Criss accessed the vessel’s surveillance system and turned his attention back to Sid and Juice. They were sitting in a cart with their two Kardish captors at the far end of the drone garage. The driver was waiting for a door to open in the dividing wall.
Given their current location, Criss was convinced he knew the route the cart would follow, at least for the first several minutes, which gave him time to seek options and opportunities to facilitate their escape.
That’s when he heard Cheryl ask in a quiet voice, “Show me the schematics for this sector of the vessel.”
“Cheryl?” he said. “It’s Criss. How may I help you?” He searched her location for a signal from a dot and couldn’t find one. He detected an audio feed and recognized she was wearing a speck. He adjusted it so he could hear her voice as well as all audio inputs in her vicinity.
“I think Jack has been captured by the Kardish,” she said. “I’m by myself. The rest of the crew from the Alliance are dead. I’m standing at an operator’s panel somewhere in the Kardish vessel. Alone.”
“Yes,” he said. “I see you.”
“You see me? How? Where are you?”
“I am with you now. You are not alone. And we will rescue Jack. May I ask your help in rescuing Sid and Juice first? We have our best opportunity in just a few minutes.”
* * *
Cheryl looked around her and couldn’t see anything other than the equipment she already knew was there. The stress of losing Jack combined with this random conversation disoriented her; she sensed a trap but didn’t see alternatives.
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
Criss spoke to her through her speck in a soothing voice. “Sid was able to maneuver the scout through an open hatch in the Kardish vessel. He, Juice, and I are on board with you now. They have been captured. In four minutes, they will be driving by you in a cart. May I ask you to move quickly to the three pillars on your right?”
Cheryl looked left and couldn’t see the pillars.
“The pillars would be to your right. You must hurry.”
She turned her head and saw three thick poles. They were farther away than she first pictured in her head. She looked at them but didn’t move.
“Now, Captain Wallace,” Criss commanded. “Move it. Double time.”
The tenor of his voice and his military phrasing tapped into her years of training. Spurred into action, she stooped and ran toward the poles. As she moved, the cloak sheet slid off her shoulders and onto the floor.
He spoke to her as she ran. “They will drive by on the far side of the pillars. The cart will be coming from your right. The pillars are wide enough to hide you.”
Cheryl continued with her crouching run. She slowed at a few spots along the way, places that offered her cover, so she could scan for danger before moving forward. She otherwise kept hustling. “How much more time?”
“You will hear them in two minutes. They will reach you in three.”
When she reached the broad poles, she turned and leaned back against the middle one. Her weapons, one on each wrist, were primed. She squatted down and breathed purposefully, centering herself and visualizing her next actions. She heard the purr of a cart.
Chapter 30
Sid rounded the corner at a trot and stopped. Juice stood motionless in front of him. She stared at him with wide eyes. A Kardish had his left arm around her neck. His right hand held a weapon that he was pushing into the back of her head.
Sid put his hands up and surrendered. As he did, he wondered if the alien understood the gesture. He looked into her captor’s eyes, and as they locked, the alien smirked. Sid felt something press into the back of his own head. He toggled to see himself through Juice’s dot and saw that her captor had a twin. The twin held his weapon on Sid.
The Kardish disarmed Sid, backed up, and moved around to his left. He motioned with his weapon. Sid turned to see a cart parked in an alley immediately to his right. The Kardish holding Juice dragged her to the cart, and Sid understood he was to follow. Juice was pushed into the front seat. Her captor slid into the driver’s position next to her. Sid was directed to get in the back, behind the driver.
When Sid’s captor slid into the backseat next to him, he moved his weapon off Sid and pointed it straight ahead toward Juice. The Kardish in front, his weapon pointed at Juice as well, engaged the cart. Sid was fascinated. Both weapons on her, none on him, and they seemed convinced he was controlled. They were right, of course. For now.
They drove out to the road dividing the box city from the open field and headed for the drone parking garage. They traveled past row after row of the structure, turned down a corridor between two rows of cubicles, and made their way to the dividing wall. Drone-filled stacks passed by in endless succession on either side.
Sid studied his adversaries. He believed he could disarm and shoot the one next to him using the alien’s own weapon. And he could follow up and shoot the driver before he could turn and respond. He would survive, but it wasn’t at all clear that Juice would. Vigilant, he waited for an opportunity that promised a better outcome, or at least better odds.
And then he heard Criss say through his dot, “I am awake. I will help you soon.” Sid saw Juice turn her head slightly and flick her eyes back. Criss had spoken to her, too.
They reached the dividing wall, a door opened, and they passed into a section of the vessel that held pods of equipment and machinery. The cart purred along while his brain cycled furiously as he searched for a chance to take action. It seemed certain they were getting closer to more Kardish, which would only make escape more difficult.
* * *
Criss made a judgment call. He observed that the otherwise calm professionalism of the group could be affected by their personal feelings for each other. Sid did not know that Cheryl was alive. With minutes to go before a critical sequence, Criss decided that now was not the time to reveal that information. He chose to execute the next steps in a manner that would avoid such emotional complexities.
