[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

104 www.samhainpublishing.com
Dante I
other side of the door, hugging the shadows close to the wall. Following Taylah s instructions the soldier
began to work his way left.
Keeping alert for other sounds or movement Taylah moved forward, darting from the shadow of one
storage crate to another, Yumi staying close behind. It took three moves like that to finally catch sight of
the room s inhabitants. A small group of six was gathered on a set of padded floor mattresses in the corner.
The stark light from Dante lit the area revealing nothing less than a shambles for a living space. A broken
table, chairs and other cast offs from the colony were tossed around. There were three adults, all emaciated
and thin from radiation sickness and starvation, and the three children in only slightly better condition,
ranging from toddler to early teen. They all looked terrified except for the elder woman. She looked
exhausted.
 Sadie s Hell, we ve got to help them!
Startled, Taylah belatedly tried to grab Yumi but was too late to stop her dashing past him in her
eagerness to help the sickened group.
 Don t worry, we can help you.
 Yumi, wait! Taylah cursed softly then stopped.
There was movement behind them, and a gut-wrenching intuition which made his blood run cold
followed by the unmistakable sound of a gun being armed.
 Die, you bastards!
www.samhainpublishing.com 105
Chapter Twelve
Tiffany hated initiating plans without consulting with Yumi, but ever since Marcus had screwed up
the rebellion plans, it seemed she d had little other choice. Just like now.
Yumi, so they gathered from the latest Separatist reports, had just released the prisoners from the
Grunge. Yumi s pendant had picked a fine time to stop working. According to the reports, her party along
with the escapees was last seen fleeing from what appeared to be a nuclear war zone. The Separatists with
their usual fear-inducing policies made sure to show plenty of clips of the civilian dead Tiffany had held
her breath just in case her daughter had been one but only eight casualties was fairly good, given how
unevenly biased in firepower the two sides were. Showing the dead from multiple angles and lighting
didn t increase their number, no matter how the Separatists tried to make it look.
Tiffany could try and contact Yumi via Qixid, but she very much doubted if the Prefect would be able
to spend time in-game, even for a quick update on the Bolgër. Which was why she sat here now, watching
Anastia as the communications tech slowly finished the interstellar comset. The transmittal dish had been
completed and transferred to the surface a few hours ago. Her people had managed to hide it in a small
crater, one of the few places on Dante I s surface that wasn t used as either storage or docking. And no one
expected it to remain undetected for long once the transmission was made. Everything had to go out in one
signal, which was why Anastia was taking so much care now. The woman s concentration was so intense
Tiffany wondered if she even knew she was in the Bolgër base.
 They ve got a transshield set up all around the Rock, Anastia said as an aside while fine tuning the
data on the workpad in front of her.  Once we initiate the send routine we ll have roughly three seconds
before their alarm systems light up like a magma tsunami. We ll lose signal probably immediately after
that.
 Will they be able to trace the signal to here? Tiffany asked. If that was the case she d rather have
her people moving base before the Separatists decided to attack.
 Extremely unlikely. I ve had a remote transceiver placed in the Seps quarters. I ll send the signal
there, cut it off and the transceiver will transmit the signal two minutes later. If they manage to trace the
source of the signal they ll get no farther than that unit. It s virtually track proof.
 Good. Tiffany walked toward the door and the courtesy guard standing there. They couldn t afford
to lose this comtech.  Let Haimer know when you re ready to send and he ll get a message to me. I want to
be here when it happens.
Dante I
  Kay.
Tiffany smiled. She hadn t really expected a response from Anastia. Some techs had a particular way
of cutting themselves off from reality when they worked and Anastia appeared to be one of that group.
Tiffany turned off the corridor into the main control room and lost her smile. Her main problem still
glaring from the screen centrally placed in the room remained to be dealt with. A small team of surface to
space tugs had been deployed to Sector Z. Within the next two hours the alien space vessel would be on the
move Tiffany had to make sure it didn t reach its destination.
 Ma am. Major Froy stepped up, catching her attention.  We ve finally located the transender you
gave the Prefect.
Ah, good news at last.  Where is she, Major?
 Sector W-Seven-Four-Y. Within the old colony tunnels.
Risky, Tiffany nodded, but not the first place the Separatists would look. That was a good choice.  Is
there a way to get some assistance and lifting pads to them so we can help the prisoners escape?
 There are some old service ways and elevators around the area, ma am. They might be fairly secure.
 Send as many men as you think they ll need, Major. I want to bring the rest of them back alive.
 Very good, ma am. The major saluted and left.
Tiffany walked over to the small synth machine and ordered a large mocacco, extra strong with triple
sugar. She needed all the fortification she could get.
For the first time since being impressed into his uncle s war Raol was beginning to feel like things
were out of control. War on Dante I had begun, of a sort. They had over a hundred thousand fully armored
soldiers scouring the worm-ridden innards of the asteroid. To date there d only been a dozen or so
skirmishes and most of those going badly for them. Several patrols had been completely annihilated by the
Bolgër s innovative hit and run tactics.
He could change the situation dramatically if he could gain control of the security vids. On the plus [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]