Rork bolted out of his cell. The older EDF man was already through the door and pulling it shut. Rork dove. He got his fingers on the circular door’s edge, then swiveled his feet around and anchored them against the door frame, his injured foot aching. He pushed with his feet and pulled with his arms.
“Give up now and we won’t hurt you,” Rork yelled through the closing door. He heaved and the door opened a crack more. How many men does he have back there? “Little help!”
Feet smacked the floor behind him. Jord grabbed the thick door and pulled. The EDF man landed on top of Rork and connected a fist with Rork’s nose. Rork pushed off of the wall and rolled back, the EDF man underneath him now. Rork slammed his fist into his opponent’s temple. The soldier went slack.
Rork grabbed the key card from his pocket and handed it to Jord. “Free the girls.” He pulled himself up and coughed, a dizzy weakness hitting him. “Zero! Time to go!”
The lights went red and an alarm sounded. Rork took the unconscious EDF man’s baton and stepped out into the hallway. It ran straight down, at least five hundred meters. In the distance, more men in blue fatigues marched this way and that. Rork turned back. He came face to face with Zero.
“This is not the path,” Zero said, his face strained.
Rork rolled his eyes. Hurry up and tell me the right path! “Mankin, get dressed. Everyone else, hands behind your backs. We’re going to move fast.” He stripped the elder EDF man and pulled the fatigues on over his own clothes. It was messy but they didn’t have time.
“This is a mistake!” Mary Ellen hissed from behind Rork. “We’re safe here. I’m not coming. I’ll give you the coordinates but I’m staying here. The girl should stay with me, too.”
Sarita ran out of her cage and hugged Zero’s legs. Zero smiled down at her.
Rork nodded to Mankin. The rail-thin man zipped up his baggy costume and grabbed Mary Ellen under one shoulder.
“But Rork!” she screamed.
“Shut up!”
Rork led the bunch forward, followed by Jord and their father. Zero followed with the girl and Mary Ellen. Mankin brought up their rear. They reached the first door of many. Rork motioned to Zero.
“The path,” Rork said.
“I don’t know.”
“I believe in you and we need this. Which way to the flight deck?”
“Third door on the left.” Zero swallowed.
Jord walked up behind Zero and grabbed his shoulder. “What’s this?”
“He knows things. Let’s go.”
“EDF flight decks are always aft,” Jord said.
“And?”
“Aft is to the right.”
Rork shot a probing stare at Zero.
“It may lead you to the flight deck but it is not the path to what you seek.”
“Did the magnetic waves of Allah tell you that?” Jord guffawed.
“We’re thinking too small. Let’s take this ship,” Rork said.
Their old man came up. “Listen to your brother. He’s practical.”
“This is not a debate. We’re going left,” Rork said. He trotted forward and found the third door on the left. He pushed against it, then stopped.
Zero nodded to him.
“What are you leading me into, Zero? What’s on the other side?”
Zero’s eyes glazed over. He shook his head. “I only feel that this is the way. This is your path. The one predestined for you.”
“Predestined? Listen to this quack!” Jord said.
The rest of the group caught up. Mankin eyed Rork.
Rork pushed open the door. Lights came on. The room was circular and a thin bar ran around its inner circumference. Rork’s eyes went wide and he stepped in. It was an elevator and there was a button that said bridge.
“Ladies and mystics in the back, men up front.” Rork smiled at them. “It’s a lift.”
He stationed himself next to the buttons and the rest piled into the cramped space. Mary Ellen elbowed Rork.
“Give me some space!” she whispered.
What a spoiled brat! Rork pushed himself up closer to the bank of buttons.
Mankin found a spot next to Rork. “What’s the plan?”
The doors closed and Rork punched the bridge button. “Dad, Jord, how many men are on a bridge like this?”
“At least a dozen,” the old man said.
“Your path does not require killing anyone,” Zero said.
“We need a weapon. A real one,” Rork mumbled.
“This is so stupid. They’re going to capture us as soon as we step off the elevator,” Mary Ellen said.
“Shut up!” the rest intoned.
