Orphans of War

by Cory Travis

  Chapter Six

   

  “I can’t go with you,” Karina told Duncan with finality that left no room for argument.

  Of course that didn’t stop Duncan from trying; the two had gone back and forth for hours about what would be the safest – staying together or going their separate ways. Though part of the problem was Karina cared little about her personal safety. Her mind was turned toward regaining what she had lost in Arrowhead, or at least something close, and then making those who took it all away from her pay for it.

  "You could come with me," Karina moved to Duncan as he folded her in his arms.

  "I made a promise to look after Matt - I won't break that promise."

  "I don't suppose you'd consider raising the boy in the criminal underbelly of the galaxy?"

  "He needs his family - even if that family is Eugene Finnegan."

  "Your loyalty is both something to be admired and something incredibly frustrating," Karina shook her head, unaccustomed to losing the things she cared about - and that seemed to be happening a lot lately. “I got in touch with that crazy old bat Bertyl – I guess the Alliance attacked her fortress on Geneva, but she got out through some kind of secret passage. Anyways, she’s got a ship coming to pick up some supplies from Ozzy in the morning and I’m hoping to get a ride back with them.”

  “Well at least we still have tonight,” Duncan offered suggestively as he led Karina away down the hall.

   

  “Ouch!” Matt exclaimed in genuine surprise, shaking his hand. “What did you do to me? I can’t feel my hand!”

  Kaylee was laughing so hard she had fallen over clutching the tiny silver invention in her hand.

  “Stop laughing,” Matt screamed in frustration.

  “Oh, stop crying you big baby, it’s just a miniature stun baton – won’t do any permanent damage, but it will make anyone messing with you think twice about continuing to do so.”

  “You got that right,” Matt said, continuing to shake his hand hoping that the feeling would return – not entirely trusting this Kaylee girl.

  The underground room shook violently with the shock of impact as the lights flickered and dust fell through the cracks of the metal ceiling.

  “What was that?” Matt asked Kaylee with a terrified tremor in his voice.

  “Trouble,” was all she said before starting for the stairs leading up to the main lab where her father had been working on sorting through the incoming information, trying to decipher what was really happening in the capital. But Kaylee froze right as her foot hit the first stair.

  “What is it?” Matt asked and was instantly silenced by Kaylee’s raised hand. She motioned for Matt to follow her as she lifted a ventilation grate just to the side of the stairs and climbed in. Matt followed and just as he was in and Kaylee was closing the grate they heard loud booted footsteps running down the stairs.

  Kaylee motioned for them to move forward and they did. Crawling on their hands and knees around the labyrinth of ventilation shafts eventually led them to a ladder heading up. Again Kaylee motioned, absolutely refusing to talk, and again Matt followed as they climbed up.

  As they climbed into the next ventilation shaft at the top of the ladder they could hear frantic voices echoing through the shaft. Matt could make out his uncle’s voice and another man that he couldn’t identify.

  Kaylee motioned them forward once more and Matt nodded as he followed her. They had been crawling for a long time and Matt hoped they were close to the end. It was a tight fit, but if they squeezed tightly together, they could fit side by side – which is what they did as they reached the metal grate looking into the room beyond.

  Peering through they could see half a dozen men dressed in black and grey combat uniforms pointing guns at Finn and Katrina. Looking closer Matt could see Duncan lying on the floor behind Finn and Katrina, blood slowly flowing from his left temple, his eye badly swollen shut.

  “Alliance,” Kaylee whispered with a disgust never before heard from such an up-beat child.

  The man standing in front of Finn and Karina must have been the other voice that Matt could not identify earlier, as he was speaking to his prisoners in an even tone that masked the deep anger bubbling under the surface. Looking closer, Matt concluded that he must have been the officer in charge – his dress was not the same as the other troops, less battle-ready, more flash and shine than the other soldiers.

  “Put them over there,” the officer ordered, pointing toward the wall behind Duncan. “Search this place top to bottom – I want that kid.”

