Gunship

by J. J. Snow

  “You didn’t answer my question, sir.” Callum’s voice was cold.

  “I gave you all the answer you need. Welch has half the fleet on the other side of that asteroid field hoping we’d show up or hoping to get lucky and follow one of ours back here. We’re not ready for that fight yet. I am not going to jeopardize our mission and the entire galaxy for one gunship crew!” Zain retorted angrily.

  “Even if they do make it off the station, there is no way they will outrun the fleet. Welch will be on them in minutes. At least with two Dark Angels, they’d have a fighting chance…”

  “And I told you no. So you can either get back to your ship and your duties, or I can throw you in the brig for insubordination. There are bigger things at play here, and I don’t need you interfering with something you don’t understand.”

  “You know I never had much use for commanders who keep their troops in the dark while claiming allegiance to the greater good based on some top-secret plan no one else can know about. It usually ends badly for the troops. Thanks for the lecture on expendability, sir. I’m glad to know where we stand.”

  Seth could hear Captain Callum’s footsteps receding in the distance as the gravity of the conversation he had just overheard sank in. The sliders clicked open, and Zain’s distinct footsteps approached as he pulled up the latest vitals report. Satisfied, the Commander left, turning down the corridor towards the medic station to ensure the charts had been updated before heading to his office. A few minutes later, as the medic left to perform his rounds in the adjacent corridor, Seth completed the programming loop on his handheld. It would mimic all of his vitals for about thirty minutes, more than enough time for what he needed. He activated the program and snuck out of the room and down the corridor towards the docking bays. To hell with Zain’s mission, he had one of his own to take care of.

  —————

  Tiny watched Welch carefully as his men spread out behind him, pointing their weapons at her and Crazy Ray.

  “It seems that you have been keeping secrets, Raymond, very dangerous secrets, from me.” Welch’s men came forward and dropped the open crate of ledgers in front of Crazy Ray and Tiny.

  “What are you talking about?” Crazy Ray’s words were clipped as they came out, sounding similar to the staccato of automatic gunfire.

  “I’m talking about your little plot to undermine me and to take over the galaxy yourself. I honestly didn’t think you had it in you, but it seems I was wrong. I actually underestimated you, surprisingly. But unfortunately for you, you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. So tell me, what happened? A relationship gone wrong? She left and you made up this crazy story to get me to help you bring her back so you could get your revenge? Or maybe you were partners in it? How does the story go, Raymond? I’m so curious to hear it, since she will be your undoing!” Welch sneered nastily as he flipped the switch, charging the rail gun to full power.

  Crazy Ray stared blankly at Welch, trying to make sense of what he was saying. Perhaps the man had finally gone mad. He looked down at the crate of ledgers and then back up at Welch.

  “She? She who? And what the hell is this?” Crazy Ray kicked the crate defiantly, eyeing Welch’s men with an evil grin of his own. Welch looked at him, enraged and disbelieving.

  “I can easily take down the nearest four if you’d like,” Tiny offered casually.

  Crazy Ray shot her an almost adoring smile over his rage. “How very thoughtful, my dear. I’m quite sure I can handle the rest, it’s the big one in the middle I’m the most intent on.” He refocused on Welch.

  “You had an affair with Reilly Campbell. Admit it! You were involved, and you told her my plan from my ledgers and how you were going to undermine me, once I took over the AOC—how you planned to take it for yourself!”

  Crazy Ray snorted in disbelief. “Are you mad? Reilly Campbell was on my space station for less than three hours, I have the tapes. And while I wouldn’t mind watching her perform for the cameras in the detention wing, she really isn’t my type. On top of that, she is my Number One Wanted Man, and she is a LIAR!”

  Just then the space station gave a violent heave and then shuddered as a thunderous roar echoed from the direction of the cargo bays.

  “What the hell was that?” Crazy Ray demanded as Welch and his men looked around.

