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The Rush's Edge Page 9


  Vivi watched Hal set out different shaped counters in piles on the table. There were two piles of blue ones for her, and two sets of black ones for him. Scooping his into his hand, he began to explain the rules.

  “OK, what you do is designate your flag or base,” he raised a small counter in the shape of a flag, “anywhere on the last row of squares.” He placed it in the left-hand corner. “If I can capture your base, I win. If you capture mine, you win. You must deploy your troops in a way to protect your own base as well as attack the enemy base at the same time.”

  She set her flag, in the center of the last row of squares on her side. “OK.”

  “Veevs. Take a minute and think about where you placed your base.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “OK, how many exposed sides do you have?” he asked. “How many directions can I attack you from?”

  “Three,” she observed.

  “Now look at my base. How many?”

  “Oh. Two.”

  He smiled at her comprehension. “Yeah. It’s better to use a corner square,” he said.

  “You’re gonna wipe the floor with me, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Probably,” he grinned back. “Nah, I’ll take it easy on you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still gonna beat you, it’ll just take a little longer,” he teased, winking at her. She laughed in response.

  “OK, only an artillery squad can blow a base,” he indicated the blue counters marked with a triangle and dot. “But they move slowly, only one space at a time, and you have to protect them because you don’t have very many. The Infantry moves three spaces.” Those counters were marked with a lightning bolt. “Got it?”

  “Artillery are the weapons, and infantry are the warriors, right?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “If you think you’ve got it, let’s go ahead and place troops. You can’t place anything past the first three rows on the first turn.”

  She observed Hal as he began laying out his troops in squads of four. She did the same, concentrating a large part of her forces around her base. “That OK?” she asked.

  “Yeah. You’re overprotecting your base, but that’s smart the first time out.”

  “Who goes first?”

  “You do. The newest player always goes first.”

  She picked up a counter. “So, er, how many spaces can I move this one?”

  “Three. Just remember, the members of a squad have to stay within one space of each other or you risk a rout.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When they break ranks and run away. You don’t want that because if they don’t work as a unit, they can’t attack.”

  Their play went on for a while, squad stalking squad. Hal would take a piece or two, then Vivi would capture a piece. A few times, Hal let her take back her move after helping her see the error she’d made. She could see that he had the ability to keep several turns and their possible outcomes in mind as he moved his pieces around the board.

  “This is harder than it looks,” Vivi said, contemplating her next move. She edged a squad forward, nearing Hal’s base.

  “Don’t move those. I’ll win in four moves if you do.”

  “What? Wait. How can you know that?”

  Hal grinned. “Been watching you this whole time. If I move here, you’ll move here, right?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Then I’ll do this…” He flanked her as he moved a squad toward her last artillery piece guarding her base on the board. “And then you’ll do this.” He pushed her piece one square to the side. Suddenly she realized that he’d been moving two squads closer the entire time, as if he had been anticipating her game plan from the beginning. “And then I’ll have you.”

  “Shit,” she cursed softly. “You’re good at this.”

  “I practiced a lot,” he shrugged.

  It was a few more minutes before Hal blew up her base, using two of his last three squads. “Good game,” she said, tipping her flag piece over. “Did someone teach you how to play or did you just become good at it over time?”

  “Tyce taught me. I was kinda hard to handle when I was first transferred into his unit, and I think it was his way of…” He gestured around, looking for the word.

  “Giving you something to focus on?” she supplied.

  “Yeah, I guess so. I think he thought it might calm me down. He kept telling me I was smart and could be more than just a bolt catcher.” Hal shrugged, folding the board so that the pieces could be stored inside.

  “What’s a bolt catcher?”

  “Um, you know. Someone expendable.”

  “Oh,” she replied, softly.

  “When I first started under Ty, I didn’t see how a nat and a vat could be friends. But… it just happened over time.”

  She nodded, watching him clean up. His violent episode of a few nights ago seemed so far away now – as if he’d been another person then. It was hard to reconcile that aggressive, violent soldier crafted by years of ACAS conditioning with the Hal she’d just spent the evening with. This Hal was sincere, funny, and gentle – a patient teacher. And although it didn’t seem possible, she realized he was someone she felt safe with.

