PROTOTYPE 13 By Heck Comments to heck@beadyeye.me.uk CHAPTER THIRTEEN Lucy killed the lights, able to see well enough without, and gravel crunched under our tyres as she turned Sherm the truck onto a dirt track. Up ahead, a stand of trees offered concealment and she nosed the vehicle between them until we were confident we were hidden. "Everyone just sit tight", I said. "It'll be gone in a wee minute". Wishful thinking, I knew, but we had seen helicopters and light aircraft before, and they had ignored us. No reason to think this one would be any different. Lucy stared up through the windshield, chewing her bottom lip. "They seem to be circling", she said. "Getting closer". "Oh, shit, man". Rob's fear could not be hidden. "They totally found us, man". His hand flew to the door handle. Lucy grabbed his arm, restraining him. "Sit still, Rob". There was no fear in her voice, just cold, hard control. "Don't give them a running target". "Oshitoshitoshit". "Everybody keep calm", I said, feeling anything but. "They haven't found us yet. Maybe they think we've gone cross-country". We sat in silence. You could cut the silence with a knife. We could still hear the chopper, but I fancied it was further away and began to relax. Suddenly the truck was bathed in brilliant white light, and the noise of the rotor was right overhead. "This is the police". The amplified voice nearly deafened me; God knew what it must have sounded like to Lucy. "Step out of the vehicle with your hands on your heads". "Oh, crap", I muttered. "Jeez, man, we're caught! They'll totally kill our asses, man!" Lucy laid a calming hand on Rob's cheek. "Rob. Rob! Quiet, now. They won't kill us. They need us alive. Calm down. We're not beaten yet". I wished I could share her confidence, but I couldn't find the cojones. I was trying to appear calm on the outside, but internally I was quaking with rising panic. I couldn't think straight. All that went through my mind was, yes, they needed Lucy alive, but Rob and I were expendable. "What do we do?" "I'm thinking", Lucy replied. "This is the police", the voice boomed again. "If you do not comply we will be forced to open fire. Step out of the vehicle and place your hands on your heads". "OK", Lucy sighed. "We have to do as they say. Let's get out, and see what happens". We let the doors fall open, and sat very still for a moment, letting the cops get used to the idea. We didn't want any trigger happiness. Then, very slowly, we climbed out and stood in a row with our hands nearly on our heads. We had to use one hand to shield out eyes from the intense glare of the searchlight and the downdraft from the helicopter. "Move away from the vehicle", the voice ordered. We complied, coming to a halt several paces away. The dazzling light obscured the shape of the aircraft, but we could see where it was. A series of dull thuds announced the ends of half a dozen ropes hitting the ground, and six officers in helmets and full body armour slid down them. Five were armed with assault rifles, and one had a weird looking weapon that looked as if it fired four small warheads. "It's OK", I called, wanting to make sure there was no misunderstanding. "We're unarmed". One of the cops, a lieutenant I think, approached us with his rifle levelled. His men were close behind, fanning out to surround us. "Stand perfectly still", the lieutenant instructed. "No sudden moves. I have a warrant for your arrest from the FBI". He held up a piece of paper. "You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right." While he mirandised us, Lucy spoke very softly so that only Rob and I could hear. "When I give the word", she said. "Drop flat and stay down". ".afford an attorney, one will be appointed at no cost to you. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?" the lieutenant finished. "OK, men", he continued, giving us no chance to say whether we understood or not. "Remember we were told these three are dangerous. Move in slowly, and cuff 'em". "Don't look dangerous to me", I heard one of them mutter as three cops came in behind us, while the other three kept their weapons trained. I felt my hands dragged roughly behind me, and the ominous double 'brrrt' sound of the plastic handcuffs being pulled tight. I glanced at Lucy, and saw that she appeared to be allowing herself to be shackled. "OK. When I tell you, walk slowly back to the road. Stay in the beam. Do not attempt to run, or we will open fire. Move out". The lieutenant had delivered his speech standing in front of Lucy, letting his eyes wander up and down her enticing body, obviously enjoying the view. On his last word, she acted. "Now!" she yelled. Rob and I dropped, but not before I saw her hand flash up to hit the lieutenant, open handed, on the side of his helmet. The headgear was obviously not built with someone like Lucy in mind. He dropped like a stone. Rob had covered his head with his arms, but I kept mine slightly raised