“Don't,” Kat warned him. “If you open that door, it will get you, too. If you help them now, we're done. We'll help them later if we can.”
The video feed showed the case burst open. A wave of black particulates splashed onto the deck. It surged forward, knocking over the first man, rushing into his mouth, ears, and eyes. He lost all bodily control, becoming a quivering mess on the floor. The grizzly scene repeated itself to incapacitate all of the non-compliant workers.
Phoenix's voice crooned over the intercom, “Mr. Huang, please lower the ramp.”
Kel and Kat watched in grim fascination as the eight members of the work force stood up all at once. They filed out of the bay, walking by Phoenix who was standing beside the ramp. One of the guards moved into the cargo bay with a canister. The remainder of the Swam-tech slithered into the ceramaclear container, finally being bottled up by the handler.
Phoenix made a small chopping motion in the air. A squad of armed men followed him into the shuttle. Their armor was not the standard gray plate carrier over a blue jumpsuit worn by the Chen. These troopers were fully covered, with ornate silk strands descending from harness points, beside golden inlay to accent the dark plates and grooves. They moved as a single unit, waiting for their commander to sit.
“Mr. Huang. You may depart when ready.”
“Yes, honored sir,” Kel responded into the comm.
“Kel! Where in the Twin Hells have you been?” Yu shouted into Kel's ear.
“Long story, brother. The short version is we made the drop to the ship, but it turns out they got some crazy space voodoo gunfighters of their own to offset ours. We just dropped him off in the hanger along with a load of shock troopers. He was picked up by some military types.”
“They're the guys that stormed the hotel. Looks like they’re working for Kenner. Take a peek across the landing platform. See that sleek nosed raider looking ship? That's Chen.” Yu said excitedly into the comm.
“Who flew it in?” Kel asked.
“That's what I'm trying to tell you. Chen did, herself!”
Kel and Kat locked eyes on each other. “You sure about this, Yuzheff?”
Tolin broke in. “All the ship idents matched. We have the cams around the hanger. Vid feeds match.”
“Take her out and that's one step closer to taking out Kenner,” Kel nodded.
“Slow your roll. What are you thinking?” Kat asked.
“We want the Forest. We want to make the rescue for the incoming Chen slaves, but her being here means there's something else in play. If we don't figure it out, this could end up burning all of us.” Kel said.
With her visor lifted, Kat’s raised eyebrow made it clear she wanted more security than just winging it. “Do we have a plan?”
There was a flash of insight that was just readable in his eyes. His face gave way to a grin that stoked the fires of a plan. “I'm thinking the best way to take down this monster is to do it at the nest. But it's too well guarded. We just have to make sure she invites us in!”
Tolin broke into the comm, “Why is it every time he gets that look on his face we end up running clean up?”
“Because my Kel is brilliant in the planning, but a slight bit, how you say, cluster in execution?” The group laughed at Baby Doll coming to the gangster’s rescue.
“That's clumsy in execution,” Yu giggled.
“I'm going to remember that when this is over!” Kel blurted.
“Don't worry, we'll remind you,” Kat said with her hand over her mouth to hide a snicker.
“Great.” Kel said, stretching out the word to show how little he appreciated being the butt of the joke. ”Kat, can you get to the hotel ASAP and link up with Lasher? Something tells me he's going to need a hand on the way out.”
“Boys are always needing mama Kat to bail you out.”
“You love it.”
Kat didn't bother responding. They already knew the answer. She was free of the seat and rocketing across the bay with her black case slung over her back. With her helmet tucked under her arm, she blended in with the traffic filtering through the hangar.
“Show off,” Kel said over the radio.
