A Fury Of Aces: Crystal Venom Part 14

Marko slammed his hands onto the chair's armrests. 'f.u.c.k! I need to talk with Ernst. Set a course to take us slowly back to Basalt.'

He walked back to where Ernst was. He partially unfolded, exposing Jan's head and face as Marko asked, 'Ernst, how bad is it and are you aware of the Games Board's sentence?'

The AI replied in a deeply sad voice. 'Very bad, I am sorry to say, Marko. Her brain is salvageable, as is the upper half of her spinal column, but she is critical. I know of the Games Board's decision. Now to let you in on a little secret. Jan's actual Soul Saver is in me. I hold her real self. I have uploaded the events of your holiday, so they are safe. She loves you deeply and she will find you again. I know this, because in the many many years we have been together, Jan has never had such a strong attachment to anyone. Also, the Administration group she works for would very much like her back in their employment, and they too hold a separate Soul Saver backup, which as you know is highly illegal.'

Marko felt euphoric and also very worried in the same instant. Ernst continued: 'Marko, I am sorry but there is more bad news for you. Jan must die today and you must let the Games Board take her remains, including the altered Soul Saver that is in her skull. When they query it, they will find the complete persona of a very real, elegant, senior industrialist from the Gjomviks who has all Jan's memories, excepting her actual a.s.sa.s.sin self. It will be an intense embarra.s.sment to the Games Board. I'll wake her so you can spend a few moments together before I allow her to die. I am so sorry, Marko, I really, really am. It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to have known you, and I number you among my closest friends. In a few moments, a clone of me will attend Jan. I have to leave before we get too close to Basalt. Goodbye, my friend. Until we meet again, go well.'

Marko patted Ernst's casing, then stood there weeping as the spitting image of Ernst arrived and Jan's remains were pa.s.sed across. Ernst then left the hangar and a few moments later he felt the slight shudder of something leaving Blackjack. The medical unit slowly woke Jan. He touched her beautiful face, kissed her gently and all he could say was that he loved her so much and would always do so. Her eyes brightened and she tried to smile. He kissed her again and felt the life slip from her as he cried and cried and, realising that their future lives were dead as well, he howled. Glint hugged him as he sat on the floor cradling a broken Nail and slowly, Marko's grief was replaced by anger. He cursed under his breath. 'f.u.c.k the Games Board, f.u.c.k the Administration, and f.u.c.k all their s.h.i.+tty games, f.u.c.k them all.' He wanted payback and remembered that the Maori had a term: Utu. He wanted UTU! He wanted revenge and it started to burn a terrible hole in his very core.

He stroked Jan's face once again, said his goodbyes, gathered up Nail and with Glint following strode up to the flight deck and climbed back into the commander's chair.

'Open all channels. I want every b.a.s.t.a.r.d out there to hear this: "To the s.h.i.+theads controlling Basalt and the a.r.s.eholes in the attendant Games Board frigate. You complete f.u.c.ks. You have killed my contract wife and tried very hard to kill me. Get the h.e.l.l out of my face, right now.'"

A highly cultured male voice answered theatrically. 'Sergeant Major Spitz, you are totally mistaken. We know her as an immediate real threat to the wellbeing of our great and peaceful society. I am sorry that you now know this, as I am convinced that she fooled you into committing crimes against ourselves and the greater society to further her own twisted agenda. Come aboard Basalt and we shall discuss this further in a reasoned and thoughtful way.'

Marko felt such rage that he could not reply as Basalt had opened the hangar bay door, allowing Blackjack to sweep in and land. Marko left Nail where he was in the co-pilot's chair, told Glint to find the rest of the crew and await instructions, then walked back, gathered Jan's remains in his arms from the med unit, then walked out of Blackjack. Just as he exited he saw Glint s.h.i.+mmering as his chameleon-ware came online, then crouching down to wait for a distraction so he could leave the hangar bay undetected.

