Taza sensed a disturbance, like a distant din. “What was that?”
“I must go now.” The Lady sounded shaken…
Taza felt himself thrown through space. He opened his eyes and stumbled back a step, regaining his balance after his mind snapped back into place.
Na’li had vanished, and the Thandrall pallbearers retreated deeper into the mists, the shining light shrinking.
“Hold on. You said you wanted something from me in return for information, but you didn’t tell me what you wanted or how I can find the Thandrall we seek?”
“We shall collect our price when the time is right.” Na’li’s voice spoke in his head much quieter than before. She seemed distant and felt somewhat estranged. “There is no need to search for Dryell. He will find you. Exercise great caution. He has grown powerful with the help of the unseen.”
“Who’s Dryell? What’s that supposed to mean? You haven’t given me any information I can use?”
“Go to Sentinel Tower.” Her voice faded further. “If you hurry, you might still manage to help your friends. We can only hope you are not too late.”
“Too late for what?” he pleaded. “I can’t go anywhere near Sentinel Square. Someone will recognize me for sure.”
“You must face your fear, Arkona. Perhaps it is time for the Ghost to reveal himself once again. Go to Sentinel Tower. Help your people. Walk your path.”
“Wait!” he all but begged. “What will you expect of me in return?”
Na’li laughed disconcertingly. “You’ve already given us something we can use. We’ll come back for the rest another time. That is as much as we can say. Farewell, Taza Arkona.”
Her last syllable echoed softly as her voice faded to nothing, leaving Taza alone, feeling empty and crippled. The light had turned to a gray dot and it gradually faded too, taking the white mist with it and leaving him in a darkness filled with nightmares.
Taza came to in the dark room he’d entered, lying on his back, feeling cold and spent. He sat up and rolled onto his knees, and a sharp pain drove from the base of his skull to the back of his eyes. He choked as sick forced its way into his mouth and splattered onto the floor in a steaming pool of chunks.
He shook some of the dizziness out of his head and took in the room as he climbed to his feet. The empty space, lit by his SIG torch, was a little over ten paces long and wide: no more than a storage cupboard. The walls were rusted and bare, and fingers of mold spread down from the ceiling.
What the fuck just happened? I could have sworn the damn room was so much bigger. Wait…I need to get to Sentinel Tower!
The sudden thought set his heart racing as he stumbled to the corner where his clothes lay in a bundle, his knees threatening to buckle. He dressed as fast as his shaky limbs could manage while fighting down the urge to vomit again. He strapped the mobile shield unit Zora had given him back to his chest, and secured his belt, slipping his blaster into its holster after making sure it was still loaded. There was no telling what kind of game the Thandrall were playing. Taza checked his SIG and found that he had been inside the building for over an hour.
Feels more like fifteen minutes, if even. Damn bastards didn’t even give me the location of this Dryell guy, but at least I got a name.
He punched a control panel and the door shrieked open, spilling more light into the box-room. He shielded his eyes and tried not to think of throwing up as he moved into the corridor, leaning on the walls for support. For some reason, the Varg guards had left their posts, and something about the club was different. He reached the end of the hallways and tried the elevator, but it had been switched off.
Bastards.
As he searched for an alternative exit, he realized what seemed off about the place. The smell of the incense had vanished entirely. It had been much subtler in the basement than in the club proper or the entrance, but it was completely gone. Instead, the air reeked of rot. He rounded a corner and found an old manual door with a boarded window. Taza turned the handle and had to pull hard before it would budge. Taza shoved at the door with his shoulder and it inched open, its rusted hinges creaking. The handle snapped off, and he fell back against the wall. He swore and got back to attacking it, wedging his hand through the opening he had already created. He managed to open it a few feet and contracted his stomach as he squeezed through the opening into the dark stairwell.
