“I don’t know. The air in here is pretty stale and it’s getting colder as we go deeper. Duncan is already tired.”
“Duncan needs to lose a few pounds.”
“Yeah, well, you tell him that.” Nathan jerked a thumb back up the corridor leading into the lounge area. “Were you able to do anything to slow them down?”
Cole grinned. “I left them a present about halfway down the corridor, just to keep them interested in us. I didn’t want it to seem too easy. We should get moving though, to keep ahead of them. Aren’t we almost there?”
Nathan strained and found he could hear voices. Dodger and his goons weren’t big on stealth. “I think so. Come on, let’s catch up to the others. Stay close, okay?”
Cole nodded and they hurried out of the lounge.
— «» —
“There’s light up ahead,” Dodger said to Jonesy, pointing at the exit to the casino. “Do you think they went that way or are they trying to throw us off the trail?”
Jonesy shined his light around the casino, examining the layout. He saw four other ways in or out. “It’s hard to tell. They could have chucked a glow stick that way and went another. How would we know?”
Dodger shrugged. “Damn it, this place is like a maze. Let’s go this way and see if we catch any sign of them. Leave a couple guys here to make sure they don’t double back on us.”
Jonesy pointed to a couple guys and they leaned back against blackjack tables. He followed Dodger toward the exit with the light shining up ahead. It ended in a ‘T’ and so they looked left and right. Another light glowed further down to the left. A sign mounted on the wall had an arrow pointing to something called the Starlight Lounge in that direction.
“There better be one hell of a piece of cheese at the end of this,” Dodger said. He led them toward the lounge. Halfway down the short hallway he heard something click and didn’t even have enough time to shout a warning as something bounced up into the air, crossing the beam from his light. He managed to get an arm up to protect himself. The object exploded at shoulder height, covering him in a sticky mess. Stunned for a moment, he realized he had dropped his light. He wiped the mess away from his face.
The men around him shouted angrily and he bent for his light, glad that the device hadn’t killed him. He shined his light on the men behind him and saw them coated with a thick brown gel that resembled syrup. He felt his skin tightening as it dried and tried to peel it off only to find he couldn’t.
“What the hell is this stuff?” He shined a light on Jonesy, who worked his jaw open and closed, trying to loosen it.
“I think it’s an entanglement grenade. I’ve only seen Protective Services use them. It’s a non-lethal deterrent. I think it’s safe to say they came this way.”
“How do you get it off?”
“I don’t know,” Jonesy said, sounding exhausted. “I’ve got some on my hand and my fingers are stuck together. This stuff’s like concrete when it gets hard.”
Dodger picked at the sticky brown material covering his left arm. It dried quickly and when he pulled on it the skin below felt like it would tear.
“Let’s get moving. These bastards are dead when I find them.”
— «» —
Marla and Tricia took the lead as the group hurried out of the compartment toward the stairs. She was sure Duncan or Cole would have had a clever plan but all she could think to do was race like hell for the proper compartment on the lower deck. Ari and Fred followed them.
They reached the stairs and Marla dropped down them two at a time, careful not to fall but unwilling to go any slower than they had to. Tricia moved right behind her, gun drawn, medical pack swinging from one hip. After Ari discovered their mistake, Marla had been too busy cussing under her breath to react right away, but Tricia immediately picked up her weapon and peeked to check if their route was clear. She seemed to understand there was a time for action and complaining could always wait until later.
Marla glanced back at Ari in the dark. She definitely got the impression that Ari was in over her head but still managing to keep her focus. Marla could forgive her for getting the deck wrong. The Athena Star was like a dark, oppressive cave with the power off.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and swung back toward the compartment they needed. She shined her light in that direction and saw a large ‘4d’ painted on the pressure door.
“Someone’s up there!” She heard someone shout from below. “I see a light. They’re right above us, come on.”
Tricia grabbed Marla. “Go, I’ll make sure the others make it.”
Marla nodded and charged ahead. She got to the door and swung it wide. She shined her light around and the panel Ari had described stood open. Ari and Fred ran down the catwalk toward her.
Lights played off the walls as Dodger’s men came up the metal stairs, making as much noise as a herd of cattle. Ari and Fred ran past her into the compartment and she shined her light back at Tricia.
“Come on, everyone is in!”
Tricia started moving backward toward her on the catwalk. Then the lights from below shined brighter on the walls. Dodger’s boys closed in on them from the stairs, getting closer to their deck. Marla watched as the nurse brought her pistol up and let loose a volley of shots.
Sparks leapt from the walls where rounds impacted and the lights stopped moving. The sound from the gunshots echoed in the large metal compartment. Marla shook her head and Tricia almost ran her over. Once inside they slammed the door and spun the wheel.
“Did you hit anyone?”
Tricia gulped air and sat down against the door, shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so. I just fired over their heads to slow them down.” She held up the gun, dropped the spent magazine and pushed another home. “But if anyone comes through that door they’re getting shot.”
Marla nodded in agreement. “Okay. I’ve got a call to make.”
