Pulse: A Collection of Short and Flash Science Fiction Read online

  “That includes me as well,” Megan said. “Capt. Kirk always took Dr. McCoy on landing parties.”

  “I think that means we’re red shirts,” Sam said to Raj and Juan.

  “But only Seth has combat experience,” Capt. Michaels said. Megan reached into her purse and pulled out the certificate signed by GySgt. Gunderson herself which she handed to the captain.

  “You survived?” he asked in shock as he handed it to the general.

  “Damn,” he said as he handed it back to Megan. “What do you need, Doctor?”

  “Weapons, sir. Lots of weapons.”

  ###

  The six of them stood in the reception area of the Todihara Ltd. building and waited while Megan did a scan of the area. “Building is clear. No life signs above us. No detectable bot activity between here and Seth’s office.”

  “What about the Directors tracker pendant?”

  “Faint, but I have her still in Twenty-Eight. Her life signs look strong.”

  “Good. Keep a lock on her. First stop is the control room at the center of this floor. There we'll find the controls for the primary EMP unit. If it's functional, we'll arm it and proceed downstairs to my office where we'll arm the second unit. From there we'll proceed to Section Twenty-Eight. Questions?”

  “Yeah, boss. How do we get downstairs without being noticed? I’m betting the normal routes are being monitored.”

  “We can access a construction elevator that passes through a wall in my office and opens on all floors. As far as I know I’m the only one aware of it.”

  They headed deeper into the building while keeping careful watch for anything unfriendly. They soon reached the control room and forced their way in.”

  “Raj, Juan, watch the hall. Megan, Margo, check the feeds for any signs of unfriendlies from down below. Sam, check the EMP generator status while I find that elevator.”

  “Boss, EMP generator is offline. Someone's been playing with the systems.”

  “I figured that would happen,” he said from a closet at the back of the room.

  “Seth, we have visuals on something crawling around on this floor,” Megan said.

  “You mean they’re hurt?”

  “No, I mean they’re crawling. One’s a hexapod and the other a quadruped. They’re both hybrids like Ape Guy. They’re not coming this way, but give them time.”

  “OKay, found it, and it still has power. Get Raj and Juan inside and seal the door behind them. We’re a goin-a-visitin.”

  They all boarded the elevator and headed into the bowels of the Earth, stopping first at Section Nineteen to arm the EMP generator. They entered Seth’s office and started a systematic search for items which may prove useful up top. Seth sat down at his desk and spun the chair around to face the back wall and what looked like a tablet computer mounted on the wall. He placed the palm of his right hand at the center of the tablet while looking directly at a camera located just off the top of the device.

  A horizontal bar of light appeared on the screen and moved up and down as the tablet scanned his palm print. When it finished, a red laser beam emerged from the lens and scanned his right eye.

  “Identity confirmed. Dr. Seth Marsden, Head of Biocybernetics Division. What can I do for you today, Dr. Marsden?” a computer voice asked.

  “Activate EMP device. Safeties off. Energize.”

  “Working. In progress. Power-up will be complete in E-30 minutes and counting. Warning: Detonation sequence must occur within one hour of activation due to field coil overload. System will de-energize at E+sixty minutes.”

  “Copy that. Computer, standby. People, grab your things and move out,” Seth said as he got out of his chair and headed to the door. Everyone grabbed their things and followed. While walking out, Megan grabbed what she thought was a pen off Seth’s desk having misplaced hers during the search. She put it into an ammo pocket next to several auto-injectors she kept there in case of an emergency.

  They entered the elevator once more and rode it down to Section Twenty-Eight. “Everyone go weapons hot,” Seth said as he checked his pistol. “Megan, where’s Nat?”

  She performed a chopping motion to her right with her left hand while she read the scanner in her right. “Thirty meters due north. Fifth lab on the left. She’s still alive. Boss, she’s the only human reading I'm getting except for us.”

  “Anything waiting out there?”

  “Inconclusive data.”

