War in the Fringe - Chris J Pike

by M. D. Cooper

  “You ready?” Kal asked aloud.

  “Yeah.”

  He pushed the door open to reveal a long hall with open doorways leading off along both sides. From the plans Barry had gotten his hands on, each one led to a long room filled with bunk-style beds—something he confirmed as they reached the first door.

  “They look asleep,” he said quietly. “You take the one on the left, I’ll take the one on the right, if we find your sister, don’t wake her, just get the ID off her collar. We’ll need that to unlock it at the guard terminal.”

  Barry nodded, and the two men split up. Kal kept a visual of what the man’s sister looked like up on his HUD, skipping over the men—of which there were few—and examining each woman’s face. There were twenty bunks in each room and ten rooms on either side. If they were all occupied, that meant Maverick had nearly a thousand slaves below The Shade—and those were just the members of the lower caste. From what he’d heard, many more resided above.

  The first room was a bust, and he moved on to the second, keeping an eye on the feeds from his microdrones, which were now at the doors on either end of the main hall. He knew it would only be a matter of time before someone demanded a check-in from the two guards. Once that happened, people were going to start paying a lot more attention to what was going on in the slave dormitories.

  He and Barry moved quickly through the rooms, not finding any sign of Barry’s sister. Kal was a room behind Barry—who was on the last one on his side, when the doors on the near-end of the hall burst open, light flooding into the dim passage.

  “Freeze!” a voice commanded, and Kal let out a long groan, knowing that he wouldn’t have time to reach cover before the armored figure in the doorway took him down.

  “OK!” he called out, raising his hands. “Frozen here.”

  No sound came from the dormitory Barry had entered moments earlier, and Kal hoped the man wouldn’t do anything stupid. He’d expected a confrontation at some point, and so long as Barry stuck to the plan, they’d get through it alive.

  “Took you long enough to get here,” a voice said from behind the bulky figure.

  Kal pursed his lips, holding back a curse as Yaris stepped around. The man wore a smug grin as he stayed close to the wall, out of the armored guard’s line of fire.

  “Just happened to be down here making the rounds?” Kal asked. “Or were you coming to take a sample?”

  Yaris laughed and shook his head. “No, I don’t need to stoop to collared women to get my rocks off. I’ve actually been waiting for you. Took you longer than I expected, I was starting to wonder if you turned back.”

  “How long?”

  “The staircase you took in the Atmo Tower. Thing’s loaded with passive sensors. Been watching your progress all night.”

  Kal frowned. “Why’d you let us get in?”

  “Figured it would be a good security test. I didn’t alert any patrols, so the asshats that missed you moving through the tunnels are going to have a bad day today…and tomorrow. Honestly, though, I’m disappointed.”

  “Oh?” Kal cocked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

  “Well, just that you’d risk your life for some collared slave. Would you like to sift through our trash bins as well? I bet we’ve thrown out other scraps you might be interested in.”

  “You’re a real comedian, Yaris.”

  The man’s jovial expression vanished in an instant. “And you’re a royal pain in the ass, Kal. You should have stayed away. Getting back on Maverick’s radar was a bad idea.”

  Kal let a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Well, you’ve only got that partially right.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m not on Maverick’s radar…yet.”

  The moment the last word left his lips, the wall next to the guard exploded, flinging the armored soldier into Yaris, knocking both to the ground.

  Kal didn’t waste the opportunity. Rifle in his hands, he toggled the weapon to fire large caliber slugs, and fired a trio at a crack in the guard’s armor where the breastplate met the pauldron.

  The second round knocked the shoulder guard off, and the third took the man’s arm. Kal stepped forward and fired another two slugs into the wound, turning the man’s insides into pudding.

  Another guard was moving into view beyond the open door, and Kal snatched a grenade off his belt and tossed it down the hall. He considered how many guards might be coming, and lobbed two more for good measure, crouching behind the fallen soldier as a concussive wave slammed into them.

  Fire followed, and when it was gone, Kal glanced at Yaris, who was struggling to get his legs out from under the dead guard.

  “Shit,” Barry said from the entrance to the dormitory on the left, a group of women clustered behind him. “That was nuts…glad you gave me that ‘nade, though.”

  “And I’m glad you lowered the yield,” Kal muttered before getting to his feet and addressing Yaris. “OK, so here’s the deal. You disable the collars, and I don’t kill you.”

  Yaris stopped pushing at the body pinning him, and glared up at Kal. “I do that and I’m dead.”

  “You don’t, and I turn you over to these people down here. They don’t have any weapons, so they’ll probably carve you up by hand.”

  Kal didn’t actually think the collared slaves would do that. Most were likely far too cowed to turn against their masters, but by the expression on Yaris’s face, he considered it to be a real possibility.

  “OK, fine. Sure. You’re not getting out of here anyway.”

  Yaris’s eyes closed, and the sound of metal hitting the ground came from all around.

  “Damn…that was easy,” Barry shook his head. “Thought you were a badass, Yaris.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” the man said, raising his voice. “A thousand troops are on their way. Anyone who leaves their dormitory with these two idiots will get gunned down with them.”

