"No."
Her voice struck out across the chamber. He looked at her with irritation and she saw, what she had known all along. It was a trap. They were doomed. She looked at him like he was a monster, a terrifying creature. The Plebes watched as she expressed all her years of hate, fear and anguish at this one man. She sprang across the chamber, whirling at him. A flurry of fists and palm strikes, twirling in a deadly dance. The Plebes gasped and shouted at her. "What are you doing?" cried a horrified voice. Daisy. Anna gritted her teeth and continued the onslaught. "Run! All of you run! He's going to hurt you!" she called in terror as Blackburn missed a block and groaned as her fist met his groin. She was on fire. A whirlwind of pain and suffering and revenge as she walloped him. He blocked most of her attempts but the Plebes stood still in shock. Here was the wild girl from Stow. Attacking their professor. The hate in her eyes was tangible, the ferocity with which she fought, deadly. She was aiming to kill. WHOMP! A tree trunk sized arm slew her to the floor.
"Anna you complete moron, you idiot! You're an animal!" Wyatt cried. Anna was gasping for breath on the floor, small rocks were kneading into her skin. Vik was swearing in disbelief.
Blackburn looked up from her carcass, her scratches still embedded in his arms. "Actually Ashwan," he panted. "She's right." He touched a hidden pad and the Plebes screamed as a large, metal cage was dropped from the ceiling, pinning them.
"Sir what are you doing!?" screamed Wyatt. Anna groaned and tried to move but was quickly slammed down by a heavy boot. His foot was on the small of her back and she was not going anywhere. "Right. Shut up, all of you!" His voice penetrated the furthest reaches of the cave. "Here's how it is gonna go. I've disabled all your processers. No one knows where you are. You are mine." The Plebes huddled together, and gaped in disbelief.
He glanced up beneath furrowed brows. "I'm sorry it's had to go this way. I'm sorry you had to be the ones…" His voice trailed off. He took a shuddering breath. "Some of you I regret", his eyes landed briefly on Wyatt. "And some of you I relish this opportunity," he looked quickly at Vik and then pointedly at Anna, curled on the ground. Blackburn raised his voice above the sniffling, disbelieving sobs of the caged Plebes. "But I have no choice. The consequences…. Are too great."
"Lieutenant Blackburn, Sir?" A small, harsh voice called. Wyatt. "Lieutenant Blackburn, please, you don't have to do it. Please just let us go. You can still let us go Sir!" Blackburn closed his eyes in regret, blocking her out.
Underneath his boot, Anna coughed, "don't bother Enslow. There is no point. He's beyond reason." She swore. She was rewarded by the foot lifting off her, only to be caught in the ribs with a sharp kick and pinned beneath his muddy sole once more. He took a deep breath. "You may as well know," he said. "Vengerov is the man you should hate. He caused Cruithne. He is the real monster. And now he has in his hand a weapon so powerful, it could change everything and destroy all life as we know it." His words sounded crazy, insane. But his voice was steady and reasoned. He continued. "The consequences are too great. Sacrifices must be made." Tom! Could it be to do with Tom? That was when the storm began, when Tom disappeared. Anna's hand gradually made its way across the stone floor, closing in a fist around a hard, lethal rock.
Wyatt's voice rang out. "Sir, what are you talking about?" Blackburn ignored her.
Vik was doing his best to shift the cage and getting nowhere. He started screaming abuse at Blackburn sounding frenzied. "What are you doing!? You bat crazy git! You can't do this, you won't get away with this! There are 11 of us here, they'll be looking for us!" As he shouted, his words a train of fury speeding towards his captor, Daisy noticed her roommate's hand clenched round a rock - Anna tensing for action. Daisy took a deep breath and before her courage deserted her, started shouting too. Blackburn looked up at them, his bounty below him momentarily forgotten.
Anna sprang into movement, she slid out from under him as his lapsed attention released her slightly. Her feet scrambled across the rocky floor, skating as she manoeuvred into a half crouching position. Her first palm throw was blocked by Blackburn's defensive strike. Then the rock was flying through the air like a scythe, hammering into Blackburn's skull. Her second action, after the palm throw, the almost immediate slamming of the rock, penetrated his defences and Anna screamed as she struck. Blackburn staggered back, black blood spilling from the cut in his head. He lifted his fists. BAM! He forced her back with his arms and she rode the blow, spinning out. Anna recovered and used her momentum to attack again. Her arms were a blur, her hair flying behind her like a kite. The Plebes watched mesmerised. Vik was shouting encouragement to Anna, as they saw the wild girl from Stow, fighting for her life, a red kite defending her young. But Anna could not win this fight.
Blackburn gathered his concentration, he didn't want to seriously hurt her, she would be useful later, but he needed to stop this. He grimaced at the thought of the underhand tactic he would use on the capable, fierce young woman fighting before him. But he did it. His fingers, weaved through her defences and gripped her breast. Hard. She yowled slightly in pain and twisted away. His other hand had slipped to her waist and he pulled her towards him with his hand down the front of her trousers. She yelped but he had her in a lock, one hand under her bra, and one pinning her to his chest by the knickers. He pinched her and she screamed in pain, then stilled in fear. Her face was flushed with exertion, shock and embarrassment. "Stop Faeilr," he growled. "You don't want to know what happens next." He shoved her around, pressing her to a rock so she lay across it, on her back. "You can't win". Blackburn tethered her hands with a black rubber restraint and secured her to the rock.
The class watched at this battle. Daisy realised she had had no idea with whom she had been sharing a room. She didn't know who this girl was, who had somehow fought Blackburn, who knew him intimately, who had memorised his every movement. Who was now glaring tearful daggers at him. Their captor reached into his pocket and rang a number. "This is Lieutenant James Blackburn. Put me through. Now." He waited a few moments. When he next spoke his voice had changed into a gravelly menace. "Vengerov. Release him. Now. I have 11 of your precious Plebes here, and their neural processors. I WILL kill them and destroy the processers. Listen to my voice and tell me I am bluffing."
"Noooo!" Wyatt's nasal plea echoed through the chamber.
"You shall have it", Blackburn replied to the voice on the phone. He stalked over to the cage and gripped Wyatt's arm, he gently scraped some skin from her hand and released her, scanning it into a small device to send as proof of her captivity.