Legacy of a Mad Scientist (43 page)

“Here we go,” Croswell said.

King heard the Gatling guns on Croswell’s unit engage
their motors, humming as they spun up, but not firing yet.

The second two wolves had been activated and lined
behind the first two. The wolves were just dumbed-down versions of
the Black Willow suit, carrying about a third of the firepower and
none of Fox’s secret phase-camouflage.

The phase-cam had been just one of the Black Willow
team’s global ace in the hole. No one had been able to mimic it.
Bergstrom had boasted about his inevitable ability to understand
and recreate a similar version of the technology, but he never
had.

As the last two wolves hovered into place, Bergstrom
triggered the hanger door.

Croswell waited. King waited. The wolves waited.

King’s angle along the district prevented him from
being able to see Dr. Bergstrom, deeper in the lab. He watched him
on the surveillance streams from the micro-transmitters.

Bergstrom crossed over to his newly completed
Micronix Scanner. “I’ve calibrated it for the most range possible,
so let’s give her some juice.” He reached out to it, switching it
on.

The piercing electronic scream, caused by the
immediate proximity of King and Croswell, shattered the otherwise
quiet afternoon.

The wolves stumbled from their few feet of altitude
and fell to the floor of the hanger. Bergstrom jumped to the
controls, cranking them down in a fraction of a second.

In the same moment, King realized their phase-cam was
completely compromised.

Then Croswell opened fire, ripping into the forward
wolves; his heavy rounds denting their armor and driving them back
as they struggled to recover from Bergstrom’s sonic surprise.
Croswell launched his loaded missile banks, nine rocket powered
warheads streaked into the hangar.

The wolves were tossed about like leaves before a
late autumn wind.

Croswell swung up and around to reload.

King jumped into the fray, landing on the hangar
floor, streaming rounds from every barrel he could fire at once. He
leapt in the air, switched from guns to missiles, and let go with
his nine.

As King rolled toward the far left side of the hangar
door, the missiles ripped holes in the far side of the structure.
Only three of the wolves were still intact, the forward units had
taken the brunt of the attack and come apart. King appeared to
hesitate, and the remainder of the squadron opened fire with guns
and missiles.

Croswell watched King tumble, burning, from the lip
of the hangar. At least one of his drives and a stabilizer had been
compromised, given the way he rolled.

Croswell prepared to enter the hangar but pulled back
as seven more missiles streaked away from King’s unit. They arced
from his damaged tank and returned toward the open hangar, seeking
out the remaining wolves.

Croswell laughed. King hadn’t hesitated; he’d been
getting a heat lock. The secretary pulled back as five more
missiles streaked toward the hangar. King had gotten his damaged
tank under control and fired again, three missiles, then his final
warhead.

When Croswell hovered down, the hangar was a
billowing cloud of smoke and debris.

Over the radio, King called out, “We’ve got two
fleeing to the north.”

Croswell dropped down below the hangar. A massive
hole had been ripped in the far end. In the distance, two wolves
could be seen ducking under the hovering plates of the industrial
district.

“What’s your status,” Croswell asked.

King activated his personal anti-gravity harness and
ejected from his Black Willow battle tank just a few moments before
it exploded.

“That’s not the answer I was looking for.” The
secretary muttered.

Croswell retracted the barrels from his right
forelimb and extended a three-pronged mechanical hand. He chased
after the tumbling and unconscious first sergeant, catching him and
re-engaging his phase-cam.

Croswell retreated to the now visible surveillance
trailer and docked his invisible battle tank. Inside, he triggered
the trailer phase-cam again and after a moment of sputtering, it
engaged.

“Fucking Bergstrom,” Croswell muttered.

On the monitors he saw Captain Snow and Major Ross
pull up outside the trailer and laughed.

As they entered the trailer, Croswell’s phone rang.
He answered.

“Secretary Croswell…” they heard someone say.

“Yes sir, Mister President,” Croswell answered.

“I need you to come down to my office with all
remaining members of the black willow operations.”

“You know there’s only two of us left, sir. Myself
and Major Ross.”

