Bounty Hunter

Chapter 61

Kit shot the panel next to the door, making it impossible for anyone else to open it from the other side.

Joe eyed Reuben, who was clutching the blaster like it was his lifeline. "Stay behind everyone," Joe commanded.

"I'll be fine," Reuben said, sounding not at all fine.

Joe gave him a single nod, turned, and stepped through the doorway to find a second foyer, this one far more lavish than the one he'd just left. Two murcs were dragging themselves up—the flash grenades Val had used seemed to have less bang than ones Joe had used previously. Rex walked up to each murc and shot them point-blank.

Kit closed the door behind him and flattened against a wall. "We've got more coming."

Val flattened against another wall. Reuben just stood there, so Joe yanked him out of the center of the foyer just before blaster fire shot through the space he'd occupied.

Joe fired down the hallway and realized, with some surprise, that it was his first shot since leaving the prison cell.

Val pulled out more of the mini flash grenades and threw them down the hallway. "Eyes and ears!"

The grenades blew, and Joe was running before the light returned to normal. His injured leg, albeit weak, supported his weight. As soon as he was clear of the hallway, he started shooting at anything moving in the room, hoping none were servants but willing to shoot them regardless. The flash had knocked down at least a half-dozen murcs, but three were already back on their feet. Joe took one down before the other two fired. He spun away, firing back as he did so.

Rex's gunfire joined his, and Joe used the relief to aim his blaster at a murc using a sofa for cover. He took him out with a single headshot. Shots hit Joe's back like fiery mud balls, and he turned around and started firing at reinforcements entering from another entrance. Two of those reinforcements wore exoshields.

"We're getting close!" Joe yelled as he dove behind a fallen murc. He lay down a barrage of blaster fire, and the murcs fell back into the hallway they'd emerged from seconds earlier.

"Kit, throw some Baby Betties!" Val shouted.

Kit reached his right hand into his pocket and winced. Val batted his hand away, stuck her hand into his pocket, and pulled out more flash grenades.

Joe slung his blaster to the side and held out a hand. "Val!"

She looked from the hallway to him and tossed three spheres. He caught them and sprinted toward their goal. Blaster fire came from behind him as his team provided cover fire. When he had a clear shot of the hallway, he threw the grenades, spun, and went down to the floor. They exploded before he closed his sensors. Vertigo slammed into him, and his ears rang. He struggled to his feet, only to be pulled up by Rex.

Joe clumsily ran toward the hallway entrance once more, and fired before the smoke cleared. One bodyguard was on his feet, having closed his sensors before the grenades went off. He and Joe faced each other and fired at the same time. Hot pressure hit the center mass of Joe's chest plate. His shot had hit the bodyguard in the flexible neck joint, and the man tumbled backward, clutching at his throat.

Joe continued firing at the other murcs crowding the hallway, and Rex shot the second bodyguard as he struggled to get up. Joe kept his finger on the trigger until all the murcs were down.

Rex smacked Joe on the back and continued ahead of him. Joe called over his shoulder, "Clear!"

Val and Kit came around the corner. Joe looked beyond them. "Where's Reuben?"