A King's Ship (Empire Rising Book 2) (8 page)

Taking a deep breath, she prodded Banik towards the automatic doors. “Don’t forget what I’m carrying with me, one wrong move,” she warned him.

“Yes, yes. I know, one wrong move and I’m history. Your Chinese friend has drilled that into me a thousand times. Let’s just get this over with,” Banik responded.

Gupta was just making sure. It was a bluff but she needed Banik to believe it. Bell had drummed it into him that RSNI had developed an auto injector that would get past any security scans. They had told him that Gupta was carrying one filled with a deadly poison. At the first sign of betrayal she would make sure he received the full dose.

“Here we go then,” Gupta said as the automatic doors opened.

Banik smiled at the receptionist and set his identity card on the desk. “Good morning, I’m a senior shipping coordinator from New Delhi. I’ve been sent here to follow up on a few old shipping contracts we need to tidy up for our records. Headquarters back in India have requested a full review of all civilian contracts.”

“Good morning Sir,” the receptionist responded as she picked up his identity card and ran it through her scanner. “May I have your hand for a DNA scan as well?”

“Certainly,” Banik said as he reached out his hand.

“Thank you Sir,” your identity is confirmed. “Who shall I inform that you have arrived?”

“Well actually. Mr. Shankar and I go way back. We worked together for Varun on Earth for a number of years. Back in our youth of course,” Banik chuckled.

“I was kind of hoping to surprise him,” he said as he slipped a hundred credit bill to the receptionist. “If you don’t mind I’d like to go up to his offices unannounced and just pop in.”

“Don’t worry,” Banik added when the receptionist looked a bit uncertain. “I will tell him I snuck past reception, no one will know you let me in,” he said as he slipped her another hundred credit bill.

“Ok,” the receptionist said a bit more happily as she entered a few details into her datapad. “You can go on through, your identity card will give you access to Mr. Shankar’s office.”

“Well we’re in,” Banik said as they walked through the main security doors.

“Yes, now let’s do what we came to do and get out of here,” Gupta responded.

“Right, just follow me and look relaxed. We’ll find a free computer terminal, get your information and we’ll be out of here in no time,” Banik said confidently.

Gupta just nodded and followed Banik into a turbo lift. It took them up three floors before stopping. According to the plans for the building the third floor was the manager’s floor. They had timed their arrival to coincide with lunch and they hoped to find at least one of the offices empty. Sure enough the place looked deserted.

“Right, let’s get to work,” Gupta said. “Here will do just fine,” she added as she walked through the door into the nearest office. 

As Banik sat down in the desk chair and switched on the terminal he paused and looked up at Gupta. “As soon as I log in as a guest my details will be in the system. Varun will know I have betrayed them. Can I really trust you?”

Gupta had been expecting this would come. She slowly reached for one of her pockets and said, “you don’t have to trust me, you just have to want to live. There’s no turning back now.”

Sighing, Banik looked back at the terminal and punched in the final part of his password to unlock the computer. He brought up the flight schedule for the independent traders hired by Varun, then he focused on the freighter in question. “I have the
Dawon’s
schedule, data chip please?” he asked when he found what he was after.

Gupta pulled out a data chip. Banik placed it in the terminal and downloaded the data they needed.

“Job done,” he said as he handed the data chip back to her with a smile, “now you can get me out of here if you please. I have a nice five million credits waiting for me.”

26
th
March 2466, Varun offices, Kerala.

“What are you doing in my office?” a voice shouted from just outside the door, making Banik and Gupta jump.

They stared at the man blankly for a few vital seconds before Banik cleared his throat and began to speak. “Eh... hello there, my name is Rahul Banik. I’m visiting from the New Delhi offices. I just needed to use a terminal to check some data about a proposal I’m bringing to Overseer Shankar. I hope we haven’t caused any offence.”

Whoever the newcomer was it didn’t look like he bought Banik’s excuse. He raised his COM link. “Reception, I have a Mr. Banik snooping around in my office. Does he have permission to be on the eighth floor?”

“A Mr. Banik? He came to visit the Overseer but he didn’t have an appointment. He was supposed to go directly to the Overseer’s office,” came the reply over the COM channel.

“Right, get secur...”

Gupta pounced on him and knocked him to the ground at the mention of security. “Quick, let’s get out of here,” she called.

Banik did what he was told and followed Gupta as he stepped over the unconscious man on the floor. They both ran to the turbolift and got in. Gupta hit the button for the ground floor. As the lift began to go down she pulled out her datapad and inserted the data chip. It automatically began to transmit to the freighter in orbit. At the same time, she keyed her COM unit. “Major, we’ve got the flight schedule but our cover has been blown.”

