Saint (Gateway Series Book 2) (20 page)

“Does she know?” asked Rebecca.

“She sent me here to get you, so she must think something’s wrong. And if I don’t report, she’s gonna opt for a less subtle option…like a Humani battle group.”

“She sent for me?” asked Rebecca intently. “What did she say? Did she have a message?”

“She said to get you,” replied Martin matter-of-factly. Martin suddenly paused and tilted her head slightly to contemplate the nature of Rebecca’s question. She felt the rage from a few minutes ago return. “No,” she huffed as she rolled her eyes and looked up toward the ceiling.

“What?” asked Rebecca.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” continued Martin as she walked in close to Rebecca. “Tell me the truth…Did her royal bitch-ness send me into this trap to retrieve a piece of ass?”

“No!” replied Rebecca, clearly embarrassed. “I mean—”

“That bitch!” replied Martin as she turned away from Rebecca and made a long walk around her cell to release a flurry of curses focused on First Families in general and Astra Varus specifically.

“But there is the mission as well,” said Rebecca in an attempt to calm Martin’s tirade.

“Mission? Yes. What is the mission?” asked Martin and she returned the bars next to Rebecca.

“But it is highly classified. I do not—”

Martin reached through the bars and grabbed Rebecca’s torn dress, pulling her in close.

“Listen, you little Association skank. If you ever want out of this cell, you’re gonna tell me what this is all about.”

The wide-eyed look from Rebecca told Martin she had gotten her point across.

“Let’s hear it,” said Martin.

Rebecca looked back toward the floor and inhaled heavily. She then glanced toward the empty hallway before returning her gaze and speaking. “It’s her plan to defeat the Terillian Confederation and free herself from the grips of the Xen Emperor.”

“The grip of the Xen Emperor?” asked Martin. “If it wasn’t for the Xen, our world would’ve…”

“You don’t know…” Rebecca paused. “Of course.”

“Know what?”

“It’s forbidden,” replied Rebecca as shook her head. “I knew I shouldn’t have—”

Martin grabbed Rebecca again and pulled her against the bars.

“Listen, you little bitch, I’ll leave you here to rot.” She pulled a little more so that Rebecca could feel the pressure of the cold metal bars against her cheek. “I’m done screwing around with you. Tell me everything. Now!” she added as she released her grip on Rebecca.

Rebecca quickly stepped back from the bars. “Fine,” she gasped. “It was the Xen centuries ago that destroyed your world. They created the culture you know of out of the ashes and controlled you through the First Families.”

“Bullshit,” replied Martin.

“It’s true,” answered Rebecca.

Martin felt ill. If there was any food in her stomach, she would have lost it. She took a step backward, shaking her head. “Liar!” she yelled. “It’s not true. It can’t be.”
Just another Association lie
, she thought.

“As long as the First Families keep the Xen happy, then they are allowed to rule Alpha Humana. It’s not too bad of a deal, really,” mused Rebecca. “Instead of devastation at the hands of the Xen, the First Families get to live like kings. And all they have to do is play their part and keep the lower classes in line. It was a very good deal for them.”

“There is no way—” Then it hit her like a lightning bolt. The room began to spin and her balance failed her. Without realizing it, she was on her knees. Her entire existence, her entire world…was it a lie? Every fiber of her being told her this woman could not be trusted. She was an Association agent, a master of subterfuge. She was lying. It had to be a lie. She wanted it to be a lie. She needed it to be a lie. But while her heart told her it was a lie, her brain began to ask questions. “And the First Terillian War?” mumbled Martin quietly from her knees, still trying to find the strength to take a breath.

“The Xen offered your First Families an ultimatum. Either offer their own world up for enslavement or attack the Akota of the Terillian Confederation and enslave their colonies.”

“First Families,” she mumbled. “And who are the Akota?”

“The Akota are one of many cultures that make up the Confederation. The majority of the Neutral Quadrant is made up of former Akota colonies, but the Confederation consists of several other similar civilizations.”

Martin’s head pounded and her stomach churned as logic and emotion struggled to make sense of what she was being told.
Why would she lie?
she suddenly thought to herself.
What does she have to gain by making this up?
She thought of First Family patriarchs. Could they do such a thing? Then she thought of Astra Varus. Yes. Yes they could. “Bastards,” she moaned.

