Friday, December 11, 2009

Rip's Adventures: Rip and the Tunnel, Part VII

“Lieutenant Colonel Etienne le Blanc, please place your weapons on the ground,” demanded one of the soldiers in Neeman armor.

Now Rip was freaked out. These men and women were not using standard-issue Quebecois armaments, so how did the fraggers know his real name or his former rank in the army of Free Quebec? For that matter, how did they manage to sneak up on him like that? Still, he didn’t need to calculate his odds on this one. His body armor was resilient, but he wasn’t going to take a chance at getting hit by some type of weapon he had never seen before, even if he could move faster than any normal soldier could shoot. Besides, he had heard legends of the Neemans. Their technology was said to have been greater than that of the Splugorth if the stories were to be believed! Then there was his promise to Thebes. After a half-second pause, Rip carefully laid his NG-57s on the ground, then slowly removed his other weapons and did likewise with them.

“Well, you already know I’m former Quebecois Special Forces,” Rip said. “But seeing how you aren’t very friendly, I’m guessing you’re not with them.”

The soldiers did not respond, except to point them back to the sewers while another one gathered up their weapons. “I think they want us to get back into the sewers,” Thebes said with a little apprehension.

“Yea I gathered that. Want me to give you a boost?”

“Sure.”

Before Thebes and Rip climbed back in, several of the soldiers climbed in first, probably to prevent them from making a run for it in the sewers.

“Quebec Special Forces, huh? You never told me that,” Thebes stated as Rip gave her a leg up into the sewers for the second time today.

“You never told me you were a telepath. I guess we all have our secrets.”

“You hide your accent well.”

“I’ve spent most of my life speaking American. It’s my old French that’s probably a little rusty.”

“And your real name is Etienne?” she chuckled. “I can see why you changed it to Rip.”

“Go jump in a rift, Thebes.”

“Oh no, I think it’s cute. At least your parents didn’t name you after a city in ancient Egypt.”

“You will walk in silence!” ordered one of the Neemans as they traipsed through the sewer passages. “Next time I won’t ask.”

Rip suddenly heard a voice in his head, “Don’t worry. I can still read your thoughts and send you messages. I’m sure there is a way out of this.”

Suddenly Rip began to see the advantages of having a psychic on his side. He just hoped whoever these people were, they didn’t employ psi-hounds or psi-stalkers like the Coalition States did.

They marched on for what seemed like an hour. Thebes began to get the distinct impression that they were going around in circles, and she told Rip as much telepathically. When she read Rip’s mind he was thinking that this was probably to confuse them as to their actual location in the sewers. Finally the Neemans told them to halt and one of them pulled a small metal orb with glowing green buttons out of a pocket on his belt. He pressed a combination of buttons on the orb, and then a portion of the sewer wall opened up to reveal an interior hallway that was well-lit and made of some kind of ceramic siding; definitely hi-tech stuff. Rip had seen similar structures on the inside of Coalition fortress-cities, but these were even slicker and more advanced than those. As they traveled down the seemingly-empty corridor the lights increased in intensity wherever they went and faded in the areas they were leaving. Rip also got the distinct impression that they were being monitored by some type of visual interface as there were black discs built into the ceiling every 6 meters or so. It was unlike anything he had ever seen.

Finally they came to what appeared to be a door, although it was unlike any door Rip could remember. It was differentiated from the wall only in the sense that there was a slight depression of a centimeter or less and about 1.5 meters in width. The man in the lead removed his armored gauntlet and helmet and placed his hand on the right side of the wall. As he did, a blue light issued from the wall around his hand and a similar light scanned his facial features. When the blue lights went off, there was a slight “whoosh” as the door slid open allowing egress into the room beyond. The man in charge replaced his helm and gauntlet and ushered Thebes and Rip inside what seemed like a small holding cell. The whole place was very Spartan. There were two cushioned pads which Rip guessed to be beds and a single latrine but nothing else of interest in the room besides four red half-orbs that seemed built into the ceiling.

“You will stay here until Copper wishes to speak with you,” the Neeman in charge demanded.

“And who is this Copper?” Rip asked in the most polite tone he could manage.

“You will be silent unless a reply is asked of you!” the man insisted again with spite in his voice.

“Sheesh. Give a guy a break. I just want to know what’s going on. Did we piss on the wrong stump or something?”

The man said nothing this time, but instead walked right up to Rip and said, “I know exactly what kind of man you are, and don’t think for one minute that intimidates me at all. When I order you to be silent you will be silent.”

Rip found this threat a bit incredulous. Sure, he was outmanned and outgunned, but when he thought about it, he had been in much worse situations before. “Or what?” he rebelliously replied.

Suddenly the half-orbs began to emit a very intense light that focused itself on Rip. He attempted to dodge the beams but amazingly, he was not quick enough to avoid their glare. As the red light struck him he suddenly felt extremely nauseated, dizzy, and unbalanced. His nose began to bleed profusely again and he felt like every part of his body was heating up causing an intense and debilitating sensation of pain that even his bio-comp could not overcome. He stood there motionless, unable to move due to the acute pain he was feeling, a sensation he had not experienced since he underwent the juicer procedure. It was a complete shock to him. He was used to his bio-comp and drug harness being able to compensate for any pain he had felt for the last five years, and now, to have it return so suddenly and with such intensity was too much to bear. Within a few moments, his vision went dark and he blacked out.

When Rip awoke, he was lying on a bed in the cell with Thebes looking over him. She had a wet cloth and she was trying to cool his forehead. “Ugh. I feel like complete shit,” Rip murmured. “What in the hells happened?”

“You passed out. You’ve been unconscious for more than a half hour. The Neemans left. I can’t figure out a way to get us out of here. That door didn’t even seem to have a visible control pad. I wouldn’t know where to start looking for a possible override even if I did have the technical know-how to do it.”

“That’s okay, Thebes,” Rip replied. “Right now I think I just need to rest for a few minutes to gather my strength back.”

“After you fell unconscious, the Neemans put you on the bed and left without saying another word. I’ve been thinking this through again and again and I still have no idea what they want with us. I thought the Neemans were supposed to be heroes. At least that’s what all the old legends say. These people seem like militant guerillas.”

“You noticed that eh?” the juicer responded sarcastically. He hated these Neemans already. And if they were the ones who built those pesky robot spiders, he liked them even less.

“Well, the best I can figure we just wait here to speak with this Copper, whoever he is.”

“I guess you’re right,” Rip said, then after a short pause, “Look I’m gonna pass out for a while, wake me if something important happens.”

“That won’t be necessary Lt. Col. le Blanc,” came a voice from the door, which had suddenly opened. In stepped a woman with dark red hair, sparking green eyes, and a dour countenance. “My name is Colonel Isabelle Copper. I represent the Republicans. We have some questions for you and your partner, Ms. Thebes Antilles.”

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