He found Will lying on his back, pinned there by the weight of the massive support column. Technically, it was only the top half of the column. The bottom half still stood attached to the middle of the floor.
Will’s eyes opened and focused on Aaron. He was in bad shape. Bleeding from the nose and mouth, covered in dust, and his right arm was broken—the bone was protruding through the forearm. He coughed again. “You can’t get away,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Not forever. Sooner or later, one of us will catch you.”
In answer, Aaron pointed the Horace at Will’s face.
Will coughed a third time and stared at the gun. “Gonna kill me?” he asked. “I might be the only other one like you—the only other cyborg alive—and you’re going to kill me?”
Perhaps Aaron would have been sentimental, perhaps he would have spared this misguided man, but that Aaron was not in control now. This Aaron was all about fulfilling the mission, or perhaps program was a better word. He squeezed the trigger and the Horace bucked in his hand. One shot was enough.
After holstering his gun, Aaron moved over to where Eric was strapped down. Eric appeared dusty, but otherwise unharmed. He was still unconscious. Both eyes were black and swollen. It looked like his jaw had been broken and several teeth were gone. Several of his fingers ended not in fingernails, but in bloody tissue where his fingernails had once been.
There was a small tray sitting beside Eric’s chair. Upon the tray sat several laser needles. One was a sedative, while a second was a stimulant.
Aaron picked up the stimulant and, not even bothering to wipe the dust off, he jammed it into Eric’s arm. He pressed the stopper and injected a dosage into Eric’s arm.
It took a moment, but Eric slowly rotated his head so that he could see. His eyelids fluttered, and he kept blinking his eyes. “Aaron?” he croaked. “You look like hell.”
The irony of the comment was lost on Aaron and he didn’t respond. Instead, he began loosening the straps. Once he had an arm loose, Eric began to help. It took another three minutes to get him loose, but then he scooted to the edge of the chair and stood up, wincing.
He looked around at the mess. “You sure did a number on the place.” His speech was slow, like he was still suffering from whatever drugs they had given him. His eyes flicked to the doorway. “Are any of the others still alive?”
“No,” Aaron answered.
Eric looked back to Aaron. “You okay? You sound funny.”
Aaron turned slightly so that his wound was visible.
“Uh-oh,” Eric said quietly. “We need to get you to Jessica.” He reached out, like he was going to take Aaron by the arm, but Aaron moved away.
“One moment,” Aaron said, nearly gasping. He hobbled closer to the center of the debris pile. The generator he’d noticed earlier was there, mostly undamaged by the ceiling collapse. A wooden beam had fallen close by and one end rested across the top of the generator. Nearly a foot of rubble lay scattered all around the generator’s base.
He stopped beside the generator and leaned against it. A wave of nausea rolled over him; the pain was getting worse, and it was becoming impossible to ignore it. He took several deep breaths and the pain slowly faded away—not completely, but enough where he could turn his attention to the generator.
He pushed the wooden beam away and examined the controls.
The model wasn’t new and was rather inexpensive. One of the reasons it was so cheap was that it lacked some of the more basic safety features. After a minute or so, Aaron began changing the control settings.
Eric limped over and looked over Aaron’s shoulder. “Hey! That’s dangerous. You’re setting up a feedback loop. It could explode.”
Aaron turned his head and stared. No words were necessary.
Eric looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I guess you want it to explode?”
Aaron turned back and made some more adjustments to the controls. When he was done, he turned and regarded Eric.
Eric was looking from Aaron to the generator. He looked nervous. “How long do we have?” he asked.
“Five to seven minutes,” Aaron answered.
The answer seemed to catch Eric off guard. “Really? That long?”
Aaron motioned toward the door. “We have to go.”
Eric nodded and the two of them began walking toward the door. They were both in bad shape, but Eric’s torture had not included being shot, so he was in slightly better shape. He helped support Aaron as they limped, hobbled, and cursed their way from the room.
They had passed the chair where Eric had been restrained and were nearly to the hall when Eric stopped. A smile split his face and he stepped away from Aaron, nearly making Aaron fall to the ground.
“Hey, look!” Eric said cheerfully. He moved over and picked up a duffel bag that lay under a thick coat of dust. “It’s my bag.” He opened it up and looked inside, grinning. “Most of my shit’s still here, too.”
Aaron had not stopped when Eric left him, but continued his slow hobble toward the door. “Hurry!” he called in that same monotone voice.
As Aaron passed from the room into the hallway, Eric rejoined him, now carrying his duffel.
They hurried as fast as their injuries would allow down the long hallway. They passed the room where the dead woman, Emma, still lay on the floor. They paused in the doorway. Eric surveyed the scene.
“She fucking deserved it,” he said after a moment, then he threw one last insult at her, “bitch.” He stared at her for a moment, and might have gone on staring at her but for Aaron.
“Hurry,” Aaron said, pulling on Eric’s arm.
Eric moved away from the door, turning to catch one more glance of the woman.
The two men walked, entwined; Aaron supporting Eric, while Eric helped support Aaron.
