Ganymede Station Pt. 02

"What was that? Go back." I heard him say. "Yeah, right there. Huh."

I was snapped out of my head as it looked like he may have seen something I missed. I padded back to where the two men stood. Phil watched me uncertainly.

"What'd you find?" I asked.

"Here, ducked into the corner of a garage on the far side of the street. I think it might be a person. It's hard to see, it's in the shadow there." He pointed.

Phil cocked his head as he studied the dark image. "Huh, I think that might be Ned. Homeless guy, comes around sometimes."

"He was here when they picked up the shipment. Might know something if we find him." Reynolds said with a shrug.

"I've seen Ned most of the time near the overpass, in front of the dock station. I guess there's room underneath, not sure if he lives there or what." Phil told us without needing to be asked.

I started jogging off in the direction the dockmaster had indicated. Just behind me I heard Reynolds thank the man for his time and cooperation and then hurry to follow me.

Just up the way, on the other side of the dock buildings we found the overpass ramp to the upper level of traffic. Most streets on Prometheus were two-tiered to make better use of the space. For the most part the bottom level was for large and medium-sized vehicle traffic of all kinds, while the upper level was for pedestrians, small shops and small single-manned vehicles. When we were closer I could see that there was an area to the side of the ramp with enough room for someone to crawl into. It appeared that bigger metal scraps had been used to fashion a crude lean-to over the top. I neared the entrance with Reynolds just to my side.

"Hey, uh, Ned? You in there?" I called to the makeshift shelter.

There was the sound of shuffling and then a grizzled face appeared in the entrance.

"Who're you?" The man asked suspiciously. He leaned further out and I could see he held a mostly empty bottle of booze. I unconsciously licked my lips. It had been five and a half days since my last drink but it wasn't far from my mind. I forced myself to remember what was important, why were here.

"Hi Ned! You're not in any trouble, but would you mind us asking you a few questions?" Reynolds asked politely.

"Maybe, I guess so. Whaddaya want?" The ragged man snapped.

"Did you see some vans, three of them, leave from that loading zone over there?" I got down low to the man so I could point more exactly.

"When?" He asked. The smell of alcohol on his breath was nearly staggering. I briefly wondered if that was how I got at times. I hoped it wasn't.

"Just about thirty minutes ago." I told him.

"Maybe, what do ya wanna know for?" He asked.

I gave him a serious look. "There's at least one person's life at stake, he's been taken hostage and if you help us, we might be able to save him."

Ned looked down in contemplation, then crawled out from his shelter and stood to his full height. He pushed out his chest and gave a short nod. "Okay, I wanna help. I seen those vehicles, I've seen them down here before. Seen some of those guys before." He continued nodding as he explained.

"Do you know where they might have gone?" I asked eagerly, almost anxiously.

"Probably, two of those guys are um, doctors or something. Seen them at the hospital when I had to go there before." He said knowingly.

"Are you sure, Ned?" Reynolds inquired.

Ned furrowed his wiry eyebrows and clucked his tongue. "Yeah, I know it. They do more than just normal medical stuff there. My buddy Ernie told me he's seen some other guys go into that place and not come out again. He said they weren't sick or anything when they went in."

If Ned and his friend were to be believed, they might be running a chop shop in there, that is, a place where they would harvest organs, tissue, whatever else they could and deal it out on the black market. In an age where engineered replacements were increasingly common and relatively affordable, it could be difficult to fathom the need to abduct, murder, and sell off body parts. Still, need doesn't always determine demand, I thought grimly.

"Where's the hospital?" I asked bluntly.

"Uh, not too far, about a couple miles maybe? It's just up the way, there's signs for it." Ned said.

"Thanks, Ned. You've been a big help, we appreciate it." Reynolds gave the man a smile.

The man gave a big smile back, missing a few of its teeth. "I hope you save him. I hope I helped ya." He said gently.

I figured we would have to commandeer a vehicle as we swiftly climbed the ramp leading to the lower roads. Luck finally threw us a bone as a taxi happened by right when we needed a ride. Reynolds flashed his badge and we scrambled into the back seat.

"Hospital, it's an emergency, get there fast!" I barked at our driver as Reynolds pulled the door closed behind him.

