As they got closer to the life sign, Sean broke into a run. “It’s him!” he called. “Get Paige down here with a pod.”
Jack flicked to the general channel. “We’ve located Giles. Paige, Maya, can you bring the pods down to our location?”
Paige acknowledged. “On our way.”
Sean ran out into the clearing to find Giles slumped in the dirt, on his knees and tied to a post. “Mate, you okay? You’re okay. We’ve got you,” he said, knowing his words weren’t heard beyond his helmet.
Giles’s complexion was gray, and his body looked puffy. Sean dropped his blaster into the dirt and tried to hold Giles’s head up; his head just lolled.
Sean checked his eyes. “He’s lost consciousness,” he said, observing Giles’s slumped body, held up only by his hands, tied behind him around the pole. “He’s suffering embolism as a result of the low pressure. We need to get him inside.”
“What are you doing?” Jack hissed at him, when she turned to see him removing his helmet. It was the last thing he heard from her, with the comms disappearing. He put his helmet over Giles’s head, and tried his best to get it to seal.
“Come on, mate, breathe,” he told him.
He switched his comms on his holo over to his implant. “He’s not breathing,” he told Jack. He looked up from his crouching position. “Where are those damn pods?”
As if on cue, the four pods descended in the clearing between the building and where Giles had been tied up.
Sean busied himself getting Giles’s hands free, and then pulled him up. The pod doors slipped open, revealing Paige in one, Maya in another, and two empties.
Sean carried Giles over to one of the empty pods, and hauled him inside, closing the door as fast as possible. “Jack, get Joel and Molly out of there. We’ve got Giles. We need to move out.”
Jack acknowledged, and jogged off in the direction of the other side of the building, staying on high alert for any signs of Zhyns.
Chom-X9, Inside the base
Molly and Joel crept as quickly and quietly as they could down the corridor. There was commotion, and alarms were going off. Every now and then, they had to freeze and flatten themselves behind structures in the building as numerous Zhyns ran past, heading to the front door where the explosion was still causing problems.
Molly glanced down at her holo map, and then gestured to Joel, pointing out a stairwell. Joel nodded.
As soon as the area was clear, they set off toward the stairwell, and then down the steps as quickly as they could.
They reached the next floor down. Molly looked back at Joel questioningly.
Oz, I dunno if this is it.
We’ve too much data missing to know. Try it, and then be prepared to back up.
Okay.
She pushed through the doors and headed down the corridor. She could hear chatter and activity ahead. She stopped, and began to retreat.
This area is too populated.
I’m picking up the network now. That must be the control room. It’s going to be swarming -
“Stop right there!” A Zhyn had just come through a door further down the corridor, and he trained his blaster on them.
Joel immediately fired, knocking the soldier back, and drawing the attention of his colleagues. Joel and Molly tried again to retreat. “Let’s get out of here,” Joel called to Molly.
“No arguments from me!” she said, returning fire.
Joel pushed against the door, but a shot came within an inch of his head.
A Zhyn had managed to get a clear shot on them. “Stop! Or the next one goes through her head,” he said.
Joel paused, then backed up off the door. The Zhyn signaled for them to put their weapons down.
Molly started moving slowly to do as they were told. Joel followed.
Shit. Now what?
It’s okay. We always find a way. Just stay alive. Do what he says.
Molly started to stand up, her hands above her head.
“Not so fast, mother fuckers!” She heard a human voice beyond the cluster of Zhyns assembling. And then, before she knew what was happening, there was another scurry of blasters being fired.
For a few seconds, neither she nor Joel knew what was happening. But when the blasting stopped, they saw a heap of blue Zhyns on the floor, and Jack standing at the other end of the corridor. “Thought you might need some help,” she said smiling. “You ready to get out of here? We have Giles.”
Molly processed the information quickly, and picked up her blaster. “Great. Was the way you came clear?”
Jack nodded. “Yes. Let’s go.”
Molly and Joel started down the corridor to follow Jack, stepping unceremoniously over the Zhyn bodies that Jack had just dropped.
Joel smiled. “Good shooting, soldier,” he told her.
* * *
“Come on, mate. You need to breathe,” Sean managed to get Giles propped up in the pod. His skin was puffy; incredibly puffy. He couldn’t tell how long he’d been out in the low-pressure atmosphere, because this place was unfamiliar to him. It looked like it was either a form of torture, or they really did intend to leave him there to die.
“Giles, come on,” he pleaded. “Those nanocytes should be getting to it.” He patted Giles’s cheek lightly, trying to encourage him to come around.
“Emma, what can you tell me about his condition?” he asked, reeling off the symptoms.
“I suspect he’s been out in this for over half an hour, given what I can tell from the atmospheric readings. He should regain consciousness shortly. You’re right about the nanocytes.”
Sean sat back, slightly reassured.
He looked out of the pod and saw the others milling around the site. He switched to the general channel. “Hey, get into the pods. The pressure is too low to be safe for more than a few minutes,” he told them, gesticulating to the girls.
Maya and Paige looked over, and then scurried into one of the pods together.
