Science Fantasy Short Story {Reaper: Chapter Five Part Two}

In the future, where man has traveled to the stars and beyond, there exists guilds with special abilities. Two such guilds are the guild of assassins and the guild of mages. Their laws prevent them from working together. Reaper is the story of two members of the guilds, who ignored their laws and who fight for the greater good.

Genre: Science Fantasy Romance

 

Zion waited patiently for the air bus to come. It would be a little tricky with the huge rucksack on his back. The sun had long gone down and he was once again traveling under the cover of darkness. A well-lit vehicle descended from the sky and traveled parallel to the building tops. In one smooth move, Zion leaped from the building and landed on top of the bus. He grabbed a railing to brace himself and waited for the moment they passed the seedy hotel. At night, there were no lights around it. The gloom added to the mystery and maybe the romance of the place, but all Zion saw was a method of invisibility. He jumped from the bus, grabbed the terrace and swung to the shadows below. He found the door he exited, opened it and climbed the flight of stairs to the room. Once on the floor, he studied the motions of the revolving cameras. When he got a green light, he quickly walked to the room door, used the key card nearly as quickly as his quick draw, opened the door and walked in.

Bomba turned to him. She was standing up, glaring at him. “Where have you been?”

“Where have you been?” He walked past her and set the duffle bag on his bed.

“I asked you first.”

“I went shopping.”

“Shopping?”

“Yep.”

“Where is my cloak?”

Zion straightened. “Oh, well it kind of got torn to pieces by an alpha level android. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a little rusty.”

“Say what?”

Zion turned around. “Yeah, he was pretty mad. Don’t know if he was programmed to get angry or something else was going on. But it was very convincing.”

She cocked her head sideways. Anger melted and concern grew on her face. “Are you unharmed?”

“Yes. I am a little sore, but once I get a good night’s rest. I should be fine.”

“Zion. You are a grandmaster of Gunchi. Why would you get into a skirmish without your weapons?” She gestured toward the guns on the night stand. “And while you are at it. Will you tell me what that is?” She pointed to the foot tall tree that was already ripe with fruit.

 “The tree on the right is my bullet tree. Something I learned from studying my mother’s people.”

“You can grow bullets?”

“Not just any bullets. Psychokinetic bullets. Bullets that only I can use.”

“Impossible.”

“There are trees on Planet Terra that can drain the blood right out of a living being. Then there are others that can draw on the ambient psychic energy in the air. This tree does just that. I just modified it so I can make bullets—up to twenty bullets a day, depends on where it is located.”

“Interesting.”

“The shy one on the left is Celeste. She will come out eventually, but she has been in stasis for a long time.”

“Celeste?” Bomba raised an eyebrow. “You name your plants?”

“Just Celeste. We go way back.” Zion reached into the duffle bag. “Anyway, I got into a little skirmish because I needed money. I have some saved up, but it is saved up for a reason. So I took in a well-known gangster and got his bounty.” He handed her a bag. “Here.”

“What is this?”

“A gift.”

She opened the bag and pulled out two robes. A dark green one and a crimson one. “It’s beautiful.”

“I had pockets sewn in. Places to hide your magic stuff or whatever. I know you guys are supposed to wear your black outfit and all, but we have to be able to travel without being discovered. Also, it changes color, so you can go back to your basic black if you want too.”

She took the crimson one and placed it on. Buttoning it and placing the hood on her head. “I like it.”

Zion walked over to her and removed the hood. “You don’t have to cover your face around me.”

She held his gaze for a moment. “Zion. I will accept your gift, but don’t place your hands on me or my belonging. What gives you the right to undress me in my sleep and just leave?”

“Your eyes and hips.”

“What?”

“Your eyes are dilated and your hips are tilted at the right angle. You find me too attractive to stay mad at me.”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “How dare you!”

“The feeling’s mutual Bomba, next time I undress you, I won’t leave.” 

