Nori chuckled. “If you’re well enough to joke I think you’ll recover in no time.”
He winced in pain. “I really hope so. Right now, the only thing that’s keeping me lucid is that I can barely feel my body.”
“You’ll recover,” Nori assured him. “I met a guy who had shattered his spine in a car accident that was back on his feet a day after the Calamity.”
“We don’t have a day to stay put,” Lana said. “My suit has only three more hours of air left.”
“Mine too,” Bulco said, his voice sounded weaker. “Thank god the aliens know how to build these things to last. An Earth-made space suit wouldn’t have survived that hit.”
Nori put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. “Sorry. Don’t worry about oxygen. Worst case, I’ll bring the Hummer and we’ll return to Unity. But I don’t think that will be necessary. We’re level five now, so I think we should heal up pretty quickly. I can already move my arm a little and my knees are feeling much better.”
“That’s right!” Lana brightened. “We leveled up. How cool is that?”
“How did it happen?” Nori asked.
“I’m not sure,” the dark-haired woman admitted. “I shot the console, just like Bulco said, and there was this weird component behind it. When I touched it, Tec was extracted and we leveled up.”
“So we can extract Tec from machines now?” Bulco’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t sound right. Alzigo told us that technology is Infused by the ambient Tec in the air, which is incompatible with us. Besides, the quantities are minuscule compared to what it takes to infuse live creatures.”
Lana shrugged. “I can’t explain it, but that’s what happened.”
“Then what happened?” Nori inquired. “How did you stop it from killing us all?”
“There are four consoles up there. I hacked one of them.”
“Hacked it?”
“Yeah. I got the level up message and acted on impulse. Apparently, my Path hit a crossroad and Admin was an option. So I choose it and hacked the terminal. Only …”
Nori frowned. “Only what?”
The young woman shook her head. “I don’t know exactly how I did it. Everything looked so chaotic, I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Then all of a sudden the hack was successful but…” she hesitated. “It required a score of thirty to hack.”
“Thirty?” Bulco struggled to move. He was already looking better. “How the hell did you manage that? My own Path score is just ten.”
“Mine’s at eleven,” Lana nodded. She looked at Nathan’s prone body and her voice lowered. “I think … I think Nathan helped me somehow. The console was full of symbols that didn’t make any sense, but then he looked up, for a split second, and they suddenly ordered on their own. I … I think that’s why he’s unconscious ... like he’s overtaxed himself or something.”
“At least, we won.” Nori grabbed the younger woman’s shoulder with her good arm. “That was a close call. Great job, Lana, you saved us all. If that thing had hit us with its energy beam … if you hadn’t been so quick leveling up in the middle of a fight …” She shook her head.
Lana smiled ruefully. “I kind of had to rush it, but I suggest the rest of you hold off leveling until we’re back on Unity. Take time to do it right.”
Bulco grunted in approval and lifted an arm. “Oh, dear God, I’m starting to get sensation back.”
“How do you feel?” Lana asked in concern.
“Like a giant, mother-fucking robot squashed me with a giant, mother-fucking boulder.” He groaned. “And it hurts like hell.”
“You’ll be alright,” Nori said. She stood, grabbed her broken arm, and with a quick motion and a grunt of pain pulled it straight.
Lana's eyes widened. “What are you doing? You need to rest.”
The Navigator shook her head. “It was taking too long, we don’t want to stay out in the open like this. Besides …” She raised both hands and wiggled her fingers. “I’m all good now.”
Bulco’s eyes were also wide. “Damn, girl, you’re one crazy ass kid you know that? Don’t even think of trying that shit on me. Not unless you want to hear an old man scream.”
“Don’t worry, you’re safe.” Nori looked down at Nathan who had started stirring. “Lana, I think he’s coming around.”
The younger woman hurried toward her and leaned over the young man. His eyelids were fluttering and the whites of his eyes were no longer showing. “Nathan? Nathan, are you alright?”
He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her. He looked extremely tired.
Lana let out a relieved sigh. “You really had me worried there, you know? The excavator almost killed you - three times!”
Nathan winced in pain as he strained to stand.
“Here, let me help you.”
Lana helped him to his feet and the young man curiously took in the sight of the immobile machine.
“Nathan,” Lana hesitated. “Did you … did you help me hack it?”
He nodded, and his expression became haunted, almost fearful.
“You did what?” Lana exclaimed
“What’s he saying?” Nori asked.
“He tried to control the excavator using his Path, but it took too much out of him. Instead, he helped me by lowering its defenses, but the strain was too great and he fainted.” She huffed, looking at the pale young man. “You shouldn’t have done that; you didn’t know what would happen … you could have died!”
Nathan nodded again and closed his eyes. Visions and feelings from the brief moment he allowed the Tec to grab at him flashed in his mind. He shivered. He almost lost control of himself trying to form the connection. If he hadn’t fainted …
“Kid,” Bulco said to the still-aggravated Expert, his hands shaking as he rose into a sitting position. “If he hadn’t done that we’d all be dead by now.”
She huffed. “Doesn't mean I have to like it.”
