The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Chapter Six



Simone walked briskly down the long corridor, lit poorly by a series of strip lights that shone a dim yellow flickering light; those that were working and many were not.



Timothy Summer kept close to the flapping hem of woman’s frock coat, aware that her hand hovered near a holstered weapon, while the two guards behind him had swung the shoulder straps of their pulse-rifles round and now held them.



The two men of Brood stock seeped fear, yet they trudged on obediently, as their roles were what they had been bred for.



‘But, I can’t make her out…’ Timothy Summer mused, glancing cautiously left and right, searching the shadows, for a possible threat.



‘After all,’ he reasoned, ‘there might just be some truth to the stories I’ve heard of the old city…’



Summer traced his hand along the right wall, as he walked: the walls were scorched and blackened, with water dripping from the ceiling and down the pipework.



“If we’re going to run into Troggs, it’ll be just round the next corner, or so…” the detective mumbled, as she swept the left side of her frock coat behind her with her right hand behind herself; as she drew her side-arm with her left.



Then she called out, “Drexel, give Summer your backup piece. I know you both carry one and, he may need it…”



“I notice she doesn’t offer her backup to ‘im…” Drexel snarled resentfully, from the side of his mouth, so that only Rexel could hear him.



Simone had stopped walking, as he searched inside his bulky jacket and she suddenly raised her right hand, noticing the moving shadows on the wall, listening as something large slithered toward them…

Chapter Five



Having entered the small room, Simone indicated that they stand in the centre of an etched circle, which covered much of the floor.



“Basement,” She called out to Alice, the building’s A.I.



A friendly yet stern voice came back with, “Clearance required for that level...”



One guard turned to the other and muttered, “Basements down in Old Time City…”



“I know…” His companion replied dolefully.



Neither man had been that far down before and, they’d heard stories, of mutants; of monsters and, much worse…



“Detective First Class Simone Knight… authorization Delta Two.”



It was nearly the highest-level clearance and Alice knew better than to dispute the request: “Certainly Detective First Class Simone Knight… certainly.”



They began to move downward slowly at first, then the lift gained speed, it’s momentum not hampered by friction; the motion was smooth, fast and effortless.



“We nearly there yet?” The talkative guard muttered.



Alice spoke: “Now within two metres of Basement level…”



A second later the lift came to a rest, in a room with fire-blackened walls and a heavy door, its red paint burnt and peeling.



Noticing an expression of curiosity flit across Timothy’s face, Simone explained: “It happened during the cities rebuild and over a hundred of the Brood and ten humans were killed that day…”



“Your men are Brood…” The off-worlder observed.



“Yes they are and, they’re wary of this place. Frag, they don’t even know why. It’s… it’s almost like those killed had a connection to this generation of Brood…” Simone added, glancing at the two bulky guards.



As she finished speaking the doors opened, with a creak, before the inevitable hiss.



“A hive memory passed through their D.N.A.?” Summer suggested, as the clear guard around the disc descended back into the floor.



“I have no camera’s out there… in the corridor… so, be careful…” Alice suggested.

Chapter Four



The car descended slowly, turning as it did so, to meet Simone Knights designated place, atop The Protectorate building. Prior to touchdown, wheels aligned and the car landed on all four; Simone was good at parking; ‘Of that there is no doubt,’ she thought wryly. Then she turned off the engine and turning round, she looked at Timothy, looking squashed and apprehensive, sitting between the two large guards.



“Okay, this is the way it’ll go,” she began, “I’ll go first and you follow. And Timothy?…”



“Yessir… erm, Detective… erm, yes… Ma’am…” His nerves showing.



Simone opened the rear left door with a push-button on the dash and one large guard exited, with Timothy following, then the second guard.



The young man looked up at the dark red and grey of the thick chem clouds as he stretched his limbs: “Looks like the rains due,” he muttered.



Timothy had been out in a rainstorm once, lucky enough to dash beneath a shop awning down on the streets first level. He had seen someone not as fortunate and witnessed the flesh stripped from their bones, as they were just a arms reach from where he had stood, watching and stretching out. But, he’s withdrawn his arm, when the rains fell and his thick jacket burnt away…



“You alright kid?” Knight asked Summer, frowning.



“Sorry…” he snapped back a scowl on his face, “I saw the clouds above and I kinda spooked out, I guess. I saw someone killed in one of them storms once… and…” He closed his eyes, the melting eyes still haunting his waking moments.



