Fatal Blade (Decker's War#3) (12 page)

“I’ll drive,” Tran said.  “I’m the one with the least amount of firepower and Miko needs to trigger the automatic door opener just right.  If someone would get the loading gantry going, I’ll shift the beast under it.”

“Just a thought,” Decker turned towards Steiger. “Do you have any Shrehari analogs for detcord, preferably with detonators?”

“What are you thinking?”  Talyn asked.

“Shock and awe, for one thing; a way to get out of this place by inventing a new doorway for another.”

“I have something that might do the trick, but Shrehari explosives aren’t like ours.”  Steiger sounded dubious.

“If they go bang and destroy what we want destroyed, they’re like ours.  Show me.”  Decker headed for the second container.

“I might have to take the cost of expended munitions out of your fee, Ser Whate,” Steiger said, jogging to catch up with the Marine.

“Our price just went up because you need my skills with explosives to get your merchandise out from under the reivers.  It’s a zero sum game.  Now open the damn container and point me at the goods before they get the same idea and do unto us before we can do unto them.”

“Is he always like this?”  The mercenary asked Talyn over her shoulder.

“Most of the time.  But then, he’s mostly right when it comes to weapons and things that go bang, so it evens out.  In this case, I’d do as he asks.”

Steiger opened the container and slipped down an aisle too narrow for Zack’s wide frame.  She re-appeared with a metallic box.

“Standard Shrehari ground forces demolition package.  Still factory sealed.”  She tossed the box at Decker, who caught it handily.

“You can say what you like about the boneheads but they make decent military kit,” he said, smiling with glee once he’d opened the package.  “This can blow a hole big enough for
Phoenix
with some left over to make the buggers outside dance for their lives.”

“Just don’t drop the whole damn building on our heads,” Talyn warned.

“Not a chance.”  He turned to Steiger.  “Show me a schematic of the place, with the position of the bad guys on it.”

“Pissing off local security isn’t going to help us, you know that, right?”  She replied, pulling out her tablet.

“That’s why I’d like to make us a new exit far from our friends outside.”  He held out his hand for the tablet.  “Contrary to popular opinion, I like to avoid fighting as much as the next person if there’s a good way out.”

He studied the schematic, then oriented himself.

“There.”  Picking up the demolitions kit, he went to a blank wall to one side of the containers and studied it for a few moments, glancing back at the hauler, now creeping into place beneath the loading gantry.

Quickly, he unraveled a long cord filled with a stable, plasticized explosive and outlined an opening on the concrete big enough for the flat-bed truck and its load.  Stepping back, he studied the entire wall to make sure his demolition charge wouldn’t feed any fundamental weaknesses and bring the roof down.  Then he carefully placed a kicker charge and armed the detonator.

The door they’d come through began to rattle with the sound of impatient scavengers smelling a rotting corpse.  Then, a faint glow appeared around the locking mechanism.

“We’re about to have unwanted company, folks.”  Decker quickly walked back to the loading area.  Steiger and Kinnear had just finished securing the first container and Talyn was almost done placing the second one on the hauler.

Once she’d released the container, she joined Decker, gun drawn.  He handed her a small lump with a detonator sticking out of the smooth surface.

“How’s your throwing arm?”

“Fair.  I’m going to guess you’d like me to toss this little gem through the door the moment they push it open.”

“Yep.  I’ll cover you.  Try not to miss.  It’s a four-second fuse.”

He knelt on the floor to make himself a smaller target while Talyn took a position against the wall to the left of the opening.

The lock suddenly turned into a blob of molten metal and dissolved.  A booted foot smashed the red-hot panel inwards, revealing the rough-hewn shape of a Kardati raider.

Decker shot the humanoid twice, then Talyn armed her improvised grenade and tossed it out over the smoking corpse and into the mass of marauders getting ready to rush them.  Four seconds later, the device exploded, scattering the would-be invaders.

“We’re ready,” Kinnear shouted, gunning the hauler’s fans.  Steiger already perched on top of the containers, had drawn her blaster.

