The Fringe Wars

2.12

Choosing Sides

Critch's crew—even Gabe—welcomed their captain back as soon as they caught up with him and Reyne's team in the tunnels.

Maddox, one of Critch's crew, sobered soon after greeting his captain. "We lost Sam. But at least he never felt a thing."

Critch grimaced. "Damn it. Not Sam."

Maddox paused. "What's the word on Chutt?"

Critch's jaw clenched. "He didn't make it."

Silence befell his crew.

Maddox turned to Reyne. "Why the sudden change in RP?"

Before Reyne could answer, the sounds of approaching steps had everyone rushing to level their pistols and rifles on the entrance. Moments later, Seda and his men stepped into the underground room. Their eyes widened, and Seda's men raised their weapons in defense.

"Funny," Seda said. "I was beginning to feel like you were having a party and I wasn't invited." He looked at Reyne. "You changed the rendezvous location without telling me. At least you were nice enough to stop at one of my businesses so my security could report your location to me."

Reyne strode right up to the stationmaster and slammed him into the wall.

Seda shoved him off and had him pinned to the same wall in a flash of movement. "Watch yourself. Assaulting me is becoming an unpleasant habit of yours."

Reyne glared. "How'd the CUF get there so soon, Seda?"

Seda's eyes narrowed before he pushed away from Reyne. "We had a leak. I plugged it."

"How convenient," Reyne said.

"If I was going to betray you, I'd wait until everyone was in the same room and then gas it. I don't like risking my life and the lives of my men if I don't have to. Tipping off the CUF got three good men killed today."

One of Critch's crew—Alex was his name—holstered his pistol and held up a hand. "Let's all just put our weapons away and talk." He looked at Reyne. "Seda's telling the truth. I saw what happened back at the Citadel. One of Seda's guys sold us out. Seda caught on and drifted him."

Seda held out a hand as he explained. "Donovan gave himself away when Vlad got shot by one of the patrols that hit us at the Citadel. Don always had a lousy poker face. He'd been with me a long time. He was a very capable soldier, but greedy. I thought I paid him enough to satisfy his itch. I was wrong, and Vlad and Sam paid the price for Donovan's treachery. It was Donovan who tipped off the CUF to make a few extra credits. What he didn't expect was seeing his pal have his brains blown out by a dromadier, and it threw him."

Critch then walked between the two groups. "It's done. Holster your weapons now. We don't have time for this. We have work to do."

Everyone obeyed.

Seda smoothed his shirt and walked over to Critch. "It's nice to see you made it," Seda said. "Did you see Stationmaster Patel during your stay?"

"She's alive, but she needs medical attention."

"Well, then we'd better get her out of there. Do you have the location of the generators?"

Critch pointed to his head. "I need to see a map."

Seda nodded to his men. "Tax, Corbin, cover the entrance. The rest of you, stay sharp." He pulled out a tablet and set it down on a crate. He ran his hands through several command sequences. A projected image of the Citadel displayed on the wall. Seda tapped on the tablet again to zoom in on the image, and the entire facility's layout appeared.