by Taylor Smith
Cade looked back to Saundi, her sidearm was within reach, but before he reached out for her, his implant suddenly drew two red diamonds around shapes in his peripheral. Several of the base’s sentries were also edging their way around an opposite corner into the same hall, peeking cautiously at the scene. He couldn’t tell where the gunfire had come from, but he guessed the guards had fired blindly into the corridor when they heard the flashbang. He had to act quickly. He might be able to reach it before he was spotted and fired on, but that was a slim chance.
More movement then caught his attention and he looked up to see Andy struggling to rise. “Andy!” Cade shouted, suddenly panicked. He didn’t see the guards. “Andy, get down!”
Andy winced and looked around confusedly.
“Get down!” Cade shouted again as he abandoned all caution and he leapt from the corner toward Saundi’s weapon.
Cade was able to grab the gun, and even aim it, before the guard’s high-velocity rounds tore through Andrew Neese’s body.
Cade fired in quick succession, placing bullseye shots on the guard closest to him, and strafing the other, already fleeing from the incoming fire. He shouted as he stood from the corner and continued firing, and as the first enemy fell, the second reeled from the glancing rounds before disappearing down the corridor from which he came.
Cade dove for Andy, wincing at the blood that now covered his friend’s back and arm. “Saundi!” he shouted and examined his Captain’s wounds. He’d gotten into a kneeling position when they fired on him from the back and at an odd angle. The man’s ragged breath and weak pulse told him they didn’t have much time. Cade knew there was the slimmest of chances that his friend and brother would survive.
He rolled Andy over and found far fewer exit wounds than he wanted to see. “Saundi!” he repeated before she finally began to stir. “Saundi, wake up!”
Saundi was coming around, but still dazed until she saw her brother lying before her, covered in crimson. “What happened?” she asked as she scooted closer to them.
Cade slid Saundi’s sidearm back to her, and relieved the dead guard of his, along with what appeared to be a disk-shaped flashbang. “What does it look like?” he replied as he pocketed the device and began to pull Andy off the floor. “Help me get him back to the shuttle.”
Saundi was slow to stand, but was soon able to help him lift Andy and backtrack their steps.
It was slow going at first, but they quickly found their stride as they hefted the barely-breathing Andy through the foreign corridors.
“I still can’t reach Wards,” Saundi, breathing heavily, complained as they rounded what seemed like the hundredth corridor.
Even though Jonas had been adamantly against bringing more people, Andy had ignored him and brought along four armed crewmen from the Reaper led by Steven Wards, who waited even now aboard the small recon shuttle Jonas had flown. Cade had shuddered at the thought of leaving Finn in command of the Reaper while they were gone, but Terry Beck didn’t have the experience.
When they’d arrived, Cade had linked with Wards’ implant to share the route and status of the group. Half-way to the cellblock, however, the connection began to break up. Cade had ordered Wards to stay put until they returned before the connection was lost completely.
“I’m sure he heard the alarm,” he replied. “He’s coming.” At least he hoped Wards wasn’t still standing idly by at the shuttle.
They rounded yet another corner, edging closer to the point of connection loss, when Cade felt the white-hot pain in his side before hearing the gunshot and the multiple alerts his implant began throwing at him. He and Saundi both dropped to the floor with Andy between them, and scrambled back around the bend.
Saundi fired several shots around the corner while Cade pulled Andy to safety and dropped with his back to the wall. He growled through his teeth as he pulled his coat back to reveal the soaked shirt beneath.
“How bad is it?” Saundi asked between shots, and then ducked away from the multiple impacts of rounds only inches from her face.
“I’m fine,” he ground out through the pain. He could still move, but it was going to be hell getting back to the shuttle. He reached out with his implant again, in attempt to contact Wards, but they still weren’t close enough.
More shots rang out toward them. “We have to get Andy out of here!” Saundi shouted over the din. “He’s going to bleed to death!” She leaned around the corner again during a slight pause from their pursuers and let loose another round before she was forced back again. “And now you need a Doc too!”
