by Larkin, Matt
The bridge had erupted into chaos. Leah barely fended off another soldier attacking her. Waller had his attacker held aloft by the throat. David had to end this with all possible haste.
He dove straight into the captain’s abdomen, tackling the Anakim to the ground. The impact stunned them both a moment, then Waller had his hands on David’s wrist. Slowly, David’s arms were pried apart. God, the man’s strength was uncanny. His shoulders ached from the strain as Waller hefted him up by both wrists.
David snapped his feet forward, kicking the captain in the chest. Waller lost his grip and David fell, landing on his shoulders. It stung, but he had to move. He rolled backward.
“You’ve betrayed your commission, McGregor,” Waller said, advancing.
David rose and flexed his arms, trying to get blood flowing properly to them again. “You’ve betrayed your principles, Captain.”
Waller cracked his neck, balled his fists, and continued his advance. He swung and David ducked, catching him with a right hook. It only momentarily drove the man back, and then the captain was swinging again. David blocked, the impact numbing his arm, even through his suit.
Angels above, he’d known Anakim were stronger than normal humans, but…
But David was faster. He blocked and dodged, edging away until Waller overreached, then socked him across the jaw. That sent him backpedalling.
Leah moaned, her sudden terror reaching him through the tumult of emotion around him. Shite. David glanced at her. The Sentinel she fought had her pressed against the wall, choking her. She flailed against his arms, but her blows were weakening. All of David’s other men were engaged.
No time. David pulled his electrolaser and shot the officer on Leah. The pair both convulsed and fell to the floor. David ran at the officer, who rose, turning on him. David swung and the man blocked, falling back.
Then Leah wrapped one of his arms in a lock behind his back and shoved his head into the wall. The officer fell stunned. She bent over him and pinned his hands with restraints.
“You all right?”
She nodded, but her breath came in rasps.
A pulse pistol hummed and Dave launched himself at Leah, throwing them both to the deck. Shots rang out where they’d been standing. He rolled over and fired his electrolaser.
The bolt hit Waller, who staggered back but didn’t drop the pistol.
Tough son of a bitch. David scrambled behind a console as more shots rang out above him. The electrolaser needed a second to recharge after firing. Wait one breath, two.
He rolled out and fired again. The bolt struck Waller, who dropped his pistol, doubled over in pain. David rushed him.
The man came up swinging. His fist caught David across the jaw, and everything blurred. He was falling. Hitting the floor took his breath away. He couldn’t see.
David shook himself.
Waller ran out the port exit. “Activate internal defenses, captain’s authority!”
Shite, if the captain got away they were royally buggered. He scrambled up and chased after him. As soon as he entered the hall, a hatch in the ceiling opened and a pulse turret extended from it.
David dove back onto the bridge, tackling one of his own men who had tried to fire. Shots rang out, the turret sending a stream of pulses after them. Someone hit the buzzer to close the door. David looked up. Leah.
“Thanks, lass.”
His heart hammered almost as hard as his head. A pulse turret would pound through even a Sentinel suit.
His men had subdued five of the bridge officers. David helped them pull down one more. Waller and another—Smith, he thought—were missing.
“How are we going to take them with the internal defenses on?” Leah asked.
Damn good question. The internal defenses only responded to the captain’s authority—and David would need more officers than he had to transfer command to himself. Waller had clearly ordered the defenses to target David, and probably Leah. And could he really take the chance of sending anyone else out there? He might have taken the bridge, but moving about the ship would be beyond dangerous.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
October 9th, 3096 EY
Seeing Knight come for me like that left me speechless. Even now, I struggle to put my feelings to words. In my life, few have ever truly believed in me. Even if Knight and David still didn’t believe as I did, I knew they were behind me. And at long last, it was enough.
The lift opened to deck five. This was where Phoebe said they were holding Rachel.
The Icie pressed a pulse pistol into his hand. “I’ve configured it for your bio-signature.” Okay, whatever that meant. “You do know how to use a gun, right ninja boy?”
He briefly considered shooting her with it. Not the time.
“Remember,” she said, “these are mostly good people. Don’t kill them unless you have no choice.”
“I’ll do my best.” He took off down the hall. It took only moments before a pair of guards jerked to attention, pulling pulse pistols of their own.
Knight opened fire just above their heads. The pistol had almost no recoil. A torrent of pulses streamed from it, scorching the walls. The Sentinels threw themselves to the deck, avoiding the blasts. Knight kept running at them, then leapt onto the wall, throwing himself over their attempt to return fire.
He kicked off and landed in their midst. One Sentinel he caught round the shoulders and spun him, flinging him into the other. He unleashed a string of attacks, keeping both at bay, driving them back into the wall.
They tried guarding their vulnerable faces, so Knight kicked one of them in the knee, sending him down. Phoebe raced in and jumped on the downed man, slamming him to the ground.
The man swung his pulse pistol round to fire at Knight. He jerked his head to the side, evading the shot, and pushed the Sentinel’s arm wide. A simple twist turned the man around and then Knight smashed his head into the wall twice.
The Sentinel collapsed onto the deck.
Phoebe slapped magnetic restraints onto the other’s hands.
