Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

F elix didn't flinch when the Anatolius access code failed; he'd expected Agrius to have updated the lock. They had, but not to anything he couldn't hack, particularly with the alarm disabled. Felix grasped the door handle. "Ready?"

If his distraction had gone off as planned, a door alarm would be summoning Agrius to one corner of the warehouse and a failed internal camera feed would pull a few more guards to another corner, hopefully leaving their ingress point unguarded. Without detailed reconnaissance, they had no way to anticipate how Agrius would cover the inside of the warehouse—how many people they had, what sort of patrols they might have set up. But they had Zed. Years of covert ops and no small amount of natural brilliance had him marking up every corner of the warehouse with likely scenarios. Stepping through, Elias and Nessa on his heels, Felix discovered Best Case Scenario Triple A Plus: no guard waiting, stunner in hand.

Felix tapped his bracelet, opening a quick call to Qek. "We're in."

"Starting the clock."

If no one made contact with the Chaos in an hour, Qek would call Anatolius Security. They had discussed a call to the AEF, but Felix had voiced a rather loud objection. He still wasn't comfortable with handing Emma over because he suspected the AEF would want to take Zed as well. And that wasn't fucking happening.

A row of tall containers obscured any view of the interior of the warehouse. Felix eased his back against them, sidled up to the nearest edge and stuck his nose around the corner. He saw another row of containers and stacked crates. A low ceiling pressed down claustrophobically. Felix tucked that particular fear into a deep box as he motioned the crew to follow him into the next aisle. He padded quietly to the end and eased around another corner. From there, he got a glimpse of a good portion of the warehouse.

The low ceiling was a balcony that ringed the massive space. Catwalks intersected the upper half at regular intervals. The lower level was a maze of stacked containers and crates. Guards armed with rifles patrolled two of the catwalks. The other four were empty. Felix could not determine the make of their weapons at a distance, but if he had to guess, he'd say projectile. The barrel appeared rounded—and the criminal element loved their illegal weapons. He couldn't guess at what type of rounds they had loaded, but he doubted they'd be using rubber bullets. The stocks and triggers were likely bio-mapped, though. The weapons would be keyed to their handler, making them useless once they were dropped.

The AEF had overrides for that sort of thing. Five years discharged, Felix did not have access to that sort of hack and Marnie wouldn't send him one. He wouldn't ask her to.

"Man, Zed is good."

Felix glanced at Elias. "Yeah?"

"It's like he saw the inside of this place in a dream or something."

Maybe he had. Who knew what other powers the super soldiers had been granted?

Drawing back from the edge of the crates, Felix activated his wallet again. A discreet display flickered into being. He tapped one of the symbols he'd hot-keyed to the bottom corner of the window. Zed would have been searched, all weapons and tech removed. An organization that had already linked the bodies on Dardanos and Chloris might conduct a cavity search as well. They wouldn't trust Zed as far as they could throw him—which wouldn't be very far. So Felix had given him something to swallow, a tracker that would remain active for about an hour before his stomach ate it. A blue blip bloomed on the map.

"There he is." Felix pointed through the crates. Zed was close, only a hundred meters away. Was he out in the open or secured somewhere? Did he have Emma with him? Pulling his stunner from his belt, Felix slipped around the edge of the crates and into the next row, flattening himself against hard plasmix to avoid detection from above. Over the next row of stacked crates, he could see the last catwalk, which served as a balcony to a row of lit offices. Felix guessed there were offices on the lower level as well…and Zed was in the one in the far corner.

A guard entered the row of crates. She didn't look into the shadows, she simply pressed her back to a stack, pulled something from her pocket and stuck it into her mouth. It could be a simple wad of nicotine, second oldest drug in the galaxy, or it could be something more psychoactive. The fact she hadn't noticed three people leaning against the opposite row of crates about twenty meters away tended to indicate the latter.

Felix signaled Elias and Nessa to hold, checked the catwalks, and advanced toward the edge of his shadow. The guard wasn't so out of it that she didn't catch a flicker of movement at the end. She turned, mouth opening, and Felix moved. He slapped his glove across her mouth, knowing the web of steel wire wouldn't effectively cut sound, and dug his stunner into her side. She jerked once with the discharge and slumped. Watching her slide down the crates, Felix suppressed the shiver that wanted to crawl across the back of his shoulders and advance down his spine. He and his crew had had to fight their way out of a few scrapes, but they didn't go looking for trouble, not usually. What surprised him more, though, was how ready he'd been to silence the guard. How instinctive his action had been.

Five years retired, but still a soldier.

Nessa knelt next to him and pushed a hypo against the guard's neck. The instrument hissed quietly. "She'll be out for at least six hours."

