His face was strangely calm, his gaze tender as he looked into her face. “My fierce little kitten. Thank you. And I know you find this hard to believe, Kiri, but this time I’m not acting alone—not trying to control everything around me. I’m surrounded by good men and women and by those who love me ... and I’m putting myself in their hands. We’re a team. Right now they’re working as fast and smart as they can to figure out a way to take Mordacity out, and save those people. I know this.”
He kissed her then, and his mouth opened on hers. She kissed him back desperately, telling him with every part of her how much she needed him. He kissed her back, his hand cradling her head, his arm tight around her, and for a few secs it was only them in a world gone mad.
But all too soon the elevator glided to a stop, and Logan lifted his head. “Time for me to go, kitten.”
Kiri forced herself to let him go and stood, trembling as he stepped back. He touched a hand lightly to her belly, and gave her a blazing look. “I’ll be back for both of you.”
As he walked out of the elevator, two of Bronc’s men stood waiting, holding what appeared to be a LodeStar flight suit.
“The new body armor, sir,” one of them said.
Kiri watched numbly as they fitted the light, flexible suit over Logan’s clothing. But when they offered him the helmet, he shook his head. “No. He’d just tell me to take it off. He must perceive me as vulnerable.”
“Which you will be with your head bare, sir.”
Logan shook his head again.
“The beret, then,” one of them said. “It’s Ceravlar, and practically a helmet, in case you … fall.”
Logan took the blue beret and donned it, pulling it down snugly, although at a rakish angle. Then he turned to the armored hatch that led outside, and nodded. His men opened the door, revealing a dark walkway, flickering with the light of flames from nearby buildings. The stench of burning materials and dank fog blew in through the open door.
Logan stepped out the door, a tall, silvery silhouette in the flight suit.
“Come back,” Kiri pleaded, but she did it soundlessly, and then stood, her trembling hands over her mouth as the only man she would ever love walked out to his certain death.
She’d never been so terrified, not even facing two rapists on a creaking old ship in deep space. This was what love meant—fearing for another far more than for oneself. This was why she’d held back from admitting her love for him for so long. Because he had the power to rip her heart into bleeding shreds. And he’d just done so again, but this time for the most noble of reasons.
If only she could go with him, wrap herself around him like that body armor, hover over him protectively like a—a …
Like a large predator that could creep along from the shadows, frighten his enemies out of their wits, make them back away, falling over themselves and shrieking in terror while they used them to save Logan and the people in that building.
She was working the controls of the elevator before she even realized why. Big, scary predators. Armored big, scary predators ... with glowing red eyes.
“Bronc,” she called into her com, her voice cracking as adrenaline raced through her veins. “The spiders! We need to use the spiders!”
Chapter Thirty-Four
“You wanna do what?” Bronc thundered in Kiri’s ear as she raced along the passageway to the tech cave. “Kiri, no! Your idea is good, I think we can use it, but you are absolutely not gonna be one of the drivers. Mr. Stark would have my ass.”
“Oh, yes I am,” Kiri called breathlessly, pelting into the cave. “Logan is out there, and I know how to run one of these. You don’t have time to train your security guys to do it—and anyway, I know they’re busy doing their jobs. The rest of your people here are secretaries, cooks, medtechs and … and all that. I can do this. Logan only has minutes before ...” Her voice broke, and she blinked furiously to get rid of the tears that threatened to blur her vision. Damn pregnancy emotions—she had to get them in check.
“Wait,” he bellowed again. “We have a plan in place, my guys are heading out right now.”
“What are they doing?” she demanded.
“They’re gonna use hoverpads, blend in with the GloJacs, and get into the loft with the prisoners, then take down the guards, while we target Mordacity and his pet Gorg from over here with sharp-shooters. We got this, Kiri.”
“Are you sure? Because I still say you can use backup.”
As she dashed across the cave floor toward the spiders, the red-headed tech, Patroc, came out of the shadows underneath one of the spiders, wiping his hands on a rag. He wore goggles on top of his head and his uniform was grimy, as if he’d been doing dirty maintenance.
“Ms. te Nawa?” he asked, his thin face crumpling with worry. “Is it Mr. Stark? Is he already—”
“He’s going to be, unless we help,” Kiri called, already climbing up the leg of the silver spider she’d come to think of as hers. “We have to get out there, Patroc. If we can use these to climb up the side of that building, no one will be expecting us back there. We can get close while Bronc’s people do their thing.”
Patroc’s eyes narrowed. “I’m with you,” he called, and vaulted up onto the other black spider.
“Kiri!” bellowed Bronc from across the cave. “Stop.”
“Kiri!” yelled Kai, right behind him, but his eyes were alight with fierce intent. “Wait—I’m coming too.”
“Damnit! None of you are coming,” Bronc replied, at a dead run toward the spiders. He was a fearsome sight, like a maddened skrog.
