles
to cover. Can you handle that?”
Looking directly into his eyes, she shot back, “Do I have a choice?”
Having crossed the room to look over Ishmael’s shoulder, I squinted at something in the
distance. Holding up a finger, I said, “Actually, I think you do.” Crossing back to Marita, I
gave her a gentle kiss and said, “Stay with them. They’ll watch over you while I’m gone.”
Starting to fade out even as I turned to go, I was stopped short by her grabbing my arm in a
vice grip and shouting out, “No! Don’t leave me!” Turning back around, my protests faded
on my lips as I saw the despair and fear in her eyes.
“All right. We’ll go together. Hang on.” Gathering her in my arms, I held her close as I
turned back around. “When you guys here me give the all clear, come on down.” Ignoring
their protests, I turned us both invisible and shouldered past Ishmael into hall.
Several yards down the hall, I slid to a stop. Ducking to one side of the hall, I set Marita on
her feet, keeping a firm grip around her waist. Pulling her to me, I whispered in her ear,
“Hold on to me if you need to for security, but not my arms. I’ll need them in just a minute.”
I felt her arms brush my waist as she figured out exactly where I was. Suddenly, she spun in
front of me, wrapping me in a terrified hug. Even as she buried her invisible face into my
chest, the vehicle I had barely spotted from the door rolled into range. Counting the driver,
the passengers, and the literal hangers on, there were most of two dozen armed men and
women.
Lifting both arms, I began to send twin beams out with a precision and speed I had never
before attempted. Within thirty seconds they were all dead, the last six or eight having only
just begun to realize that there was something wrong before dying. Seeing nobody else
around, I made the two of us visible. Speaking into the mike, which I had left on, I said, “It’s
clear. Come down. We’re maybe one or two dozen yards out.” Keying off the mike, I looked
down at where Marita still had her face buried in my chest. Gently lifting her head, I said,
“Sorry about the shock, baby. I didn’t have time to explain.” As she unclenched, I asked,
“Do you know how to drive?”
Confused, she said, “Yeah, papi taught me. Why?”
Leading her over to the transport, I said, “Because this is what’s going to get us out of
here faster than our feet.” Rapidly dumping the bodies that had fallen in out of the cart, I
glanced at the meters. “Excellent. This tub can hit twenty-five.” Turning to Marita, I grinned.
“Go ahead and get this crate pointed the right direction, hon. Once we’re all in, floor it.”
As she was turning it around, the others reached us. Ishmael had a look of cold fury on his
face. “What in the HELL was the big idea behind taking off like that?!”
“Sorry. I didn’t really have time to let you in on the plan. I do now. I saw this thing, kind of,
from the door. I knew we had at least another two or three hours of walking ahead of us if
we had to leave on foot. This thing is going to have us out of here in less than thirty
minutes.”
The fact that he was still upset with me was obvious, but we didn’t have time to pursue it.
Just as we started climbing into the transport, another patrol showed up. They numbered
about twenty and came bursting out of the side corridor. Diving from my perch and making
myself invisible, I had just time enough to shout out a warning before hitting the ground. I
managed to fire off about a dozen rounds before I felt a burning pain down my side.
Glancing up, I saw that the last of the patrol had fallen, so I made myself visible and
surveyed the damage.
I couldn’t see much, so I carefully removed my shirt and used it to wipe some of the blood
off my side. A stray bullet had creased my ribs and slit through the top of the pants,
ricocheting off the wall and going God knows where. Wincing in pain, I wiped the wound off
some more and then tore the sleeves off my shirt to pad it with. Using the knife, I cut the
shirt into a series of bindings I used to tie the improvised pad in place. Looking around, I
glimpsed a dead body whose shirt was about my size. Stripping it off, I stood up even as I
slipped it on.
I was in the process of buttoning it up, realizing that it was a little snug, when Marita
spotted me and ran the short distance. Spotting the crude bandage, her eyes widened in
new horror. “You’ve been shot!”
Taking a minute to finish buttoning the shirt, I allowed her to drape my arm over her neck
and guide me back to the transport. “Hurts like hell, to be honest, but it’s just a graze. How’
s everyone else?”
“Builder took a bullet graze across the shoulder, and Ishmael lost a notch in his ear. Painful
for both, but nothing serious.”
Crawling into the passenger seat, I looked in back. A glance was all I needed to realize that
we had been lucky. Catching the Dark Lady’s eye as she was checking out Builder’s
shoulder wound, I asked, “Are we ready to go?”
When she nodded, I turned to Marita and gave her the go ahead. As the transport
accelerated, I slipped another fresh magazine into my gun. Holding it in my lap, I kept an
eye on the sides as we speed along. Within fifteen minutes, during which we encountered
no more patrols, we arrived at the subway entrance.
Creating a little light for guidance, I opened the door and led them at a crawl under the
platform. Holding Marita close, I said, “I’ll vanish for a minute and check out the overhead
for times.” Catching the flash of fear in her face, I told Marita, “If you need to, you can come
up to the front with me. I won’t turn until the last minute.” She thought about it for a minute
and then shook her head. Giving me a quick, yet passionate, kiss, she crawled to the side
of the Dark Lady, who wrapped a protective and comforting arm around her.
Moving to the front, I looked down the tunnel but couldn’t see or hear anything. Turning
invisible, I shouldered my way to the platform. Catching a glimpse of the times on the
overhead, I immediately dropped and rolled under the platform again. Even as I finished
the roll, a train roared up to a stop.
Turning myself visible again, I crawled back to them, rubbing a shoulder as I did so. “After
this one leaves, there’s a ten minute window before the next one shows up, and another
ten after that. The good news is that there can’t be more than twenty or thirty people up
there right now. As soon as this train leaves, I’ll turn us invisible. Due to the fact that she’s
had no practical experience at moving while invisible, I’ll take care of getting the Shield
Maiden up there and back to the corner we started all this in. The three of you go ahead
and get there as best you can.
