Part 38 (1/2)
”Don't try to stop me,” he says.
”From doing what?” what?” asks Jarvin. asks Jarvin.
”Like you need to ask.”
Can't you hack it?” asks Linehan.
”Systems are f.u.c.ked,” says Lynx.
”Sometimes the old-fas.h.i.+oned way's best,” says Linehan. He opens up with his lasers and starts carving through the hatch.
Sarmax stops at the c.o.c.kpit door, turns to face Jarvin.
”You really don't don't want to fight me,” he says. want to fight me,” he says.
Spencer's doing his best to hack the mech's zone-connections. He figures Sarmax has managed to switch them off again, but it turns out they're still on. Yet he can't break through. Apparently there's a new factor in the mix.
”She's inside you,” he says slowly.
”Finally,” says Sarmax.
”You've gone insane,” says Jarvin.
”Fine.”
”You go out there and they'll kill you.”
”You're the one who'll die if you don't open that door.”
Spencer stares at the man. Being trapped in a confined s.p.a.ce with an off-the-leash mech wasn't exactly what he was planning. He can see only one way out of this.
”Let's not be too hasty,” says Jarvin. ”We can-”
”No we can't,” says Spencer.
The c.o.c.kpit door slides open.
Linehan tears aside what's left of the hatch. They slide into the shaft that's revealed, glad to put the exterior behind them. But as to what's in here with them- ”Get ready to start killing,” says Lynx.
”They're already dead,” mutters Linehan.
The door shuts behind Sarmax. Spencer watches on the camera-feeds as the mech makes his way down the shaft toward the exterior door, stepping around the charges and mines liberally strewn along its length. Jarvin cuts back on the zone.
”Let's take him out,” he says.
”Are you nuts?” says Spencer.
”We're nuts if we let him out of here.”
”The man's a world-cla.s.s mech. We can't hack him. You really want to get in the ring with him?”
Jarvin says nothing.
”Besides,” adds Spencer, ”even if we nailed him, he'd still take out half the f.u.c.king defenses while he was going down and then the Rain would be right up our a.s.ses.”
”So what the h.e.l.l are you suggesting we do?”
Spenser shrugs. ”Write him off.”
They roar out of the shaft and through an airlock, coming into the infested areas, letting shots streak out ahead of them. The colonists look almost happy to see them. Linehan figures they have reason to be, since he and Lynx are the only targets left. They're approaching the engines- ”Antipersonnel weapons only,” says Lynx.
”That'll make it that much tougher.”
”You know you love it.”
The far door to the c.o.c.kpit access-shaft opens. Sarmax heads through, pulling himself along the walls as acceleration hauls against him. Lights flicker here and there, but it's mostly dark. Quiet, too. Bodies are strewn about. Looks like the crew has finished killing one another off.
Or maybe the Rain has done it for them. Sarmax really doesn't care. All that matters is that she's back. That she appeared in his head and told him what to do if he wanted to see her again. His latent mental abilities have finally coalesced.
Or else he's gone nuts. Or he's been had. Because he sees no signs of her now. His mind's empty. So are these corridors. He keeps on making his way through them.
They come through into the engine area, spraying flechette rounds in clouds around them. The colonists who have broken through to this area are trapped. It's over quickly. Lynx and Linehan fire shots down the corridor through which they've come. They're slamming the doors shut.
”Now what?” says Linehan.
”Now get on that f.u.c.king motor,” says Lynx.
The doors are shut once more. The defenses are back up.
It's just the two of them now. Their bodies are in opposite corners of the room, their minds creeping amidst zone fragments, flitting from sensor to sensor, tracking Sarmax as he makes his way deeper into the depths of the structure. Until- ”What the f.u.c.k?” says Spencer.
”He just vanished,” says Jarvin.
”Into the jaws of Rain.”
Total silence save for the feedback in his own helmet. He's no longer on the zone. There's nothing for him there. Nothing in his mind now either. No sign of Indigo. At all. A nasty suspicion's forming in his head. He's the one who almost killed her back in the day. If she really is is alive, then maybe he won't be staying that way for too long. Maybe that's the way it should be. He primes his weapons, gets ready for what he's been waiting for all along. alive, then maybe he won't be staying that way for too long. Maybe that's the way it should be. He primes his weapons, gets ready for what he's been waiting for all along.
Linehan opens more hatches and starts running wires into the microfission chambers while Lynx establishes a link back to the bridge. The Operative's face appears on a screen.
”What's the situation?”
”We're here,” says Lynx. ”It's going to take awhile.”
”What's going on?” asks the Operative.
”The comps are f.u.c.ked. We have to program the thing by hand.”
”But it's working?”
”We'll find out.”