Merker's Outpost

by I. Christie

  "Nothin' is rock solid, Mickey, and most of all with the kid. I just hope that he keeps to his side of the bargain. He's got something planned, alright. Everything he's doing is calling the attention of every crazy newscaster in the known galaxies. He wipes out that passenger liner and now he plans on doin' in this planet. The passenger liner had four families of Committee members. I heard they were on their way to the birthday party of another member…whose planet is right next to the jump gate where the kid was detained a few stan months back, due to something he was carryin'. I think the kid got pissed."

  "You got an overactive imagination, ground pounder. The only way those people could be related is through spit swapping and other bodily fluids. I'll believe the party thing, but Helgas Moon tides, those folks celebrate parties nonstop. They got the time and credits. Where did you hear that bit of trash? My credits are that you've been listening to the Trash. All they need is to find one bit of coincidence and then they start gluing unrelated bits of information to fit whatever story they've cooked up to sell," Mikey told the soldier in disgust.

  There was silence for a moment.

  "I heard the kid is building a fortress on MageWield." Another volunteered, as if to lessen the tension in the room that had again risen unbearably high for the nervous soldiers.

  "It won't happen." Another retorted sounding relieved, the subject was changed.

  Harriet echoed the thought. .

  "I heard they still haven't found Lt. Montran. The kid thinks she's hiding out in one of those other cities we haven't heard of before, that's why he's fixing to blow this place."

  "I also heard that if you talk about her and the kid hears about it, he has his deadhead metrasoldiers cut your tongue out and then other parts…slowly."

  "Mickey! Damn you say the strangest things sometimes. This whole place gives me the chills and since Montran showed up things have been getting worse!"

  "Don't they wish that she would show up!" one of the others hooted.

  "Did you hear that she has the Fate's blessing?" another asked.

  "Don't let anyone hear you say that!" Mickey's voice told him harshly. "There are still some who are ears for the kid, and he gets twitchy about stuff like that." Then a chuckle. "But, then again, it's Lord Chaney and the kid's obsession for getting rid of her that we're all in this damn mess."

  "Well, you have to admit, she does get out of places that she shouldn't have more times than any should."

  "As Spartans' we all lead charmed lives. The one's that don't are dead before their contract is up. Bar tales are not meant to be believed, grunt, just to inspire other drunken ground pounders to go out and do the foolish and stupid ass jobs they're assigned to."

  There was a long silence.

  "Lord Chaney liked to play with too many fires at one time," one voice returned in a low voice. "Too many people wanted him out of the way, including his daughter."

  "I heard the Spinner's Tale after picking us up, is going to pick up a new crew," another voice changed the subject quickly.

  "Who told you that?" sneered a voice. "Wipe out an entire crew? Jeez, Fly Bait, at the rate that crew is actin', they'll off themselves in some space accident. It's bad enough we have to grab a ride with them outta here...you don't have to add that bit of news to the horror!"

  "You needn't get so nasty!"

  "Alright, break it up. You two are worse than a married couple! Secure your positions and let's have some peace and quiet for a while," Mickey broke in.

  The shadow was once again in front of her vent.

  "Hey, Millen?" a voice called softly after moments of silence had passed.

  "Yeah?"

  "Ya think computer head is responsible for the disappearances around here?"

  There was a long silence as if the other soldier was reluctant to discuss it.

  "Ya don't think it's the Black Rose do ya, taking in recruits…or maybe the deadheads?"

  "Naw, it's not the computer. 'Cause it would have been doing that the moment we moved in here. It could also be the metradame, going nuts without her master."

  "She wouldn't kidnap anyone without orders. Unless…unless someone changed her programming. Do you think the Black Rose got to her?"

  "Maybe. But the last we saw of her she was after Lt. Montran. Since we haven't seen either of them…maybe they're still chasing each other. But, it would be nice to think that the Black Rose are doing it to piss off kid Fermin's toy soldiers. That or they're on Chaney's ship along with Sheila. His ship returned. Bloody moon but it's complicated. I jus' wanna collect my pay and get outta this racket."

  "Shut up you two!" A muffled voice growled from somewhere in the room.

  The shadow moved away from her hiding place and Harriet decided to risk using her small spy camera. The fisheye view quickly changed to a focused view of two guards that were leaning against a stack of boxes, one moved out of sight and the other moved with him. By the sighs, they were sitting down. Unlatching the door, she quickly slid out on the floor, and reattached the bot door. She moved behind a stack of crates looking all around her for any monitoring equipment. Finding none, she studied the boxes she was crouched behind.

  Food. Bitter baita. Her finger tapped the box wondering why it had a seal on it if it was only bitter baita, a thin bread soldiers found in their mess kits too often.

  This is an awful lot of bread for one shipment. If one goes bad the whole lot goes bad. Hmm. In fact, why do they have so much food intermixed with weapons?

