Hammer's War 1: Forging the Hammer (2 page)

Marcus tried to take a step forwa
rd but the guards held him back. “I was just following orders, are you really going to use the old military fall back that has been used to justify atrocities for centuries.  You know Thorne, you are no better than the monsters that employ you.  You can justify it to yourself anyway you want, but just because it is your job doesn’t mean that it won’t stain your soul.  Oh wait I forgot you don’t have one.”

Thorne nodded to
Jane who understood the silent order, who let lose again.  Marcus doubled over from the viscous punch. “You know I’m really getting tired of that,” Marcus said.  Jane went to punch him again when Thorne held up his hand to stop Jane from hitting him. 

“Ah come on he was just getting into it,” Marcus
quipped.

“
I think it would be best for you if you just kept your answers short and to the point, I’m losing my patience,” Thorne said with a deadly tone.

Marcus straightened up.
  “I’ll try, but it is so hard when I’m being smacked around by a guy named Jane?  It’s that it is so unmanly, after all I do have my reputation to think about.”

Thorne
lost it, “Damn it Marcus!”

Marcus looked Thorne
right eyes. “Since you were gracious enough to make things so clear for me let me return the favor.  I’m out.  I am done, no more, got it,” he said as he shook loose of the guards grip.

Thorne’s face
still flushed red. “Have you lost your fucking mind?  What makes you think that you can just walk away from us?  You belong to me!  You are my piece of equipment.  You don’t get to walk away.  You don’t get to have the life that you think you want.”  Thorne realized he was losing control of the conversation.  He paused to compose himself.

He breathed heavily,
“Do you really think that you can go out there and live among all those sheep?  You are a wolf, a hunter and it is in your nature to kill.  You were born and bred for it. Mark my words sooner or later you will kill again.  Surely you must understand that it’s better that we control you so you kill the right people for the right reasons,”

“Huh, like killing children to control politics?  Is that the right people for the right reasons?”  Marcus
asked, an edge of tension creeping into his voice.  “No wait, don’t answer that, I know you’ll just spew more of your sociopathic crap!” 

Thorne jumped up and grabbed the edge of the desk
, no longer able to maintain control as he bellowed, “I don’t have to justify my actions to you!  As far as you are concerned, I am God!  I created you and I can end you with impunity!”  He took a deep breath and leaned over the desk, “But today I’m feeling like a forgiving God, so I offer you one last chance to complete the mission.  This time with Jane, he will make sure you don’t run off again.  Complete it, and all will be forgiven, and who knows maybe with time you will regain most favored operative status with all the perks that go with it.”

Marcus spat in his face, “Go to
Hell!  I will not kill children!”

Thorne fell back into the chair his head heavy.  He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the spit fro
m his face. “Then you leave me no choice Marcus.  You will have to be terminated. Before you die, however, I want you to know that you will be studied.  I intend to find out what went wrong so this won’t happen in the next generation of operatives.”

Marcus leaned forward, “Listen closely Thorne, I’m going
to save your death for last.” He paused and looked over his shoulder at Jane. “Don’t worry big guy you’ll be first,” he said.

Thorne just sighed heavily, “Marcus, you still don’t get it do you?  Do you know why I gave you the name Marcus?”

“I don’t know, maybe you wanted to be stabbed in the back?”  Marcus retorted.

Thorne ignored the remark, “Marcus Julius Brutus was one of history’s most famous assassins, and when we ha
ve completed our work you would have been remembered as a hero.”

“Well C
aesar, it’s too bad that’ll never happen.  It’s been a pleasure but I think I’ll be leaving now,” Marcus said with confidence in his voice.

“You were always so very arrogant
. But I’m sorry Marcus you will never be leaving here,” he paused, “Well, maybe as ashes.”  Thorne waved to Jane, “Take him to the Inquisitor, he will know what to do.  Oh and when the good doctor is done, have him terminated right away.  I don’t want to give him a chance to carry out any of his threats.”

“You will regret this,”
Marcus said, as his body seemed to relax all at once.

Thorne misread his body language
and took it as a sign of defeat. “I already do.  You were the best that we ever made.  Your termination will be a great loss.  However, we made you and we will make more like you.  Take him away,” he waved.

