When they reached the intersection that led to the lab, the Dagger increased her pace, closing on the pair of guards that stood beside the security-coded entrance.
Words were exchanged. Thad watched as two of Dacina’s soldiers moved forward at her hand signal, ostensibly to take the guards’ place, but with sudden swiftness, they turned on the two men. A few vicious, well-placed strikes later, the guards were no longer a factor.
“Access is coming—”
The Dagger’s words cut off as the security-coded doors’ telltales turned green, and they slid open.
The hallway beyond the portal was short, with doors leading to rooms the prison’s map had labeled as ‘testing’. Thad didn’t want to know what Janus had done to his subjects behind those doors. Fortunately, that wasn’t the focus of this mission. Their objective, the lab, lay at the end of the passage.
He drew his weapon, and the rest did the same, the group spreading out as they approached. Dacina launched a drone that sniffed the door for all evidence of recent use—and for traps.
“Clear,” she reported.
Stepping up to the door’s palmpad, the assassin laid her hand on it.
The doors slid open, unleashing a barrage of weapons fire from inside.
* * *
Dacina dove for cover, the lance of directed-energy beams searing a path through the air mere centimeters from her head.
“That's not Janus!” she heard Ell call out, the sniper’s back pressed to the wall on the other side of the door. “The angle’s too high.”
Dacina crouched, studying the firing pattern with a critical eye. “It's also automated,” she noted after a second.
She heard Ell’s Marine curse.
“Damned fool’s set off the room’s defense systems.”
“But why?” a stealthed Garza asked.
“He must have tried to communicate with someone on the outside and realized he was blocked,” Rin Zhou speculated.
“That alone shouldn’t have done it,” countered Ell. “Surely, networks go down on occasion—especially in the desert.”
“Then he tried to reach the warden, and when the man didn’t respond….”
Dacina reached out to the asset she’d turned. {Can you deactivate the defensive grid in Janus’s lab?}
{Working on it….} There was a pause. {Is what you’re after time-sensitive?}
{Only Janus.}
{I’m reading no life signs on scan. He’s not in there.}
Dacina hit the palmpad, and the doors slid shut, sealing the defensive screen inside. “He must be headed for the hangar. He’ll try to escape, get word out.”
“Janus is smart enough to suspect we have eyes on that hangar,” protested Thad. “You know the layout here. Where else could he hole up?”
Dacina considered the options, and then nodded to her left. “The laundry facility and waste reclamation plants are adjacent to the hangar bay, on this side.” Indicating with her chin, she added, “The kitchen and prison dining facility are in that direction, on the other side.”
“So we split up.” Thad’s eyes darted about, doing a swift mental headcount.
Dacina followed his gaze. There were twelve of them, including Che, Garza, and Rin Zhou, plus three of her Junxun.
“Morrison, you take Garza and one of the Dagger’s men and scout out the kitchens.” The Marine shot Dacina a seeking look, and she nodded her agreement.
She knew what the Marine was doing; the kitchens were both the safest and least likely spot that Janus would choose, too far away for the doctor to bother. It was Thad’s way of ensuring Garza’s safety, just like her choices would protect Che.
Dacina motioned to one of her men. “We will go with the citizen minister to check out the hangar.”
That seemed to please the Marine.
Dacina knew, like he did, that the most likely spot for Janus to be was inside the laundry. That left the reclamation plant.
The man turned to Jonathan, an odd smile on his face.
The Alliance pilot straightened. “No.”
The Marine’s smile widened.
“Well, shit,” Jonathan cursed.
“Literally, ami.” The Marine clapped him on the shoulder. “Latrine duty falls to the new guy on the op.”
“Buck up,” said Ell, stepping forward. “I’ll suffer alongside you.”
Dacina had the oddest impression she had missed some subtext here, but had neither the time nor the inclination to suss it out.
“Well, then. It appears that leaves the laundry to us, Captain Severance.” Rin Zhou stepped forward, weapon in hand. Beside her stood Dacina’s final Junxun.
Thad inclined his head toward the woman. “After you, ma’am.”
