Lucien nodded. “Yeah...” He was distracted, thinking about what he’d find if he searched Atara’s records and looked into her recent memories, but he pushed those concerns aside. Saving his daughter would have to wait.
The comms icon on Lucien’s ARCs flashed again, this time on a private channel.
“We’ve got company!” Joe said. “It’s Director Helios with a whole lot of security bots. She’s demanding we let her in.”
“Don’t let her!” Lucien said. “She’s one of them. She’ll probably gun us all down just to keep us quiet!”
“She’ll blow the center if she does that!” Joe said.
“And erase all the evidence,” Lucien said. “I don’t think she cares.”
“Frek... they’re coming in,” Joe said. “Bob! Hold them off!”
Laser fire sounded over the comms, and Lucien spun away from the data terminal, drawing both his pistols and scanning for targets. The aisles were clear, but the entrance wasn’t visible from the terminal. Lucien ran to the nearest row of data storage units and took cover behind them. He waved to Fizk, and the curly-haired demolitions expert hurried over to crouch beside him.
“Where the frek are those film crews?” Fizk gritted out.
Lucien nodded to his briefcase bomb. “Is that thing really wired to a dead-man’s switch?”
“Yes! Someone shoots one of us, and this whole place goes boom. Bob’s the only one who’s not tied to it.”
“Can you disable it?” Lucien asked.
Fizk frowned. “If I do that, they’ll just kill us.”
“They’re going to do that, anyway! At least if you disable it we won’t all die if just one of us does.”
“Right. Yeah, yeah, okay. Let me try. I’m going to need some time.”
“How long?”
“Five, ten minutes at least.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Lucien said. He peeked around the data storage units to check that the way was clear. Fizk grabbed his arm to stop him before he could race out of cover.
“Where are you going?” Fizk demanded.
“To create a distraction!”
“You’ve gotta stay here and keep them off me while I do this. I can’t shoot and defuse a bomb at the same time!”
Lucien looked around for a place that was less exposed. While hiding behind the storage units they could be flanked from either side, but the data terminal provided slightly better cover. Lucien nodded to it. “There. Behind the terminal.”
“Nuh-uh. Not good enough.”
“It’ll have to be,” Lucien said, peeking around the corner once more. He caught a glimpse of lasers flashing in the distance. “Call if you’re in trouble,” Lucien said.
“Frek you,” Fizk replied.
Lucien ran out of cover, flicking off the safeties on both his pistols and dialed up the power on the stun pistol. Hopefully it would interrupt a bot’s circuits for a second or two.
“Joe?” Lucien asked over their private comms channel. “Where are you?”
“Pinned down!” Joe replied. “Where the frek are you?”
“On my way.”
“And Fizk?”
“Busy.”
“If one of us goes down, it’s game over, Lucy.”
“Then let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Like krak! We’re outgunned ten to one at least, and more bots are still coming in.”
Lucien’s mind raced as he ran. Even if Fizk managed to disable the dead man’s switch before a lucky shot turned them all into plasma, they didn’t stand a chance against that many bots. “You need to tell people what’s going on!”
“I tried! They’re jamming us. No messages are getting out of this room.”
Lucien blew out a breath. “Great.”
Down at the end of the aisle a squad of bots came into view, marching in lockstep and firing their integrated laser cannons. Lucien snapped off a burst from his pulse pistol and a handful of stun bolts to draw their attention. Half the squad broke off and turned his way. Lucien ducked down the nearest aisle of storage units just in time to evade an answering stream of laser fire. Those lasers blew molten chunks out of the side of a storage unit, incinerating someone’s cherished memories.
“Lucy-lu... where the frek are you!” Joe screamed over the comms.
Lucien peeked around the corner and popped off another burst of fire at the bots marching toward him. The bots fired back in the same instant, and two laser bolts hit Lucien’s arm, drawing a hissing protest from his shield. Residual heat bled through the shield, scalding his arm. Lucien ducked back behind cover, gritting his teeth to hold back a scream. “I’m pinned down, too,” he said.
