“I regularly shop in the market nearby. The detention center isn’t exactly on the way, but I often stalk through this district after a visit to the spaceport.”
We exited the terminal and turned right. A two-meter plastech fence marked the edge of spaceport property. The holes were too small to use for climbing, so we’d have to go through. That would be the least of our problems.
Five minutes later we walked past the detention center. It was just as bad as I feared: no cover, cameras everywhere, and only two main access points. This would have to be a quick and dirty rescue.
We stopped in the street market while Veronica bartered with a few vendors. I reined in my impatience. Diverting suspicion was worth the extra few minutes, but I breathed a sigh of relief when we headed back to the house.
Once we were inside, I went straight for the desk. A hand wave brought up the display and the flat keyboard embedded into the desk surface lit up. “Is this secure?” I asked Veronica.
“No.”
I bounced my connection through a variety of universal servers until I was happy that, while not secure, it would at least be difficult to track the connection back to this address. Then, I got down to work.
The detention center server was easy to find. It was harder to breach. I kicked off my cracking scripts while I manually poked around. It took longer than I would’ve liked, but the scripts finally found an overlooked, vulnerable service. I set up a back door and then I was in.
I pulled up the various video streams. The outside of the building showed from all angles. No blind spots. The inside was the same story.
I flipped through the cameras until I found Loch. He was in a solid-sided holding cell in the middle of the building. Shackles connected his spread arms to the wall and his ankles were attached to a short chain and leg shackle. By the way he slumped, he was sleeping, passed out, or dead. Blood ran down his arms from his wrists. Bruises and swelling marred his face.
Richard had not been kind. Rage burned hot and my decision to rescue Loch cemented.
I pushed the rage back and focused on the other cameras. The lack of interior guards was an unexpected surprise. The house Richard was staying at was less than five minutes away at a flat run, so they must figure they could get there before any escape attempt succeeded.
I would have to prove them wrong.
Loch shifted. Still alive, then, but I didn’t know how hurt. If he couldn’t walk then we were royally fucked. I could only deal with one problem at a time, so I prayed he looked worse than he felt and moved on.
Veronica poked her head in the room. “I received word that the last of your supplies just arrived. They were not cheap and I didn’t have room to bargain.”
“They’re worth it,” I said without looking up. “I’ll reimburse you.”
She lingered. “Is this really going to work?”
I met her gaze. “I don’t know. But I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure it does. And I need you to do the same. You good?”
“I’d be better if I knew what you were planning.”
“All in good time. Are you packed and ready?”
“Nearly.”
“Good. We’re going tonight.”
She sucked in a breath. “I’m almost afraid to hope,” she said very quietly.
“Then I’ll hope enough for both of us.”
I strapped on the thin ballistic armor designed to deflect energy bolts. It only worked about half the time, but with the backup of my necklace and cuff, I hoped it was good enough to keep me alive. Ideally, it wouldn’t even be needed, but I’d never be that lucky.
Pistols went in holsters on each hip. A pair of flash-bang grenades went next to them, along with two modified smoke grenades and a set of six mini vaporizers. A knife and a plasma cutter rounded out my easily accessible equipment. Each had a distinct shape so I wouldn’t grab the wrong one by accident.
A backup battery snugged against my low back and connected via inductive charger to my cuff. With the extra boost, the cuff should protect against six or seven glancing shots and two or three direct hits. Loch would not be protected, and I couldn’t afford to be slowed down by an extra set of armor. I’d just have to stay between him and any shooters.
A small pack with the rest of my supplies went on, then my cloak would go over the whole lot. Veronica would be responsible for my big pack, as well as her things. Loch and I would meet her two blocks from the detention center.
I picked up the control tablet of the first drone. The drones were the last items on my list and the most expensive and difficult to find. I had no doubt that Veronica reached out to contacts on the smuggler side of the planet to purchase them, because they weren’t something that normal people had just sitting around. The fact that she hadn’t needed me to transfer money to pay for them said a lot about her financial situation.
The size of a shoebox, these drones were flying EMP bombs used by police and military forces to shut down the electronics of a single building or small block. Depending on the layout and shielding of the target building, either the electronics inside would go down permanently until replacement parts were ordered, or they would experience a temporary hiccup that could be corrected in a matter of minutes. I hoped for the former and planned for the latter.
And there was a sort of beautiful irony in the fact that these were Rockhurst drones.
I logged in to the control tablet, changed all of the default codes, and set the mode and target. I watched as it took off and circled high away from the city. I did the same with the second drone, except I set it to attack fifteen seconds later. The first would hit Richard’s house. The second would hit the detention center. Both control tablets went into my pockets.
I now had an hour to get in position. Adrenaline blitzed through my system. My fingers trembled as I set up the last of my scripts on the detention center’s server.
My backup plans had backup plans. I patted all of my gear one last time. I was as ready as I was going to be. I pulled on my cloak and settled the smart glasses over my eyes. The glasses synced to my com and could overlay info on the transparent screen. The time ticked away in the upper left corner of the display, along with a countdown timer.
