by M. D. Cooper
“Sorry,” Nathan replied. “I need my creds.” He took the cards to the trash disposal.
“Hey,” Acevedo protested when he saw what Hart was about to do. “Don’t throw them in there. Those cards are mine!”
“Throw them away, Hart,” said Merrill.
“You’re just mad you lost,” said Acevedo.
Nathan opened the disposal and dropped in the cards.
“Damn it,” Acevedo exclaimed. “You owe me for that. I know—how about a round of arm wrestling? Double or quits.”
“Double or quits?” Nathan asked. “I never lost to you.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. OK. Winner takes all. What do you say?”
“I say you have a problem.”
“Yeah, quit it,” said Merrill. “You’ll get us all in trouble.”
Nathan picked up his beer and went over to the window, leaving Acevedo and Merrill to bicker. He got there just in time to catch a glimpse of Cullen as he disappeared into the engineers’ office. He watched the dark building, contemplating his next move.
He had three options. One of them was to make his getaway. If Cullen figured out it was he who’d tried to steal the picotech, the game was over. But Hart doubted that the team leader would finger him; he’d been meticulous in covering all traces of his movements. If any clue he’d left could lead Cullen to him, he would have been arrested already.
Nathan’s second option was to accept that he’d missed his chance and give up his attempt for now. Cullen and the engineers knew someone was trying to steal the picotech, so security would tighten even further, and the theft would be that much harder. If he didn’t make another attempt and simply completed his assignment at the site, no one would ever know that he’d attempted to steal the picotech module. On the other hand, if anyone used the tech again, his name would be on the list of suspects. The minute he applied for work on the project, he would be detained and questioned.
His third option was to try to steal the tech again. He weighed up the arguments. It didn’t matter if the engineers were armed—so was he. And he knew they would be hiding and waiting for him. They didn’t have as much of an advantage as they might think.
The more he considered a second try, the more Nathan realized he didn’t have any choice. He had to try again. His first attempt had given the game away. Now the authorities on Carthage knew that someone local was trying to steal the picotech, and his identity was associated with the crime. If he didn’t succeed in stealing the picotech this time, he would probably never get another chance. It would be all or nothing.
The only upside was that the engineers hadn’t decided to simply pack up the tech and remove it. They could have decided to complete the project the old-fashioned way. Why they weren’t doing that was obvious: they were out to catch him. But he was certain things weren’t going to turn out how they hoped.
“Hart,” Acevedo said, right next to his ear. Nathan jumped a little. He’d been so deep in thought, he hadn’t heard the man join him.
“I’ll bet you ten credits…” Acevedo peered out into the darkness. “I know—ten credits says we see a shooting star within the next half-hour.”
Nathan looked up into the Cradle, the thick cluster of stars that covered the southern sky. “OK, I’ll take it. No, wait. Make that twenty credits.”
Acevedo’s gleaming teeth appeared in a broad grin. “Twenty credits it is.”
“Hart,” whined Merrill, “What are you doing? Don’t encourage him.”
“Don’t worry,” Nathan replied with a grin. “I’m feeling lucky.”
ENGAGEMENT
STELLAR DATE: 11.29.8935 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: SATC site, eastern shores of Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, 3rd Planet in the New Canaan System
The picotech deployment system registered as empty. While she and Sasha had waited, Erin decided to execute the second phase of the SATC’s pico-excavation. Emptying the module alleviated her boredom—for a while, at least.
She nudged Sasha. The young engineer’s eyelids had been closing.
Sasha jerked awake and looked apologetic.
As the night had worn on, she hadn’t felt at all sleepy; in fact, she’d grown more nervous, though not about their attempt to catch the interloper. Erin had been dwelling on the fact that Cullen had said the thief was a professional. While she didn’t mind confronting the criminal herself, she wasn’t sure that she’d done the right thing in involving Sasha. She hadn’t even asked the young woman if she was OK with helping out in the task. Maybe she’d been wrong in taking it for granted that her assistant would come along. The engineer had zero military training or combat experience, while Erin had been through a few scuffles in her day, and wasn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with a traitor.
After seeing Sasha nearly drop off to sleep—even with her mods in play—Erin concluded it would be better to face the thief by herself.
Her companion frowned, but she began to move. Before she got to her feet, however, she halted.
She has a point.
