Hunter Killer: Legacy Earth 7, page 30
The Data Broker cut the transmission off before its source could say any more.
“He goes on for quite some time, but in the end, determined the ship he was tracking never left the system.”
“Wouldn’t he be able to find them if he’d tracked them to a particular system?” Lance asked, tapping his foot impatiently.
“This operative was on a different mission,” the Data Broker countered. “They happened to stumble on that trail and discovered that it terminated in the Grey system. With forty-three inhabitable planets and moons, he didn’t have the time to run discrete scans on each of them.”
“But we will,” Lance muttered as he bit the inside of his cheek. “And how do we know we can trust this information you’re giving us?”
“Because you know where my base is,” the Data Broker replied. “And I’m hoping that helping find your friends will buy your silence, as I do like my privacy.”
“As soon as we leave, you could just move this thing,” Mattias suggested.
“There are only so many places a megastructure like this can hide in the galaxy,” the Data Broker replied before looking at Valdivia. “If I were to turn on its engines, it’d inform everyone where I am. Besides, I’ve called this place home since before your kind took to space. I’d very much like to not move.”
Lance fidgeted with his weapon. He took a deep breath before nodding. A voice in the back of his mind told him not to trust the Data Broker while his heart screamed at him to believe the grey-skinned giant. He looked at Lincoln, and the cyborg winked at him.
“Fine,” Lance relented. “Give us the coordinates and this location stays private. If we don’t find them, we’re coming back here with an armada.”
“I would expect nothing less from someone with your tenacity,” the Data Broker replied.
Waving his hand from the wall, toward Lance’s multi-tool, the captain got a notification of new data being transmitted. Accepting it, the system’s location was projected on his forearm.
“Now if you would tell your pilot to dock with this ship, we can get you on your way,” the Data Broker added, turning the wall into an image of his station. “This is where we are; here is the nearest docking port.”
A highlight of their outlines blinked on the display before another, just up the hall, blinked as well.
“I would like to employ whoever built that ship,” the Data Broker said. “Even now, my sensors can’t read its position.”
“Not unless they request to speak with you directly,” Lance replied as he transmitted the coordinates to Scott.
“A wise man. Don’t trade secrets to someone who isn’t an ally,” the Data Broker said.
“You’re not an ally?” Stephanie asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s possible to not be an ally but not be an enemy… I prefer to think of myself as neutral. Providing information, as needed, for a price.”
“And this time, your price is our silence,” Valdivia said, and the Data Broker nodded.
“What would be the price to the cure for her condition?” Lance asked, nodding at Valdivia.
The Data Broker led Hrafn squad through the liquifying metal door and to the docking bay. An expression of genuine sadness spread across his face at the captain’s question.
“I’m afraid there is no price,” the Data Broker replied. “Only a handful of Jarog have ever had your affliction. The current state of the galaxy doesn’t have the technology to find a cure.”
“But you do?” Valdivia asked, a hint of hope in her voice.
“I do,” the Data Broker replied with a nod. “But it’d require tests that would kill you and as I haven’t been able to acquire the bodies of any other Jarog who suffered from the disease, a cure still alludes me.”
Valdivia’s head dropped. Lance clenched his teeth, shaking his head in defiance as Scott pinged them that he’d docked.
“If we don’t find them… we’re coming back for you,” Lance said as the doors opened.
“Once again… I’d expect nothing less,” the Data Broker replied.
Hrafn squad loaded into their dropship, leaving the grey-skinned giant behind. As everyone strapped in, Scott broke away from the megastructure and flew toward the Gladius.
“We’re just going to leave and take his word for it that he doesn’t have them?” Mattias asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Lance replied. “If we pushed it, he could’ve killed us all.”
“Besides, I put dormant tracking software in his ship,” Lincoln chimed in. “If he runs, we’ll be able to find him again.”
As they initiated a jump, Valdivia holstered her shotgun and put her head in her hands. Lance reached over and placed his hand on her back.
“Just because he said there’s no cure doesn’t mean there isn’t one,” Lance said. “He doesn’t have all the answers.”
“The tests needed to find a cure would kill me,” she replied in a hushed tone. “I’ll never leave this suit.”
“The tests HE would run would kill you,” Stephanie chimed in. “Besides, we were the first people to evade his watch in centuries. If we can do that, we can find you a cure.”
“And do it without killing you,” Lance added.
Dropping out of jump, they approached the Gladius. Drifting into the hangar, they docked. As the Whisper’s engines shut off, Lance unbuckled himself and stood up. He gently placed his forehead against Val’s helmet.
“We’re going to get Chadavia back and Amber’s going to get you that cure… I promise,” he said softly before looking at his team. “Weapons and armor check. Do any repairs that need to be made to your suits since we don’t know what we’re walking into. I’ll deliver the coordinates to Justin.”
Exiting the ship, he made his way to the elevator as his father called in. Lance opened his multi-tool as he selected the bridge deck.
“We had to break off to actually conduct repairs,” Leon announced. “Were you able to recover the assets?”
“No, sir,” Lance replied. “The Data Broker didn’t have them, but he gave us a lead. We know what system they’re in. Heading there now to investigate.”
