Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (64 page)

Covertly
he checked his HUD, feeling Defender bring up his defensive protocols. He noted
about ten guards standing in a column in the corridors around the throne. More
were coming up behind him. Only two had plasma weapons. Both were at port arms
behind the king.

“I'm
in their central system Admiral. The others have been located and I have
disabled the electronic locks to their doors. I am using my vocoder over the
antiquated speaker phone system to order them out.”

“Nice,”
Irons muttered nodding minutely. “Red queen?” he asked, subvocalizing.

“Exactly.
I didn't think you caught the reference?”

“I
do now,” Irons said nodding to the scarlet queen. Her eyes glittered. His
sensors detected the unpowered armored suit under her layers of red silk. It
barely fit over her ample frame. Her outfit was trimmed in gold and silver. She
had her wig and face paint on. If he didn't know any better he'd think she was
a clown or a circus performer. She turned to speak softly to the king.

The
Admiral's jaw tightened. He noted the delegate leader Mayfair speaking with the
king and queen in a low voice. The queen imperiously waved for her to step back
and join her fellows. Reluctantly Mayfair came to attention, hands clasped
together in front of her. She backed away slowly, a slight grimace on her face.
She looked decidedly nervous.

“Want
to know what she said?” Sprite asked.

“I
can guess,” Irons replied dryly as he arrived at the base of the dais.

“It
wasn't off with is head, but you're warm,” Sprite replied.

“What
the hell's going on?” Irons asked, loud enough to interrupt the royal couple's
discussion. He glanced at the delegates who looked a little nervous.

“The
Pyrax delegation has offered your services,” the queen replied haughtily. “We
have accepted.”

“Oh
they did did they?” Irons said ominously, turning to the delegation. “They
didn't have the right to offer my services to anyone.”

Willis
looked a little annoyed. She turned on Mayfair.

“Well,
you did want a new home Admiral,” Mayfair said, with a lifted chin and sniff of
disdain. “Here it is. I don't expect thanks.”

The
Admiral's lip curled. “And you're not going to get any. Where I go is no
concern of yours miss. Not here,” Irons replied turning back to the royal
couple.

“Yes
here!” the queen said, smacking the pommel of her golden staff on an arm rest.
“They have given thou to us as a gift!” the queen said, jutting her chin out.
“In return they may leave to spread word of our rightful assumption of the
throne,” she said turning a look on the delegates. A few looked relieved.
Others were warily watching the Admiral to catch his reaction.

“That's
not what we said,” Mayfair said, shaking her head as the Admiral turned to her.
“She's twisting my words Admiral,” she said, voice dripping with raw appeal. He
could tell she was only partially telling the truth. She looked at the Admiral
in appeal hands apart in supplication. Her eyes were wide. She licked her dry
lips, suddenly as afraid of him as she was of the monarchs and their lackeys.
“They have had most of our people locked up and confiscated our radios. I had
to do something. Say something. To get word out.”

Willis
caught his eye and nodded in confirmation. His jaw set. “And why is that?”
Irons asked turning to the royal couple.

“Because
thou are all our subjects. Only those we choose may use technology,” the king
said, staring at them. “You shall be our new Meryden.”

“Well,
that answers that question,” Sprite said. “I was curious where all this would
lead.”

Irons
however had had enough. “I'm a citizen of the Federation,” Irons said,
shoulders and back straightening. His voice dropped into his best commanding
tone. “I am an officer of the Federation Navy. Any attempt to interfere with
me, to confine me against my will, will be considered a hostile act. One you
will regret,” he growled menacingly, subsonic bass adding a hint of thunder to
his voice. “Briefly.”

“Let's
not be too hasty now,” Mayfair said eying the guards. She wasn't at all happy
about being caught in a cross fire.

“No
let's,” Irons growled as his shields spun up. Targets appeared on his HUD. The
air around him began to crackle and pop. They could see a blue shimmer around
him. Dust danced at his feet.