“What, do you always carry those?” Knight asked.
“Yup, yup. Helps when we arrest criminals, POWs, and generalized assholes.” She shot him a wink, and he scowled.
He hit the buzzer to open the door. Nothing happened. He hit it again.
“Got to put in an access code,” she said, typing hers onto the keypad. The door whooshed open, revealing a circular room.
Rachel sat strapped to a chair in the center of the room. It revolved slowly, giving her a view of the surrounding screen. The screens flashed with a barrage of distorted images of war and destruction interspersed with signs of the Sentinels and order. Some kind of metal goggles held her eyes open, forcing her to watch the screens. Even her head was strapped in, so she couldn’t turn away.
What the fuck was this?
He ran to her. The magnetic restraints each had a simple switch to activate or deactivate. The moment he hit the one on her head, she slumped forward. He released all the other restraints.
“David said it was bad,” Phoebe said. “But I didn’t know they’d booked her a ticket to hell.”
“What was that about generalized assholes?” Knight snapped. He pulled Rachel into his arms, then slipped the goggles off her face. She collapsed against his shoulder, murmuring. “What have these bastards done to you, Rach?”
“You came for me?” Her voice was dry, rough like she’d been screaming.
“I… I had to get paid. That’s all. Just self-interest.”
She leaned in close to his ear. “Keep telling yourself that. But remember, I can feel your emotions.” She held onto him for a moment, her warmth filling him. She was all right. She had to be all right.
After a moment, she pushed away, and he helped her stand. She looked curiously at Phoebe.
The Icie strode over to her and gave her a cursory inspection. “You’ll be fine. I’m Lieutenant Phoebe Dana. Commander McGregor sent me.”
Rachel sighed. “M
ac… I knew he wouldn’t leave me.”
Yeah, real swell friend she had. Rachel stood shakily on her own feet. Knight turned and started for the door.
“Well?” Phoebe said. “Trust me now, Knight?”
He looked over his shoulder and shrugged. “I like this gun.” It was fast, accurate, and if the gauge on the side was what he thought, had more than two hundred rounds remaining. Damn fine weapon, though Knight still preferred getting up close and personal.
Phoebe smirked. “Yeah. The Rapture. Standard issue these days, but it’s a beauty. The rails fire magnetic plasma pulses almost as fast as a MAG fires slugs, but with a lot more power. These babies can tear through kinetic shields like nothing else.”
Knight raised an eyebrow. “You like your guns, huh?”
“So?” She stepped closer, like it was some kind of challenge. One day, he’d enjoy putting her back in her place.
Instead, he stepped into the hall. Time to get off this ship.
A turret extended from a new opening in the ceiling. It spun toward him, firing pulses. Time slowed. He jerked to the side, throwing himself onto Phoebe and pulling them both down. In the same motion he pulled his pulse pistol from his coat and opened fire.
The pistol rocked, launching pulse after pulse into the turret, which turned to home in on Knight. He flung himself away, dodging the pulses, and slid along the floor, continuing to fire. The turret began to glow with incandescence, then ruptured. A cascade of explosions rippled along the ceiling, blowing out panels for several meters.
Knight spared a breath to glance at a trail of scorch marks on the deck, centimeters from where he rested on the ground. He slumped down a moment to breathe.
Then Phoebe was there, offering him a hand up. “How do you move that fast?”
He honestly didn’t know. Years of Gibborim training had honed his reflexes, but none of the others had been able to react the way he could. They were all fast—civilians would have thought inhumanely fast. But Knight was something else. He just shook his head. “Lots of practice.”
“David’s attempt to take the bridge must have failed. Waller’s activated the internal defenses.”
Rachel stepped out then, holding her head. “You mean there’s going to be more of those things?”
Phoebe nodded. “Almost every intersection. Hang on.” She tapped something on her forearm. “Dana to McGregor.”
A second later an intercom buzzed. “Phoebe, are you all right?”
“We’re fine. I’m with Rachel and Ezekiel.”
Knight folded his arms. No one called him Ezekiel. Only Hadrian ever had. And Hadrian was gone… No. No one would ever call him Ezekiel again.
“I’ve got the bridge, but Waller’s activated the defenses. We don’t have much time before he storms the place. I don’t have enough people to hold it.”
“I can shoot down a few turrets,” Knight said, “but I can’t take on a whole ship’s worth. It limits our movement too much. Those count for more than any number of soldiers.”
The line went silent for a moment, then David spoke. “We can’t take control of the turrets. Those are the captain’s prevue. But if we cut the power conversion from the Singularity Drive, the whole ship would lose power, including internal defenses.”
“Fine,” Phoebe said. “We’ll meet you at the Core.” She cut the line and took off down the hall.
“What’s the Singularity Drive?” Knight said.
“You really are backwater, aren’t you?” He could hear that infuriating laughter in her voice. “It’s a miniature black hole all large starships use for power.”
A black hole.
Well, wasn’t that fantastic.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Beside the training and tenacity, most other military forces feared to face Sentinels because of their signature pulse technology. Pulse weaponry was developed by Quasar Industries in 3075 EY on an exclusive contract with the Sentinels, and such weaponry is illegal for anyone else to own or operate—a crime both QI and the Sentinels take very seriously. I’ve heard of Sentinels spacing pulse smugglers.