“Go join her,” Decker shouted at his partner.

He pulled out the remote control for the breaching charge.

“Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole,” he yelled, running to take cover in the lee of the truck while Steiger shot over his head at the open door to keep the marauders out.

A dull thump momentarily drowned out the cough of firing blasters, and a neatly outlined section of concrete wall fell outwards into the alley at the back of the warehouse.

“Hit it, Tran,” Decker shouted, jumping on the back of the flatbed.

THIRTEEN

The wheezing hauler careened around a corner and almost knocked over half-a-dozen raiders, some wearing Rakka security uniforms.

The would-be thieves jumped out of the way at the last moment, when it was evident Tran would run them down without remorse.

“Did you tell the AI to warm up the drives?”  He shouted at his partner over the noise of badly aligned fans.  “I don’t think they’re going to let go so we need to lift the moment this thing is in the hold.”

“Already taken care of,” she yelled back, peering down at him from her perch on top of the containers.  “Good thing you had the calliopes out and ready.  They’re going to be useful in a few minutes.  Just try not to damage anything belonging to the spaceport.  We might have to come back here some day.”

They emerged from the narrow alley and turned onto the main road, accelerating now that they had a straight run at the landing strip.

“I hope Tran remembers to brake before going up the ramp. Otherwise the hard stop against the forward bulkhead is going to hurt.”

Movement on the outskirts of Rakka caught Decker’s eye.

“Crap.  They’re sending ground vehicles after us.  I’ll bet they have some heavy barrels mounted on them too.  If this goes the way I think it’ll go,
Phoenix
won’t be coming back here.”

“Just as long as we get away.  I’ll warn the others.”  Talyn’s head disappeared.

They crested the last rise before the tarmac and were gratified to see
Phoenix
’s belly ramp slowly dropping while the calliopes turned towards them ready to provide covering fire.

“Bad guys emerging from the needle ships,” Talyn shouted.

Before Decker could react, Kinnear slewed the hauler around and slowed to a walking pace.  The Marine jumped off and pointed his blaster at the newcomers, ready to cover their retreat.

The instant the truck and its cargo were safely inside
Phoenix
, he jogged up the rapidly retracting ramp.

He could feel the vibration of thrusters spooling up but had to check his impatience at getting to the bridge.  They had to tie the hauler down properly; otherwise, any maneuvering might send it careening around the hold, causing untold damage, not least to the cargo itself.

When that was done to his satisfaction, he slapped the nearest intercom panel.

“Clear to lift.”  Then he pointed at Kinnear.  “Take your friend to your cabin.  Make sure you both assume the horizontal position.  Same bunk, separate bunk, I don’t care.  This might get funky real fast.”

“Wilco.”  Tran nodded, then took Steiger by the arm and guided her down the passageway.  Decker was already gone, the sound of his running feet echoing in the distance.

“Three technicals coming down the main drag,” Talyn announced when he strapped himself in.  “Looks like someone bolted twin twenties on the bed of an ore skimmer.”

“I’m pretty sure I can peel those open like steamed crayfish,” he replied, studying the video feed.

“Those twenties can do us a lot of damage too.”

“Right.”  He aimed the topside calliope at a spot a few hundred meters in front of the lead technical and fired a burst that ate up the rammed earth road.

“I hope they’ll take my suggestion to stay clear.”

The commo panel began to beep insistently.  Decker checked the incoming message stack and started to laugh.

“What passes for a harbor master around here is ordering us to stay where we are and prepare to be boarded by the authorities.  We’re detained on suspicion of causing the death of several sentient beings in the warehouse district.”

“You can’t accuse them of lacking a sense of humor,” Talyn said through clenched teeth.  “Another minute or two and we’re off.”

“Not only did they not take my suggestion to heart, but the lead technical is also powering up his guns. At least the idiots from the needle ships are smart enough to back off.  They know I can turn their tubs into salvage if they get cute. May I assume I’m now weapons-free, oh great commander and
chef de mission
?”

