“So I'm the odd man out, I suppose,” Bray said, his voice dripping with contempt. “So that's the fearless leader of Eon Path. Nothing more than a backstabbing, opportunistic coward.”
“I told you, I'm not the leader of your organization, nor have I ever planned to be. My writings may have inspired you, but that doesn't make me your leader. You're the ones that brought me here.”
“And you seemed so eager to come with us, once we gave you the information that you wanted,” Bray said. “Yet after all that you're willing to betray us without a second thought.”
“Oh, so you weren't lying about Eon Path taking you from your home,” Kei commented. “Of course, you only told half of the truth.”
“Hardly a surprise.”
Kei glanced at Hammond, then back toward Bray. The longer this went on the more likely he'd suffer a lapse of attention, and that could be the opening one of them needed to kill him. He knew Bray would kill him if he got the chance. Kei remained certain that Hammond would do so as well, but…
Could he take a chance with that? Could he put his trust in the man one more time, even knowing that he was likely to receive the proverbial knife in the back?
This had gone on far too long. Kei made his decision and steeled himself.
LAUREN SLOWLY BECAME aware of her surroundings once again. As she awoke from her slumber she saw shapes outside of her tank, almost humanoid in appearance. Was she still dreaming, or were they actually there. It was so hard to tell at this point. This might be her imagination, a fevered dream before she finally died. If-
The sound of a gunshot broke into those thoughts and startled her from her haze. No, she realized, she wasn't imagining things, or this was far more real than any dream she had ever experienced.
Someone was outside the tank, and they were fighting.
ONE SHOT, then another for good measure. Kei felt a solid kick from the revolver and watch Bray flop backwards, hit in the chest with both shots. He cursed and tried to maneuver his weapon around to retaliate.
Kei shot him again in the chest, but still he didn't fall. His armor seemed strong enough to hold out against most handguns, even something like this firing huge magnum bullets.
He adjusted his aim and shot again. The first bullet missed, but the second one hit Bray square in the face, just about the jawline. The sheer force of the bullet nearly decapitated him. His body slumped to the floor in an ugly mess.
Kei turned to train his weapon on Hammond, but it was too late. Bullets smacked into his chest, most deflecting off his armor, but one found its mark in a gap. He fired his last two shots wildly, trying desperately to hit Dr. Hammond, but both missed.
He collapsed to the deck, bleeding from a wound in his upper chest near the shoulder joint. An inch to the side and the bullet would have gone through his armpit and straight into his chest, probably maiming his heart and lungs in the process.
As it stood, though, Kei knew he was in a precarious position. If the bullet had hit a major artery he could very well bleed out in a few minutes…
“Now then,” Hammond said, lowering his gun and then tossing it away, “that wasn't so hard, was it?”
“You shot me, as expected,” Kei gasped.
“An unfortunate necessity, since you seemed determined to kill me. But at least I managed to incapacitate you without killing you. The same can't be said for Bray.”
Kei looked over at the pitiful corpse. “So that's it, then. Just another pawn for you to use and discard.”
“You're the one that shot him.”
He didn't respond. What was the point, trying to talk and reason with a madman? At this point Hammond saw other people as nothing more than means to achieve his ends. As soon as they ceased to be useful he'd dispose of them, even those who were fanatically loyal to him. He showed no signs of distress that his followers outside were being cut down in droves.
The wound in his shoulder continued to ache, and Kei tried to halt the bleeding. It was hard enough to treat it without his medical kit, but he also had to keep an eye on Dr. Hammond…
“I don't think you have to worry about that.”
“What?”
“You think that I'm going to kill you. Now, ask yourself, why would you even be in this position if I was determined to kill you?” Hammond said. “Did you not find it strange that we never bothered to bind your hands? Or did you think we were all fools?”
Kei gritted his teeth. “I… was hoping.”
Hammond pressed a few holographic buttons on the console. “Yes, I'm sure you were. They wanted to tie you up, but I insisted that you remain unbound. I don't remember the reasoning I gave.”
“So you just left me like that so I'd be dangerous?”
“Precisely,” Hammond glanced back at him, a slight smile evident on his face.
“Why?”
“Why indeed? Perhaps it's because I didn't want to put you into too much danger. If-”
“I'm sorry, but I've seen way too much of you to think that you did this out of the kindness of your heart,” Kei spat. “You use people, and you're using me for something. What would that be?”
Dr. Hammond shrugged. “Very well. I suppose I can tell you that, since you'll try to have me killed either way. I'm here for the Eon Gate. How I get to it is secondary to me, though everyone else seems to want to fight over it.”
“So play both sides and then stick with the one that comes out on top.”
“That's what many people do, and they're the ones that make the most headway. Or do you forget that you're working for a corporation that sold to everyone during the Interstellar War?”
Kei winced. “I'm not claiming moral high ground or anything, but...”
“Yes?”
He glared at him. “How is that supposed to work when one side is determined to kill you? I don't think that Miss Skare is going to just forgive you for this.”
