Tag: Pegasus

Pegasus (Part 138)

I looked Tabitha straight in the eyes, “You keep them back, I’ll prepare things in here.”

She turned and started returning fire. Her muscles bulged as the heavy weapon went back and forth in her arms.

“Hurry,” she yelled. There are too many.

Sown into the inside of my jacket was the critical device. I took a blade from my side pocket and cut it out. It was a long wire with a circuit connector on each end. I put one side on the mechanical device and the other on the cylindrical device.

A few seconds later, it flashes yellow.

They have to keep it connected for another two minutes for the reaction to become self-sustaining.

I watch in horror as Tabitha falls to the ground, a line of blood coming from her shoulder.

Immediately, I take up her position and return fire. The bodies of dead troops lie on the floor.

“Are you okay, Tabitha?” I shout over the din of my fire.

She gingerly gets back to her feet. “Yes, I’ll live.”

I glanced back at the wire. It flashed purple.

We need to get the hell out of here.

“Are you able to run?”

“Yes, I think so!”

“Okay, on the count of three. One, two..”

I step out into the hall. “Three.”

Tabitha runs. Then I turn and do likewise.

Pegasus (Part 137)

Our pace now quickened. I thought back to those plans I had seen all that time ago. The Emperor’s habitat and the palace on it had been constructed many generations ago. But even then, there was resistance to the autocracy.

One of the contractors had built a flaw into the palace’s emergency shield. A power line for the habitat runs very close. If they are connected, it triggers a massive explosion in just minutes, which ultimately reverberates throughout the entire habitat, destroying everything. A secret that the resistance had managed to keep.

The Emperor would finally be no more, and peace and freedom would finally prevail. Or, at least that was what I hoped would happen.

The hallway led to one room after another. All full of ornate wooden furniture. The tables were golden.

We were close now. I could feel it.

Tabitha grabbed my hand. “We’re being followed.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Damn”

The next thing we heard was shouts of “Stop!”. Then the firing started.

I opened the next door. It was what we were looking for. It was bare except for a mechanical device in its centre that took up most of the room, and a large cylindrical tube on the left side. They were what I needed to connect.

Pegasus (Part 136)

“Let’s go!” I roared.

We ran into the palace, my pulse racing.

Immediately, we ran into fire from the floor above. We took cover behind some of the pillars. I sensed the threat of us getting pinned. This was not something we had time for.

There was a screech of pain. Jeanne had been hit in the leg.

I shouted to the others. “We don’t have time for this. On the count of five, provide cover fire for me and Tabitha. We’ll come back for you once the mission has been completed.”

They nodded, and I began to count. On reaching five, we darted across the large room to the lifts. I pressed the button to go down multiple times.

Tabitha placed her hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. They can’t target us here.

The lift door opened, and we stepped inside. There was space for many more. I looked into Tabitha eyes. She didn’t blink. A couple of seconds later, the lift opened. We stepped onto the fine carpet that bore images of battles into a wide corridor.

An alarm sounded, and the lights took on a red hue.

Tabitha smiled. “Guess they know we’re here.”

“Apparently,” I replied.

Pegasus (Part 135)

In less than a minute, battered bodies were strewn across the ground. A minute later, they were cuffed and bound with their own equipment.

“Come on, hurry, there will be more of them,” Tabitha frowned.

“Yes, come on, everybody,” I added.

We jogged out from under the pyramid. I could see other troops in the distance but they seemed disinterested in security.

“What the hell is going on?” I said.

Leanne was beside me now. “It’s the Emperor. I got one of the communication devices from one of the troops. He’s critical. If he dies, it sounds like fighting could break out.”

This was the time. We had to take advantage.

Leanne pointed to a megastructure in the distance. “That’s the palace. It’s huge.”

With that, we went into the vegetation and went straight for it.

It glistened with gold, and the main pathway was cut in emerald diamond. The opulence was there on view for everyone to see.

We went right up to the entrance undiscovered and peered out at the tourists and two heavily armed guards.

Tabitha looked at me knowingly, and we raised our acquired guns. The two guards collapsed in a hail of bullets as panicked onlookers ran in every direction.

Pegasus (Part 134)

“Let’s do it,” Leanne shouted. The others all nodded.

This was my moment. I could feel it in my racing heart. “Follow me. The first priority is to try to get some weapons. Otherwise, we’re toast.”

We go back out and along the corridor before we reach a stairwell.

“Come on,” I whisper back to them as I wave. It takes several minutes to get to the bottom.

Leanne, who had gone ahead of me, abruptly stopped. I went in front of her, and glanced around the corner.

There were some of the men in red uniforms who had captured me earlier. In intense conversation, they seemed oblivious to what was happening around them.

I knew we only had one choice. A sneak attack, we needed to get into hand-to-hand combat, before they drew their weapons.

In whispers, I told the others that I would go first. They were to follow in a line behind.