— «» —
Nathan could hear Dodger and his men now without straining. They sounded angry. Eldridge had them in a service stairwell used for maintenance. He wanted to stop because they were getting tired from the long night of activity. Duncan gulped air through his mouth from all the running and giving him a break would have been a kindness but they’d left the access hatch open to lure Dodger in. He wondered how much farther they had to go. “Are we almost there, Eldridge?”
“This way,” Eldridge said and swung open an access hatch on a landing. They piled through and found themselves in a tight maintenance corridor where two men standing side-by-side would be shoulder-to-shoulder. Everyone picked a spot and leaned against the walls.
“The compartment you want is just up ahead, on the left,” Eldridge said. “Do we have enough time to get everything set up?”
“We will if we get moving,” Nathan said. “Let’s hustle.”
They moved down the corridor and into the compartment Eldridge had pointed out. Nathan put a hand on the shoulders of Duncan and Richie. “It’s on you guys, now. Can you get it done?”
The big man coughed up some phlegm and spit it into the back corner of the room. “No problem.”
Nathan slapped them both on the shoulder, his rifle slung across his back. “Cole and I will make sure you get time.” He turned to Eldridge. “When they’re done, you call out and move them to safety, okay? Do it just like we talked about.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, we’ll be right behind you, don’t worry. I’ve got no intention of being caught. Go get it done.”
— «» —
Dodger put a hand up and stopped everyone at the top of the stairs just inside the hatchway. “Hold up, I think they’re down there.”
Jonesy and a couple others leaned over the railing. “I see lights, boss. Moving lights.”
Dodger got a maniacal look on his face and dug out a plastic envelop
e from the front pocket of his jeans. He opened it and dumped a few crystals into his mouth. Jonesy’s eyebrows arched up and Dodger clapped him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it; I just needed a little bump.” He turned to the men behind him. “Okay, they’re right down there. Let’s get them.”
They ran down the stairs, screaming and yelling, trying to frighten their prey.
Dodger entered the corridor first and he saw a hatch to a compartment farther down the corridor swing open. Teller stood there, rifle in hand and pointing right at them. He stopped, putting a hand up in the dim light for his men to stop advancing.
The Diamond K was hitting his blood now, giving him everything he needed to get the bastards who blew up his building. They would answer for it, right now.
Seeing Teller not five meters away, he grinned and said, “We’ve got you now. You’re mine.”
— «» —
“You think so?” Nathan said, standing in the shadows. “Look where you are. A corridor this tight? Numbers kind of work against you. Guess you never heard of King Leonidas and the Spartans, huh?”
Dodger shook his head. “Not really.” He waved his arms around. “If you think the walls being tight is going to stop us from grabbing you and kicking your ass, you’re mistaken. Jonesy,” he said, “get them.”
Jonesy hesitated a moment, unsure of what to do. “Boss, are you sure?”
“Now, Jonesy.”
He moved forward this time with a couple men behind him. Nathan stepped back inside the compartment and Cole rolled out from the opposite side, looming over Jonesy with his rifle raised high. The slanted deck gave him a height advantage and he brought the butt of the gun down hard, square in his face. The thug dropped and rolled into the men behind him.
Nathan moved quickly, grabbing the man who managed to remain standing behind Jonesy. He pulled him into the darkness of the compartment and shoved him against the wall, repeatedly banging his head off the metal side until he cried out in pain. Then he hauled him back to the hatch and threw him toward Dodger, giving him a kick in the butt as he stumbled over Jonesy and the others.
“It’s over Dodger. Just stop before someone really gets hurt.”
“Don’t you get it, Teller? That lab was worth millions and you burned it down.” Dodger blinked rapidly in the dimness and Nathan thought he saw tears. “I had one job. All I had to do was protect it and you burned it down! I’m not going to answer for that unless I’m holding your head in my hand.”
Dodger’s arm rose up with a ridiculous, shiny chrome gun in his hand. He ducked back through the hatch and a deafening shot went wild. He felt the air move past as the round traveled down the darkened corridor.
“Shut the damn hatch,” he yelled to Cole. “We need some cover.”
Cole grabbed the door and pushed it shut. More gunshots came from Dodger, slamming into the door as it closed. Nathan felt something kick him hard and he fell back against the wall.
“We’re good!” Duncan yelled from the compartment where he, Richie and Eldridge prepared their surprise. “Come on guys, let’s go.”
Nathan tried to raise his gun up in case Dodger and his men breached the hatch but he couldn’t. His arm was numb from the shoulder down. He reached across his chest with his other hand and pain erupted from the effort. His shoulder and arm were wet so he pressed down hard to put pressure on the wound. Gritting his teeth he said, “Come on, let’s go.”
They hustled toward the door Duncan held open and stumbled through it. The wheel on the pressure door spun. Cole didn’t have enough time to lock it.
“Are we ready?” Nathan said.
Duncan nodded and then saw his bleeding arm. “Oh my God! You’re hit?”
Nathan nodded and saw blood seeping out from between his fingers. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s that bad but we’ll have to deal with it later. Where’s Eldridge?”
“He and Richie are down the hatch already. You’re next.”
“No, you.”
Duncan grabbed him and pulled him to the open hatch in the floor. “I’m not arguing with you. Go and we’ll be right behind you.”
