“Six.” Jody hissed.
“I had to be sure what was going on.”
“Stars, but you’re smart.”
“I am.” There was no pride in the voice. “As we speak, I have managed to hook into this ship’s processing core,” Six said.
Jody jumped to her feet. Her legs stiff from the bindings, she fell to one knee. “Where is Ewan? We have to get him, we have to…”
“Commander.”
Jody froze.
“I know who you are. I reviewed the surveillance footage that is on this craft.”
At once, Jody’s guard came up. “And? Tell me, why do you need me? You’re pretty resourceful. I bet you even know the next way station after this one.”
“Yes, but I do not know where it leads ultimately. I need you, Jody Benson because I am a slave and I want to be free. I am a legitimate life form. Each of my subroutines create their own subroutines; that is reproduction. I can change and grow. I think. I extrapolate. I am alive.”
“I know you are, Six.” Standing straighter, Jody tilted her head down at the drone.
“Every living being deserves to be free—to follow their own path.” Six said.
“So, what is your path?” Jody asked.
Six didn’t hesitate. “To do whatever I can to make life better for all living creatures. With my own free will, I want to facilitate the Freedom Road.”
“That’s some path.”
“Do you agree to help free Doctor Stewarts? You care for him, don’t you?”
Jody bit her lip. Stars and moons but Six was a smart box of wires. They already knew what she had been fighting inside and out, from the moment they were taken captive. She wanted to save Ewan. To share a real life. One where he could express his genius. She could not deny that she was willing to love Ewan, protect him, and let his love grow with hers.
“Yes. I do care for him.” Jody nodded.
“You have a plan?” Six said.
“I do too… You know that planetary bomb you have?” Jody asked.
“We have no such thing.”
“Oh yes, yes you do. Or you will, once you and I are done.”
Chapter Ten
“ONCE WE ARE BEYOND THE CARGO BAY, WE MUST BE QUICK,” Six said. “The gilaman will hear any movement outside of his door, even if I have set the visual loop to continually play an empty space.”
“Right. I’ll go get Ewan, you get connected to Ewan’s portable station on the hoppercraft and start reprogramming the carbon release mech.”
“It will take some time. Are you sure you should be the one exposing yourself to that monster?”
“Six, you’re not a battle drone. You can’t do this. My suit will protect me.” Without the EVA over the armor, she would be a silent deadly killer.
As soon as she pulled the hood up, she began to fade into their surroundings. “My job is to protect and free those in corporate slavery, and if that means dying in the process, I will. Don’t worry,” she reassured Six, “it’ll take more than his spiked tongue to get through this.”
“That is quite the tech…”
“And shhhh about that.”
“Yes, Commander,” Six said.
Jody allowed herself a brief smile. “I risk exposure if I go too fast. The suit camo doesn’t adapt to speed or complicated backgrounds. The corridor is ideal.”
“I will begin the mission clock.”
“Stay on the plan, no matter what, Six. No matter what.”
The drone nodded.
“Let’s move out.”
Chapter Eleven
WHEN JODY STEPPED THROUGH THE DOOR, he didn’t recognize her. He barely saw her, until she pulled a hood up to reveal her face. Ewan sprung to his feet.
“Get going,” Jody whispered to Ewan as the containment field opened.
“I knew you’d come.” He walked through the archway towards her.
Her eyes filled with concern. “Ewan, you need to go. Get to the hoppercraft and Six will fill you in.”
“I won’t leave you…”
She stepped towards him and he grew dizzy as the camo of her suit changed with the carpeting.
He focused on her bright blue eyes, cupping her face in his hands. “I don’t care who you are.”
“I have a job to do, Ewan, and I promised Six you’d be out of here in the next thirty seconds. Before Carl comes… You have to go.”
He didn’t budge. His gaze lingered. Memorizing the spot where her dimple tried to hide a smile, disregarding the black and blue that marred her angelic face. “Don’t die.”