  “What do you want with Matty anyways?” Finn demanded.

  “He’s the offspring of my former rival, once he’s dead my victory will be complete,” the officer answered as if already victorious.

  “How’d you know President Rivers?” Karina asked. “Doesn’t seem likely he’d socialize with Alliance scum like you.”

  Matt was shocked, trying to process why in all the stars in the galaxy it would be him they were after. “What do they want with me?” Matt asked Kaylee in a whisper.

  Kaylee could only shrug as she pressed her ear closer to the grate.

  The officer scowled at Karina. “You’d do well to watch your tone. I know all about your little fallen operation at Arrowhead – play nice and I’ll see to it you meet a quick, clean end.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll have to pass on that one,” Karina’s dark eyes flashed with anger.

  “Suit yourself,” the officer remarked distractedly. “Keep a close eye on them,” he told the soldier standing closest to the door as he exited the room.

  Kaylee signaled for Matt to follow her as she backed down the shaft a few meters and then turned down the shaft to the right – the opposite direction of the way they had come initially.

  Matt followed her, staying as quiet as he could. It seemed to take forever as they wound their way through the seemingly endless ventilation system of the building, but they eventually came to the end and another grated opening.

  Matt squeezed in beside Kaylee and peered out to see they were directly behind his Uncle Finn and Karina. He smiled brightly at Kaylee who had pulled a pair of wire cutters out of her pocket and was positioning to open the grate. Matt pulled his old pocket knife out and unfolded the longest blade; nodding to Kaylee he was ready.

  She pushed the grate open a few inches, just enough for them to get their arms through. Kaylee put the cutters on the restraint band around Finn’s wrists and gently squeezed – the band cut in two with an almost imperceptible snap. The look of surprise on Finn’s face disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, but it was long enough for Karina to notice and glance down in time to see a tiny arm reaching from the grate toward her before she felt the knife working against the restraint. Karina pulled the restraint as tight as she could to help Matt cut easier and before long her hands were free as well.

  Matt turned the knife around and pressed the handle into Karina’s hand and Kaylee handed the miniature stun baton she had shown Matt earlier to Finn.

  Karina and Finn looked at each other with grim determination that could only be matched by the events of Arrowhead.

  “Well I sure hope you’re happy,” Karina exclaimed. “First you guys lead the Alliance straight to Arrowhead and now this!”

  “Me?” Finn exclaimed in masked offense.

  “Yes, you!” Karina retorted as she scooted toward Finn and shoved her shoulder into him with all she could muster.

  Finn made like he was fighting back and generally grumbled his defense as loud as Matt had ever seen him grumble anything in the past.

  “All I was doing was picking up a passenger!”

  “Hey you two – break it up!” the guard closest to the door shouted as he approached Finn. Looking up he saw that the second guard left his watch and was already headed for Karina.

  Karina’s guard never even had a chance to register surprise as she quickly slipped the blade of the small knife through the weak spot in his armor, righ
t below the armpit, and pierced his heart – he hit the ground dead.

  Finn had a little more trouble with his guard as he discovered that the stun baton didn’t pack as much kick as the standard units – he hit the guard in the head and expected him to hit the ground. But the guard only staggered before regaining his balance and charging Finn, knocking him flat on his back before raising his fist for a blow to Finn’s face. Finn blocked the incoming fist with the stun baton and as the guard stared dumbfounded at his hand that would no longer work, Finn balled his fist and drove it straight into the guard’s nose, knocking him off of him and out cold at the same time.

  The kids made their way out of the duct as Karina moved to Duncan, still lying unconscious on the floor, face bloodied and bruised.

  “He’s still out, but I think he’ll be okay,” she announced with a sigh of relief.

  “Where’s my dad?” Kaylee asked Finn with worry.

  The look on Finn’s face as he looked at Karina for help was all Matt needed to know the truth; but nevertheless, Karina’s expression of grief confirmed his fears.

  “I’m so sorry Kaylee,” Finn knelt down and put his hand on the little girls shoulder. “Your dad spotted them and tried to lockdown the shop, but they got him before he could.”

