The Fifth Column Boxed Set

by J. N. Chaney

  “You’re not wrong there. But most operatives carry a blade, you know that. If the chance to take it off them comes, do it. Hack, slash, jab, whatever. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”

  Next, Jax picked up the small metal tube device and passed it to me. About the size of a penlight, it featured a slide mechanism and not much else. Experimentally, I thumbed the sliding button on the side. Electricity arced from the tip, crackling and spitting. “What is it?”

  “Prototype stun baton. More powerful than anything else available. High enough voltage to disrupt an operative’s internal systems, at least for a few seconds. Maybe long enough to get away, maybe not. If we can find a way to get it into the facility, you’ll even the odds a little. If not, these aren’t just lying around.”

  “I can deal with that. Seems like it would be efficient.”

  “They are,” he agreed.

  “And the disc?” I pointed at it, wondering what it could possibly do when it looked like a drink coaster.

  “This is a litegrenade. Kind of like a flash bang, but specifically designed to wreak havoc on optics. It was originally designed to mess with helmet visors, but we found out the hard way it messes with our ocular implants too.”

  “Show me how to use it.”

  He did, which turned out to be easy. A small pressure pad in the middle activated it with a single second delay. “Touching it twice turns it back off,” Jax explained. “Again, I don’t know that we’re going to get any of this in, but even if that doesn’t happen, you know the basics of what will have the most impact in a fight.”

  “What’s with the sword? They aren’t exactly a common weapon. Who the hell thought that up anyway? I can’t imagine going into combat with what amounts to a pointy stick.”

  The wry smile Jax allowed himself told me he felt the same. “Yeah, they are not my favorite either. Void operatives have extensive training because there are still some who are masters of the sword. Besides, they have one thing going for them.”

  I slanted a skeptical look his way. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

  “No one expects them.”

  “That’s true,” I admitted. “But I’ve never trained with them except a single semester in academy. It was a requirement. Never picked one up again.”

  He nodded. “You and just about everyone else besides the Void. I think it goes back to that first Reaper they captured and the blade in his arm.”

  “Do you have one in yours?”

  “Yeah, though it’s more of a bowie knife. Acts like the switchblade in your boot.”

  Jax moved onto the length of pipe. He picked it up, tossed it from hand to hand, then tossed it my way. I snagged it out of the air and felt the weight of it. “Just feels like a metal pipe,” I said, putting it back down.

  “It is just a metal pipe.”

  “Okay. So, I’m just going to beat them over the head with it?”

  He snapped his fingers. “That’s right. I know it sounds obvious, but you’re more than likely going in there empty handed. Use what’s available to you. This op is going to take all of our skill and then some. Now that we’re through show and tell, how about a little real-life application?”

  My eyes jerked up from the pipe in my hands to his face. “You want me to fight you?”

  “Yeah. I said spar, didn’t I?”

  “I guess you did.”

  Jax closed the distance between us and took one of my hands. I started to pull it away, but he slapped it to his chest. “Listen.”

  I fell silent and did as he asked. Under my hand, his heart pumped rhythmically, if a little faster than my own. I couldn’t hear the thump exactly, but the pulse was evident just the same. The motion made me uncomfortable and I pulled my hand away. “It’s your heart,” I said, not understanding what he was trying to prove.

  “That’s right. I have a heart, contrary to common belief.” He tapped his right arm. “Remember, we have these robotic upgrades, but all the meat parts are the same. The Void bleed, same as you. Something that might come in handy to know is that our cybernetics usually run to our dominant limbs and appendages. Right or left handed. Same with the ocular.”

  “That’s good to know,” I said, filing the information away for later.

  “You have to stay out of your own head. Don’t think, just fight.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I muttered. “Fine, let’s do this.”