Taking Marita by the hand, I led her to the front, with the rest following on my heels. Placing
a hand on the small of her back, I waited for the train to leave. As soon as it did, I rolled her
over even as I turned us all invisible. Pulling myself up, I managed to lift her up as well.
Taking her in my arms, I carried her back to the corner I had designated as the meeting
point. Turning us visible, I continued to hold her as I tracked the others mentally. When
they reached us, I set her on her feet and made the others visible as well.
Looking at my watch for the first time since starting this rescue, I realized why I was so
tired. We had begun this around 4 in the afternoon, and it was nearly that in the morning.
We had been on this mission for approximately twelve hours.
After a quick conference, I turned invisible and went with Marita as we all went into the
restrooms. After washing up, we met back in the corner. Pooling our cash, we realized we
had just enough for a couple cabs. Walking out of the subway, we walked down the street
and began to hail a cab. Ishmael and the Lady went with Builder in the first one; I went with
Marita in the second. We exited the cabs about a block from our building. Exhausted, we
stumbled into the loft around 4:30 in the morning.
Chapter 2, Part 7: The Rescue
By Chris Ward
***EDITOR'S NOTE: This chapter contains mature content and violent themes.***
Waking to the alarm, I took my time in the shower. Knowing what was coming, I knew that I’d
need to be not only fully awake, but as relaxed and comfortable as possible. After drying
off, I stepped back into the bedroom and began to pull on the outfit I had chosen for the
day, feeling a fleeting smile as I remembered Marita’s reaction the last time I had worn all
black around her.
It had been one of the last dates before we decided to move in together. I had shown up at
her place dressed in a pair of black slacks and a black polo. She took one look at me, swore
in Spanish, and told me that she’d be damned if she went out with someone who belonged
in a funeral home. Then she led me out to the car and directed me to Macy’s, where she
delighted in picking out nearly an entire wardrobe for me. The only choice she gave me
was what size to buy. Right after I paid, she had me change before we went to the
restaurant.
Heading into the living room, I noticed that I was the last one up and out, and that it was
pushing 2. After pouring a cup of coffee I made a couple sandwiches and sat down in the
living room. Looking around, I realized that the others were ready, with the possible
exception of Builder who was off to the side working on something I couldn’t see. The Dark
Lady had chosen a pair of black slacks and a dark blue blouse, which she covered with a
hooded black vest. Glancing at her face, I felt a momentary surge of jealousy. There was a
suspicious glow to her cheeks. Glancing at Ishmael, who sat with her holding her hand,
confirmed my suspicions. They had apparently taken the time, last night or this morning, to
‘test the bed springs’ as the saying goes.
Taking my mind away from that path, I noticed that he was wearing an outfit similar to mine;
black jeans, sport shoes and a black pullover. The primary difference was that my pullover
was hooded and he was wearing a watch cap. From what I could see, Builder was wearing a
similar outfit, with a hooded sweater in place of the snugger pullover. I finished my meal in
silence, lost in thought as, apparently, we all were.
After rinsing off my dishes, I went back to the living room and looked around. “Are we
ready, then?”
After a quickly whispered conversation with his wife, who got up and started talking with
Builder, Ishmael stood up. “Just about.”
Before I had a chance to ask him what he meant by that, Builder came over with the Dark
Lady, and handed out a batch of PDAs and what looked similar to Bluetooth headsets. As he
handed me a set, I looked at him. “What are these for?”
The Lady answered, quickly hooking the PDA to her belt and slipping on the headset. “The
PDA has a mapping feature, as well as a locator. Builder put in the maps we already had, but
also installed a miniature scanner so we can get detail that is missing. They also transmit
coded information that only the other units can decode, transmitting the precise location of
each unit. The headsets are simple communication devices. We may find ourselves
separated or otherwise needing to communicate with each other while outside of easy
speaking range.”
Impressed, I looked over at Builder. “Good thinking. What made you decide to build them?”
“It wasn’t entirely my idea. I’d been working on this stuff for a while, mostly in my head. The
Lady told me the other day to go ahead and get going with the PDAs, though, including the
locator and mapping programs. The headsets were my idea though. I figured it might be
nice to be able to talk without shouting.”
Glancing at her, I raised my elbow as I slipped the pieces into place. Catching the look, and
understanding the question, she shrugged. “You know what I can do. I didn’t fully
understand why we’d need them, but I clearly saw that they’d be important.” Standing up,
she smoothed her outfit with one hand while adjusting the headset in her hair with the
other. When Ishmael stood with her, she continued. “The two of us need a little practice
with invisible movement.”
Over the next hour I kept them invisible as they learned the basics. Looking at the clock, I
called a halt to the practice session. “Guys that should give you enough to go on. With any
luck, assuming things go even partly according to the plan, we won’t be doing any major
movement while invisible. More importantly, we need to get a move on. It’s after 3 and
pushing 4 now. As it is, it’ll be midnight or later before we get to her.”
Ishmael absently scratched the back of his neck while he thought about it. “I guess we
should get moving. Is everyone’s gear working?” After a few seconds of listening to
everyone test their mikes and adjust the headset volume, we were ready. As we headed to
the door, I heard Ishmael’s voice in my ear. “Remember the plan.” With a nod, I vanished.
After a walk of several minutes, we entered the subway. Being forced to remain invisible
was annoying but unavoidable. We had decided earlier that I was the one most likely to be
expected, which meant I was the one in the most danger. The good news was that my little
light trick blocked me from all visibility; even the normal ways of seeing the invisible don’t
work on me. After what seemed an interminable ride, we finally exited at stop five. We had
decided that there was no point in making things more complicated than they needed to be.
The complications were likely to introduce themselves as we went along.
Ducking around a dark corner, we found ourselves briefly alone. The Dark Lady and Builder
put up their hoods even as Ishmael put on his cap. Invisibly, I followed suit. Twisting the
light so that they also became invisible, I looked around the corner. “According to the
overhead, we have about five minutes to the next train, and another five between that one
and the one following. That should be plenty of time. Once you’re down there and against
the wall, I’ll make you visible again. Let’s go.”
