Refusing Excalibur (18 page)

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Authors: Zachary Jones

BOOK: Refusing Excalibur
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Victor, breathing heavily, pulled out the bloodied blade, surprised he had killed two men so quickly.
The bound woman had lost her balance and backed away from Victor, whimpering through her gag.
Her fear surprised him at first, but, armored as he was, Victor must have been a frightening sight.
He sheathed the cutlass and released his assault rifle, letting it hang from its strap, and then held up both hands. “It’s all right. I won’t hurt you.”
“
Hmph
?” the gagged woman tried to say, her fear replaced by confusion.
Gaz came up behind him. “You gonna get us killed with that kind of fuckin’ heroics!”
“Just help me hide the bodies,” Victor said, while helping up the bound woman.
He pointed her in the direction of Fara and Cormac. The gagged woman nodded and walked over to them while he and Gaz grabbed the bodies of both pirates and dragged them from the corridor, an easy task in the low gravity.
By the time Victor dragged the bodies into the storage room, Cormac and Fara had removed the woman’s gag, but her arms were still bound.
“We’ll need the keys to these cuffs,” Fara said.
“The big guy missing the top of his head had the keys,” the woman said. “On a ring hanging from his right hip.”
Gaz grabbed the keys and tossed them to Fara, who stood on one leg while she undid the woman’s cuffs.
Free of her bonds, the red-haired woman rubbed her wrists in front of her. “Thanks for the assist. But who the hell are you?”
“Mercenaries,” Victor said.
“Mercs? How many?” she asked.
Victor shrugged. “Just the four of us. We’re all that’s left.”
She nodded. “You must be the ones from the fake pirate ship they shot down.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Where did you hear about this?”
She cocked her head toward the two dead pirates. “They were talking about it. Apparently they spotted a second ship jumping in and figured out the ruse you were pulling.”
“Guess I’m not the only one who knows what a Trojan horse is,” Victor said.
“A what?” asked the woman.
Victor shook his head. “Never mind.”
Without asking, the woman removed the gun belt from the big pirate’s corpse.
“Name’s Lena, by the way,” she said while she undid the buckles. “Captain Lena Dryer of the
Daisy Mae
. Or I was. These pirates took me and my crew captive two weeks ago.”
“Are there other captives?” asked Victor.
“Yeah, about three hundred,” Lena said. She pulled the gun belt free of the dead pirate and wrapped it around her waist.
“Three hundred? What do they plan on doing with so many prisoners?” asked Victor.
Lena grimaced at him as she fastened the buckle. “What do you think? Sell us to slavers.” She pointed at herself. “I think it’s pretty clear what would happen to me.”
“Yeah, I could guess that. Do any of the prisoners know how to fight?” asked Victor.
Lena raised an eyebrow. “Fight? Most of them are merchant crewmen, so they all know how to operate a gun.”
Victor nodded. He scratched his beard in thought.
Gaz looked at Victor. “What the fuck you plannin’?”
Victor glanced to Gaz. “A prisoner revolt.” He then looked to the starchild. “Cormac, you said they probably keep weapons in a separate area?”
“Yes, but I do not know where it is,” Cormac said.
“I do,” Lena said. “I saw a sign for the armory.” She pointed down the left corridor. “About fifty meters that way, then a left, then another hundred meters.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Fara.
Lena smiled coyly and told Fara, “Because, my dear, I counted my footsteps when I was taken away. I figured it would come in handy for any escape.”
“Clever,” Fara said.
“Thanks, though I appreciate you guys saving me from becoming a party favor,” Lena said.
“We’re just heroic like that,” Fara said.
“Ahem,” Victor said to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, so the first step is to free the prisoners. Lena, how many guards are there?”
“Five,” Lena said.
“Total?”
“Yes, there’s a central area where all the prisoner cages open. They keep us separated based on gender and what kind of slaves they plan on making us.”
“We’ll need to take them down quietly. Gun shots will probably travel through this entire base,” Victor said. “Gaz, you ready for some close-combat work?”
Gaz stripped off the gloves of his suit, showing the silvery metal grafted onto his knuckles. “I was made for it.”
“Good.” Victor said, “Lena, lead the way.”
“You got it.”
Victor tightened the strap of his assault rifle to keep it from rattling around and making noise. He then pulled out his blood-covered cutlass and followed behind Lena, with Gaz behind him.
Cormac and Fara were farther behind, Fara supporting herself against Cormac with one hand and holding a pistol in the other. Cormac similarly held Victor’s old hand-me-down carbine in his free hand.
Even with their effort to be quiet, the sound of the heavy space suit boots reverberated against the metal deck of the corridor. Victor clenched his teeth, willing himself into silence.
He got so focused on being stealthy that he almost didn’t notice the pair of pirates who rounded the corner. Lena bumped into the chest of the nearest one.
“Wha—” was all the pirate said before Victor grabbed a fistful of Lena’s jumpsuit and pulled her back, then brought down his cutlass on the surprised pirate, slicing him open from clavicle to crotch.
As the pirate gurgled, blood leaking from his mouth, Gaz leapt past Victor and drove his metal-tipped knuckles into the other pirate’s temple with a wet crack.
The man fell, and Gaz landed on top of him, punching him three more times, pulping the pirate’s face.
By that time, the pirate Victor cut had fallen over and died.
He turned to Lena. “Were these guys guards?”
“No, I haven’t seen these two before,” she said.
“How much farther to the prison?” he asked.
“Twenty meters down and to the right.”
“All right, leave the bodies here.”
