“Looks like we reached the higher floors just in time,” Grimshaw said.
Sergeant Wallace joined him. “What happened to the shield?”
“No idea. But we best not hang around here for too long.” Grimshaw looked to the stairwell. “It’s just a matter of time before they reach this floor.”
“I’ll have my men seal the doors. It’ll probably buy us a little time.”
“It’s worth a try,” Grimshaw said.
Wallace called orders over the vox and two Marines ran to the stairwell doors and started to seal them with a plasma torch.
Grimshaw tried reaching Nakamura and Clio on the vox again while Wallace organized his people. Getting no response from either, he dialed Captain Kobol’s channel instead. “Grimshaw here.”
“Captain Kobol reading.”
“Are Evans and Nakamura with you?”
“Afraid not. We reached the hangar control room as the shields dropped. I’ve been trying to reach them, but they haven’t answered.”
Grimshaw rubbed the bristles under his chin. “What’s your situation?”
“We’ve got the civilians holed up in a nearby canteen. The blast doors are holding, but they’ll break through eventually.”
“There’s always something.”
“We need Nakamura’s codes to enter the hangar, and Evans is the only starship pilot we have. We may need to consider a Plan B.”
“If you think of one, let me know. Requesting locations for the hangar and Evans.”
“Sending those through now, Commander.”
Grimshaw read the map in his visor display and located Evans’s position. “Ensign Evans is a short detour up three floors. I’ll take a team to check it out. Wallace will take everyone else to the hangar.”
“Good luck, Commander.”
The line cut.
“Briggs, O’Donovan, and Martin. You’re with me.” Grimshaw waved to them as he walked to the freight elevator.
“Stone, stay with Sergeant Wallace and make sure Eline gets to the hangar control room safely.”
Stone nodded. “Consider it done, sir.”
Grimshaw pushed the freight elevator’s button while Sergeant Wallace led his Marines down the long corridor.
The stairwell door looked secure.
“How are we doing for ammo?” he asked.
“One mag left,” O’Donovan said tapping his belt.
Briggs removed the magazine from his rifle. “Half full.”
Martin raised one eyebrow, shouldered his rifle, and drew his sidearm.
“I’ve also got half a mag,” Grimshaw said. “Let’s hope we don’t need our guns.”
The elevator pinged, and they aimed their weapons at the two doors as they parted. Thankfully, nothing appeared inside. They stepped onto the platform, and Grimshaw selected the seventh floor. The doors closed and the elevator jerked as it ascended.
The sound of fighting came from above.
“So much for not encountering anything,” Martin said, noting the sounds of battle.
Grimshaw checked his SIG in conjunction with his visor map. According to Kobol’s data, Clio and Nakamura were last registered in the lab’s data-center, but their signals had since gone dead. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried about guns still firing. It was a sign that someone was still fighting. As the thought crossed his mind, the gunfire stopped. If something had happened to Evans and Nakamura, Kobol was right. They would need another plan. Grimshaw had Eline’s launch codes, but without a pilot, those were useless. They would have to hide somewhere until word reached the Confederation or the Galactic Alliance. But even that meant getting everyone out of the labs first. Grimshaw set the dark thoughts aside. Evans and Nakamura had to be okay.
The broad platform jerked to a stop as they arrived at the seventh floor. The doors slowly parted, and they moved into the empty hallway and turned left toward the flashing indicator on Grimshaw’s SIG. Communications were scrambled on this floor.
“Comms are down up here. Chits must be nearby,” he said on the short-band.
“Did any of you hear that?” O’Donovan said.
Briggs strained his hearing. “Sounds like a struggle.”
“It’s a good sign,” Martin said. “Means they’re still alive.”
“They might not be for long,” Grimshaw said earnestly. “Double time!”
35
The Elite
Clio caught Nakamura as he stumbled back into the data-center and peered into the corridor. Blood and entrails plastered the walls and ceiling. A jet-black elite stared at her from among the mess. It stood heads taller than any Chit Clio had seen so far. It sported three arms and a stump. A severed fourth arm writhed as it clung to the blade jutting from Nakamura.
On catching sight of her, the Chit let out a chilling shriek and charged the door. She dragged the Aegis clear of the entrance and activated the lock. The panel snapped shut just as the alien crashed into it. The elite pounded on the door repeatedly as though bent on breaking it down.
Booster climbed out of his pack onto her shoulder to see what all the commotion was about.
She checked the black sword jutting from Nakamura’s armor and pulled the Chit arm off, flinging it across the room.
Nakamura groaned in pain and leaned against a rail.
“Shit, Sai…” she muttered under her breath.
Booster made a sound that said he agreed with her.
“Damn elite moves fast.” Nakamura looked down at the blade. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Not as bad as it looks? You’re lucky to be alive.”
He grinned then winced in pain. “I need you to pull it out.”
Booster squeaked in horror and grabbed Clio’s shoulder tight.
She grew queasy at the mere thought. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“If you don’t, I’ll die faster.”
“What do you mean faster?”
