Still lost in thought, struggling through her inner debate, Kella didn’t even notice Sorsa walk back into the room until he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she jumped and Sorsa quickly withdrew his hand.
“We have a problem,” he said curtly, walking back over to his cushioned chair behind the desk.
“I know, I need to move on,” Kella said morosely.
“Well, yes. But no,” Sorsa said in his usual manner. “I’ve been told there was some chaos at the space tower today. Apparently, you have some friends that have come for a visit.” Kella immediately feared that Tenner and his Deep Wolves had found her. That was much too fast. Did they not trust her from the beginning?
“We took this image from the Tower’s storage unit. Recognize it?” Sorsa asked as he ‘tossed’ the holo image from his d-com to hers. The ship captured in the image was nothing like she’d seen before, but it was most definitely Military. Kella didn’t know which was worse, the Mercenaries, or the Military.
Evidently gleaning her answer, Sorsa moved on. “Apparently, they bribed an official and are three landing platforms from Gavin and his plane. Has he returned?” Kella looked at the dark drone still lying on the floor and looked back to Sorsa, worry marking her features. That expression was all Sorsa needed to see. “I see,” he said quietly. “Now we’ve come to it. You have no more time to debate, little Sellsword. Your decision is upon you. Which do you choose?”
Surprising even herself, Kella didn’t hesitate. All of her previous agonizing and deliberation had been useless. She’d already known her answer. She just hadn’t known why. And that question was the struggle that had been haunting her, but she realized it could wait for another day. “I’m going to help him,” she said, standing up.
“Not saying ‘I want’?” Sorsa asked, cocking an eyebrow as his gaze followed her up.
“No,” she said. “I will.” Kella made for the door to leave, but Sorsa called out to her, stopping her just short of the knob.
“I’m still not convinced, even though you apparently are. Even so, I plan to aide you in this. I only ask that you don’t regret this decision later,” he said standing and coming around the desk. He quickly clapped his hands together and shouted, “Charms!” making Kella jump again with the abruptness. The door opened behind Kella and the small, portly man walked in, the same that had been her guide originally. “Take her back to the Praetorian. Make it snappy,” Sorsa said with a flourish of his hand. The little man nodded and beckoned for Kella to follow. She made to turn to the door, but stopped, she wasn’t sure what it was with this strange, charismatic man, this friend of Gavin’s, but she felt gratitude to Sorsa Kei.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Think nothing on it, my dear. You’ll be billed later, of course,” he said with a smile as she chased after the little man through the door. “Oh! And I’ll be sending some gear your way! Make sure to accept the charges when it arrives!” he called as the door closed on him.
“What did that mean?” Kella asked the little man as she caught up. Charms said nothing, merely shrugging.
Charms led Kella through a warren of pipes, ductwork, shafts, and side passages. It had been difficult enough taking the main roads down to Tal Renna’fa, but the side passages and apparent ‘service’ tunnels were beyond maze-like. Charms, apparently unfazed by the complexity of the environment seemed to know where he was going and knew all the shortcuts. Kella was lost after the first twenty feet, and couldn’t help but be impressed with the small man’s sense of direction.
She didn’t think on it long, and became content with the little man leading. Instead, her thoughts turned to Gavin. What had happened to have made her change so much? Even she could tell she’d changed. Suddenly, money was not her motivation, and neither was fear, which, until now, had for so long ruled her decision making paradigm. It was strange, almost alien, the direction of her thoughts. And yet, she was no longer afraid. Not for herself, but for Gavin. What would become of him if the Military got there first? She didn’t want to guess.
“Please hurry, Charms,” she said, picking up her pace into a trot.
The gangway opened behind Hughes. He kept his amazement in check, even though the boarding ramp behind him was a mere utility ramp and it could still handle ground vehicles the size of a tank. The blackbox showed that all lines to the AI control were severed and the main system was in hibernation. Hughes now had full control. He’d deactivated the defenses first thing, and signaled to his men on either side of the plane. They were now quickly ‘leap frogging’ up the ramp looking for signs of aggressors.
Hughes heard two clicks over his helmet’s vox channel as he unhooked the blackbox from the strut. So far, all clear. Hughes made his way up the ramp into the gargantuan cargo hold. It was empty. At the far end, his amplified vision picked up the outlines of his two operatives. They were already moving towards the crew quarters.
At the main stairwell just forward of the bay, the team split up. One of the men went forward to clear crew quarters and barracks, while Hughes led the other upwards towards the spine passageway leading towards the bridge. Once they reached the bridge, Hughes would be able to access the navigation computer and plot a course back to Dulabar. They’d meet up with the Gladius in orbit and be home free.
Hughes reached the spine and heard the second operative call from below decks. “Crew area clear. Barracks clear. No targets.”
Hughes clicked his vox to acknowledge, and signaled to the operative next to him. If the thieves weren’t below, then they were forward. The duo moved onwards.
Charms stopped at the entrance to a long hallway that ended in shadow. Caught off-guard, Kella almost ran the man over. “What’s going on?” she asked. Charms looked at her and then pointed down the hallway. “It’s down there?” Kella asked, catching on. The man nodded, and then walked off, disappearing into the ductwork.
