The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Chapter Fifteen



The cabin swam into focus as Shade opened his eyes, to see three figures gathered round his bed.



“Well, this looks serious,” he said we a croaky voice, suddenly aware how dry his mouth felt.



“You need water,” Cat told him, sitting next to him, offering a sip of water from a straw in a plastic mug.



He sipped through the tube as bid, then looked to the others in the room with her.

“Did we land?” Shade asked, his voice less croaky.



“Oh yes,” Abe told him, before cackling with laughter: “We landed where we had been, so now you can go where you need to go…”



Cat turned her head to look at her father and, looking back, she smiled at Shade...

“Thank you,” she told him effusively, “you saved him, for me…”



“And fuel cells, don’t forget the fuel cells,” her father reminded her.



“Ah yes,” Shade exclaimed, sitting up; “I have power again.”



“You move to suddenly you’ll undo my stitches,” Cat reminded him. Then she leant forward, her pert breasts pressed against Shades right arm through her diaphanous top, as she kissed him gently on his forehead.



“So what next?” She asked, sitting back.



Shade thought, for but a moment, then told the young woman, “What’s next? Well, a whiskey, a take off and, then perhaps I’ll…”



Suddenly he lay back, “I’ll maybe just rest here awhile, before I journey on…”



The rescuers and the rescued watched Shade close his eyes, then left his cabin one by one. Cat was the last to leave and it was she who turned off the lights manually, then blew him a kiss…



“Thank you,” she whispered into the dark, as Shade slept a restful sleep, his first in a long, long time: he did like feeling needed…

Chapter Chapter Fourteen



Shade staggered forward, removing the sphere he needed from his canvas shoulder bag, noting the proximity of the four blocks to that holding Terrence Lockheart.



He sighed, deliberating on the best method of delivering the sphere, then filled with a last burst of energy, he ran the few paces toward the group and jumped up, bringing his cupped hand down upon the top of the block, smashing the sphere it held.



Immediately the nanites went to work and, Shade fell back and, sprawled face down, for several very long seconds, as he sought to gather himself together.



When he turned and sat up he saw Terrence Lockheart looking puzzled, as he stared at the blocks nearby and, the figures each held.



“You’ve a cargo delivered and a daughter waiting for you Mister Lockheart…” Shade told the man, who appeared unharmed, after his brief incarceration.



Lockheart was a solid looking man, with piercing blue eyes, that looked at Shade with a hint of confusion: “You’re not Tolliver,” he told the young man.



Shade nodded, “Yes, you’re right, I’m not. But, I fulfilled my contract and, I’ve been paid. Now if you’ll help me up, we can get to the cave mouth and I’ll be able to signal my ship, your daughter and Abe…”



“Abe!?!” Lockheart exclaimed, “What is that old rascal up to now?”



“Right now?” Shade queried, “Well, right now they’re waiting to hear from me. So Lockheart, why don’t you help me up? I’d appreciate it…”



“Oh gawd yes,” Lockheart agreed, as he ran forward and assisted Shade to stand.

“Now, which way out?” He asked, helping Shade to stand upright.



“This way,” Shade answered, as he illustrated with a pointed finger the way out.



“Okay, that’s the way we go then…” Lockheart conceded, as he allowed Shade to guide them through the tunnels, to the entrance, where Shade used his wrist comm. and contacted his ship: “Two ready for pick-up…”



As he spoke Shade fell through the arms supporting him and, he landed on his face…

Chapter Thirteen



Near a chair, adjacent to the workbench at the far end of the recess stood a block, much the same as those already passed, except for one main difference: the nanites had not completed their task and, a large portion of a marauders face was visible.



Shade entered the small room, the open end of the rifle directing the strong beam of light into the marauders one visible eye, wide with anger and fear. The man glared at Shade, then snapped: “You the Earther who did the work of the man?”



To be an Earther was the ultimate insult from a colonist and having been mentored by one, Shade knew this and, he didn’t mind…



A mirthless smile on his face, Shade turned from the man in the block, leaving him in the dark once more. The man began screaming: “Come back and finish what you started, you gutless wonder…”



Shade checked the clip in his rifle and patted his bag, which carried two more. Then he began walking once again, muttering softly “A weapon of defence, used quite effectively in crowd control…” He paused, thought back to what he had seen, then quickly recalled the pain he still felt, caused by the two arrows.



