Jonathan Bond - The Terminus experiment

The vampire, crazed with pain, tried to bite the wheel holding it down.

“All aboard, this is the last train leaving,” said Sandman over the tacticom.

At the side of vehicle, a wedge-shaped door fell forward, making a ramp.

Two men in battle gear stood to both sides of the doorway, firing into the vampires at Rachel’s back.

She ran, barely reaching the ramp when a scream and the sounds of Flak cursing came from behind her. She and Sinunu turned simultaneously.

It was the vampire that had been trapped under the wheel. Rachel had thought it out of the action, but she hadn’t looked close enough. The man was unaugmented, and even though his guts still hung from the ragged hole in his stomach, the thing had obviously turned to mist and escaped the weight of the huge vehicle.

Rachel watched in horror as the small, slim vampire, who could barely hold itself upright, took bold of Truxa by the back of her neck, and hauled her away from the group.

Flak and de Vries were too busy trying to hold off the vampires advancing from the rear to do anything. By now the vampire had dragged Truxa deep into the midst of the surging mass of infected flesh.

Sinunu moved like a blur, leaping off the ramp and plunging toward the waiting enemy. Quick as she was, de Vries was even faster.

As he moved, he shouted a word and cast his hands into the air. tn front of him, a fire elemental sprang to life and descended on the vampires. The old man was set on fire and flung ten meters into the air. He landed among his cohorts, setting several of them ablaze, and scattering the rest.

Like a tornado, de Vries descended on his own kind, following the elemental, and tearing into the horde like some insane thresher in a field of fetid wheat. Ripping the lesser vampires apart, he cut a swath through their ranks, and he seemed to swell with each of the vamps he killed.

De Vries’ bellow of rage was a terrible thing to hear, and Rachel found herself flinching from the sound. The vampires standing against him tried to fight back, but they were no match for de Vries’ power and fury.

Behind him, Sinunu had his back, so when a small group of vampires tried to flank him, she was there. flring with blinding accuracy.

Still, it was no use. The vampires were passing Truxa’s limp body over their heads, each of them taking a small chunk out of her, until Rachel could see the white of bone beneath her blood-covered skin. The elf’s sling hung from her broken arm like a bloodied flag of truce.

Rachel knew Truxa was dead, and even if she wasn’t, she was certainly infected. Still, de Vries fought on.

Behind Rachel, the two men who were guarding the door of the huge truck came down the ramp and ushered her into the vehicle. She turned to find herself face to face with an older man, sweat running down his face, his silvering hair plastered to the side of his head.

From pictures she had seen, she knew instantly that it was Warren’s father.

“Rachel, we’ve got to go. There’s no way we can hold them back any longer.” Even as he said that, his hand shot out, pushing Rachel down and firing over her head.

Rachel didn’t even bother to look and see how close the vampire had come. Over the tacticom, Flak’s voice, choked and nearly unintelligible, said, “Pull back. She’s… she’s gone.”

Out in the center of the vampires, de Vries and Sinunu fought on, but now, even de Vries was threatened with being overwhelmed.

A commotion to the duo’s left caught Rachel’s attention.

The elemental, which had been destroying vampires left and right, faded suddenly and was gone.

There seemed to be a communication between Sinunu and de Vries. As one, they turned back toward the vehicle, fighting their way through the vampires separating them from the men who had come to rescue them.

A team of men in battle armor came from the right, led by a big, redheaded ork who had lost his helmet somewhere in the fray.

Using lasers and heavy-caliber rifles, the men cleared a path back, and the two groups met in the middle of the fray. Firing as they ran, the group covered ground in long strides and made the vehicle before the vampires could regroup.

Rachel, standing on the platform and firing into the crowd of vampires to help keep up the confusion, watched as Sinunu climbed up beside her.

Sinunu wasn’t crying, though Rachel knew her own eyes were stinging with tears. Instead, the other woman’s eyes had gone dead, and Rachel shuddered at what she saw behind those lifeless pink orbs.

Deep below, standing in operating theater number two, Oslo Wake watched the strategic retreat of the Fratellanza, Inc. Forces.

Beside him. Pakow shifted nervously. Wake could almost taste the man’s fear, could smell the stink of sweat on him.

Wake smiled to himself. The man was like a pane of new glass. Still, Wake was pleased by how things had gone, As the last of the trucks pulled out of sight, he sighed.

“Have security recall the troops and order a clean-up detail. I want a full report, losses on both sides as well as equipment damage. I also want to know how the runners penetrated our computer system so easily, Lastly, there will probably be several new arrivals tonight. I want them tagged and implanted if possible, destroyed if not. If there are any new metas in the mix, I want a count of them, and I want them sequestered until I can speak with them personally”

“Of course,” said Pakow. “I’ll relay the order.”

Wake smiled again when he noticed how quickly Pakow had gotten himself under control. “I’m actually quite pleased,’ Wake said. “Tonight’s activities have invigorated me tremendously. From the trideo I’ve seen so far, I’d have to say that our shock troops did quite well.”

Pakow looked troubled. “Excuse me?”

Wake laughed, and clapped a hand on Pakow’s shoulder, pretending not to notice when the other man flinched. “Doctor Pakow, our troops had absolutely no training other than the natural instincts provided by our treatments, and no weapons other than a few built into their cyber. Yet they managed to stave off a heavily armed assault conducted by seasoned professionals. If ever there was an indication that we’re on the right track here, tonight was certainly it.”

Wake watched as Pakow forced an airless chuckle. “Of course, Doctor Wake.”

Wake smiled and knew without a doubt the impact that smile had on Pakow. The smaller man paled. “Now, my dear doctor, there is something I would like to show you.”

Pakow nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Wake made a few adjustments on the monitors, and watched as the playback showed the small group of runners storming the room below.

“Hey, this isn’t Warren.” The voice from the monitor was soft, feminine, but with an edge to it that Wake admired.

He played the whole loop, not bothering to look at Pakow. As the one Wake had come to realize must be the Martin de Vries stepped out of the supply elevator carrying a body obviously meant to replace Warren’s, Wake froze the image.

“Isn’t he simply magnificent?” Wake whispered under his breath. Then he turned to look at Pakow, who had gone a dangerous shade of purple, his dark eyes fixed on the monitor. “He truly is the pinnacle of what we’re trying to achieve here. A full vampire who is in complete control of himself, who has retained his soul. What I wouldn’t give to have him under observation for a few months. Still, his flaws are obvious, and I will be honored to one day turn them into strengths.”