Break Out - By Nina Croft Page 0,41

colonel wouldn’t be happy.

She turned on her internal comm unit. Nothing came through, only a buzz of static. It didn’t mean anything. They would have locked down the internal link if they’d known she was involved.

A door opened opposite where she stood. Skylar took cover behind the cruiser as four men stepped through, the familiar black uniform of the Corps instantly recognizable.

“Shit,” she whispered.

She watched as they crossed the floor. One of them entered the transport ship through the open hatch. He came out a minute later, shaking his head, and they all disappeared behind the ship. Drawing her laser pistol, Skylar took a step forward.

“Stand down, lieutenant.”

She stopped in her tracks as the colonel’s words came through her internal comm link.

“Sir?”

“Stand down. You’ve achieved your mission.”

She frowned. “No, sir. My mission was get the prisoner off Trakis One.”

“No, lieutenant, your mission was to prove the security here is inadequate, and you’ve done that.”

It took a minute for the words to make sense. When they did, disbelief flooded her. “You’re saying this is nothing more than a training exercise?”

“That’s right. And it’s gone far enough. We’re not risking Aiden’s killer going free. Now, stand down.”

Anger coiled in her gut when she thought of what she had been through to set this up. She was aware the colonel hated the officer in charge of security here, but she was finding it hard to believe this whole thing came down to nothing more than political infighting. Her boss trying to prove a point.

And what about the crew of the transport ship? They’d been assholes, but they hadn’t deserved to die for a fucking training exercise. Was that really worth anyone dying for? “You should have told me.”

“We told you as much as you needed to know.” The colonel spoke sharply. “Is there a problem, lieutenant?”

She ground her teeth. “No, sir.”

“Good.”

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“What happens to the crew I hired?”

“If they surrender, they’ll be shipped to the Meridian mines with the prisoner. If not...”

Skylar could almost hear his mental shrug. If not, then she had no doubt they would be eliminated. She slid the pistol back in her holster, forced her tight muscles to relax.

“I understand, sir.”

At the far side of the room, the door opened again, and Rico and Tannis came through.

Chapter Thirteen

“Piece of cake,” Rico said to Tannis.

He kept his pace steady, but the spot between his shoulder blades itched with the need to get out of there. He hated prisons. He’d spent time in a few in his long life and had no wish to repeat the experience.

Everything had gone according to plan. They had the cryotube containing Jonny and were only a few feet from the transport ship when a voice called out behind them.

“Stop where you are.”

From the pitch of the man’s voice, Rico could tell they were in trouble. He stopped and slowly pivoted, easing his hand onto his laser pistol.

Tannis turned beside him and swore softly.

Rico counted six guards, but at least their weapons were still holstered. They probably weren’t expecting a fight when the numbers were on their side. A tall man with sergeant’s stripes stepped to the front of the group.

“Take your hands away from your weapons and place them behind your heads.”

Like that was going to happen.

Rico glanced sideways at Tannis and saw the almost imperceptible nod of her head. His muscles tightened in readiness.

They drew their lasers in unison. Six blasts took the six guards down before they had a chance to unholster their weapons. Rico stood for a minute in the ensuing silence, laser aimed until he was sure no one was going to move again. Ever.

Tannis released her breath and shoved her pistol into its holster. “Right,” she said. “Can we go now?”

“Not so fast,” Rico murmured. “They know we’re here.” He crossed the room and opened the control panel, blasted the insides. “Just disabling the tractor beam.”

“What about opening the hatch.”

“It has proximity sensors, it should open.”

“Should?” She shook her head. “Come on. We have five minutes to get off this piece-of-crap planet.”

Rico started pushing the cryotube toward the transport ship. He’d only gone a few feet when Tannis stopped him with a hand on his arm. “What now?” he muttered.

“Look, Rico.”

Four men appeared from behind the ship. Rico’s breath caught in his throat as he recognized the uniforms.

“Shit, Rico,” Tannis said from beside him. “They’re Collective.”

“They’re not only Collective—they’re Corps.”

“Look at their eyes.” Her tone was full of awe.

All four sets of eyes glowed violet, inhuman, and a shiver of unease