Panels had been shattered and laser burns seared the surfaces. Frog and Marcus tried to push them back, worried about where Stephanie could have gone but knowing they needed to move the passengers out of harm’s way. “This is not a secure area, people. We have not neutralized the enemy yet. There is still a danger to life and limb here.”
The people didn’t listen at first and tried to see past them into the open parkland at their backs. The teammates tried to steer a path through them and persuade them to return to their rooms. It seemed a futile effort until a Dreth barreled out of a door marked Staff Only.
Everyone screamed and flattened themselves against the walls. Frog and Marcus drew their blasters and fired. Three shots struck home and the alien fell at the passengers’ feet.
Frog thrust his blaster back into its holster and yelled, “I just told you, we have not eliminated the enemy. You need to be in your room with the door locked. This is not simply a precaution. The Dreth pirates will kill you and probably eat you or keep your head for a trophy. So, go!”
This time, they gasped, turned, and literally raced to their rooms. He shook his head, not understanding what they found so difficult to understand. “I swear the richies are like different people to the rest of mankind. They are specifically created to not listen, have ridiculous curiosity for things they should never be curious about, and have no moral compass. Instead of helping the guy on the ground there—who knows, he could be alive—they walked over him to see the bigger dead things.”
Marcus walked over, studied the dead man on the ground, and shook his head. “Uh, no, I think those people would have known he was dead.”
His teammate scoffed. “How? You can be still alive and unconscious.”
“Very true, but you cannot be still alive and headless.”
The other man looked at him, then at the body and grimaced. “Oh. Oh, man, that’s terrible. Now I feel like an asshole.”
They worked their way through the corridors in search of Stephanie.
“Do you think she went black again?” Frog asked as they turned another corner.
Marcus was about to answer when they heard her furious tones punctuated by the snap of magic arcing over armor. “Oh, you miss your mommy? I’m sure, in hell, there will be plenty for you to do.”
This was followed by the sound of three precise shots, followed by a thump, a pause, and one shot more. They exchanged glances and ran toward the sound.
“We found her,” Marcus comm’d to advise Lars so he wouldn’t come after them—after all, someone had to guard the bomb.
The bomb! They sprinted and hoped to catch up to her before she went any further. It was a relief when she turned a corner and strode back down the hallway as she wiped the splattered blood off of her face. “Uh…he wanted us to know that we are all infidels and that he will see his way from his afterlife to haunt each and every one of us.”
The guys nodded. “Right on, new friend.”
Stephanie smiled. “Yeah, I told him to make sure he knocked first.”
“We need to get back,” Marcus reminded her. “Lars is gonna hemorrhage something otherwise.”
She laughed. “We’d better not let that happen, had we?”
They hurried to the open floor where the rest of the team waited. Crystal had helped Johnny rejoin the team where they stood around the metal monstrosity in the center of the field. As she, Marcus, and Frog entered, a small, persistent sound caught her attention. “What is that?”
Crystal pointed at the bomb, and Stephanie walked cautiously closer to it and confirmed it as the source of the beeping she’d heard. “This…uh, Frog? This is not good, is it?”
He backed two steps toward the corridor. “Don’t look at me,” he told her. “Stuff that blows up is all Brenden’s fault—and Lars. Yeah. Lars likes to blow shit up, too. Ask him.”
“Get your ass over here,” the team leader growled before he turned to Stephanie.
“Like the man says, Brenden and I blow shit up.”
“I forgot,” she admitted and only now remembered how they’d set the boobie traps and dealt with the bomb in the passenger liner scenario they’d run through in what seemed like a million years ago.
Lars put his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt.”
“I don’t think there’s a luggage drone made that’s big enough for this thing,” Marcus muttered morosely.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Stephanie, the team, and several guards stood in front of the bomb and stared at it. The timer ticked down on the front. The thing was huge—big enough to have to taken several Dreth to move it into place. Lars pursed his lips, his eyes wide. “Hey, Frog?”
“Mhmm,” the man murmured, his eyes a little glazed as he stared at the device.
“If we cut the floor—”
“You’ll be fine,” Frog told him. “But this floor’s two feet thick.”
Everyone looked slowly at Stephanie, who sighed. “Okay, this is the plan. I’ll use my magic to cut a perimeter hole around the bomb without accidentally damaging it. We can lower it to the atrium and float it off the ship.”
“How?”
“Well, there’s this pirate ship, you see,” she told him and grinned. “We simply have to get it down five floors really fast.” She shrugged. “So we’ll cut a hole in the floor.”
“That sounds terrifying.” Baizel wore an expression of disbelief.
Marcus shook his head and swiped his hand through the air. “Nah, she’s a pro. She’s got this. I hope.”
Lars stepped in front of her as she readied herself, slightly nervous. “You’ve got this. You know you do. Focus everything you have. We’ll head down to the atrium and clear a path to make sure you have the space to get through. Keep your eyes on the bomb. Will you be able to do some floating magic stuff to get it out or do we need to make another plan?”
