by TR Cameron
A chorus of “Ewws,” “Icks,” and one “Gross” sounded in reply.
Jax nodded. “Yeah, he’s a treat all right. If we had time to set it up, I’d hire a professional to seduce him. I’m sure there’s a thriving love trade here on the Tortuga. But the problem is he’d recognize the locals, and we don’t have the contacts to know who to trust in the first place. So it’s going to have to be something a little less subtle. I have the beginning of a plan, but I need your help to figure out the rest.”
If it had been an option, Jax would have preferred to run the operation from his hotel room, given the number of moving parts. Instead, Kimmel was back keeping an eye on the big picture, because Athena was the important member of the team at the moment, and she needed to be where the action was. He loitered in the lobby while waiting for things to kick off. A walkabout earlier in the day had confirmed that the hotel included portions of three decks, with twenty or so guest rooms on each level. Using the hotel’s cameras, Athena had plotted out the gaming salons and pinpointed the location of the owner’s suite. Unfortunately, their placement on the hotel’s top level had the highest security across the board.
She’d also tracked the hotel workers’ movements, which was the only thing that gave them a shot at success. The owner slept until midafternoon, then was most often absent from his room until the early morning hours. In the interim, housekeeping, watched over by a manager and security personnel, made up his suite. The owner aptly demonstrated his perspective on women by the fact that his servers and housekeepers were all female and his guards and dealers all male. So, after a quick bout of thievery in the hotel’s laundry room, Cia and Verrand were pushing housekeeping carts they’d purloined down the hallway, and Sirenno and Marshall were pretending to be guards. Jax watched for trouble and waited for the others to get access to the suite.
Athena, are we set with the two housekeepers?
“Yes, they’ve been given a paid day off, with instructions to spend it someplace other than the casino. Neither appears to be interested in questioning it. One is sleeping, and the other is at a bar on the opposite end of the section.”
Good. They trusted the uniforms would be enough to maintain the men’s disguises since Jax believed that a guard might be suspicious of a change in routine. Athena had given them credentials in the hotel’s system, but the presence of that inaccessible second computer network made everyone nervous, including the AI.
Jax’s target entered the lobby. Manager’s here. That was the key for things to kick into action. The process was always the same. The housekeepers had access to the outer areas, but not the owner’s bedroom. His paranoia was sufficient that he required his manager’s presence to oversee the cleaning of that space. Sometimes the housekeepers had the outer room done by the time the man arrived. Other times, like today, they’d start with the bedroom.
The manager stopped to exchange words with the worker behind the registration desk, and Jax shifted his attention to the windows in his display. Sirenno and Marshall had already reached the third floor, and the women were in the service elevator on the way up. The two security guards outside the door peered down at their comms simultaneously as Athena sent them a message, purportedly from the security chief, to change locations. His team members stepped up and showed them the notifications they’d received from the AI that said they should take over the guards’ positions.
They looked suspicious, but when they radioed in, and Athena responded in their boss’s voice, they left. Good thing you were able to access all of their recordings.
“Good thing they’re morons, you mean.”
Jax waited as the manager entered the elevator, then headed for the stairs. Yeah, there’s that. Time for Phase Two, or as I like to call it, “Housekeeping with extreme prejudice.”
Chapter Thirty
On the ride up the elevator, he watched the camera outside the owner’s suite as Cia and Maria Verrand wheeled their carts up to the entrance. The outer lock was electronic, and Athena released it to permit them access. Sirenno stayed on the door while Marshall followed them inside. Less than fifteen seconds later, the manager walked into the room, and Marshall nodded at him.
The other man didn’t acknowledge him or the two women, only strode to the locked bedroom door and tapped in a complicated code on the keypad, then placed his fingers on the touchpad in a star shape. The lock clicked, and he stepped through. Jax turned his attention to the camera in the bedroom as Cia and Verrand followed him in, then moved around the room cleaning.
Athena unlocked the doors to the stairwell and the suite so Jax could flow through. He strode in and grinned at the manager before punching him in the solar plexus. The man folded, and Jax had him tied and gagged before he managed to regain his breath. “Stay there, and you’ll be safe. We’re not here to hurt you or your boss.” Then he pushed him over onto the floor so he couldn’t see past the bed and crossed to the interface port.
He slipped his adapter in, and Athena responded, “Searching. Standby.” A moment later, she reported, “I have what we need, along with a bunch of records on the hotel’s customers. This guy is a real sleaze.”
So where do we have to go next?
“Operations center.”
The operations center. For the ship. Do you mean the bridge?
“Auxiliary bridge. The battle that reduced this ship to salvage destroyed the actual bridge.”
How the hell are we going to get to the aux bridge?
Athena projected a more complete map of the ship, along with a path to their destination. “The owner appears to have been preparing for a hostile takeover of the Tortuga. I’ve inferred from the file that he’s been in contact with the UCCA spy and might have been a middleman. But there is no information about that person’s identity, only entries in his journal—which are mostly disgusting, I might add—that provide rough times and dates of that person’s presence aboard. We need the material from the ship’s operations center to match those references to arrivals and departures. Also, he mentions storing ‘combat equipment’ in one of the rooms.”
