"We can provide some personnel for such crews too," Sarno pledged.
"We'll find a way," Henry vowed. "Have faith in that. For now, though, we should probably get back to work."
"That we should," Linh remarked. "The Venture Star may be in good shape, but that doesn't mean she doesn't need some work done. We might not be able to give her the same outfitting the Shadow Wolf had, but I've got a few changes we can make in the time we have left."
"Then we are adjourned for now." Lou rose.
The meeting broke up. Everyone returned to the transport tube to the Majha with the weight of their situation still pressing down. Removing the Rigault cruisers, or outright taking them over, was vital to their success. Accomplishing that mission was clearly another matter.
Henry lingered behind the others as they filed through the tube. As much as the problems weighed, he didn't feel them quite as keenly as he would have before. Inside, he felt very much like everything was coming together. They'd find a way. People like Antoine Rigault, they always were arrogant enough to leave themselves vulnerable in one spot or another.
When he got back to the Majha, Henry walked along the outer hull sections, noting the view outside of the portholes. They were still over San Tomas Correlo and would be until departure. Already a few ships were milling around them, parts of either Lou's fleet or the Sisters'.
He was not alone in watching them. He noted the form of Vidia leaning by one of the ports. His hair was arranged into dreadlocks. When he noticed Henry approaching, he smiled gently. "Captain. All goin' well?"
"So far so good," Henry said, coming to a stop beside him. "How about you?"
"Just doin' some thinking."
There was a certain resignation in Vidia's voice. Henry drew closer. "Oh?"
"My purpose here." Vidia glanced Henry's way. "I always hoped ta bring ya back inta faith, yar own or mine. I'm glad ta see ya've found yar way again, but I had nothin' ta do with it. I wonder how much of ya life so far would've been better if I'd helped ya faster."
"It wasn't on you, Vidia, it never was," Henry answered. He clapped Vidia's shoulder with his hand. "If anything, I owe you for all your efforts."
That got Vidia's attention. "Oh?"
"You may not have healed me, but you helped keep me from sliding any further away," Henry said. "You did exactly what a spiritual counselor is supposed to do. You tended to me until I was ready to take my next step. Or plunge, as the case may be here. But you've got nothing to be ashamed of. That's the important thing."
A reflective look went through Vidia's eyes. "I see what ya mean, Captain." He chuckled. "God's ways are not somethin' Man can see. Perhaps that's a good thing. We can only do what is right and hope it fits inta the greater plan."
Henry nodded and grinned. "Sounds about right to me."
* * *
With the permission of Dr. Singh, Oskar continued his work from the Majha, and would until the Venture Star was available and ready. With his operations on the Hestians complete, Oskar turned his attentions to his long-term patients.
Yanik sat on the observation bed, his jumpsuit partially pulled away to reveal the mass of scarring tissue and torn muscle from the wound on his right shoulder. Oskar ran the scanner over it and compared to is previous scans. "The re-injury you suffered while rescuing Samina will prolong your recovery time."
"I imagined so, but I had to free her. Leaving her to die would be a violation of everything I believe in."
"You did the right thing, Yanik. She's still young. She still has much to live for." He put away the scanner and resumed work on the bandaging holding Yanik's shoulder in place, putting fresh ones on. Wound sealants ensured the partly-rebuilt joint wouldn't seep severely, but there were still telltale signs of the damage Kepper's explosive round inflicted on his shoulder.
"It is important that the joint retain some flexibility, if not strength," Yanik said. "I will have need of the arm soon."
"Oh?" Oskar leveled a cautious look at his shipmate. "You expect to be in the shooting, don't you?"
"I will be. I intend to join Tia's forces in their assault on the Hestian capital. She will have need of my aid."
The physician leveled a concerned look at his larger friend. "Your shoulder won't take much in heavy combat, Yanik. If you do insist on exposing yourself, Captain Henry could use your help, especially if he seizes those cruisers."