They would be long gone by then.

From here Felix could see the lower level of offices more clearly. Zed's ping came from behind the one with a long stretch of frosted panes. A conference room. Two guards were posted outside the entrance.

"Shit."

Ducking back, Felix consulted the schematic.

"Time for our second diversion."

He sent the signal. A second later the back half of the warehouse went dark. A smoke alarm wailed. Shouts rose up and boots thundered across the catwalks overhead, the sound rolling toward the darkness. One guard left his post. Felix ran forward, stunner extended, taking the shot as soon as he got close enough for the charge to strike the remaining guard. The acrid stench of burnt skin competed with the sharp odor of adrenaline, the tang of fresh blood. He'd managed to open a wound on the guy's shoulder. Swallowing an instinctive reaction to the smell of carnage, Felix turned his attention to the door lock. He had it open in seconds. Ness and Elias followed him into the room, Elias dragging the body of the guard.

Zed slammed the door closed behind them. "You're right on time."

Felix scanned his lover's face and body, looking for obvious damage. When he found none, he exhaled…and then closed his eyes as his head spun. Not now, Felix. Not now. He opened his eyes. "Yep. What's the deal?"

"Agrius isn't interested in my wallet of unhooked creds."

"What, they want you and your millions? Say it ain't so," Elias said.

Zed spared him a tired smile. "Go figure."

"And they left you in here without coffee and doughnuts," Felix said.

"They're not the best hosts." Emma leaned against the far wall of the conference room, away from the windows and door. She looked more battered than the day before, more haunted. The humor from last night had left her eyes, and her mouth seemed set into a permanent line.

"Getting you out of here, Em," Felix said, which would be nothing Zed hadn't already told her.

Emma shared a look with Zed, and Felix caught a hint of words not exchanged. He'd ask for the transcript later.

"Okay, we have two plays here," Zed said. "We're in a defensible position right now, but given the amount of illegal ordnance I've already seen, the conference table will only last a couple of rounds before their bullets find us."

"So, they're not using rubber rounds."

"We should have brought the laser carbines," Elias said.

Nessa waved her hands. "Because they would have been so easy to conceal on the way here."

"I don't suppose you have a bio-lock key?" Felix asked.

Zed shook his head. "What's our closest exit?"

"Our ingress point. Door number two. Three switchbacks through four rows of crates. I left it unlocked."

"Let's go."

"We have two weapons they don't." Emma's gaze slid toward Zed.

Ever the doctor, Nessa scowled at the idea. "You can't. If either of you black out on us, we can't help you."

Emma stepped out of her boot, dipped her hand inside and pulled out a small packet.

Felix glanced at Zed. "No strip search?"

"Ask me that without smiling."

"I'm not smiling!"

"What's that?" Nessa asked, indicating the packet.

"Anti-seizure meds." Emma held up a pill. "Capsule will melt in time if you take one before you start."

"Jesus, Emma. Tell me you haven't been pushing it like that."

She shrugged, which was answer enough.

Voices rose outside the door.

"Shit." A general sentiment uttered by more than one, shared by everyone.

"Now or never." Emma palmed the capsule and tossed it toward her mouth.

She threw the bag at Zed, who caught it and stuffed it in his pocket, unopened, and turned to face the door. When it opened, she exploded into action, pulling the first body into the room and throwing it aside before reaching for the next. Elias caught the first, a woman. She hung limply from his arms, head dangling at an impossible angle, and for an absurd moment, Felix wondered if they'd be playing pass the parcel with a series of dead bodies until they left the room.

Gunfire erupted outside and Emma ducked back away from the door. Two men pushed through. Zed caught one around the neck but did not immediately throttle the dude. Instead, he pushed him back toward Felix. Only after Felix caught his prize did it register that Zed was moving slower than Emma. He hadn't stepped into his Zone.

Because he wouldn't or couldn't?

Felix grappled with his target. An explosion by his ear left a hole in the conference room wall. Felix ducked as more projectiles tore a line through the opaque plasmix. He dropped down, rolled to the side and delivered a stunning kick to the face following him. Bone crunched and blood sprayed out from the broken nose. The guy fell sideways with a mournful howl.

Quiet rolled through the warehouse and, for a moment, hope glittered more brightly than the pinpricks of light through the conference room wall. Was that it? Had they finished the fight? Hope flared as Emma pushed through the door, leaving it wide open. Felix heard the sound of a struggle outside, but no more weapons fire.

Elias ran forward and shouted, "Clear." He waved Nessa to his side.

