To the Last Syllable of Recorded Time - Part IV

To the Last Syllable of Recorded Time - Part IV

     "Where the heck are we? I'm sure I've never heard of this outpost before."
     "I don't suppose anyone who has has lived long enough to tell the tale, Doc," Zach remarked dryly. "Let's hope we will."
     Niko looked over her shoulder and shifted uncomfortably inside her trooper uniform. "Let's get going. They are going to notice that missing ship soon."
     "Okay. Niko, you lead the way. If anyone can locate Goose, it's you. Or Doc," he added, "provided we find one of those damned terminals."
     The three shadows hurried along the corridor, almost one with the wall. They were driven by many things -- among them friendship, resolve, and instinct. Not just instinct, but the finely honed, razor-sharp awareness and stealth of one of the best combat units in the galaxy. Each of them a deadly weapon in their own right. Each of them bearing a very personal grudge.
     "There must be a terminal here somewhere," Doc muttered. "I'm starting to get bored."
     Niko frowned. She didn't want to activate her badge just to get her bearings, but it seemed the quickest way to locate Goose. She hoped it wasn't already too late; flattening herself against the wall, she motioned to the others to stop. As Zachary came to a halt next to her, imitating her previous motions, she touched her badge. Despite having seen it countless times before, both men watched in admiration as her green pupils darkened, then dilated and exploded with violet light. Awareness coalesced and focused, until it almost crystallized. The wounded wolf that was their teammate shivered softly in his sleep as, for a split second, the cell filled with the warmth of a well-known presence. Then the violet light died, and the cell was cold once more.
     Niko sagged a little against the wall, cold fury in her gaze.
     "I know where they're keeping him. I don't know how we'll ever get him out of there, but we'll manage." Pressing a hand against the wall, she straightened and looked at Zach. "Come on. We don't have much time left."
     They continued the fast advance through the labyrinth of corridors, taking only minimal precautions. The high-security detention block was close, the entrance controlled by three high-standard, independent AI's -- a challenge for the best hacker.
     The moment they halted just short of the last corner, Hartford had already retrieved his data unit, dark fingers brushing the badge in a careless gesture. Bare seconds later the tweakers were swarming around him like so many agitated fireflies, each tiny voice demanding to be given the most challenging task.
     Zach and Niko ignored them and focused on securing the area instead.
     "No guards," Zach muttered, peeking around the corner. "Either they have a serious shortage of security personnel around here, or too much faith in their AI's."
     "Or this is a trap, because they figured out Goose wouldn't have come alone" Niko replied. "But I should have sensed as much. I have a feeling their attention is focused on something else -- and Goose is too badly injured to be a threat."
     "Still..."
     "No." Niko shook her head. "There's something else behind this. Goose is the only prisoner here, and this is the only detention block. I couldn't even sense one psychocyrystallization unit throughout the whole station." She shifted for a better look at the massive lock on the door. "This is not your usual Crown base..."
     She stopped to look at Hartford, who was busy conversing with the four programs he expected to thwart the best security the Crown had to offer.
     "Now, now. Be still and listen to the Doctor, will you?" Hartford admonished. "Tripwire, you go in and take care of the security -- replace the access codes, but circumvent any links to the main system. I don't want any of this to spill over into the net. Firefly -- you run the personality changing routines. Keep the top behavioral layers intact, though. We don't want people to notice, do we? Now go."
     As he turned to the other two tweakers, those had already resorted to their habitual high-pitched whining.
     "Doc, we want something to do! Those two always get to have all the fun!"
     "You want fun?" He eyed them mischievously. "All right... you get fun - go in and contravene any sidestepping attempts of those AIs. Try not to hinder the others too much, though."
     As soon as the tweakers had left, Doc found himself cornered by both Zach and Niko. He sighed over the distraction as he kept instructing his tweakers over the mind link his implant provided.
     "How long?" Niko inquired. Usually it was Zach who grew impatient, but this mission had her on edge, while the Captain had displayed remarkable calm until now.
     "Without further distractions, you mean?" He smiled at her, regardless of her answering frown. "Five minutes, maybe six. Keep prepared."
     They did. As the massive door glided open with a subdued hiss, the three were already around the corner and accelerating. Doc kept the unit like a shield in front of him, his attention focused on the changing patterns inside the blue tetrahedron. Unlike Zach and Niko, he didn't notice the gloomy darkness of the corridor, or the musty smell that indicated faulty air circulation.
     "Niko, which door?"
     "Twenty-seventh on the left." Having already reached the entrance in question, she threw him an impatient look.
