by Jake Bible
“That is true,” Kinchminch said. “He was long dead. My fault, unfortunately. I was not cautious enough in my approach to his interrogation session. That and I was mistaken on where the data was being held.”
“Which was?” Z asked, taking a few more steps towards the Thin Man.
“Right here,” the Thin Man said. “Dear.”
The Thin Man opened his mouth and tossed the micro-tweezers into his mouth. He made an exaggerated gulp then opened his mouth wide and waggled his grey tongue.
“All gone,” he said then grabbed Kinchminch up and threw the wounded Ferg at the BooshGon squad.
Z tried to move out of the way, but the Thin Man was much stronger than he looked and the screeching Ferg hit her square in the chest, knocking her to the floor, and knocking her rifle right out of her hands.
“Tnort!” Z yelled as she shoved Kinchminch away and watched the Thin Man sprint across the interrogation bay towards the back wall. “Catch him, but do not blast him! He swallowed the damn data!”
“I’m on it!” Tnort yelled as he took off after the Thin Man. “Come back here, you skinny son of a gump!”
Z started to get to her feet, but she quickly fell back to the floor as Kinchminch clamped his buckteeth down on her ankle.
“Foing Ferg!” she yelled.
She shook him off then lifted her boot and brought it down hard and fast. Kinchminch’s head burst open and his greenish-yellow brains oozed out under her sole.
The Thin Man reached the wall, tapped at his wrist, and a panel slid open. He ducked inside and gave a quick wave before the panel closed behind him, forcing Tnort to come to a sudden stop, his face just inches from colliding with the wall.
“Dammit!” he yelled and pounded a fist on the hidden panel over and over.
Then it slid back open and he took a step back.
“Hello,” Vexia said and aimed her pistol up at a spot dead center on his forehead. “Goodbye.”
Tnort’s head exploded out the back and the Leforian crumpled. Vexia stepped fully from the wall and continued firing the pistol, aiming at anything that moved or fired back at her. She laughed the entire time, her face nothing but pure joy.
When the pistol clicked empty, she tossed it at what was left of the BooshGon squad then turned to step back into the wall. Her body jolted as the plasma bolt ripped her spine in half.
“Oh,” she said as she fell. “No fair.”
Z hurried over to the Slinghasp and put a second bolt right between her eyes. She kicked the corpse with her boot then looked around at what was left of her squad. Her body shook with rage, but she managed to keep it under control enough to point at the Keer boy’s corpse.
“Grab him,” Z ordered. “We’ve been hired to return the kid, so we’ll return him.”
“But he’s dead,” a trooper said. He quickly changed his mind at the look on Z’s face and gave a quick head nod. “Right, yes, we’ll grab him.”
Three troopers were left and two of them snatched the boy’s corpse while the third took point and led the way out of the interrogation bay. Z kicked Vexia’s body once more then gave a last look at Tnort before she followed her squad out into the corridor.
She nearly collided with the two troopers that held the corpse and was about to reprimand them when she saw the reason for stopping.
“Z Gon, you will order your people to drop that boy and then you will back away slowly,” Hole said from down the corridor, Mug and Wanders directly behind her with Cookie and Sha Morgoal standing off to the side. “I will not ask a second time.”
“Z Gon?” Z said. “No one by that name here.”
“I can detect your Jirk physiology under that skin,” Hole said.
“Wow, that is some good tech you have inside that brain of yours,” Z said. “I haven’t come across anything that could detect me before.”
Hole lifted her pistol an inch higher.
“Alright. No need to get hostile,” Z said. “Hole, is it? Am I right? Master Sergeant Hole?”
“You know who I am, Z Gon,” Hole said. “Now, order your people to let the boy go and back away.”
“Of course,” Z said. “Squad? Set the boy down and back away. The Fleet Marines are here now to save us all.”
The troopers did as ordered. Once the boy’s corpse was on the floor, they backed away and joined Z in the doorway to the interrogation bay.
“How about all of you just step back inside that room and close the door,” Hole said. “You count to eight million and then you can come out.”
