Escape Velocity: The Anthology Read Free Page B

his face. “Don’t look so glum. You’re a hero, Doctor, because you gave humans back their future.” He stood, and with a flick of his hand, he lowered his head in a surprisingly poised manner. “I bow to you. The entire world should bow to you.”
           Banger had never thought of it like that. He certainly didn’t feel like a hero. He felt shameful, desperate, and scared.
           Percy sat down and continued. “But you didn’t save your ass, because now they’re after us all because we know too many of their secrets. The way I see it, they’ve declared war.”
           Banger realized his arms were no longer in the air. He breathed easier sensing Percy didn’t care.
           “ By the way, Doctor, you dropped this outside the tram station.” He tossed Banger a small billfold that contained his identification card. “If you’re going to commit a crime, don’t leave your calling card.”
           Banger looked inside of the billfold. All the money had been taken out, but he said nothing.
           “ A galeaper took down my buddy,” Percy said.
           “ Shot with melding-blast?”
           Percy gave a sour expression. “What exactly is that stuff?”
           “ It converts organic matter into the surface it touches.”
           Percy’s facial bruises turned a darker shade of purple. “So, my buddy’s part of the asphalt now.”
           “ Yes.”
           “ Let’s work together, Doctor.” Percy placed the gun on his lap. “How can we out-smart them?”
           Work together? Perhaps Percy had a good idea. If the kid testified on his behalf, and by chance the court believed the story, the ‘war’ would escalate, because more people would know about the galeapers.
           “ We beat them one by one,” Banger began, “because they work independently. The only contact they have with other galeapers is when it’s time for them to leave, but if a galeaper fails to kill its target within a short period of time he never goes home. That’s their law and the reason Farber wanted desperately to kill Lane: he wanted to die at home. They don’t live long here, because Earth’s gravity and other factors greatly decrease their life expectancy. Disarmed galeapers are harmless after they throw a short-lived temper tantrum. Afterwards they can be captured and will tell you anything. Their reflexes are slow and their eyesight is poor. That’s why they lure their victims, so they can fire at close range. And they never work at night.”    
           Banger detected a spark of light in Percy’s eyes. “Doctor, do you know how to make melding-blast?”
           “ I do,” Banger said with pride. He pointed a finger at his head. “The recipe’s right here.”
           “ Then let’s whip up the stuff and kick some galeaper butt, Doc.”
           “ Call me Banger.”
     
    Molly arrived at the precinct minutes after she received Allen’s call. “There’s something here you need to see,” he had said to her in an anxious voice.
           It was dusk. The precinct was empty except for the attendant at the front desk. A cold silence engulfed the station as she stuck her head into Allen’s vacant room. Then a cough directed her attention down the hall, toward the observation room where Banger had been held earlier that day.
           “ Allen?” No response. She approached the observation window with some caution and peered through it. Allen sat on the floor, his back against the wall, a troubled stare on his face.
           She entered the observation room and followed Allen’s gaze to a tan jacket, the type worn by the Edgly Gang, lying on top of what looked like ashes. Molly’s gut slammed against her spine. Unable to untangle the knot that impeded her speech, she turned sharply toward Allen.
           “ You’re too late,” Allen said in a quiet voice. He reached out a