Time Siege (58 page)

A Valkyrie flew in through the opening and came to a hover just inside the building. The cockpit opened and the pilot dropped to the ground. Kuo frowned. What was the problem? She recognized the pilot; Blackmoore headed the squadron of Valkyries supporting her project.

“Why is your ship blocking the entryway, Wing Captain?” she asked as he approached.

“There's something going on with the collie fleet, Senior,” he said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“All of their communications went dead and they dropped out of position into the Mist Isle. I pinged Wolfe, my ChronoCom counterpart, for an explanation, and he went comm dark, so I followed him. When he came in here, I decided to block the opening until we get an answer.”

Kuo looked over at the collie pilot speaking with the lead monitor. “Let's see what the problem is.” She strolled to where Wolfe and the lead monitor were huddled in an intense discussion. The two of them saw her approach and seemed to come to an agreement. The lead monitor walked away before she reached them and began issuing orders to his people.

“Is there a problem, Captain?” she asked.

He bowed. “None, Securitate. I do not know what you speak of.”

“I'm told all the collies have abandoned their assignments. Explain yourself.”

“We've received new orders from Earth Central,” he replied. “All agency personnel are to abort this mission immediately.”

“What is the meaning of this? Who authorized the recall?”

“I am not authorized to relay my orders to a foreign entity.”

“We'll see about…” She glanced over at the group of monitors whose area had suddenly become a hive of activity. She scowled. They were breaking camp before they had even finished setting it up. “Stand down, monitors. You will all remain at your posts.”

To her dismay, the nonprofits ignored her. The lead monitor, the one she had strung up by a trunk earlier, said a few words to his men and then approached. His face was stern and neutral, but there was something else behind it that hadn't been there before. Something in his eyes or possibly a slight twitch to the curve of his lips. That's what it was. He was smug.

“Apologies, Securitate,” he said, not sounding apologetic at all. “Your command over ChronoCom personnel has been rescinded. All our collies at this moment are communicating those orders to our forces on the ground.”

Kuo felt that assured victory slipping from her grasp. “Director Young will have—”

“Pardon, Securitate,” Captain Wolfe interrupted. “Young is no longer in command of Earth Central. In fact, I have been sent here to inform you that all Valta presence has been expelled from the planet. You are to cease operations and withdraw immediately.”

Kuo studied the two ChronoCom lackeys trying to stand up to her. It wasn't a coincidence that Wolfe had his hand on the handle of his holstered pistol and the lead monitor had his wrist beam at the ready. What had just happened at Earth Central became very clear. Well, the timing wasn't perfect, but Valta had already accomplished its core objective on Earth. Destroying these savages would have been a nice bonus, but hardly necessary. If anything, she'd have been doing these nonprofits a favor.

“Once word of your little coup reaches Europa,” she smirked, “Director Jerome will have all your heads.”

“That is a ChronoCom matter and no concern of yours,” the lead monitor replied. This time, he had the audacity to raise his wrist beam and point it at her.

“Very well,” she replied. “Securitate Ewa, remove the temporal anomaly from the collie and load her onto the Valkyrie. Wing Captain, take her to orbit and rendezvous with the
Proliferent
. Tell the admiral the project is concluding and to expect a full retrieval of resources.”

“Actually,” Wolfe said, “I have orders to return Elise Kim back to Earth Central. Her status, displaced out of time, is a ChronoCom matter.”

Before he could say another word, Kuo created a trunk and punched his body, the blow most likely crushing several of his bones. She sidestepped the lead monitor's wrist beam shot and hit him with an open hand on the front of the throat. He rolled, clutching his neck, gasping for air. Kuo put the heel of her boot on it and pressed down. The lead monitor pawed at her ankle, trying desperately to push her off. Kuo put more weight on her leg until his twitching stopped.

She signaled to the wing captain. “Take the mark now.”

Her actions, however, had not gone unnoticed. Before Blackmoore could take three steps, a dozen monitors blocked his path. More monitors appeared and took position next to them, forming a defensive line around their camp.

