The Lost Voyager: A Space Opera Novel (6 page)

“I’ll head to the left,” Adira said. “Let me do what I do best while you distract whoever or whatever is in there.”

Mach nodded. Her movement to the door only reemphasized her skill and reputation as one of the Sphere’s deadliest assassins. Mach and Sanchez’s boots squeaked against the surface. Adira moved with grace, speed, and silence.
 

Sanchez slipped two red-tipped rounds from the small pouches of a leather bandolier he had slung over his shell and loaded them into his magazine. He replaced it back in his rifle’s housing, chambered the first flare round, and killed his helmet light.
 

“We’re going in,” Mach whispered, making the rest of the crew aware.
 

The opaque door had no locks or bolts, only a metal strip at waist height to push it open. Sanchez stood to aim over Mach’s shoulder. Adira hunched, ready to enter at pace.
 

Mach killed his helmet light and pushed the door. It easily swung open on its hinges, revealing darkness. Adira darted inside and disappeared into the gloom.
 

Sanchez fired.
 

The flare streaked across the warehouse. Its hissing flame illuminated the high-latticed ceiling and pieces of large machinery parked randomly around the immediate area. At the far end, part of the roof had collapsed; smashed debris littered the ground. The red sizzling ball struck an angular fidian pile driver’s transparent cabin and dropped.
 

A shadow moved across the far wall. Footsteps echoed around the walls, wind whistled through the gaping hole in the roof. On second inspection, it looked like the roof had taken a hit from a cannon due to the scorch marks on the edge of the downward-twisting metal.
 

Mach ran towards a pile of sacks directly ahead and knelt behind them. He leaned over one, sinking into its soft paper exterior, and scanned for signs of movement. Sanchez split to the right and skidded to the ground five meters away, behind the empty trailer of a small, grounded hover truck.

The flare continued to throw up bright red light, and it would for another minute unless somebody stamped it out.
 

“Look out!” Sanchez shouted.
 

Mach instinctively swung to face him and ducked. A man in a dark blue corporate atmosphere suit had charged from behind them. He must’ve been hiding behind the air filtration unit by the door.
 

The man fired a laser. It speared to Mach’s left and hit the sacks, sending a puff of dust between them. Mach rolled to one side. The laser fired again, hitting his former position, belching out more of the sacks’ contents.
 

Sanchez, who must have had a clear shot, fired his last flare round. It zipped into the body of their attacker and he dropped to his back. The laser spilled out of his hand and the flare crackled next to his helmet, illuminating his human face.

Mach immediately trained his rifle, sprinted over, and kicked the weapon away. It spun across the floor and clanked against a distant object. He aimed down at the man’s visor. “Start talking!”

“You’re going to die,” the man said. “We’re all going to die.”

Sanchez stamped out the flare with his heavy boot and swept his rifle around the warehouse. “Adira, what’s your location?”

The distinctive snap of her rifle split the air. “One down,” she said.

Mach focused on his attacker. The man glanced to his left.
 

“You ain’t getting the laser,” Mach said. “But you’re right about dying if you don’t tell me what the hell’s going on.”

The man slid back and sprang to his feet. Mach didn’t want to shoot a crazy person in cold blood. He wanted to know what he was doing here and who damaged the roof.
 

“There’s another one here,” Sanchez said. “Amongst the debris.”

“Do your work,” Mach said. He stepped toward the man in front of him. “Who are you, and why are you here?”

The man pulled a domestic knife from his suit’s thigh pocket with a trembling hand and raised it. Not the most dangerous thing in the world, but enough to puncture Mach’s shell with enough force.
 

Mach took a pace back. “If you make one more move, I’ll shoot.”

Sanchez fired a burst.
 

“I’m flanking left,” Adira said through the comm. “Wait a moment.”

Confident that his crewmembers had the situation behind him at a manageable level, Mach returned his attention to the man in front of him. “We’re here to help you. I’m here on behalf of OreCorp. Put down the knife.”

“You’re one of them. I won’t let you take me alive.”