As soon as the guards moved to grab him, Marcus threw an elbow straight up
.  It connected with Jane’s nasal bone, which shattered from the impact.  A piece of bone was forced upwards until it pierced his brain, killing him instantly.  As his body fell, Marcus held out his hands and snagged the remote transmitter from his belt.  He pushed the release button and the cuffs popped open, freeing his hands.

The other guard reached for his gun, but Marcus was faster and spun around him unholstering the side arm.  The guard,
so surprised at Marcus’s speed, just stood there with a shocked look on his face.  Marcus, gun now in hand, pressed it to the guard’s side and pulled the trigger.  The laser bolt burned through the guard’s chest leaving a perfect hole as it passed through his heart and exited his left shoulder.

The guard’s body was still falling to the ground when Marcus pointed the weapon at Thorne.  He tried to pull the trigger, but couldn’t do it.  Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he tried and tried and tried
to pull the trigger, as if suddenly his hand was cruelly overriding his command.

Thorne was completely calm, “You see I thought that this might happen someday so I had a little safety precaution programmed into the subconscious of all my assets.  So try all you want, you can never hurt me.”    

Thorne smiled wickedly at Marcus, and then pushed another button on the desk display.  When nothing seemed to happen, he looked stunned.  Marcus spoke this time, his face a mask of smug success.  “What’s wrong Thorne?  Your little kill chip not working.  Yeah, I found it.  I figured that’s how you found me, so before your goons got their hands on me I shorted it out.  It hurt like a bitch, but on the flip side you can’t track me anymore, or better yet kill me remotely.”

“Well I still have a few tricks left,”
he reached into his desk to pull out an antique 45-caliber pistol that had been in his family for generations.  Not able to kill Thorne, Marcus adjusted his aim slightly and pulled the trigger.  The laser bolt passed so close to Thorne’s ear that it left him with a second-degree burn as it passed him and struck the window.

His years of military trai
ning and experience kicked in, and without thinking about it, Thorne dove under his desk for cover.  Laser bolt after laser bolt hit the glass window behind his desk.  Marcus pulled the trigger as fast as he could.  He jumped onto Thorne’s desk like a mad man possessed. 

Still caught up in the moment, Thorne called for help from under his desk
.  “Get your asses in here now, the bastard has gone mad, he’s shooting up my office!” 

Seconds later the door burst open and half a dozen guards flooded into the room.  Marcus smiled at the guards who all were pointing guns at him.  “Put your gun down,” one of the guards yelled at him.

Marcus just laughed, “Go ahead, and point a gun at me if it makes you feel better!”

Thorne yelled from under the desk, “What are you doing?  Just
fucking, shoot him!”

Marcus dropped the weapon, “Thorne,” he yelled.  “This is the only warning you get.  Come after me again and it will be war.  A war you will not win
,” he roared.  

Before anyone else could move or say anything, Marcus dove at the window.  The tempered glass had been weakened by the multiple laser bolts and easily shattered as he passed through it.

The guards were stunned as they watched the madman throw himself out of a sixty-story window.  From under his desk, Thorne watched Marcus go out the window and could not believe he would jump to his death.

However, either Marcus was
the luckiest man in the universe or somehow he had perfect timing.  At that very moment, Betsy the cow was passing on the street, just below the building.  A woman in the crowd happened to be looking up when she spotted Marcus’s falling body.  “Oh my God, someone is falling!” she screamed, pointing to Marcus as he swan dived for the balloon. 

Marcus used his arms and legs to help steer his fall towards the big cow.  He landed on the back of the balloon with a loud thumping, whooshing sound. 
The force of the impact forced the cow down to the street where its feet hit the ground.

“Screw this!” 
One of the handlers yelled.  He let go of his line and ran to avoid getting crushed.  The increased pressure on the knees of Betsy’s front legs caused them to bend throwing her head forward.  Her nose smacked into the Dairy Day Queen’s float with such force it nearly knocked the Queen over the cheese and off the side of the float.  Marcus slid down Betsy’s spotted back, over the top of the giant head, and finally down the nose.  He landed on the float, still on his feet, just in nick of time.

