Supernova on Twine by Mark Alders Read Free Book Online

with a new sense of vitality
washing over him. It seemed having an eternal inside him had more
benefits than just conversation.
    The two
guards were both surprised and angered by Zane’s charge. He, of
course, used their hesitation about whether he was a complete
nutjob for taking them both on at the same time, or a worthy
opponent skilled in hand to hand combat, to take the initiative and
strike the first blow.
    Hit them both in their jugular notches , Motac screamed in his mind.
    Zane
didn’t know how or why, but with Motac’s encouragement, he poked
two fingers into each of the Banshan warrior’s necks in turn, right
below where their Adam’s apples were located. The result was
instant and gratifying, if only way too short. The two Banshan
grabbed at their necks, choking for a moment before composing
themselves.
    “ I think I just made them angrier,” Zane said, stepping
back.
    “ You will pay for that, human filth,” one of the Banshan said.
He was the bigger of the two, brandishing a pain stick as well as a
laser rifle. Zane knew the rifle could finish him off with one
blast. He wasn’t even wearing clothing, for a start. What
protection did he have against an energy pulse weapon?
None.
    Disarm him! Motac yelled again. Disarm them both!
    How?
    Zane
dodged a strike from the other Banshan. It seemed they wanted to
fight him hand to hand. Was that one of their codes? To take on an
enemy on equal grounds even if they were at the advantage? He
didn’t wait to find out. Zane stood tall, approached the smaller of
the two and without thinking, and again without really knowing why,
he slapped his hands across the Banshan’s head where his ear holes
were. The warrior crumpled to the floor, holding its head and
clearly in agony.
    You did it! Motac said with a
cheer. You found their one major
weakness .
    What did I do?
    Banshan can’t tolerate immediate changes in pressure, and by
slapping that one to cover his ear holes, you disrupted his
extremely sensitive vestibule inside his inner ear—
    Zane
didn’t catch the rest of what Motac muttered about inside his
skull. The larger Banshan had brandished his pulse weapon, pointing
it at Zane’s stomach. It had dispensed with the pain stick, its
weapon of choice clear.
    “ Time to die,” it said with a growl.
    Zane was
truly defenceless.
    In fact, he was worse than defenceless. He had nowhere to hide
and nowhere to run. Zane stepped back and found a rather large
control panel behind him. He had one choice and once choice
only — do the damage
to the induction flow before the Banshan warrior sent him to
oblivion.
    “ Well, gee you got me,” Zane said, placing his hands behind his
back so he could begin his sabotage before it was too
late.
    You feel that large knob? Turn it fully to the left and then
pull. When it comes out, throw it down into the engine chasm below.
If we die here and now, we do so with our duty complete.
    Gee, that makes me feel so much better, Zane said.
    The other
Banshan had staggered to its feet, blood trickling from the ear
holes on either side of his head. “Kill it. Kill it now,” the
warrior said with a slur, holding onto his comrade and using him
for support.
    The
Banshan who held the laser rifle smiled a cruel smirk, a glint of
hunger in its eyes. The thrill of a kill was plainly feeding its
depraved nature. If the thing had his genitals on the outside of
his body, Zane was sure he’d be at full mast right now, a boner
created by his excitement for murder. “With pleasure.”
    Zane
removed the knob from the control panel, producing it for the
warriors to see. “Before you do get rid of me, I think you’ll want
to know I’ve taken this thing out of the panel behind
me.”
    Both
warriors looked shocked. The larger one lowered his rifle. “Give
that back to us, you dirty ape.”
    “ Why should I?”
    They
looked at each other. Zane got the impression that not being able
to protect the workings of the induction flow was somehow