Scarlet Angel (31 page)

She headed back over to the door to the main
corridor. “If I don’t get that data now, no one ever will. We’ll
never get a chance like this again.”

“
Data?” Jules nearly shrieked.
“You’re going to get yourself killed for some data?”

Scarlett smoothed her clothing, trying, in vain, to
get rid of some of the wrinkles. “That data is the reason he tried
to kill me in the first place, Jules. Even if I wasn’t being paid a
lot of money to get it, I would not leave without it.”

She climbed to her feet and ran her fingers through
her hair. “Besides. I still need to pay Derrick a visit. This won’t
be over until one of us is dead.”

Chapter 47
Open the Door

Never walk into a room without having at least three
exits. One for the enemy to enter, a second for them to flank you,
and the third for your escape.

* * *

Scarlett made her way through the space station with
Dax’s help. She kept to the side corridors as much as possible,
avoiding most of the station’s staff. Outside of the holding cells
and a few classified labs, security was minimal.

Every time she passed a researcher or executive, her
heart fluttered. She kept repeating a mantra in her mind, “Like you
belong... like you belong.”

Even though she couldn’t thank him at the moment,
Dax kept her from looking out of place. His instructions guided her
turn by turn on her way to the data core.

Jules stayed silent.

Scarlett wasn’t surprised. Scarlett’s brush with
death when she escaped from the two guards had to be traumatic for
someone not used to violence. Scarlett became so focused on getting
to the data core alive, she almost forgot Jules was there.

“
Ok, there’s a few meters to go
before the entrance to the computer core.” Dax’s voice was calm but
wavered slightly. He whistled. “That place is like a small
fortress. Extra bulkheads surround the core and the blast door
ahead is the only way in. There are two guards inside and two more
outside checking credentials. I’m still not sure how you’re going
to get in.”

Scarlett stopped. The corridor turned a few feet
ahead. She kept her voice to a whisper. “I was hoping you could
help with that. You know, a secondary entrance or a ventilation
shaft or something.”

“
I got nothin’. The vents are six
by six inches and this is the only way in or out.”

“
Then I guess it’s through the
front door.” Scarlet twisted the corner of her mouth. “Hmm... I’m
going to need a distraction.” She pulled each pistol out and
checked their charge levels. Both were nearly full.

“
A distraction? What kind of
distraction? My access to the station’s systems is limited.” Dax’s
voice raised in pitch. “It’s not like I can just make something
explode.”

Scarlett took a few steps away from the corner and
whisper-yelled. “Dax. I don’t have time for this shit. Any second
now they’re gonna know that I’m walking around this station and
they’ll lock it up tight.”

“
Wha— Hey! Jules!” Dax’s voice
faded slightly, as if he’d turned away from his microphone. “What
the hell are you doing? Give me that…”

A loud smack reverberated in Scarlett’s ears.

“
Are you done?” Jules’ voice was
calm but tense.

“
Ow... you hit me. Scarlett, she
hit me.”

Scarlett’s eyes widened.

Jules cleared her throat. “Are you done?”

“
Yes.”

Fingers typed in her ear, though the taps and clicks
were softer than Dax’s normal typing.

“
Good. Now, we’ve got access to
research terminals here, here and here, right?”

“
Yes.” Dax’s voice was meek and
subdued.

“
Alright.” Jules’ voice grew
louder. “Scarlett, you’ll have your distraction. I just need about
two minutes.”

“
Let’s hope they don’t sound the
alarm before that.” Scarlett leaned against the wall and closed her
eyes. She listened to the soft hum of the station and the distant
voices of the people in the nearby main corridor. She focused on
her breathing, slowing it down to control her heart rate and
anxiety.

“
Oh shi—” Dax’s voice was
faint.

Jules’ voice was louder. “Um, Scarlett?”

Uh-oh.
Scarlett’s eyes flashed open.
“What?”

“
You might want to go
now.”

She drew both guns and stepped to the corner. “What?
I want the distraction somewhere else. I don’t want to
be
the distraction.”

