Retired

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The shopping trip was a chore I hated. I stayed with the twenty guards who surrounded the princess while the rest of the unit would move to secure each destination on her tour. I had the battalion on call to retrieve and deliver packages back to the palace.

We made it to lunch time when the prince joined us. His detail had brought him to the princess so they could have lunch together at a street side café. This made me as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. A sniper could be on any one of these buildings, and there were way too many to secure on short notice.

I was scanning the buildings when I heard the booming sound. Right in front of my eyes, holes appeared in the air and three jump shuttles appeared inside the atmosphere. The pilots had to be crazy. They could not burn off that much speed from that low in the atmosphere. Then my mind made the connection with their course. They weren't going to slow down.

I activated my implant bob. "All units, the rabbits are in danger! Secure all packages!" I turned towards the royal couple and spoke. "We have to leave now, your highnesses."

I was not gentle as I yanked them to their feet. I had them running towards the armored limousine as fast as I could. The sound alerted me before I saw them. I turned the royal couple towards the alley we were passing just as a pair of sting fighters swung up the street. The limo was a smoking pile of metal before I made it into the alley.

"Damn," I muttered, as I saw the end of the alley was fenced off. We were trapped, and the sting fighters were already turning for a second pass.

I looked down and saw our savior. It was about thirty-six inches in diameter and made of solid iron. I squatted down and hooked my fingers into the lift hole of the manhole cover. As it started to lift a couple other soldiers grabbed the edge to help me.

We flipped the cover over and out of the way. "Get them down there!", I yelled, as I drew my rail pistol.

We didn't have time -- it was already too late. The sting fighters had lined up and were starting their run.

The explosion saved our lives at that moment. All three of the jump shuttles had crashed into the palace. The shockwave swept the fighters sideways and offline with our position.

Two of my men dropped through the manhole cover and I pointed to the prince and princess. "Your highnesses, please go down the tunnel." To their credit, neither of them hesitated. They both headed into the sewers.

As the others climbed down, my bob activated. "Silver two, and Gold, are your packages secure?"

The leader of the gold unit answered. "We are still loose and running free."

I reached out and slapped my hand over his mouth.

"Palace warren is declared unsafe for our charges. We are headed for the north warren. What is the status of primary package?"

"The primary package is safe in the west warren."

We both headed into the sewers. "Drake, what was that all about?", General Fields asked me softly. "You know there is no north warren."

"There is no west warren, either." I turned to the prince. "Your majesty, we need to get you to a safe location. All of our bolt holes are compromised. We are going to have to stay hidden until the Space Rangers arrive."

The prince looked up at my change of address. "Are you sure?"

"I have not verified it but our communications are compromised. I can only assume your father died at the palace."

He nodded and took his wife into his arms. "Whatever you think is best, Drake."

"Thank you, your majesty." I activated my bob again. "This is Silver Two actual. I am assuming command under imperial order. Platinum, make contact with Silver Two battalion and secure the base. Silvers One, Three, and Four, assist Platinum. We are cold and alone. We suspect a rat on our tail."

General Fields looked at me when I said the last sentence. "You call the ball, Drake. What is your reason for suspicion?"

"All in-system jumps must be pre-plotted and cleared through system control, or the computers will not make the jump."

"Where do we go?"

"North."

"That is the direction you told them we were going."

"That will make it the last direction they think we will go."