Avalon

CHAPTER 33

FOUR BRETHREN STOOD OUTSIDE THE DOOR AS THEY emerged. Jeth froze at the sight of them, hauling Lizzie back behind him. They stared at Jeth, their gazes hostile and confused. But they didn’t raise their guns. Jeth gaped, hardly daring to believe it. It seemed Dax’s decree held true.

“This way,” Sierra said, running past them without a second thought. She turned left down the nearest corridor.

Still dazed, Jeth followed after her, soon moving side by side with Lizzie. “Where’re we going? What’s happening?” he asked.

“We’re rescuing you, of course,” Lizzie said, grinning over at him. “Couldn’t you tell?”

Jeth wanted to hug her again. It felt so good to hear her joking. For a moment, he seemed to glide down the corridor, his entire being light with the relief of their escape.

Sierra said over her shoulder, “We’ve got to find the others. If we’re lucky, they’ve reached Cora by now. We were headed there first when I realized Hammer had brought you up here.”

“What do you mean the others?” Jeth asked, resisting the urge to haul her to a stop and kiss her. If she hadn’t found out what was happening, he’d be like Hammer now, a prisoner in his own mind.

“Everybody’s here,” said Lizzie. “Well, Celeste and Milton were supposed to stay on Avalon so we’ve a way out, but the others are breaking in the same way we did before.”

Nothing she said seemed to make any sense to Jeth. “What are you talking about?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “While you’ve been taking it easy these last few days, the rest of us have been busy.”

“Ha-ha,” Jeth said as they rounded a corner. The definite sounds of fighting echoed around them from other areas of the ship, but so far they remained in the clear.

Lizzie grinned. “It was all Sierra’s idea. She managed to slip Vince instructions on what to do before he left. He was to get a hold of the ITA, the real ITA, I mean, and tell them everything he could about what Renford and Hammer were doing, and help them coordinate an attack. The one that’s going down right now.”

Jeth started to ask a question, but another missile struck the Northern Dancer, the impact hard enough to send him and Lizzie stumbling into one another. Lizzie’s head collided with his mouth.

“Ouch,” Lizzie said, grabbing the top of her head while Jeth spat blood.

“Hurry up,” Sierra said. “We’ve got to get out of here before the ITA captures the ship.”

Jeth understood at once. “They’re still after Cora.”

“Yes,” Sierra said. “But bringing them here was the only way. We need this diversion.”

Jeth nodded. If they could get Cora and get back to Avalon, the ship was fast enough for them to slip away in the chaos of the fighting. A good plan, even with all the risk involved. “But why did it take them so long to get here?” he asked.

“Because Renford’s kept us on the move.” Sierra said, slowing down as they approached an intersection. “I had to keep resending our new location to Vince, but usually by the time he received and translated it, we were gone again.”

“How’d you manage sending it without anybody noticing?”

Sierra flashed him a quick smile. “When we were kids growing up here, we developed a method for sending each other secret messages. Used to be just a game, but it’s come in handy for the real thing.”

“I’m glad,” Jeth said, stepping in behind her. “But what happens if the ITA gets to Cora before we do?”

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” Lizzie said, smacking his arm. Jeth thought the accusation a bit unfair. It seemed everything that could’ve possibly gone wrong the last few weeks had. A little pessimism was in order.

“We’re going to get to her first,” Sierra said with absolute certainty. She inched toward the turn into the other corridor.

Not entirely mollified, Jeth nevertheless decided not to argue. For the time being, he was content just to have someone else be in charge for once. The ache and fatigue, remnants of Renford’s torture, were inching their way back over him. He did his best to ignore it, trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

Jeth moved to the opposite wall. They checked the turn together. Down his end, he saw half a dozen soldiers racing past from an adjacent corridor. He assumed they were Renford’s, but he couldn’t be certain.

“This way.” Sierra charged into the hallway, moving away from where the soldiers had passed.

They reached an elevator a few minutes later, but when they called for it, there was no response.

Sierra swore under her breath.

“What now?” said Lizzie.

“No more elevators,” said Jeth. “They might all be down.”

“There’s a maintenance shaft right through there.” Sierra headed for an unmarked door a short distance away. The electrical power flitted in and out, the lights intermittent at best. The automatic release on the door wasn’t working, but Jeth managed to pry it open with his fingers.

Just as he waved Sierra and Lizzie inside, more soldiers appeared in the hallway. Jeth stepped in and yanked the door closed, muffling the roar of their gunfire.

“Hurry!” he said, chasing after Lizzie and Sierra, who were already at the emergency ladder on the other side of the narrow room.

They climbed downward as fast as they could. Jeth kept glancing up, expecting to be pursued, but no threat came from above in the short time it took them to descend two decks.

Sierra climbed off the ladder into another maintenance room, this one larger than the first. She raced to the single computer station near the door and sat down.

“What’re you doing?” Jeth said, stepping up behind her.

“I’m bringing the surveillance system back online. I took it down as soon as I knew Vince and the others were approaching so they could move about the ship undetected, but now I need it to find them. We also need to see what we’re facing with Cora. Renford is bound to have increased the guard on her.”

“Okay,” Jeth said. “But how were you communicating with the others before?”

“Short range comms, but the ITA started jamming everything as soon as they moved in for the attack. Damn.” She slapped the top of the desk.

“What’s wrong?” said Lizzie.

“It’s not working.”

“Let me.” Lizzie pushed Sierra out of the chair and plopped down behind the computer. Then she started to work her magic. As always, Jeth found himself momentarily mesmerized by her abilities. Soon Lizzie had accessed the surveillance system and given them a look at how many men were guarding Cora. There were at least a dozen, all of them Renford’s. Jeth wondered if there had been Brethren there too, before Dax had taken over. The truth of this still hadn’t sunk in, that Hammer was gone from his life forever. Now, if we can just get off this ship alive . . .

