still gnawing at me. He looked so familiar. It was when a picture of the bombsite passed across the screen that the realization hit me like a Laser Ball shield man. I had Sabra pull up Spec-Ops personnel records. We flashed through them until I found the jittery scientist’s photo.
He was the cake bomber . No wonder he was so afraid of me. He thought I would have recognized him.
I was mad at myself for having missed it. That confirmed everything Sabra was telling me. Wyld viewed anybody as expendable. He had no problem using people he could make disappear easily carry out the dirty part of his plans. I probably should have been mad at the guy, but it wasn’t him I wanted to see pay. It was his boss. Chances were good anyway that with my little mutiny he would be one of the first loose ends General Wyld would tie up.
Sabra reported that we were on a final approach vector to the facility that was caring for Starshine. I had one question left, and I was afraid of the answer. The query had not been broached, and Sabra, despite her eagerness, had not volunteered the information. Sometimes no news was good news, but I knew today that would not be my luck.
I took a deep breath and exhaled the question, “Sabra, who was that scientist that worked with General Wyld?”
There was a long pause before her electronic voice floated out of the speaker, “Wyld knew the scientist by the code name: Blue Mask . You, however, know him as someone else.”
“Uncle Raven,” I said flatly. She did not say anything as I already knew the answer. “Which means,” I continued mulling over the fact that scientists had just shown up out of nowhere, “That if Uncle Raven is not from this planet…”
Sabra finished the sentence as we began to vertically land inside a clearing not far from an ocean-side medical complex, “…Neither are you.”
SUIT UP
One of Sabra’s features was Whisper Flight. The attribute sacrificed speed for stealth, but we were able to glide in and land under the cover of darkness without anybody hearing us. It helped that the streets were empty because of Wyld’s lockdown.
At first I wanted to get to Starshine out of concern for her as her boyfriend. I’m not sure what was driving me to see her now, other than perhaps the need to confront her as her victim. I did still foster hope that, despite her father’s plans, perhaps she still loved me as much as she once said. I had to know for sure. I hated to admit that I still loved her.
There was a clothing store in the opposite direction of where I needed to be at the hospital. It shouldn’t have been closed, but because of early curfews they couldn’t be open after sundown. I wondered if economic strangulation was also part of Wyld’s plan. Sabra talked me through disarming the alarm, and I helped myself to a new suit. I trudged back to Sabra and left my warsuit in the underbelly cargo hold. I needed to sneak my way in, and I couldn’t do that dressed like a walking tank-man. Most everything on the warsuit was modular, so I kept a wrist communicator, attached my pistol holsters to a shoulder harness that could be concealed by the coat, and I put the folded mask and goggles in my pocket… just in case.
Sabra swept the area with her sensors. Starshine was certainly there. There were a lot of guards posted around the complex. Word about my escape either hadn’t made the wire, or they didn’t think I would be there. The guards didn’t look like men who were on the lookout for someone specific. Sabra guided me around and through them with no problems all the way to a gazebo outside the main hospital entrance. All the doors were covered, and there were no windows large enough to get into below the fourth floor.
“Great, now what?” I whispered into the cuff on my wrist.
“Do you not have two pistols strapped to your chest?” Sabra crackled through.
Was she serious? “Stealth is supposed to be your expertise,” I almost shouted, “And you
He was the cake bomber . No wonder he was so afraid of me. He thought I would have recognized him.
I was mad at myself for having missed it. That confirmed everything Sabra was telling me. Wyld viewed anybody as expendable. He had no problem using people he could make disappear easily carry out the dirty part of his plans. I probably should have been mad at the guy, but it wasn’t him I wanted to see pay. It was his boss. Chances were good anyway that with my little mutiny he would be one of the first loose ends General Wyld would tie up.
Sabra reported that we were on a final approach vector to the facility that was caring for Starshine. I had one question left, and I was afraid of the answer. The query had not been broached, and Sabra, despite her eagerness, had not volunteered the information. Sometimes no news was good news, but I knew today that would not be my luck.
I took a deep breath and exhaled the question, “Sabra, who was that scientist that worked with General Wyld?”
There was a long pause before her electronic voice floated out of the speaker, “Wyld knew the scientist by the code name: Blue Mask . You, however, know him as someone else.”
“Uncle Raven,” I said flatly. She did not say anything as I already knew the answer. “Which means,” I continued mulling over the fact that scientists had just shown up out of nowhere, “That if Uncle Raven is not from this planet…”
Sabra finished the sentence as we began to vertically land inside a clearing not far from an ocean-side medical complex, “…Neither are you.”
SUIT UP
One of Sabra’s features was Whisper Flight. The attribute sacrificed speed for stealth, but we were able to glide in and land under the cover of darkness without anybody hearing us. It helped that the streets were empty because of Wyld’s lockdown.
At first I wanted to get to Starshine out of concern for her as her boyfriend. I’m not sure what was driving me to see her now, other than perhaps the need to confront her as her victim. I did still foster hope that, despite her father’s plans, perhaps she still loved me as much as she once said. I had to know for sure. I hated to admit that I still loved her.
There was a clothing store in the opposite direction of where I needed to be at the hospital. It shouldn’t have been closed, but because of early curfews they couldn’t be open after sundown. I wondered if economic strangulation was also part of Wyld’s plan. Sabra talked me through disarming the alarm, and I helped myself to a new suit. I trudged back to Sabra and left my warsuit in the underbelly cargo hold. I needed to sneak my way in, and I couldn’t do that dressed like a walking tank-man. Most everything on the warsuit was modular, so I kept a wrist communicator, attached my pistol holsters to a shoulder harness that could be concealed by the coat, and I put the folded mask and goggles in my pocket… just in case.
Sabra swept the area with her sensors. Starshine was certainly there. There were a lot of guards posted around the complex. Word about my escape either hadn’t made the wire, or they didn’t think I would be there. The guards didn’t look like men who were on the lookout for someone specific. Sabra guided me around and through them with no problems all the way to a gazebo outside the main hospital entrance. All the doors were covered, and there were no windows large enough to get into below the fourth floor.
“Great, now what?” I whispered into the cuff on my wrist.
“Do you not have two pistols strapped to your chest?” Sabra crackled through.
Was she serious? “Stealth is supposed to be your expertise,” I almost shouted, “And you
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