Titanium (Bionics) (2 page)

“Think you can keep up?”

She snorts. “You just better hope one of those mechanical legs of yours doesn’t blow a gasket.”

“I’ll go left, you go right. Try to swivel in and out of the trees and make them crash. The fewer we have to take out ourselves with deadly force, the better.”

That’s a lesson drummed into me by the Professor. Most days I feel mad enough to kill every M.P. within a hundred mile radius, but he’s the leader of our Resistance and is all about working toward peace. He doesn’t want us getting our hands dirty unless we have to. But if it comes down between me and one of those hateful men in gleaming silver armor, the Professor’s just going to have to get over it because I’m going for the kill.

As soon as
they are close enough to see us, we take off, Yasmine peeling off and going to the right like I’d instructed her. Behind us, the speeding hover bikes give chase, and I hear the hum of the Neville I hovercraft speeding toward the hideout entrance. I know that the two guards left behind will be nothing for Jenica, Blythe, and the other members of Alpha team to handle. I hope we can divert the others long enough for them to load the trapped refugees into the hovercraft.

I pump my legs as fast as I can, the pistons installed at my joints making me faster than the bikes. I’m hoping to put as much di
stance between us and the hideout as possible. I hear Jenica’s voice over the comm. device on my hip.

“Alpha team moving in.
Janner, report!”

“
Kinda tied up right now,” I mumble as I run, darting in and out of the trees faster than any human ought to be able to. Through the comm. device I hear the sounds of the M.P.s weapons firing, followed by a struggle. Behind me there’s an explosion, and I glance over my shoulder to see an orange ball of fire and raining debris—all that’s left of one of the hover bikes.

“Halt! Stop where you are and put your hands up, or we’ll be forced to shoot!”

The mechanical voice of the M.P. closest to me, crackling mechanically through his helmet, doesn’t stop me. I know they’ll kill me anyway, and worse, they’ll turn right back around and kill Jenica and Blythe, who right now are rescuing those left underground in the hideout. Instead, I veer to the right, hard, forcing the three bikes left to scramble to follow me while avoiding the trees.

I hear the whine
of a weapon, the preliminary heating that occurs just before their stun guns fire. Once the core temperature of the weapon reaches near volcanic proportions, the weapon’s red-tinted rays can stun or kill, depending on its wielder’s intent. I hit the dirt right as a red beam shoots over my head, tucking and rolling just in time to avoid being hit. In my crouched position, I wait for the shooter to get closer.

Just as he zooms over my head, turning his bike at an angle to take another shot, I uncoil my legs and shoot straight up, my legs propelling me several feet above the ground. I catch hold of the foothold and hang on for dear life as the driver swivels and swerves in an attempt to shake me off.

“Shoot him! Shoot him!” he yells to his buddies. Just as I grab onto the side of his bike with both hands and pull, my biceps straining painfully, he turns it so the other two have a clear shot at me. I struggle to climb aboard the bike, and once my foot hits the footrest, I’m good. I am able to swing my other leg over the side of the bike until I’m straddling the seat, right behind my pursuer—who by now is freaking out. He turns and points his gun at me but I capture his wrist, twisting it painfully behind his back. I use his pain and dismay to catch him off balance and  throw him from the seat. Scooting forward, I lower my head over the handlebars just as another red beam shoots over my shoulder.

I rev the engine and send the bike hurtling through the trees, feeling a bit more confident now that I’ve got a
bike
and
a weapon on me. We don’t have many at Resistance headquarters, and most of us have learned how to fight hand to hand. I could turn and pick them both off, but that would leave me blind to the trees surrounding me and I’m in no hurry to relinquish my bike anytime soon. If I can get it back to the hovercraft in one piece, maybe I can talk Jenica into letting me bring it aboard and take it home.

Glancing over my shoulder I see that the two remaining officers are closing in, one right behind the other.
In a risky move, I purposely slow my bike, letting my back bumper kiss the front of his. I stand on the seat of my bike facing him and leap into a front somersault, narrowly avoiding being hit by another red beam and landing on the nose of his bike. He raises his gun to shoot again, but not before I grasp him by the front of his helmet, twisting and throwing him from the seat before shooting him with my gun—which is set to stun. He will be out for hours. After I slide into the driver’s seat, another shot from my stun gun takes care of my final attacker and sends both him and his bike crashing into a nearby tree. He falls limp on the forest floor as his bike slams into the tree, going up in a ball of orange and red flame just like the first one.

Finally alone and able to take a few breaths, I snatch the comm. device from my belt and call
Jenica.

“Alpha team, this is
Janner reporting.”

A few seconds and
Jenica was on the line. “This is Swan. We’ve infiltrated the hideout and located the refugees. All Military Police personnel guarding the entrance have been subdued. What is your status, Janner?”

“Four M.P.s on my
trail, all stunned and one possibly dead but I’m not sure. Going in search of Zambrano now. She had four on her tail and went in the opposite direction. Once I locate her we will return to the craft within a few minutes. I’ve got a hover bike.”

“Roger th
at, Janner. There are way more of them here than our intel reported. It will take a while to get them all loaded up and we sure could use you two to help watch our backs. Get here as fast as you can.”

“Roger,”
I reply, switching channels on the comm. device so that I can find Yasmine. “Zambrano, this is Janner. Are you there?”

Silence.

I frown, lifting the device to my lips and trying again. “Zambrano, please report, this is
Janner. Need to know your location.”

