novelnext Book 3: Chapter 112: Un-kidnapping yourself
Book 3: Chapter 112: Un-kidnapping yourself
Book 3: Chapter 112: Un-kidnapping yourself
USD: 38 Days after arrival at Fort Glisson
Location: Van Biesbroecks star, Meltisar, Orbital Elevator Nexus MIL-1A, Somewhere
Alex groaned as she shook her head slightly, the black hood still covering her view. Her feet dragged along the ground as the two men struggled to carry her. The sound of the klaxon had faded away, leaving her disoriented and unsure of where they were taking her.
She didnt resist and remained still. Her HUD was blaring warnings and repair estimates to her now, with more detailed information than shed seen since her ShipCore compression had happened.
|ANUF EMERGENCY ACTIVATION|
|TRAUMA REPAIR ACTIVE|
|MAJOR NERVOUS SYSTEM DAMAGE DETECTED|
|ETA 5:34 NERVOUS SYSTEM REPAIR|
|NANITE CONTROL CAPACITY 100%|
|MASS LOSS ESTIMATE: 1.5%|
Continuing to pretend to be unconscious as they dragged her through the station, she silently began to form a plan. She had no idea why no one had seen or stopped them, but then realized that her clock on her HUD was distorted and broken, and her sense of time might be off.
She really had no idea how long theyd been dragging her. She needed to wait until the right moment to strike, once she had regained some strength and the repairs went through. If she moved too soon, theyd just zap her again and she probably wouldnt remain conscious a second time.
Alex's senses started to clear up as the men finally reached their destination. They dropped her on the floor and she had to force herself to accept the impact without giving up the ruse of being unconscious. She realized they were talking but her ears were ringing still and everything was garbled.
The cold metal of the floor spread through the cloth hood against her face. Watching her repair countdown, a series of notifications informed her of the status of different nerve bundles. She wanted to hear what they were saying and suddenly the system shifted her hearing into a higher priority and about thirty seconds later she could hear them.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)
"We don't need the lieutenant, why did you fucking bring him? She's the one the bounty is for, you morons," one of the men grumbled.
"This bitch offed Jim and Charlie," another man said.
"So what? That just means we'll get larger shares," the first man said.
"Ertan, you're a fucking snake Marston," the second man replied.
"This is more than enough to retire and then we'll not have to deal with that old sod any longer," Marston said.
Alex remained still, processing that information. She wasnt surprised there was a bounty on her, or maybe it was just on NAIs in general, what did surprise her was that they had any idea of what or who she was. Or how they had pulled off the snatch and grab with the emergency klaxons going off.
The station had security and emergency services, they should have been able to see on the cameras that something was going on and follow them. There was so much blood from the men she had killed she doubted theyd have easily been able to hide the blood trail!
Forcing herself to calm down and focus on the situation she was please to see that her physical systems had mostly recovered. She wasnt sure if she was stronger than a normal person just yetbut shed be able to move and react again.
"So, about the buyer?" the second man asked.
"Already contacted them. They'll be on the way," Marston answered.
"What about the lieutenant?" a third man asked.
"Get rid of him," Marston commanded.
Alex tensed at the words. She needed to act before they
Alex cursed as she leaned back against the crate, her head feeling light and more blood pouring out her nose. She wiped it away with the back of her hand as she rested for a moment, right up until a sudden piercing pulse of light punched through the crates bottom and hit the back wall of the compartment.
She immediately flipped around and went prone. A second pulse bolt lanced through the crate, the hot energy punching through and melting through the metal so fast it didnt even leave any splinters.
Alex cursed at herself for failing the count the men correctly. When a third heavy pulse bolt slammed into the crate near her position she rolled out from cover and took aim and fired.
The man didnt have time to aim at her and was forced to duck under a metal crate himself. Her weapon clicked empty, and she pushed herself up onto her feet. He was the last one, she was sure of it. Looking around she spotted a dead man leaned up behind a large piece of machinery and she sprinted for it.
