Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Home ❯ 81 ( Chapter 81 )

81

 

Give your ID card to the border guard,

yeah it really says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets

`cause he won't speak English anyway…

 

As Brad pulled the car into the parking lot, I could almost taste the adrenalin in my own spit. Like a commando squad, we exited the car with rehearsed speed, Farfarello and Nagi carrying our bags with no waste of time or energy. Brad and I strode ahead into the building, heads slightly bowed so they wouldn't immediately see our faces, though his black hair and glasses and my trademark mane would surely get their attention.

 

I preceded Brad into the public front office of the checkpoint and immediately reached out to all the startled minds within it. I ignored for the moment anyone who hadn't seen us come in; my intention was to disable these first, then deal with any leftovers. Moving fast, we strode through the outer office. I found the guy with the security code and made him open the inner door for us, and just that easy Brad and I were within the heart of Checkpoint One-Alpha, Poland.

 

Only one man had the strength of will to fight me. As his fellows meekly returned to their desks, this one struggled to reach the alarm switch. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I pushed harder against his shields, forcing my way inside with no subtlety. Blood seeped from his eyes as he sank to the floor.

 

Standing in the center of the room, Nagi closed his eyes in concentration; every hair on the right side of my body stirred as though swept with a static wand. The air took on the burnt-metal stench of ozone as the computers let loose with a chorus of breathless pops and sharp crackles. The overhead lights flickered a few seconds until the battery backup kicked in.

 

Farfarello darted behind the counter and scooped up the stamps and seals while the clerk sat in a dreamless stupor. Then he helped himself to two computer back-up tapes, a set of data keys, and a pack of gum. I smiled in spite of myself. Far had just given Esset a red herring. Brad didn't need any information here; besides, the data storage devices might or might not have survived Nagi's electro-magnetic pulse. But now Esset would waste more time wondering what we were really after. Things were going exactly according to Brad's plan.

 

My head was starting to hurt, and I could feel several more operatives on their way to investigate the odd silence in the main office. They'd probably recognized us on their video monitors before the power was disrupted - this would, of course, explain their reluctance to get involved.

 

Brad checked his watch, then signaled it was time to go. I trailed behind the others, my mind still engaged in keeping the guards from following us. With smooth precision, Brad selected one of the officer's cars and brought it around to pick me up as I exited the building at a trot.

 

One young agent slipped my telepathic net. He staggered out the door behind me, drew his gun and struggled to take aim. With an almost casual thought I knocked him out.

 

The pistol fired as he fell, the bullet flying wild and the report sending a fresh wave of pain through my head. I could barely hear Brad pushing the car door open for me. I hesitated. Locking onto the kid's mind, I hit him hard enough to leave scars. It wouldn't cost him his life, probably not his sanity, either; but it would slow him down for several hours, and that was all the lag time we needed.

 

As I jumped into the car, Brad hit the gas and veered out onto the road. Then he scowled and demanded, “What took so long? What the hell did you do back there?”

 

“I bought us time, Einstein,” I growled, reaching for the migraine tablets. “Besides, anyone who's uninjured will be suspected of helping us escape. You said no bloodshed, so I improvised.”

 

Brad relaxed visibly. For a moment it looked like he was falling into a vision, not a good thing while driving dangerously fast. Then he smiled and nodded. “Good thinking. You know of course they will probably kill him anyway.”

 

“Yeah, I know. But at least it looks like he fought us.” I paused to gag down two pills with a mouthful of water. “He did fire off one shot.”

 

“Exactly.” Brad's smile turned dark. “And when word gets around, as it always does, other agents will be appalled that their own organization would kill them for failure, even though we are much stronger than they were told we'd be. They didn't have a chance, and they know this. Dissension is a cancer that Esset will find hard to eradicate. Congratulations, you've just changed the future.”

 

“Is that a good thing?” I asked, somehow not at all happy.

 

“It's a necessary thing,” Brad murmured. “We keep showing a strong front, we walk in and take what we want, and we leave a trail of wounded and frightened operatives in our wake. But, unless we must, we do not kill them. Let Esset be the assassin. Their agents' fear will become our strongest ally.”

 

His words faded into a headache the likes of which I hadn't endured in a long damn time. Merciful blackness rose up to claim me before the pain became unbearable…

 

 

 

 

A/N:

Give your ID card to the border guard,

yeah it really says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets

`cause he won't speak English anyway…

“Banditos” - The Refreshments Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy

 

“Dissension is a cancer that Esset will find hard to eradicate. Congratulations, you've just changed the future.” This event is one of the pivotal points that will reinforce Schwarz's humanity in the eyes of at least one hunter. And that is precisely Crawford's intention.

 

As Berger had already observed in TTAtD chapter 7: “Brad Crawford was no criminal, he was a liberator who had failed to destroy the entire regime, and was now being hunted by its vengeance machinery.” Dissension, indeed.