Cardinal Crimson by Will McDermott

Author:Will McDermott
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781844163724
Publisher: BL Publishing
Published: 2006-06-06T07:00:00+00:00

Kal shot blindly behind him, just trying to scatter his pursuers and give him a little more time. He scrambled up the pile of debris desperately trying to reach the top before they regrouped and got a bead on him with their weapons.

So far, he'd been lucky. They were either terrible shots or he was just that good. As much as he wanted it to be the latter, he knew the odds of dodging that many blasts were pretty darn low.

He grabbed at the back of a chair lodged between a chunk of masonry and an overturned crate and tried to pull himself up another few feet. A laser blast screamed over his shoulder and obliterated the chair. 'Maybe they're better shots than I thought,' said Kal as he slid back a metre.

'Come down and you won't be hurt, Kal Jerico,' called one of the Redemptionisis. 'We just want to talk.'

Kal caught himself on a table leg and turned around. There were about a dozen blue-robed gangers spread out in a loose group on the street. Kal wished Scabbs were here with his bandolier of grenades. That group just begged for a large explosion.

Behind the gangers stood a man wearing robes with a thin slick of hair pressed against the side of his head. One of Crimson's deacons. This was worse than Kal had thought. It wasn't some random gang of Cawdor trying to protect the prophet. Crimson had finally entered the hunt.

'We don't want to kill you,' said the deacon. He held his arms out wide in the universal greeting of friendship.

'Well that changes everything,' said Kal, who had no intention of becoming friends with a Redemptionsit deacon. 'Because I have no problems killing you.' He aimed and fired both laspistols. One of the blasts caught the deacon in the shoulder, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.

The gangers opened fire again. Blasts sizzled all around Kal, but none came close. They had orders not to hurt him. Kal wanted to wonder why, but he didn't have time. He fired back, dropping two of what he now assumed to be Crimson's personal guards.

The deacon, who had a much higher tolerance for pain than Kal had thought possible, pushed himself to his feet. 'We won't kill you Kal Jerico,' he said again. 'But I have no problems causing you pain. Take him down.' This last was an order to his men.

'Oh scav!' said Kal. He shot a few more blasts and started to scramble back up the pile. Blasts ripped through chunks of metal and concrete all around him, sending plumes of dust and acrid smoke into the air.

Kal coughed as he inhaled a puff of powdered cement, doubling over and dropping another metre back down toward the base of the pile. Another blast screamed through the air, hitting the table he had just been clinging to.

'That was a little too close.' be muttered. 'Time to trust my luck.' He turned again, braced his feet against a metal door, and aimed at the approaching gang.

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