Shell Game, page 29
part #15 of The Last Hunter Series
He withdrew the camera and packed it and the drill bit away. Then he turned to the Marine who was behind him. “I’m going to pump the knockout gas in and then blow the barrier. I’ll need your people to retreat a level and get out of the direct line of sight to the explosives. I assume you’ve all been trained on how to handle the overpressure.”
The Marine nodded. “We have, sir. If you give us enough warning, we’ll be ready to head in immediately after the explosion. It’s best if we set up a forward position, and you stay somewhere behind us while we secure the area. The chances of the guards being in protective gear are high.”
“That’s what we’ll do. I’ll retreat two levels and follow in after you’ve secured everything. The explosives will have a low beeping noise that speeds up the closer it gets to going off, and when you hear a solid tone, you’ve got two seconds before it detonates. Will that work?”
The man raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were an assassin, sir. It seems weird that you’d have explosives that announced they are going to go off.”
Patrick grinned. “Sometimes you want the target to know they are about to die. It’s all user-configurable, so I can turn it off or give the poor SOB a couple of seconds to know that he’s totally screwed.”
The Marine laughed. “Nice. We’ll back up and be ready to go in.”
While they evacuated the area, Patrick took a canister of knockout gas out of his backpack and inserted the hose through the barrier. He then sealed the remaining gap with some putty. That done, he opened the valve and allowed the gas to begin working its way into the air down below. It required very little of the gas to knock someone out and it would propagate rapidly throughout the entire level. The life-support system would suck it up and put it through filters, but the odds were good that it wouldn’t really inhibit the effectiveness all that much.
He gave the gas five minutes to circulate as widely as possible and then removed the canister and tube before planting the explosives. He set them for a sixty-second countdown, with only the last ten seconds having an audible component. Then he retreated up the maintenance shaft, passing the Marines as they waited and giving them the high sign before ducking in above just as the muted beeping started below.
When the tone became solid, he closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and pressed his fingers into his ears. The blast wasn’t too bad because he limited the amount of explosives he’d used, but he wanted to utterly vaporize the barrier so that the Marines could rush through. That meant that there was a good bit of overpressure that was there and gone within the blink of an eye.
By the time he got back into the maintenance shaft, the Marines had already entered the prison below, and he could hear gunshots. It looked like the guards were on their toes.
Patrick followed them down at a slower pace. This part of the operation was in their hands, and he wasn’t going to get himself shot because he was being overeager. He wouldn’t downplay the importance of what people like the Marines did because those traits were very valuable under the right circumstances. He didn’t look down on that kind of person. Far from it. They just weren’t him.
When he reached the prison level, he slowly levered himself out of the maintenance shaft and looked around as he drew his pistol. The Marines were advancing away from the entry point, and the shooting and shouting were growing louder as more people became involved.
He could see someone’s leg sticking around the corner ahead of him, but it didn’t match the color of the ship suits that the Marines were wearing. Good. One less guard to worry about.
Moving slowly, he followed the Marines in until they reached the area where the cells were. In fact, the cells were almost directly adjacent to the maintenance shaft. That was sloppy, but it wasn’t something he would complain about.
The cells were open air, with bars in place of doors and walls, so he was able to look in from where he stood and see a large number of prisoners either on their bunks or the floor, all knocked out. Unsurprising, as they hadn’t had any means of protecting themselves from the knockout gas.
It was a good thing that the prisoners were so close because it meant that the Marines were now between them and the people who might indiscriminately kill them. He wasn’t as concerned about that as Lisa, but he was trying to take her viewpoint into consideration.
Rather than advance to where the fighting was taking place, he went from cell to cell, taking the time to unlock the doors with a set of keys that he’d found on the dead guard. As he went, he looked for the man who had brought them here, and eventually found him about two-thirds of the way through.
He looked down at the unconscious man on his bunk and wondered what he would think if he knew that strangers had come to rescue him based on the recommendation of an ex-girlfriend. Patrick was certain that stranger things had happened in the universe, but this one was certainly up there.
The Marines finished clearing the guards out after about ten minutes, with the judicious application of some grenades. The guards were nowhere near as heavily armed as their opponents, and their attempts to call a lift car to get them out of there failed because Lisa had locked everything down. They were trapped, and eventually, the survivors surrendered.
Not that that would save them if he had anything to say about it.
The Marines took care of the guards by removing their protective masks and letting the knockout gas take them out. It would begin losing its effectiveness shortly, but it was still an expedient way of making sure they didn’t cause any trouble. He approved.
Once the area was secure and the knockout gas had dispersed, Lisa made her way down. She ignored the guards, went directly to where the prisoners were being kept, and smiled. “Thank God. I was worried that the guards would commit an atrocity.”
“Their bad design worked in our favor,” he said with a grin as he leaned up against one of the cells. “Never put the best way to break into a prison directly next to the prisoners. We now have control of the station, so it’s time to fish or cut bait. How do we want to proceed?”
