Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon (16 page)

“I am Fordix,” the warrior said, approaching and putting his right hand on Jason’s left shoulder in the traditional Galvetic greeting. Jason responded in kind.

“Jason Burke,” he said. “I’m a friend of Felex’s.”

“I know of you, Captain Burke,” Fordix said with a smile. “Thank you for the risk you’re taking. The only thing I can tell you right now is that the risk is worth it.”

“It won’t be if we get caught,” Crusher said. “Captain, hop up here and close the floor back up.” Jason and Crusher reversed roles and he slid the floor panel shut as quietly as he could. When the hatch butted up against the stops, he reached back into his vest and pulled another tube of nanobots out. This batch would do the opposite of the first. When they were done, the hatch would be welded shut and the mechanism fused. It was just one extra little step to give them some time to get away. If the floor was loose and sliding and a guard walked in before scheduled, there would be no doubt as to how their prisoner had escaped.

“We’re good to go,” Jason said. “Let’s start backtracking.” Crusher pulled out a pair of shoes for Fordix to replace his prison-issue plastic sandals and they were on the move.

The trip back along the drain system took half the time as the trip up. They paused once to grab the rest of their discarded gear near the generator shack, stuff it in a bag they then handed to Fordix, and continued on down the sewer.

“There should be another drain up ahead that will come out in the parking area behind vehicle maintenance,” Jason said. “From there it’s a straight shot to the east wall.”

“I assume we have a plan to make it past the wall?” Fordix asked.

“Sure do,” Jason said, “but it is the most risky part of the operation.”

*****

“We’re coming up on show time,” Kage said into his tactical com unit. “Everything set up?”

“
Everything is ready
,” Lucky answered. “
I am moving to the secondary location
.”

“Copy,” Kage said. “We’ll see you shortly.”

“This is the part of the operation that I’m not entirely confident in,” Morakar said from the back seat of the nondescript airtruck they were sitting in. “You say you’ve done this before?”

“More than a few times,” Kage confirmed. “Relax, Morakar. You’re working with the best right now. Meluuk, if you’d be so kind as to patch me into the local network.” Meluuk climbed out of the driver’s seat and ran the hard line they’d installed into the junction box they were parked next to into the airtruck. Kage grabbed the cable and ran it into his gear.

“A hard line?” Mazer asked.

“While this may be counterintuitive, a hard line is harder for them to trace than if I access one of the public nodes,” Kage said distractedly. He closed his eyes for a moment as his neural implants made connection with his gear. “Tell Lucky I’m ready whenever he is.” Mazer grabbed his com unit and alerted the battlesynth that they were now waiting on his signal.

*****

“Go ahead and send Lucky the signal,” Jason said. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Here comes the exciting part,” Crusher said and aimed an ultraviolet laser over the east wall. He sent two blasts, paused a second, and then three more. By a stroke of luck, the drain they were in had a ladder so Crusher was able to climb up and aim the laser through the gaps in the grate without having to expose himself or stand on top of one of his companions.

“How will we know they got the signal?” Fordix asked. A moment later a horrendous explosion rocked the complex. Alarms started blaring and flood lights turned the night to day.

“There’s the signal,” Jason said.

“You think?” Crusher said. “How long until we move?”

“Another thirty seconds and then we move,” Jason said, watching the timer on his combat computer. “And … now!” Crusher shoved the grate up and over and was up on the surface in less than a second, covering the others with his stun rifle. Fordix went next, followed closely by Jason. As soon as Jason brought his weapon up Crusher replaced the drain grate.

“Looks like the guards are congregating around the west wall,” Crusher said. “If Kage did his job, we should be clear.”

“Let’s get moving then,” Jason said and led the pair of warriors in a flat-out sprint across the vast gravel yard that separated the main complex from the outer walls. Just as they stepped from the paving stones of the ancient prison to the gravel, the lights in the east section cut off, their first indication that Kage was on top of his part of the mission. The extended perimeter barrier was meant to give the security forces one last chance to stop a runner before they reached the wall, although it was unlikely even a warrior as strong as Crusher could clear the enormous stone barrier, especially given how weak they would be from lack of exercise and a reduced diet.

