Edge of Redemption (A Star Too Far Book 3)

by Casey Calouette

  “Who is it?” the Governor asked.

  “I don’t know, but they’re both coming here.”

  Natyasha felt the news like someone slammed her in the stomach. She wished she could see the look on Governor Myint’s face. Hope. There was hope.

  “We’re going to break orbit—”

  “No!” Governor Myint cried out. “Begin the bombardment. Engage those ships here.”

  There was a pause and a crackle of interference. “Confirmed,” Mustafa replied in a low voice.

  “You can’t!” Natyasha cried.

  “Get her out of here!” Governor Myint snarled and stormed out of the room.

  Heavy hands clutched Natyasha’s arm and drug her out into the hall. The floor shuddered through her feet.

  The orbital bombardment had begun.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  ––––––––

  The room was dark with only a slit of white light coming from beneath the door. Orbital bombardments rolled in the distance. Mortar joints cracked and landed on Emilie’s face. She turned and felt the grit roll off of her cheeks.

  The weight of restraint on her chest reminded her how helpless she was. The pain in her face and hands reminded her of how violent they were. She didn’t think they were violent intentionally, the humanoids simply didn’t seem to understand. They pushed and prodded her like cattle, not like a prisoner. Though it didn’t lessen her hate.

  She thought back to when she entered the complex. The thing that came back to her was how few actual humans there were. It was at least a twenty-to-one ratio of the bioaugments to humans. They were almost like drones with the real orders coming from human soldiers.

  A creak and a thud rolled through the building. A moment later a cascade of thunder drummed and more mortar cracked and fell. The room was alive with the hiss and crackle of mortar falling apart.

  Emilie strained her eyes and pushed against the bindings. The metal edge told her she wouldn’t be using any Core Corporate Evasion Techniques to cut through this one. Something was happening outside, she could feel it. Riots? Fighting? The power of the explosions made her excited. Occupiers didn’t blow things up, she thought.

  A shadow moved past the door with the sound of shuffling feet. Emilie focused on the slit and saw the dirty floor caked in corrosion. It brought back a memory to her first job chiseling corrosion and caked salts off of vehicles and washing them down with ionized water. The taste of the grimy oil speckled dirt came back to her.

  There was a sound from the hallway—a crack followed by a tapping sound. Then two shadows broke the line of light into the room. The door handle clicked and turned silently. Light exploded into the room.

  Emilie cried out and turned away from the light. Her eyes clenched tightly but still it burned on her retina. Too many hours of darkness had taken a toll. The fear drove into her like an iron pick. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t move, trapped. A part of her hoped to finish her days on Winterthur, just not like this.

  She thrashed against the bindings and pushed her head into the plastic table. Raw edges slid and burned against her skin.

  “Shh, shhh!” a woman’s voice hissed.

  Emilie pushed her eyes open a crack and saw a woman in a full black combat suit. She recognized the model as an old Core design that the UC used a few years before. The light was still too intense on her tender retina to make out a face.

  “Hold still,” the voice said softly.

  The woman in black rushed to the edge of the bed and pulled out a slender serrated blade. Emilie recoiled from the sight.

  “I said hold still.”

  The woman’s face was blacked out in a non-reflective nanite coating. She was broad in the shoulders and stoutly built. “Who are you?” Emilie asked through lips cracked with blood.

  The woman slid the knife into the edge of the strap and a high pitched buzz sounded followed the flop of the first strap. The second and third straps followed suit. Emilie lay without the weight but was too weak to stand.

  “We need to get out,” the woman said. She tucked the blade away.

  Emilie felt the woman’s arms raise her up. The touch was cold on her shoulders and arms. “Why did you help me?”

  “Because you have the one thing we need.”

  “What? What could I possibly have?”

  “Weapons.”

  “Who are you?” Emilie stood on tender feet and felt the grit and cold floor.

  “I’m Bark,” she said, moving to the edge of the door and sliding a finger around the corner. She raised her other hand quickly.

  Emilie stopped where she stood and held her breath.