Slipping around the corner, I worked my unseen way through the crowd, stopping at the lip
of the platform. Crouching down, I reached down with both hands for a grip and flipped
myself down and under. Crawling to the wall, I made myself visible and brightened the area
up slightly. Closing my eyes, I discovered a hitherto unrealized side effect of using my
ability to hide others. Although it took the greatest amount of concentration to bend and
unbend the light, it still took a small amount to keep it bent. This meant that I could follow
anyone I made invisible. Mentally, I tracked Builder and the Lady as they made it under the
platform. Unsurprisingly, since he had been in this situation before, Builder was first, with
the Lady shortly behind them. As they reached the wall, I unbent the light around them.
With a grin, Builder walked over to the door. “It gets easier every time, doesn’t it?”
Smiling briefly, I nodded in agreement. I was following Ishmael’s progress when I heard a
small thud and his voice quietly swearing. Laughing, I went over to him and unbent the light
around him. After bringing him over to the door, I slipped the hood up over my head and
nodded to Builder even as I faded from sight. As Builder used the card and input the code.
As soon as the door began to open, I shut down my light and slipped in ahead of them.
Immediately behind me came Builder, with Ishmael following behind the Lady.
Looking around the area we had entered, we climbed from our knees to our feet. We were
in the center of one end of a vast hallway, with a width of a good twenty-five or thirty feet.
There was very dim lighting, and that was pretty much concentrated on the center of the
hall. Watching the three of them slip to one side, I found myself relieved that the
combination of the darkness of the sides of the hall and their own dark clothing, including
black gloves that I hadn’t put on yet, conspired to make them nearly invisible.
Jogging ahead, I let them know what I was doing. I stopped at the first intersection,
approximately 100 yards away. When I looked into the corridor and saw nobody, I keyed the
mike and gave the go ahead even as I became visible. The next several hours were spent
repeating the same basic sequence. The only variations came the handful of times the
corridors were not empty.
In those instances, which only occurred about four times in our five mile journey, I would
key the mike twice and freeze position. Twice, the people simply crossed the hall and
entered the opposite corridor. Once, with the second group we encountered, they exited
the corridor and simply stood there talking. Since they showed no inclination of moving, I
slowly crept back the several yards to where my partners were waiting. Reaching them, I
whispered what had happened.
Reaching a decision, I faded them out and we slowly walked forward. After passing the two,
who were still standing and talking, we went several more yards before I made us visible
again. Taking a moment to breath, we began our journey again. The only group that caused
us real worry, though, was the last one we encountered.
As this group exited the corridor, they turned and walked right past me. As soon as they
passed, I jogged to the other side of the hall and keyed the mike. “Don’t move.” As soon as
I issued the command, I began running as fast as I could. Angling across the hall again, I
came to a stop right beside Builder even as I threw them into invisibility. I managed to
whisper a hoarse, “Don’t talk,” into the mike just before the group reached us.
After the group had gone beyond us and faded from sight, I unbent the light around all of
us. I noticed that Ishmael’s hand was at the small of his back, where I knew he was carrying
the .45 we had brought, even as Builder was carrying the tranquilizer gun. Catching my
look, he shrugged. “Can’t be too careful.”
The last mile passed slowly but without incident. Finally we found ourselves facing a
considerably narrowed, probably no wider than ten or fifteen feet, and fully lit section of
hall, ending in an unmarked door. The only feature on or near the door was a small keypad
where the latch and handle should have been. Ducking back so I wouldn’t be seen from the
door, I shed my invisibility again, keying my mike as I did so. Relaying what I had seen, I
finished with, “Come on up but stay out of sight of the door. I think we need a quick
conference.”
When they reached me, I simply had two questions. “Builder, if I can get you up there
unseen, could you get the door open?”
After a moment, he nodded. “I should be able to. To be positive, I need to get a look at it
before it needs opened.”
Adding that to the plan forming in my mind, I turned to the Lady. “Same basic question. If I
can get you to the door, do you think you could tell me whether or not anyone is either in
there or even intending to enter?”
Also giving herself a moment to think, she nodded. “I won’t be able to tell you what they’re
thinking, but I’ll be able to learn that much.”
“Good, here’s the plan. The two of you will come up the hall with me. At the door, Builder
will see what is needed to open it and the Lady will see if anyone’s there. Ishmael, watch
our backs. Okay?”
Getting nods from everyone, I took Builder and the Lady by the hands and faded the three
of us from sight. Leading them up the hall, I let them do their work when we got to the door.
After five minutes, I led them back and faded us in when we reached Ishmael. Looking at
them, I asked, “So, what do we know?”
Builder went first. “Opening the door will be fairly simple. It’s a two key system. The first key
code unlocks the door, and the second one opens it. The trick is that you can’t get it wrong
or take to long inputting them. If either one happens, all hell breaks loose.”
“I don’t suppose you learned the codes while we were up there?”
“Sure. The Unlock code is 013151 and the Open code is 041856. The system has them in its
memory so it can compare input codes to them.”
“Excellent.” Turning to the Lady, I gestured for her contribution.
“I obviously can’t make guarantees that things won’t change before we get in, but there
was nobody there and no intentions of entering.”
Scratching my shoulder in frustration, I decided that was the most I could reasonably
expect. “All right, I guess. So, I’ll turn us all invisible and we’ll head to the door. Once there,
Builder will work his magic and the Lady will warn us if someone decides to check out the
room.” Stopping for a minute, I worked out the rest of this rather hasty plan. Turning to look
at the Lady, I said. “You and I will go first. If it seems like someone is going to enter the
room, squeeze my arm. We’ll stop until the danger passes.” Turning back to Ishmael and
Builder, I continued. “You two will be right behind us. If you bump into us stop until we start
moving again. Once you reach the door, input the codes and slip in. We’ll be right with you.
