Chapter 23

There were about twenty beds in the infirmary, and most of them were occupied. Sleeping patients, however, was not a large enough safety margin for these commandos. Every single one of those patients was flat unconscious. Sash and Mueller had seen to that, filling the room with an anesthetic gas once they were quietly inside. They had entered the room, locked the door behind them, squatted down and unleashed the gas from a silent, pressurized canister. The room was dark, but their goggles had lit up surfaces and bodies in a hazy green. Five solid minutes into the gassing, they packed away the canister and set about searching the infirmary for the Koralizine.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Thompson and Sgt. Reblic had worked their way down the corridor to the other side of the building. They passed another bunk room of thirty or so sleeping bunks. Later, we would ask ourselves why we hadn’t gassed those rooms too. It seemed so obvious in retrospect.

In any case, Thompson and Reblic finally made it to the other side and stopped. In the corner, reaching beyond the back of the building, was an adjacent equipment warehouse, and beyond that, loading docks. Two cargo doors with plastic windows separated the men from the warehouse. Using all the sensors they had, and a few good visual checks for good measure, the two men carefully slipped inside the warehouse. The cavernous, yet cluttered room had a bit more light than the infirmary did, as overhanging bulbs set high in the ceiling provided a constant light source. The light cast shadows among the equipment, some of it quite tall, and there were dozens of places to walk through, squeeze into, or just generally trip over. The two men stepped noiselessly and cautiously, picking their way to the left rear.

A couple of shared laughs punctuated the air, and the men froze, ducking behind equipment. A chuckle followed, and a bit of conversation was heard as they sound drifted out of range. Thompson and Reblic held their position for a full minute and a half, then continued their stealthy advance.

They finally made it to the far rear corner of the warehouse, where there was a small closet. They did another quick sweep all around to make sure they were alone. When they were satisfied that the area was clear for the moment, Lt. Col. Thompson crouched, his assault rifle pointed at the closet door, his finger a hair above the trigger. When Thompson was ready, Sgt. Reblic crept forward, and with his assault rifle aimed in one hand, he reached for the knob with the other. He looked over at Thompson, and Thompson did a quick count to three with a mere whisper. Reblic yanked the closet door open and brought his weapon to bear on its contents.

With a hiss that pierced the air, the white blur flashed instantly, then collapsed to the ground as the figure was held back by makeshift handcuffs. The creature’s face flashed at the intruders, the light from outside revealing a small row of fangs and a rapidly fluttering neck.

“Are you Geelan?” Reblic asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

The creature froze at the name, and stared at the odd creatures invading his tiny cell, with funny goggles on their faces and large weapons pointed at his face.

“Are you Geelan?” Reblic repeated.

“We’re friendlies,” Thompson added. “We’re here to get you out.”

The creature looked back and forth at them, and the neck flanges rippled briefly. He made a little sound, an unintelligible squawk of assent, and Reblic and Thompson slung their weapons on their arms as they raced to his side. Geelan collapsed against Thompson while Reblic worked to free the binds on his hands and feet.

Sitting in the command post, I looked over at Bogg. He had been listening intently on his headphones, and trying to see the monitors that the technicians were watching. “They got Geelan,” I told him, but he already knew. His body was tense, his fists clenched in anticipation.

I closed my eyes and refocused back on the HUD, peering through the soldiers’ own eyes. Geelan was naked and gaunt, and his normally slick white skin was now mottled yellow and green. I didn’t know anything about Sirian physiology, but he looked very sick. With Thompson so close to him, I got a good look at his face. It was contracted and looked abnormally rough. The eyes squinted against the light – it appeared he had not seen much daylight in weeks. But what was very clear were the bruises and dried blood. And the swelling. Lots of that. It looked like his face had been pressed and beaten with a flatiron.

“Can you walk?” Reblic asked. Geelan didn’t say anything.

“I’ll carry him,” Thompson said. “You provide the intel and fire cover.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thompson heaved him up in a fireman’s carry, and they began the process of working back out of the warehouse the way they had come.

Back in the infirmary, Sash and Mueller had practically turned the place upside down and had not found any Koralizine. Tensions were high, and they were frustrated. They didn’t have time for this kind of nonsense.

Finally, a gasp came from Sash. From a small cabinet he grasped a vial and held it up. I could just barely read the green lettering. “Package A is in the bag,” he whispered into his throat-mike. Mueller rushed over, and they scooped up several rows of vials and packed them carefully in with the gear on their body. It wasn’t enough to save three thousand children, but reverse-engineering the formula would provide them with all the Koralizine they would need.

But this was not yet a time to celebrate, because this is when everything went south.

An enormous and slightly inebriated man – one of the miners, no doubt – slammed open the infirmary door. “Hey, Doc!” he shouted, flipping on the overhead lights.

It only took a second for a lot to happen. Sash and Mueller spun around in a crouch, their weapons trained. The miner froze when he saw them, his eyes wide as saucers. His gaze flicked around the room, and he registered the fact that despite a lot of lights and noise, not a single patient was moving. He looked back at the intruders, yelled Shit!, and spun for the door.

“Get him!” Sash hissed at Mueller.

Mueller dove after the surprise guest, trying to catch him before he reached the doors. Sash saw that he wasn’t going to make it, and fired a single shot into the man’s leg. He screamed in pain and turned to grab it. He saw Mueller only a few steps away, and with surprising quickness he grabbed a rolling cart from the floor and flung it headlong into Mueller. It knocked the soldier off course, throwing him into a nearby countertop, giving the miner the split second he needed to flee through the doors. Sash fired another shot, then chased after the interloper as Mueller recovered and plowed through the doors.

The miner was screaming at the top of his lungs, and managed to pull a fire alarm just moments before Mueller’s two shots dropped him dead to the ground. The corridor exploded in lights, alarms, and rain. There was an immediate roar of shouts and curses from all the men in the bunk rooms.

“Stun grenades!” Sash shouted at Mueller. He directed Mueller to one bunk room while Sash ran backwards to handle the other.

Mueller unclipped a grenade and tossed it blind into the room, ducking back away from the concussion blast that immediately followed. There were screams and shouts, things falling and glass crashing….general pandemonium. A moment later, Sash’s own grenade exploded, but not before several miners had spilled into the hall and were jumping on Sash. Sash took a valiant swing of his weapon, but he was quickly pinned down.

“Get back!” Mueller shouted. “Get back!” He released two shots into a miner, and a third into another. The men screamed and fell away, writhing on the ground. Mueller rushed forward, slamming the butt of his rifle into the temple of a third miner. Sash had managed to pull out his combat knife and had thrust it into the gut of the last. Behind them, victims of Mueller’s stun grenade were stumbling out of their bunk room.

“Boss, we gotta get out of here!” Mueller said. He helped Sash to his feet.

“Where’s Bravo?” the General pressed.

Beside me, Major Chesney spoke with clipped urgency. “Zulu to Alpha, Zulu to Alpha, Bravo is in the warehouse, they have retrieved Package B. They are heading to your location. Do you need backup?”

Sash answered her over his mike. “Get those recon teams ready. We might need fire support.”

“Yes, sir,” she answered, then started giving orders to the two reconnaissance teams outside the compound.

Sash and Mueller continued moving toward the end of the corridor, but were cut off by a team of four Earth Marines racing to the scene of chaos. The two teams surprised each other, and opened up on each other at point blank range. The Marine’s guns,unsilenced, boomed like cannons in the small corridor, while Sash and Mueller’s silenced weapons discharged their lethal load into the Marine crowd. Three of the four fell instantly, and the last one took cover in a nearby room. More soldiers could be heard coming.

“Exfil! Exfil!” Sash shouted. He turned back the other way, and Mueller followed him. “Zulu, Alpha! Reroute Bravo!”

“Roger!” Chesney acknowledged.

Better to mow their way through a bunch of exhausted, stunned miners than well-drilled, alert Earth Marines. Thompson and Reblic would have to find another way out, guided by Major Chesney in the command post. I could hear Chesney instantly rattling off instructions to them. She directed them to head back into the warehouse, and to exit via the loading docks.

Sash and Mueller battled their way down the length of the building. The element of surprise had been completely lost, but the sprinklers raining down on frightened, disoriented miners, many of them badly concussed, afforded some minor assistance.

Thompson and Reblic were suddenly having their own bad time. They had been discovered in the warehouse, and were being fired heavily on, literally driven back towards the docks as they tried to cover their retreat. Thompson had urged Geelan to walk so that he could fight properly, but almost immediately Geeelan had taken three or four shots, one that tore his cheek into a sick blossom of Sirian blood and flesh. Thompson heaved him up again, firing his weapon at the Marines behind him. They got to the docks and jumped down. They ran in between a couple of large hauling trucks, as close to the side of the building as they could. When the got past the trucks, they saw they were quickly being surrounded.

“In the truck!” Reblic shouted to his superior officer. Reblic leaped in, firing all around outside while Thompson pushed Geelan in, and climbed in himself. When they were all aboard, Thompson gunned the motor, threw the clutch, and the truck jumped forward with a rumble. They ducked as bullets smashed the glass and thunked against the truck. They drove pedal to the metal alongside the building, intending to turn the corner as soon as it came and barrel straight down the hill and out of the compound. To hell with stealth now. They were going to drive right through the fence.

They never made it.

As the truck began its turn around the building, there was the sound of a rushing whistle, then the entire truck exploded as it was thrown completely off the ground, and crashed onto its side. Bullets riddled the truck as the Earth Marines closed in on their wounded prey.

Sash and Mueller had just managed to exit the building on that side. They turned to the explosion behind them and saw the truck go down. With their weapons opening fire, they headed quickly toward it, having already been advised by Chesney that the Bravo team and Package B were inside it. At the same time, one of the reconnaissance teams burst onto the scene, providing support fire. I didn’t know where the other team was, but I guessed they were working on a flanking maneuver, or preparing to lay some kind of distraction fire.

Sash and Mueller managed to pull the wounded Thompson and Reblic out of the truck. The recon team joined up with them, and pulled out Geelan. He was completely limp, his body covered with blood. As hard as I looked, there was simply no way to tell from here if he was still alive. I dearly hoped so, and not just for his sake.

The team fought their way down the hill, taking hits and dragging more men with them. The Marines were ferocious, as Sash had warned. Well trained and primed for action. Major Chesney ordered four vehicles, an armored personnel carrier and three fighting vehicles to close on our people’s position. They got them loaded up, and raced out of there.

“Is Geelan still alive?!” I asked Chesney.

“Alpha, Zulu. What’s the condition of Package B?” she asked.

A strange voice answered. “Uhhh…I’m working on him, but…I don’t think he’s gonna make it. He’s…barely alive.”

“I’ve got to see him!” I shouted. “Now!”

“They’re a little busy right now!” Chesney shot back.

“What he knows is what we came here for. Dammit, get us to him, quickly!”

She didn’t even acknowledge me. But she knew I was right, and simply ordered the command post to rendezvous with the fleeing convoy.

After several tense minutes, we drove into a small, dark parking garage underground, and screeched to a halt right next to the armored personnel carrier.

Bogg, Chesney, and I jumped out of our command post and rushed over. A couple medics were feverishly working over Thompson, Reblic, Geelan, and the other soldiers that had taken hits. Sash’s face was drenched in sweat, and he looked exhausted. He didn’t even seem to recognize me when I came into view.

Bogg and I moved to Geelan. He was very near death. His face had only a shadow of life left in it. The rest of his body was motionless.

“I’m doing my best,” the medic complained, throwing his blood-covered hands up, “but I just don’t know this physiology.” Bogg tried to assist and between the two of them they worked to stabilize Geelan’s condition. He had been shot four times, on top of the beatings and malnourishment he’d been suffering for weeks. His constitution amazed me.

I knelt my face to him. I think he was surprised to see me, but he didn’t have the life in him left to show it.

“Geelan,” I said. “Geelan. What happened?” I searched his face for answers. I had been chasing this guy as a criminal for weeks. I had been actively hating his guts ever since he stood me up on that street back on Earth. And here he lay at Death’s door, very possibly innocent of all of my judgment and undeserving of all the retribution I had been so articulately planning for him. “What happened to you?”

