by Rachel Aukes
Chapter Twenty-Two
Punch scowled as he read the QuSR message. “Damn it, Chief.”
“What’s wrong?” Sylvian asked.
He opened his mouth to explain, then decided to just wave her over. “See for yourself.”
“Just send it to my screen.”
When he made no movement, she eyed him for a long moment before rolling her eyes, standing, and walking over. She looked over his shoulder to read the message.
PD –
WILL RECLAIM BUNKHOUSE AND LAUNCH COUNTERATTACK TO FORCE PIRATES OFF THE STATION. NEED SHIP-BASED SUPPORT TO CAPTURE ESCAPEES.
– CR
“I told him to lie low until we get there to save the day,” Punch said. “Doesn’t anyone listen to me anymore?”
“You’re saying that someone actually listened to you at some point in the past?” she asked.
“No. Can’t say they have.” He swiped away the message. “This changes everything.”
“Because we have to help Chief out rather than go straight to Atlas?”
He guffawed. “What? No. I mean that we won’t be able to sneak up to the Atlas server center if we have to walk through the middle of the war.”
“We won’t help Chief?” she asked.
“We’re helping Chief by sending Throttle and Finn to help Chief,” he answered.
“I think he wanted a bit more support than that.”
“He didn’t clarify how much support he needs,” Punch said. He thought for a moment. “Maybe his little war games can work in our favor. The pirates will be distracted. It might be easier to sneak around.”
“But is going after Atlas still a priority?” Sylvian countered. “If Chief is putting all his efforts to go straight after the pirates, then maybe that’s where we should be focusing, too.”
“No. As long as Atlas is under Jader control, the Peacekeepers are crippled. We’ll get it back online, and then Chief will have all the support he could possibly need.”
“But what if it’s too late for Chief by the time we take Atlas back?”
“It won’t be. Atlas is our priority.”
She frowned. “Why are you so set on Atlas? If we can retake Free Station first, then Atlas specialists can get the system back online, anyway.”
He scowled. “Atlas is the most powerful information system across the star systems. The longer Jaders have access to Atlas, the more information they can steal and manipulate. No, we’ll be the first to get to Atlas and bring it back.” He pushed up from his seat. “We’ll be reaching the Hiraeth sector in a few minutes. You’d better start getting ready for going into Free Station.”
She held out her hands. “Any gear I’d grab is back on the Javelin.”
He shrugged and left her alone on the small bridge.
A few minutes later, Sylvian transmitted codes to Free Station’s automated flight-control system, and Punch watched as both the High Spirit and the Javelin disappeared off the radar map broadcasted by the system.
“We should be blind to Atlas,” Sylvian said. “I’ve notified Throttle.”
Punch brought the High Spirit to a stop directly below the anchor point of Free Station. Every time the ship swayed too close to a camera’s line of sight, he gently tugged it in the other direction. He assumed the Javelin was directly behind him and hoped that Throttle was a decent enough pilot not to get picked up by the cameras, or else she’d put them all in jeopardy.
He bypassed level one, leaving it for Throttle’s larger ship, and maneuvered the High Spirit toward the emergency airlock on level two, using the magnetized docking systems to ease the connection. The instant his screen displayed a secure link, he locked the controls and powered down his ship, putting it into standby mode.
He looked over to Sylvian to find her already unbuckled and on her feet. “Anxious to get to work?”
“Anxious to finish and get back to my crew,” she said while she slid a tablet with the Bones data into her pocket.
Punch opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of items wrapped together. He unraveled them and handed her a small laser flashlight while keeping the can of spray paint for himself, which he pocketed.
He unholstered a pistol and strode to the airlock, confirming the connection was sealed before opening the door. He took the lead through the airlock and stepped onto Free Station’s second lowest level. He was surprised to find the lights dimmed as though they were operating under emergency power only. He scanned the small staging area with his pistol leading his movement. No sign of pirates or Peacekeepers.
He stepped aside to allow Sylvian to enter the station. She turned on the flashlight, though the beam was overly narrow to do much to brighten the area. “Hm. My guess is that Chief’s already launched his counterattack.”
“The darkness will help mask our movements.” He turned to face her. “The first camera should be right beyond this landing. We have to do this real quiet like because we’ve got nothing to dampen the microphones.”
Sylvian nodded and silenced the comm-chip at her collar.
Punch spoke again. “We’ll move slow. I’ll keep you covered, so you just focus on the cameras.”
She nodded, then frowned. “What about Throttle and Finn?”
“We’ll take the lead to clear the cameras, and they’re going to come in behind us.”
“Okay,” she said.
The hallway wasn’t wide, but Punch remained at Sylvian’s side, a half-step ahead of her as they walked. He set a slow pace as if the pair were taking a leisurely stroll through a park and not leading a clandestine operation.
When Sylvian’s light froze on a spot where the wall met the ceiling, Punch stopped. He saw the camera, currently blinded by the laser. He pulled out the spray paint, reached high and sprayed the black paint over the camera.
