gaian consortium 05 - the titan trap

by Christine Pope

  Shaking his head, Derek replied, “I doubt it’s any of them. You just gave the finger to the GDF, and by extension the whole government, so I don’t think we need to look any further than that.”

  After giving him a shaky smile, she said, “Well, my father always did say to go big or go home.” She drummed her fingers on her bare knees. “The thing is, okay, they know where we are. But how likely are they to come after us here on Triton?”

  He wasn’t sure of the answer to that question. True, the outlaw outpost was not the sort of place for GDF troops to come swaggering in and waving their guns around, but that didn’t mean the Consortium wouldn’t send a different kind of agent to dispatch the two troublemakers. He had a feeling that sort of operation would be a lot more difficult for the powers-that-be on Triton — such as they were — to stop.

  “Very likely,” he said, not bothering to be politic in his reply. “It’s not if, but when.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.” She pushed her hair back, off her shoulders, then asked, “How soon?”

  “I have no idea.” While he was gratified that she thought he’d have some insight on the matter, the truth was that he really had no idea. Researching the methods of the Consortium’s black ops personnel fell a little outside his particular field of expertise. She gave a grim nod, and he added, “I suppose it all depends on how close any agents they’d use for this job might be.”

  “They could still be on Gaia?” she asked in hopeful tones.

  “Maybe. Or on Ganymede…or even embedded here on Triton.”

  “Thanks for that ray of sunshine.”

  Despite their current situation, he couldn’t help cracking a grin. “Just trying to be practical.” But since they’d already spent too much time talking, he pushed the bedclothes away and got up, heading toward the closet so he could get dressed. “We need to get ready, and we need to be prepared. Go ahead and pack your things.”

  “On it,” she said, sounding resigned, and rose from the chair. “But Derek — where exactly are we going?”

  “I don’t know,” he told her. “Anywhere but here.”

  * * *

  Thank God for those twelve hours of sleep, because Cassidy had a feeling it might be a long time before she found a safe place to lay her head. No other messages had been forthcoming, even as she felt her gaze keep shifting to the dresser where she’d set down the handheld. Now she was dressed in the pants and jacket and long-sleeved knit shirt Derek had purchased for her, glad that the spacesuit she’d worn had been designed to go over clothes and footwear, and so she still had her favorite pair of flat boots, broken in and shabby and endlessly comfortable. She had a feeling she was going to be needing them real soon.

  They had no luggage, but she fished the bags that the clothing and other items had been delivered in out of the trash, then packed everything as quickly as she could. Barely five minutes had passed since she’d alerted Derek to the unwelcome message, and yet it still felt as if they were taking too long, as if Consortium agents would be breaking down the door at any minute. No, that probably wasn’t right. Any dirty work they planned to engage in would be done as quietly as possible to avoid any unwanted attention.

  She felt a stir of triumph at being ready sooner than Derek. Then again, it wasn’t as if he’d spent a lifetime learning how to travel light. But he emerged from his bedroom only a minute or so after she’d put her bag down on the coffee table to wait for him, so she couldn’t really blame him for any delays.

  “Do you have a plan?” she asked him, hoping he’d say yes and knowing he’d probably say no. It wasn’t as if she’d come up with anything terribly constructive in the meantime. After all, they were stuck in a domed city. There weren’t that many places they could go. She’d never bothered to read up on Triton, and anyway, any facts she might have gleaned from official sources were no doubt completely inaccurate. But she guessed, from the size of the dome and the density of the buildings it contained, that maybe six or seven thousand people lived here. It might be enough for them to get lost in.

  Might.

  “Other than keep moving, no, not really,” he responded.

  “Well, that’s slightly better than ‘stay here and wait for someone to come and kill us,’ so I’m on board with that.”

  He shot her a sideways glance but didn’t say anything, instead went to the door.

