Single Shot (Justice of the Covenant Book 3)

by M. R. Forbes

  “I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the plan, was it Witchy?”

  “Not exactly,” she admitted. “Okay. Not at all.”

  He laughed. “I have to tell you,” he said, pausing as he threw the transport into a tight turn that should have been impossible for its size. It shook as though it wanted to come apart, then settled as he leveled off. “I fragging love improvising. Whooooooo!”

  The maneuver left them out ahead of the Sentries, who were trying to get turned around while they accelerated along the strip. Spires and towers whipped past them on either side, while their comm exploded with activity.

  “Sentry Transport T111,” a stern voice said. “Set down immediately.”

  “Fat chance,” Bastion said, still laughing. “Hold on.”

  He guided the transport into another tight turn, wrapping around a spire and putting more distance between them and the Sentries.

  “Major.” Jil’s voice cut into Hayley’s head through her comm.

  She wasn’t happy to hear it.

  “Jil, what’s your status?” she asked.

  “I registered a ship dropping out of FTL nearby. It cloaked immediately.”

  “Damn it. It has to be one of Thetan’s. They’re trying to get the Oracle away from us.”

  “Roger. Should I start moving in?”

  “Affirmative. But be careful. I don’t want the Nephilim ship turning on the Chalandra. She still doesn’t have any guns.”

  “Understood. I’ll be sneaky.”

  “Radio back immediately if it decloaks.”

  “Roger. Will do.”

  “Shit!” Hayley cursed. “How far to the tower?”

  “It’s right up ahead,” Bastion said. “What’s wrong?”

  “We’ve got incoming. Cloaked.”

  “Damn. The good news is they can’t shoot at us if they’re cloaked.”

  “I think we have enough individuals shooting at us already.”

  He laughed in response. “There’s the spire.”

  “Any sign of transports leaving the area?”

  “Sensors aren’t picking anything like that up.”

  Hayley shook her head. She focused on pushing out her signal. “Are you there? We’re near the spire. Where are you?”

  “Hayley!” the response detonated in her head. “At the top. In the hangar.”

  “Head for the top,” Hayley said.

  “On it,” Bastion replied.

  The transport rumbled as he pointed it straight up, climbing toward the top of the tower.

  “Sentry Transport T111, stand down or we will open fire,” the Sentry warned.

  “I bet they couldn’t hit a vacuum if they fell out of a space station,” Bastion said.

  The transport shuddered as something hit it.

  “Shit,” he said. “I was wrong.”

  He jerked the controls, sending the vehicle into a corkscrew spin. The world was blank in front of Hayley, but she could tell by the pressure they were still climbing.

  “Almost there,” Bastion said. “If I slow too much we’re going to get blown out of the sky.”

  “Roger,” Hayley said, unstrapping herself. “Open the rear hatch.”

  “Roger,” Bastion replied. “Your mom did this a couple of times. Man, she’s such a badass. So are you. Good luck.”

  “Xolo, incoming,” she said, letting herself fall through to the rear of the transport. He caught her on the way down, wedged between the top and bottom of the vehicle.

  The hatch on the side of the transport opened, cool air rushing in.

  “What are you planning?” he asked.

  “Eleison, can you get us on the building?” she asked.

  “Yes,” the Seraphim replied.

  “Witchy,” Tibor said. “You can’t-”

  “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” Hayley snapped without thinking. Tibor flinched but didn’t reply. “I expect you to be right behind me,” she added.

  “Roger.”

  She reached out, grabbing the side of the open hatch and pulling herself to it. She couldn’t see the spire zipping by, but Eleison could. The Seraphim joined her in the frame of the hatch, putting an arm around her waist.

  “In three,” she whispered in Hayley’s ear.

  Hayley breathed in. The air was whipping along her face, and she had to fight not to think about what she was about to do. She was blind to the world outside, putting all of her faith in an individual she hardly knew.

  “Three.”

  The transport shifted roughly, nearly pulling her from the opening. She could smell the ionized air where the plasma bolt had gone past, narrowly missing the vehicle.

