The Catalyst (Targon Tales) (17 page)

“Wasn’t even set to kill,” Nova muttered and changed the setting on her gun.

Seth took the transmitter. “Nova, I’m going to see if I can boost a signal using the Dutchman from here. Then you better try to call off your dogs before this place comes down on our heads.”

She nodded and went out into the hall to listen to the commotion in the upper levels of the prison. Shouting, the sound of projectile weapons, but all of it distant. Seth and Caelyn conferred quietly over the data unit while she paced impatiently, a gun in either hand. “You,” she gestured at the women. “Collect whatever you have here for clothes and blankets in case you have to go outside. It’s damn cold out there. Hurry.”

The prisoners scattered to follow her order, new hope on their smudged faces.

“I think this is going to work,” Seth said. He handed the unit to Nova. “Make it good, Lieutenant.”

She removed a glove and tapped her service number into the transmitter. “Air Command, this is First Lieutenant Nova Whiteside, UAC unit 483. Come in.” She waited for a few seconds before trying again. “Do you read? Lieutenant Nova Whiteside calling anybody. I am trapped in the lower holds of the rebel prison south of Ge’er along with just under twenty civilians. Hold your fire.”

There was some static. Finally some voices. “Do you read that, Vanguard Twelve?”

“Roger, V6. Awaiting verification.”

“What the hell verification do you need? Stop shooting at us! Stand down!”

“Uh, V12, Whiteside currently listed AWOL.”

“Yes, that’s me,” Nova said. “Just stand down!”

The entire cave system seemed to shake as a massive explosion rocked the upper halls. Frightened screams from the prisoners mingled with the sound of rocks falling nearby. Some dust showered from the cave ceiling.

“Idiots,” Seth said. “Come on, we’ll take our chances with the Rhuwacs. Is everyone here now? Kala, lead the way. Stay together.”

“Vanguard,” Nova tried again. “Come in, dammit. Hold your fire.”

Static. Then: “That’s a negative, Whiteside. Endeavor to clear civilians from the combat area or take cover. Stand clear.”

Seth took the transmitter from her hands and tossed it back to Caelyn. “Give it up, Nova. We’re on our own.” Another explosion rumbled through the tunnels.

The group hurried to the intersection leading to the slave hold and then turned away from the commotion at ground level into the opposite direction. Their progress was painfully slow and the captives slipped and stumbled, bruised elbows on the jagged walls, and cowered in fear with each distant thunder of explosives. It was some time before the crudely chiseled corridors widened and then opened into a larger chamber.

The two Human guards were too surprised by the arrival of an untidy rabble of prisoners to do much but come to their feet. Seth strode across the room, grasped one of them by the throat and slammed him against the wall. He raised the gun in his other hand and shot his companion. “Is that clear to you?” he said to the man on the wall.

“Wha... what’s going on? Who... what—”

Seth jammed the gun under the man’s nose. “Clear to you?”

“Yes!”

“Whoa,” Nova said softly behind him. All of them looked around the bizarre collection of tools here. The room was lined with storage hooks and bins displaying chains, leather harnesses, cudgels, stun guns, hoods and blinds and whips, the tools of the trade for the guards and handlers of Rhuwacs. “Creepy.”

“Take a look, Red.” Seth jerked his chin toward a door opposite of the one through which they had entered.

She peered into a long hallway lined by walls made of metal bars. Hulking shapes moved behind them and she heard grunts and murmurs and occasional snarls. Some of the Rhuwacs were resting on two-tiered bunks, others paced aimlessly or huddled in small groups on the floor. They were dressed in rough-spun cloaks and kilts as ragged as those of the prisoners. A metal double door at the end of the central walkway had an electronic lock. It seemed very far away.

She walked over to the handler still pinned to the wall. “Is that door keyed to your hand?”

“Yes,” he grunted with considerable effort. His hands were wrapped around Seth’s forearm but he did not struggle.

“Does it lead outside?”

“Not that door. But the ones beyond, yes.”

“Union coming this way, so your only way out is with us. Going to play nice?”

“Yes!”

Seth released him. “Where does the exit lead to?”

The man rubbed his bruised neck. “Base of the cliff,” he said angrily. “Used to be a shipping area for crystal.”

“Any air cars there?”

