Just doing my job

The rest of the journey was uneventful, the Conspiracy having obviously decided to wait until we got to Salisbury Plain before trying to stop us again.

Key spent most of the time digging through the layers of encryption surrounding the computers at the holding facility, looking for a name. About ten minuets out, she came up with one: Major General Sir Francis St John McNamara.

The name meant nothing to any of us. He was probably a member of the Conspiracy, but we had no way of proving it until Kay got close enough to scan him.

Simon landed the shuttle as gently as a feather outside the heavily reinforced entrance to the bunker. No sooner had the undercarriage touched the ground, than a massive explosion lifted the shuttle back into the air and flipped it over.

I could actually feel the distortion field expand to encompass the ship as it landed back in the middle of what had to be a minefield. Explosion after explosion rocked the shuttle, but none did any damage: we all sat, shaken, but still strapped into our seats until they stopped.

“That’s one ride you don’t see at Disney.” Jackson exclaimed as he unbuckled his harness, falling to what had before been the ceiling, but was now the floor, “Nice save, Nathan.”

“Wasn’t me.” I unbuckled my own restraints and rotated so I was standing the right way up before I let myself drift to the floor, “It seems to work on it’s own.”

“Probably a reflex action.” Kay looked at me, “Could you help me down?”

“No problem.” I carefully made my way over to her seat, “Any sign of life outside?”

“The smoke’s not cleared yet, and main-power is offline, so there’s no way see anything.” Simon seemed un-phased by the fact that he was hanging upside down, “I suggest that someone opens the hatch and goes out for a look.”

Jackson grabbed the manual release for the hatch while Diana flipped expertly onto her feet. There was a hiss as the cabin equalised, but the hatch refused to move.

“Houston, we have a problem.” Jackson looked at the hatch for a moment, and then punched it hard enough to knock it off its hinges and clear of the shuttle, “On the other hand…”

I climbed out first, standing on the cratered earth left behind by the minefield. There was a loud thud from the bunkers doors, and they slowly opened as the others made their way one by one from out of the wrecked shuttle.

Men in army uniforms and carrying a selection of heavy weapons appeared out of nowhere, sounding us, but keeping a respectful distance. I noticed that the distortion field was still active, and moved with us as we approached the bunker.

“That will be far enough.” A man in a Generals dress uniform appeared out of the darkness beyond the doors and walked towards us, followed closely by Charlotte and another man dressed in a Federal Bureau of Superhuman Security windbreaker.

Jackson cringed noticeably at the reminder of his former life.

“Nathan Drake, Diana Mackenzie, Jackson Smith, Kaywinnit Guptah and Simon Neo.” The General looked at us as a number of clones, some of which I hadn’t seen before, filed out behind him, “By the power invested in me by the America and British governments, and under the authority of the Special Intervention Unit and the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Security, I arrest you for treason, terrorism, resisting arrest, murder, espionage, destruction of public and private property, dereliction of duty and disturbing the peace.”

“I hate to tell you this General, but we didn’t come here to surrender.” I folded my arms, “This can end two ways: one, you give us Ren and we leave peaceably. Or two: we take Ren after turning this place into an image from Dante’s Inferno. The choice is yours.”

“If you think I’ll just let you take off with that little Parisian slut, you’re mistaken.” Charlotte had a hard look in her eye, “I am sorry Nathan, but you had your chance to walk away, and you didn’t take it.”

“I can’t walk away: like you said, it’s not in my nature.” I shook my head, “Besides, I swore an oath to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I cannot walk away from that oath, knowing that everything I was brought up to believe in is being, thousands of yeas of history, is being washed away because some paranoid asshole with four stars on his shoulder is scared of the boogieman!”

“Eloquently put.” The General turned to Jackson, “And what about you son? What do you have to say for yourself? Your government says that this is in everyone’s best interest.”

“When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security.” Jackson had a look of purpose that I hadn’t seen since L.A., “I am sorry, Sir, but I will not stand by and let you turn everything I love into that which I despise. My government, right or wrong: when right to be defended, and when wrong to be put right.”

