The Argonaut Affair (TimeWars 7)

"Get back behind me, Professor," Hunter said, reaching out quickly and pulling Moreau behind him.

"Don't make us do this, Hunter," said Delaney.

"Sorry, Finn," said Hunter. "I've got my duty. If you want him, you're going to have to come through me to get him."

"No one's taking me anywhere!" Moreau said. "Fight like dogs for all I care! I will do what must be done myself!"

He disappeared.

"Finn, he's clocked out!" Andre shouted.

Hunter turned around and Steiger hit him with a flying tackle. They fell to the floor, but Hunter recovered quickly, striking Steiger in the temple with his elbow and throwing him off. Delaney was on him before he had fully regained his feet and he slammed him against the wall. The breath hissed out of Hunter, but he brought his knee up into Delaney's groin and smashed a hard right into his face, then reeled back from Steiger's right cross to his jaw, ducked beneath his left and drove his own fist into Steiger's solar plexus. He followed it up with an uppercut to Steiger's chin and then turned toward Andre just in time to catch a spinning wheel kick to the head. Her heel connected with his temple and he staggered back, bounced off the wall and fell to the floor.

"Son of a bitch hits hard," said Steiger, rubbing his chin. Delaney was still doubled over, clutching his groin. "You okay, Finn?"

"I'll live," Delaney managed to reply, though his voice was a bit high.

"Nice work," Steiger said to Andre. "You two are slowing down," she said. "You should work out more often. What do we do with him now? We can't just leave him here."

"No, and we'd better get out while we still can," said Steiger. He bent down over Hunter's warp disc and started programming coordinates. "I think we're going to need some help. We'll clock him back with us and turn him over to Curtis. Then we bring the Rangers back with us and hit this place with everything we've got."

"Major Curtis!" the sentry shouted.

Curtis came running. From the direction of the river, four people dressed in ancient Greek costume were coming toward him. Two of them supported a third between them, with his arms over their shoulders.

"Hold your fire!" Curtis shouted.

"Got a prisoner for you, Major," said Steiger. "Capt. Reese Hunter of the Special Operations Group." They dropped Hunter to the ground at Curtis' feet.

"Well done," said Curtis. "Mission accomplished?"

"Not exactly," said Delaney. "We've got a problem. A big one. Hope your boys are ready for some action, Major."

"The whole thing was a setup," Steiger said. "The opposition got suckered in as badly as we did. Our old friend Drakov is behind it all. He's using the congruent universe as a staging area to launch an attack on our timeline using beings created by genetic manipulation. We've just come from his base. We're going to have to go back and hit it before he has a chance to move his operation. Hit it hard."

Curtis was all business. "Sgt. Peck, Corporal Willis, take charge of the prisoner. Lt. Nelson, clock out to Galveston and get the strike force mobilized and back here on the double. Pick up your attack coordinates from Col. Steiger." He spoke into his communicator. "Condition Red," he said. "Repeat, Condition Red. We're going through. Unit will assemble at the picket lines on the double. Move it!"

"Look out!" Peck shouted.

As they had started to help Hunter to his feet, he had uncorked a haymaker into Willis' midsection and now he and Peck were rolling on the ground, struggling. Nelson aimed her plasma pistol at the pair.

"Hold it!" Curtis said. "You'll hit Peck."

Peck had rolled over on top and was trying to pin Hunter to the ground, but Hunter brought a knee up sharply and Peck grunted and went limp on top of him. A second later, Peck wasn't on top of Hunter anymore. Hunter had disappeared and Peck dropped about a foot to the ground onto the space where Hunter had lain.

"What the-" Nelson said. "He got Peck's warp disc!"

"Never mind," said Curtis. "It was set for HQ. He'll have a nice surprise when he clocks in. Get some battle gear for these people, move it! You're busted to corporal, Peck. Private Willis, on your feet! Fall in!"

The Rangers began to clock in at the picket line, ready for battle.

Moreau ran through the clean room of the laboratory, smashing racks of petri dishes and destroying the equipment. Tears ran down his cheeks as he obliterated his life's work, killing his creations before they ever had a chance at life. He knew that somewhere in here, hidden among the others, had to be the creature Drakov had created and he had to make certain to destroy that one above all others. Once that was done, he intended to kill Drakov, even if at the cost of his own life.

Nothing mattered anymore except the ending of it all. He had devoted years of painstaking research and experimentation, sacrificed everything to his work, suffered the derision of his colleagues and the insults of petty bureaucrats and government officials who referred to him at best as "the mad professor" and at worst as a monster without a conscience, "the modern Mengele." He had sought to improve the human condition, to broaden the capabilities of the race, and they had vilified him for immorality, accused him of playing God with human reproduction even while they backed his work and used his developmentally stunted creations as if they were android slaves. They had never given him a chance to allow his creations to develop to their full potential, partly out of fear and partly out of a self-serving justification-it was all right to treat them as sub-human so long as they were not fully developed.

The hominoids were never allowed a chance to stand on equal footing with humans and now they never would receive that chance. It was over. His life's work, wasted. "That will be enough, Moreau!"

Moreau turned to see Drakov standing at the entrance to the clean room, a laser pistol held in his hand.