They separated into their teams, breaking into a jog as they headed for their respective destinations.
“Good hunting,” the Marine called in a low voice.
“May your blade be swift.”
Dacina thought she heard the man’s soft, “Huh. I’ll have to remember that one,” as he walked away.
SHIT SHOW
Shar-Kali Correctional Facility
and Reeducation Center
Aksu Desert
The hum of the automated system and the mechanical sound of paddles churning liquid in the vats below masked Jonathan’s ingress into the waste reclamation plant. He cleared the entrance quickly, as he’d been trained to do, his pistol tracking across the open expanse as he crossed from one side of the door to the other.
His quick slice-of-the-pie not revealing any immediate threat, Jonathan stepped cautiously inside. His gaze landed on the treatment pool, lit from within by the blue glow of ultraviolet light, but it was immediately drawn away when a clattering sound came on his left.
A lean, familiar form raced toward a set of metal stairs that led up to the plant’s pulpit, where the SIs that controlled the waste facility were housed.
Ordering his drakeskin suit to flush a cloud of audio chaff, Jonathan sped after Janus. The chaff masked the clink and rattle of his footsteps on the grated metal walkway, while the plant’s ambient sound covered the rest.
He motioned for Joule to swing around and approach from the other side, and the big cat obligingly turned down the walkway in the other direction.
{Found him,} he sent to the others as he closed in on the metal staircase.
{Coming up from below,} replied Ell. {Be there in a few.}
Jonathan took the steps two at a time, an idea forming.
Passing his pistol from his right hand to his left, he fumbled in his tactical vest for the flash-bang he knew was there. His attention on his pocket, he hit the top step and overshot, his foot coming down hard on the grated surface and causing a clang to reverberate loud enough to overcome the chaff.
A muffled exclamation sounded up ahead, and he saw the pulpit’s door slide open. Then Janus leaned out, weapon in hand, and Jonathan was forced to duck when he saw the barrel spark.
He pivoted to the side, back flat against the control room’s metal wall, feeling exposed as shots from the energy pistol scored the grating beneath his feet, and drilled heated divots into the metal wall above his head.
{Any time now would be good….}
Janus couldn’t know precisely where he was—not with active stealth. The problem was the narrow gangway didn’t leave him much maneuvering room, and if Ell didn’t get here soon, he’d have to make a play for Janus before the man cut him down, drakeskin or no drakeskin.
He used his wire to manually trigger the SmartCarbyne lattice that ran throughout his body, reinforcing bones and strengthening muscles. He crept steadily forward, one eye on the sludge turning ponderously below, the other on the man taking potshots at the air around him as he gauged when to make his move.
When the doctor’s gun hand swung to the left, Jonathan lunged. Picosensors that ran along the axons of his neural circuitry came online, functioning as supplemental nodes and signal boosters, propelling him forward with a speed and agility
that far outpaced the human norm. He powered into the other man, driving him back into the pulpit.
Janus swung wildly, accidentally clocking Jonathan in the head with the butt of the pistol. They broke apart, and Janus scrambled to his feet, coming up with a metal pole in his hand that looked like it was from one of the paddles churning the contents of the vat below.
The doctor swung it like a bat, and Jonathan sprang away. With his enhanced reflexes, he could have easily evaded—if he’d had the space to retreat. As it was, he slammed into the pulpit’s far wall, the end of the pole clipping him in the gut and knocking the wind from him.
Instinctively he curled into himself, gasping for air, just as the other man swung the pole down toward the top of his head. Jonathan jerked out of the way, grabbing at the pole with one hand. The ionic threads woven into the palm of his drakeskin suit fastened tight about the metal rod, and he twisted, the movement snapping the doctor’s wrist with a sickening crack.
On a roar, Janus charged, bringing his pistol up once more. Jonathan backpedaled, reaching up to wrap his hand around the barrel, and knocking it upward as it discharged. At the same time, his heel hit the lip of the pulpit’s entrance, knocking him off-balance.
He fell back, his head hanging over the side of the walkway. Blindly, Janus reached for Jonathan’s neck, seeking a choke-hold—but then a ripping snarl sounded, echoing off the walls of the chamber.
