<Episode 7>

Jack checked the area. It was pretty much deserted now, but if anybody heard the explosion it wouldn’t be for long. He doubted anybody would be dumb enough to believe they were filming a part for a movie. Jack grabbed the staff, got the bike back on it’s wheels and flipped the switches back to hide the lasers. He looked up to see that Rachel was still standing in the parking area. “We gotta go!”, he shouted to her.

“Right!”, she shouted back and got in her car. Jack rode back up to the parking area and grabbed his helmet as she pulled out of her spot. He glanced back to see a police officer come into view. She was looking right at them. He started wondering how good the World Inc. lawyers were as he raced out of the parking area. Jack slowed down enough for Rachel to pull aside him. He motioned for her to go right at the next intersection and that he was going left, she nodded. Probably not necessary but if that cop called it in one of them could get back to World Inc. if the other got caught. He had to remember to thank his Uncle for the tip.

Taking the long way around he returned to Word Inc. and pulled into the garage. Rachel was sitting on the trunk of her car waiting for him to show up. He pulled into the spot next to her and pulled off his helmet. Taking a moment to catch his breath he said, “I wonder how Allen is going to blame me for that one?”

“He doesn’t have a reason to, we were no where near it.”

“He’ll say I rubbed against a tree and waited for the wind to change or something.”

“Now that’s just plain stupid.”

“But would you put it past him?”

“After that last meeting, no,” she admitted. “We still have to report to Heather. Hopefully Mr. Anderson will be as generous this time around. Speaking of Anderson,” she got right up to him and pointed a finger in his face. “Do you mind explaining that that thing you said about Anderson and experimenting with Drakan lives?”

“I never said he would, I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“And why wouldn’t you be surprised?”

“Whose idea was it to hook me up to the Fusion system? A system you said nobody knew was going to work. So he has some history as far as I’m concerned.” She looked a little annoyed as she turned away. “I’m sure he’s a wonderful guy once you get to know him.”

“But you don’t want to get to now him, right?”

“Pretty much.”

“Your choice,” she said as she started to walk off.

Jack knew he could have handled that better. Rachel was the only one here who felt like she was really on his side. He really didn’t want to tick her off. As he got off the bike he noticed something the irked him even more. “Damn it!”

“What?”, Rachel asked.

“I scratched the paint.”

***

Anderson listened quietly to Haily’s report. He wanted to hold this meeting in the Command Center so Williams could give him some instant feedback. He noticed almost right away that Davidson was avoiding looking at the map. Or perhaps the markers on the map? An interesting notion to say the least. Moving toward the front of the map he said, “Are you sure this officer saw you Mr. Davidson?” he looked in his general direction, but not directly at him.

“I’m pretty sure she didn’t see the fight, but she might be able to describe the bike.”

Anderson walked away from the map. Like he thought Davidson paid him a little more attention. There had to be a way he could use that. A thought to ponder on later. “I’ll have our people get on it to contain the information to be on the safe side. Do you know what set the Drakan off?”

“I’m not sure,” Haily answered. “We were there for a good hour before it started it’s rampage.”

“Maybe a bug got into it’s latte,” Davidson joked.

“Perhaps,” Anderson allowed a small smile.

“I’ll have somebody go over the old reports, “Williams said. “I don’t remember reading that this happened before but it doesn’t hurt to double check.”

“Good. Miss Haily, can you write down what the two of you said today.”

“You’ll have the report by the end of the day.”

He nodded. “Mr. Davidson, I believe Dr. Freidman wanted to see you after this was over.”

“My three Drakan/ three thousand mile check up.” He looked at Haily, “Which ever comes first.”

“Oh, and I was told the KR-1000 will be ready by the end of the day. I realize the damage was merely cosmetic but please be more careful with it in the future.”