Kel strolled to the outside of the ship, watching the flow of workers move like a colony of ants on some unified purpose. He lowered his helmet visor, linking it to the sensors on the shuttle. There didn't appear to be any life forms aboard, but the systems he was working with weren't that sophisticated. If he could make his way onto Chen's ship, he was confident he could slice into the nav-computer. Maybe he could get it to ping its location every few minutes. He thought his better option was to disable it in some way, forcing her to demand a ride on the shuttle. All of this would be no more than wishful thinking if the ship had an active security system. While anti-intrusions setups were mostly rigged to alert the hangar authorities or pilot, serious hitters in the cartels like to outfit their ships with teeth to deal with unwanted guests. Auto-blasters, stuns systems, or worse were within the realm of possibilities when scoundrels were at the wheel.
“You thinking about stealing that ship?”
Kel nearly jumped out of his skin at being snuck up on. He whirled, his hand going for his blaster until he saw the smiling face of Beth.
“Did you just squeak?” she laughed.
“I used to lead one of the largest cartels in the sector. I don't squeak!”
“It's okay. I won't tell anyone.”
Yu came over the radio, “Beth, we totally heard him.”
“Twin Hells, kid. I could have shot you.” Kel said.
Beth straightened her face, trying to wear a serious expression over the smile threatening to take over. “I doubt it. You strike me as a guy who only pulls the trigger when he means to. What are we doing with the ship?”
Kel almost blushed at the compliment. Damn, she was good. “What are you doing here? Weren’t you at the hotel?”
“I wanted to stay but Lasher sent me out when the strike team showed up,” Beth said as though no one wanted to play ball with her.
“Strike team? What strike team?” Kel barked. “Yu, Tolin, you get anything about a strike team?”
“Nothing,” Tolin responded. “I’ll let Kat know. You should remain with the ship in case you’re thinking about doing what I think you’re thinking about doing.”
“Good Copy,” Kel said, cutting the comm. “Damn.”
“So what was that about a ship?” Beth asked.
“I have to find a way to disable it without getting shot.”
“Awesome! I'll take care of that for you,” the rowdy child said.
“Wait a sec. How?”
“I'm a kid. We get into everything.”
Kel watched her saunter off, indifferent to traffic buzzing around her. She came to an abrupt halt in front of a grav-hauler with a grizzled old prospector riding in the front. He gave her a mildly annoyed look in his attempt to wave her out of the way.
“What are ya doin' there, lassie? Cannae you see I'm trying to get to me ship?”
Beth affected the look of a child not nearly as worldly as she actually was. “I can, sir, however, that looks like a mighty big load. Might take a good deal of time to stuff that into the ship by yourself. I can help. My name's Bethayelle. You can call me Beth for short.”
“C'nah now? Pleased to make your acquaintance, lass. What're ya doin out in the hangar all by yourself?”
“I pick up odd jobs for my dad,” she said, pointing to Kel. “I try to help out with the finances so we can make enough to jet off this rock. Dad makes the most but he drinks. Sometimes he doesn't get to work on time and they dock him. So I do what I can around here to make up for it. It's good though, cuz I love my dad and he doesn't hit me or nothing.”
“Why that little...” Kel said into the comm.
Tolin came over the mic, “Wow! She's good.”
“There are no words,” Yu sighed.
“Oh, I'll have words for her after this,” Kel barked.
“Any
ways, sir,” Beth continued, “I can get that entire load off for you in minutes and you won't have to lift a finger.”
“How're ya gonna do that, lassie? You one of those Seconders that can move things with yer brain?”
“Oh I move things with my brain, sir, it's just that there's usually a little training, a lot of luck, and a whole lot of gears involved. See that power lifter? I can run it for you.”
“Canya now? And how much would that cost me, little miss?”
“Well, dad blew our money for today paying to fix one of the atmosphere generators at the end of the hangar after he clipped it. We'll make more tomorrow, I'm sure, but it sure would be good to eat today. Five credits ok?”
“That's it?” the old prospector asked.
“Won't take me but a moment.”
“Deal, lassie.” The man smiled, clearly feeling good that he was helping someone in need.
Beth skipped over to the power loader that appeared as if it had been left unattended for some time. She climbed into the cockpit, strapping the tack-harness, locking her in the padded standing couch.
