When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

69. For the sake of peace

Dahlia swallowed hard as the girl started to wrap the bicycle chain around her gloved knuckles. When she made a fist, the chain formed a makeshift knuckle duster on her hand. Dahlia's stomach turned when she realized what was going to happen to her.

She tried to scramble away but Cathy grabbed the woman by her collar and yanked her to her feet. Cathy drove her fist into Dahlia's stomach. The force of it constricted her throat and she found herself unable to scream despite the agony of it.

"How do you like feeling helpless and being at the mercy of someone you obviously can't stop?" Cathy said, glaring daggers at Dahlia as she dealt another gut punch to her.

This time the woman groaned, doubling over.

"This is how my state felt when you and your secret friend, Vardin, bombed our cities!" Cathy growled and slammed a knee into Dahlia's face.

The Nesokan heiress stumbled backwards, falling ass-first on the courtroom floor. Dahlia raised her handcuffed hands to her burning, aching nose. Her fingers came away bloody. She gasped.

That's when Cathy drove the back of her heel into her side. Dahlia felt a violent ripple in her ribs, a shockwave through her lungs as the air left her body. Her head hit the ground.

The heiress felt herself tearing up. But Cathy wasn't going to give her the luxury of crying just yet. She pressed her heel down on the woman's face, crushing it underfoot like a smoked out cigarette. "Is it suffocating yet?" Cathy said, gritting her teeth. "This is what my parents felt when that virus was rotting them away. The same virus that came from the bio weapon you unleashed on us."

Dahlia was sobbing now but her cries disappeared under Cathy's boot. She clutched at Cathy's pant sleeve as if begging to be spared.

Cathy bared her teeth at the woman and drove her boot into Dahlia's stomach. "Quit your whimpering! Aren't you happy now? Hundreds of Ardvenians died for your foolish cause. Hundreds of Moudrin soldiers had to throw their lives away for your vanity. So many of the Torqua lost their homes. Look, Miss Esker, your dream of mass destruction came true. How do you like the aftertaste of its power?" Cathy grabbed the woman by her hair and pulled her up in a sitting position.

Last thing that Dahlia saw was the bicycle chain flying in at her before Cathy's punch ate her vision.

#

The purple clouds were growing thicker over the city of Stahlberg. The President's guard had cleared the road to the docks. A long line of black SUVs came down the road, leading a white sedan that belonged to Leo. In one of the SUVs following the sedan were the Ardvenian visitors. The line of cars went through the main gates of the dockyard.

Captain Wagner was waiting on one of the docks. A large black shadow of metal loomed behind him. The sedan came to a halt fifty feet away from Wagner. Leo, Germaine and Norton climbed out of the car. Wagner snapped a salute to the president who just nodded in response. Brendan, Eva, Emilia and Rozwel climbed out of the following SUV and joined the rest of them at the dock. Introductions were kept brief as yellow lightning crackled across the purple sky covered with purple clouds.

"So, who is going to board the submarine," Wagner said, pointing at the black metallic shadow behind him. Lighter gray letters stood out on the black beast: U-90 Schattenwolf.

Norton raised his hand. "I'll be the only one oncoming of course. The rest of you won't have much to do there, anyway."

Emilia stepped forward. "Are you sure?"

"You, especially, are gonna stay on the land. I won't let you risk this with me. I'm already feeling stressed. I don't want to be worried for you too." Norton heaved a sigh.