“No, you must be looking at something else,” Grannt said. “These are for 7812.”
“Dierk, check this out.” The lead trooper turned to show his partner the Aura. “I think we need to call this in.”
That was when Grannt made his move.
The big man jabbed his elbow out, hard and sharp, and hit the first trooper in the side of the head. The trooper’s head snapped back and Grannt hit him again, a powerful blow with his elbow. This time the trooper collapsed like someone had chopped him off at the knees.
“What the—?” The second trooper went for his sidearm.
But Grannt was on it. He arced his shally stick up.
I remembered what Grannt had warned me about. Shally sticks take a few moments to power up. And they’re loud.
I didn’t hear anything. That meant Grannt’s shally stick wasn’t charged.
But it didn’t really matter.
Grannt stabbed the end of the stick into the trooper’s unprotected throat.
Gaaaah! The man collapsed in a gurgle of blood.
“By Wanden’s Beard!” Thastus exclaimed.
“Father, please!” Kira grabbed his arm and ushered him away.
“Was that really necessary?” Biella glared at Grannt.
“Yes, Dr. Lark,” I said. “Unfortunately, yes.” I escorted her away, while Grannt pulled the bodies into a side corridor.
“Every Mayir death deserves to be celebrated,” TenSix said. “Robustly!”
“What is that bot prattling on about?” Thastus asked.
“Ignore him,” Kira said.
We finally made it through the staff door into the maintenance hub. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I knew we had a long way to go.
“Down here.” Kira picked up the pace, leading us purposefully through wide, sloping corridors punctuated by repair bays, storerooms, laundry facilities, supply depots, and other utility rooms. Most everything was empty, but a few workers were finishing up their last tasks of the day. Again, we were pretty much ignored.
Soon we found ourselves at the entrance to the utility tunnel. After making sure that we weren’t being observed, I yanked the door open, and peered inside. Fortunately, there wasn’t a squadron of troopers waiting for us on the other side. The upper alcove was deserted.
“What is this place?” Thastus asked.
“Utility tunnel,” Grannt said. “Safer than trying to escape on the surface.” He quickly freed the Larks from their stun cuffs.
They rubbed their wrists, but before they could get too comfortable, Kira urged us forward. “We can’t stop for anything.”
We descended the stairs into the main part of the tunnel and I set TenSix down.
“I just hope there aren’t any cloaca rats down here,” Thastus said.
“The only rats we may encounter are Mayir,” TenSix said.
“Again with the bot?” Thastus regarded TenSix. “You have quite the global sentiment module in you, don’t you?”
“I do indeed, Doctor.”
“At least it’s polite,” Biella sniffed.
“Mother, please.” Kira ushered her parents forward.
We hiked through the tunnel and soon found ourselves at the T-junction where we turned left and followed the main corridor. Passing an emergency station, we crossed a flood control channel.
“Isn’t this where we saw those maintenance workers?” Kira asked.
“Yes, they’re back on the other side of that hatch,” Grannt said.
“I’m not going even ask what you did with them,” TenSix said.
“Better that you don’t,” Kira said.
We arrived at a four-way intersection and Kira led the way to the right.
“You sure this is the way?” I asked. All these branching corridors looked the same to me.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Kira said. “One of my superpowers, remember?”
I did remember. She said she had a topographic memory. And based on her navigation through these tunnels and the maintenance hub, I had no reason to doubt her.
“Are we close to—” Before Thastus could finish his sentence a blaster bolt flashed through the corridor.
Thastus cried out in pain and crumpled to the floor.
“Get down!” Grannt yelled.
Another volley of blaster fire shot down the corridor, ricocheting close enough for me to feel the heat. From what I could tell, the attacks were coming from behind us. Someone had been following us and now decided to take us all out.
20
“There’s a side passage up ahead,” Grannt said. “We have to get some cover.”
“I’m hit,” Thastus cried. “I can’t walk.”
“I’ll carry you,” Grannt said.
“Go!” I yelled. “I’ll cover you!”
Our attacker didn’t let up, but neither did I. Flipping my KHG-S92 to full auto, I kept up a barrage of blaster fire so intense, the air seemed to be on fire. In the back of my mind, I worried about hitting one of those orange pipes that contained the NECRO-7. That would be bad. Very, very bad.
“Clear!” Grannt called.
Somehow the group had managed to make it the twenty-five meters to the next junction. Now I had to do the same.
“Beck, stay on my left,” Grannt said. “I’ll cover you. On three!”
Right about then I really regretted my decision to leave the exosuit behind. It would have come in handy.
Grannt counted off to three and I sprinted down one side of the corridor as quickly as I could, amidst a rain of blaster bolts. I dove to the ground and slid the last few meters. I felt arms grab me and pull me around the corner to the left.
“Everyone okay?” I asked, looking up into the faces of Kira and her mom.
“My father’s been hit,” Kira said. “It’s bad.”
“No more than a scratch, princess,” Thastus said quietly.
But he was being brave. A very large chunk of his thigh had been burned away. I was amazed that the man was still conscious.
Grannt quickly peered around the corner and then pulled his head back. “It looks like there’s just one shooter,” the big man said. “But he’s wearing armor, so we’re not going to outgun him. And he’s probably already called for reinforcements.”
I thought for a moment, my mind racing. As part of my ongoing training to impersonate my father, a lot of operational mission information had been implanted in my mind. And some of that information included combat strategies. One specific strategy surfaced now, but we only had a small window to implement it.
“We need to split up,” I said.
“What?” Kira glared at me. “No.”
“It’s
