Chapter 11
Chapter 10
Stardate 57225
Have you ever felt like you were being watched?
It is a difficult feeling to describe. Some people feel it as a chill in their spines. Others feel the hair on their necks standing on end. Yet others feel it as an ominous, indescribable feeling in their gut. Most people spend their lives ignoring such ominous feelings, and move about their existences never giving in to such feelings of foreboding.
But trained soldiers and spies learn to heed such feelings. Often these feelings are false, and sometimes they are manufactured by the circumstances... a soldier on guard duty who, because of his position of responsibility, becomes hyper-aware of his surroundings, and even spooks himself into seeing things that aren’t there. But they don’t ignore such feelings, even if in the past those feelings have been proven false. Those feelings might someday save their lives. A highly trained soldier who specializes in infiltration learns to never look directly at an enemy guard until the moment he attacks, because he doesn’t want to trigger this feeling in the guard, and put him on alert. Even a person walking down a deserted street might get the feeling that he’s being watched by unfriendly eyes... and oftentimes he finds out he’s right by walking into a mugging.
The elite of the elite of combat and espionage learn to hone that feeling into an alert system that they can use. It is hardly infallible, of course. But any advantage that they can gain, any split second of warning that might mean the difference between the success of their mission and their death at enemy hands, is sought vigorously and trained to its utmost.
Kitty Pryde had been training that instinct for nearly four centuries.
That’s why, when she and the rest of the Enterprise crew exited the building, her senses suddenly went hyperactive. Even Peter Parker would have been surprised at how well honed her ‘sixth sense’ really was. She felt it as a tickle over her right shoulder.
Danger.
She turned slightly to her right, and scanned the entire area with her eyes. She saw nothing. And then suddenly, she saw a flash of light, a reflection perhaps. And without knowing how she knew it, she understood the danger.
“Sniper,” she yelled, throwing herself at Picard. She tackled him hard and phased them both.
Three ugly pockmarks suddenly formed on the ground beneath their phased bodies. Almost a full second later, she heard three whining shots ring out. The shots had moved at hypersonic speed and outrun the sound of their being fired.
There were more pockmarks forming on the ground around her and Picard, and she pushed Picard down as he tried to get up to react. “Stay down,” she yelled at him, shoving him down yet again.
Riker, Data and Troy all had their weapons drawn and were looking for a target to fire at. Geordie was scanning the building directly across from them, several hundred meters away. “Twelfth floor, east side. A high-powered scanning device there,” he yelled.
“Lay down cover fire,” Riker yelled.
“Retreat back inside,” Kitty instructed. Her phaser was out and she was scanning for a target. She had spent some time adjusting her phaser and her comm badge to resist the EMP effect that her phasing caused. The phaser and comm badge would now recover from the EMP effect almost instantly, but she would still be unable to activate either one while she was phased. Now that Riker, Geordi, Troy and Data were laying cover fire, she was able to become solid again.
She fired three shots, and activated her comm badge, at the same time dragging Picard back toward the government building. “Vampire. Vampire. Go to evac plan Baker Three,” she yelled into her comm badge. “Repeat, Baker Three. Expedite.”
Within ten seconds, a fully armed and armored Starfleet security team beamed down right next to them. They formed a shield of bodies around Picard, while Kitty dropped into a crouch and began firing her phaser rapid-fire at the target area. They security team retreated into the safety of the building and Riker and the rest of the crew followed suit. Kitty stayed behind, firing to cover their retreat. “Enterprise, begin immediate Baker Four evac, excluding me. Sound general quarters, and begin full power internal and external security scans. Shields up and go to red alert. Assume hostile intent from any approaching vessel.”
“Acknowledged,” came the response from the ship.
Kitty heard the whine of a transporter, and sighed in relief as she realized that the crew had gotten away safely.
The door behind her burst open, and she turned, phaser at the ready. She held her fire when she saw who was behind her.
The Shi’ar Imperial Guard.
She knew several members of the guard. There was Kurg, the Valosian, who was firing his energy weapons at the target area. Quasar, the Remellian female, was firing massive bio blasts as well. Between the two of them, enough cover fire was being laid down to give the rest of the team some breathing space. Whoever the sniper was, he was only getting off the occasional shot at them.
There were two very young girls there as well who Kitty didn’t know. But they looked like sisters, and from the way they moved, almost in unison, they had clearly trained to work in tandem with each other.
And of course, there was Gladiator.
“We’ll never get to the building before the sniper can escape,” said Quasar in her soft voice. “It’s too far away. He will escape before we can cover that distance.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” said Kitty. She turned to Gladiator. “Fastball special, hard and straight.”