Above the lift door, the numbers counted down the levels. Twelve, eleven, ten...
“Here’s the plan, folks,” Rork said. “Sprint off of this thing and grab any weapons you can find. Take hostages, especially women and our little girl.”
Seven, six, five...
“It’s risky but I like it,” Mankin said.
Rork met Jord’s eyes and the two nodded.
“I will not permit you to harm the child,” Zero said. “And you don’t have to—”
Three, two, bridge. The door swooshed open. Rork pushed out and immediately caught against Mankin’s shoulder in the narrow space. Rork pushed forwards, then turned sideways. Mankin burst free and turned left. Rork went right. Jord tripped out after them and fell down some steps, face first, in the middle.
Rork focused on a pulse pistol. It hung from the belt of another blue-suit. The blue-suit startled and an arm reached for the pistol but Rork’s hand closed around its grip first. Rork grabbed it and pointed it at the man’s head. He eased in behind him, his arm around the blue-suit’s neck.
Rork aimed the pistol at the high captain’s chair in the middle of the circular room.
39
“YOU CAN’T hijack an EDF battleship!”
The captain stood up in front of his chair, his mouth agape, his face outraged.
“We just did,” Rork said. “Everyone drop your weapons and sit down in that corner, hands under your butts, backs to me! Now or your captain dies.”
A dozen blue-suited men and women hastened away from Rork. Mankin took their weapons. He positioned himself at the back of the bridge and surveyed the room.
Rork shot off Jord’s and his dad’s handcuffs. Jord took up position behind the captain’s chair. Their father seated himself at a long panel that ran parallel to the front viewport. Mary Ellen, Zero and Sarita pressed themselves against the back wall next to the lift door.
“I need those coordinates,” the old man said. He snapped his fingers.
Mary Ellen tiptoed forward. She passed the captain and glanced at him. “Ship’s captains can perform marriages, isn’t that right?”
“Mary Ellen!” Rork released his hostage and approached the captain. “Your name?”
“Eldridge, Captain, ESS Moskva, E-G-Y dash 43904759. It is my duty to inform you that you will be prosecuted to the—”
“We need to get to Jupiter.”
“Our fleet is already out there and top officials are negotiating with him as we speak. Now let us do our jobs.”
Negotiating? Rork looked to his father, a frenetic heat assaulting his cheeks. “Can we get underway?”
“Almost there,” the old man said.
“I’ll have you know,” Eldridge said, “that the weapons systems are locked to my voiceprint.”
“Got it!” the old man yelled.
“Max acceleration,” Rork said. Finally. We’re close now, Lala.
The old man dragged his finger across the panel. “Plotting the course. ETA twenty-eight minutes.”
Rork steadied himself against the captain’s chair as the g-force kicked in.
“How much combat experience do you have with a Yi-class battleship?” Eldridge asked him.
Rork sensed the years of discipline and training behind the captain’s face. The unswerving integrity and honor. “Zero.”
> “I’m responsible for seven-hundred and eighty-six men and women on board the Moskva. You need to give me back control of the ship. We can work this out. The rest of this battle group is already engaging Barbary, as we speak. What is it exactly you want? Because I can’t sanction revenge.”
Rork narrowed his eyes. “Indeed, it is revenge I want.”
“But…” Zero interjected from the back of the room.
“But I can maybe delay that very briefly if I can just get back the girl he kidnapped.”
“Is she still alive?” Eldridge asked.
Rork’s gut fell. I don’t know. “Yes.”
Eldridge nodded. “I have five-hundred girls on this ship, Mr. Sollix, and—”
“Captain,” Rork said.
Eldridge stared at him. “What?”
“I’m a captain, as well.”
“Captain Sollix,” he said with withering sarcasm. “Why would I risk my five-hundred for your one? When she could be dead? How long has Barbary had her? Because they don’t usually last that long.”
Rork stepped closer to Eldridge, a burning rage filling his heart. “She’s not dead! And if she is, screw you and your five-hundred! You’ll fight when Barbary fires on you. Save your five-hundred then.” Rork turned away and took a position behind the captain’s chair.
