Immortal (27 page)

“Something.” Jericho answered. “Something
inside.” Jonah looked at him for a moment and wondered what it was
that he felt, but he knew that he could probably not comprehend the
premonition that Jericho felt about the Guardians below. He turned
and headed inside.

“We need to leave now.” Jonah called back.
Jericho looked over the balcony again at the fallen man, shook his
head, and then followed inside. “We’re leaving now.” Jonah repeated
to the women, as he headed for the elevator. Gabrielle and Jericho
followed.

“I’m staying here.” Vanessa said. Her
expression was blank.

“Come on, Nessa. There’s no time for this.”
Jonah said to her.

“I’m staying.” She turned away from him. He
looked at the others, then back to her.

“Nessa.” He said pleadingly. She shook her
head and turned away. “Please.” He said, as he walked over to
her.

“Go, if you think you have to go!” She said
angrily. “But I am staying.”

“Vanessa. My love. Please come with me.”
Jonah pled. “For me.” He added.

“I’m staying.” She said. He reached to touch
her shoulder, but she pulled away from him before he could. He
looked at her for another moment, and then spoke softly.

“I love you.” He said, and turned and joined
the others in the elevator. The door slid shut, and left Vanessa
alone in the large room. The video wall was still red behind her,
as the words still scrolled across the screen. A sob involuntarily
escaped her throat as she fought to maintain control of her
emotions. She still could not believe that he had left. He had left
her. Alone. She slumped into the chair nearest her, and let the
pent up tears flow, as she held her face in her hands. After so
many years, how could he just leave her? How could this be so
important to him? Wasn’t the life they had lived together worth
anything, she thought. She rose up, went to the kitchen, and picked
up a mostly empty bottle of sparkle water, and drank the rest. She
pulled another from the cabinet, and took a long drink from it. As
she stared at the map made from food on the counter, she swung her
arm through it in anger. The pieces flew across the room. A part of
the cabinet opened, and accepted one piece that flew near, and then
closed. The others scattered across the floor. She slumped over the
counter and cried silently for a moment, then drew herself up, as
she collected her thoughts. She wiped at her tears, picked up her
bottle and walked out of the kitchen. She ignored the video wall,
as she went out on the patio, and took a deep breath of fresh
air.

She walked over to the grouping of chairs,
sat down, and lifted her feet up on the matching ottoman. She
leaned back and took another drink. She closed her eyes, and tried
to calm her nerves. One hundred years, she thought. They had been
together for one hundred years, and now, he had just left. What was
she to do now? How could she ever go to a ball or party again,
without Jonah at her side? How could she ever explain to her
friends why he had left? Suddenly she sat up as she thought of what
he intended to do. He had said that he would bring a stop to
everything. That he would shut down the entire rejuvenation
process. She herself was due for rejuvenation this year. Without
it, she might only live another ten or twenty years. Possibly a
very painful ten or twenty years as the various organs in her body
began to shut down. She threw the bottle against the wall in front
of her, and it shattered. She looked at the broken mess as it
glistened on the floor. How could he do this to her, she thought.
How could he? She rose up from the chair and walked to the railing.
She peered over the side and saw the man as he lay in the street
below.

“Hello!” She called down. The man did not
move. “Hey!” She yelled again, with still no response. “Hey there!”
She yelled louder, as she became concerned. She rushed across the
patio, into the apartment and then to the elevator. The door slid
open, and she jumped inside. The door had barely slid shut when it
opened again, onto the street level. She ran from the elevator
towards the man that lay in the street. She dropped to one knee as
she arrived. “Hey.” She said, with still no response from the man.
His face was obscured by the awkward position in which he lay. She
touched his shoulder, and the man fell over onto his back. His eyes
were wide open, yet unfocused and lifeless. The movement had
startled her, but she gained her wits, and reached out to touch him
again. “Are you okay?” She asked, as she touched his hand. She
gasped as she realized that it was cold, and snatched her hand
back. She slowly reached out and touched him again, and a cold fear
ran down her back. The man was dead.

