Much like you.
Despite the worry, he slept for a few hours. Jael never rested for more than four. Dred was still passed out when he rolled out of bed and got dressed. He was silent as he went, but before he got out the door, the alarm sounded. Klaxons had Dred out of the bunk and on her feet, scrambling for her clothes before he unlocked the door.
“What the hell’s going on?” she demanded.
“No idea. I’ll go find out. Catch up when you can.”
Jael went at a run, blowing past other men scrambling toward the north barricade. Tam and Martine met him, sprinting hard, but he shot by to where the sentries lay in a bloody heap. From the look of the hallway, it had been ravaged with heavy rounds, not laser fire, and the junk that formed the barricade was practically shredded. He moved closer to the rubble to see what the hell was lurking outside.
A weapon unloaded just beyond his line of sight, and he grabbed hold of the sentries, towing them back toward cover. They might be dead, but he couldn’t be sure. A ballistic round slammed through a metal plate and nailed him in the leg. Pain rocketed outward, followed by a trickle of hot blood. Gritting his teeth, Jael pulled harder.
His iron grip prompted a groan from one of the guards, and he opened his eyes. “Get back. Mercs, all the mercs. And they brought a Peacemaker.”
33
Red as Blood
When Dred hit the scene, she registered infinite carnage.
A score of Queenslanders were already dead or dying. Since Ike’s passing, she had charge of the Peacemaker unit, and she deployed it, but there was no safe haven for this battle, no place to shelter. The mercs came in hot behind their mech, mopping up with laser fire the men trying to crawl away in trails of their own blood.
It might be too late to defend her territory, but she could use one bot to take out the other. She keyed the commands on the remote and listened to the heavy tromp of her unit responding. Between the cries of pain and the rapid exchange of weapons fire, she had no idea where any of her closest comrades might be. Jael had dashed out of her quarters to investigate the alarm, and she hadn’t seen him since.
“Scatter!” she shouted. “Find a place to hide. It’s a big station. If they can’t find you, they can’t kill you. I’ll announce on the comm when it’s safe to return.”
If it ever is.
A chorus of assent came from those not too wounded to evacuate. Hiding might not be daring or glorious, but her people knew Perdition better than the mercs. It would take forever to search them all out, and maybe in the meantime, she could come up with a plan. From the moment the mercs jumped out of the transport, she’d known this day was coming—that there would be a time when they invaded.
They picked the perfect time to strike. Everyone’s got a hangover.
“They’re running like rats,” one of the mercs said.
“Don’t let them get away.” She didn’t recognize the voice.
But it’s definitely not Vost.
The merc Peacemaker was older than the one Ike had restored, banged up around the edges and with weapons that whirred and whined when they fired. Still enough to do us in. Across the way, she spotted Tam and Martine with rifles. They’d flipped a couple of tables in the common room and were creating a cross fire, permitting other people to escape. There were more weapons locked up in the armory, but only she and Tam had the code to retrieve them. There were also more acid carbines and the remainder of the poison grenades.
Have to get to them.
Leaving the Peacemaker to hold the room, she sprinted across and slid beneath a barrage of laser fire into the hall beyond. She skidded several meters on her knees and bounded to her feet, pushing to full speed. Calypso was outside the armory, kicking with all of her might. She had ten or twelve men with her. When she glimpsed Dred, she stood back with a huff of relief.
“Thank, Mary. I’ve rallied a few of the boys, but they need guns and whatever else you have stockpiled. This is not the time to hold back.”
“I know.” Quickly, she keyed in the code and darted into the storage room and tossed weapons out for Calypso to distribute.
The booms and rat-a-tat-tat from the common room told her that the Peacemaker was still intact, still firing. If they were lucky, the two mechs would take each other out, leaving the mercs in a position of vulnerability. They still have weapons and armor. Dred would feel better if they weren’t scrambling to regroup, but maybe all hope wasn’t lost just yet. We can play cat and mouse all through the territory. I just hope the men armed only with shivs have the sense to stay hidden. If there was no chance of winning a fight, there was no shame in avoiding it.
After she emptied the armory, she led the run back to the common room and returned just in time to see her Peacemaker fly back. One of its arms was missing, the one with the Shredder on it, and a big hole gaped in the center of its chest. Still, the mech fired a powerful laser burst; the heat made the other droid’s chest plating burn red-hot.
“Get to cover,” she called out. “Then let’s disable the Peacemaker. If they take ours out first, we’re done.”
Dred moved first, drawing the attention of the mercs who were bunkered down behind their mech. She took a couple of glancing shots, and the resultant burn lanced straight through her nerves to numbness. But the diversion allowed her people to charge in behind her and flip more tables. Calypso popped up and nailed the merc Peacemaker with the carbine. The acid pellets were strong enough to eat through metal, softening the droid for their Peacemaker’s next shot.
“I need some of you to focus on the mercs. Try to keep them pinned down.”
“Happy to help, love.” Jael appeared on the other side of the common room, and she had never been more relieved. He had Tam and Martine with him, so she signaled for them to fan out and create a cone of fire to pin the mercs down.
“I wondered when you’d visit,” she shouted to Vost. “How’s your armor by the way? It was looking ragged the last time I saw you.”
The only answer to her words came in the form of a volley of laser fire. It scorched the table she was hiding behind until the metal glowed red, and the hole appeared in the center. Dred slid along to the other side. Maybe trash talk is a bad idea. Two more acid pellets hit the enemy Peacemaker, then her unit followed with a barrage. With Jael and company keeping the mercs contained, she dove for the Shredder and rolled to the next overturned table. She banged hard on some fallen chairs, and the clatter drew the other droid’s attention.