by J M Guillen
“A stasis field?” I glanced up at Wyatt.
“I had one queued!” He held up one hand as he tried to explain. “I didn’t think, I just shot!”
“No.” I gestured Rachel. “Should we put a stasis field over her?”
She’s initiated system shock protocols. The fingers on Anya’s left hand twitched. The Caduceus has remarkable self-diagnostic and repair systems.
“I don’t know that she can heal after being shot in both lungs.” I turned to Anya, and I knew she could see the helplessness in my eyes.
My fault.
This was my fucking plan, my fucking fault.
From the other side of Wyatt’s stasis field, I heard men yelling.
I started the sound, glanced at the field, and noticed approximately five centimeters of space lay between the ceiling and the top of the silvery dome.
They can shoot over the field.
On it. Sofia stepped over to the dome and fired one of her quarrels through to the other side. Then she initiated a second aperture, one that filled the entire hallway.
If they try to shoot through, their bullets won’t pass the aperture. I’ve also set a quarrel on the other side for us to get past.
I need Asset Emergency Services. Rachel gazed up at me, even though she linked the entire cadre. There is a Crown docking bay there. Also, the Designate said I had synthetic assistants at the Citadel. She coughed. I might be able to take care of this but not here.
I hereby suspend your moratorium on splitting the party. I gave her a weak smile and glanced up. Sofia, if you can get her back to the Corvus, then initiate that conduit. From there, it’s straight a shot to AES.
Yes, Alpha. But… are you certain we should move her? What if we make it worse?
From the other side of the stasis field, we heard more men yelling.
I’d known that we’d lost all measure of surprise the moment the woman used her radio back at site one. However this situation had spiraled much further out of control.
I caught Wyatt staring at me, confusion and panic evident on his face.
Remember Gideon, Michael. I glanced up toward Anya as she linked to me only. Think about what he would do.
I… I blinked back tears.
Think about how he made you feel when things became dangerous.
I took a deep breath. Anya was absolutely right.
I stood up.
Wyatt, I don’t think they’ll get through. But we’ll be engaged here for just a moment. I need you to switch over to something that might work better in a firefight. Put it on your quick trigger. If things go bad, you’re our first defense.
Wyatt paused in place for a moment and then blew out a long breath. Okay, Hoss. He gave a tiny shake of his head. Alpha. I’ve got this.
Rachel, I met the young woman’s gaze and tried to fight down the panic and fury I felt at her injury. Can you respond?
Yes, Alpha. Her link felt distant.
I have a patient who has been shot twice. She wasn’t wearing quasi-steel.
Rookie mistake, she linked weakly.
She has chest injuries. I need to know if I can move her without further injury.
Um, she linked, obviously somewhat dazed.
Rachel, I need you to listen to me. I crouched down next to her and put my fingers beneath her chin. I lifted her head so she could see my eyes.
Okay, Bishop. She gave the faintest little grin.
Someone I care about very much has been shot twice. I held my gaze on hers. What is the safest way to move her to AES?
Has she been shot in both lungs? Her head lolled, and it almost seemed as if she might laugh. Is she particularly brilliant?
Yes to both. What do I need to do?
You want three shots of type I-A viral mecha. That will cut the pain. She coughed.
Okay. Frantic with haste, I patted my pockets until I found the one that held my stash of personal vials of mecha.
I also recommend two shots of type IV. She coughed again, and I saw the blood on her lips. For repair. They’ll automatically begin to knit up significant injuries.
I can do that. I picked through my vials, pulled out what I needed, and stuffed the rest back in. After I inject the patient, can I move her?
Yup. She blinked and gave me a somewhat sickly smile. But I worry about your patient if you’re the one playing Caduceus, Bishop.
Here. I handed the vials to Anya. Get the mecha into her system. Once you have, Sofia can take her home. I nodded at Delacruz as I linked.
Okay. Delacruz bounced on her toes, a little too eagerly. Ready.