They stumbled down the remainder of the hall and across the empty room to the stairs. They took the stairs slowly; the pain of their injuries nearly making them fall several times. If they fell, it was doubtful they would be able to get back up.
Somehow they emerged from the stairs onto the first floor. No words were exchanged, but Aaron led them toward the front of the building.
The main door had been sealed shut, but Aaron’s Horace made quick work of it and then they emerged into the yard and headed for the street. It had been nearly four minutes since Aaron had gimmicked the generator. This whole block was going to go up in another minute or two.
They passed through a large opening in the fence when lights from an oncoming transport made them pull up short. Aaron pulled the Horace from its holster and waited.
Chapter 32
“There’s someone in front of the building,” Russell called out.
“I see them,” Susan said, fumbling to raise the carbine up so that she could use its scope to get a better view.
Once they had gotten through the spaceport gates, it had been a short, quick drive to this business complex. They were still a block away and their plan called for them to park a block short, but it seemed foolish now. Once you’d been spotted, there was no point in trying to hide.
“Go!” she called to Russell, and then lifted the carbine. She put the scope to her eye, trying to located the person. It took a moment and then the shape resolved itself into two people; two people that she recognized. “It’s Aaron and Eric,” she called. “They look like shit!” That much was easy enough to tell through the scope.
Russell gunned the engine, which in turn, hesitated, coughed, and nearly stalled out. After a moment it apparently decided to go after all, and the transport slowly accelerated.
The transport slid to a halt in the middle of the street, both doors flying open and the four of them bounding out. Russell went left and Eve went right. They both had their carbines up and ready to fire. Jessica and Susan headed straight toward Eric and Aaron.
“It’s all right,” Eric called out. “They’re all dead; it’s just us.”
Automatically, Susan reached out to tell if he w
as lying or not. It was just a habit she had gotten into in the short time she had known Eric. She was relieved to sense him telling the truth, but only momentarily. Something was wrong, and it took a moment for her to figure out what it was. She nearly missed a step when she realized that she could sense Eric but not Aaron. Nothing. It was like he wasn’t even there.
Susan’s eyes focused in on Aaron and she realized in just how bad a shape he was in. He had been shot, his left arm had a deep, nasty cut, and his left leg appeared hurt, maybe broken.
A horrible thought occurred to her then, as they always do when one is close to panic. Is he dying? Is he so far gone that I can’t even sense him anymore? But that didn’t seem right. His eyes followed her, but still she couldn’t sense him.
Jessica reached him and tried to get him to lay down. Aaron looked at Jessica, but he still didn’t say anything. It was rather eerie.
Susan swallowed hard, not liking this at all.
Aaron’s head rolled back and his breath caught. He gasped and his eyes seemed to be about to bulge out of their sockets.
She could sense him again. Just like that. It was like someone had flipped the switch and now she could sense him, but that made no sense.
Jessica was still trying to make Aaron lie down but he shoved her aside, grimacing as he did so. “No!” he said emphatically.
“Your injuries look severe,” Jessica snapped right back. She might be an easy-going person normally, but when it came to medical matters, she was every bit the dictator that all doctors seemed to be.
“If we stay here, then we all die!” Aaron yelled.
That caught everyone’s attention. “What do you mean?” Susan demanded.
Aaron looked like he might be sick, faint, and die, and not necessarily in that order. He gasped for breath, and he swallowed several times.
“He rigged a generator to explode,” Eric said helpfully. “I think he said it’ll take out a whole block.”
“Russell! Eve! Back to the transport,” Susan bellowed as she darted forward. “Jessica, get Eric. I got Aaron.”
Jessica still looked unhappy, but even she realized that Aaron dying had to be better than all of them dying.
Susan reached the two men and grabbed Aaron. He put his arm around her for support, and she began to half-carry, half-drag him to the transport.
Skinny arms grabbed his other side, and Susan glanced over to see Eve helping to carry Aaron. “I told you to get back to the transport,” Susan managed to say through her labored breathing.
“I disobeyed,” Eve said simply.
For the life of her, Susan just couldn’t get mad. She wasn’t sure she would have been able to move him the whole way by herself. As it was, the two of them struggled mightily.
Reaching the transport, they laid Aaron’s torso on the flat cargo bed and sort of rolled him the rest of the way on. Eric and Jessica sat panting beside where Aaron lay, and Russell sat alone in the cab.
Russell gunned the engine even as Susan and Eve clambered up beside Aaron’s prone form.
The transport was old and Susan pictured a horrifying scene where it refused to go, just stalled out right there in the middle of the street to give them a front-row seat to the coming explosion. Even though it was old, Terry had done a good job overhauling it, and the transport slowly gained speed.
They had only made it two blocks when a booming explosion rolled over them. It lit up the night sky and threw debris into the air.
“We made it!” Eve called, punching Susan on the arm.
Susan returned the grin and looked down at Aaron. He had passed out.
They drove several more blocks and then Russell parked the transport behind a dark, abandoned building. It wouldn’t be long until security arrived on the scene, and they didn’t want to get spotted trespassing, but they also didn’t want to be driving around with two half-dead men in the open cargo area.
Jessica climbed over Eric to get to Aaron, even as the transport came to a jerky, choppy stop.
