Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two (24 page)

Chapter
32

“There’s someone in front of the building,” Russell called out.

“I see them,” Susan said, fumbling to raise the carbine up so that she could use its scope to get a better view.

Once they had gotten through the spaceport gates, it had been a short, quick drive to this business complex. They were still a block away and their plan called for them to park a block short, but it seemed foolish now. Once you’d been spotted, there was no point in trying to hide. 

“Go!” she called to Russell
, and then lifted the carbine. She put the scope to her eye, trying to located the person. It took a moment and then the shape resolved itself into two people; two people that she recognized. “It’s Aaron and Eric,” she called. “They look like shit!” That much was easy enough to tell through the scope.

Russell gunned the engine, which in turn, hesitated, coughed, and nearly stalled out. After a moment it apparently decided to go after all, and the transport slowly accelerated.

The transport slid to a halt in the middle of the street, both doors flying open and the four of them bounding out. Russell went left and Eve went right. They both had their carbines up and ready to fire. Jessica and Susan headed straight toward Eric and Aaron.

“It’s all right,” Eric called out. “They’re all dead
; it’s just us.”

Automatically, Susan reached out to tell if he was lying or not. It was just a habit she had gotten into in the short time she had known Eric. She was relieved to sense him telling the truth, but only momentarily. Something was wrong
, and it took a moment for her to figure out what it was. She nearly missed a step when she realized that she could sense Eric but not Aaron. Nothing. It was like he wasn’t even there.

Susan’s eyes focused in on Aaron and she realized in just how bad a
shape he was in. He had been shot, his left arm had a deep, nasty cut, and his left leg appeared hurt, maybe broken.

A horrible thought occurred to her then, as they always do when one is close to panic.
Is he dying? Is he so far gone that I can’t even sense him anymore?
But that didn’t seem right. His eyes followed her, but still she couldn’t sense him.

Jessica reached him and
tried to get him to lay down. Aaron looked at Jessica, but he still didn’t say anything. It was rather eerie.

Susan swallowed hard, not liking this at all.

Aaron’s head rolled back and his breath caught. He gasped and his eyes seemed to be about to bulge out of their sockets.

She could sense him again. Just like that. It was like someone had flipped the switch and now she could sense him, but that made no sense.

Jessica was still trying to make Aaron lie down but he shoved her aside, grimacing as he did so. “No!” he said emphatically.

“Your injuries look severe,” Jessica snapped right back. She
might be an easy-going person normally, but when it came to medical matters, she was every bit the dictator that all doctors seemed to be.

“If we stay here, then we all die!” Aaron yelled.

That caught everyone’s attention. “What do you mean?” Susan demanded.

Aaron looked like he might be sick, faint, and die, and not necessarily in that order. He gasped for breath, and he swallowed several times.

“He rigged a generator to explode,” Eric said helpfully. “I think he said it’ll take out a whole block.”

“Russell! Eve! Back to the transport,” Susan bellowed as she darted forward. “Jessica, get Eric. I got Aaron.”

Jessica still looked unhappy, but even she realized that Aaron dying had to be better than all of them dying.

Susan reached
the two men and grabbed Aaron. He put his arm around her for support, and she began to half-carry, half-drag him to the transport.

Skinny arms grabbed his other side
, and Susan glanced over to see Eve helping to carry Aaron. “I told you to get back to the transport,” Susan managed to say through her labored breathing.

“I disobeyed,” Eve said simply.

For the life of her, Susan just couldn’t get mad. She wasn’t sure she would have been able to move him the whole way by herself. As it was, the two of them struggled mightily.

Reaching the transport, they laid
Aaron’s torso on the flat cargo bed and sort of rolled him the rest of the way on. Eric and Jessica sat panting beside where Aaron lay, and Russell sat alone in the cab.

Russell gunned the engine even as Susan and Eve clambered up beside Aaron’s prone form.

