Grimm looked at Tattler, to find the guard's face as blank as his colleague's.
"I suggest that you contact your superior," he said. "I am in no mood to be balked by petty games. You would be well advised to have this barrier lifted."
His tone was low and threatening, and the security guard quickly grabbed the elaborate armband on his wrist.
"Private Tattler here, Lieutenant," he said. "We've got a shield down at the junction of Black and Green Seven. The boy mage wants to know if it's on purpose."
Tattler's eyes turned towards the ceiling, as if consulting some holy oracle.
"He says not; it's meant to be open," he said, his eyes wide and innocent.
"Very well," Grimm said, preparing himself for another series of Disintegration spells. "Redeemer, come to me!"
In a heartbeat, the black rod appeared in his right hand, and the guards gaped in slack-jawed wonder at this display of magical prowess. However, Grimm felt in no mood for showmanship. He unleashed the spell and smashed the white ceramic layer beneath the metal sheath, repeating the sequence until a wide hole had been opened in the obstructing wall. However, a similar wall appeared ten feet away, and Grimm realised with dismay that he would be unable to smash down many more of the barriers.
Turning to the now-quivering guards, Grimm's voice was a stentorian bark. "How many more of these walls lie between here and the laboratory where you are holding Drexelica?"
"No more than five, if they're all down," Emerson replied. "You made this one look so easy, I'm sure you can get through the others. We won't try to stop you, will we, Tatters?"
"I wouldn't dare, Emmers," his comrade-in-arms said, a nervous tremor colouring his voice.
Grimm almost stamped his foot in frustration. He knew he had insufficient strength even to get through another pair of the barriers, let alone a handful. He was, however, unwilling to admit this to his two escorts.
"What about retracing our route, so we enter the Black sector from the opposite direction?" he demanded.
Tattler rubbed his chin and rolled his eyes in an evident attempt to stimulate his thought processes. "If all the barriers are down, there are seven going the other way," he said. "You're a little better off taking it from this side, Sir."
The young thaumaturge could have screamed, although he restrained himself; there seemed to be no solution to this obstacle. He suspected that foul machinations were afoot, and he intended to thwart whoever was opposing him. If he found Drexelica harmed in any way, somebody would be made to regret it for the brief, pain-filled remainder of his miserable life.
****
"Someone's taken control of security," Armitage gasped from his console. "It's nothing to do with me, I swear it!"
"Do something about it," Xylox growled. "I am sure you have sufficient authority to overpower this interloper."
"I've been shut out!" Armitage screamed, his face a picture of affronted fury. "It's a blitz attack. All I have on my profile is the most basic access; Level One. I can't get in. It's a bloody hacker!"
None of this made any sense to the Questor. "It must be your slave guards," he said. "Tell them you will die in a moment if they do not cease this attack."
"You idiot!" the Administrator yelled, his eyes staring. "Chief LeClerc already has that level of access; he doesn't need to steal it. And why would my loyal guards take the additional step of barring me from the system? It's some damned malcontent who's seizing the opportunity your attack gave him!"
Tordun took an ominous step towards the newly invigorated Armitage. "Mind your manners with your betters, scum," he breathed. "You're not out of this yet, by a long chalk."
The enormous albino swordsman raised his gleaming sword to underscore his words, but the leader of Haven seemed no longer cowed by threats.
"This little bastard isn't going to get the better of me, whoever he is" he vowed, attacking the symbol-laden console in front of him with a veritable fury.
Xylox felt moved to prevent him from doing so, but, since it was apparent that the Administrator was on a crusade only against his unseen foe, he let him continue with his arcane duel.
****
Deeks wiped sweat from his brow. It had been far harder than he had thought to gain access to the security subsystem; Terrence's password had been simple enough: 'OSCILLOSCOPE', but this had only given him control over the armoured partitions and the technicians' duty roster. He wanted to get control of the mind control implants for the guards, in order to give him ultimate control of Haven; however, this protocol was protected by a further barrier, and his password guesses had, so far, proved ineffectual.
Despite his lack of success in penetrating the security firewall, he found great pleasure in the fact that he had managed to deprive Armitage of his sysop status; he hoped with all his heart that the Administrator was still alive, so that he could take part in his eventual downfall and execution.
The Tech considered his situation. He had lowered all the security shields in Black Seven, and changed all the access codes; to all intents and purposes, his bastion was impregnable. Deeks turned his mind to more earthly pleasures. Redmond was still out cold, and the girl did little more than to moan from time to time, lost in some narcotic nirvana.
"Well, my dear," he said, turning his attention to the delectable, supine, female form of Drexelica. "I think it's time we got to know each other a little better." The only response was a low groan, but this did not deter the lusty tech.
He walked towards the prone figure of the girl. "I think we're going to get along just fine," he crooned. "You and I will make some sweet music together."
Deeks began to lift her full skirt, and Drex did nothing. The chubby Technician frowned, since he had hoped for a compliant, willing lover, bent to his will by the potions that had been poured into her, but he was in no position to complain.
"This is going to be the best loving you'll ever have, girl," he breathed. "Get ready for sat-is-fac-tion!"
Drex managed a semi-comatose smile, and the Tech smiled, dropping his trousers around his ankles. Even to himself, he could not pretend that he was any vision of teenage lust, but who was she to complain? This lass was drifting in the land of Nod, and she appeared in no shape to resist his advances.
He bent over her with some awkwardness, hampered by his drooping pants, and he began to lower himself for some serious action. A wider, dreamy smile from his intoxicated would-be concubine fuelled the fires within him, and he prepared to give her the ride of her life, but the conflagration of his lust was extinguished by a hot, fulminating, nauseating storm that shot through his loins and lower body like chrome bolts fired from a machine-gun.
The bitch kneed me! he thought, as he tumbled to the ground in agony, bright lights sparkling in his eyes as a metal hand seemed to grab hold of his entrails and twist.
As he cradled his wounded gonads, she stood over him, her eyes no longer dull and unresponsive. She carried a wicked-looking silver comb, with teeth at least four inches long.
"I've met worse than you before, you filthy pervert," she said. "Where I come from, you have to learn to fight just to survive. I've never killed anyone before, but I'd be more than happy to start with you. I can take your eyes out with this comb, and I'll do just that if you try to lay another dirty hand on me."
She waved the lethal-looking implement mere inches from his face for emphasis, and Deeks staggered to his feet, backing away with his hands outstretched in placation. The pain in his nether regions had subsided to a low, dull ache, but it had not left him.
"Take it easy, girl," he gasped, backing away from Drexelica.
She did not follow him, but she maintained a firm grip on the impromptu weapon. In her other hand, she now held a scalpel, which she had grabbed from a tray of implements. She didn't seem at ease with the sharp blade, but the unarmed Deeks didn't want to put it to the test.