by Timothy Zahn
From down the ramp came the staccato hiss of a gauss rifle. The final battle had begun. She finished with the panel and stood up, too quickly, fighting for balance against the tank riding over her shoulder and hip—
She caught her breath. The tank.
The flamethrower.
And Whist and Dizz had completely forgotten she had it.
She glanced at Ulavu, still fiddling with the transmitter. For a second she was tempted to toss a sample tube to him and tell him to scoop out some cells from the nearest psyolisk carcass. But he was busy, and that was her job anyway. After loping across the chamber, she found one of the psyolisks Ulavu’s warp disk had eviscerated, pulled a few cells and fluids from three different areas, injected them into the bioanalyzer’s secondary port, and headed for the archway.
She paused at the second landing, craning her neck to peer over the barrier. Whist, Dizz, and Tanya were below her on the bottom landing, firing down the ramp toward the entrance. She headed down, rounded the barrier, and peered between Whist and Tanya.
The tree palisade had been knocked down, all right, though she couldn’t see what had been thrown against it. Clambering up and over the shattered lumber were dozens of zerglings, banelings, and hydralisks, all clearly determined to get over the barricade and charge into the defenders’ fire.
And the zerg were winning. Whist was no longer firing bursts with the same abandon he’d shown earlier in the mission, and he was clearly working hard to conserve his waning ammunition supply. Dizz was doing the same. Tanya’s face was pinched with strain as she torched enemy after enemy after enemy.
Erin smiled tightly. Well, Abathur and the psyolisks had a surprise coming. Fumbling with the flamethrower’s nozzle, she finally got it unhooked from the tank. She stepped forward and tapped Whist on the arm. “Whist?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “You finished?”
“Yes,” Erin said, wincing. Even in the last couple of seconds the zerg had gained another meter of territory. The forward line of carcasses now extended two or three meters beyond the ends of the trees, and the group climbing over the blockage behind them was pressing ever closer. “I brought you a present,” she said, holding out the nozzle grip. “I think you forgot we had it.”
“Didn’t forget,” Whist grunted. “Can’t use it.”
Erin blinked. “Why not?”
“Because we’d be shooting downhill,” Whist said, firing off another burst from his gauss rifle. “That means a lot of the heat would come straight back at us. Our armor can’t handle that.”
“I thought you used these things in combat.”
“Firebats use ’em,” Whist said. “Marines in undamaged CMCs sometimes do.” He gestured to the gaping slits in his own armor. “Marines in damaged CMCs don’t. Crazy as it might seem, we prefer getting sliced up by zerg to getting barbecued alive. It’s faster, and it hurts less.”
Erin looked at Tanya and Dizz, wincing as she spotted the slashes and cuts and openings in their armor. Ulavu, without any armor at all, was out of the question.
Which left only one possibility.
“Fine,” she said. “Show me how it works.”
Whist looked up again. “What?”
“Show me how it works,” she repeated. “My armor isn’t damaged, remember? I’ll do it. Just show me how.”
“You’ll be alone,” Whist pointed out. “Once you open up, we’ll have to retreat.”
She hadn’t thought about that aspect. But it made sense.
It also didn’t matter. However it had to work, it had to be done.
Tanya might have been reading her mind. Maybe she was. “You don’t have to do this,” she called over the gunfire. “Abathur has to run out of zerg sooner or later.”
“Just show me how the damn thing works,” Erin snarled. “I’m scared enough, all right? Just get me started before it’s too late.”
“I’ve got it,” Dizz said, holstering his gauss pistol and stepping to Erin’s side. For once, Erin noted distantly, there was none of the snarky sense of humor that always seemed to be simmering beneath his surface. “I used things like this all the time. Okay, here’s the flow control. Here’s the igniter trigger. Full range is about thirty meters; effective flash-cooking range for a zerg is five to ten…”
The weapon wasn’t too complicated. All too soon, she was ready. “Okay,” she said, unclipping her bioanalyzer and handing it to Tanya. “Here—the preliminary analysis should be finished. You can send it to the Hyperion as soon as Ulavu has the transmitter working. I’ll get as far down as I can before I start.”
