Division Zero Read Online Free PDF Page A

when I get done with him.”
    Her confidence stalled his trembles. He pointed to the wall with his elbow and muttered an incoherent series of words, mangled by his condition as well as his wounds. Telepathy required a living brain, but she could infer his meaning.
    “Wait here, Artie.”
    A female shriek grabbed her attention from the corridor and she sprinted toward it. She weaved through the cluttered halls of the hospital until her rubberized boots squealed as she came to a halt in front of a door labeled ‘Therapy Room 1’.
    Fused into an immobile mass, the knob did not turn. On her toes, she peeked through a small, square window reinforced with wires. Inside, the other patrol officer struggled on a metal table, held down by thick padded straps. A dozen medical instruments stuck out of her dull blue armor. Electrodes hovered around in a futile search for a patch of tender exposed flesh. The doctor loomed, snapping his gaze to Kirsten as soon as he sensed her watching.
    Kirsten focused, trying to overpower him. Her thoughts reached out, sensing the energy swirling through the door like a gelatinous mass keeping it sealed. She threaded tendrils of psionic power through the substance, tightened her grip, and tugged. Their wills clashed. An incredible amount of force drew inward against the door; no matter how hard she strained, it snapped back into place.
    A wail from the trapped officer gave her more strength. Kirsten growled through clenched teeth; it felt as though she tried to peel heavy molasses away from the wall. She gained the upper hand, and the force began to slip. A sudden clatter arose as small metal objects fell to the ground on the other side. The doctor focused everything he had at the door. Seconds later, a powerful blast knocked her away with a flash of dull, throbbing pain.
    Staggering, Kirsten put her hand on the side of her face. The forceful mental slap left her head spinning. The terror of the woman inside fed him. Kirsten flung herself against the door and pounded.
    “Officer, I need you to calm down. Your fear is making him stronger.”
    “Calm?” The woman struggled against the straps. “How fuckin’ calm would you be in here?” The rest of whatever she tried to say degenerated into a panicked scream.
    “Look. None of those old tools can get through your armor. Control yourself.” Kirsten punted the door for emphasis.
    The officer’s voice faltered one step below a shriek. “I’m seeing freaky shit on the walls and tools floatin’ around. This dude… I shot him six months ago.”
    “Tune it out, ignore it. There is a ghost in there trying to make you scared; none of it is real.”
    The sound of the woman’s breathing rasped through the still air, amplified by her helmet’s loudspeaker. Leather creaked against a metal frame. Screaming started in time with the high-pitched whine of a small powered saw.
    Kirsten sighed, letting her head hit the door out of frustration. She took a step back and drew her E90.
    It’s not mystical but this just might work.
    Three shots, one to the lock and two to the hinges, sent molten metal spraying as the energy beams made short work of the steel. The door blurred into the room, bending around the legs of the surgical table with a deafening clang that knocked the trapped officer around in the straps.
    Kirsten locked eyes with the mad doctor. He froze; the whirring saw held an inch from the woman’s transparent faceplate. The leather straps writhed like serpents into the air.
    She gathered herself for another lash, but the doctor darted through the wall and vanished before she could release it. The saw bounced off the helmet and fell to the ground, no longer running. The power cable ended with a fray of wire instead of a plug. The sight of the impossibly running saw sent a shiver through the woman on the table.
    “What the fuck? It ain’t even plugged in.” The cop writhed.
    Kirsten ran to her side and tugged at the restraints. “Are you