Incursio (Oolite Saga Part 3) Read online

  Garew twitched his fingers. Coyote and Derik stumbled backwards, blinking, clearly being able to see again.

  ‘I should…’ Coyote began but a metal manipulator blocked his path, flashing in front of him in an instant.

  ‘Don’t,’ Udian said heavily. ‘The ‘bots will activate automatically if his vital signs are excessively disrupted. Kill him and you kill all of us.’

  ‘Udian,’ Derik snapped. ‘Why do you always have to be so bloody thorough?’

  ‘Decided on your fee?’ Garew said, enjoying the frustrated look on Coyote’s face.

  ‘I’ll think of something…’ Coyote replied in a voice laced with menace.

  Garew surveyed the group. ‘You launch tomorrow. I suggest you start preparations.’

  Nobody moved.

  ‘Where’s my ship?’ Rebecca asked, after a long pause.

  ‘Contact Blaze,’ Garew replied. ‘He’ll escort you.’

  ‘Better get going then,’ she said, ignoring the rest of them and stalking out of the bar. Garew let her go and then turned to follow her.

  ‘Looks like you Elite combateers are playing catch-up again,’ he said over his shoulder.

  Chapter 4

  Rebecca heard a knock on the door of the apartment she had rented temporarily on station 5. She checked the intercom, scowling at the face that appeared on the holo-fac. It was Garew.

  ‘May I come in?’ he inquired.

  ‘Do I have a choice?’ she snapped back.

  ‘Not really, no.’

  Rebecca waved her hand at the door and it slid open. Garew strode in. She glared at him as the door closed behind him.

  ‘Seen the new ship yet?’ he asked.

  ‘Say your piece and get the frak out of here,’ she shot back.

  Garew smiled at her. ‘I’m trying to protect you, believe it or not.’

  ‘Oh yeah? Pumping me full of bad-ass nanobots. Protecting me!’

  Garew sighed and leant on the edge of a chair, watching her for a moment.

  ‘Tell me about Zerz.’

  Rebecca stared at him and then shook her head.

  ‘No.’

  ‘No?’ Garew seemed surprised by her flat denial.

  ‘No,’ Rebecca repeated. ‘Figure it out for yourself.’

  ‘I could have you incarcerated to keep you safe from detection,’ Garew said idly. ‘As the gecko pointed out, a handful of pilots won’t make a big difference. The Thargoids consider you important enough. Perhaps I shouldn’t risk you having your freedom.’

  ‘If I was that dangerous you’d already have killed me.’

  ‘The thought had crossed my mind,’ Garew replied. ‘Should I, do you think?’

  ‘You need me to fly escort. I’m the only one who can outfly them.’

  ‘True enough.’

  Rebecca scowled and decided to confront Garew. ‘All this over a weapon?’

  ‘Don’t play the innocent with me,’ Garew said with a faint smile. ‘The plasma accelerator is not just a simple weapon. It completely changes the game. With a weapon like that…’

  ‘Whatever you say,’ Rebecca replied, ‘just another gun to me…’

  Garew noticed the look on her face. ‘So I’ll ask again. Tell me about Zerz…’

  ‘Galcop must already know about it…’

  ‘Not enough to build one, the detail is what counts. You were there, tell me.’

  ‘No. Go screw yourself.’

  Garew twitched, sighed and flexed his fingers. Rebecca had already noticed the small finger-tip data control he’d used to control the holo-fac. Clearly it had other uses.

  Her legs tingled and she abruptly found herself on her knees in-front of him, unable to move.

  ‘I have limited patience, Rebecca. I have already probed your memory by means of the nano-bots. It appears you’ve found a way to obscure the truth. I admire your ingenuity.’

  ‘There is no truth! I don’t know anything!’ Rebecca screeched.

  Garew continued undeterred. ‘As you have observed, I can torture the information out of you easily enough. Remove your fingers, pressure your brain, cut off your lungs. Is that going to be necessary?’

  ‘You already know as much as I do,’ she cried, beginning to sound desperate. ‘I don’t understand it or know how to use it! I don’t know how to make it. There is nothing else to tell!’

  Garew walked around her, running a hand over her hair, almost possessively. Rebecca shivered, moving her head aside angrily.