“What’s to like?” the large man grunted. “Let's just hope we didn’t risk our lives for nothing. We still need to check what’s inside those containers.”
“Lana?” Nori looked at her.
“Alright. I’ll go check.”
“We hoped you’d volunteer.”
The young Expert approached one of the containers and activated the terminal mounted on its side.
Inthidlon standard container
Trinium alloy: 35 tons
Balatium alloy: 15 tons
“Jackpot!” she called excitedly. “Thirty-five tons of Tritium and fifteen tons of something called Balatium.”
Nori frowned. “Isn’t it just a bit too convenient? We found the exact thing we were looking for.”
“I don’t think so,” Bulco said, examining his hands as he clenched and unclenched his fists. “According to that freaky alien merchant, Trinium is a common alloy in Tec-based technology. I examined the information we had on it while I was working on the ammo. It has a very intricate structure, beyond Earth’s abilities to produce. Its component elements are common, but they aren’t always found next to each other. Looks like the aliens found a spot, right here, and decided to start a little mining operation on the side.”
“I’ll check the excavator’s log,” Lana said. “It should have more information.”
She went back to the folded machine and accessed the light console. She frowned as tidbits of information ran over the console. “It says here it was deployed two months ago with the objective to mine valuable minerals.” Her fingers fluttered over the console. “That’s interesting. Looks like the owner returned several times to pick up the collected resources, the last time was five days ago.”
Bulco and Lana exchanged worried frowns.
Lana continued tapping the console. “There’s also a partial mapping of the moon specifying high concentrations of minerals. Looks like this machine is capable of not only extracting various ores but also of forging them into specific alloys. There’s also a summary of everything it produced: Eight
y-six tons of Trinium, thirty-one Balatium, and two hundred kilos of … oh my.”
“What is it?” Nori asked.
“Mithril,” the woman replied in wonder. “Looks like Tolkien was onto something. Think he was an alien?”
“I doubt it. It’s probably just a translation of the alien language. I’m guessing this stuff has properties like the ones described in our fantasy literature.”
“Which are?” Bulco asked.
“Light and strong.”
“It also says here it only reached fifty-three percent capacity,” Lana said as she poured over the monitor. “The excavator needs four more days to fill the containers.”
“We don’t have that time,” Nori said. “We’ll take the containers as they are now. Eighty-six tons of Trinium translates into a whole lot of ammo.”
“We couldn’t make it keep working anyway,” Lana said. “Says here it requires a Machinator or an equivalent Path to operate. But … err ... aren’t we worried the aliens who put it here will be angry we took it?”
“You heard Alzigo,” Nori said. “Humans have a claim on the moon which makes whoever landed here a trespasser. So we’re free to confiscate everything’s here.”
“They might see it differently,” Lana said,
“Then they’re welcome to come look for us,” the large Engineer said with a heavy scowl. “The guys who put it here had something to do with the Calamity and that puts them on my payback list. If the little green men have a problem with what we did …” He cracked his fingers menacingly.
“Actually, the Aky, the little green men, are a peaceful race,” Lana said. “I read about them in the file Alzigo gave me. The Inthidlon, however, are tall and blue, like the dead one we found on the ship. According to their description, mining uninhabited planets is right up their alley.”
“Whatever,” Bulco scoffed. He got up on wobbling legs and bent his knees a few times. “Ha, good as new.”
“Let’s get back to the Hummer and bring back Unity to pick up everything,” Nori said. She looked at the young hacker. “Any idea how we can bring the containers aboard?”
“Yes, they each have anti-grav built in and can be controlled remotely.”
“Good.”
The four returned to their vehicle, and Nori drove them back. This time, instead of jumping over the wide rift, she followed a path that Lana helpfully brought up, only having to jump over a narrow strip.
Unity was waiting for them right where they’d left her with the cargo door still lowered.
Once Nori drove the Hummer into the ship, they took off their spacesuits and closed the main door. The ship’s life support kicked in, filling the space with breathable air.
Nori tugged at her spacesuit and it unfolded from her body, leaving her in her normal clothes. The other followed suit, then followed the Navigator into the bridge.
Nori called for her seat, and her hands reached to activate her many terminals. “I’m cutting off life support in the cargo hold. No sense in stressing the systems—we’re going to reopen it to pick up the containers anyway.”
Unity lifted gently as Nori steered her toward the mining site and they zoomed over the rift as if it was nothing more than a crack in the ground.
In no time at all, they reached their destination, and Nori gently guided the freighter down.
“We’re in position,” she said. “Lana?”
The young woman frowned at her light console. “The sensors on this ship are utter crap. They keep picking up ‘compatible signatures’, but don’t actually manage to lock on to the containers.”
“Damn,” Bulco said. “We’ve already strained life support pretty badly. If we’ll have to go out and bring them in by hand … I’m not sure the system can handle pressurizing the hold again. It could kill them.”
“We’ll have to risk it,” Nori said. “Those containers are the reason why we traveled all this way. We can’t leave them behind.”
“We don’t need to risk it. I’ll go into the cargo hold, put on a suit and bring them in. After that, I’ll go into the Hummer with the rest of the suits and use their air supply to re-pressurize the interior. Combined, it should be enough until we reach the space station.”