“What is that place?” Jeth said, looking at the odd structures in the room where the soldiers stood.

“It’s the kid center,” said Sierra. “Where parents on a cruise send their kids when they want some free time. The area wasn’t being used until now, so Renford never had a reason to take out the playground stuff. He’s got Cora living in the caretaker suite attached to the place.”

Before Jeth could ask anything more, Lizzie said, “Found them.” She tapped a few buttons and the image flashed on the screen, showing Shady, Flynn, and Vince moving along cautiously.

“That’s the old servants’ corridor,” Sierra said. “One deck below us, starboard.”

“Let’s go,” said Lizzie, leading the way over to the maintenance ladder. They headed down.

Moments later, they emerged into an empty corridor.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” said Lizzie.

A loud commotion rose up from somewhere ahead of them. It was Shady, screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs in between bursts of gunfire.

“What’s he doing?” Sierra said as they ducked into the nearest room, taking cover.

“Just being himself,” said Lizzie. She giggled nervously. “Shady gets a little carried away sometimes.”

Sierra scowled. “No kidding. But he’s gonna get us killed.”

“What do you mean, ‘get us’?” said Jeth. “He’ll be the one doing the killing.” He poked his head around the corner and shouted as loud as he could. “Shady! Will you stop it already?”

“Is that you, Boss?” Shady hollered back.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m coming out now. So don’t shoot me.”

“Whatever you say, Boss.”

Braced for disaster, Jeth stepped out. If Shady started shooting again, he would dive for cover. Shady appeared around the corner, a massive grin on his face. Fortunately, he’d sheathed one of his guns and had the other propped against his shoulder, barrel pointed to the ceiling. Flynn and Vince followed behind him.

Jeth waved at Lizzie and Sierra, and they emerged. A brief, giddy reunion followed. Vince hugged Sierra hard enough to lift her off her feet. He kissed the top of her head as he set her down again. Shady did the same to Lizzie, only instead of kissing her head, he rubbed his knuckles in her hair.

“Ouch.” Lizzie punched him in the belly.

“That’s my girl,” said Shady, grinning.

Lizzie ignored him and faced Jeth. “Let’s go get our girl. {g> Our little sis.” 0

“Right.” Jeth looked at Sierra. “You know the way.”

She took off down the corridor, holding her gun in front of her, ready to fire. As the group moved along, Jeth described the situation waiting for them when they reached Cora.

“So how do we get past them?” Lizzie asked.

“We take ’em out,” said Shady. He glanced at Sierra, who’d looked over her shoulder at his words. “And no arguments about it this time, neither.”

“He’s right,” said Vince. “It’s the only way.”

“But they outnumber us,” said Lizzie. “And I know Jeth and Shady are pretty good shots, but will that be enough?”

As they slowed down to navigate another turn, Shady pulled a grenade off the clip at his belt. “We’ll use this.”

Lizzie eyed the black, cylindrical thing. “You can’t bomb them. You might hurt Cora.”

“It’s not that kind of bomb,” said Vince.

Shady spat in agreement. “That’s right. It’s a stun grenade. Should distract them long enough for us to take most of them down.”

“All right,” Sierra said, then she checked the corridor. A moment later, they were on the move again.

When they finally reached K Deck, after a climb down another maintenance ladder, the place was eerily still and silent. Even the missiles still hitting the ship seemed distant. Sierra led them out of the maintenance room into a corridor that dead-ended at the kid center. She motioned to Shady.

He stepped forward, gripping the stun grenade tight in his hand. “On the count of three.”

Jeth exhaled, focusing. Aim and fire. Don’t think. Aim and fire, don’t think.

Shady reached three, opened the door, and flung the grenade through it. The noise as it exploded made Jeth’s eardrums quiver despite the distance and walls separating him.

Shady charged through the door a moment later and started firing. Vince came next, then Jeth. He stared around at the large playground full of jungle gym equipment, a rock-climbing wall, and a merry-go-round. There were so many places to hide in here.

The next few seconds passed in a storm of chaos as screams intermixed with the explosion of gunfire. All the worry and fear disappeared from Jeth’s mind as his body went into autopilot mode. Nothing else existed but the fight. The kickback of each bullet rocked his arm as he fired. A ceaseless ringing filled his ears, but it was far away, as if the sound belonged to someone else.

Jeth shot at anything that moved, diving for cover as Renford’s soldiers returned fire. In moments the two groups had taken up position across from each other, Jeth and the others behind the jungle gym and what remained of their opposition behind the rock wall.

“We need to get Cora before we run out of ammo,” Vince shouted.

“I’ll get her,” Sierra said. “Just give me some cover.”

Vince nodded. “Be careful.”

“I’m going with you,” Jeth said, following behind her.

Sierra looked like she might argue, but then she hurried on, racing from cover to cover. More than once, Jeth felt a bullet soar past him, but the closer they came to the door leading into the suite, the less danger the soldiers posed. They couldn’t get a good angle on them over here, not without exposing themselves to gunfire.

Sierra reached the door and forced it open. Then she charged in, checking the corners as she entered with her gun poised in front of her. Doing the same, Jeth followed behind her.

“Be careful,” Sierra said over her shoulder. “We don’t want to startle her. There’s no telling what kind of state she’s in with all the fighting going on out—”

They both froze at the sound of heavy footsteps. Renford was running down the hallway toward them, carrying Cora. She appeared to be asleep or knocked out, her head lolling against his shoulder. Renford slid to a stop, shifting Cora to one side as he pulled his gun from his holster.

Then he pressed the barrel against Cora’s head.