The Business of Time Travel Tourism

Chapter 39: The Greatest Weapon

Kevin and Max stared at each other with electrifying viciousness. They stood in the middle of the hall, no more than ten steps between them. Five meters to the left and to the right two round white columns rammed the second floor. High above their heads hung a massive glass chandelier.

After hearing George close the door behind him, the one-eyed ninja shouted, "I've been waiting for this moment, Max!"

"So did I." Max locked and loaded his laser cannon, checked the charge-meter. It was at a hundred percent, more than enough fire to level the whole first floor. The weapon he held was usually carried with two hands. Even though Max was not in his youngest days, he needed only one.

"What greater can a man achieve in his life than to beat the greatest time cop there ever was?" Kevin removed the safety from his AK-47. He wore a belt crossing his chest down from the shoulder. Attached to it were dozens of clips, an ample of ammunition to wage a war on a small country.

"He could build a house, raise a family, find a cure for a disease or write a book, have a huge farm and feed many people. Or he could travel to space and mine an asteroid. I could go on and on and on. Killing, my boy, is not an achievement. It's the opposite. It's pure degradation."

Kevin yawned. "No offense, Max but everything you mentioned is stupid. During my young days, I did many things, including those on your list. And what I learned to love the most was the combat. To put the life on the line, feel the thrill of combat. That's what I strive for. That's what makes me feel alive. Those drones can farm their farms and mine their asteroids and die in their sleep. I won't.

"I had many fights in my life. More than you might imagine. Yet the lack of competition made them boring. What we are going to experience here is nerve wrecking. It will never get better than this. Beating you will be the greatest deed of my life."

"It will be your last experience of such kind, boy. You are not the first and not the last I put down, only a tiny pebble in my path, nothing more."

"Well spoken." Kevin put a finger on the trigger. "Now, Max, how 'bout you shut up and we begin." After a long minute of tense silence, he shouted, "Go!"

Kevin's hand drew the gun faster than an eye could catch. After the first click of a trigger, a barrage of bullets flew at the time-cop. Max reacted just in time, he pointed his cannon to the ground a meter away from his feet and fired. As the beam of light hit the floor he flew back, hit the front door of the house and landed on the doorpost.

Max figured that in this empty room he could use the door in the way it was never intended. Hearing Kevin reload a clip behind one of the columns, he ripped the door off its frame. Made of thick oak, the board was a perfect shield against a machine gun. The next clip Kevin unloaded only scratched the door. When Kevin reloaded for the second time, Max made two holes in the board with his cannon, one to stick his weapon in, second to peak with his eye. He was now standing in a fortified spot, holding the door with one hand, blasting the weapon with another.

Max was a combat hardened veteran. He did not have any special traits like the kid he fought against. It was his practical combat experience, ability to keep the head cool in the most stressful situations, and trust in the five basic senses that gave him the edge in combat. He knew when it was time to fire and when to listen when to wait and when to attack.

After the third barrage, when Kevin was hiding under the stairs, he did not reload. A steel ring bumped against the ground. Max instantly put the weapon behind his back, grabbed the door with both hands and swung the upper part like a racket. *Dung* a steel ball bounced off. *Dung* it hit the top stairs. *Ding, Ding* it bounced down the stairs and *BOOM* it exploded with a roar, shredding the upper part of the stairway to pieces.