The New Adventures of Richard Knight Read online

  He looked back at Sophia. “You brought them all the way out here?” he asked incredulously. Wherever here was. The leaves on trees were so green, they bordered on blue, and the sky… It was almost purple. It was like they had wandered into a Van Gogh. “And I thought you were trying to be practical.”

  “I am,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug. “Better safe than sorry. And with you around, it’s always better to play it very safe.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  Sophia gave him an exasperated sigh. “Of course you would.”

  The forest ripped open, shattered pieces of wood flying as two nine-foot tall mechanical monsters burst into the clearing, eyes glowing red.

  ***

  “I don’t want you to think I’m taking this relationship too seriously,” Knight said, his voice strained. The robot’s claw-like hand clamped down on his midsection, squeezing his broken ribs. The agony was excruciating, but he did his best to keep his wits about him, if only for appearances. He was always a sucker for a pretty face and Sophia’s topped them all, so he needed to impress. “But, this isn’t how I imagined us reconnecting.”

  “Did you imagine us holding hands while we skipped through Central Park?” she asked, riding comfortably on the other robot’s shoulder. She kept the Crystal in her lap, blanketed by her flying cap. They had been travelling for the better part of an hour, the robots tearing through the forest like a warm knife through butter. “You’d pick me a flower and pin it to my blouse. Then we’d gaze deeply into another’s eyes and you’d kiss me and all the world would melt away.”

  “I figured I would fly you someplace warm and exotic, show you the sights,” Knight offered sarcastically. “But, now that I think about it,” he pondered, eyeing the darkening forest around them; the crimson, violet and gold of dusk, “This is exactly how I pictured it.” Beneath the sound of gears and breaking wood, Knight thought he heard a roar in the distance, not so much a lion, but something much bigger. Even the stars, peeking out from behind the veil of the twilight sky seemed off, like they were closer and in the wrong place. “Fewer robots, though.”

  “Mechano-Men,” Sophia corrected, lovingly patting her machine on the side of its cylindrical head with a hollow clang!

  Knight snorted. “Mechano-Men?”

  “You know how Xander is,” Sophia replied. “He loves alliterations.”

  The name made Knight’s stomach drop; worse was the present tense. But that was impossible… But there was no point in asking questions, Knight was sure he was going to find out soon enough. Better to play along in the meantime. “So, that’s my competition, then? Some guy with a ridiculous name?”

  Sophia let out a short laugh. “And mine is a girl who can barely speak English? Don’t be ridiculous. Xander pays and pays well; that’s the long and short of our relationship. Besides, outside of himself, Xander only has one other love.”

  “That mechanical hand he’s always playing with?” Knight wondered.

  This time Sophia laughed so hard she almost fell off her perch. “Two other loves, then. His right hand and power.” She risked a glance over to him. “And what of you, Richard?”

  “I don’t have time for love,” Knight lied with conviction, more to himself than her.

  “I thought you would have said ‘flying,’” she said with a knowing smile. “That would have been a far more believable response.”

  Knight cringed. She didn’t miss a thing, did she?

  “Burdett!” a familiar voice echoed over the sound of gears and breaking wood as the robots pushed through into another clearing. A large silver aircraft with four massive propellers on both wings filled up half the area, it’s metallic hull so streamlined it was reflective; the stylized black spider painted on the side the ship’s only blemish. A dozen other small aircrafts of various makes and models were lined up at the end of a makeshift runway—Knight recognized the red Continental R-670 with the number “34” painted on the side as Sophia’s. Thanks to the smoke that had filled his Beechcraft, he had probably flown right over the airstrip. Not that he would have wanted to land here; out of the frying pan, into the fire. And milling about the whole scene was a small army of aviators, all female and all members of the sky pirate gang the Flying Banshees.

  “Ah,” Knight sounded with a smile. “The gang’s all here.”

  Sophia jumped down from her robotic roost and landed on her feet in a single fluid motion, the Crystal firm within her grasp.