“We’ll stay and back you up as long as we can,” Whist said. “Good luck.”
She was halfway down the ramp when a pair of zerglings managed to slip through the barrage coming from the landing and charged. Reflexively, she ducked to the side, her fingers fumbling for the controls Dizz had shown her. The nozzle grip vibrated subtly as the fuel surged through it—
And abruptly a roiling cloud of brilliant blue-white flame blasted across her vision. It washed across both of the attacking zerg, and she caught a glimpse of their carapaces charring in midair before they shot past, out of sight.
She released the trigger, shaking with adrenaline reaction. No matter how many times zerg charged at her, no matter how close they came or how far back they stayed, each time was just as terrifying as the very first attack outside Point One.
But there was no time for introspection. Even with just a single shot the temperature inside her armor had risen noticeably. Whist hadn’t been kidding about that. A few more shots, and even her fully intact armor might start to break down.
More zerg were coming at her. She ignited the nozzle again, spraying fire like water from a garden hose over the whole line. Another line leaped off the inner edge of the trees, and she again swept it with fire. Most of the zerg died with a single blast, but a few had to be given a second shot in order to take them down. She continued forward: step, spray; step, spray; step, dodge, spray. Sometimes one of the creatures got past her, and she could only hope that it was too injured to bother her or that one of the others would deal with it.
If they were still there. Her helmet had a rear display, but the smoke was swirling so thickly around her that she couldn’t see anything back there. Even in front, it sometimes took a quick burst of flame to blast away the smoke long enough for her to see where the latest threat was coming from.
Dizz had shown her where the fuel-level indicator was. But she didn’t dare take her eyes away from the battle long enough to look at it. If she ran out…but she couldn’t think that way. Her plan depended on her reaching the entrance with a good deal of reserves left over.
Because she did have a plan. It might not be a good plan, but it was all she had. In the meantime, all she could do was step, fire, step, fire, step, fire.
It was almost a shock when she reached the bottom of the ramp and started across the entry cave itself. The smoke was getting thicker now, and the inside of her armor was becoming uncomfortably hot. She wondered how hot the outer neosteel shell was, and how much insulation her undersuit could provide. The CMC’s cooling system was whining with the strain, and she suspected it wouldn’t last much longer.
Her mind flashed back to Whist’s comment about being barbecued alive. Distantly, she wondered what that would feel like.
Then, suddenly, she was there. Around her were mounds of charred zerg carcasses, enough to make it difficult to walk. Ten meters in front of her was the entrance to the cave.
And heaped in front of the entrance was a tangled mass of wrecked and shattered trees. The biggest stack of kindling she would ever see.
Raising her aim, kicking the flow control all the way over, she fired.
There was another line of zerg coming over the trees. They stumbled and reared back and died under her assault. A fresh wave of smoke rolled over her, and she shot off another blast to clear it away.
To find that the world’s biggest mass of kindling
had now become the world’s biggest bonfire.
“There you go,” she muttered, taking a step backward. She gave the trees one more burst of flame, just to clear away the smoke and to confirm that no zerg were going to get through that anytime soon. “Choke on it.” She turned, and peering through the smoke as she tried to weave her way through the maze of stinking carcasses, she headed back for the ramp.
She had made it to the first landing, and was halfway to the second, when she realized that the acrid smell of burnt flesh wasn’t coming from the charred zerg at all.
It was coming from her.
