Thieves' Guild Series (7 eBook Box Set): Military Science Fiction - Alien Invasion - Galactic War Novels

by C. G. Hatton

  “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of deploying them in here,” he said as he walked up.

  Both the Science guys jumped, IQs at the top of the scale and nerves as edgy as mice in a snake pit. They spun around, leaving the two drones hovering at head height behind them. They weren’t expecting him. They weren’t expecting anyone and they didn’t know what to say, horrified to see him. Whoever had sent the message up to his office hadn’t told these guys and was probably pissing themselves laughing.

  “What have you got there?” he said softly to put them at ease.

  One of the Science guys blinked, tongue still tied, hands fidgeting with some kind of gadget.

  The other one stared wide-eyed for a moment then turned slightly to wave a hand towards the drones. “It’s the new auto-sentry,” he said, careful with his words. “We’ve just powered them up. We’re about to run a field test.”

  “I know,” NG said slowly. “You want to show me what you’ve got?”

  They both grinned then and turned back to their toy. “It’s a completely self-reliant decision-making weapons platform,” the wide-eyed guy said. “Fully autonomous, AI about equivalent to a shark. We’ve modified the model from the original specs to make it more intelligent, faster, and loaded weapons with FTH, low stun so we don’t piss off the field-ops too much. They’re going to be hard pushed to beat these fellas.” He turned back to NG with a shy smile. “You want a demo?”

  He nodded. Why not?

  The hum emanating from both machines deepened with a click as weapons engaged. They were intimidating as hell. With a whirr, the two drones spun, targeted and fired at the two scientists, shots to centre mass, both lethal, the two pops of dark void as they died hitting NG like a hammer blow.

  Chapter 4

  “Could you have protected him more?” she asked.

  That was a difficult question and one he had pondered long and hard. The Man stroked a hand over the soft leather on the arm of his seat, absorbing its warmth, enjoying the company he was with. He enjoyed these comings together. Appreciated the rituals of sharing with an equal in such splendid and intimate surroundings. He looked up. “It took me a long time to find him and it has taken me a long time to nurture him into what he is now. But such a valuable asset is of no use to us whatsoever if we mollycoddle and smother him to keep him safe. His very nature demands he face adversity head on.”

  “Should we not have dealt with the other guilds more effectively?”

  “We dabble. We guide a lot of organisations, subtly from within. A guild as small as the Assassins? I made the decision to leave them alone. To have infiltrated them would have been to take them over and I have never had a desire to perpetrate such outright cold-blooded murder. It doesn’t sit well. I considered them in hand. I was wrong.”

  •

  Automatic reactions kicked in. NG dropped and rolled, shots hitting the wall behind him. The drones moved fast, sharp precise realignments to target him as he dived desperately out of the way. He fell more than ran into the Catacombs and scrambled through into the tunnels. He didn’t have a clue what these drones were fitted with. It was dark but presumably they had infrared and motion sensors, and they were packing live rounds, no doubt about that. He was screwed.

  He ran, bullets ricocheting all around, expecting a shot in the back of the head at any moment. He scraped his arm against the walls until he found the gap he was looking for. He squeezed through, something hitting his trailing arm with a sting, and they had no chance to follow, slamming up against the walls, motors squealing, firing volley after volley in there after him until they gave up and flew off.

  He took a moment to catch his breath and reached around to his arm, pulling out a tiny injector dart. The bastards had hypos as well as guns and they were artificially intelligent, no life signs, no emotions, nothing he could sense or track.

  He tried to remember the layout of the tunnels and reckoned he had about two minutes before they’d work out a route round and catch up with him. Keep moving was the only plan he could come up with and he started to run, initiating a link to Evelyn.

  She answered immediately, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why the hell is Science…” he sent, skidding around a corner, “…using live ammunition in the Maze?” He could hear a distant hum vibrating through the chill air.

  “They’re not,” Evie sent. “Why would they? Oh god. Are you okay?”

