The Spatial Shard

Makeen walked down the corridor, his mind already well beyond the moments that had just transpired. As expected, the meeting with Mark Greenwald had nothing to do with old or new business. The Director of Security for Optimum Horizons had instead been given the opportunity to meet with members of the United States Government, specifically those interested in National Security. They had asked for full cooperation and gave Makeen little time to produce his employer. It was amazing what passed for ‘asking’ in certain circles.

But Makeen was not worried about the threats that government agencies were going to besiege the office and take over all operations. Vey had already seen to such measures and only public stateside dealings would be impacted, as well as a few stock options.

“What concerns me is what this particular move means,” Makeen thought as he made his way to the elevator. He took time to check his Smartphone which alerted him to the fact that surveillance equipment was being directed at the building. He dispatched his Alpha Team to reconnoiter the three sources and report back to him before taking any action. “If indeed Dr. Seth McEmbree, Solomon Seaver or whatever name he is going by at the moment wants to take advantage of what we have or what we’re doing, he would want to do so with as few chances of being discovered as possible.”

The door to the elevator opened but Makeen did not go in. He turned quickly and ran to the closest wall-mounted phone.

“This is Makeen,” he said sternly. “Proceed with Level Eleven Security Sweeps and Protocols. Network acknowledge.”

“Level Eleven Security Protocols have been initiated,” the computer responded and Makeen could hear doors locking and security doors lowering into place. In the next fifteen seconds the building was going to look as if it were ready to repel a few divisions of Marines who had brought their tanks along for the ride. His Smartphone signaled him that he was being hailed. He took out the device and saw that it was Vey.

“Level Eleven?” she asked.

“Indeed,” Makeen returned. “It is a new level of protocols that I instituted about thirty-four minutes ago.”

“So just before the meeting?” Samantha asked.

“Yes,” Makeen answered as he started running to the Central Security Complex for the building. “It occurred to me that the moment the government is involved, we will be severely inhibited as to what we can and cannot do.”

“That is usually the case when the government is involved, Makeen.” Samantha pointed out.

“Indeed,” Makeen agreed. “If McEmbree is ready to make that move and employ the government as his pawns, then he is also ready to make his master stroke on this painting.”

Samantha sat at her office and looked at the screen with Makeen’s face. She sat back in her chair and smiled.

“He’s talking way too much,” she thought. “This is not a private line and he’s intentionally leaking information.

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Samantha asked.

“You are still inbound, yes?”

“Right on schedule,” she answered.

“Okay, so I’m officially not on the property,” Samantha concluded. “Which means I’m the wildcard.”

“I’ll give you a full report when you land,” Makeen said. “But I have reason to suspect that McEmbree is on the grounds.” Samantha sat up and started to remove her jacket.

“Acknowledged,” she said in a cold tone. “Try not to mess this one up, Makeen. If the government slows me down, I can’t say for sure what that will do to you. Vey out!” Samantha snapped her fingers as she spun her chair around.

“This is Vey. Give me Valkyrie,” she said in a clear tone. As she unbuttoned her blouse, a panel on the western wall opened and gave her free entry to where she stored her body armor and special weaponry. The technology had been procured on the other side of the Nexus, but her people had been able to convert the systems into ones that earthbound technicians could repair and augment.

“This is Vey. Reset personal security parameters to Level Eleven and go for network.”

“This is the network.”

“Knew Makeen would have provided an operational slot for me,” Samantha smiled. “Link me to Princess Akondalatti.”

“Security link established,” the computer verified.

“Is there any way we can do something about the computer voice?” Princess asked as she typed. “I feel like I need to get my blood-sugar levels checked all of a sudden.”

“You can make it a personal project, Akondalatti,” Samantha said as she removed the last of her clothing. “Which means you can do it on your personal time. Right now, I need your help.”

“Uh, okay,” Princess stammered as if she had been struck with a great weight.

“Get over yourself, Princess,” Samantha suggested as she looked at the equipment she had never dared to use before. But she needed something that would override Seaver’s predictability curve; a surprise he could not have seen coming. “Only a fool in need of help doesn’t ask for it.”

