ASMSG Scifi Fantasy Paranormal Emagazine August 2014 | Page 31

room. This man was about my height, but seemed to have
the strength of four men. I leveled my gauntlet at him, but
with a sweep of his arm he leveled me. I grasped the side
of my head from the blow and recoiled into the fetal
position when he drove a booted foot into my sternum. I
felt pain like I had not experienced since my time as a
prospect.
I looked up to see the man throw Thom across the
room and into a wall. The Sheetrock buckled under
Thom's weight and he smashed through the wall and fell
limp to the ground. I knew I needed to move, but the
sharp pain in my chest prevented me from doing so
quickly. I struggled to breathe. There was nothing else I
could do as Taggert's brother drove his foot down onto
me again. This time I knew there would be broken ribs
involved, the evidence of it protruded from my ribcage
and punctured the skin on my right side. I gasped for
whatever amount of air could replenish my aching lungs
and labored as my chest cavity expanded with each
attempt.
"Linnis," I heard a woman shout barely over the
ringing in my ears. I tilted my head up to see my target
stand there with dark hair that rested above her shoulders.
She was dressed in a pant suit with gold adornment along
the edging of the jacket. I could see the look of shock on
her face, but was it because her monster of a brother was
attempting murder in her home, or was it the fact that two
policemen were in her home? She could surely put two and
two together and deduce why we were there. She was
targeted by the Syndicate.
Linnis stood down from his attack and crossed his
arms in a defensive pose. It was clear his older sister ruled
his small little world, but I was unsure to what extent her
control over him would last. I could see Thom move
slightly out of the corner of my eye which was a small
relief in a rather bleak introduction to the Taggerts.
"Forgive my brother," she said as she extended a hand to
help me up. I grasped it with my right hand and the blue
beam that shown from the diffuser of my gauntlet
illuminated upon her shoulder. She stared at it for a
moment before speaking, "It would seem that Linnis
interrupted a rather important assignment, Mr.?" she
paused and waited for me to say my name.
"Blackwell, my name is Serus Blackwell," I said with a
rasp. I could barely stand, let alone talk due to the pain.
"Well, Mr. Blackwell, to what do I owe the honor of
the momentous occasion?" she asked after dropping her
arm from my grip and walking slowly to a plush navy blue
love seat that was nestled against a gray wall. I noted that
this was the most respectable piece of furniture in the
room, a room with dirty laundry and electronics strewn
about haphazardly.
"I think you are aware of that by now," I said.
"Yes, well, I can only assume at this point that
someone in the Syndicate has it out for me. The reason…

SFP Indie Issue 3
you may be more privileged with that information than I
am," she said as matter-of-fact as she could.
She was a strong woman. That was for damn sure.
I exhaled deeply and retrieved the communicator
from my pocket. The missed calls were stacked up in the
queue, but I ignored them. I didn't have time for returning
them. I scrolled through the assignment list and opened
the file for Mira Taggert, I scrolled down the holographic
image that appeared above my communicator and found
the supposed reason for the assignment. "Apparently
someone believes that you have been embezzling money
from your business and stocking up your wealth. There is
evidence that points towards fraudulent account
transaction and misrepresentation for expenditures
through your corporate entity, Taggeris Incorporated."
Taggeris was a company founded by her great
grandfather about a century ago which was the leading
manufacturer of the electromagnetic plates and nano-fiber
used to repair our artificial atmosphere. They had
revolutionized the technology that otherwise had not
changed much since its initial inception. Now the service
life of each plate was extended by four times the previous
models service life. To put it in layman's terms, they are
more efficient and more reliable than the previous
competitors out t here. It was also much more expensive.
"That's nonsense!" she stood exasperated. "Our
company was founded on integrity and I would never do
anything to jeopardize my family's company. It means
everything to me," she said.
"That's not my problem, Ms. Taggert," I said coldly
as Thom, who was now sitting upright against the
crumpled wall that Linnis had thrown him into looked up
at me. His face was bruised and a small amount of blood
was dried under his nostrils.
"Do I not at least have an opportunity to confront
my accuser?" she was stalling. I could tell that she had
noticed the extent of my injury and planned to leverage it
against me in order to make her escape.
"You know it doesn't work that way," Thom said
sourly. He knew the system and how it worked, just as
much as she did. Mira looked down as Linnis stepped
behind her and draped his arms around her.
"I know," she replied as she curled into Linnis' arms
and placed a delicate hand around his neck. Her face
drifted into his shoulder as she waned from the reality of
what was to be her end.
Linnis looked up at Thom as a barely audible whisper
escaped her lips. I was not attuned to reading lips, but
based on the cold glare when Linnis stared at Thom I
could see that this family was not going to go down
without a fight. Without any type of physical warning
Linnis lunged at Thom and bore his full weight into
Thom's stomach. I could hear the air escape in a solid
burst of air that reminded me of a balloon bellowing the
air as it was squeezed free from its confinement, even to
the staccato bursts at the end of the exhale.
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