Marathon: The Complete Series (Books 1-9) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 25
part #1 of Marathon Series
He spun back to the stairs, and she touched his arm to stop him. “Hey! What’s wrong? We got away. We’re all right.”
“Get out of my way,” he snarled, and barged back upstairs to the infirmary.
He would have continued his campaign through the ship, but she blocked him. “Easy, Dallas. Whatever it is, we can find it for you.”
He commanded himself not to go off on her. She wasn’t responsible for this. “I don’t need you to find it for me.”
“Maybe if I knew what you needed, I could get it for you.” She eased closer to him and her sinuous limbs touched his armor. Her big eyes gazed up at him in their hypnotic way. “Let me help you. I want to.”
“I need Datrium. My reserves are running low and this ship…” He almost cursed and stopped himself. “This ship doesn’t have any apertures I can use to refuel. The Marathon has nutrient apertures in the galley, and Datrium apertures in the infirmary and in the cargo hold. Eckhart modified the ship for me when I went to work for him.”
“Oh.” She frowned and looked around. “I don’t know what to do about that.”
“There’s nothing to do about it, but if I don’t refuel in the next five minutes, I’ll completely shut down. My life support functions will quit and I’ll be finished.”
At that moment, Bing stuck his head out of the bridge door. “The Marathon is coming up on our scanners. Rixby responded to our hails. She’s coming in to get us.”
“Finally!” Dallas muttered and headed back down to the cargo hold. The emergency fuel alarm kept blaring inside his helmet. He’d never been this close to running out of fuel since he’d first got these prosthetics. He had to fuel up fast.
He reached the hold in time to hear a loud clang of metal against metal coming from outside the hatch. Ilke had hastily repaired it so the ship maintained pressure when it launched into space.
Dallas couldn’t get the hatch open fast enough. He paced back and forth in front of it, counting down the seconds until it unlocked from the other side.
It purred open to reveal the Marathon backed up to the Banshee. Rixby stood at the joined hatches. She started to say, “I extended a life support envelope between…”
Dallas didn’t listen to the rest. He ran to the Datrium aperture on the hull wall and locked his port onto it. He sagged in relief as Datrium flowed into his internal storage capacity chambers.
Rixby cocked her head to study him. “Are you okay, Dallas?”
“I’m fine now. Thank you for coming to get us, Rixby.”
“We should keep this ship,” DeWalt suggested when he, Clifton, and the others transferred to the Marathon.
Bing burst out laughing and clapped DeWalt hard on the shoulder. “Great idea. Let’s all transfer to a ship with a homing beacon on board. The Regiment will be able to follow it right to your back door, Nancy.”
“We can’t keep it,” Dallas told him. “We have to get as far away from that ship as we can before the Regiment finds us on it or near it.”
“Should we blow it up?” Clifton asked.
“Why don’t you just send up a giant flag and wave it back and forth shouting, ‘Hey! We’re over here! Come and get us!’ Sheesh! You two are full of ideas, aren’t you?”
Dallas turned to Alice. “Get up to the bridge and get us the hell out of here. We have to get back to Laloyama as fast as possible. We’re already late to rendezvous with Eckhart.”
“If he made it out of the prison in time for the rendezvous, he’s already dead. We’d be throwing our lives away by going back for him.”
“We’re going back,” Dallas ordered. “Maybe he was late getting out and we’ll be right on time to pick him up. We aren’t leaving without at least checking.”
Bing, Alice, and Rixby headed for the bridge and Dallas followed them to the stairs. DeWalt hustled up behind him. “How do you know the Regiment won’t follow us to the prison? If they found us on Taio, they can find us at Laloyama, too.”
“They won’t follow us. They have no way of tracking us.”
“Are you sure?” Clifton asked. “If they can’t track us, how did they know where to find us? They knew exactly where we were at that depot.”
“They didn’t know where we were,” Dallas replied over his shoulder.
“How do you explain them finding us so fast?” Clifton demanded. “They must have a tracking device planted on one of us—probably DeWalt.”
