by John Walker
“First ship is landing now,” Biggun announced. “The yacht is next.”
“Was it too much to hope that they’d be coordinated?” Zem whispered to Torrence.
She chuckled. “They’re not military pilots. Even so, most of our guys would’ve been sloppy about this too.”
“We need them to land before the defenses go off. McCully?”
“Yeah, I know,” McCully replied. “We can’t detonate until all ships are down.”
“I’ll reposition if I have to.” Zem gripped his rifle tightly. Ops had changed dramatically for him as of late. Before the ervas, he would take up an overwatch position as a sniper. He’d watched the action from afar. Once they joined the Morrigan, he found himself deep in the action again, back to the old ways.
I don’t know how I feel about it. Danger never motivated him. He didn’t care about the thrill of combat or the risk to his life. He wanted to get the job done and he happened to be good at it. When he helped Torrence on the space station, that brought back some of the camaraderie he appreciated but had nothing to do with the violence.
Operations are a means to an end. Zem hadn’t thought about it that way before. All those years of running into fights, killing, taking buildings and territory… he’d never once considered what he wanted. He didn’t think of himself as unhappy. Maybe I should talk to someone about what it means to be fulfilled.
“First ship is down,” McCully announced this time. “They are… securing the vessel. We’ve got another few moments.”
Zem steeled himself. They were on the verge of a firefight. His mind started clearing. It felt natural as he settled into a familiar sensation… that of a soldier again, a killer who knew he could rely on his instincts. He wondered if Torrence went through a similar exercise. She’d been a professional for a long time.
We all have our methods to get through combat.
“Second shuttle’s down,” Nostros called this one. “They’re hopping right out. I’ve got them on camera. They… are not heading for the doors yet though. You’ve still got some time.”
We don’t want time, Zem thought. We want to get this over with.
“Yacht is next,” Biggun said. “Here it comes. Ooh, they’re going to get called out by Loch later. That looked rough as shit. You see it practically bounce? I’d bet on their excuse if you guys weren’t going to shoot them all.” He paused. “You know, that reminds me. Who exactly am I going to be in charge of if you kill them all?”
“The guys who aren’t here,” McCully replied. “Now shut the hell up and do your job. We don’t have time for you to start thinking.”
“Where’s Loch?” Zem asked. “Anyone got him on scans or whatever?”
“The yacht will open up shortly,” Biggun said. “But he’s definitely on there. I promise you that. He’s the only one who uses that ship. None of the boys are stupid enough to take it out. Believe me, someone tried it. He disappeared the next day. Later that week, they found him with most of his insides on the outside if you know what I mean.”
“That was a clear description,” Nostros replied. “Pretty sure everyone knew what you meant, dumbass. This psycho killed someone for borrowing a ship?”
“You don’t take Loch’s things,” Biggun said. “That’s just a fact.”
All the more reason to kill him. Zem checked his computer, watching as the final shuttles set down. Dots surrounded them in a few seconds, men doing whatever work was necessary to secure the vessels. Okay, there we go. Looks like… twelve on that side. That’s what McCully has to work with.
“Got our first count,” Zem said. “McCully, you’ve got a bit of work ahead of you.” He checked the other side. “Nine more not including the package. Shit… all the people in the yacht are showing as enemies. Let me try to get Rita’s computer online.” Though even as he said it, he worried that maybe she wasn’t there.
She might well be dead after all. Or a prisoner on the ship. If he had to take something up to that vessel, raid a starship… I’m not really prepared for that. He’d wondered if they might have to raid the ship though he counted on Loch’s return to his nest. Well… she’s got to be on that yacht. Biggun seemed convinced she would be.
“If she’s there,” McCully said, “her computer’s off. Or not transmitting properly. Maybe… damaged? Jammed? I dunno. Watch your fire. She knows to keep her head down when the shit hits the fan.”
“Kind of defeats the purpose of being here if she’s not,” Zem replied.
McCully sighed. “You wanted him either way. So this works out regardless of what happens. Stay focused.”
Zem came to a realization. His moodiness, the way he fussed about the mission, became grumpy about setbacks all came down to his concern for a friend. He’s been in positions to save people in the past. Other soldiers but that had been different. They were comrades. Soldiers in arms.
He never thought of them as family. Not like the people he’d been running with. His bond with them felt real… far truer than anything else he’d experienced. He never felt particularly close to his biological father, didn’t know his mother growing up. Rita felt like a sister. Letty, Rutger, even Borden’s annoying ass… they meant a lot to him.
And I’m not used to that. It makes sense now.
Admitting it made things easier to stomach. He drew a deep breath, narrowing his eyes on his computer. The men were entering the building on McCully’s side. Any moment, things would turn violent. Game face, dammit! He still wanted confirmation about Rita… was she there or not? I will have it in a moment. Relax into the job!
“They’re coming in now,” McCully said. “I’ll be going loud in a minute, guys. Get yourselves ready.”
“No problem.” Zem glanced at Torrence. She gave him a nod. He drew a breath, waiting for the first attack, a shout or scream. They were too far away from that side of the compound to hear any gunfire. It’ll come down to her calling contact. He glanced at the computer. And dots winking off the screen.
