by C. G. Hatton
They climbed down another two levels before they stopped for breath. The narrow vents were smoky and noisy, and what little environmental control was left was working overtime trying to compensate for the damage to the complex.
They ended up over a massive circular maintenance area, below the atrium, he reckoned. It must extend down through the whole place, with these access areas in between each floor, shot through with tubes and pipes, a lift shaft in the centre, all lit by temperamental emergency lighting that was about to give up the ghost.
“You okay?” Martha asked walking behind him as he led the way for a while.
He was feeling hot and clammy but he wasn’t going to admit that. He twisted around to see that she was checking a bullet hole in her armoured vest. “Are you?” he said.
“Bastard hit me but it didn’t go through. I’m fine.”
They walked on for a few moments, then she said, “Where’s LC, Hil?”
He didn’t answer. Didn’t know what to say, and with her asking that, it was hard to trust her again.
“What did you promise them?” she said. “You, LC and the package all here in one place, a surgical strike to eliminate everything in one go?”
“Just about,” he conceded. “It was the only way I could think to get rid of the price on our heads. If everyone thinks we’re dead, why bother looking for us?”
“And LC walks away with the package? God, you people are obsessed. Can you never let one go?”
Hil smiled. Maybe once he’d been like that but that wasn’t what this was about. Not now.
“That old man back there,” Martha said, “is Zang Tsu Po, CEO of Zang Enterprises, one of the largest corporations in the Wintran coalition, and one of the richest men in the galaxy. He’s left his fortified enclave on Winter only three times in the last five years and he came here today to see you.”
“And what? I should be flattered?”
“Christ, Hil! Do you have any idea what it takes to bring someone like that out of his rat hole? Can you try and get it through your thick skull how serious this is? He wants that package. NG wants the package and Earth wants it back. What does that tell you, Hil?”
“It’s an important weapon, I get it.”
“No, you don’t. It’s not the package any more. It might have been at one time, but now look at what it represents.”
She looked at him like he was stupid, then said slowly, “Earth Special Forces have just openly attacked a Wintran planet. Going after you in the Between was risky enough but here…? You might just have started a war.”
Chapter 30
“Rumours of war are exaggerated,” NG said.
“Even rumours have the power to bring down empires.”
“Ostraban is claiming that Zang Tsu Po was working alone. It has even been suggested that he might have been acting against the interests of Winter purposely to incite aggression against Earth that would ultimately benefit himself. The Zang corporation is building a reputation as a cutting edge arms dealer; it would profit immensely from a war.”
The Man shook his head. “These beings inspire me at times but so often exasperate. Everything that we have been working towards could be destroyed by one man’s greed.”
“The official Wintran position is that Zang has gone renegade. That in itself could be dangerous,” NG said, reaching for his wine. “Losing face never goes down well. Whether his actions were justified or not, Hilyer caused him immense and costly collateral damage.”
The Man picked up his own goblet. “Then we must ensure he does not have the time or opportunity to regroup and strengthen. We must force Winter’s hand into discrediting any position Zang may retain. He murdered our best handler and blackmailed two of our best operatives, NG. That will not go unanswered. Hilyer may have been rash operating alone as he did but in many ways, he simply reacted naturally in the same way that we, as a guild, will continue. No one in this galaxy comprehends the true extent of our power. Zang will pay. And, as always, Earth and Winter will be unaware of our intentions.”
•
“Heads up,” Martha said quietly, “we have company.”
She was looking away from the central core. He followed her gaze and could see the bouncing beams from flashlights and red lasers working their way through the maze of pipes and ladders.
Something she’d said registered with him suddenly. “The lab belonged to an Earth corporation?” he asked.
“It wasn’t just an Earth corporation, Hil, it was a government research facility. Top secret. But yes, it was Earth. You just figured that out?”
So they’d been sent by a Wintran corporation to steal from the Earth government. No wonder the entire galaxy had erupted against them.
“We didn’t know,” he said.
“Hil, even we didn’t anticipate that this could happen.”
He looked at her, not at all sure who that ‘we’ was. But what the hell. She was either guild or not, it didn’t matter. He’d had his moment of revenge. He’d brought fire raining down on Zang. And it was time to get out.
They moved quietly, Hil content to let Martha lead. He watched her up ahead, moving silently, equipment wrapped against noise, hips swaying, confident that he was behind her. The way she moved was hypnotic. And it was hard to remember how he’d felt when he’d found out she’d betrayed them.
They reached a ladder and dropped down a level and Martha led them round to the central lift shaft.
He could feel his temperature rising. “Is it getting warmer?”
Martha looked at him. “Environmental controls were fried a while ago,” she said and swatted his neck. “Take the dampener off. I can hook up with you.”
He’d forgotten it was there. It was funny how quickly he’d become used to being out of touch; after living in constant connection with Skye for so long, and remembering the awful torn feeling of losing her, it was strange to realise now that he was used to being alone.