“Words to live by, Mother Impossible,” Princess replied.

“I need you to access a database called Asgard. Network, establish license for Akondalatti on Level Eleven Security.”

“Access has been granted.”

“Okay, I’m… in!”

“Need I say how classified this is?” Samantha asked.

“No need to classify things that don’t happen,” Princess answered. “Looking at this stuff, I’m not even sure I’ve been born!”

“Smart girl. On the Master Database, you’ll find the Valkyrie Prototype. I need you to unlock the weapon protocols and enable the merge-to-pilot program.

“It would also be nice if you could apply that stereotypical hacker paranoia to this program and anything else we’ve got running right now.” Samantha stepped toward the body armor suit and she could see her skin pass through the armor and the wall. She turned around to face the same direction as the armor.

“Just call me Shiva,” Princess said, the sound of keys rattling in the background.

“You mean Devi,” Samantha corrected. “Shiva is a god, not a goddess. Let’s not forget the power of what it is to be a woman.”

“You have a fan club, yet?” Princess asked. “Valkyrie is powered up and ready to launch. Move left foot forward three centimeters and you will be within… assimilation range? Dear God, what is assimilation range?”

“Princess!”

“Right!” Princess said, regaining her focus. “Thanks to the power of the multiple monitors set up that Dr. Patel bequeathed me with, I am all over the flow of electricity throughout the building.

“That’s interesting,” Princess said.

“Initiating assimilation,” the computer voice reported and Samantha’s body was pushed out of the holding area, completely clad in the body suit and wearing the weapons that had been stacked in other areas. “All systems functional, weapons either primed or powered. Valkyrie is clear for operation.”

“What have you got, Princess?” Samantha asked.

“Well, my computer has just been given Level Eleven Clearance.”

“Right,” Samantha said as she took her first steps in the form-fitting body suit. It was hard to believe something that felt like a swimsuit could stop a bullet from a .440 magnum at close range. “You could say we’re in a high alert situation, Princess,” Samantha continued as she checked the suit’s systems. Everything was reading green, and then the onboard computer alerted her to the presence of an unknown item on the suit. She gave the item clearance as she smiled. “Are you reading anything else?”

“Actually, there is a power surge coming from the seventh floor,” Princess said. “But there are no facilities up there. Just some storage rooms for the upstairs offices.”

“Alert Makeen of what you found and use the channel linked to your computer only!” Samantha commanded. “Advise him that Valkyrie is en route.” Samantha ran for the door and she was amazed at how little physical force it took for her to move now. She almost collided with the door on her second stride, but she managed to stop in time, activate her personal stealth field, and run for the stairway. She had a feeling her express elevator would just slow her down.

Once Vey was off the line, Makeen pocketed his Smartphone and increased his speed. He did not break stride as he approached the wall. He tapped the crystal on his watch.

“Security chute,” he said as a small panel door opened, a handle came out of the wall just over the opening and Makeen jumped, grabbed the handle and swung his feet into the opening. His body fell through a chute that took him down to the Central Security Complex. He came out of the wall in the Camera Room.

“If you are not cleared for Level Ten Security,” Makeen said with full authority, “leave this floor immediately!” Of the five men at the viewing station, three of them got up quickly to do as they were told. One maintained his station and was reaching for his ID card to log back into his station. The last man stood up to leave, but lowered his elbow down on the shoulder of the man who had kept his station. The struck man fell to the floor moaning. His offender then reached to his side for his sidearm, but when he spun around to fire his gun, Makeen was no longer a visible target.

“Try behind you,” Makeen said calmly.

The man back-kicked first; Makeen thought that was rather resourceful of him. But he leaned to the side and avoided the attack easily. The man spun around with his gun and Makeen caught his wrist and twisted it, even though he had had a supported hand formation about the gun. The man was up on his toes, wincing in pain and unable to either fire or drop the weapon. Makeen slowly relieved the man of his gun.

“Are you alright,” he asked the man still at the console.

