Michael Anderle - [Heretic of the Federation 03]

by Time to Fear (epub)

  The security head tried to break her hold and grunted with pain when she used the leverage she had.

  “What kind of a fight?” he asked and slapped the mat in surrender as she increased the pressure.

  They moved apart.

  “The Regime has a fairly large Naval presence in the system already,” she explained, “but rumor has it more ships are coming.”

  Frog tried to slide past Vishlog’s legs, only to have the Dreth pin him with one overly large boot. He squirmed free and turned at the last minute to wrap both hands around his opponent’s ankle and yank the warrior’s foot out from under him.

  “Do we know what kind?” Johnny asked as Todd’s team caught the conversation and came to a gradual halt.

  “V’ritan’s waiting on the exact disposition, but it won’t be any worse than that Teloran fleet we faced over Meligorn,” Stephanie replied.

  She let Lars up and they backed away, ready to go again.

  “We’ll need to get over there and we’ll probably arrive in the middle of a battle.” She took a running start at the wall and used it to launch herself over the team leader’s head as he lunged toward her.

  He pivoted and swayed back in time to avoid her first attack as she landed and turned to take advantage of him being out of position.

  Todd signaled to the team to follow him, and they jogged to the edge of where Steph and her people were training.

  “Can anyone get into this?” he asked.

  “Yup!” Lars agreed before she had a chance to respond.

  As if by mutual agreement, the rest of his team stopped their sparring and gathered around him. The security head darted Stephanie a mischievous look.

  “We’ll make it a simple ‘Save the VIP,’” he told Todd and his team, and they all focused on the young Witch.

  “The winner is the team that has the VIP after…” He consulted his tablet and looked at Stephanie. “Thirty minutes?”

  She shrugged but didn’t look very enthusiastic about the idea. “Sure.”

  Lars’ mouth curved into a hard smile and he looked at the ex-Marines.

  “Todd’s the VIP.”

  “What?” Ka was caught off-guard. Until Lars had added that last caveat, she’d assumed Stephanie would be the VIP. From the look on Todd’s face and those of the rest of the team, so had they.

  It was Reggie who broke the spell.

  “Oh, shit!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  As Lars began to smirk, Reggie caught hold of Todd by the collar and belt and yanked him back. At the same time, the rest of his team moved forward. They hadn’t been called the Hooligans for nothing.

  Ka dropped back, tapped the big Scotsman on the shoulder, and spun him toward Todd.

  “Grab him!” she shouted and pointed at their VIP. “Get him out of the gym!”

  “Wait! What?” Todd managed as Jimmy hooked an elbow under his arm, Reggie adjusted his hold, and the two of them broke into a sprint and dragged him with them.

  “That’s cheating!” Frog cried, but Gary was quick to reply.

  “Cheating is having two cats on your side!” the Englishman shouted.

  The two closed on each other, Gary leading with several vicious blows that made Frog stumble back.

  Marcus and Johnny tried to sneak past Angus and Darren. The two ex-Marines pounced. Angus brought Marcus to the floor while Johnny side-stepped Darren and boxed him twice on the side of the head.

  “You have some growing up to do, junior,” he mocked and swept the Marine’s feet out from under him.

  “Typical Intelligence boffin.” Darren snarled and rolled up and out of the way of the next attack.

  Johnny’s eyebrows rose. “And they said no one would hold my past against me.”

  “Are you kidding?” Darren retorted. “That kind of stain never goes away.”

  On Ka’s other side, Drusilla and Henry teamed up against Vishlog and the two of them alternated using feints and distraction to dart in and land a blow on the warrior’s large body. Henry misjudged and ran into a large Dreth fist instead, and Stephanie laughed.

  She looked at Ka. “You can have Zee,” she told the woman and glanced over her shoulder. “Zeekat. Guard Todd! Guard him!”

  Before Ka could respond to that, the black-and-white cat had bounded to his feet, bounced back, and bounded forward to swipe two forepaws into the other cat’s shoulder.

  Bumblebee gave an angry yowl and struck in retaliation, wrapped his paws around Zeekat’s neck, and went for his throat.

