by Kelly Gay
“Roger that.” Lessa hopped off the quad, patted Niko’s chest as she passed. “You can sing my praises later, little brother. Let’s go get our captain back.”
CHAPTER 28
Hannibal HQ / Pilvros / New Carthage
Ram took breakfast alone in the shadow of Hannibal HQ, waiting for the first work shift to end. The sun rose warm against his back and lit the glass building on fire as employees suddenly flowed from the building. “Heads up, kids. Shift one is heading out the door,” he said into comms.
“Roger that,” Lessa came back.
After studying the layout created by Spark, they decided that Ram would take a service elevator down to sublevel three, where a tightly secured lift carried those with high security clearance nearly three meters into the void. Late last evening, Lessa and Mac had gone to the edge of the Grieves and poached a seismic sensor/suppressor and modified it into a directional emitter, while Niko and Spark gave a sweet update to two older-model active-camo units Rion had in Ace’s locker room. One for him, and one he carried for Rion.
“Stand by.” Once the initial shift exodus slowed to a trickle, Ram headed toward the building, adrenaline adding fuel to his determination and focus. The Librarian’s key was tucked safely in his pocket, and the active-camo unit had been strapped to his chest, hidden beneath his jacket. “All right, Less, you’re up.”
“One fake tremor coming your way…”
After a ten-second delay, the first small vibration flowed beneath the plaza. People froze in their tracks. The water in the fountain rippled strangely. It was about to get a whole lot stronger. Ram paused behind an ornamental evergreen and activated the active camo, the hairs on his arms tingling and the view around him immediately becoming distorted, like looking through warped glass.
As he entered the lobby, an alert siren echoed through the building. Perfect timing. He made for the elevator shaft, held his wrist pad up to the sensor. “Spark, you’re up.”
“I was in before you finished saying my name,” Spark replied. “Altering the building’s structural sensors to show a fictitious elevation in seismic magnitude, which should trigger building-wide evacuation protocols in five seconds. The first elevator is unlocked.”
Ram slipped inside the elevator as another alert blared through the building. Sublevel three was achieved in seconds, which was a bonus—the fake seismic readings wouldn’t fool the building’s security AI for long. Spark had gone silent, working his magic, laying down false alerts and confusion to distract both the security and administrative AIs, his goal to make it into the Forerunner’s way station’s systems before being discovered. Once there, he’d have the technological advantage to shut down all security features and obstacles, allowing Ram and Rion to escape.
Two guards were stationed outside the next elevator. Active camo wasn’t foolproof; it could be detected by certain sensors. It didn’t prevent sound either, so Ram had to be careful with his footsteps. “The lift will open in six seconds. Make sure you are on it,” Spark said with an agitated note.
Ram wouldn’t make it down the corridor in time unless he ran. And running produced noise.
Thinking fast, he yanked off his boots and threw them as hard as he could before taking off at a run. The guards didn’t notice the black footwear arcing through the air until they hit the wall somewhere behind him. Puzzled, they headed away from the elevator. The lift doors slid open. Worried techs and scientists exited just before Ram slid inside on socked feet. Doors closed. Almost there. He braced his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath as the lift dropped swiftly into the earth.
“Spark, how’s it going?”
Nothing.
The lift finally slowed. The doors opened to a large group crowding the exit. He had seconds to slip by before they filed inside. His distortion wobbled as he hit the lift frame, but no one seemed to notice—the warnings and the tremors had everyone distracted.
He took a moment to take in his surroundings.
This was a way station? And here he was envisioning some small outpost with a terminal. Did Forerunners ever do anything small?
The place was a massive platform of sleek gray alloy covering at least three acres, shot through with lit blue angles and lines and symbols. Thick anchors and superstructures came out of the bedrock and down into the platform, some reminding him of power stations and conduit casings. Portable workstations, conference rooms, and labs had been set up along the main platform.
Two hard-light bridges connected the main platform to a smaller one, which jutted out from the other side of the cavern wall to form a large semicircle. He recognized the console there as a possible terminal.
If Rion had come through the portal, it appeared unlikely her arrival would have been missed. He began checking any room with a door, and finding nothing but office space, meeting areas, and laboratories—very efficient, very corporate. There was no way Rion walked out of here without being detained, questioned, and thoroughly examined. And even then, why would they let her go? Humans hadn’t achieved teleportation, so one suddenly materializing out of a portal in the middle of a major work area was a technological gold mine.
So where was she?
“Spark,” he tried again, growing frustrated with his search. There was still security around, organizing the evacuation of the last group of workers. He had to be careful, though not having his boots helped move things along faster.
“I am here,” Spark replied, sounding rather distracted. “There is no feedback on the captain’s ID. No record of her arrival in this time frame. No records expunged or concealed. Insert the key into the terminal. Do it now.”
“What do you—”
“What I mean is that Rion is not here. She was never here.”
“Keep checking.”
“That would be a tremendous waste of time. I have been through every event log in this facility. She is not here. Use the key, Ram Chalva!”
They were both frustrated, and the feeling was only mounting. Ram didn’t want to believe it; he wanted to—
“Do it now! They have employed two additional smart AIs just for this site. I am now juggling four!”