The transport was old and Susan pictured a horrifying scene where it refused to go, just stalled out right there in the middle of the street to give them a front-row seat to the coming explosion. Even though it was old, Terry had done a good job overhauling it, and the transport slowly gained speed.

T
hey had only made it two blocks when a booming explosion rolled over them. It lit up the night sky and threw debris into the air.

“We made it!” Eve called, punching Susan on the arm.

Susan returned the grin and looked down at Aaron. He had passed out.

They drove several more blocks and then Russell parked the transport behind a dark, abandoned building. It wouldn’t be long until security arrived on the scene, and they didn’t want to get spotted trespassing, but they also didn’t want to be driving around with two half-dead men in the open cargo area.

Jessica climbed over Eric to get to Aaron, even as the transport came to a jerky, choppy stop.

“Is he going to make it?” Susan demanded. The worry was twisting her into knots. The thought of going on without Aaron was unimaginable.

Jessica waved the computerized
medical sleeve over Aaron. “Hard to say,” Jessica said without looking up. “I need to get him to the ship, and quickly.”

Susan looked around for Russell. She found him standing to the side of the transport watching. “Get up here and open the cargo hold!” she called.

Russell promptly hopped up onto the flat cargo area, and in a matter of moments had the cover off the concealed compartment.

The compartment was narrow but long. It ran most of the length of the cargo area, stopping just a couple feet short. It was several feet deep, but the width was maybe eighteen inches. It would be a cramped ride for one man, not to mention two.

“You putting him in there?” Eric asked, staring at the hole.

“Yeah,” Susan answered, “along with you.”

“Now wait a fucking minute,” Eric began, but Jessica turned from Aaron and pressed a laser needle to Eric’s arm. There was a hiss as the sedative entered his body, and then his eyes rolled up and he collapsed in a heap.

They put Eric in first. The compartment w
asn’t wide enough for him to lay on his back, so they turned him so that he was lying cockeyed, partly on his back and partly on his side. They made sure that his head was close to the cab end of the compartment as possible.

Then they slowly lowered Aaron into the compartment. They put his head toward the opposite end of the compartment from Eric’s. It was still cramped, but only the lower half of
Aaron’s body overlapped Eric. It looked uncomfortable, but neither unconscious man objected.

“Maybe we should put the carbines in there,” Jessica said. “It might help speed up our return through customs.”

“No,” Susan said emphatically. “We carried those carbines out and we’ll carry them back in.” She didn’t say it aloud, but she suspected the thugs at the gate might remember them carrying carbines and didn’t want to give them any reason to detain them.

“Are we ready?” Russell asked as he sealed the smuggling compartment.

“Wait! Can they breathe in there?” Jessica asked suddenly.

Susan frowned. She hadn’t explicitly asked that question of Terry, but she had told him what she was planning on smuggling in. Surely he would have said something if her plan was dangerous. Then again, maybe he hadn’t thought of it.

“If we take them back out, we’ll either have to take them to a hospital, or they’ll be detained,” Eve said quietly. “I think they’d probably prefer dying in there than dying in prison.”

Susan looked at the other woman. She agreed with her opinion, but Eve’s statement implied that there was a reason for them to go to prison. Did she suspect Aaron’s involvement with the assassination? Jessica and Russell looked unhappy, but Susan forestalled any objections. “I agree,” she said. “We’ll hurry as much as we can and hope for the best.”

Eve didn’t reply except to nod her head.

They piled back in the too-small cab and drove in the wrong direction, away from the spaceport gates and the burning office complex. Then, they circled back around the long way, taking great precautions to not get too close to the fire. They didn’t want anyone to remember their transport in association with the explosion and subsequent fire.

It took them nearly fifteen minutes to return to the gates and they were all getting worried about the cargo they were smuggling.

The same helmetless guard waved them to the side and he looked up at them through the window. “That was a quick trip,” he said.

Susan shrugged. “All the roads are blocked. Looks like some kind of fire. And when we got past it, everything was closed down, just like you said.”

