The ring opens for the Felicity and Kat flies through wondering what would happen if the shield closed on her ship. Thoughts for another time, she thinks. Now that they’re through the shields it is time to meet the chef. Mal-Tech is a heavily populated planet but most of it is in only a few spots. The majority of the planet is being used for resources that are as renewable as possible. Any recourse that isn’t renewable naturally is made to be.

  Chef McElroy is near one of the largest cities, Centel, but he is on the fringes. Just far enough out that someone has to plan to go out there. That is great news to Kat as she looks at the map on the way down. The Felicity is able to land near the restaurant. Chef McElroy, Kat was told, is very big on having everything he uses getting shipped in as fresh as possible. His landing pad is less than an eighth of a mile from his restaurant and it is behind a tree-covered hill. The Chef is already waiting for them as they are touching down.

  Kat is feeling jittery about being on Mal-Tech and so close to Centel where Ryker spent a lot of time. His company’s headquarters is there in the center of it. Kat takes a deep breath and takes Whisper and Fury out of the console. On her way to the cargo bay door controls she stops in the armory and grabs her plasma blade out of her locker. She didn’t know if anything is going to happen but there are strict gun laws from what she remembers. Being prepared for a fight without a gun wouldn’t be a bad idea.

  30

  As the Cargo bay doors are going down Kat can see a chef’s hat appear and disappear.

  Chef McElroy calls out, “I have been waiting for this day to come for more than a year. Why won’t this door open faster?”

  Kat says, “If you take a step or two back I can drop it faster.”

  “Yes please.”

  He takes a few steps back and Kat cranks up the speed to full, which still takes another minute before its all the way down. The chef runs onto the ship and straight to the closest refrigerator giving it a big hug.

  He says, “I have been waiting to get these industrial fridges for the last year and a half with the added bonus of them being filled with hamburger meat.”

  Kat says, “I’m glad I was able to get them to you. Now if you could just sign here for them.” She holds out a handheld display glass with the confirmation of delivery on it. The chef quickly scribbles across the screen.

  “It’s going to be my best month in a year thanks to all of this.”

  Graven asks, “How do you sell this stuff anyway?”

  McElroy answers, “That is a great question. I sell the buns only. What the customer puts in-between them is up to them. They make their burger and it gets weighed before they pay. So the weight of the buns can vary.”

  “And that doesn’t count as selling cow meat?’

  “Nope because I am giving it away. I also never purchased it because I bought these fridges, which happened to have been filled with meat. I can’t let it all go to waste so I’m going to give it away, at a profit,” he says with a smile.

  Graven says, “That sounds like only something only a genius chef would have been able to do.”

  He nods, “Yes it does. Would you two like to try my famous buns? There is still some time before my restaurant is going to be closing for a private party.”

  “We would love too.”

  Kat wanted to leave right then but she did tell Graven that she would go on the date with him.

  McElroy says, “Excellent, follow me.”

  He drops on the ground a handful of what look like metal spheres. They roll on the ground and underneath each of the fridges, each lifting up and rolling out of the ship on their own.

  Kat asks, “Where did you get those?”

  He answers, “From a client. I preprogrammed them to take them where they need to be in the restaurant and they just take them there. I can also manually control them through my Aug-Gear. They won’t be out on the market for another year or two but they are already done with all of the QA testing he told me. He just likes my burgers that much.”

  Kat has Whisper close the door and keep the ships engines ready for take-off. Giving Whisper the perfect test for her new remote connection to the ship. As long as there is a signal Whisper could control the ship.

  Kat and Graven get led to a square concrete building with nothing else around it. The chef leads them in through the back and they get to see all of the stainless steel. Tables, counters, pots, pans, knives, and appliances. He talks about how he had to switch everything back from ultra-steel and how much of a pain it was. How ultra-steel, while a superior strength and lighter, was contaminating the food when they prepared on it or cooked on it. He didn’t understand it all but it had something to do with the molecular bonds breaking down and getting mixed with the food causing a metal sickness.

