Hard Vacuum 1

by Simon Cantan

  "Well, Kyra, you could sit here all day with your thumb up your ass or you could go kill these motherfuckers," she growled. She thought about the grin on the merc's face as he'd walked away, and the choice was simple. She launched herself at the dish.

  Chapter 3

  SHIPPING

  Kyra left a wake of broken dishes, solar panels and support struts behind her as she launched and vaulted across the surface of the station. At least her ReadyNet told her that she had plenty of oxygen and power.

  After a tense hour of jumping, she paused by a control box on the top of Bravo Wing. Kyra could see a large, streamlined ship locked onto the docking port. The light from a small cockpit shone out against the terrible black of space.

  Kyra adjusted her grip on the delicate control box and moved down to the top edge of a massive opening in the side of the station. Inside, she could see countless shelves crammed with crates. She knew they would be filled with water rations and metal parts, anything that didn't require heat and air to store it.

  She got to the lip and climbed down, holding the edge until she reached the floor. With a small push, Kyra jumped inside. She thumped down on the deck as gravity reasserted itself.

  Robots glided around the warehouse, ignoring her as they arranged the crates in ever more efficient patterns.

  Kyra slunk past them to an airlock door on the other side. The door was large enough to allow the shipping containers through and had a manual crank wheel in the centre.

  Kyra moved to a small window set in the door and looked inside. The airlock was empty. She spun the wheel until the door hung free, and then pulled it up. Ducking under the door, Kyra yanked it shut again and locked it.

  Bright light shone through the window in the inner door. Kyra crept to it and looked inside to a corridor. Just as she reached the window, two men turned the far corner with guns raised. Kyra ducked out of sight and waited.

  After a moment, she took another look and saw the men had gone. She double-checked the corridor was empty, and then keyed the controls and filled the airlock. The electronic display flashed green, and the inner door swung open.

  She hurried inside and closed the door behind her. Scanning the corridor, she spotted a metal door nearby. She slipped inside to find a large warehouse filled with whizzing bots.

  Kyra activated her ReadyNet and called Manik Dada, her WeaverCorp liaison.

  He answered after a moment, looking harried. "Hello?"

  "This is Kyra Sarin. Listen, armed men have captured the station. They've been rounding up the crew and taking them to the canteen."

  "What?" Manik appeared confused. "Kyra Sarin the soldier?"

  "You need to tell someone to send help," Kyra said. "I'm not sure what they want, but it can't be good."

  "You escaped these men?"

  Kyra nodded. "I don't think they know where I am, so I should be safe for a while."

  Above her, a speaker crackled, and a voice spoke. "Hello, everyone. This is Baltasar Kemke. We are representatives from WikiDeath, the freedom movement. My agents are rounding up people for their own safety. It is vital that you all hand yourselves in to the nearest agent. Otherwise, the consequences could be fatal."

  The voice paused for a moment, and then began speaking Mandarin.

  "Did you hear that?" Kyra asked.

  Manik nodded. "We've had trouble with WikiDeath before. They don't approve of our war against the Xenomigrants. They never do anything violent, though."

  "Well, this seems pretty fucking violent."

  The voice on the speaker finished speaking Mandarin and switched back to English. "There's a soldier loose in shipping warehouse B. Rainor and Stein, go and take care of her."

  "Shit, I'd better go." Kyra closed her connection to Manik.

  She scanned the room, looking for a way out. Long shipping containers sat atop the deep shelves to leave gaps between them. She might be able to hide in the shadows there for a while, but not forever. Six shelves stretched a hundred metres above Kyra to the ceiling at the top of the station. Each of the shelves was broad enough to almost be a floor onto itself. Robots adjusted the crates a millimetre at a time until they considered them perfect and moved on.

  Kyra walked further into the warehouse, slipping between the crates that hadn't been stacked away yet. She spotted metal stairs and padded to them, trying to stay quiet. She heard the door opening and ducked behind a crate, out of sight.

  Two muscular men in turtleneck shirts walked in, their guns raised, scanning the room.

