“Ghost stories don't scare me, Chief.” Martel said, trying not to sound angry at his second in command.
Both of them boarded the elevator back to the main floors. They caught a glimpse of Singh and another man walking from the lab. The newcomer was slightly off balance, as if one leg had fallen asleep. The Kangal mech that followed them into the hall was anything but unsteady.
“Is that a...” Martel asked, holding the elevator doors open.
“Apparently you don't scare the ghost, either, sir.”
The two rode in silence to the second floor. The doors opened onto a landing platform with a ceramaclear floor. They could see the main lobby below them. Blood was seeping from the wound in the concierge's head to ruin an ornate rug.
“Captain, second floor secure, sir. We're getting ready to go up a floor. Blaster bugs are planted at every intersection. Anything moves on a floor we've cleared is going to get a swarm of hate straight at them,” said another operator in advance skel-frame armor.
“Thanks, Sergeant Coldana. Is the security office this way?”
“Yes, sir. Second door on the right.”
The duo walked past the troopers readying themselves for advance to the next floor. They opened the door to the security office, entering a room with both tangible and holographic screens bathing two dead security techs in a soft blue light. Dovai rolled one of the chairs to the door, dumping its contents into the hallway. She brought the chair back, taking a seat at the station to make herself at home. She placed an icer module next to the ICOM under the desk. A loud ping and the screens blurred for a moment. “We're in, sir. We have feeds on all floors. Should we contact Singh?”
“He's probably busy with his secret entrance.”
“Sir,” Dovai used the one word like a mother threatens a grounding.
“Fine. Call Mr. Wonderful and tell him we're here.”
Dovai did so, and Singh immediately came over the comm. “Chief Dovai. Please enter the following code into the security portal.” He reeled off a list of letters and numbers.
She typed them in, bringing new security feeds and features into the room.
“What in the twin hells is that?” Martel asked.
“The hotel has guardian protocols to protect against unwanted guests.” Singh said, his voice modulator taking none of the professorial tone from his statement. “Luckily you dealt with the concierge and locked down the security before he could enact them.”
“Why didn't we have this intel before?” If these had been online when we took everything, we would have been shredded. And how many sub basements are there? Wait, Singh, is that a hover-tram?”
“Yes, there are hidden satellite hangars built into the terrain. The tram can access any of them.”
“Sir.” Dovai pointed to a holo of the fourth floor. Lasher was emerging from one of the stairwells into the hall with his entourage in tow.
“Briefing didn't say anything about him having an army,” Martel said in a deflated tone.
“Looks like he found himself a Black Tasker.” Singh commented.
“Intel catch when we entered the system said we might have a target of opportunity along for the ride. She supposedly had a Tasker for a bodyguard.” Dovai punched in several keys for the Daedalus, a secure communications network used by the Triton Expeditionary Service. She broke off one fire-team from each squad on the lower floors to rush to the fifth floor. Drones from team three were sent down the elevator shaft to the sixth floor to secure it in the event they doubled back.
Martel called over the radio, “Teams One and Two standby to re-deploy on splinter team target confirmation.” After their affirmative replies, he asked Dovai. “You sensing anything?”
“I sense that the techs we killed had sandwiches with too much mustard.”
“Your powers told you that?”
“No. The mustard all over the keyboard told me that,” she said, pointing to the yellow stains across the keys. “Gross.”
Displays of the splinter team saw them enter an elevator shaft. Rapid ascended cables shot into the shaft, pulling them into the empty air. The view in the display saw them rocket past several floors, markers indicating the levels for any technician working in the shafts.
“Approaching target level,” said one of the splinter team operators.
Martel keyed the line. “Hold position. Target is approaching your position.”
The team moved to the edges of the shaft, standing on support girders. Pistols were pulled from holsters to aim at the shaft opening. A tense moment passed between the crew as the seconds ticked by inside the elevator shaft.
“Cap, do we have confirmation that they've moved by the shaft?” asked one of the operators.
