part0040

“Why are we stopping?” Cora’s voice was tight and she held the baby against her chest.

Graves gripped the Saint Christopher medal and yanked it so the chain broke. He squinted at the silver disk in the dim light, then used his fingernail to peel off the back. Inside lay a clear circle of plastic about the size of the nail on his little finger.

“What is that?” Cora asked.

Graves wet the tip of his finger and touched the clear disk, which adhered to his fingertip. He held open his right eye and inserted the lens. His eye watered as the tiny disk burned into his eyeball and he grunted in pain. If the gunshot next to his face had damaged his eye, would the emergency device still work?

“William?”

The burning stopped. His vision cleared and he heard the calm, professional voice of Major Olga Rodchenkov in his ear. “Saint Christopher, this is Wildfire. Do you read me?”

“Wildfire, this is Christopher, I am online.”

He could hear the relief in her voice. “Roger that, Chris, I have your location. You have a six-pack in your cooler. Proceed to the bar.”

The assault team was six troopers and they were here to get him out.

“Be advised, Wildfire. We have plus one point five for extraction.”

“Negative, Chris. There is no room at the inn.” The troopers would have an emergency pressure suit for him, but extra passengers—especially a baby—were an issue.

“We are en route, Wildfire. Make room.”

“Copy that, Chris. Join the party at the bar. We will improvise.”

Graves pulled the silver handgun from his waistband.

“What is going on, William?” Cora whispered.

“We’re getting out of here.”

“How?”

“I’m still working on that part.”

His display updated, showing Graves the path to follow. Quickly, he led Cora down the stairs to the command deck. He paused at the heavy steel door, feeling the thud of gunfire in the space beyond them.

“Standing by, Wildfire,” he whispered. The gunfire ceased.

“Chris, you are clear to proceed. Area is secure.”

Graves pushed open the door.

The hallway beyond was like a war zone. Bullets had shredded the walls and ceiling, spent ammunition and bits of molded plastic littered the floor, the sharp smell of gunfire hung in the air. To his right, a three-round burst shattered the stillness. The sound of heavy treads reached his ears and a mech trooper rounded the corner. Graves heard Cora draw a sharp breath of surprise.

A space trooper is a fearsome sight. The two-meter-tall figure was a soldier clad in a combination pressure suit/body armor, allowing the highly trained combat soldier inside to enhance his natural fighting skills and operate in or out of atmosphere or gravity. They also carried a virtual arsenal with them for any battle situation.

“Christopher, meet Five. He’s your rear guard. Follow the route.”

On his temporary retinal display, Graves saw an arrow point to the right down the shattered hallway toward the docks one level below them. He pushed Cora in that direction. The hallway curved, exposing to view the landing for the space elevator one level below them.

Cora stopped, pointing. Fischer, the man who had tried to kill them in the exam room, emerged from the elevator lift. He held a heavy black Glock in his grip. He looked up, saw Cora and the baby, and opened fire.

Graves popped off a shot in reply as he dragged Cora backwards. “Wildfire, we have a situation.”

No answer.

“Wildfire, do you read me?”

Nothing.

Graves cursed and hauled Cora down the hallway faster. The layout on his display showed him that this deck was laid out like a U opening on to the space elevator docks. He paused, staring at the rectangular room on the display labeled ESCAPE PODS. He remembered seeing the row of gleaming open portals at the top of the steps from the dock landing.

He formulated a new plan: send Cora and the baby the long way around the U while he kept Fischer occupied. A fresh burst of gunfire, full automatic this time, sounded behind them.

“Chris, this is Wildfire. We have a new threat inbound to your location.”

“I know,” Graves shouted back. “It’s a Taulke hit man. Can you vector a trooper to us?”

“Negative, Chris. You need to get out of there. Threat incoming is a ninja woman, all in black. A one-woman shit show. Unit six is down, unit five is between you and her. Get out of there now.”

“Wildfire, we are being pursued by—” Graves pulled Cora around the corner and pressed her back against the wall.

Trooper Five was locked in a battle with a black-suited woman. The attacker moved with superhuman speed, kicking off a wall, vaulting over the head of the trooper. Bullets sprayed from the trooper’s weapon but the mech soldier was unable to keep track of his attacker long enough to pin her down.

She dropped to the floor and swept the soldier’s legs, making him crash to the ground. The trooper was good; he broke his fall and slammed a fist down where the ninja should have been.

But she wasn’t there—and now he’d exposed his back to her. The ninja leaped onto his shoulders. Her arm flashed up and Graves swore he saw her gloved hand become a solid blade. She jammed the sword between the seam at the helmet-collar weld of the armor.

