by John Walker
Milna nodded. That made as much sense as anything else. Considering the environment, security forces knew the type of people running around the station. If they didn’t have overwhelming numbers, those pirates and scum may well murder them rather than look twice.
Thieving came easier when uniforms were on the ground.
The flurries of activity bothered Milna the most, followed by silence. The station must’ve been vast. She got the sense there were not as many individuals aboard as she thought. Had the ships remained, all those criminal vessels, they may have had a full house.
How many died in the fighting? How many just left?
She wanted access to a station scanner, something capable of identifying everyone board along with their species. Certain assumptions might be made about who gave cause for worry. And where they were. Taking a control center would also grant them the ability to lock down sections of the station.
This is the kind of talk that leads to more than I want to commit to. Milna had no desire to go any further than they had to. The men who run this platform are the kind of scum that would do anything to stay in power. I don’t want to hear their pitch. Nor witness the depths of their depravity.
“I’m in,” Jok said. “Hello! Prytin pilot.” He spoke their language well. “My name is Jok and I’m here to be of some assistance. We would be happy to disarm if you would allow us to have a conversation with you.”
“Why didn’t you offer him civil discourse?” Milna muttered. He waved his hand at her several times.
“I’m not a Prytin,” the voice came back. Their translators took a moment to convert the voice. “And what do you want? Where’d you come from if you’re not with them?”
“We docked just before the station went into warp,” Jok explained, “then were unconscious for a time. We are undercover agents, but in this case, I think we need to break that to help others. Can we speak in the hangar at the very least? It’s not safe out here for us to stand around.”
“You can come in,” the pilot said, “but my ship’s locked down. Close the door behind you.”
“Perfect. Thank you.” Jok tapped the screen. The door opened.
“Wait.” Milna grabbed his arm. “Are you sure you want to saunter in there? He’s got turrets. He can murder us in a second.”
“I think he’ll be reasonable.”
“He’s not even a Prytin! And what was that language? The translator used tonality as the primary means of working. Whatever he was speaking, that’s not from any of the governments we’re accustomed to.”
“Probably a dialect. I’ll ask him about it.”
“You’re too trusting!”
“And you’re too suspicious! We need data!” Jok shook his arm free. “And we’re not going to get it without taking a moment to speak with someone.” He stepped inside, slinging his weapon as he walked. Milna cursed, following him. She remained near a stack of crates with her gun aimed low. The door closed behind them automatically.
“Hello!” Jok held up his hands. “Um… are your externals picking me up?”
“Yes. That’s Kahl armor.”
“Undercover, remember?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What’s your name?”
“Andrews. So what is it you want?”
Jok ran a quick scan. “First, I know you’re a long way from home. Your ship came from one of those battleships, and it’s not warp-capable. Wherever we end up, you’ll need a way to get out of there.” The man didn’t reply. He continued. “We’ve got a warp-capable ship. And can help find one aboard as well.”
“I’ve got people with me,” Andrews said, “they’re doing that work now.”
“Excellent! Can you tell me why you came here? Were you attempting to bring the Flotilla down? Arrest the administrators?”
“We were…” Andrews stopped himself. “It was a classified mission.”
The word classified appeared on Milna’s HUD. It meant secret. Why didn’t he just say that?
“I see. We’d love to assist you with it.” Jok took his rifle off. He set it on the ground, pacing away. “Perhaps we can meet face-to-face. As you can see, I’ve left my weapon there.”
“You still have a sidearm.”
“Surely, you wouldn’t deny me all protection? We’ve got criminals running around this station. It’s a miracle they haven’t bothered you yet.”
“Probably for the same reason you contacted me through the panel,” Andrews said, “they’re worried about the turrets.”
Milna rolled her eyes. She turned to her computer, checking for signals aboard the vessel. The fact she got a return ping surprised her. Prytin computer technology. But he claimed not to be one of them. That struck her as odd. Why would he lie? She made her comm private to Jok.
“Ask him what species he is if not Prytin.” Milna continued to work on gaining access to the ship’s systems. Security was good but her decryption program found a couple vulnerabilities. First order of business involved shutting down the turrets. Then they could worry about opening the door.
“Where do you come from?” Jok asked, “if you’re not a Prytin, that is.”
“I’m a human,” Andrews said.
“Hu… man…” Jok shrugged. “I’ve never heard of your people. And you’re allied with the Prytins?”
“Yes. I… don’t think I should say more.”
A low, grinding whine erupted through the hangar as the turrets drooped. Milna stepped out from her cover.
“What did you do?” Jok rasped.
“Shut down his defenses. Now we can get on board and have a proper conversation.” Milna approached the ship. “Let’s see what he’s got going on in here, shall we?”
“That wasn’t exactly how I wanted to do this!”
“What did you do?” Andrews called. “I thought you were—”
“Oh, do be silent,” Milna interrupted. “We’re not here to kill you but neither will I stand around in this filthy hangar waiting for someone to show up to test your defenses. So we’re coming aboard. Drop the ramp before I do it for you. Now!”
