“I would be too,” Vex said from the tube entrance, “if I had that tossed at me.”
“Wash, how are we doing?” Chris called.
“Almost there,” Wash said.
Keira looked around. Wash was ten meters down the tube. He was busy attaching little thin blocks to the wall on the right. His hands moved rapidly as he worked.
“I don’t want to hear it’s gonna take another five minutes,” Vex said. She had taken a knee at the entrance of the tube. Her rifle was up, and she aimed it in the direction of track four. It barked once, the end flashing in the dimness. She moved back behind cover and looked at Wash, who was still working furiously. “Nothing ever takes five minutes.”
Wash said nothing as he continued to work, then after another thirty seconds stepped away and moved safely to the side of the area where he had been working. “Gunny, we’re all set.”
Chris grabbed Keira’s arm and moved her to the same side of the wall that Wash had attached the explosives to. Despite the explosives having been planted ten meters away, he physically placed his own body between Keira and where Wash had been working.
“You best not blow us all up,” Vex said. “I’m not too keen about the tower falling on us.”
“My explosives are shaped and focused to only burn a hole through the wall. There should be little concussive blast,” Wash said. “You should be more worried about what MK plans on doing.”
“Do it,” Chris ordered curtly.
“Fire in the hole,” Wash shouted in reply. There was a hesitation, then a deep thudding boom that echoed off the walls. Though the tube was filled with smoke, Keira saw no fire.
“It’s burning a hole through,” Wash reported before the smoke had even cleared. His tone was excited. “It’s working. Baby, it’s working. Another sixty seconds and we’re good to go.”
“Come on.” Chris grabbed Keira’s arm and pulled her forward through the smoke and haze to a good-sized hole from their tunnel to the next. Wash’s charges had created a neat, almost surgical passage.
It looked like something had sliced cleanly through the composite walls, right into the other tube. It took her a moment to understand what had happened. The composites that moments before had been solid wall had run like water. Somehow, his charges, instead of blasting a path for them, had melted a hole through the wall. Keira watched in fascination as the last of the liquefied composite material on the ground cooled and solidified before her eyes. She had never seen anything like it and wondered what type of chemical reaction had been used.
“Go,” Chris ordered to Wash.
Wash moved forward and into the newly formed hole.
“The floor will be safe, but don’t touch the sides,” Chris warned. “They may still have reactive material that’s active.”
Keira wondered what he meant by reactive material. That sounded dangerous.
Chris gave Keira a gentle nudge in the square of her back. Having been prodded forward and careful not to touch anything, she followed after Wash.
The tunnel was only two meters wide, three high, and rounded at the top. Wash stopped at the end. His rifle was to his shoulder and pointing forward. He looked rapidly left, scanning down the tube, and then to the right, in the direction of the train station.
“It’s clear,” he said as he stepped out into the next tube. Without needing further prompting, Keira followed and found herself in a train tube identical to the one they had just left. The tube was straight as an arrow. There was absolutely no cover and Keira felt terribly exposed.
“It doesn’t seem like anyone’s at the far end,” Wash said. “I don’t see anything on IR.”
“With luck there won’t be,” Chris said.
MK came through the hole next. The mech had to duck.
“How far down do we need to be,” Chris asked the mech, “before you can use that anti-air missile safely?”
“As far as possible,” MK said as Vex emerged behind him. “And safety is a relative term.”
“Time to run, then,” Chris said.
“Indeed,” MK said. “I would encourage you all to do so with haste.”
Without waiting for an order, Keira started running for the other end of the tube. In the distance, she could see the garage bay ahead where the Beast was parked. The dim lighting from the bay was brighter than anything in the tube or behind them. She hoped desperately there were no more enemy there.
Wash and Vex sprinted past her and away at incredible speed. She felt slow by comparison, painfully so. Keira glanced behind her and saw Chris and MK running with her. Chris slung his rifle over his back, then, grabbing her, he scooped Keira up like a baby.
“What are you doing?” Keira felt resentful. She could run just fine. Then he put on the speed and suddenly they were moving very fast, his powered armor pounding away. Her resentment slipped from her.
A hiss zipped past them and hammered into the wall to their right with a resounding crack. For a moment, she wondered dumbly what it had been, then understood. Someone was shooting at them. Glancing over Chris’s shoulder, she saw several figures at the entrance to the tube behind them. Muzzles flashed as they fired.
Vex stopped, turned, and knelt. Her rifle was at her shoulder. Still running and carrying Keira, Chris flashed past her. Vex fired back down the tube. One of the figures at the far end jerked and then fell. The others immediately ducked for cover. Vex fired again, stood, and started after them. It was then Keira noticed MK had stopped running. The mech had turned to face the train station behind them.
“I am prepared to fire,” MK announced as more shots rang out behind them.
“MK, hit it,” Chris shouted.
Keira peeked over Chris’s shoulder again, just as the missile flared out from the mech’s shoulder and shot away at incredible speed, blasting its way toward the entrance of the tube. There was an intense flaring of light, followed by a tremendous flash. Keira squeezed her eyes shut as the concussion blasted them. Chris lost his footing and fell. He tried to cradle her body with his own as they both went down, then something hard hit her on the side of her head and everything sank into darkness.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Keira,” a voice said. It was small and distant-sounding. “Keira, girl, can you hear me?”
