Rainbow Over Sunnydale: Chapter 28
By Joseph Black
Disclaimer: Red Storm and Tom Clancy own Rainbow and Characters. Joss Whedon owns Buffy and Characters. Anyone else belongs to me. I make no profit of the following except to have a little fun.
Spoilers: Buffy to present. Rainbow to Bear and the Dragon.
Authors note 1: I am adjusting the Buffy time line slightly, this fic starts just after "Never Leave Me", moving things back about a month.
Authors note 2: I can't seem to get Fanfic to except my special formatting. So anytime you see this '* anything inside is in a foreign language. And if you see this [*] it's some ones thoughts.
Authors note 3: Got 11 reviews for Chapter 27 that's a new record for me. Thank you all who have reviewed.
Notes to Reviewers:
Jaelle: Thanks for the review. I am going to have some fun with the "What do you mean you knew all along!" meetings.
LmiC2001: Here you go!
Dorothy: Xander is not really hurting…yet.
John: Thank you. I'm glad that you like this enough to keep an eye out for it.
Lazybones: Your wish is my command.
Liliaeth: Thanks for sticking with me. Spike is on his way.
Bolo: No I agree with you, Kennedy had definite power issues. She was always looking for the Alpha female. It would have been interesting if Allyson Hannigan had agreed to do Angel this season to see where Whedon would have taken the relationship.
Warren: Thanks Warren. How bout an angry Slayer?
Catlimere: Thanks. As far as relationships between the various parties is concerned there will be some bumps in the road, but it should be a fun ride.
Ack: Here you go!
Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully ignored.
Colonel Alistair Stanley was forced to let go of Giles when a small hand slapped his wrists; the same hand then forced him to stand back as Buffy Summers placed herself between him and her watcher.
"Uncle Alistair, NO!" Molly screamed as she caught up with him and grabbed him around the arms.
"What is going on?" Clark barked angrily.
"Ask him," Stanley snarled, "Ask him where they recruited Molly from!" The Colonel settled down a little, not wanting to hurt his niece.
Clark turned to Giles, noticing the confused look on his face, "Well?"
Giles looked uncomfortable, "Molly's parents were killed when she was a child, and since she had no other close relatives the council 'adopted' her. It's not unheard of."
"No close relatives?" Alistair growled. She had my whole family! Two grandparents, another aunt, and me!"
Giles paled, "That's not what I was told," he finished, somewhat lamely.
Buffy turned around and glared at Giles, "Are you saying that The Council kidnapped potentials?"
"In the past yes, but they haven't for years…." Giles trailed off as Buffy turned and headed for the gym.
Giles watched as Buffy slammed through the doors and hung his head. Not even looking at the others he walked away. Molly was talking quietly with her Uncle, calming him down. Annabelle was hanging around listening to them when Kennedy grabbed her by the arm and led her away.
Frayne, Pete, Ding, and Clark stood and stared at each other for a minute or so till Ding turned to Clark and asked, "Do you want me to go and talk to her?"
"Only if you want to," Clark replied. "If she doesn't want to talk then don't push."
"Do I look like I want to spend time in intensive care?" Ding asked as he followed Buffy toward the gym.
Clark turned to the others and said, "Why don't you see if we are missing something here," motioning to the maps, "I'll go talk to Giles."
Ding checked the doors to the gym out before he followed Buffy. Both sets of hinges were sprung, and one of the doors actually had a handprint imbedded into the wood. On the other side both of the doors had hit the walls hard enough to drive the wall protector back through the dry wall in neat circular holes. Ding cautiously opened the door into the gym privately hoping that Benton or Xander had the sense to clear out of the gymnasium when Buffy stormed in. Apparently they had, as Buffy was alone in the gym.
She was doing a kata with a staff made from a broom or mop handle that she had broken off. Ding was surprised that she wasn't using the heavy bag to work through some of the anger till he glanced over and saw it shattered with a pile of sand under it.