Stephanie looked at him and cracked an exhausted smile. “No, I got it. Better to sail it through on magic then you guys drop it. Boom. All disintegrated.”
“Besides,” Crystal added. “Baizel and I can help there. We still have magic left.”
“There!” Stephanie said as though that settled things. “I have magic back-up and you guys. I’ll be fine.”
Lars gave her a dubious stare but he nodded and his gaze slid to the side. “Elizabeth is really missing a party.”
The bomb kept beeping, but the tone changed and the tempo increased.
She jumped. “We’ve gotta do this now. We’re out of time.”
“And the time is ticking faster,” Marcus yelled as he watched the numbers change.
Stephanie and Lars looked over to confirm that the timer seemed to move in double-time. She cracked her fingers and shooed everyone away. “Go. Clear the path. I need to get this to the pirate ship like yesterday.”
“Got it,” he confirmed, turned, and ran off with the team.
Crystal and Baizel came and stood beside her. “Let us know what you need.”
Stephanie closed her eyes and remembered all her training, all her abilities, and all her moments of discovery. She calmed her emotions and breathed deeply through her nose. Shaking her hand, she pointed at the floor and concentrated her magic into her index finger.
She calculated exactly how much she had to cut and tried to balance that with conserving her energy before she moved two feet away from the bomb and began. First, she focused a sharp ray of energy into the metal below her and cut deeply into the floor.
With her other hand, she directed a reinforcing wave of magic beneath the bomb to keep it floating and not allow it to plummet through to the atrium below. The fountain would be a problem.
As she walked a circle around the bomb, she noticed that it wasn’t as hard to support as she’d thought it would be. The reason was clear when she glanced at Crystal and Baizel and saw them focusing a stream of Meligornian magic on the floor beneath her.
She continued her circle and completed it. After sh
e’d added an extra surge of support beneath it, she finished the final cut through the last section and immediately used both hands to cycle the energy from her body to beneath the bomb. It helped that the two Meligornians were lending their support, but their magic alone wouldn’t have been enough.
As they worked, passengers slowly emerged onto the balconies overlooking them. They also crowded around the openings to the corridors leading into the space. Everyone watched in silence as she lowered the energy carefully to float the load through the floor and past the fountain to the atrium floor below.
Once they reached that level, she and the two Meligornians let the floor she’d cut away settle to the ground and stepped off it.
“Thank you,” Stephanie told them. “I’ll take it from here.”
She stepped through the bodies on the floor and forced herself to concentrate despite them. From his position at the doors leading to the umbilical, Frog looked at the hole in the floor above. “That’ll definitely need more than a simple patch.”
One step at a time, Stephanie moved the bomb through the ship. It took her a moment to register that the two Meligornians had ignored her instruction and helped her lift it, but she didn’t complain. She could feel fatigue pulling at the edges of her body.
The team moved ahead of her to clear anything and anybody in the way. Bodies were dragged to one side and overly curious passengers pushed back. Crew members appeared from nowhere to take over passenger control and help with clearing the path and they were able to move more quickly.
As they crossed the last corridor leading to the airlock, the bomb beeped again, and Marcus stuck his head around the edge of it to peer at the countdown. “Let’s say you might want to move triple-fast.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes and fixed her focus on the amount of magic she needed under the device before she began to jog in place.
“You guys got this?” she asked and looked at Baizel and Crystal.
At their solemn nods, she began to trot down the last stretch of corridor. “All my guys go first. We might encounter resistance. Don’t let them shoot the bomb!”
The umbilical bridge was flimsy and hard to balance in. There was no way they could move through it at speed and still keep hold of their volatile package. Stephanie stopped halfway and shook her head.
Lars looked right and left and turned quickly to put his fingers to his lips. They listened to the sound of people on the other side preparing for their arrival. She held the bomb with one hand and surged a protective shield around them, closed them in, and made it much easier to move forward.
When she was done, they continued and picked up the pace. The guys didn’t tell her how much time was left on the clock There was no point. Either they’d make it, or they wouldn’t.
When they reached the other side, they were bombarded by a wall of bullets. The slugs drummed into the shield and crumpled to fall at the team’s feet. The Dreth maintained fire but couldn’t breach the protective barrier. They persisted, even though they were unable to stop the team as they pushed forcefully into the ship.
As they proceeded, Stephanie glanced around and realized that the forces were not only Dreth but included Meligornians and humans. These weren’t merely pirates. They were part of the resistance and one which had grown in leaps and bounds if humans had already joined their ranks.
She didn’t know much about it, but given what life was like at home, she understood how easy it would be for a human to be drawn into it.
The bomb beeped more rapidly now, and Lars glanced at the timer. “The next right is the last stretch. We have to run.”
As soon as they turned the corner, she dropped the shields and surged into a sprint until they reached the center of the ship. Frog raced ahead and hacked them through a large steel door.
Beyond it, they found a podium surrounded by a scattering of tools and pieces of technology. Stephanie and the two Meligornians floated the bomb to the podium and set it down carefully before they released their magic.
“That…that says three minutes,” she said. “That’s…holy shit, we gotta go!”
They barreled out of the room and were forced to a halt when they encountered a line of resistance. Dreth, humans, and Meligornians blocked their path. One of the older humans stepped forward and held his weapon to his chest. “You aren’t going anywhere. You killed our leader and your lives are forfeit.”
She sucked air in through her teeth. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s how it works.”
Before the enemy could attack, she pushed both hands forward and to one side to create a wave of magic. It swept the resistance aside and into a wall to clear a path for her and the team to escape. They bolted through the gap and the two Meligornians pushed hard to keep up as they ducked and swerved. Behind them, their adversaries regained their feet and set off in pursuit.
Lars, Avery, and Marcus dropped back a little to fire blindly behind them to slow their pursuers down. Stephanie created a small ball of magic. “Find the control room.”
The orb hurtled away and she followed to lead the team down another corridor and up to a set of double doors. She pressed the button and it slid open to reveal three Dreth and the command center.
The pirates looked at her and she smiled nervously. “Hey. I’m gonna need to steer the ship. Thanks.”
The Dreth left their posts immediately and charged. Lars and the guys entered and swung into position to turn their weapons on the aliens. With the enemy occupied, she hurried to sit at the ship’s Navigation panel and peered at all the buttons. Marcus leaned beside her on one side and Frog on the other. “Do you know how to fly this thing?”
She licked her lips. “Uh…no. But I’m sure I can work it out.”
The AI activated as Stephanie tapped the controls and a map of stars and planets appeared before her. “You must give me a destination.”
She poked frantically at the map. “There—go to that star over there.”
“I’m sorry, that is not a valid location.”
“Right. Point the ship right,” she commanded, conscious of time ticking down.
“I do not know what your right is,” the AI responded calmly. There is no location that meets your criteria, but there is a large city only thirty seconds from here. Would you like to go there?”
The whole team yelled, “No!”
Stephanie pounded her hand onto the board. “Listen, you undereducated Artificial Intelligence. Point the damn ship away from the Federation Ship…or I’ll...I’ll damn well delete you.”
Everyone went silent and waited for the response. “Accepted. Pointing the ship away from the Federation enemy.”
The vessel shook and the deck vibrated as the engines powered to life. Slowly, the vessel began to turn and altered its position to face away from the Dreamer as instructed. Then, it slowed. “I am in need of confirmation. What is your Resistance Identification?”
She groaned and buried her face in her hands for a moment, then raised her head and looked around. “Frog, where would I find the AI’s computer on this thing?”
He scanned the room and pointed to a big metal black box on the wall. “That should be the server controls for the AI.”
“Great,” she said and stormed over to it. “And if I disconnect it, will the ship still run?”
Frog thought about it for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, it should.”
Stephanie turned to the box and pulled magic over her hands. She growled her frustration as she ripped the entire system from the wall, yanked the wires free, and hurled the box to the floor. The computer screens flickered and skipped and finally went dark, and the deck surged beneath their feet.
She turned to the guys, her eyes wide. “We should probably get the hell out of here.”
“No. Really?” Frog asked and started for the door. “Because I thought a short cruise before blowing up was a great way to spend my last few hours.”
They bolted and raced through the ship. The resistance crew immediately resumed the
ir pursuit but she knew they had no time for a running fight. She gestured with her arm and swept them aside with another wave of magic.
As they rounded the last corner leading to the exit, the pirate ship’s engines surged again and threw them down. She scrambled hastily to her feet. “That’s early.”
Frog shrugged. “Yeah. Most likely because you cut the AI.”
Marcus shrugged. “Hey, shit happens.”
Stephanie grimaced as she realized the seriousness of their predicament. “I don’t know if this will work, but shit, we’ll go for it.” She took her magic and swirled it a few times to create a bubble that surrounded the Meligornians and the team.
As soon as they were enclosed, she severed the bubble from herself and swirled a second piece of magic around her head to seal her suit.
An alarm blared and the lights in the corridor turned a flashing amber. Behind them, the corridors echoed with the sound of heavy bulkheads sliding closed. Over the intercom, a deep Dreth voice advised all personnel that there had been a hull breach.
Ahead of them, the hatch leading into the section to which the umbilical was attached was firmly closed and a red light flashed above. “I need to get through there,” she screeched and tried to be heard above the alarm.
From inside the bubble she’d wrapped around the team, Frog pointed at the wall. It took her nanoseconds to use magic to pry the panel he indicated loose and seconds more to short the safety controls and force the doors to grind open slowly.
The amber lights turned red and the alarm tone changed, but she used her magic to draw the ball surrounding her team closer. As soon as the door rose, the atmosphere was sucked into space and tried to drag them with it.
Stephanie guided the ball carrying her teammates and flung it as hard as she could out the door and through the broken umbilical. Now she was in there, she could see that it had torn in two.
Witch Of The Federation (Federal Histories Book 2) Page 43