  “Gentlemen, shoot whatever is on the other side of that door when it opens,”

  “Aye, aye, boss!” they said as they thumbed off their safeties. The others moved to stand behind them.

  The elevator car came to a stop before the doors opened to reveal a dark corridor. They disembarked in close quarters combat formation with Raj in front and Juan bringing up the rear. Behind Raj, Sam scanned to the left and right with his FN SCAR CQC assault rifle while Margo did the same from the rear. At the center were Megan and Seth with their SCARs.

  They met no resistance as they made their way down the dark hallway. “In here," Megan said pointing to a door on the left. Once everyone was in position, Raj kicked in the door and ran in with Sam, Megan, and Seth while Juan and Margo watched from the hallway.

  In the center of the room was a chair illuminated by a single overhead light fixture. Tied to the chair was the director.

  “Seth, I don’t like this, man,” Sam said as he scanned the room with his gun. "This screams trap, though I do think it's a little obvious."

  “I’m with you there, Sam. Megan, medical scans,” he said as he cut the ropes binding Natalie.

  “Human, normal, no bots.”

  “Seth, get out of here,” Nat said weakly, “It’s a trap.”

  Megan got her out of the chair just as the ceiling cracked. Seth pushed them out of the way just as snake-shaped nightmare broke through and grabbed him by the arm.

  “Shoot it,” Megan screamed, but Seth was too close.

  Somehow, Seth got the muzzle of his grenade launcher into the thing’s mouth and fired a round. It exploded, killing the thing while shearing off Seth’s arm at the shoulder.

  “Megan!” Sam yelled as he grabbed Natalie.

  Megan ran over and went into medic mode. She opened her pack and pulled out clamps which she used to seal off arteries. Seth was going into shock, so she slammed an auto injector into his thigh. Too late, she realized it was the pen from his desk. She looked at it and almost fainted. It was labeled “408.”

  “Shit!” she said as she grabbed a real pen and slammed it into Seth’s other thigh.

  “What’s wrong?” Juan asked.

  She threw him the first injector. “I picked it up in his office. Seth, can you hear me?” she screamed.

  “Yeah. Feel odd. Get me up,” he said. She grabbed Nat while Juan grabbed the larger Seth.

  “Evac, now!” Sam screamed. With Juan and Megan dragging the injured, they made it back to the elevator. They headed upwards but stopped at Seth’s office.

  “What’s wrong?” Beth screamed.

  “We have to set off the EMP,” Margo yelled as the door opened. She ran in to the office and went to the palm reader. Sitting down, she placed her hand on the pad, but nothing happened. “Dammit, it’s keyed to Seth.” She looked up and saw the others run into the room while Sam and Juan threw grenades into the elevator. Something inside screamed as they went off.

  “What now?” Nat asked, still groggy.

  “Panel, right side of door. Remove cover and hit red button.” Seth whispered.

  Sam ran up and found the panel just as the office door bent inward. He tore the cover off and hit the button just as the door started to buckle.

  They heard the sound of three large objects hit the floor outside followed by high-speed gunfire, explosions, and a lot of screaming. In moments it became silent.

  Sam reached up and pulled what was left of the door. He looked out into the hall and found it filled with the smoking remains of several large hybrid cyborgs
being watched over by three security bots. One of them saw him, but did nothing.

  “Come on, it’s clear. We can make it to the east elevator,” he said as he took up position in the hall. The others came out of the office and headed to the elevator.

  “What about the EMP?” Sam asked. “Can’t we set it using his right hand and eye?”

  “Only if you want him to die,” Megan said, “and you plan to go through me.”

  Sam saw the look in her eyes and decided not to press the issue.

  They made it back to the surface where Seth and the director were whisked away to a hospital.

  ###

  The five scientists stood in the waiting room and waited for word on Seth. Each had a bandage on their arm where the docs had taken blood to match in case their boss needed a transfusion. They stood in a group, all except for Megan who stood looking out the window at the streets below. On the television was a news report about the events earlier today.

  “Megan, it’s not your fault,” Margo said as she walked up. “Seth is notorious for leaving things on his desk instead of putting them away. How the hell were you supposed to know that you picked up an injector full of Serum 408?”

