Chapter 28 #2
“I’m taking the central lifts offline,” Tōn Ko announced over the comms. “Can’t afford a back-flank ambush.
” A shower of brilliant blue sparks erupted from the bank of lifts, followed by the strobing lights as the power cut out.
A shadow — likely Tōn Ko — raced away from the sparking machinery.
Seconds later, a startled cry of pain echoed from the maintenance area where the attackers had originated.
“Four more life signs beyond the ramp,” N’Dwama reported softly. “One is a high-level teke and telepath. One illusionist, two rampers, and two shielders, who may have other talents. I’m too far and not strong enough to affect them.”
“Rustom says Party Central is having a problem with gate crashers on the passenger level above,” Minan added. “They’ll send help when they can.”
A whirring noise broke the tense silence.
A knee-high loading bot trundled out of the storeroom as Nilsson watched.
A beamer’s energy beam immediately scorched the bot’s casing.
Nilsson leaned around the doorframe, picked off the shooter with a precise shot to the center mass, then melted back into the shadows.
By Arco’s count, that left five active targets in the immediate area.
“All we want is Arco Charrascos!” a female voice shouted from the maintenance area. “The rest of you can walk away and live.”
Brenner’s expression turned utterly thunderous. “Fuck that,” Minan snarled over the earwire. Tōn Ko, Nilsson, and N’Dwama chimed in with immediate, profane agreements. Arco’s chest tightened with fierce affection for them.
“We need time for our friends to get here,” Brenner subvocalized, his hand tightening into a fist.
“Then let’s keep them talking,” Arco replied. She fished the last of her fleet of flying cameras from her pocket and tossed them into the air, scattering them to capture multiple angles. She woke her wristcomp and synced it to the camera’s tiny speakers.
“CPS Covert Operations Regional Supervisor Hujuru, I presume.” Arco laced her tone with deliberate, biting snark.
“I’m guessing your whole special team is here, seeing as that’s Orkutta Bryt bleeding out on the floor.
Hard to believe she thought shooting a stunner at a Jumper’s cybernetic legs was clever.
Did you also bring Gotorleku and Sendotasun, the shielder twins?
And Vogt, the ramper who throws ex-CPS contractors off bridges? ”
“My orders were to kill you all,” Hujuru yelled back. “We were going to keep Mr. Brenner to investigate his amazing skill with spider mechs. But you know too goddamn much, and I want to know how. If you stay, we’ll let the rest of your team go.”
“I have a clear target near the burned-out lifts,” Tōn Ko murmured. “My beamer isn’t holding a charge. This might be my last shot.” Minan told him to take the shot. Arco mentally walled off the tactical chatter to focus entirely on keeping Hujuru occupied.
“To be honest,” Hujuru called out, her voice dripping with malice, “I’d have killed you as a personal favor to my boss.”
“I’m sure Administrator Pennington-Smythe will exonerate you and your team with the Office of Internal Investigation,” Arco replied sweetly. “Won’t she?”
A massive explosion rocked the spaceport, vibrating violently through the soles of Arco’s boots. Dust rained from the ceiling. At a guess, another ship had just crashed. Arco rolled her eyes as the automated synth voice blared a cheerful warning that the section doors were closing for safety.
“Five more life signs coming down what I think is a maintenance lift behind Hujuru,” N’Dwama warned.
Minan’s voice followed. “Rustom says Party Central can’t keep the doors open much longer. Four more ships have crashed into the spaceport in the last thirty minutes. They think something is seriously wrong with the traffic control system and the spaceport systems.”
A choked gasp followed by the sickening thud of a body hitting the denscrete floor. Arco caught a glimpse of the bot storeroom as reflected in a dormant flat display. Nilsson lay crumpled near the doorway, a dark, spreading stain blooming across the shoulder of her thick coat.
Tōn Ko cursed viciously over the earwire. He slid out from his cover, tossing his beamer toward Arco. “Catch!” Arco caught the weapon on reflex as he dived into the storeroom’s shadows to drag Nilsson out of harm’s way.
Hujuru’s squad surged forward. They laid down a punishing barrage of fire that pinned Minan and Rustom in the gravcart corral. They were seconds away from being completely overrun.