She would never remember afterward how she made it the rest of the way up. She remembered crying out for help but hearing no answer. Certainly no one loomed out of the smoke to offer aid. She remembered calling again, then realizing that the heat and fire had likely burned off her comm antenna and charred the transmitter. She remembered the fear that that might not be the case, that the lack of response was because her friends were already dead. She remembered putting one foot in front of the other, the stench in her nostrils bringing her to the edge of vomiting, trying desperately to pop the catches of the armor that was rapidly killing her, but not recalling how they worked. She remembered coming around one of the landings and seeing the wavering forms of Whist, Dizz, and Tanya finally appear through the smoke. She remembered a silent scream for help echoing through her mind, and falling, and the agony as new parts of her body pressed up against the burning neosteel of her coffin-sized prison. She remembered being laid on the floor, and Ulavu’s face appearing over her—
And she remembered a sudden wash of coolness, and a lungful of incredibly chilly air.
And then, for a time, she remembered nothing at all.
“Couple of second-degree burns,” Whist muttered as he carefully cut off Erin’s undersuit. “Mostly at joints. Bad one at the left shoulder. No third-degrees I can see.”
“Thank God,” Tanya said, trying to see through the smoke rapidly filling the chamber. She hadn’t seen what Erin had done down there—the heat from the flamethrower had become too intense for any of the rest of them—but from the sound and smell she guessed the trees of the former palisade were now on fire.
It was a good plan, certainly a good temporary one. A barrier like that would be intimidating to even the most determined zerg, and quickly fatal to most of them.
On the downside, the cavern’s entire air supply was now rapidly turning opaque and nearly unbreathable. And of course, eventually the fire would die down.
They should have brought the rest of the gauss rifle spikes from the damaged magazines, she realized. Despite Whist’s deriding of the idea, it looked like they would have had time to reload.
“A hell of a lot of first-degree ones, though,” Whist continued. “Dizz?”
“Here,” Dizz said, handing over a small field tube of burn spray. “That one’s Erin’s. Go ahead and use it up—I’ve got mine ready.”
Whist grunted thanks and began to apply the salve. “She’s lucky we got her out of that armor in time. Another minute, and this would have been a lot worse.”
“Yes,” Tanya murmured. “We.”
“Fine, he got her out,” Whist growled at her. “I already said thank you.”
“Yes, you did,” Tanya said, looking over at Erin’s armor.
Or rather, at the pieces of her armor, which were all that were left after Ulavu cut the red-hot metal off her with quick and surgically precise slashes from his warp blades.
He’d probably saved her life. He’d certainly saved her from months of pain and reconstructive skin surgery. He deserved more than just a distracted thank-you.
But for now, that would have to do.
She looked up, frowning. Ulavu had cut Erin free and had helped the others get her out of the suit. But after that he’d disappeared, not staying around to help them carry her the rest of the way up the ramp and into the adostra chamber. Had the heat and smoke rising from the fire below driven him away?
Probably. Unlike the others, he wasn’t wearing any barrier to their increasingly hostile environment. Moving farther into the adostra chamber would be about all he could do.
Of course, Erin wasn’t wearing armor anymore, either. When she regained consciousness, her whole body would be screaming in agony as hot air pressed against burnt flesh. Maybe when Whist was done with the salve, he could give her something to make sure she stayed asleep.
So where was Ulavu, anyway?
Tanya peered through the smoky gloom, finally spotted him standing by the zerg transmitter. She’d given him Erin’s analyzer earlier—was he sending the data to the Hyperion? Or was it simply that the area near the duct was the only source of cool, fresh air he could find? Ulavu, are you all right? she thought toward him.
I am unharmed, his reassuring thought came back.
Tanya frowned. There was reassurance in his tone, but also something more. Excitement? What is it? What’s going on?
Come, he said. All of you. Come and see.
“Next,” Whist said, tossing aside the empty tube of salve.
“Here,” Dizz said, holding it out.
“Before you start,” Tanya said, “Ulavu wants us to join him over by the transmitter.”
“Whatever it is, it can wait,” Whist said. “She needs this now.”
“I think that’s his point,” Tanya said. “The air underneath that vent has to be better than what’s coming up from below.”
“She’s right, Whist,” Dizz said. “Here—you can keep treating her skin while Tanya and I carry her.”
Whist hissed. “Fine. Just watch that shoulder when you pick her up.”
