by Susan Kelley
Fighting back tears of fear for Mak and anger at him for sacrificing himself, she closed up the pack and stuffed it back under the sod. It would only get in her way if she had to move quickly.
The hours laying on top of the hard, lumpy dirt had made her stiff and awkward. Not that she was a study in grace at any time. But she ran toward the hangar, chasing her shadow stretching out long in front of her. Hopefully, Mak’s earlier attacks had disabled the outward looking sensors. She reached the side of the building and leaned on it to catch her breath. She walked as fast as she could along the side of the building. It took all her courage and her love for Mak to take the last step so she could spy around the corner.
They’d cleaned a good bit of the debris from the destroyed ships and piled it at the back of the hangar. Humming and buzzing sounds drew Molly’s gaze upward. Men used hover crafts to work at repairing the damaged ceiling. Mak had reined a lot of destruction on them. The building appeared structurally sound but the more she watched the men the more she thought they worked as if pressed for time. Did they fix the sensors or perhaps something to do with the cloaking system? More men continued the job of cleaning up the wreckage. Making room for replacement vessels?
Molly moved back around the corner. She’d never get past all those men working across that open space. But if she went around the entire hangar and entered from the far corner she might sneak by the very busy men. If they hadn’t repaired their sensors. She had no camouflaged clothing or experience being stealthy. But she was smart. Smarter than any of them.
****
Mak woke on a cot in a cell, covered by a sheet. Though naked beneath it a full set of military regular duty uniform sat on the floor inside the bars. Similar cells had housed the Recon Marines when they’d suffered their trial more than a year ago. Along the back wall beside his cot was an open shower with a curb worked into the flooring to funnel water down the drain.
He stood and rubbed at the sticky spots left on his body by the monitoring and measuring electrodes. The shower worked with an easy swipe panel. He made the water as hot as he could stand it and scrubbed at the adhesive residue. Five minutes after rising from his cot he’d dressed in the provided clothing. The boots sitting with the clothing were his own.
A quick tour gave him the dimensions of the cell and its security features. The right tools could force the lock but he had none. Two cameras watched him from outside the bars.
Mak returned to his cot and lay back to rest while he could. When Shear had given him that last infusion, he hadn’t know if he would wake up from it. Or if he might wake up damaged. But he felt whole if a bit sluggish from the drugs still circulating through his body. How much time had passed since he’d been captured? The drugs had taken time from him. Hours? Days? He hoped Molly had found the stream and would stay out of sight until reinforcements arrived. Peace filled his thoughts. Molly was safe. The criminals running this operation couldn’t leave and would soon be in custody. His mission was complete.
Approaching footsteps woke Mak from a light sleep. He sat in bed, hoping someone brought food. Soon he distinguished four pairs of heavy boots stomping toward him. The big men stopped at the bars and stared at him. An eerie identicalness to the man he’d watched fight Vin in the vid back at the start of this mission struck him. Tall, at least seven feet, and thick with bulging muscles.
Mak searched for hints of all the earlier models of fighting men they’d come across on this mission in these final products. The giants had tall, thick foreheads, thin hair and a graceful way of carrying themselves. Beneath their thick brows lurked eyes filled with cold cruelty. Three had light, empty blue eyes and one had eyes so dark and feral Mak thought of the huge rats sometimes found around large cargo exchanges.
“Come with us.” One of the men tapped a code into the lock, and the cell door slid open.
Mak obeyed. Fighting them here, unarmed and hemmed in, would gain him nothing. And if Vin couldn’t beat one of these kind how could Mak beat four?
They led him around one turn and continued down a long hallway that stretched all the way to a distant set of stairs and a cargo lift. The way out. One way likely among a few more. Doors lined the hallway, more than any of the other labs they’d investigated. The humming of a generator, felt through his boots, came from behind a door on the right. One of the big men opened a door on their left.
Mak hid his reaction when he saw seven more of the giant men waiting in the expansive training room. He hoped General Drant sent a lot of help. Dr. Shear waited near a data station. She turned her cold smile on him. A walkway, fifteen feet off the ground, ran around the entire room. Guards, regular men, stood there. Each held short, powerful guns and maintained a fifteen-foot interval between each other. They also had gas masks hanging from their necks leading Mak to assume they’d outfitted this lab with a safety feature similar to that on Arid Four. So they didn’t trust their newest creations any more than they had those in the past.
“You appear well-rested and recovered,” Shear said. “Even with all the highly placed military officers helping our cause we’ve never been able to pierce the secrecy surrounding the Recon Marines. I have ten different analyses running on your blood samples right now. It will take a few days and I don’t have all the equipment I need here. There are things in your DNA that I’ve never seen. I could use Molly Drant to help me figure them out. Too bad she’s dead.”
“What?” Mak’s muscles lost their strength. He locked his knees to stay upright. Then something hot rose through his body. The fury didn’t cloud his thoughts but brought all his surroundings into perfect focus. He selected the guard he would target as he leaped up to the balcony and which men he would shoot first. They could kill him but he might take half of them down, including Dr. Shear.
