by Alex Kings
Laodicean considered it all again. With Rurthk's help, he went back to the queen, and obtained all the data from the conquered hive ship. He looked through its communications, highlighted several candidates, and sent the information back to Yilva.
She got back to him a couple of hours later. “Thanks for your help,” she said. “I think I know where they went.”
*
“Blindness,” said Rurthk.
“Blindness?” said Eloise, raising an eyebrow.
“That's what the name translates as,” said Rurthk. “Blindness. Named because it looks like a blinded eye.” He looked over at Laodicean. “Which … seems appropriate.”
“Quite so,” said Laodicean.
Rurthk and his crew, plus the Life queen, were gathered together aboard the hunter ship. They formed a circle around a table. In the centre, a tablet displayed an image of a bright white, featureless-looking planet.
According to Laodicean and Yilva, the new home of the scientists.
It was deep in Glaber space, far from the battlefront. Though after what had happened at Bloodspray, that didn't seem like any kind of guarantee.
“The colour is because of cloud cover,” said Rurthk. “Thick atmosphere filled with water vapour. Gravity of two gees. Surface pressure of about nine atmospheres. surface temperature one hundred and ten degrees. Covered in fast winds of boiling water.”
“Sounds like just the place for a quick vacation,” said Eloise.
“There's some industry,” said Rurthk. “Drones mining the atmosphere for minerals. Otherwise, it's pretty much uninhabited.”
“How will you find them?” the queen asked.
“Yilva gave us a comms signature we can use to identify Vihan Yvredi installations,” said Laodicean. “It worked last time. If they have not changed their protocols yet, we should be able to use the same trick again.”
“And if they have?”
“Then we check records to see who has recently entered the system.”
“They recognised the Outsider the last time,” Rurthk said. He looked at the queen. “With your permission, I'd like to go in with the hunter.”
“Of course,” said the queen.
“We can launch Mero's shuttle from here,” said Rurthk. “And leave the Outsider and the Fire Strider outside the system.”
“They hired Hive Knife. They might recognise the hive ship,” said the queen. “I'll keep it outside too, ready to jump in if we need it.”
“Good plan,” said Rurthk. “Could you also have some soldiers ready? If stealth doesn't serve us, we can just storm the damn place. See how Zino deals with that.”
The queen smiled broadly, bearing her giant teeth. “We've got several troop carriers. I can have fifty Glaber on the planet in a few minutes. And more as soon as the hive ship arrives.”
“That'll be a lot of fun,” said Rurthk, grinning at her. “Let's go.”
*
The queen's hunter jumped into the system. Most of the planets were little more than crater-ridden chunks of airless rock. But close to the blueish star, Blindness, stood out. The sun-facing side was a brilliant, blinding white. Its night side was totally black. It offered no other colours, no other details at all.
The hunter accelerated calmly towards the planet. Aboard, the activity was anything but calm. Laodicean studied the sensors, checking all the planets – just in case – for Vihan Yvredi's signal. Meanwhile Rurthk and Eloise, joining the queen, watched telescope feeds. Glaber soldiers prepared for battle.
There weren't many ships in system. A small group of other hunters in orbit around Blindness were being restocked. The queen's hunter followed their lead, asking to buy volatiles mined from the planet's atmosphere. The atmosphere mining drones themselves were briefly visible as tiny specks that emerged from the lower atmosphere and headed to the holding tanks in orbit.
In a command centre, Rurthk said, “What d'you think are the chances one of those hunters is working for Vihan Yvredi?”
“More than I'd like,” said the queen. “I'll keep an eye on them.”
“Chances are they're going to be keeping an eye on us too,” said Eloise.
Rurthk's comm chimed. He answered it.
“Rurthk,” said Laodicean. “I have found the signal. Vihan Yvredi are on the Blindness.” He transmitted a sequence of co-ordinates.
“Well, then,” said the queen. “Time to get those scientists of yours.”
