Page 78 of The Commander

“The duty guard, Commander?” Mister Danov’s voice climbed to a squeak.

He was a terrible liar. The scent of fear wafted off the group of humans, as all of them knew they had waded into deep shit. The skinny Andy shifted back and forth on his feet, a man wishing he had a weapon.

Bastian wished he weren’t wearing the damn clothing. He wanted to feel every shift, every change in temperature, every new scent on his skin. While the mayor and his men hadn’t planned a direct confrontation with him, this didn’t mean they were complete idiots and unprepared for his visit. It wasn’t possible that they thought he had missed what was happening with the red hats and the Dalewood.

Running his hand over the panel of the pulse gun, he activated the remote system on his belt. “Why were you and your people here, as if you were waiting for visitors?”

“We were having a social gathering inside. Got a message from the gate—came out to meet you, of course. Of course.”

With Kitten still safe in the vehicle, Bastian hoped one of them would attack. The tiny hairs on his body would detect every shift of movement. He very much wanted to end the lives of the grunts, who looked and smelled as if they had simply been hanging out with the humans, staying drunk on blood.

What did the mayor think he was accomplishing by giving them shelter?

“You are looking well. It’s a fine day, isn’t it? Is there something I can do for you?” the mayor asked nervously.

The group rippled at Bastian’s back, but no one made any big moves as he grabbed the black case from the back of the truck. It needed to be close at hand. He was fairly sure he had all the components to create a strong enough EMP pulse to set him free of every niggling little tracker Control had on him. He wasn’t positive. Couldn’t be positive since he wasn’t an engineer. He was just a killer. “I see, exercising your right to assemble.”

Waves of putrid human distress poured off the humans. The towns had no right to assemble—only small social gatherings between friends or family groups were permitted.

A quick scan told him that other than the grunts lurking in the shadows toward the back of the building, at least twenty individuals were with the mayor. Not the entire town.

Still too many. Somewhere, some sheep were at their jobs, then.

“Oh, nothing like that. Just celebrating a birthday,” the mayor explained.

Bastian stopped by Kitten’s door. No one could see her inside, through the darkened glass. He made sure to block their view when he opened the door and handed her the extra remote for the antimatter weapon.

Pointing to the controls, he said, “This is aim, this is fire. Shoot to kill.”

He shut the door again on her shocked face, laughing to himself. The gun might singe his fine hairs, but it wouldn’t shoot him, or her, because of the protective belts they wore. It would, however, turn everything that wasn’t keyed into its system to ash.

The crowd watched him as he walked around the front of the vehicle to the other side and opened the prisoner’s door. “I think you forgot to invite a friend.” He dragged the man called Mackie outside.

“Shit,” someone from the platform said under their breath. Bastian heard it, as well as the whispered reply.

“Why isn’t he dead?”

Bastian gave them a big grin, lapping down to his chin before licking over the sharp points of his teeth. Two of the women whimpered. “Why isn’t he dead indeed? Was that the plan? You didn’t like him, so you thought you could get the red hats you’d bribed to kill him and the other one, then, yes?”

“What are you talking about?” the mayor tried and failed to appear appalled.

“I know him,” Andy spoke up. Did he think he could save the situation with more lies?

“You do?” Bastian tried to look surprised.

The man flinched and had to collect himself. “He was here, but we found out he was with some wankers, so we kicked him out. That’s following the law, right?”

“Is that what you did, then? That’s not what he says.”

“Commander, I don’t know what you’re talking about, that man is a wanker. A liar. You can’t believe him.” The mayor had trouble speaking. Bastian was waiting for the stink of excrement, expecting the man to shit his pants at any moment.

“Shut up,” Bastian ordered.

“Yeah, shut up. You are gonna get it now, get what’s coming.” Mackie cackled.

Bastian slammed Mackie against the side of the truck. Not too hard. He didn’t want to break all of his bones, though he did hear the distinct pop and snap of a couple of them, giving way to his force.

It took Mackie a couple of breaths for the pain to hit and his brain to catch up. “Fuck, did you break a rib?”

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