Jingle Bell Vengeance Read online

  Chapter 3

  Fifteen minutes… He'd been searching this entire sector of the colony for the right tools to alter Freya's chip for a whole fifteen minutes. After waiting a year for her to trust him enough, he couldn't find the necessary tools. Nothing in life was fair.

  His foot tangled in something as he turned the corner. As he hit the ground, the sound of metal bells jingled around him. Rolling onto his back, bright colorful lights lit up the walls of the room. Shiny flecks of colored metal hung all around him.

  "Hey, are you… What the hell is this?" Freya's face appeared above his.

  "You don't know either?" He tried to get up, but something was still wrapped around his feet.

  A long string of shiny green stuff was tangled around his ankles. Unwrapping it, he stood and took in the bizarre looking room. Tiny lights and the odd shiny string covered everything in the room. In one corner was the skeleton of a… was that a tree?

  "There's a book on this table." Freya called to him. "It's titled, Quirky Quinn's guide to X-mas."

  "What is X-mas?" Even the words felt weird in his mouth.

  "I don't know." She flipped through the pages. "Appears to be some kind of winter holiday celebration with little bells that jingle. It was probably outlawed, and that's why we haven't heard of it."

  "We'll have to look into it later, if we survive." Something silver caught his eye. "This isn't exactly what I need, but it will work."

  Freya was standing at a display box when he walked over to her. It turned on and it showed video feed from the colony that was being raided. Blaster fire flashed across the screen as women from both sides fell to the ground dead. So many losses in the Resistance lately had left moral at an all-time low. With the loss of Gu'Shari Colony, it would plummet.

  Freya reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling his arm around her. Regardless of their issues, he would never deny her a moment of comfort. Trying to hold his hope at bay, he wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling her against his chest and resting his chin on the top of her head.

  "Let's get this over with." She flicked a button on the side of the viewing box and sat in a nearby chair.

  Pulling out his handheld, he went back over to the viewing box. Following the cable out of it, he located the small box that connected it to the mainframe of the colony's computer system. Pulling the casing off, he rewired a few things with the small tool he'd found, then put it back together.

  Since something in the colony was having a dampening effect on all their wireless communication, he'd reversed it into an amplifier. Returning to Freya, he kneeled on the floor in front of her and pulled out the injector he kept in his pocket in case someone tried to drug him again. Flipping a setting on it, he held it out to her.

  "You're chip is definitely still broadcasting. Would you care to do the honors?" His gaze didn't leave the handheld where he flipped through settings for his injector. As practice for this moment, he'd designed a similar chip for himself that allowed him to detect and counteract any drug that entered his system. It communicated with millions of nanobots in his bloodstream.

  "What exactly are you going to do with this?" Spinning the injector in her hand, she looked down at him.

  "Send a couple thousand nanites into your bloodstream where they’ll sync with the microcomputer in your brain and then actively work to scramble it. In theory, it will prevent it from receiving any emotions you may feel and prevent broadcasting your location."

  "Always love it when experiments start with 'in theory'." Sucking in a breath of air, she stabbed the injector into her leg and held it there. Holding back a grin, he relished the feeling he had in this moment. She chose to trust him, even though it was under duress. Maybe they could work this out, if they survived anyway.

  Bash reached up and pulled the needle out of her leg. "The initial rush of the nanites syncing with you is going to hurt. Let's walk to help ease the pain, then we can get to work disabling the security system." Flicking a setting on the side, the needle retracted then he stuck it in his pocket.

  Standing up, he held out his hand for her. Laying her hand in it, she followed him through the long hallways until they were back in the control room. Stopping at the control tower, they watched the camera feeds flip through. Crimson hadn't appeared yet.

  Freya clutched at her head and dropped to her knees. Crouching down next to her, he held her close and waited for the pain to subside. Tucking her head into his shoulder and rubbing her back, he whispered to her. "You're okay, I know it hurts, but it will stop soon."

  After several minutes, her muscles relaxed, and she lifted her head up, nuzzling his beard. His cock twitched, but he mentally reprimanded it. Now was not the time for those kinds of ideas.

  "Since we're probably going to die, will you make love to me one last time?" The husky timber of her voice sent a shock wave of desire through him.

  Recanting his earlier thought, now was the perfect time. "Freya, I'd love to do exactly that." His hand slid along her jaw and cupped behind her ear as he gave her a long kiss.

  Not wanting to rush, he took his time tasting her. Running his other hand down her back, he pulled until she was on her knees and their chests were pressed together. Pushing her vest over her shoulders, it fell to the floor. She started to undo her top, but he stopped her.

  Leaning in for a tender kiss, he returned to slowly undressing her. Excitement built in him as he unfastened each spot on her leather shirt. Slipping it down her arms he sucked in a deep breath at all of her beauty. Pulling her sports bra off, he leaned down and took a nipple into his mouth.

  Her hands slid into his shoulder length hair, bringing his head closer. Switching to her other nipple, he reminded himself that this was lovemaking. It was supposed to be tender and sweet, but all of that disappeared when her fists clenched in his hair and nipped his lip.