“How many are there?” Cade asked as he stood back up, the pain urging him back to the deck. “My implant counted three.”
“At least three, maybe one or two more,” Saundi replied.
Cade pulled the small red-hued device that he’d pilfered from the guard earlier from his pocket and studied it. It seemed simple enough: A small button labeled ‘Arm’ was flanked by two switches labeled ‘Time’ and ‘Motion’. He held the grenade up for Saundi to see and asked, “Flash-bang. One chance. You ready for this?” Upon her nod, he said, “Get back and cover your ears. Be ready to rush them right after this goes off.”
“Ready,” Saundi replied.
“It may not work on them all.” Cade watched as Saundi slapped a fresh clip of rails into her sidearm, and then took a deep breath as he drew Andy’s R2 from its holster and readied both it and the Alliance pistol he still had. He hadn’t been able to train with his new implant’s combat features, but surely they weren’t too different from his old one.
After a second to calm his nerves, he selected the time option on the grenade, armed it, and broke cover only momentarily to throw the device down the hall toward the blockade.
Several shots sang out at him, and he ducked back behind the corner as rounds landed so close he felt the heat of sparks hit his cheek. He edged next to Saundi and covered his ears.
A shout of warning went up right before the grenade did, but Cade wasn’t ready for the results.
The flash that he was waiting for was bright enough to lighten the insides of his eyelids, but the proceeding sound was not the sharp ear piercer he’d expected.
The resulting explosion roared through the corridor with an accompanying quake that knocked them both to the deck. A wave of heat and fire rushed over their heads, scorching the walls and ceiling above them as fresh claxons blared their warnings.
“Flash-bang?” Saundi asked with an unbelieving yell. “What’s wrong with you?”
Cade lifted his head to see the blackened upper half of the corridor and shook his head. “Me? You’re the one that went to the academy. Why didn’t you tell me that thing wasn’t a flashbang?” he muttered back.
They inched their way around the corner to find utter destruction. Metal was peeled from the walls and ceiling to reveal the rocky core of the asteroid the base was built into. A small crater that sported blast marks streaking outward in every direction lay in their path. Several bodies lay strung about what appeared to be metal containers they’d dragged up to form a barrier.
A flash of movement from behind a container caught Cade’s eye. A guard had survived and raised his weapon toward them when gunfire erupted from behind and the guard fell forward.
“Remind me never to piss you off, Sir,” came Wards’ voice from behind the rubble.
Cade breathed a sigh of relief as Saundi slumped against him and mumbled, “Finally.”
“Wards!” Cade shouted as Wards and two others sporting the Reaper’s patch made their way through the carnage toward them. “Double-time it! Captain’s hurt.”
***
“Hold still!” Kelly Mason complained as her patient shifted in his seat on the bridge.
Cade winced as the nurse spread the foul-smelling goop across his side. Doctor Grant was with Andy on the med-deck and had quickly kicked everyone out so she could work. “Finn, did you track any launches while we were down there?”
Hubert Finnegan n
odded as he stood next to Cade. “Aye, there were several. That contraption,” he pointed to the Sol Fleet tracking system, “went crazy until we could shut it up. Looks like the same ship we tracked here launched again. We’re still tracking it.”
Cade nodded in thought. It had been her all along. The past several weeks had been pure hell for him and his friends, all because of her. Haley had to be stopped before she could turn the data she had over to anyone, and luckily she had launched the same recon ship that held the Sol tracker. “Time?”
“Not long,” Finn replied. “Fifteen minutes ago, maybe?”
If they could track her, they could catch her. He wasn’t sure if he was prepared to kill, but he couldn’t allow that information to get back to the Alliance.
“Orders, Captain?” Finn asked.
