Page 44 (2/2)

"This is a right bloody mess," Jarred said He lifted the radio to his ot a couple of infiltrators on the loose Tomen One we know: Kelly Adelaide, short with close-cropped brown hair The other is Sa Blond hair"

Russell ground his teeth together Samantha She’d spat in his face, and clocked him in front of his men He rubbed absently at his jaw Even noeeks later, it still ached froo, shown leniency, and this was his reward

"Okay, everyone," Jarred said, "stay sharp and hold your positions No one goes anywhere alone, understood?"

"You’re not sending search parties?" Russell asked

Jarred covered the microphone "No one knows this place better than Kelly Adelaide Let her coave a stiff nod He turned to his soldiers, ere standing by "You," he said to the only one he recognized, "take threebay I don’t want these bitches anywhere near our supplies"

The an to pick his team

"It’s time I spoke to Alex directly," Russell said to Jarred

He found Alex to be awake and alert

The infir the place ill-suited for talking strategy

Luckily, Alex had been afforded some privacy His bed had been pushed to the far corner and a medical curtain erected around it

"You htcliff push through the fabric wall

"Brought some friends, too"

"So I’ve heard" Alex tapped a s tabs as best I could"

"How’s the shoulder?"

"As long as I don’t move, it hurts like hell"

Russell looked around for a chair and, not finding one, sat on the edge of the bed "The old ht"

Alex frowned "I don’t knohere he got all these weapons, and people who kno to use them"

"Sneaky bastard"

Jarred Larsen stuck his head in through the curtain "Perhtly froh the curtain

"We finally cut through a door up there," Jarred said "They’re gone Other than a few crude booby-traps, no sign of them They, uh … they cleaned the place out"

Alex closed his eyes, his frown growing deeper

"At least we kept them contained in Section H," Russell said

Jarred cleared his throat and kept his attention on Alex "I don’t thinkbeyond Section H was their objective, sir"

"Explain"

"They didn’t bring enough men to take control of the station, and frankly, they did break our line on Section G at one point, but did not press"

"So what the hell were they after?" Russell asked

Jarred kept his focus on Alex "ERVs," he said, then explained for Russell before he could ask: "External repair vehicles"

Alex asked, "How et?"

"Six in all," Jarred said to Alex

Russell chuckled "Platz is gonna give the station a paint job?"

"What he’s doing," Jarred said, "is staying a step ahead of us It’s a shtly in his bed, wincing with pain at thea transportation fleet, since we shut down his cliot a few runabouts What’s the problem?"

"It’s us I’m worried about," Alex said "We’ll be vulnerable to the same situation"

"How?"

"Adelaide," Jarred said "And the other"

Russell began to understand "You e"

"Yes Just like we did to hie to blow up the climber controls," Russell said, "are we trapped here?"

"Not quite," Alex said "There’s a whole graveyard of transport ships at the old dock in Section E Once the climber system was installed, they became obsolete, but they should still work in a pinch"

"Christ," Jarred said "We need to secure that rooh the privacy curtain, already barking orders into his headset

"Hardly ideal," Russell said "We need to put an end to this, soon"

"I agree," said Alex "I’ll speak with the council--"

"No," Russell said "Neil isn’t playing by the rules, so neither should we You and I are the only two members with power anyway It’s time we initiated e discussed"

Alex closed his eyes, his face tightening He was in serious pain, Russell realized

The anguish abated after a moment, and Alex said, "I’m in no condition to lead a counterattack"

"No proble ht Two allies positioning themselves for the afterot a different mission to lead," he said At Alex’s arched eyebrow, he went on "I suspect if we attack Platz Station, the goat will just abandon it andprecious to him"

"Anchor"

"Exactly" Russell set him sandwiched, cut off in his stupid headquarters And with his research, not toit, under our control He’d have to surrender"

"Indeed," Alex said "Your plan isn’t half bad"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>