by Ryan Krauter
"Saved you some breakfast," Mithus said as he held out some sort of bread covered in a round piece of processed meat. Web took it and ate gratefully. It tasted like old socks, but he couldn't afford to be picky; he'd need his strength later this afternoon.
"Going to be ready later?" Mithus asked quietly.
"I'll be great," Web said with a smile. "Just need a quick catnap, three months of rehabilitation, and a complete change of blood. Then I'll be on top of my game."
"Start with the nap. I'll check for your signal at afternoon courtyard time. We probably won't talk until then." Mithus clapped him on the back as he turned to leave Web alone. "Good luck."
There were so many details to worry about, but as usual Halley seemed to have everything in hand. They had a couple of Senators to bring in as guardians to shepherd the rest. They had to make sure the guard timetables didn't change and the one with the comm rig on his shoulder was still watching them all from inside the fence. Web had the easy part; he just needed to let the Primans beat the snot out of him.
The day passed without incident. Web saw many of the senators in the yard at midday, milling about and in some cases arguing about everything from how to save the Confederation to insignificant trifles like what kind of reparations the Enkarrans should pay to Confed or the Talarans. As if there was any Enkarran Empire to go after at this point. Sometimes Web wondered if they were actually helping by trying to save these people to put them right back in charge of the system they helped muddy up in the first place. In the end, he consoled himself with the fact that he didn't know what else he'd rather have. There were a thousand different ways to run an empire, but not all that many were born of a system that truly represented the average citizen. Maybe these folks could be encouraged to take a few pointers by way of showing appreciation for their impending escape.
Web saw the sun reach lower in the sky and start to pass behind a certain rooftop tower in the distance. While the days were strictly regimented, like any good prison the occupants didn't get all that much information; there were no clocks and when people asked they were met with hostile glares. They only knew it was late afternoon, but not exactly when. However, things always happened at the same time in the camp, so Halley had somehow calculated that when Web saw the sun go behind a particular landmark, it was time for him to put on the show.
Web sauntered up to a pair of guards that were manning the doorway back into their prisoner barracks. The yard, blocked in on all sides by connected buildings as well as another interior fence inside that, was an effective cage. There were blast shutters over the two entrances that Halley assumed would drop closed in no time flat if there was a problem. Once those were down, the prisoners simply didn't have anywhere to go. There were no windows or access doors. There were no real exterior features, so the senators wouldn't be scaling up the twenty story structures to get to the roofs, either. Web only knew that he needed to cause a distraction so Halley and Mithus had a chance to fulfill their part of the mission.
"Hey guys," Web said as he approached slowly, deferentially. He needed to get close, not get zapped by a stun baton from twenty feet away. "You have a minute?"
The Primans looked at each other, then back at Web. He couldn't read their expressions.
"Go back to the yard, prisoner," the one on the left commanded.
"Sure, sure," Web continued easily. "I don't want to get in trouble. I get enough of the business from your bosses at night. But I don't think I have a lot of time here, you know what I mean? Let's be honest; I think they're going to use me as a lab experiment. I'm not sure where it's going, but you have to know that, right?"
Their expressions hardened but neither spoke right away so Web pressed on. "Look, I'll get to the point. There are a few women in here. Some of them are pretty good looking, you know? I haven't had the chance to get with a woman in so long. It's been real tough out there. Fighting, running for your life, hiding underground; not a lot of opportunities for any grab-ass, if you know what I mean. So I'm begging you two, help me arrange for some time with one of these ladies. I share my rations with them, maybe those prison nights get a little less lonely, you know?"
The Priman on the right spoke up this time. "Prisoner, your difficulties are not my concern. Neither are your breeding habits. Return to the yard or we'll stun you and drag you there."
Web pressed on. As he'd talked, every time he made a gesture he'd inched forward a little bit more. He was a few feet closer to them now than when he'd started. He could close that gap a little more. If it was a distraction they wanted...
"Seriously, what would it take? I have needs, ok? Just tell me what the interrogators want to know from me and I'll cough up anything. Should I give in to the probes they're running? Should I fight it? You have no idea what I'm going through here!"
One Priman sighed and stepped forward, unclipping his stun baton from his belt and extending it with a snap as he flicked his wrist. Web sank to his knees and put his hands together.
"Please, I'm begging you!" he pleaded as the guard approached. The Priman took a short step as he reached just the right distance in front of Web to zap him. Web saw it and acted. He rolled forward over his left shoulder, coming back up with his left arm raised and grabbing the guard's wrist. He continued his motion forward as he started to stand back up. His right arm went through the guard's legs and wrapped around his right leg as he stood and lifted. The guard went up and backwards, crashing to the ground with Web on top of him. Web grabbed the stun baton and tapped the man's temple with it, the loud crack of the energy discharge heard halfway across the yard.
Panicked senators started to run in the opposite direction, fearful of being near the event when reprisals came.
The other guard was almost to Web, stun baton forgotten and blaster raised. Web swung the baton and knocked the blaster from the man's hands, losing his own baton in the process.
