The Red Phoenix 12: Strength Comes in Numbers (26 page)

“C’mon, Siddoway. Where are you?” Chris mumbled under his breath, his XD pointing through the crowd, while others ran around him in fear, trying to escape.

He heard an explosion near the elevator vestibule and several people crying out then screaming. He rushed behind a post in the lobby to take cover, peeking around it and aiming his weapon. He didn’t take his eyes off the corner of the main corridor, knowing Siddoway would eventually reveal himself to make his flight.

A team of armed security officers rushed across the lobby with their guns drawn, ready to shoot Siddoway, as some straggler employees and maintenance workers ran towards the exit doors.

Chris held his position, feeling hope in the fact the officers would subdue him.

As the officers reached the edge of the corridor, several streaks of pink, green and purple lightning came around the corner, striking them and throwing them across the lobby where they landed on the solid, polished floor, unconscious.

“Do you think any of you can stop me?” Siddoway asked, coming out of the main corridor inside his ball of electric currents, sparking and flickering.

Chris hid himself behind the post quickly, holding the XD, trying to be as quiet as possible. He watched another team of officers run into the lobby from the other side, firing their weapons at Siddoway but having no effect on his electric shield.

Siddoway fired more lightning at them relentlessly, throwing a few of them against the lobby wall, screaming, while others fell to the floor.

Chris hated sitting helpless, watching innocent people suffering, injured by Siddoway’s madness. He needed a plan and quick! He looked up and saw Reese and two officers run across a skywalk above the huge lobby on the fifth floor. Reese knelt down with a high-powered rifle with scope, setting himself up as a sniper, ready to shoot Siddoway. He knew Reese’s shot would be ineffective without some help, and he glanced at his XD.

Chris noticed Reese stare at him, lowering his rifle. He gestured to Reese he should shoot Siddoway from behind with the XD. Reese gave him a thumbs up, indicating he understood his instructions.

“This better work, dammit,” said Chris, standing and pointing his gun at Siddoway who was a short distance in front of him.

“Alex!” Chris called.

Siddoway turned, furious, raising his hands to assault Chris with his electrical currents.

Chris fired. The blast flew at the sphere, making a bright, bluish flash then a tumultuous noise like the building was going to explode. A powerful shockwave shot out in a circular motion, throwing Chris across the lobby where he hit a wall. The electric sphere disappeared. Siddoway fell to his hands and knees as though he was exhausted, gasping for air.

Chris picked himself up and rushed on him, aiming his weapon, ready to fire.

“Drop the XD, Siddoway!” Chris ordered, glancing up, noticing Reese on the skywalk fifty-feet above them aiming his rifle at Siddoway below.

“They took everything from me, Chris!” Siddoway cried. “Everything!”

“That’s not everybody’s fault, Alex,” Chris replied, his gun still on him. “Now toss the XD away from you or I shoot.”

“Fine, Chris. You want to be the hero? I get it,” Siddoway answered, breathing heavily on his hands and knees still, taking off his XD, sliding it out of his reach.

Chris looked up at Reese, raising his left hand with a nod, signaling him to stand down because Siddoway was complying.

“But, you see, the problem is the XD isn’t the only thing I’m armed with today,” said Siddoway, glaring up him with an evil grin.

“Take off the duffle bag too, Alex,” said Chris. “We know you have a nuke with you.”

“A nuke? Oh no, it’s so much more, Chris,” said Siddoway in a sinister voice.

“What are you talking about?” asked Chris, trying not to sound scared.

“Arm the bomb,” Siddoway stated in an authoritative voice.

“What?” asked Chris, confused.

The blue mist drifted out of the pouch then flowed like a ghostly cloud towards the duffle bag.

“What the hell is that blue stuff?” asked Chris, worried.

“That, my dear Chris, is my special friend,” Siddoway replied.

The blue mist entered the duffle bag, powering up the nuke bomb, causing beeping sounds and a revving noise inside the bag. “The bomb is hot, Chris.”

“You … y-you’re crazy,” Chris stammered, backing away.

“What are you going to do, Chris? Shoot me? The bomb will detonate just to protect me!” Siddoway threatened, moving towards him slowly. “Huh! What are you going to do, Chris?” he added, raising his voice.

Chris backed away, looked up then nodded to Reese to make the shot. Reese fired but his round grazed Siddoway across the top of his left shoulder, cutting the duffle bag’s strap from him, causing the bomb to hit the floor, sounding off a piercing echo on the floor. Siddoway yelled before he hit the lobby floor face-down, unconscious. Chris moved towards him, his XD on him, noticing blood pooling under Siddoway’s shoulder.

