Voynich Shift - Season One (COMPLETED)

Leonis, 1:12, 2:15 - Roach Hotel - I Won't Lye, This Will Hurt

"Come out ya fancy steam machine there, Weisenheimer. We don't mean you and the madam no harm," said the man wearing the eyepatch, unexpectedly appearing in the center of the passenger-side window. He chuckled as he noticed Kate flinch at his sudden appearance. The stranger then backed away holding a pipe in his left hand, removed his derby hat with the other, and bowed as if at a formal dance. "Theodore Gold, at your service and these are all of my, erm, business associates."

The motley assortment of men cackled.

More tapping on the rear of the vehicle brought Gerald's eyes up to the rearview mirror. He noticed another man making his way around to his window. "Kate, how do you want to play this?"

Kate slid the pistol across the seat and sat forward, making sure the thug calling himself Theodore did not see it. "I got this one. He thinks he's messing with one of the demure females from this era."

Gerald nodded but never stopped tracking the other man sliding around the steamobile. He held the energy weapon in his right hand, crossed his arm across his lap, and held up three fingers. "One, two..."

Kate kicked open the door, slamming the corner of the heavy riveted object into Theodore's crotch. The action elicited a scream of pain from the gangster and he dropped his lead pipe with a clang. Kate wasted no time, flying from the car to finish her assault on Mr. Gold. She was immediately set upon by two more of his men approaching her from either side. One of the men swung his club toward Kate's head, a move she easily avoided. Ducking beneath the sloppy attack, Kate popped up on his exposed side and planted an elbow to the back of the man's unprotected head and a knee to his abdomen. Without hesitation, she spun, solidified her stance and prepared for a second assault. What she found was a man bathed in a blue electric glow, bearing a look of severe pain.

Gerald winked at Kate and then stepped over the body of the thug lying on the ground at his feet. The Secret Service agent returned his attention to the two walls of men running his way down the cobblestone road from both sides. "Eenie, meenie, miney, toast..."

Kate turned and located Theodore Gold, still writhing about on the ground. "...yeah, you mean us no harm, right asshole? Well, you and your boys picked on the wrong two people to bully today. Maybe you'll think about your lifestyle choice when this is all over."

Theodore narrowed his singular watering eye at Kate. He wheezed, "I am only thinking about what I am going to do to you when I have you bent over."

"Not without this!" Kate screwed up her face as she lifted a boot to bring it down on the gangster's groin.

Theodore kicked in desperation, planting the sole of his shoe into Kate's knee. Pain shot up her leg like lightning, forcing a cry of anguish from her throat. She stumbled backward, her back slamming into the steamobile. It was everything in her being to stay upright.

The thug slowly stood and licked his lips. He pressed his fist into the palm of his other hand and popped his knuckles. "I am going to enjoy this."

Kate reached out with her right hand, turned her palm upward, and then curled her pointer finger, beckoning the man to her. "Come and get it...if you think you can handle it."

Theodore brandished a small chromed knife from the pocket of his woolen waistcoat, angled it, and lunged toward Kate with the blade's edge in front of him.

Kate had only to brush the thrust aside, letting the man's momentum take him past her on her left and into the cab of the steamobile. Ignoring the pain in her knee, Kate rolled over the man's back, grabbed the car's door handle, and slammed the heavy object against Theodore's head as he began to lift it from the vehicle interior.