Hastily, Kiri slid into the cockpit of her spider, pushed the button to slam the cockpit shut, and locked it. The safety harness slid around her, squeezing her back into the seat.
She looked out at Bronc as he leapt onto the leg of the big gray spider. “I’m going,” she said through her com. “Now hurry up if you’re leading us out.”
He gave her a hard look and then shook his head.
“You really think this will work?” Kai called, already scrambling into the big silver spider.
“Quarking hells. Maybe. But none of you are going anywhere until we have a plan.” Bronc slid into his cockpit and fastened in. “Madden? You hearing this out there? We’re bringing out the spider crawlers as backup. It’ll be me, Patroc and two civilians. Let your team know we’re allies, so they don’t shoot our scary asses.”
Kiri couldn’t hear Bronc’s teams’ reply, but he nodded once.
“Okay, spiders, my men are in place, but the GloJacs are rezzed to the max on the ground, so they’re going in cautious,” he reported. “Gonna take a little more time for them to get up there.”
“Okay, while they’re doing that, we go up and over the back,” Kai suggested. “We provide a distraction, give the GloJacs a focus other than strangers in their midst. Won’t that help give your guys more time to get up into that building and free those people?”
“Maybe,” he admitted, grudgingly.
“And then we come down and grab Logan, and carry him back here,” Kiri said. It had to work.
“We’ll see. Patroc, open the hatch,” Bronc ordered. “I’ll lead the way out. The rest of you stay behind me until I signal you. Yuba, I need holovid feed. Gotta see who’s out there, and where.”
“Yes sir,” replied a voice. “Bringing it up for you now.”
Bronc turned and headed his crawler toward one wall. Patroc was right behind him, and Kiri and Kai followed. Kiri wished she’d chosen one of the bigger spiders, so she could be more terrifying, but this was the one she’d learned to drive. Then she snorted at herself. This spider was big enough to scare the piss out of anyone she came across, and it was more maneuverable. She wouldn’t be very scary if she was falling over herself out there.
A big hatch opened, revealing a ramp leading up into the night.
“This leads out onto the west side of HQ,” Bronc told them. “There are life forms, not sure who they are, so we may have to stomp a few vermin. Just be careful they’re not allies—better yet, let me do the stomping.”
“These things are armored, right?” Kai asked.
“Yep,” Patroc answered. “Built to withstand big rocks falling on them, or the impact of falling down a cliff. Should repel a laser charge just fine. Flashbombs ... not so much.”
“And we can fire too,” Kai said. “How many charges do we have?”
“Fuck,” Bronc muttered. “A lot—maybe twenty or twenty-five, but so help me, te Nawa, you fire anywhere in the vicinity of Mr. Stark or a LodeStar being, I’ll throw your ass in our lockup and forget the code.”
“Your faith is touching,” Kai snapped.
“I’m heading around the end of this building,” Bronc said. “Wait for my signal.”
“You know, we’d have a lot bigger impact if we all show up at once,” Kiri said, her hand twitching on her joystick. “Totally rezz those slimers, make them think there’s a—an invasion of giant spiders.”
“No. They’re already rezzed on drugs, remember? We panic them, they’re gonna be firing wildly. We need to be clandestine, and very careful.”
“I hear you,” she said. “I do. But if a distraction is needed, that could be us.”
“Yeah,” he said. “If needed. All right, te Nawas. Stay calm, stay out of sight as much as you can, and be careful. We don’t wanna lose you. Patroc, good luck.”
“Good luck, sir.” Bronc’s big spider scuttled up the ramp and disappeared, while Patroc waited near the bottom of the ramp, shifting his spider’s legs with such nervous skill the thing truly looked alive.
Imitating him, Kiri looked over at Kai. He jerked his head toward the ramp, and she nodded, although her her stomach clenched with nerves. “Okay, little Pebean,” she whispered. “We’re gonna go save your daddy now.”
They both dashed around Patroc on either side. Kai made it up the ramp ahead of her, which was fine with Kiri, because for a sec there, she’d felt as if her spider was going to run away with her, right out into the midst of whatever hell lay outside.
But Logan was out there, so she had to go. Trembling with adrenaline and fear, Kiri walked her spider out onto the rubble-strewn street and followed Kai toward the eerie lights flickering from the factory.
“Hey,” Patroc called. “Wait for me.”
“Fuck,” Bronc said resignedly. “You’re out, so close the damn hatch behind you.”
“Got it, sir,” the tech said meekly.
There was a short silence as the three of them made their way to the corner of the LodeStar building, punctuated by faint yells and pops, from whatever battle was on going.
“Kiri, when you come out here,” Bronc said, his voice even grimmer, “You’re gonna have to hold it together.”
Oh no. Kiri squeezed her joystick hard, and rushed around the end of the building. In front of her was a huge pile of rubble nearly a story high that had cascaded across the street. The spiders were just tall enough to see across it. What she saw turned her blood to ice in her veins.
