Gavin Thorgood was bored as he watched the California countryside zip past him. This was not what he had signed up for. He had left behind the uniformed service mostly due to the promise that as a special operative he’d be more effective in eradicating the last strands of crime which plagued his home world. Some might have considered his unwavering dedication to duty idealistic but he didn’t care. He liked being an idealist and why not? Wasn’t idealism what the Federation had been founded on? As of late however cynicism and skeptical minds prevailed, especially in his line of work.
Gavin was frustrated and it wasn’t just because of the alarmingly rising crime rate or the general disparagement of his colleagues. It was his ineffectiveness he contemplated as he sat in the window seat of the Trans-Fran line connecting San Jose with the Bay City. This was one of many similar trips he made in the last few months and they all ended with the same futile result. What was the point?
Was he finally joining the ranks of the cynics?
“Pay attention rookie. Our subject is not out there.”
Gavin frowned as he looked at the man sitting next to him. He didn’t like being called rookie but there wasn’t much he could do about it. As the newest member of the team he really had no right to complain.
Tank smiled. “Getting bored, eh?”
Gavin thought of himself as a man in a decent physical condition, tall and well built upper body. And yet he completely paled in comparison to Tank. His name was well deserved and gave further credence to his suspicion that it had to be a nickname. The man was a machine. Shoulders as broad as a house and muscles strong enough to lift one. His skin was dark, his head hairless except for the small well trimmed beard surrounding his mouth and reaching his chin. He was not quite human, he looked way too big to be one. But he hadn’t figured out what species he belonged to exactly.
“After doing this for the umpteenth time it is difficult to still see the point, boss,” Gavin replied as he brushed through his long mane of dirty blonde hair.
Tank uttered a deep rumble which Gavin had learned to be his attempt of sighing. He focused on a seat roughly ten rows ahead where a dark-haired man sat quietly by himself. He wore wraparound sunglasses which were attached so closely to his face they looked as if they were part of it. The long black coat and dark boots he wore had garnered him the ominous epithet Mister Black. Truth was that neither Gavin nor Tank had the slightest idea what is real name was.
“You think he’s gonna slip up this time?” Gavin asked.
“Not a chance. He knows exactly that we’re here and how to get rid of us.”
Gavin looked back out of the window. The super high-speed train was moving away from the Bay and was now coming up fast onto Daly City and the outskirts of San Francisco. “So it’ll be like every other time then.”
“It’s a stupid ass game we keep playing and to be honest I’m sick of it.”
“Yeah?” Gavin said, not really paying him much attention and missing the menacing inflection in his partner’s tone. “What you gonna do about it?”
Tank suddenly stood up. < Cover me. >
Gavin whipped around as if he couldn’t believe Tank’s voice reverberating in his enhanced brain. < What’re you doing? >
Tank slowly moved up the train and towards Black. < We’ll bring him in for questioning. >
The rookie jumped to his feet a bit too quickly which garnered him some curious looks from other passengers. He took a deep breath and slowed his movements. His right hand found the grip of his Fletcher 88 Enforcer hidden under his jacket.
< Boss, our orders are surveillance only. We have nothing on this guy and you know it. >
Tank continued forward, closing in on the subject.
Black slightly turned his head to his left, stopping short of actually making eye contact with the operative approaching him from behind. A tiny smile crept onto his thin lips.
< Damn, he’s made us. >
Gavin pulled his silver Fletcher and instantly knew he had made a mistake.
Passengers all around him screamed and jumped out of their seats upon seeing the firearm. Many had never seen one up close before but had read or seen enough news and entertainment content to realize what it was and how much damage it could do. Panic quickly ensued.
Black stood up calmly as if nothing was the matter and then slowly moved down the aisle and away from Tank.
And then something happened that completely astonished the veteran agent. Some of the panicked passengers, instead of running away from him “ and he knew he struck an imposing figure “ were coming right towards him, practically throwing themselves at him.
“Get out of the way!” he shouted and roughly pushed a young brunette to his side. A few rows ahead, Black had no such problems. In fact he moved down the train easily, the passengers parting to clear his path.
Gavin was doing no better. An older man was reaching out for his gun arm and pulling it down. “What are you crazy? Let go of me.”
The senior was no match for Gavin’s strength but he couldn’t shake a feeling of guilt when he shoved the interloper onto the ground, his head painfully connecting with an armrest.
Black in the meantime had reached the front of the train car and turned on his heel, his long coat fluttering like a cape. Tank still trying to clear his own path from crazed passengers dead set to slow him down noticed that Black had reached into his coat to retrieve a nasty looking weapon.
“Get down!” he shouted and with one immense push flattened the people in front of him by throwing his own weight on them.
The green energy blast still ripped into the right side of his arm. He gritted his teeth but didn’t allow himself to cry in pain.
Another bolt whizzed just inches past Gavin before slamming into the back of the train and blowing a large hole into the wall.
“My God, what is this guy using!” shouted the shocked agent just before he found cover behind a row of empty seat. Whatever it was, it was all kinds of illegal on Earth. If nothing else they had him on possession and use of a prohibited weapon. Not to mention endangerment of the public, destruction of public property and injuring a Municipal Safety officer.
< Boss, are you alright? >
< Don’t worry about me, take the bastard down already. >
Gavin brought up his Fletcher and found a clear shot. He fired.