  “Open it from the side,” Cassidy told him, moving to flatten herself against the wall on his other side.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s easier to get shot if you’re standing right in front as you open it.”

  “Ah.” He flicked her another one of those sidelong looks. “Was that part of your training as a freighter captain?”

  “No,” she said easily. “It’s just something I’ve seen on the cop vids I’ve watched over the years.”

  His pained expression told her exactly what he thought of using scripted vid shows as a basis for formulating a survival strategy. However, he did as she’d instructed, hugging the wall next to her. It was the first time he’d been this close, only a few inches away, and in that moment she realized how tall he was, how broad his shoulders. Maybe he’d been eating slop in the MaxSec for the past two years, but you’d never know it to look at him.

  And that is exactly the last thing you should be thinking about right now. She held her breath as Derek pushed the controls for the door.

  It slid open…and nothing.

  No pulse bolts, no troop of heavily armed men running into the suite. Derek moved away from the wall an inch or two, just enough so he could peer through the doorway.

  “Looks clear.”

  Cassidy slipped past him and looked as well. No one outside, no sign of movement at all — which made some sense, as it was now close to eleven hundred hours, not exactly peak time for people to be coming and going from their rooms. She wouldn’t exactly allow herself a sigh of relief, but it did seem that they’d made it past the first hurdle.

  The second was the stairway. They’d both looked at the lifts and, by mutual agreement, shook their heads and continued instead to the access stairs at the end of the hall. Yes, there was still a surveillance camera mounted in one corner, but at least it would be easier to make a break for it on the stairway than it would trapped in an elevator.

  No one stopped them, though, and they emerged in the rear of the lobby, far enough away from the front desk that Cassidy thought they’d be able to slip out the back door without too much trouble. Then she looked down at the new clothes she was wearing and paused. The last thing she wanted to do was skip out on their bill.

  “How much did all this stuff cost?” she asked Derek, pointing at his jacket.

  “I — what?”

  “How much? They put it on our tab, and now we’re taking off without paying for any of it. Doesn’t seem fair.”

  He frowned, appearing to do a quick mental calculation. “Maybe three hundred units?”

  Well, that was doable at least. She took the pouch with their cash and removed a hundred units, then handed them to Derek. “You keep these. I’m going to leave the rest behind to pay for everything.”

  A look of surprise flitted over his features, followed by another one of those admiring glances. “Good idea. We wouldn’t want to add petty theft to our long list of crimes.”

  Crimes that now did include murder, if you wanted to call the deaths of the two men in the starfighter murder. She preferred to think of what she’d done as self-defense, a clear-cut case of “us or them,” but she could see why Consortium authorities might view the matter differently.

  There was another security camera mounted right outside the entrance to the stairwell. Since Cassidy knew she’d already been seen on it, she made no attempt to hide her face, but only lifted the bag of money, jingled it twice, and then set it on the floor immediately next to the wall.

  “Okay, that should do it…I hope.”

  He shrugged. “It’s a gesture.”

&nb
sp; Opposite the stairwell was a door, one which probably led to an access corridor of some sort. By an unspoken agreement, they headed toward it, Derek moving through first, Cassidy immediately behind him. No one attempted to stop them, but that could’ve simply been because their attempt to make some sort of payment had been noticed, and the management at the hotel didn’t see any reason to detain them further, if they really did want to take off in the dome community’s equivalent of the middle of the night.

  The corridor in which they found themselves was strictly utilitarian: gray walls, floor, and ceiling, punctuated here and there by doors that probably led to storage areas, laundry facilities, maybe the kitchens. Neither of them seemed inclined to stop and investigate. Instead, they hurried through the hallway until they emerged in a dingy-looking alleyway, piled high with packing crates, empty boxes, and the usual flotsam and jetsam any high-density populated area would produce.

  “What now?” Derek asked.

