Rikas Marauders
Page 117
Soldiers ranged around the ship, covering all the airlocks, while a colonel marched up to the main entrance, waiting for it to cycle open.
Rika followed after, easing through the narrow opening, feeling like a square peg in a round hole as she twisted to get her GNR’s barrel through, along with her AC9CR.
As Rika clambered onto one of the docking cradle’s struts, Niki made a disgusted noise in her mind.
Rika reached the base of the strut, and slipped through a gap into the service deck below.
Rika confirmed that as she swept her gaze across the space below the dock’s main deck.
A chuckle nearly escaped Rika’s lips.
Her HUD lit up with a location pin, and she saw that Leslie was already at the far side of the service deck, positioned near one of the doors—where Rika assumed she was planting an infil kit, one of the six that Niki had assembled on the ship.
Rika crept carefully across the deck, her weight causing her to move more slowly than Leslie, who massed less than half what she did, even in her armor.
Before she reached the door, the scout had it open and was flashing a location update that showed her already progressing down a long passageway on the far side.
The pair’s immediate goal was simple: get out of the sector that the Spine of the Stars had docked in before any sort of lockdown occurred. Given the number of soldiers that had surrounded the Spine of the Stars, Rika feared that eventuality may happen sooner than later.
She wanted to gather as much intel as possible before they hitched a ride out, but was wondering if they’d have time before the alarms started sounding.
Rika shook her head, and smiled.
Niki said with a soft laugh.
Rika gave a slight shudder.
Rika considered the options laid out before her.
Rika fell silent, following Leslie’s pings as the pair worked their way through the labyrinth of service corridors. After a few minutes, she began to encounter workers and automatons going about their business.
The corridor was wide enough for Rika to avoid collisions, but only just barely. Twice she’d brushed against Niets when they’d shifted too close to avoid. Luckily, both times, the workers were carrying loads, and didn’t slow, apparently guessing that they’d bumped a bulkhead with something they were carrying.
After several minutes, the two women passed through an airlock—wide open on both sides, despite a posted sign indicating that should never happen—and into the next section of the docks. Once there, Leslie sent Rika a quick message.
Rika reached the door, which led to a storage room, and waited for Leslie to open it. Once there were no workers in sight, the door slid aside. After giving a three-count, Rika carefully slipped through.
Inside were long racks of equipment, everything from ventilation pumps to airlock doors, and even rows of seating along one wall.
Leslie pinged her location, near the seats, and Rika walked over, establishing a tightband connection.
Rika went on to explain the presence of the Harriet carriers, news that caused Leslie to groan.
Niki spoke up.
Rika said to Leslie before addressing Niki.
Niki’s mental avatar appeared in their minds, wearing a smug smile.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later, the two women reached a massive bay filled with every conceivable component used in starship construction. Rika gauged it to be over two kilometers across, but wasn’t certain, as the far bulkhead might have just been a wall of crates with hull plating leant up against them.
Rika and Leslie carefully eased through the stacks of crates and jumble of supplies, moving slowly to avoid the host of automated drones—both driving on the deck, and flying through air—which were sorting through and selecting items from the mess before flitting off again.
They were nearing the designated freighter when Niki spoke up.
As though to punctuate Niki’s words, an audible alarm went off in the bay, and the cargo-picking drones all halted operation, settling to the ground in the nearest available space.
Rika had to leap onto a stack of pre-assembled san units to avoid a heavy lifter setting a fabricator on her.
“C’mon, Noah!” she called out over her shoulder. “If we get off the deck now, we can get out before they lock it down!”
< Do you always have to be first?>
Rika laughed, reveling in the adrenaline pumping through her.
A second later, the hatch began to close, and Rika poured on an extra burst of speed, leaping over the rising door and landing inside the shuttle.
Where she collided with Noah.
UNEXPECTED PASSENGERS
STELLAR DATE: 10.23.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Docking Bay 22, MSS Fury Lance
REGION: Fringes of Epsilon Old Genevia, Nietzschean Empire
Chase watched with a mix of fear and anticipation as the bay’s doors opened, and a graviton beam drew the small, battered craft into the Fury Lance.
Next to him stood Heather, and arrayed behind them was every Marauder not currently on duty, and—from what Chase could see as he glanced over his shoulder—a few that were. He decided to forget seeing them; he didn’t blame a solitary soul for wanting to see if Rika, Niki, and Leslie were in that shuttle.
