First Strike Read online

  Blade blasted the hybrid with both M-I6's, hearing the smack-smacksmack of the slugs, seeing the Hatchling hurled to the ground in a disjointed heap. He surged to his feet and raced to the Tower door. Grizzly was a pace behind him.

  Blade halted at the doorway and carefully peered, inside. He saw a stairwell off to the right, and he heard the hurried pounding of footsteps from up above.

  "What now?" Grizzly demanded, keeping his eyes on the huts.

  "One of us should stay here and hold the door to cover our rear," Blade directed, "while one of us should go up the stairs." He expected Grizzly to offer to remain at the doorway. Instead, the mutant whirled and sprinted for the stairwell.

  Blade was about to call out, to clarify his meaning, to tell Grizzly to stay by the door, when five guards pounded into view between two huts to the left.

  They spotted him and charged.

  What was the Spider doing?

  Why had it stopped?

  The mutant had circled to the left of the center of the web, bypassing the dip in the middle, traversing the thicker strands nearer the walls, perhaps because it could move faster along the outer rim. Athena had watched the loathsome creature with baited breath.

  And then, inexplicably, the Spider had halted 15 yards shy of the landing. Havoc was like a madman, bucking and straining in a frenzied effort to break free. Athena couldn't understand the reason for her reprieve, not until she heard the chatter of gunfire from outside the Tower.

  Blade and Grizzly!

  It had to be them!

  Her elation was eclipsed a moment later when the Spider resumed its approach.

  "No!" Havoc shouted in desperation.

  Athena stood and stumbled backwards, unable to take her eyes off those eight vile black orbs. Grizzly took the stairs two at a bound, listening to the thumping of hastening feet on the stairwell above. From the volume, he guessed there were several foes descending en masse.

  "Hurry!" someone barked from overhead.

  Grizzly recognized the metallic tone. Hatchlings. He stopped, planning his strategy. The spiral stairwell wasn't very wide, able to accommodate just two persons walking abreast between its rails. There wasn't much room to maneuver, which worked in his favor.

  He crouched next to the inner railing, his blood racing, waiting in keen anticipation. The drumming footsteps came closer.

  Grizzly was struck by a fleeting moment of indecision. Here he was, primed to plow into some Hatchlings, some fellow mutants, without giving them the opportunity to explain their actions, to justify themselves. He'd seen the women emerge from the huts and heard the derogatory remarks made by the guards, all of which lent credence to Athena's story. Still, a flickering finger of doubt assailed him. But before he could dwell on his uncertainty, the first Hatchling was upon him. A hybrid with a rifle burst around the curve above.

  Grizzly instinctively fired, his hasty shot striking the Hatchling in the forehead and causing the hybrid to trip and plummet over the outer railing toward the bottom of the Tower, over 20 feet below. Another Hatchling appeared, and this one was unarmed.

  Grizzly deliberately dropped the M-16, rising, his claws popping out over his fingernails, wanting to give the hybrid a fair chance.

  The Hatchling never missed a beat. It closed on the intruder in one vaulting stride, aiming a vicious swipe of its talons at the bear-man's face.

  Grizzly's reflexes were astounding. He ducked under the hybrid's blow and came up with his claws extended, ripping them into the Hatchling's abdomen, then using his immensely powerful shoulder and arm muscles to slice his claws from the hybrid's stomach to its sternum.

  The Hatchling screeched as its internal organs squished through the rift in its epidermis. Grizzly lifted and heaved, sending the hybrid sailing over the railing after its companion. Two more Hatchlings closed on him from above.

  Grizzly spun to face them, pitting his claws against their talons in a savage, primal contest. The confines of the stairwell cramped their assault, slowing them down, as they both tried to get at him at once. He backpedaled down three steps, letting them assume he was retreating.

  One of the pair, the Hatchling on the right, took the bait and lunged.

  Grizzly twisted, evading the hybrid's streaking talons, and slashed his right-hand claws across the Hatchling's eyes. The hybrid drew back, covering its eyes with its hands, shrieking in torment. The second Hatchling tried to do likewise to Grizzly.