Coming out of the blackness, Keira slowly became aware. Underneath her, she felt a deep rumbling accompanied by the occasional bouncing jolt. It was familiar, comforting.
She opened her eyes. They seemed dry and scratchy and it took a moment to focus. Where was she? Looking up at the ceiling, Keira realized she was in the Beast.
A moment later the pain and discomfort hit. Every part of her ached, hurt, or cried out in protest. Nothing had been spared. The wound on her thigh felt like she had been stuck with a hot poker. Adding to the discomfort, the metal decking of the Beast upon which she lay was freezing. Keira gave an involuntary shiver. That movement hurt too.
How did she get here?
She realized she was no longer wearing her gumby suit.
Why?
Memory returned in a rush. The ambush, the tube, MK with the compression warhead, an explosion, then a deep black void into which she had fallen. The left side of her head was throbbing. She vaguely recalled hitting it, then blackness.
“Keira,” the tinny voice pleaded, “answer me—please.”
That was Sandy.
Keira shifted slightly and that effort alone hurt, sending waves of pain radiating through her body, especially her neck. She groaned softly.
“Gunny, she’s awake,” Wash said, sounding pleased.
His voice drew her attention. Keira turned her head and saw he was seated to her left. Chris was opposite him, on the other side of the Beast. He stood before taking a knee beside her.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Chris rested a hand upon her shoulder. He gave her a warm and reassuring smile. She could read the deep worry behind it.
“What happened?” Keira asked. Her mouth was so
dry, her voice was raspy.
“We got out,” Chris said. “You took a good knock to the head.”
“You’ve been out for more than an hour,” Wash said, “sleeping like a baby. You even snored.”
“I don’t snore,” Keira said.
“Like you’d know, if you did,” Wash teased.
“We escaped?” Keira asked, finding herself surprised. Though she realized a moment later the fact that they were in the Beast meant they had gotten away.
“Yeah,” Chris said. “We’re about a kilometer from the safe house. It shouldn’t be too long now.”
“Pretty soon, this will be all over and we’ll be amongst friends and safe,” Wash said.
“Think you can sit up?” Chris asked, to which Keira gave a nod. Just nodding hurt too. It felt like she had twisted and tweaked the muscles in her neck. Chris helped her sit up. Keira rolled her neck, attempting to get the stiffness out, before looking around.
Vex was up front driving. She looked back and spotted Keira. “I knew you were hardheaded,” Vex said with a grin before turning back to focus on driving.
Keira started to smile, but her jaw hurt too much. She touched it with a hand and winced.
“You’re pretty banged up, bruised too,” Chris said. “Nothing time won’t heal. Water?”
Chris offered her a water bottle.
Keira gratefully took it, tipped the bottle back, and drank deeply. Though it was lukewarm, it tasted good. She drank every drop, then handed the empty bottle back to him as she let out a soft sigh. Keira could not recall the last time she had been so thirsty. She was still thirsty, actually.
Something occurred to her. Her heart plummeted. Someone was missing.
Where was MK?
She glanced around again, searching. The Beast was not all that big. He wasn’t here. A terrible fear stole over her.
“Where’s MK?”
“He’s fine,” Chris said, “and on the roof, riding shotgun.”
Closing her eyes briefly, Keira felt a wave of relief. He had made it too.
“When we left the tower,” Chris said, “it got a little tense with the locals. They’d blocked the streets around Hakagi. You might recall they’re up in arms over the UPG.”
“It seems they were serious about declaring independence,” Wash inserted, “real serious.”
“Anyway,” Chris continued, “let’s just say they needed a little convincing that it was a bad idea to mess with us. After we made it through their barricades—or really over them—since the Beast isn’t armed, MK’s outside, providing cover in case we run into trouble.”
“I bet he’s enjoying himself up there,” Wash said, jerking a thumb at the ceiling. “Anyway, you sort of slept through all the excitement. I’ll admit it got a little dicey, but we got through it okay in the end.”
“Dicey huh?” Keira gave a nod, then looked down at herself and froze as she realized why she was cold. All she was wearing was her undergarments, which pretty much revealed everything. She felt her cheeks color. She covered up, with an arm over her breasts. Keira noticed her thigh had been bandaged. A faint stain of blood had worked its way through the dressing.
“Sorry about that.” Chris sounded uncomfortable at her obvious discomfort. “We needed to tend to your wound and make certain you weren’t injured elsewhere. Thankfully, the wound was minor. You took a small splinter, is all, which I was able to remove. Given a few days, it should heal up just fine.”
“Here.” Wash tossed her a pair of gray, baggy sweats. “I found these in one of the lockers. They’re a little big but should do. When we get to the Seri, we can find you something more appropriate.”
Keira recognized the sweats as belonging to Lee. He must have left a bag in the APC. She felt a wave of sadness at his loss that was akin to a physical pain. Trying not to think about him, and without standing, she pulled the sweats on. Though stiff and sore, she was beginning to feel better the more she moved. Keira kept a pair of extra work boots under where Chris had been sitting. They were secured by a simple mesh. She grabbed them and slipped them on, tying the laces tight.
