Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two (22 page)

Aaron stood and looked around. The room was long but narrow, empty except for the broken furniture. An archway led from this room to a dark hallway. The building was eerily silent.

Satisfied that he was alone and that no one was rushing to see what the noise had been, he
made several motions, verifying that his leg would support him even if he made sudden changes in his motion. The leg held.

He moved to the arch and looked through. The hall was empty and led off to both the left and right. He looked both ways and listened. There wasn’t the first hint as to which way he should go. After a brief pause, he turned and walked to the right.

Chapter
28

When Susan left the hangar after delivering their cargo, she had walked slowly, not hurrying at all. It had taken her a little over two minutes to reach the mess hall, but it only took her about fifteen seconds to sprint back through the corridors and burst out into the midst of the crew.

They were gathered
in a circle, everyone standing except for Thomas, who sat on the floor, and Jessica, who was kneeling down, trying to treat Thomas’s wounds.

“What the hell’s going on?” she demanded, catching sight of Thomas. He looked up at her and she
studied him carefully. Russell hadn’t exaggerated—someone had beat the shit out of him. “What are you doing here?”

“Aaron sent me,” Thomas said simply.

“Aaron did?” Susan repeated, her distrust obvious.

Thomas nodded, and then he retold the
same story that he told to Aaron.

Susan listened with growing horror as Thomas spoke. She, like Aaron,
suspected she knew who had taken Eric and Thomas. She reached out telepathically, but Russell, Adam, and Jessica seemed oblivious to the possible link.

“He also said that if he’s not here by midnight, then takeoff and do not return
,” Thomas said.

“What?” Susan said, confused. “Why the hell would we do that?”

“He said that if they catch him, it won’t be long before they come for the ship and crew.”

“Who are these people?” Eve asked. She was watching Susan closely.

Susan shrugged and directed her attention to Thomas. “Any idea?”

“Aaron and I only came up with two
: the Miram Union or possibly bounty hunters trying to collect on the bounty that Bathia offered for us.”

Susan considered both of those possibil
ities remote. Of the two, the Miram Union was more likely than the bounty hunters, but deep down, she really felt it was others like her and the other Commonwealth volunteers.

She focused all of her thoughts on Thomas, trying to sense any deception in him. There was none.

“What do we do?” Russell asked.

Susan looked up. She had been momentarily lost in her thoughts. Everyone was looking at her. “First,” she said
, speaking slowly to give her more time to gather her thoughts, “we need to get Thomas to the med bay. Grady, would you help him?”

The large alien
bowed his head, and then he and Jessica escorted Thomas out of the cargo hold.

“Terry,” Susan called, making the engineer jump, “have you had any luck adding a smuggling compartment to one of our transports?”

Terry nodded. “Yeah, there’s a small compartment added to the gray cargo transport.”

“How small?” Susan asked. “Can a man fit in it?”

“Yeah, easily,” Terry replied. “I reinforced the sides so it shouldn’t show up on any scans.”

“What are you thinking?” Russell asked. “Are we going after Aaron?”

“I’m not going to leave him here, regardless of what he says,” Susan replied. There was an angriness to her, like she was daring anyone to argue with her.

Russell nodded. “I agree, but we need to be able to smuggle two men on board.”
Her eyes swung toward him and he shrugged. “Just in case Aaron manages to free Eric.”

Eve snorted. “As far as I’m concerned, they can keep
him.”

Susan shook her head. “First, he knows about us, so we don’t want him giving us up. Secondly, I doubt Aaron will stop now until he frees Eric. Aaron doesn’t have any give-up in him.” She turned her attention to Terry. “So how about it? Will this compartment hold two men?”

Terry thought about it. “It will,” he said slowly, sounding less than convincing.

“Are you sure?” Susan demanded.

“Yes,” Terry replied, “but it’ll be tight. I really hope they like each other.”

Susan waved her hand in the direction of the transports. “Go on and get it prepped,” she said to Terry.

Terry turned and jogged over to the transports.

She glanced to Russell. “You go
, too. Have him show you how to access the concealed compartment.”