  He started to say he was but his breath caught in his chest and he thought he heard the noise up ahead switch in pitch. He slowed to a walk.

  “Boss?”

  She sounded miles away. He slowed again and leaned a hand against the wall, feeling a weakness in his knees. He was still clutching the tiny dart and as he brought it up to look at it, his vision swam and it was impossible to focus. He slumped against the wall, feeling his heart racing. Poison. Why would Science kit out an auto-sentry with poisoned darts?

  He didn’t mean to but he must have sent that last thought because Evie sent back, “They wouldn’t. NG, where are you?”

  It was a potent toxin and he couldn’t help sinking to the floor. He slowed his heart rate and threw everything he had into countering it. If he passed out, he was dead.

  “He’s in the Maze,” he overheard Evie send to someone else. “Get someone down there, for god’s sake.”

  By the time he could see straight again, he had no idea how long it had been. He got to his feet, swayed and reached to the wall to steady himself. He’d slowed the poison but it would take longer to neutralise it completely. He needed to get out of here.

  There were two ways out of the Catacombs – the Shaft or the Chamber, so it was climbing or swimming. Backtracking to the entrance was a simpler option but he had no idea where the drones were.

  “NG!”

  “I’m fine,” he managed to send, starting to work his way slowly back.

  ‘You’re dying,’ the little voice in his head whispered. ‘That was far too easy for them.’

  “NG, listen to me,” Evie sent. “Science deny that there are any live weapons on those drones.”

  “Hate to disagree,” he muttered weakly.

  She didn’t say it but he could almost sense what she was thinking through the connection. The drones had been programmed to kill. He leaned his head back against the wall for a moment. In all the talk of Assassins and contracts, no one had once considered he might be at risk here, on board the Alsatia.

  “We’ll have Security in there in two minutes,” Evie sent.

  “No you won’t,” he sent, pausing as he heard a faint hum ahead. “Get to the control room. Keep a lid on this and keep everyone out. These things are going to kill anyone who comes in here.”

  He backed away and ran as a stream of bullets raked across the wall.

  The Catacombs were full of narrow gaps he could squeeze through, leaving the drones trapped behind him each time they started to close in. Twice he ended up on his knees and the third time, he sprawled, out cold, and it was only Evie screaming in his head that got him up and staggering out of the way of another barrage.

  There was no way he could face a vertical climb so he stumbled past the entrance to the Shaft and headed for the centre. The tunnels leading to the Chamber were all wide and there was nothing he could do but run for it, vision mostly gone, muscles trembling and coordination shot. The drones closed in fast and he ran into the open and dived into the pool amidst a hail of projectiles.

  He hit the surface and plunged into the still water, feeling a pulse of pressure each time a bullet or dart pierced the water close by.

  He sank into a cold world of absolute silence. He knew he should swim but he couldn’t get his limbs to move. He was leaving feathery trails of red blood in the water and could feel poison spreading into his bloodstream from his leg and neck, burning pain in his shoulder. He’d moved fast, reflexes faster than any normal human otherwise they would have killed him in that first instant. The poison would probably have killed any
one else in seconds.

  He couldn’t do anything but sink, slowing his heart rate, slowing his breathing and relaxing every muscle from instinct more than any conscious plan.

  It was a peaceful eternity until a splash from above sent a pressure wave billowing down towards him as the mass of the drone dived into the pool.

  It closed in and followed him down, emanating an eerie hum that resonated under the water, weapons platforms spinning out streams of tiny bubbles.

  He stared at it with the weird feeling that it was staring back at him, waiting with its smart as a shark intelligence for him to die. He slowly reached and pulled out two of the tiny darts, letting them tumble from numb fingers that could barely grip.

  He drifted in the cool water and shut down.