  “You OK?” Hal asked.

  He’d obviously noted the expression on her face as she’d drifted into thought. “Oh yeah,” she nodded and smiled at him. “Sorry, I guess I’m just getting a bit sleepy.”

  “It is getting kind of late,” Hal noted. “Ty probably wants to get started early tomorrow.”

  “Oh, yeah. You’re right,” she said, standing up.

  They walked back toward their rooms in a comfortable silence. When she was standing at her door, she glanced over at him. He’d keyed the pad for his own room but was waiting for her to go in first.

  “Thank you for the game,” she said. “We should play again sometime.”

  “Oh, yeah. Anytime,” Hal nodded, still waiting.

  She turned and keyed her code, then glanced back at him. “Goodnight, Hal.”

  “See you in the morning, Veevs,” he replied as she slipped inside.

  ELEVEN

  Early the next morning, Hal and Tyce brought two loads of allenium and approved artifacts from the cave back to the ship using the hoversled. Ty had just suited up with the harness to go back down for their final visit when they got a message from Vivi.

  “Ty, Beryl asked me to comm you about what time we’ll–”

  A burst of static cut her off. Ty exited the cave with Hal following. “Might get better reception outside,” he said.

  “Repeat transmission?” Ty said, but was greeted with another burst of static.

  “Something’s not right,” Hal muttered. He attached his scanner to his belt, and then pulled his blasrifle off his shoulder.

  Ty nodded, swinging his own blasrifle into his hands. He could feel the wrongness in the air like some sort of vibration. “Let’s check it out. Leave everything for now,” Ty said.

  They began moving down the mountain from tree to tree, Ty leading, until they reached the first clearing where Ty had dug a piece of allenium out of the ground.

  Ty held up his hand to stop behind a large trunk. They crouched as they saw a figure slip through the trees on the other side of the clearing. It was a woman, wearing an ACAS uniform. Her dark hair was pulled up in a tie; regulation hairstyle for vats. She was obviously hunting someone.

  And Ty’s crew were the only ones on the planet.

  The woman continued without pause, so she hadn’t seen them. Ty motioned to Hal and pointed back toward the ship; they began to head that way avoiding the female soldier. There were certain to be more soldiers about. Neither of them wanted to fight ACAS troopers who were merely doing their duty, but Ty wouldn’t hesitate to do what they had to do to survive. They continued to move down the side of the mountain toward the ship.

  The hot burn of a blaster bolt hit Ty’s arm, tearing his attention away from the path he was mak
ing through the undergrowth. Another ACAS vat was behind a nearby tree, leaning out to fire at him. Ty and Hal took cover, then returned fire as the sound of calls from far away echoed through the woods.

  A huge explosion took out a section of trees and the soldier retreated, either from injury or caution, Ty couldn’t tell. The cannon blast had come from the Loshad. Ty held his position a moment longer, trying to sense which way the troops stalking them were moving, when a noise broke behind him.

  Hal was involved in a hand-to-hand with an ACAS soldier who had obviously been trailing them. The soldier had a viblade, but Hal was holding it away from him with one hand and slapping his hip for his blaster with the other. They struggled and just as Ty lifted his blasrifle to fire, a shot rang out and they fell. Both combatants lay still. Ty took a step forward, holding his breath.

  Then, Hal pushed the dead soldier off him with a grunt of effort.

  Ty sighed in relief as Hal got to his feet, blaspistol in his hand. His face was a mask of blood from a deep cut over his swelling eye.

  “You OK?” Ty whispered, feeling the warmth of his own blood as it dripped down his arm to splatter the ground below. He let his gun hang on his shoulder a moment as he put his hand over the wound to stem the blood flow. It was obvious Hal couldn’t hear him over his pounding heartbeat because Ty had to ask his question twice.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” Hal said, looking up. Ty could see by his pupil size that he was on a strong rush. “Shit, man. Your arm,” Hal said. “We gotta go now, while the ship’s still laying cover down for us.” Another blast from the Loshad landed somewhere behind them. The calls they had heard became shouted orders as their enemy drew closer.

