Wild Nines (Mercenaries Book 1)

by A. R. Knight

“You’re truly lucky that you brought her, someone who knows how to play the game,” Bosser said to Davin, then slid his gaze to Lina. “I could, provided you will pay the price.”

  53

  Prep the Rescue

  The Whiskey Jumper angled itself towards the prison level of Miner Prime. The docking bays at the middle of the station kept ships away from here, giving the Jumper plenty of room to maneuver. Flight control kept trying to hail her, and Phyla kept ignoring them. They were threatening to scramble fighters, a threat that’d come true in a minute. Phyla was taking what remained of her relationship with the station and lighting it on fire.

  Ask someone in a bar and they’d tell you that shooting at humanity’s largest space station wasn’t the greatest plan. It would be unexpected though. Phyla swung the Jumper into position, aiming straight at the prison level. They had to be close. Precise.

  Miner Prime wouldn’t activate their shields, and thus block all incoming and outgoing trade traffic, unless they had to. The goal was to break through the hull before that happened.

  “Mox, you have ten seconds,” Phyla commed, then switched to Trina’s channel. “Trina, I'll fire a couple blasts, then we have to play one heckuva game of catch. You going to be ready?”

  “Am I ever not?” Trina replied.

  “Erick, you at the airlock?”

  “Confirmed,” Erick said.

  For the first time today, something was going as planned. Figured that it would be the prison break. According to the station maps, acquired and provided long ago by Lina, cell 24 was sitting on the outside of the station. Mox said that cell was empty. In another two seconds, according to Phyla and the twin turrets on the Jumper, that cell would be replaced by a gaping hole into vacuum. Hopefully, the right people fell through it.

  54

  Out and About

  The guard fired the stun gun, but Mox saw it coming. The tightened grip, the sudden beads of sweat. So many tells someone was going to be a hero. Mox swung his guard in front of the bolt and felt the body shield go limp. Mox charged forward with the body in his arm, holding it ahead. When the body hit the laser gate, it broke the connection for a moment. If the guard had been awake when he hit that gate, it would’ve fried his senses and left him unconscious.

  As it was, the guard’s nap was going to be even longer. The lasers tripped off until reset, to prevent overloading a prisoner’s nerves to the point where they died. Which meant Mox could walk right to the last guard.

  The little man had guts. The guard had the sidearm pointed right at Mox’s face, pushed the trigger as Mox batted the weapon away. It flew down the corridor after its own shot, and Mox threw the guard after it a moment later.

  “Mox, you have ten seconds,” Phyla’s voice came over the comm.

  Opal and Merc were to the right, in cell 22. The switch toggling the laser gate was right outside the door. It required a badge, so Mox grabbed one of the unconscious guards he’d knocked over and held him up to the control panel. It bleeped an affirmative. The lasers disappeared, which meant right about… now. An alarm sounded. Obnoxious, like nails on metal. Then a bang. Deafening. A sucking roar, a rush of air from the cell next to Opal and Merc’s.

  Mox stepped around Opal and lifted Merc from the slat with his right hand as the pull from the air became stronger. It tugged at his legs, the skeleton boosting Mox’s downward force to keep his grip. Opal had no such support and tumbled backwards. Out the hole Phyla blew in the station, out into the cold death of space. A second alarm, lower toned, joined the first. Prison break and atmosphere leak. Mox laughed. Bet they didn’t have that scenario covered. His arm reached out, grabbed Opal’s wrist, held her back.

  “Was this the plan?!” Opal yelled over the noise.

  “Yes,” Mox replied.

  “It’s a shitty one!”

  Now, Mox laughed.

  A moment later the pull of the atmosphere lessened. The tug went away. A new question. Due to friend or foe?

  “There?” Mox commed.

  “Jump away,” Trina answered. “We’ll catch you.”

  Mox let go of Opal and, now cradling Merc, ran into the hallway. One cell over. A door opened far down the cell block. Stun bolts fired, but they were off-target. Hasty shots. Opal running behind him. Turned into the next cell. Torn hole in the back. Through it, the open circular door of the Whiskey Jumper’s airlock, jammed into the station to provide enough of a seal. Mox jumped through the hole, keeping Merc tight in his arms. Behind him, Opal leapt. The three of them flew through the outer door.

