Spy Vs. Spy (Part Twenty-One)
Nine's screams leaked out of Jadus's quarters, shattering the silence in the passageway. Balkar cringed, his eyes piteous.
Zimmer frowned. "Mentu should've contacted him by now. Can't that cowardly fool do anything right?"
"Bet me the good admiral wussed out," Balkar whispered.
A triad of high pitched cries rang out, each one more agonizing than the last.
"Kark! What the hell's he doing to her? We need to get in there. " He ran his hand over his jaw and found himself diving into the hall to storm the Sith's quarters.
"Are you insane?!" Zimmer tugged him back by the elbow.
"He's killing her!" Balkar growled through gritted teeth.
"And what do you think he'll do to us, if you force your way in? I swear you spies have nothing between your ears at times."
"Hey, crazy is a pre-requisite for the job, but if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears, sweetheart."
Nine's voice cracked and silence fell. Her last outcry vibrated in Balkar's marrow, the frequency still quivering in his ear drums.
"He stopped…" Zimmer shuddered and glanced up at Balkar.
Balkar shook his head. "Either she passed out, or he killed her." He pushed away the image of Nine's corpse before it solidified in his mind's eye.
"Maybe that's a mercy."
"Just because she's out, doesn't mean he's stopped."
"Damn you, Mentu…why doesn't the bastard call?" Zimmer snarled under her breath.
"We don't know that he didn't." Balkar ducked back into the intersecting hallway, tugging Zimmer along with him. "Someone's coming." He held up his left index finger to his lips.
Zimmer's eyes grew wide, and she cast a sideways glance toward a storage compartment. "Hide," she mouthed and tossed her head toward the doorway.
Balkar slipped in ahead of Zimmer, grateful the door didn't betray their presence. He held his breath as the confident rhythm of approaching footfalls sounded outside the compartment and then stopped. Zimmer pushed hard against Balkar's shoulder and glared at him.
Almost losing his balance, he took her hint and secreted himself inside an empty artillery case.
The door slid open and Zimmer found herself face to face with Jadus. She stiffened and offered a shallow bow. "M-my Lord."
"Captain Zimmer," Jadus drawled. "Why aren't you at your post?"
"Admiral Mentu ordered me to secure the engine room after we noticed an abnormal signature reading. After securing the engine room, I saw the Diasporus off the aft, port side. Then it was gone. I informed the admiral we were under attack and continued my investigation. I heard screams…they led me here, my Lord."
Jadus stood before her and said nothing. She felt a coldness reach for her—the frost permeating each fibre of her body until she trembled and fell to her knees.
"I sense deception from you Captain…"
"My Lord, I can't lie—you need to know the truth. Admiral Mentu's fear of you has paralyzed him and made him incompetent. I fear I'll be made to pay the price for his ineptitude. Forgive me, my Lord. I don't want to die. I only wish to distinguish myself in your service." She swallowed hard and sobbed.
"Return to your station, Captain."
"Of course, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord." Zimmer rose and patted her uniform back into place and backed out of the storage compartment. With her back to Jadus, she squeezed her eyes shut and blew out a deep breath.
A blast rocked the Apocrypha. Zimmer lost her footing and fell into the wall.
Darth Jadus stalked out of the compartment. "Captain..."
She straighted and turned to face him. "My Lord…that sounded like it came from the shuttle bay."
"Secure the bay and proceed to cell block Besh, level three. Confirm the prisoners are still locked away. Report your findings to me on the bridge."
"Yes, my Lord." She turned abruptly on her heel and started for the shuttle bay. A series of lesser explosions followed the originating blast like aftershocks after a ground quake.
After Jadus boarded the turbolift, Zimmer doubled back to the storage compartment.
Balkar hoisted himself from the artillery container and dusted himself off. "Good job. Remind me never to play sabacc with you, Captain."
"I never, ever want to do that again. Did you hear the blast? It sounded like it came from the shuttle bay."
"Yeah, I felt it. Let's get Nine and get the hell outta here."
Lana peered around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it empty. "We need to find Nine and get back to the ship."
Kaliyo twisted the maglock on the detonators running the length of the main power conduit. Her mouth twisted into a self-satisfied smirk and her eyes gleamed malevolently. "Yeah, yeah, just let me finish up. We can't let all these go to waste."
"We don't have time for that now…how long do you think it will be before the bridge crew realizes there's a problem and dispatches security?"
"Hey, I've never bombed a star destroyer before. I wanna scratch it off my bucket list."