  Grizzly jerked his face to the rear as the Hatchling's talons flashed past his eyes. Before the hybrid could recover, he speared his claws into the middle of the Hatchling's neck, then wrenched his brawny arms outward.

  The result was as if the neck had exploded. Flesh and hair flew every which way. Yellowish blood spurted. The hybrid gurgled and went down.

  Grizzly finished them off with a quick one-two, imbedding his claws in their foreheads, impaling their brains.

  Four down.

  How many more?

  Grizzly raced up the stairwell, alert for an ambush, but he didn't encounter another Hatchling until he reached a landing at the top of the stairs.

  A solitary hybrid stood in front of a large closed door, its four arms casually folded over its chest.

  "Greetings, stranger."

  Grizzly tentatively stepped onto the landing, his gory claws In front of him. The Hatchling stared at Grizzly's claws. "I see my brothers were unable to stop you."

  "I want through that door," Grizzly stated. "I want to look on the other side." The Hatchling smiled. "That's not possible. Father is busy at the moment." From beyond the door came the terrified scream of a woman.

  Grizzly started toward the hybrid. "I'm warning you…"

  The Hatchling unfolded its arms, holding its talons at waist level. "You will not interrupt Father."

  "Who says?"

  "I do. I am Chanc, and I will defend my father with my dying breath!" So saying, Chanc sprang. Blade raised the M-16's and cut loose, downing two of the five onrushing guards in the blinking of an eye. He pivoted to shoot yet another.

  The M-16's went empty,

  Blade ducked into the Tower, to the left, flinging the useless M-16's aside and drawing the Colt 45"s from their shoulder holsters. He darted into the open again, bent over, the pistols held in front of him. The three guards were still coming. They opened up as soon as the giant appeared. Blade felt a burning sensation in his left shoulder, and something creased his right side, and then he was firing the Colts, both guns together, aiming two shots at each guard.

  The nearest one was hit in the head and catapulted onto his back. The second took two rounds in the chest and went down. And in a geyser of crimson, the third guard lost his nose and his left cheek.

  The abrupt quiet seemed unnatural.

  Blade straightened, watching the fallen guards for any indication of life. Satisfied they were dead, he turned toward the Tower, intending to help Grizzly if necessary, when a commotion to the east arrested his attention. He looked up.

  The seven Hatchlings he'd seen earlier hurrying up the ridge had returned! And they were not more than 30 feet off, closing rapidly.

  Athena gasped when she backed into the door.

  There was nowhere to go!

  The Spider had reached the edge of the landing and paused, its eyes roving over her body. Athena placed her palms against the door, trembling, feeling dizzy . She wanted to shut her eyes, to take refuge within herself, but her fear-filled gaze was glued to the gruesome genetic deviate. The mutant's leading appendages glided onto the landing.

  "Leave her alone, bastard!" Havoc was shouting. "Take me! Me!" The Spider slowly eased its head and front segment onto the landing.

  Athena lost control. She tossed her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs, venting her despair and her terror.

  Four of the Spider's limbs were now on the landing

  Athena knew what was next, and she sank to her knees, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, tears of frustration and severe an
noyance at herself for being dunderheaded enough to return to the Kingdom when she had been safe and sound.

  Something slammed into the door, startling her, jarring the door to its hinges. Now what?

  Athena glanced over her left shoulder, perplexed, wondering what new menace was about to assail her. And the Spider was on her, its two front limbs, capped by talons identical to the Hatchlings', grasping her wrists and dragging her onto her back, pinning her to the landing.

  "No!" she cried, kicking her legs, trying to strike the Spider with her boots. The Spider shifted its bulk, aligning its body.

  Athena tensed, knowing from experience what to expect. The monster would ease its rear segment onto the rim of the landing, and a slit would open on its underside. And then its… organ… would emerge, a slender whitish rodlike affair not much bigger than a man's. Her pants would be ripped off, and the Spider would…

  The landing door rocked to a tremendous blow, shaking the landing itself, and a hairline crack appeared down the center.

  Athena's hopes soared. It couldn't be!

  But it was.

  A series of pounding thumps shook the door, the crack widening.

  The Spider had forgotten its victim. The eight emotionless eyes were regarding the disintegrating door with an aloof detachment.