Ding slid into the gym and went over and sat in the bleachers and watched Buffy work out. For the first time he was able to watch Buffy in action with nothing to distract him. He quickly came to realize that he had never seen Buffy at full speed before. Not even when she had taken on those four vampires last night. She was working through her routines with a staff quickly. She covered the gym back and forth as she pushed herself hard, every so often pushing the tip of the staff past the speed of sound with a sharp crack. She didn't just stay on the ground either; much of what she was doing was accompanied by jumps, leaps, and tumbles. When she jumped he bet that she got over ten feet in the air, when it was a leap she had a hang time that would have made Michael Jordan weep, and her tumbles would have gotten her Olympic Gold from any judge. Finally she went from a leap to a tumble and when she came up she did a stop block that broke the improvised staff off at the level of her hands. She stared at the broken piece in her hand for a second then threw it to join the other piece.
Ding fought down the urge to clap at the presentation he had just seen. Buffy hadn't done it to impress him or put on a show, Ding could understand that kind of anger; thankfully he had rarely experienced it himself.
Buffy walked over to where Ding was sitting, a light layer of sweat adding a sheen to her skin, her breathing slightly elevated. She sat down besides Ding and began, "I keep saying to myself that Travers and the Council were assholes, but they wouldn't kill someone just to lay hands on a potential. But a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying, 'you know they would.'"
"Did The Council have people to do wet work for them?" Ding asked.
"Wet Work?" Buffy asked, not understanding.
"Kill people," Ding clarified.
"Oh yeah," Buffy said.
Ding knew personal experience when he heard it, "They send them after you when you quit?"
Buffy shook her head, "They actually took that pretty well, and I think they might have been scared of me a little. No it was a case of mistaken identity."
"Mistaken Identity? Who did they think you were?" Ding asked perplexed.
"Faith," Buffy told him.
"You look that much alike?" Ding asked. That was something that Riley had failed to mention.
"At the time I was in Faith's body." Buffy told him, smiling slightly at the expression on his face. Taking pity on him she began, "How much did Riley tell you about Faith?"
"She was a Slayer that was called after you died back in high school. She went bad and you fought, she ended up in a coma. She woke up a couple of months later and took off. She ended up in LA and turned her self in and is in prison right now." Ding told her. "We really weren't interested in her that much."
"Okay, it was a little more involved than that. Faith hooked up with Mayor, they had an odd relationship. I think that Mayor Wilkins felt that Faith was the daughter that he had never had. He was also a very careful person. He didn't think he was going to loose but he set up something up for her if he did. He left behind a talisman that allowed her to switch bodies with me. Probably thought it was a great revenge. Faith gets away scot-free and I end up paying for what she did. The Council must of have had someone watching Faith in the hospital and dispatched a team to collect her. They busted me out of the ambulance that they were taking me in with and hid out in a warehouse. They didn't believe me when I told them they had the wrong girl, and when they discovered that there was no way that they would be able to get me out of the country they decided to have a nice fair execution right there.
I managed to escape and get to Giles and convince him who I was. Tara had realized when she met my body that who ever was in there was not me and Willow and her had come up with a talisman of there own to change us back. Faith and I fought again and we switched back. In the shock after the change she got away. I followed her to LA thinking that she was going after Angel. I found Angel trying to help her and the Council still after her. It turned out I disliked the council more than Faith so I help her out. She turned herself in soon after to save Angel. She's still in prison, as far as I have heard they never tried anything while she has been in there.
"Do they keep her restrained?"
"Locked up? It's a maximum security prison so I guess they do." Buffy replied.
"No, I mean either drugged or chained to something," Ding corrected.
Buffy looked shocked at the suggestion, "I don't think so, Angel never seems to have a problem talking to her anyway. I haven't had any contact with her since LA."
"Why is she still in jail then?"
"She killed a couple of people?" Buffy asked perplexed.
"She has the same abilities that I just saw you use?" Ding leaned closer.
"Sure. She's a little more brute force approach than I am, but yeah. Why?"
Ding leaned back onto the bench behind him supporting himself on his elbows, "From what I saw you do, if she wanted to leave prison they wouldn't even slow her down. She could jump over the fences and be gone before they could do anything. Heck how fast can you run?"
Buffy shrugged, "Twenty-five or thirty miles-an-hour."
"She would be outside their search areas the first night."
"Okay, she's staying there because she wants to be. So?" Buffy demanded.
"Nothing, just trying to get a handle on her. Do you think that if Billingsly would break her out would she go over to his side?"
"I… doubt it," Buffy said, uncertain.
"Guess or knowledge?" Ding pushed.
