Crossfire (Star Kingdom Book 4)

by Lindsay Buroker

  “What’s he supposed to do?” Rache asked. “Put them in a pocket?”

  A black tendril extended from Zee’s shoulder, wrapped around the vials, then drew them into his body, liquefying his surface enough to bury them out of sight.

  “Even better than pockets,” Kim said.

  “I am a little envious.”

  Another attack jolted the station. The alarm klaxon continued to sound, but thus far, there hadn’t been any orders to evacuate or warnings of sections being damaged and cut off.

  “Can your people tell how serious the attacks are?” Kim asked.

  “So far, it’s just one ship. Scare tactics, I suspect, but if the pirates don’t get what they want, it’ll escalate.”

  “I hope Casmir and Asger found the president so he can tell them to knock it off—or bribe them. Whatever it takes.”

  “I don’t know what it’ll take. It’s odd that they’re here. It’s possible they heard about the civil war and came to take advantage, but it’s also possible someone paid them to take advantage.” Rache pointed at the street. “If you’re going to go, go now. We need to get the hostages before things get worse.”

  “Going. I’ll do my best to get you useful intel.”

  “Good.” Rache trotted off down the alley and scaled the side of a building that didn’t appear to have any handholds. He headed across the roof toward the catwalk, disappearing from her sight.

  Kim strode around the corner with Zee clacking along behind her. That was a new sound from him—he’d grown dog-style claws to go with his costume.

  They rounded the robot and headed for the gym doors. Kim worried that the guards would have seen Zee when he’d been in human form and be suspicious of this new look, but they were busy arguing with each other and pointing at the ceiling. She stopped five feet from them before they noticed her.

  “We can’t protect you, woman,” one man said. “Go hide behind one of the robots.”

  Kim tilted her head, as if she were puzzled. “I do not need protection. I brought my hound.”

  Zee startled her by growling. She hadn’t expected that, but since he could speak, she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised.

  “That’s one damn big hound.”

  “Yes. My name is Scholar Kim Sato. I work for Parvus Biologia Corporation, and I came to help a colleague escape the chaos of your station.”

  “We don’t care. We’ve got other problems right now.” The man who’d been pointing toward the ceiling before flung his hand in that direction again. “There are pirates out there.”

  “Which is why I need to find Scholar Chi and remove him from the station. He’s a renowned expert on veterinary virology.”

  “If he’s in here—” the guard jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “—he’s not going anywhere. These are valuable hostages, er, respected citizens, and we might need them.”

  “I’m authorized by my CEO to pay for Scholar Chi.”

  “Nobody’s paying for anything. Money doesn’t matter right now. We—”

  His colleague put a hand on his chest and stepped forward. “How much are you paying?”

  “Tate. Knock it off.”

  “What? The station’s gone to shit, and we’re all going to be lucky to get off it with our lives. Some money could go a long way. How much you paying, lady?”

  “At least check her ID to make sure she’s with that corporate thing.”

  Kim held up the finger with her embedded banking and identification chip.

  “I don’t have an ident reader. Do you?”

  “No.”

  Kim sighed. Maybe Rache should have run up and mowed these two down. She had a feeling that their armor couldn’t protect them from losing to someone with more than three brain cells.

  “I’m prepared to pay ten thousand Kingdom crowns if you let me take Scholar Chi. Assuming he’s inside.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is he?”

  “We’re not the ones with the list.”

  “I’ll take her in and show her around.”

  “Tate, we’re not supposed to leave our station.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to lunch. I’m just going inside. And I’ll cut you in. But we want Union dollars, lady. Nobody in System Hydra deals in Kingdom crowns.”

  “Not yet,” the other guard muttered.

  “I’m sure a currency exchange can be arranged,” Kim said.

  “This way.” The greedy guard—Tate—reached for her arm.

  Zee growled and stepped forward.

  Tate shifted his reach into a wave. “Come on.”

  Kim wondered what Casmir would think if she told him she liked the dog version of Zee best.

