Espero (The Silver Ships Book 6)
Page 25
Moments later, Ellie’s telemetry indicated the twin landing bay doors were wide open.
The moment the shuttle touched down and air pressure returned, Ellie’s people piled out of their traveler as the Harakens spilled from Deirdre’s ship. Ellie had parked her shuttle in reverse to Deirdre’s, allowing the hatches to face each other.
The decision had been made aboard the Tanaka by Tatia, prior to the launch of Deirdre’s traveler, that the shuttle must not contain any evidence of its Haraken source, which meant no uniforms or stun guns that could be inadvertently discovered by Toyo’s people. As the two groups came together, Deirdre shucked her wrap, as the crew did their holiday clothes, and Ellie’s people, locating owners by implants, handed out uniforms — Haraken midnight blue with fine touches of gold in the insignias on the short-tabbed collars, on ship patches on one shoulder, and in Haraken patches on the other.
Deirdre sealed her jacket and slapped Ellie on the shoulder. “If I don’t get the opportunity to say it later, I love the way you come to the rescue.”
“Don’t thank me too quickly,” Ellie said. “We cleaned out every stun gun onboard the Tanaka, and we came up short.” Knowing she was overheard by Deirdre’s crew,” Ellie added, “Sorry, people, the captain and Assembly Speaker had no way of knowing when they left Hellébore that they were making this kind of trip.”
“If you’re backing our president,” an ex-Libran said, “It’s best to load onboard everything you can get your hands on.”
“And tether the rest outside the ship with your beams,” another added.
The Harakens laughed, as they strapped on their weapons.
“Those without hand guns stay to the rear,” Deirdre ordered. “We’ll pass back any weapons we confiscate. Check their power settings … if they have any.”
Ellie handed a stun gun to Deirdre. “I know you have to guide us, but you don’t have to be in front.”
“Where would Alex be?” Deirdre shot back.
Willem interrupted the commanders’ conversation with his own request. “Commander Canaan, the security implant you possess, please.”
Deirdre reluctantly handed over the tiny vial. It was their only method of access to the lifts and the lab.
Willem pulled out a small device, 6 centimeters’ square. He separated the square into two halves, despite its ultrathin width, to reveal what looked like a small pool of liquid metal.
“If you would, Commander,” Willem said, handing the two squares to Ellie. “Hold these carefully. Do not tilt them.”
Willem extracted the tiny wafer chip from the vial and held it next to his eye, studying it under extreme magnification. “As we suspected, quite inferior technology,” Willem pronounced. He placed the chip in the middle of one of the halves Ellie held, closed the other half over the top, and took the device back. His eyes lost focus for several moments while he signaled the pool of nanites surrounding the chip.
Miranda had shared with the SADEs the means necessary to access the lifts and the implant she possessed. Willem had fashioned the device to read the chip, while Julien completed a testing and cloning program. The two SADEs finished their invention even as Julien left with Alex aboard their traveler headed for Udrides.
The nanites completed their connections to the chip, and Julien’s application tested the circuitry. The chip’s function was revealed as broadcasting an RFID, a radio frequency ID, indicating the wearer’s security level, which the lift controller required for access to the subsurface domes.
While they waited, Deirdre regarded Ellie, but a shrug was her only response. Soon after, the commanders received a small file titled “Lift Access,” which contained a snippet of code.
“Commanders, everyone in our party has this application,” Willem said. “Simply send it as you would a comm when you are in the lift and you will gain access. I’m unaware of the layout of the domes and levels. You will have to manually enter your destination, and I do apologize for that shortcoming.”
“Lovely individual,” Deirdre said, hefting her weapon, kissing Willem on the cheek, and directing the crew to follow her.
Noticing Willem was frozen in place, Ellie sent,
As Willem spun to follow Ellie, who raced to the forefront of the group to join Deirdre, he sent to her,
Ellie chuckled to herself at Willem’s comment, as she caught up with Deirdre. Toyo’s patrons and service personnel were scattering out of their way, horrified looks on their faces at the sight of Haraken blue.
Two security people came from a side corridor into the Harakens’ path and Deirdre and Ellie dropped them in a heartbeat — not bothering with explanations.
Deirdre glanced behind Ellie.
Ellie looked back at the SADE, who was directly behind her in a crouch, cutting his height by nearly a third.
sent Ellie, her humor obvious. She glanced back at Willem, who gave a thumbs-up, a signal he had seen New Terran scientists share with one another while working on his observation platform.
* * *
The sound of a high-pitched whine, penetrated Brace’s consciousness, and his mind swam up through layers of gray into the light. “They’re cutting through my makeshift door stops,” he heard Miranda say. Sitting up, Brace took in the room — Miranda stood beside him, and a room full of people sat at various lab tables.
