The Fringe Worlds (12 page)

Rather than tell them, Adam moved to the front of his cell, braced his back against the left side bars and pushed against a front bar with his right leg. After a few grunts, the bar began to move. He then shifted sides and pushed on another bar until he had a separation wide enough to squeeze through.

Jym and Kaylor were standing at the bars of their cell, staring in shocked disbelief. “What are you” Jym asked.

“Never mind,” Adam said as he moved over to the bars between their two cells. Bracing himself as he had done earlier, he bent the bars wide enough for the two aliens to slip through and into his cell.

Soon they were outside in the corridor. To their left was the processing room, so the three of them hurried to the right. None of them had any idea what lay beyond the door at the end of the cell block, but Adam was willing to take his chances. The only operational plan he had at this time was to get back to Kaylor’s ship and get the hell off of this god-forsaken planet. With so few options to choose from, action seemed like his best operation.

They stopped at the door and Adam tested the handle. It was unlocked. He opened it a crack, just enough to see two Nimorians sitting at a desk, one gnawing on some food, the other typing on a keyboard.

Taking a deep breath, Adam burst through the door, and before the two creatures could react, Adam was upon them. He caught the typist with a right cross and felt his fist sink deep into the alien’s skull with a splatter of blood and the cracking of bone. Jesus Christ! I just ripped off half the alien’s face with the blow!

Adam then brought his left elbow across his body, striking the other Nimorian on the back of the head. Again the cracking of bone, and soon both creatures were lying on the floor, dead. With his right hand covered in alien blood and brain matter, Adam quickly removed the sidearms from the guards and strapped one around his waist. He tossed the other holster to Kaylor, who promptly had it fall through his hands and onto the floor.

“Pick it up and put it on!”

Kaylor bent over and obeyed. Both he and Jym looked aghast at the damage Adam had done. Adam just shrugged off the carnage.

Quickly surveying their surroundings, Adam found that they were in a foyer, with a flight of stairs going up and another long, deserted hallway leading away from the desk. At the far end of the hallway was a double set of doors with what looked like a large room beyond and natural light streaming in. MK-17 in hand, Adam hurried down the hall toward the double doors.

Almost immediately, three Nimorians appeared out of a side room and nearly collided with them. As the aliens panicked and went for their weapons, Adam calmly placed three quick bolts of blue fire into them as he sped past, with Kaylor and Jym following closely behind. In this case, the targeting computer never did vibrate, as it found nothing to lock onto. What a worthless piece of shit, Adam thought.

All of a sudden, an explosion rocked the entire building, as smoke poured from the end of the hallway and the double doors shattered inward. Screams and yelling could be heard, interlaced with electric popping sounds.

Cut off from his original exit point, Adam chose to duck into a side room, trailing Kaylor and Jym behind him.

Inside was another Nimorian, who alerted by the explosion, was running toward the door. Adam lowered his shoulder and crashed into the alien, sending him flying backwards, impacting a stack of crates before falling limp to the floor.

They were in a large storage room, lined with shelves easily ten meters high and stacked with boxes and other equipment. Filling the interior of the room were several multi-level rows of staked crates. Adam spotted a second door at the far end of the room and the three of them set off for it.

There were more explosions and the sound of electric popping. The whole building seemed to be under siege!

Just then, three Nimorians along with three lizard-things came through the far door. Seeing the escapees, the aliens brought up their weapons and began to let loose with erratic bolts of energy.

Adam and his companions dove behind a stack of crates just as the first bolts began to wiz past. The shots were high and wide, but they continued to come in rapid succession. The aliens were spreading out, moving toward them. Adam did a quick glance around the crate and spotted a lizard about thirty feet away, in plain sight. He let loose with a bolt, striking the lizard in the gut. Then another came right behind him, and Adam fired again. This time he missed to the right, and when he corrected and depressed the trigger again, nothing happened!

“Your charge is dry!” Kaylor yelled. Adam twisted a lever on the handle of his weapon, dropping out the spent charge pack. Then pulling another from the holster belt, he snapped it in. There no more packs on his belt, so he reached over and pulled two from Kaylor’s holster belt.

