2137

The creature paced in front of the bars, occasionally looking inside. Every time it did, Waits moved back behind the shelf, holding his breath. He had remained crouched the whole time, and that position was beginning to hurt. He couldn't move too much, though, or the son-of-a-bitch would notice.

He had to move, though. Quietly, slowly, he sat, trying to loosen the muscles in his back. He heard something pop, and he froze, afraid the creature heard it, too.

Where the fuck are Sterling and the others? Waits resisted the urge to snarl under his breath. The other Marshals better have a damn good excuse for why they were taking so long-

"Jesus Christ, what is that?!" Turner shouted.

The creature turned away from the bars and screeched at the three approaching Marshals. Waits got up in time to see Sterling pumping his shotgun, firing at the creature. It dodged, though a few pieces of buckshot grazed its arm.

"Get outta the way!" Garcia yelled, shoving Sterling aside as the creature charged toward them. It scrambled up the wall, disappearing into a vent before Sterling could get another shot off.

"Dammit," Sterling hissed. "Where's Waits?"

"In here." Waits stood by the bars, relieved he didn't have to hide in that store anymore. "Don't bother trying to open the gate. I got myself in here, I can get myself out."

"We heard screaming and hissing over your radio and were almost convinced that thing got you," Sterling replied, watching Waits squeeze through the bars.

"Not a chance," Waits grunted as he pulled himself out of the empty store. He was embarrassed about the others watching him, but refused to show it. He took charge as soon as he was standing. "Alright, where'd the asshole run off to?"

"Went in a vent leading to the upper mall," Sterling said.

"Shit. We wanted it down here. We need to get it down here. It'll lose interest in us once it realizes there are a fuck-ton of more vulnerable targets up in the apartments."

"We can seal the vents and lock the elevators, right?"

"We can. Turner, contact Ricardo back at base. Tell him to lock everything. And gimme your shotgun."

Within minutes, there was a series of loud, heavy clangs as elevator doors and vents closed. Turner and Garcia were sent down to manually lock the doors leading to the transit station, to keep the creature from using the tunnels. Waits and Sterling headed up to the main floor of the mall.

Waits gestured for Sterling to stay behind him. He knew that might not be the best idea, due to his fears that Sterling was working for Ransome, and he could easily shoot Waits in the back of the head once they were completely alone. However, that didn't happen. Sterling didn't make a single hostile move when the two were alone.

"Waits," Sterling whispered. "Over there." He gestured with his shotgun, and Waits followed the barrel to one of the counters in the food court. The bladed tip of the creature's tail was resting on it.

The two quietly approached, shotguns ready. The beast was behind the counter, trying to pry off the cover of a vent, and growling in frustration. It fell silent when it managed to pop out two of the screws.

Oh, no, you don't. Waits crept forward. He wanted to nail that thing in the skull. Given the size of its head, he figured two or three shotgun shells would be enough to kill it-

Son-of-a-bitch! Waits nearly cursed out loud when the creature disappeared into the kitchen behind the counter. He was about to throw himself inside when Sterling grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't! That space is too small. You might get hit with its blood."

Waits let out an irritated sigh, but he knew Sterling was right. He lowered his weapon, and stepped back beside Sterling. "I think . . . we need a new plan. We can't confront it like this."

"What are you suggesting, mate?"

"We set a trap. Line it with explosives." Waits took a breath. "Make sure it's uninhabited. Make sure no one's near it. And then blow it. We'll make sure it's sealed off. The station's going to be decommissioned anyway. No one's gonna miss anywhere we destroy."

Sterling didn't argue. "You're positive you want to do this?"

"One hundred percent positive," Waits replied. "You know how to build bombs?"

"I have some experience. First, we need to pick a spot to rig, so I know how much we need built."

"I want multiple traps set up. In case one fails, we'll have plenty of backups."


