Chapter Thirty-Six
Erik drummed his fingers on the control yoke of the MX 60. Jia stared straight ahead, trying to quell the unease in her heart. Flying the flitter without Emma and keeping so low to the ground felt wrong—unnatural even. Even more unnatural was Malcolm sitting in the back in a normal-looking suit and tie. He objected to not wearing his Hawaiian shirts on-planet, but in theory, they were trying to not stand out, and brightly colored Hawaiian shirts screamed Earth.
“We’re closing on the checkpoint,” Erik explained, slowing the flitter as they approached a tunnel.
A line of vehicles, mostly hovercars and trucks with a smattering of flitters, waited. Soldiers, including two men in exos, waited alongside the line, standing in front of a metal grate. An anti-aircraft heavy machine gun pointed at the sky. A pair of soldiers leaned in to talk to a frightened-looking old woman in a truck. After they shared a short conversation, one waved her through, shaking his head.
“Why did your contact have to be beyond a checkpoint?” Malcolm tugged at his collar. “Shouldn’t an ID agent be more accessible?”
“Not if he’s doing his job,” Jia replied. “The enemy is out there, not in here.”
“The rebels are past the checkpoints, right?” Malcolm asked, motioning forward. “I mean, I know they are because we already talked about this. I don’t… Okay, I get why ghosts and people like us working for them would need to go forward, but why would regular people?”
“Remember, it’s contested territory,” Jia answered. “Not rebel-controlled. They can, in theory, launch attacks from outside the dome, but it ends up being too dangerous, with too great a risk of damage to the dome. Also, trying to rush a group of soldiers through the external exits is asking to get picked off.”
“Why would anyone who wasn’t a soldier want to go there?” Malcolm pressed. “That’s what I don’t get. It’s so dangerous.”
“To get a piece of their life back.” Jia frowned. “I checked the local news before we headed out, and you’d be surprised by how many people were trying to ride out the carnage in their homes. Some still are. These are probably people who ran when a battle got too close to their homes and are now trying to collect things or look for lost family members. The problem is a lot of people think that if they aren’t shooting at anybody on either side, they’ll escape the trouble. The government is encouraging people to stay in safe zones but not requiring it yet. Among other things, there are space issues, and it looks like they’re trying to convince people they’re winning. If they try to jam the entire population of the city into one small section, morale’s going to drop. There are risks of riots or people suggesting negotiations with the insurrectionists.”
“It’s insane that they’re fighting in a place like this.” Malcolm gestured around. “They’re fighting over bombed-out buildings in domes! It’d make more sense to wait a century or two until this is terraformed into something halfway worth living on.”
“Fighting over their home.” Erik shook his head. “Once a man convinces himself he’s doing that, he’ll put up with a lot. I’m sure the rebels think everyone will hold them up as heroes once this is over.” He looked into the back seat. “Did we need more time to get it ready?”
They’d had Malcolm dive into the local net and a less secure military system to look into the checkpoints to generate an official pass. He’d seemed confident at the time, but they couldn’t be sure. They advanced a couple of vehicle lengths after the soldiers waved through some vehicles without talking to the occupants.
“No, it’s fine.” Malcolm brought up a data window and licked his lips. “Only a couple of drones in range, by the way.”
“Don’t need to take control of them yet,” Erik replied, “but keep an eye on things. If things get hot, we might want them under our control.”
“I still think we should use Alina’s code or the Guandao codes,” he muttered.
“Not yet. The more we can keep our heads down, the better. We don’t know who to trust on this planet yet.”
“I look weird, don’t I?” Malcolm slumped in his seat.
Jia rolled her eyes. “You can go a day without wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Get hold of yourself, man.”
Malcolm pointed to his face. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the holographic disguise.”
“Oh.” Jia smiled and framed her face with her hands. “We’re wearing them too. It’s one thing to be able to get past the checkpoints if we need to, but that’s not the same thing as announcing to the whole colony and the Core that we’re here. Hence the disguises and not using the codes.”
