The Bloodless Read online

  “Right. Sorry, you look different.”

  “Yeah, well that tends to happen when you shed 150 pounds,” he said.

  Justice laughed, “Nice.”

  “Welcome to Switzerland, man. It’s a lot nicer than you’d expect. They really got their shit together after the Russian Conflict. At least they’re on the right side now though, eh?”

  “Sure,” Justice said.

  “Still a man of few words, huh,” Carter said. “Still the same ol’ guy, I love it. Well just sit back and relax, we’ll be at the convention soon enough. Headin’ straight there, no time for the hotel.”

  “Hey, thanks for this,” Justice said after some time passed in silence. He had battled with himself to finally say something. “I really appreciate it. I’ve been going stir crazy ever since my hiatus started.”

  “You mean your compassionate layoff?”

  Justice laughed, “Right, that’s what it is.”

  “Seriously, but did you expect anything less from a guy like that?” Carter asked.

  “I’m never surprised by the bullshit Jefferson pulls.”

  “I don’t understand how you are able to put up with that man. I would lose my mind.”

  “I always just expect the worst and keep my head down, get my work done.” Justice opened his bag and started rummaging around. He pulled out a hard case and extracted a pair of sunglasses from it.

  “Get your work done he says,” Carter said with a laugh. “Just another day’s work for the man who brought the dead back to life. Are you kidding me?”

  “What,” Justice responded with nervous shrug.

  “Damn man. Already on to the next big thing, huh?”

  Justice nodded and for the remainder of the trip they exchanged some small chit chat but the majority of the drive was spent in silence. After some time the limo came to a stop in front of a large convention center. It was massive as it also doubled as an Olympic stadium for the summer games that were to be played there that same year. The two men stepped out of the limousine and made their way into the building.

  Justice’s face shone with awe as he stepped into the main showcase floor. Vendors were set up as far as the eye can see and one area caught the eye in particular. Villain Weapons Systems had a very large area all to themselves and it definitely stood out amongst the other vendors. They were globally accepted as the best in the business, the biggest and most eye catching booth was to be expected. The odd thing was that, as big as the venue was, the amount of people in attendance was strikingly low.

  “Wow,” Justice said, “this is amazing.”

  “Yeah, and this is only the main hall,” Carter said, a massive grin on his face. “There are a couple firing ranges and shooting galleries off this main hall. There’s also an auditorium where the speakers will be. I hear Romanov’s wife is doing a presentation later today.”

  “Neat,” Justice said not paying attention. He was too busy looking around at all the technology that was bombarding his underprepared yet suddenly parched eyes.

  Carter saw this and chuckled, “Drink it all in buddy. We got two more days of this though, so pace yourself.”

  Justice couldn’t pace himself, there was so much to see and only three days to see it all. He did make a mental note of that presentation, which was something he definitely wanted to see. He had only met Abigail Romanov once, but back then she was still Abigail Crist. Unfortunately that meeting was brief and ended with him getting electrocuted into a coma. Not exactly the best first impression. It was no secret, however, that the Romanovs were the best of the best in the world of weapons and weapon design. There would definitely be a lot of information he could glean off a mind like the lady Romanov’s.

  He decided to first just take a couple laps around the entire place and see what was what. The range of weapons that were on display was staggering, much more than he had anticipated. There was everything from very small, concealable guns, to massive, heavy duty, vehicle mounted canons. He saw some explosives, crowd control devices that were non-lethal, and some new electricity based personal defenders. There were a lot of prototypes and the ones Justice wanted to see the most were the new laser gun prototypes.

  This led him to the Villain display, as they were the only ones in the industry who were developing laser based weapons. When he arrived at the booth he didn’t see either of the Romanovs anywhere. Apparently they allowed their subordinates to handle one of the biggest developments in weapons history.