  Looking around there are a few other people working in the back area, cleaning and getting food ready, but not one looks away from their station. On the customer side is all ultra-steel, concrete, and one brick accent wall. Graven pulls out a chair for Kat and she can feel herself smile. McElroy asks what they would like on their burgers and since he’s giving it to them for free as a bonus of the delivery they can make it whatever they want. Graven goes with bacon and cheese. Which sounds delicious to Kat after not having any real food for the last few days. So she just says the same. McElroy leaves their table to go cook their meal.

  Graven leans back in his chair and smirks. “Well look at this. The two of us out on a date.”

  Kat leans in over the table and says, “I’m just here for the free burger. So technically not a real date.”

  “Isn’t that just a kick in the pants. And here I thought you liked me.”

  “Oh, I do. I just want to make you work for it. It’s not every day that I get to go on a date. That and I’m not your average girl.”

  “You sure about that. You seem pretty average to me.”

  Kat scoffs, “Oh really. To think I was actually starting to like you.”

  Graven laughs, “I didn’t know you were going to be so sensitive.”

  Kat gives him a playful look and grabs his hand.

  Whisper says quietly, “Kat we need to leave now.”

  Kat whispers back, “I know we do but I really want this hamburger and Graven and I are kind of in the middle of something here.”

  “I can see that, but the more time we spend here the more something can happen.”

  “You’re worrying too much.”

  Graven says softly, “It will be fine Whisper. We will eat quick and then rush back to the ship.”

  Whisper says, “Then you shouldn’t be waiting out in the open like this, in a place where you are wanted.”

  Kat says to Graven, “She does have a point.”

  Graven shrugs, “She does.”

  Kat says, “Alright Whisper we will go out the back and stay out of sight.”

  Kat looks over to Graven and smiles. She is really starting to picture herself with this guy. It is a feeling that she didn’t want to let go of and is a little afraid of letting in. Hope.

  Fury says, “Kat I just got a weapons lock request. I think you have incoming.”

  Whisper says, “I know she does. Kat this is what I was talking about, and Fury’s right, I think Ryker might be in the area. The lockdown request came from his security team.”

  The restaurant door opens behind her and Graven is already out of his chair. Six men in black suits, white shirts, and black ties come inside ahead of a man no taller than five foot eight with a commanding presence. His brown hair is perfectly sculpted as it always was. His eyes scan the room, stopping when they meet hers. Of all the things that could have happened to her, Ryker fucking Mallory is now standing in front of her.

  31

  Stillness fills the air. Ryker Mallory is standing in front of Kat and she doesn’t know what to do. There are tons of things she wants to do, but it all comes down to fight or flight. A thought she could see echoed in his mind as well with the expression across his strong features. Kat’s feeling of hope drains away as she stares at her oppressor, and his expression hardens.

  Ryker says, “Guards fire!”

  Kat grabs the table and flings all three hundred pounds of the concrete table at the group, knocking over the next closest table to use as cover. She pulls Fury from his holster as the blasting began. She waits for an opening to fire back.

  She looks over to Graven asking, “Do all your dates end up like this?” Memories of the two of them getting shot at behind cover just recently come to mind. Something she is sure she didn’t want to repeat so soon but here they are.

  Graven smiles, “Not all of them. Just the special ones.”

  “Great, I’m special.”

  “Hey, I didn’t know that Ryker was going to visit this restaurant of all the places he could go on this planet. It’s like winning the worst possible lottery.”

  “Mal-Tech is his home planet after all.”

  “Yea, but come on.”

  A blaster shot breaks through the concrete in-between them hitting the ultra-steel counter behind them.”

  Kat stares at the black mark on the counter and says. “I believe you. It’s just we now have to get ourselves out of this.”