  Looking around her again and listening for anything that might mean someone was moving, she turned to the seal on the box. She had learned how to get by a seal without anyone being the wiser. A handy trick when you're tracking down smugglers and you find their cache, empty it and then wait for their discovery that they have nothing to trade. Working for the Centurions was much more fun than the Spartans. Though she did not participate in skirmishes, she did get to participate in playing havoc with their minds and their goods before she moved up to working the strategy table. Boring change.

  As the lid slid back quietly, Harriet held her breath as infantry rifles and spare ammunition clips were revealed.

  "Trouble heading your way," Guardian's voice whispered.

  "Everyone up! Those deadheads are on their way here!"

  "Helios fire! At least this time they called ahead!"

  "More than likely wanted to make sure we were still here…not like the other bunch that disappeared," one of the others mentioned softly.

  "Blend on," Harriet whispered, just incase she needed to press against something to blend in. She quickly slid the lid back without checking the seal. She slid around one of the crates when she had to quickly retreat behind another. Her hiding place in the bot service passage was blocked.

  Helgas Moon!

  Activating her helmet, she opted for hiding in the box she just inspected. For some reason she could not wholly trust the suits vanishing capabilities. She saw it work, but...

  Damn, damn.

  Lying on rifles and ammunition clips was uncomfortable, she found. Slowly she slid the lid to her hiding place over, making sure the seal was over the lip, with her fingers darting through the tiny opening, pushing it into place, and then closing it.

  I sure hope this suit blends in with the weapons.

  It seemed like a long time but Harriet was sure only ten stan minutes had passed when she could hear muted talk outside of her box. There was less arguing between the Spartans and the new arrivals. Some of the boxes were being moved.

  Where would they be taking the boxes? Are they moving into one of the cities?

  The box she was in lifted, and by the smooth movement, she guessed a moBot was being used.

  Well, I guess I'll be finding out first hand.

  The box dropped suddenly, though in a controlled drop, some distance down.

  Oh, joy! I hope I'm not being taken to their ship!

  There were no voices around to give her a hint at where she was being moved to. Th
e forward movement was slow at first, and then it picked up, as if she was on a cart. It seemed like a long time had passed before motion stopped and then the direction was changed and for a few short minutes, she bumped along. She came to rest on something solid, and then something was dropped on top of the box she was in.

  Oh, blasters!

  "Guardian," she whispered, "where am I?"

  "In the transportation bay up the line. They had disengaged my barrier; however, I have reestablished it. Whatever they used has compromised your suits functioning. It has shut down some functions to keep your life support going. It will take a while for it to rebalance, as I can see already some of the other features are coming back, such as your bio readings on the visor. That does mean your disappearing function is out of the question for now. I'm working on a way to prevent a reoccurrence of this."

  "Bloody moon! I knew I was a test subject," Harriet muttered.

  "Even a well tested weapon, once placed in the hands of a professional, will still demonstrate room for improvement. Nothing is failsafe."

  "Right, right. I'm just grumpy at my making such a stupid mistake, Guardian. Have they posted a guard?"

  "They have little boxes spaced to set off alarms should anyone approach their belongings."

  "Who are they expecting? Phantom soldiers?"

  "From the conversations I've been overhearing…they are apprehensive due to the disappearance of soldiers, including some of their own, compliments of Captain Zohra and Carol. These metrasoldiers are interesting to study," he told her aside. "With a team of my own scientists we could set up some interesting situations, but alas, I have the facilities but not the scientists, and to tell the other scientists of this…would give away too many secrets."

  "Yeah," she chuckled, "and get pissed because you didn't invite them for direct observation. Tch, tch." In the small space, she felt for her sidearm. "Right now, I'd like a bot to help me get out of here, but there may be traps around the box too."

  "Tiny filaments," Guardian confirmed. "Captain Zohra and Carol are still engaged with their business. Maud is attending to a disturbance among the rescued prisoners."

  "Helgas Moon." She was really disgusted with how her independent venture went, and she knew better. Work in teams. However, her team member, if she remembered right, was being used by someone who probably could run circles around them all…but then again, even the best worked in teams.

  Well, I wanted to find out where this equipment was destined for. Harriet closed her eyes and decided to do as soldiers in combat situations usually do, grab sleep when the opportunity presented itself. Beating her head against the wall over this was not going to accomplish anything but give her another headache…and right now, she could do nothing but wait. Her fingers wrapped comfortably around her sidearm ready to lift it should she need it.

  ***

  **

  The sound of something scratching on the top of the box alerted Harriet someone was outside of the box, trying to open it. She heard the hum of a grav lifter. Whatever was on top of her box was lifted…and then after a few moments, the lid was slowly opened. She did not hear Guardian's voice and that worried her, as she lifted the tip of her stunner. A light blinded her. Before she could aim her weapon, she was paralyzed with a stunner.