Any moment…
***
Rita found the yacht to be one of the gaudier vessels she’d ever seen, even in video feeds. Either Loch didn’t know he had tacky taste or he didn’t care. Faux leather covered the seats. Lacquered tables and walls caught the light, reflecting white blobs bright enough to be uncomfortable to look at.
What little paint there was happened to be mustard yellow. It made the whole place feel sick. That included the carpet which, while new, still looked ancient because of the color. She’d seen old archival pictures resembling the decor but only half believed they were real. Finding someone who genuinely lived like that baffled her.
Loch spent most of the trip talking to the pilots. Rita had no idea why he bothered them. At least he left her alone, at least until the last ten minutes of the trip. Then he came back with an idiotic grin, arms out to either side.
“Well? What do you think? This is top-of-the-line stuff. Hard to get this kind of look these days. No one really sells it. I needed to get a specialist from Earth, some history buff who worked with my interior designer. Cost a fortune if I’m to be honest.” Loch flopped in the seat across from her. “But it’s damn comfortable and looks amazing.”
Rita stared at him with wide eyes. She nodded in response, afraid of what might come out if she said something out loud.
“We’re almost there. Sorry it took me so long in the cockpit. Weather’s turning to shit unfortunately. But there’s plenty to do in the compound besides wandering around outside. Should be fine.” Loch looked her over. “You didn’t want a drink or something? You could make whatever you want.”
“I don’t like to drink anything going for planetfall.”
“Ah, nervous?”
“A long time ago, I decided I’d rather be sober if I’m going to die in a horrible shuttle crash.” Rita shrugged. “Probably stupid, I know. I’ve kept that promise to myself the whole time though. It’s important to me.”
“I get it.” Loch gestured out the window. �
��You’ve gotta admit, now that you can see where we are, it’s pretty decent. I mean, grassy for the most part. Lots of trees in the hills. Sorry about having to blindfold you when you came the first time. I had no idea what you wanted back then…rather, I couldn’t trust your word.”
“And you do now?”
Loch grinned. “Getting there. You’re sitting in my yacht without guards. How much more proof do you need that we’re cool? Besides, I know you like the idea of this job. It appeals to you. What the hell did the military ever do for you? Kick you out? Screw them. This is going to be amazing.”
The ship slowed, rumbling enough that Rita grabbed the seat to stay in place. Loch chuckled, doing the same.
“Gets a little bumpy at the last few seconds.”
Sure does. Rita’s heart sank at the thought of having to go on high alert, of needing to be a hundred percent on her evacuation game for the foreseeable future. Loch made light of the situation, acted like he totally trusted her, but she knew better. He had to be thinking he’d win either way.
She might be on his side and in that case, he had what he wanted out of her. Or not and he’d kill her. After all, where would she go? Loch’s problem was he didn’t know how to evaluate a situation. Not her worth or his ability to recognize when someone tried to play him. Cons should’ve been his game.
Narcissism makes it hard to be objective.
The ship set down with a rumble. Loch’s face darkened for a moment though he replaced the expression with a smile quickly enough. “I’ll have to talk to them about rough landings again. I thought we’d gotten over that kind of thing. Guess I was wrong.” He shrugged. “Sorry about that.”
“Can’t be helped all the time,” Rita said. “Cut them some slack. Might’ve been a nasty crosswind right at the last minute. I’ve seen way worse. Crashes even. Which is one of the other reasons I don’t drink.”
“Christ, if you’ve seen that shit, you should be consuming.” Loch waved at her to follow him. “Let’s go. We’re not going in through the side entrance. They’ll be offloading a few things we didn’t need in our little search. Then there was the damage from our little exchange. Goddamn fighter pilots did a real number on the nose of my ship.”
Rita smirked internally at that comment. She hoped Nina or Justin had been involved so she could buy them a drink later. “How bad was it?”
“Not bad enough to hold us down.” Loch walked down the ramp, directing her to follow him along a side path that led around the building. “But I want to be sure they get it fully corrected before we need the vessel again. It’s a top-of-the-line ship. Best one I own as a matter of fact.”
“How many do you have?”
“Fleet of six… though nothing bigger than what you were just on. We commandeered some destroyers from the Gold Empire. Did them up, changed their IDs, upgraded the computer systems… they look new as far as those assholes are concerned. They’ll never know what we have.”
“What do they do?”
“Mostly, they collect money.” Loch shrugged. “Occasionally, we have to mount a heavier response to someone messing with us. In those cases, we go at them strong with every ship we’ve got. We had to obliterate a colony not too long back. They killed a bunch of our people who showed up for the payments.”
Can’t have that. Rita wondered if Loch had a concealed weapon. If I got my hands on it, I could kill him and be back at the ship before anyone knew he was done. I might even convince them to take me to their larger vessel. She ultimately forced herself to calm down. Even if he had a gun, it wouldn’t be enough to assault the starship.
“Ouch!” Loch pulled his earpiece out, staring at it. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?” Rita asked.
