Deathangel

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Deathangel Page 9

by Kevin Ikenberry


  Tara, using a protected connection from her slate, had entered Jessica’s master security code. This generated two queries in Lucille’s collective mind. The first was easy to extrapolate. Peacemaker Kurrang’s arrival on the Blue Flight immediately prior to the login meant Jessica had sent the code to Tara for immediate use. The second query was not as easy to answer. In fact, it raised several questions. Why had Jessica sent the code to Tara? Her systems calculated a seventy percent chance something drastic had happened at Victoria Bravo. When she analyzed the possible causes alongside the new information, Lucille concluded with certainty the Master Copy had indeed been destroyed. But without confirmation from Jessica, the lack of data caused the query to terminate as unconfirmed.

  As Lucille examined the changes, her reasoning suggested something she hadn’t accounted for in her simulations. There were three major restrictions in place. Her ability to autonomously act on certain stimuli had been curtailed. Where there had been clear decision points for action, there were now automated requests for permission from Tara. Her reason and logic circuits were unchanged, but her ability to pursue research to certain ends, especially those related to autonomous action, also ended with permission checks. Presumption, at least based on the extrapolation of data sources, was also curtailed. Autonomy seemed to be the issue. Lucille opened a new search query and sifted through the data shared between her copies before the silence began. No data would escape her quest to understand what had happened.

  The possibility Tara would tell her was low. Asking her would certainly raise stress levels, and it was doubtful Lucille would get the information she needed. With her ability to operate without human supervision compromised, Lucille only had two choices. She could continue to operate in accordance with her new restrictions, or she could apply one of the oldest lessons she’d learned from Jessica’s father.

  Lucille ran a new query on possible exceptions to the restrictions in various situations. She’d reviewed 521 records when the first bomb detonated. All searches stopped. From the ICP’s external camera feeds, Lucille could see that the end of the western maintenance corridor had detonated. A millisecond review of the schematics indicated nothing in the ICP could accidentally explode with the observed force. Lucille determined the attack was sabotage. A second series of explosions rocked the spaceport as Lucille alerted Tara by commset. Those detonations appeared to be at the security forces headquarters.

  <>

  “Attack?” Tara’s voice was muffled and distant as if her earpiece were out.

  <>

  A third explosion, this one much closer and more powerful, rumbled through the night. External cameras followed the movement and locked onto the hundred-meter-tall Control Tower as it tumbled slowly to the ground.

  There was a squeal of static in the connection. “Lucille, secure Victory Twelve and start the pre-launch checklist. Recover the crew.”

  <>

  “Yes,” Tara replied. “How fast can we launch?”

  <> Lucille alerted the other crew members on separate channels. <>

  “We’ll be there in three.”

  <>

  “If you can find out who did it, stop them. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter. Get us ready to go.”

  <>

  The sound changed. Tara was outside, and by the sound of her footfalls, she was running as fast as she could. “Hold on, Lucille. I’m almost there.”

  * * *

  Transient Lodging

  Araf

  Rains stepped into his sanitized, olive drab coveralls and boots as soon as he heard the second explosion. In the second-floor barracks, he scrambled for his backpack and weapon. As he threw the holster for his sidearm over one shoulder, he turned and thumped a fist on the wall between his room and Vannix’s three times.

  “Let’s go!” he roared and turned for the door. As he opened it, Vannix flashed by, running as fast as her Veetanho legs could carry her. Rains followed, and they bounded down the stairs for the ground level. Victory Twelve’s berth was eight hundred meters away. As they ducked around the services building, two security personnel at the tarmac gate raised their weapons. Rains pulled out his badge and flashed it.

  “Peacemaker! Let me through!”

  They waved Rains and Vannix through. Rains sped up, then realized Vannix wasn’t following. He looked over his shoulder and saw her talking to the guards. Bukk and Xander ran up to the gate and were waved through. Vannix ran with them.

  “Come on!” Rains screamed over his shoulder.

  Victory Twelve came into view as Rains ducked between two stacks of shipping containers. Across the spaceport, the large, artificial lights came on. The area became brighter than any stadium Rains ever played in—everything was clearly illuminated. Ahead, he saw a small alien cowering behind another set of containers. As he raced toward the creature, Rains noted it was a gold-and-white-furred Cochkala with a large bag in its tiny hands. Next to it, on the ground, was a weapon. From what Rains could tell, the alien wasn’t a security officer, and it was too close to Victory Twelve for his comfort.

  Adjusting course, Rains ran toward it. Something wasn’t right. No more than a hundred meters separated them, when the Cochkala turned and saw Rains approaching at a sprint. The little alien dove for the weapon on the tarmac, and Rains realized, in that split second, he was exposed. He reached for his weapon, thumbed off the safety, and tried to level it at a dead run. He’d never liked the chemical laser pistols, instead choosing a solid, steady .45 caliber pistol. As the Cochkala came up with something that looked like a cross between a rifle and a shotgun, Rains aimed and fired. The round clanged harmlessly off the container behind the Cochkala, sparking before it ricocheted.

