“From where?” Groat had never heard of it before. But he wanted it. He would saddle his family with a hundred years of debt to wear it in battle against the Syn-En.
“We have our sources, but the metals in it are extremely rare.” Mopus handed him the gun. “The enemy controls the only known supplies.”
Of course they did. The Syn-En had access to the greatest technology. Groat yanked the weapon from the politico’s hand and unloaded it into the target’s chest.
The Human fell backward but didn’t bleed.
Was this demonstration supposed to help or demoralize the Scraptors? “How do we penetrate the armor?”
Tridit raised his weapon and fired into the target’s face, ending the test. “That’s how.”
Mopus’s green nose wrinkled and he shook his robes. “Once we acquire a few Syn-En specimens, we will find their weaknesses and that will be their fate.”
The Syn-En hadn’t left any of their fallen behind, nor had one been captured, dead or alive. Lately, the damn Humans just seemed to disappear when they died or were mortally wounded. Which wasn’t often enough. Groat tossed his useless weapon on the table. “You mentioned ships?”
“Yes, of course. Ships.” Mopus picked at a loose gold thread on his cuff. “Remember when you see them that the size of the guns doesn’t indicate their power.”
“I’ll try.” Groat forced the words from his tight throat. The politico’s patronizing was beginning to wear a sore spot in his armor.
Tridit tucked the gun in his holster.
Lifting his robes above his ankles, Mopus stepped over the corpse and headed for the door.
Two gray inspectors pushed them open before Groat reached the halfway point across the arena.
The taller of the two nodded. “Lord Argent, it has been a great honor to be visited by two ships from your illustrious family this day.”
“Two?” Mopus released his robe, covering his water-stained shoes.
Paper crinkled in the tall inspector’s hand. “I apologize if I have embarrassed you by mentioning it, given the ship’s condition.”
Groat’s mandibles twitched. So the outdated ship did belong to the Argent clan and the barb had found its mark. Perhaps Mopus’s family had fallen on hard times. Which meant the destruction of the convoy would have hurt them even more. A spring invaded Groat’s steps.
Mopus’s green eyes narrowed. “I trust that the ship’s condition will not become common knowledge.”
“Of course not, my lord.” The tall inspector cleared his throat. Stepping back, he offered the crumpled paper on his cupped hands. “This just arrived for you. Your pilot said you would be most displeased at any delay in delivery.”
Mopus snatched the paper and unfolded it.
Rising on his toes, Groat read over the politico’s shoulder.
Nell Stafford and Beijing York left the flagship in a salvaged Munician shuttle. Destination unknown.
Groat’s insides condensed into a hard ball.
Mopus bared his teeth. “Groat, let us test the weapons on your new ship upon that embarrassing shuttle outside.”
Chapter 17
Bei fumed in the foyer. Shang’hai, Keyes and his two crewmen hadn’t returned yet. But they weren’t the only ones who’d defied sense and orders. He shouldn’t have brushed Groat’s armor as the ET entered the arena, but the temptation… He checked the file containing the analysis of the Scraptor’s armor. It had been worth the risk.
Keyes and Shang’hai had better produce valuable intel.
Bei? Nell’s tired voice tugged at him through the WA. I’m glad you’re back. Did you recover your men’s remains?
I’m not back yet, love. Bei caressed her in her mind and felt her sigh down to his synthetic toes. He didn’t tell her of his decision to leave the remains behind. She might not understand.
If you’re not back, why have the engines started?
His cardiac rhythm spiked. The engines shouldn’t have started. Could the helpful Omest have betrayed them? He sequestered his thoughts. He mustn’t panic his wife. She controlled the fermites better when she was calm. Are the inspectors still with you?
Hmm, no. They left a while ago. I—
Admiral, Keyes muted Bei’s private connection. We have a problem.
We have a beyond FUBAR moment coming right at us. Still wearing her NDA camouflage, Shang’hai rounded the right corner.
Four Munician inspectors jogged around the left.
