"That's fresh," said Peter.
"Not good," added Liu.
"Skylar Gutierrez? Skylar Gutierrez!" Mason called.
"Here!" a desperate cry rang out.
He rushed to the quivering voice and looked through the bars. The terrified girl was seemingly unharmed.
"I'm Max Mason. We've been hired to get you out of here."
"Hired? You're not the Army?"
"No, Ma'am, not even close. Stand back."
She looked completely stunned but did as he asked.
"Come on, Mason, we gotta get the hell out of here!" Josiah shouted.
Mason pulled out a magnetic explosive device from his webbing and slapped it onto the lock. He turned away, and the small shaped charge popped and blew the lock off with little effort. He grabbed the bars and ripped the door open. The girl was quivering at the back of the cell and clearly wasn't sure whether to trust them or not.
"Who sent you?"
"Your father hired us to get you out of this hell hole."
"Prove it."
"Sorry, no time."
He stepped forward and grabbed her. She tried to resist but to no avail.
"Get off me!" she screamed.
He held her at arms reach, slapping her lightly on the face. It was more to shock than hurt her.
"Pull yourself together, or do you want us to leave you with these scum?"
She shook her head and submitted, knowing she was powerless to fight him even if she wanted to. She dipped her head and then looked back up as she remembered something important.
"Wait, there's another girl here."
"We passed her on the way in. She's gone."
"No, in the next cell. Please help her. I'll get my father to pay you for it."
Mason stopped and thought for a moment.
"What's the hold-up?" Josiah asked from the corridor.
"Check the cell beside us!"
He grabbed Skylar and hauled her out the cell while his comrades checked.
"There's a girl in there all right. She's gagged and tied to the bed," replied Josiah.
"Get her out."
"We ain't got all day."
"Do it!" yelled Liu.
The old timer turned to the short Asian with a scornful look.
"We aren't leaving her behind."
"And you think the target’s daddy is gonna pay for god knows who?"
"We've already been paid to do this job. What more is it to us to take this one as well?"
"Get the girl!" Carter's voice boomed.
Josiah went silent. He would submit to the Boss' will, but he wouldn't do the job for Liu.
"We got incoming!"
Laser fire soared down the corridor.
"You've got ten seconds!" said Carter, taking up position to repel their attackers. Liu quickly put a charge on the locks, but it didn't completely break the seal.
"It's stuck!"
Mason rushed to his aid and grabbed hold of the bars of the upper part of the door.
"Put your back into it!" yelled Liu.
They tried with all their strength but failed to open it.
"Stand back," said Mason, lifting his rifle.
"You could weld it shut with that."
"Maybe, but it's this way or nothing."
He fired a dozen shots into the lock and another dozen into the hinges of the thick reinforced door.
"Now pull!"
The two of them grabbed the bars once again, heaving with everything they had until it prised open little more than twenty centimetres.
"That's all we're gonna get."
"It'll do."
"For you maybe," said Mason with a smile. "Only a girl could fit through a gap like that."
Liu ripped off his body armour and webbing and squeezed into the cell.
"It's getting a little hot out here!" Carter shouted.
Mason looked back to see the Boss ducking for cover from gunfire which was rapidly growing nearer. The previously tied up woman was now on her feet. He was surprised to see she was not at all shaken like Skylar. She could clearly handle herself and was making a break for the door to join them.
"Name’s Mason."
"Erin."
"You better hope we get paid up for this one!" Josiah called out.
Mason shook his head as Liu got out from the cell behind her and grabbed his gear.
"We're outta here!" cried Mason.
Carter was quick to his feet and running past the cells to lead the way. Peter and Josiah were providing fire to cover them as they made their way further inside the old freighter.
"Where are we going?" Erin asked.
Mason could tell she knew they were going deeper inside the ship, and it rightfully worried her.
"Just keep up and you'll be fine!"
She wasn't happy at having her question ignored, but he had no time to be concerned about anything but the plan.
"Come on, go!" Carter ordered.
He ushered them through a doorway, waiting with his rifle while they all rushed past him. As Josiah made it to the door, he caught sight of one of the kidnappers. He fired two shots with his rifle and punched the door release switch. He glanced back and saw a laser go through before the door sealed. It hit Josiah in the back.
His old friend was thrown of his feet and landed face first on the deck. Carter rushed to his side, but he was still breathing. He checked his back.
"One lucky son of a bitch, Joe."
"Yeah, your turn to get shot next time."
"No chance. We finish up here, and I'm done with this game for good," he said, groaning as he helped his friend to his feet.
"Where are you leading us?" pleaded Skylar.
"The hell out of here," Mason replied.
"But the exit is the other way," Erin added.
"No, the entrance is the other way, and it’s now crawling with low life scum, all who want a piece of you."
"Climb in," said Carter.
Erin looked around to see the team was climbing into an escape module.
"That surely can't still work?"
"Bet your sweet little ass," Mason answered.
"The scum running this place keep it operational to escape in the event of the authorities ever bearing down on 'em."
"And it'll work in this atmosphere?"