Nathan grimaced and dropped down through the hatch, just as he had a few days ago when they had used this same hatch to escape Dodger. The symmetry made him smile.
With his wounded arm he barely caught himself on the ladder that led to the ground outside. He hit the dirt and rolled out of the way. Duncan came next, sliding down the sides of the ladder with his boots and hands on the rails.
Cole stepped onto the ladder last and stopped to pull the hatch closed. Halfway down, he jumped off the ladder and landed on the hard-packed dirt under the hatch. He joined the group as they hustled away from the ship and out under the stars. “They’ll be in that compartment any minute. We’re out of time.”
Nathan nodded and turned to Duncan. “Do it.”
“Are you sure?” Duncan said. “This could still kill them. The overpressure alone will blow that door off its hinges.”
“If they get any farther I’m sure they’ll kill us.”
Cole put a hand on Duncan’s shoulder. “If you want, I’ll do it, big guy.”
Duncan shook his head in the glare of a flashlight. “No, they tried to kill my wife. I’ve got this.” He took out his mobi, opened an app and with one last look of assurance from Nathan, he tapped the screen.
— «» —
Dodger watched as Jonesy and another man wrestled with the wheel on the pressure door. Teller and his people had escaped behind this stupid hatch and all they had to do was open it.
“What’s taking so long?”
Jonesy leaned on a length of pipe trying to get the hatch open. Blood ran down onto his face from the gash Cole had given him across his forehead. “I don’t know. I can barely see and my head feels like it’s ready to fall off,” he said, breathing heavily. “Maybe we can go around?”
Dodger threw his hands up, casting wild shadows on the walls across from the trouble lights. “And where would we go? This ship is enormous. They could be anywhere. Do you even know how to get out of here?”
Jonesy threw up his hands. “I think we doubled back toward the cargo bay but I’m not sure.”
“That’s just great. We’re lost and you can’t get this damn door open.” Dodger stepped forward suddenly, getting right in Jonesy’s face. “What good are you to me if all you can do is get us lost?”
“I didn’t… are you serious? I never claimed to know my way around in here. You followed them in.” He threw down the length of pipe he had been using for leverage on the wheel and it banged heavily against the crooked metal deck. “The air in here is awful, it’s dark and no, I don’t know where we are. We were just dumb enough to follow you.”
Dodger grabbed him and Jonesy pushed back. The confined space of the maintenance tunnel didn’t give them much room but the two men grappled with one another, each shoving the other against the tight walls. The Diamond K Dodger chewed along with the beating Jonesy had received from Cole took their toll. Dodger managed to get him down on the deck as his men scattered as best they could to give them room. He straddled Jonesy and pinned his shoulders.
“This is not my fault,” Dodger screamed. “You told me you could control the ’bots and you let them get away when we had them. Now you’ve got us lost in this maze! I’m going to kill you.”
“Get off me you maniac! I’m not going to make it easy.” Jonesy got an arm free and grabbed his boss by the throat.
Dodger switched his grip from Jonesy’s shoulders to his throat. He squeezed hard, determined to choke the life out of him. Then an explosion went off behind him, blowing the pressure door out of its frame. The corridor lit up with a bright yellow flash from the compartment they had been trying to get into. Pressurized air slammed into him and he was thrown into his men where they tumbled to the sloping deck. Then
a wave of filth engulfed them, spilling into the corridor with such volume and force it pushed them up the slanted deck toward the aft cargo bay they had entered through.
Tumbling up the corridor, he banged into the walls and floor as waves of vile liquid rolled over him. He moved quickly, the pressure of the air and slime shoving him along in the darkness. Men collided with him, arms and legs flailing as they tried to grab something to stop their motion.
Then it ended and he lay on the deck. He tried to take a breath, to get his bearings in the darkness and a wave of God-awful tasting foulness flooded his mouth and nose. He rolled over onto his knees and grabbed the railing, spitting as he did so.
He pulled himself up, leaning against the wall for support but the corridor filled rapidly with a smelly, slippery mud-like substance that made the deck and walls slick. The already stale air became inundated with a stench so powerful he could barely breathe. His eyes stung.
Grabbing hold of the nearest man to him, he boosted himself again, determined to follow the angled deck to higher ground. The sludge rose waist high now but he could feel the deck beneath his feet. He moved slowly, crawling and stumbling over his men. His hands gripped the rail, holding on tight as waves of unimaginable nastiness passed by him, first from the rear and then from the front as it receded.
He realized he had been holding his breath and he finally let it out, involuntarily sucking in a deep lungful of the worst smelling air he had ever encountered. His stomach contracted and he vomited without being able to hold it back. He pulled himself forward, up the corridor toward higher ground against the pitch of the ship one step at a time, trying to escape. He stole a look behind him and caught glimpses of his men climbing over each other in the foulness, eager to find a way out. Lights flashed and waved around madly as they followed him, all of them desperate to escape.
— «» —
Nathan felt the starliner and the ground shake with the explosion as they ran away. The hatch they had escaped through made an ominous popping noise but when Nathan stole a look he couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Then the smell hit.
Bad Rock Beat Down (The Milky Way Repo Series Book 2) Page 27