  Welch signaled one of his security detail to go check it out as Tiny’s handheld buzzed, breaking the silence. She glanced at Crazy Ray, who nodded at her while still aiming his blasters back at Welch. She nestled the knife back by her collarbone and clicked open the handheld. A few moments later, she was a ball of fury, cursing, and then without warning she tossed two knives into Welch’s trigger hand and right bicep and another two into the nearest guards. Crazy Ray blasted four others as one man’s weapon discharged into the sofa and another’s travelled into the ceiling. Welch was cursing and bleeding but managed to stand again with the rail gun pointed at Crazy Ray as Tiny continued to fiercely curse him and palmed another knife.

  “You bastard! You blew up my ship! You blew up my partner!” she screamed, enraged.

  Crazy Ray looked at her, torn between his fury at Welch and his sudden infatuation with this hellacious woman who had just managed to bring him more joy than he had had in months. He licked his lips and grinned again, watching Welch bleeding out onto the floor, onto his men, one of whom continued to twitch a few more times as the last beats of his heart pushed the blood out over the knife lodged in his throat.

  “Stop!” Welch screamed. “Everybody stop!”

  The room grew silent as Welch looked around furiously. He had let that woman fool him once, but not again, not twice. He pointed at his man.

  “You! Go pull up the security feeds—hurry!” The man scurried warily past Crazy Ray and Tiny, headed for the large holoscreen. The man pulled up the feeds. The cargo bay camera was tilted and showed a major fire had taken over most of the bay. Ships and cargo were strewn across the docking areas as the loading teams tried to suppress the flames and pull bodies from the wreckage. Crazy Ray watched, furious but also fascinated by the scene. The corridor feeds and area feeds continued to come up, all except for the detainment wing.

  “No. It can’t be!” Welch breathed as Crazy Ray’s head tilted even more radically and his eyes gave off a demonic light.

  Welch pointed at Tiny. “Get down there and secure that wing!”

  “I’m don’t work for you. I work for him,” Tiny snarled and nodded at Crazy Ray, who grinned even more maniacally at Welch.

  Welch turned to Crazy Ray. “Reilly Campbell is behind this! She set you up! She’s trying to escape!”

  At that, Crazy Ray’s face turned a bit pale. He couldn’t lose his birthday presents; he hadn’t had any time with them yet. He turned to Tiny, his eyes desperate, longing. She looked at him and nodded once, then sprinted through the door to the lift. She understood him. From the few short hours they had spent together, she understood him better than anyone else. For the first time in his life, he sincerely hoped that she would live. Life would be so much more interesting with her around, his mystery woman.

  Welch lowered the rail gun and picked up his handheld, ordering his men to secure his cruiser and to send backup units to the detainment wing to assist the bounty hunter. Then he grinned and turned his attention to removing Tiny’s knives from his arm. At the same time, Crazy Ray overrode the protective fields in the cargo bays and flushed everything out into space. He watched as the flames went out then turned to see the debris float by the sky wall.

  Welch stepped up next to him as several bodies drifted by at a distance, and Crazy Ray smiled to himself.

  “Reilly Campbell didn’t set me up. She set you up,” he noted smugly. “So I have to wonder now…were you questioning me about being involved with her because of the conspiracy, or was it out of jealousy?” Crazy Ray smirked at Welch as he shifted uncomfortably. “And while we’re waiting, I’d love to hear more about your plan to take ov
er the galaxy and where I fit into all of that as your primary arms supplier.”

  “You know, one of these days it will get ugly between us,” Welch noted, “and I won’t have a need for you anymore.” He tore another strip from his designer shirt and began to bind his own hand.

  Crazy Ray smiled again and walked over to pour himself another drink. “Like it hasn’t already? By the way, you were interrupting something important. I’ll expect my usual compensation…and whatever you’d like to provide for her.” He pointed at Tiny sprinting down the hall towards the detainment wing as the last camera lost sight of her. “She is fond of knives, I think,” he finished with a disturbed laugh.

  Welch snarled a curse at him as he used the torn fabric from his shirt to tie down the deep gash in his bicep. The bounty hunter could have whatever she wanted as long as Reilly Campbell remained alive and under his control. She was behind all of this, and he would make certain she paid.