“You know where we are meeting,” I said to Veronica. She nodded, but she was pale and sweating, with a hunted expression. “Are you okay?”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. “I’m worried you won’t show. That this is all for nothing.”
“And I’m worried that you’re going to double-cross me at the last minute,” I said bluntly. She looked appalled. It was better than the stark fear she’d worn before. I continued, “So we’re both worried. But I will be there.” If I don’t die first. I didn’t say that aloud because it wouldn’t help her.
“Okay,” she said. “I will be there, too. And I will not betray you.”
“See you in an hour,” I said.
I slipped into the alley and prayed for success.
Chapter 12
It took forever to work my way around the city to the sentries, but I had planned that time into my schedule. It was late enough that the streets were deserted. This sentry was trying to pass as homeless, but he was too clean, his gear too nice.
At five minutes to the first attack, I palmed a vaporizer and stumbled down his alley. I hummed a bawdy song in my lowest tone. The soldier glanced at me then dismissed me to continue watching the detention center.
It would be his last mistake of the evening. I stumbled into him then activated the vaporizer under his nose. Even training was no use against human nature—he inhaled in surprise. His eyes rolled back and he slumped against the wall. Depending on his metabolism, he’d be out for twenty to forty minutes.
One minute until the first EMP drone hit.
I moved as close as I could while still being in the shadows of the surrounding buildings. I’d already taken the other sentry out. He would be waking up in as little as ten minutes, but a stronger dose would’ve likely killed him
, so I’d just have to work with the time I had.
My com vibrated as the displayed countdown timer hit zero. Drone strike one should have just happened. A new timer popped up on the display, counting up. This was our escape timer. At fifteen seconds, a loud pop came from the detention center roof. Now that the danger to my own electronics had passed, I sprinted across the plaza to the back door.
The electronic keypad was dead and the door was unlocked. I sent up a fervent prayer of thanks that the server scripts had done their job in the fifteen seconds between attacks. The breaching charges in my backpack might not be needed after all.
I drew my pistol and eased inside. The glasses immediately adjusted to the darkness, and I could see down the hallway. It was empty. Based on the video feeds and the blueprints, Loch’s cell was about halfway down on the left.
I didn’t have time to clear all of the rooms. The video feeds had shown them empty, so I would just have to trust that they’d stayed that way. I passed several sets of offices, then large, open-barred cells. The solid cells were clustered together in the center of the building.
When I reached the block of solid cells, I confirmed all of the doors were open. I stopped at the first one in case I needed quick cover. “Loch,” I whispered, “the cavalry has arrived. Time to go.”
Marcus stepped out of a cell that was definitely not his. He clutched a length of metal and moved with obvious pain. “I must say, Ada darling, I did not expect to see you again. I figured you’d be long gone by now.”
“Would’ve been the smart move,” I agreed. “We have three minutes, more or less, to vacate this building before the backup arrives. Then we’re meeting a friend and stealing a ship. Can you do it? I have a single dose of foxy if you need it.”
A mix of stimulants and painkillers, amphoxy—street-named foxy—was a common battlefield panacea. It wasn’t very good for the soldiers taking it, though, because they’d be more likely to hurt themselves further while they were hyped up and feeling invincible. But if it got Loch from here to the ship, it would be worth it.
He walked over with only a slight limp. “I don’t need it. Nice glasses. You got a spare gun?”
Thanks to the high-tech lenses, I had forgotten that it was completely dark in here. But watching Loch, I’d never know it. I vowed to get a closer look at his ocular implants before we parted ways.
I handed over the spare pistol, a knife, and a radio earpiece, then turned and ran back down the long hallway. Loch kept up without even a grunt of pain. It had been two and a half minutes since the first drone strike.
I stopped by the door and peeked out. No obvious snipers and no one took a potshot at me. Loch tried to stop me before I stepped outside, but I darted out of reach. “I’m wearing ballistic armor,” I said. “And we need to move.”
No one shot at us as we crossed the plaza to the shelter of the nearby buildings. “We’re meeting Veronica the fence,” I said. “Don’t shoot her unless she has betrayed us.”
“I heard that,” Veronica’s quiet voice said through my earpiece.
Another minute and I slowed. Veronica should be just around the corner. Now was the time of truth: either she’d be there alone, or Richard and his crew would be waiting.
“You think she’ll betray you?” Loch asked.
“It’s a possibility,” I said at the same time she said, “No.” A quick glance around the corner revealed Veronica. An overloaded, tarp-covered sled floated beside her. She saw me immediately and smiled a huge, relieved smile. “Told you,” she said.
The three of us made our way to the wall around the spaceport. I pulled out my portable plasma cutter. “Will your sled go over the wall?”
“Yes,” Veronica said.
That made things easier. Portable cutters didn’t have as much power as their full-sized counterparts. Precious seconds ticked by as I cut a hole big enough for the three of us to squeeze through one at a time.
The timer had climbed past five minutes by the time we made it through the fence. Richard would be at the detention center and he would likely guess our next target. Not to mention the spaceport security forces.
“Can you fight the soldiers on board Richard’s ship or do we need to take the von Hasenberg ship instead?” I asked Loch.