“We need to go down,” she said. “We won’t have a chance up top. They’re targeting the facility’s entire infrastructure. The main hangar’s been hit. We don’t think anyone got away, but we’re not sure.”
There was that vague ‘we’ again.
He tore the patch off his neck and felt the implant engage and accept the connection.
She gestured with her pistol towards an access panel by the door of the lift shaft.
“Go to it, sunshine,” she sent, her words soft inside his head. “We don’t have much time.”
“I don’t have any tools,” he sent back.
“What?”
He spread his arms, exaggerating the show of his current state of dress. “No tools.”
She rolled her eyes and threw a tool kit at him, guild standard and nothing fancy but it would do.
“Where’s your wristband?” she asked, watching him work.
“I left it with someone. These idiots missed it twice but I didn’t think Earth would be as stupid.”
She nodded and strode away to check that they were still alone.
He broke into the panel easy enough but the electronics inside were shielded and protected by barriers and codes, beyond anything a normal facility would utilise. He worked steadily and broke each level as he encountered it.
He almost jumped when Martha yelled inside his head. “Hil, you in yet?”
An echo of gunshots reverberated through the narrow space, some way off, but then the rattle of grenades bouncing along the metal walkways was followed by a loud curse from Martha and a series of explosions that rumbled through the platform he was standing on.
He was too close to getting through to look up and he was fairly sure that the footsteps running back to him were Martha’s so he cursed, took a gamble on the last couple of connections and snatched his fingers away in case it blew up.
Whether it was luck or judgement, the hatch swung open as Martha ran round and pushed him down. They fell in and she slammed the hatch behind them, a resounding click resetting the lock.
>
The circular lift shaft had a maintenance cage around its perimeter, with platforms at each level and steep steps spiralling up and down. It was dark and freezing cold, and as he gasped in the icy air, he felt the unnerving sting of electrobes hit the back of his throat. Crap.
“Don’t breathe in,” Martha warned, pushing him along the gantry, like he might not have noticed that the air was teeming with the little bastards.
He had too much first-hand experience not to have recognised it and he bit back a comment, glaring back at her dark shadow behind him. Behind her, there was a thump and sparks flew from the edges of the hatch they’d crawled through. They wouldn’t waste time trying to break the lock and it didn’t sound like it would take them long to break through.
Martha caught up with him and pulled him close. She held up a small round device that looked scarily familiar in the dim light and for a split second he thought he’d seriously misjudged her, again, and he flinched away, instinctively balancing his weight for a fight.
“Oh for god’s sake, Hil, trust me,” she hissed. “It’s not the same. Look.”
She pulled aside her collar at the neck and showed him an identical small circle stuck against the skin at the base of her throat. It was blinking green. “It creates a vibration that repels them and breaks down their cellular structure if they stick around too long. Trust me.”
She wasn’t having any trouble breathing and her eyes weren’t watering so what the hell. He took the device and pushed it against his throat. It pierced the skin with the same vicious bone-deep pain he’d had from the other device he’d encountered on this planet, and a trembling spread down into his chest.
Sparks were still flying behind them, Martha silhouetted against the flashes of light. “It can take a bit of getting used to,” she said.
“No shit!” Hil hissed back, doubling over as his lungs constricted and his vision swam. He felt like he was about to pass out when it began to ease.
Martha gave him a shove. “Come on, we have to go.”
“Where the hell did you get these? They’re not guild,” he asked as they ran round towards the stairs.
“No,” she said, keeping close behind him. “They’re experimental. We don’t know how long they’ll last, or what concentrations they’re effective in. So enjoy while it’s working.”
Great. And whoever that ‘we’ was, they had access to kit the guild didn’t – that wasn’t encouraging.
Hil started down the stairs. The steps were steep and narrow, meshmetal cold under his bare feet. They didn’t make it to the next level before there was a blast above them, the hatch clattering inwards, and shots began to ping off the railings. Martha returned fire and yelled him to go faster.
He jumped the last few steps, stumbled and cringed away from sparks ricocheting off the wall, running on and round to the next staircase. His head was pounding and a nagging ache had started to pull at his side. He was down to the next level before he realised it had gone quiet. He leaned on the railing and looked up. Martha was padding down the stairs towards him, gun in her left hand, her right arm held defensively up against her chest.
“Go,” she shouted as she approached.
She was hurt and he wasn’t sure whether or not to care. She’d probably saved his life back there on the balcony and it seemed cold to brush that off, but he knew she could look after herself and she’d be covering her back whatever she had planned for him.
“Go!” she said again as she caught up to him. It wasn’t the place to stand and argue so he went, taking it a bit more easy because he was seeing flashes of light behind his eyes pulsing in time with his heartbeat. It was better than dying of electrobe poisoning but it was damned distracting.
As they went deeper, more and more rumbles echoed through the shaft next to them, groans and pangs of a substructure that was failing. But there was no one else shooting at them.
