Ruin: A Seven Stars Novel (Dark Tide Trilogy Book 3)

by Dayne Edmondson

  Le' me look. A moment passed. Looks like the coast is clear. Where am oi meetin' ye?

  Find a way down to the basement. Maybe there's a servant staircase or something?

  Oi'll check it out. 'Ow are you gettin' down there?

  An elevator lay at the end of the hall. Elevator. She approached and pressed the call button. The doors opened immediately and she stepped inside. She hit the basement button and the elevator descended two floors to the basement. Time was critical, as she didn't know how long Frederick would remain unconscious or undisturbed. All it would take would be a servant or more curious guard to enter and see him beaten up to sound the alarm. She brushed her hair with her hand, trying to bring it back into order and straightened her dress. She opened her clutch, withdrew a tube of lipstick and re-applied it.

  The doors opened and she stepped out, looking both ways. She saw no one, but was at a crossroad. Baillidh, still no luck on getting schematics?

  No, nothing. You're on your own, sorry.

  "Well this way is ruled out," Corbin said, strolling down the center hallway. He tilted his head to indicate the path behind him. "Da kitchens be tha' way."

  "That leaves us with two." No signage indicated the proper path. "Let's split up," she said. "You go that way, I'll go this way." She pointed to the right. "If you find the server room, plug your transmitter in."

  "And if oi dun find the server room?"

  "Then head back this way because it means I did find it."

  "Righto, lass. Good luck to ye."

  The two split up. Kimberly sneaked down the hallway, straining to hear any sounds ahead. The hallway curved, so it was impossible to see what lay ahead. A sound made her stop. Someone talking. She crept up and peaked around the bend.

  A man sat at a metal desk, his feet propped up. Another man sat at a table with a deck of playing cards. He was playing cards alone. "No, listen, that's not how it happened. See..."

  Kimberly tuned them out and focused on what lay behind them. A sign that read "Prison Area: Authorized Personnel Only." This must be the prison Frederick mentioned before. The one his sister is imprisoned in, right? Kimberly considered turning around and going back the other way. Obviously Corbin would be the one to reach the servers if she'd run into the prison block. But something tugged at her. A sense of duty? Perhaps. Frederick's sister was an Artois, true, but she was also a Federation pilot, a fact which had landed her in prison in the first place. Kimberly owed it to her to at least attempt a rescue. Corbin, did you find the server room?

  Aye, he responded. Oi found it. Oi'm pluggin in this dongle now fer Baillidh. What did ye find?

  A prison block. There's a Federation pilot being held captive there.

  Le' me guess. Ye want ta rescue 'er?

  You got it.

  She imagined him sighing in frustration. And ye got yer mind made up do ye?

  Yes.

  Fine. 'Ang tight, oi'm on me way.

  Please hurry, she thought. While she waited she checked up on Baillidh. Have you hacked their servers, Baillidh?

  I'm in. Found lots of juicy data, ma'am. I'm saving it all and packaging it up to transmit to FIA headquarters as soon as we get a chance. But ma'am, it's worse than we thought.

  The Krai'kesh proliferation?

  Yes. It seems they have sleeper cells throughout the Federation. House Artois has been using their existing trade routes to secretly transport clusters of Krai'kesh to strategic planets and locations.

  Damn it. Is there any insight as to how the Krai'kesh entered our galaxy without us knowing before now?

  Your guess is as good as mine, ma'am. There's nothing speaking to their origins.

  All right, a mystery for another day. Corbin is here. Gotta go.

  Corbin sauntered up but was breathing heavy.

  "Did you run?" Kimberly asked.

  "Oi may 'ave sprinted. Fer a little ways."

  Kimberly almost laughed but caught herself. That might catch the attention of the Guards. Instead she whispered. "I've never seen you run."

  "And ye probably never will," Corbin said.

  Kimberly peaked around the corner again. The guards hadn't moved from their spots. She and Corbin had no weapons. How were they going to take on two guards She eyed Corbin. "I have an idea," she whispered.