Dallas stopped walking. He wasn’t looking forward to this moment, but he couldn’t avoid it any longer. He turned around to find the whole crew staring at him.
He’d never expected to be in a position where he had to replace Eckhart. Dallas had looked up to Eckhart for years. He always deferred to Eckhart in everything, and he hoped he always would.
Eckhart didn’t have Dallas’s strength or his enhancements or his weapons. Eckhart didn’t need them, because Eckhart had something Dallas would never have. Eckhart had something no technology could replace. Eckhart had guts—guts and brains.
Dallas knew only one thing right now. He, Dallas, was partially responsible for this situation, and he had to solve it before Eckhart got back. Dallas just didn’t know how he could possibly do that.
He braced himself for the confrontation of his life and took a deep breath. “The Regiment didn’t know where we were. They never would have found us if someone didn’t tell them where we were.”
DeWalt gasped. “Someone told them! But…who?”
Dallas swiveled and turned his sensors to Ilke. She stood behind the rest of the crew, watching with her magically intriguing eyes. “Her.”
“You rotten bitch!” Alice lunged down the stairs, but she couldn’t get past Dallas.
“I wondered where you went during the battle,” Dallas murmured. “You contacted the Regiment. What reward did they promise you if you turned over DeWalt?”
A delicate smile played on her lips. “How could you believe that of me, Dallas? I thought we trusted each other.”
He shook his head. “I guess I wasn’t the only person who changed since we knew each other way back when.”
She glided between Clifton and DeWalt. She eased right up close to Dallas and her many arms twined around him. “You don’t really believe I could do something like this, do you, Dallas? You know how much I care about you. How can you believe I would put you in danger?”
He gazed down into her mesmerizing eyes. His scanners detected no change in her physiology, no heightened stress response, no nothing.
She looked as beautiful and captivating as ever when he looked at her, but her words told him a different story. He heard what she wasn’t saying.
“I know you can’t tell me an outright lie, so tell me the truth. Did you contact the Regiment? Did you tell them where we were in exchange for some reward for handing over DeWalt?”
Her lips turned up in a smile. Her cheeks blushed and her limbs tightened their grip on his body, but that grip didn’t excite him the way it used to.
His armor blocked him from feeling the old rush of excitement and desire. In fact, he didn’t feel her grip at all except when his sensors detected the increased pressure on his Crionium plates.
She raised one undulating limb and trailed it down the side of his helmet where his cheek used to be. He felt absolutely nothing from that touch.
“You know me too well, Dallas,” she purred. “I never could fool you.”
“That’s it!” Alice spat. “We’re gonna throw her out the hatch.”
Dallas stood his ground. “No. We’re not.”
“The hell we aren’t!” DeWalt took a menacing step forward. “She tried to kill me.”
“We need her.” Dallas turned back to Ilke. “I want your word you won’t do anything to damage or sabotage the ship while we’re en route.”
“Of course not,” she simpered. “I don’t want to die, Dallas.”
“Say it,” Dallas ordered. “Give me your word you won’t interfere with our mission or the ship.”
She dipped her eyelashes over her glossy black eyes. “I promise, Dallas.”
“You can’t possibly think of believing her,” Clifton blurted out. “She’s a lying, stinking, traitorous—”
“She’s a traitor and an unscrupulous mercenary, but she isn’t a liar.” Dallas pulled away and took hold of one of Ilke’s arms. “Come with me.”
He led her to the infirmary and switched on the infectious quarantine field. A Celdian bubble appeared around Ilke and confined her there. She couldn’t leave it until someone on the bridge or outside the bubble deactivated it.
She smiled at him from inside. That smile rankled Dallas’s nerves. She felt no remorse at all for nearly getting them all killed. Her smile told him as much.
“You can’t leave her here,” Alice growled. “You should put her off the ship.”
“I agree,” Bing chimed in. “Let her flap her arms and fly back to Zuic by herself.”
Ilke only laughed.
