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Time Bomb - Chapter 06

From Betamountain.org


Time Bomb

Chapter 06

by Richard Ryley


Goose, Daisy and Zozo looked out of the ventilator duct into the prison area. From their vantage point high in the wall, they could see a single guard, asleep in a chair in the guard room. It was the dog man again, napping right next to the controls for the prison cells. Gooseman left his two companions behind for a moment to check the other air ducts.

"He's sound asleep," Daisy said as Goose returned, gesturing at the guard in his chair below them. "In all th' time ye been gone, he ain't moved a bit. Shall we catch th' little fleabag by suprise?"

"He may still hear us and wake up," Goose countered. "There's an open cell up ahead that you can get into through the vent shaft. You two slip in that way, and I'll wait here by this vent. If you wake him up, he'll be distracted, and I can drop in on him from behind. If you don't wake him, you can take him out, and then let ME in."

"Good enoo'," Daisy said with a smile. "All right... it's you an' me, then, furry face." She gestured for Zozo to follow, and crawled further down the shaft.

A few minutes later, Goose heard the quiet sound of boots hitting metal. Daisy was being careful, but the guard still sat up. As Goose had suspected, he hadn't been asleep at all. Grabbing his rifle, the gang member cautiously approached the hallway leading to the cells.

Gooseman waited just long enough for the guard to get around the corner, then kicked in the grate. It hit the floor with a clang, and the dog man came running back into the room. Goose met him with his fist, knocking the little alien reeling. He stepped backward, trying to get away, but Daisy came up behind him, and knocked the thug out with the butt end of her blaster.

Goose quickly checked the door. "Looks like we got in without alerting the others," he said. "See if you can find the girl."

"Right," Zozo said, and turned back into the hallway. Less than a second passed before he called out, quietly, "She's in cell 15. You'll have to switch off the force field from out there, Ranger Gooseman."

"Okay... I got it." Goose flipped a switch on the control panel the guard had been sitting next to. There was the sound of a force field powering down, and then Zozo ran back into the room, with a young girl, with black spiky hair, right behind him. Eve immediately ran to Goose, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, Shane... Ranger Gooseman... thank God it's really you! I was so scared..."

"It's all right now," Goose said, awkwardly trying to soothe the girl's nerves.

"We have to get you back to Earth," Zozo said. "Your father is worried about you."

"But we'll have to get through the Black Hole Gang to do it," Goose said. He pushed Eve away, looking at her sternly. "You're going to have to do exactly as I say, and stick close to us. This isn't some Rock Video, this is the real thing..."

Eve nodded. She was trembling, and had a bruise on her forehead, as if Macross's men had roughed her up. Other than that, fortunately, she seemed to be all right. "I know, Ranger Gooseman. I'll stay out of trouble. And I'll stay out of trouble from now on."

Goose frowned, sure that THAT promise will be soon forgotten. At least she seemed to be too frightened to strike out on her own. "Okay. We're going back out the way we came in... through the ventilation system. I'll take the lead, and Eve, I want you to stay right behind me, and be as quiet as you can. Okay?"

As Gooseman picked up the fallen vent from the floor, however, the door to the corridor outside slid open. Daisy picked off two of the gang members immediately, her blasters in her hands so fast Goose didn't even see her draw them. But more Black Hole Gang men came up behind them, and multicolored laser fire began to fill the small room.

There was nowhere to go but back into the cellblock. Goose held the steel vent cover up like a shield, as he rushed the door. "Get Eve out of here!" he yelled at Daisy. "I'll hold them off!"

Before Daisy or Eve could move, however, the laser fire suddenly cut off. Goose was thrown backwards as the gang members forced their way through the door, their sheer numbers too much to hold back. A deep, gravelly voice cut through the sudden silence.

"Oh, no you won't, Ranger boy... Not unless you want to see your robot friend here on my desk as a paperweight..." Macross stepped into the room, holding Buzzwang firmly, with an arm around his neck. The android struggled, but his hands were cuffed, and Macross was holding a gun to his head.

