2.48 Never Saw it Coming

48 – Never Saw It Coming

Hector wasn’t sure how he felt about Gladia’s plan—or lack thereof. Basically, he was taking a cab out of town, and then it would be up to him to run cross-country to the edge of the raider compound where Flint Tenebrix was supposed to meet him. The man had been surveilling the compound for days, camping in the hills and scoping Gladia’s ship, Maidensong.

Hector wasn’t going empty-handed; he had Gladia’s command codes, which would give him full access to any systems Balus’s people hadn’t walled off from the ship’s AI. He had a secured comm channel with some of the people back at the safe house and, more importantly, Flint. Along those same lines, Evie had a dossier on Gladia’s crew—easier for him to single out Balus’s loyalists if things got violent.

Hector was fairly sure they would. He wasn’t armed, and he wasn’t wearing armor; the security sensors would pick him up more easily if he were, and they couldn’t be sure the ship AI was still in control of them. It didn’t matter, though; on a job like this, Hector would prefer his aura abilities to guns or armor.

Balus was jamming signals in and out of the compound, so there wasn’t any way to contact the ship ahead of time. Hector had to get close and manually enter Gladia’s codes. All in all, it was a spotty plan, with lots of “ifs” and plenty of risk for Hector, but he was fine with it. He was confident in his abilities, and the only person he felt truly threatened by was Lux, and that particular problem wasn’t even in the same universe.

For now.

//You’re nearing the blind curve where—//

I know. Hector’s mini-map had a flashing red circle fast approaching. The idea was that he’d jump out of the cab so that circling drones wouldn’t grow suspicious of it. In anticipation, he checked the door latch—locked. “Unlock this door.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but the doors must remain locked while the vehicle is in motion.”

“Override.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but only certified technicians can—”

“Forget it.”

“Apologies, sir.”

Plan B, I guess.

//Are you sure about using the ability while in motion?//

It’ll be fine.

Hector focused on a spot of clear, red-tinted dirt on the side of a hill near the upcoming curve. Clearing his mind, he gathered his aura and pushed it into Shadow Step. Anyone in the cab with him would have seen a cloud of crimson aura steam erupt from his body; they would have heard a crackling whump, and then they would have seen the cloud disperse and Hector would have been gone.

Nobody was there, though, save the cab’s AI, and it said, “Pardon me, sir, but there seems to be a glitch with my cabin monitoring system. I’m not able to detect you at the moment, so be sure to let me know if there’s anything I can do to improve your comfort. We’ll arrive at your destination in four hours and thirty-two minutes.”

Meanwhile, Hector hit the hillside with considerable force, slamming into the hard-packed desert soil and rolling several times before he regained his feet. He hadn’t been certain he’d retain his momentum through the “step,” but now he knew. Brushing himself off, he smiled as his bruises, scrapes, and stiffness rapidly faded.

I don’t want to lose this corpus vivum. The regeneration, the similite—they’d be hard to match with a new body.

//True, but more importantly, this one suits you.//

You think so, huh? Hector grinned as he broke into a run, following the dotted line toward his rendezvous with Flint.

//I’m growing used to how you appear and sound—how you carry yourself. I quite prefer this corpus vivum to the one you favored when you worked for the Contis.//

It’s not so different—younger, leaner, taller—

//Handsomer.//

Hector snorted, shaking his head, but he didn’t encourage Evie’s strange new brand of humor; he needed to get focused. According to Flint, the drone coverage in that area was spotty, but Hector didn’t want to take chances. He kept to the deep darkness of ravines when he could, and when he drew near the compound, he activated Shadow Stalk, sending hot aura into his pathways that erupted from his body in a brief, crimson glow before folding around him and shimmering away into darkness as it hid him from sight.

When he crested a low hill and saw the compound sprawling out before him, his eyes were drawn to Gladia’s ship. Maidensong was an Imperial lander. Many ships, especially the largest of them, were never meant to leave space. They had shuttles or, in the case of the largest capital vessels, would be accompanied by landers a lot like Maidensong. Gladia’s ship wasn’t a navy ship, though; it had a custom finish and was painted with several massive, gold-and-maroon images of the Ventress family crest.

Hector counted two shuttle bays and two dozen gun installations on the part of the egg-shaped vessel he could see. It wasn’t designed for war, but it wasn’t helpless either. Almost reluctantly, he looked away from the ship and scanned the nearby gulley for Flint. He saw the hulking figure immediately. Gladia’s bodyguard wore black scout armor and, for a change, had his aura in check. He stared into the darkness, his eyes gleaming with a faint orange glow, his dark hair and heavy brow making him look brooding.

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The man spoke, his voice a low rumble, “Done checking things out? I can feel you out there, even if I can’t see you.”

Hector dropped his Shadow Stalk; he wanted to give his aura a chance to regenerate, anyway. “I’m here.” He jogged down the slope to the other man.

Flint watched him approach, then nodded, holding out a hand. “You really think you can get to him, huh?”

Hector took his hand, strained against his crushing grip, and then nodded. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

“I’m not cut out for sneaking, and if I tried to fight my way in, the ship would get wrecked.”

“If you did that, Lux would return before you reached Balus.”

Flint nodded. “Suppose that’s true.” He narrowed his eyes. “Balus feels a breath of danger, and he’s going to recall that animal. You ready for that?”

Hector knew Gladia had already spoken to Flint about the matter, so he simply replied, “That’s why you’re still here.”

Flint pressed his lips together, his broad, muscular jaw rippling with the force of his consternation. “If I go out that way, you better damn well make it worthwhile.”