  Ty tried to comm the ship but continued to receive static. “Jammer,” he muttered. “We’re just gonna have to run for it.”

  Hal nodded. “I’ll cover behind. You get anyone in front.”

  “Let’s go.”

  The sparse instructions were all they needed – the two of them had been in so many battles together they knew what the other would do in almost every situation.

  As soon as they began to run, the Loshad opened fire on the trees behind them. The pair made it to the ship in double time and found an ACAS tecker kneeling at the lock pad, attempting to defeat the code. Clearly either Vivi or Beryl had the foresight to lock off the rest of the ship from the cargo bay.

  Ty didn’t pause as he charged into the bay. When he thought about it later, he kicked himself for the rookie mistake – allowing tunnel vision to take over. He was so focused on the threat presented by the tecker, his situational awareness failed him, and he didn’t notice the soldier on overwatch behind the cover of the excavation machine until she spoke.

  “Don’t do it,” she growled pointing a blasrifle at him.

  Ty glanced to his right; she had him cold. “Drop the rifle, nat,” she sneered.

  His gun clattered as it hit the floor of the cargo bay. He sighed and raised his hands. The wound in his arm made him give a deep groan. He tried to glance behind him to see if Hal was caught too, but he only saw another soldier coming from the left side of the cargo bay. He’d obviously used the Loshad’s stack of cargo crates to hide his presence.

  Damn it. You missed him too, rook, Ty thought to himself.

  The soldier at the hatch turned back to his work when he saw the threat was neutralized.

  “Hold him there,” he said. “As soon as we get inside, Banes and I will head for the bridge.” From his uniform insignia, and more importantly, the way he gave orders, Ty knew immediately the tecker was the natural-born officer.

  Where’s Hal?

  Hal was still outside the ship when Ty charged in. It was unlike Ty to make such basic mistakes, but maybe the safety of the ship had overridden his normal sense of caution. Hal moved in close to the ramp, where he had cover and concealment, and braced himself to attack.

  He swept his rifle up and scanned the interior of the cargo bay. Ty was under the gun of a female vat trooper and another soldier was set to charge into the ship once the tecker opened the hatch. Everyone’s attention was focused toward the door – and that was all the edge Hal needed.

  Hal crept silently up the ramp, dropping low. He worked his way around the left side of the cargo bay. He was made for this and was best at thinking on his feet, coming up with a plan in the heat of battle. With a clear line of sight, Hal shot the male vat in the head. The body fell with a thud.

  But he couldn’t shoot the vat covering Ty; the risk of hitting his captain was too high. He dropped his rifle, then, as the woman spun round, looking for the source of the shot, she was hit by the force of Hal plowing into her. His assault drove the soldier backwards, slamming her hard into the excavating machine. She groaned as the metal framework dug into her back, but somehow she managed to loosen Hal’s grip just enough to draw her combat knife. The weapon hummed as its cutting edge vibrated menacingly. Hal wisely gave ground. He knew firsthand what a mess the viblade could make of human tissue. Both of them were in the rush now, knowing that only one would survive.

  The trooper dropped into a knife fighter’s crouch and Hal did likewise. She made a few slashes with her blade, likely sizing his reflexes. Hal bounced on the balls of his feet as he shifted to avoid the strikes. He then made his move.

  He pretended to slip and staggered for a split second. Deep in the rush, she sprang in the moment, falling for the feint as he had hoped. As fast as Hal was, there was no way to avoid the strike, but he turned at the last second and the blade just grazed his chest. Hal clamped his hands on the other vat’s wrist and wrestled her to the ground. She was flailing, trying to get her blade hand free. Ignoring the persistent punches that the vat was delivering, Hal continued his pressure until the knife fell to the deck, its blade still humming like a great angry bee. Hal savagely headbutted the woman, and at the same time released one hand from her wrist. He grabbed at the viblade then plunged the weapon downward into the soldier’s chest. Her webmesh chest protector couldn’t deflect a direct strike and she gurgled as the blade pierced her chest and ravaged her heart.