Macross grinned evilly at Gooseman, his beady red eyes glittering in triumph. His men, coming up behind him, leveled their laser rifles at Goose, Zozo, Daisy -- and Eve. "Drop your weapons, Ranger boy... or not one of your friends will be leavin' this room alive."

Goose glared at the outlaw leader for a long moment. "Ok, Macross," he finally said, dropping his blaster. "but whatever scheme you've got going here, you'll not get away with it."

"Oh, but I HAVE gotten away with it... or to be precise, your buddy Killbane's gotten away with it. The disk, I mean. And your friend Hartford, too. He's got a NASTY suprise in store for him..." Macross chuckled, a low guttural sound.

"You should consider yourself LUCKY that Kilbane an' I decided to deal with you ourselves. Now you be a good little Ranger, and file back inta the cell block..."

Goose scowled as he stepped back into the corridor between the cells. Macross kept his blaster trained on Buzz's head, nodding to Zozo and Daisy, as well. "Move it, you two. Follow the Ranger boy."

The Ranger and his two allies reluctantly backed into the cell. Macross nodded to his men as soon as they were safely inside, and then shoved Buzzwang forcefully into Gooseman. As the Supertrooper tried to duck around the android, and head for Macross, an arc of energy danced across the front of the cell. Gooseman slammed into the force field, and was thrown back.

Macross chuckled again, as the energy field again settled to its normal, transparent form. Then he smirked at Daisy. "Too bad you chose the wrong side. Did you think I didn't know about your 'boy on the inside'?" He laughed. "Too bad. We could have been something."

Daisy said nothing, just looked away from him, crossing her arms. "I'll be back for you, Ranger boy, just as soon as I check in with Kilbane." Macross left the cell room, leaving a couple of guards behind to watch his prisoners.

Gooseman watched the two guards for a few moments. As they sat down at the table in the guard room, and started to play cards, he turned to Buzzwang. "What happened?"

"They ambushed us, Ranger Gooseman," Buzz answered. "Ranger Hartford and I were climbing down out of the vent shaft, to try and get into one of their computers, when they burst in the door and grabbed us. I think that, as Macross said, Daisy's agent told him we were coming. He must have been tracking us the whole time."

"I knew it was too easy," Daisy growled.

"Don't worry about it, Daisy, you couldn't have known..." He turned back to Buzz. "Where did they take Doc?"

"Ranger Hartford and I were separated right from the beginning. Macross wouldn't admit it, but I believe that the disk contains some kind of information about the Rangers. They may have wanted Doc as a test subject..."

"This doesn't sound good..." Gooseman says with a frown. "That disk is starting to sound less and less like a minor inconvenience, and more and more like something that threatens us, personally."

"That's my conclusion, as well."

Gooseman glanced at the force field. "Well, now we have to get out of here. Anybody got any suggestions?"

"Well, I could be disassembled," Buzzwang said, "and..."

Daisy put a hand against the blue indicator light that served as Buzzwang's mouth. "Shh!" She hissed, rather forcefully. She gestured up at a spot on the ceiling. There was a tiny, black, square object tucked up into the corner.

There was a moment a moment of dead silence, and then Buzzwang spoke, quietly. "I've run a scan of radio frequencies in the room. There is another, hidden behind that small vent."

Daisy nodded. "Added after I left the gang, no doubt..." She spoke louder. "Nice goin', Macross! You were always a cautious son of a bitch..." She stepped up onto the cot in that corner of the cell and pulled down the bug, then stomped on it with her boot. Buzzwang retrieved the other from the vent, and crushed it, as well.

"He'll not bother ta replace the bugs, since he knows I'll be watchin' fer 'em. Still, keep yer voices doo'n. There's bugs in the next cell, too."

Daisy gave Goose a provocative smile. "Nuthin' like a woman's touch, eh, Shane? Now, wha' do ye have in mind?"