Jonah, in the lead, came to a stop at the
door that led into the transport area. He remembered when they were
last there, Jericho had disabled the door, and now he stared in
disbelief as a large hole stood in the door. The burned and
irregular edges still seemed to glow. Jericho and Gabrielle
followed him as he carefully eased into the room on the other side.
The rows of stacks obscured their view of most of the room, and
quickly they took cover behind the first row. Jericho, armed with
the control stick took the lead. He peered around the edge, and
froze. He had seen a Guardian down the aisle, as it headed in their
direction. He pulled back quickly.

“You two. Over there!” He said under his
breath, and motioned for them to move to the next aisle. He climbed
up the stack, and held on to the top with one hand. In an instant,
he swung out with his other. The control stick flashed in the
overhead light, just as the Guardian stepped forward and revealed
itself beside him. Sparks flew, as did the control stick held by
the Guardian. It fell from its hand and clanked towards the door.
Gabrielle ran and grabbed the stick, and then joined Jericho behind
the stack. He jumped down, and knelt to peer around the now
disabled Guardian that remained erect. He could see another
Guardian far down the aisle, near where the skid would stop. “Let’s
go” He said. And be quiet.” He led the way, and moved quickly from
one stack to the next. He paused to hide behind each one briefly,
before he peered out. Suddenly a Guardian stepped out from between
the next set of stacks, and moved quickly in Jericho’s direction.
He took several steps back, and raised the control stick as he
readied for a fight. The Guardian raised its own control stick,
just as Gabrielle reached out from behind the stack and gently
touch its leg with her own stick. The momentum carried the Guardian
forward in its gait, and it toppled to the floor, frozen in mid
step.

Jericho ran to the next stack, followed by
Gabrielle. Jonah stepped over the mechanical body carefully and
paused briefly to remove the stick from its immobile hand. He ran
to join the others behind the next stack.

“You just hold it back here?” He asked. He
hoped he had it from the correct end. Gabrielle nodded, and pointed
to the other end.

“Just touch them with that end.” She
instructed, and then took out after Jericho as he moved further up
the aisle. Jonah took a moment to firmly grasp the stick, and felt
the heft in his hand, before he ran and joined them behind the next
stack. Jericho peered around the corner, with Gabrielle close up
against him and ready to move. Jonah stood with his back against
the stack, as he still held up the control stick and marveled at
its balance in his hand, when suddenly a Guardian stepped forward,
just inches away from his left. Without hesitation, he swung the
stick, and instinctively brought his hand to his eyes to protect
them from the sparks. Both Gabrielle and Jericho jumped at the
sound, and turned, their sticks at the ready. They realized that
Jonah had taken care of the problem, and they relaxed slightly.

“Not bad.” Jericho said, as he reached over
and pulled the control stick from the frozen Guardian’s hand. Armed
now with one in each hand, he motioned for them to follow. He
jumped into the aisle and began to run towards the center of the
great room, and towards the Guardian which stood there motionless.
As he approached, the Guardian suddenly lunged forward, as it swung
swiftly with its stick. Jericho pivoted to the side, as he swung as
well. The tips clanged together in a shower of sparks. As he
completed the motion, Jericho lunged to the right, and jabbed out
with the second stick at the Guardian, which deflected it with a
strike of its arm, and then swung its own stick at Jericho. Jericho
moved, and deflected the blow, as the stick bounced harmlessly off
the one in his right hand. The Guardian had spun around to face him
and lunged again, and as it swung with amazing speed Jericho once
again side stepped and blocked the blow of the stick. Suddenly, the
massive arm of the Guardian swung around and slammed into Jericho.
He was knocked into the open area where the skid would normally be
parked. Even as he landed, Jericho could see Gabrielle and Jonah as
they stood there and watched him. And he could also see the
Guardian as it approached them from behind. He yelled, even as he
continued to slide across the floor.