The driver didn't say a word but sped his vehicle up onto the narrow shoulder as he headed for the hospital. I couldn't help but appreciate the fellow's enthusiasm. I would have ordered him onto the angled shoulder myself if he hadn't headed there by his own accord. By car it wasn't more than a few minutes as our driver was skilled and direct. I instructed him to pull around behind the hospital premisis as we arrived. I didn't want to alert anyone who might be waiting inside to our approach and I guessed any shady dealings that went on here wouldn't take place through the front door.

We got out of the taxi and headed toward the loading bays. Lo and behold we found three grey vans matching what we had observed on the screen as well as some others.

I pulled out my firearm and held it at the ready. I motioned for Reynolds to do the same and follow my lead.

"What are you expecting in there?" He whispered as we moved along the back wall to a door just off the loading zone.

I said quietly, "We know they probably have Cheyne, jammed our comms and may be running some kind of body harvesting operation somewhere in the building. They're going to have some sort of security, likely armed." I watched as Reynolds gulped, his face going a bit pale.

"You stay behind me, watch my back, no unnecessary risks. You got me?" I said sternly.

He nodded quickly and we reached the door. I tested it tentatively, and it came slightly open in my grip.

I kicked the door in and drew my weapon level across the large office inside. There was one worker on this side of the cargo bay who instinctively raised his hands and went stiff.

"Don't move!" I roared.

Reynolds moved in beside me a moment later, his own weapon drawn. My eye made a quick scan of the room but there didn't appear to be much going on here, not even another hospital worker around. I approached the startled man.

"You work here right?" I asked.

"Y-yessir." He said shakily.

"Where is the cargo that just arrived?" I asked, still looking around the offices for any sign of information.

"They um, brought in some empty stasis pods, took them into the elevators. They would probably store them in the sub-basement." He said, still trembling.

I didn't think those stasis pods were likely to actually be empty.

Reynolds piped up to speak to the man. "Can we get into the basement or is it keyed entry?"

The man looked to Reynolds and blinked as he thought. "You, you need a keycard." He managed.

"Take us down." I informed him.

The elevator doors opened onto the sublevel basement where Reynolds and I were both tucked against the sides, leaning out with only our eyes and weapons. It looked like this was mostly storage and we headed out into the cool room. I had taken the nervous worker's keycard and gotten the code from him. He seemed genuinely oblivious so I had let him remain in the elevator, attached by a small plastic bracelet to a railing inside. We could release him later, for now I couldn't let him alert anyone on this level that we were coming.

We moved further into the basement, ducking around each corner but finding no one. At last I poked my head around a turn in a hallway to find an armed guard standing at its end. Bingo, this was what we had been searching for.

"One man, about twenty feet down the next hall, heavily armored, carrying an energy rifle." I said quietly to Reynolds. "There will be more inside. I'm popping out and taking him. After I get the shot, I'm heading down the hall, fast. You cover me, steady aim from here. Use lethal rounds, stunners won't get through that armor. Try to incapacitate. Ready?"

Mike Reynolds took a deep breath and blew it out again slowly, steeling himself. "Yeah." He said.

I clapped him gently on the shoulder. "Just doing our jobs, hey, you got this Reynolds." I gave him a small smile. He nodded and I could see him relax, ever so slightly.

"Should we request backup?" He whispered.

"Do it." I said as he began tapping out the message. They wouldn't arrive in time, we had to act now, it could already be too late. But if it we made it through the ordeal, we could still use their help. When he was done, I took a deep breath of my own in preparation.

I held my weapon up near my eye so i could sight along the top as I stepped out from the corner of the wall from where we had been hiding into the man's view. I had the element of surprise and he didn't have time to fully raise his rifle before I had fired, punching a hole through the meat of his shoulder. He screamed out in pain and alarm as he dropped his weapon and sank to his knees. The injury would be too much for him to be a threat now, and I guessed he might go into shock depending on the blood loss. Lucky for him we were in a hospital.