“My TEK’s keeping me alive. Has been since the Bakura crashed…Holding my insides together. It’s low on power now. Just a matter of time. Take this.” He offered her a data crystal. “Pulling the blade out will buy me a little more time, but you need to get this to Minister Straiya.”
The Chit slammed against the door again, creating dents.
“Persistent bastard.” She refused to accept the crystal. “Keep your trinket. Either we both get out of this or no one does.”
Nakamura looked into her eyes before putting the crystal back in his utility belt. He kneeled on the ground, supporting himself with his one good arm.
“Then make it quick,” he moaned.
Not wanting to watch, Booster clawed his way back into the field pack and pulled the cover shut.
Clio examined the damage. The black sword had gone through the Aegis’s kidney and exited above the hip. Clio gingerly grabbed the hilt and firmly placed a boot on his middle back. “On three.” She took a deep breath. “One—”
Nakamura cried out as Clio pulled with everything she had, and the blade slid free. The Aegis roared with pain and rolled onto his side, blood gushing from the open wound.
Clio hurried to assist him, but he gestured for her to stay back. She watched helplessly as the Chit sword in her hand dripped red onto the floor.
The Aegis keyed something into his SIG, and his exoframe hissed loudly.
The door continued to dent under the elite’s attacks, and with some effort, Nakamura climbed to his feet and stretched, evidently free of pain.
Clio’s eyes widened. “You Aegi really are tough bastards.”
“It’s true.” He attempted a smile, but it turned to a grimace. “But there’s only so much even we can take.”
The door banged again and started to bend inward.
She swore. “That isn’t gonna hold much longer.”
Nakamura drew his blaster. “Give me your gun.”
She handed her sidearm over.
“Dropped my rifle in the hallway. Blades seem to w
ork better against their armor.” He eyed the sword in Clio’s hand. “I’ll distract it, you hide behind that computer stack there. When its back is turned, stick it one for me.”
“Sure,” Clio said, though she was anything but sure. She looked down the length of the sword as the door thudded again.
“Go,” Nakamura hissed.
She climbed behind the server rails as instructed and watched from between two racks as Nakamura wedged himself between two frames nearer to the folding door.
She wasn’t sure what his suit was doing to keep him alive, but Clio wished hers was half as powerful. As it stood, her TEK only had an hour or two of juice left, and she had yet to find a compatible replacement battery unit.
A reflection of the damaged data-center door on a piece of shiny chrome across the walkway drew her attention. The Chit hammered the panel again, and it almost caved. Light poured through as the metal warped. Two powerful sets of claws cut through and pulled the door clean from the wall.
The elite stepped into the data-center, crouching despite the high ceiling.
It stood taller and broader than any elite Clio had seen so far. Numerous mandibles and other sickly appendages twisted its face, and six glowing eyes peered out from a hole where its visor had been.
Heavy footfalls thudded on the gridded walkway as it approached, and its mouth snorted like a horse. Its throat clicked loudly as it advanced, and its ugly head turned from side to side as it checked the spaces between each server rack. It disappeared from the chrome reflection and Clio had to rely on sound as it got closer to Nakamura.
She waited quietly, her muscles coiled, her body ready to spring.
Gunshots erupted followed by a shriek. Entire server racks toppled like dominoes.
Clio emerged from her hiding place. She aimed the point of the sword at a section of the Chit’s damaged armor. The elite turned as she descended, and the blade plunged into its shoulder. Clio pushed with everything she had, and a severed limb thudded onto the ground.
It kicked out and sent Clio hurtling into the rack behind, the sword still in her hand. She struck the steel cage with a blow that would have crushed her ribs if not for her TEK’s protection. She ducked under a punch that would have pulverized her head, all the while holding onto the weapon for dear life.
“Now!” Nakamura shouted as he shouldered into the elite’s back.
The Chit fell against a half-toppled rack, its thorax directly above her. Clio thrust the sword upward, but it glanced off the smooth armor, showering her with orange sparks.
The elite slapped the sword from her hands and made to grab her with its deadly claws. Before it caught her, the elite reacted to Nakamura firing from behind and turned to go after the Aegis instead.
Clio noticed a wide crack on its back.
The Chit charged Nakamura and sent him flying into the hallway outside. It straddled the Aegis and drew a night-black knife from its armor. It plunged the blade as Clio bowled into its side, striking it hard in the face with her elbow. The impact knocked the beast off balance, and its long knife missed Nakamura, gouging a tile inches from his neck before skittering across the floor.
As the Aegis wrestled his way out from under the creature, it caught Clio and pulled her into a bear-hug, crushing her elbows into her sides. Her TEK’s armor-plating cracked, giving way under the force.
Booster sprang over her shoulder, screaming curses and tearing at the elite’s exposed eyes with fangs and claws.
The Chit dropped Clio and howled in pain, clutching at its face. A mighty claw swiped Booster and slammed him into a wall. The puck’s limp body tumbled to the ground like an inanimate toy.
The scene reminded Clio of the stuffed teddy bear the little girl had dropped in Sector Two. A proverbial fire swelled in the pit of her stomach and forced its way into her chest, turning her heart into a sledge-hammer. She usually fought to contain the flames. She had lost control in the past, the raging heat a wild inferno, making her do things she otherwise wouldn’t have done. For the first time, Clio willfully gave herself over to the convulsing maelstrom, and a blissful warmth filled her veins.
