Hunting Prey
A scifi excerpt from Cargo Lock 5
John's story did not end in that cargo container, floating through space. Though in truth, it should have. But, a twisted fortune smiled just once upon a dying man who was forced to kill his own wife, son, and daughter. His vengeance was given a gift, a chance, a way to make the bastards who did this suffer, as he suffered. It would not bring his children back, nor could it in any way save John, because in fact, John was already dead.
He just didn’t know it yet.
John was going to kill the men responsible, or rather, force them to feel what he felt, force them to kill their loved ones. But he couldn’t remember more than that, not really, and when he tried to remember, he blacked out. His parameters weren’t designed to handle complex algorithms like that, apparently, and a software reboot was usually required. So, he learned not to think of those things if he could help it, and he waited. John had waited, he had waited for so very long. Finally he found one of them, Kayd Lad, and at long last he tasted the first course of his revenge. Kayd had suffered deeply, and Phonm was next. The lights were off in Phonm's house, but John could see just fine. He was waiting there, waiting in a closet for Phonm to come home. John could wait forever if he needed to.
"Daddy, how long do we have to wait in here?" she said. John was glad he didn’t have to wait alone. His daughter was so beautiful. She had stayed by his side, forgiven him for what he did to her, for killing her. She understood how hard it was, but how necessary it was too, and she even helped John find the bastards responsible. Her death was a painless one, at least for her.
"Not much longer sweetheart," John said. His little girl crossed her arms, tired of waiting so long in the dark for Phonm. Phonm's wife, Ellen, finally came home. That was good. She was going to be a part of this. John kept waiting, soon the sounds of pots and pans from the kitchen told him she was making dinner. In between she came out into the living room, right in front of the closet John was hiding in, and began folding laundry. She paced back and forth from chore to chore, visible through tiny ventilation slits in the closet door. John looked down at his daughter hiding next to him, even though she was dead. He knew she was dead, but she was also right there with him. He tried not to think of it, thinking of what he did to her. Sometimes when he looked at her she would ask why daddy was so sad. He made her drink the cup, that’s why he was sad.
Ellen walked towards the closet with a furry crimson jacket in her hand, the one that had been draped across a chair. John had been wondering when she would open the closet to put it away, forcing him to act before he was ready. John didn't want to be found yet. Ellen reached for the closet door and then stopped as sounds of overflowing boiling water swelled from the kitchen. The jacket lay on the floor now. She hurried to the kitchen and disappeared from view.
John opened the closet door and stepped into the soft glow of an iridescent lamp, exposing him inside Ellen's house. He was too large to move quickly. He grabbed the sport jacket and slipped back inside the closet, carefully shutting the door before Ellen returned. She didn't need to know yet.
John’s neural mapping allowed him to read minds, clear as a painting. The moment a person was within arm’s reach of him, he felt their emotions and could read their thoughts. He could see everything in their conscious mind, it was a function of his programming, one he couldn’t control. When John tortured Kayd’s son, Jack Lad, he had felt everything. He felt the pain, felt the fear, the despair, felt it like it was happening to him. He felt the moment Kayd accepted the reality of killing his son. John knew that feeling personally. Part of him was aware that it didn’t make sense, he shouldn’t be able to do those things. He shouldn’t even be alive.
"Daddy," she sighed impatiently.
"Phonm should be home soon, please sweetheart, stay quiet for me," John whispered.
Phonm Ngu was harder to find than the others. He had been an Elite Officer under Jack Sethren, and he had led part of the genocide on Space Station Hephaestus. John knew, because that’s where it all happened, that’s where John killed his own family, and John remembered seeing Phonm’s face. John caught a glimpse of Phonm and four other Elites that day. As it turned out, they all came to New Seattle City to lead peaceful lives, working for Sethren Company, rinsing blood off their hands ever since.
Tracking Phonm was like tracking a rabbit two days into a blizzard. Most of his records were so altered or erased that John had to cross reference the most basic of addresses and numbers just to find they didn't exist or someone else actually lived there instead. As head of security he had many ways to make himself disappear. But even Phonm wasn't untraceable, if you had the time. John had lots of time. Funny, how he survived all this time. How did I survive? I must have died…
Error...runreset.exe//......