“Hole, we need to hurry,” Mug whispered. Or tried. It came out as a deep rumble. “They’re getting closer.”
“They? What they?” Z asked.
“Not your concern,” Hole said. “Wanders? Mug? Please fetch the kid, will you?”
“Just a word of warning,” Z said. “The boy is dead.”
“I can see that,” Hole said.
“I can smell it,” Mug said.
“I’m not surprised,” Wanders added.
“For the record, I did not kill him,” Z said. “The Thin Man did. He also has the data, if that is what you were really looking for.”
Hole hesitated then nodded to Wanders and Mug. “Get the boy’s body. His father will want to handle his remains,” Hole said.
“How very sentimental for an android,” Z said. “That a new emotion packet you had inserted into your personality matrix?”
“Shut up, Jirk,” Hole said.
“Tsk tsk,” Z said. “Not very nice.”
She coughed and the three troopers instantly brought their rifles up. Two of them never got them to their shoulders as their throats were ripped open and their arterial spray blinded the third trooper. He fired off a bolt and Geist shouted then appeared by the wall, his camouflage melting away as he gripped his thigh. Blood poured from the bolt wound.
“A Tcherian,” Z said, but she didn’t even attempt to raise her rifle. “Well played.”
“Weapon down,” Hole said.
“I don’t think so,” Z said and cocked her head. “How about all of you put your weapons down and then hand over Sha Morgoal? I’ve had a bad day and he’ll at least be something of a win.”
“Is she foing kidding?” Wanders asked.
“I am not,” Z said as the doors at the either end of the corridor slid open and two BooshGon squads came rushing in, rifles up and aimed at Zero. “I am sure you can guess why.”
“Ah, crud,” Wanders said.
“Mug, a little heads up would have been nice,” Cookie said. “Those ears of yours stop working or something?”
“No, they are working just fine,” Mug said. “But they’re listening to something else entirely. Hole? We need to leave right quick. Let the BooshGon folks keep the boy’s body. Hell, let them keep Sha Morgoal. We just need to go.”
Z eyed the Urvein closely.
“What’s got you so spooked, bear?” Z asked.
“Nothing you need to know,” Mug said.
“Well, I would like you to tell me since I have no intention of letting you go,” Z said.
“How about I show you instead?” Mug said and slammed a paw into the floor, tearing up the metal. She jumped back and grabbed at Wanders and Hole. “Go!”
“Geist, come on!” Cookie yelled as things began to crawl up out of the broken floor.
They were small, winged, and had more teeth than body.
Cookie saw Geist struggling with his wounded leg and shoved Sha Morgoal forward into the things.
“Here, you take him!” Cookie yelled as he rushed past and grabbed Geist under the shoulders, dragging him the opposite direction that the rest of Zero was going. “We’ll catch up! Don’t worry!”
The BooshGon squads opened fire and Cookie shoved Geist to the floor as the winged things swarmed and took off directly into the plasma bolts. They seemed to eat up the energy, absorbing the bolts with relish. And they grew. With each new bolt, they doubled in size.
“Stop!” Z yelled, seein
g what was happening. “Stop firing!”
She looked around and saw one part of Drop Team Zero go one way and the other part crawling on the floor the other way. She lifted her rifle, realized the futility of it, and slung it back over her shoulder.
She retreated into the interrogation bay and slammed the controls as hard as she could, shutting the doors behind her. There were the sounds of plasma bolt after plasma bolt, but the sounds lessened considerably until they petered off into one every couple of seconds.
Then they stopped all together.
Z tapped at her com and called her carrier.
“I need immediate extraction!” Z shouted into the com. “Lock onto my signal and get me the fo out of here!”
She heard a garbled reply and waited for the feeling of the moltrans unit to take her over. But instead, she felt a thousand sharp teeth gnaw at the backs of her legs and arms. She whirled around and was horrified to see thousands and thousands of the winged things coming out of the wall. Straight from the hidden panel that the Thin Man had used to make his escape.
