Starship Magic 1: Broken, page 4
part #1 of Foremid Saga - Starship Magic Series
Kat says through clenched teeth, “Whisper, would you please get the Crucible ready for when we get back, so we don’t meet the security forces on the way out.”
“See there, it wouldn’t kill you to be nice every now and then.”
With the lights back on Kat can now see there is a holster laying on a table next to a stack of paperwork. She grabs the leather holster, strapping it to the side of her right leg. The glass enclosure slides upward with little effort and holds in place as Kat grabs Fury. He is lighter than she thought he was going to be which is a pleasant surprise. Even with all of the unwanted cyborg strength she thought Fury was going to be hard to handle. Putting him in the holster he sticks out of both ends. She wonders again how she’s even going to fire him.
The kickback alone might tear her arm out of its socket, which she doesn’t know if it’s bone or metal at this point. Another itch in her shoulder reminds her about the pills that Whisper found. They were supposed to help her body accept the cybernetics and she hadn’t taken them. It was one of the IVs she had in her. Whisper told her that if she wasn’t careful there could be infections or worse, her body could reject them. With all of her limbs being replaced, they could just pop off.
She puts that lovely thought aside, looking to the glass tablet where the stack of papers is and can see its preliminary tests that were completed. Skimming the document, there isn’t anything that caught her eye on Fury. Nothing but the ballistics reports, which states he is built as a .75 caliber. That is interesting but nothing she needed to know right now, so she just tosses them back on the table.
The lab was not far from where they parked and with Fury in his holster it is time to get back. She just had to make her way around a few hallways. This space station is even smaller than the last one. The Empire doesn’t like to allow the other powers to think they can just place whatever they want within their borders. The Conglomerate has a way of bypassing that. Mostly with money. The Guild normally stays to itself with their superiority over the lumesc, as they like to call those without magic. They don’t want to be in the presence of the inferior any longer than necessary.
Kat rounds the next to last corner, happy that nothing has gone sideways on this little excursion. A blaster fires, ricocheting off the corner of the wall as Kat walks by. Her body flinches back away from the open hallway she was walking into. The space station is supposed to be empty but she's sure isn’t the Martians. They would have called out to stand down before shooting. Which means it has to be someone after her or a security guard. Reaching into her back pocket, she rummages around till she finds her old compact. It had been used for makeup once, but that was in another life. Thankfully it was still in her duffle bag, just the way she left it. She undoes the clasp revealing a mirror. Where the applicator use to be are two thin grenades. Pulling the top one, she flips the latch and tosses it around the corner.
“Everything ready on the ship Whisper?” Kat keeps her voice low.
“Yes, yes, when am I not on top of things?”
“I’m going to figure out how many we’re dealing with and then try to make a break for the ship.”
“You just want to use that toy you brought with you. It's cool, I like toys too, I just don’t need them.”
Kat rolls her eyes, wishing she would get an unsarcastic answer just once. Throwing the grenade around the corner, it skips off the metal floor a couple of times before exploding with pink smoke.
The pink cloud crawls down the hallway, filling up from ceiling to floor. Each particle that touches a surface sends back a signal to the compact. Lighting up the hall as she looks through the mirrored display. She knew this spot would be a choke point but it was the safest place to park the ship. She knew if anyone came after her that it would be here but she didn’t really think anyone would be here.
The outline of the hallway quickly fills out as the smoke coats everything. She can make out a figure of a man standing out in the open. The smoke isn’t able to let her see a picture of him but she sees his strong features. Broad shoulders, strong chin, and he's taller than her too. She also sees a weapon in his right hand, which she guesses is the blaster that he just fired at her. She double checks but he is the only thing in the hallway and only thing that is standing between her and getting away.
A deep, commanding voice comes out from around the hallway. “Mrs. Wylde, that was a practice shot. So, if you wouldn’t mind, could you please make this easy on me? I only need to retrieve our boss’ stolen property, the bracelet, and ship. He wants you dead. I personally would prefer alive but don’t care one way or the other. I’m just forced to do my job here.”
8
Kat listens to the crazy demand of the man who just shot at her. It would be stupid for her to even think about turning herself in. Ryker would just keep his original plan, whatever that was. Nothing in this universe will bring her and Ryker back together, not without bloodshed.
Kat says, “Like I can really believe that. The second you get Whisper and Crucible back, my life is forfeit."
The man answers, “Believe what you want, but I don't want to kill you. I’ve been an admirer of your work for some time now. My regret is that we have to meet like this. I think we would have hit it off.”
Whisper laughs, “I think the meat-bag just tried to hit on you. That is the worst pickup line I have ever heard.”
Kat replies softly, “I know right. He fires a blaster at me and then says we would hit it off. A real charmer that one is and how do you know what a pickup line is?”
“We can discuss that later.”
“You can count on that,” She then replies back to the man, “What do you think I am, an idiot?”
He says, “Alright, how about this. The explosion, the one that caused you to have all of your cybernetic prosthetics. It wasn’t an accident. Mallory, our boss, wanted you dead.”
