by Isaac Hooke
Surus frowned. “No.”
Rade didn’t retrieve his rifle to rejoin the defensive; he simply felt too groggy. He blamed it on a combination of the medication, his healing wounds, and the exhausting flight to the hospital.
So he sat on the floor near Batindo with Shaw. Bender and Tahoe tried to guard the rear, but they soon gave their rifles back to the unarmed Centurions and joined him, taking their places between two upturned beds.
“Man, can’t keep my eyes open,” Bender said. “I’m really crashing after that medical high.”
“Shaw, take back your rifle,” Rade said. “You’re in charge. Bender, Tahoe and I are going to rack out. Wake us if you need us. Tahoe, Bender, set your alarms for an hour.”
Rade set the alarm in his Implant, then he closed his eyes and was out cold in moments.
eight
Rade awakened to the beeping of his Implant alarm. He dismissed it and sat up, tentatively peering past the edges of the upturned beds he had hidden behind.
Half the team members were still arrayed underneath the mattress-blocked windows, while the other half remained guarding the entrance to the room, their rifles aimed into the hallway outside. Some of the Centurions had crouched behind the upturned bed frames to cover the walls, floor and ceiling themselves with their weapons, as if expecting the enemy to break through at any time. Probably a good idea to watch those areas, considering that plasma rifles could drill through the unarmored walls relatively easily. Though more likely the tangos would detonate charges if they really wanted to break through.
“Shaw, sit-rep?” Rade asked.
“Since you’ve been under, it’s been fairly quiet,” Shaw said. “No major attacks... the governor’s robots seem content to allow us to slowly pick them off. My guess is Batindo was correct about the VIP.”
He glanced at Batindo. The man remained cowering beside him. Like the Argonauts, he had opened his faceplate, which made it easier to see his dyed hair. None of the other hostages had red hair like that, but they were just as frightened. From the way their expressions soured when they glanced at Batindo, he knew they disliked the man. Red was supposed to signify power. Courage. And that he was demonstrating the complete opposite, yet flaunted the hair, made them resentful. Either that, or they just hated him because he was teaming up with these obviously foreign hostage-takers.
Rade studied Ran Kato next. The so-called VIP seemed calmest of the hostages. Because of that alone, Rade could believe he was the king’s cousin.
“Bax, do you read, over?” Rade tried.
“They’re still jamming our Implants,” Shaw said. “TJ hasn’t been able to find a workaround.”
Staying low, Rade retrieved his plasma rifle from one of the robots and then went to Shaw’s side. She had assumed a guard position at the entrance to the room with Harlequin, TJ, Surus and two combat robots.
Rade felt far more alert than he had an hour ago. Bender joined him.
“Hey hotty with a botty,” Bender told Surus.
She ignored him.
“Seriously, bro?” Manic said. “You really want to sleep with an alien? A bug.”
“Why not?” Bender said. “If the bug looks like her...”
“What if you touch the condensation on her neck while you’re doing your thing?” Manic said. “You’ll be incinerated.”
“I’m willing to take the risk,” Bender said. “It’ll be worth it. Come on, look... that’s some fine quality ass right there.”
Surus gave him a withering look. “If you don’t cease and desist immediately, I will employ my fist with extreme prejudice on your face.”
Bender tilted his cheek toward her and rubbed it with two fingers. “Come on, go ahead. Come on baby. You turn me on.”
“Surus, defend the opening,” Rade said. “Bender, either shut up, or join the others by the window.”
“Sorry boss,” Bender said.
Rade glanced at his overhead map and saw eight frozen red dots distributed throughout the partially-mapped hallways and rooms beyond, representing enemy units. The fact they were frozen, with ever increasing ping times, told him that it had been quite a while since any of the Argonauts had sighted those units.
“So what are we looking at?” Rade asked.
TJ was the one who answered. “We got eight tangos holed up down the hall. Some of them in rooms. Some of them in side hallways. Haven’t seen any of them in at least half an hour, though. They’re definitely keeping a low profile.”