  Bark slid the knife from the sheath. In one smooth motion she was out of the door just in time to intercept a skulking bioaugment.

  Emilie gasped as the knife sliced through the augment’s throat.

  Blood sprayed across the hall and the creature slid down with a thud.

  “Let’s go!” Bark hissed back and kept the knife at ready.

  The pair pushed through the bright hallways, past empty checkpoints and closed doors. The facility had the look of somewhere that was recently built, but not well maintained.

  “Where are we?” Emilie asked as she waited for Bark to open a door.

  “Immigrant Processing facility,” Bark replied. She popped the door open.

  The thunder sounded again, but louder. The walls hummed as the concussions rolled through.

  Bark stopped and looked back at Emilie. “That’s orbital,” she said.

  “Orbital? The UC?” Emilie asked, thinking of William and the Garlic.

  Bark pressed on with a concerned look on her face.

  The halls were silent and finally they passed a door with a corrosion stained window. The entire facility seemed nearly empty, only once did they slide back into a passage and wait for anyone to pass. Even then they weren’t combat troops but a squad of the bioaugmented troops.

  Emilie followed as quickly as she could and had a chance to see the bruising on her arms and hands. The dirt stains were burnished into her skin. The whole night felt surreal. All the captors told her was to think on it, that they’d be back. She watched Bark and felt a deep connection. The woman had saved her. “Thank you.”

  Bark glanced at Emilie but didn’t say anything. She stood at the edge of a cargo door and pushed it open a crack. Her fingers pushed around the edge of the door.

  Augmented, Emilie thought. Implanted cameras. She decided not to ask when she saw the pistol come out.

  The pistol was a plain affair with refined edges. Milled edges, not those from a rough additive machine. A sculpted metal cylinder hung on the end of the barrel.

  Bark snapped it around the corner and pushed the door open. The action sounded with a click, a second click, and a final click. A white puff of smoke rolled up and away. “Move!” Bark called and opened the door.

  The cloud shrouded sunlight echoed through the open air like a raw diffuser. Swirling clouds of black and gray danced above. It smelled of ground rock and burnt iron.

  Emilie ran out and felt the cold ground on her bare feet. The pace was beyond her, Bark was pulling away towards the edge of the facility. She turned her head and saw a pile of three dead bodies not far away. All three were human and not Hun. The uniforms were simple with a white X stitched into the shoulder. “Hold on!”

  The distance grew between them. Bark huddled up next to the wall and tucked herself beside a security gate. Emilie hobbled up and rested against the wall. Bark didn’t wait for her to catch her breath. She slammed the door open and two more clicks sounded from the pistol.

  “Watch your step,” Bark said over her shoulder, as she stood on the opposite side of the security checkpoint.

  Emilie entered the narrow room. Two bodies were sprawled in front of her. Both had heavy barreled shotguns strapped to their chests. One of the bodies was in a Hun uniform while the other was marked with an X. She had to step over the Hun trooper and nearly tripped on the o
ther.

  The Hun soldier had a narrow hole through the center of his Adam’s apple. One of his eyes was open while the other was half closed.

  “Hey!” Bark yelled.

  Emilie snapped out of it and looked back. “What?”

  “I said, grab the shotgun. You know how to use a Krieghof?”

  Emilie shook her head.

  Bark stepped to Emilie’s side and lifted the Hun trooper. She slid the shotgun loose and dropped the corpse with a crunch. She jammed the weapon at Emilie and pointed out the mechanism. “Safety, here. Fire, here. When the alarm sounds, turn the barrel to reload.” Bark pushed herself towards the door and looked back to Emilie. “Don’t shoot me.”

  Emilie nodded quickly.

  “There’s a vehicle parked two blocks away. We get to that and we’re clear. Then we can meet with my team.” Bark looked once more out the door and back to Emilie. “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Bark holstered the pistol and gently pushed the door open. She glanced from side to side and cautiously stepped into the street. “Let’s go.”

