With a cold wind blowing from the south and the storm sweeping in from the east, McCarty was forced to keep a brisk pace to avoid getting too cold and have the storm catch him in the open. Thus he was able to reach the building in less than a half hour from where his landing was made.
Make that buildings. The shape on the horizon was a sprawling complex of three and four-story buildings that covered several hectares of territory. Considering how isolated this location was, it could only be one place: the Librarian's retreat.
McCarty slowed as he approached, eyes narrowed as he examined the low wall that ran around the perimeter. So far, he hadn't detected any sign of movement. But that certainly didn't mean anything.
Unslinging his rifle, he continued his slow advance, every sense turned to catch the slightest deviation from the howling wind and dodgy light. And in doing so, he heard the rumble of something in the sky. Something that wasn't thunder. McCarty threw his eyes skyward and watched several large, diamond-shaped craft descend through the clouds, glowing thrusters on their bottom edges providing the sound that he had heard.
For a long moment he simply stared at the shapes as they continued dropping towards the ground, uncertain what he should make of them. Then an implanted engram stirred to life and, with a cold rush, he recognized them as Revaat landing ships. 'They must be here, investigating the asteroid strike I was supposed to look like, on entry,' he silently reasoned. Which meant he had just run short on time.
Renewing his grip on his rifle, McCarty pushed forward, eyes scanning the wall in front of him for an entrance. He needed to get inside as quickly as possible. If these aliens were as advanced as Kinsey said, they'd have no trouble figuring out that the asteroid was fake. Or finding his footsteps leading away from it.
There! It appeared to be some sort of back gate. 'Good enough,' he thought as he jogged towards it. A hard push revealed it was locked. 'Not for long!' he thought, raising his rifle.
Thankfully no alarms sounded when he blew the locking mechanism into oblivion with one well-placed shot. Kicking the door aside, he quickly stepped inside and, after closing it behind him to minimize his trail, he jogged towards the nearest building.
According to the layout that the old man had shown him, the Librarian kept most of his valuables in the main building. A quick orientation and he was moving stealthily along the side of the building he had initially approached then over to what was the main building, an imposing ediface that stood a good three stories above anything else in the compound.
He was about to approach what looked like the main entrance when a scream split the air. Somebody was in trouble in there! Adrenaline abruptly pouring through him, McCarty bolted forward, charging towards the entrance.
A boot to the frame was enough to knock the unlocked portal aside and he stepped inside, rifle raised to the ready. And quickly found himself looking on a terrible scene.
A woman in elaborate clothing lay crumpled on the ground, her clothing ripped, torn and blood-soaked. A ragged gash opened her up from hip to breast, the reason her clothing was ripped. And hovering above her was a lean, dark figure, clutching a viciously curved knife.
Hearing McCarty come in, the figure looked up from the body with a leer.
"Marie Antoinette was much sweeter in the flesh, my friend," he said with a distinct accent. He then licked the blood dripping from his curved blade.
"Oh yes, much sweeter!"
"Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally," another voice was saying from a side hallway as it approached. "It refers to any manufacturer of dairy products," it said before a gasped: "Jack!"
Turning his head just enough to see, McCarty made out two older figures standing there, staring in horror.
"What have you done?"
The lean figure looked over and bloodily grinned.
"What I was born to do, Freud," he said with a laugh. "Cutting women open. They don't call me the Ripper for nothing!"
"Consider that career terminated," McCarty snarled and put a round through Jack's forehead. The killer was flung back by the impact, twisting wildly around before crumpling to the floor.
For a moment the two older men simply stared at him as if he were some horrifying apparition. Then:
"Gott in Himmel, Billy!" the one named Freud exclaimed. "You're back! We all thought you were dead after falling out of favor with the master several months ago."
McCarty favored him with a quick look before focusing back on the killer. Moving closer and nudging him with his boot confirmed the murdering filth was dead. Unfortunately so was the woman, her gaping wound instantly fatal.
"Sorry, friend, I don't know you," he said, looking back at the two older men now that he was satisfied Jack was dead. "I've not seen either one of you before. But you seem to know me. What did you say my name was?"
"William McCarty, but we all knew you as Billy the Kid, an incarnation of a famous Old West gunslinger," was Freud's quick reply.
McCarty digested that a moment then shrugged. It didn't really matter who he had been. It only mattered who he was now. And now he was tasked to save Humanity by recovering the Librarian's collection of DNA samples.
