Hammer's War 1: Forging the Hammer (12 page)

Doc
tor Burton sighed, “I’m so sorry Thaddeus.  He was gone when Carl brought him in.  There was nothing I could do.”

Thad held the hand of the man who had saved his life, the man who gave him a second chance, the man who called him son, the man he called father.  Tears ran down his face and it struck him this was the first time he could remember
really crying.  Doctor Burton placed his hand on Thad’s shoulder, “A drunk at Bob’s shot him through the heart.  It was quick.  I don’t believe he suffered.”

Those words meant little to Thad
.  Right now, the only thing he could think of was some drunk, with a gun, ended the life of one of the greatest men the universe had ever known.  The tears died, and sorrow was replaced with anger.  His face flushed with the hot red burning deSire for revenge.

The door opened again
and the Sheriff stepped into the room.  “Thad I just heard, I’m so sorry.  Carl says the ones who did this are still there.  I have one my deputies putting together an armed posse to go pick them up.”

Thad looked the
Sheriff straight in the eye and with a voice that was as cold as ice said, “No, they’re mine.”  His hands balled into fists so tight he started shaking.

For a second, the
Sheriff thought about giving Thad the,
I am law speech
, but thought better of it.  He could see Thad was not a man to be trifled with.  Thad gently placed Doctor Hammer’s hand on his chest, and then gently he kissed his forehead.  He closed Doctor Hammer’s eyes and whispered into his ear, “Forgive me father, for what I am about to do.”

Thad turned to leave to find his way blocked by the
Sheriff, “Don’t even think about trying to stop me, Sheriff.”

He
held up a set of keys, “I wouldn’t dare.  I just wanted to give you these, the keys to my gun cabinet in my office.”

“Keep them
.  I’m not going to need a gun!”  Thad said, in a tone that could turn your blood to ice.  He stepped past the Sheriff, opened the door, and walked out.

Stan
fell off the stool again, “I got to take a piss.”  He stumbled towards the restrooms, but was too drunk to find the door so he just staggered to the back of the hallway, unzipped and urinated on the wall and floor. 

Thad jerked the door open and
walked in.  He saw a man sitting at the bar alone.  The man never even looked up, just tried to pour another drink, but he poured more onto the bar than into the glass.

It took only one look at his face and giant forearms for Thad to remember who this was, Mighty Max!
I should have killed this piece of scum years ago
, he thought.  Thad walked up to the bar and stood next to him.  He picked up the bottle, “Here friend, let me help with that.”

“Thanks, I seem to be having trouble.  The damn glass keeps moving.
”  Max slurred his speech.

Thad poured the drink and set the bottle down
.  Once again, he placed his foot on Max’s stool and this time he had his hand positioned near Max’s pistol.  “So Max where is your buddy Stan?”

“Oh he is in the back
, probably passed out drunk or pissing all over himself.”  He paused to look up at the man who he was talking to, “Do I know you friend?”

Thad looked right into his eyes, dropped the smile
, and in that tone that would turn your soul to ice said, “You should, after all we are so close.”

“What do you mean?
”  Max asked.

Thad he leaned close to Max’s ear, “so close that
you are wearing my teeth.”

Max’s foggy drunken mind took a minute to think
. Then his eyes got as big as dinner plates, “You, but it can’t be, you’re dead.”  Before he could do anything else Thad pulled the same move as when they first met, the bar stool went sailing across the room.  Gravity took over, Max shot straight down chin meeting the bar top once again, and once again, teeth shattered, but this time Max was trying to say something.  His tongue was part way out of his mouth when it was slammed shut by the bar.  The very tip of his tongue landed on the bar in a small pool of blood and whisky. 

As Max
fell to the ground, in a bloody screaming heap, Thad had his gun.  The motion of Max falling made it very easy to unholster the weapon.  Stan came stumbling back expecting to see Max pouring more drink.  His eyes gave away his surprise at being greeted by the barrel of a gun. 

“
Hello Stan, long time, no see,” Thad said pointing the gun right between Stan enlarging eyes.

“Who in the
Hell are you?”  Stan demanded.

“Which one of you shot the old man?
”  Thad asked and not politely.

“What old man?
”  Stan asked.

There was a flash of light followed by the distinct crack of the
super-heated air as the laser gun fired, “Wrong answer.  Now which one of you shot the old man!”

