Overdrive (25 page)

“According to the
reports, they helped Felix escape the
Dirty Little Minx
. Mercenaries.
Slightly unstable, or so their files tell me. Nothing to worry about.”

“All the same, get
some men down there now. Whatever that explosion was a minute ago, surely took
out most of the resistance”

“Yes Princess.”

Sammael moved to
instruct some of his Templars.

The explosion of
Tynan’s first crawler bomb had cleared the disco a few minutes before the
mercenaries had arrived, and while hopefully removing a few obstacles, was
bound to attract a bit of unwanted attention.

Gabriella sighed.
Yet more complications, she thought. The appearance of these mercenaries might
be just enough to tip the balance in the Shepherds favor. She wasn’t about to
take any chances, not when the Overdrive was within reach.

Sammael returned
to her side and stood quietly.

“Are we still
blocking their communication channels?”

“Yes Princess.”

“Good. Continue to
do so.”

From her position
on the mezzanine floor, she had a clear view of her Templars entering the
antechamber. A moment later, another explosion rocked the building. A surge of
flame appeared at the doorway, disappearing almost instantly.

“Nothing to worry
about huh?” she said, giving Sammael an acid glance.

Sammael shrugged
helplessly.

Activating their
personal fields, the pair levitated down to the empty dance floor. One of the
Transplanters – the Gorilla – and the portly middle aged man, ran out of the
antechamber and headed for the main entrance. In their haste, they failed to
notice the presence of the two Areopagite Angels. Sammael raised his hand to
shoot a blast of energy but it was knocked aside by Gabriella. The blast hit the
main bar, shattering glasses and setting fire to a couple of stools.

“You idiot,” she
said. “They could have the Overdrive data.”

They watched the
pair scurry out of the room. Gabriella ordered a squad to follow them. More
Templars went charging into the antechamber.

Entering the
audience chamber of Ram Terry IV, Gabriella and Sammael found their Templars
supporting the figure of Knights Captain Tynan. Seeing the Princess, his eyes
widened and he hastily bowed.

“Princess. I
didn’t know you were on Fever.”

“Obviously. Now
what happened?”

Tynan shuffled his
feet. “They got away.”

“Really," she
said dryly.

“Yes. There’s an
escape tunnel at the back.”

“Fascinating. And
here’s me thinking they turned invisible and walked out the front door.”

Tynan looked
embarrassed.

“And who might
these be?” she said, nudging the charred remains of a Martian with one dainty
toe.

“Martians.”

“And where is your
attendant Angel and Templars?”

“Dead, Princess.
Killed by a Watcher Prince.”

Gabriella knew
this already but liked watching the man squirm.

“Well, in that
case, I think you should take some of my Templars and go get me this
Overdrive.”

Tynan looked
uncomfortable. “My orders are to bring it back for Metatron.”

“Well your orders
have changed. I represent Metatron and the ruling council on this rock and you
will obey me.”

Tynan bowed
meekly. “Yes Princess.”

◊

Crystal used the
distraction caused by Tynan’s first crawler bomb to regain her sword.
Activating her field, she fired a blast of pure energy at the Nephillim holding
it. The energy bolt threw the Nephillim against the far wall. Her sword
clattered to the ground.

Crystal was moving
before her sword had hit the ground. A fluid and precisely executed somersault
landed her next to the unconscious body of the Nephillim. She casually picked
up her sword and gave it an experimental twirl. Without turning, she extended
one arm and fired a bolt of energy at the two Nephillim holding Felix. They
were thrown backwards leaving Felix free and unharmed.

Three plasma
blasts hit her, splashing harmlessly off her personal field.

“Never mind her,"
said Asel, “get Felix.”

Logan and Tarquin
had used the opportunity to incapacitate the nearest Nephillim and liberate his
weaponry. The other Shepherds were engaged in struggles with the remaining
Nephillim. Five robed Shepherds were already smoking on the ground. Felix
dropped to the ground to avoid stray weapon blasts. Three more Nephillim
attempted to seize him but were cut down as Logan and Tarquin rushed over to
protect him.

Two Shepherds had
armed themselves and now stood guard over Ram Terry IV, firing shots at the
Nephillim. Ram Terry had somehow managed to get one of the Nephillim on his
knees and was repeatedly butting him in the head.

Crystal had
squared off against Asel.

“I don’t know what
you are,” he growled, aiming his Afer at her head, “but I know what you’re
about to become.” He fired.

Crystal
anticipated the shot and dodged sidewards. The Afer bolt struck one of the
Watcher’s own men behind her. Using her momentum, field energy and the alley
wall as a kickboard, she flew towards Asel with her sword raised in front of
her.

Asel, expecting
the sword to be aiming for him, brought his own up to block, simultaneously
trying to bring his Afer to bear for another shot. Crystal wasn’t aiming for
him. Her sword stroke cut the Afer neatly in two. Asel was left holding the stump.

Dropping the now
useless cannon, Asel backed away and brought his sword up in a two handed ready
position.

“Alright missy. If
that’s the way you want it, bring it on.”

Charging forwards,
Crystal’s first blows penetrated Asel field’s forcing him to block every
stroke. His face betrayed the shock he felt.

“What are you?,"
he roared.

Crystal smiled,
raised her sword, and began raining blows down on Asel with furious precision.

To the onlookers,
both combatants movements were impossible to follow, such was the speed of
their blows.