“Ready to stand up and take a seat?” Chris asked her.
“I am.”
Chris helped her to her feet. A wave of dizziness overcame her. She grabbed one of the overhead bars for support. The feeling passed quickly. Her gumby suit lay on the floor, toward the rear of the APC. Her helmet had been placed off to the side of where she had been lying.
“Are you good?” Chris asked, eyeing her closely.
Keira gave a nod. He removed his hand holding her arm and stood back. She moved over, bent down, and picked her suit up, more to get it out of the way than anything else. It was habit. She liked keeping the Beast clean. Though now there was sand and dust scattered across the floor. She did not like that.
The suit was in terrible shape. It was dirty and the right side looked scorched. There was even dried blood on it, a surprising amount too. She wondered who it belonged to. She set the suit on one of the benches and then grabbed her helmet.
She turned to Chris and pointed at Wash. She had just noticed his face behind his visor was sheathed with sweat.
“What about his injuries?”
“Your concern is touching.” Wash tried to force a grin. It did not work.
The APC rocked gently.
“I’m serious,” Keira said. “He looks like shit.”
“You should see yourself,” Wash said. “I assure you, you don’t look much better.”
“Wash’s wounds are a bit more serious than he’s letting on.” Chris frowned at Wash. “The suit has stopped the bleeding and is managing his pain. When we get to the safe house, he will get the care he needs. Until then, it’s better to keep him in the suit.”
“We’re not all that far,” Wash said.
Her gaze went from Chris back to Wash. She felt worried for him. “Are you sure he’s all right?”
“I’ve had worse,” Wash said. “But I’m still combat effective. At the moment, that’s what matters.”
“Keira, are you there?” The voice was low, squeaky, but clearly Sandy’s. It was coming from the helmet’s speakers. Keira held the helmet up to her ear.
“Can you hear me? Come on, girl, answer me.”
Keira looked to Chris. She indicated the helmet in her hands, by shaking it. “Sandy’s calling.”
Chris eyed the helmet for a long moment. He exchanged a troubled look with Wash.
“See what she wants,” he said. “Pretend nothing’s happened or wrong. We’ll be listening in. Let’s see what we can learn.”
Keira placed the helmet over her head and activated the comm. “Hi, Sandy.” She tried to keep her voice normal. After everything that had happened, she found it a struggle. Sandy still did not know Lee was dead. Keira did not like lying to her friends. She didn’t know what else to say, so she added, “What’s up?”
“Oh, thank god,” Sandy breathed with evident relief. However, Keira thought she detected something off in her friend’s voice. Was it fear? “I thought they’d got you already.”
“Got me? What do you mean?” Keira asked.
“Listen,” Sandy said, lowering her voice as if she might be overheard, “my boss is out at lunch. This is the first moment I’ve had to call where no one else is looking over my shoulder.” Sandy paused. She did not speak for several seconds.
“Okay,” Keira said, to fill the silence. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”
The delay in a reply continued for a moment more.
“Half of the planet has declared independence,” Sandy said. “There’s been lots of fighting. Things have changed up here too. The Protectorate and UPG are working together. I don’t know why, but they’re after you. They both want you. I think you should turn yourself in—” There was another pause, then Sandy spoke. It was faint and broken, as if the mic had been away from her mouth. “No, I did not … please … the regulators …” Another pause.
Keira got the feeling Sandy
was speaking to someone else and that she most definitely was not alone. Keira saw no point in pretending nothing was wrong, not any longer. It was time for some truth.
“Sandy,” Keira said, “they killed Lee. He said—he said he loved you.”
There was a long silence where Keira thought Sandy would not reply. Then it came and when it did, it was rushed. Sandy sounded almost panicked but also defiant. “Keira, they’re on their way—right now. You need to watch yourself. You hear? Go hide, so they don’t find you. Go—” Sandy’s voice abruptly cut off.
Going cold with fear for her friend, Keira removed the helmet and set it down on a seat. Her thoughts went to Crecee and his people. After the militia, she did not want to face them, for though they were bullies and thugs, they were better trained and equipped. They were also incredibly dangerous.
“Well, we haven’t seen the regulators yet,” Chris said.
“It seems that’s about to change,” Wash said.
There was a look of sorrow in Chris’s gaze. “They probably have a gun to Sandy’s head.”
Keira knew truth when she heard it. She hoped Sandy would be all right.
“Why have her call then?” Keira asked. “What do they have to gain? Did they really believe I’d turn myself in? Seriously? After the militia tried to kill us?”
“They wanted to know if you were in the Beast with us,” Chris said. “Now they do. We can expect them to come after us, and they’re sending the regulators.”
“They were coming either way,” Wash said. “And we learned something else.”
“Yes, we did,” Chris said. “Sandy made a point of telling us the UPG is working with the Protectorate. That is not good news.”
“That means both the UPG and Protectorate are worried about the other ship in-system,” Wash said, “at least enough to join forces and work together. There’s always been an adversarial relationship there.”
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