Gladiator nodded. “We’ll follow as soon as we can.”
Kitty holstered her phaser and pulled a non-regulation combat knife out of her boot. The knife was a Special Forces blade made of ceramic rather than steel, and was honed to a razor-sharp edge. She nodded at Gladiator.
Gladiator grabbed her and threw her hard and fast. She flew with incredible speed and phased in mid-air. Thanks to Gladiator’s massive strength, she covered the distance in mere seconds, and passed through the wall of the building.
She landed in a roll and came up in a fighting crouch, the blade in her left hand.
That’s when she noticed she was outnumbered.
There were three of them, and they were all ready for a fight. One of them, the sniper, brought up his rifle and prepared to fire at her. She ducked under his weapon, sliding forward, and came in low. Her hand guided his weapon to the side as he fired, and Kitty’s foot shot out in a leg sweep, as her other hand chopped at the rifle, making the sniper lose his grip on it. He fell, but was able to roll out, avoiding serious injury.
The second assassin was already moving in on her. He held an energy blade low and inside, like a pro. Kitty pulled back slightly as he made a short, quick cut at her, but then he used his empty hand to jab at her face... an unusually smart move for a knife fighter. Kitty took his unexpected jab straight in the face and saw stars for a moment, as her head snapped back.
The third assassin was on her immediately. He was armed with what looked like a piece of wire, and he came in from behind her, using the wire as a garrote. The wire tightened around her neck, cutting off her air, and the assassin twisted the wire tighter.
Kitty used her elbows, trying to dislodge her opponent, but the first assassin was there as well, grabbing her right arm, and twisting it. She used her left hand, with her knife, to try to keep the one with the knife at bay... with only partial success.
She tried phasing.
Incredible pain lanced through her already tortured throat. The wire was more than just a garrote; it was power inhibitor as well, cutting off her mutant phasing power and inducing pain when she tried to phase.
She was in real trouble.
In desperation, she tried kicking backwards to dislodge the one with the garrote, but she was off balance, and her back kick lacked any serious power. She felt herself becoming dizzy as she desperately tried to breath. But no air came. She fell to her knees, and her assailant pulled even tighter on the cord around her neck, sensing triumph.
Kitty felt something stir within her, and she allowed it to awaken and to come out of the cage in which she usually kept it deep within her. She felt it fully awaken, and she felt is exultation as it was finally freed to do what it loved so much.
The Beast within her was awake.
She could almost hear the Beast taunting her, almost hear it saying, See, you keep me locked away, and this is the trouble you get yourself into. You should have let me out sooner. But she let the Beast loose, let it take over.
Kitty/Beast lurched to her feet, defying the strength of the two assassins who were holding her. The one who held her arm twisted it harder, but she refused to drop to her knees again, and he twisted harder still. He was quite shocked when he heard and felt a crunching sound coming from her shoulder as the joint cracked and dislocated. She had deliberately allowed her arm to be broken in order to gain the leverage advantage she needed to escape.
With her other hand, she threw her knife at her knife wielding opponent, who went down hard as her blade penetrated his throat. Kitty/Beast spun to her left and circled the arms of the one holding the garrote with her good left arm. She lifted him slightly so that his arms were hyper-extended, forcing him onto his toes, and with her right foot, she kicked the one holding her useless right arm in the knee. She heard a crunching sound as bone, cartilage and muscle pulverized under the power of the blow. He screamed and fell, out of the fight.
Using her superior leverage position, as well as her own not-inconsequential strength, she slammed the one with the garrote into the wall. She did it again and then again, until at last he loosened his grip on the garrote. She slammed her head into the bridge of his nose, smashing it irreparably, and he slumped to the floor.
Kitty/Beast tore the garrote from her throat and took in some much-needed air. She allowed herself only a mere moment to recuperate before the Beast took over again.
One-handed, she wrapped the garrote around the throat of the one who had been using the weapon so effectively against her. She forced him onto his back, and he began to struggle for air. Kitty/Beast sat down behind his head, placed her feet on her victim’s shoulders, and with her single good arm, pulled the garrote as hard as she could, using the strength and leverage of her entire body. His struggles redoubled as he tried to breath, tried to get enough leverage to fight back. But within moments he ceased struggling.
And then he ceased living.
Kitty looked down at her victim in shock. And she exerted iron will against The Beast, forcing it back into its cage by sheer force of will. The Beast struggled against her, but she had long years of experience in fighting this enemy. She took control and shut the Beast back into its cage within her.
