“So, nothing was going on between you two? Not that it’s my business, but I heard stories of how you Carbonari all sleep together.”
A sharp pain stung Theo’s cheek, as Cierra slapped him. She jerked the laser gun out of his hand. Her mouth was a thin, taut line. “Practice is over, little brother. Now get some sleep before we need to get up, and don’t you ever make that insinuation again!”
Theo gaped at her in dismay, as she stormed off. He hadn’t expected her to hit him. Theo leaned up against the cavern wall, and touched his cheek. His back slid down the wall. Massaging where she had slapped him, Theo gazed up at Relisse until his eyes were too heavy to keep open any longer. He drifted into a restless sleep.
The next morning, the group of revolutionaries were up and ready to go before the sun appeared over the shoreline. Cierra walked by and kicked Theo’s boots. A wad of fabric landed in his lap. She placed a pail of water in the sand beside him. “We need to leave soon. Here’s some water if you want to clean up. You don’t have to do too much. The local militia isn’t big on personal hygiene. Throw on the uniform, and meet us at the hovercraft.”
Theo splashed some water on his face to clear away the fog of sleep. After stretching his stiff muscles, he got dressed, and joined the others in the hovercraft. When they were all strapped into place, Cierra fired the fans, and they headed back out over the sea. The noise was jarringly loud, in the silence of the predawn. Theo felt as though half of Carristoux could hear them.
Cierra took the drive as a chance to fill him in. “We’re going back to the market place. The local post has what we need, and the militiamen will be too busy checking out the souk to be of much use. It turns out that you and Garth did us a favor yesterday. Hubard listened to the radio chatter last night, and they’re busy searching the market grounds for whoever killed those bandits. They’re not talking about the sudden departure of a delivery ship or the firefight last night. They probably want to keep those incidents quiet, in case it makes them look bad.”
“Or tips us off.” Hubard leaned over, and muttered close to Theo’s ear.
“Won’t they spot your hovercraft and ask questions?” Theo had to raise his voice over the turbine’s whine to be heard.
“Hubard put a transponder on it that mimics a commercial jet ferry.” Cierra turned to give the older man a pointed look. “It’s going to work this time, right, Hubard?” With a bit of hesitation, the older man nodded. Theo didn’t ask about the last time, as he was too concerned about the present.
The hovercraft touched down, a hundred yards from the CRM post. The transponder had worked. In a few minutes, Theo, Cierra, Cherish and Makram set out on foot towards the post.
“Why are the others staying in the hovercraft?” Theo cast an uncertain glance behind them. He could see a blockhouse, surrounded by a wall where the CRM banner flew in the setting sun.
Cierra reached in her pocket, and fished out a small device. “Hubard hacked the design of the base, but we can’t risk sending you in with a body camera. So, you’re going to need this. He’ll be your contact from the hovercraft. All you have to do is tell him where you are, and whom you can see. He’ll talk you through the post. He can hear you with the earpiece. Don’t make it too obvious. I don’t need this mission ending bad because a militiaman decided to get curious.”
“What’s my objective, again?”
“Get to the command center. It’s right in the middle, and should be easy to find.”
Although the four of them were covered by cloaks, Theo was still worried. Both Hojae and Cherish were big enough to make anyone do a second take. If anything, the cloaks made them appear to be more of a threat. Luckily, no one bothered them. It was the first day of the souk, and a big party was in progress on the beach. It was a welcome diversion.
The group didn’t have any difficulties, until they were almost to the gate. A sentry tried to look stern with his rifle held across his chest. Theo thought he must be one of the newer recruits. The boy still only had peach fuzz on his cheeks. He lifted one hand in the air, to stop them. “Halt! This is a government post. You must present a pass!”
“You mean one of these?” Hojae spoke, and pulled out his laser. Before the sentry could respond, the Josti burnt a hole through the spot where the sentry’s heart was located.
They watched him fall, with a thud. Theo felt his stomach turn. Cierra rounded on Hojae, and gave him a dirty look. “That was uncalled for!”
