Kal's Fury

Part 1

It had been three weeks since Kal Jacobs had last seen his son.  Through the small blurry window of the trans-orbit shuttle, he had waved to him for what Kal now feared to be the last time.  Since returning planet-side, he’d diligently spent the last four days scouring the streets and bolt-holes of New Castellum.

         Finally, after a tip from a reliable street informer (not to mention a healthy amount of credits), Kal was ready to raid the home of a former rival.  It had been years since Kal had given a single thought to Thymus Pierce.

         Thymus Pierce was at one time the heavy-set, cigar-toting crime boss of the north-side of New Castellum.  Respected on the streets and holding influence with those in high office, Pierce was once a force to be reckoned with.  Nowadays, the obese man was relegated to a much lesser designation, barely registering any real threat on the street.  In his heyday, he had been Kal’s deadliest adversary.  At the breaking point of their enmity, the two had almost killed one another in a vicious shoot-out at the Arcadia manufacturing plant near the north side docks.  Kal himself had lost twenty good men, his nephew included.  As a permanent reminder of the affair, Pierce would spend the rest of his life walking with a pronounced limp.

         Simply remembering that rainy night when so much blood had been spilt brought a scowl to Kal’s face.  Trying to shake the memory, he checked the small green read-out from his gauss rifle.  Nodding to himself slightly, he was satisfied to see the full twenty-two rounds showing on the display.  At the press of a button, the large and powerful rifle would send small metal projectiles out of the barrel at near light speed.  Not having held one in such a long time, the weight felt good in his hands.  Pressing the small send button on his psy-com, Kal sent his thoughts to the team, notifying them of the countdown.  The fourteen men surrounding the large oval shaped habitat listened to Kal’s unspoken voice through the mind link as he counted down from ten.

         As Kal reached the end of the count, the calm and cold night air was suddenly disrupted by the successive roaring blasts of shaped charges.  The explosives instantly created an entry point where there was once solid wall.  The men inside were caught completely off-guard and Kal’s team made short work of them.  The high-pitched reports of gauss rounds ceased in less than a minute.

         Without stopping or even blinking, Kal shot the three house guards as they scrambled away blindly from the smoke and debris of the explosive entrance.  Continuing his unrelenting march forward, he shot each man again as they lay on the floor, not chancing their possible recovery and retaliation.

         Heading further into the house, Kal’s men were falling behind him, finding it very hard to match his furious pace.  Kal shot two more house bodyguards as they rushed haphazardly into the room.  The two unsuspecting men were unprepared for the punishment Kal dispensed as they were in flight from the vicious assault from the other side of the house.

         A small tone erupted from the wrist scanner on Kal’s left hand.  The psy-scanner detected the mental signature programmed into its memory and alerted Kal of the match.  Behind the door directly in front of him was where Thymus Pierce would be found.  For Kal, it was about damn time for some answers.

         Kal kicked the door in with one smooth motion, evoking a yelp from the pudgy man cowering behind the hefty rectangular desk in the back of the room.

         A large, dark blue ball of fire erupted from his immediate right.  Kal deftly threw himself to the ground as the sparking shot impacted into the man that was unfortunate enough to be standing behind him.  Blue flame spread all over the man’s body almost instantaneously.  As the man screamed in agony from the psychically charged fire, Kal raised his gauss rifle and riddled the shooter with five gauss rounds.  The sheer force of the impacts sent the man airborne, eventually crashing loudly into a large glass display on the back wall.  Numerous trinkets and trophies inside that had taken years to collect scattered and broke across the floor in all directions.

         Getting back to his feet, Kal risked a quick glance behind him.  A smoking pile of bones lay next to a gauss rifle where one of his personal bodyguards had been standing, the metal frame of the weapon still red-hot.  Renewed anger inside of him, Kal Jacobs strode forwards, weapon raised.

         “Thymus Pierce, you low-life piece of trash… How the hell are you?” Kal said through gritted teeth.

         “This… this… this intrusion is an outrage!” Thymus stuttered.  “The Guild will hear about…”

         “Just who do you think authorized this little excursion?” Kal retorted.  “You think the Guild actually gives two pints of piss about a worthless little peddler such as yourself?  You and I are finally at a reckoning.  I came here for Jake.”

         “Your son?” Thymus questioned.

         “My son.” Kal affirmed, cocking his weapon for effect.  Thymus shuddered visibly at the sound.