“Maybe one or two. Not enough for everyone. Soon be too cold to go out that way, anyhow.”

Seth turned to the others. “Grab some of those cloaks. They probably stink but it’s better than freezing to death.” He looked through the door into the Rhuwac hold. “Cazun strike me, what a mess,” he whispered.

“Not much choice,” Nova said as they listened to more explosions in the distance.

“At least they’re locked up. Probably haven’t been trained much yet to be out on their own.” He looked over to their handler. “Those doors
are
locked, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah. These are mean ones. Culled out because they’re untrainable. You don’t want to get close to the bars.”

Caelyn stood nearby, examining a collar spiked with metal prongs. “You use this on those people?” he said to the handler.

“Only thing that keeps ‘em from tearing your throat out, yeah. Fucking animals.”

“Animals? Those are sentient beings. Your Union declared them thus!”

Nova put a hand on his arm and took the collar away. “Not all of them can... understand our ways, Caelyn. They are dangerous.”

“If you make them so. Torture them with these. Lock them in cages in the dark.” He shook his head, bemused. “What a strange world I’ve stumbled into.”

“I won’t argue that,” Seth said. He raised his voice so that the others heard. “The guard, Kala, you two and Caelyn go first, then the rest of you. Everyone just stay to the center of the hall and move as fast as you can. Nova and I will bring up the rear. You’ll see about fifty or so Rhuwacs behind bars on both sides. They’ll start making a colossal racket. Just keep going. They go a little crazy around females. Stay away from the walls, do not turn, don’t even look at them.”

There were uncertain nods all around. Seth looked to Caelyn. “If this rebel decides to change his mind, give him one of your Delphian brain bolts.”

Caelyn raised both eyebrows. “Yes. Brain bolt. Very painful.” He glanced at Nova with a secret smile in his bright blue eyes when the handler took a hasty step away from him.

Seth opened the entrance to the Rhuwac hold. “Go. Quick!”

The prisoners stepped into the hall, not without cries of terror when the Rhuwacs spotted them and began to rush the cage walls. Nova winced when she saw scaled arms thrust through the bars toward the horrified women. The central walkway was barely wide enough to stay out of their reach. Hoarse shouts and curses rose in volume as they grew more excited. Double rows of tombstone teeth were bared and blunt fists beat against the bars that suddenly seemed awfully flimsy.

“Don’t look at them,” she yelled. “Run. Go go go!”

A high-pitched scream rose above the noise when one of the women stumbled and fell to the stone floor, crying out in terror when a massive hand grasped her leg. Caelyn kicked at the arm and stomped heavily onto the thick wrist until the Rhuwac released his prey and he was able to pull her to her feet again. Another of the beasts swung a fist at him and he took a sharp blow to the chest before leaping out of the way. The noise made by the enraged Rhuwacs was deafening.

“Keep going,” Seth shouted.

Nova watched the handler, more experienced than any of them with these creatures, reel in terror past the cages. They seemed to turn their furor upon him, shouting his name along with other words that made little sense to any of them. Panicked, he collided with a prisoner and then slammed into one of the cage doors.

“Watch out!” Nova shouted but one of the brutes reached around the man’s neck and pulled him toward the cage. The Human screeched in terror when the arm tightened and his head was forced between the bars of the enclosure. She froze when the Rhuwac bit the side of his face.

A row of pulsating red lights came on above the cell doors. “Now what?” Seth gasped at the same time that realization struck him. “They are releasing the Rhuwacs!”

Nova tore her eyes away from the wildly flailing rebel. “What are you—”

“To fight the soldiers. They are letting the Rhuwacs loose down here!” He waved to the women. “Go! Run. Find something to get that door down.”

Nova turned back to the handler. His movements were weakening in the Rhuwac’s grip and the side of his head was an unrecognizable pulp of flesh and bone. She shot first him, then the monster clawing at him. She was only dimly aware of Seth shouting her name when she took the man’s wrist and pressed her gun to his elbow. The charge shattered the joint and anything else keeping his forearm attached to his body. She turned and ran after Seth, hearing the metal squeal of the cell doors opening on either side of her.

Well-placed fire from Seth’s weapons streaked past her to hold back the furious Rhuwacs pouring into the central walkway. The lumbering bodies were built for strength, not speed, but she felt one of them grasp the back of her coat. Before he was able to jerk her off her feet Seth had hit his mark and the Rhuwac fell, slowing those that followed.

