by Ken Lozito
"Yes, I am."
"Well, you didn't know either," Dash replied.
Brad cleared his throat. "Guys, most people don't know this. And most people don't know about the lower-grade antennas on C-cats. We’re over two thousand kilometers from Sanctuary. You can make the connection, but it’ll take time."
Merissa swung her gaze to Brad. "And how long is the auxiliary power supposed to last?"
Dash's annoyance with Merissa was almost instantly gone now that she had turned her wrath toward Brad, and she had asked a good question.
Brad had opened his mouth to answer when the wallscreen winked out. The system was down again.
Merissa sneered. "Evidently not that long."
Brad shook his head and went back to the auxiliary power supply. Jim and Selena went with him.
Once they were out of earshot, Dash looked at Merissa. "Snapping at everyone isn't going to help all that much.”
Merissa's cheeks reddened. "What are we going to do? We’re so far from Sanctuary, and we might not even be able to call for help."
Dash knew she was scared. Hell, he was scared. "We might have to leave the C-cat and head into the city. It could be our best bet."
Merissa's eyes widened. "Leave the safety of the vehicle again? That didn’t work out so good the last time we did it.”
"Do you have a better idea? Because I'm open to ideas,” Dash said and then sighed. “Right now, the only thing I can think of is to head to the NEIIS city and find a way to transmit the emergency beacon broadcast from there. I saw several monoliths from the video feed. I think if we get to the top of one, the higher elevation will perhaps help the signal further its range. I don't know, but it's the best thing I can think of," Dash said.
“Didn’t you send Dr. Bishop a message last night?” Merissa asked.
“I did, and they should be able to find the outpost. If they go there . . .” Dash said and let his voice trail off. He was making too many assumptions and he hated doing that.
Jim glanced back at them from the middle of the C-cat. "The auxiliary power supply is damaged. We can't fix it without replacing it entirely and there are no extras onboard.”
Merissa glanced at him and he shrugged. With the C-cat not having any power, they didn't have a choice now.
“There’s only a few hours of daylight left. I think we should camp here for the night and head out to the city in the morning,” Dash said.
Selena’s eyes widened. “You want to spend the night out here?”
Jim nodded and Selena looked at him. "We don't have a choice."
“We could make it to the city, but we’d have to scramble to find somewhere to camp inside and we don’t know what could be waiting for us there. I think it will be safer to stay here, gather our supplies and the emergency beacon, and then head for the NEIIS city in the morning. Perhaps there we can find a way to call for help," Dash said.
No one else protested the decision to leave the safety of the C-cat anymore. Jim and Selena went back into the transport to gather the supplies they’d need to take with them. Merissa walked over to Dash.
"You said earlier that satellite coverage is limited at our current location. What good is going to the city gonna do?" she asked.
“The transmission would be stronger the higher up we are so it would increase our odds of the message going out. Also, there might be NEIIS technology we can use to boost the signal. We know they used ultrahigh-frequency waves so there might be something there we can adapt," Dash replied.
“I wonder if we can figure out when the satellites will be passing overhead,” Merissa said and went to speak with Brad about it.
Dash activated the rest of the recon drones so if anything dangerous did wander nearby they’d have ample notice of it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt like Connor was judging him, as if Dash should've known something like this could happen. But he pushed those thoughts out of his mind and focused on all of them reaching the city safely.
Chapter Nineteen
Connor sat in the passenger area of a former CDF troop-carrier transport ship that had been adapted to mainly doing supply runs between Sanctuary and Sierra. The main body could hold large supply caches, as well as a Polaris ATV. Given the heightened ryklar activity being reported, he wasn't taking any chances with this mission, so they’d brought the ATV with them, as well as additional supplies for a search and rescue mission. They had just left the second previously-undiscovered NEIIS site and there was no sign of Dash or the others ever having been there. Even though he knew Lenora wanted to find their wayward students, Connor could tell she also wanted to do a proper field evaluation of the new sites.
