They ascended the steps and entered the gatehouse where Briggs operated the long-range gear.
“Put the Captain on speaker,” Grimshaw ordered.
Briggs adjusted the controls and gave him the thumbs up.
“Commander Grimshaw of the starship Bakura speaking from Gate Six. You’re on loudspeaker, Captain.”
“Damn, it’s good to hear from someone else out there. We heard that fighting from over here in Sector Two. When it stopped, we feared the worst.”
“We lost a lot of good people,” Grimshaw said. “But we’ve secured the gate for now. Wouldn’t have done it without those turrets coming back online.”
“Ensign Evans’s handiwork. Glad to hear Wallace is with you. We got cut off early on.”
Wallace stepped forward. “Good to hear you’re okay, Captain.”
“By the gods. The same to you Wallace.”
“What’s your status, Captain?” Grimshaw cut in, eager to figure out a plan.
“We’ve got the guts of a battalion held up in a bunker with forty-something civilians. There could be others holed up in other shelters around the city. My comms team haven’t found anyone yet, but they’re still looking. Hopefully, we locate more survivors before we have to leave this post. Aegis Nakamura tells me Ensign Evans can pilot an interstellar ship at Xerocorp Labs. Someone needs to get off this planet and alert the Confederation.”
“That’s the plan,” Grimshaw agreed. “We hear fighting out that way. Have you had an update from Evans?”
“A Chit hummer dropped a squad on them, and we lost contact.” Captain Kobol sighed. “We’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything.”
“Evans has lasted this long. They’ll not take her out so easily.” Grimshaw wished he could believe his own words. “What about the labs?”
“We haven’t made contact yet, but their shields are still active, so I’m guessing someone’s still in there. We’ve brought some city defenses back online which should keep the Chits off us. That being said, the scouts tell me they’re still swarming the city center. We’ll not know what the situation is until Xerocorp answers.”
“The city center’s miles from here, Captain, and chances are the Chits will eventually make it over the wall after we leave. We’ll not be able to stay ahead with so many injured on our hands.”
“The Gate Six subline stop is four blocks east of you,” Captain Kobol said. “The main route will take you straight to the maintenance tunnels under Xerocorp Labs. We’ll patch the coordinates through to you and get power to the lines. You can collapse the subline entrance to stop the Chits from following you. However, we don’t have access to the subline surveillance systems, so we don’t know the state of things down there. It’ll get you to the labs quicker, but it might not be a walk in the park.”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take. We’ll send scouts ahead. It’s getting dark, and I’d rather not get caught in the open.”
“We’ll keep trying to get citywide vox back up,” Kobol said. “For the time being, we can reach each other at communication relays like the one you’re at now.”
“We can do all the talking we want at the labs, Captain.”
“See you there, Commander. Kobol out.”
The link cut and Grimshaw turned to Wallace. “Sounds like we’re in for a ride, Sergeant. I’d like to hit those labs sooner rather than later.”
“I’ll organize the men, Commander.” Wallace went off to make preparations.
Directions to the sublines came through on Grimshaw’s SIG. He decided to send Martin and Stone to scout ahead while Lieutenant Wallace and his Marines gathered the injured. Going underground wasn’t ideal, but it was the only way to transport the injured halfway across the city and ensure Eline got the help she needed.
Waiting at Gate Six wasn’t an option. One more tank would bring the gate down for good, and the turrets had already spent most of their ammunition. They wouldn’t last long against a big enough swarm. He hoped Evans and Nakamura were having a better time of it, but going by the gunfire coming from that direction, things were still pretty hot out there.
28
Belonging
Under the ringing in her ears, Clio heard swishing, like waves slapping against rocks. She had always wanted to live by the sea. The waves grew louder…deafening. She shook her head free of the disorienting sensation and found herself resting against a metal beam. The steel support looked familiar. She suddenly recognized it as part of the tower. Did the tower fall?