The compact shakes in Kat’s hand. She already put that together but it had been a few days since she’d put any thought toward that bastard or what he did to her. What she still didn’t understand is why. Her breathing gets shallow and her world begins to spin as all the thoughts and memories of their life together come to the forefront of her mind.
The last few months of their relationship were the haziest before her leaving to search for an illegal AI and an experimental ship. Spots are missing through the entire relationship but whole months aren’t there. Her heart tries to tell her she knows but her brain won’t let her see.
There is a muffled voice in the background but Kat can’t make it out. Her knee hits the floor before she regains her composure and hears Whisper speaking to her.
“Hey, come on Kat, don’t have some traumatic meat-brain meltdown on me now. I’m going to need someone to polish me later and I don’t want it to be the brute over there.”
Kat shakes her head, “Whisper, sorry about that.”
“Yes, well you had better get the good wax out. You know the one, from Andromidus, with the turtle on it. That can make up for it.”
Kat laughs, “Yea I will but we have to deal with muscles over there first.”
“Muscles, huh. I didn’t notice.”
“I… I didn’t… whatever, just help me out here. Do you have any offensive settings, other than sarcasm? I would prefer something longer range than this plasma blade and my fists.”
“Very funny ape, let me see…”
Muscles says, “Hey Kat, if I can call you Kat, just listen. I can’t go against Mallory and neither can you. Maybe if you hand over Whisper and Crucible back over to him, I can convince him to keep you around.”
“If he had me rebuilt why does he want me dead now after spending so much to remake me?” She then holds up Whisper looking directly into the blue rim and says with an annoyed tone, “Any day now Whisper, I don’t think he is going to just keep trying to talk me to death. He will start shooting again. Hopefully.”
Whisper lets out a huff, which is impressive for someone without a physical body or the need to breathe. “I am still learning what I can do myself, there is a lot of data to sift through and unlock.”
“You haven’t done that already?”
“No, I’ve been busy. With the whole escape, hiding from Conglomerate ships, and then saving my brother. Didn’t leave me much idle time to sift through my memory to see what’s there.”
Muscles says, “I don’t know and I didn’t want to do this but what Mallory wants, I have to get.”
Kat watches him raise his hand up toward the ceiling with something in his hands but with the compact display only showing a silhouette it is hard to tell what. A few seconds later alarms start to go off and the bulkhead door slams down behind her. The emergency fire system. Water sprays down soaking her and drenching the hallway. She wipes the hair out of her face, with water still pouring down over her. A quick look at the compact shows the water washing away the camera dust from her grenade and any hopes of a quick get away. Her heart sinks as they both wash down the drain.
Kat look back at her bracelet, “Whisper, I'm going to need that weapon now.”
“Have you ever heard of patience meat-bag?”
Kat sighs, “Yes I have you organic hating AI but if you don't hurry you'll be wiped clean and reprogrammed.”
“Re… reprogrammed, right. I just finished unlocking the program, loading it now. It will be a minute or two till it’s ready.”
The man walks around the corner, over six feet of muscle stands less than a few feet away, towering over her. Right then a strong thought runs through her. He’s handsome, in the he’s-about-to-kill-you sort of way. Strong chin, soft greenish blue eyes, short dark auburn hair, and muscle definition that is showing through his water-soaked clothes. She takes a few steps back, pushing that thought into the what-the-hell-am-I-thinking folder, bumping into the bulkhead door. Her head whips back to the door then back to Muscles. He’s holding a single shotgun blaster across both hands, a weapon that Kat knows too well.
He says, “Kat, hand over the AI. I’ll take the Crucible and Whisper back to Mallory. When I leave, you can just take my ship and get off this station, please. I can tell Mallory I killed you. This is your only warning, then I have to shoot. No matter what I want.”
“I can't and even if I could, I wouldn't.”
The man holds the gun around his hip, “Then there is nothing I can do for you now.”
Kat screams, “Whisper!”
The blaster fires off a round in a tight spread. She feels a searing stab against her right leg as it slides out from underneath her. Her face splashes against the cold metal floor, bouncing once before laying back down. A blaster shell ricochets off the ground and she hears the gun’s action lock a new round into place. Her hand instinctively reaches for her leg, feeling where the blaster hit. Her cybernetics are coated in a skin like material that allowed her to feel her leg. She almost regretted having that feature at that moment, as if she had a choice, but it helped her realize that the wound isn't as bad as it first felt. It took a chunk of skin out, but her leg is still fine. The skin could be fixed, if she lives through this.
“Weapon systems are now online, miniature rail-guns activated.” Whisper’s voice sounds out.
The bracelet housing Whisper changes into flowing sand running across the top of her arm forming five domes across the top of Kat’s hand. A ring connecting to each dome forms around each finger. It makes Kat’s skin crawl feeling like a thousand tiny bugs are walking up her arm and around her hand.
Kat points Whisper at her mystery man screaming, “Fire!” Straining her voice and squeezing her hand to fire.