"That's two down," Lenora said.
Connor nodded. "We continue east for the next one, which is farther from any colonial settlement and the last one within the triangulation area we identified based on Dash's initial message. I guess he figured if he went farther east there would be less of a chance of running into ryklars."
"He did say they would send us a follow-up message. I'm not sure why we haven't gotten it yet," Lenora said, sounding worried.
Connor glanced at her. She looked tired and anxious. "He could've changed his mind."
Lenora shook her head. "No, he wouldn't have changed his mind or else he wouldn’t have said it initially.”
Then something must've gone wrong, but Connor didn't want to voice that without sufficient evidence.
Captain Ramsey walked out of the cockpit and headed toward them. "We just sent an update back to Sanctuary. There's been no further contact with Dash or any of the others, but we did learn that they brought a fifth person with them—Brad Kelly, who’s one of the tech engineers working in the archives," Captain Ramsey said.
"Why would a tech engineer go with them?" Connor asked.
"He helped them before. Maybe they asked him for help again," Lenora said.
Connor thought about it for a moment and then snorted. “Right. It's as simple as that and has nothing to do with the two pretty young girls with them."
Lenora looked unconvinced.
“Don’t give me that. These guys are young and I’m just saying it's a motivating factor. It worked for me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Connor said.
Lenora rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls."
"Some of them like a man in uniform," Connor replied.
Captain Ramsey cleared his throat. "As entertaining as this is, it doesn't help us all that much."
Connor drew in a breath. "Dash is already an expert with NEIIS technology, so why bring someone like Brad Kelly?"
Lenora shook her head. "Assuming it was his idea, it couldn't hurt to bring a backup. Also, a technical engineer like Brad has skills that go beyond NEIIS technology. Perhaps Brad was just intrigued by what happened at the archives and they knew they were going far from Sanctuary without support so they brought him along.”
A comlink opened from the cockpit. "Captain, we received a strange transmission burst, but it’s not from any colonial frequencies in our database,” Sergeant Regina Hale said.
"Do you know the source of the signal? Is it coming from site three?" Captain Ramsey asked.
"That's a negative, sir. I'm not able to pinpoint the exact location, but our best guess is that it's from a good deal farther to the north,” Sergeant Hale said.
Captain Ramsey glanced at Connor.
"We should maintain course and heading and monitor for more signal bursts," Connor said.
"Did you hear that, Sergeant?" Captain Ramsey asked.
"Yes, Captain. Maintaining course and heading," Sergeant Hale said.
The comlink closed.
"You sure we shouldn’t investigate that signal?" Captain Ramsey asked.
"If we have no other leads after we visit the third site, we can look into it,” Connor said and paused in thought. “We could forward the information about the signal burst to Sierra, just to keep them in the loop.”
Lenora
glanced at Captain Ramsey for a moment. "Do you think this has to do with the CDF alert for ryklar activity?"
"I'm not sure, to be honest. It just seems like a lot of things are happening all at once and I can’t help but think it's all related somehow—the signal bursts along with the increased ryklar migration, these NEIIS sites and the fact that the NEIIS data module had such an effect on the archive’s computer systems,” Captain Ramsey said and shrugged.
"I've been thinking the same thing,” Connor said, sliding his fingertips across his chin. “Sometimes I wonder if we haven’t accidentally tripped the signal bursts we've been seeing—you know, like a latent NEIIS automated protection protocol.”
Lenora frowned. "How would we even have done that? The first time that happened was when we were exploring actual ruins. Then Dash brought up that console from the outpost, which only showed them a map before it got fried, and nothing was triggered from that other than some kind of check-in protocol. We checked to see if the ryklar protection protocol had been initiated and there was no indication of that."
"I just think they're all related, but I'm not sure how. If the NEIIS have one way to trigger ryklars into taking action, then why not another?” Connor said.
There was a long silence while the others considered what Connor had said.