Bomba stepped back. Her face was painted with a look that could kill. She turned, walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Zion rubbed the back of the head. “I really am rusty.”

End of Part Two of Chapter Five.
 

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Science Fantasy Short Story {Reaper: Chapter Five Part One}

In the future, where man has traveled to the stars and beyond, there exists guilds with special abilities. Two such guilds are the guild of assassins and the guild of mages. Their laws prevent them from working together. Reaper is the story of two members of the guilds, who ignored their laws and who fight for the greater good.

Genre: Science Fantasy Romance

Zion stared at the four story building. From the outside it didn’t seem like much. Maybe some family business and or housing, but the two robotic guards standing on the outside suggested something else. They were about the size of a singles’ transport. They looked just as harmless, but the people’s reaction said it all. No one walked on that side of the street. They rarely even looked toward the building. Even the birds flew away from the building.

Zion walked across the street, his features hidden under Bomba’s cloak. One of the robots lifted up, four legs supporting it. On it’s left, right and top side were mounted lasers—they could probably cut the building in half if they were ordered to. “Halt! Prepare to be scanned.”

A red light bathe him from head to toe.

“Sending report. No weapons. No enhancements. Show yourself and state your—“

Zion sprinted from the red light. He somersaulted and landed on the second robot, just as it was lifting up, preparing to attack. He used the momentum to spring to the top of the roof. As expected, the outer defense activated.  He zigged and zagged, dodging the lasers as effortlessly as a hurdler. He slammed through a metal door and descended the stairs. He entered on the third floor, startling four guards. They reached for their weapons but the cards flew out of Zion’s hand faster than they could draw. The three of the cards slashed their targets hand, while the last nicked the neck of the one seated guard. Zion drew the blasters of the nearest guard and in three quick shots put them down. He pointed the blaster at the one holding his neck. “That’s a serious injury. The police and emergency medical team will be here in a few minutes. You stay down and out of the way, you and your friends should live.” The guard nodded. Zion reached down and grabbed another blaster. “Does this thing have a stun setting?” Zion asked. The guard shook his head to say no as he lowered himself down to the floor. “Well, that might be a problem.” Zion blasted the door and stepped outside. He disarmed two guards with two shots. Two more shots and they were missing a knee. He took out camera after camera. No one would know that he was ever here. As he headed toward the stairwell, he sensed a kill intent behind him. He shot backwards. The kill intent disappeared. Hopefully, he, she or it would survive it.   He descended the stairs blasting the guards as he descended. He heard a sound behind him, but no intent. He turned around. A blind shot would not stop what was coming. An orange man ran down the stairs at blurring speed. Several pinpoint shots in the head and center of the chest didn’t stop him, but it did expose the chassis under the skin. Just as the android reached for his throat, Zion shoved his hand under his metallic chest and shot him in the head at point blank range. The force of the blast knocked the android to the ground, leaving a handful of wires in Zion’s hand.

He didn’t bother to check to see if the android was no longer functioning. His prize, a five-hundred pound humanoid, was heading to the front door, while his remaining guards lay suppressing fire. He jumped down to the main lobby, dropped and rolled. He took down the remaining guards, exchanging his overused weapon, for a barely used one just as they dropped to the ground. “Stop, don’t make me shoot you!  Do you know how hard it would be to roll your butt down to the station?”

The big man turned around. “Get him! He’s just one man!”

The two guards, more androids, rushed him. One took point, the other followed in his shadow. He would not be able to pull the same trick with these two. He rolled with the punch from one, using the momentum to change his angle of attack. The shots were useless. One of the androids grabbed Bomba’s cloak, as he completed his spin. He slipped out of the cloak and jumped in the air, somersaulting over one of them concentrating his fire on the eyes as he sailed through the air, microwaving the androids brain.

The second android glared at him with a fire in his eyes as his partner dropped to his knees and landed on his face. Zion lowered his weapons as he stepped back. “Sorry about that.”

