END.
The commotion woke Roll. He was immediately on high alert, grabbed his 6.8, and raced up the stairs to check on Para. As he opened the basement door a crack, he saw a bug pointing a tube at him, and closed the door. Para looked unharmed, though she was struggling, trapped in some amber goop.
Roll ported to the kitchen, dropped to the floor, and army crawled to gain a vantage point. There were two bugs by the basement door, investigating. They had heard him creaking up the stairs and taken a shot with the odd weapon. They were trying to open the door, but it was sealed by the amber-trap discharge. They had a wand of some sort, likely a tool to deactivate the goop. Roll got up on a knee, shouldered his rifle, and placed two precise rounds in each of the bugs. Head shots. Roll ported downstairs.
He would have to locate any remaining bugs and decided to access the security feeds. At least the internal security cameras were operational. There were four downed bugs. He saw that Para was now lying on the ground. Two bugs remained, guarding her. They were near Para, just inside the hallway. One of the bugs drew an energy weapon and turned it toward Para. The bugs had come for prisoners. But it was obvious, if the mission failed, they would kill the occupants. They meant to kill Para.
***
+ BEGIN TIMELINE DROP.
Mr. T’s s-loop chimed. He decided to ignore it. He was so tired. But something was bothering him. Then he realized that particular chime was new and specific to the Trollkin AI Alert System.
He thumbed his device, calling up audio and video. The AI system was giving a play-by-play of the carnage at his house. Para and Roll were in terrible danger from what was a bug commando team. Mr. T looked for Rock. Where was the boy? He ran to the main aisle of the store and shouted for him. Rock came around a corner with a puzzled look. Viz was with him.
Mr. T waved them over. “I don’t have time to explain. We need to port home. No. Port us to the command car, my truck. I need my .50 cal. Port us to the shop.”
The truck was out back behind Mr. T’s shop. They untangled near the truck. Mr. T had his key fob in his pocket so the door automatically unlocked as he grabbed the handle. There was a blinding flash and roar. An explosion. He felt as though he was pulled to the ground. Something was odd about that. A blast wave should feel like a push rather than a pull. This seemed to pull.
As Mr. T considered that, he decided he must have been knocked senseless. He got up and shook his head. His ears were ringing. He looked and saw that Viz and Rock were also getting up shaking their heads. They all looked at each other, decided everyone was okay, and ran around the shop building toward the house.
The house facing side of the shop building was a mangled mess, the yard full of debris. There was no house, only rubble smoking in a gaping round hole in the ground. Neighboring homes were mostly intact, though portions of their walls had been torn off and pulled into the hole.
Mr. T crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, his face buried in his hands. Not even Para could have survived that.
END TIMELINE DROP. +
***
Roll ported to the living room, rifle at the ready. He still had 16 rounds in his magazine. The monsters were in the hallway leading to the bedrooms, out of site. Roll crept forward, rifle at the ready, when the floor creaked. He froze. There was the glimpse of a shadow on the wall. A claw holding a blaster. It was moving so fast.
Roll pulled the trigger on impulse resulting in an eerie wail as the blaster clattered across the floor. The bug sprang at Roll screaming through all of its spiracles, wrapping him up with its legs, stinger at the ready. Roll ported across the room, squeezed the trigger twice. Gore splattered across the wall.
He sensed movement as the remaining bug changed its point of aim from Para’s head toward him. It felt like someone opened the door of an oven as the couch erupted in flames.
“Get back here, monster,” screamed Para as she pulled on the bugs leg.
Time seemed to slow down. The bug slipped free and turned the blaster on Para to finish its original task. Then the 6.8 rang out.
Para glared at Roll as she wiped a glob of yellowish filth from her cheek. “You couldn’t have aimed a little more to the right?”
Roll took a quick look around, then closed his eyes and listened carefully. He could discern no other threats. To be on the safe side, he ran to Para and ported them to a secluded area in Donkey Stream Park. Roll checked on Para to make sure she was okay. She was fine. Just immobilized. The harder she tried to break out of the amber stuff, the more she seemed to get stuck. Now, both of her hands were hopelessly encased. Roll was careful to not come in contact with the amber goo.
He said he would be right back. Roll had to be sure the threat at the house was truly neutralized. The last thing he wanted was the rest of the team walking into a trap. He ported to the shop area behind Mr. T’s house and took a step, tripping on some debris. There was a gaping hole where the house once stood. And there was Mr. T on his knees, on the ground, with Rock and Viz standing vigil. Viz was sobbing. Rock didn’t look so good either.
He walked up to them. “Are you guys okay?”
Their heads turned at exactly the