  A tall woman stormed over from one of the aircrafts, her knee-high boots clomping against the dried soil as she angrily pushed through the swarm of airwomen. She had been beautiful once, still was if you only looked at the right side of her face. A shock of grey hair preceded a long, blood red scar that ran down her forehead, over a blind, milk-white eye, all the way to corner of her mouth; a memento Knight had given her during their first encounter. A propeller blade had sliced off her left ear during their second meeting and an exploding engine had burned the better part of her neck, but it seemed to be healing nicely.

  “Captain Yudain,” Sophia saluted with her free hand, clapping her heels together, ever the soldier. Sophia ostensibly shared command of the Banshees with Yudain, but it was best to keep up appearances.

  Yudain gave Sophia a brisk nod, but her sights were set on Knight.

  “Evening, Catherine,” Knight said pleasantly from the robot’s claw, giving Yudain his own two-fingered salute. “Long time no see.”

  She crossed her arms as she measured up her captive. “Richard E. Knight,” she said his name with venom. She looked up at the robot’s red eyes and commanded: “Release him.”

  A whir of hydraulics and the robot released Knight from its hold, dropping him to the ground. Unlike Sophia, Knight fell hard on his side, sending missiles of agony through his body and momentarily knocking the air out of his lungs. The crowd of female flyers burst into laughter.

  “I had expected Burdett to bring back your body torn in half, riddled with bullet holes and extra crispy,” Yudain said, standing over him. “But then again, you never do live up to expectations, do you, Knight?”

  Knight furrowed his brow, his ego once again bruised. “I’m sorry,” he said, his face red with pain and lack of oxygen. “Did I do something to offend everyone recently?”

  Yudain kicked Knight hard in the side. He couldn’t help but scream. “You didn’t die,” she hissed. She looked to Sophia. “Did he have it?”

  Sophia lifted her flight cap off the Crystal, which now glowed a soft white in the dim of early evening. A hush fell over the swarm of pilots as Yudain slowly walked over, her hands unconsciously extended out. There was the sound of bells as if the Crystal was singing.

  “Well, well, well. Looks like Christmas’s come early,” Yudain breathed, her eyes wide and threatening tears. The Crystal had that effect on people; except for Sophia and Knight it seemed. Interesting. Yudain’s fingers brushed up against the Crystal’s surface and she shivered. The Crystal was drawing her in, just like that poor bastard of an archeologist with the volcano of a skull. But Yudain was smarter than that and turned away. “Xander!” she called out to the silver plane. “Didn’t matter what list you were on, Santa’s got a present for you!”

  A seam formed in the side of the silver plane’s flawless hull, followed by the hiss of air escaping. An aura of light formed around the metal plating as it drew down and extended out into a short gangway. A trio of silhouettes sauntered out from the blinding white light of the plane’s interior, the one in the center walking with a noticeable limp.

  Knight’s throat went dry. In the long list of impossible things that had happened to him today alone, this threatened to top them all. The last time he had seen Xander Victor, the madman was tumbling into a lake of liquid magma. Knight could still remember the screams. But the silhouette quickly resolved and there was no doubt.

  Somehow, impossibly, Xander Victor was alive.

  “How surprising this must be for you, Mr. Kni
ght,” Xander Victor said, his voice crackling as he hobbled over, leaning heavily on a metallic cane. Dressed head to toe in a midnight black suit, his visage reflected the cancer of his soul. His hair, ears, lips and nose had melted off, leaving his face permanently locked in a horrific grimace. His robotic right hand twitched, the fingers wiggling back and forth in jerky, inhuman motions. But his eyes… His eyes remained as vicious and intelligent as ever.

  “A little surprising,” Knight responded, fighting every urge not to strangle the old monster to death. “You look like you’ve lost some weight. Have you been exercising? It looks like the excess weight just melted off.”

  Xander smiled, or snarled; it was difficult to tell without lips. He gestured to the two human-sized robots flanking him. “Pick him up. I want to look him in the eye.” The Mechano-Men walked over and grabbed Knight by the arms and lifted him up off the ground, letting his feet dangle. They were strong, that was easy to see, but their legs were thin and potentially unstable. Knight would remember that. “Always so nonchalant, aren’t we?” Xander asked. “Trying to appear so cocksure even in the face of the most improbable of events.”