  Awareness came back with a jolt. There was no sign of the drone. He spun around in the water then kicked for the dark mouth of the flooded tunnel that led away from the Chamber. He swam, chilled through, muscles weak and shoulder burning, but still alive. Slowing the heart rate and dampening life signs was a trick they taught the field-ops, but nothing to that extreme. He’d dropped into a state of almost total suspended animation and it seemed to have fooled the drones.

  He swam steadily, slowly, favouring his right arm. They always kept the water cold. It was designed to be testing and the tunnel was longer than anyone could naturally hold their breath. It seemed to take forever.

  He finally made it through and surfaced into a smaller pool at the end of a narrow corridor. He was half expecting a drone to be there waiting but it was quiet.

  He struggled to ease himself up out of the water and sat on the edge for a moment, dripping, breathing coming back slowly and painfully. He pushed a hand against his shoulder. It was still bleeding. So much for FTH.

  He knew he needed to move but lying down for a minute seemed like a good idea.

  “Evie,” he sent tentatively, lying there on his back, legs dangling in the pool.

  “NG, we thought you were dead,” Evelyn sent, a slight shake in her tone. They were probably watching the life signs monitors from the control room. “There’s a drone heading for you. Don’t move. We’re sending Security in.”

  “Don’t,” he sent, careful to keep the pain from his own voice as he pushed himself up onto his feet.

  He started walking, becoming vaguely conscious of life signs moving within the Maze. “Evie, get them out of here.”

  “Boss,” she started to send, breaking off as a distant echo of void popped through his awareness.

  Three more pops followed in silent succession.

  NG could still feel the poison coursing through his system but the edge of it had gone and he broke into a run. “Evelyn, listen to me. I need you to disable the safety protocols and initiate the patrol bots in the Block.”

  “Boss…”

  “Don’t argue with me, Evie, and for Christ’s sake, don’t send anyone else in here.”

  After that she just gave him a steady commentary on the positions of the drones. They went for the bots, fooled by the artificially transmitted life signs the small machines were designed to emit to train the field-ops in the use of sensory equipment. He managed to reach the stairs leading up to the Void before one of them switched targets and came after him.

  “You need to move faster,” Evelyn sent, calmly, and started counting down the distance as the drone closed in on him.

  He was trying. There was no easy way out of the Maze. That was the whole point. Whoever had planned this had been smart. Very smart.

  The Void was enclosed by locked blast doors. If he could get in there, it would give him time to come up with a plan.

  He ran up the stairs, stumbling a couple of times and hearing the resonating hum of the drone behind. The best field-ops could break this lock open fast. LC’s record was two minutes fifty. NG could do it in three and right now that was three minutes too long. Fortunate then that he had a personal assistant in the control room. He heard the lock disengage ahead of him as he ran towards it, as Evie counted down to ten metres and closing. He slipped through the gap and flinched as shots from the fast approaching drone peppered all around.

  As the door slammed shut behind him, he stopped, heart pounding, the residue of the poison pumping through his bloodstream, and turned to face the beam that extended out into the darkness of the Void. It was three hundred feet long, only four inches wide and a fall of a hundred and fifty feet straight down if you slipped. Snakes and ladders. If you got across, it cut the time through the Maze in half. If you fell, you tumbled almost back to the start.

  There was a crashing thud behind him then silence.

  “It’s gone,” Evelyn sent. “What do you want us to do?”

  “Find out from Science who the hell had access to these drones.”

  “I mean now, to get you out of there.”

  NG sat down on the beam, almost tumbling over the edge as he lost his balance for a second. He worked on getting his heart rate under control again before sending quietly, “Find out if anyone’s controlling these things. And get a patrol bot to meet me at the far end of the Void.”

  He quickly went through with her the only plan he could think of, then stood, took a breath and ran the full length of the beam.

  The Void led to the Block which led to the Sphere, all on the line of the Straight, the fastest route through the Maze.

  There was a bot rolling along the floor towards NG as he ran out from the Void. He didn’t stop, reaching down and scooping it up in the palm of his hand as he ran past.