  “Check the last dorm,” Kal directed Barry. “See if Karen is in there.”

  “I’m Karen,” a woman said, pushing through the crowd that had spilled into the hall behind Kal.

  He looked her up and down. “Karen Boula?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “That’s me.”

  Barry walked toward the woman. “No it isn’t. Karen’s my sister. I think I’d know if I was looking at my sister.”

  The woman’s face fell and she sucked in a wavering breath. “OK…I’m not Karen. My real name’s Francis. We swapped places one night when she was called up to Maverick. I…she did it to save me. But he liked her, and she never came back down.”

  Kal held up a hand. “Wait a second. Are you saying that Barry’s sister is actually Francis, one of Maverick’s top lieutenants?”

  “Top what?” Barry blurted out. “How—”

  “I’m sorry!” the woman blurted out. “If I’d known—”

  Behind them, Yaris was laughing, and Kal turned and fired a slug into the man’s head.

  “Fuck!” Barry jumped at the rifle’s report. “What was that for?”

  “Don’t need him sharing that bit of info with his boss. Mav would take this out on your sister.”

  “Why would he do that?” Barry asked in a quiet voice. “She’s apparently one of his top lieutenants.”

  Kal began to push through the crowd toward the rear exit. “I know who Francis is, and she’s still collared. She also left with Maverick when he went off-world a few weeks back.”

  “Fuck!” Barry swore. “We have to get out of here!”

  “No shit,” Kal said while still pushing through the crowd that now filled the corridor. Half the people were looking at one another in fear, and the other half were staring at the two men expectantly.

  “What about us?” one asked.

  Kal shook his head. “I came to get one woman out. We can’t get all of you back the way we came—hell, I have no idea how we’ll get out the way we came.”

  “We’re coming anyway,” another voice said, and he saw the woman prete
nding to be Karen approach. “At least, I am. I’m dead if I stay.”

  He was about to argue with her, but he realized that there was no point.

  “Fine. Anyone who wants to come, come, but chances are we’re going to get shot at, and you won’t all make it.”

  Barry asked.

 

 

  Kal gave Barry a sidelong glance.

 

 

  Barry insisted.

 

  They reached the rear hall just as a pair of lightly armored soldiers came into view. Kal fired on the pair before they realized what was going on, and then tossed a grenade the way they’d come for good measure.

  Screams came from the recently un-collared slaves as they spilled out into the hall, but they didn’t slow in following Kal and Barry through the warrens.

  He wasn’t sure about the exact count, but a glance over his shoulder showed roughly three dozen people following after. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised so many came, or so few. In all honesty, the ones who’d stayed behind were smarter. They stood a much better chance at survival.

  It took a lot less time to reach the lift shaft running than sneaking, and they only encountered two more groups of guards on the way. Two of the slaves had been hit, one fatally, the other only earning a nasty burn from a beam weapon.

  The two men had used the last of their grenades, and now stood at the edge of the long drop into darkness, their rifles the last line of defense against the enemy.

  “We’re supposed to go down those?” one of the women asked, pointing at the rusted ladders on either side of the shaft.

  “Not a lot of options. Unless you’re hiding wings somewhere I can’t see,” Kal retorted.

  “What about the lift?” a man asked.

  “I don’t thi—”

  Before Kal could finish his reply, one of the women pressed the call button. For a moment, nothing happened, and then a long groan came from the bottom of the shaft. The groan turned into a screech, and then a low hum.

  “It’s coming!” a man shouted.

  “Now that’s a miracle,” Kal muttered, moving through the crowd to the door that led out of the lift’s small foyer. “C’mon, Barry, you bleeding heart. That thing’s gonna take forever to get up here.”

  The two men took up positions on either side of the door, ready to fire on Maverick’s soldiers. They didn’t have long to wait before two soldiers eased into view down the hall, firing at the entrance. Barry ducked back, and then returned fire, glancing at Kal.

  “OK…so next time I have a stupid idea like trying to infiltrate The Shade, talk me out of it!”

  “Next time?” Kal spat the words as he fired down the corridor. “What in all the flaming stars makes you think there’s going to be one of those?”

  “I’m an eternal optimist,” Barry retorted. “Didn’t you get that from my determination to rescue my sister?”

  Kal snorted as he ducked out of sight, glaring at the other man. “I just thought you were moronically stubborn.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The pair returned to trading fire with the enemy soldiers, who were growing in number, their shots wearing down the doorframe the two men were hiding behind.

  Then a plasma burst splashed against the wall and began melting through. Kal fell back, scrambling away from the molten plas.

  “We can’t—”

  His words were interrupted by a screech behind them, and he turned to see the lift car rise into view, the former slaves piling in even before it had come to a halt.

  “Fall back,” he directed Barry, and the other man nodded, moving back toward the lift, his rifle still trained on the doorway leading out into the corridor. Kal rose to his feet and fired a few shots into the passage before joining Barry.

  Before they’d even reached the lift, it began to lower once more, and Kal swore.

  “Ungrateful bastards, wait for us!”