He knew that if Sylvian didn’t flash her beam on a camera before they walked into its range, they would be seen. And once he sprayed the camera, the Jaders could send someone down to check it out. The cameras were a hassle, but there were no unmonitored ways to move around Free Station. The cameras were simply a problem that had to be dealt with.
Punch increased their pace as they moved forward. His impatience grew. He knew that if Throttle caught up with them, Sylvian could change her mind and leave Punch to figure out Atlas on his own. He was a fair software specialist but in no way an expert. The marshal needed Sylvian much more than she needed him, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. That would give her control over him and his mission, and that was something he couldn’t abide.
As they worked down the hallways, they developed a routine. A camera was stationed every hundred feet. They’d jog between cameras, with Sylvian blinding the camera even before they’d slow. The process changed when they reached the door to a primary walkway.
Punch pocketed the spray paint to have a better two-handed grip on his pistol. He went to open the door, only to have it blocked after opening a bare couple of inches. He shot Sylvian a glance before putting his shoulder against the door and shoving. The door opened and he jumped through the opening to find a body on the floor, which had been blocking the door.
The body was that of a pirate, with long braided hair, greasy clothes, and a blaster shot through his chest. He hadn’t suffered for long, not that Punch cared. While the pirate didn’t look like one from Skully Pete’s crew, he’d likely done plenty of harm to good people along the way and had received what he’d had coming to him.
A shout in the distance caught his attention. He cocked his head to listen, then scowled. There was a battle taking place, and it was in the same direction he and Sylvian were headed.
He waved for Sylvian to join him in the hallway. He whispered, “Sounds like we’re catching up to the party. You’d better keep that pistol of yours handy.”
He led the way down the hallway. There was a streak of blood running across the wall as if someone had been shot and had used the wall for support. The noise grew louder as they closed the distance. As they
came to a T in the hallway, it sounded like the battle was upon them. Curses were being shouted back and forth, and blaster shots were lightning bolts through the hallway, all coming from the left.
Punch flattened against the wall and slid slowly down and closer to the edge. With his pistol held close, he used a small mirror to peer around the corner while Sylvian crouched behind him. Three pirates were under ten feet away, behind a makeshift barricade of furniture, and had their backs to Punch. The pirates were firing shots over the barrier at what looked to be a small squad of Peacekeepers fifty feet down the hallway.
Punch leveled his pistol and took out all three pirates with three direct headshots. They never had a chance to return fire. As soon as the last of the three pirates collapsed, Punch called out, “Clear!”
“Cease fire!” he heard a woman shout. The blaster fire stopped. “Step out so I can see you,” she said.
“I’m a friend. Marshal Punch Durand,” he said. “I’m coming out. Don’t shoot.”
He held his pistol in the air and took a step out from around the corner.
After a brief moment, the woman stood. She wore the Peacekeeper uniform with a blue armband around her right arm. A cadet. She turned back to her team. “It’s okay. He’s one of ours. Weapons down.”
She strode toward him. The four cadets with her also came forward.
“I have another GP with me,” Punch said and motioned for Sylvian to step out.
The woman coming toward him slowed but then continued walking toward them. Punch and Sylvian stepped around the dead pirates and the barricade.
The cadet came to a stop, as did the other four cadets. One was nursing an arm with a blaster shot through the shoulder. The others looked tired and sweaty but otherwise unharmed.
“I’m Roxy Dillon, team leader of Blue team. Thanks for the help, Marshal.”
“Call me Punch. This is Specialist Martin.” He motioned to Sylvian.
“Everyone calls me Roxy,” the cadet said. “You must’ve come down from the residence halls?”
He shook his head. “Outside. Didn’t want to risk landing in the docking bay, so we tethered to an emergency airlock.”
Her brows lifted. “So Atlas is back online? That means more marshals are coming?”
“That’s why we’re here—to get Atlas back online so we don’t have the pirates playing puppet master with our ships and cameras. We have two ships without the Atlas tether, which is how we managed to get here. What’s the current status of Free Station?”
Roxy’s brow knit. “I don’t know. Without our Atlas comms up, we don’t have any way to communicate with each other.”
“What was Chief’s plan?” he asked.
“Pretty straightforward. Red team cut the primary power to take the cameras offline so that we’d have a more level playing field. And we’ve been clearing the hallways and freeing everyone locked in their rooms.”
Punch frowned. “The cameras are offline?”
Roxy nodded. “At least the videos. We’re not sure about the microphones.”
He glanced at Sylvian, then shrugged. “Guess we didn’t need to worry about blinding the cameras after all.”
Sylvian slid the flashlight into her pocket. “That’ll make things easier. Do we need to bother bringing Atlas back online now?”
“Yes,” he said and turned back to Roxy. “What’s your team’s assignment?”
“We’re supposed to be clearing the hallways, taking out any greedy pirates who went below the docking bay level to raid. My team was assigned the mechanical levels—one and two; Red team and Yellow team are doing the same thing on the residence levels—three, four, and five. Everyone’s meeting at the mess hall to regroup. Chief’s planning to make a run at the pirates, who control levels six and above.”
