The Betrayal Chapter 35 snippet part duex

One gloved hand was all that had kept Kate from a hundred meter drop. Even with her bionics, she wasn’t convinced that she could have survived that high of a fall. When she had made the mistake of stepping with too much of her weight, she had given herself away to Channon. The machinery hadn’t given her anywhere to hide at, so she had to go over the railing.

Clutching the bottom of the railing in one gloved hand, she stuffed her pistol into her belt. A grunt escaped her lips as she strained to place her second hand onto the railing. Below her, the wind swirled, her booted feet dangling out into space. On the other side of the railing, Channon moved past, her booted feet echoing on the metal flooring.

Join the Fleet and have an adventure, Kate heard the current recruiting slogan run through her head. Yeah right! I seriously doubt this is what they had in their mind!

The blood lust still buzzing in her head, Kate grabbed the top of railing after Channon past. Groaning with the effort, she pulled herself over and back onto the level. Breathing hard, she stood back up, only to come face to face with Channon.

“Ah ****,” she muttered.

“Hello Almir,”

The sight of Channon’s machine gun drew Kate’s eye’s down to look at it. At that moment she didn’t have her finger on the trigger. The odds of her reaching the gun before Channon pulled the trigger, she mused, weren’t good. However, they were better then to stand there and wait for her to shoot her.

“I guess you want to take me down?” Kate gave her a half shrug, working to throw her off balance.

“Something like that,” Channon said. “Besides you killed my husband.”

“Oh I didn’t know that,” Kate said sweetly, the blood lust still pounding in her head. “Which one?”

“Markel,” Channon said. “And now I’m going to kill you in return.”

“He at least managed to wing me, at least temporarily,” Kate said as she let Channon see the slice in her jumpsuit, and the dried blood around the now healed wound.

I was so busy trying to survive, Kate told herself, that I didn’t even feel the damned itching from the nanites healing it!

“What the hell are you?”

“More machine then person,” she said with a shrug.

Seeing the minute relaxation in Channon’s body, she made her move. Her hands lashed out at such a speed that even her bionic eyes barely could keep up. Grasping the machine gun in her hands, she yanked up from the startled woman’s grasp. Tossing it over the side, she heard it hit the ground below with a clatter.

Channon didn’t stay stunned but for a second, her hand lashing out. Blocking the slash with a circular motion, Kate slapped her hand away. Channon lashed out with one of her feet, the move unexpected by Kate. The blow struck her square in the chest, sending her spinning backwards to fall onto her chest.

Kate hit the decking, her chin slamming into the metal. Tasting blood, she knew she had bitten her tongue. With a growl, she started to push herself back to her feet. The blood lust pounded through her head so strong it started to make her light-headed as she reached her hands and knees.

Behind her, Channon screamed and landed atop her back, her hands going around Kate’s throat. The impact of her body on Kate’s sent them both to the decking. Hitting the metal a second time, Kate found herself threatening to black out.

“I’ve got you now,” Channon breathed into her ear as she tried to lock Kate’s neck into the crook of her arm.

Kate struggled to get a handhold on the smooth metal. She found one at the base of the railing and used it to flip her body over to her left. The tow of them slammed into the machinery, Channon grunting in pain with the contact. With her grip not loosened, Kate shoved off with her feet, slamming them into the railing. Slamming them back into the machinery again, Kate felt Channon’s grip loosen on her neck.

With a scream of rage, Kate broke her grip and launched herself back to her feet. Across from her, Channon did the same thing, the two women looking at each other. Swinging from Kate’s blind side, Channon landed a blow that slammed into the side of her chin. Again, Kate saw her vision darken as she stumbled backwards, the blow stunning her.

Launching another blow at her face, Channon tried to push the advantage. Seeing the blow coming, Kate caught it with her fist and she twisted the other woman’s arm down and away from her. Channon bellowed in pain as her arm was yanked down against her own strength.
Seizing the advantage, Kate slammed a fist into the other woman’s stomach, doubling her over. Reaching for Channon’s throat, Kate grunted as Channon drove her knee into her stomach. Crying out on pain from the blow, she spun around, her chest falling upon the railing, the ground one hundred meters below beckoning her.

Approaching from behind, Channon tried to get her hands on Kate’s waist and send her over the edge. Sensing the move, Kate stepped backwards, her right elbow driving back and up where she knew Channon’s face was. She felt the blow connect, the cartilage in the other woman’s nose giving way. Spinning around to her right, she grabbed the other woman in her arms, as they both headed straight for the railing.

Letting go at the last second before hitting the railing, Kate watched as the momentum sent Channon over the edge. For a split second she saw the other woman look at her, fear, rage and disbelief at her death filling her eyes. Then, with a scream that would haunt her forever, Kate watched her fall. Leaning against the railing, she watched her fall until her body hit the red clay below.

Groaning in pain, Kate stepped away from the railing only to feel flecks of paint burn into her face. At the same time, the sound of a machine gun reached her. The metal around her sparked as the bullets struck metal and bounced off.

Moving on instinct more then thought she raced across the catwalk, the bullets chewing into the railing behind her. Diving into a forwards roll, she felt the deadly spray pass overhead, the hot pain flecks stinging her face as they burnt her. Rolling to her feet, she raced across the catwalk and into the catacombs on the other side.

###

Screaming in rage, Benton emptied the clip on his machine gun as he raced across the level. He had been too late, seeing the final moments of the battle between Almir and Channon. Like Almir, the sound of her scream as she fell would haunt him for as long as he lived.

And that ****ing gladiator bitch killed her! He thought in fury as he changed his clip.

Seeing her run onto the catwalk, he trained along behind her, his finger pulling the trigger. The bullets chewed along the catwalk getting ever closer to her. No, he thought with glee, no, no, there’s no escape for you now! However, he felt his jaw drop as she launched herself below the railing as his bullets chewed where she should have been. Clicking on empty, he watched her get back to her feet and race into the machinery of the other wing.

“Goddamn it!” he screamed as he fumbled for another clip.

“Hipper!” he shouted into the tac net. “She’s in your wing now! Hold off for back-up before making a move!”

“I understand,” Hipper’s voice was full of cold hatred. “But if I have a shot, I’m going to take it.”

“Don’t rush,” he said as he worked his way across the catwalk. “We have her trapped…”