  —————

  As Tiny pushed her way into the detainment wing, a rush of people pushed back. Crazy Ray did not implant his detainers for fear it would interfere with their creative talents. The more dangerous were collared, which allowed them freedom of thought and action but limited where they could go and what they could do. Several were standing miserably just inside the door now, clawing at the rings on their necks or wrists in vain attempts to try to leave the wing. Jamie and a few others pushed through the door and into the main station corridors as Tiny entered. She made certain to show off her weaponry, lest they decided to attempt to take her on as their next project.

  Jamie waved at her and then warned the others off, telling them in his little-kid creepy voice she was the Boss’s Lady now. They gazed at her briefly and then backed off. It was apparent that whatever was happening would be short lived and when Crazy Ray had things under control again there would be an accounting. The murders of a few civilians or any of Welch’s people would be overlooked, especially if they could get it on camera for the boss to enjoy. Interfering with the head psycho’s new love interest would not.

  Tiny pressed on towards the torture and detainment cells when suddenly a low whistle pulled her back. She dodged back through the rushing people and looked down the end of the hall towards her room. There stood Marek waving her back. She sprinted to him and ducked into the room.

  “We’ve got maybe ten minutes. Welch and Alton think I’m down here trying to secure the wing. They’ll be sending back up shortly. Where’s the Captain?”

  “As soon as I got your message, I got her out and brought her straight here. The cameras could be coming back on any minute, though, so we need to move. Duv is en route and Chang has the plot set for the soft seal. We’ll need to cut the inner hull, though, to help him.”

  Tiny nodded as she set up charges by the entrance door and the back room. Then she punched in a code and slid the metal plate in the wall out onto the floor.

  “After you.” She waved Marek into the ventilation shaft.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he said, slinging his rifle and locking it down to his leg while clipping onto one of the cables Tiny had set up. “These dang people are as insane as all get-out. I just hope it’s not catching!”

  Tiny watched as he disappeared up the vent and then slipped into the vent herself and hooked up to the last cable. She re-secured the wall with the magnetic locks, just in case they had any pursuers, and then punched the electric remote, lurching upwards into the darkness to join the others.

  —————

  Reilly felt sick. Marek had pulled her out of the detainment cell thirty minutes earlier and sent her up the shaft to be with Ty. The dark had been disorienting, and the constant wind through the large shaft was chilling and sent them spinning and careening into each other. Reilly finally grabbed Ty’s harness and pulled him in, locking their two cables together to prevent further injury.

  Ty was in bad shape. He was only partially conscious and had lost a lot of blood. His face and head were crusted with it, and large bruises covered his temple and around his eyes from where he had been repeatedly knocked unconscious with the butt of a blaster. His nose was broken, and Reilly suspected some other breaks as well with the way he was wheezing as he breathed. She held onto him as best she could, trying to stay conscious herself.

  At one point, he looked up briefly at her and gave a small grin of recognition.

  “Hey, Captain.”

  “Hey, Ty. How are you feeling?”

  “I can’t feel my legs. Or my ass. Something’s wrong with my head.”

  “Well, I hate to tell you this, but that head problem has been going on for a while. Not sure the docs can fix that!” Reilly joked.

  Ty nodded and gave another small grin, then grimaced in pain.

  “How much longer we gotta wait?”

  “Hang in there, Sargent. They’re coming for us soon, real soon.”

  As Ty passed back out again, Reilly looked down into the black and hoped she was right.

  —————

  Duv and Chang waited on the bridge impatiently. The waiting was the worst part. It had been fourteen hours since Tiny, Marek, and the Captain had departed, and they had no idea what was happening. They took turns monitoring the comms for the signal and tried to play cards, but neither one felt up to it.

  “Finally!” Duv sat up, dumping his cards as Tiny’s signal came up on his screen. He traced the location, and then Chang pulled up the station maps and found the shaft, following it to the closest access point to the hull.

