Skybreach (The Reach #3) (40 page)

Suddenly, Knile was yelling.

“Go right, go right!”

Roman released
his grip, and as Knile moved to the left he saw that they had reached the wider section of the platform.  Roman veered his controls to the right as more pulse rounds scattered around him.  He chanced a look back at the Redmen, and saw that they had split
up
.  Now they were moving away from their barriers in pursuit of the RECS, obviously not relishing the prospect of being flanked.

The third Redman had also given up on watching over the railcar passengers, and had now joined the fray.

Behind the Redman, Roman
could already see Holger, Talia and the others snatching up their cases and heading for cover behind the blocky devices situated around the railcar.  Lazarus, too, was in the process of drawing himself up from the wheelchair with unhurried movements.

It’s working.  Holy shit, it’s working!

Roman’s moment of elation was short-lived as he spotted one of the Redmen descending upon his position at a rapid pace.  He recalled Remus’ suggestion that they avoid any kind of physical contact with their enemy, and he began to survey the area around him frantically.

There didn’t appear to be anywhere he could go.

37

Aron Lazarus had waited long enough.

He watched the hateful form of Murtas Dux leave the safety of the core shield, barking an order over his shoulder as he began to chase after one of the metal monstrosities that had come lumbering out of the elevator.

Nearby, the Redman who had been watching over them, Plinsk, responded to the command and moved to assist the other two.  Silvestri, Holger and the others seized their opportunity, clasping their weapons cases and hastening toward cover.

Lazarus had been instructed earlier – in no uncertain terms – that Silvestri was in tactical command of the operation.  Lazarus was to act only as instructed.  That meant falling in line with the whims of Skybreach’s leader, placing his own desires second.

Now that he was here, however, and now that he was close enough to smell Murtas’ stinking breath, Lazarus could not contain his anger.  His
rage
.  This man had to die, and only Lazarus himself could mete out the sentence.

He could not abide Holger, Silvestri, or Knile spoiling his revenge by inadvertently killing the Dux.

Lazarus got to his feet and shrugged back the cowl.  He began to move forward with deliberate steps, unwinding the bandages from his face as he went.

Murtas was already disappearing behind the network of blocky machines that dotted the platform.  Lazarus ripped away the last of the bandages and lifted his pace as he gave chase.

In a moment of introspection, he realised that it was not his wish to jeopardise Skybreach’s plan.  It would be dishonourable of him to willingly thwart their scheme in pursuit of his own revenge.  However, he would not be taking orders from anyone this day.  He had already warned Silvestri and the others that he was here to satisfy his own ends.  He had been truthful from the outset.

With that in mind, Lazarus came with one goal: to see Murtas die at his own hands.  That much was certain.  Lazarus had not given much thought to what might happen after that occurred, such was the singularity of his purpose.  He supposed that he would decide upon a subsequent course of action when he was freed of his responsibilities.

Lazarus worked his large frame through the machines, many of which were taller even than he.  Hearing movement on his right, he turned to see Silvestri plucking assault rifles from a case on the floor.  Silvestri glanced at him, then slid one of the rifles across toward him.  It bumped against Lazarus’ boot.

“Lazarus, take that and head to the southern end,” Silvestri said.  He slapped a magazine into a second rifle and got to his feet.  “Holger is there and–”

“No,” Lazarus said flatly.  He stepped disdainfully over the rifle and kept moving north, toward where Murtas had disappeared.

“Lazarus!” Silvestri hissed angrily, but in moments he had been left behind as Lazarus continued onward.

He stepped out of cover and saw Murtas not far away, closing in on one of the contraptions.  The edge of
the platform lay not far beyond; a precipitous drop into nothingness.

Lazarus began to run.

Knile had to get out of this death trap, and he needed to do it quickly.

Although the RECS had stood up admirably to the barrage of pulse rounds thus far, Knile could tell that its resistance was very close to the end.  Apart from the heat inside the cockpit, he could now discern a number of concave bulges in the hull, and in one section he could see specs of daylight filtering through.  Through the windows he could also see steam, or perhaps smoke, wafting up from below.

He could only conclude that the residue left by the pulse rounds was eating through the alloy hull of the RECS, and that wasn’t a pleasant thought.

Even so, he wasn’t sure he had any choice but to stay where he was.  If he were to step outside the machine, the pulse rounds would slice through his flesh and bone with little resistance.  He wouldn’t last more than a few seconds in all likelihood.

He turned and saw one of the Redmen coming at him.  There was a menacing look in the man’s eyes behind his full-face breathing mask.  He had replaced the pulse rifle behind his back, obviously deciding that it wasn’t doing much good, and now he held what looked to be some kind of gold-tinted short sword with wickedly sharp edges.

