The Hunted Assassin (33 page)

Passing by the airlock control room, he continued forward with his weapon at the ready. At the end of the corridor, he came to a T where he had to make his first decision: go left or go right. The incessant blaring of the alarm clouded his senses, he couldn’t use sound as an indicator of direction. Only pausing for just a moment, Jaxon chose the path to the right and didn’t look back.

Suddenly, the corridor began to turn to the right, almost certainly following the path of the exterior wall of the station. He tried to remember if they’d gone down a corridor like that earlier, but he was confused. Had he? Or was it from Delta Station? Everything kind of blurred together.

Regardless, he stayed on the path and increased his pace incrementally. As he reached the end of the corridor, he found a solitary door that did not look even remotely familiar. He briefly contemplated turning around and heading in the other direction, but decided it was too late for that and proceeded forward. He opened the door and barged in, hoping to catch the occupants in the room off guard.

The room was brightly lit but vacant; it was apparent that whoever occupied the space had heeded the warnings and was already looking for a way off the space station. As he was about to turn and head back out into the corridor, he noticed a door on the far side of the room. Next to the door was a large plate glass window overlooking an enormous multilevel chamber.

“A lab,” he muttered. He faintly recalled passing by such a facility on his initial arrival. He rushed to the window and peered out. The window overlooked a two-story laboratory that was also vacant. The door accessed a balcony, but the railing blocked most of his view from inside the room.

Wasting no time, Jaxon opened the door and stepped out, his pistol leading the way. Once at the edge of the rail, he looked straight down and saw a lone security guard with his plasma rifle pointed to the opposite side of the lab. Jaxon followed his sight and saw the top of a person’s head ducking behind a laboratory table. At that moment, Jaxon realized it was one of his own. It had to be either Francisco or Oliver. Otherwise, why would the security guard be pinning down one of the other space station inhabitants?

Before Jaxon could act, the guard fired several plasma bursts in the direction of the hiding man, trying to drive him out into the open. With each blast, he could see the man inch closer and closer to the edge, and worse, into full visibility. Jaxon prayed that he wouldn’t move any further. Unfortunately, Francisco reacted just as the security guard had hoped. He leapt from behind the laboratory table toward the exit door.

“Watch out, Clay!” Jaxon yelled from above.

It was too late. The guard had already squeezed the trigger, launching bursts of plasma right at Francisco. The first two blasts shot wide, but the third impaled Francisco at center mass. Francisco’s body jerked back from the blast, sprawling across the floor. He didn’t move.

Jaxon screamed. “No!”

Startled by Jaxon’s voice, the guard raised his rifle up and was about to fire. Jaxon, however, was prepared for the assault. He squeezed his own trigger, firing directly into the top of the guard’s head. He dropped to the ground in a bloody mess.

Jaxon holstered his pistol and climbed over the rail and dropped himself to the ground below. First, he toed the guard, ensuring his lifeless state. Satisfied, he ran to Francisco’s body, sliding down to where he lay.

“Clay!” Jaxon said, jostling his arm and shoulder, being mindful of his ghastly chest wound.

After a moment of shaking, Francisco blinked his eyes open halfway. Gurgling rose from deep in his chest. “J-Jaxon,” he said, fighting to speak.

“Dammit, Clay! You should have stayed put.”

“W-was s-sscared,” Francisco said before a bout of coughing overcame him.

Jaxon looked over Francisco’s body, realizing that the blast no doubt broke the majority of his ribs and possibly lacerated his lungs. It was only a matter of time before he bled out.

“It’s okay now. I took care of the guard,” Jaxon said. “What do you say we get out of here?”

“G-Guzman … gone?” Francisco asked, fighting for breath for each word.

“No, he’s just … taking a siesta. I left him breathless,” Jaxon said, an attempt to make a joke to cheer Francisco up in his final moments.

Francisco’s eyes drifted shut as he smiled and forced a guttural laugh. “Y-you do have a way with w-words,” he said.