“They're heading toward the stairs. Looks like they're bounding between one set of stairs and another. They've got to know we have the place covered.” Martel assumed.
“We do,” a voice said from nearby. “We just wanted to see how long it would take you to realize who's hunting who.”
One of the operators was thrown across into the wall with a sickening crack. He hung limply on the ascender line, lazily swinging as an obstacle to advanced optics searching the space.
“You got anything?”
“Nothing. Gibson?”
“Hey, where's Gibson?”
There was a rustle of movement below them. A broken tangle of frame struts and limbs shot into another member of the team, pulling her from her perch. She swung back into the void, trying to untangle herself from the blood clot that was Gibson. The weight of the dead body forced her back to the girder, where she was able to reclaim her footing. She managed to free a knife from her kit to cut the line holding her to the top of the shaft.
A trooper across the shaft shot his hand up to stop her. “No! Don't cut loose!”
The line snapped with a metallic twang. Gibson fell away from her like a dropped rag doll, tumbling end over end. A slithering tentacle came out of the shadows beneath her to wrap around her ankle.
“Whoops.”
The tendril yanked hard on her leg, pulling her lower half from the ledge. She lashed out with her free hand, swinging her even with the wall, giving her the angle to jam her knife into the stone with the enhanced strength of the skel-frame.
Multiple flashes lit the shaft from the rest of the team blasting into the dark. Each bolt highlighted grim mechanized death climbing up the wall after them. Bolt after bolt chased the creature who was dancing from wall to wall to avoid the barrage of blaster fire. The splinter team's heavy weapons gunner opened up with an M-1170 Echo machine blaster. The short barreled weapon was a staple among the mercenary houses of the Core Worlds, known for its ability to deal out high cycle destruction with a controlled heat buildup that kept the barrel from melting on long bursts. Several blasts pinged off of Fluff's duradium armor, sending shots ricocheting around the confined space.
“Little help here!” Fluff called.
Lasher dropped from several floors above, descending like a Tiger Hawk on a school of fish. He ignited his sword, whirling it around him on his way past the soldiers. The energized whip cut every line it touched, sending the majority of the team tumbling into the dark. Those that didn't immediately fall were given a tug through the Crucible, sending them following their friends.
One of the Doom Cat's coils caught Lasher on his tumble after their prey. “Nice catch, Fluff!”
“I am pretty good at my job,” the mech said haughtily.
The mech deposited Lasher to one of the girders on his way across the wall toward the single dangling soldier. She hoisted herself onto the strut across from Lasher's, scrambling for a perch to bring her weapons to bear.
Fluff slammed both tendrils into the walls so he could suspend himself over the pit. He shifted shape from panther-mech to bipedal, all while letting Gibson's blood seep through his teeth. “What are we doing with the tender morsel?”
“I'll show you tender!” she said, striking at him with the knife. A
metallic hum came from it on its way to slash at him. It missed its bite for the armor, swinging back again with the same telltale hum.
Hanging between the coils, Fluff caught the offending forearm, slamming a foot into her other arm to pin it to the wall. “Vibro-weapon?”
“Nope. The sound's wrong. Sounds more like a phase weapon,” Lasher answered
“Come on,” Fluff said, disbelief creeping into his voice.
“They could have managed phase weapons down to this size by now. But the more important question, did you see the helmet cam?”
Fluff tapped the side of the soldier’s helmet. “I did! This is all premium tech. Chen must really hate you. Can I do the thing?”
Lasher waved his hand in deference to his friend.
Fluff moved in close to the lens, “Run, little rabbits. The wolves are coming.”
The transmission from the splinter team's final camera cut out. Martel and Dovai sat in the security office, staring at the myriad of screens around them bearing the same message. Signal Offline.
“We knew going in that we might have to fight Lasher and his bot. Nothing's changed,” Martel huffed.
“Except that we don't know where they are. All of our cameras just went down.” Dovai gestured to the blank screens.