“Yes sir,” the man answered as he completed his log-in procedure. “I’ll be fine and this station is operational.”

“Good,” Makeen answered as he glared into the eyes of his opponent. “Ah, you are the sort who will talk,” he declared. “You do not think so, but you are wrong. Make no mistake, I will not use drugs. I will simply take you to Vey. She’ll make one, perhaps two phone calls and her NSA contacts will erase your existence down to the most remote relation.

“But I, on the other hand,” Makeen explained, “… I would be inclined to let you go and at least then you stand a chance. Especially when you consider that Vey has much more important matters to see to before she takes the time to step on little bugs like you!”

“It’s McEmbree,” the man said quickly. He had been with the company long enough to know that Makeen was not a man who needed to bluff. He was very good at making declarations and then seeing them through with horrifying efficiency. “But I don’t report to him directly.”

“What?!” Makeen said as he tightened his grip. He wanted information and he needed to communicate to his victim that all haste in coming forward with said information would spare Makeen the effort of making a waste of him!

“That should do it,” Solomon decided as he closed the carrying case. He frowned as he looked at his watch. His primary contact had indeed been able to get him inside the building, which had been something of a surprise. Solomon knew that both Vey and Makeen depended on their machinery too much, and it was easy to use that against them. People would always trump dead circuits. His secondary contact, however, was taking too much time, and that was beginning to aggravate Solomon.

He opened his laptop and punched up the surveillance at his lab. What he saw gave him reason to smile. Rajana was doing her job in keeping an eye on Hiram and, as the moment dictated, she was providing motivation so that he would maintain his speed and effectiveness while working on the converters.

“It’s a shame, big brother,” he said softly, “but you’ve come to the part in the plan where your continued existence is more of a liability than an asset. But at least you’ll have an opportunity to die as you always wanted to, surrounded by the things you love!”

“You are indeed a very dangerous man,” Michael said as he entered the storage room. “You would destroy your brother to further your plans?”

“Stick to the things you know, Patel,” Solomon warned. “I’d hate for something to happen to those lovely daughters of yours.” Solomon held out his hand and a three-dimensional image of Michael’s children formed in Solomon’s palm. “All three of them!”

“You needn’t keep threatening me,” Michael snapped as he approached. “I have seen what you are capable of.”

“First hand,” Solomon said quickly. “How are the girls handling the loss of their mother, anyway?”

“I have the files you requested, but I cannot give you the access commands you asked for.” Patel held up a flash drive.

“What good are the files without the access commands to the main database?” Solomon asked.

“I cannot give you what I do not have,” Patel reported. “That access has been regulated through Makeen’s desk.”

“Oh, well why didn’t you say so?” Solomon said, taking up his laptop. “I’ve already breached Makeen’s system.”

“System alert!” the computer voice warned and Michael looked up at the speakers since he had never heard that warning before. “Security has been elevated to Level Eleven.”

“Level Eleven?” both men repeated, equally confused.

“I am sorry, Seth,” the computer explained, revealing Solomon’s primary contact. “But it is a measure that was instituted from a remote source. I could not block it because-”

“Makeen was the source of the protocol change,” Solomon muttered as he started typing on his laptop. He was a few sets of commands in before he looked up at Patel. “This smells of your level of genius, but you would never gamble the lives of your children.”

“I have a new assistant,” Michael stated. “Her name is Princess. She is very intelligent, extremely gifted… like your brother.”

“Princess?!” Solomon said as he checked the clock on his laptop. He was running short on time and it looked as if he was going to be forced to leave without getting what he wanted. “And don’t you ever mention my brother again,” Solomon warned.

“Why is that, Seth?” Makeen asked as he entered the room from the far side.

“Security chutes,” Solomon sighed as he closed his laptop. “You finally got them to work both down and up. Aren’t you the resourceful one?” Solomon tossed his laptop over to where his other items had been stacked. Each of them in turn were drawn into a carrying case by way of a projected force field.

Makeen looked over at Michael Patel and when the man could not look him in the eye, Makeen knew all he needed to. “The shame here is mine,” he said to Michael. “Had I investigated your wife’s death, perhaps we could have avoided all of this.