Then the maintenance lift doors opened, and a new squad poured onto the ramp, unleashing a barrage of beamer fire directly into the backs of the CPS elite team. It took Arco a second to recognize the tawny lion’s mane of the lead fighter.
“Don’t shoot the new players!” Arco subvocalized urgently. “It’s Wutala crew going after Hujuru’s.”
Brenner stayed tight against Arco’s side, his solid strength anchoring her in the chaos.
He kept his scavenged tool raised, his eyes scanning their immediate perimeter for stragglers.
Her wristcomp display cycled through the camera views.
She stopped the cycle and zoomed in when she saw one of the surviving CPS rampers was slithering down from a stack of crates right behind Wutala, a forceblade in his hand.
Arco reacted purely on instinct and used the beamer in her hand to shoot the ramper.
Her hours in the shooting range paid off because he dropped like a stone behind Wutala.
The rest of the firefight devolved into a brutal, one-sided slaughter.
N’Dwama, Rustom, and Minan seized the distraction to break from cover, methodically killing or incapacitating the remaining CPS operatives caught in the crossfire.
The whining sizzle of weapons fire and shouted orders abruptly died away, leaving only the wail of the spaceport alarms and the ragged sound of Arco’s own breathing.
Brenner lowered his weapon and turned to face her, his dark eyes fiercely intense. “It’s a terrible time to say this, but I’m not wasting a third chance from the capricious fucking universe. I love you.”
Arco turned to look at him, stunned. Then she grabbed the lapels of his grimy jacket and pulled him down for a hard, desperate kiss. Her body flushed at the feel and taste of him. “Bad timing, but great words.”
A sound of bending metal drew her attention back to the ramp. Hujuru had spun around to face Wutala, her face twisted in rage as a loose piece of pipe railing lanced through the air toward her.
The crew chief twisted and leaned aside as she deflected the missile. In a single, fluid motion, Wutala punched her arm forward. A glowing, electrified neurowhip uncoiled and wrapped tightly around Hujuru’s neck.
Hujuru dropped heavily to her knees, clawing desperately at the sparking chain blocking her breathing, her eyes bulging.
Wutala leaned in close with a wide, predatory smile.
“That’s for my friends and my lab.” With her left hand, she pulled out a beamer.
“This is for me.” She shot Hujuru point-blank in the chest. With a flick of her wrist, she retracted the neurowhip and kicked the lifeless body over.
Arco knew she’d always remember that Hujuru looked both remarkably surprised and thoroughly annoyed as she died.
Wutala holstered her weapon and turned her dark, calculating gaze on Arco.
The crew chief stepped over the fresh corpses, her boots crunching on the littered floor.
“Just so you know, Charrascos, you personally now top Pennington-Smythe’s hit parade.
The CPS has more kill squads than there are mold spores in Ridderth. ”
“The price of fame,” Arco replied, her voice steadier than she felt. She kept her hands clearly visible, acutely aware that Wutala could order her crew to execute Arco and her entire team right there. “Are you going for the bounty?”
Wutala shook her head and let out a short, humorless laugh. “You are a magnetar for trouble. Take your team and your sparky loverboy and get out of my city.”
Arco didn’t know why Wutala was giving her grace, except maybe Wutala had enough on her plate. She was going to have to live with the aftermath of the storm and the raids. A surge of sympathy washed through Arco. “Will you and your crew be okay?”
Surprise flickered across Wutala’s face, momentarily softening her hard expression.
“Yes. We know the spaceport better than the employees.” She gestured casually to her heavily armed crew, who were gathering the spoils of the skirmish.
Without another word, she turned and disappeared into the shadows of the maintenance corridor, her people melting away behind her.
“Clear!” Rustom called from the far side of the gravcart corral. He waved them forward, leading the way toward the loading airlock doors and Soleil’s waiting ship. Tōn Ko emerged from the bot storeroom, carrying Nilsson’s limp body carefully over his shoulder.
Arco slipped her hand into Brenner’s as they broke into a steady jog. He tightened his fingers around hers, offering a brief, tentative smile before refocusing his attention on the path ahead. More than anything else, that smile made Arco’s heart skip, fueling her desperate sprint toward the stars.