Son of Tesla

SON OF TESLA: Chapter 44

PETAR TRIED TO SHOUT out to Jem, but his breath had been knocked out of him by the impact of the vucari. The vucari's teeth had clamped around his leg, but they weren't digging into the flesh yet. He still had a chance.

Petar knew that vucari had delicate electrical sensors in their mouths; it was how they tasted their food. Overloading it might shock the vucari into letting him go. Or it could force the thing to tighten its grib, tearing Petar in half. Of course, Samil would kill Jem if Petar didn't find a way back to him. He made up his mind.

The vucari whipped its head and skittered around another corner, spearing a soldier with the tip of its barbed tail as it flew past. The soldier went limp immediately as the barb pierced his heart. He flailed like a scarecrow over Petar.

Taking a deep breath, Petar wiggled his fingers and plunged his hand past the rows of black teeth into the spongey mass inside its mouth. His polytransmitter emited a sharp pop as it released a single high-voltage static charge.

From deep in the vucari's throat came an ear-rending scream that flew over Petar with the fetid stench of blood and flesh. He screamed with it; he couldn't help it. The vucari clamped down over his leg even harder, then the pressure disappeared as the vucari sat back on its haunches and shrieked again.

Petar wrenched his leg free and tumbled over the top of the vucari's ridged head. It couldn't even feel him there – the ridges were solid bone with no nerve receptors. Petar grabbed hold of one in each hand and held tight as the vucari dropped to all fours again and lunged over a table. Bullets zipped past him like bees. The soldiers were still firing. Several thudded into the vucari's flesh near Petar's knees. He felt the static as purple blood seeped from the wounds and drenched his torn jeans.

Like a racehorse rounding a track, the vucari whipped around the perimeter of the lab. At one point, Petar had to let go with one hand to avoid being crushed against the wall. After a precarious moment, he snagged another handhold of bone just as the vucari spun and lunged toward a loose group of running soldiers.

He was getting the hang of it. The vucari moved with a fluid grace, and Petar began leaning into the turns as the beast whipped and thrashed.

The whole time, he scanned the lab for Jem and Samil. It wasn't easy – the lab was embroiled in pure chaos. Machinery and boxes of supplies were scattered all across the floor. Finally, though, he spied them: Samil had Jem by both hands and was dragging him across the floor toward the back wall.

Petar momentarily loosened his grip on the vucari's bone mantle and slid down its neck to the first stubby tentacle. He'd seen the Shadowfen do this on Volos. Besides the Koscheis, they were the only ones who'd been able to reasonably tame a vucari.

"Tame" was, of course, relative.

Getting a solid grip on the sinuous, fleshy tentacle, Petar heaved his whole body to the left. The vucari resisted for a moment, then surged left with a scream. Now they were careening straight toward a wall. Petar shouted and leaned to the right. His knees lost their grip and he swung all the way off the vucari, dangling only by the thick tentacle. This time, the vucari responded instantly. With a lurch that sent Petar spinning, it curved past the wall and began barreling directly toward Jem and Samil.

Samil turned at the sound of stomping feet and froze where he was, watching the massive vucari bear down on him. Petar was still hanging off one side of the beast's flank, and it was slowly turning in that direction in response to his weight.

It was going to be close.

Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten. The vucari surged closer with each step.

Samil's eyes were wide, all traces of arrogance gone for the moment.

Jem's head whirled around, his blind eyes straining to see what was coming.

Petar let go of the tentacle with one hand and swung down lower, lower, until he was nearly scraping the ground.

Samil saw what was about to happen and tried to spin out of the way, but Petar was already there. His hand launched down and gripped Jem just below the elbow, wrenching him out of Samil's grasp.

Samil hung on for just a moment too long. His body whipped out at the end of the chain formed by Petar and Jem, then he went sailing across the room. At the same time, Petar released the vucari's tentacle and he tumbled painfully to the ground with Jem. The two rolled, Petar trying to shelter Jem's body with his own.

Finally, they slid to a stop. Both of them lay gasping on the cement floor. Then Petar stood, pulled Jem up with him, and the two stumbled deeper into the maze at the rear of the lab.

Thanks for reading my story! Please VOTE and let me know what you think of it so far, then check out Chapter 45!