Thunder of Freedom: A Time Travel Adventure (Inflection Point Series Book 3) by Nick Cook

Author:Nick Cook [Cook, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-02T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Even though the British soldiers were all focused on Lauren and me, my main worry in all the chaos was still the Ronin. Hundreds of men armed with muskets might be trying to capture us, but it was the one android who posed us the greatest risk.

I risked a quick look back, and my suspicions were confirmed. The Ronin was raising his disruptor. Based on my experiences with previous assassin androids, I had little doubt it wouldn’t just be a stun shot he was preparing. I’d wager good money that, despite the teeming crowd of witnesses, the metal man was ready to risk a lethal blast.

Out of nowhere, a shout erupted from the soldiers patrolling the walkway on top of the main gate. As if on cue, an enormous cloud of smoke erupted from a parked wagon, unfurling like a monstrous spectre across the yard, enveloping everything in its path.

Lauren shot me a look, her eyes wide with both alarm and a hint of admiration. ‘No doubt Jack and Gwyneth’s handiwork,’ she shouted above the commotion.

Before I had a chance to reply, a deadly beam of violet energy burst through the smoke from where the Ronin had been standing the last time I’d seen him. It seared past my head, slamming into the stone wall behind us, boring a molten hole into its façade. Barely a breath later, a volley of musket fire shredded the same wall, scattering chunks of stone like deadly confetti. We rushed away, dodging and weaving as the smoke swallowed us.

Within seconds, the fort was transformed into a battlefield straight out of a nightmare—smoke, gunfire, and searing energy beams, with us caught in the eye of the storm.

We ducked and weaved as the choking smoke rolled over us, obscuring everything.

Whatever was creating the smoke stank of rotting eggs, strong enough to make me gag. For a moment, a panicked thought took hold that it might be mustard gas. But I knew from bitter experience that without a mask, we’d be dead within moments. Also, there was none of the telltale smell of garlic I’d smelt more times than I cared to remember back in the trenches of the Somme. Besides, as far as I was aware, mustard gas hadn't been invented yet in the eighteenth century.

‘Bloody hell, that smells as bad as the men’s loo,’ Lauren said, as we closed rapidly on where we knew the gates were located.

‘Yes, but it’s also giving us the perfect cover to—’

A hand seized hold of me from behind, hurling me violently to the ground. My senses blurred, bones echoing with the shock of impact.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Ronin strike Lauren with the force of a cannonball. She flew through the air before collapsing into a heap on the ground. A sense of dread filled me as the android loomed over her, his disruptor levelled, ready to take the kill shot. Suddenly, there was a bang and a small hole appeared in his chest as a musket ball smacked into him.

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