The guard got a jab in on Web's cheek, armored gloves jarring the Confed man. Taking the opportunity to move forward, the Priman gut-punched Web twice, sending him to the ground in a heap. He grabbed Web by the collar and dragged him away from the doorway onto open ground where he kicked him twice before backing off.
Web dragged himself up far enough to rest on his elbow as he glared at the Priman through a rapidly-blooming black eye. He wheezed as he gathered his breath, making every effort to not scan the yard to see if Halley was making her move.
"You pathetic, sick and twisted, rock-humping-" Web began, but was cut short as the guard kicked him in the stomach again. Web was reduced to a fit of coughing as he fought for breath. The Priman backed off while checking on his partner, who was already regaining consciousness and looked like he had vengeance on his mind.
"I wasn't done yet!" Web gasped. "You're so ugly..."
The guard supervisor had noticed the altercation almost immediately. He looked around the yard and saw the political prisoners scattering, most likely afraid of being associated with the military prisoner. At least he was willing to stand up for himself, unlike this bunch he was being forced to watch over. He considered calling in backup but changed his mind when he saw Web go down and receive a few swift kicks from the guard. He shook his head slightly.
"That one was always going to be trouble," he said softly, watching Web yell something at the guard that caused another kick to the stomach.
"Don't you know it," he heard from behind. He made to turn but didn't get any farther than the idea that he should have checked his six.
Halley punched him in the kidney as hard as she could, the man's light armored vest having protective plates in front and back but nothing to safeguard the sides of the torso. The jab shocked his system and caused him to stagger to his knees and lock up. Though he didn't know it yet, he'd be urinating blood for a week as well. Halley grabbed him in a choke hold from behind, and it was over seconds later.
"I thought you were going to let me take him out," she heard Mithus say from behind her. "I wanted to vent on someone
."
"Sorry; Web's my boyfriend, so I get to avenge any bodily harm to him."
Mithus just grunted as he hit the release tabs from the antenna on the guard's shoulder. He grabbed the Priman's sidearm as well. "Fine, then, but I at least get the gun."
"I won't need one."
Web squinted at the sun as the latest round of kicks faded. Oddly enough, after a while, they seemed to feel less intense. Maybe it was some sort of shock. Maybe he was just getting used to the punishment. Either way, though, tomorrow was going to be a very rough day. He braced himself for the next kick but none came. Not wanting to get his hopes up and then have them crushed by another steel-toed boot to the guts, he simply waited as he saw two humanoid shapes stand over him. Halley sure as hell owed him for this.
"Get up, you lazy bum," he heard Mithus say. Web risked a fully eyes-open glance around and saw that the two shapes over him were in fact Halley and Mithus. He smiled as best he could through the pain.
"I might need a quick nap and perhaps a change of underwear."
Halley knelt down to get close to him. "How are you doing? You know, you could have just annoyed them by talking a lot. You do that well." She smiled as he looked in her eyes.
"They were getting ornery, so I had to improvise," Web grunted out. "Now help me get up please so we can get out of this hole. What's your plan on that, by the way?"
Halley grinned as she cocked her head a bit, raising one ear higher and looking up to the sky. "Shhh. Listen."
Web didn't hear anything at first, and then he did. Some sort of low rumble in the distance, followed closely after by air raid sirens.
Five minutes earlier, a medium sized troop transport at a local refurbishment depot had gone haywire. Dropped off six days before and listed in the computer as a major overhaul candidate, it had been moved to one of the outlots and put in the queue for refurb. Oddly enough, the orders had called for it to be fueled and serviced for flight and listed as a potential auxiliary. The depot mechanics didn't argue; most were from Callidor and were forced to work here anyway, so they just did their jobs, kept their heads down and hoped for the best. The transport had sat quietly for the last week, doing nothing of interest at all until now.
Now, for some reason, the ship powered up and sealed the doors. Engines spooled and repulsor thrusters lit up as the ship lifted slowly off the ground. Ground service cables connecting power and oxygen strained and finally snapped as the ship rose higher and higher while the depot workers watched. What in the world was this supposedly inoperative ship doing flying itself?
Web followed Halley's gaze as she looked off in the distance.
"Halley," Web said slowly, "what have you done?"
She grinned at him as she explained. "I may have bought and installed an illegal AI autoflight controller in a Priman troop transport. Then I might have dropped it off at a local refurb depot and had them stash it in a corner where it wouldn't be bothered. And now, it might be about the time that I programmed it to fly in here to rescue us."
"You always have a plan," Web replied.
"I did have to blow up a building to clear a path in, though. You can't see it, but there's a ring of anti-aircraft batteries around this facility. The building I leveled to get myself caught and tossed in here opened up a corridor to the northwest." She pointed in the indicated direction. "It'll come over that building and land in the yard. It will barely fit, so we need to keep the prisoners just inside the doors until it's down. Mithus is taking care of opening the doors now."
"Go do what you need," Web said instantly. "I'll be fine here. In fact, I promise to not go anywhere quick."
She nodded and blew him a quick kiss before getting up and running across the yard. Mithus was standing in one of the two doorways, rifle from one of the fallen guards in hand as he waved the senators through. Halley joined the commotion and Web lost track of them as he grimaced while bracing himself against the wall and slowly raising himself to a standing position.