“Hey kid. That thing looks like it hasn't run in years. Do you really know what you're doing?” Kel chirped into the comm.
She stuck her head past the restraint bars that surrounded her. “Don't worry, Dad! I'll do this real quick and get us some lunch. Just sit down so you don't slip and fall.”
“Brilliant,” Yu snickered.
There was a ping followed by the turbine behind the mech powering up. A cough of smoke left one of the stacks behind the restraint bars, forcing a shutter through the machine's frame. The turbine's pitch reached a loud whine, alerting passersby to move from the machine's path. A rotating yellow light showed off the caution striping across the thing's frame.
Beth lurched forward, taking an awkward few steps. Slave cables detached, falling away with a pop of sparks. “All good, Mister. Old Kel here takes a minute to warm up, but she's a right sturdy rig.”
Kel's face scrunched up as Tolin and Yu's laughter bombarded the net.
“Alright, lassie, follow me.”
The mech lumbered to the prospector's ship. On its way through, Beth started flipping switches. There was a loud bang, followed by a bellow of smoke from the twin stacks of the machine. The turbine started to sputter. The bot took several sideways steps, crashing into Chen's ship. The sleek raider's landing strut was crushed under the weight of the mech.
People working the dock scattered in all directions, screaming like tiny birds evading a predator. The mech turned to the ship’s engines, grabbing onto one of the nacelles, crushing it in the powerful grip. Righting itself, the machine loped back to the horrified floating prospector.
“Whadidya do, lassie?”
“Oh, gyroscopics went a little wonky. We're good now though,” Beth said through a giggle.
“But tha ship...”
“It belongs to a gangster. What's she going to do, report me? She does that and the locals here turn her in for a bounty. This yours?” Beth raised the arms for the mech. The fists rotated, pulling back into the forearm housings as lifter forks shot from the underside to replace them. In one deft motion, Beth hoisted the entire bed from the hauler, depositing it in the open bay of the medium freighter. She was so smooth with her transition, the ship barely moved from the weight transfer. She glided from the ramp, bringing the mech to a halt beside the cargo hauler. She jumped from the bot, grabbing the prospector's hand to give him a high five. He stared, open mouthed, as she trotted up the ramp to fasten all the securing straps, locking the load onto the bay. When the final ratchet strap had been set, she neatly S-folded the excess, before standing in front of her client, rocking on her heels. “What do you think, Mister?”
“That was brilliant! I dunno what to say. Easily worth the five credits. Plus another five because you loaded that like a champ! That way today ain't a total loss. But what o' the other ship?”
“I'll just have my friends apologize.” Beth said as though it were the most natural thing in the galaxy.
“Friends?”
“Mr Cole, Mr Joshua, and Ms. Carlyle. They take such good care of me when Daddy drinks.”
The three Zheegan lumbered up the ship, tossing a genial wave as if they were no more dangerous than your average dock worker.
The prospector slapped his knee, laughter rocking him in the seat of the hauler. “Oh, lassie! Aren't you just a wee bit of mayhem. I can see your Da is a lucky man. Here's twenty creds for the move. You buy these burly fellas, a right good meal for keepin’ ya safe. May the stars light your way, Bethayelle.”
“Thanks, mister!” Beth slipped back into the mech, depositing it back to its original position. She made hooking in the slave cables seem a bit awkward, as though their movements didn't line up with what she was doing to them. Despite the clumsy connections, the system brought the power back to charge. She hopped over the power generator, dropping credit chits into each of the hands of the Zheegan. They took their leave, making room for Beth to skip over to Kel.
“Daddy, I'm going to run over to the Palisade and get us a sandwich. Try not to drink too much more, today. I worry about your health.”
Kel placed his hands on her shoulders, guiding her back toward the ship. “Oh no! I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“You don’t trust me?” Beth asked.
“I just don’t want my best operator out in the wild by herself.”
“Hey!” came a despondent cry from Tolin and Yu.
