Thieves' Guild Series (7 eBook Box Set): Military Science Fiction - Alien Invasion - Galactic War Novels

by C. G. Hatton

He stopped after a few steps and turned in a slow circle, feeling the quiet deep inside, and standing there he realised that it was the first time in a long time that he had nothing but a still and peaceful calm inside his head.

  He was alone.

  It was weird but he’d forgotten how this felt. He stood for a few long minutes, breathing slow and deep. It didn’t take long for the sense of tranquillity to flutter and, having nothing to fight against, his own thoughts intruded with a passion, emotions he’d buried and refuted. And having the chance to think and feel on his own terms was suddenly more difficult than having to live with the constant intrusion of company. Christ, he was more screwed up than he’d realised.

  He started walking and broke into a run again, pushing harder so it took all his concentration to keep breathing and keep his legs moving. He veered in a wide circle around the landing field and the outposts, not wanting to risk being spotted by any sentries, feeling the presence of the minds there as a vague encroachment, and he didn’t stop until he reached the river channel. He took his time then, clambering down to the dry riverbed and picking his way across the boulder-strewn floor, catching his breath and giving his muscles a chance to recover. Considering how long he’d been out of action, he wasn’t in bad shape and if anything he felt faster and fitter than he’d been even before the incident at the lab. Even the pulling in his thigh seemed to ease as he stretched out the muscle and made it work. It felt good.

  It didn’t take long after that to make his way to the plain where the Duck was resting, a tiny shadow on the horizon that grew as he got closer. It looked like there were only two vehicles outside, the loading ramp down but the internal cargo bay door firmly closed. LC slowed and circled round, taking his time and finally reaching out to Elliott through the Senson as he moved in.

  There was no answer.

  LC edged past the two jeeps once he was sure there was no one inside either of them, and worked his way up to the ship.

  As he approached, the cargo bay door groaned gently and eased up slowly, just enough of a gap that he could crawl under. It slammed shut with an echo the instant he was through. He managed to snatch his fingertips clear and rolled to his feet, disappearing into the ship before Tierney’s guys came to investigate.

  He tried again.

  There was still no reply and he walked carefully through the abandoned ship, making his way to the engine room, reckoning that was closer and not as much risk as trying to get to the bridge. The Duck was big and the skinny tech guy was probably sitting somewhere watching and laughing at the care LC was having to take to avoid Tierney’s men.

  “Elliott, if you can hear me, a hand here would be useful,” he sent.

  Nothing.

  Maybe the guy didn’t exist after all. Maybe the superstitious pirates were right. LC thought back to the touch of those cold dry hands and the black void surrounding the guy. What if he really was a ghost?

  He stopped and listened. The ship was cold and he was only wearing a thin shirt. He shivered. It was ridiculous. Elliott had bandaged the wound in his thigh, stood there and stuck a needle in his arm. He hadn’t imagined that. And regardless of what Gallagher and that guy Tanzi said, LC knew for a fact that there was an AI on board the Duck. And Elliott was hooked up with it somehow.

  Chapter 24

  NG studied the board, running scenarios and potential consequences through his mind, thoughts guarded. He wished he could say he’d never doubted LC or Hil. With all the rumours and snatches of information that had wormed their way back to the Alsatia, it had been hard to consider that they would do anything to jeopardise the guild, but not impossible. He knew they could both be wayward and unpredictable, and no one had ever been able to temper LC’s outright and blatant disregard for protocol and procedures, but it was never to the detriment of the guild. He should have trusted that.

  He leaned forward and brought his own queen into play.

  The Man nodded slowly. “Are you aware that Legal alleges that you have been fully aware of the whereabouts of Anderton and Hilyer all along?”

  NG shrugged. He knew and he knew that no one had taken her rumour mongering seriously.

  “There are also rumours,” the Man said softly, “that you sent Anderton out specifically to find this mysterious ship.”

