by Tom Chattle
"What the hell is going on?" Bennett asked. He winced when he saw their proximity to one of the rugged rock faces that bracketed their course.
"New plan," McCann explained after nobody else answered the NI officer. "Syrax were waiting for us. Sina has a way through the planet to the other side."
Bennett scowled. "We're trusting the fate of more than a hundred people based on information from this alien?"
"Yes," Chen growled. "Got a problem with that?"
Glancing over at Arnesen to see him focused on the route ahead, Bennett snarled and stormed back out of the bridge.
"That man should not be left alone," Sina muttered and returned to the seat next to Chen.
Chen raised her eyebrows. "I'd rather he stayed as far away as possible." She glanced back at the viewscreen. The chasms Vega guided them through got ever smaller. "Are you sure about this route?"
Sina hesitated—the first real sign of uncertainty Chen remembered seeing from the woman. "Yes, it has been traversed before."
"But with a much smaller ship?" Chen asked.
"You saw the few vessels we have remaining," Sina responded. "They are not much bigger than your shuttles."
Chen's head snapped up as the light cast from the viewscreen changed. "Jesus..."
- 32 -
2208.10.20 // 18:56
UVS Valiant, Orotari
The view forward had changed dramatically. The Valiant cruised through a wide canyon and dark, rugged rocks gave way to a smoother, rounded surface that protruded from within the planet's crust. It rotated lazily before them, and the occasional bubble of molten magma pushed through the cooled exterior.
"What is that?" McCann peered at the screen.
"Didn't you take planetary geology classes at the Academy?" Moreau asked, brow knitted in confusion.
Chen laughed. "He must have been sleeping during that one."
McCann raised his hands in surrender, and a look of mock pain crossed his face. He pointed an accusatory finger at Chen. "More like running late because I was trying to wake you up." He turned to Moreau. "Ensign, I apologize for my poor memory. Please, enlighten me."
Moreau's eyes flicked back and forth from McCann to Chen as if she was unsure if he was being serious. She cleared her throat and nodded. "It's the remains of the outer planetary core, sir."
"How is it still moving after all this time?" McCann asked.
"It's definitely cooled and slowing down," Moreau replied. "There's nothing like this in the Union data archives, but my guess is it's still going because of sheer power. Planetary cores contain such gigantic forces that even cracking the mantle apart around them probably doesn't affect them as badly as you'd think. At least, not in the short term—geologically speaking."
The lights flickered, and a sharp screech echoed from the comm system. "Oww," Chen clamped a hand against one ear. "Moreau, what the hell's that?"
Moreau winced at another jarring sound. "The magnetic field being generated by the core is in constant flux." She scanned the screens in front of her. "There are some pretty violent spikes in the field. Combined with the radiation, they could play havoc with our systems as we get closer."
"Can we avoid approaching it any more than we have already?" Arnesen asked, lines of concentration etched on his face.
"The trajectory I'm on practically has us skimming the surface," Vega called from up front.
"Of course," Arnesen muttered. "Sina, is there another route? I'd rather not tax the Valiant more than we need to."
Sina frowned. "No, I am sorry. There is no other route we know of that could carry a vessel this large." She glanced at Chen. "The core was not this bad the last time we scouted it."
"All right, take it steady, Vega," Arnesen ordered.
Vega adjusted course and continued to follow Sina's charts. Chen held her breath while the Valiant skimmed close to the constantly morphing surface below. A sheer cliff thrust down from the remains of the mantle above them, and Chen winced when they were forced perilously close to the core.
The Valiant lurched to the left suddenly. Chen's stomach shot into her throat when a huge, viscous glob of magma bubbled up and broke through the irregular surface ahead of them. It lanced out directly in the path of the vessel, and the inertial dampeners struggled to keep up. Vega flung the ship around it, and everyone reached out for support against the sudden movement. Electronics crackled and hissed—the Valiant lashed with wave after wave of magnetic discharges. The spear of magma hardened from the cold void it had breached and collapsed in on itself, crumbling like a pillar of sand in the wind.