“The Core doesn’t know about me,” Malcolm insisted. He grimaced. “Do they? Do I need to update my will?”
“No, and probably.” Erik shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt. But no reason to leave a trail and help them out. If we have to make noise later, we’ll do that, but for now, we’ll try to keep a low profile.”
Malcom frowned. He typed on a virtual keyboard visible only to him. “This isn’t good.”
A couple of soldiers ahead exchanged frowns. When they leaned toward the next vehicle in line, their fingers were close to their triggers. One of them waved a silver probe back and forth. A small drone lifted off, keeping a couple of meters off the ground, and slowly floated past the lines of vehicles, passing the MX 60 and traveling past a few more vehicles before turning around.
“What’s going on?” Jia frowned.
“They’re heavy jamming all of a sudden,” Malcolm explained. “There’s no way this is background interference. I’m glad I transferred the pass to your PNIU.” He pointed at one of the soldiers, whose hand rested on his PNIU. “It looks like that guy has direct laser control of the drone. Smart.”
“We don’t have time for smart checkpoint guards.” Erik gritted his teeth. “We don’t have time for any of this shit. Now they’re going to be twice as suspicious.”
“But you have your codes and credentials. Ghost pass!” Malcolm threw up his fist in a mock cheer.
“Even if we wanted to use them, they might not help. What a captain sitting comfortably in a cruiser surrounded by destroyers will accept and what a scared corporal will accept when he’s been shot at or seen his friends die are two separate things.” Erik’s hands tightened on the control yoke. “We could stun them if they try to do something, but that’s just going to cause more trouble, and if somebody’s jamming all of a sudden, they have reason to be suspicious. We need to maintain our cover as long as possible.”
The soldiers continued scanning the area, shouting to each other. One of them waved the front vehicle through the checkpoint. The gate retracted, allowed the hovercar through, and slammed shut within seconds. That left a space for the MX 60, currently a dull gray, to move forward.
Erik lowered the window and cruised forward. He kept a calm, almost blank expression on his face and his hands visible on the yoke. Smiling at a scared man in this situation would be an insult.
A soldier approached, a sergeant. He looked back and forth before whistling. “Such a nice flitter to have such a boring color.”
“I’m a boring guy,” Erik replied. “It’s good to be boring when everything else is going to hell.”
The soldier smiled. “Why do you need to go past the checkpoint, sir?”
“I need to pick up some family mementos from my house. Should I show you my pass?”
“I think you’re going to need to step out of the vehicle, sir.” The soldier backed away and brought up his rifle. “We noticed some thermal anomalies.”
Jia sighed. That was one of the few disadvantages of the holographic disguises. They needed a distraction, but they hadn’t prepared anything.
“I have a pass,” Erik continued calmly. “Can I transmit it to you?”
The soldier narrowed his eyes. “That’s not possible.”
“Then can I show it to you?”
“I think—”
The soldier’s eyes widened and he backpedaled, rais
ing his rifle. “Incoming!” He gestured down a side street. “Everyone, get the hell out of here! Rebel attack!”
Jia pointed at a rear camera feed. A dark gunship bearing a bright machine gun emerged five buildings back, its thrusters angled down so it could hover in place with ease. There was the distraction they needed, but it also presented an immediate dilemma.
Erik closed the window. “If we go after that thing, we might blow our cover. Malcolm could hack the gate control.”
Malcolm nodded quickly and swallowed. The gunship surged forward and fired, the bullets ripping through the back of a hovertruck and almost taking the head off the sergeant who’d been talking to them moments before.
The exos raised their rifles and opened fire, but the gunship swerved back and forth in an aerial dance that allowed it to close and send a stream of bullets toward the exos. High-powered rounds riddled an exo’s shield, blasting out small pieces but not destroying it. The gunship skimmed near the wall before diving and shredding the AA machine gun near the gate.
Jia turned back around and gestured for Malcolm to move to the side. She reached toward the hidden compartment in the back. “Yes, it’ll blow our cover. You think that’s a reason to stop?”