  Within seconds, he had his pants opened and hanging off his hips. A moment later her pants were across the room and he sat her on the edge of the control console. Dropping to his knees, he pushed her thighs apart and licked her core. The sweet taste of her drove him insane.

  Sucking her clit into his mouth, he growled when her nails dug into his shoulders. Slipping two fingers inside of her, he continued to lick and suck at her until the room was filled with her cries of pleasure. Her legs started to tremble with the start of an orgasm and he stood and thrust into her. Damn she felt good.

  This woman was the embodiment of strength and sacrifice. Everything she'd survived in her past and the constant battles she fought daily. She was forever putting everyone before herself, but this was one way he could put her needs before his own. He slipped a hand between them, rubbing his thumb over her clit so she'd find pleasure first.

  Looking into her molten purple eyes he saw so many expressions. Dipping his head down, he thrust harder into her as their lips met. Their kiss broke as she let out a scream of pleasure, her body clenching around his and throwing him into his own orgasm. Riding out the last waves of ecstasy, he put his hands on the console on either side of her.

  "Self-destruct sequence has been activated. Five minutes until the energy core reaches critical temperature."

  Chapter 4

  "What the hell did you do?" Freya shoved him back and jumped off the console.

  "I don't know." His sex flooded mind struggled to keep pace with the new events.

  "A self-destruct sequence shouldn't be that easy to initiate. Something is very wrong here." She retrieved her clothes and dressed while pressing buttons on the long boxes with letters. Fastening his pants, he looked around the room, his blood turning to ice as one of the viewer boxes showed him a sight he didn't want to see.

  "I hate to make this worse right now."

  "At the moment, I think you've done enough." Her words sliced through him like a dagger.

  "This time it's not my fault, look at the screen." Cursing his own carelessness, he watched as her face paled. A mass of Crimson uniforms swarmed every exit to the colo
ny. He should have been finding a way for them to escape instead of letting his desire get the best of him.

  "Shit, and they are covering the hidden exits too. The only way they'd be able to find all of them that quickly was if they already knew about them." Freya ran to another console and pressed buttons faster than he could register what she was doing. "So the question is, how did they set this trap?"

  "It doesn't matter. What we should be doing is finding a way out of here." He grabbed her arm, but she yanked it out of his grasp.

  "No! If it is the last thing I do, I will discover who the traitor was and find a way to get a message out." She kicked a chair out of her way as she ran to another console tower. "I refuse to die for nothing."

  "You are the most stubborn woman to have ever existed!" Bash darted around the room collecting various tools before hunching over a table with their cloaking devices. "While you do that, I'm going to find a way to save our lives." Then muttered under his breath. "It's moments like this where I remind myself that I love you, but that doesn't necessarily mean I like you right now."

  "Four minutes until self-destruct, please evacuate."

  Focused on scavenging parts from various items around the room, Bash repaired Freya's personal cloaking device. Now they should be able to pass through the barrier that had electrocuted her earlier. A thought popped into his mind, with just a few changes, he could use the magnetic field from the small devices to make them move faster than humanly possible. They could get through the colony, past Crimson, and beyond the blast radius before the colony's energy core went critical.

  "Three minutes until self-destruct."

  "How is it coming along over there?" He popped the backing off both devices.

  "I need a few more minutes." Her voice held a tone that made him wish he could give her all the time she needed.

  "We don't have a few more minutes. You've got thirty seconds before I'm carrying you out of here." Changing the speed of the magnetic field should make it smoother and eliminate most of the air resistance. Actually, by the time he was through with it, they should be able to jump and fly through the air, using the magnets to propel them forward at an exponential rate until they cleared the metal of the colony. Once out in the open, the momentum should die off, letting them slow down.

  "Two minutes until self-destruct."

  "Okay, we're done here." Bash snapped them back together, slipping one onto his pants and the other on her vest.

  "Just one more thing."

  "We don't have time."

  "I can't go without this." He could hear the desperation in her voice.

  "Dammit Freya, we're going to be vaporized if we don't leave."

  "Please don't force me to give up the one last thing I can do for the Resistance."

  'I'm serious, you have thirty seconds. Even then, I'm not sure we can get out of this alive."

  Freya screamed as she pounded a fist on the console. "I can't pinpoint its location."

  Bash slid under the console, tore off the panel door, and ripped out the hard drive. Crawling out, he slipped it into Freya's vest pocket and turned on both of their devices at the same time.

  "One minute until self-destruct."

  Their fields combined, leaving them surrounded in a hazy bubble. Bash pulled her close and lept toward the hallway. Colorful lights blinded him until he covered his eyes with his arm to protect them.

  Something was wrong, it felt like the colony was coming down around them. A whooshing noise surrounded them until he thought his ear drums would explode. Tightening his grip on her, he tried to think about what might be happening, but a painful jolt knocked the air out of him.

  Pain burned through his lungs as he tried to gasp for air, but it felt like all the oxygen had disappeared. Struggling to his knees, Bash looked for Freya. She was a few meters away, crumpled in the grass. Crawling over to her, he took in their surroundings.

