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I have no actual memory of flinging myself to the ground, pure instinct had taken over. I rolled up onto my knee, facing the tree I had just been standing next to.
I realized my initial thought of the tree exploding had been an exaggeration. The tree was still standing, albeit with a sizable crater about half way up the trunk. Flames danced around the edges of the hole. Obviously something very hot had stuck the tree with enough energy to blow a hole into it. Also obviously, that something had been aimed at me.
Movement behind the tree, next to the factory, caught my eye. There was a figure crouching behind a large air conditioning unit, aiming a weapon and firing. He was a Gar. His two antennae were facing opposite directions. One was facing forward, focusing in the direction of his target. The other one was facing backward, undoubtedly searching the air for vibrations and any other clues of movement behind him. With each squeeze of his finger I could hear the sizzle of the high energystatic discharge bolt from his weapon as it shot out.I followed the trajectory of the shot to the far corner of the building.
At the edge of the building there was another figure, taking shelter behind the corner. I watched as the bolt from the Gar’s weapon struck the corner of the building, the person braced himself against the shock wave and debris that hit him. He adjusted his position, careful not to expose too much of his body as he took aim and fired. His unusual weapon shot out blue bolts like energy, but seemed to impact like bullets.
But it wasn't the weapon that made me question whether I had suffered some kind of head trauma, it was the shooter. I sat for a set of heartbeats watching my quite, structured roommate expertly use the building as a shield while he aimed his shot. As soon as the shot was taken he ducked behind the building again, awaiting the retaliation shot. He rapidly adjusted something on his weapon and fired off another blue bolt. It struck his target as he leaned out to aim his own shot, and the Gar went down twitching.
Veox crouched low and sprinted toward me. I stood as he reached me, my mouth forming the words to a question that never got asked. He grabbed my left arm, still running, and spun me around.
“Come on, there is another one on the west side of the building. He will be here any moment.” His voice sounded slightly tense, but much more controlled than I would have expected for a man who just engaged in a fire-fight outside his employment. We were running away from the building, towards the empty lot. The empty lot with absolutely no cover whatsoever. It was probably the least strategic place to go to hide from an attacker.
I craned my head around to check behind us. There indeed was 'another one'. A rotund man was coming around the west side the building. The newcomer quickly spotted the incapacitated Gar on the ground and even more quickly spotted us running away. He slung his rifle off his shoulder and aimed his shot. I used my forward momentum and aimed it all at Veox. I shoved him to the right as the shot rang out. I felt the bullets wiz by on my left. Veox stumbled but maintained his footing. He unholstered his weapon and fired off several shots behind him without really looking.
“Keep going, we are almost there.” He stated. I was simultaneously impressed and annoyed at his ability to sound almost bored during this.
“Almost where? There is nothing--” I cut my words short when I saw the empty space in front of us start to shimmer and vibrate. There were small flashes of light and I felt the electricity in the air, tingling my skin.
The light refracting invincibility cover only took a couple of seconds to turn off and reveal the car it had been hiding. The man behind us yelled something probably quite rude when the car appeared, and another shot ricocheted off car’s window. The bullet, I noticed, scratched the window but it held together. The transparent silicon was reinforced. It would hold up to a couple more shots like that, but it wasn’t invincible.
Veox motioned to the back door as he reached for the front one. As I more or less leaped into the backseat I saw the car had another occupant. A red headed man was in the drivers seat. Before our doors were even closed he turned the car and accelerated away, spitting dirt into a cloud behind us. Three more shots hit the back of the car as we turned onto the road the headed away from the factory.
Veox clapped the driver on the shoulder approvingly before turning around to face me.
“Are you unharmed?”
“Yeah I think so.” I nodded. I looked out the window and noticed we were driving a very familiar path. “I’m also confused. You seem to have been very well prepared, so how about you tell me exactly what is going on?” I put a little more ire into the question than I planned, but Veox either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“Now is not the time to explain, I’m sorry.” He turned back around, signaling that another question or remark from me was not welcome.
The driver spoke up “No sensors at the apartment were tripped and the heat detectors indicate the it’s empty.” His thick accent revealed he was from Earth>Drei Quadrant. Pre-Quadrant War people would have called it Scotland.
“Apartment?” I asked, not really caring if my questions were welcomed or not. We had turned left into the Historic District. “We are heading for our apartment? Do you really think that is a good idea right now?” Neither Veox or the Scottish driver acknowledged my question. “Whoever those people were they knew where I worked, don’t you think they could just as easily know where I live?”
Again, silence.
I could feel the anger starting to rise in my chest. Now was not the time for silence. One of the many questions that had been swirling around my head the last two weeks had just been answered. But in answering it, it lead to several additional questions. And the two people who could answer those questions decided to turn a deaf ear.
The car screeched to a halt in front of our building. Veox and the Scottish man opened their doors simultaneously.
“Stay here, don’t get out of the car yet.” Veox ordered as he shut his door. Both men had their weapons drawn and held down by their hips. Veox motioned down the street and the Scottish man started off in that direction, and Veox went the opposite. Both were doing a basic search, checking in the alleys, around the buildings corners, and any other parked car on the block. After only a minute they both met back up at the car, apparently not finding anything that aroused their suspicion.
Veox opened the back door. “Come on, quickly.” He stepped aside so I could exit the vehicle, then fell into step behind me. The very tall Scottish man was in front of me, his weapon held a little higher, ready to take on any threat that decided to appear.
But the safety measures were unnecessary. The walk to the front door, and the walk down the hallway were uneventful. I unlocked the apartment door and the Scottish man held up a hand to indicate I was to remain behind while he stepped into the room.
I could feel the anger surge again, ringing in my ears. If there was danger here I was perfectly capable of facing it on my own, without the need of bouncers.
I walked forward, ignoring Veox attempt to grab my arm and shouldered past the taller man in front of me.
“Och!” He exclaimed but made no move to stop me. I took a couple of steps around the living room and peered into the bedrooms. Turning to face the men I held my palms up.
“No danger.” I said condescendingly. “It’s all clear.”
Veox and the Scottish man exchanged a look.
“Perhaps you would like to sit down Raja. Take a moment to rest. The afternoon has been eventful, to say the least.” Veox suggested.
“No the afternoon was going just fine.” I corrected him. The adrenaline from earlier was settling into an annoying need to argue. “The last ten minutes have been eventful.”
“Fine.” He conceded. He started to speak again. “Perhaps you would like to sit down Raja. Take a moment to rest. The last ten minutes have been eventful, to say the least.” The Scottish man chuckled behind him while Veox maintained a completely straight face. I suppressed a sigh, but sat down in the chair anyway.
He wasn’t wrong after all.
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