Knile turned and readied the arms of the RECS, hoping to keep the Redman at bay, but then he saw movement nearby.  It was Silvestri, armed with an assault rifle, taking aim from behind one of the machines that surrounded the railcar.

Silvestri loosed a controlled burst that clattered against the Redman’s arm and back, sending sparks flying and causing him to turn in alarm.  The second burst hit him in the chest and forced him to stagger backward.

The Redman loosed a roar of frustration and pulled his pulse rifle from his back, aiming it directly at Silvestri, but then he seemed to hesitate.  Knile waited for the retaliation to come, then realised that the Redman must have been concerned about firing at the systems contained in the machines in which Silvestri hid – systems that the railcar relied upon for operation.

If those machines were destroyed, and replacements were not readily available, the railcar would not be going anywhere.

That meant everyone, including the Redmen, would be left stranded.

Knile shoved at the controls of the RECS, moving it forward at the Redman, intending to knock him down if he could.  As he neared, he saw from the corner of his eye that Lazarus
had
roused himself and was now circling in from behind, charging at the Redman from the opposite direction.  The two of them collided with the Redman simultaneously, smashing him in a bone-jarring sandwich, and the three of them were then sent spinning and bouncing away like ninepins.  The edge of the platform loomed before Knile, and he saw the dizzying drop to the wastelands right at his feet.  Terrified, he realised he wasn’t going to have time to stop, and that he would plunge to his death – but then the gyro kicked in, righting the RECS abruptly, and Knile halted his momentum just in time.

He swung the RECS around to see Lazarus and the Redman picking themselves up
off the platform.  The pulse rifle had fallen within reach of Lazarus, but instead of using it against the Redman, he reached out and clasped the weapon, then hurled it away.

“Murtas!”
he roared, his blue eyes positively glowing.  “The time has come for you to answer for your misdeeds.”

Knile started forward again, the arms of the RECS raised, but Lazarus held out a palm to forestall him.

“No!” he said.  “Leave us.”

Knile paused for a moment, but one look at Lazarus’ face told him that there was no point arguing.  Lazarus would not be swayed.  Not about this.

The two opposing Redmen stood staring at each other, their chests heaving as they tried to catch their breath, and Knile turned the RECS back in the direction he had come.

He had to find Roman.

Talia followed Holger to the south as they weaved through the cover of the terminals in pursuit of another of the Redmen.  Aksel and Yun had remained with Morgan as they’d bailed up the two technicians near the railcar, ensuring that word did not get out to the Consortium that the roof was under attack.  Behind her, Talia could hear gunfire.  She did not know who was shooting at what, or even who might be alive or dead.  The bulk of the terminals served as both a help and a hindrance – shielding them from prying eyes, but also preventing them from seeing what was going on.

“Here,” Holger said distractedly, thrusting an assault rifle at her as he ducked between the machines.  “Take this.”

“I’ve never used hardware like this before,” she said, taking the weapon uncertainly.

“Then I hope you’re a fast learner.”

There was a loud bang nearby, the nature of which Talia couldn’t determine, and the two of them came to a sudden halt.

“What was that?” she said.

“Let’s hope it’s something bad for the Redmen,” Holger muttered.

They got moving again.  Talia had seen one of the contraptions veer in this direction, but she had no idea who was inside it.  It had been too far away for her to make out a face inside the cockpit window.  That being the case, she wasn’t sure if it was Knile or Remus, or perhaps even Roman who was out there.

As she and Holger reached the edge of the terminals, she saw the Redman grappling hand-to-hand with the contraption not far away on the platform.  She heard a voice through a loudspeaker, a grunt of effort, and that left her in no doubt as to the identity of the occupant.

It was Roman, and he was in trouble.

Holger raised his assault rifle and took aim at the two of them.

“Wait!” she shouted, yanking at his arm.  “You might hit Roman.”

“If that thing can take a pounding from a pulse rifle, it’ll stand up to this.”

He raised his sights again, then a second Redman appeared in view, on his way to assist the first.  Holger made a sharp, precise shift with his shoulders and opened fire on the newcomer, peppering him with bullets.  The Redman swivelled and returned fire, and both Holger and Talia were forced to dive for cover.

Talia heard Roman’s voice again, this time a cry of anger, pain, and fear all mixed into one, and then there was another explosion, followed by metallic scraping, and then a terrified scream.

Holger picked himself up, then offered a hand to Talia.

“Get up,” he said.  “I think someone just went over the edge.”