Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(42)

“Okay,” she said. “I will be there, too. And I will not betray you.”

“See you in an hour,” I said.

I slipped into the alley and prayed for success.





Chapter 12




It took forever to work my way around the city to the sentries, but I had planned that time into my schedule. It was late enough that the streets were deserted. This sentry was trying to pass as homeless, but he was too clean, his gear too nice.

At five minutes to the first attack, I palmed a vaporizer and stumbled down his alley. I hummed a bawdy song in my lowest tone. The soldier glanced at me then dismissed me to continue watching the detention center.

It would be his last mistake of the evening. I stumbled into him then activated the vaporizer under his nose. Even training was no use against human nature—he inhaled in surprise. His eyes rolled back and he slumped against the wall. Depending on his metabolism, he’d be out for twenty to forty minutes.

One minute until the first EMP drone hit.

I moved as close as I could while still being in the shadows of the surrounding buildings. I’d already taken the other sentry out. He would be waking up in as little as ten minutes, but a stronger dose would’ve likely killed him, so I’d just have to work with the time I had.

My com vibrated as the displayed countdown timer hit zero. Drone strike one should have just happened. A new timer popped up on the display, counting up. This was our escape timer. At fifteen seconds, a loud pop came from the detention center roof. Now that the danger to my own electronics had passed, I sprinted across the plaza to the back door.

The electronic keypad was dead and the door was unlocked. I sent up a fervent prayer of thanks that the server scripts had done their job in the fifteen seconds between attacks. The breaching charges in my backpack might not be needed after all.

I drew my pistol and eased inside. The glasses immediately adjusted to the darkness, and I could see down the hallway. It was empty. Based on the video feeds and the blueprints, Loch’s cell was about halfway down on the left.

I didn’t have time to clear all of the rooms. The video feeds had shown them empty, so I would just have to trust that they’d stayed that way. I passed several sets of offices, then large, open-barred cells. The solid cells were clustered together in the center of the building.

When I reached the block of solid cells, I confirmed all of the doors were open. I stopped at the first one in case I needed quick cover. “Loch,” I whispered, “the cavalry has arrived. Time to go.”

Marcus stepped out of a cell that was definitely not his. He clutched a length of metal and moved with obvious pain. “I must say, Ada darling, I did not expect to see you again. I figured you’d be long gone by now.”

“Would’ve been the smart move,” I agreed. “We have three minutes, more or less, to vacate this building before the backup arrives. Then we’re meeting a friend and stealing a ship. Can you do it? I have a single dose of foxy if you need it.”

A mix of stimulants and painkillers, amphoxy—street-named foxy—was a common battlefield panacea. It wasn’t very good for the soldiers taking it, though, because they’d be more likely to hurt themselves further while they were hyped up and feeling invincible. But if it got Loch from here to the ship, it would be worth it.

He walked over with only a slight limp. “I don’t need it. Nice glasses. You got a spare gun?”

Thanks to the high-tech lenses, I had forgotten that it was completely dark in here. But watching Loch, I’d never know it. I vowed to get a closer look at his ocular implants before we parted ways.

I handed over the spare pistol, a knife, and a radio earpiece, then turned and ran back down the long hallway. Loch kept up without even a grunt of pain. It had been two and a half minutes since the first drone strike.

I stopped by the door and peeked out. No obvious snipers and no one took a potshot at me. Loch tried to stop me before I stepped outside, but I darted out of reach. “I’m wearing ballistic armor,” I said. “And we need to move.”

No one shot at us as we crossed the plaza to the shelter of the nearby buildings. “We’re meeting Veronica the fence,” I said. “Don’t shoot her unless she has betrayed us.”

“I heard that,” Veronica’s quiet voice said through my earpiece.

Another minute and I slowed. Veronica should be just around the corner. Now was the time of truth: either she’d be there alone, or Richard and his crew would be waiting.

“You think she’ll betray you?” Loch asked.

“It’s a possibility,” I said at the same time she said, “No.” A quick glance around the corner revealed Veronica. An overloaded, tarp-covered sled floated beside her. She saw me immediately and smiled a huge, relieved smile. “Told you,” she said.

The three of us made our way to the wall around the spaceport. I pulled out my portable plasma cutter. “Will your sled go over the wall?”

“Yes,” Veronica said.

That made things easier. Portable cutters didn’t have as much power as their full-sized counterparts. Precious seconds ticked by as I cut a hole big enough for the three of us to squeeze through one at a time.

The timer had climbed past five minutes by the time we made it through the fence. Richard would be at the detention center and he would likely guess our next target. Not to mention the spaceport security forces.