Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (22 page)

“But you really think that?  You
think he would throw us under the bus if he needed to?”

I think about Tiago, about the
hard times he gave some of my brothers and sisters while growing up.  And I
think of Leonard and Lombardi.

“There are some things I want to
believe,” I tell Iris, “And then there are some things I just know.”

“I see,” she says.

“Why did you and Isaac join me? 
It always seems like Tiago respects you two, I don’t think you’re on his
‘weakling’ list.”

“I don’t know, I guess I have a
feeling that he’s going to lead us to our end.  I can’t really pin it on
anything.  I mean, I have no real concrete evidence to do so.  It’s just, I
have this sense, this intuition that something is going to happen, something
bad, and no matter what I say to stop him, he’s already set on his way.  In
order to save myself, in order to save Isaac, in order to save the rest of us,
we need to stay away from him and his schemes.”

“One of your visions?”

She looks embarrassed, dismissive.

“Uh, I guess so,” she says.

Suddenly, Isaac barges into the
conversation.

“What’s the plan, Oscar?” he asks
me.

I pause to think.  If there’s a
time for a group meeting, it’s now.  I motion for Maddie to come over.  All
four of us are huddled with a blanket of lantern light covering us.

“I think we should lay low,” I
tell the group.  “Tiago is charging into the situation with full force, he’s
bound to run into our pursuers eventually.  He’s not going to be quiet about
things, either.  I think while the United Species Alliance is distracted, we
can obtain an insta-item from one of the supply depots.  We have to finish
Lombardi’s job.  But we can’t go right away, we’ll have to wait until the dust
clears because they’re on high alert after the first raid on the depot.  We can
live on our supplies for now, but eventually we’ll have to make our move.”

“What about Tiago?  What if he and
the others get into trouble?” Iris asks.

I hesitate saying what I want to
say.  I would help Tiago if needed.  I know his hasty decisions will lead to
carnage left and right and he could use assistance.  But I can’t.  I have to do
what’s good for the rest of my family.

“Tiago’s a fierce fighter,” I
say.   “And the rest of the family has what it takes to endure.  I know him and
the others can take care of themselves, trust me.”

“But we’re abandoning him,” Iris
tells me softly.

“No, we’re not,” I say sternly,
“we just have to take care of ourselves first.”

“You know who you sound like?  You
sound like Tiago,” Isaac says bluntly.

“I am not like him,” I snap back. 
“If you died, he wouldn’t even flinch at it.  He would probably push you into
the law so he could get away.”

“You don’t know that.  I don’t
think that would happen to Iris and I.  You’re assuming,” Isaac says.  “Your
judgment is clouded by your bad blood.”

“That’s not true.  You saw how
quick he passed over Lombardi’s death and went straight to business
afterwards.  He didn’t mourn over his brother, Lombardi meant nothing to him.”

Isaac stands silent.

“Oscar’s right!” Maddie says. 
“You don’t know him like we do.  Tiago is a terror.  He’s always had respect
for you and Iris, but it’s different for the rest of us.”

“He’s not that bad,” Isaac says. 
He continues to defend Tiago.  I suppose if I were him, I’d do the same.  Isaac
has never really had a reason to distrust Tiago, but I’ve seen Tiago’s
treatment of Maddie, Leonard, and Lombardi.  I know how much of a bully he can
be.

“Yes he is!  Why did you even come
with us?”  Maddie shouts as her eyes get watery.  Isaac remains tight lipped,
but Maddie persists.  “Why?”

“Because I made him,” Iris
interrupts.  “I told you about my premonition, that something bad is going to
happen if we stayed with Tiago.  No one else would have believed me except
Isaac.  He’s here because of me.”

“Is this true?” I ask him.  He
nods silently.  I pause for a few seconds then address him.  “Isaac, I’m not
mad at you.  I understand that you might be questioning things, that you might
be scared you made the wrong choice, but trust me, I’m here for you, I’m here
for all of you.  You aren’t soldiers in my army, you are my family, and I won’t
let anything happen to my family.”

Isaac’s face softens a bit.  He no
longer has the frown that covered his face earlier.  My speech has affected
him.

“Okay, Oscar, I trust you,” he
says.