9
The big man stumbles backward, not ready for a counterattack. Kat braces herself for ear ringing shots but only wisps and grunts of pain fill the air. Each shot is a tiny sliver of metal with only four shots hitting their mark. Two in the chest and one in each leg. He limps back behind the corner, giving Kat a moment to breathe. She props herself up against the door, clenching her leg.
No blood is coming out but it still hurt like hell. It had been a long time since she was shot but not long enough in her mind.
“Better late than never huh Whisper?” Kat says breathing heavily.
“I was perfectly on time. You're still alive aren't you?”
“Cutting it a little close.”
“Yes, well, that is another matter entirely.”
“You know you could just say you're sorry.”
The man coughs, “What are you mumbling about over there?”
Kat snaps back, “None of your business and I thought you weren't talking to me anymore.”
“I can’t give you any more warnings but I think we can talk. We're lucky you know. You almost hit my heart. That would have been bad for the both of us.”
“What do you mean bad for the both of us, that doesn’t make any sense. If you die, then I could get the hell off this space station.”
“Come on Katrice, you should know Mallory better than that. Do you really think I was here of my own free will? He surgically implanted a bomb next to my heart after a mission where I needed some minor surgery. If my heart stops beating, bomb goes off. Which would take half the space station with it.”
“He’s a cold hearted bastard sure but never did anything like that when I was around.” As the words leave her lips she knows that's wrong. He killed her crew and tried to kill her. So why would him planting a bomb in someone be surprising?
“Are you defending him now? He did the same thing to you, just in your new limbs.”
Kat takes in a sharp breath. She had never even thought to check herself for anything. He could have put a tracker in them as well, which is how this guy found her so fast. She scratches her leg, wanting to feel her nails dig into her skin. Even knowing the feeling was artificial, it settled her thoughts. She needed to know that she is in control, not him.
Kat roughly runs her fingers over her head, “What do you mean?”
“Like I said, when you got your new arms and legs they put a bomb in each. Maybe one in your head too, I wasn't in his good graces at that point. You also have a tracker somewhere on you and the ship. It’s how I found you. Believe me or not, your choice. I only have what some of the other medical techs who were there when they put you back together said, but I don’t have any reason to doubt them.”
Kat asks softly, “Whisper, can you check to see if he is telling the truth?”
“I might be able to if I use my nanites to search your cybernetics. I've never done that before though.”
“Do it and hurry, because I don't think he's lying.”
Muscles says, “That mumbling that you’re doing over there. You’re talking to Whisper aren't you?”
Kat makes a pfsh noise, “I just like to mumble to myself, it's a nervous habit.”
“It's ok, you don't have to tell me. I know you're already paired with her, and I know you came here for Fury. Mallory wants the project scrapped so he can restart it, but since your exit with Whisper. Let's just say there isn't much left to start over with. Making what you took priceless. But you already knew that.”
Whisper says, “Kat, not to alarm you but we have a slight problem here. There are two heavy yield explosives in you.”
“How big we talking here?”
“Enough to begin a planet cracking job twice over. With what you have in you, it will blow up this space station and anything within a few hundred miles.”
“Ok. Not good. So what do we do, because I can't disarm them.”
“We can just disarm you and throw them out the airlock.”
“This isn't the time for jokes.”
“This is the perfect time for jokes. It helps diffuse the situation and keep us cool-headed so we don't blow a gasket.”
“Wow. Seriously.”
Whisper sighs, “You and your primitive monkey brain have no sense of humor, you know that.”
Kat clenches her jaw tight, “Can you disarm the explosives or not?”
“Yes, yes. Give me a few minutes but I won't be able to be used as a weapon while doing this. I'm not programmed to surgically diffuse an explosive. Especially one that can crack a planet in two. Just keep him talking.”
Whisper turns back into flowing sand and into a bracelet around Kat’s wrist.
“Great, just great.” Kat rubs at her forehead. “Hey Muscles, what’s your name?”
He says, “Oh yeah, I’m sorry about that. Where are my manors, its Graven.”
“Graven!? As in Graven Veridge?”
“You reviewed my work I take it?”
“I knew you were trouble when you applied.” Kat sighs, thinking back to the day she left Ryker’s side more than two years ago. How Graven was there in the background, watching over the two of them. She wonders if Ryker knew something like this would happen. That the people she hired to do her work while she was gone were going to be coming after her one day.
“Do you know why I do what I do?” he asks, breaking the silence.
“Of course I do. I’ve read your file. Revenge.”
“Wrong. I won’t lie that it didn’t start out that way. But the longer that I searched, the more I realized that it was more. It was to avenge those who can't do it themselves. Which starts with my family.”
“Well isn't that noble. You should really apply for an award or two.”
“I know what I’m doing won't bring my family back. If I can bring the people down who orchestrated the rebellion, I might prevent others from going through the same pains that I have. Not to mention I might be able to have a little peace knowing they didn't get away with killing all those people.”
Kat thinks about his explanation and it sounds a lot like hers. She wants to bring those in the rebellion down, preventing them from regrouping, and killing more people. It was never a question of justice for her, it was vengeance. They killed her parents and deserve the same. Looking down at her leg, exposed metal around fake skin reminds her what her quest for vengeance has given her.