Marko was met by two of the Expeditors, who grabbed his upper arms, holding him tight. He felt a cold fury inside him as he consciously sped up his reaction times, a.n.a.lysing their weaknesses. Their director and another Expeditor appeared, with the director pointing at Jan's body, clicking his fingers, then pointing at the deck. He lowered Jan's remains and gently placed her on the cold deck with the two Expeditors still holding him, then jerking him upright. The attendant unfolded her machine and linked to Jan's Soul Saver. She looked at the director, who reminded Marko of every perfectly attired, smarmy, greasy, smilingly vicious man he had ever known.

The director looked across at the readouts, then suddenly went red in the face. 'There must be a mistake. That is not Clarissa Jammess. It must be Jan Wester. Test it again. You! Go get the main unit from our shuttle.'

One of the director's Expeditors immediately ran off.

Marko remembered to speak very slowly so that he could be understood. 'Where are my colleagues, director?'

The man sneered at him. 'Where your colleagues are is no concern of yours, prisoner. You are in deep trouble. Just be very cautious with us, because you are about to have a further judgment pa.s.sed on yourself. You have interfered with a peaceful Games Board school display, which resulted in the loss of four non-armed craft and the damage of a System Airs.h.i.+p. Don't worry, prisoner, we will track down every existing transmission of the video of that incident within a few hours, and it will be only our side of the story that is told. I will see to that myself, once I have pa.s.sed judgment on you. In fact, why wait? This woman is, as far as I am concerned, Jan Wester and no one else.'

A defiant Sirius walked up behind them. 'Director, you are mistaken. This is Clarissa Jammess, the industrialist who left her home, stating that she would go on a long adventure, some ten years ago. Your actions have resulted in the death of a desired ent.i.ty.'

The dapper little man spun on his heel to face her. 'So, Specialist Sirius, you have chosen to join us. You and your faction are out of order in this matter. This is solely my judgment.'

Sirius grimly replied. 'I am broadcasting, director. Perform the second tests for all of us to see.'

'That is not required. Sirius, I command you to stop broadcasting. If you do not, I'll personally sever you across the hips, then cut your all-precious genitals out, make you eat them and put you back in a machine! Do I make myself clear? Expeditors, prepare to execute the prisoner on my command. Afterwards, you will find and destroy his pets.'

Two.

Marko had had enough.

He sped up to the fullest extent of his capabilities, pulled his secret diamond garrotte from its concealed housing in his belt, stepped sideways, lopped the forearms off the Expeditor to his left, pushed off her, and somersaulted over the top of the one to his right - who was moving as if in treacle - sweeping the microscopically thin blade downwards through the base of the neck of that unfortunate, removing his shoulder blades and exposing his spinal column.

He landed, snapped the garrotte tight, then lunged forwards, sweeping upwards, removing parts of the upper thigh muscles of the director, then his genitals, including a large portion of his pubic bone and, continuing upwards, taking off his hands as well. Marko stepped aside from him, spinning around as the returning Expeditor unholstered her pistol, and flung the garrotte with its heavy diamond ends like a bolas, severing her legs out from under her. He ran and seized her weapon as it flew from her hands, then allowed himself to slow down to normal speed.

They were all on the floor and out of the fight but just to be sure he roughly searched them for any other weapons. Blood and body parts littered the deck. After a few long seconds thinking about it, he left their recording units still attached to their heads and activated one of the needles in his left hand, administering a nanote drug that overwhelmed each one's pain suppression system.

Sirius stared in a state of shock and said in a flat, fearful voice: 'They will kill you now, Marko.'

Marko glanced at her. 'They were about to do that anyway, Sirius. Are you with me or against me?'

The ashen-faced woman ground out a reply. 'I am more useful to you alive - and a long way away.'

He snarled at her. 'Run then. Run now and head down, not up. I am not finished here. In fact, I should really slice and dice you as well, Sirius. I do not trust you. You are up to your eyeb.a.l.l.s in this action.'

He marched across and seized her, twisting her face around to his. She looked at him as if he was the devil as he continued. 'The only reason I am not gutting you is because I want you to take a message to your handlers, dog. Tell them to watch the shadows very carefully, as I am coming for each and every one of them.'

