James Axler – Gemini Rising

A surgical cabinet stood nearby, and Mildred marveled at the glistening array of scalpels, forceps and hemostats. She tried the handle, but it was locked tight. Smashing the glass with the barrel of her weapon, Mildred began to stuff the instruments into her medical kit uncaring of the sharp glass that ringed the opening.

Heavy curtains closed off one end of the room. Pushing them aside, Ryan found Krysty holding the hand of a pregnant woman strapped to another slanted table. She was naked, her huge distended belly covered with bruises, one eye swollen shut, her nose clearly broken. “No,” she cried weeping, “not again, no moreplease, my baby. You’ll hurt the baby” And the woman desperately clenched her legs together.

“Hush, everything is fine now,” Krysty said softly.

Whipping out his panga, Ryan slashed the curtains loose and draped them over the nude woman.

“Thank you,” she whispered, trying to focus her good eye.

“Are you Tabitha Cawdor?” Ryan asked, sawing at the straps. The predark woven material was tough but soon gave under the razor-sharp steel.

“Yes, who are you?”

The first strap parted, then the second. “Ryan Cawdor, a relative. We’re here to take you to Nathan.”

“Nathan?”

“Fireblast,” Ryan growled. The third strap was different from the others. Some sort of resilient steel strands had been woven into the material. The panga wasn’t getting through.

“Look away,” he ordered and, placing a hand over her face, triggered the SIG-Sauer at the locking buckle.

The metal exploded and the woman jumped from the stinging report at such close quarters. Yanking the strap through the smashed buckle, Ryan did the same on the other side and helped the woman to sit upright.

“I’ll take her,” Krysty said, lifting the pregnant woman off the table. Even without her mutie strength, the redhead was nearly as strong as Ryan and this tiny slip of a girl was no real burden. Besides, at that precise moment, Krysty believed that she could easily have pulled down the whole fortress.

“Move fast,” Ryan directed, leading the way. “Overton’s men will wake soon.”

Sloshing their way to the stairs, the companions herded the freed prisoners out of the barracks and into the rear of the waiting truck. Clem stayed at the wheel, watching for trouble as Mildred helped the scrawny sec men climb into the wag. Loose hay filled the rear of the truck, and the men collapsed into it and went to sleep, totally exhausted by the terrible ordeal of a twenty-foot walk. Ryan got the door to the cab, and Krysty placed Tabitha on the front seat, tucking her in with the old curtains. Clem wrinkled his nose at the stink but made no comment. If this was what came out of the barracks, he could only guess at what they’d found inside.

A few people passing by took in the strange sight and kept walking. Armed people were to be avoided in Front Royal.

“We’ll send word when it’s safe to return,” Ryan said, passing up a spare AK-47 blaster. “Stay low, move fast and don’t hesitate to shoot.”

“No prob,” Clem drawled, working the gears and releasing the clutch. Mildred waved goodbye as the truck started to pull away, then she buried herself out of sight under the hay with the rest of the human cargo.

The wag was halfway across the courtyard, heading for the distant drawbridge, when a thunderous explosion shook the barracks, blowing the glass out of the windows while tongues of flame licked out the doorway. As the companions got off the ground, they heard piteous screams from inside the burning building.

The fire bell began to clang.

“Now it begins,” J.B. said grimly, looking around. There was no sign of the blue shirts, but that would change at any moment.

“Be careful,” Ryan warned, jacking the slide on his handblaster and bolstering the piece. “I’ve seen Overton draw and he’s fast as me. Mebbe even better. Don’t know if he’s accurate, so the second you see him, no conversation, just keeping banging away until you are sure he’s dead.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” J.B. said, snapping the bolt on the Uzi, then the AK-47. “Okay. Let’s go.”