by T. M. Catron
“Sorry, Captain,” Solaris whispered. “Son of Triton, that hurt.”
Rance pulled him to his feet.
As they climbed the stairs, Solaris became more aware of his surroundings. “Nothing like a busted kneecap to sober you up,” he remarked.
The entrance to the roof stairwell was only twenty meters away, and Rance began to hope they would make it out alive.
Ahead, another walkway intersected with theirs. Surrounded by columns of machinery, piping, and pillars, the intersection obstructed their view of the two walkways.
The final blind spot.
Rance crept to the corner, rifle out in front. “All clear.”
Solaris met her at the railing. He peered out into the warehouse and frowned. “I can’t imagine they are doing anything good with all those weapons.”
“It’s not your job anymore,” Rance reminded him. It worried her, too, but the captain was more concerned about getting Solaris out in one piece.
“Once a Galaxy Wizard, always a Galaxy Wizard,” he murmured.
Rance looked at him. “If you want to join them, I bet they’re headed here right now.”
“With all those weapons? The mercs wouldn’t meet Unity here. Too risky.” Solaris leaned over the railing to get a better look, wobbling dangerously.
Rance pulled him back. “If you want to tell somebody, let’s do it when we’re safely out of this system.”
Solaris leaned on Rance, trying to regain his footing. “Sounds like a plan. Do me a favor?”
“What?”
“Don’t tell James how drunk I am.”
“What did they give you, anyway?” She asked as they again began walking toward the stairs.
Solaris shook his head. “Not sure. But it hit me hard.”
“Seems to be wearing off.”
“Hey,” he said, stopping.
Rance huffed in annoyance. They were so close to the stairs. “What?”
Solaris was looking down to the floor. “I know her,” he whispered. “But it couldn’t be…”
Rance looked too. A red-haired woman in a black bodysuit and black trenchcoat had emerged from behind some crates. She was flanked by three armored men who looked like guards. Their armor was fully powered, a better class than the armor the mercs wore. It made them look like giants standing next to the woman. “Who is she? And how can you tell from this far away?”
Solaris squinted. “That hair.”
Rance held onto Solaris’ arm, keeping him steady as she looked closer. The woman’s hair was a startling shade of red, almost orange. “That color can’t be natural.”
“It’s Gayle, Orion’s wife.”
“Orion has a wife?”
“Used to.”
“I thought the Wizards weren’t allowed to get married.”
“Who told you that?”
Rance shrugged. “No one. I just assumed.”
Solaris shot her a wry look, one that said his good humor was returning. “Many Wizards choose not to marry because of the nature of the job. Just as many have families, although they keep them hidden away most of the time.”
As they watched, two more armored men appeared, dragging another man between them. They deposited him on his knees at Gayle’s feet.
“That’s Captain Fox,” Solaris said. “I met him after they overpowered me on the Devil Raider.”
“Why is Orion’s wife treating him like a prisoner?” Rance fidgeted. They didn’t have any time to waste, and the longer they spent in the open, the more likely they would be discovered.
“No idea. She left Orion years go.”
Surprised, Rance turned to him.
Solaris shrugged. “I don’t know all the details.”
“Right. Let’s get out of here.”
Solaris nodded, and they turned back for the stairs. As they rounded the corner, he spotted a merc waiting for them. Solaris grabbed Rance’s jacket, pulling her backward behind the corner as a bolt from a stunner whizzed by their heads.
They had been spotted.
Chapter Seventeen
The next few seconds were a blur for Rance as more armored men emerged from their hiding places. She tried to duck, but three stunner bolts hit her in the back, and she crumpled to the metal grating. The numbness spreading through her body didn’t prevent the first flash of pain as she landed hard on her shoulder.
The captain fought to remain conscious as her vision blurred at the edges, and the dark warehouse grew darker. She watched helplessly as Solaris landed beside her with a thump.