  Even though I hadn’t had a really good fight in a while, the prospect of going toe to toe with Jax didn’t much appeal to me. It wasn’t just that he’d mopped the floor with me as though I were a fresh, untrained recruit. He was Farah’s brother and if either of us got hurt she would be pissed off all over again. Neither of us had opted for padded gear. Jax didn’t need it and I wouldn’t have the luxury in a real fight.

  “Stop. Thinking.” Jax was watching me through hooded eyes gone dark.

  Two black orbs that reflected their opponent’s death watched me without emotion, taking in my every movement, calculating. I knew that look. He was ready. Maybe it was a Void thing, but most soldiers I knew didn’t get so serious for a simple sparring match. Then again, this was anything but simple.

  That was my last thought before Jax rushed me in a blur of motion.

  I went into a pivot and avoided the shoulder he thrusted forward. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same luck with the elbow. With agility that shouldn’t have surprised me, he mirrored the action and spun to drive an elbow into my chest. My move had helped because I wasn’t close enough to absorb the full force of his, and I tottered back.

  Jax didn’t stop there. He kept coming, that dead look in his eyes. For one horrifying second, I wondered if he could go into a fugue state while fighting and forget to not kill me. Then I had to focus and purge all thoughts except for reaction from my mind.

  A rack of magweights sat off to one side, deactivated and useless. Everything else was fixed in place or not worth the effort. Thinking fast, I bolted for the bench of weapons and picked up the pistol, whirling and popping off two shots as Jax closed on me.

  The training rounds slapped against him and bounced off. One tagged him in the organic arm, the other in the middle of his forehead. Jax stopped short and jerked back a little. “Gotta say, didn’t expect you to shoot. I’m assuming you knew those weren’t real bullets?”

  Training ammo or not, those suckers hurt. Marveling that he didn’t seem to feel them, I held up the gun and ejected the magazine before slamming it back home. “It was lighter than it should have been, but not empty.”

  “That’s exactly the attention to detail that can make the difference.”

  He didn’t have to say what difference he was talking about.

  “Are we going to do this or what?” I asked.

  “One last thing. Try not to look at this like a sparring match,” he said. “If you walk into that facility without a scratch, they’re going to know something is up.”

  Having known that was coming at some point, I suppressed a sigh. “Figured. I’m ready.”

  In a flash Jax was on me and the gun was in his hands pointing at me. He squeezed the trigger and one of the slugs punched into my chest. It wasn’t enough to knock me off my feet, but it sure hurt like a bitch. Grunting, I dodged the next one by strafing right. Two more found a home in my side and hip. I ignored the pain and dove past him to come up by the bench, pipe in hand.

  If he wanted to play, I was game. Might still get my ass kicked but he’d have something to show for it. I spun back to meet Jax, swinging the length of metal with all my weight. Jax was ready, his cybernetic arm taking the brunt of the hit. The vibration sang up my arms, but I used the momentum of the bounce back to rotate. This time I aimed for his knee. When he bent to block it, I drove an elbow back. It caught him in the face.

  Blood gushed from his nose but Jax didn’t falter. I swung again but he grabbed and twisted until I couldn’t hold on anymore then picked me up by the throat and shirt front before tossing me to the side.
I rolled when I hit the ground but the room was too small and I smacked into the wall with a resounding thump. I scrambled to my feet, fists up and ready for the next attack when a voice sounded from the doorway.

  “What the hell, Jax?!”

  Startled, I glanced over to see Farah watching us with a furious expression. It was only a second but when I looked back, Jax had crossed the distance and slammed into me. My head cracked against the wall and shutters came down over my vision.

  14

  When my eyes opened again, I was flat on my back, still in the training room. Farah and Jax stood over me, arguing.

  “I’m not sure what you two were thinking. Just look at what happened already.” She gestured but didn’t actually look at me, so she didn’t realize I was awake.

  “Sophie. We’re prepping for a mission, as you should be,” he retorted. “What is it with you? It’s like you forgot how to be a soldier.”