"Dammit Kaliyo! We need to move," Lana growled and then froze. She cocked her head to listen. A staccato of dim sounding blasts crackled in the distance. "Did you hear that?"
Kaliyo smirked. "Yeah. You're right, we'd better get a move on—can't let the guys have all the fun."
Balkar tugged away the IV needles jammed into Nine's pulse points. An opaque green liquid leaked from the insertion points inside her elbows, and tracked down her arms and legs like thin serpents.
Zimmer pressed two fingers against Nine's throat and when she couldn't detect a pulse she repositioned her fingers until she felt the jounce of Nine's pulse under her fingertips. "She's still alive, but just barely."
"What the hell was that bastard shooting 'er up with?" Balkar hefted her over his shoulder.
"No idea…looks like a part of some ritual…I'll grab a sample." Zimmer cringed at the assortment of painful looking antique implements.
"She's freezing, we gotta get her someplace warm."
Zimmer extracted a sample of the liquid into a phial and pocketed it. "Let's get to your ship, and hope your friends are ready to haul jets. You got a medic with you?"
"Yeah. Just hope the ol' coot can fix this." Balkar drew his pistol and followed Zimmer out into the corridor.
"Clear…this way." Clinging to the wall, Zimmer jogged ahead, her blaster drawn. Balkar followed and frowned at the green drip trail marking their getaway route.
A squad of Imperial troopers rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Balkar swore and ducked into an alcove. He tugged Nine's legs in close and clamped her feet between his thighs in the hope it would be enough to hide them both.
Zimmer rushed forward to meet the squad. "Sergeant, this passage is all clear. Secure the brig, make sure our guests are still in lock up."
"Yes sir." The trooper saluted Zimmer and turned his squad around. After the clatter of their armour faded, Balkar repositioned Nine against his shoulder and followed Zimmer into the turbolift.
The lift lurched and began its descent. Balkar's gaze followed the indicator light as it blinked onto each new level. "Sure as hell hope it doesn't stop for anything."
"If that door opens, kill whoever's in front of it," Zimmer barked.
Balkar exhaled heavily as the turbolift touched down inside the shuttle bay without incident. "You realize, what we could be walking into."
"Yeah…" Zimmer scowled. "We go down shooting."
"I'm not making my final jump today, Captain, and neither are you. C'mon." Balkar edged out of the lift, but wasn't prepared for what he saw. "My ship!" He howled and stormed forward.
A vibrant pop echoed through the bay as the inlet rail leading to the fuel pump burst. Balkar jumped back, careful to shield Nine from the new flames. "What. The. Hell."
Black smoke engulfed the shuttle bay and flames licked around what remained of the Nightwalker's hull.
"That was our ticket out…wasn't it," Zimmer muttered.
"Yeah. 'Fraid so." Balkar eased Nine down onto a cargo case. "Karking sonuvabish."
"What?"
"Find something to wrap her in, we need to keep her body temp up," Balkar ordered. "I gotta com Theron."
"This deal is getting worse, all the time." Zimmer rummaged through the supply locker until she found a thermal blanket.
Balkar's gaze fixed on the com. A series of beeps singsonged before starting over anew. "C'mon buddy…pick up."
Theron's image unfurled from the center of the device. "Are you crazy? What?" He hissed.
"Forget the shield generators. You've gotta bug out. We've got problems—the ship's been blasted into about a million pieces."
Theron grimaced. "You're not saying that—
"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying. Who else would?"
Theron's image ran his hand over his face. "Kark. Place is crawling with troopers. It's gonna take me a while to reach you. Priority is getting off this boat."
"Y'think?"
"You get Nine? What about Lana and Kaliyo?"
"Got Nine—she's not doing so good." He glanced back at Zimmer as she spread the blanket over Nine. "No sign of Lana or Kaliyo yet," Balker hissed into the com.
"On my way." Theron's image fizzled.
Zimmer sprinted to the com across the bay.
"What are you doing?" Balkar called after her.
"Making sure they don't vent the bay…it's procedure in the event of a fire. Not to mention Jadus expects a report from me."
"You can't be serious."
"Last thing we need is a squadron of troopers in here. I can't avoid Jadus indefinitely. Find a way off…I'm not staying here one nanosecond longer than I have to."
Balkar watched her work and sighed. His comlink chirped and he slapped the device. "Balkar."
Quinn's image fluctuated over the com. "Agent…I've been monitoring your situation aboard the Apocrypha."
"How? Are you tellin' me you're here?"
"We're in low orbit. The haste of your departure led me to believe back up would be required, and clearly, that seems to be the case," Quinn clipped.
