Influx Read Free

Carter,” Michelle said with another grimace. “But not before the end of your shift. I’m serious about this. Whatever’s going on, the Coalition are keeping a closer eye on things. If they see you like this, they’re going to add to your debt and maybe mine too. And that’s if you’re lucky. Those Security pricks will take any opportunity they can to wail on the likes of us.”
    As Michelle continued her warning, Carter seemed to slowly nod off again and this time Garen didn’t think his partner would be able to save him in time.
    It happened quickly. Just as Carter’s centre of gravity finally moved beyond the edge of his his feet, he lost his balance and stumbled forward.
    “Carter!” Michelle yelled in frustration, but her warning was far too late.
    Carter’s sudden loss of equilibrium – or perhaps it was Michelle’s voice – seemed to startle him awake halfway to the floor and as he flailed his arms to catch his fall, he snagged a wrench that was attached to a large bolt on the contraption’s side. The wrench squealed as it turned under his weight and the loosened bolt released some kind of oil that had been held under pressure, spraying it over Garen’s stormsuit before he could get out of the way.
    Carter continued falling, striking his head on the side of the contraption before slumping unconscious to the floor, and Garen quickly looked at Michelle to see if she’d noticed him.
    She was staring straight up at him with wide eyes.

“ Not good ,” he thought as he leapt down to prevent her from setting off any alarms.
    But before he could stop her, Michelle’s flailing hand slapped a large red button beside the activation panel and the elevator lurched to a halt.
    “You shouldn’t have done that,” Garen said calmly, before hitting her in the stomach.
    As Michelle bent over in pain, Garen snaked an arm around her neck and twisted savagely upward, breaking her neck in an instant. Then he let her limp body fall to the elevator floor beside the fool who’d exposed him and glanced at the elevator’s glowing counter.
    Luckily for him, they were only one floor beneath the one he was trying to get to and so he left the employees where they lay and quickly leapt up to scramble through the ceiling’s access panel.
    Once inside the elevator shaft, it didn’t take Garen long to climb the access ladder and force the doors on the level above. This caused another deafening alarm to go off and Garen had no doubt this one was meant to incapacitate him while the nearest security team could reach his location.
    “ No point trying to stay hidden now, ” he thought quickly.
    There were several more employees on this level and they gaped at the indistinct, oil-splashed form that ran by them, but none of them moved to stop him. Whether it was surprise, or cowardice, Garen didn’t care. He just needed to finish his mission before Golgotha Security caught up with him.
    When he finally reached the scroober’s communication hub, Garen stopped in front of the large, heavily locked entrance and pulled a small tube of foam explosive from the pocket at his waist. He then used it to draw a quick oval on the door, placed a small detonator at the top, and took several steps to the side.
    The sizzling SHOOMP it produced blasted him with a powerful shockwave, but Garen ignored the sudden slap of pain and quickly stepped forward to kick the oval of metal he’d just cut out of the door.
    The room beyond was small and smelt strongly of disinfectant. There were a dozen motionless bodies lying on benches, six along each wall, and every one of them was fitted with life support systems that seemed to service both ends of the digestive cycle. Their eyes were also covered with large, black visors and their hairless heads bristled with wires that streamed down into a much thicker set of cables that disappeared into the walls.
    “ Which one of you is worthy? ” Garen thought, staring around the chamber dispassionately.
    But he