by Rachel Aukes
“No, I didn’t,” she said and then noticed the growing bloodstain on her calf. “Aw, damn it,” she muttered and peeled off her medical coveralls, and holstered her gun.
Birk set down the rifles and bent to examine her leg. “It didn’t hit the brace, so that’s good. But we need to stop the bleeding so you don’t weaken.”
Finn tore off his white coveralls and reached into his coat pocket. He pulled out a small patch of quick-clot. “Here you go,” he said. “Try not to get shot again. That’s my last one.”
“I’ll try not to,” Throttle said drily.
Birk grabbed the patch and slapped it over her leg. It clung to her suit, only to melt into the bloody area and form a goo over the wound. Within seconds, the goo hardened into a glass-like cover.
He helped her to her feet, and she took the two rifles, slinging them both over her shoulder. She tapped her wrist-comm and turned the volume back on. “Sylvian, West reneged on our deal, but I’m guessing you already had that figured out. Report.”
“No change here. They haven’t tried to break in. Rusty was able to get read access to most of Jade-8’s systems when they tried to hack in. They didn’t realize that when they tried to expose Rusty’s systems, they exposed theirs. I’ve been tying into all their systems that I can get write access to. I’ll have control of these systems, just give me time.”
“Keep at it. Can you get us a map of Jade-8?”
“Sending to all your comms now.”
Throttle waited for the map to download before responding, “Got it. Hang in there. I’ll head your way right after we get Nolin to the Gabriela.” Throttle tapped off the direct transmission.
“I can’t fly the Gabriela on my own,” Nolin announced in a pitch higher than his usual voice.
“You’ve flown it for over half of the journey here,” she said.
Birk frowned. She knew that he knew she was blowing smoke. Nolin had never flown the Gabriela on his own. But Birk need to understand that Nolin wasn’t like them. Nolin had to believe in himself to even try to do something.
“But that was just keeping it straight and on its flight path. I’ve never launched before. I’m a navigator. I’m not a pilot,” Nolin said.
“You’ve flown the Gabriela before,” Throttle said. “You can do this. I have to get back to the Javelin. It’s our only defense for the Gabriela.”
Nolin remained tense but nodded in acceptance. She squeezed his uninjured shoulder.
Birk eyed her, and she looked at him. “It needs two people to fly,” he whispered.
“And you’ll be with him. It has to be either you or Sylvian, and Sylvian’s on the Javelin,” she replied even softer.
He pursed his lips, then gave a tight nod.
She then noticed Finn’s frown as he stared off at the wall. “What’s wrong, Finn?”
He returned from wherever he’d gone. “What?”
“I asked you what’s wrong.”
He looked at the carnage around them before reengaging eye contact. “I really thought I’d left this all behind me.”
“We all did,” she said. “Are you still with us?”
“Of course.”
She nodded. “Okay, we have a few minutes, maybe, before we don’t show up wherever Don was taking us. We need to initiate plan B across Jade-8 and then get to the Gabriela and clear out the docks so the gutter rats can get onto the dock and board. By now, Mutt should have his people all lined up and waiting for plan B to go into effect there.”
“It looks like the East docks aren’t too far from here.” She scrolled through the map. “Shit.”
She looked up. “Plan B is straight that way.” She pointed to her left.
“So? We go launch plan B, then go to the East docks,” Birk said.
Throttle sighed. “That’s no good. Mutt will need all the help he can get at the docks. You three go to the docks. I’ll take the tunnels and initiate plan B.”
Birk scowled. “I don’t want you to go alone.”
She gave a small smile. “I’ve got the easy job. I just have to run through the tunnels. You guys will see all the action.” She sobered. “We have our comms. Make sure you have the maps up on your comms. We don’t have Cinder to guide us around now. We do have our guardian angel in the West docks, and I’ll head there as soon as I’ve done my part. Now go.”
Birk eyed her for a moment, then pulled her to him and kissed her. He let go and took off jogging down the walkway. Nolin and Finn each patted her shoulder.
“We’ll see you soon,” Nolin said, and the pair ran off to join Birk.
Throttle watched them for a bare moment before looking at her map, turning, and running in the opposite direction. The walkway was still running, so she had to run at a full sprint to make any real progress. There was a narrow space between the walkway and the wall, but it was too narrow to run, let alone walk. When she reached the tunnel door, she stepped off the walkway and stood heel to toe on the unmoving part of the floor. She turned the wheel on the small round door. It was tight—almost too tight—and she had to grunt to twist it. Once it moved, it turned easily, and she spun the wheel. The door opened, and she climbed over the ledge and through the small door into the tunnel on the other side.
She closed the door and let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. Luckily for her, none of the tunnels were locked, though she knew that all tunnels would need to be accessible for maintenance. A locked tunnel would be a compromised tunnel, and she knew to avoid those. Glancing down at her comm, she memorized how many intersections she needed to go through to reach the next turn. Then she took off running.
She ran, not a full-out sprint, but at a fast pace, one she could still decently control her leg braces. She glanced down every few minutes to make sure the patch held, and she saw no new blood. She slowed only to take the first turn, and she looked at her position on the map again.