Chapter 48: Perhaps We Should Just Kill Them
The shuttle was crowded. Besides Rurthk, Eloise, Olivia, Mero and Laodicean, there were four Glaber soldiers crammed in to the back. Mero, grumbling about having to turn his sense of smell off permanently, took the shuttle down into Blindness's atmosphere. He moved slowly following the violent air currents as much as possible to avoid disturbing the cloud cover.
As they approached, the source of the signal became visible. It was flying, but not high – perhaps a hundred metres off the bare and windswept ground. It was an agglomeration of domes fifty metres across, smoothly merging into each other, with a few other branching structures. There was what looked like a shuttle bay at one end. It was a uniform grey, plated in carbide to resist the ferocious temperatures and conditions outside. A few laser turrets studded its surface.
Rurthk studied the structure from different angles, while Mero circled at a distance of several kilometres, keeping the shuttle hidden in the clouds.
The shuttle's computer automatically made a 3D model. Eloise moved through the crowd. She and Rurthk talked to each other in low voices, pointing at various features.
“Okay,” said Rurthk. “This is how we do it. We have two teams. Laodicean, you're with me. So are you two.” He pointed at two of the Glaber. “Eloise, you can take Mero and those two Glaber. Olivia, I want you to keep the shuttle ready. Stay nearby, tell me if anyone tries to leave, and shoot them down if I tell you. And come rescue us if we need it. Think you can handle that?”
“Yep,” said Olivia with a grin.
“I'll enter here,” Rurthk said, pointing at the model, “and cut off the shuttle bay. If their past behaviour is any indication, they have another hidden somewhere, so we can't rely on that.”
“That's where we come in,” said Eloise, gesturing at her team. “We'll enter through a maintenance hatch here, on the opposite end of the structure. We make a move for the scientists, but we also keep an eye out for any hidden escape routes. Spaces that appear on the outer shell that don't correspond to anything inside, that sort of thing. And if that fails …”
“I give chase,” said Olivia.
“No, you come and rescue us from Zino,” said Rurthk. “And tell the hunter where to look for an escaping vessel.”
“Do you know where the scientists might be kept?” said Laodicean.
“It's hard to tell without maps,” said Rurthk. “I've set up our suits to build 3d interior maps from what we see, share them automatically when we use the comms, and combine them with a model of the outer shell. We're coming in soon, so get ready.”
Mero started whistling. “Hey, Laodicean,” he said, his tail snaking out from behind the pilot's chair to jab in the Tethyan's direction. “Check that container beside you. You might find it useful.”
Laodicean did so, and found a stack of transparent sheets of smart matter for covering cameras.
“You know what they are?” Mero said.
“Yes,” said Laodicean. After a moment, he added, “They are a scourge for Investigators.”
Mero laughed loudly, while Laodicean made sure to take some.
Rurthk leaned over to Mero. “Okay,” said. “Take us in.”
*
“It's a mess,” said Mr. Soul. “No doubt about it.”
The two Petaurs stood in a small room filled with computer terminals. Mr. Soul was pacing back and forth. Mr. Hand was bent over one of the terminals, inspecting the screen. “Mhm,” he said in an encouraging tone without looking up.
“And they're starting to get
restless,” Mr. Soul went on. “They're starting to think they're prisoners instead of employees.”
“Surely they know,” Mr. Hand said, “that there is no way they can return to their families now. The GEA would drown their brains in chemicals and dissect the remains. Assuming the species' governments didn't find them first.”
“They know. It doesn't make them any happier. It's all this moving about that does it,” said Mr. Soul.
“They need to see they're being compensated,” said Mr. Hand, turning around to face his companion at last. “We should find a way of getting the money to their families, and prove it to them. And we should get them some space of their own. An open sky, a little village, a garden to work on, instead of these tiny rooms. A planet would be too risky, too open … but perhaps a small rotating habitat?”
