Saint (Gateway Series Book 2) (21 page)

She felt Thay shaking her shoulder and turned to face him.

“Can you hear me now?” he shouted. “Your ear—”

“It’s fucked,” she interrupted. The acknowledgment sent another wave of pain through her body.

“Here.” Thay injected a neuro-med into her thigh. “This should take the edge off.”

The medicine acted quickly and Mori felt the pain subside to a dull ache almost instantly.

“Anyone behind us?” she asked Magnus, turning her good ear toward him.

“Nothing.”

She turned back toward Thay and spoke. “I don’t think they were waiting for us when we left the maintenance area. They seemed to be casting a wide net.”

She saw Thay nod in agreement. “They knew we were here but not where. If we can get back to the underground we might have a chance.”

“Unless they’re driving us there,” retorted Mori. “But we have no idea where we’re going up here.”

“Do you still have that map from the tech?”

“Right here,” answered Mori as she patted her tactical vest. “We’ll move along the edge of this park until we find another entrance into the maintenance area.”

“They might have locked down the entrance and exits,” pondered Thay. “I would.”

Mori paused. Her thoughts went to Stone and her sister Katalya. Hopefully they had made it out. She was counting on it as she formulated a plan.

“You’re right. If we blow the doors to the next maintenance area entrance we find, they will think we went underground and hopefully shift most of their attention there. If they do, we might be able to make it to an entrance of another polis and start making our way toward the others.”

“And what of Stone and Katalya?” asked Magnus.

“They should’ve made it out by now,” said Mori. “If not—”

“If they’re not out, they’re probably captured or dead,” interrupted Thay matter-of-factly.

Mori stared coldly into Thay’s eyes.

“It’s the truth and you both know it,” Thay responded to Mori’s gaze. “And this is the best plan we’ve got.”

“I agree,” added Magnus. Mori could see he was also stinging from Thay’s brutal, but logical, statement.

Mori shook off her anger at Thay’s insensitive comment and refocused on the mission as a she slightly tilted her head in contemplative thought.

“What is it?” asked Magnus.

“If they think we went underground and redirect their forces—”

“They’ll never expect it,” interrupted Thay as a familiar smile came to his face.

“Expect what?” asked a frustrated Magnus.

“We’re going back to get that councilman,” declared Mori.

***

Stone and Katalya watched from their hidden position as dozens of guards poured into the same maintenance entrance they had exited only moments ago.

“They must have found the technician,” said Katalya.

“Maybe. Or they shifted their search for the others.” Stone could tell Katalya was hoping their small act of compassion hadn’t made things worse for themselves or the others.

He slid further behind the cover and gripped his rifle as two security officers stopped in front of his and Katalya’s position. As they spoke, Stone listened intently.             

“We’ve got them now,” said one of the men convincingly. “We received a report the intruders entered the underground after they blew one of the security entrances to the maintenance area.”

“That’s still a lot of space to cover,” replied the other. “And I hear they are Scout Rangers.”

“I don’t know. Even if they are, there’s only three of them and we’re sending over half our security force down there after them. No three people, even Scout Rangers, can fight their way through four thousand.”

A small bit of relief passed over Stone. First, the Association still thought there were only three intruders. Second, he thought using an explosive to access a maintenance door was a little too ostentatious for Mori. It had to be a diversion—one that was obviously working.

“I guess,” answered the second officer. “And that ten thousand credit reward in any polis sounds nice too.”

“No shit,” said the other. “Do you kno—” The officer held his hand to the other to indicate a message was coming through his communication circuit.

“This is Security Officer Stonewright….Yes but…Yes, I understand.” Stone saw the officer’s posture change and his head tilt back and to one side in frustration. “We are on the way.”

“What is it?” asked the other officer.

“Damn it!” cursed Stonewright. “So much for the reward.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We have been ordered to the private docking bays to secure some smuggler ship named
Hydra
and detain the crew.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” complained the other officer. Stone could tell from the look on the man’s face that despite his verbal complaining, his expression showed relief that he wouldn’t have to play cat-and-mouse with Scout Rangers in the underground.

“Maybe we can get a percentage of the sale of the ship if they sell it,” said Stonewright. “Either way, that’s where we’re headed.”

“Understood,” replied the second officer as he turned toward his men at the entrance. “Second squad!” he shouted. “Change of plans.”

Stone watched as the security teams of Stonewright and the other officer quickly made their way to a transport tube and boarded a shuttle to the market polis’s private docks.

“We’ve got to get to them,” said Katalya.

“They’re not looking for us,” replied Stone. “If we dump some of our weapons to not look so obvious we might be able to catch up to them.”

“What if we don’t make it in time?” asked Katalya as she dropped her tactical vest.

“We’ll get there,” replied Stone. “And if we don’t, we’ll meet up with your sister and the others and then find a way out.”

Stone could tell Katalya was still unsettled. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’ve been in these situations before, Katalya, and so has Mori…it’s what we do.” He saw a slight relief in Katalya’s pained expression.

“Of course,” she replied.

“Good,” said Stone with a smile. “Let’s go be heroes.”

Stone and Katalya quickly doffed the majority of their combat gear and boarded the next tube toward the private docks.

As the doors slid shut with a wispy swoosh and the tube quickly accelerated, Stone nonchalantly scanned the other riders. It appeared that even though the Association security was on high alert, they didn’t want it to impact their bottom line too much; the car was mostly filled with the typical sort you would expect in the market polis—wealthy Dark Zone barons, gamblers, peddlers, smugglers, recreations girls, and what Stone assumed was either a musician or an escaped mental patient.