She had really hoped she wouldn’t have had to go with plan B, and she hated Jakob West for forcing her into it. Innocents would die. There’d be no way around that, but if it worked, she’d be getting both the sleepers and the gutter rats safely off the predatory colony and on their way to a new home.
Over the past twelve hours, if any Jaders had been paying attention, they would’ve noticed the homeless on their colony behaving strangely. They would’ve seen the gutter rats stealing any extra food or supplies they could carry, only to all disappear into the tunnels around the time the East Jaders began to get sick. If any Jaders noticed, they probably assumed the rats were hiding to avoid sickness. Jaders never would’ve thought the gutter rats were spending those hours packing up their life’s possessions and preparing to board a colony ship from another system to start new lives.
The tunnels were empty, but she couldn’t tell the difference between the tunnels still used by Jade-8 maintenance crews and the tunnels overtaken by the gutter rats. She didn’t care as long as no one was trying to kill her.
She glanced at her map and took the next right, only to run nearly into a solid wall of soldered metal and glue. On it was a white sign with bold red text:
COMPROMISED TUNNEL. INACCESSIBLE.
Throttle grimaced and analyzed the map for another route. It would be faster if she took the elevators and public hallways, but she couldn’t risk being caught by West’s security forces. She backtracked three blocks and took a roundabout tunnel a level above where she’d been, before climbing down three levels and continuing on her route.
Even with the dry air, sweat soaked her clothes, and strands of hair clung to her face. Even with her daily exercise regimen, she was breathing hard. Being a paraplegic, she’d never been as strong on her feet, even with the braces working at full charge. She’d spent the first twenty-five years of her life in a wheelchair, and she’d developed the upper body mass for it. Unfortunately, her strong arms couldn’t help her get to where she needed to be. Her lungs burned, but she didn’t slow down. The people at the East docks needed her to get her job done.
The detour had added several minutes to her clock, but she soon reached the tunnel leading to the room she sought: Jade-8’s central rotational grid complex. Still no guards, which gave her confidence that Jakob West underestimated her team. She tentatively approached the wide door. A keypad, similar to the one that’d been on the East water systems, but this one had more lights and a touchpad. The door had a small square window at eye level, which she quickly peeked through before pulling out of view again.
The map had shown no details other than a location. It was a smaller room than expected, and the rotational system was managed differently than the East water systems. From her initial scan, she counted at least three workers sitting at terminals alongside a massive rectangular column that took up two-thirds of the room. The rotational engine.
She stood and thought for a moment. While she’d expected the secure door, she had hoped to avoid people, but she realized they could make her job easier.
Her wrist-comm chimed. She tapped to answer.
“We’re at the docks and ready to go,” Birk said.
“Give me two minutes,” she said and disconnected. She swallowed, knowing time allowed for only a direct approach.
She knocked on the door. She looked through the window to see the three techs, all in green coveralls, turn her way. She motioned them to her. They eyed each other before one man rolled his chair back and ambled over to the door. He looked at her through the glass for a moment before cracking the door open.
“I’m sorry, but you have to have authorization to come in here.”
She yanked the door the rest of the way open, pulling the man off-balance. She punched him, and between his momentum and her hit, he collapsed backward and onto the floor. She jumped inside and tugged the door closed. One of the remaining techs was on his feet, while the other sat frozen in his chair. She unslung one of the two rifles she carried.
Throttle leveled her rifle at them. “Move away from the computers,” she ordered.
The one standing moved quickly off to the side, holding his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot!”
The second one pushed his chair back, but as he did, his hand went to his keyboard.
Throttle shot him but was too late. Lights flashed and an alarm blared as the tech fell to the floor, dead.
She turned to the remaining tech, who was staring wide-eyed at his co-worker.
“Hey,” she said.
His attention jerked back to her, and his hands rose higher. “Please don’t shoot me.”
“I won’t if you do exactly as I tell you.”
He nodded fervently.
“I want you to shut down the rotational engine,” she said.
His jaw slackened. “But that’ll cut the power for generating gravity—”
She lifted the rifle enough to draw his attention.
“Okay, okay.” He pointed. “I need to use my computer.”
She motioned for him to move. He sidestepped back to his workstation and watched her before taking a seat. She approached and stood over his shoulder, keeping the barrel overly close to him for motivation.
“It’ll take me a while to shut down the entire RTIS,” he said as he typed quickly. “The system has never been shut down, and there are several fail-safe authorizations I have to enter.” As he entered commands, he added, “A lot of things aren’t buckled down. People will get hurt in zero g.”
“People are getting hurt out there right now. Zero g will keep a lot of Jaders from getting shot.” She neglected to mention that the Jaders most at risk of being shot were the gutter rats.
He flashed around and quit typing. “What’s happening out there?”
“A coup. Jakob West is trying to retake all of Jade-8.”
He stared at her. “My wife and my kids…”
“Are hopefully safe at home.” She nodded at the screen. “You see why we have to shut down the gravity? It keeps West’s forces from being able to easily shoot anyone in their path. It’s safer for people in zero g.”
While her words weren’t exactly the truth, he seemed to accept the logic and returned to typing. She was impressed at how quickly he progressed through screens, though it looked like screen after screen was simply him entering his credentials and password.