“Why am I the only one wearing a suit and mask?” Brace asked.
“Necessary earlier … it’s not now,” Miranda replied.
Brace slowly stood up, his legs shaky from the stun blast, and stripped off the protective clothing. “Aren’t we short some people?” he asked, looking around.
“The lead scientist, Stratford, wasn’t here. Apparently, Toyo kidnaps their families to ensure these people remain loyal to him. A senior chemist took Commander Valenko and our men to Stratford’s cabin.”
“So Stratford is the biochemist we’re after?”
“Yet to be determined.”
Hearing the pitch of the whine increase, Brace walked over to study the wall of furniture piled against the twin metal doors, leading to the anteroom. Normally a stack of furniture like he observed would tumble with the efforts of a few good men. But the heavy, lab furniture was strapped together with sections of metal alloy bent around table legs and chairs like so much cable. SADEs, he thought with a grin.
“How much time do you think we have?” Brace asked.
“We were fortunate, Ser. They didn’t think to check the lab until the next shift arrived and was denied access. Then it seemed to take them awhile to determine a course of action. Planets could shift orbits before these people appear to complete their thoughts. However, recently, they’ve been proceeding rapidly, and I estimate we have fewer than two hours before they break through.”
Brace began patting his clothes.
“Don’t bother, Ser
. I gave your armament to Commander Svetlana.”
“Oh,” Brace said with resignation and walked around, shaking out the residual tingling in his limbs.
“In all probability, it was unnecessary for you to take the stun blast for me, Ser.”
Brace looked at Miranda, whose eyes had the clarity and intensity he associated with Z. “I was raised to look out for a lady,” he replied and saw the SADE’s eyes soften.
“The generosity of your action is appreciated, dear,” Miranda replied, her persona coming back into full play.
* * *
The Harakens, led by Deirdre and Ellie, encountered Toyo’s security personnel along the main concourse and at the first lift. In brief but decisive fights, they quickly dispatched the red-uniformed individuals. The Harakens had the numbers and were what Tatia would call motivated.
Several Harakens were stunned, and the commanders delegated troopers to carry their compatriots back to the travelers. Due to the practice of recovering their comrades, the Harakens’ numbers dwindled faster than the count lost in the firefights.
Gaining the lift, Ellie assigned eight of the crew to guard access to prevent an ambush when they exited the lift on their return. Then Ellie, Deirdre, Willem, and as many more crew as could fit, squeezed onto the lift. Orders were given for the remaining crew to follow as quickly as they could.
“Cozy,” Ellie quipped, her delicately sculpted, Méridien face jammed into a broad New Terran shoulder.
Deirdre sent the security access code Willem had supplied and typed in the level D4-7. When the lift moved, she offered Willem a smile.
“Were you in doubt, Commander?” asked Willem, perplexed as to why Deirdre appeared pleased.
“Who me? Of course not,” Deirdre replied, and her comments were greeted with a round of chuckles and snickers. “Okay, let’s just say that I was sharing my pleasure with you at our success,” Deirdre said.
“The hole you’re digging is getting deeper, Commander,” said a voice from the back of the car, and the group broke into laughter.
The lift car decelerated, and the mood shifted. When the doors opened, Harakens hurried to take defensive positions. Deirdre tapped D1-1 into the car’s keypad to send it up to the main concourse. She worked her way to the front of the group, catching up with Ellie, who had just snapped her head back from a peek around the corner.
“They’re waiting for us,” Ellie said. “They’ve got an untidy barricade 20 meters down the corridor. We’ll have to wait for the car to return with more people.”
* * *
Jameson touched the faint remains of the cut in his scalp for the umpteenth time. It told him how the Harakens managed to get access to the lift and reach the lab. Three Méridiens on vacation, right … more like three Harakens investigating us, he thought with disgust.
His latest update from the crew cutting into the lab told him that they needed only another half-hour, but Jameson wasn’t sure he had that much time, not with the report from his people that the Harakens had arrived with reinforcements and already commandeered the lift closest to the landing bay. Tapping his ear comm, Jameson called up to the Bountiful, holding station above, which could supply an additional forty armed personnel.
“That’s a negative on your request, Jameson,” the captain replied. “I have one nasty-looking ship sitting 30K kilometers from my bow, with its nose pointed at me. It’s that new Haraken warship with beam capability, and the president is aboard.”
“Racine?” Jameson asked.
“Negative. It’s President Drake. Apparently, he’s gotten word of the drugs and the lab, and he’s hopping mad.” The captain waited to continue while Jameson blistered the comm. “If I were you, Jameson, I would do whatever it takes to destroy every piece of evidence in that lab.”
* * *
Deirdre and Ellie delayed taking on the barricade until two more loads of crew descended to bolster their ranks, before they considered they had sufficient resources to take on the barrier.
