Desperate Measures

by Michael Anderle

“You screwed up, Blackwell,” Anne shouted. “We’re hitting an innocent company. We need to pull out now.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jia countered. “There are too many lines of evidence pointing here.”

  “Then what…” Anne hissed. “We can’t sit around and wait for them to call the police. They might have already done so. We need to get this situation under control!”

  “I agree with you there.” Jia yanked a stun grenade off her belt, primed it, and hurled it with practiced ease into the back of the cargo flitter.

  “Grenade!” shouted one of the guards in a panicked voice.

  She didn’t wait until the first landed before sending another at a lower angle. They scrambled to the back in time for the bright pop of the grenades. Bodies and rifles thudded to the floor. The momentary distraction doomed the men in the front, allowing Kant and Anne to shoot them in the face with their stun pistols. Painful but not lethal.

  Erik charged forward and vaulted into the back of the cargo flitter to sweep the area. Twitching men lay scattered around, but there was a noticeable lack of anything looking like a cargo container or crate.

  “We’ve got more movement from the company!” Malcolm shouted.

  “Reinforcements?” Erik asked, his jaw tight.

  “Another cargo flitter, and it’s flying away fast. It wasn’t scheduled, and it doesn’t have an active transponder. It’s not heading toward the spaceport unless it’s taking a really long scenic route.”

  “Keep track of that thing,” Erik shouted. “Whatever you do, don’t lose it.”

  “Evacuate the cargo flitter immediately,” Emma bellowed. “Run, you fleshbag!”

  Erik didn’t waste precious seconds questioning her. Instead, he leapt and twisted, landing hard on his feet and sprinting toward the MX 60. He didn’t make it as far as he would have liked before the cargo flitter exploded.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The hot blast wave slammed into the back of his vest and sent him flying. He crashed into the front of the MX 60, rolling off with a groan.

  Jia rushed over to him, her eyes wide with worry. She knelt beside him, but Erik waved her off and stood. He’d lost the back of his vest, and fiery pain radiated from his back and arms, along with a dull ache in his chest. It wasn’t anything med patches wouldn’t fix. The reduced pain of his left arm made him favor it.

  He stumbled toward the MX 60, motioning for Jia to get in on the other side. “Anne, Kant? You still alive?”

  “Yes,” Anne hissed. “What the hell just happened?”

  Erik dropped into the driver’s seat with a grunt and pulled a med patch from a pocket. “A distraction. Emma, get us in the air and go after the other cargo flitter. We tried to be quiet about this. Now it’s time to go loud.”

  Jia slammed her door shut, her face red, eyes blazing. “They hired some locals as a distraction and killed them without a second thought. Was this a trap?”

  “Maybe.” Erik pulled off his ruined vest and jammed a med patch on his burned back. “But I don’t think it was a trap for us.”

  “We need to abort this plan, Blackwell,” Anne insisted. “This is out of control. This was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab, not involve exploding cargo flitters.”

  Erik was annoyed, but her flitter was in the air and following them, so he didn’t care too much about her objections. As long as she followed orders, they could get along.

  “Ten people just died,” Erik muttered, taking labored breaths as he readied another med patch. “Poor bastards didn’t even know why. We’re going after those conspiracy bastards. Emma, do whatever you need to do to draw the locals off. They’ll just get in the way.”

  “A small Zitark scare is now in motion,” Emma reported, sounding satisfied. “Complete with evidence of them teleporting into a sky bridge. People are also reporting the explosion that just occurred. That should draw more of them off.”

  Erik frowned, jerking his head back and forth. “I don’t see the cargo flitter.”

  “Don’t worry,” Malcolm replied. “I’ve got drones still on it, and I’m sending some from the Argo for a pincer action. We’ve got this.”

  “Good,” Erik growled. “I’m rather annoyed about being blown up.”

  As the MX 60 sped along, Jia kept looking at Erik. He was breathing and conscious, but he had not escaped the blast without painful-looking burns, and there was only so much the anesthetic in the med patches could do.