Active scan had revealed two bodies inside, but neither were moving, and the shuttle’s comm systems were not operational.
Once the craft settled onto the cradle, Carson and Stripes—both wearing protective EV gear, cautious of any biological contaminant—approached the shuttle’s door.
They glanced at one another and nodded before Stripes placed an infil pack on the control pad, stepping back as the ISF breach tech worked its way through the lock.
Within seconds, the shuttle’s door opened, and Carson laughed, looking over his shoulder at Chase.
Chase only shook his head, and gestured for Carson to get on with it.
Stripes had a portable sensor suite in hand and scanned the air and the interior of the shuttle’s small airlock before nodding to Carson.
The two men stepped in and cycled the lock.
“Brave souls,” Heather commented.
“I couldn’t have stopped them from being first if I’d tried,” Chase said. “But if it’s a trap, or if Rika and Leslie are in danger, they’re the best two to handle—”
“Fuck!” Chase swore and turned to the mechs. “They’re not inside. It’s just two Niets—but Carson thinks Rika dumped them there. Kelly, stay here with your team for security; everyone else, you can go. We’ll brief you as soon as we know more.”
The assembled Marauders began speaking softly amongst themselves and slowly filing out, while Kelly, Shoshin, and Keli approached, standing to Chase’s left.
“Two Niets?” Kelly asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Don’t know much more yet. Letting Carson do his job.”
“Understood,” Kelly replied with a nod, her lips pressed together in a thin line.
“Put the Niets in holding,” Chase directed Kelly.
Carson stepped out of the mechs’ way, shaking his head as he walked toward Chase.
“This is for you, I expect.” Carson held out his hand.
Chase realized the device was a holo emitter, and decided not to wait to play the message, pressing the button and taking a deep breath.
A twenty-centimeter-tall Rika appeared on Carson’s outstretched hand. She stood silently for a moment, then gave a small laugh. “Well, not sure where to start. If you’re watching this, then you know that we got captured and taken to Epsilon aboard Admiral Gideon’s ship. That’s who I’ve dumped into the shuttle, along with the ship’s chief engineer, Emelia. The Niets all think they’re dead, but it just didn’t seem right to execute them without a trial…or whatever. Either way, we can probably ship them off to where the Allies are sticking all the Niets from Pyra.”
Rika paused, and Chase whispered, “Don’t really care about them, you silly woman…”
The hologram of the woman he loved shook her head and laughed again. “I suppose you probably don’t care too much about them, though. Oh! Leslie a
nd I are OK, mostly-perfect health and all that, Niki too. But the ship we’re on is low on fuel, and has to dock at Epsilon. We’ve gotten the rest of the Niets to play along and help hide us, though stars know how long that’ll last.
“We’re going to sneak off the ship when we dock and find a new vessel to steal and get back to you. We’ll take the same route back to Blue Ridge, so if we meet you coming in, great, if not, assume we’re headed back there.
“That is…” a wide grin split Rika’s lips, “if we don’t try to blow up Epsilon first. I honestly don’t think we’ll find a good opportunity, but you never know; we just might find the perfect moment to destroy this place.
“I’ll see you all soon, especially you, Chase. Sorry to do this to you again, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that you’ve come after me by this point. Chances are you’re the first one to hear this message.”
Her smile grew larger, and she blew a kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”
The recording ended, and a display appeared giving the timestamp of when it was made, the ship’s velocity and expected docking time, as well as a dark matter map of space around Epsilon.
“Stars,” Chase whispered. “I don’t know whether to be relieved, or even more worried. Based on that data, they’re probably docking right around now.”
“That’s my estimate, as well,” Heather said. “Glad they’re both OK, but how the hell are they going to get off that place? I bet there are ten million Nietzscheans across all those stations and moons.”
Carson nodded, chuckling softly. “And of course she wants to see if she can destroy the place.”
“Wouldn’t be Rika otherwise.” Heather joined in Carson’s laughter, then turned and gave Chase a light pat on the shoulder. “C’mon, Chase, this is good news!”
“I suppose,” he nodded, his lips pursed. “Wish she’d just gotten into the shuttle herself. Then this whole ordeal would be over.”
“That thing’s life support only lasted as long as it did because those two Niets were practically hibernating,” Carson replied. “Rika and Leslie would have been taking a huge risk, waiting for us in there. She did the right thing.”