Guess, knowledge, a little of both," Buffy began. "When we were fighting in the church me in her body and she in mine I saw a side of her, how she saw herself. It wasn't pretty. If that continued then I know she won't go over, if it didn't then I don't think she will but then I never saw Faith going to work for The Mayor either."
Ding nodded, have to pass this up the chain, maybe get Faith moved to a more secure location. "Are you still good for the mission tonight?" He asked.
Buffy nodded getting up. She headed back toward the main part of the warehouse and said, "Wouldn't miss it, I really need to work out some frustrations."
Ding just stared after her; shocked that she could so causally consider mayhem.
Clark headed for the staircase that Giles had headed up a minute or so before. At the bottom of the stairs he pulled his pistol out of it's holster and slipped it into his coat pocket. He got to the top of the steps and looked both ways. He spotted The Watcher sitting on a railing absently polishing his glasses staring down into his lap. Clark approached Giles and stopped about 10 feet from him.
Giles looked up when he heard someone approach and slipped his glasses back on. Seeing Clark he stood up and leaned against the railing and said tiredly, "Have you ever worked for an organization your whole life, then wake up one morning and realize that you don't recognize it anymore?"
Clark snorted, "I worked for the CIA for thirty-years," He told Giles.
Giles gave Clark a half–smile and shrugged his shoulders; "Well…yes you would have a good idea then.
"When I was ten my father announced to me that I would be a watcher. I wanted to be a greengrocer or a fighter pilot but he was insistent. During my mid and late teens I'm afraid I rebelled. I did some things that I am not proud of, some things that still occasional put us in danger.
My father also initiated a set of reforms designed to liberalize how we treated The Slayer. The Council tended to look at The Slayer as an instrument rather than a person, a disposable instrument at that. He managed to convince the majority of The Council though and the reforms were instituted. For the next two Slayers they seemed to work. We had one Slayer last four years and the next lasted five. We then lost five Slayers and three Watchers in a year. Bernard Travers, Quentin Travers father managed to regain control of the council. Bernard was a staunch traditionalist; he insisted that we go back to the very old ways.
"So you are saying that they probably did kill Alistair's sister?" Clark accused.
"I don't know. Certainly Travers would have felt that Molly belonged to The Council; I can't imagine that unless he had some definite information that Molly was destined to become a Slayer that he would have taken so extreme a step though.
"You said it has been years since the last potential had been kidnapped. How many years?" Clark demanded.
"I don't know exactly, it was sometime in the 1870's though," Giles supplied.
"That's a little more than a couple of years," Clark protested.
It was Giles turn to snort, "Americans. To you 'years' means The Kennedy Administration. The Council has been around long enough that we count time a little differently."
"Were you in a position to know if they were going after Molly?"
"No, I was considered damaged goods because of my father. I doubt I would have gotten Buffy except that after Merrick's death, and with the fact she seemed to be moving to a Hellmouth nobody else wanted the job."
"REMF's" Clark stated.
"Quite." Giles agreed. "General, I promise you that as soon as I am able I will get to the bottom of how Molly ended up in The Council's care. It won't be easy since the majority of our records were destroyed in the blast, but I will do my best."
"If we are to work together that is the minimum that I expect. Tomorrow I also want to know Annabelle's and Kennedy's stories too." Clark stated, leaning back against the railing on the opposite side of the catwalk.
"Very well, they are much less dramatic though."
"One last thing, is there going to be any trouble between you and Alistair?"
"Not unless he starts it. I dare say I would not have reacted as calmly as he did if I believed someone had killed my sister and kidnapped my niece, but I won't stand there and be used for a punching bag either. If we find out that she was indeed murdered and the people responsible are still alive then I will do everything in my power to assist them being brought to justice."
Clark nodded and stood up straight, motioning Giles in front of him he said, "Okay, lets go and get this mission set up for tonight."
As they went down the stairs Giles looked across the room to where the doors to the gym were hanging askew. "Perhaps I should go and talk to Buffy, try to calm her down." He said quietly, more to himself than to Clark.
Clark answered anyway, "Ding is in there now, maybe let her calm down a bit more," He took a good look at the doors too.
The got back with Covington and Frayne and began talking. About five minutes later Molly and Alistair separated with her heading upstairs to an office that over looked the warehouse floor and Alistair joining the conference.