  Kyra crouched low and made for the stairs, keeping an eye on the men.

  "Back there," one of the men shouted.

  Kyra abandoned her efforts to stay quiet and sprang up the stairs. Flak fire hit the metal around her, ricocheting off the stairs and her suit. Her ReadyNet flashed at her with each glancing impact and her suit power plummeted.

  She reached the top of the stairs and ducked onto the shelf, out of sight. She pushed her way between two containers as flak fire hit the roof above her. Staying low, Kyra waited for the gunshots to die down.

  "Rainor, go up and get her," a voice called from below.

  Kyra inched out and peeked down the stairs.

  A burly blonde man was climbing towards her.

  Kyra backed away on the shelf, glancing around her and staying back from the edge. She couldn't find any cover. Neatly packed shipping containers filled the shelves, each holding dozens of precisely arranged crates. Kyra grabbed a crate and heaved, throwing it out between her and Rainor.

  From below her, flak crackled, punching into the side of the crate. Kyra scrambled away from the bouncing flak.

  A loud beeping behind her startled Kyra. She turned and saw a robot weaving backwards and forwards. Kyra stepped aside, and the robot dashed to the crate, picking it up and moving it back into place.

  "You tidy little beauty," Kyra said. She grabbed another crate and threw it out onto the shelf. She kept flinging crates until a jumble cluttered the edge of the shelf. A crate fell off the end, and Kyra heard a shout below.

  "Come on out, girl," Rainor called from the other side of the mess of crates. Kyra could see him straining to spot her.

  A robot darted up the steps behind Rainor and beeped at him. Rainor turned, his gun raised and blew the bot's face off.

  Kyra broke from her hiding spot, vaulted the crates with a servo-assisted jump and tackled Rainor. She ripped the flak gun from his grasp and tossed it over the edge of the shelf. Grabbing the front of his jacket, she tried to yank him towards the edge, where she could throw him off.

  Rainor twisted away from her, breaking her grasp. He backed off a few steps, slipping his jacket off and throwing it to the ground. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a long knife. "You've got guts, soldier. Let's see them."

  Kyra dropped into a fighting stance, her hands open, ready to grasp Rainor's wrist.

  Rainor advanced, letting his knife lead. He waved the blade back and forth through the air, grinning. "How reliable is that armour, soldier? I heard a sharp blade can rip right through it."

  Kyra retreated, watching him.

  "Did you all act like such pussies on Eris?" Rainor asked.

  "You keep waving that thing like a limp dick. I'm going to stick it so far up your ass, people will think it's a mohawk," Kyra said

  "This shelf doesn't go on forever."

  Kyra heard something beep. She could hear a robot whirring just behind her. Dodging around it, she kicked it in the butt.

  The robot stumbled forward, colliding with Rainor's crotch. He bent to shove the bot away.

  Kyra sprang at him, grasping his knife hand and twisting.

  He fell to one knee, but he didn't drop the knife.

  Kyra swung in close and punched him in the nose. The blade fell to the ground with a clatter. Kyra let go of Rainor's hand and grabbed his throat and crotch, lifting him high above her head.

  "Let me go, bitch!" Rainor shouted.

  Kyra staggered to the edge of the sh
elf and looked down at Stein lying under the pile of small crates Kyra had flung from the shelf. "Return to sender!" Taking aim, she threw Rainor at Stein.

  Rainor crashed into Stein's chest. Both men fell to the ground in a puzzle of broken bones and blood.

  Kyra grabbed Rainor's knife from the ground, tucking it into her belt. She danced down the stairs, her eyes on the two men.

  As she got halfway down, Stein began to push himself out from under Rainor, making for his gun nearby.

  Kyra vaulted off the stairs and landed on the floor. The legs of her suit growled as they absorbed the impact. She sprinted to Stein, reaching him just as his fingers touched the gun. She stood on Stein's wrist, hearing the bones crack like a boxer's knuckles.

  "Aaah! Get off!" Stein screamed.

  "Why are you all here?" Kyra asked.

