DJ's Mission (26 page)

Virginia was shocked when the dying lady had
thrust a bloody knife in her hand but she wasn’t going to pass up this
opportunity nor waste her sacrifice. Even though the blade was slick with
blood, she carefully cut through the web restraints on her right hand. Once she
was free, she checked the pulse of their rescuer. There was none. She looked
over at Spike and shook her head. No words were needed.

Teana Carpenter, High Councilor of Terra and
retired FSA agent was dead.

Virginia cut Spike loose first, since he was the
only one conscious at the time, and then started on the rest. By the time
everyone was free and awake; Spike had laid the body of the councilor in a more
respectable position and looted the body of the Jovian. When Virginia arrived
at the black man that Pridgen had called Mocha, she checked for a pulse even
though she didn’t expect to find any. There were so many cuts on his body but
the blood was no longer flowing. Bowing her head in silent respect, she closed
his eyes and turned away.

Sponge Bob had done a complete search of the room
and found no trace of their clothes and equipment.

After introductions were made, Spike handed the
captured disruptor to the commander and asked, “What now?”

Alex glanced down at his semi-naked body. “We
aren’t going to get very far dressed like this. We need clothes and weapons.”

Spurgeon tested the edge of his captured knife. It
was razor sharp. “After that?”

Alex looked over at Virginia and answered.
“Payback.”

Spike grinned. “Roger that.”

Before they could implement their plan, the only
door in the room opened and in walked a big, burly SIS officer. He was flanked
by a hulking figure in red armor. Both had their weapons at the ready but
seemed stunned to find them free and hesitated.

Alex wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. He
raised the captured Peregrine Mk3 Disruptor and fired. “Attack!”

Chapter 19

DJ quickly found that he missed the Red Falcon
armor.

As odd as it had been compared to his HAVOC
Bodytank armor, it had become comfortable. Of course, the liberated SIS uniform
was better than nothing and it did have built in trauma plates covering his
vital areas. Additionally, it gave them easy access to the facility. The
workers, regular security guards and the few deputies they passed gave them
nary a glance as they made their way through the bowels of the factory.

When they reached their destination according to
the internal map of the SIS uniform, the door was marked with a red and white
placard:
No Admittance
.

DJ turned to Jax in the Red Falcon armor.
“Remember, act like we belong here. If they question you, say you have
information on El Gato.”

Jax nodded and they opened the door. It was
nothing more than a vestibule with several sinks and another door with the same
warning. Whatever they were expecting on the other side of the door, finding
five nearly naked and battered humans wasn’t it.

Before they could say anything, the tall pasty
white fellow with bruises all over his face, raised his gun and fired.
“Attack!”

DJ and Jax dove for cover as the door behind them
exploded in a million pieces.

Even as Jax raised his Graver Mk7 and prepared to
fire, the other two men in their underwear, armed only with knives, charged.
Logic told him that the man with the disruptor was the greater threat and his
primary target. Jax waited the milliseconds needed for the internal targeting
systems of the CSA armor to lock on before firing. Just as he was about to
squeeze the trigger, a picture of the same man in a UNCF uniform popped up in
the upper left hand corner of his HUD with the tag underneath –
Commander Alexander
Cline: Active Duty
.

Jax held his shot and raised his weapon. “Hold
your fire! Parley!”

Alex paused in his second shot. He knew the
armored soldier in the red Confederate Scout Armor had him dead to rights and
chose not to fire. Alex yelled, “Check…check!”

Both SWAT officers stopped their charge and DJ
also held his fire. He didn’t lower his weapon but glanced over his shoulder at
his companion. “You know these people?”

Jax shook his head. “No, but you do. Evidently you
tagged their image recently and the suit’s AI finally found their information.”
He pointed at the two furthest away, “That’s Commander Cline and Lieutenant
Evans.” He gestured at the other two. “You don’t have anything on them though.”

Alex stepped forward. “They’re with me. I’ll vouch
for them.”

