by J. N. Chaney
“If you refuse to give it up then I have no choice but to take it by force,” he warned.
I snorted. “You can try. Even if you get through us, what makes you think it’s on the ship?”
That seemed to give him pause because it took a few seconds before he spoke again. “If it’s not on the ship then it’s on Neblinar, which I know you’re not stupid enough to do. It’s also fairly obvious that you’re out here looking for somewhere to stash it until you find a buyer. Unless you’re planning on—”
I used his momentary distraction and fired a shot aimed at his leg. It hit the mark but it ricocheted uselessly off. Still, he was forced to focus on staying upright so I tossed the gun in Farah’s general direction and launched myself at Haas.
He grunted when we collided but only stumbled back a few steps. It gave me enough time to ram my elbow into his chin. Not my best move, but I didn’t have a lot of options since his suit covered everything but his head. Focusing on that I started raining punches.
Haas laughed as he easily blocked my strikes with his armor protected arms.
“Hey, you’re kind of cute when you’re mad,” he said, trying to bait me. “I can see why Kamal had a thing for you. Maybe once you’re over this little fit you can give me a real apology.”
“You son of a bitch,” I snarled.
That did it. I hauled my left hand back like I was going to smack him. He fell for it and dropped his guard to grab my wrist. My free fist snaked out and connected with his nose hard enough that blood spurted out. With a howl of pain, he shook me off and shoved me back hard.
Haas was stronger than I’d anticipated, and I tumbled back. With nothing to grab onto I used the momentum to go into a backward roll.
The deafening bang of a bullet exploding out of Farah’s pistol rang out. His shoulder jerked slightly from the shot, but it only seemed to piss him off more. Now all of Haas’ attention was focused squarely on her.
It would be idiocy to attack while she was firing on him, but Farah was having just about as much luck as I had. His armor was just too thick for our ammunition to penetrate. Like me, she must have realized his head was the only vulnerable area and took aim at that. He was on her before she could fire again though, and he knocked the gun out of her hands in a blur of movement.
Now that the shooting had stopped, I rushed at him from behind. Before I could get to them, Haas delivered a lightning quick side kick that landed with a sickening crunch. His suit made the same whirring sound that I’d heard on Chaundra and I realized it must be fitted with power mechanics. There was no way she or I could compete with that. We were in deeper shit than I’d thought.
Farah didn’t just rock back. She flew bodily into the wall behind her and collapsed in a heap. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing but I had to deal with him before I could help my friend.
“You asshole,” I growled. “Get the hell away from her.”
“Eva, be logical. Do you really believe you can beat me in a fight?”
His confident grin only incensed me further, but I was stuck. The bastard had me there. We’d sparred before but never anything serious.
“How was that burger, by the way?” he sneered. “I was kind of hoping you’d stick around that skin club a little longer.
I flashed back to Leah and the figure at the bar. The one I’d thought looked just like Mateo. How had Haas managed that?
“Fuck,” I said when he was suddenly in front of me. He’d used the same tactic I had earlier to close the short distance between us.
My reaction time was slow, too godsdamn slow to stop him from grabbing one of my arms and forcing it behind my back in one quick movement. I stepped backward and tried a reverse headbutt in an attempt to force him back, but he didn’t budge.
I went limp, letting myself fall so he’d have to lean to catch me. When he did, I pushed up on the balls of my feet with everything I had and pulled away. It worked and Haas released my arm.
His hand shot up and wrapped around my throat with more power than should have been possible. I knew in that instant that if he chose to, he could snap my neck with little effort. Instead, Haas held me at arm’s length just far enough away that I couldn’t punch him in the face.
Years of training made my muscle responses almost automatic but none of it was working. It was like he had superhuman strength and I wondered if the Union had dosed him with a muscle enhancer on top of the mech suit.
Giving up on traditional combat moves, I switched into hellcat mode. I clawed and kicked for everything I was worth. Something soft tore under my hands and Haas screamed as my nails raked over his exposed skin. The next instant I was sailing through the air and landing hard on the ground.
I saw stars when my eyes opened but I also saw the gun he’d knocked from Farah’s hands. It took a couple of clumsy tries, but my fingers finally closed around the grip. I swung it around to see him barreling toward me.
I shot two rounds before he was on top of me and pinning my arms with his knees. My limbs were on fire, but I refused to let it show or give up.
“It didn’t have to come to this,” he hissed, one fist cocked back.
“Yes, it did,” I disagreed. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
“Have it your way,” he said. Then his fist came down and everything went black.
For the second time in as many weeks, I woke up in the brig with a throbbing head. Haas had stripped me of anything of use, including my boots.
Raising a hand, I gingerly touched the tender spot on my jaw where he’d punched me. I found it swollen and sore but not broken.
A groan sounded on my right and I turned to find that Farah was in the cell with me, propped up against the wall. She had one arm wrapped around her ribs and a pained expression on her face. That didn’t surprise me given the kick she’d taken, though I hadn’t expected Haas to leave us together.
An oversight that might come back to bite him.
“You okay?” My voice came out in a croak and I struggled into a sitting position.
