Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  Most of those working in the loading bay had either been outside when they attacked or trusted those in the guard room to take care of whatever was going on next door. Not realising just how devastating the attack had been. There were no threats to Hobbs and herself. It was time to do what they came to do.

  “Room clear,” she called back to Hobbs.

  He came in, passed her his Mag rifle and unslung the Plasma. There were two large lift doors made of heavy metal at the back of the loading dock. Hobbs took careful aim. He and Valerie were both standing well back so as not to be engulfed in any back blast and Hobbs fired. His first shot melted straight through the right hand door, the metal streaming down to pool on the floor, the shot only being stopped by the thick permacrete rear wall of the lift shaft.

  The second shot did the same to the door on the left. They waited a few moments to let the metal cool enough for them to approach. Valerie stayed in position, keeping an eye on the open bay doors to cover Hobbs as he moved to the now open shafts. He aimed up the right hand one, seeking the grav lift car further up. He fired once then jogged over to one side. The plasma ripped into the car and it came crashing down with a thunderous roar. Hobbs didn’t wait this time, but went straight to the left shaft.

  “It’s coming down.” He called back to Valerie. I bet their pissing themselves right now.” He repeated his shot and got clear.

  Once the dust and debris settled from the second explosion, Hobbs went back over to Valerie. “Well that’s the Plasma done.”

  “Good job. Now the only way up or down is the stairs.” Valerie congratulated him, though she just could not get any warmth into her voice. “We didn’t have any room for error on that one. Keep it with you though, I can’t imagine how much it cost Sneaker.”

  They jogged back to the other two. “Anything?” Valerie asked.

  Sneaker nodded to two bodies further down the corridor. “Two Enforcers, but we got them and took out the cameras.”

  “Excellent. Let’s go,” she ordered. “I’ve got point. Hobbs you’re slack. Sneaker. Rush. Rear guard.” The corridor was dimly lit, but a quick look down didn’t show any movement. She walked slowly in with both pistols at the ready. Hobbs followed five metres behind. Sneaker and Rush stayed put, crouched down in the cover they had found. They would move once the corridor was clear and Valerie and Hobbs were into the next section. That way all four were never exposed at the same time.

  The corridor was ten metres long with only one door half way down on the right and ended in double doors. They looked like they led to the central staircase. The door on the right was open.

  “Corridors clear,” she said to Hobbs. “I’m checking that door. Stay here and cover the stairs. Rear, you stay put and cover Hobbs.” All three acknowledged her commands. She ran quickly to the door on the right and burst in. After the racket they already caused, this wasn’t the time for stealth. If there was anyone in there, they would be expecting her. Valerie’s pistols ranged around the room, but it was empty with no other way in. Equipment lay scattered about, but nothing of use or concern so she called back to Hobbs. “Room clear. I’m coming out.”

  “All clear,” he replied. “Go.”

  She came out and nodded in the direction of the stairs to Hobbs. He nodded back, staying behind her as she moved forward. The doors were slammed open by two Enforcers, both with their guns up and Mag rounds whizzed past Valerie, fired from behind by Hobbs. Her pistols were already spitting fire, one aimed at each of the Enforcers. They both flew backward through the doors, their bodies a bloody mess.

  ***

  Someone was shouting, though shrieking would be a more apt description, and Hanna’s head really hurt. Impressions started to come in from her body. She was lying on her side on a hard cold floor, with her legs curled up and her arms behind her back. She moved slightly and almost cried out in pain. Those impressions became a lot more urgent. Her head was throbbing and she felt sore in numerous places around her body, stomach, arms and legs, hands numb. It was her left shoulder that was really bad. She had been beaten enough times over the years, to recognise it was a lot worse than it should be. Fortunately she was lying on her right side so at least there was no pressure on it. She feared it was dislocated and dare not move it.

  Her brain was starting to catch up and she remembered walking with Deni when a van pulled up beside them. The side door opened and both girls went to run, splitting to go in opposite directions. It wasn’t unknown for kids their age to disappear this way in the Ghetto. Pimps would just grab girls and boys, move them to another part of the planet and put them to work as Whores. There were many dangers and if you didn’t recognise them, you didn’t survive long in her world. Hanna didn’t know if she had been unlucky or if it was planned, but she ran straight into a huge man who grabbed her with both hands.

  Hanna reacted instantly, kicking him squarely between the legs and she was looking him in the face at the time. It tightened with pain, but he didn’t let go or loosen his hold in the slightest. For a moment they stood there, staring at each other, before he roared in anger and threw her bodily into the van. Hanna bounced off its opposite wall inside. Landing on her front, the breath knocked out of her. She’d looked up as the big man got in, the vans suspension compressing with his weight and the light being blocked by his massive body, as he closed the door behind him. At that point she recognised the scarred face and wild hair. It was Gaunt, whose bar room brawls were legendary around Inferno.

  She tried to scramble away from him as he reached for her, but there was just no room and nowhere for her to go. What happened next in Hanna’s unfortunate experience, was the virtuoso of a beating. She had been hit many times, sometimes beaten so badly she couldn’t walk for weeks. She’d lost count of the number of broken bones she’d experienced over the years. What Gaunt did to her in that van showed all the others to be pure amateurs. He hammered her with his colossal fists, threw her again and again against the sides of the van and bounced her off the floor numerous times.