  I winced at the harsh words. From my spot on the floor I had a front row seat to this family affair and didn’t like it one bit. As I contemplated escape, Farah drilled a finger into Jax’s chest.

  “First of all, it’s Farah, not Sophie. Sophie Singh is gone. Second, I never wanted to be a soldier but that doesn’t mean I’m not a damn good one.”

  “Then act like one.”

  “I am,” she shot back. “Mack told me about your plan to take Alyss in as a fake prisoner. Because I’m a good soldier, I know that’s a shit plan. Like the Void won’t see right through it.”

  “It’s our only move,” Jax replied. “This is necessary. You’re right, though. The Void isn’t going to accept our ruse unless we play it just right. That means training Cortez how my people move so she stands a chance. And yes, we both need to look like she put up a fight. Your friend understands the cost and is willing to pay it. So am I. Why aren’t you?”

  That was enough. I sat up fast and the room spun a little before righting again. “Don’t bring me into this. You two work this out, I’m going to shower.”

  Farah crouched next to me in medic mode. “No, you need to get checked out in the medbay. A scan for head trauma needs to be done at the very least. Chin up, let me see your eyes.”

  After she did a few basic tests, my friend asked me a series of questions. My name, birthday, the last thing I remembered.

  “I’m okay,” I told her, pushing back against her hand and getting up on shaky feet. “I’ve taken harder hits and been out for a lot longer and turned out perfectly fine.”

  “That doesn’t mean you should neglect all future head injuries,” she chided.

  “Fair enough, but I’m perfectly capable of running my own scan,” I replied, signaling for her to stay where she was and not follow me. “Vega can monitor me until I get there and alert you if I pass out or something. Seriously, squash whatever is going on between you two.”

  “Oh, I’m ticked off plenty at you too, Alyss.”

  Backing up, I put both hands up as if to ward off an attack. “Isn’t there some rule about arguing with someone who might have a head injury?”

  Farah planted a hand on one hip and shook her head. “Cute. Fine, I’ll check on you later. If Vega tells me you skipped the scan, don’t think I won’t come get you though.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I turned on my heel and fled before she changed her mind and insisted on accompanying me to the medbay.

  “Well, V, hit me.”

  “Captain, you only have a mild concussion but now I worry you may have more damage that the scans missed. I don’t possess appendages and cannot strike you, nor would I do so considering that is why you are in the medbay. Would you like me to rescan?”

  I laughed. “No, it’s a human idiom. In that instance I wanted you to tell me what the results of the scan were.”

  “Ah, now I understand. Perhaps it would be prudent for my language servers to be updated.”

  “Sure,” I said, sliding off the scanner. “Are Farah and Jax still in the training room?”

  “Yes, Captain. I would advise avoiding that section of the ship if possible.”

  I pulled on my boots and wandered over to where I knew the cold packs were. “That sounds like a good plan. Family squabbles aren’t my thing. They make me itchy.”

  “I believe Miss Shahi has antihistamine cream if you are in need,” Vega offered.

  “No, that’s all right,” I said, too worn out to explain.

  While I headed back to my room, I thought about Farah’s stance on the upcoming mission. She wasn’t wrong to be concerned—we had picked a hell of a target. And though I would never utter the words to my friend, Jax wasn’t wrong either. There wasn’t any other option.

  On the surface, our plan was simple. Pretend to be a prisoner, get the ingot, get out. Of course, there were a lot of moving parts. We would stop in Neblinar first. There was tech Mack needed and it would add less than a day to our trip.

  The first part of the plan would go down on Neblinar, if Mack could get and build what we needed. We had to assume that the Void would check Jax’s ship feeds. If they saw me riding in a crew chair the mission would be over. So, Jax would make a show of tailing me on Neblinar until I went into a bar. There he was going to tranq my drink, then sneak me onto his ship where I would wake up in the brig. Again.