  Cassidy hesitated. She didn’t know Triton well — all right, at all — but it seemed if they were going to put that credit voucher to good use, then they’d better head back toward the settlement’s hangar complex, see if there was a ship to be had for love or money. Lots of money. Surely there had to be someone on this hunk of ice who was even more desperate than they were.

  “Back to the hangars, I guess. I mean, I haven’t seen any used spaceship lots around here, have you?”

  He chuckled, although the laughter had a grim note to it. Something in his expression told her he wasn’t expecting them to have much luck. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to buy a ship at all, would end up paying too much for passage on a transport ship or, even worse, a freighter. She’d spent her whole life on one, so she knew exactly how lacking in creature comforts those types of vessels tended to be.

  “I suppose that’s best. And if we — ” His words cut off abruptly as his handheld beeped. He fished it out of his pocket and stared down at it, brows drawn together.

  An icy trail of fear inched its way down her back. After all, the last message she’d received on her handheld wasn’t exactly reassuring. “What is it?”

  In answer, he extended his hand to her so she could see the device’s screen clearly. This communique, like the one she’d gotten, had absolutely no identifying code or name stamp. However, its contents were slightly more encouraging.

  Go to Hangar 19G. A ship will be waiting for you there.

  “What the — ”

  “I know,” Derek said, cutting her off. “So…do we trust it?”

  She hesitated. Surely it couldn’t be that easy. “Smells like a trap to me.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. But how much of a choice do we have?”

  None at all. They couldn’t really stand here forever, debating their choices. Either they’d decide to trust the message, or they wouldn’t. And since they’d already determined it was the hangar complex or nothing, she thought they might as well head in that direction.

  “We’ll go over there. But we need to keep an eye out for anything unusual.”

  The lifted eyebrow he gave her seemed to indicate that he thought almost anything they saw on Triton would be unusual. Fair enough. A place like this wasn’t exactly something your normal atmospheric scientist encountered, even one who’d spent a few years in MaxSec.

  But he didn’t argue, only gave a faint nod, and so they headed back to that quadrant of the dome. The hangar complex itself was technically outside the dome, as of course it couldn’t exactly open and shut to allow ships to enter or exit. No, there was a long above-ground tunnel, one that connected the actual structures where vessels landed to the complex where they’d been checked for weapons less than a standard day ago.

  Something about the thought of that tunnel made Cassidy nervous. She didn’t communicate her unease to Derek, as she couldn’t articulate exactly why the thought of it bothered her. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t gone through it without a hitch when they first arrived. Besides, although it felt like the middle of the night to her, there were still plenty of people coming and going on the dome’s streets, especially as they got closer to the hangar complex. You arrived at a planet when you arrived. It wasn’t as if shipping activity confined itself to “normal” working hours…whatever those might be.

  They passed through the screening devices once more. The lights on the walk-through structure glowed green, indicating that they were not carrying any weapons that could damage the dome. Those devices strictly focused on pulse guns and the old-fashioned projectile weapons that preceded them, and Cassidy wondered what would happen if she tried to smuggle a knife or other bladed weapon through the screener. Maybe nothing. It wasn’t as if you could drive a sword through the tough material of a dome, a super-composite that was impervious to most types of impact.

  Despite her attempt to appear calm, it seemed as if some of her disquiet had communicated itself to Derek, as she noticed he walked so close beside her that their hands brushed against one another from time to time. Not that she minded too much; it felt good to have him next to her like that, even if she knew he probably couldn’t do much to defend her if the worst happened. He looked big and capable, but come on — he was a scientist, someone who spent his life working on a computer or, at the most, going out in the field to take readings and observations. Having fended off an attack or two in some of Luna City’s more questionable districts, Cassidy thought she was probably better equipped than he to take on any assailants who might come their way.

