by Mel Odom
“I’m busy, Colonel,” Gilbride responded. “From what I hear, we’re going to have fresh casualties coming in.”
Halladay watched the vid of Kiwanuka and her team battling the Phrenorians in a building of some kind. “I’ll be brief. Do you know where Master Sergeant Sage is?”
Gilbride hesitated.
“Captain?” Halladay prompted.
“Yes sir. Sage is in the northern part of the sprawl too.”
“What is—” Halladay stopped himself. There was no time to get into what Sage was doing there now. Soldiers needed help. “How do I reach him?”
“He and I had a special project, sir. He needed to be off grid for a couple hours. I’ve got a comm channel you can reach him on.”
“Give it to me.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Xurase Club
North Makaum Sprawl
1745 Hours Zulu Time
Although the Zukimther merc’s beam missed Sage, the plascrete tile vaporized and left a meter-wide impact area at least ten centimeters deep in the wall where he’d been standing. Twisted and torn pipes gushed water onto the floor.
Roaring, the Zukimther merc swung a big fist at Sage’s head. Sage ducked and slid forward. He pressed one of the pulse pistols to the Zukimther’s groin and the other to the mercenary’s knee, then fired both weapons.
The huge mercenary howled in pain, his leg went out from under him, and he spilled onto the floor, but he immediately made an effort to get back up.
Mei stepped in behind him while holding a med-delivery spike. She swung the spike into the Zukimther’s ear and the device shrilled as it delivered its tranquilizer payload.
The Zukimther’s eyes widened in surprise and his efforts to get to his feet turned sluggish and awkward. Sage grabbed the mercenary’s head by looping his wrist and the pistol behind his neck and bringing the bodyguard’s face into contact with his reinforced knee armor.
Although he’d been roaring in pain, the Zukimther ceased moving once contact was made. He spilled bonelessly to the floor.
Fachang squared off against the Ishona woman and slid two small batons from under the back of his jacket. He flicked them and the weapons telescoped. Once extended, the batons were less than a half meter in length and colored black with gold trim.
The Ishona woman slashed at Fachang, and Sage hoped she wasn’t about to hand him his head. Cuts opened along Fachang’s neck as he ducked back and gave ground. Crimson threads trickled down immediately.
“Come get me,” the Ishona spat, and smiled. “After I kill you, I’ll stretch your hide for boots.”
Fachang said nothing, but the batons flashed. He used his size and skill to beat her back into the other bodyguards and crowded them up so they couldn’t easily use their weapons.
Mei and Min flowed behind him and took out the remaining two bodyguards with the tranqs. They moved efficiently, shifting only slightly to avoid blows and to administer the chems.
Throzath ran through the alley they’d intentionally left open for this exact reason, but Sage cut him off and blocked the way to the door.
“Sage!” Throzath gazed at him wildly. “What are you doing here? You can’t do this! You’re not allowed—”
Sage holstered one of the Kalraks, shot Throzath with the other, and scooped up the unconscious man with his free hand. With Throzath over his shoulder, Sage stepped into position to try to take down the Ishona woman with the pistol. She was the only one left fighting.
Shooting her was impossible because she and Fachang were locked in such tight combat and moving too quickly. Even Mei and Min stood back and watched as they established a perimeter to shut the woman down.
The woman’s savage cries reverberated in the room. Her claws flashed again and again, but nearly every time they were turned away by the batons. Fachang’s armor was sliced in several places, but there was no blood except for scratches on his face, arms, and neck.
Three men wearing sec armor crowded the door.
Sage pointed his Kalrak at the nearest one, fired, and dropped the man in his tracks. Mei threw tranqs and the other two managed only a couple steps each before succumbing to the chem cocktail.
When Sage turned back around, Fachang swiveled almost too quickly to see and planted an elbow in the middle of the Ishona woman’s chest that drove her back against the wall. She bounced off awkwardly, but was already slashing. Disoriented from the impact and committing solely to offense, she couldn’t block Fachang’s straight baton blow to her forehead. Her eyes rolled white and she fell.
