Depths Of Desire XW5

by Ruth D. Kerce

  She crinkled her brow in thought. “Kirk! Maintenance. Are there any crawlspaces that we might be overlooking to get to the equipment in here?”

  “I think it’s all via the interior of the room but I’ll check.”

  A loud pounding and then a scraping on the door drew their attention.

  “Someone’s trying to get in.” Leila took her case and disappeared into the break room, where Grady was now looking around.

  A deafening bang made everyone jump.

  “Explosives.” Torque checked the door. “It still looks secure.” He stepped back over to Jaeda. “Level with me.”

  “About what?”

  “What are they after? Why this facility when there are so many others to raid?”

  “Kirk told you.”

  “Yeah, weaponry, top personnel. Something’s not adding up.”

  “Then get a new calculator. They’ve probably raided more facilities than just this one.”

  “Jaeda… They’re specifically looking for something or someone. Otherwise, they’d have infiltrated, cleared what levels they could, then simply posted guards outside to prevent anyone else from getting in or out.”

  She stared at him for several moments then sighed. “Fine. It’s top secret and I’ll be busted for telling you, but in a special section of the armory, along with a cache of auto-renewable energy resources, we store a large amount of planetary data for all inhabited worlds currently known. We have blueprints of advanced technology at our disposal. Powerful stuff. Experimental mostly but some awesome scientific shit. The controls to open those vaults are located here in the control room.”

  Torque just stared at her, not believing what she was saying. “How did Earth get all that?”

  She shrugged. “My classification isn’t high enough for specific details.”

  “Do you have interplanetary ships down here too?” He was half-kidding but then wondered if it might be true.

  “None that work or that can be easily repaired. They’ve mostly been cannibalized for parts or used for reverse-engineering purposes. Because of the pacts Earth has with various other-world societies, they’ve been unable to completely utilize all the technology…at least publicly. Or that’s my opinion anyhow. I think experiments are continuing here and in other private facilities. I’m not privy to everything, regardless of my command status.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Um, no. Well, I’m not sure. I’ve heard rumors that quite a bit of experimental genetic material is stored here too, used for military hybrid studies—building the perfect soldier and all that. I don’t know if it’s true. We’re not a medical research facility but we have the personnel and capabilities to do such things, so I wouldn’t discard the possibility.”

  “Fucking shit… The Egesa must have found out about the stash. All things they can use to help them take over this planet and others too, if they get to it first.”

  “It’ll all be locked down like this area is. Nobody will allow the Egesa access. They’ll die to protect this facility and what it houses.”

  “Someone leaked the info, Jaeda. That someone obviously has to be high enough up for clearance and may even still be here in the facility, helping the Egesa.”

  She shook her head.

  “What other explanation is there? This entire war has been fueled by greed and traitors. Every time I get a hard-on, another fucking spy pops up to yank the hair on my balls.”

  “Firstly, you don’t have hair on your balls. And secondly, I won’t believe that.”

  Grady approached. “The break room is clear. There’s a water fountain that still works. Leila is testing the water to make sure it hasn’t been contaminated. There’s a place to piss. Drinks and food are in some dispenser machines. We can break the glass to get in when needed. There’s a couch, some chairs and tables, and a cot in the far back room, which looks like a supply area.”

  “What’s in the supply area?” Torque asked.

  “Papers, filing cabinets, wiring, batteries, boxes with some rusted-out tools. A bunch of junk as far as I can tell,” Grady answered.

  Kirk stepped up to them. “Speaking of the supply area…I found an old heating line in there. It’s not in the current specs. I thought I’d better check back over the old plans for anything that might have gotten overlooked. It’s too small for an Egesa soldier to fit through if they even know it’s there. Leila and Jaeda might be able to fit though.”

  Jaeda smiled. “Great. We’ll get out through that line, contact Sam and Brianna and General Adair, and send back reinforcements to get the rest of you and stop the Egesa from getting their hands on what’s stored here.”

  Torque shifted and huffed out a heavy breath. The plan didn’t sit right with him. He didn’t like the idea of the ladies going alone. They weren’t trained for this. But unfortunately it seemed their best choice at the moment. “Leila!”

  She peeked her head around the door. “The water’s safe.”

  “Good.” He crooked his fingers. “Come here. We’ve got a plan.” After she joined the group, he continued. “Kirk found a small heating duct off the supply room. It’s not in the current plans of the building so the Egesa may not know it’s there. It’s just large enough for you and Jaeda to fit through. You can get out and reconnect with Brianna and Briggs. Contact Halah if you can and have her materialize all of you up to the ship. Jaeda will arrange for reinforcements to retake the facility.”

  Leila nodded.

  Torque turned to Kirk. “Where does the line lead?”

  “There’s an exit panel in an old boiler room on the main maintenance floor. That room is not used anymore but there’s a freight elevator there that’s still functional. However it only stops all the way underground where the old tunnels used to run between the out buildings.” He looked at Jaeda. “You’ll have to get out there and trek across to one of them, hope they haven’t been taken over, and get out that way.”

  Leila’s gaze switched to Torque. “Somehow that doesn’t sound promising.”