“Nah.” Erik shook his head. “If they’re attacking this checkpoint, those soldiers aren’t with the Core. Sometimes secrets are overrated.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Erik put his hand on Jia’s shoulder. “We’re not getting out.”
“We’re better in the air?” Jia asked.
“That’s the plan, but yeah, we’re not leaving our protection.” Erik turned to Malcolm. “Make sure you’re strapped in. We’ve got decent armor on this thing, but it can’t take machine gun or cannon rounds from a gunship.”
Malcolm pulled on his seatbelt and the extra harness, swallowing. “Kind of a different experience helping you guys in the field, especially when the field is a warzone. I thought I was being a badass just being on the Argo, but I’m really in it now, aren’t I?””
“Yeah. It’s a good thing.” Erik grinned.
Malcolm swallowed. “A good thing?”
“When bullets are flying at you, it ups the pressure. Helps you focus.”
“If you say so,” Malcolm mumbled.
The gunship made another pass, this time delivering pain to the back of an exo. The pilot ejected from the sparking, smoking mess and ducked behind a pile of crates for cover. Soldiers fired into the air on full auto in a feeble attempt to down the enemy. People near the back of the line turned their vehicles around and sped away. Those trapped in the middle threw open their doors and fled toward buildings on either side, screaming.
Strafing a checkpoint was almost guaranteed to result in civilian injuries. The rebels should have kept their friends in check. That observation, combined with a magnified camera feed image, confirmed the truth for Erik. There was no way a full human could fit inside the gunship now attacking them, and the rebels or mercenaries would not risk a sortie in a jammed zone with a purely bot-controlled vehicle.
An Elite. The Core had come to them.
Something opened fire from down the street, its stream of bullets ripping dozens of holes through a long ammo crate and sending it tumbling through the air while leaking bullets. A nearby soldier rolled out of the way, avoiding being crushed by the heavy container.
The angle of attack was wrong. Erik frowned and shoved the MX 60 to the side, moving away from the soldiers and exos as converging barrages from above and from street level took down another exo. The pilot crawled out, clutching his bloody shoulder and groaning in pain. Another soldier pulled him back before the gunship strafed the area again, almost killing a woman who was ducking with her hands over her head.
One of Erik’s rear feeds revealed the source of the ground attack: two large six-legged robotic bodies with four-barrel turrets. They clung to the side of a building, held in place by spikes on the bottom of their legs. Skittering forward, they fired again. A soldier screamed as a bullet ripped through his thigh. He collapsed to the ground.
“Don’t have to open those up to know they’re Elites,” Erik grumbled. He whipped the MX 60 into the air. “The bug Elites don’t look like they can get into the air, so let’s take down the gunship first.”
“With the turret?” Jia asked. “Was that why you didn’t want us to get out?”
“Yeah,” Erik asked. “Why else?”
Jia looked concerned. “You can’t fly and shoot at the same time the way things are set up.”
Erik grunted. “Shit, yeah, you’re right. We always assume Emma will be flying or shooting. Fine, we’ll do this the hard way. You’ll shoot while Malcolm does some quick reprogramming to give us greater tactical flexibility.”
Malcolm blinked. “Excuse me, I’m going to do what?”
“It doesn’t have to be fancy. We just need something so Jia can control the turret while I’m driving. Figure something out before everyone’s dead. Improvise.”
Malcolm stared at Erik like he’d gone insane. “You want me to slap together a way for her to shoot while we’re in the middle of the battle without her being able to use the control system intended for it?”
“Gestures.” Jia held up her hands. “That’ll work. This is a temporary thing. We’ll worry about permanent options later.”
Malcolm scrubbed a hand over his face before bringing up data windows. “This is going to be tricky. You’re talking about hacking together a new control interface in minutes in the middle of a battle.”
“Adapt and overcome.” Erik chuckled. “That’s what it means to be a field agent and now rear support.”