Jax nodded. Let’s hope that’s not a euphemism for something sleazy. Bring Kimmel down. He walked into the outer room. “We have a target. Time to move.”
Like everything else on board the ship, the hotel owner’s selection of fighting gear was a hodgepodge. Cia made a gagging sound and dropped the helmet she’d picked up. “It still has blood on it. Gross.”
Verrand laughed. “So it’s been in a fight. That happens with combat stuff.”
Cia shook her head. “On the inside.”
“Oh. Well. That’s a different story then.” She hefted a projectile rifle that was probably older than she was. “Anyone see any extra magazines for this relic?”
Jax ignored his team’s banter, his brain already working on potential approaches to get them into the operations center. The only good point about the situation was that it would be less well defended than the primary bridge would have been. So, I guess I should be grateful, but somehow, I’m kind of not.
Marshall dropped a bag next to him, as he’d done for each of the others. They were large backpacks, designed to hold vacuum suits. He’d seen many like them during their time in the Tortuga’s main public area, so they wouldn’t be overly noticeable. They weren’t big enough to contain the monstrosity Verrand had chosen, though.
“Remember, everyone, the items you choose have to fit in the bags. We can’t open-carry anything other than pistols here.”
Their comms announced, “Five minutes,” as Athena kept track of the timetable. Jax worked faster, eventually putting a small projectile machine pistol and a pair of gas grenades into his bag. The only bit of sense the hotel owner had displayed was in the lack of large explosives that could cause major breaches. With that in mind, Jax also grabbed a couple of medkits and some vacuum patches, palm-sized pieces of thin metal plate that could be put over bullet holes to stop atmosphere from leaking out of the ship.
They
’d all changed back into their standard pirate clothes, which included jackets for everyone except Cia. He shoved a small holdout pistol into the left pocket of his. Okay, I’m ready. I think we need to stay in the public areas for as long as possible, then take the shortest line from there to the auxiliary bridge. Ideally, once you’re in, we’ll be able to lock down a clean getaway, but be sure to prioritize finding us a route to the Jigsaw just in case.
Athena replied, “I’m on it, Jax, and have been since you said the same thing ten minutes ago.”
Right. I don’t like this op. Too many variables. Out loud, he called, “Pack it up, people. Time to go for a stroll among the pirates.”
The AI had been monitoring the hotel’s security system. No alerts had sounded, meaning no one had discovered the manager yet. That couldn’t hold forever, but with the camera records scrubbed, nothing other than direct identification by the man would put them at risk. He led the way out of the hotel and through the lobby while calling, “We’ll be back later, see that our rooms are serviced,” to the worker behind the registration desk.
Their passage through the restaurants and shops was uneventful. Jax split his attention between the surrounding people and Athena’s search for an entrance to the main part of the ship, which flickered by in a window of his display as she checked the schematic she’d pulled from the owner’s files against the cameras she could access. Finally, the path he’d been waiting for showed up in his glasses. He increased his speed, and in short order, they were only a couple of turns away from their objective. “Okay, everyone. Once this starts, things will probably move fast. While I don’t expect military precision, we have to assume that some competent people run the show behind the scenes.”
Most of them nodded, and hands drifted closer to their pistols. “Stun where we can. There’s no need to kill unless they force us to. Remember. Get in, get the stuff, get out.” He strode forward and turned toward the security door as if he belonged there. The red light above it switched to green as he reached for the handle, and he pulled it open and marched through.
Athena reported, “There is a second wireless network here, as expected. I’m attempting to crack it. I was only able to free the outer door because the networks shared it. I don’t detect any other similar crossovers nearby.”
His glasses showed the path to the auxiliary bridge as a yellow line on the grey floor. Everything here was battleship grey. Heh. Literally. The pirates had made no effort to address cosmetic needs, but there were reasonably fresh patches on the walls where age or injury had damaged them. Someday, this thing is going to fall into pieces and float apart.
The AI replied, “Hopefully, not while we’re aboard.”
Their luck ran out at the next intersection. A two-person security patrol, one male and one female in black uniforms, stopped suddenly at the sight of them. They wore headsets with microphones that rested against their cheeks and had batons and two pistols holstered on their belts. The woman frowned. “You’re not supposed to be here. Turn around and go back the way you came.”
The man added, “How did you get in here, anyway?” He moved toward Jax, who lifted his hands in a placating gesture. Before he could reply, the woman went for her pistol. A sizzle sounded, and the female guard fell as one of the others stunned her.
Damn it. The man was too close for Jax to draw, and his team wouldn’t risk a shot that might catch him instead. He stepped backward and planted his foot, then lurched forward in a hasty sidekick to try to create some distance. The guard sidestepped and blocked down, clearly recognizing the intent of the attack. He moved closer and whipped an elbow around at Jax’s temple.
Jax got a forearm in the way and punched low with his other hand, aiming for the man’s groin. A raised knee stopped that blow from connecting, then the man’s hands were on his throat. Mistake, buddy. Jax reached over with his right hand, grabbed the other man’s right wrist, and twisted. His foe opted to release his stranglehold rather than suffer a broken wrist, and Jax front-kicked him away. A stun bolt dropped him to the floor.