“Yeah, I’m alright so long as you define alright as a searing, agonizing pain ripping through my ribs,” she said darkly.
I winced and pushed myself up into a sitting position. “Anything broken?”
Farah nodded grimly. “He didn’t exactly let me go to the med bay for a scan but I’m guessing at least one, maybe two, ribs are cracked. I didn’t imagine any of that, right? Ensign-Haas is not only not dead or in prison but has now become a Union grunt.”
“Unfortunately, not your imagination,” I said. Part of me wished we had imagined the whole episode, but it remained our current reality. Getting to my feet, I rolled my shoulders to work out some of the stiffness and scanned the tiny space.
“There’s nothing useful,” Farah confirmed from her spot on the floor. “I checked. Vega hasn’t responded in the last few minutes either.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “Any idea what’s going on right now?”
She shrugged, then immediately flinched. The movement must have hurt. “I’ve only been up a little longer than you. Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, so what do we know?” I started pacing the cell. “The asswipe has been following us at least since Chaundra, though I don’t know how he did it with the cloak in place. He said it was him, the familiar person I saw at the bar,” I clarified, noticing her puzzled expression. “But I thought it was Mateo.”
“They don’t look anything alike,” she said, wrinkling her brow in confusion.
“I know,” I admitted. “Not sure how he did it either.”
Realization dawned on Farah’s face then her forehead knitted together as if she’d just remembered something. “Gods, I’m stupid. I knew I recognized the kill style on Chaundra.” Her eyes flashed with irritation. “I never got to tell you, but it was the same upside-down triangle Mat used to make. I didn’t bring it up again because it seemed impossible. Haas must have done it deliberately to throw us off. But why?”<
br />
I shrugged, wishing it had been Mateo instead of Haas. But as I knew all too well, wishes didn’t come true.
“Right, I remember you saying something about that,” I said. “It doesn’t matter. Even if we had both said something it wouldn’t change anything. We’d have chalked it up to being crazy or whatever.”
Heavy silence settled over the cell. With no weapons or access to the Second Genesis and Vega, we were well and truly screwed. Being locked up in a cage was making me antsy so I continued to stalk back and forth and willed my brain to come up with something.
“I wish there was a window or something in here,” Farah complained after a few minutes. “It’s impossible to tell if we’re in a slip tunnel or anything. For all we know he already got the microbots and left us here to die.”
“The Ensign has not yet been able to locate the item,” announced Vega from the cell’s comm speaker.
A wave of relief flooded over me at the computer’s sudden arrival, such as it was. With her back, maybe we stood a chance.
“It’s good to hear your voice, V. Where are we?” I asked.
“Same to you, Captain. We have not moved from our previous location,” answered the AI. “I apologize for my prolonged absence. His ship’s computer attempted to take control of our systems. It required all of my processes to defend against. Mr. Haas’ vessel is not capable of towing the Second Genesis.”
Sophie and I exchanged a grin. Finally, some good news.
“He’s probably already called for backup,” I speculated. “Vega, can you get us out?”
Should have led with that, I chided myself.
“Yes, Captain. I am working on that now. While the other entity did not achieve full control, they did manage to breach a few non critical systems and are preventing me from accessing navigation controls. I am nearly back in command.”
“How much longer? We’re done if the Union shows up. I don’t plan on letting any of us die today, but we’re going to need out of the brig,” I said.
“Working,” answered Vega. “Please standby.”
“You never know, they might offer the same deal they gave to Haas,” Sophie pointed out.
“No thanks. I’d rather shoot myself,” I said, dismissing the idea. “Or they can leave me in open space without a suit.”
Joining the Union was akin to going back to the Empire in my book. We’d still be under someone’s thumb. I’d gotten a taste of real freedom and wouldn’t be giving it up anytime soon.
“I am pleased to inform you that such drastic action will not be necessary,” Vega reported.
The door to our cell hissed open.
It took considerable control for me not to leap out of the room in case Vega lost access again. I went to Farah and helped her up, then put her arm around my shoulders to support her weight as we made our way down that corridor. She didn’t complain but her face had turned a sick, pasty shade and droplets of sweat beaded her brow.
I stopped at the split that led to the bridge in one direction and the cargo bay in the other.
“Stay here,” I ordered her.
“No argument here,” she gasped.
I left her leaning against the wall and ran to the armory. I came back with a med kit, rifle, and her new bow.
“Can you carry these to the bridge?” I asked, studying her face. “Once we’re clear of his ship you need be there in case something goes wrong.”
The rest seemed to have improved her color and she nodded.
“Okay. I can stay and help you get patched up, but I don’t know how much time we have.”
“Go kick his ass,” Farah said firmly. With some effort, she pushed away from the wall and took the items I’d brought, her face a mask of determination.
I nodded curtly and started to leave when she spoke again. “What are you going to do with Haas?”
I paused. The truth was that I had no idea. Our former teammate stood between us and survival, but could I kill him? That depended on him I guessed.
“Let me worry about that,” I told her. “Just be ready.”
