The shuttle's drones reached the room just before Jess and the others did, four larger drones with significantly more firepower and shielding than the two that had been hidden in the robot. Others remained by the shuttle, protecting their exit.
“We go through the door together,” Sal said. “Hit them hard and fast. Teeko – you stay here and protect Elizabeth. Jess, you keep your head down too. Let the robot and the drones earn their keep.”
Jess nodded, Teeko performed what Jess thought must be a nod but the movement was so alien due to its sinuous neck that he wasn't sure.
The robot and drones approached the doors. Sal, Ali and he decided who would tackle which of the guards then executed the plan immediately.
The robot went through the door first, smashing the door aside and opening fire immediately. The drones followed right behind. Several guards were struck whilst still registering what had happened to the door. The quickest thinkers were starting to lift their weaponry, reacting very quickly to the attack. Their thick armour offered no defence against the robots advanced weaponry, two guards went down immediately. Several more fell as the drones opened fire. Those targeted by the two small drones managed to withstand several shots before finally being overwhelmed. The robot and the ship based drones quickly finished off the remaining guards.
It was over so quickly that all the guards were dead before the prisoners could react. For a second or two intense silence followed the roar of weapons, then it was broken by screaming and crying children. Jess ran into the room, holding his arms out and trying to shout over them. He couldn't make himself heard.
“Children, quiet!” Ali's voice boomed out over the robot's speaker. “This is Auntie Alice. We are here to take you home. Please calm down and follow Jess. Jess, put your arm up so they know who you are.”
Jess raised his arm, feeling stupid as he did so. The children stared at him eyes wide, but they did calm down. Several of the adults headed for Jess asking if it was true, if they were going home.
“Yes, we've come to get you, but it's dangerous out there. You have to get the children organised, get them ready to move and make sure we won't leave anyone behind.”
“What about the other prisoners?” asked one of the men.
“We want to get them free too, as many as we can anyway, but you all come first. We came here to rescue you. Ali insisted on it.”
“How do we know we can trust you? We thought she'd betrayed us. Why didn't she end up here with us?”
“She was grabbed and drugged by the people that kidnapped you. If you don't trust us then fine, stay here. Explain the dead guards when the next lot turn up – assuming they let you explain before opening fire.”
“Don't be stupid Alex,” one of the two women said. “Look at what they've done already. We need to get out.”
“What about these collars though? You've felt what they do, seen how much the children suffer. What happens when the guards turn them on?”
“We've taken over their systems,” Jess said. “We have an interference signal pumping out across the farm, none of the collars will work. Once you are back on our ship they can be removed.”
“They told us no one can remove them without the right codes. That trying will activate all collars nearby.”
“They told me that too, it was something I knew for a fact every day of my life. Our ship removed mine when I first went aboard. It gave them quite a shock, let me tell you.” Jess grinned at the memory.
“What do you want to do Alex?” asked the woman. “Stay here? Or take a chance to get free. I say let's go, right now.”
The other adults agreed, Alex seemed less than convinced but agreed anyway. The adults quickly rounded up the children but Jess could see that keeping the smallest moving would be a big problem. Teeko chose that moment to enter the room, causing shouts of fear, confusion and, from many of the children, wonder.
“It's all right!” Jess shouted. “That's Teeko, it's with us.”
“Jess friend,” Teeko said. “Little children carry can I. Sit on my back can they.”
Teeko lowered himself to all eight legs, meaning his back covered a large area. Jess quickly grabbed one of the smallest children, lifting it onto Teeko's back.
“Who else wants a ride?” he asked.
Most of the children put their hands up. The adults picked out five more of the younger children, then picked up one more each to carry themselves. With the youngest eleven children riding or being carried Jess thought they had a much better chance.
“Come on, we need to get moving,” Jess said.
