My Other Car is a Spaceship (34 page)

“It’s nothing. Go. Do your part well and there’ll be a major reward in it for you and your men.”

“Yes, sir!
”

The eight members of Penrod’s diversionary team walked out together, gripping the weapons Penrod had supplied from his personal cache.

That’s a pretty pitiful excuse for an army. Still, look what Jeffries managed to accomplish with even fewer to begin with.

Penrod and the
other four members of his attack team hunkered down to wait behind the crates and other obstructions they’d stacked in that unused section of tunnel for this very purpose.

Team 1 split into two. Sue and SonnEzmal turned left, and Berjelar went right. Moments later, waving orange tentacles overhead, Berjelar charged left across an intersection screaming, “They’re after me! The prisoners are after me!”

One of the guards in front of the pump station remained behind, while the other two raced toward the intersection. They stopped just short of the corner, look
ed right and waited for the prisoners to cross the intersection.

A moment later, Berjelar, just around the corner on the left, shot them both from the side.

The guard remaining at the pump room door was equally blindsided by the Chan’Yi and the Sestran coming from the other end of the corridor.

Sue and Sonn didn’t even have to enter the room. Sonn tossed the satchel bomb inside as far as she could and the two rejoined Berjelar guarding the intersection.

An explosion erupted through the doorway seconds later, followed by a geyser of water. A river chased them down the corridor.

Then it was on to the next target.

“Sir,” MekFensal called out, “we have another explosion, this time in the air processing plant.”

“Damn those prisoners! They are going to kill us all! Do they not realize they will die too?”

“No idea, sir. Maybe they figure they are going to die anyway, so why not take us with them?”

Ishtawahl stood outside the executive offices gripping the tubular railing of the catwalk in impotent rage.
There has to be a way to kill them before they kill us all!

The outer door of the command center opened to admit a comp
uter tech. “Sir! Mr. Ishtawahl! The prisoners are attacking! They’re right outside!”

“He is right, sir,” MekFensal replied. I see them on the monitor. Five of them. They are about a minute away.”

“There is no way they can get in here with hand weapons. The blast doors will stop anything they have.” Ishtawahl paused for a moment in thought.

“On second thought, here is a chance to rid ourselves of a f
ew of them. Mek, grab a blaster and get a security team up here. You, technician! What is your name?”

“TelWentil, sir.”

“TelWentil, you take a blaster, too.”

“But
sir
, I am only a tech—”

“It does not matter. If the prisoners manage to destroy this fortress, you will die for sure. At least this way you have a fighting chance.”

“Yes, sir.”

MekFensal joined the other two on the catwalk and handed a blaster to TelWentil.

The security Chief manipulated the controls to open the blast doors.

Ishtawahl gripped his blaster.
“Let us see if we can turn the tables on the prisoners, shall we?”

The trio raced through the doors,
weapons at the ready.

The sound of blaster fire echoed along the tunnel.

“Get ready, everyone,” Penrod muttered. “They’ll be here any second.”

The fact that there was gunfire ahead meant that the first part of the plan had failed. TelWentil was supposed to look for an opportunity to assassinate Ishtawahl if at all possible. Failing that, the so-called “prisoners” staging the attack on the command center were supposed to fall back and allow themselves to be chased by Jern’s security team to the ambush point that Penrod had established. It looked like that part of the plan, at least, had worked as designed.

“Wait until our people get
in position so you can shoot past them without hitting them.”

There was a second set of obstructions arrayed on either side of wider part of the tunnel ahead, allowing a clear killing field down the center of the tunnel.

A stray blaster beam licked the wall of the tunnel only a few dozen meters ahead.

“Don’t fire too soon. Make sure they’re in range and can’t duck back around the curve.”

Waiting was always the hardest. But Penrod was looking forward to seeing the look on Jern’s face when he fell into this trap.

One, two, t
hree more blasts struck the wall ahead.

Come on! Where are they?

Penrod peered intently down the tunnel, watching for the first glimpse of his team.

Where the hell are they?

Penrod jumped as the Sestran beside him grunted and toppled over, a smoking hole in his
back
. A split second later, the Sestrans across the tunnel from him fell as well. A sensation of intense heat on his right cheek caused Penrod to gasp and throw himself left, against the tunnel wall.

“Not him, you fool!”

Recognizing the voice, Penrod turned around, raising his blaster.

“Drop it!” Ishtawahl ordered. “Or die where you are.”

Penrod took an instant to assess the situation. Six blasters had a bead on his head. Shoulders slumping, he sighed and dropped his blaster. Then he slowly raised his hands over his head.