  “Two.”

  She put her hand over Eleison’s, pressing it tighter against her. If she lost her connection to the Seraphim, she wouldn’t be able to guide herself anywhere. She would be as good as dead.

  “One.”

  She was about to set herself, to prepare for zero. Except Eleison jumped, carrying her out of the side of the transport, using the Light of the Shard to push them forward and control their travel.

  Hayley gasped out half her air before finding the hangar, so close they were almost already on top of it. There was plenty of qi inside to use as a guide, and they flew toward it, arcing away from the transport and sinking to the rectangular mouth in the side of the spire.

  She felt Eleison’s body tighten, the Light holding the Seraphim but refusing to touch her. Eleison grabbed her wrist as she was pulled away, swinging beneath the other woman, hanging on nearly four kilometers from the ground. She let go as her momentum came forward, dropping further down and then into the hangar, tucking her shoulder as she slammed it into the front of a car, smashing into the windshield and rolling up and over.

  She came down hard, the lightsuit the only reason she wasn’t broken or dead. The crash hurt like hell, but she forced herself to her feet, flicking open her Uin and ducking beneath it just in time to absorb the first round of gunfire.

  Then Eleison landed behind her, drawing her gun and firing back. A pair of Nephilim blacksuits fell beneath the onslaught, only to being rising again a few seconds later.

  Fragging servants.

  She stood up, bouncing toward the nearest blacksuit, Uin deflecting his bullets as she closed the gap, first slicing off his arm and then cutting deep into his neck. Silver-gray material spilled from the wound, and the body reached out to her. She ducked its feeble effort and finished decapitating it.

  “Hayley!” she heard the Oracle cry. Out loud, not in her head. She spun to the right, to where a Nephilim Evolent was rushing toward an armored transport, the Oracle clutched in her arms.

  She was smaller and younger than Hayley had expected. No more than five or six, bald and terrified. Her qi had a vein of something in it she didn’t recognize. Something unique.

  “Hayley!” she cried out again.

  Hayley started toward her. A growl from her left caught her attention, and then she was being thrown across the floor, sliding toward the edge of the building.

  “Got you,” Tibor said, landing in front of her and stopping her momentum.

  “Good timing,” she said, turning her head to see what had hit her. “Tibor. Shit.”

  “I’ve got him. You get the Oracle.”

  “Roger,” she said, letting him help her back to her feet.

  “Bale, you son of a bitch,” Tibor said. “How the hell did you wind up here?”

  The other Goreshin laughed. “We’re special, aren’t we brother? Too valuable to leave behind.”

  “You aren’t taking the Oracle.”

  “Already done. You want to give up, or you want me to kill you?”

  “Go ahead and try.”

  Tibor crouched low, baring his teeth. The other Goreshin did the same. Hayley had wondered what happened to Bale after Kelvar.

  Now she knew.

  Whatever. She had enough to worry about. She found Eleison moving toward the back of the hangar, angling to the ar
mored car. The Evolent had reached it and had already thrown the Oracle inside. Now he turned toward the Seraphim, throwing a blast of red-gold energy at her.

  She flared with white and silver, the Light of the Shard absorbing the first attack from the Gift. Hayley knew the Light was no match for Lucifer’s naniates. It could hold out for a few assaults, but it wouldn’t hold out long. She sprinted toward Eleison’s side, ready to even the odds.

  A fresh group of soldiers emerged from the rear doorway, opening fire the moment they were clear. Hayley dove to the ground, sliding across the floor and finding cover behind a second car as the bullets bit the area around her and then pinged off the vehicle.

  A large snarl sounded to her left, and she turned her head in time to see Tibor and Bale come together in a blur of violence. Large, strong limbs clashed against one another, as each tried to get their teeth around the other’s neck. Tibor used his smaller size to his advantage, slipping out of Bale’s grip, getting behind him and slashing him across the back.