She slowly stood up breathing heavily from the physical and mental exertion. She checked the one at whom she had thrown the knife. He was definitely dead. She pulled the knife out of his lifeless corps, and then turned towards the injured assassin. He was crawling away... dragging himself away, really.
He had just reached his rifle when Kitty turned toward him. He lifted it to a firing position.
“Who hired you?” Kitty asked in Shi’aruk.
“Go to hell,” he responded.
Kitty looked him in the eye. “You have a chance at life here. You can take it. Or you can die stupidly. You’re choice, bub... your funeral.”
His answer came immediately, in the form of a shot directly into her chest. Kitty phased and easily avoided the attack...
...just as Gladiator plowed through the wall. He didn’t hesitate as he saw the situation. He grabbed the sniper by the head...
“NO!!!” Kitty yelled, “We need him al...”
...and twisted with all his strength.
The sniper never had time to realize how he had died as his neck broke and his head was twisted around in nearly a full circle.
“...ive,” Kitty finished, too late.
Gladiator dropped the sniper’s corps.
“Are you all right?” he asked Kitty.
“I’ll live,” she relied, wincing in pain from her mangled shoulder.
“You’re injured.”
“I'll live, I said. Which is more than I can say for that guy,” she said, indicating the dead sniper. “I wanted him alive for questioning.”
Gladiator humphed at her. “The usual response for saving one’s life is ‘thank you’. And you’re welcome.”
Kitty looked at him. “Since when are you worried about someone saying ‘thank you’? You’ve never needed that kind of personal validation before. And I had the situation under control.”
“Of course you did. That’s why he was fully armed and firing his weapon at you. And that’s why your arm is hanging limply like that. I’m sure that you had everything under complete control,” he said sarcastically.
The rest of the Guard arrived at just that moment. They quickly assessed the situation and realized the situation was under control and the emergency was over.
“Call Sikorsky,” Galdiator ordered, referring to the intelligent android that served as the Imperial Guard’s medic. “Inform him that Shadowcat has been injured.” He said it in a contemptuous manner that angered Kitty.
“No, I don’t think so,” Kitty said. “I’ll get my medical attention aboard my ship.”
The two young Guards were there. “Ms. Shadowcat, please let us help you,” said one.
“Yes, please,” said the other.
“We feel responsible for what happened...”
“...because the Imperial Guard was supposed to be in charge of security for your delegation...”
“...and you have to give us a chance to make amends...”
“... and Sikorsky would feel insulted if you turned down his care...”
“...and then he’d skulk around for days afterward being a sourpuss...”
“...and making all his patients miserable...”
“...and us too...”
“... so you’ve just got to let him doctor you.”
Kitty’s head felt whipsawed as she tried to follow this conversation. “Let me guess... you’re twins, right?”
“Of course we are,” they replied in unison.
“Mhmmm. And what are your powers, exactly?”
“We phase, just like you...”
“...but not at the same time...”
“...because something about how our powers work...”
“...doesn’t let us phase in tandem...”
“...we can phase other people, just like you can...”
“... but not each other, and we can’t phase at the same time...”
“Enough,” Kitty cried out. “I’m sure that the tandem talking is very cute under normal circumstances. But my shoulder is in too much pain for me to follow this conversation. Choose which one of you will do the talking. Now... what are your names?”
The twins looked at each other, and one of them nodded to the other. “I’m Ariel, and she’s Sprite,” she answered indicating her sister.
Kitty looked at them for a moment. “Let me guess... Lilandra named you.”
“Yes, she did.”
“Of course she did. She always did have a nasty sense of humor.”
“We don’t think it’s nasty at all,” said Ariel in consternation. “We know that these used to be your old code names. The Majestrix was trying to honor you, and we always felt honored that she let us use the names.”
Kitty looked down at the twins, both of whom looked very insulted by her remark.
“You’re right,” she said. “I was out of line, and I apologize. Blame it on the pain I’m in.”
“Well then you must go to see Dr. Sikorsky,” said Ariel.
“Yes, you must, otherwise we won’t forgive you,” said Sprite.
“And then we’ll have to pout...”
“... and nobody can resist our pout...”
“...not even Gladiator...”
“...especially if we decide to quiver our lips...”
“...and let ourselves cry...”
“ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!” Kitty exclaimed.
Kitty considered for a moment... but the truth was never really in doubt. Very hard was the heart that could resist the insulted pouts of those two twins “Fine. I’ll go to Sikorsky. At least I won’t have to deal with snoopy questions about my past. But first I had better report in to the Enterprise. If I don’t, the Captain will probably do things to me that even the combined resources or Sikorsky and Dr. Crusher couldn’t heal.”