Stan sagged to the ground holding his left
knee, which had just become a smoking hole.  He screamed, “You shot off my knee cap you mother...”  He did not finish that thought for another bolt of light streaked from the tip of the gun and into his other knee.  “It was Max, it was him!  He did it!  Please stop!”

“One more question, where is the rest of your crew?”  Thad asked.

Stan held up his hands, “Two guys went to see the whores.  I don’t know about the rest.”

Thad
said nothing just pulled the trigger again. The bolt of light burned a neat hole through Stan’s head.  The heat from the laser boiled his brains and his head burst from steam pressure.  Stan’s headless body lay unmoving. With Stan dead, Thad turned to Max who was still rolling on the floor holding his bleeding mouth.  “Get up!”  Thad took him by one arm lifting him to his feet.  Pressing the gun into his back he said, “Move!”

The
Sheriff had returned to his office to call off the posse.  He wanted to see what would happen next.  He did not have to wait long.  The door to his office burst open and Max flew through the door.  He hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him.  Right behind him was Thad, “Hold him for me.  I have information that more of his crew are at the hotel.  I am going to make sure this filth will never hurt anyone ever again.” 

Thad wheeled around and was out the door.  The
Sheriff turned to his deputy who was standing there, hands in pockets, looking the fool with his mouth hanging open, “Well just don’t stand there you idjit, put him in one of the cells.”

Thad entered the hotel lobby.  Xandra saw him right away.  She called out to him, “Oh Thaddeus, I’m so sorry I just heard.”

He approached the front desk, “Thank you Xandra, I need a favor.”

She took his hand in a tender way, “Anything for you, Love.”

“Two men came in today, two
rough types,” he said as he pulled his hand back.

“You mean the guys from Big Red’s crew?
”  Xandra asked, surprised at his reaction to her touch.

“Those are the ones.  I nee
d to know what rooms they are in,” Thad said, with a tone in his voice that frightened her.

She looked into the eyes of a man
who’s soul was on fire, “Please Thad, not here, not under my roof, please.”

“I promise I
won’t do anything under your roof, now Xandra the rooms, please,” he pleaded with her.

“One is with Kendra
on the second floor.  The other is with Carrie on the third floor,” she said reluctantly.

Thad leaned over the desk and kissed her on the cheek, “Thank you.”

He made his way up to the third floor, finding Carrie’s room.  He tried the doorknob, it was unlocked.  This was good because he really did not want to have to replace a door.  Slipping into the room as quiet as possible, he found a man on the bed naked with his ass in the air.  Carrie standing over him with a ridding crop, “Who has been a bad, bad boy?”

“I have mistress, please may I have another?”  He replied.

Thad walked lightly until he was standing next to Carrie who was startled to see Thad standing there.  This made her squeak, a little.  Thad put his finger to his lip. 

“What was that mistress?
”  The man asked as he started to turn around.

Carrie, always the professional, hit him again, “Did I say you could talk,
slave?”

“No mistress, please can I have another?”

Carrie gave Thad a look of confusion.  He handed her a few large credit notes and pointed to the door.  She understood, took the money, and left the room.

“Please mistress can I have another?
”  The man asked.

Thad got right behind the man’s bare ass and said, “Yes you can!
”  Thad let lose a vicious kick that sent the man sailing off the bed, head first into the wall. 
Whoops, a little too much force
, Thad thought, for the man’s head went through the drywall.  

The
pirate pulled his head free and tried to shake off the blow, “What in the Hell?”  He stood up, and looked astonished at Thad.  The man stood there naked, bleeding from his head, holding his ass with both hands.  If he had not been so angry and out for blood, Thad would have thought this scene funny. 

The
man pointed at him, “You just fucked with the wrong guy,” he said.  Thad stood there with the look of death in his eyes.  “You just signed your own death warrant,” he said pointing his finger at Thad.

In a
flash Thad was over the top of the bed, his feet crashing into the man’s chest, sending him into the wall again.  He crumpled to the floor.  Thad grabbed him by the neck and ran the man to the closed window at a run.  Glass shattered and the man flew head first out the window.  He would have gone all the way, but Thad caught his foot just before it went all the way out. 

The man was dangling by one leg, his face cut to ribbons by the glass.  Thad asked, “Where is Big Red?”