The man lurched forward. Mach fired his weapon; it struck a meter in front of the man’s feet. The caseless round sparked off the stone floor, ricocheting away with a whiz. “Who are they? Because I sure ain’t here to take you. I didn’t even know you were here.”

“The monsters.”

Mach frowned and shook his head. “What monsters?”

The man sank to his knees and grabbed either side of his dusty blue helmet, still keeping the knife in his right hand. He clenched his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and grunted. Nasal mucus spattered against the internal side of the visor.
 

Adira’s rifle fired.

“Clear,” she said through the comm.
 

“Any more in the warehouse?” Mach asked while keeping his eyes fixed on the quivering man in front of him.
 

“I’ll carry out a sweep. Sanchez, you take the right side, and I’ll meet you at the far end.”

Mach turned to Sanchez, who had advanced twenty meters toward the center of the warehouse, and nodded. The hunter shouldered his rifle and disappeared around the side of a small mobile drilling rig.
 

The bright red glow emitted by the initial flare had thinned and was becoming weaker by the second. Mach reactivated his helmet light and scanned the man’s suit for clues to his identity. A small white diamond, the OreCorp logo, was printed on his right breast.
 

When they hired Mach, the representative told him they had no employees on Noven Beta. He took them at their word but knew that large corporations sometimes left employees stranded after deciding to complete operations on remote planets. They crudely called it
collateral damage
.
 

“Are you part of
Voyager
’s crew?” Mach asked.
 

The man lowered his right arm and extended the knife toward Mach. “You don’t fool me. You’re one of them. I saw you behind the monsters.”

“You’ve got the wrong guy,” Mach said. “I’m here to search for a missing ship. Calm down and let’s talk.”

A small bug scuttled across the ground between them. The man gasped and tensed. His teeth chattered and he stared at the insect with a wild-eyed expression.
 

Mach stepped forward and crushed it under his boot. “I’m not here to hurt you. Have you turned off the facility’s power?”

The man ignored the question again. Mach sighed. He was clearly dealing with somebody who had lost his mind. Something had spooked the man beyond words, which gave Mach an uneasy feeling. He decided to wait and show him that they meant no harm.
 

Two thin blue strips appeared out of the gloom. Sanchez and Adira swept around to the man’s right side, maintaining their aim on him. Both had their helmet lights back on and didn’t have any noticeable injuries.
 

“What’s the situation?” Mach asked.
 

“Just two other casualties, dressed like him,” Adira said. “One had an ID swipe. He worked here as a driller.”

“Solves the mystery of who they are, I suppose,” Mach said. “Did they attack you?”

“Yep. Both dead.”

The man went rigid after hearing Adira’s words. He took a deep breath, sprang forward, and thrust the knife at Mach’s chest.
 

Mach swayed to his left and parried the blow harmlessly wide with his SamCore Stinger. He went to reach out for the man and reiterate they meant no harm when Sanchez fired. The round exited through the chest of the man’s suit and he collapsed face first to the ground.
 

The warehouse fell silent.
 

Mach crouched over the man and turned him over so he faced upward.
 

“You’re going to die,” the man whispered through blood-glistening teeth. His eyes closed and his helmet rolled to the left.
 

The man’s final words sent a chill down Mach’s spine. He looked up at Sanchez. “Nice shooting, hotshot. I wanted him alive.”

“You didn’t tell me that before he went for you with a knife,” Sanchez replied. “What did you expect me to do?”

Mach hid his irritation with a light sigh and a shake of his head. “Fair enough,” he said. “But still… let’s not be so hasty next time. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” He searched the compartments and pockets of the man’s suit, but all were empty.
 

“I don’t think they were trying to ambush us,” Adira said. “Why kill the power and hide in a warehouse?”

Mach nodded. “They were hiding from something. I’ve got a feeling they killed the power to avoid any unwanted attention. Have a look at the roof damage. This place was attacked.”

“Reckon it’s linked to
Voyager
’s fate?” Sanchez said.
 

“I don’t believe in coincidences. Let’s get this place powered up and see if we can find some answers.”

