I sat up with a start and looked around for Rand. He was already looking better, though that might have been because he had just been reunited with his equipment and was happily rummaging through his duffel bag.
I pulled Hiller’s command glove from my pocket, walked over to Rand, and set it on the console next to him. Then I pulled out the purple and amber stones from my gloves and added them to the pile.
“Could you set these stones into Hiller’s glove?” I asked.
Rand examined them. “I’m certain I could fashion something,” he said.
“Can you throw something sloppy together real quick? We’re sort of in the middle of something important,” I said. “Like saving Pluto. Maybe the universe.”
Rand gave me a cold look. “I’m not capable of inferior work,” he said sharply. “But I suppose I can make you a quick prototype if you promise to let me refine my design later.”
“Deal,” I said with a nod. “Oh—and can you place the stones just underneath the first set of knuckles?”
“What good would that possibly do?” Rand said.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Rand sighed as he dug through his duffel bag and laid pieces of equipment out on the console before him.
I took a minute to look over my crew: Kovac was using a small mirror from the medipack to look at the tear across the back of his fatigues, Lopez was still leafing through her smut, and Rand already hard at work with his micro-welder and back in his dark circular glasses.
“So, what now?” Lopez drawled as she turned another page.
“Craniax said he was at the smelter, whatever that is,” I said as I checked my rod-sword for scratches. There were lots.
Rand’s voice sounded over the sizzle of his micro-welder. “A smelter is an installation where heat is applied to extract a base metal.”
“In English?” Lopez asked.
Rand sighed. “It’s a mining facility.”
“Like, the mining facility where we saw all of those troopers standing guard?” I said.
“Precisely,” Rand said as he continued to weld.
“Well, then,” I said. “I guess that’s where we’re headed.”
Lopez glanced up at the screen on her console and suddenly sat up. She started tapping at the controls and her eyes got wider with each tap until I thought they would pop out of her head and into her magazine.
“What is it?” Kovac asked, stepping closer to Lopez.
“It looks like all of the troopers are leaving the capitol,” she said.
I stepped closer, too, transfixed by the flood of troopers headed out of the building.
“And . . . where are they headed?” I asked.
The screens in front of Lopez changed from images of the capitol’s interior to its exterior and the street that ran along where we’d first entered.
“Well, duh.” she said. “Where else? They’re all running toward the frakking mining facility.”
32
OF COURSE A hundred or so troopers from the capitol building were headed toward the one place we needed to be. In the fantasy stories my parents fed me as a child, there was always something terrible that would happen right after the hero finally had the means to face his enemy. And since the creatures I was fighting seemed to have jumped right out of one particular story—and a completely ridiculous one, at that—I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that that my own adventure was following the same pattern.
I stared at the screen for a few seconds, amazed at the steady stream of troopers filing out into the street and marching toward the mining facility. This was going to be impossible.
Good thing I was starting to get the hang of doing the impossible.
“Hey, Rand,” I said. “We’re on a tight schedule here. If we have to wait much longer for you to finish with that glove, every last trooper on Pluto will be waiting for us at the mining facility.”
I watched as the sparks from Rand’s welding lit up his face. “I’m nearing completion of the first stage,” he said. “I’ll need an additional two minutes.”
I needed a plan, and I needed it quick. I turned back to the screens, then to Lopez. “What’s the range on the cams you can access?”
“Depends,” Lopez answered. “The capitol’s systems were pretty tough, but the regular city network should be easy.”
“Show me,” I said.
Lopez’s fingers flew over the console and in another moment, the scenes on the monitors changed. I was now looking at streets from across the city.
“Easy.” Lopez said.
“And what about the cams in remote buildings?” I asked.
“If you want me to hack the cams in the mining facility, just say it,” Lopez said sharply.
She was silent for a few moments, then said, “Yeah, I’m sure I can get into their system.”
I heard Rand grunt as he stood and walked over to me. “Here you go,” he said, tossing me the glove.
The alternating black and silver woven fibers of the glove itself looked the same. But now, on the back of the glove, the deep orange and purple gems were set in dull metal clasps and fastened to the glove just below the knuckles of the pointer and middle finger. Tiny silver and red wires connected the metal clasps which held the stones.
“Awesome,” I said as the colorful stones caught the room’s pale artificial light. “But what’s with the wires between the two stones?”
“Ah,” Rand said. “Seeing that this is a rough draft of a prototype, I figured I would take some creative liberties with the design and functionality.”
“Which means . . .” I said.
“I assumed that the stones function as independent power sources—or perhaps serve to channel power from elsewhere.”
He shifted his weight and grimaced. “In any case, I’ve connected the two stones in such a way that it may be possible to use them together, at the same time.”
I wasn’t sure what was possible with these. I still didn’t even know what they were. The Resistance warrior had mentioned a philosopher’s stone. The name conjured and image of a dark-haired boy wearing round glasses with a jagged scar on his forehead. Weird.