Rade shrunk the map and returned his attention to the entrance in the real world; he slowly stood taller, aiming his plasma rifle over Shaw’s head and into the hallway beyond. Everything was indeed quiet out there.
He continued scanning the area for about five minutes, then he pulled away to give Bender a go.
He sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. He was tempted to shut his faceplate so that he could mute them all and cave out. But now wasn’t the time.
I just had an hour’s rest.
Strange how it didn’t feel that way, though.
Rade retreated from the entrance and made his way at a crouch to the windows. Lui had propped his heavy gun on the center windowsill, pressing it between the shielding mattress and the window frame. Rade noticed that there were quite a few laser and plasma bore holes in the mattress that he hadn’t seen before.
Lui notice his gaze. “They’re definitely holding back. They only return fire when we engage. It seems they don’t want to harm the hostages.”
Rade glanced once more at the overhead map to count the red dots distributed throughout the rooftops and windows of the building opposite the hospital. More of those dots were in the street below, taking cover behind the police vehicles.
“Did you ever think,” Fret said, “that it’s not the hostages they care about, but us? Maybe they want to capture us alive to torture us? Or maybe they even want to hold us hostage.”
“Why would they hold us hostage?” Lui said. “Who would pay any money to see us released? Well, Surus I could see... her Green friends would come running with cash. But how about the rest of us? Who are we, other than a bunch of lowlife security consultants?”
“Hey, speak for yourself,” Fret said. “I happen to think very highly of myself.”
“Oh I know you do,” Lui said.
“I’m well-connected, bro,” Fret said. “And I can think of more than a few people who would be happy to pitch in and help with whatever price my hostage takers set.”
“Well good for you,” Lui said. “Glad you have such an extensive support network. Funny that I’ve never seen any of these people, though.”
“Hey, I have a life outside of work, you know,” Fret said. “What do you think I do in all my spare time? Chat with random chicks on the InterGalNet?”
“That’s what I thought, yeah,” Lui said with a slight laugh.
“Could be that it’s not us they want to take alive,” Tahoe said. “Nor even the King’s cousin. But him.” He nodded toward Batindo.
The Kenyan sensed his gaze and turned his frightened eyes on Tahoe.
“Got an enforcer walking into view,” Harlequin said. “With hands raised, and holding a white flag.” Harlequin was viewing the hallway outside the entrance via his scope.
“Don’t fire,” came a distance voice. “I am the hostage negotiator.”
“A negotiator?” Rade made his way to the front of the room at a crouch.
He peered past, and saw the black- and blue-colored polycarbonate body of the enforcer. It was indeed waving a white flag.
“Let’s see what it has to say,” Rade told his Argonauts. He shouted: “Come forward!”
The enforcer slowly approached, the hum of its servomotors and the clang of its metallic feet echoing from the walls. It wasn’t armed, as far as Rade could tell. But that didn’t mean it was not deadly.
“That’s close enough,” Rade said when the robot was five meters from the door. “You’re the hostage negotiator, you say?
”
“I am,” the enforcer replied. “What will it take to ensure the release of the hostages?”
“We want safe transport to the hangar bay,” Rade said. “Once we’ve reached the shuttles, we’ll release four hostages. The rest will come with us aboard the shuttles. Once we’ve safely left the city, without any sign of pursuers, we’ll drop off the remaining hostages at a location outside the dome, and transmit the positions to you. They will be given jumpsuits to survive the hostile environment, of course.”
“I need to see that the hostages are alive,” the enforcer said. “I need proof of life.”
“I can give you access to one of our video feeds,” Rade said.
“No,” the enforcer said. “Video feeds can be faked.”
Rade nodded slowly. He had already changed his mind, anyway. He didn’t want the enforcer to see the positions of his team members in case the enemy was planning a surprise assault.