Chapter 45
Astralis
“Weapons fire has been detected in the Res Center,” Commander Wheeler announced as she leaned over the sensor operator’s station. “Did you order the Marines to open fire?” she asked, rounding on Admiral Stavos.
He shook his head. “No, they haven’t even arrived yet.”
Wheeler scowled. “Well someone’s firing! And we can’t get anyone on the comms over there.”
Stavos smirked. “Sounds like someone called their bluff.”
“What if it’s not a bluff?” Wheeler demanded. “Then what?”
Stavos arched a woolly white eyebrow at her. “You think they really went in there risking that they could die a permanent death?”
“We can’t assume that they didn’t,” Wheeler replied.
“Admiral—Marines have just arrived at the center,” the comms operator announced. “They’ve detected active comms jamming in the area.”
Wheeler shook her head. “Someone’s deliberately pushing them into a corner. If that bomb goes off...”
“The Marines are asking for orders,” the comm operator said. “What should I tell them?”
“Tell them to hold where they are,” Stavos replied.
Wheeler blinked in shock. “So we sent them there for no better reason than to hold a perimeter around the center?”
“You said it yourself—that bomb could go off at any second. I’m not sending people in just to get them killed in an explosion,” Stavos replied.
“So send in the bots without their sergeants!”
“You’re out of line,” Stavos said.
Wheeler turned in a circle to address the rest of the bridge. General Graves was mysteriously absent, making her next in line for the conn after the admiral himself. “With all due respect to the admiral, he is one of the ones implicated in this alleged Faro conspiracy. How can we take orders from him under those circumstances?”
“You’re talking mutiny, Lieutenant,” Stavos growled. “I could have you court-martialed for what you just said.”
“It’s Lieutenant Commander, sir,” Wheeler corrected. “Guards—arrest the admiral!”
Stavos glanced at the pair of Marine sergeants and the half a dozen bots standing with them at the entrance of the bridge. The sergeants looked to each other before one of them took a hesitant step toward the admiral. “Stand down, Sergeant!” Stavos warned.
Wheeler scowled. This was taking too long. Before anyone could do or say anything else, she drew her sidearm and shot Stavos in the chest.
His eyes bulged as arcs of blue fire skittered over his body. He fell to his knees, teeth gritted, and muscles spasming. Wheeler shot him a second time, and he toppled to the deck and lay still.
A shocked silence hung in the air as Wheeler holstered her sidearm. “I have the conn,” she declared. “Comms, tell our Marines to get in there and secure the records room now.”
“Ma’am... you just shot the—”
“I’m well aware of what I did and of the consequences, Lieutenant,” Wheeler said. “Now give the order before it’s too late.”
“Yes, ma’am...” the comms officer replied. The other officers on the bridge went on staring at Admiral Stavos’s motionless body in shock, as if they couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Whe
eler could hardly believe it herself, but there was no going back now. If Councilor Ortane’s husband and his gangster partners couldn’t find the proof they were looking for, then Wheeler was headed straight for the corrections center.
She wished she knew why they’d bumped up the schedule for the operation without telling her, but they must have had their reasons.
“I’ve lost contact with the Marines,” the comms operator reported. “They must be inside the center now, ma’am.”
Wheeler nodded. “Let’s hope they’re not too late.”
“Aye, Commander.”
Several officers were still staring at Admiral Stavos’s motionless body. “Eyes on your stations, people!” Wheeler snapped. “Guards, take the admiral to the brig.”
“Aye,” one of the sergeants replied as he hurried forward with a trio of bots.
“Sensors, get me whereabouts for the General and Chief Ellis.”
“Yes, ma’am...” the sensor operator replied.
“Security, revoke all command privileges and authority for Admiral Stavos, General Graves, Chief Ellis, and Director Nora Helios.”