  There was no way he wasn’t feeling pain.

  They continued flying low among the towers of Lumiere on an intercept course with the other cargo flitter. Malcolm was right. It wasn’t flying toward the spaceport, and it was dropping closer to the ground, where traffic was light to nonexistent.

  Unlike Neo SoCal, there didn’t appear to be any thick layer of pollution separating the top of the towers from the ground levels. Though they were clearly moving into an industrial zone, the lack of damage and graffiti and the general cleanliness made it clear this was no Shadow Zone.

  Neo SoCal’s reality wasn’t universal.

  Malcolm’s and Emma’s converging drone net kept the other cargo flitter from escaping. Jia was grateful for their help. Not everyone had a squadron of drones and dedicated support to be their eyes and ears in a huge city. The flitter would have easily escaped under other circumstances, making the sacrifice of the security guards pointless.

  Jia’s hands balled into fists. “They didn’t need the guards. They could have stuck some bots in there and then blown it. It was sadistic.” She turned to him. “Do they enjoy killing innocent people?”

  Erik shook his head, his expression dark. “They wanted us to think it was important enough for live guards. We might not have taken the bait with just bots.”

  “I thought you said it wasn’t a trap.” Jia gave him a worried look.

  “Not a trap for us, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a trap.” Erik took a long, deep breath and leaned forward with a grimace to keep his scorched back off the seat. “The people in the conspiracy have a lot of enemies. Not just us, but also ID agents, Barbu, and other conspiracy people trying to screw them over.” He frowned. “Damn it. We need an exo insertion solution for situations like this. We can’t fly the Argo across town, but that doesn’t matter. Nothing we can do about it now. You go to battle with what you have.”

  “The cargo flitter is landing in a previously concealed hangar,” Emma reported.

  “Concealed hangar?”

  She sent a live feed from one of the drones to their smart lenses. The flitter settled down as a massive door slid closed with surprising speed. From the outside, it appeared to be a wall.

  Red highlights appeared all over the feed.

  “Cameras with overlapping fields,” Emma reported. “There are an unusual number of drones in the area as well. I can guide you to a blind spot a couple hundred meters away and take care of at least some of the drones, but not in a timely manner without them knowing. It will take some time to take control of the cameras using purely external access methods.”

  “We’re running out of time,” Jia sounded like she wanted to spit acid. “And they already know we’re after them.”

  Erik nodded. “Agreed. We’re going to land in the blind spot, we’re going to grab heavy weapons, and we’re going to bust our way inside.”

  “Are you in any condition to do that, Blackwell?” Anne asked, sounding uncertain. “You were pretty close to that explosion.”

  “I barely feel anything at this point,” Erik replied.

  “It looks like most of the cops were fooled,” Malcolm reported. “I’m not seeing anything that looks like police drones or flitters heading your way. You’re clear.”

  Jia cleared her throat. “I don’t know how much of that is us. I’m guessing the conspiracy is taking their own measures to keep anyone from asking too many questions or looking around this area.”

  The MX 60 flew low, so close to the road that every rattle convinced Jia a grav emitte
r had been shorn off. She wanted to tell Erik to stay back because of his wounds, but they’d both continued on missions with far worse.

  He was too stubborn to listen anyway.

  No one had needed to die. They’d set up the mission to avoid it, but the conspiracy couldn’t help themselves, and now they would pay.

  Jia’s harness strained under Emma’s hard turn into a narrow alley. The MX 60 jerked to a halt and smoothly set down.

  Erik motioned toward Jia’s feet. “I’m bringing all the toys this time. I don’t think we need to worry about rent-a-cops anymore, and I think we’re going to need something with a lot more punch than a stun pistol to take out whoever’s inside.”

  Jia was already reaching down. She handed him his TR-7 and magazines before grabbing a rifle from the back. “We should get the carryaids from the trunk. We might as well go all the way.”

