“And my gear?”
“It’ll be here shortly.”
Oh, it would, huh?
I rolled my shoulders, signaling that I’d like to be let go. The arm around my throat tensed, and then Barangail’s eyes shifted past me, and he nodded. As soon as I was released, I slide-stepped to the side, resisting the temptation to step forward and use it as momentum to channel into a punch at the Barangail’s face. I even managed not to punch Foksall.
Soldiers moved away to give me a place to stand, and I settled, keeping a wary eye on Barangail, and making darned sure I was aware of what was happening around me. I saw when the medics were happy enough with Mack’s state to let him travel, because they stepped back, and sealed the tank shut. Mack was out cold, not surprising given the amount of pain he’d been in. It was almost a relief to see the regen fluid seep into the tank around him, and I realized it must have carried its own supply. That was something new.
Doc was going to be as curious as hell. I wondered if Barangail would be sending along any of his techs to explain it.
Barangail glanced over at the tank, catching the lead medic’s eye. I couldn’t translate the look that passed between the, but I was pretty sure what the lord meant when he shook his head.
Not yet.
I sighed.
Why the hell not?
12—Into the Deeps
I was waiting when Barangail turned back to me. It was obvious he was about to give me another spiel. I just wished he’d get it over and done with.
“I could really do with a set of combat fatigues,” I said, when he just stood and stared at me.
He raised an eyebrow, and then made a point of looking me up and down like I was a prospective concubine he was considering taking on. I lowered my chin, and stared right back, raising an eyebrow to mirror him. I also folded my arms across my chest, and tapped my foot—which reminded me...
“And boots,” I said. “Could I have my boots and weapons back... please?”
I considered the ‘please’ a nice touch, considering there was no way in Hell I was going to address him as a superior, so he might as well start looking me like the contractor I was. He raised his eyes to meet mine, and his lips twitched. It wasn’t a smile, and it wasn’t a baring of teeth. It was more an acknowledgement of the line I was drawing between us.
He glanced at Foksall.
“See she gets the equipment on the list, and the equipment she came with.” He glanced at where I was standing in my leggings, and the black tank top I’d worn under the corset. “Except for the dress. I don’t think she’ll be needing it.”
Not if I got my combat fatigues, I wouldn’t. I waited some more.
“Bardot, take her to Stores. See she gets the clothing she needs.” Again, he paused. “Except for boots. She’s already got a pair of those.”
I kept my face blank at his jab, and waited. I even managed not to keep looking over at Mack. Once he’d given his orders, Barangail turned back to me. I kept my face in its blank state, and waited. So, did he. We must have stood like that for almost a full minute, before he finally realized I didn’t have anything to say.
“So?” he said. “Aren’t you supposed to be following Bardot?”
Bardot. I looked around, figured Barangail must be talking about the soldier standing near the open door. I drummed my fingers on my bicep, and tapped my toes against the floor. Barangail made a point of staring at me, and I decided I wasn’t going to play the bastard’s game. I waited, picking a point just beyond the lord’s left shoulder to focus on.
It was an old trick, and one calculated to irritate, but Barangail didn’t rise to the bait. We both waited, until Foksall shifted his feet uncomfortably, and the lord looked in his direction.
“What is it?”
“The captain, your lordship,” Foksall said, obviously working out what I was waiting for. “What do you want us to do with him?”
It was an effort to keep all expression off my face, but I managed it, and Barangail quickly tired of the game. I guess we must have been holding up his schedule.
“Take him back to his ship, and hand him over. Have his crew send Cutter confirmation.”
It wasn’t easy keeping my face blank, when his gaze flicked back to mine.
“Happy?”
I managed a solemn nod.
“Thank you,” I said, and waited.
This time, his mask slipped, and he gave an impatient sigh.
“What else is there” he asked. “You have your task, and I have matters of estate to attend. What is the delay?”
“We have not yet formalized the contract.”
Momentary disbelief crossed his face, and then he whirled away from me, pulling his blaster from his hip and heading for Mack’s tank. I started to move after him, only to find Foksall grabbing hold of the back of my neck, and pressing his blaster into my ribs. The soldier on the other side of me drew his weapon and stood two paces off from me, his aim centered on my chest.
Damn. Someone knew to shoot at the biggest bit, and me without my corset.
I tensed, and the grip on my neck, tightened. When Barangail stopped beside the tank, I froze. he tapped on the clear plassteel top, and looked at me.
“I’ll send the paperwork up to the ship, but the basics of your contract are that I get my bracelet, he gets to live, your crew get to remain free, and he gets to keep his ship.” He wandered back to me, and I stayed wary. Just because he needed me, right now, didn’t mean he wouldn’t shoot me.
After all, we both knew he had the technology so I could grow it back.
My best hope was that he needed the job done sooner, rather than later.
I met his eyes, and he flicked a glance at where the soldier named Bardot was waiting at the door.
“When you’re equipped, Bardot will escort you to the elevator. I trust you can take it from there.”
“I can,” I told him, and wished Mack could see me not knocking this guy’s teeth down his throat ’cos I didn’t think he’d believe me when I told him.