Fachang didn’t try to catch her. He turned and looked at Sage.
“Let’s go,” Sage said.
Batons in hand, Fachang took the lead, followed by Sage. Mei and Min walked slack behind them.
The bar’s patrons were out of their seats now, trying to see what was going on. None of the professionals showed any interest in the confrontation. Three Makaum men threw beer bulbs and invective, but kept their distance.
Once Sage passed through the door, he held the Kalrak close to his side so it wouldn’t be as noticeable. Carrying someone out of a bar wouldn’t attract more than a passing glance.
He put Throzath in the crawler’s cargo compartment and snapped restraints on the man’s wrists and ankles as the comm in his pocket chirped for attention. He pressed the comm to his temple and it adhered.
He headed for the driver’s seat. “Sage,” he answered.
“This is Halladay,” the colonel said. “The comm signal shows you’re still in the north section of the sprawl.”
Sage didn’t bother to deny it as he slid behind the crawler’s wheel. “I am.”
“We’ll talk about why later. Right now I’m going to send you some coordinates. Staff Sergeant Kiwanuka and her group have stepped into a hornet’s nest and they need help not far from your twenty. I’m sending support, but it’s going to take a few minutes. You can get there first.”
The coordinates pinged into Sage’s comm and he saw Kiwanuka was only a couple klicks away. “Roger that.”
In the distance, the boom of heavy weps fire was unmistakable. And it was coming from the direction Kiwanuka was.
Sage put his foot down hard on the accelerator and the crawler jumped into motion. “What’s Kiwanuka doing there? She knows that section is provisionally listed as under Phrenorian control.”
“Like you know grabbing up Makaum citizens in broad daylight will be frowned on. Both of you are off the reservation today.” Halladay sounded tired and tense. “At least she’s there on my orders.”
Sage steered around carts and other crawlers, drawing curses in dozens of languages. “I’m on my way, Colonel.”
“Understood. Be advised that you’ve got a contingent of enraged Phrenorians defending what they see as their turf. Things are . . . confusing there, and you’re out on the pointy end, Master Sergeant.”
“Connect me to her frequency.”
“Will do.”
Sage looked at Fachang as another series of explosions rolled over the area. Black smoke plumed into the blue sky between the plascrete buildings and tall trees.
“We’re headed into that,” Sage told his passengers. “I can put you out along the way.”
Fachang shook his head. “No, Master Sergeant. We’re here to help. Uncle is weighing into the conflict. Let’s go.”
Sage nodded and concentrated on his driving. He swung out around another corner and spotted a section of a jumpcopter lying in the middle of the street. Flames chewed at the twisted wreckage and nothing lived inside it. Black smoke trailed into the air. Two bodies of soldiers lay in the street.
Scavengers were already at work taking what they could from the downed aircraft. Makaum men and women and other beings wrestled gear free as he watched.
Fachang leaned outside the crawler with his Birkeland coilgun in one hand. He fired a few rounds into the air and the weapon’s bullfiddle moan drove the scavengers into hiding.
Sage roared past the downed airc
raft. “Colonel Halladay says we’ve engaged with the Phrenorians.”
Fachang nodded as he reloaded his weapon. “That is going to make things difficult.”
“I can still put you out.”
“No. We’re in this now.” Fachang touched his comm and brought it online, then talked so rapidly in Mandarin that Sage couldn’t keep up.
Sage drove and closed on the area as Kiwanuka’s frequency showed up on his comm. “Kiwanuka, this is Sage. Be advised that I’m on my way to you in civilian armor.”
“Copy that,” Kiwanuka said.
Heavy weapons fire rattled in the background and Sage hated the fact that he wasn’t in an AKTIVsuit. He wouldn’t be as much help in the armor he had on now, and he didn’t have HUD access to the soldiers.
He made the final turn onto the street where Kiwanuka and her team were holed up. He stared up at the arboreal bar and wondered what Kiwanuka was doing there.
“I’m here, Kiwanuka,” Sage said. “When is our exfil coming?”