  He ran up the stairs to the Block, struggling again by the time he reached the top, hearing the echoing blasts of gunfire up ahead. The drones were going ballistic. Finance would go spare. The patrol bots cost a small fortune and from the sound of it, there weren’t going to be any left.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Evie sent.

  “Just be ready on that button,” he sent back, climbing up onto a walkway that ran around the outside edge of the Block. The Block was a maze within the Maze – corridors and walkways on multiple levels with access via vents, shafts, ladders and narrow staircases. Both drones were in there. The trick was going to be to get one alone then switch off the life signs from the rest of the bots and hope he could get out of the way fast enough.

  He chose one and ran towards it, shrugging off the fatigue that was draining his energy faster than he could fix it. He slid down a ladder, ran along a narrow walkway and jumped over a handrail, ten feet drop to the walkway, perfectly timed to land behind a drone that was darting after targets in front of it. It sensed him there and whirled, guns firing as he threw himself to the side, a round clipping his arm, before it spun its attention back to the bots. He almost dropped the bot he was holding, shutting out the pain and going into auto to struggle to his feet and jam the bot into the drone’s exoskeleton.

  It spun again, catching him on the side of the head and knocking him flying. He rolled with it and tumbled off the walkway, shots ricocheting off the deck.

  “Now!” he sent to Evie and the firing stopped abruptly, the whirr and hum of the drone the only noise in the echoing space. This was the danger point. There’d be only two life signs in the Block. If they both came after him, he was screwed.

  He could hear the drone above spinning, actuators screaming as it tried to home in on a life sign that moved as it moved.

  “The other one’s going for it,” Evie sent. “Get out of there!”

  NG started running, hearing gunfire from above as the second drone targeted the life signs from the trapped bot. There was a flash and a boom, and the shock of an explosion threw him off his feet. He rolled and staggered forward, running for the exit.

  A long narrow corridor joined the Block to the Sphere. NG ran, footsteps echoing loud in his ears, feeling like his limbs didn’t belong to him. He was losing blood again but there was nowhere to hide out and he was about done with being in here. The door to the Sphere loomed in the distance as he heard the rema
ining drone turn into the corridor behind him. It was a helluva risk.

  The door slid open up ahead and he increased his pace, the drone speeding up in response, weapons whirring.

  “Don’t screw this up,” Evie whispered.

  ‘You couldn’t screw up more if you tried,’ the dark voice echoed.

  He shut it out.

  The Sphere was another trap – get it right and you were on your way and running, get it wrong and you were on your way to Medical. NG picked up the pace again and ran full tilt at the doorway. The drone started firing, shots winging past his ears. Something hit the back of his neck with a sting and he almost stumbled, managing somehow to keep his momentum and race headlong through the door into the zero gravity of the Sphere.

  He curled into a ball and shot across the vast space, inertia keeping his trajectory true to the other side. He scraped through the opposite doorway and hit the deck with a skidding roll, weight returning with a thump. He had no control and crashed into the bulkhead, tumbling into a heap.

  He heard the door slam shut behind him and felt more than heard a shudder that vibrated through the deck. There was a loud crash from inside the Sphere, then silence.

  Chapter 5

  “How did they manage to infiltrate the Alsatia?”

  “We were betrayed,” he replied dryly.

  “How?”

  The Man leaned across and stoked the fire, flames dancing and sparks flying. “Ask not how, ask why.”

  She was thinking it was obvious, there was five hundred million on offer and in the scale of human greed, that was more than a lot, it was obscene. Of course they would chase it, whatever it took, but she humoured him. “Why? Why did the Assassins dare attack our stronghold?”

  He regarded her for a moment. Thought not just of this assault on board the cruiser but of all that had followed. Every tumbling action, reaction and over-reaction that these events had precipitated.

  “Hubris,” he said finally, simply. “These creatures thrive on it. To infiltrate and undermine the great and mysterious guild of thieves? To steal away our very heart from under our noses? That would have been truly gratifying.”