“Indulge yourself.”

The ship began to vibrate in earnest as the thrusters pushed against the tarmac.

“Indulging myself, aye.”

“We have liftoff,” Talyn announced, moments after Decker opened fire on the lead technical.

“And one flaming mess of wreckage blocking the road,” he replied.  “Sadly, its crew perished at their posts.”

“You don’t sound sad.”

“Meh.”  He shrugged.  “The universe is full of stupid.  I consider what I’ve just done to be a service to sentients everywhere.”  A pause.  “Oh no, you don’t.”

He fired again.

“More stupid?”

“For a very brief and inglorious moment.  You’d think they would have taken the fate of their buddies as a warning.  Thankfully, the third and last technical just turned tail.  He must be the smart one of the bunch.  Always put the smart one in the lead, folks, it saves lives.”

Decker chuckled.

“The harbor master is having a spastic fit.  He says that if we ever try landing at Rakka again, he’ll have the ship seized and us shot.  Good luck with that.”

“Passing ten thousand meters.”

“That puts us out of range of those twin twenties they seem to love.  I’ve retracted the calliopes.  We have a smooth-bottomed hull again.”

The AI chimed to get his attention and he cursed.

“It might not be for long.  One of the needle ships just lifted.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess they want to keep in touch with us.”

“How nice of them.  I hope they remember that a stern chase isn’t in their favor.”

“Trying us on with twin twenties from two klicks didn’t turn out in their favor and yet…”

“Passing through twenty thousand.  You made sure our guests know they need to stay in their bunks?”

“Yep.  Steiger strikes me as an old hand, so no worries.”

“Okay.”

She touched her controls, firing the aft thrusters and the ship’s nose began angling upwards, to where the blue sky turned indigo and then black.  Pressure increased on Zack’s shoulders until he thought he was going to become one with his chair.  It eased when the artificial gravity generators kicked in, just before they began the slide into weightlessness.

“I’m going to assume we’re headed for Garonne, even if Tran has been cagey about the final destination of our cargo.  We don’t have time to dicker, not with a reiver on our tail.”

“Two reivers.  The second one lifted shortly after his buddy.”  Decker held up his index and middle fingers.

“You’d think the weapons we’re carrying are made of precious metals, the way they’re sticking to us.”

“Maybe the Empire has been clamping down on the illegal weapons trade.  They do make stuff that’s so straightforward and sturdy it can be used even by the dumbest semi-sentient numbskull, so it’s worth real money out here.”

“Maybe.”  She released her seat restraints.  “We’re going to have a long talk with Sera Steiger once we’re FTL.”

“She’ll likely want one with us as well.  Those anti-ship missile launchers in the cargo hold aren’t exactly inconspicuous.  Like I said, she strikes me as an old hand at the art of war.”

“And you’re burning to come clean with your old buddy Tran.”

“It’s inevitable.  We don’t have to tell them exactly who we are.  Steiger has me down for a merc anyway.  For Tran, the story will simply be that I didn’t go back into the Corps but signed on with you instead.”

“Me being the wealthy, eccentric owner of
Phoenix
who has a bee in her bonnet about sailing the star lanes looking for trouble?”

“Sure.  Sounds about right, bonnets and all.”  His mouth twitched briefly.  “Anyway, I’d like to show off some of our toys so we can use the extra manpower to help us sail and fight the ship.  If we’re going where we think we’re going, things might get hairy.”

“Let me give it some thought,” she replied in a tone that brooked no arguments.

“You’re the boss,” he glanced at his console, “and boss, it’s time to do your astrogation duties.  The first reiver just broke out of the atmosphere and is hot on our trail.  I don’t mind another fight, but at some point we’ll need an ammo resupply, so if you want to hold off on that, we’d better run.  I don’t think it’s a good idea for Tran and Steiger to witness us snuggling up to a Navy replenishment ship.”

“We can always feed them knock-out gas during the procedure, but I get your meaning, though we may not have a choice when it comes to fighting.  The bastard’s acceleration curve is steeper than ours.  He’s got a good chance of catching up before we can jump.”

