Read Relic Tech (Crax War Chronicles) for Free Online

a second she finished. Only then I realized what she had. “Poor bastards,” I whispered.
    “The director is down,” said Caylar, firing several more shots down the hall. “Good thing your screen’s still up or you’d be dead.”
    “Feel free to use it for cover,” I offered.
    I’d seen holos of the beam weapons the Umbelgarri mounted on their combat vessels. I’d also read about the handheld version Silvre was about to use. She knelt and simply activated the baton while reaching her hand around the corner. A swift side-to-side flick proceeded brief cries of surprised terror.
    Silvre looked around the corner, winced, and fought to keep her lunch down. Weakly she said to Caylar, “I have only eighty-two thousandths of a second left.”
    Caylar looked at the hand beam. “Keep it ready,” he said over his shoulder as he trotted ahead.
    “And pointed away from us,” I added. Silvre forced a smile. She returned to the rear, commanding the bed forward.
    I ventured a look down the cross hall and saw scarred walls and sliced, scattered bodies. I took as deep of a breath as I dared, and exhaled. “Where’s our help?” I asked. “Didn’t Simms contact them?”
    Silvre had regained her composure. “They’ll be at the first rally point. Bottom of the elevator.”
    That didn’t make sense to me. We needed them here. “Who planned this?”
    “Director Simms,” said Caylar, slowing down. “It’ll work. We’ll make it as he planned.”
    Caylar stopped and knelt. First, he looked around the corner toward the elevator. Then he took aim at a surveillance camera. After one shot he signaled okay. We followed him around the corner and backed into the elevator.
    It was a tight fit. Caylar had disabled the obvious monitoring devices before working the buttons on Simms’s remote control device.
    Silvre side-stepped up beside me. “Almost clear.” She brought out and activated the little cube and set it on my bed. A little blood dampened her hair above the temple. She carefully reached under the covers and retrieved the Umbelgarri holographic device and began making adjustments while the elevator started its descent.
    “I’ve overridden the controls,” said Caylar. “Shouldn’t be any more surprises.”
    “Does it have a warranty for manufacturer defects?” I said. “Or is there a security robot exclusionary clause?” I was nervous. A lot of bad things could happen in an elevator if somebody wanted them to. At the moment, that reality wasn’t one I cared to ignore. The other elevator occupants must’ve been too busy to respond.
    Caylar looked at the lady diplomat. She nodded, deactivated the cube, then reached across the bed, handing it to Caylar. Silvre made a final inspection of the faceted alien mechanism before a few precision finger taps brought it to life. She raised the alien device above her head and spun slowly around. For a fraction of a second, I saw double.
    Caylar gently put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t move. Stay silent.” He spoke into the remote, “We are preparing to exit the elevator. All clear?”
    “Affirmative,” crackled the device. “Rally point red one secure.”
    “Make way,” said Caylar. “Yellow pass-through in effect.”
    “Acknowledged.”
    Diplomat Silvre looked down at me, still holding the holo-device above her head. Caylar activated the cube.
    “I hope you are indeed innocent of the charges,” she whispered.
    The doors opened. With the holo-device held high, Silvre exited the elevator. Outside, lining the corridor, stood eight armed and ready marines.
    Suddenly Diplomat Silvre flashed to a new position. She wasn’t holding the holographic device. Rather, she was escorting me out of the elevator. Or my eye saw it happening, with Caylar maneuvering the bed from behind. The real Caylar placed a calming hand on my shoulder. I watched the image of us continue down the hall, flanked by the marines. I spotted a saucer-sized bloodstain spread across the