Artificial Absolutes (Jane Colt Book 1) Page 21

  Jane sat up. “I’m fine.” She drooped forward.

  Devin dropped his gun and caught her by the shoulders. “Hey, Pony, look at me.” He was alarmed when she didn’t immediately retort.

  Adam climbed down. “Jane, are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine.” Jane looked up at Devin. “And don’t call me Pony.” Her smile was a weary imitation of her usual cocky smirk.

  Devin let go of her. “What happened?”

  “Ah, it was stupid… lost my grip.” She closed her eyes and put a hand on her head. “Just got the wind knocked outta me… Gimme a sec… Okay, I’m good.”

  She opened her eyes and slowly got up. Devin picked up his gun as he stood. Jane swayed, and both he and Adam rushed to support her.

  She shook them off. “I told you I’m fine. C’mon. Let’s go before the queen bitch wakes up.” She marched toward the lounge door.

  Had they been anywhere else, Devin would have insisted she stop and rest, but they didn’t have much time before No Name figured out where they were.

  She reached for the door’s controls.

  “Wait,” Devin said. Jane drew her hand back. “We can’t go out into the club. Madam Wrath’s known for being private. There should be a second exit.”

  He lifted one of the tapestries and felt along the wall in case he missed something with his eyes.

  “Over here!” Adam called. He held up a tapestry, revealing a rectangular door.

  Devin approached. Knowing the door would be locked, he blasted around its edges. He kicked the center, and it fell back.

  The dark, deserted corridor ahead didn’t look familiar. The alarms sounded distant, as though coming from a different level.

  Jane stepped out of Madam Wrath’s room. Devin held out a hand to stop her. He approached the perpendicular corridor, which was illuminated by dim yellowish lights, and checked the ceiling for internal defense guns.

  Nothing. And no one. “C’mon.”

  Most of the float’s levels had the same layout. Devin tried to recall where the stairs would be.

  The club was right by the transport shaft, directly above the storage sector… Shit. Shouldn’t have made that turn.

  He pivoted and went back. “We’re going the wrong way.”

  Jane walked beside him. “How do you know this place so well, anyway?”

  “You’re not going to tell me off?”

  “Of course I am. You’re slipping up, bro! Whatever happened to those super mercenary skills of yours?”

  Jane had no way of knowing how close her joke was to the truth, but the mention nevertheless made Devin uneasy.

  “Mercenary?” Adam asked.

  Devin turned into the dark corridor. “She’s kidding. The staircase should be just up ahead. Once we—”

  He stopped. Someone was approaching.

  No, not someone.

  Devin spun and fired a rapid succession of shots before the giant guard bot could raise its weapon. Although damaged, it continued trundling toward him on its short, thick legs. It clumsily expelled blasts as he repeatedly hit its weapon. That model must have been built to withstand lasers.

  “Run!” he shouted.

  Jane grabbed Adam’s wrist and sprinted down the corridor. Devin pulled the trigger again and again. After what must have been a thousand shots, he wore down the robot’s weapon. It kept moving forward, but having rendered it harmless, he left it and ran into the staircase.

  He couldn’t see Jane or Adam—they were probably a few levels below him. He raced down the steps and leaped down half-flights of stairs, hoping any Wrath Guards who may have been alerted to his whereabouts would take time to catch up.

  No such luck.

  Jane whirled when she heard the gunfire, which was muffled by the thick dullness that had filled her ears since she’d fallen in Madam Wrath’s room. Devin was a level above her, firing up the stairs at someone she couldn’t see.

  Each blast seemed to pierce her skull. The pain was so intense it was all she could do to keep from screaming. Her vision faded in and out as thick black dots filled in from the edges and then retreated. She felt as though she might pass out with every move she made. Ugh. Why am I so damn weak?

  “Go!” Devin called as he exchanged fire with the unseen someone.

  More blasts rang out as another someone joined the firefight. Jane pulled out the handgun in her pocket. She switched off the safety and ran toward him.

