Black Dawn (25 page)

Pierce and McKinney arrived on the third level in an elevator
shaft at the other end of the facility. They moved slowly, but purposefully toward one end of the long corridor, now that they knew where
they were going. Stopping just around the corner from the guard shack
outside the holding area, they listened. The scanner showed one person within, and they also heard the sound of someone listening to a
holovid. Pierce nodded to Speed. He stayed low, and crept around the
corner, easing his way along under the window of the shack. Then he
fished a sample pack from his fatigues and tossed it into a corner, making a loud clatter.

“
What was that?” the guard said, obviously annoyed. “Murphy, if that’s you playin’ around again…”
McKinney stayed perfectly still, waiting.
“Quit clownin’ around out there, I mean it.”
Still no movement, no sound.
“You can come on out now, the game’s over. Look, if I have
to get outta this chair, you really ain’t gonna like it…”
McKinney sat rock still, but wondered how many hours he
would have to wait for the lazy guard to get up. They didn’t have a lot
of time here. He rolled his eyes with the exasperation of waiting.
The guard swore viciously. “All right, but it had better be a
good gag, or I’m telllin’ the boss, this time...”
Finally, McKinney heard the man get to his feet and take the
two steps to the door of the shack. He opened it and stepped out into
the corridor.
“Oh, it’s a good gag, alright,” Speed said from the floor---just
before he hit him with the stunner.
Pierce came up, and helped him drag the guard back inside,
and set him back in the seat. After locating the switch on the shack’s
panel, they opened the door to the holding area. The rooms they
sought were the first and second doors inside.
“Boys in here, girls right next door, just like the notes said,”
Pierce whispered as she read the scanner. “Except there are…three
extra prisoners. That will complicate things a little.”
They hadn’t seen the codes for these doors anywhere inside the
shack’s computer, so they took two additional minutes to bypass the
locks. But they were well trained, being some of the first to undergo
Schiff’s strict regimen. The locks were no problem. With a satisfied
“Ahhh,” the doors swished open.
“Clock is ticking,” Pierce said as she stepped inside. Pieta
rose from the hard mat she’d been sleeping on. She blinked in surprise
as light flooded into the room, then took a double-take as she recognized the BlackFleet uniform.
“Calvary here at last?” she grinned in sleepy surprise.
“That’s us. So, everyone on their feet, and let’s move.”
“You’ll have to help me with Lynn, here.”
“Who…?” Pierce asked, as Pieta helped a young blond woman
get slowly to her feet.
“Harper. She’s a little groggy. She’s the shuttle pilot , and
they were filling her with pentha, and other drugs. I guess they
thought she knew something about our operational procedures. Then
they found out that she was only hired a couple of weeks ago.”
“Can she walk? We’re going to need to move quickly.”
“I can walk,” the young woman said groggily, but put her hand
to her head. “Just as long as there’s no bright lights or sudden …” she
stifled a small belch, “ movement.”
“They haven’t dosed her for a while now,” Pieta confirmed,
helping Harper to a vertical position. “She should be okay in a little
bit. Just a little hung over.”
“So what are you guys in for?” Pierce asked, indicating two of
the three “extras” she had seen on the scanner.
“Five of us were captured on a freighter a month ago, only
three left now. They killed some of us in the attack, and our captain
and first officer after we got here. It’s been hell. If you can help get us
away …”
“We’re all getting out of here, and you’re definitely invited, if
you care to join us.” She motioned with sweeping arms.
They voted with their feet. Harper leaned on Pieta’s shoulder,
and they all bustled back out into the hallway.
Speed had gathered the other BlackFleet tech, and the remaining member of the freighter crew and stood anxiously waiting.
“Squad Three to One; package secured,” Pierce reported.
“Roger that. All squads, second phase of Operation Bedrest is
go. Meet all of you at the checkout point.”
“Acknowledged,” Pierce said. She reached into the carryall
and fished out breathers for everyone except the three extra prisoners
they hadn’t foreseen.
“One of our teams is releasing an odorless sleeping agent into
the atmosphere processor,” she explained.
“Everyone in here not already asleep is going to be doing so pretty soon. I’m afraid that means
you as well. Since we didn’t know you were in here, we didn’t bring
enough breathers for you.
We’ll have to carry you from here to our shuttle. I’m afraid
you’ll have to trust me, on that, but I assure you, we won’t leave you
behind.”
“If you’re the BlackFleet mercenaries that the rumors are all
about, your reputation precedes you, Lieutenant” the man nodded confidently to indicate his trust.