Without a word, Russell sprinted after Terry.

Susan turned her attention to the others; they were all watching her expectantly.

“Russell, Adam, Jessica, and I are going after Aaron.
I want Eve and Kyle on the bridge, prepping the ship for launch. We’ll call you when we’re in the spaceport and you can then call customs and get us on the list to be inspected.”

Eve shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Susan’s eyes widened in surprise. “Which part?”

“The part where you take the ship’s pilot and leave me and Kyle to get the ship ready. I know a lot about spaceships, but I certainly don’t have the codes to this one.”

With a start, Susan realized she was right. The launch codes were known only to Aaron, Russell, Adam, and herself; they didn’t want the hired hands to take the ship and leave them behind. She didn’t much like the idea of giving the codes to Eve or Kyle.

“Besides,” Eve added, pointing at Adam, “he’s the one who’s flown this ship. He’s the one
that needs to be here.”

Susan glanced at Adam, who was in turn watching her. His heightened reflexes and senses would come in useful on a rescue mission, but a lot of good it would do to rescue Aaron and then not be able to take off
in a timely manner.

“Leave him,” Eve said, motioning toward Adam, “and I’ll go with you.”

“You?” Susan asked. For some reason she found herself not liking the idea. Eve was an intelligent woman. Over the last couple of weeks, Eve’s thoughts had tended to be suspicious. She had said that Aaron and his group had the look of military back when they interviewed her about possibly hiring on as crew—she had suspected something even then. She knew they had been given a lot to blow up that prison ship in the Miram Union, but lately she was beginning to suspect there was more to the story.

“Yes, me,” Eve said, smiling. “I am quite good with one of those carbines. That’ll leave Adam and Kyle to get the ship ready to go.”

After a moment Susan nodded. “Go get four of the carbines and six of the Logan handguns and bring them to the transport.”

Eve nodded and slapped Molly on the arm. The two of them ran off into the main part of the ship.

“You sure about this?” Adam asked. “I could be of use to you.”

Susan nodded. “You’re going to be of use to us here.” She turned and began running.

“Where are you going?” Adam called.

“To get Jessica,” Susan hollered over her shoulder.
As an afterthought, she added, “You come, too,” right before she ran through the opening to the corridor.

Moments later,
Susan, Adam, and Kyle entered the med bay. She hadn’t meant for Kyle to come along, but it didn’t matter.

Thomas lay on one of the medical beds and Jessica was leaning over him, working on his ribs.

“How is he?” Susan asked.

“He’ll live. Nothing too serious,” Jessica replied without looking up. “He’s got a shitload of broken bones.”

Susan moved to the end of Thomas’s bed and looked down at him. He was smiling, and the emotion looked out of place on his normally stoic face.

“Hey, Susan,” he said dumbly, that goofy grin never wavering. “This is some good shit.”

Jessica glanced up, grinning. “Gave him something for the pain,” she said simply.

“Thomas,” Susan began. She spoke slowly and carefully. “I need directions to the warehouse where you were held.”

Thomas’s smile faltered and he blinked up at her. “Why? You going there?”

“Yes,” Susan answered. “We’re going after Aaron and Eric.” Technically, they were going after Aaron, but if they found Eric, they
might
bring him back as well, they might not, but then again, they might. She thought it best to keep that last bit to herself.

“Aaron said to wait here,” Thomas said slowly.

“Give me the directions,” Susan said, ignoring the irritation that threatened to bubble up within her.

After a moment, Thomas nodded. He gave simple directions to the warehouse that wasn’t too far from the spaceport entrance. When he was done, Susan tugged on Jessica’s sleeve and they backed away from the table. Susan didn’t want Thomas to hear what she had to say.

“What is it?” Jessica asked. Her voice was low and she seemed to have guessed why Susan was having her leave the bedside.

“Sedate him,” she said simply.

“Why?” Jessica asked.

“Because you, me, Russell, and Eve are going after Aaron. I don’t want him causing trouble while we’re gone.”

