Loyalty: Old Mans Comeback Book 5, page 21
“Of course it would,” Flip said, “and if we had the means of producing those batteries, I’m pretty sure they’d make a fortune. As would the ones who held on to the Box. And if we could replicate it? Wouldn’t it be great to have one or two in every hospital?”
“Yes.”
“And do you think it would be done? No! Because someone’s gotta get paid.”
“I think you’re looking at this the wrong way,” Hamish said. “No one would allow something like that to cost—”
“You work for a company that kidnapped your family to figure out what it did. They had no clue, and they still committed felonies to get you here. So don’t talk to me about what someone would allow. Anyway, it’s hypothetical. I don’t even think the people who invented it could make another one.”
“How old is it?”
“Thousands,” Flip said. “And the culture responsible for this wonder has been in decline. So to speak.”
“Fascinating story,” Morley’s voice piped through the speakers. “Thank you for turning on the power to tell it.”
Flip snorted. “Fat lot of good it’ll do you. All things considered.”
Morley said, “You came back. And with so much to offer now. We should really meet up in person. Have a serious conversation.”
“Bud,” Flip said, “I’m going to expose you. For everything you’ve done. To these people, and the ones topside. I know you killed your strike force with that attack. And God knows how many others. But the investigators will figure that out.”
“The strike force you refer to was obliterated. Habeas corpus protects me there. As far as the others, what are you going to say? That a bunch of greedy scientists had their families taken? Please. They were well compensated.”
“That’s not true!” Hamish shouted. “We never—”
“It’s in your account,” Morley said. “That’s all anyone will look at. The fat deposit from my company to you. Money doesn’t matter. But this device that he’s talking about, it does. Where is it?”
“Long gone,” Flip replied. “My people took it away.”
“We are your people,” Morley sneered. “I’m not sure how you forgot that.”
“Yeah, I felt cherished when your company cut me loose after I got hurt. Loyalty has to go both ways, Morley. Does the guy you’ve got working for you upstairs right now know how you operate?”
“What’re you talking about?”
“I’m assuming you got another lackey like the one I had to kill at the museum. The guy who pretty much took me out. Does your new guy have any clue that he’s biding time for betrayal?”
“Look,” Morley said, “we’re working on getting you out of there. Then you can help us find this Box. You want loyalty, you want to be part of something, I’ll welcome you back. Young, rejuvenated, ready to make a mark for us. I’m sure we can get you something.”
“You mean a table for dissection?” Flip chuckled. “No thanks. Even if you get here before my friends, I’ll fight my way out of here. They’re not taking me alive.”
“I suppose we’ll see about that. There may be someone you care about left. Leverage can be pleasant. Or not.”
Flip closed his eyes. He doubted Morley could get ahold of his daughter in time to make any sort of impact. She lived half a world away. The key was to hide any potential weaknesses.
“The people you’re talking about…” Flip measured his words. “Are in space. Defending Earth against a threat. Free of charge, and for no reason. They could’ve easily left with their prize. But they didn’t.”
“Don’t bother to bluff.”
“I’m not,” Flip snapped. “Too bad your equipment can’t see it, but I assure you, it’s happening. And let me tell you, if you could get your hands on any of that tech, you’d be light years ahead of where you are now. Hamish here knows it and he’s not even in the engineering field.”
“Maybe…” Hamish cleared his throat. “Maybe we should discuss trade of some sort, sir. A chance to get knowledge without pushing or stealing or—”
“I don’t need your help with this,” Morley interrupted. “And whatever this man thinks he can do, he’s about to find out otherwise. We’re setting charges. We’ll open a hole to get you all out of there soon enough. Then… then we’ll talk about what happens to you next.” The line went dead.
“Funny,” Flip said. “He goes for a mic drop, but we all know he’s still listening. Creeper.”
“Do you think it’s possible?” Hamish asked. “To enter into a trade agreement with aliens?”
“I think they got the only thing they wanted from us.” Flip lifted his shoulders. “We’d have to come up with something seriously compelling to make it worth their while. And at least for now, with slime like Morley stepping up for negotiation, I don’t think we’d do well in the intergalactic field.”
“Pity.” Hamish paused as a deep rumble resonated through the walls. “What was that?”
“They’re clearing the debris with explosives.” Flip looked at the ceiling. “Fortunately, this part of the complex is properly underground, or it might be even more dangerous. Do you have supplies to hold out?”
“For a few weeks.”
“Good.” Flip stretched, then crossed his legs at the ankles. “I guess all we can do now is sit back and relax. See what happens next. Don’t be uptight. There’s nothing else going on. We’ll talk later.”
“What’re you going to do?”
Flip closed his eyes. “Nap. Until the real explosions start. You might as well do the same.”
“How the hell can you rest when they’re about to blow things up?”
