Bringing Stella Home (49 page)

“
Did you see that?” Ilya
asked from the seat next to her.

“
Yeah,” she said, her voice
barely a whisper.

“
What does she mean,
‘return to base immediately’? She wants us to leave without
her?”

Anya swallowed, and her arms tensed.
“They’ve probably been discovered. Maybe they’re pinned down and
can’t get to us.”

Ilya’s face went white. “Then let’s
get the hell out of here.”

No,
Anya thought to herself.
It can’t
end—not like this.

“
I’m not going,” she said.
“Danica needs our help.”

“
What are you talking
about? You got the order—Anya? Anya!”

But she was already on her
feet, running down the narrow corridor to the armory. Ilya shouted
after her, but she was too angry to care.
He really is a coward,
she thought
bitterly to herself as she put up her hair in a crude
bun.

Once in the armory, she grabbed a
bullet proof vest and threw it on, stretching it tight to flatten
her chest. They had no time to suit up in the regular armor; she’d
have to make do with one of the gray officer vests. It didn’t give
her nearly as much protection, but—

“
Damn it!” Ilya cursed,
running into the room. “What the hell do you think you’re
doing?”

“
I’m going to save them,”
she said, pulling the gray uniform over her head. “Are you coming,
or are you staying behind?”

“
Neither. We’re leaving
right now!”

Worthless,
came the terrible voice in Anya’s head.
That’s what you are—what you’ve always
been.

“
No,” she said. “I’m not
going to abandon her.”

You’ll fail.

“
But—but we have to!
She—”

“
Are you scared? Is that
what it is?”

Ilya’s cheeks flushed bright red. “I’m
not a coward.”

Worthless.

“
Show me.”

She pulled out another uniform and
tossed it to him. He fumbled and dropped it on the
floor.

“
You’re insane,” he
shouted. “This is suicide!”

She ignored him as she picked out her
weapon—a plasma SMG, powerful enough to pack a punch without
attracting too much attention. She slipped it into the holster on
her belt. A couple of stationary RPV shield projectors fit nicely
into the pockets on her hip.

“
I’m going,” she said.
“Either suit up and come with me, or stay behind.”

“
Come on,” he pleaded,
anger giving way to desperation. “Anya, let’s go.
Please?”

“
No.” She shouldered her
way past him and stepped into the airlock.
Spineless ass,
she thought to
herself.
If he doesn’t follow me, we’re
over.

You’ll die alone,
then.

“
Hold up,” said Ilya,
calling after her. “I’m coming with you.”

A flood of relief surged through
Anya’s body. She turned and smiled.

“
I’ll be in the
airlock.”

The docking arm was a lot longer than
she expected. It took them three precious minutes to make it to the
station node, even in the weightlessness. Ilya was better at
pulling himself along than she was, despite the heavy assault rifle
on his back.

“
They’re going to wonder
about us when they see that,” she told him.

“
Then we won’t stick around
to let them ask questions.”

Anya could have kissed him.

They reached the node and found it
empty—a good sign, she was willing to bet. If the alarms had gone
off, the terminal would be in chaos. Then again it might have
already emptied—they wouldn’t know until they went
upstairs.

She checked her wrist console. Danica
was five hundred yards away and getting further.

“
Quick,” she said. “How do
we get in?”

“
Through the public
terminal,” said Ilya.

“
What, there’s no other way
in?”

“
Nope.”

She swallowed. “Then let’s
go.”

The elevator opened onto an empty wing
off of the main concourse. The guards that Anya expected to see
were all gone, called off somewhere else. That was bad—very
bad.

“
Look,” said
Ilya.

A band of five lightly armored
soldiers stood at the center of the terminal, turning the civilians
away. What had probably been a small crowd not a few minutes ago
had now dwindled to a handful of people swiftly making their way to
the station. Once they stepped out, there would be no one to hide
behind.

You’re going to die here,
you know. Both of you.

Anya drew in a sharp breath. “Come
on,” she said. Ilya’s face paled, but he followed.

As they walked past the guards, one of
them called out. Anya ignored him and kept walking, moving briskly
as if the order had been meant for someone else. A hand gripped her
shoulder, pulling her forcibly to a halt.

Worthless. Just give
up.

Anya grabbed the man’s wrist with her
left hand, pulled out her gun with her right, and yanked him to
her. Before he could react, the muzzle of her pistol was jammed
into his lower abdomen, into the soft spot between armor plates.
She fired twice, making his body twitch. His eyes went wide, and
blood trickled down the corners of his mouth.

The other five soldiers shouted and
charged, some with rifles already drawn. Using the first man’s body
as a shield, she brought out her pistol near the dying man’s hip.
Three quick shots caught the first guard in the face, the neck, and
the shoulder; he fell dead without a sound. Ilya shouted and pulled
out his assault rifle, firing into the other two. They didn’t have
a chance.

“
What now?” shouted Ilya as
screams rose around them. Anya dropped the body just in time to see
reinforcements coming through the main gate.

Now look what you’ve done.
Worthless.

“
Take cover!”

Three squads of black-clad Hameji
shock troops charged through the concourse. They moved as a single
unit, forcing their way through the scattered crowd with guns and
shock prods. With their heavy armor and assault rifles, the Hameji
soldiers looked more like monsters than men.

For a second, Anya’s legs were numb
and unresponsive. Then the adrenaline took over, and she was
running back the way they’d come, heart pounding audibly in her
ears.

