Warp World (76 page)

“Maybe next time,” Seg said.

“Maybe.” Gelad called over his shoulder as he walked away. “There’s a couple of chacks in the storage box.”

Arel pulled out one of the chacks and passed it to Seg, who checked the load and moved to the operator compartment.

“I’ll drive,” Seg said.

“Theorist Eraranat!” A familiar female voice demanded his attention.

Seg turned to see a red-haired woman jogging to the trans, viscam in hand. Nallin Sastor was as put-together as always, though dressed more practically than when Seg had last seen her.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, breathless.

“I don’t have the time, Sastor.” Seg slid the trans door open and deposited the chack in the driver’s compartment.

“You do have time, because I’m coming with you.”

Seg pivoted his head toward her and offered his best
get out of my space
stare. When she didn’t flinch, he added, “We’re not going to a party. This isn’t a celebrity affair, Mer Sastor.”

“You mean there won’t be any riots?” she asked.

“Theorist,” Arel said from the rear compartment, “time.”

Seg nodded without looking back. With his stare still fixed on Nallin, he jerked his head toward the rear compartment. “If there’s shooting, stay out of our way. We’re not responsible for your safety. And no transmissions without my clearance.” As she climbed in, he caught her eyes once more. “If you compromise us—”

“Just as charming as I remember.” Nallin glanced to Seg before she examined her viscam. “Well?” She raised an impatient palm. “Drive, since you’re in such a hurry.”

Seg pressed a finger to the ignition button and slid the door closed. He punched the pathway into the navigation system as Arel’s comm chimed.

The trans whirred smoothly from its spot, the automatic controls guided them through the labyrinthe underground garage.

Arel lowered his comm and, with a glance at Nallin, stretched forward to whisper to Seg.

“Boss, we’ve got a problem.”

Cerd’s thinned body of troops rounded the last corner to Fismar’s designated rendezvous, where all the remaining Kenda were gathered. Cerd let out a breath as he saw the outline of Trooper Shoon, one of Tirnich’s men.

“Ground Lead,” he said as he approached Fismar, “my detachment is linked back up.”

He saw the indicator lights blink into order as Fismar dragged Viren, Wyan, Tirnich, Prow, and himself into a side channel, away from the other men. They dropped into a tight huddle, crouched and circled around Fismar’s digifilm.

“Okay, the Etis are using the ventilation shafts and they’re pulling strike-and-hide on us,” Fismar said. Amber dots pulsed at points of known contact. “Without the viscams, we’re going to have to pry them out the hard way. Cerd’s detachment’s taken a thirty percent hit, mine’s down twelve percent, but on a quick review of the footage I’m calculating that, conservatively, we’ve taken out over half their regular effectives. So we’re winning, but this is going to get uglier from here to finish. It’s knives in the dark, and you kargers were born with blades in hand. I want eyes on these sections.” Red dots pulsed on the map. “We’re going to push our way down and secure the living quarters after we get the central computer control and power chambers.

“What about the women and kids?” Tirnich asked. “Aren’t we supposed to go after them?”

“We’re on fallback plan. If we go for the hostages now, the Eti fighters will whittle us down to nothing. We need to get the defense knocked out before we go for the kill. I’m watching everybody. I picked you lot to lead for a reason. We’ve made ’em desperate and it’s showing. Now let’s put ’em down and give them the boot. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Wyan grunted. “Why are we standing here when we should be out hunting down the bastards who killed my men?”

“Discipline and focus, Wyan. Now let’s kill some kargers. Ground Lead cleared.”

Cerd rose up from his crouch and passed his chosen routes on to Tirnich and Wyan. “Stay tighter this time, Tirnich.”

“Sorry about that, Mascom.”

Cerd nodded as they set out once more.

Tirnich’s squad led the way through the gloom of the Keep’s lower level, progress was slow but uneventful and Tirnich hung back in the middle of his men to monitor their pace, and ensure no one got too far ahead this time.

Handlo and Slopper were on point, Tirnich watched as the men forged the path.
His
men. He smiled to think what his sister would think of that. Or Brin, who had thought he was too young for battle.

At the next junction, Slopper raised a hand.

“Trouble?” Tirnich whispered over the comm.

“I hear something,” Slopper whispered back.

Tirnich signaled the troopers to halt as he crept forward. Handlo was at Slopper’s side; together they swept their chacks across a small alcove.

“It’s kids.” Slopper’s voice rose slightly. Lowering his chack, he darted forward, out of Tirnich’s sight line.

“What’s happening?” Tirnich pushed his way to where Handlo stood, and the trooper pointed to the dark recess.

Two small figures appeared in Tirnich’s visor. Children. The smallest clutched the hand of her companion, crying in frightened mewls. “Nen’s blood,” Tirnich said with a gust of relieved breath. “Slopper, come on. We can come back for them.”

Slopper lifted his visor and spoke softly as he approached the pair of sniffling children, his hands extended. “Don’t be scared. We’re here to help you.”

“Trooper Palk, pull back.” Fismar’s voice came across the squad frequency. “Tirnich, get him back from there, now!”