John had blacked out for one hour, forty three minutes, and three seconds. He awoke in the middle of doing something. He hated waking up this way, running or chasing, his body operating on its own. But this wasn't the first time that had happened. When John awoke he was towering over Phonm. Phonm was wearing black silk pajamas, paralyzed with fear, holding a sandwich as if it were a shield. John wasn't sure when Phonm had come home, but he knew to the millisecond how long he was blacked out.
Phonm suddenly found his feet and ran for what it was worth, trying to escape. John caught him in two strides, chunks of plaster raining down where his head scraped the ceiling. Phonm screamed out wordlessly, dangling in John's grip. Phonm’s thoughts were ragged and didn’t make any sense. Phonm thought he saw a robot, or an android. John didn’t understand that. Fear must be warping Phonm’s thoughts.
He could have killed him right there, he wanted to rip him apart. It took great willpower not to. Killing Phonm wasn't enough. Death was not the ultimate punishment. John's agonizing existence in the cargo lock taught him that. For some things, death was a mercy. For Phonm, Kayd, and the others, John would show them how terrible living could be. How terrible making the right choice could be. How terrible it was to kill someone you loved. John had used the thirty years in a frozen cargo hold to design his revenge. How did I survive the cold? No food? Error//runexec.bat... ...reboot...
Not again...
John woke up again. Ellen Ngu, Phonm’s wife, was tied up. John blacked out for twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. He had blacked out, but he knew he was the one who tied her up even if he couldn't remember doing it. Ellen was in a chair with her hands brutally nailed into the armrests. Phonm was in another chair, forced to watch. Forced to choose how she would die. Phonm would learn today if he could do what John had to do.
"Please...you don't have to do this..." Phonm begged.
"Spare her from the pain.”
"...please," Ellen whimpered, "please... Phonm... just do it..." she begged him. The pool of blood widened at the base of the chair. Phonm pounded his fists against the table.
"I can't. I can’t!!" he cried. "Please, tell me why!!" he screamed at John.
John wouldn’t answer. Phonm looked down, finally accepting the truth of his situation. John sensed the changes occur, his brain patterns, recognition, Phonm knew he was being punished. His forgotten past had found him, and he knew. So much fear and emotion came through Phonm that John had to step back, his sensors were overloading. John sensed Phonm was mustering the resolve to do it, to kill his wife Ellen, who John knew he loved very much. Phonm looked at his hands, and then at Ellen. She was in so much pain, begging to die for the relief it would bring. This was John’s revenge, the moment between indecision and action, where the terrible choice was embraced. Death wasn’t enough, they had to know the pain he knew. They had to deliberately hurt the ones they loved, to protect them from something far worse.
And Phonm really loved her. By the pain on Phonm's face, in his eyes, and by the way his body shook it was evident that he loved her, John knew this even without his sensors. Phonm stood and picked up the knife. He walked over to his wife under John's careful gaze. Ellen had the strength to look away, beneath her pain John sensed relief that it would soon be over. Phonm held the knife, testing the handle in his grip. He held the blade in front of her, he readied his hand to do it, one clean thrust to the heart, instant and final. But when his shoulders slumped down, Ellen's emotions changed and she began to cry. "I just can't..." he finally said. Phonm looked at her, in his eyes he apologized to her. The coward... Ellen wept in fear of the pain she was about to suffer. In this John knew that the choice he made long ago, the terrible pain of giving his wife and children lethal doses of potassium laced juice, was the correct choice. Phonm wasn’t as strong as John was, and he had chosen poorly because of it.
***
If you enjoyed this excerpt, you can also download a sample of Cargo Lock 5 on AmazonCargo Lock 5
You might also enjoy Paphos Books 1-5. Paphos 1 is free on all ereaders.