Zed grabbed Felix's arm, hauling him up off the floor. Together they ran through the door after Elias and Nessa. A body lay between them and the container corridor. Emma stepped over it and ducked as a bullet pinged the container next to her. Felix looked up and caught sight of a figure running along a catwalk.

"Look out overhead!" Felix grabbed Zed's sleeve and ran for the exit corridor. "This way."

Elias and Nessa slid into the space behind them, Emma squashed in last. Elias flinched away from the soldier, pushing Nessa behind him in a protective gesture. Felix caught Nessa's hand and Zed pulled them both along as he took point, navigating the increasingly narrow lane. They spilled out into a small square bordered by stacked crates and containers.

Where the fuck was the door?

"Shit, we took the wrong path!" Felix batted frantically at his bracelet.

The square became an arena as cartel slithered through gaps on all sides.

Zed raised the pistol he'd wrenched from a limp hand in the conference room and fired two shots. Abandoning his map, Felix threw himself into defense. He pulled his stunner from his belt and dove at the nearest Agrius, discharging the stun before he connected. Electricity jumped the small space in an arc, blackening the shirt of the man in front of him. The man flinched and turned, his upraised weapon tracking across the square. Felix slammed into his chest, knocking him back. He thrust his stunner into the guy's ribs and fired again. Shuddering, the man fell back and dropped his weapon. Felix picked it up, cursed and threw it aside. Bio-mapped. Zed might have found the only useable pistol in the place.

A bullet punched a serious dent in the container in front of him.

"We're fish in a fucking barrel," Elias called out.

"So are they," Zed answered, turning his opponent around to catch a shot for him.

Blood and fiber blossomed from the man's chest in a startling puff. Zed dropped the body and reached for another. Nessa yelled, clutched her left arm and staggered into a space between the containers. Felix ducked in after her. Gripping her arm, she leaned into a wall while she fumbled with her pockets.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"Nicked my arm. I need to wrap something around it to stop the bleeding."

Felix looked around, senselessly, then tugged his shirt over his head. The SFT was probably dead, but the fabric would still absorb blood. "This?"

She extended a bloodied hand toward it. "Thanks. Can you wrap it 'round for me?"

His glove wasn't as suited to tying knots as it was mechanical tasks. "Here, hold this." He pushed one end of the fabric into her right hand and had her hold it while he wrapped and tied. "There." He put his good hand on her shoulder in a restraining motion. "Stay here."

"Get out of my way. It's not serious."

Nessa barreled forward, her intent clear. She paused only to pick up an abandoned pistol, tossing it aside when she discovered the bio-mapped grip.

Felix turned at a sound behind him and found himself bare-handed in a knife fight. He evaded the first slash and caught the offending arm on the back swing. He let his opponent's momentum turn them until he had a good grip, then he reversed the direction, snapping his arm up and back. A sickening crack joined the loud scuffle.

The guy wasn't put off by a dislocated shoulder. He still came at Felix, pushing him back. They fell into the side of a container, which rang with a hollow clang. Felix scrambled up and ducked around the corner, reaching for the knife in his boot. The floor disappeared beneath him and Felix fell sideways. His left hand caught on the edge of the dislodged flooring grate, his glove saving him from an unknown drop.

A boot slammed down over the web of metal. Needle-thin spikes dug into his flesh. Mangled casing scraped across his knuckles. Yelling with the pain, Felix tried to swing his good hand up to the ledge. The boot ground down, pressing more metal into his left hand. Pain sliced through his fingers. Felix twisted back and forth, trying simultaneously to bring his right arm up and wrench his left hand free. He couldn't do both. He had to calm down, stow the panic bubbling up from his gut, nudge aside the dark fear crawling along his spine. He wasn't fighting stin, they weren't trying to take his hand; he wasn't in the mines…

Felix hauled in a breath, held it, let it out and reached again for the knife in his boot. He caught the short handle with trembling fingers and slid it out. Adjusting his grip, Felix pushed away the nightmare of pain in his broken hand and took another deep breath. Then he swung his right hand up, knife angled toward the boot pinning him to the ledge.

"Better not be a fucking steel toe."

His knife sank through toughened plasmix, flesh and bone. The owner of the boot howled and lifted his foot. Left hand released, right hand kicked sideways, Felix fell backward into the hole. He landed on his back, the impact pushing the air from his chest. He flopped weakly and tried to roll, but the matter of drawing oxygen into his evacuated lungs took precedence. His arms flailed, the left crashing against the floor with a snap. He felt the release on his bracelet give, the smooth ring falling loose from his wrist. Then the pain of snarling metal teeth bit into his tortured hand, digging and scraping, competing with the weight in the center of his chest.

Air, he needed air…

Felix struggled to breathe until the square of light above him faded to gray.