20
I stepped into the still open airlock between our two ships, moving slow and quiet. I assumed he’d thought Vega wouldn’t be able to release us as quickly as she did and had left it open to have easier access to both.
The Genesis was larger and nicer than what the Union had supplied him with. It actually reminded me of a Sarkonian drop ship with its dirty interior and secondhand appearance. I wondered if it was equipped with a working weapons system or Haas hadn’t earned that much trust yet.
He was a freshly turned Sarkonian, one whose hand they’d forced, though I did have some responsibility there. Reason would have dictated not to give someone like that a ship that could be used against them but hey, they’d been that stupid before.
The fact that the Empire had turned around after receiving the former Dreadnight and used it to run counter missions against the very people who had given it to them showed that much.
I navigated my way through the small vessel with the help of faded signs at each junction. After leaving Farah, I’d returned to the armory to grab some firepower for myself. One rifle, a pistol, and a few smaller things I thought could be useful against a partially enhanced special ops soldier.
I’d passed over extra armor, not wanting to waste the time to put them on and hoped I wouldn’t regret that. The image of Haas kicking Farah came to mind and I got pissed all over again. The former ensign had some nerve. It occurred to me that he probably wanted revenge for our leaving him on Sobek, but another part of me felt he’d always been this way.
“Operative Haas, reinforcements will arrive within four hours,” a computerized male voice spoke over the ship’s comms in a slightly distorted tone.
Four hours, I thought. Less, really, to detach the Genesis and get the hell out of Union space. That should be more than enough.
He didn’t respond, at least not that I heard, but he was here somewhere. So far, every room on the ship had been closed. If he was in one of them, I had no way to get to him, so I crossed my fingers that he was on the bridge.
There didn’t seem to be anyone else on the ship, but I held the rifle at high-ready as I methodically cleared the last turn and crept toward the entrance to the bridge. Haas already had the advantage here and I needed any edge I could get.
If I could make it inside without drastic measures, there was a slim chance I could take him by surprise. If he wasn’t facing the door and had gone deaf recently anyway. All I could do was try and hope to give Vega enough time to get the Genesis free.
When I arrived, it turned out that the door was already open, so I didn’t have to worry about forcing it. It occurred to me then that he was being careless, or at least wanted it to appear that way. I barely dared to breathe as I inched forward, pausing every few seconds to take in the small room and sweep for traps.
As far as bridges went, this one looked pretty standard, if on the small side. Two crew seats flanked the captain’s chair instead of the five we had, and the command center looked a little worn, but it appeared to function well enough. At least enough that he’d managed to not only track us but gain access to an upgraded and unrestricted AI.
I wondered absently if the ship had been upgraded for his tasks and only looked like a hunk of metal space junk for appearances.
I made a mental note to ask Mack about that in case we actually made it out of here alive. It rankled me to know he so easily boarded us.
The man in question stood at the holo display studying something I couldn’t make out. Easing the rifle up slowly, I put the back of his skull in the crosshairs but hesitated.
What are you going to do with him? Farah’s question came back to me.
My index finger twitched and danced lightly over the side of the trigger. With less than three kilos of pressure it could be over right now. All I had to do was shoot.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t shoot an unarmed man in the back. Not ev
en this unarmed man.
“You’ve been busy, Eva.” He turned slowly and locked his eyes on mine.
It didn’t surprise me at all that he knew I’d been standing there. He’d probably been aware of my presence as soon as I entered the airlock. Hell, for all I knew he’d been monitoring the brig and knew the instant we left.
I didn’t lower my weapon or answer.
“I have to say, you shocked the hell out of me by turning your back on the Empire like that. And dragging Sophie into it?” Haas whistled low. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”
His words didn’t bother me in the slightest. I’d dealt with far worse. What did piss me off was that he felt comfortable using our first names.
“That’s Delgado and Singh to you, Operative Haas,” I retorted. “And you know damn well how I feel about killing innocent people.”
He spread his hands a little way in a conceding gesture. “Still. A terrorist? That’s a bit extreme, even for you.”
“I’m not a terrorist,” I said. “But the Empire needed me to be. When Navari left Kamal to die and ordered me to kill that kid, everything changed. Sarkon lost my loyalty then, but that doesn’t make me a terrorist.”
Haas blinked, a look of confusion clouding his features momentarily before they smoothed out again and a smirk formed. “And look where that got you. Being hunted by the Union and Sarkon no matter where you go or how far. Tell me, Eva. Would you do it all over again?”
I let the rifle fall a fraction, so he had an unobstructed view of my face.
“Yes. Even after all of this bullshit.”
He held my gaze for a few more seconds, then turned and waved a hand at the holo display.
“The Union wants those replicators back,” he said. “But they’re also interested in both you and Sophie. And her bow.”
“Interested in us why? So, they can just trade us back to the Empire?”
He laughed derisively. “Unlikely. There isn’t much the Empire has to offer. You, on the other hand… I was sent to retrieve the airborne weapon from Karbine, but you beat me there. My new superiors ordered me to not to interfere in case my identity was accidentally discovered.”