  Stephanie turned to Ka. “Now see what you did?” she asked and smirked as magic formed a halo over her body.

  The other woman took a step away but immediately launched forward. “Zeekat’s on our side!” she told the guys, “and Bee wants blood.”

  Stephanie’s fist caught her in the middle, followed by her knee as she took full advantage of Ka’s distraction.

  “Bee’s not the only one,” the Witch caught her opponent by the front of her uniform and dragged her up to eye height as she levitated off the floor. “I want my man back.”

  The hacker laughed.

  “Well, it sucks to be you then,” she taunted, broke Stephanie’s hold, and dropped to the floor.

  “No,” the Witch retorted and kicked her in the head when she dropped to land lightly in front of her. “It sucks to be you.”

  Ka reeled but managed to block another punch and avoid the trip intended to put her on her butt.

  “Dru! Piet! Door!” the hacker yelled as Johnny tried to hurl Darren face-first into a wall. Angus flung his foot out hastily, caught the tall man as he went past, and brought him down.

  Johnny dropped Darren, but Marcus caught hold of Angus, twisted him onto his stomach, and pushed his face into the floor.

  “Two minutes. Time out,” Stephanie told the man when he slapped the mat to signal submission.

  Angus’s face said what he thought of that but registered surprise when tendrils of magic wrapped around him and pinned him to the floor.

  “Two minutes,” she repeated as Ka knocked her hand aside.

  “And who does that for your team?” the corporal demanded.

  “I do,” the Witch assured her and pinned Vishlog as Henri brought the Dreth to his knees and managed to lock him in a chokehold.

  The huge warrior slapped the mat, and the ex-Marine stepped clear and raced to help his teammates hold the door.

  Frog and Gary continued to grapple, neither of them willing to break away from the other.

  The Knight’s voice interrupted them.

  “Catering staff, stand clear of the door. Do not chase the cat.”

  Stephanie gave the corporal an evil grin. “Guess where I’m going next.”

  A shimmering circle of blue appeared behind her, and Johnny broke away from Darren and bolted across the gym to beat her through it.

  The Witch hit Ka with a blast of magic that hurled her away and stepped back to wave her fingers at her before she slammed the portal closed in her face.

  “Dru! Piet! Catering!” Ka ordered. “Henri and I will hold the door. Darren! Angus! Keep them busy!”

  “Weapons Sections Two, Three, Four, and Five, stand beside your weapons until the walkway is clear,” the Knight's voice instructed over the speakers, and Ka glanced up.

  “Seriously! Whose side are you on?”

  “Ebony is neutral,” Vishlog told her, and as soon as his time out ended, he caught hold of her from the side and wrapped his arms around her to pin her bodily against his chest.

  She tried to drive an elbow into his chest, but the Dreth merely squeezed tighter. Ka tried to jerk her head back into his face and only succeeded in hitting more chest.

  He laughed, shifted his grip, and covered her mouth and nose to cut her air off. She tried a couple of furious kicks to no effect, and her eyes widened as Marcus and Johnny ganged up on Piet and Frog continued to occupy Gary.

  Her vision was beginning to blur when she finally gave in and slapped Vishlog�
�s forearm. He chuckled and set her carefully against the wall as he slid through the door.

  “Where are they, Knight?”

  “I am not at liberty to say,” the Knight replied primly. “My task is merely to warn the crew so their tasks are not disrupted by your shenanigans.”

  Ka cursed softly as magic wound itself around her limbs.

  “How do you even know?” she asked.

  I see all things, Stephanie replied.

  “Like that’s not freaky,” she retorted, and the Witch’s giggle held the Morgana’s tones. “Cheat.”

  Johnny threw Piet into Angus, and Marcus knocked Darren off his feet. Instead of using this to their advantage, the two men followed Vishlog out the door, which left Frog on his own.

  Gary backed to where Darren staggered to his feet while Piet and Angus untangled themselves. They turned and looked at the smaller man as one.

  “Thanks, team,” Frog snarked and uttered a startled yelp as a portal opened behind him and Stephanie yanked him through.