“In two minutes, I will be shooting the driver,” Criss said to Sid. “I will immediately follow this by shooting the guard next to you. I will give you a countdown to prepare. I will fire the shots just as you draw even with the three pillars up ahead. The shots will come from behind and to your left. If you lean forward and down at the zero mark, it will maximize the chances of two clean shots.”
* * *
Sid looked at Juice and, from her lack of reaction, decided she hadn’t received a similar message. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. He also wondered what sort of weapon Criss could access. Instinct suggested Criss had succeeded in infiltrating the Kardish subsystems and would use an automated security device of some sort to pull off this action.
He saw the pillars up ahead and scrutinized them and the surrounding area to learn what he could. He didn’t see anything that gave him a better sense of what was to come. The pillars drew closer as Sid played out different scenarios in his head, preparing for both success and mishap.
“You are passing the three pillars on your left.” Criss said. “Slouch in three…two…one…now.”
Sid leaned forward and touched the tips of his boots.
* * *
Cheryl could hear the approaching cart and responded to her next instruction.
“Move behind the pillar nearest the cart.”
She shifted her position, keeping the broad pole directly between her and the sound of the approaching vehicle, fighting the urge to sneak a look.
“Thirty seconds,” Criss said. “It’s just like the cart you rode in with Jack. There’s a Kardish driver with Juice in front. Sid and another Kardish are in back. Sid is behind the driver. The Kardish is behind Juice.”
Cheryl was comfortable with her mental image of the situation. In her head, she stepped through the sequence of actions she would take, recognizing the possibility she may have misunderstood an important detail in the impending scenario. In her years of training, she’d w
orked through hundreds of drills where the instructors prepared her using one set of facts and then followed with a live exercise where the facts were scrambled. That practice had been intended to train her for just this event. In the drills, she’d proved herself as someone who was able to adapt as new information became available. She reassured herself that she would be able to do so now.
“As the cart begins to pass,” said Criss, “come around behind the pillars and approach the cart from the rear. You will have to move quickly so your target remains close. Shoot the driver first. He will be on your near side in front. Then shoot the other. He will be on the far side in back.”
“Got it,” she said, more to herself than anything else.
The cart seemed like it was right on top of her. “Start moving around behind the pillar,” Criss told her. “Good. Come around. Breathe. Now, Captain.”
Cheryl stepped out from behind the pillar and, taking long strides, approached the cart. Her mental image matched what she saw in front of her, and she maintained her pace as she leveled her weapon. She targeted the driver and fired. Without hesitation, she moved her eyes back to identify Sid and then over to target the Kardish next to him.
As she shifted the weapon onto the second alien, she saw Sid slump. Oh my God, she thought. I’ve hit him! She became flustered. She didn’t want to compound her error by hitting Juice. Her aim wavered and her second shot went wide. The Kardish in the backseat turned his head and made a move to swing his arm around and return fire.
* * *
As Sid leaned forward, he could almost feel the energy of the first shot when the bolt passed just to his left. It hit the driver, the impact centered in the back of the alien’s head. Nice shot, Criss, he thought. With the driver down, the cart slowed.
He heard the second shot and then heard an impact on a piece of equipment far off to his right. Criss missed!
He paused, not sure if Criss would fire again. Then the guard next to him reacted. Sid saw him move his weapon off Juice and toward him. Sid realized he was going to be shot. His reflexes took over.
Sid swung his body up and moved in the direction of the guard. In the same motion, he grabbed the top of the guard’s weapon in his left hand and pulled the hand up to amplify the guard’s own actions. As he pulled, he applied pressure to twist the weapon inward.
While controlling the movement of the weapon with his left hand, Sid snapped his right arm straight up. With his hand flat, he thrust his palm into the guard’s face. He heard a crunch as the guard’s nose broke. A gush of blood followed. The guard was momentarily distracted as he processed his pain.
That distraction was what Sid sought. He brought his right hand down to help his left. He continued moving the weapon inward, forcing it back until it was pointed at the guard. He used his thumbs to push on the alien’s fingers, trying several times before the weapon fired. The weapon pulsed, and the guard’s body arched, slumped, and slid slowly out of the cart. Sid could see the burn mark on the side of his chest as the Kardish sprawled lifelessly onto the deck.
Someone or something touched him from behind. Sid swung his left elbow up and back, throwing his weight into it as he turned. He felt a satisfying thud as he connected with the side of a head. Pivoting his body to follow through with a punch, he stopped, astonished, when he recognized Cheryl. She crumpled forward into his lap.
Chapter 31
Juice, still in the cart, surveyed the scene. Behind her, Sid cradled Cheryl’s limp body in his arms. She turned her attention to the driver. Given the impressive wound in the back of his head, she was certain he was no longer a threat. She stepped out onto the deck, pushed a toe into the side of the guard on the ground, squatted down to study him, and concluded he was down for good as well.
She came around the front of the cart and approached Sid. She put two fingers on Cheryl’s neck and felt a strong pulse. She watched Cheryl’s chest rise rhythmically and steadily.
“She’ll be okay, Sid. It wasn’t your fault.”
Juice realized at that moment that her experiences over the last days had given her a new perspective. Perhaps it was strengthened confidence. Maybe it was a sense of self-reliance. Whatever it was, she knew Sid had been her source of emotional support. She had drawn energy from him over and over. It’s your turn to give back, she thought.