And there was the security guard. At the far end of the car stood a heavily armed guard intently scanning the crowd. It didn’t take long for him to focus on Stone and Katalya.

“He’s walking this way,” whispered Katalya.

Stone reached down and grasped Katalya’s hand in a move to show they were a couple and to prevent her from withdrawing her pistol. He leaned in as if to give her a kiss. Her eyes burned with anticipation; espionage was not her forte.

“Just follow my lead,” he mouthed just before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Stone looked up from the kiss to the guard staring intently at them. “Why are you two here?” he asked briskly.

“Why is anyone here?” replied Stone as he smiled and looked down devilishly toward Katalya.

The guard stared at Stone coldly and then took a long, lecherous look at Katalya.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Sherman Greene from Bratius Minor,” replied Stone using the Port Royal name for Hotel 7. “I run a modest business where I, uh, facilitate things for people.”

“Why are you here?”

“Got bored with things there and wanted to…uh…” Stone overtly glanced toward Katalya, “mix things up.”

Katalya stood motionless, rigid and clearly disturbed. But Stone had chosen his story to let that work for him.

“And your companion?”

“Oh,” smiled Stone. “From the recreation polis.” Stone leaning in toward the guard. “She cost me a fortune,” he whispered. “She’s been….altered.”

The guard had already noticed Katalya was different. Her left ear had protruded from her hair and the pointed tip drew his attention.

“Altered, huh?”

“Yeah,” continued Stone. “I don’t even know what’s going on under those clothes, but I’m dying to find out.”

“How much was she?” asked the guard, now staring directly at Katalya.

“1,200—”

“Shit!” interrupted the guard. “Credits?”

“Humani,” answered Stone.

The guard shook his head. “That’s almost 2,000 credits.”

“We’ll if you want something new and different.” Stone ran his hand down Katalya’s back slowly. “You’ve gotta pay for it.”

“What’s your name, honey?” he asked.

Katalya remained silent.

Stone saw the guard’s playful but lascivious smile turn into a scowl.

“Tell him your name,” directed Stone as he looked down toward her.

She looked up at him with a tense, tight face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her right hand reach toward the knife hidden in the small of her back. Again Stone ran his hand down her back, but this time rested his hand on hers.

“Your name,” he said again.

“Katalya,” she answered without emotion, her canines showing as she spoke.

“Damn,” said the guard as he leaned in toward Katalya’s face.

Stone feared Katalya would rip his throat out with those teeth if he got any closer. “If you don’t mind, sir,” he interjected to get the guard’s attention. “I don’t want you to spook her too much…she’s obviously new.”

The guard looked toward Stone and took step backward into a defensive stance. It was starting to go bad. “Do you have any weapons?” asked the guard tersely.

Stone kept his grip on Katalya’s hand. “I thought if I paid for undeclared status, I would be allowed to carry.” As Stone spoke, he slowly drew some unmarked Humani exchange cards to show he could afford the cost of play on Port Royal.

“Of course,” amended the guard.

Stone felt a sense of relief.

“But just let me check your unmarked pass.”

There it was. Now it would get ugly. “Just a moment,” replied Stone as he feigned digging through his pockets. “I know it’s here.”

Stone saw the guard look toward Katalya and then quickly back to him, gripping his rifle tightly.

“Step away from the girl and put your hands up,” he ordered.

“Just a minute. I know—”

“Now!” shouted the guard as he leveled his rifle at Stone, the barrel almost touching his chest. In his periphery, Stone saw the other passengers moving away from him and Katalya.

“Okay, okay,” replied Stone, “but I just—”

Before the guard could react, Stone directed the rifle away from himself and Katalya and crashed his right foot into the inside of the guard’s right knee. The unnerving sound of tearing of ligaments was quickly replaced by the screams of the guard as he fell to his knees. Stone shifted his weight, wrapped his hand around the guard’s neck, and with all of his strength drove the back of the man’s head onto the floor of the transport tube, knocking him unconscious. As he turned to rise, Stone saw Katalya leap onto the chest of the unconscious guard.

“Asshole,” she declared as she drove her knife into his chest.

Stone grabbed the rifle lying on the floor and quickly scanned the transport car. He stood in the center of the car with Katalya still straddling the dead guard next to him, ready to defend himself. Looking over the room, Stone saw the stares of the other occupants. After a tense moment, a large, balding man with a recreation girl hiding behind him spoke.

“We go through a tunnel shortly,” offered the man. “I would recommend depositing our friend over the side when the opportunity arises.”

Stone had temporarily forgotten he was on Port Royal; no one gave a shit about anyone except themselves. Acknowledging the man with a smile, Stone tossed an exchange card toward him. The bald man caught it and returned the nod before taking his seat and returning his attention to his escort as the rest of the car returned to their previous conversations. Stone looked down toward an astonished Katalya.

“That’s it?” she asked as she rolled off of the guard’s body.

“Welcome to Port Royal,” answered Stone. “Now let’s get ready to dump this guy.”

As the other passengers went about their business, Stone and Katalya dragged the body to the door. Looking through the window, Stone saw the blur of buildings suddenly transition to darkness punctuated by periodic flashes of light. He grabbed the arms of the dead guard and hefted the lifeless body to his waist. Supporting the weight with his right arm, he searched for a release to the doors with his left.

“Where’s the latch?” grunted Katalya as she searched for the release as well.