Hoss, we need to move. What’s the play?
Can you drop that stasis field? I jerked my chin at the construct. Or is it set to remain in place until the heat death of the universe?
Sure. I can shut it down. He spat. ’Course, it sounds as if every Irrat ever born is on the other side of that thing.
Here’s our move. I stood up and surveyed them. Wyatt, Anya, and I are going to hoof it back down this hallway. While we’re on the move, I need Sofia to get Rachel back to AES.
Got it. Sofia nodded.
I expect that to take less than three minutes. It’s just a couple of quick apertures for you, right?
Right. As long as I don’t hurt her when I move her.
Patient will be fine, Rachel linked weakly. As long as she gets to AES quickly.
When Sophia gets back, Wyatt’s going to drop that stasis field. I raised one eyebrow at him.
They’ll come after us. They know we’re down here.
We’ll fall back to the first spike Sofia placed in this location. She can rendezvous with us there. After you take the initial stasis field down, you’ll put another one in front of us at our new location.
To protect us from pursuing assholes. Wyatt nodded. Okay.
Once we have our Gatekeeper back, she’ll link up the two apertures. We’ll be right back here, and we can go forward. I jerked my chin in the direction of the active field. You’ll put that bad boy back, behind us, and they won’t be able to get through.
They’ll be trapped between the two of them. I couldn’t tell whether the thought amused or disgusted Wyatt. For as long as the Designates leave them up. That might be days. Weeks, I dunno.
You can set the fields to eventually drop if the idea turns your stomach. I glanced down at Rachel. Just now, I don’t mind the idea of them suffering.
Wyatt nodded.
Any questions? I glanced around my cadre but saw no confusion. It seemed as if they knew their roles.
I believe that covers all eventualities. Anya injected Rachel with the last of the type IVs and stood. The patient is ready to be moved, Gatekeeper.
Copy that. Sofia pushed her hair out of her face. On your mark, Alpha.
Mark. I jerked my chin toward Wyatt and Anya. Let’s do this.
7
For this moment at least, everything went exactly according to plan. Sofia easily escorted Rachel back to AES, and our remaining trio quickly fell back to our previous position.
Michael, I have a concern, Anya linked Wyatt and myself. Something we may not have considered.
“What’s that?” Almost unconsciously, I’d taken my familiar position at point. It seemed odd to take point as Alpha, yet it was simply the best way for the three of us to work.
I am uncertain if Asset Guthrie is aware, but you are probably carrying at least two vials of medicated viral mecha that are specially formulated for your specific condition.
“I didn’t know you knew about my anti-wolfy meds, Anya.” I glanced back at her. “But yeah. The Designates had to formulate a medicine I could use while in torpor. It’s been recommended that I carry a couple of vials with me when I’m on dossier.”
I will not advise you on how to deal with the aberration, Anya clarified. Yet as we prepare to engage in a potentially combative situation where the Caduceus has been removed from play, perhaps you should consider an early dosage?
“No, you’re right.�
�� I’d already considered taking one of the injections; I’d been reminded of it when I dug through my stock for Rachel. “Once my bestial friend decides to make an appearance, I don’t know if I’ll have the time or clarity of mind to take my medicine.”
“Will it drive the thing away?” Wyatt shook his head and shuddered. “I remember what you looked like when it’d come on ya, Hoss. You were positively bathed in blood. Weren’t pretty.”
“The Designates seem to think a shot will handle it.” I sighed. “Last time, only Hyper-Rationality drove it off.”
“You know, I don’t have any of Hyper-Rationality in my pockets.” He made a show of patting himself down.
“I don’t know,” I said wryly. “There’s an awful lot of pockets in them overalls.”
“Ha!” Wyatt gave a belly laugh and shook his head.
“When we arrive at Locale Two, I’ll take my medicine.” I shrugged, and snuck a glance at Anya. “They aren’t really certain how long it will last. We also don’t know if it’ll be enough.”
I understood that testing took place while you were in torpor?