Ram raced to the closest light bridge and hurried across to the semicircular platform. At the terminal, he retrieved the key and quickly searched for a place to insert it. “Spark, there’s no port. I can’t find a port.”
“It will respond to proximity. Hurry.”
Ram moved closer and waved the key along the length of the terminal. Sure enough, a port appeared, sliding up from the console. Here goes nothing.
“And remember,” Spark said quickly, “Forerunner security protocol will automatically deactivate any local baffler technology to ensure proper authorization access to the terminal. Better you do so to prevent any energy spike that might render your active camo useless.”
“Right.” Ram deactivated his active camo and inserted the key.
Three seconds passed.
“I have it,” Spark announced. “I am detecting another key. Put your hand on the pad and wait for it.”
What…? “There’s a third key?” Shouts echoed behind him. Shit. Ram slapped his hand on the pad.
“As I said. As soon as you retrieve it, activate your active camo and use the other bridge. Then, head for the lift.”
Another port suddenly appeared in the terminal, revealing a small key. Though it looked like no key Ram had yet seen, more like a circular metal symbol. With no time to lose, he snatched it along with the other key, shoving them both into his vest pocket before activating his camo and running like hell down to the other bridge.
The security detail made it to the terminal platform just as Ram crossed the other bridge. Once he cleared it, Spark shut down both bridges, leaving the guards without a way across. “I see what you did there,” Ram managed between breaths.
“Child’s play,” Spark said.
The entire facility shuddered as if under attack. That felt way too real.
“The west corner lif
t is about to leave. Move!”
Ram ran with everything he had, sliding in his sock feet into the empty lift just as the doors were closing. It rose swiftly, and he stayed slumped on the floor, heart hammering against his chest, sweat sliding down the sides of his face.
Something had clearly gone wrong. The emitter they’d rigged didn’t have enough power to cause such a violent tremor, and they’d been careful to direct the sound waves at such a frequency to be felt, but not cause any damage. “Turn the bridge back on and send the lift down when I’m out.” He didn’t want anyone stranded down there if a real quake was in progress.
“It seems our presence has been noted,” Spark said. “The local ONI office is working off information from an off-duty agent claiming to see two people in the park matching Lessa’s and Niko’s description.… They are mobilizing twelve in the park, with drone support. The local authorities are on alert if needed.”
Perfect.
Another elevator later, and Ram was finally crossing the lobby, hurrying like the hounds of hell were at his back even though his active camo was still functioning. Across the plaza and beyond the lot, he spied Lessa and Niko waiting near the entrance to the park. The tremor had finally faded.
Once he was upon them, he deactivated his camo and kept moving, drawing them deeper into the park. For now, he saw no one lurking or following. They fell in step beside him, bombarding him with questions:
“Where’s Rion?”
“What happened?”
“Where the hell are your boots?”
He wanted to answer—wanted his damn boots back—but also wanted to put as much distance between him and the building as possible. There was no relief, no sense of achievement, and damned if he didn’t feel like the danger was only just beginning. He had fully expected Rion to be walking out the front door with him. The fact that she wasn’t had shaken him up pretty badly.
“She wasn’t there. Keep moving,” he ordered when they wanted to stop and demand answers.
After they were well into the park, Niko and Lessa finally had enough and went full stop. “What do you mean, she wasn’t there?” Niko asked. “Where the hell else is she supposed to be? Jesus, Ram, what are you even saying?”
They failed is what he wanted to say.
Thankfully Spark took the pressure off and provided the answers to their questions via comms. “The portal did not bring her here to Pilvros.”
For a moment they just stared at Ram, struggling to comprehend.
“So… what are you saying?” Lessa’s cheeks reddened and her disbelief turned into a furious scowl. “She took a portal to nowhere? A portal to nowhere means dead. You realize what you’re saying, right? Are you sure she’s not here and you just have the wrong location?”
Ram ran a hand over his head, forcing calm through his overwhelming dread and disappointment, and moving his thoughts toward solutions. “Look.” He retrieved both pieces of the key. “There was another key. That means there’s another location, just like last time, right?”
Immediately Lessa snatched it away. “I know this. Here, give me the other key.” Ram handed over the second key and she held it up. “Does this look familiar?” He hadn’t thought of it in all the chaos, but Lessa was right. The inlaid impression on one side of the main key was an exact match to the circular key he’d just pulled out of the Waypoint terminal.
“Okay, so fit them together,” Niko said impatiently.
Lessa fit the small key into the inlay. As soon as it was in, hard light activated and fused the two objects together. Niko grabbed it, inspecting each side. “There’s no other inlay spot for a fourth key. This is it; it’s complete. Rion has to be at the end of wherever this leads.”
Lessa inclined her head in agreement, and then they both turned their attention on Ram as though he had all the answers. “So,” Niko said, “where do we go?”
“The new key points to Erebus VII,” Spark told them.
“Erebus VII.” Niko mulled it over. “I got nothing. Anybody?”
No one had heard of it.