“Is he going to make it?” Susan demanded. The worry was twisting her into knots. The thought of going on without Aaron was unimaginable.
Jessica waved the computerized medical sleeve over Aaron. “Hard to say,” Jessica said without looking up. “I need to get him to the ship, and quickly.”
Susan looked around for Russell. She found him standing to the side of the transport watching. “Get up here and open the cargo hold!” she called.
Russell promptly hopped up onto the flat cargo area, and in a matter of moments had the cover off the concealed compartment.
The compartment was narrow but long. It ran most of the length of the cargo area, stopping just a couple feet short. It was several feet deep, but the width was maybe eighteen inches. It would be a cramped ride for one man, not to mention two.
“You putting him in there?” Eric asked, staring at the hole.
“Yeah,” Susan answered, “along with you.”
“Now wait a fucking minute,” Eric began, but Jessica turned from Aaron and pressed a laser needle to Eric’s arm. There was a hiss as the sedative entered his body, and then his eyes rolled up and he collapsed in a heap.
They put Eric in first. The compartment wasn’t wide enough for him to lay on his back, so they turned him so that he was lying cockeyed, partly on his back and partly on his side. They made sure that his head was close to the cab end of the compartment as possible.
Then they slowly lowered Aaron into the compartment. They put his head toward the opposite end of the compartment from Eric’s. It was still cramped, but only the lower half of Aaron’s body overlapped Eric. It looked uncomfortable, but neither unconscious man objected.
“Maybe we should put the carbines in there,” Jessica said. “It might help speed up our return through customs.”
“No,” Susan said emphatically. “We carried those carbines out and we’ll carry them back in.” She didn’t say it aloud, but she suspected the thugs at the gate might remember them carrying carbines and didn’t want to give them any reason to detain them.
“Are we ready?” Russell asked as he sealed the smuggling compartment.
“Wait! Can they breathe in there?” Jessica asked suddenly.
Susan frowned. She hadn’t explicitly asked that question of Terry, but she had told him what she was planning on smuggling in. Surely he would have said something if her plan was dangerous. Then again, maybe he hadn’t thought of it.
“If we take them back out, we’ll either have to take them to a hospital, or they’ll be detained,” Eve said quietly. “I think they’d probably prefer dying in there than dying in prison.”
Susan looked at the other woman. She agreed with her opinion, but Eve’s statement implied that there was a reason for them to go to prison. Did she suspect Aaron’s involvement with the assassination? Jessica and Russell looked unhappy, but Susan forestalled any objections. “I agree,” she said. “We’ll hurry as much as we can and hope for the best.”
Eve didn’t reply except to nod her head.
They piled back in the too-small cab and drove in the wrong direction, away from the spaceport gates and the burning office complex. Then, they circled back around the long way, taking great precautions to not get too close to the fire. They didn’t want anyone to remember their transport in association with the explosion and subsequent fire.
It took them nearly fifteen minutes to return to the gates and they were all getting worried about the cargo they were smuggling.
The same helmetless guard waved them to the side and he looked up at them through the window. “That was a quick trip,” he said.
Susan shrugged. “All the roads are blocked. Looks like some kind of fire. And when we got past it, everything was closed down, just like you said.”
The guard studied them with cold, unflinching eyes. Finally, he said, “All right, everyone out.”
Susan groaned inwardly, but she opened her door and climbed out.
The guard moved past them
and began searching the small cab. He briefly examined the carbines, but they were legal and he didn’t spent too much time on them. He only glanced at the empty cargo hold and then looked back to Susan. “When you schedule to takeoff?”
“As soon as I can get Reece back to my ship,” she answered honestly.
He watched her for a moment, but apparently didn’t see anything to raise his suspicions. “Go on,” he said, already turning his attention back to the road.
Susan and the rest didn’t have to be told twice.
Chapter 33
They reached the Long Shot minutes later. They called ahead—Terry already had the cargo ramp lowered and they wasted no time parking the transport in the cargo hold. They spilled out of the cab and Russell beat them all onto the cargo area.
The rest of the crew slowly milled over, not sure exactly what was going on. They gathered along the side of the transport, looking up to the cargo area.
Russell pulled the compartment’s cover off and Jessica leaned in to scan both men.
“They’re alive,” she called.
Susan exhaled, having been completely unaware that she had been holding her breath. Relief flooded through her. She knew they had done the right thing, but if Aaron had died then she would have spent the rest of her days blaming herself. And if Eric had died, well, not so much.
The relief brought along with it a sense of giddiness and she smiled around at the others. Eve and Russell were smiling back, but Jessica was all business.
“Help me get them out. We have to get them to the med bay,” she said.
“No!” Susan answered. “They have to go to the concealed cargo hold with Thomas. Keep Eric sedated and make sure the medical bot has everything it needs.”
“I should be with them, and I can’t give the best medical care in a cargo hold,” Jessica said. Her tone had dropped a bit and she looked ready to argue.
“Doesn’t matter,” Susan said, and she, too, was ready for a fight. “We need to leave this damn planet and we can’t do that with them in the med bay.”
Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two Page 23
