D2-670A
Part 15
Although Kitara was spotted more than once by the closed circuit security
cameras of Davidson Global, neither of the on-duty guards made any move to
apprehend the half-naked red-head. She was within Lois' private area and the
guards knew better than to interfere with any unruly slave that happened to
wander out of her cell. More often than not, it was part of some elaborate game
involving Lois and Veronica. And if it was something more serious, they were
inevitably warned to be on the lookout.
The guards point of view changed very quickly the moment the order came through
to sound the alarm. One was about to charge off and apprehend the red-head, but
suddenly a more pressing matter came to hand. Veronica and three other women -
two of which were bound - entered the foyer to the private entrance. The guards
immediately sprang to action, and the red-head was forgotten.
Kitara, for her part, followed the distant sounds of commotion that reached her
ears, reasoning that Christian in his role as Head of Security would be
involved.
After two false turns, she came upon a set of double doors and cautiously pushed
them open a crack. Peering through, she did not see Christian, but was instead
confronted by sight of two armed guards busily cuffing a well-dressed female and
subduing a naked slave. She instantly recognised the slave as Rene - the escaped
slave she and her Master had originally travelled to this dimension to find.
But a second surprise was in store for Kitara. She was still trying to piece
together what was happening -as another well-dressed female appeared to be
giving the orders - when the outer doors to the lobby slid open to emit two
figures. One was a beautiful young woman with long red-hair that was several
shade's darker than Kitara's own.
The other was Rufus.
Kitara gasped aloud. She only had time to wonder whether he had come for her as
well as to claim Rene, before he raised his MP-432 and sighted it at one of the
guards.
"Nobody move!" he bellowed.
Of course ... someone did.
*****
Edric easily followed the tracker implanted in Rufus as far as the high-rise
building owned by Davidson Global. The problem, however, was that they were
already inside the building, and he had to reach them without drawing undue
attention to himself. A difficult task given the wound he was carrying.
As such, it would have to be the direct approach.
Edric could discern from the tracker that Rufus was toward the rear of the
massive building, so he drove the stolen car down a smaller side street and
spotted a small access-way. He turned into it and accelerated toward a guard
hut and a small wooden barricade-arm. Any thoughts of simply being able to smash
straight through the flimsy barricade were put to rest by the large plexiglass
wall behind it. On the other side of that impenetrable wall was a second guard's
hut.
The wounded Retrieval Team leader slammed the brakes on and skidded to a halt
next to the first hut. He glanced over to see a uniformed guard emerging from
the doorway, right hand on his holstered projectile weapon. Grimacing in
two-thirds legitimate agony, Edric fumbled with the handle and pushed open his
door.
The guard was immediately there, as was the distant sound of a muffled alarm.
"Just what the he..." The guard broke off as he took stock of the wound Edric
was sporting.
"He ... Help ... me."
"Jesus, buddy. What happened to you?" Edric heard the man talking into his
two-way. "Billy, I got a seriously injured man here. I'm going to need some
help carrying him."
There was a brief crackle, then: "But the interior alarm is ringing, Max."
"Billy! Don't make me come in there and get you. We haven't been called in, so
get you ass out here before this guy dies on me!"
Edric snuck a glance toward the plexiglass wall and saw "Billy" emerge from the
rear guard hut. He noted that the guard moved toward a small plexiglass door
that blended almost seamlessly with the rest of the wall. Edric was forced to
groan and look away as "Max" bent over him. "Okay, buddy, we're going to lay you
out here and then call an ambulance, okay? It's gonna hurt, but I gotta get a
better look at the wound. You understand?"
Edric managed a weak nod. Judging that Billy must have made his way through the
door by now, he suddenly reared up, slamming Max into the frame of the car. The
guard grunted in shock as the air was squashed out of his lungs and collapsed.
Edric slid aside and then in one smooth motion, snatched Max's gun from his
holster and sprang to his feet. Billy was just turning away from the door, shock
registering on his face, when Edric shot him in the stomach, chest and face. He
was hammered back into the plexiglass and slid down it slowly, leaving a vague
red smear to mark his passing.
Edric turned to grin down at Max who had reached out to grab an ankle. "Thanks
for the help," he said calmly, before blowing a small hole through the crown of
his head.
Shaking loose the hand from his ankle, Edric trotted over to Billy's body. He
snatched a key from his lifeless fingers, stole his holstered weapon, and then
turned toward the small door. As he opened it and stepped through, he heard the
repetitious pop of firing projectile weapons, before the WHOOMP! of an
answering MP-432.