“Uh, guys…” Lessa’s tone set Ram’s teeth on edge. “We’re about to have bigger problems. At my four o’clock…”
Casually, Ram cast a glance that way to find three men in civilian wear standing by a park bench. They might as well have been wearing signs saying OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. “God, I hate spooks. Stay calm.… Let’s start moving, but play it cool.”
As they headed farther into the woodland park, Lessa moved closer. “Why aren’t they coming after us?”
“Because we’re second-string. They want Spark and no doubt Ace. They’re probably hoping we lead them right to the ship.”
“If we get caught,” Niko said, “there goes our search for Cap, and we spend the rest of our lives at an ONI black site.”
“I hate to say it.” The reality weighed heavily on Ram, but it was the right path—the only path. “We have to split up and get the key to Spark. Niko, you’re the fastest. Spark, looks like you get to cause some chaos after all. We need you to come to the park, keep track of Niko, and he’ll hand off the key.”
With a subtle movement, Niko slipped the key into his pocket.
“Lessa, you and I will run first, lead them away and back toward campus. As soon as you see them turn for us, Niko, take off into the woods and run like hell, keep Spark on your comms.”
“Keep my fragment with you, Ram,” Spark said. “I will cause whatever trouble I can. Head for the rail system. Niko, proceed northwest through the park. There is a pavilion and public restroom on the Northwest Trail. I will intercept behind the pavilion. Don’t stop. Just throw the key. I will retrieve it.”
“And, Spark, don’t wait for us. Leave as soon as you get the key. If ONI gets their hands on you and Ace, there won’t be anyone to search for Rion. No one.” Lessa’s expression was dead serious, and both Ram and Niko understood exactly what she was going to say next. “We split up, and we stay split up.”
Rion was out there somewhere. If she was truly on Erebus VII, if she was in trouble, then every second counted.
“We all agree?” Ram asked. Affirmatives echoed back. “If we get out of this, we stay dark for a while. Let things settle down. No one reach out. We’ll meet back on Myer’s Moon… say, three or four weeks.”
“And if we don’t get out of this?” Niko asked.
“Then we bide our time and wait for Rion and Spark to figure something out.”
“Count on it,” Spark promised.
Ram drew in a deep breath. He was definitely feeling his age and hoped he’d be able to keep up enough to see the plan through. “You guys ready?”
Quick nods all around, and then they bolted.
CHAPTER 29
Spark
The armiger is incredibly fast. I keep track of Niko via his bio-tag and arrive in the woods behind the park pavilion a few seconds before his approach. Connection with my fragment remains strong for now. I am confident in creating sufficient technical issues to help Ram and Lessa evade capture. Mac Quarrie and “his guys” showing up, tearing through the park on quads between Ram, Lessa, and ONI caused enough havoc to give the two a strong lead.
It was an unexpected, though helpful, surprise.
Niko is swift and adept at weaving a difficult trail to follow. Once he flies by the pavilion and rounds the corner, he lobs the key into the woods before racing in another direction, making sure he is seen, and pulling his pursuers off track of the key’s location.
I retrieve the key.
When I return to the yard in Torba, the Ace of Spades is already humming. Little Bit has been given access to all ship’s systems to aid in our escape. I march to the worktable and then jump into Ace’s internal river of circuitry, the armiger parts collapsing to the floor. Together, LB and I direct the ship off the planet as quickly as possible.
I am not in favor of leaving friends behind. It feels wrong. It is wrong. Even though they were right to suggest it. None of us expected Rion
to be on an entirely different planet—if she is even there at all.
And they might not know Erebus VII, but I do.
I kept that knowledge to myself because it is a highly dangerous place to be, even for those who go prepared. No need to worry them further.
I focus solely on our departure, refusing to think about the crew, or concerns that wish to intrude.
We rocket past the upper atmosphere while spinning up Ace’s reactor to initiate the slipspace jump once the ship clears the orbital platforms.
—Ah! Too loud! And itching! Always itching!
I hear it as well, and know what I must do.
Instead of entering jump coordinates to Erebus VII, I revise and calculate decoy coordinates for Geranos-a. Ace’s drive immediately initiates.
Suddenly, sensor data surges through the fiber-optics and hard-light threads, flying past me to station consoles and audio controls throughout the ship: Threat incoming.
I am in multiple places at once, diverting power from bafflers to shielding, changing course, applying pressure to thrusters.
A spray of explosive projectiles from the orbital platform’s cannons glances off the portside bow. With no humans aboard, I am free to divert power from life-support systems and the gravity generator and fully utilize the ship’s Forerunner technologies.
Even at 80 percent stealth, they should not have seen the Ace of Spades.
But I already know… a spy hides in our midst.
Infuriated, I force the ship through a series of evasive maneuvers, while creating a hundred different signatures and sensor readings and then blast them from the ship’s emitters to lay a field of confusion for the orbital platform’s sensor array.
I am the ship. The power is rich and heady and fits me like a glove—not as consuming as Halo, mind you, but splendid nonetheless.
I divert power once again, sending it all to the slipspace drive.
From the outboard cameras, I see the portal ripping a tear in space directly in front of us.
We jump.
—What is it? I’ve been scratching myself raw. It hurts.