"You're not wrong. Look, Nine's hurt bad. We need a way off this boat ASAP…we're just waiting on Kaliyo, Lana and Theron to haul jets."
Quinn turned to address Vector. "Inform Doctor Lokin we have injured. Nine's condition is critical."
"Understood Major." Vector nodded solemly and left the cockpit in haste.
Quinn cleared his throat and returned his attention to Balkar. "Currently the Apocrypha's sensors are inoperational. We could attempt to dock manually, but the airlock seal will be unstable. Any attempt to lock on using the docking clamps could alert the bridge crew to an unlawful boarding attempt. Obviously it would be prudent to avoid discovery."
"Obviously," Balkar grunted.
The blast doors to the shuttle bay groaned apart and the sound of plasma bolts and the growl of a lightsaber deflecting a riot of fire swept in behind Lana and Kaliyo.
"The girls are here…they're coming in hot."
Quinn tapped at the Phantom's console. "And what of Agent Shan?"
"No sign of him yet. I'm going to pass you to Captain Zimmer. She's working with us now. Do whatever you were gonna with the docking clamps, but do it fast." Balkar tossed the com unit to Captain Zimmer. "Take over with Major Quinn. He can get us out if you work together."
"Understood." Zimmer barked.
Kaliyo blasted the control panel to the shuttle bay blast doors, slamming them shut. "That'll hold 'em for a little while."
Balkar bolted toward Lana and seized her shoulders. "Are you hurt?"
"No…we're fine." Lana's eyes bulged and she clasped his hands. "What happened to the ship?"
"One happened, that's what. He rigged it to blow."
"But…I saw Jadus kill him."
"Bastard is like a damn spider-roach. No offense, but I'll believe he's dead when I see it for myself. Quinn's in low orbit with the Phantom. He and Zimmer are working out how to get us outta here."
"Zimmer? From the bridge crew?"
"Yeah, long story. Apparently she likes living but doesn't like her chances here."
"Can't say I blame her." Lana's gaze fixed on the body wrapped in the reflective thermal blanket and pressed her fingertips to her lips. "Nine…is she? She's not…"
"No, but it's not good. Jadus shot 'er up with some kind of green goo. Body temp, way below normal."
Lana's brows pinched together. "Any word from Theron?"
"Not yet. I was about to go looking for him."
"I don't think that would be wise. The corridors are swarming with troopers."
"Theron knows. He's in the access tunnels."
Zimmer clapped her hands together to gain everyone's attention. "Major Quinn has bridged the airlock manually. Hurry everyone…get on board!"
"Don't gotta tell me twice," Kaliyo jogged through the airlock and into the Phantom, Zimmer on her heels.
"Get Nine to safety…I'll find Theron," Lana offered.
"I'm not leaving you two behind."
"You won't be…but I have the Force to guide me…and I do believe I know my way around a star destroyer better than you do. Go. We'll be fine."
Balkar winced, his gaze hesitant. "Come back to me Lana…promise me." He wanted to kiss her—in truth he wanted more than that—he wanted to hold her and keep her safe, but as always, time conspired against him and he felt her hands slip out of his.
"I promise." Lana lingered long enough to watch him scoop Nine into his arms and pass her off to Vector once aboard the Phantom.
She met Balkar's gaze once more and started up the maintenance ladder leading to the access panel.
Theron abandoned the shield generators and hoisted himself into the maintenance access tunnel. The shaft was no more than a meter high, with dim light panels positioned every five meters for light. The edges of the corrugated durasteel cut into his hands and knees.
Every five standard minutes an exhaust fan would boom and a gust of air rushed around him. He never did like closed in spaces, even if his job had an uncanny ability of forcing him into them. Grateful for the gusts, he breathed deep, the rushing air easing his anxiety. He crawled for what seemed an eternity and couldn't help comparing Coruscant's sewer system with the destroyer's innards.
At least there's no rats.
The explosives hanging from his belt clanked against the bottom of the shaft as he scuttled along.
The stench of smoke, flaming duranium and fuel, filtered into the shaft and he knew he was close to the shuttle bays. Three yards later, he pried open the access panel and cautiously dropped through it. He landed in a crouch, but was unprepared for what he saw next—a line of corpses—the Apocrypha's hangar crew.
He drew his pistol and poked his head up from behind a stack of cargo barrels. The hangar was dark and quiet, but it wasn't empty—at the heart of it was the all too familiar silver Sorosuub luxury cruiser.
Aw kark.
He felt the icy tip of a pistol's flash suppressor against his spine. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
"Hello Theron," One oozed.
((to be continued…))
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