The guard studied them with cold, unflinching eyes. Finally, he said, “All right, everyone out.”

Susan groaned inwardly, but she opened her door and climbed out.

The guard moved past them and began searching the small cab.
He briefly examined the carbines, but they were legal and he didn’t spent too much time on them. He only glanced at the empty cargo hold and then looked back to Susan. “When you schedule to takeoff?”

“As soon as I can get Reece back to my ship,” she answered honestly.

He watched her for a moment, but apparently didn’t see anything to raise his suspicions. “Go on,” he said, already turning his attention back to the road.

Susan and the rest didn’t have to be told twice.

Chapter
33

They reached the
Long Shot
minutes later. They called ahead—Terry already had the cargo ramp lowered and they wasted no time parking the transport in the cargo hold. They spilled out of the cab and Russell beat them all onto the cargo area.

The rest of the crew slowly milled over, not sure exactly what was going on. They gathered along the side of the transport, looking up to the cargo area.

Russell pulled the compartment’s cover off and Jessica leaned in to scan both men.

“They’re alive,” she called.

Susan exhaled, having been completely unaware that she had been holding her breath. Relief flooded through her. She knew they had done the right thing, but if Aaron had died then she would have spent the rest of her days blaming herself. And if Eric had died, well, not so much.

The relief brought along with it a sense of giddiness and she smiled around at the others. Eve and Russell were smiling back
, but Jessica was all business.

“Help me get them out. We have to get them to the
med bay,” she said.

“No!” Susan answered. “They have to go to the
concealed cargo hold with Thomas. Keep Eric sedated and make sure the medical bot has everything it needs.”

“I should be with them, and I can’t give the best medical care in a cargo hold,” Jessica said. Her tone had dropped a bit and she looked ready to argue.

“Doesn’t matter,” Susan said, and she, too, was ready for a fight. “We need to leave this damn planet and we can’t do that with them in the med bay.”

“At least let me stay with them,” Jessica said.

“Only until this Reece guy returns,” Susan said, and her tone left little room for argument.

Jessica bit her lip and looked away, but she didn’t argue.

Russell and Adam extracted Aaron from the hold and carried him to the smuggling compartment. Grady followed along behind carrying Eric. Jessica brought up the rear, looking angry enough to chew nails.

When the camouflaged door was opened, the M71 medical bot looked up from Thomas’s prone form.

Thomas lay on a makeshift mattress on the compartment floor. There was an unused mattress on the opposite side of the bot. There almost wasn’t enough room for the bot to fit in as the ceiling was so low. As it was, the top of its head occasionally bumped the ceiling. Several crates were piled at the far end of the mattresses; their lids were open and medical supplies were visible.

They pl
aced Eric next to Thomas and laid Aaron on the unused mattress and Jessica pushed her way through. She and the bot began immediately consulting on Aaron’s condition.

“We’ll let you know when you need to come back down,” Russell said, but Jessica just waved her hand in an angry manner.

Adam shot a warning look at Russell. Both men knew better than to mess with Jessica when she was like this.

As silently as possible, the two men walked down the corridor and out of sight.

Susan was on the bridge when Russell and Adam rejoined her. She was using the comm gear and looked out of sorts.

“I will not wait until tomorrow,” she said, and she still had that dangerous tone to her voice. “I . . .”

“Listen,” a voice burst out of the speaker, “there’s nothing I can do until tomorrow. We have our orders and no new inspections are to be scheduled.” It was a man’s voice
, and he sounded tired and angry. Most likely he had been listening to ship captains bitching at him all night long.

Susan took a deep breath and continued in a slow voice. “As I was trying to say, this is not a new inspection. This is a re-inspection. Mr. Reece told me to call you and ask for him when we were ready to go.”

There was a crackle from the speaker and, after a moment, the man said, “I don’t know that it makes any difference. Hold tight and let me check.”

