StarCraft

by Timothy Zahn

  “Sorry,” Tanya said. “How about you and Erin? A couple of servo-enhanced CMC suits pushing on the trees from Dizz’s side might do something.”

  “It might at that,” Whist said. After stepping back to the line of trees, he took hold of one of the lower branches and with a little effort snapped it off. “Let me clear away enough of these to get around to the other side.”

  “That’ll take forever,” Tanya pointed out.

  “Allow me,” Dizz said. There was the hiss of a jump pack, and he arced into view over the treetops. He landed beside Erin—

  And before she could do more than emit a startled squeak, he grabbed her around the chest and lifted her straight up. He arced again over the trees, and a moment later reappeared, alone, this time grabbing Whist and taking him behind the tree line to join her. “Tanya, you want me back out there where I can help you watch?” he added. “This could take a while.”

  “No, we’re good,” Tanya assured him, turning her back on the trees and giving the area a quick visual sweep. “Go ahead and—”

  She broke off as a sharp crackling of splintered wood suddenly filled the air. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see one of the trees tip over and slam ponderously to the ground.

  “Or maybe it won’t,” Dizz amended. “That was easier than I thought.”

  “The thing’s more like a drawbridge than a palisade,” Whist said with a grunt. “Weird. Okay, we’ll put down one more, then move inward to the next line. Clear!”

  There was another crash as a second tree fell. “Good,” Dizz said. “That should give us enough room to get in but still keep out the bigger nasties.”

  “Okay,” Whist said. “We’ll knock down two in the next line, then figure out how we’re going to get inside the last one.”

  The middle line of trees proved equally easy to topple, though instead of falling flat to the ground, the newly downed trees ended up angled upward toward the sky, resting precariously across the first two.

  “Now for the tricky part,” Whist said. “We can’t get behind them from above—they’re pressed too closely against the mesa for Dizz to drop us in.”

  “And if there’s an opening back there, we won’t have anything to brace ourselves against anyway,” Erin pointed out. “We had to do that for the first two lines.”

  “Right,” Whist said. “Well, like Tanya said, straight-up cutting through the branches will take a while. So—” He raised his eyebrows. “I think this time we’re stuck with the grenades.”

  Perhaps you could use your power, Tanya Caulfield, Ulavu suggested.

  Tanya tensed, her first thought being that he’d sent that comment to the entire team. But the thought flicked away as quickly as it had come. Of course that had been a private communication. Her power was still a closely kept secret, and Ulavu would never betray her that way. It would be tricky, she told him. Burning the trunk will take more than enough heat to ignite the nearby leaves, twigs, and ground cover.

  But you can focus, can you not?

  Yes, but creating that much heat means some is bound to escape through conduction and radiation.

  Using grenades will draw attention, he warned.

  So will starting a forest fire. She hesitated. It’s a question of control, she added reluctantly. I’m not sure if I can use my power here without igniting an inferno.

  He inclined his head. I accept your logic. We will allow them to use grenades.

  Tanya nodded back and returned her attention to the rest of the discussion.

  Which had apparently been a short one. Whist was already breaking off the lowest branches on their target tree, while Dizz made some adjustments on a slender cylinder he’d pulled from his belt pack. “We’re going with grenades, then?” she asked.

  Dizz shot her an odd look. “Yes, we already decided that,” he said. “Try to keep up.”

  Tanya felt her face warming. “Sorry.”

  “Yeah,” Dizz said. “We’ll handle this. You just watch for visitors.”

  The intertwined branches were tougher and more tangled than anyone had realized, and it took nearly ten minutes for Whist to dig away enough of them to get the grenade in place. Twice during that time Tanya considered offering to try her pyro, despite the risks. Both times she resisted the temptation.

  Finally, everything was ready. Dizz ordered everyone clear, and with a crack that was surprisingly loud even through the muffling of Tanya’s hood, the grenade exploded. The blast lifted the tree half a meter off the ground and sent it crashing onto the rest of the freshly cut timber.

