Behind Enemy Lines (Empire of Bones Saga Book 7)

by Terry Mixon

  The three of them walked over to a console and Carl sat. “As I said, the cores are encrypted but I was able to make copies. The originals are safely stored elsewhere. If something goes wrong, these will wipe themselves, but we’ll still be able to try again.”

  The young scientist focused his attention on Parker. “How does this work? Talbot gives a code and then you do?”

  Parker nodded. “Try to access the core. It should prompt you for the first code. Major Talbot can enter it at that point. If that code is accepted, it will prompt for a second one. That’s where I apparently come in.”

  Carl stared at the console for a moment and then looked at Talbot. “Ready for you.”

  Talbot used his implants to access the computer. When he felt its presence, he sent the code that Commodore Murdock had shared with him. The computer immediately indicated the code had been accepted and prompted for the next code.

  “It’s ready for you, Doctor Parker,” Talbot said.

  She focused on the computer for a moment before a shocked expression spread across her face. “I’ll be damned. It accepted the code!”

  Carl frowned in concentration for a moment and then grinned. “We’re in! The core is unlocked!”

  Talbot stood there and watched for a moment as the young scientist explored the access he had gained to the computer. After several minutes, he tapped Carl on the shoulder to remind him that he was still standing there.

  The young scientist’s eyes focused on him. “Sorry. I got distracted.”

  “Did that completely unlock it? I’m going to go report to Commodore Anderson in just a minute, and I’m certain she’ll want to know.”

  Carl smiled widely. “As far as I can tell, your codes gave me complete access. Be sure to send them to me so I can use them again, if need be.

  “I’ve already initiated the copying of the data to a clean computer core. We should be able to access all the information we need to manufacture Marine Raider implants and AI computer hardware. Everything seems to be there.”

  Talbot hadn’t realized he’d been tense until he felt himself relax. “That’s great news. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do if we couldn’t get that information.”

  His friend shrugged. “We’d have figured something out. We always do.”

  “The man I have on the orbital said he’d have the last of the hardware to you sometime today. Does that match up with what you’re seeing?”

  “It does. If anything, he’s running ahead of schedule. By my estimation, we should have the last of the manufacturing and research equipment aboard in about six hours. It may take another half a day to move all the supplies that I’ve flagged as necessary for the manufacturing process, though.”

  “Excellent,” Talbot said. “That’s one thing off my plate. As soon as we can get the Dresden orbital cleared, we can move it to the outer system. Then I can focus my attention on finding the escapees and rescuing Kelsey’s mother. Good work.”

  His young friend grinned. “It seems like you did all the hard work.”

  Talbot waved at Parker and headed for the corridor. He’d stop in to brief Commodore Anderson and then get back down to the planet. The clock was ticking.

  Veronica jumped a little when Castille climbed into the cutter and pushed the hatch closed.

  “What’s wrong?” she demanded.

  “There’s another cutter coming in,” he said. “I barely got under cover before it turned its landing lights on.”

  “That tears it,” she said. “We need to get out of here, and I don’t think we can afford to try sneaking back in again.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean? We have to come back for the transponder.”

  “No, we don’t. I’m taking it right now.”

  “That’s going to tip them off,” he hissed. “We’re not ready to make our play yet. I overheard the workers outside saying it was going to be another day or two before they finished getting the prisoners off the orbital.”

  “Are you going to count on the enemy being punctual? We don’t have time to waste coming back here tomorrow night. By then, the schedule will definitely be too tight. We need to be in orbit at that point.

  “They’re never going to realize there’s a problem so long as we keep this cutter from taking off. They’d have no reason to test the transponder if the cutter is grounded for maintenance.”

  Raul raised an eyebrow. “Is it grounded for maintenance?”

  “Give me fifteen minutes, and they won’t be flying this thing for a few days. It’ll take them that long just to diagnose where the trouble is.”

  She wasn’t an engineering officer, but Veronica knew her way around small craft. She’d started her career as a cutter pilot. That meant she had more than enough experience to know what would disable one. Particularly in a way that was infuriatingly hard to find.

  Veronica went into the engine compartment and started digging through the guts of the grav drive controls. The flight-deck officer on her first assignment out of the academy had disabled a cutter by doing exactly what she was doing now.

  It had taken her three days to trace the fault. Three infuriating, agonizing days of him staring over her shoulder and belittling her skills while she sweated.

  Years later, she’d decided the man had been an evil genius. That one incident had driven her to learn more about cutters than she’d ever dreamed possible. Not that she’d ever forgiven him for putting her through hell. The sadist didn’t deserve the credit for any nonexistent good motives.

  The thing she liked best about this particular trick was that it disabled access to the avionics compartment along with the grav drive. Even if they tried to ping the transponder, they wouldn’t get any reading on it.

  Once she had the console open, she unplugged several connections and removed a component. One of the toolboxes attached to the bulkhead provided an instrument that let her send a surge of power that overloaded it.