“Oh, it did. The thing is, while one is in torpor, it’s a little difficult to emulate fighting for your life against Irrats.” I popped my knuckles. “All the Designates can really say is that they know the injectable is likely to assist in keeping the creature at bay.”
“And that’s why you’re always supposed to have a babysitter.” Wyatt scratched his beard.
“Long and short of it, yeah. The Designates are apparently afraid of how scary I get when I’m possessed by a four-armed, Japanese monstrosity.”
“They ain’t wrong, Hoss.” The giant man blew out a breath. “I watched you rip a man’s legs off, saw you drink another fella’s blood.”
“That was a bad day.” I tried to lend a touch of levity to my voice. “I’ll take my medicine, and we’ll try to make certain I don’t have another one.”
We hadn’t quite made it back to Locale Two before we saw the aperture open. Sofia stepped through and gave us a playful smile.
“I beat ya.”
“What’s the status on my Caduceus?” I fumbled in my pocket and pulled out the small injector.
“Better than I imagined.” Sofia gave a small shrug. “I apparently didn’t realize ‘synthetic assistants’ meant she had Facility drones and Adjunct aspects capable of most AES functions to help her out.”
“That’s true.” Wyatt nodded. “I got stitched up by a drone a few years ago. A little creepy but damn efficient. ”
“Her prognosis will be updated to her Alpha in four hours.” Sofia jerked her chin toward me. “That’s all the robots would say.”
“Sounds good.” I applied the injector to the underside of my arm. “We ready for step two?”
“I’ve got Rosie all ready.” Wyatt smiled and stroked the length of his Tangler as if it were a pet.
“Mark.” I nodded at him.
WHUF!
Approximately two meters ahead of us, the silvery dome of a stasis field blossomed into existence. This one stood a touch taller than the previous to fill the entire passageway from floor to ceiling.
Wyatt tapped a couple of keys and gave me a wicked smile. “First stasis field is down.”
“Let’s give them a moment,” I said and glanced at Anya. “Watch our telemetry?”
I have been. A smug little glint sparkled in one blue eye as she plucked at her interface. And yes, Irrational targets are on the move.
“Ready to ignite aperture.” Sofia raised her right hand to adjust something on the side of the Temporal Corona.
Moments later, we heard voices and the shuffling of feet. As they got closer, I pointed first to Sofia and then to Wyatt.
Without word, without a link, Sofia ignited the aperture behind us. She’d already linked it to the one we’d come out of when this whole interlude started, and we could easily see into that hallway.
“Seems like we’re clear.” I pointed toward the aperture.
We went through and I saw the results of Wyatt’s handiwork.
You actually stuck this guy? I stepped over the corpse of the man who’d shot Rachel.
He lay on the ground, his face wide with surprise. One of Wyatt’s spikes jutted out in the middle of his chest, buried almost to the top.
I’d like to claim t’ be a sharpshooter. Wyatt hopped over the man as well. Truth to be told, I panicked. I just shot on instinct.
He won’t require this ammunition. Anya crouched and pulled a couple of clips from the man’s belt. I do appreciate extra supplies.
The passageway before us appeared exactly as it’d been detailed on Sophia’s maps. The low hallway couldn’t have been more than ten meters long; Wyatt had to duck a bit.
Ahead of us, it opened into a small room.
Shit’s ancient. Wyatt traced his fingers along the stone wall and noticed how easily it crumbled. Gotta be early Roman. Like, well before the Church.
Before we get into more of your conspiracy theories, wanna close the back door? I waggled my eyebrows at him.
Oh. He flushed sheepishly. Right.
Alpha, Anya warned. She stepped forward, and I noticed that the fingers on her left hand twitched considerably faster than those on the right.
What do you have, Preceptor?
WHUF! Wyatt fired and ignited stasis.
I have observed that same signature. They have opened another amphora.
Fuck! The last thing I wanted was to add another stop on our trip. This is the shit I worried about. I’m afraid as long as Amir is afoot, he’ll just keep cracking open more jugs.