  “Well, that’s a relief. After hearing that I thought you were going to accuse me of setting you up.”

  “That would be one long game to play. First, you have to get me to like you, kill his newly betrothed bride to be, and lure me to his home planet all just to capture me. Seems like a great plan.”

  “Now that you say it out loud, it does seem a little farfetched to think that.”

  “So Mr. Man, you got a plan for us to get out of here.?Since you asked me out on the date, I figured you knew what the next activities are.”

  “I knew a fearless lady like you would want a little action on her date,” Graven jokes. “So I just so happened to bring two stun grenades with me.”

  “Isn’t that nice of you.”

  “You never know what you might run into.”

  Kat peeks around the corner quickly before getting back behind the cover. She could always tell rookies when she looked at them. Each of the bodyguards are oozing with newness. That could mean very good things for them but there is something to be said for beginner’s luck. That is one thing she didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of.

  She jokes, “We do now actually: six wannabes and their boss.” Then asks, “Fury, you loaded?”

  Fury says, “Loaded and ready.”

  Graven holds up a blaster pistol and a grenade. Kat pulls Fury up to her side and they both nod at each other. Graven pulls the pin and tosses the grenade over the table. Kat hears it hit the glass as the guards call out grenade. It doesn’t hit the floor before going off. A flash of light, shattering of glass, and a heavy concussive blast leave a ringing in her ears. She and Graven pop out of cover and she lines up her shots. Each shot fired from Fury explodes with fire.

  Three bullets land in the furthest to the left, two in the center, and two in the far right. Nine shots in all. Ryker was nowhere to be seen but they’re one guard short. Graven shoots the two Kat didn’t. They step out from behind their cover and see one guard on top of Ryker, covering him.

  Graven says, “That was easier than I thought it was going to be.”

  Kat agrees, “It was.”

  The last guard stands, pushing Ryker behind him saying, “Please stay behind me, Master Mallory. I will have to deal with these trouble makers myself.”

  He holds out his left hand pointed at Graven. Kat and Graven both point their weapons at the guard.

  Kat says, “We don’t want to kill you if we don’t have to. We know you’re just doing a job.”

  To Kat it looks like his palm has a small hole in it. She takes a moment to look at it and hears a thump noise come out of the suspicious spot on his hand.

  Graven says, “What the hell is this?” Touching his chest where a glob of gray sticky goo is that's now stuck to his hand as well. Blue lighting like sparks erupt from it sending him into convulsions and onto the ground.

  Kat turns her focus back to the guard and covers her chest by crossing her arms. Another thump noise with the warm oozy feeling on her right arm. She thinks to herself, crap. Sparks erupt again but can’t feel them. They stay localized to her arm and it flops to her side as she drops Fury to the ground. She rolls behind cover as another glob whizzes by her.

  Kat says, “Whisper, gonna need a little help here.”

  Whisper yells, “Fury!”

  Kat looks up to see the lone guard standing over her. He didn’t look quite as large when he was standing in the doorway. As he looks down at her she feels like a child looking up at their parent. He winds up and punches down ripping through the concrete table. Kat rolls out of the way as he lodges his hand into the concrete floor. She turns around from the roll to see him covered in concrete dust pointing Fury at her. She freezes.

  He says, “Please refrain from further aggression.”

  Kat says, “Let go of Fury and we can talk.”

  Ryker stands up and brushes himself off. Kat’s eyes lock on Ryker as he walks up behind his guard to stand next to him. His eyes lock on hers and she watches as his features change back to his cool and collected self.

  He says, “Shoot her.”

  The guard aims and pulls the trigger. Kat couldn’t move; too many things are moving through her head. The loudest of those thoughts being to rip the smug look off Ryker’s face. Then nothing. The guard pulls the trigger, again and again, each with the same result.

  Fury says, “Owner not recognized, defensive measures activated. Large arcs of lightning come out of Fury, sparking and lighting the guard’s clothes on fire. One stray arc hits Ryker in the chest knocking him into the brick wall. The guard drops to one knee with his right arm dropping to his side as he drops Fury.

