Gabriel: Zero Point (Evan Gabriel Trilogy) by Steve Umstead Page B

out the two men, but dissipated in a matter of seconds. Either that or my systems have been upgraded more so than I was told.
    He looked down at the two men. One was out cold with a badly broken nose. The other had several broken bones, including one that, if treated soon, would have him eating through a straw for a long time. If not treated… He clenched his fist and felt the power of the augmented muscle fibers.  
    HAMR indeed.
    His neuretics pinged again and projected a medical diagnostic. He looked at the image in Mindseye and saw that in addition to the wounds from the explosions, apparently he had taken one of the two pistol rounds the second man had fired. Just below his rib cage, on his left side, a through-and-through. Now he was bleeding from at least half a dozen wounds, and while none were life threatening, he’d need medical attention soon. Or at least some bandages. He thought back to Knowles’s description of the medpack and wished he had completed the procedure before all of this shit went down.  
    Knowles . He pulled the station schematic up. The target room was just on the other side of the next elevator bay, so he was less than 500 feet from his destination. He reached down to pick up his pulse rifle and noticed the barrel was cracked where he had slammed it into the hostile’s arm. He frowned and kicked it aside. The broken jawed man armed with only the mag pistol. Gabriel grabbed it and tucked it into his waistband, then picked up the first man’s pulse rifle. As with the first one, his neuretics tapped into the code lock and armed it. He felt the tingle of connection in his hand and turned towards his target.

Chapter 10

    The security feed was still offline, but Gabriel’s passive scans showed no additional threats between him and the target room. The room where he hoped to find answers. Where were Knowles and Biermann? Who were these gunmen? And why the hell were they trying to kill him?
    He ran at a medium pace, feeling the strength in his legs with each step. The nano machines had done their job. He felt different from head to toe; his muscles felt almost refreshed, like just waking up from a nap and taking a long, slow stretch. In fact, he thought as he ran, he was waking up from a nap. A very long one.  
    This was a zero point for him. He was different. Stronger, faster, more capable. He only hoped he’d live through whatever this was to be able to use all his newfound abilities.  
    He slowed as he approached the last elevator bay. He could see the door just past the bay. It was closed and had a simple palm lock. It was very nondescript, like most others he saw on Cielo, but behind this one was his target.  
    He took one last passive scan of his immediate surroundings and walked slowly around to the other side of the elevator bay. Suddenly a flashing icon popped up in his Mindseye. His neuretics threat assessment algorithm had detected movement, but his scans were clear. He froze and brought the rifle up. Again the icon flashed, but had no vector or location.
    Gabriel spun around, rifle up and armed, but the corridor was clear behind him. He looked up at the ceiling, but saw nothing. The dim light wasn’t preventing him from seeing; his scans enhanced his vision far better than even radar would be, but he still saw nothing. He queried his neuretics to pin down the source of the movement, but his systems couldn’t. Something was moving, close, but it was invisible.  
    Make them react. A voice from his past echoed in his head. His instructor back at RTC Great Lakes, showing recruits how to flush out an unseen enemy. Don’t be predictable, be unconventional. Draw them out by forcing their hand.
    Gabriel pressed his back to the wall of the corridor and slowly reached down and pulled the two frag grenades from his thigh pocket. They were close-quarters models, smaller than ones used for room clearing, and both easily fit into one hand. He used his thumb to flick both arming switches. He