November 13, 2361 AIA
P5
Devi Kumar was standing in her security room, staring at the wall of screens that had cut her property into bite-sized pieces. Each rectangle was something manageable, but it made it all seem unreal. The greens of the grass and the flashes of color from her garden looked like bad impressionist paintings—connected, but only by the poor imagination of the artist.
And none of it felt like hers.
Kumar stood with her hands behind her back, watching the screens flip through their routine checks.
“You’re wasting your time, Devi. You won’t see anything on the videos.”
The senator’s bile rose, adding a hint of queasiness to her stomach. “Thank you, Dr. Sipos. You’ve already said.”
“I assumed you hadn’t heard me, or else you might be doing something more useful.”
“Like what?”
Sipos threw his arms back over the sofa he was lounging on. “I don’t know. What do politicians do in their downtime? Practice their honest face? Call each other to make skeevy deals? Bathe in the blood of their enemies?”
“We’re politicians, not vampires, Doctor.”
“And you’re saying they’re different?”
When she glanced over, she saw Sipos was still watching her with that unbearable smirk on his face, cataloging even the smallest hint of a reaction. The man wasn’t friendly; he was clever.
Kumar looked down when she heard the quiet beep from the console in front of her. A hushed voice said over the speaker, “There’s movement on the ground.”
Another voice: “Ms. Kumar, are you expecting anyone?”
Devi reached forward to press a button. “No.”
“They have the gate code.”
Kumar searched the screens for her front gate. It showed nothing. “But…”
Sipos stood up and came to her side. “I told you.” He leaned in front of her to open the com. “That would be them, Cays.”
“How do you know?” Kumar asked.
“Because,” Sipos said as he released the button, “they have the gate code and the videos are all on loop.”
“I see two,” a voice said from the console. “I need confirmation.”
“I can confirm two,” said another voice.
“Is one—” Sipos hissed with frustration, then pressed the button again. “Is one of them the robot?”
“No. Two males.”
Cays’ voice said, “Let them move in.”
“Interesting.” Sipos pulled out a nearby chair and sat down at the wide console desk.
“What are you doing?” Kumar asked.
“Regretting the fact that mercenaries don’t come with brains. I’m no good at live tracing, and I’m going up against a master.” Several of the screens went blank. The pictures of her yard switched over to standard console monitors. Moric had already typed in several commands.
“Sipos—”
“If you please, Devi. Something’s wrong, and if we don’t get this right the first time, I have a feeling that things won’t go our way.” He turned back to the monitors. “I’ll find that little brat—”
The speaker broke in. “Hold on.”
“What’s the problem?” Cays asked.
“They’ve stopped.”
“Why have they stopped?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“How many people have eyes on them?”
Kumar and Sipos went still, straining every muscle to hear what was going on outside their room. An ordered chorus began—one man after another called out either a yes or no. Then there was a misplaced silence.
Cays said over the coms, “Butler!”
Sipos slapped the button. “What’s going on?”
“Butler’s not responding,” Cays growled. “Esher, you’re closest—”
“There was a flash!”
“Esher!”
“I’m heading—”
“No!” A pause. “Esher!”
A different voice said, “I think there’s fire, sir!”
A confusion of voice rained over each other.
“Where?!”
“What are the two males doing?”
“I’ve lost sight of them.”
“I have them!”
“There’s a second party, sir! There’s someone else out here!”
Sipos pulled his chair closer to the com. “Look out for her, and whatever you do, destroy that robot.”
“I want the last line to fall back!” Cays’ order cleared the channel. “Get in the room with the senator. Second line, find the two men and pin them down. First line, we’ll find the shooter. Have your emp bombs ready.”
Devi jumped when the door beside her burst open. Three men backed into the room and shut the door. All of them had weapons drawn. Two of them kept their guns pointed at the door while the last man checked the room.
He held his wrist up to his mouth. When he spoke, his voice echoed back over the speaker with a half-second delay. “I have a high line of windows—” He put his wrist down. “Turn it off!” he yelled at Sipos.
Kumar stepped forward and killed the speaker.
Into his com, the man said, “I have a high line of windows. What side of the house is the shooter on?”
Sipos stood up from his chair and stepped behind Kumar. “You’re not armed, are you, Devi, darling?”
“I’m not your darling, Doctor.”
“But are you armed?”
“No.”
“Good. Whatever you do, don’t pick up a gun.”
Panic was squeezing down on Kumar’s lungs. “Why?”
“You take out the threats first.”
The third man in the room called into his com, “Sir?”
