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As the regular cops secured and cleared the Shard, the Black Watch muscled their vehicle back upright.<\/p>\n
There was no art to it, no special tricks, just sheer brute force amplified by their exoframes. All six of them pressed their hands against the roof and cab of the truck and, on Yamamoto\u2019s command, heaved as hard as they could.<\/p>\n
Three tries later, the truck turned over and landed hard on its road wheels.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood work, everyone,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cTake five and check your kit. I need to update BPD Dispatch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karim stepped aside and checked the Sentinel with his flashlight. The starboard wing seemed all right. But the port-side wing had snapped off, taking the minigun with it. He climbed into the cockpit and checked the status displays.<\/p>\n
The gravity mirror was down.<\/p>\n
Karim swore. The cops must have shot the vulnerable mirror while engaging the turtle. It was the Sentinel\u2019s one point of vulnerability.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not going to fly anymore,\u201d Karim reported. \u201cNot without a long stay in the shop. We\u2019re stuck with wheels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the bright side, we still have transportation,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n
Connor marched up to Karim.<\/p>\n
\u201cRookie, you had the Husk dead to rights!\u201d he shouted, jabbing his finger into Karim\u2019s chest. \u201cWhat the hell happened up there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI shot him in the chest,\u201d Karim said defensively. \u201cNo effect. He tanked the shots and turned aside like it was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t go for the grape shot?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did. I shot him\u00a0here<\/em>.\u201d Karim tapped his temple. \u201cThe bullet just bounced right off.\u201d<\/p>\n Connor bunched his fists.<\/p>\n \u201cGod\u00a0damn<\/em>\u00a0it!\u201d Connor exclaimed, and sighed. \u201cNever mind, rookie. Not your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n Connor stormed to the rear of the Sentinel and threw open the rear doors. Climbing aboard, he opened the equipment cabinets in the back.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t mind him, rookie,\u201d Fox said. \u201cConnor doesn\u2019t like it when the bad guys win.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt least we killed the spider and stopped the turtle from hurting more people,\u201d Karim said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s only half a victory. And the turtle\u2019s still out there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe should go out there. He\u2019s on foot, we have a vehicle, we can run him down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot so fast, rookie,\u201d Wood said, joining the conversation. \u201cWe\u2019ve had three back-to-back ops tonight, and there\u2019s at least one more coming up. We need to top off our mags, recalibrate the bot, and make sure the Sentinel is roadworthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Behind Fox, Connor pushed a tough box out to the open doors.<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d Connor shouted. \u201cLoad up with SLAP rounds! I\u2019ve got some here!\u201d<\/p>\n Karim had never seen a threat shrug off rifle-caliber rounds so casually. But where hollowpoints failed, maybe Saboted Light Armor Penetrators would do the job.<\/p>\n The team climbed into the Sentinel. Sheltering their magazines from the storm, the operators reloaded the mags with fresh cartridges and recalibrated their sights.<\/p>\n \u201cThis doesn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d Karim said out loud. \u201cWhy the hell would Husks attack a Shard of the SN so openly?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Babylon,\u201d Yamamoto replied. \u201cNothing has to make sense here.\u201d<\/p>\n The team chuckled grimly.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree though,\u201d Tan said. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s your take?\u201d Yamamoto asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Will of the Net is the newest and among the most peaceful of the New Gods,\u201d Tan began.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a god?\u201d Karim interrupted. \u201cI thought it\u2019s just the collective will of the Singularity Network.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s listed as one in the Babylon Accords. The Sinners say otherwise, but they treat it as a de facto god.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Will of the Net doesn\u2019t start any fights, but it will finish them,\u201d Tan continued. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t heard of the Network offending any other god in Babylon recently, or anywhere else out in the world, for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it didn\u2019t offend a god,\u201d Karim said. \u201cNot a New God, that is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe world recognizes seven New Gods, correct? But they\u2019re simply the most powerful of the Powers that walk the earth. There are thousands upon thousands of lesser gods out there in Babylon alone, like Galen. Maybe the SN offended a minor god.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat could be it,\u201d Tan said thoughtfully.<\/p>\n A ghostly affectionate nose nuzzled Karim\u2019s neck. Karim smiled.