“
Good,” she nodded back to them as she spoke into her com.
“Three to Two,”
“Two, go.”
“We’re going to need your help down here in a minute. A few
extra passengers and not enough breathers to go around.”
“Gotcha. On our way.”
Pierce turned then to Pieta.
“Is all of our equipment from the shuttle intact?”
“Yes. They hadn’t even off-loaded it yet. They were still arguing amongst themselves about what to do about it, and us, once they
found out who we were.”
“That about wraps it up then. We’ll wait here for just a little
while.”

Sweggert flipped a switch on the device he’d planted under the
console. He and Wiggins sealed their helmets before sealing up the
doors with the same compound Pierce and McKinney had used. They
jogged a way down the corridor, and turned the corner toward the elevator. Just as they were out of earshot however, a red light on the console they had just left began to blink, and a com message came
through…

Sweggert and Wiggins arrived at the third level and found
team Three with the freighter crew fast asleep on the floor. True to
their word, the BlackFleet squads began picking them up to carry them
out. The two women were fairly small, so Sweggert and McKinney
both slung one of them across their shoulders in a fireman’s carry.
Wiggins and the male
tech both took the final crewman between them. Pierce led the way,
with Pieta and Harper bringing up the rear.

Pierce turned in a different direction from the way they’d gotten onto this level. She was heading for the vehicle bunker, where
Captain Marcus was waiting for them. It took a bit of bundling and
arranging, but they all managed to fit into the lift. With a final sigh of
relief, Pierce hit the button, and the lift took them back to the first level.

As the doors opened, the silence was thick. There had been little noise before, but now everyone around them was still. They passed
someone unconscious on the floor, and turned left to head into the final
set of corridors before they reached the section of the facility with the
repair bay that Marcus had mentioned.

Pierce strode on confidently. She now knew that there were
only a few more turns and they’d be in the repair bay, then in the vehicle bunker and on their way

The BlackFleet members whirled in surprise to find seven of
the pirates, standing in the corridor, guns drawn.
And
they were wearing breathers.

“
Get back!” She screamed to the rest of the group, shoving
them back the way they’d come.
She dropped to the ground, snatching at her rifle as she did so.
But the pirates fired at the very first motion. Suddenly the quiet hallways screamed and flashed with crisscrossing blaster fire.
Fortunately most of the group had not even made it into the intersection yet. Suddenly an energy bolt smashed into Randy’s armored
leg. He swore as his leg buckled under him. But the brief second of
forward momentum helped direct his fall so that both he and the rescuee he was carrying, fell the right way.
A bolt hit the seam of Pierce’s left shoulder covering, giving
her a bad shock which partially numbed her arm, but she hardly hesitated to return fire. She too, rolled as she hit the floor, and saw one of
the pirates go down as she winged him. She was still firing and rolling
until she was also safe beyond the edge of the intersection. Then she
shot around the corner wildly, and voice-keyed her com.
“Squads Three and Two to One!” She screamed, straining to
be heard over the whine of fire. “Under attack! Seven hostiles have us
pinned down on level one, just outside the repair bay!”
“On the way!” Marcus commed back without hesitation. He
glanced around and did a quick head count to ensure that everyone else
was here, except for Haberny’s Squad Four waiting outside. He
checked in quickly with them.
“One to Four.”
“Go,” she said.
“Any activity out there?”
“No sir, we were just waiting for pickup.”
“Stay put. And keep an eye out for company. We’ve got a
Situation in here.”
“Do you need backup?”
“We’ll let you know. One out.”
He pointed to two of the squadron members. “You two, guard
this doorway,” he said, even as he ran toward one of the large doors
leading into the vehicle bunker. “You,” he said pointing to more,
“Guard the shuttle. No one gets in this room until you get the all clear.
And you , come with me.”
Marty Thomas from Squad One, Smith, and Sam Alexander
took up positions to follow him back through the repair shop toward
the battle.

Pierce was still firing low around the corner, and McKinney
standing, and firing high, when the crack of blaster fire sounded from
behind them.

“
Some of them have circled around us! Stay down!” Pierce
shouted to the rest of the group. Mc Kinney whipped around and
helped Wiggins, who also began firing in the opposite direction.
Someone was in the hallway behind them, and shooting wildly around
that corner. McKinney knew that the fleeing group couldn’t stay
where they were. He dashed to the back of the group, and dropped to
the ground, protecting Pieta and Harper.