“I am sure that the rest of you feel the same?” The General looked at the others, who all nodded. “I had hoped that we could end this without further bloodshed.” He turned to walk away, “Kill them.”

The distortion field flared as gunfire slammed into it from dozens of different directions, the amplified beams of man-portable lasers dancing across its surface. It shank slightly, growing more powerful as that attacks increased.

“IS THAT THING ONE-WAY?” Jackson yelled above the roar of weapons fire.

“I DON’T KNOW.” Kay shrugged, “WE’VE NEVER TESTED IT…”

“NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!” Jackson lifted his particle-cannon and fired it at the nearest collection of clones.

The beam based through the distortion field and struck the men, knocking them over like ninepins.

Simon raised his arms, the heavy-laser built into the gauntlets he was wearing glowing brightly as he fired them constantly.

Kay and Charlotte squared off against each other, picking up where they’d left off in Tibet. One of the clones made the mistake of stepping between them, and was instantly ripped to pieces by the raw energy.

There was a flash of light as Diana transformed into living flame, taking off like a rocket, before turning into a giant phoenix-like creature above our heads. Fire rained down on the troops firing on us, making most of them run for their lives, leaving the fight to the superhumans. Some were not so lucky, and were incinerated instantly.

“GET BACK TO THE SHIP.” I yelled, “USE IT AS COVER UNTILL I GET BACK!”

“GOOD LUCK.” Simon nodded as I started towards the entrance to the underground complex, the distortion field shrinking until it surrounded just me.

The F.B.S.S. agent made the mistake of trying to stop me. Back before my transformation, I would have had no chance against him, but everything had changed. I dodged his punches and kicks like they were nothing, ignoring the blows that connected as they glanced harmlessly off the distortion field.

Grabbing one of his wrists, I span him round and pulled it up to the back of his neck, followed closely by a kick to the back of his legs that sent him tumbling to his knees. I stood there for a moment, contemplating weather or not to kill him, but in the end decided to simply hit him round the head with enough force to knock him out.

I’ve never liked killing, and didn’t want to start then.

The inside of the holding facility was sparkly defended, most of the security personnel outside trying to contain the others. A few made the mistake of trying to stop me, but I just disarmed them as quickly and efficiently as I could.

Having only visited the holding facility on the rare occasion I had to escort a prisoner there, it took me a while to find my baring and locate the holding cell. Gripping the massively reinforced outer door to the maximum-security wing tightly, I ripped it clear off of its mountings and tossed it to the other side of the passageway.

“Hello again.” The young superhuman I’d faced in Brighton and London was waiting for me inside, “You and I have unfinished business to take care of.”

“Get out of my way; I don’t hurt kids.” I stood my ground.

“Pity.” He grinned, “Because I hurt grownups!”

His first punch sent me flying back into the dislodged door, denting the thick steel. I picked myself up, charging my fists to full power and charged at him, hitting him as hard as I dared.

The two-foot thick reinforced-concrete wall shattered when he hit it, sending enough dust up into the air to temporarily blind me.

“You made me bleed!” My opponent bellowed, “NO ONE MAKES ME BLEED AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!”

He came charging out of the dust with the force and determination of a herd of stampeding elephants, picking me up in his massive arms and slamming me into the wall. The distortion field took most of the damage, but didn’t stop my shirt from being ripped from shoulder to shoulder, or my head from ringing like Big Ben when he slammed me face-first into the wall.

“That’s it kid; you’re really starting to piss me off!” I snapped, breaking free of his grip and hitting him with everything I had. He flew through the hole he had already made, and then crashed through two more walls before he finally came to a stop amid a pile of rubble.

He moved slowly, trying to stand, even though his body looked like it wasn’t listening to his brain. I lifted a brick and, taking careful aim, throw it as hard as I could. It hit him in the head, finally knocking him out.

