Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two (11 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

We can’t let you have all the fun today.

They
started down the hallway in the formation Bailee specified. Their initial
destination was an access port one hundred meters away which would get them
back into the maintenance network. They had covered a quarter of the distance
when they heard running footsteps behind them. It sounded like a single person
making absolutely no attempt at stealth.

Everyone looked to Bailee for instruction, and he
gestured for them to move tight against the bulkhead. He positioned himself at
the corner where the running person would soon emerge and clasped his blaster
at the ready. Zax held his breath as the footsteps grew closer and closer until
a woman appeared.

“Imair!”

Nolly called out, broke loose from Zax’s grasp, and
dashed towards the woman. Imair initially kept running towards the boy, but
then must have noticed Bailee and his blaster out of the corner of her eye. She
skidded to a halt with her hands in the air. Nolly closed the gap on his own
and threw his arms around the woman in a desperate embrace. The two stood frozen
and the Marine tensed his finger on his weapon’s trigger. All other eyes looked
to Zax for an explanation.

“I know her. Her name’s Imair and she works in Waste
Systems. She’s OK.”

The Boss turned to Imair and barked out an
interrogation.

“Civilian—what are you doing here? Why aren’t you in
your quarters with everyone else? What are you running from?”

Imair’s eyes went wide with recognition when she saw the
Boss. She had no doubt seen him in countless newsvids with zero expectation of
ever seeing him in the flesh. She kept her arms up as she turned slowly to him,
took a deep breath, and spoke with a tremulous voice.

“My profuse apologies, sir. I’ve been searching all over
the civilian barracks for this boy, and when I finally determined he was
absent, I figured he must still be down here. I nominated him for his job in
Waste Systems, so I feel responsible for him. I was running because I’m
desperate to find him and get us both back to safety as fast as I can.”

The Boss sighed loudly.

“Stand down, Sergeant. Frisk her thoroughly, but unless
you find anything, it looks like our little traveling party has grown by one
civilian. Keep a close eye on her and take care of things if she does
anything
remotely suspicious.”

Kalare helped Zax peel Nolly off Imair so the civilian
could place her arms against the bulkhead and submit to the Marine’s search of
her body. He was fairly rough and extremely thorough, but he ultimately was
satisfied she had nothing hidden on her person. The Marine went over to speak
quietly with the Boss, and Imair approached Zax.

“Hello, sir. Thank you for identifying me. Probably the
only thing which prevented that Marine from blasting. Pretty strange running
into you down here.”

“Pretty strange day all around, Imair. Don’t worry—you
and Nolly are going to be safe. We’re on our way to join up with some Marines
and we’ll be able to get most of the way there by way of the maintenance
tunnels. Civilians can’t get in there so we shouldn’t run into any of the
rebels.”

“Thank you, sir. I’d rather be back in the barracks away
from all of this violence, but I imagine being with Marines who are guarding
the Flight Boss is probably a decent second option.”

“Everyone—time to move out again.”

Imair grabbed Nolly’s hand in response to the sergeant’s
command and fell into formation behind Zax and Kalare. The Marine followed
close behind with his blaster, even more alert than he had been a few mins
earlier if such a thing was possible.

They reached the tunnels without further incident and
Westerick went wide-eyed as he looked around. The man must have never been
inside the maintenance network before. How someone could have worked in Waste
Systems for so long and never bothered to visit the tunnels seemed crazy but in
line with Zax’s experience of the man.

They navigated roughly a thousand meters of tunnels and
ladders until they reached the security bulkhead which blocked the approach to
the Marine garrison. It hadn’t appeared on the schematics Zax studied, and its
hatch did not respond to his security clearance. It was also plastered with
explicit warnings about what fate would befall anyone who attempted to breach
it. They backtracked to the last access port they had seen and gathered around
to hear what the Boss wanted next.

“We’re close, but there’s still a good chunk of
passageway between us and the Marines. With this big of a group, I think it’s
important for us to know exactly what we’re walking into before we head out.
I’m going to have someone scout ahead and report back.”

Zax started towards the hatch under the assumption he
was the best candidate given his ability to navigate. The Boss called after
him.

“Actually, Zax, I’m going to send Kalare. Brief her on
the layout of the passageways so she can find her way to the edge of the
garrison and back.”

“But sir, wouldn’t it make more sense for me to go? If
anything happens, I’ll be better suited to improvise and figure out an
alternate path if needed.”

“I understand, cadet, but your ability to get in and out
of the maintenance network is too valuable to risk on this mission. You are
second only to Bailee in importance when it comes to keeping me out of the
hands of the hostiles, so you’re going to stick close.
Agreed
?”