so I got a great view of the action. Even before the lieutenant had hit the deck, Lucy had rounded on the three men behind. She grabbed the rifle from the first one's hands and twisted it out of his grasp, driving the butt up into his face. His plastic faceguard shattered under the blow, and he fell with a gout of blood spurting from nose and mouth. Simultaneously she pistoned out a leg, which took number two full in the groin. He sank to his knees with a high-pitched squeal, curling into a ball of exquisite agony. Number three just had time to get his rifle to his shoulder, but Lucy swept it impatiently aside and landed a hard fist on the point of his chin. That was the end of his participation. So far, it was just over a second since she had told us to drop, and four cops were out of action. "Go!" she yelled to us. "Go! Run!" We didn't need telling twice. We were up and sprinting for the truck, hurling ourselves into it as a bullet spanged off the hood. I keyed the start, expecting Lucy to be right behind us. It was obvious that the police had orders not to harm Lucy, because she was standing in the middle of the powerful beam and they hadn't shot her yet. The cop with the rifle was keeping her covered, while the one with the strange looking weapon was edging closer. I slammed the truck into reverse and slewed round, in between Lucy and the rifle cop, shielding her from his shots. Big mistake. The helicopter pilot saw my move, and opened fire. A hail of heavy calibre machinegun bullets ripped into the truck that, fortunately, was constructed from tough carbon fibre. Rob and I crawled onto the floor while the truck shook and rattled as if somebody played a drum solo on its bodywork. After a minute the firing stopped. I raised one eye over the door edge, looked, and sat up straight with my mouth dropping open. If a bullet had claimed my life right then I would have died knowing that, finally, I had seen the impossible. Both grounded cops were gawping at the sight, too. As soon as the chopper had opened fire on us, Lucy had acted. She sprang forward and grabbed two of the ropes that still dangled from its fuselage. Her lip curled in a snarl of anger, she heaved down on the lines with all her strength, attempting to haul the helicopter out of the air. Of course, she couldn't do it. The very physics of the thing made it impossible, although I remain convinced to this day that, had her feet been anchored, she would have succeeded in wrestling the big whirlybird out of the sky by sheer strength. Where she did succeed, though, was to upset the aircraft's equilibrium and, by sawing at the ropes, caused it to veer and sway in the sky, the great beam of the searchlight swinging and dancing through the trees. Its engines whined in protest as the pilot fought to regain control, and at one point Lucy was lifted several metres into the air. She heaved on the ropes, putting in a mighty effort. The pilot over- compensated and the helicopter heeled over, almost on its side. The eight- bladed rotor fouled the trees, scything through the upper branches just as the rifle cop came to his senses. Orders or no, he decided Lucy had to be taken out and took careful aim. "No!" Rob yelled, and I flung myself out of the truck. I don't know what I meant to do, but it made no difference. The cop got off his shot, and I wheeled as I heard Lucy cry out in pain. I saw her clutch her side, letting go one of the ropes. "Lucy!" I sprinted to her side, but she was on her feet again and gave a mighty heave on the remaining rope. That was enough. That final yank, coupled with its blades tangled in the treetops, was the helicopter's death knell. A thicker branch stopped the blades and the reciprocal energy transferred itself to the chopper's body. It cartwheeled over the trees, crashing through the canopy with a shriek of tearing metal, and hit the ground where it exploded with a great 'whoomph!' and a sheet of orange flame. Both the cops stared, dumbfounded. The rifleman was sure he had hit her, and sure enough the side of her tee-shirt was ripped and stained red with her blood, but she was still standing. Not only that, but coming toward him. He took a step as if to run, before he remembered himself and aimed again. "Stay where you are!" he called. "Come any closer and I'll shoot". But by now, Rob was out of the car. He kicked the cop's feet out from under him, and a bullet whined up into the trees. Rob swung his booted foot against the downed cop's helmeted head with all his force. The cop crumpled. Only one was left, now. The pilot must have been killed in the crash, although I hoped he had time to jump clear, and the other five were unconscious. So you'd think he'd have learned. Holding his weapon to his shoulder, he tentatively moved toward us. I hadn't seen a weapon like it before, and definitely didn't like the look of it. "You people are all under arrest!" he quavered, unable to keep his fright out