“I’ve had an opportunity to listen in on what’s going on out in the system, and it seems that Admiral Romanoff has revealed himself. There’s a big fight between the Locusts, Tardan military vessels, and the two battleships. From what I can gather, I don’t think we need to worry about what happens here. If we can get the prisoners to an area where we can make sure that they wake up and keep everybody else unconscious for another three or four hours, I’d wager that Admiral Romanoff will be the one that has to deal with them, and that’s just fine with me.”
Patrick mentally shrugged. That was fine by him.
“Then I assume our time in the system is coming to a close,” he said. “You and I would be best positioned to deal with the Poseidon Group on Earth. I believe it’s in our best interests to let the military do their business while we take care of making sure that the Poseidon Group is ready to be overthrown once the Locusts are dealt with.”
“I think you’re right, but I’ll need to talk with the admiral before we strike out on our own. I’m assuming that you’re saying that we should get there ahead of the battleships, correct?”
“I think that would be optimal, yes,” he said.
“Then let’s start moving the prisoners out of the cells and put the secret police in them. We’ll get the station secure until the Marines can arrive in force and deal with all these asses.”
“You should send a message to Romanoff. Depending on what he’s doing, there may be an appropriate time for him to detach the Marines to handle this place, but if he doesn’t know he needs to incorporate that into what he’s doing, it’ll take longer.”
“I’m on it.”
He watched her walk off and grinned. She might never be an assassin, but she was quite an amazing human being. He looked forward to seeing what tricks she had in store for the Poseidon Group. It was time to execute the coup de grâce and finish them. It had been a fun game thus far, but it was time to take them off the board.
41
Jack rose from behind his desk when Amanda, Derek, Tina, and Lisa were escorted in by the Marines on guard outside. He gestured toward the sitting area off to the side of his office and then joined them there. Amanda made a beeline for the coffee and filled mugs for everyone.
For his part, he was already caffeinated enough. If he drank anymore, he’d have difficulty getting to sleep, so he declined.
“Well, the operation here certainly went differently than I expected,” he said once everyone was seated. “I suppose being able to keep our distance from the enemy and draw their forces off is an effective tactic where they don’t have overriding control codes. Well done, the pair of you.”
Amanda inclined her head toward Derek. “Most of the credit goes to him. He came up with the idea, and then he executed it perfectly. All I did was throw antimatter missiles at obstinate warships.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s not exactly how I heard it. Wasn’t it you who came up with the idea to make dirty antimatter missile explosions? That’s what I’m calling them, anyway. Since the professor originally intended for the matter and antimatter to collide in roughly equal amounts, the destructive side effects were limited. By cutting down on the amount of matter in the tanks, you greatly enhanced what happened when they exploded. That had a big effect. What made you think of it?”
“It was an educated guess, sir. I think we could probably make the explosion even uglier if we cut it down to about a quarter of the normal matter amount in the tanks. That’ll leave a lot more free-floating antimatter to run into things we’d like to blow up.”
He nodded. “That’s true, but what about the hazard that creates? A lot of free-floating antimatter in space is problematic because it has to actually hit normal matter, or it remains a threat. How long is it going to take for the clouds we’ve created here to clear out?”
“It’s probably going to take a while, but all is not lost. Just like atmosphere vented into space spreads apart until there are hardly any molecules in close relation with one another, the same is true of antimatter. A ship flying through the area where one of the detonations happened earlier might hit a few particles of antimatter, but that’s not going to be enough to do more than scuff the hull. It’ll be fine.”
“I’ll take your word for it. If there are any problems, I’m sure the locals will find out about them. Unfortunately, we won’t be around to pull anyone’s bacon out of the fire if it turns out to be a more significant threat than you think. We need to make sure that the locals are made aware of the areas they should avoid for a while.”
“That brings us to a different subject,” Tina said. “With the defeat of the Tardans here, that leaves the Poseidon Group in control. Even though Lisa and Patrick have taken out the station that the secret police were using as a prison, they still had plenty of personnel in the system to enforce their will. Do we really want to give them any information?”
“I don’t like leaving them in control any more than you do,” he said. “The problem is that we don’t have time to take care of them. I’ve spoken with Mac, and he’s indicated that his Marines will hit a couple of areas where the Poseidon Group is known to keep their more heavily armed forces. If we can eliminate the actual soldiers and see that the weapons we seize are passed around to those who might like to resist, I don’t imagine that the Poseidon Group will remain in control for very long. He’ll also hit the research station where the Tardans have humans they are experimenting on.”
“People will get hurt,” Derek said. “None of them are trained in using those weapons, and even if they were, it’s going to be ugly.”