  Erik threw open the door and jumped outside. He grabbed a new tactical vest and slipped it on with a grimace before strapping into a carryaid. With the help of the mechanical backpack, he didn’t have to choose which implements of death and destruction he wanted to bring along. He’d bring them all.

  It was nice to have tactical options.

  By the time Anne and Kant landed, Erik and Jia were laden with ammo, grenades, their rifles, and heavy weapons. Erik had slotted his laser rifle into his carryaid, while Jia bore the missile launcher, along with spare missiles.

  Anne eyed Erik’s ragged and burned clothing. “You sure you’re up for this? I didn’t get a great look at you before.”

  Erik nodded. “Heart’s pumping and lungs are working.” He switched the TR-7 to four-barrel mode. “And I’ve got my favorite gun. How could I not be ready?”

  Anne glanced at Kant, who shrugged.

  He tossed her a rifle from their back seat before strapping one over his huge shoulder and heading to the trunk. Without a word, he began clipping grenades to his vest.

  Erik pointed in the direction of the hidden hangar. The tall building in front of them blocked them from seeing anything, but Emma offered helpful highlights through their smart lenses and small data windows showing the area. A rectangle appeared near the edge of the wall.

  “Thermal differential here suggests a door,” Emma reported. “There are others, but there is lighter drone and camera coverage in that area. I could attempt to draw their attention with the turret.”

  Erik shook his head. “Save the turret until we need it. Us being after them isn’t a secret at this point, and we don’t know what they have in there. Are you and Malcolm looking for external access?”

  “That might not be viable,” Emma reported. “There’s heavy jamming near the building.”

  “Then we’ll do this the old-fashioned way.” Erik hoisted his TR-7. “EMP as many cameras and drones as you can near the entrance, and we’ll force our way in.”

  Anne loaded a magazine into her rifle. “They’ll know we’re coming from that direction.”

  “The minute we blow that door, they’ll know.” Erik smiled at Jia. “We don’t have time for a hacking solution.”

  Kant cackled. “It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun. I knew you guys got into trouble, but not such interesting trouble.”

  “Yes, fun.” Anne shook her head, a pensive look on her face. “It’s your call. I’ll follow orders. I hope whatever’s in the pot at the end of the rainbow is worth it.”

  Jia winced and pointed at Erik’s face. “I didn’t notice in the battle. Your disguise. It’s off. You look like you.”

  Erik slapped his cheeks. “Don’t care at this point. We’re done with the sneaking around part.”

  Anne frowned. “But if they know it’s you, we’re confirming for the conspiracy the jump drive can move a lot farther than they might think.”

  “Big deal.” Erik headed toward the road. “That was inevitable. It might even throw them off their game. Let’s get going before they do. Emma, clear the road with the EMP.”

  The MX 60 lifted off and backed out of the alley, then zoomed toward the building.

  Jia fell in behind Erik. Kant followed. Anne hesitated before sprinting to catch up. She didn’t look convinced, but she was heavily armed and ready to shoot.

  They stayed close to the buildings as they jogged down the road. As they got closer to the building, they spotted shattered drones lying in the street, victims of Emma’s EMP efforts, but no turrets or gunmen, no Tin Men blasting away. No one anywhere.

  The door highlights disappeared from Jia’s smart lenses.

  “Did anyone else just lose targeting?” she asked.

  “They’ve increased the jamming strength,” came Emma’s voice from the MX 60 overhead. “I’ll continue to monitor the situation as best I can while attempting manual direction of drones with laser comms where possible, but this is going to severely limit my ability to help you on the inside.”

  Erik patted his TR-7. “It’s fine. We know the general direction we have to go.” He looked around. “And this time, it doesn’t look like any innocents are at risk. We’ll blow our way through if we have to.”

  “Why do I get the feeling they bought up this whole area?” Jia asked

  “It’s not like there’s a forest in the middle of nowhere on Chiron where they could hide,” Erik responded with a smile. “Sometimes you need to keep your evil hidden a different way. Jia, go ahead and be loud.”