  She had been determined not to cry or scream in pain, not to give him the satisfaction and this seemed to just drive him on more and more. He was in complete control though, as not once did he break any of her bones. The beating only ending when he grabbed her left arm and wrenched her from the floor. He dislocated her shoulder and caused her to finally pass out with the pain.

  Hanna had the impression that some time had passed since the van, from fleeting memories of her stirring into consciousness for a few moments at a time. Nothing she could define, just barely glimpsed flashes of awareness.

  The shouting was still going on and Hanna opened her eyes. A pair of legs stood just in front of her and the man they belonged to was facing away. She seemed to be in the corner of a room. It looked to be some sort of office. A thick luxurious rug covered most of the floor, ending not far from Hanna so she lay on the exposed permacrete floor. A large desk made of real wood sat at the end furthest from her, with a wide window looking out on the Ghetto behind it. A communications centre with multiple VI screens sat against the wall opposite Hanna. This was where all the noise was coming from, several people stood around a small dark Asian woman, who was shouting into the com.

  “What the fuck do you mean, you don’t know?” the woman shouted. Hanna recognised her, it was Tumbler, which meant she must be in her building and that was not good. Gaunt stood by Tumbler, towering over her.

  “They’re taking out the cameras.” A woman on the other end of the com replied. “Last we saw of them, they were on the stairs. We’re sending everyone nearby there, but no one is reporting.”

  “That’s because she’s fucking killing them you idiot.” Tumbler said, obviously trying to calm herself down and take control of the situation. “Did you watch that footage before sending it to me? There’s only a few seconds before she shoots the cameras, but in that time she personally shot four of our people. One, just one of them got a shot off. Whoever that woman is, she’s good and she’s going
to keep killing whoever you send against her, if you keep sending them in piecemeal like that. First things first. Seal the fucking building.”

  Suddenly the sunlight coming in from the picture window behind the desk cut off and lights switched on in the room. Hanna looked over to see, what she’d always imagined the blast door on a warship would look like, cutting off the room and presumably the whole building from the outside world.

  “Good, those mother humping bastards aren’t getting out of here alive,” Tumbler continued. “It looks like they’re heading to you. Tell everyone between you and them to get under cover and hold their positions. Hopefully that will slow them down. Then split everyone between us and you. Set up half of them outside your door. Send the other half up to me.

  “They’ll need to leave the stairs to come after you and we can hit them in the rear from here.” Hanna could see in the reflection of the screens that Tumbler was smiling. “If they come after me, you can do the same and we’ll smash them.”

  “I’ll go down there.” A high pitched voice almost squeaked and Hanna was dumbfounded to realise it was coming from Gaunt.

  “No, you stay here with me,” Tumbler said. “I’m not taking any chances.”

  Hanna didn’t know who was attacking Tumbler and couldn’t think of who would dare. For a fleeting moment she thought it might be Valerie, but she remembered those cold eyes and couldn’t imagine that woman doing anything like this. When she saved Hanna from Tern, Hanna saw an expression of almost surprise on Valerie’s face, as though she couldn’t explain why she did it. Hanna believed Valerie agreed to the heist, almost as much out of boredom as for the money, which she seemed to care little about. No she couldn’t imagine that cold eyed woman coming here, to challenge someone as powerful and well protected as Tumbler for her.

  Whoever was attacking Tumbler would die and if Hanna wanted to get out of here, the only way to do so was to do it herself. She dared to move her arms slightly, grimaced at the pain in her shoulder and found the numbness in her hands was from handcuffs, rather than her injuries. She carefully felt around with her fingers and found they were a simple mechanical set which surprised her. They were not the sort of thing someone with Tumblers reputation as a Thief would use. Maybe they thought of Hanna as a Hacker and not a Thief, trained to open locks like this. She needed the pick hidden in one of her boots and fortunately, due to the position they left her in, her feet were not far from her hands.

  Hanna shifted slightly, trying to get her feet closer to her hands, to remove the pick without disturbing the man, who was presumably meant to be guarding her. He seemed distracted by the conversations going on with Tumbler and not paying her any attention. The closer she moved her feet the more extreme the pain from her shoulder became. It built and built, higher and higher, as millimetre by millimetre, she forced her feet and hands closer together. Just as her fingers could barely reach in to her boot and her finger tips scraped the top of the pick, the barest of groans of pain forced its way out of her.

  It was too much. The man standing by her turned around and looked down at her. He grinned before pulling his foot back and kicking her in the gut. She curled up in instinct, wrenching her shoulder and oblivion embraced her once more.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Deni’s hands were surprisingly steady. She rammed home the ammo magazine into the rifle Troll threw in her direction moments ago. Troll and Barney were crouched on either side of the hole they blasted into the wall, firing down into the compound below. Their fire was much more sporadic now. Those left down there were either dead or found cover.

  “Where are they coming from?” Troll asked.

  “Top corner.” Barney replied, nodding to the left of their position, out of Trolls line of sight.

