"Take it easy, kid, and you'll be fine." one of them assured.
"Go screw yourself." Chris snapped.
"Hey, Cory, that's a pretty wimpy fish." called an invader who sat on the hood of the jet car parked in the garage as they walked passed.
Taking his frustration out on the boy, the invader who had a hold on his arm, shoved him foreward.
Stumbling, Chris fell to the ground. Quickly he rolled over to glare up at his abusers. But something caught his eye, behind them, along side the garage.
New Jersey? Peggy? They were easing through the pushes, toward the front of the garage.
Chris' heart beat faster. They were almost there. They were going to get away! Get help! Save them!
His eyes snapped back to the three invaders rumaging in the garage. If they had to fight their way through them, they would never get out in time.
That realization slapped the boy like a wet towel. He grit his teeth, desperately trying to think of away to help.
When one of his escort reached down toward him it was as if the answer was being hand delivered... literally. Snatching the outstretched hand, he sunk his teeth into it.
With a yell of mixed pain and rage, the invader jumped back.
Chris scrambled away, climbed to his feet, and yelled at the garage "Hey, dorksville, the tiniest fish here can still think you out of a wet paper bag!" He wasn't sure if the insult made sense, but it had the desired effect. Two of the gargae guards hurried out to help catch the boy. Chris was already running in the other direction.
Peggy paused when she saw Chris run across the yard away from them. She took a step after, but New Jersey yanked her back as two invaders rushed out of the garage and took chase.
The Cavalier stiffened. Damn, he should of thought of that. Of course they had the garage guarded! Chris had probably just saved their butts.
He stepped around Peggy, holding his pistol at the ready. Waiting until Chris and his pursuers were far off, he stepped into the garage.
The remaining invader leaped to one side startled by his sudden appearance. But, before he could draw his weapon, New Jersey had taken aim. The invader froze.
Peggy quickly moved foreward to disarm the man.
"What do we do with him?" Jersey whispered.
peggy's only answer came in the form of picking up a wrench and slamming it across the back of the man's head, dropping him to the floor unconscious.
The doctor looked down at the body, a little stunned at her violence.. "That works."
Peggy hadn't waited for his reaction. She hurried to a work bench and emptied a jar full of nuts and bolts. Digging through them, she found a single key. "get in."she ordered, climbing into the driver's side of the car. When new jersey had shut the door behind him, she turned and grinned at him. "I've always wanted to see what this baby could do."
Dr Sidney Zwibel bit his lip.
Buckaroo tasted blood from his own split lip.
"Where are they?" Perfect Tommy roared again, slamming the back of his hand across his jaw.
Buckaroo's head snapped back, his aching neck feeling the whiplash. Bruised, battered, and bloody, Buckaroo eyes his former friend. "What did they do to you?" he wondered.
"Where are they?" Tommy lifted his hand for another strike.
"Hey!" Rawhide snapped. "Even an idiot can see he isn't going to give you anything! All your doin' is rubbin' your knuckles raw!"
In frustrated rage, Perfect Tommy spun about, drawing his gun, and taking aim with every intention of killing the irritating man once and for all.
"Stop!" Buckaroo yelled.
The gun never wavered, but didn't go off either. Rawhide, in defiance, set his jaw and glared, daring him to shoot.
Buckaroo glanced from one man to another and back. He had lost one friend this day, he didn't want to lose another. "I will answer one of your questions if you answer one of mine." he offered.
That drew Rawhide's startled glance, the other HKCs shuffeling about nervously.
Perfect Tommy glanced at Lady Oran de Nathair who tilted her head with curiosity. After a breath, she nodded and Tommy said "Ask your question."
Buckaroo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Buy time, time used to think of a way out of this... this is good. "You aren't Perfect Tommy, are you?"
The traitor grinned. "I am the perfected Perfect Tommy. Built with a mixture of robotics and DNA, I am a cyborg. There is nothing greater than I." His head snapped around to glare at Buckaroo. "Where are they?"
Buckaroo shrugged. "I don't know."
The cyborg's finger began to squeeze the trigger.
"That's an answer! the only answer i have!" Buckaroo cried.
The lady held up her hand, smileing slightly.
"He's right." Lord Uilc Duine giggled. "Pick your questions with care lest you lose this game."
Sweat trickled down Rawhide's brow
Buckaroo counted the point. "My turn: What happened to Perfect Tommy?"
The fake grinned. He looked back at the man over his shoulder. "Dead." he coed with glee. "You should be proud. Even after we laid his guts out beside him, he told us nothing. It took hours for him to bleed out."
The Cavaliers sat, paled with shock, eyes shiny with tears of pain and loss, and then came anger.
The cyborg was enjoying their reaction. "I was really quite surprise at how long a human could survive without guts. He had a strong heart. Kept beating long after I ripped it out of his gut."
"Chest." Buckaroo corrected, his tone dead, emotionless.
"What?"
"The heart is in the chest, not the gut."
The Lord threw back his head and laughed.
The cyborg snarled. "Do you know where they might be?"
"They might be anywhere. It's been a long time since I've seen either, and this is a big place."
The cyborg stiffened, glancing at his Lady, She shrugged, and nodded. It snapped "Ask!"
"What do you want?"
This time the LAdy answered, walking across the room to stand close to the prisoner. "We want what we deserve: all of Talmhainn, and those which were born to be service to us." Her green eyes narrowed. "My turn: Where would they be?"
Buckaroo watched her for a moment. This was it. he was out of time. He had to give her something or Rawhide was dead.