  The tears welled in Kaylee’s eyes but she didn’t break. There were no hysterics, only the grim acceptance that Matt understood far too well.

  “We have to get out of here,” Karina stated, trying to refocus the group on a new task.

  Kaylee nodded in agreement, walked to the main console of the multitude of computer’s Ozzy had hooked up and started typing, flipping switches and turning dials.

  “We have five minutes,” she announced after a few tense heartbeats. “If we go down the access tunnel behind that bench we can make it to the ship in less than two,” she stated pointing at a work bench on the opposite side of the room.

  Karina and Finn looked at each other with an understanding of what the girl had just done – that five minute time table could not be changed. They both ran to the bench and pulled with all their might, budging it inch by inch away from the wall until they could squeeze through into the dusty tunnel beyond.

  Karina started back for Duncan but Finn stopped her in her tracks with a firm grip on her arm. “I’ll get him. You get the kids,” he stated flatly.

  The tunnel didn’t look like it had been used in years. The roof was stone, but the walls and floor were the same metal as the rest of the building – though it was hard to tell with how much dust covered everything.

  Kaylee was correct in her estimate of getting to the small hanger entrance in less than two minutes, even with Finn carrying Duncan over his shoulder. Only problem was the half dozen Alliance military roaming around the hangar.

  “Now what?” Karina asked frustrated and open to ideas.

  “Just one second,” Kaylee answered as she pulled a small tablet out of her bag that she’d grabbed while Karina and Finn were working on getting the passageway open. Kaylee’s fingers were a blur as she frantically navigated the tiny computer.

  Duncan groaned as he began to waken from the blow to his head. “What happened?” he asked. “Is Matt okay?”

  “I’m okay,” Matt replied reassuringly as Karin tried to quiet Duncan so as he wouldn’t give away their position.

  “Good to have you back,” Finn added. “Can you walk?”

  Duncan nodded affirmative as Karina helped him to his feet. Finn gave him the once over and nodded; apparently satisfied that he’d at least make it to the ship.

  “We don’t have a lot of time here, kid,” Finn commented nervously to Kaylee as she continued to work feverously on the tiny computer.

  “Time to move,” she announced as she suddenly stopped typing and stuffed the little tablet back in her bag.

  The group looked out the small grate window in the access door to the tunnel and noted that all the lights on the far end of the hanger had suddenly started to flash, as if having an electrical short. Then a chiming alarm went off warning of a fire in the hanger. They watched as the military men called in the alarm and instinctively started to head for the exit.

  As soon as all the military had their backs to the ship Finn signaled them to move. They sprinted across the hanger to the ship and up the exit ramp.

  Finn made his way for the cockpit with Karina right on his tail as a still groggy Duncan made his way for the gunner’s seat and Matt led Kaylee to the observation compartment where they could strap in for take-off.

  “About time you guys showed up,” Wes smirked at Finn from the co-pilot’s chair as he rounded the corner into the cockpit. He was flipping the switches for a quick burn sequence.

  “How?” Finn began.

  “Oh, I was working in the aft gun turret control room when they showed up. I just sort of hung out until I heard the alarm going,” Wes answered Finn’s question as he hit the last button and the engines ignited. “Better get strapped in old man,” he added with a genuine smile.

  Finn jumped into the pilot’s seat and punched the accelerator as a dozen Alliance troops opened fire on the Curse. The ship’s shielding was far too strong for their handheld weapons; but that didn’t stop Duncan from letting a few volleys of laser fire rain down on them as they made their escape.

  Kaylee watched the countdown on her handheld tablet computer. “Three, two, one.”

  The resulting explosion was large enough to easily destroy the entire facility as flames leapt into the sky and debris shot straight up and fell back down, disappearing in to the massive crater left behind.

  Matt stared out the window as they climbed away from the planet, watching the destruction below. It was his third daring escape in less than 3 weeks and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last. But at least for now they were safe.