Even more silence.

“Shit.”

By the time the curse has fallen from my mouth I’m back on the bike, turning west in the direction I remember
Yasmine taking. I swerve in and out of the trees, keeping my eyes peeled for Yasmine. Times like this I wish Blythe were with me. Her bionic eye can pick up heat signatures and save me a lot of time. And right now, time is of the essence because if I can’t get to Yasmine in time … well, it’s just not something I want to have to think about.

When I find
Yasmine, for a moment I believe that she is dead.

“Oh
, God! No!” The words spill out in a rush, my throat constricting with emotion. I stop the bike, park it and jump down, landing amidst a pile of bike debris. I step over two M.P.s to get to Yasmine.  She lays sprawled out like a rag doll, covered in dirt and leaves. I kneel down at her side and gently slide a hand under her head, lifting it as I place my free hand around her slender wrist, searching for a pulse with my fingertips. When I feel her blood rushing through her veins beneath my fingers, I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s been stunned, but she’ll be okay.

I only see two of the
M.P.s, but I have to assume she’s taken care of the other two as there are no signs of them anywhere and Yasmine’s still alive. If the other two had been around when Yasmine was down, they’d have killed her for sure.

I hoist her over my shoulder and climb back onto the
bike, settling her weight across my lap as I rev the bike again and turn back in the direction of the hideout and waiting hovercraft. I remain on edge, just in case they’ve sent reinforcements. Luckily, we make it back to the hideout without incident, though Yasmine is still unconscious. As I park the bike and hop off carefully with Yasmine slung over my shoulder, Blythe emerges from the hideout’s tunnel opening, leading a group of children hurriedly toward the lowered ladder of the hovercraft.

One of our team members,
Sayer Strom, is at the foot of the ladder standing guard. He helps the children up the ladder to another waiting team member who will get them all organized and seated in the craft. Blythe, seeing that Sayer has everything under control, trots over to me with concern knitting her brow.

“What happened? Is she okay?”

I glance down at Yasmine, who I’ve taken from over my shoulder and am now holding against my chest like a child. Blythe reaches out and strokes Yasmine’s hair back from her forehead in a tender gesture and all I can think about is how badly I want to feel those slender, long-fingered hands on
my
face.

“She’s just stunned,” I answer
, once I turn my thoughts away from the possibility of Blythe’s hands on my face, stroking the contours of my cheekbones and jaw. These thoughts are dangerous, even more so in this situation with peril pressing in from all sides.

“I hate this happened on her first mission,” Blythe says as she watches the last of the children board the craft. “
I hope it doesn’t change her mind about wanting to be part of the team.”

I think back over
Yasmine’s bold taunts toward our enemies and try to suppress a dry snort of laughter. “Doubtful. How are things going in there?”

Blythe sighs. “There are way more than
we expected. Jenica is worried we’ll have to make two trips.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “And leave the rest of them here without protection? Do they have any supplies?”

“Fuel. Lots of it. Remember, this branch of the Resistance is responsible for smuggling fuel to us and all the others. Jenica wants to come back for it, but the people are our first priority. We have months before we need to worry about a shortage of fuel.”

I nod, shifting
Yasmine in my arms a bit. She might be thin, but her dead weight is wreaking havoc on my arm muscles. “So, what’s the plan? Other than fuel and scared Bios, what else is down there?”

“A little bit of food,” she answers as
Jenica appears at the mouth of the tunnel with another group. Silently, they make a beeline for the hovercraft and I can’t help but feel sorry for them as I watch the procession go by. They are a bedraggled bunch, dressed in tattered clothing with wide eyes full of fear. I remember the feeling of being hunted with no end in sight, so I know what they’re going through. That feeling was, thankfully, lifted from me the moment I met Blythe. In her I found someone to take care of and it made me cast off my fear. Then we joined the Resistance and became a family. Fear can kiss my ass.

“
Janner, Sol, I need the two of you to stay behind and guard the second group of refugees. We can’t take them all in one trip, so we’ll have to come back. Is she okay?

I follow
Jenica’s gaze down to Yasmine, who’s still out like a light. “Stunned, but fine. She took out the four M.P.s following her, though. She’s a tough girl.”

Jenica
motions for Sayer to come forward and take Yasmine from my arms. My protective nature makes me reluctant to let her go. She’s going to freak out when she wakes up from being stunned and I want to be there when she does. However, I’m not going against Jencia’s orders and I figure it’d be best for her to go in case we are attacked by M.P.s. I hand her over and watch as Sayer ascends into the hovercraft with her limp form.

“How long will we have to wait?” Blythe
asks. I can tell she’s annoyed. She doesn’t have very much patience and in this situation I can’t blame her. It won’t take long for the good folks in D.C. to figure out what’s going on here, and once they do, we’re in deep shit. Blythe and I can only do so much to protect these people.

“Should be no longer than overnight,”
Jenica mumbles distractedly as her comm. device crackles to life. I can hear the panicked voice of Gage Bronson on the other end. “This is Swan,” Jenica says calmly. “Bronson what is your status?”

“We’re taking heavy fire!” he responds through the device. Indeed, rapid gunfire can be heard between every word and I hear Blythe gasp at my side. My arm reflexively goes around her shoulders and I draw her to my side. “We have freed the prisoners but the M.P.s sent reinforcements faster than we expected. I
… I believe McNabb has been hit!”