“Alex?” Chris called in a loud voice.

Siddoway didn’t move.

***

Inside the bomb, the blue mist flowed through the interior, combining with the wires, fluids and microchip boards, electrifying the bomb internally as it empowered the nuke one part after another. The blue mist turned red as it mixed with the plutonium, bubbling to a boiling point, like it was disconcerted from hitting the floor.

***

“Well?” Reese asked in a loud tone from the fifth-story skywalk.

“I think you got him!” Chris yelled back, looking up in remorse.

“Thank God!” Reese stated, lowering his scoped-rifle with a sigh. “Siddoway was a madman, Michaels. He had to be put down.”

“I don’t know about this nuke though!” said Chris in a loud voice, crouching next to the duffle bag.

Suddenly, Siddoway leaped towards his XD, turned and fired towards the skywalk above.

“No!” Chris cried.

The XD blast struck the skywalk, causing it to vanish in a dark, vaporous cloud. Reese and his two officers fell helplessly to the lobby floor, waving their arms and legs, screaming for their lives.

“Reese! No!” Chris cried, helplessly watching Reese and his two officers hit the lobby floor, killed on impact. Their weapons clanked on the hard surface.

“Damn you, Siddoway!” shouted Chris, firing at him multiple times but missing him.

Siddoway rolled across the floor, taking cover behind a pillar-style lobby post. He fired back at Chris from behind the post with the XD, missing him. Chris went to fire but his XD sparked then shut down.

“Oh no, not now, dammit!” he said, turning around and sprinting to the elevator vestibule.

Siddoway watched Chris make his escape and held his fire. Chris arrived at the vestibule, pushing the
up
and
down
buttons, panting.

He feared the electrical currents were going to fly around the corner and zap him.

“C’mon, c’mon, dammit!” he said, desperate, backing against the elevator doors, scared.

The sound of the elevator doors opening was like a god-send as he rushed in, hitting level minus eighty.

“Oh my God, this can’t be happening,” said Chris as the doors closed.

***

Siddoway sat against a wide lobby post, wiping blood off his left shoulder with his palm, worn out and exhausted. He gazed at Reese and the other two dead officers who lay dead on the lobby floor.

“Well, Reese, everybody has got to die sometime, I guess,” mumbled Siddoway with a crazed chuckle. “This thing just got a little out of control is all but I, Alex Siddoway, am on top of it. I assure you.”

Siddoway’s attention was drawn to the beeping sounds of the nuke bomb inside his duffle bag that lay on the floor near Reese.

“Oh yeah, let’s get you fixed,” he muttered, moving to the bag, taking the bomb out. “I can’t have you blowing me up, right?”

Some digital numbers spun backwards like they were counting down to zero from ten minutes.

“Disarm,” Siddoway commanded, supposing the mist would drift out of the nuke.

The numbers continued to speed toward zero. Siddoway fretted at its non-compliance to his vocal commands.

“I said disarm. Now!” he hollered in frustration.

The nuke kept ticking away. Fear began to pour over him as he watched the timer of a potential major catastrophe count down to zero rapidly.

“Come out of there!” he cried, standing, waving his arms.

The blue mist remained inside the bomb, seemingly ignoring him.

“This isn’t the time for games, dammit!” he yelled as his voice echoed in the lobby. “Come out of there and disarm! I command you!”

The clock still counted down to zero. There were less than eight minutes left. There was no sign of the blue phantasm exiting the bomb.

“Not good,” he said, becoming frantic. “Not good, not good, not good,” he continued, running to the exit doors that were locked down with bars.

“Let me the freak out of here!” Siddoway screamed at the top of his lungs, rattling the exit door handles.

He banged on the walls with his fists, shouting, running his hands through his greasy hair, trying to think of what to do.

“What the hell have I done?” he muttered in a scared voice.

He glanced at the bomb that was mere minutes away from detonation, trapped in the vast lobby with only elevators as a resource.

“I can’t go up,” he said. “The building will implode. I’ve got to get deep below. I’ve got to get deep beneath the surface now!” he added, running to the elevators as fast as he could, holding his bleeding shoulder.

Siddoway ran into an elevator and headed to level minus seventy-five, fearing the impending detonation as the counter had less than five minutes to go before it would reach zero.