“And you believe him?”
“Yes, he was too eager to be helpful and wanted us off his ship. He must’ve known only the truth would’ve gotten rid of us, but I want to keep a close eye on him. He definitely has things on that megastructure he doesn’t want us to know about.”
“Should we move in on him?”
“Negative,” Lance said as the elevator doors opened. He started toward the cockpit. “We may need him if this information turns out to be a dead end. We won’t get anything from him if we attack him further without reason. He was understanding this time; I doubt he will be again.”
“Copy that. Send us your coordinates and I’ll make sure backup is on the way,” Leon replied.
“Yes, sir,” Lance said as he shut off the radio and leaned against the back of Justin’s seat. “Drentlaw, were you able…”
“Already got it from your multi-tool, sir,” the cartographer interrupted.
“And a course has already been charted,” Justin replied.
“Good,” Lance grinned, tapping his pilot on the shoulder. “Let’s go save our friends.”
The blue spiral formed in front of their ship as they entered jump.
43
SLEEPER
The Gladius drifted silently through the Grey system. With its stealth systems in full effect, everyone remained quiet. The air was thick with anticipation as Lance leaned over Drentlaw’s shoulder to inspect the scans he’d made of the moons and nearby planets they passed.
So far, the Data Broker had been right. The system’s solar winds erased all trace of ion trails. Even to scan a planet, they had to get so close, they’d be seen from the surface if someone had regular binoculars.
Each moon and planet the Data Broker flagged for them was capable of sustaining life. Some were even verdant forests and ocean worlds teeming with sentient life. No signs of structures or crash sites of ships showed up on their scans.
Lincoln approached Lance, electric razor in hand as he scratched at his newly shaven face.
“Any luck?” he asked in a whisper.
“Nothing yet,” Lance replied.
The cyborg looked at his little brother, his brow furrowed. Placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder, he leaned in.
“You’ve been at this for three days straight. Go to your cabin, get some rest. You’ll be no good to them if we find them and you’re too tired to move.”
Lance shook his head.
“We’re eighty percent of the way through this system,” he countered. “Statistically, we’ll be finding them any second. I’m not going to be asleep when we do.”
“Then forget your cabin, go to the crew quarters. Anything comes up, and they’ll make sure you’re awake for it.”
Lance’s multi-tool beeped. He looked down. It was Doctor Crestbow attempting to open a line.
“What now?” the captain muttered as he opened the line. “Report.”
“Sir, we’ve got a problem,” the physician said.
“What kind of problem?” Lance asked.
“The kind that by all reasons of science should be in a medically induced coma but just walked out of the med bay.”
Lance’s heart skipped a beat. A surge of adrenaline extinguished any semblance of exhaustion that pulled at him. Deploying his helmet, he pointed at his brother.
“You’re in charge up here,” he ordered before turning back to the doctor’s channel. “You just let him walk out?!”
“We didn’t exactly have a choice. He ripped his bed off the ground and threw it at us.”
Lance cut off the doctor. He opened a channel to Hrafn squad and all the security officers.
“Lock down the prison and fan out. Sabo is out of containment, I repeat Sabo is out of containment,” Lance announced as he stepped into the elevator. “Computer, look for Svikari life signs.”
“Svikari life signs detected in the engine room,” the computer replied.
“Stephanie, lock down the engine room!” Lance ordered.
“I’m at the gun range, on my way up,” the engineer replied.
“Never mind. I’m in the elevator already on my way down. I’ll take care of it,” Lance said as he drew his pistol.
The elevator door dinged, sliding open. The captain raised his weapon and stepped into the hallway. Shouts of men and women rose from the engine room. Running toward the noise, he rounded the corner to see Sabo standing in front of the engine, staring at it as engineers tried to get him to back away.
“SABO, PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!” Lance shouted, pointing his weapon at the SOAT. “ALL FOUR OF THEM!”
“He’s got something in his hand,” one of the engineers said, looking at Lance.
“Get out,” the captain ordered. “Everyone out and get to the bridge.”
As the engineers rushed out, the deck supervisor stopped next to Lance, terror filled her face.
“If that core goes, we all go,” she whispered. “I’ll initiate ejection protocols, and if you give the order, we’ll dump the core.”
Lance nodded before she left.
“Sabo, what are you doing?”
“So strange the route intelligence takes through existence,” Sabo said in a soft, monotone voice.
“Yeah… yeah, it is strange,” Lance agreed, trying to get a toehold in the conversation. “What are your thoughts on how a race’s development affects the evolution of their technology?”
“It’s all for naught in the end,” Sabo said as he turned around.
Lance saw a small, cylindrical device in his right smaller hand. Lance pointed his weapon at Sabo’s head.
“What do you mean all for naught?” Lance asked, his heart pounding like a hammer in his chest.
Using his HUD, he sent a typed message using his eyes. He sent an order telling everyone to get to the escape pods and the fighters and get off the Gladius.
“Lance, what’s going on?” Valdivia came in through his helmet. “Where are you?”
Fear caused her voice to tremble.