*****
Soon after the alarm began ringing, the same uniformed guard, Aronsky, returned
with a skeleton key for the legging holding Christian to the bed and a pair of
overalls. The Head of Security took the key from the guard's hand and quickly
unlocked himself.
"Okay," he said as he climbed to his feet "I want the Private Section of the
building locked down. If the woman who did this escapes, I will hold each and
every guard personally responsible. Is that clear?"
Aronsky nodded wordlessly, clearly unused to the type of situation that was
suddenly presenting itself.
"Well, issue the order", Christian said, gesturing at the man's two-way. He
quickly began to dress in the overalls.
As if on cue, the two-way suddenly crackled to life with a panic-filled voice.
"Intruders in the private entrance lobby!" The voice was interrupted by some
kind of booming sound. It was immediately followed by an agonized scream.
"Jesus! The guy has a laser ray ... It just - It just burnt a hole through
McMurray! Get down here fast!" There was a second boom and then silence.
Christian paused momentarily. He had heard that sound last night, from a
distance, while his men went about hunting Veronica.
"Sir?" asked Aronsky uncertainly.
Christian stepped forward and ripped the man's standard issue revolver from its
holster. "Get another weapon and get down to the lobby. I'll see you there."
Both men ran out of the room, heading in separate directions. Christian went
straight for the express elevator and stabbed the ground floor button. He only
had to wait a few moments as the elevator ascended the two floors to the lobby
level. Even as the lift slowed to a halt, he could hear the sounds of gunfire.
Periodically, they were drowned out by the sound of a massive energy WHOOMP!
The doors slid open to reveal a war zone. Christian just had time to count three
downed guards (two of which lay amongst the pieces of whatever cover they had
claimed) and a huge man steadily backing toward him, firing blast after blast
from an energy weapons, before a hail of misplaced gunfire ricocheted off the
wall behind him. Christian ducked and threw himself to the side, hearing the wiz
of bullets flying past his ear. By the time he was able to look up, the huge man
was stepping into the lift. He fired off another blast before Christian could
raise his borrowed revolver. But before his finger could even tighten on the
trigger, the man's foot lashed out, striking him below the wrist, and knocking
the weapon from his grasp.
The man swiveled as if in slow motion and pointed a tiny, comical looking silver
weapon down at him. Christian wanted to laugh at the absurdness of it, but he
had seen the type of death this peculiar weapon dealt, and knew without a shadow
of a doubt, that he was looking at something made in another dimension ...
*****
For the first few moments after Rufus seemingly appeared in the lobby with
Daphne in tow, Rene's breath caught in her chest. Despite all her efforts, and
after the multiple escapes she had made, Rufus - Marcus' personal bodyguard -
had still somehow caught up with her.
And worst of all, her hands were now securely bound behind her back by a pair of
handcuffs. She could not run because of the rope hobbling her ankles, and could
not reason with the huge man because of the ball gag taped in her mouth.
Effectively, she was his for the taking.
Then the guard that had been busy binding Heather had pulled his gun - and
promptly been cut in half by the first bolt from Rufus' MP-432. As the answering
exchange of bullets began, Rene had thrown herself to the side and landed
awkwardly on her shoulder. Rene managed to half-slide, half-push herself behind
the token cover of the reception desk as a reign of deadly projectiles destroyed
the room around her. Heather was already there, trying to make herself into the
smallest ball possible with her hands cuffed behind her. The two blonde women
exchanged a desperate glance before Rene went to work on propping herself into a
sitting position.
Just as she did so, another guard seeking cover barreled into her, knocking her
to the floor. Rene uttered a muffled cry that was drowned out amidst the
gunfire. The guard did not seem to register hitting her. Instead, he propped
himself up on the reception counter and squeezed off three quick shots. A moment
later the same counter exploded inwards to blow him off his feet. The unlucky
man landed beside Rene, his chest a mass of oaken splinters, his body twitching
spasmodically.
The gunfire was more random now, and the MP-432 had stopped firing altogether.
Rene wondered if that meant Rufus was dead, but knew somehow that was not the
case. The remaining guards, for instance, would most certainly have seen to her
and Rene by now. Unless they too were dead ...
Rene squirmed as close to the still twitching guard as possible, and began
searching his belt with cuff inhibited fingers. She smiled triumphantly and
muttered a prayer of thanks to the Goddess of the Willow as she took hold of her
goal and slid the handcuff key into the lock. One twist and a few moments later
her only bondage was the gag in her mouth. She was just about to take care of
this minor hindrance when a shrill feminine scream echoed through the lobby:
"RUFUS!!! NOOOO!!"
*****