  It had been a long time coming for laser guns. The technology had always been there but there was also a lingering reluctance to develop such a deadly device. However, Man’s incessant need to prove who carries the bigger stick never abates, especially in an age where science ruled. Perhaps it was the science that amplified this desire to build everything bigger and more destructive, or maybe the science just made it possible. Either way, the fact remained that laser weapons were becoming a reality, and those implications cast an ominous shadow over civilization.

  “First prototype, fresh off the line,” a rep said as he approached Justice who was running a hand over the barrel of the weapon. “This is our crowning achievement,” the rep continued. “It’s expected to usher in a whole new era of weapons.”

  “It actually works?” Justice asked, taking his hand off the weapon.

  “You bet your ass it does,” the rep said. “I’m Brody by the way.” They shook hands. He was definitely more a salesman rather than someone who actually worked on it. He was incredibly handsome with a sharp facial structure and blazing green eyes. Justice assumed the rep’s muscles were more for choking a customer into submission of a sale rather than critical thinking.

  “What’s the output on this thing?” he asked.

  “This can put a hole through a three foot thick lead wall up to a half mile away bro,’ Brody answered, his muscles flexing.

  At that point Justice didn’t know If Brody was a real person or an android that was modeled after douchebags of the early 21st century. “Impressive,” he said, “but power output, what are we looking at here?”

  “You interested in buying, man?” Brody asked, a pained look on his face.

  “No,” Justice said, “just interested.”

  “Gotcha. Hang on my man, let me get one of our techs,” Brody said as he sauntered away towards a group of normal looking people. He tapped one on the shoulder and she turned around. It was Romanov’s wife, but she looked very different than he remembered. Brody pointed at Justice and when she looked over at him a look of sheer surprise filled her face. She smiled hugely and walked over towards him.

  “Dr. Justice,” she said as she extended a hand to him. He shook it.

  “Mrs. Romanov,” Justice responded.

  “It’s Crist, I never took my husband’s name,” she corrected him. “But please, call me Abby.” Justice didn’t recognize her at first because she had completely changed her appearance from when he first met her. Back then she had long red hair, today her hair was short and blonde. But up close she still had that hardened look about her, like the kind of person who had to take care of herself from a very early age.

  “Abby it is then,” he said with a grin. “Hopefully you can tell me a bit more about this gun than your pusher can.”

  She laughed, “Sorry about that. We don’t get too many science types at these things, mostly people who just want to know how efficiently our weapons can blow shit up.” She then went into a somewhat long and very detailed explanation of all the specs the gun touted. It turned out that she was actually the one who designed it from top to bottom. She even built the base model the new prototypes were constructed after. “It’s good to see you,” Crist said after she was done.

  “Oh yeah?” Justice said taken aback. That was not something he would expect to hear from her.

  “Of course, that was a horrific accident. I haven’t seen you since then but I had heard you lived, which I was happy to hear,” Crist said with a smile.

  “You and
me both,” he joked and to his relief she laughed. It wasn’t often he found someone who got his sense of humor. There was a bit of an awkward silence before Justice spoke again, “I hear you’re giving a lecture later.”

  “Yes,” Crist responded, still smiling, “actually in about an hour from now.”

  “Oh ok. What about?”

  “Weapons,” she said, her tone inferring the word “duh.” She then added, “Weapons and their role in the preservation of global peace,” in a very proper and formal voice.

  “Wow,” he said, his face flushed, “hot topic.”

  “Yeah, well, it was written for Vladimir but he wasn’t able to make it here.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, one of the biggest weapons conventions of the year and he has other plans. And,” she continued, trying hard to keep her tone light and playful, though her eyes gave her away, “the unveiling of our most anticipated weapon in the last decade and a half.”

  “Dang.”

  Crist laughed, “Oh who am I kidding. He was actually summoned by Stanislavski. Whaddya think they’re gonna talk about?”

  “Weapons,” Justice said sarcastically.

