Resist the Red Battlenaut (14 page)

 

*****

 

 

There were three armed and body-armored guards in the brig when Scott charged through the door. Instantly, all their rifles swung around to point in his direction.

Scott stopped and raised his hands in front of him. "Stand down," he said. "I need to meet with the prisoner."

The middle guard tapped the side of his helmet, and glowing text flowed down the faceplate in a long column. "You're not on the schedule, sir."

"Doesn't matter." Scott lowered his hands. "This is a crucial matter of Commonwealth security."

"You'll need authorization from Major Perseid or Captain Rexis," said the middle guard. "Our orders are clear."

"I can't wait for that," said Scott. "I need to get in there now."

"No can do," said the guard. "Come back with proper authorization, sir."

Scott took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, listen up." He stepped forward until the barrels of all three rifles were centimeters from his chest and shoulders. "After days of banging my head against the wall, I finally have a lead on this prisoner's identity. Do you really think it would be wise
not
to act on this lead
immediately
? Do
you
want to be the one to tell Major Perseid that you kept me
waiting
while the entire
Commonwealth
remains at risk from that man's
allies
?"

The middle guard thought about it for a long moment. "We have our orders. If something happens to the prisoner, we'll be on the..."

"
Nothing's
going to happen to him," said Scott. "I'm the one who
captured
him. I'm the only one who can
see
one hundred
percent
of him all the time! He's
my
responsibility."

Jaws clenched, the guard stared him in the eye from behind his faceplate...then lowered his rifle. "I'm personally calling Captain Rexis the minute you step in there."

"Good enough." Scott nodded. "Knock yourself out."

The other two guards lowered their rifles and stepped aside, clearing the way to the cell door. Scott walked toward it without hesitation, rushing into a confrontation which for thirteen years he'd never imagined would be possible.

 

*****

 

"Again with the not knocking," said the pilot when Scott entered the darkened cell. "Didn't anyone
ever
teach you manners?"

"Lights on full." As soon as Scott said it, the overhead lights flashed up to full strength. It was then he saw the pilot lying on his cot across the room, shielding his eyes with his arm. The bedclothes were no longer scattered on the floor; he had put them back on the mattress and was lying on them.

"Thanks a lot!" snapped the pilot. "You could at least have left them at half-strength!"

Scott ignored his complaint. "I thought you were dead."

"Because my
eyes
were closed?" said the pilot. "It's called
sleeping
."

"For the past thirteen years, I thought you were
dead
," said Scott. "I thought you
died
at Iridess Chasm."

"Ah." The pilot sat up and rolled his legs off the side of the cot. "You've guessed, haven't you?"

"Cairn," said Scott. "Your name is Cairn."

"Finally." Cairn grinned. "It took you long enough." He got to his feet. "I was starting to think you'd
never
figure it out."

Scott was torn between shock, confusion, and anger. "But how? How is it you're still alive?"

"Good question," said Cairn. "I might ask the same of
you
." He pointed an index finger at Scott. "But I already know, don't I? Vore told me all about your death and resurrection."

"Vore?" Scott frowned. "But I thought..."

"That he fell to his death when I pushed him off Penitent Peak?" Cairn shook his head slowly. "Guess again, Sol."

Scott was slammed by a fresh wave of shock. It was hard enough believing that Cairn had survived that terrible day. Hearing that Vore--the man who'd kidnapped them both back on Tack--had also survived was almost too much to take.

"He was wearing an antigrav vest," said Cairn. "Doesn't it figure, as prepared as he was?"

Scott just stared at him. The story of the single worst day in his life was changing by the minute--if Cairn was to be believed.

"When I pushed him, he dragged me down with him," said Cairn. "What you didn't see--because you were bleeding out on the ledge at the time--was how he activated his antigrav vest fifty meters from the chasm floor and pulled us up at the last minute."

Scott kept staring. "But I never knew. Nobody did. Neither of you was ever found."

"Because we went off the grid," said Cairn. "Just like before, when you were with us, when he first took you. We went underground."

"Oh my God." The implications sank in quickly, leaving Scott even more stunned.

"Not that you ever
looked
real hard for me," said Cairn.

"How could I?" said Scott. "I didn't know you were alive!"

Cairn narrowed his eyes. "But you knew what that monster was like. You knew how tricky he could be." His voice rose with building anger. "You can't
tell
me you never thought we might have survived. You can't
say
you never thought I might still be out there somewhere."

Scott knew he had no reason to be ashamed...but he still felt that way. Cairn was getting to him. "How long were you with Vore after that?"

Cairn laughed bitterly. "Does it matter? Does it really matter?" He laughed again. "
Forever
."

Years of servitude to a psychopathic predator. Scott had only been with him a few
days
, and it had been bad enough. "I always thought...if you were dead, at least you were free of him."

"Yeah, Sol." Cairn sneered. "That was something you promised to
help
me with, remember? Getting free? As long as I helped
you
?"

