Warrior Chronicles 1: Warrior's Scar Read online

  The second time he read through the scientists’ answers, he sat bolt upright and reread through the answers again. He practically ran to the tunnel where Gaines was being held. “Is Sköll infected with the synthetics?” he practically screamed.

  “Oh Gods! Probably. Gods damn you, Val! Why did you not listen?” This cannot be happening. It is impossible. We were so close. And him being here? How?

  “How do I stop them?” Cort was practically in the woman’s face. “How do I save Sköll?”

  “You cannot.” Clare was broken hearted. She knew the wolf would die and it would be her fault. Within three days he will be fully infected.”

  Cort had an idea. “Not if I can help it!” he yelled as he ran away from her. He found one of the disruptor weapons and looked at it. Running back to the tunnel, he pointed the weapon at the woman. “This didn’t affect me. It targets the nanit– er, the synthetics, right? I can test the settings on your team, or you can help me. Your choice. How do I kill the synthetics inside him? NOW!”

  She realized then that the man loved the wolf more than his own life. Or theirs. “It should work. They haven’t been replicating long. Use the third setting.” she pointed to the side of the weapon under Cort’s right thumb. “That switch. Push it all the way to the three dots. I hope it works for you. And for us. The synthetics will probably kill him if it does not. They will replicate and feed on every non-human cell in his body. Fire it three times. To be sure I would do it again every couple of hours for a day or two.” She was thinking quickly. “We have to save him. Wait! Does he have any metal in his body?”

  “No, why?” Cort asked.

  “It could affect any metal. Make it hot.” She saw Cort’s mind working now.

  “That explains why my arm got hot when Val shot me. Thank you. I’ll be back.”

  In the center of the cavern, Cort pointed the weapon at the wolf and said, “I never thought I would aim a gun at you, boy. I hope this works.”

  He pulled the trigger three times, waiting about five seconds between each shot. Only a beep signified the weapon had fired. Not even a PEW! PEW! Disappointing. The future sucks so far. Sköll was clearly in distress by the end of the three shots. Cort sat down to pet the wolf, comforting him. “Sorry boy. But it had to be done.” He didn’t leave the wolf’s side until it was resting peacefully.

  Two hours later Cort shot Sköll again. The wolf didn’t seem to care this time. Cort took water to each of the detainees and gave them a fresh set of questions. This round was more pointed, and dealt mostly with the nine people who came knocking on his door the previous noon. The big news from the questions was that the team had arrived in a chemically powered flight vehicle from a settlement about thirty kilometers away. It sounded like it was probably Tularosa. To the southeast, the settlement was the central community for a vast farming area. Climate change or irrigation had made the area very fertile. Cort wasn’t sure which was the case.

  He also learned that emissions from his solar arrays had attracted the team, but that they had not reported the anomaly yet. Gaines’ plan had been to research it before reporting it higher up the chain of command. But the team would be checked on within a day or two at the most. He also knew their names and fields of study. Clare Gaines was the scientific head of the team. A biologist, she had been present because of the possibility of biological contamination. The scientist Sköll had killed had been a physicist and was present because of the potential radiological threat. The man still secure in the original tunnel was an archaeologist named John Wills. He was an expert in American history. The final scientist was a medical man. His name was Thoms. Cort learned from the others that Thoms’ nephew had been one of the security people killed, which gave Cort a difficult decision to make. Kill him and remove any threat he might post to Cort or Sköll, or let him live and hope for the best. But the best seldom happens. He got up and went to corridor where Dr. Gaines was restrained.

  “Is Dr. Thoms going to be a problem for me?” he asked.

  Gaines knew exactly what he was asking. “I honestly do not know. He was close to his nephew, so if I had to choose, I would say yes. But I can’t be sure enough to condemn him. I’ve never worked with him before. He is brilliant. And an expert on the synthetics. His team was responsible for the last two updates to their genetic programming.”

  “Genetic programming? Explain.” Cort replied.

  Gaines was surprised. So far, the only time Cort had actually conversed with her had been about the wolf named Sköll. Now he was interacting with her. “The synthetics are programmed. Coded. Like DNA. When they were developed, we left a lot of room in their ‘genomes’ to add more information as it became necessary. Do you understand?”

  “I think so.” Cort pulled a disruptor from the left holster on his belt. “Tell me about the weapon. How does it work?” he slid the weapon across to her.

  She picked it up clinically and began to speak. “It only affects metal. Inert metal is only heated slightly. That is why you felt heat when Lieutenant Val shot you. May I ask, why do you have inert metal inside your arm?”

  “I broke my radius jumping down a stairwell when I was thirteen. There are four small screws in my arm from the repair.”

  “Interesting. Boys will be boys, I guess. If you had been injected with synthetics at birth, your arm would have healed within minutes. The only things they cannot do yet are repair brain injuries or major limb amputations. The brain is too complex and limbs simply require too many of them. The stump is healed over before enough synthetics can be injected, even if the body could handle the additional volume of them. Which it cannot. So far, we have been able to grow as much as a hand on an amputee, but even feet are beyond the technology except in the case of pre-pubescent children.”