  “I can go alone.” Jaeda said as she checked her weapon. “If Leila and I get separated, she wouldn’t know where to go anyway.”

  “And what happens if you get hurt?” Leila asked her. “Everyone else here, even Kirk, can self-heal. You can’t.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “If you’re going, I’m going with you. I just don’t think it’s the best plan I’ve ever heard.”

  “Well, unless you have a better one, that’s the one we’re going with.” Torque touched her shoulder. “Go slow. Don’t take any chances. And have faith.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “That’s what Brianna always says on missions.”

  “I learned from the best. You have a pain inducer on you, right?”

  “No. I gave it to Erik to give to Alexa.”

  Torque hesitated a moment then turned toward Grady. “Do you have a spare weapon for her?”

  Grady pulled a scatter ray out of his boot. It couldn’t disintegrate. It wasn’t that powerful. But it could still kill. The ray, when aimed correctly, penetrated flesh. Once inside a body, it scattered back and forth, causing minimal to maximum damage, even death, depending on what organs the scatter particles hit. “Here.” He quickly showed her how to use it. As a Class 3 Warrior, her weapons experience was minimal at best. “I’ve got it on the simplest setting. Don’t go pushing anything other than the trigger.”

  “I won’t.” Leila took the weapon and then they all headed into the break room and back to the supply area. Kirk pointed to a wall. “According to the plans, it’s supposed to be behind those crates.”

  Torque, Kirk and Grady began moving aside the storage units until the wall behind them was exposed, revealing a square, rusted-out grating down toward the floor. “Is that it?” Torque asked.

  “I guess so.” Kirk looked inside then pulled open the grate. He took out a small flashlight and shone it into the tubing. “Damn. It’s narrow. The main maintenance floor is one level
up, so…”

  “We’ll figure it out.” Jaeda turned and kissed Torque full on the lips.

  Torque stumbled slightly then grabbed her and returned the kiss. He heard Grady chuckle. Leila let out a sound of surprise. When they separated, he stroked her cheek. “I expect to see you again soon.”

  “That’s a promise.” She turned and crawled into the duct.

  Torque reached out and squeezed Leila’s hand. “Stay safe.”

  “We’ll be fine.” She followed Jaeda.

  The men stood staring at the grating for a long while. Nobody spoke, each keeping to his own thoughts. Torque still had a bad feeling about this plan, just as Leila had. He’d have felt better if they’d gone to the armory. They’d secured the control area, which was vital but they’d have been better armed in the weapons section.

  What Jaeda had said about the importance of this facility made sense. But he still had a feeling that she was leaving something out. He’d been fucked over by so many people lately that he could smell shit a mile away. And right now, things stank like a dung rat.

  Chapter Seven

  Jaeda led the way through the heating duct. She and Leila had already found several ways up but they all had been blocked. More than one duct leading to the main maintenance area was still accessible according to the old plans but the layout was altered long ago. They might end up having to return to the control area.

  Leila held a light stick so they could see and so they didn’t feel as closed in. There would be no way the men could make it through here. They were too broad. The good news was that an Egesa soldier would never be able to get through either.

  Jaeda stopped and looked up. “I found another access.” She studied the tube. “Douse the light.”

  Leila did so. “I see shadows.”

  “Me too. This might be it. The old boiler room will have low-light panels along the floor. There must be an opening up there where the light is filtering through.” Whenever they came to an access, Jaeda would lift Leila up on her shoulders and she’d see if the opening was blocked or not.

  Leila got into position and Jaeda heard her fiddling with the grating. “Is it accessible?”

  “Yes. I think so. I just need to loosen… Got it.”

  Jaeda heard the grating flip open. Leila screamed and Jaeda looked up as the weight on her shoulders disappeared. “Leila!” She reached up but Leila was gone. She heard scuffling and another scream. Then silence.

  Something small and ugly poked its head into the hole. Jaeda let out a shriek before stifling the sound. She didn’t know what the creature was but she knew it was bad news. Before she could get her weapon free, the creature was on top of her. She punched and screamed at her attacker. Another one dropped down behind the first.

  Jaeda scrambled backward. The first one grabbed her boot—the one with her gun—and pulled it off as she struggled. The weapon clattered to the ground and one of them grabbed it. “Shit!” She kept working her way back through the heating duct. If she could make it to control, the others would be able to shoot these things pretty easily. There wasn’t anywhere for them to take cover. Why hadn’t they hadn’t shot her yet?

  “Jaeda…” one of them rasped.

  She froze. “How do you know my name? Who are you? What do you want?”

  “Shifter Liusaidh Cuini.”

  Jaeda felt her heart stop, then pound triple-time. They knew who she was. Her stomach clenched. She kicked the creature in the head.

  He screamed and fell against the other creature behind him. Jaeda turned and crawled as fast as she could back toward the supply room of the control section. She heard them right behind her. “Torque! Torque!” Her thoughts briefly returned to Leila, hoping whoever had grabbed her hadn’t killed her. She hated leaving the woman behind but she had no choice.

  When one of the creatures clawed at her bare foot, her thoughts returned to her own safety. She kicked out at him with her still booted foot and continued crawling forward as fast as she could. “Torque, are you there?” She saw the opening back at control.