“Securitate Ewa,” Kuo said, staring the rabble down. “Recall shocker pods six, nine, and twelve. Command delta imminent.” She took a step toward the line of monitors, daring any of them to fire the first shot. “Regrettably, ChronoCom has broken their contract with Valta. We will take this grievance to the true command of your nonprofit agency. You do not need to be involved. This is far above all your pay grades. Stand down or face the consequences.”

One of the older monitors at the front had his eyes fixed on the lead monitor's body at her feet. He looked up and snarled, “Fuck you, bitch! I was at the hangar that day you killed nine monitors. Today's payback.”

He raised his right arm to fire at her and was dropped by blaster fire square in the chest. Kuo heard the powered footsteps of a shocker approach from behind. It was soon followed by Ewa and more shockers until there were a dozen of the giant armored troopers on either side of her. She smirked and scanned the rest of the monitors. “Any more of you foolish nonprofits wish to question corporate authority? You should know that—”

Half a dozen beams struck her shield as the monitors opened up on her and the shockers. The rear of the floor, which was supposed to be the safest defensive point of her operations, suddenly became a new battlefront. Kuo leaped behind cover while her forces engaged these traitors. She checked her levels: 30 percent. She hadn't had time to recharge her exo modules since the fighting had begun. It would have to wait; she should have enough to take care of this distraction.

Wing Captain Blackmoore took several beams to the body as he scrambled for cover. He fell onto all fours and tried to crawl behind the shocker line. One of the shockers left the firing line to cover him, but that only brought more attention to them. Both fell to the enemy's concentrated fire.

Securitate Ewa did not fare better. She was caught off guard by the initial exchange, and was in similar trouble as she tried to leap over the monitor lines and reach the parked collies. A concentrated barrage knocked Ewa out of the air, and she crashed right into the monitors' midst. A moment later, Kuo saw the red of an exo-chain and then lost sight of Ewa in a swarm of monitors.

Fortunately, several other pods of her forces noticed the fracas and soon reinforced her ranks. They did, however, have to abandon their positions at the stairwells and bridges where some were still fighting. It couldn't be helped; this new front against the monitors, with the temporal anomaly in their possession, was the priority. The rest of this operation was irrelevant. She eyed the row of collies in the back. This fight was just a distraction, one she should take advantage of. The monitors currently had superior cover behind their supplies brought in for the base, but her forces had them pinned in the southeast corner of the building.

Kuo moved away from the front line and hugged the east wall as more of her troops joined the fight. There was a narrow gap here between the wall and a row of tents. With a little luck, as long as her forces kept the monitors busy, she could move in and acquire the asset before they were the wiser. The sounds of fighting intensified, which made her job a little easier. She began to make her way down the narrow path.

She wasn't the only one with this idea. She was halfway to the collies when a group of monitors came down from the opposite side, no doubt with the intention of flanking her forces. The two sides saw each other at the same time. The monitors raised their wrist beams. By then, it was too late; Kuo powered her exo and was on them in an instant.

There were four of them. The first took the brunt of Kuo's charge as Kuo ran her over with her shield. The second, she grabbed with her trunk and shot straight into the air. The monitor screamed as she flew up in a lazy arc and fell halfway across the floor. The third managed to get a shot off that went wide left. Kuo palmed her face with her left hand and slammed her into the wall. The last tried to flee. He got four steps away from her before she wrapped a trunk around him and held him suspended in midair.

Kuo detested people like him. She
tsked
as she walked by. “For your cowardice, you receive the slowest and most painful punishment.” She took in the fear plastered on his face and squeezed the trunk slowly, tightening its grip on him bit by bit. His body sizzled as the surface of the trunk cooked his skin. The man tried to scream, but there wasn't enough air left in his body for much sound to escape. All he could muster were soft moans. At some point, not far into her work, he passed out. That didn't surprise her.

Kuo squeezed the trunk harder until his body exploded. She dissolved the trunk. What was left of the monitor, crushed bones, skin, and blood, fell to the floor in a messy heap. A cruel smile appeared on her lips. This man deserved every second. If a person was to don the garb of a soldier, he had best honor the resources spent to train and arm him. Otherwise, he was a waste.

