Dubious Heroes: a novel Read online

  “Lucky for us”, Donner said. “Not so lucky for them.”

  “That wasn’t luck”, Big Mike said. “Someone aimed for the power plant. Guess they figured that if they were going down, then maybe they could do some damage in the end.”

  “Well”, Cisco said, looking around. “Looks like their security force is still asleep, though that blast probably woke em up. If they come here, we could have a fight.”

  “If they roll out, it will be to the west side”, Mike said. “We may be a hostile force, but we’re nothing compared to what’s about to invade them from the west.”

  “Oh, jeez”, Cisco said. “I almost forgot… Cozi and Lola were on that ship.”

  “Look, I know this sucks”, Kyra said. “They were my friends, too. They even saved my life, once. They died trying to help us do this thing, and I intend to see it gets done, alone if I have to.”

  “You won’t be alone”, I said. “We’ll have a memorial for them later. Let’s make damn sure Eng is there for it.”

  “Fuckin’ A”, Donner said.

  “And then some”, Kyra said. “Eric, you copy?”

  “I copy you”, he said.

  “Change of plans”, she said. “Once we get clear of the LZ, dust off, and hang out somewhere. Try not to get shot down. One of us will call you when we’re ready for evac, any of us are authorized.”

  “Noted”, he said.

  AIs aren’t good interpreting subtext, but I could. Kyra wasn’t sure who among us would be left alive to order the evacuation.

  The airlock door slid closed, as we backed off and gave the Lancelot some room. The engines powered up, their whine soon drowning out every other sound. I thought I heard alarm claxons from across the city, but I wasn’t sure. A moment later, and the ship was airborne, aloft on a column of fire, flying low over the buildings. We watched it until it was out of sight.

  “There’s our target”, Cisco said, pointing toward a large, squat building just to our north, occupying a corner where a broad avenue entered the square. The building seemed very elaborate, almost as much so as the pagoda opposite it.

  The building was constructed of both stone and wood, and was surrounded by an ornamental metal fence that was maybe chest high. Elaborate gardens surrounded it, with a wide path leading from the fence to huge double doors.

  The mercs fanned out as we approached, two covering the front, two watching our backs. The front gate wasn’t even closed. We took cover behind a few low stone columns that were part of the fence. Even in the ghostly green of the night-vision, the building looked totally deserted. I could definitely hear sirens in the distance, now.

  “I don’t think anyone’s home”, I said, as we watched the place. A set of stone steps led up to the huge doors, which were at least ten feet wide, and about as tall. Large dragon statues flanked the doors.

  “We’ll wait here for you, if you wanna go knock”, Cisco said.

  “Thanks”, I said. “I’m good.”

  “We’re being watched”, he said. “Second-floor windows, right of center. From the roof, too. I see at least three up there.”

  I flinched as a shot broke the silence, zinging off the stone pavers nearby.

  “I think they’re done watching”, I said.

  “Open that door”, Kyra said. “Now.”

  “Donner”, Cisco said.

  A rocket lanced out from where she lay sprawled on the ground. The big doors in front of us disintegrated in a shower of fire and debris. One of the stone dragons teetered back and forth, before falling over. It hit with a resounding crash, and broke into several large pieces.

  “Subtle”, Mike said, as we all rose and sprinted toward the smoking opening.

  “Fuck subtle”, Kyra said. “I’m not in the mood for subtle.”

  We bounded up the steps, dividing into two groups on either side of the doorway, staying clear of the opening. I ended up beside Kyra and Cisco on the left, with Mike and the other mercs across from us.

  “We brought a bot”, Cisco said. “You wanna recon the place?”

  “You know I don’t like bots”, Kyra said. “We know they’re in there, and we know they’re gonna try to ambush us. I want the first thing they see to be me pointing a blaster at em.”

  Cisco shrugged.

  “Fine by me”, he said.