“Regardless of how they feel, it's clear they're a liability,” said Mr. Soul. He looked at one of the terminals, showing feeds from the scientists pacing anxiously or sitting thoughtfully in their tiny double-bunked rooms. “Perhaps we should just kill them and be done with it.”
“Come now,” said Mr. Hand. “You know I'm fully in favour of destroying assets when they're no longer useful. But these are people with unique expertise. If we can turn the Blank nanotech into a potential cross-species plague, our dominance will be assured.”
Mr. Soul growled in the back of his throat. “Not if we are discovered.”
“The crew of the Outsider found us somehow,” said Mr. Hand. “If we learn how, we can deal with that loose end.”
“And if there is another?” said Mr. Soul.
“You fret too much.” Mr Hand looked at his ally thoughtfully for a few moments. “I tell you what,” he said softly. “How about we put an implant in your scientists? A small bomb hidden in the front of the skull. If it doesn't receive a code from us every, say, two hours, it goes off. Pop.” He splayed his fingers in suddenly in front of his forehead to illustrate his point. “Scrambled brain. How does that sound?”
Mr. Soul thought, then nodded slowly. “That should suffice.”
“Good,” said Mr. Hand. I'll call in a team before we move them.”
*
Floating up against the structure, the shuttle extended a seal of smart matter between its door and the access hatch.
Mero gestured at the controls, keeping them steady. The scalding winds outside continued to buffet them. They were audible even through the shuttle's hull as a grinding whine.
“We've got an airtight seal,” said Rurthk. The space inside was filled with poisonous boiling water. He ejected it and filled it with air from the shuttle. Then, not sure if the seal would be able to withstand the local environment, he checked for damage. Everything seemed to be working.
“Okay,” he said. “I'm opening the door now.”
“Activate your helmets,” Eloise told her team. “Just in case.” A transparent bubble emerged out of her collar and grew into a helmet.
The door opened. Beyond it was the grey carbide of the structure. The hatch was square, with rounded edges.
“Cover for me,” Mero said to Rurthk, grinning. He flipped acrobatically over the back of his seat and bounded over to the door. On the way, he took out his tablet with his tail and extended it. He spent a fraction of a second finding the hatch's access panel, then connected the tablet. “How we ever got by without these hacking codes, I'll never know,” he said, gesturing at the tablet.
The hatch opened with a faint hiss. Mero grabbed an assault rifle and peered inside. “Clear,” he said, scrambling through.
Rurthk nodded at Eloise. “Good luck,” he said.
“You too,” she said, and ducked through the hatch.
The two Glaber followed, and then the hatch closed from the inside.
Rurthk detached the shuttle, flew over to the far side of the structure, where the shuttle bay joined onto one of the smaller domes. There were no hatches here. He brought the shuttle's belly down onto the carbide shell, formed an airtight seal, and activated the plasma cutter.
While the shuttle was cutting through the shell, he stood up and summoned Olivia over. She settled in front of the controls.
“Ready?” he said.
“You know, I don't think I've ever been ready for anything in my life,” she said, then shrugged and took the controls. “But yeah.”
The hole was complete. Olivia gestured at the console, and the floor opened.
Laodicean went through first, checking the space was clear, then Rurthk and the two Glaber followed.
As soon as they had dropped through the hole, the shuttle closed the hole it had made, sealing the cut with resin and adhesive smart matter. Alone at the controls, Olivia took a deep breath and moved the shuttle away to wait.
Chapter 49: Daring Feats of Banditry
Mr. Hand was about to call some his contacts to arrange a visit from the right surgeons when he noticed a small blip in the base's systems.
“Hm,” he said. “That's odd.”
“What?” said Mr. Soul.
“Possibly nothing,” said Mr. Hand. Nevertheless, he dropped the call and checked the systems. Automatic repair was a little off. He checked the visual feeds from local cameras. Nothing seemed amiss. He checked local atmospheric controls and found tiny, momentary humidity shifts in two separate places, separated by a few seconds
Now what could cause that?