“I’ll try.” Somehow he doubted that he would. Haily and Davidson left the room and Williams excused herself and went to an assistant. He looked around the room for a bit before making his exit. They had no clue about what really happened. Mitchell was personally retrieving the dart, so no suspicions would be raised. He would have to remember to give the Drakan scientist who developed it a little more power. After all, he couldn’t rely on the smell of Drakan blood all the time.

***

He hated the waiting, he hated the fact he was told to wait. The abomination had to be taken out, a fool had to see that. How long were the old man and the others going to allow Anderson to laugh at them? Of course he had to hear the mumbles about their time being wasted. The old man insisted they wait until Christopher arrived before letting anybody seeing the tape.

He couldn’t believe all this hinged on the wanna be king showing up. It wouldn’t be so bad if Christopher wasn’t a green. The blond haired man was finding hard to believe in the whole ‘All sects are equal’ when everyone kept bowing to one in the ruling class. Finally the man watching the door moved, he mumbled something then listened. Nodding to everybody else he opened the door. Christopher had decided to arrive. Just about everyone started to get on there knees for the brown haired man who entered, everyone but him that is. Christopher’s bodyguard entered after he did and the door was closed once again. “Don’t,” he said to the room, “I’m not worth the effort.” He gestured toward him, “You should follow Jason’s example. He knows I’m no better than any of you.” He walked over to him. “I’m sorry to hear about Kendall.”

“He died fighting,” he said trying to keep his voice calm.

“So the rumors I’ve been hearing are true then?”

“Unfortunately.”

“This is ridiculous,” somebody said. “There is no way that thing can exist.”

“Then how do you explain our people disappearing lately,” challenged another.

“I refuse to believe there is a Drakan killer out there.”

He had enough, “You better start believing. I’ve seen it and we have it on tape.”

“Funny how you’re the only one still alive.”

“He was observing Kendall during what was suppose to have been a meeting with our contact when it showed up,” the old man spoke up. “The tape is from the safe house Phil was residing in.” Everybody started looking at each other, hardly a word was said. His disappearance started the rumor of the Drakan Killer.

Breaking the silence Christopher asked, “Do you have any idea where this… thing came from?”

“We have a theory,” the old man began.

“It’s no theory,” Jason interrupted. “Anderson and his company created this thing.” That caused a commotion in the group. The old man shook his head sadly.

“What proof do you have?”, someone demanded.

“His men are on the tape.”

“Why would he do this?”

“Because,” Christopher answered, “we dare to think outside the norm.” Great, he gave him the opening to give a speech. He fought hard to keep the disgust off his face. “Anderson, and the ones like him, fears the change we bring. Our only goal is to live in peace with the others. Some of them have proven time and time again that they are willing to let live our way of life peacefully. But Anderson and his like have denied us even that option. So we must take this accusation seriously.” It wasn’t long before Christopher was back to business. He kept it short, Jason was glad of that. “Maybe it’s time you showed us that tape.”

***

Rachel stood outside Jack’s door wondering if she should ring the doorbell again. Then she thought she heard the mumbling from behind the door and it was coming closer. Jack opened the door and stared at her. He looked like he just got up. She also noticed the flannel shirt he was wearing over a T-shirt. He thought of everything to cover those scars. Rachel gave him a cheerful, “Good Morning.”

“I was afraid of this,” he said wearily.

She had a feeling she was going to regret asking this, “Afraid of what?”

“That you’re a morning person.” That wasn’t so bad. Jack moved aside to let her in. “Please don’t tell me we got a job. I haven’t had any caffeine yet.”

“No job, I came by to give you this.” She put the bag she was carrying on the counter and took out the plant. Rachel handed it to him and said, “A little house warming gift.”

“I’m hoping to God it’s plastic.”

“It is,” she informed him.

“Thanks,” he put the plant on the counter. “Coffee?”

“Sure,” she took a seat as he put water into the pot.

“I got to warn you I make it a little strong,” he told her.

“You can strip the paint of the wall with my Dad’s coffee, so don’t worry.”

“So why wait a week to give me a fake plant?”

