On a Pale Ship Page 34

  At the creature's call, Luc's HUD lit up with forty hostile targets that had somehow made it to within twenty meters of the TaunTaun undetected.

  "Take 'em down, hard!" Luc ordered unnecessarily as Rocinante jumped to life. Three of the creatures rushed Jimmy, batting aside the gun and silencing her roaring fire. The jerky movements of the trio, while fast, were no match for Jimmy. Accepting his attacker's advantage over Rocinante, Jimmy allowed the weapon to swing behind him as he slipped past the powerful strikes of the misshapen men and drew pistols.

  Luc barely had time to dodge the swinging claw of the being still clinging to the side of the TaunTaun. Instinctively, he raised his arm as a boxer might, and deflected the blow of a second creature that appeared next to him. The power of the strike bowled Luc over, sending him sprawling onto the rain-soaked pavement. Only Luc's training saved him as he rolled from a third creature that had anticipated his landing and lunged at him, claws extended.

  Drawing his sword as he came to his feet, Luc's blade cut through the chest of the semi- human that had somehow tracked his roll across the pavement. Whatever these things were, they fought with a speed that rivaled Jimmy's and with a strength that seemed to rival Gob's. What they didn’t have, however, was any appearance of gracefulness or coordination. Even with that ray of hope, Luc's analytical mind understood the danger. A group of three supers had little chance of surviving ten-to-one odds with these creatures.

  A roar from Gob could be heard above the din as a group almost blocked the big man from sight. The creatures used only small knives, claws and teeth, but Gob was having no luck throwing them off. Luc tried to work his way over to the big man as Gob was swallowed by the horde.

  "Jimmy! Gob is down." Even as Luc updated Jimmy, he swung his sword, discovering that near-fatal blows were not sufficient against the monsters Marek and Zoya had created. They didn’t react to pain, and only death or dismemberment stopped their relentless attacks.

  Blaster fire creased a seam just over Luc’s shoulder and his AI warned of friendly fire. A heavy hand struck Luc's back and without further analysis, he reversed his hands on the blade’s hilt and drove it into the beast Jimmy had attempted to peel off him.

  Targeting knees and Achilles tendons , Luc attempted to disable as many creatures as he could, joining Jimmy in a surge toward their fallen comrade. He could only imagine the horror Gob felt under the writhing mass that tore at him.

  "You will stop!" An amplified voice echoed through the courtyard.

  Luc felt no compunction to stop and continued hacking at the beasts that pinned his teammate. Surprisingly, however, the monsters, pulled back.

  "Stand down, Lucien Gray, or I will kill Natalia Liszt." Luc recognized Marek's voice, even though it was only the second time he’d heard it.

  "Jimmy, check Gob," Luc said. His AI was showing Gob's bio signs ebbing, even under the emergency medical assistance of his suit.

  Turning, he found Marek and Zoya standing in front of a line of a hundred black-caped free men. His AI tracked the remaining two dozen mangled creations that had retreated and now stood hunched over only a few meters away. The creatures’ breath steamed in the misty night as Marek and Zoya approached.

  "Rather a sentimental gesture, don't you think?" Marek asked, pushing through the mob of deformed men and stopping short of Luc and Jimmy's position.

  "Where is Tali?" Luc asked, flicking viscera from his sword and sliding it back into the sheath on his back.

  "Bring the woman," Marek ordered.

  A large free man carried Tali's lifeless body forward and tossed her unceremoniously onto the hard ground at Marek's feet. Marek grinned sardonically and shook his head. "They really don't like women," he said as if it were a reasonable explanation for the action.

  Luc searched for her bio signs but was unable to make contact with her suit.

  "What are these things?" Jimmy asked. "They're disgusting."

  "Why, they're our brothers, Jimmy. Did you never wonder what happened to those for whom the surgery was unsuccessful? Of course you didn't, because Dorian simply killed them, discarding them as bio waste. But my dear Zoya has discovered she is quite capable of crafting the most wonderful beings from the most humble clay. Tell me you aren't just a little impressed by my most loyal warriors. Sure, they're a little rough around the edges, but you can't fault them."

  "What's your plan, Marek?" Luc asked. "We're just here for Katriona and the kids. We don't need to keep going at each other like this."

