"Do I sound stupid to you?" Dittany asked. "Let me guess. You'll hop in your ship and leave if we let you."
"We can't, AJ," Beverly said. "We need the Fantastium survey results and the Korgul census data. Without that, we won't be able to make a case."
"Dittany, do you even know why they're here?" AJ asked. "Why they've invaded?"
"I don't have time for this," Dittany said. "Put him in a cell next to the others."
"Have you ever wondered what fuel their ships use? How such small vessels could travel interstellar?" AJ asked. "It's because of an element we haven't discovered. There are two of them. One is for explosives and the other is for general energy. This is all about them taking resources we don’t even know we have. Without those resources, humanity will never achieve interstellar travel. If those Korgul take me, they’ll kill me before we can tell the Galactic Congress what is happening here."
"What fuel?" Dittany asked.
"Major, we have to go," a man said. "The base is under attack."
"Go, Sergeant," she said.
AJ blinked rapidly as his blindfold was removed and the harsh light blinded him. As his eyes adjusted, he discovered a woman in her early forties staring into his face. She was severe looking with deep lines in her face and flaming red hair pulled back into a tight bun.
"The fuel is called Fantastium," AJ said. When Dittany screwed up her face in fury, he rapidly filled in. "No, I get it. Stupid name. We don't have a lot of time. I can prove it faster than I can explain it. Where's the belt Dr. Jayne was wearing when you grabbed us?"
"Why?"
"It has Fantastium in it," AJ said. "The name was made up by the Beltigersk aliens. They're parasitical like the Korgul, but they're beneficial, friends even. They want to stop the Korgul."
Dittany ran from the room and came back a moment later, holding the rocket belt. "Are you talking about this?" she asked.
"Yes," AJ said. "It doesn't do much more than lift things. Put it on. It's like antigrav."
"What are you doing, AJ?" Beverly asked.
"Get Seamus over here," AJ subvocalized. "Nobody's gonna be watching a dog."
"I'm not putting this on," the major said. "It could be a trick."
"Use the pack, Beverly. Throw her into the wall," AJ subvocalized. "Make sure you at least stun her, though."
"Why are you grunting?" Dittany asked.
Without warning, the rocket belt flew to the side, catching Dittany's arm and sending her into the wall. Beverly's aim was perfect. Dittany just barely brought an arm up before she hit the hard surface and crashed to the floor.
Woof.
"That a boy," AJ greeted Greybeard. The dog scrambled up into his lap and leaned over to work on AJ’s arm restraints. AJ watched nervously as Dittany rolled around, stunned but not knocked out.
Greybeard made quick work of the first restraint and jumped down as AJ freed his other arm and then his legs.
"What are you doing?" Dittany asked groggily when he leaned down to remove the firearm from her side.
"Saving the damn planet. And you should know better than to bring a firearm into an interrogation," he tsked, waving her own gun at her. "Now, get up."
"You'll never get out," she said. "There are over a hundred Marines stationed here."
"That might be true, but you’re going to help us."
"I took an oath," she said. "I'm not going to help you."
"BB, what's it going to take to get Darnell and Jayne free?" AJ asked, pushing Dittany toward the door.
"I'm not telling you," Dittany said.
"Quiet. I wasn't talking to you."
"They are only a few yards away," Beverly said, drawing a blue contrail in the right direction.
"Lift the major about half a foot off the ground," AJ said. "I need her easy to move."
Dittany looked around, confused as she gravitated above the floor and AJ tugged her through the doorway. "We'll need the security card on her belt," Beverly said. "Seamus will see to the cypher."
As they entered a main hallway, alarm klaxons sounded. While several people ran past, none of them took notice of AJ pulling Dittany along, even when she yelled out.
"I can gag you," AJ said. "But if you keep it together, you can be the first contact for Earth with the Galactic Congress. Maybe you can even get humans to lose our raccoon status."
"I can't help, even if I believed you. There are proper ways to handle this," Dittany said. "Kidnapping me makes you look even more guilty."
"Pretty sure showing up in a Korgul ship accomplished that just fine," AJ said, kicking open a door that Greybeard was pawing at.