Two guards rushed toward him. One kicked Penrod’s blaster away and kept h
is own trained on Penrod’s head while the other guard applied the shackles.

Penrod looked at the gloating Ishtawahl.

“How—?”

“How did I outsmart you once again?”

The other grimaced and then nodded.

“Quite simple, really. I have known all along that
TelWentil was loyal to you, as did Mek. When I asked Mek to give your agent a weapon, he knew to give him one with a depleted charge. It was quite obvious that he was trying to lead me into a trap. I recognized some of the so-called prisoners on the monitor as technicians.

“When he turned the
useless weapon on me, it was simple enough to disarm him. With a gun held to his head, he was all too eager to divulge your plans and where you were waiting for me. I radioed ahead to some guards who cut off your people before they reached you.” He shrugged. “The rest was merely theatrics. Quite a performance, no?”

He let out a throaty laugh at the expression on Penrod’s face.

“Now, let us get you safely installed in a holding pen so we can take care of this prisoner nuisance once and for all. I am so looking forward to putting you board a slave ship—you with your superior attitude. Not so superior now, are you?”

Hal gave the signal to move out, in formation. Phase 3,
the Trojan Horse,
was under way.

The pirate ship clearly
was heading for a gap in the asteroid wall several kilometers from their position. The strike team would have to hustle, using their compressed gas maneuvering packs, to reach the gap at approximately the same time as the ship.

The only way to ensure safe passage through the automated defenses of the shield wall was
to go through when the ship did, close enough to the ship that the defenses either couldn’t pick them out as separate targets, or couldn’t fire without risk of hitting the ship.

Ordinarily, maneuvering packs couldn’t hope to keep up with the speed of a ship. However, because the labyrinthine path through the wall was
designed
to force a ship to proceed at low speed—as a defense against a quick-strike raid—the packs should be sufficient for the team to keep up. At least, that was the theory.

The nine were roped together against the possibility that someone’s thrusters might fail.
Still, there were plenty of other things that could go wrong: the ship’s pilot might spot the “leeches” attempting to ride his coattails, someone could find themselves in the path of the ship’s engine exhaust and get cooked, part of the connecting rope could get caught on a projection from an asteroid and hang up the entire team, the maneuvering packs might prove insufficient to keep up with the ship—there were a whole host of possibilities too depressing to enumerate.

Stay positive. This is going to work. It has to. Too many people are depending on it to work.

Tense minutes passed as the team and the ship each closed on the gap from different directions and at different speeds.

Two klicks
to go. The ship’s right where we need it to be. This might actually work!

Of course, then there’s Phase 4.

Kalen knew immediately that gaining entry to the lab wouldn’t be as easy as the other attacks had been.

A squad of Melphim stood guard at the intersection leading to the lab. Before Kalen even got close enough to attempt to use gas or a bomb, the guards opened fire. Kalen and the others duck
ed back around the curve in the corridor. A faint electronic squawk echoing down the corridor told Kalen that the guards were calling for reinforcements.

Shit
!

The sound of blaster fire in the distance indicated that the other half of his team had encountered similar difficulties at the intersection on the other side of the lab. This time
, divide-and-conquer hadn’t worked.

“We can’t stay here like this,
Tep,” he said to the Thorian beside him. “We have to get to the lab. Hand me a couple of smoke grenades.”

He took the proffered item
s, armed them and tossed the first grenade around the corner and down the corridor, followed by the other. Within seconds the corridor was veiled in white. The guards, rightly expecting an attack, began firing randomly into the smoke.

“Okay, they’re firing high. Tep, you stay here and fire
back from around the corner to keep them busy. Shoot at different heights, from waist to chest level, to keep them aiming high. Use two weapons, to make it look like there’s more than one of you.”

“Yes, sir.”
Tep Movoo swallowed hard, clearly nervous at the proposition.

“Pe
lk, you and I will have to crawl there. Don’t fire until I give the word. We’ll only get one shot before they zero in on our position. Once they figure out we’re firing from down low we’re exposed with nowhere to hide.

The Sestran nodded.

“All right, then. Let’s go. Tep, start firing.”

The Thorian did as he was told. The smokescreen was complete. Nothing was visible through the pall but the
blue beams of the blasters.

Kalen and PelkSetmal crawled as quickly as they dared. Too fast and the sound might give away their position; too slow and they risked the smoke dissipating too soon. Overhead, blaster shots traded sides.

After a minute, Kalen estimated that they were halfway to the intersection. He could hear the sizzle-snap of the guards’ guns as the muzzle crystals heated, then cooled.