  Emilie clutched the shotgun against her body and followed. The street was slick with moisture but the rain had stopped. The air tasted of the sea and she savored it. The sea was freedom.

  They walked past empty apartment buildings and sealed storefronts. Most of them looked hastily shut up while others looked jammed open or bolted shut. Bark’s stride was confident, like she belonged. Emilie’s pace was short, stuttered, and she nearly stumbled at every step.

  “Relax,” Bark said casually over her shoulder.

  “I’m trying,” Emilie replied, still scared. The memories of the night before hadn’t faded.

  Bark glanced above her at the apartment buildings and smiled when she looked at Emilie. “Look pleasant.” Her eyes snapped up and back down to Emilie. “In case someone’s watching.”

  Emilie caught on and her eyes, involuntarily, darted up. A curtain moved above them while in another building she could see a silhouette. “They wouldn’t!”

  A loud screeching sounded from behind them and a light transport truck came into view. A white X was painted on the hood and in the back half a dozen men stood with rifles and shotguns. The truck stopped with a stuttering rumble and one of the men got out at the entrance gate to the processing facility.

  Bark grabbed Emilie and pulled her. “Faster!”

  A voice cried out and a horn sounded.

  Emilie stumbled and the shotgun clattered to the ground. Fear raced through her and she could sense them behind her. The sound of the truck accelerating burned into her skull. She grabbed the weapon in her wet fingers and broke into a run after Bark.

  They ran around the corner with the sounds of the gear drive humming behind them. A small transport truck, the sort that would carry a daily delivery, was parked askew beneath an alloy awning. Bark opened the back and ran around and jumped into the driver’s seat. Emilie crawled into the rear and shut the door about the same time Bark stabbed the throttle.

  The sound of a rising gear was punctuated with the release of a capacitor, and the vehicle lurched forward. Emilie lost her balance and rolled onto the floor. She clambered back up and was tossed to one side. A crack sounded, followed by a thud.

  She poked her head up and looked out the rear window. She shrieked and saw the corrosion pitted grill of the pursuing truck a meter away from the transport. She fell back onto the floor and the grill crashed into them and slammed the vehicle forward. The entire back door crumbled forward and the plastic window tumbled to the floor.

  “Shoot the fucker!” Bark yelled.

  Emilie grabbed the gun and braced herself against the wall, pushed the barrel out the empty window frame, and squeezed.

  Nothing.

  The truck slammed on the brakes. The front end wobbled and the men in the back pitched from side to side.

  “Fuckin’ safety!” Bark screamed.

  Emilie looked down and flipped the little black lever. She pointed it once again and opened fire.

  The round exploded out in a puff of gray smoke that tasted like a bad barbeque. Pock marks stained the front of the truck with a slender filament hanging like a spiderweb on the front of the vehicle. A man grinned back and the truck raced forward.

  “Wait ‘til he’s close for fuck’s sake!”

  Empty streets blew past. Emilie tucked back down and heard another thud, followed by a second. The dull rumbling was louder and most definitely not thunder. She couldn’t place the sound, almost like someone was dropping trucks onto a road. She squeezed the weapon tight and braced herself for another shot.

  “Hold on!” Bark yelled.

  The truck slammed sideways and the tires chattered on the wet pavement. The chase truck slammed the brakes and wobbled on two wheels before bouncing down and surging forward again.

  Emilie felt blood running down her face and tasted it on her lips. She grabbed the Krieghof shotgun and popped up. She punched the barrel through the opening and squinted through a drop of blood. The chase truck was almost on them. She could see the eyes of the man driving it and saw a look of concern spread across his face. Then she pulled the trigger.

  A wad of filament with a core of tungsten slammed into the plastic windshield and sliced through it. Filament exploded out inside of the cab and ricocheted off the window. Each individual piece had enough energy for a single slice, but when coupled with a hundred meters worth of carbon fiber... the driver was a bloody mess and the truck tipped sideways.