  “I killed him, didn’t I?”

  “You do remember the snake thing hanging from the ceiling, don’t you?”

  “But I injected him! I killed Seth.”

  “Last I heard Seth was still alive.”

  “Excuse me.” They all turned around and saw a doctor holding a clipboard.

  “Yes, Doctor?”

  “I'm Dr. Ballis and I’m in charge of Dr. Marsden’s treatment. I just have a few questions. We know about Dr. Marsden’s work, so we scanned his blood for nanobots and found a lot of them, mostly congregated around what’s left of his shoulder. By the way, Dr. Allen, that was one mighty fine job with the bandages and clamps. You saved Dr. Marsden’s life.”

  “Thanks. How is he?”

  “Sleeping. We ran the bots in his bloodstream against the database in your lab and can’t find a match. They're not one of your designs.”

  “That’s impossible,” Sam said.

  “Unless they’re from downstairs,” Juan said. “What if those maniacs created designs based on ours.”

  “Shit,” Margo said. “Dr. Ballis, you need to erect a...”

  “EM shield around Dr. Marsden’s room? Already done, but the bots seem to have no desire to leave Seth’s body.”

  “What’s his prognosis, Doctor?” They looked and saw Dir. Quinn walk into the room.”

  “Dir. Quinn, what are you doing out of bed?”

  “My job. Now what is his prognosis?”

  “He has less than a ten percent chance of living through the night. There was too much damage and blood loss. I’m very sorry.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. Is there anything else?” Natalie asked as she saw the effect the news was having on Seth’s team.

  “One last thing. We need Dr. Allen’s signature on a couple of forms, most notably Dr. Marsden’s living will.”

  “Can’t this wait...?” Natalie asked before suddenly stopping in mid-sentence. “Why Dr. Allen? Juan and Margo have power of attorney since Seth has no next of kin.”

  “Again, I'm confused, then,” Dr. Ballis said. “Our tests show Dr. Allen is Seth’s biological daughter.”

  Before anyone could react, there was a piercing scream from the direction of Seth’s room. As they headed to the waiting room door, Seth walked in wearing only a hospital smock. Instead of a bandaged stump, his left arm was clearly visible, normal except for a covering of silver paint.

  “What the hell’s going on?" he asked while the others just stared.

  Megan fainted.

  ###

  Under orders from her boss, Olivia had taken the day off having already worked on the Clyster case for the last three days solid. She sat on her couch in her sweats with a cup of tea on the table next to her and a long-neglected book in her hand. As she tried to read, her mind kept wandering back to Seth. She realized he was scheduled to return from training today, so he was probably busy, but she was still worried he hadn’t called her.

  Unable to concentrate on her reading, she turned on the TV hoping to catch a movie. Instead, the channels were filled with news reports about something happening at the Todihara Ltd. building, only a few blocks from her apartment.

  The building where Seth worked.

  “This is John Palmer with an update on the events occurring at the Todihara Ltd. building downtown. Eight hours ago the building was surrounded by a contingent of National Guard. Two hours after their arrival, a team was sent in to rescue Dir. Natalie Quinn who was being held by terrorists who had taken the building and were holed up in the basement of the facility. This is Gloria Steg’s report from three hours ago.”

  The image shifted to a view of the entrance of the building around which were a large number of military personnel and equipment.

  “This is Gloria Steg reporting from the Todihara Ltd, building. The National Guard has cordoned off the building and are waiting for a team to return from inside. We're at the Baxter building, but have been warned we'll be evacuated shortly. We have just gotten word about a group of terrorists trapped in the basement and holding Dir. Natalie Quinn hostage. Wait a minute. Someone is emerging from the entrance.”

  Olive watched as several people with military gear ran out of the building. Once they were clear, machine gun teams took position behind them. One of the team members was injured, a large bandage over his shoulder, where his left arm used to be. Olive looked closer. She screamed.

  It was Seth.