The tall one who had boarded the Syn-En’s shuttle led the pack. “We are to escort the passengers off and detain them. Treat them with respect. They may be Argents or not. We won’t know until we turn them over to Lord Argent.”
The hell they would. Bei would reach the ship first and take off before the inspectors got close. Whoever had started the engines had done him a favor.
Keyes reached Bei before the four gray inspectors. We intercepted an order from the arena. They plan to use our escape vehicle for target practice.
The Syn-En surrounded the four gray inspectors and used their faster reflexes to avoid being touched. They would exit the facility with the enemy then sprint for the shuttle to reach it first. Given the power of their prostheses Bei and his men should arrive in plenty of time to leave the enemy staring at a closed door.
“Lord Argent is especially interested in the female.” The tall inspector checked his weapon. “He says none of his relations would be so coarse as to conceive naturally.”
Razor sharp ridges ran down Bei’s arms. He would hack every appendage from their bodies if one of them laid a finger on his wife. Using his command codes, he reopened the link to Nell.
Bei? Bei, are you even listening to me? Nell’s heart raced and her adrenalin spiked.
I’m coming. I’ll be there before you know it.
The lone guard near the exit opened the door.
Arms pumping, Bei shot forward. He shunted extra power to his legs, increasing his speed. The surroundings smeared into a beige blur. Cold air slapped him in the face and burned his lungs, but he pushed on.
His men formed a tight line behind him.
The exhaust from the shuttle’s nacelles obliterated their trail. The carpeted stairway into the vessel hung open. Increasing the tension to his thighs, he sprang from the tarmac onto the top step. He shook off his camouflage when he entered the lounge.
Soft patters marked the landing of his men.
Omest had returned to his pale and black Picaroon form and wrung his hands in the opening to the corridor leading to the cockpit. “Thank the divine Creator you’ve returned. The engines have started, but we’ve been told to await for a departure inspection.”
Four Syn-En crewmen, still cloaked, took up defensive positions by the door. Their energy weapons hummed with a full charge.
Shang’hai ducked into the stairwell leading down to the fusion engines. “I’ll have control in a minute.”
Keyes’s eyes were black as pitch in her tan face. “I’m prepared to cut the enemy’s control upon your order, Admiral.”
Nell hugged her knees to her chest. “They’re not going to let us leave, are they?”
Bei crouched in front of his wife and set his hand over hers. “We don’t need their permission.”
His enhanced hearing picked up the thud of boots outside.
The engines are under my control, Admiral, Shang’hai signaled.
Lock us in. Bei picked up the hum of the gears then the shouts of the inspectors as they noticed the door shutting. He found the isolated Founders’ signal. “I need you to tell the Municians that there’s been a power overload and life support is offline.”
Licking her lips, Nell nodded. “Most gracious hosts, our antiquated systems are experiencing slight difficulties and my companion has been rendered unconscious. Please send assistance.”
Bei measured her altered voice patterns. He knew how much she hated to lie, no matter how just the cause. “Well done.”
She fisted his shirt and drew him
closer. “You’re going to get us out of here, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.” He kissed her forehead then pushed to his feet. “Strap yourself in. The ride might get a little bumpy.”
She rose with him, standing so close her breasts brushed his chest. “The cockpit is the only place with seat belts.”
She pivoted; her long blond hair brushed his cheek.
With his hand on the small of her back, Bei escorted Nell through the corridor, up the stairs, and into the circular cockpit.
She plopped onto her previous seat, catty-corner from his.
Bei glared at the helm. All those gumdrop lights, switches, and button, and not a single place to jack into the mainframe. He swiveled his chair until he faced the door.
Keyes dropped to her knees beside the open panel. The alterations she’d made to the ship’s systems so the Syn-En could jack into them remained untouched. “I’m attaching a wireless relay now.” She removed a black cube from her arm compartment and plugged it into the hardwired port. Her eyes shone like coals. “We’re up.”