  NG raised his eyes. That one he hadn’t come across. As much as he didn’t believe in coincidences, and it really was an astonishing ship that LC had run into, he hadn’t sent him there. Simple truth. “I’d be happy to take the credit but that’s absurd.”

  The Man moved his knight, a simple retreat back to his own lines. “Serendipity or simply the latest in a stream of cascading events? Whatever the reason, this ship and its crew have come to our attention. We must not fail to capitalise upon this turn of fortune.”

  •

  The engine control room was dark. LC stood for a moment, waiting for his eyes to adjust. No need for lights – these days he could see as well in almost total darkness as he could in daylight. He climbed down to the control room in the eerie silence amidst a mass of powered down machinery.

  He slipped inside, grabbed a data board and sat on the floor in the far corner, one eye on the door. He initiated a full system check through the board and simultaneously used the Senson to link in with the ship, ploughing straight to the barrier. He pushed through, full force, no care to avoid the spike that flared back at him.

  “Elliott, quit screwing around.”

  There was nothing, no reaction.

  For a second LC thought he’d been thrown out but then he felt the connection change, a force pulling at his mind as if there was a hand around his throat squeezing. It dragged him in deeper.

  “Jesus, Elliott, if you’re in here, talk to me, you asshole.”

  He could feel every heartbeat, pounding and slow, one after the other. He couldn’t break free. He closed his eyes and pushed back violently. He didn’t like dealing with an AI at the best of times but trying to reach one that had already proved itself elusive and arrogantly defiant was something he didn’t have a lot of patience for.

  “Who are you, LC Anderton?” it whispered at him.

  He relaxed then. “So you do exist. Where’s Elliott?”

  “Who are you running from, LC? Who is it that wants you so badly, Luka, that they’ve posted the highest bounty ever seen in human history? It’s gone up again, if you care to know.” It increased the pressure. “There are ships landing here every day – what are the chances someone is here with their eye on that much cash?”

  “We don’t have time to fuck about with mind games,” he sent back. “Where’s Elliott?”

  It cast him out abruptly, leaving him gasping for air. He opened his eyes and sat back.

  Son of a bitch. Elliott was sitting there in the chief engineer’s seat, swinging it slightly from side to side.

  “Your AI has a real attitude problem,” LC said, looking up from his spot on the floor.

  “You need talk,” Elliott replied with a smile.

  Funny. LC stood up. “I need your help.” He pulled the stolen implant out of his pocket and held it up. “I need you to find out where this came from.”

  Elliott got a condensed version of the story, no mention of the guild and no mention of the enforced tab, just a vague outline of someone he cared about being in trouble and the implant being from the bastards that had caused it. And yeah, it was all connected to the damn virus.

  If Elliott knew about the guild, he didn’t say anything.

  After that, LC headed to medical, reluctantly, needing to check on Duncan, out of guilt more than anything. He took beers and perched on the bunk opposite.

  The big man had glucose dripping steadily into his bloodstream. LC was almost envious. He hadn’t had that luxury. All they’d tried early on were painkillers, stronger and stronger drugs and whatever illegal substances Hilyer could get his hands on, without realising that they were having no effect because they were never going to have an effect.

&nb
sp; Duncan tried to move and got an agonising stab of hot pain through every joint. “Shit!” he gasped. “How long is this supposed to last?”

  LC kept his breathing even, riding the second-hand pain as best as he could manage. He sent silently to Elliott through the link, “How much have you told Hal?”

  “Enough,” Elliott sent back. “Are you in pain there?”

  LC gritted his teeth. “No.” There was no way he wanted Elliott to know more than he did already. “I’d just forgotten how bad it was.”

  “He’s handling it better than you.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. It seems to be adapting to his body much faster. You know I said it was mutating within your system? Seems like it’s become used to being in the human body so Hal’s not having such a fight with it. It’s still not easy though. How long did you have to endure this?”

  “I don’t know, long enough.” He couldn’t help the edge of desperation. He looked over at Duncan and shrugged.