  “I said go!” Devin yelled.

  “I can help!” Jane continued up the stairs. Someone grabbed her shoulder. Startled, she stopped. She saw it was Adam and relaxed.

  “Jane, don’t,” he said. “He’ll be better off if he’s not worrying about you.”

  Jane wanted to object, but he was right. She reluctantly went back down the stairs. She’d barely made it down one more level when an explosion boomed above her. She looked back with a start.

  Devin ran toward her. “What part of go didn’t you get?”

  “What the hell was that?” Jane demanded.

  “Bastards tossed a grenade at me. I threw it back before it went off.”

  It’s like he’s done this before.

  A blast came from above. She ducked. “Don’t these assholes have anything better to do?”

  Devin fired back. “Go! I mean it!”

  Jane stood too quickly. Black brimmed her eyesight. Her legs melted beneath her. She tried to move forward, and her heel caught the edge of the step. She tumbled down the stairs. The handgun flew from her grip.

  “Jane!”

  Adam called her name, but she couldn’t answer. She crashed into the wall on one of the landings.

  She opened her eyes as wide as she could. All she saw were pale blurs between black splotches. Her head whirled. She struggled to figure out which limb should go where. Confusion overwhelmed her as wordless shouting and meaningless commotion droned through the buzzing in her ears.

  Her vision cleared. The barrel of a laser gun pointed right at her, held by a skinhead thug with a nasty grin. Somewhere behind the terror and the fog of noises, she knew she should run or something, but she couldn’t even figure out how to scream.

  Bang.

  She shut her eyes. Hot liquid splashed onto her face and chest. For a moment, she wondered why she felt no pain. She opened her eyes. It was the thug who’d been shot. He fell sideways. Blood poured from a hole above his lifeless eyes.

  Behind him, Adam stood with the gun in his hands, his expression unexpectedly calm and merciless as heat.

  His face filled with concern as he rushed to her side. Jane couldn’t make out his words as he knelt beside her.

  “I’m…” She didn’t get a chance to finish, for the thick black dots returned at a vengeful pace. The warmth drained from her body.

  Devin shot the nearest Wrath Guard through the chest. He ducked back into the stairwell, resisting the impulse to run into the corridor and blast away the other three. Good thing he did—seconds later, the internal defenses unleashed a volley of shots that finished off the thugs even though they’d probably been aiming for him.

  He repeated the axiom he’d learned seven years back: No faces, no pasts—just targets.

  Unable to cross the doorway without getting hit, he waited for the guns to overheat. They wouldn’t be able to sustain that kind of firepower for long. The blasts tore the wall beside him and grazed his shoulder. A searing pain shot through him. He quickly assessed his injury.

  Surface bleeding, laser burn—hurts like hell, but I’ll be okay.

  The shots stopped. Devin rushed down the stairs, praying that Jane hadn’t run into trouble while he’d been cut off.

  He rounded a corner. Jane lay unconscious near a dead thug. Adam knelt beside her, aiming the handgu
n straight up at him. “Adam! It’s me!”

  Adam lowered the gun and collapsed against the wall. Red stained his hands and clothing. Jane had traces of blood smeared across her face and shoulders, but she appeared uninjured.

  Devin rushed down the rest of the stairs.

  “You’re bleeding.” Adam sounded concerned.

  “I’m fine.” Devin knelt beside Jane. “What happened?”

  “She dropped the gun when she fell. He went straight for her, didn’t even look at me. She fainted after I…” Adam looked at the dead thug and didn’t finish.

  Didn’t think he’d have it in him. Devin silently thanked whatever gods might be listening that the kid wasn’t as maddeningly nice as he seemed. “You had no choice.” He gave the old line even though that kind of reasoning seldom did any good.

  Adam glanced at Jane. “I’m sorry… I’ve been trying to wake her, but she won’t… She’s…”

  Devin put a hand on Jane’s shoulder and shook her. “Jane!”