  It sealed rapidly, the inner door staying shut until the computers confirmed there wasn’t a leak. Out the airlock’s window, Mox could see Miner Prime shrinking as Phyla blasted away. Then the inner door opened and Erick yelled at Mox to bring Merc in to the med bay.

  55

  Shots Fired

  “I haven’t even heard it and I already want to say no,” Davin said.

  “Work for me,” Bosser said. “And I’ll convince them to drop the charges. No more running for your lives.”

  Oh, that was a good one. Swap the stick for the carrot.

  “Tempting, but why us? There have to be other mercenary groups,” Davin replied. “Ones you wouldn’t have to work so hard to get.

  “Anyone can buy loyalty with coin, all it takes is more than the next person,” Bosser said. The man still looked serene, sitting on his couch. Davin took another gulp of the wine.

  “But the threat of branding them criminals . . .” Lina said and Bosser spread his hands.

  “You understand,” Bosser said.

  “Don’t know what I hate more,” Davin said. “That you’re blackmailing me, or that I’m considering it.”

  “Logic is your friend here, Davin,” Bosser said. “You have a crew to take care of. I’m offering you a chance to do it.”

  Bosser’s comm beeped, and he took a second to glance at it, frowned, then looked back at Davin with a straight face.

  “It seems your friends are racking up more crimes for you to answer for,” Bosser said. “Make your choice.”

  Agree, and the Nines become flunkies for this wino prince for who knows how long. Say no and they’re back in the streets, dodging shots and finding a way to survive. Thing was, Davin had been there. A childhood in Vagrant’s Hollow taught him there was always a way, so long as he could make his own choices. Davin glanced at Lina, read the same thing in her eyes, her slight nod.

  “Gonna have to take a pass, boss-man,” Davin said. “The whole threat thing doesn’t do it for me.”

  Bosser didn’t react, but that was its own reaction. Sitting still, eyes drilling into Davin as though Bosser was trying to see through him. Hands clasped tight. Maybe the man was having a stroke. Popped a vein on the way to the brain when Davin refused.

  “Fine,” Was what Bosser said, finally, right before he stood up, pulled a small sidearm from beneath his vest, and shot Lina in the chest.

  The moment Bosser reached into his coat, Davin moved. He didn’t beat the shot, but a half second later, Davin was on Bosser, tackling the man to the ground and pinning the gun out to the side with Davin’s right hand. With his left, Davin was striking home when the door opened and something else fired. It was high, glancing off of the wall near Davin’s head, but it forced him to roll right off of Bosser. On the way, using his momentum, Davin grabbed and tore the weapon from Bosser’s hand. Came up with it aiming towards the door. At… Viola?

  “Don’t shoot him!” Viola was screaming, and then Davin noticed the android.

  It moved into the room, stepping around the couch and over Bosser until it stood above Davin, an impassive scowl on its face. Bosser, behind it, rose to his knees and shook his head. The android reached behind its back and drew out a knife it’d used back on Europa. Something that, in another time and place, Davin would have found cool, but now only deepened the surreal horror.

  Davin pointed the sidearm at the android’s chest. He doubted the shot would stop the coming sw
ing, would keep Davin’s head from finding a place on the floor, but what else was there?

  Viola was yelling, but everyone ignored it. The android adjusted its grip as Davin tightened his fingers on the trigger, as Bosser stood back up, and Lina coughed loudly. Then spoke.

  “You’re not the only one with surprises,” Lina said, her voice bubbling as blood pooled in her mouth.

  Davin risked a look, saw Lina, a deep red stain on her outfit, slumped in the chair. Saw her earrings in one hand, saw that hand close around and press hard. A deep bass beat, a rumble felt more than heard. In front of Davin, the android collapsed, knife hitting the ground. Davin’s sidearm clicked, nothing more. A short-range EMP, disabler of electric devices. Potentially suicidal in space, where disabling air systems meant death, but when death was imminent anyway, what was there to lose?