  “I’m here,” his voice filtered through to her. “What’s happening?”

  “Fire!” She fell out of the hole. “Fire!”

  He looked behind her. “Where’s Leila?”

  “Fire, damn it!”

  He shot into the duct. “What the hell am I firing at?” Just as he finished speaking, one of the creatures fell out lifeless onto the floor.

  Grady and Kirk ran into the room. Grady had his disruptor drawn. “What’s going on?”

  Kirk ran over to Jaeda and helped her up. “Are you all right? What happened?”

  “What is that thing?” she asked Torque. She tried desperately to catch her breath.

  “Hell, it’s an Egesa minion,” Grady answered. “They’re rarely used on the front lines. Vermin. A lot smaller than a soldier, they’re used for information gathering or intimidation or a variety of other nasty jobs.”

  Jaeda worked to catch her breath. “A minion. I’ve heard of them but I’ve never actually seen one in person.”

  Torque pulled the second minion out of the tube. “This one’s dead too.” The creature had Jaeda’s boot clutched in one hand and her gun hung from his belt. “What happened to Leila?”

  Jaeda grabbed her belongings and sat down on the cot. “She’s gone.” When Torque didn’t say anything, only stared intently at her, she pulled on her boot and slid her gun down the side. “We found an access to the old boiler room and they were waiting for us. When Leila opened the grating, they grabbed her.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what happened to her after that. There wasn’t anything I could do. They jumped down and started after me.”

  Torque turned and walked toward the door leading to the break room. He growled and knocked over a shelving unit on the way.

  Grady looked at the heating duct. “Let’s seal this back up and put the crates in front of it. If they send any other minions, they won’t be able to get in. The crates are too heavy.”

  He and Kirk worked quickly. Jaeda slowly stood from the cot and went in search of Torque. She entered the break room but he was nowhere to be seen, so she continued out to the control area.

  She saw him standing in front of a large screen that was displaying only static as he fiddled with the controls on his weapon. She walked up behind him. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not now.” She reached for his arm but he pulled away. “Why didn’t they kill you, Jaeda?” he suddenly asked in a low, hard voice, though he still didn’t look at her.

  She immediately went on alert, sensing his level of anger. The fact that he’d directed that anger toward her sent her anger up a notch too. “Sorry that I’m not dead, Torque?”

  “I didn’t fucking say that.”

  Grady and Kirk entered the room. “So what’s the plan?” Grady asked. “That one stank.”

  Torque turned and pointed his weapon at the lot of them. “Someone here is a damn traitor.”

  Grady narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “They were waiting for us. In an abandoned area of this facility. An area that wasn’t on any current blueprint or plan. That is way too much of a coincidence to simply be bad luck. I’m getting fucking tired of spies and traitors and will have no problem taking out whoever the hell is working against us.”

  Jaeda sensed how volatile things had suddenly turned. She reined in her own frustrations and held out her hand to Torque before the situation escalated even more. “You’re right. It is too much of a coincidence. But I don’t believe anyone here is to blame. You’re upset over Leila and not thinking clearly.” She turned. “Kirk?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Is it possible that the control room is bugged?”

  “No way.”

  “Either this area is bugged or Torque is right.”

  Kirk grimaced. “I’m on it.” He looked to Torque before he moved.

  Torque nodded.

  Muttering and shaking his head, Kir
k headed over to a bank of computers and sat down.

  “So are you going to keep us at gunpoint?” Grady asked, looking none too happy.

  Torque lowered his weapon. “Go help Kirk.” He stepped forward and grabbed Jaeda’s arm. “Come with me.” He pulled her into the break room.

  She twisted out of his hold. “Don’t manhandle me.” Anyone else she would have punched in the gut. She allowed Torque more freedom. But there was a limit and he was quickly approaching it. When he started to pace, but didn’t say anything, she’d had enough. “You don’t actually suspect me, do you, Torque?”

  “Of course not. But I’m not happy.”

  “Yes, we all can see that.”

  “I was responsible for Leila. There has to be another way out of here, Jaeda. And some way to find her before it’s too late.”

  The look in his eyes, the pain, softened her frustration with him. She calmed herself before she spoke. “Nothing workable where we won’t be seen or easily caught ourselves.”

  He looked up at the venting. “How much can you shift?”

  She followed his gaze. “Not that much. My head and hips have limits.” She looked toward the supply room and guilt overcame her. “I’m really sorry about Leila. I’ll go back in and look for her, if you want me to.”

  He stepped closer and looked into her eyes. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

  She stroked his cheek. “Yes. She’s important to you.”

  “She’s important to a lot of people. Sending you back in there alone, in such an enclosed space, while we know that minions are in the facility, would be too dangerous. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” His eyes softened. “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Hey!” Kirk called.

  They turned at the sound of his voice. Jaeda followed Torque back out to the control area. She hoped Kirk had found something. Torque didn’t question him. He just waited for the man to speak. She could feel his tension.

  “I didn’t find a bug, as such, but the computer is picking up an open communication’s channel. It’s not originating from our comm panels though. Or from my cell.”

  Grady pulled out his unit. “Not here.”