<\/p>\n He had met Galen six years ago, on the mean streets of Babylon. He had been responding to an armed robbery call at that time. Dispatch reported that a single male held up a grocery store at gunpoint and made off with the till. As the citywide camera network tracked the suspect, Dispatch coordinated the chase, systematically cutting off the bad guy\u2019s escape routes.<\/p>\n When Officers Mustafa and Reynauld landed their gravcar in front of the robber, the suspect turned and fled into a nearby building, a temple of some kind. Karim and Reynauld followed.<\/p>\n Karim remembered the incense. The candles on the head-high shelves. The huge wolf\u2019s head mounted on the wall, in pride of place. The suspect stepping out from around a pillar, pistol raised, shooting Reynauld once in the face, Karim twice in the chest.<\/p>\n Karim went straight down. His chest ached where his vest had stopped the bullets. The shots had hammered the breath from his body, leaving him gasping and panting. The suspect stood over Karim, the muzzle of his gun as huge and dark and unforgiving as a black hole. A half-forgotten prayer from Karim\u2019s youth crackled in his brain but did not reach his lips.<\/p>\n And a huge white wolf materialized behind the suspect.<\/p>\n Do you need help?<\/em>\u00a0A voice asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes! HELP!\u201d Karim shouted.<\/p>\n Teeth flashed. Bone crunched. Blood sprayed.<\/p>\n The robber died on the spot.<\/p>\n The following day, Karim became a follower of Galen the Wolf.<\/p>\n Yamamoto\u2019s voice broke Karim\u2019s reverie.<\/p>\n \u201cWhoever the Sinners offended, he\u2019s a nasty one,\u201d Yamamoto opined. \u201cSmart, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow so?\u201d Karim asked.<\/p>\n \u201cPowers don\u2019t fight each other directly. They can\u2019t. Not without destroying the universe. So they recruit proxies and empower them to fight on their behalf. This Dark Power identified four psis, brought them together, and convinced them to let it into their souls. Those fruit we found in that apartment? It had to come from it too. It might be how the Power established its connection with the psis.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dark Power sends one Husk to kill the Potter family. Ordinary members of the Singularity Network. Another Husk attacks Alpha Epsilon. A Superuser. The attacks are messages. No one in the Network, neither ordinary members nor Superusers, are safe. The Network sounds the alarm and tells its members to bunker up in the Shards. But the other two Husks are already waiting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a sound strategy,\u201d Wood said, \u201cbut what\u2019s the endgame? What\u2019s the point of it all?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows what the gods think?\u201d Connor remarked. \u201cThey\u2019ve been with us for over a couple hundred years, and they\u00a0still<\/em>\u00a0haven\u2019t told anyone what they\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0want.\u201d<\/p>\n Two and a half centuries ago, darkness enveloped the world. The sun, stars, moon and planets winked out, plunging the Earth into perfect darkness.<\/p>\n Madness followed. The seas rose and fell, swallowing islands and spitting out continents. Landmasses marched across the ocean, breaking up and reforming into new, strange, shapes, dissolving nations and dispersing peoples. The light-starved masses tried to burn everything they had on hand, but the all-consuming darkness permitted only the most feeble of illumination.<\/p>\n As suddenly as the Long Night had fallen, new lights appeared in the sky and dispersed the darkness. A new sun, new moon, new planets, new stars. Then the New Gods descended from the alien heavens to take their place as the sovereigns of an altered world.<\/p>\n And among the millions of self-proclaimed gods, major and minor, none was the god of Moses, Abraham and Muhammad.<\/p>\n The government called the event Year Zero. Karim\u2019s elders remembered it as the Calamity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could ask \u2018im,\u201d Fox said. \u201cFind the Dark Power behind this and ask him what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can do that?\u201d Karim asked.<\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d Yamamoto replied, \u201cif you know what you\u2019re doing. And if you\u2019re extremely careful. But we need to find the Husk first. The SN\u2019s Counter Assault Team will be\u2026 Hold on, incoming transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n The operators re-checked their weapons and gear. Yamamoto whispered into his radio. Karim patted his pouches, checking that everything was in place.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unis have found the turtle,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cThey\u2019ve cornered him in the Miranda hypermarket three blocks away. Civilians are still trapped inside. We\u2019re going in. You ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlways,\u201d Karim replied.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Previous part:\u00a01<\/a>,\u00a02<\/a>,\u00a03<\/a>,\u00a04<\/a>,\u00a05<\/a>,\u00a06<\/a><\/p>\n If you like stories that blend sci fi, fantasy, horror and authentic combat, check out my latest novel\u00a0HAMMER OF THE WITCHES<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Cheah](\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/0x0\/https:\/\/cdn.steemitimages.com\/DQmcSX4MiYdPvqUChc7eBRiaSvNLAb2vT71wFubG75cArg8\/Cheah%20Git%20San%20Red.jpg\")
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