  Athena unexpectedly found herself released, and she quickly slid to the left, to the very edge of die landing, watching the door.

  "Athena?" Havoc yelled. "Athena?"

  The door suddenly crashed inward, splitting into two sections. And there, framed in the doorway, awesome and mighty in his rage, was Grizzly. Behind him on the floor was a decapitated Hatchling. He glanced at Athena, then at the Spider, his eyes simmering points of fury. The Spider moved backwards until it was balanced on the rim.

  Grizzly strode onto the landing, his facial muscles twitching. "You!" he bellowed. "You're no better than the humans!"

  The Spider brought its two front legs up in a defensive motion.

  "I was wrong!" Grizzly practically shrieked, and then he raised his head and roared. The Spider seemed to recoil.

  Grizzly's eyes narrowed as he brought up his hands, the fingers rigid. His claws snapped out. And then he did something so strange, so inconsistent with the circumstances, that the effect was immeasurably more chilling than anything else he could have done. .

  He grinned.

  Athena would never forget what transpired next for as long as she lived. She saw Grizzly cover the distance to the Spider in two blurred bounds, and then he vaulted into the air, going for the Spider's head, for those eight black eyes. He landed on the Spider's face above the vertical mouth, the claws on his left hand sinking into the Spider's flesh and affording purchase as he swung his right arm again and again and again, the five inch claws on his right hand tearing the Spider's eyes to shreds within seconds. The Spider reached up with its two front appendages, striving to tear Grizzly loose, but although it buried its talons in Grizzly's broad shoulders it was unable to dislodge him.

  Athena was spellbound.

  The Spider's limbs were waving wildly as it tried to slide from the landing. Incredibly, it lost its footing and pitched from view, Grizzly still ripping at its head.

  Athena scurried to the edge of the landing and stared downward.

  The battling mutants had landed on the web about twelve feet from Sergeant Havoc. The Spider was partially on its left side, endeavoring to pry Grizzly from its head. But Grizzly seemed impervious to the Spider's rain of blows. Like a mutant possessed, Grizzly slashed and slashed and slashed. Athena surprised herself by laughing as new tears, tears of pure joy and relief, moistened her eyes. She watched, enrapt, as Grizzly carved the Spider's head to shreds, and she knew she had never, ever, witnessed such a beautiful sight.

  She laughed some more.

  Thank the Spirit the Hatchlings were unarmed!

  Blade aimed the Colts, the pistols booming, and the nearest hybrid was shot through the forehead. He managed to shoot two more, expending his ammunition, in the process, and he tossed the Colts to the ground and drew his prized Bowies. The blades gleamed in the bright sunlight as the four remaining Hatchlings surged toward him.

  Come and get it!

  Blade dodged aside as the first of the four tried to gouge out his stomach, and the Bowies flashed as he cut the side of the Hatchlings neck open with a left-hand strike, then stabbed his right Bowie into the hybrid's ear.

  The Hatchling stiffened and toppled forward.

  Blade wrenched his right Bowie free in time to counter the assault of the next Hatchling, parrying a swipe aimed at his groin by blocking the talons with the flat of his Bowie.

  The Hatchling hastily retreated and was promptly joined by its two fellows. They wisely stayed beyond the giant's reach, slowly circling him.

  Blade crouched, trying to keep all of them in his line of vision. If he could keep them at bay, he stood a chance. His greater height and reach worked in his favor. But if one of them got under his arms and tackled his legs, he was in serious trouble.

  Which was exactly what happened.

  One of the Hatchlings feigned an attack, pretending to step forward but stopping in midstride. Blade pivoted to thwart the perceived threat, and one of the other hybrids leaped, springing in from the right and wrapping its four arms around his legs. Before he could hope to react, he went down, landing on his left side.

  The Hatchlings were on him in an instant.

  Blade became the focus of a veritable whirlwind of slicing talons and Bowies. His arms, legs, and torso were ripped again and again, but he gave as good as he got, delivering stroke after stroke. He tried to roll erect, but there was a Hatchling in his path, and he reversed direction as his right shoulder was torn open.

  The Hatchlings were hissing like incensed vipers.