  ###

  Seth finished getting dressed as Dr. Ballis and Megan conferred. Outside Natalie and his team waited for him to emerge.

  “OKay, you two, what’s the prognosis?” Seth asked.

  “Seth, it looks like your nanobot-based system works. Congratulations,” Dr. Ballis said as he closed his clipboard. “I may be out of a job,” he said as he handed the clipboard to Megan and walked out of the room.

  There was an almost palpable tension in the room as Seth and Megan tried to ignore the elephant standing between them.”

  “So, your mom is Arianna Christensen, my ex-wife. I’m not surprised she didn’t tell you about me or me about you.”

  “What happened between you two?”

  “Let’s just say our getting together was a mistake, except for you that is. I’m surprised she didn’t go apoplectic when you told her you were coming to work for me.”

  “Um, she doesn’t know. She and I haven’t spoken in years, though I do keep in touch with my step dad, Roger Allen. They divorced years ago.”

  “Your mother is driven, I’ll give her that. So, still want to work with me? I promise you won’t have to call me daddy,” he said with a huge smile.

  “Thanks for that. You really want me to stay? I could’ve killed you.”

  “But you didn’t,” he said as he raised his left arm, now mottled as more matrix was replaced by human skin. They’ll probably give you the Nobel Prize.”

  “What about the tumor? The readings show it's gone.”

  “The bots used it as fuel. Margo programmed them to remove any trace of tumor from the surrounding area. They system is a miracle when it works as designed and a nightmare when it doesn't.”

  “What about the rest of the team. Won’t they be pissed you didn’t tell them about the cancer?”

  “They'll be as mad as wet hens, but at me; not you. They understand doctor/patient confidentiality, and I'll tell them I wanted them to concentrate on the system, not worrying about me. Anyway, they still have to come to grips with you being my daughter. Think about the odds of you coming to work for me. The mind boggles.”

  She walked over to him, hesitated, and then gave him a hug. He gently kissed her on her head and said, “You did well today, Doctor. Real good. When this is over I'm going to push the company to give you a bigger desk.”

  “Thanks,” she replied as she
pulled away and straightened her clothing. She smiled at him as she turned to the door. She stepped outside with him following close behind. In the hallway stood five people who didn’t have any idea how to react.

  “To hell with this,” Nat said as she ran up and kissed Seth on the cheek. “Never do that again, understand mister?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Understood.”

  The rest of them opted for handshakes and congratulations.

  They all stood in the hallway and were talking when Seth asked, “Did anyone call Olive?”

  Dead silence punctuated by the occasional cricket.

  “Oops,” Margo said. “But it’s not like she would see it on the news.”

  They looked in the waiting room across the hall and saw the news report showing Seth and them running out of the building with Seth’s arm missing.

  “Naw. Could never happen,” he said as he looked around for a phone.

  “Boss, you should see this,” Sam said from inside the waiting room.

  “This just in to the Channel Six newsroom. Live from the Todihara Ltd. building...”

  The image switched to show the entrance to the building. Emerging from it were people in lab coats and street clothes, their skin shiny silver. Soldiers started to shoot at them, but the bullets had no effect. As everyone in the waiting room watched, one of the silver people grabbed a soldier and bit him. The soldier’s skin immediately turned silver as he started attacking others around him. A silver soldier crawled over the edge of the window, knocking over the camera. The feed went dead. The people in the waiting room stood there in shock.

  “Dr. Marsden?”

  Seth turned and saw the general standing in the doorway flanked by six heavily armed marines in battle armor. “Yes, General.”

  “We have a problem,” he said as he looked up at the television.

  ###

  Olive jumped up and ran into her bedroom while speed dialing Seth’s number, but only got a “Number out of service” message. She threw on clothes, grabbed her purse, and threw the phone in it as she headed for the door. She reached down to unlock it when she heard an unearthly howl from outside. She flipped on the hallway camera Seth had installed before they broke up and saw several people crowding around the door, each normal looking except for the silver body paint they were all wearing. She thumbed the intercom on. “Can I help you?”