The android ripped the cloak and charged. He covered his eyes with his forearm. Swinging wildly at Zion. Zion dodged his punch as easily as he dodged the laser fire on the roof.  He stabbed the barrel of one blaster into the gut of the android. It was an opportunity that the android would take advantage of, he knocked Zion twenty feet away.

“Quit toying with him, you idiot,” the big man said. “Grab a gun and shoot him!”

With flawless speed, the android obeyed his master. As soon as he leveled the gun, Zion shot the power pack on the android’s blaster. It exploded taking much of his arm with him. “He is programmed to assess the skills of an enemy. He knew that getting into a gun battle with me was a waste of time,” Zion said. He drew his knees in and leaned against the wall. “They are perfect soldiers, but they have some obvious  weaknesses. One, is they have to follow the orders of an idiot. Two, is that they don’t feel pain. He didn’t even noticed that I supercharged one of the blasters and placed it on his body.” Zion pointed to the android. “Your waist.” The android looked down, just as the blaster exploded.

Zion turned to the big man, just as he squeezed the doorknob. “Don’t Karl. You will force me to shoot you. I mean, I can do it without killing you. But it would be a lot easier to just not harm you.”

“Look whatever, any one is paying you. I can double it. I can even triple it.”

“Hmm, that is interesting.” Zion looked at his watch. “I have to admit that this took me a little longer than I thought it would. The gear is important. A warrior is only as good as his gear, no matter how well trained he is.”

“I can get you gear. I can get you whatever you want. Wh—why don’t you work for me. There is no need to kill me.”

“Kill you? If I wanted you dead, you would have been dead as soon as you stepped out of the shower a few hours ago. No. You are going to the constable, you have a very hefty bounty on your head.”

Karl released the knob and walked toward Zion. “That is barely spending change. I can pay you five times as much. Besides, I will be on the street in less than an hour. Let me hire you. You are practically a one-man army.”

“No deal.” Zion stood up. “What the law does to you after, I turn you in, is between you and the law. In the meantime, we are going to play this just as I say.” He lay the gun down in a flowerpot. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the deck of cards. “Let’s go. We are going to march to the station.” He shuffled the cards as he walked. “And just in case you decide to try something.” He threw an ace of diamonds that cut and errant hair and stuck into the polymer door. Karl stared at it as it vibrated in the wood. “Remember that I am always armed.”

Karl touched the tip of the card. It bent like any other card would. “How?”

Zion found a hat and placed it on his head. “Training. Since I was two. Now walk out that door and tell your big metal guard dogs to stand down or I will use one of these cards to remove your head.”

End of Part One of Chapter Five.
 

When you get a chance, check out may current novels below:

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

 

 

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Science Fantasy Short Story {Reaper: Chapter four Part Two}

In the future, where man has traveled to the stars and beyond, there exists guilds with special abilities. Two such guilds are the guild of assassins and the guild of mages. Their laws prevent them from working together. Reaper is the story of two members of the guilds, who ignored their laws and who fight for the greater good.

Genre: Science Fantasy Romance

Bomba stood up and removed her robe. She placed it on a hangar near the bathroom door as well as her pants. She walked into the bathroom and proceeded to take off her underwear as she moved closer to the mirror. She stared at the ruby red jewel, in the center of her chest. The jewel itself was pretty, but the resultant scars from the surgery were not. If she dressed as the women of Union did, she couldn’t wear anything low-cut. It would expose the power source of her tech. She turned around and glanced back at the large metal disk that travelled parallel to her spine. Tek Nok was not cyborg. But was there really a difference? She had decided long ago, that she was simply an enhanced human. So why did she feel less than a woman?

She turned around and stared at the face in the mirror. The brown eyes that stared back at her were eyes of cold indifference. The tear that rolled from the left one suggested otherwise. She waved her hand and the mirror turned black.

***

“Bomba? Where is your cloak?” Jokka’s red skin was redder than normal.

“I left it in my ship.”

“Why would you do something so foolish? Are you trying to get killed?”