of his voice. Lucy stared at him, irritated, and began to advance on him. I was right on her heels. He fired the weapon. The four missiles flew out at divergent angles, stretching a monofilament net between them. Lucy dropped and rolled, and the net entangled itself around me, taking me down and helpless. The more I struggled, the more enmeshed I became. The cop just stared. A light came on behind his astonished eyes, and he turned and ran. "Lucy, he'll radio for help!" I called. Lucy took off like a rocket, accelerating from a standing start to overtake the cop before her had covered three metres. She grabbed the edge of his body armour and yanked him off his feet. He hit the ground flat on his back, driving all the air out of him with a 'whoosh!' The shoulder straps on his armour made a ready handle and she took hold with one hand, dragging him over the leaf litter to where I lay, leaving him struggling for breath on the ground. "What shall we do with him?" she asked. "I'm not sure", I replied, feeling slightly ridiculous trussed up in my mesh cocoon. "Smash all the radios and leave him tied up?" "Sounds like a plan", Lucy agreed. She plucked his radio from its pocket and crushed it in her hand, making sure the cop could see her do it. He gasped. "His friends will release him when they wake up. We can use that net to tie him with". "Ah. Yes. The net. A little help here, please?" Lucy gave a little smile and knelt at my side, taking hold of the net in her two strong hands. The twin red plastic circlets of the handcuffs were still around her wrists, and I blinked as I realised she must have snapped them in order to make her first blow. The movement had been so smooth and uninterrupted, the actual breaking of the ties had gone unnoticed. Now, that kind of monofilament is incredibly tough stuff, almost a thousand kilos breaking strain. It has to be, in order to restrain desperate criminals and to withstand some of the other uses to which it is put. But, like so many other things, it wasn't made with Lucy Radovic in mind. She pulled. It resisted. She made a little face, and took a better grip. Increasing her pull gradually and steadily, she heaved. The monofilament stretched, but didn't break. The diamond-hard muscles in her arms and across her chest ridged with effort. There was a 'ping' as the first filament gave up the unequal struggle, followed by a series of 'pings' as Lucy slowly pulled the net apart. At last I was free. Lucy dealt with our handcuffs in short order and, while I collected the other radios for her to crush, Rob tied up the cop in the remains of the net. "Can you take a look at this?" Lucy asked me, when all was completed, pulling up her tee-shirt. "I don't think it was more than a glancing shot, but I'd like to be sure". I felt ashamed. In all the excitement, I'd almost forgotten that Lucy had been shot, and my memory hadn't been helped by the fact that she'd carried on as if nothing had happened. I lifted her shirt to examine the wound, half expecting the worst. Her shirt and skin were caked with drying blood. I got a swab from the first-aid kit and cleaned most of it away. A long score along her ribs, already beginning to heal, was all there was to see. "It's quite astounding", I said, keeping my voice calm and level. Now that it was all over, I was beginning to feel aroused by the memory of Lucy in action. "You can see where the bullet hit, but it hit a rib. It must've struck at an angle but, even so, you'd think a high calibre bullet would have broken it. Of course, your ribs are super-dense, so the bullet just skited off and caused this tear wound. It's already healing of its own accord. Amazing". "Nothing to worry about, then?" Lucy asked. "Seems not". She walked over to the truck, and Rob came to stand by me. "What is she, like, invulnerable or something?" "No, I don't think so. If the bullet had gone between her ribs, or he'd shot her in the kidney or the head or something, she'd be as dead as you or I would be. She was just lucky that the density of her bones saved her, this time". "Even so. Pretty incredible, huh, Dude?" "Aye", I agreed, watching Lucy with something more than affection. "Pretty incredible". * We left Sherm the truck where he was. We couldn't do otherwise, really. Riddled with bullet holes, it was now anything but inconspicuous, so we gathered up our gear and legged it. Accompanied by the sizzling of the cicadas, we set off cross-country, relying on Lucy's excellent night vision to keep us from falling into potholes or walking into trees in the moonless dark. She set a brisk pace, though, and frequently I found myself trotting to keep up. Once or twice, we saw the distant gleam of headlights or the lights of a lonely farmhouse, but we made no effort to approach a road or a dwelling. For now, we were better off alone. Eventually, the rosy glow of dawn peeked over the horizon. We had walked all night, and must have put ten or a