  The corridor inside was dimly lit, save for a desk with a guard sitting at it, light spilling onto a display. He was tensely watching a view of the outside of the station as an ugly green ship lazily flew past, occasionally slinging weapons.

  “Got a new one, Tongen,” Kim’s escort said. “Another scientist.”

  Kim had a feeling her escort was actually her captor, and that he was thinking of making money by selling her, not by selling to her. She should have guessed as soon as he hadn’t asked to see proof of funds. Well, it wouldn’t matter. Her goal was only to get inside.

  She trusted Rache would either break her out or that she could escape while he was breaking in. Briefly, she wondered when he’d become someone she knew she could trust rather than someone she feared would betray her.

  “Good, but we’re going to need to bribe pirates it looks like, not the Kingdom, and I’m not sure if scientists are going to interest them. We should be finding sexy women to tempt them with.” Tongen stood up—he wasn’t in armor, and Kim thought about asking Zee for a vial—and looked her up and down. “She’s not hideous, but I don’t think she’s gonna be any pirate’s fantasy. Some of those strippers from Boink Boink would be a lot better.”

  Tate snorted. “They always are.”

  Kim couldn’t decide if the proper response was to feel affronted by their dismissal of her beauty or annoyed at the time this discussion was wasting. She chose the latter.

  “She’s got a stunner.”

  “Right.” Tate removed the weapon and patted Kim down, fishing out a ration bar she’d brought along. Fortunately, the search didn’t involve any extra groping. Both men kept glancing at the pirate ship on the display.

  If one hadn’t been wearing combat armor, she might have tried to knock them out, so she could let herself inside unaccompanied.

  “And she’s got, uh, that.” Tongen pointed at Zee.

  “I’m not sure how to remove it. Or even what it is. Some kind of robot dog. I don’t see a power button or access panel.” Tate poked Kim in the shoulder. “How do you turn it off?”

  “He’s voice-activated but only programmed to respond to my voice.”

  “Tell it to stay here. No dogs allowed in the gym.”

  Kim gazed at Tate. “I am not your prisoner. I’m here to barter for Scholar Chi.”

  “Uh huh. Just get going. We don’t have time for drama. Sergeant Nails better be negotiating with those pirates already, Tongen.”

  “Let’s hope. The Kingdom ships aren’t moving. They’re just watching the show.”

  “Fantastic.”

  Tate shoved Kim farther down the corridor, eliciting another growl from Zee. She caught him looking toward her face. Waiting for the command to attack? She was tempted. He ought to be able to handle a single man in combat armor.

  But when she spotted the gym doors, they were far more solid than she would have expected, gleaming silver steel with a lock panel at eye level on one side. A sophisticated lock panel. Casmir could have waved a wrench at it, and the doors would have opened, but Kim didn’t know anything about getting around locks. She was glad she hadn’t made her move yet.

  Her captor, who didn’t seem that worried about Zee, lifted his faceplate and leaned in for a retina scan. The doors swung open, and they entered a short corridor with entrances to locke
r rooms on either side. Farther down, there was a foyer with an empty smoothie and espresso cart, as well as the clear walls of racquetball and thudmoon courts.

  Tate walked her past open doors that might have been offices once but were now packed with bunkbeds with people sitting in them or gathered on the floors. Some were playing holo-games, others gazing at nothing as they read or tinkered on chip applications, and others were clumped together and sharing concerned whispers about the attack. At first, Kim thought these people were the hostages, but most of them had rifles within reach. She realized this gym must be the base for the entire group of vigilantes. The Bakas Vengers. How many of them were there?

  Her unease grew as they walked past converted office after office, each with at least ten people passing time inside. Would it be worth tossing vials in and trying to knock some of them out? She was sending the feed to Rache so he wouldn’t be caught unaware, but if he had to fight hundreds of people… being aware of it would only help so much.

  In front of one of the doorways, she stopped and slumped against Zee.

  “Vials,” she whispered, pressing her hand to his side.