“Just got blasted with static. Hurt like a bitch too. What’s going on here?” Loch tapped it a couple times, turning to his computer. “Doesn’t appear to be any problem. Maybe a transmitter got left on again.” He sighed. “My people are idiots sometimes, I’m afraid. Come on, let’s hurry into the house. We can check the control center.”
“Sounds like a good time for a tour.”
“Works for me.” Loch picked up the pace. “I’m sure it’s nothing but our people need to be able to talk.”
What’s going on here? Rita felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Is this a coup? Or something else? Either way, she needed to be on her toes. It might be my chance. I’m ready.
***
McCully had killed the lights in the hallway, making it nearly pitch black. Her helmet provided her with night vision so when the door opened, she made out the pirates coming in as if it were broad daylight around her. One of them cursed, complaining about the switch not working. They got on their comms.
And it’s time. McCully tapped her computer, jamming the comms. A burst of static went through their earpieces, the same type that might happen if someone left a transmitter live. The four of them freaked out, cursing as they stumbled into the room. The door shut behind them, cutting off the light from outside.
Unfortunately, they didn’t all make it in. This will make it easier to put them down quickly. McCully took aim at the farthest one by the door… pulling the trigger. Her weapon vibrated. The lowlight enhancement of her helmet made the blood splatter look like a bunch of thick paint slapping the wall.
The body dropped.
“What the hell?” One of the pirates cried out. They went for their weapons. McCully took out a second one. That sent them into a panic. One dashed toward her, passing the first two traps. She let him, blasting him twice in the gut. The final one had taken cover, shouting for help.
By all means, McCully tapped her computer to open the door, enter and be recognized, guys.
“Are you shooting people?” Zem asked.
“No, I’m holding a video conference,” McCully muttered, “of course I’m shooting people! Three down so far. I’m inviting some more inside…” The pirate in cover darted for the door. She pulled the trigger, blasting him in the leg. He dropped face first, rolling on his back as he started really hollering. “You hear that?”
“Yeah,” Zem said, “the whole damn building probably does.”
“Good?” McCully grumbled. “Anyway, contact. Shit’s real now. I’m about to have some more company.”
“Contact east,” Nostros said. “They’re entering with guns at the ready. Comms have gone private too. We’re not hearing them anymore. Good plan on their part.”
McCully added, “Make sure you got at least three or more before you detonate any of the traps. Do it before they get to the automated one at the end of the hall for sure.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nostros replied. “You’ll hear a boom in a moment…”
Zem glanced at the computer as the explosive went off, rattling the walls all around them. He couldn’t believe the others didn’t go at the same time as well considering the force of just one. How much did that crazy ass bitch use? Three dots disappeared off the map. Biggun groaned over the comm.
“I can’t believe the camera survived to show us that,” Biggun said before going back to his groans. “That was… horrifying. You guys are committing war crimes!”
“Shut it,” Nostros said. “The others are probably going to slow down after that, guys. Just an FYI. I’ll keep an eye on it but may have to get over there.”
Several soldiers seemed to dash around the building, heading for the front doors. They’d be ready to breach in less than a minute. “We’re up,” Zem said. “Ready, Torrence?”
“Remember that Rita might be amongst them,” Torrence took aim. “Otherwise, yeah. I’m good.”
The dots took up position on either side of the door.
Here we go.
***
Rita strolled along with Loch as he jabbered on about the construction of the building. He talked about the original architect being some genius he hired from the Confed space but that he was worried about the man telling people precisely where it was. So he had him killed
and left out on some colony world, made to look like raiders did it.
“Regrettable,” Loch said, “but you can’t be too cautious these days. Not when everyone’s out looking for a guy. You know what I mean? I think you do. You’ve been through a lot of…” He stopped as an explosion made the ground rumble. The sound came from the other side of the compound. “What the hell was that?”
Probably why your comms are down, dumbass.
“You should probably give me a gun,” Rita said. “I mean, doesn’t this feel like some kind of burn? An enemy maybe?”
“It’ll be fine. The guards will take care of it. Besides, I don’t have a weapon to give you even if I wanted to. So… there is that.” He hurried along the building, glancing around. “See? They’re stacking up to breach the audience chamber now.” His fists clenched into tight balls. “I swear to God, whoever started this is going to pay.”
“Your guys are going to kill them,” Rita said. “So I wouldn’t plan on much in the way of vengeance.”
“You’re right.” Loch put the earpiece close to his head, cursing. “The thing’s still down! They’re jamming us! That’s not a mistake on our part! Oh my God… someone’s actually managed to come in here!” He looked around, frantic. “We have to get back to the shuttles! You can fly one of those. Get us back to the ship!”
Rita lifted her brow. “Really? You want to run?”
“We don’t have weapons!” Loch bellowed in her face. He grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her back toward the pads. “Let’s go! We’ll send some more people down here to help clear this place out.” As he moved, he looked all around the sky. “Looks like they don’t have aerial support at least!”
Okay, who’s out here? Rita looked at her computer. They jammed it on the ship and somehow, that stuck. No signals went out… it was basically locked down. Dammit! Maybe I can get it working if we make it back to this ship. Though this guy’s an idiot for trying. If people claimed the whole base, they must have the defenses locked down.