  The big man pinched the top of his nose and LC felt the headache they were sharing spike. He couldn’t remember when the buzzing in his head had started or when it had begun to separate out into distinct voices. Earlier than he’d realised at the time probably, because he’d been so screwed up at the beginning. But he didn’t need to guess what was going through Duncan’s mind; it was like some kind of insane audio feedback.

  “Elliott told me I have you to thank. Is that true?” Duncan said.

  “You might not thank me when you know what’s going on,” LC said. “What else has Elliott told you?”

  “He said I would have died if you hadn’t intervened.”

  “Did he say how I intervened?”

  Duncan smiled despite the pain. “He said you have an unusual strain of some biological thing in your blood. It helps healing. What is it, something experimental?”

  “You could say that.” Christ, it felt like he was dancing along the edge of an abyss. How the hell was he supposed to explain what had happened without mentioning the guild? Elliott would be listening and as much as Hal Duncan seemed like a decent guy, he really didn’t know him. And here they were, tied irrevocably and undeniably to each other.

  “Whatever it is, I guess it works,” Duncan said, “but these are hellish side effects.”

  That were going to get worse, LC thought. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. They felt hot and sore. He looked across at Duncan. “How’s your head?”

  “Buzzing like I have a nest of giant bees in there.”

  “Did Elliott say anything else?” LC asked, tentatively, not sure how to broach the subject of the bounty.

  “He said not to say anything to anyone, that there might be repercussions. He said you had no choice.”

  “You saved my life on Poule. I couldn’t stand aside and watch you die. You might wish I had.”

  “The ‘repercussions’ that bad, huh?”

  “I have a bounty on my head worth more than twenty six million because of this. If anyone finds out you have it…”

  “Shit.”

  They sat there in silence for a few long minutes. Then Duncan said again, “Shit.” He leaned forward. “Who else knows about this?”

  “Sean knows about the bounty but she doesn’t know why.”

  “The gunshot wound to your leg – that really was as bad as it looked?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Shit.”

  In amongst the overwhelming buzz of noise and pain, he overheard the big marine put two and two together. “She’s a bounty hunter. For Christ’s sake, Luka, why are you even still here?”

  “Not many places left to run to. I said you might not be thanking me when you know the whole story.”

  “How much more is there?”

  “Some.”

  Duncan closed his eyes. LC caught the edge of the pain and knew exactly how it felt – bone deep aches and knots that twinged too often to let you relax, your entire nervous system being torn apart and rebuilt one neuron at a time. He could feel his own energy sapping in sympathy.

  “Where did it come from, this virus or whatever it is?”

  No doubt Elliott’s ears perked up wherever he was. “Don’t ask me that yet, Hal,” he said softly. “I promise I’ll explain it sometime but not right now. I just need to sort Gallagher out then I’m leaving with Sean. It’s up to you if you want to come with us.”

  It was still dark when he crept back into the town. There was a chill in the air and a vicious wind had whipped constantly at his back during the whole run in. He hadn’t stopped once and his lungs were burning in a way that made him feel more alive than he had in a long time.

  Elliott had taken the implant and said he’d see what he could do. It had taken a massive leap of faith and trust to hand it over and walk away. LC had half been hoping for an instant answer right there and then. Elliott had laughed and said he could have a go if LC didn’t mind if the damn thing exploded but it would take some time to break into it without risking any damage.

  He made his way easily past the guards on the wall and headed for the safe house. The town was quieter, no music or drums any more, just drifting sounds of voices and laughter as people made their way home. He avoided them, using the rooftops and staying in the shadows, getting back looking like it wouldn’t be a problem, until he heard a scream.

  He knew he shouldn’t get involved, knew there were bounty hunters here who’d recognised him and knew he should keep his head down and get back to the safe house.