Back to the matter at hand—Rand’s idea sounded good, but I didn’t know if it was even possible to use both of these stones at the same time. Could this new use of the Dominion’s tech be the key to defeating them once and for all? Or was I holding in my hand something as destructive as a quantum bomb? There was a good chance this thing could either save us or damn us, but I honestly had no idea which it was.
That’s what I was thinking. But all I said to Rand was, “Thanks.”
He gave a quick smile, but looking at the tightness in his face, it was clear that he was in no shape to be moving around the streets of Proserpina—even if there weren’t hoards of Dominion troopers roaming around.
I looked at Kovac, who was leaning against a console and polishing the head of his vibro-hammer.
“You ready?” I asked.
Kovac looked up and nodded.
Rand sat back down slowly and began to rummage through his duffel bag again. “I’ll need a few minutes to fashion a brace—then I’ll be ready.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Rand. You’re going to have to sit this one out. And besides—our beloved systems expert might need you to wake her from daydreaming about terrible people who happen to be famous.”
Lopez silently raised a middle finger, and Rand pulled his hands out of his bag. “No offense intended, but without my presence on this operation, it will be you two against an army. Perhaps several armies,” Rand said.
“Yeah, but now we have something they don’t,” I said. “We have . . .”
I looked down at the command glove. I needed a better name for it. The Warrior’s Fist? Lame. The Limitless Gauntlet? Too grandiose. The Power Glove? Hell yeah.
“We have the Power Glove,” I said simply.
Lopez snorted. “That’s a stupid name.”
“Shut up, L
opez,” I said. “Just get us to the damn mining facility. Rand—you’re on tactical support. And . . .”
I reached down and grabbed Lopez’s issue of Sol Weekly form the console and tossed it over to Rand.
“You’re in charge of making sure her head stays out of that garbage until we’ve finished this thing.”
Lopez gave me a big, fake, dead-eyed smile.
I winked back.
“Well, we’re off—there’s an evil skeleton just begging to be destroyed,” I said as I slipped the Power Glove onto my left hand.
Kovac slipped his hammer into his belt holster, picked up one of the plasma rifles, and tried opening the door. The motors whirred and the dented door jiggled in its track. The moment I thought about giving the door a nudge, the purple stone on my glove lit up and the door slid open.
I straightened my cape and the two of us stepped outside. I turned around and looked at my crewmates who were staying behind. “I’ll tuck you in,” I said.
Grinning, I used the orange stone to close the door and then pinched the edges of the door shut so nobody else could get in.
My comm unit immediately chirped from my pocket.
“You’d better make it back alive and let us out,” Lopez said. “Because there’s still no way in hell I’m going to go crawling down ventilation shafts or garbage chutes. I’ll eat Rand first.”
There was a pause, then Rand’s voice said, “I have no intention of becoming a meal. Nevertheless, please do come back. I don’t like the way Lopez is glaring at me.”
Kovac and I looked at each other and smiled. We moved quickly through the empty hallways and out the large double-doors, which were now standing wide open. Once we were outside the building, we jogged through the capitol’s garden until we arrived at the main street. I spotted the cam fastened to a light pole at the entrance to the capitol’s grounds. I looked into the cam and pressed my comm unit. “Where to now?”
“Two blocks up, four to the right, and then it’ll be a straight shot to the facility,” Lopez said. “I’ll let you know if I see any patrols.”
“Copy that,” I said.
“Wait,” Lopez said dryly. “Nevermind—I’m busy daydreaming. I guess you’ll have to make it there on your own.”
Kovac looked at me and I shook my head. She was joking. Wasn’t she?
We walked quickly along the two blocks, watching the storefront windows and upper stories for any surprises.
“So, do you want to talk about it?” I said.
There was silence for a few moments, then Kovac answered. “Talk about what?”
“That thing up in the president’s office.” I said. “It had Hiller’s face. And his build. Except, of course, for the metal jaw, the claw, and the entire mechanical side of his body.”
Kovac didn’t say anything, just walked with his plasma rifle trained on the upper stories of the buildings we were passing.
Finally, he said, “Was it him?”
“I don’t think so,” I answered as we came up to the first turn in our path. I leaned up against the wall and peeked around the corner. All clear.
“I mean, we saw the comm relay tower explode, and he was inside,” I said.
We slowed when we came to an abandoned public transport. Silently, Kovac went around one side, and I went around the other. Nothing.
I continued, “And even if the Dominion did somehow salvage Hiller, there’s no way they could make those changes to his body in such a short time.”
I looked behind us, just to be on the safe side, but didn’t see anything threatening. “It has to be something else.”
“What else, then?” Kovac asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’ll add that to the growing list of things I have no clue about.”
As we were about to turn the second and final corner, my comm unit chirped. I immediately stopped, fished it out of my pocket, then squeezed.
“What?” I whispered.
