by Terry Mixon
“On this level. He’s under guard.”
Hale smiled. “I’ll bet he is. Take us there. Now. Do anything funny and I’ll shoot you first.”
The man rose from the desk, his hands in the air.
“Put them down,” Rachel said. “Walk slowly and stay in front of us. Don’t use anyone’s name if we meet them. If I get suspicious, I’ll let him shoot you.”
They put their helmets back on and followed Young into the corridor. She kept far enough back to shoot him if he suddenly turned.
“We know this is where you build the FTL drives, but why did you make it so weird?” she asked. “How did you change the gravity?”
The man shook his head without turning to look at her. “Are you blind? What the hell makes you think we built this?”
She laughed quietly. “Who should I think built it? Little green men?”
“I doubt they were actually green. That’s just the lighting.”
It felt as though he’d slapped her. “Aliens? Are you kidding me?”
“Believe whatever you like, then.”
“Leave that aside,” Hale said. “Why is the window so short? We only have half an hour before we have to leave. Why?”
“Because we’re at the highest point the station rises to on this pass. In about twenty minutes, we’ll start descending again, and you’ll be stuck with us for a few weeks. I hope you brought cards. It gets really boring.”
He grinned nastily at them. “While it occasionally goes up to the gaseous layers, it mostly stays deep. As in over five hundred bars. It’s a miracle Janus found it all those years ago, and we only recently built a landing bay that allowed us to stay here fulltime.”
They came around the corner to find another iris door, this one closed. A man with a holstered pistol stood outside it.
He looked over at them, and his eyes narrowed. His hand began creeping toward his weapon. Young must’ve done something to tip him off.
Rachel shot the man dead. When Young dove for the weapon, Hale shot him, too. Well, this had gotten bloody fast.
The iris controls were a dial, so she twisted it. Left was the only direction that had movement.
The door slid open from the center out. Inside the room, sitting on the cot from the video, was Zane. He wasn’t wearing goggles, and his jumpsuit was filthy. He looked even more scraggly than he had in the video.
Based on his expression, he hadn’t heard the shots. The room must be soundproofed.
She rushed in, only stopping when he lunged for her. A chain around his ankle yanked him up short.
“Come one step closer,” he muttered.
Rachel pulled her helmet off. “Zane! It’s me!”
He blinked at her. “Rachel? Holy shit.”
“We’re here to get you out. Lean back while I shoot the lock.”
He flinched at the shot, but the lock came apart. “Who’s here with you? You brought backup? Thank God. We’re almost out of time.”
“Those shots will bring people running,” she said. “What are we facing?”
“A couple of dozen people. Maybe a third of them armed.”
“We have to go now,” Hale said, tossing her a set of goggles from one of the dead men. She handed it to Zane.
Her partner straightened at the sound. “Adam?”
“You look like shit, bro. Our ride won’t wait. Let’s move.”
It was obvious Zane had questions, but he clamped his mouth shut and came with them. He did stop long enough to grab the guard’s weapon.
Several men were climbing the ladder when they arrived, but a few shots made them take cover. Adam led his brother up while she kept the men ducking. Then she scurried up after them.
Rachel stayed at the shaft while Adam got Zane suited up. With the high ground, it wasn’t hard to keep the Janus people pinned, but that wouldn’t last. As soon as the three of them went into the bay, the others would swarm after them.
“We’re ready,” Hale said over the com.
She fired another volley and waited ten seconds. Then she leaned out and shot the first man on the ladder. He fell into the depths with a scream, taking two other people with him.
That should convince them to wait a bit before they tried again.
Adam already had the airlock open, and she ducked inside. He slid it closed and jammed some equipment into the track. “That might keep them busy for a little bit.”
The crates they’d seen were gone, and half the crates of supplies were inside. The outer lock door cycled open, and the two men used hand trucks to bring the remaining supplies inside.
The largest of the pair frowned. “Wait a minute. Who’s leaving?”
“It’s a secret,” Rachel said as she used the shocker on him. It seemed to work well enough through the suit.
The other man backed up, but he had nowhere to go. They tossed him into the airlock just as someone on the other side started trying to open the inner hatch.
“Time to exit stage left,” Adam said. “Into the dive ship.”
The return to heavy gravity was a blow, but she managed to seal the ship while Adam strapped in. That’s when she saw the problem. There were only two acceleration couches.
“Where do we put Zane?” she asked, glad her suit was helping her breathe.
“Strap him to a crate. It won’t be comfortable, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“He’s right,” Zane said. “Time is critical. We have to get a message back to Earth. What day is this?”
She told him, and he paled. “God, I hope we aren’t too late.”
“Price,” Adam said. “Strap in.”
Rachel finished lashing her partner down and waddled to her couch. Adam helped her lock the restraints.
She couldn’t look back, but she could still talk. “Too late for what?”
“The reason I came out here,” Zane said as fluid flowed in and the bay doors opened. “Janus is staging a coup against the Republic. It was supposed to have kicked off about now.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Adam boosted the ship out of the fluid at the highest rate of speed he could safely manage. The turbulence was more intense than anything he’d ever experienced.
