Recon Marines III: The Marine's Doctor (23 page)

Mak spent the seven minutes searching
for the mine avoidance software patched into the craft’s controls.
It wasn’t standard equipment as all space mines were illegal. Few
pirates even used the cowardly weapons. After finding it, he ran
diagnostics on the cruiser’s other weapons. Two projectile cannons
and four ship-killer rockets. Not much but better than
nothing.

The ships landed side by side at
nearly the same moment. Mak waited on the ground beside the science
ship before the door opened. Pender came out first, a pistol in his
hand and three rifles slung across his back. Mak took one of the
long guns from him and then helped Molly down off the last high
step. She had her arms full with her AI tablet and three thin
memory slabs. Her fat pack hung over one shoulder and slapped
against her hip as she hurried across the grass.

Box herded the other two doctors ahead
of him. He carried as many weapons as Pender as well as a pack
filled with foodstuffs. “Everything as ordered, sir.”

Mak helped carry things into the star
cruiser. The ship had been designed for a three-man crew so things
were tight. He showed Pender how to work the mine disabling
software.

“
What is the plan, Mak?”
Molly asked.

“
Box and Pender will fly
you out of here until you reach the radio perimeter. You’ll call
your father and tell him we need a combat unit here. You wait there
until help arrives.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You describe that
as if you’re not coming with us.”

“
I have to disable the
other fighter ships or they’ll hunt you down.” Mak added the rifle
he’d taken from Pender to the one he already had hanging across his
back. “This ship can navigate the minefield but so can
theirs.”

“
You can’t stay here and
fight them all alone.”

“
I’m not going to fight
them. I’ll delay any response to my incursion and your
escape.”

“
But not alone.” She
wrapped her long strong fingers around his wrist. “I’ll stay with
you.”

“
That would only make my
job more difficult.”

She smiled. “I suppose I should be
insulted by that.”

“
Why?”

“
Be careful, Mak. You saw
the vid. I think that Nemon character came from here.”

“
Tell your father that.”
Mak worked his way around the doctors’ packs and entered the small
flight deck. “Are you familiar with the weapons’ systems,
Pender?”

“
Yes, sir. I trained in an
earlier model of this craft. Do you think I’ll have to use them?”
Pender’s face looked pale in the greenish light from the control
panel.

“
Not if I do my job.” Mak
couldn’t avoid Molly as he exited the cockpit.

“
Maybe you should keep
Andy or Kory with you.” She looked frightened as she swept her gaze
over him.

He couldn’t let her be scared. Despite
Dr. Loren sitting on the floor only a few steps away, Mak picked up
Molly’s hands and squeezed them. “You’ll be fine. Pender knows how
to fly this machine. Your father will send a regiment to protect
you.”

She shook her head. “I’m worried about
you.”

“
This is what I do,
Molly.” He couldn’t resist. He kissed her. “As long as you’re safe
everything will work out.”

“
Sir, could you give me
another minute here?” Box called from the forward
section.

Mak joined them, finding both soldiers
staring at the sensor display.

Box pointed. “Sir, we had a
communication blip from our ship as we landed. It was only three
seconds long but probably enough to give away our
location.”

“
Get out of here now. Use
stunners inside the craft if you need to.” Mak ran out of the ship,
not even looking toward Molly lest she try to speak to him. They’d
been betrayed again.

Chapter Fourteen

Molly regretted her rash decision as
the science vessel banked sharply left. She clung to the doorframe
until the ship straightened and then worked her way toward the
bridge. Engineering wasn’t one of her fields of expertise, but she
was certain the ship wasn’t designed to fly like this. Her shin
slammed into the first step up toward the bridge and drew Mak’s
attention.

She’d learned to read Mak’s passion on
his face as well as amusement and confusion. Now a dark emotion
she’d never seen on his lovely face transformed his expression into
something frightening.

Mak looked back at the instrument
panel. “Strap into the copilot’s seat.”

His growl made it clear it was an
order not to be disobeyed. Almost as soon as she snapped the
harness the ship pitched sharply left and then down. The grassy
plain rushed at them in the front view screen. She gripped the edge
of the control panel. Her stomach climbed her throat but then Mak
pulled out of the dive so they skimmed near the surface.

In a more peaceful situation the
exhilarating ride might have thrilled Molly, but at the moment she
wondered what danger drove Mak to fly in such a risky fashion. A
large building splattered with green paint came into view. It rose
from the flats to tower above the short grass.

Mak flew at it and then arced around
to approach from a different direction. The side growing large in
the front screen was open to the world. Three ships took up most of
the big building, two of them matches for the one Mak had stolen.
As they drew nearer Molly made out the tiny forms of men running
around the ships. Reaction to the theft?

Their science ship shuddered as Mak
forced it into another sharp turn. Something crashed against a wall
back in the lab. Molly’s stomach took a sickening lurch as the ship
dropped coming out of the turn. It hit the ground with a jolt that
jarred her backbone. She hadn’t drawn in a full breath before Mak
rose from the pilot’s seat. He reached over and unsnapped her
safety belt.

Mak grabbed her arm and dragged her
back through the ship and into the small cargo closet. He threw his
rifle across his back as they ran. He tapped a code into the wall
panel and a trapdoor slid open on the floor. She hadn’t even known
the opening existed on her ship. He jumped through, landing lightly
in the grass below the belly of the ship.

“
Jump.” He reached up for
her.

The distance was at least twelve feet,
ankle-breaking height. She fell more than jumped. Mak caught her
waist and broke her landing. Giving her no chance to find her
balance, he grabbed her hand and took off running for the back of
the ship. She’d never run so fast in her life. Her feet skimmed the
grass as Mak led her around the far corner of the building. He
pushed her against the metal wall and pressed his body tight
against hers.