  The team slowed as they approached the hidden door. Emma continued to circle overhead. There were only so many EMP shots she could take without risking power problems.

  Jia pulled the already loaded missile launcher off the carryaid with a grunt and set it on her shoulder, aiming at the door. She checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was behind her.

  “Everyone ready? Backblast clear?”

  The other three nodded.

  A pull of the trigger sent the missile flying, leaving a short trail of smoke as it tore through the air on a direct course with the hidden door.

  It was time to see what the conspiracy was hiding.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  The missile exploded with a deafening boom, blasting out a shower of flame and chunks of metal that rained down on the ground.

  A jagged, smoking hole remained.

  It wasn’t as nice an entry as they would have achieved with a breach disk, but there were fewer uncertainties when using a missile. A breach disk might not have made it through a thick door, and Erik hadn’t thought to bring one anyway.

  Jia set the launcher back onto her carryaid before readying her rifle. “I expected an alarm. That was kind of anticlimactic.”

  Anne shook her head and sighed. “We could have attempted to hack our way inside.”

  “Why bother?” Erik replied as he advanced toward the hole. “They know we’re here. We chased them across the city. If they’re smart, they won’t mess with us. If not, the conspiracy will lose some guys, and we’ll leave here with the cargo.”

  His earlier injuries still ached, but adrenalin and the painkillers in the med patches kept it dull, distant, and easy to ignore. He’d fought wounded plenty of times, both in and out of the military.

  He might not be at his best, but he could operate while the mission was going.

  The others followed Erik, everyone keeping a keen eye out for enemies.

  Unlike Jia, Erik didn’t expect an alarm. He assumed the enemy was already mobilized and taking up positions throughout the facility. Knowing the type of enemy would help with weapon choice. He’d brought along a lot of extra mags, including AP rounds, but he was worried about a repeat of France.

  Four people on foot didn’t pack the huge reserves of twelve exos. They’d barely won their last battle of attrition. The conspiracy couldn’t have yaoguai factories everywhere.

  He hoped.

  Erik stepped through the hole into a long, brightly lit hallway, which was painfully nondescript. In the corners near the ceiling, small red holographic lights spun and flashed, but there wa
s no loud accompanying noise. Something thudded in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from the general direction of the hangar, but without Emma or Malcolm inside the system, they would have to navigate there manually.

  “There’s your alarm.” Erik nodded toward the lights. “Satisfied?”

  “In a way, yes,” Jia replied.

  “Are we sure they aren’t going to throw more security guards at us?” Anne asked with a frown.

  “I don’t think you bring cheap locals to hidden bases where you’re smuggling contraband,” Jia answered.

  “And what was that noise?”

  “Nothing good,” Erik muttered. “We always assume we’re going to run into something nasty unless the bad guys show up with stun rifles.”

  Jia inclined her head toward a nearby door and pointed her gun that way. Erik pressed himself to the wall, his carryaid making it impossible to flatten his back against it.

  He sidestepped until he was at the access panel and waited for Jia and Anne to take up positions on either side of the door. Kant swept the hallway to make sure no one else ran around the corner and surprised them.

  The man couldn’t stop smiling. Erik had known guys like him in the Army, some good, some dangerous. Alina wouldn’t have sent him a dangerous operative.

  Erik slapped the access panel, and the door slid open. Jia and Anne rushed inside, sweeping their respective sides wordlessly like they’d been working raids together for years.

  There wasn’t a single piece of furniture or decoration. It was just a brightly lit empty room.

  Jia gestured with her rifle toward some dark lines on the floor and scratches on the walls. “I wonder if someone emptied this place quickly.”

  More loud thuds sounded in the distance from at least two distinct sources. Erik didn’t think they were getting any closer, but he didn’t like not knowing the source any more than Anne did. They didn’t have time to check every room.

  Erik jogged down the hall toward the corner. “We should move toward the hangar. I don’t care if we spooked them out of their base. We need whatever’s on that flitter.”