He took the lead and moved quickly into the corridor. Almost immediately there came the crash of a gun being fired and Jess's personal shield flared bright. Mind still accelerated he spotted the guard hidden in a door recess, swung a drone around and blasted the guard with weapons fire before a second shot could be unleashed. He beat the robot by a few milliseconds, and Ali's drone by a little more due to its positioning. By the time all three had fired the corpse was mostly drifting ash.
Jess, be careful! sent Sal. Let the drones scout ahead.
He wasn't about to argue, the shot had shaken him badly. They set off down the corridor, a strange collection indeed. Two drones leading the way followed by the gleaming robot. Jess came next, pushing the trolley with Elizabeth on, then came Teeko loaded down with young children, and finally the mix of adults and children. Some distance behind the final two drones patrolled on high alert.
Can we get everyone on the shuttle? Ali asked.
Yes, just about. Jess replied. We'll have to leave the robot and the drones, and it will be a tight fit, but we can do it.
Great. I'm launching the other shuttles now. Many of the slaves are grouped together which will make our life easier, though we can't take them all in one go. I've loaded the shuttles with armour, medkits and some weapons for those that can't get on the first wave. The other two robots are on their way over too. I'll start letting the prisoners know now.
Jess listened with half an ear to Ali's message, mostly focused on reaching the shuttle safely.
“This is a message for all prisoners. We are here to rescue you. All of you. Shuttles are on their way to key airlocks, along with combat drones to protect you. Your collars have been temporarily disabled. Please make your way to your closest airlock if it is safe to do so. If not please group together, we can see where you are and will come to get you. We have room for everyone on the ship but the shuttles will need to make several trips. Armour, medkits and some weapons will be on the shuttles – please use them to keep yourselves safe, but do not go after the guards. Please help those who are very young, old or ill.
Guards – listen carefully. We have killed many of you already. We will kill you all if necessary. Stay out of our way and do not interfere with the prisoners and we will spare you. Step in our way and be crushed.”
The message started to repeat. Jess smiled to himself, greatly impressed. He doubted Elizabeth could have done better. Then he wondered if she had helped cook it up earlier.
They neared the docking bay without issues but through the stations sensors Jess saw several armed groups closing in from behind. While his ragtag band could reach the shuttle safely they'd be sitting ducks whilst trying to get aboard.
Sal, we need to hold those guards up.
I know. Two more corners and all the approaches merge. We'll hold them there. Be quick though, this lot seem to have some hefty hardware.
Better stagger the defence then. Pull the drones from the shuttle too, we know the area is clear now.
Done.
They turned round the next two corners then the robot and drones at the front slipped to the slides. Ali's voice boomed out of the robot again.
“Keep moving! Follow Jess, quickly now, you're almost there.”
Jess shoved the trolley with Elizabeth on even faster, only a few corridors remained, and the doors in those corridors were all single rooms with no other exits. Sensors and cameras sh
owed them all to be empty. Several drones from the shuttle flew into view and shot over his head, heading towards the fight. He heard weapon fire behind him as the first units of guards were cut down. Sal had been right though, this lot had far heavier weaponry. The second wave opened fire severely damaging one drone and rocking the robot within its shielding.
“Keep moving!” Jess shouted over his shoulder.
Turning back he saw a door further down the corridor opening and a shimmer of movement. Without his implants and fast thoughts he would have seen nothing, even with them he could only make out an outline – a man holding a weapon of some sort.
With a shout Jess shoved Elizabeth's trolley to the side and started to charge towards the near invisible assailant. He forced his body to move faster, feeling muscles starting to tear under the extreme load. Spreading his shielding he tried to protect the children behind him. He made it almost halfway before the guard opened fire. Jess saw the flare of energy at the same moment something struck his shields. This was no mechanical gun, it was an energy weapon of some sort. His shields held, flaring the energy off in dazzling sparks of energy that flew to the sides.