Waits wasn't comfortable just sitting in the Bureau, waiting for Sterling to gather the material he needed to build explosives. He paced, feeling as though every passing second just gave that creature time to find its next victim.

He looked at a clock, groaning when he noticed it was eleven at night. He was tired, he hadn't put anything in his body aside from coffee, and he knew he needed some kind of sustenance to keep himself going through this mess.

Lissa was sitting with one elbow on a desk, somewhat asleep when Waits walked in. She opened her eyes upon hearing him give a heavy sigh.

"We didn't get it. Not yet anyway." Waits sat at his desk, realizing he hadn't sat down all day, and he wasn't counting the crouching and hiding he did from the creature in that empty store. He looked over at Lissa. "We're working on it, though."

"Better than nothing," she replied, softly.

Sitting allowed Waits to relax a little. Tiredness came crashing down on him, and he began wishing he was cuddled up with Lingard in bed. He thought back to when they began sleeping with each other, how they gradually learned how to get used to each other being so close. It didn't take very long, and Lingard had no qualms about swatting Waits with a pillow whenever he started snoring or hogged the blankets.

She'd give an annoyed sigh while sitting up, and grabbed a pillow, raising it above her head and bringing it down on Waits's face, whacking him repeatedly. "Stop snoring!" she hissed until Waits woke up.

"Hey!" Waits grabbed the pillow from her. "What's the matter with you?"

"Can I have one night where you're not snoring and taking up the blankets?"

"Want me to go sleep on the couch?"

"No!"

"But you're obviously very annoyed with my sleeping habits right now."

"You're not sleeping on the couch."

"Make me."

Before Waits could get up, Lingard threw her arms around him and brought him back down in the sheets. "You stay right here."

"OK. Whatever you say, sweetheart." Waits sighed. "You know, you're louder than I am, and you're the one who doesn't want Ransome knowing."

"How am I loud?"

"You're yelling, and you're beating me with a pillow. Do you have any idea how this is going to sound to people outside?"

"Oh, I don't care right now. Go back to sleep."

Waits enjoyed that memory. It calmed him down, let the tiredness seep further into him. He gave in, despite a part of him saying he shouldn't sleep until that creature was killed and disposed of. When he rested his head on the desk, he felt sleep claim him quickly, like someone had dropped a heavy blanket on his mind.

"Waits!" someone hissed.

Was he dreaming or was someone calling his name? Who was calling his name?

"Waits!"

Was it Lingard? No, the voice was male and heavily accented . . .

"Waits, wake up, mate!" Sterling shook Waits's shoulder.

Half-sitting up, Waits tried to shake the sleep from his mind. He swallowed before turning to see Sterling standing next to him. "What?" he moaned.

"We've got . . . another problem. Suddenly, calls flooded in from people claiming androids are malfunctioning. They're trapped in their apartments. Apollo's not responding."

"What do you mean, 'androids are malfunctioning?'"

"They're attacking people. Random rooms are now restricted. I have no clue what's going on."

"If they're all connected to fucking Apollo, then they're all malfunctioning. You have my permission to shoot them on sight. I don't want any of you leaving the Bureau without a shotgun." Waits stood up, and looked at Lissa. "You're not to go anywhere without an escort, understood?"

Lissa nodded, and put her head back on the desk.

As they left the office, Waits glanced at Sterling. "How're the bombs coming?"

"We don't enough material in the armory. I'm going to have to make some crude IEDs, and . . . that means I have to go over to Systech for it. No one's used those labs in years anyway."

"Alright, but you're not going alone."


The two didn't see any signs of the creature as they boarded a transit car to Lorenz Systech Spire. Both were armed with shotguns and revolvers, and Sterling was carrying a stun baton.

Things were quiet until Sterling took a breath. "I really am sorry about giving things to Ransome."

"Don't worry about it. You've been proving your loyalty over the last day or so," Waits replied.

Sterling was silent again. He looked at Waits. "He was planning on sending you my . . . my records from the Gold Coast police department, if I didn't do what he asked."