  ‘The Thargoids want you. They want you because you know something vital, something else about the plasma accelerator,’ Garew said, almost in a whisper. ‘Tell me what it is.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Rebecca said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

  ‘Why do the Thargoids want you?’ Garew reiterated, enjoying the fear he could see building in Rebecca’s eyes.

  ‘I don’t know!’ Rebecca snapped the answer back, her voice increasing in pitch.

  ‘What does Ragazza dux ducis incolumitas mean?’ Garew’s voice rose in intensity.

  ‘I don’t…’ Tears dripped down a cheek.

  Garew twitched his fingers. Rebecca felt a burning, intense pain in her throat, she struggled to breathe, her hands going to her neck in a desperate bid to ease the passage of air into her lungs. There was nothing to fight against. She choked. Spasms of pain arced through her body, forcing her to the floor. Lights began to flicker at the edge of her vision.

  Suddenly the pain vanished, as quickly as it had arrived. Rebecca slowly propped herself up on her elbows.

  Garew had seated himself on one of the comfortable sofas in the room, watching her with amusement. His legs were crossed and he was leaning back nonchalantly.

  ‘I can continue this all evening if you insist. I will have the information I require.’

  ‘I don’t know…’ she managed to gasp, sobs wracking through her. ‘Please…’

  Another twitch from his fingers. Pain slashed into her again, spinning her around and throwing her to the floor on her back. She felt her back muscles go into spasm as she desperately clawed at the fire burning through her chest. Her fingers clenched and she screamed. It felt like eternity but a mere ten seconds passed until Garew released her again.

  ‘You don’t seem to understand, Rebecca. Tell me what I want to know.’

  Rebecca rolled onto her side, breathless and gasping. Her body was still shuddering as the pain receded.

  ‘Rebecca?’ Garew inquired, his voice almost gentle.

  ‘I can’t tell you something I don’t know…’ she managed to cry.

  Garew was suddenly on his feet. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the floor. Her body slammed into the chairs on the far side of the room, further knocking the breath out of her. She cried out in pain and stunned surprise.

  ‘Don’t toy with me,’ he whispered in her ear, pulling her head back. ‘What will it take? No one can help you. Your legality and identity is in my control. I can maim and heal you ad infinitum. I can humiliate and deprave you time and again. I can sever your primary cognitive functions and turn you into a vegetable. Tell me what you know.’

  Rebecca had no voice to reply with, she was gasping for breath.

  ‘Now,’ Garew said softly and slowly releasing her. ‘Ragazza dux ducis incolumitas. What does it mean?’

  Rebecca managed to briefly shake her head, trying and failing to climb back to her knees.

  ‘I don’t know…’

  And then there was nothing she could do but scream.

  Derik, Coyote and Udian remained in the bar after Garew and Rebecca had left.

  ‘Just whose side are you on?’ Coyote demanded of the hulking metal creature.

  Udian stopped and the cylinder containing his body spun through a half circle. The ocular sensors regarded Coyote emotionlessly.

  ‘I would have thought that was obvious,’ the machine replied.

  ‘Answer the question you ugly bag of bolts!’ Derik growled.

 
‘If you intend to defeat the Thargoids, you’ll find me a worthy ally,’ Udian replied. ‘Does that satisfy you?’

  ‘Hardly,’ Coyote replied. ‘If this is going to be my mission I get to call the shots. Will you follow my lead?’

  ‘I am un-used to taking orders from anyone,’ Udian replied, slowly.

  ‘We’re all used to operating alone…’ Coyote shrugged. ‘My question stands.’

  Udian remained unmoved.

  Coyote pressed it home. ‘Will you follow my lead when I make the call?’

  Udian’s sensors refocused slightly, before turning to head out of the bar. ‘I’ll do what needs to be done, no more, no less.’

  Coyote frowned and studied the enigmatic machine for a moment.

  ‘Claro…’ he mused spitting on the floor as the big machine whirred through the exit. Derik watched it go with a grimace.

