Free Alpha Male by Mike Cooley

on the edge of the ocean next to five agents wearing scuba gear. One of them extended a set of gear toward him. He shook his head. “I don’t need it. The Augmentor enhanced the oxygen capacity of my blood. I’ll just hold my breath.”
    “Are we ready?” asked the agent floating in the water.  
    “Ready,” said Drake. “Check your weapons.”  
    The agents pulled guns from holsters, examined the clips and chambers, then holstered them and strapped them in place.  
    “What about yours?” asked James, looking over at Drake who stood unarmed, encased in his blue polymer suit: silver wires traced through it like an external nerve system. His silver eyes reflected the ocean waves.  
    “I am a weapon.”
    “Do we have any idea how many Sirens are down there? What about the wildcard and the witch?”
    “I’m guessing there will be at least twenty. And we can expect the witch and her bastard boyfriend too.” Drake put his hands on his hips. “Don’t let the witch touch you. She burns. Kill everyone. We have to prevent them from deploying the nano-virus.”
    “Roger,” said James. “There are seven of us. Six and you , I mean.” He looked at Drake.
    “It will be enough.” Drake laughed. “Let’s go.”  
    Drake dove off the edge of the rock into the water. The six agents slipped their masks down over their faces, placed regulators in their mouths, and followed.
    Beneath the waves, Drake followed Henry—the one who had spotted the entrance to the Siren’s cave. The light on Henry’s mask lit up the rock wall as he descended toward the hidden entrance. An octagonal glyph marked the entrance to the tunnel. The rock face shimmered like a pool of mercury as Henry swam through it.
    Drake’s lungs felt powerful. Data flowed across his vision showing the temperature and proximity of the other men. He kicked his feet and swam through the illusion of rock, into the tunnel. The other agents followed.  

    “So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Drake’s low rumble of a voice echoed throughout the chamber. He was standing at the end of the silver tunnel with three Daelius agents on each side of him. All of them drew their guns.  
    “Damn.” Silas turned at the sound of Drake’s voice. He pushed Mel behind him protectively.  
    “You are too late to stop us.” Tala faced Drake. Sirens came from the far end of the chamber and from in-between the machines to stand at her side.  
    “We’ll see about that.” Drake counted Sirens, and his eyes lit up when he saw Silas and Melanie. “I see the witch is here. And her bastard sidekick. Excellent.”
    The agents spread out and readied their weapons.  
    “Give us the nano-virus and no one gets hurt.” Drake couldn’t contain a chuckle at the end of the sentence.  
    “No.” Tala took a step forward. “It’s men like you that we are sworn to eliminate.”
    “There are no men like me!” Drake moved like a blur from one end of the room to the other. Tala flew through the air backwards, and Silas was thrown onto his back. Drake stood against the wall full of A Minus canisters with Mel in front of him. He had one arm wrapped across her chest and was pulling her back against him.
    “Mel!” yelled Silas. He struggled to sit up.
    Mel could feel Drake squeezing her breast painfully, and his swelling manhood pressed against her back through his plastic suit. “But that’s impossible. I burned it off.”
    “If you use your powers I’ll snap your neck, witch.” Drake’s arm was like steel. “The Augmentor repaired all the damage you did. And then it improved me.”
    “Improved? No.” Mel searched out Silas. He was sitting on the floor across the room. His eyes were flamed with anger. Tala was slumped against a silver centrifuge with blood running down her face. Her eyes were closed.
    “Let her go or I’ll kill you.” Silas stood up and faced Drake.
    “It’s time, agents.” Drake looked at his men. “Kill them all.”
    All hell broke loose in