expected her enhanced strength to easily overcome the man even with his Mark-10 suit. To her great surprise he seemed to be as strong if not stronger than she was. She attempted to disarm him but he pushed her back and pumped fifty rounds into her chest at point-blank range. Had she been wearing a combat suit like the others it would have been “lights-out.”
Fortunately her suit was a Heshe nanite enhanced shell studded with thousands of microscopic hyperfield emitters that were configured to reverse momentum. The result was the kinetic rounds bounced straight back and quickly jammed the rifle that was firing them.
With a curse the man threw the useless weapon away and charged after Cat. He seemed to be every bit as quick as Cat was. The two wrestled for a few moments when a loud force echoed through the Bridge.
“ENOUGH ADMIRAL OR THE OTHERS DIE HERE AND NOW!”
Cat stopped resisting. Sergeant Stone and Specialist Nobel had been forced to their knees. Four men held rifles to their heads. The fifth man –the one Cat had thrown across the room—was the one who spoke. His voice was oddly familiar. He walked over to Cat and removed his Mark-10 helmet.
Cat gasped. The man was Admiral Bud Faragon. “We left you on the Yorktown …”
“I’m sure you did,” the man laughed. “Gentlemen, let us show the Admiral what she’s facing.”
One by one each of the black-clad figures removed their helmets. One by one the exact image of Admiral Bud Faragon was revealed.
***
Fifteen minutes later Cat and the others found themselves in a security cell located on B-Deck. Surprisingly the station’s commanding officer, Commander “JD” Dickerson, occupied an adjacent cell. Whatever the BioOps team was engaged in, it seemed it was above the Commander’s security clearance.
Two of the black-clad men stood outside the security screen to cell containing the Yorktown’s Bridge assault team. If there was any good news –it seemed their captors were unaware of the second team.
Looking at the two men Sergeant Stone turned to his commanding officer. “Clones?” He guessed in a hushed voice that should have only been loud enough for Cat to hear.
One of the men looked at the Sergeant. Obviously he had heard the hushed comment quite clearly. Cat filed that away with her other observations concerning these men-in-black .
“No but you are not far off the mark,” the first man answered matter-of-factly in a voice that was every bit that of Bud Faragon. “We would be more closely classified as replicants. I was the first. The others,” he waved at the other black clad man in the room, “were my backups. I was bred and engineered to resemble and replace the man you know as Admiral Faragon. Unfortunately a mistake was made during our first and only attempt to replace him. He was accidently killed rather publically. He paused to smile at his compatriot. “Rather than waste a rather substantial investment our creators decided to employ our unique abilities in other ways.”
Cat listened to the somewhat cryptic reply. She was still looking for a way to salvage their operation. The force screen was not hindrance to her. Her Heshe enhancements could easily manufacture tiny field emitters that would nullify it. The problem was Sergeant Stone and the Specialist. It was unlikely Cat could flee her confinement and neutralize her adversaries before they could attack and possibly kill her friends.
Since their captors were in a talkative mood she decided to play along. She signaled Ben with a subvocalized message through their subdermal implants… at the same time she prodded the lead replicant with another question.
“Unique abilities? I assume your remarkable speed and strength are genetically enhanced?”
The men smiled in unison. The sight was an eerie one. “Let us just say our creators developed some unique technologies. I think you’ll find we are more than a match for the infamous Catherine Kimbridge… and,” they
Fortunately her suit was a Heshe nanite enhanced shell studded with thousands of microscopic hyperfield emitters that were configured to reverse momentum. The result was the kinetic rounds bounced straight back and quickly jammed the rifle that was firing them.
With a curse the man threw the useless weapon away and charged after Cat. He seemed to be every bit as quick as Cat was. The two wrestled for a few moments when a loud force echoed through the Bridge.
“ENOUGH ADMIRAL OR THE OTHERS DIE HERE AND NOW!”
Cat stopped resisting. Sergeant Stone and Specialist Nobel had been forced to their knees. Four men held rifles to their heads. The fifth man –the one Cat had thrown across the room—was the one who spoke. His voice was oddly familiar. He walked over to Cat and removed his Mark-10 helmet.
Cat gasped. The man was Admiral Bud Faragon. “We left you on the Yorktown …”
“I’m sure you did,” the man laughed. “Gentlemen, let us show the Admiral what she’s facing.”
One by one each of the black-clad figures removed their helmets. One by one the exact image of Admiral Bud Faragon was revealed.
***
Fifteen minutes later Cat and the others found themselves in a security cell located on B-Deck. Surprisingly the station’s commanding officer, Commander “JD” Dickerson, occupied an adjacent cell. Whatever the BioOps team was engaged in, it seemed it was above the Commander’s security clearance.
Two of the black-clad men stood outside the security screen to cell containing the Yorktown’s Bridge assault team. If there was any good news –it seemed their captors were unaware of the second team.
Looking at the two men Sergeant Stone turned to his commanding officer. “Clones?” He guessed in a hushed voice that should have only been loud enough for Cat to hear.
One of the men looked at the Sergeant. Obviously he had heard the hushed comment quite clearly. Cat filed that away with her other observations concerning these men-in-black .
“No but you are not far off the mark,” the first man answered matter-of-factly in a voice that was every bit that of Bud Faragon. “We would be more closely classified as replicants. I was the first. The others,” he waved at the other black clad man in the room, “were my backups. I was bred and engineered to resemble and replace the man you know as Admiral Faragon. Unfortunately a mistake was made during our first and only attempt to replace him. He was accidently killed rather publically. He paused to smile at his compatriot. “Rather than waste a rather substantial investment our creators decided to employ our unique abilities in other ways.”
Cat listened to the somewhat cryptic reply. She was still looking for a way to salvage their operation. The force screen was not hindrance to her. Her Heshe enhancements could easily manufacture tiny field emitters that would nullify it. The problem was Sergeant Stone and the Specialist. It was unlikely Cat could flee her confinement and neutralize her adversaries before they could attack and possibly kill her friends.
Since their captors were in a talkative mood she decided to play along. She signaled Ben with a subvocalized message through their subdermal implants… at the same time she prodded the lead replicant with another question.
“Unique abilities? I assume your remarkable speed and strength are genetically enhanced?”
The men smiled in unison. The sight was an eerie one. “Let us just say our creators developed some unique technologies. I think you’ll find we are more than a match for the infamous Catherine Kimbridge… and,” they
Similar Books