Once we’re inside, I’ll make us visible again and we can decide what to do from there.”
Walking up the hall without incident, Builder input the codes quickly enough to satisfy the
machine and we were allowed into the room. As soon as we were in, and the door was
closed, I unbent the light around us. The Lady and I were against the wall beside the door,
with Ishmael and Builder near us by the door. Along the opposite wall were a series of
storage lockers, and there was another door opposite the one we had just used. Crossing
to it, I looked through the small window set in it. Turning around, I addressed the Lady. “It
looks like we’re in the main bunker. Is it possible for you to find out where they’re holding
the Shield Maiden?”
Nodding, she crossed over to just beside the door and closed her eyes in concentration.
While she was doing that, I walked up to the lockers, quietly asking Builder to join me.
When he did so, I asked, “Can you tell if there’s any extra security on these things?”
Closing his eyes for a minute, he ran his fingers lightly across them. A moment later, he
reopened them. “Nothing I could find.”
“Excellent.” Digging out the skeleton key I had liberated from Dan, I proceeded to open all
of the lockers. When I saw what had been revealed, I felt like I’d hit the jackpot. “Yahtzee!” I
had uncovered enough weapons and ammunition to fight a small war.
Since the Dark Lady had finished her search, I began distributing weapons and ammo.
Everyone who didn’t already have one received a .45 loaded with a full magazine, as well as
an additional four magazines, and handed a fresh magazine to Ishmael. I also handed out
tranq guns to everyone but Builder, who already had one, and gave them another four
special magazines, including a spare fresh one for Builder. Finally, I handed out combat
knives to everyone. I took a double load, since I wanted Marita as fully armed as the rest of
us when we found her.
Opening the drawers in the last locker, I found and handed out silencers for the .45s. In the
bottom drawer of that locker, I found a pair of unusual gloves. Picking them up, I began to
study them closely for several minutes. Finally I figured out what I was seeing. They were a
special type of close combat glove that I vaguely remembered reading about some time
ago, but had never expected to see. A basic physical description would take note of the bar
across the palm, the barbed metallic plate that would cover the business end of a closed
fist, and the oddly wider than normal forearm enclosure.
What that basic description would miss on those gloves is the express purpose of each of
those items. The palm bar had two purposes. When a fist was formed around it and the bar
was squeezed slightly, it would lock the fist into a specific position and release a catch on
the barbed plate, which would than raise slightly. When that plate was depressed due to
the force of a punch, twin blades would shoot out from either side of the fist. The blades
were razor sharp and approximately six inches in length. They would eject and retract in
the space of approximately one half second.
Sliding them on, I quickly learned that they weren’t my preference, although Marita would
probably love them. Turning back around, I looked at the Lady. “Any ideas on where she is?”
Pulling out her PDA, she called up the bunker map and, with a handful of commands
uploaded the information to ours. Pulling mine out, I scanned the map as she spoke. “I
wasn’t able to get a precise fix. The best I could do was to locate the general area she’s in.
She’s somewhere, probably toward the center, of the area colored in gray.” The area she
was describing was fairly small, when compared to the size of the bunker, but was still large
enough that completely checking it would take a good chunk of time. As I contemplated the
best approach, I felt her take my arm. Looking down, I found myself staring into her
beautiful green eyes, intent but filled with concern.
“What’s the problem?” For some reason, I was whispering.
“It’s the Shield Maiden.”
Steeling myself, I prayed I wasn’t about to hear the worst. “All right.”
Taking a deep breath, she moved on. “When I found her mind, I discovered some
disturbing information. Her emotional state indicates that she’s been under a fairly steady
emotional attack, probably from Dan.”
Eyes narrowing, I managed, “I sort of expected that. I don’t plan on letting him get away with
it. Your eyes tell me there’s something else; what is it?”
“There were emotional markers I recognized from my time as a psychiatric therapist. You
need to prepare yourself for the fact that she has definitely been physically, and probably
sexually, abused.”
Closing my eyes against what she had just said, I forced my thoughts to calm down. “Beaten
and raped?”
Clenching her hand on my bicep she just nodded and said in a small, tear choked voice, “I’
m very much afraid so.”
Breathing deeply, I found myself unable to think. I started to run at the door, only to be
tackled by Ishmael, who took the precaution of pinning my arms behind my back. After
attempting to fight him off for several minutes, I calmed down enough to register what else
the Lady was saying. “Now, more than at any time since her abduction, the Shield Maiden
needs you to be calm and rational. Think, don’t react. Follow the plan. Her one hope has
been for you to come find her and rescue her. If you are caught, and you will be if you just
burst into the hall, you will destroy that hope and kill her. Don’t fail her.”
Whether it was due to her ability, or to her time and training as a psychiatrist, she knew
exactly how to calm me down. I may have failed Marita once by allowing them to abduct her,
but I’d be damned before failing her again. Closing my eyes, I mastered the last of my rage,
shoving it into a corner for when I’d need it. “All right. You can get off me now, Ishmael. I’m
not exactly calm, but I’m at least rational.”
As he released me and helped me up, I did some quick thinking. Taking out both .45s, I
screwed the silencers onto the barrels. Checking their loads, I released the safeties and
slid one of them back into its holster, holding the other one loosely in my hand. Fixing my
eyes on it, I said, “I’m not asking any of you to follow my lead on this, all right? They’ve
made this personal, and I’m going to react personal. They dealt the cards when they
grabbed her, and upped the ante by hurting her. I’m calling the hand right now. Any of them
that get in my way go down hard and permanent.
“So… Lady, as we get closer can you narrow the location down?” seeing her nod, I flashed
an evil grin. “Shall we get going then?” As we headed to the door, I wasn’t overly surprised
to see that Ishmael was carrying his .45 as well.