         “Why would I have your son?  I’ve steered clear since you’ve become the Guild’s pretty new pet!”  Although shaking, there was venom evident in his voice.  If Kal had been in a better mood, he might have smirked for this small show of defiance from such a lowly man.  But the last few days were some of the worst he had known.  It was time to finish old business and find his son.

         Without warning, Kal rushed forward and grabbed the edge of Thymus’s desk with one strong arm.  In a singular motion, he flipped the large and heavy piece of furniture over.  Data sheets and various other items rained to the floor in several loud impacts.  The fat little man whimpered and jumped against the back wall, sending the chair he was sitting on sprawling away.  Somewhere behind Kal, several of his men chuckled at the scene.

         “Don’t feign bravado with me Thymus.  It’s not befitting of you.”

         Kal gestured to his men behind him.  Silently leaving the room, they closed what remained of the door behind them.  Kal reached to the floor and picked up one of the cigars that had fallen off of the desk.  Searching around briefly, he found a lighter and lit the large round cigar, careful to keep the gun trained on the crying man in front of him.  Exhaling a few big puffs, he returned his steely gaze back to Thymus.

         “It can go one of two ways, Thymus.” Kal started.  Thymus seemed hypnotized by Kal’s rifle, his gaze never leaving from the muzzle of the weapon.

         Kal lowered the rifle to his side and Thymus once again looked up at him.

         “One of two ways, Thymus.  You can give me the information that I know you have.  I walk out of here, and you go on living like a rat in your little cage.”  Kal took an exaggerated draw and slowly released the smoke.

         Before Thymus answered, Kal quickly added, “Or this can get real messy.  I finish the job that I started that night at the warehouse.”  Kal looked at Thymus’s right knee, giving a slight nod in its direction.

“Except I work slowly this time around.  I hear every little dirty secret you’ve ever kept during your pathetic, miserable little existence.  Then I leave you quivering, drooling, and shaking in this crap hole before I blow the entire foundation straight to hell.”  Kal said nothing for moment, letting his words sink in.          

         “Even your cigars have suffered in your failure.  I wouldn’t pay ten creds for that crap.”  Kal extinguished the cigar against the armor of his right thigh and flicked it onto the floor next to the weeping man.

         “Kal, listen to me, I don’t know what they told you I know… but you have to listen…” the fat man began to explain.

         “Thymus, Thymus, Thymus!  You’ve chosen the wrong path.  This could’ve been easy…” Kal said, raising his weapon and moving towards him.

         “Talis!  It was Talis!  Look, I’m a dead man either way.  It was Talis that was last seen with your son.  He’s at Future Market, right off of Sigmund and Second Street!  His operation is setup in the basement.  He’s got about twenty guards around the clock watching the place.  It’s a veritable fortress inside! You’ll never live through an assault!” Thymus exclaimed, spittle spraying from his trembling lips.

         “Good boy, but leave the stratagem to me.” Kal pressed the send on his psy-com and notified the team they were moving out.  Kal turned around and started to walk out of the room.

         “Now leave me!” Thymus said amidst his sobs. “You’ve taken my protection, my dignity, and now all I have left is a small chance to flee for my life.  It should have been you instead of your nephew that night.  You should have died, but luck was on your side.”

         “There was one more thing…” Kal remarked.  He turned around slowly and raised the rifle in his left hand, aiming it at Thymus.

         “I thought you said you’d leave me alone!  Damn you Kal, you lyin’ bastard!” Thymus yelled, eyes wide with terror.

         “I didn’t promise you anything.  Anyways, it’s like you said Thymus, you’re a dead man either way.”

         Kal pulled the trigger three times and lowered his smoking rifle.  The limp and broken body of Thymus Pierce lay in a growing pool of blood.

         “It wasn’t luck that night.  It was the brave act of a young fool.  That’s for my nephew, you wretched son of a whore!”  Kal spat on the lifeless heap, turned, and casually walked out of the room.

         Pressing the map key on his wrist computer, Kal brought up the location of the Future Market.  He and his men had an appointment at Sigmund and Second Street.  Before there could be a family reunion, there was a little more blood to spill.




Talis Strongard was a tall and dark-skinned man that looked to be in his early forties.  A giant of a man, he had a large build with thick, muscular arms.  Kal watched him from far away through the virtuascope held in his hands.  The small oval shaped device cost about the same as a top of the line luxury aircar.  Sending photons through a specialized signal directly to the brain rather than through the eyes, Kal was able to see everything with immediate clarity up to twenty kilometers away. 