  “Stunners only”, Kyra said, and checked as everyone pulled their weapons, and signaled her with a thumbs up. A couple of mercs didn’t look happy about it, but at least they had stunners. About all I could do was wave at them and say hi. Kyra tapped her headset, disabling her mike, and leaned in close to me, obviously to share an intimate moment. Finally.

  “Okay, stud”, she whispered. “I’ve been waiting what seems like forever to say this… “

  “Yeah?” I said, wondering if this was the appropriate time for this.

  “Hand over those grenades.”

  Sighing, I dug them out of my belt pack, and gave them to her. I hadn’t thought anyone would be anal enough to count the damn things. Obviously, someone had, and then ratted me out. She took the grenades, and tapped her radio back on.

  “Mike and I will go in first”, she said, her voice in my ear. “Keep the floor plan on your heads-up, and remember where we need to get to. Don’t kill anyone you don’t have to. On my mark… go.”

  She spun into the doorway, a smooth black nightmare let loose into the real world. On the other side, Mike did the same, moving faster and with more grace than anyone his size had a right to. Neither of them held a weapon.

  “Stick with me”, Cisco said quietly, as we entered the building next, crouching to stay low. Regardless of what Kyra had said, I drew my pistol. If someone shot at me, I intended to shoot back. Cisco noticed it, but didn’t say anything.

  Even in the green glow of the goggles, I could tell the main floor was very ornately decorated. My first impression was of polished stone, high ceilings, and lots of antique furniture. It looked Chinese in origin, and given where we were, I figured that was a safe bet. I wondered if they’d brought the stuff from Earth, or had made it locally. I’d probably never know. Regardless, there was a lot of it, and it looked expensive.

  Ten yards in, a grand staircase led to the next level. Kyra and Mike headed straight for it. They were almost to the stairs, when four guards emerged from hiding on the far side, and rushed them. Either they were under orders not to shoot, or they figured they didn’t need to. Big mistake, either way.

  Kyra never even got a chance at them, as Mike moved in front of her, intercepting the four men. Faster than I could even blink, all four guards went down, and they stayed down. I wasn’t sure what he’d done, even though I’d been watching the whole time.

  “Damn”, Cisco said, as he scanned the room for something to zap with his stunner. There was no one else around.

  Kyra and Mike had already reached the top of the stairs by the time Cisco and I got to the guards on the floor. Donner and Malach had taken up flanking positions, while Jones was covering our rear. We bent and checked the men on the floor for pulses.

  “These two are alive”, I said.

  “Mine too”, Cisco said. “Holster your piece, and take their weapons.”

  I stuffed the four pistols into a small bag I’d slung from one shoulder. I looked up the stairway. Kyra and Big Mike had vanished. As second later, two shots rang out above us. Obviously, someone hadn’t gotten the memo about no shooting inside the house.

  “We’re fine”, Kyra said, via the comm link. “Keep coming.”

  Cisco and I trotted up the stairs, and took the hallway at the top to the right. Twenty feet ahead, two more guards lay on the floor. There was still no sign of Kyra or Mike, though they’d obviously passed through.

  We approached the downed men carefully. One still held a pistol in his hand. I noticed the unnatural angle of his head, and didn’t bother looking for a pulse.

  “This one’s still alive”, Cisco said. He removed the guard’s weapon, and handed it to me.
I pried the pistol from the dead man’s fingers, and added both to the growing collection in my bag.

  Looking back, I could see the other mercs were up the stairs and in the hallway, moving slowly, their heads on a swivel. If anyone was still harboring the idea of ambushing us, I suspected they were reconsidering. Cisco and I continued on down the hallway, and took a left at the next intersection. At the end of the hall, another staircase rose to the top floor. A lone guard lay sprawled across the bottom steps, solving the mystery of which way Death Incarnate and his Mistress had gone. I consulted the heads-up quickly, and saw that Mike and Kyra were following the route we’d planned precisely.

  A quick check told us this guard wasn’t one of the lucky ones; he was dead, though I couldn’t tell how he’d died. Without any prompting this time, I stuffed his pistol into my bag. I considered using the combat channel to find out what was going on above us, then figured she’d just tell me to shut the hell up, so I didn’t bother.