  The other Goreshin howled, kicking back and catching Tibor in the chest. The blow knocked him into the shooters, bringing two of them to the ground.

  Hayley used the diversion to launch her attack, jumping out from behind the car and opening fire, slowing the Servants by killing their host. It took a few seconds for the conversion, and by then she was on them, dragging her Uin through their necks.

  Targeting the Servants first left Eleison on her own, and Hayley found the Seraphim in close combat with the Evolent, the white-silver of her naniates fading as the Gift overpowered her. Hayley aimed her pistol at the Evolent and squeezed the trigger, cursing when the gun registered as empty.

  “Shit,” she said, reaching for one of the Servant’s rifles.

  She picked it up and aimed, just as the Evolent planted his hand against the Seraphim’s head. A burst of red-gold and Eleison tumbled backward, her forehead torn away, her brain reduced to ash.

  Hayley fired, the first two rounds catching the Evolent in the side before he raised a shield with the Gift, the bullets coming to a stop before they could reach them. He looked over at her, qi red with anger and the Gift. Then he unleashed a stream of energy in her direction.

  She ignored it, watching it part ahead of her as she charged the Evolent. His eyes widened at the outcome, and he threw himself inside the armored car and closed the door. She fired at him again, her rounds pinging off the thick surface.

  “Major, this is Jil. The ship just uncloaked right above the thermosphere. It’s a gunship, Major, and it’s coming down hot.”

  “Roger,” Hayley said as the armored car started up beside her. Shit.

  She turned her head, searching for Tibor. She found him close to the edge of the hangar, still grappling with Bale. Both Goreshin were covered in damage, purple qi flowing over their bodies at multiple points. Despite Bale’s larger size, the fight was more even than she would have expected.

  She glanced back at the car. It was starting to move.

  She had to make a decision. She couldn’t go for the Oracle and help Tibor at the same time. Her heart wanted one thing. Her head wanted something else.

  She went with her head. She had to.

  She jumped forward, grabbing the top of the armored car. At the same time, she cried out for the rest of Eleison’s naniates, calling them to her. Her arms began to glow softly as they arrived.

  Tibor lifted his head as the car went past, catching her attention with his. His qi shifted slightly, concerned for her. His lip curled, and he snarled and howled, grabbing Bale around the waist. The car cleared the edge of the building, accelerating out into the open air and immediately beginning to climb. Hayley tightened her grip on it, holding on as it rose, looking back in time to see Tibor lift Bale and turn, throwing both of them off the side of the spire.

  Her eyes were locked on them as they tumbled away, two points of qi against the pitch black of her vision. Her heart thumped hard in her chest, the tears threatening to explode out of her eyes. She clutched the armored car helplessly, watching her friend fall toward his death.

  Seconds later, he disappeared.

  26

  She turned her attention back to the car. If she stopped to think about it, she wouldn’t be able to handle the loss of another friend. Another individual she cared about. She had to keep her attention focused on the Oracle. She could have saved him. She could have helped him kill Bale.

  She had made her choice. Now she had to live with it.

  “Worm, this is Witchy. Do you copy?”

  “Roger. I hear you, Witchy. Where the frag are you?”

  “On the back of a car headed to a rendezvous with a gunship. Where are you?”

  “Shit. Still trying to lose these Sentry assholes. I’ve got your location through the TCU. I’m headed your way.”

  “Negative,” Hayley said. “You’ll never catch up, and you can’t take on a gunship. Xolo, he. He fell off the building. He might have survived. Please. You have to find him.” White had survived a fall that would have killed a normal Goreshin. It was possible Tibor would, too.

  “We don’t leave anyone behind,” Bastion said. “You should know that.”

  “You aren’t leaving me behind. I’m leaving you behind. If I can do anything about the gunship, I will. Just do it. That’s an order.”

  “Roger. I’m on my way.”

  Hayley tried to swallow. He was monitoring them on the TCU. He had to know Eleison was dead. There was no hint of it in his voice. He was all business.

  She still had a lot to learn.