Pierce quickly assessed that there were no doorways on the
wall they huddled against. There was one however, on the opposite
wall.

“
Cover me!” she shouted to McKinney, and fired with her rifle
in her good arm, as she dashed across the hall, still firing low, and
reached up clumsily with her tingling arm to key the lock open. A bolt
sheared off a chunk from the wall, which ricocheted into her faceplate.
She winced involuntarily, but kept working. Then the door was open.
“Move,” she ordered the group, and again “Cover!” to Mc Kinney.
While Pierce turned and began shooting in the direction of the first
attack, McKinney crouched a bit higher, and fired both blaster pistols
stiff-armed, looking for all the world like a pre-jump Western gunslinger. He poured out a rain of continual fire, which made Swiss
cheese of the corner. But it did momentarily stop the attack from that
direction. When the last of the group had run, crawled, or been
dragged into the room, Pierce and McKinney likewise dove into its
protection.

Marcus arrived, and stopped short of the corner as he heard
the fight just beyond it. He stole a glance around the corner just in
time to see the last two Elite force members retreat into the side room,
and note where the enemy fire was coming from, then ducked back.

“We’re taking cover in a small room,”
Pierce reported. “There
are no other exits. We’re pinned down with fire from both directions.”
“I’m just about twenty meters from your position,” Marcus
told her. “We’re on it. Stand by.”
He checked his own scanner, noting the layout of their immediate environs. Then he broadened the search to include the whole facility and the environment outside. They appeared to be the only ones
moving at all, except for Squad Four and the contingent protecting the
shuttle. Assured of that, he looked to Smith and Alexander.
“When I give the word, I want the two of you, one standing,
one crouching, to shoot around this corner. Fire along the wall closest
to us. And don’t stop shooting until…well, you’ll know when. Got
it?”
“Got it,” both pilots replied.
Then Marcus took off in another direction.
Quietly, the two Elite force members circled around until they
were in a corridor behind one of the groups of pirates. Marcus checked
quickly around the corner, and could see three of them, hunkered
down, firing around a corner not twelve meters away. They were
shouting at the trapped officers, and seemed to be having a good time.
It wasn’t going to last.
“Hey, c’mon out and play!” one of the pirates was shouting.
“We promise, we won’t hurt you. Come on!”
“Yeah,
Chica
. Come on out and let’s talk!”
Marcus glanced around the corner at the other set of opponents who were also shooting and shouting similar encouragements,
then ducked back around the corner himself to avoid being seen .
“Squad One to Two and Three. In position. Give them a
chance,” he whispered into his com.
Pierce wasn’t sure that she wanted to do anything of the sort.
The fact that the blaster fire was continuing didn’t help their offer of a
peaceful settlement, much. But she quietly acknowledged the order,
then screamed loudly to be heard over the noise.
“Lay down your weapons and surrender!” she shouted.
“If
you do, we promise to take you alive! If you don’t, we can’t be responsible for the consequences!”
Roaring peals of laughter followed this announcement. The
pirates were laughing so hard that they temporarily stopped shooting.
“I mean it!” she shouted. “There won’t be another warning!”
Someone stopped laughing long enough to become angry at
her nerve. He fired around the corner, even stood for a moment at the
edge, firing arrogantly. Pierce pulled back under cover.
“One, to Smith. Now.” Marcus said.
Smith had been wondering all this time what he was really doing. He didn’t mind a good stand-up fistfight. Cleanly taking out opponents from the familiar environment of his cockpit was the best on
many levels. But he wasn’t sure what he was doing here. Then he got
Captain Marcus’ signal.
Immediately, both pilots did as they were ordered, firing
around the corner along the wall. The pirates jumped back as fire
slashed at them unexpectedly from their right. They yelled, screamed,
cursed, and began firing that way as well.
Marcus leaned around the corner and slid two small objects
down the hallways so that they hit near the pirates’ feet. The pirates,
already reeling from the unexpected attack to their right, didn’t even
have time to react before the objects exploded.
The blasts were just powerful enough to incapacitate, normally. But at such close quarters the unfortunate pirates were thrown bodily against the opposite wall by the explosion.
Two were obviously severely maimed. The rest lay totally
still. The reverberations quieted, and the dust settled.