Endworlds - Nicholas Read [49]
“You can adjust the intensity here. At full power a short burst will fry anything organic or destroy any electronics that aren’t appropriately hardened.” His grin returned. “At the lowest setting it makes really good popcorn. The beauty of it is that unlike a lot of contemporary weapons its use leaves no residue of any kind and there’s little or no damage to the surrounding environment. Nothing blows up, there are no bullet holes, no craters. And it’s dead quiet.”
His tone turned suddenly modest and introspective. “Because of that I thought these might be really useful in your—in our work. If we had these against the teeleoth, we could have literally fought fire with fire.”
Tucker held her weapon up to the light. “Pretty sharp, kid. What happens when the power supply runs down?”
Holding his own pistol upside down, he flipped open the panel on the bottom of the butt to reveal adjustable pins. “You plug it into the nearest wall socket to recharge. Any plug, any current. There’s an internal transformer.” He looked suddenly uncertain. “This Cassandra Foundation you work for gives you light-bending coats and other advanced gear. How come you don’t have bigger weapons?”
She shrugged. “Our mandate is to push the strays back where they belong, and only engage if they prove a threat. Our gear reflects that. But I bet if we asked for these, they’d have found a way to get them to us.” She smiled wanly. “But who knew this type of weapon existed?”
Lion caught her gaze, their eyes both shifting in Eastwood’s direction. “Yes, who knew?” he said slowly.
Though the cabinet held a dozen of the weapons they took only eight, enough to equip their squad of seven and put a spare into their own lab for reverse engineering. Their London base had some bright kids on secondment from Longcoat detachments in India and China, individuals who had a gift for taking things apart and reproducing them in volume.
When they were finished Eastwood shut the doors, which relocked automatically, and they started back the way they had come. Glancing over a shoulder, Tucker noticed that the newcomer was hanging back.
“C’mon, Eastwood. We got what we came for.” Seeing the look on his face she added, “Didn’t we?”
“I guess we . . .” He paused. “This all looks so familiar.”
“Well, duh,” Jax jeered. “Looks like you’ve been here before, alright. Was daddy a researcher here? Or were you a hacker in your past life? I just wish you could remember how and why you know all this.”
“Yeah,” Tucker added, “though for now I’m pretty happy to settle for the new toys. They will be helpful, Eastwood.”
“It just seems that there’s so much more to be learned here,” he murmured.
Lion had reached the door and opened it slightly to check the stairwell beyond. Everything Eastwood claimed thus far had turned out to be true, but that did not mean he was ready to forswear the group’s normal cautionary procedures. The way was clear, the overhead lights still dimmed to save electricity. He activated his coat.
“Any reason we can’t make further sorties?” he inquired.
Eastwood brightened visibly at the notion. “No. Sure we can get in again. That’s a great idea, Lion!”
“I have them occasionally,” the group leader replied dryly. “Coming back here again might help us both. Besides, you look like this lab is your home away from home.”
“He is kind of like a robot at times.” Jax glanced over at their young guide as the four of them exited the weapons lab and sprinted upstairs to the surface. “You’re not some cyborg they made here, are you?” Reaching over, she punched him in the shoulder. He yelped most convincingly.
“Nope,” declared Tucker as they prepared to enter the corridors and go silent. “He’s just a confused little sweetheart.”
In front of her Lion flinched slightly at the use of the affectionate. As group leader