"Four?!"
"That I saw. Hurry, Bear, I don't know how long I can last."
I ran straight into that hallway and threw the grenades first then ducked down a passageway, waiting for a boom. They went boom. That's why I liked grenades, especially our grenades, they worked every time. You pull that safety, you give them a big chuck, and as soon as they hit something, boom. Only problem was running out. I asked myself, those mechanized machines that are waiting that I can't see. Did I take out one, two? Three? Were they watching my safe haven right now?
What choice did I have? I pulled my pistol and gave it a little kiss, then two more booms went off, and I thought, reinforcements. I dodged into the hallway, squeezing off rounds. I blinded the last machine. Thomas, Jet, and Enigma were at the other end of the hall. I shouted, "Enigma, Zen is hurt!"
Enigma ran in my direction. "Where?"
"In the stairwell!"
Thomas and Jet ran up to me. None of them had any grenades left. There was a second set of stairs next to us.
Thomas said, "Down these stairs, two more floors."
"I thought this was the prison level?" I asked.
"Prison is three levels deep. We're on top floor."
"No grenades?"
"We're it," Jet said.
Chapter Fifty-One
We raced down the stairs into total darkness. I looked left and right. The machines had lights on their fronts, and two of them were down each side of the hallway. I raced to the left, and shouted, "Over here!"
The two machines turned on me. My pistol rang out twice: two sensors down on one. I shifted my sights to the second monster, firing twice. The beast fired off a round, too, catching me in the left shoulder. Just a flesh wound. While I was doing all that, Thomas and Jet were blinding the other two. Jet took a round in the leg. The machines still projected light, but they were firing their cannons into the walls and ceiling.
Thomas turned on a terminal in the wall. "I need to get the lights on down here."
Jet dropped his pants, and that fucker was not wearing underwear. He attached a bandage to himself on the thigh, and then thankfully pulled his pants up. Somebody was coming down the stairs. Thomas kept pounding on the keyboard. Sphinx appeared, and she was the most beautiful sight I'd seen in a long time. Not because she was a fine woman, but because she had a grenade in each hand, and her pockets were full. I reached out my hands, and the bitch gave me one grenade.
"I can use both," I said.
Sphinx shrugged. "I can use all three."
"Damnit!"
She laughed and handed over the second grenade. "I was fucking with you."
I took the second grenade in my left hand. "I love you."
"Is that a come-on?"
"No, it was just a little Freudian slip."
She fished both grenades out of her pockets. "Don't worry, Bear. I would never file charges against a teammate for being horny."
Interesting development. I looked to Thomas. "How are the lights coming?"
"We need to go," Sphinx said. "The prisoners are on the bottom floor. Their goal isn't to rescue but to kill."
I ran for the stairs. Sphinx was right behind me. We reached the bottom of the stairs. She said, "Go left."
I went left. There were machines down the hallway. My shoulder hurt, too. It wasn't bleeding that bad, but I wished I stopped and applied a bandage. With at least three of the killer robots in front of me, I tossed my first grenade. The pain in my left shoulder threw the grenade off, and it sailed way past the machines. I projected the second grenade, trying harder to land it on the middle one. It detonated, and all three metallic enemies crumpled to the floor. I looked down the hallway, and it was dark, but it wasn't quiet. Gunfire rattled in the other direction.
Sphinx was pinned with two of the robots bearing down on her. The red dots of their lights that were their sensors were just four little specs in the distance. They were easily thirty meters away. Was my pistol even accurate at that range? I can do a headshot at twenty meters, but those sensors are the size of quarters. I stopped. Those machines were waiting. Sphinx was behind a wall. I stripped off my jacket and shirt. Blood ran down my arm. I stuck two bandages on. One on front, one on back.