With a startled yelp, the doctor released him, scrambling over his stealthed form in his haste to get away.
A low growl emitted over his wire. {You owe me steak.}
* * *
While Jonathan snuck into the waste reclamation plant through its main entrance, Ell circled around and came in from below and behind. That meant a quick jaunt through the prison’s hangar bay.
The area held all the typical sights, sounds, and smells endemic to such places. She could hear the ting-ting-ting of cooling metal from a nearby shuttle that had recently landed. The floor she crossed was smeared with stains hinting at years of accumulated spills and hydraulic leaks.
On the other side of the cavernous bay, Ell saw shadowed figures limned on her overlay, her suit’s IFF telling her where the Dagger and her entourage had begun their search. Her own destination was just ahead: a side entrance into the bowels of the reclamation plant.
As was typical of such areas, the edges bled shadows. Like with all vermin, it was just the sort of place Janus would gravitate toward.
Hearing Jonathan’s call, she increased her pace. Slipping inside the plant, she was met by the sound of weapons fire, and then the clang of metal on metal as the two men sparred.
Catching sight of the stairs leading up from the vats to the walkways above, Ell raced toward them. If Janus managed to escape Jonathan’s grasp, it was here she would intercept him.
{Sitrep,} Thad’s voice rang in her head.
{It sounds like Jonathan’s engaged Janus, and—} She paused at the foot of the stairs, head cocked.
{And…?}
{Wait one.} Ell listened. {I think Jonathan’s disarmed him. Going up.}
{Entering from the second-floor hallway,} Thad informed her.
She sent him a mental nod. {That should put you right above me. They’re up at the pinnacle. Third level, small control center.}
{Coming in from the other side, across from your Marine,} came Dacina’s voice.
Ell smiled internally at Dacina’s characterization of Thad as she began climbing, then scolded herself for her distraction.
Get your head in the game, Cyr.
She slowed when her head came even with the walkway, and shifted her grip on her rifle.
The events of the next few seconds unfolded rapidly.
Ell charged up the remainder of the steps just as Joule’s angry snarl rang out above. Her forward momentum sent her crashing into Janus, the man fleeing the savage beast at his heels.
She reeled back, momentarily off-balance, and her rifle swung to one side as she freed a hand to grab at the railing and keep from pitching over the side.
In the next instant, she felt Janus’s hand wrap around her neck, the barrel of a pistol pressed firmly against her temple.
SACRIFICES
Shar-Kali Correctional Facility
and Reeducation Center
Aksu Desert
“Drop your weapon, or she dies!”
Janus’s voice held an edge of panic that told Thad the man was operating from a place of great instability, his hindbrain in complete control.
He instinctively understood that to push the doctor at this moment would cause him to snap.
{Sitrep!} His own voice was laced with tension.
Somehow, he knew it was Ell that Janus had in his grasp.
{Guy’s got the barrel of an energy pistol pressed to Ell’s right temple, and I highly doubt it’s dialed down,} Jonathan told him, his mental tone taut with rage.
They were both aware of what that meant. No one could survive a full-strength directed energy blast, shot at point-blank range.
Thad looked up to see the pilot’s shadowed form, weapon drawn and pointed at an angle that placed Janus almost directly beneath where Thad stood.
{Got another problem,} Jonathan informed him. {That pool’s using accelerated forced degradation. The field it’s emitting is interfering with my CUSP. My HUD’s giving me a low-confidence error every time I try to draw a bead on him.}
“Drop it!” Janus ordered.
{He thinks I’m the only one here,} said Jonathan. {Gonna drop the CUSP. It’s worthless right now, anyway.} Aloud, the pilot called out, “Fine. Just don’t shoot.”
Thad heard the clang of the pistol hit the metal walkway.
“See? No weapon,” Jonathan said calmly. “Now let her go.”
Beneath him, Thad heard Janus scoff. “You think I’m a fool? I know you’re carrying more than one.”