"Perhaps, but he will have most of the crew. Tia will be in a command post without support. I believe I can do more for our cause by being at her side, ready to fight."
Their eyes met. Oskar could see the determination in Yanik's expression. He intended to be in the thickest fighting if he was needed, and that was likely to be in Thyssenbourg.
Oskar disagreed. As a physician, he had an obligation to keep a patient from such harm, given his condition.
But I would do greater harm, perhaps, by damage to his spirit. Aloud, he answered, "If that is your wish, I'll accept it. Not happily, I admit, but I will allow it."
Yanik nodded. "I understand why you say this. Krassha must be upheld for you as well as me. I pledge to not try my injury unless required to protect my life or another's."
"Then I will accept your word, and I thank you for understanding." Oskar finished his work on the bandage. "We'll replace that again in a couple of days. And I will definitely want to put fresh ones on before we begin the attack."
"Of course, Doctor."
* * *
The Venture Star was too large for the hangars available at San Tomas Correlo Spaceport, necessitating the ship be parked outside of the rented hangar in question. Tia and Linh walked out of one of the portside holds and rounded the hold, approaching the center of the vessel and the ski-rail landing struts that supported its mass in gravity wells. The main body was marked with the work of crews hired to fit extra manned turrets, giving the ship better firepower without overburdening her structure. "This ship's not so easy to modify," Linh noted to Tia. "Auber-Eisenburg’s aren't built for modding, really."
"That's a shame. We could certainly use a neutron cannon."
Linh chuckled. "I can see getting used to that much firepower. But the holds aren't well-placed here to install a fusion drive. You'll have to make do with a really good set of point-defenses."
"Not even plasma cannons?"
Linh shook her head. "Sorry. No time."
"So we're relying on Jim pulling a trick from his hat."
Tia could tell that the way she spoke bothered her friend. Given Linh's searching gaze, she continued. "Even if we pull this off—"
"When," Linh corrected.
"When, yes." Tia accepted that correction. "Once it's done, what's next?"
"No more megacorporations, no more neural control devices, no more penal labor to kill off anyone willing to stand up to them." Linh's voice was rough as she recited those entries. "We'll be allowed to clean up our planet and grow as much food as we want. Our people will work for themselves, not offworld capitalists."
"That's what I want, but I…" Tia's words trailed off. She set her face in her hand. "Linh, it could still go wrong. Even after we win. So many of our comrades, even your own cousin, expect some measure of punishment for those who fought for the megacorps. Who worked with them. Even if they only did that out of fear, or to feed their families."
"They're still collaborators, Tia," Linh reminded her. "They have to face justice for that."
"Yes, but does that mean we have to put them up against the wall like your cousin talks about?"
"He's young. He's still full of anger. Like a certain comrade of mine I remember."
Tia smiled briefly at the reminder that she used to talk about all of the security officers and "traitors" she would line up. "That's what I'm afraid of, though," she explained. "I look back at what I used to be, and I see how wrong she was. She, I, thought you could just kill the bad people and, like that"—she snapped her fingers—"freedom would be ours. But it's not that simple."
"True,"
Linh agreed.
"Revolutions can go bad. It's a fact of history. They can turn on the people that fought for them and consume them, until the blood is flowing everywhere and the very people the revolution was fought to liberate are harmed by those who fought for them. They turn against the revolution over that, and sometimes things even go back to the way they were." Tia folded her arms. "What if that's all we end up doing? Hurting our own until they bring the megacorps back just to regain a sense of stability? Or even worse, what if they embrace a dictatorship because they want to be led? What if we, what if I, end up every bit as cruel as Antoine Rigault?"
"You could never be that cruel, Tia," Linh protested.
"We could, though. Easily. It's happened so often, especially revolutions like the one we're planning on."
"Well, for one thing, I wouldn't let you," Linh said. "I promise you that. I wouldn't let you go that far. As for our people, all we can do is give them a chance and hope they make the right choices. We have to believe in them. And that's giving them a lot more than what the megacorps—"
Tia spotted the red dot that formed on Linh's temple. Instinct took over. She threw her weight into her friend, causing a cry of surprise from Linh to fill the air.