  Halfway up the stairs, Kyra’s voice came of the comm link.

  “We found him”, she said. “Come on up.”

  Cisco acknowledged, and we finished our climb. Our rear guard continued doing what they’d been doing, which was, appropriately enough, guarding our rear. At the top of the stairs, we turned back to our left. Twenty feet down the hall, two more guards had obviously met Kyra and Mike, with the expected outcome. Both guards lay outside an open door, and both had been carrying assault rifles as well as pistols. How our guys had made it down the hallway without getting shot was a bit of a mystery. They were fast, but not that fast.

  “Grab those”, Cisco said, as he stepped over one of the men, and into the room. I checked both of the guards, as I disarmed them. Both were still alive. I noticed a red mark on one man’s neck, which explained one thing; Kyra must have shot them with her stunner from the top of the stairs. I bagged the pistols, and picking up the rifles, rattled and clattered my way into the room.

  A blue flash shot forth from another open doorway, and hit an elaborately lacquered dresser by the door. My left arm went numb. I dropped to the floor, just as another shot zinged through the open door. I scooted across the floor- no easy task with only one arm and an armory in tow, and sought cover around the edge of a huge bed. Cisco was already there.

  “I thought I asked you to wait outside”, he said.

  “Nope”, I said. “I think you skipped over that part.”

  “At least it was only a stunner”, he said, and smiled at me.

  I ignored him, and chinned my mike.

  “Kyra”, I said. “Where are you?”

  “Across the room, with Mike”, she said, softly.

  The bedroom was large, and elaborately furnished, like the rest of the place. The Lancelot would have fit into the room, with space left over.

  “I thought you had him”, I said.

  “No”, she said, “I said we found him. As soon as we came in, he holed up in that big closet over there, and he has a stunner.”

  “So, how do we get him out?”

  “Mike thinks he’s using a standard stunner, rather than a military model, like ours.”

  “So?” I said. “Stunned is stunned.”

  “The military models have about twice the voltage. Mike seems to think that makes a difference.”

  “Maybe to him”, I said, flexing my still numb arm.

  “We’ll know in a second”, she said. ‘

  “Alright”, Mike said. “Let’s give it a go.”

  He rose, and walked straight toward the closet door. Another stunner shot flared from the closet, the little ball of blue-white electricity striking him squarely in the chest. The room darkened for a moment, as my goggles tried to compensate for the flash.

  Mike was still standing.

  “Standard model”, he said. I thought he might be smoking, a little. “Fried my headset and goggles, though.”

  “You okay?” Kyra asked, as another shot grazed him in the shoulder.

  “Yeah”, he said. “Hurts like hell, but I’ll live. Chairman Lin. Come on out of there.”

  He walked the remaining ten feet to the door. Another shot blazed into him.

  “Would you kindly stop that?” Mike said, beginning to sound annoyed. He vanished into the closet, and emerged a few seconds later, carrying a tiny Asian man by the scruff of his neck. He carried him over to a chair, and dropped him into it.

  The man seemed ancient and shriveled. He wore a black robe, probably silk, over his pajamas. The robe was embroidered with what I assumed were some sort of Chinese symbols, red against the black fabric. They looked kind of like serpents. I’d have put the guy at around a hundred, but he might well have been that and half again as old. Most people don’t bother with rejuv until they’re at least sixty or seventy, since it’ll only work a few times.

  The man rearranged himself in the chair, regaining his composure, and some measure of dignity. The rest of us rose from the floor, and walked over to join Mike and the old man.

  “It’s dark in here”, the man said. “There’s an oil lamp on the table to the left of the bed, and a lighter in the drawer beneath it.”

  Mike walked over, and a few seconds later, had the lamp lit and glowing, which I thought was impressive; I’d never even seen an oil lamp, before.

  I lifted my goggles, as the lamp flickered, and filled the room with a warm light. Looking around, it felt as though I’d been transported back in time to Nineteenth century China. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it had cost them to replicate something like this so far from Earth, light-years and centuries from where it belonged.