“Thanks,” I say.  “It’s been a
long day and it’s already midnight.  We should probably get some rest soon.”

They all agree and slowly get
settled in for the evening.

After our talk, I am optimistic. 
We may not have our whole plan figured out, but we have each other’s support,
the kind that was missing when we lived under Tiago’s regime.

I think we’re going to make it
after all.

November 17, 3040
12:50 AM

Borton, Apollo, and I are on our
way to the Spades and Diamonds Casino.  We’re in our transport, possibly
heading toward a trap, but we’re fully armed and prepared for what may come.  I
have my energy shotgun and pistol, Apollo and Borton have their gear.  We also
have a cache of smoke and pulse grenades.

The Spades and Diamonds Casino is
about four miles away from the Primm-Phillips supply depot, but we only take
the hovercar three miles.  We proceed on foot for the other one.  This is what
I decided.  If we take our vehicles to the front, we might alert them, and the
only way we can control the situation is to utilize the element of surprise.

We’re here.  The shabby casino
sign I see used to shine brightly in the Primm landscape.  The once glorious
marquee has a gaudy diamond and spade on it, but it’s been reduced to chipped
plastic and cracked glass.  We get out of the hovercar cautiously.  I motion
for Apollo to survey the area and sniff out any traps.  He sprints and
investigates a half mile ahead of us and comes back.  He shakes his head,
everything seems okay.

I kneel down.

“Okay, so let’s go over the battle
plan one more time,” I say.  “There are two entrances to the Diamond and Spades
Casino.  I will take the front entrance, Apollo and Borton will take the back
one.  It’s a pretty small building.  The Spades and Diamonds Casino is a single
floor, one room gaming complex.”

“So the back entrance and the
front entrance are in relative proximity from each other?” Borton asks.

“Yes.  I will have my weapons
stowed within my armor and will appear non-hostile,” I say.  “I don’t want to
trigger any unwanted aggression since they’re the ones who invited us to talk. 
I’ll distract them while you two sneak in the back.  My communicator will be on
sound mode, no graphical interface.  I want you two to tell me your
observations while staying hidden.  It is vital that you let me know how many
there are and what, if any, kind of weapons they have.  I’ll need to know what
I’m dealing with.”

“Understood,” Apollo says.  “We’ll
get a head and item count for you.”

“I’ll try to negotiate with them
to stall,” I say.  “And then, when I give the signal, you two will attack from
the rear and all three of us will work to disarm and capture the halfkinds.”

“Only capture?” Borton inquires.

“Yes, only capture.  Remember,” I
say, “when we are in pursuit, you’re to obey my commands at all times.  I don’t
want either of you charging into the situation head first.”

Apollo I trust, but I’ve never
worked with Borton before so I’m not sure what to expect from him.

“What if we take down one of the
hostiles before you?” Apollo asks.

“Engage, but only subdue.  I
repeat, only subdue.  I don’t want any fatalities yet, understood?” I say to
both of them.

“Excuse me, Commander,” Borton
asks, “but isn’t the purpose of this mission to terminate them?  Why are we
only going to subdue?”

“Because they might have some
useful intel.  Besides, we’re not executioners Borton, let the Alliance deal with them.”

“But it’s the Alliance who made
the orders.  They told us very clearly to kill them.”

“Look, if they are hostile, then
by all means do what it takes to keep yourself safe, but if there is no
resistance, then your orders are to simply capture.  I’m not going to be
responsible for the murders of defenseless creatures.”

“Um, defenseless?  You saw what
that one did to the supply depot, right?”

“He was provoked.  This is
different.”

“But as I said before, I have
strict orders from both my pig superiors and the United Species Alliance to
terminate at all costs.”

“These are my orders,” I say
sternly.  “And you will fall in line.”

“If you say so,” Borton says
begrudgingly.  “Just know that if I get any flack from the uppers, I’m going to
direct them to you.”

“By all means go ahead, I can
handle them.  So we know what to do?”  Apollo nods his head.  Borton does too,
but unwillingly.  I tap on my communicator and Fenrir pops up on my graphical
interface.  “Team B, how are things going?”

“We’ve just arrived and set up a
stakeout area on the Gonzalez teleporter,” he says, “There doesn’t seem to be
anyone inside, at least not from our vantage point.”