Holding the gun at the ready, I slipped the door open and looked out. With nobody in the
corridors, we exited the room. As before, I led the group with Builder behind me and the
Lady being followed by Ishmael, who was partially guiding her as her eyes were partially
closed in concentration. As we rounded the first corner we ran directly into a half dozen
Organization personnel. As soon as they spotted us they opened their mouths, apparently
to call for help.
On a hair trigger already, we gave them no chance to do so. Four of them died from shots
fired either by Ishmael or me. Builder dropped the remaining two with his tranq gun.
Knowing that time was now pressing, we didn’t bother either to search or to conceal the
bodies.
As we entered the area indicated by the Lady as Marita’s general location, I realized that
more encounters were now a guarantee. Popping open an unlocked room, I led us in for a
quick conference. Scratching my chin as I talked, I kept an eye on the corridor. “This just
isn’t going to work. Dark Lady, between the locator and map on the PDA and your ability,
could you guide me to where they’re holding the Shield Maiden?”
After a moment's thought she nodded. “Yes.”
“Excellent. Here’s the revised plan, then. Lady, I want you to stay here out of sight. I need
you to guide me to her from here. Ishmael, you stay with her. She’ll need a guard, and you’
re best suited. Builder, I think you should come with me. I’ll need someone to watch my
back, and you were both fast and accurate with the tranqs earlier.” Looking around, I
noticed that Ishmael and the Lady were already concealing themselves behind some
shelving in the far corner of the room. The area was dark enough that the clothing they
were wearing, combined with their dark skin, made them virtually invisible.
Walking over to them, I gave them both a firm handshake. “Listen, I can’t guarantee that
Builder and I will be able to get back to this spot with the Shield Maiden, so I won’t even
have us try. Instead, I want you two to haul ass when you hear me say that we’ve got her.
We’ll meet you in the ammo room, hopefully no more than a few minutes behind you. Got
it?” When they nodded, I grinned morbidly and turned to go. “All right, Builder. Let’s head
out.”
Listening to the Lady’s voice in the headset, we worked our way ever deeper into the
bunker. Several times we made a fight of it. Builder count of unconscious targets climbed
to better than a dozen, roughly equal my death total.
Finally I heard the words I was so desperate for. The Lady’s voice came on and said, “The
next door opens to her location. She’s not alone.”
Builder asked the question before I did. “How many with her?”
After a brief pause, she returned, “I only sense one.”
Turning to Builder, I let all the rage and frustration I was feeling into my voice. “Keep any
late comers off my back, but this one’s all mine. Are we clear?” As he nodded, I led him at a
run down the corridor to the next door. There was a small window set in the door, which
allowed me a brief glimpse of the room itself.
What I was seeing was a small observation room that was apparently empty. Using the
skeleton key again, I opened the door just enough to quietly squeeze in. Letting Builder in,
I gestured that he was to stay by the now closed door and keep a look out. Turning to the
observation window, I looked upon a sight that fanned my barely concealed rage to a white
heat that made it difficult to even breathe, let alone think.
Marita lay tied, spread eagle, to a bed facing the window. Her clothing lay in a cut and torn
pile in one corner. Her nude body bore bruising and cuts which attested to the force with
which the outfit had been removed. Other bruising along her body hinted that the Lady had
been right about the physical abuse, and bruising on her breasts and pelvic area told me
that the only woman I’d ever loved had been violently raped.
A man was in the room with her, caressing her breasts even as I made my initial study of the
room. As I frantically looked for a way to open the door separating the two rooms, his hands
moved to his belt. With a scream of unbearable rage, I released a beam of solid light,
stronger than anything I had ever done before. It didn’t so much break the observation
window as disintegrate it. The beam flew directly over the man’s shoulder, barely missing
his head, and impacted the wall with enough force to cause cracks to form.
Leaping through the window even as the beam hit the wall, I slammed into the man as he
began to turn around. Smashing him against the wall, I wrapped one hand around his throat
and began to squeeze. Screaming curses in every language I knew them in, I began to slam
my closed fist repeatedly into his groin, ribs and face.
Finally, after several minutes, I was able to regain control of myself. I slowly realized that he
was no longer fighting against me, or even moving. Looking at what I held in my clenched
fist, I was only vaguely able to recognize it as a human. The fighting gloves I was wearing
had performed their task admirably. Dropping him in disgust, I stripped the gloves off as I
approached the bed. From this close, I was able to see even more bruising on her face and
torso. Taking the combat knife from its sheath, I grabbed the first of the ropes at her ankles.
Suddenly her eyes shot open. Unseeing, she began to moan in multiple languages,
repeating the same basic series of comments. “God, no. Not again. Please, God, no more.
Lucius, where are you?”
With tears in my eyes, I slid the blade between the rope and her ankle and carefully slit the
rope. After freeing the first ankle, I moved to the other one. Once both ankles were freed, I
moved to her wrists, which were tied so that her arms, while retaining the spread eagle
position, were stretched out over her head. With even more care than I had exercised with
her ankles, I slit the ropes from her wrists.
Stripping off my pullover, I laid it across her exposed breasts. Sitting at the top of the bed, I
cradled her head in my lap, gently stroking her hair as I did so. Removing the single pillow
they had given her, I attempted to cover her exposed pubic area.
Continuing to lightly stroke her hair, brushing it away from her face, I looked into eyes that
were unable to see me, lost as they were in horrors within her own mind. I gently spoke to
her, letting her know that I was there, telling her that she was safe, but mostly letting my
love for her fill my voice and flood like light into the dark place she had been forced into.
My first ray of hope came, ironically, when her eyes first came alive with hatred. She started
shrieking like a wildcat and slashing at my face and arms with her nails. I kept stroking her
hair and talking to her, pausing only occasionally to protect my eyes from her nails.
Finally, after an unknown length of time, her eyes blinked open with complete recognition.
Marita, my love, had returned to me. One gentle hand reached up to stroke the cheek she
had only just tried to shred. “Lucius?”