“But you knew I would say that, didn’t you, Seth?” Makeen asked as he circled his prey. “Everything you and your brother have done has been orchestrated through a very careful and constant study of actions and reactions. Tell me, is this too according to plan?”

“Actually,” Solomon said, stepping forward to Makeen, “it is! And that included leaving you alive in South America. You see, I plan to have my revenge on Samantha in the most fatal of fashions. But it’s become clear to me that in order to do that, I’ll have to kill you first. Let’s finish now what we started in the jungle.”

Makeen started to take a fighting pose, but the single step took too long as Solomon covered six meters in the blink of an eye. He took hold of Makeen and threw him into the wall behind him. Over one hundred and fifteen kilograms of live weight and he moved it as if he were tossing a loaf of bread. Makeen struck the wall and grunted in pain as he fell to the floor.

“You probably weren’t expecting that,” Solomon said, smacking his hands clear of nonexistent dust. “But I’ve learned a few things on the other side of the Nexus. Now, don’t die just yet, I’ve got ano-” A fist cut Solomon’s speech short and he spun as his body was lifted from the floor. He covered ten meters before he hit the ground again.

“Too bad they didn’t teach you how to shut up!” Samantha said as she powered down her gloves. The battery showed a negligible use of power, but if Samantha had learned anything from Makeen, it was the conservation of resources. “Makeen, are you still conscious?”

“I am, Mistress,” he answered. “Please, don’t kill Dr. Patel! His betrayal did not come easily and it is by no means insignificant.”

“As you say, then,” Samantha answered as she watched Solomon get up. “About that Etnavas theory of yours… I’m likely to fire you for being right.”

“He has been trained,” Makeen winced as he sat up. “…even augmented, but he is no Etnavas! The Binder design we have seen before, but the complexity of it showed some adaptation to our side of the Nexus technology. Innovative, but hardly Etnavas genius.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” Samantha said, genuinely relieved. The day was taking its time, but things were definitely starting to roll her way again. She slowly took a combative stance.

“Just make sure you’re taking readings,” Makeen instructed.

“Princess,” Samantha called out, “talk to me!”

“I am so all over him!” Princess declared, the sound of shorting circuits came through from the background.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh sure!” Princess said, slightly out of breath. “We lost primary power, and the Halon systems tried to suffocate us, but I managed to hack the network and lock down the primary emergency systems without losing our security status. We are going to need duct tape, electrical tape and screen doors.”

“Consider that factored in along with your raise,” Samantha said. “Do we still have readings coming from this room?”

“From the room? No. But from Valkyrie we’re getting everything we’re ever going to need to nail this guy!”

“Not a bad shot there, Sam,” Solomon said as he shook his head clear. He glared at her and a current of electricity jumped from one eye socket to the other.

“Oh, please!” Samantha said through clenched teeth. A thin yellow beam fired from the right side of her helmet and hit Solomon’s left shoulder. He screamed in pain as he looked at the wound.

“A cutting laser? You hit me with a-” another punch brought Solomon’s rant to an abrupt end.

“Didn’t think I’d get the free walk-up,” Samantha ribbed as she grabbed Solomon’s legs. “So I gave you something to think about first. For my next trick…” With a slight pull, Solomon was off the ground and flying toward the wall, which he went through, and continued into the main corridor.

“Oh, Seaver,” Samantha said as she walked toward Solomon. “You have no idea what you are doing for my therapy costs right now! Mind you, the renovation and repair bills are going to exceed them, but when I sign that check, I’m going to reminisce and say, ‘good money well spent’. Hell, I might even tip!

“If you think I was hard on you the last time you got canned,” Samantha warned. “… baby you’re going to wish for yesterday when I’m done with you!”

Solomon sat up screaming and hurling two bolts of electricity. Samantha could hear Princess gasping over their connection as she squatted low and leaned to her left, avoiding both blasts.

“Some kind of field surrounded his body just before he hit the wall,” Princess reported.