Paphos 1
www.nrburnette.com for more about my books and indie games
Follow me on twitter @nrburnette
Thank you for being a great reader
John's story did not end in that cargo container, floating through space. Though in truth, it should have. But, a twisted fortune smiled just once upon a dying man who was forced to kill his own wife, son, and daughter. His vengeance was given a gift, a chance, a way to make the bastards who did this suffer, as he suffered. It would not bring his children back, nor could it in any way save John, because in fact, John was already dead.
He just didn’t know it yet.
John was going to kill the men responsible, or rather, force them to feel what he felt, force them to kill their loved ones. But he couldn’t remember more than that, not really, and when he tried to remember, he blacked out. His parameters weren’t designed to handle complex algorithms like that, apparently, and a software reboot was usually required. So, he learned not to think of those things if he could help it, and he waited. John had waited, he had waited for so very long. Finally he found one of them, Kayd Lad, and at long last he tasted the first course of his revenge. Kayd had suffered deeply, and Phonm was next. The lights were off in Phonm's house, but John could see just fine. He was waiting there, waiting in a closet for Phonm to come home. John could wait forever if he needed to.
"Daddy, how long do we have to wait in here?" she said. John was glad he didn’t have to wait alone. His daughter was so beautiful. She had stayed by his side, forgiven him for what he did to her, for killing her. She understood how hard it was, but how necessary it was too, and she even helped John find the bastards responsible. Her death was a painless one, at least for her.
"Not much longer sweetheart," John said. His little girl crossed her arms, tired of waiting so long in the dark for Phonm. Phonm's wife, Ellen, finally came home. That was good. She was going to be a part of this. John kept waiting, soon the sounds of pots and pans from the kitchen told him she was making dinner. In between she came out into the living room, right in front of the closet John was hiding in, and began folding laundry. She paced back and forth from chore to chore, visible through tiny ventilation slits in the closet door. John looked down at his daughter hiding next to him, even though she was dead. He knew she was dead, but she was also right there with him. He tried not to think of it, thinking of what he did to her. Sometimes when he looked at her she would ask why daddy was so sad. He made her drink the cup, that’s why he was sad.
Ellen walked towards the closet with a furry crimson jacket in her hand, the one that had been draped across a chair. John had been wondering when she would open the closet to put it away, forcing him to act before he was ready. John didn't want to be found yet. Ellen reached for the closet door and then stopped as sounds of overflowing boiling water swelled from the kitchen. The jacket lay on the floor now. She hurried to the kitchen and disappeared from view.
John opened the closet door and stepped into the soft glow of an iridescent lamp, exposing him inside Ellen's house. He was too large to move quickly. He grabbed the sport jacket and slipped back inside the closet, carefully shutting the door before Ellen returned. She didn't need to know yet.
John’s neural mapping allowed him to read minds, clear as a painting. The moment a person was within arm’s reach of him, he felt their emotions and could read their thoughts. He could see everything in their conscious mind, it was a function of his programming, one he couldn’t control. When John tortured Kayd’s son, Jack Lad, he had felt everything. He felt the pain, felt the fear, the despair, felt it like it was happening to him. He felt the moment Kayd accepted the reality of killing his son. John knew that feeling personally. Part of him was aware that it didn’t make sense, he shouldn’t be able to do those things. He shouldn’t even be alive.
"Daddy," she sighed impatiently.
"Phonm should be home soon, please sweetheart, stay quiet for me," John whispered.
Phonm Ngu was harder to find than the others. He had been an Elite Officer under Jack Sethren, and he had led part of the genocide on Space Station Hephaestus. John knew, because that’s where it all happened, that’s where John killed his own family, and John remembered seeing Phonm’s face. John caught a glimpse of Phonm and four other Elites that day. As it turned out, they all came to New Seattle City to lead peaceful lives, working for Sethren Company, rinsing blood off their hands ever since.
Tracking Phonm was like tracking a rabbit two days into a blizzard. Most of his records were so altered or erased that John had to cross reference the most basic of addresses and numbers just to find they didn't exist or someone else actually lived there instead. As head of security he had many ways to make himself disappear. But even Phonm wasn't untraceable, if you had the time. John had lots of time. Funny, how he survived all this time. How did I survive? I must have died…
Error...runreset.exe//......