Performing a quick recon of the situation, Adam saw that a stacked row of crates to his right provided a path on its second level shielded from the view of the aliens.

“Stay here,” he said to Kaylor and Jym, then he slid off to his right, and in a single bound in the light gravity, jumped to the top of the first layer of crates, about two meters high. Moving along this level behind the upper layer of crates, Adam managed to get behind the two remaining lizards. Thinking that Master Chief Turner back at Coronado would have had his hide for this reckless maneuver, Adam leaped into the air and landed on the floor behind the two aliens.

As they turned, Adam let off two precise shots, killing them both instantly. The lizards had been carrying rifles, so Adam snatched one up — and dove for cover just as the three Nimorians opened up on his position.

Adam found a thick piece of packing wood on the floor near him, and feeling the weight in his hand, tossed it high and to his right. As it landed, the three Nimorians shifted their fire toward the sound. Standing with rifle in hand, Adam found he was looking down a line of aliens all in a row. Taking aim at the first one in line, he fingered the trigger.

A bright bolt of electric blue light shot from the barrel, striking the first alien along the front of his chest; the bolt then continued to the second alien, impacting his neck. Both went down. Two with one shot, not bad, Adam thought. Then as the third alien turned to see his two companions fall, the last thing he ever saw was a bolt of blue energy growing ever larger, heading straight for his face.

Darting between crates, Adam ran back to where he’d left Kaylor and Jym. As he rounded the crate and slid in beside them, Jym let out a cry and Kaylor’s eyes rolled back in his head as he nearly fainted.

“Don’t surprise us like that!” he scolded.

“Let’s go!” Adam said, ignoring him. But just as they stood, five more Nimorians entered the room through the very door they were headed for.

A barrage of blue bolts came zipping their way as they ducked for cover again behind the crate. Looking around for an alternative exit, Adam noticed a break in the ten meter high shelving units with an opening exposing the wall of the room. He had an idea.

“Follow me, and stay low.”

Adam took off, with the other two close behind. They reached the break in the shelving and crowded in for cover. With his back against the wall, Adam struck the wall with his left elbow and was relieved to feel the wallboard break. He had been hoping this was an interior wall; the outer walls were made of brick and he wasn’t sure if he could break through those. But these thin, inner walls were a breeze. He smashed his elbow into the wall several more times until he had a two foot wide gap. Then pressing his full weight against it, Adam crashed through the wall and into another room, landing on his back with his legs still in the hole, rifle across his chest.

To his shock, two Nimorians had just run past his position, heading for the battle at the other end of the building, weapons at the ready. Seeing Adam, they both turned and took aim. Rolling to his right, Adam fired the rifle, striking one of the aliens in the chest. Then he let loose another shot at the other alien just as bolt of energy erupted from its weapon. Rolling on his back again, the bolt ripped across the front of Adam’s tunic, burning through it, exposing his chest and the scab from where Kaylor had shot him.

He quickly regained his feet, breathing a sigh of relief that he was still alive. Then reaching through the opening in the wall, he yanked both Kaylor and Jym through, and they all ended up covered with white dust and bits of wallboard.

They were in a hallway, with several windows set in the opposite wall, dim yellow light shining through. Adam crossed to the nearest window and smashed out the glass with the butt of the rifle. The window was big enough to crawl through, so Adam shoved Jym and Kaylor through the opening before following himself.

Once outside, Adam pressed against the warm brick wall, forcing Jym and Kaylor to do the same with this left arm. They were in the space between two of the Ministry buildings, separated by about twenty meters. To their left a battle was raging, as they saw two groups squared off against each other, firing from inside doorways and from behind vehicles.

The three of them were fully exposed where they were, with dozens of windows from both buildings facing the grassy area. Luckily, the sun was beginning to set, casting deep shadows in the space between the buildings. The blue tunics both he and Kaylor wore, along with Jym’s dark green one, would help provide some camouflage. To his right and about thirty meters away, was the wall surrounding the Compound.

