by Gun Brooke
“One of Paladin’s traders has the ability to provide for seventy-five injured people. All the other ships can take twenty-five with minor injuries, but from the way it sounds, we need to move Paladin’s ship to the front. Good call, Kellen.”
Kellen checked her chronometer, which she’d managed to smuggle in with Doc’s medical equipment, along with a small set of tools, which she relied on now. “We have thirty-eight minutes to get in place before we contact Vaksses again. We’ll also signal you when the time comes, so you can move into position.”
“I’ll take the fleet farther into the asteroid belt right away. We need to be as close as possible, but still avoid premature detection.”
“Very well.” Kellen squeezed her eyes shut. “Good luck, Rae. In half an hour, then.”
“Half an hour. Rae out.”
The silence in her ear ignited Kellen’s battle mode. She turned to Corgan, who stood a few steps away. “Let’s put our plans into action. We’re going to need several bottles of your powder and rocks to ignite it. They’ll give us another element of surprise.”
Corgan looked at Kellen with something that resembled admiration, and nodded slowly. “Yes, Protector. I’m beginning to understand your plan.”
“Good.” Kellen placed her hand gently on the man’s skinny shoulder. “It’s time to finally get you and the others out of here.”
*
Andreia ran down the corridor toward the heavily guarded exit. Blinking lights and alarms accompanied her flight, and she suddenly recalled similar circumstances in the Onotharian Headquarters. But instead of being chased by the guards, she was now leading several hundred rebels, and for a moment she feared she might trip and fall, and ultimately be trampled to death.
“Henshes. O’Daybo to Kovos’s team. O’Daybo to Jacelon! Move in! Move in!” she yelled, willing her earpiece to transmit her actions. “We’re going to break out in less than five minutes.”
“Jacelon here. Ships deployed. I repeat. Ships deployed!”
Andreia clutched a crude metal bar, broken off one of the beds, knowing they had less to work with than the Kovos team. They would have to use brute force to overpower the armed guards.
Owena ran next to her, with a grim expression and similarly armed. Her black hair fluttered behind her like the wings of a boyoda, and Andreia knew she would take out anyone standing in their way.
“Halt! Back off. I said, back off!” a guard yelled, panic in his eyes at the approaching crowds homing in on him from two directions. He fired at the ceiling, and smoke, as well as the smell of singed building material, filled Andreia’s nostrils. Next to her Owena growled, and before the young man could aim properly, the commander was airborne.
“Argh!” Owena slammed into the guard. His plasma-pulse rifle went off again, spraying an arc of fire along the ceiling and down the wall behind him. Owena pivoted and kicked out her right leg, and the weapon clattered to the floor. Owena grabbed for it and pushed him down with her arm over his throat. “Stay still,” she hissed. “Be a clever boy and just lie there!”
“Come on!” Andreia called, trying to project her voice over the noise. She let go of her bar and took the weapon from Owena. “I’ll need this.” Raising the heavy rifle, she aimed for the base of the arch that led into the exit tunnel. Noise at the far end of it indicated that the remaining guards were now on the move. Andreia fired twice, both shots accurate. The arch ignited in a cascade of sparks, and smoke billowed all around the exit.
Pleased, knowing the fire and smoke would confuse the approaching guards and also inhibit their vision, Andreia positioned herself between the enemy and the rebels behind her. Suddenly it was all so clear to her. This is my fate. This is why I had to be Boyoda. I was meant to be here, this minute, this instant. Andreia made sure the rifle was ready, set to heavy stun. If she could avoid taking lives unnecessarily, she would.
Carelessly, with the cocky attitude of being in total command for so long, the Onotharians barged through the smoke and into the larger area just inside. Andreia let the plasma-pulse beam touch them all, making sure it knocked all six guards unconscious.
Suddenly, a distinct tremor under her feet made her stumble forward. A series of muted explosions created a traveling roar, as if a mythical monster had launched an attack against the asteroid.
“Jacelon.” Andreia grinned. Their backup was right on time.