“Geez, Connor, that’s a cheerful thought,” Captain Ramsey said.
“It’s just a thought, and I hope I’m wrong,” Connor said.
“Maybe we should get some help from the CDF to investigate it,” Captain Ramsey said.
Connor cocked his head to the side. “I’d prefer to have more concrete evidence. We wouldn’t even know where to send them.”
A loud snore sounded from a row of seats behind them.
Lenora glanced back and grinned. "So that's why no one likes to camp with Ian."
"I thought you knew," Connor said, grinning, and for a moment things were just as they'd always been. But all too soon, the tension crept back between them, shattering their brief moment of playful familiarity. Lenora seemed to notice it as well.
A message appeared on the nearby wallscreen. They were about to land at the third NEIIS site. It'd taken them nearly all day to investigate the first two sites and daylight was running out.
The troop-carrier transport landed and Connor retrieved his modified CAR-74 hunting rifle. Lenora grabbed her own hunting rifle while Connor activated three of the recon drones they brought with them. He knew Sergeant Hale would've run initial scans of the area, and if she'd found anything, they would've been notified immediately.
Ian Malone finally woke up and was gathering his own equipment. They were joined by Sergeant Hale and Corporal Julia Bennett, both armed with standard Field Ops equipment. Connor lowered the loading ramp and a cool breeze blew in. The sun was starting to dip on the horizon.
Connor moved to go down the loading ramp first and Captain Ramsey called out to him.
"Why don't you let my team go first?" Captain Ramsey said.
Connor glanced at Sergeant Hale and Corporal Bennett and nodded. "Sorry. Old habits."
The Field Ops team, including Captain Ramsey, headed for the NEIIS outpost first. They quickly opened the door and gestured for the rest to follow.
Connor took a quick glance, scanning the surrounding area, and then headed inside the NEIIS outpost.
"This site is remarkably well-preserved,” Lenora said while looking at the almost pristine interior of the NEIIS outpost. “They were here," she said and gestured toward the NEIIS console.
Connor walked over to the console and squatted down. “Looks like those control panels have been opened recently.”
Lenora came over to him and activated the console. Connor stood and watched as the startup sequence showed the familiar NEIIS symbols. Lenora then brought up the map. They waited a minute for the map to finish initializing and then the output on the mesh screen changed.
Captain Ramsey tasked Sergeant Hale and Corporal Bennett to do a quick patrol around the outpost and then joined Connor, Lenora, and Ian at the console.
"This map is more detailed than the one we have," Ian observed.
There were several more sites identified on the map, each with a series of NEIIS symbols.
"How do we figure out which one they went to?" Connor asked.
Lenora glanced at him, slightly amused. "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already, given what you know about Dash."
Connor frowned and peered at the map. There were multiple sites far to the north. They'd have to run it through their own software in order to bring it to scale, but there was one particular site that was clearly distinguishable from the others. He glanced at Lenora.
"Oh, yes,” Lenora confirmed. “It's that one way to the north, farther than any field survey expedition has gone before.”
Connor blew out a breath and sighed. "It would have to be."
"Why would he go all the way there?" Captain Ramsey asked.
"Because that's the major find. It must be a city that’s even larger than Sanctuary. My guess is they'd want to go there, do a survey of the area for a few days, and then report their findings. They're not equipped for an expedition that could take months, but the discovery would be crucial for requesting a FORB for that location. They've only taken two weeks of provisions, at best," Lenora said.
Connor glanced out the open door where the New Earth sky and clouds were awash in a deep red as the sun continued to set. "Even if we left now, it would be the middle the night by the time we got there," Connor said.
"I'd rather not try to search for this city in the middle the night, if it's all the same to you," Captain Ramsey said.
Connor had no doubt that they could reach the city, but searching for Dash and the others might be a problem given the limitations of the troop-carrier systems.
"We could camp here and get an early start," Ian said.
"I agree," Lenora said. "We’ll leave before sunrise. That way it will be full daylight by the time we reach the city."