“You think he would?” Jessica asked.

Susan shrugged.
Honestly, she thought he was being straight with them, but she didn’t want to find out the hard way that he was trying to trick them. “Don’t know, but I’m not willing to find out.”

Jessica nodded. “Fine.” She started to move away but stopped when Susan’s hand grabbed her by the elbow.

“There’s more,” Susan said. “Get Thomas moved to the concealed cargo hold above the cargo bay. Get the M71 medical bot up there, and any necessary medical supplies too.”

“Why?” Jessica asked.

“Because,” Susan said hurriedly, “if we make it back with them, we still have another inspection to go through. If we have three men in our med bay, who weren’t here when we landed and who have been beaten half to death, then that damn inspector will hold us for weeks. I, for one, don’t much like that idea.”

Jessica looked worried now. “You think Aaron’s been hurt?”

Susan shrugged. “I hope not, but let’s plan for the worst.”

Jessica nodded and once again made to move past Susan. Once again, Susan restrained her.

“One more thing. Be ready to use your talent, just in case. If we need a distraction, then be ready to make a sound like an explosion.”

“You think it’ll be necessary?” Jessica asked.

Susan shrugged again. “Hopefully not, but somehow, someway these people are asking after us.”

Jessica nodded, looking worried.

Chapter
29

Aaron walked down the corridor, stopping every so often to listen. He had been walking for half an hour and he still hadn’t heard the first sound. It sounded like this place was completely empty. There was always the possibility that Thomas had been confused. He said this was the building, but what if he was mistaken?

He had made a cursory sweep through the front of the building, the portion that was only one story; it had been
empty. Likewise, the two-story back part of the building also appeared empty. It was true that he hadn’t gone through every closet, but three people and a prisoner would take up more room than a closet.

He was walking back toward t
he center of the building now. Earlier, he had passed a door labeled “basement”. It was the last place there was to look.

He reached the door and opened it a crack. He shoved the Horace into the opening and looked around.

The door opened onto stone steps that led downward. Of more importance to him was the small temporary lights that had been attached to the wall. The lights were new, having only been added recently.

He pushed the door open and slipped through. When the door closed behind him, it got very dark. The lights
were doing a rather poor job of lighting up the steps.

Descending the steps hurt his injured leg. The computer part of Aaron had been ignoring the pain, but it was intensifying. The injury was getting worse.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Aaron paused and surveyed the wide-open, and apparently empty room. There wasn’t even any broken furniture here.

A dark opening caught his attention and Aaron turned to his right. A hallway led off into the distance. He crossed to the opening and entered the hall.

He followed the hall for several minutes, numerous small, empty rooms opening off on each side. He stuck his head into each of these rooms, but nothing of interest caught his eye.

He was heading toward
another doorway when he froze. He could hear the sound of a person’s voice. It was low and still distant, but unmistakable.

He hesitated only briefly
, and then edged along the hallway. He still paused at every door to glance in, but these rooms were also empty.

The sound of a woman talking grew louder and Aaron paused just short of a doorway, convinced the woman was inside. Judging from what he could hear, she was trying to get someone on the comm gear.

Aaron leaned forward and peeked into the room. This room had a door, but it had been left open.

The room was small, probably having once been a storage room. An ancient desk had been set up in the middle of the floor, and a large lamp lit the room brilliantly. The light was dazzling after the near darkness.

The room had been turned into a communications center. Several boxes of electronics sat strewn across the desktop. It was obvious why this room had been chosen—there was an obsolete control panel built into the far wall. The cover had been ripped from the wall and cables snaked across the floor to the desk. They must have tied into the control panel’s wiring and attached a dish somewhere on the roof.

A woman sat on a small crate that she had pulled up to the
desk. Her back was to Aaron. She held a handset and was speaking into the mike.

“
Hatchling, come in. This is Mother. Over.” There was a long pause and then the woman would try again. Whoever this Hatchling was, they were not answering.

There was a squawk
, and the woman placed the handset on the table. She picked up a small handheld communicator.

“Go ahead
, Will,” she said simply.