She started crying. 'You know that you were recorded and broadcast from the time that you arrived back at the aerodrome, don't you? My faction was responsible for that because we knew you would fight and I hoped it would gain you the public support that it has. Don't kill me, Marko. I am helping you! I had the boys' and the doctor's images altered so they will not be recognised as I know that is what you would want. The public will support you, Marko. They love this crew and s.h.i.+p, as well, and they fear the Games Board. Alive, I can help you. The only things we do not know are what happened inside Stephine's s.h.i.+p. The broadcast was blocked. Please don't kill me, please, Marko, please.'

He could see the desperation in her eyes, but did not dare speak. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and the small of her back, and then roughly pushed her up against the access door to one of the escape pods, forcing her inside. He opened the external control panel, brought up the planetary map, located the centre of the ocean on the planet below and tapped it on the screen and then launched the pod. He strode back to the fallen Games Board personnel.

Their suits had sealed off their wounds, but they were still in agony. Marko grabbed the director's head, lifting his face towards his.

'I shall ask you again, director. Where are my colleagues?'

'Go f.u.c.k yourself.'

Marko felt a black rage building. 'Very well. That would be entertaining, but I think it would be more fun to f.u.c.k you up a bit more.'

He rolled him over, grabbed the back of his battledress, lifted him and walked across to where the garrotte lay on the deck. Using it, he sliced the back off the man's skull, exposing his Soul Saver, which he took out and placed in his pocket. Working quickly, he then dragged them all into one of the larger escape pods and launched it.

Playtime continues, he thought grimly, asking through the crew comms, 'Glint, have you located everyone?'

The reply came quickly. 'Yes, I have. In the mess room. They are being guarded by two Expeditors. They are a little battered about. It would seem that the Games Board reverted to old-style brutal interrogation techniques.'

Marko barked. 'Disarm them.'

'Can I kill them?'

'No. Just disarm them, Glint. Patrick. Patrick, can you hear me?'

He ran over to the hangar deck's arms cote and grabbed a carbine, then a long battle knife. He loaded the carbine on the run, placing the additional magazines against his suit, which held them fast, and said again, 'Patrick, can you hear me?'

Silence is never a good sign, he thought. He ran as quietly and as quickly as he could to where Topaz normally worked, and found him in pieces scattered around the medical suite. His rage boiled over again and he sprinted up the spiral staircase, meeting one of the Expeditors cautiously coming down. Marko just reached out with one of Veg's beautifully simple, lethal swords and sliced him through the neck. The head, a shocked expression still fixed on its face, bounced a few times off the wall and then down the stairs when he booted it really hard, blood still fountaining from the collapsing body. On a whim, he sliced the Soul Saver from that one as well.

As he rounded the corner, there was the flat crack of Glint's linear rifle and Marko was just in time to see bits of arms and hands raining across the mess. Glint had taken his instructions literally. He had obviously lined up the weapons' arm of each Expeditor and blown it off with one shot. Everyone else from Basalt's crew was there. Harry looked the worst, but still very alive and very angry.

'How many of the s.h.i.+ts came on board?' Marko called out.

The major answered. 'Ten. Four went down to meet you. Two are on the bridge. These two here, plus one just went down the stairs. The last one is in the garden smas.h.i.+ng plants. And somewhere on board is Sirius.'

Glint was working his way around the room, cutting the bonds that held his comrades to chairs. As soon as they were free, Jasmine and Lilly sprinted from the room, heading up to the garden deck, with Jasmine taking Marko's sword from his hand and Lilly s.n.a.t.c.hing the carbine from his back as they ran past. He checked the others, then ran after them, while the crew made for the nearest arms cote. As Marko arrived in the garden to see devastation and ripped-out plants, he heard the most bloodcurdling scream he ever had. A few seconds later a very grim-faced pair of amazons appeared, nodded at him and went to find the others.

Marko walked around another corner and looked into the gardens, then looked down the rows of damaged plants to see the slowly twitching, handless body of a naked male impaled on a garden stake. It sounded as if he was choking so Marko left him to his impending death, deciding to take his Soul Saver later.