  But she was touching the wrong side. He’d sucked the vials into his other shoulder. She was about to move her hand when Zee’s hard surface softened, and a bulge pressed up against her palm. The vials.

  “What are you doing?” Tate demanded.

  “Sorry, I got dizzy.”

  “Dizzy?” He squinted. “What are you trying to pull?”

  “Nothing.”

  Kim shook her head as she pulled out several of the vials, hiding them with her hand. She slumped further to cover the motion of unstoppering one, resting it on the floor, and sliding it into the room. The men inside weren’t paying attention to her, but Tate was.

  “I have vasovagal syncope,” she said, “and I faint sometimes if I’m not careful.”

  That attempt at an excuse might have worked better on someone who knew what that was. She straightened and made a pained face as she walked to catch up with him, hoping he would truly think her in the middle of medical difficulties. But Tate snarled and snatched at her arm.

  Zee lunged and butted him back. Tate shifted his rifle toward Zee. Kim took a few more steps to the next doorway and unstoppered a second vial, holding her breath. She didn’t try to bend low and skid it across the floor again—Tate was sure to notice that, even if he was focused on Zee—and instead tossed it onto the closest bunk.

  Someone was looking at the doorway this time, and she feared he would notice the vial, but he only said, “Holy crap, is that a dog?”

  Tate fired at Zee. The DEW-Tek bolt bounced off and burned through the door to a sauna.

  Tate gaped at Zee. “What is it?”

  “He’s made from a proprietary metal alloy.” Kim’s knowledge ended there.

  “So it’s immune to energy bolts?”

  “Most metal is, isn’t it?” Kim waved for Tate to continue forward so she could toss another vial. She didn’t know if this would do any good. She only had a few more. Maybe she should save them.

  To her surprise, Tate backed up and didn’t fire again. He spun, muttering something about how someone called Spencer could take care of the weird freaks, and Kim had the opportunity to toss two more opened vials spewing her sedative gas.

  Someone back at the first room snarled, “What is that?”

  Tate either didn’t hear or just wanted to get Kim—and Zee—off his hands. He pushed her through a door to the left and into a gym full of people sitting on blankets or pacing in agitation, throwing glances toward the high ceiling.

  Kim grimaced because none of them were armored, but the guards standing around the entrance area were. If Rache rushed in and started a firefight, the hostages would have nowhere to hide. A lot of them were older men and women, people chosen because they would be deemed valuable in a negotiation with the Kingdom.

  A man shambled past with a fresh gash at his temple, blood dried on the side of his face. Were the guards letting people fight? With weapons? Only a blade could have caused a wound like that.

  She looked all around, trying to take note of all the details in case Rache would find something useful, and made sure to send the video to him while she could. She spotted Scholar Chi in a far corner, sitting against a wall with his knees drawn up and his face against them. Before she could take more than a step toward him, she spotted something else on that wall.

  A man hung from a hoopball frame, a rope around his throat, his face purpled and eyes bulged out. There was no mistaking it. He was dead.

  “Who’s that?” Kim whispered.

  “President Chronis.” Tate grunted. “The rest of the hostages decided they blamed him for this.”

  Kim stared bleakly at the man, fearing it was the truth. If the president was dead, who was left with the power to clear Yas’s name? And who was commanding the Kingdom-aligned side of this war? Did the Civil Security troops know their president and leader was dead?

  “Over here, woman,” a man at a table said.

  The twang of a switchblade sounded, and Kim spun, her fists coming up defensively.

  “Nobody keeps their chip.”

  What? Was that why that man had been bleeding?

  Kim stepped back. She wouldn’t let them take her only way of communicating with the rest of the universe—and sending footage to Rache. But several guards were within a few feet. Before, they had been watching the prisoners, but now they focused on her, shifting their weapons to point at her.

  The man at the table pointed a blade at her temple. “Grab her, Tate.”