Susan took her finger off the button and looked sourly at Russell and Adam. Neither man seemed to have anything to say. “Everything okay?” she asked.

Russell shrugged. “I think so. Jessica’s not happy, but we got them stowed away like you said.”

Adam looked around and then motioned to the comm gear. “Is that thing still on?”

“Receive only,” Susan said, looking curious. “Why?”

“
Any idea how these people found us?” he asked. “Are they bounty hunters that just followed us here from Pocal?”

Susan shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think they might have something to do with the Miram Union.” That wasn’t exactly true
, and having to split hairs to avoid lying to Adam frustrated her. It wasn’t an outright lie, but it was close. She actually suspected that Eric and Thomas had been caught by some of the former volunteers of the Commonwealth army, Thomas’s description having raised that suspicion within her. Technically, that meant it had to do with the Miram Union, but she wasn’t completely sure the Unionists knew what was going on.

Adam looked sick at her words. “Well, how the fuck did they find us?” he asked.

Once again, Susan shrugged. “No idea, and my gut tells me we won’t know until Aaron comes around.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Russell asked.

“Then we start going and we don’t stop,” Susan said. “I mean it, we should be safe on the far side of the galaxy.” No one replied to that. A trip that long, even with the benefit of the wormhole technology, would take many months, possibly years. And in the end, they would be in place that they knew precious little about. It wasn’t an enjoyable thought.

They were spared having to dwell on the unpleasant thoughts by the man’s voice erupting from the speaker. “Captain Bateman? Are you still there?”

Susan depressed the button again and said, “Until you clear me, I can’t go anywhere.”

“You’re in luck. I was able to reach Mr. Reece and he’s still on the port’s grounds. He said he’ll try to swing by within the next three hours.”

“Three hours!” Susan burst out. “What kind of third-rate operation you running here?” she demanded.

“If yo
u don’t like it,” the man said calmly, “I can put you in the regular queue of ships requesting a customs inspection. Currently, the wait is about four days.”

Susan had to bite her tongue to keep from cursing. She closed her eyes and counted slowly to five. Then she smiled and said, “No, thank you. We’ll wait on Mr. Reece.”

“I thought as much,” the man said and then added, “out.”

Susan released the button and sat there for a moment, her feet tapping the floor with nervous energy.
Finally, she looked up. “Adam, is the ship ready to launch?”

“Well, all the preflight checks are done and the engines are warmed up. Not much else I can do until we get the green light.”

She nodded. “Russell, go to the cargo hold and make sure the transport’s smuggling compartment is sealed up tight. Also, get the carbines and handguns stowed.”

Russell nodded and began to move toward the ladder,
but Susan stopped him.

“Oh, make sure to tell Terry to broadcast Reece’s arrival ship-wide.”

He nodded and climbed out of sight.

Seeing as how they had so much time, Susan made her way to the smuggling compartment where they had stashed Aaron and the other two. Jessica and the medical bot were both leaned in close over Aaron, ignoring the unconscious forms of Eric and Thomas.

“How is he?” she asked.

Jessica looked up, her brow still pulled down indicating her displeasure both with the current situation and Susan’s part in it. “I’m not sure,” she said simply.

Susan was confused. Obviously
, the equipment here was not as good as that in the med bay, but still they should have a read on Aaron’s situation. “Is he going to live or not?” Susan demanded.

“I can’t tell,” Jessica answered in an honest and exhausted voice. She took a deep breath and the anger disappeared from her face, replaced
by a tired tension. “I don’t even know how he’s lived this long.”

Susan swallowed hard; her worst fears coming to life. She had been able to dismiss the worst of her fears because
they couldn’t come to fruition—they just couldn’t. Aaron couldn’t die. The man had survived a war and being made into a cyborg abomination. How could he die now?

“I’m ignoring the broken bones for now,” Jessica said, interrupting Susan’s panicked thoughts. “The shot to his side has damaged some of his internal organs.”