“You
dare challenge me?” the king asked. “You dare?” He lunged off the throne then
staggered in the powered combat armor. It looked like the gilded suit was more
cosmetic than functional. Most likely he was using it to awe and terrorize the
simple people here, but Irons wasn't that simple.

“Seems
like you've got a problem,” Irons observed noting the left leg actuators were
seizing up. “Which I'm not inclined to help you with.”

“Kneel
before me or die worm!” the king thundered at maximum volume. He raised a fist.

Irons
grimaced, not in pain but in sympathy for those who had no protection against
the subsonics in that voice. There was an awful whine from one of the sub
woofers. The king was laying it on thick, even the guards were starting to
kneel, heads down.

“No,”
he said, matching the volume with his own and meeting the king eye to eye.
There was a great deal of malice there, but a little shock as well. The old man
wasn't familiar with anyone daring to stand up to his terror tactics. His eyes
narrowed in sudden rage. Irons however was anticipating that reaction.

“Then
I shall teach you to mind thy betters!” the king snarled, pulling a plasma gun.
Irons lunged forward, slapping the gun aside and twisting it out of the man's
armored grip.

The
king looked stunned at the sudden speed and strength as the grip of the weapon
shattered in his armored hands. Irons reached into the open helmet and crushed
the man's wind pipe and the blood vessels in his throat. He snapped the old
man's neck for good measure. He spun as a soldier came at him from behind, body
checked the man then activated his monomolecular knife in his right hand. His
index finger morphed and slid through the man's waist. The guard fell screaming
onto the flagstones, cut into pieces.

Irons
turned and hefted the plasma gun. nanites interfaced with it easily. He pointed
it toward the charging men then up to the ceiling above. One burst and the
ceiling fell crushing them.

“Mayfair,
Willis, we're leaving,” he growled not sparing them a look. He had better
things to do with his attention. He didn't care if they came or not. A part of
him hoped they didn't. He could feel Sprite using his communications to bounce
a signal through every tablet in range to contact the shuttle and the ship. Or
at least trying to do so, the thick walls were blocking most of the signal from
getting out.

“The
others have been freed Admiral,” Sprite reported. “I am directing them to the
shuttles now.”

“Good.”
He turned and dodged a clumsy swing by a soldier. Others were trying to circle
around him. He kept the king's dead powered armor at his back. His first
targets were the guards with the plasma rifles. When they exploded into flaming
gore he turned his attention on the other guards in the room. One was already inside
his immediate threat zone. Instead of rebuffing him with the shield he took him
head on.

“Oh
I don't think so,” he growled. He fell into a horse stance, then swatted the
pike aside. He reached out and grabbed the man and tossed him over his shoulder
with his free hand then turned the plasma gun on the group of men near a side
door. One shot and the gun failed and began to spark.

“Crap,”
he sighed. He tossed it onto the flagstones near the base of the dais making
sure it broke.

“Stalemate,”
Sprite reported.

“Not
quite,” Irons kicked the body of the king. He toppled over backwards. The two
men behind it were crushed to the ground. “Your king is dead. Keep pissing me
off and you're next,” he bellowed.

The
ladies in waiting gasped looking away. The queen's jaw clenched but her eyes
were suddenly bright with hunger. Irons grimaced.

“Thou....”
her jowls shook. Her face was white except for the big red circles on each
cheek. “Thou art our new consort. With you by my side we shall rule supreme!”

“Sorry
lady, I don't do planets. Especially planets with psycho nut job rulers like
you. I'm a space Admiral,” Irons said dryly.

“We
didn't ask thy opinion,” she gave him a haughty look. He grimaced as her jowls
quivered.

“Look
red queen, it's not going to happen. You are definitely not his type,” Sprite
said from the speaker embedded in her throne. She blinked at it.

“What
is this? We didn't call for anything!” she stared at the throne.

“She
isn't just anyone. She is my AI. Which is in your system.”

