Kendrick looked up to see a tall, distinguished looking man of African extraction. He wore Alliance fatigues and carried himself like an action hero stepping off of the screen. Kendrick could see stars on his collar — a general.
“Kill him? We won’t kill him,” a slightly different Russian voice declared. “But, we will have our fun.” The sound of a gun being cocked followed.
The general drew his pistol like an old gunfighter and squeezed off a single shot, which was followed by a heavy thud to Kendrick’s right. The pinned captain saw the dead eyes of either Borislav or Yaroslav staring at him, a large hole just below the left eye.
“You’re next,” the general said, “unless you take your pay and get the hell out of here.”
“Very well, General,” replied the remaining Zduhać, tersely. “We will not forget this affront; your contract with us allowed for my comrade’s actions. The money better be in the account or there will be trouble.”
“Get your lover-boy and take a hike, mercenary,” the general barked, derisively. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you too.”
Kendrick saw the dead Zduhać lifted out of his field of vision, then heard the soldier order some of his men over. Keyes and Lena got to him immediately and he could hear one of them saying, “Hang in there, Captain!” He thought it was Keyes, but he was fading fast.
“Get Royce to the hospital,” the general shouted. More orders followed, but Kendrick lost consciousness before he could make them out.
On Mars, Fiona was fast and much stronger than on Earth or aboard the Selene under one-g spin gravity, and she outran the Mars-adjusted gynoid, with ease. The doctor laughed; it was a nice change of pace to be the one with physical superiority. She made it to the port just in time to see Kendrick being loaded into a medical transport and taken away. Fiona had her datapad and had just received Kendrick’s warning. She contacted the ship, hoping that Lena would answer.
Lena responded with text. “I am with Keyes and the Captain, and cannot speak aloud. Get Mun to the ship. The soldiers are unaware of my connection to the Selene; I will hack their communications to draw them away.”
“Got it,” Fiona gasped. “Find the others and get Kendrick.”
“Yes; he suffered a blow to the head, and is not conscious. Additionally; be aware that the Zduhać bounty hunters that were pursuing you on the O.S.P. are somehow connected to this. One, Yaroslav, is dead, but the other one, Borislav, is at large. The bounties on you are still outstanding. It is extremely likely that you have been seen and identified at the hospital. This port is a magnet for bounty hunters. Be careful.”
“Thanks for the heads up!”
“Of course, Doctor. Please be careful.”
“I will, Lena, I will.”
Fiona turned back to meet the others, amazed that she had remembered the network of side streets and back alleys she had taken to get to the spaceport. She ducked down another alley and what she saw stopped her cold. There was Velos, the man who had attempted to capture her on Atlas, standing over the Escort-7 gynoid that had started after her; Mairead. The gynoid lay helpless on the ground, jolted by spasms as Lena had been after being shot. The gun Velos held on her, however, was the powerful Taser that he had used on Fiona in the church. The doctor stepped back around the corner and listened, as Velos was questioning the gynoid. If it was about the crew of the Selene, she wanted to know so that she could warn her friends.
“You need only tell me where the others of your kind are,” the bounty hunter gloated. “I will make your end painless if you do. I have ways of forcing you to tell me; very painful ways.” The gynoid’s eyes widened in terror. “Ah yes, I know you feel pain. You were designed to. Now, give me the information I require and we can dispense with any unpleasantness before your death.”
Fiona spotted a nearby dumpster, a piece of rebar sticking out. The doctor could hardly believe her luck. She could not stand idly by while Mairead was tortured. Velos fired the gun again, causing the android to cry out. No more time, she thought, as she pulled the rebar from the dumpster. It was heavier than she thought it would be, for being so slender, but hefting it like a baseball bat, she could do some damage.
She charged Velos, who seemed oblivious to her. Fiona screamed loudly as she lifted the rebar and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of Velos’ head. The Chiropteran monster was staggered and only now did she realize how much larger he was than Captain Royce. Mairead had recovered enough to sit up and Fiona shouted, “Run!”