“Owena, Eosomas, hand the weapons you’ve secured to the less trigger-happy. Let’s move out.”
Andreia picked her way through the debris, which was all that remained of the arch, and proceeded into the tunnel. The small green light from her rifle lit the way, and she could vaguely make out the half-open metal doors in front of them. She kept her rifle raised and moved to the side, peering through the opening. She saw no one, but knew there were maintenance people who might well be armed. Prepared to take no risk, she stuck her rifle through the door and moved along the wall to avoid potential fire.
When it failed to come, she stepped through carefully. “Keep close and watch out,” she said to Owena and Eosomas behind her. “How are we doing with the ones that can’t walk? We need to evacuate Berentar.”
“Two trustworthy rebels are carrying him. Last I saw, he wasn’t doing too well, O’Daybo.” Eosomas sounded worried, but his eyes were sharp. “I think—”
“Not so fast,” a cold voice said next to them. “I knew you were up to something, but I didn’t think you’d have this much power.”
Andreia stared with dismay at the man from their room, the one who’d taken too many rations. He pointed a small, plump weapon at her, and she knew it would be all over for her if he fired. These illegal magma-blasters were common among criminals and easy to hide on one’s body.
“Damn! I should’ve trusted my instincts about him,” Owena growled. “I should’ve known.”
“Now we know.” Andreia lowered her rifle and bent over as if to place it on the floor. “How do you think you can hold hundreds of rebels at bay with one rifle?” She was deliberately scornful. “Some may be more than willing to sacrifice themselves, and then you’ll probably be lynched.”
“I can hold you long enough to move you back inside the door and lock it.” The man, obviously an Onotharian in disguise, looked suspiciously confident, with a smug expression that made her wary. Andreia was now almost kneeling and knew she wouldn’t get another chance. People might get hurt, but no way would she allow him to close the door on the rebels. It was made of an impenetrable metal alloy, and without knowing the codes, they might not be able to force it open.
Andreia gripped her weapon firmly, but instead of aiming at the Onotharian spy, she swung it against his now-stunned face. Hitting him hard, she made him drop his weapon before he could fire.
He cried out and fell to his knees, blood streaming down his face from his broken nose. As she’d anticipated, he hadn’t worked alone. Weapons sounded in the crowd farther back, and screams revealed that they’d hit their targets. Andreia knew she couldn’t do anything from her position other than make sure the door stayed open.
“Owena!” she yelled, and tossed herself forward, her rifled raised. “Keep an eye on this one.”
“Sure thing.” Owena stood with her weapon aimed at the Onotharian spy.
Andreia shot the control device on the outside panel, then gazed through the new smoke emanating from the door. Two metal chairs stood to the left, and she grabbed one. “We need to jam the doors!” Eosomas and another man seemed to understand her intentions and took the chairs from her, slamming them against the door to remove their legs.
“Shove them under the doors,” Eosomas gasped. “If anyone locks them, we’re doomed.” He bent down and pushed a chair leg under the left door, kicking it to jam it securely. “There.”
The loud, whistling sound of plasma-pulse fire still resounded within the tunnel behind them, but it had lessened, and Andreia could only hope there weren’t too many casualties. Why didn’t I realize that if there were
spies there must also be weapons stashed inside? It wasn’t productive to second-guess herself, and she tried to shake her regrets.
Loud cheers echoed from behind her, and the message soon traveled to the front of the large group. “The infiltrators have been taken down,” Eosomas said.
“How many dead? Injured?” Andreia dared hardly ask.
Eosomas turned to the men farther into the group, repeating the question. After a moment the reply came, which nearly drove Andreia to her knees. “Twenty-six wounded—of them, eight badly. Four dead.”
“Gods of Gantharat,” she whispered.
Owena stepped up to her side. “All right, people,” she called, to drown out the murmur among the rebels. “We’ve come this far, and now it’s time to move on. There are still more guards, possibly even more spies, to deal with, so stay sharp and on your guard.”
“And then what?” a woman shouted from the back.
“We wait for the backup.”
“Unless we’re dead already,” a man muttered, but quieted as people nearby glared at him.