He climbed the metal stairs, his SIG lighting the way. The route looked like it hadn’t been used in years, and Taza assumed it was only used for emergencies or when they elevator stopped working. His footfalls rang off the bare walls for what seemed like an age, and he finally emerged on the ground floor, not far from the strange recess where the elevator had appeared when Nook acted as his guide.
Taza traced back along the way Varg had taken him, noting how strange it was that the music had stopped. He pushed through a set of deactivated doors and found the club proper was empty. Silence hung over the room like a wraith as he picked through the booths and the bar, looking for signs of life. A layer of dust rested on most surfaces like the building hadn’t been used in a while.
He expected to smell some trace of the heavy perfume in the entrance hall, but it too had vanished. Boards across an entrance window rattled and whistled as a gust blew outside. He was certain the boards hadn’t been there when he’d entered.
Taza cautiously approached the main entrance and found that it wasn’t working either.
“Hey!” he shouted. “A little help here guys.”
No one answered.
“Hello?”
It occurred to him that Dreamz had probably been closed the entire time.
Did I imagine everything? Then how did I get inside and end up in the basement? The thoughts sent a shiver down his back.
He looked around for something he could use to open the duel door panels and found a length of metal among a pile of rubble where a section of ceiling had collapsed in a side corridor. He returned to the entrance and forced it between the doors. Using the metal pole as a lever, he pried them apart. A dose of brute strength finished the job, and he edged his way out onto the steps. The bouncers were nowhere to be seen.
What the hell is going on?
Goldhall Street appeared murkier than when he’d arrived. He returned to the street corner he’d used as a vantage point before entering. He looked back at Dreamz and found it much more dilapidated than before. Most of the building’s windows had been boarded up and the lower walls had been covered with graffiti. He decided to try and figure out what had happened later.
They must have played some kind of mind trick on me. Had it all been a lie? What about Sentinel Tower? They said I might be too late.
Taza didn’t know what to believe but figured it best to check out Sentinel Tower to be on the safe side. He tried to get a hold of Captain Grimshaw on his SIG, but his channel was busy. Clio’s channel rang for a while before going to her voice message inbox.
Shit. I better get over there, just in case…
He switched to the aircab program and marked himself as a pick-up. Several seconds later, an aircab descended from the stream of traffic high above and came to a rest near the side-walk.
Taza climbed in the back and strapped himself in. “Sentinel Square.”
“Running late for the ceremony, eh? It started five minutes ago,” the stocky Yalore cabbie said, chewing on an unlit cigar. “It’ll take us forty-five minutes with all the traffic.”
“I’ll triple your fare if you can get me there in twenty.”
“Consider it done,” the cabbie’s rough voice croaked as he sped toward traffic. “Have a good time on the strip, eh?”
“Had to take care of business at Dreamz.”
“You must mean that other joint…Cloud Nine?” the Yalore asked, glancing at Taza in the rearview mirror. “Dreamz shut down weeks ago.”
“Ah yes, that’s the place. Used to go to Dreamz back in the day. Sometimes I think I’m losing my mind.” Taza smiled.
/> “Don’t worry, mister,” the cabbie laughed. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Taza looked back on the strip as they sped deeper into Sentinel City. Every time he closed his eyes, Na’li stood before him as though she were there in person. He opened his eyes again and she disappeared once more.
You have no idea cabbie, Taza thought. You have no idea.
15
The Signal
Clio checked her terminal at headquarters once more before gathering her things for the Sentinel Ceremony. She was running late for the celebration but wanted to complete one more dataset and it had taken longer than expected, even with the additional resources Straiya had provided. The team was under strict orders not to attend, but she and Grimshaw were exempt on account of representing the few Aegi on board. Most Aegi spent their time off Sentinel on assignment or training on one of the Shanti proving grounds.
Clio gestured to Booster, and the puck clawed his way up her TEK and perched on her shoulder like a bird.
“I’ve got so much work to do. I don’t have time for any damn ceremony, but Straiya insists I attend the latter half, at the very least.”
