Jonathan Bond - The Terminus experiment

“So the little vampire wants to play? We can play.” Wake’s voice was distant over the roaring pain in de Vries’ head.

He felt exhaustion wash over him. He didn’t have much left to give, and he knew that another spell of that power would knock him unconscious.

Wake stared at him for a moment. “I can see that the fighting has weakened you. Perhaps another time I’ll have the chance to see how you might have fared if the playing field were a bit more level, so to speak. However, that pleasure will have to wait for another day. I’m sorry you couldn’t see the light.”

With that, Wake stepped around de Vries and walked toward the two waiting helos, which began to power up on his approach.

With everything he had left in him, de Vries played his last card, he focused himself channeling his power into a tiny corridor, aimed not at Wake himself, but at the chip Wake still held in his hand.

Pushing outward, with an effort that caused stars to dance in front of his eyes de Vries lashed out with his spell.

The chip in Wake’s hand exploded.

Wake stopped walking, and looked down at his now empty hand, as if he’d never seen it before.

De Vries tried to get to his feet, but was simply unable to make the effort. Even concentrating enough to change to mist form was beyond him for the moment. He was completely at Wake’s mercy, and for the first time since seeing his unborn, vampire baby, de Vries was filled with fear.

Wake looked at him for a moment, then started to laugh, the sound rising into the air like the scream of a banshee. Still laughing. Wake turned and walked to the closest helicopter.

De Vries struggled into a sitting position, listening to the whine of the rotors. He shook his head, and turned to look back toward the burning glow of the complex.

Just over the side of the hill, he saw a form approaching, standing tall and walking with a quick, confident stride. For just a moment, de Vries couldn’t figure out what he was seeing, but then his sense of smell told him. It was Rachel. and she was carrying something over her shoulder.

She reached him in moments, and as she came closer, he knew what she carried. It was a rocket launcher, the same kind Julius’ men had used to hit the compound.

“You solid?” she asked, her voice emotionless, exhausted. De Vries nodded.

She jerked her thumb toward the two helos that were just starting to lift off the ground. “That the bad guy?”

Again, de Vries nodded.

“Good. Thought so.” With that, she pulled the rocket launcher from her back, and settled it onto her right shoulder.

“You know how to use one of those things?” De Vries found the strength to stand.

“Point and shoot. What could be simpler?”

De Vries laughed. “Might as well save the round. He’s got magic power enough to bat that thing out of the air. You probably won’t even get close.”

Rachel shrugged. “Never know until you try.”

De Vries watched her track the twin flying forms and heard the settling of her breathing. Then she pulled the trigger.

A gout of flame shot out the back of the launcher, as the rocket flashed through the night sky, tracking the lead helo, which was just below the other one.

De Vries watched in fascination as the rocket ran true, and for just a moment, he let himself hope that Wake was less prepared than de Vries imagined.

Suddenly, de Vries could see a ripple of the flames around the helo, and he knew what was happening. Wake had called on a fire elemental. The rocket detonated in mid-air, well before it hit the helo, and de Vries knew that Wake had managed to escape death again He was about to say so to Rachel, when the second helo flew directly into the path of the blast and exploded.

Like a train wreck in slow motion, the burning wreckage of the second helo tipped downward, smashing into the one carrying Oslo Wake.

The first helo collapsed as its engines flamed out.

Both copters came crashing to the ground.

Rachel stood in the middle of Warren’s old flat, the noon sun filtering through the windows and making the dust motes dance in the air. She looked around at the sculptures that stood in all the places she remembered them, but now were coated with a layer of grime.

It had been two weeks since the battle out in Hell’s Kitchen. Two long, hard weeks that had changed everything for Rachel. They had searched the wreckage of Wake’s helicopter, but had found nothing they could identify as Wake’s body. Maybe he had somehow managed to escape, even though it seemed impossible.

So they had backtracked. Evidently. Julius had come across something about Zulu BioGen before the first assault, and it turned out to be the only lead worth anything. The company was owned by a series of dummy corporations, which finally led them to something called UbiqueGenetics, ou of Austria, UbiqueGenetics was the sole property of one Oslo Wake.

So de Vries and Short Eyes were off to Austria, and Sinunu was going with them.

Rachel ran her fingers through her short hair, brushing her palm against the new datajack just below her hairline. She had thought about letting the hair grow back out, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that. Just as she knew she could never again return to her old life.

Rachel walked over to the work table and threw back the drop cloth from the piece of stone sitting there. The demon was just as it had been two weeks ago, though it seemed more like two lifetimes. It had been almost ten days since Warren was released from the private clinic, but he hadn’t set foot back here. Hadn’t come back to the things he’d loved so much. Instead, when he learned of his father’s death and that the workings of his fathers and his uncle’s wills had made him sole owner of Fratellanza, Inc., he’d gone straight to his father’s former mansion in Magnolia Bluff and taken up residence there. Apparently, he planned to carry on the D’imato name and business.

Rachel hadn’t even been able to see him since his release.

She smiled wryly. Even if I was able to go back to my old life, most of my old life doesn’t exist anymore.

Flak was gone, Warren had changed, and even more important, she herself had changed. Rachel thought about how excited she’d been, in this very room, to meet Wolf and to begin seeing real shadowrunners in action. The memory almost made her laugh. She touched the still-tender datajack on her forehead, looked down at the scars on her hands, and felt the comforting weight of Sinunu’s Manhunter at her back.

She was a shadowrunner now, and there was no way she could step back into the light. But if she had known then what she knew now, maybe she wouldn’t have been so determined. Walking the shadows meant giving up everything. It meant losing people you cared about, until you found it hard to care about anyone.

Standing there, she felt a cool breeze swirl through the room, as someone opened the front door. She didn’t bother to turn. “Hello, Warren. Long time no see”

From behind her, a low chuckle filled the doss. “Rachel, I see you’re as perceptive as ever.”

Rachel still didn’t turn. “Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me.”

The voice was closer now. “Don’t be like that. Rachel. You know I’d have been to see you before now, but I’ve been up to my hoop trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the business.”

Rachel smiled to herself. “Of course.”

She felt the touch of his hand on her shoulder. “I just can’t figure out why you wanted to meet here.”