  ‘Told you trust doesn’t sit easily with the Shulths,’ the lizard said. ‘You’ll not get much more out of him. He’s Garew’s pet now…’

  Coyote abruptly slammed down a hand on the nearby table. ‘Garew! Manipulating bastard! I’ll find a way out from under these nano-bots and when I do…’

  ‘You can join the queue,’ Derik replied. ‘I want a piece of his ass too.’

  ‘I’ve never smuggled weapons. I don’t smuggle weapons…’ Coyote fumed. ‘I won’t do it. I made a promise…’

  ‘Then he’ll kill you,’ Derik said.

  ‘Then that’s how it needs to be,’ Coyote growled.

  Derik blinked and downed the rest of his drink. ‘Funny. Didn’t have you figured as an idiot.’

  ‘What?’ Coyote spun on the lizard angrily.

  ‘Listen buddy. Garew will kill you and then choose the next best man. Somebody will take the job. Blow your life on a stand if you will, it won’t make a difference to the outcome. You’ll just be dead is all.’

  ‘It’ll make a difference to me,’ Coyote fired back with a glare.

  ‘Yeah,’ the lizard replied offhandedly. ‘You’ll be dead.’

  ‘I have principles…’

  ‘And I can admire that,’ the lizard shot back straightaway, matter-of-fact. ‘But who’s gonna care about your principles when you’re just a stain on the floor? Dead lizards don’t talk, neither do dead men, far as I’ve seen.’

  ‘Garew’s bluffing…’ Coyote replied.

  ‘Get real. You must have seen his type before. Meticulous planning, no sense of humour. He’ll kill us for certain if we don’t comply. We’re screwed… properly screwed. Maybe worse than we know. We either do or we die.’

  Coyote shook his head. ‘Not acceptable…’

  ‘Listen buddy,’ Derik continued. ‘We’re not arming a bunch of terrorists; we’re not supporting a despotic regime…’

  ‘You sure of that?’ Coyote asked, looking back the lizard.

  ‘The Thargoids need to be taken out either way. There are worse crimes. Let your conscience off the hook.’

  Coyote shook his head.

  ‘Hey, I won’t shed my skin over it,’ Derik said with a shrug. ‘It’s your funeral. Tell me one thing though…’

  Coyote looked around at the lizard, who was now leaning back nonchalantly.

  ‘… how the frak are you going to get your revenge if you’re dead? Garew gets away and deals out the same old frak to another much of shmucks like us. Thanks a lot buddy.’

  Coyote capitulated with a heavy sigh. ‘You son of a ‘goid…’

  Derik grinned and waited. Coyote leant forward, chin in his hands, thinking hard. He stared out of the window.

  The damn lizard is right…

  ‘Ok. Let’s do this,’ Coyote said, resolutely, turning and standing up in a smooth move. ‘Screw him, screw Udian and screw the girl…’

  ‘I think she might have something to say about that…’ Derik cackled.

  Coyote laughed ruefully, then sauntered over to the bar and grabbed another set of drinks for them. He clinked glasses with the lizard, before setting thoughtfully for a few moments.

  ‘Galcop must be crazy, trying a stunt like this,’ Coyote said, staring out of the viewpoint at the massed ranks of military ships.

  ‘No they’re desperate. Maybe it is the only way Galcop can beat the bugs,’ the lizard seemed at ease with the situation.

  ‘Killing an entire planet?’

  ‘I won’t lose much sleep over killing Thargoids, will you?’

  ‘Assuming he’s telling the truth.’

  ‘Assuming that,’ the lizard cackled.

  Coyote pushed his head back, laughing bitterly and allowing his Sombrero to slide down over his face a little. He relit his colita.

  ‘Garew. The friendly face of Galcop,’ Derik said with a grin.

  ‘You have a way with words,’ Coyote said, returning the grin. ‘In my experience Galcop plays by the rules and makes everyone else play by the rules… until the rules get in the way. Then it’s open-season.’

  ‘Genocide on a planetary scale isn’t exactly the mark of the virtuous.’

  Coyote nodded in agreement.

  ‘And what about your hot date?’ Derik continued.

  Coyote chucked. ‘You didn’t believe the story about her being on a secret mission?’

  ‘Pah,’ the lizard stuck out his tongue. ‘Did you?’