“Revoking command privileges for ranking officers requires authorization from everyone on the bridge,” the security officer replied. “That will make all of us complicit in this mutiny.”
“And following my other orders won’t?” Wheeler demanded.
The security officer stood up from his station, and one by one, all the other officers followed his lead. Only the comms and sensor operators remained seated.
“What is this? You can’t mutiny against a mutiny!”
The second Marine sergeant from the entrance of the bridge walked up to her. “Ma’am, please come with me.”
Unfortunately the sergeant who’d sided with her had already left with Stavos. Wheeler smiled ruefully at him. “Are you going to put me in a cell with the admiral?”
The sergeant shook his head. “By yourself. The admiral is coming back here as soon as he wakes up.”
Wheeler’s hand drifted to her sidearm, but the sergeant beat her to the draw. A paralyzing jolt of energy hit her, and she lost all control of her body. She fell to the floor with her muscles spasming violently, and then a second stun bolt swept her into oblivion.
Chapter 46
Astralis
Tyra awoke to the sound of Theola crying piteously. She blinked bleary eyes and fought against the thick fog swirling inside her head. Waking up from a stun blast was never a pleasant experience, but General Graves’ Marine bots had shot her more than once, and that made it doubly unpleasant.
Tyra rolled over to find Theola crying and crawling in mindless circles, dribbling a trail of snot and drool on the carpet around the bed. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she struggled to reach Theola, but her legs were still numb. She ended up dragging herself along the floor until she could grab her daughter’s legs. Theola struggled and cried louder, but Tyra flipped her onto her back and pulled her close, wrapping her body around her baby in a fetal position.
With the familiar warmth and smell of her mother, Theola’s cries subsided. She buried her face in Tyra’s blouse and popped her thumb in her mouth. “There, you go... shhhh,” Tyra whispered as she stroked Theola’s hair and kissed her head.
She glanced around for some sign of the general or his marines. Graves was absent from the room, but a pair of bots stood by the broken door, quietly tracking her movements with their cold blue holoreceptors.
“What are you looking at?” she demanded.
Neither of the bots replied, but Tyra heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She clutched Theola tighter. A few second later, Graves walked in. Followed by Atara. Both of them were smiling. “You’re awake! Good,” Graves said.
“I’ll frekking kill you! Do you hear me?”
Graves nodded reasonably and gave Atara a shove to push her in front of him. She glared at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “If you’re going to kill someone you should start with her. After all, she’s the one who alerted us to what you were planning.”
Tyra stared at Graves in horror.
He drew his sidearm and sidled up to her, holding the weapon out butt-first. “Go on. Shoot her.”
Tyra stared at the weapon, not trusting Graves, but unable to resist the chance. She snatched the gun, aimed it at Graves’ chest, and pulled the trigger twice.
The weapon clicked uselessly, and both Graves and Atara laughed. The general drew a charge pack from his pocket and wagged it in Tyra’s face. “It would help if the gun were loaded, wouldn’t it?”
Tyra tossed the weapon aside, and it skittered along the floor. “What do you want from us?”
Graves’ smile vanished. “Simple. If your husband succeeds in exposing us, then I’m going to kill you both, just as I told him I would. If he fails... then I’ll stun you again and have Director Helios make some adjustments to your recollection of events.”
Tyra glared hatefully at the general. She tried using her ARCs to call for help, but the familiar light of colored HUD icons in her periphery was gone. “You took my ARCs.”
“Of course,” Graves replied. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped himself and cocked his head, listening to something only he could hear. “Excuse me...” he turned his back to her and walked a few feet away. “What do you mean the admiral isn’t responding?”
...
“A mutiny within a mutiny? That’s got to be a first. If the loyalists have control, then what’s the problem?”
...
“The Marines are inside the center? Who told them to go in?!”
...
“That seems premature. There’s still time. And even if we fail, their bomb could still go off. If it does, we won’t have anything to worry about. There won’t be any evidence left.”