“
Cover your ears.” Mak
touched something on his weapons belt. A blast shattered the day,
light and heat rushing past them. A rumble ran through the ground
beneath their feet, felt more than heard. A secondary explosion
followed. A screech of metal added to the ear bursting
noise.

Molly saw flaming debris landing far
out into the plains beyond Mak’s shoulder. White smoke drifted like
fog outward from the building and added an eerie quality to the
silence.

“
Stay here,” Mak growled.
He glided along the building to the corner and then peeked around
the edge. After a moment he moved further beyond the corner. His
movements blended into the smoky air so he seemed part of
it.

Molly looked down at her dark
utilities, the simple clothing she always wore on missions. It
resembled the basic military uniform favored by the army. It would
stand out against the gray smoky background. Her presence would
endanger Mak’s ability to be stealthy. He would have been better
off without her. But she hadn’t wanted to leave him alone to face
whatever new nightmares waited to be discovered in the still
functioning lab.

Mak waved her forward to join him. His
dark eyes traveled over her, no longer filled with the anger she
deserved to see. “I can’t leave you here alone. They’ll be
searching through the wreckage and might put out patrols. Their
cruisers are disabled so they won’t be able to catch our crew but
their cargo ship might still be flight capable. I have to make sure
they can’t use it.”

“
I won’t hold you back.”
But Molly knew that wasn’t true.

Mak lifted his eyebrow and took a
pistol from his belt. He handed it to her. “You stay behind me. I
have armor. If someone shoots you’ll be safest behind my
body.”

She nodded but he swept his gaze over
her, looking unsure. “I should take you out in the grass and hide
you until help arrives.”

“
By the time it does they
might have taken all the evidence and escaped. They could start up
again on a different world and this time we might not find them.”
Molly squared her shoulders. “You know we have to stop this. We
can’t let their experiments go on.”

“
I know. Why did you stay,
Molly? I sent the ship away to keep you safe.”

“
How could I run away
while knowing you were being left behind all alone?”

“
What does that matter?
This is what I do, what I was created to do.”

“
We can’t have this
discussion here and now. I stayed so let’s get on with it and stop
those cruel bastards.”

His eyebrow went up again. “Sometimes
you’re exactly like your father.” He gave her no chance to respond
and led off around the corner.

The first body part took her by
surprise though it shouldn’t have. Men had been running toward the
science vessel when it had exploded.

Mak didn’t look at the carnage, and
Molly forced her gaze to stay on his back. Though nothing could
block her view of the two mangled star cruisers. They crept beneath
the sagging chassis of the first destroyed ship. Mak paused and
took something out of his belt. He took a few steps to the left,
staring up at the underbelly of the ship. The white metal all
looked the same to Molly but Mak found what he was looking for. He
slapped a gray metallic disc onto the spot. They continued to the
next cruiser where he repeated the process. They climbed over a
shredded wing section out into a more open area.

The body sprawled in their path
appeared intact. If not for the blood oozing from his ears Molly
might have thought he still lived. The explosive forces must have
focused into the open hangar.

Mak spun and grabbed Molly’s hand. He
ran with her to the rear wall. He tugged at the collar of his
armored shirt and pulled free a hood. He slipped it over his head
and then pressed her against the wall, his body shielding her from
whatever danger he sensed. To each side she could see piles of
twisted metal, some still glowing with the explosive heat, but
Mak’s shoulders blocked most of her view.

After a tense minute she heard men
shouting. The voices came from her left, beyond the large cargo
ship. Sweat popped up on her forehead, and she moved her hand
toward the pistol she’d stashed behind her waistband. Mak’s hand
covered hers and stopped her from pulling the weapon
free.

Mak acted as calm as always, none of
the nervous tension humming through Molly evident in his posture.
He held her immobile against the wall for a few more minutes before
stepping back. They moved in the direction of the voices though it
sounded as though the men had moved out beyond the opening of the
hangar.

Molly looked down as she walked,
necessary with the amount of debris on the ground. She bumped into
Mak’s back when he stopped. He made a small gesture with his head
and directed her attention to a man standing near the rear landing
strut of the cargo ship.

The guard held a rifle and stared
toward the open front of the hangar. Looking in the direction of
his gaze, Molly say more than a dozen men moving cautiously toward
the burning wreck. The scent of oily smoke drifted to her and a
thin band of gray smoke hung near the high ceiling of the
hangar.

Mak put a hand on Molly’s arm and then
pointed at the ground. She’d noticed Mak teaching his men hand
signals and wished now she’d paid close attention. But even she
understood this simple command to stay put.

Seeing Mak in his natural element
highlighted how little of himself he shared in the staff meetings
aboard ship. His intelligent questions and easy comprehension of
facts helped him fit in with the scientists but this stalking of
the guard displayed him as the predator he really was. The man
never saw Mak until the Recon Marine’s hand clapped over his mouth.
Mak put his other hand on the guard’s shoulder and turned him.
Molly tore her stare away but the loud crack of neck bones let her
brain create the image in gruesome detail.

Mak returned and led her beneath the
cargo ship. From their new position Molly could see more men than
she’d thought roamed out in the grasslands. Perhaps Mak could sneak
by them in his camouflaged suit but she couldn’t hide in her black
attire. But her marine didn’t even look at them.

He took another gray disc from his
belt as he searched beneath the ship for the right spot. Molly
watched him search again for a vulnerable spot that likely led to
secondary explosions. But the belly of this ship towered around
fifteen feet over their heads. Mak found the spot he wanted. He
bent his knees and jumped, attaching the device with ease. He
landed without sound after the effortless show of power.