She stood next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder, and scanned the area for signs of danger.
* * *
Sid stroked Cheryl’s hair. She moaned. Her eyes fluttered, opened, and connected with his.
“I knew you’d come for me,” she said in a weak voice.
The two hugged for a long time. He whispered in her ear, and she whispered back. He helped her to a sitting position, and she gingerly touched her temple where his elbow connected.
“Is it bad?” he asked, his voice anxious.
“No worse than the last time you knocked me down.” She started to grin, but her expression turned into a wince.
Sid, satisfied that Cheryl was recovering, exploded. “Damn it, Criss. What the hell was that?”
Criss deflected the issue nicely. “Jack needs our help. Time is critical. He is not doing well.”
Cheryl’s eyes opened wide as she sat all the way up. “Jack’s been captured by the Kardish. He was headed to the rooms over there.” She pointed to the wall partition along the near side.
“Criss,” said Sid. “Can you locate him?”
“He is being held in a side room. He is being interrogated.”
“Can you get us to him?”
“Yes. It will be fastest to drive.”
Sid helped Cheryl into the backseat, then moved to the front, grabbed the dead driver by his royal costume, and tossed him onto the deck. He climbed into the driver’s seat, and upon looking down, realized he wasn’t sure how to operate the vehicle.
Juice got in next to him and pointed. “That thingy,” she said.
Sid got the cart moving, and Criss gave him turn-by-turn instructions to guide them to Jack and his captors.
“Criss, other than screwing up ambushes, how are you doing?” Sid’s phrasing reflected his belief that the crystal’s miscues had caused him to hurt Cheryl.
“I am fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Is the cloak still working? Are you being threatened in any way?”
“I am safe and secure for the moment. I will notify you if I need assistance.”
After a few more turns, Sid had an idea. “Can you show us Jack? Can you show me on my dot?”
“Me too,” said Juice.
They both saw an image of Jack. He was bound to a chair, naked from the waist up, and had nasty-looking red marks on his shoulders, arms, and chest. His head slumped forward, and he wasn’t moving.
Two Kardish stood in front of him. Sid and Juice couldn’t hear sounds from the scene they were watching, but it was apparent the aliens were disagreeing about something. The younger male had his arms folded across his chest. The older female was waving her finger at him as she spoke in an animated fashion.
“That’s Victoria Wellstone,” said Juice. “I’ve met her at least a dozen times. I’d always thought she was a horrible bitch. Now I know why.”
Sid was quiet for a moment as he studied the scene. “I’ve seen Jack take a hell of a lot of punishment. He looks bad. Criss, what’ve they done to him?”
“They have infused him with drugs designed to elicit truthful responses. The drugs were created for the Kardish physiology. He is gravely ill.”
“What are the red marks?”
“At first they thought he was faking his affliction. They struck him a number of times before they realized he was not.”
Sid stopped the cart a short distance from where Jack was being held and hopped out. Looking at Juice, he said. “Swing this around and point it for a quick getaway.”
He turned to Cheryl. “Can you help?”
“I’m good.” She stepped out of the cart, and Sid noted that she steadied herself with
both hands as she did so. It was clear she was hurting, but he didn’t have other options.
As they walked up to the door, Cheryl checked her weapons. “I couldn’t see whatever you and Juice were looking at. I’m going in blind.”
Sid nodded. “Criss, will the door open? Any locks or anything I need to know about?”
“Just lift the latch and push.”
“What kind of access do you have to the subsystems? Could you cause a distraction for us in there?”
There was a moment of quiet. “Sid, on your mark, I will open a relief tap in the back of the room. It will make a loud hissing noise. Your dot will let you see how they react. When their attention has been sufficiently misdirected, you enter, approach, and dispatch. Cheryl, I suggest you go directly to Jack and free him. It will likely take both of you to move him to the cart.”
“He’s sitting about fifteen steps forward and to the right,” said Sid as he reviewed the scene inside the room. He put his hand on the latch and counted for Criss. “Three…two…one…go.”
They heard a violent hissing noise coming from inside the room. Sid watched as both aliens turned to look.
“Here we go,” he said to Cheryl over his shoulder. He lifted the latch and pushed the door open. He took four long strides into the room and shot the aliens in quick succession. The male fell silently. Victoria was able to turn around and throw a glare of hatred before she crumbled.
Sid ran to where Cheryl was fussing with the restraints, freeing Jack just as he reached them. Jack was unconscious. Sid squatted in front of the chair and pulled Jack forward and over his shoulder. He stood up, took a stutter-step as he gained his balance under the weight, and walked quickly out to the cart. He leaned forward and laid Jack across the back seat.
Cheryl perched on the edge of the cart seat and tended to him. Sid hopped in front. “Hit it,” he said to Juice.
Juice engaged the cart and drove them through the maze of pipes and equipment. There was a palpable change in mindset at that moment. The survivors were together now. The highest priority on their to-do list was to get off the Kardish vessel and on their way home. A close second was to leave a ball of fire behind them.
Crystal Deception Page 23