  Bosser swore then sprinted past Viola, who didn’t try stopping him. Davin scrambled over to Lina, looking at the wound. A jagged burn. Bosser's modified sidearm producing more power than allowed by the manufacturer. That’s the only way it could’ve blown through Lina’s thick jacket.

  “He seemed so civil,” Lina said, her eyes looping over to Davin. “I didn’t think he’d try it. What a bastard.”

  “Don’t worry about him. He’ll get his,” Davin said. “We’ve got to get you to the ship. To Erick.”

  “Sure,” Lina said.

  Viola was crouching over the android. Looking for something.

  “Know how to reset an android?” Lina coughed, and Viola shook her head. “I played with a few I found as scrap. Press on the temples.”

  “You two understand we’re getting more and more screwed the longer we stay here?” Davin said.

  Viola ignored him and pressed on the android’s forehead. Tiny clicks announced latches coming loose. A thin line appeared across the front of its scalp, then grew as a console rose out, wires spreading out beneath it like a mechanical jellyfish.

  “See?” Lina said, coughing up a line of blood. “Simple.”

  “If it wakes up, I'll blow its head off,” Davin said.

  Not that he had a working weapon on him, but it felt good to say.

  Shouts came from outside the room, the sound of approaching boots on metal. Davin ran over to the doorway. Looked out at a cluster of peacekeepers making their slow way down the hallway. Target city.

  “Hand me his weapons,” Davin said, and Viola grabbed the red and blue guns in the android’s holsters and slid them to Davin. No sliders here, blue for stun, red for dead. Davin shot a couple of blue bolts. Hit one, his buddies catching him as he fell back. The peacekeepers flattened themselves against the side, a couple sending return fire Davin’s way.

  “We’re screwed here,” Davin said as a few bolts splashed against the doorway. “They’ll have reinforcements coming, and when they arrive, they’ll just swarm us.”

  “It’s not that complicated,” Viola said. “For all they’re capable of—”

  “They’re never supposed to shut down,” Lina, sitting in her chair, said. “This one could’ve blocked my EMP had it known what it was. Kill the power itself first, then restarted after theEMP.”

  “Cadge did something similar,” Viola said. “But Fournine, that’s its name—”

  “You know its name?!” Davin sent another pair of shots towards the peacekeepers. They were edging along the hall, being cautious. The peacekeepers didn't have to get reckless with the three of them trapped.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Lina said. “Can you get in?”

  “I think so,” Viola hunched over the small console, hands working fast. “There’s so little security.”

  “People aren’t meant to get this far,” Lina said.

  Outside the door, a pair of peacekeepers in full body armor walked up the stairs and into the hall. They were holding batons that would tweak Davin’s nerves like a bolt of lightning. He shot another stunning bolt, watched it disappear into the armor without causing a flinch.

  “OK, kid, we’re out of time,” Davin said.

  “Almost there!” Viola said.

  “Aren’t we always out of time?” Lina said, her eyes rolling towards Davin. She wasn’t looking good, her face a bloodless pale, arms and legs hanging off the ends of the chair.

  “Don’t you go giving up on me,” Davin said. “We’ve been in worse spots than this.”

  “Don’t know about that, love,” Lina said.

  Viola looked up at that. Davin took another look out the hallway. The armored pair were creeping, wary. A few more seconds, though, and Davin would get a beat-down he’d rather avoid.

  “We’re going to talk about that word later,” Davin said, this time using the red gun to fire. These bolts packed more power, left black burn marks on the armor, but the peacekeepers kept coming.

  “Here we go!” Viola announced.

  Davin glanced at the bot, but then the lighting changed. The armored peacekeepers had reached the doorway. A baton swung at Davin and he jumped back, falling on the floor. Crawling away, Davin tried to create more space. One of the peacekeepers loomed over him.

  “You should have surrendered,” the guard behind the mask said, and the baton swung.

  It didn’t land. A perfect hand caught the peacekeeper’s forearm and held it. Then the android’s leg kicked the peacekeeper’s knee and sent the guard falling to the ground. The second peacekeeper tried to hit the android with his baton, but the bot spun away from it, drew its second knife.