“Any more for any more?” I asked the few guards who remained.

As one, they dropped their weapons and ran off in the opposite direction.

Grabbing a chart off the wall, I looked down the list until I found Ren’s name, and the cell she was in. It took me a while to find the right corridor, the labyrinth of tunnels designed to make it harder for someone to break out.

Door after door, each numbered rather than named, spoke of how many people were held here. Some had powers so uncontrollable and destructive that they would eventually end up at Dark Side, never to wake from the dreamless existence of cryo-sleep.

Room 314 appeared after what felt like an eternity, and I ripped it off its hinges. Ren lay strapped to a bed, intervenes drips feeding her the same drug that had temporarily suppressed my own powers at the Conspiracy base in New Mexico.

“Ren!” I ran to her side, checking for a pulse: it was there, strong and steady. I tilted her head to the side, but there was no reaction from her.

As gently as I could, I disconnected the I.V. lines and lifted her up into my arms. She moved slightly, but her eyes didn’t open. I felt sick to my stomach to see her like this; I silently swore to get revenge on Charlotte for doing this to her.

After much consideration and soul-searching, it was clear that I no longer had any feelings for my ex-wife.

I walk back to the entrance as fast as I could, stopping when I saw General McNamara trying to hide in a doorway. He made the mistake of firing his side arm at me, obviously aiming at Ren. The distortion field flicked slightly, the bullets flattening midair.

That made me lose my temper.

Most people would have called what I did a slap, but then most people aren’t capable of ripping the door off of a nuclear bomb shelter clean off. I felt his jaw dislocate, teeth and blood spraying across the hallway. Either the pain or the force of the blow knocked him out, and I simply dragged him along by his shirt collar.

Outside looked like a living nightmare: the air crackled with energy as Kay and Charlotte continued to try and pummel each other into submission. The ground between them smoked, the grass having long-since burnt away.

Simon was crouched underneath the wing of his upturned shuttle, taking pot shots at anyone stupid enough to make their presence known.

Jackson’s particle cannon was half-melted, and he was swinging it like a club, battering a number of clones that were attempting to subdue him by shear weight of numbers.

Diana was still in phoenix mode, but was currently occupied with a number of helicopter gunships that were trying to shoot a being made out of pure flame.

Ignoring the hail of gunfire that came my way, I walked over to the shuttle, placing Ren on the ground as gently as I could. I grabbed a piece of mettle and twisted it into a pair of handcuffs, and used it to secure General McNamara to an exposed structural support beam.

“Any ideas as to how we’re supposed to get out of here?” Simon asked, “I’m running out of power.”

“Was kind of banking on flying out the way we came.” I looked at the scrap-heap that had, only a few minuets before, been one of the most advanced spaceship ever built, “Guess that’s out the window…”

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Diana’s roar of anger was enough to silence even Kay and Charlotte, and made everyone look round.

Jackson Smith, the bravest man I’ve ever known, was lying on the ground, his neck twisted at an un-natural angle. Blood was starting to seep out of the corner of his mouth.

Diana started to grow smaller, the flame condensing until she formed a glowing sphere of flame.

“KAY!” I yelled out a warning.

Moving faster than I would have given her credit for, Kay dived under the supposed protection of the ruined shuttle just moments before Diana detonated herself with the force of a small nuclear bomb.

Even through closed eyelids and the bulk of the shuttle, the light was almost blinding. I could feel the heat wash over us, sucking the air out of my lungs. I found myself praying that the distortion field would protect the others. The deafening roar continued to fill the air, bringing back my few memories of what happened in Australia. I had only just survived that, and this somehow seemed worse.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the heat, light and sound ended.

I opened one eye first, and was relived to see that Kay, Ren and Simon were still alive. I was slightly less relived to see that General McNamara was also still alive, all be it still unconscious. Movement, seen out of the corner of my eye alerted me to the fact that Charlotte was still alive, although she looked a little worse for ware.

