Cog mentally shook his brain as he looked at the cameras in the command center. The


    rest of the prisoners were causing havoc in the facility. He should have expected this


    would happen.


    How did he help them get out of the place? How did he get himself out of the place?


    How did he move things into a way that he could use to cover his escape?


    He should have thought about giving his allies radios so they could talk to each other


    and coordinate their actions. He had to get them together and thinking about breaking


    out instead of setting people on fire, or breaking their bones.


    If he called them over the public announcement center, he would be letting their


    captors know he had taken the room over. The human monitors were stacked where


    he had left them. His captors had never gotten close enough to take his tools from


    him. That was a bad oversight on their part.


    He had to get Corona, Marty, and Ren together with Finch. They had handled the girl


    clown and forced the simian to flee from them handily. Finch had turned into a silent


    monster for the human guards trying to stop her.


    The human teleporter was trying to stop Finch by using hit and run tactics. In Cog’s


    opinion, he should run. He wasn’t a match for her, and was taking more hits than he


    was delivering.


    If she landed a solid hit on him, Cog thought he would suffer some breakage.


    He came up with a plan. It was risky, but doable in his opinion. He had to steer the


    humans together. He doubted Finch was going to listen to him. She was too involved


    in exerting her vengeance on anybody who came within reach of her hands and feet.


    That meant he had to steer Corona’s group to Finch.


    That meant he had to send his drone to talk to the trio. Corona would probably keep


    fighting, but he thought Marty and Ren were more apt to listen to him. Once he got


    them together with Finch, maybe the fighter would join the group and head for the


    exit.


    He doubted it. She seemed focused on hurting her perceived enemies as much as she


    could. He didn’t have the ability to deal with that kind of mindset. His instincts said


    to run away and leave her.


    On the other hand, she seemed to be drawing a large percentage of the free soldiers


    in the complex to her position. They didn’t know they were running into a meat


    grinder. He didn’t have enough compassion to warn them.


    Cog sent a signal to his drone. It traversed the underground building through the vent


    systems. It paused when it saw the dragon go by, flame blasting from its snout. He


    didn’t know there were animals like that on Earth. He filed it into a mental slot of


    things to look out for as he ordered the drone to make contact.


    Marty and Ren paused in their climb to look at the vent built into a wall of the


    staircase. Marty raised his hand in the traditional human greeting. The drone raised


    a tentacle in reply.


    “Finch is wrecking things two floors above you,” Cog said through his drone. “The


    plan was for her to join me in the motor pool. She decided to put as many soldiers in


    the hospital as she can.”


    “We were hoping to gather some of the operational records, Cog,” said Marty. He


    kept a wary eye on the dragon and Corona blasting at Troop. The monkey seemed to


    want to get to a door and get away from the fire blasting at him.


    “I am hoping that you can get to the motor pool so we can leave,” said Cog. “The


    Squad and the soldiers might be able to regroup and pick us off if we don’t move


    faster.”


    “We need those files,” said Marty. “You go ahead and leave. We’ll get out on our


    own.”


    Cog muttered to himself. Of course the humans wanted to gain something from this.


    They were greedy for more rather than get what they could and get out. He had seen


    it first hand. Here was another example of the trait.


    “The offices are on the ground floor at the top of the structure,” said Cog. “There


    should be enough records to keep these people locked down while the government


    strips everything they can carry. Hurry and get it done.”


    “All right,” said Marty. “That sounds like a plan.”


    “You have soldiers on guard at all the exits from the stairwell,” said Cog. “As soon


    as you come out, they will try to cut off any powers with portable nullifiers.”


    “Do they know about the dragon?,” asked Marty.


    “Yes,” said Cog. He checked the camera feeds. “They think they can handle it with


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.what they have.”


    “We need another way out of this stairwell,” said Marty. “And we need directions to


    Finch. Can you handle that?”


    “Yes,” said Cog. “See if you can get rid of the monkey without getting hurt. I’ll try


    to come up with some other way out of the stairwell without a small army of weapons


    ready to shoot.”


    “Right,” said Marty. “Do what you can. We’re depending on you.”


    Marty started up the stairs. He checked the doors as he went. It felt good to know that


    no one wanted to take him on. On the other hand, they were in a bottleneck. They


    needed Cog to come through with some kind of plan.


    Their captive hadn’t been helpful at all. Ren put him to sleep and they had started


    after the dragon and Corona trying to get rid of their enemy duplicator.


    Cog tried to think of a plan as he watched the cameras. There had to be something he


    could do. What did he have at his disposal?


    He had nothing but the cameras and remote control of some of the doors. None of that


    would help the others. He didn’t see a fire bell, or suppression systems in place.


    Maybe he could have his drone start a fire somewhere that could be blocked off from


    the rest of the building.