“I wanted to make sure you were settled in first.”

“I came in with a suitcase, it wasn’t going to take that long.” He covered a yawn and ran his fingers through his hair. “Has R&D fixed that smell problem yet? I’m getting tired of taking half hour showers that never seem to work.”

“Nothing yet.”

“Great.”

“They’re working on it. From what I understand they’re having a hard time identifying what causing it.”

“Maybe whoever working on it should go with us on the next assignment.”

“You’re not going to start that whole thing with Anderson again are you?”

“No,” he said sounding a little annoyed. Maybe it would be better to get this out of the way now.

“Look, I realize I don’t have your perspective on this. And you don’t have mine. But if were going to be partners I like to think we can be open about these things.”

He looked at her for a moment, “Exactly which psycho-babble handbook did you get that one out of?”

“Jack…”

“I understand, partners need to be able to trust each other. Although I thought you were my boss,” he got in quickly. Before Rachel could say anything he added, “Can I start the open feast?”

“Why not.” She tried to get comfortable, “This should be good.”

“I can’t get rid of this feeling that Anderson hooked me up to the Fusion prototype, not to save my life, but to see if it would actually work. I also think he gave me the bike and this place to keep me from saying anything about it.”

“I can see how it would look like that. But did you ever think that he was actually trying to be nice?”

“Briefly, then I start wondering how many Drakan this is going to end up costing me.” The phone rang before she could respond. “Yo. Heather? Hi, how you doing? Quick question before you start.” He shot an accusing look toward her, “How did you get this number?”

“Don’t look at me, you didn’t give me your number.”

***

He had just enough time to down a cup of coffee and get dressed before Rachel made them leave. Anderson’s cameras had spotted a Lieutenant in the rebels command structure, or that’s what they told him. Any questions he had about the whereabouts of Mitchell and his teams were quickly dismissed. Rachel kept up the inquiries when they reached the street. She wasn’t having any luck either. “Look, if the Drakan is as high up as you say it is he might have some bodyguards around.”

“Would a warrior king need a bodyguard?”, he wondered out loud.

“Jack has only gone one on one with these things. I don’t know if he can take on more than one without some kind of back up.” Rachel flinched and put a hand to the phone, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He stopped at a corner and scanned the crowd. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried that they spotted one so close to their building or not. “What’s this guy suppose to look like again?”

“Leather coat, red bandanna, and he’s got some kind of tribal tattoo on the right side of his face.”

“Found him.” Rachel stopped talking to confirm his find.

“I think we found him.”

“We?”, he deadpanned.

Putting her phone up she said, “Do you see anybody with him?”

“Not yet.” Jack looked around but he didn’t see anybody else dressed like the apparent target. For that matter wouldn’t they dress a little differently in order to blend in better? “You think he’s one of those warrior kings?”

“I told you that was a rumor.” She sighed, “And most of the reports I’ve pulled up seem to confirm it.”

“He’s moving,” he said as the target started walking away.

“We better follow, but let’s make sure it’s the right guy first.” She pulled the cell phone back out and hit redial, “Heather it’s me again. Do you still have the target on camera? Are we in the picture? Thanks. It’s him.”

“About time they did something other then tell us were to go.”

***

Anderson was starting to get anxious. They had never spotted anyone this close to the elusive Christopher. He had seen picture of him and flashes of him on the screens. Unfortunately he couldn’t point him out without giving away how he knew. Only Mitchell knew his frustration over the situation. No matter, they had a lead to his location now. “Make sure,” he said to Williams over the phone, “they realize they are to just follow. Davidson is not to engage unless it is necessary.” If this Drakan was connected to Christopher, there could be an army there waiting for them. A small loss if it got him Christopher.

***

Jack and Rachel followed the target for a few blocks. He still couldn’t see any signs of a bodyguard. Definitely a warrior king as far as he was concerned. The target turned a corner ahead of them. Jack jogged foreword to keep him in sight. It looked like he was heading for a construction area. “That can’t be good.”