Cade wondered about the base they’d just come from. Jonas had sworn that he hadn’t given the data up, so it wouldn’t be stored in any of the base’s systems for anyone else to get at, so the only copy would be with Haley. Even if she didn’t have a copy, she knew that Sol Fleet was out there and that alone would be disastrous.
“Captain?”
Cade, jostled from his thoughts, looked up at Finn, who was staring at him.
Finn leaned over and whispered, “You’re sitting in the wrong seat, Captain. I suggest you realize this quickly and act the part.”
Cade stared at Finn for a moment and shook his head. “Of course.” Finn was right. With Andy down, the Reaper was his. Not the elegant transfer of command he’d expected, but a cruel thrust of responsibility straight through his gut.
He took a deep breath and stood. “Wards, feed the Sol equipment tracking telemetry to navigation. Beck, bring us about and follow that trace at half speed.” He looked toward the communications station and grimaced. He would have to do both jobs for now.
“I’m qualified to run the comms, Captain,” Finn suggested hesitantly.
Cade shook his head and said, “I’m going to need every ounce of speed you can coax out of our engines, Finn. We have to run that ship down before it can reach an Alliance base, ship, or jump out of system. With one engine already damaged, I need you there.”
Finn nodded with a slight air of relief to be dismissed back to his beloved engineering section. “Aye, Sir. I’ll be downstairs.”
“Finn, will Jonas’ shuttle fit into cargo bay one?”
“I’ll take care of it, Captain,” Finn said as he hurried out.
Cade watched him go and turned back to the command platform, and the Captain’s chair. He hesitated only for a moment, and then sat down to turn his attention to the comms screen that hovered to his right. He activated the Reaper’s command and control systems and entered his code, and the code Andy had given him in the event he was unable to enter it himself.
The screen flashed green twice before Cade’s implant exploded with information. It took him a moment to realize that he had complete, real-time access to every key system of the ship. He could almost feel the new flow of data in his mind, and he immediately understood Andy’s curious demeanor at times. With this information, he didn’t need many of the screens before him. Without even the need to query a system, he knew the speed of the Reaper, and what course the ship was on. He knew that the port guns were being loaded. He knew there were no other contacts around them, and that engine two was down for repairs. He just knew.
“All ships, this is the Reaper,” he said as he activated the revised command channel with a thought, and sent their course data over the link. “Set course for the following vector and match speed. No Quarter, send a shuttle over asap.”
He closed the command channel and activated a separate link to medical and said, “Doctor Grant, this is Cade.”
“Yes?” answered the Doctor.
“What’s Andy’s status?” he asked.
“Stable for now, but still critical. I’ve done all I can for him here. When we return to Clew, more can be done for him. With that said, the next few hours will tell if he’ll even make it back. I’m putting as much blood as I can, back into him, and can’t put him in stasis. His system is already in shock from the blood-loss and damage to his heart and spinal cord.”
“Can he be moved?”
There was a slight pause before the Doctor answered. “Only if it can’t be avoided.”
“It can’t,” he replied. “You’ll transfer with him and Saundi to the No Quarter. From there you’ll head straight home. Pack everything you need. I don’t know the status of No Quarter’s med-deck. Bridge out.”
He cut the channel and turned back to his implant feeds and the screens that surrounded the Captain’s chair. He was pleased to see that their speed was increasing along with the rest of the ships that had joined them. A small track appeared near the No Quarter that identified the inbound shuttle.
“What the hell, Cade!”
“You’re going,” Cade replied as Saundi stormed onto the bridge.
“I know what you’re going to do. You can’t do this alone!”
Cade stood and rounded on her. “You and Andy are going home. That’s the priority,” he replied with more calm than he expected. “My priority is stopping Haley before she can get within communications range of any Alliance assets in this system.”
Saundi’s expression relaxed a bit, but she still held her ground. “What if you get in trouble? You need backup.”
“It doesn’t matter, Saundi.” he said and gestured to the track that showed Haley’s small ship arcing away. “She’s headed for the other side of the system, probably toward the other station we know is here, and it’s going to be much busier than the rock we just escaped from.”