Scott nodded. He and Cairn had made a pact on that long-ago night in the Iridess Chasm. They had pledged to join forces to escape--and at first, it had worked. Scott had hit Vore over the head with a rock, then run for his life with Cairn by his side. Unfortunately, Vore had not stayed down for long; he'd chased them for miles through the winding arroyos and tunnels of the chasm, then followed them up the steep slopes of Penitent Peak. When Vore had caught up with them, he'd beaten Scott brutally, stopping only when Cairn charged across the ledge and knocked him over the brink.

Scott had thought of that moment often in the years since, and it had given him many nightmares. Again and again, the sight of Cairn tackling Vore over the edge had come back to him, clear as day...but he'd never imagined for even an instant that Cairn was still alive. He'd never truly thought he was still suffering at the hands of Vore or some other human monster, desperately in need of rescue.

But there he was. And he wasn't happy.

"You
did
help me," said Scott. "And I can never thank you enough. But you've got to believe me--I thought you were dead."

"You
wanted
to think that," snapped Cairn. "You wanted to
move on
and forget what you'd
been
through. You didn't want to think about the
abduction
or
Vore
or
me
or
any
of it. And it worked out pretty
well
for you, didn't it?
Until now
."

Scott shook his head, but he knew Cairn was right about some of it.
Of course
Scott had wanted to forget and move on; it was either that, or dwell on what had happened and let it ruin his life.

But Cairn was dead wrong about the rest. "It
didn't
work out well for me. My life has been a
constant
struggle
." Churning with emotion, Scott raised his voice and lurched a step closer to Cairn. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about what
happened
--or remember that scared seven-year-old
kid
who went over the cliff to
save
me."

Cairn waved him off with disgust. "You're full of scudge, you know that? You'll say
anything
to dig yourself out from under."

Scott took another step toward him. "Don't you
ever
presume to tell me how
I
feel or what
my
life has been like."

"Flux you," said Cairn, but he backed down a little. Whipping around, he stomped over to a corner of the cell and punched the wall.

Meanwhile, Scott took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He wasn't going to get anywhere by having a screaming match with Cairn. Better to stay in control, to be the one pushing Cairn's buttons instead of vice versa. "So how did you get away?"

Cairn kept facing the wall while he spoke. "From where?"

"From Vore," said Scott. "How did you get away?"

"Who said I ever did?" Cairn braced himself against the corner, shoulders rising and falling. After a long moment, he turned back to face Scott. "Hey, remember what he used to say? About the monster saying hello?"

"'How does a monster say hello?'"

"
Raarrhh
!" Cairn clawed the air when he said it. "Remember how it pissed him off that we never
laughed
at that? Like we were in the mood to laugh at
anything
?"

Scott nodded grimly.

"Know what else he said? He kept saying he was going to come get you again."

Scott frowned. "Who's that?"

"Vore." Cairn's grin had a nasty edge. "He used to say that all the time. He always said you were his favorite."

The thought of it made Scott's guts twist, but he tried not to show it. "Now here we are. Together again."

"That's right." Cairn sauntered over and stood in front of him. "Two old friends, reunited after all these years. Only this time, instead of trying to
save
each other, we're trying to
kill
each other."

"Speak for yourself," said Scott.

Cairn laughed. "So you
weren't
trying to kill me down on Shard then?"

"That's right," said Scott. "I didn't know it was you."

"Ah," said Cairn. "If you
had
known, you wouldn't have tried to stop me from attacking your squad?"

"Stopping you and killing you are two different things," said Scott. "Anyway, that's not how it happened. Neither of us died on Shard, and now we're reunited after all those years."

"It must be destiny." Cairn's voice oozed sarcasm.

"Why not?" Scott shrugged. "Otherwise, it's an awfully big coincidence, don't you think? That after all this time, in all the vastness of space, we ended up in the same place, shooting at each other?"

Cairn laughed. "You're forgetting the third possibility. What if it's not destiny, and it's not a coincidence, either?"

Scott scowled. "What do you mean?"

Cairn laughed again, turned on his heel, and marched back to his cot. "That's not the question you came here to ask, though, is it?" He threw himself down on the cot and crossed one leg over the other. "So what's the
big
question, Sol? The one that determines your next move?"

"You already seem to have an idea what it is," said Scott. "Why don't you just go ahead and save me the trouble of asking?"

"Okay, but I'm warning you," said Cairn. "You won't like it."

Scott spread his arms wide. "Try me."

"All right." Cairn turned his head to look at Scott. "The people I work for...the ones who control what you call the Red Battlenauts. Your next best chance at finding them will be Oberon, in the Sigma Zeta Gamma system."

"Oberon." Scott narrowed his eyes. "Why are you telling me this?" He wanted to believe Cairn's cooperation was genuine, but the way Cairn had been acting made him think it probably wasn't.

"For old times' sake." Cairn grinned and winked.

"So what else can you tell me about this information?" said Scott. "What did you mean when you said I wouldn't like it?"

Cairn raised his eyebrows. "That part's a surprise." With a laugh, he rolled his head on the pillow to look at the ceiling instead of at Scott.

"It doesn't have to be," said Scott. "Come on, tell me."

"If I were you," said Cairn, "I'd take what you have and get the hell out. You don't want to kill the golden goose, do you?"