I moved quickly down the hallway with my weapon trained on the double doors ahead of me. I had almost reached them when they suddenly slid open and another armed man pushed through them, weapon raised. He whirled in my direction to train his rifle on me as Reynolds let off a shot that hit the man in the side. He had heavy armor there but the impact still sent him sprawling backwards into the room he had just begun to exit. I quickly followed to make sure he stayed down and in case the doors locked behind him. He hadn't actually dropped his weapon and even as he laid on the ground he was bringing it back up to take a shot at me. I took a precise shot, and from this distance it had to be if I didn't want to kill him. The bullet entered his arm just below the elbow, spattering the floor under him with a fresh coat of red. He cried out in agony but the weapon went limp in his hands. I switched my rounds to stun and shot him again in the leg where the armor appeared weakest. His eyes rolled back a moment later as he went limp on the basement floor.

There was a blast behind me and I turned to see Reynolds stepping through the doorway.

"Got him with a stun shot, just in case." He informed me about the mercenary outside the door.

We moved forward as one. There was medical equipment in this room, plenty of tables, gurneys, other supplies and little else. In the next room however I could hear raised voices and movement. The next set of doors had two dark windows but they were impossible to see through. I was hurrying forward when the first shot rang out through one of the heavy doors. I ducked against the closest wall instinctively but apparently it hadn't been meant for me. As I stole a glance to my left I saw Reynolds hurtling backward as he took the hit in his stomach. I dived from the wall to where he had fallen as I heard another blast come through the door. I heard it whizz past my head and bury itself in the wall.

"Reynolds, hey, you alive?" I asked huskily as I rolled up next to him. He didn't look good, blood was already pooling under him.

"Y-yeah, for now." He responded weakly.

I wrapped an arm over him and dragged him behind the sturdiest nearby table.

"It looks bad, doesn't it Deac?" He asked quietly.

"You'll be fine, who cares how it looks." I said, acting crossly, trying to alleviate his fears.

I turned my attention back to the far door which now had two large holes through one side. I guessed there was only one gunman left. Obviously those windows were tinted so anyone inside could see out without giving their position away. I needed to get inside without being blown apart in the process. It appeared that the doors opened inward, away from us so I might be able to ram them from this side, or shoot the lock, but I would need to be closer. I surveyed the room for anything I could use.

"Wait here, try not to move." I said to Reynolds. He gave me a shallow nod.

The room was in the shape of a large "L" so I quickly burst from behind the table and landed behind the wall near where we had entered. I heard another blast behind me but didn't feel any impact. I stood up and leaned on the nearest gurney. It creaked and rolled on its wheels as I tested its weight and mobility. More importantly the bottom of the thing was a fairly sturdy metal. I folded another gurney up and leaned it along the length of the first, making a sort of ramp that I could stand behind and remain mostly hidden. Was it an ideal plan? Not in the least. Believe me, if there had been any time to waste I would have loved to wait for backup, but for Cheyne's sake, Reynolds', and anyone else who might be in those stasis pods I needed to act now.

I held onto the rails under the metal frame of the top hospital bed as I leaned it over my head and torso. I pulled in more tightly so my body wouldn't be easily seen from the front of the awkward construct and rolled the entire thing near the corner of the wall. I hunkered down and readied myself for a short rush of speed. With a burst of strength from my legs I pushed the mobile barricade forward in front of me, speeding it along with my entire weight. There was a short delay before I heard the first shot from the other side of the door as I sprinted forward. Judging by the size and sound of the weapon firing I guessed it to be another rifle which meant there was some delay between shots. I had just about reached the doors at full tilt when the next shot went off, sounding and feeling much closer. Part of the gurney over my head blasted backward, narrowly avoiding my face and arm, leaving a hot, gaping punch through the metal.