With a slightly pained grin, I said, “Yeah, it’s me baby. Sorry I’m late.”
She didn’t laugh, or even smile, at the lame joke, not that I had expected her to. Instead,
she levered herself so that she was seated in my lap. Rapping her arms around my waist,
she buried her head in my shoulder and began to weep; a choked, tearing sobbing that
threatened to break my heart. Burrowing my face into her normally luxurious brown hair, I
embraced her and began to weep with joy at finding her, combined with pain at what she
was suffering and had suffered.
Finally her sobs quieted and we sat there holding each other for some time. Eventually she
began to speak into my shoulder. “They hurt me, dear heart.” Looking down, I found her
eyes, lost again in memory, seeking out mine. I instinctively knew that, whatever she was
going to tell me now, she needed nothing more than for me to be there. The time for
retribution would come, but not now.
“They hurt me. They caught me by convincing me that you had been in a horrible accident,
and were clinging to life. As soon as they had me out of the courthouse, they forced me
into a limo. Before I knew what was happening, something was shoved over my mouth and
nose; chloroform I’d guess, or something very much like it. When I came to, I was in here.
“That’s when they called you. That guy, Dan, was in here and made me experience some of
my worst fears.” As she paused for a minute, I tightened my embrace when she shuddered.
“No. I’m not ready to talk about that. I don’t know that I ever will.
“That was Friday evening. They let me sleep for a little while, but I have no idea how long. It
was just about the last sleep I’ve gotten. Fan came back several times, doing the same
thing.” Drawing another shuddering breath, she continued. “Finally he came one last time.
He said something about having to go to headquarters, but that he had made arrangements
to keep me from being ‘lonely,’ as he put it. He gave me one last waking nightmare and left.
“That was when the real nightmare began. Someone came in with a knife. I lunged at him,
but he just backhanded me. He did it hard enough to temporarily stun me and knock me
back onto the bed. The bastard tied me up and took his knife to my clothing. After he had
removed all my clothing, he fondled me for several minutes before he began to beat me,
slowly and methodically. The more I screamed and begged, the more he seemed to get off
on it. Apparently he got tired of the foreplay because, after beating me for several minutes
he dropped his pants and mounted me.”
he suddenly pressed her face deeper into my shoulder and began a fresh round of
weeping. “H-h-he r-r-r-raped me, Lucius. Not-not just once, but repeatedly. He-he-he’s
been here a lot. He-he seemed to enjoy being as violent and cruel as possible when he did
me.” Lifting her face slightly from my shoulder, she looked into my eyes. Her eyes were
streaming tears, filled with fear and humiliation. “Actually, I could have sworn he was back,
shortly before I felt and heard you calling me. He-he was getting violent and excited again. I
could have sworn he said something about getting ready to use the knife on me. I thought
he meant to kill me.”
Looking into those eyes, I felt the rage beginning to build again. I also felt her shame and
humiliation at what had happened. “Shorter than me? Built like a tank, with a single
eyebrow covering both eyes? Light brown hair and a kind of dumb but mean look to him?”
The horror threatened to overwhelm her again as she nodded. Looking over her shoulder
at the once human by the wall, I felt a primal joy at being able to relay this little piece of
pleasant news to her. “I don’t think he’ll be bothering you, or much of anyone else, ever
again.”
Looking into my face in confusion, she turned her head to follow my gaze. As her eyes fell
upon the lifeless corpse, I found myself slightly frightened by the look of absolute hatred
and pure rage that came into her face. Her voice, normally beautiful with just the trace of an
exotic accent became harsh and bitter. “Good!”
Suddenly slipping from the bed, she stalked over to the body, letting the items covering
her nakedness fall to the floor. Limping, she kept walking until she was leaning against the
wall, over the body. Out of nowhere she began to kick at the body, shrieking curses in
English, Spanish and French at the same time. Boiled down their essence, her comments
were a rolling tirade comprised of variations of, “Wanna f***ing rape me now, you goddamn,
c***sucking, son of a f***ing b****?! Couldn’t f*** me enough f***ing earlier, could you? No,
your f***ing ass wanted to f***ing f*** me one last f***ing time! Thought it was a f***ing riot,
didn’t ya, ya little f***ing pig? WHO’S F***ING LAUGHING NOW YOU MOTHER-F***ING SON OF A
F***ING B***; YOU GODDAMN SACK OF F***ING S***?!?! God, I wish you were alive so I COULD
F***ING KILL YOU WITH MY BARE F***ING HANDS!!!”
As her voice raised and her language deteriorated, I was finally able to shake off the
momentary shock that her rage had caused. Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms
around her and guided her back to the bed. At first she resisted, even attempting to claw
my arms. Finally she yielded, and sat weeping at the edge of the bed. After holding her for
several more minutes, the latest storm passed. Leaving her at the edge of the bed, I went
over to the pile of clothes in the corner.
Everything was a loss. Her blouse, skirt, even her underwear and shoes had been
destroyed in that bastard’s hurry to get to her flesh. Looking around, I spotted the fighting
gloves and the pullover. Grabbing them both up, I went back to her. Holding the pullover in
one hand, I compared it to her measurements.
Sitting down beside her, I explained. “This looks like it’ll be a little tight across your
breasts. Do you think you’ll be able to stand that, or do we look for something else?”
Looking in my eyes, she gently touched a couple of the larger bruises while she made her
decision. “I don’t think there’s much choice. I watched you dig through my clothes over
there, and nothing’s salvageable. It’ll be uncomfortable, but I’ll wear it.” Standing up, I
helped her pull it on. Stepping back, I realized that we still had a problem. Although my
torso was, for the most part, a little longer and bulkier, her breasts more than made up for
it. In this case, I had been hoping that the pullover, which was a little long on me, would
function as a micro-skirt for Marita. Unfortunately, it barely made it down past her belly
button.