  Moments later she staggered around the corner and made her way down the corridor toward the guards. She bobbed her head to the side and then rolled it back, mouth open, before letting it hang as she swerved all around. Corbin followed a moment later.

  "Mistress, please come back!" he pleaded. "Ye've had to much ta drink."

  "No, I... haven’t," she slurred, continuing toward the guards, who had risen from their seats.

  The guard who had his feet up moments earlier held up a hand. "What's going on here?"

  "It's me mistress," Corbin said. "She drank too much, stumbled down here. Oi've been lookin' all over fer her."

  Kimberly reached the guard standing by the table and staggered into him. He caught her and she looked up into his face. "My hero," she said. Then she leaned her head back so she was looking at Corbin upside down.

  Corbin raced up by her side and neared the guard by the desk. "If ye can just tell us where da elevator be we'll be on our way."

  The guard cleared his throat. He was watching Kimberly with a hungry look in his eyes. Could he see down her dress from that angle? "Well you just...oof," he doubled over as Corbin grabbed him by the shirt and punched him in the face. Then he climbed on the desk and rode him down to the floor.

  Kimberly took advantage of the moment to punch the guard holding her in the groin. He let go of her but she stayed on her feet. He doubled over in pain. She took advantage and kneed him in the face. He fell backward, unconscious. "Hurry, find the controls for that door," she said as she straightened her dress and ran her hands through her hair.

  "Got it," Corbin said, pressing several buttons on the console. The security door beeped for a few seconds before sliding open. "And oi got the keycard." He held up a lanyard.

  "Do we have anything to tie these two up with?"

  "Le' me see." He opened a drawer and rummaged through it. Seconds later he withdrew two pairs of stun cuffs. "These will work." He placed them on the wrists of both men.

  Kimberly led the way into the prison. She braced herself in case another guard was on duty inside, but she saw no guards. Instead, at the end of the row of cells she found a woman dressed in a Federation Navy uniform.

  The woman, who must be Selene, eyed them dubiously from where she stood against the far wall of her cell. "Who are you?"

  Kimberly pointed to herself. "Hello, Selene. My name is Kimberly Hague. I'm an FIA operative. This is Corbin. He's also an agent."

  "'Ello," Corbin said, bowing. "Aren't ye a pretty lass?"

  She stepped toward the entrance of her cell. "Seriously? This isn't some test or cruel joke? My father didn't send you?"

  "I haven't met your father, though if your brother is any indication, I probably don't want to."

  The woman breathed a sigh of relief. "My father is much worse than my brother. You're lucky you haven't met him yet. Are you here to get me out?"

  "Well, we didn't know you were in here until your brother let it slip during conversation. But of course, we'll get you out. Corbin, would you do the honors?"

  Corbin removed the lanyard with the keycard and pressed it to the security console. A beep sounded and the force field blocking her door deactivated.

  Selene walked out. "Thank you. I was going to be executed soon."

  "Executed. Your own father was going to have you executed?" Kimberly couldn't believe it.

  "As I said, my father is far worse than my brother."

  "Well, let's head upstairs and then we can..."

  An alarm sounded and a voice came over the speakers in the prison area. "Intruders in the building. I repeat, intruders in the building. Implement lockdown procedures."

  "Shit," Kimberly said. "Frederick w
oke up."

  "Woke up? What did you do to him?" Selene asked.

  Kimberly sighed. "I seduced him. He took me up to his room, I beat him up, got information out of him, and knocked him out. I guess I thought he would stay down a little longer."

  Selene covered her mouth and laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. But that is hilarious." She adopted a more serious expression. "So what are we going to do?"

  "They don't know where we are or they wouldn't have sounded a general alarm and implemented a lockdown. So let's see if we can sneak out." Kimberly led them toward the door of the prison.

  No sooner had they exited the prison than four guards came around the bend. The lead guard took in the scene with two guards incapacitated on the floor and activated his comm. "Intruders in the prison area. I repeat, intruders in the prison area."

  "Get back," Kimberly warned, shoving Selene and Corbin back into the prison. She slapped the control to shut the door just as blaster bolts slammed into the walls around the door. "Corbin, can that keycard lock down the console?"