Zero touched Rork on the shoulder and Rork startled.
“This is no time to be afraid. You must steel yourself for what is to come.”
“Am I finally on the right path?” Rork asked with a tinge of sarcastic skepticism.
Zero nodded. “It is the right path for you. But not for me. This is a dangerous path for me. I feel I will not survive it.”
“I’m going to protect you.” Rork seized Zero’s shoulder and squeezed until he hit bone.
“If I do not survive, then you must carry on my mission.”
Rork shook his head. “I don’t even understand you most of the time.”
“It will come to you. Care for your soul. It matters.” Zero returned to the rear wall where he sat and closed his eyes.
“ETA.” Rork asked.
“Twelve minutes.”
“Can we zoom in on the Cylinder?”
Captain Eldridge turned to face Rork. “I need your men under my command. I need operational control. I can’t risk the negotiations being interrupted.”
Rork laughed. “‘My men’? As if.” He nodded at Mankin. “Can you work the viewport? And toss me a couple—”
Mankin tossed Rork a pulse pistol, then another. Rork put one in his pocket and the other he walked to the back of the room.
“I need you armed,” he whispered to Zero.
Zero shook his head.
“Can you explain this to him?” he asked Mary Ellen.
“Give it here.” She rolled her eyes.
Rork looked back to Zero. “At least to protect Sarita, if nothing else.”
“It is not her body that requires protection but her soul.” Zero hugged the little girl tighter to him.
Rork leaned in. “But the body is worth something, isn’t it?” Even if every inch of it is bleeding and hurts like hell.
Zero met Rork’s eyes.
“What’s the body worth to you? We’re about to find out and I want you ready.”
“Rork!” It was Mankin.
Jupiter’s tan bands and burnt orange swirls passed smoothly out of view. Callisto’s starfield-like surface came and went. Europa’s scratched ice backgrounded a field of shimmering shards.
Rork looked at Eldridge and Eldridge shot a tense glance back at him.
“So much for those negotiations,” Rork said.
“Reverse course!” Eldridge yelled.
“We’re going too fast,” the old man said, and shrugged.
“What is all that?” Mary Ellen asked.
“Change course, Dad!” Rork yelled.
“To what?”
Flashes pulsed and Rork picked out the Cylinder from the field of EDF wreckage. The Cylinder hung in front of Europa, cross-wise in the viewscreen like half of an X. The EDF ships were debris now.
“Anywhere!”
The flashes passed out of view to starboard.
“Give me control!” Eldridge yelled.
The captain’s face radiated commitment. Rork nodded and stepped away. Red lights flashed and an alarm sounded.
“Battlestations. Red alert. This is Captain Eldridge.”
The dozen men and women at the back of the room ran to their posts and the room came alive with chatter. Rork’s dad was pushed from his station.
“Mr. Farnsworth, I want us above the plane on a curve that takes us within ten thousand meters of the target and accelerates us into Jupiter orbit.” Eldridge looked at Rork. He tapped a button on the arm of his chair. “Ready a fighter for immediate launch. Priority one.”
Another burst of laser fire emerged from the Cylinder, a dozen shots if not more.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Eldridge yelled.
The Cylinder moved until it was vertical at the far starboard side of the viewscreen. Pulses passed them above, below and on both sides. Two came practically at once and the ship shuddered.
Bastard. “I’m taking back—” Rork started.
Eldridge stood up. “You need to get to the flight deck. There’s an E56 fighter ready for you there.”
“Coward.”
“I won’t turn my crew into space dust. Would you? Smarten up, man. A smaller ship has a better chance. Can you fly it?” Eldridge asked.
Rork nodded.
“We’ll be back with more forces. This won’t stand. But I can’t promise you any mercy, either.”
“Captain,” Farnsworth said, “your launch window is coming up in forty-five seconds.”
“Mankin, Jord, Zero, Mary Ellen, on me, now!” Rork yelled. He ran to the elevator, stepped in and looked for the flight deck button.
“Rork!” Jord yelled, still on the bridge. “You need to see this!”