The door to the bridge opened unexpectedly.

“Just so you know,” Steiger said, standing at the threshold, unwilling to enter the bridge without permission.  “I wasn’t exactly planning on leaving Rakka.”

“Old hand?”  Talyn muttered for Decker’s ears only.  Then, more loudly, “We’re not going back, so if you left anything of sentimental value, your options are to forget about it or take a step through the airlock and hitchhike back.”

“Do us a favor, Miko,” Decker smiled briefly, “stay in the cabin with Tran.  We’re not out of this yet.  Passengers don’t get the run of the ship, let alone show up on the bridge without invitation, capisce?”

The mercenary raised her hands in surrender.

“Capisce, Ser Whate.”

“Bill, just to make sure,” Talyn said, “why don’t you accompany Sera Steiger back to her quarters and see that she and Ser Kinnear enjoy the high life while we get this crapshoot into FTL?”

Zack sketched a salute.

“Consider it done.”

He took Steiger’s arm at the elbow and forced her to turn around.

“Don’t make this unpleasant, sweetheart.  Captain Pasek doesn’t look like it, but she’s a titanium bitch if you don’t obey orders.  It’s kept us alive up to now, and I’m not about to jinx things.”

“And of course, you go along with her.”

“Since we have two reiver needle ships on our ass, I’ve got more important things to do than flirt with you.”

They stopped in front of the cabin door, which opened at Decker’s touch.  Kinnear, sitting on a lower bunk, made a contrite grimace when he saw the Marine’s hard face.

“Keep your friend under wraps until we call the all-clear, okay, Tran.  We don’t have time for distractions.”

“It would help if you locked us up, Ser Whate.”

“Done.”  He shoved Steiger inside and then slapped the control panel.  The door slid shut with a loud snick, locked into place until either Decker or Talyn released them.

“What is it with mercs and their attitude problems?”  He muttered, jogging back the way he’d come.

“Time to go to Q-ship mode, Zack,” Talyn said when he re-entered the bridge.  “They’re almost within range.”

“You want me to go all out?”

“Just try to keep them away until I can spool up the hyperdrives and jump out.  No need for registered kills to boost your ego.”

“Bite my ego,” he replied, sliding into his seat.  “How soon until we go FTL?”

“Will fifteen minutes strain your ammo reserves?”

“Make it ten and our shot lockers will stay a lot fuller.”

“Why do I think we’ll need to get cozy with a replenishment ship before this is out?”

“Because you’re a realist?”

He dialed in the targeting sensors and fired the first salvo.

“Maybe I should send out a call anyway.  It’ll take a while to divert one of them.”

“In that case, find a spot for a rendezvous along the course I’ve plotted, send it in, and feel free to expend missiles at will.”

“Your command fulfills my wish.”

Phoenix
vibrated with energy feedback when a reiver salvo splashed against her shields.

“Top marks for aim.  Let’s see if they’re as good on close-in defense.”

Decker emptied both aft missile launchers, firing a full salvo from the guns for good measure.

The commo stack beeped for attention.

“We’re summoned to heave to and prepare to be boarded.  Are these guys for real?”

“They’re only for real if they can enforce those orders,” Talyn replied, “otherwise, a fart in an ion storm would carry more weight.”

“Birds away and that took care of the aft launchers.  Deploying all turrets.”

Another salvo lit up the shields with a blue-green aurora, and the AI bleeped a warning.

“Their close-in guns are firing but no dice.”  Moments later, Decker whooped.  “Hit.  We got a damned hit.  His bow shields just collapsed.”

The lead reiver, stitched by several hundred rounds from
Phoenix
’s main guns began to split apart in a shower of sparks and ejected gasses.  Then, in a flash of escaping antimatter fuel, the disintegrating hull turned into a ball of rapidly expanding debris.

“Chock one up for my ego,” Decker snarled, retargeting his guns on the second reiver.  “For what they’re about to receive…”