dozen kilometres between the wrecked helicopter and us. Lucy still strode on unfatigued, but Rob and I were beat. "Lucy, we've had it", I said. "We have to rest". "OK. We shouldn't be seen in daylight any more, anyway. Let's find somewhere to spend the day". A quick search found a shallow hollow, overhung by thorny bushes and hidden from sight except from directly overhead, but we could tuck ourselves under the shrubbery. We ensconced ourselves, and settled down to sleep and wait out the day. "That was so cool", Rob said when we were settled. "The way you handled those cops. And the helicopter. Man! You totally fried it!" "Yes, well". Lucy's face took on a serious cast. "I didn't want the pilot to die. I don't want anyone to die? He was only doing his job. I thought I could force him to land, or something". She let go a deep sigh. "I seem to be getting far too good at killing people. If that's the price, I don't know that I want to be an enhanced being". I laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed in what I hoped was a comforting way. "Lucy, you don't have to feel bad. Everyone who has died has died because you were protecting yourself or another. It's not as if you murdered anyone". "Maybe not, But I feel like I did. If not for me, you and Rob wouldn't be in danger. Poor Mike wouldn't have been shot to death, and my body count wouldn't be so high. Do you know seven people have been killed? Either by me or because of me? I don't know whether I can live with that". I didn't know what to say. I pulled her close and kissed her gently on the forehead. "It's not your fault", I said lamely. "It's not your fault". "It's sweet of you to say that, Sean". She gave me a little wistful smile. "Perhaps I'll feel like that too, one day". We sat in silence for a while. I draped an arm over her shoulder and held her close, hoping it helped her feel better. For me, embracing this stupendous woman was doing nothing for my inner quiet. I felt tightness in my pants that I tried to ignore. I had no chance, of course. Even unenhanced, she would have been way out of my league. But holding her was nice. "Man, I'm starved". Rob broke the silence. I gave a little chuckle. "You're always starved", I observed. "But this time, I guess we all are. Not a lot we can do about that". Lucy lifted her head from my shoulder and cocked an ear, listening. Her emotional dampers had kicked in, and her face wore an expression of calm serenity. "I don't know", she said. "Wait here". She was up and out of our den before I could speak. "Lucy, wait!" I called. Too late. She had gone. I crawled on hands and knees to peer over the lip of the depression. She stood not far away, casting about, and appeared to be sniffing the air. In the dim light of dawn her white tee-shirt stood out like a banner. "Lucy, you're too visible", I hissed. She nodded, and stripped off the shirt, flinging it to me. I gasped at the sight. Without support, her fantastic breasts rode high and proud on her chest. That, she had said, was one of her favourite things about being enhanced - not having to wear a bra. I watched her entranced as she studied the ground, still sniffing. Then she was off, racing through the long grass, twisting and turning, darting this way and that. Some of her movements were too quick for the eye to follow, and sometimes she doubled back, leaping high to spin in the air and land running. I didn't know what she was up to but the display was spectacular enough, even in the hazy light of early morning. At last, she gave a little yip of triumph and dived headlong into the grass. "What's going on, man?" Rob said from behind me. I flapped a hand at him, warning him to silence. I wanted this show to be for my eyes only. Lucy stood up and brandished her prize. A sleek brown hare, wriggling in her grasp. We could eat! She waded through the grass back to our little hideout, grinning broadly. Her face and breasts were slightly flushed with excitement, but she hadn't broken sweat and panted not at all. She handed me the hare, and retrieved her shirt while I carried her prey into the hollow. "Breakfast, Rob!" I announced. "Wow! Where'd he come from?" "Lucy ran him down", I informed him. "We can eat!" "She ran him down? That's a hare, man! They're, like, really fast!" "Aye, well. So's Lucy". "I might have run him down", Lucy said as she joined us. "But I'm not going to kill him. That's up to you guys. I've done enough killing to last me a lifetime". Rob and I stared at each other. "Hey, don't look at me, man." In the end, it fell to me to dispatch our meal. I did it as quickly and humanely as I could, but if I never have to do it again it'll be too soon. Lucy and Rob dug a pit and made a smokeless fire. We put stones in it to heat and, when it had burned down and gave off a ferocious heat, we laid the pathetic eviscerated carcase on them to roast, covered with earth. It was a bit gritty, but we finished every morsel.