The ramp dropped. A man wearing full protective gear came out with a pistol aimed at them. Milna tilted her head. “Our armor can absorb the first two shots from that. Can yours take anything from these?” She patted her rifle. “Because if not, I suggest you lower the fool thing and have civil discourse with us.”
Jok turned to her. He shook his head.
“What? That’s what you wanted?” Milna shrugged.
“Come on then!” Andrews lowered his weapon, stepping to the side. He held his hand on the panel for the ramp. “What do you want?”
“First,” Jok said, “we’re going to discuss this… classified reason you’re here. Then, we’ll talk about your friends. And finally, we’ll tell you why we’re here.”
Milna’s HUD turned red. She switched to her scanner. “But first, it looks like we need to get those turrets online.”
“You crashed the system,” Andrews said. “The application that controls them is totally offline. It’s tried to reboot five times and has some kind of error.”
“You’ve got to be joking.” Milna sighed.
“See?” Jok nudged her. “This is why I was doing it with conversation!”
“How many are coming?” Andrews asked.
“Eight,” Milna said. “At least.”
“That many?” Andrews paced away. “And we only have small arms to defend ourselves!”
“Doesn’t this ship have any antipersonnel weaponry?” Milna looked around. “What is this? A troop transport?”
“Pretty much, yes.” Andrews hurried to the front of the ship. He came back with a second pistol. “I can do a little, but this is going to be ridiculous.”
“We should disembark,” Jok said. “Take cover behind the crates.”
“I’ll go near the door.” Milna jogged down the ramp, hustling over to the boxes nearest the exit on the left. She crouched, placing her rifle on the surface. Alright, so scavengers
finally make their way down here. She slumped. Probably because they saw the spike in energy when I crashed the defenses.
The change didn’t take them long. Likely, because they’re in this area anyway and see this as a target of opportunity. “I’m in position,” Milna announced. “They will arrive in less than two minutes. Are you ready?”
“As we can be,” Jok said. “You just had to knock out those turrets.”
“I don’t usually have to care when they come back online.”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Oh, I look forward to that. Certainly.
The dots gathered around the door. It slid open a moment later. One man entered, wearing full armor. That had been the first such person they’d seen thus far. He led with his rifle, taking the right first. She counted on that, blasting him when he had his back to her. The hit caught him in the base of the neck.
“Now!” Milna shouted as the body crumpled to the floor.
Jok and Andrews let loose, pounding the doorway. She kept her weapon at the ready though none of them would be coming in quickly. Those shots that came back were from guns peaking around the corner. If they all had armor, then they had cameras as well. The ability to see what they were facing.
One tilted dangerously in her direction. Milna shied behind the cover, using her own gun to peek out at them. She rested her reticle on the gun itself, pulling the trigger. The blast made the owner drop his weapon, recoiling his hand at the same time. The smoldering gun sat a few inches from the door.
She aimed at the butt, waiting for the inevitable moron who thought it was worth trying to grab it. A hand came out, reaching swiftly. Milna’s finger twitched on the trigger, catching her target in the wrist. This time when he withdrew, he left the hand behind.
How much more do you want to lose?
Screams filled the hallway. The HUD showed the dots moving off. They abandoned their position, heading to other rooms nearby. What did they find in there? Milna wondered.
“Jok, they might have something to breach in one of those places. Explosives or something.”
“I thought that too,” Jok said. “We can make a run for it.”
“They want the ship,” Milna replied, “not us. If we go, we can likely get away without a problem. Let them scavenge this. It’s useless anyway.”
“What?” Andrews caught up. “That’s ridiculous! I can’t let this fall into the hands of pirates!”
“You don’t have a lot of choice in the matter.” Jok stood. “Come on! Let’s make a run for it. Take a hard left then a right. We’ll be away from the mainstay of their force.” He charged for the door. Milna fell into step beside him. Andrews trailed by a few feet.
She understood his reluctance. Not to mention the fact they had caused him the grief in the first place. She would’ve been surprised if he hadn’t been suspicious.
A man leaned against the wall in the hallway, nursing the stump at the end of his arm. He glanced up as they exited. Milna blasted him in the face without so much as looking at him. This drew a gasp from Andrews, but he didn’t say anything. Which meant he absolutely was not a Prytin.
They had no qualms about killing prisoners. Or the wounded. That much was well-documented.
“Wall!” Jok shouted. Milna shoved herself to the side as he fired down the hall. A couple return shots flew by them. She caught sight of their attacker, an armored man making a solid charge.
She joined Jok, blasting at him. The first few missed. One knocked her in the shoulder. That blow seemed to bring her some focus. She snagged the man in the chest just as Jok got him in the head. The body slapped the floor with a metallic clatter.
“Come on!” Jok grabbed Andrews, dragging him to the first turn. They dashed down, breaking into a sprint. Milna watched their back but no one seemed to be following. Not right away.
But that wouldn’t be the case for long. Depending on how much loyalty they had to their companions.
“Where are we going?” Andrews shouted. “What’s the plan?”
“Ultimately, get to the heart of this station,” Jok said, “to the command area.”
“And then?” Andrews pressed.
“Help this place restore order,” Jok replied.
