He stowed his weapons and fetched Brutus’s automatic rifle. “This’ll come in handy,” he mumbled. He checked his mobile-shield-unit and found it was at two percent and charging.
Before leaving, he went to one of the sinks and ran water, drinking deeply and wincing with each swallow. He splashed his face and dabbed the dripping liquid with the back of his tattered sleeve while leaned against the sink for a minute, recovering some of his strength. Brutus had done a real number on him, and he was lucky to still be alive.
Taza finally gathered himself and made for the exit. He slowly pulled the door open and the sounds of distant gunfire grew louder.
Time to meet this Artax character.
25
Trouble at Terminal Thirteen
Clio and Booster crouched behind the storage unit closest to Terminal Thirteen. It was just high enough to hide them both so long as she stayed low. Despite the TEK bearing much of her weight, Clio’s thighs were growing stiff.
“They better hurry up with the diversion before I get a cramp,” she moaned under her breath.
Booster looked up from her right and purred in agreement. “Tired of waiting.”
She left a recon drone at the opposite side of the storage shed, under a lip so it remained out of sight. She kept its camera trained on Terminal Thirteen’s door and watched for any activity. Nothing interesting had happened since the last time she saw the door open. Doubts started to creep in. It could be a decoy. They could be hacking the system from somewhere else…No, that would have triggered my failsafe, and the Data District is the only place that has direct access to the Sentinel’s network.
Distant gunfire broke out somewhere to the left, snatching Clio from her thoughts. She hoped everything was going according to plan and the guys hadn’t run into trouble elsewhere.
Guns fired again, and she heard bullets pepper a nearby building. She sighed with relief. Swigger and the others were firing on the Terminal Thirteen structure to draw Chimera out.
They fired on and off several times, and Clio watched Terminal Thirteen through her serial integration gate’s VD, but nothing happened.
Shit. They aren’t falling for it.
She thought fast. If they were able to call in help from elsewhere, Clio and her team could get trapped.
She turned to Booster and was about to tell him to go find the others and tell them she was calling it off when Terminal Thirteen’s door slid open.
A Chimera troop poked out from the opening, looking through an ocular headset to see what was going on. Bullets rattled against the side of the terminal’s wall again and he pulled inside. Clio expected the door to close, but to her relief, it remained open.
Whatever her team was doing seemed to be working, after all. Her drone’s camera couldn’t see in that direction from its current position, but from the gunfire, she guessed one of the guys had shown himself in an attempt to lure a few Chimera soldiers away. If the enemy suspected that they were outnumbered, they would have doubled down on their position instead.
Clio realized she’d been holding her breath, hoping they would take the bait.
Two Chimera troops sprinted from the door, firing on whoever had drawn them out. Clio had to stifle a cheer. Another troop quickly followed the first two, staying closer to the terminal than Clio would have liked.
She wanted to give them another minute before she broke into a run. The further they moved away from the building, the better their chances of succeeding. The last thing she needed was to be trapped inside Terminal Thirteen with an entire unit.
She looked down to Booster. “Are you ready?”
“Ready.” He chirped an affirmative and held up his robotic arm. It pinged as the stunner charged.
“That makes one of us.” She engaged her phantom-drive and braced herself. Having a ghost-drive like Taza would have been useful, but that kind of tech was still illegal in most places. With the phantom-drive active, she would still be visible under the light of the Sentinel’s stabilized neutron star, but she hoped it would conceal her inside the terminal. “Let’s go!”
They launched out from their hiding spot, moving as swiftly and as quietly as they could.
As Clio was halfway to the door, she thought she was about to make it without the troops outside noticing when the closest turned and spotted her.
He called to the others as he ran for the door. He was still closer to it that Clio was, and she knew he would reach the opening first. He brought up his rifle. A plume of red exploded from the front of his helmet, quickly followed by an echoing shot, and he crashed to the ground.
The other two troops had worked out what was going on, but they were too far away and had been pinned down by the others. They opened fire on Clio as she slid into the terminal, quickly followed by Booster, their bullets hammering the ground and walls around the doorway.
The narrow hallway was empty, but she saw a shadow move several yards away where it turned sharply. She drew one of the spherical drones and twisted it three times before tossing it down the hallway. She used her SIG to steer it around the corner and detonate the device. Sparks flew from the corner as the mini EMP erupted, and something crashed to the ground.
Give the bastards a taste of their own medicine. She knew it would only buy her a minute or two, and she hurried to the door control panel.
The door slammed shut and she engaged the lock then pulled the cables to stop it from being opened remotely.
Booster chirped and pointed to the end of the hallway as a Chimera soldier came charging around the corner.
The blast must not have gotten them all.
The Chimera soldier seemed surprised to see her.
Shit, he can see me.
He wasted no time in firing. The rounds hammered into her face and chest but were absorbed by her shields, for the most part. She returned fire, aiming for his legs, taking them out from under him and bringing him crashing to the ground. He probably hadn’t been expecting an Aegis equipped with angel-class gear.
Clio closed in and finished him off, Booster staying a step behind, using her for cover like she had told him.