“The bounty on you is quite substantial,” Velos said as he turned around, black ichor running down his forehead from the head blow.
Fiona swung again; the rebar roughly halfway to Velos’ head when her body went rigid, an electrical charge coursing through her, as Velos shot her with the Taser. Her body stiffened and the rebar fell to the ground. She collapsed, her head striking the pavement hard. Dazed, she could not resist when a hand rolled her over onto her back. Fiona was terrified to see Velos looking down at her.
“Very foolish of you, Doctor Keane.”
She opened her mouth to scream, only to be silenced as Velos deftly stuffed a rag into her mouth, covering her now full mouth with duct tape. He then rolled her onto her stomach and taped her hands together behind her back. The bounty hunter seemed satisfied that they would remain unseen, as he had her in an alleyway off of a side street in a warehouse district. There was no one to help her. Her hands secured, he rolled her back over so that she could see him. A small light came on to the right of his face under the hood, and Fiona realized it was a camera.
“Yes, you see it, don’t you? Proof of death: that’s all I need for you, as nobody wants you alive any longer.” Her eyes widened in terror as he spoke. “Yes, Doctor Keane, the Alliance has your captain and more than enough leverage to obtain what they want from him. You are no longer deemed an asset. I can find the androids at my leisure, but you, you are a prize to be taken now.”
With that, he lifted her to sitting upright and took a handful of her hair, sharply pulling her head back, exposing her neck. Then, he savagely bit into her neck. She tried to cry out, but no sound penetrated the gag. She felt the blood being drained from her body. Fiona struggled against her bonds, kicking and squirming, but his hold on her was like iron. Eventually, her struggles became weaker and weaker, until she had no strength left. The doctor prayed for forgiveness for any unconfessed sins, prayed that the Lord would return Mairead safely to the others and cried for the loss of the marriage with Kendrick that she would never live to see. Fiona prayed one final prayer, that the Lord would keep watch over her love and would give him strength to endure her loss. She entrusted her spirit to the Lord, satisfied that at last, she could die with a clear conscience, taking comfort in the knowledge that her last act had been to aid the helpless victim of the monster that was now killing her. The Martian sky was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.
Ronan, Cyrus, Heather and Mun sat in the small warehouse, waiting for Mairead to return with Fiona. Another Escort-7 had brought their human guests coffee and tea, for which they were all grateful. The crew was beginning to plan their next move, when Mairead returned, staggering inside and closing the door before falling to the floor. It was clear that she had suffered physical trauma, as her skin was scorched and blistered in places.
“I could not continue pursuit, but I have news of the captain … and of Fiona.”
“Tell us, sister,” one of the gynoids said anxiously, kneeling to aid the distressed Mairead.
Mairead nodded. “Fiona lost me, so I took a direct route to the spaceport. The Captain has been taken away in a medical transport; he suffered a head blow and did not appear conscious. The ones you call Lena and Keyes are with the U.P.A. forces, riding in a rover behind the transport.”
Cyrus and Ronan exchanged glances and Ronan asked, “And what of Fiona?”
“A … a Chiropteran bounty hunter,” Mairead gasped, her body still weak from her ordeal. “He caught me
when I was halfway back. He used an electro static discharge gun to try to force me to give our people up to him. Fiona saved me, but she was caught. He … killed her.”
“No,” Heather cried out. “No, she can’t be dead!”
“He drained her of blood and dragged her away by her hair,” Mairead explained. “I wanted to help her, but … but I was still suffering from the effects of the gun.”
“Like Lena,” Ronan reminded Heather, who became visibly angry when Mairead revealed that she had essentially watched Velos drain Fiona dry, a process that could not have been quick or at all painless.
“We need to hurry,” Cyrus declared. “Once we have Mun safely aboard, we go get the captain.”
“Get Kendrick and bug out, as he likes to say,” Ronan agreed. “The sooner the better!”
“After that,” Cyrus growled, “we find our doctor and kill that thing!”