I knelt down on my right knee and grabbed my pistol in both hands. My sights aimed for the first red light on the far left. My hand squeezed the trigger. The exhausted shell floated out of my gun. I locked onto the second red light. Bam. That machine was down. I tracked the third red light, squeeze. Miss. Fired again. On target. Sphinx dodged into the hallway and started shooting at that last red light. I don't know which of us got it, but it started firing like mad into the walls and ceiling.
She jumped to her feet. Then she ducked down low to avoid the random bullets still coming out of the blinded machines. She asked, "Was that the last of them?"
"I think on this level."
She pretended to punch me on the chin. "You're a good shot to take out three of those sensors."
I pretended to shove my dick in her face. No. "I hit four."
"I got the fourth one!"
I didn't want to argue and really didn't know. "I think I got it."
The lights came on. The machines weren't out of ammo, and we needed to get the hell away until they did. Three other agent men came down the stairs. The guns all stopped.
One of the agent men I didn't know said, "You two, you took out seven of them?"
Sphinx pointed at me. "He took out four. I got three. None of this we crap."
I silently mouthed the words, "I took out five." And held up five fingers on my right hand. Sphinx elbowed me. She did it kind of hard, too, and it was on my side that was injured.
It dawned on me. Lost a lot of blood. Wanted to sit down. I sat down. Sphinx grabbed my arm and picked me up. "You need a medic. Not to sit down."
She walked me up to medical. Darkness tried to drag me down the whole while. There were a lot of wounded at the medic place. They shot me with something, and I went out. I dreamed of Jet not wearing pants. I dreamed of Sphinx. I dreamed of everything.
Chapter Fifty-Two
I needed to pee, and bad. Opened my eyes. I was in a hospital bed, but not in a room, in a hallway. There were other injured in beds lining the passageway. An IV was inserted in my arm, and I didn't want to disturb it. I sat up. A nurse came running. She had dried bloodstains on her otherwise white coat. She was kind of cute with straight black hair, and a little plump, maybe even obese, but I wasn't going to complain.
"You need rest," she said.
"I need to pee."
"I'll get a bedpan."
I turned to the side and hopped off the bed. "I can make it."
She looked at me and smiled. I wheeled the IV thing with me. After I took care of that, I began to wonder about breakfast. I walked to where the nurse was. She had the biggest brown eyes. Thomas turned the corner, and he had about ten bags clutched in his arms. I met him halfway down the hallway and grabbed a bag. "Ham sandwich," Thomas said.
"On rye?" I asked.
"Wheat bread! Ancient Grains."
I sighed and opened the bag. A nice light rye. Thomas set the other bags next to sleeping patients. He approached me. His eyes were kind of bloodshot, and he smelled of smoke.
"Is it even dawn?" I asked.
"I've been up all night. There's a breach in our perimeter," Thomas said. "Manned the wall all night with a high powered rifle. I'm off my shift and bring food to the injured, and you're going to give me a hard time for taking a ten minute break?"
"Well…"
"Eat your damn sandwich."
I ate it. It had horseradish and Swiss cheese. "Did you make this sandwich?"
"I did, in fact, and I knew your favorite."
"Thanks, man."
"I need rest," Thomas said. "Centurian's robots filled over a dozen body bags."
"Zen? Jet?"
"They seem fine. Not awake yet, not like you. Sleep. Or I'll ask the nurse to give you something."
/> I leaned back in my bed, closed my eyes, and pretended to snore.
"Good boy," Thomas said. Then I did drift off. A soft touch on my hand woke me up. I opened my eyes. Enigma was there.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
I did a quick assessment. "My shoulder hurts a bit. I have a mild headache." I'm horny.
She turned away.
I said, "What about Zen and Jet?"
"I walked Zen up to the medical center. All the surgeons were busy. I pulled a remote surgeon up from another base, and she walked me through fixing up Zen. As far as I know, they just pulled the bullet out of Jet, and he's fine. Zen was the first human I've done surgery on."
She was proud. It was in her eyes. In the flushed cheeks. Proud.
"You did good," I said.
"Thanks."