“Great,” she said to herself, and headed down the hallway. It was the single longest hallway she’d seen since arriving on Tal Rho’an. For nearly half a mile it went without branching halls, tunnels, access shafts, or any other type of break in the walls. It was completely unlike the rest of the Complex, its walls smooth and thick.
Suddenly, cold wind ripped at her, and the thick walls ended, revealing her to be outside, standing on a ledge. She was below the platform, and the hall she’d been walking through, had in fact, been the spine connecting the platform to the Complex. The spine ended in branching beams and support struts, but the path continued on as grated catwalks, stairs, and ladders. Looking up through the gloom, she could make out the landing lights of the Praetorian’s underbelly, dim from the distance. Charms had led her right to where she wanted to be!
But something was wrong. There was no movement. Everything was too quiet, except for the cold wind. The plane was like she’d left it, but something was definitely off, something she couldn’t put her finger on. Shuffling the disparaging thought to the back of her mind, she moved forward, looking for a route upwards through the platform.
“Gavin,” she called into her vox patch. “Can you hear me? Are you there? Answer me, you stupid computer!” There was no answer.
Hughes cleared the bridge and deactivated his Phantom Armor and unsealed his helmet. The metal liquidized and returned to its tube at the back of his neck. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair as he punched up the system status screen. The other troopers were busy activating the secondary VIs to get the navicomputer up and running. They did not unseal their gear.
“Stupid,” Hughes mumbled.
“Sir?” one of the men responded.
“Oh, I was just thinking. Why would they leave the plane unmanned? That’s stupid,” Hughes said, continuing his thoughts aloud. After a second, he turned to both men, “Double check for any signs of traps. Use utmost caution when opening, or activating anything. Also, seal the damned plane up.”
“Sir!” the men acknowledged and returned to their work. Hughes pulled up an external view and watched the boarding ramp begin to cycle closed.
Kella was still below the platform, slowly working her way up. Gavin still had not answered her calls, and she was beginning to panic, her fears overpowering her common sense. She heard a loud hissing from above, and to her dismay, saw the open boarding ramp begin to lift upwards.
She started running. She flew up the stairs three or four at a time, and she felt her calves burning in protest. She had to stop, her breath harsh in her ears, a ladder well loomed upwards before her. The ladder was retracted and above her reach. She violently pulled on the release handle, but it didn’t move. A lock held the handle tight.
In alarm, she yanked on the handle again, and it did nothing. She heard the ramp seal itself closed, mere yards above her, and she kicked at the release lever in desperation. It moved slightly. Using her fear to lend her strength, she braced herself against the railing of the catwalk and kicked out with all her might, again and again. On the last kick, her strength gone, she heard the old lock break and it clanged away down into the bowels of the Complex below. She quickly heaved at the lever again, and the ladder slid downward. She hauled herself upwards with as much speed as her tiring body could provide.
“Key systems are operational and under our control, sir,” one of the men informed Hughes.
“Excellent, which ones are still giving us trouble?”
“Atmospheric controls, internal security, waste management, and some power controls dealing with the AI hub, Major. They seem to be directly controlled by the VI gestalt. Everything else is ours.”
“I think we can proceed without those. Warm up the engines. Let’s be on our way,” Hughes said, taking a seat in the captain’s chair. He punched up the communications console and keyed in the vox channel for Gladius. Dawson came up on the screen, looking a bit relieved.
“Mission accomplished, ensign,” Hughes said before Dawson could say anything. “Send over Carter and the Lancers for escort. We’re leaving as soon as the engines are spooled up and the platform loads us onto the launcher.”
“Understood, sir. Gladius out,” Dawson said, signing off.
Hughes punched in another vox channel. “Mr. Gergor, was it?” Hughes said as the gruff Tal Rho’an controller appeared on screen.
“Ready to leave, are you?” the man said rudely, but quickly tacked on a sarcastic ‘sir’ at the end.
“We are. Please move the ship on platform 332 Alpha into egress position.”
“Can’t say I’m sad to see you go. Ya’ll have a nice day,” the man said and disconnected. Hughes felt the ship lurch into motion almost instantly.
“I guess we left an impression,” Hughes said with a smile, and the two men chuckled.
Kella, still climbing up the last few rungs of the ladder was nearly knocked away as the platform began to move. Warning klaxons began blaring, and entire sections of the platform began to shift, sliding to and fro. Looking up, she watched as the ladder well was sealed by a portion of the platform in motion. They’re leaving! She thought in dismay.
Steeling herself, she swung around the ladder, leaving the safety of the protected well, and began scaling the rungs from the outside. She had to get to the plane before they were loaded into the launch ramp. If she didn’t make it, she’d never see the plane, or Gavin, again. She pushed herself even harder to reach the top. She was so close.
Suddenly, the ladder well began to move. It, along with the rest of the platform, began to orient itself vertically. The whole platform was tilting upwards. She lost her footing, and clung to the rung with all of her might. Her muscles burned, and she couldn’t feel her fingers. She was slipping. The jerky vibration of the platform moving wasn’t helping, and every bump threatened her grip. She grunted in pain, and effort, but was unable to find purchase with her feet. Finally, with one last grind, the platform bounced to a stop, now completely oriented vertically, the Praetorian kept in place on the platform by the gravity ‘catcher’ beams. Kella, unable to hold on through the shuddering lost her grip and fell.
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