“Coup? How?” he choked out.
“Wait,” Zane gasped. “Can’t…talk.”
He’d always considered his older brother tougher than himself, so that admission surprised him.
Well, they wouldn’t be talking until they got above Jupiter’s atmosphere, then. He had time to process what he was feeling about this entire situation.
He’d broken things off with Zane for good reason. His brother had chosen his beloved organization over his own blood. Ten years had muted the pain, but not eliminated it.
Adam had thought Zane died coming to prove his innocence. What a joke. It turned out Zane had had the information clearing Adam for God only knew how long. All he cared about was whatever his mission was.
Admittedly, the Republic was important, but seriously, how much chance did a corporation have of taking down the elected government? The people that controlled the military. And then there was the population itself. No way would they stand still for something like that.
He felt torn as the ship rose through the clear atmosphere. He’d probably never see it again. Janus would kill them as they approached the station or when they boarded. Those were pretty much their only options.
Grandmother Wu was resourceful, but Adam just couldn’t believe she’d get them out of Jupiter’s orbit alive. Janus would search every ship before departure. Not even smuggling them out in a crate would work.
The acceleration they felt finally fell off as they rose into the blackness of space.
“Spill it,” Adam said brusquely once he was sure his brother could breathe. “What coup? How?”
“There’s more to Janus than anyone suspected,” Zane said raggedly. “They’re connected with the Disruptors. They control them. They have the RIS thoroughly penetrated. Probably other agencies,
too. The people watching the terrorists are in league with them.”
“We figured that out,” Rachel said. “How does that translate to a coup?”
“The Disruptors are going to stage simultaneous strikes against most of the Republic’s leadership. A decapitating blow. Janus intends to step into the vacuum and seize control of the system.”
Adam shook his head. “It’ll never work. The military is too powerful.”
“You’d think so, but not really. Janus has been building warships of their own. Rather, they’ve built FTL ships, sent them out of the system, and upgraded them. I have no idea how many of the sales they’ve made are to legitimate companies, but I’m suspecting it’s a minority.
“Worse, the FTL drives they provided the Republican military are booby trapped. They won’t blow up. The Navy screens them for that kind of thing. But they’ll send out a carefully tailored electromagnetic pulse that will cripple the ship’s drives, leaving them dead in space.”
Rachel didn’t seem convinced. “The military shields their ships from that kind of thing.”
“They do, but Janus owns the company that’s built the normal space drives for decades. This one chink in the armor is all they needed. And, of course, it’ll fry the FTL drive, too. The ships can still fight, but they’ll be easy targets when they can’t maneuver.
“To add insult to injury, the Navy drives have a tracking device that Janus can trigger. They’ll know the exact location of every ship the Republic has. No doubt their warships will be shadowing them, waiting to pounce all at the same time. It’s going to be a slaughter if we don’t warn the Republic.”
The ship’s radio came to life. “Adam Hale, this is Jove Control. Come left fifteen degrees and proceed to the Janus docks.”
He flicked the transmit button. “Negative, Control. I think I’ll just circle around out here for a while.”
“You have nowhere to go. Don’t make this harder on yourself than it needs to be.”
“That’s the story of my life, Control. Why change now?”
A strange buzzing filled the channel for a moment and then vanished. “Hale, this is Grandmother Wu. Do not respond. We are transmitting on a tight beam that Control will not detect. Tell them you want to speak with the Janus CEO to name your demands, if you can hear me.”
He smiled. Yeah, that wouldn’t go over well. The CEO was a stuck-up son of a bitch. He’d wait until Adam ran out of air before he negotiated.
“Control, if you want me to come in, you get the Janus CEO on the horn. I’ll only give him my demands.”
A moment went by with no response. “I’ll see what I can do, but I think you’ll run out of fuel first.”
It was good to see that he’d probably read the man correctly.
“Let me see if I can encourage him,” Adam said. “Listen closely.”
He’d noticed that the Janus pilots had the automatic transponder and data feeds turned off when he’d started the dive. Let’s see how Janus liked the people running the games knowing everything he’d seen and how deep down it was.
A few moments was all it took to enable the equipment. He switched it to the frequency the judges had designated for the games and hit the transmit key. For good measure, he sent it again on the channel used by the local divers. In less than ten seconds, it was done. Good luck covering that up.
Right after he finished, Wu spoke again. “I have made arrangements for your departure, but the window is tight. You’ve already committed grand theft, but I believe that you can do better.
“My grandson indicates the ship you just turned over to the FTL crew is suitable. I am arranging for a delivery of supplies and people for your crew. You need to go there now. Once I see you change course, my people will disable Control’s transmitters. The FTL crew will not be aware of your impending arrival.”
“Where the hell will we go if we steal Javelin?” he asked Price.
“Anywhere is better than here,” Price said. “The RIS can help us.”
Zane grunted. “Unless Janus wins. We need to get a message to Earth now.”
“No transmitter on a ship is that powerful. We’d have to get closer to Earth.”