“The problem with wolves is they always think they're the top of the food chain, even when they're not.” Martel produced his cell-com, scrolling through his remaining battle roster. “Task a team to go to the bottom of that shaft to secure our people. I want a status on them in five minutes. Tell the rest to continue on sweep and clear. Last known was vicinity of floor four with primary target using the elevator shafts to move. If we have to, we can drive them to our friend in the secret tunnel and let him roll this up.”
“Is that wise, driving him to a possible escape route?”
“It's only a problem if the way is open. That Kangal can block the way out well enough, especially if we deplete some of Lasher's resources as we head downstairs. Time to trap the wolf.”
“We just have to make sure that the wolf doesn't use our trap against us.” Dovai said.
“That's why we have you, Chief.”
Fourteen
“Tianshan this is shuttle Humming Bird six-eight-six, we are on approach one-seven-four-four mark six. Please assign landing vector your pos how copy, over.”
There was a warble in the transmission as the antennae array adjusted to catch the outgoing signal of the freighter. “Shuttle Humming Bird six-eight-six, please transmit capture code for handshake.”
Kel scowled at the console. “What in the twin hells is a capture code?”
Kat reached a hand into her flight suit. She pulled a card from the sleeve pocket, flicking it over to Kel. “Capture code so the freighter can slave our ship to the system to guide us in.”
“Fancy,” Kel said as he took the card. He punched the code into the holo floating over his leg.
“Got your code, six-eight-six, bringing you around to bay three.”
“Over and out.” Kel said, flicking the comm switch to end the tranmission.
“I could punch you.”
Kel lifted the visor of his helmet. “What?”
“Over and out? Really?” Kat admonished.
“You and Lasher are all for that stiff military comm chatter. The rest of us normal folk over and out.”
Kat pushed him. “I'll give you over and out.”
“Promises, promises.”
The shuttle banked around the freighter to the side opposite the planet. The slow approach gave them a close up view of the freighter. From the Black Book, they knew the Tianshan Forest was big, but the ship in front of them resembled more military massive than it did a delivery ship. From aft to stern, the amount of armor was impressive. Most bulk ships like the Forest were armored to begin with, to withstand pirates and the rigors of space travel. This ship looked like a refitted military heavy transport, complete with functional weapon hatches.
“You getting a raise on those little hairs on the back of your neck?” Kel asked.
“Funny. I don’t have a fuzzy back, smart guy.” Kat shot back. “Still, that ship is not giving me good vibes.”
“On your non-fuzzy back? You want to stay onboard to pilot the ship or be the crew chief.”
“I'll be chief.” Kat answered. “If things go sideways I can punch a hole in something to give us a minute to escape.”
The ship landed in a cavernous hangar bay. Bots of all types scurried about moving containers or attending to maintenance. As the landing struts made contact with the deck, Kat ripped free from her restraints and headed to the back of the ship. Close to thirty people were packed into the cargo bay of the shuttle, holding onto the securing straps locking down a massive load of bottled colabrium. A few foremen were standing, giving orders for the workers to remain in place until told to move.
When the last of the atmospherics vented from the shunts outside the shuttle, Kat dropped the loading ramp. She took a data slate from the wall, moving through the manifest. A man in a flight suit approached the ramp with a cargo team in tow.
“I'm Work-Captain Phang. Seems you're working a little light.”
Kat responded in perfect Trade-9, modulating her voice to resemble the voice of the dead crewman she replaced. “Yeah, we all have our problems, sir. Were you made aware of the situation that happened down on the planet?”
“I am.” The work captain looked moderately offended that she would even ask.
“Good.” Kat said. “As a result, we took on eight new personnel after a loss of twelve and have sixteen canisters less than was originally manifested. That's a four personnel, nine canister loss to the manifest. I need you to sign your bios to the sheet.”
“I won’t take responsibility for your people not being able to handle their job,” Phang chided.