Above, the armored body of a mercenary leaned over. He raised his visor, revealing a gruff, whiskered face. He grinned. “Gotcha.”
At this point, breathing was difficult, and Rance couldn’t do anything more than glare at him.
A gravelly voice spoke from somewhere behind Rance. “She wants to see them.”
The whiskered merc grabbed Rance and slung her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. She saw his armored backside and the metal grating as he carried her down the walkway. He carried her bag in the other hand, and Rance wished she had given Solaris his staff. In the effort to get him on his feet, she hadn’t considered it a priority. As Rance berated herself for this lapse in judgment, her head swam. Thankfully, her breathing didn’t become any more labored as the mercs descended a set of stairs. Another armored merc walked behind them, and the hiss-clunk of armored boots became the only thing she heard.
On the warehouse floor, they passed quickly through tunnels of crates. Rance felt a tingling in her right pinky finger. Since her breathing hadn’t improved, though, she had a long time to wait before she could move on her own again.
The crates disappeared, and the merc dumped Rance on the floor in a cleared-out area. Since she was still stunned, the fall didn’t hurt. If she lived long enough, though, she would have some nasty bruises from the rough treatment. The mercs dumped Solaris beside her, facing her. He blinked as if trying to clear his head.
A woman’s low voice punctured the silence. “Fox, I told you to kill this man.”
Rance assumed the woman was Gayle.
“What business I conduct on my own isn’t any of your business, Calliope,” Fox said.
Calliope? Not Gayle, then. Rance craned her neck, resulting in her head giving a little wobble.
“When I give an order, you obey. I was clear from the beginning. Now you have compromised the entire operation. You didn’t think I would find out? Didn’t think my loyal spies within your operation wouldn’t tell me you had kept this man for the bounty instead of killing him as I commanded?”
“You and I have a contract for what belongs in this warehouse, and for that drive I tracked down for you. But you are not my mistress, nor are you a noblewoman who can claim ownership of me.”
“If Unity finds out what we are doing here—”
“Unity won’t find out! We were going to meet them in another section of the city.”
“Do not interrupt me! This operation is bigger than you. Bigger than this warehouse. One whiff of trouble, and Unity won’t need a reason for a search and seizure.”
The menace in Calliope’s words sent a chill down Rance’s spine that had nothing to do with the numbness in her body. Solaris locked eyes with Rance. She remembered his staff, and a new wave of guilt hit her. If she had given it to him earlier, they might have got away.
“You need me,” Fox spat with equal venom.
“Not anymore.” Calliope’s cold words slid through Rance like an ice pick. There was a brief pause before the ear-piercing crack of a rifle made her blink in shock.
A body crumpled to the floor, and Rance didn’t have to see Fox to know what had happened. She didn’t feel sorry for the cold-blooded murderer, but it sent her heart racing in terror.
“Turn them over,” Calliope ordered.
The mercs flipped Rance and Solaris onto their backs. The guards were already dragging Fox’s body away. Gayle—Calliope—stood over them. From up close, her age was more
apparent. She looked mid-fifties, with harsh frown lines on her forehead and between her brows, accentuated by the deep scowl she wore. Other than that, she was beautiful, and wore that bodysuit like a young woman of twenty. Her flaming red hair waved out around her head, long and thick. Wild.
Calliope bent over Solaris. “Last time I saw you, you were still a pupil.”
Solaris couldn’t speak, but he glared at Calliope.
She smiled. “Your eyes give you away. The face may change, and you may grow older, but I still see the same young man in your eyes. When the mercs told me they had found you, I hated to give the kill order.”
Calliope didn’t look too distraught about it, though. She shrugged, and her gaze slid over to Rance. “Too bad you got your girlfriend involved. Although this one has spunk, to invade this warehouse alone. I doubt she’s by herself, though. We’ll have to find her friends.”
With the order, all of guards moved away. Rance fought through her terror, finding defiance instead. James, Abel, and Harper would be safe. They knew how to hide.