Leah rose from the smoking body of one of David’s men. She shook her head, indicating he was beyond saving. “David, you know I believe in you,” Leah said. “I want to say that up front, before I point out your plan is totally off rotation.”
He nodded. “Aye, lass.” But they had no choice. They might race past a few turrets, but Knight was right, they were on borrowed time as long as the internal defenses were up.
David, Leah, and the rest of his lads stood over the wreckage of another turret, the one that had killed Ensign York.
“Look, we have to get to the Core room. It’s the only chance, and we can take the access shaft down from here.”
“You don’t even know how to shut it down,” Leah complained.
No, but Phoebe would. “We can’t shut down a singularity,” he said, “just turn off the converter harnessing the radiation.” He took off running down the corridor. If he recalled correctly there shouldn’t be any more turrets before the access shaft.
A pair of Sentinels rounded the corner, pulse pistols trained. A bolt of electricity took one in the chest. The other fired, and Leah screamed. No time to check. David aimed at the Sentinel’s legs and fired. The man toppled, moaning, and David’s people were on him in an instant.
David dropped down to Leah. She lay on the ground, moaning. A plasma pulse had taken her in the shoulder. Her suit had absorbed the brunt of the hit, but her flesh would be badly scorched underneath. She hissed when he touched her.
“Up, lass. We don’t have the time.”
With a grunt, she nodded, then let him help her up. They ran toward the access shaft and Ensign Stewart threw it open. David had intended to be the first in, but the Ensign climbed right in, heading down the ladder.
“Can you climb?” he asked Leah.
“No choice, right?”
He helped her in, and she struggled down the ladder. Much too slowly. They were in the shite now, and even if Waller didn’t figure out where they were going, he’d catch on to them using the access shafts.
David waved his remaining two men on, and they started down the ladder. Another Sentinel patrol came running toward them. God forgive him. David shot first, catching one man in the shoulder.
The other soldier fired and David threw himself to the floor, firing again. One of his pulses took the poor bloke in the stomach. A surge of bile rose in David’s throat. He’d probably just killed one of his own soldiers.
He scrambled into the access shaft, climbing down after the others. They were going too slow. “Use grav-nets!” he shouted below.
“I don’t have one,” Leah said.
Of course not. The chief medical officer didn’t need her suit fitted for that kind of mission.
“Fine, the rest of you pass her and drop.” His men did as ordered, edging down past Leah and dropping down the shaft. The grav-nets would catch them below.
David climbed down to Leah. “Wrap your arms around me, lass.” When she did, he let go of the ladder and fell fast, streaming past three decks before he hit the grav-net. It slowed his fall and he landed in a crouch, Leah clutched in his arms.
He tapped the comm on his arm as he stood. “McGregor to Dana. Where are you, Phoebe?”
The intercom flickered. “On the way. Deck eight.”
“Hurry.” He cut the line. “They’re still too far out. We need to move. The Core room will be secured.”
His men nodded, and Leah stood on her own, hoisting her pulse pistol in her off hand, her good shoulder heavily favored. She was going to need treatment for that wound as soon as possible.
Time to get it over with.
David buzzed open the door and charged into the hall, opening fire on the turret. It swerved, tracking him. Leah and the other two fired, and the combined pulses disabled the weapon before it could discharge.
Soldiers rushed them. No time to switch to electrolasers. David shot, hati
ng himself for it. He tried to aim for legs and shoulders, but in the chaos of the firefight, at least one man died. And then Ensign Stewart took a pulse to the face. It flash-burned his skin off and flung his corpse back into the access shaft.
Leah shot the last soldier standing against them. David grimaced. It was never supposed to have gotten this bloody.
He ran to the Core room door, but it refused his access code. Waller had already changed the codes. Well, only one thing to do. David ripped off the maintenance panel and fired several pulse rounds into the system.
Sparks flew and the door shorted. He palmed the metal and pushed, shoving it open. No turrets guarded the Core room. The machinery here was too sensitive, too important to risk damage. The room was circular, with a catwalk surrounding a smart-glass sphere. At the center of the sphere was a hole in reality. A vision of nothingness, of oblivion set to consume the universe.
Of course, he knew he couldn’t see the actual singularity. The accretion disc spinning around it was the only visible sign of its presence. It almost looked innocent, some would say beautiful. This thing that could gobble up the entire ship if they lost containment. Bugger this up and they were all dead.
“Hold the room,” he told Leah, and his last man, Nielson. “Hold it until Lieutenant Dana gets here.”
He wanted to turn away from the sphere, to watch the door like the others. But it drew him in. He’d only been in here once before, and he’d never wanted to come again. Harnessing a singularity felt wrong, even if the technology had come from the Angels themselves. Unlimited power, but there had to be a price. Everything had a price.
And one of these things had devoured his mum.
He was still staring at it when Phoebe, Knight, and Rachel rushed in. He turned to Rachel and she stumbled toward him. Her eyes were red, swollen, and she trembled. Psionic pain wafted off her, a disruption in her psyche even he could feel.