He made his way farther up the spiral staircase until he was on the electronics and stores deck. Patrick did not look very well either; although he was still functioning, a great deal of his faculties had been ripped away, explaining why Marko had not been able to hear him.

Marko did not have long to wait for the rest of the crew. The major was not carrying a weapon, and Marko soon saw why. Michael's fingers had all been crushed and his bare toes were in the same shape. Fritz could not talk as his jaw was broken and everyone else appeared to have been whipped, their skin torn and shredded in parts. Everyone was only wearing underwear and they had murder in their eyes.

'Just as well you arrived when you did, Marko,' the major said. 'They were about to start gang raping every one of us. That was their next act of degradation. And that absolute b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Sirius, just watched and recorded everything done to us. I hope you dealt with that director, Marko. But the horror creature I really want to get my hands on is the producer, who is on the bridge. Door's locked, I see.'

Marko curtly nodded. 'Yeah, well, I have the director's Soul Saver in my pocket, boss. You can talk to him yourself when you feel up to it. Jan's gone, but I suppose that you already know that. No doubt they told you.'

They nodded sadly as he asked, 'Where is Flint?'

Harry slowly spoke. 'Don't know, Marko. We were invited up from the planet one by one, supposedly by the boss, and found these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds waiting for us. Flint vanished as soon as our comms were stripped from us. They also hit us with a c.o.c.ktail that suppressed our med nanotes. They are from a faction of the Games Board which was behind the attack on us at 27's chromium mill. This was payback as far as they were concerned.'

Marko's rage built to new heights. 'Flint? Can you hear me?'

The mechanical answered immediately. 'Yes. Marko. I am on the bridge, staying close to the producer. They are very annoyed that Patrick was damaged as they cannot access the internal video systems, so they do not know what has happened. Patrick is playing dumb. He is damaged, but actually disseminated himself though other parts of the s.h.i.+p a long time ago. Just tell him when you are ready and he will open the doors. I shall distract the producer on your word.'

Marko walked to the door with Harry on one side and Jasmine on the other as she pa.s.sed him a combat shotgun. 'Now, Flint!'

The doors slid open to reveal a falling producer, bellowing in pain and anger, and a startled Expeditor, who took three blasts from their shotguns, effectively shattering his armour, and filling him with dozens of six-millimetre holes. He crashed against the bulkhead then slid to the floor looking very dead. Marko walked over to where the producer had gone down behind one of the consoles to find that Flint had severed her Achilles tendons and was now perched on her face with two of his arms deep inside her ears.

'I can reach her Soul Saver from here if you wish, Marko.' Flint said. 'Very nice to see you and I am so sorry to hear about Jan.'

Marko snarled. 'Do it!'

The producer's eyes bulged as her body went rigid, then her legs and arms started pounding the floor as her brain died. A few moments later he had another pair of Soul Savers to add to the collection.

The major wasted no time hobbling over to his command pod. 'Battle stations, people. Time for payback. Could someone put my helmet on for me, please?'

Marko frowned. 'Flint said that Patrick was playing dumb and that he is functional, boss.'

'Yeah I know, we set him up like that. Patrick, bring everything online. Rotate very slowly until the primary weapon is bearing on the Games Board frigate. Fritz, you are on comms. Get our neural backups working now. Harry, I need you here on the bridge. Everyone else suit up and get to your fighters.'

They raced down through Basalt. Marko grabbed the two remaining Expeditors left alive from the mess, untied and marched them down onto the hangar deck. 'You have one chance only to see this day out,' he told them. 'Get that reader and tell me whose body that is and make sure you broadcast to the Orbitals.'

One of the men sneered at him. 'You are a dead man walking. Why should we help you?'

A horribly dark smile appeared on Marko's face. 'Look around, lots of blood and severed bits, oh, and I have these. If you do not want to join them in an electronic soup, being tortured until you go completely insane, you will do precisely as I say.'

They took one look at his b.l.o.o.d.y glove with the iridescent dark green Soul Savers in it, gulped, and immediately did as he asked. As soon as they had confirmed the Soul Saver in Jan's remains as that of Clarissa Jammess and broadcast the information, he bundled them into an escape pod and sent them planetwards. He then lifted Jan's remains from the cold deck and, wondering what he should do with her, standing staring down at her, he started to cry again. Glint arrived with Jasmine and Lilly. Glint walked up and, leaning against him, quietly gave him a hug.