  “Don’t just stand there,” Ka yelled. “Get after them.”

  She commed Reggie. “They’re out.”

  “Now tell me something I don’t know,” the Australian yelled in response, and Zeekat roared in the background.

  “They’re all out?”

  “That I didn’t know. We’re in Weapons Section Sixteen, heading to Bio.”

  The magic unwound from her arms. “We’re on our way.”

  “Make sure you come from different directions,” Reggie advised, then spoke to someone else. “Here. You take him. Zee and I will buy you some time.”

  “Guys!” Todd’s wail of protest made Ka smile.

  That would teach him to start something he couldn’t finish. She hoped he enjoyed being the VIP. It seemed only fitting after all the trouble he’d caused.

  For his part, Todd wasn’t smiling. Not only did he not get to fight, but his team dragged him all around the ship like a sack of potatoes. Every time it looked like he might have a chance to do something, one or the other of them tripped him or dragged him through a door, and there was a distinct lack of apology in every “Sorry, boss,” he heard.

  He’d come to an abrupt halt in a linen store and was about to remind Reggie he wasn’t helpless when the Knight’s voice cut through the comms.

  “My crew are advised that like me, they must remain neutral. Stephanie and Todd are of equal importance to me and neither team should be given an advantage.”

  “Oh, shit,” Reggie muttered as the crewman who’d shoved them in there gave them an apologetic look.

  “Sorry, guys, but you heard the lady.” He stepped away and the door swung wide open.

  It was their only exit, and Lars and Bumblebee hadn’t been very far behind. The head guard’s shout followed shortly after.

  “There!”

  At the same time, they heard the thunder of boots coming from the other direction.

  “We’re coming,” Ka informed them. “Think of something while we keep them busy.”

  “Think of something?” Reggie muttered and looked at the neatly racked blankets and sheets. Jimmy followed his gaze, and the two men began to snicker.

  Todd edged toward the door, only to be grabbed again.

  “Hold on, boss. We have a plan.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he told them and made a break for the corridor.

  Piet met him as he was about to leave the small space, wrapped his hands around Todd’s middle, and drove a shoulder into his stomach.

  “Not so fast, boss.”

  The unexpected attack caught him by surprise and winded him long enough for Jimmy to knock him from his feet and dump him in the middle of the blanket Reggie had spread on the floor.

  “What’s—” Todd began as the three men made short work of wrapping the blanket around him and then wound him in two more for good measure.

  “Okay, stack him in that corner, and for heaven’s sake, keep him quiet!” Reggie said, then added, “Pass me that blanket, Piet.”

  Pinned by the simple measure of Jimmy crouching over his legs and holding one hand against his chest, Todd waited. He could hear the thumps and rattles as Piet and Reggie continued their preparations, but he was wrapped head to toe and couldn’t see a thing.

  All the while, the sound of fighting drew nearer.

  “Okay. Are you ready?” Reggie asked, and Todd wanted to say that no, he wasn’t ready, except the Australian wasn’t asking him.

  “Yup,” Piet answered. “I got him.”

  Given that neither of them had laid a finger on him, Todd wondered, Got who?

  He heard the two men move and had the impression they’d left. A shout went up from the corridor.

  “There they go!”

  Another shout followed.

  “We’ll go around!”

  Twin roars indicated that the cats were facing off against each other, and Todd felt the thuds as one large feline bounded past.

  “Oh, no, you don’t!” Frog declared, and Zeekat screeched in anger.

  Now, Todd really wanted to see what was going on. He hadn’t heard the black-and-white cat sound that annoyed in…well, not ever! What had Frog done? Grabbed his tail?

  “Aw, Frog. Now you did it. How many times—” Marcus’s words were cut short by a startled shout and the accompaniment of boots beating a rapid retreat in the opposite direction. “Frooooog!”

  “Oops. My bad.” The small man snickered.

  Someone landed heavily against the wall inside the storage closet but said nothing about Jimmy being tucked into the far corner. Todd could only guess that it had been one of his team being thrown out of the fight.