There was no answer. The man swore.
Sipos turned the speaker on. “Try again.”
The mercenary growled into his cuff, “Sir, this is Rhiest. Sir?”
The speaker in the room remained silent.
“That little shit,” Sipos growled. He dropped into the chair and wheeled over to the console he’d abandoned.
“Sipos, what’s going on?” Kumar leaned on the back of his chair.
“He’s cut our communication.”
“How?”
“I have no idea. Unless—no.” Sipos slammed his fist down on the frame of the console. The computer blared in response to the abuse. “We ran all the coms through here, didn’t we?” He laughed. “I should have thought of that. Well, if I die, at least I’ll deserve it. Stupid.”
“You’re not going to die.” Rhiest sounded angry. “That’s what we’re here for.”
“Oh, yes. I feel so much better now.” Sipos was already back at his self-appointed task.
One of the long windows burst in with a deafening crash that hid Kumar’s startled cry. Sipos pulled his eyes away from the wreckage and forced himself to focus on the computer.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“It’s the robot!” one of the men yelled.
A mechanical voice came in through the shards of the window. “I’ve found the senator.”
Another voice, female: “Stand back, Lynx.”
“Reyer,” Sipos whispered.
As two of the mercenaries threw their emps toward the window, there was a flash of light. Rhiest was on the ground, his arms twitching. Kumar only caught a glimpse of the crater in his chest before one of the other men pulled her away.
The emps exploded. When the ringing in her ears stopped, Devi looked around. The mercenaries were all watching the window, but none of them approached to see if they’d hit their mark.
Sipos let out a triumphant “Ha!” and rolled over to the com. “Cays!” The small device on Rhiest’s wrist echoed him. “The sniper and bot are here!”
Sipos stood up, grabbed Kumar’s wrist, and led her to the door. After the shock wore off, the senator tried to pull her arm free, but the doctor’s grip was too strong.
“Don’t be stupid, Senator.” Sipos threw the door open. “I’m going to save your life.”
Behind her, Kumar heard the dull boom as the robot dropped eight feet to the concrete floor. Both mercenaries were firing at it, so the flash that took one of them out was lost in the staggered lights.
“How much did you pay them?” Sipos asked as he pulled Kumar down the dark hall.
“What?”
“Whatever it was, it was too much.” When three figures came around the corner, the doctor let go of Devi to put his hands in the air. “It’s Kumar and Sipos!”
“Senator!” It was Cays. His silhouette gained form as he drew closer.
Sipos pointed to the room they’d fled from. “The sniper was firing from a distance. The robot is actually in the room. And do I have to remind you that e-weapons don’t work on them?”
Cays unclipped his machete and handed it to the man next to him. “Come with me, Senator. We have to fall back.”
“Did—did you get them?” Kumar asked.
Cays grimaced. “We will.”
“We need somewhere with a computer,” Sipos said.
“Our first priority is safety.”
“No shit, genius! I need a computer!”
Cays looked at Kumar.
“My office is connected to the property network,” she said.
“Where is it?” Cays asked.
“The other side of the house.”
“No.”
They all turned when they heard the crash behind them.
Devi was done being bossed around. She was tired of being afraid. Her exhaustion was so profound, death was beginning to look inviting—and it certainly won out over standing around, listening to other people argue about what she would do.
“I’m going,” she said. “You do whatever you want, Cays.” She marched past him and didn’t look back.
Sipos smiled and followed her, leaving Cays with little choice but to come along.
When they reached the foyer, they saw the flash of e-weapons. Cays pushed Kumar against a wall. Sipos stayed close to her. The mercenary leaned around the staircase until he could see the room. One of his boys was nearby, hunkered behind a large table, breathing hard.
He crossed over to him. “What happened?”
“They should’ve run.”
Cays shook his head, trying to communicate his lack of comprehension.
“They’re treating it like an assault! Who are they?”
Cays glanced back at Kumar and Sipos. “I don’t know.” He returned his attention to the other mercenary. “Where are they?”
The mercenary, Caulfield, raised his head to peer out the open door. The twilight was eclipsed by the porch light spilling onto the marble. There was no movement.
The two men looked at each other.
“An assault?” Cays asked.
“They’re trying to find another way in,” Caulfield said.
Cays motioned for Kumar and Sipos to move. He followed them as they crossed the room. With every step, the ache in his spine grew, anticipating the shot that never came.