“In my office, ASAP.”

“Yes sir,” Croswell replied.

Conway disconnected, and Croswell closed the
communicator.

He looked up to Captain Snow and Major Ross. “Looks
like we’re going to the east coast.”

“I’ll load some extra magazines,” Ross answered.

Croswell laughed.

He looked over to Snow. “You should go directly back
to Saint Vincent’s. Two of the wolves escaped, and the slippery
little turd Bergstrom did too. He’ll have another scanner
fabricated by midnight.

Croswell looked over to Ross, “Call Reid and have him
join her.” He looked back to Ana, “We’ll be back as soon as we
can.”

Ross laughed. “If at all. And where is the package?”
Ross asked. “How long does it take the Secretary of Defense to work
up some shitty fake IDs?

“Where do you think we’re going?” Croswell smiled.
“Chill with the negative waves already.”

Wednesday Night, Eleven pm, July 29, 2308

Croswell and Ross got some much-needed shut-eye on
the three-hour flight to the east coast. They docked in the
guest-parking unit and reported to the secret service checkpoint in
their battle armor.

The saluting guards fell over each other to admit
Major Ross and the Secretary of Defense. Croswell was a common
enough sight at the White House, but these guards had never seen
him in a fully augmented Black Willow terillium battle suit.

Conway left them waiting in a conference room for
almost an hour.

Finally, the guards returned and escorted Croswell
and Ross to the Oval Office. The room was empty. Neither man sat
down, but waited another hour, standing at parade rest.

Finally President Conway entered, furious. Croswell
and Ross both noticed the diplomatic pouch he carried and dropped
on his desk. The White House Chief of Staff, John Phillips,
followed closely.

“Would you gentlemen explain yourselves please?”
Conway asked.

“What’s the issue, sir?” Croswell asked.

“The Issue? The Issue, Sir, is two Black Willow
Battle Tanks opening fire on an stateside orphanage?! Enlighten me,
Please, Sir?”

“If you know that much, you know precisely what is
going on, Mister President.”

“I’d like to hear you say it, Mister Croswell. I’d
like to hear your explanation of events.”

“Go fuck yourself, sir.”

Phillips was suddenly screaming, jabbing his finger
in Croswell’s face; “That’s the Gad Damn President of the United
States…”

Phillips’s assault came to an abruptly halt when
Croswell grabbed his finger and broke it. Croswell held the man at
his side, like a dog on a leash. “I don’t think you understand who
you’re speaking to, Big John.”

Croswell slowly returned his attention to Conway.
“Mister President, please know, everything I do is in defense of
your person and in defense of this office, as well as the Republic
at large.

“Sometimes, I have to make decisions that you might
disagree with. For those I ask your forgiveness. As the chief of
your generals, there are things that I cannot tell you, burdens I
carry, so that you don’t have to.

“What I did today, opening fire on known criminals
who had infested a public institution and exploited the youth of
this Republic to their own ends, while regrettable, was necessary.
And I protected your office from any culpability, as much as I
could.”

Croswell looked down at Phillips. “However, it would
appear that we also have another problem.”

“James, please let Mister Phillips go.”

“Yes sir.” Croswell released the Chief, who stumbled
away.

“What’s this other problem?” Conway asked.

“Sir, it would appear your office has been
compromised. Dr. Bergstrom is a known criminal. He’s been a member
of the Republic’s most wanted for the better part of a decade. He
experimented on children.”

Phillips seemed to have found his voice with his
feet, even if he did speak with a bit more trepidation, “Fox is a
criminal and he experimented on children too!”

“We both know that’s not true,“ Croswell
answered.

“What about the 7982 plant?” Phillips asked.

“You know damn well that was a genetic engineering
research project; all done on slides and in Petri-dishes, on a
microscopic level.” Croswell fixed Phillips with a glare that could
melt glaciers.

Phillips retreated a step, but couldn’t stay quiet.
“You’re nothing without him, Croswell. I hope you realize that.
You’re a paper tiger.”

Croswell laughed. “I’ve been called a lot of things,
but never that.”