  “Weapons,” she echoed, not sarcastically. “Guess what, though? We’re not the only ones in possession of laser based weapons.” Crist looked down at her watch, “Shit. Sorry, I gotta cut this short. It was nice seeing you,” she said, and she shook his hand again, this time holding it a little longer than necessary. “Take care of yourself, Mr. Justice,” she smiled and before he could say anything, she walked away.

  Justice couldn’t quite explain the feeling he felt as she walked away. He was definitely taken with her and he had a sinking suspicion that she might be interested in him, on some level. It was a crazy thought, though, he knew that. Plus he didn’t really feel like it would be in his best interest to pursue the wife of the largest arms dealer on the planet. There was just something about her that he just found attractive; maybe it was her intelligence or maybe it was her dedication to her craft, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  He lingered for a little bit admiring the laser gun and thought about the last snippet of information that Crist had divulged to him. Whether she did it on purpose or not, he wasn’t sure, but it was interesting to know they weren’t the only ones in the laser weapon market. It just struck him as so odd that there were people out there who were contracted to make a device that’s sole purpose was to destroy. He only could assume that his purpose was to balance out all the death and destruction.

  There had to be some semblance of balance in the universe, right? He had to pose the question to himself because if it was just destruction for the sake of chaos, Justice wasn’t sure he’d be able to continue doing what he did, or at least what he had done up to that point in his life. Fighting a dual fronted battle against man and nature to slow the decimation of the human species was a tough battle, one he felt compelled to fight. The balance needed to be maintained. He wasn’t sure why, but since his accident the thought of universal balance was ever present in his mind.

  He tried his best to push those thoughts into the inner recesses of his mind and continued to wander about the convention. Throughout the next three days he tried to see as many different weapons as he could manage. After a while, however, all the weapons seemed to blur into one repetitive killing contraption, the only differences being the efficiency with which they ended lives. He even made a point to visit one of the many firing ranges and shoot a few different kinds of weapons.

  His favorite, if he had to pick one, that proved to be the most fun to fire was a Desert Eagle. The first time he pulled the trigger his wrist nearly snapped in half. It was a good experience, he felt, something that he should learn about. The best part of being a scientist, at least for Justice, was the never ending thirst for knowledge. It was a dangerous passion, knowledge, one that had already led him down some shady paths and into some sticky situations. He was glad he got to learn more about weapons, but he doubted he would ever run into a situation where he’d have to use one.

  CHAPTER 5

  On That Day…

  It was a quiet day, just like any other. Justice was on a small vacation over the summer. He and his family were at their home just outside Abiyah about ready to have dinner. They were going to barbecue. As Justice prepared the meat, he was also on the phone with Jack.

  “That’s terrible,” he said into his headset. “So they were just plucked right from their homes?”

  “Yeah, no prelude, no courtesy notification, nothing,” he sounded scared, but who could blame him in that situation. These scientists knew what angry moral objectors were capable of, and it wasn’t very nice.

  “Well maybe they just got the hell out of there in a hurry,” he said hopefully.

  “Doubtful. There are many signs of forced entry and struggles throughout each house.”

  “Are they the only ones being abducted?”

  “So far it seems like it.” He could hear some ruckus in the background on Jack’s side but just assumed it was Jack’s family getting things ready to go.

  “Who could be doing this?” Justice asked. “Do you think it’s some activist group that managed to breach our security again?”

  “I wondered that too and it’s certainly within the realm of plausibility. It all seems to be done fairly quickly and sloppily.” He sounded slightly annoyed, as though these people deserved a more well thought out abduction.

  “So what’s the plan? Are you leaving?” Justice’s wife Victoria was in the kitchen at this point and when she looked at him, he motioned for her to come over.

  “There is no official plan,” Jack emphasized official, “but I think the situation speaks for itself. We’re getting out of here as soon as we can. I suggest you guys do the same thing.”

  “Yeah, I was already thinking the same thing. Where are you going?”