She opened her mouth to scream and a hundred things swooped down her throat. Choking her to death as they began to chew their way back out.
Forty
Hole, Wanders, and Mug raced through corridor after corridor, but the things were everywhere.
“Can we use the refuse chutes again?” Wanders yelled. “Climb up them instead of slide down them?”
“Won’t matter!” Mug replied. “They’re every-damn-where! In the walls, in the floors, in the ceiling! They gotta be in the chutes by now!”
“Just keep running!” Hole ordered. She tapped at her com and prayed that Midnight was listening. “This is Master Sergeant Hole! We need immediate—!”
“—extraction!” Hole finished as she tumbled from the moltrans platform, her feet still running forward. She slammed into the floor and wasn’t alone. Mug and Wanders were right next to her.
“Looks like you got yourself an ouchy, Woo,” Grue said from just a couple meters away. “You gonna live?”
“I’m gonna live,” Wanders said as he rolled over onto his back.
“We need to get Cookie and Geist!” Hole exclaimed as she pushed back up to her feet.
“Not a worry,” Midnight said from the moltrans console. “They’re right there.”
“Hey,” Cookie said from a spot on the floor by the platform.
“Ow,” Geist said from next to Cookie.
“Let’s get you to the medical bay,” Midnight said. “You too, Wanders.”
“I’m fine, really,” Wanders replied.
“Go,” Hole ordered.
“I see you got your man,” Midnight said, nodding to Mug.
“Woman,” Mug replied. “I’m all lady bear under this uniform.”
“My mistake,” Midnight said.
Alarms rang out and Midnight frowned then tapped at her ear.
“Report,” she ordered. She listened for a second and her eyes went wide. “There are what coming out of the base?”
“Great,” Cookie said, “more things that can handle the vacuum. Doesn’t anything die in open space in this foing system?”
“You know what’s coming at us?” Midnight asked.
“We have an idea,” Hole said.
She got up and walked over to Geist as Grue helped his brother up. Hole knelt and lifted the Tcherian carefully then looked at Midnight.
“Where’s the medical bay?” Hole asked.
“Grue, show them,” Midnight said, already running from the moltrans room. “I have to get to the bridge and fly this thing as fast as possible to the closest wormhole portal.”
“I’d advise using the legitimate one,” Hole called after her, but the woman was already long gone.
“She will,” Grue said. “No need to hide when we have Drop Team Zero onboard.”
“Your deal is with us, not the Fleet, so I wouldn’t push your luck,” Hole said then sighed. “But I doubt we’ll get blasted out of space once I’m able to call in.”
“You can use the com in the medical bay,” Grue said.
“I can walk by myself,” Wanders said, yanking away from his brother. “I just fought like a ton of BooshGon troopers.”
“I wouldn’t say a ton,” Cookie said, following behind them all as they made their way down a corridor and into a lift. “I wouldn’t even say half a ton.”
“Geist? How are you doing?” Hole asked, looking down at the Tcherian cradled in her arms.
“I’m feeling a little foolish,” Geist said. “Could you not carry me like a baby?”
“You would prefer I throw you over my shoulder?” Hole asked. “I have done the calculations and there is no dignified way to be carried by me.”
“Fine,” Geist said. “Just watch my head when you get off the lift. You came close to knocking me silly when you got on.”
The lift came to a stop and they exited directly into the medical bay. Across the bay was the Eight-Three-Eight’s med chamber with the top popped open and Motherboard sitting upright while an Edger tech worked on the cybernetic matrix in her face.
“I count all members of Zero present,” Motherboard said. “That’s a good sight to see. Mug, I’m glad you are well.”
“I am too,” Mug said.
The ship jolted and everyone stumbled slightly.
“Care to fill me in?” Motherboard asked. “I’m not seeing the Keer boy or Sha Morgoal, so something didn’t go right.”
“A lot didn’t go right,” Hole said as she set Geist down on an exam table.
“But you got Mug back,” Motherboard said. “That’s what matters. Never leave a bear behind.”
The ship jolted again.
“Okay, out with it,” Motherboard said. “Full report.”