The guard fired again, Jess's shields held but were struggling. The third shot partially overloaded his shields, thanks to the speed he was moving the shot pierced his left shoulder but didn't hit anything vital. Jess was aware of the impact but the pain hadn't hit yet. He pressed on, now three-quarters of the way to the guard, but knew he wouldn't make it. The guard would get off two or three more shots and Jess's shields couldn't handle it.
Realising he had to try something desperate Jess studied the weapon, struggling to penetrate its camouflage and tell where it was aimed. He thought he knew but it was partly guesswork. If he was wrong he'd be dead, so would those behind him soon after. Desperately hoping he had it right he collapsed his shields to a small area only a hands width across so it could withstand another shot, forming it into a cup shape with the open top pointed towards the weapon.
The guard fired once more. Jess had guessed correctly. The shot impacted the shield and once again the energy was flared away in crackling lines of electricity, but this time the shape of the shield sent the energy back at the guard. The blast spread out slightly on the way. When it hit the guard it blew a hole the size of a dinner plate through his chest, killing him instantly.
Jess stumbled to a halt, then the pain from his shoulder hit. He screamed but almost as soon as it came it faded again – his implants limiting the pain and already sending out tendrils to start the healing process. The blast of energy had cauterised the wound so he wasn't bleeding at least.
Jess! Ali's message crashed into his mind, somehow far more forceful than normal. Are you OK?
Yeah, that was close though. There might be more of them. Can you spare any drones?
No, but we will. You need the protection. Just get in that shuttle as fast as you damn well can. Bring the Wanderer in closer too. Once you're clear we can blow that whole section apart.
Doing it now. Good idea.
Of course it is. Now move that cute backside of yours!
Yes Sir!
“Come on everyone, we have to hurry!” Jess shouted.
A boom overhead announced four drones arriving. Two took station ahead, one overhead and one behind. Jess ran back to get Elizabeth's trolley and then set off down the corridor as fast as he could. Behind him he could hear the adults shouting at the children to move. Many of them were crying but Jess was relieved to see they all moved quickly.
Three more of the near invisible guards tried to ambush them, the drones dealt with all three the moment they appeared. However their cloaking worked it clearly didn't extend to providing shields.
Jess rounded the final corner and ran into the shuttle bay, ordering the shuttle to open its rear doors and cabin door. Three of the drones turned and streaked back into the corridor. Jess quickly checked the status and saw why. The robot was badly damaged and retreating under heavy fire. All but one of the drones with it had been destroyed and that one was in trouble.
“Move!” he screamed as the mass of people behind him stumbled to a halt. “Get into the back of the shuttle, right now! Teeko, you go to the cabin. Help me to get Elizabeth in there.”
Not looking to see if he was being obeyed Jess started to drag Elizabeth off the trolley. Teeko was there almost immediately, using its arms to help lift Elizabeth and drag her into the shuttle. The children on its back were clinging on tightly, eyes red from crying. Jess didn't have time to reassure them, he jumped into the pilot's chair and strapped himself in then started the side door closing.
A flare of alarm told him the robot had been destroyed. All the remaining drones followed quickly after. Checking the shuttles sensors he saw that most of the children were in. The adults were quickly guiding the last few. One older child had fallen over on the way and lay crying on the floor, too overwhelmed to move again. One of the adults dropped the child they carried off in the shuttle and ran back. Jess realised it was Alex and completely changed his opinion of the man. The others made it into the shuttle as Alex reached the child. Hooking his arms under the boy's stomach he was turned and sprinting back before he'd even slung the boy over his shoulder.
Two guards appeared at the corridors entrance, swinging to target Alex and the boy. Somehow Alex put on a last burst of speed and dived into the back of the shuttle just as they fired, the shots were mostly blocked by the shuttle's side but Jess saw Alex's feet blown clean off, the energy blast sealing the wound.
