Stephen Cannell - Runaway Heart

Chimeras.

They were carrying long, two-handled weapons that resembled the Star Wars ordnance the commandos had used at Zimmy's wife's apartment and onboard The Other Woman.

"Damn," Jack said aloud as the animals fanned out and started looking around in the moonlight. Their faces through the lens, even at this distance, looked amazingly human.

Izzy snatched the binoculars away and trained them on the distant shapes. "What the fuck are those things?"

"You don't wanna know," Jack said.

Susan took the binoculars and looked. "It's them," she said, "chimeras!"

The hybrid soldiers turned, then headed in five separate directions across the desert, staying low in the natural crevices until Jack couldn't keep them all in the wide-angle lenses. He was panning frantically back and forth, but they had scampered away. They looked like they were fanning out and getting ready to attack.

"I hate this," Jack was saying. "I'm not sure what weapons they're packing, but they look like those rayguns."

"Rayguns?" Izzy turned and was looking at them, his Costume National headband resting slightly askew over an expression

of grave concern.

"If these chimeras are the troops that I think they are, and they're armed with particle-beam weapons, we're fucked. Gimme the cell phone," Jack ordered. "Time to call in the badges and bullhorns."

Susan dug in her pocket and handed over her phone. Jack had memorized the number of the Indio Fire Department. He dialed. Long experience had told him that firefighters had the best response time and always brought the cops with them anyway. He pressed the SEND button.

"Indio Fire Department," a female voice said.

"This is Bob Bailey. I'm driving by the Ten-Eyck reservation and there's a huge brush fire blazing out here!"

"Where are you exactly, sir?"

"I'm at the old reservation road. This desert is doing a major flambe. Better hurry." Then he hung up. "Let's move. Forget staying down. I don't know how they did it, but I think they've already seen us," he said, deciding if they changed positions they might just avoid a pincer movement.

They took off running across the desert staying behind Jack who had now taken the lead and was running as fast as he could despite his impressive array of injuries. Izzy was right behind Jack. Susan was faster than Horsekiller, who lumbered. Carlos was keeping pace, but Digby was falling way back, grunting and woofing along behind them.

The first two chimeras suddenly appeared off to the right. One of them stopped and pointed a weapon, then fired. The gun made a buzzing sound and a red light arced at them.

"Down!" Jack shouted and dove to the right. The laser beam hit a granite boulder to his left. It instantly exploded.

"Holy shit!" Izzy shrieked in panic, sounding nothing like a Warner Bros. Indian now.

Susan was running in a zigzag until she caught up to Jack, who rolled onto his stomach with his Beretta out and chambered. She threw herself down next to him just as he fired at one of the chimeras. The animal was moving fast across the desert running toward them on all fours, its laser weapon slung over its back.

Jack's wild shot missed badly. The bullet whined away in the dark, but the animal veered off.

"On the right!" Horsekiller yelled. Jack spun in time to see two other chimeras loping across the high ground. They stopped, sighted their laser weapons down on the war party, then fired as Carlos's 30.06 barked simultaneously. The laser guns sent arcs of red light streaking across the desert. The first hit Horsekiller, frying him on the spot, setting his whole body on fire. He fell screaming and smoking onto the sand next to Susan and died before he landed. The second laser shot went wide, cutting a fiery line into the brush.

As Susan looked up she saw that Carlos's shot had hit one of the chimeras. He was squealing in pain and rolling backwards on the sand. Seconds later, for no apparent reason the wounded chimera exploded and burned in a raging fire.

Adrenalized with fear, the war party was off and running, leaving Horsekiller and the lone dead chimera smoldering in the sand.

Izzy was now out front. "This way!" he screamed panic taking over.

Susan didn't know where Izzy was taking them, but she ran for all she was worth. Jack ran beside her. She turned and saw that Digby was way too far behind. As she looked back, she saw a fast-closing chimera jump on Digby from behind. The big Indian and the hybrid beast rolled in the desert sand locked in a deadly struggle. The monstrously huge Digby screamed as his arm was yanked out of its socket. It wasn't completely ripped loose, but hung uselessly by his side. Susan saw that Jack had spun and was running back to help Digby, who seemed to be no match for the much smaller chimera. Although the hybrid warrior was only a third of Digby's body mass, the animal was easily winning the fight. In a last-ditch effort Digby finally slugged the beast with his good arm, knocking the chimera back slightly.

Jack was now only five feet away. He steadied his Beretta in both hands and squeezed off a round. The weapon roared. The chimera was hit in the chest and blown backwards as Jack's Beretta tore a deadly hole in the animal; but despite the mortal wound the chimera wasn't finished. It regained its footing then launched itself again at Digby, grabbing the big man's head in both of its human-like hands. Digby had no strength to resist. His useless left arm hung limply at his side. Jack pulled the trigger again, but this time the Beretta jammed, so he yanked his hunting knife out and charged at the chimera in a desperate attempt to save Digby from a horrible beheading. He dove at the two of them, sinking the knife into the chimera's back. It let out a tortured yell sounding more animal than human. Then it turned in his grasp and Jack found himself staring into its human face and pain-filled eyes. While Susan watched helplessly, Jack and the beast rolled in the sand. The animal was quickly losing strength, whimpering. It let go of Jack and flopped onto its back. Jack struggled to his feet and looked down. There was agony and intelligence in its face as it stared back at him. Then the chimera cocked its head, whined once, closed its gray eyes, and died.

As Jack staggered backward the animal exploded with such a violent force that it almost blew his head off.

It had never really occurred to Captain Silver that any of his chimeras would die in battle. He had loved them and fed them, cared for them, and fought for their well-being. Now as he watched two of them first get hit and then explode, he realized that Valdez was destroying them from the command room. He was suddenly struck by parental rage.

"No!" he shouted impotently. It was so different during war games when they had occasionally been hit by the rubber bullets fired by DARPA commandos. They had squealed in pain but none had died. Somehow Dave Silver had come to believe in their invincibility. Now two more were gone, and without any thought he gave the order to return.

The three remaining chimeras fell back and he opened the barn door for them. They raced across the sandy terrain on all fours, not in retreat, but in response to his command. Silver knew they would fight to the last animal if ordered, but he was not prepared to lose anymore. He had made a human mistake… Silver had begun to value them as individuals instead of military assets.

When the survivors were all inside the stables he saw that Gree, the lead chimera, was still alive and looking up at him. Dave Silver ordered them to take up positions at the front windows. "Fire at will," he said, and they began unloading the particle-beam weapons at moving shapes out in the desert.

Suddenly the hydraulic hatch opened, rising from the hay-strewn floor of the barn. Vincent Valdez emerged from the stairs and stepped into the darkened stables. "What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded.