by Reiter
Annsura lunged forward, landing a running front kick to the side of the young man’s head. “Of course, not as fast as the man who told me that, but I do okay!
“Dugger,” Annsura cried, dropping to her knee and donning her goggles. “Drop number one!”
Removing one of the disguised ion charges from the bandolier on his chest, Ephaliun threw the massive flash-bang grenade toward the center of the room. The bright light and thunderous sound made everyone scream in confusion, pain and dizziness. Dungias moved quickly to Annsura, handing her the acquired artifact.
“Tank and Siekor are waiting outside with your means of exodus,” he informed.
“What about Nulaki?” Annsura asked.
“The Scarab can see to himself, I will see to Princess. Now, you should leave.”
Annsura nodded, waved for Ephaliun to follow, and started for the front door. “Don’t make me have to come after you, Z!” she warned.
“And if such a thing were ever necessary, you just might try,” he thought as he moved for the stairway. According to the brace-com trackers, Pristacia was on one of the upper floors.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
“Well there’s no mistaking that, is there?” Olkin asked rhetorically, seeing the effect of the massive flash-bang device. “No com-links came out of there, but that flash just lit up the entire district and its two hours before midblock!”
“And it looks like they had a guy posted at the window,” Silnee advised. “He just ran to tell the others in that room!” Hearing the report, the archer’s eyes gaped wide with innovation.
“That room!” Olkin whispered, quickly lifting his brace-com. “Satithe, what’s the construction grade of that restaurant?”
“Grade eight,” Satithe reported.
“Gotta love the Olasson people,” Olkin said, reaching into his quiver. “Tolip, set that rifle for full-auto and burn a clip on the doorway.”
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” Silnee said, reaching to her back. After hitting the proper thumb switch, she took aim and started firing in short five or six round bursts.
“Satithe, can I spread a gravity pulse charge over those two big windows?”
“Take your aim,” Satithe instructed. “I am accessing the arrowhead. Shoot when your shot-arc flashes red.” Pulling the bowstring back, Olkin allowed the rest of his body to relax. He could see the men inside the room quickly recovering from the surprise of being fired upon. He had little doubt that they had already surmised the direction of the incoming fire as well as how many shooters they were dealing with.
“Access the second pulse head to do the same for the door to that room,” Olkin commanded.
“Accessing,” Satithe reported as she signaled the archer. The arrow struck and the gravity pulse turned the two large front windows into an energy-sealed wall.
“Whoa!” Silnee gasped, lifting her gun to safe-position as Olkin nocked his second arrow. The changes to the arrowhead had already been made, and Silnee’s gunfire had cleared enough of a path for his arrow. Once it hit, the mercenaries Thrydias had brought with him were trapped in a Grade Eight Room. “Will that hold them?”
“Not indefinitely,” Olkin answered. “But by the time they blast their way out of there we’ll be out of the district.”
“Provided the rest of the plan goes down the way it should,” Silnee stated.
“We’re already twenty-three seconds ahead of the projected schedule,” Olkin said, putting his bow away.
“Twenty-eight,” Satithe corrected. Olkin flashed a smile before turning to run for the door leading to the stairway.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
“It is amazing what some people call luxury,” Pristacia thought as she was gently pushed onto the bed. She looked up at Silnouria and scurried back on her elbows and feet. “And talk about going fishing. I’ve got me a whale!” The dismissed masseuse closed the door on his way out, muttering his contempt for his employer. It was a false protest, but the more he sold his affection for Madam Gassio, the more freely his credits flowed.
“I saw that,” Silnouria said, waving her finger at Pristacia as she slowly approached the bed. “I saw that gleam in your eye.”
“Only because you were meant to,” Pristacia thought, shaking her head in disagreement as she looked more frightened.
“Yes, yes, yes… I saw it!” Silnouria purred as she crawled on the bed. “You’ve been with a woman before, haven’t you?” Pristacia continued to shake her head, looking around as if she were desperately searching for a means of escape. “Don’t worry, it’ll be our little secret.
