Infected 8: Impulse: A Whole New Day by P. S. Power Page A

of miles per hour when it crashed into his face. There was a crunching sound, and about a third of a moan, as he tried to do something to her. What that was, she didn't know, except that when she struck out again, kicking him between the legs hard enough to break his pelvis in several places, she felt it too. In fact, everyone in the room seemed to. About half of them gasped and started to go down, except for Doug, who seemed to be forcing himself to keep his feet. Even after being nailed in the balls like that. Hopefully not full force. She didn't think it could have been from what she felt herself.
    The glow cut out after that, as they all fell down, as if dropped. That didn't matter. If she had to kill all of them to stop Tesseract and Braid, then it was a good price for it.
    Tesseract had once faced one of the most powerful super teams in the world, some forty-plus people strong, all high powered Infected, and killed them all, inside fourteen seconds . She couldn't give him any kind of leverage. Doing that would probably have them all dead, she knew.
    If she could ensure that it would take out Devorah Timberland too, she'd have let that happen.
    A hand struck her, from behind, but it was too soft to do much, not even distract her. Timberland was trying to fight her, to save her friend, and her own life. That was a good plan, really. She was dead otherwise. Impulse didn't stop, just pummeling the man, until he didn't seem to be breathing anymore.
    Just as she was about to make it really pay off, and take out his throat, another glow entered the space, as the walls warped and something strange happened.
    Looking elongated and so purple he was nearly black, his body and face left without feature or identifying mark, Tesseract walked into the room. One that, she was pretty certain, he was already in. Nearly dead, on the floor.
    She moved to finish the action anyway, but found that she couldn't. A long, almost taloned looking finger was held up, the black creature in front of the case that held frozen ice cream treats.
    "Aaaahhhh. Not this time, sweetling. Braid had warned me back then, but I foolishly thought that I was your match, and came unprepared. I shall not make that error again, my love." Then, without explaining what the hell he meant by that , he waved a hand at the version of himself on the floor. The body seemed to grow both smaller and farther away, without ever really moving. Then as if holding them all in place, physically, he bowed toward Devorah, who smiled at him.
    "Very good. I was uncertain of the outcome here. Now, shall we discuss what I came for? Other than the water, I mean. We don't have a lot of time. Brian Yi will be here soon. Perhaps not, but that has been the pattern when I've tried to speak to any of his friends or family over the last months." Her voice was distorted, seeming like she, or all of them, were under water. "Mary, I have information for you, that I think you might be willing to trade for handsomely. Would you hold to a bargain, if what I tell you is of value to you?"
    There was no answer from Mary, at first. Bridget figured it would be due to her being held in place too, but a sudden flare of blue light cut through the room, allowing Bridget, and she had to figure the others, to move freely.
    It took her brain a bit to work out what had just taken place. Tesseract may have been the world's only officially known class nine, but Mary Wyrdcraft, hippie donut shop, and coffee place, owner, had just handed him his space and time warping ass . It showed too, since the man turned back into the same man that had just been removed from the floor, and staggered, like he'd been hit with a fist. Not her fist, since he was still standing, but a pretty tough one.
    Then he smacked into the floor, as Doug pointed at him. It was good to see that everyone was back on their feet. Well, not Braid, but the others had all managed it, which meant that whatever connection Tesseract had been causing hadn't