Bomba shifted uncomfortably in the booth. “No. I used a concealment spell on the way here. I apologize but I have very little time in this booth. I found the Reaper.”

“What? Listen Bomba. You are in good standings with the Tek Nok. Let this be. Turn your back on the rebels and—“

“We are not rebels. We are trying to protect the Union. If the government doesn’t wake up, we will become the slaves of the Kainians.”

“Bomba…. You and I both know that this mission doesn’t have anything to do with the rebels, Kainians or the government.”

Bomba placed her hands together. “I call to ask a favor of you. I need a sanctioned tesseract bag.”

“You have one.”

“I need one to give to the Reaper.”

Jokka’s jaw tightened. “So, you are giving away our tech now?”

“No. A limited edition. One that he can’t decipher. I will pay whatever credit that I can even if it takes a lifetime. But I need to do this and if I don’t have him on my side. I will go alone.”

Jokka shook his head. “You have always been a stubborn one.” He reached just over his ear and rubbed his left horn. “I have one that has been sanctioned to give to a rich acolyte. He has made several high-end donations to our guild. I can give you that one but I want one of your spells in exchange.”

“Why? You can’t use my spell language.”

“I will study it and translate it.”

Bomba sighed. “What spell do you want?”

“I want your flight spell.”

“No deal. That is one of the spells that makes me unique among members of the guild.”

Jokka scoffed. “As if you have a choice.”

“You are right, I do not have a choice, but I would offer you another spell that you may find interesting.”

“Which is?”

“The holographic monster summon,” Bomba said. “I can design it and send it to you. You wouldn’t have to learn anything. You can just summon it when you are in trouble.”

“I get to choose the summon?”

“Yes, the size of course is at my discretion. It takes a lot of energy to make a solid light holograph.”

“Yes, what I have in mind will only come to my knee.”

“Your knee?”

“Hey, I like cute things.”

Bomba rolled her eyes. “I will get it to you tomorrow. When can I expect the Tesseract?”

“I will send it this evening. It should reach your location in two to three weeks.”

“Three weeks? Travel time should be at most three days from the capital.”

“Mail is slow.”

“You are an arch-mage. Make it faster.”

“Yes, I am an arch-mage and you will do well to remember your place.”

“I mean no disrespect,” Bomba said as she bowed her head. “But time is of the essence. The longer we wait here….”

“Say no more. Even though I don’t agree with the danger you are placing yourself in, I sympathize with your plight. I will get it to you in five days.”

“Thank you,” Bomba said.

“I have security to consider, so you must return here in four days to receive instructions on how to retrieve it. At that time, I will expect you to give me that spell.”

“Yes.”

“Bomba, do try to live as long as you can. As my protégé, it is my hope that you will one day replace me on the council.”

“You are much too ornery to ever be replaced.”

 

End of Part Two of Chapter Four.

When you get a chance, check out may current novels below:

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

 

Science Fantasy Short Story {Reaper: Chapter four Part one}

In the future, where man has traveled to the stars and beyond. There exists guilds with special abilities. Two such guilds are the guild of assassins and the guild of mages. Their laws prevent them from working together. Reaper is the story of two members of the guild, who ignored their laws and who fight for the greater good.

Genre: Science Fantasy Romance

The crumpling of paper alerted Bomba that something was wrong. She stretched, turning to her side. More crumpling. She opened her eyes, her mind flooded with memories. She jumped up and looked around. “Zion?” A quick scan told her that not only was she alone, but her cloak was missing. She found the source of the crumpled paper. A thick sheet with words written in an earth language. It took her only a moment to decipher.

Saw something interesting on the net, took your cloak to check it out. Should be back this evening. If you decide to leave, make sure no one follows you. P.S. Don’t touch my stuff.

“Son of a—Martha!”

An image of the avatar appeared just above the sphere she planted earlier. “Yes mistress?”

“Where is Zion?”

“I do not know.”

“He took my over cloak. Track it.”