Thank goodness he didn’t call for help.
Athena replied, “There are cameras everywhere. It is quite likely we’ve been detected.” He looked up and saw the reflection of light on glass in the corner of the intersection.
Damn it. He turned to the others. “We’ve probably been spotted. From here on, shoot on sight, stun only.” He ran in a direct line toward their objective, firing every time he saw motion and trusting his team to do the same. When they reached the door, Sirenno and Verrand took care of the guards standing on either side of it, and Jax grabbed the handle and pulled. Naturally, it was locked. “Guard all directions.” Athena, where’s the best spot?
She put highlights on the seam between the door and the wall. “I’d recommend using it all.”
He nodded and drew the cigar pack from his pocket, dumped out the real ones, and pressed the replicas into the areas she’d illuminated. “Everyone, take cover.” After pulling the imitation pistol magazine from his belt, he spread all the gel it contained over the three locations, then moved ten feet away and to the side. The explosives weren’t as effective as shaped charges would have been, but they served to break the door’s locking mechanisms. His team surged into the auxiliary bridge, which turned out to be an overly large room with a holographic display table in the center and workstations all around the outside. Stunners discharged, and the workers there fell.
Jax ran to one of the positions and slotted in Athena’s tap. A window appeared in his glasses as she dove into the network, and five more windows opened inside it, each of them showing a duo of guards running. He cursed inwardly. How long do we have until they get here?
“Fifteen seconds, thirty if they coordinate their move.”
Once again, if I had one wish, it would be for less competent enemies. Work fast, Athena. “Get your game faces on, people. We have incoming.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Thirty seconds later, a barrage of stun blasts hammered into the auxiliary bridge to cover the guards’ entrance. Athena, are you done yet?
“No. Also, a second wave of security is on the move, about double this number. Properly armored and outfitted. They should arrive in slightly under two minutes.”
Damn, damn, damn. He and his people were pressed against the walls on either side of the doorway, aside from Kimmel, who had yelped and dropped behind the display table at the first hint of aggression. Heh. Sacrificial lamb has never seemed like such an appropriate term. If he’d been in charge of the response, he probably would have held off until it was possible to throw gas grenades into the room, but then again, the aux bridge was a pretty dangerous place to leave in your enemy’s hands, even for a short while.
They shot through the doorway in a rush, intent on getting their numbers inside to provide an advantage. Jax and Marshall, closest to the door, kicked the feet of the first ones in and sent them tumbling, then grabbed the next pair through and pulled them out of the way. Cia and Verrand repeated the process as they tripped up one of the next couple. Then the situation devolved into individual battles with no strategy, only attack and response.
Jax’s first move was to knock his opponent’s pistol out of his hand. His second was to hammer a punch at the man’s chest. A quick pivot allowed his foe to avoid most of the blow, and the guard tried a kick to the back of Jax’s calf. He lifted his leg, then stomped it down on the man’s knee as it went by. The guard crumpled, and Jax kicked the pistol away from where he fell. He saw the other battles in flashes: Verrand and her opponent both falling as a guard outside the door stunned them both, Kimmel crawling for a dropped weapon, Marshall suddenly finding himself against three-to-one odds.
Jax dashed across the room, kicked the back of one of the trio’s knees, and brought his fist down on the guard’s collarbone from behind. He wailed and dropped, and Jax threw an elbow at another one’s head. That woman got her arm up to block and whipped the combat baton she held in her other hand
in an upward strike at his groin. He countered it with a raised foot and quipped, “Dirty pool, lady.” Her face twisted in anger, then her eyes rolled back as his head butt slammed into the spot right above her nose. His left arm snapped out inhumanly fast and caught the baton on its way down.
Marshall finished the other one, and for a moment, there was a lull. The interlude broke when the ones outside bolted into the room, and the ones who’d been tripped made it to their feet. Jax charged the nearest and blocked a punch with the baton that resulted in the satisfying crunch of a snapping bone. Now would be good, Athena.
She delivered her response in a fierce growl. “I can’t get control of the systems I need to preserve your safety. This ship is a bloody mess. I’ve done all I can. You have thirty-seven seconds before the next team arrives.”
Jax shouted, “Time to move,” and whipped his baton into the side of his opponent’s knee. “Someone hit M with a stim.” Their foes had thinned out enough that they were able to dispatch the rest with stun blasts. Athena, give me an exit.
“There are no uncontested paths to the shuttle bay.”
What?
“I calculate the likelihood of making it to the ship at under ten percent.”
Bloody freaking hell and damnation. What are our other options?
“There might be a path to the escape pods. You can signal Stephenson to pick you up.”
Odds?
“Fifty-fifty.”
He growled, “Unacceptable. Okay, people, new plan.” He pulled off his display glasses and handed them to Cia. “I’ll lead them away. You all are going to head to the escape pods.” Athena, you need to get word to Stephenson and figure out how to hide the pods launching.
A chorus of negatives rang out, and Jax shook his head. “Shut it. Athena will feed your comms with the information she recovered, in case we don’t make it out. But she and I have the best chance to succeed, and you know it. So, no arguments.”