"You sure do talk a lot," Mason muttered. He pushed her through the hatch where she tumbled, breaking her fall but recovered quickly. It did not go unnoticed by Mason.
She sure is very different to the useless spoilt brats like Skylar.
The escape module was cramped, with six seats running down each side and facing each other. They were all familiar with the setup.
"Never thought I'd ever have to actually use one of these things," said Skylar with a whimper and a tear.
They each pulled down the restraint loops over their seats and heard the engine fire up automatically as the sensors detected all were aboard and squared away.
"Ready for this, Mason?" asked Carter.
"No."
"This better work," said Liu.
"We'll never know if it doesn't."
"Good to know!" yelled Mason. The engines reached full power, and the pod lurched and rocketed off from the freighter. The pod had launched them up and out at a forty-degree angle from the kidnappers’ base. It was only a minute or two before the descent began, and they felt a chute open to slow it down.
Skylar was breathing heavily and close to having a panic attack. The smell of fresh sweat filled the pod, combined with the burning smell of Josiah's armour that was still running hot from the laser shot. Carter lifted his arm and tapped a few buttons on a pad attached to his forearm.
"Our ride is on the way."
"We can't have got far?" asked Erin.
"Don't you worry, everything is in order," replied Carter.
"Didn't exactly go to plan. We're late, one more than planned, and I got shot," added Josiah.
"Life's a bitch."
Mason smiled.
The two old friends bickered like an old couple, while Peter didn't say a word.
"Almost home now."
The pod came to a rough landing, and as doors released on impact, they felt the thick hot air flood in.
"Remind me not to take a holiday here," said Carter.
"Amen to that," Mason laughed.
They climbed out, and a small quadrotor flier floated up to their position, stopping a few metres away as Carter tapped a few more keys on the control pad. The vehicle had a two metre wide fan at each corner. It was completely open topped, without even a windshield. Two rows of Spartan seating and an open cargo bed lay behind the controls.
"You lot really travel in style," Erin said.
The ground erupted a few metres off, and dirt and dust were thrown over them. They could see a column of vehicles approaching.
"Get in!" Carter shouted.
"They must have known we were going for the pod," Mason said. They clambered aboard, and Skylar was tossed aboard in a rather undignified fashion.
"See what saving that other girl did!" screamed Josiah.
"Quit your bitching and shoot something!" Carter ordered.
Carter fired up the quadrotor and stormed forwards as the vehicles drew nearer.
"Hope you've got a damn good plan to get us out of this!"
Mason shook his head at Erin’s lack of faith, lifted his rifle, and fired at the nearest truck approaching them.
"Mitchell, you better get your ass here now!" Mason hollered down the radio.
"Where the hell is he?" he muttered to himself.
"That junkie is gonna get us killed."
"You're just a bundle of laughs today, aren't you, Joe?" Mason jested.
Lasers pounded the ground around them, sending dust and debris up and over their heads.
"What are we doing, Boss?" Peter asked.
Just when he was out of ideas, a radio transmission came through.
"Mitchell here at the primary extraction. What is your status?"
"We need pickup now!"
"Move to secondary extraction?"
"Mitchell, we've got hostiles on our tail. Get your fucking ass to our coordinates now!"
The radio went silent for a few seconds, but the gunfire continued.
"Boss, you're running out of road. Two clicks, and you're facing a thousand metre cliff edge drop."
"What?" Mason yelled.
"We can't make that, not with this much weight," said Liu.
"Mitchell, you're gonna have to pick us up mid fall. Piggyback landing, you remember that?"
"What?" Josiah shouted.
"We don't have a choice."
"Boss, we ain't even tried it before," Mitchell added.
"Tough shit, do or die."
"This is one great rescue attempt," Erin said to Mason.
"Hey, not like there was anyone else coming for you. Count yourself lucky."
A laser struck Liu's arm, and he screamed out in pain. His rifle flew out his hands and overboard. Mason grabbed the back of his webbing. He was keeling dangerously over the edge and hauled him back in. The enemy vehicles were closing rapidly.
"Mitchell, where the hell are you?"
They could see the cliff edge now and the blur of the landscape way in the distance beyond it.
"What are you gonna do?"
"Go over the edge and hope for the best, Josiah," replied Carter.
"That's one hell of a leap of faith," said Peter.
"I'll take our chances on Mitchell over whatever those animals would do. Everyone hold on. This ain't gonna be pretty!"
The edge was a hundred metres away, and there was still no sign of Mitchell.
"Sure about this, Boss?"
"No, Mason!"
Mason could do nothing but smile.
Well, if it all fails, we won’t live to know it.
"Here we go!"
They hit the edge, and the quadrotor soared from the cliff at such a speed, it felt as if they'd keep going forward. The skimmer could handle a few hundred metres, but not the sort of free fall they were about to begin. Just as the nose dipped, Mason looked back at the kidnappers’ vehicles sliding to a halt at the edge. A thick dust cloud had been kicked up. A few lasers fired at them, but they were suddenly drowned out by the booming resonation of engines as a ship burst through the dust cloud and bearing down on them rapidly.