“That won't be necessary Work-Captain Phang,” came a smooth voice from the side of the shuttle. The man that rounded the corner was dressed in resplendent armor, complete with an ornate eyeless mask. The orange and black highlights gave off the impression of being freshly forged.
“I am Venger Phoenix, of the Steel Devils. Please pardon Work-Captain Phang for his diligence in making sure the appropriate party is responsible for their roles. I will sign for the difference, chief.”
“Greatly appreciated, honored sir,” Kat said, handing him the slate.
“Please see that our cargo is unloaded as fast as possible. There is a matter for me down on the planet. If it is not too much trouble, I would like to ride back to the outpost with you on your trip back.”
“Of course, honored Phoenix. It would be our pleasure.”
Phoenix regarded her for a moment, handing back the slate.
“Is something the matter, sir?” Kat asked.
“No. There was something in the Second Sight but it's gone now. Go about your work, Chief.”
Venger Phoenix regarded the workers being herded from the ramp. A tall human broke ranks to approach, his hand raised. Several of the guards aimed weapons, making it very clear his departure from the scheme of things wouldn't be tolerated.
“Stand down. Let this man say his piece.” Venger ordered.
“Thank you, sir. I was part of the crew that got brought onto this job from Outpost-7. I don't know what you got going on here, but my part of the work was for the mine. I didn't sign on for anything space-side.”
“I understand. Unfortunately, we will be short several personnel due to the mishaps below, requiring us to extend your contract,” Venger responded.
“I didn't sign on for this. Please take us back to the Outpost.” The worker said, not in the least impressed by Venger Phoenix and his retinue.
The man's polite, yet stern refusal in the face of a masked commander surrounded by armed guards emboldened the other workers. They all stepped out of line to stand with their outspoken comrade. The troopers raised their rifles again until Phoenix raised a hand. The barrels of the weapon traced
the arc of his arm lowering back to his waist, returning to a neutral ready position.
Venger gestured back to the ship. “My humble apologies. Please make your way back onto the shuttle. We will make arrangements for you shortly.”
Kat hadn't moved. She remained in position, holding the data slate and watching everything play out. “Kel, is the hatch to the cabin secured?”
“It is now. What in the hells is happening out there.”
Kat did nothing to hide the worry in her voice. “I don't know, but I think these workers are about to be on the wrong end of the hammer.”
Phoenix signaled for the chief. “Please join the pilot and secure your ship. If these men aren't willing to work for us, we can't have them wandering about. As soon as my affairs are complete here, I will join you.”
“Yes, honored sir.” Kat did as she was told. She settled in beside Kel, linking their HUDs to the security monitors around the transport. “Keep your visor down. Internal comms between our helmets only. They're probably monitoring us. This commander might suspect we aren't who we say we are. I think he's like Lasher.”
“We just can't catch a break.” Kel said.
“Did you hear that bit about wanting to go back to the planet?
“That means our friend is in the thick of it. And if they don't trust us, any message we try to send to Yu on the Doll is going to get us blasted.” Kel huffed.
“Yeah, we're lucky like that. And here you said all these pirate schemes were better than sitting in a cozy office where you just get to move the pieces around the board.”
“The chessboard part was nice, but then we couldn't hang out in such exciting places.” Kel sounded more amused than he should.
Kat craned her neck. Kel could just picture her cocking an eyebrow in the way she did when she was giving him a hard time. “What?”
“Nothing. Just me and you against the galaxy, huh?”
“Till the thrusters burn out, lady.” He raised his fist, letting her tap her knuckles against his.
Kat pointed to a display that popped into both their HUDs. “Oh that's not good.” The cargo container that Kel had locked shut earlier was bouncing through the restraints. The eight non Chen workers in the cargo bay were slamming the back of the shuttle with everything they could find. The pounding on the pilot's hatch was clearly eating away at Kel.
The Revenant: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Hunter's Moon Book 2) Page 18