  “I’m trying to impress a girl,” Knight confessed, feeling Sophia’s eyes on him. “You know how it goes. Actually,” Knight grimaced comically, trying to look sardonic by raising an eyebrow, “do you?”

  “You look unwell, Mr. Knight, are you ill?” Xander asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

  “He broke a few ribs,” Sophia answered for him. Knight shot her an indignant look. She returned an arched eyebrow. “Three in fact.”

  “Hm.” Xander poked Knight hard in the chest with his cane, eliciting a grunt. “How terrible; but I’m sure you will heal. Me, on the other hand… You threw me into a fire.”

  “It was magma,” Knight replied. “Let’s not forget, I was trying to kill you.”

  “Seems like you did a bad job at it.”

  Knight gave him a sly grin. “Night’s still young.”

  Xander chuckled. “I do admire your spirit, Mr. Knight. But the time for pleasantries has passed.” He limped over to Sophia, stealing only the briefest of glances at the Crystal. “Thank you, m’dear. You did well. I’ll add another thousand to each of your accounts.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Sophia replied with a nod. If she was disturbed by Xander’s horrific appearance, she didn’t show it.

  Xander glanced back at Knight and offhandedly gestured at Sophia. “You see that, Mr. Knight? That is respect; something you’re sorely lacking.” He reached out and grasped the Crystal with his mechanical hand. There were five small pops of static electricity as the metallic fingers gripped the Crystal’s ever-changing surface. Xander let his gaze drop to the center of the Crystal, now generating the same sound of bells, louder, angrier.

  “Darling, how long I waited to hold you again,” Xander whispered lovingly to the Crystal, momentarily forgetting himself. He closed his eyes, tilted his head back as if sunning himself and let out a long breathy sigh. He pressed the crystal to his chest like a long lost lover. “To you, Mr. Knight, this object must seem like magic, but there is no such thing. Magic belongs to stories, to the myths and fairy tales of youth. This is something so much more. Thank you so much for bringing it to me. We could have never gotten it here without you.”

  “I had a promise to keep,” Knight said brusquely, refusing to look at Sophia.

  “Still trying to impress a girl?” Xander asked pleasantly.

  The corner of Knight’s mouth hooked into a grin. “Always.”

  “Hm,” Xander sounded, considering Sophia from the corner of his unblinking eyes. “Have you considered you have bad taste in women?”

  “Just bad timing,” Knight replied.

  Xander smiled that terrible smile. “Don’t worry, Mr. Knight, your time is almost up.” He looked to Yudain. “Bring them both,” he commanded before limping back toward his plane.

  Sophia furrowed her brow. “‘Bring them both?’” she repeated. “Who is he talking about—?” She cut herself short as Yudain drew her pistol. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Yudain took two long strides over to Sophia, her pistol aimed for Sophia’s abdomen. “Sorry, sister, you’re the other half of the puzzle.” In a flash, she spun the gun around in her hand and slammed the handle against Sophia’s head and Sophia fell to the ground, unconscious.

  ***

  “Do you know where we are, Mr. Knight?” Xander asked as he hobbled through the forest with vigor, the Crystal tucked under his arm, draped over with a black velvet shroud. He was like a schoolboy on an adventure in the backyard, Knight mused.

  “Somewhere in the Congo,” Knight answered, his arms tied behind his back. Sophia walked beside him, a massive welt on her forehead. Her beautiful face twisted with anger. A Mechano-Man walked on either side, guns trained at their heads. Yudain followed behind them, gun in each hand.

  Xander laughed, at once amused and frustrated, as if he was talking to a difficult child. “Hm. Is that what you think? How bland your life must be in that pitiful little mind of yours.”

  Knight rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to keep on insulting me, Xander, I’ll just go home. This is no way to treat a guest.”

  “Will you two skip the pillow talk and get to the point?” Sophia growled, her blue-grey eyes smoldering. “I want to have a good reason for killing you both.”