"There she is!"
Carter could see Mitchell descending rapidly to catch them, and he did everything he could to keep the nose up.
"Deploy the clamps!" he yelled.
Mason reached over and punched the switch that extended magnetic clamps from the body. They were intended for holding the vehicle down to a landing point, but it was their best shot at getting a safe landing. The transport ship soared beneath them as they reached five hundred metres from the craggy rocks below. The quadcopter landed hard on the top of the ship. They all jolted violently, and pain soared through their necks. They slid a few metres along the length of the fuselage until coming to a stop.
"We're on!" Carter called to Mitchell.
The nose began to lift, but they were still diving towards the rocks and an impending death.
"Mitchell, get us up! Mitchell!"
They had descended to only a hundred and fifty metres, and no one thought they were going to make it, when Mitchell fired the landing boosters and managed to gain some lift.
"Come on!" yelled Mason.
The nose lifted when they reached eighty metres, and they rushed forward over the desolate landscape before levelling off. Carter took in a deep breath of air in relief.
"Holy shit," he said in shock.
"Hell of a way to end a career, hey, Boss?" asked Mason.
"Not what I had in mind, but it'll do," he said with a smile.
Chapter 2
"Welcome to the Foxy Lady," Mason said.
Erin turned to him with a painful look and smiled beneath gritted teeth.
"Really? The Foxy Lady?"
"Sure. She used to be named after the Boss' wife, but after his third marriage, he figured it was time for something more...universal."
"Classy."
"We thought so. She's a Leander class transport, top of the line twenty years ago, and still as solid as ever. Seen us through hell and back more than a few times."
"Looks homely," she said sarcastically.
"Sure is."
Her sarcasm had been wholly lost on Mason, who was never more pleased than when he returned to what was his home. The ramp closed behind them, and they began to lift off from the planet they'd all rather never see again in their lifetimes. Erin turned to see Skylar was being handed a cup of coffee from a crewmember she hadn't met. Skylar was still shaking and in shock. The fact Erin wasn't sparked Mason's curiosity. He led her over to Skylar and the other man who was in his mid-fifties. His hairline was receding, and he had a deeply weathered and wrinkled face. Despite this, he had a pleasant smile and the look of a trustworthy and friendly sort of fellow.
"This is Archibald Andrews, but we mostly called him Wizard. He's the ship's go to guy."
"Go to for what?"
"You want to have a good meal, stitch up a wound, or blow shit up, he's your man."
"That's quite a résumé."
"A what?" asked Mason.
"Nice to meet you," added Andrews. "I was told we'd only be having one guest."
"Yeah, this one was down there too. She'll be catching a ride with us."
"Until Gutierrez pays up," Josiah added.
"You've already met the merry one among the bunch. Josiah."
"Hey, I only want what is rightfully ours. We risked all our lives in there to get her out."
"And I am very thankful," replied Erin.
"Josiah likes his thanks in cash, and I can't say there ain't one among us who doesn't share that thought," stated Mason.
Erin looked down at Skylar. She was still weeping.
"And helping a girl in need isn't enough?"
&
nbsp; "Good will doesn't pay the bills," replied Mason.
She was taken aback.
It clearly hasn’t occurred to her that money might be so much an issue.
"You've come from money then. Why's no one paid your ransom?"
"I...I was only taken yesterday. Nobody knows where I am."
"Trust me, those scum would have been more than keen to tell the world where you were if it meant some cash in hand. So why didn't you tell 'em?"
She went quiet, clearly not wanting to explain her circumstances.
"What are you, a runaway? Deserter? No, you can handle yourself, but you are no soldier. What have you got to hide?"
Andrews stood up and strode to her aid.
"Gentlemen, the girl's been through enough. Leave her be."
Mason backed down, but they all knew it would not be the end of it.
Carter strode into the room from the bridge.
"Well, now that's over, I'd like to personally welcome you both aboard. I am Ed Carter, the Captain of this ship. We were hired by your father, Miss Gutierrez, and whom you will be returned to shortly. And you, we were not introduced?"
"Erin."
Carter was in his late sixties and clearly coming to the end of his chosen career. His hair was silky grey and short. He was tall and workmanlike in his appearance and walked with a stiffness in his left leg, which was inevitably a combat wound. He and Erin couldn't be from more different worlds, but she instantly felt as though she could trust him.
"Evidently, your manners haven't rubbed off on all your crew yet, Captain."
He smiled in response, which got a few laughs from those standing around.
"She thinks you're a charmer," Mason grinned.
"You've got no idea," he said with a smirk.
Carter turned to Skylar.
"We're en route to meet a representative of your father’s. We rendezvous in about six hours. Until then, we will do our best to make you comfortable."
"A representative, my father won't be there?"
Mason shook his head. He wanted to rib the girl's father, but he turned to Erin and could see her shaking her head for him to back down. Something in the sincerity of her eyes made him do so.
"We're meeting his head of security, Arlon Thompson."
"Great."
"You have a problem with that?"
Maniacs: 01 - The Krittika Conflict Page 2