Everything flooded back. She remembered the explosion and the ladder breaking away. Nakamura had broken her fall. The Aegis was forever pulling her out of holes. She had thought she was safe then, but something struck her in the back. She couldn’t remember what had happened after that.
Clio shifted her weight forward and lay back in pain. It felt like every muscle in her body had been torn. A green light on her SIG flashed as she administered an anti-inflammatory and painkiller cocktail.
Panic threatened to overcome her as she remembered Booster. Her heart raced. She looked around frantically to find him perched on her shoulder. She sighed in relief, and without saying a word, petted him gently, ignoring the stiffness in her joints.
“Big fall,” he whispered into her ear.
“Big fall,” Clio repeated.
As strength gradually seeped back into her bones, she grew more aware of her surroundings. Clio leaned forward and motioned to the field pack. Booster obeyed at once, chattering as he climbed into the bag.
Swigger, Nakamura, and Boggart crouched to her left, using the tower debris as cover. Enemy plasma cut up the ground around them, and Boggart returned fire.
The heavy gunner stepped back and fell to the ground, a gaping hole burned through his TEK’s breastplate.
“Bastards!” Swigger screamed, scrambling for his friend. As Nakamura took his turn to fire, the Marine pulled Boggart’s legs, dragging him back behind cover. He searched for the heavy gunner’s life-signs. Swigger looked to Clio, his face drained of color. He dropped down next to her. “He’s dead.”
Nakamura dropped behind cover again and noticed Clio had regained consciousness. “Are you okay?”
She nodded slowly, her neck and shoulders tense.
“Can you fire a gun?” the Aegis said. “We could do with your help right about now. Swigger, sorry about your friend but I need to reload!”
Swigger snapped out of his daze and leaned out, discharging his rifle.
“I can use a gun.” Clio detached her sidearm from its maglock.
Swigger ducked behind cover again, and Nakamura took his place, somehow keeping his automatic rifle steady with only one hand.
“Glad you’re awake,” Swigger said.
As he turned to Clio, she noticed one of his shoulder pads was missing and a dark red patch soaked his subarmor. “Looks bad.”
“I’ll manage,” he said nonchalantly.
“Where’s Black?” After seeing the damage, Clio suspected she already knew the answer. She was surprised any of them had survived.
“She took out the hummer, but it was carrying a full squad of elites. Bastards got her.”
Nakamura crouched as molten metal splashed over them.
Clio willed herself off the ground and fired a burst of rounds at two Chits half-hidden by a slab of upturned concrete. Several enemy shots slammed into her TEK. Her shields fell to forty-four percent, and she dropped behind the debris. Her battery cells must have been damaged in the fall, for her power was already at seven percent.
She was about to ask where Sergeant Lynch and his Marines were when the gunfire beyond their cover grew even more intense.
Enemy fire stopped hammering their position, and Clio peeked over the rim. Lynch’s Marines were mowing down the elite Chits from behind. The nearest had its back to her. She emptied the rest of her ammo, and it went down.
Swigger quickly retrieved Boggart's tags and hung them around his neck with Black’s.
They s
tumbled to the next piece of debris, hemming in the last two Chits. One went down. Seeing it was in trouble, the other half-flew onto a nearby apartment building and disappeared over a roof, bullets tearing up the concrete in its wake.
Clio followed Nakamura and Swigger out into the open, taking care not to step in fizzing Chit guts. Sergeant Lynch and several Marines emerged from the smoke.
“Glad you had our backs, Sergeant.” Nakamura approached the squad leader. “For a second there, I thought we were done for. I’m afraid we lost Black and Boggart.” The Aegis gestured to where they had fallen.
Sergeant Lynch waved for a group of Marines to see to the bodies.
“They did their jobs,” the Sergeant said, his eyes cold and calculating. “And well done for doing yours, though I see they damaged the tower.”
“Yes, but we broadcast the signal before the attack,” Clio said. “We should still be able to communicate across the city using comm relays.”