“Stay low and close to the building,” Adam whispered, as he set off for the wall, hugging the side of the building as they went. Knowing he had a couple of untrained civilians with him slowed his progress, but if anyone did notice their movement, they chose to ignore them in light of the fighting going on at the other end of the building. They made it to the wall without incident.

Pressing his back against the wall, Adam surveyed each direction for any guard towers along the wall. Seeing none, he stood and grabbed Jym by his tunic. “Trust me,” he said, and promptly tossed the much smaller creature up to the top of the wall. Jym clung there, with an arm and a leg dangling precariously over each side. Kaylor was more cooperative, allowing him to be hurled onto the wall as well. Adam then tossed the bolt rifle over to the other side.

The wall itself was easily four meters high, but with an easy leap, Adam was able to reach the top with both hands and propel himself over in one fluid motion. He landed softly on the ground beyond then called for Jym and Kaylor, one at a time, to drop into his arms.

There was a greenbelt area about thirty meters wide between the wall and a road that ran parallel to the Ministry Compound. Beyond the road were several streets heading away from the Compound lined with buildings of various heights. A short distance to their left was the nearest intersection where several people had gathered, looking in the direction of the Ministry, curious at all the explosions and gunfire taking place. In the gray light of dusk, none had noticed the three of them scale the wall, so Adam picked up the rifle and led them in a sprint for the cover of the nearest building.

Crouching against the building, Adam noticed both Jym and Kaylor panting heavily, trying to catch their breath. Out of shape aliens, Adam observed. Go figure!

Inside the Compound, the sounds of the battle could still be heard, but they were less intense. Adam pulled Kaylor near. “Which way to the spaceport”

Kaylor pointed to their right. “This way,” he panted. “It’s about twenty minutes away by foot. Maybe we should find a transport to hire”

“You want us to call a cab” Adam shot back. “I’ve got a better idea.”

On the street nearby were several of the native wheeled transports, looking like small SUV’s from back home. Creatures of various styles were milling around, chattering and pointing toward the Compound and the rising column of black smoke, easily visible in the late afternoon sky.

At one of the cars, its occupant had climbed out and was standing at the open door, looking toward the Compound. Adam moved up behind him, dropped the rifle, and then used both his hands to grab the alien by the back of his shirt and the seat of his pants. He tossed him into the air, and the creature landed hard about five meters away in a patch of bushes on the other side of the street.

“Get in!” Adam yelled, as he slipped into the driver’s seat.

Of course he had never driven an alien car before, but he had observed how it was done during the drive to the Compound earlier that morning. In the center console was a joystick with a flat handle on top, and once Jym had climbed in the back and Kaylor into the front passenger seat, Adam pushed the stick all the way forward with purpose.

But nothing happened! He pushed again, still nothing. Then Kaylor calmly reached over and flicked a switch on the dashboard.

The vehicle lunged forward, sideswiping another car before Adam could throttle back and steer the car back into the center of the road. He quickly got the feel of the controls and soon they were racing down the road toward the spaceport.

Most of the traffic on the roads was heading in the opposite direction, toward the Ministry Compound, so they made it back to the spaceport in less than five minutes.

Barreling through the main gate, Adam was half expecting to see a contingent of Ministry police waiting for them; they couldn’t outrun radios or telephones, or whatever they used on this planet. But there was no one there, not even the incredibly bloated alien at the guard hut. There were people in the spaceport, but most of them were scurrying about, apparently readying their craft for liftoff and paid no special attention to Adam’s speeding vehicle.

News of the raid on the Ministry Compound had spread fast, and even though no one knew exactly what was going on, very few creatures in the spaceport were waiting around to find out. Like true mariners, whether at sea or in space, they preferred their chances off-land, rather than as sitting ducks stuck in port.

Adam pulled back on the joystick and the car skidded to a halt at the base of the ramp leading up to the cargo hold of the FS-475. Kaylor jumped out and ran to a panel cover set on the skin of the ship. Flipping it open, he punched in a code and the door to the cargo bay opened. The three of them ran up the ramp and into the ship.