“I wouldn't be so sure. She's a realist. A pragmatist. And I possess knowledge that she'll want. Now, if-”
Kei had heard enough. He pushed himself up off the floor and made a headlong charge toward Hammond. He launched himself and slammed his target into the deck. Pain shot through his shoulder from the impact, but he managed to get into a dominant position and tried to pin Hammond down.
Pain shot through his left arm, and then through his chest, right in one of the gaps in his armor. Hammond pushed him away and stood up, blade in hand.
“Now then, how long are you going to keep this up?” he taunted, a look of smug satisfaction on his face. “Because if you keep doing this, I'm going to have to kill you at some point. And we wouldn't want that, would we? Just-”
Kei lunged at him with one final maniacal effort and tackled him to the ground again. The knife went flying, but he didn't need it. Kei smashed him across the face with a fist, then another. As Hammond struggled to fend him off he grabbed him by the head and slammed his skull straight back into the hard metal floor.
Pain, adrenaline and blind fury had completely taken over his vision. Kei rained down blows on Hammond, smashing him with fists and elbows. His injuries didn't slow him, even as he felt them burning. He'd kill Hammond, even if he had to use his bare hands to do it.
Someone grabbed him from behind, and Kei threw a back elbow to ward them off. He felt it connect, but then another pair of hands grabbed him and tossed him back onto the metal deck.
“Well, looks like you've got things well in hand,” Soko's voice said.
“You're wounded,” Nina said, kneeling down beside him.
Kei groaned. “Yeah. I know.”
She glanced away. “Is Lauren...”
“As far as I know she's still alive, or at least that's what he told me,” he said. The pain from his wounds and fatigue were starting to sap his strength.
She began to unpack a medical kit and went to work performing first aid on his wounds. “I know it might not be easy for you to speak, but what happened? And how did she end up in there?”
Kei took a deep breath and started to explain.
HAMMOND HAD BEEN SEVERELY BEATEN during the scuffle, but Nina took no pity on him. His injuries might be painful, but they weren't life-threatening. Right now she felt no sympathy, not after hearing what he had done.
Soko leaned him up against the console, and Nina aimed her weapon right between his eyes.
“End of the road for you, doctor,” she said, her voice dripping with contempt.
“Maybe not,” he replied with an ugly smile, twisted by the bruising and swelling on his face. “I still have what you want. And more than that.”
“Your information comes at a price. Too high, in my opinion, and I don't like the way that you seem to withhold it,” Nina retorted. “I'm going to kill you now, so if you want to convince me otherwise you'd better come up with something to save your skin quick, and it'd better be good.”
“Such poor negotiating tactics.”
“Last chance.”
He glanced back toward the tank. “Do you know how to get her out of there? And get her out of there without damaging her?”
“And I suppose you do?”
“Indeed.”
“Then start with that.”
“Not so fast,” Hammond said. “I want guarantees before I give you any information.”
“You're not in a position to make demands,” she retorted. “I'll humor you, though. What are they?”
“Simple. First, I want a guarantee that I won't be harmed.”
Nina shrugged. “Fair enough. IVIN, when you get a chance send a signal to the Starlight, and then to the incoming fleet. Inform them that we have Dr. Hammond with us.”
“Understood.”
“Actually tell them that. Don't fake it.”
“Understood.”
Nina turned back. “Now, what else do you want?”
“I want immunity from-”
“That's not for me to decide,” she said. “I'll do what I can, but ultimately I'm not the one making the decision.”
Nina hated the idea of even bothering to negotiate with him, but he had valuable information.
“Fine then.”
“So can you release her?”
Hammond struggled to his feet. “Yes.”
“Then do it. I'll work with you for now, but don't expect me to like it.”
He pressed a series of buttons on the holographic display, and the liquid began to drain out of the tank. Nina stepped forward as the chamber opened.
“Lauren. Can you hear me?”
“Yeah. I can hear you,” she replied, quietly but with a firm voice.
“How are you feeling?”
She exhaled. “I really don't know. After all of that...”
Nina fixed Dr. Hammond with an icy glare. “Yes. I know all about that. I would have killed him out of hand...”
“You need the information out of him to get to the Eon Gate,” she said. “I understand.”
Hearing it repeated back to her made the taste of her compromise even more bitter. How much more would it cost them? With Elsner near death, Kei badly wounded, and Lauren suffering from Hammond's mad delusions…
She looked back at him. “You know where the Eon Gate is?”
“Yes. We're close. Very close.”
“Then take us there.” She looked over at Soko. “Bind his hands first, so he can't do anything.”
“With pleasure.”
Nina turned back to Lauren. “I know that it's not going to be pretty, but let's get you something to wear.”
IT TOOK them a few minutes of scrounging the slain, but they found some clothing and footwear that fit her. Lauren felt a bit uneasy about wearing something from a dead person, but it was either that or walking around naked.
More notably to her, there seemed to be no enemies left.
“Yeah, we killed them all,” Gilroy confirmed.
