Here it is, the final Chapter of Excalibur: On The Edge. Read, review and enjoy.
Red lights began to flash, and the entire Hub went into lock down. The cog door rolled back into place, blocking the circular doorway to the staircase into the Hub, and the team could hear it bolt shut. Everyone on the Hub floor dashed into action, towards their work stations, illuminated by a red glow of flashing light.
"We've got a security breach, Level 5. Someone has penetrated the Vaults of the Hub." Jane stated, panicking.
"How on earth would they get into the Vaults?" Juliet asked, bewildered, attempting to get CCTV footage up on screen. "All of the cameras down there have gone down, James, and the server won't let me bring them back up."
"It is possible to get in through some of the disused sewage piping that was shut down by the council because it was rusting and leaking, but it's difficult." Robert replied, matter-of-factly. "Not without disturbing any nearby Moontors who have moved in either."
"It's fairly safe to assume that this is Zakala. I knew he hadn't gone. Thomas is going to be waiting a long time to catch up with him," James replied. "He's probably after his teleportation device. The Rift has been recharging it. We fell into a trap back at the youth hostel, this whole thing has been planned ahead and now he's moving it into action."
"Laura and I'll go down and apprehend him," Alex stated, checking his under arm holster for his gun.
"Be careful. He's proved before that he's a tricky customer to deal with and he's set this whole thing up for us to fall into. Don't play into his hands. Whatever you do, check every shadow." James warned.
Alex and Laura carefully walked down the staircase towards the lowest level of the Vaults. The blonde woman and the dark haired man had their Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa 4.3s out in front of them, with a torch in the other hand.
"The lights have gone. Typical. Again, we're caught up in a horror movie." Alex stated, igniting his torch. Laura chuckled and checked all the way down the corridor.
"He's not showing up on my PDA." She said, as she shone her torch around the high walls and ceilings of the lower Vaults. "Maybe it was just a false alarm," she added, hopefully.
"I'm afraid not, my dear," said a voice that definitely wasn't Alex. She spun around to come face to face with Zakala. Alex lay at his feet, unconscious on the floor, and Zakala was pointing his gun at her. "Drop your weapons, or I kill the doctor."
Laura carefully placed her gun on the ground on the floor, and passed her torch to Zakala.
"We haven't heard anything from Laura and Alex for about five minutes. We still can't get the CCTV feeds back up either," Juliet stated. "However, Laura's swipe card has been used to access the Lower Archives down in the base of the Vaults."
James surged out of his office, wearing his black waistcoat and stuffing his Webley into the brown holster, meanwhile, he was carefully putting Zakala's wrist strap into the pocket of his grey trousers. "I'm going down there. I've got to deal with this. Me and Zakala. Nobody follow me."
James finally arrived at the lowest level of the Archives of the Hub, and found the lights had been activated. Turning sharply to the right, he could see Alex's slumped body. He checked Alex's pulse, and then walked to the right, towards the Archive Room, where he could see Zakala.
Zakala had Alex's gun pointed at that back of Laura's head, ready to fire. James approached the glass panels of the room where Laura was being held hostage by Zakala; it was a room that contained a library of most extra-terrestrial activity that had occurred in this area of the United Kingdom. James tried the door, and found it was deadlocked. He started to try and force the door open with his body, but then realised it was useless.
Zakala opened the door. "Wriststrap." Then, as an afterthought, he added "Please."
James passed it into his hand. "Well done. We fell for your trap. Now, let her go. This is between you and me." In some kind of mocking parody, he also added, "Please."
"Open the Rift James, and I give you the girl!" Zakala yelled, slamming the door in James' face and pointing Alex's gun at Laura again.
"You know I wouldn't, even if I wanted to."
"Of course, I forgot about your principles. How on earth can you justify killing half the people you have killed? You killed your entire species, James, what's to stop you from killing this one?"
"I had to do that! That planet wasn't worth it any more, I couldn't have saved it alone. All because of you!" James shouted back.
"Open the Rift, I can show you planets that are far more worthwhile."
"This planet is far more beautiful and more worth it than you will ever believe! There are wonders that you could not believe, that you will never see because you're so focused on the bigger picture!"
"If you open the Rift, we can go surfing through it and see the wonders of the Universe!"
"Why did you even come to Earth?" James asked, angrily. "You tore my home apart; you are responsible for the creatures that surround you in the Vaults, the Moontors, my family, my people! Now you've come back to torment me."
"I had to follow you, Captain James Harknell. The Higher Ones decreed it." He gestured at Laura's current state, on her knees at his feet with Alex's gun pointed at her head. "Really, all of this is your fault!"
"My fault? Why the hell did you have to bring a Rift here? It began a war before, on my planet, also, it has brought wars on other planets. Why bring one here?"
"As I have been trying to tell you, the Higher Ones decreed it. I can't account for the circumstances if you don't come with me."
"I'd never come with you," James hissed. "You killed my family, now you come here and endanger my new family on Earth. If the sacrifice is one of my own team, to get rid of you for good, then so be it. I'm sorry Laura."
"It is fine, James. Thank you for showing me the wonders of the Universe," Laura stated, with tears starting to form in her eyes.
Zakala cocked the trigger of the gun in his hand. James had to close his eyes as he could see the finger tighten on the trigger. There was a bang and the smell of gunpowder, combined with the smell of fried bacon. When James opened his eyes, there was no Zakala, only Laura's slumped corpse on the ground, with blood trickling from the bullet wound and Alex's gun laid next to her.
Apologies for how this ends, I was informed that I was mean for killing Laura off by my beta. Short Epilogue to follow.