Before the Major could respond the lift ground to a halt. “Shit,” Banik shouted.

Gupta reached out and hit the emergency button to open the turbolift door. It began to open the doors but stopped as someone cut the power to the turbolift. “What’s going on?” Johnston asked over the COM channel.

“Security has shut down the turbolifts. We’re able to get out but we’ll be stuck on the second floor. I’m sure they have sealed off the ground floor already. We’re going to need some help,” Gupta answered.

“Ok, we’re ready,” Johnston said calmly. “The schematics of the building show an emergency stairwell to the south west of the building. We’ll breach the building at the front entrance and secure the stairwell. If you can make it there we’ll take you the rest of the way out. Good luck Commander.”

Leaving the COM link open, Gupta reached through the partially opened lift doors and heaved on the second floor doors that were almost at her head height. Thankfully it didn’t require much strength to force them open. Turning to Banik she said, “Are you coming with me? Our offer of protection still stands.”

“Yes, I suppose I don’t have much choice at this point. You’re going to have to boost me up there though,” he answered.

“I guessed as much,” Gupta said as she knelt down and put her hands together to provide a foothold for Banik to step up from. As she lifted him towards the opening she swore to herself.
That’s the last time I make a deal with an overweight Indian on a ground mission
.

*

Outside the Varun buildings Bell, Johnston and twelve marines approached the main doors. As they did the doors automatically opened and everyone rushed in.

The receptionist’s eyes widened in alarm when she saw fourteen people stampeding into her building. She opened her mouth to scream but a bolt of electricity hit her and she crumpled to the floor.

There were two armed security guards standing in front of the turbolifts and another off to the side. All three fell to similar bolts of electricity from other marines. The stunners weren’t very accurate as the electricity didn’t shoot through the air in a linear path but in close quarters they were accurate enough for the marines.

“Right, first fire team hold reception. I’ll take second and secure the guard station and the rest of the ground floor, Bell you take third and get to the stairwell, secure it up to the second floor. Gupta should be there waiting for you.”

Without waiting for a response he moved out, leading the second squad. The guard station was close to the entrance and he only had to round two corners to get to it. When they got there the door was locked. It was clear that whoever was inside had already seen the marines enter the building. Peering through the window Johnston saw two Indians staring back with a mixture of anger and fear. One of them gestured rudely at him. He smiled back and shot a few rounds of electricity at the door. Instinctively, they ducked. There was no need though for the door easily absorbed the shot.

“Samuels, Jones, you two watch this door. If they try to get out blast them. The rest of you with me,” Johnston ordered as he moved off to secure the rest of the ground floor.

Meanwhile, Bell had found the stairwell and was making her way to the second floor. When she got to the second floor she keyed her COM channel. “Stairwell secure. You can come out now.”

Gupta prodded Banik to his feet. They had been hiding in a corner office beside the stairwell waiting for the all clear. “Time to make a run for it,” she told Banik.

As they ran out of the office a voice called from behind them. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

Ignoring it they both rushed on.

Bell crouched as the doors from the second floor whooshed open. Gupta and Banik ran through followed by three loud pops. Rather than being armed with plasma, the rifles that most militaries used, Varun security seemed to be armed with chemical propellant weapons. Banik cried out in pain as a bullet ripped through his leg. He stumbled down the stairs into a waiting marine. Two more bullets tore into the permacrete of the stairwell wall.

Once Gupta passed her position, Bell jumped up and sent a stream of stunner blasts down the corridor towards the approaching guard. None of them hit but he dived into cover.

As if from nowhere more pops sounded from above and bullets crashed into the stairwell around Bell. Before she had time to focus on a target she fired a stream of electric bolts up the stairwell towards the third floor where more security guards had appeared.

That gave one of the marines time to grab Banik and help him down the stairs. The other three marines followed Bell’s lead and continued to pour fire up the stairwell at the security guards, keeping them pinned down. Bell and Gupta got up and followed Banik.

At the bottom of the stairs Johnston was already waiting for them. “Everyone in one piece?” he asked.

“More or less,” Bell answered. Pointing to Banik she said, “Our friend has nicked himself but it’s nothing that won’t heal.”

“Ok then, we need to keep moving,” Johnston ordered. “We have the Varun security guards under control but they will have alerted the local police. They will be here any minute.”

He spun and began to bark orders into his COM unit. “Fire team two fall back, fire team one prepare to evac, we’re coming your way.”

