The blast came from out of nowhere! It was obviously a deep cobalt strontium wave, judging by the way it melted the molecular airdrive vehicle he had just stepped out of. Portly Dr Zathos Pemberton stumbled and caught himself, luckily, as another deadly and searing hot ray zapped the air molecules next to him, sounding somewhat like the fad of stepping on plastic bubble wrap from the 1990s.
Pemberton caught his breath, steadied himself and took aim for the laboratory door as fast as his ham sized legs could carry him. It wasn’t easy for him to make himself a small target for whoever was shooting at him, but he did his best…making it to the door safely, so far. Throwing open the lab door, he raced into the narrow opening and slammed it shut, not taking time to use the optic analyzer entry system, he relied solely on voice recognition. After he got a few more doors behind him, he would slow down and set the failsafe locking system that he had designed to prevent just such an emergency.
Breathless and heaving, Pemberton tried to collect his thoughts as he shut the inner lab door and used optic and voice recognition to seal himself in. Glancing around, he didn’t see any sign of the lab assistants either. Probably for the better, he thought…
With himself safely inside the titanium cocoon he had created for a laboratory, now the pudgy middle aged doctor could take a moment and evaluate what he had just experienced…who was trying to eradicate him and all he stood for? Could it be a fellow research scientist that wanted to lay claim to his latest findings, or was it angry syndicated Mob members that were still furious he had ignored their demands? Either way, those cobalt particle beam precipitator rifles were nothing to smirk at, and whoever had been shooting at him meant business!!
No sooner had he gotten in the lab and locked himself in, when an incoming audio recognition voice call came in, the familar chime telling him it was Partheter, his lab assistant. “Yes, Parth…?” he answered.
“Dr. Pemberton, I wondered how you were, I got the STRANGEST call just moments ago…they threatened to kill you if I didn’t open the lab and give them all of the Cesium 42 alpha particulate we have in stock!” “Why in the world, who in the world are these people, Dr?” Parth sputtered.
“Parth, I don’t have any idea, but I just barely made it in here alive, and my air transporter is gone, one of their rays hit it!” the breathless Dr Pemberton replied, shaken and yet, still oddly collected, all things considered.
“Doctor, I will call The Federation and alert them immediately! I will call you back shortly” as the audio receptor clicked off.
With the new silence in the lab, Dr P found himself looking around, wondering if perhaps there was an answer somewhere in the lab…the windows, doors, in the chemical storage unit, anything. He ran his eyes from lab table to lab table, checking for signs, clues, anything that might give him an indication…
Why would anyone in the world want cesium the good Dr pondered? It had little use to anyone other than a science lab like his, unless…the thought suddenly struck him that he might be dealing with rogue scientists that were of the most ill intent? Perhaps they intended to do harm to the International Coalition of Nations, also known worldwide as the ICN? Just last month there had been a case reported of another lab that had been robbed of rarely used scientific compounds also!
“Audio receptor on!” Doctor Pemberton barked! “Get me The Scientists Composium!”
“Yes, Doctor, one moment” the female voice of the automated reply answered. “Dialing…” the audio receptor informed him, although it wasn’t actually a matter of dialing anymore.
Stellar wave reflectors were common communications these days and it was merely a matter of bouncing a wave up to the Satellite Reflector audio receptor comsat high overhead, which then routed it back to another communications collector resource on the Northern Continent. Seconds later, “Composium Headquarters, Smetkarski speaking” as they answered his call.
“Hello Smet, Pemberton here” although all of that data was onscreen at both ends of the call, it was still considered good manners to introduce yourself, just like in the old days. “Smet, can you tell me anything about that lab theft last month where they stole all those compounds?” Pemberton inquired, his voice clearly pensive…
“Doc, here’s all I know about that —” Smet responded, and then…the line went dead and the audio receptor closed off without any further info from Smet!!!
Stay tuned!!! Look for Chapter Two soon!!