Martha pointed to the night stand. “It appears he removed them.”

She walked over to the night stand. Not only were the circuits there, but so was his gun and a container of dirt positioned directly in the sunlight. “I blacked out from over-exertion last night. Start from your portable pod’s activation up to the moment that I woke up.” Martha disappeared and blue holographic representations of the past appeared in her place. She watched as Zion gently placed her in the bed. He soon fell asleep. “Fast forward.” The time reference sped up. Zion tossed for a moment but soon sat up. “Stop. How much time has passed?”

“Two hours.”

“I guess he doesn’t need much sleep after hibernation. Continue.” He got up and walked over to the oak desk. He tapped on it and a computer ascended. He worked on it diligently. Bomba walked over and looked over his shoulder. “He is shopping?”

“He visited several shopping sites,” Martha said, “but he also visited several bounty sites.”

“Bounty? Was he checking on his?”

“I do not know.”

“Did he buy anything?”

“No. Most of the sites visited require the buyer to appear in person. I must also mention that the items he searched for were very high end.”

“You suspect—no. If he wanted to take me in, he could have easily done it. What is he up to?”

“I don’t know.”

“I wasn’t really asking…. Just speed it up. “

Zion stood up from the computer and stared down at it as it disappeared in the desk. He turned around and stared at her sleeping body. He walked over to her and slowly and gently removed her cloak. Zion then removed the parts from the cloak and set them on the night stand. He pulled his gun away from under his pillow, stuck it in the holster and set it neatly on the table. He then reached inside of his overcoat and grabbed two containers. It was two old school food containers but when he removed the top, they contained only black soil. He set them besides his guns, measured and positioned it near the window.  He moved the blinds aside slightly. Just enough to allow the moonlight to come through. He then removed his necklace, dislodged the emerald jewel and planted it deep in the black earth.

The next moment, he stripped off more of his clothing until he was standing in front of her bed nude. He stared at her for a moment, grabbed her cloak and silently moved to the cleaner. He stuck his clothes mixed with her cloak in the cleaner and turned it on, still Bomba lay in bed. Why was she able to sleep through all that? He walked into the bathroom in all of his glory. She looked away for a moment, but like a shuttle wreck she couldn’t help but stare. Some force pulled her into the bathroom. It wasn’t the first time she had seen a man nude. She had seen several images on the net. So why did this feel different?

His body looked as if was carved out of wood. A result of his chloroman heritage? He rubbed his fingers through his dark green hair. He fingered through the apparatus at the base of the mirror and grabbed a sonic shaver. He edged his hair and cut it two inches shorter. In mere moments it was a short textured version of the previous hair style. He turned on the sonic shower and then closed the door. The images disappeared and Bomba walked outside of the bath room and sat on the bed.

Fifteen minutes later, the image reappeared. An image of Zion stepping out of the bathroom. He then opens the cleaner and places his clothes on, along with her cloak. She clenched her fist as he walked toward the door, but unclenched when he stopped and looked once again at her. He came back and covered her with layers of covers. He then searched the desk. He pulled out a deck of playing cards, studied them for a moment and then placed them in his pocket. He searched even more until he found synthetic paper and a pen. He wrote on it and placed the sheet under her head. After he left, the image flickered again. “Mistress, you slept four more hours after he left.”

“End recording,” Bomba said.

Martha reappeared. “I took the liberty to search the cameras of the city. There is no record that he has even left the building.”

“No, he would know to avoid actual and potential cameras. Kiyah could do the same thing.”

“What would you like me to do?”

Bomba played with her fingers. “This pile of dirt. What is in it?”

“A seed,” Martha said. “A techno-organic seed to be exact, the likes of which I have never seen.”

“Oh, what is so special about it?”

“I have tried to discern its end-result based on the data, but I have found nothing. I have tried to communicate with it or at least read its code. A firewall protects its code and it doesn’t communicate. It just grows. Rather quickly. Assuming that the container will contain the roots, I imagine that it will reach full fruition by nightfall.”