“When I was this age before…” Flip chuckled. “Weird thing to say… but if you couldn’t sleep with explosions, you dragged ass for days. Anyway, even if they get it open, they won’t be down here for hours. Seriously, close your eyes, Hamish. After what you’ve been through, you need it.”
Chapter 31
Sol System, somewhere near Earth’s Moon
Torma Wender
The guns proved hyper-accurate, enough so that Torma made a mistake in trying to lead his targets too much. A reticle showed him the optimal firing angle. He tried to use it, but getting used to the system took some time. The urgency of combat made it difficult to relax into it.
One of the enemy ships took a direct blast from their main cannons. It knocked out their shields in an instant, causing significant enough damage that the targeting computer called them dead in space. Torma didn’t buy it, so he unloaded another three shots into them.
The hull burst, but even as that happened, the other three unleashed a barrage from two angles onto the Ilsin. Evasive maneuvers helped mitigate some of the attack, but much of it still got through. The ship trembled from the assault.
“Dude,” Jake said, “maybe you need to let me have a try with those controls.”
“I’ve got it,” Torma snapped. “It’s not like you’re going to do much better against four!”
“I could try! Hell, they just hit us hard!”
Sorsha shouted, “That’s enough! Let him focus, please!” She continued working. “I think I’m almost through on the beacon.”
“What good will that do?” Jake asked.
“First, it’ll prevent them from calling for reinforcements. Second, we might be able to talk to them, or gather some evidence of who they are.” Sorsha tapped the screen three times. “I don’t even have life readings on them. Gia, is that because their defenses are blocking the signal?”
“These may be automated vessels.”
“Excuse me?” Jake asked. “You think these are robot ships?”
“Or they are handled remotely,” Gia replied. “Yes.”
“Great.” Jake slumped. “We’re not even fighting living beings and they’re tearing us up.” As if to prove his point, they took another heavy blow. “See? There it is again.”
“C’mon!” Torma fired again, letting loose on another of the enemies. They managed to evade his main attack, but the turrets got them. “They’re really fast! And this thing’s good, but with the evasive maneuvers, it’s hard to stick to…” He fired, scoring another hit. “Ha! Take that!”
“Oh yeah,” Jake muttered, “get excited about nudging them.”
“Maybe I will give you a turn,” Torma spun on him. “Give you a chance to see how hard this really is.”
“Just… focus, man!” Jake pointed. “Don’t look at me!”
Sorsha sighed. “You guys gotta stop! Ugh, I seriously miss Flip right now. We’re all doing our best, right?” A green light appeared on her screen. “Wait! I’m in! I think I’m in! Or…” The designation turned red. “No. This is frustrating! Gia, what’s the deal with this thing?”
“Security protocol,” Gia said. “It continually changes the code, defying our integration. I’ve detected a pattern. I can match it momentarily. But these enemy ships must be dealt with. It may be best to focus on them first.”
“Unless,” Sorsha replied, “we bring more down on us. Or the planet.”
“Beacon later,” Gia pressed. “Save the Ilsin now.”
“Alright, alright.” Sorsha turned to Torma. “Make it happen Gia, full combat maneuvers.”
“Shifting from evasion,” Gia announced. “Prepare to fire at will.”
Jake snorted. “Wasn’t that what he was doing?” Torma risked a quick glare at him, before turning back.
The Ilsin came around, cutting hard to the left across the bows of two of the ships. Cutting them off required them to break hard to avoid a collision. They narrowly escaped as Torma lit them up with the turrets. The proximity made him wince. He swore they’d hit them.
“That’s a little close!” Torma mumbled. “You’d think you wanted to hit them.”
“They are automated,” Gia replied. “Which means they have protocols they can’t ignore. Even if they would’ve liked to ram us, they cannot without someone interceding.”
Jake said, “Which is cool and all, but it would’ve been great if you told us in advance. And um, holy shit, but it just dawned on me that I’m in freakin’ space.”
Sorsha cast a glance back at him. “Just now? Seriously?”
“Hey! We’ve been busy!” Jake looked outside. “This is wild. We’re like… hauling ass out here too. How the hell did Flip get used to this so quick? And you said he’s flown this thing?”
“Not now!” Torma fired again. This time, he clipped one of the three ships as they attempted to navigate to an attack run. The Ilsin kept moving in such a way as to keep two of them on an endless turn. The third managed to get some shots off, nudging them again.
The main cannon discharged. This time, it tore through one of the ships, cutting it in half. Torma clapped his hands, but quickly grasped the controls again to hit the next one. Those ships broke hard away from one another, rocketing away in opposite directions.
Gia picked the one on the left, giving chase. Torma zeroed in, laying the reticle down. He let loose, with the main cannon scoring a direct hit. The shields dropped in an instant, followed by the thrusters bursting in seconds.