Shear turned back to her screen. “Did you think we didn’t have a ship watching all approaches to our hideaway? That ship you stole for them to escape on has been blown to space dust by now. They’re all dead.”
“By now?” Mak hid his relief as he had his anger. “You don’t know that your sniper ship caught them.”
The cold smile again. “I know the two men you had flying that vessel. The corporal had a few hours of instruction from you and not a minute of fighter craft experience. Pender is a boy playing at being a soldier. He did one tour as a combat pilot, probably flying guard for some politician’s flotilla, and now has become nothing more than a ferry driver. I doubt they even made it through the minefield.”
But she didn’t know. Her ships would surely have sent a message if they’d killed Mak’s men. And Shear didn’t suspect that Molly roamed free on the planet. Keeping the doctor talking would buy time, even if only minutes. “Why am I here? I expected you would cut my body up like those we found on Julian. Was that your work?”
Shear spun her little work chair around so she faced him. “You’re much more fun to have as a study subject than any of these guys.” She made a sweeping gesture with her hand to include the big men surrounding Mak. “My soldiers are physically superior to you and more obedient than any Recon Marine ever has been. But they don’t have the ability to mimic intelligent conversation the way you do. One of the pieces of information we squeezed out of the dark military files was the intelligence quotients designed into your lot.”
“Your lot doesn’t have that designed into them?” Mak looked as the massive men, but none met his gaze. They watched Shear though Mak expected they would react quickly if he moved. He sensed their tension and their readiness to engage.
“You mistake their stoic demeanors for lack of intelligence. It took a few failures but we found the right switches to trip and make our men obedient but still have enough free will left to make combat decisions. They take orders but don’t need to have every action dictated to them.”
“Do you think those men on Arid Four were using their free will when they attacked the people responsible for their torture?”
All semblance of friendliness slipped from her e
xpression. “They weren’t being tortured. We’d nearly perfected our methods with them. Their handlers became careless.”
Mak gestured around the room this time, taking in the guards on the raised walkway. “You think you’re being careful? I saw the vid of your man that traveled with Admiral Lester. If your creations turned on you this minute nothing could save you.”
Shear curled her lip. “Ben Lester took Nemon without my approval. I had already inserted myself into Molly’s scientific team, coming back here now and then to supervise. He exposed our existence and forced General Drant to investigate before we could clean up. We’re nearly ready to go public with our product anyway so I had only to make sure the army didn’t rush in to cover us up. Not even the general will be able to stop us once the world knows what we’ve done here. The army will demand we continue this work.”
“You’ll all go to prison right beside Lester and all the others. Actually, you’re fortunate my brother Vin found some peace. He wouldn’t have come after you in a science vessel.”
“Despite your intelligence, you lack an understanding of human nature.” Shear stood up and stalked around Mak. The big men followed her with their dead stares. “Humans want power more than anything. With my men at their command, they’ll have all the power they need. And they’ll want more. With the experimentation completed, we’ll produce more specialized soldiers as demand insists. Unlike the Recon Marines whose creation started before the egg met the sperm, my improvements can be made on full grown men and take much less time to create.”
“You think men want to be like this?”
“These men volunteered.”
“I doubt they understood what they were in for. You took away everything that made them individuals.”
“Like you think you’re an individual? What would a psychologist make of something like you? A laboratory experiment that thinks it’s human.” She stopped in front of him and peered up at him like a specimen under study.
Mak grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her. He flung her into the two giants standing to his left. Within one heartbeat he followed her. The men caught and stumbled back a step at the impact. Mak leaped, putting one foot on Shear’s body and using it as a springboard. He vaulted over the railing of the upper walkway and tackled the guard he’d selected earlier. As he wrenched the weapon from the guard’s hand, Mak struck him in the throat with a disabling blow.
Three of the giant men hopped up and grasped the railing. They hauled themselves up with effortless grace but Mak already ran toward the next guard. Only a few seconds had passed, and the guard only now brought his weapon up. Too late. Mak kicked him over the railing into the herd of giants running along the floor beneath them. The other three that had gained the walkway pounded closer. Mak spun and fired, hitting each of them once before continuing his flight.
“Don’t kill him!” Shear screamed from the floor of the training room.
With only two steps separating him from the next guard, Mak spotted what he wanted. He lifted the heavy gun, prompting the man to duck. Instead of shooting him Mak sent a stream of bullets into the gas jet on their ceiling.
Shear shouted a warning about masks and made it simple for Mak to take out three more guards as mist hissed from the damaged jet. Another of the giant men jumped up to grasp the railing, but his hands slipped off.
Mak sprinted toward the next guard. This one had masked up but staggered a bit as if he’d protected himself too late. The honey sweet smell of the gas warned Mak it might be a powerful sedative and not the deadly poison used on Arid Four. The guard got off one wild shot before Mak knocked him down and ripped the mask off his face. He continued running and reached a spot directly across from where he’d attained the high ground.
