Hive III Read Free Page B

like a child's marble. “Might not look impressive, but they pack as much power as a full-sized grenade. Tilt that arm into the air and you become a one-man mortar team.”
    Ret's got his head buried in his hands and I know just what he’s thinking. If Bron’s ego wasn't overinflated before, it sure as hell will be once the kid’s done explaining these upgrades.
    “ What about my old firepower?”
    “ All there. And, like the grenades, I transitioned your arms to fire slightly smaller shells. Just as powerful but you can carry more ammo.”
    “ Good, but will they be as loud? I mean, I'll be disappointed if everyone's ears aren't ringing after I lay down a barrage.” Bron’s famous brown-toothed smile is back in full force.
    “ Guaranteed to deafen within a dozen yards.”
    Bron thinks he's being funny, but those guns of his have already impacted my hearing by at least 30%.
    Dhal taps a compartment at the base of Bron’s right palm. “Right below your blade ejection port I added something special. Go on, give it a try.”
    Oleg and the others hurry out of the way just in time. Bron aims his palm at a thick wood beam and fires a spear point across the room. It thuds into the solid oak, trailing a thin cord behind it.
    “The cable has a tensile strength greater than steel. Oh yeah, there's one last thing that I added and I think you're really gonna to love this one.”
    “ A built-in toilet roll dispenser that wipes his backside for him?” Ret asks. Bron flicks him a look that says ‘why you trying to ruin my birthday party?’
    Dhal flips a switch on Bron’s left arm, revealing a nozzle.
    “ I hope that's not for moonshine,” I say, only half joking. “Bron after a few drinks isn’t pretty.”
    Ret concurs. “Once, after six shots of something called Grinder’s Delight, Bron ripped out the entire bar and sent it through the window.”
    Dhal suddenly looks like he isn’t so sure arming Bron to the teeth was a good idea.
    Bron taps the nozzle. “Never mind them, what does it do?”
    Dhal swallows hard. “It's a flamethrower that fires something Dusters used to call napalm. A combustible gel that burns at over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Doesn’t matter if they’re human or Zee, whatever you point this at stops living. There ain’t much in there, so use it sparingly.”
    Tears form at the corners of Bron’s eyes. The thought of that much death and destruction always makes him emotional.
    Oleg’s been patiently listening to all this and now stands to speak. “As impressive as this is, let me remind you even the mighty Bron is no match for the sheer number of Zees Skuld is drawing to him. An army is forming and we don't have anything powerful enough to throw at them.”
    “ What about Azina?” Ret says. “You saw how she made those Zees tear the Hive leader to pieces.”
    “ I did,” Oleg concedes. “What remains to be seen is how she will fare when she enters Skuld’s effective zone of control. Who are the Zees likely to follow?”
    “That’s a question none of us can answer,” I say. “Not until we're there.”
    Oleg’s brow ruffles like one of those cranky Keeper professors. “Is that the kind of plan in which the future of the human race will depend on Azina? Let's wait-and-see?”
    As always, I'd love to crack Oleg in the head, but I can't deny the sour old bastard does have a point. We're gonna need more than wishful thinking if we want any chance of stopping Skuld from enslaving humanity or worse, driving them to extinction. Dhal’s got his hand propped in the air again like a schoolboy.
    “ What is it?” I ask, hoping to hell it isn't another fun fact about Bron’s arms.
    “ I know what we can do,” he says.

-7-
     
    “We need to go to White Rock,” Dhal says and pauses, as though any of us have a clue what he’s talking about.
    Ret’s still nodding, waiting for the rest to sp ill out, when Oleg pipes up. “The testing ground, you've been there?”
    “ Of course,” Dhal