“Can any of you help?” Heather looked expectantly at Mairead. “Fiona died saving you!”
“We risk much by operating openly,” Mairead said, recovering from Velos’ gun, “and we are designed to be … soft. We are tuned to Martian gravity, so as to be weaker than our masters; we are no match for one-g acclimated soldiers, let alone a Chiropteran, but we will do whatever we can. We ask only one thing; if we are compromised, please take us with you. We will not survive if we are captured.”
“Deal,” Ronan said before anyone else could reply. “Now, let’s get moving; we have a job to do and not a lot of time in which to do it.”
Kendrick woke up in the hospital, loaded with painkillers that only dulled the pain he felt in his back, but his head felt like it was on fire; a sharp pain emanated from where he had been stomped and he suspected that he had suffered a skull fracture. His right eye hurt from being hammered into the ground when he had been stomped. He looked around and saw Doctor Yori at his bedside, along with six U.P.A. soldiers standing guard. She looked … strained. He saw his clothes not far from the bed, but his pistol was nowhere to be seen. The captain sat up slowly, but Yori placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t strain yourself, Captain,” she warned. “You had a nasty run in with two Zduhać. You have cracked ribs in your back and suffered a skull fracture and concussion. Your right orbital was damaged as well. I was able to repair it, but there will be scarring. I used the same drug that I used to awaken Kang; you would have been in a coma like him otherwise.”
It took him a moment to process that Kang was Mun’s given name. “Yeah; sucks when they get the drop on me instead of the other way around,” he groaned. “Where’s everyone else? Where’s Mun?”
“We don’t know,” Yori confessed. “They never made it back to the ship from what I understand. Keyes and Lena are here with General Martins, however. He wanted to be notified as soon as you were awake and coherent.”
“Already messaged him,” one of the soldiers interjected. “They’re on the way.”
“Where’s my security team?” Kendrick asked of the soldier, but the man shook his head.
“Not authorized to answer questions.”
“Figures,” Kendrick sighed.
Thankfully, the general did not keep Kendrick waiting long. Martins entered the room and dismissed Doctor Yori, in spite of her protestations, along with four of the soldiers, leaving two in the small room. Lena and Keyes came in right behind the general, who shuttered the blinds before taking a seat between the two soldiers on one side of the bed, with Keyes and Lena on the other side. Lena quickly hugged him and kissed his cheek.
“Captain Royce,” the general began, a friendly smile on his face.
Kendrick knew the look and instantly distrusted him. “General,” he replied curtly.
“Bet you’re wondering how we all ended up in this room together,” the general continued jovially.
“Among other things,” Royce replied. “Where’s my security detail?”
“They’ve been dismissed,” the general said cheerfully. “You’ve been upgraded, my friend.”
“Yeah, right.” Kendrick’s voice, though still weak, dripped with sarcasm. “So, since I hired them and you …” Kendrick paused and made a quotation gesture, “…upgraded them; I suppose your only goal is to safeguard my ship until I’m ready for takeoff, and then you’ll just wave bye-bye?”
“Captain Royce, you’re a smart man. You know things are never that simple.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that,” Kendrick said with resignation. “So lay it on me; whatcha want?”
The general laughed jovially. “I’ve heard that you get right down to business. Keyes said as much. She speaks very highly of you, in fact, and that’s the whole reason we’re having this little chat.”
“Does she now?” He glared at Keyes, but she merely smiled sheepishly.
“Oh, yes,” the general continued. “And let me tell you, son, the Alliance needs you. Now, more than ever. And with the United States gunning for you, we’re a good friend to have.”
“Yeah, you can cut the soft-sell,” Kendrick retorted. “What do you want?”
“In short, you,” the general replied.
“Me? You’re joking.”
“Not at all,” Martins assured. “The U.P.A. needs you. You’re the best, Captain, and for this mission, we need the best.”
“The best what?” Kendrick was now more puzzled than annoyed.
“The best pilot; ever. We need a man like you to fly a very important mission, one that will fundamentally change the Sol System. And we need your ship.”