CHAPTER EIGHT
ALTERED ENVIRONMENT

The bomb counted down speedily to zero then stopped. A loud, piercing beep followed. There was a bright flash inside the lobby then a swift movement of force that blasted in every direction, destroying the lobby posts, exit doors, information desk and security checkpoints, shattering the glass entrance doors and blasting the lockdown gates from their locked positions.

The entire roof of the facility exploded as multiple streaks of pink, green and purple lightning shot upwards, forming a dome around the outside of the facility as pieces of building, cement, brick and rubble flew blocks away, rattling the rest of the Red Phoenix.

***

Chris’ elevator shook like an earthquake was tearing the building apart as a loud rumbling was heard above in the shaft. The ceiling strobe lights flickered as he was thrown against the wall roughly.

“Whoa!” he yelled, collapsing on the floor of the elevator as parts of the ceiling fell on top of him.

***

On level minus five, Sanders stood in an office space with Hauser, Steiner and Twelve, looking at the ceiling, scared, as the sounds of rumbling continued.

“My God. It happened,” said Hauser as the walls shook and the ceiling lighting turned off.

“Siddoway, you crazy son-of-a-bitch,” said Sanders, fearful, backing against a wall.

***

In the distance, on the far south side of the perimeter, Corporal Gough and his gate guards stood in incredulity, watching the dome of lightning over the enormous Red Phoenix facility.

“My God,” said Gough, stunned with disbelief. “What the hell have they done over there?”

“What is that?” asked a guard, sounding scared, gazing at the terrible dome of lightning encompassing the facility.

“This is Gough! Does anybody read me at the Phoenix?” he said into his hand held radio frantically.

No one answered.

“This is Gough at the south gates! Does anybody copy at the Phoenix? Over!”

There was nothing but static.

“What do you want to do, Gough?” asked another guard, worried.

“Just sit tight for a minute,” Gough replied. “I want to know what the freak happened over there and if anyone is still alive!”

“Look! I see vehicles speeding away from the facility!” said a third guard, gripping the chain-link fence.

“There are a few trucks heading right for us!” yelled another guard.

“Open the gates!” cried Gough. “Let’s get as many evacuated from here as possible.”

“I’m on it!” another guard responded, rushing up the control tower.

***

On the front side of the facility, police vehicles with lights and siren blaring, including a S.W.A.T command trailer along with numerous fire department trucks, sped up the desert road towards the Phoenix. Four news vans hurried up the road as well to set up live feed posts on the latest story of a disgruntled scientist turned gunman who set off a bomb at the Red Phoenix facility.

***

Siddoway’s elevator opened on level minus seventy-five. He rushed out, holding his XD up as he ran down the wide octagon-shaped corridor. Three security officers came around a corner.

“It’s Siddoway! Nail him!” said the one in the middle as they drew their weapons.

Siddoway fired his XD, vaporizing them before they had a chance to aim, turning them into a vaporish mist in the air.

“Not today, boys!” Siddoway growled, running through their lingering vapors as he ran down the corridor.

***

The police vehicles came to a screeching halt at a seemingly safe distance from the front entrance and sizeable employee parking lot. The fire department and media vehicles parked, pulling off to the side of the road. Medical personnel rushed out of their vehicles, gathering equipment, while numerous S.W.A.T. officers ran in single file, spreading out then setting up sniper positions. Other officers scrambled to set up a crime scene with yellow tape, barring the media crews with their cameramen—who were anxious to obtain the latest updates of the incident—from drawing any closer.

Sheriff Gary Richens approached the front of the taped-off scene and looked through binoculars at the lightning-filled dome over the facility.

“What is that, Sheriff?” asked an officer, standing behind him.

“I’ll tell you what it is, it’s a bunch of jack-asses playing around with Mother Nature,” Richens answered, lowering the binoculars.

“Sheriff?” an officer called in the background.

“Yo!” said Richens in a loud voice.

“The governor wants to know if the National Guard is needed.”

“Tell the governor that all the National Guard is going to do is muck up my crime scene with trigger-itchy idiots and make a bunch of scared Indian reservationists flood my office with phone calls with questions I don’t have the answers to,” Richens answered.

“Yes sir,” the officer responded, continuing his phone call.

“What’s the next move, Sheriff?” asked Lieutenant Jared Gills, wearing a headset with tactical gear.

“Have we made contact with anyone inside yet?” asked Richens.

“No sir,” Gills answered. “All we know is that a disgruntled former employee scientist identified as Dr. Alex Siddoway was running loose inside the facility with weapons and set off whatever the hell that
dome of lightning
thing is.”

“Sheriff? I just called all these phone numbers on this roster for the main departments,” said an approaching officer, holding a clipboard. “No answer on any of them.”