He tipped his head at Clio. “We’ve received new orders from Captain Kobol. We’re to secure a position outside Xerocorp Labs in preparation for his arrival. I’ll send you the details.”
“He’s bringing the civilians?” Nakamura said, surprised.
“Those who want to leave, yes. A small squad of Marines volunteered to stay with those civilians who wish to remain on the planet.”
Clio looked at the Sergeant wide-eyed. “Why would anyone want to stay here? That’s insane.”
“I agree,” Lynch said. “But some don’t want to leave their home. They believe the Chits will eventually go back to wherever it is they came from. They plan to rebuild. For all we know, there might be enough survivors hidden in other locations to pull it off.”
“What’s the plan for Xerocorp Labs?” Nakamura asked.
“One of our scouts found a position we can defend outside a break in the Xerocorp Labs perimeter wall.”
“Has the Captain made contact with Commander Grimshaw?” Clio said.
“The Captain informed us that Sergeant Wallace and his team secured Gate Six with the Commander’s help.”
“Did the Captain mention who else had survived?” Nakamura sounded eager.
“I’m afraid I don’t have that information, Aegis. They’re taking the sublines to the Xerocorp Labs maintenance level. If you ask me, it’s a crazy move given that the Chits like to worm about underground, but it sounds like they have a lot of injured people to move, so I guess they don’t have much of a choice. Hopefully, we’ll meet up soon.”
Nakamura scratched at his helmet. “Sounds like the bunker’s been busy.”
“With access to the network, they’ve brought some systems back online, including several city defenses that’ll keep the Chits from creeping up on our flanks. They’ve yet to make contact with the labs. Captain Kobol hopes to make contact when we get closer. The facility’s shields are still up, which is a good sign, but we’ll need someone on the inside to grant us access. Unless we can find a way through the tunnels too…” His voice trailed off, suggesting that he didn’t like the idea.
“The Captain has brought us this far,” Swigger said, returning from helping with the bodies of those who had fallen.
Sergeant Lynch nodded in agreement. He called for his Marines to take stock and prepare for the march deeper into the city.
Clio found herself hoping that Commander Grimshaw would make it through the subline network. She had always felt out of place on the Bakura but sharing a battlefield had created something of a connection, not just with him, but with Nakamura and the Marines. Fitting in for a change felt strange…yet good.
It’s a pity I still have an unsavory task to take care of. She looked back at the damaged tower. Transmitting the data to her contact would have to wait until she found another communication relay.
29
Stacking The Deck
The Forecourts acted as one of Sentinel City’s main commercial hubs, but the area could have been lifted directly out of Bometown. It attracted the worst of the upper class, and those were arguably more of a drain on Sentinel resources than any Underway dweller.
Randai sighed. It seemed like the Overways hadn’t changed since he’d last visited. He couldn’t stand lavish flamboyance or willful ignorance, and the Forecourts had both in spades. Negotiating the area felt like a trip to the circus.
Colorful street entertainers danced and juggled with bells on their boots while stall owners hawked their wares, selling everything from Varg triblades to semi-putrid knolra meat.
“You mean to tell me that people actually eat that?” Cho said as he gagged at the idea. “I thought it was dog food.”
Randai chuckled at the kid’s discomfort. “I wouldn’t even feed it to a dog, but up here, it’s considered a delicacy.”
Cho pointed at a pink carcass veined with yellow hanging from a pole. “They have all this food, yet they chose to eat rotting flesh. I’ll never understand the rich.”
“Can’t say I blame you, kid. The rich don’t even understand themselves.”
The young Shanti pulled his jacket over his nose. “Knolra smell like death when they’re alive, but this is something else entirely.”
Randai was glad to have a human nose. A Shanti’s sense of smell was ten times more sensitive.
They forced their way through the crowds, putting the food stalls behind them.
“What’s down there?” Cho pointed to an escalator carrying people under the Sentinel City streets.