Once they were in the senator’s office, Sipos sat down at the computer and woke it up. Devi had to lean over him to enter her password and confirm her handprint. Cays spoke into his com, giving hurried orders. When one of his subordinates was cut off mid-word, he dropped his wrist.
“The coms are down again.”
“Yes, they would be,” Sipos grumbled as he typed. “I hope you had enough time to say something important.”
There was a scream they could hear even through the door. Cays realized he was growling in his throat. To distract himself from his own unease, he looked at the woman he was charged to keep safe.
Kumar was trembling from head to foot.
He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her over to the corner of the room, out of the immediate line of sight from the door. “Senator, take a few deep breaths. Try to stay calm.”
Devi’s eyes stared over his shoulder. The noises were getting closer and closer.
“Hey!” Cays barked.
Kumar looked at him.
“Deep breaths,” he said. “Stay quiet. Stay down.”
She nodded. Cays turned back to the door.
The explosion wasted the lock and sent the door crashing against the wall. It shuddered on its hinges. Cays fired reflexively.
There was a flash to answer his. Cays yelled when the shot struck him, but he didn’t fall. He pulled his XM4 into his good shoulder and forced the muzzle up.
Two men came in the door, guns leading.
“He’s got a vest!”
“Found their commander, did we? Drop your weapon, or we’ll shoot.”
Cays said through his teeth, “Drop your weapons.”
“I think you’ve got that backwards.”
“I don’t.”
“It is Sipos.”
“Hello, Joseph.”
The gun never wavered from Cays’ head. “I told you she’s got good eyes.”
“Is that why she’s dating you?”
“I didn’t say anything about her taste.”
“Drop your weapons,” Cays repeated. He drew a breath in through his nose. He couldn’t feel the wound on his arm, but he could feel something dripping off his fingers.
“Why would we?”
“Can I just shoot Sipos now, Captain?”
“Because we have you surrounded,” Cays said.
The two men froze and the room felt silent. Tate turned toward the door while keeping his back against Vas’s back.
“How many?” the captain asked.
“Four,” Tate said.
There was a brief hiss of laughter, then Vas swore. There was a resigned smile on his face when he looked up at Cays.
“Not bad,” he said.
“Captain?” Tate asked.
Vas clicked on the safety and dropped his gun on the ground in front of him. Tate did the same. They both put their hands up.
The mercenaries came in the room. While the prisoners were being searched for more weapons, Cays went over to Devi Kumar.
“Are you all right, ma’am?”
“Yes.”
Sipos joined them. “Don’t relax yet, Devi. I doubt this is the end.”
“The sniper is still out there,” Cays explained. “We have the advantage, but if you’re their target—”
“They aren’t after me,” she muttered.
Cays face darkened as he watched her. The silence grew.
“I lost a lot of men today, Senator.”
Kumar shivered and looked away.
“Sir,” Caulfield came up beside them. “They both have coms.”
“Yes,” Sipos said. “And theirs will be working.”
“Sir!”
Cays put a hand up to his bleeding shoulder. “It looks worse than it is.” He hoped that was true. He hadn’t felt up to actually inspecting it.
“You have a first-aid kit.” It was the captain. One of the mercenaries was pulling his hands behind his back, but he nodded to the pack on Caulfield’s hip. “At least stuff some gauze in it and wrap it up.”
Caulfield wasn’t used to listening to advice from prisoners, but once he realized it was worth doing, he pulled out his kit.
“Who are you?” Cays asked as Caulfield worked on wrapping his wound.
The captain shook his head.
“Do you always recommend helping the people you’ve shot?”
“Not often.” The edge of Vas’s lips crept upward. “Usually first-aid doesn’t help.”
Cays felt as if red-hot blood was pouring into his body, but he forced himself to calm down. By the time Caulfield was done treating his wound, both prisoners had their hands secured behind their backs.
“Where was the last known position of the shooter?” Cays asked.
“We don’t know, sir. We haven’t heard from anyone who encountered him.”
Tate and Vas both tried to hide their smiles.
“We’re going back out to the foyer,” Cays said. “You two, bring out the prisoners. Stay behind them the entire time. We’ll follow. Kumar, are you sure that sniper doesn’t want you dead bad enough to give up his friends?”
“I think so.”
“Then I recommend either coming with us or securing yourself in a room with no windows. I would prefer if you’d come with us.”
“Why?”
Sipos said, “Because there’s less chance of her finding you and taking you hostage.”
Kumar nodded.
Cays motioned to the men beside him. “You men, cover our backs.”
As Vas’s guard grabbed his arm, the captain called out, “Hey, Sipos! Do you want to tell me if Dr. Jane is alive?”
