Out of time and out of options. Something like pleasure flowed through her. It was time for someone to make a decision.
“You have to the count of three,” Tanaka shouted at the girl as she beckoned. Come to me. “One—”
Burton shoved the girl behind him and pulled his gun. The Rocinante blasted into view, barely skimming the tops of the foliage, the powerful landing thrusters in her belly flattening everything it passed over. Tanaka found herself impressed by the recklessness of the maneuver. Here she was, working so hard not to put the girl in any danger, and the Rocinante crew was willing to throw a spaceship at her to keep her away.
“Venom, take the girl,” she shouted over the deafening sound of the ship, pulling her gun from behind her back in a smooth, practiced motion. Burton saw her do it and drew down on her as he continued pushing the girl back toward the approaching ship. Tanaka dove behind a low stone planter box just as he fired, the bullet blowing a fountain of soil into the air.
“Shots fired,” one of her team said.
“Five millimeter caseless. Low threat,” someone else said, as flat and emotionless as if he were placing a lunch order.
“They’re firing at me,” Tanaka shouted back. “Get the girl!”
“Free fire?” Venom One, the team leader, asked.
“No, no shooting. Pull the other two apart with your hands if you need to, but do not risk firing toward the girl,” Tanaka yelled, then peeked up over the planter box. Holden, Burton, and the girl were about thirty meters away now, still backing up. The Rocinante had taken up position about two hundred and fifty meters farther away, still hovering on its landing jets. It would have to put down to let them board, but the pilot wasn’t taking any chances.
A metallic-blue figure dropped into the courtyard between Tanaka and Holden, then darted toward the fleeing group in a blur. Three more figures dropped from the canopy above, surrounding Holden and the girl. Burton pointed his gun at one and started firing.
“Taking fire,” Venom Two reported.
Her team moved toward the three, not returning fire but moving fast. Aggressively. The old-style Martian Navy sidearms Holden and Burton carried would never penetrate a modern suit of Laconian power armor. They could fire their guns dry, and her team would just walk up and snap their necks. Quick, neat, almost no danger to the girl unless Burton shot her. But the old mechanic was careful and methodical as he fired. Every shot hit one of Tanaka’s team, and he kept the girl behind him.
Venom Three was the closest, only a few meters from Holden, when the world exploded. A blinding flash, and a concussion like someone had hit her in the chest. Tanaka dove back behind her planter box, her mind trying to make the detonation into her team having disobeyed orders and opened fire. But the guns on the Laconian armor weren’t that loud. Nothing was that loud.
A quick look over the planter box told her that all four members of her fire team were down. No, not down. Literally blown apart. She could see the remains of Venom Two, an undifferentiated pile of meat and technology spread across a few meters of ground. In the distance, the barrels of the Rocinante’s point-defense cannons were fully extended, and swiveling as they looked for new targets.
PDC fire in atmosphere with their own people between the ship and its target. If she’d had time to think about it, she’d have been impressed by the audacity.
Tanaka jumped up to her feet and ran flat out toward one of the school buildings surrounding the courtyard, looking for cover. She imagined one of those PDC barrels snapping around with merciless machine speed to lock onto her. If it fired, she’d never hear the shots that ended her. Against a warship’s PDC rounds, her fancy armored undersuit might as well be silk pajamas.
She made it to the wall of the school building. The Rocinante, hovering on its maneuvering thrusters, was completely blocked from her line of sight. She didn’t think a pilot who flew for James Holden would shoot through a school to get her, but she displaced to another nearby building anyway. Once the shooting had started, people could panic and do things they would never have imagined themselves doing otherwise. Better not to risk it.
The roar of the ship’s thrusters rose in pitch, then began to cycle down. The ship had landed. They’d blown her team apart, sent her running, and decided the coast was clear.
The coast is decidedly not clear, motherfuckers.
Tanaka sprinted out from behind the building and into the tall native grass. She ran parallel to the path Holden and crew were taking toward their ship, staying far enough away to hopefully hide the sound of her movement. If anyone could still hear anything after the ear-shattering blast of the Rocinante’s PDCs firing in atmosphere. Even if they caught something on thermals, they might think twice about accidentally shooting a bystander. Might. They were a pretty fucking reckless bunch. She was going to enjoy taking them down.
After thirty meters she slowed down and angled in toward the three fleeing shapes. She was still a dozen meters away from them when she caught a glimpse of Holden in his dark Martian armor heading toward the ship. He wasn’t looking in her direction. Through the ringing in her ears, she was almost certain she could hear the dog barking, so the girl had to be nearby.
Tanaka angled away and put on more speed, staying low but getting ahead of them. The surface of the tall native grass was covered in tiny hooks that tugged at her clothes when she brushed against them. When she accidentally hit one with the back of her hand, it left a painful abrasion, like a rug burn. She ignored it. She had the scent of blood, and her prey was just a few meters away.
When Tanaka felt she’d gotten far enough ahead of them, she moved back to the edge of the grass and waited. The ship had gone quiet. The grass hummed its white noise around her. From farther down the path, the dog was barking. She heard Holden’s voice. Hurry. They’ll have backup coming. They were a dozen meters or so away and moving toward her. They were trotting, but she’d been faster. One step ahead.
Tanaka stepped out of the grass, leveling her pistol at Holden. The look of surprise on his face would have been comical in any other context. The girl shrieked with alarm and grabbed at her dog’s collar as it barked furiously.
“I can’t let you leave with that girl.”
Holden had his gun in his hand, but it was down at his side. He shifted his weight like he was going to make a move, but Tanaka just shook her head at him and pointed her gun at his face.
“If I spray you all over that girl, she’ll panic. If she runs, things get even less predictable than this. No one wants that.”
Holden nodded and dropped the pistol, then his gaze shifted to Tanaka’s left shoulder.
“Wait,” she said, “where’s—”
“Right here,” said a deep voice from behind her.
Shit. She was one step behind.
She was already swiveling to bring her gun to bear before the second word was out. Something heavy slammed into the side of her head and sent her spinning to the ground. Amos Burton stepped out of the grass, his hands balled up into fists.
“Hi,” he said, moving toward her.
The hit was solid, jaw to inner ear. Her world was swimming. Tanaka rolled away and found her gun on the ground. She was bringing it up when Burton’s boot connected with her forearm and sent the pistol flying off into the grass.
“What are you doing?” Holden asked.
I’m getting my ass kicked, Tanaka thought, dazed enough to wonder why he was speaking to her.
“I think we might want to talk to this one,” Burton said. “Let’s take her with us.”