Jack nodded. “You’re not wrong, but sometimes people have to stand up for what they believe in. There’s an old saying from Earth that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Sadly, it’s an accurate statement. You’ve got to put your money where your mouth is and take control of your own destiny, and that occasionally means you’ll die for the things that you believe in. We in the Navy know that all too well.”
They all nodded solemnly at that. As a group, they’d all seen friends die firsthand and knew the pain of loss that went along with a determination to do their duty. They’d sworn on the blood of the fallen that the enemies of the Confederation would be brought low, and each of them was undoubtedly willing to pay the ultimate price if called upon.
However, it was his job to make sure that as few as possible had to sacrifice everything. That meant that sometimes the pain had to be spread around. The civilians in this system deserved the opportunity to take it back. That would mean more to them than having the military do so. Would people die or be maimed? Of course, they would be. Even so, it was the right thing to do.
“How long is that going to take?” Lisa asked. “Patrick will leave the system shortly for Earth and I’m supposed to be with him. Tina can handle Specter for me.”
“I think we’ll wish that we had you with us before we’re done, but I believe you’re making the right choice,” Jack said. “The military needs to fight the invasion, and you and Patrick are perhaps the best people we have around to deal with the Poseidon Group. How effective will that be, though? He mentioned that he had to leave Earth because things had gotten too hot for him there. Isn’t that still going to be problematic?”
“Probably, but there are ways to deal with the Poseidon Group other than murdering them in their sleep, Admiral. He and I make a decent team, and I believe we’ll be able to find some innovative ways to keep them up at night. If at all possible, we’ll set them at one another’s throats so they can kill themselves for us. It’ll give us a lot of good information on how we have to deal with the rest of the planets inside the Confederation. Earth is just the start when it comes to the Poseidon Group.”
That was the damned truth. There were a lot of worlds in the Confederation, and each one of them had been taken over and their populace subjugated, though it seemed that the Poseidon Group was at least taking some steps to try to minimize the outcry. It wouldn’t be enough in the long run. The kind of people that would do this in the first place wouldn’t be able to help themselves.
“Any guesses on how long it will take to deal with the rest of the Confederation?”
Lisa shrugged and turned her attention to Tina. “What do you think?”
“I’m afraid I have no idea. It won’t happen quickly, but if we can learn the right ways to lay the groundwork, it may be easier as we go along. There’s a kind of momentum to this sort of thing. Once we can free up the necessary military forces to go from system to system and crush any armed resistance, then it becomes a fight for the hearts and minds of the people. The documentaries that you hate so much will go a long way toward turning people toward fighting back against their oppressors.”
“I’m never going to get away from those darned things, am I?” Jack asked with a grimace.
“Not a chance,” she assured him. “By the time you finish liberating Earth, I believe that a wide swath of the populace will assume that you walk on water. And that’s before Christine finishes the next installment. If I were you, I’d be looking for a nice quiet place to retire so you can actually have time to spend with that lovely wife of yours and the children you intend to have, both already in progress and those in the future.”
“Believe me, I’m thinking about it. I’m not sure there’s really any place isolated enough, though. There will always be people seeking me out if I try to hide. For that matter, there will probably be surviving elements of the Poseidon Group floating around for a good long while. They won’t see me in such a positive light, and it would be awkward to have them show up at my door some evening.”
“You’re not wrong,” Derek said. “I’m not sure how any of us will deal with the celebrity that comes with victory, but it certainly beats the ignominy of defeat.”
“We’ve got Governor Albertson in the brig,” Amanda said. “What are we going to do with all the secret police on the prison station? Open the airlocks and let them suffocate?”
“I think that will be up to whoever ends up in charge here once everything is settled,” Jack said. “I understand the temptation to just get rid of them, but it’s time for the civilian legal system to handle this issue. As long as we can make sure that they can’t get loose and that no one can come in and rescue them, that should be good enough for right now. We’ll have to move the station somewhere else so that the Poseidon Group won’t know where to go looking for them. How doable is that, Derek?”
“I can make it happen,” the young man assured him. “It’s a delicate procedure to relocate a space station, but it’s not in orbit around a planet, so we can certainly get it going. Depending on how far you want it to be from its origin point, it might take a few days.”
Jack grimaced again. “I hate wasting the time, but we’re already taking out the military elements and setting up resistance forces. That will take a couple of days, for sure. While we’re doing that, start the process of relocating that station. I think we’ll detach some folks to stay aboard it and make sure nothing goes awry. We’ll want to make sure they can’t break out of their own prison.”
Amanda nodded. “That’s a good idea. I suggest we take the folks who have a connection to the system and let them do it. They’re already involved and familiar with the station. We can leave the Marines that assisted them to help provide muscle. If we get our people suitably armed and armored, no amount of escaped prisoners will be able to burst through a hard point.”
“Three days,” Jack said firmly. “That’s the amount of time I’m allocating to close out this operation. We need to have everything wrapped up within seventy-two hours and be ready to depart. Come hell or high water, we need to head for Earth.”