“Come on!”
“Just look, brother, before we all risk our necks for nothing,” Jord said.
Rork stepped out of the elevator. Zero stood next to him, looking at the floor. Mary Ellen put her hand over her mouth.
The viewscreen zoomed in on the Cylinder. Its smooth hull was burnt black in sections. Ragged holes interrupted an otherwise perfect curvature. Debris swirled under the command of lost atmosphere.
Jord met his brother’s eyes. “I’m sorry but your girl — Lala? She’s dead.”
40
“WHAT IF she’s dead? What if we’re risking our lives for nothing?”
“Shut up, Mary Ellen!” Rork wanted to punch something. He wanted to put his fist through a wall or hurt someone. But he sat in the cramped pilot’s seat of the E56 fighter, monitoring its course toward the Barbary Cylinder. The black vacuum of space hung less than a meter from his face.
Sitting next to his brother, Jord scanned for an opening in the superstructure. Control panels with buttons, switches and viewscreens encircled the brothers on three sides.
Behind them, Mary Ellen stood hunched over against the back wall between Mankin and the old man. Zero sat cross-legged in front of them.
“I am worried about little Sarita,” Zero said.
“Sarita?” Rork asked.
“The little girl! The one that has accompanied—”
“Right. Isn’t worrying the root of all evil or something?” He turned to Jord. “Landing bay?”
“Still searching. Might be obscured with a door.” Jord turned away from the control panels and put his mouth to Rork’s ear. “I have a son.”
“That’s great, brother. I—”
“When I die—”
“We’re not going to die.”
“—you have to take care of him. He’s with the Arai family on Earth in Akihabara, in Tokyo. Dad has their number.”
“It’s just the EDF might not give her back—” Zero started.
Rork looked at his brother. “We will make
it through this.”
“Promise me you will take him as your own son.” Jord grabbed his brother’s arm and squeezed.
“Are we sure this is the right place?” Rork angled his head back at Mary Ellen.
“For the thirty-ninth time, yes! Wow!” She ran her hands through her hair and picked at her fingernails.
“You seem overly nervous,” Rork said.
Zero sighed and closed his eyes.
“Obvious reasons! What exactly do we hope to achieve here anyway? The EDF blew it to pieces, and a good thing, too.”
“You don’t think he has contingency plans for that? That he’s not evacuating? Didn’t you say his family is everything to him?”
“I’ve scanned the whole thing,” Jord said. “No landing bay. Or, it’s locked, the gate down. Brother, please. His name is Band. Band Sollix.”
Rork arched an eyebrow at his brother. “I promise.” He pushed the stick and brought them in closer. The carbon-scored holes were too small. The ship wouldn’t fit. He angled the E56 to get a closer look inside one and noticed a shimmery gloss, as if he were looking through a watery lens.
Rork’s eyes went wide and his heart rushed. “Of course! The atmosphere is intact inside. He’s got a magnetic barrier. She could still be alive!” He looked back at Mary Ellen and smiled but his face fell. She wore a sick expression, her eyes averted.
Something hard pressed into the back of Rork’s skull, just above his neck. He started to turn.
“Be still.”
Rork turned. Mankin held a silver EDF-issue pulse pistol just out of Rork’s reach.
“I saved you.”
Mankin chuckled. “Barbary thinks of everything. That’s why he’s Barbary. That’s why he just defeated an elite EDF battle group. Why fight ‘em when you can join ‘em? Pay’s better. So is the life expectancy.”
“But I got you off that rock, where Barbary put you. I would never—”
“Save it. One of my first rewards when I deliver your hide is some time with Lala.”
“Dad, no! Tell me you’re not a part of this,” Jord yelled from the co-pilot’s seat.
Are there so few hot girls in this system that everybody has to be after mine? Jupiter! Rork stirred and Mankin pushed the gun harder against his head. Rork calculated his odds and the possible moves he could use to disarm Mankin but they all ended with a hole in his head, or maybe someone else’s.
Rise the Renegade (Rork Sollix Book 1) Page 21