Nova sprinted the rest of the way to reach the others trapped between the locked door and the horde of Rhuwacs lurching toward them. They leaped out of the way when she got there, holding the severed arm aloft like some gruesome trophy. She slapped it at the door’s key pad and punched the release button again and again until the lock disengaged. Caelyn pushed forward to help her slide the door wide enough for the others to get through.

Seth was the last to escape the Rhuwac hold, flinging himself through the door and rolling out of the way when Caelyn and some of the women slammed it shut. A heavy bar was readily in place, no doubt designed to prevent a mass escape of Rhuwacs like the one they had just witnessed.

All of them waited breathlessly for the Rhuwacs to hurl themselves at the door. It shuddered under the assault of the beasts and seemed to strain against its brace but it held. Gradually, the pounding and the furious roars abated. Now that their quarry was out of sight, the Rhuwacs seemed to lose interest.

Both Nova and Seth sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath until the adrenaline surging through their bodies subsided. She realized that she was still holding the dripping arm and quickly tossed it away before also peeling off her blood-soaked gloves.

Seth lurched to his feet and reached down to help her up, too. “Utterly awesome, Red,” he said, shaking his head, grinning. Like her, he had to fight an urge to laugh out loud, knowing that the utterly terrified escapees in the room would think them both quite mad. “Everyone okay?”

“Everyone accounted for, anyway,” Caelyn said, looking worriedly at the shell-shocked captives. He reached under his vest and retrieved the improvised transmitter, its casing shattered. “This broke when I got hit. Better than my ribs, I suppose.”

They looked around the mostly empty chamber, likely some sort of loading area carved out of the rock. A trolley was parked near a stack of metal pipes and several pallets of cage walls awaited assembly. The massive hinged door clearly led outside, evidenced by the daylight slanting through transom windows above. It also made the room bitterly cold. “We must be somewhere near the bottom of the cliff.”

“And a long way from Ge’er and the Dutchman,” Nova said.

Seth spun around when someone entered from his right. He was faced with a baffled-looking Centauri rebel, likely still unaware that Union soldiers were invading the compound.  Nova took him out before he had a chance to raise an alarm.

“Stay here. Stay quiet,” she hissed at the others although by now the raw noise echoing through the halls would have alerted any other guards that something very strange was going on. She joined Seth on his reconnaissance and crept into a short hallway. An open door led into what seemed to be a break room for the guards. Attempts had been made here to create a more comfortable environment and the walls were clad in molded plastic panels. A video display was showing some sort of entertainment segment and Seth shut it off. A similar room beside this one appeared to be storage. Nova was happy to see that it contained new bales of the fabric used to clothe the Rhuwacs. They moved on and came to a large hall holding little more than building supplies and fuel tanks.

“No one else down here,” Seth reported when they returned to the others. He gestured to Caelyn and the two men quickly moved some crates to allow access to the transom window above the bay door. “We’re in luck,” he exclaimed and jumped back down. “Couple of skimmers out there.” 

Nova glanced at the door to the Rhuwac cells when a guttural scream echoed through the stone chambers. “We’re pretty much trapped here for now. It’ll be hours before those soldiers clean out the Rhuwacs. There’ll be hundreds of them on the loose now. It’s going to be dark shortly and the temperature outside will drop too far for us to leave that way, even by skimmer.”

“Yes, we’re stuck here for a while, Miss Optimist,” Seth said, softening his rebuke with a smile. He addressed the rest of the group. “Listen, everybody. Caelyn, Nova and I will try to make it back to the Dutchman at first light. We’ll make sure the Union soldiers know you’re back here. You will be fine here until then. Just don’t open that door.” He considered a moment. “If by mid-day it doesn’t look like we made it, some of you will take the other skimmer and try to locate a Union patrol. Make sure you know they’re uniforms. Any left-over rebel will take your car and leave you walking out there.”

“Now who’s the optimist,” Nova grumbled, unheard.

“Why can’t you stay here with us till the soldiers come?” one of the women asked.

Seth glanced at Nova. “Well, to be honest, we’re wanted elsewhere and Air Command will only slow us down. We’d rather just stay out of their way.”