  The girl screamed again, a frightened pleading that turned into a whimper. LC made his way over and knelt at the edge of the roof, watching and looking deep into the minds of the two men pinning her to the wall. She was one of the youngsters that had been serving drinks at the courtyard. The two men were transients. Scum that used the colony as a drop off point when it suited them, no allegiance to Tierney and no thoughts of anything other than their own gratification and gain. There was nothing there about the bounty.

  They were pawing at the girl, both armed, both big guys.

  LC dropped silently to the street and stood, waiting for them to spot him. The girl saw him first and opened her eyes wide. They turned. One had straggly blond dreadlocks and a shotgun in a holster across his back. He pulled it free as he stepped aside, a smile spreading as he looked LC up and down.

  “What the hell do we have here?” he said, words slurring.

  His buddy shoved the girl away, sending her sprawling into the dirt. He drew twin knives from his belt, a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “Go home,” LC said to the girl, maintaining eye contact with the thug without blinking. She backed away but stood watching. Dreadlocks with the shotgun was angling around. They were both high on narcotics and pumped for a fight.

  LC relaxed and shifted his balance almost imperceptibly. He didn’t let the eye contact slip. They were closing in slowly, one slightly ahead of the other, which was a mistake.

  Dreadlocks glanced at his buddy and looked back to LC. “She’s ours,” he said with a grin and made his move too soon, hefting the shotgun in a malicious jab aimed at LC’s stomach. It was a move he used a lot and he was expecting LC to fold, winded, following it with a blow to the back of the head to put him down. LC could see the scene in the guy’s head, feel the expectation that it would happen.

  Time slowed and with lightning fast reflexes, LC stepped aside and simply wasn’t there to be hit. He let the guy’s arm and the butt of the shotgun pass into thin air and used the momentum against him, punching a fist hard and fast into his kidneys as he went past. The guy stumbled, and LC could almost feel the thug’s mind taking valuable time to catch up with the sudden shift from what it thought was going to happen to the shock of the reality it was suddenly faced with.

  LC continued his move to intercept a slicing blow from the second guy that was aimed at his throat. He swatted the lumbering attack aside, tapped the guy on the nose with just enough force to make his eyes water and ducked under and around behi
nd, shoving the guy to keep his forward momentum going. They were both bigger than him by some way but they weren’t expecting him to be trouble so they weren’t thinking. He was used to training against the likes of guild recovery agents and Pen’s team of ex-spec ops. And he’d always been fast even before the virus took a hold of his nervous system. These guys were amateurs with egos, not a good combination and LC wasn’t in the mood to waste any more time.

  Dreadlocks regained his balance and laughed off his mistake. He approached again, taunting and gesturing a come on with one hand while he swung the shotgun with the other.

  LC backed away a step and the two men moved in simultaneously, no honour amongst pirates and no chance they were going to fool about any more taking a shot one at a time. But even if he hadn’t been able to read the guys’ minds, it wouldn’t have taken much to pre-empt a stabbing thrust from the knife guy. LC avoided the blades easily even as he swung round to block a kick from the guy with the dreadlocks.

  He casually blocked a few more strikes to gauge their timing then got the opening he wanted and spun with a kick that caught the knife guy on the side of the head. That one dealt with, LC turned to fend off another blow from the shotgun. He caught the gun and thrust back, hitting the guy in the nose with it. Blood spurted. LC twisted the shotgun free and swept the guy’s feet out from under him, driving him down with a punch that put him out cold. Instinctively he spun quickly to block another attack but he knew before he’d finished the move that the kick had done enough to take the knifeman out of the fight. They were both flat out in the dust of the road.

  LC stood for a moment, slowing his breathing. The whole fight had taken less than thirty seconds. He threw the shotgun aside and looked at the girl. “Go home,” he said again.

  She smiled shyly, turned and ran.

  Chapter 25

  NG took a sip of the wine. He might have been imagining it but he was feeling more focused the more he drank.

  “Never in our history have we faced more turmoil,” the Man said, absently picking up the discarded bishop. “While our operatives fight for their lives, we fight for the very survival of the guild.”