“Damn Council,” Booster agreed, having heard Clio curse them before.
Clio checked her blaster was loaded. “Can you believe they want the Captain to attend in his state?”
“Damn Council assholes,” Booster elaborated.
“Damn right.” Clio fastened her weapon and shrugged her shoulders. “Knowing the Captain, he probably would have gone regardless. He’s been worried about security from the get-go. Keeps moaning about Sergeant Chin and SenSec not taking things seriously. As if Chimera would attack such a heavily armed event anyway.”
“Grimshaw’s paranoid,” Booster squeaked.
“Maybe. The Captain usually has a good nose for these things, but he’s been acting strange since arriving on the Sentinel. I think he finds it stifling. He’s kept busy, but with all the bureaucracy and politics he must feel like he’s going around in circles. But you know how he is, keeping these things to himself.”
Booster shrugged. “I know.”
Clio was as impressed by his understanding of social cues as she was his improved speech. She still hadn’t gotten used to the latter. “Either way, we trust the Captain. He might have a big stick up his ass, but we owe him big time. He’s a solid guy.”
Booster chirped in agreement.
Clio reached for the door, and her terminal pinged. She looked over her shoulder.
What is it now? It’ll have to wait…But what if it’s important?
“Sumbitch.” She spun on her heels, and Booster clung on tight. She charged to the terminal, annoyed at having been caught just as she was leaving. “There’s always something.”
As Clio’s screen unlocked, her eyes widened. “Hold on. This can’t be right,” she muttered, punching a command into the interface. The computer returned its results almost immediately, confirming the readings were correct. The STD had finally found another Chimera signal. “Shit!”
She clambered for her chair, almost throwing Booster off her back in the excitement.
The puck squeaked in objection as he nimbly jumped onto the desk beside her, watching the screen as though he actually understood the shifting lines of data and code.
Clio’s fingers hammered on the interface and she traced the signal. “The bastard’s STD worked. I can’t hardly believe it.” Her heart raced and she forced her hands to stop shaking. Clio drew a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “Now to find out what the hell they’ve been up to. Taza and the Captain will want to know.”
“Call them,” Booster suggested.
“In a minute, I need to make sure we have a lock on it before we lose it again.” She shrugged off her Aegis ceremonial cape. “I’ll not be going anywhere now. Straiya will understand. I’m sure other Aegi will be there to represent.”
Booster grumbled in disappointment. “Booster wanted to see the booms.”
“I know you wanted to see the fireworks, but those don’t start for a few more hours. We should be done by then.”
He huffed and leaned against the wall, his arms folded. “Sure,” he said sarcastically.
He’d also developed more of an attitude since boarding the Sentinel, but Clio had learned to ignore him when he started to get cocky.
“Gotcha!” Clio isolated the Chimera signal and downloaded their communications in real-time. She ran a decoding algorithm against the data. “Seventeen hours? Whoever wrote their security code knew what they were doing. We’ll just have to increase the bandwidth. Nice to finally have a challenge. I was getting tired of sitting around waiting for the scans to return something.”
“Sick and tired.” Booster was clearly trying to drop a hint.
“Ah, thirteen minutes. Now there’s something I can work with.” Clio turned to him and smiled. “See? We’ll have plenty of time for the after-party.”
“I’ll wait.” Booster slid onto his back-side defeated, and his eyes started closing with unmasked boredom.
“While we’re waiting, I’ll set another tracer and see if we can find out where they’re broadcasting from.”
Someone knocked on her office door.
“For fuck sake. Really?” She groaned, locking her screen. “Who is it?” she called.
“The one and only,” Swigger said, his voice muffled behind the metal.
Impeccable timing, as always. “I’m busy. Go away.”
“The team’s complaining about a lack of bandwidth. The network engineer said the bottle neck is stemming from your terminal. Can I come in?”