Followed, almost immediately, by the supersonic crack of a bullet.
37
The same supersonic round echoed through the earplugs of Allan Kepper. The manhunter remained still where he lay on the edge of the ship hangar adjacent to the Venture Star. Through the scope of his sniper rifle, he tracked his weapon over to follow his targets. Must've seen the targeting laser. Oh well.
Knowing he was now on the clock, Kepper kept his patience. Hastening his fire would only complicate his job. He reacquired his targets just as they stood. His aim centered on the chest of Linh Khánh and his finger stroked the trigger again.
A spark erupted from her right arm. Damn. Prosthetic, metal. I'd have gotten a center mass shot otherwise. He adjusted his aim accordingly, recognizing he had to hit her elsewhere. More than that, they were mere seconds from cover. He had to take one down now.
He kept his weapon steady and got another bead on Linh. His finger tensed again. Another crack echoed as a supersonic round split the air.
Through the scope, he saw the blood erupt from her neck. She went down beside a support strut for the ship. Her friend dropped into cover with her.
Alright, time to finish this. Kepper switched his rifle to auto-mode. While he got to his feet, he held the trigger, spewing round after round at his marks to keep them pinned down. He continued to fire all the way to the side of the hangar and the ladder on the exterior. Through the scope, he verified they were still in cover. They're smart, they'll wait a few seconds.
With that consideration in mind, he slung the rifle onto his shoulder and stepped out onto the ladder.
* * *
Everything came in a blur. The gunshots, the sparks, and finally, the cry of pain from Linh as a supersonic bullet ripped through the flesh at the back of her neck. Tia pulled her along as they fell into cover behind one of the support legs of the Venture Star.
Linh groaned. "I'm alive." She touched the back of her neck with her left hand. Blood continued to ooze out of a rip in her skin. "Nothing vital hit." Her right arm moved a little jerkily. "Think it jammed a servo, though."
"Yeah." Tia pulled her link from her pocket and activated the network call to the others. "Tia here, Linh and I are under fire on the outside! We're pinned down!" The continued gunfire around them undoubtedly reinforced her words.
"What do you want us to do?" asked Samina.
"You're not armed, you and Pieter stay inside," Tia insisted. "Secure all the ship entrances!"
"Alright!"
"Henry here. I'm getting Wu's team. We're going to a shuttle now. ETA is at least ten minutes. Can you hold out that long?"
"We'll try," Tia said over the gunfire. She reached to her hip and pulled the CP-2540, a sleeker version of Henry's preferred model. It didn't have the weight of the Rigault pistol she'd wielded for all of these years.
After several seconds passed without fire, Tia warily moved her head to the side of the leg and peeked toward the hangar. The angle let her spot a figure sliding down the ladder along the side of the building. She lifted the pistol and started firing. Muscle memory caused her to over-adjust, as if she were still firing her Rigault heavy pistol, and the bolts of pale sapphire light failed to hit the figure.
The moment the shooter was on the ground, they went prone. She fired a couple of shots over their head before ducking back into cover. Another burst of bullets filled the air around the ship leg.
"Who is it?"
"I can't make out the face, but I'm betting it's that son of a bitch Kepper again," Tia answered. "Rigault must have sent him to kill us." She exposed her arm and opened fire in the general direction the attacker was coming from. Friction sparks and a sharp report spoke of the return fire that kept them pinned in.
Despite it, Tia tried to get another look. The man was getting closer. He wanted to bring the fight into point-blank range. Tia was more than ready to punch his lights out, but she knew better than to take this opponent lightly. It would be better if she nailed him with a shot.
But she couldn't. His suppressive fire was too much. If she exposed herself, she'd be killed. We need to hold out, but how? It's still minutes before Henry gets here.