  Dizz had been right: there was indeed an opening back there. Tanya couldn’t see its full horizontal extent with the rest of the tree line blocking it, but it was definitely high enough for a hydralisk to get in.

  “One more and we’re in,” Whist said, pulling out one of his own grenades.

  “Or we could just make do with what we’ve got,” Tanya said tensely, her eyes flicking across the line of zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks that had suddenly appeared through the trees. “Incoming: west and south.”

  “Hell in a basket,” Dizz bit out. “We really did wake up the neighborhood, didn’t we?”

  “Everyone in,” Whist ordered. “Everybody in now!”

  No, Ulavu said.

  “Why not?” Whist demanded.

  I mean, no, the grenades did not draw them, Ulavu said, his mental voice taut. They are being drawn by something inside.

  “How the hell can that happen with the psi blocks running?” Whist asked.

  “And what kind of something is drawing them?” Erin added, her voice catching.

  I have no answer to either question. I am…unable to focus in that direction.

  “I can’t, either,” Tanya seconded, trying to concentrate. But it was as if something had suddenly begun buzzing in the front of her brain—buzzing, confusing, and destabilizing. Her vision wavered…

  With an effort, she snapped herself back, pressing a finger against the side of her head near the implant. This was absolutely no time for her to lose control.

  “Well, we definitely know what’s out here,” Dizz said. “Whatever’s in there, I vote we go in and take our chances.”

  “Especially since the hydralisks can’t come in after us,” Whist pointed out. “Everyone inside—same as our marching order.” Turning sideways, he began forcing his way through the narrow gap. “Tanya, you got any more armor-piercing rounds in that rifle, this might be a good time to spend them.”

  “What about whatever’s inside?” Tanya asked, unslinging her C-10. “It’s got some weird buzzing going in my brain.”

  “You still functional?” Whist countered.

  “Mostly.”

  “Then like Dizz said, we worry about things in order,” Whist told her. “Starting with slowing down those hydralisks.”

  Tanya braced herself. “Got it.”

  Dizz was already firing, his P-45 gauss pistol blazing spikes at the incoming zerg. After thumbing off her C-10’s safety, Tanya lined it up on the nearest hydralisk and fired. The creature staggered at the impact—

  “I’m in!” Whist shouted from behind her. “Come on, Ulavu. Tanya, two more rounds, then get back here. Erin, you’re after her. Dizz, keep firing but be ready to give Erin a push if she gets stuck.”

  Ten seconds later, Ulavu was through the gap. Twenty seconds after that, Tanya had joined him.

  From the inside, the hidden cave was more impressive than she’d expected. It was about twelve meters high, about the same as the width of the opening behind the line of palisade trees. The cave extended about seventy meters back from the entrance, with a gently sloping ramp starting at about twenty meters and taking up most of the space on one side. At the top was a landing, though she couldn’t see through the supporting wall whether a corridor headed from there off to the side or whether the landing did a switchback to another ramp heading farther up. However the cave had started out, most of the interior had been remade in the layered,
acid-melted-flesh look typical of zerg biological construction.

  “Watch the ramp,” Whist ordered, tapping her shoulder as he slung his C-14.

  Tanya raised her rifle again, watching the ramp and landing while keeping one eye on the ceiling. There could conceivably be something lurking up there, hidden by the folds and texturing. The buzzing in her mind was getting stronger, and she gave her head a quick shake to try to clear it. It didn’t seem to help.

  There was a sudden tearing of branches from behind her. She glanced around, tensing, to see Whist hauling Erin bodily through the narrow passage between the trees. Apparently, the other woman had gotten stuck. Tanya caught another glimpse of Dizz, his back to Erin as he continued to fire, then swung around again to her guard duty.

  Nothing had attacked, or had even appeared, by the time Dizz finally shoved his way into the cave.

  “Well, that was fun,” Dizz said, breathing heavily as he jammed a fresh mag into his gauss pistol. “Nice place. Now what?”

