Chapter 26 

Connell was in the lead and the laser beam sliced across his chest. If he hadn't been wearing the pack on front he would have been cut in half. As it was, the backpack burst open, spewing rocks and molten metal in front of him as he tried to fire his stunner in response. He kept firing, driving their assailants back into the tunnel they had emerged from. 

As soon as he could, he pulled the smoking pack from his chest and flung it to the ground. Quickly he hauled the one on his back around to protect his chest again, it had worked well, if unexpectedly, as body armour. He kept watch as Kim did the same with his pack, then both of them slowly backed up until they found a less exposed position. Both men had switched their stunners to the 'kill' setting.  

It looked like stalemate for the moment. As long as they remained in different tunnels, neither party could get a clear shot. 

"We only want the silver. Put the bags down and back away, we won't follow you into the mine," called out one of their assailants. 

Connell didn't believe them. If that had been true they wouldn't have used the laser gun.  

"How about you surrender and we'll put our weapons back on stun?" he replied, letting their assailants know clearly that they were now facing fatal fire. 

A laser beam flashed harmlessly past their tunnel entrance in answer. 

It appeared that they might be stuck here for some time to come. Connell made another attempt to send a message to Aykut but he couldn't tell if he succeeded, there was certainly no immediate response. 

XXX 

Stefan Rice fought back a panic attack as he crept forward through the low, narrow tunnel. He was certain the walls were getting closer with each step. He tried to concentrate on his breathing, if couldn't get his fear under control he would have to let Gregoryan take the lead and simply follow as best as he could.  

The most important thing was to reach Nick and Kim, make sure they were safe, and too much of his concentration was on keeping himself together. He gestured for Gregoryan to go ahead of him and followed close on his heels, finding to his relief that if he kept his eyes on the broad back in front of him he could ignore the walls. Mostly. 

Gregoryan had sharp ears and picked up the sound of voices before Stefan. They must still be a considerable way ahead but he moved forward as carefully as if he expected them to be around the next corner. As soon as he realised some of the voices were strangers, he took out a gas canister and primed it, holding it ready in his right hand. He doused his handlight, and switched the beam of his helmet to infrared, the less warning his targets had the better. 

To his utter disgust, Stefan found his hand was trembling as he followed suit, forcing himself to turn off his handlight. It wasn't pitch black. He could see, quite clearly really. Just breathe! In. Out. Nick needed him, he had to hold it together a little longer, just another step. Now one more. In. Out. 

Gregoryan moved stealthily forward. He could tell from the snatches of conversation ahead that the two groups were in a stand-off. He wanted to get as close as he could before he used the gas but he could hear the Captain's harsh breathing all too clearly. He turned back and gestured to him to hold his position. He put a hand on his shoulder, "Sir?" he breathed. "I need you to stay here. I'll be back in one minute, as soon as I have the situation under control. Can you do that?" 

Stefan stared at him, the whites of his eyes showing. He nodded and sat down slowly, his back against the wall.  

Gregoryan melted away. When he was within a couple of metres of the two men in front of him he rolled the canister down the tunnel towards them, fitting his own breathing mask as soon as the canister left his hand. It was only a few seconds before they fell.  

He turned his handlight back on, then bent down to get the assailants' weapons and fasten their hands behind them. He could hear coughing from further along the tunnel, it sounded as if the Lieutenant and Kim had caught some of the gas but not enough to knock them right out. Quickly he went back for the Captain. 

"Targets are contained sir, but I need your help now."  

The words steadied Rice as Gregoryan had hoped, and he got to his feet. "Lead on, I'm right behind you," he said. 

Gregoryan called out as he went, identifying himself to his patrol mates, the last thing he wanted was to get shot by friendly fire. "Lieutenant Connell? It's Gregoryan here with the Captain. We're coming to you now." 

"We're back here," a voice called out. "We're both fine, just a little groggy from the gas." 

There they were, on the ground but conscious. Rice felt his knees go weak with relief, Nick was alive and unhurt. He fumbled some restoratives out of his First Aid pack and gave one to each man. "This should help." He gave each man a hand to get to their feet. 

"We've got the silver sir," Nick reported, "At least most of it. One of the bags was hit and spilled its contents, you probably walked over it to get here. Do you know who those men were?" 

"Marshall and Amoros, they escaped from custody in Hathor this morning." Rice couldn't stop from touching Nick again one more time, just to reassure himself. "Let's get out of here and we'll have a proper debriefing."  