Jess immediately started the shuttle lifting, closing the rear door and raising the shuttle's shields. More guards appeared and even the shuttle's shields were rocked by the firepower aimed at them. Jess reached out through the Wanderer to the station's controls and ordered the docking bay door open. Nothing happened. Somehow the guards had jammed the mechanism. More shots impacted on the shuttle's shields. Jess knew it couldn't take much more punishment.
In desperation he reached out to the Wanderer, carefully chose lasers he felt were not too powerful and fired at the door. One moment it was there, the next it was gone and the shuttle was rocked by a huge blast which nearly collapsed its shields. Jess smiled grimly at the thought he'd nearly done the guards work for them. He threw the shuttle forwards, hoping none of the passengers would be too badly hurt. With them packed in so tightly he hoped they wouldn't be thrown around too badly.
As he cleared the docking bay more shots impacted on the shields, which flickered dangerously before holding. The docking bay had automatically sealed when the door had been destroyed, preventing the stations atmosphere escaping, but the guards armour clearly had life support built in. He threw the shuttle down and to the right – taking it out of the line of fire for the moment. Using the stations sensors he saw the guards rush towards where the door had been, clearly looking to get more shots off. What they saw stopped them dead. Sitting less than five hundred metres away was the Wanderer. Jess gave them a few moments to contemplate their fate, and for the shuttle to reach a safe distance, then he used his control of Iona's systems to drop its shields and opened fire with some of the Wanderer's heavy weaponry. The docking bay and several floors around it simply ceased to exist. Jess smiled to himself grimly then swung the shuttle and Wanderer onto paths that would let them dock as soon as possible.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Less than a minute later the shuttle touched down in the Wanderer, clamps locking it in place. Jess opened both the cabin and rear doors and hurried out, telling the children in the cabin to stay with Teeko. Elizabeth too would have to wait, her breathing was still stable – she could sleep off the effects for now. He ran around to the back entrance to the shuttle.
“You're safe,” he told the anxious looking adults and scared looking children. “We are back on the Wanderer, our ship. You can stay here for now, but the room through there is our lounge and will probably be more comfortable. There's some sofas and chairs. We need to get Alex into the medical bay. Two
of you help me carry him.”
Alex looked in a bad way, the shock of his injuries had hit him hard. His face was pale and coated in sweat, his breathing rapid and he was barely conscious. Swallowing hard at the ruined flesh Jess lifted the injured man under his knees. One of the men grabbed Alex under the shoulders and the woman who had argued with Alex earlier put her arms under his back, sharing the weight.
Jess led them through into the lounge at a near run, headed through into the short corridor and then into the medical bay. A low bed was already in place, formed out of the ship's structure as always. They carefully placed Alex down on the bed which immediately started to mould itself around his body, especially his legs. The ship started pumping chemicals into his body to combat shock. Almost immediately his breathing deepened and he soon settled into a deep sleep.
“Alex! No!” the woman screamed, reaching out to grab Alex by the shoulders. Jess grabbed her hands.
“It's all right, really it is. The ship has put him into a coma while it works on him. He'll be fine. I was worried we wouldn't get him here in time, now we have the ship will take good care of him.”
“I want to stay with him.”
She glared at Jess, challenging him. He realised he didn't have the time to argue.
“Fine, but don't touch anything. Don't interfere. Some of the ways the ship works are invasive but they are crucial. Promise me. Otherwise you can't stay.”
She met his gaze for long moments before nodding. She turned back to Alex without saying a word. Jess motioned to the other man to follow and left the room.
“Will he really be all right?” asked the man, once the door was closed.
“Yes. I promise. Now I need to go help rescue the other prisoners. Please help the children off the shuttle.”
Jess sprinted out into the lounge, dodged past several children that were milling around, then ran through to the flight deck. He grinned at Sal, stole a quick kiss with Ali then jumped into the pilot's seat and strapped himself in – wincing slightly as the straps pulled against his shoulder wound. His implants had done such a good job of numbing the pain that he'd almost forgotten it.
Wanderer's Escape Page 23