  She remained limp. Shit.

  She’d seemed off since Viate-5. He should’ve disregarded her protests that she was fine. He should’ve… but there was no time for that. More Wrath Guards—or hacked robots—could attack at any moment.

  “I’m sorry,” Adam said. “I don’t know what happened. She fell and… I’m sorry.”

  The repetition sparked Devin’s impatience. “What the hell are you apologizing for?” He handed Adam the laser gun. “Shoot anything with a weapon.”

  Adam took the gun. He stood and looked down at the body of the man he’d killed. He seemed shaken by the sight, but there was no sorrow or regret in his eyes, only a stony darkness Devin hadn’t thought possible on the kid’s gentle face.

  Devin placed one arm under Jane’s back, the other under her knees, and scooped her up. He glimpsed a number on the wall. Nineteen—two more levels.

  Adam, with the laser gun in one hand and the handgun in the other, passed him on the way down the stairs. Aiming into the corridor on the level below, he fired upward several times. He destroyed the internal defenses even though they hadn’t activated. His shots were clumsy, and it was clear that he’d never held a weapon before that day. Devin was sure he’d get them all on blast volume alone.

  “Clear!” Adam backed up against the doorframe and watched the corridor. He held the laser gun, which looked far too big for him, up at his shoulder. He kept the handgun ready at his side. The sight of the pretty-boy priest-in-training armed like a hit man was rather amusing.

  Fast learner.

  “One more level,” Devin said. “Then it’s straight across the square.”

  Adam kept his eyes on the corridor. “Okay. By the way, this laser gun has unlimited ammunition, right?”

  “Basically.”

  “Good, because my aim’s terrible.”

  “You’re doing great.”

  Devin crossed the doorway. Adam passed him again, stopped at the next landing, and took out the internal defenses on that level. He’s pretty calm for a first-timer.

  They didn’t run into any trouble as they entered the deserted square. The shrieking alarms must have discouraged everyone but the Wrath Guards from being out in the open. Even they seemed to have quit, probably because their comrades had been gunned down by the very float they protected.

  Madam Wrath’s glowering hologram shone in the center. It reminded Devin of how far No Name’s reach had to be if they’d been able to get past her guards and knock her out, then take control of her float. He’d never been more grateful to be on an old float whose many breakdowns and repairs had disconnected most of the doors from the central computer.

  He crossed the square. “We’re docked at V-Two-Eight-Eight.”

  Adam ran into the hatch-lined corridor ahead and fired at the internal defenses. Devin wondered why, if No Name was so determined to get rid of him, they hadn’t fired at Adam. Collateral damage clearly wasn’t an issue. They probably needed him alive. They must need Sarah alive too. That conclusion was something of a leap, but Devin didn’t care. He needed to think it: I can still save her.

  “Devin?” Jane blinked up at him.

  “Hey, Pony, it’s okay.” He entered the docking corridor. “I’ve got you.”

  Her gaze turned to his shoulder. “You’re hurt…”

  “It’s nothing. Just looks bad. We’ll be out of here soon.”

  “Put me down!” Jane’s protest sounded small and weak. “I mean it!”

  “You passed out. I—”

  “Stop treating me like a freaking princess and put me down already!”

  “Look out!” Adam yelled.

  Devin ducked and shielded his sister as blasts pierced the air above him. The shooting stopped. He looked back. A destroyed robot lay on the ground.

  Jane took the opportunity to twist her way out of his grasp, giving him an annoyed look. She darted toward Adam. “Nice shooting.”

  Adam looked surprised. “You’re awake!”

  “Yup, and recharged. C’mon, slowpokes!” She raced down the corridor, then stopped and steadied herself against the wall.

  Is she okay?

  Footsteps approached from the square.

  “Adam!” Devin called.

  Adam hastily tossed him the laser gun.

  Devin fired in the direction of the footsteps. Returned shots flew at him, but they all missed. Thugs shouted at each other. One of them yelled, “Fuck this!” The footsteps reversed and faded away.