“I’m afraid there’s a lot you don’t know about your history, Paladin Martin,” she replied.

“Don’t call me that!” shouted Martin. “No more damned titles. It’s all a lie…it’s all a fucking lie.” Martin slowly pulled herself to her feet as Rebecca continued.

“The First Terillian War provided enough slaves for the Xen to keep them happy for several generations—”

“The war was about slaves for the Xen?” interrupted Martin. She felt the confusion and pain caused by learning the truth start to turn to anger and rage—first a simmer and then a hot burning flame. “And this war?” she demanded.

“The slaves on the Xen home worlds have been stricken by a virus that is rapidly depleting their numbers. With the Xen culture dependent on slavery, they again offered the same ultimatum, which the First Families jumped at.”

Martin gripped the bars tightly until her fingers started to go white.

“So we have been the aggressors. The Terillians were innocent.”

“There’s no such thing as innocent, Martin,” replied Rebecca. “Just degrees of guilty. Everyone’s hands are dirty.”

The words sank into her pores. She had killed dozens, maybe hundreds of Terillians for simply defending their homes and families.

“Liars,” grumbled Martin. “They told me I was a soldier when I’m just their hired killer.”

“If ProConsul Varus’s plan is successful, the Xen will pay as well.”

Martin struggled to maintain control of her emotions and absorb the flood of truths Rebecca was releasing into her consciousness. Her history, her perception of the world, and even her identity were a swirling mass of disintegrating reality.

“Her plan?”

“The ProConsul has grown tired of being under control of the Xen. She and the Association have worked to perfect a virus to be embedded in a percentage of the slaves sent back to the Xen that will devastate the slave population, the Xen, and even their Doran allies. When they are weakened, the ProConsul will use her genetically modified troops to take control of the Xen worlds. In the end, she will defeat both the Xen and the Terillians and establish a Humani Empire that will last for eons.”

Martin could see a spark of mindless admiration in Rebecca’s eye as she explained Astra’s plan to kill millions and conquer the known galaxy. “You’re insane,” replied Martin. “Varus is going to go to war with everyone?”

“She is going to bring order to the known worlds.”

“She’s going to ruin us all,” shouted Martin. “Where are these additional troops?”

Martin saw Rebecca’s expression flatten.

“You won’t be able to stop her,” stated Rebecca flatly.

Martin reached through the bars, grabbed Rebecca, and slammed her forehead into the bars. “Don’t you worry about that,” replied Martin as Rebecca reached for her forehead. “Just answer the questions I’m asking.”

“But—”

“Ah-ah,” warned Martin as she gripped Rebecca’s clothing tighter. “Where are they?”

Martin paused and flashed a smile at Rebecca. “Or I can just play bounce-the-bitch-off-the-bars for a while.” Martin felt Rebecca start to struggle against her grip. “Easy there,” said Martin as she introduced Rebecca’s head to the bars again.

“Where?”

“Dolus, near Capro,” Rebecca relented as she closed her eyes against the pain. “Now please let me go.”

“The gas planet?” laughed Martin, maintaining her grip on Rebecca’s dress for another trip to the bars.

“No!” blurted Rebecca. “It’s true. The ProConsul gained the funds and the Association contracted the construction of a base and research facility in the ocean layer under the gas atmosphere. While the virus remains dormant until the carriers reach puberty, the growing army will be trained and the fleet built and equipped that will claim a new Humani Empire.”

“That’s impossible,” replied Martin. “That would cost—” Martin paused to ponder what lengths Astra would go through to gain ultimate power. “How many credits did it cost?”

“Almost all of them,” replied Rebecca. “But the cost of creating an enduring empire is high. It’s even more important to her than capturing the Traitor.”

Traitor. The word shot through her consciousness. “Stone,” she blurted to herself.
Did he find out the truth? Was he not the traitor he was made out to be?
A surge of relief passed over Martin’s body as she realized Stone might still be the man she thought he had been—maybe.