  She held tight to the car, trying to get her breath. The air was getting thinner, making it a more difficult task.

  The occupants didn’t seem to know she was out there, or if they did they weren’t showing their hand. She tried to flatten herself tighter against the top of the vehicle, reaching out to the naniates she had collected. They began to spread around her, evacuating that tattoos beneath her clothes and floating a hair’s breadth away. She couldn’t see it from her position, but they followed her order to begin refracting the light, shifting and adjusting it and rendering her invisible to normal vision.

  She heard the rumble of the gunship as it descended toward them. She looked up in time to see it hurtling down in their direction, still glowing from the heat of its entry. There were more glows behind it, the Worldbrain defenses charging after the crazy fools who were trying to assault the planet.

  Except they weren’t doing any such thing.

  The car started to slow, the gunship slowing too, the sound of its thrusters becoming deafening as it fought to come to a stop. The power drain on it had to be intense, the g-forces equally massive. The bottom part of it split open, revealing a wide ramp into a large hold. The car adjusted course, heading toward it.

  It started shooting, projectiles blasting from hidden launchers on the sides, missiles moving in a randomized pattern toward targets she couldn’t see. The car made it to the open ramp as she heard the explosions behind her. A plasma blast sizzled past the car and hit the ramp, melting some of the metal beside them.

  The car hit the ramp, nearly shaking her loose as the gunship started to accelerate, holding the armored vehicle tight with magnetic seals. The ramp started closing again, the vessel moving and climbing away from the chasing Sentries.

  Hayley remained where she was, clinging to the top of the car and keeping the naniates active around her. Hopefully, they hadn’t scanned the car with infrared or any other sensors, or they would know she was there.

  The gunship shook and shuddered, the muffled sound of their retreat audible as the pilot worked to get them away from the planet.

  The side door to the car opened, the Evolent climbed out, his clothes bloody from the gunshots she had landed on him. The wounds had already healed. He turned and reached back in, grabbing the Oracle and pulling her from the car.

  “Hayley!” the Oracle screamed in Hayley’s head, so loud she nearly cried out in pain and lost control of the
Light.

  Hayley had thought the girl was communicating through her com, using the Worldbrain’s equipment to get into her TCU. That clearly wasn’t the case. Was the girl telepathic too?

  She remained where she was, watching as the Evolent carried the Oracle to where a second Venerant was waiting to collect her.

  “Cage?” the Venerant asked.

  “I left her behind,” the Evolent said, showing his superior the damage to his side. “She almost got me.”

  “You were lucky.” The Venerant looked at the Oracle. “So much power in such a small package.”

  “Go frag yourself,” the Oracle said, surprising the Venerant and causing her to laugh.

  “You’re much too young to be using language like that. Were you raised by wolves?” She laughed again. “Get her buckled in; we’re getting out of here.”

  The Venerant glanced at the car. Hayley didn’t move, keeping her eyes locked on the Nephilim woman. The Venerant stared back for a moment, and then turned and left the cargo hold.

  Hayley was alone.

  27

  She didn’t move right away. She stayed on top of the car, gathering her strength. Jumping into the hangar hadn’t been kind to her body, even with the high-end lightsuit. Using the Light wasn’t as draining as using the Meijo, but it had still left her tired. And now she was on a Nephilim transport with an Evolent and a Venerant and who knew what else.

  That didn’t make for a fun day.

  At least the cargo hold was empty. At least she had a minute to catch her breath. The transport was still climbing, heading for orbit. It would go to FTL as soon as it was able, and rendezvous with Thetan’s fleet from there.

  She groaned softly, forcing herself to roll off the car to the floor.

  She couldn’t let that meeting happen.

  But how the hell was she going to stop it? She couldn’t pilot a starship. She couldn’t see the data on the displays, and she didn’t have Gant to help her. If she tried to interfere now, the Worldbrain’s Sentries would blast her and the Oracle into a million pieces.

  The Oracle. She could see. She was only five or six years old, but she was supposed to be super-intelligent. Maybe she could fly the ship?