  The whole fight had only taken a few seconds. When he turned for the tecker, he saw an open hatch and an empty corridor in front of them. He met Ty’s gaze as the captain reached the wall comm.

  “Beryl, Vivi, lift off. We’re aboard. One hostile aboard too. Secure the door to the bridge while we take care of him. If anyone targets the ship, make sure you shoot back.”

  “Got it.” Beryl’s voice came across the comms. Ty tried to move forward but stumbled and grabbed the doorway to steady himself. In a second, Hal was at his side.

  “I’ll take him out, Cap,” Hal said, helping Ty into a sitting position. He removed the strap to his rifle and wound it around Ty’s arm above the bleeding wound, tugging it tight.

  Ty reached out and caught Hal’s arm. “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  The ship’s engines engaged as Hal reached the main corridor. “Runa. Locate the intruder.” He knew that the ship’s assistant would be able to pinpoint his position.

  The intruder is in Vivi’s quarters, Hal. The reply was quick and at a lower volume than normal, almost as if Runa knew the danger in being too loud.

  Hal moved down the passage toward the crew quarters. He reached Vivi’s door and stood to the side, rifle ready.

  He keyed the override code, and a blaster bolt shot out from inside the room as soon as the door slid open. As the smoke cleared, Hal listened for his enemy’s movements. He heard a quiet click that signified a faulty energy cell and smiled at his luck. The tecker should’ve checked his weapon before leaving his ship.

  Knowing he had a fraction of a second to act, Hal dared a quick look from the left side of the doorframe. The tecker was against the far wall, reaching for something at his waist.

  “Don’t do it!” Hal yelled, coming around with his weapon raised. The nat couldn’t have been thinking straight – in combat a vat would always be faster.

  T
he soldier held up something in his hand, as Hal fired two shots: one in the head and one in the center. An easy kill. The tecker’s backup blaster dropped from his hand as he fell back, eyes open and staring, leaving a bloody smear behind him on the wall.

  Objective achieved, Hal turned his attention to his crew and headed back to Ty. But Ty wasn’t in the cargo bay where he’d been left, and Hal’s stomach dropped. Had he missed a hostile? Had someone overcome Ty? “Runa, locate Ty now.”

  Tyce is on the bridge, Hal.

  He breathed a sigh of relief and double timed it there. He could detect the slight push of gravity from the ship’s inertial dampeners betraying its lift off. As he ran up the inclined ramp to the bridge, he felt the ship’s engines smooth out. They were transitioning from atmosphere to space. Just as he bolted onto the bridge, something big rocked the Loshad, causing him to lose footing and tip backwards.

  Three more booms shook the ship. They were taking fire.

  Ty was in the captain’s chair. Vivi was hovering over the weapon’s station, hands trembling slightly. He was pleased to see the blaster he had loaned her last night was tucked in her waistband at the small of her back. The training was working.

  When she turned and saw Hal she was visibly relieved. He squeezed her shoulder for a brief moment as he took her place at the weapon controls. His breath caught as he saw what they were facing.

  “Fuck me! Ty, that’s a… a…”

  Filling the view screen was an ACAS corvette bearing down on them like a hungry wolf let loose in a fold of sheep.

  “Yeah, I know,” Ty said.

  Another shot came across their bow.

  “They’re comm-ing us,” Beryl said.

  “Just great,” Ty said sarcastically. He groaned as he pulled himself up in his chair, then wiped the pain from his expression as if he’d just taken off a jacket.

  The commander of the corvette appeared on screen. “I am Captain Sammeal Tallin of the ACAS ship Phobos. Unknown ship, you will power down your engines and allow us to board.”

  “You’ll excuse me for putting it bluntly, but no fucking way, Captain.” Ty narrowed his eyes. “Is it standard operating procedure for the ACAS to send out hit squads first and ask questions later?”