“Any luck raising Terra or Quinton?” a man’s voice asked.

“No, sir.”

There was a pause and then the man’s voice came back loud and clear. “Should I be worried?”

The woman shrugged, even though there wasn’t any way for the man to see her movement. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I’ve been monitoring government communications, and some local crime boss was killed today. They’re locking down many of the communication channels. Also, the only spaceport still open is the one here in Marin Aldabia. Nelson’s going to be stuck in Mettin City until the restrictions are lifted.”

“Understood. Let me know if they check in or if anything changes.”

“Yes, sir.”

The woman and the man she’d been talking to sounded like military, which made this the right place after all. It also made this woman the telepath.

Most likely the man wasn’t close by. If he had been, there wouldn’t have been any reason to use the communicator—he could just have walked over to see the woman.

Another good piece of news:
the woman had said that someone named Nelson was stuck in Mettin City. That most likely was the second man. The odds had just improved from three-to-one to two-to-one.

This Aaron made the decision quickly and easy. There wasn’t any vacillating involved. The woman had to die.

He still held the Horace in his right hand, but he was concerned about the noise carrying. There was a door to this room, but it stood wide open. Once again, he made the decision instantly, without wavering.

Aaron stepped into the room, trying to move as silently as possible. He reached out with his left hand to swing the door shut. It was an old door, and the hinges squeaked loudly.

The woman whipped around, her eyes widening in surprise. “What . . .”

Even the door was still partially open, Aaron fired. The blast caught the woman in the shoulder as she tried to dodge away. She fell to the floor and Aaron was already tracking her for the second shot.

She hit the ground and bounced slightly on the hard floor. There was a grimace of pain, but she never hesitated. There was something akin to a mental shout that erupted from her
. It was one word: “Attacked!” That was the last thing she got out before Aaron’s second shot hit her in the face.

Aaron stood in the doorway for another moment, recalculating what needed to happen. He had been too slow and she had raised the alarm.

Telepaths could hear a person’s thoughts, but they could also communicate with others telepathically. This woman’s shout had been telepathic. Anyone in the building must know that something had happened. This remaining man, this Will would not be caught off guard.

There was no fear or panic. Fear and panic were not things that this Aaron was capable of feeling. This was just a problem, and problems always had a solution.

He looked out the doorway into the hall; first left, and then right. Nothing. No sound of running footsteps, no light bobbing his way in the darkness. He had come from the right, so he would continue on to the left.

Aaron moved slower than he had before to be as quiet as possible and because his left leg was getting worse. The pain wasn’t the worst of it—there was a slight tremor now whenever he took a step.

His body was injured. It needed medical tr
eatment and rest, two things he simply couldn’t take time for at the moment, so he pressed on.

After another twenty yards, the hallway emptied into a large room.
It had been turned into makeshift sleeping quarters and was a good twenty-five yards across. Several cots and blankets were gathered in close to a large portable heater that sat in the very center of the room; the heater was currently off.

The room was very dark. More of the temporary lighting had been strung around the walls, but the room was so large that the light barely lit the middle of the room. While it was perfect to sleep in, it was not so easy to sneak across while trying to avoid being seen.

Aaron stood in the doorway for several moments, just listening. Still, there were no sounds. No breathing. No scrape of boots against the floor. Nothing.

While the lighting was poor, his eyes slowly adjusted. The only other thing besides the cots and the heater was some trash along the far wall. Another hallway led out of the opposite side and Aaron slowly lumbered across.

This new hallway was short, no more than ten yards. It ended in a large, steel door. The door looked heavy, and he was sure it would squeal if opened. There wasn’t anything else to do, so he reached out and pulled hard on the handle. He had been correct—the door let loose with a mighty squeal as rust fell from the ancient hinges.

The door o
pened onto another large room, this one even bigger than the makeshift sleeping room. Unlike the other rooms and halls, several large spotlights sat on tripods, lighting the room up as good as the noonday sun would have.