“You said you wanted me to take out anyone who jeopardized the mission.” Hojae shrugged all four of his shoulders, as he holstered his weapon.
“Quick, we need to get him away from the gate.” Cierra made them hustle to cover up the death. The sentry’s pockets had all the documents and personal information Theo would need on the inside.
Theo tore off his cloak, and laid it over the body of the dead sentry. He said a short prayer in his head. Standing up, Theo straightened the loose CRM uniform he had been wearing under his cloak. “How do I look?”
“You’ll pass in low light. Wear your cap a little bit to the right, they usually have to cut their hair closer to the scalp, and yours is too long.” Cierra reached over, and tugged his hat into place.
“So, what are you going to do?” Theo stood nervously at the entrance to the door, with the pass card in his hand. The truth was, he was trying to buy himself a little more time.
“There are more sentries.” Cierra glared at Hojae, and lowered her voice to reprimand him. “This time use a sonic gun. Stun, not kill.”
“They make noise.” Hojae waved his top two hands in dismay.
Pursing her lips, Cierra stood on her tiptoes to be closer to his height. “Do what I tell you to do!” Her words were answered with a cracking sound. Theo wasn’t sure, but he suspected Hojae cracking his lower knuckles was the equivalent of an eye roll for the Josti.
“You think I can take that with me?” Theo pointed at the dress sword on the belt around the body of the sentry.
The other three looked at each other in silence. The stillness was broken by Cierra. “I don’t see why not. It’s part of his uniform. Might as well. He won’t be needing it.”
Theo unsnapped the belt, and hooked it around his waist. He pulled out the blade, and looked at it. In the fading moonlight before dawn, it shone with a bright reflection. The dazzling glint caught him off guard. It seemed he wasn’t the only one.
Hojae gasped in fascination. “That’s an infintium blade! I can’t believe they’d let a regular militiaman have it!”
“Part of the uniform.” Theo smiled cockily, and slid it back into the scabbard. Theo had always wanted one, since boyhood.
Taking a deep breath, Theo walked up to the door of the post, and slid his pass card into a slot next to it. He waited, and the light above the slot turned green. As his companions watched in the distance, it opened, and Theo walked into the building. The door closed behind him.
No one greeted him when he stepped inside, but Cierra had mentioned that most of the local militia were at the souk. The hallway he was in appeared to consist of poured concrete. Theo walked a few paces, and tapped on his earpiece. “You read me, Hubard?”
“I hear you. Anyone around? Remember, don’t make it obvious.” The old man’s voice crackled in Theo’s ear.
“I’m all alone. Are there any security cameras in this place?”
“No. That’s why we gave you the earpiece. I can’t watch what you’re doing, so you’ll have to tell me. This isn’t an important post, so the local administration never got around to putting in cameras.”
The air was cold, and smelled of dust. Theo didn’t hear anything. “So where do I go? I came in through the door, as you instructed. The corridor splits up ahead. Which direction do I take?”
“Take a right and head down the hall. The command center is beyond a door at the end. Don’t bother looking for signs. They usually don’t have them posted, just in case people like us get inside.”
“What do I do
, once I get through the door?”
“Walk around, and act like you’re doing something important. The duty roster only shows two people in there, until shift change. If anyone challenges you, tell them Commander Octavian told you to make a periodic check on the heat exchanger readings.”
Theo nodded, and then felt silly. It wasn’t like Hubard could see him. “And where do I find the device that tells me the heat exchanger readings?”
“How the hell should I know? Look, you’re inside. Just follow my instructions, and do the best you can.”
Theo grumbled about his half-baked cover story, and walked down the hall. He did his best to appear normal. He tried to channel his military past. If he recalled correctly, the lower ranks spent their time avoiding the upper ones, and just prayed that no one needed a vehicle cleaned. Most of what he’d done in his early days was hose down the transport ships that brought the supplies for the cafeteria. His platoon prayed for the daily ‘carry on, men’ from their commanding officer.