“Did you find what you were looking for, Clay?”

Francisco lay motionless for several seconds before lifting his left hand, which clutched a flash drive on a lanyard and several baggies of opalescent pills. Francisco smiled widely.

“Good job, champ. I’m sure the director will be pleased.”

Francisco dropped his hand to the ground, releasing his grip at the same time. He rolled his head toward Jaxon then forced his eyes open. “D-did I do good, b-boss?” he asked, borrowing Oliver’s moniker for Jaxon.

“You did great, Clay. I’m honored to have you on my team. What do you say we get out of here now?” Jaxon asked again. “Hopefully, Camille found us a ship to get us out of this hell hole.”

Francisco’s eyes drifted closed again, but he remained facing Jaxon. “N-no, just leave me. We both know … it’s too late and … I’ll just slow you d-down,” Francisco said as blood began to seep from the corners of his mouth.

“Listen, buddy. You know I can’t do that. You’re going, and we’re leaving right now,” Jaxon said as he began to gather Francisco and his scavenged belongings.

“Wait,” Francisco pleaded. “Y-you have to prom … promise me something.”

“Anything, Clay,” Jaxon said, lowering him back to the ground.

“S-save the girls,” Francisco said. “Save them for me.” Francisco coughed, bringing a mouthful of blood up from his lungs.

Jaxon looked down at Francisco, unsure what he was talking about.
Something must have happened on Delta Station, but what?
“You got it, Clay. Consider it done.” He only hoped that he didn’t just promise something that he couldn’t deliver.

Francisco opened his eyes and smiled up at Jaxon. Then, his head rolled to the side and his eyes glazed over as his last breath passed his lips.

“Dammit, Clay,” Jaxon muttered. He dropped his hands over Clay’s eyes, closing them gently. “You weren’t supposed to die. Nobody was supposed to die.”

Jaxon stood and rushed to the side of the dead guard and secured his plasma rifle. He returned to Francisco and hoisted him up and over his shoulder before heading for the exit.

As Jaxon opened the lower level door, a new alarm and warning began to blare.

“Warning: Station implosion imminent. Hull breach irreversible. Locate escape path immediately.”

“All right, dammit. I’m on my way!” Jaxon said as he stepped into the familiar corridor that led through the central thoroughfare and toward the station’s docking bay.

59

Jaxon rushed into the berth, and found it mostly deserted. Rightfully so, he mused. The space station
was
about to explode. Thankfully, there was one ship remaining, and it looked strangely familiar. It just happened to be the ship that brought him on board. Praying that his companions had secured it for their own departure, Jaxon charged ahead and right up the boarding ramp.

Once in the main hold, Jaxon lowered Francisco onto the flight couch and covered him with a shipping blanket before heading for the cockpit.

Stepping in, both Oliver and Camille stared at him expectantly.

“Cutting it a little close, aren’t you? Francisco on board as well?” Camille asked.

Jaxon nodded. “Yeah, get us out of here.”

“What about Guzman, boss?” Oliver asked.

Jaxon took Francisco’s station behind Camille and looked ahead. “He’s about to get his just dessert.”

Oliver fired the engines and drove the throttle ahead to full.

As the ship approached, the bay doors flashed a warning before slowly parting open. He knew their ship was compact, but Oliver was accelerating much faster than he was comfortable with.

“So … Miles. Everything good?” Jaxon asked, not questioning his piloting skills outright.

Oliver remained silent as the ship jetted ahead. The closer they got, the more apparent it was that the outside edges of the ship were going to collide with the opening doors. Then, suddenly, Oliver adjusted the pitch of the ship sideways, and it shot out into space, just meters to spare all around.

“Jesus, Miles,” Camille exclaimed. “What are you trying to do? Give us all a heart attack?”

Jaxon leaned back and smiled. He had the sudden recollection of his own escape from Taloo Station and was absolutely confident that Oliver was the right man to pilot.