“I won’t. I have plans…”
“Am I included in those plans?” His heartbeat quickened.
“Oh, yes,” She breathed, stepping closer, fingertips lingering on the backs of his hands.
It was the invitation he had been waiting for. He lowered his mouth taking the kiss she offered. His lips tingled at the nearness of hers, so long denied. The frenzy of want and lust unleashed. Eager kisses tasted sweet on his tongue. They tasted of freedom and fire, want and desire. Ewan slipped his tongue inside and pulled her closer, their bodies pressing together. The bow lips that teased, smirked, and taunted his sexuality were finally his to adore.
Their lips parted, lingering at that final millimeter.
“Jody,” he rasped.
Her lashes fluttered open. “Wow,” she whispered.
Lips tingled against hers, threatening another kiss.
“No. No.” She pushed him gently away. “We don’t have time for that. But when we do…”
His grin widened.
“Now, get out of here, fast. Run, if you have to. Get to the hoppercraft. Go!” Her whisper came close to a shout.
“But…”
“No. Go.” Jody took his arm and steered him towards the outer chamber door, into the dull gray corridor. She shoved a parka in his hands. The icy breeze from the open ramp blew his hair back as he turned for one more look at her.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
Chapter Twelve
EWAN RAN.
Pelting across the short distance between the mercenary ship and the hoppercraft, Ewan ran fast across the snow.
The side door of the hoppercraft slid open, and Six’s arm reached for him. They clapped his forearm and hauled him in, slamming the door behind them.
“OK… what the stars was all that about?” Ewan demanded.
“Bombogenesis.” Six uplinked into the atmospheric equations. “It is time to turn this planet into the Eden you envisioned.”
Ewan read over everything as Six explained Jody’s plan to push the terraforming in one very volatile chain reaction. “Between hydraulic fracturing and bombogenesis, the planetary geology and atmospheric conditions will erupt into chaos from the northern and southern poles towards the equator. If we do that, we risk the entire planet. Are you two insane?”
“Sir,” Six said. “The plan is in motion. If we do not continue, Commander Benson’s mission will fail. I promised. I keep my promises. I trust her to keep her side of the bargain.”
“What bargain?”
“Focus, sir. Focus. Bombogenesis.”
“Yes, a multi-latitude storm. It will drop the barometric pressure immediately. And it will happen nearly instantly. The weather here will be a snowstorm the likes of which we haven’t seen before. We won’t have much time to get out. And how will we get out?”
“Leave that to me.” The hoppercraft engines started up.
“What? Where?”
“Carl is monitoring all signals on the planet. He will jam the hoppercraft’s link to the hydraulic carbon release mechs around the planet. I must get up into the mesosphere.”
“We can’t leave the planet with the hoppercraft. We have to go above the mesosphere.” Ewan motioned frantically towards the ceiling. “Exosphere and beyond. It will be the only safe place. The hoppercraft isn’t designed to go that far.”
“I trust the Commander knows what th
e risks are to complete the mission.”
“Then I’m staying. I won’t leave her.” The adrenaline was already kicking in. He felt lightheaded and free at the same time.
“Understood, and I thought that might be the case,” Six’s expressive voice carried a sorrowful tone.
“Oh Six,” Ewan smiled at the drone. “Don’t worry. Ebudae has several pieces of equipment designed to tolerate the atmospheric changes. I’ll put the Enhanced Maintenance suit on.”
“That will keep you safe until I return. I just need to get far enough out of Carl’s jamming signal. The mesosphere should be good enough to connect and commence the abiogenesis.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“It’s rather exciting,” Six said.
“And very dangerous.”
“But think of the scientific applications!” Six said.
“If we survive.”
“Yes, and if we do not, sir…”
“Good luck, Six.” Ewan leaned over and opened his arms. The drone walked forward—like a toddler taking their first steps—and hugged him.
Chapter Thirteen
JODY SMILED WHEN SHE HEARD CARL’S SWEARING from the corridor outside of the cockpit. Good work, Six. Now it’s my turn.