  If the man was as old as I suspected, it explained why he was way out here in Tau Ceti Three, and not back on Earth. With rejuvenation procedures, it wasn’t unheard of for people to make it to over two hundred years old. The process would only work a few times, and then the accumulated cellular damage couldn’t be repaired. Still, two hundred years was a helluva long time.

  Which was why rejuvenation had been banned on Earth. You couldn’t get it there, and if you had it done offworld, then you couldn’t return, except to visit. Earth was already bursting at the seams with people, so the last thing they needed was for them to start living a lot longer.

  Not that rejuv was cheap; it wasn’t. A single treatment cost more than my yearly salary, at least before I went into the pirate business.

  I dropped my collection of weapons on the bed, as Cisco stuck his head out of the door, checking on his fellow mercs. I turned back to Kyra, Mike, and the old man.

  “Captain Doon”, Mike said. “Meet Chairman Bok Hai Lin.”

  I hadn’t really wondered why the locals had named New London’s moon Bok Hai, but now I had the answer, anyway.

  “Leader of the Council of Mao”, I said. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Leader, and sole member”, Mike said. “The Council of Mao is a charade. Chairman Lin is the Council. Isn’t that right, Your Excellency?”

  The old man shrugged, a hint of a smile on his face.

  “Near enough, Counselor”, he said.

  “Counselor who?” I asked, feeling I’d once again come in halfway through a story. The old man grinned broadly.

  “Since we seem to be telling secrets, your large friend is Counsel to Her Majesty Queen Deirdre”, the Chairman said. “I believe you know her as Director Hawkins. Obviously, the Council of Mao is not the only charade, to use your term. How do you like being her pawn, Captain Doon?”

  “Not so much”, I said. “Unfortunately, I’m getting used to it. Not to seem impolite, what with us breaking into your house, or palace, or whatever you call this place, but there are a couple of things we’d like you to do for us.”

  “I am your hostage”, he said. “I assume you wish to barter for my freedom, or even my life.”

  “You are indeed our captive”, Mike said, “But not a hostage. Regardless of how this goes, when we leave here, you will be unharmed. You have my word on that.”

  “So why should
I speak with you at all?” Chairman Lin asked. “Leave here, and I will go back to sleep, as you say, unharmed.”

  “Mutual self-interest”, I said. He looked us over for a moment, as if trying to figure us out.

  “I’ll listen”, he said, “For now. What is it you want?”

  “I think you know the first thing”, I said. “I want my first officer, Nathaniel Eng, released from wherever you’re holding him, and brought here. Immediately, please. We know he is nearby, so I wouldn’t imagine it will take too long.”

  Kyra walked over and handed him a Pod she’d picked up from his night table.

  “Make the call”, she said. “And while you’re at it, have the rest of your guards stand down, so we don’t have to harm any more of them.”

  “If I don’t?” he asked, looking up at Mike.

  Mike shrugged.

  “Very well”, the old man said, tapping on his Pod.

  He spoke into the Pod, in rapid-fire Chinese. It reminded me that I needed to learn another language. Chinese or Russian would probably be a good idea.

  “He’s on his way over”, Chairman Lin said.

  “Wonderful”, I said.

  “Was it truly necessary to bomb our power station?” Lin asked. “We were already having problems in the western sector of the city, and now, innocent people have died. I’m sure more will, before we can fix this.”

  “If you haven’t already deployed everyone to that side of the city, I’d do so, now”, Kyra said. “Your facilities here are secure; we have no further actions planned.”

  We waited as he spoke into his comm link, and listened to several replies.

  “The barriers are down on the west side, and there have already been… incursions. There will be more, once the creatures realize none of the fences are electrified.”

  “Oh, by the way”, I said. “We didn’t bomb your power plant. That was my ship crashing. Your UP friends shot her down. Granted, it looks like our friends aboard might have aimed themselves at your plant, once they knew they were going down, but it was never my plan.” A contingency, yes, but he didn’t need to know that.