[Kate]

Only five Quilters Guild members remained in the backroom: Mavis, Mona, Shera, Zoe, and me, Zoe becoming our newest member. Val guided Greta to the Child Development Center through the caverns. No word yet from Harley, Cassy, and Eric on how well their crazy-enough-that-it-might-work Ark Hope liberation mission was going.

Sitting before the frame, Mavis hummed to herself as she stitched the quilt, the needle diving in and out of the stretched fabric in rhythmic precision. Mona paced back and forth behind her, while Zoe sat in a corner clasping and unclasping her hands, no-doubt anxiously awaiting Val's return.

Mona abruptly stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Ma, how can you quilt at a time like this?"

"It ain't about the quilting," Mavis replied, not looking up. "Stitchin' helps calm my nerves and makes me think straight." Pausing, she lifted her eyes. "Grab a needle and join me. You too, Zoe. It really does help."

With a sigh, Mona found her place beside the quilting frame and handed a threaded needle to Zoe, who sat beside her. "Let me show you how it's done."

Zoe lifted a watery gaze to Mavis. "Do you think Val will be alright?"

"Yeah," Mavis answered with a comforting smile. "Nobody knows the station guts like Val, and she's as resourceful as they come."

That satisfied Zoe as she visibly relaxed and turned to the quilting.

Me? I was wound tight, and the ex-marine in me ached for action. Nothing worse than sitting idle. And I'll be damned if I leave my friends imprisoned without doing something.

Shera and I scanned the detention area security footage from every angle. The twenty holding cells were packed with my fellow ship crewmen and station security personnel. The number of commandos guarding them had dwindled to three, which supported my theory that the enemy was stretched thin.

A faint knock under the fabric shelves drew my mind away. After moving them away, Val emerged through the hatch into Zoe's waiting arms.

Val answered everyone's unasked question. "Got Greta safe and sound to the child center. And woe to anyone who messes with her kids."

"Val, how close to the detention center can we get through your secret passageways?" I asked.

"Let me see," Val answered, scrolling through her viewer. "Fairly close. There is access in a maintenance closet near the detention office - about twenty meters from the holding cells."

Shera wrinkled her forehead. "What are you thinking, Kate?

"A rescue mission."

"How? We have no weapons."

"We have the element of surprise and the intel from the security cams." I answered. But Shera was right. It would take a small miracle to overcome even three armed guards.

Overhearing our discussion, Mavis lifted her head. "What if I could get you some rifles?"

"From where?" Shera asked.

Mavis grinned. "They're out in the tavern, attached to the five ruffians who are already half drunk. Won't take much more to get 'em full smashed."

After a nod from Shera, I said, "Okay. Do it."

As Mavis stood, she said, "I can tell you one thing about 'em. They ain't Mars Dawn - more like hired mercenaries. And people like that don't come cheap."

Shera may have been right. But why would someone - someone with deep pockets - want everyone to believe they were Mars Dawn?

At my request, Mavis recruited me as a barmaid, because even drunk, those mercenaries would not give up their weapons so easily. I placed a mug of ale before the largest man while Mavis pulled up a chair, sitting backwards and straddling the back.

"Sounds like y'all have had quite a few adventures," she said.

"Been around," one man replied with a grin. "One time--" He abruptly shut up when the woman to his left elbowed his ribs.

The large man narrowed dark eyes at the ale I brought him. "Enough of this cheap horse piss, don't you have anything better?"

"Well, I am a businesswoman, and y'all don't seem like the payin' type," Mavis replied. When the man growled and bared his teeth, she held up her hands. "But I get it - you got the guns."

"Damn right. Now bring the good stuff."

"I've got some Martian whisky, but I got to warn ya, it's got a hell of a kick."

The man grinned. "Bring it!"

Mavis waved a hand at Lilli, who nodded and ducked back behind the bar. I suppressed my grin. Had to hand it to Mavis - she knew how to play these guys.

I took the bottle from Lilli while she placed five shot glasses on the table, then I filled them with the amber liquor.