  “Ha! Time out for you!” Vishlog chuckled and Ka groaned.

  He could imagine his second in command giving the Dreth the finger as the big guard charged after the rest of his team. The door slid shut and Johnny chuckled.

  “Good luck getting out of that one when you get loose.”

  It turned out they didn’t need any luck. Piet had managed to elude his pursuers and make his rapid if circuitous way back to the linen closet via the weapons decks. By then, Ka was free of time-out and getting ready to hit whoever was about to come through.

  The door opened. “Do you still have him?”

  “Yup,” the corporal replied and sounded very pleased with herself.

  Jimmy prodded him. “Not one word, boss. They’re just up the corridor and they’re gonna work it out real soon.”

  Oh, they were, were they? For a moment, Todd thought about helping them, but he didn’t get the chance as Jimmy lifted him and slung him over his shoulder to carry him away from the battle like little more than laundry.

  “Guys,” he protested, but he couldn’t get his mouth open and the words came out muffled.

  He tried to kick free, but the Scotsman’s arm was like iron over his legs. If he could have wriggled off the man’s shoulder, he’d have been happy to take the drop to the floor and unroll himself.

  As it was, he didn’t get the chance.

  Muffled laughter reached his ears as he bounced against the man’s back. Seriously, the guys would regret using him as a sack—as soon as he could break free, of course.

  There would be weeks of PT and latrine duty after this. In fact, he planned to offer all of them to the Knight to scrub the bilge tanks with their toothbrushes.

  Yes, he would as soon as he could get loose from these damned blankets and find someone’s tail to kick.

  And as for Stephanie, he suspected she was enjoying this far too much. Next time, she could be the hostage and see how much she liked it.

  Tools clattered nearby, and it felt like Jimmy lifted into the air to jump over something.

  “Neutral! We’re supposed to be neutral!” someone shouted.

  “Oh, yeah! My bad. Sorry, mate. You know how she is.”

  “No!” Jimmy’s alarmed shout was followed by the distinct sensation of the big man falling.

  Todd want
ed to shout too, but the Scotsman twisted out from under him, and he started to fall. The blanket gave a sudden jerk, and he began to roll.

  “Oh, no,” he moaned as he landed and was spun out of the confining linens.

  He rolled across the deck and stopped against a hard surface, and his hand disappeared into a wire and metal filled cavity as he tried to stop.

  Yanking it back, Todd scrambled for a handhold to haul himself up by. From what he could see, they’d been running down the aisle between two sets of guns and he’d collided with one that was being worked on.

  “Sorry,” he muttered as he pushed to his feet.

  His head was still spinning and his eyes had difficulty focusing. Three technicians gave him looks of mortification, and he realized he was holding several wires in one hand.

  “Truly sorry…uh…”

  He held them out and was about to offer to repair the damage when Piet hooked an arm through his. “I’ll be back,” the engineer told the techs and dragged Todd away from the gun and toward the corridor at the end of the gun lane.

  “Time…to…go…” he explained as Reggie came alongside.

  “Yeah, boss. I don’t think we’re welcome here anymore.”

  “Gotta take you guys…twice…” Todd managed, and Reggie snickered.

  “Yup. This is why we’re going back to catering.”

  He groaned. “You know I can—”

  “No, you can’t, boss,” Piet told him. “Besides, Reggie didn’t tell you the best part.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  “We’re going via Life Support.”

  “Guys, you know that’s not a section you should—”

  “There you are!” Lars looked as satisfied as he felt. Flanked by Johnny, Marcus, and Frog, he advanced through the door they’d been running toward.

  The team wheeled rapidly, only to find Stephanie, Vishlog, Garach, and Bumblebee closing from the other direction. Todd shook his arm free of the engineer’s grasp and tried to move forward but was shoved to the center of his team by Jimmy, Ka, and Piet.

  “How much time left?” Gary asked.

  “Sixty seconds,” Reggie answered.

  The sergeant felt both relief and disappointment. Relief because his ordeal was almost over and disappointment because with sixty seconds still to go, Steph’s team had them surrounded.