  "Why this is the plan, Lucien Gray. When I learned of your attachment to the feral children, I realized I could use them as bait. You have been most accommodating. I do love a good diatribe, however, so please, ask your questions. I have a few moments. Katriona dear, please show yourself."

  The crowd of free men parted as Katriona and Breshev Festove, Luc’s commander from Nuage, joined Marek and Zoya. Luc wasn’t surprised to see Festove, but his eyes were drawn to the petite woman. Like the creatures they'd been fighting, her eyes were bloodshot although otherwise she seemed intact.

  "What have you done to her?" Luc asked, searching the small woman's eyes. He could see pain in their depths.

  "That was my doing," Zoya said. "I'm afraid the conditioning is quite painful at first. After a time, however, the subject learns to accept their position. Would you not say this is correct, Leon?"

  Lifting a chain she held in her hand, Zoya pulled and Khan Eduard Leonidovich stumbled into view. The collar around his neck conveyed what would otherwise have required many words. Marek and Zoya had taken over the city.

  "Sveta?" Katriona mumbled, closing her eyes and bowing her head, shuddering as pain wracked her body.

  "What was that, dear?" Zoya asked, turning to her.

  "I keep my promises," Luc answered. "We found her and we’ll get her out."

  A flicker of a smile crossed Katriona's face. The next second she screamed and grabbed her head, falling to the ground.

  "Non-productive thoughts, dear," Zoya chided. "We've talked about this."

  Katriona howled in response.

  "This is your plan?" Luc asked, looking back to Marek. "You want to turn us into zombies and slaves?"

  "Blame Dorian," Marek said. "She could have left us alone. We were getting along so swimmingly. But then she fetches Jimmy and knocks down Zoya's lab at Fariza. And, where is she, by the way? Poetic that you will die twice for her. It is really very simple; I won't abide competition. The children have only a few months to live and if I know Dorian, she isn't about to make another team. She just doesn't have the heart for a prolonged war of attrition. Especially when the winning team just keeps making more troops. Classic escalation of technology."

  "Which is it?" Luc asked. "You're going to kill us or turn us into zombies?"

  "Trust me. You'll die," Marek said. "It might not happen in the first day or the first week, but you will die. Ask the khan."

  Luc looked at the once proud leader, Leonidovich. Tears rolled out from red-rimmed eyes as the man crouched, looking up at him beseechingly. Luc had never appreciated the free men of Oberrhein, but he found no joy in seeing the man brought so low.

  "This could have been avoided, Gray," Festove finally broke in, unable to contain himself. "I ordered you back from that Sandlot freighter. You just had to be the hero. Now look where we're at."

  "You being a part of this mess, I'd have guessed," Luc spat. "How did you get Marsh involved?"

  "Marsh?" Festove asked, confused. "She's not part of any of this. In fact, she almost figured it all out when I drummed you out. Fortunately, I was able to convince her to leave it alone. Why? What do you know?"

  On the wind, Luc thought he could faintly hear a familiar sound and he moved his ear to orient, hoping to pick it up.

  "Keep 'em talking," Bit whispered into the comm.

  "UCN has recordings of you," Luc said.

  "Don't be ridiculous," Festove said. "We sweep daily for bugs."

  "Ask him if he recently had his u
niform pants worked on," Bit said.

  "You have your dress pants repaired recently?" Luc asked. "Smart fabric along the band sound familiar?"

  "Commander?" Marek asked. "Do we have a problem?"

  "No," Festove said, but Luc saw recognition flit past the old man's eyes as he turned, looking into the blustery night. A moment later, Luc heard the whine of atmospheric engines pushing against the night sky.

  Marek looked from Festove to Luc. Understanding came to the man almost immediately. "Kill them all!"

  Katriona chose that moment to grab at Zoya's legs. Even as she screamed at the pain coursing through her body, she pulled Zoya down to her and jammed her hand up under the woman's jaw. Blood sprayed as she withdrew a sharpened bone shiv from the dead scientist.

  Simultaneously, the mass of ruined men erupted in chaos as blaster bolts fell onto the outer edges of the group. A full squadron of bright golden Nuage Falcons sailed overhead, a thrupping of automatic fire warning the group against attempting to leave.