“Okay.  Hold your position.  Do
not engage until I tell you to.”

“Understood.”

The holographic screen shuts off
and I shift my attention back to the team.  “Let’s go.”

I walk to the front of the
building and motion for Borton and Apollo to go around the back.  I tap my ear
to my teammates, which reminds them to keep their communicators on sound mode
only.  I don’t want any holographic interfaces to go off and blow our cover.

Borton and Apollo turn the corner
and disappear from my line of sight.  I hug my back against the wall and sneak
to the front door.  There’s tons of broken glass on the ground, but it’s hard
to say if this is the work of a halfkind or looter.  The sound of crushing
glass will surely tip them off, so I take a peek inside before enter.  I don’t
see much because of the dim lighting, only some haggard looking furniture and
broken down gambling machines.  It looked like the casino was empty and I start
to worry that we have fallen into a trap.

I tiptoe my way in and try to make
as little noise as possible.  A few scratches and crunches are made, but
there’s no reaction from inside.  I open the partially broken door.

Creak!

Shit, that was loud!  Immediately,
I hear rustling and swift movements.  They must have been resting, the door no
doubt startled them.

A small light turns on, but a slot
machine blocks my view on its source.

“Apollo, Borton,” I whisper, “Are
you there?  Have you entered the building?”

“Yes, we’re here,” Apollo says. 
“We’re hiding behind a door that leads to the back.  We’re unnoticed.”

“A light has turned on in the main
casino, but my view is blocked.  What do you see?”

“Four halfkinds.  The twins, the
cow, and the bear.  They’re on high alert, something must’ve startled them.”

“That was me,” I say embarrassed. 
“What are they doing now?”

“They just woke up, but they’re
surveying the area suspiciously.  Oh, wait, one of them, the bear halfkind, he
picked up a lantern.”

“There are only four of them? 
Where are the other five?”

“I don’t know.”

“Something is wrong.”

“Hello?” the bear halfkind
shouts.  I hear him talk to the air.  His voice is quivering and I can sense
his fear.  “Who’s there?”

“He’s starting to walk around,”
Apollo says to me on my communicator.  “He’s, oh shit, he’s headed our
direction.”

“We need to engage,” Borton
interrupts.

“Negative!” I say, “That’s not
part of the plan.  You need to wait for my signal.”

“Hello?!” I hear the bear halfkind
shout louder.  “Who’s there?”

“He’s walking right toward us!”
Apollo says.  “He’s going to find us.”

“We need to engage,” Borton
repeats.

“No.  You two stay there.  I will
intercept.”

I walk towards the light and make
myself visible to the halfkinds.  I see the four of them, huddled near the lantern,
eyes wide open in my direction.  This is the first time I’ve come in contact
with them.  They have a blank look on their faces, mouths quaking, bodies
shaking, paralyzed in fear.  They’re terrified at the mere sight of me.  The
only one who reacts is the bear man.  I look at him as he holds his lantern up
high.  I don’t know what to say, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to
my mind.

“You speak human,” I say.

“Who are you?” he asks me, voice
shaking.  “Are you the ones who are trying to kill us?”

“No,” I say calmly.  “I’m just
here to talk.  We got your message.”

“Message?  What are you talking
about?” the bear halfkind asks.  He looks genuinely confused.  This is the
first time he’s heard about the note.

“Your message, the note you left
on my hovercar,” I clarify.  “You said you wanted to talk, well here I am, so
let’s talk.”

“Talk?  Note?  I don’t know what
you’re saying.  Is this a trick?”

I observe his expressions.  Something
is going through his mind.  It causes him to be in a state of both surprise and
shock.  He’s realized things have gone terribly wrong and his bewilderment
shows all over his face.

“You don’t know what I’m talking
about?” I ask him.

“I... I…” he doesn’t respond
coherently.  I look at the other three, still frozen with fear.  I don’t see
threatening items near them.  No guns, no weapons, just some open food
containers and back packs filled with items.  These ones are different from the
ones we encountered so far.  The first two were prepared to fight.  One
attacked that detective with a knife, the other carried a bomb.  But I see
nothing to suggest that these halfkinds are battle ready.