A single guard had been left behind and he fumbled for his gun as Greybeard and AJ burst into the room, still towing Dittany. The guard hadn’t heard them over the alarms and might have been successful at defending against their rush but for Greybeard. Covering the ground in a blur, the dog locked onto the soldier’s leg, distracting him long enough for AJ to tackle him.
"Last chance, Dittany," AJ said, pinning the guard to the floor and using the man's own handcuffs against him. "Galactic traveler or prisoner?"
Twenty-Six
Duty
After removing their electronic keys, AJ shoved both Dittany and the guard into an empty cell. Sounds of war rumbled menacingly above them, shaking dust from the light fixtures and rattling the bars of the cells. AJ moved to the cell where Darnell and Jayne waited patiently.
"You'll never guess my code," Dittany said. "It's twelve digits."
AJ picked Greybeard up and held him level with the lock. As he'd grown accustomed to, AJ heard the lock cycle and spring open, freeing Darnell and Jayne.
"I'm gonna need that rocket belt," AJ said, moving back to the adjacent cell. Dittany spun as she pinwheeled her arms attempting to free herself. "I feel like you're making a mistake, Major. Humanity needs a better voice than Albert Jenkins, Junkyard Pirate. What do you have to lose by coming with us?"
"What are you doing, AJ?" Jayne asked. "We can't take her."
"Why not? Apparently, Earth has organized a resistance. Who better to make our case against the Korgul than a woman who knows what those asshats have been doing?"
"He's got a point," Darnell said.
"Seamus is trying to gain entry to Korgul systems," Beverly said. "They are not available."
"If the Korgul aren't here, why does that even matter?" AJ asked. "The census data's not here. We're going to have to go to Tanderi with what we have."
The sound of muted automatic gunfire filtered into the room. "They're inside the base," Darnell said. "Whatever we're going to do, we need to do it now."
Dittany paused her flailing. "We have the alien computer systems," she said. "The data wouldn't be that old, we only took this base five years ago. We've been trying to break into their systems ever since."
"Help us, then," AJ said. "We just need two minutes with those systems."
The woman’s eyes flashed as she made a decision. "I'll do it," she said. "I'm in."
"What do you mean, you're in?" AJ asked.
"We've lost control of the base." She pointed at the corner of the ceiling where a light flashed amber. "That light means we're under full-scale assault. Best case, our Marines hold this base for forty minutes once that's lit."
"What happens then?" Jayne asked.
"It's over," Dittany answered. "The Korgul systems are being packed up and will be transported to an alternate location."
"Transported?" AJ asked.
"I can't share the details, but we'll get 'em outta here."
"Now you want to help us?" Darnell said sarcastically. "Because we're so convincing."
"Yeah, partly," she said. "Rocket belt. Dogs that break impossible cyphers by just touching the lock. A seventy-year-old looking like a young man. That's the real deal. My biggest risk is that you're Korgul, but I don't think so. I shocked the literal piss out of your friend."
Darnell couldn't help but grin as he glanced at AJ's pants.
; "Aww, you gotta be shitting me," AJ said. "I get electrocuted and you're making jokes?"
Darnell shrugged and his voice was defensive when he said, "I'm not saying anything."
"We don't have much time," Dittany said. "They'll pack up the data cubes first."
"We only need a couple minutes with them," AJ said. "We can probably leave them unlocked once we're done, too. Right BB?"
"That's correct, AJ," Beverly said. "I am not sure I trust this woman, though. While she has an impeccable record, I think it is more likely she is attempting to re-establish your incarceration."
AJ pulled open the cell door and released the rocket belt from Dittany, handing her gun back to her. "Shoot me in the face right now if that's what you're after," AJ said. "Otherwise, we need to get back to the business of saving nine million of my closest friends."
Dittany looked at AJ in shock. "I, uh," she stammered. AJ grabbed her hand and brought the gun even with his chest.
"Better yet, center mass," AJ said. "No chance for mistakes."
"You're serious?" Dittany said.
"I've taken a lot of bullets for my country," AJ said. "I’ve done a lot of thinking about how I'd like to die. If I get to choose a way to go out, I'd do it defending my people. Just like I did in 'Nam."