As the men lifted their glasses, the female mercenary pulled her eyes into slits. "Hold on, boys." She slid her glass across to Mavis. "You first, old woman."

"Don't mind if I do." In smooth, practiced motion, Mavis knocked the shot back and then rounded her lips. "Ooo..."

Apparently satisfied, the men did the same. They tapped their glasses down, signaling for more, which I happily obliged - again and again and again. I winked at Mavis as the men's eyes glazed and their heads wavered, the alcohol taking its toll.

But the woman - she was going to be a problem. She had drunk only one shot, and her continuously narrowed eyes displayed suspicion. "Haven't you boys had enough?" she hissed.

"Give it a rest, Minerva," the man across the table spat. He double-tapped his glass, and I poured another round, emptying the bottle.

Since now the men were nearly falling-down drunk, it was time to act. Incapacitating the female mercenary took a different strategy. I crept behind her, and with a slight nod from Mavis, struck. Remembering the rear choke hold from my marine days, I wrapped an arm around her neck, elbow under her chin, and with leverage from my other arm, squeezed. Done right, it compressed the carotid arteries, rendering them unconscious in about ten seconds, but done wrong, made them mad or dead.

Minerva jumped up, gasping and grabbing at my arm. But keeping my stance wide, I maintained the hold as she bucked.

The men froze, jaws dropping, as the alcohol inhibited their response. Finally, one man across the table rose on unsteady feet, but Mavis grabbed his back shirt collar and yanked, sending him tumbling backwards with the chair. He landed on the floor with a thump.

By the time the other men reacted, Minerva had slumped in my grasp. I drew her stunner gun from a holster, and with three rapid pops, downed the men. The eyes of the man that Mavis upended grew wide as I stood over him for one more squeeze of the trigger.

Okay, now we're committed.

Shera stepped out of the quilting room, while the other women peeked around the door.

"Oh, my God..." Zoe muttered, fingers to her mouth.

"Drag them inside," I ordered while Shera and I collected the weapons and Lilli cleared the table. "And empty their pockets, especially any com devices."

Now within the quilting room, I had to grin at the five slumbering mercenaries laying in an orderly row next to the fabric shelves.

"What do we do now?" Val asked. "Tie them up?"

"With what?" Zoe responded.

Well, crap. I hadn't thought this one all the way through.

"Hey, we're quilters," Mona said, holding up a threaded needle as a sly grin rose on her face. "We stitch 'em up."

In short order, the Quilters Guild stitched pant legs and arm sleeves tightly together, effectively immobilizing the mercenaries.

"Okay, now what?" Val said.

I pointed at the hatch. "Put them in the hole."

The task took all our efforts, especially for the larger men. The first man slipped from Mona and Mavis' grasp above and fell, landing with a heavy thump on the hard floor like a tossed hay bale, nearly knocking over Shera, who tried to catch him.

"Sorry," said Mona, peeking through the hole as Shera glared up at her.

The rest of the mercenaries came down without incident. We left them snoozing against a rock wall and returned to the quilting room, gathering together.

Okay, here's the plan," I said. "Shera and I are going to do a jail break. Val, you show us the way, and then, can you isolate that part of the station so they can't send reinforcements?"

Val nodded. "The habitat ring is divided into eight pie-shaped sections by pressure isolation doors. I can close them from a utility sub-station. But eventually, they would figure out how to open them back up manually."

"Anything you can do will help. But don't put yourself at too much risk. If the way is not clear, just come back here."

Mona pointed at the hatch. "What do we do when they wake up? They're gonna be real unhappy."

"With one hell of a hangover, too." I handed Mona a stunner gun, one of two I took from them. "If they cause any trouble, shoot 'em."

"I'll come with you," Zoe said, putting a hand on Val's shoulder.

"It might be dangerous, Zoe," Val cautioned.

"I know. But I can be a lookout while you do your thing."