    The thought that maybe he should join the fight never entered his mind. He had


    triggered his door with his drone. He had evaded recapture. Opening the door to the


    command center had been an applied use of his drone. Then he had used his whip-like


    limbs on the staff before they could resist him.


    Maybe he could do better than suggesting they run into a stream of concentrated fire


    designed to put them down. How did he get started trying to save the others?


    The stairwell was across from the local elevator. If they could get to that, they could


    use it to ambush the soldiers.


    Cog checked the elevator out. It could be a back door for the group. All they had to


    do was cut into the accessway over the stairwell. Then they could go anywhere they


    wanted.


    It was better than waiting for the soldiers to flood the stairwell and put them back in


    their cells.


    “Mr. Morgan,” said Cog. “There is part of the ventilation system at the top of the


    stairwell. If you can cut into that, it will lead to the elevator shaft. You can use that


    to get around the troops in the hall.”


    “What about Finch?,” asked Marty.


    “We will have to temporarily abandon her for a successful escape of our own,” said


    Cog. “It’s the only practical solution.”


    “I have a better idea,” said Marty. “Seal the doors Corona, except for Finch’s.”


    He pointed to the door he meant. It would buy seconds, but he might be able to stretch


    that out if the army was afraid to blow things up.


    The dragon began eating Troops. Apparently it was tired of casting fire at an enemy


    that kept duplicating to get around injuries. It snatched the simians up and threw them


    in its mouth and started chewing.


    The monkeys scrambled for a door to get away from the onslaught. They collapsed


    into one Troop as the furry fury threw himself through the door above the floor where


    Finch was supposed to be.


    Corona sealed the door with a burst of light. She worked her way down the stairwell.


    Small pulses of light marked her melting the hinges and door jambs together. She


    finished at the bottom door. Then she headed back up to where Marty and Ren waited


    by the door to head out on the floor to get Finch.


    “I’m going out to get Finch,” said Marty. “You two watch the stairwell and elevator.


    I got a feeling that they didn’t rush up to get her when they had to deal with us. Cog


    said there was a vent at the top of the stairwell. We can seal the door and cut our way


    into the elevator shaft after we’re done.”


    “Sounds like a plan,” said Corona. “Be careful. We don’t know what’s going on


    here.”


    “I’ll do the best I can,” said Marty. He called back the dragon. He summoned a dog


    of unknown pedigree. “Watch out for anyone with the nullifiers. If someone masses


    to attack the door, don’t stick around. Go for the exit and get out of here. It’s


    upwards.”


    “You want us to leave you and Finch?,” said Corona. “I won’t do it.”


    “Cog is already heading out,” said Marty. “If you get caught, you won’t have any way


    to get out of your cell the next time. Don’t worry about us. We’ll handle it.”


    “All right,” said Corona. “I don’t like it.”


    “Who does?,” Marty slid out of the stairwell. He jogged to an overturned desk and


    used it for cover. Nothing but broken men stirred as far as he could see.


    His dog perked up at a hum. It ran in that direction, ears flopping as it moved. Marty


    jogged after it, grabbing a discarded pistol as he went. It had been a long time, but he


    should still know how to handle it.


    He paused as the dog growled. It ran at someone in green with a rod in his hand. The


    figure turned around. The rod pointed. A purple beam stabbed out at Marty. The


    Scout threw himself into an alcove. The beam glowed where it hit the wall. Marty


    fired back, using the wall as a brace. The bullets sparked off an invisible shield.


    “Go back to your cell, Morgan,” said the man in green. He pointed the rod at Marty.


    “Your stupid animal power doesn’t have a chance against my technology.”


    “You think so?,” Marty asked. He called back the dog. There was nothing it could do


    against that shield.


    “I know so,” said the man in green. “We studied you. There’s nothing you can do to


    stop me from putting you to sleep and locking you back down.”


    A grenade rolled to a stop at the Squad leader’s feet. Marty looked for something to


    hide behind. He threw himself across the room, behind a counter. He hunched over


    and closed his ears as the grenade went off. He peeked over the counter. The man in


    green had hit a column despite his shield.


    A woman in gold and green appeared. She held a staff in her hand as she looked over


    the scene in a gold mask over the top of her face.


    “Marty Morgan,” Marty said from behind his cover. “I think we might be able to


    leave now.”


    “Yes,” said Finch. “Other masks?”


    “Corona and Ren are waiting by the elevator,” said Marty. “I don’t know about Cog.”


    “Other masks?,” said Finch. She held a staff in her hand. She nodded at the man in


    green getting to his feet.


    “We chased two of them away from the stairwell,” said Marty. He called on a rhino


    and set it loose. It smashed against the shield at full speed. It couldn’t get through the


    shield, but it could work on it long enough for a search party to look for him. “It looks


    like you’ve dealt with the other two.”