by Terry Mixon
“Tell me where he is and I’ll promise you your life,” Hale said. “If you know anything about me, you know I’ll keep my word and see that she does, too.”
Evans laughed. “You’d never believe me. It’s not somewhere you can just walk in and pick him up.
“Listen closely. Honestly, what he took isn’t worth the trouble now. Our plans are far beyond that. In a very short time, it won’t matter that any of you are alive, much less what you tell anyone else. You can join him and we’ll let you go when this is over.”
“Just like that?” she asked.
“Just like that,” he said firmly. “None of this matters. Not the shootings on the station. Not the missing FTL drive. Not the people you’ve killed. None of it. If you want to live, you’d best think before you make a decision you can’t take back.”
Before she could answer, the main door opened and a guard ushered in a man dressed in an expensive suit. Everyone stood shocked for a split instant and then all hell broke loose.
Hale drew his pistol and shot the guard in the chest. The man went down hard, and the suit ducked back into the hall, screaming.
Two more guards rushed in, weapons up and firing. She shot one while Hale took out the other. A glance showed the guards hadn’t hit her new associate.
“Grab Evans while I get the bags,” she said. “Time to go.”
“He’s not going to be very useful.”
She turned toward Evans. One of his eyes was missing, and blood covered his face. He wouldn’t be answering any more questions.
Despair flooded into her as she grabbed the mask and retreated into the washroom with Hale. How the hell were they going to find Zane now?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Adam kept firing at the main doorway to keep the guard’s heads down until he could slam the washroom door and lock it. That might hold them a minute. Which was all they needed to get clear.
Price scampered back into the ceiling. She was a lot more agile than he’d imagined. She’d be hell on an obstacle course.
He handed her both bags and followed her up. She put the tile back just as bullets began splintering the washroom door. Time was rapidly running out.
The two of them made it back into the empty office. He noticed she dropped the other ceiling tile back into place. He supposed it might keep them guessing where the two of them had actually gone for a little while.
“We need to get out of the building before they lock down every exit,” he said as he holstered his pistol and hefted his bag.
“Walk quickly, but don’t overreact,” she said as she took the lead. “If someone confronts us, don’t touch your weapon. Let me talk us out of it. There’ll be a lot of security people moving around, and we can slip by in the confusion.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
She shot him a little smile. “No, you’re not. You’re actually pretty good at this kind of stuff. You might even cut it as a RIS agent.”
“Pass. I’m happy doing what I do. Then again, I suppose I’m pretty much fired. I might need that job after all.”
Two security men with their weapons drawn raced around the corner ahead of them. He tensed, but they barely glanced at Price and himself before they ran past.
Price led the way into the storage area, and he watched for pursuit as she opened the elevator doors. He followed her when she headed up, glad to have a closed door between them and the ruckus.
They made it back to the level they’d entered the shaft. A worker was unloading a pallet of what looked like toilet paper. He gave them an odd look as they stepped out of the empty shaft.
“There’s a security alert,” Price told him sternly. “You need to get to your designated area.”
“What alert?” the man asked.
A loud, hooting alarm sounded in the distance. A woman’s voice was saying something, but Adam couldn’t make it out. Someone needed to consider tuning the speakers.
“That one,” Price said to the man. “Move.”
The man scampered off.
Adam pressed the elevator call button. “They’ll be rushing people to the exits. If we can’t get out before they block us, we’re screwed.”
“Pessimist. Follow my lead.”
The exit looked clear from the inside, but they ran into half a dozen security personnel when they came out. The woman in charge of the squad scowled at them. “What are you doing here? Get back inside to your posts.”
“We’re assigned to the exterior roving patrol,” Price said calmly. “We were in the gym.”
She took two steps before the other woman stopped her. “IDs.”
Price sighed in apparent exasperation. “My boss is going to be pissed when we’re late.”
“Uh huh,” the woman said as she scrutinized the ID. “Who is that again?”
Adam made note of where people were standing. He could shoot a few of them before they brought their rifles up and mowed them down. This was it.
“Captain Krueger,” Price said casually. “Big guy with a scar on his forehead. A real bastard if you piss him off.”
The woman stared at Price for a long moment and then handed her ID back to her. She turned to Adam. “Badge.”
He passed it over, forcing himself to relax. “Any idea what the alert is about?”
“Nope. Some kind of intruder drill, I think. They’ll give us more details shortly. Ask Krueger.”
She handed his badge back to him. “Now get out of here before I change my mind about letting you through.”
It felt as though he had a target on his back as they jogged away. He knew the woman was watching them leave.
Once they were safely around the corner, Price sped to a full run. He easily matched her pace, and they made it past a number of security guards on the way to the van. All the forces outside were worried about people coming in, not leaving. In fact, there were a lot of security agents running around to blend in with.
He only relaxed when they were driving away from the Janus building.