“Where’s Chief now?” Punch asked.
“He’s with Yellow team. Stick with us, and you’ll see him soon. Those three pirates you took out were the last ones we came across on this floor, so we’ll be heading back up soon.”
“Did you clear every area?”
“No. Chief said to only start with the hallways. He said if pirates were hiding in any unlocked rooms, they’d have the doorways covered. I think Chief gave that order because we’re only cadets and not real Peacekeepers yet, and he didn’t want us to do anything too dangerous.”
Punch chuckled. “Clearing the hallways is the definition of ‘dangerous.’ Trust me, today you’ve proven you’re real Peacekeepers.”
Roxy beamed.
“We’ll go with you, but we need a small detour,” Punch said. “We need to get Atlas online, and the cabling center is on this floor, over there.” He pointed to a secure door near the end of the hallway.
“Then let’s go,” Roxy said.
Punch grinned. He loved the energy of new recruits.
The group walked down the hallway, with Roxy’s team taking the lead while Punch walked behind Sylvian, covering her in case any pirates jumped out of any rooms. Fortunately, if there were any pirates left on level three, none were dumb enough to make a suicide run against seven Peacekeepers.
They stopped at a permaglass door. Through the clear pane, Punch saw the room was empty. He frowned—he hadn’t expected that. He’d expected to have a full crew of pirates set up inside. The empty room made him wonder if the Jaders still had any need for the system.
“Excuse me,” Sylvian said as she weaved through the cadets. She pulled out the tablet and transmitted a code. The door clicked. She opened the door, stepped inside, and rushed over to take a seat before a computer.
“Watch the door,” Punch ordered as he followed the specialist into the room.
Sylvian plugged one end of a cable into the tablet and the other end into the computer. After a moment, she grimaced and disconnected and reconnected the cable.
He leaned over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Sylvian wrung her hands. “I’m getting nothing. I don’t understand. It’s like Atlas is a zombie.” She spun in her chair. “They must have tied into Atlas from somewhere else.”
Anxiety built within Punch’s gut. “Where else could they control Atlas?”
She thought for a second. “The server room is the most obvious, but they could maybe get to it via the communication center.”
“Chief was stuck in the comm center when they took over Free Station,” Roxy said.
Punch turned to see the team leader standing in the room. “Then he had to have seen something. What’d he see?”
She shrugged. “He said the pirates snuck in on that Chinese seed ship that’s tethered to the station.”
“I don’t care about that,” he snapped. “Did he see how they got to Atlas?”
Her lips thinned as she eyed him, but she decided to eventually answer. “He said they set up the dock as their stronghold. Maybe they connected to it there.”
He scowled. “They couldn’t get to Atlas from there.”
“Wait,” Sylvian said. “They could get into Atlas by piggybacking a network cable.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“A hardline. With the right equipment, the pirates could basically patch their network cable into a Free Station cable. Then send a computer virus or Trojan horse program to take control of Atlas. It would’ve taken some planning, but it’s really not that hard to do.”
He stared at the blank screen. “Can you bypass the hardline?”
She shook her head. “No. As soon as the hardline’s removed, I can get in and work at removing whatever program they used to take over the system.”
He sighed. “I need to get to the docking bay.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small data card. He set it on the desk next to Sylvian. “Once you get Atlas running, I need you to plug this in. It’ll flash green when it’s done.”
Sylvian picked it up and squinted at it. “What’s it do?”
“It’ll do nothing to Atlas. It’ll just copy a couple of files.”
She glared and wagged the data card at him. “So this is why you were pushing so hard to go after Atlas. What is this anyway? A payoff? Some future scam?”
After a length, he relented under her gaze. “The Bones program won’t be good anymore. It’s always good to have a backup plan.”
When she didn’t say anything, he continued, “We never would’ve gotten onto Free Station without Bones. What if something happens in the future? What’s getting copied onto that data card isn’t for sale. I like to have options. It’s as simple as that.”
She eyed him for a while longer before turning away and setting the data card back on the desk.
“If I go down to the dock and find that hardline, I need to know that you’ll use that card.”
After a moment, she blew out a breath. “Yes, I’ll do it.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “Thank you.”
She pulled away.
He turned and faced Roxy. “Protect the specialist. I’ll take care of that hardline.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Of course Punch hadn’t waited. Throttle and Finn had entered Free Station at the emergency airlock entrance only one level below the one that the marshal and Sylvian had used, but there was no trace that Punch had waited, since Throttle was now looking at the airlock on level two.
She sighed and turned to Finn, to find fury in his eyes. “He’ll watch out for her,” she said, trying to convince herself as much as trying to convince her friend.
They followed the dim passageway Punch and Sylvian had taken, noting that their predecessors had taken the cameras out of commission. When they reached a stairway, they headed up one level even though she knew Sylvian would be to the left. Despite her misgivings about Punch, she admitted that they each had priorities to help Chief reclaim Free Station.