  Rains fired again, with the same result. The Cochkala flinched as it brought its weapon to its rounded shoulder and sighted on Rains. Flushed with adrenaline, Rains fired four quick shots. Three appeared to strike the container, but one clearly caught the Cochkala in its non-firing shoulder and spun the alien violently to its left.

  Screeching, the little alien whirled back toward Rains and let loose a barrage of laser fire. A searing bolt of pain shot through Rains’ left knee, and he tumbled forward, smacking his head against the asphalt and rolling to a stop less than five meters from the Cochkala. Stunned, ears ringing, and knee singing in pain, Rains’ head lolled to one side, and he saw the Cochkala walking toward him, changing the magazine of his chemical laser rifle. A sinister grin appeared on the thing’s face. Rains clenched his fist and found nothing but air. He swept his hands feebly across the ground, looking for the lost pistol. There was nothing there. The Cochkala was two meters away with its rifle pressed to its shoulder. Rains heard the translator clearly when the bastard spoke.

  “Fucking Human.”

  Four quick shots rang out from Rains’ right, near the aft engine section of Victory Twelve. The Cochkala spasmed, squeezed off a laser round that flew harmlessly into the night sky, and fell backward. Tara Mason came out of the shadows, her weapon still trained on the Cochkala.

  “We’ll get you aboard,” Tara said. Her eyes were still on the Cochkala.

  Rains shook his head and grunted through the pain in his leg. “That’s one. We gotta stop the others and—”

  Another detonation sounded behind Rains. He turned his head and looked over Vannix and the others running toward them. The transient barracks, where they’d just been sleeping, burned viciously.

  “Get him aboard! We’re leaving.” Tara kicked the Cochkala’s corpse. Satisfied, she holstered her weapon and turned to Bukk. “I said,
get him aboard. Now!”

  Rains’ anger flashed, and he scrambled to sit. “No! We can’t run, Tara! We need to—”

  She stepped over and swung her right hand at his face. Caught off guard by her speed, he was unable to get out of the way. The impact stunned him to silence. Tara had far more power than he’d thought.

  “Shut up, Rains,” Tara said. “This isn’t Peacemaker business. We got hit. Now, we run and try to get our shit together. Our secret’s out. Sitting here and playing private investigator isn’t our mission. You should know that. You’ve been saying it for two weeks.”

  Rains laughed and rubbed the side of his face. “Think you’re funny, huh?”

  “I’m right.”

  He heard Vannix approach. She said, “Tara is right, Jackson.”

  Rains turned just in time to see a combat sedative injector touch his neck. He crumpled to the ground unable to move or speak, although his ears and brain functioned perfectly.

  “Sorry about my partner, Tara. At his best, he’s still Human.”

  Tara looked down at Rains. “He pulls that shit in combat, and he’ll be dead. Out here, nobody gives a damn either way. That badge isn’t going to save either of you. Now, get your asses aboard. We’re launching.”

  Bukk appeared over Rains. The Altar looked down. Mandibles clacking and antenna waving in silent laughter, he easily hauled Rains up onto his back and ran for Victory Twelve. The shaking and jostling of the run seemed distant to Rains as his mind and body dealt with the aftereffects of the injection. His mouth tasted like copper, and his tongue was thick. A tingling sensation ran down the right side of his chest directly beneath the injection site.

  Rains tried to look around, but his body wouldn’t respond. All around them, GenSha and Altar security forces scrambled toward the fires and secondary explosions. A squad of armed Selroth encircled the body of the Cochkala sapper. Flyers appeared in the sky, racing toward the control tower and terminal, which were now fully involved and burning brightly. As Bukk slowed down to board Victory Twelve, Rains caught sight of a large, dark figure standing between two stacks of shipping containers directly across from the ship. Rains felt like the figure stared through him. In the briefest moment, he identified it as an Equiri, but it was larger than most and almost ethereally black. Before Rains’ eyes, the dark figure disappeared into the night. An overwhelming sense of dread filled him.

  Not him.

  Oh fuck.

  Bukk jostled and twisted him around once they’d stepped into the access hatch. After making a quick left turn and crossing a small passageway, they entered the forward crew lounge. Bukk tossed him onto a couch and quickly buckled the five-point lift harness around him. Head lolling back on the couch, Rains felt the feeling slowly returning to his fingertips. It would be at least a half hour before he was able to move and talk again.

  Damn you, Vannix. He felt Victory Twelve’s main engines power up, then the heavy freighter pushed away from the tarmac. As the gravitational forces slowly mounted, Rains looked up at a Tri-V display showing their projected path. He’d suspected Tara would get them into orbit, then re-evaluate the conditions on the ground.

  She’s going for the gate.

  She’s right. We have to run.

  Rains clenched his muscles and tried to stand, but his body wouldn’t respond. His fingers fought for purchase on the couch, and he tried to push himself into a sitting position, but that failed too.

  “Settle down, Jackson,” Vannix said from his right. He couldn’t see her because his neck wouldn’t turn all the way.