Jasmine gently took Jan from Marko. 'I'll take her, Marko. Fight now, weep later.'

She walked out of the bay and returned emptyhanded a few moments later. He nodded at them both, turned, and went on board Blackjack. 'Tux, get Blackjack to show me the weapons status.'

The suit said, 'Talk with Blackjack yourself, Marko.'

Marko looked up. 'Blackjack?'

A very fast voice answered, at the extreme edge of his comprehension.

'Get to your Sledgehammer, Marko. We fight in formation. Where you go, the Lilly, the Jasmine and I will follow. Indicate a target and we will deal with it. Leave Glint with me. He is safest here. I have already jacked Nail into the system. I compliment you on their design. Inspired.'

Tux wasted no time in folding down into the seat and they slid up into Sledgehammer. As he was being locked down, the controls were coming alive, as they had already launched through the airlock. He looked across and saw that Basalt's new reactive skin was taking on the look of whatever was behind it in line of sight, although in Marko's HUD Basalt's solid form was still showing. He took control of Sledgehammer and dropped away from the side of Blackjack. His tactical display immediately started plotting targets as a dozen small spherical vacuum-capable fighters started to pull away from the Games Board frigate towards Basalt. Marko had no time for the pleasantries of mano-a-mano and told Blackjack to deal with them.

The response was dramatic. Something small, deep cobalt blue and horrifically fast flashed across and detonated in the midst of the enemy fighters, vaporising the closest and shattering the others.

'What the h.e.l.l was that?' Marko yelled.

Jasmine answered. 'Fritz, while you were on the planet, became bored and created a new smaller version of the Compressor while still composing music. Said the idea came from 1990s electronic! He calls them Cobalts. Unfortunately, he only had time to build a few. Blackjack just used the one allocated to her.'

Basalt was now turning quickly as a clutch of anti-s.h.i.+p missiles leapt from the Games Board s.h.i.+p. Basalt countered with the central spine rail gun spitting a stream of sh.e.l.ls, which chewed the entire front portion of the frigate to pieces. More fighters were upon them as the remaining missiles all detonated some distance away; they were picked off by Basalt's lasers and rail guns. From the corner of his eye Marko saw one of the antimatter engines. .h.i.t, taking out a third of Basalt's main propulsion. The other Cobalts must have been fired as suddenly very large pieces were vaporised from the enemy frigate's hull with the internal atmosphere escaping uncontrollably. The remains of the s.h.i.+p started to tumble.

Everyone targeted individual fighters with their missiles and guns, steadily wiping them from the sky. Marko dived down between two, firing a high-acceleration missile at one as his belly gun chewed the propulsion system off the other. The missile hit the nose of the other, destroying its weapons, so it was of no further interest to him. Sledgehammer, with its central ring control, was much faster to respond than the enemy fighters, but Marko was watching his countermeasure magazines emptying very quickly.

A proximity warning blared as he saw four small missiles rapidly descending on Sledgehammer. He rolled hard, climbed and then flicked over and dived against another fighter, pa.s.sing so close that the top of his canopy gently brushed the upper surface of the fighter, and as soon as he felt the contact he dropped a pair of flares directly among its fuel tanks, with the resulting explosion damaging the pursuing missiles as they had got that close.

The major now yelled, 'All craft break away and dock. We are leaving, as two more frigates are inbound. You have three minutes.'

They punched out, smas.h.i.+ng a few more fighters before turning and running for Basalt. Marko's displays showed that they had all taken damage, with Julie unable to maintain control of her Skua. He looked across and envisioned her inside Blackjack, and the s.h.i.+p reacted, sweeping up under her and irising the whole top deck open to envelop the Skua. Jasmine was missing most of her port wing and Lilly was losing power, as they tried to accelerate to catch Basalt. Marko looped over the top of Lilly, rolled, punched a few extra holes in a very tenacious GB fighter who obviously did not know when to quit, flipped over on his back and then rammed Sledgehammer into the rear of Lilly's Hanger, pouring on the power.

