Page 1 of Stalker
Chapter One
Cyborg Stalker Knight and his four brothers in arms gathered in the woods where they’d left their sky cycles. They’d just finished their mission to help Ranger Captain Savage rescue his wife from an Eastern overlord. It was the most excitement they’d had since they’d returned to Earth a few months before.
Darken Wolf reached his sky-cycle first, and Stalker couldn’t help overhearing the conversation he was having with his wife.
“Don’t worry, Gina. I’m not going to land. It’s just a flyover.”
“Hey, Darken,” said Stalker. “Want some company? We don’t have anything pressing. I wouldn’t mind killing a few more goons.”
“Hear that, baby? I’ve got back up.”
Gina sighed. “Okay, that makes me feel better, but I will never forgive you if you get yourself killed.”
Darken laughed. “Don’t worry, love. I’m not that easy to kill. Many have tried, and I am still here.”
“Come back to me. That’s all I ask.”
“That’s my plan, sweetheart.”
“I love you.”
“And I love you.” Darken broke the connection. He would not say goodbye.
“You and the captain are lucky bastards,” said Stalker. “What I wouldn’t give for a female of my own.”
“It could still happen; they get new profiles into the system every day. Captain Savage found his own.”
“You going rogue, Darken?” Shadow Hawk asked.
“Not rogue. This is tied into Gina’s kidnapping and the disappearance of people from my territory.” Darken told them about Gina tying Wayne Stockman to Devlin White.
“Oh, yeah. Count me in,” said Max Steel followed by Falcon Rader. It was unanimous.
“We’ve got nothing better to do. It might be fun,” said Falcon.”
They all mounted their sky cycles and headed north to the coordinates Darken had shared with them.
Sky cycles were mechanical shape-shifting vehicles. They operated in three related configurations—a hovering motorcycle, a flying motorcycle with wings extended, and a personal flyer with a complete cockpit enclosing the riders.
The five cyborgs traveled at breakneck speed in flyer mode and reached Devlin’s compound in about half an hour. They did several flyovers, scanning and recording what they saw. Like the one in the desert, a new Quonset hut had been added since Darken’s last visit to rescue Gina. It sat toward the edge of the property, away from the mansion at the compound's center, housing about a hundred people. Beside it, the missing transport was parked.
Darken knew it was the same vehicle because he recognized its electronic signature when he pinged it. He’d only hovered above it for seconds when an ion rifle bolt whizzed by his head. Only it was no ordinary ion rifle. It was a stationary ion repeater mounted on one of four towers.
They know we’re here. Let’s go!As eager as his cohorts were for action, Darken reminded them they had no jurisdiction. This was strictly recon.
Only, just as Darken was about to gun his throttle, two bolts hit him in the back. Max and Stalker pulled their rifles and took out the shooter and the whole tower.
Holding on to consciousness by a thread, Darken sped away into the night, and the other four team members followed. They made it to the mountains in Enclave Territory before Darken’s cycle landed, and he fell to the ground, landing flat on his back, unconscious.
Stalker was the first to reach him, while the other three landed nearby. A quick scan of Darken’s diagnostics revealed severe damage to his right lung, left kidney, and liver.
Stalker opened the emergency pack on his belt and shot a full bolus of auxiliary nanites up Darken’s nose. He took out a second bolus, turned his friend over, and pumped more nanites into the gaping wounds. Had Darken not been in full armor, he would probably be dead.
As things stood, Darken had lost a lot of blood, enough to render him unconscious.
“We need to get him out of here. I tapped into one of our satellites, and flyers are heading this way,” said Max.
“Help me get him on his cycle and strap him on it. I’ll set it to fly him home, then we’ll take care of the flyers.”