Scratching the back of my head, I did some quick thinking. “Damn! Okay, honey, can you
stay here for just a minute while I-” I slowed and stopped as the fear and horror came back
into her eyes.
Beginning to retreat back inside herself, she sat down and hugged her chest. “No. Please.
Don’t leave me alone. Please, not alone again.”
Sitting down beside her, I gently embraced her and began a light rocking motion as I
stroked her hair again, quietly whispering, “Shh. I’m not leaving. I promise. I’m not going to
leave you alone, ever.”
Slowly she came back to me again. When her eyes cleared, I tried a smile, but it didn’t work
very well. “So, are you ready to leave?”
“Sí.”
“Good.” Keying the mike open I said, “We’ve got her.”
The Dark Lady’s voice came over. “How is she?”
Grimacing, I admitted the truth. “Not great. Turns out you were right, on both counts. We
can deal with that later though. Right now she’s ready to go home.”
“Excellent. We’ll meet you at the entrance.”
Raising my voice, I called, “Builder?”
He came from his position by the door and smiled at Marita. Catching her half-dressed
state, he blushingly turned solidly toward me. “We leaving then?”
“Yes, but we’ll be slightly delayed.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not going to force her to flash the entire damn world! The first person we run
across that is approximately her size gets to donate his clothing!”
A sudden gasp caused us both to spin around, weapons drawn. Marita was on her feet,
darting across the room to the corpse. Falling to her knees she began to rifle his pockets.
“Son of a b****! What the f*** did you do with it?” After several seconds, during which her
search grew more frenzied, she gave a hiss of satisfaction as she withdrew a necklace
from one of his pockets. Walking back to us, she commented, “The bastard was slightly
more careful removing this than he was with everything else. I guess the c***sucker
thought he could get some money selling it.” Handing it over to me, she turned around and
held her hair in one hand. “Can you put it back on me, please?”
Glancing at it before draping it around her neck, I realized part of why it was so important.
Suspended from a delicate golden chain was a golden pendent. The pendent was cast in
the profile of a wolf’s head, and was set with diamonds, except for the eye which was a trio
of small rubies. I remembered commissioning it right after we decided to live together. I
gave it to her over dinner the night she moved in. Her face lit up beautifully when she
unwrapped and opened the box, and she demanded that I put it on her immediately. After
we got back, I found her way of thanking me for it particularly enjoyable.
Since that time, the necklace had only been removed, and carefully lain in the original case
in her jewelry box, for bathing or a bare handful of times when a different piece was a
better compliment to an outfit. After fastening the clasp, I took the fighting gloves from
where I had dumped them and handed them to her. Pulling them on, she asked, “What are
these?”
Nodding at the bloody mass by the wall, I said, “They’re what did that to your attacker.
Specifically, they’re fighting gloves.” Gently leading her toward the door, I gave her a
rough view of how they worked. With a wicked grin and a noise in her throat that sounded
almost like a purr of satisfaction, she finished pulling them on. As we reached the door, I
took a minute to buckle the gun belt containing the spare .45, the tranq gun and the knife at
her waist. I couldn’t help wincing it reflected pain as I brushed some of the more painful
looking exposed bruises. Looking at Builder, I nodded toward the door. As he looked out, I
followed him with Marita.
Exiting the room, we began to take the quickest possible path to the entrance. We had
been on the move for approximately ten minutes, perhaps fifteen, when we encountered
the first group of personnel. Marita and I began firing at the same time, with Builder
immediately after us. When it was over, I realized that there were a dozen bodies on the
floor, all of them dead. Looking over, I realized that Builder had not been firing the tranq.
Catching my curious glance, he shrugged. “I saw what they did to her.”
Glancing at the bodies again, I noticed that one of them was only slightly larger than Marita,
and that another one had feet that were about the same size as hers. Realizing that we didn’
t have time for privacy, I stripped the pants from the one and the shoes and socks from the
other and handed them to her. After she pulled on the pants, I helped her tighten the gun
belt so that it helped keep them up. After she was fully covered, and the shoes were
securely tied, we started to run, as best she could, down the corridors holding our
weapons at the ready.
Although we were now able to cover ground faster, we also encountered more enemies,
and not always at enough distance to make the guns feasible. After the first couple
encounters like this, during which Marita saved our hide, Builder and I began carrying the
knives in the hands not carrying our guns.
By the time we burst into the room just inside the bunker, we had left better than fifty fresh
corpses, made that way by bullet and blade, behind us in the corridors. Our entrance
caused Ishmael to jump to his feet with a startled, “What the hell?” The three of us couldn’t
help but laugh in relief.
Finally getting control of myself, I managed to gasp out, “Let’s just say that there’s a very
limited amount of time left for us to remain somewhat unnoticed. As if my words were the
cue they were waiting for, alarms started sounding. Swearing under his breath, Ishmael ran
over to the exit and jerked it open.
After looking down the hall, he glanced over his shoulder at Marita. “We’ve got five miles
to cover. Can you handle that?”
Looking directly into his eyes, she shot back, “Do I have a choice?”
Having crossed the room to look over Ishmael’s shoulder, I squinted at something in the
distance. Holding up a finger, I said, “Actually, I think you do.” Crossing back to Marita, I
gave her a gentle kiss and said, “Stay with them. They’ll watch over you while I’m gone.”
Starting to fade out even as I turned to go, I was stopped short by her grabbing my arm in a
vice grip and shouting out, “No! Don’t leave me!” Turning back around, my protests faded
on my lips as I saw the despair and fear in her eyes.
“All right. We’ll go together. Hang on.” Gathering her in my arms, I held her close as I
turned back around. “When you guys here me give the all clear, come on down.” Ignoring
their protests, I turned us both invisible and shouldered past Ishmael into hall.
Several yards down the hall, I slid to a stop. Ducking to one side of the hall, I set Marita on
her feet, keeping a firm grip around her waist. Pulling her to me, I whispered in her ear,
“Hold on to me if you need to for security, but not my arms. I’ll need them in just a minute.”