“Almost there,” he said.
A click sounded through the alarm and Throttle swung her rifle around to see guards opening the door. She fired several shots through the doorway, taking down the first guard.
“Hurry,” Throttle cautioned.
The door closed on the fallen guard’s leg. Rifle barrels appeared through the opening.
“Got it.” The tech dramatically tapped a key with his index finger.
A cacophony of shots fired into the room.
“Don’t shoot the RTIS!” the tech screamed.
The gunfire didn’t stop.
Throttle tackled the tech. She dragged him with her as she slid around the edge of Jade-8’s rotational engine. Through the gunfire and alarms, she could feel more so than hear the constant hum from the system fade into nothing. She fired a couple of return shots before looking at the tech. She looked at him to find him in a fetal position. She pressed her hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Hurts,” he gritted out without moving.
She examined him closer to find a scorch mark on his back near his kidneys. The exit wound. On his front, she knew she’d find a larger burn where the shot had entered his body. She winced. He was dying—there was nothing she could do to save him. She placed her hand on his shoulder briefly before she reengaged the guards.
The tech held out a hand. “Help me up.”
She frowned but assisted him to his feet, though he stood hunched over and leaning fully on the rotational engine.
He slowly slid against the metal to move forward.
“Don’t shoot,” he managed to yell and pushed off from the safety of the corner. “Don’t shoot the RTIS, or else it can’t be rebooted,” the tech spoke with slow, clipped words. “Without it, we won’t get the gravity back onl—”
The guards fired again, and the tech fell back, his eyes wide in surprise even in death.
She fired off a few shots every couple of seconds to keep the guards from entering. It was working, but she knew they’d come in eventually.
There was a second door on the other side of the room. She could reach it, but to do so would place her in the guards’ direct line of fire.
She felt the sensation of being lighter, and she saw the tech lift off the ground as she felt herself begin to float. The guards in the tunnel started yelling. She heard more yelling at the second door. Reinforcements had arrived, but they were too late.
They might have her cornered, but at least she’d given her and Mutt’s people a fighting chance.
Chapter Eighteen
Birk, Nolin, and Finn ran down the walkway until it ended. Before them stood glass double doors leading into Jade City. To their right and to their left were more narrow hallways, each with closed glass doors. A sign on the door to their right read LEVEL THREE SECURITY, AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Birk wrinkled his nose. “Let’s not go that way.”
“We can’t go through Jade City, or West’s security forces will get us,” Nolin said. “We should find a tunnel entrance.”
“Jade City is the fastest way. The tunnels would loop us out and around the city,” Finn said without looking up from his map.
“Well, we’d better hurry up and decide,” Birk said, moving from one foot to another, as he was still amped up on adrenaline—and a stim, but the others didn’t need to know that.
“I say we go through Jade City so we can get to the docks before Throttle cuts the gravity,” Finn said.
“And I say we take the tunnels so we can actually make it to the docks without getting killed,” Nolin said.
Birk took a deep breath. “I’m out of shape. You guys out of shape? If we take the tunnels, I’m going to be wiped out by the time we reach the docks
. Let’s take Jade City. If we go down to the lowest level, through the cafeteria, maybe we can evade West’s troops.”
“Too late,” Finn said, swinging his rifle around to the right.
Finn fired first at the pair of guards running in their direction from the other side of the door. Finn’s shots burned through the glass rather than shattering it. The shots went straight down the middle of the hallway, missing both guards. The pair fired back, their shots high and wide. Finn had already taken a better stance and was firing off more shots. Both guards went down.
Birk hustled to the double doors, which opened as he approached. He saw the tram running on a track in the distance and a bay of elevators nearby. “This way.” He motioned and ran to the nearest elevator. Nolin and Finn caught up by the time Birk reached an elevator. He pressed the down button. The screen showed that it was still several floors up.
He frowned and then ran down the entire bay of elevators, hitting every down button along the way. There was a chime, and an elevator in the middle opened. Birk lunged to get on, only to find two teenagers, both carrying several bags, in the process of stepping off. They stared at him, wide-eyed. He lowered his rifle, smiled, and gestured. “After you, ladies.”
They seemed to pack together as they took speedy, small steps out of the elevator and off to the side. Nolin and Finn stepped into the lift, and Birk tipped his head at the girls after he stepped inside. “Have a nice day.”
One of the other men had already tapped the button for Level One, and they waited as the elevator descended the three floors. Gentle, uplifting music played in the background. Birk wouldn’t have minded if the ride took longer until he noticed the camera in the ceiling. “I’d lay bets that we’ll have company again soon,” he said.
The door opened, and he winked at the camera on his way out.
Finn glanced at his map one more time before taking the lead. “This way.” He took off at a run, a fair clip faster than Birk would’ve liked, and he could tell Nolin was struggling to keep up. There were stores and bars down here, but everything seemed dirtier and darker. Finn led them down the main thoroughfare, where people jumped out of their way and yelled profanities at them—until they noticed the rifles, then each Jader they came across did one of four things: they’d scream, gasp, freeze, or run. Only one of those things helped one’s survival.