As the Coalition Commander made his introductions
and gave a brief rundown of their situation and story, DJ found himself only
vaguely listening. He couldn’t help but check out the body of the blonde
lieutenant. She was a real looker, especially since she was only wearing black
lace panties and a bra. But it was more than that; it was her posture and
attitude which he found sexy. She wasn’t acting timid or trying to hide her
exposed flesh but standing tall and proud. Suddenly, her eyes went wide.

DJ didn’t ask or hesitate but dove into Jax and
knocked him from his feet.

Virginia had done the same thing, knocking Alex
and the two SWAT officers aside even as blaster fire erupted behind them.
Scrambling to the only cover in the room, the interrogation chairs and table,
the companions found themselves pinned down by a roving patrol of SIS officers.

DJ passed off his captured Ŝkorpion Vz99 to
the blonde, while Jax passed off one of his Graver Mk7s to the Latino police
officer. They were still one pistol short but at least five of them could
return fire. The volley of blaster fire went on for several minutes without
anyone scoring anything more than a glancing hit. Spurgeon suggested that he
make a suicide charge with the knives in hopes that it created an opening for
everyone else. Only the Commander’s direct order prevented him from trying it
and to be honest, Alex was contemplating it. Everyone knew that the longer they
stayed pinned down, the probability of escaping dwindled.

Unexpectedly, two of the SIS officers blew apart
and showered their companions with blood and guts. As they turned to face their
new attacker, Sponge Bob charged and the companions let loose with a massive
volley. Seconds later, the roving patrol lay dead.

In the silence that followed a mountain of man in
the grey uniform of a Confederate Sergeant stepped through the carnage that
covered the vestibule and into the room. “Hello Scott.”

DJ nearly dropped his blaster when he heard the
voice. “Holy shit! Pete! What the hell are you doing down here?”

Pete shrugged. “It’s a long story but let’s just
say that I was looking for the blonde behind you.”

Virginia blushed slightly at being singled out but
still stood tall. She graced him with a smile and said, “Hello Sergeant, nice
to see you again.”

“You too Lieutenant. After discussing the
situation with my superiors, we have decided to cut our losses with the Admiral
and have already moved the Merrimack beyond the reach of the Coalition. I was
ordered to sabotage the Horus,” he paused and winked, “but your untimely escape
prevented me from accomplishing that mission.” Sgt. Allen turned his attention
to Alex. “Commander, there are three things you should know. One, you’ll find
your equipment down the hall in the last door on your left. Two, while you are
there make sure you search through the computers and download the encrypted
file named Arizona Experiment. I think your superiors will find it
interesting.”

When he paused Alex prompted. “And three?”

“Have your ships check out the base on Hamura but
don’t bomb it. The workers there are basically slaves and no matter their
crimes were on Terra, no one should be put through the hell those men have
been.”

Alex nodded. “Thank you but why?”

“Why what? Why am I helping you or why am I a
Confederate?”

“Yes…both.”

Sgt. Allen nodded toward Virginia. “She can answer
your first question and Scott the second.”

The chronometer on Pete’s wrist chimed. He turned
back to his friend and held out his hand. “I wish I had more time to catch up
but my ship is departing soon. You should know that your daughter is in the
factory Control Room with the Admiral. Also in case you’re interested,
Kassinger is in the Conference Room meeting with the new Pirate King.”

The two old friends shook hands. “Thanks Pete.”

“No problems. Don’t worry; I suspect we’ll meet
again.” With that, the huge Confederate Sergeant turned his back on them and
disappeared down the hall.

DJ faced Jax. “I need my belt.” Without question,
Jax unstrapped the dual holster rig and passed it over. DJ undid the holster
for the Ŝkorpion and passed it to the blonde. Once he had his own holster
strapped on, he held out his hand to Spike. “My gun.”

Spike did a quick peek and clicked on the safety
before passing it over. “Thanks.”

DJ just nodded and did his own quick peek on the
weapon before holstering it. “That bastard has my daughter. One way or the
other, it ends here and now.”

Jax nodded. “After I escort these guys to their
equipment, I think I will go and have a talk with Kassinger. Besides, I have
unfinished business to handle with Mörder.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. See you topside.” DJ
turned and jogged off.