“Gabby!” He came to a stop, and turned his
attention back to the Guardian that rushed towards him with its
control stick out stretched. He rolled to his right just as the
stick made contact with the ground, and deftly grazed the side of
the Guardian’s arm with the stick in his left hand. Sparks flew and
the Guardian toppled over him as it fell to the ground. He
continued to roll as he scrambled away from it and came to his
feet. In one motion he slung the stick in his right hand through
the air. It pivoted end over end towards the Guardian that rushed
towards Gabrielle and Jonah. They watched as the stick spun through
the air past them, and slammed into the Guardian. Sparks flew,
before it clanged to the floor. The Guardian froze and then fell.
Jonah stepped aside quickly, and barely missed getting landed on by
the huge thing. It was total silence for a moment, as each of them
realized how close the encounter had been.

“That’s new.” Gabrielle said as she stepped
over and picked up the fallen stick, while Jonah removed the one
from the fallen Guardian at his feet. Jericho bent over and picked
up the stick from the Guardian that had almost taken him out, just
as the huge door slid open from the tunnel. The skid swept
inside.

“Jericho!” Yelled Gabrielle, as Jericho dove
to the side, just as the skid plowed into the room and slammed into
the fallen Guardian on the floor. The track derailed as it came to
a stop. He rolled, and came to his feet just as the Guardian on the
front of the skid jumped down and attacked him. He lunged back, as
the stick swung at his middle, and brushed the front of his shirt.
He spun to the right, and tried to regain his balance as a second
Guardian joined the first. In a blur, he swung with the left then
the right, as he desperately blocked the blows from the two
Guardians. Their actions seemed to be a carefully coordinated high
speed ballet of gleaming steel. Out of the corner of his eye, he
could see other Guardians as they tried to control Gabrielle and
Jonah, but he was unable to help them. It was all he could do to
block the lightning fast strokes from the Guardians in his
face.

Gabrielle and Jonah stood side by side as the
four Guardians approached them rapidly. They brought up their
sticks and readied for battle, as the four approached side by side.
She had no time to look towards Jericho to see if he was okay. It
was up to her and Jonah to fend for themselves, she thought, as
Jonah suddenly leaped forward towards the Guardians, and began to
swing both sticks wildly. Without another thought, she leaped as
well, and swung both of her sticks in a blaze of fury. One by one,
she and Jonah, blocked the Guardian’s swings. Sparks flew as
control stick tips touched, and though they were able to stand
their ground, they could not seem to back down the Guardians in the
least. With one pointed jab, Jonah made contact with a Guardian,
which sparked, and froze, but in the process the control stick in
his hand was knocked loose and clattered to the ground. He
continued to fight, as he held his remaining stick with both hands
and he fought to hold their ground.

In a flash of speed, the Guardian closest to
Jericho swung its control stick, which he deflected, and followed
with its powerful arm, which Jericho ducked at the last second. He
felt the hair on the top of his head being swept aside. The arm
continued with fierce momentum, and slammed into the Guardian
beside it, temporarily upsetting its balance. Jericho popped it in
the torso, and the bright flash blinded him momentarily. He jumped
backwards, away from the melee, and ran towards the nearest stack
for cover. He glanced towards Gabrielle just as she lit up the
Guardian in the middle, and ducked as the one to her right swung
again. Jonah caught its arm with the tip of his stick, and its
motion froze, but the momentum of its swing caused it to topple
over. Suddenly there was a bright flash, and the stack of boxes
behind Gabrielle exploded in a flash of sparks and debris. Jonah,
dropped and rolled to his left, and Gabrielle rolled to her right.
Both of them scrambled to find cover behind the nearest stacks.
Again there was bright flash, and the stack that Gabrielle had been
running too exploded. She dove to the ground, rolled, and came up,
as she leapt for safety under the cover of the smoke and debris as
it rained down. She tucked and rolled behind the next stack behind
the one that was just demolished.

“Cover the door.” A voice from atop the skid
yelled out. The last Guardian that had faced Gabrielle and Jonah
turned and walked up the aisle towards the entry door. From his
position at the far side of the skid, Jericho watched with
puzzlement. The Guardian that he had fought, turned away from his
position and approached the left side of the skid. It turned around
and looked back towards the aisle they had originally come from and
became motionless. Jericho shook his head as he sorted out their
newest dilemma. They were separated. They couldn’t go back the way
they had come. They could not move forward. They were trapped.