‘What need did I have to waste a round on that wastrel?’ He idly mused, aware that his strength was diminishing as time passed: the wounds were taking their toll on him. Then, as fatique threatened to overwhelm him, Shade came upon a large chamber, set out as a dining room, with many more blocks inside. And there ahead of him stood a group of four, surrounding a fifth. The man he intended to find was in the fifth block, as immobile as all the others in the room…

Chapter Twelve



Shade had limited mobility; two arrows had pierced his shoulder either side and, his arm was wracked with pain…



Yet, he still continued to hold his rifle in a two-handed grip, having inserted a second magazine of assorted rounds.



His eyes darted back and forth to the buildings either side, as he approached the mine entrance: “Being a pin-cushion is not my idea of fun,” Shade muttered, as he finally stood within a few feet of the mine entrance.



He entered cautiously and removed his glasses, depositing them in his canvas shoulder-bag, as he did so. The tunnel was lit by strip lighting run along the centre of the curved, supported ceiling. The flickering light they provided was yellow and dim and Shade was well aware that there might be a hidden threat amongst the cracks, crevices and shadows. With that in mind, he lifted his rifle to a horizontal and then engaged the light affixed to it.



Then as Shade slowly walked forward the rectangle of light behind him receded into the distance, before disappearing.



His heart beat faster, for a moment, until Shade used what he had learned in his past, to turn his fear into a positive and, greater awareness of the moment.



He knew there was a mission ahead of him and, a life to save. The injuries would not stop him --- he was determined and, that determination would lead him to Lockheart.



Cat had belief in him and, he did not want to disappoint her. After all, Tolliver had shown him a similar belief, when he had needed someone to do so…



These thoughts continued, until he turned at a branch in the tunnel and came upon the first of the marauders he found, encased in an opaque block. The fellow was brightly dressed, middle-aged alive, yet immobile; and so he would remain, until the requisite nano-revival bots were employed.



The cubes were an efficient way of utilising space to its capacity, in the penal system, as inmates could be literally piled, one upon the other in purpose built warehouses.



For some though, a sentence might never end, when they became lost when they became lost in the system due to a clerical error, often blamed on computers.



Shade stared at the block and its occupant, held in a moment of time; much like an insect caught in amber. Shade smiled briefly, as he continued to walk further into the complex of tunnels.



Then hearing a pitiful cry, Shade swung his rifle, with the torchlight attached to it, toward the sound, and then began walking in the direction it came from, out of curiosity.



Shade passed several blocks as he neared the source, edging near an entrance to a recess off the tunnel, where laboratory equipment. Peering inside, he found himself uncertain as to how to feel about what he saw...

Chapter Eleven



“Ship on hold…” Abe said, a he looked over his shoulder to Cat, standing in the doorway.



She looked on, as he flipped at four levers above his head.



“You ready to drop the cargo on Shade’s word?” He quizzed, still flushed from the novelty of piloting a Roddenbury class star-hopper, after so many years.



Cat grinned. Although she was concerned for her father, the young woman had found herself trusting Shade; in turn, she was confident with his plan.



“Yes,” she replied, knowing that Shade had arranged that when the cargo was transported it would be over a widely dispersed area, unlike that normally used; the idea being to deposit the freezeglobes underground, where the marauders camped.



“Then get ready Missy… ‘coz I’m going to move the ship into position, soon as he’s ready…” Abe informed her: “Alright Missy?”



Down on the ground, Shade had moved quickly across rock-strewn scrubland, until he reached the perimeter of the marauder camp, outside the entrance to the old mine.



The camp looked quiet: ‘Could they all be in the mines?’ He mused, thinking that it might make the mission a lot easier if that were the case.



“Abe… you read me?” He asked into the comms built into the leather band on his left wrist, containing a wealth of A.I. tech.



“Reading you clear as crystal…” Abe replied.



“That’s crystal clear Abe…” Shade reminded the older man.



Cackling wildly Abe assured Shade, “I’m just funnin with you… I do remember. Now to confirm, you are in position?”