Erin was about to answer, when something distracted her. She’d been listening to the waves sweeping the shore below for over an hour, and she thought she’d just caught the sound of something different. The noise had been a rustle—like the sound of the cover over the site being lifted.
They were hiding in a spot that offered the best possible vantage point, but it didn’t allow a view of the entire area under the cover. Erin had figured it didn’t matter too much. As long as they had a clear view of the module, that was all that was important. That would be where the thief would go. They only had to watch the spot, and as soon as they had a clear shot, fire.
Erin motioned Sasha to sit down.
Sasha’s eyes widened and she turned a little pale as she crouched next to Erin and peered at the picotech module, weapon in hand. Erin did the same, focusing all her attention on the space before them. She strained her hearing, trying to catch the slightest sound. It was high tide, and the ocean waves were loud, and to top it off, a wind had picked up, rustling the canopy.
Instead, Erin focused on the light that fell on the module. Depending on the direction from which he or she approached, the thief’s shadow might arrive first.
Her heart thudded as the seconds stretched out. Her finger hovered over the trigger.
It seemed strange to protect the module now that it was empty, but anyone trying to steal the tech would learn a lot from the module’s construction and deployment systems, which meant the bait still had immense value.
Erin had begun to doubt herself, too.
If the thief was under the cover with them, the person was taking their sweet time in approaching their target. No matter from where they’d entered the site, they should have been at the module already.
She gasped. Unless the thief isn’t approaching the module at all.
She swung around. At the exact sa
me time, a dark figure stepped into the space behind them. He wore light combat armor and held a rifle.
Erin couldn’t bring her gun around fast enough. The thief fired. Sasha screamed.
Erin flipped her pistol from pulse to projectile and fired—but the man had ducked out of sight. Her round flashed through the place where he’d stood.
Sasha writhed on the ground, panting and whimpering and clutching her stomach. Blood spilled from between her fingers.
Erin cursed.
Erin looked down at Sasha. Guilt wracked her. She wanted to do something to help, but she couldn’t both help the woman and protect her from the thief at the same time. She also had to stop the man from getting away.
Sasha’s face was pale and sweaty, but she nodded and folded her hands over her stomach. As she exerted pressure, she sharply drew in a breath.
Erin crawled over to the edge of their hiding place and looked out. She had to prevent the thief from leaving. He must know that she’d call for help, giving him only a minute or two before he was caught. Has he left already? Or will he try to take the picotech and get out before anyone else arrives? Perhaps he would, but only if he wanted it so badly he was willing to risk his life.
“Hey,” Erin called. “Give yourself up now, and maybe we can work something out. If you don’t—if you try anything—you won’t get out of here alive.”
The wash of the waves on the shore was her only answer. Despite the warmth of the night, she shivered. Behind her, a young woman’s life was slowly draining away, and somewhere in the surrounding space, her unknown assailant was trying to figure out a way to steal the picotech and leave before it was too late. Perhaps he was thinking that he would have to kill her to do it.
Erin glanced back at Sasha. Her eyes were closing, and her hands were slipping from her wound.
Erin had to force the thief to act. She couldn’t afford a long, drawn-out standoff, or Sasha might die. What can I do?
The answer came immediately. It was obvious. She should take the picotech module herself.
The thief would be forced to come out into the open to fight her for it, or he would have to give up and try to escape. Either way, he would have to do something. He couldn’t just skulk in hiding while Sasha died. Erin could capture him. Or kill him.
Tucking her weapon under her arm, Erin crawled past Sasha. The picotech module was on the other side of their hiding spot. She scanned the area…. No sign of the thief. But was he in the shadows, about to make a run for the tech himself? She couldn’t afford to think about it anymore. She had to act.
She burst out and sprinted for the module, her weapon at the ready. Across the space, a figure was speeding toward the module.
The thief had finally decided to make his play.
Erin fired and hit the man, but her shot didn’t penetrate his armor. The enemy also shot at her but missed—barely. They reached the module together and collided. Erin was thrown off her feet by the man’s heavier weight, but she managed to hang onto her weapon, and she fired it point-blank against his leg.
Yelling, he dropped his rifle. Erin kicked it away and tried to get up, but the guard drove his boot into her side. Then he grabbed the picotech module and ripped it from its moorings. Erin leapt up and wrapped an arm around his neck, trying to wrestle him to the ground. He was too tall and too strong for her, though, she could only cling to his back. The thief dropped the module and tried to grab her to pull her off. They tussled soundlessly.