  "I don't know. I'm just a merc. Baltasar Kemke paid us, and we came," Stein said, tears streaming down his face.

  Kyra twisted her foot, feeling something in Stein's wrist grind together. "You have to know something. There's always scuttlebutt."

  "No, please. Baltasar knows. It's to do with data, but I don't know what."

  Kyra lifted her foot and smiled at Stein.

  "Please, let me live," Stein said.

  Kyra shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to put my foot down."

  Kyra stamped on Stein's head, the suit's strength quadrupling her power.

  Stein's head exploded in a jet of brains and blood, spraying a passing bot. The robot stopped for a moment, stunned, to look at Kyra.

  "Piss off," Kyra said.

  The bot raced away, squealing.

  Kyra picked up Stein's gun, but it wouldn't respond. It was DNA coded, useless to her.

  An incoming call buzzed. She glanced it open.

  "Sergeant Sarin, are you alright?" Manik Dada said, wide-eyed.

  "I'm fine, Manik. It takes a little more than a couple of bozos to kill me."

  "What happened to them?"

  Kyra glanced at the two mangled, bloody corpses. "They got a bit jammed up."

  Kyra walked back to the entrance and stepped silently out into the corridor.

  "What are you going to do?" Manik asked.

  Kyra jogged down the corridor, alert for any more mercs. "There's a security room on Alpha Wing. I'm going to grab a gun and end this."

  The speakers overhead crackled. "Our soldier is turning into a problem. Rainor and Stein are dead. The soldier who killed them is heading towards Alpha Wing. Go; kill her; get a bonus. That is all."

  Kyra skidded to a halt and stared at Manik. "Are you telling them where I am, Manik?"

  Manik shook his head. "No, of course not."

  Kyra searched the ceiling and spotted well-hidden camera pickups at ten-metre intervals. Baltasar was watching every move she made.

  "What are you going to do now?" Manik asked.

  "I'll call you back," Kyra said, sprinting towards Delta Wing. She could hear footsteps pounding down the corridor close behind her.

  Chapter 4

  POWER

  Kyra sprinted through the corridors, barely checking ahead of her as she ran. She stumbled over a loose floor plate and caught herself. She punched in a destination on her ReadyNet, and then followed the holographic arrow, barrelling into the room indicated and glancing around.

  She knew she only had a handful of seconds before the mercs would be through the door. She scanned the room desperately.

  A maze of generators and cables filled the room, humming to themselves. All of them were arranged in neat rows of spinning motors and blinking lights.

  Kyra ducked under a branch of cables and hurried between the rows. At the third row, she turned in and hunkered down.

  Three men ran into the room behind her, their guns swivelling back and forth as they searched for her.

  Kyra moved along the row of machines, keeping low. Her suit alarm blinked — twenty percent remaining. She didn't have enough to rush them. Finding a gap between two immense generators, Kyra jammed herself into it. She peeked out of her gap and saw a merc turn into her row.

  Kyra pushed further back, trying to disappear in the shadows. A cable snagged on the shoulder of her suit. Kyra yanked it free, breaking off its connection to the generator.

  The cable spat and hissed sparks at her, twisting in her hand like a snake.

  Kyra looked at the torn end of the cable, unsure what to do with it. She heard footsteps running close by. Springing forward, Kyra led with the cable, jamming it into the chest of a mercenary.

  The man jerked spasmodically, his shirt catching fire. All the lights in the room flickered and went out. The man screamed, steam coming off his eyeballs.

  Kyra dropped the cable and fell back, staring at the man by the light of his flaming shirt. The brutality of it disgusted even her.

  The electric shock wore off, and he tried desperately to beat at the fire. Instead of going out, it rose up his arms. The flames licked up around his face, and the merc screamed. He turned and ran off down the row.

  The light from the fire disappeared from view, leaving Kyra alone in the darkness. She strained, trying to see around her. She opened her mouth and listened as the merc's screams dropped to a burbling whimper on the other side of the room. As the room quieted, she could hear the other men attempting to stay silent. They were between her and the doorway.