Just a few more
meters and we should be close enough to make them out through the smoke and draw a bead. We have to hurry—the reinforcements could be here any second.

Its time for this Mongoose to go after some snakes in the grass.

Hal gave the hand signal that it was time to close in on the ship. A hundred
meters, fifty, twenty. Hal moved to within five meters of the hull. Any closer and they ran the risk of touching the hull and possibly triggering a sensor. As it was, they might be spotted by any of a dozen types of sensors. The rest of the team matched his trajectory. Within seconds, all nine were flying alongside the hundred-meter ship.

This was the most unpredictable part of the plan. An alert pilot might register their presence. On the other hand, distracted by the task of threading the needle through the closely spaced asteroids, it would be easy to overlook or ignore a few matte-black spec
ks that could be mistaken for debris, especially against a backdrop of shadowy asteroids. At least they didn’t have to worry about running afoul of the shield wall’s automated defenses anymore, not this close to the pirate ship.

Seven minutes later, they breached the outer wall and entered the killing field between the inner and outer walls. Now it was time to worry again.

We don’t have the asteroids to hide us anymore. If the pilot spares even a second to check the sensors, he can’t help but spot us. It may be gloomy in here, but not to infrared. There’s no way debris would be emitting any heat—not even as little as we are, and it certainly wouldn’t be shadowing the ship.

The next two minutes were tense ones. At any moment, the pilot could flick them off like flies with his
APCs.

The
y reached the inner wall.

So far, so good. Hopefully he’s
so confident there can’t be any threats inside the shield wall that he won’t even bother to check his sensors.

Another ten minutes and they’d know if they
’d survived Phase 3.

Kalen crawled beside PelkSetmal, alert for any motion ahead that wasn’t swirling smoke. He put one hand ahead of the other on the floor, using the heel of his gun hand.

Almost there. Any sec—

“There!” a deep voice shouted from ahead.

A
blue flash burned through the pall, striking Pelk on the shoulder. The dense smoke made it difficult for Kalen to tell where the first shot came from. But Pelk evidently knew. He returned fire. The pained grunt told Kalen that Pelk’s shot had hit the mark.

Before Kalen could decide where the second guard might be, the guard—reacting to the flash from Pelk’s weapon—fired, hitting Pelk in the neck and killing him instantly.

Now Kalen had a target, as the smoke thinned for a moment. He and the guard locked eyes. The guard shifted his aim toward Kalen.

Captain
Jeffries had no such delay, as his weapon was already pointed in the general direction of the guard. He fired twice in succession, blasting the guard square in the chest and felling him.

Kalen peered through the feathery fingers of the smoke as it faded
to locate the first guard. He was alive, but barely. When he saw Kalen rise, he made an attempt to lift his arm and point his blaster. Kalen took a step closer and kicked the gun out of the fallen Melphim’s hand.

“Just lie there until your friends arrive and maybe you’ll live to fight another day.” He
called over his shoulder. “It’s okay, Tep. We got them. Let’s go.” After a moment’s hesitation, he finished, “Be careful you don’t trip over Pelk in the smoke.” His voice softened. “One of the guards got him.”

Tep arrived a few seconds later
with the duffel full of weapons, grimacing and swallowing hard as he passed his fallen comrade. “We-we were captured together. I did not know him well, but I liked him.”

“I liked him, too.
But we don’t have time to mourn him right now. We have to complete the mission or his death—and that of everyone else who dies during this mission—will be for nothing.”

Tep nodded his understanding.

“Good. Now let’s take that lab.”

A hundred meters ahead, the hangar gaped open. The blast doors slid back to admit the arriving ship. Only a weak force field keeping the air inside separated the assault team from their goal.

Hal smiled to himself.
Damn. I can’t believe this cockamamie plan might actually work.

He
flashed a hand signal to those behind him: get ready.

Fifty
meters to go, twenty. The ship slid gently through the force field and settled onto the fused rock floor inside. The nine members of Hal’s team came in low so the sudden reintroduction of gravity wouldn’t bring them crashing to the floor. They touched down just to the right of the ship.

Now inside the
hangar beyond the force field, and in the presence of breathable air, the team opened their helmet faceplates so they could speak to one another. Using their radios would be a bad idea. Outside of the military, EVA suit radios lacked encryption capabilities. That meant the pirates could pick up their calls and tell what they were doing, even at a distance. But for the purposes of the assault, direct speech was sufficient.