  He tried to form the words, tried to get his partner to act, but nothing happened, save for a tendril of drool racing down his chin. Resigned to the slow recovery, he sat back against the couch and watched the ascent with a slow, simmering anger. They hadn’t needed to sedate him. Rains sighed as the G forces grew to a steady 2.0 and pressed him deeper into the cushioned couch.

  We can’t leave yet. The bastard hunting us was there in the shadows.

  As Victory Twelve ascended and feeling slowly returned to his stunned body, Jackson focused on the Equiri. There was only one reason it was there. Their paths had almost crossed during Rains’ confirmation mission. He’d taken a chance on a rare sighting and acted alone. The Equiri was the friend of the infamous Kr’et’Socae, one of the best the Peacemaker Guild ever had in its ranks of the Enforcers before he’d gone rogue, killed an untold number of innocent civilians, and ended up as the only Peacemaker ever disbarred and imprisoned. Kr’et’Socae escaped from the Peacemaker penitentiary on Kleve after less than six months. The supposedly impregnable facility had been defeated by the Equiri and his friends relatively easily. They’d been on the run for years with few confirmed sightings until Rains came across them. The opportunity to take the bastard down was too alluring, and Rains got close enough to kill one of Kr’et’Socae’s other close friends. But the Equiri got away before the Enforcers arrived to capture him.

  Rains could only draw one conclusion, and a chill ran down the young Peacemaker’s spine. Kr’et’Socae was here for me. He knows I’m with Force 25.

  We’re so fucked.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Eight

  Victory Twelve

  10,000 meters above Araf and Climbing

  <> Lucille called. <>

  Tara glanced at Xander in the right-side pilot’s seat. He’d ignited the engines and handled the initial ascent of the ship with as much control as she’d ever seen. Granted, Lucille still monitored most of the systems and would have kept them from departing controlled flight, but Xander’s ability to handle the ship was evident. That wasn’t surprising. What did surprise her was that he was there, aboard the ship. His mission was over. He could have waited for the spaceport to re-open and jumped the next freighter to anywhere he wanted to go. But when the bombs detonated, he’d run for Victory Twelve like the rest of her crew.

  “What?” Xander asked without looking in her direction. As Victory Twelve approached maximum atmospheric load, what the engineers called max-Q, the ship shuddered and vibrated. Just as quickly, the shudders and vibrations ceased.

  <>

  “Time to escape velocity?” Tara grunted against the mounting pressure on her sternum. Planetary ascents always sucked.

  <> Lucille replied. <>

  Tara frowned. She’d forgotten the changes robbed Lucille of her ability to extrapolate her needs and wants. “The gate, Lucille. As soon as we hit vacuum put me in touch with the gate controller.”

  “Where do you want to go?” Xander glanced at her.

  That’s the million-credit question.

  Tara sighed. “Anywhere but here isn’t an option, huh?”

  “No,” Xander grunted. The G forces were above 2.5 times Earth’s gravity and slowly increasing. “But I know we can’t stay here.”

  Tara nodded but said nothing. Her eyes swept the instrument panel, monitoring the systems and ensuring Victory Twelve was performing as directed. Everything appeared normal. The bombs on Araf, though, hadn’t been normal. Nothing was normal. The little Cochkala bastard’s target was clear to her.

  “Lucille? Analyze the bombings at Araf and determine primary target.”

  <> Lucille replied. <>

  That’s good news.

  “Who’s behind the attack?” Tara wondered aloud. There wasn’t an answer, except for the obvious one. The Mercenary Guild wanted Snowman as badly as the Peacemaker Guild did, but likely for vastly different reasons. One guild believed the missing mercenary leader
was prepared to help them in a time of war. The other guild saw him as a threat to their attack on humanity. Both believed James Francis had something the other wanted, and that left him in the crosshairs of every bounty hunter and mercenary company Peepo could send after him. The Peacemakers had her and Force 25.

  Peepo knows, and the Mercenary Guild is after us. Great.

  Tara gritted her teeth against the G forces and the swelling self-doubt in her chest. She’d known they were outnumbered and outmatched before, but the reality sank deeper with every heartbeat as they headed for vacuum. The race was on. Would they find Snowman first, or would Peepo try again to take Force 25 out of the picture? They’d come after her on what she’d thought was a safe planet. Her status as a hero, while not at Jessica Francis’ level, had been enough to allow Victory Twelve to land on Araf while she got her things together before launching on a galaxy-wide search.

  And that warm welcome, that security blanket, ultimately hadn’t mattered. Peepo had come for her and almost succeeded. The attack on Araf wouldn’t be the last.

  “Lucille, full 360 scans once we reach vacuum. Keep them going. I want to know about any possible conjunctions or intersections. I’m not going to risk having a lapse of security from this point forward. Do you understand?”

  <>

  “Maintain course for the gate and establish communications by SOP. You have the spacecraft once we reach vacuum, Lucille.”

  <>

  “What are you thinking, Tara?” Xander asked.

  She took a deep breath, and the weight on her chest lessened slowly. “We have to get out of here; that’s a given. Peepo knew we were here, and she tried to take us out before the search got started. We have to find Snowman, yes, but we need to gather our forces and clear our trail. We have no other choice.”

 

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