  Jane ran to V-288. She turned a large wheel at the hatch’s center, pulled a lever, and yanked the hatch open. As she and Adam entered the airtight tunnel, Devin blasted a few repair bots that stuck out from the vents. The Stargazer’s door creaked. Two giant guard bots rounded the corner. They were probably blast-resistant. He rushed into the tunnel as the bots opened fire.

  By the time he reached the ship, Jane had already started up the engines.

  “I’m in! Go!” He thrust the lever that shut the door and retracted the tunnel.

  Devin entered the cockpit as Jane drove the ship toward the hangar’s exit. He didn’t have to tell her to move over; she got up and slid into the copilot’s seat. According to the tracking chart, several armed ships outside the hangar headed in their direction. He engaged lightspeed, a dangerous thing to do in such a crowded area. But without shields or a way to fire back, his only option was to run.

  The Stargazer zoomed out of the float. It trembled as it scraped against another ship. The attackers matched speed. A few were in visual range. Devin wrenched the controls to avoid their fire. The Stargazer wasn’t nearly as maneuverable as the Blue Tang had been. Hit after hit impacted against the hull.

  The ship came to an abrupt halt. An alarm buzzed as “unauthorized pilot” printed across the viewscreen.

  “What the hell?” Devin put his hand on the scanner again. Nothing changed.

  Jane sprang up. “My turn!”

  Devin switched seats with her. They were doomed if they sat there. She pressed her hand against the scanner and hurriedly engaged lightspeed. The attackers, which had streaked past when the Stargazer stopped, doubled back.

  Erratic. That was the only word to describe what Jane did next as she flipped and swerved the Stargazer in no particular direction. She moved away from the interstellar tunnel she should have headed for to escape or toward the hostile ships she should have avoided. But it seemed to work. Whoever piloted or controlled the other ships couldn’t keep up with her antics. Several hit each other in the crossfire.

  Devin was impressed. “Good job.”

  “Thanks.” Jane’s head drooped. He realized that her seemingly brilliant flying wasn’t entirely due to her reflexes. She smiled tiredly. “I’m a better pilot when I’m woozy.”

  Adam gripped the ba
ck of her seat for support. He remained silent, as if not wanting to get in the way. A look of pain crossed his face. He doubled over, clasping both forearms. The ship lurched, and he stumbled.

  Devin rushed to catch him as he fell. “Still?”

  Adam grabbed the back of Jane’s chair again. “It never quite stopped.”

  Jane twisted the ship to avoid a torpedo. “What the hell did they do to you?” She wasn’t fast enough, and the missile hit the Stargazer’s roof. A sizable piece flew off the hull and crashed into an oncoming attacker.

  She gasped. “What was that?”

  Devin returned to the copilot’s seat. “Solar panel.”

  “What?” Jane yanked the controls. “Are we gonna lose power and die?”

  Devin checked the ship’s status on the control screen. “No, the other one’s all right.”

  “Okay, so as long as we don’t lose that one too or get hit by a missile and explode, we’re good, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Jane flipped the ship again, narrowly avoiding collision with a Barracuda, which crashed into another ship that careened from the opposite direction. Both ships burst into an eruption of flaming debris.

  Devin glanced at the tracking chart. The remaining pursuers were out of visual range, heading for the interstellar tunnel.

  Don’t be predictable. “Jane, fly back toward the float.”

  “Huh?” Jane’s face lit up. “Oh. Good idea.”

  She veered the ship. Her hands shook, causing the Stargazer to zigzag.

  Her apparent weakness troubled Devin. “Engage autopilot.”

  “Okay.” After pressing the necessary controls, Jane collapsed into the back of her chair. She tugged at one of her sleeves, then looked up at Adam. “Sorry about all the craziness. You okay back there?”

  “I’m all right.” Adam appeared shell-shocked, his eyes wide and his voice quivery. “Nice flying.”