She snatched the elite’s long knife from the ground as she closed in.
Having recovered, the elite descended on her, two of its six eyes still glowing. Its movements seemed so much slower than before, and Clio maneuvered around its striking arms with negligible effort.
She stabbed the knife into the cracked chitinous armor on its back and retreated to a safe distance as the elite spun. She went in for another strike and plunged the blade into the creature’s knee while ducking under another deathly swipe.
The elite dropped to the ground. Its hand launched at her desperately and caught her wrist.
Clio twisted her arm and its clawed fingers snapped. As the beast roared, she grabbed its helmet, tilted its head back, and drove her knife into its throat. She drew the blade free and a white liquid bubbled forth. Clio stabbed again and again, losing herself in the bloody rhythm.
She eventually found herself kneeling in a steaming pool of white and purple slush, the strong stench of sulfur assaulting her nostrils.
All strength suddenly fled from her body, and she slumped forward into the Chit’s remains. She tried to draw a breath, but every muscle ignored her commands. Darkness clawed at her periphery, and she started to pull into herself. It felt like she had spent her entire life living inside someone else’s body. The darkness got a hold of her, and she plummeted into a deep, icy chasm.
36
Fury
Grimshaw and his team sped through the seventh-floor corridors and turned into a hallway where a chaotic scene greeted them.
Windows had been smashed, and bullets had drawn lines across every surface. The remains of several Chits and Marines painted the ceiling tiles and wall panels.
Grimshaw passed under a flickering light half hanging from the ceiling. He spotted Nakamura and Evans lying next to the semi-decayed carcass of a particularly large elite. A furry creature stood next to Evans’s motionless body, clutching its shoulder.
Grimshaw knelt down to check the Ensign’s pulse. It was barely noticeable.
“She should be okay,” Nakamura croaked. “If someone can help me over to her please.”
The Aegis was missing an arm and had a seeping wound just above his waist.
As hard as he tried, Grimshaw failed to process the scene. “What happened?”
The Aegis struggled to move, and O’Donovan helped him onto his feet.
Nakamura looked at Grimshaw with that playful smile. “It’s a long story.”
O’Donovan brought Nakamura to Evans, and the Aegis crouched over the Ensign, injecting something into her TEK.
“What is that?” Grimshaw asked, suspecting he knew.
Nakamura looked up. “It’s a special serum.”
“Is she okay?” Grimshaw tried not to sound too worried.
“Her levels are stabilizing,” Nakamura said, taking a reading on his SIG. “Looks like we got to her in time.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Considering the serum Nakamura had injected into Evans, Grimshaw had his suspicions, but he couldn’t be sure until he heard what the Aegi had to say.
“I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like fury poisoning.”
“I thought as much, but how’s that even possible? Evans doesn’t have a fury implant.” Grimshaw said, angered that his suspicions had been confirmed. “Did the Chits do something to her?”
“Thing is…I’m not entirely sure.” Nakamura sighed. “She took that elite out in hand to hand combat like she was infected with FA7. The next thing I know, she’s exhibiting symptoms of fury poisoning.”
Grimshaw felt the back of his helmet as if rubbing his fury implant. “I don’t see how.”
“The Confederation Science Division attempted to synthesize a fury-based performance enhancement drug during the Kragak War,” Nakamura said. “The process relied on a rare plant found only in the Fringe. The program fai
led when seventy percent of those treated with the drug died shortly thereafter. Most of the survivors eventually lost their minds.”
“I’m familiar with the Fury Program,” Grimshaw said. “But it doesn’t explained how Evans was poisoned.”
Grimshaw also wanted to know why the Aegis was carrying anti-AF7 serum, but that conversation would have to wait.
“Perhaps Evans came into contact with one of these plants, or maybe Xerocorp Labs have been working on something illegally. I’ll need to run a quick scan on Evans before we move out. It could be someone administered something without her noticing or spiked our food and water.”
“More Chits could be on the way.” Grimshaw crossed his arms and tapped his fingers impatiently.
“The serum delivery system relies on a special kind of nanite. Moving her will affect its potency.” Nakamura crouched down by Evans and swiped his SIG over her body.
It wasn’t exactly what Grimshaw wanted to hear. He looked at the broken window. “Briggs, have you made contact with Captain Kobol yet?”
“Afraid not, sir,” the officer grunted. “This interference is starting to wreck my brain.”
“It’s the elites.” Nakamura nodded at the steaming black remains next to Evans. “They’re equipped with some kind of disrupter. The smaller ones have it too, but they seem to affect radio signals to a lesser degree. Every time we encounter an elite, however, electromagnetic waves become completely disrupted.”
“Pity we can’t bring one with us to study,” Briggs said.
“It doesn’t help that they start to melt away as soon as they die. Sumbitches fall apart if you so much as touch them.” Martin kicked the rotting carcass and bits scattered across the floor. He suddenly noticed the monkey-like creature and reached out to touch it with his boot. It leapt and startled the officer with a growl.
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