“Oh, indeed! I’ve heard about you women from the Gulmar System. So much passion! So very sweet to the taste.” Silnouria laughed as she took hold of Pristacia’s ankle. The younger woman jumped and tried to twist free. “I must admit, I half expected you to try and fight your way out! But here you are, all but naked and unarmed!” Silnouria continued her approach and Pristacia gazed fearfully into the larger woman’s eyes.
Pristacia leaned back, brought her legs up to her chest and stomped into the woman’s ribs with her shoes. “You forgot the heels!” Pristacia’s hand muffled Silnouria’s scream and she rolled the large woman over on her back. “Now, be quiet!” Pristacia commanded, striking the woman in the neck. Silnouria was choking for air and Pristacia rolled off the woman, running for the door. “Guard,” she called out. “Guard!”
“Mistress?” the guard spoke as he opened the door to the room. Pristacia kept her speed and jumped, planting both feet into the man’s face. He flew out of the room and into the main corridor. Getting up from the drop kick, Pristacia looked up to see a second guard come into the room.
“Shit! I only called for one guard.”
“I bet you did,” the guard replied, backhanding Pristacia who spun to the floor. He came into the bedchamber deep enough to see Silnouria on the bed, still gasping for air. “What the hell?! Central Control, this is–” a chair crashed into the side of the man’s head. It fell to the floor as the guard staggered back a step.
“Satithe, scramble his signal,” Pristacia commanded as she ran to the man. She used the fallen chair for a jump step and landed a front kick to his face. The man fell back against the wall and started to slide down before he caught himself. Pristacia put her hands together and swung for his face, but he blocked the attempt and brought her in for a knee to the abdomen.
“You little bitch!” the man barked. “You better be damn glad the Mistress probably wants you ali– ARGH!” A blind and desperate clawing hand found the man’s face. He screamed as he grabbed Pristacia’s wrist.
Pristacia quickly reversed the grip and spun, twisting the man’s arm. He bent over in pain as Pristacia maintained her grip. “You like knee lifts, do you?!” she barked, stepping forward and lifting her knee into the man’s face. She released his hand and spun once more, delivering an uppercut that lifted the man to his toes before he fell unconscious. She staggered to the wall from the effort of the blow and braced herself against it.
“Princess, I did manage to scramble his signal,” Satithe reported. “… but I’m afraid they already knew his name and location the moment he opened the channel. An alarm has–”
“Satithe?” Pristacia called out as she dropped down to frisk the guard. “What is it?”
“An alarm was sounded,” Satithe advised. “… but another alarm has just gone off on the main floor and a third at the sub-level detention center. These are manual alarms… not on the system!”
The door burst open and three guards came running in. The first two were shot before they could complete their inventory of the room and react to what they saw. The third sought cover as he drew his weapon. It had cleared his holster when Pristacia put the barrel of her gun to his head.
“I suppose you have to ask yourself if this is a job worth dying for,” she warned.
“Signature lock!” the guard said before he turned to slap the gun away. Pristacia tried to pull the
trigger, but the gun did not fire. The guard stood up and took hold of her neck with his right hand, immediately squeezing. Pristacia lifted her left leg and moved it to the inside of the man’s stance. She slapped his elbow with her left hand as she pivoted. Their hips met and the man’s face was the impact point as he was thrown into the wall. Keeping her grip on the offending arm, Pristacia spun and landed an elbow to the back of his head. She broke the man’s arm as two more guards came into the room, followed by a gray-blue blur that threw both men across the room, over the bed, and into the far wall where they remained. Pristacia watched Dungias’ hands slowly lower to his sides as he turned to look at her.
“I brought you your things,” he said, handing the panting woman her belt.
“Do we have time for me to dress?!”
