Machines of darkness Part six

Part 6

            Waade had been working in Clayton’s personal security unit for weeks now. He never caught a glimpse of the man as he patrolled the private offices and living quarters of Clayton’s personal Staff.  No Surprise though being that the man rarely left the upper two floors, which were his living Quarters.  There were three other floors.

 The first was all security. The lifts stopped here, you were scanned and if all was well you got on another lift. No one went any further without clearance.

 The second floor had all machinery and maintenance personnel. They had their own power generation, water and food storage, all here also.

 The third floor is where Clayton’s offices were located, along with housekeeping and kitchen staff.  There was a small medical facility fully equipped for major surgery, and staffed by the finest money can buy. These three floors are where Waade had been thus far.

The upper floors had only a handful of seasoned and highly trusted guards. But today Mr. Clayton was going out on a rare excursion to tour a new facility and do a uniwebb conference after. Waade was chosen to be part of the escort, and he had to admit he was excited to get out of the building. Some challenge and possible danger sounded appealing after so long without it.

Waade’s role today was minimal, crowd control only. He was told to mingle with the crowd and report anything suspicious. While Clayton’s seasoned staff took the responsibility over him themselves. In his supervisor and coworkers eyes he was still green and needed to prove himself to them. Waade didn’t care, he was out under the morning sky enjoying every minute away from the office. So far things were uneventful. 

Clayton toured the newly acquired Deep Tech. facility, which specialized in deep space sensor probes and other similar devices. It was a secure compound and the staff and few visitors were cleared, so little to worry about. It was the Uniwebb conference taking place outside the building in the landing zone that was going to be the real challenge.

Waade was finishing a walk around the perimeter when he was told over the comm that Mr. Clayton was on the way. Waade searched the crowd, looking for anything out of the ordinary. After he was satisfied, he gave the all clear along with several other guards watching from different locations around the zone. Just then a door opened and several guards stepped out with purpose. They were dressed in dark, fine cut suites which covered sleek body armor and the standard multi- phase pistol. Black polarized lenses staring down the crowd, daring someone to step out of line. After a minute of scanning the crowd visually and with weapon energy scan devices, one of the guards went back inside. He reemerged followed closely by a man who looked to be in his middle years. He was average height and build, with hair that was almost white in color. Waade moved closer to get a better look at the man while watching the crowd of onlookers.

 The former owner and C.E.O. of  Deep tech. stepped up and told how excited and happy he and his staff were to be working with such a prestigious man and company. He then introduced his new business partner who moved to the front of the small covered entryway to deliver his statements to the crowd and the Uniwebb transceiver.

As Mr. Clayton spouted the usual rhetoric, Waade half listened and watched the crowd. The surrounding area seemed clear but he was getting a feeling something wasn’t right. It was a feeling he hadn’t had since his service days, and usually he was right. Waade worked his way forward through the crowd, looking for anything suspicious.  Waades pulse sped up; his senses became sharper the closer he came forward.

“Where are you?” thought Waade as he looked everyone over closely. He found himself among the press just feet from Clayton. Anytime now it was going to happen and Waade was ready. Hand in jacket resting comfortably on the pistol grip Waade concentrated and waited.

Only minutes passed when a man wearing a press pass was noticed moving forward slowly. There was something in his hand Waade couldn’t make out. It could be nothing but the more he watched, body language and nervous sweating said otherwise. Closer and closer the man moved toward Clayton, no one seemed to notice. Waade moved with him until he was in arms reach, ready to spring at a wrong move. The man was glaring at Clayton and shaking visibly. He was gripping so tightly to something his knuckles were white.

Waade moved closer to the man, he could feel the threat from him like heat from an oven.  Until the man did something, Waade could only watch. After several minutes of psyching himself up, the man made his move. He pulled a spring loaded gun from his pocket and tried to aim, but his arm was locked in Waades iron grip before he got it past his hip. With a primal scream of anguish and rage the man ripped free of Waades grip and turned on him just long enough to fire. Waade felt a sharp pain in his ribs but chose to ignore it and charged forward.

“Die you murdering bastard!” the man yelled, eyes blazing with hate at Clayton. He was climbing the few steps between him and his target. Weapons were drawn and sighting in on both sides. The air grew thick and time seemed to slow as Waade ran reaching out for the man. He could have shot the man but no guarantee he would go down before getting a lucky shot off first.

“Get down!” Yelled Waade as he crashed into the man simultaneously pulling his gun hand downward.

The two landed in a heap on the steps. Waade saw the red rimmed eyes, the fevered look in them. He knew this man didn’t have anything to lose and would die finishing his task.

“You killed her Clayton!” the man snarled.  “You killed herrr!”  With desperate strength the man threw Waade off and stood. Before the others could get there, gripping his pistol Waade spun the man around and hit him across the jaw. The man was out cold when security descended on him.

Waade looking around saw nothing amiss and Clayton was safely away in his shuttle. Now he could take a breath and relax and enjoy the high the action brought. Except for the two inch sharpened spike in his ribs, it was a good day.

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