“I can fight,” he said. His heaving chest and pinched brow threatened to undermine his words, but the resolution in his expression said that come hell or high water, he could get it done. I took him at his word.
We arrived at Richard’s ship just as the spaceport alarm sounded. “Stay here,” I said. I climbed the cargo ramp and slid open the control panel. On a whim, I hit the door-open button.
When the door actually started opening, I stared at it in shock. Was the door unlocked because of hubris or because I was about to face a platoon of men? As soon as the door cleared ten centimeters, I pulled a flash-bang grenade and rolled it into the cargo bay. I followed it with one of my modified smoke bombs.
“Masks!”
Veronica handed us each a nose and mouth mask from her bag.
“Give me the foxy,” Loch said. I handed him the injector and he jabbed it in his thigh. The rush would hit in thirty seconds and last for twenty minutes.
“I will need cover,” I said. “I’ll be stuck at the access panel in the cargo bay until I override the ship’s control. Don’t take your mask off even if the smoke clears. If we need to retreat, give me warning.”
He nodded then ducked under the door and disappeared. I took a deep breath, threw back my hood, and followed him. It was time to do or die.
The cargo hold was piled with various pieces of equipment lashed to the floor. Loch was nowhere to be seen and neither were any Rockhurst soldiers. I heard an occasional shot through the earpiece, but Loch was eerily silent.
Once Veronica and her sled cleared the door, I hit the manual close button. “When that closes,” I said, “lock it.” I pointed to the lock control. It wouldn’t keep out someone with the access codes, but it would prevent spaceport security from opening the door as easily as we had.
I dropped my backpack by the door, then found the internal access panel and slid it open to reveal the control terminal. While I had access to the door functions, everything else was locked down. I pulled up the diagnostic screen and started entering the override codes from memory.
The standard Rockhurst code failed. Richard had changed the default codes, which made my job infinitely harder. I kept trying.
I had just entered the third unsuccessful code when my bracelet pulsed and sparks flew from a deflected stun shot. Shit. I turned to find the assailant, but he’d already ducked back into cover.
“Can you shoot?” I asked Veronica. She nodded, so I handed her the gun. “Stand close to me and keep him pinned down for another couple minutes.” She was also wearing ballistic armor and if she stayed close, the soldier wasn’t likely to switch to deadly ammo because he’d risk hitting me.
The fourth code failed and Veronica fired on the soldier. Angry butterflies took flight in my stomach and my heart rate picked up. Only two codes left. Come on, come on.
“Shit!” Veronica yelled. I heard her hit the deck at the same time my cuff pulsed and another shot bounced away. One or two more shots like that and I’d be done.
I steadied my hands and typed in the fifth code. Failure. Veronica fired on the soldier’s position, but everything felt distant and fuzzy.
I typed in the sixth code—the last code Bianca had included. If this code didn’t work, I had no backup. We’d have to haul ass to the von Hasenberg ship, assuming security didn’t already have us surrounded.
I entered each digit with extreme care. Veronica shouted something but I didn’t have time to bother with her. My cuff pulsed weakly and an energy shot exploded near my head. Had they moved to deadly force?
After entering the last digit, the world paused for an eternal moment.
Then I was in and everything snapped back into real time. I immediately set up new override co
des and wiped the ones Richard had set. I did not use my preferred codes because I had no doubt House Rockhurst’s spies knew what they were, and I didn’t want Richard to be able to take the ship back as easily as I’d taken it from him. I deleted all authorized users and added myself as captain, but voice command authorization would have to wait until we weren’t under attack.
I locked the ship down and retracted the cargo ramp. If Richard wanted in now, he’d have to take a plasma cutter to the cargo bay door. Even with a heavy-duty system it would take hours.
Unusual movement in my peripheral vision caused me to spin around. A Rockhurst soldier was valiantly trying to lift a stunstick in my direction, but it appeared my smoke grenade was finally getting to him because he blinked blearily and wove on his feet.
Veronica was down, but she appeared stunned instead of dead. I wrestled the stunstick away from the soldier and hit him with it. Yeah, it was low, but the bastard had shot at me. I didn’t feel too bad.
“Loch, I’m in the system. Are you okay? How many are left?”
“I’m busy,” Loch growled. “Just stay put.”
“No can do, I’m afraid. I have to get us in the air. Keep your mask on.” I stepped back to the access terminal, turned on the internal ventilation systems, and turned off the filtration. Then I found an air intake vent and cracked my last smoke grenade in front of it. “Don’t kill the downed soldiers. We’ll dump them before takeoff.”
Loch didn’t respond.
I checked on Veronica. She was starting to come around. She must’ve gotten stunned. “Keep your mask on,” I said. “I’m heading to the flight deck. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.” She nodded weakly.
Once all of the Rockhurst soldiers were knocked out, I’d have to purge and replace all of the air before we left the atmosphere, but it was safer than fighting the soldiers outright.
I picked up the discarded pistol and kept the stunstick. This was a Rockhurst ship. I had a basic idea of the layout, but unlike Yamado, Rockhurst frequently tweaked their ship designs. Still, the flight deck was generally in the same place. I headed out of the cargo deck toward the front of the ship.
Polaris Rising Page 13