Gunship (28 page)

Reilly looked at him sternly. “Glad to hear it. Get those injuries looked at, and then I need you to finish cleaning up the bay. Lock her up when you’re done, Sergeant.” Reilly turned without another word and climbed the stairs to the catwalk, leaving Ty alone.

Ty’s shoulders dropped. “Roger that, Captain.” She was pissed, as were the others, he was sure. He knew better than anyone not to pull the crap he had pulled today. He didn’t even have a good reason for why he had acted the way he did. Someone could’ve been killed, and then what? It was bad enough he had put Duv in the line of fire, but today he had put his kid there, too. The only reason the Captain hadn’t personally whipped his ass was because Tiny had accepted his challenge. He was lucky she hadn’t bothered to wait in line for round two.

He looked around the bay. Apparently, during the time he’d been out, no one had been down to unload anything. Crates still sat locked down on Maude, and clumps of dirt lay at the back of the bay from where he had hit the brakes. A lot of tools and other equipment lay around waiting to be cleaned up as well. He put his head down and got to work. The injuries could wait. It was going to be a long night.

—————

Reilly knew it was a dream. She looked down to find herself in tac-gear, looking like she was ready for a serious mission. In front of her was a tree. It stood against a brilliant blue fall sky, alone on a small, grassy hill. It was a red maple, and since the leaves were a brilliant, deep scarlet, it must be fall, Reilly reasoned. She walked towards it across the silent sloping field of grass. As she arrived at the foot of the hill, she looked up to see the tree towering above her.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” a small voice asked.

Surprised, she looked down to see a little girl with blonde pigtails in a white dress standing in front of her at the base of the hill. The girl looked back at her, obviously expecting an answer.

“What is it?” she asked, looking up at the tree again.

“Don’t you know?” the girl asked as she pointed to the tree. “This is your legacy.”

Reilly looked again at the tree, confused. The red leaves glistened in the light, and she realized it wasn’t fall that had colored them so. They were covered in blood. She looked down again at the hill where the tree stood. Instead of grass, she saw the faces of her fallen troopers, pale and expressionless. She stepped back, lifting her weapon, and as the faces began to blur before her she saw one she hadn’t seen before. Joby Ty lay with his head propped against the trunk of the tree, staring at her with a solemn expression, eyes blank.

Reilly blinked and suddenly she was awake, back in the dark of her cabin on her bunk. A ledger lay on her chest, her handheld and blaster nearby and a half-empty cup of coffee sat on the floor by her head.

“It was just a dream. It doesn’t mean anything.” But even as she reassured herself, she felt a cold chill creep down her spine as she tried to believe the words and failed.

—————

Seth looked around, not understanding how he had come to be in this strange white room. There were no doors or windows. Only a plain white-fabric chair and couch with a single stainless-steel light on a stand. He raised his head from the couch and glanced around again.

“Seth, can you hear me?” a voice called out to him from a distance.

“Tiny? Is that you? Where am I?” he propped himself up on his elbows and listened for a response.

“You’re in the recovery room. You experienced a redline earlier and the doctors helped me get you back. They are keeping you here for now to make sure you’re okay.”

Seth looked to his right and was startled to see Tiny now sitting in the chair next to him.
How did she get in?
There were still no doors that he could see.

“Where’s Duv?” Seth asked, hoping he might appear too.

“He couldn’t make it, but he is fine. He told me to tell you he’s proud of you and that you did good in the market today.” Tiny smiled and patted his arm.

Seth grinned. Duv was always proud of him. Then he frowned.

“Is Sergeant Ty okay, too?”

Tiny paused. “He’s okay, he got a little banged up, but nothing to worry about. He sends his best for a speedy recovery and says he’s taking you out shooting soon.”

“When can I go home?” Seth asked.

“Soon, I promise. I just need to ask you some questions to help the doctors. Would that be okay?” Tiny looked at him.

Seth shrugged. “Sure.”