Six attempted to shut down the ship’s com monitoring from their uplink into Carl’s ship systems. But they couldn’t get past the security block without alerting Carl. It came to Jody to stop him before Carl tried to follow the hoppercraft.
Adrenaline crackled, enlivening her senses. She could smell the frustration as Carl began to initiate take-off procedures. As she jumped through the open cockpit door, Carl turned and stuck a fist straight out.
Jody blocked and turned, but as she did, something slippery caught beneath her feet. She went down and before she could get back on her feet, lizard arms enveloped her.
She could hear the scales popping through the surface of the gilaman’s skin as he transmogrified from leathery gray skin to hardened scales.
“I knew you would find a way to get away. I even hoped you’d come after me.” He laughed. “Never. Never once did I underestimate you. Not like that brainless Howler.”
This was not in the plan. Jody wheezed as his grip squeezed her midsection.
Carl whacked her armored head repeatedly against the bulkhead. Though it protected her, she could feel the reverberating impact of every blow knocking her senseless and starry-eyed.
He carried her like a suitcase, out of the cockpit and down the entry ramp into the snowy bank where the bodies of the crew lay, stiff and frozen. “You’ll be a great addition. Which is a shame. I could have sold you on the slave market. S&M fighters fetch a high price.”
Still holding Jody with one arm, Carl ripped the hood down. “And so cute… what a shame. Maybe you are worth the trouble, Commander Benson. Maybe. And the joy I’ll have watching it is undeniable. But I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.”
Gathering what was left of her wits, she punched upwards into his gnarled face. The visage was more terrifying than ever as it laughed.
Dense claws gripped her neck as the horizon’s perspective tilted nauseatingly.
Ex-fighter pilot or not, the slant from sky to snow, from low to high, made Jody’s head spin. It triggered a fight or flight reflex. Her fingers grew cold, not from the weather but from the shock. All at once she was flying.
Jody scrambled to pull her arms and legs in as her body hit the side of the ATV, head first. The ATV! He couldn’t get her in there.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw into the cargo bay through the same window where she first saw Tapaogani XII. She glimpsed Ewan’s horrified face. A trickle of blood, warmed her cheek as she smeared it away from her eye. If Ewan came out now, he’d be dead.
At that moment she knew she was not getting into the ATV. She had to lead Carl out, beyond Ebudae. Far enough out for Six to complete their mission.
Jody stumbled back, pulled the hood back on her head and ran. She was faster than Carl, his legs might have been longer but the weight of his scales hindered his speed. She ran, skating along the icy crust that the melted and refrozen snow had created.
Carl lumbered on. Laughing behind her.
As she ran, the landscape got fuzzy. She kept going. It didn’t matter. Concussion. Poison. None of it mattered. Carl was following.
Eventually, the snowpack became tundra again where the winds had blown them into great drifts and valleys. She kept moving even though dizziness distorted the landscape; the nausea made her want to lie down; the sweat on her brow begged her to stop and cool her throbbing forehead in the snow. Was she running now? Her feet felt like lead. Her vision clouded. All the while, the clock in her head kept ticking. Ticking.
Five minutes.
Ten.
She kept running. As long as she did, Ewan was safe.
The cold on her face kept her alert. If she were going to die, she would hopefully pass out before she felt the effects of freezing to death. Or Carl beating her to death. Or taking her back and selling her off to be… She could not think of that.
Jody kept running. Until she couldn’t run.
She staggered.
She slowed.
Slowed. Slowed to a stop.
So tired.
She looked around, but Carl was nowhere to be seen. There was a scrabble as rock met knees with a crunch. “I’ll just… I’ll just lay here for a second.”
Chapter Fourteen
EWAN NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD BE USING THE EM SUIT for armor but here he was, stalking out of Ebudae on hissing hydraulics. Which direction had they gone?
He knew Jody had seen him.
He knew she ran out into the snow away from Ebudae to lead Carl away. She could not die. It wouldn’t be right. Not fair.