“There’s no exfil,” Kiwanuka said. “Two jumpcopters got taken out by unknown agents. Not Phrenorians. The colonel can’t send in other aircraft because they don’t know who the enemy is. We’re on our own.”
Sage stepped out of the crawler, thought furiously, and tried to remember what he knew of the area. It wasn’t much. He’d stayed away from that part of the sprawl because of the rules of engagement agreements in place to negate a potential conflict between Terran soldiers and Phrenorian warriors. All he really knew was what he’d learned to pick up Throzath.
Fachang got out of the crawler. “Uncle has a way out, Master Sergeant. Not far from here, there is a well. That well is one of four in this sprawl that opens onto one of the many underground rivers that thread through this area. I am told that river is sometimes used to transport contraband.”
Sage couldn’t believe he hadn’t known about the rivers, but it made sense. Makaum was a jungle world not unlike South America where he’d grown up. The land tended to be porous and caves formed there naturally. He and his parents had visited cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula one summer when he was a boy. Those ceremonial wells had been connected by an underground river.
“Where’s the well?” Sage asked.
“Three hundred sixty-two meters southeast of our present position. We’ll need oxygen to make it through. Nearly all of the channel is filled with water.”
“That’s not a problem for the soldiers,” Sage said. “AKTIVsuits carry oxygen on board.”
“We will need oxygen, then.”
“AKTIVsuits come with buddy breathers. All we have to do is pair up and we can go.” Sage tagged his comm. “Kiwanuka, we have an exfil route. Can you get clear?”
“Not easily. The Phrenorians have got us pinned.”
“Then I’m coming to you.” Sage looked at Fachang. “I’ll meet you there. Drop a pin in my comm to locate the well.”
Almost immediately, a pin location appeared on Sage’s comm.
Fachang turned to his companions and spoke to them. Mei and Min took Throzath and quickly carried him to the nearest alley.
“I’m coming with you,” Fachang said.
Sage didn’t have time to argue, and he’d seen the younger man in action. Together, they ran for Kiwanuka’s location while Sage filled in Kiwanuka and Halladay on the exfil point.
TWENTY-FIVE
Taoldir Street
North Makaum Sprawl
1748 Hours Zulu Time
During his approach, Sage spotted the fallen Terran soldier lying in the shattered remains of a small shop at the foot of a large tree. The man’s faceshield was dark and he couldn’t see through it.
He ran over to the soldier and knelt by the man, then punched in an override command into the side of the soldier’s helmet. Data pulsed across the faceshield and let Sage know the man inside the AKTIVsuit—Private Michael Zhu—was badly hurt and unconscious. Fully sedated, the soldier wouldn’t be moving under his own power till after he received medical treatment.
Fachang took cover amid the debris and exchanged shots with a handful of locals who had chosen sides in the battle. Badly wounded, two of those locals reeled back to cover and the others halted their approach. Return fire was immediate. Bullets and plasma bursts struck the shop and knocked plascrete chunks away.
Sage initiated the suit’s major med suite, validated the nanobot recovery procedures, and made certain the onboard AI kept the young soldier alive.
“We can’t hold this position,” Fachang said. “We’re going to be overrun.”
“No, we’re not,” Sage said. “I can gear up.”
Kiwanuka had told him she and her team were fighting clear of their location.
Sage stripped the soldier’s external combat harness from the armor and slid it on. Hunkered down to take advantage of the remaining cover, Sage pulled the pins from two flash-bang/tear-gas grenades and heaved them toward the buildings where their closest attackers had taken up positions.
The first grenade fell short, but the detonation quieted the opposing weapons for a moment. Bilious yellow gas clouds welled into the street. Some of the nearby hostiles backed off immediately. Evidently they’d had prior experience with similar crowd control efforts.
The second grenade fell through a broken window and an instant later the concussive wave blew out the remaining windows. More smoke rolled out into the street from there as well.
Sage reached into the combat harness and removed a thin gas filter membrane soldiers handed out to civilians caught in a battle zone. The filter covered his face and adhered to his features with a tingling static charge that he’d never gotten used to. He hated the masks. They kept most of the gas from his lungs and sinus membranes, including his eyes, but they reduced his visual acuity and gave a false sense of protection.