"If this was my return, it's too bad it wasn't soon enough to save this woman," he said. "It's all about timing. And right now, if I don't get a move on with why I'm here, I'll run out of time to find it before the Revaat arrive."
"If you are asking for help from those two, Billy, then you are wasting what time you think you have left," a new voice growled from opposite the two older men.
McCarty glanced towards the speaker. And, to his astonishment, he found himself looking at a relatively tall, athletic woman bordering on the muscular, her brunette head held proudly and her beautiful face a hardened mask of resolution. It was mockery that such a proud, beautiful and powerful woman would be dressed in a loose tunic that barely covered her lithe form and sported a pair of large breasts that were completely out of place on her.
"Thanks for the advice, ma'am," he began, pushing the two older men into the background as she suggested. "Perhaps if you'd be kind enough to point me in the direction of somebody who can help, I'd be much obliged."
The woman snorted and strode forward, not giving the two bodies a second look. Or the two other men, for that matter. And as she did so, McCarty had to work hard to keep his eyes on her face instead of that ridiculous bosom, which used the opportunity to move in several tantalizing directions at the same time, more than enough to stir his blood.
"You may not be the Billy we knew, but surely you can see that I am the one that'll help you," she said, coming to a halt beside him.
McCarty looked at her for a moment, considering her offer. But before he could answer, all hell broke loose.
The front entrance shattered into a thousand fragments with a roar of discharge. Then, as glass and debris rained down on them, several red fogs of light moved into the antechamber.
"The Revaat!" Freud screamed. Then he and his companion were cut down in a hail of energy beams. A heart beat later McCarty was getting pulled to the ground by the woman, who was as strong as she looked.
Even as he dropped, McCarty took a look at the clouds. And in doing so, somehow noticed that they were not a fog or a mist. Rather, they were swarms of thousands of tiny forms, nearly too small to make out. And, in their midst was a blue light, like a heart of sorts.
Acting on a hunch, he took aim at the blue light on the nearest mass of red dots as soon as he hit the ground and fired. And McCarty watched in satisfaction as the cloud blew apart as soon as the blue light was gone.
"Bingo," he whispered. Then he was firing as quickly as he could pull the trigger.
Their weakness revealed, the Revaat turned as one towards him to unleash a barrage of energy bolts. Thankfully he was faster and blue lights were getting blasted before they could take aim. Then he was scrambling to his feet as the last cloud spun into oblivion, the woman right beside him.
"Don't think I'll get the drop on them like that again," he rasped before looking at her. "Want to help? Lead me to the master's collection of DNA samples!"
Nodding, the woman took off at a dead run down a side corridor, McCarty on her heels. As she ran, she used an arm to keep her bosom from thrashing about. Now at her side, McCarty gave the awkward stance a quick look then asked as he returned his eyes forward.
"What's the deal with those, uh,..."
"Monstrosities?" the woman finished for him with a grimace.
"Yeah."
"The master didn't think my original form was curvy enough for him," was her curt answer. "I was scrapped and recloned with these,... modifications."
McCarty favored her with another quick look.
"You're a clone?"
"We all are, here. Made from the collection for his entertainment." That last part was made with a sneer of disgust. "As were you, when you were here before."
This time it was her that favored him with a look.
"But you're different this time, Billy. You don't act like a gunslinger. You act like,... a hero."
McCarty grimaced at the label.
"Only if I get out of here with the collection, so Dr. Kinsey can use the DNA to rescue Humanity," he said.
She gave him another look, this time longer.
"A worthy cause," she finally announced as they sprinted around a corner. Then more Revaat in the room beyond forced them to take a nearby flight of stairs, clones dying behind them with screams and rough snarls of discharge.
"I am Hippolyta, once queen of the Amazons," she announced when they reached the top of the staircase. "And I ask only one boon in return for my assistance."
They skidded to a halt in front of an ornate door and McCarty looked over at her.
"If it's within my power to give," he said. Satisfied with the answer, Hippolyta pushed the door open, revealing a sterile-looking room with a dark cylinder sitting on top of a simple table.
"Take me with you," she quietly asked, looking back at him. "While I know not whether the master is dead or not, I'd sooner die myself then to live another moment in that beast's thrall."
Hearing the disgust in her voice as he stepped into the room and picked up the cylinder, McCarty turned back to her and without hesitation nodded.
"Of course." He hefted the cylinder as the sounds of the Revaat attacking grew louder all around them. "All you need to do now is show me where the life boat is!"