She continued until she reached the first of the parked collies. A warning appeared on her AI module. Her levels had just reached 15 percent. They were low, but she was nearly finished. Once she recovered the temporal anomaly, she could just fly the still-hovering Valkyrie and leave the planet. Her forces would have to fight their way out, but they were of secondary concern.

The first collie's hatch was already open, the pilot frantically working at the console. His mouth fell open as she walked in. “What is…?”

She lashed him with the trunk, killing him and destroying half the cockpit in the process. As Kuo searched the ship, a monitor ran in; either he had seen her enter or he had been hiding from the battle. In either case, he was able to get a shot off that was harmlessly absorbed by Kuo's shield before she picked up one of the supply containers with a trunk and bludgeoned him with it.

Kuo finished searching the ship and continued to the next one. She launched herself to the roof of the adjacent collie and took a moment to appraise the current state of the battle. The monitors were attempting to push her forces back with varying degrees of success. Her shocker line was holding, but there were noticeably fewer of the tall armored troopers than just a few minutes ago. The lack of explosives in their arsenal was really hampering her forces, especially in this situation. Several of the stairwell lines had splintered as well, and one of the northern bridge lines had completely shattered. She had to hurry; things were falling apart.

The next collie was still loaded with cargo, and it took Kuo several minutes to pull out all the containers before she quickly made her way to the next collie, and then to the one after that. She continued around the side of the ship and noticed a young monitor off to the side staring at her. He was frozen in place, shaking badly. She took a step toward him and he jumped, falling onto his back. He scrambled a few paces away from her on all fours before getting back to his feet and fleeing. Kuo let him go. She didn't have time to chase cowardly nonprofits.

Kuo continued searching the row of collies for the temporal anomaly, killing monitors who got in her way. There were nearly twenty collies. Still, as long as none of them took off, that temporal anomaly was here somewhere. She found two monitors guarding the hatch of one collie near the back. They both saw her as she rounded the ship and fired. She dodged one beam and her shield blocked the other, and then she attacked, not bothering to create a trunk, to conserve levels. The closer monitor fired again, but she was able knock his arm upward. She rammed a fist into his gut, turned and threw a spin kick across the other's face. Both of them fell at the exact same time. Kuo looked down at her handiwork. No wonder these worthless creatures worked at a nonprofit agency.

She opened the hatch and found a woman snoring softly on a metal bench in the center of the collie. A cryo band latched onto her wrist was connected to the collie's source panel. Kuo tilted her head and studied the temporal anomaly. This slight person was the Nutris scientist who had kept her on this mud ball planet for the past year? She was the source of all her recent frustrations? This girl had better be worth it.

She took a step into the collie and suddenly felt the pull of an exo-chain around her shield. Before Kuo could react, she was pulled roughly to the ground. She tumbled and was instantly on her feet. Immediately, she took a full round of blaster shots, depleting her shield to critical levels. It still held, but the exo-chain prevented her from creating a trunk.

Kuo lashed out blindly. The holder of the exo-chain couldn't be too far away. She was rewarded with a grunt and then another pull as both of them tumbled to the ground. Again, she was back on her feet in a second. She faced her assailant. He was a gaunt man, thin and pale, unclean. Definitely not one of the monitors. A savage, perhaps?

He glared at her with hate in his eyes. “I've been looking forward to running into you, Securitate Kuo. I have a debt to repay that is long overdue.”

 

FIFTY-SEVEN

C
ORPORATE
C
ONFLICT

Within a very short span of time, James and his small force of guardians became inconsequential in the battle for the All Galaxy Tower. Something near the back of the floor had attracted all of the Co-op's attention away from the bridges. Not that James was complaining; they were getting their butts kicked. Even now, scores of the Co-op were rushing toward the south end of the building. Had Murad's Elmen or Kut's Wallstreeters, the two tribes who occupied the building south of the All Galaxy, broken through and sent reinforcements?