{Keep him talking. I’m just inside the entrance, directly above them.} Thad stepped forward. {Let me see if I can’t —}
He froze as the walkway creaked beneath his feet.
“You, up there! Move again, and she gets it!”
Thad’s gaze shot to Jonathan. {Tell me you have a clean shot, ami.}
He saw Jonathan’s silhouette shake its head. {I don’t, man. Guy’s pulled her up right in front of him.}
{He’s taller than she is, dammit!}
{And he’s lower on the set of stairs. Damn doctor’s smart enough to have figured that one out.} He could hear the frustration in Jonathan’s voice. {I can’t put a bullet in him without hitting her.}
Thad abruptly realized the one person he hadn’t heard from.
{Ell? Report!}
{I don’t think she can, Captain.}
Dacina’s voice told him she’d arrived, but when he scanned the walkway across from him, he couldn’t pinpoint her position.
{Ziptie?} he asked.
{We call them shackles, but they are essentially the same.}
Thad heard shuffling sounds. The doctor was moving, and dragging Ell along with him.
“Let her go, Janus,” he called out.
“Not a chance. She’s my ticket out of here.”
Across the pool, Rin Zhou stepped into view. Her eyes flicked up to Thad before settling down below. “You know we cannot allow you to leave, Doctor.”
Janus’s harsh laugh cut through the chamber. “Isn’t that some irony. The prisoner telling the man who reports directly to the premier what he can and cannot do.”
{Careful,} Thad cautioned. {Don’t push him.}
It was difficult to see from this distance, but he thought he saw Rin Zhou’s eyelids flicker in response. Otherwise, she did not react.
“Then listen to me,” Che spoke from the shadows. “I’m the premier’s right hand. And I am telling you to stand down.”
Janus’s laugh was tinged with hysteria. “His right hand? Oh, I don’t think so. Know what I think?”
{Captain Case. Take the shot.}
Rin Zhou wasn’t looking at Janus any longer; she was looking up at the walkway where Jonathan lay, stretched out, his P-SCAR rifle aimed at Janus’s forehead.
The pilot shook his head. {Can’t. I’ll hit Ell.}
{I know. Do it anyway.}
{No!} Thad’s head jerked from Jonathan to Rin Zhou. {I don’t give a good goddam who you are, lady, you do not give my people orders.}
Rin Zhou stared dispassionately at him. {Your emotions are engaged. You must recuse yourself.} She turned to the room. {Does anyone have a clear shot?}
Below Thad, Janus continued to rant at Che. “You’re about to become a puppet, Josza, no better than that poor bastard, Garza. You—”
Thad tuned out the doctor’s diatribe and eased his way down the walkway, trying desperately to gain a vantage point from which he could sight on the man.
{Take the shot, Captain Case.}
{I can’t…} Jonathan’s voice faltered, and Thad saw his hand waver.
Enlai pressed, {The fate of the settled worlds—}
{Fuck the settled worlds!} Thad growled. {I’m ordering you, Case. Do not listen to her!}
He saw a hole in the grating, and angled toward it. Carefully lowering himself, Thad eased his head through the opening—and cursed mentally.
The angle Janus held Ell was one that denied a clear shot, even from Thad’s close position.
He saw Ell’s eyes fix upon something or someone across the pool, then she nodded imperceptibly.
Thad whipped his head in the direction of her gaze just in time to see a weapon in Rin Zhou’s hand.
With a roar, he rolled, bringing his own firearm to bear, but he was too late. He saw a muzzle flash, heard an echoing boom as the weapon discharged.
Twisting, he dove through the hole in the floor, landing hard on his hands and knees, but he ignored the pain. The hole in Ell’s chest filled his vision as she sagged, dead weight in Janus’s arms.
As if from a distance, Thad heard a bellow that sounded like it came from a wounded animal as he launched himself toward Ell’s falling body. Some part of his brain recognized that the cry had come from him, yet he dismissed it, his focus entirely on the woman sinking to the floor. He caught her just as Janus reeled back against the railing.
Chiral Justice: A Hard Science Fiction Technothriller (The Biogenesis War Book 3) Page 31