His eyes looked up at mine. Only one side of his neck fluttered, and he winced and gasped in pain. After a moment, he looked back at me. “They found out, Sean. They found out about our rimonium. They…” he swallowed and started to choke. The medic raised his head, helping him to regain his ability to speak. “They tortured me for it. Did….horrible things.” He looked at me, and his eyes were sad. “I’m sorry, Sean. I…could not….resist. I told them.”

“Told them what, Geelan? What did you tell them?”

“I told them where it is. I couldn’t…take any more pain…”

“Yes, yes, where is it? Where is the rimonium?”

“Matthias III. It is on Matthias III. In the Boldin cluster.”

I looked at Bogg. “I know where that is,” he told me.

I looked back at Geelan. To think I had thought so badly of him…that I had assumed he was nothing but a slimy crook. And all that had happened was that he had been abducted before we could meet, and beaten and starved for the sake of Atlas’ bottom line. “How did they find out, Geelan? How did they find out about our business venture?”

Geelan’s head rocked ever so slightly. “I don’t know. They had all kinds of stuff…documents I had given you, only on paper. Never scanned.” His eyes looked up at the roof of the vehicle, as if the universe would offer an answer, in honor of any decent creature’s last request.

The universe didn’t need to answer. I sat back, like I had been hit in the stomach. I had always thought he was paranoid. I had disregarded his insistence on the utmost security, and I had scanned those documents in myself after I had met with him. If they were part of my HUD, they were – to a world-class hacker – part of the SuperNet itself. And if that under-resourced, though dedicated loner Colette Thornbush could work her way into my personal financial and travel records, there was no doubt that Atlas or its hired guns could have found their way to those rimonium documents.

I looked at Geelan, a wave of guilt and shame crushing the wind out of me. This man was suffering and dying because of my negligence. Because I didn’t take him seriously enough in the beginning. Oh, I sure took him seriously when he didn’t show up with our money, but in completely the wrong way. I felt sick, and I left the van, ready to vomit.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bogg lean into Geelan, and as my stomach roiled and heaved, I heard him ask Geelan about his lawyer, Marff Rindilosk. Their conversation was brief, but confirmed beyond a doubt that Rindilosk had endured the same fate as Geelan, on the guess that Rindilosk would know where the rimonium was. Geelan said Rindilosk didn’t know, that he had never told him. And then Geelan died. The medic tried to revive him, but there was no hope. It was over.

So there had been two unnnecessary deaths in this whole Atlas mess. Two unnecessary Sirian deaths. Sash had been watching the whole thing.

When Bogg looked at me, his eyes were slate gray. “This Earth company has killed two Sirians,” he said. “And there is no accountability.”

I returned his gaze. “And this Earth company is headed to Matthias III to get some more.”

We stared at each other.

“How would you like to lay claim to that rimonium instead of Atlas?” I asked. “I’ve got a very profitable business partnership set up with a Sirian. I need someone deserving to take his place.”

“Will you accept a partnership with the Sirian government?”

I pointed at Sash. “Will you give this man the military support he needs to shut this place down for good? And keep Earth’s greed at bay?”

He looked at Sash, then back at me. “Every day that Earth is thwarted is a good one.” He shook my hand, then shook Sash’s.

“Then let’s get to Matthias III,” I said. “They’ve already got a head start.” I turned to Sash. “General, you’ve got a world to lead.”

He moved over to me and embraced me. We patted each other on the back, then he held me in his grip as he looked me over. “Good luck, Sean.” He held up a vial of Koralazine. “Things are starting to look up already.”

I smiled at him. “Naya is a lucky girl. Her mother will be very pleased.”

He nodded. “I’m planning to take care of her next.” He looked back at Bogg and I. “I’ll send you with a small element of my troops, Sean. Get to Matthias III and claim that rimonium. Whatever you do, don’t let Atlas get a hold of it.” He turned behind him, and called out. “Major Chesney!”

“Sir!”

“Take command of a platoon and escort these two to Matthias III.” He looked at Bogg. “I trust you can provide the rest of the military support you’re going to need?”

“We’ll take care of it,” Bogg replied.

“Yes, sir!” Chesney responded. She turned to us. “Let’s go, gentlemen.”