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

a Rhino, and it immediately took a knee and deployed wall barriers. Each Vindicator rifle slid into the barrier’s slits in unison, making a bulletproof wall of smart rifles that shot smart bullets. Those projectiles could curve around corners.

“The Supremacy,” Esparza growled, and the glare he directed at the armored soldiers was truly intimidating. “How?”

“Attention, terrorist elements working under wanted war criminal Graham Esparza!” a haughty, magnified voice boomed. “This is Captain Karus Varik with the First Phorcys Security Fleet. You are in possession of Phorcys government property, and you will surrender that property at once.”

“Excuse me!” Ryke’s magnified voice demanded.

“Excuse you?” Varik demanded back. “Who are you?”

“This is Lieutenant Coffman with Ceto Security Division!” Coffman yelled, before Ryke could answer. “Who authorized you to deploy your soldiers down here? Supremacy assets are not allowed on Ceto soil without explicit permission!”

“Can we kill him?” Ryke asked. “We can kill Advanced who violate the treaty, right?”

“We cleared this operation with Senator Gail Lozano!” Varik shouted back. “We have full clearance to proceed!”

“Not from President Mendoza you don’t!” Coffman shouted back.

“Gentlemen,” Ryke said, “we’re all here for the same purpose, aren’t we?” She cleared her throat. “Esparza! Surrender Jan Sabato to me!”

Kast blinked at Esparza. “Is Sabato here somewhere?”

With a shimmer, a dark-skinned man who had previously been entirely invisible appeared wearing a skintight blue flight suit. “Attention, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for coming! I assure you, we’ll have this cleared up as quickly as possible!”

“There he is,” Esparza said dryly.

“First, however,” Jan continued, “I’d like to yield the floor to Commander Graham Esparza. He has something he wishes to share with all of you!”

Rafe stared in silent horror. Jan stood now beyond the barricades, in full sight of Elena Ryke’s bulldozer, Lieutenant Coffman’s APCs, Captain Varik’s Vindicator squad, and Captain Esparza’s True Sons of Ceto. He was surrounded, without cover. There was no way he was going to get out of this one!

“Commander?” Kast whispered.

Esparza frowned at the lone figure standing in the middle of four groups of gun-toting soldiers. “Get me my maghorn.”

A soldier, crouching low, complied. Esparza raised the maghorn to his mouth and spoke. “This is Commander Esparza of the True Sons of Ceto. We do not bow before any enemy, foreign or domestic, but if you remove your forces now, we will spare your lives. Sabato is yours. We have no ties to him.”

“Oh, c’mon!” Ryke said sarcastically. “You’ve been sheltering him in your underground desert base for days!”

“What underground base?” Varik asked.

“There are no underground bases on Ceto!” Coffman protested.

“Ladies, gentlemen, please, be reasonable!” Jan raised both arms as if to part a sea of high-powered weapons. “If you do not withdraw immediately, Commander Esparza will set off the mini-nuke he’s placed beneath the capitol building!”

“Mini-nuke?” Ryke demanded, almost in unison with Coffman. “Is this true, Esparza? Are you that insane?”

“We are not here about any bomb,” Varik cut in, annoyed. “You have stolen critically sensitive information owned by the government of Phorcys, an act of sedition tantamount to—”

“Shove it up your ass, Varik!” Ryke cut in. “No one’s bombing my city!”

“Esparza!” Coffman shouted. “What are your demands?”

Rafe waited in breathless silence, staring at Esparza. Demands were good. Demands meant Esparza might not nuke people.

“Commander,” Kast asked, “how are we getting out of here?”

Esparza glanced at Kast, then the rest of his crouching soldiers. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. “We aren’t,” he said, with quiet reverence. “We finish the mission.”

“Yes, sir,” Kast whispered.

“Wait!” Rafe struggled to free himself from Kast’s vise grip. “You can’t set off that bomb! Bharat already secured it! We can’t shoot our way out of here!”

“Jan Sabato!” Ryke demanded. “Bring me my disc right now! We have your precious Emiko!”

“Jan Sabato!” Coffman shouted. “Turn yourself in! I guarantee we’ll treat you fairly!”

“Graham Esparza!” Varik shouted. “Return our stolen data disc at once!”

“Now, people,” Jan shouted from his place in the middle of the gathered armies, “let’s not start shooting each other!”

A deafening crack echoed through the underground chamber. The soldier three steps from Esparza, the one who’d been on the heavy machine gun, crumpled into a bloodied heap.

“Open fire!” Esparza roared.

To Rafe’s ears, it was as if the entire underground chamber blew itself apart. The gunfire came from all sides, endless and deafening, and Rafe threw himself down and covered his ears. When he looked up, Esparza was gone.

The safest thing was to stay down. The smartest thing was to stay down. The dumbest thing would be to go after Esparza, yet Rafe couldn’t stop thinking about the antenna he’d seen gleaming on top of the pump control room, by the funnel. An antenna that could receive signals.

An antenna that could pick up a remote detonator.

Sergeant Kast slammed to the ground next to him, clutching her side. Rafe scrambled out of reach. The pipe above his head exploded, but he crawled on hands and knees. Something hot bit his thigh, and he screamed in agony, but he limped off running.

He had to let Jan know Esparza had a remote detonator.

The cacophony of gunfire faded as Rafe ran, but not toward the tunnel exit. He limped, instead, toward the nuke platform, whining at the agony coursing through his leg. There was a good chance any detonator Esparza possessed had limited range, which meant Esparza must be heading this same way.

There. Esparza! Rafe almost went down when he took the corner, but caught himself on some pipes. He stumbled and stopped as Esparza spun his way, holding a pistol in one hand and a small cylinder in the other. He was waving the cylinder around like