John had blacked out for one hour, forty three minutes, and three seconds. He awoke in the middle of doing something. He hated waking up this way, running or chasing, his body operating on its own. But this wasn't the first time that had happened. When John awoke he was towering over Phonm. Phonm was wearing black silk pajamas, paralyzed with fear, holding a sandwich as if it were a shield. John wasn't sure when Phonm had come home, but he knew to the millisecond how long he was blacked out.
Phonm suddenly found his feet and ran for what it was worth, trying to escape. John caught him in two strides, chunks of plaster raining down where his head scraped the ceiling. Phonm screamed out wordlessly, dangling in John's grip. Phonm’s thoughts were ragged and didn’t make any sense. Phonm thought he saw a robot, or an android. John didn’t understand that. Fear must be warping Phonm’s thoughts.
He could have killed him right there, he wanted to rip him apart. It took great willpower not to. Killing Phonm wasn't enough. Death was not the ultimate punishment. John's agonizing existence in the cargo lock taught him that. For some things, death was a mercy. For Phonm, Kayd, and the others, John would show them how terrible living could be. How terrible making the right choice could be. How terrible it was to kill someone you loved. John had used the thirty years in a frozen cargo hold to design his revenge. How did I survive the cold? No food? Error//runexec.bat... ...reboot...
Not again...
John woke up again. Ellen Ngu, Phonm’s wife, was tied up. John blacked out for twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. He had blacked out, but he knew he was the one who tied her up even if he couldn't remember doing it. Ellen was in a chair with her hands brutally nailed into the armrests. Phonm was in another chair, forced to watch. Forced to choose how she would die. Phonm would learn today if he could do what John had to do.
"Please...you don't have to do this..." Phonm begged.
"Spare her from the pain.”
"...please," Ellen whimpered, "please... Phonm... just do it..." she begged him. The pool of blood widened at the base of the chair. Phonm pounded his fists against the table.
"I can't. I can’t!!" he cried. "Please, tell me why!!" he screamed at John.
John wouldn’t answer. Phonm looked down, finally accepting the truth of his situation. John sensed the changes occur, his brain patterns, recognition, Phonm knew he was being punished. His forgotten past had found him, and he knew. So much fear and emotion came through Phonm that John had to step back, his sensors were overloading. John sensed Phonm was mustering the resolve to do it, to kill his wife Ellen, who John knew he loved very much. Phonm looked at his hands, and then at Ellen. She was in so much pain, begging to die for the relief it would bring. This was John’s revenge, the moment between indecision and action, where the terrible choice was embraced. Death wasn’t enough, they had to know the pain he knew. They had to deliberately hurt the ones they loved, to protect them from something far worse.
And Phonm really loved her. By the pain on Phonm's face, in his eyes, and by the way his body shook it was evident that he loved her, John knew this even without his sensors. Phonm stood and picked up the knife. He walked over to his wife under John's careful gaze. Ellen had the strength to look away, beneath her pain John sensed relief that it would soon be over. Phonm held the knife, testing the handle in his grip. He held the blade in front of her, he readied his hand to do it, one clean thrust to the heart, instant and final. But when his shoulders slumped down, Ellen's emotions changed and she began to cry. "I just can't..." he finally said. Phonm looked at her, in his eyes he apologized to her. The coward... Ellen wept in fear of the pain she was about to suffer. In this John knew that the choice he made long ago, the terrible pain of giving his wife and children lethal doses of potassium laced juice, was the correct choice. Phonm wasn’t as strong as John was, and he had chosen poorly because of it.
***
If you enjoyed this excerpt, you can also download a sample of Cargo Lock 5 on AmazonCargo Lock 5
You might also enjoy Paphos Books 1-5. Paphos 1 is free on all ereaders.
Paphos 1
www.nrburnette.com for more about my books and indie games
Follow me on twitter @nrburnette
Thank you for being a great reader
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