  “We have a safe haven near-,” a resounding crash boomed in the background. “Katherine! Get the kids! Go!”

  “Jack?! JACK!” There was a short but agonizing pause where all he could hear was banging sounds in the background.

  “Justice! Get out of there! They’re here!”

  “Who? Who’s there??”

  “No. It can’t be. How-,” then the line cut off. Dead silence.

  “Get Adam ready, we’re leaving. Now!” Justice took the head set out of his ear and turned to Victoria. “Someone is rounding up GoD employees, we have to go. Grab only what we need and meet me in the car.” She took off right away. The problem is that Jack didn’t live too far from them, so it was only a matter of minutes before they got there. He got the keys off the hook and went into his office. Justice unlocked the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a gun he never thought he’d ever have to use. It was just a small revolver that was issued to him by the company’s security team.

  He slipped the gun in the waistline of his pants, like he had seen numerous times in the movies, and headed to the garage. He unlocked his brand new jet black Cadillac and got things ready for the rest of his family. As he opened the trunk he heard a bang and a scream from inside his house. His heart plummeted like a lead weight in a vacuum chamber.

  Justice ran through the garage access door back into his house to a horrifying sight: two men, one fat, one skinny, were in the front doorway and Victoria had Adam clutched to her chest and was backing away towards the kitchen. They saw Justice enter the room and immediately advanced on his family. He started firing shot after shot from the revolver, unloading the barrel evenly between the men. It slowed them down but didn’t drop them.

  “Let’s go, now!” Victoria ran to Justice with Adam and all three burst into the garage and got into the car. He started it and didn’t even bother to open the garage door. He threw the shifter into reverse and blasted through the door. Victoria was clutching Adam even tighter as he bawled, scared and confused.

  The tires squealed on the pavement as he put some real stress on that car trying to get
out of there as fast as he could. It wasn’t long before he saw a blacked out SUV pull out on to the road behind them. It looked strikingly similar to the company vehicle in Justice’s garage, but whether it was exactly the same he didn’t know for sure. His heart sank a little when he realized it because he knew the capabilities of those vehicles. The SUV sped up and got right behind them and started tapping his car’s bumper.

  In the back of his mind he knew he couldn’t win, but for the sake of his family, he was not going to give up. He only had one advantage: he was in the suburbs and he was driving a nimble sedan and could get around corners faster than they could. He had the agility advantage. Justice started darting down roads and making as many quick turns as he could in order to put some distance between himself and his stalkers. It seemed to be working and after several quick turns he was able to shake them.

  He stopped the car for a moment and hugged his family, his wife and son still crying. He knew it would be a mistake to stay put so he quickly put the car back into drive and moved slowly through the neighborhood, always keeping an eye out for that black SUV.

  “LOOK OUT!!”

  Next thing came a crushing blow that impacted the passenger side of the car. Glass shattered and flew all around the inside of the cabin and slashed at their faces. They were tossed around the cabin as the car rolled violently down the street. The car bounced and slid across the concrete road before Justice blacked-out from the blows to his head.

  When Justice finally came to, there was a cold chill running up his spine and a whirring noise above him. He struggled to open his eyes to a blinding fluorescent glare. The side of his face felt sticky, as if copious amounts of blood had issued from his head at some point. He did not immediately know where he was but as things came into focus he found himself in a barren warehouse, the old world kind with crumbling concrete floors and walls. It was damp and musky with an overdose of humidity coming from the rotting walls.

  Nobody else was in the building with Justice, he knew that much as he could feel the void crushing in around him. “Hello?” he called out hopelessly. No response. He wasn’t surprised. It’s unclear how long he sat there by himself. He tried to get up and to his astonishment he found he was able to and quite easily. In fact, he noticed that he wasn’t in any pain at all. Had they healed his injuries? If they wanted him dead, why wouldn’t they just allow him to bleed out? The next thing he noticed was that in his absence, his family was nowhere to be seen.