“Interesting. I guess I will have to wait until he returns, because there is no way I can track him.”

“What will you do?”

“I surely will not stay here and wait for him. I will keep my end of the bargain and get his tesseract bag. Find the closest subspace communicator.”

“I have found it, but I worry that a bounty hunter may recognize you.”

“Not on this planet. Zion chose this planet well. There are bounty hunters here, but there are many more with bounties on their heads. Most of whom, the planet caters to. Anyone seeking a bounty would do so with, very little local aid. It would be a foolish endeavor.”

End of Part One of Chapter Four.

When you get a chance, check out may current novels below:

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

Go Savant! is the link to my Young Adult Fiction Ultimate Savant.

Science Fantasy Short Story {Reaper: Chapter Three Part Two}

In the future, where man has traveled to the stars and beyond. There exists guilds with special abilities. Two such guilds are the guild of assassins and the guild of mages. Their laws prevent them from working together. Reaper is the story of two members of the guild, who ignored their laws and who fight for the greater good.

Genre: Science Fantasy Romance

She walked to the edge of the roof. “Is that why you left the guild? Because of your enemies?” She stepped onto the ledge and gazed at Hans City.

Zion leaned over the ledge. “No. I had managed to stick to killing bad guys, mostly. My rule was no women and no children.  No innocents either. Male or female. See my dad was all about right and wrong, he felt that as long as you did more right than wrong you would go to this place called heaven…. He said that Mom would be there.”

Bomba stepped off of the ledge and a circular disk appeared under her foot. She floated down until she was at eye-level facing Zion from the other side. “What happened?”

“This female assassin that I partnered with broke my code. No, the guild didn’t give me all of the information. No, I knew something was wrong, but I ignored it. You know, you really shouldn’t just float like that. What if your powers give out on you and you fall?”

“I guess, you will have to catch me.”

“Or, you could just place your feet on something solid.”

She rolled her eyes. Floated upward and sat on the ledge. “Did your friend kill an innocent?”

“Yeah. While I was taking out the mob boss, she was busy taking out his family. I stopped her before she took out the youngest a little girl, who had just witnessed her siblings and mother’s slaughter.”

“Th—that’s horrible.”

“I escaped with the little girl, had to fight my partner to do it. And just like that I broke my code—shot her in the center of the chest.”

“She was hardly innocent.”

“That day I left the guild.”

“What happened to the girl?”

“Found her a family. It was the best I could do for her. Keeping her around would have placed her endanger.”

Bomba gasped and turned to Zion. “You would have kept her?”

“Well yes, if I could. By guild law, I am responsible for her life.”

“I just can’t imagine you as a father.”

“Why not? I would make a great dad. I would teach her how to shoot, how to sense your opponent and their intentions—”

“That’s my point.” She placed her hand in her lap and stared up at the moon, smiling, practically grinning, but then it disappeared. “we are not allowed to have children. It is punishable by exile.”

“So? Just leave.”

“No, exile means that your techno-organic parts are removed. Those that survive the process are never the same.”

“Oh, please. You could just run away, you would not be the first rogue techno-witch. Trust me, I have ran into a few.”

“They always get caught, and besides, where would I go? I don’t exactly blend in.”

“No you don’t do that at all.”

She reached out to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Is this moonlight enough for you. I know you don’t need as much sunlight as a full Chloroman, but this moonlight can’t be enough for you.”

“It’s fine. I have a photon generator that I bring with me in emergencies. But I am doing fine for now…. Thanks for asking.”

“Yeah, well let’s go. We need to get settled soon.” She tugged at his shoulder.

“What?”

“Don’t be afraid,” she said.

“I’m not afraid,” he said. He stepped over the ledge and felt for the ledge. “Wait you are not still mad at me, for the whole shooting thing are you?”

“No.” She pulled him in and grabbed him tightly. “I am not mad at all.” She swooped down at a steep angle, headed for the street below.