“I’m in the engine room,” Lance replied. “Sabo has a device in his hands. I’m assessing the situation, but get off the ship just in case. I’m not having a repeat of his vessel; that’s an order.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Valdivia countered.
“Mattias, Dexter, get her out of here!” Lance ordered.
“On it,” they both said in unison.
“Your rudimentary technology is quite easy to figure out,” Sabo added, his eyes locked with Lance.
An unfamiliarity settled in the Svikari’s eyes as they looked at one another. Lance motioned at the device.
“Drop it, or I’ll put you down!” Lance barked, placing his finger on the trigger.
“There are so many explosives tucked around this ship,” Sabo added. “It wasn’t difficult to tap into their frequencies.”
Lance’s finger twitched against his trigger. Before his weapon discharged, Sabo clenched the device in his hand.
KA-DOON!
Before his gun could fire, an explosion ripped through the wall in front of Lance. His shield protected him from the debris, but the shockwave hit him like a truck. Flying backward, the soldier slammed into a wall as he heard several more detonations rip through his ship.
Lance caught himself with his free hand before falling to the ground. Raising his pistol, he looked up at Sabo, who was gone. His ship shook violently several more times. Clipping his pistol into its holster, the captain pushed himself to his feet.
“Lock down engineering and flood the deck with radiation. Sabo’s missing,” he shouted over an open channel as he dashed toward the stairwell. “And someone give me a report!”
“We have ship-wide detonation from unknown sources!” Justin replied. “Escape pods are being launched and fighters loading up with crew to launch an escape.”
Lance reached the door. He opened it and stepped into the stairwell, where crew members ran to the nearest floor with pods to load into.
“Dexter, how many explosives did you hide around this ship?” Lance asked as he ascended, to get to the cockpit.
“Engineering showing no crew members, locked down and venting radiation,” the deck supervisor called out.
“Twenty-one,” Dexter answered. “Mattias and I are off the ship. Val’s with us!”
“Explosions have disabled the fighter engines,” Scott added. “But hull integrity and stabilizers are still intact. We can launch, but we’ll just be floating.”
A high-pitched whistle, accompanied by a rattle, pulled Lance’s attention. He looked up to see a pipe shaking.
“EVERYBODY DOWN!” he screamed.
Before he could move, the pipe exploded, slamming into his helmet. He was thrown down a flight of stairs. Hitting the wall, he fell to the ground. A violent rush of wind overcame him as his HUD notified him of his suit’s magnetic system automatically activating.
Screams filled the stairwell as the entire outer wall ripped away, revealing the cold abyss waiting for them. A dozen crew members were pulled out. Lance reached up and caught one young man by the arm.
“I got you!” Lance shouted, fighting the vacuum.
Terror filled his face as he held on to Lance with all his might. The boy started to twitch and jolt as the wind died down. The sclera turned from white to bloodshot as his body heaved. Horror writhed within the captain as he saw the light leave his crew member’s eyes. Frost formed over his now blue skin.
Lance released the boy to drift into space. Shaking his head, he pulled himself back to the task at hand. He continued his ascent. Each step was labored from the magnetized boots fighting against the zero gravity just over his head.
“Report on extraction,” Lance barked as he continued to climb.
“Almost everyone’s out,” Justin replied. “Working on keeping her together just a little longer!”
“Get to an escape pod, Justin, that’s an order!”
“Not until everyone else is off the ship.”
“Everyone who’s going to get off already is; now get out of here.”
“I’m the only thing stopping us from falling into this planet’s gravity well!” Justin countered.
Lance ripped the door on the bridge deck open. An environmental shield prevented the deck from depressurizing.
“Lance, are you off the ship?” Valdivia’s voice cut through a wall of static.
“Not yet,” the captain replied. “I’m getting Justin, then I’ll be off with everyone else.”
“She’s breaking up; you have to hurry,” Valdivia replied.
With artificial gravity out on the bridge, Lance shut off his magnetic boots and activated his jump jet system, flying toward the cockpit.
“Give me ten seconds,” Lance replied, drawing his knife.
Landing next to Justin, he cut the pilot’s restraints off.
“There’s no point in wasting your life by going down with this heap,” Lance said, pulling the pilot out of his chair to angry protests. “You’re living to fly another day!”
Going to the airlock, Lance opened it to reveal an escape pod had risen from the floor to fill the void. He threw Justin inside. Grabbing the walls as explosions continued to rock the ship around him, he pulled himself toward his friend. Justin pressed the sequence to start the launch.
Just before clearing the door, something grabbed Lance’s foot. He jerked to such a violent stop, his knife slid from his hand. Justin’s eyes widened in horror, causing the captain’s stomach to knot.
“NO!” the pilot screamed.
Lance was yanked backward. Just as he passed out of the open doors of the pod, they slammed shut and launched.
Lance hit the opposite wall. His magnetic boots activated. Standing in front of him was Sabo, radiation burns covering parts of his body.
“You don’t get to leave just yet,” Sabo sneered. “There are plans for you.”
Lance reached for his guns; they’d all been pulled free from decompression. He ignited his plasma blade.