“Hide,” Lopez said. We ran back around the corner and ducked behind a wide computer tablet dispenser station just as an eight-trooper patrol came into view. I held my breath and, after a few seconds, they had passed.
“You’re all clear for another block,” Lopez said.
When we turned the corner and looked down the street at the mining facility, we both gasped.
The top of the dark metal building was surrounded by a halo of bright red light.
“That’s not good,” Kovac said. “Am I right?”
“Nope. Want to do something about it?”
Kovac grinned. “I sure do.”
We stopped behind a holovid relay station that was large enough for us both to hide behind before continuing down the final block. I squeezed the comm unit, which I now kept in my right hand. “What now?” I whispered.
“Remember all those troopers who left the capitol with de-powered weapons? As soon as they get close enough to the mining facility, their weapons power back up.” Lopez said.
“Well, that’s just great,” I said, staring at the bright red light radiating from the building just ahead of us.
“You’re welcome,” Lopez said. “Anyway, are you really sure you guys want to go through with this?”
I looked over at Kovac, who nodded his thick head. I nodded back.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re sure.”
“Fine. Just remember not to get killed—Rand and I still need to get out of this cozy little prison you tucked us into.”
I smiled. Lopez continued, “Okay, so after the last trooper in this patrol passes the edge of that brownish building on your left, you’ll have about ten seconds to cross the street and get to the end of the block before the next patrol comes by.”
“We can do that,” I said.
“Whatever,” Lopez answered. “But no matter what happens, do not go any farther until I say so. I’m still working on the best way to avoid all the guards and get you inside.”
“Copy that,” I said.
I heard the sound of Dominion boots clacking against the road and Kovac and I quickly pressed ourselves up against the backside of the relay station. As the boot noises began to fade, I peeked around the relay station and waited until the last two troopers of the patrol walked past the edge of the adjacent building.
“Now,” I whispered to Kovac.
The two of us walked quickly across the street and then sprinted the rest of the way to the end of the block. We quickly hid between the last building’s wall and one of the empty mining transport vehicles that sat along the main street.
So there we were, a stone’s throw from the main entrance to the mining facility where Craniax was probably throwing some sort of summoning-Ancient-Spirits-of-Evil party and setting an “anchor,” whatever that was. As we looked out from behind the vehicle, we saw Dominion troopers with swords, crossbows, and their own kind of canon crisscrossing the street in front of us, coming and going through the facility’s thick, black metal gate.
The odds weren’t in our favor. In fact, they weren’t even on the same planetoid as us. But if anyone could get us through this mess of enemy troopers, it was Lopez.
And so, like she said, I squeezed my communicator to get her crucial instructions for entering the mining facility. “Okay, we’re here,” I said. “What—”
There was a sudden, intensely bright flash of light followed by a loud whooshing noise. When my eyes finally adjusted, the city around me was bathed in red for a few moments before it faded. I looked up at the mining facility and saw a pillar of glowing red bursting from the facility’s top floor.
I needed to know what the hell had just happened and whether we’d need to change our plans. But when I squeezed my comm unit to ask Lopez, all I heard in response was crackling static.
33
I SQUEEZED THE comm unit again and again to get a hold of Lopez, but all that came through was static. We’d just lost our one advantage—well, one of maybe two advantages. I still had my Power Glove, and that could make all the
difference in this battle. On the other hand, there was also a good chance that it could blow us all off the surface of this planetoid, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much.
We watched nervously as Dominion troopers marched into and out of the mining facility’s dark metal gates. None of them seemed to mind the giant red pillar of light that shot up from facility’s top floor.
Kovac’s eyes flitted from the troopers up to the giant red field of light and back again. He turned to me and whispered, “I’ll go back.”
“No,” I said quickly. “You are not going back to the capitol. I need you here.”
Kovac shook his head, then nodded back in the direction we came from. “To the relay. Comms might work. I’ll call Lopez.”
I knew Rand’s comm units didn’t depend on relay stations—because the UFS government controlled those, and out of principle, he didn’t want to give the government the slightest chance to overstep their boundaries. But maybe the intensity of the bright red light coming from the upper stories of the mining facility was causing this disruption. Stepping back a bit could fix that.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll wait here. But if you get killed, I’m not going to stop the Dominion from using your body to make a blue-skinned, half-metal monster.”
Kovac scowled. Too soon.
After the next four-man patrol passed behind us, Kovac darted out from behind our mining transport. He ran for the comm relay station we’d just come from at the corner of the previous block. But Kovac wasn’t built for running. He was built for smashing. So as he ran, I began counting down from ten—when the next patrol was due to come out onto the street.
He ran painfully slow down the empty road, his vibro-hammer bouncing violently against his hip. As he got closer to the relay tower.
Four seconds . . . three seconds . . .
Kovac was still running, but I could already hear the sound of Dominion boots growing closer.
Two seconds . . . one . . .
Kovac dove for the relay station and rolled behind it just as the first troopers emerged from around the corner and out onto the street.
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