  Kat digs her feet into the concrete and clears the distance between her and the guard in an instant. She lands her fist across his chin and watches in horror as it literally spins in place. The guard stands as his arm twitches back to life and realigns its head with sparks coming out of its neck. His eyes start looking in all directions independent of each other before they lock in on Kat.

  He says, “Resistance is futile.”

  Kat asks, “Did Ryker program you to use that Star Trek line or is that just you?”

  “Master Mallory has programed me with a myriad of responses. All of which you will dislike, Katrice Wylde.”

  32

  The guard reaches out for Kat’s shoulders, grabbing on tight. Even with her cyborg strength she can’t break free of his grasp. She feels his grip tighten on her left shoulder. It goes from tight, to painful, to oh-my-god-please -stop. She holds in the scream that she so desperately wants to let loose, not wanting to let Ryker hear her in pain. She hears her arm snap with the crunch of metal. A sharp pain runs up her shoulder and then stops. Kat thinks, thank god for little miracles but now she’s lost control of both arms.

  The guard starts to pull on her left arm. She couldn’t feel any pain yet but her skin around her shoulder was getting tight and she didn’t want to know if her arms came off. She kicks, bringing her knee up as fast as she could and following through with her foot to the underside of its chin.

  Its head pops off its shoulders, still attached to a cable and flings over its back. It releases Kat and she falls to the ground on her right side. She feels her right hand twitch and can move it again. She uses it to help her stand and takes a few steps back. The robot reaches for its head and realigns it. Kat reaches behind her and grabs for her plasma blade. Her fingers search for the button to turn it on with her eyes glued to the guard.

  It gets his head realigned and makes his way to her. Kat feels a button and presses it thrusting into the robot’s chest. She hits him with the hilt but no blade. He punches her in the chest and she feels her feet leave the ground as her back and head slam against a wall. She can’t take in a breath and she panics. Taking her eyes off the guard she twirls the blade in her hand till she finds the right button. Blinking a few times to get the spots out of her eyes.

  Fingers wrap around her neck and she gets lifted off the ground. She still can’t take in a breath and feels the pressure around her neck tighten.

  He says, “As I said, resistance is futile.”

  Kat takes in a sharp breath and chokes out, “You’re right, so don’t resist.”

  She turns on the plasma blade in full swing. Slicing with one motion through the wrist of the guard and into a thrust to its head. He falls to the ground as her feet touch the floor. She turns off the blade and put it back behind her with the robot’s hand still choking her. It takes her a moment to pry the hand off her throat with just one hand. As it falls to the ground she takes in a full refreshing breath.

  Ryker is still in the same place against the now broken brick wall. Graven is still laying on the floor. She looks toward where McElroy and his employees are but she couldn’t see any of them from where she is standing. Taking a few steps forward she can see all of the laser burns in the kitchen. Then looks over the counter. Everyone is dead. Turning back to the door and then back to the bodies she realizes they weren’t just shooting at them behind the table. They were shooting everyone because they didn’t know who was the target.

  Kat can feel her eyes sting with tears but wills herself to stop. She will grieve for what she did to these people but needs to get Graven and deal with one last loose string. Water would be the best way to wake the two sleeping beauties and she retrieves two cups worth.

  Splashing the first in Graven’s face. He startles awake and looks at Kat and then at the rest of the carnage.

  He looks up, “You ok?”

  She shakes her head no. “But there is something we still need to do.” Pointing over to Ryker. Kat walks to Ryker, cup in hand. The sickeningly sweet combination of honey and sunflowers fill her nose. That smell is one she hoped never to smell again. Which makes her feel confident in what she’s about to do. This is going to be the first thing she does to make herself feel better, and she throws the water in his face. Ryker startles awake and looks up at her.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16