“That’s the main Sentinel City subline. Most of the train network is under the streets. It runs under the river and goes all the way to the outer farms.” Randai gestured to Izmark River through a break in the crowd, its crystalline waters sparkling.
Cho watched, using a hand to shield his eyes from the light. “It’s too bright up here.”
“The Sentinel’s neutrino star is directly above us.” Randai looked at the pale white dot in the middle of the blue sky. “That’s where the Sentinel gets its power. No one knows how it works, but some say the Ancients built all this. The sky filters control everything from optics to how much light makes it through. If not for the maintenance droids, the Sentinel would fall apart. No one knows how they work either, but they keep things running smoothly. They’ve been around longer than any race.”
“Has the lesson finished, grandpa?” Cho said as he continued walking.
“Kids,” Randai said as though the word was blasphemous. “You don’t appreciate the important things. But one day you’ll look back and remember this fondly.”
“No way. Give me darkness any day. Everything is so excessive up here.”
“The people notwithstanding,” Randai added.
“Speaking of excessive, what’s the story with that building?” Cho pointed out a giant structure across the river.
“That’s Sentinel Tower, the Overways’ crown-jewel.”
“You could fit all of Bometown in there.”
“You could fit most of the Underways in that building. It’s built into the Sentinel’s superstructure. The tunnels behind it span so far they don’t have a map for them all.”
“What the hell are they doing?” Cho pointed ahead.
A horde of protesters bearing placards chanted before Izmark Bridge. Sentinel Security formed a line before the crowd, barring the way. “Protesters,” Taza muttered.
“Protesting about what?” Cho spat. “They’ve got everything they could ever dream of up here.”
“That’s the funny thing about people, kid. They’re never happy, no matter how much they have.”
Cho’s jaw hung ajar.
They walked for another mile and reached the weapons store Stavo had indicated to them. They entered, and Randai examined the premises. Weapons, some of which Randai didn’t recognize, filled every inch of wall from floor to ceiling. A Yalore stood behind a counter, his hands down by his sides in a non-threatening manner.
“Welcome to Volron’s Munitions Certified,” the storekeeper said. “My name’s
Glak Volron. How can I help you?”
Randai pushed in front of Cho. “You run this place?”
“This is my father’s establishment, but I take care of things when he’s not around.”
“I’m here to collect a special package,” Randai said, hoping the Yalore would catch his meaning.
“I believe I’ve got just what you’re looking for,” Glak said reassuringly. “Do you have a ticket?”
Randai handed the Yalore the ticket Stavo had provided.
“Ah yes. My father told me to expect you, Mister Kahn.” He gestured to the small storefront with a proud smile.
“How much?” Randai asked.
“One moment please.” Glak operated his counter terminal. “It would appear there were unexpected difficulties. Goods import inspections. Bribes had to be paid. Releasing your items will cost three thousand credits.” He looked up from the counter, an uneasy smile on his wrinkled face.
“I was told it would be fifteen hundred,” Randai argued.
“Three thousand or I can’t release. Simple.” Glak rubbed his hip.
“I barely have enough to cover that.”
“You can take it up with Jacek, my father, but he’s gone off-station. He’ll return in eight days.”
Randai sighed. “Fine. I’ll pay the fee.”
He held his SIG over the counter, and the terminal beeped as it took most of his remaining credits.
“I’ll be right back.” Glak limped into the back of the store.
Cho pulled up a chair by the front door and listened to his music buds while watching a holocast on his SIG.
Randai leaned against the counter. His back eventually grew stiff, and he wondered what was taking so long. Talk about adding insult to injury.
“Is he building the damn TEK?” He looked at Cho.
The kid occupied himself, listening to whatever it was that Shanti Underways kids listened to.
Randai was about to jump the counter when Glak reappeared, dragging a stout case on wheels.
“Sorry for the wait, Mister Kahn.” He waved one free hand. “They were still adding the finishing touches, and it took some work getting it into the compact transport system.” He pointed at the case. “We’ll throw that in for free of course, for your trouble.”
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