Scott sighed. He needed to know more, but Cairn was shutting down on him. Maybe it would be smart to continue the questioning another day. "All right," he said. "If that's how you want to play it."

"Very glad we're on the same page," said Cairn. "Now how about letting me catch some shuteye?"

"After you answer one more question," said Scott. "How do I even know there's any truth in what you've told me?"

Cairn looked at him with a darkly glittering gaze. "Because I know you can't
stop
what's going to happen. If anything, I want you to
see
it happen. So it's in my interest to tell you the truth."

Scott stared at him for a long moment. "I wouldn't be too sure that we can't stop it."

"Whatever you say." Cairn winked and returned his gaze to the ceiling. "But you need to remember, I won't be pulling your ass to safety this time. We're not on the same side anymore, Sol."

"But we
could
be," said Scott.

"Oh, sure," said Cairn. "Anytime you're ready to join up with my people, let me know. I'll be happy to put in a good word for you."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Scott said sarcastically, and then he left the cell.

 

*****

 

"Oberon." Scott snapped out the word as soon as the cell door closed behind him. "We need to go to Oberon."

Perseid and Rexis were waiting for him in the outer room of the brig, both looking grim with arms crossed over their chests. They also looked slightly bleary--no surprise, since it was the middle of the night. The guards must have called them, as promised, when Scott entered the cell...though where the guards were at that moment, Scott didn't know.

"He just decided to tell you that?" Perseid nodded in the direction of the cell door.

"I finally figured out who he is," said Scott. "Then he told me."

"Just like that," said Perseid.

"Pretty much."

"And we know the information's reliable how?" said Rexis.

Scott pointed at the cell. "He claims it's in his interest to tell us. He says it doesn't matter if we know, because we can't stop what's going to happen there. He wants us to see it happen, whatever it is."

Perseid rubbed his eyes hard. "And that's all he gave you? That's all you got out of him?"

"His identity, too. I got that." Scott shrugged.

Rexis frowned and tipped her head to one side. "So who is he?"

"Name's Cairn Barrie," said Scott. "He and I...we were both abducted when we were kids by a man named Larvis Vore. Vore murdered our parents and took us to a secret bunker in the wilderness.

"I was thirteen, and Cairn was seven. We escaped and fled through the Iridess Chasm, but Vore caught up with us. In the process of saving me, Cairn sacrificed his own life...I thought. But it turns out he survived."

"Now here he is," said Perseid. "Awfully big coincidence."

Scott nodded. "That's what
I
said."

"He didn't say anything else about what's supposed to happen at Oberon?" asked Rexis.

"No," said Scott. "Maybe I can get it out of him next time we talk."

"Or maybe not," said Perseid. "I wouldn't give up the intel that easily. Would you?"

Scott shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "I keep hoping I might be able to get through to him because of what we went through as kids. But I don't know. He seems pretty angry at the way things worked out."

"I agree it's worth playing that card, though," said Rexis. "Just don't get your hopes up."

"Damnit." Perseid paced across the room and stopped at the door of Cairn's cell. "We're being led around by the nose here. We don't have a choice."

"We have to go to Oberon," said Rexis. "We have to try to stop what might be about to happen there."

"Or fight our way clear of whatever trap the Reds have waiting for us." Perseid snorted and turned from the door. "If there's even a trap at all and not just a patch of empty space that's on the opposite side of the quadrant from where the
real
action's happening."

Rexis nodded in agreement. "Oberon's our only shot."

"At least until we come up with better intel," said Scott. "We'll keep examining the Red debris from Shard, won't we?"

"Absolutely," said Perseid. "Trane seems to be closing in on a breakthrough as we speak. He's been working day and night on it."

"Then maybe we'll find another lead before we go too far in the wrong direction," said Rexis.

Scott looked from Rexis to Perseid and back. "
If
it's the wrong direction."

"You know what I'm thinking?" Perseid ran a finger along the scar on his left cheek. "This is all too perfect. It might have been a setup from the start, meant to flush us out. Meant to flush
you
out in particular, Corporal--the one man who could see through their cloaking technology."

"Why else would Cairn turn up like this?" said Rexis. "At just the right time in just the right place?"

Scott scowled. "But how would they know to send him? How would they know I was the one who could see through their cloaking tech?"

"It must have gotten back to them from our own people." Rexis raised her eyebrows. "The same Commonwealth conspiracy that must have been protecting Cairn's identity all this time."

Scott thought about it. "Maybe you're right." Planting his hands on his hips, he stared at the floor. "But if that's the case, if traitors within the Commonwealth armed forces know our every move, do we even have a chance of beating the Reds?"

"Do you intend to back out if we don't?" said Perseid.

Scott straightened. "Hell no."

"Ask anyone on this ship, and they'll give you the same answer," said Perseid. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Hell yes," said Scott.

"Then let's quit pissing around." Perseid marched toward the door. "I'll be on the Command Deck if you need me, ordering the crew to set course for Oberon."

"Aye, sir," said Scott.

Perseid paused as the door slid open in front of him. "Debrief at oh-seven-hundred hours, Corporal."

"I'll be there," said Scott.

With that, Perseid stormed through the open door and disappeared into the corridor beyond.