  “Regarding the gun?” Cort asked.

  “Yes. It simply disrupts the synthetics’ electrical field in the direction it is fired. It has four frequencies, all of which are tuned to the nano-synthetics. The ‘1’ position on the weapon control is the lowest instruction to the nanites. They react to the weapon by shocking the host. Essentially stunning him for a few minutes. It erases short term memory and disrupts motor control. Hence the name ‘disruptor’. The handheld ones have a range of about fifty meters. There is also a shoulder fired version with a narrower field of fire, but effective to about two kilometers. It is only legal for security and military use.”

  “I took two of them from the team outside. They equate to a rifle or a sniper weapon from my time. Continue.”

  “The military also has more powerful and wider yield weapons. The ‘2’ setting is ‘immobilize’. The synthetics temporarily stop all voluntary muscle control. This setting is used for more intense or violent situations. That is what the weapons were probably set to when Val attacked you.”

  Interesting. She said, ‘When Val attacked you.’ She doesn’t think his actions were justified.

  Dr. Gaines continued, “The ‘3’ setting is ‘kill’. It deactivates all the synthetics permanently. Because that turns about forty percent of the host’s blood to metal dust, they die almost immediately. The ‘0’ position at the bottom of the selector reactivates synthetics paused by setting ‘2’.

  “I’ll be right back.” Cort smiled, “Time to shoot Sköll again.”

  When he returned, he remained standing and looked at her. “Are you going to be a problem?”

  “No. I do not believe you are handling this as well as you could though. We are not enemies. Yet you are holding us prisoner.”

  He regarded her for a moment. “Everyone is an enemy until they prove their loyalty. I will be back in a few minutes.” When he came back, he placed the hood over her head again, and led her to another area. After securing her to another wall, he removed her hood. She was sitting next to her companions in the original tunnel. Cort removed their hoods as well and walked to the other wall where he stood facing them.

  “Before we begin I want to say something. Dr. Thoms, I am sorry about you
r nephew. He was a threat to both myself and my wolf. Sköll is the only friend I have on this world or the one I came from. I hope you understand my actions.”

  The other two scientists looked at Thoms to gauge his reaction. “You will be put to death. You broke our laws and killed many of our people. I do not care. You will be dealt with.”

  “Dr. Thoms. Your people, including your nephew attacked us first. I begged them not to, but they did anyway.”

  “They were following orders. As was my nephew.” Thoms was defiant.

  This isn’t going to end well, either. “Doctor, what are your intentions?”

  “I will do whatever is in my power to resist you. Given the chance, I will push that green button on the wall near the entrance and escape here. Then I will report you to the authorities.”

  Gaines said, “Thoms, think about it. We attacked him. He was not violent until then. He is not an enemy. He is a man from a different era. A different century. We can learn so much from him. Think about what you are saying.”

  Wills spoke. “I agree. This man is more valuable alive than dead. Intellectually and physically. Think about it from your perspective, Thoms. He carries genetic anomalies and recessive traits. If he cooperates, he alone could diversify the human genome dramatically. Not to mention the wolf. He could push your research ahead by decades.”

  Cort regarded the archaeologist while Thoms responded. “Ridiculous. He is too violent. My nephew is dead because of this Neanderthal.” I will see him dead.

  Cort raised the disruptor and fired at Thoms. Gaines asked, “What setting?”

  “Two. How long can I keep him immobilized?”

  “Two to three hours. Then he will begin to die. You should know, he is conscious right now. Just paralyzed. He can hear you.”

  “Dr. Wills, did you mean what you said? About my value to you?”

  “Yes, though I do not care about the genetic benefits. I am an archaeologist. You are from the late twentieth or early twenty-first century. You are a living time capsule.”

  “I believe you are sincere. Will you resist me in any way?”

  The man shook his head. “Addysun, I want to learn from you.”

  “Both of you, one more question. Before you answer, know something. I have had Sköll since he was a pup. He and I are one. If any harm comes to either of us, the other will kill you all. If I release you, will you help me to secure this facility against intrusion until I can learn enough to decide what my next step is? I need to trust you, but it is more important that I protect Sköll. Nothing else matters to me.”

  Wills answered first. “Yes, I will help you. Will you share your history with me?”

  Cort nodded. “Not my history. But I will tell you all I can about the world I left. And I have a treasure trove of artifacts and literature for you. Dr. Gaines? I need to know it’s about more than just Sköll for you. Will you help me?”

  “Sköll is the most important one here. I will never harm him. And as you said, if I harm you, he will kill me. It is just about Sköll to me, Mr. Addysun.” She stared at Addysun for what seemed like minutes before he spoke.