“Emma we need to get Giles to proper care ASAP. Any news on where the others are?”
Emma responded. “Let me find out,” she told him.
Just then, Giles’s eyes started to flutter.
“Hey, hey… Giles. It’s Sean. Are you awake?”
Giles started to come into his body, and sat himself up a little more comfortably. “Hello. Oh… my. You’re… you came…” His voice was raspy and dry.
He coughed.
Sean tried to help him up. “It’s okay, mate. Just relax. We’re going to get the others back out here, and then we’ll all head back to The Empress.”
Giles’s eyes flew open, and he sat up straighter. “No. We can’t go yet!” He was struggling to speak, and move. His body was still suffering the effects of lack of oxygen and pressure.
Sean tried to get him to settle down. “It’s okay. We’ll be out of here soon.”
Giles tried to sit forward and stand. “You don’t understand. We need to get Anton out of the basement, and then I need to blow this base.” Giles managed to sit up. Then he half stood, and hit the button to leave the pod.
Sean tried to grab him. “Giles, there isn’t time. This place is swarming with - ”
Giles was stumbling out of the pod. He had Sean’s helmet in his hand as he pulled away. He fell, and rolled into the dirt. He immediately scrambled up to his feet, picking up the helmet again, and half ran, half stumbled back toward the base where he had been held captive all this time.
Sean jumped down, grabbing his blaster. “Shit!”
He glanced over at the other pods, to the girls. “Get the pods in the air again. We’ll be right back,” he commanded into the holo on his wrist. Maya and Paige nodded mutely through the glass of their pod.
A second later, the pods lifted up into the air and vanished. Sean ran to catch up with Giles just as he disappeared through a lower basement entrance and down some steps.
Chapter 18
Cho
m-X9, Inside the base
Giles made his way down the corridor. Sean could tell from his awkward gait that he was in excruciating pain, trying to keep moving and breathing.
It also meant that whatever it was he was trying to do must be important.
Sean followed deftly, keeping alert for any signs of Zhyn. The alarms were still going, making hearing anything useful incredibly hard.
Giles veered off down another corridor, and then into a warehouse area. Then he dropped down another flight of stairs, and continued down into the darkness. Sean followed, noticing that Giles had thrown the helmet on his head. Then he realized why.
“Hello? Sean? Molly? Can anyone hear me?” Giles’s voice intruded on the group communication channel.
Sean was about to respond via holo, but then Molly answered. “Hello? Is that - ?”
“Yes, it’s me. Giles. Thank you for coming for me,” he said ridiculously politely, given the situation they were in.
“You’re welcome,” Molly responded, confused. “Where are you?”
Giles’s voice was intermittent, and he was panting. “I’m in the dungeon. I’m just about to rescue an associate of mine, but I need you to help me out if you’re still in the building.”
There was a pause. Then Molly’s voice answered.
“Yes, we’re still here. What do you need?”
Giles was direct. “For you to overload a service generator so we can blow this base into the ether.”
Another pause.
“Molly?” he asked.
Sean listened, taking in every word that might help them get out of there sooner.
Molly’s voice came through his helmet again. “Er. Yeah. Isn’t that a bit extreme? I mean, we need to take out Shaa and decommission this place.”
Giles’s breathing was still heavy, and Sean noticed his movement had slowed. “No, it’s not extreme. This is the only chance we’ll get. We need to take it. The Federation is in acute danger if we don’t. I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
Something told Sean that perhaps Giles wasn’t the type to need rescuing after all.
He could also hear movement at Molly’s end. She was panting a little, now. “Okay, what do you need?” she asked.
Giles started explaining. “There is a weapons store near where I was being held. They have their ventilation systems and generators way too close to the weapons store to be safe. I’m also sure I smelled IRFNA - which means that it has probably corroded through whatever missile it was loaded into. This means that one little spark may cause the whole thing to go up. All it takes is for that stuff to mix with any rocket fuel that may be around, and it’s curtains. If we can direct some of that explosion into the ventilation system, we can get the whole base to blow.”
He paused. “I’m advocating causing an overload of the generator, and one of the ventilation systems in the basement. The two explosions should fuel each other.”
Molly hesitated. “An explosion of that magnitude will take half the moon with it.”
Giles’s voice was steady and confident. “Believe me, that’s the better option.”
Molly sounded like she was resigning herself to the task. “Okay. We need to get everyone out of here before we do it.”
“Right,” Giles concluded. “I’m going to get Anton out of here, too. You get your people back out to the pods. I’ll be along shortly. Let me know when you’ve got access to their facility’s system.”
Molly grunted something, and the line went dead.
Giles rounded another corner and found his way back to his old cell. He went straight to the one next to it and leaned against the wall, waiting for Sean. “Have you got something on your holo to access this keypad?” he asked. “It’s a four digit code, if that helps.”
Sean nodded, letting his blaster swing by his side on his shoulder strap. He connected his holo in, and started punching away at some keys.
Eventually, the lock popped and the door slid open.