“He’s a fool,” continued Rebecca. “He could have positioned himself at the highest levels of Humani power and instead he’s running around the Neutral Quadrant in a dilapidated transport with his Akota concubine.”

Martin bounced Rebecca off the bars one more time for good measure and raised her finger to her mouth in a gesture to silence Rebecca. “I think you’ve talked enough, pumpkin. You should just sit in your cell and keep your mouth shut until it’s time for you to go.”

“You’re still taking me with you?” asked Rebecca. “I thought—”

“But you might not like where we’re going,” interrupted Martin.

“But—”

“Shhh,” interjected Martin again. “You’ve sung enough tonight.”

She watched as Rebecca slowly turned and walked back to her straw bed and lay down with her back to the entrance. Martin then returned to her bedding. Lying down and looking up toward the ceiling, she contemplated her new reality and started planning a way to get back to her former commander and find out his version of the truth.

Chapter 15

“Ready?” asked Mori softly as she and the others stood by the door leading out of the maintenance levels of the admin polis.

Stone nodded his head in acknowledgment. He looked toward Thay, Katalya, and Magnus; they were ready.

“Let’s go,” said Mori as she opened the door and stepped through.

Stone watched as Thay and Magnus quickly followed. Now it was his turn. As Stone slowly opened the door, he heard Mori’s voice over their short-range voice communicators.

“Hold positions,” she warned.

“What is it?” asked Stone as he quickly peeked through the partially open door.

Magnus had taken cover behind a row of shrubbery and Thay and Mori were lying on the grass near a well-maintained copse of trees by a roadway.

“Security,” she answered. “A lot of them.”

Stone gently let the door shut, leaned against the wall, and clenched his jaw in frustration.

“How many?” he asked.

“They’re everywhere,” answered Thay. “Dozens.”

Stone wondered if they had been double-crossed by Hanagus or Bianca. Maybe the technician had escaped and reported them. Maybe someone reported the dead guards or they missed a report. He looked over to Katalya, who was still in the maintenance area as well. Her face was tight with anxious energy.

“We can’t go through with this,” she whispered to Stone.

Stone nodded his head in agreement and activated his comms circuit. “Get back inside,” he said to Mori.

“Roger,” she replied. “We just need—”

“They’ve got dogs,” interrupted Magnus. “I can smell them.”

“As soon as this patrol passes,” continued Mori, “we’ll—”

Stone heard the barking of dogs.

“Contact!”
Mori shouted into the comms circuit as the barking of the dog was overwhelmed by the explosion of gunfire.

“We’re coming out!” shouted Stone as he reached for the door.

“No!”
shouted Mori over the comms circuit. “They don’t know you’re there. You and Katalya get back to
Hydra
. Orion will need your help if they’re not already captured or dead—”

Stone heard a burst of automatic fire from Mori’s rifle over the circuit.

“We’ll find another way out and meet at rendezvous Bravo in five hours. If we’re not there, follow breakdown protocol.”

“But—”

“That’s an order, Tyler. We don’t have time—”

Another blast of her rifle drowned out her voice.

“Mori?” shouted Stone.

“Don’t worry,” interrupted Thay over the circuit. “I’ve got her back.”

“Tyler, go!” 

Stone felt Katalya grab his arm.

“Let’s go,” said Katalya. “She’s my sister and I want to help too, but she’s right. And she knows what she’s doing.”

Stone grunted as the frustration overwhelmed him. “Shit!” He activated his circuit. “Roger, I’ll see you in five hours.”

He started to move, but his body didn’t want to obey. He so badly wanted to help Mori and the others.

“Tyler. We need to get to Orion,” said Katalya. Stone could feel her give his arm a good shake to jar him into action. “Let’s go!”

Stone looked at Katalya. He could tell in her eyes, so similar to Mori’s, that she was concerned too, not only for her sister but for her mate, Magnus. For a second they both gazed at each other as if to share their fears for what might happen while at the same time steeling their resolve.

“Let’s go,” acquiesced Stone.

The echoes of gunfire soon faded away as Stone and Katalya quickly make their way back into the maintenance underground. At the opening to the vertical ladder, they paused.

“Mori?” spoke Stone over the comms circuit. “Thay?”

