Hunter's Curse by Richard Tongue

Author:Richard Tongue [Tongue, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Published: 2022-09-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Kozak found his new accommodations little different from any military brig, a small room holding a bed and a chair with an alcove for a bathroom, slots in the wall to allow food trays to be pushed in or out, and cameras placed to cover every possible angle, keeping him under permanent observation. His clothes had been taken from him in the course of the medical examination, by now likely destroyed after an extensive search, as well as the few pieces of kit he had managed to sneak on board with him.

Which wasn’t a problem. He was just where he wanted to be, and now ready to start work. While the examination had been thorough, he’d learned that Hyperborean Intelligence had a few tricks that had escaped the notice of the Federation, and one of them was about to come in extremely useful.

With a loud rattle, a food tray slid in, just above the floor, with a trio of heated pouches dumped on top of it with a bottle of water. He picked it up, placed it on the bed, and carefully squeezed the pouches empty, each of them containing zero-gravity rations, resembling thick, gloopy paste. He’d been given no spoon, a neat psychological trick, but for what he had in mind, he didn’t need any. He looked at the tray for a moment, as though mentally preparing to eat it, then scooped up a handful, rose to his feet, and slapped it on the lens of the camera pickup, quickly repeating the process with the other detectors in the room.

He had to move quickly now. Security would almost certainly have been monitoring him constantly, and a guard would be entering the cell in a matter of seconds. Reaching into his mouth, he pulled out the sticky patch that had been applied to the interior of his cheek, a layer of fake skin that concealed a small capsule, and waited by the door.

As he expected, it slid open, a pair of guards standing in the threshold, one of them carrying a pistol, the other some spray and a cloth, a disgusted look on his face.

“You’re cleaning that mess up,” the guard said. “Here.”

Nodding, Kozak moved towards him, made to take the cloth from his hand, and instead slammed the capsule to the ground, closing his eyes in time for the flash. He had only a heartbeat to work with, but it was enough, and he snatched the spray from the guard’s hand, applying a healthy quantity to the face of the other, and taking the man’s gun from him in a single move, ducking and rolling out of the cell just as the security alert kicked in, locking the door behind him.

He was on the run, and on the move. The capsule was a clever piece of equipment, containing not only the charge but a beacon that would have activated for a single second, a signal to his comrades on Cydonia that he was in the process of making his escape, and that he needed pickup as soon as it could be arranged.

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