Tiny smiled. “Good. The doctors wanted to know what you remember about today, about what happened.”

Seth thought about it for a minute. “We went to the market to pick up supplies and parts. Then Sergeant Ty and I went to Rooster’s and played a shooting game…and we won. Then we walked back to Maude and I got a real bad headache. I can’t remember what happened after that, just that I didn’t feel good.”

“Well, we drove back to the ship, and that’s when you passed out. We found out you had an infection that the doctors are treating you for. That gave you the fever that helped to cause the headache. They say you should be fine in a day or two. Have you been getting a lot of headaches lately?”

Seth nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t know why. They just started last week, along with some other stuff.” He trailed off as he remembered he wasn’t supposed to talk about his new skills. He wished he could remember why.

“What other stuff? You can tell me, Seth. I just need to know so I can tell the doctors anything that they might need to know to get you fixed.”

“I can’t tell you.” He looked down.

“Why not?” Tiny inquired. She kept the surprise from her face. All of the previous operatives she had been assigned to protect had been able to tell her everything in detail. Was this part of Zain’s programming? Or was there a glitch in the code?

“I’m not allowed to tell anyone about it. I can’t remember why, though.” Seth tried to think. “I just see a black funnel and then nothing. I don’t know what it means.”

Tiny nodded. “I understand. The doctors gave me this medicine to give you. It’s called a blocker, and it will help to stop the headaches for good. But it will knock you out for a little bit, and before I give it to you, I wanted to ask if you knew what your mission was yet.”

Seth looked at Tiny. Part of him thought that it was odd that she would know about the mission and would know to ask him. Another part of him thought that it made perfect sense, considering what she was and that she had been sent to protect and aid him. He decided to tell her.

“I don’t know what it is yet, but I know I have five more training modules to do. After that, the program will unlock the mission training.”

Tiny leaned in to give him the injection. “You did well today, Seth. When you find out what the mission is, come find me, and we will set up a plan together.”

He nodded sleepily in response as the tranquilizers kicked in and knocked him out again. Tiny waited until he was completely out and then exited the program on her handheld. She drafted a quick text report and sent it to the Commander with the latest scans. “White room query worked. Operative is recovering well. Incident has been erased from memory. Second blocker administered.”

She put the handheld away just as Chang came in to relieve her. She would need chow and some rack time to be fresh for the next step in the process. The Commander wanted to do a subconscious fast load of the next three training programs while the boy was out and then allow him to rest for another day. It would take all of her programming skills to get it done. The windows of time she would have to do it were limited, and it would be difficult not to compromise the operative or herself to the rest of the crew. She sighed. Chow first, then worry about the rest. She thanked Chang and headed out.

—————

“Boss. I have an update for you.” Dobbin peered through the screen at Razam Welch, who was carefully polishing a set of pearl-handled blasters with gold triggers and sights.

“What is it?” Welch continued to polish, barely acknowledging the man.

“We have immunized an entire ISU wing so far. The implants will go active within the next couple of hours while most of them are asleep. But we have a problem.” Dobbin’s voice ended on the soft side, waiting to see what the response would be from the other end.

“Dobbin, how do I feel about problems?” Welch asked quietly, still polishing.

“Boss, you don’t like them, and I’m not supposed to bring them up. I’m supposed to handle them, except if they are an emergency. This one is an emergency…sir.” Dobbin gulped as Welch’s head snapped up and he put down his guns to move directly in front of the camera.

“Then explain to me what this problem is, and I’ll decide if it’s worthy of my attention. If it’s not, then it will cost you your life when you return, unless you can redeem yourself in the meantime. Speak already!” Welch began to pace, his red hair glinting in the light of the camera.

“We, uh, we can’t find the other ISU wing. It’s gone, and nobody knows where it is.”