Gregoryan heaved the smaller man over one broad shoulder. Connell handed his pack to Kim and then helped the Captain carry the other man between them.  

"As far as I'm concerned, that spilt silver can stay there. We'll get those chaps from the mine who helped us before to put up a temporary barricade, block the whole place off until the authorities sort out what's happening here," announced Rice, wishing he had thought of that earlier. "Let's get out of here!" 

XXX 

Viktor Rice paced back and forth in the mouth of the mine. He didn't have the co-ordinates for where the silver was stored and he couldn't tell which way everyone had gone. He just had to wait until someone came out. 

He heard the sounds coming from one of the tunnels in front of him and raised his stunner, checking that it was set on 'stun', he could always change that later if he had to.  

The man who came out first was wearing a patrol uniform. "Colonel Rice, sir!" he exclaimed in surprise, easily recognising him despite the fact he was in civvies. 

The Colonel lowered his weapon as Stefan came out with Connell and the rest of the party. Fuck! His carefully planned scheme had not come off. Connell was still very much alive and worse, the men he had been waiting for were unconscious, not dead. His face was totally expressionless as thoughts whizzed around in his head, trying to find a way to salvage the situation. He couldn't touch Connell in front of Stefan, the only thing he could do now was to kill the witnesses, but he couldn't do it while they were bound and unconscious. 

"I rang the station on Aykut when I couldn't reach you," he explained to Stefan, stiffly. "I thought you might need some help." 

"Thanks Colonel, but I think we've got things under control," Stefan glanced down at the man he had just lowered to the cave floor. His eyelids were flickering, it seemed he was coming around. He left him on the floor and went over to Nick and Kim, he wanted to see they were okay for himself. Nick was helping Kim take the back packs off, the youngster looked a little strained, carrying two had been hard work. Kim opened the top of one of the packs to show Rice the contents while he got his breath back. 

"Connell, could you find out who is in charge of the miners who helped us out before? The ones with the rockeater?" Rice directed as he glanced through the sack of ore. "I'd like to get this mine sealed up as soon as possible."  

He didn't actually see what happened next. One minute his father was keeping an eye on their two semi-conscious prisoners while he sorted things out, the next minute the Colonel was on the ground clutching his wrist, Gregoryan had gone down like a felled tree and Marshall was scrambling to his feet. He had the Colonel's stunner firmly in one hand.  

"Everyone move back, over there against the wall," ordered Marshall, pointing the stunner at the Patrol Captain. "He's only stunned, but I've changed it to 'kill'. Once you're all together over there I'll change it back. All I want is the silver." 

Stefan moved slightly so that he shielded Kim who was just behind him. He didn't know whether to believe the man or not, but the small red light on the stunner proved that he was telling the truth about the 'kill' setting at least. Did they have a choice? Slowly the three patrolmen moved back against the wall of the cave as Marshall had ordered, keeping a wary eye on the stunner. 

Marshall's eyes flicked across to the bags of silver, then back to the three men. He still hadn't decided exactly what to do. Killing a patrol officer was an automatic life sentence, but only if you were caught. If he killed one, he'd have to kill them all but what if he killed the old guy as well? He could stick the weapon in his hand and bury the lot of them in one of the tunnels nearby. A cave in would certainly confuse the evidence and he and Amoros could be in a different star system by the time they dug out the bodies. 

Colonel Rice was swearing under his breath, he was getting too old for this sort of action. His plan had been to release the men and then shoot them before they could 'escape' but Marshall had been too fast for him. He knew Marshall was a killer, that's why he had chosen him in the first place, he didn't believe for a second that he would let the patrol men live. His wrist was hurting from when Marshall had twisted the weapon out of his hand, he thought it might be broken. What could he do? Everything had got entirely out of control. The pain in his wrist was making it hard to think. 

Marshall narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the stunner. Instantly, the Colonel knew what he intended. There would be no switch to 'stun', he was going to kill Stefan, right there in front of him! Viktor didn't stop to think, he launched himself straight at the stunner.  

He took the shot in his chest.

The last thing he heard was the sound of Stefan shouting. “Dad!”

XXXX 

It was well after midnight as Stefan Rice flashed his ID outside the closed door for the second time, hoping that the man inside would let him in. He didn't think he had the energy go anywhere else. He lent against the wall, completely exhausted. 

The door swished open beside him. 

He took a step forward, swaying with exhaustion. "I need you," he said simply. 

"I'm here," said Nick.