“Yes…” Shade answered, snapping out his response.



“Alright kidling, I’ll be with you in about two minutes, Earth standard…”



A shot rang out and earth flew near the young man’s left tip, where the bullet hit home. Then he fell onto his back, levelling his rifle in a two-handed grip, “Make that one eh? Thing’s are getting interesting…”



The lookout was at the top of an outcrop that provided a good vantage point. But, the fellow was over-confident, which was apparent when he stood to take his second shot.



This was an opportunity the newly borne Shade needed, to release pent-up feelings of frustration and aggression felt since his captain’s death.



Shade had been a good shot at the academy; then under Tolliver’s instruction, he had learnt a lot more. He now put those skills to use.



Amongst the items missed of the initial requisition had been the rifle Shade now carried; it and several others, all prototypes of a weapon not produced, because of the type of battery the weapon used. Shade has many batteries, for when needed.



He Shade smiled when he saw his enemy. Recognition was what the bullet needed and, all he had to do was to pull the trigger. Shade aimed and, pulled the trigger.



The lack of recoil surprised Shade, but what happened next did not. He watched the shell leave the bullet, which changed direction several times, as it homed in on it’s intended victim and, found him with bloody result.



Shouts followed and Shade realized that the lookout had not been on his own. He turned a dial on the side of the weapon and adjusted some settings, then fired the weapon once more, this time using heat-seekers, fitted with an explosive charge.



Loud bangs preceded a shower of earth and blood, then Shade spoke into his bracelet comms hurriedly: “Okay Abe, bring her in and drop the eggs…”



Inside the cockpit the older man cackled with laughter once more as he turned to Cat, grinning maniacally, “Time to act, as the bishop said to the actress.”



In the doorway cat groaned, then turned to the transmat, as the ships engines powered into life and it began to move, as planned.



“Above drop-zone in seconds,” Abe told her, looking back briefly, as the young woman manoeuvred the hundred or so silver spheres into position…



“Should’ve prepared this better,” she muttered aloud.



“You alright back there?” Abe called, as Cat stood back to admire her handiwork.



“Yes,” she replied, satisfied that everything was, as it needed to be.



“All – righty then… One… Two… Now… press that button!” He yelled.



He had no need to be concerned though, as Cat had already pressed the button and, deep beneath the earth globes arrived and opened. Soon their contents, the nanites, were doing what they were intended to do, immobilising every human in their path, before they ceased functioning. By then, the targets were in an amber-like block and waiting for someone to use more nanites, to free them.



Shade was there to ensure that Terrence Lockheart was rescued as soon as possible, hence his groundwork.



“They have their presents,” he heard Abe laugh, through his comms and Shade stood.

‘Time to move in and, see what I can see…’ he mused.



Shade moved toward the small encampment, and then stopped abruptly giving a grunt, as he felt something hit him just above his left shoulder blade.



He knelt down and placing his rifle down next to him, Shade reached back right hand to where it now felt ever-so-sore.



As his fingers found a wooden shaft he realized that some one within range had shot him with an arrow: “Guess that’ll need attention,” he muttered, as he rose, rifle in both hands.



Then suddenly a second arrow passed by his left ear, thudding into the ground just to his right.



“But that needs attention now!” He growled, jaw tight.



Shade turned, his coat whirling around him.



He fell to one knee, bringing the butt of the rifles stock to his right underarm as he looked into the distance, the left and, the right.



And, from the periphery of his vision he caught something move to his right, disappearing behind a nearby building of rude construction.



Then a third arrow flew, from a window at the back, with a clear view of the front door, if there had been one, that is.



It struck Shade in the muscle of the left shoulder at the front, leaving Shade quite open-mouthed with surprise and pain, for a mille-second.



“Well,” he muttered, “Two strikes and…”



Shade pulled the trigger, firing a wide-dispersal round, as he turned in an arc and, quickly the building was reduced to rubble; and the fellow behind it became a mass of bloody flesh.



“You’re out.” He finished.



Shade dropped the rifle, inspected the second wound, and then brushed down his coat, prior to retrieving the weapon.



“’kay,” he muttered, a scowl etched on his face, “Now to see what I can see…”