They only just made it onto Basalt's hull, with Minh Pham actually cras.h.i.+ng against the clamps, because his Skua had also taken that many hits as to be only barely controllable. Marko looked across into a gaping hole in the side of his c.o.c.kpit to see his friend waving and giving him a thumbs up. Marko grinned and thought, Tough b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

Two full-power Compressors were then launched, destroying the damaged enemy frigate and everything else behind them as he felt several large thuds against Sledgehammer's hull and then savagely against his back as first his HUD failed and then Tux stopped responding to him. The secondary hull clamps reached out and held them tight as Basalt continued to accelerate, with Marko's instruments showing that they were heading on a tangential course towards the closest Orbital, and then, totally unexpectedly, they jumped. Patrick must have been able to identify a very small LP between the Orbital and the planet and took the opportunity. Jumping that close to occupied s.p.a.ce was strictly forbidden, and used a great deal of fuel.

A fraction of a second later they were on the other side of the planet at the larger LP by the s.h.i.+pyard's moon. Their radios and receivers on all channels were going nuts from everyone watching and cheering them on. Games Board officials were calmly telling everyone that they were dangerous murderers and terrorists, but Basalt's crew heard the officials being shouted down by members of the watching public, something none of them had ever heard before.

Basalt jumped again with the first of the other frigates jumping right behind them, only two kilometres away. From Marko's perspective, someone on the bridge of Basalt must have really done their calculations perfectly, for as soon as they exited the wormhole, five Compressors were launched, two of which struck the pursuing frigate as it emerged into normal s.p.a.ce. The remaining three detonated instantly, carving huge hemispherical shapes from the frigate and leaving only a small percentage intact. It was looking like some extraordinary piece of sculpture.

Basalt was under full power, racing for the next optimum jump point, with Marko fretting because although he had no access to his engineering boards he could still calculate the huge amount of fuel they were going through. They jumped again and this time found the other Games Board frigate waiting, with a very clear shot at them. However, it did not engage with them, and as they flew silently past at great speed, they could see why. Something had used a very powerful weapon on it and they could see on their screens that the frigate was literally hollowed out from end to end with a slowly expanding debris field behind it.

The major took the opportunity to give some orders. 'All craft, we have a flight time of thirty-seven minutes to the next jump point. Everyone get inside, bay doors are all open.'

With that the clamps disengaged and they took their battered selves inside the hangar deck. Marko had to push Lilly with Sledgehammer, using manual control, as she was without power. It was not pretty, but they got back on board, and then secured their s.h.i.+ps. Everyone's units looked as if they had taken a real pounding and when Marko again queried Tux as to his status, he did not respond.

He had to physically pop the hatch open and climb out, then looked behind him to discover that his beautiful Hanger was riddled with holes behind the c.o.c.kpit and through his seat. Tux was another casualty of this very long day. When he finally arrived at his board he could see that they were deeply in the s.h.i.+t. Fuel was critically low, as the tiny jumps had used a staggering amount of water fuel. They had enough for two more jumps but even that would only take them to the edge of the star system. Bringing up Harry's board he could see that ammunition was also dramatically depleted and it would be weeks before the gardens started to supply them with food again.

The major spoke sombrely. 'Things don't look all that flash, comrades. Someone took an axe to that hulk behind us and they may do the same to us. Looking at the debris fields, it only happened minutes ago. Administration says that, pending a full investigation, we are suspended from their employ. I told them that that was just fine and to blow it out their collective a.r.s.es; sorry, did not have time to take a vote on that. Their response was that we were on our own and that they would lend no a.s.sistance. Games Board wants to kill us. Or should I say, a faction of the Games Board wants to totally humiliate us, and then kill us. And we are fairly messed up. So, what do we do now?'

Jasmine answered. 'I shall speak with the Haulers, Major.'

'Good, you do that please, Jasmine.'

Harry slowly said, 'Um, guys ...'

'What, Harry?' the major answered.

'Take a look in the rear-view screens.'