“Well, let’s get indoors then Summers… alright?” Simone Knight was too used to allowing emotion to show. Yet, here she was… being compassionate.



What they saw at that moment puzzled one of the two guards: “you see that?” He quizzed of his colleague over their mic. “Yeah,” his colleague answered, “weird.”



Simone locked the black ‘n white and led the way across the half-full parking area, then across the roof to a small structure, fronted by a green safety door.



A brass plaque fixed to the lintel above the door carried the legend, ‘El Pluribus Publicus’ – for the public’s convenience.



The motto was as far from the truth as could be. The Protectorate had been acquired, much as the city had and in turn, much of the planet. And then, the Corporations had moved outward, into our solar system, then beyond.



Timothy knew the reputation of the cities Protectorate, the elite enforcers who kept the populace in lawful constraints. He had heard of the many people, who had entered the building, never to leave and, briefly he wondered if that was to be his fate.



Stern-looking, Detective Simone Knight slid her keycard against a reader next to the door, hardly noticeable, to a general passer-by, as if there would be such a thing atop The Protectorate building: “C’mon!” She called to the three behind her.



Timothy gulped hard, as he saw the detective disappear into the dark and he found himself wondering, “What is there behind the green door?”

He pulled on his trousers, as the banging on the door continued.



“She sounds quite insistent,” the young man muttered, a moment before calling out, “Door!”





Chapter Three



A very tall woman stood before him. She wore a long grey smock coat, over a short jacket, trousers and boots.



She had broad shoulders, defined cheek-bones and piercing flint grey and blue and green eyes, her white hair cut close to the scalp.



She flourished a pass that proclaimed lawgiver status, declaring: “I’m Simone Knight, Detective First Class…”



“Uh-huh,” Timothy acknowledged with a brief nod of his head: “And, how can I help you?” He asked, briefly appreciating the shear bulk of the two men behind her, both wearing similar uniforms in maroon and, a helmet with a smoked visor.



Each man had like Simone’s, powerful looking.



The trio were impressive and more than a little intimidating Timothy thought, realizing immediately they were Brood, capable of many things onerous for humans, one of which violence, overt and extreme.



Glancing to his left and right and noticing heads disappear back into doorways; the young man stared at the tall white-haired detective before him and cautiously asked, “Is it important?”



Detective First Class Simone Knight scowled before replying, “I requested your presence in the name of the city, it is important. Do you understand?”



Timothy reached for a pair of nearby boots that he pulled on as a guard stepped forward and pulled his tunic jacket from a hanger.



“Move it son,” the hulk of a fellow instructed gruffly, thrusting the clothing to Timothy, who took it from him and dressed hurriedly, feeling very conscious of Detective First Class Simone Knight staring intently at him, as he did so.



Then with each guard guiding him by the elbow down the corridor, towards the lift

Timothy followed the tall woman, as she walked ahead.



The doors opened, they entered and Timothy stood behind the tall woman, flanked by the two guards, who carried an air of quiet intimidation in the small lift; and as they travelled downward he looked up to his left, then up to his right. As he did so each guard looked down at him, with a sneer of derision.



To these Brood he was just another little Earther: it hardly mattered to them he was a Spacer, he looked like the herd, so to them that’s what he was. And, the herd were to be maintained and kept in their place, for the benefit of the Corporate whole.



“So where are we going?” Timothy asked, as the lift reached the reception for level two and the door hissed open.



No-one answered.



Again the two large men guided him by the elbow, through the crowded reception area and towards corridor, towards the main doors to the second level, where those could afford to live did so.



And, Timothy continued to follow, as Simone walked ahead and people stood aside to let the quartet pass uninterrupted.



“Okay, get in…” Simone demanded of Timothy, indicating the open rear door of a black and white car that stood before the main doors to the second level entrance to the Podtel...



One large guard eased himself into the car first, then the other guided Timothy to the seat next to him. Then he got in himself and the door closed.



Timothy looked to the left and up, then right and upward before gulping hard and stuttering, “So, where are we going?”



Simone Knight entered the black and white and with her right arm draped across the front seats she turned round to look at Timothy, as the door shut behind her: “You’re a witness for the City of Greater Liverpool, alright? Now stop asking questions. That’s my job…”



Timothy shrank back into the padding of his seat, feeling very small and cramped, sitting between the guards, in the back of the black and white, that lifted slowly on its thrusters, with the wheels turning outward.

As the car lifting into the air Simone steered it away from the roadways of level two and across the city, toward the large dome of The Protectorate.