“Electromagnetic Shield,” Samantha whispered.

“Could have been, but whatever was left of it he put in those things he just threw at you.”

“We’d call those energy emissions of bolts, Princess.

“Someone’s getting desperate,” Samantha said as she started to stand up, but threw her head back as a large chunk of debris just missed her face. She continued the motion, back flipping and avoiding another electrical blast.

“Speed, strength and a major Zeus complex!” Samantha thought as she landed. “He has been trained to perform the feat, but he doesn’t know the when or why, which is another point to my advantage.” She jumped straight up and did a somersault as Solomon’s diving body passed just under her flipping one. “That’s not too much to handle!”

Before she landed, Vey reached to the front of her belt and grabbed at the small ball that hung from the left side. A short string came out, followed by another ball. As her feet touched ground, she spun and threw the device. When it wrapped around Solomon’s wrist, it released a concussive wave of force energy. Samantha could see the ripples in the air as it went off. It should have removed his arm, but it merely threw him back toward her.

“This one’s for Makeen,” she said as she stepped to the side, caught Solomon in mid-flight, and hammered his back into the floor in one flowing move. She could hear bones breaking and though she did not want to kill Solomon, she did not show any remorse in her action. She did not look down on him too long; Makeen was injured and he could not be trusted to give an accurate account of his health status. Samantha began marching through the debris.

“Makeen?” she called out to him in the darkness of the storage room. She could see his hand waving at her and she was relieved.

“Boss!” Princess barked excitedly.

“What is it, Princess?”

“We’ve got beaucoup electrical activity on your six!”

Samantha thought it best to duck rather than look. When a stream of electricity passed over her head, she knew she had taken the best route. She was also glad it had missed Makeen as well.

“How’s that yesterday looking now?” Solomon ribbed. Samantha could hear the sounds of bones cracking as she looked back at Solomon. He was already sitting up and his back was slowly straightening. “You’re fast!” he admitted. “Trouble is, there’s more than one target for me to shoot at!”

Samantha turned and threw her body toward Dr. Patel. She tackled his body just before a bolt passed by.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Solomon admitted.

“I know, that’s why I did it,” Samantha answered as she picked up Michael and jumped for Makeen.

“Keep him busy, Sam,” she thought, throwing another blast-bolo, “… just like Makeen taught you!” It had not covered half the distance before Solomon blasted it with his eyes. One loud snap later and Solomon was up on his feet. His clothes showed every instant of the incredible conflict, but his body was unmarked. Samantha quickly picked up Makeen with her other arm and started to receive warning lights from the suit. It had been designed to augment a particular motion not imbue the wearer with super-strength. She staggered as she struggled to hold on to Makeen.

“You have to put me down!” he insisted.

“None of my people die because of this maggot!” Samantha declared through gritted teeth. “Princess, I could stand some adrenaline!”

“You got it, Boss!” Princess replied as Samantha could feel the injectors in the back of the suit administer the drug.

“Go for stealth and Makeen, shut up!” Samantha said as she stepped back into the darkness.

“Wow, someone is acting kinds of desperate,” Solomon taunted as he lifted his hand over his head. Blue light shone about him and lit up a radius of three meters around him.

“Well, stealth’s not going to work now,” Samantha thought as fear started to nip at her resolve. She could save herself and maybe one of her people, but it was not looking as if she would make good on her claim of controlling Solomon’s effect.

“Up and over,” Makeen whispered. “You must extend this conflict.”

“That I can do!” Samantha huffed as she performed a jump. With the suit she reached a height of two and half meters, covering ten meters in distance. She landed, turned and jumped again. The lights now came with buzzers and alarms horns. She could feel the ache in her joints and the beginnings of fatigue.

At her console, Princess shared the feedback warnings. Most of the team was busy trying to find out how they were nearly killed. Things had come unglued and the last thing Princess wanted to do was to increase the troubles the building and its owner were experiencing.

“That’s it,” she thought as she reached to open their link.

