Chapter 9
“Tell me what we have.” Hal moved toward where Yiko was standing in the launch bay, hands on her hips, watching her team hook the runner up to the tow vessel.
“Standard runner, standard repeaters.” She shook her head in admiration.
“Absolutely available to all members of the UC. The highly polished surface is an add-on, and interesting, but I’m sure if we put our minds to it, we could achieve the same results.
The tech used to transmit the lens feed of the surrounding area onto the surface is still a mystery, but it’s not an insurmountable technical issue we won’t be able to work out. ”
“That’s my guess.” Hal moved toward the runner and ran his fingers down the polished outer surface.
“They’ve attached some kind of metallic wrap,” Yiko said, getting out a thin metal spike and running it down where Hal had touched. “See, it’s really robust. No sign of a scratch.”
“We had a good look at it at least.” Hal moved back as the runner began to move toward the launch bay entrance. “They didn’t expect us to grab one.”
“No.” Yiko’s hands were back on her hips as she watched the runner float out of the launch bay and disappear.
“Was there anyone inside?” Hal asked her.
“We couldn’t get in, but our scans said no. It was on autopilot and I think that’s why it came too close to our position.”
“Lucky for us.” Hal wondered what Battle Center would have done if it looked as if an entire fleet of Garmman battleships were bearing down on a Grihan position.
“Lucky? Yes and no. Now we won’t be able to trust our instruments. We won’t know if we’re being tricked or not.” Yiko turned to him.
“Unless we can work out a way to tell just that,” Hal said. “Which has to be possible.”
“True. I better get working on that.” Yiko frowned and looked down at her comm unit. “It says I’m being hailed by Battle Center.”
“The admiral mentioned she’d have some of the top Battle Center engineers contact you.”
Yiko shot him an exasperated look, but tapped her unit and walked away, talking softly.
There was a polite ping in his ear, and Hal activated his ear piece.
“The Garmman have met the tow vessel,” Chel said. “They send their thanks.”
“Tell them we are always happy to help our allies,” Hal said.
Chel chuckled and signed off, and Hal walked out of the launch bay.
He needed to talk to Fiona. Tell her to take even more care than she already was.
He didn’t know why the Garmman were playing games with their friends, but if they were trying to trick the Grih, then it gave even more weight to the rumor that they were planning to assassinate Fiona.
The Grih would find out the reason eventually, but whatever it was, Fiona was clearly not safe.
They were deep in the industrial area now, Fee guessed.
There were no more offices or storefronts, only warehouses.
It was still the afternoon, and there were plenty of people around. Some were loading or unloading items in loading bays, and she could see runners sitting outside warehouses in parking areas. Most of the buildings had landscaping of some kind around them.
“There’s the runner.” Eazi slowed down as they passed in front of a neat white warehouse. “Look to the left, it’s parked to the side of the building.”
They kept straight on, but both Fiona and Trayla looked out the left window and saw the runner that had taken Natta tucked up close to the building and deep in the shadow cast by the afternoon sun.
“Why didn’t they hide it inside?” Trayla wondered.
“They’re either sure they got away with it, or they aren’t able to, for some reason.” Fiona hoped it was the former. She wanted cocky, reckless enemies.
All the better to defeat them.
“I’m going around to the road that runs parallel,” Eazi said. “There looks to be a way through on foot from that side.”
Fiona fiddled with her bracelet, centering it on her wrist even though it didn’t matter how it sat—it would work no matter what.
“Maybe you should stay in the runner, Fiona,” Trayla said as Eazi turned the corner and headed for the next street over. “I’ve got a small shockgun, you don’t have anything.”
Fiona shook her head. “No. I’ve got better protection than you.
Get behind me if anyone starts attacking.
I’m wearing Cargassey cloth under my clothes, and if someone shoots me with a shockgun, or with anything for that matter, this bracelet will send it straight back at them.
” She lifted her wrist for Trayla to see.
“And if I need to attack someone, this silver pendant becomes a flexible hitting stick.”
“Maybe let me do the attacking from a distance with the shockgun,” Trayla said. “But if you have to defend yourself up close and personal, the silver stick is better than nothing.”
“Try to aim away from me so I’m nowhere in the line of fire, or your shockgun blast will come straight back at you,” Fiona warned.
