“You need to put the phaser down,” the man called out from behind the stack of burned and crumbled boxes that he used for cover. “It’s your only chance to leave here alive.”
Dade responded with another round of phase-fire before jetting from behind the boxes that were no longer hiding him sufficiently. He jumped on top of what was left, then launched himself across the room to land where he knew the man hid. The mercenary’s face registered shock seconds before Dade fell on top of him.
Not a moment passed before Dade got to his feet and kicked out with his booted heel against the man’s wrist. The mercenary’s phaser shot wildly, scorching the ceiling. Dade kicked again, dislodging the phaser.
The man got to his feet and swung at Dade.
Dade ducked, while twisting his body to shoot at the girl who came up behind them.
The girl’s phase-fire hit Dade close enough to singe his protective vest, blowing a hole through his cloak. He shot back, hitting her in the right shoulder.
She screamed and dropped her phaser.
Meanwhile, the man jumped onto Dade’s back, attempting to apply a choke hold. Dade twisted, flipped around, and used the butt of the phaser to knock the guy out cold. Then he moved across the room to stand over the girl. She was reaching for her phaser when he clocked her on the back of the head.
He heaved in air, sucking it heavily through his lungs. Dade stood up straight, taking a step toward the door when it burst open. Three more mercenaries, bigger than the last two, entered the room.
Dade swore as he raised his phaser, swallowing his panting breath. His gut hurt, his face hurt, his chest where the phase-fire had scorched his vest burned like a continuous electrical shock. There was nowhere left to hide. Dade was exhausted, but he wouldn’t give up.
That was when he glimpsed Saben entering behind the mercenaries. No more than a shadow, a silent specter they didn’t see coming. His friend moved soundlessly, knocking out two from behind before grabbing the leader by the throat and choking him until he passed out.
“Thank sun I found you,” Saben said, his face tight and his mouth set in a grim line. He was worried, and that worried Dade.
Now that the adrenaline was leaking from his body, Dade felt embarrassed that his mission had gone sideways. He wasn’t this sloppy. “What happened to you?”
“I had no other choice.” Saben took a pack off his back and pulled out a foul-smelling pile of brown fabric. He shoved the clothes at Dade. “You weren’t getting out of here unless I figured out an alternative route.”
Dade recoiled, but stepping away did little to stop the stench of the clothing from burning his nostrils. His eyes watered as he coughed. “Where did you get those nasty things?”
“I borrowed them before I came inside.” The way Saben said “borrowed” had Dade envisioning a naked guy knocked out somewhere.
“You couldn’t find anything cleaner?” Dade asked.
“I took the first thing that would fit. Don’t get prissy.”
“What about the cameras?”
“I took out this Level before I came in with an explosive because it seemed the most expedient.” Sabin stressed, “Now hurry.”
Dade peeled off his hood, mask, and clothes, then pulled on the new clothes. He tried to breathe through his mouth and not his nose. Not that it helped—the scent was putrid.
“Tell me what happened,” Dade said.
Saben set about dragging the mercenaries to the back of the room and then began to put the remains of the boxes in front of them so their bodies wouldn’t be seen from the door. “A silent alarm was tripped. The factory went into lockdown. They shut down all networks in the building, which cut our comms and autosealed all exits.”
“How did you get in?”
Saben laughed. “Same way we’re getting out.”
“What should I do with my things?” He couldn’t very well leave them.
Saben looked around. “We’ll have to burn them so they can’t trace your DNA.”
Dade looked longingly at the mask and cloak. He loved them. Yes, he could get newer ones with better gadgets. But this set was the original, and because of that they meant something. He was going to lose them without managing to procure any VitD. What a waste of time and resources, and he had no one to blame but himself.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Arden’s body sang with its usual anticipatory music. She could already feel the high of the adrenaline rush hit her body. When they’d reached the ledge between Levels Two and Three, they worked together to ensure their speeders were well hidden from city scanners. The craggy outcropping of the buildings wasn’t made for parking, even the temporary sort. There wasn’t much room to maneuver four bodies and their vehicles.
She had her mask on. The heat from the feedback made her skin tacky with sweat. The suit she wore would keep her body warm and nimble in the frigid cold that blew against them. They stood in the swell of the air current as it rushed between the open sections between the Levels, the temperature here several degrees lower than normal.
She’d strapped her supplies to her back in a slimline pack that hugged her body. Arden engaged the grip sensors on her climbing gloves, then began to scale the building’s gray concrete walls, aiming for a hoverport cut into the structure halfway up the building. Now that she had the lay of the land around the South Grid Lockup, she wasn’t sure this plan would work. It had appeared much different, wider, from the aerial photos, whereas in reality, there was less room through the buildings than expected to maneuver their escape.
The others climbed behind her. They moved swiftly and silently, hands grabbing and bodies exerting as efficiently as possible. Stealth would be the key to pulling this off. Right now, as they hung from the side of the building, they were at their most vulnerable until the rescue plan was set into motion. Even with the thick static cloud that billowed around them, swallowing them up, they were still exposed to anyone who happened to look too closely.
Arden felt the push of the air stream as it whipped past her. It rushed through the open Levels, thrusting her against the hard surface of the wall. She inched around the side of the building, following available footholds. The air shifted, then sucked her body backward like a vacuum. She gripped the cold, unforgiving concrete and metal, the sensors on her gloves barely keeping her grip intact. Clinging, she curled her fingers to catch whatever lip she could as her feet slipped, searching for a toehold.
She crested the rise to the hoverport and crawled over the edge. The gray swirls of static cloud blew across the tarmac ominously. Her body low to the ground, she ran, the others following behind. They set up behind a section of hovervans. Pulling the packs off their backs, they began to extract their phasers and other items.