Mavis spread her arms, "Okay, huddle up, gals." We formed a tight circle, arms linked across shoulders into a chain of friendship. "If this works, the feces gonna really hit the rotating air mover, so everyone be careful. But remember, we are the Quilters Guild, and nobody messes with us."

Damn if Ma didn't have a way with words.

*****

As we approached our drop-off point within the cave-like inner hull, a text message brought a smile to my face. "Hurrah!" I exclaimed. As the other women turned toward me, I explained. "Eric and Cassy did it! The Ark Hope is free. Eric said he contacted the Space Command, and two military frigates with four squads of marines will get here in about twelve hours."

"Good," Shera replied. "And it helps us, too. They will be distracted."

Val hugged Shera and me when we reached the ladder leading upward, a bit awkward with the rifles we had slung across our backs. "Watch out for each other," Val said.

"You, too," I replied, then I handed Zoe the stunner-gun that was tucked in my cargo pants. "Just in case."

The hatch put us inside a dark, cramped maintenance closet. Tiny green and red lights blinked on a wall mounted electrical panel, and fixed shelves held various boxes and cleaning supplies.

I looked over Shera's shoulder as she reviewed the security feeds. She said, "There's still three mercenaries, two in the cell block and one in the detention office. The one in the office looks like he's falling asleep."

"Okay, we'll hit the office first and see if we can take him without alerting the others." I paused, turning my eyes up to hers. "Shera, are you prepared to kill?"

"Whatever it takes," she replied, firming her lips and narrowing her eyes. "I've seen bodies over the security footage, and some were my friends."

We each took a rifle, leaving the others in the closet. I checked the weapon - a newer version of what I had trained with years ago, but it operated by the same principles. A hyper-pressure pulse cylinder accelerated needle-like projectiles to deadly velocities. It had a short barrel and bulky stock designed for close-quarters assault. A switch near the trigger selected single shot or automatic modes, but firing in automatic was generally not advised since it quickly depleted the clip.

I clasped Shera's hand. "Ready?"

"Ready," she replied in a determined voice.

After checking the security visuals one more time, I slowly opened to door to a long lighted corridor. Motioning Shera along, we tiptoed ten meters to the open door of the detention office and I peeked around the doorframe. The mercenary, a man with dark hair, slumped in an office chair with his back to me and booted feet crossed on the control panel. The panel, and the display screens above it, were dark. His rifle laid on a nearby cabinet.

With a hand signal, I asked Shera to stay put, then stalked toward him. The man, seeing my reflection in a screen, spun around with his mouth gaped. His butt didn't get over five centimeters off the chair before I drove my rifle stock into his forehead. As his eyes rolled up, he slid down to the floor like dirty laundry. I slung his rifle across my back.

Shera and I huddled just outside the cell block metal-mesh gate, fortunately propped open. Out of sight of the two remaining mercenaries, we checked the visuals again. The cell block contained twenty cells with similar metal-mesh doors, ten on each side. I pointed to Shera and then left, showing that she would target the man on the left, then repeated the motions with me to the right.

Nodding simultaneously, we shouldered our rifles and marched in to the cell block. After two sharp airy pops, the surprised mercenaries collapsed to the floor. Those inside the cells jumped up, just as surprised. With a satisfied grin, Shera operated the cell door controls at a wall panel outside of the block, unlocking the cells one-by-one with a series of clicks.

"Hoped you might come by," John said as he walked out of the cell, putting on that steely hunk smile that always weakened my knees.

I'm not usually one for public shows of affection, but I made an exception this time. Grabbing a handful of his blue uniform shirt with my free hand, I yanked his lips down to mine, molding myself against him. John responded in kind, wrapping a strong arm around my waist. Good thing too, because I just might have melted down into a puddle of goo otherwise. More than a few jeers came from my shipmates - might never live this one down.

"I could get used to that again," he said after we came up for air.

"Let's talk about that later." I took the spare rifle off my back and tossed it to John. "But for now, how 'bout you and me go kick some arse?"

John activated the rifle, then put on that smile again. "Music to my ears, darlin'."