Hector tilted his head and regarded the man with new respect. Flint didn’t think he could kill Lux, but he was saying he’d keep him at bay. He’d do what it would take so Hector could finish. The fact reminded him that Flint was a named man; he’d earned his surname in the Legion, much as Hector had earned Finalis. “Let’s not let it come to that.”

“Just be as sneaky as you were coming through those hills. I didn’t see a trace of you.” He frowned, looking Hector up and down again. “You know, Balus isn’t helpless. Like any Ventress, he’s got a high-level system. He’ll have some cybernetic tricks, too, and Lux isn’t his only lackey.”

Hector nodded. “I’m aware.” Gladia had gone over the same things with him, but Hector didn’t need to be told any of it; he’d spent decades of his last life protecting the Contis, and he’d seen the kinds of things Royals took for granted.

Flint folded his arms. “Well? You need me to do anything?”

“Just be here…in case.”

The other man grunted, shaking his head. “Your comms aren’t going to work when you get onto that base. The jamming field that ship can put out is a son of a bitch. I won’t be able to warn you if Lux comes.”

“Hopefully, I’ll get connected to the ship’s AI and it’ll have some camera access.”

“Yeah, good plan. There’s a hard-point in the—”

“Main loading bay.” Hector grinned. “Gladia went over it all with me. I have a map.”

“You know about the netjacker?”

Hector nodded. “Any idea where they set him up?”

Flint nodded. “Saw them wheel his rig out of the bay through the port-side gangway. Probably have him in one of the vehicle garages.”

“I’ll deal with him first, I guess—give the ship’s AI some breathing room.”

“Good. I’m sure they have folks monitoring the cam feeds, but without the AI, wide-spectrum scans can’t be properly analyzed. Just move with some other personnel, and if the scans pick you up, they’ll assume you’re one of them.” Flint looked up at the star-filled sky. “Well, night’s not getting any younger. I’m sending you an update for your map—where I cut the fence.”

Hector took a step up the hill, but paused, turning to look at the hulking champion. “You know Lux, right? How fast could he get here? Would he have to take a vehicle?”

“Hah, no.” Flint pointed up with his thumb. “He can fly.”

“Well…” Hector sighed, shaking his head. “Freddy told me he was Praetorian-class, so I guess that’s not a surprise. You sure you can hold him?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” He shook his head. “Just don’t set off any alarms. Get to Balus before he gets spooked.”

In other words, do my damn job so you don’t have to die.

Hector gave him a quick nod, said, “See you on the other side,” then turned and jogged up the slope. When he crested, he pushed aura into Shadow Stalk again, and as his body blurred and faded, he ran down the hill to the tall chain-link fence. Evie guided him straight to the portion where the links were cut, and he slipped through, noting how someone had bypassed the sensors on that entire section. Flint had been busy.

He ran across the parade grounds toward the ship. Despite the late hour, the vessel had enormous floodlights that illuminated the ground for a hundred meters around it. He felt utterly exposed as he ran, but he trusted in his ability to hide him—trusted in the fact that the ship’s AI was on his side, battling against the invaders, and that nobody would have access to more advanced scanning analytics.

The wide ramp leading up to the loading bay was down, and there were personnel going in and out, so Hector took Flint’s advice and fell in behind a pair of techs who were wheeling a motorized cart holding two large plasteel crates. He glanced at his aura readout—32/56—and tried not to let his nerves make him reckless. Relax. That’s almost five minutes of stealth.

His inner voice didn’t really help; the techs were moving slowly, and Hector hadn’t yet settled on a spot to hide so he could recover his aura again. When they were halfway up the ramp, he quietly padded to the side and moved past them. Two soldiers stood at the bay entrance, both of them wearing full combat gear and holding rifles a lot like the ones Mathews had issued her rift raiders.

The ramp was wide—a good ten meters between the two soldiers—but Hector still held his breath as he walked past, exhaling slowly as he entered the large, high-ceilinged loading bay. His map told him the hard-point for accessing the ship’s computer was in the far left-hand corner, so he started that way, walking around carts, pallets, and even small personnel vehicles. A few people moved about, but half the bay’s lights were off, telling him they were outside normal operating hours.

The access point was a small panel and crystal-glass display built into the plasteel wall. It was right out in the open, and Hector didn’t like it; he wanted to stop hiding for a little while and regenerate some aura.

//There’s another access point in the Quartermaster’s office.//

A new dot appeared on his mini-map, just a short way down the port access hallway. I wanted to go there, anyway. Hector hurried toward the hallway, skirting a heavyset tech who was welding some tie-down rings to the deck. When he reached the office, the door was closed, but he could see inside. A man in a House Ventress uniform was sitting at the desk. He wore a high-end tech visor, and his fingers were busily tapping away at a crystal-glass display.

//I’m not finding that man on Gladia’s crew manifest.//

That’s because he’s trying to help cut out her ship’s AI.

Hector frowned, looking up and down the hallway. It was dim and quiet. He glanced at his aura readout again: 17/56. I don’t like it, but half this job is stopping them from hobbling the ship’s AI.

//True. He may not be wielding a weapon, but he can hurt you all the same.//

Hector exhaled through his nose, nodding. This was war; Balus had tried to kill Freddy—he’d tried to kill Hector and everyone on his team. In fact, more people had died than had made it out of the rift. What was more, Balus and his people were a threat to Lemon, Sass, and Kit. Nerves steeled, hesitation successfully excised, Hector touched the OPEN button next to the door.

When it hissed open, he silently stepped into the office and lifted his steaming, crimson blade.

The tech never saw it coming.