Muunraker/Chapter 7

Muunraker

Chapter 7 A ship? A space station? A planet?

Jace Bont and Europa Kapanen sat in a small holding cell that contained nothing but two cots. They had arrived there drugged, gagged and blindfolded so they had no idea where they were. A ship? A space station? A planet? There were no windows of any kind. Their only source of light was a flickering bulb in the ceiling.

Europa was asleep on one of the cots. The torture took it's toll on her. Bont was sitting on the other cot looking at her. While watching her sleep, Bont wondered if MI5 would send someone to come to their rescue. He had gotten a message out to MI5, but he mentioned Kalee. What if they weren't currently on Kalee? How would MI5 ever find them?

Bont could hear the guards outside the door yelling something. Then there was blaster fire. Bont turned his head to look at the door.

"What was that?" Europa asked, rolling over in the cot. The blaster sounds woke her up.

Bont feared the worst. Were they coming for more torture? Were they coming to kill them?

The door slid open.

Bont leaped off the cot and shielded Europa from whatever was out there.

A human female walked in. Her shoulder-length brown hair fluttered as she came to a stop. She was holding some heavy artillery. She carried a blaster rifle in her hands, a blaster pistol on her hip and a series of thermal detonators strapped to her belt.

Bont didn't recognize her. She wasn't one of the people that had tortured him earlier.

The brown-haired woman said, "Are you Bont and Kapanen?"

"What?" Bont questioned. He was a bit confused.

"The name's Valeria Kennt. I'm a friend of Shasta Moonreaper."

"Shasta?" Europa repeated.

Bont felt a sigh of relief. His fellow MI5 operative had sent help. "Thank you, Shasta," he said aloud.

"Come on," Valeria said, waving them through the door. "We've gotta get outta here."

Bont and Europa exited the holding cell to find themselves in a corridor with two dead guards. Bont picked up one of their blasters and tossed the other one to Europa. Valeria headed for another door at the far end of the corridor. "We can make it out the way I came in, but we have to hurry. The patrolling guards will find us soon."

Valeria led the MI5 agents through a series of corridors before ducking into an air vent. Each corridor had a few dead guards. Bont wasn't sure if Valeria was MI5, but she sure had the skills.

As the three of them crawled through the tight ventilation shafts, Bont asked her, "Where the hell are we, anyway?"

Still crawling, Valeria said, "This is an underground compound on Kalee. But we're far from any of the fighting from the Huk War."

"Are you MI5?" Bont asked.

"No," Valeria responded. "I'll answer your questions later. Right now, you've gotta be silent."

Valeria came to an opening in the vent. She removed the grate and crawled out into the daylight. Her hands and knees were covered in dirt. She then put a hand up to stop the other two from exiting the vent.

Bont stuck his head out to see Valeria silently walk up behind a guard and subdue him. She gently laid the unconscious guard in the dirt. Further ahead, another armed guard came walking out from behind a large rock formation. The moment the guard noticed Valeria, she shot him. The silencer on the barrel of the blaster rifle muted the sound. The single blaster bolt hit the guard squarely in the throat. The guard dropped to his knees, gagging. Within seconds, he fell on his side, dead.

Bont didn't know anything about this Valeria woman, but he was definitely beginning to like her.

Valeria waved them on. The MI5 operatives ran past the downed guards and followed Valeria. The three continued deeper into a wooded area until they came to an HWK-290 light freighter. The ramp extended downward and they entered the ship. Bont and Europa followed Valeria to the cockpit where she started up the ships engines.

"Nice ride," Bont commented.

"Thanks," Valeria responded.

"What's her name?"

"The ship goes by many names," Valeria answered. "It helps keep me off the grid."

The ship lifted off and headed out of the atmosphere.

Europa said, "Thank you. And that was pretty great what you did back there. Getting in and out of the complex without raising an alarm."

"I used to be a mercenary," Valeria said. "I've trained with the best."

"Used to be?" Bont repeated.

"I do little side jobs here and there, but I'm not constantly running around anymore."

"We could really use you at MI5," he said.

"Nah. It's not for me."

"So, how do you know Shasta?" Europa asked.

"We trained together when we were younger," Valeria explained. "We grew up together on Alderaan. She's like my sister. But we can talk about that later. We need to get some bacta on those wounds." She pointed at the blood stains on the MI5 agents clothing. "They really did a number on you, eh?"

- - - - - - - - - -

Back in the underground complex, Drax casually strolled down the corridor, stepping over the dead bodies. He turned to look inside the empty holding cell. He only moments ago had been alerted of the news that the prisoners had escaped. Turning back to the armed guards that were behind him, he said, "It's a good thing these guards are already dead, or I would kill them myself."

Drax had lost his prisoners. And by the looks of things, it appeared someone snuck in and broke them out. "Do we have anything on the surveillance cameras?" he asked.

One of the guards responded, "No, sir. The lines were cut. All we have is static."

Drax had lost his prisoners. And he didn't even have any leads for tracking them down. He had a feeling MI5 would be after him now. Possibly even Bont and Kapanen themselves. That changed things. "We must now move up our timetable. Our plans will be carried out sooner than expected."

"Yes, sir," the guard said.

Chapters: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Epilogue