And then he watched in amazement as the crimson phaser blast was simply absorbed by Black, causing him to stumble a bit in the process but otherwise remaining on his feet.
Gavin looked at his weapon. It was set on level two which was supposed to be enough to stun most humanoid life forms. The blasted thing only had three settings.
Unimpressed Back fired his weapon again and Gavin only barely managed to find cover. When he looked up again he noticed the gaping hole in the seats above him where seconds before his head had been.
Tank in the meantime had to deal with entirely different problems. The injury to his arm was the least of them. Three more passengers had decided to pile up on him and pin him to the ground. He had enough. Using his good arm it took him little effort to throw all three off him in one swift motion. He paid little attention to where they landed. He had more pressing matters to concern himself with.
Once freed he rushed forward and towards Black. He didn’t even consider using his own Fletcher. A sling shot would have been of more use. “You’re coming with me you son of a bitch.”
But Black remained irritatingly composed for the fact that he was being rushed by a three-hundred pound opponent. He went into a squat to deposit something on the floor.
What the hell is this guy doing?
Tank didn’t have much more time to think about it. Black fired at the nearest window which instantly shattered. Then, without so much as a run-up he leaped towards the window from his crouched position. His feet landed on the window frame, he spun around and pushed himself upwards.
Tank was impressed. That was not an easy feat, especially at four-hundred miles per hour.
He headed for the broken window, the wind blowing into his face. Looking up there was no sign of Black.
“Boss, is this what I think it is?”
Tank turned to see Gavin who was now inspecting a small triangular device, shaped like a small, palm-sized pyramid, on the floor. Black had positioned it there before leaping out of the window. Blue indicator lights were flashing along all three sides in an increasingly rhythmical pattern.
Tank didn’t need to look twice to know what they were dealing with . < It’s a bomb alright. >
< Can we move it? >
Tank shook his head. < I wouldn’t recommend it. These things have motion sensors. I say we have two minutes max. Get these people on the next car, double time, > he said and moved down the aisle again. His focus was on the ceiling. Black was on top of them.
< What are you going to do? >
“Less talking, more action,” Tank shouted back.
Gavin sighed and looked at the explosive. “And I really wanted to make it home for dinner today.” He quickly shook off those unlikely fantasies and stood. “Alright people, for your own safety move to the next car. Now!”
There was general confusion by this announcement.
“What the hell, y’all think I’m kidding?” Gavin drew his gun for emphasis.
The crowd got the message.
Tank pulled some of the passengers back on their feet as he moved down the train. He recognized a few of them as the ones who attacked him earlier. Now they just seemed perplexed, not sure where they were or what to do. “Move your butt’s people,” he shouted at them but continued determinedly towards the other end.
< Shall we stop the train? > Gavin asked as he supervised the passengers’ escape.
< Way too late for that, > the veteran replied. He had reached the end of train and smashed one of the last windows with his bare fist. < Dive into the system and disconnect the car form the rest of the train. >
Gavin reached out for an elderly person who was moving way too slow for his taste. “Please, sir, you’ve gotta hurry.” < Alright but there is at least one more car attached to this train. >
< I’ll take care of that. >
Tank nearly ripped open the door leading to the next car and shoved passengers who were not hurrying sufficiently through the door. “Move all the way down, folks. All the way down!”
They still didn’t get it but at least they were moving.
When the last one was through Tank sealed the door and connected to a nearby computer terminal. Shorty after the last car detached from the train. When he was satisfied he looked across the car to where Gavin was helping the last person out of the doomed compartment. They had less than forty seconds left. It was going to be tight. < Ok, do it! >
Gavin nodded. The young agent stepped through the door and closed it shut behind him. He better have a ticket out of this. Not even he’d able to survive this, he thought but didn’t quite dare to communicate to his partner. Tank hated this kind of thing. Shut up and worry about your own damn butt, was his usual reply.
He reached into his jacket to retrieve a disc-shaped device about two inches in diameter. He pulled it apart easily so that he had two discs. He attached one to a computer terminal. “Keep moving up the train,” he told a few passengers who lingered around him. Then he turned to the terminal and sighed. “I hate this part,” he mumbled just before he attached the second disc to the side of his neck.
The terminal was not difficult to hack. Within seconds his brain enhancers had bypassed the single firewall protecting the train couplings. He got out clean.
Not a moment later he noticed that the train was pulling away from the car Tank was still standing in. < We’re clear. May I recommend you get out of there as well? >
< Why don’t you shut up and worry about “ >
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Gavin said to himself. He had already terminated the link. Why listen to the same thing all day long? He quickly moved forward, imploring the confused passengers to do the same.
Tank jumped on the window frame he had cleared earlier and pulled himself onto the roof of the car nearly as gracefully as Black had a little while earlier. The car was slowing but was still doing a good three hundred something. Not the ideal velocity to move around on top of a train.
Once he had found his footing he also rediscovered Black. He was slowly making his way down the roof of the other train car. He froze and turned to stare right at Tank.
There was nothing the agent wanted more than go after the man. He didn’t like being shown off. But he had about ten seconds left before his ride would blow up from under his feet. The gap between his car and the one Black stood on was now almost two-hundred yards and increasing by the second. He would need a good run-up to bridge that gap. No time.
Swearing under his breath Tank jumped off the train.
Just before it was ripped apart.