With care, I placed one foot in front of the other till I got within striking distance of the closest soldier. I put my arm around his neck and began to squeeze. Then all pandemonium broke loose as the rest got involved, punching and kicking the soldiers into submission.

Pegasus (Part 133)

Moments later, she sat at the side of the bed, her mouth ajar.

“You were being drugged by a tube inserted into your neck. They did the same to me. I’m sure all the others are the same. Come on, help me with the others. We don’t have much time.”

She nodded in agreement and went to Leanne, while I went to her Mum. Within a few minutes, they were all back standing up and ready for action.

For the first time, I could see steely determination in their eyes,

Leanne was the first to speak. “What now?”

I knew she wasn’t talking about escaping. They were all looking in my direction.

“The Emperor has taken ill. Now is the time for us to strike. If we run, it is only a matter of time before we are all captured once more. We keep to my original plan. Except we’re all in it now.”

“And what is that?” was murmured from the rear.

I replied with gusto, trying to keep their spirits up. “A nuclear blast inside the Emperor’s chamber can blow the whole habitat. That is what I have been trying to achieve since Tabitha and I left the dinosaur habitat. And we are now so close to achieving our objective.”

Pegasus (Part 132)

But which way to go? I tried to remember my time with the Emperor for any little hint. Then I remembered that he had looked in a particular direction when he had mentioned my friends. I thought back to where my bed was positioned at the time. I needed to go to my left.

Without hesitation, I quickly walked in that direction. The next door was over twenty meters away. There was a circular red button to the left, which I pressed. The door opened to reveal a darkened room. I stepped inside, careful not to make any noise. I could make out that several people were lying in what looked like hospital beds.

I searched the wall for a light switch and pressed it. The glare briefly closed my eyes. I reopened them to see Tabitha and the rest of the crew lying in the beds, shouting for my help.

Tabitha was closest.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Tears were flowing down the side of her face as her eyes darted from place to place. “I can’t move, love.”

I guessed what the problem was and lifted her head with care, searching for a tube, which I pulled out.

“What are you doing, love?”

I rubbed the side of her face with my palm. “Give it a minute.”

Pegasus (Part 131)

A few moments later, I realized that full movement had been restored to my body. I immediately sat up and removed the tubes from my left hand. I looked back at where my head had been resting. There was a small needle piercing through the pillow. Standing up, I saw it had been connected to an intravenous drip with a cloudy blue substance.

It came loose when they pushed the bed. This is my opportunity.

I looked around the spacious room that had been my prison.

Flexing my legs, I was confident of my full strength. I noticed my clothes on the hanger in the corner and put them on.

Walking towards the door, it automatically flew open, leading me to a fluorescent tunnel. My eyes winced in the light. In front of me was an expansive view of the habitat. I was near the top of one of the pyramids.

How am I going to save Tabitha and the others?

I tried to think back to what the Emperor had said, and remembered him stating I’d have to make some sort of decision. It was a hunch, but they must be close. He wanted me to physically see them.

But I must be quick in case he recovers.

Pegasus (Part 130)

Then the Emperor continued. “That is why I need you. You are the only one of my progeny to show the guile required to leave one’s comfort zone and try to effect change. It was something that I thought would be ubiquitous, but I was wrong.

The Empire faces many challenges. If I die without a successor, there will be war, and everything I have built will be ruined. All I ask is that you kill your comrades to show your loyalty. I don’t think that is too much to ask.”

For a moment, I wondered if he was serious. His seething eyes told me he was.

“Never!” I responded angrily.

He gasped and took a step. “Are you my blood at all?”

He placed his hands on his chest. Then fell to his knees, before tumbling to the floor.

A loud siren went off, and the whole room started flashing red. Within thirty seconds, the room was full of men in white overcoats, all huddled around the emperor. My bed was pushed over to a side wall, and I could no longer see what was happening.

Then I could hear them carrying him away, and the room was silent once more.

Pegasus (Part 129)

Just as I had accepted my fate, that dreaded voice bellowed for me to wake. “Open those eyes.”

And there he was beside me. Not the youthful image I had expected from television and other sources. He had shoulder-length grey hair and deep wrinkles. His eyes were a pale blue, surrounded by crow’s feet.

For a moment, he said nothing, just staring blankly as if I were some sort of exotic creature. I decided to speak first. “What is wrong with you?”

He gave a wry smile.

“Ah, you’ve never seen an old person before. Even with all our technologies, what would have been considered magic when I was born, there is a certain timespan we can not compensate for. In about two hundred years, you and many more will noticeably age. And there will be nothing you can do about it.”

I replied, somewhat confused. “Aging? I thought that disease was cured?”

He seemed to take some twisted delight in my response and laughed. “I thought it had been cured, too, but no. We extended our lifespan many times over, but it’s still nothing compared to the enormity of eternity. Eventually, our medicine ran into barriers that simply could not be overcome. And that is why you are here.”