Andreia walked toward the next exit, a barred door that was only half closed, and hoped they didn’t encounter any more surprises.
“Right about now would be a good time to break through from the other side,” Owena muttered as she walked next to Andreia. Her long decisive stride indicated that she was a martial arts master, and her eyes had become several shades darker since the fighting began.
“They’re here. We felt them.” Andreia carefully stuck her head out the door, but didn’t see anyone. Frowning at the empty corridor, which seemed too good to be true, she motioned Owena to follow her and for Eosomas to keep the others behind them quiet.
Andreia and Owena crept out into the corridor, weapons raised, aimed at the ceiling. “Any risk of automated backup systems against fugitives?” Owena whispered.
“Not that I know of,” Andreia said, and shook her head. “This facility was operated manually, with surveillance, and also with special facilities for…interrogation.” She swallowed back the bile that rose at the thought of the atrocities her people had committed. “Since they consider the prisoners here high-ranking rebels, their methods to make them talk are…” Andreia couldn’t finish.
“Atrocious?”
“Yes.”
They moved down the corridor with a large crowd of rebels, surrounded by an eerie silence. They were almost at the door when a deafening roar sounded, and an unforeseen force lifted them like a giant’s hand. Andreia lost all sense of what was up or down until her body slammed into the floor.
*
Roshan moved past the row of marines who held twelve Onotharian guards at gunpoint. “Is this what’s left of the entrance?” she asked Jacelon, who strode beside her. “That was quite some blast.”
“Yes, but apparently necessary. The doors were made of a ceramic-grid armored alloy that required a four-spread plasma charge.”
“I can smell it.” Roshan hoisted her rifle and pushed through smoke and debris, eager to find Andreia. The smoke coming from behind the shattered doors still prevented them from seeing properly, and Roshan made sure her plasma-pulse rifle was set to heavy stun. She didn’t want to accidentally kill one of their own.
“Over there,” Jacelon said, advancing right behind her.
Roshan glanced over her shoulder. Four marines were taking up the rear. “What?”
“There.” Jacelon pointed in a ninety-degree direction. “The side corridor. I thought I saw someone, or something, on the floor.”
Roshan had completely missed the narrow corridor to their right. Noticing faint shadows on the floor about twenty meters inside, she wanted to rush forward and search for Andreia among the fallen bodies obscured by the smoke. Biting the inside of her cheek, Roshan harnessed her gut reaction and advanced in the cautious manner that had kept her alive the last twenty-five years. The ventilation system was still intact, and as the smoke began to evaporate, Roshan spied a reddish, curly head, belonging to a much-too-still form on the floor. Andreia!
Roshan dashed toward her, weapon still ready. As she came closer and the last of the smoke disappeared, she saw many more people slowly begin to move on the floor farther down the corridor. They pressed their hands to their heads and staggered to their feet, moaning.
“Cover me,” Roshan said to Jacelon, who responded with a brief nod. Her face was serious and the steely gray in her eyes unwavering.
Using her shoulder-strap, Roshan pushed the rifle onto her back, throwing herself to her knees next to Andreia’s still body. Next to her, Owena sat up, grimacing as she reached for her weapon. “Admiral?”
“You’re safe, Commander. We’ll have you out of here soon. How are you feeling?”
Roshan listened to Owena assure the admiral that she was fine. She leaned down and brushed Andreia’s hair away from her pale face. Her eyes were closed, and it took Roshan a few heart-rending seconds to realize that Andreia was breathing. Oh, Gods! Roshan felt for Andreia’s pulse, and to her relief it was strong and even. “Hey, you. Andr…O’Daybo? Can you open your eyes for me? It’s Paladin.” Struggling to maintain her composure, she leaned closer, her lips just above Andreia’s ear, whispering. “Please, open your eyes. Andreia. It’s Roshan. Come on!”
Andreia was still for another worrisome moment, and then she moaned and turned her head. “Ro?”
“Yes, it’s me, Paladin,” Roshan said, louder, and hoped Andreia would catch on despite being woozy after the blast. “Can you sit up? Are you injured?”
