Chapter 27 #3
Sure enough, the green craft to their left spots them, activating the turret gun on its underbelly and firing on them almost more quickly that Caelinus can maneuver them.
The gunfire misses them by an inch, and then Caelinus activates their own turret weapon, sending a barrage of fire toward it, tearing a hole in one side.
Water pours into the craft, smothering the guard.
The green craft on the right sees the commotion and cuts quickly through the water towards them. “Castor!” Task shouts, motioning at the incoming craft. Caelinus steers them forwards, shooting a steady stream of laser-fire at the Aquidian craft, but missing each time the guard swerves.
“Fuck,” Caelinus swears, throttling forwards in a bid to make eye contact with the guard. “Canmore, if I use this now, we’re shit out of luck for the others.”
Task tries to think. If they use what little Caelinus has left of his enchanting power now, he and Voss will be on their own with the four guards outside the pagadium storerooms. But they’ll be inside, meaning if Task can get close enough, he can fight them hand-to-hand and use the pain echo.
Worst case, Voss can back him up, even if he’d prefer not to use that option.
“Understood. Now!”
The guard lets go of the controls at the front of his craft, opening the hatch overhead, as if he decided he simply wanted to go for a swim in the Trench.
He’s dead as soon as the water pours in, and Task looks to Caelinus.
His eyes water, but he pushes the craft into a dive.
Task’s ears pop as they go deeper and deeper into the Trench, his eyes adjusting to the blackness around him.
“We’re about fourteen feet from the entry,” Caelinus says, wiping his nose against his hand. “I’ll dock us at the airlock, but remember, that portal is where the four guards will be stationed. I’ll idle here so we can go immediately.”
“Roger,” Task says. “Ready, Walther?”
Voss nods, glancing up at the hatch. “Let’s get this damn pagadium.”
The guards at the top of the Trench must have alerted those at the entry of the rogue craft, because they are prepared when Voss and Task emerge from the hatch, already peppering them with laser-fire.
Voss dodges easily, running head-first at the green-clad guard on the left and striking him with his lumi-dagger.
Task dives forward, taking out the one on the right with his surge-saber, as Voss continues toward another green-clad man that’s appeared from the shadows.
When Task and Voss fight together, Task remembers what makes them lethal.
A deep knowledge of the other, an almost prescient sense of what Voss will do before he does it.
He knows now that Voss is about to spin and engage the guard with his surge-saber, allowing Task to get close enough to grip him, kill him with his own pain.
He almost runs forward to finish him off, but he sees the fourth guard raise his laser-gun to Voss.
Task lunges to the right, tearing his surge-saber through the air and through the man’s forearm.
He runs towards where Voss is still battling the last guard, sliding to the floor. He stretches out an arm, hand gripping the man’s ankle and feeling for the pain he knows resides just under the surface. It’s done in an instant, the man falling to the ground with a thunk.
Voss sheathes his surge-saber, wiping his palms on the trousers of his uniform and grinning at Task. “Nice working with you again, Canmore.”
“Pleasure’s mine, Walther.”
They step over the felled guards, pulling open the door to the storeroom.
They’re immediately blinded by shelves and shelves of the golden mineral, packed full to bursting.
He thinks it absurd that the Governor wouldn’t part with even a tiny bit of the mineral, but then, he supposes Nexarium does the same with pink salt.
But at least they share it with the rest of the Consortium.
The only people with access to pagadium are the Aquidians.
“Let’s be quick,” Task says, pocketing a jar, and then grabbing several others for good measure.
Voss tosses two into the pack at his side, and then they retreat, running back towards where Caelinus idles in the craft.
Task calls Axel on his Chronogram as they scramble back inside, telling him to be ready to depart once they emerge from the deep.
As Caelinus restarts the craft’s engines and begins to ascend, he swears under his breath. “We’ve got company.” He throttles the craft, trying to coax it to the surface more quickly, but they need to be careful in ascending.
Task sees four green craft circling behind them, and looks up at the jagged opening in the seafloor, silently urging the craft to move faster. Caelinus shoots off a stream of laser-fire behind them, and Task sees Voss raising his hand again, preparing to warp time.
“No, Voss. You’ve already done enough today,” Task says, even as he knows it’s futile. Voss will do it anyway.
“We need to get out of here in one piece, Canmore,” Voss says, eyes steely. A string of laser-fire comes at them, and Caelinus jerks the craft to the right. It pierces them anyway, a small fissure opening in the side of the ship as they continue to ascend.
“Fuck!” Task cries, watching water trickle into the floor of the craft.
And then everything freezes, and they’re shooting up the rest of the trench, past a platoon of green crafts hovering just outside the opening, breaking the surface of the sea.
Caelinus shouts as he sees the Hopper idling directly ahead of them, directing Task to open the hatch.
He climbs out into the belly of the Hopper, Caelinus following, as Voss quietly ticks more seconds off his life as he keeps time still for them.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Task yells, dragging Voss out of the hatch and into the Hopper, closing the gangway as he sprawls onto the ground. Voss releases his hold, and time resumes, the Hopper popping out of the atmosphere as easily as it came.