Far below, Talis lay on a bench, lifting the long weight staff above his massive chest.  The space at the ends of the staff crackled with electricity, as the technology inside of the bar generated a heightened gravity field, adding hundreds of pounds of weight for the big man’s workout.  The cold morning air was blowing hard on the rooftop, causing Kal to power on the internal heat in his jacket to keep him from shivering.

         Almost three kilometers away, Talis was finishing his last set on the bench press.  Kal observed this from his safe distance, peering through the window of Talis’s warehouse loft.  If the rather large man became aware of Kal and his men spying on him, or Kal’s intentions, things could go wrong very quickly.  Talis was a dangerous and highly respected member of the Guild.  As the large muscular man slowly made his way to the next workout apparatus, Kal’s men were scanning the perimeter of the warehouse below.  If there was another way in other than the front door, Kal was assured that they would find it.

         Kal knew full well that he was playing with fire.  Not only was Talis a connected man, but he was being groomed to become part of the new leadership in the Guild.  Most of the politicians in high office had the Guild to thank for their successful campaigns.  It was the Guild’s backing that had put Kal into office.  A deal that in the end promised him the position of Lord Governor of the entire Planet if he would yield to their resolve.

         Kal Jacobs, once the crime lord of the South-side of New Castellum, the largest city on the planet, had turned legit six years ago.    Knowing all too well how the life of a crime lord would end, Kal renewed his ambition and unique talents into politics.  A chance to forget his past, Kal struck a deal to become the legit and public face of the Guild.  Backed with the serious capital and political pull of the Guild, Kal was able to win a small office in the public legislature to get his fresh start.  Promotions, public praise, and higher office soon followed.

         Things changed rather quickly three years ago.  After a long bout with a degenerative spinal disease, Kal’s wife had died.  In a promise to his dying wife, he vowed that he would no longer live the life of a criminal or despot.  He decided that he would use the Guild to gain office, but his agenda would ultimately not be theirs.  Everything was seemingly going to plan until three weeks ago, when his son had disappeared.  Now Kal began to wonder if someone had caught wind of his scheme.  The Guild would definitely not tolerate betrayal, and would seek to set a harsh example.

         Immediately after waving goodbye to his son, Kal had taken the shuttle to visit the space station Argent II in high orbit.  A political and financial hub of activity, he had gone to lobby support for his next and biggest campaign.  Even Kal had been surprised at how deep the roots of the Guild had grown, as nearly every key member of high society was backing his election.

         Kal shook from his reverie as a voice burst into his mind over the psy-com line.

         “Sir, perimeter sweep is complete.  Two possible entrances were found.  We were unable to ascertain the overall internal structural layout, but we were able to find two weak spots in the foundation that could provide quick entrance.”  The voice in his head belonged to that of his chief security officer, Carl Stern.  Carl, a friend and ally for over twenty years, had become an integral part of Kal’s operations, transitioning quite seamlessly from his old position of chief enforcer to the head of security for a politician.  The jobs were practically the same duty-wise, only now the local Law Enforcers were an option to call for backup instead of being avoided; being legit came with many benefits.  However, for the first time in a long while, Kal was forced to operate once again outside of the law.

         “Carl, set the charges to silent.  I don’t want the whole city knowing about our little war, and not the local L.E. if we can help it.” Kal sent back over the link.

         “No worries, Sir.  I’m registering no Law Enforcers in the area.  Besides, the pastry shop’s five or six blocks south.” Carl replied in a dry tone.

         Kal laughed to himself briefly and then began towards the lift leading back down to floor level.  “Acknowledged, give me a minute to re-assemble at the base, then proceed to your positions and set the timers.  Maintain psy-com silence and await my orders.  Kal out.”

         Talis had left sight minutes ago, presumably going to the lower levels of his warehouse.  Outside, Kal’s men waited in two strike teams, each positioned near a wall of the warehouse layered with plasma charges.  When the timers trigger the charges, each marked area will vaporize two feet of concrete and steel instantly, leaving only a hole wide and tall enough for a couple of men to fit through.  Plasma explosives offered the best technology on the market, but each one came at the cost of a small fortune.

         Kal joined his men a safe distance from base of the warehouse.  Reaching to his side, he activated the send all button on his psy-com.

         “Ready the timers.  Start the countdown.”