Halfway there pulse rounds began to slice through the air, narrowly behind her position to slam into the bulkhead and machinery sending arcs of sparks and molten metal flying through the room. Almost there she ducked down and launched herself the last few meters through the air to land in a rough roll that sent a sharp pain through her wounded side.
Pushing herself back onto her feet she hurried to the dead mans side and grabbed his rifle, as well as his spare magazine. Ejecting his old one she slapped the fresh one into the weapon. Realizing he had a grenade as well she grabbed it just as another round object flew over the machines cover and landed near her feet.
She didnt have time to think. She just reached down, grabbed it, and tossed it back like it was the most normal thing in the world. She activated the one she had collected and threw it after that one a few seconds later.
Realizing what had just happened her chest tightened, and it felt like someone had punched her in the kidneys. A warning on her HUD flashed angrily.
|WARNING BLOODFLOW SHORTAGE TO KIDNEYS|
|ADRENAL OVERFLOW DETECTED|
Alex reached down to touch the bullet wound. It wasnt spilling out but she felt sick and she didnt understand half the warnings on her HUD anymore. So many of her biological functions were tied into working with her nanites that when things like rampancy occurred it affected her entire system.
No more incoming pulse fire came, and she slid down to sit behind the machine she had hid behind. Checking herself for any more injuries, her hand fell on her ShipCore bag. More alarmingly her hand went inside of it and she realized that something had punched a fist sized hole through it. She pulled it off her shoulder and opened it up to look inside.
The glowing blue orb shined at her like nothing had happened. Alex let out a sigh of relief and zipped it back up. The hole wasnt quite large enough to let it fall out but shed need a new one now.
Lost in her thoughts she realized shed lost her focus. She wasnt sure if it was from the injuries or her system overload. Regardless when the man stepped around the corner with pulse rifle aimed at her she remembers she was in a life and death situation.
She did the only thing she could.
She swung her ShipCore at the man, the heavy orb crashing into the side of his head faster than he could aim and pull the trigger. The weight of the ShipCore crushed his skull into pulp and slammed him into the side of the heavy machinery.
As fast as she could she collected it back over her shoulder, with the unfortunate addition of more dripping blood. Then she checked her rifle that shed set down and peeked around the corner. The red flashing lights continued to spin overhead, but there was no movement.
Stepping out slowly she checked her corner, rifle held up and at the ready. Clearing the compartment, she realized that was all of them, or any remaining had fled. As she approached the middle of the room, she saw Harmon. Moving to his side she checked his throat for a pulse, but his skin was already growing cold to the touch.
Alex felt numb; she didnt let it affect her again and she stood back up to look at the other bodies filling the room. Spotting a blood smear on the ground, she saw where someone had dragged themselves out of the compartment. Following the blood trail, she spotted Chief Engineer Marston crawling across the floor of the corridor in an attempt to escape.
She followed him. He must have heard her as she approached because he rolled onto his back then scooted away from her holding up a hand at her with a terrified expression. When his mouth moved but she didnt hear anything, she realized her hearing was still broken from all the gunfire.
Urging her nanites to repair her eardrums once again, his voice slowly came through, although that didnt make the mans screams understandable although the meaning was clear: stay away.
Alex didnt follow that direction, instead calmly walking right up to him and standing over him. Terror filled his face, but she didnt feel anything.
Yells carried through the corridor further down, and soldiers in power armor entered the hall weapons at the ready. Shed already slung her stolen rifle onto her chest at some point, so she just raised her hands slowly.
Shouts for her to do multiple things at once reminded her of her DIs back at Fort Glisson.
Recruit, Alex Starlight Myers, SR: S834-643. Lieutenant Harmon needs medical attention. Please contact Admiral Darren Westlake and let him know the situation.
She continued to repeat herself and the soldiers continued to yell at her. When one tried to tackle her, he bounced off.
She looked at the soldier who landed on his ass with disdain. Your power armor sucks.