  In his entire time at Nuage, Luc had never seen a landing of combat Nuage Marines on Grünholz. He looked on with pride as two troop carriers sailed up smartly. The very men he'd proudly served with ziplined from the ships and surrounded the group. Performing as they had drill countless times before.

  Luc's eyes flitted to Marek as Rocinante belched to life next to him. He almost admired Marek’s ability to recognize the shift in the battle's momentum. Only seconds before, the savvy rogue had been in charge and now he was certainly on the losing side. Without hesitation, Marek turned and sprinted away from the battle.

  Luc made a quick decision and set off after Marek.

  "Gray, don't!" Jimmy called after him. "He's faster. Let him go."

  Luc pulled his pistol and fired a round at the fleeing man, unsurprised that his shot missed. Marek's personal defenses warned him of the weapon aimed at him and he dodged. Luc fired two more rounds, anticipating where the man might jump. His second shot grazed his target just before Marek gained the cover of the building.

  At his own approach to the building’s corner, a flash of intuition warned Luc of potential danger. While Marek's objective was clearly to flee, he also had to know that Luc was prepared for a long pursuit. The corner was a perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.

  With only fractions of seconds available, Luc dropped his pistol and pulled his sword from its scabbard. Sliding on the soft gravel, Luc flew past the corner, twisting away from Marek's well-timed kick to the face. Without the inner warning, Luc would have caught the blow fully, but as it was, he turned enough that the blow simply knocked him to the side. Blocking downward, Luc instinctively caught the blade that Marek followed up with, just as it pierced his side.

  Luc struck back, smashing the pommel of the sword into Marek's face. If the man felt surprise at Luc's adjustment, he showed nothing beyond spinning with Luc's blow and bringing the back of his fist into Luc's face.

  "Give up, Marek." Luc grunted in pain while blocking an impossibly fast kick with his shin.

  "Join me," Marek demanded as Luc drove a knee into his stomach. "Together we would be unbeatable."

  Even as the man spoke, he crashed his forehead into the side of Luc's face. The blow gave Marek just enough time to slip the twelve-centimeter-long knife into the seam of Luc's armor. Dropping his sword, Luc grabbed the blade, but found he could only slow its progress.

  "You are a disease," Luc hissed, the blade sinking deeper into his side, cutting through his gloves and into his hands. The pain was unbearable and he started to black out.

  "You lose, Lucien Gray," Marek taunted as he pushed the blade in further, wiggling it to work around Luc’s nano-steel-encased ribs.

  Incomprehensibly, the pressure on the blade stopped. A small hole appeared just above Marek’s nose, between eyes that had gone blank. Unable to hold the now dead weight that had been Marek, Luc fell to the ground. Dazed, he looked up and saw Jimmy step into the space Marek had occupied.

  "Bang, bitch," Jimmy said, spinning his pearl handled pistol back into its holster and kneeling next to Luc.

  "Hands where I can see them," a gruff voice demanded from behind Jimmy.

  Jimmy slowly raised his hands. "We're the good guys," he said, not turning around.

  "Sure, buddy," the soldier replied.

  "At least let me apply aid," Jimmy argued. "He's got a knife in him."

  "Slowly put the guns on the ground. Do that and you can patch him up."

  Jimmy pulled the two pistols from his holsters using only his forefingers and thumbs and tossed them to the side.

  "This is going to hurt," he said, releasing Luc's armored suit and easily peeling it away as it was designed to do.

  Luc's eyes flew open as Jimmy extracted the knife and applied a thick med patch to the wound. With renewed awareness provided by the pain he looked up at the Nuage Marine. "Is Sergeant Lebas with you?"

  Apparently, the soldier's AI was able to make out Luc's features. "Captain Gray?" he asked.

  "Retired," Luc answered, smiling weakly.

  "Sergeant Lebas is here," the soldier replied. "Heard you got drummed out. Is this what you got caught doing? Traitors get hung, you know."

  "Just tell Lebas I'm here," Luc said.

  "Yeah, sure," the man said, standing uncomfortably, not sure if Luc and Jimmy were good guys or bad.

  Ten minutes later, Luc caught sight of his friend walking over to where they still sat in the rain.

  "I thought I told you not to make me do this again," Cyril Lebas said, squatting in front of his friend. "What in the heck are you wrapped up in here?"

  "You don't want any part of this mess, old friend. I'm glad you came, though," Luc said.