"Vega..." Arnesen warned, teeth gritted.
"Yes, sir," Vega muttered, eyes locked on the controls in front of him. "Working on it."
The ship lumbered back on course, port nacelle coming dangerously close to the jagged walls that surrounded them. Smaller chunks of debris vaporized themselves against the void shields.
Sina's slender fingers grasped the seat arms. "The next part looks narrower than I remember."
"Nervous?" Chen asked, eager to hide her own unease at the lack of control she had. It would only take a small miscalculation from the young pilot at the helm to send them all hurtling into oblivion.
"No." Sina's amber eyes flicked to meet Chen's. "Of course not."
Chen grinned, despite her anxiety. "Uh-huh."
"Hold onto your butts," Vega muttered and twisted the Valiant on its axis to swing them away from the core, into a wide, shallow tunnel. "It's tight, but it looks like a fairly straight shot out from here."
While Vega guided them through the narrow confines, Chief Cartwright came on the comm. "Captain, there's some major instabilities in the void shields goin' on right now."
Arnesen's head snapped up from his console screen. "Can you be more specific, Chief?"
"Not really, sir. Somethin's wonky with the phase variance, prob'ly all this damn magnetic interference."
"Is it going to be a problem, Chief?" Arnesen asked.
"It's all right so far...hold on." Cartwright shouted something at someone in the background while alarms blared. "Major distortions in the void shields. I'm going to have to bring them down, otherwise—"
Before the chief could finish, the entire ship shuddered, and Chen watched the massive energies that powered the void shields spark and distort ahead of them on the viewscreen. A flash half-blinded Chen momentarily, and a thunderous clap vibrated through the ship's hull. A wide section of the void shields collapsed, overwhelmed by the magnetic forces that battered them. An arc of energy shot out from the foundering shields and smashed into a nearby outcrop of rock. The entire peak shattered and exploded outward in a cloud of debris. Some sparked off the void shields that remained, but other pieces made it through the compromised barriers and smashed into the superstructure with dull thuds that echoed around the bridge.
Chen winced at the impacts, but they weren't serious. The hull of the ship was designed to take bigger hits than these small boulders. The sight that sent a prickle of fear down her spine was the vast cracks that shot out from where the rocky outcrop had stood moments before. Illuminated by the Valiant's powerful forward lights, the cracks spidered out at a rapid rate. Solid rock split and turned into yawning chasms before her eyes.
Alert to the threat, Arnesen leaned forward. "Vega, get us out of here, now."
"Aye, sir," the ensign gasped through gritted teeth. He spun them sideways to avoid another section of mantle that was in the process of breaking off ahead of them.
It seemed to Chen that the fissures in the rock traveled faster than Vega could fly them in such close confines. The remains of the mantle around them disintegrated. Whatever residual forces had held it together finally gave up, and titanic mountains of rock collapsed in every direction.
The Valiant dipped under a ridge that was so vast, it seemed to fall in slow motion. Chen's stomach leaped into her throat, and the ship struggled to maneuver so abruptly. Vega twisted them this way and that through the collapsin
g planet. A collision warning alarm blared across the bridge, and before the pilot could compensate, a jagged boulder the size of an attack fighter slammed into the bow from the side and pushed the vessel sideways. Vega struggled to stop their sudden drift toward the cliff; control thrusters burned bright from the strain.
Her heart pounded, but Chen resisted the urge to cry out a warning when they swung around a corner and rotated to slip through two continent-sized rocks. Moments later, they were passing through belts of radiation storms while smaller debris pinged off the hull around them. Finally, they emerged into the icy calm of open space.
Chen let a long breath slip out of her lungs. A jubilant relief spread through her; the anxiety of the last minutes forced out. "Good job, Vega," she called, just as Arnesen said the same.
"All right, Ensign, let's get the hell out of here," Arnesen commanded.