  “Watch the door,” Whist ordered. “Shoot anything that gets in.”

  “Assuming they even try,” Dizz said, peering cautiously through the gap. “The whole gang seems to have stopped. Maybe trying to figure out what to do next.”

  “Or whichever broodmother is running this sector is figuring it out for them,” Whist said grimly. “Or are we at another, whaddayacallit, balance crossing?”

  No, Ulavu conceded. We are well within a broodmother’s territory.

  “I figured,” Dizz said. “So much for Zagara’s promises. Wait a second—one of the banelings has started up again. Not moving very fast, though.”

  “Broodmother’s probably working out if it can get us with its acid even if it gets stuck in the gap,” Whist said. “Keep an eye on it.” He pulled out a light and flicked it across the ceiling near the edge. “Dizz, do those look like fracture lines to you?”

  “Not a clue,” Dizz said. “You guys spend more time in caves and hugging rock formations than we do.”

  “Yes, they’re fracture lines,” Erin said. “I did a unit on geology in college—”

  “Yeah, fine, you’re hired,” Whist interrupted her. “Dizz, you’re going to start shooting at the fractures. See if you can bring down some of that rock in front of the gap. Erin, you’re going to tell him where to shoot.”

  But do we not thereby risk bringing down the entire mesa on top of us? Ulavu objected. We could all die, or be trapped.

  “One: that stuff’s tougher than it looks,” Whist told him. “He’s not going to bring down much, just enough to fill part of the gap against acid bursts and anything trying to get in. Two: as long as we’ve got grenades, we’re not getting trapped. Three: this isn’t a debate.”

  “Here,” Dizz said, handing Erin a flashlight. “Point me a target. The rest of you going to check out the cave?”

  “That’s the idea,” Whist confirmed. “At least up to that landing. I’ll take point, Ulavu next, Tanya at rear guard. Dizz, if they start moving again and it looks like you’ll have more than you can handle, whistle.”

  Dizz snorted. “Count on it.”

  The ramp, Tanya discovered as they started up, wasn’t particularly steep. It also had the same texturing as the rest of the cave’s interior, which offered more secure footing than smooth rock or metal.

  But even so, she found herself stumbling as Whist led the way up. The buzzing in her mind was getting louder, threatening her balance and her concentration—

  She started as a hand suddenly gripped her upper arm and shook it. “You okay?” Whist asked.

  Tanya blinked. The last thing she remembered was the three of them approaching the top of the ramp. Now, inexplicably, they had already rounded a corner and were a few steps up what had turned out to be a switchback landing and a second section of ramp. Another fifty meters ahead the ramp again ended, possibly at another switchback. “I’m fine,” she said. “What happened?”

  “Ulavu said you were sleepwalking or something,” Whist said. “That buzzing in your head—is it like being inside a beehive?”

  “Yes,” Tanya said, frowning at him. “Why, do you hear it, too?”

  “I hear something,” he said grimly. “Don’t think it’s as loud as yours—I’m not tripping around corners, anyway. Makes it damn hard to focus, though.”

  Tanya looked at Ulavu. Are you all right? she asked.

  I am able to function, he assured her. But I am deeply concerned for your safety and health, Tanya Caulfield. Perhaps you should return to assist the others at the entrance.

  Despite the pressure on her mind, Tanya had to smile at that one. A marine and a protoss researcher, alone with whatever was spinning boomerangs through their brains. Like she was going to let that happen. It’s all right, she said. I can do this.

  They were coming up on the second landing now. Still no sign of anything, but the buzzing was getting louder and harder to fight. They reached the landing, started around the corner toward yet another section of ramp—

  She had just enough time to see the four creatures bounding down the ramp toward them when the buzzing abruptly erupted into a massive, throbbing explosion.

  And the world went black.

  Zerg urban tactics, Whist had long ago discovered, were amazingly predictable. They always waited around a corner, then charged in madly with whatever numbers the overlord or queen or whatever figured would be needed.