Another atmosphere with a different humidity level being connected to the base.
“Someone's just invaded the base,” he said.
“What?” said Mr. Soul.
Mr. Hand ignored the question, which didn't seem to invite an answer, and continued to gesture at the terminal.
“How did they find us?” said Mr. Soul. “Again? There's something badly wrong here.”
“I don't know,” said Mr. Hand calmly. “Though I should certainly like to find out.”
“We need to get out now. We only have a couple of Blanks! We need to kill the scientists and get out of here now.”
“No,” Mr. Hand said. “If our enemies are in here, they could well be out there too, waiting for us to run. We should not let ourselves be smoked out like hiding prey.”
“They have just invaded one of our spaces a second time!”
Mr. Hand nodded. “This is a difficult situation, I agree. And it should not be happening. But since it is, we must deal with it as effectively as possible.”
“And what does that mean?”
“I have a few ideas.”
*
The corridors were a uniform white, with soft embedded lighting coming from the corridors and ceiling. Through the walls, he could still hear the distant winds battering the base.
Mero paused and held up his hand to stop those behind him. The cameras hidden in the ceiling were tiny. They would have been invisible to any other species. He took out a set of transparent squares, and flung them with casual ease, one after the other, sending them spinning like frisbees through their air. They all hit their targets exactly.
Eloise summoned the team forward then they were active.
At a branching corridor, she consulted the map displayed in front of her. “This way,” she said, gesturing to the left.
Mero's comm whined slightly. For a moment, he thought it was the wind, then some sort of comms bug, then –
“Mero Iskultine!” said Mr. Hand in his ear. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this most unexpected visit?”
Mero's lips drew back into a snarl. He said nothing, and instead concentrated on looking for more cameras.
“What a surprise it is,” Mr. Hand went on, “to see you performing daring feats of banditry amongst your old friends once more, especially not after all the advice I gave you. Have you spent all that money already?”
Mero held up his hand, and threw another smart matter square at a mark in the ceiling. He couldn't tell whether it was a camera or not, but it was best to be on the safe side.
“Not your normal talkative self today?”
said Mr. Hand. “That's okay. I can tell what you're thinking. Should you tell your friends that I know you're on board? It might save them from slaughter. But if you did that, they might want to know how you know, why I'm talking to you in particular, wouldn't they?”
Mero's grip on his gun tensed. Let the bastard his worst, he thought, pausing to scan the ceiling and the walls.
“Everything okay?” said Eloise.
He was getting distracted. He nodded, and waved them forward
“Let's get down to it,” Mr. Hand said. “I do not want you or your friends here. Find a way to leave, disrupt the plan, and do it quickly. Or I will share our past dealings with your friends.”
Maybe he should tell his teammates, Mero thought. Then they could bring in the Glaber, tear this apart, and capture or kill Mr. Hand.
No, he told himself. This was an act of desperation. Mr. Hand was scared.
“Screw you,” Mero said subvocally, then found the signal and blocked it.
Chapter 50: Talking To The Enemy
There were two shuttles sitting side-by-side in the bay. Rurthk held back while Laodicean blocked the cameras, then headed inside. He circled them once, then hid some explosives on each of them.
“Okay,” he said, “let's go.”
They moved down the featureless corridors. Rurthk activated his comms and updated their shared, automatically-generated map. He saw the corridors branching out on opposite sides of the base, showing where he and Eloise had explored so far. It wasn't much yet, but it was growing.
He picked out the nearest dome large enough to hold the scientists and headed forward.
His comm chimed. As getting a transmission from inside the base.
That wasn't good.
His grip on his rifle tightened. “Do you see this?” he asked Laodicean.
“Yes,” said Laodicean. “Perhaps you should answer it.”
“Rurthk nodded, and accepted the call.