“I’ll play him the footage, later.” Tens voice came through the implant loud and clear, and I was glad Barangail was in no position to hear it. “Now, get your head in the game.”
Well, fuck you, very much, I thought, but Tens did not reply, and, ten minutes later, I was standing in the elevator, trying to keep it together enough to go over the map and memorize the maid’s route through the mines. I sure as shit hoped Barangail had put his men in the picture, since I had no desire to have to try and explain my presence to a bunch of trigger-happy guards.
When the elevator doors opened, I realized that wasn’t going to be a problem. A small squad was lined up and waiting for me, when I arrived.
“Contractor?”
I made a point of looking back into the elevator.
“I don’t see anyone else,” I said. “Who were you expecting?”
It was fortunate I had business down here, because these guys weren’t as stupid as I’d hoped.
“Why don’t you tell us why you’re here, and we’ll decide if you’re what we’re waiting for,” shot back the reply, and half the squad took a step back and raised their blasters.
Well, shit. Weren’t these guys particularly toey, today? I guessed I’d better answer the guy waiting there looking about as impressed as Mack on a really good day when I’d sassed him.
“I am Cutter, a retrieval specialist, hired by Lord Barangail to find and bring back a bracelet that was stolen by one of his concubine’s maids. Good enough?”
The guy stared at me a moment, and I wondered which part of my statement he’d thought was a lie, because he sure as shit wasn’t happy with something I’d said—and if I was wrong, I wanted to know which piece of the information Barangail had fed me was wrong. Curious as I was, I waited, and the guy came to a decision.
I don’t know, maybe he thought the bits I’d gotten wrong were exactly like something his boss would say. Made me want to know even more, what they were
and why I’d been fed a line. It also made me wonder if something I’d been told was gonna end up killing me. I really, really hoped not.
“This way, Contractor. We’ve been sent to make sure you reach the mines proper unscathed.”
Now, why I’d need protecting, I... oh. Giant ants. Yup, that would do it.
“Thank you,” I said, realizing only half the squad were facing me. The others were facing outwards, and their weapons remained drawn.
“Trouble?” I asked, indicating those men, with a tilt of my chin.
“I’m Captain Easrick,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you—and, yes, trouble. Looks like a new hive has set up, nearby.”
A new hive... Well, that couldn’t be good.
“How will that affect where I’m going?” I asked.
“This way,” he replied, turning away. “And, to answer your question, most of the scouts are concentrated in this end of the canyon, so the tunnels you’ll be taking are no more dangerous than they were when the maid passed through. Biggest thing you’ll need to watch for are the rebels.”
“Rebels? I thought there were only runaways down here?”
And he cursed.
“What? The rebellion’s a state secret?”
But he was surveying the cliffs rising up to a ceiling I couldn’t see.
“We need to move,” he said. “Stay with me.”
As though his words were a more direct command for action, his men formed up around us, and he led off at a brisk walk. I wasn’t linked into their comms, but I saw when one of his men pointed at the wall opposite, and Easrick snapped his head to look. I followed his gaze.
“Keep moving,” was soft, but audible, and the walk became a jog.
I wondered if they could shoot on the run—and also how twelve men were going to take out the twenty or so monstrous shadows darkening the cliff. It was hard to run and keep an eye on the shadows, and I’m not sure how Easrick and his men did it, but the jog became a trot, and then a lope, and then an all-out run with Easrick screaming “Move, move, move,” in my ear.
He dropped to the back of the squad, and two of his men came alongside me and grabbed an arm each, when I went to drop back with him. It was probably not the behavior of a normal contractor, but I don’t think the squaddies noticed as they pounded forward.
We reached the gates before the shadows made their move, and I never did get a better look at what kind of creature had pursued us through the dark. All I could say, for sure, was they was bigger than an arach, and moved like a multi-legged avalanche... Also, that they were cautious, because they hadn’t attacked straight away, even if they had paralleled us along the wall as we ran for the shelter of two, large, blast doors.
Someone had radioed ahead, because the doors were opening as we hit them, and they were closing as soon as the last man was through. Everyone slowed to a stop, and the captain made his way back through his men to replace one of the ones beside me.
“We’ll escort you to the cavern entrance,” he said, as a low hum filled the air.
I whipped back around to face the door, along with the rest of the squad, but the doors were closed, and the hum came from outside. From the look on the captain’s face, the humming wasn’t good news. He spoke into the mike on his collar.
“Tell the kitchen we’ll be doing our own meals until I give the all-clear—and let his lordship know the incursion of ants has added harromet to the mix.” He looked down at me, lifting his chin away from the mike. “Hornets. Sting paralyses and preserves you, and they lay their eggs in your body. A week later, you get eaten alive. Don’t get stung.”
I met his eyes, and tried not to show any fear. Hornets, huh?
“How big?”
And his mouth tightened.
“Come up to your knee, but look as big as a house when they’re flying straight at your head. You should be able to access a description on the net.”
It was a dismissal, but I’d been on K’Kavor, so I had one more question to ask.
“How smart?”
He’d been about to move into the mines proper, away from the hum vibrating through the blast doors. Instead, he stopped, and turned to face me.