Jia reached under the front seat to retrieve the TR-7 and the AP magazines. She winked. “Show us your fleshbag talent. I’ll buy us some time with suppression fire.”
Malcolm took a deep breath and slapped his cheeks. “I can do this. I can help save those soldiers. I might not have recoded an underlying system that quickly in the middle of a fight before, but what’s life without a little challenge?” he finished with a hysterical laugh.
Erik sped up, increasing altitude to match the turning gunship. The enemy waggled back and forth erratically. Jia slammed a fresh magazine into the TR-7 and opened her window. She rested the barrel on the bottom of the window and fired a burst at the gunship. The bullets went wide.
The enemy increased its height and spun, trying to loop behind the MX 60. The flitter might not have the overall raw speed of the gunship, but it made up for that with greater maneuverability. Quick, tight turns saved the MX 60 as the gunship dove and spewed bullets like an angry dragon desperate to destroy the knights challenging it. More importantly, they were keeping its attention on them and reducing the danger to the soldiers and civilians below.
Erik continued his erratic, serpentine flight path, throwing off the gunship. He was grateful the enemy didn’t have rockets since he wasn’t eager to test the MX 60’s potential for crash survival. He charged toward the dome’s wall, spun to the right at the last moment, and skimmed along it with less than a meter of clearance. The gunship chased them, firing a stream of bullets at the reinforced wall.
He didn’t worry. Domes could stand up to a lot of punishment. Otherwise, the average dome would never survive.
Erik smiled. Every second the gunship was focused on the MX 60, it wasn’t attacking the soldiers below. The aerial enemy had thoroughly taken the bait, but the advancing ground Elites pressed their attack, keeping the soldiers pinned behind cover and low to the ground. The best thing Erik and Jia could do for them was take down the gunship, and despite Jia’s valiant attempts with the rifle, they were going to need the turret to pull that off.
Not that the men below were defenseless. The sergeant crawled on his stomach toward a long, thin weapons case.
A couple of rounds struck the back of the MX 60, and the reinforced armor was not able to stand up to the powerful gunship rounds. The flitter shook with each impact, but no data windows popped up, n
or did any alarms sound. That was good enough for the moment. Erik couldn’t take the time to worry about minor damage. As long as he could fly, he would buy Malcolm time.
Erik accelerated and circled toward the gunship, trying to get behind it. Jia fired a couple of bursts. She frowned when she didn’t hit, but the gunship broke from its latest turn to drop into a twirling dive in an attempt to shake off its pursuers. At least it recognized the threat they represented.
The sergeant reached the case and flung it open. A rocket launcher lay inside. He pulled the weapon out, staying low. The enemy’s ground Elites advanced to within a hundred meters. Fortunately, the civilians had cleared out or run into nearby buildings, but the trails of blood provided testament that some hadn’t escaped uninjured.
Jia growled and held down her trigger, emptying the TR-7 but not bringing down the gunship. She grabbed another magazine and reloaded. Malcolm continued typing furiously, occasionally swiping with his hand or jabbing a data window and muttering under his breath. His eyes grew wilder with each passing second.
The gunship pulled up, then zoomed toward the dome’s ceiling. Erik matched its movements. The aggressive maneuver pushed him hard against his seat. Jia gritted her teeth, trying to keep the TR-7 steady as she took her next shot. Sparks signaled her hit, but the gunship didn’t react. After a couple more seconds, it abruptly dipped its nose, spun to bear down on the flitter, and fired. Bullets ripped through the side, passing through Malcolm’s data windows and missing his arm by centimeters.
He jerked his hand back. “That was…close.”
Erik scoffed. “Quit your whining. You didn’t even get hit. That was so far away it might as well have been on a different planet. Now finish what you’re doing. We’re not going to take that bastard out with a regular gun. We need the turret.”
Another enemy barrage riddled the MX 60. The flitter listed to the side, and Erik strained to keep it steady. Alert windows popped up. Erik didn’t need to look at them to know he had thruster damage and had lost some grav emitters.
Unfaithful Covenant Page 27