Giles peered around the corner, still catching his breath, his puffiness returning to almost human levels now. “Anton?” he said, looking over at the shocked imprisoned Zhyn. “I’m Giles. I’ll be rescuing you today.”
Chom-X9, Storage cupboard
“Come on, Molly. Fast as you can…” Jack called in, exchanging nervous glances with Joel as they kept guard on an out-of-the-way storage cupboard.
How we doing, Oz?
Nearly there. Okay, we’ve got it. So what did he say? That he wants to overload the air con unit at the same time as the generator?
Yeah. Can you pull up the schematic and overlay it with where we think he was being held?
Sure. It’s onscreen, on the panel.
Molly shuffled closer to the maintenance panel just inside the cupboard. It was difficult to see, and fairly low tech compared with what she had seen on the Zhyn bases.
Okay. So I think if we can reroute the power from the one on the floor above, it will probably be enough to cause an overload. Can you find a way of setting off the air unit?
Sure.
Molly clicked onto the general channel. “Giles, we have access. Tell me you’re out.”
Giles’s voice came through her helmet. “Not yet. Might have to just blow it, anyway. Give me two minutes, and, if you don’t hear from me, just blow it.”
Molly frowned, looking frustrated. “I’m not blowing it until I know you’re safe. I didn’t come all this way and risk my team, to just blow you up.”
Sean’s voice interrupted. “It’s okay. I’m here with him. If I have to carry him out over my shoulder, we’ll get out. Might need three minutes, though.”
Molly froze. “Sean. Why are you in the building? I thought it was just Giles?”
“He was in no fit shape to even walk on his own,” Sean explained. “It’s okay. We have his friend and we’re heading out. Just hope we don’t bump into any of these Zhyn on the way…”
Just then Molly heard firing on the other end. “Sean? Sean! SEAN!”
There was a scuffling on the line, and fire being returned.
A moment later, Sean’s voice reported in. “Yeah. Yeah. It’s okay. Keep working. I’ll tell you when we’re out.”
* * *
Anton helped Giles move as fast as they could down the corridor. Sean strode ahead of them, taking out oncoming Zhyns.
Bam. Bam. BAM… He dropped one after another.
They rounded the corner and started up the stairs. Giles was breathing heavily again. He grabbed hold of the banister. “Sean, you and Anton go on without me. Keep going. I’ll catch up if I can.”
Sean turned around. “No way,” he said flatly. “Now get moving, soldier.”
Giles rolled his eyes comically. “You do realize I’ve never been a soldier.”
Sean ignored the comment, and bounced on up the stairs to make sure their way was clear.
Giles tapped the connection switch on his helmet, connecting him to Molly again. “Molly, can you put us on a closed channel?”
He waited.
Molly answered. “Yes, we’re alone now. What is it? Are you out, yet?”
Giles’s voice was serious. He sounded like he was still moving, but struggling. “Whatever happens,” he told her, “you need to do this. You need to destroy this base before you leave. For the safety of the Federation.”
His voice quieted in shame. “They’ve had me too long… I told them things. You need to protect those secrets. Get your people out, and then blow this joint.”
Molly shook her head. “No,” she said adamantly. “We’ll find another way.”
Giles winced in pain. “There is no other way. It’s now or never,” he told her, panting.
Molly rested the forehead of her helmet against the wall next to the panel. She couldn’t believe the situation she was in. All her people were in the building still; and yet, if she got taken out before the base was blown up, the Federation was at more risk tha
n when they had allowed Giles to come in the first place.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit… Impossible fucking decisions!
She heard blasters firing just outside the door…
Molly poked her head out to see that Joel and Jack had dived around the corner, and were picking off the Zhyn as they approached and left themselves exposed.
Molly waited. She looked at the console. She should blow it. Operationally, she should blow it.
The Federation was at stake. Ancestors only knew what Giles meant when he told her that he had had to tell them things. He’d been a part of the inner circle for forever. He could know all kinds of vulnerabilities.
Her mind flicked to Arlene, wondering how much he’d shared with her. If he had told her everything, then maybe there was a way around it; like changing codes, or routes, or strategies. Arlene had already been a stickler for that.
But then, if it were that easy and he’d already told her everything, he wouldn’t be so insistent that they blow the base, and everyone in it.
She took a deep breath. She was going to have to blow it.
Her finger hovered over the console.
Oz? Are you there?
Always.
You know that I have to do this?
Yes. It’s the right thing to do. Protect the Federation. It’s what we all signed up for. We knew the risks.
Molly couldn’t believe that this was how her life ended. How her team ended. There was so much more they needed to do - things they needed to tell each other. Places they needed to go…
She felt her finger trembling as she reached forward.
“Molly? Molly, we’re out. Get out of the building.” It was Giles’s voice. “Sean and Anton are out. We’re getting into pods.”
Molly breathed a sigh of relief.
Molly? Good news. I’ve managed to rig this on a time delay. You’ve got five minutes from when you hit that button.
Molly couldn’t believe the turnaround in just a few seconds. She breathed a sigh of relief, and noticed that the shooting had stopped.
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 129
