Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

Just don’t tease me and get me worked up. Got it?” She glared at Harmony and then at Darik. When they agreed, she went on. “I’m reviewing the last three days footage, and I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Transports are docking and leaving all the time. Mengele could have been on any of those—you can’t see the call signs from above, and I’m just going on satellite feeds. A lot of these ships look the same to me. It’s hard to tell without a frame of reference, this could be normal mine activity. Who knows?”

“I don’t like it,” Darik said.

“But what can we do? This is probably how he has remained hidden. Doing his work from shadows,” Grimdark added.

“We will be fine if we just focus on our objective. All we’re doing is sneaking in and getting Gus out of there. No heroics. No revenge or retribution. Get in, get out. Remember the plan. Done. Everybody on board?”

“When we get close enough, I can try to remote hack the facility. I won’t be able to get much, but I’m hoping for some schematics. That’ll help us finalize our entry points and tactics.”

“Yuki, we’re ready for another reading,” Seneschal said over the comms.

“Already?” BoJack rattled off the current coordinates.

“Course correcting, thanks.”

“Everyone has their projects, get to work. We only have a couple of hours.”

The corsair was large enough that it took some time to find a place to land without obstruction.

The Crew filed out and made a beeline for the hangars. Yuki had found a single shaft descending to a section isolated from the rest of the mine. It annexed the mine at different levels, but ran parallel to the depth of the mine, though it was straight and narrow like a core sample. The mine itself was a multi-tiered circular pit.

“Hold up, guys. This area is much more sophisticated than it looks.”

“It’s dirty and run down.”

“On the surface. That rusted metal on the hangar is mere siding. Pressure plates are there, there, and there,” Yuki warned, pointing to different patches on the dirt road and forest. “Follow me.”

They filed after her and she swiped the information to their displays. The hangar door was quickly hacked and they headed inside.

“That’s it, alright, and the tracker’s still there.” Aurora pointed to Mengele’s ship.

“I recognize it too. Good to know we’re on the right track,” Darik agreed. “So we go down this elevator, huh?

“Looks like it.”

Darik squinted at the floor of the lift, and stomped once or twice then listened. “Are you guys up for a little adventure?” he asked as the rest of them joined him in the lift.

“Darik, NO!” was all Harmony got out before a large portal opened up below them and then they were all falling down the shaft below the lift.

“Don’t overthink it!” he cackled with glee as they began to pick up speed. The chill air rapidly warmed as they fell, musty and earthy. Lights began to flicker, then strobe as they fell faster and faster, passing various levels. A dull orange glow grew in intensity as they fell. Harmony hugged herself tightly, while Aurora slowed her own descent with her flight skill, pulling away from the others.

When impact was imminent, the Keeper opened another portal and they shot out the exit, flying back up the shaft. Darik alternated the polarity of the portals and they quickly slowed as gravity acted like brakes. When they had slowed sufficiently, he let the group land on the cement pad among four mammoth springs on plinths.

Harmony’s hair was wild and disheveled as she fumed. “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again!” Everyone pressed fingers to lips and shushed her as her shrill scream echoed in the narrow shaft. She pursed her lips but continued to glare.

“Look how fast we got down here,” Darik whispered and shrugged. “Sometimes you just have to jump in the pool. Don’t overthink it.” They climbed the nearby ladder as Darik made another portal through the heavy metal doors, and they crawled out onto the Berber carpet that was definitely out of place in a mine.

Bright lights illuminated the corridor, and even the temperature was regulated to normal levels. If one did not know better, they might suppose they were in an office building of some sort. Yuki knelt by a nearby keypad next to a door and tried to sync with the system.

After a brief pause, she shook her head. “These aren’t part of the main network, unfortunately. I can tell that no one has unlocked, entered, or exited these offices for a while, so thank goodness for small favors. We’ll have to find someplace else—”

A tremor rocked the floor, causing the group to stagger.

“What was that?” Anastasia gasped.

“Earthquake?” Yuki said, face draining of color.

Lights flickered and went out briefly, kicking on again after a second.

“I can feel him more strongly now. He’s this way,” BoJack pointed down a hallway. They began to head down the corridor when the lights went out and they were plunged into the dark.

Chapter Eighty-Three

Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love

“Harmony, what do you got?” Darik asked, looking up at her.

“It feels empty. I can only sense two minds besides us. Even if there were someone hiding with shielding for mental protection, there still is an ambient pressure that I can feel. Unless this guy is using mechs, it should only be Gus and Mengele.”

“Can you tell anything about his emotional state?” BoJack asked.

“It’s kind of stormy. I’m getting a lot of reds.”

“Reds?”

“Yeah, emotions have a flavor, or color. Reds are usually fight or flight responses. Anger, severe fear, pain. Those kinds of things.”

“Can you tell how strong he is?” BoJack asked with bated breath.

“Sort of? The colors are really vivid, which usually is a good sign. When someone is very ill or about to pass, the colors fade to blacks, grays, and whites.”

BoJack exhaled deeply.

“What about Mengele?” Grimdark added.

“The same. He has blues and a tinge of green mixed into his reds. Kind of psychedelic.”

“What do