***

Mach asked Babcock and Squid Two to meet him in the command center while Sanchez and Adira searched the living quarters at the far end of the warehouse.
 

Squid Two floated over Babcock’s shoulder, shining a light from the end of one of its silver tentacles as he inspected the console and controls.
 

“They must’ve powered down the proton reactor,” Babcock said after flicking a red switch on the console. “We need to go underground.”

“Where’s the entrance?”

“The elevator won’t work, but there’s steps at the far end of the warehouse.”

“That’s not good news.”

Babcock frowned. “Why? It’s a relatively easy task to reactivate.”

“The building took a hit. That area’s covered in debris.”

Squid Two chirped to Babcock, who peered at his smart-screen. “We should be okay. There’s a five-meter layer of concrete protecting the reactor. Squid will lead us to the entrance.”

Mach held the opaque glass door open and Squid Two floated past, shining its beam around the warehouse. He and Babcock followed, snaking between the dark shapes of machinery and vehicles until they reached the edge of a shallow twenty-meter-wide crater directly below the gaping hole in the roof.
 

Twisted and tangled pieces of metal and plastic were spread inside and around the rubble-strewn shallow crater. Mach thought it had to be the work of a powerful laser cannon, similar in type to the ones fitted on Commonwealth Defense Force or horan destroyers.
 

Squid Two’s beam settled on a small dark area next to a sheet of burnt metal. Mach grabbed the edge and heaved it to one side, revealing a half-meter-wide hole. He leaned down, positioning his helmet’s light through the gap.
 

Chunks of concrete covered most of the staircase leading to a tunnel seven meters below. There was just enough room to squeeze over the debris and get down. Through the dusty air, Mach noticed multiple cracks spidering across the ceiling leading down to the reactor.
 

“Can Squid Two get down there and do the job?” Mach asked.
 

“It needs a human to manually reactivate. Squid Two’s strength is his intelligence.”

“Can you give me instructions if I can reach it?”

Babcock pressed his smart-screen and stared at it. “It’s a simple procedure. I’ll go—”

“No. I’m not risking you down there. Wait here and I’ll give you a shout when I reach the reactor.”

“Is that all you’re making me do on this trip? Wait for you at entrances?”

Mach stood and put his glove on Babcock’s shoulder. “I admire your spirit, Babs, but trust me, your hard work begins once the facility powers up.”

Babcock returned a weak smile and nodded. “You’ll need to take this.”

He handed Mach the silver security token.
 

Mach decided to strip off his cold-weather shell to allow for more room to move in tight spots. If he were quick enough, the temperature wouldn’t compromise his graphene nanosuit. He unfastened the shell down to his waist, pulled his arms out, and lowered it around his boots.
 

The damned thing was always awkward to pull over boots. He tugged at each leg while trying to think of a better design. There had to be one. After eventually freeing himself, he placed the token in his thigh pocket, grabbed his Stinger, and pressed his body against the rubble covering the stairs.

“Make sure you come back in one piece,” Babcock said.
 

“Make sure you’re still here to give me instructions.”

Mach pulled himself downward at a forty-five-degree angle through the tight gap. The back of his helmet scraped against the ceiling. His light illuminated the route ahead. Getting down was probably the easy part. He leopard-crawled forward for three meters, descending at a steady rate over sharp chunks of concrete.
 

Wedging his foot against one of the larger chunks, he thrust forward.
 

The chunk fell to one side and crashed past him. It toppled toward the bottom of the staircase, picking up speed as it went. A shower of dust dropped through cracks in the ceiling after the chunk thumped against it. Other pieces of debris moved as it bashed its way down.
 

Mach grabbed hold of a rock and took a deep breath. The whole field of debris covering the staircase seemed to slide down. He hoped it would stop and he hadn’t caused a mini landslide.
 

The fear of being buried alive under the falling concrete behind him spurred Mach forward. He crawled downward as fast as he could, ignoring the scrapes and stabs to his arms and legs from sharp pieces of debris.