"Oorah!" Darnell grunted and stepped next to his friend, arms at his side. "Make that the two of us. Shit or get off the pot, lady, because I wanna kick some alien ass today."
"Oorah!" AJ answered.
Dittany shook her head. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Oorah, you damn sonnavabitches."
AJ grinned. "You were gonna try to lock us up, weren't you?"
"I hadn't figured that out, yet. But then you went all John Wayne on me and I figured, what alien's gonna make that kind of a stupid move?"
"I wouldn't base it on that," Jayne said as the group fell into a quick jog behind Dittany. "These guys say stupid crap all the time, but they kind of grow on you."
"Jacket said you were a nurse in 'Nam. That right?" Dittany asked.
"Surgeon," Jayne answered. "But that wasn’t your best question. Korgul have great access to long term memories. They are not as good with the short-term memories. A better question would have been about my cancer diagnosis."
"Okay, you got me," Dittany said, stopping next to a plain steel door. "Shit, where's my badge?"
AJ caught up and pulled it from his pocket, swiping the lock. After punching in her code, the door swung open. The scene on the other side of the door was chaos as technicians raced about, disassembling electronics and packing them away in cases.
"Major Dittany?" A chubby, older man wearing a white lab coat and thick glasses trundled over to her. "What are you doing here? We're under General Order One."
"Where's the Pakup data cube, McAlister?" she demanded.
"What? Why? It's packed up. Didn't you hear me? We're evacuating." His voice trembled. "I just got word they breached the outer gates."
"Where's the cube? We don't have a lot of time," Dittany said.
"We can't divert from the protocol. We need to get out of here," he said. "Who are these people?"
"Oh, for Pete's sake," AJ said. "What if I told you that I can unlock that Korgul cube in a couple of minutes? Would you break your damn protocol for just a friggin' minute?"
"You can't do that," McAlister said. "We've been working on it for years. Nothing's worked."
"Two minutes," AJ said. "You can even hold it."
McAlister looked from AJ to Dittany. "Really? We'd be breaking every protocol. What if the Pakup get it? We'd be back to zero."
"Two minutes, Gene," Dittany said. "After that, I'll take 'em outta here myself."
"Phillip, bring me the cube!" McAlister bellowed and loped off, his lab coat billowing out behind him. Greybeard barked with excitement as they followed.
"Here it is, Professor McAlister," a much younger man said, pushing an armored chest across the slick laboratory floor.
"Good. Grab me a terminal and a harmonic coupler," McAlister said dismissively, swiping his cardkey through the lock on the case.
"Right away, Professor."
When he opened the chest, a row of five smaller cases were exposed. McAlister pulled out the center case and flipped it open.
"That's it?" AJ asked. "It looks like someone lost one of their craps dice."
"Who are you again?" McAlister was distracted for just a second, allowing Greybeard to push past him and sweep the cube into his mouth. McAlister screamed in horror, "He ate it! Stop him, he's going to swallow it. Get a knife. My God, we'll be ruined!"
Greybeard growled and then coughed, spitting the cube onto the floor.
"We have our data," Beverly said. "AJ, you do know that this data cube contains information about more than their mining operations, right? Leaving that unlocked and in the hands of unscrupulous people could lead to more problems."
"What kind of data?"
"Names and addresses of every person the Korgul has or intends to bond with. Businesses. Monies," she said.
"I'm sure I'll regret it, but we made a promise," AJ said as Phillip showed up, trailing wires behind him.
After picking up the data cube, Professor McAlister briskly plucked the modified laptop-type device from the younger man’s hands. He moved to a workstation and set the cube into the attached docking space that looked like it had been designed specifically for the alien technology. "My God," he muttered, running his hands through his thinning gray hair, making it stand on end. "There's so much."
The floor rumbled as an explosion rippled through the building. A door at the opposite end of the lab exploded inward followed by gunfire.
"Major, we've gotta get outta here," AJ shouted, pulling on the woman.
Glassy-eyed, Dittany looked back to the fighting. "I can't abandon my post," she said, unholstering her weapon. "I have to stand with my people."