In the next instant I was colliding the thing into the hospital doors and despite the locking mechanism they wrenched apart, opening away from me. I risked leaning to the side so I could try to catch a glimpse of the shooter as I rammed close to sixty pounds of hospital equipment into him. He didn't appear to be armored like the other two, instead only wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants. He jumped deftly out of the way just as the metal beds smashed into the wall to his side. I released the gurneys before they impacted and brought my weapon to bear, as the large, bald gunman on the floor was scooping his rifle back into his arms. There was only enough time for my brain to process that it was Carson, that son of a bitch. He got his legs under him in a tight crouch and sprang at me, driving me sideways against the wall. He was close to my weight and we made contact hard. I dropped my gun, but his still dangled around him by the strap so I grabbed it where it lay across his shoulder and tugged it tightly across his throat. He sputtered and punched me in the side of my gut, several times, forcing me to push off the wall, taking us both to the ground with me on top. The strap broke at the clasp and his weapon clattered away over the floor. He gnashed his teeth fiercely as he kicked at me and tried to strike me in the side of the head. I could see that he lacked close quarters combat training and took the time to secure a better position atop him and punched him in the throat. He coughed, but had flinched just before the blow, causing the impact to be diminished.

"Get the fuck off me!" He roared from beneath me.

Instead, I reared my head back and then smashed my forehead into his face, breaking his nose with the force of the blow. It looked like he was seeing stars for the moment and I bellowed, "That was for Cheyne!"

Blood had begun to ooze from his nostrils into his facial hair and his eyes filled with hatred. He kicked again, but this time it wasn't wildly placed and I felt his knee smash into my genitals, causing me immediately to roll off him and clutch my groin. He pushed over to his hands and knees, crawling toward where his rifle had landed. I saw where he was heading and, despite the overwhelming pain radiating from my crotch, staggered to my feet and stumbled over to where my blaster lay. I grabbed it up but didn't have the time to aim. Carson rolled onto his back and raised the formidable rifle up, he was faster than me, the pain from a moment ago had temporarily unbalanced me. He aimed carefully at my chest and squeezed off a round. I felt the hit, could sense the heat of metal and kinetic energy move through me. It was as though I had run straight into a wall, suddenly stopping me in my tracks. Being shot by an energy rifle at this range was fatal, I knew well enough. Even the vest couldn't stop that kind of power. So when I continued to lift my blaster and aim it at the shocked man on the floor I was as surprised as he was. The difference being, I wasn't too stunned to fire my weapon in that split second of bewilderment. It was clean, took him right through the middle, though in truth I had been aiming for the heart.

Wexel Carson wheezed and fell back against the cool floor of the basement.

I took a staggered step backward and reached up to my chest in wonder. There was a hole burned right through my jacket, proto-fiber vest and undershirt, but underneath the charred remnants of clothing materials was a hard metal surface. The replacement chest plate had proven to be the perfect body armor. Without it I would have died, no question. For the first time, I was thankful for that piece of myself.

With the immediate threat neutralized I took in my surroundings. There were two people, a man and a woman in the back of the room wearing white hospital garb, masks over their noses and mouths. They weren't armed and their eyes described their terror well enough. Near them were several tables, each with a plastic sheet over top and trays covered in cruel-looking cutting tools. Behind them a half dozen or more stasis pods were lined against the back wall.

"Nice shot, Deadeye. Guess yer reputation is deserved." It was Carson, his voice choked with blood. "Dumb though, real dumb."

I looked down at the dying man. "How's that?" I asked.

"Shoulda just let it go. That scab whore worth all this? Fuck, stupid, I can't even feel anything." He somehow managed a grin under his red-stained beard. I couldn't tell if he was still thinking clearly.

"I'm saving that kid." I said, giving him a defiant look.

Carson laughed and then began to cough again. "Too late for that." He said, his eyes were fierce but quivering.

The thought of coming this far just to find Cheyne's lifeless body filled me with dread. "You lying piece of shit." I seethed.

The man smirked and gave a small shake of his head. "Heh, name calling now huh? Say what you want, we all do what we have to, to survive."

"Maybe just surviving isn't enough for the rest of us." I replied, before moving past him toward the stasis containers.

He mumbled something incoherent from behind me as I stalked away. I couldn't hear what it was but it would be the last sound the bastard ever made.

"Are these all of the pods?" I demanded of the two jumpy doctors as I stalked over to them.

"Yes, there were seven, this is all of them!" The male doctor responded.

"Is there a young scabarethen in one of them?" I asked, quickly stepping over to where the stasis containers were huddled in a corner of the room.

"Um, well yes, that farthest one there." The man replied, pointing.