Chapter 128: Freedom Protocol
“Those who put their faith in circuits and steel over flesh and mind will always be severely disappointed.”
—General Jindar Morgenstern
Kazlo nodded and faced Zaina. “Okay. Throw the mag-pulses into that corner. Then throw the smokies, and we’ll make a run for it.”
Zaina nodded, unsure if Kazlo had seen their ship was locked down. She had no choice but to assume he had a plan for that. She deposited ten small mag-pulse grenades into each hand and chucked them in the direction Kazlo had indicated. Before they landed she programmed a batch of smoke grenades and threw ten of those, too.
Low, thunderous booms filled the room—the mag-pulses were off. Zaina’s chest tightened from the volume. Moments later, a few hissing pops rang out—the smoke grenades.
Kazlo didn’t waste a moment. “Go, go!”
Zaina leaped out. Now she saw the ambush, or what it was supposed to be—thirty androids arranged in rows were hidden behind a ship, with two heat signatures she assumed were Kyral and his human enforcer standing behind them. The human and Kyral immediately began taking shots, so Zaina stopped and summoned her hex-shield, moving alongside Baeus and Kazlo to protect them. The smoke still obscured their enemies’ vision, but it was best not to leave lives to chance.
“Override! Override!” Kyral shouted. “Aim on my sights!”
By now some of the androids had shaken off the mag-pulses, and were starting to open fire. The smoke cleared slowly, but was helped along by the beads flying through. It didn’t last long enough—they had only made it halfway to the ship before the smoke had cleared enough to restore visibility to their foes, and the androids had all returned to normal.
Scrap beads pelted the hex-shield at will, sounding like summer rains from Demelia; Zaina’s hex-shield wasn’t going to hold out forever—she needed to get Kazlo and Baeus to cover fast. Looking around, the only viable option was a stack of metal crates. She grabbed Kazlo’s arm and the edge of Baeus’s bed-pod and rushed them behind the stack. Her hex-shield gave a moment after she ducked to safety.
“What now?” Baeus asked. “Why aren’t we invisible to them?”
“He overrode it,” Kazlo replied. “As long as we can get to your ship, we can get the hell out of here.”
“It’s locked down,” Zaina said. “They put restrictors on the landing gear.”
Kazlo frowned. “Well. Guess we die.”
Like hell, Zaina thought. There was no way she was leaving Gizmo in Reida’s care.
“I’ll get my shield up again. We should be able to make it to the ship. You guys stay down, find whatever cover you can—I’ll deal with the restrictor.” She looked into each of their eyes to make sure they understood. “Baeus, if I don’t make it, see this through.”
The color drained from his face. “What do you mean? You’ve faced worse, right?”
“Not on a bum leg,” she replied. “It’s okay. We have to go soon, before they spread out too much. Ready?”
Before she could give the word to go, an explosive boom startled her. She peeked her head out—ten or so of the androids were gone, replaced by a sea of flames and burning metal. She looked for the source—one of the larger, more heavily armed ships in the landing bay was hovering.
Another incendiary round rocketed from the ship’s belly and struck close to the human enforcer and Kyral, who raised a hex-shield of his own.
Now was their best chance. Zaina furiously waved her arm and shouted, “Go! GO!”
Baeus and Kazlo didn’t need to be shouted at for more than a second before they got the message.
Kyral shouted over the chaos, “Don’t let them escape!”
The androids turned to Zaina and began pressuring her with fire again, forcing her to activate her hex-shield. To her surprise the ship listed over, putting itself between the androids and Zaina’s party.
This was their ticket to leave. The side door popped open, and Reida’s voice came over an intercom system. “Come on, hurry!”
Zaina rushed Baeus and Kazlo into the ship, but paused before getting on herself. Gizmo was still in the other ship—she couldn’t leave him behind, not when he was the reason they were here in the first place. “Hold on—I’ve got to get something from the other ship!”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got that covered!” Reida shouted back.
Zaina’s gut in that moment told her to trust Reida, and she went with it, stepping into a narrow hallway. The door slammed shut behind her, and the ship rocked as it got moving, then stopped as quickly as it had started. Zaina heard a loud, metal screech, and the ship rocked once more before picking up speed.
Zaina spoke into the intercom system, “What did you do?”
“I picked up your ship. Free of charge, by the way.”
Zaina rolled her eyes. “Not what I meant, but okay.”
“See you soon!” The intercom fell silent.
A heaving sigh came from Zaina—she could hardly believe they’d made it, much less with the help of Reida. For a moment things looked pretty bleak; yet even though a weight was lifted from her shoulders, she had to stay on guard. Reida still couldn’t be trusted, and she didn’t fully trust Baeus or Kazlo.
