Thyssen looked down at the significant slice running diagonally down his chest and stomach. Ripping his shirt away from the wounds, he used part of the cloth to wipe away the blood and my breath caught in my throat as I watched the wound healing itself before my eyes. Thyssen smiled at me and opened his arms wide as if to say, “Look at me, I am invincible.” Thoughts raced through my head and none of them had happy endings.
“You could’ve been like me,” he said, the point of his saber digging into the hardwood floor between his feet. He had both hands on the hilt and his eyes were locked on mine. “Your father was a good man. A little too good, I should say. His elevated sense of morality clashed with my goals more than once. Of course, when we began to realize that the outbreaks were tied to my Telomere6 subjects, he was on his high horse in an instant. He was meddling with my future, meddling with the future of mankind.”
“You nearly killed off mankind, you fool,” I said in response.
“Do you really think that the the human race, in the state it was in thirteen years ago, truly deserved to live forever? Widespread moral and societal decay, recreational drug use, urban violence, international wars — nothing but fuel for the funeral pyre.”
“Wait just a fucking minute. Are you saying that the decimation you caused was, what, an act of God?”
“I’m not God, young lady. I’m just a scientist who will save mankind, making it better for future generations.” He moved into the en garde position and nodded at me. “And, you’re standing in the way of history.”
He performed a smooth balestra and immediately lunged in. I parried and danced into a flèche, striking out as I passed him on his left. He blocked me with perfect efficiency and then turned to lunge once again. I leaped back, almost off balance, in order to avoid his blade.
He took immediate advantage and flicked downward and out with the tip of the saber. I felt the blade slice into my thigh, backing into his desk to avoid any follow-through from him. I used my momentum to fall back and kick my feet over my head, landing solidly on the opposite side of the desk. My eyes were on him and I ignored the separation of flesh across my thigh. I hoped that the healing factors of the Nanomere9 would jump into action as promised. In the meantime, I kept my focus on Thyssen. His expression was one of grudging admiration, but then resolution returned and he came for me.
As he moved around the desk, he removed his lab coat, tossing it on the desk and ripped at the remains of his shirt with one hand while maneuvering his blade with the other. I glanced around and saw that there was little of use in the room. The huge desk took up the most space. There was the meeting table, overturned and shielding Kel from the events occurring. On one side of the room were two tall refrigerators with glass doors, through which I could see samples, vials and a few syringes. This guy was nothing if not dedicated.
The two of us continued our little dance, lunging, parrying; I even managed a passata-sotto at one point, but Thyssen was far better at this dance than I was and easily avoided the tip of my saber as I straight-armed it toward his stomach. I was glad he couldn’t hear my thoughts because they were all laying odds in his favor. Once in a while, I would catch observers peeking into the broken doorway, and I wondered who they were betting on.
I parried as best I could but it appeared to be a losing battle. The blood was flowing warmly down my leg, the wound closing even as I continued the fight. I guessed the serum really did work. I had to wonder how long we could go on like this, each with such strength and healing abilities. Thyssen backed me up against one of the coolers and lunged. I’m not quite certain how I did it, but I sidestepped to the right so fast that his blade went in to the glass door behind me rather than my chest. The glass crashed to the floor and I ran in the opposite direction, moving away from Thyssen’s deadly advances.
I kept shuffling scenarios through my mind and, as he came at me with final purpose, I felt the seeds of a ridiculous plan begin to germinate. I could tell that Thyssen had tired of toying with me and was ready to end the play. He gained momentum and I decided it was now or never.
Just as Thyssen lunged, I leaped up onto the desk. He swiped at my legs, but I had already propelled myself into the air. I twisted as I soared over him, reaching out and grasping his head in my hands as hard as I could, my saber flying from me in my last, futile attempt to survive this confrontation. Using my body’s momentum and gravity’s undeniable force, I ripped his head to one side as my feet hit the ground, pulling him backward over my shoulder.
I felt and heard the snap as his weight collapsed on top of me. That part I had not planned. I pushed him off of me and stood, looking down at his neck, all twisted. His head lay at an unnatural angle, but the bastard still smiled up at me.
“I will heal,” he said, his voice crackling and gurgling. “You cannot kill me.
I stared at him in disgust and shock. This must have been why everyone here was so fucking scared of this guy. He had taken enough of the serum to not only reverse his aging process, but to elevate his healing factors to the point where death was all but out of reach.
“I think it’s about time we see how far the human race can get without your interference, you prick,” I said. I walked to his desk and recovered his lab coat. I folded it several times over and then moved to the refrigerators. I picked up the largest piece of broken glass I could find, over a foot wide, jagged and sharp. Moving toward the man on the floor, I saw his eyes widen in understanding.
“No,” he spat.
“Yes,” I replied, bringing the glass down into his neck with all the force I could muster. It was not quite enough and it took a couple of minutes of crude butchery to hack through his neck and finish the job. Throwing the bloodied glass aside, I sat back on the floor and saw that I had also cut into my own hands. The cloth of the lab coat had protected them for the most part, but I would need a little time to heal. After a few long breaths, I crawled over to the toppled table behind which Kel lay. He was struggling to sit up, his hand over the balled up compress.
“Lucky bastard,” I said, noting that the wound in his chest and shoulder already showed sign of healing. That lunatic’s serum really did work.
“You, too,” he replied. Then, without warning, he leaned in and kissed me.
CHAPTER 10
The sky was a brilliant blue and Uncle Derrick and I were driving back from a scouting trip in Tucson. We met the boy on the road, just outside of Tucson city limits. He was on the side of the road, squatting next to a motorcycle, fiddling with the engine. Derrick pulled over, and retrieved his Uzi.
“No sense in taking chances,” he said to me. I nodded and winked at him. We walked up slowly, the young man standing still and watching us with great interest.
“You cool?” Derrick asked. The boy, who was maybe two or three years older than me, raised his hands up, placing them behind his head.
“Yeah,” he said. “You?”
He and Derrick looked at each other for long moments, and then Uncle D lowered his Uzi. “Need some help?” Derrick asked him. The boy shook his head, lowering his hands to his sides. “I’m Derrick. This is my niece, Rock.”
“Rock?” he asked, with an amused expression on his face.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Rock. You got a problem with that?” He laughed, shaking his head again.