Command Decision (Project Gliese 581g #1) (20 page)

“Cassa,” Hutu exclaimed, pulling her into his arms. “Where is Pack? I was not expecting you both to come here, though I am not surprised now that I have heard the news. It is not safe for either of you to be here.”

“I will watch the bar and alert you if any of the Legion troops come,” the woman informed Hutu with a slight bow.

“Thank you, Devona,” Hutu replied.

“We might want to take our meeting somewhere else,” Josh said in a grim voice. “Someone tried to plant some kind of device on me as we were coming through the bar.”

Hutu’s gaze grew dark with concern. “Do you still have it?” He asked, taking a step closer to where Josh was standing near the door.

“No, I dropped it in a glass as a waiter passed by,” Josh replied. “The man took off out of the bar.”

Devona turned to look at Hutu. “He is right. It is not safe for you here,” she said, holding out a small, flat card to Hutu. “Take this. It will open the doors through to the next building. You can cut through them. If you take the stairs at the far end to the roof, you can cross over the buildings before returning to the street level.”

“What about Pack?” Cassa asked in concern. “He is on his way here.”

“We will contact him,” Hutu assured her. “Devona….”

“I will take care of it, General,” Devona replied, turning toward the door. She paused and peered down at her wrist. A light was flashing on the wristband she was wearing. “You must go now. Legion forces are approaching.”

Josh stood to the side so that Hutu could pass him. Cassa quickly followed. He stepped out into the corridor and glanced toward the entrance. Devona was waving her hands and yelling. The movement prevented the soldiers from seeing them. Josh turned and hurried out the back door.

The night had grown much colder in just the few minutes they had been inside the bar. Josh adjusted the cloth over his nose and mouth to keep the vapor from his breath from revealing his location. The three of them hurried across the narrow alley. Hutu pressed the disk Devona had given him to the panel. The door immediately opened. Once inside, Hutu swiped the card once again over the panel, sealing it behind them.

“This way,” Hutu murmured.

The building looked like a large warehouse for clothing. Spools of cloth hung from large racks. The way they were positioned left a narrow path between each row.

They silently threaded their way through the dark building, pausing occasionally when they heard the sound of voices. The loud boom of an explosion signaled that they were no longer alone. The red beams of lights behind them and to the front of them had them changing course. Josh and Cassa slid behind one large array of cloth and knelt down while Hutu slipped behind another. The flash of a red light swept back and forth, searching the area.

Hutu jerked his head and nodded toward the far side of the building where a set of stairs led upward. Josh touched Cassa’s arm and motioned for her to follow Hutu. She frowned at him and shook her head. Pulling his knife out of his boot, he pressed a tense, firm kiss to her lips before motioning again.

Josh moved off in the opposite direction. There was no way they could make it up to the roof without some type of diversion. He paused at the end of the long row. His gaze swept over the area. There were eight beams of light. Picking the one closest to him, he silently moved behind a hanging section of cloth. He used the knife in his hand to cut through a thick cord. He replaced his knife, not wanting to kill if he didn’t have to, and waited for the soldier walking toward him.

The flash of light skidded past his left shoulder. Josh skillfully palmed one of the small darts out of the kit that Jubotu had given him before they left earlier this morning. The man paused in front of the bolt of material and turned away to check on the location of his comrades.

Josh took advantage of the man’s distraction. He reached up and covered the man’s mouth with his right hand. He pressed the dart into the man’s side between the two body plates he was wearing for protection. He barely had time to grab the rifle in the man’s left hand. Holding the beam steady when the man grew limp, he slipped the rifle out of the soldier’s grasp and pulled the unconscious body behind the covering before lowering it to the floor.

He knelt beside the man and quickly tied him with the cord he had cut. Knowing he didn’t have much time before the soldier’s comrades would miss him, he pulled the helmet off the unconscious man. The young face behind the cover of the helmet made it easier to accept his decision to not kill first if he could avoid it.