  22

  The second and third attacks didn’t send Casmir to the floor, but even with the station’s defenses activated, he felt the jolts. Indicators flashed all over the control room, the alarms battered his ears, and the comm panel lit up with internal messages. He couldn’t take the time to answer them. He was trying to figure out the weapons.

  “There they are. And ugh—what is this schlock?”

  Simple DEW-Tek spitters mounted at various points along the exterior were all he saw. Casmir doubted they would give the pirate ships so much as a nosebleed. Was it better to fight back, knowing it would be futile, or to pretend utter helplessness?

  “The warships need to fight back,” Casmir grumbled, running across the room again. He hit the comm, not to answer anyone, but to establish an outgoing call to the Osprey. “Ishii, are you there?” he blurted as soon as someone answered.

  There was a pause. Ishii probably hadn’t been the one to answer it.

  Another blast slammed into the station. A green pirate ship flew past, showing off with a lazy barrel roll. So far, that was the only enemy ship that had fired. Maybe the pirates were seeing if the Kingdom would do anything to stop them before fully committing.

  They had better.

  “I’m here, Dabrowski,” Ishii said warily.

  Why was he wary? Casmir was the one being fired at.

  “I’m sure King Jager would give you medals for saving civilians from a pirate fleet,” Casmir said. “How about making that happen?”

  “Are the station inhabitants willing to concede to Kingdom rule and accept us as their saviors?” That was Ambassador Romano. He sounded bored. Was the show not entertaining enough?

  “I have no idea,” Casmir said. “They’re not here. I am. I’ll happily accept Kingdom rule over myself.”

  “You should be in a brig somewhere. Find someone in charge of that station. Surely, now that they’re in danger they’ll be amenable to negotiating.”

  “Why is this a negotiation?” Casmir wished the ambassador were standing in front of him so he could punch the man in the nose. “Let’s be heroes and do the right thing. Ishii, I know you didn’t bring all those marines along to just scratch their armpits and throw heavy things around in the gym.”

  The channel closed.

  “Assholes.”

  Tork strode in from one of the side rooms. “I have not located anyone, Pr
ofessor Dabrowski.”

  Casmir pushed a hand through his hair. He was sure someone would eventually rush back to this control room now that the station was being attacked, but he had to do something in the meantime.

  “Tork, do you still have that virus stored on one of your drives?”

  “I do.”

  “How did you deliver it to the Osprey and get them to open it?”

  “The comm was open because your shuttle was in contact with the warship. It was a simple matter to sneak the file into one of the automatic updates transmitted. The virus itself has self-executing capabilities.”

  “Once it’s accepted onto the destination computer.”

  “Yes.”

  Casmir hadn’t known there were automatic updates from the shuttle to the warship. Unfortunately, a pirate comm officer wouldn’t accept automatic updates from an enemy station. Casmir could have Tork send the virus, but someone would have to manually download the file before it could execute.

  “Maybe we could trick one ship into accepting it. Hm, Tork, you’ve got some good programming skills, right? Can you tinker with it and add a wrapper that gets it to automatically open comm channels to all of its ally ships and pass it along?”

  Casmir fantasized about all of the pirate ships going dark and powerless as the Osprey had. Too bad there were no gravity wells nearby that they could be sucked down into.

  “My handler did all of the programming related to the virus. I have only modest skills in that area.”

  “Send it to me then.” Casmir waved at his temple, trying not to wet himself at the idea of Tork transmitting a horrible virus to the chip linked to his brain. He reminded himself that he and Grunburg had created an antivirus program, and Tork probably still had a copy. “I’ll see what I can cobble together.”

  “Very well.”

  Another attack slammed into the station. An alarm in the control room battered at Casmir’s eardrums like a dozen sledgehammers.

  “Tork, can you try to turn that off, please? At least in here?”

  “Yes, Professor.”

  Casmir closed his eyes and concentrated on writing code. What he wanted to do was simple enough. The virus itself was brilliant, and he couldn’t imagine creating something like it, but all he had to do was add on a basic attachment. The hard part was concentrating.