They moved along the corridor with as much stealth as their bulky equipment allowed. As they approached the prison, voices became audible around the corner.
“Why did Nevs and Jakes have to take the redheaded girl?” said one man. “She was the prettiest of this lot.”
“Because she pissed off Lucille. You know what happens to slaves who piss off Lucille,” said someone else. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your turn with her when we’re off duty.”
“Eh, she won’t be very fresh after that.”
Lena stopped and leaned around the corner before retreating. She held up three fingers.
But where are the other two guards?
Victor thought. He replaced Lena at the corner to get a look through the doorway. Three pirates sat at a table. All had their backs turned to the door. He guessed the other two were out of view.
He looked to Gaz and signaled him to follow, then charged around the corner and through the door.
The clacking of his suit’s armor drew the attention of the pirates as Victor slammed into the table, knocking the first three down.
The two other pirates guarding the prisoners stood next to the four cages off this central room. One had his hand through the bars to grope the women inside. The other stood watch between the two cages to the right.
The women in the left cage immediately grabbed the arms of the pirate trying to touch them and pulled the screaming man against the bars. The other pirate turned around with a gun in his hands, but, before he could aim, Gaz pounced on him, crushing his face with a reinforced fist.
The three pirates Victor knocked down scrambled for their weapons, but three quick slashes with his cutlass ended them within seconds.
The last pirate to die was the one with his arms trapped by the women in the left-hand cages, his face a mass of scratches.
Gaz walked up to him and snapped his neck, then turned to Victor. “You’re a real killer with that sword.”
“Thanks,” Victor said.
The prisoners clamored for release. Victor looked at the pirates, seeing which ones had the keys when Lena ran in and knelt over one of them.
“Captain! Open the cage!” yelled one of the male prisoners.
Lena pulled a keycard from one of the guards Victor had cut open and walked up to the right-hand cage, sliding the card into the reader and pressing a button on the control screen.
The gate opened, and the prisoners charged out. A few of them gathered around Lena, hugging her. She tossed the keycard to Victor. “Open the others.”
He did, freeing the rest of the three hundred prisoners. Some of them picked up weapons from the dead pirates.
“You said you knew where the armory is?” Victor asked.
Lena nodded. “I do. Follow me.” She hefted her stolen pistol and walked from the prison.
Victor sheathed his cutlass and unslung his assault rifle. The time for stealth was over.
They passed Cormac and Fara along the way, Fara leaning against the bulkhead while Cormac guarded the corridor with his carbine.
“Looks like things are about to get loud,” Fara said, glancing at Victor’s rifle.
“You’re right. This place is now a war zone,” Victor said. “So keep your heads down.”
She scoffed. “We’re mercs like you, Victor. We can take care of ourselves. But thanks for the thought.”
Victor nodded. “Direct the prisoners. Get them to the armory.”
“You got it,” she said.
“Cormac, I’ll need you with us to hack the armory’s doors.”
The starchild nodded his long, thin head. “Of course.”
Victor ordered the unarmed prisoners to stay behind with Fara while the armed ones followed Victor, Gaz, and Lena.
As the only ones wearing combat armor, Victor and Gaz took point, followed closely by Lena.
She directed them to a corridor with an arrow painted on the side and the label Armory stenciled in.
“Okay, Gaz. You and me lead the way,” Victor said.
“You got it,” he said.
They followed the signs to the armory. On two occasions, they ran into lone pirates in the corridor. On both occasions they gunned them down without stopping.
Behind them, Lena shouted to her people to stay back and let the mercenaries do their work.
An alarm went up just as Victor and Gaz made the last turn toward the armory. Someone must have noticed the gunfire.
A guard appeared in the doorway, weapon at the ready. Gaz and Victor dropped him with a burst from their assault rifles and then charged forward.
Reaching the hatch, Gaz pulled a stun grenade from his belt and then tossed it inside.
A loud bang and a flash of light came from the hatch, followed by screams.
Victor and Gaz turned the corner and killed the three pirates still alive in a short one-sided gunfight.
As Victor anticipated, the door to the armory itself was locked, and none of the guards had matching keycards.
“Cormac, get over here!”
The starchild bounded in on his long legs. Without preamble, he pulled out a multitool and took apart the door’s control console.
Gunfire and shouting came from the corridor.
“It appears the pirates are now alert to our activities,” Cormac said, pulling wires from the panel. “You should keep them from interrupting me.”
“Right. Gaz, guard Cormac while he works,” Victor said before he ran into the corridor.
He followed the gunfire to the adjacent junction. The armed prisoners had taken cover and were firing down one of the three corridors leading to the junction in front of the armory. They needed to hold this position if they wanted to get the other prisoners to the armory.
Lena crouched around the corner, shouting orders. Victor ran up to her. “I’ll hold this junction, Captain. I need you to bring the other prisoners here so we can arm them.”
“Have you opened the armory then?” she shouted over the gunfire.
“Cormac will have it open by the time you get back,” Victor said. He hoped that was true.
Lena nodded and turned to run up the corridor leading toward the prison.
A prisoner fell, wounded by a gunshot to the shoulder. Victor pulled him from the line of fire and took his place at the corner. Setting his assault rifle to full-auto, he leaned around the corner to fire.

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