“I’d like nothing better than to put her off the ship,” Dallas told them, “but we can’t do that without diverting from picking up Eckhart. We have to take her with us. We’ll turn her over to Aistenz Trotaer. He’ll know what to do with her.”
That wiped the smirk off her face in a big hurry. Dallas didn’t trust himself to do the right thing with Ilke. He would err on the side of being either too tough or too lenient. He needed Eckhart for decisions like this.
Aistenz would know exactly what to do with her in Eckhart’s absence. Aistenz didn’t stand betrayal from anyone, especially not when someone interfered with one of his people carrying out a job.
Dallas turned away. “We’ve wasted too much time on this already. Get back to the bridge and take us to Laloyama.”
15
Eckhart got to his feet for the first time when Lashar brought his food. He approached the bars and she smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back. “I need another favor, Lashar.”
Her smile vanished. “I checked like you asked. There is no other place the guards take prisoners.”
“Never mind that,” Eckhart dropped his voice to a whisper. “How long does it take you to deliver the food to the whole prison block?”
“About four hours. Why?”
“Come back up here when you finish. Okay?”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want you staying here when I’m gone. You stayed to keep an eye on me. I don’t want you to regret that decision once I leave and you’re still here.”
“You’re leaving?”
He waved her away. “Just finish delivering the food and come back up here. Understand?”
She wheeled her cart away, but not without casting several backward glances toward Eckhart. In a few minutes, she passed out of his view and went on delivering food boxes to the prisoners.
Eckhart put his own box on the floor and went back to his bench. He sat down in the same position, but he couldn’t settle down. His heart raced and he fidgeted in anticipation. This was shaping up to be the longest day of his life.
When would Akkek come back for him? Where were her friends and what kind of condition would they be in when Eckhart finally met them?
Gaemo’s hand extended in front of him and the alien goggled his eyes at Eckhart. “Hey—Eckhart! What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Eckhart lied. “What are you up to, Gaemo?”
“Just…you know…sitting around.” Gaemo giggled. “There’s never anything else to do around here.”
Eckhart tried to turn his thoughts back to tonight. He hated waiting.
“Eckhart!” Gaemo called. “You want to know something funny?”
“Sure, Gaemo. What have you got?” Anything to pass the time until his big jailbreak.
“You see that big ogre across the block?”
Eckhart perked up. “Yeah. What about him?”
“He used to be about half that size,” Gaemo told him. “When he first came in, he was no bigger than you and me. He keeps getting bigger every year…and he used to eat regular food out of the box like the rest of us.”
Eckhart’s hair stood on end. “Is that so?”
“You betcha. He used to be able to talk pretty well, too. He told me he used to be a miner on Verus.”
“Did he tell you what he got sent up here for?” Eckhart asked.
“He wouldn’t talk about it. He said it was strictly confidential.” Gaemo laughed again.
Eckhart studied the creature more closely. So this creature got bigger every year. He used to be a normal guy and changed into a monster. What could cause that?
“Did he tell you his name?” Eckhart asked.
“Um…let me think. Oh, yeah. It was Zidriuq something… Oh, yeah! Zidriuq Chathov.”
Eckhart nodded to himself. That was definitely a Verun name. The story must be true.
Gaemo kept talking about the other prisoners and about the boring busy work he did to keep himself occupied in prison, but Eckhart didn’t listen. The creature gazed back at him.
A bell rang in the distance and brought Eckhart to his senses. It was the end of the day. The lights would switch off in a few minutes.
Eckhart got to his feet and paced around his cell, thinking fast. How long would he have to wait for Akkek to show up? He might have to wait all night.
Gaemo withdrew into his cell, and Eckhart didn’t call him back. He had more important things on his mind.
The lights clanged off and shadow fell over the block. Eckhart jumped at every sound, but he couldn’t stop pacing. Every second brought him closer to the big escape.
He was already a day behind his schedule. Would the Marathon crew be at the rendezvous point waiting for him? He and Akkek might be stranded inside an active volcano ready to blow.