“I will make time,” Dungias said as he turned to return to the corridor. Pristacia removed the fine silks and donned her belt. Her bodysuit was immediately on as she brought out her other clothes from her holding pocket. She could hear combat, laser fire, screams, and several soft explosions as she wasted no time getting dressed. When she stepped out into the corridor with her blaster drawn, she could see clearing smoke and something in the neighborhood of a dozen downed bodies with yet another falling away from a turning Dungias. “They are nothing if not dedicated,” he said as he walked toward Pristacia, holding out his hand.
“Yeah, but what good is a paycheck if you’re too dead to spend it?” Pristacia asked as she took hold of his hand.
“How very prudent of you,” he replied as they both started to run. Pristacia looked up to see the end of the corridor fast approaching and Dungias was only running faster. She said nothing and continued to run. There was nothing funny, but Pristacia could not keep from smiling, coming to yet another proverbial fork in the road, another abyss. She gasped when they passed through the wall. She felt Dungias pull on her arm, release her hand, and wrap his arm around her waist. The alley awaited their arrival, but Pristacia felt a wave of energy pass over her body just before they landed; something like a gravity pulse had moved over them but it was more sophisticated. Their bodies were slowed and Dungias bent slightly at the knees before putting her down.
“You’re never boring, Z!”
“Likewise, Princess,” he replied as Marlene came jogging up the alley with her rifle drawn and smoking from the rounds she had already fired.
“That wasn’t exactly the exit plan we talked about, was it?” she asked as she looked around.
“We were forced to improvise a few measures, Mayhem,” Dungias replied. “Do we need to continue the trend?”
“Negative,” Marlene quickly answered with a smile. “As promised, the Palace’s park lot had a lot of options to offer!”
“Then let us be on our way,” Dungias said, ushering Pristacia to run in front of him. It was not long before they saw Agatha seated at the controls of a sky-car, smiling brightly at the recently acquired vehicle.
“Pilot-tested and Satithe-approved,” Agatha said proudly.
Dungias extended his senses before getting into the sky-car. Only Jocasta and Nulaki were still on the property… but that was by design and the Captain’s insistence. The crew of the Xara-Mansura would soon be in the clear with one of the two sought artifacts in their possession.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
The manhole cover came up from its frame and flipped once. It did not land, and Nulaki looked up to see a familiar face smiling back at him. He marveled at the way the woman held the cover comfortably as he climbed up into the alley.
“You’re strong,” he said, reaching down to get a handhold of the woman whom he had liberated. She was indeed extremely attractive, and it was easy to see what all the fuss was about in regards to her time and how it would be spent. But there was a genuine fear in her eyes that was unmistakable, and it extended even to those who were freeing her from her imprisonment.
“I do okay,” Jocasta replied. She waited for the woman to be in the clear before placing the cover back in its place. A quick tap of her cane and she saw the cover meld with the frame. She shook her head and smiled. “You gotta love a good engineer!” she muttered.
Jocasta stood to see Nulaki giving the woman hand signals to instruct her on how to use the breathing mask and to keep her eyes closed. She nodded as she received the mask and put it to her face, closing her eyes. Nulaki reached to his belt and placed the woman in his holdings pocket.
“Where’s the ride?” he quickly asked.
“Try behind you,” Jocasta replied, and Nulaki turned to see her astride Icarus as her goggles became a faceplate. Nulaki did not waste any time getting on behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
With one flaring burst of the boost rockets, Icarus was away from the ground and streaking across the sky. Nothing from the Euphoria Palace was giving chase, but Jocasta did not take that as permission to dally. By the second turn, Nulaki’s grip had improved and Jocasta smiled, taking her sky-bike into another barrel-rolling turn. Using the buildings for cover, and following the path Llaz had created with his hover-bike as it emitted directed electrical impulses at any surveillance device Satithe detected, Jocasta made her way to the first rendezvous point. She smiled even broader under her faceplate when she looked down to see her crew assembled and well. She flew past the point, and signaled the return to the estate.