The Boss’s tone invited no further discussion, and the
question at the end of his statement was clearly rhetorical. Zax walked slowly
towards the hatch with Kalare and discussed the route she should take. After
she repeated it back to him twice, they paused and looked awkwardly at each
other until Kalare broke the silence.

“Thanks, Zax. We can’t let you have all the fun today.”

Kalare smiled, but her apprehension about heading into
the unknown by herself was evident. They arranged two different codes for her
to bang out on the hatch when she returned. One meant “all clear” and they
should let her in while the other signaled she was under duress and had been
forced to lead civilians back to the hatch. Zax couldn’t imagine leaving Kalare
to her fate in the second scenario and desperately hoped his ability to do so
wouldn’t be tested.

Once Kalare left they secured the hatch and everyone
settled down to rest. Well, everyone except Nolly. He overflowed with energy
after the long nap he had taken earlier. Imair absorbed his exuberance with a
warm smile. She cheerfully engaged with every random story the boy threw at her
and even played along with a game he devised which involved climbing up the
first few rungs of a nearby ladder to see how far he could reach with a
subsequent jump.

The Crew watched the civilian woman and boy interact
with varying degrees of interest and tolerance. In any other circumstance, Zax
would have appreciated watching Nolly’s carefree abandon, but he was overcome
with worry about Kalare and grateful Imair had shown up to wrangle the boy.
Westerick and Salmea glanced at the young civilian and grinned occasionally at
his frolicking, but generally chatted among themselves. Aleron had nothing to
occupy him except the boy’s antics, and the cadet’s pouting seemed to intensify
the more Imair and Nolly giggled among themselves. The Boss sat with his eyes
closed and breathed slowly. If it was anyone else, Zax would have guessed they
were sound asleep, but he knew the Boss was capable of springing into action in
a heartbeat. Sergeant Bailee never took his eyes off Imair and kept his trigger
finger ready the entire time.

Zax had been sitting with his eyes closed when he heard
a bang on the hatch. He bolted upright and held his breath. After recognizing
the all clear code, he exhaled in gratitude. He knew that Kalare was probably
even more capable than he was in dangerous and tricky situations, but he held
himself responsible for protecting his friend nonetheless. He opened the hatch
to let Kalare in and then secured it behind her. Bailee and the Boss arrived
immediately, though the Marine continued to watch Imair as he listened to
Kalare.

“I was able to get almost all of the way there, but near
the end I saw two civilians with blasters. They seemed bored and were chatting
with each other, but they are clearly not just there randomly.”

The Boss grilled Kalare for more details about the exact
location of the civilians and then looked at the sergeant with a raised
eyebrow. The Marine nodded in response, and the Omega called everyone else to
gather round.

“We’ve only got two hostiles between us and the Marine
garrison, so we’re going to make it. Here’s what I want us to do. We’ll hold
our formation as we approach just in case they end up being on the move or we
encounter anyone else. Once we are around the corner from them, the boy will
step into their line of sight and get their attention. Once he does—“

“Excuse me, sir, did you just say that you’re going to
use an eight-year-old as a diversion?”

Sergeant Bailee bristled at Imair’s interruption of the
Boss and color flooded his cheeks. The Boss appraised the civilian for a moment
with an expression that suggested amusement rather than anger. Nolly had
continued to play his climb and jump game on the ladder and was missing out on
all of the tension over his role in the mission. The Boss looked straight at
Imair and spoke.

“The boy will step into their line of sight and get
their attention. From Kalare’s description, these folks are bored and not
primed to shoot the first thing that moves. Once it’s clear they’ve been
distracted by the boy, Sergeant Bailee is going to pop around the corner and
dispatch them. Let’s move.”

Zax watched Imair but the civilian was clearly smart
enough to not press her luck. Her desire to protect the boy was admirable, but
she had to have recognized how the Boss and Marine were barely tolerating the
civilians’ presence. Bailee in particular did not need any reason to remove
Imair as a potential threat. She gathered the boy and spoke quietly to him for
a moment while everyone else made ready to head out.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I
know where one is.

The
group exited the tunnels and traversed the main passageways silently. Kalare
eventually signaled a halt and gestured that the pair of civilians were around
the next corner. Bailee crept to the edge of the passageway and pulled a shiny
scrap of broken material out of his pocket. Its surface reflected back what was
around the corner, and he confirmed with an OK sign that the civilians were
present as expected.