Calliope brushed a finger along Rance’s cheek. Revolted, Rance wanted to jerk away. “I’ll keep you alive while we look for them. You could be good bait.”
Rance’s face flashed with angry heat. Her hand tingled, signaling the return of some feeling. Rance kept it still, hoping Calliope would keep her alive long enough to regain full movement. Rance looked at Solaris out of the corner of her eye; he stared up at the ceiling, his face immobile, impassive.
Calliope caught Rance’s look. “We can’t keep him alive, I’m afraid. He’s more dangerous than you and all your friends together. Fortunately, when others fail me, I’m not afraid to take care of an issue myself.”
Calliope stood and unholstered a small caliber weapon, which she aimed between Solaris’ eyes.
Rance stared, disbelieving. Time seemed to slow. She couldn’t watch Calliope kill Solaris, but she couldn’t look away either. Solaris looked unafraid, either because his face was numb or he had made peace with his fate. Rance, however, hadn’t made peace with anything. She silently prayed for Abel to create his distraction, then found herself hoping the crew would run away. Please, please, get out.
Calliope smiled a final time, and then cried out in pain. She dropped her weapon, clutching her hand as if it had been burned. Rance looked back at Solaris, straining to see him out of the corner of her eye. He was smiling. Calliope reached for her dropped gun, but he sprang to his feet and grabbed Calliope.
Solaris grabbed the gun and pointed it at Calliope’s head, wrapping his other arm around her neck. “Too late, Calliope,” he said. Then he looked at Rance, who stared back in shock. “Those stunners don’t work well on me. It’s why the mercs had to drug me. I guess they didn’t want to tell you after you murdered their captain.”
“You don’t have the courage to kill me,” Calliope spat.
Her guards returned, their heavy armor shaking the floor as they ran to the scene. They arrived with weapons pointed at Solaris.
“That’s far enough.” Solaris smiled. The guards halted. “You don’t know what I have the courage to do, Calliope, because you don’t know what I’ve done for my freedom.”
Rance wondered what he meant by that. Solaris seemed so innocuous, so wholesome. She couldn’t imagine him doing anything like murder a woman in cold blood.
Calliope smirked. “Your girlfriend doesn’t believe you.”
“That’s because she’s only seen one side of me. Rance Cooper is easy to dupe.”
Rance narrowed her eyes at him, then was surprised she could move her face. Her lips still weren’t working, though. Solaris looked at her, but his eyes betrayed nothing.
“I want a clear exit out the front door,” Solaris told the guards. “One wrong move, and Calliope is dead. Once we are safely out of sight, I’ll release her.”
Rance noted the we and hoped it included her.
The guards didn’t move at Solaris’ order. Maybe they didn’t care if Calliope died. With a rush of fear, Rance realized this was exactly the case. Calliope wasn’t the head of the operation, merely someone’s pawn. The risk of survivors was too great even to save her.
Solaris must have realized the same thing. He tightened his grip on Calliope anyway, calling their bluff. A minute stretched into two. The guards may have been waiting for orders. Calliope also waited quietly, defiantly, as though she understood her fate would be decided shortly. Rance admired her composure.
“Well?” Solaris said. “I won’t wait all day. Either kill me and your fearless leader, or let us go.”
The longer the standoff continued, the more feeling returned to Rance’s body. She could now clench both hands, move both legs. No one paid attention to her movements, allowing her to wiggle different parts of her body, desperately trying to return feeling to it. She guessed Solaris was still fighting off the effects of the drugs, which meant he wouldn’t fare well if they had to run.
Rance’s stunner lay a meter away. The mercs must have removed it while she was too numb to know what they were doing. The rest of her weapons were nowhere in sight.
Solaris sighed. “I’m getting bored while you wait for orders from on high. Last chance.”
“Or what?” one of the guards asked. His visor was down now, but his voice sounded like the gruff man who had carried Rance downstairs.