“Wonderful,” Richens scoffed. “When are the helicopters going to get here?”

“ETA is less than ten minutes,” Gills answered.

***

Two police helicopters flew into the area and drifted over the lightning dome.

“Sheriff Richens? Are you there, sir? This is Police One,” said Captain John Harris over his hand held radio.

“Hi ya, Johnny. Glad you bird guys are up there,” Richens replied into his radio, smiling.

“Roger sir. Myself and Police Two will circle the perimeter and search for hostiles or civilians trying to escape on the ground,” said Harris.

“Copy that,” Richens responded, feeling confident.

“So, what caused this dome with so much electrical activity over the Red Phoenix, Sheriff?” asked Harris.

“Some looney pissed off employee they fired came back to even the score with the admin, we’re told,” Richens replied. “We think he’s the one who set off this ridiculous light show.”

“How about an update on the survivors inside the building?” asked Harris.

“The number is still unknown,” Richens answered. “We’re guessing several fatalities throughout the facility, at this point. There could be some injured on the main level, dozens trapped on the floors beneath the surface.”

“Roger, sir. I’ll keep you posted,” Harris stated as his helicopter and Police Two flew around the electrified building.

***

On Police One, a gunman, holding a large automatic weapon in the cabin, watched closely for anything below as he sat at the open sliding door.

“We’re going to circle around several times, you guys, until we find something helpful,” said Harris into his headset.

“I copy!” the gunman answered, adjusting his dark goggles and helmet. “The gunman in Police Two and I have a wager of hundred bucks on who takes out the crazy scientist first!” he added, laughing.

“What kind of person would do this?” asked Edwards, watching below.

“The crazy kind, I suppose,” Harris replied, turning his helicopter to make another round. “Let’s just hope this nutcase gets taken out before he causes any more damage.”

“That’s what I’m here for, gentlemen!” the gunman stated arrogantly into his headset, chewing gum with a thumbs-up, anxious to neutralize any threat.

***

Chris’ elevator opened at level minus eighty. He sprinted down to the corridor, heading towards Sanders’ lab, hoping no harm had come to the A.I.s. He barged into his workstation area, panting. Nothing seemed harmed.

“Thank God,” he muttered, rushing to the next area over where the A.I.s were sleeping.

He was relieved to see they were all still there, sleeping peacefully like nothing had happened on the surface. He turned on the lights, grabbed Kirk’s and Kerry’s frozen blood samples from the refrigerator then hurriedly pushed buttons at the control panel, causing all of the A.I.s’ glass covers to open.

“Chris?” asked Number One in a polite voice, sitting up. “Is everything okay, sir?”

“No, it’s not,” Chris answered, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I need all of you up and armed immediately.”

“What is the trouble, Chris?” asked Two as the rest of the A.I.s stood in the background, waiting for his answer.

Chris stared at Two without answering. Thoughts of Kerry poured over him. It was like she was standing there in Two’s person speaking to him.
If I’m going to do this, the time is now. There will never be a second chance,
he thought.

“With the exception of Number One and Two, the rest of you A.I.s arm yourselves and guard the entrance door!” Chris ordered, opening a cabinet near his workstation that was full of boxed ammunition.

He went to a computer station, typing in a mad rush. He brought up a large image of Alex Siddoway on a wall-sized screen in the lab.

“Load your weapons, take as much as possible for backup and don’t let anyone through the doors, especially this man you see on the wall. Is that understood?” he added in a loud voice.

“Yes sir!” the A.I.s answered, rushing to the sides of the room, grabbing their AR-15 rifles and Mp5 submachine guns for back up, along with thigh-holstered pistols, from gun racks mounted on the wall.

They set up quickly at posts near the entrance doors, loading their guns, adding brass-knuckled tactical knives to a thigh-holster, aiming their weapons.

“Number One and Two? Come with me!” Chris said, leading them to the rear lab.

“But, Chris, why are we not helping the others guard the doors?” asked One.

“You will, but right now I have another purpose for you two,” Chris answered, opening the double doors to the lab. “Follow me.”

He hurried to Sanders’ computer terminal and started up the three programs. Two of the glass dome covers over the beds opened.

“The rear lab? We’ve never been in here,” stated Two, looking around.

“What do you need us to do, Chris?” asked One.

“Although I can get into a lot of trouble for what I’m about to do, I need you two to trust me and to do what I say. Okay?”

“I understand, Chris,” One responded. “You want to complete our final phase as an artificial intelligence.”