“What happened to Elsner and Rappa?” Kei asked. He was on his feet and moving, even with all the wounds he had suffered.
“We left them with a life support unit.”
“What about the rest of the enemy unit?” Lauren asked. “If they break in...”
“They shouldn't,” Griz said. “IVIN and the Starlight were launching steady attacks on them. That's why he wasn't being used much on the way here.”
“Are you alright?” Gilroy asked her. “I can't figure out how you didn't drown.”
“Well, if it was some kind of specially prepared fluid and not water it's possible to breath it,” Kei said. “Though the types I know of are too thick for a human to pump in and out of their lungs, so they need a respirator.”
“I didn't have one.”
“Hm, that needs to be looked into. Everything does.”
“So they operated on you?” Gilroy asked.
“They didn't. The machines did,” she said. “They tried to drug me, I think, but, well… I think Ulic physiology is similar to humans, but it's different enough to make a difference. I wasn't knocked out all the way.”
The feeling of the machines cutting away at her body still haunted her memory, though the fear and pain had faded with time. But what had they done to her? Lauren couldn't even begin to fathom what changes might have taken place. At this point she felt a bit unsteady, but other than that nothing seemed different.
But a medical exam might tell a very different story. Lauren wondered if she'd become nothing more than a glorified lab rat, to be poked and studied for the rest of her life.
“We're keeping this quiet,” Nina said after Lauren asked her what her future held. “I think your fears are very correct. Too many people will want to study you, and I'm not letting that happen. We'll examine the tech behind it, but you're not a lab rat.”
“Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it,” she said, turning a glare toward Dr. Hammond. “You had it forced upon you.”
“We're here,” Hammond announced, apparently oblivious to their conversation.
The squad stepped through an archway. Lauren was expecting something grandiose, much like all the other Ulic ruins she had seen in her travels, but she was mistaken. By comparison this place was small, humble, just a small room made of metal with a raised console in the center.
“May I?” Hammond asked.
“What are you planning on doing?” Nina asked.
“This is the control console for the gate. I'm going to activate it, or at least I'm going to do as much as possible. I'll need Miss Maxwell's assistance to finish the job.”
“Go ahead.”
Lauren watched him step up to the console and activate it.
“How does he know so much?” Gilroy whispered to her.
“That… that I don't know,” she whispered back. “He said that he has secret knowledge. Where that came from I have no clue, but...”
“And here we are,” he said. “Miss Maxwell, I need to have an activation from an Ulic, or at least someone that can mimic one. If you would be so kind?”
Lauren hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and stepped forward. She felt her heart racing as she reached out.
“Place your hand-” Hammond started to say, but Lauren ignored him.
She didn't need his instructions or his translation, because she could read the words in front of her without even thinking about it. Somehow it all seemed completely natural. Had she been given a neural implant in the tank?
Lauren reached out and touched her hand to the proper spot on the display and held it there. The holograms switched from orange to green, but nothing else happened. She waited for a few seconds, wondering if this had all been for naught.
Then the floor below them began to vibrate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Nina had to brace herself against one of the walls as the room began to shake violently. Was it just this spot, or was the entire complex being affected?
She heard rumbling, along with the sound of grinding and whirling mechanisms. Faint as it might be, Nina also thought she heard the sound of
rocks cracking and crumbling. Was the entire asteroid coming apart?
“Hex, Hex, please respond.”
Nina wedged herself in a corner before answering. “I hear you, Cheryl.”
“What did you do?”
“You're gonna have to give me more than that.”
“The entire asteroid is coming apart.”
“Got it. Back off and get the shields up so you don't get hit.”
“But-”
“Do it!” she snapped.
The room continued to shake violently, and for a moment everything went dark. Nina didn't know what to expect. Hammond had said something about a gate, but what form would it take?
LAUREN SENSED the fear from those around her, but even as she braced herself against the console to keep herself upright she remained strangely calm. She had no reason for it, just a feeling deep within her. It was fine. Everything was going according to plan.
The sounds and vibrations of moving parts continued all around them. The wall on the far side of the room suddenly shifted, and Lauren found herself looking out at the stars through a long, thin window.
“I'm attempting to get a video feed of the outside,” IVIN said, “but the shifting is making this very difficult. The range extenders keep switching positions.”
“Do what you can.” Nina ordered.
“Rappa. You still in one piece?” Soko asked over the radio link.
“Yeah. What's all the shaking?”
“We just activated a bunch of old machinery, and it looks like it's activating the gate.”
“Not just activating the gate,” Hammond said.
Lauren looked at him, along with the rest of her companions. “What do you mean by that?”
“You'll see.”
“I have a connection,” IVIN said. “Projecting images now.”
Lauren watched as the holograph appeared in front of the drone. Rocks floated through the void in every direction, but that wasn't what caught her attention. A structure was in the midst of deploying, forming three-quarters of a circle and still in the process of extending. In a few minutes the ends would connect, forming a ring.
Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1) Page 24