Cold Steel - Unsprung

Science Fiction: Cold Steel - Unsprung.

 

Captured elite commando steals Dark Energy vials, activates biological weapons to destroy secret enemy Intergalactic Lab

Previous Story: Cold Steel - Crucified

Rosh looked up from the exercise book. Parents were still trickling into the classroom in ones and twos.

'Josh has built up a good vocabulary,' he thought proudly, 'and a good understanding of science and technology. Plus, he writes convincing, captivating science fiction.'

He smiled contentedly, and continued reading his son's story:

I was acutely conscious of the Cold Steel caressing my body, but the dial stayed put this time.

Relieved, my eyes strayed back to the Dark Energy vials we had stolen. They now stood proudly locked in their unbreakable sheaths, in plain view.

'How much planning had gone into this mission,' I thought. 'How much preparation and cost! We had been the elite team. Chosen for our determination and reflexes.'

All autonomous units in our team had the training, will, and technology to complete this mission by themselves.

And yet, we were back to square one. The vials were back with their creators. Our mission had failed. Most of my team were dead, and I knew not how many had been captured and were being tortured like I was.

We had trained to beat the polygraph, the lie detector tests, the brain mapping tests. We had built immunity against truth serums in our trainings, but nothing prepared us for what Cold Steel flung at us. We were beaten.

Or were we? I stared at him, thinking, as he repeated his questions desperately.

“How did you infiltrate our high security Lab? Why did you steal it? Who else is with you? Speak up. Spare yourself the unnecessary pain!”

His manner belied his words. He was interrogator no more,  but just a beggar. His hands shivered with unbearable tension over the dials, almost with a mind of their own. It was a dangerous time for both of us. One extra turn on the Cold Steel, and he could damage me irreversibly.

I clenched my teeth again and prepared for the imminent pain. He was assessing me and didn’t like what he was seeing. I felt a painful poke into my retina. My neuro activation had completed.

I stared at him silently, now suddenly confident, despite the throbbing pain pulsating in my temple and despite the tattered state of my body. Irrational hope rose like a phoenix from deep within my heart.

For no reason I could fathom, it burst into my being like an explosion of pure energy. Then years of training took control of me. As my gaze penetrated his eye, I knew that I could do it. I willed his cerebral cortex open and in a flash had control of his brain.

Quickly, I implanted thoughts and changed memories, just like we had done multiple times in our training. There wasn’t enough time to do it by the book, but it seemed to be enough for my needs. His body language was showing signs of submission.

Despite insufficient mind control, and an inadequate master-slave relationship with his brain, I commanded him to inject me with dopamine to boost my energy.

He did.

'Free me!' I commanded silently, working furiously to buttress our new relationship.

He did.

I commandeered the stolen vials again, strapped them onto my chest and initiated my battle suit and body repair. We worked fast together now, to get me back in shape. He guarded and worked on my body as I descended into my mental healing cocoon.

When I stepped out of my mind after my flash mental surgery, it was time to step outside the safety of my torture chamber. I brushed my earlobes and the virus attached to them dispersed like invisible pollen into the room.

Vigorously shaking my hair, I released the dandruff like spores, whose DNA the virus needed to feed on. The Lab’s air-conditioning would take the rapidly multiplying virus far and wide in this complex. Their binary fission would soon create critical mass in the Lab.

When it did, the virus would explode like a depth charge - annihilating itself, and soundlessly killing any living organism within a 2.4 km radius in the process. The impact would be total. There would be no warnings. And there would be no trace.

'How would the galactic news feed report this incident?' he wondered. 'Definitely not as: Captured elite commando steals Dark Energy vials. Activates biological weapons to destroy secret enemy Intergalactic Lab!'

'Truth is a precious commodity,' he pondered. 'So, it be shared sparingly.'

He smiled. It was time to go. And take Dark Energy with him.

Next Story: Cold Steel - Escape