The man screamed, “Oh God, please don’t drop me!  I’ll tell anything.”  Thad shook the man like a rag doll. “He’s back on the ship!  Now please pull me up.”

Thad had what he wanted so he simply let go
.  The man fell three stories, landing on his head, which cracked open like a melon.

Down on the second floor the
other pirate, who had just finished his business and was lying in bed, heard the screams from upstairs.  He jumped up from the bed and looked out the window just in time to see his buddy fall.  “Oh shit,” he blurted out.  The race was now on to see if he could get dressed and out of there before whoever killed his buddy came for him.

Kendra grabbed a robe and fled the room
, leaving the door open.  Thad raced down the stairs and saw Kendra’s door ajar.  He stopped and listened to see if anyone was still in the room.  He heard the sound of a body hitting the floor followed by some cussing.  He carefully looked around the door to see a man with a sleeveless tee shirt hopping on one leg, trying to get his pants pulled up. 

The
pirate saw Thad enter the room, “Shit!  Shit!  Shit!” he yelled as he dove for the open window.  He made it through the window and was able to drop down to the street level.  He took off at a full run, bare footed, trying to hold his pants up so he would not trip over them.

Thad ran to the window in time to see the man’s pants slip from his hand
.  Thad watched as he tumbled a few times before regaining his feet.  Steadying the pistol on the window frame Thad controlled his breathing and squeezed the trigger.  The crack of the gun was loud, but not as loud as the pirate’s scream when the laser bolt burned through his thigh, snapping his femur.

Thad
satisfied he was not going to get away, left the window, and made his way calmly down the stairs.  As he passed the desk, he said to Xandra, “I owe you a window, and a wall, but I kept my promise.”  Xandra stared as he walked out.

Outside
, the pirate had crawled about a half a block when Thad caught up to him.  “You won’t get very far on that leg, here let me.”  He stepped on the wound, twisting his foot as he did.  The pirate screamed, but Thad did not stop.  “Look, you sub-human piece of trash, you don’t remember me, but I remember you!  Now you are going to take me to your ship and get me on board!  Do you understand?”

The Pirate tried to be tough, “Go screw
a pig!  You can shoot me here, but I will never turn on Red.”

Thad pushed the barrel to the pirate’s forehead, “Okay
then!”

“Wait!” the
pirate screamed, “Okay, okay, I will take you.  Just don’t shoot me.”

“Don’t worry I’m not going to shoot you
,” Thad said, as he used the communicator chip in his head to instruct Archie to come carry the wounded man.  Within a minute, the chrome plated robot jogged up.  He picked up the wounded pirate, threw him over his chrome-plated shoulder, and followed Thad to the Space Port. 

At the
port, the pirate led them to the loading ramp of the Night Terror.  It was not much of a warship.  What it was in reality was a modified cargo ship with some armor welded on to the hull and old weapons badly mounted to the frame.  Archie helped the pirate hobble up the ramp, Thad’s gun in his back and Archie’s steel hand clasped tightly around his nuts.  At the door, the pirate pressed the call button on the door panel.  A voice answered back, “Yeah, what?”

“It’s me, Jarvis, let me in.”

“Smack dog, you back already?  I thought you would be gone a little longer.  Don’t have the stamina anymore uh?” the voice laughed.

“Just shut up and let me in
.”

The air lock door swung
outward, the inner door was already open.  Thad stepped through, grabbed Jarvis from behind, one hand on his mouth and the other on his shoulder and with one quick movement he snapped the pirate’s neck.  He quietly laid Jarvis on the floor.  Thad whispered to the dead man, “I told you I wouldn’t shoot you.”  He turned to Archie, “Follow me. I want you to scan each compartment ahead of us for heartbeats.  I want to know where people are before I pay them a visit.”

Archie’s mouth lit up, “
But what about your ocular implant?  Shouldn’t your x-ray mode see through the walls?”

“
You try switching your vision mode to x-ray,” Thad said as he started to walk down the poorly lit hallway.

Archie changed his vision mode and then
tried to look through the walls, “I see, the walls are too thick.” 

Thad shot over his shoulder, “Yep, kind of like your head.”

