Stars in the Sand (28 page)

Shaking his head, he said, “I’m not asking you, and I’m not letting you. I know that this might not be the right thing to do, but it is something I have to do. I can’t sit this dance out.”

“
Then let me come with you.”

“
I can’t do that, either. You need to be up here on the ship. We’re going to have trouble getting every
one
up as it is; Jacqui will be going down with Cantrell on the next hop to help with the pick-up. Eighteen people is pushing that shuttle to – well, beyond – the limit. Even with the boosters we fitted, it’s going to be tight.”

 “
Danny...,” she said, once again, but he shook his head, getting up.

 “
Don’t worry, I’m coming back. I want to be on Alamo’s bridge when we get back to Mariner Station. Even if all that follows is a chewing-out by the Commodore.”

 “
They’ll give you a medal at your court-martial.”

 “
Probably,” he said, heading out into the corridor.

 “
When we get home...,” Caine said, then stopped.

 “
What?” Marshall said.

 “
Nothing. Tell you when you get back.”

 Nodding, he pushed out into the corridor, making for the elevator, drifting past a couple of crewmen. This ship was as ready as it was ever going to be, prepared for the jump back to the unnamed brown dwarf – something they should really sort out at some point on their way home. He drifted through the doors, then glanced down at his datapad for one last time, running back over the mission profile.

 Caine had been right, of course. This wasn’t a mission he should be on, though strictly speaking, he should never have left Alamo in the first place. The Captain was supposed to command from afar, letting his subordinates take the risks, but increasingly, he couldn’t do that. Too many of his men had died, too many people killed following his orders. This time he was going to lead himself, and he couldn’t be happier.

 The doors opened, and he pushed out to the airlock. Nelyubov was having an argument with Orlova, cut short instantly as Marshall approached. Jacqui and Cantrell were waiting quietly, and their smiles suggested that they had been enjoying the officers’ display.

 “
We’d better get going,” he said. “Don’t leave anything on the shuttle you want to keep, we’ll be leaving it behind when we go.”

 “
I’ve already set-up the systems to scramble after we’ve left,” Orlova said. “Nothing here that the Cabal can use.”

 “
Sir,” Nelyubov said, but Marshall shook his head, “My orders stand, Sub-Lieutenant.”

 “
Aye, Captain,” he replied. “If that’s the way you want it.”

 Another figure, slighter than the others, pushed down the corridor, and Marshall turned to see Ixia standing there, watching them quietly as they drifted through the airlock, Orlova taking the pilot’s seat while the rest made for passenger seats.

 Just as Marshall was about to enter, Ixia said, “Come back, Captain. We need you, badly.”

 “
No-one is irreplaceable,” he said.

 “
You’re wrong, Captain. No-one is replaceable. That’s the sad truth of the universe.”

He drifted into the cabin, strapped himself down, and looked out of the viewport as the shuttle began its descent to the surface, Ixia’s last words echoing in his mind as he headed down to complete his mission. In two hours, either they would have successfully rescued his people or, more than likely, he wouldn’t be worrying about anything ever again.

Chapter 27

 Cooper looked anxiously at the alley, then at his watch. In less than an hour, the auction would be taking place, and they were still far out of position, stuck out in the Smoke. Cantrell was across from him, frustration flashing on her face.

 “
Where the hell is she,” she hissed, wiping the sweat and oil from her forehead.

 “
She’ll be here,” Cooper said. “There isn’t anything we can do until she is, anyway.”

 Almost on cue, Jacqui dropped down from the roof of a nearby building, rolling to absorb the impact, a bag in her hand. With a smile, she tossed it to Cooper, who peered inside; a trio of rather primitive-looking explosives.

 “
Got them,” she said. “What are you going to do with them?”

 Cooper glanced at Cantrell, then said, “We figure that once the authorities work out that the prisoners are being taken the wrong way, the first thing they are going to do is close up the airlocks.” Hefting the bag, he continued, “This should prevent that from happening.”
 
“
You’ll kill everyone in the dome!” she said, trying to snatch at the bag.

 Shaking his head, he replied, “Safety mechanisms will kick in thirty seconds after the bang. Long enough for the van to get away, not long enough for any significant contamination. They’ll be wrinkling their noses until the scrubbers can get rid of the smell, but that’s all.”
 
“
Might do them some good to get a taste of what we have to deal with out here,” Jacqui replied. “At the end of the alley is another hatch down into the tunnels. You should be able to get right to the airlock entrance that way, though there are always guards on duty there.” Passing them a crude datapad, heavy and bulky, she said, “I marked it on this so you can find your way.”

 “
Thanks, Jacqui. We can deal with the guards.”

 “
I guess you can,” she said. “This ticket is getting damn expensive. I’m getting back to the shuttle.”

 “
Do me a favor,” he said as she turned to leave.

 “
Another one?” she replied. “I reckon you are pretty heavily in debt to me at this point.”

 “
This is a personal thing. If I don’t get back, then give this to Barbara.” He passed her another datapad. “Only if I don’t get back. Otherwise, just give it to me.”

 
“
Last letter,” she said, nodding. “I guess I can do that.” With one last look around, she said, “Good luck.”

 “
You too.”

 Shaking her head, she replied, “I wouldn’t give any away at the moment if I were you. You’re going to need it.”

 Without another word, she raced off into the shadows, and a moment later, the sound of an engine started; on its way in, their transport had carried five people, but only one was returning in it. The prisoner’s van was going to be taking all of them home.

 “
Shall we go?” Cooper said to Cantrell, who nodded.

 “
Let’s get this over with.”

 “
Not eager to be here?”

 “
Not with a man who thinks he’s not coming back.”