  The Second Genesis would trail behind, cloaked, and exit one S.G. point from Xanderis. There was too much risk that the Void had good enough scanners to pick up an extra ship coming through. We couldn’t afford a single misstep. Jax had already explained what prisoner intake was like, but the rest of the details were going to stay with my crew. If for some reason Jax couldn’t get me out, we couldn’t run the risk that Kaska might be able to torture it out of me.

  Inside my quarters, I went to the small work desk and pulled out my data pad. Considering the very real possibility that I wouldn’t make it out of the next mission alive, I needed to make preparations.

  “I think I see a table over there!” Mack had to shout to be heard over the crush of people.

  We were in a familiar bar not far from docks called Bottoms Up. On our first visit I’d been a bit hesitant to go in thinking it had an adjoining skin bar like the one on Leah. It didn’t and was now a regular on our list of haunts. Both Farah and I picked up our victory alcohol there when we could, and the bartender knew us by name.

  According to Mack, the mission was a go. Jax was lurking around somewhere and would be doctoring my drink sometime during the course of the night. Dunham had been given a report claiming White Cross had been a bust, much to her chagrin. Everything was in place, as far as I knew.

  The place was an odd mash of individuals, but that was normal for Neblinar. Business meetings, black market deals, Renegades, and pirates alike patronized it. The only people not allowed in were ravagers, who were disliked the galaxy over. Most people had either lost someone to the vicious group or knew someone who had lost someone.

  Farah and I followed Mack as she picked her way through the crowded bar. I appreciated the way she twisted and wound around people, barely touching them. When she sped up, I saw that another group had also seen the table and were trying to beat us to it.

  Mack ducked under the arm of a drunk man to reach the spot first and slapped both hands on it. The other group reached it seconds later and seemed to be sizing up the hacker when Farah and I caught up.

  “We’ll be taking this table,” the leader said. She had a rifle strapped to her back, and her green hair was done in warrior braids. She was also tall, maybe just under two meters, and had three sidekicks, all with the same hairstyle and a variety of weapons on their person, though they were closer to my height.

  They were clearly a band of female mercs, similar to my own little group. Minus Jax of course.

  “I don’t think so,” said Mack, her voice like ice. “We were here first, and you know the rules.”

  The foursome on the opposite side didn’t look all that tough but getting into a bar fight was not on tonight’s agenda. Slim, th
e bar owner, also had a strict no brawling policy and I didn’t want to get booted from one of my favorite places.

  The one in charge looked like she might have more to say, but one of her friends stepped up and tapped her on the shoulder before whispering in her ear. The woman’s eyes snapped to me, taking in my face with obvious interest.

  “I’ll be damned,” she said after a minute. “You’re Alyss Cortez?”

  I put my hand on my sidearm in warning. Most people on Neblinar were supportive of the Initiative and its cause, but not everyone. Better to be safe than regretful. “That depends. Who’s asking, and why?”

  The woman’s hands shot up in a gesture of peace. “Name’s Lodhi. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Table’s yours. C’mon girls, we’ll find somewhere else to sit.”

  “Thanks,” I said, inclining my head.

  “Anytime. Me and my crew are glad to help, should you ever need us.” She jerked her chin, motioning for her team to follow, then disappeared into the crowd.

  “That’s handy,” Farah quipped. “Never expected your new celebrity status would earn us perks, but I’m not going to complain. You guys stay put, I’m going to go get the first round.”

  “Lodhi. Can you look her up, Mack?”

  She nodded but didn’t pull out her pad. “Later. It’s not work time, it’s drinking time. There’s our medic now.”

  I looked in the direction she indicated and saw Farah carrying three glasses filled with an unidentifiable pink liquid. The thick crowd made the trip difficult and more than once she was jostled. Somehow she made it without dropping the cups and set them down with a look of relief.

  “Nice job,” I told her.

  “You ready for your last drink as a free woman?”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe. What is that?”

  She grinned and slid one to me and another to Mack. “It’s called a Shocker, on special. No idea what’s in it.”