Red Entaries

Eighteen

Thrusters slammed on the auburn hover car from a militant man with a coarse fur jacket. Tyrone geared his vehicle in neutral as the driver side window slid below his breath.

Before the bodyguard could bark at the fleeing criminal and pull a pistol from under his coat with body armor, there was a rapid clanging and the wild slinging of the perp's handgun unleashing a fusillade of lasers at his open window. Ty lunged sideways landing on brown leather seats, but not before a laser almost grazed his cranium—collapsing the front window where hanging dice were blown off of the fore mirror. He cringed to shield himself from the spattering glass as the first battery was emptied.

After a pause of courageous expectation, Tyrone overextended his arm, unleashing cover fire. Rushing down, the thug would shoot him in the confines of his vehicle, or, having the utmost hope, the Street Slug would run from the police instead.

Ty held his breath even while still reloading his pistol. With a short exhale followed by a deep breath, the bodyguard winched the driver side door open with a strong left arm while swinging his legs under the steering wheel; he jutted himself out quickly—rolling on the open pavement to slide his back against the metal exterior and crouch towards the bumper.

Tyrone spread his vision, clearing the garage and the rear of his hover car. With no vacant threat he scanned further. First he saw the night sky was crowned with a pale Moon, and how the broken columns of street lamps revealed the twinkling stars over the trickling rain down his neck when he suddenly heard a faint moan nearby. "He...lp," and slightly louder than the approaching Sirens.

In open view blasting sounds resonated away from Ty's flank as he ran past his hover car and looked back once to see the first police vehicle arrive to meet a ghastly end.

Half of eight meters north Trevor saw a large dark man stride toward him. He fell to one knee then both, pressing his palm with his remaining strength to cover his wound, bleeding.

"Sir!" Tyrone yelled and holstered his gun.

The chairman was about to faint and fall as his eyes rolled back. The bodyguard lunged, scraping his left knee to catch Trahern's embrace before he hugged the solid pavement. Ty hoisted him up from his knees as Trev yelled. "...Watch it..."

"Sir, I got you," Tyrone scrambled to Trevor and got him out of the storm.

He struggled to gain balance, pointing at the armored police vehicle, "were in a detonation radius...hurry to Blake's car!"

"What, what is it?" Ty said, walking slowly to understand his Boss's rapid mumbling.

"There's a bomb, move!" He yelled, breaking free from his bodyguard's grasp, as Tyrone ran shielding his master. Trahern fell limp below the open driver seat door after an attempt to get in.

"This is too close..." Tyrone muttered, pulling the chairman into a seat thinking a deadly radiant explosion would breach him. He wasn't sure if he should put pressure on Trev's wounds or call for emergency help first, so he did both with a com in hand, and grimaced at his other hand now enveloped in blood as Trevor breathed and shivered rapidly when he fell deeper into the car from a seated position. Ty dropped his com in the bomb's wake—as a deafening explosion rippled through the first floor.

***

Cliff being reborn saw the white sack of his stolen goods was lost as he released a frightful cry, "this cannot be!" With wide alert eyes he ran, but failed to escape the burst of energy that whipped him on the table to roll him off into a sharp drop that popped his shoulder out of place with a sharp pain all at once of shrapnel debris. Clifford couldn't survive.

***

The flash point was followed by a collapsing heat wave that shook the skyscraper's platform and spat concrete from cement stairs. When the combustion force wailed it left an expensive portion of the chairman's building as dismantled debris...not to mention the firing squad of fragmentation that flew at Tyrone and Trevor.

Being stirred, the police motorcade arrived before emergency assistance which the bodyguard notified moments ago about how Trahern's vision blurred and how he started to fall unconscious. Ty shook Trev whenever his head fell limp to remind him to stay conscious and updated his status regularly on the condition of his cold shivering flesh, and calmly gestured to keep his feet elevated while holding pressure on his own wounds, but he struggled to stay awake and not to dream a nightmare he couldn't awake from.

Too soon no distraction could keep Trevor awake any longer. Tyrone would constantly tell him how police vehicles came speeding through the north gate and screeched on their chrome bumpers when the skyscraper's foundation began to burst into a ball of fire, and how the sirens could barely be heard under the roar of the gusting flames. But what startled Trevor the most was when Ty told him about the thug who escaped with an exchange of laser fire through the front gate with an arriving police officer; he knew Trev couldn't bear the news of the officer being dead.

A blue squadron of enforcement vehicles parked before the untamed fire. Their objectives: sweep the area, neutralize any threats, and rescue the dispatched private investigator, Blake. One hover car remained patrolling while seven others parked at strategic locations securing the protection of the arriving hover ambulance and hover fire engine.

Once Blake's vehicle was spotted it became like the brightest star of the night. Officers swarmed out with weapons and flashlights while their doors closed, and steps strode in unison. Tyrone was caught roaming the wide lot with his arms raised and hands open to block the beaming lights opaquely as they lit up his damp physique.

As Ty pleaded for his wounded chairman, he ignored the police orders as they tried to grab his hands that orchestrated his speech and pulled him to the ground which mucked up his apparel.

The bodyguard yelled as they cuffed his wrists. The Chief who held a gun on him the whole time put it in his holster, crouching down on one knee, and gently putting Tyrone's chin upwards to meet eye to eye. "

Do you see that man lying in front of the fire?"

Ty responded, "Yes, which one?"

The officer was about to offer him another straight question to place him in a squad car for that response, but luckily, he was interrupted by a female police officer.

"Chief, there's an injured man, the chairman, in Blake's hover car, he knows him," she gravely pointed in Tyrone's direction.

"Alright," the Chief said, placing Ty's chin down carefully. "Have this man questioned. The FBI will want to know about this."

The police Chief ran towards Blake's wrecked hover car while sending updates for the arriving hover ambulance; then pulling out a small flashlight, he was greeted by a kind male officer.

"Sir, it's not good." He was pressing on the wound as the Chief bobbled his light over the blood-red survivor. Agitated and moaning. The Chief left his light over Trev's clamped eyelids. Then whistling to the arriving medics with a deep fresh voice that comforted Trevor, but still shaking in the cold wind as the fire's shadow was brightened by the swerving hover ambulance it followed.

Tyrone was let go and applauded for saving Trevor after his identity was verified while there was a sigh of relief to see his Boss being rushed in a gurney. They covered him in a blanket and an oxygen mask. Ty was proud of how his ex-chairman held on, but they weren't through yet.

After the hover ambulance was clear, Tyrone found black shades, cigarettes, and a small umbrella in his coat pockets. The Chief approached Tyrone, calm and smoking. Ty was surprised to see him cry.

"That man who died, Blake...he will be a renowned hero...who protected the chairman from being killed, and thanks, you helped Trevor too. The FBI's case must go on, they're so close to catching the blackmailers. But this? I...knew Blake like a brother..."

Tyrone comforted him. "Sorry, for you."

Fire warmed them, fumigating the first floor creating a brazen furnace as rain shielded them, leaving flames encased in steel pillars, but mourning their fallen friends, the sun rose into a new brilliant rainbow.

Inside the hover ambulance Trevor used his comwhen the medics weren't looking. The asteroid auction listing stated thatanother bidder dropped out and Trev was neck to neck with Moon Landers Corp fora bid of twenty-five billion. Yes! Trahern thought. So close! I'm tied withnumber one! The asteroid lot is almost mine!