The security chief had finally arrived. The guards had the thief in their sights, but they didn’t want to risk shooting her.
As she dropped down and tried to back away, the attacker spun around. His head jolted as he saw the guards. He reached down and grabbed Erin’s arm, dragging her toward him. He turned her around and as his hands dug into her, white-hot pain burst from her right shoulder.
She’d been shot and she hadn’t noticed, not until the man gripped the wound.
“Drop her, Hart,” Cullen ordered.
“Help Sasha,” Erin gasped.
“Don’t worry,” he replied. “We’ve found her. Someone’s with her right now.” He had a weapon leveled at Erin’s captor.
The man—Hart—dragged her over to the gun she had kicked away, and let go of her with one hand, adjusting his grip with the other to a chokehold. He picked up his gun and aimed at Cullen, who, along with the rest of his team, immediately ducked out of sight.
Erin could hardly breathe. Her shoulder was in agony, but the pain was easing.
Erin twisted and fought and clutched at Hart’s arm with all her strength, but she couldn’t break free of his rigid grip. “The place is surrounded by guards,” she said, her voice barely a choked whisper. “You’ll never get out. You might as well give up now.”
Hart didn’t reply, but in response to her words, he pulled his arm so tight across her neck, Erin felt like her head was going to burst from trapped blood. Her muscles were becoming weak, and time seemed to slow down. Blackness was encroaching from the edges of her vision.
Faintly, she became aware of being pulled along, her heels dragging in the sand. The darkness in her vision increased until the final spot of light at the center closed.
* * * * *
When Erin woke, she was in water. Underwater. Before she had time to stop herself, she took a breath. Salty brine flooded her mouth, nostrils, and throat. She couldn’t expel it. The water leached into her lungs, making her cough, which in turn made her breathe in more water.
I am in the ocean. Erin flailed and fought the water. A hand fastened around her calf. Hart! He’s grabbed me again.
She kicked against the grip, but another hand was gripping her shoulder, and another pulled at her hair.
She broke free of the water. She was in air, but still she couldn’t breathe. She coughed and choked and squirmed, trying to drive out the water from her lungs, fighting against Hart’s hold on her.
“Erin,” someone shouted. She recognized Cullen’s voice. “Stop struggling. You’re OK. We have you.”
Some meaning penetrated her panic. She saw lights and realized they were stars in a night sky. A deep, dark shadow loomed. The cliff. She felt herself placed on the sand, where she immediately turned onto all fours and coughed deeply and long.
When she finally paused for breath, someone said, “OK, bring h
er to the shuttle now.”
“No,” Erin gasped. “I’m all right. What happened? Where’s Sasha? Is she going to be OK?”
She turned over. She was surrounded by several of Cullen’s guards, and he was kneeling beside her himself. They must have pulled her from the water. Where is Hart?
“You aren’t all right,” a medic said. It was the person who had just ordered her to be taken to the shuttle. “You’ve got half the Mediterranean in your lungs; we need to get you to Landfall General right away. The remaining sea water in your lungs can cause secondary drowning.”
“Just give me a minute,” said Erin. “Cullen, tell me what’s happened to Sasha.”
“She’s fine. She’s in the shuttle, waiting to be taken to Landfall. Hart shot his way through the cover. He had an a-grav pack and he flew off, dropping you in the sea once he was out of range. As soon as we saw you fall, we came after you, but you were alone.”
“He didn’t get the picotech module?”
“He didn’t. He couldn’t carry both you and the module. As soon as I gathered the guards, I saw that Hart was missing and realized who our thief was. I can hardly believe it. His record is spotless. There were others I would have suspected before him.”
“Well, at least we now know who he is,” Erin said.
“Yes,” Cullen said. “He won’t get a second chance at stealing the picotech. Or at least, not by working from the inside.”
“Damn, that was close, though,” said Erin. “I can’t help but think I should have tackled this differently. I shouldn’t have put Sasha at risk, that’s for sure.”
“If I could have suggested a better way to catch the bastard without alerting him,” said Cullen, “I would have spoken up. It’s clear now that Hart knew somehow that someone was waiting for him. He went straight for you two first. I still don’t know where he was getting his information.”