He grabbed the sparkling Dairy Day Queen
as she was falling backward.  Having now escaped death twice in only the last few minutes, something incomprehensible surged within him.  He smiled, pulling the girl into an embrace and tipped her back, her eyes fluttering as he felt her pulse quicken, and kissed her, deeply.  After their lips parted, he said nothing, only pulled her to her feet, and then gave her a wink as he jumped off the float and disappeared into the crowd.

A very shocked Dairy Day Queen yelled after him, “Call me,” her voice trailed off.  After watching him disappear, she felt her knees weaken.  She sat down and looked
at her boyfriend who was driving the float, “How come you never do anything sexy like that?”

Observing the unbelievable escape from above put Thorne in a killing mood.  “You,” he pointed to
the nearest guard, “Come here.”  The man did as ordered and stood next to Thorne at the broken window.  Thorne placed his hand on the guard’s shoulder and without saying a word, tossed the man out the window.  He then turned on the remaining guards, “The rest of you fucking idiots let him escape!  You better find him no matter what it takes or I’ll terminate the rest of you!”

Considered by many to be the ass
-end of the universe, on the outer most part of human controlled space, was a gas giant with a few moons.  The smallest of which was Nome.  It had once been home to a major mining operation, but now it was almost completely abandoned; the only things left being a small town and a few moisture farmers.  The only real reason anyone would ever stop at such a place was to get fresh water or supplies.  Nome was one of the only stops for cargo ships in this part of the universe so it saw enough traffic to keep it alive, but just barely.  The remoteness and constantly shifting sands that covered most of the moon made it a hard place to live, but an easy place to disappear and this was the very reason Nome was the perfect place for Marcus to hide.  

He
walked down the cargo ramp and on to the dirty, crumbling landing pad.  The only on-looker was the flight deck attendant who was more interested in hooking up the water and fuel lines than in who was coming or going. He left the spaceport in search of accommodations.  There wasn’t much to the town of Nome, only a few blocks long and a few wide.  Marcus felt like he had just stepped on to the main street of a western holo-set.  He couldn’t believe it, but in front of the general store was a rusting metal robot Indian, complete with a headdress and cigars in his hand. At one time the robot would wave at people passing by or dispense candies to children, however now it stood silent and unmoving, a rusting reminder of better days.  The dirt street had sidewalks that were honest-to-god wooden planks.  The only thing missing was a tumbleweed blowing down the street.

Marcus
spotted a hotel at one end of town.  However, on the far side of the town was a strange looking building with a flashing sign, Bob’s Fuel Tank Bar and Cantina.  He was hungry and he couldn’t remember the last real meal he’d had, but for now, he chose to head for the hotel.  Having been educated in all things including history, he just had to laugh at the name, “The Nymphia.”  Someone knew his or her history as well.  The Nymphia was the largest cathouse ever run in San Francisco, built in 1899 by the Twinkling Star Corporation. He just had to wonder if the Twinkling Star wouldn’t have been a better name. He walked up the steps, grabbed the weathered brass door handle, and walked inside.

The lobby was in much better condition than outside.  The double grand staircase that split the lobby in two parts was wood and by the looks of it handmade, by humans!  The more Marcus looked around the lobby, the more he saw hand craftsmanship in every part.  This place was not built by any kind of construction bot
, and that was very rare in the universe these days.  One side of the lobby was a full bar which seemed devoid of a bar tender at the moment.  The other side included the hotel’s front desk, as well as what looked like a sitting area filled with finely crafted chairs and couches.  However, what impressed Marcus most was the exquisite crystal chandelier.  It was unlike any chandelier he had ever seen, as this one floated unsecure by any visible means.  It had to be held up by some kind of antigravity field, but what he couldn’t figure out was what would keep it from crashing down if the power failed.  Marcus stood there trying to figure out how it worked when it turned and shifted shape. The outer most part of the chandelier expanded and a third row of lights appeared making it a three-tiered light instead of a two tiered. “Now there’s something you don’t see every day,” he said softly to himself. 

At the desk, Marcus was met by an older woman.  Once upon a time, she must have been very attractive, but time and
harsh living had washed most of that away.  Her long gray hair was rolled up into a tight bun on the top of her head.  Her body still had the curvy womanly shape of a younger woman, but Marcus wondered how much of that was due to body shaping lingerie he suspected she was wearing under her black and orange dress.  One look at her attire and he got the picture, it was styled after the dresses of the 1890’s.
It was clear that these people were trying to capture the feel of a very long bye-gone era.