While Vega punched in the coordinates of the Talamar research planet, Chen caught Sina watching her from the corner of her eye. "What?"
The alien woman nodded her head down to their chairs, and Chen followed her gaze. She immediately jerked her hand away when she realized it was clamped around Sina's.
"Uhh, sorry," Chen muttered. "I didn't realize I did that." She snapped her head forward, eyes locked ahead. She mostly hoped Sina wasn't offended by her action but was also confused by her own reaction. The viewscreen ahead of them flared brightly, and the Valiant leaped into the safety of rift-space.
- 33 -
2208.10.22 // 06:12
UVS Valiant, Altheos system
"Moreau, anything?" Arnesen stalked the bridge, his gaze in constant motion from the viewscreen to the tactical station.
"Not much, sir," the ensign responded. "Lots of asteroids, large rings of ice and dust around the planet."
The Valiant had translated into the far edges of the so-called Altheos system several hours ago. Since then, they'd slowly crept deeper into the system, the ship on low power to try to avoid detection while they scouted out what was waiting for them. Chen and the bridge crew had gone over Sina's data about the facility in detail, but the alien admitted that it could be out of date and even wrong. Seasoned commander that he was, Arnesen was taking no chances now they were on a combat footing.
Chen had spent most of the day it had taken for them to travel to the former Talamar outpost resting in her quarters. The constant presence of so many people wore her down, their thoughts getting harder to keep out of her mind. The fact it meant she avoided Bennett and his goons entirely was an added bonus.
"No Syrax vessels on any long-range scans, sir," Moreau called.
"All right." Arnesen nodded. "Vega, take us in, nice and quiet."
Chen studied the navigation screen next to her. Altheos was a gas giant—pale, pistachio green in color and belted by wide, variegated rings. Numerous moons churned paths through the biggest of them. The Talamar outpost itself was on one of the larger moons that skimmed gracefully above one of the far outer rings. Almost the size of Mars, it was far enough away from its vast parent planet to escape the worst of the gravitational forces.
Chen nudged Sina. "I don't like the look of this. Our approach options are limited; there are too many places for an ambush."
"That is precisely why it was picked by our military," Sina explained. "They believed the routes to the moon were so few that it would be easy to defend." Her eyes closed, and she leaned back against the bulkhead. "They were wrong."
While Chen had done her best to stay out of the command loop on the bridge, Arnesen clearly had similar thoughts to her. He kept asking Moreau for updates and paced anxiously.
It was an agonizingly slow three hours until the Valiant entered high orbit around the moon. Blanketed in clouds and dust storms, it reminded Chen of Venus—bland and unwilling to give up whatever secrets lay beneath.
Lieutenant Scott arrived on the bridge while Vega stabilized their orbit, and Chen and Sina joined the command crew and Bennett in the briefing area to the rear.
"Okay." Arnesen clapped his hands together. "Sina, could you please show us the location of the research station?"
"Of course." Sina stepped forward and transferred the data from the computer on her arm into the Valiant's systems. "The primary complex is here." She pointed at a wire-frame construct that projected under the clouds when the image magnified. "The area around it is heavily built up—mostly ruins now, I imagine. No clear places to land nearby."
Lieutenant Scott sucked air through his teeth and folded his arms. "I'd rather not have to walk through a ruined city if we can avoid it. Is there nowhere else to land?"
"Possibly the roof of the research complex," Sina responded, "but that depends on what condition it is in."
Scott nodded thoughtfully. "All right, we'll have to play it by ear. If the roof can't handle a combat drop, our best bet looks to be over here." He indicated a flat area a couple of kilometers from the main complex.
"What are you thinking for a team?" Arnesen asked. He was the commander of the ship, but Lieutenant Scott had full control over how his Marines were deployed.
Scott thought for a second and scratched his chin before he responded. "Two combat shuttles, two mechs, and full capacity. I don't want to take any chances." He glanced up at Chen. "I've read your reports, ma'am, and I want to be prepared for any possible Syrax activity."