“Tahoe, bring one of them forward,” Rade said.
“I need to see Doctor Ran Kato,” the enforcer clarified.
Rade smiled inside. The enforcer had just revealed that the doctor was indeed the one they wanted.
“Bring him, Tahoe,” Rade said.
Tahoe appeared a moment later, gripping Kato firmly in one arm. Rade and the others cleared slightly from the entrance, giving the pair room.
“You have your proof,” Rade said. “Tahoe?”
Tahoe led the man back inside.
“The other hostages have not been harmed?” the enforcer said.
“Your attacks haven’t helped,” Rade said. “But so far, no, they haven’t been harmed.”
“And Batindo is still alive?” the enforcer asked.
“Would you like to see him, too?” Rade said.
“That won’t be necessary,” the enforcer said. “I will take your message back to my chief for consideration. As a show of goodwill, would you release one of the hostages?”
“In this day and age of modern communications,” Rade said. “There’s no need to courier messages back and forth. You’re in contact with your chief, as you call him, at this very moment. He’s likely viewing your audio and video feeds at this very moment—he’s heard everything I’ve said. I have no time for your stalling tactics. Confer with your chief right now and decide if you’ll give us what we want.”
“I will confer,” the enforcer said. “But I ask again, as a show of goodwill, will you release one of the hostages?”
Rade was reluctant to do that, because then the hostage might reveal where his Argonauts were positioned throughout the room once again.
“No,” Rade said. “Now get the hell out of here. Come back only when you’re ready to give us our escort.”
The enforcer moved in a blur. It leaped toward the door, firing its jetpack at the same time.
Shaw managed to get off a shot and hit it in the arm. But the robot was already breaking through their ranks.
It drew a blaster it had hidden in a holster on its back and opened fire.
A Centurion fell.
The Argonauts unleashed a hail of plasma beams at their foe and the enforcer dropped.
“Careful on the crossfire!” Tahoe shouted. The shoulder assembly of his jumpsuit was smoking. It looked like a glancing blow.
“Sorry,” Bender said sheepishly. “Got excited there.”
Rade stared at the smoldering wreckage, and then transferred his gaze to the fallen Centurion under his employ.
“Is Unit F’s AI core salvageable?” Rade asked.
“No,” Harlequin said. “The laser passed clean through the core.”
Drop my guard for only an instant, and Argonauts die.
“Um, by the way,” Lui said. “You all realize the enemy now knows all of our positions, right? Thanks to our smoldering friend here.”
“Everyone, to the center of the room!” Rade said. “Cluster around the hostages and seal your faceplates!”
Rade retreated with those who were near the entrance, while the other Argonauts withdrew from the windows. He sealed his faceplate as he ran toward the upturned desks in the middle of the floor, and pressurized the suit to protect his ears from what he expected was coming.
Before he reached the center of the room, he was sent hurtling forward by an explosion behind him as a rocket struck the opening.
He landed near the hostages and spun onto his back to aim his rifle at the door while still lying down.
But then more explosions came—it seemed charges had been placed on the eastern wall, near the front and back of the room, strategically placed to avoid harming the hostages. Plasma rifle beams immediately shot inside, hitting the areas where the Argonauts had resided only moments before.
Rade rolled behind an upturned bed frame next to two hostages and aimed at the forward breach. Other Argonauts covered the rear breach, and still others the enlarged main entrance.
A few moments of quiet followed as the dust cleared.
When the tangos rushed inside, Rade and the others were ready.
Rade took down a 6A, followed by an enforcer.
Motion drew his gaze to the entrance, and he fired at one of two 6As that rushed inside. Several plasma beams battered those two, so that they convulsed in place for a moment before collapsing.
Rade heard the thuds and clangs of falling bodies behind him, and he knew other Argonauts were handling the tangos breaching the rear quarter.
A Perdix drone flew inside. He took it down. Another. Someone else got it. A 6A followed. Plasma beams riddled it.
