Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Chasers: 2075 ❯ Chapter 30

Chasers 2075: Part twenty-nine

Gwen let Mr. Alexander go, the black haired man quickly fleeing from the squad room. Gwen ignored his passing, her attention already focused on what she just heard. The Asian officer quickly left the room, moving into the computer center at nearly a run.

"What's wrong?" Beth looked up at her in alarm from where the redhead was busily typing away at her massive array of computer banks.

"Get me Kate and Jen," Gwen ordered her crisply as she put her hand down on the counter, "we've got more problems."

"Right," Beth quickly accessed the connection while giving her boss a sideways look. "You'd better wash your hand," she noted.

Gwen looked down, only then noticing that some of Alexander's blood had splashed on her hand. "Later," was her short reply.

"Right," Beth smiled back slightly. She winced in pain as a squeal of distortion came through over the speakers then said, "Okay, I've got them on the line. The building's security system is still giving us some trouble, though."

"What is it?" Kate's voice came through, sounding slightly scratchy.

"I just got finished having a chat with the representative from Nutech," Gwen said, "things are even worse than we first thought."

Jen's voice was calm, "So what are we dealing with?"

"The thing in there is similar to a military type," Gwen said crisply, "a recon model that's been designed to go behind enemy lines and gather data. According to him it's got enhanced strength, tactical programming, and chameleon technology."

Beth looked up at Gwen, her face oddly pale, "How are they supposed to...?"

"I'm pulling you out," Gwen continued talking to Kate and Jen, "as of now."

"No way," Kate answered firmly.

"We're not equipped to deal with this thing," Gwen said seriously, "if I had known it was a military model I wouldn't have even sent you in."

Jen jumped in quickly, "Boss, we've got lifesigns three levels down in here."

"We have no way of knowing if those lifesigns are genuine," Gwen reminded them.

"But they could be," Kate sounded serious as she continued, "I'm not leaving people in here at the mercy of a crazed android, especially one that's been programmed by the military." She paused before adding, "I'll disobey an order if I have to."

Beth blinked in surprise as she heard that, feeling her stomach drop in fear. She looked up worriedly at Gwen to see her reaction and was mildly shocked to see her smiling just slightly. "Ma'am?" she murmured softly.

"It's all right," Gwen quickly gave Beth a reassuring smile. She then addressed Kate seriously, "We can't have you doing that, can we? I am calling in the military for support, but until they arrive you're on your own."

"Thanks," Kate said softly before disconnecting.

Gwen calmly ordered, "Get me Colonel Davidson of the Japan Self Defense forces. Give her office my name, they'll put it through."

"She's an old friend of yours?" Beth asked as she went to work.

"I served under her once," was Gwen's calm reply.

**********

"I can't believe you said that," Jen squeaked, the tall blonde looking over at Kate in shock.

Kate smiled back, her brown hair falling into her eyes. "Trust me," the rangy looking woman remarked, "I meant every word."

"So should we go to the lifts," Jen decided to change the subject, "or take the stairs?"

"Stairs," Kate decided as they headed down the hallway.

The place was almost eerily quiet as they walked together, only the sound of their footsteps on the gleaming floor echoing. The main lights were down, only the soft glow of emergency lighting cutting the gloom. Doors lined the hall, some labeled, some not, and as they reached the stairs they saw a simple emergency diagram.

Jen traced the symbols on the interactive image and nodded thoughtfully, "It looks like the stairs go all the way down, but they're designed to be one way." Kate looked over at her curiously and she added, "You're supposed to go up, not down, so the doors lock from inside the stairs."

"Beth can probably override that," Kate pushed the door to the stairway open, nodding for Jen to go inside.

The lights in the stairway were red, giving the two of them an oddly satanic glow as they went down. The rubber-like coating on the steps muffled their steps, probably the only thing that alerted Kate to the soft sound of servos operating. She looked up, eyes widening as she took in the module mounted on the wall then reacted!

"Down!" Kate grabbed Jen and threw them both down as the laser fired, the step melting where they had stood. She shoved Jen forward even as Kate pulled her gun, sighted and fired, destroying the laser unit in a fountain of sparks.

"Shit," Jen panted, eyes wide as they lay there, sprawled out on the stairs.

"Beth," Kate growled into the comm unit, "we've got active security systems here."

Only silence answered Kate, a low hiss of static over the comm system. Jen met her partner's eye as she said seriously, "Looks like we're on our own."

Kate studied Jen's face for a second before saying, "If you want to go back upstairs and get out of here, you can."

"And leave my partner all alone in here?" Jen raised an eyebrow before firmly adding, "I don't think so." She smiled up at Kate, "Could you get off me? Not that it isn't pleasant, but...."

Kate actually blushed, scrambling to her feet and pulling Jen up behind her. "Right," she tried to recover her poise as she said, "let's go."

Keeping their eyes open they moved downward, Kate and Jen occasionally taking turns shooting at other weapons modules that were mounted on the walls. "They certainly went for overkill on security," Jen muttered, "hope we don't run out of bullets."

"I got a few spare clips from the cruiser before we came in," Kate smiled just slightly, "in case we needed them. How about you?"

"Three spare clips of bullets," Jen agreed as they came up to the third sub-basement door. She tried the handle and found it locked, as they had expected. "So what now?" she asked.

"Beth?" Kate tried the comm again, then sighed. "All right," she aimed her gun carefully, "we'll just have to do this the hard way."

BOOM! BOOM! It took a few shots, but the locking mechanism quickly disintegrated under the pistol's fire. Kate kicked out once, hammering at the door with her foot and it swung open with a loud thump, echoing down the hallway beyond.

"Nothing like the direct approach," Jen smiled wryly. She hesitated in the doorway, giving Kate a look, "It probably knows we're coming."

"I figured that from the start," Kate said to her calmly, "there's no way that we're going to be able to sneak up on it."

Jen noted Kate's tone of voice, "You've got a plan?"

"More like an idea," Kate said, putting her pistol in it's shoulder holster a moment. She pulled her wallet out, unclipping her badge then attaching it to her battered jacket.

Jen quickly followed her lead even as she asked, "Why?"

"If this thing was programmed for the military," Kate said as they cautiously made their way down the hall, keeping an eye open for more security, "I'm hoping they also included recognition for legal civilian authority."

"If it recognizes us as being police officers," Jen got how she was thinking, "it might obey if we order it to stand down."

"Worth a shot," Kate scanned their surroundings as they walked forward, "otherwise, we'll just have to fall back on the guns."

"Lovely," Jen sighed.

Up ahead they began to hear sounds, talking and something else in the background. There were several voices, hard to separate, but all of them sounded more than a bit afraid. Kate stopped them by the door, taking a breath as she whispered, "We're here."

"Let's go," Jen replied. She made a face, "I just wish I knew where Beth went."

To be continued....