“Then that’s what we need to do.”
Wu came back on the line as Zane was finishing. “There is other news. The Disruptors have struck at numerous government leaders. Reports are beginning to flood in. Something is happening with the military as well, though I’m not quite sure what. Details are sparse.”
Zane growled and beat the crate with his fist. “Dammit. We’re too late. Why did you take so long to come for me? You could’ve stopped this.”
Adam opened his mouth to rip a strip off his brother, but Price beat him to it.
“You know what could’ve saved time?” she asked harshly. “You telling your partner about this rather than running off to play lone ranger. Or, you could’ve left enough data for me to know what I was looking for when I got here. Wait, you also could’ve talked with your damned brother. Don’t blame everyone else for your fuck-ups, Zane.”
“You’ve known I was telling the truth about Mars,” Adam added. “How long have you kept that to yourself?”
“Two years,” Zane said bitterly. “But I had more important—”
“Fuck you,” Adam said, cutting him off. “You self-centered jackass. I’m surprised there’s enough room in this ship for you and your ego. If I could, I’d dump your ass out for Janus to play with.”
He wanted to rub his face. “No, I wouldn’t. I’d settle for beating your ass to a fucking pulp and dropping you off at the first place Janus couldn’t get you. We’re done.”
“You were always so goddamned jealous of—”
“Jesus!” Price shouted. “Shut the fuck up. Both of you. We have more pressing business to take care of. Maybe the coup will fail, but we have to assume the worst and get out of here. That means getting a move on, Hale.”
She was right. They had all the time in the world to hash this out after they hijacked their ride.
He changed course for the construction area ahead of the station. Javelin’s beacon was clear on his screen. It was time for a surprise visit.
* * * * *
Rachel watched Hale approach the ship with more than a hint of trepidation. If the ship denied them entry, they’d be screwed.
She could see the fury burning inside Hale. As much as Rachel respected Zane, he’d screwed this up. Badly. If things went the way she feared, they’d need every hand before this was over.
Reconciliation seemed wildly optimistic, but perhaps she could get them to avoid semi-random fistfights if she worked really hard to make her point.
When the ship was large enough on the screens to see the distinctive Alcubierre drive torus, Hale touched a control. “Javelin, this is Supply One with your beer.” His voice sounded amazingly free of the rage that seemed to grip him.
“Hale?” an unfamiliar voice asked. “What are you doing out here?”
“Kira asked me to make an equipment delivery. The beer was my idea.”
He leaned over toward Rachel. “Kira Houston is the construction boss. She’s not going to be happy with this. I feel bad. She’s good people.”
“Really?” the man asked. “That’s damned odd, considering she’s out here overseeing the FTL install.”
“Fuck,” Hale said. “That tears it. We have to go in hot.”
“Go ahead and ask her,” he told the man. “I can wait.”
Hale boosted their speed, and the ship in front of them grew rapidly larger. Rachel hoped he could stop them in time.
“What will they be able to do?” she asked.
“The external hatches can be locked from the inside. If they haven’t changed the override codes, I can get us in. They have some weapons on board, I think. This really all depends on how quickly we can get the upper hand. I don’t want to hurt any of these people.”
“That might not be possible,” Zane said. “This is more important than any of the
ir lives.”
“You don’t get to make that call,” Hale said coldly. “You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”
“Hale,” the man on the ship said. “She’s on her way up. She says she has no idea what you’re talking about. Stand off until she gets to the bridge.”
“Copy that,” Hale said.
“Holy shit! Divert course now!”
“Sorry, pal. Can’t do that.”
Hale tapped in a code on the console, and a large hatch at the back of the ship began slowly opening.
“He can’t stop it, but he can close it again. Hang on.”
The hatch finished opening and immediately began closing. Hale drove the ship through the gap, and the bottom of the hull brushed the deck.
The dive ship spun into the bay and slammed into the rear wall, jarring Rachel badly. She saw the hatch close.
She started to undo her restraints, but Hale stopped her. “I’m blowing our atmosphere.”
Their hatch opened, and the air inside the ship roared into the bay. Once the roar died down, she shook him off and got clear of her seat. Zane was already tearing himself loose from the crate.
They floated out into the bay, and Hale waved at the camera high on the ceiling. The ship had settled to the floor, so there must be something magnetic at play that wasn’t doing the same for their suits. The airlock didn’t respond to him pressing the button.
“Fuck!” she shouted.
“Hold your horses,” he said, smashing the button with his pistol butt while holding onto a handhold. “This wasn’t made for security.”
He did something inside the wreckage, and the hatch opened into an airlock.
Rachel drew her pistol and led the way in. She pressed the button to cycle it as soon as they were all inside. It worked.
A very pissed-off woman with a pistol in her hand waited on the other side, two armed men behind her. “Goddamn it, Hale! What the absolute fuck are you doing? Who are these people? Stand down!”
“Rachel Price, Republican Intelligence Service,” Rachel snarled, aiming her weapon right at the other woman’s head. “Lower your weapons or we open fire.”