"When you say 'record,' do you mean you were arrested or something?"

"No. I was an officer, and I didn't have the most impressive service record. I was . . . mediocre, at best. Couldn't catch anyone. I had terrible luck. Such . . . terrible luck, and I was let go. I had to wait a year before I could take another job like this, and my record would follow. I didn't know if the Marshals would take me, but they did, yet I was afraid my luck would follow me, especially when they sent me here. To this empty place, where they knew there'd be no action, where they knew I wouldn't be able to fuck anything up."

"Well, you did fuck up by getting suckered by Ransome."

"I don't know how he got his hands on my records. That was what happened." Sterling took off his glasses, sighing as tears filled his big violet eyes. "I guess the others have nothing he can use against them. Just me."

"You know, if you spoke to me in private about that, I wouldn't have assumed you were a willing mole."

Sterling shook his head. "I was afraid of you. And I knew Hazelton wasn't going to do anything. The others-the Marshals who've already left-all said you were loathed among the ranks."

"I can't say that's true, but I also can't say it's not." Waits sighed. "I know I can be a bit harsh on people."

"Having worked with you closely now, I think . . . I think you mean well, even if you are a bit crude. You want the job done."

"Thanks. Wish you had said so earlier."

"When we head to Gateway, at least . . . at least that'll give us a chance to start fresh."

Waits nodded. "Yeah." He managed a smile. "You're a good kid, Sterling. I'm sorry for putting a gun to your head earlier."

"Apology accepted, mate."

The transit car stopped in the Systech Spire. Waits stood up first, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder while waiting for Sterling. They were both nervous as they left the car, and neither thought the other was weak because of it.

They were greeted with near-total darkness. Sterling seemed to know where he needed to go for that material, so he led, and Waits followed. They were on edge, glancing around, jumping at every shadow that moved.

A sound made them both freeze. It sounded like a scream. They jogged toward the source, in one of the labs-

A door suddenly slammed shut in front of them. Through the window, Waits could see the creature looming over a petrified maintenance worker. Nearby, the corpse of the man's partner lay, nearly torn apart. The blade on the creature's tail was covered in blood and shreds of tissue and flesh.

"I can't get the door open!" Sterling shouted.

"They must've locked it from the inside," Waits said. "Goddammit, that thing's gonna kill him!"

"I'm working as fast as I-"

He was too late. Inside the room, the man's screaming was cut short when the beast rammed its inner jaw through his skull. He twitched once, maybe twice, then lay still. Waits expected the creature to feed on the corpses, but it didn't. It just left them.

"What the fuck?" Waits murmured.

Sterling was paler than he had ever been. He couldn't take his eyes off the carnage that had taken place just seconds ago.

"Son, don't open that door-" Waits shoved Sterling behind him when the creature screeched and charged at the door. It paused when it realized the door wouldn't open, and growled before turning away, leaping into a vent on the ceiling.

"I wasn't even close to opening it," Sterling said, softly.

"It just murdered them. Son-of-a-bitch is worse than an animal." Waits couldn't comprehend this in the slightest. He was in shock, appalled. "I'm gonna blow it straight back to hell." I have to kill it before it gets to Lingard.


Sterling knelt with a box of assorted materials. Next to him were containers of explosive powders, and Waits held a flashlight over the box so Sterling could see. It was eerily silent, aside from Sterling mumbling to himself and the slight clinking of metal as he rummaged around.

"With this plus what we have in the armory, I have enough to make five charges," Sterling said.

"We'll need more than five."

"Frankly, I think it'd be safer if I just grabbed some boxes and we went back to the Bureau."

"Fine. Load up what you can."

"Aye, sir." Sterling began placing his materials in an empty box nearby. "When we get back, I think you should get some rest."

"I can't sleep while there's a monster on board and you all are working."