The station’s klaxon sounded. Red lights flashed in
the corridor and a recorded voice echoed through the station.
“Lockdown procedures in effect. Please proceed to a secure
area.”

“
Now!”

Fuck!
Scarlett took a deep breath and moved.
She rounded the corner with her guns at face level. The blast door
was already creeping closed but the two men outside hadn’t
moved.

Scarlett squeezed the triggers on her plasma
pistols. Green streaks of superheated death shot out from the
barrels, obliterating the guards’ faces and leaving a single scorch
mark on the lowering door.

She shoved her weapons into her waistband sprinted
to the door. The smell of singed flesh assaulted her as she
searched the bodies. Neither had a gun. Instead, she took their
dark grey, rubberized taser batons.
Better than nothing.

Through the closing gap between the door and the
floor, she saw two more guards. They were already facing inside the
room.
Probably to keep anyone from trying to leave.

Scarlett kicked the first sentry’s feet out from
under him and yanked him under the door. The man twisted in her
grip, trying to shove his baton at her. Scarlett redirected his
jab, stabbing his thigh with the prod’s electrodes. Her hand closed
over his gloved fingers and squeezed.

She let go of his hand, but his seized muscles kept
their grip on the baton. The man’s body tensed in one big
convulsion. His teeth chattered and his scream came out as just a
vibrating shiver. When the baton was empty of its charge, he
collapsed.

From under the door, the other guard stepped
backward away from her. In one smooth motion, she pulled a gun and
fired two shots. The guard collapsed to the ground, wailing and
clutching at his missing foot.

Scarlett silenced his screams with a third shot.

She rolled under the blast door and rose up into a
crouch, leveling her gun. “Nice work you two. I’m in.”

“
Thanks,” Jules’ smile came
through in her voice. “I told Dax to do a standard DDS attack on
the termi—”

“
Jules.” Scarlett looked around
the room. Like the data core on Earth, the entry way was a small
glass-wrapped cubicle. The chamber outside the room held only a
single, massive pylon wrapped in stainless steel and neon lights.
At the pylon’s base was a single standing workstation.

“
Oh, sorry.”

“
I’ve got a bit of deja-vu here,
Dax. This room is a lot like the other one.”

“
Of course it is.” Dax’s tone
dripped with sarcasm.

Scarlett scanned the rest of the room. The air
vibrated with a low hum. A small group of data technicians in lab
coats sat at row of computer consoles to Scarlett’s left. Several
of the workers turned to look up at her.

Dax’s fingers tapped. “There are six ports on that
thing. Each one holds a data core. One of them has what we
need.”

Scarlett let her head droop. “Shit. Not this
again.”

One of the men in white coats got up from his
station and headed for her. She strolled out of the room down the
stairs in the other direction. When she got closer, she found a
single keyboard and holoscreen below the six data core ports, each
filled with a glowing cube. One of cubes had a red band around
it.

“
Dax, I think I know which
one.”

“
Hey! Who are you?” A voice came
from behind.

Scarlett sighed and whispered. “Just a sec.” She
whipped around and centered the man’s face between her sights. “Not
someone you wanna fuck with.”

The man froze for a moment then stepped back.

“
Nuh-uh. Don’t move.” Scarlett
spoke with a calm but terse tone.

“
Scarlett, don’t kill them. You’ll
need their help getting out the data core.”

Her eyes narrowed for a second. “Fine. Come here.”
She waved her gun, indicating the man to approach.

“
What’s on this core?” Scarlett
pointed at the third port with the red-banded core.

“
Uh... I... what?”

She shifted the pistol to his face. “What’s on this
data core?”

The man flinched. “I don’t know! I don’t know! None
of us has access to it. It just arrived yesterday.”

“
Dax, this is it.”

“
Good. Security hasn’t responded
to you yet, but they will any second.”

Scarlett stepped back and waved her gun at the data
core. “Take it out.”

He made no motion to move.

Scarlett saw a subtle shift in his eyes, a flicker
of defiance or resistance. She kept her eyes locked on his and
fired a shot next to his head. One of the computer consoles
exploded. The other workers screamed and ran for cover. “Take. It.
Out.”