Rade continued firing with the others until the onrush stopped. The tangos started to hide behind the edges of the breaches they had torn. Rade and the others simply aimed at those edges and burned holes through the walls and into the robots lurking beyond. Metal bodies toppled, landing in view, only to be riddle anew by the Argonaut’s plasma beams. The enemy didn’t dare fire through the walls at them in turn, not when there were hostage lives at stake.
Finally quiet descended. Rade zoomed in on the holes the Argonauts had made in the walls, but spotted no further tangos in the adjacent room and hallways.
“Seems they’ve pulled back,” Lui said.
“They decided they’ve risked the hostages lives enough,” Tahoe said.
“More like the tangos have risked their own lives enough,” Lui commented.
“Units A, B, clear the adjacent room,” Rade said.
The robots got up and proceeded through the breaches at a crouch.
“Clear,” the robots said a moment later.
“Check the entrance of the room while you’re in there,” Rade said. “Get beads on any tangos lurking out there. Units C, D, do the same with the entrance to this room.”
The four robots proceeded to the designated sections of both rooms.
Rade saw a red dot momentarily appear in the doorway of a room across the hall, and Unit C opened fire. The dot ducked into the room.
“Tangos have retreated entirely,” Unit C said.
“All right,” Rade said. “Let’s use the furniture in the adjacent room to shore up our defenses, and plug these breaches.”
nine
Rade and the others dragged the bed frames, mattresses, cabinets and other furniture from the adjacent room into the original, and then piled the objects into the breaches, along with the bodies of the terminated robots, so that all entrances to the room were completely blocked. The team salvaged the weapons from the fallen robots, so that none among the Argonauts, neither man nor machine, remained unarmed.
“Centurions,” Rade commanded. “I want two of you each to cover those plugged holes. Shove your rifles into the cracks and keep watch. Take down anything you see moving in the hallway, or adjacent room.”
“Understood,” Unit A said.
“Bender, Tahoe, keep watch on the windows,” Rade said.
“You got it,” Bender said, moving to the mattresses there.
“Got two hostages injured,” Shaw said. She was kne
eling beside a man with blood smeared across his bare knee. “They were trying to hide their wounds from me.”
The man spoke in Kenyan, and Rade’s Implant translated. “I don’t want treatment. I’d rather you let me go.”
“Just because you’re injured doesn’t mean we’re more inclined to let you go,” Rade told the man. “It doesn’t work that way. Not when we have Weavers.” He glanced at TJ. “Assuming any of the surgical robots are still intact?”
“It looks like two of them are, yes,” TJ replied.
“Good,” Rade said. “Carry them over this debris, and have them tend to the injured.”
Rade checked the vitals of his teammates. Lui’s status was yellow, as was Fret’s.
“Lui and Fret, I want you to let the Weavers treat your wounds as well,” Rade said.
“After the civilians,” Lui said.
“Fine by me,” Rade ordered. “Surus and Manic, help them get those jumpsuits off.”
TJ carried the Weavers over the debris-covered floor and set them to work on the hostages. When the surgical robots were done with them, they concentrated on Lui and Fret next, who had stripped off their jumpsuits with the help of Surus and Manic.
Rade felt at home through it all. Giving orders in a time of crisis, he was made for that.
But as the crisis slowly passed, he felt a sudden void growing inside of himself. Like a part of him was evanescing. And all he wanted to do was activate his noise cancelers and mute the world.
Can’t do that, not yet. Not when the enemy might attack at any moment.
He retreated to the center of the room. “Let’s shore up our internal defenses a bit. Tahoe, help me rearrange these bed frames around the hostages. We’ll use some of the new debris, too.”
Other Argonauts joined in, and they created a defensive bulwark around the center of the room to better shelter the hostages, and themselves.
Rade took his place in the middle of that bulwark, next to the hostages. Tahoe returned to his guard position by the mattress-covered windows.