Suddenly, proximity detectors began to blare, and Camille quickly brought up the sensor array on the main view screen.

“My God, they have us surrounded,” Camille said. “Hold on. Those appear to be our own ships! Those signatures are GSA standard frequencies.”

“Looks like they got my message,” Jaxon and Camille said in unison.

“Your message?” They both asked, again, at the same time.

“I … sent a message to the director right before landing on Delta Station,” Jaxon said.

“And I sent a message to the assistant director right after you were captured,” Camille said. “Assistant Director Evans practically demanded a multipoint check on all personnel.”

“Strange. Director Howe asked me to keep him updated at every point along the way as well. He asked me to contact him directly and in private.”

“Huh, same here.”

“I don’t give a shit what’s brought them out here, I’m just thankful that they’re here,” Oliver said as he throttled back on the accelerator.

Then, the lead ship in front of them fired a warning shot across their bow.

“What the hell?” Camille asked. “Don’t they know it’s us?”

Jaxon already had his control panel queued up for the ship’s stealth device. He activated it, reducing the ship’s shields to minimum.

“Well, the ship’s insignia and classifications are that of the Guzman family, so as far as they know, we’re not even on this ship,” Jaxon explained. “Miles, why don’t you divert our course down and away from the surrounding ships? Stay as close to the space station as you can.”

“You sure, boss? That station might explode at any moment.”

“Well, if we’re lucky,” Jaxon said confidently.

The surrounding GSA ships remained in their positions but ceased firing. Oliver steered the ship to the back side of the space station and hovered just meters away from the exterior wall.

Within minutes, the space station began to self-destruct, the explosion beginning at the top and working its way down the center shaft. Jaxon sat at his controls with his hands at the ready. As the explosions neared their location, Jaxon quickly deactivated the stealth device and put all of the energy into the defensive shields just as the station exploded right next to them.

The blast jettisoned their ship outward, along with massive chunks of debris. As soon as they were clear of any collisions, Jaxon reactivated the stealth device, minimizing the shields once again.

Both Camille and Oliver turned in their chairs and stared at Jaxon, dumbfounded.

“What? It’s a little maneuver I recently used—”

“Why not just radio them and tell them who we are? Why all the cloak and dagger again?” Camille asked.

“Because our mission isn’t done quite yet. We have one more stop to make before we head home,” Jaxon said.

He proceeded to tell them about Francisco and his final request. Neither Oliver or Camille cried outright, but they were both shook up at hearing of his demise. Camille explained the entire ordeal that Francisco witnessed. They all agreed that the next stop was unavoidable.

60

Jaxon, Oliver, and Camille walked through the hand-carved wooden doors of The Pleasure Gauntlet. As they entered, Madame Elina looked up. She first saw Jaxon and smiled. Then, upon seeing Camille and Oliver, her happiness turned to worry.

“Ah, Marty. It’s been so long. Where have you been?” Madame Elina asked, stepping around her podium and walking directly up to Jaxon.

Jaxon made no action to divert from the approaching Madame but glanced nervously toward Camille, who was giving him a questionable look.

Jaxon accepted a brief hug from the Madame then pushed her away. “My priorities in life … have changed. Quite some time ago,” Jaxon said. “We’re actually here on another matter.”

Madame Elina looked at Jaxon cautiously before returning to her podium. “If it has anything to do with these two, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said.

“It’s about your girls, Madame. I know that Pablo Guzman is behind your operation, and I’m here to inform you that there’s a lot of changes coming your way,” Jaxon said dutifully.

Startled by the mention of Guzman, Madame Elina straightened her posture. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who’s this Pablo … Guzman fellow anyway?”

Jaxon sighed. “Oh, Madame. Let’s not waste each other’s time. I know that he’s behind your operation, and he’s been trafficking girls throughout his entire network. I’m here to tell you it’s over. Guzman’s dead and I’m here to save the girls.”