"Mate, you need sleep. I saw you earlier, before we got all those calls about the Joes. You were conked out on your desk, and it took me awhile to rouse you. You need to rest, and you need to get some food and water in you. You've been powering through the last thirty hours on an empty stomach."

Waits knew Sterling was right, and he was starting to trust the younger man. The tiredness of earlier was threatening to seep back into his brain, but he wasn't feeling thirst or hunger. Just tiredness. He couldn't let the desire for sleep overtake him just yet, though.

Thinking about it did no good. Waits struggled to stay awake and focused as Sterling carefully organized his materials and set the boxes on top of one another to carry back to the Bureau. He wondered if the skinny man would even be able to carry them all to the transit, but someone needed to have their hands free to use a weapon.

Waits took some of the burden off of Sterling by taking his shotgun, revolver, and stun baton. Slowly, Sterling lifted all four boxes. He couldn't see past his load, so Waits put himself on high alert. He listened carefully for anything out of place. His ears pricked when he heard footsteps that weren't his own or Sterling's.

A Working Joe stepped out of the shadows, marching toward them. "You have entered a restricted area. I'll have to report this to Apollo," it said.

"Kiss my ass," Waits grumbled. He lifted his shotgun, blasting the android's head to pieces. White fluid sprayed and spurted from the android's body as it crumpled to the floor. Waits looked at Sterling, and shrugged, giving a lopsided smirk. "That felt good."

Sterling actually smiled back.


Waits didn't find someplace quiet to sleep until he knew the Bureau was locked. He couldn't sleep just yet after that, though; on his computer was a new message. He thought it was another civilian calling about a malfunctioning android, but was much happier to see it was from Lingard.

Her message wasn't very happy.

"Waits, I saw the creature. What happened? You said you and your officers were going to trap it in the habitation towers. Are you OK?

"Morley's been getting stressed the last few hours. We have no idea where Kuhlman is, and the other doctors and nurses aren't happy with having to stay out of the hospital. Some are scared, some are frustrated. I had to get into an argument with someone who started blaming you for this. I know this isn't your fault, sweetie. I figured it was best to let everyone take a break. They retreated to the lounge, and Morley and I stayed outside the hospital to watch the patients. I hated watching Morley break down; he's usually so much more upbeat and willing to work. He's at his breaking point. I let him go off for a smoke break, and that's when it happened.

"Something huge and black as ebony crawled out of a vent. It grabbed someone in a bed. Everyone who was awake started screaming. The patient was screaming. You could hear their screams echoing in the vent when that thing dragged him in. I didn't know what to do. What do you suggest?"

Waits sighed and rubbed his face. The tiredness receded a little. His brain was a mess of sleepiness and worry for Lingard. Two obscenely strong forces pushed and pulled at each other. His primal needs and his love.

His love won out, and he immediately sent a reply to Lingard.

"We planned on trapping the son-of-a-bitch in the lower mall, but that didn't work out. I called my team down, but I was nearly jumped. I was chased into the mall and had to hide out in one of the stores. Sterling and the others arrived, but the creature escaped before anyone could destroy it-went up a vent in the wall. Sterling and I followed, but when we realized there was no way we could trap it and shoot easily, I decided to form a new plan. We'll trap it in a room full of explosives.

"Just keep me updated on where you see it. I won't do anything without letting you know beforehand. I promise.

"For the record, I'm OK. A little rattled, but OK. I kinda figured you'd be worried, especially since I'm worried about you. I really don't want you to get hurt, and it'd make me feel a lot better if you were able to come shelter in the Bureau. You and Morley. I know you can't. Just remember what I said last night-if things get bad, come to me. If you can't escape, I'll come to you.

"This'll be over soon, honey. I send you hugs and kisses."

He sent his message, then put his head on his desk. Like earlier, sleep came as soon as it noticed Waits's mind was vulnerable. He just wished the comfort of sleep was the same as the comfort of Lingard's embrace.


Question: How would Waits have handled Towers?