Once they were on the street Johnston broke the team into a fast jog. Two marines carried Banik while Gupta struggled to keep up. In the distance a distinctive siren sounded. Quickly, they rounded the corner and were out of sight of the Varun buildings.

“Good job everyone,” Bell said as she opened her COM. “Lieutenant, what’s the status on our pick up?”

“The two shuttles are already on their way,” Becket answered from orbit. “They will be at the extraction point in two minutes.”

“Look alive everyone. The extraction point is a five minute sprint from here. The sooner we get there the sooner we get out of here. We’ll stop for a thirty second break half way to swap Banik over to two fresh marines. Everyone ready to go?”

After a chorus of ‘yes Sir’ Bell broke into a sprint as she held her datapad out in front of her so she could see the route they needed to take.

When they got to the halfway point the two marines carrying Banik efficiently passed him off to two others. Overhead two sonic booms announced the arrival of the rapidly decelerating shuttles. No doubt they had broken all the local laws for shuttles coming down from orbit.

There were sirens from the local police all around them. If the police forces didn’t know where they were, the two shuttles would surely give away where they were headed. “This is it everyone, let’s double time it. If you see any of those police aircars don’t hesitate to put a few stunner rounds into them,” Bell said. 

They quickly covered the ground to the open square that was their extraction point. As they rounded the final corner the shuttles were just setting down. Off to the side two police aircars looped around a twenty story tower and descended.

“Stunners,” Bell called. She lifted her weapon and poured fire into one of them. As the first bolts of electricity began to hit the police aircars two ports on each craft opened, revealing a small plasma cannon. To Bell they didn’t look any bigger than the standard plasma rifles marines were usually equipped with but they would still shred her men.

“Take cover,” she shouted.

The next moments seemed to happen at once. Three stunner bolts hit one of the aircars, overloaded its navigational systems and caused it to dive towards the ground. This threw its aim off and a number of plasma bolts ripped up a section of the square between them and the shuttles. 

The other police aircar fired off six plasma bolts. The first two tore up the ground in front of them, sending up a shower of permacrete. Even before the permacrete hit them, the next four plasma bolts rained down into the middle of the group. Those who hadn’t already hit the ground were thrown there by the force of the plasma bolts impacting right at their feet.

Head ringing, Bell waited until she heard the police aircar whizz past overhead to lift herself back to her feet. It would take them a few vital seconds to turn and come back; her team needed every one of them.

“On your feet everyone,” she shouted. She couldn’t help pausing to survey the damage. One marine still lay on the ground, a large hole blown right through his chest. Another marine had taken a grazing plasma bolt to his leg but two of his buddies were already helping him onto his feet.

“Leave Samuels,” Johnston shouted. “Get to the shuttle.”

Bell had to push two of the marines away from Samuels’ body and force them into a run. It went against all their training to leave a comrade behind. Yet they couldn’t afford to be captured. Samuels’ body couldn’t tell the Indians anything about who they were. If they managed to capture some of the team however, eventually the Indians would be able to get some information out of them.

The shuttles were only four hundred meters ahead.
Nearly there,
Bell thought. Just then she heard the whine of the police siren. “Spread out,” Johnston ordered.

Looking around she wasn’t sure if it was going to be enough. Everyone had given up trying to shoot the aircar down and they were just sprinting for the shuttle. A few of the marines let out a cheer. Spinning round, Bell saw one of the shuttles taking off again; two of its weapons ports were open with their plasma cannons extended. It fired a stream of bolts towards the police aircar, spinning again she saw they all missed. It must have been intentional, for no shuttle gunner could have that bad an aim, he would have been reassigned a long time ago. It seemed to work, for the police aircar swerved erratically and gunned its engines, lifting off into the atmosphere.

“Get Banik, Gupta and our injured into the first shuttle,” Johnston ordered as they approached the landing site. “It can take off and cover us while the second shuttle lands.”

When they reached the shuttle everyone was bundled in. Before Bell knew it Johnston had pushed her up the shuttle’s landing ramp. “Up you go agent, there’s room in there for you too.”

Before she could protest he reached in and hit the button to close the landing ramp and jumped back. “See you on
Innocence,”
he said with a wave.

Once the ramp closed she made her way to the cockpit. As she passed Gupta she gave her a reassuring smile. “We’re still in once piece,” Gupta said as Bell patted her on the shoulder.

“Pilot,” Bell called loud enough for the pilot to hear through his flight helmet. Instead of responding he pointed at a rack with two spare helmets. She donned one and switched on its mike. “Take off,” she ordered, “but circle round the landing site. You need to keep any police aircars away long enough for the other shuttle to land and pick the rest of our men up.”