He handed a second membrane to Fachang, only to discover the young man was already equipped with a built-in mask he’d pulled up from his collar.
Fachang’s voice was only slightly muffled. “Uncle likes us to be prepared.”
Sage nodded, put the membrane mask away, and picked up the Roley. A quick inspection let him know the rifle had survived whatever punishment had landed the young soldier in the shop, but the weapon was inert. He punched an access cipher into the rifle’s butt and spoke his name and passcode.
Immediately, the rifle came online and linked with the armor.
A half dozen street people advanced on the shop in ragged hops from cover to cover.
Sage didn’t know what drove those people to attack, but he’d seen it before. Sometimes it was just a crowd mentality, an old, hardwired instinct that knitted individuals into a group that attacked a perceived threat.
Right now they perceived Terran soldiers as a threat.
Or they were scavengers hoping to pick up credits for stealing Terran military hardware the same as the other people had been doing to the jumpcopter.
This part of the sprawl only masqueraded as civilized. With the Phrenorians providing a barrier from legal repercussions and peacekeeping efforts made by the Terran military, Makaum’s outliers and offplanet rogues had gathered here and preyed on those who ventured into the district.
Sage pulled the Roley to his shoulder, set it to stun, and opened fire. His first two shots dropped attackers in their tracks. He switched to the grenade launcher and fired a gel-grenade at an overturned cart. When the grenade exploded, it blasted pieces from the cart and turned the rest of it into a battering ram that took out three combatants.
“Sage!” Fachang warned. “Above!”
Glancing up, Sage spotted the Phrenorian aircar dropping altitude in front of them and swooping at them. Dual laser cannons mounted on the front of the vehicle strafed the street and came up behind the people closing in on the shop. The blasts left liquid pools that cooled into glass behind them. The high-pitched squeals of the laser cannons cut through the other gunfire.
Sage curled into a ball and covered his head with his armor
ed arms. The face membrane filtered out the choking effects of the smoke from the fires that burst into being around him, but the scent and the heat still came through. Soot dusted the membrane and further blurred his vision.
As soon as the line of fire passed him, Sage rolled onto his back and pointed the Roley skyward, waiting for the aircar to fly by. When it did, he emptied the grenade launcher’s last four rounds at the vehicle. All of the gel packs slapped onto the aircar’s undercarriage.
Without access to the AKTIVsuit’s munitions reservoir because he needed personal access to the armor, Sage couldn’t load the launcher with fresh rounds. He switched the Roley over to lethal munitions and saw that he had forty-seven rounds of depleted uranium in the magazine and a full laser charge left. Moving quickly, he shoved himself to his feet.
All four gel-grenades exploded in a blistering string of detonations as he closed on the aircar just now coming around in a tight turn. Sage put an armored hand in front of his face as he slung the Roley over his shoulder. Shrapnel from the aircar thudded into his armor and knocked him off balance for a second, and another piece sliced through the face membrane above his right eye, disrupting the seal over his eye.
Tear gas floated into the gap left by the cut, but the toxicity had somewhat thinned. Still, the chem brought tears to his eyes and hot blood flooded his vision in the next instant.
Ahead, the aircar shuddered and came around. The handling was wonky and it dropped to within eight meters of the street. At the rear, a Phrenorian struggled to swing a mounted 20mm cannon around.
“Stay with my soldier, Fachang,” Sage ordered as he pushed himself into a sprint. “Keep him safe.”
The enhanced body armor wasn’t as good as the AKTIVsuit. The servos pumped up muscle effort and speed, but not to the parameters Sage was used to. Still, he willed it to serve because he knew the aircar warriors would kill them if he couldn’t stop them.
As he neared the aircar, he timed his moves, first leaping up onto an overturned crawler, then launching himself at the rear of the aircar. He caught hold of the vehicle’s rear armor, hauled himself up, and kept his head below the edge because he knew the Phrenorian warrior might have seen him.