Pounding echoed through their shuttle and the com chimed. “Help is right outside. I am attempting to compensate for your unfortunate difficulties. Perhaps you would be kind enough to use the manual lever and open the door?”
“I’ll do my best, but I might require assistance.” Merging part of his consciousness with the WA, Bei mimicked Nell’s modified voice.
Her eyes narrowed. “You better not do that without my knowledge. I don’t want twenty pizza delivery guys showing up at my door.”
Bei stored that nugget for translation later.
Shang’hai had her hands on the engine controls. Ready to depart.
Take us up. Bei drew a map of the planet and her defensive net from the shuttle’s sensors. Any course he plotted put them in harms way. Prepare for evasive maneuvers.
Shang’hai tripled the number of arms on her avatar and kept one on each of the controls. The systems are slow to respond. We need all the advantage we can.
Keyes took over the communications with the ETs. “I think I pressed the wrong lever. The shuttle seems to be rising. How will I receive assistance now?”
“Thank you for the update.” The voice in the com sharpened with frustration. “We are attempting to regain control of your helm.”
“You mean you’re not in control?” Keyes broke the last word. “But won’t the defenses target me? I don’t want to die.”
Silence buzzed through the com.
Bei gritted his teeth. His sensors detected no energy surge in the cannons. The shuttle cleared the ice canyon walls. Give me as much power to the engines as you can.
Aye, Admiral. Shang’hai threw two switches. The engines oscillated at a higher frequency. Tremors raced through the ship. She flipped her pink dreadlocks over her shoulder. Don’t worry, I know the shuttle’s limits.
Prepare to move on my mark. Bei trusted his Chief Engineer.
Omest staggered into the cockpit. Pink ringed his wide green eyes. “I can’t sit down there and wait until the end.” He flopped onto the pilot’s chair and clawed at the straps.
Admiral, I have movement on the mountain. Keyes changed the view of the digital map. Looks like they’re launching one of their new ships to take us down.
Vulnerabilities? Bei spun the three-dimensional projection of the ship leaving the docking bay. This wasn’t the bloated dreadnaughts the Scraptors favored. Two barrel nacelles bookended the curving lines of the ship.
Shang’hai overlaid the schematics she’d downloaded onto the oval, curved forward section and the weaponry-filled circular aft section. Red crosshairs covered the ship. Not that it helps. Our shuttle has no defenses.
Bei dug his fingers into the arms of his bucket chair. Their only option was to run. Again. The ship lifted beyond the net of cannons and headed for clear space. Punch it.
The thrust shoved him back into his chair. A ball of light exploded on the starboard side. The shuttle shuddered. Lights on the dash blinked on and off.
Shang’hai tripled her presence in the WA. Her copies flew around the room, rerouting power. We can’t take a direct hit, Admiral.
The enemy ship burst through the net of planetary defenses like a shark through white water. Spots glowed brightly on the infrared scans, each correlated to a weapon battery.
“Where is this alternative route you mention, Omest?” Bei headed for an asteroid belt on the opposite side of the jump gates and their defensive works.
The Picaroon pried one hand from the arm of his chair. “On the other side of the asteroid belt, there’s a gas dwarf. Turn right once we’re past it, then head for the ice cloud at the edge of the system. It’ll be dead ahead, but it’s slow to activate.”
Fitting, with the distance they had to travel, they might be dead before they arrived.
An asteroid vaporized on their port side. The debris pelted the hull, raising the temperature of the ship.
Nell gasped. Fermites formed a silver haze around her hands.
A missile grazed their shuttle, then exploded. Metal peeled away from the hull. Oxygen vented from the gash. The forward viewers crackled and went offline. The airtight door slammed shut, sealing them in the cockpit. His men in the lounge shut down to conserve their oxygen and protect their biologic core.
Keyes slumped in her chair.
Turning silver, Nell reached for the other woman’s wrist. “I can’t find a pulse.”
Bei checked his communication officer’s systems. If she suffered fatal errors, Rome would kill him. Bei’s armor tightened then released. A power surge had knocked her offline. “She’s rebooting. She’ll be okay.”