  Kyra crouched low in case the lights came back on and moved to the end of the row. She sidled across the rows until she reached the one closest to the door. Dim light from the entrance showed two mercs standing over the body of their comrade. He was burnt beyond recognition. The two mercs stared at him, revulsion apparent on their faces.

  Kyra crept down the row as far as she dared, pinning herself to the shadows of the equipment.

  "Come on, let's light this bitch up," one of the men said.

  Kyra grabbed the knife from her belt and held it ready. It wasn't balanced for throwing; she'd have to get close. If they moved into the darkness, they were hers.

  "Not until we fetch flashlights," the other merc replied.

  Kyra crossed her fingers, but the first merc nodded.

  "You're a pussy," he said. "But it doesn't mean you ain't right. Come on, grab his body and I'll lock this door."

  One merc pulled the charred body from the room while the other fiddled with the door panel. The door whisked shut, and the light from the doorway vanished.

  Kyra crouched in utter darkness. She turned up the gain on her ReadyNet, but there was no light to see. Without power, the room felt like a tomb. She moved forward towards the door, her hands outstretched in front of her.

  The knife in her hand tinked as it came into contact with something metal. Kyra turned left and felt her way forward. She found a smooth surface with a frame around it — the door.

  Kyra explored the edge of the door with her knife. She found a small crack and picked at it with the tip of the blade, working it in. She wiggled the knife into the gap until it stuck. With the heel of her hand, she hammered the handle, wedging it in further.

  Kyra pushed the knife sideways, trying to prise the door open. A tiny crack appeared, widened. Kyra yanked harder, and the gap opened up. But then with a loud snap, the blade cracked in two. Kyra grabbed for the door edge, getting her fingers in the gap as the door closed. It squashed her fingers.

  Grunting with the effort, Kyra pulled the door open. She put her foot against the frame and yanked it back. The door gave way reluctantly. She managed to get enough space to push her way through.

  She stood in the corridor, her chest heaving from the effort. She glanced around for the two mercs, but they were nowhere in sight. At her feet, she saw the charred body of the dead merc.

  Kyra shook her head. "Not the brightest spark."

  She checked the cameras. The corridor was on emergency lighting, so the cameras didn't seem to have power any more either. She stepped over the corpse and slipped down the corridor in the direction of the canteen
.

  Chapter 5

  DARKNESS

  Kyra wondered just how much emergency power the station had. Eventually, life-support would run out. She hoped the broken generators would keep the mercs occupied for a while.

  Rounding the corner towards the station mess, she crept forward. The door was open. She peeked around the frame.

  A single merc was perched on a chair inside, watching the hundred or so station workers. He was facing away from her.

  Kyra stood and padded into the room, raising her finger to her faceplate to keep the workers quiet.

  The workers all stared at her in shock, hope on their faces. One of them even pointed.

  Kyra dived for a nearby kitchen worktop as the merc turned to look. She kept low and scrambled for the far edge of the counter. Peeking around, she saw the man standing up and walking back towards her.

  Kyra scanned the area for anything that could help. The worktop was covered with food preparation machines: a handheld microwave, an industrial-sized food processor, a flash steamer.

  Kyra sidled across and checked the display on the food processor. It was lit up green, ready to mush something up.

  "Who's back there?" The merc called. He added something in Mandarin.

  Kyra kept quiet.

  The merc leaned out over the counter, trying to see.

  Kyra sprang to her feet, grabbing his head and forcing it down into the food processor. She reached out with her ReadyNet and activated it.

  The man screamed as the food processor flew into life. The processor made a grinding noise as it came into contact with the man's skull. The gun in his hand fired wildly, peppering the wall with flak.

  Kyra jumped up on the counter and knelt on the flailing man's head, forcing it further into the processor.

  The blades caught hold, slicing through the man's skull and lacerating his brain. A torrent of blood and grey goo sprayed up over Kyra.

  She jumped back off the counter. "What a mess."

  The merc's headless body toppled out of the food processor and disappeared on the other side of the counter. Kyra heard a slopping sound as it hit the ground.