Jocasta was flying the second fastest vehicle, but she had been the first to leave the rendezvous. Dungias was not surprised, however, to see her arrive at the estate last by a few minutes. Nulaki was off the back of the sky-bike before she could put it into park. Though she was not familiar with the Fazerian tongue, Jocasta was fairly certain that Nulaki was not giving her praise as he staggered away from her and into Dungias who simply caught the man and helped him to stand. Alpha glimmered for a very brief moment as Nulaki reached to his belt, released the girl, and resumed shouting as he entered the house.
“I trust the initial flight went well?” Dungias asked as he watched Nulaki go inside. Many things had been expected, and so many more were not. The Traveler had to come to terms with the best means by which to proceed. He knelt down to examine the woman, placing a consoling hand on her shoulder. Another glimmer came from Alpha, but once again it was missed by everyone save its creator.
“Z, I’ve got zero complaints,” Jocasta smiled. “Do you know what Conadier was saying?”
“It is not his opinion I seek,” Dungias replied, confirming what he had read from Nulaki. “But it is safe to say that he does not appreciate your piloting skills.”
Jocasta laughed as she looked over at the frightened woman. “I trust nothing more than a few bumps and bruises?”
“Minor at best and already on the mend, Captain,” Dungias reported.
“Damn we still need that doctor and cook, don’t we?”
“Cutter has a list, albeit a short one, of candidates for those positions,” he stated. “…and after viewing our escapades, Kryltane has decided to take you up on your invitation to join the crew. Currently he is en route to his home to gather his personal belongings.”
“Well, that’s a first. We recruit someone who has actual physical baggage?!
“Wait, he’s going back to the campus?” Jocasta asked, remembering the trouble he had waiting for him there.
“Tolip, Cupid, Llaz, and Siekor are with him,” Dungias replied. “For two of those four, I think it was their way of getting more involved, as I believe they feel they were left out of our plans for the Palace.”
“Tell them to take it up with Nulaki,” Jocasta stated.
“But it was your plan, Captain,” Dungias reminded her.
“I know that,” she stated without apology or reconsideration. “But tell them to take it up with Nulaki anyway! Besides, we can’t expect everyone to have a death-defying role on every job,” Jocasta sighed. She looked at the way the woman was responding to her First Mate. With the fear she had demonstrated looking at Jocasta and Nulaki, she seemed to be
at ease with the imposing alien man. “Do me a favor, Z. See what you can get out of her. The sooner we do this exchange and get to the Territories, the better.”
“Then perhaps we should remain here for a moment longer.” Dungias stated, taking a soft hold of Jocasta’s shoulder. “I need to make you aware of a few things.”
Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.
Potter Stewart
(Rims Time: XII-4202.24)
Nulaki rubbed his hands together as he looked around the roof of the park lot. He waited patiently as the Governor was presented with his gift. The wind of the city blew through the man’s long red hair as his brown eyes flared wide. The look on the Governor’s face was captured by the sensory-surveillance program in Nulaki’s his goggles, and the thief had leanings on starting a scrapbook of sorts. After reviewing the playback of the run on Euphoria Palace, the idea was beginning to gain favor in his mind. The look of utter shock and pain on Silnouria’s face when Pristacia had applied her stiletto heels was beyond priceless, and remained his favorite. The freeze frame with Thrydias’ face when Dungias took hold of his arm was a close-running second.
“Gods! Whit’s this?!” Condell said as he looked at the young maiden, approaching the ten-foot wide cylindrical device that had been used to transport her. Nulaki had questioned why Dungias had drugged her so heavily, but as he monitored the reunion, he came to believe that the Malgovi might have just been listening to his instincts. She was dazed and confused, but the way her eyes flared told Nulaki the young woman who had recently been liberated from Madam Gassio did not want to be where she had found herself. While his bottom lip curled under his teeth, Nulaki said nothing to address the thoughts going through his mind. Instead, he put his mind to the business of the moment.