I sat up, and turned to the side. The IV stand got in the way. Enigma came running. "I don't like hospital beds," I said.
"You need to stay in bed."
Damn it, I need to be up and mobile. If there is a breach in the perimeter, I need to be in the guard rotation. I was not going to sit in bed.
"Get this IV out of me!" I shouted.
She tilted her head to the side and smirked. "You won't make it back to your room. All the elevators are shut down. Three flights up to reach your room. A flight down and up to get food. You need rest."
"I'm about two seconds from ripping this IV out of my arm and bleeding all over the place."
"Let me at least get a bandage."
She came back, and unhooked the IV from my arm. I stood up and was a little dizzy. Walked solid to the stairs. One step at a time. Three flights. I pushed myself up, and up. The third flight was hard, and my shoulder ached, but I made it to my room, where I promptly passed out.
My buzzer rang around lunchtime. Thomas was outside my door. "You need food."
Damn straight I needed food, but I could get it from the cafeteria. I stepped in the hallway.
"And a shower," Thomas said. I looked down at myself. My left arm was covered in dried blood. I was shirtless. My pants were a mess.
"Food first," I said. "Then shower."
Thomas and I sat down with our food. Enigma went through the food line and joined our party. Sphinx arrived next. "You're up?" She asked.
"He's part Chor'Tan," Enigma said.
I reached up and massaged my bad shoulder. "It was barely a scratch."
Sphinx pinched her nose. "If you're so well, why do you smell so bad?"
"Thomas smells worse."
"Thomas smells like smoke, and a nice mix of quality marijuana. You smell like you haven't showered in days."
I smelled my armpit. Oh my god. I was rank. "I'm going to go shower right now."
"Those bandages have to come off first," Enigma said, "and I need you to use special soap."
"You're not showering with me."
Her eyes narrowed into red hot beads. "I had no intention of showering with you, but you'll come with me to medical, and I'll take the bandages off and give you soap."
I followed her. The steps were easier. Bandages came off no problem. Shower was good. Soap smelled like disinfectant. I was tired.
Chapter Fifty-Three
"Bear!" I was wet and naked. On the floor in the shower. Somebody was shouting my name. Enigma. I tried to push myself up. She helped me.
"You said you didn't want to shower with me," I said.
"After thirty minutes I got worried."
I wrapped a towel around my midsection. She walked me to my room and threw me down, then jumped my bones. No, she said, "You lost one to one and a half liters of blood, and we only gave you one half back. You need to be in medical."
"I'm fine." I was a little dizzy though.
She grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me down on the bed. "You will rest, that's doctor's orders."
I turned away from her and closed my eyes. She pinched me on the butt. Slut. I woke up in time for dinner. My door opened, and Thomas was there with another paper bag. "Broasted chicken, with potato wedges in butter, and fresh coleslaw."
Oh man… He passed the bag over to me, and I slaughtered it.
"I want a turn guarding the wall," I said.
"No way. You should be in medical."
"I'm not hurt that bad."
Thomas rubbed his chin and nodded. "You want to help? March your ugly ass, and it is ugly, down to medical, and offer to help with the injured. Get them drinks of water, food. Hell, read them a fucking story."
A good idea. As good as guarding the wall. "You're a good man, Thomas."
"Spend a little time on the internet looking for quality short fiction magazines. Do your research. Then go down there."
I did. Downloaded about fifteen stories that I liked and put them on a tablet. I went down to medical. The nurse with the big brown eyes was there. "Can I help you?"
"I came down to help with the wounded. Maybe read a few stories."
She shook her head. "They say the Chor'Tan blood makes you stupid. You idiot, everybody has their own tablets. Anybody who wants headphones has them. This isn't the 1800s, and nobody wants you to read a story to them."
A young man with a bandage around his mid-section raised his hand. "I'd like somebody to read a story to me."
The man in the bed next to him smiled. "I'll listen, too."