The block darkened and the noise died. The prisoners stretched out on their benches to sleep, but the big monster didn’t.
The creature squatted on the floor, studying Eckhart with an unwavering gaze. If anything tipped Eckhart off that the creature was something important, that would have given it away.
After what seemed like an eternity but was probably more like an hour, Lashar returned. “What is it you need me for?”
“Good. You’re here.” Eckhart pressed his forehead to the bars. “Gaemo!” he hissed. “Gaemo—come here!”
“Leave me alone, Eckhart,” Gaemo grumbled from deeper inside his cell. “I’m sleeping over here.”
“Come over here unless you want to have a less than pleasant interview with Aistenz Trotaer!”
Gaemo muttered something impolite under his breath, and Eckhart heard him stumbling around in the cell next door.
“What is this?” Lashar whispered. “What are you doing with this alien?”
Gaemo stretched his hand in front of Eckhart’s cell. “What do you want, Eckhart? Disturbing a fellow prisoner’s sleep is strictly forbidden. You’re gonna have to learn that if you stay here.”
“I’m not staying here and neither are you, Gaemo. Unlock my cell.”
Gaemo’s fingertips stared at him. “I can’t unlock it, Eckhart. I’m a prisoner here just like you.”
Eckhart smacked his lips in annoyance. “Don’t give me that shit, Gaemo. Unlock it now and don’t piss me off.”
Gaemo huffed under his breath. “I could get into a lot of trouble for this, Eckhart. I hope you know that. The prison officers don’t take kindly to escape attempts.”
“Would you rather deal with them or me?” Eckhart hissed.
Gaemo didn’t answer. He stretched his fingertips toward the lock on Eckhart’s bars and his fingers lengthened. He weaseled them into the lock and fiddled with it.
The lock clicked and Eckhart stepped out onto the scaffold. He was right. No weight-sensing alarm went off and no great security system locked down the whole prison to stop him from escaping.
“How did you do that?” Lashar breathed.
“We don’t have any time to explain. Unlock your door, Gaemo.”
Gaemo stared at him through the bars. The alien’s body was small, squat, and dumpy. Two overly long arms came out of the top of it and two small, flat feet stuck out of the bottom of its body.
The eyes on the end of its arms blinked up at Eckhart. “I can’t, Eckhart!” Gaemo squeaked. “I can’t escape!”
“Unlock it, Gaemo,” Eckhart hissed. “Quit stalling. You’re coming with us.”
“I…I can’t. I don’t want to. I just want to—”
“We’re all risking our lives for you, Gaemo,” Eckhart snapped. “You knew this day would come. Now unlock that door before I have to do something you really won’t like.”
“I never signed up for this! I just want to live out my days in peace.”
“Well, you won’t. You’re dying. You agreed to take the poison for Akkek to keep it from the Regiment.”
“But…”
“Do you want the Regiment to get the poison back after your dead? Do you want your sacrifice to come to nothing? Do you really want to throw your life away because you’re too scared to leave this cell?”
A soft female voice murmured in Eckhart’s ear. “What’s going on here?”
“He won’t unlock his own cell,” Eckhart replied. “He’s scared.”
“You have to, Gaemo,” Akkek told him. “We talked about this.”
“Yeah, but…” Gaemo’s gaze skipped back to Eckhart, and Eckhart understood.
“Oh. I get it. He doesn’t want to go with me.”
“Why not?” Akkek asked.
“Because I’m…” Eckhart burst out laughing. “I’m a loose cannon.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Gaemo grumbled.
“Unlock this door, Gaemo,” Akkek murmured. “That’s an order.”
Gaemo wilted before her, even though none of them could see her.
“Who’s speaking right now?” Lashar whispered.
“Don’t ask,” Eckhart told her.
Gaemo responded to Akkek’s order in ways he didn’t respond to Eckhart. He unlocked his own cell, but he still didn’t come out.
Eckhart glanced across the block. Sure enough, the monster was on his feet. He’d abandoned his bones and now gripped the bars in his huge furry hands. “Where’s the third mercenary?”