  The two men dashed toward the descending car and jumped onto the roof just as it disappeared from view.

  “Great cover here,” Barry muttered.

  “Take aim.” Kal pointed at the floor above them. “Blow away whatever peeks over the edge. If that asshat fires plasma on us, we’re done for.”

  To his credit, Barry didn’t reply, only crouched and pointed the business end of his weapon at the steadily shrinking opening above.

  The lift was dropping fast, but Kal knew that didn’t matter; a sharp shooter would have no problem picking them off from above. Moments later, a weapon nosed into view, and both Barry and Kal fired, one of their shots missing, and the other hitting the gun’s barrel. It jerked back, and a second later, a grenade sailed out into the shaft.

  “Fuck!” Barry yelled.

  Both men flattened themselves against the roof, hands over their heads as the blast went off a dozen meters above them. Kal felt something pierce his thigh and craned his neck to see a chunk of metal sticking out of his leg.

  “Dammit,” he muttered, then glanced at Barry. “You hit?”

  “No, but can you tell the bells in my head to quiet down?”

  Kal didn’t reply and fired wildly up the shaft before rolling onto his back.

  “Keep shooting,” he said to Barry while grabbing a canister of biofoam from his pack. He popped off the cover and then grabbed the metal. “One, twooooo….” He ripped it free and jammed the canister’s nozzle into his leg and pressed the spray lever.

  The scream that tore through his throat was drowned out by the lift coming to a stop at the bottom of the shaft.

  “Can you move?” Barry asked, pointing at the opening that led down into the lift car.

  “Just a se—”

  Shots fired from above, some rounds hitting the walls, but just as many slamming into the lift car’s roof all around them.

  “Nevermind!”

  Kal dove through the opening, Barry following after. A few of the rescues were still present, and he landed on a pair of women, softening his fall.

  “Thanks,” he muttered as they all half rose and scrambled out into the corridor.

  Grabbing one last grenade from his pack, Kal lobbed it up through the roof hatch and turned to the others.

  “Run!”

  “I thought you were out!” Barry said after the explosion went off behind them.

  Kal shrugged as he pushed through the milling crowd that had gathered at the end of the hall. “I saved one to disable the lift. Didn’t want the enemy to use it.”

  “Wow, think you could have told me that?” Barry asked, an eyebrow raised.

  “No.” He looked at the crowd of women and three men who had braved the tunnels down from The Shade. “Thanks for holding the elevator for us. This way.”

  “Where are we going?” one of the men asked, jogging up to Kal’s side.

  “Somewhere I hope no one is going to look.”

  “Which is?” a woman asked.

  Kal didn’t respond as he pushed open the door and walked out into the pumping station, holding a light aloft. He guided the group through ancient equipment until they came to the aqueduct.

  “We’re going that way,” he gestured to the lower section of the tunnel.

  “Wait…if that’s further down,” one of the women said, “and these pumps draw water up…”

  “Yeah,” Kal nodded. “We’re going to see where it leads.”

  “Which is probably outside the dome,” Barry groused.

  There were several other complaints voiced, and Kal felt a
rage begin to bubble up in his chest.

  “Enough!” he hollered. “You have three options. Back to the lift shaft to wait for your likely deaths. Up the aqueduct to the Atmo Tower where they’ll be waiting as well, or down to the inlet to see what options we have.”

  “What if they’re waiting for us down there, too?” a woman asked, and Kal recognized the one who had taken Karen’s name.

  He shrugged. “Then we’re fucked.”

  WELCOME TO HELL

  STELLAR DATE: 10.03.8948 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: GFS Satisfaction

  REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance

  “Damn this thing is messy,” Gert commented as she pored through the AI’s programming. “And to think, Grayson was sitting in our lab with this thing in his head the whole time.”

  “Yeah,” Finn muttered. “What a travesty. I’m more concerned with the fact that we’ve been kidnapped.”

  Gert shook her head. “You’re worried that someone is raiding your chips back on Heaven.”

  “Don’t forget my bacon,” he muttered. “I still have a bit of the good stuff I got from Kylie and Rogers. If I get back and it’s gone….”

  A low groan came from the far side of the room. “Would you two shut up?” Sylvia grunted in annoyance. “If we don’t figure this out, Maverick is going to kill us.”

  “Doubtful,” Finn replied as he turned and leant against his console. “We’re the best. He knows we’re useful, even if we can’t housebreak his pet AI. The thing could still be made to talk.”

  Gert gave Finn a sidelong glance. A lot of what the pair did with AIs was illegal—if there was such a thing on Heaven. They kept AIs on ice and ensured they would be docile when they were put into people’s heads.

  When she’d started out, it had been a matter of survival, but eventually, it became clear that her well-being was at the expense of others.

  But this Jerrod…he’s not just some well-meaning AI. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Maverick is a fool for wanting us to put it in his head.

  “I have a solution that will allow us to fully encapsulate Jerrod,” Finn said. “We simulate an implant for him, and for Maverick. Then we sandbox the connection. The AI won’t be able to get direct access to Maverick’s mind or body.”