“I can’t believe they killed him before we found out where Zane was,” Price said bitterly, her eyes still scanning for trouble. “We’ll never save him now.”
“I know where he is.”
Her head whipped around. “You do? Where?”
“The evidence is right there in front of us,” he said. “He’s down in Jupiter’s atmosphere.”
He saw the pieces falling into place in her head, but she didn’t seem convinced. “That makes no sense. What the hell would they need some place like that for?”
“So they can build their FTL systems without anyone being the wiser. Think about it. No one would ever know. No worries about spies or industrial sabotage. They’ve been paying divers like me for the technology to make it easier for decades.”
“They use the ship you found to get down there?” she asked. “I suppose it’s possible, but it seems really convoluted. Surely, they could make the damned things in a place that was a little more convenient.”
Adam nodded. “Probably, but he said Zane was somewhere we’d never find him. That meshes with my scenario. Those coordinates and times you found. Those could be drops to pick up FTL units and leave people and equipment.”
“And the FTL drive Zane found in the port? How does that tie in? What are their plans? It has to be about more than just money.”
“Probably. There’s only one way to find out. We’ll have to go take a look for ourselves.”
* * * * *
Rachel stewed until they made it back to the warehouse. Then she grabbed her comp while Adam spoke with Grandmother Wu.
The times on the list yielded quickly to her analysis. There was definitely a pattern. One that she could project into the future. That produced a new set of times that had one very close to now. Only a few hours in the future, in fact.
Projecting the coordinates proved more challenging. Her tools weren’t suited to that, but she could still estimate where it would be, roughly. She hoped.
That told her nothing of the depth. From what Hale had said, flying down there was akin to diving into a swimming pool filled with soup. They’d be taking a terrible risk, and that didn’t even take into consideration getting back onto the station.
Once they stole Janus’s dive ship, the company could watch for their return. They’d be easy to spot approaching the station.
Just to be sure, she compared the dates to the report she’d seen on Evans’s comp. One of them was just after the date on the report. The most recent one on her just calculated list, as a matter of fact.
That at least made this crazy idea possible.
Hale and Wu came over as she was refining her guess at the coordinates.
“I’ve isolated the time and rough general area,” Rachel said. “We’ll need to get a move on. It’s this afternoon.”
“That makes sense,” Hale said. “They’re prepping the ship for a reason. So, our timing is tight, but good. Unless things have changed a great deal, a few extra guards showing up at the bay won’t cause too much concern.”
The old woman smiled. “I will have some men assist you without revealing their identities. Once you get into the bay, you will be on your own. Do not strike until you are certain you can take the ship.”
Hale used his com to access the mechanical spy he’d put in place. “It looks like the prep work is done. The pilots are doing a preflight check. I see diving suits on a rack. We have to go right now.”
Jason Chang stepped up beside them. “I’m going with you.”
His grandmother scowled. “That is not wise. I forbid it.”
The Asian man visibly stiffened, but shook his head. “These people are my friends, and I will stand with them. Besides, Janus knows who I am. Do you truly believe they’ll just let me go to work tomorrow as though nothing happened?”
“No, but someone must assist me in making their escape possible,” she said. “I find myself in the unique position of requiring your contacts to facilitate my plan. I promise you this, Grandson. Without your intervention, they will die.”
“What’s your plan?” Jason asked.
“We don’t have time to listen to it,” Rachel said. “If they get too far into the launch sequence, we’re screwed. Honestly, there probably isn’t space for more people on that ship. Go do what she needs to help us make our getaway.”
He looked mulish, but Hale clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “She’s right. We’ve got this.”
Wu drew Jason away before he could argue.
“Do you think that’s true?” Rachel asked as she packed her comp.
“That she needs his help? Probably not, but I don’t want him getting killed with us. Besides, I only saw two suits.”
“Will they fit us?”
“My personal suit is specifically tailored to me, but those look like they’re used for different pilots. We’ll manage.”
“Now, seriously,” she said, hefting her bag, “what’s the plan?”
He gestured to their uniforms. “We bluff. If we can’t get in with guile, we fight. Wu’s people can back us up. If we get in clean, they can distract the security guards while we overpower the crew and steal the ship.”
She looked uncertain. “That’s taking an awful lot for granted. It’s a little shy on details.”
He smiled. “We’ll have to wing it. Trust me, I’ve done enough breaches to have an idea how this will go. You talk us past security, and we go with plan A. That’s best. Let’s mount up.”
Rachel sighed. She couldn’t blame him for this situation. It was evolving far faster than they’d had any way to adjust for.
In just a few sentences, Hale relayed the plan to Grandmother Wu’s people. They were already assembling, better armed than Hale was.
They set out in three different vehicles. She had an earbud linked to Hale and the others so they could communicate once things went down.
Just short of the bays, Hale stopped the van.