  “Oh, don’t take it personal, Burdett,” Yudain chided, pressing a gun into the small of Sophia’s back. “It’s all business. Besides, the Banshees couldn’t really have two commanders. It’s bad enough Rosado’s been giving me lip recently, didn’t want to have to deal with both of you. This is a whole lot neater and prettier.”

  “Bitch,” Sophia spat. “You were my sister.”

  Yudain shrugged. “Like I give a damn.”

  “So, what is it, Xander?” Knight asked, ducking under a low hanging vine. “You’re going to use the Crystal to take over the world?”

  “World?” Xander laughed. “Don’t be so pedestrian, Mr. Knight. You’re only thinking in three dimensions; there is so much more to reality than this,” he said, knocking on a tree trunk with his mechanical hand, eliciting a clunk-clunk. “Other worlds, other universes.”

  Knight chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. “What was it you said about ‘stories, myths and fairy tales’ again?”

  “Don’t worry,” Yudain commented. “He’s explained it to me a dozen times and I still don’t get it. All I know is, I’m getting a whole planet to myself. Hopefully one where women have died off.”

  Knight fought back the urge to scoff. “Clearly you’re not dragging us around for fun, Xander. If that’s what you were after, you would have put a bullet in my brain the moment you laid eyes on me.”

  Xander stopped and looked back at Knight. “A very apt observation, Mr. Knight,” he replied, shaking a congratulatory mechanical finger at Knight. “There might be hope for you yet. You might have noticed that the Crystal seems to react in a very specific way whenever anyone comes in contact with it, including myself and Miss Yudain.”

  “It sings,” Yudain quietly stated, looking down as if ashamed.

  “Or screams…” Xander added softly. His eyes fell to the mossy ground. Was that fear Knight noticed? Then, aloud, Xander said, “Everyone who has touched the Crystal has elicited the sounds… But not you or Miss Burdett.”

  Knight glanced over at Sophia and gave her a broad smile. “Look at that, Soph! We’re special.”

  “Shut up, Dick,” Sophia grumbled.

  “Now why that is I can only guess,” Xander continued lecturing. “Perhaps something to do with your undeveloped brains, or maybe it’s because of all of us, you two might be the only ones who don’t want the Crystal for yourselves.” He measured his two prisoners; had he lips he would have pursed them. “Hm. But, whatever the reasons, it might mean you two are the only ones who can use the Crystal correctly.”

  “And how do you know that?” Knight asked.<
br />
  Xander shrugged. “I don’t,” he admitted. He turned and continued down his path. “Call it… an educated guess.”

  The Mechano-Man beside Knight shoved him forward. He grunted as pain shot out of from his shattered ribs. “Let’s say you’re right?” he asked. “You’ve got me. And I’m more than enough to handle. You don’t need Sophia. Let her go and I’ll play along.”

  Xander laughed and shook his head. “No, I’m a gambler, Mr. Knight, and I play the odds. Two birds in the hand better than one, no? And with you around, it’s always better to play it very safe.”

  Knight gave Sophia a sidelong glance. “So I’ve heard.”

  “I will admit, Mr. Knight, I have never enjoyed our little games,” Xander said as he pushed aside a branch with his cane. “They are tiresome. Perhaps this makes me crass, but I will revel in the glee of killing you.”

  “Aw, Xander, you’re getting me all misty-eyed.”

  Ignoring Knight’s comment, Xander climbed up a small knoll, draped with vines and branches. He twirled back to Knight and Sophia, his arms open, a magician about to reveal his prestige. “Ask yourself, Knight, what is the greatest discovery man has ever made?”

  “The wheel,” Knight answered promptly. He paused, glanced down in confusion and furrowed his brow. “No. Wait… Fire? Is this multiple choice?”

  Yudain groaned and pressed a gun to the back of Knight’s head. “Let me shoot him now, Xander. Save us from this agony.”

  “Soon, Miss Yudain, soon. But first, let me answer the question. Man’s greatest discovery isn’t such silly little things. No, our great discovery is…” Xander’s face twisted into a horrible grin as he pushed aside the underbrush and revealed a massive metallic disc protruding out from a crater below them, “that we are not alone.”