He does remain onsite. Anya paused. We have not lost him, Alpha.
How far off is the new rift?
She turned around and met my gaze.
Less than thirty meters. We now have two of the rifts open within fifty meters of our current location.
Delacruz, let’s use the Wraith. I toggled my own, even as I linked.
I thought you said the creatures could still somehow see you? she asked as she faded from sight.
They could. I strode forward and entered the small room. But the human cultists might be a different story.
Would you look at this? Wyatt gaped up at the walls.
Four passageways exited the room, exactly like the one we’d just come in. Rounded on top, intricate decorations had been fastened down the sides of each doorway, universally, leering skulls or capering skeletons. In several locations, Latin inscriptions had also been added, yet these had become too worn for even the Crown to translate.
Huh. I traced my fingers along the intricate designs. How long had it been since anyone touched this stone? The thought fascinated me.
In the corners between the archways, three shelfs recessed into the walls. They held emaciated corpses, most of which had rotted away to skeletons. A few, however, appeared to be dried mummies.
The necropolis, Anya linked matter-of-factly. It is unknown how long these passages have existed, but it is certain that early Roman emperors built many.
I really dislike the idea of Irrats having so many corpses around, Sofia linked.
I couldn’t see her, but I had a token in my Crown that showed her basic location.
She stepped over to one of the corners, as if she peered within.
I don’t know if that’s a concern. The Darkened Road isn’t a cult of your garden-variety necromancers, I linked to the group.
There are garden-variety necromancers? Wyatt linked to me. He only had a vague idea where I stood, but he gave the area a toothy grin.
“GraaaAAAACK!” The croaking cry echoed before us, somewhere in the darkness.
We all stopped still and listened.
Okay. I paused for a moment. Let’s remember our positions. Wyatt, your job is to close those rifts. I want stasis fields over them that won’t fall, like, ever. Or at least until the Designates can handle things.
Powered by gravity, he agreed. I got it, Alpha.
Delacr
uz, once we get these closed, you gotta get us the fuck out of here. Also, I don’t want any of us within arms-length of toady. Whatever you have to do to extract an Asset from physical—
“We have company!” A woman cried from an indeterminate distance ahead.
One side! I hurled myself to the left just as the bark of gunfire echoed from the darkness.
Damnit. Wyatt lay on his back and peered into the hallway. I’d hoped we’d get closer to the puddle before we got made.
No rest for the wicked. I frowned.
Gunfire barked again and a few shots ricocheted off the ceiling and floor. We had split the room down the middle, with Anya and I on one side, Sofia and Wyatt on the other.
It is a distraction. Anya crouched and peered down the hallway. They can pin us here while reinforcements come in from the side.
Not if I throw down a few spikes.
I have a quarrel down, Sofia reminded us. If we need to, we can open an aperture here and step out approximately sixteen meters to the west.
I wouldn’t mind a peek at what’s over there. I paused for a moment as more bullets sang through the doorway. Could you use the Corona to give me a small aperture right here in front of me? Just something I could peek through?
Easy enough. I felt her smile through the link.
You want spikes on either side of us? Wyatt pushed himself to his feet.
I want full-blown stasis fields, large enough to block the doors. They don’t need to be fancy, we might still want to go in that direction.
You want me able to remove them. Roger that. I heard the Tangler whine as he tapped on a few keys.
You want this at face level, Alpha? Delacruz asked.
Down here, one hundred ten centimeters off the ground. I continued to crouch, reluctant to give up my view of the hallway.
Will comply.
Sofia didn’t need to use the gatekeeper crossbow in order to open an aperture. The Temporal Corona Crown augment could do the job just as well.
Delacruz initiated a small aperture, approximately the size of a dinner plate, flush against the wall in front of me. For a moment it simply hung there, a shimmering circlet of scarlet fire that warbled and sang.
I’ll connect on your mark, she linked.