Fen, Bekken, and Gley
reached the front of the ship and fired at the two guards standing by the right-hand set of airtight doors in the far wall of the hangar, dropping them. Because they’d been facing the other way, covering the doors, the guards never saw their attackers. Then the trio turned and sent a steady stream of blaster fire at the reinforced viewport of the bridge of the ship they’d slipped in with. With no shielding in operation and the blast doors open, it blew in seconds, injuring some of the crew inside and rendering the ship unable to leave the fortress without repair. The port access door opened and the ramp began to extend. Two grenades tossed in through the opening killed six of the reinforcement guards, injured four others, and caused a collapse of the internal passageway. No counterattack was forthcoming from that quarter, but a few guards managed to crawl through the wreckage of the bridge and fire back through the main viewport. This kept Fen and the others busy for a few minutes until the guards were taken care of.

While all this was going on,
Joud and Pete had raced toward the guard shack at one end of the hangar, firing as they ran and killing the two guards at the left-hand set of airtight hangar doors. Then they switched their aim to the guard shack itself, keeping the guards there pinned down. Return fire forced them to duck behind crates as they provided cover for the rest of the team. Splinters and chunks of the crates’ contents exploded outward from the force of the guards’ blaster fire. The crates wouldn’t hold together forever, but if all went well, they wouldn’t have to.

Bekken and Gley
took advantage of Joud’s and Pete’s covering fire to run toward the airtight doors at the guards’ end of the hangar, while Fen and Giffen dashed to cover the doors at the other end. Kelmalar, Hal, and Mynax raced for the entry hatch on the far side of the ship in the adjacent bay. It was open. A crewman poked his head out to see what the commotion was all about.

He ducked back when he saw the t
hree EVA-suited invaders. Hal tossed a grenade in behind the pirate and the trio went for the next ship. A muffled CRUMP! signaled the demise of another ship—at least without some major repair.

That
isn’t the one we want either. Let’s hope this last one is it. If we have to traipse through the whole fortress looking for the right hangar—or if the ship’s out on a mission—we’re in trouble.

As Hal rounded the
prow of the third ship, he smiled.
Ah yes, this is more like it.

Two armed crewmen were just exiting the hatch
to investigate and Hal and Mynax made short work of them. They and Kelmalar charged through the hatch, weapons ready, and headed for the bridge.

Here we go.
Phase 4,
the Can Opener,
begins.

“Sir!” MekFensal’s shout came through the intercom to Jern Ishtawahl’s implant. “The prisoners are attacking Dr. Felmendar’s lab!”

Ishtawahl’s blood ran hot.
No! If they destroy the warheads, there goes all our leverage.

That thought was replaced by a chilling one.
If they blow the plutonium—!

“Mek! Shut down the air processor for that sector!”

“But sir, the smoke from the fires—”

“The smoke won’t matter if radioactive dust gets into the ventilation system.” Ishtawahl sensed the Sestran tensing
with realization.

“Ye-yes, sir.
”

“Send everyone available to the lab. We can’t let the prisoners destroy it!”

“Yes, sir!”

“I
will meet the guards there.”

It is time to finish this once and for all.

Dr. Felmendar
heard the sounds of blaster fire and then an explosion outside the laboratory door. The ever-present whir of the air handlers had ceased moments earlier, making the exterior noises sound all the louder.

No! This cannot be! The prisoners—!

“Guards! Keep them from entering the lab!”

His words were
wasted, however. The two guards posted inside had already dropped their game tiles on the portable table set up to the right of the door and pulled their weapons. One Melphim raced to the far side of the doorway, while the other took the near side. No one was going to be able to come through the door without being cut to ribbons.

My work! My money! If they destroy the lab, I know that bastard Ishtawahl will not pay me what I have earned. He will
try to declare the contract unfulfilled. Still, at least the working nukes are already gone. Perhaps I can get partial compensation from Ishtawahl. After all, it is not my fault the prisoners escaped, or came here to destroy the remaining nukes. But that would still not be enough to provide for my family once this disease consumes me.

But what can I do to stop the prisoners? I am unarmed
and the other technicians are gone. If those guards do not stop them….

He thought for a moment.

I know the two nukes in here are disabled, but the prisoners do not. Perhaps there is a way to convince them otherwise.

A smile lit his face.
Ah yes, the timer. One of the warheads has a working timer, even if it is disconnected from the detonator. But the prisoners will not know that.

It took only a moment to set the timer and even that was almost too long.

Scarcely a second after pressing the button to start the countdown, the sealed door to the lab blew in. The guards to either side immediately began firing through the smoke, hoping a blind shot might take out one or more of the invaders.