It was tricky, but they managed it. Maybe just in time, too—even asleep, Erin’s breathing was becoming labored. Briefly, Tanya wondered if her CMC’s air system could be salvaged, or if it was even functional anymore.
They reached the transmitter to find Ulavu standing over it. “So is the air better here?” Whist asked as Dizz and Tanya gently laid Erin on the floor.
It is better, Ulavu said. But I did not invite you here only for that. Behold. He pointed up toward the hole.
And right on cue, an arm-sized chunk of rock tumbled out of the opening and fell with a muted crash onto the floor.
“What the hell?” Dizz said as he twitched backward.
They are enlarging the opening, Ulavu said. He stretched out one foot and swept the piece of rock to the side, and Tanya saw now that there was a growing pile of similar shards over there. Very soon we will be able to escape this chamber.
“Who’s enlarging it?” Whist demanded, looking cautiously up at the hole.
My people, Ulavu said, and there was no mistaking the pride in his voice. The protoss who fought beside Colonel Abram Cruikshank to protect us from the zerg returning from the terran psi emitter trap.
“Ah. Them,” Whist said. “Not that Abathur didn’t have plenty more zerg here in the neighborhood to work with.”
“Quiet,” Tanya admonished him. “However many zerg he had, this way he didn’t have more.”
“I suppose,” Whist said.
When the opening is large enough, they will take Dr. Erin Wyland to the top of the mesa, Ulavu said, ignoring the exchange. Then you will all be brought up, and we will protect you until more aid arrives.
Tanya looked at Whist, expecting another less-than-gracious comment. But the sergeant remained silent. Maybe he was finally remembering the state their armor and weaponry were in. “Thank you, Ulavu,” she said. “From all of us.”
We are glad to render you aid.
More rock chunks were falling from the hole now, almost faster than Ulavu could sweep them out of the way. A bright but somewhat muted glow appeared, the same color as Ulavu’s warp blades. The glow grew brighter and sharper…
And with a last slicing of the rock around the opening, a dark templar dropped through and landed on the floor. He gave a quick, appraising look at each of them, then turned to face Ulavu. Tanya had the s
ense of a private conversation taking place—
This is Alikka, Ulavu said. He and the others have run far to render aid to us. He is prepared now to bring Dr. Erin Wyland to the top.
“Good,” Whist said. “I don’t suppose they have any medical equipment with them?”
No, a new protoss voice echoed through Tanya’s brain. But fresh Dominion air vehicles are en route and will arrive within a quarter hour. Will she survive until then?
“After all this work, she damn well better,” Whist said. “Good enough. You have any rope up there?”
In answer, a coil of slender line unrolled itself through the hole. You know terran physiology best, Alikka said. You will fasten the line for maximum safety to her.
“Thanks,” Whist said drily, taking the end of the line and crouching beside Erin. “I was going to do that anyway. Tanya, you don’t need that visor and hood, do you?”
“Not as much as she does,” Tanya said, popping her visor and handing it over. The hood was a bit trickier, but she was able to get it off. It wouldn’t protect Erin’s head against bumps as well as a full helmet, but at least it would be something.
The air in the chamber was even hotter and smokier than she’d realized, and she found herself blinking back tears as the smoke and ash assaulted her eyes. Whist got the visor and hood on Erin, and Tanya adjusted the air supply controls while he went back to his rope tying.
A minute later everything was ready. At a silent order from Alikka, the protoss on top of the mesa began pulling, easing Erin’s unconscious form up into the hole. Tanya winced as her head brushed the edge, but as long as the bumps stayed small the hood should absorb most of the impact.
They will be careful, Ulavu assured her.
They’d better, she warned. She doesn’t need any new injuries.
I agree. He paused, and Tanya could sense a sudden new attentiveness. Something odd has happened.
“Uh-oh,” Dizz said. “You hear that?”
Tanya strained her ears. “No.”
“Exactly,” he said, drawing his P-45. “The big bonfire outside has stopped.”