Mercy Rising by Bowen Greenwood

Author:Bowen Greenwood [Greenwood, Bowen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Bowen Greenwood
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

“Did you see where she went?”

Hal shook his head. “I’ve got nothing. Should we split up and search?”

Before he and Jayda could decide what to do, another Archon strolled out from behind a building. She wore a mask over the lower half of her face, and her hood hung low to cover everything but her eyes.

“Please don’t split up. It’ll be too easy if I kill you one at a time.”

Her voice made her female, but it was rough, sandpapery. And the uniform was familiar—classic, even. The Archon he and Jayda had just fought wore a skintight shirt, but this one wore the old-fashioned black jacket with hood.

She dressed like a hundred different Archons Hal had fought in the Exile War.

“Just how many of you are there on Summerwell?” he asked.

“There is only one of me. One in all the Dominion.

“I am Char, Ruler of Rulers. But I’ll tell you something I tell almost no one else. I want you to know who killed you, Hal Sable. My name used to be Alice Poole.”

“Do I know you?”

“You weren’t even eighteen yet. I was spying for the Archons on Tau Ceti when last our paths crossed. But it’s not about you and me. I killed your mother, Sable. And now I’m going to kill you.”

That was the end of the talking. Hal charged her the moment he processed those words.

Char replied just as intensely. The fireball came so fast he barely saw her throw it. Hal ducked under it, then launched himself forward to tackle her. Jayda threw her own fireball back at the woman in black. She slipped to the side, dodging both. They turned and whirled in the street, fists and feet clashing. The hard sounds of blocks and punches echoed, bone on bone. The pedestrian traffic cleared out in a hurry.

The Archon kicked low, aiming for Jayda’s knee, and she shuffled back. Her next kick hit Hal smack in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Hal fell back, struggling to stay on his feet. She was good.

Jayda tried to charge, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks. The Archon blocked, blocked, slipped to the side, and kneed her in the kidney when she was out of position. She grunted in pain and danced out of range while Hal bored in to take her place.

Charging, he yelled, “Liar! You couldn’t have killed her! She went down with the ship!”

In response Char gripped Hal telekinetically. He fought for control, pulling at quantum entanglements, but her power was pure iron. As if it wasn’t shocking enough that she overpowered one of them, the Ruler of Rulers caught Jayda trying to sneak in from the side and lifted her up too. Once she had them both off the ground, she squeezed, and Hal felt his whole body almost on fire with the pain. The look on his wife’s face was worse than anything he might feel himself. He redoubled his efforts to get free and somehow help Jayda, but to no avail.

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