"Colonel Stanley," Giles began, "I'm sorry for the loss of your sister. I will do everything in my power to get to the bottom of what happened that day."
"I want you to understand the pain that this caused my family," Stanley said, "Not just loosing Linda, but even though the Coroner declared the death an accident everyone believed that she had committed suicide with Molly in the car. Linda had a history of depression and when Tom was killed in Northern Ireland she took it hard. We thought she was coming around but then…"
Giles nodded. He decided that it was not an opportune moment to bring up the fact that Molly was probably safer with him and Buffy than being with him. He didn't look forward to that conversation at all.
Willow, Xander, and WO1 Benton came in the front door. Willow and Benton looked chipper, Xander less so. Still he looked better than Covington expected him to look. The two younger people went over to a water fountain that still worked and Xander after taking a drink laid across a bench and Willow began giving him a massage. Benton joined the group and went up to Major Covington. "Well Benton?" The Major asked.
"I would say he has knowledge and experience is commensurate with a senior lieutenant. He has a good knowledge of standard US Army weapons less with some of our more exotic stuff. I had him field strip a M-16, Berretta, and MP-10. He should be able to do the M-16 and Berretta blindfolded, he was confident with the MP-10 but I doubt he would be able to strip that blindfolded. Tactically it was an odd mix, he seemed to have the theory pretty pat, but his practical knowledge was more geared toward squad level, rather than platoon. Physically he can do the basic calisthenics in the recommended numbers and time, but I think his wind needs work. I didn't try to test to destruction, I thought he might be needed tonight."
"Would you issue him a weapon?" Covington asked.
"Not without getting him out on a firing range," he replied.
"Is he special forces materials?" Ding asked.
"I would say he is ready for Ranger School now, I would like to work with him a bit before I moved him into either Special Forces or the SAS." Benton replied.
"Thank You Benton," Covington dismissed the Warrant Officer.
"Very good," Benton replied as he turned and left.
"Okay we need to set up the teams for tonight and decide what the basic load outs will be. Some one find Riley and ask him to join us please." Clark ordered.
"I think he is downstairs checking out the emergency generator," Frayne Murphy said. "I'll go get him."
As everyone was gathering in the gym Lt. Hiedoki approached Maj. Covington and said, "Major, there is something I think you should know."
Pete glanced at his TDA trooper and asked, "Yes?"
"Sir, I have some knowledge of what we will be fighting tonight, just before the turn of the century one of my ancestors was a Slayer. My family still maintains some contacts."
"Do you have any practical experience fighting these things?"
"Hie, I have fought vampires before. The JSDF has a unit trained specifically for that. I served with them for a year before being tapped for this assignment."
"Thank you Kenshin, I'll pass this along. Tonight, if you notice me miss something don't hesitate to point it out."
"Understood sir," Kenshin replied.
Peter Covington felt a little more at ease. Now they had their own person to check with to make sure that they were getting the straight scoop. Looking around he spotted The General and the rest of the senior cadre finalizing tonight's mission he went over to tell them the news.
Everyone had gathered in gym and found seats in bleachers. A table had been set up in front of them and some weapons had been laid out on the table. John Clark approached the table and said, "Okay listen up, we will be splitting into three teams tonight. Team One will be going in through the tree lot. It will consist of Maj. Chavez, Feldwebel Blatter, and Senior Sergeant Lushilov. Buffy Summers will be going with this group," he said nodding at The Slayer who was standing behind him.
The men got a good look at her for the first time. Physically she did not look impressive at all. She looked less than impressive with the bruises that covered the visible portion of her,
"Team Two will be Maj. Covington, Warrant Officer Benton, Lt Hiedoki, Sgt. Unger, SSgt's Johnson and Summers. You will be going in through a passage that we found that leads from the school to the area around the tree lot. You will be going in covered as a work group with Xander Harris," he said nodding at the black haired young man. "His company did most of the construction on the school and he has been assisting Ms. Summers for the last seven years. I would take his lead if you meet anything down in the tunnels tonight.
"Finally Team Three will remain behind at the warehouse acting as either a reserve if it is needed or as a defensive group for our base. It will consist of myself, Colonel Stanley, Captain Finn, SSgt Thompson, Sgt.'s Miller and Sherwood. The local FBI SAC and his assistant will be remaining here to give us a hand as well as Rupert Giles who is Buffy's Watcher." The men looked Giles over, they had all heard that the Colonel had attacked him, something about one of the girls that had arrived with him being his niece; they would all watch him very closely.