  The lid was slid further back. There was only darkness above her but she could see a helmeted youthful face peer over her.

  "Gawds and the edwinds! It's her!" a young voice squeaked, muted from behind his helmet. "Gawds! Wait until they see what I found," the voice continued to gloat. Harriet could not see anything more, as her vision blurred from the force of the stun. Her fingers were frozen in their grip around her side arm, and her arms slumped against the walls of her prison, nerveless. Mentally, she cursed her choice of hiding places. The lid was slammed back down and she could hear clumsy booted footsteps running away from her.

  Her body was not taking the effects of the stunner well. She could feel needles of pain stab through her limbs, as if they were losing circulation. Time seemed to pass agonizingly slow as she sweat out the effects cursing whoever set the stunner to a painful setting.

  The lid once more was moved on the box, and pushed to the side. Through her visor, she could make out the outline of a helmet like hers. Arms reached in and pulled her out, dropping her on a shoulder. She felt like a bag of potatoes, but she was grateful she was being rescued…or she was hoping that was what was happening.

  She grunted out air as she was jostled and bounced on a running shoulder. She saw noting but a back, her arms flopping about, annoying to her and most probably to the person carrying her. Finally, her journey ended. She slid off the shoulder that she now identified as bony, and was gently leaned against a wall. Harriet lay in an uncomfortable position for some time before she felt hands on her shoulders righting her. Her arms and legs began to tingle again as if feeling was coming back.

  "You get into as much trouble as you dish out mischief," Maud's voice softly informed her, as she administered a shot of something into her neck. "Does the refrain 'You reap what you sow' ring a bell? What you need is a bodyguard to make sure you don't put something important in the proverbial lion's mouth…" She pushed some sore spots on her head, neck, face and shoulders.

  "Helgas Moon tide!" Harriet shook out her hands. "Who was that kid?"

  "Is that who shot you? He's like a street urchin. He's here and everywhere. He picked up that stunner from the captain of the Black Rose who felt sorry for him being amongst adults with nothing to protect him from them. In return, he provided the captain with useful information. It's painful, no?"

  "Yeah," Harriet rasped, hurting. "It must be potent if Guardian's suits don't block it."

  "Believe it or not, you were protected. It normally has the recipient screaming when feeling in the limbs returns. It's to teach any adult that messes with him not to do it again. He drives the Guardian crazy too, but Guardian has other means to keep him out of places he does not want him to be in.

  "Great. What happens if some pissed off adult steals his gun and shoots him with it?"

  "Hmm. That type of energy charge doesn't affect his species. Guardian was hoping he had left with the main group of smugglers. There must be something here that interests him. Hopefully, it's not the idea that he can be here all by himself."

  "Where is Guardian?" Harriet asked as Maud helped her to her feet.

  "He's offline for this area."

  "Offline?"

  "I'll let him explain that to you. Right now…how are you feeling?"

  "Better." She moved her arms, fingers and legs, shaking them out. "I got to get back to the supply room. There's some equipment I would like to render useless."

  Maud nodded her head. "When Guardian comes active, he will have his bots move those supplies in the tunnel."

  "I think he should first make sure there isn't a movement detonator in some of those boxes. It's too coincidental that they moved the weapons away from the living spaces, even if that storage room is supposed to be independent of all the others. I mean, do they know that? Or, maybe they are like me, wondering why the Black Rose stored all the weapons in one place. Bloody moon. It's like they're getting ready for a siege, yet, they don't have enough soldiers and they haven't even secured the small space they do have access too! I gotta get back to that room and see what they left behind, hopefully amongst them are the moBots."

  Maud gave her a funny look of 'haven't you had enough trouble for one day.'

  Harriet held her hand up, "I promise to not put anything in the lion's mouth this time."

  The two trotted through the tunnel, stopping short from the bot entrance to the morgue storage room.

  "Can you wait here and keep watch? By now that group in there will be sleeping…" I hope.

  Maud nodded, "But every seven stan minutes, give me a check that you're alright."

  "Alright. And thanks, Maud."

  She shrugged her shoulders. "It's what you do; it's what Guardian expects
of you; it's what you expect of yourself. Hopefully you continue to have this run of good luck."

  As Harriet began her crawl through the small tunnel, she was hoping the same. At the bot door, she sent her small peeping eye camera out the vent. No one within view. She could hear more than one person making the usual noises when asleep, from snoring to the small yup uprr rup, sounds the Elkida made.

  So, are they waiting for me or are they really sleeping?

  She passed her hand over the beam to open the panel. Silently it slid back. In the small space, she maneuvered herself onto her back so she would be looking up, pulled herself out of the bot space, and snaked over to a nearby crate. A sleeping soldier was on top of a crate snoring in gusts and whistles making more noise than she would be able to sleep through. She silently moved toward him quickly affixing a sleeping patch on his palm where there was no fur.