  He’d been prepared at the blind spot around the first landing. Nothing. Too obvious, maybe, or else whatever was causing the brain buzzing wanted to work on defocusing the team a little longer. Didn’t matter, really, because he was just as prepared at the second landing, where the expected attack was actually launched.

  There were four zerg, charging silently down the third ramp toward them. Each was about the size of a large dog, a bit smaller than a zergling but with more of the arched-cobra look of a hydralisk. They were the usual collection of angles, fangs, and claws that marked all zerg variants, though there were subtle differences in the specific layout of the killing components.

  What was strikingly different was their coloration. Instead of the usual dark brown that characterized most zerg, these were light brown with red highlights on their legs and claws, and with triple lines of bright red spots starting between their eyes and running all the way up their skulls and then down the centers of their backs.

  It was a color scheme he’d never seen before, especially the red-dot thing. Definitely something new that Zagara had put together for whatever the hell scheme she was spinning.

  He raised his C-14, setting his teeth against the suddenly violent level of buzzing in his brain. The buzzing was apparently the second part of Zagara’s new one–two punch.

  Let her try. Whist had been hit by fatigue, hunger, dehydration, smoke, desertion, ridiculous odds, and the whole general haze of war. He’d gotten through all of them, and he and Tanya would get through this one, too.

  What he wasn’t prepared for was Tanya suddenly collapsing on the ramp behind him. He had about a quarter second to wonder what the hell had happened, and to realize he’d just lost fifty percent of his firepower—

  And then it was too late to do anything but start shooting.

  For the first few seconds, he thought he could stay on top of it. His first burst caught the lead zerg squarely in the torso, just beneath the gaping mouth, knocking it back and reducing its charge to a limping crawl. Either these things were a lot wimpier than they looked, or else he’d had the luck to nail a weak spot. He lined up his C-14 on the next zerg, blinking as his vision suddenly blurred and wavered.

  It was at that moment that he knew he was going to die.

  He could barely focus on the second target, and without clear vision he couldn’t hope to hit that sweet spot again. Even if he was lucky enough to do so, there were two more zerg behind it.

  He would die, and then Ulavu would die, and then Tanya would die, probably still flat on her back. Dizz and Erin would be next, atta
cked from behind without warning because they were concentrating on the threat outside and were counting on Whist and Tanya to guard their backs.

  They were all going to die, and no one would ever even know what had happened. The psi block that had been so brilliantly installed in his armor kept him from shouting out a warning to Cruikshank about Zagara’s betrayal.

  But he could at least use the short-range comm to warn Dizz and Erin before he died. Strange that he hadn’t thought of doing that until just this second. Was mental slowness part of the physical confusion from all the buzzing in his mind?

  No matter. The buzzing would be over soon. He squeezed off a burst into the second zerg, the impact flipping it over on its back. At least that was how it looked—his vision was so blurry now that he couldn’t be sure. He blinked at the two remaining blobs coming toward him, tried to line up his C-14 on one of them—

  And then, to his shock and bewilderment, a figure brushed past from behind, gently but firmly pushing the barrel of his gauss rifle to the side.

  His first thought was that Tanya had somehow awakened from her sudden faint. His second thought was that Dizz had magically divined what was happening and had managed to get here in the nick of time. He blinked twice and shook his head, the movement briefly unfogging his vision.

  The figure wasn’t Tanya or Dizz. It was just Ulavu, striding forward with his arms stretched out to the front and sides, as if he were offering the attacking zerg a friendly bear hug. The protoss’s hands knotted into fists, his thick gardening gloves stretching and splitting open across the backs. The gloves fell off, revealing thinner gloves beneath them with complex metal patterns attached to their outer wrists. Even before the gloves hit the ground, the metal patterns were in motion: popping up, unfolding, and reconfiguring themselves into flattened cylinders. They weren’t like anything Whist had ever seen before, and yet seemed somehow disturbingly familiar.

  He had just enough time to feel his mouth drop open when the cylinders erupted with the incandescent green flame of warp blades.