“If you really must.” Clio deactivated the locks remotely from her SIG and the door clicked open. The entire team was tasked with learning everything they could about Chimera, but Captain Grimshaw ordered that the work she and Taza were doing be kept under wraps.
Swigger marched in and winked at Booster, and the puck chirped with excitement. Swigger gave Booster a high five before turning on Clio, his face suddenly serious. “Is everything okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” she said more defensively than intended.
“The guys on the floor say that all systems have ground to a halt. They can’t do any work.”
“I’m running a few resource intensive protocols. High priority. They’ll be done in twenty minutes.”
“What am I supposed to do with twelve operators until then?”
Clio spread her arms. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
“Listen, Evans. Being an Aegis doesn’t give you the right to—”
“Who placed you in charge?” Clio cut in.
“If you must know, Lieutenant Dann made me head of operations.” Swigger’s left eye quivered.
“Congratulations,” she said, dismissively.
“His task force got called out to Level Two. Something to do with a demonstration gone messy.”
Clio feigned interest. “Sounds serious.”
“Dann and his boys can handle themselves. However, he left me to take care of headquarters in his absence. We lost communications with them a few minutes ago. We’re trying to re-establish contact, but whatever you’re doing has locked us out completely.”
“An incident on Level Two and a communications failure should have been reported to me. I’m the head technician on this operation.”
“This isn’t a pissing contest, Clio.” Swigger pounded her desk. “You spend half your life locked away in here, and the other half doing whatever it is you do on Level Two.” He caught himself. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
Clio’s patience was running low. She just wanted to be left alone so she could finish her work. “Listen, I don’t have time to argue. This is important. It won’t take long.”
Booster yawned. “Clio found Chimera.”
Clio shot the puck a threatening glare and he responded with a fanged grin.
“What’s he talking about?” Swigger demanded.
“I picked up the s
ignal Grimshaw asked me to look for about two minutes ago. Decrypting the data is taking everything we have. Without using all available bandwidth, it’ll take all day, and we don’t have that kind of time.”
“Why couldn’t you have just said that,” Swigger growled. “You’re always hiding something.”
That was a low-blow, even for Swigger, and anger rose within Clio. “Captain Grimshaw ordered that he be the first one to know if we find anything! Now get the hell out of my face so I can get back to work!”
They stared at each other intensely for a moment. Swigger finally turned and stormed out, cursing as he went.
“And keep it to yourself!” Clio screamed after him. “Thanks for nothing, ass-face,” she spat at Booster.
The puck shrugged and giggled in his corner.
“All you men are the same,” she sputtered. “Pack of lumbering idiots.” Sometimes she didn’t know what to make of Booster. She felt much lighter for his company, but he really stuck his foot in it at times.
She tried getting Captain Grimshaw on her SIG, but he wouldn’t answer. She drafted a quick message explaining that she’d made a breakthrough on the project and would be running late as a result. She noticed a missed call from Taza, but he’d have to wait.
Booster began snoring as Clio watched the loading bar slowly creep closer to the end.
“About bloody time,” she finally shouted, causing Booster to jump out of his slumber much to his dismay.
“No shouting.”
“What’s wrong, ass-face? You get a fright?” She laughed.
The Chimera data file opened, and she scanned through it quickly, the smile gradually melting from her face.
“Even the language the data is written in is coded.” Clio cast her eyes back and forward, her neuroptical implants picking out repeating sequences. “Wait, I’m seeing patterns.” Clio called up one of the old programs she’d created for such a purpose. She ran the routine and it finished with a ping.
“Answers?” Booster piped up.
“It’ll take a while to put it all together, but I’ve got some kind of repeating text. Ah, I see. The input is back to front on every other line.” She commanded the computer to sort the data and a slightly more coherent string of text returned on the terminal. “Execute Lion Protocol. What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
The Galactic Sentinel: Ultimate Edition: 4 Books with 2000+ Pages of Highly Entertaining Sci-Fi Space Adventure Page 49