There was no response. Stone hoped the distance and interference from the metal and concrete between their position and his was the reason for the silence.

“We’re probably out of range,” said Katalya.

Stone saw the concern on her face. He could tell she was asking him as much as telling him.

“Yeah,” he replied. “We’re on the edge of the range and underground…definitely out of range.” If only he could convince himself.

“They’ll make it to the rendezvous,” she added.

Stone put his hand on her shoulder. “Of course they will. Mori, Thay, and Magnus…if any three people can do it, it’s them,” Stone said reassuringly.

“If?” replied Katalya.

“They’ll be there,” answered Stone. He was focusing on reassuring Katalya but was trying to convince himself as well. They had already worked out the contingencies if the mission ran into problems. The Bravo rendezvous was a relaxation house in the recreation polis, far away from Hanagus’s establishment in case they were involved. If Mori and the others weren’t at that location, there were a series of alternate times and locations cascading all the way to making it to the Terillian controlled planet, Lima 8. It wasn’t the first time a mission had fallen apart for Stone, and he was sure it wasn’t for Mori or Thay either.
Do your job. Execute the plan
, he told himself. “You ready?” he asked Katalya.

Katalya nodded as she hooked her rifle into its sling and stepped down onto the first rung.

“Tyler…”

“Yes?” he replied looking down the opening toward Katalya.

“Thanks for saying what I needed to hear.”

Stone gave her a quick smile. “It’s true. Now let’s get out of here.”

Stone followed Katalya as the two quickly descended to the lower level. At the bottom were the bodies of the two guards they had encountered before. The attack by Mori and Magnus, combined with the damage from their falls, had taken their toll. The bodies were twisted and distorted with several gaping wounds. The floor was slick with their blood, forcing Stone to take slow, deliberate steps when he reached the bottom.

“We should get any gear from them that might be useful,” he said, but Katalya was already digging through the blood-soaked pockets of one of the guards.

She pulled a hand-held communicator from the dead man’s vest. “We can use their comms gear to listen in on what’s happening.”

As he and Katalya continued to collect additional ammunition and other useful items, the echo of a boot splashing through a puddle of water caught their attention. Stone spun around to see two maintenance technicians, carrying toolboxes and other gear, staring at them from approximately twenty meters away. The techs dropped their equipment and turned to run.

Stone rose to give chase, but Katalya was already two strides ahead of him. He pushed his body hard in an attempt to catch up to her but all he could do was stay close. Turning the corner, he saw the two technicians still running with Katalya only a few meters behind. At a full sprint, she drew her knife and drove it into the first technician’s lower back. As he arched his body and fell, she leapt toward the second man and landed on his back with her canine teeth sinking into his neck as the two tumbled forward.

The first technician was attempting to activate his communication device when Stone reached him. Before the technician could speak, Stone dropped to his knees and slid into the man’s body. He grasped the tech’s hand and wrenched his arm outward with a powerful twist causing the communicator to fall to the ground. The technician let out a moan that was quickly cut short as Stone extended the man’s arm toward him and with a powerful kick, knocked the man unconscious.

He jumped to his feet to assist Katalya but there was no need. She was walking toward him, her mouth dripping blood and the dead technician lying in the background. He was still amazed at the skill of Katalya and Magnus. The speed and ferocity of their attacks almost made him feel sorry for their victims.

“Is this one still alive?” asked Katalya as she wiped her victim’s blood from her chin with her sleeve.

“Just unconscious,” replied Stone as he looked down at the technician.

“Should we leave him?” she asked.

“He’s not security. Just some working stiff trying to do his job,” replied Stone. But he knew that didn’t mean anything. “But the Association might not know how many of us there are. If he talks, they could get more intel.”

“I know.” Katalya sighed. “Wishful thinking.”

Stone was surprised at Katalya’s sympathy for the technician given the violent and brutal nature in which she attacked.

“That’s what war is,” declared Stone. “You start off with a specific goal and end up with collateral damage.”

“He probably wouldn’t survive his wounds anyway,” added Katalya.

“Yeah,” answered Stone as he subconsciously felt for the medical pack he was carrying that could stop the technician’s bleeding. But then there would be none for him or Katalya if they were injured.