The trooper collapsed to the ground.

The ninja stood and turned to face Graves and he saw her face for the first time.

“Ming?” That was impossible, Ming Qinlao was dead.

She grinned. “Surprised to see me, General?”

Olga screamed in his ear. “Wildfire, Five is down! Get out of there!”

Ming took a step toward them. “I need you to give me that baby, General. You can go, and her, too. But the child stays with us. Tony has plans for her.”

Graves saw on his display that two more mech soldiers were headed their way. If he could hold her off for another few seconds, there was no way she could take down two troopers.

Ming’s eyes flicked past Graves.

Fischer .

“I need the kid,” Fischer said, coming into view, weapon on Ming. “I don’t know who you are, but the kid’s mine”

Graves felt Cora step behind him and hold the baby between them. The child was quiet, as if it knew what was happening. In the silence, he could even hear tiny breaths being drawn.

Ming’s voice was full of confidence. “You will not harm the child. Not while I’m alive.”

For a second, there was no motion from either side, then pandemonium broke loose. Two space troopers rounded the corner at a full sprint, guns blazing. Graves felt bullets rip into the ceiling over his head and threw Cora and the baby to the ground.

Ming moved in a blur of speed toward the troopers. Fischer started firing at the incoming threat. A stray round caught Fischer in the shoulder and spun him around. He hit the wall and collapsed to the floor.

Graves hauled Cora upright and dragged her around the corner, away from the fighting.

His legs pumped. Cora’s hand was tight in his, the weapon he’d taken from Fischer in the other. Most of the lights had been shot out, but Graves could see the row of open escape pods less than twenty meters away. Backup lighting in the emergency escape space had come on, making the room look all the more inviting and safe.

“Wildfire,” he yelled, “we are on the move—”

Two shots rang out and a tremendous blow knocked him to the floor. The rough tread of the deck smashed against his face and it felt like someone had driven a nail between his shoulder blades.

“William, get up.” Cora’s voice.

Graves rolled over, gasping for breath, and put his hand behind his neck. It came back dry. The body armor in his suit, he remembered.

He tilted his head up far enough to see Fischer on his feet, staggering in their direction.

Graves got to his hands and knees. “Go! Get in the pod.” He pushed her away.

As Graves looked around frantically for his weapon, another shot rang out. He spied the silver handgun and lunged for it. His fingers curled around the grip, and he spun in Fischer’s direction.

Graves pointed the gun and pulled the trigger until the weapon was empty. He stumbled to his feet, grabbing the wall to steady himself.

Fischer was down, but a groan indicated he was still alive.

The oval pressure hatch labeled EMERGENCY ESCAPE called to him in lighted red letters. He lurched toward the escape pod bay.

Cora lay sprawled on the deck just inside the doorway, a dark stain growing across her back. The harsh emergency lighting was a cold white that made the white bundle of blankets peeking over her shoulder glow. The child’s golden eyes were wide open, staring at Graves. Behind them, Grave could hear Ming still battling it out with at least one trooper.

He knelt next to Cora and rolled her over. She was still breathing.

“Save her,” she said.

“I’m going to save you both,” Graves replied. He tucked the baby under his arm and dragged her the last few meters to the nearest escape pod, leaving a bloody smear on the floor. Inside the four-person pod was a ring of standard-issue crash couches.

The sound of gunfire at the other end of the hall had ended. If Ming was still alive, she’d be here any second.

Graves fell backwards into the pod, dragging Cora’s inert body with him. He threaded a leg into a harness and used his free foot to activate the launch sequence.

As the pod door slammed shut, Graves saw a flash of movement on the other side. Ming’s face filled the tiny window.

The pod blew away from the station, throwing Graves in the opposite direction of the thrust. Cora’s head lolled like a rag doll. The baby made a grunting noise. Graves just held on.

The bullet had hit him between the shoulder blades and it even hurt to breathe. “Wildfire, this is Saint Christopher,” he said. “We’re in an escape pod. Follow my signal.”

“Cora,” he whispered. “We made it.” She did not respond. He released her body and she floated up, away from him. He kept the baby with the golden eyes secure in his arm.

“Roger, Christopher. We have your signal. Advise on medical status.”

Through the tiny porthole window, Graves saw Olympus Station growing smaller. From this distance, the massive station looked like a toy on a string. He kept his eyes on the circle of glass so he didn’t have to look at Cora.

“Two alive, one deceased, Wildfire.” He paused, looking down at the child in his arms. “I hope you have baby formula.”

When the tears finally came, the moisture lifted away from his face like little crystal beads.