What a liar, Milna thought. I wonder how long we’ll be able to sell this farce. She’d leave it to him. He wanted to play a part. She’d be the silent muscles working with him. Until someone recognizes us for what we are. It wasn’t like she could hide the fact she was a Kahl. Nor would he.
Which will make things very interesting when we get to the wrong crowd.
Chapter 7
Orla woke with a start, reaching for her gun. A strong hand stopped her as their new ally appeared above her. The woman pressed her finger to her lips then motioned toward the other room. The night before, they disposed of the bodies and held up in the medical center. A radiator provided heat to cook their food and get warm.
All through the night, the mysterious woman never mentioned her name. She didn’t talk much at all. Klev found it unnerving. While they were alone, he complained to Orla about whether or not they could trust her. Sleeping wasn’t easy around her, but exhaustion won the argument.
Now what does she want? Orla drew her pistol as she followed into the lobby. They each took a side of the open door. “What’s going on?” she whispered. “Is someone out there?”
“Yes. My name’s Desal, by the way. Desal Vihn. I’m a ranger with the Rhulin Expeditionary Force.”
“Where’s your unit?” Orla knew about the rangers. They were an elite unit, one that operated in groups of six. “Shouldn’t you have some friends?”
“We’ve encountered some problems,” Desal replied, “in case you haven’t noticed, there’s an invasion on. I’d like to know more about how you made it so far. What sort of training do you have? Are you a military officer?”
“No.” Orla tilted her head. “I’m a Pargon, as I said. And I know guns. That’s about all you need to know. You said someone’s out there. What’re we sitting here chatting for? Shouldn’t we be doing something?”
Desal grinned. “I figured it would make you less nervous to talk before we had to contend with the approaching threat.”
Orla glanced, jerking back. Several Kahl soldiers stood around the building opposite the clearing. They were about to breach. “How many?” she rasped.
“Five,” Desal replied, “all armored. Our weapons will hurt them, at least. Of course, we’re going to have to be clever. Sort of like you using that boy for bait last night.”
“That wasn’t intentional!” Orla scowled. “I told him to get to cover so he’d be safe!”
“And he almost got shot in the back.”
“Again, it wasn’t my fault he was slow! I thought he had it.” Orla sighed. “Anyway, what’re you proposing now? Because I’m pretty sure we can’t pull something like that with these guys. They’re better shots.”
“Prytin forces are pulling a relief effort,” Desal said. “Not too far away from here. They’ve set up a landing zone so civilians can get off world. I can get you both there, but we need to fend these guys off first. We wouldn’t last if we had to flee them for the next few hours. You know what I mean?”
“Great. How far is it?”
“Four klicks. Over the hills.” Desal shrugged. “Not a fun hike after what you guys went through, but if we kill these people properly, at least you’ll have something warm to wear.”
“We can’t exactly put on their armor if we’re going to the Prytins!” Orla shook her head. “We’d get shot by our allies!”
“We’ll naturally cover it up.” Desal paused as a loud bang rang out from across the way. “They breached the room.”
“What do you want to do?” Orla asked. “We could catch it on fire, I guess. Shoot them when they come out. This whole place has been evacuated anyway. No point in bothering to save structures, right?”
“Destructive.” Desal grinned. “I like it. You sure you didn’t
work for an elite unit before? Or are you just an anarchist that likes torching things?”
Orla’s cheeks burned. “We should focus on what we’re doing. How do we do it?”
“Oh, I’ve got something that’ll work.” Desal drew a grenade from her pack. “Cover me. If you see any of them look out a window or something, take a shot. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
“Wait! You have to go out there?”
“I can throw a long way.” Desal leaned to look. “But that’s a bit much, even for me. Unless you’re somehow an athlete as well as a mysterious Pargon soldier?”
Orla didn’t speak.
“Thought not. Excuse me.” Desal darted from the door. Orla aimed to cover her as the woman sprinted to the middle of the yard. She hurled the grenade high into the air so it came down on the roof. Flares burst from the sides then the rest popped with a bright, white flash as something splashed all over the surface.
Desal sprinted for the door as the flames consumed the structure, sending black smoke pouring into the air. Orla’s heart raced at the site. She worried about signaling other forces. How many might investigate the fire? Worse, would the Kahl request reinforcements? They had no idea what they were facing.
“Was that a good idea?” Orla asked.
“It was your idea,” Desal pointed out. She entered the building, turning to aim her weapon at the door of the burning structure. “What is it? Are you worried about the smoke? They’re burning buildings all over the planet! This is just another of their scourges.” She paused, pressing the butt of her rifle tighter against her shoulder. “Mostly, at least.”
“What’s that even mean?”
“That these particular Kahl won’t be burning anything ever again.”
“What’s going on?” Klev’s voice made Orla jump.
“Stay back!” Orla hissed. “Away from the door!”
“Something’s burning?” Klev stepped closer to a window. Orla rushed over, pushing him back.
“Yes! There are soldiers across the way! Keep your head away from the—”
Desal started shooting, the chirp of her weapon interrupting Orla’s conversation. Klev hit the ground, putting both hands over his head. That at least took care of him… or kept him safe for a few moments more.