  The colony they came from was several kilometers from the border of the outer-city, but if he wasn't mistaken, that looked like the perimeter nearby. A tall metal wall with razor wire stood in the distance. Every thirty kilometers there would be a heavily guarded station where traffic could pass through.

  If so, they needed to get away quickly before they were spotted by an ARI patrol. He couldn't believe the magnetic propulsion worked, it definitely needed a few adjustments, but to make something work from a pure theory in a matter of minutes… His attention snapped back.

  "Freya, wake up. We need to get out of here." The words were breathy on his lips as he struggled to speak. Shaking her shoulder, she didn't react in the slightest. Refusing to stay out in the open, he cradled her to his chest and stood, but fell to his knees as he heaved for air.

  For some reason, he couldn't catch his breath. Trying again, he pushed off and got a few steps towards a bundle of trees before lightheadedness washed over him. Everything around him spun as he dragged his feet through each step.

  He barely made it past the first tree when his knees gave out. With the bit of consciousness remaining, he guarded Freya's head as they crashed to the ground. Pain burst through his back as he hit the ground hard, while she landed part way on his chest.

  They laid like that for several minutes, waiting for alarms to sound, but there was only silence. Bash startled at Freya's moan. His eyes snapped open as he peered down at her.

  "You okay?" Sitting up as he spoke made a wash of dizziness float through him.

  "It feels like my veins have liquid fire running through them." Groaning, she sat up, but listed to one side as she put a hand to her head. "And I think my head might explode. Where are we?"

  "Well, I think that means we are both still alive and not some kind of hallucination." He rubbed her back. "We're at the perimeter for the outer-city."

  "What? How did we get that far?" She coughed and opened one eye just far enough to squint at him. "Why is it so hard for me to breathe?"

  "I don't know. I feel fine except for the not being able to breathe part." Scooting back, he used a tree to prop himself up and pulled out his handheld.

  "How long have we been here? ARI patrols this area frequently, we can't stay here."

  "We've been here long enough that two patrols should have gone by already, but I haven't heard anything." An error message popped up on his handheld as he spoke.

  Low signal. Dismissing the message, he checked out the cause. It wasn't able to connect with the nanites he'd injected her with. No, please no. He pleaded to himself as a sinking feeling pooled in his gut.

  Switching over to see the status of each nanite in her body, half of them were offline. Watching the list for a few seconds, he saw another two lose connection. They weren't fully compatible with the microcomputer in her brain, causing them to malfunction and shut down. If he didn't remove them, that many non-functioning nanites could kill her.

  It wasn't unusual for a few to die, but the rest would use the parts and recreate new ones. For some reason, hers weren't doing that, and she was at risk of a blood clot or aneurysm because of it. They would have to go into the city to get the tools he needed to extract them.

  "I don't feel good." Freya muttered then leaned forward and retched.

  They didn't have time to waste, they had to cross the barrier now. "Come on, we need to move." Getting to his feet took more effort than he cared to admit, but they didn't have time. She was dying.

  Sliding an arm around her waist, he guided her toward the barrier wall. As they neared it, something struck him as odd. One thing ARI was known for, keeping all their security in top shape, but the wall was in ruins.

  Reaching out, he pressed on a panel that looked unstable. It crashed to the ground. The fence was in disrepair and there were no patrols in sight. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. "Just a little further, I promise."

  Her only response was a soft whine between gasps.

  Carefully directing her through the gap in the fence, the feeling in his stomach got worse when no alarms sounded. Cay t
old him of a similar situation that he and Nova had been in years ago, and while they'd had to dodge the patrols, they'd still set off the alarms. Bash joined her on the other side and did a scan of the area with his handheld.

  Not a single life sign appeared.

  Holding her close, he took them over to the first building he found. Thankfully most things in the outer-city weren't as secure as the inner-city. A simple bypass of the door lock and they were inside. He sat her in the nearest chair and checked the building while heaving for air. Returning to her, he scanned again. Her life signs were becoming fainter by the minute. Pulling out his injector, he flipped the settings so it would deliver a drug that would make her more aware.

  "Love, I need you to hang on just a bit longer. This might hurt a little." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, extended the needle, and slid it into her thigh. Several seconds later he withdrew it and the needle receded back into the injector.

  Freya let out a hiss as her eyes opened wide. "Where are we?"

  "I need you to focus, you don't have much time. Your nanites are being rejected. I have to get them out of you, but you need to help me find a place to do it. The drug I gave you won't last long." Her eyes darted between his as he spoke.

  "We will talk about this later." Peering around the room, she jumped up and had to regain her balance as she almost fell. "It's still really difficult to breathe."

  "I'm having the same problem, I don't think it has to do with the nanites." Following her over to a wall screen, she turned it on. The sight of a tall building partially collapsed and covered in flames. The view changed and the city center was in ruins. Scene after scene of parts of the city in ruins and on fire flashed before their eyes. "What happened?"

  She ran her hand along the menu but shook her head. "No one is actively broadcasting the news, this appears to be the city's news camera feeds." Flipping through various options, she froze. "This says the date is four years from now."