"Weapon load outs tonight will be non-standard. Team 1 will both be loaded out with Remington 870 shotguns loaded with slugs. Benton, Unger, and Keefe will also be carrying them. Summers and Unger as your main weapon you will be carrying this," he said as he lifted up a super-soaker.
Both men exploded, "You have got to be kidding!"
Clark took the outburst in stride, he had expected it, "A lot of what runs around down in these tunnels are bullet proof, and even a 12 Gauge slug won't do much more than knock them back. These squirt guns are loaded with holy water, on vampires especially it acts like acid so I am not sending you down there unarmed. For a secondary weapon you will be carrying an MPK. Each of you will be also carrying 3 flash-bang grenades, three stakes, and some holy water."
"The mission tonight is mostly a recon, we want to find out what's down there and how easy would it be to reach the school through these tunnels. There is a secondary mission, if in the course of our sweep you come across this man," he said as Ding passed out pictures to the troops. They looked at them; it showed a blond haired man with a scar on one temple scowling at the camera. "He is to be retrieved. If you find him and he appears to be dead don't be too surprised if he wakes up on you since he is a vampire, if you find a body it means he is unconscious, vampires crumble to dust when they die.
"We are expecting to run into two possible threats down there tonight. The first are vampires, pretty much what you learned watching Hammer Films growing up apply. Bullets won't kill them; the only way to do that is a stake through the heart, beheading, fire, or direct sunlight. I've been told that you can incapacitate one by kneecapping it. I don't want any of you taking on a vamp one-on-one tonight. Ding and I had a run in with one just out of it's grave and it was a handful. They are stronger and faster than you so keep your distance.
The second major threat that is down there is called Bringers. You'll know them when you see them, they wear robes, uses knife, and have no eyes. They aren't blind though and they are fast and if not as damage absorbent as vampires they take a little more than a human to put down. On the plus side they are not bullet proof though, so you can take them down with your firearms.
Finally there is something else wandering around down there. Buffy tells me it calls itself The First Evil. This thing is nasty, but it is immaterial so it can't directly effect you, however it can appear as dead people so one of us shows up and you haven't seen them for awhile make sure you shake hands or touch them. Also be sure of your targets, this thing could pop up between a couple of you and get you shooting each other. Question?"
Sgt Unger raised his hand, "Will the squirt guns work on the bringers?"
Clark turned to Buffy, "I don't know," she said, "I've only run into twice, and I didn't have any holy water handy either time."
Clark thanked her, "Okay, then assume that they won't until you we learn otherwise. Any more questions? Okay get set up we'll be heading out in thirty minutes."
Buffy grabbed Willow and headed over to were Pat O'Day was holding Andrew Wells. When she got there she said, "Willow, why don't you go with Pat to LA? I don't think we'll need you tonight down in the tunnels and he might need some help on the way there."
"O'Day looked at the tiny red-head and said, "I thought the idea was that you would distract this thing and I would get away free and clear?"
"Well you know what they say about plans," Buffy replied.
O'Day looked at Willow and asked, "If you want to come. It would make the trip a little shorter." Not to mention raise the level of conversation beyond Star Wars.
Willow thought about it and asked, "How would I get back tomorrow?"
"I'd drop you off on my way back to San Francisco," O'Day replied.
"Okay, just let me get my things," Willow replied.
Preparations around the warehouse began. Those that were staying spit up and began finding places they could set up defensive positions. Ciquala appropriated the Weatherby that Ding had gotten while Ardel broke out the Barret Light 50 that the unit had, Frank Miller set up his M-60 so not only could he cover two sides of the of the exterior of the building but so that he could turn it around and cover the doors. The potentials and Giles were showed up to the office that over looked the warehouse floor and settled in. A food order was discussed and it was decided to get everyone fed before they left.
As they were waiting for the food Cory Unger and Keefe Johnson were sitting at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the office, "Gees I can't belive that they expect us to go into combat with squirt guns!" Unseen to either of the men Annabelle was on the steps on her way to the bathroom, she stopped when she heard the voices. "I mean what are we supposed to do with this stuff!" Unger went on with Keefe grunting in agreement. "You saw what that thing did to that Slayer girl. Lord if something could do that to her with her capabilities what can we hope to do with this?" He said holding up the soaker. And if you think I'm going hand-to-hand with a bit of pointed wood then think again!" Annabelle turned around and headed back up stairs, a distressed look on her face.