A metallic clang sounded above their heads. Tia looked up in time to see a grenade fall near them. "Look out!" She grabbed Linh and pulled her away from the grenade.
There was a flash, a resounding boom, and a shockwave threw them into the tarmac so hard, they hit the ground rolling. Each rolled at least four times before coming to a stop. Despite being on the ground, Tia thought the world was coming out from under her. Her ears rang so loudly, she couldn't hear, and she couldn't quite see either as the flash left a remnant light in her vision that drowned out what was really there.
Get up. Get up, he's coming to kill you and Linh! Tia gritted her teeth and tried to stop her head from spinning when she raised it up from the ground. Her vision doubled, causing her to see two figures coming toward her instead of one, each a mirror of the other.
The mirrored figures were still at least ten meters away when their rifles came up in tandem. Move, she urged herself, but she couldn't. The world wouldn't stop spinning.
She was helpless to move when another supersonic crack filled the air.
* * *
Kepper fired the rifle.
And he missed.
As his finger tensed on the trigger, a bolt of brilliant blue light slammed into the rifle. The kinetic energy of the impact threw his aim off, sending the bullet into the asphalt instead of through Tia's forehead.
Miri held her pistol steady but couldn't help but look toward her stricken comrade to reassure herself that Tia was still alive. This cost her a critical second, allowing Kepper to scramble for the cover of another strut of the railed leg under the Venture Star. She fired at him repeatedly to no effect, as he got into the protective cover without taking any visible wounds.
She weighed her options. With his rifle gone, Kepper would likely try to break off, flee, and try again later. The risk to Tia's life that outcome represented was one that, to Miri, couldn't be borne. She had to stop him, now, and put him down. Henry and Wu will be here soon; we'll have him trapped. All I have to do is keep his attention.
She kept moving toward his position. "Kepper, give it up!" she called out, the pistol raised toward him. She had a disadvantage here, as the shape of the strut let him pick one of two sides to shoot from, and she couldn't cover both effectively. She had to pick, and she did.
Her choice proved wrong.
Kepper appeared from the other side of the strut. Miri brought her gun over and opened fire, but the loss of that critical moment allowed him to fire as well. A hot, wet pain filled her right arm, causing her hand to spasm and drop her silver-sheened pistol.
After a mom
ent's panic, she realized her shot hit home as well, as Kepper let out a pained shout. His pistol hit the ground at his feet, and he, for a moment, cradled his wounded left hand. A faint smoke came from the charred flesh her shot left around his thumb and wrist. He snarled with frustration at her. Even with the distance, Miri thought she could see something beyond his usual professional detachment glint in his eyes. A rage, bestial and terrible, remained hidden behind them.
His right hand reached for his belt and pulled out a wicked-looking knife with a slightly curved blade. Miri ignored the pain burning in her wounded right arm and pulled her own combat knife, a weapon of similar length but straight-edged. She rushed toward him, a low battle cry coming from her throat to off-set him.
He matched it and came for her as well. Each went for a cut when they were close, causing their blades to briefly match and shriek from the collision of metal.
Miri knew she was in critical danger. The rage was gone from his eyes, but the cool detachment there was joined by confidence. This man knew his way with a knife, and something in his body language told her he ached to employ it. He was bigger than she, and most likely stronger. She needed to control the fight and keep her poise.
She struck again at him, aiming to slash him in the shoulder. Kepper caught the blow and deflected it. His knee came up for her belly and impacted. Pain shot through her midsection, but she kept her footing and her focus, counter-attacking by thrusting the knife at his neck. He moved to avoid a lethal blow, but not fast enough to avoid her blade slicing flesh along the right side of his neck and throat. Nothing vital was hit, but she had first blood.
She didn't get to enjoy it. His left elbow slammed into her forehead with enough force to stun her for the moment. His right hand shot forward, his blade aimed for her breast, and she had no choice but to use her left arm to absorb the blow.
Breach of Trust: Breach of Faith Book Four Page 30