“Got it.” Trayla shook her head, and Fee couldn’t work out if it was in astonishment or because she was insulted to be cautioned against friendly fire.
Eazi pulled into the car park of a small warehouse, and turned the runner around so it was facing outward.
“Is this place open?” Fiona asked as she got out, looking at the covered windows facing the street.
“It looks like they’ve already closed for the day,” Eazi said. “There’s a path along the side of the building. It should bring you out one warehouse down from where the runner that took Natta is parked.”
Fee moved quickly to the side of the building with Trayla right behind her. The path was clear, a well-worn walkway through silver green ground cover, which released a spicy scent where she crunched it underfoot.
As Eazi said, they emerged one warehouse down from where the hover was parked. There was no way to go around the back, as there was a wall separating the two warehouses, so they were forced to walk along the street.
“If they were watching us as well as Natta back at the market, they’ll know immediately why we’re here.” Trayla kept her head down, and used her body to block Fiona from anyone watching from inside.
“Nothing we can do about that,” Fiona said, but she didn’t like it either. It left her feeling very exposed.
They strolled past the front of the warehouse and then went down the narrow alley along the side. They approached the runner with caution but it was empty.
There was a door set into the side wall close by, which explained why they’d parked there, and Fiona went up to it and carefully tried the handle.
It did not turn.
“There’s no obvious way to unlock it,” Trayla murmured, crowding Fee out the way to get a look herself.
There was no keypad, no swipe interface. Just a handle that wouldn’t even turn.
“We’ll have to use the front door, then,” Fee said. Leaving was not an option.
“We’ll lose the element of surprise that way,” Trayla said.
“I don’t see that we have a choice. Set your shockgun to a low setting and we can go in hard.” She felt her heart hitch a little at the thought, but she wasn’t going to leave Natta in there a moment longer than necessary.
“We don’t have official permission to shoot our way into a Balcoan warehouse.” Trayla’s hand moved to her lower back, and Fee guessed that was where her small shockgun was holstered.
“I’ll make it right with the authorities if we catch some trouble for it.” She had a lot of pull, and Baruke had no leg to stand on if any of this was sanctioned by his government. The Grih would support her.
Trayla gave a nod. “Then let’s not waste time.”
Her acceptance helped steady Fee’s own nerves.
They walked around the front.
“Me, first,” Fee said, lifting her wrist and flashing her bracelet. With a nod, Trayla pulled open the heavy door, holding it for Fiona to go through.
Someone shot a shockgun blast straight at her as she stepped inside.
The bracelet flared and there was a thump as the shooter fell.
She tugged on her silver pendant and flicked it to telescope out as it detached.
The Balcoan woman who’d shot at her had been standing behind a reception desk, but now she was lying awkwardly behind it.
Her office chair had broken her fall a little and her head was resting on the chair’s base.
Trayla rounded the desk and eyed the woman. “She was quick to shoot.” She bent and picked up the shockgun, then settled her smaller one back in place under her shirt.
“They must have lens feed of us coming in. They know we’re here.” Which meant they had to move. Speed was their friend now.
She glanced at Trayla, got a confirming nod, and then jogged toward the door at the back of the small front office.
Before she got there, another Balcoan, a man this time, burst out of it.
She reacted on instinct, slashing with the silver rod, and he went down sideways with a scream of agony.
It shocked her into stopping dead.
“Nasty.” Trayla almost ran into the back of her, and being much taller looked over her shoulder at their attacker. She shot him in the chest and he slumped down, unconscious.
At least he stopped screaming.
Fiona saw blood beginning to spread out where the man lay, and she forced herself to step around him and through the door.
Another shockgun blast was aimed at her, and the reflector flared again, encasing her and Trayla in pale blue light.
She heard the sound of a shockgun hitting a hard floor, deep in the gloom of the warehouse, and then the thud of a body.
Her eyes adjusted to the shadows of the unlit space, and she found herself in a large storage area, with rows and rows of stacks, most of them full of boxes.
She couldn’t tell exactly where the shockgun shot had come from and there was no sign of Natta.
Then she heard the sound of footsteps running toward them, and got a better grip on her silver rod.
She widened her stance, lifting her arms a little from her sides.
Time to fight.