  Blade lunged to his knees as a hybrid tried to impale his throat, and he buried his left Bowie to the hilt in the mutant's neck, then twisted the knife.

  Gasping, the Hatchling jerked free of the dripping blade and tottered backwards. Another Hatchling went for the giant's eyes.

  Blade felt talons ripping into his right temple. Instead of pulling away, as the hybrid would expect, he leaned toward the Hatchling, bringing his right Bowie up and in, sinking the ten-inch blade into the hybrid's abdomen.

  The Hatchling threw itself to the left, the Bowie lodged in its stomach. Blade lost his grip on the slippery handle. He surged to his feet, holding the left Bowie in front of him. The Hatchling with the Bowie in its gut was to his left, doubled over, wheezing. The hybrid with the ragged hole in its neck was to his right, upright but wobbly. And the final Hatchling was before him, seeking an opening.

  Blade slowly eased his right hand behind his back, his fingers closing on the Panther. The Hatchling was watching the left Bowie, undoubtedly assuming it was his sole remaining weapon. Blade made a mock swipe with the left Bowie, forcing the Hatchling to veer to his right. The hybrid was still concentrating on the left Bowie when Blade swung the Panther in a brutal arc, driving the point into the Hatchling's right eye.

  The hybrid frantically retreated, but not before the Panther was imbedded all the way into its eye. Blade tore the Panther loose.

  The Hatching fell onto its stomach, convulsing and tittering. Blade glanced at the two injured hybrids, amazed they were on their feet. He had to finish them off and find Grizzly. But someone beat him to the punch.

  There was the blast of a heavy-caliber revolver and the crack of an M-16, and the pair of Hatchlings went down, each shot through the head.

  Blade tamed in the direction of the shots, to the east, a smile creasing his haggard features. They were standing 15 feet away, both attired in buckskins, the Cavalryman with a smoking Hombre in his right hand, the Flathead with an M-16.

  "Thanks for saving some for us," Boone quipped, walking over and inspecting the Hatchlings to verify they were dead. His M-16 was slung over his left shoulder.

  "Are you okay, Blade?" Thunder querie
d in concern, stepping to the Warrior's side;

  "Fine," Blade said, realizing he was drenched with blood from a dozen wounds. "What about you?"

  "I am well," Thunder replied. "The Spirit-In-All-Things was not ready for my soul. I think I had a concussion, but I am recovering."

  "We've got to get inside," Blade said. "Grizzly is in there, and maybe—"

  "Not anymore," Boone interrupted, motioning with his Hombre toward the Tower entrance. Blade faced the Tower.

  Grizzly was in the doorway, caked with yellow from head to toe. Gore was plastered to his fur. He came outside, surveying the littered bodies, then looked at Blade. "And here I thought you were goofing off while I did all the work."

  "The Spider?" Blade asked.

  Grizzly beamed. "Anyone for roast Spider for lunch?"

  Havoc and Athena appeared, both squinting in the sunlight, Havoc with his right arm draped over her shoulders, supporting her.

  "Are you two all right?" Blade inquired. "I'm fine, sir," Sergeant Havoc answered, releasing Athena. Athena nodded. "Just a little weak, is all. I think everything caught up with me at once as we were coming down the stairwell." She took a deep breath. "I'm feeling better already! And I haven't been this happy in ages!"

  Sergeant Havoc scanned the huts, "What's next, sir?"

  Blade straightened. "We round up the women, then set our charges." He stared at the Tower. "I don't want one stick standing when we're through."

  Sergeant Havoc nodded. "There won't be," he assured the Warrior.

  "I wish I could have been here," Boone commented.

  "I'm glad I was," Grizzly remarked, involved in picking bits of flesh and black hair from his fur. He extended the claws on his right hand and critically examined them. "Damn! Look at all this gunk on my claws!"

  "Thanks for cutting me loose from the web," Havoc mentioned. "I owe you."

  "And I owe you for saving my life," Athena stated sincerely.

  "Don't make a fuss about it," Grizzly said brusquely. "I was just doing my job." He looked at Blade and grinned. "I like this line of work. Can we do this again real soon?" What was that noise?