I read stories. People listened and laughed. It was good. They brought in a shipment of blood, and started giving some of the wounded fresh half liters. I asked, "May I?"
The nurse said, "You're due for a liter."
I drank the blood with a slurp. No, the nurse ran an IV and filled me back up.
I went back up to my room and dreamed. The faces of dead men danced like monkeys in a carnival. Blood and guts. I woke and rolled over. Back to sleep. Ussilla dancing, then her head exploding from a gunshot. I sat up in bed. The clock said 3:52. I started looking around the internet for fresh short stories. I did my usual morning routine and headed to breakfast.
Thomas, Enigma, and Sphinx joined me soon enough. Sphinx asked, "How are you feeling?"
"They gave me a liter of blood yesterday. I feel fine. I'm good."
"You want the wall duty?"
"I was reading stories to the wounded last night. I found more stories to read to them."
Sphinx cackled out this rolling laughter that turned heads throughout the room. After a long time, she quieted down. "You'll man the wall like a good soldier-boy."
Good soldier boys help with the wounded. "I'll man the wall. Where ever I'm needed most."
"You've been checked out on a machine gun, but not a sniper rifle."
A deep voice spoke from behind us, and I knew it was Archangel. "How hard can it be?"
I turned to look. His hands were shaking a bit, and he was slow to sit down.
"It's good to see you, man," I said.
He tried to take a bite of food and dropped it. He tried again. "It takes me some time to eat, but you get so hungry, you learn it."
I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Man of steel."
"I kill the bot good now."
"Excellent," Sphinx said.
"You should at least try the sniper rifle, on the range, Bear," Thomas said.
"I will."
Archangel tried to eat faster. "Wait. I'll help him."
Sphinx, Enigma, and Thomas left. Archangel finished, and we went to the firing range.
He started a lengthy dissertation on bullet ballistics and wind, and air density. I put the gun to my shoulder, looked through the sight. A crosshairs showed me where the bullet would go, and once the target was lined up, I squeezed the gun and trigger together, and it jumped.
The target light flashed.
"Yes, you can do it that way, too," Archangel said.
"It was only 100 meters."
"That's good enough."
Archangel walked with me to the perimeter wall. He walked slow, clumsy almost. I kept expecting him to trip, but he didn't. When he h
it the stairs, tiny vibrations went through the steps that I could feel in my feet. I stood on the uppermost part of the wall, looking down at the breach. Hours passed, simply staring into the outskirts of our base. Thomas brought me a slab of barbeque ribs, with a side thing of green beans. It dawned on me there were possibly advantages to having a stoner in charge of bringing me food.
I watched that hole in the wall into the night.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Two weeks passed. The dead were all buried. The wall was fixed. We returned to our main base in Arizona. Nancy called a meeting.
"Apple Danish and Bear Claw have been very talkative since the robots tried to get into their cells," Nancy said. "We have learned how Centurian has been getting resources on and off planet."
"Getting resources off planet?" Sphinx asked.
"We believe he's shipping gold and other minerals to Razdoran forces in trade for MindBender and other tools of Centurian's trade."
"He's got his own space port?" Thomas asked.
Nancy nodded her head twice. "And you're going to destroy it. It's lightly guarded most days. Twice a month they get a shipment, send off a shipment."
"Define lightly guarded?"
"Both men said there would be around twenty guards."
Jet slammed his hands down on his thighs. "I bet it's twice that now that we've captured Apple Danish and Bear Claw."
"Eighteen rounds to a magazine, each of us carries three magazines," Thomas said.
"All of you aren't going." Nancy punched a button on the computer, and a complex materialized over the table. A main paved road let to it through jungle and swamp. There was a 500 meter by 500 meter platform in the center, with buildings around its edges. "The buildings contain the sensors and radar necessary to land a ship there. Interstellar ships are clumsy at best in atmosphere, and if we destroy those sensor arrays, it will set them back months."
Codename: Bear: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 1) Page 17