… because I didn’t know what the fuck Pritchard was playing at, hitting me like that, but Delight had just dropped the big psi, before he could return to the other side of the desk, and Cascade had slipped his leash and was behind the desk, out of sight.
Just what in the stars’ names was going on? And why the Hell had we thought we could ever pull this off?
“Cutter!”
Huh? Now, why did I feel like my reality had just taken a strong twist to the left, and why the fuck were my hands cuffed behind my back? Hadn’t one of them been supposed to undo the cuffs before things reached this point?
“Cutter!” and this time, I registered the gleam of silver in Delight’s hand.
She caught the moment I registered the keys, and then tossed them in my direction, before moving to intercept the wolf closest the door. Its partner was already moving in on Pritchard, and I figured we didn’t have much time.
“Get us locked down and then lock the rest of the system down. I’ve asked Wanderer to speed up its schedule.”
The what? And she had? Whatever.
I knew what I had to do, now, even if the what and how I’d managed to get into the office was a bit of a blur. I scrambled up and over the desk and joined Cas in hiding behind it.
“What’s the matter, boy? Mean computer won’t let you in to play?”
Which was a bit of an understatement. Until I’d arrived, Cas had been bouncing into, and then back out of the range of a half dozen defensive programs.
“Let me see what I can do about that, hey?” I crooned, jacking directly into the terminal and suppressing a whoop of glee when I saw the wolf hadn’t secured it between opening up the still-live contract for me, and coming across the desk to wipe the sheer rebellion off my face.
“Yeah, baby. Here we go, boy,” and I reached out and hooked into the system, opening the door real wide for Cascade to come prancing through. The Wolves had pretty good security, but they hadn’t configured it for anyone who was already in the system with pretty high clearances to begin with. I could feel the wolf’s log-in data cloaking Cascade and me with a layer of code that said we were something other than what we were.
“Cas! Find Rohan! Find him! Find Rohan! Find Mack! Seek! Seek!”
I got the impression of a large, black, and hairy tornado tearing into the files seeking the faintest trace of those we loved and knew. It tore a swathe through the data that I was pretty sure Delight wasn’t going to appreciate, and then he took off. I got set to follow him, and then found I couldn’t. The damn dog had burned a swathe a mile wide and attracted a bit of attention—that, and I was finding it hard to concentrate. You know, like someone had given me a solid clip upside the head and rattled my brains.
Funny that.
I settled for going through the files and trying to find something more concrete that Delight and the Odyssey team could use, and then I remembered what she said about getting the Wanderer to speed up its schedule. That meant I’d have help.
That meant I didn’t have to stay in the system trying to keep up with a dog I’d already lost, or going through files I didn’t need. That meant I could pull myself back into the real and help kick some doggy butt!
“Yeah… or you could just fry the comms so they don’t get a message out, blind the security cams to buy us a bit more time, and lock down the doors to their living quarters to keep the odds halfway even. You know, Cutter. Something useful like that!”
Well, she didn’t have to be quite so mean about it!
“Wanna bet?” and something sharp and cold drove deep into my thigh, sending rivers of ice and fire jolting through my system.
I opened my eyes with a screech, and was in time to see Delight turning away to deflect a strike to her torso. That left me to pull the auto-injector from my leg, which I did, throwing it as far away from me as I could. It crashed into the next wolf coming through the door, and I realized Delight and Pritchard could do with some help.
“Yuh think?” came as a distinct chorus, and I took a deep breath, as energy swirled through my system.
Oh, dear heavens, no. She hadn’t.
“Sorry, sweetie,” and she didn’t sound anywhere near as sorry as she should have.
Well, at least I knew I was going to be a bit off the wall for the next… I really hoped this wasn’t going to last as long as last time. That had been horrible!
Before the drugs took over, I remembered the padded lining inside my ship suit, and opened up the pockets.
Oh. Yeah. Baby!
Weighted gloves to protect my hands, and four stunners.
Stunners!
I couldn’t help feeling a little bit disappointed at that.
“Three,” Delight said, and Pritchard turned his head in my direction, as I pulled the gloves on.
“Two,” and they both took steps to the side that put them just a little further away from where I was rolling to my feet.
“One!” punctuated my next move, nicely.
I continued my upwards roll, but used the momentum of it to back a punch into the closest wolf’s kidney. It grunted, and turned away from Delight, but it didn’t go down. It’s mistake. My next blow caught it in the side of the head, and it dropped like a stone.
Delight dropped, too, and I pivoted and gloved the next of the wolves upside the head. To me, it was as if he and Pritchard had only just noticed I’d arrived and wasn’t feeling charitable. Pritchard hit the floor and rolled away from me, which left the third wolf as the most