Eventually she called out, “Wait up, this is it.”
He stopped, sitting on the bottom step to wait. His side was throbbing and he could feel it was bleeding, sticky warmth leaking through the bandage.
Martha sat down next to him. “Put pressure on it,” she said and pressed against the hand he was holding there. “It’s a good thing you guys don’t get hurt often because you suck at looking after yourself.”
He glanced round at her and saw she had a trauma patch of her own taped to her upper arm.
“I’m fine,” she said in that tone that meant don’t question me or I’ll rip your head off.
He leaned back nonchalantly, trying not to shiver too much, and said instead, “So what’s the plan?”
“There’s an underground stream they pull into a water treatment plant down here to use for cooling and power. We get to the stream and follow it out.”
“And then what?”
“We get off this rock.”
“And then?”
“Hil, for god’s sake, stop being so suspicious. I’m trying to get you out of here alive.”
She pulled an auto injector from a pouch on her belt.
“Who are you working for, MJ?” he asked again, watching her fit an ampoule. He still had hold of the spare pistol she’d given him and as much as he’d seen her check the magazine, she could have been checking that it was empty for all he knew. He tried to gauge from its weight whether it was loaded. “It sure as hell isn’t the guild so why should I think you have my best interests at heart here?”
She turned to look at him, then reached up and pulled him forward into a kiss. He didn’t resist even though he knew it was dangerous and he leaned into it, not even sure that was what either of them wanted. A sharp cold jab hit the side of his neck and she pulled away, shooting a second hit into her own neck. “Time to go.”
They listened at the hatch before opening it, the lock from the inside being a simple twist open, and climbed out onto a gantry that ran around the lift shaft. Below them was a tangled network of pipes and below that, lit by the few emergency lights still on, they could see water shifting around massive plant machinery and conduits. Half submerged, half broken walkways criss-crossed the area with ladders extending down into the dark oily water. An eerie silence was broken only by a gentle sound of waves lapping up against the heavy equipment.
“Shit,” Martha said. “The tunnels are over there somewhere. We’ll have to climb across and see if we can find one under the water. Go ahead, monkey boy, see if you can find us a way over.”
Hil smiled, the drug giving him that warm feeling of invincibility. None of the extraction agents were ever allowed in the Maze but they knew enough about it to know what the field-ops could do. He climbed up onto the railing and jumped across to a narrow pipe that dropped slightly with his weight but held. He caught his balance and ran along to a section of walkway that had fallen to dip at an angle into the water. He reached across to test its stability, decided to risk it and swung himself up, climbing it like a ladder along to the intact section. Then he sat and watched Martha pick her way across. She was fine, it wasn’t that difficult, but she was hampered by gear. Once she was half way, he climbed up and worked his way through the easiest route he could find to the centre of the room then waited again.
Neither of them saw the guy who fired the shot that hit her, its echo rebounding around the vast space as she fell, bouncing off pipes to hit the water and go under.
Hil jumped up and yelled, caught between looking for her and spotting where the shot had come from. He flinched back as the entire area lit up, flares landing on walkways and others splashing down to ignite the oily surface of the floodwater. The flames spread rapidly. He ran forward and searched frantically for Martha, firing at the shadows he could see flitting amongst the machinery.
Thick dark smoke began to fill the area and shots ricocheted off pipes by his head.
“Martha!” he yelled silently through the implant.
Nothing, then, “Hil! Get the hell out of there.” She sounded pissed but alright so he backed off and
ran, clambering over debris and machine blocks.
“Where are you?” he sent.
“In cover,” she hissed at him. “The tunnels are over by the back wall, get your ass over there. I’ll see you there. Just don’t let these guys get a shot at you.”
Hil ducked down and worked his way to the back wall, keeping tight and keeping his breathing shallow. The smoke was acrid but mostly hanging just above the water. He made it to an area where the walkways were pretty much intact and hunkered down low against the wall. “Martha?”
There was a pause then, “Give me a minute.”
There was splash off to his left and he ran over to help her out of the water. She was pale and swearing and digging around inside her vest. “Bastards are using armour-piercing,” she gasped. “Oh shit.”
He helped her pull out another trauma patch and pushed it into place against her back inside the soaking wet vest.
She caught hold of his hand as he finished and looked square into his eyes. “You have to go,” she said. “The tunnels are right below us. Dive down and swim through and you should find the river.”
“I’m not going without you,” he said before he realised he meant it.
“If we go together, they’ll be right behind us,” she said, wincing as she shifted her weight. “I stay here, I can slow them down.”
“No.”
“Hil, you don’t have any choice in this. You go. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“No.” He’d never been very articulate in arguing with her.
She reached up and gently stroked his cheek. “You have no idea, Hil.”
“MJ…”
A flare landed next to them, and they lurched away as a hail of bullets impacted into the wall behind them.
“Go,” she yelled and pushed him over the edge.
Chapter 31
“Martha Hetherington.”