Hole nodded and started in, describing everything that happened from when the Edgers dropped them off at the Hoonnaann base to when they were just rescued. Motherboard listened intently, never interrupting or asking questions. When Hole was done, Motherboard sighed. She looked like she was going to nod her head, but the Edger tech tsked at her and she kept still.
“So, no sign of Gorma Collari?” Motherboard asked.
“No sign,” Hole said.
“Well, he wasn’t our problem to begin with,” Motherboard said. “I just have to wonder if he has the data now.”
“No way to know,” Hole said. “I didn’t get a chance to ask Z Gon any questions. The boy was dead when we got there and we lost Sha Morgoal in the chaos when those things came up out of the floor.”
“Quick thinking, Mug,” Motherboard said.
“Thank ya kindly,” Mug said.
“I bet the noise of those buggers was about to drive you mad,” Motherboard said.
“You have no idea,” Mug said.
“I don’t get why you could hear them and I couldn’t?” Cookie asked.
“Or I,” Hole added. “My ears are more finely tuned than yours.”
“You didn’t know what to listen for,” Mug said. “You saw those things. Even Motherboard called them buggers. I think that’s what they were, some type of insect race that lived inside that moon. Insects are a staple of the Urvein diet. I heard them as soon as they started moving about.”
“Oh, sorry I asked,” Cookie said.
The ship jolted once more then Midnight’s voice came over the ship wide speakers.
“Okay, folks, this is not good,” Midnight said. “We have got a three kilometer wide swarm of crazy Klatu bugs chasing our ass. I spotted two of the big nightmare monsters and as soon as they saw what was after us, they turned and blinked out of sight.”
She took a deep breath and continued. “I don’t think we can outrun the swarm. This means we are going to need to do a maneuver I am not very fond of doing if we are going to make it to the wormhole portal in one piece.”
“Oh no,” Grue said. “We should strap in.”
“You should all strap in,” Midnight said. “Put your heads between your knees
and pray to the Eight Million Gods!”
“I think that position is for kissing our asses goodbye,” Cookie said as he hurried to the closest wall and popped open an emergency jump seat.
Everyone else did the same except for Motherboard, who just lay back down in her med chamber and closed the lid. The Edger tech strapped the chamber to the wall then strapped himself into a jump seat.
“You care to tell us what your captain is about to do?” Wanders asked his brother.
“Hedge spin,” Grue said. “If you throw up, that’s fine. Everyone does their first time.”
“Hedge spin?” Geist asked from where he was strapped tightly to the exam table which was in turn strapped tightly to the wall. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“It’s when you initiate a diving spin while engaging the lightspeed thrusters,” Hole said. “By itself, it is not an exceedingly dangerous maneuver. But she’s going to do it as we hit the wormhole portal, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of her signature thing,” Grue said. “That’s why she’s flying, not the co-pilot.”
“Wait, if you hit lightspeed when you enter a wormhole portal, don’t you risk tearing open space and time?” Wanders asked.
“Not at all,” Hole scoffed. “That’s a myth to keep hotshot pilots from trying it. What you do risk is tearing your atoms apart and instantaneous disintegration.”
“Oh, well, that’s better,” Wanders said.
“Don’t sweat it, bro,” Grue said. “She’s done this like a hundred and fifty times. I’ve still got all of my atoms together.”
“Three! Two! One!” Midnight called over the speakers.
The medical bay seemed to stretch then snap back in place. Wanders threw up immediately.
Forty-One
The apartment was dark, as it should have been at three o’clock in the morning. The door slid open noiselessly and the figure entered on silent feet, a gloved hand at his belt where the Kepler knife was sheathed.
The figure waited as the door slid closed behind him then listened. Not a sound. No sign he’d been detected.
He moved slowly across the lush carpet, his feet not making a bit of noise. Then he stopped and waited again. Still no sign he’d been detected. He continued through the main room of the apartment like that, taking ten times longer to cross the space than anyone casually walking the same area. But he had a job to do and he refused to let a simple slip up kill his chances of success.