“Wrong place, really wrong time,” said Katalya as she reached down and pulled her knife from the man’s back. The blood flowed freely from the wound. “Guess it’s better to just get it over with,” she continued as she placed the knife to the man’s neck.

Stone wanted to turn away but forced himself to watch. This man was innocent, or at least wasn’t a combatant, and if he was going to die, Stone at least owed the man the respect of watching his death and feeling disgusted by it.

“Sorry, guy.” Katalya sighed again. She paused. Stone saw her take a deep breath. And another.

“Stop,” he interjected. “We’ve been fighting this whole time because we are supposed to be doing right. And this isn’t right.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Katalya. Stone could see the wave of relief pass over her face.

His training told him it was a mistake. He paused.

“Yes, damn it. I’m sure.” He pulled a coagulant gel pack from his pocket. “This guy isn’t dying today because of us.”

Katalya rose to her feet, sheathed her knife, and stepped back from the unconscious man.

“You know if Thay were here—”

“I know,” interrupted Stone. “But he’s not…it’s us and we’re gonna let him live.”

Stone knew without a doubt Thay would have killed the man. Magnus too. Maybe even Mori.

“We had better hurry though,” cautioned Katalya.

“You’re right,” said Stone as he applied the gel to the man’s wound.

After the gel, Stone injected a heavy dose of neuro-med into the man’s leg and rolled him onto his side.

“This should keep him out long enough for us to get out of this maze and back topside.” Just as he started to rise, Stone saw a small digital pad protruding from a utility pocket. He withdrew it and activated the screen.

“What is it?” asked Katalya.

Stone flipped the screen and series of photos appeared. Selecting the first one, he saw what appeared to be the technician with his wife and small daughter, no more than eight or nine.

“Just personal crap,” he replied as he set the pad in the front of the man’s chest. Rising back to his feet, Stone grabbed his rifle and looked toward Katalya. “I think we’ve done our good deed for the day. Now let’s get out of this hole.”

***

“Left!” shouted Mori as she fired a burst from her rifle.

Magnus and Thay joined her as the two Association guards on an elevated walkway to the groups left disappeared in a hail of lead.

“Incoming!” warned Thay.

Mori spun farther to her left as an antipersonnel rocket zoomed past her head and impacted against a wall five meters away. The blast enveloped the group, jarring Mori’s body and knocking her against a nearby wall and onto the ground. As she hit the ground, she grabbed for her right ear.

It felt like it had been pierced by a hot knife; the concussion had ruptured her eardrum. Her head throbbed as a high-pitched tone reverberated through her good ear. Pushing the pain out of her consciousness, Mori rose to her knees and brought her rifle to her shoulder. Two attackers were on top of her.

Mori pulled the trigger and her rifle erupted at point-blank range. The first attacker’s torso twisted backwards awkwardly as his chest was torn apart by Mori’s fire. Shifting her aim quickly, she fired again.

The second attacker crumpled to the ground from the combined fire of Mori and Magnus, who had recovered from the blast and fired at the guard as well.

“Thay!” shouted Mori. She looked through the dust still floating to the ground from the explosion. “Thay!”

As the dust and smoke began to clear, Mori saw Thay in a firing position behind a pile of debris created by the explosion. He raised his hand to indicate he was still in the fight.

“Incoming!” Thay shouted followed immediately by a blast from his rifle.

Mori curled her body tight again as another rocket exploded nearby. As the blast wave dissipated, she again took up a firing position.

“Got ’em,” reported Thay. “We’re clear to move.”

“Move!” she shouted as she sprung to her feet and sprinted toward what appeared to be a nature park.

The ringing in Mori’s left ear subsided as she and the others made their way across the hundred or so meters to the entrance of the park. Each step, however, brought a wave of pain that passed over the right side of her face from the damaged ear. At the entrance, Mori took a defensive position by a large concrete statue. Feeling Thay’s body as he crouched beside her, she released the empty clip from her rifle, slammed another into place, and depressed the bolt release pin. Looking to her right, she saw Magnus leaning against a large tree covering the group from the rear.