“I make ONE mistake…”
“We can’t wait for Bill,” Garfield said. “They’re significantly ahead of us.”
We rushed down the alley in single file. There was no sign of anyone, but there were also no alternative paths unless our subjects had suddenly developed the ability to climb walls. I had a momentary image of spider-beaver in red and blue tights and gave myself a mental slap. Then I heard Garfield chanting “spider-pig, spider-pig” and grinned. Bob is Bob, always and forever.
As we rounded the corner in hot pursuit several figures leapt out of nowhere and tackled us. Our computer reactions were fast enough for us to realize what was happening, but unfortunately, the Mannies operated in physical reality where inertia was a thing. We couldn’t do more than start to turn in the direction of the attacks before we were all flattened. The old Mannies would've been too heavy to knock over, but the new models had appropriate mass for the subject species, so I found myself on my back looking up at a very angry Quinlan in the middle of bringing a knife down on me.
It was time to abandon any pretense of being bio. I pushed up faster than the knife was coming down and the Quinlan went airborne with an “oof”. I smacked him on the side of the head as he hit the top of his trajectory and sprang to my feet. If I'd calculated the force properly, he'd be stunned for a minute or two, but not injured. Two more Quinlans flew backward and my friends climbed to their feet. Bridget had been stabbed, fake Manny blood was oozing out of a wound in her shoulder and she looked pissed. I mean, REALLY pissed. I considered for a moment whether I’d have to protect our attackers from her.
Garfield pointed farther down the alley. “Something going on.” Without waiting for a response, he sprinted in that direction, or well, waddled quickly.
I examined our erstwhile ambushes. All three were in various stages of stunned, and there was no fight left. “You okay? I said to Bridget.
She nodded, still scowling. The internal nanites were doing their job, and the blood flow had already stopped. In another minute there would be no sign of the wound, and even the fur would've grown back. We build well in the Bobiverse.
The sounds of battle drifted back to us from the direction Garfield had disappeared. After a glance to make sure there was no further danger here, I went down on all fours and galloped off after him, Bridget right behind me. When I got to the scene of the excitement, I found Garfield beating one Quinlan using another Quinlan as a bludgeon. It had definite cartoon feel to it, and I stopped dead for a moment to watch. It was also physically impossible for a Quinlan, so there was a good chance that Gar had blown our cover.
“Ixnay with the Superman act, okay?” I exclaimed.
Garfield stopped, abashed, and dropped his bludgeon. The other Quinlan keeled over slowly, like an inflated Santa when the blower is turned off.
“Do you think this was about Skeev?” I asked via intercom.
Garfield replied out loud. “I think that's who they were attacking.” He motioned with his head. “He took off down that way. He's injured.”
I nodded and headed in the indicated direction. I found a Quinlan leaning against a wall, trying to block blood flow from multiple wounds. He kept moving his hands from one wound to the next, muttering under his breath. I suspected shock.
“Skeev?” I asked, and he nodded. I quickly removed my backpack and extracted my first-aid supplies. It was mostly bandages, but that was exactly what he needed. It took only moments to fix him up well enough that he'd at least live to get to a doctor. As I finished up, Garfield and Bridget joined us. I took one of Skeev’s arms and Bridget the other and we hoisted into his feet.
“Thanks,” he said. “Are you with the Resistance?”
I opened my mouth to reply just as Skeev’s eyes went wide in surprise. And then I found myself face-down on the ground. I could see out of the corner of my eye Bridget going down as well, with two Quinlans piling on. Yet another individual stepped up, pulled something that looked very much like a handgun, and shot Garfield point blank.
22. Living in Interesting Times
Bob
July 2334
Galen Town
Garfield glanced down at his chest, then snarled and grabbed the gun from his attacker. I didn't have time to be surprised - my passengers might have knives. I did an explosive push up and Quinlans went flying. I heard noises that indicated Bridget might be doing the same, so I concentrated on my own problems.
One of Bridget's attackers landed sort of on me as I was getting to my feet. I grabbed him by a handful of fur and applied a head slap. It seemed to be effective as a combat technique, overall. I just hoped I wasn't giving them concussions or something.
Bridget and Garfield had taken care of the other Quinlans, Garfield having used the gun as a club. That seemed overly dangerous, but I had enough sense to realize that lecturing him on it at this point probably wouldn't go over well.
We turned as one to check on Skeev, to find him... nowhere in sight. Some blood drops indicated which way he’d gone, and some of them have been stepped on, so he had company. But were they rescuing him, or kidnapping him?
Garfield peered back up the alley to the location of our first battle.
“The first group is still there,” he said, looking kind of out of it, “so this was a different group and only interested in Skeev. This feels like a rescue.”
Bridget and I checked ourselves for stab wounds. Then Bridget examined Garfield's chest closely. “No bullet wound. Was he shooting blanks?”
“No, there was definitely an impact,” Garfield replied, “but nothing like a bullet. At least, not