“
Ilya!” she screamed, but
he was already in the terminal wing. Gunfire hit the walls as she
rounded the corner and sprinted after him.

They made it into the elevator and
down to the maintenance level before the Hameji soldiers could
catch up to them. Once they reached the docking arm, though, there
was nothing but the long, empty shaft, brightly lit and devoid of
any obstacles to shield them from gunfire. It stretched nearly a
kilometer in either direction—an almost impossible distance, with
their pursuers close behind them.

“
Come on!” shouted Ilya,
already flinging himself down the shaft. “Let’s go!”

He’s going to die, and
there’s nothing you can do to save him.

With the adrenaline still coursing
through her blood, she stopped long enough to set up one of her RPV
shields. The Hameji soldiers pulled out of the airlock a second
later. Gunfire and smoke filled the space between them, and the air
around the shield cackled and sizzled. Anya turned and dove into
the low gravity area.

“
Ilya!” she screamed, feet
leaving the ground. “Ilya, wait!
Wait, or
by all the stars of Earth, I’m going to—”

Before she could get any further, the
RPV shield blew. The force of the explosion sent her careening down
the long corridor, arcing ever so slightly. With a little help from
the handholds, she soon reached Ilya and flipped herself
horizontally against the wall, bullets flying all around
her.

Ilya had found some shelter in the
shallow inset of a docking doorway across the corridor; it was only
half a meter deep, but wide enough to fit the both of them. With
her own personal RPV shield already fizzling, she shoved off and
landed face first against the door, scrambling to keep herself from
bouncing off and drifting out into enemy fire.

“
Congratulations,” he
shouted. “We’re going to die. Are you happy?”

Are you?

Anya coughed and spat, still breathing
hard from the run. As the ball of phlegm floated out into the
middle of the corridor, a stray bullet struck it and splattered it
into mist.

“
How far is the ship?” she
shouted, struggling to be heard over the roar of gunfire. Ilya
didn’t answer.

This is the
end.

Bullets whizzed past the doorway,
screaming as they ricocheted off the walls. Plasma bursts seared
the air only inches from her face, filling her nostrils with the
bitter smell of ozone. She pressed herself against the shallow
doorway, desperate for better cover.

Ilya cursed and peered around the
corner again, trying to get a line of fire. A bullet screamed and
ricocheted off of the near wall, and he pulled his arm down,
screaming. Blood arced from his hand, and the components of his
shattered wrist console drifted out in the open air.

“
My hand!” he cried. Five
more bullets grazed the armor of his exposed back. With her left
hand pushing off of the top of the doorway and her feet firmly
planted on the bottom lip, Anya reached out and pulled Ilya back
into the doorway.

“
My hand,” he
moaned.

“
Here,” she said. “Let me
see your gun. I can—”

“
No,” he said, pulling
himself free from her grip. Behind them, the gunshots died down as
the shouting grew louder.

She stopped and looked Ilya in the
face. His cheeks were as white as death, but his teeth were
clenched and his face shone with an intensity greater than fear.
Her eyes grew wide, and all her anger of the past few weeks
instantly dissipated.

“
No,” she
whispered.

“
You wanted me to prove I
wasn’t a coward.” He gripped his assault rifle with both hands as
his RPV shield hummed and recharged.

“
No,” said Anya, her hands
trembling. “Don’t do it!”

Ilya screamed and pushed off from the
door, letting loose with a barrage of plasma. His shield fizzled as
dozens of unseen Hameji guns loudly returned fire. One burst caught
him in the shoulder, another in the stomach, burning through his
armor in seconds. His RPV shield exploded, blowing his body apart
in a plume of hot blood. Anya screamed and covered her face as his
remains splattered all around her.

When she opened her eyes, she found
her armor covered in his blood. Scattered remnants of his body
still floated in midair—a shredded arm near the ceiling, an armored
leg near the floor. The air stank of burned flesh.

He was gone.

Her whole body went numb, and she felt
utterly empty inside. All she could do was stare wide-eyed at the
carnage.

The shouts were getting louder now.
Renewed gunfire pelted the floating remnants of Ilya’s body,
sending them spinning and ricocheting out of sight. Not long, and
she’d be next.

Anya took in a deep breath and pulled
out her pistol. As she stared at it, the moment felt like eternity.
The edges of her vision darkened, and her whole body went
numb.

I’m sorry, Ilya,
she inwardly told herself.
I’m sorry for everything.

Without another thought, she pressed
the gun to her temple and pulled the trigger. A tremor shot through
her body, and the darkness swallowed her.

* * * * *

James felt as if he were floating in a
dream. The pearly white walls and floor, the bright lights, the
knowledge that his sister was close—all of it blended together to
create an otherworldly sensation that was somehow more immediate
than reality itself.

He crouched and checked the map on his
wrist console. Without a word, he turned and peered around the
corner. Danica took her position on the other side. In the
distance, he heard footsteps, but they were getting softer. The
coast was clear.

Two suppressed gunshots from Danica’s
pistol made him jump. He glanced over his shoulder at her in
alarm.

“
Cameras.”

He nodded and moved ahead, crouching
and keeping close to the wall. The door to Stella’s chambers was
three doors down, on the right.

He found the door and stopped in front
of it. An eerie, surreal sense of deja vu swept over him. It didn’t
make logical sense, but somehow he knew he’d been here
before.

He drew in a deep breath and hit the
access panel. A blinking light showed that the chime had
sounded.

Nothing happened.

“
Open it!” hissed Danica.
Heavy footsteps sounded down the hall, coming toward
them.