“Shouldn’t we blow the wall before we get to it?” Fordix asked with concern.

“We’re not blowing it, we’re going over it,” Jason said, pulling his com unit out. “Lucky, we’re almost there.”

“How can we possibly—” Fordix was cut short as a battlesynth flew up and over the wall, riding his foot repulsors to a gentle landing right in front of them.

“Captain,” he greeted Jason curtly before tossing him and Crusher both a device that looked like a truss in the shape of an “X” with straps hanging down. Without another word, Lucky grabbed Fordix, startling the warrior into speechlessness, and fired his repulsors again, sending the pair streaking over the wall.

“You think these will work?” Crusher asked.

“Eh … fifty-fifty,” Jason said, sliding his arms through the straps hanging from the trusses. “Twingo was in a hurry when he built them.”

“Here goes nothing,” Crusher said. He was holding the “X” apparatus over his head and squeezed the handles. Four ion jets positioned at each end of the four arms ignited and the device shot upwards, taking up the slack on the straps and yanking Crusher straight up with a startled yelp. Jason watched him streak up and over the wall, hopefully to be deposited safely on the other side.

“I hope that wasn’t the only one that actually works,” Jason muttered, raising his own extraction device over his head. One last look around confirmed they hadn’t attracted any attention yet. All total, their rush to, and over, the wall had taken less than two minutes. He squeezed the activation control and was startled as the truss was ripped out of his hands. The jets accelerated until the straps under his armpits yanked him off the ground with enough force to make his hands numb. The jets flung him up over the wall before they automatically angled over to eventually deposit him two hundred meters beyond on the other side.

The jets began to throttle back and he began slowly descending towards a clear landing zone. Just when he thought the extraction was going to go off without a hitch, one of the jets died. The other three put up an admirable fight to compensate and keep his flight stable and level, but they were in a losing battle. Jason began to swing wildly in the straps as his forward speed increased at the same time as his altitude was quickly decreasing.

Jason looked like a pendulum as the remaining three working jets quickly expended their fuel trying to take up the slack of the malfunctioning fourth. When the second jet failed, the remaining two flared brightly for a second before also cutting out. The good news was that he was only ten meters off the ground, but the angle his body was at in relation to the ground meant he didn’t have enough time to try and get his feet under him before impact.

He smashed into the turf chest first, angling his head back to avoid shattering his jaw, and rolled across the turf. The straps holding him to the extraction device thankfully failed and he heard the truss bouncing across the ground near him as he kept his limbs tucked and bled off the rest of the speed he’d carried into his crash landing. When he stopped, he took stock of his body and, shockingly, appeared uninjured save for the expected bruises and abrasions.

He rolled over and sat up, located the now-crumpled jet truss, and climbed slowly to his feet. “That incompetent, short, big-eared, blue-skinned little bastard,” he muttered as he pulled the straps off his arms and grabbed the hissing device. He checked his position and then struck off to the southeast towards the rendezvous point.

“So you’re sure we’re clear?” Jason asked Kage for the third time that afternoon.

“Yes,” the Veran said patiently. “The wall breach is now thought to be an accident, and Fordix’s disappearance is being investigated with an eye towards the other inmates.”

“I don’t understand how the wall breach could be an accident,” Fordix said. It was their third day in the cramped safe house and nerves were wearing thin.

“There are explosives embedded in the walls of Casguard,” Crusher explained. “They were put there so that nobody could cut through or try a surgical breach without setting off an entire section and likely killing everyone involved in the escape or assault. It wasn’t a publicized fact, for obvious reasons.”

“Interesting. So your battlesynth placed a charge on the wall to set off the explosives as a distraction?” Fordix asked. He seemed unable to grasp the concept of Lucky having a name and an individual identity. After being corrected many times, both Jason and Lucky had given up. Crusher, stuck in the middle, tried to smooth over the insult, but both his friends had been decidedly cold towards his mentor since the escape.

“And Kage has been able to ensure the sensor logs of the prison show a clean yard to the east,” Crusher said. “It’s like we were never even there.”