She loaded a new magazine and cautiously looked around the corner. Another two Chimera soldiers were getting back on their feet, their movements jerky, the EMP still wreaking havoc on their servos.
The nearest opened fire the same time as Clio. His aim went wide, chopping up the wall to her right. Clio’s rounds hammered home, eventually tearing through his neck. She drew back behind cover as the second, a Shanti, opened fire with a semi-phase rifle, a bolt of plasma cutting a burning wound across the wall.
Clio knew that several well aimed shots from a phase weapon like that would end her. She considered her options and reached for her last recon drone. As she got a grasp of it, the Chimera soldier turned the corner.
The first blast struck Clio’s shoulder, but as she spun, she pushed the barrel away and the second bolt whizzed past her head.
She opened fire on the Shanti, and he stumbled back several steps. Booster came up out of the corner of her eye, but Clio gestured for him to stand down. Getting in the way would only get him hurt.
Out of ammo, Clio charged at the soldier and jabbed with the butt of her rifle. The soldier brought up his own gun as a shield, but Clio’s blow knocked it to the ground.
She went in for another strike, but he reached out and grabbed her gun, snatching it free and tossing it aside. Clio cursed herself for not holding onto it properly. But he was much stronger than he appeared, and for some reason, Clio was struggling to keep her wits about her.
He pushed off the wall and threw a punch, but Clio saw it coming and ducked just in time. She snapped her head to the side to dodge a second and jumped back to avoid the third, putting some distance between them, his lithe figure swaying in a ready stance.
Has some tricks up his sleeves. She hadn’t fought a Shanti in close quarters before and wished she had practiced with one while she’d had the chance. Even still, the Chimera
soldier seemed to move faster than any Shanti she knew.
He must have sensed her surprise for he snickered again. “You’re not the only one with neuroptical implants, Evans.” As he approached, the light caught his visor, and Clio saw him smiling with his long canines.
Clio took another step back. She would soon be back at the door if she didn’t do something. “How do you know my name?”
“Chimera knows everything you know and more!” He launched at her, his limbs flashing at great speed.
Clio blocked the first punch, but the second found her chin and sent her stumbling back. She thought she might fall over Booster but managed to stay on her feet. She ignored the inclination to back down and threw herself forward, countering with jabs of her own. The first several struck, to seemingly no effect. The Shanti caught her left arm and twisted it behind her back. She twisted out of the hold and they both fell to the ground, wrestling for dominance. The Shanti easily overpowered her, and in a twist of limbs, he had her pinned to the ground, straddling her hips.
Each time Clio tried to get up, he knocked her down until she was too tired to try again. She reached for the burning fury she often sensed when in trouble, but her mind clutched at air.
The Shanti extended his arm and a narrow band of energy extended from his SIG. Clio gasped inside her helmet but told herself to remember her blade training with Zora. The woman had drilled her on what to do in such a situation.
The Chimera soldier swiped to the left and Clio hooked her elbow to trap his wrist. He changed course at the last second, but Clio brought her left arm just in time and the blade smashed into her SIG. She pushed with everything she had as molten metal dripped onto her chest and neck. She imagined the starblade cutting through her SIG and chopping off her forearm. She tried to move her hips again, but to no avail.
The Shanti tore the fading blade free and plunged down before Clio could react. The starblade drove into her abdomen. She lashed out with her fists, punching his SIG arm, but it had no effect. He drew the weapon back for one final strike.
Something smashed into the side of the Shanti’s head, and his body slumped sideways to the ground, freeing her. Clio scrambled back and struggled to her feet, ignoring the agony in her stomach.
The Shanti’s upper body smoked, and his limbs jerked as though he had gone into a seizure. The smoke shifted and revealed Booster placing a boot on the fallen terrorist’s chest, his stun finger smoking.
Clio stumbled forward, wincing at the pain in her guts. She refused to check the wound until the threat had been dealt with, for fear it would cause her to pass out in shock. She drew her blaster and emptied several rounds into the Shanti’s helmet. One leg twitched several more times before his body became completely still. She was glad to hear no one else approach from deeper inside, but that didn’t mean troops weren’t waiting for her.
She moaned as she leaned against a pipe on the wall, holding the gaping slice with her free hand. Booster looked up and chirped with worry. “Is it bad?”
Clio removed her hand and tentatively checked the damage. She was surprised to find no blood. She momentarily thought the Shanti’s energy weapon had cauterized the flesh, but on closer inspection, Clio found that her kinetic shield and subarmor had stopped the blow just short of her skin. The alloy was twisted and bent into a fold that pressed sharply into her belly button. Had the starblade gone through, she would have been living on borrowed time. “Don’t worry,” she muttered quietly to Booster, in case anyone else inside heard. “It’s not as bad as it looks. I’ll need to take care of it before we go any further.”
“I’ll watch.” Booster pointed to the dead troop who had almost killed Clio, and his stunner pinged as it began to charge again.