Rachel caught up with him and looked around the corner. “You think he’s leading us into a trap?”

“That’s what I’m thinking. He could have lost us at any time he wanted.”

“Same here. Now what do you want to do?”

“He wants us to follow I say why disappoint. You better stay here though, this could get nasty.”

“Sorry Jack I can’t do that. You’re going to need another eyewitness if he starts the fight.”

“Stay out of my way then.”

“Always do.”

Like he thought the guy entered the construction yard. Jack wasn’t sure but he thought the guy looked back to make sure they were coming. He should have brought the bike. Hell, he was wishing he had a tank at this point. He entered first, making sure the coast was clear before Rachel followed. He walked ahead looking left to right as she hung back in the shadows. Jack went about ten yards before he noticed a growing shadow on the ground. A yell of, “Die assassin!”, caused him to jump out of the way as a red hawk embedded it’s hand into the ground.

Jack got his left arm up and materialized the belt around his waist. Moving the left arm out of the way he brought up his right arm and slammed his right hand on top of the belt while saying, “Henshin!” The hawk freed it’s hand and lunged at him causing him to jump out of the way before the process was finished. Jack got to a knee and noticed he was in the armor anyway. He could change on the go, that would have been nice to know before now. Wings suddenly emerged from its’ back and it flew straight up. “Wasn’t expecting that one.”

The hawk swooped down, clawed feet aimed at him. Jack ducked out of the way and got ready for another attack. There was no way in hell this plan was going to work. The hawk turned and dived for another attack. He jumped, grabbed the Drakan around the neck and pulled. They both rolled on the ground as they landed. The hawk pushed him off and grunted in pain as it got up. It’s left wing was broken. The original idea was to break a wing by hand, but he’ll take any favors he could get at this point.

Jack cautiously approached the hawk, he should have brought the staff. The hawk wasn’t backing down. They both threw a straight right punch. Jack staggered from it more than the hawk did. He threw a left hook, the hawk seemed to feel that one so he did it again. The hawk backhanded him, jumped up, grabbed his shoulders with it’s feet and flipped foreword. It’s weight caused him to be lifted off his feet and he crashed on his stomach. The hawk stomped down, forcing his head into the ground. He grabbed it’s other foot to trip it.

He jumped up and aimed a foot at the Drakan’s head. The hawk moved out of the way and started to run away. Jack went after it. The hawk headed for a pillar, ran up it and jumped off to flip over him. He had seen too many martial arts movies to fall for that one. He put a foot on the pillar and pushed off. He tackled the hawk in mid air. The hawk started attacking before they hit the ground. Jack was trying to give as good as he got but the hawk was stronger than he was expecting. He got off as soon as he could, he had to think of something else. It started punching and kicking at him before he saw an opening. Jack ducked a punch and grabbed the broken wing. The hawk screamed in pain as he pulled.

Using the wing as leverage he slammed the hawk into a wall. He let go the moment the meter started flashing and pressed the button. He quickly backed up as the mini turbines spun in the belt and ran foreword as he felt the charge go down his leg. Jack jumped at the hawk, landing his right foot on it’s chest. The hawk flew back and exploded. He took a moment to catch his breath. If that thing was a lieutenant he didn’t even want to think about the ones in charge.

***

He resisted the urge to pace the room. The old man, Christopher and the other spent most of the time discussing what they saw on the tape. What was there to discuss? The metal bug was a threat and needed to be taken care of.

“Jason,” Christopher said as he came up to him. “You’ll be glad to know that we’re going after the Drakan Killer.”

He only cared about one thing, “Who’s going after it?”

“We decided to send you and Michael to take it down.”

“I don’t need help.”

“I’m sure you don’t, but some of the others think it might have gotten Molly.” He heard that rumor too. Molly trained him, she was an excellent fighter. “We think it would be better if more than one Drakan confronted it this time.”

“Fine, I’ll bring you it’s head.”