Spike spoke up. “I bet that was his daughter that
Pridgen was carrying when he came in. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“There was nothing you could’ve done about it. You
know, I almost feel sorry for the Admiral when DJ catches up to him…almost.” 
Jax shrugged. “Come on, let’s get your gear. I have an appointment to keep.”

The five of them headed down the hall and found
their equipment exactly where the Confederate said it would be. Quickly donning
their armor and uniforms, they grabbed their gear and weapons.

Once she was dressed, Virginia handed her
commanding officer a data crystal. “Here sir, this is all the data we need to
prove the Admiral guilty of treason, embezzlement and several other charges.
Plus, it proves that he built a second Dreadnought at a secret location at the
behest of the Confederate government.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “How is it that they
didn’t confiscate this?”

“They were unaware that I had it.”

“And just where did you hide it?”

Virginia’s only answer was a big grin.

Before Alex could pursue the subject, Spike
interrupted. “Commander, do you think you two could make it topside by
yourselves?”

Alex turned back to the SWAT officers who seemed
much more daunting now that they were back in their black SWAT tac-armor.
“Why?”

Spurgeon answered. “Kassinger tortured the person we
were assigned to protect.”

“And we want justice.” Spike turned to Jax. “That
is, if you don’t mind the help.”

Jax nodded. “I would love the company.”

Spike grabbed a couple of plasma rifles off the
racks and passed them out. “A little extra firepower never hurts.”

“That is so true,” replied Alex as he took a
rifle. After a moment, he shook hands with the two SWAT officers and the bounty
hunter. “Good hunting.”

After a moment of goodbyes, the three armored
warriors headed off to confront the Sheriff. Once they were out of sight, the
two Coalition officers turned back to the task of hacking into the factory’s
computer. There was something on this system that Sgt. Allen thought important
enough to mention.

*   *   *   *   *

When the bag was finally ripped off of her head,
Kaitlyn blinked away the bright light. It was so blinding that she couldn’t see
at all. However, when she caught a whiff of her step-father’s cologne she
didn’t need to see to know that she was in trouble. Once her eyes adjusted
enough so that she could see, she looked around. Judging from the amount of
display screens and panels with buttons, switches and lights, she guessed that
she was in some sort of control room. Then her eyes landed on the only figure
in the room, her step-father. He was sitting in a chair looking at the displays
as they showed the ruins of a burning house.

Without turning around, Roger pointed at the
screens. “I’m sorry to report this to you but there seems to have been an
explosion at the house that leveled the building. Early reports have come in
that your mom was home at the time. I’m not sure but the authorities have
called and asked me to come down and verify her body.”

Kaitlyn looked at the burning mess that was once
her home and in her heart she knew that he wasn’t lying about her mother’s
demise. “You bastard, I know you’re responsible, somehow.”

“True but that doesn’t change your situation. Now
that your mother is dead, in such a tragic accident, I don’t need you. So the
question remains, what do I do with you?”

Kaitlyn was about to respond with a smartass
comment when she spied movement on one of the upper screens. Her heart leapt
into her throat when she recognized the intruder as her father. He was moving
through the corridors of the factory with some big guy in red armor at his
side. And if he was on the screens, than that meant he was in the same building
as her. She wanted to run out of the room, screaming at the top of her lungs
for him. But, if anything, she realized that she needed to give him time to find
her. It was time to stall.

Glancing back at Roger, he hadn’t noticed where
she’d been looking and she needed to keep it that way. Kaitlyn kept telling
herself, stall…stall…stall. Trying to keep her voice steady she asked, “What
are my options?”

Roger’s lecherous grin told her the true answer
even though he said, “I’m sure we can come to an understanding. You are, after
all, a beautiful young woman and I have needs that you can fulfill.”

Kaitlyn nearly gagged just at the thought of him
touching her. Standing as tall as she could, she drew back her shoulder and
raised her hand-cuffed hands in front of her. “That’s never gonna happen at
least not while I’m alive.”