  "Well there's good news," Lebas said. "You, two guys named Bang and Alcazar, and a woman named Lizst just got cleared on our list. Straight from Marsh, even. Did I miss where you guys kissed and made up?"

  Jimmy helped Luc back to a standing position.

  "What of Lizst? Is she gonna make it?" Luc asked.

  "Word is they loaded her up onto a UCN shuttle not far from here," he said.

  "There were children," Jimmy interrupted. "They were in the basement of the Cathedral. Did you find them?"

  Lebas’s eyes defocused as he searched for information on his HUD. A moment later he answered. "Damn, this is no place for children, but they did find nineteen of them. We're bringing them up and loading them into that drop-vehicle in the courtyard. We've orders to send someone named Alcazar along with them up to a Wotton Enterprise ship in orbit, Arion."

  Luc checked Gob's bios. A medical AI had placed the big man into an unconscious state and identified that he required priority care. His prognosis, however, was positive.

  "How bad is he?" Jimmy looked to Luc.

  "Earned a trip to the tank," Luc said. "But he'll be good."

  "Seriously Luc, are you going to tell me what's going on or not?" Cyril asked.

  "One last — what about Festove?"

  "Damn, you sucked the fun out of that one," Cyril answered. "Got killed. Ugly too, looks like something was gnawing on him."

  "Check two more," Luc said. "Woman — only name I know is Zoya and Katriona Macillvain."

  "We split fifties on that," Cyril answered. "The one called Zoya was found face down in a puddle. Katriona Macillvain had to be sedated; she was screaming like a looney."

  "What now?" Luc asked.

  "You're supposed to report to the UCN. You okay with that?" Cyril asked.

  "Shouldn't be a problem. We're here under a UCN writ," Luc said.

  "You think you know a guy," Cyril said, grinning ironically. "UCN command has a shuttle next to the tavern. You get over there okay?"

  "We'll be fine. I'll look you up after this settles, Cyril," Luc said. "Thank the team, would you? You have no idea what seeing those Falcons meant to me."

  Epilogue

  Four heavily-armed soldiers stood outside the round UCN shuttle. The shuttle was white with a meter tall
, medium-blue band that encircled the ship at midline. The UCN soldiers were equally easy to identify as their helmets bore the same color scheme, although their uniforms were a more practical dark tan.

  Luc had never given much thought to the UCN in the past and wondered what new trouble he might be in. He had invaded a sovereign, non-member nation. He knew firsthand that governments had no difficulty convicting the politically inopportune.

  A steely-faced man wearing captain's bars exited from the forward hatch as he and Jimmy approached, carrying Tali's cot.

  "Mr. Gray?" the man shouted over the intensifying storm.

  "I'm Gray," Luc answered.

  "Derrig Potters. Come this way, please."

  Luc followed, running up the half flight of stairs and into what looked like a fully operational medical bay.

  "That's the last of 'em," Potters called, slapping the exterior bulkhead twice, enunciating his point.

  The storm sounds abated as two uniformed soldiers followed them in and locked the hatch.

  "Up on the table." A reedy man nodded to a gurney on the portside.

  "Liszt is looking good and so is the thief," Jimmy said, nodding to the women who lay next to each other, screens showing strong bio signs for both of them.

  Luc hopped up and allowed the medical technician to inspect his hastily patched wound.

  "Liftoff in two minutes. Hold on. It was a bumpy ride down," Potters said and disappeared through a narrow passageway forward.

  "Who's that?" Luc pointed to where a body lay, completely covered by a wet, bloody sheet.

  Before the doctor could stop him, Jimmy pulled the sheet back, exposing Zoya's pale, dead face.

  The shuttle shook violently as they entered Grünholz's low clouds.

  "You did all right back there, partner," Jimmy said.

  Luc shook his head negatively. "I was outsmarted at every turn. Marek baited us. If you hadn't been there, I'd be dead."

  "I got you, brother. That's the one thing Marek never could understand," Jimmy said. "He never saw value in a team. It was his only weakness."

  "I underestimated him."

  Jimmy shrugged. "Go ahead and beat yourself up for not guessing he'd created a zombie army. End of the day, we rescued her," he nodded to Katriona, "all those kids, and as a bonus, Katriona took out the mad scientist who created the entire mess."