  “Eh?” she ducked her head out briefly before quickly pulling it back in. “Blazes, must be some sort storage shed. That wasn’t on Sneakers plan. I guess it’s a recent addition,” she took aim and fired. “Got the bastard. Hiding behind some barrels isn’t going to help against this baby.” She patted the her gun with affection . “I love the Pulse rifle, it’s a lot slower than a Mag, but damn can it penetrate. I bet they must have been taking a delivery, it’s the only reason I can think of for this lot. Are there any vehicles out there Barney?”

  Barney took aim carefully and fired before answering. “No.”

  “Must be round the back of the building,” Troll said. “Out of sight from us. They might try and make a run for it if they do have vehicles. Keep an eye on the corner of the building closest to the gate. That’s the way to go.”

  “On it.” Barney said simply.

  Deni couldn’t believe how calm they both were. Troll was talking almost non-stop but she’d been that way since they’d met earlier and Barney was just as quiet as before. For herself Deni was so scared, she was constantly looking back and forth from Troll and Barney, to her datapad showing the stairs and corridor. She was petrified she would miss someone coming in the back, or the others would run out of ammo and she hadn’t reloaded fast enough. Then they wouldn’t be able to continue the constant stream of fire that was the only thing stopping them all from dying horribly.

  “There go the blast doors,” Troll called. “I guess that means they’re not all dead yet. Of course it could be they’ve killed Sneaker, Rush and the others and are just doing it in case there are more coming to attack them.” Deni could have really done without that last qualification. She hoped fervently they were all still alive and could bring Hanna out safely. She was the only family Deni had. Hanna was her sister in every way but blood. Each had spilt enough of that over their short lives to certainly qualify.

  “Not Valerie,” Barney said without interrupting his shots.

  “I know what you mean, my friend,” Troll said also continuing to fire. “That woman scares me as well. In fact, I pity whoever is in there in front of her guns,” she paused for a moment. “Maybe not Gaunt. That is one grade A bastard. You remember Falk?” she didn’t really wait for Barney to reply and Deni guessed she wasn’t talking to her. “Gaunt smashed up him pretty good. Last I heard, he was over in Burning begging on the streets. Couldn’t walk anymore and he was a hell of a Driver. Falk could put a wheelie through a 90 degree turn with a barely a loss of speed. I was with him on a Job once when he outran the cops. We were in that old jalopy of his, four wheels on the ground and he still lost them in their fancy aircars.

  “I wonder if Valerie will have the pleasure of meeting that slab of meat? My money’s on her.” Troll visibly shuddered. “There is something about her...” She didn’t finish what she was saying and seemed lost for words. Deni wasn’t sure if that ever happened to Troll before.

  The stairwell was dark now, all the lights having been extinguished by whoever was in control of the building. It mattered little to Valerie and the others. With the goggles Sneaker supplied they could see perfectly well.

  The stairwell was more of an inner balcony around a central air shaft. It went up almost to the top of the building, before ending below the final two floors containing the flight hanger and Tumblers offices.

  They were learning, Valerie thought. It had taken them long enough and she charged them a heavy butcher’s bill for those lessons, but they were now changing tactics. No one else had attacked them for a few minutes, the frantic running fight had ended for now it seemed. She glanced back at the others and knew that was a good thing. Sneaker and Rush needed a break, neither were hurt fortunately, but they were well outside their comfort zone. They hadn’t experienced anything like this type of fight before and it was showing. Valerie wasn’t worried about them, both had held up their end well. They just needed time to catch their breath.

  All four were crouched behind the balcony wall. There were apartment doors all around them and corridors leading off deeper into this floor. It was deserted here, Valerie assumed whoever was going to attack them already had. Anyone else was hiding. Hobbs was injured by a Mag round clipping him in the arm, it wasn’t ser
ious, but a short respite would give her a chance to bind it properly.

  “Sneaker. Rush. Keep an eye out, I’ll see to Hobbs.”

  “I’m fine,” he said.

  “You’re bleeding.” Valerie stated matter of factly. “By definition, if you’ve got blood coming out of you, you are not fine.” She scooted over next to him and pulled several bits out of the first aid kit she kept on her belt, at the small of her back. Hobbs grudgingly moved his arm so she could get to it easily. He was right and more than a bit lucky. The round must have grazed him. Its spinning body had ripped the flesh of his upper arm, making a wound that was large but shallow. As she examined it, she could see it was still oozing blood steadily and was probably very painful. She squirted some skinseal on the wound. The dark spray covered the damaged area, stopping the bleeding, numbing it and killing off any of the many diseases that populated the Ghetto of Inferno. She then bound his arm firmly with a bandage, the skinseal would do the job, but it did need time to set and the bandage would support it as things would get active again.

  “Take over-watch Hobbs.” Valerie told the Enforcer. “I need to talk to Sneaker.” He nodded and turned around to keep an eye on the different approaches with his Mag rifle at the ready. Valerie dashed over the short distance to the other two. Staying low in case anyone was up there and fancied taking a pot shot at her. She sat down next to Sneaker with her back against the wall and tried to smile at him. It just would not come out, so she just simply said to him. “Can I see the building schematic?”