Just a nasty headache and foul temper. He transferred the shuttle’s sensor to his cerebral interface. At least, they still worked. He dodged left then right, plunged under then soared over asteroids.
The enemy fighter blasted a path.
Chunks of rock slammed against the hull. A chrome panel popped out of the ceiling, hitting Omest. Bleeding from the cut in his hair, the Picaroon slumped over the dark helm.
Power surged in the engine room knocking Shang’hai out of the WA.
The asteroid belt stretched ten astronomical units ahead. Then there would be nothing between the shuttle and the enemy’s missiles but empty space. They weren’t going to make it. Bei faced his wife.
“Don’t say it.” Her hair floated around her head. Glittering fermites ate at the lengths. “I’m not leaving you.”
Sensors picked up a missile locked onto their six. Asteroids blocked them in; there was nowhere to maneuver. “You promised to live for the babies.”
She swallowed hard. “I lied.”
But the fermites overrode her will. Her silhouette blurred.
He raised his hand. He just wanted to touch her one last time, a memory to carry on the chariot taking him from this world, from her. His fingers whittled away to sticks then disappeared. “What the—”
The enemy missile plowed into the shuttle as his systems shut down.
Chapter 18
Nell drifted in the haze between sleeping and waking. Memories of the mission on Sentinel rushed back—the ship powering up on its own, Bei’s return, their escape, and being target practice for the enemy. Fear thumped extra beats from her heart. Was she dead then? A soft mattress cushioned her side. A familiar weight rested on her hip.
She sniffed the air. Bei’s spicy scent filled her lungs. She swallowed a gasp of relief. The mission had been nothing but a dream. A nightmare. They were safe on the Nell Stafford. And the jerk face hadn’t woken her when he’d come to bed. She sniffed back her tears and scooted closer to her husband. She’d thank him properly for looking out for her.
The skin between her shoulder blades prickled.
Someone watched her. But who? And why hadn’t Bei woken up or spoken in her mind? Her hand crept out of the blanket and cupped his chest. Her mouth dried. He didn’t move. She pushed. The weight of his synthetic parts pinned him in place.
<
br /> “Do you wish me to wake your mate?”
Alarms buzzed in Nell’s head like riled bees. The familiar feminine voice had sounded behind her. She shook her head and her hand searched out the swell of her stomach. “Oh, God, I’m dead.”
“You are not.” Her mother spoke again.
Nell bit her lip to keep from screaming. Her mother died over a century and a quarter ago. Only Nell’s computer interface sounded like Mom, and that was audible only inside her skull, never her ears. “Is this Purgatory, then?”
To be so close to Bei and not have him react certainly fit her definition of the place between Heaven and Hell.
“You are alive.” Fabric rustled. “We rescued your ship and crew before the missile breached your hull. Although I do believe your enemy thinks you were vaporized.”
Nell squeezed her eyes closed. The voice certainly knew it all, like Mom. Maybe, just maybe, an audible Mom was a new evolution in technology and fermites. She wouldn’t know until she looked. Screwing her courage to the sticking point, she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes.
Mom in all her pink velour glory stood in the corner by the desk. Her French-tip nails caught the overhead light.
Nell’s breath caught in her throat. Mom had been dressed just so in Nell’s favorite photograph of them together. It had been their last Christmas before the Plague had come to Earth.
Before the world had gone to Hell.
Mom held her arms out. “I thought this image would make you more comfortable.”
Tears pricked Nell’s nose. The image was beyond cruel. “Show me what you really look like.”
Mom fuzzed at the edges. Then she started to twinkle. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared.
Nell wanted to call her back. Instead, she clamped her lips together. Thoughts connected like Legos in a set. She rejected the conclusion outright, but asked anyway. “What are you?”
“We are the Meek.” The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. “We control the fermites.”
Nell would have preferred a disembodied Cheshire grin or a burning bush. A hard knot replaced her stomach. “You saved me.”
Syn-En: Pillar World Page 16