In answer, Solaris shoved Calliope toward the guard. At the same time, the merc’s powered armor began sparking at all the joints. He jumped back while the other guards moved to fire. Calliope ducked. Before anyone could shoot Solaris, a spark of electricity arced out from the first man, catching the others’ suits as well. They dropped their weapons and shouted, trying to tear their armor off before it cooked them inside.
Rance seized her chance, pushing off the floor and grabbing the stunner. Solaris jerkily hurried to her, grabbing her arm.
Calliope had taken the opportunity to grab a rifle. She pointed it at Solaris, who was busy trying to stay on his feet and shield Rance at the same time.
Rance aimed and fired her stunner. It hit Calliope in the chest. A look of surprise crossed her face as she dropped to the floor.
“Thanks,” Solaris said.
“No problem.”
The guards’ shouts had attracted the other mercs, many of whom still guarded the front doors and were busy throughout the warehouse. One of the guards was halfway out of his suit. Rance knew he wouldn’t hesitate to grab a weapon and shoot them when he got free.
She hauled Solaris toward the front door. They made it ten steps, and the front of the building exploded in a storm of concrete, metal, and fire.
Rance and Solaris dove behind the nearest crate as metal rained over the front of the warehouse. Smoke billowed through the crates, causing both of them to cough and sputter.
“The roof!” Rance yelled as her eyes watered.
They turned in the opposite direction, wending their way through the maze of crates, pallets, and storage units. Solaris stumbled every few steps, and Rance eventually put her arm around his waist to steady him.
Behind them, the fire raged.
Solaris put his mouth to Rance’s ear. “We’ve got to get out of here before that ordinance explodes!”
She nodded, guiding them to the first set of stairs she saw. Thankfully, their path took them farther away from the fire. The rooftop stairs were at the back of the building.
Once they hit the walkways, Rance tried to remember how to get back to it.
“That way!” Solaris pointed to the walkway above. Rance followed his finger to where their bridge turned up a short flight of stairs and connected with the one above. That one spanned the warehouse to the back.
To get to the stairs, they moved through black smoke. Rance held her breath, holstering her stunner so she could hang onto the railing for guidance. Once upstairs, they hurried to the back of the building. Something whizzed by her head, and they ducked. Rance looked behind, thinking the munitions crates below had caught f
ire.
Instead, three of the armored guards stalked them. One only wore half his suit, his legs still covered in armor and the chestplate still in place. Thick, muscled arms held a plasma gun. He paused to fire, and Rance knew he wouldn’t miss again. The other two guards must have regained control of their suits, but they kept their distance from Solaris, opting to take him out with firepower.
Ahead, their bridge intersected with another. More pipes and machinery ran up through the four corners, creating a blind spot. Rance and Solaris dove for it as the guards opened fire.
Rance hunkered down with Solaris as bullets pinged off the metal.
Someone hit an air duct to their right. Hot air hissed out of it in a steady stream that spewed over their heads and up toward the ceiling. More shouts called out below. Rance looked down, aware that the metal grating beneath their feet didn’t provide much cover to anyone looking up.
Solaris seemed less drugged. His eyes were clear, focused.
“You’re looking better,” Rance said, waiting for the inevitable reload. Although if the mercs were the professionals she thought they were, the guards would take turns reloading so they could keep up a steady barrage of fire. Before long, they would chew through the metal protecting Rance and Solaris. They needed to make a run for it.
Solaris grimaced. “Not too steady on my feet.” He craned his neck to see the walkways above and below. “Three more people headed our way. Your little stunner won’t do much good.”
“Next time I’ll bring the plasma rifle.”
“You don’t have one of those.”
“I’d like to fix that if we get out of here.”
Solaris crouched beside her, one hand steadying himself on the railing. “We’ll never make it to the roof.”
Rance reached into her jacket and revealed his folded staff. “Will this help?”
Solaris’ eyes widened. “Where was it?”
“On the desk in that room.”
“How did I miss it?”
“You were too busy puking.”