The next guard shot at Mak, the round hitting him in the shoulder. Pain exploded but not enough to make his drop his gun. Rubber rounds meant to disable him. Damn, that meant he hadn’t killed anyone either. Mak’s shot took the guard in the head where it really might kill him.
On the training floor below all the giant men were down, some prone and some on their hands and knees. Shear had her mask fixed firmly to her face and glared up at him. Mak leaped over the railing and landed beside her. For a split second he considered taking her along as a shield but instead tore off her mask.
He ran out through the door where they’d brought him in. Counting on the military sameness of the complex, Mak turned in the opposite direction from his cell. The hall ended in the set of stairs going up with the lift beside it. Freedom.
Chapter Sixteen
Molly paused at the top of the stairs, not quite believing she’d made her way across the expanse of the hangar without being spotted. She’d waited until dark and a pause in the cleanup work. They’d left no lights burning, perhaps to preserve the cloaking. Despite their hours of labor, twisted pieces of the ship still littered the floor of the hangar. The mess provided some cover though she didn’t see any guards lurking around. Their absence unnerved her more than if she’d had to dodge them.
The door built into the corner opened without a sound, exposing the dark maw of the unlit stairwell. This deep inside the hangar Molly didn’t even have the benefit of starlight to help her. Once she stepped inside the door would close and leave her in complete darkness. She hadn’t been afraid of the night since she’d been a little girl sitting on her father’s knee. After taking the first step she eased the door closed behind her.
She slid her foot forward until she felt the edge of the first step. With one hand along the wall she took another careful step. Her foot hovered over the black emptiness when the door at the bottom swung inward. Trapped! Her mind screamed for her to flee but her body froze. Then Mak stepped through the door.
Light streamed through the door behind him as he paused for just a moment. Long enough to show his surprise with just a raised eyebrow. Then darkness dropped like a drape over her again. Mak found her hand in the dark and he led her back up the steps. Somehow she didn’t trip. He opened the door and the meager illumination in the hangar seemed like sunlight. They ran for the corner.
Mak didn’t speak even after they were outside the hangar. Instead of continuing around the contours of the massive building, he headed out across the plains.
Molly struggled with to keep up the pace Mak set and soon the grass seemed to reach up and grab her toes. He noticed but rather than slow down, he put his arm around her waist and ran faster. Her feet skimmed the ground, only touching the grass at times. Soon Mak sounded winded, but he didn’t slow his pace.
At first Molly thought the expanding deeper darkness in front of her meant her brain was shutting down for lack of oxygen. But it slowly took a more defined form. The forest she’d seen on Mak’s AI screen. Mak dodged around clumps of brush and smaller trees, barely slowing. Only when they’d gained the cover of the taller trees did his pace slacken.
He released her waist but took her hand as they wound their way through the thick trunks. Without his guidance she would have bumped head first into one of the dark-as-the-night trees. After another ten minutes of walking Mak stopped.
Molly set her hands on her hips and took deep breaths while her heartbeat slowed to normal. Mak recovered long before her. Though she couldn’t see much, his posture seemed a little more perfect than usual, almost stiff.
“Why were you entering the lab?”
“To help you.”
“To help me?” It was the loudest she’d ever heard Mak speak. “You were to stay in hiding until reinforcements arrive.”
The sun neared the horizon after the short period of darkness so Molly could discern his stern expression as she moved closer to him. “You misled me. I thought we would both hide. Instead you ran out into the open to sacrifice yourself and keep them from discovering me.”
“If you understood my intentions why did you break cover?”
“You block-headed marine. Do you really think I would accept you giving your life for me?”
Golde
n light blazed in between the trunks. It touched Mak’s eyes, turning the dark blue to shards of violet ice. His words came out with an odd hesitation, making his marine’s drawl more pronounced. “My purpose on this mission is to protect your life with mine.”
“Those may be the orders the general gave you.” Molly wished she’d had more time to study psychology so she could use the right words for Mak to understand. “What would you have done if one of your men or me had been captured?”
“I would have come after you.”
“Exactly.” Molly decided she couldn’t win this argument. “Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you?”
“Dr. Shear took blood samples and did some other scans, but they sedated me for most of it.”
“Helen? But she left with the others.”
Mak walked deeper into the forest and spoke over his shoulder. “She slipped away before they took off and signaled her subordinates at the lab. I believe she’s in charge.”
Molly heard something beyond Mak, a murmuring like voices whispering a song. “What is that?” But she figured it out in another step. The stream that cut through the forest and ran out onto the plains. The sound of tinkling reminded her of her parched throat.
“You didn’t bring my pack with you.” Mak knelt by the stream and scooped up a handful of water. He sniffed it and then took a small sip. “There’s no way to tell if it’s contaminated with something harmful.”
“I’ll take my chances.” She knelt beside him and scooped up the water, finding it cold and fresh tasting.
Mak helped her to stand when she finished. Her legs trembled with fatigue, and her knees and ankles ached from running over the uneven ground. But he only led her over to a fallen log where she could sit.