“Get
her out,” the queen snarled coldly. “I command it.” She jutted her chin out.

“Just
as soon as I leave. With these people,” Irons said nodding to the others.
“Though I am sorely tempted to leave them behind,” he said darkly, giving
Mayfair a dirty look. The woman hunched her shoulders and didn't look his way.

“That
is quite impossible,” the queen said shaking her her head and waved a snow
white hanky to the door. “They may leave. Good riddance to them all. But thou.
Thou shall remain here. We so order it.”

“I
don't think so,” the Admiral growled turning away from her in disgust. She
wasn't armed. “You folks stay behind me. Sprite? We're going.”

He
moved for the door. His shields were fully charged. The men on either side of
the door leveled stunners. He grimaced as the queen flicked her hand down. The
men grimaced then their fingers tightened on the triggers. Blasts of energy
struck his shields then rebounded off to the nearest metal objects.

Since
the guards were in crude body armor they were struck hard. They both spasmed
in  place then fell to the ground flopping like fish. Irons looked back to the
queen, smiled and shook his head. “You can't stop me. Piss me off and, well...”
he said. He signaled his arm.

Sections
of his skin began to glow blue, then purple then red. His arm morphed and a
plasma blaster was now where his wrist had been. He turned and pointed. A bolt
of purple plasma leapt out and slammed into the doorway just as a group of
soldiers were coming through. The men were splattered all over the chamber.

After
a moment they could hear sobs and whimpers from some who had survived the
blast.

The
queen had been turned away by one of her ladies. The women surrounded their
mistress. Loath to kill an innocent the Admiral nodded. “Let that be a lesson.
I'll take this place apart if I have to. You can get out of the way or watch
your kingdom crumble around you,” he snarled.

“Go!”
one of the ladies said. She looked up, face full of wrath. “If you ever return
though...”

“I
won't. Believe me lady, I won't,” Irons shook his head, noting the queen had
fainted. He turned back to the delegates. “Let's go people,” he said. He was
amused by Mayfair's stunned look. Willis though looked like she was ready for
action. She definitely knew how to handle the shortened pike in her hands. He
blinked in surprise and then turned away from the questioning thought. “Sprite
the shuttle.”

“I'm
talking to the pilots now.”

“Get
my launch down here ASAP. It's built for this. That shuttle is too big to land
here,” he said.

“Aye
aye Admiral. On it,” Sprite replied.

“Fine,”
Irons said scanning the area. Fortunately the native civilians had barricaded
themselves in their rooms, removing themselves from the situation in the best
way they could.

“I
have finally gotten access to the space port's communications. Accessing it
now. I'm punching a signal to Destiny. I'm in the launch. Boat bay alarms are
going off, it's cleared. Powering up, flight check will be brief.”

He
allowed Miss Willis to take point so he could play rear guard as they made
their way out. He hustled them along, making sure they didn't dawdle. At the
entrance of the courtyard the others paused, warily staring at the guards on
the battlements.

“Problem?”
the Admiral asked, coming through to the front. He blinked a little at the
bright light. There were a few bodies in the courtyard. Most were servants. One
was a member of the delegation, the man that had been behind Miss Willis. Most
of his torso was gone.

“It
is a death trap,” Willis said. He was curious as to how she hadn't gotten her
ass blown apart like the others. She was either lucky or devious enough to let
others take point.

“Maybe.
Maybe not,” he said and pointed. Out of the sun his launch came in. It spun in
place then settled, as close to them as possible. As it flared out, dust was
kicked up by it's gravity drive, blinding anyone in the area. The hatch opened.
“It's tight, but it should get us to the space port or Destiny. Everyone in
folks,” he said and waved.

The
guards stared as the people rushed out and boarded the shuttle. The Admiral
grimaced as one aimed at them. He raised his arm and fired. The plasma bolt
sizzled into the man's chest, ripping through the primitive plate armor and
throwing him backward over the battlements with a wail.