Chapter 75: Out Of Cages

"Keep that valve cracked two turns, Maya, don’t jerk the line."

Seawater sprayed across the rusted catwalk as the emergency cooling pump sputtered into motion.

"I have the flow calibrated to their metabolic baseline, Fin, so stop hovering over my shoulder."

A pungent mist of warm salt and antiseptic vapor rose from the subterranean access shaft.

"I am hovering because three of those bypass relays look like they were soldered together in an alley."

"They were soldered on an offshore black site with zero oversight, which is why we do not pull them cold."

"How long until the primary manifold depressurizes?"

"Four minutes for the upper gallery, six for the lower isolation cells."

’My ribs throbbed every time I took a full lungful of air, but the numbers in my head refused to let me sit.’

[Stamina: 20/100]

[Mana: 20/40]

The iron deck shuddered beneath my boots as secondary bilge turbines struggled against the incoming tide.

"Take a breath, kid, before you collapse on the grating and give us another stretcher to carry."

"I am fine, Ruby."

"You are leaning against a hydraulic conduit with your face pale as salt, so do not tell me you are fine."

Ruby planted her heavy tower shield into the deck plates with a sharp metallic clatter.

"The hounds are down, the command override is dead, and the doors are still sealed."

"And the doors will open the second Maya gives the all-clear, not five seconds sooner."

"Nila, what is the gangway status?"

Nila wiped dark machine grease from her rapier guard with the edge of her soaked sleeve.

"Both medical transports are locked to berth three and berth four with magnetic lines secured."

"Did Talla finish clearing the civilian harbor authority?"

"She has two tugboat captains on retainer and the harbor master’s deputy looking the other way with a fresh voucher."

"Good."

’One hundred and forty-two children sat inside those glass canisters, breathing fluid that kept their mana cores suppressed.’

Condensation dripped steadily from the overhead pipes into puddles of brackish runoff.

"Fin, step back from the glass."

"I am just watching the sequence lights."

"You are twitching like you want to chop the reinforced acrylic with your hatchet."

"It crossed my mind."

"Which is exactly why you need to let the medics do their jobs without your input."

The massive pneumatic seals on the primary isolation bank released with a deafening hiss of steam.

"Pressure normalized on cells one through twenty-four, team, move in with the thermal blankets."

"Iron Dogs, take odd-numbered berths, medical staff take evens, keep the stretchers level."

Eight stretcher teams in orange rescue slickers scrambled down the iron stairway into the misty gallery.

"Careful with his neck, watch the IV line, lift on three."

"One... two... three, lift."

"Little guy is light as a feather."

"He has been on liquid nutrient suspension for at least three weeks, so of course he is light."

"Wrap him up tight, get him onto ferry one, bunk sixteen."

"Understood, captain."

The medical orderlies moved with brisk, practiced discipline along the narrow metal walkway.

"Fin, look at me."

"I am looking."

"Sit down on that crate."

"Ruby, there are still five tiers of pods to unload."

"And there are thirty-two able-bodied Iron Dogs and eight certified field nurses carrying them."

"I can carry two at a time without straining my ribs."

"You will tear your intercostal muscles and spit blood onto the floorboards if you lift thirty pounds right now."

"She is right, Fin, your breathing sounds like a wet bellows."

"Nila, whose side are you on?"

"The side that wants our vanguard alive when the patrol boats figure out the communications blackout."

’She was right, irritatingly enough, so I dropped onto the composite crate and let my back rest against the cold bulkhead.’

The rough composite surface bit into my shoulder blades as I let out a ragged breath.

"Maya, how is the air quality down in tier four?"

"Acceptable, scrubbers are operating on backup generator power."

"Any sign of secondary traps in the floor conduits?"

"Clean so far, the Chairman’s tech staff ran out the back hatch the moment your hound hit the floor."

"What about the shoreline relay?"

Maya adjusted the copper wire of her shortwave headset and tapped the transmitter casing twice.

"Talla, come in on frequency six, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Maya, shore receiving terminal is set up inside hangar twelve."

"Are the triage tents secure?"

"Sefu has forty men stationed along the perimeter fence with strict orders to turn away anyone without our clearance badge."