“But you can treat that!” Susan burst out, and she hated the sound of panic and fear in her voice.

Jessica caught it too, because she paused, looking up. “Normally I can,” she said slowly, “but I have to have access to the patient quicker. Technically, he should have died on the way here. But he didn’t, and it almost appears that his body is healing itself. I’m actually afraid to attempt to help, as I might interfere.”
She hesitated and then stood up and moved away from where the medical bot hovered over Aaron. She leaned in close to Susan and said, “It might help if I knew what his special talent was.”

Susan hesitated at that. When they had been experimented on, they had been placed in groups of five. They each knew the other’s talents, except for the commanding officer. The commanding officer’s talent had been kept a secret. Aaron had chosen to tell Susan, but that didn’t mean he wanted the others to know, and she could understand why.

“Save his life and you can ask him,” Susan said quietly.

Jessica watched her for a moment and then nodded. “
If he survives, then I might just do that.” She turned back to the compartment and her patient. “If his condition changes, I’ll be sure and let you know.”

Susan nodded and then began to walk away. She paused. “Terry will broadcast Reece’s arrival. You’ll have to seal this door and come down
to the cargo bay.”

“I’ll be there,” Jessica called out, not even bothering to look around.

It didn’t quite take Mr. Reece three hours to get there. He arrived at just over two and a half.

Susan was lying on her bed. She wasn’t asleep, couldn’t have slept, but she was trying to get some rest anyway. The fear about Aaron dying had lessoned some, but it was still there hiding in the shadows of her mind.

“All crew members please come to the cargo hold for customs inspection,” Terry’s voice called over the intercom.

Susan bolted upright, startled out of the gloominess of her thoughts. She hesitated a moment, blinking around at her room. Then she jumped up from the bed and sprinted out the door.

She stopped her sprint short of the
cargo bay; she didn’t much like the idea of Reece thinking she was desperate to lift off. Although, most of the ship’s captains were probably a bit desperate. This delay had to be wrecking quite a few delivery schedules.

She was still breathing heavy as she casually strolled through the entrance to the cargo hold. The rest of the crew was already there an
d Reece’s men were inspecting ID’s.

Reece saw her and waved her over. “You’ve been a pain in my ass,” he said as she drew near.

Susan blinked in confusion and then she remembered the other “guards” calling Reece and it pissing him off. She shrugged. “Sorry about that, but you can’t turn around in the port without somebody demanding your ID.”

Reece nodded and he looked tired. “I know. This is a bad business. An assassination has turn
ed the whole planet upside down, and you’re not the only captain who resents it.”

Susan was surprised. Reece was
almost being friendly and she wasn’t sure why. That bothered her. “I appreciate you coming back,” she said slowly. “I understand the normal queue to get an inspection is days long.”

Reece nodded. “Probably won’t take that long, though. They’re bringing in a bunch more of us and that should speed things up a bit.”

Susan nodded but said nothing.

Another of the guards, this one wearing full battle armor, approached. He paused at a respectable distance and waited for Reece to m
otion him over. “Sir, all the ID’s are the same as before.”

“Go on and inspect the rest of the ship.” He then turned his attention back to Susan. “I believe the guards at the gate said you w
ent looking for another crewman.” It didn’t sound exactly like a question, more like a simple statement of fact.

Susan nodded. “We did, and we would have liked to get some fresh supplies, but the whole damn planet’s shut down. Not to mention there was a building on fire right outside the port. Couldn’t even get near the city, so we decided our old supplies will be good enough until we make our next
planet.”

“And the crewman you wanted to hire?”

Susan shrugged. “I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find anybody, and I also thought you guys might want to hold any spacer I found for a while.” She shook her head. “I really want to lift off.”

Reece nodded, seemingly believing her.

Susan reached out telepathically. Reece was tired, physically exhausted, and also numb from listening to ships’ captains complaining for hours. He was somewhat alert, but he didn’t seem to suspect Susan or her crew of anything.