The secretary turned to President Conway. “While you
left us waiting, I did a little digging of my own. You both know
that Major Ross and I are registered Micronix owners. It took us
less that a half-an-hour to assemble a paper trail implicating your
office in this Bergstrom mess.

“Someone in this office put Deputy Director Von Kalt
in touch with Dr. Cedric Bergstrom, with the express purpose of
chasing down two unarmed children.”

Phillips snorted. “Consider this an act of goodwill…
Why don’t you take a look at Senator Miller?”

“I did, last week. Major Ross and I blew out the
Senator’s window and sprayed his office with about three thousand
micro-transmitters.”

“That’s illegal,” Phillips objected.

“For just about anyone except me, sure. I hold the
Office of Secretary of Defense and as such, am vested with legal
powers that exceed those of any commissioned officer, and are
second only to the Office of President in the military
hierarchy.

“You, Mr. Phillips, are the White House Chief of
Staff. You’re just a glorified assistant, and have very little real
power outside this structure.”

Croswell smiled. “You see the thing is, I intercepted
about a dozen messages between Senator Miller and someone in this
office. What would The Public think about sending Bergstrom’s Wolf
Pack after kids?”

“There’s a warrant out for those children,” Phillips
interjected.

“That doesn’t mean you get to break the law to
recover them, Sir. Let me remind you, we are talking about the
children of Doctor Andrew Fox. Do you honestly think he’d let you
just cut them up?

“Those children are outfitted with one of his most
secret inventions. He called it The Failsafe. If they are killed by
violent means, an implanted chip will be detonated, releasing a
five-kiloton yield, on the spot, decimating whoever might be
responsible.

“Now do you understand why I cannot permit them to be
taken, under any circumstances?”

Phillips pulled himself upright and narrowed his
eyes, “The warrant specifically says
Alive
, Mr.
Secretary.”

“To what end?” Croswell asked. He shook his head.
“You can’t take them alive, you know that.”

“The Warrant Stands!” Phillips shouted. “It’s
completely legal! It is watertight! Fox Broke The Law! He
Endangered Everyone on the Entire West Coast! And this failsafe
sounds illegal as hell. What if there was an accident? What gives
Fox the right to kill everyone in a twenty block radius because his
kid got mugged?”

Croswell laughed. “Because he can.”

“It does sound rather selfish and more than a bit
careless.” President Conway interjected.

Croswell paused.

Phillips leaned forward. “Besides, we already had
them once, but Ross interfered! That’s Obstruction of Justice!” He
gestured with his damaged hand.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ross
answered, humbly.

“You were seen at an Angel City Library, obstructing
a federal investigation.”

“Oh, you mean those guys who were threatening people
with guns? I don’t know what that was about. I saw some idiots who
seemed like they were trying to stick-up a public library, yeah. I
pulled my badge and identified myself. Two of them grabbed some
kids as human shields, but whoever they were, they didn’t have any
ID or a warrant. I never did find out what it was all about.”

“You were shot,” Phillips stated.

“That’s right, twice.”

“I heard it was three times?” Phillips said.

“I should know,” Ross replied.

“And the children?”

“Far as I know, they ran out with everyone else. But
like I said, I never did find out what it was all about.”

“Why didn’t you wait for the police?!”

“I needed emergency medical attention!”

Conway raised his hands. “Could everyone just calm
down, please?”

No one spoke for a few moments.

Croswell broke the silence slowly, clearing his
throat before speaking quietly. “I’m sure you recognize what kind
of a legal and moral problem this represents for your
administration. Either yourself, or your chief of staff, provided
material support to this known criminal, Bergstrom.”

The President raised a hand. “Dr. Bergstrom was
prosecuted by the previous administration, Mr. Secretary.”

“That’s absolutely true sir, and with good reason. He
has not been pardoned, also with good reason. And believe me, Sir.
I really am sorry, but since it would be treasonous on my part, to
charge you, or any sitting President with treason, and collusion
with such a publicly despised enemy-of-the-state, we are only left
with one option.”