  Coyote puffed on his colita. ‘Some of it was true… but there’s a lot more to that tale than we got told. Maybe she’s working with Garew…’

  Derik took the comm-tab Coyote had been using earlier and scanned through the small amount of text. ‘Commander Weston, unblemished record, massive cash. Like you said, that’s mad. Who is she, that’s what I want to know.’

  ‘Claro…’

  Derik hissed through his teeth.

  ‘So, let’s summarise,’ he said. ‘We don’t trust Shulth. Garew has us over a canister and Rebecca is holding out on us. We’ll have the entire chart trying to kill us, delivering a weapon which may or may not work against a target we’ve got serious reservations about destroying in a time span which is marginal at best. We’ve got no choice because if we don’t comply we’ll get disassembled at a cellular level and the Thargoids will vaporise anything that’s left.’

  ‘That pretty much sums it up, mi amiga…’ Coyote said, chuckling. ‘Oh and I don’t trust you either.’

  Derik cackled. ‘Ooo, I’m hurt!’

  ‘Another drink?’

  Garew stepped over the woman’s prone form and sat down once again. He was impressed. He’d seen stronger and tougher men crumple under far less duress than this petite woman had endured.

  She’d continued denying any knowledge until the point her body shut down in shock. In her final moments of lucidity she had continued crying out all she knew of the plasma accelerator. It was nothing he didn’t already know. Garew had stopped just short of killing her. Blood was running from her mouth, mixed with saliva where she’d bitten her own tongue.

  She had strength, he respected that. A woman used to fighting her corner and winning. It had been extremely gratifying to break her down, seeing her crumple, her self-assuredness fade into despair.

  But the Thargoids already have the plasma accelerator. Why do they need her now?

  Garew sent a set of commands to the nano-bots via his fingertip interface. Udian’s creations were almost alarmingly effective. Such power had to be treated with caution. It would be easy to… overindulge, particularly with a woman such as her. Fortunately he had mature sensibilities; a lesser man would have doubtless been tempted to take carnal advantage of such a situation.

  As Garew watched he could see muscles flexing in the woman’s body, bones knitting and tendons reattaching. The nanobots were as efficient at reassembly as they were at the other tasks he had asked of them.

  Perhaps it would be better to kill her, to remove any uncertainties from the game?

  It was the safest course of action. But that would leave things unresolved and no pilot for the new ship. The team would need the extra
firepower. Yet, there was an advantage to be had here; the Thargoids had already paid dearly for it, doubtless they would continue to do so.

  How to play the hand?

  Yes, letting her go is high risk but if the Thargoids are pursuing her single-mindedly… I can turn that to our benefit.

  Rebecca chose that moment to stir. She gave a momentary shriek and her eyes snapped wide, staring across the room. Her gaze didn’t move, it stayed locked on something far behind Garew or even the bulkhead beyond, her body trembling.

  ‘Welcome back,’ Garew said softly from his position on the couch.

  Rebecca scrambled backwards as best she could, her hands touching parts of her body, surprised to find herself intact. Pain was still with her; the fading burns of cracking bones and ripping muscles but she could find no evidence of permanent damage.

  The nano-bots! What he did….

  ‘Efficient aren’t they,’ Garew said. ‘I trust you won’t be needing a further demonstration.’

  ‘I can’t tell you something I don’t know!’ Rebecca screamed, tears coursing down her cheeks, fear beginning to overwhelm her. She had crawled into a corner. Her body was shuddering uncontrollably in shock and reaction.

  ‘Please… don’t…’

  Garew slowly stood up and walked slowly over to her. She whimpered, trying to push herself further into the corner, her hands coming up to fend him off, shaking impotently. He knelt down next to her, gently stroking her hair. Rebecca sobbed and flinched.

  ‘I believe you, Rebecca,’ Garew said, taking her chin in his hand and turning her head towards him. He was gratified to see the almost incoherent fear in her eyes.

  ‘Please… let me go,’ she managed to whisper. ‘Please…’

  ‘I will Rebecca, I will,’ he promised. ‘But you must do something for me first.’

  Her eyes widened in dread.

  ‘You will take the new ship. You will accompany the mission to Beenri. You will ensure the success of the attack. Do you understand?’