Curtains of steam from the distant blasts turned the misty air into a sauna that made my head swim. Several times, the thick clouds of white and yellow smoke blurred my vision so badly that Nix had to double back and pull me forward like a kid lost in a shopping mall. The chatter behind me wasn't making me feel any better and everyone knew I had screwed up royally. Kicking myself in the teeth all day wouldn't fix it and I pushed forward.
"That Dino knew him and he let him go. You know, Cole's probably one of them!"
"Shhhssh!"
I tried to keep the sounds out of my head, but my temper was starting to flare again. So far it was only McNeil was complaining, but I wondered how everyone else felt. That was when Nix let out a happy growl and dropped so quickly into a crouch that I nearly fell over her. That'll teach me to get lost in my own thoughts.
"What do you have?" I said as I wiped at my eyes.
"Targets. I've got the Sergeant."
"Drop him, but not with a head shot."
She shifted slightly and nodded. If she had any doubts about my loyalties, she didn't want to talk about it right now.
"Smile, Prey," she purred and the rifle bucked gently in her hands. In the distance, something moved and I caught the flash of gunfire in between the washes of steam. Nix calmly fired again and then snapped the cover over her scope. I waited for any movement, but still couldn't see anything with the falling rain and steam.
"That's it? He's down?" I thought aloud and Nix nodded. Squinting, I ran forward without thinking about what kind of a sitting duck I'd be here in the open. Sometimes the training doesn't really kick in, but my mind was somewhere else anyway.
Cloak would want a damn good reason why I hadn't dropped Bayer when I had the chance and I had to think of something they'd find non-offensive enough to let pass. The truth was that I figured I could beat more truth out of him than they'd ever give up. While I'd love to tell the bald man that Cloak is little more than a bunch of lazy sociopaths who are more interested in hiding under operative's beds or bugging their closets to invent subversion than they are with actually protecting SLA's interests, that's not something you can say and keep breathing. They are truly the boogeyman that keeps the fear of Slayer alive. They'd also appreciate a well-prepared lie more than an anti-Cloak tirade and I had to come up with one quickly. God help me if McNeil got to give his version, but I'd worry about that when I came to it.
As I got closer, I could see figures vanishing into the bottom of what must have been a shuttle and picked up my pace. Even though Bayer was the only target on the BPN, we couldn't let any of them get away even without looking like subversives ourselves. The idea of us being brought up on charges of assisting a hijacking made me grind my teeth.
"They're getting away!" McNeil yelled, and I picked up the pace again. Leave it to Mr. Obvious to give a blow by blow.
The tarmac was so slippery that I ended up on my knees twice, sliding across the oil stains and black burn marks that marked the landing pads. My hip and knee were aching as I carefully hopped over a partition that was between the prone bodies and me. That was when something hooked me from behind, jerking me back over a blast shield with enough force to take the wind out of me. Coming down hard on my hip again, I tried to roll out of it but whatever had grabbed me was too strong and fast. It was K'rth and he pushed my head down as something on the other side began to roar. I didn't need encouragement and ducked down further, covering my eyes.
The air got hot and bright as fire and smoke swept across the pad from the bottom of the craft. It died out a moment later and I looked up to see the shuttle hanging in the air just like a brick doesn't. With another boom that left my ears ringing, it vanished upwards into the rain and there was nothing I could do but watch it go. Holstering the Blitzer, I stood up and felt the hope drain out of me like rain. I was about to be very dead very soon and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it..
Numbly, I walked over to the body of the Shiver and saw that Nix's round had taken him square between the shoulder blades and blown through. The other guy was hit in exactly the same place and I brushed the matted hair out of my eyes as I kicked Bayer onto his back.
"That your buddy, Cole?" McNeil asked as he bent over the other stiff.
"Fuck you," I said without a lot of venom and cut the strap to pull off the Shiver helmet. When I saw the face, I blinked a couple times in disbelief before I could move. At least I remembered to sheath my MAC before I dropped it and speared my foot.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" I yelled and bounced the helmet off the concrete, nearly hitting McNeil in the face.
It wasn't Bayer.
There hadn't been enough time for anyone else to put on the armor and since we only saw one Shiver get clear of the firefight, that meant that this had to be the same guy who had called me by name. "Mother fuck-" I started. "IT ISN'T HIM!"
Gael ran the face against the dossier she had in her oyster and looked at me. "Do you know him?" she asked as she stood.
I was pacing when I finally took a good look. The face was vaguely familiar but I couldn't dredge up a name at first. When it finally did come, I wondered how long I'd been focusing on the wrong target. Bayer could be anywhere.
"His name is Jennings. He was one of the other ops who Cloak sent out to get Bayer. He was listed as killed."
"Guess a lot of you older fuckers went to the other side, huh?" McNeil asked.
I spun towards him, but stopped when I realized it was useless. K'rth had magically appeared between us and my chances of getting past him were about as good as winning at arm wrestling with Obie. I moved away before he decided he had to push me back again and made a promise to myself to set aside some time to sort this out with McNeil when this mess was over.
Gael was on her phone and stepped up to say something to me when Angus grabbed me by the arm from the other side and pulled me after him like a kid at as carnival.
"C'mon! This'll work!" he yelled pulling me stumbling after him. I tried to run, but slipped and went down hard right on my face and he ran on without me. As I climbed to my feet with as much dignity as I could manage, I wondered how Angus managed to run out here. I could barely walk, but pulled my ID as I came up. He had pulled a shuttle crewmember off a ladder just as he was going into the craft.