“Sorry to ask this, people, but I need volunteers to get stunned,” Deidre announced.
When everyone was ready to execute the plan, three New Terrans broke from cover, running at the barricade and firing at Toyo’s people, who hid behind the barricade. The Harakens gained mere meters before stun blasts felled them, but not before two Méridien-built crew slid out onto the corridor on their bellies behind the New Terrans and took aim at those popping up from behind the barricade. The first round resulted in five Harakens down, and six of Toyo’s people stunned.
Harakens charged right behind the first group, and their swift action caught the defenders off guard, because they made it halfway to the barricade before they crumpled to the floor. The defenders shifted their aim to the floor near the corner where they expected the others to be sliding out, but they were outmaneuvered. Méridiens had been running behind New Terrans, their slender physiques hidden behind the broad backs of their comrades, and the group accounted for seven defenders before they went down.
Willem, peeking around the corner during each charge, compiled and shared visuals that allowed his people to pinpoint the defender locations for the next group. By the time the third group of New Terrans raced forward, with Méridiens both behind them and on the floor, the defenders were overrun.
Deirdre delegated four crew members to guard their felled comrades. “Have the next carload guard these people with you,” she ordered. With only Ellie, Willem, and two crew members behind her, Deirdre climbed over the barricade, noting Jameson’s body buried under the body of one of his own people. Gaining the other side, Deirdre called up Miranda’s vid to guide her to the lab.
The sound of high-speed cutting tools alerted the Harakens before they rounded the last corner. Deirdre peeked out and pulled her head back. “Looks like Toyo’s people are having a hard time gaining entrance to their own lab.”
“See any security people?” Ellie asked.
Deirdre shared her recording of the glance.
“Two,” Ellie said. “Most of the security people must have been at the barricade. Shall we?”
The two commanders stepped around the corner, as if they were strolling to an evening meal. “What are you people up to?” Deirdre asked, casually.
The crew cutting through the last pair of doors couldn’t hear the commander over the noise of their saws, but the two security officers did. They turned, still reaching for their weapons, when they fell to the floor.
Deirdre and Ellie were able to walk up behind the four cutting crew and tap the shoulders of the nearest two, who were wearing noise-cancellation headgear. A man and a woman turned around, surprised to see the blue of Haraken uniforms, instead of the red of their security people. In turn, they tapped the shoulders of the two handling the high-speed cutting tool, and the whine of the saw quieted as the foursome stared at the Harakens.
“I think you’re done here,” Deirdre said calmly, but there was no mistaking her deadly tone. When the service personnel remained frozen, she barked, “Scatter,” and the workers fled, bumping into walls to ensure they didn’t accidentally brush up against the Harakens.
Brace witnessed the voluptuous curves of Miranda in her seductive wrap tearing into the avalanche of twisted, metal-alloy furniture, yanking material apart with ease, and stripping the barricade down to the floor in just moments.
“The best date to accompany you walking down a dark street,” Brace commented, drily.
“The best date to have any time, dear,” Miranda replied, straightening and rearranging her wrap. She yanked her two makeshift door stops out, and Brace hit the door activator button, but only one door slid open. The other was off its rails.
“We have a problem,” Miranda said
without fanfare to her rescuers. “This is the lab, but the lead scientist, Stratford as he was called, wasn’t present. We still don’t know if he’s the designer of the hallucinogenic. I sent Svetlana with a lead chemist, who was working here, to locate this individual.”
“An important note, Sers,” Brace added. “We’ve heard that Toyo has been keeping the families of the scientists and techs here at the domes to ensure their cooperation.”
“Stan,” Miranda said, pointing to the shift supervisor, “be so kind as to show us the way to Ser Stratford’s cabin.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Stan replied, hurrying forward.
As Miranda ran, she transferred her record of the recent events following the discovery of the lab to Willem.
Deirdre ordered her three men to secure the lab with Brace, and hurried after Miranda, Ellie, Willem, and the supervisor.
-26-
When Svetlana, Tyree, and Oren left the lab in the company of a chemist, Emile Billings, they followed him through the intricate corridor layout of dome four, level seven. The Harakens recorded every turn to ensure they could find their way back to the lab.
“If this is a rescue, I want my family protected too,” Billings said, as he slowed his pace.
“Now isn’t the time to negotiate,” Svetlana said, glaring at the chemist.
“You need me to get to Stratford, and he’s the one you want,” Billings replied.
“What do you mean he’s the one we want?”
“It’s easy to figure out what you people are after. The drug we manufacture is highly addictive, and you want to reverse its effect, but your people don’t know how or where the hallucinogen attaches to the brain. So you need the drug’s designer to show you that, which means you need Stratford. He created the compound. I know that because I worked with him for years until he started experimenting with these types of illegal drugs.”