 Shaking his head, he said, “You don’t get it, do you? One thing I’ve learned lately is that it’s a lot easier to assume that you’re going to die when you go into action. That way you don’t hesitate, and you do what you have to do to complete the mission. Living through this is a nice bonus.”
 
“
I think I’d rather assume that I’m coming back.”

 “
Want some advice?”

 “
What?”

 “
When we get back, get a desk job.”

 “
What do you think I wanted when I hacked into the intelligence network? Crawling through sewers on a kamikaze mission wasn’t the top of my career objectives, Corporal.” Taking a deep breath, she started to walk towards the hatch, “Let’s just get this over with.”

 “
I think I preferred the eager young recruit who was looking for death or glory,” Cooper said, following her.

 “
Maybe I do, as well,” she said. “And maybe you should consider that a good intelligence officer never tells the truth.”

 With a smile, he pulled open the hatch, then said, “A gentleman never asks a lady how old she is. And in the further interests of chivalry, after you.”

 She slid down the ladder, a splash heralding her arrival at the bottom, and Cooper followed, closing the hatch above him. It clanged shut with a worrying finality, and sealed them up into darkness; he tapped a hidden button on his respirator to activate the night-vision filters. The world around him erupted in paroxysms of riotous color until it settled down, adjusting to the light levels. Holding up the datapad, he pointed down the tunnel and began to walk, grateful that the respirator was stopping the smell of the thin brown stream from reaching him.

 The tunnel twisted and turned, the conditions slowly improving as they ventured closer to more affluent areas, nearer the protected parts of the city. The occasional flickering light broke the gloom, shadows dancing around, and at one point he could have sworn he had seen something moving in the darkness, some sort of creature.

 “
Something wrong?” Cantrell said, pausing.

 “
Nothing. Shadows playing tricks, that’s all.” He glanced down at his datapad again, and said, “We’re almost there.”

 They slowed their progress to a crawl, taking care not to make any extraneous noise. Cooper pulled out his borrowed pistol, taking point as he made his way to the ladder. He scrambled to the top, then looked at the hatch, slowly pushing it up, just enough to peer through it. Above he saw a pair of boots, someone standing directly in front of it; there was no sound of activity, no noise at all.

He glanced at his watch. Their passage through the tunnel had taken more than half an hour; those charges need to be placed in plenty of time, but there was no need to risk raising an alarm yet, and he slid back down the ladder, slipping back into the shadows.

 “
What are you waiting for?” Cantrell whispered.

 “
Twenty-two minutes until the fun begins. I’m going to wait until two minutes to go. There’s a guard up there.”

 “
So? We take him out, drop him down here, and…”

 “
And then if someone turns up to relieve him, what do we do? It will be rather more than embarrassing. I can plant those bombs in less than a minute, and it won’t take any longer than that to hook up with the van.”

 
“
What if there is a hold-up?”

 
“
Then we will have to take a risk, but there’s no point taking an unnecessary one. Let’s head back down the tunnel a little.”

 “
You think he saw you?”

 “
There’s that ‘acceptable risk’ thing again. Now I know you’re not a field operative.”

 “
For all you know, I’m still putting on an act.”

 “
Hell,” he replied, “I’ve only got your word that you are an intelligence agent at all.”

 “
That’s the spirit, Corporal,” she said. “Good healthy paranoia. I
'll make a spy of you yet.
”

 Cooper took the opportunity to take a proper look at the explosives he’d been carrying, checking over the detonator. From appearances, someone had taken conventional mining explosives and made some rather unorthodox modifications, trying to turn them into shaped charges. About the only thing he could guarantee was that they would make a real mess of the door, but all he could do was hope that it would do the job.

 The worst part of any operation was sitting and waiting for the action to begin, but this was worse than usual. He’d never known stakes this high before, and it was making him nervous. This mission was personal in a way no other had ever been; it was his idea, his plan, his project. For all he acknowledged that the Captain had a stake of his own, and that he admired him for taking the lead himself, he still felt as if he responsible for the operation.

 “
Credit for your thoughts, Corporal,” Cantrell said.

 “
I don’t like waiting,” he replied.

 “
Then let’s get on with this.”

 “
If you’ve managed to get hold of the guard schedules, you could have told me before.”

 “
Just six minutes to go, and if there is some sort of problem, we need time to fix it.”

 “
Right,” he said. “You said you were a hacker, time to prove it.”

 “
Don’t worry. In thirty seconds, I’m going to be owning their security.” She pulled out a datapad and started to work, entering in commands and frowning at the results, then stepping nearer the corridor to get a cleaner signal. She hadn’t been totally honest with him; it actually took her thirty-four seconds to knock out the cameras.

 He looked at her, nodded, and scrambled back up the corridor, taking a couple of deep breaths before pushing the hatch open, leaping up, and diving for the guard. The man turned in fear as Cooper clubbed him over the head with his good hand, reaching for his respirator with the other one.

 It was only when he felt a kick on his side that he realized there had been two guards in the room, and he cursed himself for his stupidity. He turned, gasping for breath, only to see the guard collapse to his knees, Cantrell pointing some sort of tiny gun at him. Quickly, still leaning on his struggling foe, he turned the mix on the respirator down, enough to send him into a nice long sleep until someone came to rescue him.

 She turned to him with a grin, “Knew that would come in useful.”

 “
Tranq gun? Wish you’d given me one.”

 “
I didn’t have a spare. Shall we get on with it?”

 “
Go make sure o
f
the security, first. A lot can happen in five minutes.”

 While she moved over to the terminal, he examined his target. It was a standard vehicular airlock, a distant cousin to the elevator airlocks up on Alamo, and he’d have to make sure that both doors were knocked out. Fortunately, the outer door was open – a lax
practice
that was going to provide him with dividends now.