“More cunning than smart,” he said. “They hunt as a team, and you can get two or more teams in an area as big as the canyon. Sometimes they take advantage of the ants, and steal their prey out from under them. Other times, they hunt the ants.”
He stopped and cocked his head.
“Any more questions?”
He didn’t say ‘dumb ass’, not out loud, but he didn’t need to. The tone of his voice and the curl of his lips said it plenty loud and clear. They also said he was tired of me wasting his time, and wanted me out of his mine as of ten minutes ago. Fine by me.
“No. You covered it,” which was a lot politer than I wanted to be, but, then, I didn’t want the man to drop me over the edge of a cliff, or shove me out the wrong door.
He didn’t say anything else, but took me through the open courtyard standing beyond the gates, crossing a cavern, whose high ceiling and walls had been covered over with plascrete. Instead of the pre-fab huts I was used to seeing in surface mines, this one had doors leading off into other spaces, and reminded me more of a starship’s interior than the interior of a mine.
We passed barracks spaces, kitchens, a dining hall, and what looked like a very primitive rec room, at the back of which were signs for showers and toilets. Opposite them, glassteel windows overlooked a space filled with loading docks, conveyer belts, hoppers and all the other equipment a mine needed for sorting and grading its goods prior to shipment.
“Living quarters.” Easrick indicated the barracks area on the left, and kept moving. He didn’t bother explaining the area on the right.
Not my business, I assumed, and kept my mouth shut. Mack would have been impressed. I wondered how he was doing, but didn’t have time to worry. We’d entered an area of corridor without windows, and walked about ten meters before Easrick stopped in front of another door.
“You’ll need a hard hat, goggles and breather,” he told me, “and to do exactly what you’re told until we reach the cavern exit. After that you’re on your own. Got me?”
I nodded, and he led the squad into the room beyond.
It was some kind of ready room. Coveralls hung on the wall, awaiting use, but none of us stopped to put them on. We passed through the area, and into another room where equipment was issued. I took my mask, goggles and hat, and copied what everyone else was doing to get them on. It wasn’t much different to what I’d done on one of my previous missions, and I figured, minor variations aside, mining was mining, no matter what world it happened to be on.
The next step was another elevator, bigger than the last one. My guess was that it was big enough to fit a full team on. Very economical; one trip down, and one back up. Made me curious about what happened if you missed it. The squad followed Easrick and I into the box, and we watched the doors closed.
It was a high-speed trip down.
I didn’t expect there to be a crawler waiting. The sturdy four-man vehicle stood in a row with half a dozen others. Each cockpit was encased in its own little glassteel bubble, and a metal emergency trunk was stashed under the rear seat. Nothing like being reminded you’ll be safe in a cave in.
We took four of the vehicles. Easrick drove, heading out into the tunnel with a set of headphones and mike arcing over his helmet. He had the crawler lights on full, in spite of the brightness in the tunnels. I figured it was a safety thing, like the way he was talking to Mines Control as he went.
Twice we ducked into a side tunnel as something much bigger thundered towards us—and half a dozen times more I saw men step back into alcoves to let us by. Not everyone got to ride in crawlers, which was news to me, but explained why so many had been standing idle outside the lift shaft.
The further we went, the less lights there were, the less men and vehicles, too, until we hit a point where a squad of guards had set up aro
und a reinforced mesh gate. They were tucked in behind a plascrete barrier that stretched from floor to ceiling, with firing ports looking out into the cavern beyond. As we approached, I took in the pre-fabricated hut on the mines side of the gate, the weapons slung, but in easy reach, and the fact the six men at the firing slits spared us little more than a hasty glance, before turning back to the cavern beyond.
“Trouble?” I asked, and Easrick gave me a brief glance.
“Always.”
“This is where the caverns start?”
He shook his head.
“No, but it’s your stop.”
I turned my head, as he powered down the crawler engine.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you get out, here, and walk the rest of the way. On your own.”
“I thought you were taking me to the caverns,” I said, wanting to get things straight.
He sighed.
“Nope. I said I was taking you to the cavern entrance. This is it. We’ve pulled mining operations out of that area, until his lordship says otherwise.”
“Care to tell me why?”
“Did his lordship brief you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you should know why.”
“There were gaps. Abandoned operations weren’t something he covered.”
Easrick turned for his door.
“Then he didn’t want you to know. Leave your gear on the seat.”
“But...” I stopped, hearing the hum of a blaster heating up behind me. “Fine.”
The hum took on the steady tone that told me it was ready, but the blaster didn’t fire. I knew, if I looked back over my shoulder, that I’d be looking right down the barrel. Since that was a view I didn’t appreciate, and could do jack shit all about, I didn’t turn around. I just hoped the bastard wouldn’t shoot me as I got out of the cab.
As hard as it was to resist the urge to raise my hands and sit perfectly still, I exited, sliding out of the cab to stand beside the crawler, while I stripped off my mask, goggles and helmet. Turning back so I could put them on the seat I’d just vacated, I got a good look at the front end of the blaster, and realized the guy had been taking no chances. Until then, it hadn’t crossed my mind that there might have been contractors before me. Just how hard was the man on his hires, anyway?
Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 Page 10