Mithus had blown the locks off the doors and shot the single Priman guard inside the corridor. He knew the large indoor prisoner gathering space was just a few steps down the hall and had ordered all the senators into it. The three that he and Halley had recruited to help were living up to their promises, directing traffic and acting as lookouts while everyone ran past into the space.
Halley ran up to Mithus and he offered her the other guard's rifle, which she accepted and checked over. "How's it going?" she asked.
"I could use you down the corridor a bit at the intersection to relieve the senator down there," Mithus began. "He's doing ok but he won't be stopping anyone that comes looking."
"Got it," she replied, then took off.
When she arrived, she saw the senator being thrown against the wall by a guard who hadn't noticed her arrival. He turned and swung at her with a big haymaker of a punch. She blocked down with her left hand, then slid forward, dropping her rifle and wrapping her left arm up against his right shoulder, his arm trapped in an arm bar against her as she pushed down on his tricep with her bladed hand. As he was forced over forward at the hip, she brought her right hand up to chop him in the throat, sending him to the ground in a heap.
"Hello Senator," she said cheerily as she retrieved the rifle. "Want to go home today?"
"Who are you people?" the man, young for a senator, asked.
"SAR operatives from Confed, sir," she replied. "Can you keep an eye on this one for me so I can head down the hall a bit?" she asked. She offered the man her rifle as she grabbed the sidearm of the guard she'd just knocked out. He hadn't been carrying a long gun, but the pistol would do just fine in the confined spaces of the building.
"What do I do?" he asked.
"Just point the rifle at him. Stock up to your shoulder, finger outside the trigger guard unless you plan to zap him. He gives you any trouble, either shoot him or just use the stock to brain him and he'll go back to sleep for a while."
With that, Halley jogged down the hallway to keep an eye out for reinforcements, wide eyed senator watching her leave.
She jogged carefully, because she was finally feeling the effects of exertion on her battered body. Her improperly-healed gunshot wound from Web's capture had been a problem since the beginning, and the harder she pushed herself the more it hurt. She could press on through a lot of it, years of training and simple mind over matter going a long ways, but there was a point at which the body simply stopped cooperating like she wanted it to.
She jogged with a stitch in her side, uneven gait giving way to a slight limp which caused her leg muscles on that side to lock up some as well. I need a vacation, she finally admitted to herself.
Web braced himself against a reinforced frame in the corner of the yard's wall as the transport slowly drew overhead, wind from the engines whipping the air into a fury below and causing a low grade dust storm. He recognized the design but hadn't ever seen one in real life. It was a medium transport; two decks, short and stubby and to his eyes resembling something that was dead and bloated, but he'd never been very partial to Priman designs anyway. Like all their ships, it was smooth and silver with no exterior ports, though the almost chrome-like sheen of the finish had faded into a scuffed silver after years of use. A quick once-over and he realized it was going to be very close quarters for the two hundred plus senators they had with them.
The transport hovered overhead now, subsonic thrum from the repulsors pounding at Web's brain. A handful of blaster shots splashed against the hull in futility; Web couldn't see where they'd come from but they stopped quickly.
Finally, the ship settled onto the ground. He looked at the exterior wall of the closest building and saw that one of the sensor blisters on the ship had rubbed a furrow all the way from roof to door height as the ship had descended. Wasting no time, Web staggered as fast as he could towards the boarding hatch as it swung inward. Flying a Priman ship was going to be fun.
Halley rounded the corner, gimpy leg doing its best to make her lo
ok tired and weak. She passed the young senator, who had the Priman guard standing against the wall with his hands on his head, senator a safe distance away with rifle pointed at the guard's center mass and finger on the trigger.
She staggered up to Mithus, who lifted an eyebrow at her gait.
"They say injuries build character," she offered, not wanting to elaborate.
Mithus simply nodded, having suffered through his share of wounds in his service to Confed as well. "Your transport just landed and Web is already inside. I hope he knows how to fly it."
"Between him and the AI controller we'll get out of here," she assured him.
She heard a commotion; yelling, increasing in volume from the direction of the senator and guard. The Priman was yelling something at the senator and the younger man was yelling right back.
"Senator!" Halley yelled. "Tell him to shut up; he's just trying to distract all of us. You're in charge here!"
"He won't be quiet!" the senator yelled without turning around, knowing enough at least to keep his eyes on the guard.
"Would you just club him then?"
"Really?" the senator yelled, voice cracking a bit.
"Yes," Halley replied, "you'll like it. Just do it; I can't hear myself think!"
She saw the senator flip the rifle around and jab the Priman in the forehead. The guard sunk to the ground, groaning softly enough that only the young politician heard. He stood up and looked guardedly at Halley, still not sure what to do now.
Halley gave him a thumbs up and a smile, then turned back to Mithus. "We'll follow you."
Web sat in the pilot's seat, working his way across the panel. The Primans were humanoid just like him; most of the layout looked generally familiar. Control yoke, throttle, engine readouts, though he couldn't read what they were saying. As long as the displays showed something he figured it was good enough to get going.