“It’s just a couple of young ones, Lieutenant. Kids,” Tirnich said. “They’re real scared. Slopper’s just trying to calm them down.”

“Follow your ord—”

Fismar was interrupted by a shout.

“Get back!” Slopper lunged forward.

Tirnich registered the threat a second too late: the exposed wire, from whatever device had been strapped to the Etiphar child. Slopper tackled, wrapped the boy tightly in his arms, smothered him completely.

A loud
chumpf
echoed through the corridor; the explosion shredded both man and boy.

“Nen’s blood,” someone whispered.

Tirnich froze in place for a split second. His hand went limp and his chack dropped to the ground. Then, as if struck by lightning, he charged to the spot where Slopper had stood moments earlier. “NO!” ripped from his throat and he dove to the ground. On all fours, hands reaching blindly through the rubble and gore, he searched.

A cry caught his attention, and he spotted the youngest child, still alive but not unharmed. She writhed in the mess, one side of her face torn open from the blast.

Tirnich scrambled to her side, ripped off his helmet, and ran a trembling hand over one exposed and bloodied little arm. The girl screamed at the touch.

“Help her! Help her, help her …” His voice grew quickly hoarse.

“
Cerd, get your unit moving again. We’ve got Etis to kill
.”

Tirnich knew the voice in his ear but it meant nothing. This tiny girl, a girl just like his sister, was hurt. He had to save her, had to help her. He was blind, the air was full of dust, his hands and knees were wet. Where was Slopper? He talked to soothe the child as he scoured the rubble. What was he looking for?

“
Copy, Ground Lead
.”

Where were the voices coming from? Why was no one helping him?

“
Tirnich, we are moving. NOW!
”

Stunned, Tirnich looked around for the disembodied voice. “Gotta get her some help. She’s hurt.” He turned his attention back to the girl, who he could barely see without his visor. “Slopper? Where’s Slopper? Pica needs help.”

“
Tirnich, we have to get moving
.”

He looked up and saw his own face reflected in a visor. “Who?’

“
It’s Handlo, Squad Leader. We can— Later, we’ll come back later, okay? We’ve got to move.
”

“No! I’m supposed to protect him.”

Tirnich fought as a hand grabbed the back of his harness and tried to pull him away.

“LET GO OF ME!”

With a jerk, he broke free and grabbed the girl, who immediately started to wail.

“Shh, I’ve got you. I won’t let them hurt you.”

“
Get him away from her. Nen’s blood, someone help me!”

The voice in Tirnich’s ear stopped but then the hands came, prying and pulling. He clung to her small hand until even that was yanked away. As hard as he tried to save her, hard hands held him back. “PICA!” Saliva sprayed from his lips. Someone was shaking him, shouting in his face.

“That’s not your sister. You have to leave her!”

“Handlo?” Tirnich blinked. He wiped his face, wet with tears or blood, he didn’t know which. “It’s not right.”

“None of it’s right, but we’ve gotta move,” Handlo said.

“
Tirnich
?” Cerd’s voice over the comm.

Tirnich forced air in and out through clenched teeth. His body shook, beyond his control.

Handlo pressed his face to Tirnich’s. “You have other men to protect.”

Tirnich looked to Handlo, who nodded. “I’ll come back. I’ll come back.”

He made no effort to wipe the tears that coursed down his cheeks as he accepted the helmet Handlo held out to him and pulled it back on. “Tirnich to Ground Lead, we’re moving. We’ll come back. I’ll come back.”

Seg had abandoned the Guild trans a short distance from his destination. Now he looked down the hill to the rider pad inside the scrap yard. The facility was nothing more than a recycler heap, and the rider sitting in it looked entirely at home. Even if it could fly, which looked doubtful, there were complications.

“I make ten hostiles,” he said to Arel.

“Agreed.” Arel pulled down the scope of his rifle. “Ten we can see.”

Nallin’s viscam was raised and already running. “Permission to broadcast, Theorist?”

Seg glanced back. “No. Wait—”

His comm vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the message as it came through, then smiled. He looked back down at the group waiting by his ride out of Cathind.

“Yes. Broadcast. Let’s go talk to Efectuary Akbas.”

As he walked, he slung the chack over his shoulder and his steps took on a swagger.

Nallin recorded everything as she followed. In front of him, Akbas waited in her immaculate CWA uniform, eyeing the viscam with a scowl.

“Efectuary Akbas, as much as I’d like to have this conversation with you, I have a ride to take,” Seg said. “Please remove your people from my path.”

“Theorist Eraranat,” Akbas said. From her tone, it was obvious she would have addressed him less formally if it weren’t for Nallin and her viscam. “The CWA has a seizure notice filed against you. We’re here to collect you. Resist and—” She gestured to the armed agents and spoke loudly for Nallin’s benefit. “We are fully and legally authorized to take you by force.”

“Two matters,” Seg said. “First, if you’ll check your notifications, you’ll see that the credit compliance clause of your seizure order has been satisfied, and therefore the order has been voided. Second …” He waved a hand in the air.

From every side, men and women dressed in raider utilities rose from the scrap piles through which they had been creeping, their weapons trained on Akbas’s security detachment. Seg favored her with a humorless smile.