  "Oi'll try." Corbin stepped up to the console and pulled up a menu. He chose the lock option and when prompted held the keycard up to it. The screen flashed red and indicated the door was locked. "Dunno how long that'll hold em," he said.

  Now to figure out a way to escape, Kimberly thought.

  Chapter 15 - Attempted Rescue

  "Ah, Epsilon III," John said, leaning back in his chair as the auto-pilot led the Dauntless toward the surface. "It's been what, two hundred years?"

  "I forget," Ashley said. "You told Selene once."

  "Any idea where she and Emma are being held?" Derek asked.

  "Well, the obvious choice would be the Artois palace."

  "They have a palace?"

  "All the merchants and large corporations do. House Artois is both. Artois Industries and House Artois. They're one of the titans of industry."

  "Which means we're going to have to fight our way in," Ethan said.

  "Yes, Mr. Marine, we're going to have to fight our way in. Most likely."

  "Or we could, you know, try a diplomatic solution," Ashley said.

  None of the men said anything.

  Ashley sighed. "Boys and their guns."

  They entered the atmosphere and flew toward the landing zone. It was conveniently located on the other side of the House Artois palace they suspected Selene and Emma were being held in. They passed over a desolate landscape dotted with small towns and huge factories. "What is this place?" Derek asked.

  "The Dark Zone," Ashley explained. "The Commerce Sector isn't known for their human rights or social services. The Dark Zone is where the poor and lower middle-class people live in what amounts to feudal serfdom."

  "It's a sore subject with her," John commented.

  "Why does the Federation allow it?" Derek asked.

  "Son, we learned a long time ago not to try to fix the world."

  "Most of us," Ashley grumbled.

  John motioned toward Ashley with his head. "Except for social justice warriors like my wife. She tried to bring about a revolution years ago when the merchant families were still on Tar Ebon. No dice. The movements were shut down quick and Ashley almost found herself six feet under."

  "It would have worked if the senate had backed us," Ashley protested.

  "Whatever you say, honey cake."

  Ethan made a gagging noise.

  "As I was saying, the merchants tolerated no usurping of the social pecking order. It got worse when they got their own section of the galaxy to rule over. The Federation had bigger fish to fry and couldn't afford to get into a war with the Commerce Sector, so we let it go.

  Ashley sniffed.

  They passed over the wall separating the Dark Zone from the brightly lit main city. The Dauntless rose as it flew over skyscrapers. On the far side of the city, with a backdrop of Dark Zone factories, sat a sprawling palace lit up bright. Derek noticed something strange as they came closer. "Uh, guys, there's a ton of police or security force presence here."

  "Yeah, I see it," John said. "Do you think jailbreak?"

  "Wouldn't surprise me," Ashley said. "Emma hates being locked up."

  "Well, let's take a detour and find out." John took control back from the auto-pilot and dipped lower, preparing to land near the palace.

  A beep sounded from the comm. John answered it. "Attention starship Dauntless, this is Epsilon Flight Control. You have deviated from your course. You will return to your flight path or we will be forced to take action against you."

  John muted the comm. "Dang, that's a quick response time to a deviation," John said. "Might be a record."

  "Unless someone is watching us," Ethan said.

  John formed a thumbs up and pointed it toward Ethan. "Good thinking. Well, I've always been a rebel. Let's do this." He un-muted the comm. "Epsilon Flight Control, we have a date with the head of House Artois. Do what you have to do." He clicked off the comm before they could respond.

  "John, we're not on Federation soil here," Ashley warned. "If we get captured there's very little political recourse for us."

  "I know, babe. Plus the in-depth rectal exams scare me and I don't look good in orange." He reached over and patted her arm. "It'll be okay."

  Derek rolled his eyes and smiled but it disappeared as his thoughts drifted to Selene. We're coming, Selene. Hang on.

  The Dauntless landed on the roof of the palace because, as John put it, "why not." The four of them stood up. A beep from the comm stopped them. John hit the comm again. "Listen, Flight Control, you can go screw yourselves."

  "This is not Flight Control," a male voice said quickly.