A knot formed in Chen's stomach. They had been woefully unprepared at Arcturus and too many people—good people—had paid the price.
Arnesen nodded at Scott's plan. "I'd like Sina to go with you." He turned to the alien woman. "If that is agreeable to you?"
Sina bowed her head and patted the handle of one of the swords strapped to her back. "Of course."
"And I'd like Lieutenant Chen to go as well," Arnesen continued.
Chen straightened against the bulkhead as attention was turned to her. "Me?"
"Yes," Arnesen said. "I believe it is best for you to be the liaison between Lieutenant Scott and Sina here."
"Absolutely not!" Bennett exclaimed. "It's one thing putting an unknown on a mission with low risk, but this is far too dangerous."
Arnesen turned his head slowly to Bennett, and his eyes locked on the NI officer. "By all means, go with her. Unless you'd rather not."
Bennett ground his teeth. "Of course, I'd be happy to go, but I believe Lieutenant Chen to pose a threat to our brave Marines."
Arnesen didn't break his gaze with Bennett. "Lieutenant Scott, do you have a problem with Lieutenant Chen in your landing party?"
"No, sir," Scott responded. "She appears to have proven herself reliable."
"Then the problem is solved," Arnesen nodded. "Sina, Lieutenant Chen, and Lieutenant Commander Bennett will accompany the landing mission. Dismissed, everyone. And be careful."
***
The heavy combat shuttle rattled loudly while they descended through the thick, gray cloud cover. Chen sat next to Sina. Opposite them, Bennett stared at her. Still unable to easily read his thoughts, the faint sense he was eager for planetfall unnerved Chen. He'd been vocally against her coming, so why would that change? The minute they had launched, the Valiant had retreated into the ring system of the gas giant to take advantage of the cover it provided.
Chen grabbed a support handle when they hit a pocket of low pressure and lurched downward. The shuttle finally dipped underneath the clouds, and they were afforded their first view of the surface.
"Wow," Chen murmured under her breath, "I wasn't expecting it to look this bad."
The cityscape below them could hardly be called that anymore. Some of the larger buildings were discernible, with those smaller structures that had been protected in their shadow almost intact. But most were partially or fully leveled, mounds of rubble strewn everywhere. Beyond the ruins, the far distance was a grim, barren desert, and thick clouds obscured the mountains.
"It is all too familiar to me," Sina replied sadly. "The Syrax would bombard planets with everything they had before they unleashed
their virus to take care of those that survived. Any who remained alive underground were killed whenever they were forced to emerge by dwindling supplies."
"That sounds awful." Chen sighed. "How thoroughly everything has been destroyed reminds me of the wastelands that surrounded the Syrax outpost at Arcturus."
"I do not know the world of which you speak, but it is most likely that it was once a Talamar world." Sina stared out the window. "It would have been one of our furthest outposts until the Syrax obliterated it and destroyed the colonists that had settled it." She frowned. "I suppose they built an outpost of their own in its place."
Chen recalled the Syrax structures on that distant world. So different from the Talamar ruins they flew over now.
The shuttle banked into a wide turn, and Chen saw the remains of what she assumed was the research facility below them. The central dome had caved in, rooms below exposed to the dusty air. "I guess we're not landing on the roof, then," Chen muttered, and the shuttle looped back around to head a short distance away from the building. It flared landing, and they touched down in a maelstrom of dust, engines whining as they powered down.
Chen unbuckled from the constraints of the drop harness and stood. The heavy forward ramp rumbled to the ground, and she waited for the Marines to deploy. The mech attached to their ship unfurled itself and dropped to the foreign soil. Sensors scanned the dusty murk for any threats. Once they had cleared, she pulled a fitted dust mask across her face and trotted down the ramp after the Marines. The air was breathable but hardly easy on the lungs.
Sina reached into a pouch and withdrew a small disk, slapping it to her throat. A shimmering blue forcefield materialized across her nose and mouth.