  “No killing!” Viola yelled. Fournine hesitated, threw Viola a look.

  “That will make things more difficult,” The android said. Davin jumped on the tripped peacekeeper, pinning the guard’s baton arm to the ground with one hand and slipping Fournine’s stunning gun beneath the folds of the peacekeeper’s armor.

  “Nap time,” Davin said pulling the trigger. The peacekeeper went limp. Davin felt the apartment shake and looked up to see Fournine throw the second peacekeeper into the wall, then send a rapid sequence of blows with the knife hilt to the guard’s head. The peacekeeper collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

  “Clear a path to the docking bays,” Viola said.

  Fournine sheathed its knives, turned to Davin with its hands outstretched. Davin hesitated. Give the android those guns and it could blow them all to death in a second. Then again, if Fournine still wanted to kill them, it could have done it already.

  Davin threw the guns. Fournine caught both and slipped out into the hallway.

  A moment later, as Davin and Viola lifted an unconscious Lina off of the chair, the screams started in the hallway. Flashes of laser fire created a strobe effect for a few seconds. When the firing stopped, the hallway was quiet. Time to go home.

  56

  Snatch and Run

  Merc was back in his bed, Erick’s meds knocking him out. Opal and Mox sharing the twin turrets. Trina working the engines as the Jumper took cover in the swarm of ships orbiting Miner Prime.

  “You send those fighters after us, you will cause more problems than you solve,” Phyla commed to Miner Prime’s flight control.

  “But you blew up part of our prison!” came the reply.

  “You arrested our crew for no reason,” Phyla said. “I’ll make a deal - you let us get the rest of our people off, we’ll never come back here again. Nobody else needs to get hurt.”

  The Miner Prime officer started another angry threat, then stopped in the middle of it. A few seconds of silence.

  “I’m being told to let you go,” the officer said. “Ordered not to interfere. But if you so much as cause any more damage, I’ll have my pilots turn you into ash.”

  Ordered? By who? Not that Phyla was going to argue.

  “Deal,” Phyla replied, then cut the transmission. Sat back in the chair and looked at the space station. Already a group of repair bots and a larger maintenance shuttle were hovering over the prison level, welding back together the blasted pieces. Ships continued to blast in and out of the docking bays. Miner Prime’s com
merce would not pause just for one group of fiery mercenaries.

  “Phyla?” the comm buzzed, Davin’s voice. “We’re in the bay. You’re not.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Phyla replied. “We’ll head your way. Make sure the door’s open.”

  Getting the engines going, Phyla swung the ship in a slow arc back towards the space station. Approaching things in space always felt strange, how they appeared from nothing against the dark background. Dots that grew into moons, ships, Miner Prime. At least she wouldn't bother dealing with traffic control this time.

  “Lina’s been shot. Get Erick ready,” Davin said.

  “Bad?”

  “Not good.”

  Ignoring a furious and yelling Miner Prime flight control officer, Phyla swung the Whiskey Jumper into the bay they’d trashed not an hour before. The burn marks of turret fire pocked the otherwise spotless interior. Phyla saw Davin, Viola, and then, holding Lina, a fourth she didn’t recognize. Another pity project for Davin?

  The ramp lowered with the press of a button, Erick and Mox at the ready to grab Lina and throw her into the med bed. Through the filter of the Jumper’s security cameras, Phyla saw Viola leading the new one up the ramp. The man’s posture was perfect, his steps going in an even pace up the ramp. And then he turned and stared straight at the camera, gave a slight wave.

  “It’s the android,” Davin said, stepping into the cockpit. “Stop looking at it and get us out of here.”

  “Isn’t it a terrible idea to have that creepy thing on our ship?”

  “Not anymore. Just go.”

  “Where’s Cadge?” Phyla said.

  “He’s not here?” Davin paused. “Is he answering his comm?”

  “Viola was using it last.”

  “She only managed to re-program the android in Bosser’s office,” Davin said, eyes closing for a moment. “After she had the comm.”