Warden's Vengeance: A Sci Fi Adventure (The Ancient Guardians Book 4) by Tony James Slater

Author:Tony James Slater [Slater, Tony James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Various Things (ADT)
Published: 2019-10-31T22:00:00+00:00

18

Tris took two steps into the lab and stopped.

The fighting had been heaviest here. At least ten bodies were strewn about the place, linked to one another by splatters of gore. Most wore white overalls, though a few were in uniform; it looked like the latter had rushed in to aid the former, only to be slaughtered themselves. Heavy machinery lay smashed on all sides, torn cables still crackling and sparking. Severed limbs were strewn about the place, and the metallic stink of raw flesh was overpowering.

The others recovered quickly, spreading out to search. Tris stood gulping down breaths. He’d seen plenty of battles now, had inflicted a lot of death himself.

But it’s different when I’m fighting for my life. It’s so desperate, so vital. Here it’s like… like someone just tore these men to pieces for the fun of it, and left them here to rot. Closed up inside this tin can in the middle of nowhere…

“Tris.” It was Ella. “You okay, Sweetie?”

“Yeah. I’m just… this is sick.”

She nodded. “No blaster burns. No blade marks. A few puncture wounds, but… this was all done by hand.”

“And the equipment?” He flapped a hand at the wrecked consoles, smashed tables, and huge steel contraptions that appeared to have been torn off the ceiling.

Ella was about to offer an opinion when Àurea gasped. “Father!”

Sera waded over, kicking debris and body parts out of her path.

Tris followed more delicately, while Ella moved back to the entrance to keep watch.

Àurea had discovered a kind of window built into the wall at waist-height. A greenish-yellow glow came from within. Tris moved past Sera, who was already studying a control pad built into the wall next to it, and crouched down for a better look.

Kreon was in there alright; the old man looked like he was taking a nap. A profusion of tubes and wires were hooked up to him, concentrated around his head. Tris watched for a few seconds, and was rewarded with a slight fall of the Warden’s chest. “He’s alive!”

“It’s a stasis pod,” Àurea enlightened him. “He’s unconscious in there, but the machines keep him fed and breathing.”

Tris’ mind groped for a sci-fi equivalent. “Does he age?”

“Every time you look at him,” Sera quipped. Her tone was cold, as though finding Kreon had been more of an inconvenience than a blessing.

“Well can we get him out of there?” Tris snapped.

“With your permission, commander, I am attempting to do just that.” She tapped away at the control panel, not waiting for a reply. “The old bastard can at least enlighten us about all of this.”

“Unless he slept through it,” Tris said.

“Slept through it?” Sera frowned at the controls. “I wouldn’t put it past him to have caused this. Gerian was experimenting with control of that construct. He has Kreon wired up to some kind of interface; perhaps the old man took over.”

She pressed a last few keys and stood back expectantly. Àurea was studying her father through the glass, while Ella patrolled the rear of the room.

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