"Did Jolly get through on the line?"

"Patching her through now, hold on."

A burst of crackling static buzzed over the horn before a small, familiar voice cut through the hum.

"Fin? Fin, are you there?"

"I am right here, Jolly."

"You sound tired... did you get hurt?"

"Just bumped a few ribs on an iron railing, nothing serious."

"Don’t lie to me, you always drop your voice when you get hit."

"It was a heavy dog, kiddo, but it is done."

"How many kids did you find?"

"All of them, every single one from the manifest."

"One hundred and forty-two?"

"One hundred and forty-two, exactly like the paper said."

"Are they... are they all okay?"

"They are cold and skinny, but they are breathing on their own now."

"Bring them home, Fin... please just bring them home."

"We are loading the ferries right now, Jolly, I will see you at the dock in an hour."

"I am keeping the soup warm on the burner."

"Keep Sefu away from the ladle or there won’t be any left."

"I already smacked his hand with the wooden spoon twice."

"Good girl, talk to you soon."

’The click of the static cutoff left a sudden, heavy quiet in my ears, broken only by the rhythmic scuff of boots and the hum of hydraulic winches.’

The distant ocean storm threw a fresh gust of rain against the shattered skylights above the loading bay.

"She is getting bolder every day, Fin."

"She has to be, living in this city."

"Tier three is completely evacuated, Ruby, forty-eight more children loaded onto ferry two."

A team leader in salt-stained leather armor called out from the bottom of the cargo ramp.

"How are their vitals holding?"

"Two cases of hypothermia, one mild mana convulsion, both stabilized with thermal gel and low-dose stabilizers."

"Any casualties?"

"Zero, not a single flatline on the monitoring board."

"Hear that, Fin? Zero."

"I hear it."

"So stop grinding your teeth like you failed someone."

"I am not grinding my teeth, I am waiting for the system notification."

"What notification?"

"Just... checking my mental checklist."

’I couldn’t tell her about the interface waiting in the corner of my vision, waiting for the last verified body to cross the gangway threshold.’

The sound of rubber stretcher wheels squeaked against the corrugated aluminum gangway.

"Watch the ramp, watch the ramp, that girl has a splintered forearm cast."

"Set her down gently on berth twenty-eight, strap the harness."

"Ferry one is full, captain, sixty-four children secured in private berths with warm broth ready."

"Ferry two has seventy-eight secured, all accounted for."

"Total head count?"

"One hundred and forty-two souls on board, manifests verified against biometric collar codes."

"Cut the collar batteries, drop the physical tags into the lockbox."

A heavy pair of bolt cutters severed the last synthetic alloy band with a crisp snap.

"Clipping collar one-forty-one now... and that is collar one-forty-two."

[Rescue Milestone Achieved: Operation Platform Tartarus]

[142 Non-Combatant Captives Secured and Medically Stabilized]

[EXP: +70,000]

[Total EXP: 2,235,700 / 2,500,000]

’The surge of energy that rolled through my spine didn’t mend my cracked ribs or refill my drained stamina tank, but it sharpened the edges of my focus like a whetstone across steel.’

A low siren echoed out across the water from the northern shipping lane.

"Fin, look out toward the eastern channel."

"What do you see, Ruby?"

"Two harbor patrol cruisers just broke through the outer fog bank, five miles out and closing fast."

"Are their transponders flashing commercial or military?"

"Military grey hulls, flashing red priority beacons."

Maya held a receiver cup against her ear while typing furiously into the portable terminal console.

"They are broadcasting an open hail on the emergency maritime band, Maya, what are they saying?"

"They are ordering all vessels at Platform Tartarus to cut engines, drop mooring lines, and surrender all physical data drives immediately."

"Of course they want the drives, the drives have their signatures all over the funding lines."

"What do we do, Fin?"

"We don’t give them a single scrap of magnetic tape, Nila."

"Then we have about twelve minutes before their boarding cutters hit our stern."

"Twelve minutes is plenty of time to set this entire platform on fire and leave them the ashes."

"I like the way you think, kid, now let’s get down to the server room before those cruisers get within cannon range."