  Frying it only took a moment. She then painstakingly reassembled the console. When the pilots began their preflight, the engines would indicate they had a fault. The maintenance people would dig into them, but they’d be fine.

  Only by tracing every bit of diagnostic circuitry would they locate the faulty component. Even with multiple people tearing the system apart, they wouldn’t find it for at least two days. Her ego tried to egg her on to three, but that might be pushing it.

  When she’d reassembled the console, she dug into the avionics compartment and removed the transponder. If anyone actually looked inside, they’d see the gaping hole where it normally sat.

  She didn’t expect that, though. Why look at something when you had your implants to tell you its condition? Veronica had met plenty of officers that never bothered physically checking anything. She was willing to bet the maintenance crews and pilots down here would behave the same.

  Once she’d put the tool back in the toolbox, she bagged the transponder to keep it from being damaged and returned to the flight deck.

  “I’ve got it,” she said. “Let’s see if it’s safe for us to depart. I’ll let you go down to the ground while I secure everything.”

  Castille still didn’t look convinced, but at least he’d stopped arguing.

  She unsealed the emergency hatch and lowered her head cautiously until she could see the area around them.

  The new cutter had opened its ramp, and a number of people were moving the crates she and Castille had hidden behind on to it. Not only were they focused on their task, but the lighting also made it impossible to see anyone outside their general area.

  Moving as quietly as possible, she lowered herself onto the landing gear and edged to the side so Castille could pass her. Once he’d made it to the ground, she sealed the hatch and followed him down.

  Now all they had to do was get out of the area without anyone seeing them.

  So, of course, someone stepped out of the shelter they were passing. A man in a lieutenant’s uniform stared at them from just a few met
ers away.

  “What’s going on?” he asked sleepily.

  30

  The marines dropped Kelsey off on the road about a kilometer in front of where the human was presently walking. In the low light conditions, he’d have to be virtually on top of her before he noted her presence.

  She found a convenient place in plain sight and started waiting.

  With her enhanced vision, she had no trouble seeing him as he came around the closest bend. He was wearing a dark cloak with its hood up—probably to ward off the chill—but she could still clearly see his face.

  He was actually walking beside the road. That made sense. It would be hard to see the ruts in the dim light cast by the stars.

  Honestly, she wondered why he was traveling in the dark of night. All it would take was one pothole and he’d break a leg.

  To her amazement, he slowed while he was still fairly distant. From the way he was looking around, he’d sensed something.

  Kelsey wasn’t moving. She had no idea how he could’ve detected her presence. Yet, something had obviously raised his guard.

  Well, she might as well get this over with.

  Keeping her pace slow, she began walking down the center of the road toward him. She kept an eye on the ruts to avoid ruining her entrance.

  The man quickly focused his attention on her. He seemed as though he might be ready to flee but stopped himself. Perhaps he realized there was only one of her.

  “I come in peace,” she said as she came to a halt about thirty meters from him. “I mean you no harm.”

  “Says the person accosting a weary traveler in the middle of the night in the back end of nowhere,” he said dryly.

  Kelsey couldn’t see his hands under the cloak, but she assumed he was holding some type of weapon. Based on the tech level, it was probably the hilt of a sword, but she wasn’t going to take unnecessary chances. It was possible he had access to Imperial technology.

  “I realize how this looks, but I wanted to warn you there’s an ambush set for you ahead.”

  His head came up sharply. “Really? And out of the goodness of your heart, you’ve decided to come tell me about it? I can barely see you. How did you know who I was?”

  “I’m about to make a light.”

  No need to be hasty. She didn’t want to goad him into intemperate action.

  She turned on a camp light that she’d brought with her. It wasn’t a tight beam. More of a distributed light source that would allow people to see inside a tent. It didn’t illuminate him much, but it would show her quite clearly.

  “My name is Kelsey Bandar and, as you can see, I’m quite alone.”

  The man hesitated a moment and then walked forward until he was only ten meters away. In the light, she could see his expression clearly. He looked shocked.

  “I thought myself familiar with all of the humans living in this area. How could I possibly not know you?”

  Kelsey smiled. “I’m not from around here.”

  He eyed her uniform. “No. I’d say not. I’ll wager you’re not even part of Clan Dauntless.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Clan Dauntless? No. I’m not part of any clan. I’m not from this world at all.”

  The man stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. “We always knew this day might come, but I never believed it. Not deep down. Why have you come for me?”

  “I’m just looking for information. I was completely serious about the ambush too. You probably shouldn’t keep traveling along this road. It’s not safe.”

  “No. I imagine not.”

  Kelsey’s enhanced hearing heard a soft click that her combat reflexes identified as likely a safety flipping off. She threw herself to the side, and flechettes tore through the space where she’d been standing moments before.

  She landed hard in the deep grass to the side of the road, already drawing her stunner and opening fire.

  The man was quick. He ducked low and rolled to the side, still firing at her.

  Kelsey heard the pinnace’s drives kick into maximum thrust in the darkness above her. Marines in unpowered armor would be on them in seconds.