“Sorry, fellas. You guys chose to stay with the ship.”
“Don’t worry mon ami, we’ll be his best again when he needs us,” Baby Doll said with a hint of melancholy.
“No worries, friends,” Beth said placatingly. “He’s just trying to build me up. That’s what good leaders do.”
“Wow, Kel. She’s bucking for your job,” Yu said.
“Mon amour, quelle merveilleuse petite fille. I love her. Can we keep her, Kel?”
“She’s not a puppy, Doll.”
Beth turned her eyes to him, blinking soulfully, “I’m kind of like a puppy.”
“Cut that out!”
“What about me?” asked the loader mech.
“Wait. Why did the power lifter just talk?” Kel pointed to it.
“He’s in disguise. And since he did all the heavy lifting, technically he’s your best operator. Team Baby Doll, meet Lucifer.”
Fifteen
Lasher stepped to the edge of the hallway, his Chimera pulse pistol leading toward the end of the passage. He moved around the corner in cutting steps, careful not to expose himself to potential onlookers. “One more floor to go.”
“Why haven’t we encountered any resistance?” Temperance asked.
“They’re probably squeezing us. Climbing the stairs and coming from the roof until they catch us in the middle. We'll have nowhere to go,” Tarot responded matter-of-factly.
Temperance followed Lasher, her precision rifle at the patrol-ready “Why don’t we use the elevator shaft all the way down?”
“The advanced team was placing sensors lower down the shaft. If we continued, they’d just open a door and blast us from above,” Lasher replied.
“Well that doesn’t sound nice at all.”
“I’ll hold the middle of the hall in case someone comes from the rooms. Tarot, send two of your people to the end of the hall where the stairs are.”
“Justice, take Jester. Move up and secure the stairs.” Tarot ordered.
The response in stereo was automatic. “Straight away, Madame.”
Doors on opposite sides of the hall burst open. Two operators clicked off buttons on their grenades, tossing them into the hall. There was a brilliant explosion of light, sound, and pressure, blowing Lasher onto the floor.
Justice crested the corner, aiming a heavy blaster rifle down the hall.
“Third door on either side!” Lasher shouted.
The bot hammered the trigger, shredding the wall and adjoining
door to the room. Carbodex walls came apart in a deluge of red streaking fire ripping apart the structure. The impact strikes of blaster bolts against armored plates clanged in the hallway, despite the grenades robbing Lasher of his hearing. The door to the stairs at the end of the hall flashed open, loosing a swarm of Blaster Bugs careening at the group.
Lasher raised his hand, capturing the miniature drones in the grip of the Crucible. They sputtered, popping like beetles caught in a fire they couldn’t escape.
“Justice?” Lasher yelled.
“Sir!”
“Straight ahead at eleven-thirty. Other door. Three in the room at your nine-thirty and eight!”
Thundering pops echoed against burning slaps as heavy blaster flashes surged their way across the hallway, shredding the three combat jockeys who’d thought the walls would keep them safe.
“Coming through!” Fluff bounded down the hall by running along the wall. He moved like a spider who’d felt a tug in the web. The prey was already dead, they just didn’t know it yet. He rounded the corner, bounding to the other wall to put himself in line with the shredded door. He blew into the room, his talons ripping apart anything living on his way through.
Taking hold of the corpses, the Doom Cat blasted through the window, elongating a tendril on one side to catch the window frame. The second tentacle grabbed hold of the frame in the next room, pulling him along a deep arc into his intended target. He released his victims at the end of the arc, letting them sail over the buildings to collide with a wall on one of the far buildings with a wet slap. The arc ended with Fluff ripping into the new room, shredding the soldiers preparing to launch more violence into the hall.
“Now that’s how it’s...”
His victory dance was cut short. A rocket-propelled collar slapped onto his head, magnetically locking to his frame. A surge of power thrummed into the mech.
The Revenant: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Hunter's Moon Book 2) Page 19