She turned to her companions. “You two okay?”
Baeus looked a little shaken. “Yeah, I think so. Yeah. First time being shot at, and I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it.”
Zaina chuckled. “You get used to it.”
“Really?”
“No,” she said, then turned to Kazlo. “How about you?”
Kazlo nodded. “No hits. Looks like it really is our lucky day. Seems like every time I meet a lancer I have a good day when I really shouldn’t.”
Zaina breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was okay—and the plan was on track.
“So,” Kazlo said, “while I am grateful, we should probably find the common area. This corridor is cramped. Then we can discuss other things.”
They made their way single-file through the well-lit corridor. Light bars ran across the ceiling and the ground. The first doorway to their right was open, and led to a mostly empty cargo area. They went past it and came to a set of narrow, upward leading stairs at the end of the hall.
That stairwell led to a wider hallway on the upper level, and the common area was up ahead. It was barren, with only a few empty cold storage machines and small polysynth food crates turned upside down for seating. It struck her that she was on an Underworld ship—so this was how they lived.
Seems depressing.
“So,” Kazlo said, taking a seat on one of the crates, “I assume you two risked life and limb to get me here for a reason?”
Zaina stepped forward. “Yes. You—you knew High Lancer Gir, right?”
Kazlo’s brow furrowed, and his head tilted to the side. “High Lancer? I knew a lancer named Gir—to be honest, I can’t remember his full name. It was complicated. To me, he’s Gir. A good friend. Why? Has something happened to him?”
She nodded. “I’m afraid he’s no longer with us.”
A sharp frown crossed Kazlo’s lips. “That is unfortunate news. A kind soul, to be sure, and he’ll be missed within the Order and without. But if you think I know anything about his demise, I’m afraid—”
“No, it’s not about that at all,” Zaina replied, putting her hands up. “It’s something else.”
“Okay, well, I’m game. What is it?”
“Did Gir ever introduce you to his glyph, Gizmo?”
Kazlo smiled. “Introduce me? Hell, I’m the one who jailbroke him! Yeah, Gizmo and I go back as far as Gir. Where is the little guy?”
“In the other ship, I presume,” Zaina said. “Well—unfortunately, Gizmo isn’t working very well. He’s having some memory problems. The Order tried to wipe him but—”
“It didn’t work,” Kazlo replied. “Of course it didn’t.”
“You said you broke him?” Zaina asked, what little trust she had wavering.
“Jailbroke. I suppose it’s like breaking him, in a manner of speaking,” Kazlo said. “It’s a little complicated. I’ll explain when I can get my hands on him. For now—” His face drained of color.
Zaina turned—Reida had climbed down a ladder to the third floor and entered the common room. Zaina cursed herself—how much had the pirate overheard?
“Hate to interrupt,” Reida said, “but I do need to know where we’re going.”
Baeus turned toward Kazlo. “Anywhere in particular you want to go?”
Kazlo gulped and stared at the floor. “Uh, I have a safehouse with a shop on Bantoor. That’d probably be best.”
Reida smiled at him. “Sounds perfect. I’ll be back when we’re in Bantoor’s orbit for more specifics.” Without another word she climbed back up the hatch.
Once Zaina believed she was out of earshot, she leaned over to Kazlo and said, “Do you two have a history?”
Kazlo glared. “I thought lancers didn’t work with pirates.”
“We had to do what we had to do for Gizmo,” Zaina whispered—then suddenly, she was struck by a gut sensation of dread. Reida had been telling the truth—she was after Kazlo, and Zaina might have delivered him onto her ship. They needed to navigate this situation delicately. Reida excelled at taking advantage of careless missteps.
“Oh, Byzon,” Kazlo said. “Oh, Byzon—I think she’s going to kill me.”
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Zaina replied.
Based on his body language she didn’t think he was very reassured. Zaina didn’t have a good feeling about any of this, either.
Baeus hovered closer and said, “Why don’t you go up there and arrest her now?”
Kazlo shook his head. “She wouldn’t trust a glyph to fly her—she’s piloting the ship.”
“What about Patches?”
“Patches 2.0 probably isn’t ready. It barely had enough space for the Freedom Protocol. I doubt it could pilot a ship unless…” He rubbed his chin. “I could rewire him. Maybe. There’s not much I can do here and now. It’s a gamble. Either of you know how to fly?”
Zaina and Baeus both spoke at the same time. “Nope.”
“Well,” Kazlo said, shuddering, “as much as I hate to say it, then, I think we’d best wait to make any sort of move at least until we get to the safehouse. Once we’re there, we’ll reevaluate. Just—please. All I ask, is, please—don’t let her take me.”
Zaina nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”