“Which is exactly why you need me!” Saundi shouted at him, her hands in the air.
Cade smiled and took her by the shoulders. “And if your mother finds out I saved her daughter just to throw her straight back into unnecessary danger instead of sending her home?”
Saundi blinked. “She’d probably shoot you herself.”
Cade looked back to the screens at his chair and said, “Take our brother home. I’ll take care of Haley.”
Saundi stared at him in silence for a moment before embracing him. “Be careful with Haley,” she said as she held on to him.
“I know,” he replied sadly.
She stepped back and looked at him for a long moment as if wanting to say something.
“See you at home,” he said with a smile, and then watched her leave the bridge.
Cade took a deep breath and sat back down to take in the ship’s status. The group was still moving at half-speed, following the track of the small recon ship. The shuttle had docked and was being loaded.
“All ships,” he said across the command channel. “The Reaper will be continuing the chase to ensure the data regarding Clew and Sol Fleet doesn’t end up in Alliance hands. The Tyrant, Jackknife and Dark Tide are to escort the No Quarter back home. No matter what, the No Quarter must make it out of the Lordell System.”
He grimaced as multiple private comms request began appearing, along with several text communiques demanding to assist the Reaper. He shook his head and continued to say, “The Reaper will finish this last task. The priority for everyone else is to guard the leader of Clew Station.”
The comms requests stopped abruptly, and he nodded with the knowledge that he’d finally gotten through to them. “Good luck. Reaper out.”
He immediately closed the command channel and opened the ship-wide link. “All hands, this is Cade. Your Captain has been injured and will be transported to the No Quarter along with Saundi Neese and the Doctor. I don’t like it either, but we still have a job to do here.” He paused a moment, before making the decision to give his crew the choice, and said, “we’re headed into what we think is a heavily guarded sector of this system in pursuit of a ship carrying information regarding our home, and our allies. The Reaper must stop this ship at all cost.”
“I won’t lie to you,” he continued. “It’s going to
be rough. That’s why I’m giving each member of this ship, along with every dent aboard the chance to board the shuttle bound for the No Quarter. If you don’t feel that you can do your duty here, this is your chance to leave. No judgment. No loss of respect. You have five minutes to board the shuttle. If you decide to stay aboard, you have my utmost thanks.”
He closed the channel and waited. The track of Haley’s ship still sped toward the more populated sector of Lordell at a speed that the Reaper’s new engines could quickly overtake, even with one down. He looked at the Reaper’s scanning systems to find no contacts other than the Clew ships around them. That told him that she was running her engines slowly in order to keep her stealth systems up. If she broke stealth and made a run for it, they may not catch her.
He reached up and activated a general communications frequency and said, “Haley, are you out there?” he asked. If she didn’t know about the tracer, he wasn’t going to enlighten her. She was smart, though, and if she was watching them racing after her, even at a slower speed, she would figure it out fairly quickly.
“Shuttle’s away,” Beck announced.
Cade inhaled in attempt to steady himself for the number of people that had just abandoned him. “How many aboard?”
“Six, Captain,” Beck replied as he twisted toward Cade with a grin. “Including the two pilots.”
Cade’s brow knit in confusion. “Six?” he asked. “That’s Andy, Saundi, the Doc, two pilots and… who did we lose?”
“Marcus Tannek, a dent down in engineering, sent his daughter to the shuttle,” Beck replied.
“Anna,” Cade said thoughtfully. “She’s sixteen.” They’d lost a kid, that’s it. Everyone else had opted to stay aboard. He smiled in relief and nodded, finding a pride in him that he hadn’t felt for years.
“Shuttle has docked with the No Quarter, and all ships are making their turn for system exit.”
“Very well,” he replied and slapped the arm of his chair. “All hands,” Cade said across the ship-wide once again with a surge of confidence. “All ahead full. Prepare for battle.”