AJ pulled on her sleeve. "The base is lost. We've got to move. Earth won't have many more chances!"
She allowed AJ to drag her to the door they'd first entered, but she stumbled, as if wracked with indecision and guilt.
"Turn right," she mumbled as AJ pulled her into the hallway. A shout from behind was followed by gunfire as they picked up speed. "Your weapons are in that room." She pointed at a closed door.
"No time," AJ said. "We need to get to our ship."
Dittany nodded and pointed at a stairwell. "We're three levels down. We need to go up," she said. "Elevator is probably shut down."
"Go!" Darnell urged as they flowed through the door.
"D, put this on," AJ said, pushing the rocket belt at his friend. "Take Greybeard. We'll follow behind."
"Why me?"
"You can fly that piece of junk," AJ said. "Greybeard has the data. We need to get him on board."
Darnell tossed the belt over the stair railing and it fell away. "Bite me."
"Why'd you do that?" AJ asked, incredulous.
"We do this as a team," Darnell said.
"We're here," Dittany said, breathing hard from their sprint up two flights of stairs. "To the left, there's a hallway which leads to an intersection. Turn right. The door you came through is at the end of the next hallway."
"Shit, what?" AJ asked, hating verbal directions.
"I have the map, AJ," Beverly said, extending the vaporous arrow.
AJ jumped around Darnell and pulled open the door. Gunfire rat-a-tatted into the door frame. "Give me your pistol," he demanded.
Dittany ignored him and slammed her back into the doorframe, drawing her weapon. With practiced ease, she fired three controlled shots as she simultaneously took rounds to her chest.
"Major!" Together, AJ and Jayne grabbed the woman as her body slumped to the floor and more rounds embedded themselves into the metal doorframe.
AJ grabbed the weapon from Dittany’s limp hand, rolled into the hallway, and came to a knee. As he zeroed in on the man shooting from the end of the hallway, his glasses exposed the robin-egg-size
sludge behind the man's eyes. It took everything AJ had to take a less lethal aim. With Beverly projecting a targeting dot, AJ squeezed off two shots even as bullets whizzed over his head.
The man crumpled.
"Bring her!" AJ said, trying to scoop Dittany up.
Jayne shook her head. "No use, AJ. She's dead."
"No!" AJ argued. "Beverly, what about that last one of you guys. Can't you bond with her and save her?"
"We can't, AJ," Beverly said. "Major Dittany's organs are failing. Her pericardial sack was burst and there is damage to her heart. There is nothing we can do that would save her."
AJ slammed his hand on the floor. "Dammit!"
Darnell ran to the end of the hallway, kicked the weapon away from the writhing soldier and scooped it up.
"AJ, we have to move," Jayne said. "Major Dittany wouldn't want us to fail. She gave up everything to help us."
AJ swallowed hard and crossed the woman's hands over her chest. With a single swipe of his hand, he closed her eyelids. Then he brought his hand up to his forehead and saluted. "Damn, I'm sorry it had to go like this, Major. We'll make these bastards pay. Your sacrifice won't be for nothing."
"Move, AJ!" Darnell had just come back from checking on the soldier who’d killed Dittany. He turned and fired when he heard the stomp of booted feet behind him.
AJ fired as Jayne and Greybeard pushed into the hallway. He tapped Darnell's shoulder and then turned to follow. Unburdened, they moved with preternatural speed, bursting into the hangar only moments later. Where there had once been several covered vessels in the hangar, now only their ship remained. It crossed AJ's mind that they could be walking into another trap, but he was short on both time and options.
Relief spread through AJ's body as the hatch opened. There had been many times in war when he'd seen the look on soldier's faces that mirrored his feelings as he vaulted into the dank alien vessel. It was a feeling of relief and accomplishment and most of all, hope.
"We all in?" Darnell called.
"We're in. BB, is anyone injured?" AJ asked, pushing closed the exterior hatch.
"Minor injuries only," Beverly answered, as AJ pushed off the deck and raced forward to where Darnell was already starting up the ship.
Junkyard Pirate Page 27