“Eh, no…I’m all right. I just…Oh!” Andreia sat up too quickly and slumped to one side. She leaned heavily against Roshan, who steadied her.
“Careful there. Not too fast.” Roshan looked around. Most of the people were standing now, except two of the older ones. Some of Roshan’s crew had arrived while she was leaning over Andreia and were now acting as medics.
Andreia finally stood, her knees sagging a bit, and she leaned against the wall, clutching her left elbow.
“I thought you said—” Roshan moved closer and reached for Andreia’s injured arm.
“I’ll be fine, Paladin.” She looked at Roshan pensively, her eyes pale, no doubt from fatigue and pain, and she pulled out of reach. “I can manage.”
Roshan tried to convey more than she could say at this time with her gaze. “I know you can,” she said softly. “I…I was worried about you. Very.”
Andreia stopped rubbing her elbow and tipped her head back, squinting up at Roshan. “Were you? I mean, were you really?”
“Yes.” Though this was not the time or the place, it was the simple truth within a not-so-simple reality. “Yes. I was.”
With her arms folded, Andreia nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I’m glad you’re here. All of you.” Something caught her eyes. “Oh, look.” Now a lot steadier on her legs, she brushed past Roshan. “Eosomas? Is he going to be all right?”
Roshan saw a man lying on a narrow stretcher carried by two of her crew. “Berentar!” She hurried to his side and stood next to Andreia, who’d taken the cell leader’s hand in hers.
“Didn’t I tell you, Berentar?” Andreia said, her voice trembling. “I said she’d come.”
“Yes. You did.” Berentar looked up, surprising Roshan with a steady gaze in his weathered face. “Jubinor?”
“Is back at base camp, working as our coordinator. Once you’re on my vessel, you can contact him. We just need to have a doctor look at you first.”
“Fine. Now, go and do your job, rebels.”
“Yes, sir.” Roshan smiled. “See you later.”
As her crew members carried Berentar toward the exit, Roshan studied the situation. The rebels were moving out in a steady stream, and she realized that more of her ships must have docked at the asteroid. “Let’s get out of here. I have to get the Iktysos ready for Kovos. We’re using it as the hospital ship, and from what I’ve heard from Kellen, they need us desperately.”
“I’d
imagine so.” Andreia looked ready to fall over. “I can’t understand why I’m so tired.”
“That plasma charge almost blasted you out into space. I mean, it hit you first, so you took the brunt of the impact. It was like having ten angry maeshas kick you.”
“I think that sums it up.” Andreia smiled faintly. “Still, I’ve been on physically more demanding missions than this. I just don’t get it.”
Roshan had her own ideas why this mission had been more taxing for Andreia, but couldn’t risk talking about it here. “I have to get back to the bridge. I know you’re supposed to…Hey!” Roshan caught Andreia when she staggered to the right. “I was just going to suggest we let our doctor look you over. Now I insist.”
“All right.”
Roshan had expected Andreia to argue, but when she didn’t, Roshan was really worried.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kellen moved lithely through the barely lit corridor of level minus three. The doors to the cells were black, with an irregular pattern of rust. The men and women Corgan and Bellish had chosen to assist them in their rescue attempt hurried behind her with all four bottles full of the special combustive powder tucked in their waistbands. Kellen hoped they wouldn’t need them, but was fairly sure they might.
She stopped by the last door, unlike the other doors she’d seen on Kovos, and reached under her shirt. Pulling out the pouch Doc had lent her, she removed a small item encased in synthetic-humanoid tissue, which was the only way to get it past the security checkpoints. Kellen inserted the small item into the lock and pressed a sensor. A buzzing sound, followed by a faint click a while later, and the door opened an inch. “I’ve unlocked this one, Ayahliss. You remember how I showed you before?”
Ayahliss nodded. “I’ll open the others while you start helping the poor devils out.”
“Good. Hurry!”
“Like a flash.” Ayahliss grinned and ran to the next door, the instrument clutched against her chest.