“
I... I can’t.”

She brought the pistol back to his face. “Can’t? Or
won’t?”

“
If I help you, they’ll charge me
with treason.”

“
And if you don’t help
me
,
you’ll be dead.”

His lip quivered. Moisture began to pool around the
edges of his eyelids. His brow creased and he stepped forward.

Scarlett moved out of the man’s way as he typed. Her
heart pounded in her chest and sweat beaded on her forehead.
Almost over.

The cube’s glow dimmed.

“
There. It’s shutting down.” The
technician stepped away from the keyboard and eyed Scarlett’s
gun.

The screen showed a growing progress bar. When the
bar was finished, Scarlett took the cube from its port. Each face
was three inches across and made from a material that looked like
frosted white glass. The red band was a shiny metal that reminded
her of wet blood.

Scarlett marveled at the device’s simplicity and
beauty. The cube was cool to the touch. Its soft blue glow seemed
to pulse in her hand. She found it amazing that such a small thing
could create such chaos in her life.

Dax’s voice broke her reverie. “Scarlett, you’ve
gotta get out of there now.”

Her head snapped up. “What?” She waved her weapon at
the technician, telling him to go back to his colleagues. Scarlett
shoved the cube into a thigh pocket and pulled her other gun.

“
They’re coming.”

She sprinted up the stairs and skidded to a halt
next to the door. She pressed her back against the wall to check
her weapon power levels.
Not bad, not bad.
“How many?”

This time it was Jules’ voice. “Looks like a squad
of six are headed right for you. No, wait! There’s a second team
coming from the back!”

Scarlett stepped over to the window. “What do you
mean the back? You said this is the only way in.”

The wall at the end of the computer core flashed
bright white then exploded inward. Scarlett shielded her eyes from
the flash and crouched below the window’s edge.
Shit!

She counted to five then rose up to look through the
window. A dozen men poured in through a still-molten-red hole in
the wall.
Fuck!
“Dax, I got a dozen men here. I need this
door open. Now.”

“
Scar, there are six guys out
there.” Dax’s voice was panicked as he typed furiously.

“
Yeah? Well, I got at least a
dozen in here. I’ll take my chances with six. Just get the door
open about two feet.”

“
Just a second.”

Scarlett peeked down at the main floor again.
Staying in tight formation, the security guards made their way
across the floor, one obstacle at a time. Trailing behind the last
guard, Neil stepped through the hole.

“
Guys... now. I need out of here,
now
.” Scarlett’s voice quivered, despite her efforts to keep
it calm.

Dax grunted. “I know. They’re trying to cut off our
si—”

Scarlett’s eyes widened. “Oh fuck.” She glanced
through the window to see the guards at the base of the stairwells.
Three men stacked at each staircase as they readied to assault.

The door hissed and shifted. Her eyes darted back
and forth from the approaching guards to the door.
C’mon, c’mon,
c’mon.

“
God— Son of a— ‘cker.” Dax’s
voice cut in and out, spewing unintelligible static in Scarlett’s
ear.

“
Dax?” She leveled her weapon at
the nearest guard as his hand touched the railing. Blood rushed in
her ears and her heart threatened to pound its way out of her
chest. She squeezed the trigger and dropped him.

The other guards crouched lower. Plasma bolts
exploded the glass and scorched the walls.

The door hissed again and shifted, creating an
inch-high gap between the door and the floor.

“
Sum-bitch! You bastards. Eat that
little fucking morsel.” Dax’s voice returned in perfect
clarity.

The door jerked again and opened, leaving a two-foot
gap. Scarlett took two deep, quick breaths. She dropped to the
floor and rolled out into the hallway. On the other side, she
stopped rolled up on to her side and fired three shots, killing a
guard with each shot.

“
Close it! Close it NOW!” Scarlett
rolled again. A half-dozen plasma bolts scorched the ground where
she’d just been. The steel door closed with a thud behind her. She
kicked out and another guard fell to the ground clutching his
groin.