“Thanks.” Clio kept an eye on the hallway too as she unclipped her damaged abdominal-plate, the metal still hot. She threw it to the ground and retracted her helmet, so she could breathe, then fished a plasma cutter from the temporary TEK repair kit in her utility belt. Cutting the twisted subarmor away, she suddenly felt much better and could finally draw a deep breath. She fetched a small liquametal canister and sprayed a ring around the punctured section of her abdominal armor-plate. She pressed the canister’s bottom into the liquametal ring and fired the activation charge. Crystals grew from the ring and melted together as they spread across the hole. They joined in the middle and hardened into a lumpy solid.
Someone pounded on the door from the outside.
Clio replaced her tools and checked to see whether her SIG was still operational. The Shanti’s starblade had gouged the corner of the VD but had missed the control board. Clio switched channels to the recon drone outside, where it still watched Terminal Thirteen’s doors from under cover, and a fuzzy image appeared. She pounded the SIG with her right fist, and the image stabilized, showing the scene outside.
One of the Chimera soldiers had fallen back and was trying to get back inside the terminal structure. The other must have either fled or been killed.
Clio ignored the pounding and steadied herself, ready to press further into the terminal building. She reattached her TEK’s abdominal-plate, and the panel clicked into place with a hiss. She didn’t have time to wait for Swigger and the others to mop things up outside, and there was no telling whether other Chimera troops were closing in. She reactivated her helmet and it unfolded over her head, the metal sections slotting together before her visor snapped into place. She waved to get Booster’s attention. “Watch my back.”
“As always,” the puck squeaked, annoyed at having to bring up the rear again.
She carefully rounded the corner and retrieved her rifle. She stowed her blaster and reloaded the more powerful weapon. They pressed further down the corridor, moving in almost-complete silence. Dull, red lights lined the ceilings, and exposed pipes ran the length of the short tunnel.
They came to another turn and Clio rolled out her last recon drone.
Before she could activate it, Booster shot ahead of her and looked into the room, completely exposed, his nose sniffing at the air.
“Booster, what the hell—”
He ignored her, and without a word, disappeared.
Clio hurried after him in a panic, her rifle ready to open up on whoever waited inside.
A single Chimera tech occupied a chair before a station with his back to them. He wore a piece of equipment that looked similar to the pilot’s flight control helmet she’d used on the SS North Star.
They have access to next-gen technology. We’ve underestimated everything about these people. Their numbers. Their influence. Their resources.
The Chimera tech didn’t show any signs of noticing her and paid no attention to Booster sniffing the hand that hung from the chair’s armrest.
“Strange,” Booster whispered. “Smells…wrong.”
Clio adjusted her air filters, and the stench of rot and burnt meat seeped into her helmet, turning her stomach. She quickly turned her filters back to maximum and was relieved when her TEK’s system purged the odor. She wondered where the smell was coming from. It was too strong to be coming from the direction of the entrance where they left the dead troops.
Beyond the terminal, where the still soldier was seated, ancient computers, much more advanced than anything Clio had ever seen, hummed and whirred like living things. Thick network trunking and coolant pipes covered the walls. The room was freezing, and Booster’s breath came out in puffs.
Clio poked the sitting soldier in the back to make sure he wasn’t a threat.
Is he dead?
“Disconnect, and step away from the station,” she demanded, poking him again, but something told her the tech couldn’t hear her.
Clio kicked the chair with her boot. It rotated a half-turn, and she jumped back, recoiling in horror.
First of all, the tech was a race she had only seen in images stored in databanks. He was a Thandrall. Secondly, he didn’t just wear the control helmet. It had been fused to the top of his head. Two thick cables ran f
rom his eye sockets to the ground, where they snaked into the control station. Other wires jutted from his nostrils and other parts of his head, running in various directions and connecting to different parts of the room. Everything above his mouth was obscured by pipes, metal plates, and wiring and various bits of moving machinery. His jaw hung ajar and a streak of dried drool ran down his chin.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Clio muttered.
“Stinks bad,” Booster said.
A rasping moan issued from deep inside the Thandrall’s throat.
“I said disconnect.” Clio gestured with her gun, but again the tech did not react.
She wasn’t sure if he even knew she was there. She looked past the bizarre mess-of-a-helmet and watched the commands flashing by on the control station’s visual displays. The code moved faster than she could read, even with her enhanced optics.
“Watch this one, Booster. If he so much as moves, fry his ass.”
“Sure,” Booster said, moving closer to the slack jawed Chimera tech, his robotic arm pointed at the helmet.
Clio carefully reached out to the controls and slowed the code processing. Most of the code was made up of glyphs and patterns she didn’t recognize. She assumed that was the Sentinel’s native code. Other strains of code, she did understand, wove through the older commands.
How did Chimera translate such an ancient language? No one is supposed to know anything about the Sentinel’s native code. That they had even managed to interface with the system was genius; no, it was revolutionary. She caught a glimpse of snippets pertaining to Sentinel security and communication infrastructure.
“Any good?” Booster asked.
“I can’t read this,” she said, frustrated. “Wait. There’s a pattern of older code not like the rest that keeps repeating itself.” She looked closer. “Yes, it’s definitely different, but I can’t put my finger on how exactly. It’s interacting with the Sentinel’s native programs, infecting them.”
The Galactic Sentinel: Ultimate Edition: 4 Books with 2000+ Pages of Highly Entertaining Sci-Fi Space Adventure Page 58