He quickly removed his headscarf and pulled on the helmet. Pulling the breast and back vest off the man, he slid his arms through it and attached them at the side. Next, he loaded the blowgun with almost a dozen of the tiny, but potent, darts. Grabbing the rifle lying next to the unconscious man, he rose to his feet and turned on the weapon.

He was just stepping out from behind the cloth when one of the men motioned to him. He tapped his ear, acting like the communicator wasn’t working properly, and swept the red beam of light in the man’s eyes as if by accident. It was enough that the man turned his head away to keep from being blinded. Josh took advantage of the exposed neck and blew one of the darts.

The man’s hand slapped to his neck and he turned in annoyance before his knees gave out and he lay sprawled on the floor. Josh casually walked over and kicked the rifle under a rack of cloth. Turning, he moved closer to his next target. He had eliminated six men before the other two realized what was going on. He was moving closer to the seventh man when the man yelled. Josh raised his hand to tap his helmet, but this time the man didn’t react like the first.

“Remove your helmet,” the man ordered.

Josh lifted the rifle and fired, sending the man back into a long table. The fire immediately drew the last man’s attention. He spun around and ducked under one of the racks. Running down the aisle, he rose up just far enough to fire in the direction the man had been before darting to the left.

He cursed when the material in front of him suddenly exploded into fire. He turned to the right with a soft curse. There was another soldier he had missed.

Josh ran between two rows of cloth, staying low. He could see the flash of red light, but couldn’t risk firing until he knew the location of the second man. He turned to the left and pressed his back against the low table. He checked the weapon he had taken from the first soldier and pocketed the blow dart. This time it was kill or be killed.

Controlling his breathing, Josh listened carefully. The slight squeak of leather pulled his attention to the right. In the dim light filtering in through the open doors, Josh saw the shadow before the light reflected off the rifle casing. Rising up, he started to fire a quick burst, but the man fell before he could. He turned in the direction that he anticipated the attack had come from and fired two rapid shots before sinking down to the floor again.

A series of dull thuds resonated through the area a second before the cloth around him exploded. Rolling to the far side of the aisle to escape the intense heat, he stayed close to the ground and crawled along the edge of the table. The sound of a low, menacing hiss sounded above him, drawing his attention to the table that was still burning. Josh rolled again, this time onto his back, and fired upward.

The figure jumped across to the other table with blurring speed. Josh twisted to follow before he froze when a bright red beam suddenly centered on his chest. He lifted his chin and waited as the figure dressed all in black rose to its feet above him.

“Drop the weapon and remove the helmet,” the dark form ordered.

Josh held his hands out and dropped the rifle he was holding. This wasn’t a Legion soldier. Lifting his hands in a slow, careful movement, he pulled the helmet off his head.

“What now?” Josh replied with an arrogant grin.

“You are not like they described,” the man stated.

Josh stared intently at the beam still pointed at him. He gripped the helmet and calculated his chances of striking the man before he ended up with a hole in his chest. The odds weren’t good. A lot depended on how much the man wanted him alive.

“No, I guess not,” Josh responded with a stiff shrug.

“Where are you from and where is the other male?” The man demanded, stepping down off of the table.

Josh warily sat up before rising to his feet when the male motioned for him to stand. He held the helmet firmly in his left hand. His gaze flickered past the man when he saw another shadow. The man must have sensed the movement as well because he started to turn. The moment he did, Josh threw the helmet at him, catching him in the jaw.

The move caught the man off-balance. Josh rushed the creature, catching him around the middle. They toppled against one of the tables, each struggling to get a better grip on the other. A blow to his side sent a wave of pain through Josh, but he pushed it away and swung upward, catching the male under the chin.

Josh jerked away when the male fell back far enough to reveal a deadly blade in his hand. Reaching down, Josh gripped the Knight of the Gallant Order staff and extended it. The two of them moved around each other where the row opened up in the long, main aisle. Josh’s gaze warily followed the man’s movement. This guy knew what he was doing.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Josh asked, circling to the right.

“You are worth more alive, than dead, but now that I know there are more than one of you, I don’t think that will be an issue,” the male snarled. “Where did you get a Gallant weapon?”