They made their way through the ship.  Thad waiting for Archie to use his sensors to scan ahead and then giving the thumbs up or down, before he would enter the next part of the ship.  Near the engine room, they didn’t need the heart beat scanner.  Someone was obviously in the engine room. The clanking of metal on metal was followed by a long string of cursing.

Thad entered the engine room to find the lower half of the
ship’s engineer’s body sticking out from under the ship’s main power plant.  Thad grabbed the man’s pant legs and pulled.  He slid out, whacking his head on a crossbeam.  “Ouch, what the fuck...?”  He looked up and saw Thad’s face about inch away from his.  “Who the fuck, are you?”

Thad pulled the man up
by his greasy coveralls, “What, you don’t remember me?  You cost me an eye.”

The engineer’s eyes grew wide as the meaning of the words
sunk in, “But, but you’re dead!”

“Hum, people keep on saying that,” Thad said
.  Looking around he saw a torch and some metal rods lying on the workbench.  “Here, hold him,” he handed him off to Archie, who held the engineer with a vice-like grip.

Thad lit the torch and heated up one of the rods.  The Pirate struggled against
Archie’s steel hands.  The robot’s golden eyes glittered in the light of the torch.  Thad placed the rod millimeters from the struggling pirate’s eye, holding it there for a few seconds for maximum effect.  Then he pulled it back and dropped it into a bucket of oil that was nearby.  The engineer let out a heavy sigh and relaxed. 

Thad saw this and said
“Ah don’t worry, I’m not the kind of man who believes in an eye for an eye.  I’m just going to kill you.”  Urine ran down the engineer’s leg and pooled on the floor.

Thad
looked down at the pool of urine.  He looked up at Archie and shrugged his shoulders.  He grabbed some tape off the workbench. Thad taped the man’s hands and feet together.  Wrapping the tape around his head, covering his mouth, Thad gestured to the robot.  “Archie leave him here, we will come back for him later.”

They
searched the bottom of the ship without encountering anyone else.  So, they moved up to the crew berths.  Archie stopped Thad with a wave of his hand.  He pointed to a door, “Two heart beats behind that door.” 

Thad tried the door
, but it was locked, “Can you?” he pointed to the wall panel.

“Sure thing, just take a minute,”
Archie started punching in numbers.  “I have to enter in the override code and then,” click, the door unlocked.  “You are in Sir.”  

Thad opened the door
, entering pistol first, not knowing what was on the other side of the door.  He recoiled at the stench.  It smelled of piss, shit, and vomit.  It also had the faint iron smell of blood.  The room was dimly lit. He could see little, so he quickly changed his implanted eye mode to thermal as he made his way further into the room.  He could see two females, one lying on a metal shelf, which was being used as a cot.  The other sat next to her, knees pulled up to her chest, head down.  The sitting one heard him coming and jumped to her feet.

Her red hair was dirty and matted around her freckled face
.  She was dressed in torn filthy rags, and looked no more than twenty years old. There was a metal collar around her neck with a heavy chain attached to it.  The other end of the chain was attached to a metal loop in the wall. 

“So who are you?  The
filthy sex slave buyer I bet, the one Red told us would be coming.  I warn you, even if you buy us, we will not be your sex slaves! We would rather die first!”  She placed her hands on her hips and spat at Thad.

Thad slipped the pistol into his belt at the small of his back and held up his open hands in a non- thre
atening manner.  “Whoa there, I’m not here to buy you or do anything else to you.  In fact I’m here to help you.”

The girl looked confused, “You’re not one of Red’s buyers?”

“No, in fact, I was one of his victims too.”  Thad took another step closer and the girl stepped away.

“How
do I know I can trust you?”  She asked.

“
You don’t, but you have a choice to make.  Come with me and take a chance I’m telling the truth and you will have a better life, and freedom or stay here and starve to death, your choice,” Thad said.

The young woman brushed her dirty matted hair out of her face, “Well
since you put it that way I think we’ll go with you.”

Tha
d somehow found a smile, “Good to hear that, you are far too young to die.  My name is Thaddeus by the way.”  He could tell this young woman was beautiful under the dirt and grime on her face, and it pained him to see her treated like an animal.

“
I’m Fiona and this is my twin sister Freya,” she pointed to the other woman lying on the metal shelf.

“I will have you out these chains in a jiffy,” he turned to
Archie.  “Archie they look like magnetic locks, can you override them too?”