Free Sons of Abraham: Pawns of Terror by Joseph Ray

his security code would work or not. If they had locked him out of this hallway, then surely they would have done the same here. Janys stood next to the panel, but folded her arms over her chest, silently demanding more information.
    “They don’t have a hundred troops with them,” he informed her.
    “How can you possibly know?” she replied.
    “The harriers from the south were only a distraction. There’s nothing of value on that side of the facility. However, if the inside guys failed to secure the turrets, then they’d need a backup team to reach the Tower. They didn’t come here to take over the facility, they came here to steal something, something big. You can’t steal something if you don’t have room on your ship for it, so half those harriers were empty. North and south teams, half empty harriers.”
    “That could still leave twenty-five, plus, however, many were already here.”
    “We won’t know either way until we find them, so get that door open.”
    She hesitated, but eventually started her bypass of the lockdown. She could hear the boots stomping the floor behind her, proving that her stalling had bought their backup time to arrive. The door had just opened when the team of ten soldiers closed in behind them. Bear motioned for them to follow as he lifted his rifle and passed through the open doorway.
    They were met with gunfire the second the Bearden crossed into the room. The first shot grazed his shoulder before he could manage to duck behind an I-beam that held the wall in place. Half the soldiers fell back, using the doorway for cover. Janys slid in behind the Sargent as more shots ricocheted off the beam.
    Bear recalled the scene his eyes witnessed before ducking behind the beam. The outer doors were open with the back of one harrier visible to them. There were three men, all in military uniform, pushing carts full of wide cylinders into the open vessel. Four men had stayed back, their weapons now raining bullets on them. Two of them wore lab coats, the other two wore Divinity Security uniforms. He’d recognized the man that’d fired the first shot as one of Ilda’s assistants.
    “I just need one alive,” Bear shouted as he edged his rifle around the corner of the beam and opened fire.
    Janys ducked down, pressing her rifle next to Bearden’s knee as she opened fire on the military men across the docking back. Her shots were drowned out by the deep percussions of Bear’s rifle, but she managed to remain focused on her own spray. One of the lab coats went down, red splattering the white as the man crashed to the concrete floor. Two more came around the corner, mowed down by one of the soldiers behind the Sargent. Janys felt Bear’s knee move. She pulled her rifle back to allow him to reload. His eyes caught her stare as she took his empty cartridge and sat it in the corner. There was only one assault rifle like his in the compound, making the magazines difficult to replace. She didn’t know if he’d have to reload them immediately after this ordeal, but she wanted to ensure he had at least on empty magazine to fill.
    Bear had just edged his rifle around the beam when he caught two sets of mirror eyes looking back at him. Their uniforms differed from the others, with heavy armor covering their bodies and long barreled rifles in their hands. The armor was dark gray, molded to fit their physiques, with various pockets spread throughout. Black belts, gloves, and boots were worn, as well as a cylinder launcher strapped to their thighs. The rifles were menacing enough, but Bear knew they were finished if the newcomers opted to fire grenades or gas cylinders at them.
    “Cybers!” Bear shouted, flipping the lever on the side of his rifle from single shot to semi. The gun had an auto option, but it needed to be belt fed to do any good.
    The soldiers from the doorway trained their sights on the two armored men with the long rifles, but their brains were taking too long to give their bodies