Josh stepped into the man, striking at him. The staff flashed at the end, sending out a powerful burst that threw the man back across the floor several feet. Twirling the staff over his head, he watched the man struggle to rise to his feet.

He immediately adjusted the staff to a shield when he saw the pistol in the man’s hand. Brilliant flashes of light bursted in front of him. He was about to respond when the pistol aimed at him suddenly dropped from the man’s limp hand. Josh watched as the dark form collapsed face forward.

The frown disappeared when he saw Hutu step out of the darkness. The dark scowl reappeared and he raised an eyebrow, glancing around for Cassa. Hutu stopped next to the dark figure and glared down at it with distaste.

“Turbinta trash,” Hutu muttered. “An assassin from the lowest pits of the galaxy.”

“Did you kill him?” Josh asked.

Hutu reached down and ripped the half shield helmet off the assassin’s head. “Her,” he muttered. “I will. They don’t stop. There are only two things they care about; credits and making the kill. They’ll even do the kill without the credits if it comes down to honor. Their reputation is based on the fact that they never miss their target.”

Josh reached out and grabbed Hutu’s hand when he raised his pistol and pointed it down at the unconscious female. There were a lot of things he would do, but killing an unconscious woman was not one of them. His logic fought with the knowledge that Hutu was right, it could be a fatal mistake in the long run, but it was one he was willing to chance.

“Leave her,” Josh ordered. “We need to get out of here. The sedative I gave the other soldiers will be wearing off and more will come once they fail to report in.

“We aren’t in your world, Josh,” Hutu warned.

Josh briefly glanced at the forest green face of the woman and gave Hutu a wry smile. If the female wasn’t enough of a reminder, Hutu’s dark red skin and broad features were. Shaking his head, he turned back toward the staircase.

“I’m well aware that I’m not back on Earth,” Josh replied in a hard tone. “Where’s Cassa?”

“Watching for additional troops on the roof,” Hutu replied, glancing at his wrist with a grimace. “Speaking of which, they are coming.”

Josh closed the staff and returned it to his hip. Picking up speed, he took the stairs leading up to the roof two at a time. They slipped out of the door and crossed to the edge where Cassa was waiting.

“There are about twenty of them coming down the street,” Cassa informed them in a soft, urgent voice.

Hutu looked over the side and released a muttered curse. His face was grim when he turned to look at Cassa and Josh. Curious to see what would pull that kind of reaction out of Hutu, he peered over the side. In the center of the group of soldiers another man walked. Josh could tell by the man’s stride and his bearing that he was someone of importance.

“Who is that?” Josh asked, pulling back from the edge.

“General Landais,” Hutu growled. “We have got to get out of here now!”

Josh glanced one more time down at the figure. The group had stopped, almost as if aware that they were being observed. He drew back when the Legion General suddenly looked up at the roof. He knew the man couldn’t see him, but he didn’t know if he had any kind of technology that might detect their presence on the roof.

“Josh,” Cassa’s soft voice whispered. “This way.”

Josh nodded, turned and followed her.

Chapter 20

Roan Landais knelt down beside the body of the dead soldier. A puzzled frown creased his brow as he assessed the skillful slice along the man’s throat before he rose to his feet. His gaze moved over the interior of the warehouse. Turning, he glanced at his ground field commander.

“What have you found?” He asked in a cold, calm tone.

“Six of the men were knocked unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. One was wounded with a blast to the shoulder, but will live. He said that he fired on the rebel when he realized that the male was not one of the other soldiers,” the commander replied. “This is the only one that the rebels killed.”

Roan didn’t reply. Brushing past the commander, he walked to a large section of burned cloth. Touching it, he frowned. Something wasn’t right. Why knock the other soldiers out, but kill the one? The other soldier he understood. The soldier admitted firing on the rebel first.

The scant description the informant from the bar had given didn’t match the description of the man that had stolen the clothing. Was it possible the male was from the other capsule they had located on Tesla Terra? Reports of his escape with Hutu Gomerant made it a logical guess. Was he the one responsible for killing the other Legion captain and the troops at the vineyard? Once again, he felt like he had more questions than answers.