  Even this late there was some foot traffic in the tunnel, people who didn’t seem to pay her or Derek any mind, who moved briskly along, gazes focused on their destination, absorbed in their own thoughts. Most of them didn’t look particularly seedy or menacing, but even in her short time here, Cassidy had come to realize that Triton’s dome city wasn’t exactly the seething hotbed of crime the Gaian authorities painted it to be. She had no doubt that a lot of the people here were operating outside the Consortium’s playbook. However, that didn’t mean they were intent on blindly assaulting or otherwise defrauding every citizen they came across. Maybe it was a simple matter of there being more honor among thieves than she’d thought, but, either way, she’d take it.

  The foot traffic ebbed, and the only people Cassidy saw were a couple dressed in somewhat rumpled business clothing coming toward them, a man and woman, maybe some ten years or so older than she and Derek. They looked tired, and Cassidy wondered how long a flight they’d taken to get here, and why this supposedly outlaw world was the destination of such a respectable-looking pair.

  She didn’t have to wonder for long, since, just as the couple was passing by, they lunged at her and Derek, knives glinting under the blue-white overhead lighting. A startled little scream erupted from her throat, and after that she wasn’t sure exactly what happened.

  Derek shoved her, pushing her out of harm’s way, even as he lashed out with one foot, catching both the man and the woman behind their knees in a sweep so fast Cassidy could barely keep her gaze focused on it. They stumbled but regained their balance quickly, descending on Derek, apparently leaving Cassidy to be dealt with later. Once again the knives flashed, and she was sure he was about to be skewered — but no, his hand chopped against the woman’s forearm, and even from where she was crouched on the ground, Cassidy could hear the bone break with a sickening crunch. The knife went flying, clattering off the curved metal wall, and she skittered toward it on her hands and knees, even as the woman let out a screech and then struck toward Derek with her left hand while her companion whirled, attempting to drive his knife right into Derek’s midsection.

  Somehow he whipped himself out of the way just in time, leaving the knife to whistle harmlessly through midair. The man cursed and lifted his arm to strike again, but Derek kicked out, catching him directly in the groin. At the same time, Cassidy felt her fingers wrap around the plastic handle of the knife, still warm from the female attacker’s grasp. As the other assailant bent over, groaning fr
om the impact of Derek’s kick, Cassidy thrust herself to her feet and drove the knife into the woman’s side while she was momentarily distracted by her companion’s obvious distress.

  The woman gasped, then reached back and jabbed an elbow into Cassidy’s ribs. Luckily, it was a glancing blow, and so she didn’t think any ribs were cracked, although she guessed she’d have a hell of a bruise later.

  If there was a later.

  Obviously, the woman wasn’t one to be stopped by a simple knife wound, since she yanked the knife from her side and thrust backward with it. Somehow Cassidy managed to jerk herself out of the way at the last minute, although she heard rather than felt the blade cut through the fabric of her new shirt.

  God damn it.

  She threw a glance over her shoulder, saw Derek grab his assailant by the shoulders and yank him downward as he thrust up with one knee, catching the man in the nose. Blood sprayed everywhere, and the man staggered backward — bumping into his companion, who lost her balance for a split second. That seemed to be the only opening Derek needed, as he kicked out again, hitting her in the exact spot where Cassidy had stabbed her and throwing her back against the wall. She slid down it, blood pouring from her side. Even then she tried to push herself to her feet, knife still clutched in one hand.

  In that same moment, a group of four men in dark, close-fitting clothing approached, and Cassidy felt her heart sink. Okay, Derek had done better than she could have imagined, but even with that, she didn’t see how he could possibly take on four more men in addition to the one who’d assaulted them initially. That man was as bruised and bloodied as his companion, but clearly not down for the count just yet, since he was already starting to push himself to his feet.

  As she braced herself, wondering if she had it in her to fight off two of the newcomers in addition to the bitch who wouldn’t die, the four men swarmed their assailants. Cassidy couldn’t see exactly what happened, but a few seconds later, both the man and the woman were passed out on the ground. Something glinted as one of the men slipped it into the pocket of his coveralls. Some kind of knockout drug?