“Noooo! Shut up!” Inside her head, the microscopic demons screamed for her to do what she’d been tasked to do.
Kill him! Kill your target! Kill Burlington! Kill! Kill! Kill!
She felt them rip into her brain, the pain searing through her head like a hot poker. She cried out in agony as the nanobots were unrelenting in pushing her to obey. Blood trickled from her nostrils and ears again, flowing more freely this time as Matt looked on in horror.
“Stella! What’s wrong?” Blood seeped from her eyes. She needed medical attention badly. Whatever had caused this strange behavior was now killing her. Of that, he had no doubt. “Please, let me help you! Let me get a doctor up here right now!”
“There’s no help for me, Matt.” She coughed, and blood spluttered from her pale lips. “I’m supposed to kill you … Those are my orders.” Again, a sharp pain ripped through her head, and she doubled over.
Matt reached for her, but her pistol was up and aimed at his chest instantly. “Don’t!” she warned him, her voice barely more than a pained whisper.
Matt knew what was about to happen. She was now in a threat stance. He held up his arms and moved into a shielding position. “Hold your fire! All troopers! Hold your fire and stand down! That’s an order!”
Behind him, Wash looked to the young sniper, but the man shook his head. No shot. Burlington had him blocked. Walsh cursed vehemently under his breath. Stupid fucker! This is why you don’t fuck around at the office!
He crouched behind the sniper. “You get a clean shot … you take that crazy bitch down. My call.”
“Yessir!” the trooper replied, his eye never leaving the scope. In his head, he could already hear the wet, smelly shit hitting the proverbial fan.
Matt, meanwhile, was staring down the business end of Stella’s pistol. His heart sank. His stomach twisted into a knot as his eyes moved down the barrel to the mode selector. Even from where he was standing, it was evident that she’d flipped it over to “LETHAL.” If she squeezed that trigger now, at this range, it’d burn a hole through him like a hot knife through butter, wrecking every organ, bone and muscle in-between. He kept his hands raised. He dared not make any sudden move now.
“Stella, baby!” he whispered, hoping only she could hear him. “Think about what you’re doing. If you kill me, they’re gonna kill you. You may take some of them with you, but in the end, sheer numbers will prevail. They’ll never let you outta this building alive.”
A sound, something he could only describe as a dry chuckle, rattled in her throat, humorless and void of any real emotion. “You think I ever intended to leave this building? You still don’t get it, do you?” She shook her head, and the disappointment on her face was genuine. “For someone who’s supposed to be such a crackerjack cop, you sure are clueless, Special Inspector.”
“So, all this … was just a setup to kill me?” Matt was beginning to piece it together. “That’s it?”
“Isn’t that enough?” she asked.
“And after that … you just let them kill you?”
She shrugged. “I’m of no further use after you’re dead.”
Granny’s Jesus! Matt’s head was spinning. “Who told you this? Who’s fucked your head up like this?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she told him through gritted teeth, as the pain in her brain was intensifying. She had to act. It was the only way to end the torment. She drew herself up and rubbed her eyes, trying to work some clarity back into her senses.
“It’s time to say goodbye, Special Inspector.”
Matt tensed, waiting on the shot that would end his life. He thought about his kids. He’d been a shitty father. It was too late to worry about that now. It was what it was. Still, he regretted he hadn’t been there more …
“Goodbye, Matt!” she choked out a hoarse whisper. He expected the next thing to come would be the blinding yellow muzzle flash in his face. It took him a millisecond for his brain to register that the gun was moving. He was completely caught off-guard. She already had the barrel to her temple before he could react.
“I love you, Matt Burlington!” she sobbed out, as the nanobots ripped into her with a merciless rage.
He lunged for her, but in his heart, he knew it was in vain. “Nooooo!” He heard himself call out … Or was it somebody else screaming? He really couldn’t tell. Everything seemed surreal now, as time slowed, making the tragedy unfolding before his eyes all the more horrible. Even though she’d been only a little less than six feet away, it felt like a great gulf now separated them … and he was moving as if stuck in molasses. He willed himself faster, but it was to be a futile thought. She might as well have been five miles away. The muzzle flash enveloped her head for a fragment of an instant.
And in that instant, both of them lost their minds.
«◊»
They make love that night with a fervor that only people who sense their time is nearing an end can understand. Neither holds back. There’s no need. There are no words to be said. The desperation in their eyes says it all.
I need this. I need you. I need you now. I need you to know my heart. My soul.
For Tiger, it’s almost troubling, the emotions that stir within him. This all started out as just a wartime fling, nothing serious. And why would it be? She was an android, for Johnny’s sake! Albeit, a liberated one, here in this warm and fuzzy domed utopia. Here, everyone, even machines, were gonna be able to live free