He pushed the door open, and walked inside the command center. Instead of two people at the post, there was only one. From the flashing on his uniform, Theo could tell it was a new recruit. This specialist couldn’t have been in more than four months, and they gave him authority of the command center? Someone was over confident. He would probably end up paying for that later. Higher ranks saw men like that as easy targets. You didn’t get anywhere with those men, unless you paid your dues.
“Hey, the old man wants me to check the readings on the heat exchanger.” He put a bored look on his face, as the militiaman looked up from the tablet in front of him.
The kid quickly sat up straight, and tried to hide his tablet. Clearly, he had been looking at something he wasn’t supposed to while he was on duty. “Over on the far wall. Red panel with the yellow lights. First time I’ve heard anyone complain about it, but I’ve only been here three months.”
“Thanks.” Theo patted the counter, and walked over to the panel. With his peripheral vision, he watched the new conscript turn back to his tablet, as subtly as he could. On the display screen was a picture of the same hovercraft they had used to get near this post. Theo felt an initial moment of panic, until he realized it was a sports model, and the soldier was reading about its time trials at one of the local tracks. Theo let out a sigh of relief, and looked back at the panel he was supposed to be checking.
“Tap your teeth if you’re in the command center, and there’s no trouble.” Hubard’s voice startled him over the earpiece, but Theo did as instructed.
“Good. Now go to the door in corner by the big clock. That will take you to where the impound warehouse is located. We have reason to believe there is something in there that we need. The others are finished with the remaining sentries. I need to know what’s inside that warehouse.”
Theo felt a trickle of sweat slide down the back of his neck. No one had said anything about checking a warehouse. He forced a smile, and turned back to the young man on duty. “It looks good to me. I’ll be going.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He didn’t even look up from his tablet this time.
Theo pushed open the door to the impound warehouse, and walked inside. It was bare. The space was a good seventy feet wide and ten feet tall. It was bare. Theo looked around in the faint light, with a puzzled look on his face. What exactly was he supposed to find?
“Hubard? I’m in the warehouse you told me about, but it’s empty. Are you sure you had the right location?”
The older man’s voice was sharp and urgent. “Theo, I need you to go back in to the command center, and find out what happened to the contents of the warehouse. Now.”
Theo stopped before he turned around, and looked at the empty warehouse again. Cierra’s friends were making a habit out of asking a lot of him, especially when he was in dangerous situations. Theo vowed never to have anything to do with his brother or Cierra again, if he made it out of this alive. He turned around, opened the door, and marched back into the command center.
The same conscript was still flipping through pictures on his tablet. Theo glanced around, and decided there was only one way to find out what happened. Ask. “Say, I have a bit of a problem here. The old man wanted something out of that warehouse. Problem is, it’s empty. Is he mistaken again?”
The man glanced up, and stared for a few seconds at Theo. “Why did he tell you that? I had an order from him issued two hours ago to comply with someone who needed to pick up all those rocks. The guy came, and took them. Damned if I know why they needed to keep them in that place. It’s where the smuggler’s loot usually ends up.”
Theo heard Hubard swear on the other end of the earpiece. “Ask him for a description.”
“What did that guy look like? Maybe I have the wrong orders.” He tapped his finger on his thigh, as if contemplating something.
“Chubby and old. He had the paperwork that matched the orders.”
Theo squinted, curiously. “Did he have a name?”
“Garth something.”
This time, Hubard’s squawk of dismay was so bad that the earpiece almost fell out. Theo winced, but managed to turn it into a shrug, and thanked the other soldier. The conscript returned to his tablet and hovercraft races, as Theo left the room.
“What are your plans now, puppet master?” Theo sneered at Hubard.
“Get outside. Now. Don’t hesitate. The others are there with a blue carrier we bought last week, just for this job. I’ve told them about what happened, and they’re waiting for you. They found the guns and ammo we had to get. I’m heading out with the hovercraft right now. We’ll all meet up at the same island we were on this morning.” Theo acknowledged the instruction, and he heard the connection click off on the earpiece.
