A Small Gray Dot

The fire was going to prevent me from entering. That could be good, maybe the fire would destroy the wedge but I didn’t have time to wonder about it because the Binqua were hell bent on taking us down. They seemed to have run out of bullets and had what appeared to be some kind of club and were using it to bludgeon. As had the one who’d tried to pin me, they were also throwing objects, a kind of disk. I couldn’t tell what they were but they appeared to have a cutting edge. They managed to bring a number of fighters down with them until our people got better at dodging.

A few Binqua appeared to be trying to take fighters down by crashing into them with their bodies. This worked somewhat because even the slim ones were heavier than humans. A couple more ran into to me but I managed to get one with my knife, slicing into his belly, and the other one met my boot. It didn’t kill him but he fell and I got him with the knife, too. They were heavy but their skin was thin. It was easy to slice them open and, even if you hit nothing vital, too many cuts or holes and they couldn’t do the fast healing anymore and they died. Everyone else had found that out, too, and were putting as many holes in them as they could. Someone with a sledgehammer was smashing one to mush.

In the meanwhile, most of the small building had burned; the roof was gone and only one wall was still standing. I was about forty feet away but the machines I glimpsed inside seemed unaffected. They gleamed brightly as though polished by the fire. I recognized the egg-shaped form of one from the image I’d seen in the files. It was the wedge, and like the others, it sat there in seemingly pristine condition. I guessed they were made of sterner materials than the building. Whatever their composition, they didn’t burn.

That was disappointing but I’d known this wasn’t going to be easy.

I began to work my way towards the building. Through the melee, I saw Simon and Lowell fighting back-to-back. Something whizzed through the air striking Lowell and he fell. My heart caught but there was no time to get to him. Simon went into a killing frenzy, screaming and slashing with his sword. I caught a commotion out the corner of my eye and saw Madison. Nearly surrounded by Binqua, she was kicking and turning, seeming to almost dance. I was nearing what was left of the building and I needed to take the wedge device out, so I said a silent prayer for her and fought my way through.

I stumbled over the doorsill and up to the machine. I was pulling out the canceler when something collided with me from the side knocking me down. The canceler flew across the blackened cement floor. I rolled and my knife met the chest of the Binqua who’d bowled me over and was trying to bash my head against the floor. His breath rasped in his throat as he groped at me. I pushed him off me, got to my knees and stabbed again, burying my knife in his throat and he sprawled over backward, drowning in his stinking, bluish-red blood. I pulled the knife out and scrambled towards the canceler in time to see a tall, dark haired Binqua in a black suit reach down and pick it up.

I rose to my feet. There was an opening through which wisps of smoke were still issuing, and I could see a set of concrete stairs leading to the main building. Apparently, wherever in there he’d come from hadn’t burned much because he didn’t look singed.

I had a feeling I was looking at Julius Henderson. It was evident from the avid grin stretching his lips that he was pleased to get the canceler. He exclaimed something in his language, which of course was lost on me.

I took a step towards him and he pointed a .45 at me.

He glared at me with cold, black eyes. “Stop there, Tennessee Murray.” He gave a smile that looked more like a grimace. Or, perhaps it was. “Yes, I know who you are. Tedun – Martin Bedlow to you – made a copy of your driver’s license and I have since discovered your history. You think you will stop us but you won’t.”

I looked at him and the rage I’d kept down surged and I burned with fury.

“You could’ve warned us,” I said softly.

He gave a surprisingly cheerful laugh. “Oh, so you’ve made that discovery. No doubt, you’ve spoken with Dr. Bennett. He is quite a clever man and a little while ago, I uncovered the fact that my files were compromised. He would be the one to have made that accomplishment. That, however, will make no difference. And why would we have warned you of the anomaly? You are nothing to us. We have been quite successful at turning a profit here, and once Luminary Pah saw that, with a few adjustments, this world would be good for the spawning of his kind, we contracted to take it. We will have it the same as we’ve had all others we wanted and the Luminary will reward us well for our efforts.” He raised the gun and smiled. “Goodbye, Mr. Murray.” His finger tightened on the trigger.