Felix, lying on
the ground, was mesmerized by the sight. If Crystal possessed such power, why
had she chosen not to reveal it earlier? He looked up at his two friends
standing above him. Together with the remaining Shepherds, Logan and Tarquin
were systematically taking out the Nephillim. Three of the Watchers had already
done a runner. Felix was getting to his feet when another explosion rocked the
ground.

Crystal,
momentarily distracted, barely blocked a return stroke of Asel’s sword. A fist,
rising in an uppercut from beneath her field, caught her squarely on the chin.
The blow sent her slamming into the alley wall. Rolling to her feet and
desperately preparing for the death stroke she felt sure was next, Crystal was
surprised to find no sign of Asel. The Watcher Prince had disappeared.

Around her, the
alley was filled with smoking Shepherd and Nephillim bodies. Ram Terry IV,
against the alley wall and industriously butting one of the prone Nephillim,
was guarded by two Shepherds. Logan, Tarquin and Felix were walking towards
her. Behind them, she could see two Nephillim running for it.

“Quite a show,"
said Logan dryly.

Crystal walked up
to Felix and embraced him. “Are you OK?”

Felix nodded
mutely.

With the removal
of the Watchers presence, their AI connection with Fever’s net came back on
line. An automated message arrived, warning them that there was less than two
hours until the nova burst.

“Right," she
said, “lets get back to the ship. We won’t be allowed to leave during the burst
and there’s no telling how many more bad guys could be on this rock.”

“Not to mention
local security," said Logan.

“What about his
Lambiness?," asked Tarquin.

“He’ll have to
come with us.” She turned to her master. “Is that alright with you your Raminess?”

Ram Terry did the
sheep equivalent of a shrug. “Suits me. Its not like I’ve got much of a
bodyguard left.”

“Ok then.” She
picked up the Overdrive with one hand. Logan, Tarquin and Felix’s jaws fell
open.

“What?” she said,
turning to smile at the men. “Haven’t you met a girl that works out before?”

◊

The two surviving
Shepherds happily turned out to be Logan and Tarquin’s escorts from the
previous night.

One sheep and six
humans made their way to the nearest AG capsule, instructing it to take them to
the spaceport.

Arriving, they
could hear the unmistakable sound of an emergency siren. About two kilometers
away, black smoke could be seen drifting high in the huge chamber.

“Wasn’t that near
where you docked?” asked Felix.

Tarquin looked
worried. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Hiring a cart,
they set off in the general direction of the smoke. As they neared the docking
bay of the
Debacherous Weekend
, black smoke thickened around them and
bits of wreckage could be seen littering the ground. Various emergency vehicles
clustered around a burning shape in front of them. Medical staff were
comforting a group of old people nearby.

“My ship!,"
cried Tarquin. He was literally crying.

There wasn’t much
left of Tarquin’s ship. Security personal had cordoned off the area making it
impossible for them to get any nearer than 20 meters. Two familiar figures were
waiting for them at the security barrier.

“Bruce, Walter,”
said Felix happily. He looked around. “Where’s Derek?”

Bruce wouldn’t
meet his eyes. Walter shook his head. “He didn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Why?," said
Bruce, speaking for the first time. “You didn’t kill him.”

“Well, I’m sorry
anyway.”

“Fair enough.”

“He was very brave,"
said Walter. “He saved our lives.”

Ram Terry was
having a quiet word to his two Shepherds, Shannon and Heather. After a brief
conversation, the two women left.

“Where are they
going?," asked Logan.

“Back to Novelle
New Zealand. As soon as the Nova passes, they are going to try and hire a ship
and warn my flock of a possible Areopagite invasion fleet.”

“Isn’t that a bit
risky?”

“Yes, possibly a
suicide mission but they volunteered.”

“Oh.” Logan
watched the departing women. “Bugger.”

Tarquin had picked
up a piece of wreckage and was eyeing it sadly.

“Don’t you worry
old girl. I’ll get them back for you.”

Felix patted him
on the back.

“Sorry to
interrupt, but this isn’t helping us much," said Crystal.

Logan had been
looking around and had noticed a cart going past loaded with pre-prepared food.
He smiled.

“Fear not,” he
said. “I have a plan.”

Felix groaned.

◊

Sammael entered
Gabriella’s personal chambers aboard her Valkyrie. He bowed respectively and
waited until she acknowledged his presence. The Areopagite Princess was busy
filing a nail.

“Yes?," she
said without looking up.

“The ship on which
the Overdrive data arrived has been destroyed Princess. It seems whoever
sabotaged it, went a bit overboard.”

“And?”

“As you believed,
the Transplanter led our men back to Felix. Ram Terry IV is with them and they
are under observation.”

Gabriella smiled
with satisfaction. “Any sign of Asel?” She sat up and looked Sammael in the
eye.

“No. He’s
disappeared Princess. According to local security reports, there was an
altercation behind the Shepherds headquarters. Numerous bodies were found but
it seems our Watcher friend still lives.”

“Irrelevant.” She
paused to reflect. “Hmmm. The Nova burst is less than two hours from now.
There’s no way they will be able to charter a ship or remove the Overdrive.
They will have to leave afterwards which gives us a bit of time.”

Sammael smiled
grimly. “Probably just as well Princess. Local security are out in force at the
moment after the recent explosions.”

Gabriella’s
attention returned to her nails.

Sammael cleared
his throat.

“Are you still
here?” she said.

“My orders
Princess?.”

“Oh yes. I would
have thought it had been obvious. Monitor them. Make sure they don’t leave. If
they do, it will be easier to apprehend them with my ship.”

“Yes Princess."
He bowed and departed.

Gabriella tssked
loudly. “Bollocks. I’ve broken a nail.”

◊