The last of the ships made another run at the Ilsin. It swept across the top, nipping at their shields. Torma spun the turrets to chase it. Red beams winked into the darkness, clean misses across the board.
“There’s only one left!” Jack slapped the back of Torma’s chair. “You’ve got this!”
“Was that encouragement?” Torma asked, “or are you completely mad?”
“A little of both!” The ship trembled from another assault. “But you gotta make something happen! How much more of that can we take?”
Gia replied, “It would be better if it stopped soon.” She directed the ship toward the moon. They cut close enough to make out the pockmarked surface, then passed into the dark side. Enemy blaster fire lit up the space, flickering all around them.
“How do they fire so fast?” Torma asked.
“All power to shields, engines, and weapons,” Sorsha replied. “They don’t have to mess with anything else. No life support, no antigravity. Those drain a great deal. Believe me, Gia’s pushed those systems with us before and they make a difference.”
As if in response, the Ilsin fired the front maneuvering thrusters, practically spinning in place. The motion was enough to throw Torma back into his seat. The pressure made him cry out in surprise.
Jake grunted in the back. They were held in place for nearly twenty seconds before the Ilsin fired the rear thrusters again.
Torma shook his head, turning his attention back to the targeting computer. The enemy ship was in his line of sight. “Got it!” His finger twitched, then he cut to the right, just a little. When he pulled the trigger, the enemy moved directly into the path of his assault.
The direct hit ended the vessel, turning it to particles. “Done!” Torma shouted. He threw his arms over his head. “We did it!”
“Great work!” Jake hit Torma’s seat again. “I never had any doubt!”
“You didn’t?” Torma frowned as he turned to him. “You’re a strange one.”
“Oh, absolutely.” Jake bounced in his seat. “Now, we gotta get back to save Flip, right? Those VasCorp ass clowns might find a way to get in there.”
“The beacon,” Sorsha said. “Gia got the pattern. We should be able to jam it now, at least until we get back.”
“I’m working on it,” Gia replied, “also, please check the tactical screen. I’m monitoring the site where Flip is currently, and there have been a number of small explosions.”
Jake said, “They’re clearing the debris. How fast till we get back?”
“Not long.” Sorsha took control, changing course back to Earth. “We’ll be there momentarily. Shift the weapons to nonlethal. One quarter power. We’ll need them in a minute.”
“Got it.” Torma complied. “This turned out more intense than anticipated.”
“That’s why we didn’t come alone,” Sorsha replied. “Torma, you’ll be flying the shuttle. Unless you want me to do it.”
“I can’t let you go down there.” Torma rose from his seat. “Come on, Jake. Just in case he needs help getting aboard. I want to stay at the controls.”
“Right.” Jake stood. “You okay, lady?”
“My name’s Sorsha,” she replied, “and yes, I’ll be fine. Just bring him back, please.”
“Oh, no doubt.” Jake hurried away.
Torma paused at the bridge. “Let me know when you jam that thing. Just for peace of mind.”
“Will do.” Sorsha looked at him. “See you when you get back. Until then, keep the comms live. Bye.”
Torma left, hustling to catch up with Jake. The young man stood near the shuttle pacing around the cargo area. “Don’t know how to get in?”
“Haven’t got a clue,” Jake said. “But I thought there’d be a handle or something out here. A panel. Maybe a button.”
“Nope.” Torma chuckled. “These vessels, these Kultarin ships, are seamless in appearance. They can recede into the vehicle like liquid.” He tapped the side. “I’ve flown this one before, so it responds.” The ramp began to drop. “See?”
“Wicked.” Jake pulled on his helmet. “Alright! A man’s waiting for a ride, and I’d really like to get five stars for the service.”
“You’d… what?”
“You don’t have ratings where you’re from?” Jake clicked his tongue. “We got a lot to talk about. Tons to teach each other. Don’t worry, I’m all for education. I’m happy to tell you all about ride share.”
“Sounds lovely.” Torma shook his head as he took the pilot’s seat. “Strap in. When we head down in that hole, I’m not sure how easy it’ll be to make my way all the way down there without hitting something. Might be a bumpy ride.”
“Don’t worry. I know all about uncomfortable trips. Remind me to tell you about the time we rolled into a village thinking it was another town altogether, only to realize we pulled up to the enemy’s HQ.”
“No…” Torma said. “No, I don’t think I will. Hang on. I’m performing a preflight check.”
Chapter 32
VasCorp Facility, Nevada
Raymond “Flip” Kinnely
Debris cascaded down from the shaft, enough to make the walls shake violently. Flip practically fell out of his chair as he woke from his nap. Hamish did the same, though he yelped. They got to their feet, moving straight for the door.