Gear was scattered
all over the middle of the floor. Boxes and crates of all sorts, tables and chairs, and a large portable generator sat in the middle of the room. Two rows of three columns ran down the middle of the room to support the weight of the floors above. There appeared to be several small storage rooms or closets on the far side of the room. There weren’t any doors, just black doorways.

Strapped to a long reclining chair was Eric. He looked even worse than Thomas had and seemed to be unconscious. Besides Eric, the room appeared to be empty.

Aaron leaned his head in, checking both sides of the doorway carefully. He took a cautious step in and looked around again. He still held the Horace out in front, ready to fire if presented with a target.

“How did you find us?” a
man’s voice asked.

Aaron, and the Horace, swiveled toward one of the small closets on the other side of the room. The voice sounded like it came from there.

He crossed to the generator in the middle of the room and peered behind it, just in case. There was no one there.

Aaron stepped aro
und one of the large crates, limping visibly now. It wasn’t due to the pain—that was bad enough—but his left leg was failing to respond as he wanted.

He paused on the far side of the equipment, closer to the closets than he was to the entrance. Something was wrong. Why would this man, this Will
, give away his location so easily? It served no purpose to do so. Unless it was a diversion.

A
sound came not from the closet, but from back near the entrance to the room.

Aaron tried to dive behind a large metal crate, but his leg failed him and he, more or less, collapsed to the ground.

There was the sound of a plasmic discharging, and Aaron felt the heat as the plasma passed by overhead.

He frantically began to crawl, trying to reach the safety of the crate. His left leg dangled now, almost completely useless. His left arm wasn’t much better. Pain erupted every time he put his weight on it, but Aaron didn’t care. He continued to use the arm to pull himself along. The pain meant he hadn’t been killed yet and that was something.

Two more shots rang out. The first bounced off the concrete just to his right, and the second caught him in the side just below his raised right arm. The pain was excruciating and Aaron nearly passed out.

Every nerve screamed at the pain and even the organic computer realized the seriousness of the wound.
A part of him recognized that he had been shot with a low-power plasmic, must have been, or else it would have cut him in two.

He managed to rollover clumsily, pulling the rest of his body out of the line of fire.

Sweat poured from Aaron’s pores as his body tried to cope with the massive wound in his side.

He laid
his head back against the crate, gasping for breath. Miraculously, he hadn’t dropped the Horace, and he raised it as footsteps echoed as someone walked around the generator.

His hand was shaking, but still he took careful aim. His attacker must
have thought him either dead or close to it. It was still possible that he could die, but he could still kill this person first, perhaps even fulfill the program he had been given.

A man stepped around
one of the ceiling supports and then jumped back as Aaron shot at him. Unfortunately, Aaron missed. The shot blew a large hole in the support column.

“Whoa!” the man called. “I thought you were dead, but I guess not quite yet.”
There was a jovial tone in the man’s voice, almost gloating. “While we wait for you to die, let me introduce myself. My name is Colonel William Stone. I, like you, was once an officer in the Commonwealth army. Unlike you, I still hold that rank.”

Aaron had propped himself up on his left arm to take the shot at Will, and the arm was now going numb. He slowly lowered himself back to the floor.

“I was sent to find you and bring you back to the Commonwealth.”

There was a pause, like Will expected Aaron to answer. Aaron had lowered himself back to the floor, but he still
pointed the Horace pointed upwards. Will’s head peeked around the edge of the column, and Aaron squeezed off another shot, this one clipping the edge of the column and blowing away another small chuck.

“Okay, okay,” Will called. He had jerked his head back out of harm’s way. “Just checking to see if you
were still with me.”

“Can’t have you running around on the loose,” Will said. “You’re too dangerous. If people found out what the CW did on that moon, well, let’s just say they would want to put all of
us down. Kill us, if you catch my drift? They wouldn’t let any of us live. Not the yellow, deserting cowards like you, nor even the brave hero types like me.” There was another pause, and then he said, “You still with me? You know you really did a number when you fled that moon. Killed some of our best and brightest volunteers and destroyed a CW cruiser with all hands. What makes a man go traitor?”