He stopped in the corridor for a minute. Wouldn’t it just be easier for the others to laser me down the moment I open the door? It would solve many problems, especially with the missing rocks. Theo didn’t have the slightest idea what those rocks represented, but he bet it had something to do with the mineral samples he took from Garth. If they killed him, they would have one less loose end, and they wouldn’t have to pay him. Maybe his survival rate would be better if he turned himself in right now. Theo shook his head, and gritted his teeth. As much as he hated to do it, he needed to trust them a little bit longer.
Outside the door, Cierra and Hojae stood next to the blue transporter. His sister-in-law appeared to be both anxious and pissed-off. “What the hell happened back there? Hubard said the warehouse was empty.”
“Garth pulled a double cross on you, and picked up whatever it was you wanted for himself. Why do you need more rocks? Didn’t you get your guns and ammunition?” Theo looked around, and saw several prone sentries in the distance.
“The rocks are from the same samples Garth gave you. Hubard’s calling it Relissarium. Okay, I’ll level with you. The thing with it is, it could bring down the emperor, if it does what he claims.” Cierra paused a moment, studying Theo’s bemused reaction. “Holy Batumah, we have to get out of here. Let’s move!” Cierra stomped off, and climbed into the carrier.
In minutes, the blue carrier lifted off the ground, with Theo strapped in next to Cherish. Cierra sat up front with Hojae, as the turbofans pushed the carrier into the sky. Theo found himself slammed back in this chair, as Cierra fought to gain altitude. It was a wonder Remi never complained about her driving.
Cherish shouted up to the cockpit, “Do you think it’s wise to fly this high? It’ll be easier for them to track us.”
“They can’t track us if they don’t know where to look. Hang on. I’m going into a dive. We’ll get back to Smuggler’s Point faster, and meetup with the others. It’s going to be a rough ride.”
From the side panel, Theo watched as Cierra roared past the hovercraft that Hubard and the others were riding in. Cierra waved at it as she kicked up the turbofans, and hurled their craft forward. “You’ll have to do better than that!” she taunted, even though she was inaudible from t
he hovercraft. “Hubard thought he’d get there before me. There’s no way I’m letting that happen.”
Theo didn’t get much of a chance to relax, for remainder of the ride. Cierra appeared to delight in moving with a zigzag pattern across the waves. She pushed the transporter to its full capacity. The others seemed not to care how she flew it. From what he could tell, this wasn’t a new activity for her. Theo clutched his stomach. The carrier wasn’t the only thing doing somersaults.
“If I ever get my hands on that bastard, Garth…” Cierra let her words trail off.
Hojae threw two of his arms into the air. “How did he find out that load was so valuable? Garth came to us. If it was such a big haul, why did he try and contact us?”
Cierra’s flying worsened with her mood. “My guess is he found out about the lengths we’d go to in order to secure it, and made the logical assumption that it was valuable. Beats me how he learned about Hubard’s tests, though. It’s a high grade. He said it was at least seventy percent pure.”
Cherish had been squinting out one of the small portholes. “Cierra, I think you might want to look left. My eyes are pretty good about picking up on things. Isn’t that Garth’s cargo ship up ahead?”
Cierra brought up a screen and looked at it. She swore a string of curses Theo didn’t know. “It’s him all right. Of course, Garth would head right out to Smuggler’s Point. The sucker’s going to do the same kind of transfer we’d planned.” She began to power down the rotors, and fly slower. It was obvious she wanted to follow Garth undetected.
The carrier stayed back, just out of visual range, while Cierra followed Garth’s ship. Theo watched the intensity on her face, as she locked her eyes on the screen next to her. She kept her ship well back from her quarry. Theo couldn’t figure out her logic, but she had something in mind. He’d never seen a woman be so determined.
Annihilation: The Relissarium Wars Space Opera Series, Book 1 Page 5