Our eyes met for a moment, and then she disappeared in a flash, using what had to be the last of her strength to teleport out to god knows where.

I stood, shakily, and looked around: the blasé had half-melted the remains of the shuttle, and everything else looked like it belonged in a science-fiction movie: the ground had turned to glass, while the still open doors to the bunker were burnt and buckled.

“Wow, Dude, what happened here?” a voice asked, and I looked round to see a man in his late fifties, dressed in jeans and a faded shirt walk towards me, his feet a few inches above the still steaming ground, “You guys sure know how to get in touch with your inner self.”

“What?” I blinked, something in the back of my mind telling me that I should know the man, but I couldn’t place him, “Who are you?”

“Sorry man; bad manners are so not groovy.” The man smiled, offering his hand, “Daniel Kowalski.”

I stood there, dumbfounded.

When I’d been a member of S.I.U., I’d read the rather limited file on Daniel Kowalski, and seen his photo. It was a widely known fact that the identity of the five most powerful superhumans was a closely guarded secret.

But everyone who worked for agencies like the S.I.U. and F.B.S.S. knew the name Daniel Kowalski: he was the man who has, for over twenty years, sat at the top of the list, the single most powerful superhuman known to exist. The true extent of his powers was unknown, mainly because he didn’t seem interested in exploring them. What little that was known about him pointed at a potential to be able to change reality to what ever he wanted, a power that verged on god-like.

Considering how much damage he could do if he put his mind to it, it was probably for the best that he was a laid-back ex-hippy from Arizona, who just wanted to be left alone to watch the world go by.

“What’s the matter man, cat got your tong?” Kowalski laughed, “I guess you’ve heard of me.”

“Yes, yes I have.” I nodded, “Nathan, Nathan Drake.”

“Ok than Nathan, what happened here?”

“A pyro-kinetic named Diana Mackenzie got upset and over-reacted.”

“Inferno did this? I always knew that girl had a temper. She still alive?”

“I don’t know, but I somehow doubt it.”

“That’s a shame: she was a good kid. So.” Kowalski looked at me, “You want to start at the beginning?”

We stood there for what felt like hours as I told him everything I knew: the conspiracy and its aims, Dr Lang’s murder, the attempt on my life in Australia, Reaper being let out of prison, the attempt to frame Ren for the destruction of the Lagrange-1 Space Station, the attempted stealth-coup in London, Luna’s indifference, the attack on Kay’s base in Tibet, Ren’s capture, our journey here and the ensuing battle, everything.

Kowalski was unreadable throughout, his expression never changing. His only reaction was to nod once after I had finished telling him everything. Then, without saying a word, he walked over to General McNamara and placed a hand on his jaw, fixing the damage I had done.

“Ok, Mr Solider Man, I’m going to make this very easy for you to understand: I don’t like your type, never have, but I’m not about to start a war that no-one will win. So this is what’s going to happen” Kowalski folded his arms, “You’re going to go tell your boss that I’m going to be keep an eye on them, and if they step out of line again, I’m going to come down on you like the proverbial ton of bricks. In return for which, Mr Drake and his friends are going to go away quietly and not make a fuss.”

“What!” I blinked, “You can not be serious?”

“I am very serious.” Kowalski looked at me, “As powerful as I am, I can not stop the sort of war that would result if the truth ever got out. I can arrange for Ren to be exonerated for the crimes she is charged with, and guaranty your safe passage to Luna.” He turned back to McNamara, “And if any of them should die of anything but extreme old-age, I will hunt every last one of you down and make it my life’s work to expose every dirty little secret you have, every covert operation you’ve run, every atrocity you’ve committed in the name of freedom, public knowledge.”

I took a step back, shocked by the sudden change in Kowalski’s manner: behind the smiling hippy exterior, there was a man who understood true power better than anyone.

“You should take care of any unfinished business you have before you leave for Luna.” Kowalski snapped his fingers, teleporting Ren, Kay, Simon and myself back to Tibet in the blink of an eye.

To Be Continued…