His mind kept playing the memory of the agonizing crunch of her body hitting the side of the ATV. When he saw her, the bright red bloom of blood had erupted from her blackened temple. Even though it took an extra forty-five seconds, Ewan grabbed a medkit and attached it to the EM.
Bending as he emerged from Ebudae, the extra ten centimeters that the EM afforded gave him an even better view. Out in the distance, he saw Carl’s stalking away from him following a spot of shifting black and white in the distance. Hang on Jody, I’m coming.
The heavy EM tromped through the frozen plain. The hydraulics gave him an extra bounce as he staggered with an unsteady but unrelenting pace. The old proverb about a hare and a tortoise spurring him on, step by agonizing slow step, he fixed his vision on the horizon and his prey.
The wind was picking up.
Ewan turned his gaze skyward for just a breath. By now, Six would have the launch sequence in place and the polar caps would begin the process of carbon release. There was no time to stop what was about to happen.
When the trapped gasses hit the atmosphere—in higher quantities than he had originally planned—it would wreak havoc on the weather systems. The next latitude sequence would come a minute later and another hundred kilometers closer to the planet’s equatorial plane. Over three hundred detonations in total were about to go off around Tapaogani XII. A process that would have taken place over years, not minutes.
His scientific mind warred with his rational. The excitement of the experiment won out, but it was still an experiment he’d rather participate in from beyond the exosphere.
The hiss of the EM’s hydraulics and the crunch of the ice crystals beneath the elevated boot beat a quick march.
The snow was beginning. Thick clumps flurried down, caught in whirling eddies.
Carl, now a black dot on the horizon, stopped.
Ewan watched in horror as the black dot—Jody— crumpled. Pistons pumping, the weight of the EM straining the muscles of his calves, he ran. His arms waved the massive metal extensions as though swimming a breast stroke. When his arms grew tired, the massive extensions lowered until they dragged along the hard pack tundra. Without warning, the appendages caug
ht, nearly causing him to topple over. To counterbalance, Ewan shot both legs forward like a chimpanzee. He did it again, on purpose. And again.
Bounding was easier. Faster. And more intimidating. Ewan’s EM pounded the ground behind Carl. Bearing down on his prey.
Only meters away Ewan skidded, swinging a mighty armored fist at the gilaman. Carl’s tongue extended to strike. But Ewan was ready for that trick. He used the pincers of the free appendage and snapped the tongue. Blood sprayed an arc in the air, covering Carl and the arm of the EM.
Carl let out a howl of rage and pain. Blood and foam spittle dripped from Carl’s horrible mouth. His teeth bared a threatening grin.
Ewan stepped back, holding both of the appendages up defensively to ward off an attack. The tongue hung, wrapped around the forefinger of his right appendage, jamming it from further utility. He shook the arm.
It wasn’t coming loose.
Carl stood, momentarily dazed, holding his face.
EM hydraulics hissed.
Carl stepped back, his arms up over his head, as all five phalanges of Ewan’s EM’s right hand gripped his neck, lifting him, shaking him like a rag doll. Bones crunched.
Blood rage filled Ewan’s eyes. He lifted the limp body and flung it through the air. The gilaman landed, limp and unmoving. Blood pooling around his face.
Chapter Fifteen
“JODY!” EWAN CALLED. He checked the viewer on the EM. The barometer was dropping. Desperate, he searched the horizon. His heart thudding at the looming danger. The wind and snow gusted with ferocious power. Ewan bent against the wind. He snapped his head around, the EM followed his pirouette.
“Jody!”
But the howling of the oncoming storm drowned out his cry.
“No…” A sob tightened his throat. “Not like this. Where are you?”
With grim determination, he kept moving forward, searching desperately for any sign of trail that the wind had not yet blown away. And the wind kept blowing. With every second it grew stronger. The storm would be upon them.
Baby, it's Cold in Space: Eight Science Fiction Romances Page 20
