Cynetic Wolf

Zedda messaged me, We’ll be outside in two minutes. Hurry.

I crept out of the dressing room and through the store. The attendant was at the checkout, plugged into some gaming rig. Waving, I walked to the door.

A small white delivery van headed my way. I zoomed in. Zedda was at the wheel. It’d be so good to see her after all this.

Several scooters shot from an alley as the van neared, all six sporting dark helmets, visors and black studded jackets. That was the last thing we needed, more looting and a fight.

I held my breath as the van skidded to a stop. The first rider, a tall blond, hopped off his scooter, and leveled a blaster at Zedda. Others followed suit and cut off any potential escape.

Why’d it have to be Zedda? “You don’t want to do this,” I said in a low voice.

The blond glared. “This has nothing to do with you, kid.” Turning to Zedda, he said, “This doesn’t have to be hard, darling. We need the van.”

“Not going to happen!” I retorted.

“Six-to-one, maybe six-to-two.” The leader laughed and leveled his blaster. “It’s gonna happen.”

Zedda reached under the dash and the ringleader snapped, “Hold it, missy!” He motioned with his blaster at Zedda. Two riders inched forward, guns trained.

“Last chance,” I said, fighting to keep the fear from my voice. What if they hurt Zedda? The baby?

He laughed again.

I raised both hands, targeting the goons nearest Zedda and fired twice before anyone blinked. Twisting, I nailed the fat one with a headshot, dove and shot a fourth in the chest.

The two remaining gang members reacted, firing.

Zedda hit the fifth guy with the van. A loud crunch, and she reversed to be sure. I dropped the leader with a shot to the knees, but couldn’t bring myself to kill him. If I did, I’d be as bad as them.

“Get in the car!” Zedda yelled as he collapsed. The side door flew open. I jumped in as a red truck hurdled around the corner. Not good.

Zedda floored it and the old van exploded down the street, away from the approaching truck.

Lars was in the back seat. “You made it, kid. We were worried for a while there.”

“Worried?” Henk commented. “Zedda was more than a little—”

“Shut up, Henk!” Zedda replied, a happy flush to her face. She’d been crying. “Are you okay? You scared me.”

“I’m fine. But Paer and Obowe.” I swallowed. “They didn’t make it.” I explained what I’d realized.

When I finished, Lars said, “Makes sense. You’re the biggest threat to the political order, both as a rebel and a politician. Last thing they want is a free and open election. You’d win in a landslide.”

“I don’t want that though!” I said. “They could have asked.” More blood on my hands...

“They saw you as a threat and wanted to neutralize you first.” Lars paused. “Plus, with you out of the way, if it did go back to war, the ‘rallying cry’ would be dead. Would kill morale.”

No one said anything and the enormity of the situation hit me. As we turned into the parking lot, a notification appeared. What if I just ignored it? I couldn’t.

‘This is Viktor Maelne reporting on the situation in Faelig where large numbers of armed cynetics are taking the city by force. It appears the deteriorating Subspecies Talks and violation of the ceasefire is leading some to take things into their own hands.’

The screen changed, images of dead tigerish and dying wolfish filling my view. ‘Animote forces in the city have responded, but seem to be fighting a losing battle. Will the violence spread to other cities and regions as peace slips away? This is Viktor Maelne —oh, wait! I’m getting updates within the last hour, similar conflicts have erupted in Hiazen and Taub. Things are heating up and we’ll have it all for you on the World News Network. Until next time.’

“Fighting started in Faelig, Hiazen, and Taub again,” I said. “They’re claiming we violated the truce. Faelig’s fallen and others may be on their way.” I let that sink in.

“If we don’t act now, we could be in trouble,” Lars said.

He was right. “But what about the talks, diplomacy?” We weren’t getting anywhere… I slammed the door harder than I’d intended, the window shattering.

“The time may have passed.” His face was set in a grim line. “If we wait too long, it could be unwinnable.” Damn it.

Five minutes later, what was left of us were assembled in the War Room. We’d been briefed, and, in short order, decided to denounce the claims while gearing up for war. We’d see how people reacted and respond accordingly.

Lars and I ran off to record another video.

Once that was done and uploaded, I collapsed onto the floor, glad for a moment to myself.

That lasted all of two seconds before the alarms sounded.