Welch stopped and turned smartly towards the screen. “How is that possible? Someone must know where they are, check with the government—”

Dobbin interrupted. “We already did and nobody there knows a thing. All of the senior quorum members are implanted now, so we know that they aren’t lying. The military doesn’t know either. The ISU wing under our control had no information other than the fact that the 720th ISU wing had exercise orders and deployed out over a month ago in small groups. They all headed in different directions and then turned off their transponders. The space controllers have no idea where they went, and there have been no communications from any of the ships. And Commander Zain is also missing.”

“Zain.” Welch wondered where the Commander was now and how he had been feeling after almost having half his upper torso ripped off by Welch’s bounty hunters. This could be a problem. Zain was a threat, and from what Welch had been able to gather, he would be a worthy opponent, especially if he had a force to command. Yes, this man could definitely pose a problem. Unless…

“Step up the timeline. Have the AOC call in all upper-level military commanders for the regular units and then implant them as well. Once that’s been done, have the formal papers drawn up for my acceptance. Tell Commander Knurl to begin the raids tomorrow in the Vhax System. They are far enough out that the media won’t pick up the attacks until late in the evening. Remind him that everything should be done using the alien weapons systems, no ISU equipment or regular military is to be used. The shock troopers should be outfitted with alien battle gear too. And Dobbin? Tell him to be generous on the violence.” Welch smiled as the man nodded and signed off.

Zain wouldn’t be ready to confront him, and by the time he was, Welch would already be the new AOC commander-in-chief. When Zain did show his face, he could crush him easily. The man’s history provided enough fodder for a believable story for the public. Everyone knew he had led a bloody war against the aliens, only reluctantly forcing the negotiation of a treaty because he had been ordered to do so. Then the government had handed him a medal and a political post that kept him busy doing tasks out of the public eye. It would be plausible to the people that he was behind these attacks. This disgruntled, forgotten hero who had turned into a power-hungry aggressor seeking to finish what he had started by reigniting the wars between humans and aliens. People would believe that Zain wanted to use fear to try to overthrow the government and take power himself so he could seek vengeance against the aliens. It was the perfect setup.

“One more item to deal with…” Welch punched in a code and waited. A man answered. It was dark, and the camera couldn’t make out his face, hidden in the shadows.

“Do it. I don’t care how, but in the next few days, I want it done. You have made contact?” Welch asked.

“Yes. There are some challenges, but nothing we can’t overcome. And our money?” The shadow leaned in, still hidden in darkness.

“Upon delivery and confirmation by my people; your account will be credited and some. The time for discretion is over, so do what you need to. Just make sure the goods aren’t too damaged for what I need.”

“They won’t be. I’ll be in touch when it’s done and again when we’re en route.” The shadow man hung up.

Welch put down the handheld and picked up his book of dark prose again until he found an inspired verse that suited him.

“‘And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.’” He read the line out loud to himself, smiling. “I am the Red Death. And dominion will soon be mine!”

He sat back on his divan to read some more in the light of his mainframe, where the Seekers and Tethers flitted like fireflies, waiting, just outside the solar system of Roen.

—————

Skeeter finally came around on Friday morning, after three days of drifting in and out of consciousness. Duv had only just managed to be back up and around the day before, after Tiny had discovered a hairline fracture that was responsible for his continued nausea and drowsiness. She had used a cold-fired laser to help heal the bone, then put Duv under to relax his bruised neck muscles and improve his recovery rate. Holly had come by the ship the day after the attack to see him. Reilly had allowed her to look after Duv, since it freed up the others to finish readying the ship for departure. Ty had a busted rib but insisted on working anyway, taking on more than his share of the duties and steadfastly ignoring Tiny except for when he actually had to speak to her to get something done. The rest of the crew avoided the topic of the fight entirely, preferring instead to talk about their upcoming job.

Zain had sent a message asking Reilly to make a run to drop off supplies at a remote depot about sixteen journeys from Roen. It would be a good chance to put the ship through her paces, work the guns and the crew, and make some decent credits with very little risk. Reilly had accepted. She let the crew know that they would head out as soon as it was clear that Seth wouldn’t need additional medical attention.