Overdrive (15 page)

Running through
the docking bays foyer, the two men passed a number of passengers obviously
heading for their own ships. These passengers paused only long enough to spare
the suited figures startled looks as they ran past.

Emerging into the
corridor, Logan spoke to Tarquin via the suits heads up display.

“My AI’s worked it out. The most likely route from the Executive suite to the docking bay goes through a
small courtyard.” He sent over the spatial display to Tarquin.

“Good spot for
some kind of ambush type arrangement."

“Yeah. We just
have to separate Felix and Crystal from the bad guys.”

Tarquin patted the
belt at his side. “No problem. I’ve got some rather sweet homing concussion
missiles."

Logan smiled up at
his friend uselessly. Tarquin was quite unable to see it through the helmet.
“Nice."

◊

Asel watched the
two heavily suited figures leave the docking bay. His brief had included
details on two of Felix’s friends but he hadn’t taken much notice of them.
Until now. His objective was getting Felix back to the Watchers, preferably
with his brain intact so they could extract the Overdrive data. These two
friends of Felix had been, up to now, of no importance. Things had changed when
Asel saw the amount of hardware they were carrying. They had potential fuck up
factor written all over them.

He ordered a squad
of battle armored Nephillim to shadow them and then ordered the rest of his men
to deploy in the docking bay area. Soon, he thought. This would soon be over
and he’d have the Overdrive.

◊

Simbiel, his
Templars and their two uncooperative prisoners were 500 meters from the docking
bay when the shit hit the fan. Apart from various panicked passengers making
their way to the life pods, they’d encountered only one other ship security
detachment since leaving the executive suite. A short battle had ensued but the
security team obviously didn’t have their heart in it, intent on self
preservation and on making their own way to the lifepods.

Coming to a large
fern filled courtyard dotted with pillars, Simbiel’s survival instinct twinged.
Sensing an ambush, he sent Tynan and 5 of his Templars ahead of him. When
nothing untoward occurred, he cautiously ordered his other Templars into the
area. Not willing to take any chances when success was so near, Simbiel himself
stayed close to Felix and Crystal at the rear.

When they reached
the centre of the courtyard, he sensed rather than saw small shapes streaking
towards him. Using his wings, Simbiel rose vertically. A concussion wave struck
him from below. Looking down he saw Felix, Crystal and a group of Templars
prone on the ground. His AI reported he was being targeted but before he could
react a vivid beam caught him directly in the chest. A momentary wave of
dizziness came over him and he realized he’d been struck by an Afer. His field
generation ability and invulnerability would be down for a few minutes.

He drew his sword
and ordered Tynan and his remaining Templars to take cover and return fire. His
bravery evaporating along with his invulnerability, Simbiel took his own advice
and hid behind a pillar. Splashes of plasma hit the pillar and the far wall.
His Templars were returning fire. Using his AI, he ordered Tynan to grab Felix
and get to the ship whilst the other Templars provided covering fire. He
himself would wait until his field generation ability reasserted itself.

Tynan and another
of his Templars, using the pillars for cover, reached Felix, who was just
beginning to stir. Crystal was already on her feet. He pointed his plasma gun
at her.

“Help me with him,"
he said gesturing at Felix.

Glaring at him,
Crystal did as she was told and together they got a groggy Felix to his feet
and made their way towards the far side of the courtyard. Around them, his
Templars were keeping their unknown assailants occupied.

Using the pillars
and plants for cover, they finally made it to the other side of a courtyard and
emerged into another corridor leading to the docking bay. Passing a T-junction,
Tynan experienced an uneasy feeling of de jevu when he felt a tap on his
shoulder. He turned around to find a grinning Polar Bear and Gorilla towering
above him.

“Hi," said
the Polar Bear. “Remember me”? A large paw struck him in the chin, sending him
tumbling into a wall. The last thing he remembered seeing was the Gorilla using
the other Templar as a squeeze toy before consciousness became something that
other people possessed.

◊

Logan and Tarquin
had arrived in the courtyard only moments before the Areopagite’s, having had
just enough time to position themselves behind pillars.

Tarquin pulled out
one of his homing missiles and attached it to the firing rack below his Afer.
Targeting graphics filled his vision. The gun accepted his firing code and
launched it at the Angel and group of Templars surrounding Felix and Crystal.
Logan began shooting his plasma cannon at the other Templars. Tarquin had time
to see the Angel rise into the air before his homing missile struck the group.
Return fire forced him to duck back behind the pillar, splashes of plasma
sliding harmlessly off his battle armor.

Recording the
visual image of the Angel into his AI, he loaded the visual into his Afer and
instructed the gun to automatically target and fire at any figure meeting that
profile. Poking gun and head around the pillar, he immediately received a
weapon lock and fired at the Angel, striking the hovering figure directly in
the chest. The Angel retreated behind a pillar on the far side of the
courtyard. His two lower plasma guns, programmed to return fire automatically
were swiveling and firing almost continuous blasts at the remaining Templars.
Two plasma blasts hit his armor but absorbed the impacts with limited damage.
He ducked behind his pillar again and accessed Logan’s view from his suit. 

Logan was in a
similar situation. Firing blasts in an attempt to keep the Templars pinned
down, he watched as one of the Templars, looking vaguely familiar, made his way
to Felix’s side, and with Crystal’s help, moved him towards the corridor
nearest to them. Logan couldn’t fire, not willing to risk hitting Felix or
Crystal with Plasma.

Tarquin sent him a
query. “Homing missile?”

“Don’t bother.
They’re heading towards the docking bay anyway. There’s only two of them. We’ll
take them in the corridor.”

“Okeydokey."

