My heart was in my throat as I ran across an invisible floor and threw my shoulder against one of the few crates at the right side of the craft. At the same time, Gael and Angus hit the side of other transport with Obie close on their heels. No one fired at us and the air was nearly as quiet as a tomb. K'rth nodded at me and we ran the rest of the way to the far wall, trying to cover everywhere at once, but still no one opened up.
"Go!" I said into my mike and Nix darted out from the shuttle. Slowing slightly to bound over a five-foot tall crate, she made it to the far wall within seconds. It looked like we were completely alone and I breathed easier.
"This is the same transport, so they've got to be nearby," Gael said. "They only have ten minutes on us. I can probably find out what's happening from the control node above us."
"That sounds good. Obie, clear their transport and we'll look around down here," I said and Obie and Angus moved up to check it out. Meanwhile, K'rth and I moved towards the closest door to an adjacent hall while Gael headed for the scaffolding above us.
The silence shattered with the crack of a gunshot that echoed from above, striking the metal near Angus's head and sending him diving for cover. Obie roared, diving into the shuttle the same time that someone behind me opened up. It sounded like a Gunhead and it chattered until someone screamed. McNeil's laugh came booming across the mike and he sounded pleased with himself. All hail the great hunter and his little machine gun.
"Kack'd another one of your ex-buds, Cole!" he laughed.
"I'm happy for you," I mumbled back as we quickly checked the corridor. It was empty and we held our position since we had a good vantage point. Beyond us, the corridor extended past the length of the bay and vanished into what looked like a wall of flesh. I winced and wiped the sweat out of my eyes. This place was really giving me the creeps.
"Gael, see if you can reach the pilot or bridge or whatever flies this thing and let them know what's happening. See if they can tell us where Bayer's crew is."
"Will do. I'm almost in the control node," she said as she climbed what sort of looked like a ladder upwards to a compartment that looked lot like a hip socket. Nix followed her, taking a position near where the Interceptor had opened up and took in the scene. The wraith was so nonplussed about the unusual décor that I wondered if anyone but me was uncomfortable. Oh yeah, Angus had made the body cavity remark and hadn't followed it up with a joke. That meant he was nervous also.
"Alex," Angus said as he came over. "We found what was left of an Interceptor in the shuttle and someone machine-gunned him pretty good at close range. T'wasn't much left beyond a puddle and a bodysuit. Somebody with more bullets than brains pulped the pilots too, but it happened once they got here."
So one of Bayer's Vets zapped one of his guys? I wondered if one of the DN team had said something off-color to a Vet or if the guy with the minigun had just decided to listen to the voices in his head and open up? If the DN team had anyone like Casper or McNeil on it I could sympathize for rocking and rolling on them with the weaponry. I felt sorry for the pilots, almost as an afterthought.
"Only one?"
"Yeah."
"Damn," I mumbled. "Gael, anything yet?"
"Hold on," her voice said over the mike and I waited. K'rth kept watching his side of the corridor and I studied the braid in his dreadlocks. That was one hell of a commitment that he didn't have to make it.
"K'rth," I said and he looked over at me. "Thanks," I said and motioned towards his scarf. He nodded and went back to guarding his side of the corridor. He holds the tenants of friendship and family very highly and I've been told more than once that I fit under both.
"So are we going to sit on our hands or go get them?" McNeil said. His voice was so loud that I could have heard him without the mike and I glared in his direction before turning back to cover the hall. I couldn't be civil to him and was beyond trying.
"If someone doesn't shut him up, I will." That was Nix's voice and I sympathized. The scary thing is that she was probably serious.
"Casper, can you put a muzzle on him for a few minutes?" Gael asked. "We can 't 'go after' anyone until we know where the fuck they are. It's a big ship in case you didn't know."
Casper must have pulled her mike off to speak to him and all I heard was a garbled whisper. Whatever she had said seemed to bring him in line for the moment, but he wasn't happy about it.
"Alex," Gael's voice said. "I've just gotten through to one of the officers and they're sending someone to speak with us. They should be here any-"
"Tell them not too. They could run into the DN team and-" I started but it was too late.
Leave it to an Ebon to make an entrance.
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