The Man From U.N.D.E.A.D.'s Christmas Carol Read Online Free PDF Page A

you to get to the troops and let them know what they ’ re up against in case this doesn ’ t work. ”
    “ I don ’ t know what they ’ re up against, ” she complained.
    “ Me neither, but we both know more than they do. ”
    “This is one of those ‘ save the damsel in distress ’ chivalry things isn’t it?”
    “Whilst I agree you’re a damsel, I see no distress,” I pointed out. “And whenever have you seen me be chivalrous? Now is not the time to argue , Penny. ”
    Reluctantly, she went to the main entrance and opened the outer doors. I stationed myself in front of the secondary doors and activated the weapon in my hands. There was a disappointing thunk and then nothing.
    “ Ready? ” she asked me.
    “ Not in the slightest, ” I told her. “ So let ’ s get on with it. ”
    She hit the door release and immediately took off towa rd the side door through which we had entered .
    The internal security doors of the main entrance lumbered open and I stepped forward through the widening crack between them, outside of the armoury ’ s protective spells. No weapon could actually be fired inside the vault as the resulting explosion would probably remove Oxford permanently from the lis t of electoral wards . The boar at the far end of the corridor growled anxiously and pulled at its chain. I couldn ’ t see the disfigured woman beyond it, but that was because I couldn ’ t see anything at all beyond it. The chain was released and the boar surged forward with a speed that was born out of pure power.
    I levelled the weapon I was carrying and fired. From the muzzle, a large metal bullet was launched. As soon as it cleared the end, it spread itself out into a mesh that grew quickly. The boar ran headlong into it and was enveloped as the edges of the mesh folded around it and met on the far side . Enveloped in the mesh, the boar stumbled and crashed to the floor, sliding a good distance under its momentum. The mesh wasn ’ t finished yet though and the ends began to contract, shrinking the net around the trapped beast. The fine wires first cut into and then through the beast ’ s tough hide and kept on going. The boar bellowed angrily and then in pain as the mesh shrank inexorably. It was a particularly nasty death and one that I wouldn ’ t have wished on anything that wasn ’ t planning to trample me to jelly beneath its hooves.
    As the first boar was reduced to pork chops, the second stamped over its companion in its desire to get at me and quickly met the same bloody fate.
    Now I was left face to face s with the disfigured woman. Neither side of that face was serene after examining the gory aftermath of her pets ’ charge.
    “ All we need now is a barbecue and some apple sauce, ” I taunted her over the pile of giblets that had so recently been terrifying monsters.
    She screamed and the sound was definitely not human. The fact that she was floating above the ground and possessed glowing eyes had already given that game away, but the scream confirmed it anyhow . It was an inhuman mix of anger, disbelief and sorrow, all with a side order of confusion. I was guessing that this sort of thing didn ’ t happen to her very often.
    I fired the net gun for the third time, but the apparition ’ s eyes glowed more intensely and the mesh melted in the air, falling to the ground as hot metal rain. There was only one thing left to d o and that was to turn and run.
    Again.
    The fur-clad woman came after me with her keening cry still sounding. I ran right through the interior of the armoury to the side door that Penny had (hopefully) exited through. The rack of weapons to my right suddenly screeched as the metal structure was ripped out of the concrete of the floor. I leapt forward just as the whole structure crashed to the ground, taking the rack on the other side with it. A n exoskeleton suit that boosted power, but reduced speed and reaction time smashed into the wall ahead of me with enough force to embed it