I felt her arms brush my waist as she figured out exactly where I was. Suddenly, she spun in
front of me, wrapping me in a terrified hug. Even as she buried her invisible face into my
chest, the vehicle I had barely spotted from the door rolled into range. Counting the driver,
the passengers, and the literal hangers on, there were most of two dozen armed men and
women.
Lifting both arms, I began to send twin beams out with a precision and speed I had never
before attempted. Within thirty seconds they were all dead, the last six or eight having only
just begun to realize that there was something wrong before dying. Seeing nobody else
around, I made the two of us visible. Speaking into the mike, which I had left on, I said, “It’s
clear. Come down. We’re maybe one or two dozen yards out.” Keying off the mike, I looked
down at where Marita still had her face buried in my chest. Gently lifting her head, I said,
“Sorry about the shock, baby. I didn’t have time to explain.” As she unclenched, I asked,
“Do you know how to drive?”
Confused, she said, “Yeah, papi taught me. Why?”
Leading her over to the transport, I said, “Because this is what’s going to get us out of
here faster than our feet.” Rapidly dumping the bodies that had fallen in out of the cart, I
glanced at the meters. “Excellent. This tub can hit twenty-five.” Turning to Marita, I grinned.
“Go ahead and get this crate pointed the right direction, hon. Once we’re all in, floor it.”
As she was turning it around, the others reached us. Ishmael had a look of cold fury on his
face. “What in the HELL was the big idea behind taking off like that?!”
“Sorry. I didn’t really have time to let you in on the plan. I do now. I saw this thing, kind of,
from the door. I knew we had at least another two or three hours of walking ahead of us if
we had to leave on foot. This thing is going to have us out of here in less than thirty
minutes.”
The fact that he was still upset with me was obvious, but we didn’t have time to pursue it.
Just as we started climbing into the transport, another patrol showed up. They numbered
about twenty and came bursting out of the side corridor. Diving from my perch and making
myself invisible, I had just time enough to shout out a warning before hitting the ground. I
managed to fire off about a dozen rounds before I felt a burning pain down my side.
Glancing up, I saw that the last of the patrol had fallen, so I made myself visible and
surveyed the damage.
I couldn’t see much, so I carefully removed my shirt and used it to wipe some of the blood
off my side. A stray bullet had creased my ribs and slit through the top of the pants,
ricocheting off the wall and going God knows where. Wincing in pain, I wiped the wound off
some more and then tore the sleeves off my shirt to pad it with. Using the knife, I cut the
shirt into a series of bindings I used to tie the improvised pad in place. Looking around, I
glimpsed a dead body whose shirt was about my size. Stripping it off, I stood up even as I
slipped it on.
I was in the process of buttoning it up, realizing that it was a little snug, when Marita
spotted me and ran the short distance. Spotting the crude bandage, her eyes widened in
new horror. “You’ve been shot!”
Taking a minute to finish buttoning the shirt, I allowed her to drape my arm over her neck
and guide me back to the transport. “Hurts like hell, to be honest, but it’s just a graze. How’
s everyone else?”
“Builder took a bullet graze across the shoulder, and Ishmael lost a notch in his ear. Painful
for both, but nothing serious.”
Crawling into the passenger seat, I looked in back. A glance was all I needed to realize that
we had been lucky. Catching the Dark Lady’s eye as she was checking out Builder’s
shoulder wound, I asked, “Are we ready to go?”
When she nodded, I turned to Marita and gave her the go ahead. As the transport
accelerated, I slipped another fresh magazine into my gun. Holding it in my lap, I kept an
eye on the sides as we speed along. Within fifteen minutes, during which we encountered
no more patrols, we arrived at the subway entrance.
Creating a little light for guidance, I opened the door and led them at a crawl under the
platform. Holding Marita close, I said, “I’ll vanish for a minute and check out the overhead
for times.” Catching the flash of fear in her face, I told Marita, “If you need to, you can come
up to the front with me. I won’t turn until the last minute.” She thought about it for a minute
and then shook her head. Giving me a quick, yet passionate, kiss, she crawled to the side
of the Dark Lady, who wrapped a protective and comforting arm around her.
Moving to the front, I looked down the tunnel but couldn’t see or hear anything. Turning
invisible, I shouldered my way to the platform. Catching a glimpse of the times on the
overhead, I immediately dropped and rolled under the platform again. Even as I finished
the roll, a train roared up to a stop.
Turning myself visible again, I crawled back to them, rubbing a shoulder as I did so. “After
this one leaves, there’s a ten minute window before the next one shows up, and another
ten after that. The good news is that there can’t be more than twenty or thirty people up
there right now. As soon as this train leaves, I’ll turn us invisible. Due to the fact that she’s
had no practical experience at moving while invisible, I’ll take care of getting the Shield
Maiden up there and back to the corner we started all this in. The three of you go ahead
and get there as best you can.
Taking Marita by the hand, I led her to the front, with the rest following on my heels. Placing
a hand on the small of her back, I waited for the train to leave. As soon as it did, I rolled her
over even as I turned us all invisible. Pulling myself up, I managed to lift her up as well.
Taking her in my arms, I carried her back to the corner I had designated as the meeting
point. Turning us visible, I continued to hold her as I tracked the others mentally. When
they reached us, I set her on her feet and made the others visible as well.
Looking at my watch for the first time since starting this rescue, I realized why I was so
tired. We had begun this around 4 in the afternoon, and it was nearly that in the morning.
We had been on this mission for approximately twelve hours.
After a quick conference, I turned invisible and went with Marita as we all went into the
restrooms. After washing up, we met back in the corner. Pooling our cash, we realized we
had just enough for a couple cabs. Walking out of the subway, we walked down the street
and began to hail a cab. Ishmael and the Lady went with Builder in the first one; I went with
Marita in the second. We exited the cabs about a block from our building. Exhausted, we
stumbled into the loft around 4:30 in the morning.