“That’s too risky,” Nori objected. “You don’t know if three suits are enough to re-pressurize the Hummer, and even if they do, it might not be enough to last the trip back.”
“Do you have a better idea that won’t potentially kill us all?”
“Wait. I think I know a better way,” Lana said.
Nori and Bulco looked sharply at her.
“Just give me a minute.” She closed her eyes and concentrated.
“What the hell are you doing, girl?” Bulco demanded.
“I still haven’t assigned the free point from the level up,” she said with her eyes still closed. “I’m increasing my Intelligence to six and … Oh, wow.” Her eyes flew open and she smiled brightly at them. “This is awesome, I feel like my brain got a jumpstart from drinking ten energy drinks.”
Bulco frowned. “So now that you’re smarter, you think you can come up with a better plan?”
“Not exactly.” She took out a small metallic item from her pocket and held it up triumphantly.
“The sensor enhancement implant,” Nori said, suddenly understanding what the Expert meant to do.
“Exactly.”
Lana held the implant over her temple. The metal melted and flowed under her skin. She squinted rapidly several times as her friends gaped at her.
“Holy hell,” Bulco took a step back, unable to take his eyes off the young woman.
Lana frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Lana, your eyes,” Nori said. “They turned blue.”
“And they have a grid,” the large man added.
Lana looked worried for a moment, then she smiled. “I can see more of your details now. Your Paths, highest attribute, and the amount of implants you have are now visible.”
“Handy,” Bulco said dryly, regaining his composure.
“So, can you finally tell us what Nathan’s Path is?” Nori asked.
Lana threw a guilty look at the young man, and he nodded in response. “He’s … a Technomancer,” she said slowly.
“Sounds ominous,” Bulco grunted.
“Well, if it’s anything like a necromancer, we’ll soon have an army of unthinking machines doing our bidding.” Nori winked at the young man and offered him her curved smile.
Nathan winced, but he liked Nori. He smiled and winked back at her.
“Okay, now let’s try the sensors again.” Lana turned back to the monitor and manipulated her controls. “It worked,” she said with satisfaction. “I can just barely reach the equipment out there. Four containers and one Inthidlon excavator mark four.” Her hands sped over the consoles. “Aaaaand now I’m controlling them. Bringing them on board.”
“Careful not to scratch my car,” Bulco grunted.
There was no sound as the containers hovered into the freighter, except for the metallic grunt of floor plating put under sudden pressure.
“All four containers are aboard,” Lana said. “Hmm, that’s interesting.”
Nori looked at her. “What is?”
“I can also order the excavator to come to the ship.”
“We don’t have the room for it,” Bulco said. “Even folded, that thing is bigger than a container.”
Lana frowned. “If I’m reading it right, we don’t need to bring it inside. I think it can sort of plug into the ship’s hull.”
Nori snapped her fingers. “Like the cylindrical container the pirates lifted off the ship when we first found her. Lana, you’re a genius.”
“So … we’re taking it with us?”
“Hell, yes,” Bulco grinned. “I bet we can learn how to operate this thing on Earth. Think about it, our own unending supply of Warped Busters.”
“I’m sold,” Nori said. “And it might be a long shot, but if we can reprogram it to attack the
Warped, it could make our assault on them a whole lot easier. Lana, do it.”
“Alright, if you guys are sure …” the Expert said.
She input the command and everyone looked up to the main viewscreen. The giant excavator’s legs unfolded and it started walking toward Unity. It easily scaled the ship’s hull and perched on its top. There was a string of clicking sounds as it locked into place.
“That’s it,” Lana said. “We’re good to go.”
Bulco chuckled. “Visited the moon, drove around a little, and scored some alien equipment. Not bad for a single day of work.”
Nori worked on her controls. “Cargo hold doors are closing ... mounted machinery is secured … activating thrusters ...” The ship started to lift off, angling upward. “Increasing power to thrusters … and … we’re … off.”
The ship shot into space, leaving the shrinking moon far behind.
Nori’s chair melted around her. She stood and looked at her friends with a triumphant grin. “We did it! We’ll arrive at the space station in six hours.”
Bulco yawned loudly. “I’m beat. Healing back from a pancake state is no joke, let me tell you that. I could use some rest.”
Nori nodded. “I think we all could. It’s about four in the morning back on Earth. But I think it’s best if we all take the time to finish leveling up first.”
“You guys go right ahead,” Lana said, causing some more colorful monitors to pop up around her. “I’m going to stick around here for a while and explore what my new Path and implant are capable of.”
Nori smiled as she looked at the enthusiastic younger woman, already deep inside her own world. “I only met her a few days ago, but I honestly don’t know how I ever managed anything without her around.”
Bulco nodded, also looking at the absorbed Expert. “That girl grows on you fast, and she’s got some mad potential. We’d all be dead if it weren’t for her.”
They walked into the quarters and each took to their bed.
Nori gulped some water, offered some to Nathan, who shook his head, then accessed her status.
Level 5 reached (+2 levels)
Earth Force (Relict Legacy Book 1) Page 23