The two men
sprinted towards the corridor, watching while Felix, Crystal and the two
Templars disappeared down it. Their armored suits greatly augmented their speed
and both sets of automated arms returned fire behind them. Even so, both men
were struck several times by plasma bolts before reaching the relative safety
of the corridor. Logan’s AI reported his left leg down to 20% armor. Bits of
Tarquin’s armor looked in a similar state.

The four figures
were ahead of them, just coming up to a T-junction. What looked like a Polar
Bear and a Gorilla stepped out of the other corridor. Logan was about to fire
when he saw the Polar Bear take out one of the Templars, and the Gorilla
dispose of the other. Running up, both he and Tarquin pointed their weapons
warily at the two giant figures.

Tarquin’s voice
boomed out of his armors external speakers. “Felix. Crystal. Its us."

“Who’s us?,"
a still somewhat groggy Felix replied.

“Tarquin and Logan
you idiot.”

“Oh." Felix
smiled vaguely and gave Crystal, who was still supporting him, a kiss on the
cheek.

Logan hadn’t taken
his weapon off the two Transplanters who stood nearby looking casual. “Who are
you?” he asked.

“Mercenaries for
hire. Interested?”

“Very."

“My employer will
pay you 1000 credits each if you get us safely off this ship.," said
Crystal.

“2000 each and a
ride off this crate," replied the Polar Bear.

“Look," said
Logan. “Can we discuss this later?."

Crystal looked the
two Transplanters up and down. “Done."

A couple of
Templars were poking nervous heads around the far end of the corridor. Logan
looked down at the prone Templar lying against the corridor wall. He had the
pips of a Captain. “I recognize that guy. He was on Coleridge.”

Tarquin looked
down at the Templar. “That’s really interesting Log, but lets get the fuck out
of here."

“Yeah," said
Logan. He gave each of the Transplanters a plasma gun from his secondary arms.
“You two cover the rear. Me and Tarquin will take point.”

The Polar Bear
shrugged. “Suits me.”

They ran down the
corridor. No plasma bolts followed them, presumably for fear of hitting Felix.
Nearing the main door to the docking bay, Logan and Tarquin could make out a
group of six heavily armored figures waiting – Logan could only presume they
were for them. Looking around, he could make out the Templars and a large winged
figure about 100 meters behind them. Another T-junction loomed on the right.

“Change of plan,"
he said. “Follow me."

Turning right,
Logan led the small group at a run down the new corridor. Felix who had just
about recovered, moved up to Logan’s left.

“This isn’t the
way to the docking bay?," he said to Logan.

“I know. I think
those were Nephillim up ahead. We’ll have to find another way to get to the
docking bay.”

◊

Behind them, the
Templars had just reached the T-junction. Unfortunately, so did the Nephillim.
Fifty meters apart, the two groups recognized each other and without preamble
started firing their plasma weapons. Sadly, the Templars were outmatched. The Nephillim
had battle armor and the Templars did not. Things were looking bad for the
Templars. Then Simbiel entered the fray.

Asel had not seen
fit to equip his squad with an Afer. As a result, the plasma weapons carried by
the Nephillim were ineffectual against Simbiel. They never stood a chance.

Using his wings
and field generative ability to fly, Simbiel charged, watching as two of his
remaining Templars were cut down before he was in striking distance. He drew
his sword. The weapon was molecular bonded and enhanced by his field generation
ability. Even battle armor wasn’t proof against it.

He dispatched four
of them before the remainder saw fit to flee. By that time, it was too late.
Flying faster than they could run, he lopped off the heads of the two remaining
Nephillim with one sweep of his sword.

Landing, Simbiel
looked around with the air of someone who’s had a good day in the office. Only
Tynan, nursing a sore jaw, and 5 Templars were still standing. The corridor
where Felix and crew had disappeared down was now empty.

This is getting
more complicated
, thought
Simbiel. It had seemed so simple before although he had anticipated the
Watchers stepping in at some point. They were obviously planning an ambush in
the docking bay.

“Tynan. Is there
another way into the docking bay?”

Tynan closed one
eye while he accessed his AI. He’d downloaded the ships blueprints before
they’d blown the bridge.

“Yes my Lord.
There’s a small service lift on the other side.”

“Is there any
other way into the docking bay?”

“Apart from this
door and the service lift, no.”

“Excellent. Find
the quickest route there. Take two men with you and signal me when you are at
the lift. You make sure the Overdrive data does not escape whilst I deal with
the Watchers”

“Yes Lord.”

◊

Unbeknownst to
Simbiel and the Areopagites, Logan had the same idea. The service lift was
roughly a kilometer away. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too closely guarded.

Tarquin was
thinking the same thing. “What happens if the lift is too closely guarded?”

“We’ll have to try
for one of the lifepods."

“Bollocks to that.
I’m not fucking leaving my ship here.”

“You might have
to.” He looked at Tarquin and smiled - pointless considering the helmets they
both wore. “I wouldn’t worry too much. There probably won’t be any lifepods
left anyway.”

“That’s comforting
knowing we’re probably going to die a horrible death as a result of hitting
another object at a ludicrous speed.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

Felix and Crystal
were following closely behind the large armored figures of Logan and Tarquin.
The even larger figures of Derek and Bruce brought up the rear.

“Feel like the
filling in a sandwich?," asked Crystal.

“I don’t know,”
replied Felix. “I’ve never been in a sandwich with four blokes before. You?”

Crystal shook her
head and made a wry face. “I’m not that sort of girl. Religious, remember.”

“Your religious
inclination didn’t seem to stand in the way of you and I.”

“That’s different,"
she said, throwing the best smile she could at him while running.