Garish, green light lit up the area between LodeStar and the factory. On the ground milled a huge crowd of gangers, their jackets glowing acid bright. They were looking upward, hooting and hollering. Kiri followed their gazes. She gasped in horror.
Mordacity still stood on his ledge, the Gorglon looming at his side, the girl in his grasp. She hung limp, looking as if she’d mercifully fainted. And floating up toward them on a hoverplat was Logan. He stood straight and tall, head high, like a king knowing he went to his death, but doing it with fierce pride.
Something moved on the shadowed side wall of the factory. “There’s Bronc,” Kai murmured, his voice throbbing with excitement. “He’s climbing up to ambush them.”
“Go with him if you want,” Patroc said. “I’ll see what I can do on the ground.”
He had no sooner spoken than a stocky being in a fluorescent green jacket scrambled over the top of the rubble, weapon in hand. He drew back in a parody of horror when he saw them, but then he began to fire his weapon wildly, laser fire spraying through the dark.
“Shit,” Patroc muttered. “I got this.” His spider leapt up the side of the rubble, raised one front leg, and stomped on the ganger, crushing him into the rubble.
Kiri stared, aghast. Patroc had just killed a being.
“Good job,” Kai said calmly. “Kiri, c’mon. Follow me.”
Kiri tore her gaze from the body in the rubble, and looked up at Logan again. She wanted to stay close to him, but she had to think. The value in these crawlers lay in shock and fear. And their ability to climb. Her mind worked furiously as she backed up and followed Kai through the shadows behind the rubble to the dark side of the factory.
She watched as Kai began to climb the dark side of the building, following Bronc. Above them on the fifth floor were the lighted windows of the room or rooms that held the hostages. If they climbed that way, they’d be seen by the guards inside. That could be okay, if it scared the guards, but it seemed to her they should split up.
If she went up the back, no one would see her. Swiftly, before she had time to think, Kiri scuttled around the back of the factory, lifted her spider’s front legs and set them on the rough side of the old building. Then she moved higher. The vehicle’s feet clung with apparent ease.
She blew out a shaky breath and squeezed the joystick. Her spider climbed the side of the building, up and up and up into the night until she saw the edge of the roof ahead of her. Not pausing, she sent her spider up and over the edge and onto the roof.
“Made it,” she mumbled, her voice a croak.
“Kiri? Where are you?” Kai called.
“On the roof. You stay with Bronc. Wait, what’s happening?”
She could hear screaming, shouting, and the sound of small explosions, see the red of laser fire flashing over the front and side edges of the roof.
“Our allies are moving in,” Bronc announced. “Think its Darkrunner’s people. They’re gonna have tough going down there.”
“Sounds more like the IGSF has arrived.” And it did. A major battle was taking place down on the street. And the last time she’d seen Logan, he’d been right above the street.
“Okay, I’m going in,” Bronc said. “If I block the entrance, the GloJacs can’t toss anymore hostages to their deaths, and I’ll take down as many guards as I can.”
“Okay. Good luck.”
Surveying the damaged roof with all her focus, Kiri sent her spider out across it. The structure creaked and shuddered under her vehicle, and she realized suddenly that it was getting worse the closer she got to the front. Suddenly the roof sagged alarmingly under her, and she dashed for the edge.
“I’m coming up after you,” Kai called.
“No!” Kiri yelled. “Don’t follow me. The roof won’t take your weight. Stay with Bronc.”
Her spider grasped the wide parapet and clung, but rocked forward under its own weight. For an endless, terrifying second, she hung over the precipice of the street twelve stories below, her stomach pitching with her craft, her mouth dry, palms wet with sweat.
Movement below caught her gaze. Another spider, the other black one, was crawling with purpose straight down the middle of the street between this building and Lodestar HQ. Waves of GloJacs pressed back, leaving the street nearly empty before him. Patroc, but what was he doing?
As laser fire streaked through the dusk, coming at him from all sides, she realized that he was not only holding their attention on the monstrous apparition that was his sinister, ebony spider, he was drawing their fire. She sent up a swift prayer that he was right about the vehicles’ armor repelling laser fire.
“Bronc, are your men inside?” she asked.
“Yup. Can’t see ‘em, but we have voice.
Okay, he was doing his job as promised. She had to use his distraction, but how? She peered below. She couldn’t see Logan, but Mordacity and his Gorglon still had their victim poised on the edge of the ledge. Then, to her horror, she watched as the Gorglon tossed the girl like a bundle of rags into the night air. And Kiri could do nothing to help her.
But below in the street, Patroc’s spider sprang, racing along the street. A few gangers dove out of its way, running, even crawling on hands and knees to get away. Some stood their ground, only to be run over.
The spider leapt up, poised on its back legs, caught the girl out of the air with its front legs, and held on.
“Patroc,” Kai called. “He caught her! Now we only have … an entire room full of people to go. We are so quarked.”
“Yeah, and time to go,” Patroc mumbled. His spider turned and raced for the LodeStar building, disappearing behind it with his precious burden.