RED KNIGHT
a STAR FRONTIERS Novel
by Layne K. Saltern
A flashing orange call beeped on my wrist chronocom. Toxica's Human face filled its tiny view panel. She was wearing a bright blue Clarion Militia uniform similar to mine. It was hard to see her; she must have been calling from a dark area.
"I've got things set up, Kro'khan. Where are you?"
"Heading east on Vehicle Expressway NN-2-7."
"All right. I've got you located. Exit through Berge-Corner Tube and take the back way to the Mekk Engineering Center."
"How's the situation there?"
"Difficult. Groc's men have taken control of the Center's security systems and are holding about twenty ground police hostage. They don't know yet that I've managed to scan their actions and gain partial control of their security systems from a next-door section of the complex. You're going to enter secretly through the supply office door in Delta Alley. I'll see you get in without any trouble."
Groc. A fat ameboid Dralasite. Lately he had turned to merchandising stolen technology. But he wasn't going to pull of this heist!
I stashed my skimmer one street over from Delta Alley and crept on all eight legs to the entrance. The concrete streets were adorned with luminous graffiti, junked vehicles and various plant growths. . .but no people.
A reddish metal door waited before me. I couldn't see any handles or controls, but the door opened anyhow. I stepped inside, into an unlit corridor. The door slid shut behind me, completing the darkness.
No locks. No alarms. It looked like Toxica had kept her promise.
I traded my sungoggles for a pair of infra-red goggles. I didn't want to give away my position by using a light source.
Around me stood four square walls, two more doors and a shielded ventilator shaft.
Toxica returned to my chronocom. "I see you. Take the ventilator shaft. I couldn't neutralize the security behind the doors."
My whisper bounced off the corridor walls. "Could you direct me to the building's center ventilator once I'm crawling the shafts?"
"No problem."
I got the ventilator panel open with some difficulty. Mechanics isn't my specialty. For what seemed like twenty minutes I pulled myself through a horrid maze of branching wind tunnels.
By the time I reached the central ventilator room, it felt so good to be out of the tubes that I took a minute just to stretch out. But having recuperated, I realized there was no time to lose.
After strapping on a breathing mask, I pulled my envirokit from my backpack and began sloshing together carefully measured proportions of the right chemicals. I needed a paralytic knock-out gas potent enough to penetrate the entire building but harmless enough not to permanently harm any of the hostages. The central ventilator would do perfectly for distributing the finished product.
Toxica appeared again on my wrist. "Kro'khan, I think Groc's men have discovered you. Three armed Yazirians are heading your way from the hallway west of the ventilator room."
Armed? Me too.
I couldn't risk damaging the ventilation machinery in battle, so I darted out into the hall--into their faces! I took the initiative, eliminating one of the Yazirians with the squeal of a sonic stunner blast and ducking into hard cover within a branching passage.
I could see the remaining two multi-colored Yazirian shapes advancing in my infra-red view. The colors seemed a little hotter than normal. The two weren't shooting yet. They were probably waiting for me to come out.
So I did.
I fired, missed, and dodged a return blast. They were using laser pistols. Another blast bit a hole in the wall by my left shoulder.
I yanked myself back into full cover--avoiding two more fiery bolts. Time for a doze grenade. . .no, a tangler. (I didn't want Groc's men putting on gas masks yet.)
My head and arm came out from cover. The aim and timing with the grenade were perfect. Webbing splattered upon the two men, trapping them like insects on opposite sides of the hallway. One of them had managed to fire once, but the tangler explosion had entirely spoiled his aim.
There was really no time to lose now!
I sprinted to the central ventilation system and unleashed the chemical mixture.
Now I had to go where the action really was. . .to see if the gas had worked on Groc and his men.
Perfect. Hostages and thugs alike carpeted the well-lit M.E.C. control room with their unconscious bodies.
But then I turned.
Groc himself glared hatefully at me through the glossy viewplate of his gas mask. His laser rifle followed my every move with equal hate.
I fingered my belt. Could I draw my stunner in time?
The Dralasite hissed like a punctured groundcar tire. "She's set on full power. Say goodbye, bug!"
Concentrate on the gun, my mind screamed, only the gun! Dive and twist. . .now!
The almighty laser bolt exploded into my back. I felt myself being thrown like a rock, skipping on the surface of a pond.
Groc hadn't noticed the silver flash of my belt's albedo screen--hadn't noticed how it had deflected the blast.
He was heading for a rear exit.
Time to descend by a window, cut him off outside. . .
Groc ran and ran through alley after alley, his laser rifle swinging left and right in his rubbery arms with each step. Too bad Dralasites don't run very fast.
He dashed into a narrow pass between two plastic buildings, his escape too hasty for him to notice a dully reflective splotch of something on the cracked pavement. The chubby ameboid hit the splotch and yanked to a halt, both feet cemented to the ground.
"Hey! What in--"
I stepped out from around the next corner, my arms folded and one antenna raised higher than the other. "That's collicite, an adhesive often used in tangler grenades. Not a difficult chemical to fabricate."
"You fool!" he screamed, gripping his rifle. "I'll vaporize your ashes!"
"Assuming you can shoot faster than I can."
An energy bolt's shrill echo richocheted through the empty city alleys.
I usually don't take chances like that.