  Emilie whooped and then watched as the men in the back spilled out like rag dolls onto the road. One man pitched out with his arms extended, fear in his eyes. The others tumbled and rolled with truck plowing them forward. An edge caught as the truck slowed and rolled it forward, crushing most of the men. One man stood and stared down at his hands, both of which hung at strange angles.

  “Got ‘em!” Emilie said with a smile and felt the truck decelerate.

  “Fuck,” Bark said.

  Emilie snapped her head to the front and saw a squad of Hun troops taking cover.

  A pair of bio augmented soldiers dropped down a heavy barrel and a tripod and stood next to it. A single Hun trooper took cover behind a sloped shield.

  “Hold on!”

  The truck buckled once more and pitched to the side. Then it rolled.

  She felt it in her gut and watched as the rough interior of the delivery truck came forward and smashed into her. There was sound in her ears like grinding and then it stopped. Gunfire erupted and little shafts of daylight opened into the back. She pushed away from the wall and crawled to the door.

  The Hun team stood with weapons at ready and moved forward, slowly and deliberately. The heavy barreled cannon—a mass driver with a low rate output—hummed and pulsed with stored energy.

  Bark crawled out of the driver’s compartment. Blood poured down from her forehead. She grinned at Emilie and bared blood lined teeth. “Wow!” she cried out and sat next to the door. She glanced at her wrist. “It’ll be close.”

  “What will?”

  “My people.”

  Gunfire erupted. The Hun troops dropped and scattered. Bark pushed the door open and stepped into the rain. She rested her weapon on the side of the vehicle and snapped off two silent rounds. Emilie crawled out after and watched as the last of the advancing patrol fell. The man screamed and bawled in the street.

  “Get the mass driver!” Bark yelled.

  A man stepped out from behind the edge of a building and popped back into cover. The two bioaugmented soldiers stood and stared.

  “Run!” Bark yelled and broke for a low concrete divider.

  Emilie followed and wondered if she’d feel the burn of the mass driver.

  It opened fire on people who Emilie couldn’t see. The heavy rounds put-putted out a steady sound with a whine of capacitors zinging behind it. She fell down and crawled to cover. Bark spat out a glob of sticky blood and shook her head.

  “What I’d do for so
me proper Marines,” she mumbled.

  A heavy crack smashed through the air and one of the bioaugments dropped with a divot in his skull. The second soldier looked to his side with dumb eyes. A second crack smashed through him and the weapon stitched fire wildly into the buildings. Concrete rained down and glass shattered.

  A final crack sounded and a mixture of skull and blood peppered the plastic guard of the weapon. The sniper fire had come from behind the weapon, the direction of the sea.

  Bark stood slowly with her pistol before her. “Who is that?”

  Emilie crawled to her feet, braced on the edge of the concrete and tried to look as professional as possible. “My people,” she said proudly.

  A man in civilian clothes rushed forward with a half dozen staying in the cover of the building. He glanced back down the road and shook his head. “We got a problem.”

  Bark spat another mouthful of blood. “What?”

  “Orbital bombardment, they’re hitting the immigration center.”

  “I know,” Bark said and checked the action on her pistol.

  “Shouldn’t that be empty?” Emilie said.

  The man glanced at Bark. She nodded back to him.

  “We put all the recent arrivals there when this all started, but now the Hun and Malic have been adding regular citizens.”

  “But why?”

  Bark wiped her face. “They don’t have the troops to hold a full population and the razor drones failed because of the corrosion.”

  “It’s a massacre,” Emilie whispered. She looked down the road and saw the sniper drone pop out of cover. She waved at it. “Can we get in?”

  “In where?” Bark asked.

  “To that camp, can we get in?”

  “Why the fuck would we do that, lady?” the man asked, looking towards the cloud of debris rising in the distance.

  Emilie looked down the road and smiled. “Because I’ve got enough guns for an army.”

  The man smiled. “Time the orbits, we could get in?”

  Bark closed her eyes and nodded. “Do it.”

  Emilie handed the shotgun to Bark and stumbled forward. “I hope you’ve got another truck. We’re gonna need it.”