She looked around, concerned that someone had spotted them, but no one was paying the vans any attention.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“We just passed a Janus security van,” he said, looking into the mirror. “It has to be on the way to reinforce the guards at the bay. We’re going to take them out before that happens.”
Rachel shook her head. “And alert the others we’re coming? Don’t be ridiculous. I have a much better plan.”
Chapter Thirty
Price’s tone made Adam’s eyes narrow. “Uh huh. What’s your plan?”
“When I stop them, head for the back of the van. Team Wu, back us up as soon as they open the doors.”
“What makes you think they’ll do that?”
She grinned. “Sometimes you have to have faith.”
“Well, this ought to be interesting.”
Price stepped out of the van and planted herself on the roadway. The Janus van screeched to a halt right in front of her as Adam slid out of the driver’s side door and walked toward the back of the other van. The vehicles with Wu’s people neatly boxed them in.
The Janus driver lowered his window with obvious irritation written all over his face. “What?”
“Change in plans,” she said. “Captain Krueger sent us to join you.”
Adam couldn’t see the man’s reaction as he rounded the back of the van, but that hardly mattered. The sliding doors on Wu’s vehicles were opening, so he drew his pistol and did the same with the Janus van’s back doors.
Half a dozen men and women in Janus security uniforms stared at him in surprise. They had weapons, but Hale and the men behind him had the drop on them.
“I shoot the first person that moves,” he assured them. “And my friends will shoot everyone else. Drop the guns and raise your hands. Slowly.”
At first, he didn’t think they’d obey, but after the first one did so, the rest followed suit.
Adam climbed in and kicked the weapons out the back. Wu’s people dragged the prisoners out, put cuffs on them, and stuffed them in the other vehicles.
Price did the same with the driver before climbing behind the wheel of her new ride. “Hurry up, Hale. The tide waits on no man.”
He closed up the back doors and joined her up front. “That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“I sail, believe it or not.” She started the van and resumed the drive to the bay. “Now we look all official, too. They’re expecting us, so that should make this work even better than before.”
Adam hoped that was indeed the case.
Price parked the van close to the bay, got out, and brazenly walked right up to the guards. The same woman that had confronted Jason came out to meet her.
“It’s about time,” the woman said. “We expected you ten minutes ago.”
“There was a screwup,” Price said with a shrug. “We’re still waiting for the rest of my people.”
“Perfect,” the other woman sighed. “Once they get here, I’ll take my team inside.”
“Actually, they sent an update for the pilots. Can you take it in?”
The guard blinked but nodded. “Sure.”
Price walked to the door before producing a data chip. “They want me to see you hand it off. Said it was burn-before-reading stuff.”
“Damned managers,” the woman grumbled as she opened the hatch. “Why can’t they just let us do our jobs? Come on.”
Adam slid in behind them and stopped while the hatch slid closed. He hit the manual lock. That would slow them down.
The two pilots looked as though they’d almost completed the external part of their preflight. The smaller of the two came over to meet Price and the woman. “We’re about to suit up.”
“Change in plans,” Price said as she brought her shocker out and took the woman down.
Adam drew his pistol and covered the other pilot. “Step away from the ship. Hands where I can see them.”
“What the fuck?” the smaller man demanded. “Who the hell are you?”
&
nbsp; “We’re your replacements,” Price said. She reached out and took the tablet from his hand. “I assume your final coordinates and times are on this. Where are they?”
“Are you out of your minds?” the man asked incredulously. “This isn’t a damned ship you can just joyride.”
“You’re too touchy,” Price said as she used the shocker on him. He dropped into a trembling heap before she turned on the last man. “Give me the time and coordinates. Now.”
The larger man looked justifiably frightened. “They’re programmed into the controls already.”
Adam moved past him and into the open ship. The controls were familiar enough, and he quickly found what he needed. “They’re here,” he called out.
“Help me escort these gentlemen out,” Price said.
“No need,” Adam said as he came out. “The bay has an emergency pressurization chamber over in the corner. We can lock them in there.”
He aimed his pistol at the man. “Pick up your friend and move him in there. What’s down below, and what the hell are you people doing there?”
The pilot picked up his friend. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Just say it’s a station and be done with it. You’ll find out soon enough. You’re Adam Hale, the diver everyone’s looking for.”
“That’s right.”
“Then I suppose you’ll make it. I’m a fan, by the way. I’m sorry as hell that they’ll kill you when this is all done.”
“We all make sacrifices. Into the chamber.”
Price had the female security officer—minus her weapons—over her shoulder. She set the woman down in the chamber.
“We’re going to blow the atmosphere in here, so don’t come out,” she told the pilot after he set his partner down. “We’ve jammed the main doors and I don’t want you getting killed.”
“I’m staying right here,” the man assured her.
Price didn’t seem convinced. She took him down with her shocker. “Yes, you are.”
Adam shook his head and sealed the door. “We need to get this going. The guards outside are going to realize something is wrong soon.”
“Did you lock the hatch?”