"We need to think this through. Fire kills them right? A normal flamethrower is no good, even if we could get a hold of one we can't use it in tunnels because it would eat up all the oxygen, but maybe a smaller version, yeah something that threw less napalm, just enough to light them off."
"How bout a 12 gauge to the head," Keefe offered. "Less manufacturing."
"Sure, but that's a little closer than I want to get. Have to think on this some more."
Underground near the tree lot
Sunnydale CA
26OCT2002
1945 hrs
Spike bounced against the wall, propelled by a great force. He bounced back and only the chains that kept him manacled to the wall kept him from slamming face first into the floor of the cave he was in. The impact of him being drawn up short wrenched his shoulders almost out of their sockets though. Trifurcates grabbed a handful of Spikes hair and bent his neck back almost to the breaking point. "I can smell the soul in you. Disgusting. You did it for her didn't you? Pathetic," he hissed in Latin, bouncing Spikes forehead off of the floor, "I think that I will improve the bloodline and remove you from it, " He said as he moved his other hand to cup Spikes chin and began applying pressure,
"Don't kill him! " A female voice said from behind him, a voice he recognized.
Snarling Trifurcates released Spike and stood up, dropping into a defensive crouch. Getting a good look at the speaker he realized that it wasn't The Slayer, even with how fast they heal the beating he had given her would have taken longer to heal than that. That made this his 'host'. "Why do you do that? Pretending to be others."
"It amuses me, when you have been around as long as I have you have to enjoy the simple pleasures". The Buffy look alike said.
Trifurcates knelt down besides Spike again grabbing him by the hair he tilted back his head and looking up at the other he asked, "Why should I spare this?"
"His use is not finished yet. I never get rid of useful things"
"He is useful to no one, Not even himself," he said as he shook Spikes head harshly.
"You don't decide the usefulness of things around here Trifurcates," Buffy said firmly.
Trifurcates looked up angrily, "Beware dog, I am Trifurcates, The First Vampire. I am not one of those curs that follow you. I am my own, you brought me back so I owe you a debt but that will only allow so much."
Buffy looked unimpressed, "I brought you back because I thought you would be useful to me. Your usefulness will be limited if you can't follow simple orders. Now are you going to be useful to me the way I had originally planned or are you going to be useful in other ways?"
The figure of The Slayer suddenly flowed into another form, this one Trifurcates realized was one of his children, dark haired and powerful, "That way could be fun though," she said in a dreamy voice. "It's your choice."
Trifurcates could feel the power gathering around the other figure so he bounced Spikes head off the floor once more for good measure then got up and headed out, "I'm going out to feed, if that's alright with you," he snarled as he left.
"Bon appetite," His host said, already dismissing him.
Trifurcates fumed as he stalked down the tunnel to the surface. He then stopped and smiled to himself. His host had made a mistake showing him this creature; she would make a fitting queen. Now he just had to find her.
Back in the cave Drusilla was slowly walking in front of Spike as he hung in his chains. "Poor Spikey, my poor boy," She murmured in sympathy. "All beat up for that Slayer tart. All you have to do is join me, I'll even let you keep her when it's all done with."
Spike wearily shook his head, "Won't hurt the girl."
"Do you really think she is coming?" Spike just hung there saying nothing.
Leaning down she whispered into his ear, "Your hope dieing is delicious to watch." Suddenly standing up she looked out as if seeing through the cave walls, "They're taking my Andrew away!" She said fretfully. Suddenly the dark-haired vampiress was gone. In her place stood a stocky dark-haired man wearing a loud shirt. "Nobody takes one of my game pieces off of the board with out my say-so!" With that the figure vanished in a flash of light and was gone.
Spike seeing that he was alone for the first time struggled to his knees to try to break out of the chains. Besides the bruises he received from Trifurcates, his chest was covered with bloody symbols that had been carved there. He grabbed a chain between both his hands and pulled with all of his might. He was too spent though and after a short time he had to stop as he ran out of energy. He slumped back down as far as the chains let him, and a short time later he was unconscious again.