“Clever,” Fordix said, seemingly uninterested in the details and unimpressed by their success. “So how much longer will we stay here?”

“We will be leaving Galvetor tomorrow night, Master Fordix,” Morakar said. “With the success of the extraction team, our schedule remains unchanged.” Fordix said nothing, just nodded and walked back into the kitchen area.

“Captain,” Mazer said softly next to Jason, “I’m going out to inspect our vehicle one more time. Care to join me?” Jason knew the soft-spoken warrior had no interest in the airtruck parked in the detached shelter behind the house, as Meluuk was responsible for all the mundane details like that. So, there must be something on his mind.

“Sure,” Jason shrugged. “May as well do something useful while we wait.” The pair walked to the rear exit and, after a careful look around, quickly crossed the lawn to the outbuilding. “What’s on your mind?” he asked once they were inside.

“Am I that obvious?” Mazer smiled.

“Not especially,” Jason said. “But I doubted you really wanted to come out here to inspect the vehicle.”

“No,” Mazer said, looking like he was trying to pick his words carefully. “The atmosphere inside the house is stifling. I mean no disrespect, but does it seem to you that Fordix is not all that grateful that he’s been freed from Casguard Prison?”

“No offense taken,” Jason said. “While we’re being completely honest, I’ve not been that impressed with any aspect of Fordix’s behavior or demeanor.”

“Lucky?” Mazer guessed. Jason just nodded.

“While he runs into this sort of discrimination often, it’s never been from someone whose ass he just saved,” Jason said. “But I agree with your line of thinking … he seems very entitled for someone who should be showing nothing but gratitude. Is he in a position of leadership on Restaria?”

“That’s just it,” Mazer said, now much more comfortable talking freely with Jason. “He’s just one of the dozen or so counselors that will guide and advise an Archon as he matures. He has no official rank within the Legions and is more akin to someone like the Caretaker.”

“While I don’t know him at all and I know even less about your culture, I can tell you that Crusher seems to sense something is off about him as well,” Jason said.

“Lord Felex said something to you about this?” Mazer looked skeptical. “Fordix was one of his closest advisers and friends when he was growing up.”

“He didn’t say anything to me, but I can tell he’s uncomfortable and is going out of his way to try and smooth over the tension between Fordix and us,” Jason said. “That in itself is
very
unusual behavior for him. For some sick reason he usually enjoys interpersonal conflicts.”

“I would not presume to know the Lord Archon as well as you,” Mazer admitted. “I had only seen him from a distance when I was very young. I will trust your judgment on this, however.”

“So,” Jason said, “the million credit question is: do we ignore it as just poor manners, or do we make an extra effort to stay vigilant until we’re all safely back on Restaria?”

“I would say prudence demands we stay extra vigilant even after we get back to Restaria,” Mazer said seriously. “
Especially
after.”

“I like the way you think,” Jason said with a smile.

*****

They were all packed into the airtruck, its repulsors humming loudly with such a heavy load, and making their way to an outlying airfield four nights after pulling Fordix out of Casguard Prison. By the time they were ready to leave, the only person still speaking to Fordix was Crusher, for obvious reasons, Morakar, due to his impeccable manners and sense of propriety, and Meluuk, who was subservient to all he met in the warrior caste.

Jason, Mazer, Lucky, and Kage avoided him at all costs; the latter two wouldn’t acknowledge him even when spoken to. It would be a relief to get him back to Restaria and be done with it. Jason also hoped that anything after this would entail a diplomatic solution between Restaria and Galvetor and that Omega Force’s role in the internal conflict would be over. Best case scenario was the
Phoenix
was wheels-up within the next three or four days. He sighed inwardly … how he wished he actually believed that.

“This airfield routinely services shuttle launches to relieve crowding at Cessell Spaceport,” Meluuk was saying as he drove along. “It’s actually where the wealthier of Galvetor keep their private craft.”

“I remember it from the intel brief,” Jason said gently, not wanting to throw a wet blanket on his enthusiasm. “So between you and Kage we’re certain that they aren’t looking for Fordix?”