Connor smiled. "I guess it's settled then. Plus, it gives us a chance to explore this outpost a little bit. Hopefully, we’ll receive an update from Dash by then."
He’d started to walk out of the NEIIS outpost when Lenora asked where he was going.
"I'm sending an update to Sanctuary just so they know what we've discovered so far," Connor said.
Chapter Twenty
Colonel Sean Quinn stood in his office at the Colonial Defense Force base at Sierra, located on the outskirts of the city’s rebuilding efforts. This main administration building was also home to the centralized command center of all CDF activities and had been his station for the past year since General Nathan Hayes had made Sean his second-in-command.
Sean's office was large in comparison to his previous post and could function quite easily as a mobile command center on its own. He'd insisted on this setup for his office because it saved him from having to go to the actual command center to see the current status of any activity. He glanced to the right at the multitude of wallscreens that were active with live feeds from CDF Command Central, placing his hands on his hips while he took in the information being displayed.
There was a quick knock at his door and Sean glanced over as Captain Juan Diaz walk in.
Diaz looked at all the wallscreens and nodded in appreciation. "You get all the cool toys," he said and grinned.
"You could have cool toys, too, if you’d just take that promotion Nathan and I have been trying to give you for the past year," Sean replied.
Diaz made a show of peering at the wallscreens and then looked back at Sean. "Then I'd get my own mobile command center in my office? No thanks. I told you I’m only good at my current rank."
Sean shook his head. "That's crap, and you know it. Connor let you get away with it, but I think I'm just gonna give you the same work I would give a CDF major. How's that sound, Captain?"
Diaz straightened and saluted. "Outstanding, sir."
Sean sno
rted and turned back toward the wallscreens, frowning.
Diaz cleared his throat. "We have a call with General Hayes in five minutes, sir.”
Sean nodded. "We'll take it in here."
Diaz came over to his side. "You'd think that with all the drills we did in preparation for the Vemus invasion, the colonists wouldn't be so slow to respond in the face of an imminent threat."
"The colonists are doing just fine. We've only told them there was the possibility of an imminent threat from the ryklars. What frustrates me is the fact that we’ve been caught so unprepared," Sean said.
"What do you mean, sir?" Diaz asked.
"The CDF was designed in response to a threat coming from space—the Vemus. The fact that the ryklars have all but disappeared for the past few years has lulled us into a false sense of security, but that doesn't change the fact that we’re ill-equipped for the current situation," Sean said.
"We could just send every Hellcat we have, armed to the teeth, which would ruin any ryklar’s day. We also have heavy weapons at Lunar Base that could be brought down here to further drive the point home to those beasts that they should leave us alone,” Diaz said.
Sean arched an eyebrow toward the captain. "Where do we send them? Why have the ryklars begun moving south en force? We’re still estimating, but we put their numbers at almost a million."
Captain Diaz's eyes widened. "A million!" he said in a tone of disbelief. "The last report I saw was that it was a few hundred thousand. In that case, we can skip the Hellcats and just move in with heavy weapons."
Sean shook his head. “Dropping bombs may not be the best answer to this threat. The fact of the matter is, we have more insight into this star system than we do the planet surface. Granted, the Vemus did wipe out our satellite network, which we’re addressing, but it does represent a significant oversight on our part.”
A comlink alert highlighted in yellow came to prominence on the central wallscreen. Sean acknowledged it and General Nathan Hayes’ face appeared while all the other wallscreens dimmed. The general was at the command center at Lunar Base and had been there for the past several weeks to inspect the rebuilding efforts, as well as to tour the new shipyards being rebuilt. It would still be months before they were able to start building actual warships, but at least they'd made some headway just in case there was a remnant Vemus force that hadn't yet arrived. No deep space probe or observation platform had detected any sign of a Vemus presence, but General Hayes was taking a page from Connor's book. He wanted to be prepared and rule out any external threats to the New Earth star system.