...
“Very well. No, I understand. I’ll let you know once I arrive at the stasis rooms.”
General Graves turned back to Tyra, looking flustered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about.” He flicked a glance at the bots standing guard by the door, then to Atara. “Watch them,” he said, and handed her the charge pack for his sidearm. “I have an urgent matter to attend to.” Turning to the bots, he said, “The girl is in charge until I return.”
“Acknowledged,” both bots replied in androgynous voices.
Graves left the room at a brisk pace, and Atara hurried over to collect his discarded sidearm.
“Atara...” Tyra said.
She loaded the weapon and aimed it at her mother. “Yes?” she replied in a dulcet tone.
“Think about what you’re doing! I know you’re in there somewhere. It’s me, your mother!”
“You’re right,” Atara nodded agreeably, and her aim shifted to Theola. “Babies first.”
“Atara, don’t you dare!” Tyra wrapped herself more fully around Theola and twisted away, using her back as a shield.
Atara scowled and nodded to the bot standing closest to her. “Separate those two. I wouldn’t want to miss and hit the wrong target.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the bot replied, as it stalked toward Tyra. She screamed as it laid cold metal hands on her. It pried her roughly away from Theola. The sudden absence of her mother’s warmth provoked a dramatic frown from Theola. Her lips trembled, and she began to cry.
“It’s okay, sweetheart!” Tyra managed, while struggling furiously against the machine holding her.
Theola didn’t buy it. She started to scream.
“Let me go!” Tyra twisted and wrenched her arms with all of her strength. Warm blood trickled from her wrists and dripped between the bot’s fingers.
“Please do not struggle,” it said. “You are injuring yourself.”
“That... monster is going to shoot my baby!” Tyra screamed, trying to appeal to the bot’s sense of logic as it dragged her away.
“The baby is a dangerous terrorist,” Atara explained. “She must be e
liminated.”
“No...” Tyra whimpered.
“All threats must be neutralized to ensure the safety of the ship’s passengers and crew,” the bot replied in a reasonable tone. “Do not be afraid, ma’am.”
Marine bots had human sergeants to command them for a reason. They were little more than walking guns waiting for someone to point them in the right direction.
Atara flicked a switch on the side of the general’s pistol.
“Atty,” Tyra tried, smiling through a veil of tears. “I know you’re in there somewhere. Listen to me—if you do this, you’ll never be able to forgive yourself.”
Atara looked straight at her and grinned. “Oh, you’re wrong about that. I’ve done far worse things and forgiven myself. The secret lies in knowing that there’s no need for forgiveness, because there’s no such thing as right and wrong. Judgment and guilt are lies from the pits of Etheria.”
Tyra blinked in shock. No five year old talked like that. If there’d been any doubt before, there was none now. Atara was gone.
Taking the pistol in both hands, Atara aimed it at her sister’s head.
“Atara! No!”
A deadly flash of crimson light shot out—
And missed, carving a chunk out of the wall behind Theola.
The gun went flying from Atara’s hand and skittered along the floor. She clutched her hand to her chest and screamed, casting about wildly, her eyes flashing with fury. “Shoot it! Shoot the Gor!”
Both bots looked around the room, their arms and integrated weapons tracking aimlessly. “No threats detected,” one of them said just before its head popped off in a shower of sparks.
The other one watched as the headless body of its partner floated across the floor toward it.
“Shoot that bot!” Atara screamed, and scrambled to reach the general’s sidearm.
The bot holding Tyra managed to spare an arm to fire on its partner. Crimson beams flashed out and sprayed molten chunks from the headless bot’s armor. Then it fell to the floor, and the one holding Tyra lost its head, too. Both bots fell in a noisy clatter.
Tyra wasted no time gawking. She ran to intercept Atara, but she was too late.
Dark Space Universe (Books 1-3): The Third Dark Space Trilogy (Dark Space Trilogies) Page 60