"Cole, SCL 7.0," I said as I trotted up. I was favoring my right leg a little, even though it wasn't hurting nearly as badly as my ego.
"What do you need operative?" he was either smiling or wincing, but the tight yellow goggles over his face made it hard to tell which. I pulled Angus's hand off his neck since I was sure he wasn't going to run away.
"That shuttle that launched from over there-" I started, pointing out the area where the other craft had been. There was a ten-meter wide number painted on the tarmac that I hadn't noticed earlier. It's funny how you can' t always see the big picture when you're distracted.
"It's not a shuttle. It's a CDS," he cut in. I looked at him for a moment and shook it off. I hate elitists.
"Whatever. We're on BPN DOM39A slash 45 C333 in pursuit of a DN cell that just hijacked that other 'CDS'. We need you to take us wherever it's going."
"Hijacked it? Cool!" he spouted. I was glad that he thought this was fun.
"Okay then, let's go," I said and Angus started forward.
"I'm afraid I can't do it without the proper authorization," he added, stepping in our way.
"What? I just told you that DN hijacked that shut - CDS and you're not going to help us pursue?"
"I'm sorry, but I really can't with-"
"What are you, a sympathizer?" McNeil yelled, pushing past me and getting in his face. He was a good head taller than the man and took advantage of it. Unfortunately, the crewmember was about as impressed as I was when he tried it and stood his ground.
"Huh? No sir, not at all. It's just that if I don't get clearance, I could lose my-"
"What do you think you'll lose if Cloak Division finds out that you stomped on their BPN?" Angus yelled, spinning the man towards him. With everyone ganging up on him, I didn't have to join in and stepped backwards. Meanwhile, Nix bounded past and into the craft like the trip was a done deal. From up there she had a great vantage point as wasn't as exposed.
"Uh -I understand sir, but I can't afford to-"
I was about to take my turn when I realized that Gael was tugging on my arm. I guess she had been yanking on it for a while. She pinched me and I spun toward her.
"WHAT?" I demanded.
"They're going to the same place! I just got a confirmation on the flight listings and they're both - all of these - are going to the FS 921Z! All we need to do is hitch a ride!"
I turned back to the crewmember and patted him on the shoulder.
"They're going to the same place you are, so we're going with you."
"But I'm not cleared to carry passengers-"
"The cargo area on this CDS is sealed, pressurized to allow people to travel, right?" I asked.
"Well, yes it is. But I'm not sure tha-"
"Do it, or I'll shoot you."
He looked me in the eyes and nodded, shuffling his feet. I'm not sure if he believed me or not, but he started up a ladder and waved us on. We were dead if we didn't get the DN cell, so a few fines or even a SCL decrease wasn't that important.
"Everyone aboard," he mumbled.
The cargo area of the CDS was cramped from the crates, but a line of fold down seats lined one wall and we all managed to find places to sit. When the ramp closed I looked over at Nix, but she had her helmet down and I couldn't read her. From her reaction to the cramped stacks back in the warehouse, I imagine she was just about to come apart. The ten minutes we had to wait for liftoff were probably absolute hell for her, but the rest was about to become an absolute hell for me.
When the CDS's engines came to life, the craft shuddered and kicked upward, shoving my stomach, lungs, and everything else into my pelvis. If I had eaten recently, I would have been in a world of hurt. As it was, it felt like it took years to get to the next stage but I'm not sure it was much better.
There was a sudden jerk and then absolute silence around us. No rain, no wind, no rumbling - but you could still feel the trembling of the engines through your seat. I had never head true silence since Cloak had pulled me in to talk and it was unnerving. Looking around, I saw that the others had noticed it too, but something weirder distracted me. I was floating upwards against my straps and found myself trying to anchor my feet so I wouldn't float away. It was the weirdest sensation I've ever had and the only one not bothered by it was the Chagrin. Obie isn't much of a gauge for the squad since he's seldom bothered by anything environmental like rain, wind, or mud. Maybe he's got the coding in his genes for this too because he looked absolutely comfortable. That was when K'rth amazed me and unbuckled, flying across the cabin and between the crates.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" I asked. Maybe if I concentrated on what he was doing, I could ignore everything else. It was hard talking without gravity working on my lungs and I found that I had to breathe and project differently.
"I spent a number of years onboard a clan Ion drive freighter when I was growing up. It's exciting to be in space again, even for a short while."
"Gahd, this hasta be a bad mix of UV! K'rth's floating on the ceiling!" Angus said and giggled, sadistically elbowing Casper who looked like she was about to puke. Meanwhile, Nix gingerly removed her helmet and tried to smile, but she was well on her way to turning green also. I really felt for her.
"How long before we get to where ever we're going, this FS 921Z?" I asked K'rth and he floated forward to the cockpit. A moment later, I heard him talking and he drifted back to appear above my head. Even from this angle, his face was grim. His dreadlocks swam around his head like he was under water in a slow current.
"It will be twenty-five minutes before we dock."
"Any idea what it is or where's it going?"
"It's a company foldship. It's scheduled to deliver supplies to a colony near Static and then fold to a 'D-Notice SCL 3' location. The CDS pilot doesn't have any idea where it's going and wouldn't tell me if he did."
Static, the Ebon homeworld. For some reason, the name always conjured up images that drew a chill up my spine. The look on his face said there was something else.
"What?" I prodded.
"The foldship's name is the Mariella Itaru."
Mariella Itaru.
Mary Something.
Mary.
The chill I had felt earlier was here to stay.
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