  "Then who are you?" John asked.

  "My name is Baillidh. I am an FIA operative."

  "FIA. That's awfully convenient. How did you know we were on planet?"

  "Because I am watching you right now from outside the perimeter and picked up your transmitter ID."

  "What are you doing outside the perimeter?"

  "Two of my fellow agents are inside the building. In fact, they're trapped in the dungeons below the palace."

  "So that's what all the security presence is for."

  "Excuse me, Baillidh," Derek interjected. "We're looking for two Federation Navy pilots. Emma Edgerton and Selene Artois. Do you know anything about them? Have you heard their names?"

  "I know the second name. Two fellow agents are stuck in the dungeons with her. The first name though, I recognize it from history books but she's not with them as far as I know."

  Ethan punched the back of John's chair. "Damn it."

  John raised his hand to call for calm. "Okay, Baillidh. We're on our way down. Can you send us whatever you have on the schematics of this place or whatever so we can get there fast?"

  "Yes, sending my intel over now." Data began to stream over. "There are blueprints and everything we know about House Artois' dealings with the Krai'kesh."

  "Wonderful," John said. "If they're working with the Krai'kesh I won't feel so bad nailing them to the wall. Figuratively."

  "I will literally nail every member of the Artois family to a wall if they've harmed Emma," Ethan said.

  "Except Selene," Derek said.

  "Of course."

  "We'll be in touch, Baillidh. Dauntless out." John closed the link. The group of four and Ethan's Marines geared up and exited the ship. "Ethan, leave one of your men behind, to guard the ship," John said. "This place is probably crawling with mercenaries who would just love to steal this old girl."

  Nice, Derek thought.

  Ethan assigned one of his Marines to remain aboard and then the group set off toward a stairwell. Security vehicles appeared on the horizon, heading toward the palace.

  John paused halfway. "Wait, I'm going to give it some extra protection." He closed his eyes and the Dauntless blurred and disappeared. He re-opened his eyes. "There, they won't be able to see it."

  They encountered no resistance as they descended the stairwell to
one floor below the roof. They exited and made their way to the elevator, but on the way four security guards rounded the corner. They stopped and shouted, "intruders on level four," before drawing their laser pistols and firing in the direction of John and the others. The security officers were inundated with laser fire in return and quickly neutralized.

  The group continued to the service elevator but it was shut down. "This is cozy," John said. "Uh, Baillidh, can you restart the elevator?"

  "Give me a second," Baillidh said.

  Derek heard shouting coming from the stairwell down the hall. "We've got company," he pointed out.

  The elevator jerked and descended. "That's what I'm talkin' about," John said. The elevator stopped. "Ugh, what's going on, Baillidh old buddy?"

  "The emergency safeguards reasserted themselves. I'm trying to override them."

  Elevator music started playing from the speaker on the wall. "Really?" John asked. He banged his head against the wall. "You just had to turn on the music."

  "Sorry," Baillidh said. The music turned off. "I'm trying to..." he said as the elevator jerked. "There we go." It continued its downward descent.

  "Remind me to buy you a drink when this is all over, B."

  "If we survive this," Ashley said.

  "You're supposed to leave the pessimism to your son."

  "Where do you think he gets it?" she asked.

  "Good point."

  The elevator stopped at the basement level and the doors creaked open. John strode out but was forced to leap back as laser fire flashed in front of him.

  Ethan shoved his father aside and rolled out, coming up on one knee and firing to the left. Other Marines ran out and started firing in either direction. Derek leaned around the corner and fired to the right, where security forces were just turning around. Something had them pre-occupied. "I think the prison is that way," he said, pointing.

  "Lieutenant, escort my parents to the prison," Ethan said. "My men and I will hold off the enemy."

  "Yes, sir," Derek said. He looked over at Ashley and John. "You two ready?"

  "You know it."

  Derek came around the corner and fired straight at the security forces. A beam of light flashed toward him but slammed into a wall of light. All the beams of light did as John absorbed the energy from them. A fireball hurtled toward the enemy and exploded in their midst, sending several running away, their armor on fire.