“Not really,” Sipos said.
The biologist’s smirk faded when he saw Cays watching him.
The two leading mercenaries made sure the foyer was clear. After they nodded back to the rest of the group, the two guarding Vas and Tate brought them into the center of the room and ordered them to get on their knees. The prisoners didn’t have time to comply before their legs were kicked out from behind. Vas and Tate crashed to the floor with a grunt.
As they raised themselves back to sit on their heels, Tate glanced around.
“Where’s Sipos?” he whispered to Vas.
Everyone else seemed more interested in where the sniper might be. They scanned each window, every doorway, and each shadow. There was nothing.
Cays stepped forward, holding one of the prisoner’s coms toward the captain’s mouth. “Why don’t you go ahead and say hello.”
Vas cleared his throat. “Uh, hey, beautiful.”
There was a soft beep. “Goddammit, Adan! I can’t take you anywhere!”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Hostage situation. At least this time it’s definitely my fault.” He paused for a moment. “Tate’s okay.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
All five mercenaries moved toward the prisoners and raised their guns higher.
“Jumpy, aren’t they?” she said.
“I can’t imagine why,” Vas said.
Cays pulled the com up to his own mouth. “Listen, Miss Sniper, we’re going to need you to come in unless you want us to kill both your friends.”
There was no response.
Cays went on, “If you run away, we’ll shoot one now and save the other in case you decide to return.”
“What happens if I come in?” she asked.
“We disarm you, cuff you, and leave you in Ms. Kumar’s custody.”
“So she can kill us?”
Cays turned to Kumar. The senator shook her head with a scarce movement.
Before he could answer, Reyer’s voice came from the com: “I’ll be honest, Mr. Mercenary, if they’re going to be dead anyway, I’d much rather stay here and get started on the vengeance killing.”
“The senator says she isn’t going to kill you.”
“And why should I believe her?”
Cay’s hands started trembling. “We were hired to take you alive! Isn’t that good enough? How many of my people did you kill, but your friends are still breathing?!”
“Sir!”
The white fuzz around the edge of Cays’ vision cleared enough for him to recognize Caulfield. Only then did he realize he’d been shouting. After a breath or two, he managed to stop shaking. He crossed over to the prisoners. “You! You’re a captain. Give her some orders.”
Vas shook his head. “Believe me, I wish I could. She doesn’t take orders from me.”
They all paused when they heard the soft beep. “You win, Mr. Mercenary. Do you want me to bring my XM4 with me or leave it here?”
“Leave it. Approach the door with your hands up.”
The two guards pressed the muzzles of their guns into the backs of Vas’s and Tate’s heads. Tense seconds passed.
This time, the voice didn’t come through the com. “I’ll have a hard time doing that, Mr. Mercenary.”
The mercenaries turned and looked up the staircase.
“I wasn’t at the door,” she added.
Reyer came down the stairs, both hands by her head. Cays noted the empty hands, her limp, and her expression.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, he motioned with his e-rifle. “Get down on your knees, Miss Sniper.”
A wince flashed across Reyer’s face, and the words flew out of her: “I want to obey you!” She forced herself to slow down. “I want to. But I can’t right now.” Still slower, “There’s a knife at my back and an e-pistol at my waist. One of your boys should get them. If you want me to get down on my knees, I’ll need to lower my hands.”
No one moved or spoke.
Sipos appeared from behind the staircase. “You’re wondering if she has a plan.”
Reyer’s face twisted up at the sound of his voice. “So it was you. You warned them we were coming.”
Sipos stepped up behind her. He took her knife and pistol while ignoring the accusation. “She probably does have something up her sleeve, but it’s not about luring you closer. She honestly does need her hands to get down on her knees. She’s injured.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and slammed his knee into her back.
Even the mercenaries flinched when they heard her scream. When they looked back, she was crumpled on the floor.
Sipos straightened his clothes, then pulled something from his pocket. “Whatever your plan was, Miss Reyer, I hope it didn’t involve this.” The metal cylinder rang when it hit the marble in front of her. Reyer’s eyes fixed on it for a moment, then she closed them again.
“What’s that?” Cays demanded.
“The robot’s power source,” Sipos said.
“We took care of that thing.”
“Fine. But I made sure of it.” Sipos reached down and grabbed the com that had fallen from Reyer’s hand. “You hear that, Ciro? You’re all alone! And it won’t take us long to find you either. Public Port 14, right?” The doctor paused. “You better run, boy.”