The Boss sidled up to Nolly and got down on one knee to
speak softly in the boy’s ear. Zax observed how the Omega was pulling out all
of the stops to put the boy at ease—including giving the child a hug of all
crazy things! The boy looked up at Imair for reassurance, and she hid the worry
she surely felt and gave him a double thumbs up.

Nolly shuffled to where Sergeant Bailee continued to
monitor the hostiles around the corner. The Marine held up his hand for the boy
to stop for a moment and then signaled him forwards. The boy turned the corner
and froze. A voice called out immediately from down the passageway and ordered
Nolly to remain still. It was likely the easiest command the boy ever followed
since he probably had zero ability to move.

In a flash, the Marine leapt around the corner and fired
two blaster shots in quick succession. Nolly scampered back into Imair’s
embrace and wailed into her chest as the sergeant gave the all clear. Zax
regretted the need to get the boy involved, but, all things considered, it had
been a pretty easy task.

Zax looked around the corner. The Marine stood at the
far end of the passage and checked  the next junction. He must have moved
the two bodies out of the way because the civilians were piled atop one another
against the bulkhead. There wasn’t any blood visible yet, and Zax hoped for
Nolly’s sake they could make their way past the corpses before any seeped out
from under them. The Marine brushed past Zax and whispered to the Boss. A
moment later he rotated a finger in the air and pointed forwards. It was time
to move down the passageway, and the formation turned the corner and moved past
the dead civilians.

Zax breathed easier with every step which brought them
closer to the Marine garrison. It was the right decision to rescue the Boss and
Bailee a few hours back, but the non-stop stress of their journey since had
worn his nerves raw and he suffered from an acute adrenalin hangover. All
forward momentum depended on the waning excitement from the reward the Omega
had dangled. Zax was relieved to reach the Marines primarily because it meant
the professionals would inherit the task of protecting the Boss. 

For the second time that day, the sudden appearance of
armed civilians shocked Zax. At least half a dozen materialized, as if by
magic, at the end of the passageway. They opened fire immediately and the air
filled with the sound of blasters.

In all of the confusion, it sounded like more than one
blaster was being discharged at the civilians. Zax knew that was impossible
since only Bailee was armed. The Marine charged to the front of their formation
and screamed for everyone else to fall back around the corner.

Zax spun and bolted back the way they had come. The Boss
and Waste Systems officers, along with Aleron, were already gone. Imair,
shielding Nolly with her body, was rounding the corner and Kalare followed a
few steps behind.

The group paused once they were out of the line of fire
while blasters raged in the passageway behind them. Zax was clueless about what
they might do if Bailee was killed. He looked around for the Boss to see if the
officer had any orders.

The Omega slumped against the bulkhead a short distance
away from everyone else. He grimaced as a blood stain pooled on his shirt. He
appeared to be talking to himself, which struck Zax as an extremely odd
reaction to getting shot. The Boss noticed Zax’s attention and turned away.
Just then Bailee charged around the corner and barked out a command.

“Zax—get everyone into the tunnels! I can hold them for
a few mins longer and will be right behind you!”

They dashed back to the access port the group had exited
a short while earlier. The Boss hobbled but managed to keep up with the rest of
them. Zax used his biometrics to open the hatch and stepped aside and directed
everyone else to enter.

“Hurry up and get in! I’m going to hold the hatch open
for the sergeant, but if anyone other than him comes around that corner, I’m
slamming it shut!”

The group piled through the hatch quickly except for the
Boss. The Omega was the last to approach and he paused a few extra secs before
finally ducking into the tunnel. Zax guessed the man must be in shock from his
wound and blood loss.

Zax turned his attention back down the passage just as
Sergeant Bailee sprinted around the corner. The Marine stopped for a moment to
lay down a barrage of blaster fire behind him, and then made another mad dash
towards the hatch. He screamed at Zax.

“They’re right behind me! Get that hatch secured as soon
as I’m in!”

The Marine dove into the tunnel as the first civilians
turned the corner firing wildly. Zax felt the heat from a shot within
centimeters of his head as he slammed and secured the hatch. He collapsed
against the bulkhead for a moment to catch his breath.

 The Marine appeared amazingly unfazed, especially
in light of the fact he had been running around all day with a broken
collarbone. He jumped immediately to the Boss’s aid and gingerly pulled away
the man’s shirt to check the wound.

“He’s got a bad bleeder. We might be able to stop it
with pressure, but we could sure use a medkit.”

Zax thought for a moment but then shook his head.

“It’s almost exclusively civilians in Waste Systems, so
we don’t keep any medkits around. I can’t even guess where we might find one
nearby.”

Imair stood to speak.

“I know where one is.”