“General, my ship is fast, but really? You can build a faster ship fairly easily; there’s nothing magical about the Selene.” Kendrick actually felt that there was, but he was not going to say that to a U.P.A. general. “An’ you gotta have a pilot in your stable who can do this without going outside of the U.P.A. military. I mean, with Ai assistance, there’s hardly any need for a pilot these days.”
“We will not trust the security and future of the Alliance to any damned machine,” the general declared, his joviality evaporating at the mention of Ai pilots. “Humans pilot the ship, the AI serves the ship and her crew, not the other way around. We clear on that?”
“Don’t ask me,” Kendrick snorted. “I ain’t the one in charge of your little science project.”
“True enough,” the general conceded, his friendly manner returning. “But you need to understand the importance of this, as you have been selected as the pilot.”
“I don’t recall turnin’ in an application,” Kendrick half-joked. “Or am I being volunteered?”
“Oh, you have a choice,” the general said. “You can accept my offer …” then the friendly façade dropped. “or your little friend here gets pulled apart, piece by piece, your precious silver liner will be gutted, cut apart and sold as scrap, and you and your crew will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Your doctor will never see the light of day for what she’s done and that’s assuming some bounty hunter here doesn’t pick her up first.”
“That’s all? Gee, why didn’t you just say so?” Kendrick asked sarcastically, suddenly worried by the general’s mention of bounty hunters. “But seriously, what do you need me for? I ain’t loyal to you; you’ve gotta know that, and I’m serving under extreme duress. As I said; you gotta have a pilot in your stable who can do this without going outside of the U.P.A. military.”
“We have pilots aplenty,” the general conceded. “But none of them fully passed the Austin Test.”
“Austin test? Sounds familiar; didn’t I take that back at the academy?”
“The Austin Test,” the general explained, “is a measure of cybernetic compatibility. All A.A.E.A. pilots take it, but they’re not the only ones. There are various degrees of success, but you’re the only person in history who’s ever passed it fully.” The general leaned closer to emphasize his point. “One hundred percent, Captain; the next highest is seventy-two. The Austin Test rates not only compatibility with the implants, but your ability to retain your o
wn self under full cybernetic immersion, something you actually do on a daily basis. Most everyone else either ejects from the environment, suffers mental scarring, or goes insane. So yes, we need you. So do others, who seek the same goals.”
That explains a lot, he thought. Probably what Lorgen was supposed to offer me last year, but he fucked it up. That means the U.S. ain’t gunnin’ for me; they’re tryin’ to hire me. He turned to Lena. “What do you think?”
Lena sat, staring blankly ahead, her mouth hanging open.
Kendrick shook her knee, but her state did not change. Then he looked in the direction she was staring and realized that the soldier on Martins’ right had some barely visible optical device on his name badge, a barely perceptible light pulsing. Lena was caught in its beam, unable to respond. He hoped that the optical attack was not capable of more than immobilizing her while she stared at it. He dared not let on that he had figured it out, or try to undo it. The two soldiers were brandishing assault rifles and he had no desire to see Lena cut down by some trigger happy grunt. Gotta play it cool. He then turned to Keyes.
“I guess your whole raison d'etre was to get me here?” He shook his head. “So, I saved your life, Amanda. For what? You doin’ this cause it’s a good deal? Or am I just one more casualty for the cause?”
“Ooh, French!” Keyes reached over and squeezed his right thigh. “I love it when a hot guy speaks French.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek, whispering, “Trust me.”
“Keyes here could be your commanding officer,” the general said, as though to sweeten the deal. “You not being military, fraternization wouldn’t be a problem … for you or for Doctor Keane.”
“Or both at once,” Keyes purred, still rubbing Kendrick’s thigh. “Pleasant as that sounds, and believe me, it sounds very pleasant, I’m not sure I can advise the good captain to accept your offer.”
“What the hell you talkin’ about Keyes?” The general’s friendly façade dropped again.
No Safe Harbor: The Silver Liner Page 10