The woman at the front desk smiled, “Welcome
Sir, welcome to The Nymphia.  So, tall dark and handsome, what can I do you for?” 

Tired from his long trek, but not so tired that he missed what she was asking him, “Ah,” he hesitated
, while he struggled to find the right words.

“Oh come on now, such a fine gentleman as yourself doesn’t come walking through my
doors not looking for something.”  She rang a bell and about a dozen girls of different ages and quality of looks filled the sitting area of the lobby.  They were all in various states of undress, some were adorned with short dresses and low cut tops, which revealed plenty of flesh.  While others wore short silk robes, thigh high stockings, and high heeled shoes.  “Take a good look, any one of them is yours, for the right price of course.  If you like, you can have more than one.  It all depends on what you’re willing to pay.  You can rest assured that they are all one hundred percent human girl, none of that love bot crap for my customers.”  She could tell from his face that he was not particularly interested in the girls.  “Or, if you prefer, I can round up a few boys for you.”

“Ah, no!  No, thank you.  I’m not here for that, I just need
a room for a few nights.” 

“Oh, okay.  P
ardon my shock.  We don’t get a lot of customers in here just looking for the room, if ya catch my drift.”  She winked, “I hope I haven’t offended you?”  She waved the girls from the room.

“No.  Not at all,” h
e paused to look for something that had her name on it.

“
The name’s Xandra dear, as in Madam Xandra,” she said.

“Xandra
, a lovely name for a lovely lady.  No offense taken, really.  I just want to get a room,” he said with a warm, but tired smile.

Instantly warming to the compliment, Xandra responded, “
Not a problem Mr.,” pausing as she likewise waited for a reply.

Not wanting to give any information that might lead to his real identity, he answered “Smith.”

Xandra smiled, raising her eyebrows with mild appraisal at the gentleman standing before her, “Well okay Mr. Smith,” she laughed at the use of the name.  “We get a lot of Smiths in here, if you know what I mean.”  Given the nature of the establishment, he understood perfectly.

“Here is your key
Sir.” She turned to a young blonde girl who seemed to appear out of nowhere, “Dorothy here will show you to your room.” 

He handed
Xandra cash for a week’s lodging.  “Thank you,” he said as he took his key.

“Right this way
Sir,” Dorothy said.  She was pretty, in kind of a plain way.  She wore a black one-piece dress that stopped just below her butt.  The tight Lycra dress hugged her small rounded body, showing every curve in excruciating detail.  It wasn’t the most flattering thing she could have worn, but given her business, and considering the message she was trying to send, the dress worked just fine.  He followed her up the stairs to a second floor room where she used a master key to open his door for him.  Walking past her into the room, he took a moment to take in the lodging.

“Is the room okay?”  She asked.

“The room is fine,” he replied as he set his bag down on the bed.

While he was looking over the room, she pulled down the top of
her dress so that it was just barely covering her nipples.  “Please let me know if there is anything else you need.  By the way I’m also a trained masseuse, and I give a really killer backrub.”  She sauntered closer to Marcus as she altered her voice, trying to sound as sexually persuasive as possible, “and even better front ones.”

He cracked a smile at the girl’s blatant attempt to
gain his business.  Marcus had never been with a woman outside of an operation, but now that he was self-retired, he wasn’t sure what it would be like to do it for fun.  Fun, there was a new concept for him, one that he was going to have to get used to now that he was calling all the shots in his life.  For a few seconds he contemplated having a little sampling of fun right then, but with a growling rumble, his stomach reminded him that although he might have momentarily forgotten his hunger, his stomach certainly had not. 

He turned to her and took her by shoulders
, looking into her eyes, and said, “Dorothy, it is Dorothy right?”  She nodded in the affirmative.  “You really are sweet and maybe later I might take you up on your offer, but right now I’m tired and hungry and I would like to get a good meal.”

Her shoulders slumped a bit, but she still managed a smiled, “I understand.  Well, let’s see,” she put her finger on her cheek, “the best place in town to eat would be Bob’s.”