“The entire point of covert action is to not be seen,” Zion said, resisting the urge to scream.”

“Ah, that is why I am using an invisibility spell.” She dropped into the oncoming traffic and dodged the vehicles. 

“I see.”

“Yes, there is no need for me to change out of this cloak when I have several disguise spells.” She ducked into a tunnel that flowed under the city.

“Okay, and don’t drop me for saying this, but seems like you would like to get out of that curtain, once in a while. I can think of several outfits you would look stunning in.”

“That’s some imagination. The truth is that this outfit is part of who we are. Besides, you have no idea, what is under my layers.”

“Well—“ A familiar sense seized him. The same feeling he had when Bomba left his home. A sense of Danger.  “Bomba, we have to get out of this tunnel.”

“What? Why? This is a shortcut to the red light district.”

“There is something—“ A bright light moved around the corner at high speeds. “Sonic transport!” The shuttle hugged the walls barely allowing room for air to pass over its hull. Bomba cursed and turned around. A sonic boom followed when she lurched forward. Even at the speed of sound, the transport was keeping pace. “It’s going to overtake us. Now would be a nice time to use a magic booster or something.”

“No such thing. Hang on!” She swung into a tunnel escaping the transport. The two of them turned around to see the transport disappear down a separate tunnel. “Wheeww.”

“Yeah, that was close.”

“Oh, no!” She sped back toward the old tunnel.

“What are you doing?”

“Look behind you!”

He turned to see more lights. It was going to be a long night. Several tunnels later, the two of them were standing in the alley in front of a hotel in the red light district. Occasionally a couple or two would come to the hotel for a short tryst with their date.  “Provided, Martha did her job. We need only march to our room. This kind of place, they really don’t ask questions, but I would prefer to not be seen. Can you pull that invisibility trick of yours?”

Bomba leaned against the wall, her hood covered her face. Zion moved closer and peered under her hood. She looked down at him. “Flying like that takes a lot out of me.”

“Oh, well, I will get us inside.”

“No. I can do it. I have to get stronger.” She gestured with her hand and her gown became a working girl’s dress that left little to the imagination. Her bald head was now wavy red hair that extended past her shoulders. She held out her hand. “I need to touch you to extend the holographic field.”

“Sure.” He held out his hand and soon as she grabbed it, his brown skin turned a forest green.

“This is the best I can do for now.”

“I am not complaining.”

The two of them crossed the street, hand in hand. Once inside the hotel, they made a beeline straight for the escalator. Once on the third floor, they quickly walked into their room.  Zion pulled away, but Bomba held fast. “Not yet.” She reached behind her back and produced a small sphere. She rolled it to the center of the room. Several cylinders extended from the sphere. “The room is secure.” She released his hand and stumbled.

He grabbed her and helped her to her bed. “You are hot.”

“Tech…overheating.” She lay back on the bed

“I will turn the temperature down. I know a guy that was a cyborg, he said that the best thing to do when you run hot .” He heard some mild snoring. “Is to sleep.” He walked over to her and stared at her as she lay on the bed. Her feet on the floor. He bent down and gently removed her shoes. He sat them down on the floor. He nudged her. “You probably shouldn’t sleep on this bed like that.”

She mumbled something.

He shook his head and gently lifted her and moved her to the head of the bed. He placed the pillow under her head. She turned onto her side and gently caressed his arm. Zion pulled away.  He then moved to his bed. He placed both of his guns under each of his pillows. He glanced over to Bomba and removed the two guns. He stared at them. Placed one in the holster and placed it on the night stand between the two of them. He placed the second one under his pillow. He took the ankle pistol and walked to the bathroom. He placed it under the sink along with his two blades. In the bathroom, he stripped down to his sleepwear, black wicker shorts and filled a picture full of water. He drunk the half-gallon of water, set it on the floor next to his bed and lay his head on the gun-reinforced pillow.

End of Part Two of Chapter Three.

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