  “That will have to be good enough. I have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, I have to kill Thoms. My way is faster. Your way is, well, your way. I cannot risk him jeopardizing us. Would you like to leave the room first?” Both scientists nodded. Neither argued with him. “I will be back in a little while.” Turning back to the scientists, he said, “By the way, it’s Addison. Not Addysun. Cortland Addison. Cort, for short.”

  Gaines was in a daze. Oh my Gods! It cannot be. It just cannot be.

  Cort stored most of his available weapons inside transport chamber and secured it. He then secured the other containers that contained any kind of weaponry and returned to the main tunnel. He had been gone for almost an hour when he stood in front of the scientists again. “Dr. Thoms you have had an hour to think about your impending death. I hope you have reconsidered your position. I am going to release you from both my restraint and that of the synthetics. Your actions will determine your fate.” With the other two still shackled to the wall, Cort released the medico from his restraints and removed his hood. With his left hand, Cort fired the disruptor at Thoms, this time set to ‘0’. In his right hand was a large caliber revolver.

  Thoms immediately stood up and glared at Cort. “No one will benefit from your barbarism, Addysun.” With that he pulled a small disruptor from his tunic and pointed it toward the other two scientists.

  Oh God! I didn’t search them! Cort thought as he fired two rounds into the man’s head.

  The twin booms of the .45 Colt were deafening in the confined space of the tunnel. With his ears ringing, Cort saw Sköll run into the section of tunnel. He clearly didn’t feel good, but he put himself between his alpha and the two remaining scientists. Cort called him off. Sköll immediately sat, but didn’t change his position between the people.

  To the remaining two top-siders, Cort said, “I’m sorry. I should have searched you all. I didn’t mean to place you in danger. I should have considered the possibility of him attacking you as well. I will have to secure the other disruptors. They may not hurt me or Sköll, but they could be used against any allies I find.” Lesson learned. “I’ll be back when I secure them.” Leaving with the body of their colleague, Cort headed up the tunnel.

  Outside the blast doors he found it was night. Two of the bodies were gone. He searched the area and found cat tracks. Perfect. He stripped the remaining bodies completely and left them. They still have pubes, anyway. Hopefully nature would dispose of them sooner than anyone began to look for them. If only I could put the barrier back up. I need to ask Gaines about that.

  Back inside, Cort secured the other disruptors before he faced them once again. “Last chance. If I release you, I will give you my trust. I only have one standard though. If you are not my ally, you are my enemy and I will kill you. No second chances. If I sense a threat,” Cort gestured to the bloody mess on the wall, “I will kill you. No questions asked. Your alternative is to wait here while I set up a detention area where you will be kept secure and well treated. What is your choice?”

  Both scientists asked to be released. Cort released Wills first while speaking calmly. “Do not approach Sköll. Let him come to you. If he senses I trust you, he will. If he senses a threat, regardless of my feelings, he will kill you. And I won’t stop him.” Wills rubbed his ankles before standing up. After releasing Gaines, Cort said, “Follow me.” Sköll followed behind the group. The alpha had accepted them, so he would too. For now.

  Cort stopped. “Dr. Wills, it occurs to me that I am about to turn a child loose in a toy store. Do you understand what I mean?” The man nodded. “I hate to delay that, because as I recall, there are few greater joys than witnessing it. However, I have a few questions and need both of your undivided attentions. Perhaps we should sit down here and talk for a few minutes first.” Wills and Gaines both agreed and sat down in a circle with Cort. ”First, is there a way to put the barrier back up?”

  Gaines answered, “Yes. There is equipment in our flight. We were prepared to reseal the entrance if it was compromised or we had to open it for some reason.”

  “How far away?”

  “Five minutes’ walk. But with the three of us, it will take two trips.”

  “Okay. Local fauna?” Cort asked.

  “Domesticated mostly, though there are a few large cats. They may be more prevalent in this area, since much of it is considered a waste. Especially at night. Why is …”

  Cort interrupted her. “I don’t mean to be rude, but we are on a bit of a schedule. Your questions will have to wait a bit longer. I’ve seen signs of the cats. They’ve taken some of the bodies outside. My hope is to reseal the tunnel and let the next group think the cats got you all. Is that possible?”

  “Possibly, but we cannot keep the ruse up for long. In thirty days, I will be missed. It is vital that does not happen. Especially now.” Cort thought Gaines was
nervous about continuing. Why? Because of Wills? Her own agenda?

  “Why?” Cort asked the woman.

  “As you say, there is time for that later. Right now, we should get sealed off.” She locked eyes with Cort. You can’t be him. He’s just a myth. A fairy tale so few even know of. But my Gods! What if you are?

  “Fair enough. Dr. Wills, do you have anything to add?”

  The smaller man waited a moment to answer. “First I thought about just calling in. Telling the area control that we were going into the chamber and resealing it behind us. It has happened before. If the team does not emerge, the site is considered to still be off limits. I lost my wife to such an incident. But if Clare has to be back in thirty days, that will not work. So sealing the entrance is the best option, we can emerge in a few weeks and address the situation then. Three weeks is enough time to come up with a plausible explanation for what happened.”