     Tripwire, unlock and deactivate field.
     The metal board bucked slightly, then slid open. Throwing caution to the winds, Niko almost flew through the opening as soon as it was wide enough to allow her passage. Zach cursed and followed her as soon as the gap widened enough to accommodate his broader frame, pointing his gun towards the musty darkness of the cell.
     Still mentally controlling the tweakers, Doc followed at a more leisurely pace.
     "Shane." Niko's murmur confirmed that it was their teammate laying on the empty metal floor, unconscious and disfigured by what looked like a series of very nasty burns. As soon as his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Zach noticed the loss of hair, resulting in bald patches all over Shane's head, the alarming flatness of his breath. The implant must have been milked of every last shred of energy it contained. It was probably the sole reason why they had left it untouched.
     He crouched next to Niko and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Niko, we have to recharge his implant." As she looked up at him with troubled eyes, he sighed. "One of us has to transfer his charge. It can't be Doc, because we can't get out of here without him. It can't be me, because we might need my firepower. We might need your projections too, but here we need brute force more than your powers, so it has to be you."
     "Yes." She nodded. "It has to be me, so let's not waste any time."
     Laying a hand on Goose's badge, she touched the other to her own, allowing the energy to seep through the organic link. Activated by her touch, Goose's implant immediately started to use the steady flow of energy she provided, putting it to work on the horrible alterations his body had suffered.
     Minutes passed and the foreign implant still kept siphoning her charge, although the external signs of radiation had almost disappeared. She could only guess at the extent of the internal damage.
     As the flow flickered and then died, he reacted. A flutter of lids, a deep intake of breath, and he was there. She almost sobbed in joy as that green gaze zeroed in on her, showing no trace of the disorientation and weakness one should have expected. She resisted the impulse of hugging him after Doc and Zach helped him to his feet, more out of instinct than out of necessity, since the fast recovery had his habitual fluid grace fully restored.
     "Thank you, guys." A quick easy smile and a slow wink for Niko, who smiled mistily back at him. Then he turned to the men. "Time to ride into the sunset..."
     With that he turned toward the entrance, sparing only a perfunctory look for his former prison. He grinned as Doc and Zach simultaneously slapped him on the back with male approval. It was Doc who voiced their feelings.
     "It's good to have you back, my Goose man. Damn good to have you back. Oh, by the way -- here's your uniform." Holding out a smaller package, he grinned. "Underwear, too."
     Eyeing the black trooper suit with misgivings, Goose finally snatched it out of Doc's hand with a disgusted snort. Then he eyed the underwear. Definitely white -- definitely out of his own locker on board Ranger One.
     "You're too kind. Was it your idea?"
     "It was mine, actually," Zach replied, unruffled. After a short survey of his own torn and bloodied uniform Goose shrugged, then pulled his badge off and handed it to Niko, who stood closest to him.
     "Hold it." He ripped open the remains of his shirt, then proceeded to efficiently undo his belt buckle. He pretended not to notice that Niko stared transfixed at the expanse of naked chest he had uncovered, searching for wounds, he knew. But not only.
     She caught his gaze and blushed, looking away. He smiled devilishly at the back of her head, ignoring Zach and Doc, who, in turn, ignored his current state of undress.
     "You don't have to turn away, you know," he whispered. His breath brushed her ear, sending frissons down her spine. She didn't think the remark deserved an answer -- especially since she had told herself the same thing a scant second ago.
     Zach, who couldn't help his enhanced hearing, grinned. He remembered being like that a long time ago -- a happier time. Engrossed in communication with Firefly once again, Doc didn't notice, which was just as well, old gossip that he was.
     Niko almost yelped as a hand sneaked down from above and gently dislodged the death grip she had on Goose's badge. Furious, she turned to face him, forgetting he still held the badge, and her trembling fingers. The realization shook her anew, the fact that he was alive after all, his fingers warm with vibrant life, his body no less so.
     He grinned rakishly down at her as he gently disengaged his hands from hers and brushed a stray tendril behind her ear.
     "Thank you," he murmured, then held the badge up as she looked blankly up at him. His voice when he spoke next was again loud enough to startle even Doc.
     "Weapons?" he inquired, holding out a demanding hand. Doc fumbled absently in his bag, drawing two blasters out. He threw them in Goose's general direction, who caught them and inspected them with admiration for a second.
     "Bad," he finally agreed, grinning with satisfaction. "Let's go."

To the Last Syllable of Recorded Time - Part IV

From Betamountain.org