“What I wouldn’t give for a rocket launcher,” Brahm muttered.
Again, Jael and Tam deployed laser shots, then ran like hell before the weapon could vaporize them. It slanted over Jael’s head, so he felt the buzz of the energy on his skull. Close call. Too close. Never seen anything like this. It was small enough to be used by one man with two hands, but it was powerful enough to qualify as antipersonnel. If Vost wasn’t careful, he’d blow a hole clean through the station.
Vost’s men went with grenades, too. Three exploded in quick succession. Then Dred shouted, “Dammit, my clip’s running low on juice. Push past them.”
“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Ali demanded.
“Watch me!” Dred took off, charging the mercs.
“Are you out of your mind?” Jael yelled.
But she didn’t listen. She ran for it, leaping, ducking and sliding, until his throat closed with fear. This woman had no caution, no sense of self-preservation, maybe because she was stuck here, and she felt like she had nothing left to lose.
You have me, he thought.
But perhaps he didn’t weigh heavy enough against the mission. Fear threatened to paralyze him, but he fought it back. He opened fire, trying to draw their attention away, but she was right there, and the armor wouldn’t save her forever. Even the healing ability she’d acquired from him didn’t make her immortal.
Mary curse it.
“We don’t have armor,” Martine called. “We can’t follow.”
There was no question about that. While Dred had managed to blow past the merc blockade, the rest of them would die trying. Jael hoped she knew the way into Queensland, the back way as excavated by the Warren. No telling what dangers lay between here and the border; could be Mungo’s mongrels or Silence’s assassins creeping around.
“Then fall back. Find a place to bunker down. I’ll bring help, I promise.”
Jael pushed out a breath. “You heard the woman. Let’s get to defensible ground.”
19
One Good Man
Dred felt like shit abandoning the rest of the group like that, but if she hadn’t done something, between the grenades and that sonic whatever the hell it was, Vost would’ve killed them all. Pain blazed in her sternum with each ringing stride, each step carrying her farther from Jael. And the others, of course.
I’m not far from Queensland. They can hang on. They have to hang on.
Her breath sounded extra loud inside the helmet, and she was rushing toward the barricades when she realized she must look like a lone suicidal merc. Though she couldn’t see the sentries on the other side, she called, “It’s me. Stand down. Get Ike immediately and tell him to bring the Peacemaker.”
Though it wasn’t ideal, it was the only solution she could think of. Nothing else provided sufficient firepower to defeat Vost now that he’d dug in and brought out the heavy artillery. She didn’t like revealing the territory’s secret weapon, but maybe it would make him wary of a full-scale invasion. He might imagine we have more of them.
If only we did.
“We’ll have to dismantle the blockade for the mech to get past,” the sentry said.
“It’s fine. Just make it fast.”
Next, she gave directions to where she’d last seen the merc unit, then she ran back the way she’d come. Ike will find us. If I can hit Vost from behind, I might distract him from the others. Scraps of strategy whirled in her head, but she didn’t settle on any one solution. In this armor, it was impossible to be quiet, and the rags the soldier had wrapped around the boots reduced traction. Dred felt clumsy and frantic as she ran.
Battle sounds echoed from some distance away, the boom of grenades and the unearthly hum of the weapon that had melted a hole in the floor. It wasn’t a laser, but Dred had no idea what it could be. Disruptors were smaller, so far as she knew, but maybe they had upgraded them during her turns inside. Just what the universe needs. She was afraid that they’d all be dead when she got back—that Ike and the Peacemaker would arrive too late, but the cadence of shots fired and rounds returned steadied her shaky nerves somewhat.
When Dred ran the fight down, she saw that the mercs had shifted, splitting their forces to cover the passage and keep her stranded people from getting past. The corridor was a T, with the mercs on the right and the rest of her people around the corner to the left. At the base of the straightway lay the entrance to Queensland, complete with turrets and barricades. It wasn’t the checkpoint she had approached before, however. This is east. Hope Ike gets here fast. We don’t have much time.
The merc laid down a line of intermittent red light, pinning her in the hallway on the wrong side. She returned fire, but her single rifle wasn’t enough to penetrate good cover, especially not against armored targets. Someone—Tam or maybe Jael—added to the onslaught, but the mercs had a good position.
Maybe they can circle—but if I call it out, the mercs will hear. Wish we had some way to communicate over distance. Given time, Ike might jury-rig something from the merc helmets, but he would need to use a different frequency. Otherwise, the enemy could listen to all updates. That won’t help. Ike might also be able to assemble a device that would knock out the mercs’ frequency. That would cripple their ability to scramble teams across the station, a definite boon for Queensland, but there was no way to know until she talked to the old man about it.
She situated herself close to the turrets and took aim each time an enemy popped into sight. But they were skilled with the bob and weave, and she did nothing but drain her ammo charge. An eerie hum vibrated the flooring, and Dred tensed. He’s using the big gun again. If fate was kind, the thing would explode in Vost’s hands, solving the problem. But no such luck. She heard a whine, then there was screaming. Her stomach swam with sickness and fear. The Dread Queen would never feel this way, but Dred was panicked. He’s going to kill them all if Ike doesn’t get here soon. Then the reassuring clomp of mechanized footsteps echoed throughout the hall. Thank Mary, he’s coming from behind. He must’ve circled around from the south, where I was before.
“What’s that?” she heard a merc say.
Don’t waste time with the usual warnings, she willed Ike. Put the thing on manual.
The mech could be programmed with facial recognition, but urgency didn’t allow for such finesse. Better for Ike to just operate the bot. To her vast relief, the Peacemaker unit stomped into view and immediately went to work with the Shredder. The rounds tore through the walls as if they were made of butter, slamming into mercs and armor with equal facility. Shouts of pain rang out.