  “Stunners only!” she sent over the combat link. “Don’t hurt him!”

  For a moment, she thought the man was going to get away into the forest, but she managed to line up a shot at the very last moment. The stunner bolt took him in the back just as he passed into the trees.

  Kelsey stood slowly, wary of additional small arms fire. If she’d only clipped him, he might still be awake enough to shoot her.

  The pinnace touched down right in front of her, and marines came boiling out. Half a dozen of them raced to the woods while the rest secured the area.

  Two of them came back with the man slung limply between them. The corporal accompanying them handed her a Fleet flechette pistol.

  Kelsey examined it for a moment before she stared at the unconscious man. “Well, well. Aren’t you full of surprises? I think you and I are going to have a very interesting conversation in a few hours.”

  She gestured toward the pinnace. “Load him up. As soon as they recover Annette, we’re getting out of here.”

  The corporal grimaced. “There’s some trouble. Some of the aliens just attacked the other aliens. Captain Vitter isn’t responding to communication attempts from the other pinnace. They’re not picking up her implants at all.”

  “Crap,” she said. “Everyone in. We’re going in hard and fast. Again, stun only, if possible.”

  By the time they were loaded into the pinnace, she was already strapping on a set of unpowered armor. Everyone might think she was dangerously impulsive, but it was only when she had no other choice.

  They arrived over the ambush site about the same time the second pinnace landed near Annette’s fighter.

  As soon as the ramp came down, the marines charged out. Kelsey could hear metal-on-metal impacts in the dark woods, as well as people screaming and shouting. There was a battle taking place.

  The first people Kelsey saw were two aliens swinging swords at one another. One of them quickly achieved the upper hand and stabbed the other through the torso. The second alien fell with a grunt.

  She shot the victor with her stunner, and to her amazement, he shook it off. A second shot took him down, though.

  “Be advised that the aliens have some resistance to stunners,” she said over the combat link. “Shoot twice and be sure. Don’t leave anyone awake behind you. They might stab you in the back.”

  With the pinnaces and drones scanning the forest, they took out the fighters inside half an hour. A number of the aliens were dead or grievously injured.

  Kelsey ordered the dead and injured loaded onto one of the pinnaces. The prisoners went on the other. She sent both small craft back into orbit to Persephone. They’d come back for her in less than an hour.

  The only thing they didn’t find was Annette Vitter. The pilot was gone.

  Raul stepped in front of Veronica and smiled at the lieutenant.

  “They asked if you could give them a hand loading the crates,” he said with a smile.

  The man gave him a slightly confused look before nodding. “Sure. I was about to go do that anyway. Thanks.”

  The skin between Raul’s shoulder blades itched as he kept walking. All it would take was for the man to ask the wrong person who they were and they’d sound the alarm.

  But no cry came. The odds were good that the man had assumed they were legitimate. By the time anyone figured differently, he and Veronica would be long gone. Hopefully, they wouldn’t realize their mistake at all.

  “I thought we were toast there,” Veronica said softly as they made their way into the ruined town. “That guy had us dead to rights.”

  “One thing I’ve learned in security is that people are inclined to believe what they see. Behave as if you belong, and you can get in almost anywhere.

  “For example, the secure area on the Dresden orbital. One of the enemy officers waltzed right in and attend
ed a classified briefing. No one realized they’d made a mistake and escorted the wrong person inside.”

  Veronica looked impressed. “Somebody had some serious balls.”

  He nodded. “Yes, she did. Let’s hope we don’t run into her again before we make our exit.”

  By the time they’d made their way across the ruined town and back into the forest, it was almost dawn.

  They waited until there was enough light to continue on their way. They were especially careful when they climbed the slopes of the volcano, so it was almost noon by the time they’d safely arrived at the abandoned base.

  He couldn’t believe they’d gotten away with it. That almost made him laugh. Compared to the crime they were contemplating, this was petty theft.

  The destroyer’s engineer had gotten the water system in the base back online, so he showered while the attached unit cleaned his uniform. He still had to make do with survival rations but perhaps not for much longer.

  Once he was clean and full, he went in search of Veronica. He found her on the stolen cutter with her engineering officer. It looked as though they were installing the stolen transponder.

  “Refresh my brain how this works,” he said to them. “Does this transmit our identity at all times or only when specifically queried?”

  “Only when someone sends a signal requesting our identity,” the engineering lieutenant said.

  “It’s standard procedure in our version of Fleet to query a vessel when we first detect it,” Veronica said. “The ship then tags the identity of the vessel and assumes it is legitimate if the transponder is good. There’s no reason to continually request an identity.”

  “So as long as they haven’t realized we’ve stolen the transponder, they shouldn’t give us another glance?”

  “Probably not, though if they’re expecting the cutter to come back to the carrier and then we head for the recovery ship, that may raise some alarms.”

  “Well, we can’t very well go on board the carrier,” Raul said reasonably. “Otherwise, we might just as well have surrendered down below and saved ourselves the trouble.”