Supremacy's Outlaw: A Space Opera Thriller Series (Insurgency Saga Book 3) by T.E. Bakutis (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📗

“Yes!” Fatima exclaimed, throwing her arms up as if simulating fireworks. “Finally! It registers!”

Pollen glanced at Bharat. “And you helped Fatima free Jan?”

“Yes,” Bharat said, “by helping Fatima steal a data disc of great value to Senator Tarack. Tarack had the clout and financial means to free Jan Sabato from Tantalus prison, so Fatima and I worked together to give her incentive to do that.”

“And you did not tell us all this ... why?”

Bharat grimaced. “I didn’t remember.”

Pollen scowled mightily. “How do you forget?”

“You can do that with PBAs. Scrub memories. Senator Tarack scans our memories each time we return from a job, so your friend Kinsley scrubbed all memory of my plan with Fatima and hid it behind a restoration phrase. When Fatima repeated that phrase, it unlocked my memories. Until she did that, I had no idea I was in on our scheme.”

Pollen looked to Fatima. “So this is why you allowed Tarack to know who stole her disc. That did seem unlike you.”

“Did you notice that?” Fatima asked, with what Bharat would charitably describe as weapons-grade sarcasm. “No, Pollen, I did not want a ruthless and incredibly rich Supremacy senator hunting me. Yet Tarack knowing I took her disc was the only way Bharat could convince her Jan was her only option to retrieve it. It was the only way to get Jan out of Tantalus.”

Pollen tilted her head. “This seems complicated.”

“Yes, well, if you have a better plan to free someone from a high-security orbital prison, please, do share.”

Pollen scowled. “You hit me with an autocar.”

“And you all but choked me to death, so we’re even.” Fatima huffed. “I don’t want to fight you, Pollen. I want to save Jan, and then, once we’re all together, we will deal with Mastermind.”

The low whine of repulsor jets told Bharat his hearing had fully recovered, or perhaps his PBA’s amplifiers had rebooted at last. A hovering vehicle was definitely approaching. And there was another sound coming with it, almost like ... screams?

Jan. Shit. Bharat knew now Jan was on that vehicle.

Marquis stood proudly in the center of the tunnel, hands on hips and headlamp shining bright. He couldn’t be stupid enough to stand there and get run down ... could he?

A small AR window popped up to the left of Bharat’s vision, and he gasped in relief. His PBA had just wirelessly restored its connection to the nanos swimming in Jan’s blood. He fired off their termination code as headlights filled the tunnel, heading right for Marquis. The nanos would now self-destruct.

Yet Marquis still stood in the middle of the tunnel. He raised both hands as if he had the power to stop a speeding repulsorcraft. He seemingly had no idea his armor wouldn’t save him if the speeding vehicle plowed into his chest.

“EMIKO OKAZAKI!” Marquis boomed. “I HAVE FOUND BHARAT AND BROUGHT HIM HERE, AS CONTRACTED! SLOW YOUR VEHICLE AND WE—”

What looked to be a maintenance scow zoomed out of the tunnel and barreled directly at Marquis, who had the good sense to drop flat. It whined right over him. Bharat caught a glimpse of two women clutching the sides of the speeding scow, one with red hair and one with dark, and then the scow zoomed away down the tunnel. Jan’s shrieking went silent, which meant Bharat had successfully triggered the torture nanos to self-destruct.

So why were they still flying away?

13: Laundering

Clutching the maintenance scow’s side rail, Emiko shouted as best she could with air whipping past her face. “Rafe! Stop!”

Rafe didn’t stop. If anything, he pushed the repulsorcraft faster, and all sign of the lights and people they’d just passed vanished. Yet Emiko knew what she’d seen when they blew out of the tunnel and almost flattened Marquis.

Pollen had been back there on that maglev platform, and Fatima, and a big man with a big beard that was almost certainly Bharat. These were the people Emiko was desperate to find, and Rafe was taking her away from them. What was he thinking?

Emiko exchanged a glance with Kinsley, also holding on for dear life on the other side of the speeding scow, and recognized what they both already knew. They had to stop this vehicle. Either Rafe was too focused on flying to notice whom they’d just blown past, or he had noticed, and he wanted to get away from them for some reason. Either possibility was very, very bad.

Emiko gripped the side rail with both hands and struggled against the momentum pushing on her legs. She managed to get both feet on the base of the scow at the same moment Rafe slid the vehicle into a tight, sloping turn. Emiko immediately lost her balance and almost fell off.

“Rafe!” she shouted again. “Stop!”

Kinsley braced herself between the scow’s side platform, for maintenance staff, and the scow’s central core, which powered its repulsorlifts. She yanked open the maintenance panel, which flew right off, and got to work. Emiko remembered then there were few mechanics more talented than Kinsley.

With a thump that nearly sent Emiko flying, the repulsorcraft bucked and slowed. Its engines whined loudly as it wobbled, and Rafe pushed and pulled at the controls. His voice became audible as the wind died. “Oh no, no, no!”

“Rafe!” Emiko shouted. “Turn around, dammit! That was Bharat back there, with Fatima! We have to get Jan to them!”

Rafe didn’t answer. He glanced back instead, saw Kinsley stand up, and grimaced. “Ah, shit.” He turned forward and tapped rapidly on the still-floating scow’s forward console.

“I’ve throttled the scow’s engine intake,” Kinsley said, smiling proudly. “You can’t get it running