He raised an eyebrow, “I saw that place from the space port, it looked pretty run down.”

She laughed, “Everything in this town looks run down, this whole damn rock is run down, but the food is really good.  Carl, the guy who runs it,
had been some big wig chef on Earth before he came here.”

So, I wasn’t the only person to think this was a good place to disappear,
he thought. “Thank you, I may call on you later.”  He tipped her a large credit note, it was more than she would have made even if he had partaken, then he ensured he had his room key before heading toward the door.

“Oh thank you
Sir you’re too kind.”  She beamed as she left the room, in a hurry to go show off the note to the other girls.  

“Oh that was smart, now every girl in this place will be after me for a tip.  Ah, what the
Hell.  I’m sure they don’t make much here, and what am I going to do with money on a rock like this anyway?”  He said to himself.

Marcus
left the room and locked the door behind him, but before leaving, he turned and placed a very thin length of wire across the doorway.  It was so thin that you would not see it unless you knew it was there.  After he was satisfied that the room was taken care of he went down the stairs.  In the lobby, he found all the girls waiting for him.  They were all “oohing” and “aahing” for him.  He just pushed on past their sexual advances, and headed out the door.

On the street he noticed the few people that were walking about would stop and stare at him.  He must have been a sight to look at
.  At six feet tall and dressed all in black with a long black coat, he looked like a gunfighter from the late 1800’s and strangely fit into the look of the town, wearing his large black brimmed hat that covered his jet-black hair.  If someone were to look close enough at him when he was walking, they might even catch a glance of a pistol, one strapped to each of his well-defined legs. 

A sand storm was blowing into town making it hard to see and painful as the tiny particles battered his face.  “Visor,” he said
, and a visor promptly dropped down from his hat to cover his eyes.  Once the sand was no longer assaulting his eyes, he reached into his coat and pulled out a breathing apparatus, which conveniently snapped into place under the visor.  He pushed against the wind making his way toward the bar.  Once he got there, he could see why it was called Bob’s Fuel Tank Bar and Cantina.  The building was a converted old fuel tank from some ancient mining or cargo ship.  It looked as if Bob had simply cut holes for a door and some windows.  Why Bob added the windows at all he couldn’t understand since they were so dirty no one could see out of them anyway. 

The sagging front porch had clearly been an afterthought, but the stairs seemed in good repair and showed signs of patchwork mending
here and there.  Marcus climbed the stairs and pulled on the door, expecting it to protest loudly.  He was mildly amused and delighted when despite its rusty appearance, the door swung open with ease on well-oiled hinges.

They say that one should not judge a book by its cover
, he thought as he stepped inside.  The interior was in stark contrast to the outside.  Where the outside was dirty, rusting, and generally rundown, the inside was spotless and looked well maintained. The owner had made it to look like an old time western saloon bar, complete with mirror, a plump Rubenesque nude painting, and every form of alcoholic beverage known to mankind, and not a few aliens besides. 

Marcus recognized a characteristic stainless steel bottle of Thaagh120 proof Eli white lightning.  Here also was a dark green flask of Zapp 96, the highly concentrated skull cracker from Fabia
, guaranteed to make you an alcoholic with one drink.  A squat ceramic jug glazed a sickly yellow and covered with nasty looking sharp pointed deep red Ralnai characters could only be Death Thorne Wine.  The tall clear bottle of pale blue liquor, mixed with luminous fish eggs, would be Kalfrondo, from the water world of Nekton.  On the top shelf, along with more conventional whiskies, were many rare and bizarre drinks that were completely unknown to him.  However, the centerpiece of it all was a huge magnum bottle of Cunk Mellon Brandy, the favorite and rare guzzle of the Terrelians.  Marcus wondered at this,
surely,
he thought,
even if this is filled with nothing more than colored water it is an extremely rare bottle.  Even with its browning cracked label it would be worth a fortune to a collector
.

The bar
itself was hand polished hardwood, likely cherry by the dark color.  It had brightly polished brass fittings, and standing behind the bar was a short, plump older woman, with brown hair streaked with grey.  She had a cloth in her hand and was wiping out a glass as she looked up at the new comer and smiled.  “Welcome to Bob’s.  The name’s Jenna.  What can I get for you, Sir?”