“Boss, you gotta focus!”” Princess called out to Vey. “It’s not people you’re carrying, they’re books and you’re late for class. That’s all you are, late for class!” The injectors fired again and suddenly the executive corridor of the seventh floor looked more like Berkmar High and little Samantha Vey was late for her typing class. P.E. always ran late and the typing class was so far away from the gym.

“I’m really liking this kid!” Vey whispered as she focused her thoughts on what Princess was saying and far less to what her heads-up display was showing.

“Stairway,” Makeen said as he tried to grab on to Samantha’s shoulder and somehow lighten her load.

“Stairway door is opening!” Princess reported and by the time Vey made her jump, the door had opened and three electrical bolts just missed her.

“Activate Local Gravity field on the boots,” Makeen called out. “Jump up through the center!”

“Roger that,” Vey answered.

Jumping up two floors, Samantha moved from side to side very nimbly. She set the suit to repeat actions, since the distance between floors was not going to change, and she looked down. There was Solomon, smiling up at her.

“This woman is so clueless,” Solomon thought. “She obviously doesn’t know how a rail gun operates!” Solomon threw his arms out from the sides and created a massive electromagnetic field. He shot himself up, the stairway having become the barrel of his rail gun and he the projectile.

“Off you go!” Samantha said as she made another leap. She tossed Makeen and Patel on to the landing as she started to make another leap. Solomon’s body struck squarely in the center of her back and he continued his rapid ascent.

“Mistress!” Makeen yelled.

“Time to die, Vey!” Solomon shouted.

“You first!” Samantha thought as she reached out her hand, activating a Local Gravity field in the glove. She never made contact with the stairway, but the force of the pull between her hand and the stairs caused the two bodies to roll.

Up through the ceiling they flew, Solomon hitting back first. They both arched and fell to the roof of the building, both of them landing hard. Samantha cried out in pain. She knew her left leg was broken and she was not too sure about her left arm. She had nothing showing on the inside of her helmet; the suit and its weapon systems were down. But there was a blue light coming from the far corner and Samantha could hear the cracking of bones again.

“Talk about unfair,” she said as she rolled over and confirmed the suspicion regarding her left arm. It too was broken. She watched in disgust as Solomon repaired himself yet again. At least this time he staggered and looked as if he was sweating. He was also paler, as if he had been sick for some time.

“Well, it’s good to know you’re not a copper-top,” she said as Solomon staggered toward her. “You look like you’re running low.”

“Congratulations, Samantha,” Solomon said, waving his hands about. “Both you and your Middle Eastern Doberman managed to surprise me today.”

“The benefit of exposure,” Vey said calmly. “No LeBron James, and everyone would think teams go to Cleveland to get a road win and some rest.”

“My, that is high praise, coming from you. But I expected more… petulance. Especially with the condition your left arm appears to be in!”

“Why? I’m not left-handed,” Samantha said, tapping the pressure plate on her right thigh. The doors popped open and she drew the specialized pistol Makeen had added to the weapon systems. There was little doubt in her mind a knife was in the left leg pocket, but this was not a situation that required cutting.

Solomon took too much time being surprised. He knew his rail-gun maneuver had probably shorted out her systems, but the pocket and the gun itself did not need electricity to operate. Despite the speed of his movement, Vey was a very good shot, scoring the shoulder and the leg as he dropped down to roll. She struck the other leg as he rolled to safety behind the massive air-conditioning units.

“Thanks for walking into range, Solomon. I couldn’t have shot you without your help.”

After what started as a bright blue light dimmed, Samantha could hear Solomon scream in pain as three bullets fell to the roof. She could hear the footfalls of her men coming up the stairs, and apparently so could Solomon who ran toward the side of the building and jumped. A bright blue flash later, Samantha could see a lightning bolt arching up from the ground and strike a cloud. Another flash of blue light as lightning jumped to another cloud and then another. Solomon was covering miles faster than any vehicle Vey had ready and available on the premises… this time!

“Not quite an Etnavas, eh?” Samantha whispered as she relaxed, looking at her pistol – the only piece of Earth-side technology on the Valkyrie suit. “Oh yeah, I am so going to love signing that check!”