  “Got it. It looks like they got into one of the main vents. They can come up to this cross hatch and then over and up again, which puts them at this access point.” Chang pointed out the location and enlarged it on the holoscreen.

  “I can put us right on top of it, but we’ll have to move quickly. The stealth plating will hide us from optical detectors, but if he has frequency detectors, he may still pick us up. I won’t be able to move during the pickup, so if they start shooting, we’ll have to hope that they don’t get lucky on the first few tries. I’d rather not vent anybody into space,” Duv noted, firing up the Dark Angel.

  “Agreed. I will go get suited up and wait in the bay. Let me know when we’re in position, and I’ll extend the emergency accessway and start working on the hull.” Chang hurried down the hall to don his gear.

  Duv checked all the systems and slaved the guns to his control, then initiated the stealth system. The Dark Angel shimmered once and then disappeared as it moved out towards the asteroid field.

  —————

  Reilly heard movement below her and saw a faint light. The light disappeared to the dull gray-blackness of the shaft as Marek came into view. He pulled up even with them on his cable and looked at Ty, the concern obvious on his face.

  Ty chose that moment to regain consciousness. He looked at Marek and promptly said, “I can’t feel my ass. Is it still there?”

  Marek almost choked as he tried not to laugh. He sobered up as Tiny came into view. Ty, still not fully comprehending, spun in his harness slightly as Tiny appeared.

  “Will someone check out my ass? Please?” he asked desperately.

  Tiny looked at him, worried. “We need to get him out of here, and soon. If he starts to panic or get loud, we’re all going to be dead.”

  “He won’t.” Reilly looked over at Ty. “Sergeant Ty. Shut the hell up and do as you’re told. You copy me, soldier?”

  Ty focused on Reilly. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, then passed out again.

  Tiny and Marek each grabbed a harness as the auto winch engaged, pulling Ty and Reilly up the shaft with them. They reached the cross hatch, and Tiny clambered into the crawlspace while Marek pushed Reilly to her. She unhooked the captain as Reilly crawled past her into the vent, pulling herself along on knees and elbows towards the next shaft. Marek pushed Ty over next and helped Tiny drag him into the horizontal shaft. She hooked herself into his harness and began to crawl beh
ind Reilly, dragging Ty’s weight along as Marek swung in behind them, retracting the cables to use in the next vent.

  It seemed like forever as they moved through the cold, damp metal piping. Air rushed past them, keeping them all shivering as it cooled the sweat from their exertions. Reilly finally reached the upper ventilation shaft and signaled to Tiny. She passed the cables up to the captain. Reilly shot the cable gun up the shaft and heard it click as it connected with an upper flat surface. She had loaded and shot a second and then a third when they heard the first charge detonate.

  “Ma’am, we need to go.” Tiny tried to look back at Marek but couldn’t see him with Ty in the way.

  Reilly shot the last cable and began to hook into it as the second charge went off. She swung out into the darkness and waited for Tiny to get Ty hooked up, then hung onto him until the rest of the team had joined her in midair. Tiny briefly turned and placed a small device in the shaft they had just come from, then urged the others to go. They all rose together up the shaft, watching the openings they passed for any signs of danger.

  The shaft ended at a large fan covered by a screen that roared air at them. Tiny swung to the right and was able to slip into the access point. The metal here was colder still as they approached the outer double hull, the only thing between them and freedom. The opening for the next vent was further away. Tiny gracefully arched her cable and slid into the half-darkness. Reilly unclipped Ty’s cable so she and Marek could push him to Tiny. It took several swings before Tiny could grab him to pull him in. As she leaned back, grasping the front of his harness, the material gave way. Tiny threw herself backwards, struggling to pull Ty in, bracing her legs on the edge of the vent. Marek swung over and gave a quick push, forcing Ty into the narrow shaft on top of her to keep him from tumbling back down the vent to his death.

  Ty looked down at her blearily as she pushed him to one side in the enclosed space so she could make room for Reilly and Marek.